#taot

One of the ghosts stepped forward, bigger than all the rest—Danny was pretty sure that he was the leader, if the engraved gold armband and jewel-encrusted belt around his waist were anything to go by; none of the others were dressed quite so fancy. His dark blue cape billowed behind him in the bitterly cold wind as he stared at Danny as if he was no more than a bug. Or worse—their lunch.

Danny opened his mouth, planning to say something that would hopefully come off as enough of a warning to keep them at bay. At least until he and his friends could get the Specter Speeder running again and hightail it out of there. But before he could say anything, the leader… smiled. And Danny realized that he didn’t look angry—he looked overjoyed.

“Greetings, oh Great One! Savior of the Infinite Realms!” The leader’s voice boomed, cutting through the shrieking of the wind like a knife through softened butter. “I am Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen. And we, your humble servants, are here to offer our aid.”

Wait… what?

As Danny looked at the group of ghosts again, he realized that they weren’t quite as menacing as he had first assumed. They weren’t staring at him with anger or malice; they were staring at him as if he had hung the stars in the night sky. A couple of them were even whispering to one another like gossiping schoolgirls.

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait.” The ecto-energy in Danny’s palms dissipated, and he shook his head in confusion. “Great One? Savior? I—you must be mistaken. My friends and I—we’re lost. Our ride broke down. We just want to get it working again, and then we’ll be on our way, and out of your hair. Okay? I-I don’t want any trouble.”

“Why, of course!” The one called Frostbite replied jovially, and he extended his hands in a welcoming gesture. “We mean you no harm!”

“Wha—no harm?” Danny sputtered incredulously. “Then why did you freeze the Specter Speeder?!”

“To save you from crashing, of course!” Frostbite laughed, as if Danny had asked something funny. A few of his pack joined in. “If you and your friends would like to follow me, I can explain everything in a more comfortable setting. I imagine you all aren’t used to this level of cold.”

Danny wanted to decline the offer, but Frostbite was right. Following his accident, Danny had found that he wasn't really affected by chilly weather anymore. But this was, like, beyond cold, even for him. And if he was freezing, then how were Sam and Tucker handling the sub-zero temperatures? And as much as he hated to admit it, he wouldn’t be able to fix the Specter Speeder on his own. “Fine,” he said at last. “Just don’t do anything funny!”

Frostbite chuckled merrily. “You have my word, Great One.”

The journey to Frostbite’s village was quick, thanks to the help of Frostbite and his yeti friends (that was what they referred to themselves as, and Danny supposed that was what they looked like, considering the fact that he himself had never seen a yeti). It had taken a bit of convincing to get his friends to agree to come along peacefully, which Danny understood. He couldn’t blame them for being wary, given their previous experiences in the Ghost Zone. But with the Specter Speeder out of commission, and the three of them lost in unknown territory, it would be for the best if they went along with the yeti ghosts for the time being.

At least the yeti ghosts seemed friendly enough.

Once the Speeder had been set down in the middle of the cozy little village, Danny and his friends stepped out, bundled up in Fenton Parkas (his parents really had prepared for anything in the Ghost Zone). They were immediately surrounded by a crowd of the yeti ghosts, young and old, big and small, and all beaming as if they were at a celebrity meet-and-greet.

“Great One, please allow us, your humble servants, to welcome you and your friends with the traditional greeting of our people,” Frostbite said. He then pressed his palms together and bowed his head, his people swiftly following his lead. “Namaste.”

Tucker made a sound halfway between a scoff and a chuckle. “What is this, yoga class?”

Shocked murmurs rose from the crowd of yetis, and a few offended glares were shot Tucker’s way. But Frostbite merely raised his hand, and his people quieted down.

“It would be wise of you to refrain from speaking lightly of cultures that you know little about, friend of the Great One.” Frostbite advised coldly, a startling change from his warm, welcoming demeanor. “It may end poorly for you one of these days.”

Tucker gulped nervously and gave a meek nod. Danny didn’t blame him for being spooked; these guys, though seemingly nice, looked like they ate Tuckers for breakfast.

“But seeing as you are a friend of the Great One, I will let it slide,” Frostbite declared, and just like that, his friendly manner returned. “Now come! Let me introduce you to the tribe.”

~~~~

After another round of introductions (one that lasted much longer than the first), Frostbite took Danny, Sam, and Tucker down into a cave while some of his people got to work fixing up the Specter Speeder with welding torches. (Oh, yeah. Frostbite and the yeti ghosts lived in caves. Had Danny mentioned that? He supposed it fit with the whole “frozen wasteland” theme. Unlike the welding torches. But anyway.) The cave (which, strangely, had armed guards posted at its entrance) was well-lit with flickering green torches, but it wasn’t any warmer than it had been out in the snow. On the walls of the cave were pictures, their lines scratched and carved carefully into the stone. And the pictures… well, that was where this whole thing got really weird.

They were all pictures of Danny.

“This here is a shrine! Dedicated to you, oh Great One!” Frostbite explained, a proud smile on his face as he gestured to the murals. “Our people have added to it over the centuries, depicting your journeys and tales in the immortality of stone. It is a tribute and a testament to all your good deeds.” 

“Wait a minute.” Danny’s brain felt like it was short-circuiting, because what Frostbite had just said did not add up. “Centuries?”

Frostbite nodded enthusiastically, not seeming to notice Danny’s bewilderment. “Of course! Time flows strangely in the Infinite Realms. But all of your legends are documented here, both past and future.”

In a state of complete disbelief, Danny held his breath as he spun around, eyeing the pictures on the walls. He recognized some of them now. The portal accident. His many fights with various ghosts (he was pretty sure he could make out Vlad, Skulker, and even the Box Ghost in some of the carvings). One of the bigger, more detailed murals was of the time Danny had defeated the Ghost King, Pariah Dark, and trapped him in the Sarcophagus of Eternal Sleep. There was even a mural of his apprenticeship ceremony in the Underworld, when he had taken on the title of Thanatos’ apprentice. How in the world did Frostbite’s people know about that?

“Oh, and please don't wander too far,” Frostbite warned like he was a tour guide for the world's strangest museum. “We don't want you seeing your future before it happens!”

“Hey, Frostbite? So, uhh… why do you guys have a shrine dedicated to Danny?” Sam asked, clearly perturbed by the strange cave.

“Why, is it not obvious?” Frostbite asked. “The Great One is a very important part of our history! Not just of the Far Frozen, but of the entire Ghost Zone!”

“But how?” Danny asked. “I’ve never even met you guys before now.”

“Yes, that is true,” Frostbite agreed. “But we have known you for much longer.”

“But…” Danny looked at the walls around him once more, before giving a helpless shrug. “But I’m just… Danny. I’m not the Great One you guys keep talking about.”

“Yeah!” Tucker agreed. “This guy’s barely passing ninth grade. Great One? I don’t think so.”

Before Frostbite could reply, another picture caught Danny’s attention. This one… he didn’t recognize. The carving was simple: a group of crudely-formed stick figures, with the one in the middle standing above the rest, wearing a crown.

Danny reached out and touched the mural with his hand. The lines were softer than those of the other murals, worn and faded from the touch of time. It was old; maybe that was why it wasn’t as detailed as the rest. But what did it have to do with Danny? Was he one of the figures in the picture? If so, which one?

“What’s going on here?” Danny asked as his friends came to stand on either side of him.

“Ah… yes. That one.” Frostbite said with far less enthusiasm than Danny had come to expect from him. “When Pariah Dark was defeated, a new king was destined to take his place. But—”

The yeti’s voice seemed to catch in his throat, and when Danny looked back at him he saw that Frostbite looked… angry. But the look faded in an instant, replaced instead by a look of sadness.

“I am sorry,” Frostbite muttered quietly. “I cannot speak of it at this time.”

Why was Frostbite acting so weird all of a sudden? He had been so eager to explain before, but now… it was almost as if the picture of this future Ghost King filled the yeti ghost with regret.

Wait a second. Future Ghost King?

Ghost King?

Why… why did that ring a bell? It was almost as if he had heard it… in a dream or something. A memory, but distant and fuzzy—it gave him a headache just trying to recall it.

“As… I thought you knew.”

“What did you just call me?”

“...?”

“What do you mean I’m…?!”

“When you defeated… you became the new…”

“And what does that mean? Being your apprentice? Will it help me with…?”

Danny gripped his arm, his nails digging into the fabric of his suit. Why couldn’t he remember? It was something important, he knew that much. Something… something Thanatos had told him. Something Thanatos had called him.

But what was it?

“Hey, look at this one!” Tucker called out, derailing Danny’s train of thought. “It looks like some sort of… wedding thingy.”

Confused, Danny turned around and looked at what Tucker was referring to. And then he spluttered rather indignantly. “It was not! It was a super ancient, super serious ceremony that made Thanatos my mentor!”

Tucker gave an awkward chuckle as he stepped away from the carving. “Heh, oops. My bad.”

~~~~

“Hey, Frostbite? Not that we’re not having the time of our lives and all,” Danny said, careful not to meet the tired, annoyed looks of his friends. “But do you know how much longer it’ll be until the Speeder is fixed?”

And honestly, it wasn’t just his friends that were cold, tired, and perhaps a little on edge. Danny knew that he certainly was. They didn’t have time to waste learning about the weird, prophetic carvings of him in this cave when they were supposed to be finding Ellie, before something—or someone—else did.

“I’m sure it will be done soon, Great One,” Frostbite answered (un)helpfully. “If you three would like, we can head back up and check on the progress of the repairs.”

“Yes, please!” was the unanimous vote, and Frostbite took the lead as they began to make their way back to the cave entrance. Danny’s gaze trailed over the pictures as they made their way back, and he honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole “shrine” thing, other than… weird. Honored, maybe. But mostly, it was just weird.

As Danny glanced behind him, he saw something move in the corner of his eye. He swore that he caught a glimpse of white hair, and it was enough to make him freeze.

Ellie?

Neither Frostbite, Sam, nor Tucker noticed as Danny quietly slipped away and made his way back down into the cave to go investigate. Had it been Ellie that he had seen? Or could it have been someone else? Another yeti ghost, maybe? Danny hadn’t seen anyone else while they were down there.

But when Danny made it to the back of the cave, past where he and his friends had explored with Frostbite, he didn’t find anyone. Odd, but… maybe it was just his nerves getting to him. He was used to being on edge—it kind of came with the whole “daily ghost attacks” deal, and he definitely hadn’t been getting enough sleep lately (not that he ever did). Both of those combined could totally explain why he had thought he had seen somebody when there was no one there. Right?

Danny sighed tiredly as he dragged his hand down his face. Once they found Ellie and made sure she was safe, he was going to go home and sleep for the rest of the weekend. With everything that had happened to him in just the past month—his evil not-future self and Vlad and the clones—he definitely needed it.

Eager to get back to their search, Danny started to leave the cave once more, but as he did so one of the carvings caught his eye. There were two figures, standing facing the same way. The one in front looked like Danny, at least when compared to the other cave carvings of him. The other, Danny didn’t recognize. It didn’t look like Tucker or Sam, or any of his family. They seemed to be reaching towards Danny…

Wait.

No, that wasn’t it. They had something in their hand, which was outstretched. A thin triangle, the point of which was aimed right for him.

A sense of unease trickled down Danny’s back like a cold sweat, even though he was pretty sure it was far too cold in this cave for sweat to even form. This picture… something wasn’t right about it. It felt almost like… a warning. The unknown object in the stranger’s hand… 

Was that… a knife?

“Ah! There you are, Great One!” Frostbite said, his booming voice startling Danny out of his thoughts. “Your friends and I were wondering where you’d gone off to.”

Danny winced and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, ashamed that he had been caught. “Yeah, uhh, sorry about that. I…” He knew he should follow Frostbite out of the cave, but his gaze flicked back to the ominous drawing, and his sense of unease returned. “Hey, uhh… do you know what’s going on here?”

“Hmm?” Frostbite came over to where Danny stood and leaned in, peering at the carving. He was standing so close that Danny felt the hairs on Frostbite’s arm stand on end as an unreadable expression flickered across his face for just a split second.

“Oh, that? That’s nothing special!” Frostbite said too quickly and too cheerfully—even for him. “Worry not. It’s… it’s nothing. Really!”

But… if it was nothing, then why was it important enough to end up engraved in this cave?

Frostbite’s large, furry, and clawed hand landed on Danny’s shoulder with almost enough force to make his knees buckle. “Come along now, Great One! We mustn’t keep your friends waiting.”

Danny did as he was told, and followed Frostbite out of the strange cave. But as he did so, he got the feeling that he had stumbled across something that he shouldn’t have.

~~~~

“Thanks again, Frostbite,” Danny said for what must’ve been the dozenth time as Sam and Tucker clambered into the Specter Speeder. “I’m really glad we ran into you.”

“Anytime, Great One,” Frostbite replied with a smile. “Perhaps the next time our paths cross, it will not be in such a dire situation.”

Danny chuckled. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He gave Frostbite a parting wave and turned to leave, but made it only a few steps before a question came to mind. “Hey, Frostbite? Weird question, but have you seen someone who looks like me recently?”

Frostbite’s cheerful smile became puzzled. “I… have seen you.”

“Well, that’s not…” Danny rubbed his neck again, feeling a bit awkward as he clarified: “Have you seen me, but like… a girl?”

Frostbite shook his head. “I have not, Great One. If you would like, I can keep an eye out for any who might match that description.”

Danny smiled. “Yeah. That would be really helpful. Thanks, Frostbite.”

“Of course, Great One. Safe travels.”

Frostbite had been kind enough to point them in the direction of another realm in the Ghost Zone that might be able to help them, and with a final goodbye, the three teens set off to continue their search for Ellie.

“Woah! Those yetis really know their stuff!” Tucker exclaimed as the Specter Speeder glided smoothly towards their destination. “This baby’s running like new!”

“Let’s hope it’ll hold together until we find Ellie,” Danny muttered rather glumly as he settled down in his seat.

“Hey. She’ll be fine,” Sam said reassuringly.

“Yeah!” Tucker chimed in. “If she’s anything like you, then it’s the ghosts who’ll be in trouble. Not her.”

Danny scoffed. “You must not know me very well, Tuck. I’m always in trouble.”

~~~~

While flying through the Ghost Zone, the trio of friends were greeted by a surprising lack of ghosts. Which was strange, considering they were in, y’know, the Ghost Zone. Home of ghosts, spirits, and all manner of spooky things. The fact that there were currently no ghosts in sight was enough to set Danny on edge.

Was something happening in the Ghost Zone? Something big that he wasn’t aware of? He was pretty sure it wasn’t Pariah Dark again—if it were, then there would’ve been a surplus of ghosts in the human world again, staking claim on their new lairs and causing chaos all over Amity Park.

But then what was it? Shouldn’t he have heard something by now if something was wrong? Not every ghost in the Zone hated him. Like… Wulf, for example. Or Princess Dora. They were friendly with him. Heck, wouldn’t Frostbite have told him if something was wrong? He had called Danny the "savior of the realm", or something like that. If that was the case, then wouldn’t he have told Danny if something was going on in the Ghost Zone?

Danny tried to distract himself from the unease bubbling in his gut by looking out the window at the vast green nothingness before them. It wasn’t the most exciting view, but the vibrant green background should make it easy to see if a certain white-ponytailed ghost in a familiar black and white suit were to pass by…

“Wow! The Zone’s really got everything, huh?” Tucker exclaimed, breaking Danny out of his thoughts. “They even have plants! Bet you’re happy to see that, huh, Sam?”

Curious, both Sam and Danny looked where Tucker was pointing, and there were indeed plants. And they even looked somewhat healthy, unlike the plants he usually saw in the Ghost Zone (which were often withered and sad-looking, and only came in a small variety of colors: black, purple, and ectoplasmic green).

No, these plants were thriving, with their leaves spread wide and their flowers in full bloom. They sported the usual greens and purples of the Ghost Zone, but there were also vibrant pinks and blues, along with a haze of yellow spores floating all around them. Just looking at it was enough to make Danny’s nose itch as if he had to sneeze.

“What do you think, Sam? Is it vegan enough for you?” Tucker teased.

But there was no response from her. Not even a well-deserved punch to the arm.

“Sam?” Danny turned to look at the goth girl.

Sam was staring at the island of plants, but something wasn’t right. Her posture was stiff, and her eyes were strangely focused, yet blank. As if she was hyperfocused, yet not there at all. Was she even breathing?

Danny reached out and touched her shoulder, but Sam didn’t react. She didn’t even blink. She was frozen in place like a statue.

Okay, something was definitely wrong.

“Hey, Tuck. I think we should get out of here,” Danny said worriedly.

Tucker nodded. “Way ahead of you, dude.”

The Speeder jolted slightly as Tucker swerved to the side and stepped on the gas, speeding away from the strange, jungle-like island.

“Earth to Sam. Come in, Sam.”

It had taken a while for the island to disappear from the horizon, and Sam had been frozen the entire time, moving only to continue facing the island as they passed by, her eyes unblinking, her intense gaze unwavering.

At the lack of response to his corny space joke, Danny reached out and shook Sam’s shoulder. She hadn’t responded the first few times he had done so, but this time she blinked, much to his relief.

She blinked again, seemingly confused.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked her.

“Huh?” She looked only more confused.

“What happened?” Danny prodded.

Sam frowned. “What are you talking about? Nothing happened.”

Danny glanced over his shoulder to share a concerned look with Tucker. “Uhh… don’t you remember? You saw those weird plants, and then you got all weird.”

“Yeah. Like a zombie or something,” Tucker added.

Sam scowled. “No, I didn’t. We just flew by some ghostly plant island, so what?”

Her scowl only deepened as it became clear that that answer wasn’t enough for either of the boys. “I’m fine,” she all but snarled. “So knock it off.”

Okay, so Sam was definitely not fine. But before Danny could say anything, Tucker sat up in his seat and pointed straight ahead. “Land ho!”

Their attention was drawn to the sight past the windshield, which was a large, floating island. Clustered atop it was a group of buildings in patterns of white and gold, with tall, grecian pillars that looked as if they had long withstood the test of time.

“It looks very… Greek,” Tucker observed as they flew towards the island.

Danny nodded in agreement. “This must be the place Frostbite told us about.”

Sam folded his arms over her chest as she leaned back in her seat. “Well, let’s hope these locals are as friendly as the last ones.”

As it turned out, they didn’t have to worry about whether the locals were friendly or not, because there were no locals. The streets were completely devoid of any semblance of life. (Well, they were usually devoid of life in the Ghost Zone, but like, there were no ghosts to be seen, y’know?) Doors were shut, torches smoldered in their sconces, and curtains fluttered eerily in empty windows. It was like a ghost town—well, okay, all towns in the Ghost Zone were technically ghost towns. But this one?

It was straight up abandoned.

“Where is everybody?” Tucker wondered aloud as he landed the Specter Speeder in what looked like the town square. In front of them was a large, official looking building that looked like something straight out of Ancient Greece.

“No idea,” Danny replied as he stood and opened the hatch.

“Be careful,” Sam warned him. “We don’t need to add ‘rescuing you’ to our checklist today.”

“I’ll be fine,” Danny said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Then he stepped out onto the cobbled street.

Danny only managed to take a couple of steps away from the Speeder before a booming voice shouted at him. “STOP! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Danny jumped like a spooked cat as he turned towards the voice, and he froze when he saw the ghost standing in the doorway of the large building.

The ghost was tall. Like, double Thanatos’ height and then some tall. She was wearing golden plate armor with a matching plumed helmet, and a floor-length yellow and black Grecian-style dress. Her skin was blue, her eyes were red, and her hair was a fiery magenta that flickered dangerously from underneath her helmet. And as if that wasn’t scary enough, she had four arms, one of which was holding a massive spear, which shined with a radiant energy that was just waiting to be unleashed.

All in all? Very intimidating.

Danny quickly threw up his hands in what he meant as a placating gesture; he did not feel like becoming a Danny-kebab today, thank you very much.

The ghost stepped closer. And to his surprise, she froze.

“Lord Ath—uh. You… w-what are you doing here?” The ghost stammered, as if she was the one that was surprised.

Danny slowly and cautiously lowered his hands. “Umm… you must be Pandora, right?” He asked her nervously. “Frostbite said that you could help me? And my friends?”

The ghost blinked as she regained her composure. “Yes. I am Pandora. But no, I cannot help you. Not right now.”

“What? Why not?” Danny asked, confused. Frostbite had said…

“Someone… someone has been taking my people,” Pandora explained slowly. Cautiously, even. As if she was carefully choosing her words. “And if you do not leave now, you will be taken as well.”

Though alarmed by her words, Danny felt frustration begin to bubble deep in his gut. They had come so far to find Pandora, only for her to tell them that she couldn’t help? First the Specter Speeder broke down, stranding them in the Far Frozen for hours, then Sam got possessed by a weird plant island, and now this? Why was everything working against him when he was just trying to find Ellie?!

“Is there anything you can do to help?” Danny asked her, trying his best not to sound like a whiny child.

Pandora thought for a moment before responding carefully. “That depends on what you need help with.”

“I’m looking for someone who looks like me, but female.”

There was a spark of recognition in her eyes. Hope swelled like a balloon in Danny’s chest.

“I see,” Pandora hummed thoughtfully. “Unfortunately, the person you seek does not dwell in this realm. Nor does she visit often.”

Danny visibly deflated. Another dead end.

Well, not exactly. Pandora at least seemed to know who he was talking about.

Before Danny could ask her another question, she continued. “Perhaps you would have better luck finding her if you asked her father.”

Danny bit back a growl. “As if I would ask him for help.” Vlad was the reason why all of this was happening in the first place!

Pandora sighed as she gave Danny a look—one that was very similar to his mom’s whenever she was disappointed in him. “That is unfortunate to hear. I thought he might help you, as you are his kin.”

Wait. What?

Pandora continued once more, before Danny could correct her or ask her what on earth she was talking about. “Regretfully, there is nothing I can do to aid you in your plight. But I hope that you may reconcile with him soon. Your grandfather is so fond of you.”

Uhh… “Who?”

Pandora blinked, as if she was the one that had the right to be confused. “Your mother’s father, of course. Isn’t she the one you are looking for?”

Just then, a howl split through the silence of the abandoned city, followed by others, and a chill filled the air. It sounded like a pack of dogs far off in the distance, but there was something… off-putting about it. Something that Danny couldn’t quite put his finger on, but it sent a huge shiver down his spine and made his knees begin to tremble.

“The Hounds of the Damned!” Pandora gasped fearfully. She turned to look at Danny, her expression panicked. “You have to go! Now!”

Danny didn’t have time to speak or do anything else as Pandora picked him up in just one hand (holy cow, she was big) and pushed him back into the Specter Speeder. Before he could even regain his footing, Pandora picked up the Speeder like it weighed nothing and lifted it up so she could stare at them eye to eye through the windshield.

“Promise me that you will head home right now,” the gigantic ghost urged. “It is not safe for you here.”

“But I can help!” Danny argued. Whatever was howling, it was scaring Pandora. It had to have something to do with her people being taken. And Danny couldn’t just run away and leave her to face it on her own. What kind of ___ would he be?

Danny’s train of thought hit the brakes as he realized that he couldn’t… he couldn’t remember the word, for some reason. But he knew the word. Both Thanatos and Hades had mentioned it before. They had called him the… the ruler of the Ghost Zone. The…

King?

Why did he keep forgetting that?

The howling grew closer, and it made Danny’s hair stand on end. Any previous thoughts he may have been having were pushed from his mind by a strong, almost overwhelming urge to flee.

“Please, Danny! Promise me you will go home now!” Pandora pleaded. “I cannot protect you if she gets a hold of you!”

The mix of hatred and fear that rang in Pandora’s voice with that single word—she—only made Danny more concerned. More insistent on standing his ground. “What? Who?” If something could scare someone like Pandora as badly as this… if someone was out to get him… then that was all the more reason for him to stay and fight. “Who are you—”

“Danny, please. Let’s go,” Sam begged.

Danny turned to look at his friends, ready to argue, but he faltered when he saw them. They were both pale and shaky, as if all the blood had drained from their faces. Tucker was staring straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel with whitened knuckles. Sam’s fingers were digging into her seat as she looked at Danny with a look that he could only describe as petrified.

The howl sounded again, closer than before, and Danny watched helplessly as his friends winced and cowered, as if they were being tormented by some unseen force.

Danny clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. As much as he wanted to stay and help Pandora with this unknown threat, he wasn’t about to put Sam and Tucker in harm’s way.

“Alright,” Danny said bitterly. “We’ll leave. But I’m coming back to help you!”

Pandora smiled, relief washing over her worried expression. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Danny. Now, go!”

Pandora lifted her hand above her head, and (with a little prompting from Danny) Tucker flew the Specter Speeder out of there as quickly as he could, the howls calling after them sounding like those of an enraged beast.

And as they flew away, Danny realized something: he had never told Pandora his name.

That wasn’t too strange though, was it? After all, he was Danny Phantom. He was well-known throughout the Ghost Zone, as both a hero and a menace. Frostbite had known who he was, even though they’d never met. Maybe it was the same with Pandora.

… maybe.

“Are we really going home?” Sam asked as the Speeder’s engines worked to drown out the awful howling. She still looked shaken, but she managed to give Danny a knowing look; she knew that he wasn’t going to give up the search for Ellie that easily.

“Not yet,” Danny admitted as he took his seat. “We still have one more place to visit.”

~~~~

Once the eerie howls had died away, Sam and Tucker collapsed in their seats. They were still pale and shaky, and Danny swore he could see a few dried tears on Tucker’s face. The howls had been unnerving, sure, but they were clearly more affected than Danny had been. As Danny got his friends sitting down in the back with some bottled water and wrapped a Fenton Shock Blanket around their shoulders, he wondered just what that had been. The howling… it wasn’t just noise. There must’ve been some weird energy behind it. Some dark magic, maybe? He really didn’t know much about that stuff just yet, but… maybe he could ask Thanatos about it when he saw him again. The Hounds of the Damned definitely sounded like something that the god would have at least some knowledge about.

Danny took the driver’s seat, but then he hesitated. He knew where he wanted to go next, but… he didn’t know where it was. He had only ever seen it from the inside.

But if anyone could help him find where Ellie had gone… it would be Clockwork.

He just needed to figure out how to find him first.

Tentatively, Danny inched the Specter Speeder forward. These surroundings were kinda familiar, right? Maybe? (Though if he was being honest, all of the Ghost Zone kinda looked the same to him.) It was mostly just green emptiness around them, but there were some chunks of rock floating in the distance ahead. Did that mean there would be more civilization that way? Maybe another island? Or were those just some random rocks?

Just as he was wondering which way he should go, Danny saw something move. He looked at the rocks again, and saw someone peeking out from behind one, smiling. And then she stuck her tongue out at him.

Ellie!

Sam and Tucker made sounds of surprise as Danny abruptly stepped on the gas, sending the Specter Speeder zooming forward without any warning. They reached the floating rocks in less than a minute, but as Danny hit the brakes and quickly looked around, he realized that Ellie was nowhere in sight.

What in the…?

“Danny, what was that?” Sam asked angrily. “Are you trying to give us concussions?”

“I thought I saw…” Danny trailed off as he realized just how crazy he sounded. Oh, I just thought I saw Ellie playing peek-a-boo with me in the middle of freaking nowhere, Ghost Zone, USA. Silly me!

But as Danny began to question his sanity, his gaze wandered out past the windshield, and he saw what looked like a cog. More specifically, one of the cogs he had seen floating outside the window of Clockwork’s Tower.

Danny gripped the steering wheel again. “Buckle up, guys.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tucker muttered as he sat down in one of the seats and bundled himself up in the blanket. “Though you might wanna work on your lead foot.”

Danny rolled his eyes at the snarky comment, but once his friends were buckled in, he did set off a little more smoothly than before. He steered the Speeder towards the floating clockwork gear, and as they drew near he saw another, and then another. They led him forward like a trail of breadcrumbs, and with each one Danny only grew more sure that they were heading in the right direction.

But only ten minutes into their drive, Tucker began to whine.

“Danny, can you stop? You’ve been driving aimlessly for hours.”

Danny scowled, annoyed at his impatience. “Tucker, it’s only been a few minutes!”

“Nuh-uh!” Tucker leaned forward and held out his PDA for Danny to see. “According to my PDA, you’ve been driving for 3 hours and 16 minutes! I’m bored and hungry! Hangry, even! My stomach can’t take this anymore!”

Danny took the PDA from Tucker as Sam, who looked as if she had just woken up, popped open the overhead compartment and pulled out a bag of Fenton Jerky, which she handed to Tucker.

“Oh!” Tucker took the bag and ripped it open, taking a deep whiff of the dried meat. “Well, I suppose we can go a little longer.”

But Danny wasn’t paying attention to Tucker. Instead, he was staring at the time listed on the PDA: 3:41 PM.

That couldn’t be right…

Danny pulled out his own phone and checked the time. 11:38 AM. And the clock on the Speeder’s dashboard read 12:35. “Sam, can I see your phone for a sec?”

Sam rolled her eyes as she handed over her phone. “Tuck’s right, Danny. We’ve been out here all day. We should head home for now.”

Danny took her phone and checked the display.

5:39 PM.

“Umm, guys? Look at this.” Danny laid out the phones and PDA on the dashboard, and when his friends saw the conundrum Tucker pulled out his own phone, checking its time for good measure.

Tucker frowned. “What in the…?”

“Watch out!” Sam yelled.

Danny looked up through the windshield, and just barely managed to steer the Speeder out of the way of a large, fast-approaching gear. The size of a tractor wheel, it narrowly rolled past them, and Danny realized that they had reached their destination. Floating before them was a dark and gloomy clock tower. One that Danny recognized instantly, even though he had never seen it from the outside.

Clockwork’s Tower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woof, had to cut this chapter in half… again. So I guess it's really been cut into thirds. 😅 Up next, Clockwork! Our favorite confusing time ghost man. Does he know where Ellie is? Hmm… I guess we'll have to wait and see. 😉

First: Prologue

Previous: Chapter 36