"Let the Twelve-hundredth and fifty-sixth meeting of the High Counsel of Observants begin." A gavel swung down, colliding against the podium with a bang.

Another Observant, on the far end of the Council Chamber, rose to speak "In light of the repeated infractions performed by the ghost known as Clockwork, I move to decrease the height of his tower by 200 inches as punishment. Can I get a Second?"

"Seconded." The rest of the Observants sounded out in unison. It was pointless to ask for a confirmation, but they did anyways, all in the name of bureaucracy. "All in favor say-"

The doors to the council chamber banged open, as in strode a very annoyed ghost in formal Greek attire. She walked to the center podium like she belonged there, before turning, full circle, to ensure she had glared, at least in the direction of, every single one of them.

"Are you seriously talking about housing arrangements?"

There was moment of stunned silence, before everyone started talking at once. "You are not allowed here-"

"This is the high Council-"

"I vote that Clockwork remove her immediately-"

She somehow, impressively, managed to raise her voice above the rest, once again shocking them into silence more effective than the forgotten gavel. "I. Have. A. Question!"

The guards, unused to having actual work to do, turned to the presiding Head Chair for instructions. He paused, glancing around the room before deciding that it wasn't, truly, a major infraction, especially given she was otherwise one of their better behaved subjects. "You may ask it" He declared.

"When is Danny Phantom going to take the crown of Pariah Dark?"

The Council exploded into chaos again. This time, however, the gavel was not forgotten, and, although not as effective as Pandora's speech, it did manage to calm the members so the Head could speak.

"Danny Phantom will not be taking the Crown of Fire or the Ring of Rage. He-"

"Why not? He defeated Pariah Dark, didn't he? Doesn't that lay claim to his thrown?"

"Pariah Dark was defeated by the Ancients. Which set in motion the principal that the government should be an Oligarchy-"

"This isn't government, this is Anarchy! The Ghost Zone is fragmented, ghosts making due with the local governments in place where they can find them and take matters into their own hands when they can't. Hardly anyone even recognizes your authority anymore. When I had a cross-regional robbery I had to go to Walker for help, who, you should know, tried to imprison my workers the kind of shoes they were wearing. I-"

"The actions of one warden are hardly matters that should be taken to the High Council-"

"Then who should I take this matter to? Should I deal with it myself? Because I'll tell you who finally ended up helping me. Danny Phantom."

"We are here to deal with major problems that affect the Ghost Zone as a whole-"

"Only once the body count reaches the thousands. How many criminals have you convicted in the past year? Hmm? Have you even convicted one?"

"The criminal Vortex-"

"Escaped. And you know who caught him? Danny Phantom. The man who freed him was Vlad Masters. Now, that's got to be a major offense. But was he punished? No. He's out there doing who knows what while you're discussing ways to punish Clockwork for self-stated 'minor infractions' Face it, you aren't running the Ghost Zone, you're ignoring it. Phantom is already doing your job, I just want to know how long until you acknowledge it."

Silence accompanied her speech. It was clear that they were losing this argument, so they decided that it was not in their list of duties to explain themselves to peasants. They had been deciding a lot of things were not in their list of duties lately.

"Daniel Fenton cannot take the throne because he not a full ghost."

"Where is that written? What was the precedent? What does that even mean? If he were to renounce his humanity, his human life, would you accept him? Or are you now simply stewards until his death?"

"Daniel Fenton did not the one who closed Pariah's Crypt"

"Then who-"

"Vlad Masters aided him-"

"Then the crown is contested between them. When is the contest to for this to be decided?"

"It is not that simple!Daniel is not of age- he cannot-"

"Such a shame isn't it? If only Phantom and Plasmius were one and the same..." Heads swiveled to greet the newcomer, most shifting to a glare at the sight of the Master of Time stepping through the open doors. "If only they could be combined to form one, pure, full ghost..."

"Surely you aren't imiplying-"

"Of course not. After all, He has been defeated... By none other than Phantom himself..."

"The events of another Timeline have no bearing on this one!"

Clockwork acquiesced, bowing his head in a way that could be interpreted as sarcastic if one payed attention to the smirk hidden beneath his hood.

"You are not authorized to enter this Chamber."

"You left the door open. I was merely coming to see if you were in need of assistance." The Observants could have called his bluff; Clockwork didn't need to leave his tower to know what was happening and when... But that would imply that he could see the Time Stream better than them, and that was not something they were likely to admit.

"Very well, you may go." The Observant called,attempting to imbue his words with

Clockwork nodded and turned to go, leading a frustrated Pandora out, trying to convey that this was a battle she would not win; bureaucracy was the Observant's home turf. It was better to battle them on more equal terms.

And so the two left, closing the doors behind them. As if an unenforced dismissal could stop their growing rebellion.