Ice Lightening

Chapter Ten

The Stand

"Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives."

~Tony Robbins~

Static watched as Phantom slowly slid down a wall and sat on the floor. Gear was trying to figure out if he could get into the Guys In White database and delete research to hopefully slow them down. It was the only thing Phantom really gave them permission to do.

"Danny," Static whispered, hoping that, even though Phantom told the League what he was capable of, they don't come and just take him without doing some research. Anyone of them could destroy the League with the right plan and everything. Just because Phantom had enough and just said it out loud didn't mean he would. He just needed them to listen to them.

Static understood why Phantom said what he did. He needed to show them that even though they were a bunch kids, they were able to put all that aside if something serious came up.

Suddenly, Gear jumped back out of his seat with wide eyes making both Phantom and Static jump slightly.

"What is it?" Phantom asked, slowly standing back up and going over to the computer only to see what was once Amity Park was now nothing but rising smoke and ashes.

"This was once Amity Park. The Guys in White have stated that their number one enemy, Danny Phantom, has destroyed this city in an attempt at revenge for stopping him the first time…"

"Richie, turn it off," Static whispered, seeing the pain in Danny's eyes. Gear nodded and turned it off. Static gently pulled the hybrid into a hug as he broke down.

"They didn't do anything wrong…" Phantom whispered as it felt like his heart was being ripped out. "Why would they…"

"We'll stop them, Danny, I promise," Static vowed. That's when Superman and Batman walked in.

"Danny Phantom, I'm guessing," Superman stated seeing the completely lost teen. Phantom pulled away from Static to look up at them with sadden eyes. Static sighed.

"How are we going to stop them?" he asked when Batman pulled out a pair of hand cuffs.

"Phantom's under arrest," he stated as he headed towards the hybrid. Phantom's eyes widened and he backed up into the wall. Static and Gear both stood in front of him.

"He didn't do anything," Static defended. "He warned us what those guys were up to. Why didn't you take that warning? Besides, Phantom couldn't have done anything, he was here with me and Gear the entire time," Static defended. "You can even look at our cameras here, but he was with us the entire time."

"We have sources that say that he can make copies of himself," Superman stated, making Phantom shake his head.

"No, I can't," Phantom whispered, looking at him. "My powers can't handle that much of a strain. It would kill me if I even tried. Even if I was in a better condition, I can't focus that power enough for me to even be able to pull that off, much less even use it in a battle. It's too distracting and draining," Phantom explained.

"So you do have that power?" Batman stated watching the hybrid.

"Not under any amount of control where it would be useful. Usually I end up with a limb where it's not supposed to be," Phantom explained, looking between the two. "But I'm not even sure if I have it anymore. They screwed up enough of my powers that it takes a lot of focus just to use the basic ones that had been second nature to me." Static looked at the heroes he had worshipped at one time with anger. They were accusing the teen just because a few people had way too much power.

"He's had a hard time, he didn't even have access to his powers when I first came across him," he explained, hoping that they would listen. "You can even ask my dad. We found him when we had the center open for homeless to come in and get a hot meal. He was there, and my pops just wanted to help him. That's when I figured out he had powers…well, he figured out who I was."

"How'd he do that?" Superman asked narrowing his eyes at the hybrid.

"I can sense things," Phantom whispered, looking away from them. "I only thought it worked on ghosts at first, but as my powers grew, I became more aware of people and powers they may have. Even though my powers didn't work as well as they should have, I could still tell where was safe and what people to stay away from. That's the only reason I was able to stay safe here." Static looked at him realizing that he probably had run into some of those bad metas.

"How'd you get your powers?" Batman asked, watching as Static and Gear both turned to the young hybrid. They knew parts and knew to carefully tread on the subject. Phantom wrapped his arms around himself.

"I was messing around with things that I shouldn't have been. Got myself into trouble, but they never figured it out," Phantom whispered closing his eyes. "I couldn't let them know." Static sighed and looked at the two heroes in front of them.

"We just need your help in taking down the Guys in White. They've already caused chaos here," Static informed. "We just helped out in a fire that Phantom suspected was set by them to draw him out."

"Why would they do that?" Superman asked. He could barely hear the teen's heartbeat, but it was still there. It was slow and steady, which was completely against what the teen's heart should be doing, but there was something else. Something else sending waves of power though the teen's veins. Something that sounded very odd. Phantom looked up at them, shaking his head.

"Have you ever really heard about me before now? They can't go after league members. Someone will notice, and then they would have an entire superhero army after them," Phantom explained. "Power, what else would they want?" Batman looked the teen up and down before narrowing his eyes.

"How can we trust you? How do we know that you're not just using those two to get to the League and try to shut us down?" Batman challenged. Phantom glared at him from behind Gear and Static.

"How can I trust you?" Phantom asked back. "My family gave me over to them when they did find out. I was trapped in hell for who knows how long. Amity's gone because of it. Everyone I cared about gave me up and cut me up. I have scars to prove it. How do I know that you won't just do the same?" Static looked at Batman and shrugged.

"He has a point," he stated. "I've seen the scars." Superman narrowed his eyes and focused on seeing the skeleton of the ghost's chest. Where his ribs were, there were also lines that were perfectly cut down the middle of each side. There were signs of healing, but he could guess that it was still a sore spot for the ghost. Superman closed his eyes and sighed.

"So, the Guys in White," Superman began. "I'm guessing that the file we have doesn't really give us any information since they were the ones who gave it to us." Phantom nodded.

"Back in Amity, they almost killed five teens because they were trying to find me. They sent missiles into an open area. If I hadn't gotten there in time, they would have killed them," Phantom explained. "They pretend to be the good guys, but they'll kill anyone in the way of what they want, especially when it comes to me." Batman nodded, knowing that Superman believed the kid. He trusted his friend, but this teen…something was off. Almost like he wasn't telling the whole story. Even what he was telling them seemed fishy. Static and Gear believed him, but they had also known him longer. They may not need that much to know or have already figured it out themselves what had happened to the teen. They could've had some proof as to what the teen had been saying.

"They work with the government," Batman stated. "We can't do much more than provide backup if anything really was happening." Phantom tilted his head in confusion.

"Masters bought them out when he became mayor of Amity," Phantom explained. "Otherwise, the government would've shut them down. They had started getting out of hand, and I know that they were going to be shut down, so Masters…" Phantom stopped and closed his eyes. He had forgotten about his enemy…the powers he had. The power he could wield. Phantom held his head. "Crud."

"Danny, what is it?" Static asked as Phantom opened his eyes.

"It was Plasmius," he whispered, looking up at them. "After everything…he was buying time…if Amity's really gone, he's not. He's still planning, and I have no idea what it is."

"Who's Plasmius?" Batman asked, seeing the sudden tension in Phantom's shoulders. Phantom was afraid of whoever this person was and it couldn't be good. Especially if what he told J'onn was correct. They needed to clean this up before anything more happened. They still had to check out Amity Park and who all was there or if the city had been cleared beforehand.

"Plasmius…he has all the powers I do," Phantom whispered, tightening his hold around himself. "I forgot he had taken them over. Man…I could barely beat him before all this happened." Batman narrowed his eyes trying to see anything that would give away what the teen was really after, but the teen seemed honestly down and depressed. "He…he's crazy, and he constantly changing what it is that he wants. At first he wanted me to be his son and leave my da…Jack. And then he wanted m…Maddie."

"They're your parents, right?" Superman asked, catching the teen's slip. Phantom winced.

"I…they….not anymore," Phantom whispered holding himself as Static gently put his hand on the teen's shoulder. Superman nodded remembering that teen said his family gave him up…to be experimented on. He was glad that his adopted parents protected him like they had. He had no idea what he would have done if they hadn't been who they were.

Would he have been able to become Superman? Or would he be looking for revenge and destroy the world? How'd Phantom stay trying to help others? Or was he looking for revenge as well?

Batman watched the tension in the teen's shoulders. He was uncomfortable talking about this. It was personal and painful. He could understand that much, but he still had no idea if the teen was pushing his own agenda or if the teen was truly trying to help.

"So, I'm guessing that Vlad Masters is also this Plasmius character you told us," Batman stated, knowing that the teen had a dual identity. Phantom nodded while leaning against the wall.

"He's had his powers longer than I have, and has more control, but he used it to get power and money," Phantom explained. "He robbed banks at first and then overshadowed people to sell their property to him for nothing." Batman nodded knowing that Masters was on his list of suspicious activity, but he had no idea that the man had this much power. If everything that Phantom was telling them was correct, then they had a problem. He had met Masters before, and to be honest, the man was creepy. He could see him be the bad guy.

"Then what is he planning?" Superman asked, looking at Phantom expecting his answer. Phantom shook his head.

"I…I don't know. I've been trapped in a lab for who knows how long, and I'm lucky enough to at least remember how to talk to people without flipping out," Phantom defended hating that they were questioning him. He only knew enough to know that something big was going to happened and that he couldn't stop them by himself.

"He has point about that," Static stated as Gear started pulling up information on Masters. They had been quiet and letting Batman and Superman ask Phantom what they needed to, but they still never moved from the spots in front of the teen. They didn't want Batman or Superman trying to take him away from them. Phantom had enough issues as it was, and they were finally starting to see how relaxed the teen was. The hybrid was healing with them, and it was a good sign in his recovery.

"So we take down Masters," Superman stated looking at Batman. "It's like Lex, only this time."

"He has a dual identity to hide behind, but he no longer has anything to use against me," Phantom stated looking at them. "He threatened to tell everyone about me if I told anyone about him. I don't care anymore. I don't have anyone left."

"You have us," Static stated, hoping that Phantom wasn't planning on leaving after all this. They didn't want to lose a friend that had become so close. Even if it was pretty quickly, they still felt like he had been there since the beginning. Phantom smiled at him slightly before looking at the heroes.

"I guess I do," he whispered.

"How'd he figure out your identity?" Superman asked wondering how a hero could be so careless. Phantom looked at him.

"I'm the son of two ghost hunters. He was best friends with them in college, his powers allowed him to figure out I was a hybrid, but he didn't put the pieces together until he beat the crap out of me," Phantom explained. "I didn't know all my powers, how limitless they could be. What all they turn in to, it was insane, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was alone, very alone in the beginning." Phantom rubbed his arms hoping to calm the fear that had built up.

"I think most of us know what's that's like," Superman whispered, remembering that feeling. Phantom looked up at them.

"He's threatened to kill my family at times and then would threaten my secret, especially after he managed to take over the Guys in White," Phantom explained. "I never really beat him, we always ended in a stalemate."

"Chess?" Batman asked interested in how the teen seemed to put things together.

"Plasmius was always ten moves ahead of me. He always referred to me as the pawn," Phantom whispered with a sigh. "I was always left to clean up whatever mess he decided to make. There was nothing I could do to prevent it. Even if I tried to prevent something from happening, he would still mess something up and I would have to clean it up."

"We have to figure out how to stop someone that has already gotten that much power without raising our flags," Superman stated looking at Batman. "I mean, Lex, we already knew he was bad news before he got that much power." Phantom looked down.

"Plasmius hides under his human half as an innocent bystander while he plays bad guy openly with Plasmius. I'm sure he sat back and watched you guys deal with Lex, and tried to figure out everything on what to do if he ever did end up against you guys," Phantom informed. "He learns everything he can about his enemies before he decides to engage them. He knew almost everything about me before I even knew anything."

"Dangerous," Batman whispered knowing that this guy could know almost everything about the League. He could have files on every member and their powers and weaknesses. "We'll need to know everything about that you know about him, and about yourself." Phantom nodded.

"I can tell you as much as I can about Plasmius, but I'm not going to tell you everything about me," Phantom warned glaring up at him. "Mainly because saying some of the things said out loud will only make the wounds that much worse." Batman nodded.

"I would like to know more about your powers," Batman informed and then realized that that wasn't the best wording to a kid that had just escaped from a lab. Phantom didn't show how much that had affected him, but Batman could see it in the hybrid's eyes. That's probably what Phantom meant. He didn't want them to know how his powers worked because he didn't want it used against him.

Lancer held his breath as he watched the fire burn throughout the city. Amity Park was gone. His students…everyone he knew there. His friends…he didn't have family there, but it hurt to know that many young lives were killed because of something he didn't understand.

"Phantom would have stopped it," he whispered realizing that the ghost was probably the only thing that had stopped it from happening sooner. "Everyone there lost their lives because their hero was taken away." He hoped that Phantom was here. He didn't want to feel unprotected again. It terrified him to no end to know that so much was at stake. Phantom was probably the only thing standing in the way at the moment.

Lancer walked farther down the street until he came up to the center that he had heard so much about. It was there to help the troubled kids out of tough situations. He hoped that he could get a job there. All he needed to do was talk to the manager. Robert Hawkins.

He found the man at his desk looking over several different papers. He seemed pretty stressed and not focused on what was in front of him.

"Mr. Hawkins," Lancer called making the man look up and stand.

"You must be Lancer," he smiled kindly, reaching out his hand. Lancer shook it and sat down in the chair that in front of Hawkins's desk.

"Yeah, I'm here about the tutor job offer," Lancer stated. He knew that the job didn't pay much, but he had plenty of money, he just wanted to help people. He didn't even need much. Hawkins nodded.

"Yeah, we have some kids that aren't doing well in school, and they just need that extra push. I see you were…" he paused for a second and looked at the teacher before clearing his throat. "An English teacher at Casper High in Amity Park."

"Yes, but after what just happened there, I doubt any of those contact numbers are usable," Lancer sighed. "I just need a new start, and I know kids here could use some help getting some of their own."

"Alright," Robert smiled. "Tomorrow I have a few kids coming here to do a studying session, if you would like to help them out." Lancer nodded.

"I would love that," he smiled. Robert motioned for him to follow him. He gave a tour of the building and explained what all they had been doing there.

Snow fell gently over the resting place of the young girl as the winds picked up. The trees rustled as the snow was blown away erasing the three sets of footprints there. It reversed time to back before Lancer arrived.

Before they paid their respects, but the black roses remained on her grave.

Phantom flew silently over the city. Gear was just ahead of him as they headed to his house. Gear slowed down slightly to fly next to the hybrid.

"My mom's is making chicken tonight," he informed. "She always makes more since Virgil tends to drop by randomly, and then she'll take what's left over to the center." Phantom nodded as he looked up at Gear.

"Okay," Danny whispered making Gear wish he knew what was going on in the hybrid's head.

"I know you hear this a lot in general, but I'm just asking about the moment, are you alright?" Gear asked concerned. Phantom nodded.

"I'm just worried," he whispered. "I don't have any plans or anything, and I don't want anyone else getting hurt. Did you hear anything else about that fire?" Gear shook his head.

"No, not yet," he lied. He didn't want the hybrid to know that three people lost their lives in the fire. He didn't need that kind of stress. He hadn't been gaining enough weight as it was. They had been seeing improvement in the first few days, but now Phantom seemed to have stopped. Gear knew that stress was the reason.

At least they were able to get him up enough to be able to use his powers.

"So, you don't know if anyone died or not?" Phantom asked looking at him. Gear shook his head.

"I don't think anyone did," he shrugged. Now all he had to do was make sure Phantom stayed away from a TV, but with what he planned tonight, he hoped that watching movies and distracting him long enough to just go to sleep before his dad asks to watch the news would work. He also hoped that his dad didn't flip out on Danny either.

The teen was thin, but since being with Virgil for the past few days, he was cleaner and didn't look like a homeless person anymore. He was still just really thin, and he didn't want his dad to think that he had taken home a stray.

"How long does it take for them to figure it out?" Phantom asked looking at him. "In Amity, they usually had numbers by the first hour for something like that."

"Dakota's also a bigger city, or no one died and they just haven't said anything," Gear stated with a smile, and that was when Backpack alerted him to say that the number of deaths in the fire just went up two more bodies. He looked down to avoid the hybrid's glaze.

"What is it?" Phantom asked slowly getting closer until Gear looked up at him and he backed away.

"Nothing," Gear smiled hoping that Phantom couldn't see past it. Phantom backed away before stopping in midair.

"May be this was a bad idea," Phantom whispered looking back. Gear reached out to him and he backed away. "You're lying to me, and I don't know why." Gear sighed before looking down.

"I've had the report about how many died in the fire for the past three hours," he whispered. Phantom stiffened.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Phantom asked confused making Gear cross his arms.

"Because, you would just sit there and blame yourself the entire time. I was trying to prevent you from doing that," Gear explained. "You've already stressed yourself out enough. I didn't want to add more to it."

"Then don't lie to me," Phantom whispered. "I don't like being lied to, it's more stressful than you telling me." Gear nodded.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I just didn't want you blaming yourself. I'm still not telling you though," Gear stated as he motioned for the teen to follow him. "Come on. I'm sure my mom is wondering where I am, and I still have to talk to her about you staying." Phantom nodded before following him to his home. They landed back behind it. Gear put his normal clothes on as Phantom changed back into Danny.

"You know, yours is so much easier since you can just think about it, and ta-da, you've changed," Richie muttered with a grin. Danny smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I guess so. I never really thought about it," he smiled as they walked around to the front of the house.

"Mom," Richie called out as he entered. He looked around and no one seemed to be home. "Huh, she might be at the store." Danny nodded as he pulled on the sleeves of the blue shirt Robert had given him. Richie looked at him with a sad smile.

"I really hope they don't ask questions," Danny whispered. "I don't want to drag anymore people into this mess."

"They usually don't," Richie smiled. "If they do, I'll tell that you just don't like to talk about these kind of things. They don't pry too much if you don't want them too, but my dad can be intimating," Richie informed as he walked into the kitchen to see a note from his mom that said she was at the store still.

"Yeah, that should've been something to say before we agreed to this," Danny muttered. "A kid who already has enough people issues probably will freak out." Richie grinned.

"I'll tell him you have issues," Richie informed as he out his arm around Danny. "Besides, I think you'll be fine, he's more protective intimating than I want to kill intimating." Danny shook his head and let a smile appear. He wasn't quite as skittish as he was when they first found him. He knew that from Richie using him as a lean board.

"Thanks, because the difference there will help," Danny smiled. Richie was glad that the hybrid could still smile and joke around. Even if it was about his own problems, he at least acknowledged them and was working on getting over them. Richie shrugged as he pulled Danny into a head lock.

"Yeah, of course it does," Richie smiled as Danny pulled away from him instead of going intangible. "Besides, I think you can handle it now. You're more relaxed now than you were before."

"Richie, I'm home," Maggie called out as she held a armful of bags. "Can you help me? There's more in the car."

"Alright, I brought a friend over too," Richie stated as he took some of the bags from her. "This is Danny." The woman blinked and looked the teen up and down.

"I thought you only had one friend," she grinned making Richie blush slightly.

"Naw, I just don't talk about them as much," he smiled covering himself. He needed to play it off as if he knew Danny longer than they did.

"It's nice to meet you," Danny smiled. Maggie reached a hand out, but Danny just shook his head.

"He doesn't do well with people. We met him at the center, and he's just had a hard time," Richie explained realizing that Danny was fine around them and them messing around, but he still wasn't letting strangers that he didn't know anywhere near him. Maggie pulled her hand back realizing that maybe the teen had been abused and didn't do well with adults.

"Oh, well, we're having pizza tonight, and your father should be home in about an hour," she informed. "But I need you to get the rest of the bags from the car."

"On it," Richie smiled pulling Danny with him. "Okay, so , shaking hands with strangers. Need to work on that, and apparently we're having pizza instead."

"Sorry, but I'm…just not sure about it," Danny whispered as Richie started pulling bags out of the trunk.

"It's okay, but my dad will probably be waiting for you to," Richie informed. "He's…well…you'll see."

"If you knew this, why did you offer?" Danny asked as he picked half of the bags with Richie.

"Because I think getting you use to more than just V's family will help, and we need to keep people off your trail. They don't know who we are, and if we put in different areas to stay, then…"

"It'll be harder to track me," Danny finished. "Thanks."

"Well, that's what we do, make sure people are safe, and that includes other heroes," Richie smiled as they headed back in. "I'll try to talk to my dad before I introduce you. It might make it easier." Danny nodded as he opened the door and followed Richie in.

They set everything on the counter where Maggie was going though some of the bags and putting them away. Danny and Richie set the rest on the counter when she turned to Danny.

"What do you like on your pizza?" she asked watching him closely. Danny felt her eyes on him, and he suddenly felt a little sick.

"Anything's fine," he whispered, and Richie could hear the slight nervousness in his voice. He looked at his mom before motioning for her to stop staring at the teen. She gave her son a confused look before going back to placing the pizza stuff on the counter. Richie walked up to her.

"Mom, I told you that I had a friend staying," he whispered slightly annoyed with how she was treating the hybrid.

"I thought you meant Virgil, not some kid who looks like he was living on the streets last week," she informed glaring at him. Richie swallowed knowing that was exactly what Danny was.

"Mom, he's a good friend, and he's just been though a lot. His parents tried to kill him, and he's just trying to get back to normal now," Richie informed. "I want to help him."

"So inviting him to stay without me knowing that," Maggie stated. Richie sighed and looked at Danny who he knew could hear them.

"Mom, being in a normal life will help him heal," Richie informed. "Come on, I know he's a good kid, and he deserves that chance." Maggie smiled.

"Alright, but it's still your turn to do the dishes," she informed as she turned around and carried a few items to the fridge.

"Oh man," Richie groaned and looked at Danny who was grinning.

"I'm not helping you. I've already done them at Virgil's," he informed as he unpacked the last bag. Richie grumbled.

"Great," Richie muttered as he started putting some of the things away.

"Richie, your dad wanted you to also take the trash out," Maggie informed as she walked back to them and got a few more items while he picked up the bag and dragged it outside, grumbling the entire time. "I'm sorry about earlier; I've just had a stressful day."

"I know a bit about having a stressful day," Danny whispered with a smile. "I've had many of them in a row." Maggie smiled before taking a few of the items and putting them away.

Danny: She's been busy and will remain that way. This has just been done for a while.

Me: I'll finish this, Black Phantom, and BH before I post another story up, however, I just read a book over the weekend that I was amazed...it was freaking epic and those of you who love DP will definitely like the story.

Danny: Fair warning, she had a breakdown at the end of it.

Me: I'm also in the process of writing a crossover for it, but I'm not posting it just yet. The book is called The Darkest Minds by Alexander something...I can't remember her last name, but its a really good book that's about...the government fearing power that children somehow got.

Danny: It's hard to explain, but she doesn't have the book at the moment.

Me: But I thought throughout the book...Danny would be like the most epic character in it...he would fit right in...and be a very dangerous player.

Danny: Don't forget to review, and remember that now that she had a job, she actually almost has no time for typing stories anymore

Me: It saddens me...I was thinking of some of the coolest things while driving to school...

Danny: It had to deal with the book that she just finished reading...