Ch.8: Face to Face

Danny smiled smugly at the LexCorp building across the street from him. Hands on his hips and shoulders relaxed, he was the epitome of confidence. His smirk had a hint of disdain lingering in it, thinking about the owner of the building. Green eyes glinted behind the white lenses of his mask.

The white haired nineteen-year-old still had time before the workers fully closed the building down. When that time came, everyone would leave and abandon it for their homes instead. It would be a hurried storm that came from the building's doors since everyone knew of the thief that took a liking to stealing from their boss. The thief had yet to be caught.

And Danny planned on keeping it that way.

The masked male had yet to come across the Cloaks again. He had twelve heists under his belt in three weeks and he had met them on his sixth. He didn't know if the Cloak's leader had even caught wind of him yet. Had his lackeys bothered to tell him about the creepy dude in a wolf mask that shot them all?

Danny didn't worry about it too much. Sure, it was frustrating he was still going along with the same routine. It'd be nice to have a change of pace but he had to stick with the plan. King would find him to be something to look at in a matter of time. He'd make sure of it.

Not knowing the building was being watched with peridot green eyes, the workers all began flooding from the doors and the lights from all the levels began turning off except for a few in the hallways. It took a good ten minutes for every last worker to leave, save for a few security guards getting paid to stay overnight to watch the sight's projects and keep a look out for the thief hitting all the LexCorp buildings.

As soon as most of the cars were gone from the parking lot, Danny carefully lifted into the air. Silently, he flew across the road that separated him from his target. Landing lightly on the roof, Danny began walking towards the door that would lead further into the building. He ducked to the side, quickly hiding behind the AC unit when the doorknob of the roof's door jiggled. Peridot green eyes hidden by white lenses watched one of security guards exit with a pack of smokes in his hand. The guard walked to the edge of the building, lit one up, and watched the few cars traveling up and down the road.

Danny slid out from the AC unit and tiptoed to the door. He opened it quietly and waved flirtatiously to the guard's back, smirking wide. The nineteen-year-old slipped through the door, closing it quietly behind him and locking it. Quietly, he mumbled "Bald-E-Locks, you need new security guards. Just sayin."

A few minutes later, the guard would throw his cigarette away and try to open the door, only to find out he couldn't.

Laughing quietly, Danny practically jumped down the steps with a skip in his step. At the bottom of the staircase was another door. Danny peeked his head out and made sure no one was in the vicinity before slipping through the door, closing it behind him while he did with a small click.

Danny pressed his ear-piece, watching as the blueprints for the building appeared in front of his eyes, flashing across his lenses. The teen quickly mapped out a course to the containment unit holding his prize.

Quick as a bullet and almost as quiet as Batman (almost), Danny took off down one of the hallways and weaved in and out of others. His ears perked for any sounds of any of the guards approaching his form. Even though he was vigilant for any other beings, none came and he was completely alone as he flew down hallways, slinking against the wall.

Danny tiptoed up to the locked door, holding his prize inside. There were no knobs to pull it open and pushing against it didn't make it budge even a tiny bit. There was a panel beside the door with the numbers 0-9 on it. It needed a code Danny didn't know nor could find out in a couple of minutes.

Easy fix though.

Busting the top of the panel off, Danny ripped some of the wires and messed with the circuitry inside.

Next to him, the door began to quietly open. It stayed open for a second before closing again and repeating the process again and again.

Danny slipped through the doors when they were opening, listening as they closed behind him again. As he took his first steps into the room, the doors reopened. A few more steps and he could hear them close again.

In the middle of the room, like usual (because Lex is so creative), there was a case with a tiny hard-drive inside. Instead of a translucent tube, there was a small box sitting on a black pillar with another pillar sitting on top. Locks and various safety gadgets were hooked to the glass, keeping it shut unless you knew how to open it without triggering the alarm.

Danny didn't find it too hard to get off. He picked the locks and overrode the codes on the devices. The hardest thing he had to get off was the frikkin child-lock on it. It had bewildered him so much; his hands had fumbled with the stupid thing before he finally just broke it off.

Opening the small glass door, Danny reached inside and picked up his prize. Looking it over, he knew it was an advanced decoder that took much less time to hack than the older ones. Danny planned on keeping it long enough to copy down the designs and make his own, if it even worked that is. If Luthor made a piece of crap (which happens rarely but has happened before), he was going to destroy it and make the billionaire make another one that actually worked.

As he stood up and slid the tiny drive in his belt pouch, Danny froze when he felt a few different presences enter the room behind him. He knew they weren't security guards; they would have made a big fuss before trying to shoot him. No, these people were different. They wanted to talk to him at the very least.

"Well, I'm going to guess it's you Cloaky's again, huh?" Danny asked, making sure to keep his voice low but loud enough so they could hear without a problem.

"You guessed correctly."

Danny turned around, his mouth turned into a smirk again as he was met with the same team of Cloaks he had taken down before. The red-cloaked girl was standing in the front of her team, hands over her hip and leaning on the leg that hadn't been shot.

Behind her, the green-cloaked figures kept their distance from the girl. The closest was the blue-cloaked form, probably her second-in-command if his stance was anything to go by.

They were all still favoring whichever leg had been shot, signaling they had not yet healed. It was a surprise to him, since he didn't think they would be back in the field so quickly. But then again, who knew anything about their master besides the basic info except them?

"You guys must be stupid if you're out in the field already. It's been what? Barely a week?" Danny said, putting both of his hands on his hips as he tilted his head to the side. His smirk was still in its place, radiating how much he was mocking them at that moment.

Behind her mask, the red-cloaked girl was glaring at him. He could practically feel the murderous intentions in the air and rolling off her form.

"Am I ticking you off?" Danny asked, making his voice sound sincere and mocking all at the same time.

"Yes."

"Good. It's my specialty."

The red-cloaked girl huffed and crossed her arms but didn't say anything more.

Danny found it strange. "Any reason you're just standing there and acting like a five-year-old that didn't get their way, only less whiny? I half-expected you to try and shoot me again since I probably have the thing you're after." He said, patting his pouch where the drive lay.

"We don't want the drive." The red-cloaked girl assured, waving it off casually but still irritably. "We're not even here to steal anything tonight. Another team's working on it."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "Well then, what are you here for?"

"We're here to make a deal with you."

The white haired teen turned his head so sharply to the side that he was sure he'd have whiplash.

Standing beside the large window-wall was a man a lot older than Danny was, if his stature and brawn was anything to go by. He was wearing a similar outfit to his lackeys with a white cloak draping over his shoulders, a red clasp on his collarbone that kept it locked on. His white hood was up, covering his hair and its color. His mask was also a pale white with black and red painted markings all over it. Staring out from the eye-holes were two blue-grey orbs. His eyes were calm and thoughtful.

Danny was uneasy to find someone who could sneak up near him without him noticing. The only person he allowed to do that was Batman.

"Who the heck are you?" Danny questioned, his smirk turning into a frown as he looked the other over. His relaxed form tensed up slowly, trying not to be too outwardly rigid. If they saw he was on-guard with the newcomer, they'd feel like they had the advantage. Danny wanted to make sure they knew that they didn't.

"I am King." The white-cloaked figure answered, shrugging. "And you are Phantom?"

"Nah dib, Sherlock." Danny responded in his snarky way, making sure to lace his voice with disdain. "Glad to see your little pawns didn't omit me from their memory."

"When they show up at base with bullet wounds, I like to know who the cause was so I may punish them." King answered, eyes still calm even though Danny could be very trying with his loud and obnoxious attitude.

Danny laughed lowly behind his mask. "Aw, what are you going to do now? Give me a spanking? Ha, please."

"No." King drawled, rolling his eyes. "As I said before, I came to make a deal. I know you of all people won't allow yourself to be wounded by anyone."

"Oh yeah and what's this deal you got for me, huh? And why me? I'm one of the most irritating pests on the frikkin planet. What makes me so special that you decided to climb out from backstage where you pull all your puppets' little strings?" Danny questioned, tilting one shoulder downwards so they were uneven.

Danny heard a few insulted noises from the group of Cloaks to the side. He waved them off, angering them more but what were they going to do about it? It's not like they could rush him. They also wouldn't dare think of defying their master while he was standing just a few feet away anyways.

King only raised an eyebrow at the puppet comment. "They are not my puppets."

"Alright fine, your pawns. Either way, you're the one pulling their strings and making them dance. Now what's this deal you got for me, Mr. Puppet-Master?" Danny questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

King's rolled his blue-grey eyes. "I want to offer you a place among the Cloaks. There's an opening that not many can fill. I want to see if you could possibly be one of the few that could be of such an important rank."

"So you want me to become a puppet?" Danny asked, a dry tone to his voice.

"The Cloaks are not my puppets."

"Whatever you say, Old Man." Danny said, waving it off. "Although… I will admit. I'm interested. I just need some time to think about this generous offer. You just got to realize that I don't play well with others. I enjoy doing my own thing."

"And you will have that opportunity." King assured, though Danny knew it was really a lie. "How much time do you need to think about my offer?"

"Hm… Give me a couple of days." Danny answered, waving his hand around in the air easily. "How will I contact you?"

Though no one could see it, the occupants of the room felt a smirk grace King's face. "Don't worry about that. Just stay off your heists for the couple of days you need to think. Begin again when you have made your decision. We will find you."

Danny looked at King dryly. "You are aware that most people would be worried with that kind of statement, right?"

"Since when were you 'most people'?" King questioned, blue-grey eyes sparkling with silent mirth.

The white haired teen rolled his peridot eyes, form lax. Unexpectedly, he pulled his shotgun from its holster on its back. He used it to break the glass box that held the hard-drive, setting off the alarm throughout the building, and pointed the AA-12 where King was standing. The man quickly ducked to the side as Danny shot, breaking the glass behind him. While the Cloaks began firing at him, Danny laughed and rushed towards his opening. As he jumped out and twisted himself around, he yelled "See you in a few, Mr. Puppet-Master!"

As he fell, Danny turned invisible and disappeared from sight. He flipped his flight on and shot in the air, quickly flying from the LexCorp building in the midst of turmoil. Looking over his shoulder, Danny barely caught the Cloaks escaping to the roof through his exit, scaring the guard on the top before knocking him out, and taking off in another incoming helicopter. The cops were still approaching in the distant, too slow.

Flying to his original post outside the LexCorp building, Danny landed on the building with a quiet thump while returning to sight at the same time. Casually putting one hand on his hip, Danny pressed his com with the other. Smiling brightly, he asked "Hey Batsy, you there?"

"Always."

Danny hummed victoriously. "Phase One is complete. King is interested in me, even offered me a good spot in his little crime ring if I want."

"Did you accept?"

"Not officially. I said I wanted a few days to think. The few days will give us time to think about the infiltration plan a little deeper and get some new equipment."

"Alright then. Good job." Batman congratulated sincerely, making Danny beam. "Get over here whenever you can."

Danny hummed again. "I'll stop by tomorrow night. I'm tired right now."

"Is that the truth or do you want to play with the drive you stole?"

"…I'm telling you the truth."

"No you aren't. Get over here, you little liar."

"But Batman~!" Danny whined, bouncing in a little in his spot to emphasize his point, ignoring the fact his supervisor couldn't see him so he could mope around.

"No buts. Get over here or I will personally see to it you are dragged to Gotham."

"Fine~." Danny whined, pouting. Batman grunted as a sign of acknowledgement before Danny changed the channel of his com. "Hey Sam, where's that safe house you keep around again? I need to hide from Bats for the night so I can play with my new toy in peace. … Of course he won't find me..! What are you talking about, girl..?"


King glided up the steps, stopping on the platform the stairs led to. He turned, sitting back in his throne as he did. A content sigh fell from his lips as he crossed one ankle over his knee. He weaved his hands together and rested the conjoined limbs on his torso as he leaned back.

Looking around his empty throne-room, King felt peaceful, pleased, and excited.

Phantom, though a bit apprehensive, was interested in his offer. Good. That meant there was a good chance he'd join him. There was an even greater chance that he'd excel with them and be good enough to become the Shadow Cloak.

King sighed again as he looked to the spot the Shadow Cloak would stand by his side and be his second-in-command. That would be the day the Cloaks circle would close and they'd begin striving to be a greater force than ever.

Ah, good times were coming.


Well, my grandparents are gone now. *thumbs up* Back to updating! But now I can't wait for July when I go and visit them and the rest of my family... -.-

And I'm painting King's identity on a neon billboard with neon paint. But I still won't answer your guesses. *another thumbs up*

Thanks to these people for favoriting/following: W0lfbr0ther, Captain SubZero, Rose the Wary Wolf, BringbackDannyPhantom, Jedexa, Phoenixfire00, BestUsernameEver54321.

Thanks to these people for favoriting/following me: Korben600, Angel22022, Sanguinis13. Redsnivy, Fanfiction Reader14, NightwingFeather.

Reviews:

Suntan140: Don't think so. Don't want to overuse the idea more than I already have and I don't follow that show closely, if at all.

KuriMaster13: Yeah... But who would win if Batman could punch Danny too? Then who would be more annoying? XD Hm, yeah, probably.

KainVixenheim: When you're blinded by rage, you tend to stop thinking logically. XD Glad to hear.

Oblitus Angeli: If you know me, everything gets worse before it gets better. XD We'll find out who King is later and if Vlad decides to show up. Yeah Suicide Squad!

Anime Hotty Lover. 18: Alfred's just awesome that way. XD Actually, he'd be pretty useless with the plot I got going right now.

16ckelman: EH, sorry! XD

Ninuhuju: All is going according to plan. YEAH! :D

IWasNeverReal: XD Always. Because he's Alfred. They should make an meme for that.

Phantom Heir Daughter of Zeus: Nope. Can't do that. It screws up my entire timeline and he'd be completely useless. *thumbs up*

Poohbearmorris: XD Nice. And they're OCs but they're not going to be the main point.

Pegasus Sword Master: Well, I haven't made it that hard really. I'm trying to keep him in character. Haha! Thank you for appreciating my sense of humor! And everyone seems to want the Danny vs. Joker thing even though I cant do it because it's completely off topic.

Jessica Jayme Bell: Yes, Crispin is ice-chick. XD Glad you enjoyed~!

BringbackDannyPhantom: XD It's so good to see you back online! Nah, we're not actually going to see them face-off because this ain't The Abused/Those Teen Years. XD

Eirena Gaia: Dude, what Danny does at this point is a mystery. We'll see what he does. :) And I don't think you sound like a robot. A little all over the place, yes (that is a compliment by the way). But not a robot. XD