Chapter 9: In The Big City
Danny slowly cracked open one of his eyes and squinted it back shut as a stream of bright sunlight shone into his eye. He groaned and pushed himself off of the floor. The small cracks in the were leaking sunlight in on the grey room. Danny glanced around to his sides. His friends slept quietly in their sleeping bags.
Danny's watch read 7:13 am. He sighed and pulled himself out of his sleeping bag. He rolled it up and placed in next to Jazz. He walked over to one of the big windows on the far wall and opened it. The area seemed much less depressing as it had seemed last night. Birds chirped in the trees surrounding the building. The closest public area around them was the park, and even that was a good length away. With the opening of the window, sunlight streamed into the large room, illuminating it.
"Man, we really need to decorate this place." Danny smiled slightly, knowing that his friends would totally dominate, transforming this building into a home.
His stomach growled with annoyance. They hadn't eaten in a few days, and Danny knew for certain that his friends would be starving when they woke up. He glanced back out the window. He smiled. He would go into town and buy some food. He walked back over to his backpack and pulled out enough money for a good breakfast for the four of them, five if you included Chester. He then pulled out a notepad that he knew his sister always carried for emergencies and wrote them a note.
Hey,
Went into the city to go get some food.
Don't worry about me.
Just start getting this place up and running.
Be back soon
-Danny
He placed the note down next to Jazz's hand and walked out, shoving the money into his pocket.
He city was calm, well as calm as a city could be.
Regular cars honked at each other in the traffic, people shoved past each other on the streets, and the occasional stray would bolt across the path, angering some while surprising others. So...pretty calm.
Danny walked quickly and quietly, keeping his head down. He wanted to do this fast and get back to the others. He didn't like leaving them all alone, especially now, when everything was on high alert. He remembered passing a doughnut shop when they had been scouring the city for a place to stay the night before, and he made his way in that direction, hoping to find it in a reasonable amount of time.
The people he passed gave him weird glances. The sight of a quick paced, hooded teen keeping his eyes to the ground was obviously raising suspicion. Danny would have to remember to try and look less like he was a criminal on the run, even though he was.
He finally made his way to a small shop. He opened the door and was greeted to the warm smell of sugar and sweets. The store was small and cozy. A glass display showed different pastries while the shelves behind the counter were lined with an array of different doughnuts.
The line was long, so Danny decided to take a seat and wait for line to die down. He stared at the table and played with his fingers.
How long are we going to have to stay here? He wondered. His dark black hair draped down into his face.
His mind wandered back to the fight last night. He didn't like putting his friends in danger like that, but he had to admit to himself that he was relieved to have them with him, especially during the fight.
He then remembered being rescued by Robin. He knew his face had been covered by shadows, but he knew his eyes were always able to cut thought the dark, even in their blue human form. Robin had seen their icy color.
He would remember them.
He clenched his fists. He was just putting his friends in even more danger. He knew he would have to avoid the Titans now even more than before.
Any hope of having the Titans be an ally was dwindling the more Danny thought about it. He then started to think about his parents.
Wonder what they're doing?
Did they really want me to be captured when they gave the Justice League those weapons? Don't they know what'll happen if they catch us? Don't they care?!
And what about Valerie? I didn't get to talk to her before we left. What does she think?
Is she upset?
Is she angry?
What am I saying? Of course she's angry. She just found out I'm the ghost boy, a ghost she despises with all her might. She probably wants to destroy me, even more than before. He realized sadly, knowing he probably just lost a good friend.
He didn't even want to think about school. His classmates were probably freaking out, finding that one of the losers that they used to make fun off was the famous ghost boy that was one of the reasons that they were still alive and not at the mercy of an evil ghost king, crazy ringmaster, psychotic version of himself, and many other crack-pots and wackos. He smiled slightly at the thought of the looks on their faces when they found out.
He didn't know how much time had passed, because when he looked back up, only about two people were seated in the store.
After Danny had ordered and filled two boxes filled to the brim with doughnuts, he decided to head back.
As he was walking back, he heard a loud crash. He turned his head and saw the Titans battling a creature that seemed to be made out of stone. He growled and turned his head back around. Doesn't this city ever take a break? He sighed as he started walking faster, but stopped as a large block of stone crushed the car in front of him. He gasped and turned back towards the fight. He saw Robin swatting at the creature with his staff. He turned and his eyes landed on Danny. He stopped and stared. Danny felt fear creep up his spine as he turned and ran.
He ran until the factory came into view. He stopped at the fence and took a couple deep breaths to compose himself. His friends were probably worried. The whole-round trip had taken more than an hour. His watch read 8:21 as he walked through the door. Sam was sweeping the floor with a broom that had been found in a supplies closet. Jazz was cleaning the windows, and Tucker was sprawled out on the floor face down. Danny could hear his muffled complaints.
"God, will you just SHUT UP?!" Sam snapped at the boy. tucker raised his head. "Get me some food and i'll gladly shut. Oh, wait. WE DON"T HAVE ANY FOOD!" He screamed. Jazz turned to them. "Danny's getting the food, just be patient." She said, obviously trying to keep her composure. "Well he needs to get his ecto-butt in gear!" Tucker whined as he placed his face back down on the floor. "Yeah, before one of us does something they'll regret." Sam snarled.
"Uhhh...is this a bad time?" Danny asked as everybody faced him. "Because I can always come back later." He smiled. Tucker nearly tackled him when he saw the boxes of food. He tore it open and gobbled down two of the doughnuts in no time at all. Sam laughed at him while Jazz ran over and made sure Danny was okay.
"I'm fine, Jazz." He said as he reached down and handed her a doughnut. She smiled and popped it into her mouth.
"I got you some vegan doughnuts." Danny said as he handed one of the special doughnuts to Sam. She smiled and grabbed it. "Well, you took your sweet time." She smirked at him. "Any more whining, and I would have started beating Tucker with the broom."
"Hey, I told you Chester would get angry. I warned you guys." He stated as he gobbled down another doughnut.
Danny chuckled along with his friends as he started eating a doughnut, before Tucker ate them all.
"So, anything happen while you were in town?" Sam asked as she chewed one of the doughnuts. Danny told them about the encounter with the Teen Titans and how Robin had looked over at him.
"I don't like this. We've only been here a day and they're already getting to close for comfort." Jazz said. "Well as long as they don't come sniffin' around here, we should be okay, right." Tucker asked, his mouth filled with the pastries. Sam frowned and stared at the floor. "Maybe..." She said. Danny sighed and grabbed another doughnut, trying to keep himself from falling into a panic.
Calm down, Fenton. The Justice League doesn't even know we're here. How could the Titans?
Just stay calm, and lay low.
They won't find us.
They won't.
Robin sighed as the truck towed Cinderblock away.
He knew he had seen that boy from the nigh before at one of the stores.
Why would he run.
Why did he look so scared of me...of us.
Are they hiding something?
If so then why would they risk being caught to help some civilians?
Robin frowned at the flood of questions in his head, none of which did he have an answer to.
"Robin, we are victorious. Why do you not show happiness?" Starfire asked as she flew over.
"It's nothing, Starfire. I...just thought of something."
His mind drifted back to the conversation he had had with Batman the night before. His eyes widened slightly. "I have to go."
"What?" Starfire asked, confusion in her voice.
"I'll meet you guys back at the tower." Robin said as he rode back to the tower on his cycle.
Starfire hovered sadly next to her friends.
"Has Robin been acting a bit strange lately?" Cyborg asked.
"You mean stranger than usual?" Beastboy smirked.
"I' m serious, ya'll. He's been acting just like when he..." He stopped.
"When he was obsessed with Slade." Raven finished. They looked at each other with worry. "No, Robin would not become obsessed again. He would not!" Starfire yelled, more trying to convince herself than the others. They looked at her, hoping she was right.
Robin ran to his room. He looked at the pictures of Phantom on the desk and stared hard at the face. The eyes were different than the boy he had seen. He then moved to a picture of Fenton, with his icy blue eyes. He tried to recall what he had seen with the hooded boy. There was no mistaking it.
The eyes were exactly the same.
Robin sighed and sat back down in his chair. He knew he would have to get more evidence before he could totally assume that The Spectral Suspects were in Jump City, but deep down, he knew for certain. Robin sat deep in thought, until Cyborg stood in the doorway, startling the young teen from his trance.
"Yo, you okay, man. You've been acting kind of weird lately." He said, worriedly. Robin looked at him. "Come on, I have to talk to the team."
After rounding up the group, Robin turned and faced them. "I have reason to believe that The Spectral Suspects are in Jump." He stated. Starfire gasped while Cyborg and Raven shared confused glances.
Beastboy laughed and jumped up. "Awesome. Hey, do you think we'll get to meet them?" He asked, only to be silenced by four identical glares. "Are you sure?" Raven asked. Robin shook his head. "But I want to know for certain." He walked over to the main computer and started searching the area for places the teens could be hiding.
"Uh, Rob. You do know how big the city is, right? It will take forever for us to search all of it, just for a chance of MAYBE finding them. I mean, they might not even be here." Cyborg argued. Robin pressed a button on the computer and the screen showed a map of Jump City with a dozen red dots all around it. He turned to the teen. "That's why I narrowed it down to these locations. These are the most likely spots they'll be." He stated.
"But what will we do if we apprehend them?" Starfire asked. Robin paused for a moment before answering. "I want to ask them a couple questions. Things about the crimes they've done and other things about there past. After that..." He hesitated, then shook his head and continued, more firmly. "...after that, we turn them in." The rest of the team seemed to be just as hesitant to turn in the teens as Robin was before. He narrowed his eyes. "They're the most wanted criminals in the nation at this point. We can't get distracted." He said, wondering who he was trying to convince, his team or himself.
"Tucker, this is really getting old." Danny sighed.
For the past hour, the techno geek had been asking the group "would you rather" questions. Playing stupid games were the only thing that the kids could do to pass the time. Spending the whole day cramped in the factory was really taking a toll on the group, the only way to lighten the tension was to play. But even Danny had to admit, it was getting tiresome.
"Okay, okay. A few more questions." Tucker said with a smile. They all groaned. "You said that twenty questions ago!" Sam growled. Tucker flashed her a smile. "Okay, would you rather have a pet dinosaur or a pet blue whale?" He asked. Danny shook his head and thought about it. "I guess a dinosaur...no, wait, a whale." He said. "If dinosaurs are anything like dragons, I don't want anything to do with them." He said, making the girls laugh. "I have to go with the dino. I mean, how cool would it be to ride a T-Rex to school?!" Tucker exclaimed.
They chuckled. He then turned to Sam. "Okay, would you rather live in a tree or be one?" He asked. She thought about it. "Before the Undergrowth incident, I probably would have picked to be a tree, but now that I kind of know what being a plant is like, I would probably pick to live in a tree." She said. "I have to agree with that." Tucker said. "That experience made me look at plants a LOT differently." He said.
Jazz had a similar question of if she would rather have her hand stuck in a jar or her head stuck in a bucket, in which she responded to the former, explaining, "Wouldn't it be easier to remove something that I can actually see, rather than something that covers my eyes?"
"Okay, I have one last one." Danny said. "And this one is directed to all of you. Answer honestly." He said, paused before asking. "Would you guys rather be heroes in a horrible world, or villains in a perfect one." Nobody answered for a while. Sam finally broke the silence. "Well aren't we already heroes living in a horrible world." She sighed. They said nothing for a moment. Finally Danny raised his head. "Well, I don't regret it. I don't regret becoming a hero, saving those people, protecting the town, the world. Everyone may see us as villains, as the bad guys. But we know the truth." He said.
"Without us, they would live in a world ruled by the weather..." Sam said.
"By an evil plant..." Tucker shuddered.
"By an insecure freak with a bejeweled glove..." Jazz continued.
"By a psycho ghost with a fiery crown and ring." Sam sighed.
"By evil." Danny finished. "Nobody except a certain few know about all of the horrible things in this world." He said.
"That the monster under your bed..." Sam said
"In the closet..." Tucker continued.
"Down in the basement." Jazz finished.
"They're all real. Every single evil creature that we've always been taught doesn't exist...is real. Real and out there, and only we are able to stop it. Because if we don't...who will?" Danny stated. "I'll never stop fighting them. I'll never leave humanity to defend itself against all of those horrible creatures."
Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. "And we'll never let you fight them alone." She said with a determined gleam in her eyes.
"Yeah, behind every great hero, there's a pretty good team." Jazz smiled.
"And we just happen to be the best!" Tucker beamed. They laughed, quickly followed by loud groans as Tucker continued with...
"So, who's up for round two?"
Sam groaned as Danny violently shook her awake. Her tired eyes met his and all the sleepiness left her when she saw the look of terror on his face. She opened her mouth to say something, only to have Danny quickly cover it with his hand. She mumbled something behind it, causing Danny to shush her. Jazz and Tucker stood next to him with equally worried expressions. Danny dropped his hand and Sam quietly asked. "What's wrong?"
Danny's eyes darted to the window, where a dim light could be seen in the dark of the night. Sam quietly crept up to the window and peeked through it. The sight made her heart stop.
The Teen Titans were walking along the outer fence, gazing in at the property. Cyborg had a small light on his shoulder up, shining a bright white light on the surrounding area. Starfire had her hand up, a green light shining out of it. Sam turned back to a frightened Danny.
"How the heck did they find us?" She whispered with a slight hint of panic in her voice.
Danny shook his head, indicating that he had no idea. He twisted his head around and pointed to the small storage closet in the far corner of the room. They nodded in response and ran as quietly as they could over to it. Danny opened the door, wincing as it made a loud creaking sound. He sighed in relief when he saw it was just big enough to hold them. He ushered them in and slowly shut the door, leaving a crack just big enough for him to peak through and spy on the Titans, just as they walked through the door.
Robin glanced around the room. It seemed empty, but that didn't mean it was. This location was one of the last five to be checked. They had spent the whole day searching the spots that the computer had indicated, and he was pretty sure his team was tired of it, given that Beast Boy would give an exaggerated sigh almost every five minutes.
As his eyes gazed around the room, they fell on a clump of something in the back corner. He cautiously walked over to it and realized that it was four sleeping bags, all laid out next to each other and slightly ruffled. Someone's been sleeping here. He thought as he also saw two boxes. He opened them and saw that they were filled with doughnuts.
"Awesome! Vegan doughnuts!" Beast Boy yelled, reaching for one of them, only to be dragged back by Cyborg. "Cool it, ya little grass stain. Don't you know what this means?" He said, only to let out a sigh as Beast Boy gave him a look of utter confusion.
"It means someone's been staying here." Raven stated.
Robin narrowed his eyes as he started to piece some things together. "That kid that I saw, he was carrying two boxes of doughnuts, and he ran in this direction." He said.
"Okay, let's not jump to conclusions. It might not even be them. For all we know, that kid and his friends are homeless and live here." Cyborg said. Robin narrowed his eyes, until they fell on a cracked door in the far corner of the room. As he walked closer, he thought he saw a flash of blue, the same icy blue he had seen the night before. He gripped the handle and yanked the door open.
Danny quickly turned his friends invisible just as Robin yanked the door open. He held his breath, even though he knew the boy couldn't see him, he only released it when he turned away. Unfortunately, he left the door open, meaning Danny would have to keep the invisibility up until they left.
Robin turned back towards his team. "Well, nobody's here." He finally said.
"But if they are not here, where have they gone?" Starfire asked. Robin shook his head, unsure himself.
Raven raised her head and warily looked around the room, just as Cyborg noticed that his arm was faintly blinking.
"I can sense someone here, but i can't figure out what or where, It's like it's cloaked." Raven stated as she walked around the room. Cyborg shook his head in confusion. "And my arm is saying that it's picking up some vitals, but I don't see anyone." He scratched the back of his head as he typed some buttons in his arm, trying to figure out what was happening. Beast Boy turned into a bloodhound and placed his nose to the ground. He instantly picked up a scent, and started following it, leading straight to the closet.
Danny's heart raced as Beast Boy got closer. His nose pointed towards their invisible forms. He could feel his friends tense as the dog sniffed at the "air" in the closet. He then turned back human and stared back at the team in confusion. I smell something in here, but there's nothing." He said.
Robin rubbed his chin. "We'll have to keep a close eye on this place. But I can feel that the Spectral Suspects are here, in Jump. We'll just have to keep looking, and stay focused here, there's something off about this place." He said ass his team followed him out the door. As soon as they were gone, Danny dropped the intangibility and they fell to the ground, piling up on the ground just outside the door. They remained silent, fearing the Titans might hear them.
After about a few moments, they finally deemed it safe and got up. Tucker stared at them, fear apparent in his face.
"We're screwed...AGAIN!"
Sorry for the long delay for this chapter. I had a really busy weekend.
Sadly, the next chapter will probably be postponed just as long as this one was because I have another busy weekend. But after that, it should go back to normal.
But DON'T quote me on that!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will probably be a bit more exciting. You will finally be introduced to... The Forgotten Faces!
OOOOOooooo!
Who are those stupidly named people? You might ask!
You'll just have to wait until the next chapter!
