Chapter 1 Danny Defender
It had been a few months since the accident, Danny had gone in witness protection to keep the terror and pain at bay, the government in this dimension paid for his new life and he still made regular donations in thanks. Now Danny was 19 and had his own popular cafe, called Readers Corner, it was a two story building with the bottom floor being a cafe; stage for music, poetry and book readings; and a tech lab; the second floor was a library, bookstore combo. Danny had quiet the troop of employees, but all knew that if there was a problem, all they had to do was call Danny, though the only problem was unusually annoying customer. Danny often could be found on stage playing his guitar and singing, much to his growing fangirl base. Many customers flirted with him, but no one ever saw him away from work. Danny had created the store with his own two hands, so he worked hard to keep it going smoothly. Danny had to change his name when he got here, so now his name was Daniguetinte (Dante for short, shouldn't mean anything in another language, if it does, I apologize, I didn't find anything online, so I chose it.) Astroyal.
Danny looked around at his store, the roof painted exactly like the real night sky, the walls a cool beige that off set the molded roof adiqueitly if he did think so himself, no one complained. As he walked to the front of the store to let in his employees and open the store, an explosion rocked the ground, causing an aggressive growl to escape his throat at the culprits, the Teen Titans, children playing heroes.
As soon as he got to the door and had it open, he saw it was a regular enemy of theirs, Johnny Rancid. He was tearing down the street trying to get away from the Titans. Danny watched in disdain as they destroyed a lamppost in pursuit of the criminal. As soon as the rounded the corner out of sight, he turned to Tom his head manager, the only one that Danny trusted with the position. "Alright, let's start the day!" Danny ordered, his employees jumping to get inside in the relative safety. Danny sighed at their rush to get inside in case Johny got out, slowly following them inside.
"Tom, you're in charge, I'm gonna go to my lab, don't disturb me unless it's necessary." I say. "No prob boss, see ya' at closing!" He answers happily.
My house is bellow the store, though it is extremely spartan, only a kitchen, sitting area, two guest bedrooms, my room, and the pride of the home, my lab. As soon as I walk into my lab, the energy of the ectoplasm sprawl out from my body, forming waves of swirls of power. It was one of the strange affects of this world, it was so lacking in ectoplasm, and yet pliable for magic that my ectoplasm refused to be shot, it wanted to group together. I had learned how to group it together in ways that I want it to, but it was still an odd feeling when I was so use to how it was before. My ghostly powers had grown to the point that they worked in my human form too, allowing me to practise and work easier.
I quickly called the power into a Chinese dragon, much like one Clockwork sent me back to kill one time. I stood there watching as the apportion of my power flew through the lab. I watched as it flew through the air, bending and twisting. It was made of ice and Ecto-energy, the ice allowing sculpted details to enter it, making it appear more realistic. I walk to the workout area I put in here, dissipating the apparition of my power. I sigh, knowing that my power was greater than that, but it was locked away, hidden in the seal I didn't know about until I was told about it.
I don't know what power is behind the seal, but I know, when I am deemed worthy, or I come of age, it'll come to me. Clockwork, even in this dimension, guides me on my path. I helped him quite a bit in keeping timelines in check in many different dimensions. It made me feel alot older than I was because I'd live a life there until the person I entrusted with my time medallion was alive, then I'd be sent back to clock work, who'd send me back to my store. Only a minute would pass by here, and yet, I would feel the loss of a life long freind or a death of a spouse, and yes, I married a girl once, but she died. At least it didn't end like how things ended between me and Sam... The travels was how I acquired all of my 'antique' armor and weapons, and it allowed me to master many the techniques of fighting.
I go to a workout bar and hang upside down on it and begin my sit-ups. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6... After a few minutes I get close to finishing my first set, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200 (I do the same number, so I know it's potentially possible, but they are regular sit ups, so I don't know for sure). I graves a chug of water, resting before I finished the last two sets. My Ghost form didn't really need to workout to keep strong, but my human half did, and it helped clear my head. After the last two sets of 200, I moved on to push-ups/handstand things, 3 sets of 200. I move to the chimney wall (its just two walls that create a small space between them that in order to go up you have to spread out and shimy your way up) I had set up for me. It was too big for some one to spread eagle it, so you had to jump from wall to wall up and down, and that counted as one. I did 3 sets of 50 of those. Now that may seem like alot, but to me this mas a minor work out, I still wanted to go out for a run.
I decide to go over to the weapons racks, to my favorite, the dual scimitars, I experimentally swing them around, finding the balance easily as I begin to flow through the maneuvers, it was more of a dance now, I didn't have anyone to fight, the modern era has no need for combat skills, much to my displeasure. Finally deciding to check on things upstairs I put up the decorated blade, it's edge glistening, happy to have been chosen for practice, while all the other weapons look forlorn, duller, and darker, wishing for their turn. Each weapon has a personality I found, and in my hands, they allow their emotions to flow like words of on a paper, elegant, captivating, and dangerous in the right hands (namely mine).
I lock the lab doors, a sense of trouble to come taking hold in a corner of my mind I often seek advice from. Anxiously I walk up the stairs into the shop, and see nothing wrong, but the nagging feeling of future trouble grew, leading me closer to the store front as a short young kid, bald and babyish walks into the store. So he was the one causing my sense of foreboding.
I follow him discreetly until Sarah, a girl that constantly flirts with me blocks my path, and tries to get a date again, "oh, Dante! How have you been, sorry I couldn't come to see you all last week, but I had finals, and I know you are free tonight, so want to come over to my place? We could watch a movie?" She asks trying to snuggle up to me, her hand brushing too close for comfort, "or we could find some OTHER form of entertainment?" "Apparently my firm answer the last few times wasn't enough for you, I am not looking to have a relationship with anyone right now, nor will I for some time, I am very sorry, but how about I get your food order and I can help you out." I kindly answer. She harumps and walks off saying that it's fine.
I walk up behind the kid as he gets to the counter. "Hey Scuz-muncher! I want all your cash and a computer, now move it!" he yells, his backpack transforming, four spider legs coming out of it raising him up off the ground as a man the size of a mountain came in the door smirking, followed by a cyclops and a hillbilly, a owl cowled man rising from the shadows. As Ann, the girl behind the cash register moves to comply, my voice rings out through the silence, "Ann, why don't you take everyone upstairs while I handle the situation," my voice calm and cold, leaving no room for arguing.
As she runs off to comply with me the delinquent turns around and sneers down at me, "aw look there's a hero, what do you think you're gonna do hero? Huh you gunna fight me and my group? You can't beat the Hive Five!" He taunts. "Actually, I'm no hero, I'm here to protect my store, and if you know what's good for you you'll leave," my calm voice becoming menacing as I glare back, shadows pooling around me, the room darkening and getting colder, making my presence darker and more dangerous in his eyes, making him back up a little before he caught himself. "O-oh yeah! W-well you don't look so tough! Yeah! I'll take you out myself!" He says gaining confidence as he goes, not noticing my muscles bunching, that is until he gets too close, my hand stoking out and grabbing his sneering face, my other hand ripping his backpack off.
I walk over to the big man that is staring at me wide eyed at what I just did, calmly I whack the kid in the back of the head, knocking him out in order to shut the spout of profanities. I look up to him, for he is slightly taller, and ask, "Are you with him?" He stares for a second more, dumbfounded at what I just did. Suddenly anger clouds his face, making him lash out a punch, then surprise and horror as I simply stop the hand racing for me with one hand, something not even Cyborg could do! I calmly drop the limp form in my other hand to the ground as I answer him, "Not a good idea." I launch forward, knocking him unconscious with my foot, he flies bak to the wall be hind him, crushing a table in the process.
I look at the stunned faces of his teammates, "well? Are you gonna leave peacefully or are you gonna do something stupid?" They flinch at my harsh tone, not moving, that is until the hillbilly came forward, "you might have beaten Mammoth and Gizmo, but nobody beats Billy Numberous!" Splitting into four. "Yeah, we'll beat you into a pulp, no sneak attacks on us" the cyclops said in an annoying, nastily, hoarse, voice. I look over to Owlman as I'm calling him, "you want to comment 'Owlman'?" I ask, watching as he narrows his eyes. "I take it you don't talk much, right?" He nods. "Well, let's get you out of my shop so that my customers can get on with their days." I say.
Deciding to make the first move, Billy Numerous charges at me, duplicating all along the way, and tries to dog pile me. As soon as the first of him is close enough to me I lash out stunning each of them and pushing them away as the stream of rednecks keeps coming, until that is, Cyclopes boy shoots a laser at me. it knocks me on the ground, and suddenly I'm burried under hicks. I slowly worm my way out, knocking out Billys on the way, until the last of him is on the ground unconscious.
Standing up, Cyclops trying to catch me by surprize, shoots eyeballs at me, and I catch the first two and jump and twist in the air, parallel to the ground my arms straight out so that as I twirled the eyes in my hands hit the other eyes that Cyclops shot at me, bumping them into the one before are pushing them out of the way as the following one came and followed the same pattern, until the last was hit and went back into Cyclopes' head, knocking him back into the wall, sending him to unconsciousness' open arms. As I touched down on the ground, I continued the twisting momentum , smoothly swinging into a new action as I swung around, and launched the eyeballs into Owlmans head and gut, knocking the wind out of him (it was much like playing dodge ball), as I walk up to him and clap my hands on his temples, putting him on the ground out cold, all in the span of a few seconds.
The fight lasted a few minutes, but afterwards everything was silent. I calmly moved the goons into a group and tied them up, and as I stood up applause ruled the air as all of the customers that had run downstairs at the sound of gizmos threat, applauded at the stunning display of power and control. I looked over to the door when I saw movement, preparing for another confrontation, only to see the bewildered Titans come in, thinking the applause was for them. BeastBoy immediately bowed, Robin scowled, that is until he saw the tied up villains as they began to come to. Raven whacked BeastBoy in the head, causing him to loose his balance and tumble to the ground,much to my amusement, not that I would ever let it be known.
"What happened here?" Robin asked. "I took care of the problem, because unlike you, I don't do this for fun, I got the job done. Now take these buffoons out of my store!" I yell at them, shocking all of them. "Dude, that's not cool!" BeastBoy said, offended. "Yeah, man! We do our best to take out the bad guys!" Cyborg jumps in. "Well, I'm just a civilian, and yet I took out all of these idiots in no time and broke only one table, how about you? How much damage would you have done to my store fighting these so called villains? You are just children playing pretend with powers you shouldn't have! You are immature teens with no regard towards the damage you cause! Have you ever seen what happens to the businesses that can't pay for the damages? We can't get damage insurance for your fights because they are so destructive! You call yourselves heroes, and yet, you don't act like heroes, you don't give up something in order to save people, you fight the pansies that the Justice Legue don't want to have to deal with. When you put everything on the line, put your life into the hands of murders and torturers just to save a single life, then I'll gladly call you heroes, but until that point, leave me and my business out of your fights." I angrily reply, shocking everyone.
I turn towards the villains and see they were shocked too, but I push past that and pick up Cyclopes and Gizmo up and walk out of my shop, Gizmo too shocked to even complain. I hear BeastBoy stunned, saying simply, "Dude," a soft spoken word that portrayed his shock and his hurt, but it continue on, ashamed at letting my emotions run free.
After putting them down outside, them still staring at me in shock, I lean in the door and yell, "Tom, lock up shop, I'm going out for a run!" Not looking at the frozen faces of the people in the room. As soon as I was a few blocks away from the store I went into a alley and transformed. I flew away from Jump, needing to release the large amount of energy my emotions generated.
As soon as I got into the desert I set down in front of a cliff wall and I released a ghostly wail up into the sky, like I usually do. I shoot it towards the sky so that nothing would be hurt, but apparently it can be heard from miles around. Halloween was a favored time for me to do this because it was the anniversery of when they, caught me. Though it caused everyone to cringe and scatter on a normal day, on Halloween it was an attraction bringing entire concerts and parties. I give them give them the wail they look for on that haunted night, sometimes more than one.
Finally I stop and shoot a large ectoblast at the sky, tearing up the the ground around me from the amount of force, as the ectoblast screams from the power. the energy of my blast. I finally stopped and collapse, my last thought was, 'dang, I knew I got too angry if I used this much energy to calm down' as the roots of darkness crawl through my vision, claiming me into unconsciousness, but not before I the light of my transformation back to human.
Tell me if you like how I did this. I will try to get up parts to my other stories as well soon.