Chapter 2: A King for a Day
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today" - Abraham Lincoln
The daily explosion in the Fenton townhouse did not shake the Ring of Rage. The glowing regalia floated in place on his dresser as the room shook around him. And so the morning ritual began. Jazz's door swung open and her voice began to yell down the stairs. Their Father's voice met hers with their Mother's bird-like voice behind him. This would be when he woke up, groggy and tired from a long night of fighting ghosts (and ignoring his homework).
But last night wasn't normal, nor was it the usual superhero version of abnormal. For last night Clockwork has requested his presence. Yes, requested, not forced him through a portal, or appeared in his room, or he sent Lunchbox after him. Danny twisted the aged paper in his hand, the neat wiring clearly asked for him to come to the clock tower at the end of time. And so he did. The crooked clocktower sat at the edge of the Ghost Zone, its black and purple stone looked both old and new at the same time. Much like its owner. And while there was no time at the tower, for it was here time began and ended, it felt late.
If the invitation was the first red flag, the presence of the Observants was flag two through thirteen. The single eye corpse ghost hid their writhing form under long teal and purple robes. Their single eye consumed their heads, shedding all skin and bone to make room for it. There were twelve of them in total, twelve single eyes staring down upon him.
"What happened? Did Dan escape?" Danny half joked.
"No," clockwork began. "I have much better news than that. The Observants and I have been discussing the future of the Ghost Zone, and after some bickering we have come to an agreement that it needs a new King. It has been over two thousand years since Pariah was locked away and the damage is profound."
"Damage? What damage?" Danny said.
"As a new being in these lands, you would not what the Ghost zone looked like in the past. It was once one unified land, with rivers, lakes and mountains. Much like how your own world looks like, but as if you viewed it in a mirror," The third observant spoke up. Each Observant had made small changes to their robes throughout their years. This one had a Chinese style dragon embroidered along his hems. "A Ghost King, may it be a man, woman, or being has the sole ability to control the land and skies themselves. The first King made a paradise with teal skies and lilac trees. The Second King made the land form a tunnel with nine layers. Each had its own biome. And Pariah creates a mountainous land full of dark forest and pits of lava. As Clockwork has mentioned, it has been many years since the last King ruled, and the land has fallen apart. Drifting away from one another, and the sky has gone rancid, turning into a green haze. And as you have seen, many of the ghost now live in shatter islands. And the longer we go without a king the more the land will rot away."
"Is that a big issue though? All ghosts have the ability to fly and float," Danny said.
"That may be true but energy is not unlimited, even you must have felt your core weaken after long battles or flights," The sixth Observant said, his robe was decorated with a gold waistband and olive branch pin. "If the ghosts do not have a place to rest and recharge, their core will eventually crack under the pressure and they will fade from existence. Or worse, they will burst from exhaustion like a dying sun."
"So what do you need me to do? I can start Ghost King auditions?" Danny said.
"That won't be necessary as we already have a chosen candidate," Clockwork said.
"Who is it?"
"It is someone who has fulfilled the requirements of the Ghost King. They defeated the previous Ghost King in battle, and were able to take the crown of fire, and ring of range from him." Observant six said.
"And they have shown great leadership skills in the past. Not only have they gathered a ghostly army to fight Pariah Dark, but he was able to summon the humans into battle to fight a ghost." Observant three said.
"This ghost must be pretty cool then," Danny said.
"Danny, they are talking about you," Clockwork said.
"What?"
"It was you who led the other ghosts into battle when Pariah Dark regained power. It was you who defeated Pariah Dark in battle, and you were the one who took the crown and ring from him after said defeat," Clockwork said.
"But I lost the crown, I don't know where it is," Danny said.
"It can be found. Since you were the one to defeat pariah Dark, it will only respond to you. Therefore whoever has it now will find it useless," One of the Observants said.
"And you were the one who led the human children into battle against Ember and Youngblood. That is a feat not many could claim," A second Observant spoke up.
"You are the only one who not only has the skills but who qualifies to be the next ghost king. And while we doubted you at first, your actions have had a wide effect on both the human and Ghostly world," The third Observant said.
"I can't be a king! I'm only thirteen!" Danny said.
"That is why Clockwork will begin your king lessons as soon as possible. With his time powers, he can show you examples of great kings and queens from the past," The Third Observant said.
"No, you're not listening to me. Clockwork can you help me here? I can't be king," Danny said.
"Unfortunately Danny, I agree with them. It was me who first brought up the idea of you accending to the throne," Clockwork said.
"You can't be serious?"
"Danny, I understand that you have great trouble seeing your strengths and having confidence in your own ability. But, I have seen how you not only unite others, but use your empathy to save ghosts like Wulf and Dora. Even when your friends are brainwashed, you will do your best to save them as well. Many look at Kinghood and expect strength and power, but one can not rule justly without empathy."
"But, but, I had to fight Dash and the others to get them to join me. And the Ghosts only followed me because we had a common goal. As soon as pariah was gone they went back to how things were before. Many of them won't listen to me, you think Walker would want some kid rewriting all of his rules?"
"What you see as a weakness we see as a strength. Yes you fought with Dash, but in the end it was your words that convinced him. Yes the Ghost only followed you for a shared goal, but you were the one who cleared the way, for them to fight. If you had not done so, Pariah Dark would be in power, destroying both realms as we speak. The world we have now did not come from chance, but from your actions," Clockwork said.
"But I can't," Danny said.
"Why not!" the Observants demanded.
"I don't want to be king. I want to be an astronaut and go to space. I want to live a full life with my friends and family. I don't want to be on some cushy throne listening to their problems all day and night," Danny said.
"This is your chance for a great destiny, to make a mark on history!" An observant shouted.
"I don't want to make a mark on history! I want the freedom to live my life how I see it!" Danny shouted back.
"How about we wait till you're twenty-six to perform the coronation?" The fourth Observant said, and the rest agreed.
" I want all of my life! Not just my college years or my teen years. I want it all!" Danny said.
"Danny, we can talk about it. You don't have to make a choice right now; we can come back at a later time and-" Clockwork began.
"No! sorry clockwork but you chose wrong. I refuse to be king. You all can find someone else to put the Ghost Zone back together: Danny took off, flying out of the Clocktower.
When he returned home the Ring of Rage sat on his night stand, with a small note from Clockwork, pleading with him to at least think about it. Danny rolled his eyes and threw the ring across the room. It bounced off the wall and landed on his dresser, where it stayed till morning. Till he grew tired of looking at it. Danny threw the ring into his nightstand and locked it.
His Father had made the locking nightstands for Jazz when she began to write in a secret diary, and at seven years old, Danny had to have whatever his sister had. It was a younger sibling thing, all younger siblings desire what their eldest sibling had. But the drawer no longer held half-filled notebooks and Pokémon games, but small weapons, bits of Skulker's mech suit, and a used first aid kit. All of it tossed carelessly into the drawer as if it was your average junk drawer.
Downstairs, he saw what had exploded this morning. A new burnt metal panel had been installed by the front door. His parents' style of exposed bulky bolts and neon green buttons clashed against the living room's pale blue color.
"Morning son!" His Father said, standing by the panel and using a used sweat cloth to brush the burnt black mess off the panel.
"Morning, uh, what is that?" Danny asked.
"I'm glad you asked! Your mom and I are installing the new Fenton Anti-Ghost Home Security System. This will cover the house with an anti-ghost shield and prevent any ghost from entering the property. and if they try, they will get a painful shock!"
"Oh, really"
"Yes! But, we're having some issues."
"Was a wire plugged into the wrong place again?"
"No."
"Did you forget to turn a switch on?"
"Not this time."
"Did you-"
"No, no, no. The townhouse is bigger than we had planned when we built the dam thing. I took the average house size off google and used that for the math. But we have a townhouse plus the Fenton Emergency Shelter on top of the house increases the size by a lot. The first time we increased the size without increasing the energy input caused a small explosion. Sorry if that woke you up son."
"It's okay."
"But, I married a bone-a-fied genius and she is outside switching up the wiring and replacing the burnt bits." His Father said. Outside, his mother was attached to the brick wall with a pulley system. She walked down the building with a thick bag of burnt metal around her waist. She waved to her son. He waved back. "There is also the other issue of cross-contamination. See, your mother and I spend so much time with ectoplasm that the shield will recognize us as small ghosts. I've been zapped three times already! But, Jack Fenton is no one to back down from a challenge! I made these Fenton Anti-Ghost Home Security Access Keys aka FAGHSAKs!"
"That isn't a word." Danny said.
"It is now!"
There was a knock at the window. Danny's Mom stood outside tapping the window with a burnt pipe. He gave them a thumbs up before jumping off the building and disconnecting herself. "Perfect! now step back Danny in case this whole place blows again." His father shoved him to the ground. With a few dial turns and button press the house was covered in a thin green wall of ectoplasm. Danny felt a tight pinch all over his skin. His Father paid no attention and focused on the glowing green bars. While, his Mother stood outside examining the building with her modified I-Pad. The seconds passed like mosslases until they both gave a thumbs up. "Yes! Another victory for the Fentons! Now take one of the FASGHSAKs in case you got contaminated too. Wouldn't want to be locked out of the house, would'cha?"
"Nope! That would be bad. Wait, can I get one for Sam and Tucker? I mean they are here so often and we do our homework in the lab sometimes." Danny said.
"Sure, I don't have an issue with it. Those two are pretty dependable. actually, with all the Ghosts attacks all over ton I would be surprised if everyone wasn't a little contaminated. Note to Jack, investigate how far the contamination has spread. Note to Maddie, check to see if contamination has any health issues," He spoke the last lines into his phone.
Danny grabbed the FASGHSAKs and quickly left for the kitchen. The pinching pain and sensation faded quickly.
Sam Twisted the FASGHSAK in her hand. The round metal keychain had a neon green Fenton logo style F embedded into the center.
"What happened to the last shield your parents had?" She asked. In the past two years Sam had grown her hair out into thin black strands. Her half ponytail now hung a little lower, drawn down by the weight of added hair. Her clothes had changed from goth to punk, with pockets filled with improved weapons, and tools.
"I don't know. I think they got bored making guns and bombs," Danny said.
"They sound like my parents. My Mom is redoing our kitchen for the third time. She can't leave well enough alone." Sam said. The FASGHSAK was added to her key ring and then thrown into her coffin shaped bag.
"That's just because they feel need the need to do something. Whenever my Mom finishes a project, she tried to redo another part of the house. She says it's because she's so used to moving that staying in one static place drives her up the wall. All of her half-finished renovations drive my Dad up the wall tho," Tucker said. Two years of ghost hunting had helped him develop his muscles and in turn boosted his confidence. He no longer needed to fake it and tossed the yellow sweater for t-shirts and vest. He dropped the new keychain into the pocket of his cargo shorts.
"Do all adults do that? I hope we don't turn into that once we grow up," Sam said.
"Won't happen. I can already see it. The three of us will be too busy being the Ghostly Avengers! Saving the world from ghosts and other dark forces," Tucker said.
"The ghostly avengers?" Danny said.
"yeah! I was thinking about it and the three of us are like the avengers or Justice League but if they only dealt with ghosts."
"We should come up with a better name. Ghostly Avengers sound like a marvel rip off series."
"The ghostly trio? The Amity Park protectors? Guardians of the Human Zone?" Tucker shot off several ideas.
"I'm not feeling it," same said.
"Don't worry. I'll workshop it and get it back to you. Cause we should totally have a cool team name if we plan to do this forever."
"That's crazy to think about," Sam said. "It doesn't even feel like it's been two years - like my Mom was talking about next year being our senior year and all the things she had to plan for. I don't know, for some reason I thought we were still fourteen."
"Same. My Dad wants me to start applying for scholarships. And I want to tell them that it's too soon for that. but then I realized I was sixteen," Tucker said.
"I wish I was still fourteen. Clockwork visited me last night to talk about my future, and apparently they are looking for someone to take the ghost throne. And that I would be a good candidate for it."
"Danny, that's amazing. You could prevent ghost attacks from happening with a royal decree." Sam said.
"And you would be rich! Probably a lot richer than Vlad," Tucker said.
"Not you guys too." Danny said.
"What's wrong with being king? You get ultimate power, money, and all the ladies would want to be with you!" Tucker said.
"And you could bring much needed change to the Ghost Zone. You could even dissolve the monarchy and put in a new system that would make all ghosts equal," Sam said.
"I don't know about that. Apparently the reason the Ghost Zone looks like a bunch of random floating rocks is because there is no king right now. Whoever sits on the throne gets to dictate what the Ghost Zone looks like. And keep it in one piece," Danny said.
"If I was King. I would make it always night, and make the stars spell out my name. And there would be fountains of soda everywhere," Tucker said.
"If I was King, or Queen? I would make the Ghost Zone a large forest where any type of plant would live. And there would be no need for fighting as all resources could be gathered from the nearby fauna," Sam said.
"And you would be in charge of all the rules, and be responsible for wherever anything goes wrong. Plus you think Walker, Skulker, or any of the other ghosts we fight would just accept any of us as King or Queen?" Danny said.
"That's true, but if you're King you can just sentence him to prison," Tucker said.
"Or you could gather the rest of the ghosts to stand against him and force him into peace talks," Sam said.
Danny groaned. burying his head into his hands. Spreading his fingers he could see his greasy pizza lunch, half drank milk, and an uneaten peach.
"But I don't want that. I don't want to sentence anyone to prison or do peace talks. I just want to be sixteen, and hang with my friends, and go to prom, and go to college, and go to NASA. I'm not even cut out for that shit anyways. I mean, i can barely turn in my homework on time."
"You have a point, plus any woman who wants to marry you, would just be in it for the crown," Tucker said.
"Did you tell him that?" Sam said.
"Yeah, but you know how he is," Danny said. "You have this great destiny before you and blah blah blah."
"He sounds like a parent."
"Has he talked to my Dad? "Tucker you are the smartest in our family, therefore you need to go to a good school and get a good job and get somewhere in life. That way you can take care of us, once we are old. And as the only son, you need to make sure you raise our family from the working clas- and blah, blah, blah."
The bell rang out, and a chorus of students rushed out of the lunch room. "Sorry guys, I gotta go. I have bio after this. Good luck on the king stuff Danny!"
"I don't know Danny. Maybe they will find someone else for the job, or maybe you may find it to be good for you?" Sam said.
"I doubt it. But thanks for trying Sam."
"See ya later in english?"
"See ya."
Sam left for the gym, leaving Danny to quickly inhale his lunch.
Danny left the lunchroom and entered the sepia themed hallways of Casper High. He pushed through the hustle and bustle when a hand threw him against a locker. Only an idiot would not know who did it. At least today the high school bully play Dash would put on came after lunch. When it came before Danny would miss the chance to grab the nice fruit the cafeteria people served, and he would be left with the soggy ugly fruit that tasted like the tin can they came out of. It was unpleasant and-
"Hey Fenton!" Dash yelled. "I'm talking to you!" He had been. Danny chose to ignore it. The peaches today were quite nice. "You think you could sneak away without seeing me?"
"I was hoping to," Danny mumbled.
"What did you say?" Dash said.
"I said I was hoping to have a nice day, but then you showed up," Danny said.
"You think you're so… what's the word?" Dash said.
"Smart?" Kwan giggled.
"Corny?" Kyle snarked.
"That one!" Dash high fived his friend.
"I can feel my brain cells dying the longer I hear this," Danny mumbled. Dash and his goons had grown through the years, putting on more muscles and getting into the best shape of their lives. Which would be short lived, as every high school quarterback was doomed to end up with a beer belly once they left the world of sports and entered into the world of normal life. Danny wondered who Dash would bully at age 35, with a balding head and a big beer belly. Would they take him seriously in a poorly washed polo shirt, cargo shorts, and loafers?
"Hey what are you guys doing?" A new voice rang out. behind Dash and his crew was a thin boy with white hair, and a black turtleneck.
"Who's that?" Kwan asked.
"That's the new kid I saw this morning. Hey new kid. get lost, or else!" Dash said.
"Or else what? You'll pull your after school special bullying skills on me?" The new kid said.
"What did you just say to me?"
"I said your act has been done before by those with better looks and better charisma. So, how about you leave now before this becomes a memory you cringe in ten years."
"Looks, like -"
"We will have to teach the new kid a lesson?" He finished Dash's words. "Calling you a cardboard copy of a better person would be an insult to cardboard."
"Who do you think you are?"
"Better than you."
Dash threw his arm back, ready to plant a fierce one on the kid, his face now twisted with red rage. A hand grabbed his arm.
"Mr. Baxter, I expected better from you!" Mr. Lancer scolded.
"Mr. Lancer I-" Dash said.
"Get to class before I have to do my job." The crew split, grumbling down the halls. "Mr. Fenton, why am I not surprised. And Mr. Masters, I am quite sorry you had to see the worst of us today, but I hope this does not damper your view? Or your father's view?"
"Of course not, Mr. Lancer. Sometimes kids can get caught up in their hormones. I won't tell my father about this." The new kid said.
"Good! Not Mr. Fenton can escort you to class," Mr. Lancer said.