Jimmy watched as the blonde man sat opposite him in the van. Jimmy had his hands bound now and had been told not to run or they would go back to his house for his parents. Jimmy obediently sat quietly, watching the blonde man worriedly. He was desperately trying to come up with a plan. But he was only ten years old. He didn't know how to drive, he could probably figure it out, but he was so short he mightn't be able to reach the pedals. Of course he could always come up with a rig to reach the pedals for him, but that would take time he couldn't depend on having. He was bound and not a strong person, which meant he'd need a sharp object to free his hands. Then there was the issue that he was in the back of a van with three armed people threatening to kill his parents should he try anything.
So he was left to wait until the kidnappers took him to where they were taking him. Hopefully that place would be easier to escape and if not, he could just do what they want and they'll let him go. He was curious. Why did these adults require a boy genius such as himself for the task they wished him to complete? After an hour, Jimmy had relaxed enough to chance the question.
"Why did you take me? There are a lot of smart people out there, granted not as intelligent as myself, but my parents are going to call the cops and they'll find me," Jimmy asked. The blonde man raised an eyebrow, barely visible through the holes in his ski mask.
"First off, the cops aren't gonna find you kid. Second, if we're gonna kidnap someone, why not the smartest out there? And third, kids are easier to control than adults," the man answered. Jimmy gulped nervously, those were two very good reasons.
"What do you need me to do?" Jimmy inquired.
"You'll find out soon enough," the man retorted, shuffling down into his seat to get more comfortable. Jimmy bit his lip to stop himself asking more questions. He may not be very good at reading people, but even he could see that this man didn't want to talk further. Jimmy glanced at the other two people in the back of the van, two of the four completely black clad people, the other two were in the front.
"Who are you?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Sportsmaster and those are League of Shadows," the blonde man told him. Jimmy turned to the man.
"Are you hired to kidnap me?" Jimmy wondered carefully. The blonde man chuckled darkly.
"Smart kid. Now shut up," Sportsmaster replied. Jimmy clamped his mouth shut and nodded obediently.
Another hour later and the van slowed down to a stop. Sportsmaster got to his feet, stretching his back until it popped and grabbed Jimmy roughly by the shoulder.
"Alright, out. We're here," Sportsmaster growled. Jimmy didn't struggle as he was pushed out of the van into glaringly bright sunshine, momentarily blinded. Sportsmaster steered the boy towards a complex and shoved Jimmy down two flights of stairs and a number of corridors, Jimmy tried to keep track but it felt like they went in a spiralling circle before they arrived at a bolted metal door.
"Hope you like your roommate," Sportsmaster remarked before unbolting the door and pushing Jimmy inside so forcefully that the boy fell over.
Jimmy slowly picked himself up, impeded by his hands still being tied behind his back. He then scanned the dimly lit room warily for this roommate Sportsmaster mentioned. In the far corner was a teenager, his eyes were shut, clearing showing that he was sleeping. The teenager had messy white hair and wore a black jumpsuit with a white collar, belt, gloves, and boots and a unique insignia on his chest. Jimmy gasped as he recognised the teen. Danny Phantom. Jimmy recalled that the half-ghost hero had been missing for a week, suspected to have been taken by the illegal organisation the Guys in White. The boy watched the teen and took in the halfa's appearance. His ghostly glow was flickering weakly and the teen's face looked worn. Jimmy frowned though when he spotted a collar on the teen's neck and realised that Danny's hands were also restrained behind his back.
Jimmy licked his lips nervously and walked on his knees to the nearest corner. He didn't know how to approach this situation. So instead he assessed the situation he found himself in in order to formulate an escape plan. Metal, heavy door bolted on the outside. Hands tied behind his back in a dark small room with not even a bed inside. Missing half-ghost found. Jimmy frowned. He knew that Danny could turn intangible. Why hadn't the teen escaped by himself yet? A soft shuffling from the teenager in question told Jimmy that Danny was awake now. Softly glowing green eyes locked onto Jimmy's wide blue eyes.
"Oh, er hi?" Danny croaked in confusion.
"Hello," Jimmy returned quietly. Danny pushed himself higher against the wall.
"Uh, how long have you been there? And who are you?" Danny asked cautiously.
"James Isaac Neutron. But you can call me Jimmy. I've been here for less than five minutes," Jimmy answered. Danny frowned.
"Okay, er why are you here?" Danny wondered in confusion.
"I got kidnapped because I'm a genius. The people here want me to work on some problem for them," Jimmy replied. Danny nodded slowly in understanding.
"You're Danny Phantom right?" Jimmy commented after a brief silence. Danny blinked and nodded.
"Yeah. I am. Wouldn't happen to know how long I've been here?" Danny confirmed. Jimmy blinked in surprise.
"You don't know?" Jimmy retorted incredulously.
"Been in here practically the whole time. No windows, no clocks. And I've lost count of hours since I can't count when I'm asleep," Danny explained.
"A week. Well, it's been on the news for a week," Jimmy recalled.
Danny scowled and sighed. He took in the boy across the room. Young, not even a teenager yet. Short. Brown hair in a tall cowlick. Blue curious eyes. Red shirt with a science symbol on it and jeans. Danny raised an eyebrow as he noticed the kid was bound as well.
"Come here, I'll try and untie you. Don't worry, I don't bite or whatever," Danny offered and waited for the boy to start walking on his knees towards Danny before turning slightly in order to use his bound hands. Jimmy sat down with his back to Danny's and waited while Danny attempted to untie the tight knots in the rope on Jimmy's wrists.
"I could untie you after," Jimmy suggested.
"Sorry Jimmy, not that simple. I've got anti-ghost handcuffs on. Not rope. But thanks for the offer," Danny replied grimly, scowling in concentration as he fiddled with a particularly difficult knot.
"Is that why you haven't escaped yet?" Jimmy inquired, tilting his head slightly to look at Danny. Danny sighed and nodded.
"Yeah. That and this collar. It's draining my energy while stopping me from changing back to human," Danny confirmed.
Jimmy chewed his lip lightly in thought as he listened to Danny grunt or cry out quietly in celebration while he laboriously untied the knots behind his back. Jimmy's hands fell forward as the rope finally fell away.
"Thanks," Jimmy remarked with a broad grin. Danny settled back against the wall with a nod.
"You're welcome. Now when you say you're a genius, how genius are we talking?" Danny inquired.
"My IQ is 210," Jimmy answered. Danny gave a low whistle.
"Impressive. Any good with tech?" Danny asked. Jimmy puffed his chest proudly.
"Am I any good with tech? I'm brilliant with tech! I've built a rocket, a time machine and a robot dog," Jimmy bragged. Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, could you take a look at these cuffs? If we can get these things off me, I'll be able to get us both out of here," Danny requested. Jimmy nodded immediately and Danny shifted again to allow Jimmy to see the handcuffs.
They were metal with green, softly glowing, inlay. They were tight too, cutting into Danny's wrists. Jimmy was certain that the teen's wrists would be bruised if not cut underneath the metal despite the thick rubber gloves he was wearing. The cuffs were connected by a short stream of blue light that Danny could pull taut with effort in order for Jimmy to examine fully. The cuffs were thin and had almost invisible hinges and clasps. However Jimmy saw that there was a small key hole on the right cuff. He had limited light to examine the device but he could see that he would need tools to unlock them without the key.
"Well, can you get them off?" Danny asked hopefully.
"No. Not without tools. And I don't have any. I'm sorry," Jimmy muttered apologetically.
"But if you had tools, you'd be able to get them off right?" Danny pressed. Jimmy blinked.
"Yeah, but like I said we don't have tools," Jimmy retorted. Danny returned to his seat against the wall.
"I know. But at least it's a start. What about the collar?" Danny replied and lifted his head for the boy. Jimmy examined the collar like the teen requested. It was also metal but a lot thicker and was flush to Danny's skin. Jimmy spotted there was a detachable power unit on the side that looked near full. Jimmy brushed a hand against it curiously.
"Careful. That's raw ghost energy. They're draining it from me to power something," Danny warned. Jimmy glanced at the teen before nodding and resuming his investigation. Jimmy pursed his lips and saw that like the cuffs, there was green inlay and almost invisible clasps and hinges. It also had a tiny key hole. The collar almost seemed to hum under the boy genius's fingers.
"I can't get it off without tools," Jimmy admitted as he withdrew. Danny nodded.
"That's alright. Thanks for looking," Danny muttered as he fell into his thoughts.
"Um, Mr Phantom? How did you get caught?" Jimmy ventured nervously. Danny looked up at the boy who was standing awkwardly nearby.
"Relax, call me Danny. Just treat me like any other teenager. But I've been trying to track down Guys in White bases for a few months now. I was in one when I got caught. Looked in a cupboard and saw a flashing light. Got curious and tripped a trap. Tried to out run it as help was at least an hour away and there was no cell service. But a claw came out and grabbed my ankle. Sam and Danielle couldn't stop me being dragged away. The claw was phase-proof. I couldn't escape it and it was way too strong to fight against. So it pulled me down this chute thing and dropped me on the ground in this tiny room. A group of guys grabbed me and put these cuffs on me and dragged me through a corridor and up some stairs to a car. They put this collar on me and drove here. They put a bag over my head so I wouldn't be able to see where they took me," Danny recounted. Jimmy frowned in thought.
"What about you?" Danny prompted curiously.
Found Danny! But who's responsible for kidnapping both our favourite halfa and Jimmy?
Let me know what you guys think.
Until the next chapter.