Warning: Torture ahead, may not be totally gruesome but I thought a warning would be nice.

Beware!

You've been warned!

Chapter Seven

Rescue Mission

The room was absolutely dark, no light left the room and light did not enter, leaving him clueless on what time it was of the day or even if any time had passed at all. He knew this room too, but that didn't calm him down any since he knew what was awaiting him.

Pain.

Fear.

Torture.

He was unsure of whether he would survive this time or if he'd be stuck suffering for the rest of his life this time around. He doubted that he'd get a chance to escape again, Vlad had always been smarter that he showed.

Not to mention crueler that what he seemed too.

He sighed as he relaxed against the metal table, the restraints holding him firmly in place, his mouth gagged from using any power he could, hands covered in ghost resistant mittens, and his feet hidden in pure white boots that had the same resistance as the mittens. There was no way he was going to escape this time, not with all the precautions that Vlad had used to keep him there.

He resisted the urge to cry, knowing it would be nothing but a nightmare from then on. He gulped around the gag and clenched his eyes shut tightly, resisting the urge to scream as much as he could.

He already hated it there and he had only been there for…he didn't know but he hated it either way!

'I want Master.' He thought as he closed his eyes and pictured the lair and his Master, even if the man was exceedingly stern and aggressive, he had never actually put him in danger that he couldn't help him out of or deliberately harm him during training.

'I just want to go home.'

It was at that thought that the door shot opened and his worst nightmare stepped through that door. Fear pulsed through his veins as he began to struggle against the restraints, he could already feel the leather bite into his skin, but he didn't care for his fear was stronger.

"Well, shall we begin Daniel?" Vlad asked as he snapped his rubber gloves on and tied his medical apron on. "I'm sure we have a lot to make up for."

Danny whimpered as he continued to struggle but he knew it was useless, just like how it was useless to beg for the door not to close.

TeenTitans

Robin sighed in relief as the burn cream was slathered onto his waist and lower back, knowing that when the belt had exploded in the first place that he had a burn where it had been. The only thing he hadn't thought about was how bad the burn actually had been, especially since he was a normal human being that had no powers what so freaking ever. "That feels better." Robin groaned in relief.

Starfire beamed at her friend as she screwed the cap back onto the container of burn cream. "I'm happy friend Robin feels better." Starfire said as she turned her back on him and frowned. "But Robin, what will we do about friend Phantom?"

Robin frowned as well as he folded his arms over his bandaged chest. "To tell the truth Star, I have no idea. He doesn't want to leave Slade so I have no idea if we'll be able to." He stated, ignoring the sound of BB yelping in pain as Raven slathered copious amounts of burn cream on him as well.

"Just let him be." Robin blinked in surprise as he turned to look at Raven, who was now rubbing the cream into BB's lower back. "He doesn't wish to leave the one who saved him; I see no point in trying to change his mind now." Raven admitted as she finished and BB let out a sigh in relief.

Robin frowned at that but nodded his head in agreement. "A deep gratitude or the feeling of being in debt is strong. I was like that when Batman first took me in under his wing." Robin said as he looked at the group. Cyborg was leaning against the wall next to the door, Starfire was standing in front of the cabinet in front of Robin where they kept all of the medicines, and Raven and BB were on the second bed, the green boy sitting on it and Raven next to him. "I don't think we can change Phantom's mind even if we tried." Robin admitted.

Cyborg sighed at this as he shook his head. "So he becomes one more villain that we need to take down, is that it?" He asked as he looked at the group, everyone watching each other for a response to this. "Y'all need to make a decision, I have no problem hunting the guy down, but I doubt I'd be able to take him on my own." Cy declared as he watched his friends.

"Dude, we get it!" BB yelled, surprising the group because he didn't normally had these outbursts unless he was incredibly stressed. "We either let him do what he wants or we take him down just like we did every other bad guy! Just like we did Terra!" Beast Boy exclaimed, his mind revolting on him as he thought about the blonde haired girl he had liked so much.

Raven sighed as he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing BB to back down and look like a kicked puppy. "We all feel the same Beast Boy, but Cyborg is right. We need to make a decision on how to handle him. We can't just let him terrorize the city."

"Raven is correct." Starfire said as she floated off the ground and wrapped her arms around herself. "Though I am not fond of the idea of hurting friend Phantom." She admitted, but she knew that even though the boy had saved her from the burning building that he was actually and enemy and not a friend. She still liked to call him that though since he had taken the time to save her and not actually damage her in a lethal way.

Robin smiled at her gently. "I'm not either Starfire, but I have a feeling that we might have to in the future. Until then though, let's not worry about it." He said and the group nodded in agreement. "Alright then, let's go rest up, I want everyone to relax and heal for the night." Robin ordered as he grabbed his top and cape, leaving the infirmary to head to bed.

The other four said goodnight and also went to bed.

DannyPhantom

The pain was excruciating.

That was all he could think about at the moment as the scalpel dug into his leg and then what felt like a coal was laid within the wound. He screamed into the gag, hoping beyond hope that he would pass out.

"Now Experiment 007, healing rate of massive cuts and burns. This test shows that his healing rate has slowed immensely. The subject shows that he is indeed human but still has a slightly better healing rate of ten percent." Vlad said as everything that he said was recorded by his computer.

"Honey Biscuit, subject is beginning to lose consciousness again. Would you like me to give him a jolt again?" The image of his mother appeared next to him as his vision began to blur. He was so out of it that he could almost believe that it really was his mother, but the fizzing edges of the hologram gave her away every time.

Vlad hummed off to the side somewhere, typing was head as he concentrated on something else for a moment. "Yes, give him another jolt; I don't need him falling asleep on me here." He replied after a moment, ignoring the muffled scream as electricity ran through the boy's body.

"Subject is conscious again Love." The Hologram said to Vlad with a smile. Danny absolutely refused to call the thing his mother, it wasn't, it was just a mockery of the woman that had raised him.

"Good. Get me the Taser and a bucket of water; I'd like to see how his resistance to electricity is holding up, especially after all of those shocks." Danny closed his eyes, ignoring the feeling of fear tingling in his stomach…or was that nausea, he couldn't really tell at this point.

Danny heard Vlad chuckle and the footsteps approaching him and forced himself to open his eyes and glare at the man that was torturing him at the moment. "Oh, I'm hurt Daniel, after all the things I've done for you, you give me such a look." Vlad said with a smirk before taking a bucket and Taser from a mechanical hand. "Well, either way, I'll get my answers about us either way. I don't need you liking me for this anyways." Vlad said as he poured ice cold water over Danny, from head to toe, drenching him. Danny shivered from the cold but continued to glare at the man.

Vlad smirked wickedly as he turned the Taser on and lowered it next to Danny's side, not quite touching yet. Danny tried to move away from the weapon but was unable to get further than a centimeter. "Don't worry Daniel; this'll only hurt for a minute." And the Taser was shoved into his side.

Danny screamed in pain as the electricity ran through his body, causing it to spasm and convulse violently. Vlad tsked as he stopped and turned to the computer again. "Experiment 008 failed, subject has lost any resistance gained from previous training." He growled at the end as he turned to a passed out Danny. "I guess I'll just have to start over, starting with the original experiments." Vlad said as he sighed and turned back to his computer, opening the very first file there. "Computer, prepare Original File Experiment 001."

TeenTitans

He threw the table against the large screen, destroying it entirely as he yelled out his fury.

His apprentice was gone.

Phantom was gone.

Danny was gone.

Slade growled as he looked at several of the other items he had on the table, wondering what he was going to do now, especially since he couldn't seem to think clearly. It was the first time in more than several decades that he couldn't think! His mind had always his best weapon and tool, but right now it just wasn't working properly.

He growled again as he slammed his fist onto the table he was facing, breaking it in half as he did. What did he do what could he do? He had already tried to figure out where Phantom could've been placed, his computers though had all crashed as soon as he tried to hack into Master's computer system, all of them exploding after a cartoon face of Vlad danced on his screen. He now had no computers to try and pinpoint Phantom's location, not to mention Master's so he could kill the man.

He closed his eyes so he could calm down and think of a plan. He needed a way to get to Phantom and then get him out of Master's grasp. He was unsure if the boy could undergo a second time of experimentation.

He took several deep breaths, his mind running over all the information that the boy had given him when he had first join. Slade had been ruthless on finding information on Phantom so he could tell if he would be worth keeping or just to dispose of him.

He knew that Master was an egomaniac and was incredibly dependent on the stupid emotion of love. He figured that he had wanted to boy for his own and that was confirmed by Phantom later on. He was mentally unstable to the point where he actually looked sane, committing crimes that other people normally wouldn't even think about, even villains. He'd take the boy to a remote location, one where no one would've guessed because of his financial status, not to mention his habit of getting homes that others would have difficulty locating. Examples being his castle in Wisconsin and his place in the Rockies.

Slade growled again as he began to pace, his hands behind his back as he thought. The man was a complex being but not one Slade couldn't figure out, the only problem was that the man knew he had hacked into his systems once already and had taken care of making sure he couldn't again. Slade hadn't expected that virus and now he was paying the price for not being ready for it, all of his computers were destroyed and even his tracking systems on all of his apprentices, those who had left him and his current ones, were out of his reach due to the destruction.

Slade came to a stop in the middle of the room for a second before a smirk fell across his face under his mask, and soon his laughter escaped as well. Why he hadn't thought of that in the first place was a mystery to him, but now he knew how to get to Phantom, but he had to get help first. Though he was loath to admit that and he would never tell anyone else that either.

He quickly moved from the main room and towards the back where all of the rooms were and knocked on one of the doors and then entered without waiting for a reply. "Good Doctor." Slade said as he waited for Octavius to stop looking through his scope and back at him with trembling hands. "I'm heading to get my apprentice back." He stated calmly, causing Dr. Octavius to blink at him in surprise. "I want you ready for when I return with him, for I'm sure that he'll be gravely injured."

Octavius nodded his head as he stood up. "I understand; when you return bring him to the main room and I'll have everything set up." He said as he began to pack things onto a metal cart.

Slade nodded and left the room, disappearing into the shadows.

TeenTitans

He had been dreaming of nothing that night for once, he was exceedingly happy for that. He had been having nothing but dreams about certain villains and his past, but right now, his mind obviously too tired to even try, he was dreaming of only a warm and comforting darkness. He remembered the darkness from when he was under Bruce's care and had been entirely safe from almost everything.

Then something disturbed him, he wasn't sure what, but something was off. He frowned as he began to come back to the real world where his room was covered with newspaper clippings of Slade's past deeds and other villains' work, including the Joker.

He blinked as he sat up in bed, rubbing at his face as he looked around, still groggy from his trying day and injuries he had sustained the other day. He looked around and into the darkness, squinting his eyes slightly to try and make out any shapes, but he was unable to. He blamed his exhaustion for what happened next though.

He laid back down onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow as he wrapped his arms around, intent on going back to sleep, only to hear a chuckle. "To think that you have a very handsome face Robin, or should I call you Dick?" Robin instantly reached his hand over to his nightstand and grabbed his mask, putting it on and jumping out of bed, ignoring the fact that he was only wearing sweatpants at the moment.

"Slade." Robin growled as he glared at the other male. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Robin asked as he realized that Slade was in the Tower, in his room! "Not turning into a pedophile now are you?" Robin jabbed angrily.

Slade frowned but ignored the insult, instead he stepped out of the shadows so he could be seen. "I'm not here to bicker with you." Slade stated as he looked Robin over to make sure the boy wasn't about to attack him, he only had so much time.

Robin blinked at that, but he didn't put his arms down just in case. "What are you here for then? Can't be for the company."

Slade sighed as he shook his head tiredly. "Last night when I returned to my lair with Phantom, we were followed." He said calmly, ignoring the dubious look on the boy wonder's face. "Unfortunately Phantom was the first to notice and attacked me."

Robin blinked at that before smirking. "He come to his senses and see that you're nothing but a petty criminal then?" Robin asked as he watched frustration appear in Slade's one revealed eye.

"This is no time to mess with me Robin!" Slade boomed, startling Robin slightly. "He attacked me to get me out of the path of Master's attack! Phantom protected me!" Slade's hands were now in front of him, fisted angrily as he growled low in his throat.

Robin was staring at Slade in complete surprise, not expecting this kind of reaction from the man. It was a totally different side from the normally calm and calculated man. He was unsure of what he was going to do with this version, a desperate and very harmed Slade was most likely even more dangerous than a calm and calculating Slade. "Alright then." Robin said as he motioned for Slade to calm down. "Then explain to me why you are here now? Who attacked you?"

Slade took a deep breath as he returned to his calm disposition and looked at Robin warily. "We unfortunately were followed by Masters, the man thought he could kill me by attack me when I was least expecting it. I'm sorry to say that it almost did." Slade said grudgingly. He hated admitting any sort of weakness, especially in front of his once forced apprentice. "Phantom attacked me to get me out of the way and took the attack himself. Once I was distracted trying to find out who attacked me out in the hallway, Masters entered the room and took the incapacitated Phantom."

Robin nodded his head at this and looked at Slade warily as he lowered his arms and put a hand to his chin. "I'm guessing something happened to your tracking system if you're here. Form what I saw when I was," Robin's eyebrow twitched in anger, "working for you, you had some of the most advance equipment that could track a fly."

Slade nodded his head at this as he contained his anger. "Yes, Masters figured a way to cause all of my equipment to explode when I tried to hack into his systems." The Master Villain felt his own eyebrow tick at that and was immensely happy he wore a mask to cover his face.

Robin whistled at that before he turned towards a closet and opened it. "Give me a few minutes to get ready and wake my team, we'll meet you in the living room." Robin said and turned to see that Slade was already gone. "He's as bad as Bruce."

DannyPhantom

He wanted it to stop, just so he could sleep.

He was unsure of how long he had been there, but he knew that they were rapidly going through all the original experiments from before, each one just as painful as before. He hated it and he wanted it to stop so he could sleep. He hadn't been allowed to sleep since he had gotten there, the hologram of his mother shocking each time he came close to passing out.

That was another thing. The hologram of his mother. It was disturbing and disgusting and just not right. His mother was dead and shouldn't have had to be used as a mockery like that; she should've been able to be put to rest and left alone. But no, Vlad had to use the symbol of his childhood and his peaceful life to torture him further and fall even further into oblivion.

His mother had always protected him when he was little and when he became a teenager, she became even worse. Danny used to tease her by calling her Mama Bear, but she took it seriously and became the best Mama Bear anyone could've asked for. Danny had regretted everything he had done wrong to his mother after she had died and had muttered apologies at her grave for days, he did the same for his dad, Jazz, and his friends, but most of them went to his mother.

He felt tears fall down his face as he thought about his mom, missing her even more at that moment than ever, especially with that thing hovering over him again. He wished he had his laser vision at that moment, just so he could destroy the hologram with it.

"Experiment 013 beginning." The hologram stated as long handled claws lowered over him, twitching as if in anticipation. Danny watched the metal claws in fear for what they were about to do, but he knew there was nothing he could do, so after taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.

He screamed in pain as the claws ripped into his skin and dug into his muscles, tendons, bones. He could feel things rip apart and tear, things break and become crushed. His body convulsed painfully as he claws none to gently left his body, shock settling in as he tried to breath, his mind clouding over with clouds.

It was at this exact moment that the acid set in. Danny had known from the first time around that the metal claws had been dipped into a special acid that would burn and cauterize any wound made by the claws. He screamed around the gag and convulsed viciously as Vlad typed away at his computer, taking notes and observations as he waited for the boy to stop moving.

"He lost all the resistance I was able to get him to build up over that little time I had him." Vlad muttered as he looked at the results from two years ago to the ones now. "He reacts to the acid after twenty seconds when he lasted twenty five before." He hummed to himself as he turned to the now still boy. "Maybe I should just move onto the next one. That one is my favorite after all." Vlad said as he tapped away at the computer. "Yes, I think I will. This will be so much fun. Computer, bring the blocks of ice and salt please."

TeenTitans

"He's in there, right?" Beast Boy asked as he looked at the huge mansion in Jump City. The building was white with gold trim, had three floors from the looks of it and was reaching so far back that it was at least ten times the size of a football field in width and length. "Dude, does this guy have nothing better to spend his money on?"

"No he doesn't." BB froze at the sound of Slade's voice, still quite jumpy around the elder male. "He has no family, no friends, no nothing. He's lucky if he has business partners come anywhere near him." Slade informed as he looked at the small PDA in his hand that Cyborg had lent him. "He's in there."

Robin nodded his head as he held a pair of infer-red binoculars up to his eyes, taking in how many bodies were inside. "I don't see anything in there." Robin stated as he looked from side to side, suddenly stopping at one point to the far left. "There's something there, but it is too cold to be alive."

"What? Let me see!" Cyborg exclaimed as he took the binoculars and looked for himself, stopping and whistling once he had found the figure. "No kidding, that thing is at least below fifty degrees the normal temperature of a human being. Whatever this thing is, I'm guessing its not human." Cyborg said as he handed the binoculars off.

Raven shook her head as she handed them to BB who looked through them excitedly. "I'm guessing that this thing is an actual full ghost." She stated as she ignored the strange looks she got from her team. "If Phantom and Plasmius are both half ghosts than you guys should have no problem believing that ghosts in fact do exist." Raven stated calmly.

Starfire looked at her purple haired friend with a slightly worried look. "How are we to fight these ghosts if we cannot touch them? We had a hard time fighting the Phantom and Plasmius." Starfire asked as he looked at her friends, all of them were looking worried now as well.

It was Slade, surprising or not, that had the answer. He pulled out two staffs that were glowing a green, one he kept and the other went to Robin, and handed out what seemed to be bracelets to the team. "These are items that Phantom created on his own time. He explained that they will work against Ghosts." Slade ignored the looks he got from them and extended his staff before jumping from the wall and heading towards the building.

Robin just rolled his eyes as he turned towards Raven who nodded. All five of them were soon inside the building, right behind the ghost at the moment.

Robin took a moment to take in the ghost and could only think one thing. 'He could be Cyborg's brother.' For the Ghost was mechanical in nature with glowing flaming hair in a Mohawk and a black tank top and black pants with black combat boots and black gloves. Robin could only think that this ghost must be some sort of hunter or gun owner.

He quickly signaled Raven to attack using her powers and she quickly did, wrapping her energy around the robot ghost's body and blocking its mouth with the same energy. "I can't believe this thing!" Cyborg said quietly as he looked at the glaring ghost with a critical eye. "He makes me look like I'm from the future!"

Beast Boy and Starfire giggled at that while Raven and Robin rolled their eyes. "That doesn't matter right now; we're here for a reason." Raven stated as she looked at the ghost before folding her legs and began muttering. Soon the ghost's eyes closed and the sound of snoring could be heard. Raven quickly released him and the mechanical ghost fell to the ground, knocked out for the moment.

The Titans quickly moved, wondering where the main laboratory was, all were quiet as they moved. "Hey Robin." Beast Boy called as he ran up to his leader.

"What is it Beast Boy?" Robin asked as he looked at the green male, wondering what could make BB talk to him during a critical mission.

"I know this is a stupid time to ask this, but how did Slade know Phantom was here in the first place?" He asked quickly and quietly, his mind still trying to figure it out.

Robin smiled at him and looked at the others, all of them waiting for an answer. Obviously they were curious as well. "That would be because he has a chip on Phantom that Plasmius would never be able to find." Robin explained as he ran back to when Slade had explained how he could find Phantom.

The meeting room was completely except for Slade and Robin, the Master Mind quickly typing away on Robin's computer as the Boy Wonder watched him with a critical eye. "What are you doing exactly Slade, not that I want you off of my computer." Robin said as he calmly pointed out that Slade wasn't even supposed to be on any of the computers in the first place.

Slade didn't even give him a glance as he tapped something and the computer screen appeared and the giant one in front of the windows. It showed codes quickly going by as the Master mind continued to type. "I'm getting back into my program so I can track down Phantom." He explained quickly.

Robin blinked at that as he looked up at the giant screen with a hand on his chin. "I'm guessing you put a chip on him somewhere, hopefully somewhere that Masters won't be able to find." Robin said as he watched more numbers and codes fly by on the screen.

Slade nodded as he punched in the last bit of the code and a map appeared on both screens. It was of the world and a red dot blinked, Slade quickly tapping on the keyboard to show where Phantom was. Both hero and villain blinked in surprise when they realized that it was still in Jump City, just on the outskirts where most of the rich people live. "It was actually Phantom's idea on where to hide it." Slade replied after he got over his mild shock. "He has metal pins in his arm where he brock it as a kid. I was able to hide the chip near it so it just looked like part of the pin."

Robin nodded his head as he turned towards the sound of the door opening in time to see his team entering the room.

"I was actually impressed with Phantom at that moment." Robin stated as he looked around another corner, frowning when he saw a shadow dart across the hall. "Slade is up ahead." Robin whispered.

The group fell silent at that and quickly moved to follow the adult through an open door before it closed. Once inside they all prepared for the worse, but none of them expected what they saw in front of them.

It was already a battle field as Slade attacked ruthlessly, tearing Plasmius apart almost limb by limb. Plasmius himself was struggling to keep up with the enraged Master Mind. Robin could only stare at them in surprise before jumping at a scream from behind him.

It had been Starfire, who was pointing towards a metal examining table that was soaked in glowing crimson blood. Robin stared in horror at the pale and shaking figure of Phantom. The boy was covered in his own blood, his hair matted with wet and dried blood, eyes dull navy, and his breathing was very slow and shallow, but he was still struggling to escape the bonds that he was in.

Robin looked towards Slade and Plasmius, watching as they moved towards the metal table, Slade grunting slightly as he tried to keep Plasmius away from the table. Robin knew that the man didn't want his apprentice to be hurt any more than what he was.

"We need to get Phantom out of here." Robin said as he ran over towards the table, working heatedly on the straps. Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven all followed behind him while Cyborg watched their backs, making sure they weren't blindsided.

Once Phantom had one of his hands free he reached a hand towards his mouth and struggled with the gag, almost choking on it as he struggled with it. Robin quickly moved towards the gag and untied it, Phantom quickly throwing it across the room and nailing Plasmius on the head with it.

"What in the world?" Plasmius said as he looked down at the gag, almost gasping as he looked back up at the table to see that Phantom was now sitting up, his feet kicking out as he tried to pull his feet free and ripping the gloves off of his hands as well. "No! I won't let you get away again!" Vlad screamed as he tried to fly towards the group, only to be stopped by a blue beam.

"Not on my watch!" Cyborg yelled just in time for Vlad to be kicked in the head and sent flying into a wall by Slade.

"Don't you know not to turn your back on your enemy. Could lead to a concussion." Slade stated as he waited for the elder Halfa to stand up.

Vlad growled as he stood up, staring at Slade before smirking. "Doesn't matter since I still have the ultimate weapon against you." He said as he folded one arm behind his back and his other brought out a little black remote with only two buttons, one green and one red.

Slade watched the remote warily, not sure what it would do, but knowing it wouldn't benefit him in the least. "Oh, what is this so called weapon huh? There's hardly anything that can hurt me so what has you so sure that you can?"

Vlad chuckled as his eyes darted over towards the boy that was still struggling with the boots on his feet, trying desperately to rip them off while his blue eyes were watching what was going on with the two adults. "You see, my ultimate weapon is that boy."

Slade's eyes widened as he whipped around to stare at his apprentice, who was looking just as frightened as he was feeling at that moment. He turned back towards Vlad slowly, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the remote. "I won't let you." He stated as he reached into his pouch slowly and pulled out several beads first.

Vlad frowned before he smiled again and pressed the button just as the beads flew at him.

The Titans gasped at the flash of white light that came from Phantom before an ear splitting scream erupted from him, along with a freezing cold.

TeenTitans

A.N. Oh boy, this is getting intense. What has happened to Danny, what is Vlad talking about, what did Slade throw, what the hell is going on! Well, if you want to find out, then you'll have to wait and see. Please review and tell me what you thought.