So, uh, it's Friday the 13th, y'all, and they're shutting down the schools in my state. Stay healthy. Wash your hands. Be lucky on this unlucky day.

Jeptwin: I, too, find bald Dan amusing.

lenasmith106: I like making him scary. He is a ghost, after all. :)

Rhonin Magus: You've got that right. :D

Anne Camp: Yes, you, you get it.

DarkFoxKit: That's great to hear!

vampireharry the 2: Thanks!

fictionaddiction1: That's the image, yep. :)

aquestionablepresence: Thank you!

Purest of the Hearts: Well, they're not all fanatics. Maybe.

Distant Radiance: Yo! Thank you for the long review! The Tower arc was a bit too long, but I'm glad you stayed until we got to the other side. I made Danny talk like that with Inanna partially because he was speaking in Sumerian, but also because he was trying to trick her into thinking he was subservient. It was a little ooc, though, huh? I'm glad you're enjoying the current arc. :)

Black Cat: I just... like my fluff. They deserve love. Except maybe Dan, but he's gonna get it anyway.

.

.

.

Chapter 187: Reassess and Restructure

.

"I think that at this point, we have to admit that our expeditionary force has failed."

The man in the pressed suit nodded. He didn't like it, but he was a realist. Denying facts would get him, and his organization, nowhere.

"And what are your recommendations for our next move?"

The scientist swallowed, wide-eyed. "My recommendations, sir?"

"Yes," said the man in the pressed suit. "Despite certain setbacks, you have proved to be reasonably competent, even under..." he looked around the Fenton's lab, and sneered, "less than ideal circumstances."

His chief advisers hadn't wanted him to come to Amity Park at all, much less the Fenton house. The situation was too unstable, the populace fractious and unruly, and the ghost activity high. His bodyguards were tripwire tense, this close to the Portal.

But as a leader, he had to be aware of the morale of his subordinates, even if those subordinates were ultimately insignificant.

"W-Well," stuttered the reedy little man, "I'd been hoping to requisition the D2218."

The man in the pressed suit raised an eyebrow. "The D2218 is for detecting ghostly traces in low-ectoplasm environments."

"Yes, sir, but everything here is so saturated," the man flapped his hands. "It's difficult to detect smaller spikes, and after the most recent incident- That storm, yesterday..." The man trailed off, shivering. "Even the people are contaminated."

That caught the man's attention. "Even the people, you say?"

"Yes, sir. Even the people. It's horrible. I was saying to Leonard, just the other day, it's a miracle they haven't started mutating. You remember that ecto-acne case, back in the eighties?"

"I do," said the man, rubbing his chin. It wasn't common knowledge, but the victim in that case had been one Vladimir Masters, currently mayor of this very town.

Masters had been suspiciously opposed to the GIW's involvement.

"I will get you the D2218," said the man.

"You will?" yelped the scientist.

"Yes, and when you get it, I want you to scan every nook and cranny of this town- And every resident. Put together a report of who is contaminated, and how much. The incursion here might be much more extensive than initially believed." He frowned. "Starting today, make sure that all of our people wear anti-contamination gear when leaving clean areas." He gave the lab one final look. "Double-check this house. Knock out the walls, if you have to. In case severe decontamination procedures prove necessary, I want every tool, invention, blueprint, or paper the Fentons ever made in GIW custody. The children's, too."

.

.

.

"I want to go to the Panopticon," Sam announced as soon as she had disembarked from Youngblood's ship.

Pandora's seneschal, Eurycleia, gave Sam a horrified and suspicious look. "Why?" she asked.

"So I can beat up the Observants. Especially the head eyeball."

Eurycleia, who had known Sam for some time, crossed both arms.

"He's the one who keeps trying to kill Danny."

Behind her, Jazz coughed. "We want to find out what our legal options are first," she said, walking around Sam, "and get some information. And backup. We don't want to just go there and pick a fight."

"I was going to get around to that," said Sam.

"Were you?" asked Tucker.

"Issitoq the Judge is the one trying to kill Phantom?" asked Eurycleia.

Sam nodded. "As far as we can tell."

"And Pandora and Phantom are in Mattingly." Eurycleia waved a hand. "One of the sailors told me." She picked at the hem of her dress, thinking. "Clearly, this cannot be borne, but I do not have the authority to launch an attack on the Observants."

Sam frowned, and then moved slightly, to make room for her classmates who were still coming onto the dock. "Is this a lead-up to saying you can't do anything?"

"No," said Eurycleia. "As Jasmine said, we will have to explore our options. But there is another issue. You are all wanted back at Libra. The advocates and the judges were annoyed that we," Eurycleia paused slightly, "lost you."

"Are we going to have to get on another boat?" asked Rebecca. There was a whine in her voice, but Sam couldn't really blame her for it. She was pretty sick of boats herself.

"Yeah, but before that," said Tucker. "Sam, aren't you going to show her what we found out?"

"Oh! Yeah." She pulled her newest photos out of her pocket. "Danny isn't in Mattingly. Actually, no one I expected to be in Mattingly is in Mattingly, including Dora. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this exactly the kind of decor those eyeball jerks would have?"

"And Phantom?" asked Eurycleia. There was a slight tremor in her hand as she took the pictures.

"Well," said Sam. "I kind of ran out of film, but as of a couple hours ago, he was at a pool with Clockwork and Nephthys, so I don't think we have to worry about him too much, even if I don't know what that's about."

Eurycleia pursed her lips. "We'll get you more film," she said. "But you still have to go to Libra, not the Panopticon. At least there, you should be able to find an advocate versed in the Observants' procedures."

"I'd be more surprised if we couldn't. I bet we could find someone intimately familiar with the laws of thirteenth-century Lichtenstein if we tried hard enough," said Sam, flippantly.

"Hm. It's a bit more difficult than that. The Observants do not hear many cases. Fewer advocates are needed, than for Libra or the Feathers."

"Hey, not to interrupt, and all," interrupted Hannah. "But before we get whisked away back to the creepy courthouse, can we sleep, please?" She looked so hangdog that Sam couldn't find it in herself to be annoyed. "In a real bed? One that isn't moving?"

"Of course," said Eurycleia. She gave Sam and the others a look. "We should continue this discussion privately."

.

.

.

Danny sat by the side of the pool. He would have been hovering over Clockwork, trying to help, but Nephthys had, forcefully, waved him off.

"I really," he said, "really don't want to be king."

"I could do it, if you're not going to," said Dan.

"You don't qualify," said Nephthys.

"Why not? I beat up everyone I had to beat up."

"Not here, you didn't. I doubt you actually beat Clockwork in any real sense, in any case."

Dan pouted, sinking down in the water. Danny watched him, distrustfully. He really didn't like Dan being so near to an injured and incapacitated Clockwork.

"Why did you vote for me, anyway?"

"I like you," said Nephthys, shrugging. Under the water, she did something to Clockwork's side. The water nearby was stained light green.

"That can't be it," protested Danny. "You can't vote someone king just because you like them."

"Mm. You are right, but you'll be a good king for many of the same reasons I like you."

Danny frowned, then brightened. "What about Imhotep? Wasn't he king before?"

"He was confirmed by a different Council of Ancients. Pandora, Fright Knight, Vortex, and Undergrowth weren't members back then. I rather doubt he's interested in becoming king again."

"You will do fine," said Clockwork. "You always do fine. Most of the time. This is the best timeline. I picked it. Probably. I am going to pick it? Wait..." He trailed off, counting on his fingers. "Shouldn't I have more of these? Why couldn't you make evolution make more sense?"

"I try not to interfere with natural selection," said Nephthys. "Much."

Danny sighed and took off the crown. It clung to his hair, resisting the motion, but didn't pull. It was pretty, it really was, but Danny didn't want it. An icy petal fell to the floor. Were the flowers sustained by his powers?

"You should leave that on," said Nephthys.

"It's too much," complained Danny. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the crown rippled, shrunk, and simplified, to something more graceful, almost elven. There were hints of the earlier, overblown design, it still had leaves, and one or two silver flowers, but now it was more akin to stylized Greek laurel wreaths. "Oh. Um. Okay." He wondered how far he could push this new ability. "It's still, you know, kind of flashy." The crown shrunk again, this time to a delicate silver hair clip adorned with a single icy flower. "Huh."

"Stop playing with it," complained Dan. "You look like a brat."

"What does that make you look like, then?"

"No fighting," said Clockwork.

"I think I've done all I can, here," said Nephthys, backing away. "I can't do anything for the glass."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Danny, already next to Clockwork.

On the other side of the pool, Dan mumbled something about being pathetic.

"No, no," said Clockwork. "I think I'm... I think... I think I'm seeing things a little more clearly, now. You should put that on. It would be a lot of trouble if you lost it."

Biting his lip, Danny nodded, and put the clip in his hair.

Clockwork sighed, deeply. "Daniel."

"Yes?" prompted Danny.

"I am sorry. I'm sorry for everything that I've put you through. If I had known-"

"Stars and entropy, I forgot," interrupted Nephthys. "Brother, what I said, before we fought, it wasn't true. I only said it so that you would, well." She paused, sheepishly. "In fact, when we were first planning things, you vetoed the idea of one of us, ah, pushing you, as too risky. The goal was to get Daniel to exist. That's all."

"Oh," said Clockwork, his voice very small. "I don't remember that."

"That was part of the plan. If you knew, so would the Observants. The future you were working towards would become too probable. We had Mnemosyne, she called herself Nisaba, back then, manipulate your memory, so we could work towards this without you consciously knowing."

"Oh," said Clockwork again.

Danny crept closer, so he could hug Clockwork from behind.

"Then that's the problem," snapped Dan. Danny hissed slightly, startled. "Of course you're gonna go crazy if you can't remember why you're doing what you're doing."

That actually made a lot of sense, as much as he hated to admit it.

"Who would we go to, to fix that now?" asked Danny, looking to Nephthys. "Since Mnemosyne is gone."

"Her daughters," said Nephthys. "Mnemosyne gave everything to her daughters. It was what she wanted. To pass on everything she had. It's how she could fade." Nephthys tapped her lips. "Memento would probably be the best choice. She is the one who inherited stewardship of the spring of the Lethe."

"'Probably?' You mean you didn't keep track?" asked Danny.

"I had other things on my mind," said Nephthys, defending herself. "Besides, I didn't consider memory might be an issue."

Danny resisted the urge to retreat into a little ball. He was this close to having an Obsession-fueled meltdown. Between Amity Park, his classmates, his parents, the people in his lair, and Clockwork, everyone and everything he cared about were spread out across the better part of two dimensions, and he was doing a terrible job of keeping them safe. The only reason it hadn't happened yet was because he knew freaking out wouldn't help.

"What do you think, Clockwork?" he asked.

The older ghost rubbed his head, frowning. "My gears are getting wet," he said finally. He floated up, shedding water. He looked at Dan. "You might find what you want. I am glad you decided to be here." He started to float out of the room.

Danny began to follow him but paused when he realized Nephthys wasn't coming.

"Go with him," said Nephthys. "I'm going to stay here. Dan and I have unfinished business. Don't be surprised if we leave without telling you."

"Okay," said Danny. He didn't trust Dan not to fight with Nephthys, but Clockwork needed him, so he left.

.

.

.

Dan watched Danny scamper pathetically after Clockwork.

"What do you want?" demanded Dan.

"That's what I should be asking you," said Nephthys. She pulled herself up onto the side of the pool. "I did say I would help you change."

"You meant that?"

"I did."

"I want..." Dan's eyes flicked to where he had last seen Clockwork and Danny. He had to admit, he was envious. Not of all the stress Danny must be laboring under, Dan understood that all too well, but of the relationships Danny had to be stressed about. It was a part of him that was like Plasmius, who had never been satisfied with what he had, who always wanted other people's things.

No. He couldn't do that. He wouldn't be able to do that. Nephthys wouldn't give it to him.

So what did he want?

Ghosts were almost made of want, in one form or another. Desire. Passion. Need. Obsession. Not being able to say what he wanted...

What did it mean? What even was his Obsession at this point? Without one he would be falling apart, ghosts couldn't exist without an Obsession, so he had to have one.

The water around him was green, and he was alone with the closest thing the universe had to a god of death.

"Am I ending?" he asked.

Nephthys raised an eyebrow. "No. I could change that, of course, but I was under the impression you wanted to continue to exist. Was I wrong?"

"No."

"Alright, then."

Nephthys didn't seem inclined to press Dan, so they sat there for several more minutes without talking.

"You could come with me to see Memento."

"What good would that do?"

"You seemed worried about Clockwork. I thought you might like to help him recover his memories. His sanity as well, if your hypothesis is correct."

"I don't care about that old geezer," said Dan, following the statement up with a passable scoff.

"If you say so."

"I do say so."

Dan didn't feel the need to add to that, so he fell back into confused contemplation. He hated this. Despised it. He wanted...

He wanted...

To be like Danny again.

What a disgusting thought. But true. Not that he wanted to, or could, step into the brat's life. He wanted to do what Danny could do. Not in terms of power. Dan was quite sure he was still the stronger one. But...

"I want to care about things again."

"You already care about things."

Dan snarled. "You know what I mean."

Nephthys nodded slowly, then smiled. "I think I do, actually. Be warned, change can be... uncomfortable."