Author's Notes; Guess who is back! In record time, I might add (record for me, anyway). So glad I could get this in sooner rather than later. This chapter is a milestone for me: my tenth chapter as a newb FanFic author. I thank all of you for sticking by me and helping me along. Me the Anon One and Chaos Dragon have both been a great help. I'm glad to have such great authors as my mentors. You go, girls!
Some more Danny angst in this chapter, as well as some new gear for the Titans and an unexpected guest comes for a visit. Stay Tuned, true believers!
Haunted Destiny Chapter 9: No Help Wanted
A rather loud, boisterous laugh and a higher pitched giggle could be heard echoing the halls of the Titan's Tower. Cyborg was telling Jazz how he and the other Titans had once been captured and turned into animals by one of their weirder enemies, Mumbo the Magician.
"And BB got turned into a lamp!" Cyborg said, chuckling once again. Jazz joined him, enjoying herself for a change. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to laugh and smile. Constantly worrying about her brother's mental state hadn't left much time for her to have a social life. She found Cyborg easy to talk to and a good story teller to boot. Their original talk about ghosts had evolved into many different subjects, until finally turning into Cyborg telling her some of the Titan's more humorous moments as a team. She welcomed the distraction he provided, as it took her mind off her more worrisome thoughts.
"Did someone mention me?" Beast Boy asked as he entered the main room, making sure to look out for Mr. Fenton. He wasn't eager to be on the receiving end of another ghost-related lecture.
"Naw, BB. Just telling her how bright you are," Cyborg replied. Jazz couldn't help herself as she erupted in a fit of giggles. Beast Boy looked momentarily confused until his face turned stiffened.
"Dude, thought we agreed not to mention the lamp story," Beast Boy exclaimed, his ears drooping slightly and his cheeks reddening. Cyborg was about to reply when the main doors opened. Raven walked in the room; with a face Cyborg and Beast Boy knew all too well. Beast Boy quickly moved out of the way, as to not incur her wrath. She made a beeline to the kitchen, grabbing her favorite kettle to brew some tea. Cyborg and Beast Boy glanced at each other, wondering what got Raven in such a foul mood.
The doors opened again as Rabin, Starfire and Maddie Fenton entered the room. Jazz recognized the fuming look in Mrs. Fenton's eye as she stormed in. Jazz hadn't seen her mother this angry since the last time they tried to catch Danny. Wait, he didn't…..
"Jazz, honey," Maddie asked. Jazz was alarmed by the furious tone still in her mom's voice. "Where is your father?"
"I think he's in your room, working on something," Jazz replied hastily.
"Thank you, dear," she replied. "Jack!!" she yelled as she exited the room, muttering something about dissection. All the Titans watched her leave the room. A sudden sharp whistling caused everyone to jump. Taking the kettle off the stove, Raven poured herself a cup of herbal tea, and then emulated Mrs. Fenton as she stormed out of the room.
"Dudes, what happened?" Beast Boy asked, finally breaking the silence that had fallen on the room.
"Yeah. I haven't seen Raven that ticked off since BB dyed her cloak pink," Cyborg chimed in.
"We ran into a little ghost trouble on the way back," Robin replied. Jazz's eyes went wide as her interest was piqued.
"Wait, another ghost attack? Why didn't you call us?" Cyborg queried.
"No time. Raven and Mrs. Fenton were trying to fight the ghost, but didn't have a lot of luck," Robin explained. "And then Phantom showed up."
"Hold on a sec,' Beast Boy interjected, unexpectedly full of energy. "Phantom's here? Did you get an autograph? Was he cool?"
"He was ruder than a rampaging snoodlebam!" Starfire replied. "He defeated the ghost but said some not very nice things to Raven and Mrs. Fenton." Jazz's worried look returned to her face as she listened in. She stood up, and then rushed out the door.
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After making sure the Fenton GAV made it back to the tower, Danny phased through the walls with ease till he arrived at one of the bathrooms. After doing a sweep of the Tower before hand, he had discovered that the bathrooms weren't monitored, unlike the rest of the building. Turning visible, he focused on transforming, as rings of light appeared around his waist and passed over his body, turning Danny Phantom back into Danny Fenton. He stepped out of the bathroom…
To be met face to face by his sister. Jazz had concern and anger painted on her face. They stared each other down for a few seconds before Jazz dared to speak.
"Where have you been?" asked in her most parental voice. He simply shrugged.
"Getting some fresh air," he replied. He jumped onto his bed, grabbed a book and started to read.
"Danny…" she said in a warning tone.
"It's not like its any of your business, Jazz," he shot back from behind his book. "I was just doing my job."
"Does your 'job' include insulting mom and the Titans?" Jazz asked. Danny looked up from above his book.
"I didn't insult Mom. The Titans on the other hand…" he replied enigmatically. Jazz huffed in frustration.
"Danny, what exactly did you say to them?' she asked. "Raven didn't look too happy."
"I told them the truth," he responded. "That they were rookies and they were better off let me handle the ghosts." Jazz stood there, flabbergasted.
"Why do you insist on doing this all by yourself?" she asked fervently. Her normally calm approach was lost as she felt her ire rise.
"Cause I'm the one who can!" he exclaimed, as if the answer was obvious. "It's my responsibility and no one else's. I'm sorry I'm not a 'real' hero in your eyes."
"Where did that come from?" she asked. She then stopped, remembering what she had said to Cyborg a few days ago.
"Danny, I didn't mean it like that," she defended. "You're as much of a hero as any of the Titans. I just think sometimes you need to ask for help…"
"I. Don't. Need. Help!" he shouted loudly. Jazz was taken aback by his volume. "I don't need yours and I definitely don't need theirs. So just quit it." And with that he left the room.
"Danny, wait!" Jazz called out as she chased after her brother. She bumped into something big, however, and landed squarely on her bottom.
"Sorry about that. You alright, Jazz?" Cyborg asked. He offered his hand and helped her up. "I heard shouting coming from your room."
"Oh, it was nothing," assured Jazz. She looked around to find that Danny had already done his usual disappearing trick. "Just some sibling rivalry, that's all." She giggled nervously.
"Yeah, about that. Your brother seems to be on the grumpy side," Cyborg admitted. Jazz sighed deeply.
"It's just a phase…I hope,' she answered. "He's just so stubborn sometimes."
"Sounds sorta like Raven," Cyborg observed. "She was like that a lot when she joined us. Maybe she could help?"
"No, that's alright," she declined. "It's sort of a family thing."
"Alright, then," Cyborg shrugged. "Anyway, your parents and I are gonna start working on some weapons in my workshop to help us fight ghosts one on one. Care to join us?" he held out his arm, which she graciously accepted.
"Sure, why not,' she said as he lead the way.
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Beast Boy was bored out of his mind.
It wasn't that there was nothing to do in the Tower. He had a backlog of comics to finish and he had at least 5 levels of Mega Ninja Hyper Munkies 4 to complete. He just didn't have anyone to do things with. Cyborg, his normal video game compatriot was off building weird gadgets with their guests. Robin, who occasionally played games, was off being Robin, planning their next strategy. He was afraid to even ask Raven; she usually said no, anyway, but in her current mood BB wasn't going to take any chances. And Starfire was probably in the kitchen making another one of her alien recipes.
Beast Boy sighed as he headed off to the main room for some prime lounging. If he was bored, might as well be comfortable. He entered and surveyed the room. Starfire was in the kitchen area, humming to herself and mixing strange ingredients (some of which BB thought were probably still alive). He looked at the couch and found one of their guests on the couch, reading a book. What was his name? Donnie? Randy? Oh, yeah: Danny. Grinning from ear to ear, Beast Boy walked over to his new "playmate".
"So," he began, using his friendliest smile. Danny's book lowered slightly, revealing only his eyes. His left eyebrow shot up in annoyance.
"Yes?" he asked in an irritated tone. Beast Boy couldn't help but think he'd how his tone was so much like Raven's.
"I was wondering if you weren't busy, if you wanted to play any games." Beast Boy asked, holding up a controller as emphasis. Danny's book moved up, once again obscuring his face.
"No," he said simply. Beast Boy's ears drooped slightly, but he was still determined.
"We got mega Munkies 4, Extreme Space Race and Doomed," Beast Boy prattled. Danny winced slightly upon hearing Doomed, which used to be one of his favorite games to play with Tucker and Sam. His impatience grew exponentially.
"I said no," he replied, a threatening edge in his voice.
"Come on, dude," BB pleaded. "I'll let you win a few rounds."
"Listen, kid," Danny began, his tolerance long since gone now.
"Kid?!" Beast Boy repeated in shock. The conversation had caught Starfire's attention, who was now listening in, paying no mind to her cooking.
"I don't do games," Danny continued, not paying any attention to Beast Boy's words. "I have better things to do than to play any stupid games. So stop bugging me." His concentration on his book lost, Danny left the room. Beast Boy and Starfire were left standing there, with a mortified look on his face.
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Danny needed release and fast.
Both his argument with his sister and his little confrontation with the green Titan had gotten Danny extremely agitated. He needed a way to misplace his pent up aggression. Remembering his scouting mission earlier that morning, he proceeded to is destination: the Tower's training room.
He inspected the area to make sure he was alone and couldn't be interrupted. He was actually a bit impressed by the equipment they had. Weight machines, treadmills, training robots. His training corner of his parent's lab simply had a few weights. He stopped looking and made a beeline to his equipment of choice: a large punching bag.
Finding some bandages, he wrapped his hands and began to tap the bag as a warm up. He began to think of the battle earlier that day. He chided himself for the close-calls. He should have been there faster. He should have defeated that ghost a lot sooner that he had. He struck the punching bag more fervently now as his thoughts swirled around in his head. He had to prove that he was strong enough. He had to win there was no room for error. He had to win or else…
The image flashed in his mind again. The blue face, the flaming hair, the forked tongue. That twisted, corrupt older version of himself sneering at him. Taunting him.
"You think any of this will make a difference?" he could hear him say. "You can't stop the unavoidable. Sooner or later you'll loose them all. Your family, your friends. You'll try to protect them and fail. And then we'll have so much fun together…" By now Danny was showering the bag with a flurry of punches and kicks. Everything else around him seemed to disappear.
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Robin was on his way to the kitchen to see how Starfire was doing. He felt that he was kooked up in his 'office' for far too long and he needed a break. He was no closer to solving the mystery which was plaguing his mind at the moment. That mystery involved the enigmatic ghost known as Phantom. Something was familiar about him. His face, the voice, his attitude. He couldn't help but feel he had met him before. He could feel the answer was at the tip of his tongue, but seemed to elude him as soon as he got too close. He hoped to talk to Raven to see if she had felt anything during the battle. When she cooled down, that is. Phantom seemed to push all the wrong buttons with his teammate.
Just he was passing Raven's door, it opened as the sorceress was on her way to get another cup of tea. The two paused for a second. Robin held his breath, hoping not cross her in anyway. He may have been the team leader but even he was a little afraid of Raven when she was angry.
"I'm not going to bite, you know," she said, breaking the ice. Robin began to breathe again, relieved that Raven was calmer.
"Feeling better?" he queried cautiously. Raven nodded.
"Sorry about that. I shouldn't have let my anger get the better of me," she replied. Robin smiled.
"It's no problem," he assured. "You're not the only one." Robin had been known to get furious at times, especially when it came to their more serious enemies, like Slade.
"I swear, he infuriated me even more than even Beast Boy could," she confessed. She sighed. "I can't help but feel sorry for him, though."
"What do you mean?" Robin wondered, surprised to hear Raven say that.
"During the battle, I touched his mind," she began. She looked down at the ground as they walked. "I felt so much pain from him. He seemed almost desperate to protect Mrs. Fenton in particular." Robin's eyebrow arched.
"Why would he want to protect a ghost hunter?" he wondered out loud. "Aren't they his enemies?"
"I'm not sure," she conceded. "It may be connected to how he died, if that makes any sense. We might want to talk to the Fentons about it." Robin nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of Phantom, have you noticed anything about him?" Robin asked, deciding to ask for the dark teen's advice.
"You mean the fact that he's a total jerk?" Raven joked.
"Not what I meant," he replied seriously. "It feels like I've met him somewhere." Raven paused for a second.
"Actually, I've been noticing the exact same thing," she agreed. "Something is familiar about him. I can't quite place my finger on it."
"We should…" he started, as the walked by their training room. He stopped as he heard the sound of someone pounding on his punching bag. He walked inside and stopped abruptly at the sight before him. Raven, wondering what was going on, also came into the room. She too was brought to a standstill as she mirrored Robin's look of shock. They watched in morbid curiosity as Danny Fenton was literally beating the sand out of the bag. His moves were fast and powerful as he delivered punch after punch and kick after kick, driving it to swing backwards more and more while doing so. Raven didn't think she'd seen even Robin move that fast.
Robin noted two things as he watched the youngest Fenton move. First was that Danny could fight. Though his moves were somewhat erratic, his form and execution of his motions were well done. He definitely had some training, probably in karate. His second observation was that he was fighting for a while, in something other than karate sparring. Danny had experience and lots of it. Robin wondered where he got it, however. Danny seemed to isolate himself from the rest of his family, so it couldn't be from ghost hunting, could it?
Robin's inner questions were cut short as Danny gave one final punch. It was all the chain that held the bag up could take as it broke, sending the bag into the nearby wall. They both watched as Danny just stood there, and then bent over, breathing heavily. Sweat was dripping down his face and hit the mat. Robin began to advance towards him, wondering if he was alright. He placed a hand on Danny's shoulder…
And suddenly found his back hitting the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Raven could barely make out Danny flipping Robin, which she never imagined was even possible. Robin was trained in various forms of martial arts and his reflexes were extremely sharp. Little could catch him off guard like Danny did just then.
Robin broke through his hazy vision to find Danny, crouched above Robin's lying form, with he fist cocked back, ready to strike. His face wore a mask of determination and fury. They stared each other down for a few moments, till Danny broke out of his spellbound state. His eyes widened when he realized what he had done. Danny stood up, muttered an apology as promptly walked towards the exit.
As he walked past Raven, their shoulders brushed. Raven froze as everything around her faded to black. She wondered where she was, looking around in confusion. She squinted as light suddenly filler her eyes again. It was then that she realized she was no longer in the tower.
The sky was a blood red and was slowly being filled by smoke coming from the town below. The streets were cracked, burning carcasses of cars strewn everywhere. The buildings were in no better shape, as many of them were on the verge of collapse. Raven didn't recognize any of the buildings, so she knew she wasn't in Jump City anymore. It seemed to be a much smaller town from the looks of it.
Raven's examination of the area was cut short as a laugh filled the air. It was deep and literally seethed of evil. She could feel a shiver crawl down her back as the laughter continued. "Who's there?" she asked as she struggled to find the source. Her search was short as she could make out two glowing red eyes piercing the darkness of an alley. As the mysterious figure came closer, she could make out more features: pale, blue skin, white flames for hair, sharp pointy teeth displayed in a toothy smirk. The most distinguishing feature was the symbol on its chest: the logo for the ghost known as Phantom. The creature hissed, its forked tongue darting out of its mouth as it pounced towards Raven.
Raven collapsed onto her knees, gasping for air. Robin ran up to her as she took a moment to collect herself.
"Raven? What happened?" he asked, his face filled with concern. She looked in the direction which Danny had headed towards and shook her head.
"I'm not sure."
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"Ladies and Gentlemen!" a very enthusiastic Cyborg exclaimed. He waited expectantly, and then cleared his throat. "I said 'Ladies and Gentlemen'." Remembering his cue, Beast Boy transformed into a lemur and began patting his belly, giving Cyborg the drum roll he needed.
"As I was saying," he began once again. It was late in the afternoon and everyone in the tower was gathered in the main room. Cyborg had called a meeting to 'unveil' the new weapons he designed with help from Jack and Maddie Fenton. He was in his element as he tried psyching up the crowd. "It is now my pleasure to introduce the future in Titans ghost hunting gear." Starfire gave a cheer from the couch while Jazz giggled at Cyborg's antics. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Enough with the theatrics already," she snidely remarked. Cyborg frowned for a moment before continuing. Off to the side, Danny was watching everything from behind a book.
"Ahem. Thanks to help from the Fentons, we've been able to modify our gear to kick some major ghost booty," he raved. Jack slung an arm around Cyborg's shoulder.
"Couldn't do it without you, C-man!" the large man bellowed. The two shared a love of technology, which made them fast buddies. Maddie smiled at the two.
"Now, boys, I think we need to show off the weapons before the crowd gets bored," she interjected, playing along. The bad mood she was in was now gone, the energy spent on inventing. She always did her best work when properly motivated.
"Let's start off with the arsenal of our big cheese, Robin!" said Cyborg, continuing his showcase. He threw over to Robin one of his signature bo-staffs. Robin examined it for a bit, and then looked back puzzled.
"I don't notice anything different," he stated.
"Give it a twist," Cyborg said, grinning. Robin did so and was surprised to see both ends of the staff suddenly glowing with ecto-plasmic energy. Robin nodded approvingly.
"Your staff, your birdarangs, discs, ropes, and grappling hooks have all been enhanced with ectoplasm," Maddie explained.
"Yeah, and your lines are coated with our patented Fenton anti-ghost resin. Designed to catch any ghost!" Jack chimed in.
"Next up are these lovely bracelets for Starfire," Cyborg announced, holding up a pillow. Lying on the pillow were two silver bracelets, each one with glowing green trim. Starfire squealed in delight, but paused for a moment.
"Would not Robin become the jealous?" she asked? Cyborg grinned nervously.
"They're special ecto-converters, Star. They absorb your starbolt energy and convert it into an ectoblast," he explained, much to the relief of both Starfire and Robin. Raven stifled a laugh.
"And for you, BB," Cyborg said, revealing metallic gloves and boots. Beast Boy eyed them questioningly.
"What do these do?" he asked, not sure of what to make of them. Jack smiled from ear to ear.
"They're special version of our Ghost Gauntlets," he confessed. "They let you tussle with a ghost one on one with an added bonus for you. Try transforming into something with claws." Beast put the boots and gloves on, then complied as he transformed into a grizzly bear. Looking at his claws, he found that the boots and gloves morphed along with him. Flexing his claws, he also found them glowing green.
"Cool!" Beast Boy called in approval after transforming into a number of different animals to try them out further.
"And last but not least, moi," Cyborg proclaimed. His hand transformed into his signature Sonic Canon, except it how glowed green instead of its normal blue. "Ecto-sonic Canon, ghost seeking missiles and built in ghost tracking equipment. Booyeah!"
"Great Job, everyone" Robin congratulated. Cyborg grinned at the compliment. "With these new weapons, we should have no problem stopping any threat that comes along."
From his corner, Danny cocked an eyebrow. This was not good. Their new weapons made the Titans more threatening than before. He didn't think his parents could work so quickly. He definitely needed to find a way to solving the mystery behind the ghost attacks before the Titans did.
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Skulker's preparations were complete. He grinned to himself as he successfully made it to the basement of the tower without being detected. He was now ready to retrieve his master's belongings. He first, however, needed a distraction to keep the Titans and the whelp busy. He pulled in a rather large cage. Various limbs could be seen flailing out of the sides.
"Time to feast, my pets," he said as he opened the cage…