The darkness is eclipsed...
"Begin the End
The seesaw tilts from side to side, and then
Reset our lives, we can; begin again."
~Hunter
Titans Phantom
Chapter 9: The Great One's Mask
It had been well over an hour, the Titans all asking sparse questions when something caught their eyes. Overall, Danny had answered most of them, even though his mind bordered on unconsciousness and his eyes were closed, head resting on the back of the seat.
"So, why are there doors and then islands?" Robin asked as Cyborg flew past a giant arched doorway, a heavy bolted lock barring passage.
"Some doors lead to lairs, others passageways between here and the Human Zone. But most lead to different places in the Ghost Zone. The islands are created from either a ghost choosing to live there, or are created from the destruction of land in the Human Zone, for example Pandora lives in Greece," Danny answered, shifting to take the weight off his burning legs, he slid lower into the chair.
"Wait, so does that mean dinosaurs are here as well?" Beastboy asked amazed. Danny merely chuckled.
"Don't know. The Ghost Zone is so big, but sure, why not. You have to understand, there aren't many rules here. What's up might as well be down. All I know is that this place is the opposite of that which is alive. Even our sun is different. It rises in the west and sets in the east."
"So, everything here is a result of it dying in the Human Zone?" Robin asked, to this Danny shook his head.
"Please, don't be so self-centered, the Human Zone isn't everything you know."
Robin would have been offended by the answer if not for the smile crossing cracked lips.
"Sorry, I guess we're just having a hard time trying to understand," he snapped back his tone light.
"Don't, this place isn't meant to be understood," and with this Phantom fell asleep. His aura dimming, pale skin humming with electricity.
It had been well over an hour since they'd entered the Ghost Zone, and Cyborg was hesitantly heading in the direction that the flashing screen said to go.
"Dude, can't we go any faster?" Beastboy asked as he shifted, uncomfortable in the back seat much to Raven's displeasure. Starfire merely tried to accommodate the changeling.
"Ok, first off we're flying through a place that looks like Alice in Wonderland gone wrong. We have an unconscious ghost, whose in pain and clearly doesn't like us, and I'm being forced to drive stick without so much a clue as to how to even operate this machine! So sorry, I'm not going fast enough for you, you little grass stain!" Cyborg snapped managing to glare at BB while dodging the floating doors.
Beastboy shrunk back apologizing quickly. The tension in the spectra speeder rose, Danny oblivious to it all as his mind began to draw him into the reality of dreams.
"Robin?" Starfire asked timidly, when he turned to look at her, she continued, "If friend Phantom is a ghost, and he said that this place is the opposite of alive, then how did he die?"
"The greater question is, how does he exist?" Raven spoke, the Titans all gazed down at their friend in worry and amazement.
The place smelled of smoke and crushed stone, sirens blaring loudly to a coming threat. One that had already happened before…or was it after? Danny didn't know. Wandering the streets of the city, his heart beat erratically in his chest. This place? Cold dread swept through him, the place bent and twisted, it attacked with black flames, searing. The teen could smell his coppery blood that seeped into his tattered clothes, flowing beneath him onto the pavement. Was he lying down? Danny felt blood bubble up in his throat, along with a scream he realized was piercing the air one octave lower than the wailing sirens.
He needed to go, he had to run…they were…weren't they dead? No… black bangs fell into his face, sticking to his forehead. Green eyes opened frantically when he felt someone pushing him down onto the stone.
"No!" Danny tried crying out, he couldn't breathe, his lungs were moving too fast…to slow, he needed oxygen he needed…he heard frantic voices above him. Sounding as if they we're coming from above water. Why didn't they pull him up? He couldn't breathe. He was drowning, panic took over, and Danny tried to lash out. But his body screamed in electric pain.
It felt as if someone had knifed him in the stomach. God, it hurt. His legs were convulsing uncontrollably, and the knife in his abdomen was spreading. Cutting deeper, sinking into him and moving. Strong arms were holding him in place, and Danny let out a strangled noise he couldn't recognize.
He needed to get away; he felt the knife stop sinking, ice cold needles in his neck took over. And suddenly the teen saw the faces shimmering just above the surface of the water. It was the Titans. They were watching him. Trying to reach him, and Danny felt his heart tighten.
Why were they here? Couldn't they tell he was of no use? A crumbled building stood out in the fog. The remnants of a boiler discolored just inside. He saw Robin order something, and the arms disappeared. Leaving him to fall onto his knees in front of the burning hell that had once held his life. How had he been standing? Danny watched as Robin disappeared, only to be replaced by Raven. Her hands glowing a soft silver, placing them just below his neck. It was a strange feeling, he could feel them, and yet he couldn't. His sixth sense told him they were there, but he couldn't feel her touch. Only the pull of pain leaving his body in a wave of heat, sweat beading his brows. Once done, he watched her form shimmer and leave, giving him a full view of the Ghost Zone. Why were they here? Someone was speaking again, the voice controlled and stern, under-laced with barely restrained panic.
"We need to hurry, Cyborg, floor it! Phantom? Can you hear me?"Robin asked drifting in and out, the words a garbled mess. Danny felt his breath catch in his throat, god the pain. His voice sounded raspy and hollow.
"Down to…when, snow," Danny let pure darkness take him.
The spectra speeder was deathly quiet. Cyborg tore through the Ghost Zone, hands bending the metal steering wheel.
"Wh-what was that?" Beastboy asked, his whole body trembling from what the Titans had all witnessed.
"I don't know," Robin replied shakily, looking to his friends. Phantom now resting his head on Cy's shoulder, his breaths short and even. The boy wonder turned his gaze to the three Titans sitting in the backset. Starfire was now in the middle, her hands down by her sides, Raven's purple eyes wide in shock and Beastboy trying to stop his desire to hide in the corner.
"Thanks, Star," Robin said. The alien girl merely nodded. Her hands trembling, red burn marks marring the tan skin. She had been the only one capable of keeping Phantom in place.
"Raven, can you…" Robin started to ask his voice snapping Raven back from whatever place she'd been, and gingerly she took Starfire's hands in her own, and began the healing process. Her violet eyes wide and unfocused. Once finished, Star gave her a brief thanks, and the team fell into silence once more.
"Danny, in a fight, who do think would win, Cyborg or Robin?" A boy with a red beret asked.
"Thanks. You know, for taking me flying," a girl with silk black hair said smiling, red dusting her cheeks.
"You're my little brother. I'll always take care of you."
"Wait, you don't know who Cyborg is? He's the best Teen Titan ever!"
"Danny, I..."
"Danny!"The red head screamed in panic.
"Phantom?" Someone asked, their voice cutting through the voices of his loved ones. Everything felt like lead, his ears were stuffed with cotton, and he felt as if his mind no longer connected to his body. Still, Danny managed to crack open one eye, revealing a dull light green, the dilated pupil concealing the crystalline blue flecks. He saw the outline of someone he should know.
"You're okay. Whatever is happening, it's not real. You're going to be fine," the voice said. Sounding more like it was trying to convince himself rather than Danny. What was wrong? He thought. His mind vaguely supplying the knowledge that someone named Robin was speaking to him. He didn't understand, everyone was just talking to him…Sam, Tucker and Jazz. They were just talking, right? Danny's mixed colored eye slid closed. The dizzying fog pressing in, he felt sweat run down his temple. God, it was hot. But his skin was cold as ice, as if trying to keep himself from overheating, and yet freezing him all at once.
"Danny, we'd love you no matter what."
"You're our son and we love you."
His parents were so stupid, how could they say that when he'd killed them.
"Phantom, listen to me, we're all here. Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, Beastboy, and me, Robin. We're here and I promise you, we'll help you," the blur said, his voice pleading. People agreeing, voicing their opinions, trying to give him strength. For what though?
Together we make six. Danny thought, tears spilling anew down his pale face. Was this why everyone was so worried? That he had been crying? Danny didn't even realize what he was doing any more. He only felt pain and loss. What had he lost?
Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Mom, Dad…we used to make six.
Danny felt the tears this time. Running down his face. Branding him like hot knives. His thoughts were lost and rampant. He knew he was losing something, he needed to hold on, but he couldn't remember. His temperature was rising with the electricity humming below his skin. The first thump of a heart trying to restart.
Fire was lapping at every nerve. Every bone seemed broken like glass, cutting and slicing him from the inside out. And Danny tried in vain to hold onto what little reality he had left in his pounding head. People were speaking, but in the blackness of the dream he couldn't hear them. Danny never felt when the spectra speeder was hit with a powerful ecto-blast. A mechanical robot with flaming green hair in hot pursuit. The Titans didn't know that the green eyes which were closed; hidden beneath pure snow white hair, were now ice blue.
"What the…" Cyborg yelled as he steered the spectra speeder, dodging the flying rockets that the enemy was sending their way.
"I guess even the Ghost Zone has villains. Cyborg, can you make this thing go any faster?" Robin asked, the other Titans moving from their seats, trying to locate the speeder's weapons panel.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Cy said, trying very hard to throw off the ghost while making sure Phantom wasn't jostled.
"You will be mine, ghost child!" The enemy screamed. His voice echoing around the cabin, sending shivers down the team's spine. Cyborg spun the ship around a black door as an ecto-blast made contact. Splintering the wood, the force throwing the ship backwards.
"Hey!" Beastboy yelled gripping the edge of the seat while one arm pointed out the window.
"Snow!" He yelled in relief. The ship took a hit throwing the Titans forward, Robin catching Phantom's weak form.
"What did he say when we saw snow?" Robin screamed ignoring the vertigo. Cyborg shot the ship high into the sky.
"You will be mine!" The ghost yelled.
"Dive!" Raven screamed, her violet eyes wide in fear. Cyborg dived, and the ship headed straight into a spiraling snow cavern. Pillars of ice jutting out, meant to destroy anything that entered. It took all of Cyborg's focus as a pilot to dodge the traps. The snow reflecting pure white rays, blinding the team. The Titans clung to their seats, the momentum driving them forward, wanting to throw the teens into the glass window.
The exit was fast approaching, its light brighter than the sun. For a second, the Titans felt hope… they were going to make it. A deafening boom filled the air from the rocket that tore through an engine and blasted a hole into the side of the ship surprising them all. Starfire screamed, and soon the Teen Titans were blown backwards into the ship as it crashed into the snow fifty-feet outside the exit.
The ship jumped and screamed. Glass shattering and raining down on its occupants who no longer sat in the seats that were torn and warped. But they laid in the middle of the ship, on the broken metallic floor. Smells of smoke and heated metal filling their noses. The spectra speeder came to a stuttering stop.
Starfire was the first to awaken, heart hammering in her ears. Slowly she sat up to look at her friends. Every one of them looked as if they'd been thrown around like ping pong balls. Dark purple bruises forming on exposed skin, blood dribbling down shallow cuts and onto the glass covered floor. Looking down, Starfire could see she was no better off. Her tan skin littered with cuts and dark covered blotches, and she could feel the glass beneath her digging into her thighs.
"Robin, Cyborg, friends, can you hear me?" She pleaded and soon each Titan woke up, slowly taking in the pain as a cold breeze filled the ship.
"We're alive?" Beastboy asked as a wave of nausea swept through him. The changeling swayed, falling to the side. Raven caught him, worry in her eyes as she noticed something red and sticky clinging to the back of his messy green hair.
"Yes, we're alive. Phantom?" Raven asked ignoring her own wounds. Working instead on Beastboy's, who thanked her softly.
"He's o.k. I managed to shield him from the impact," Cyborg said sitting up, revealing Phantom. Every Teen Titan let out a sigh of relief before they heard the sounds of a jet pack getting closer.
"Titans, go!" Robin said and soon the teens were standing outside, ankle deep in freezing snow. The wind biting their open wounds, the green haired ghost approached.
Skulker landed not twenty feet away, a smirk plastering his lips, green machete sliding out of his arm.
"What's this? It seems the whelp has a new set of friends now. And interesting ones at that. Tell me, who's the leader?" Skulker asked menacingly never moving, the cold not fazing him in the slightest.
"I am. And trust me when I say you're not getting your hands on Phantom," Robin snapped. The Titans taking defensive positions around the side of the ship, weapons armed.
"Please, like Phantom needs people like you to protect him? But if it's a fight you want, I'll thoroughly enjoy mounting your pelts along with his above my fireplace!" Skulker said laughing manically. The Titans just looked sick. Beastboy actually swaying on his feet, although he couldn't tell if it was from his head injury or not.
"Um…o.k…ewww." BB replied. Skulker prepared to fire and the Titans tensed for battle.
"Titans, get ready to…"
"What do you think you're doing here, Skulker?" A voice demanded. The Titans spun around as five ghost yetis emerged from behind the ship. Their leader wearing a blue robe slung behind his shoulder. His eyes glowing ice blue and menacing, he and the others went to stand in front of the Titans. Skulker, who the Titans now observed, went deathly pale, his aura diminishing.
"I…" He stuttered, deep voice straining a few octaves. The leader of the tribe merely growled.
"Leave."
Skulker didn't need to be told twice, and soon he was flying away, back up the cavernous mountain. Once gone, Frostbite relaxed and he turned his attention back to the five teens that stood defensively in front of the spectra speeder. All of them trembling from the cold.
Frostbite could only smile gently at them, telling his warriors to return home. As they left, he watched indecision flash across the teen who claimed to be their leader.
"Relax, young ones, I will not harm you," Frostbite said watching as the team seemed to relax, but something was troubling him.
"Tell me, why have you taken the Great One's Spectra Speeder? The Ghost Zone is no place for those who don't know how to navigate it."
At the mention of the name Great One, Frostbite watched the team suck in their breath. Looks of hope and desperation crossing all of their faces.
"Are you an ally of Phantom's?" The leader asked approaching Frostbite, dried blood matting his black bangs.
"Yes. I am one of his ally's," the snow yeti answered. To this, the Titans all rushed forward, but the leader quickly cut them all off.
"Then please help him, he's been badly injured, and we've come seeking help."
Frostbite stood there in shock at the change of demeanor in the five teens. One moment, they had been strong and determined, now they stood here looking up at him broken and beaten. The snow yeti snapped out of it. And quickly he strode forward, his robe billowing around him, snagging on the wrapped metal of the ship, until he was bending down, looking into Danny's face. Whose eyes slid open, revealing pure ice…blue? Frostbite found he couldn't breathe. Gingerly, he picked the teen up in his arms, shielding Danny from the Titans' sight.
"Great One?" Frostbite whispered unable to believe it. Danny merely smiled, red-green blood sloshed down his mouth.
"H-hey F-Frostbite," Danny passed out. The next moments passed in a blur, and soon he and the Teen Titans were racing to the city. Phantom clutched protectively in Frostbite's arms, who could feel the stuttering of a restarting heart.
"How long has he been like this?"Frostbite screamed his voice echoing loudly in the roaring wind. Danny found it too loud and to hot, but he couldn't move. Distantly, he heard a baritone voice answer three days. Danny wanted to laugh when he heard Frostbite curse. He never realized when he was placed on the ice table.
Everything was hazy, the pressure in his stomach electrifying and hot. It was trying to split in two again, and Danny let out a cry as he felt a vice like razor slide in between his vertebrae, resting below his neck. The pressure increased, and the white hot knives slid out from his body. Forming one shaky white ring.
"The pressure isn't enough, his nerves aren't responding."
"God, increase the electric flow, and lower his body temperature to twenty-two degrees. We have to stop his heart."
Something cold slid underneath his chest, and Danny vainly fought back. His body convulsing involuntary, it was burning cold and white hot, and all the teen could feel was agony. The razor pulled the bones in his neck sharply to the right. A scream filled the electrified air. His back arching upwards away from the unforgiving table. The ring stabilized.
Danny wanted to wail, to scream, to cry, to do anything that would stop this pain. It was never ending. The white hot thing clawed and ripped him through his bones, through muscles, through nerves... His neck was snapped to the left, the crack of soft white bones being heard more than felt. Slowly, ever so painfully slow, Danny felt the white ring separate and begin to travel up and down his body, which now lay limp on the cold burning table. His breaths were almost nonexistent.
"He's stabilizing!"
"Quickly, we don't have a lot of time, mend the bones."
Those were the last words Danny heard. The transformation finished, and the yeti doctors set to work. Strengthening the weak heartbeat of the raven haired teen that'd barely hung onto life.
The Titans were sitting in a well decorated ice room. Blankets resting on the furniture, the air a cool sixty-two degrees. They had been left waiting for three hours. Robin gazed at his team from beside the double paned glass window. Beastboy, who had a minor concussion, was sleeping quietly on the couch, an alarm set to wake him. Cyborg was pacing quietly while Raven and Starfire were both meditating in the middle of the room. However, when the doors opened, every Titan was up and alert staring at Frostbite when he entered. A tired look in his yellow blue eyes.
"How is he?" Robin asked walking forward, the yeti taking a seat in the big fur chair.
"Relax, the Great One will be fine. We managed to stabilize his form. He should be fully recovered in about three days."
The tension in the room instantly vanished, the Titans all collapsing wherever they were. Frostbite couldn't help but smile at how much these teens cared.
"Tell me, who are you, young one's?" Frostbite asked. To this Robin introduced himself and the rest of the team, who all nodded and smiled at the yeti. Whose robe was now a royal green, the gold coil dancing in the blue firelight.
"I see, and you are Cyborg?" Frostbite asked looking to the half robot who merely nodded sitting on the couch, his dark brown eye wide with slight surprise.
"Your idea of using an electrical current to contain the Great Ones power was very smart. It saved his life," Frostbite stated causing the teen to blush. Although, the snow yeti decided not to mention how the current had been the only thing keeping Danny in his ghost form.
"May we see him?" Starfire asked, her wide green eyes pleading to see their friend. To this Frostbite shook his head and stood.
"I'm afraid not. The Great One is still very tired and has not yet awakened. But once he is ready for you, I shall let you know. Until then rest, our scientists are already repairing the ship," with this he left, leaving the Teen Titans alone with their thoughts.
Raven was the first one to speak, her thoughts finally boiling over.
"Robin, there's something you should know about Phantom," she said and with that, she had the Teen Titan's full attention. Raven dove in, detailing what she had seen back on the spectra speeder.
Frostbite walked through medical wing of the science department. His feet carrying him to the room he wanted with the ease of familiarity. He pushed past the white door and entered, where a yeti nurse stood at the foot of Danny's bed. She had slim shoulders, her face was narrow and sharp, and she was wearing a one shouldered dress clasped in gold around her thin waist.
The nurse's pale grey eyes met Frostbite's before she nodded and set back to work. The snow yeti took up a chair next to Danny's side, watching her adjust the machines and open a new IV. Soon he was alone with the teen, the charts back at the foot of the bed, the only sounds coming from the heart monitor, and the slow, even breaths rolling off Danny in waves.
"We almost didn't make it. Oh, Great One, what has become of you?" Frostbite begged, he only received silence in return.
"So what you're saying is that those reactions might have been memories back on the ship?" Beastboy asked shock clear on his face.
Raven merely shook her head, confusion in her eyes. "I don't know. Everything was so messed up, I was just kind of there. I don't even know if what I saw was real," she said rubbing her temples the feeling of a headache coming on.
"But every scream, every cry, could have been a memory?" Star asked her eyes brimming with tears. She remembered Phantom begging for it to stop. Raven bowed her head. Robin held the alien girl close as she sobbed into his arms.
"St-stop, please. I just want to…stop."
Blearily, Danny opened his eyes to the blinding florescent lights. He heard the sounds of a weak but steady heartbeat and wondered if this meant he was alive. Slowly, he sat up, body aching with exhaustion, and Danny nearly collapsed back onto the heated white sheets and give into the desire of sleep.
"Great One? You are awake," Frostbite said, to which Danny merely groaned, and turning his head, he was met with relieved pools of yellow blue.
"Am I alive?" Danny asked, voice shaking. Fevered memories of drowning in watery fire filled his mind. Frostbite placed a cold, soft hand on the teen's face, mindful of his sharp claws, and ruffled the matted raven hair.
"Yes, welcome back, Great One."
Fat droplets then fell down Danny's ivory skin, as he wound one shaking hand around Frostbite's arm. Burying his face into the coarse white fur. And for the life of him, Frostbite never wanted to let the sobbing teenager go. But Danny would never remember if these were tears of happiness or ones of sadness.
"Your heart is steadily getting stronger. It appears that your body is finally beginning to stabilize itself now that your powers are no longer being disrupted," the doctor said. His face was slightly plumper than Frostbite's, who was sitting across from Danny, holding one thin hand in his. Danny drew comfort from it, for it seemed to be the only thing reinforcing that he was indeed alive. The claw shifted, drawing its cold warmth away from the teen. Snapping Danny out of the haze he'd fallen into.
"Great One, are you getting this?" Frostbite asked while ice blue eyes stared at him questioningly.
"Yeah, my heart's getting stronger blah, blah. I should be fine in three days."
The doctor snorted at this, giving Danny a glare that could rival even Jazz's.
"As long as you don't turn into Phantom. You need to understand, Great One, your ability to change rests in your nerves electrical responses. That blow to your neck disrupted the flow that allows you to create the balance needed between your human and ghost side. And as of this moment, your human body is too weak to stay in ghost form, and if you even try, I guarantee the results won't be pretty," the doctor said his eyes serious and dark.
"Why?" Danny asked, his black hair falling in his eyes and to this Frostbite answered.
"Because, Great One, you stayed in Ghost Form too long. Your body needed to rest, and so it began demanding you change, only it couldn't. It was plainly obvious when I found you. Your human heart which is normally protected in its ice core was beginning to beat."
Danny merely shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand. Is that why every time I pass out, I turn human?"
Frostbite nodded, "Indeed. Believe it or not, Great One, your powers are derived directly from your human side, which is why you can still use your powers in human form. Granted your ghost side is stronger and easier to control. But for you, death is merely an extension of life."
"So me being dead, means I'm alive," Danny stated his head spinning from trying to grasp something that seemed to run between his fingers like water. Frostbite merely laughed at the look of pure confusion on Danny's face. He laid his hand on the teen's warm shoulder.
"Do not worry about it, Great One. Just don't use your powers for a couple of days, and you'll be good as new."
With this Danny nodded, the nurse came in and took his temperature which read a steady eighty-eight point one and his pulse a strong thirty beats per minute and steadily rising. Her eyes sparkled in approval.
"You should be fine now. Great One, if you wish to leave I advise you rest and try to get some sleep," with this she left placing a set of clean clothes on the chair beside Frostbite. For awhile Danny could only stare at the cleanly pressed white shirt, a single neon green strip running down over his heart, the dark washed blue jeans, and black combat boots sitting on the floor.
Danny didn't know what to do. And that's what scared him. He knew he should get dressed, find the Titans, take them home, and make sure that Fixit hadn't had a panic attack. But the normalcy of it all terrified him, and the treacherous hope that spread through his heart, begging him to get to know the Teen Titans threatened to tear down every shield, every fortification and every promise he'd made to himself after his loved ones died. Danny never even realized he was trembling until Frostbite placed a bracing hand on his back, waiting until the halfa found the control to stop the fear clawing through his long abused body.
"Great One?"
Danny let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"I'm fine, could you go get the Titans, I think we need to head home."
Frostbite merely nodded preparing to leave before he whirled around and placed a silver ring on Danny's finger.
"What was that for?" Danny asked looking at the small piece of jewelry.
"Just making sure your identity stays intact," he said and left.
Danny gave a huff of annoyance before he stood. His muscles pulling while his bones ached, particularly in his neck and chest. Slowly Danny exchanged his tattered human clothes for the ones sitting on the chair.
Walking down the hallway Frostbite couldn't help the smile cross his face. The Great One…no, Danny was going to be alright he still had a long ways to go, but the snow yeti had a good feeling about the ones who called themselves the Teen Titans. Before he even realized it, the ghost was standing in front of the guest room door and pushing it open he walked in to five teenagers sitting tensely on the furniture. All of them stood up immediately, their eyes serious and positively sick with worry.
"The Great One is awake, would you like to go and see him?" Frostbite asked. Robin's answer was curt, but the snow yeti took no offense. He could feel the emotions practically radiating off the teen. He led them down the hallway and soon they were in front of the door, pushing it open revealed Phantom tying the last knot on his black combat boot, his snow white hair unruly from sleep, the white shirt baggy. So caught up in the sight that for a moment the Teen Titans forgot that the person before them was a super hero and a ghost at all, he seemed so…weak, so human.
"Great One, the Teen Titans," Frostbite said as they all entered. Danny smiled softly as he stood up from the bed, his glowing green eyes bright and healthy.
"Thanks," Danny said to both Frostbite and the Teen Titans.
"No problem, man," Cyborg said his arm rubbing the back of his neck nervously, Starfire rejoiced at his recovery.
"Glad to see you're alright," Robin added his entire posture filled with relief.
Danny felt his heart flutter in nervousness and fear, causing him to sway slightly on his feet before he caught himself and shook it off. The action didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room.
"We should head back now," Danny said not wanting them to ask what was wrong. The Titans merely stayed silent, Danny heading for the door.
"Great One?" Phantom turned to Frostbite.
"Yeah?"
"Your ship should be repaired in two days time," Frostbite said vanishing from the room and startling the Titans. Danny huffed his thanks and looked back to the Titans.
"Well, aren't you coming?" He asked, and quickly they followed.
"So, where are we going?" Beastboy asked as the team followed Phantom through the hallways.
"We're not going anywhere. I'm taking you home then coming back here to pick up my ship," Danny answered his tone soft.
"Speaking of, how did my ship get destroyed?" Danny asked eyeing Cyborg who shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Some ghost named Skulker attacked, demanding you become a pelt on his wall," Raven answered blankly, every other Titan shuddered at the thought. Danny couldn't hold back the laughter at their reactions.
"Oh, man, you guys were defeated by Skulker?" Danny gasped out his eyes watering.
"Hey, if it's any consolation, it was your ship that didn't hold up!" Robin snapped his face beat red.
"Whatever, I guess since the treaties gone he would be hunting me now," Danny chided his glowing green eyes still holding in the laughter. Those harmless words sparked a memory in Robin.
"Hey, Phantom, earlier back at the theater, that one ghost mentioned something about a treaty, what does that have to do with you?"
For one moment the team thought Phantom wouldn't answer. His glowing green eyes fighting an inner battle before he hesitantly began to speak.
"The treaty was created stating that as long as I never entered the Ghost Zone, minus visiting Clockwork, the ghosts wouldn't attack the Human Zone anywhere within the state I was living in."
"Why was it created?" Robin pressed his curiosity getting the better of him, but Danny's mouth clamped shut and he refused to answer. The rest of the walk to the main lab was quiet and strained. But once they entered the massive circular room Phantom visibly relaxed.
"We're here."
The Titans looked around the room filled with machines in confusion as Danny made his way up the stone dais, where hovering above a pedestal an ancient scroll rotated in a lulling circle.
"Um…dude, how do we get home?" Beastboy asked, the Titans following Phantom up onto the dais. Danny merely smiled and told them to grab hold of the scroll.
"Infi-map, take us to Titan's Tower," he said and with this, a force latched onto each member's wrists and pulled, the map yanking them forward, a path drawn out into its green cast sky. The Teen Titans and Danny were speeding off through the Ghost Zone flying towards a portal, hovering right above an ancient castle with gears turning all around it. Danny couldn't help the chuckle that passed his lips as they entered the swirling green energy. And soon they were falling from the ceiling of the Tower's living room the portal remaining open. Danny was the first to recover. He pulled himself up and out of the tangled mess of limbs.
As the Titans all stood brushing themselves off, Danny couldn't help the stab of pain his heart felt at the thought of leaving.
"Well, now that I can kick your butts again, see ya," he said preparing to open the map.
"Wait!" Robin called, and before Danny could protest, he handed him a yellow and black communicator. The white haired teen was stunned speechless.
"You said we wouldn't leave you alone no matter what, well you were right, we won't." Robin let go of the device, a smile on his face as his team stood behind him.
Silently, Phantom turned pocketing the device, he didn't know what to say, and he was afraid to react. So he simply turned, instructing the map to take him back to Frostbite's. And as the map pulled him back up and into the portal, Starfire caught a glimpse of something that sent her mind reeling. For there, stretching from wrist to elbow, was a long white clawed scar, exactly like the one adorning Danny Fenton's arm. Phantom was gone in a second, the green portal closing, leaving Starfire standing there wondering if what she'd seen was even real at all.
It was early Wednesday morning when Danny finally made it back to his house. Walking out of the black door into the living room, he felt his heart hammer beneath his breast when he couldn't find Fixit.
"Well, it's nice to see you've finally returned," Fixit said causing Danny to jump and face the robot sitting in the kitchen, a book open on the table, a glass of hot oil steaming in a mug.
"It's nice to see you didn't have a panic attack," Danny replied tiredly. Taking off the silver ring his appearance changing, silently he made his way to sit on the counter top. Fixit merely scoffed at the badly delivered remark and watched the teen's blue eyes begin to slip closed.
"Please, I would never show my emotions in such a way…besides, a man showed up and said you were fine," Fixit stated his ocean blue eyes carefully gauging Danny's reaction. The teen's eyes opened slightly trying to focus on what Fixit had just said. But Danny was quickly losing the battle of consciousness. The adrenaline long since passing from his system, and his body reminded him of the fact that he needed to rest.
"Who came by?" He asked his words slurring slightly.
"I'm assuming it was a ghost. He was blue with red eyes, a scar running down one, and he carried a calming demeanor, he had a pendulum on his chest and a staff which held a ticking clock. This ringing any bells?" Fixit asked as he got up from the table and lifted Danny up, carrying him to his room. The teen merely mumbled something that Fixit realized was a name, and even before the robot laid Danny down onto the light blue covers, the teen was already asleep. Fixit merely sighed, pulling the dark blue comforter up to the teen's chest before he floated out of the room preparing to open the store, his heart immensely grateful that Danny was finally home safe, because even though Fixit wouldn't admit it, he really almost did have a panic attack.
Everything was beginning to change. In the darkness of sleep, Danny knew this, but he felt something coming. It was the same thing that always came and fear gripped his heart, he needed to go…they were…weren't they dead?
"No, stop…please, I want to…stop." Sweat covered him as he ran, trying to get away from the smell of ash and stone. It was coming, Danny began to fight, and he needed to do something…was this real? They were almost here, the raven haired teen didn't know who, but he knew he'd be too late. He stumbled in the dark, a strangled cry of fear passing his lips it was almost…everything stopped.
Hesitantly, Danny opened two blue eyes and instead of seeing the pile of blood and ashes, he was standing in the middle of the central Park in Amity. The leaves were swaying, rolling sound waves like the ocean, and the stone fountain was showing the reflection of the thousands of star's in the night sky. The air was cool, when Danny felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder. He tensed knowing who it was even before he turned to see Sam's amethyst eyes.
"S-Sam," his voice was a strangled sob. The Goth girl smiled, pulling him in for a fierce hug, the ones she'd always given Danny whenever she'd been alive. Danny couldn't stop the tears pouring down his face as he buried himself in the crook of her neck. The smell of lilies and soft jasmine filling his senses.
"Danny," She replied her voice soft and constricted, fighting back the tears. She'd always hated crying. And Danny suddenly knew why, it was so very taxing.
"Sam, I thought…this isn't happening, you're not here."
Sam cut him off from his rambling, her hand pressed up against his lips, she smiled, breathing in the scent of fresh snow, she'd never told Danny that's what he'd always smelled like.
"Danny, it's alright, I know. You don't have to go back there," She said, and while dread filled Danny at the thought of there, he didn't know what she was talking about.
"Sam, I can't. You know I can't," he whispered, and it was the truth. He was clinging onto something, but he didn't know what and it was hurting so badly. He yelped when he felt the toe of one combat boot connecting to his shin.
"You will listen to me you infuriating…you won't go back. I'm giving you permission to never set foot in that awful place, got it?" She said, fear and determination entering her voice even though she knew it was an impossible task, she wouldn't give up. Danny could only nod for fear of the steel toed boot. He watched a smile spread across those violet lips, and soon Danny found himself smiling too, even though his heart clenched painfully in his throat.
"Good, now I have to go. Don't you dare do anything stupid while I'm gone, Fenton," Sam said a look of sad irritation passing over her face.
"What? Where are you going? Sam?" Danny cried out as the night time sky seemed to take her away, leaving the white haired teen screaming by the fountain, he never realized when he'd changed.
"Why? Sam, why can't I go?" His voice was hoarse from the plea. He heard the wind cry.
"It's o.k. we're all still here. Danny, you don't have to go back to that place. Promise me you won't get stuck in that nightmare," Sam cried her voice carried on the leaves waves.
Danny's knees gave out from underneath him. He couldn't breathe, he was drowning. It hurt, the hollow cries of his soul wishing to follow his family.
"I-I promise," his voice was a strangled whisper as he wrapped his arms around his shaking chest which threatened to break open. God, he hated crying.
"Good, love you, Danny," she whispered lovingly, then Sam's presence was gone and Danny woke from the dream his body curled into a ball, the blankets a tangled mess, his black unruly hair falling down into his pure green eyes. Hiccupping sobs passed his lips before he managed to say those drowning words.
"Love you, Sam."
Everything was changing, and as he lay there sobbing, arms wrapped around him so tight he couldn't breathe, Danny had made a promise, one that he would keep. The only problem was, he couldn't remember what the promise was for, and that only made breathing so much worse.
AN: Read & Review
~Rin