Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.
A puppet swaying,
hope withering and dying,
cannot shed a tear.
A gleaming and terrifying scythe. A fluttering and torn black cloak. Dead and vacant eyes. Swirling clouds of red.
This was what he saw now. Just a set of images, masked by the color red. If he tried to make out what they meant, numbness would spread over, masking all images all together.
He didn't know what to do. He was so confused; he didn't like this feeling of helplessness. He couldn't feel his body anymore; he wasn't able to tell if he even had a body at one point. All he knew was the hypnotizing vortex of red.
He could see more images now. They were fighting the red haze, trying to capture his attention. When he focused on them, he found that he could resist the haze and numbness as a beautiful face with ebony hair and amethyst eyes came to vision.
And suddenly he knew.
Memories burst into his mind, nearly overwhelming him. His name was Danny. He was half ghost. And the person in front of him was Sam, his best friend.
"Sam…?" he said as he lowered his hood. He was exhausted; his body had been overexerting itself without a mind to tell it to stop. He pushed his aching aside, and continued to look at Sam, hope filling his eyes.
She turned toward him, relief flooding her face. "Danny! You're okay!" she said, while Freakshow stood, shocked that Danny had fought his way out of the crystal's control. He calmed himself, though, rage and disbelief filling him.
"What is that-is that free will? Obey me drone!"
Freakshow raised the staff, its power gripping his senses, cutting Danny off from reality once more. He fought, however. He now knew how to resist; he had to hold on to his identity to be able to fight.
He couldn't keep it up, though. He might have been able to hold onto his sense of self, but he couldn't keep his body. He was cut off from his senses. However, he could see the images more clearly now, and now knew what they meant.
He saw Sam tremble on a tightrope, her arms swinging as she struggled to keep her balance. She turned her pleading eyes to him, saying something he couldn't quite make out. Then he saw her fall.
Several things happened at once. His chained will screamed out, taking control back from the crystal. The crowd screamed as Sam fell. The red haze left his eyes and he flew down to catch her before she became a crumpled heap of broken bones.
He caught her bridal style, swooping to the floor of the circus ring. She held onto him tightly, adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Danny felt a slight pressure in his head, which was slowly starting to worsen. He set Sam down, clutching his head and closing his eyes.
"Danny! Don't scare me like that!" Sam said, concern and fear apparent in her voice. He could feel the crystal's power gripping his thoughts again, driving his temporary freedom away. He heard his voice saying something, but he couldn't make out what. Sam's face was fading in and out, the red haze creeping back.
He wanted to scream. Sam needed him! He couldn't leave her in the hands of Freakshow!
What does she need you for anyway?
What does she need him for? He just said that!
It's not like you could have saved her wile Master has the crystal ball.
He still had to try! After all he had…been through worse…right?
He was so confused, and it was scaring him.
Such thoughts are wasteful. To think all together is wasteful, now that Master is putting you to good use. And what is there to be afraid of? Master will take care of you; protect you from the wickedness of the world.
Protect him? Why does he need protection? And who was…Master?
Stop worrying, you are safe. Gone are the ones who want to use you and your abilities as a guard dog; there is only Master.
Master…
That's when his trail of though ended. He stayed there, in the red abyss, not thinking at all. And why would he? He didn't know who he was, or even what he was. It was easier to remain thoughtless; all the troubles hidden away.
Fewer and fewer images clouded his thoughtless mind. He could see trees rushing by; people standing on a train. He didn't think about it. That is until they turned toward him, concern radiating from them. It made them confused.
Master was the only one that cared, wasn't he? Everyone else just wanted to use him. But these people didn't seem like that. They even seemed…familiar.
NO! Do not resist, drone!
He ignored the voice, and turned back to the two.
Sam… and Tucker…
For the second time, memories came flooding back to him. He was dazed, looking back at his friends. "Sam! Tucker!" he shouted. They smiled, hope accenting their features.
"I-I…"
NO!
Red enveloped his senses; blinding, muting, and deafening him. He was forced down, down, down into a deep caver of nothingness. He could no longer reach his friends, or even see the hazy images.
Do not think. You will obey me and me alone. You will always need me to guide you and you will obey!
And he did. He didn't think.
He felt hard wood meet his fingers and he never thought. He saw his vision return, red hazy figures turned toward him, and still never thought. He heard someone speak that sounded like the one that had told him not to think, but he couldn't be sure. Then he heard another voice speak.
"Fight him, Danny! Fight him!"
Fight who? The voice? But he has to obey the voice…
But now, he couldn't hear the voice.
He stood there, listening, trying to hear it. Was it gone? What did that mean for him?
His eyes flickered toward the staff he was holding. He remembered the crystal being a lot more beautiful than it was now. But he couldn't think…he needed to think…
"Quiet, all of you! I need to think…"
One of the people started speaking again. She seemed scared about something. Desperate even. Then she fell.
"Sam! No!"
'Sam'? Who was 'Sam'? Who was…
Who was…
"Sam…? SAM!"
Danny flew off the train, speeding after his falling friend the second time that day. He let go of the staff, reaching out for her. As he cradled her in his arms, he heard a distant sound of shattering glass, and his vision cleared. The red chains holding back his freedom were gone, and he could freely think again.
And he was never going to give that up. Never.
I know I should probably be updating Lost Obsession right now, but I've been having a serious case of writers block. It's sad. I haven't really been able to write anything until i wrote that stupid haiku up at the top, and then finally got inspired to write a story about it. It's basically what Danny was going through during Control Freaks. I personally believe it would be super scary to be under mind control, so i tried to make it hard on him.
And the picture I added for it is right here: art/AT-Evil-Danny-309169569. They have a lot of awesome work, so check out their page!
Hope you like it, and I'll try and update Lost Obsession soon. :P
Edit: I changed marionette to puppet in the haiku to make it a haiku.