I felt bad after I left you guys with a short chapter and a two week wait. And especially after what I wrote! I wish I had time to get it in earlier, but I didn't have time. And I read the reviews that some people had left. A lot of people said that Clockwork wrote "Hope". Others were Amorpho, an Agent, and maybe even Danny writing it subconsciously to himself. (Cool idea by the way!) But you will figure out in a second when you start reading this story. So go ahead. Read on! :D
Chapter 11- The enemy of my enemy is my friend
Danny woke up in a dark room, lying on the ground with a gag over his mouth. His white aura and the green glow of the ghost-proof cuffs lit the area around Danny, otherwise it was pitch black. He struggled against the ghost resistant bonds, but failed to get free. They kept his ankles held together and his biceps were wrapped tightly against his sides. His wrists were also handcuffed together. Suddenly the lights turned on.
A warehouse. That was where he was, buy why? And by who? He fixed himself to his knees and put his hands into his lap. Danny looked around and saw the two standing there. His eyes widened and he scrambled back against the wall. Normally he would be ready to fight, but right now they had all the advantages. Danny was wrapped up, powerless, and gagged while they had the guns and the Fenton Thermos. He couldn't win this fight.
Agent O walked towards Danny. Their eyes locked. Danny shook in fear while Agent O just stared at him. The nightmares flashed before his eyes one more time. He was paralyzed with fear. Agent O kneeled in front of Danny and reached towards him. Danny closed his eyes and pushed against the wall. He hoped this was another nightmare.
Danny was surprised to feel his gag being removed. He licked his lips and risked a look. Agent O stood in front of him, gag in hand, examining it. He looked unsure of something. Agent K stood behind his partner. "Are you sure K?" Agent O asked. He then looked at Danny. "It seems highly improbable." K nodded and walked beside his partner.
Danny glared at them. "How did you get the Fenton Thermos?" He finally asked. Despite how scared he felt the question sounded fear free. Agent K pulled out the thermos from his coat pocket and set it on the ground in front of Danny. "We had received it from your capture so long ago." K said. Danny just stared at the device. He was patrolling. He always had his thermos when he went on patrol.
"Are you afraid?" The question caught Danny by surprise. "What?" He asked, thinking he had heard wrong. K kneeled on the ground in front of Danny. "Are you afraid of us?" He again asked. Danny was forced to lean against the wall again. Of course he was scared of them! This was probably another test. Something to see how easily he could be manipulated again. After all the things they'd done it wouldn't be that hard to believe.
"Not the Guys in White." Agent O suddenly spoke up. Danny frowned. "…What?" O sighed and shook his head. "He's not asking if you are afraid of the Guys in White. He's asking if you are afraid of US." He motioned towards himself and Agent K. Yep, Danny was confused. "I don't understand…"
"The agency did all those things to you, not us." K stood up and took a couple steps back. "After your first day you attacked anyone who got near you." He explained. Danny didn't remember doing that, but then again he didn't remember much of anything he did there either. "When you didn't attack me the boss decided to make me your only guard. Every day I would lead you to the next room…" Danny was now listening to every detail. "At the time I thought you were faking the pain, that was the way we were trained, but as the days passed I thought something was wrong. I saw all the torture you had gone through… I knew you needed help. I couldn't do anything directly, but I think I managed to give you hope…"
Danny's eyes widened. Hope. That word… The one Danny relied on since it appeared on his wall one day. That was Agent K? Was he really being honest? Did he really care? It seemed so, but… "How do I know that you're not lying?" He asked the two agents. Agent K shrugged. "Ask us any question. We'll give you an honest answer." Danny thought about it for a minute. "Alright… How did you know where to find me?" That was actually a really good question. He didn't think he showed up in any newspapers, so how did they know where to look.
"We didn't. The boss figured that you would go back to Amity Park and sent his best agents over there. We were sent the complete opposite direction. Though the elite agents have probably just realized that you are not in Amity Park." Danny soaked in this new information. He needed to be a million steps ahead of the Guys in White if he wanted to outrun them.
"But there is also something else…" K hesitantly began. "When Agent O and I got demoted I tried to get promoted again. Not as a field agent though. I wanted to be a researcher on the paranormal." Danny didn't know where this story was going, but since he wasn't going anywhere he decided to listen. "The fundamentals of it were surprisingly easy to learn. After I understood the basics I looked over some of the test results we had gotten from you."
Danny's eyes widened. "Could he be talking about…?" Danny thought. "One day I discovered something strange." K continued. "Luckily I was able to tweak some of the machine's and experiment's results so that no one else noticed it." Danny didn't understand. He was…changing the test results…to help him? Why?
"Why?" He heard himself asking. Agent K frowned. "When I was your guard I saw everything they had done to you. It was impossible for me to ignore it, so I tried to figure out why some of your test results were different from the other ghosts. You are different. You are still a ghost, but from the information that I've collected…not completely." Danny tried to say something, but it was almost like there was a gag on his mouth again. He didn't know what to say. What could he say to convince them otherwise?
"I still do not believe him about that." Agent O piped up. K nodded. "I almost don't believe it either, so we need you to answer." Both agents' eyes fell onto Danny. Danny stayed silent. "You don't have to trust the GIW, but can you trust us?" O asked. Danny took a minute to think about it. They both seemed honest, but… "Are you still working for the Guys in White?" He asked them.
They both looked at each other, and then back at Danny. "We don't want to, but if we both quit right now it would be too suspicious." K explained. He actually had a pretty good point. "Maybe we could tell the boss that you headed up north to Oregon or Washington." O suggested. Danny nodded. "That's good. So…how about this? If you get these ghost proof cuffs off me I'll answer your question." Agent K nodded and pulled a key out of his coat pocket.
When he unlocked Danny's wrists and arms Danny stretched them out. "So… You trust us?" O asked as K unlocked his ankles. Danny sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, I think so…" The remaining cuff fell to the ground with a clink. K stood back up and watched Danny still rubbing his wrists. He gave the agents a little laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's actually very complicated…" He knew he'd have to say it. They kept their end of the bargain.
"The ghosts…they call me a halfa…" Danny hesitated, but closed his eyes and continued speaking. "Half ghost, half..." He took a deep breath. "Half…human." Danny looked up at the agents and expected them to attack, but they just stood there. The thermos was still sitting on the ground in front of Danny, untouched. He slowly grabbed it and strapped it over his back. Agent K held out a hand to Danny. He stared at it before making the decision. K helped him to his feet.
"If I were you I'd find some more help." O said. His partner nodded. "The government wiped any records of Danny Phantom from the Internet, but they forgot about the famous "Invisobill"." Danny smiled. "I'd look for something with a lot of power to help, but not someone directly connected to the government." O added. "Maybe even someone who understands you, if that is even possible." Danny nodded. They were really trying to help him, and he needed all the help he could get. "But I wouldn't leave Jump City for a couple months." K quickly added. "We'll try our best to keep them away, but eventually they'll find out and come here."
Danny smiled. "Thanks." He jumped into the air and phased through the roof. Danny laughed and flew higher than ever into the cool night sky. "When they do come back though…" Agent O mumbled. "The first one here'll be Agent Z." Agent K frowned. "Then we better tell them that Phantom already left."
Danny phased through the window of the tower's living room and landed in front of it. It was night, so he didn't want to wake anyone up. Danny phased through the door and walked down the dark hallway. The halfa raised a hand and let a green glow surround it. Danny was sure he could find a guest room or somewhere to sleep till they all woke up. This place was huge!
He turned the corner and quickly pulled back. Someone's door was cracked open and the light was left on inside. Danny walked into the room. The walls were littered with newspaper clippings. Danny saw one name circled in red marker over and over again. "Slade?" He mumbled. The name gave him an uneasy feeling all by itself. He looked on the desk. Another newspaper. The lights flickered off, but Danny lit a hand with ectoenergy and ignored the burnt out lights. This newspaper featured Cinderblock and Plasmus. The name 'Slade' was scribbled in bold red letters. Danny picked up the paper and frowned. "That was who it was." Suddenly something flew out of the dark corner of the room and pinned the newspaper to the wall.
Danny made a fist and aimed an ectoblast in the direction the object flew out from. In the glow Danny could make out a very familiar tight wearing teen. "Oh… Hey Robin." Robin didn't smile. "This is your room?" He nodded. "Yes, and you shouldn't be here." Danny shrugged. "Ok, but-" "Three doors down." Robin suddenly said. Danny was surprised. "On the other side of the hallway. For now you can stay there." Danny walked out of the room, seeing that Robin did not want him there, and turned around to face Robin. "Thanks Rob. It-" He slammed the door closed. Danny shrugged and walked to the room. "Well. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the nest."
Danny pulled the covers over his head and curled into a ball. The last time he had gotten this much sleep was forever ago. No one had come during the night, no noise besides his breathing. A few times he had worried about being caught in the room as Fenton, but that did not stop him from getting hours of sleep. He felt totally at ease. Then all that piece and relaxation was suddenly broken by…you could probably guess who. "HEY!" Beastboy shouted as he banged on the door. "Gah!" Danny sat up with his heart racing and immediately changed back into Phantom. He glared at the door and pulled the covers over his head. "ROBIN SAID YOU WERE IN HERE! ARE YOU?!" He continued banging and shouting. After a minute of Beastboy doing that Danny finally had it with him. He stomped over to the door and unlocked it. The door opened and Beastboy fell onto the ground.
"Uh… Hey." He said. Danny crossed his arms and looked down at Beastboy. "What do you want?" Danny asked him. Beastboy quickly stood up and nervously began looking around. "It's… Uh… Last night Slade had tried to steal a chip. Not like a potato chip, but like a computer chip." Danny raised an eyebrow. "And?" He asked. Beastboy looked at everything but Danny. "And, uh… Do you wanna help?" Danny uncrossed his arms. "…What?" He slowly asked. Beastboy shrugged.
"After the robbery gone wrong, thanks to us, I was thinking." Beastboy put a finger on his chin and struck a thinking pose. "Knowing Slade he'll try to steal again, so what if we had something he's never seen…" Beastboy smiled. "You could be, like, backup! Maybe we don't even have to tell the others. That way it would be a surprise to everybody!" By this point Danny was actually considering it. Would it help get his hero status up? Yes. Would it show that the Teen Titans were protecting him? Yes. He needed protection, and the Teen Titans were the ones to do it.
"So…wanna?" Beastboy stuck a hand in front of Danny to shake. Danny smiled and shook his hand. "That's actually a good idea BB." Beastboy grinned as wide as he could. "Thanks!" Danny followed Beastboy as they walked down the hallway. "But why don't you want to tell the team?" Danny asked. Beastboy frowned. "It's about Robin." He explained. "When it comes to Slade he kinda… gets obsessed. For him everything would have to be perfect. I know you'd help a ton, so he'll be thanking me later."
It was late that night. Except for Robin, all the other Titans stood on the rooftop of a building that was supposedly going to be robbed. Invisible floating beside Beastboy was Danny, who was currently having second thoughts about coming. Raven had already sensed him. That much he was sure of, but she never did anything about it. "So, why isn't Robin coming again?" Beastboy asked. An annoyed Cyborg answered his question for the fifth time. "Because he said he got a new lead on Slade." Just then someone jumped out of a ventilation shaft and onto the rooftop.
"You working for Slade tough guy?" Cyborg asked the robber. The stranger took an offensive position and answered Cyborg. "Red X works alone." He then attacked. Danny stayed in the background and watched them fight, even though he was itching to help. Someone needed to learn his fighting style, and he had to give props to this guy, he was good. Despite the fact that he didn't have a good taste in fashion he was an excellent fighter. The guy jumped around Cyborg's blasts like a gymnast or something.
The thing that really helped him seemed to be those throwing stars… Actually, they seemed to be more like throwing Xs. One got red goop all over Beastboy, keeping him from transforming. Another one was thrown on Raven's mouth, preventing her from saying her magic words. It seemed like he had a good sense of what he was doing. That was about the change. After he had taken down Starfire and Cyborg he ran off the edge of the building he had just robbed. "No you don't!" Danny ditched the invisibility and charged towards Red X. He managed to grab a hold of his cape. In the blink of an eye they both disappeared.
"Gah!" "Ouch!" They both tumbled to the ground. Danny quickly stood up and looked around. "How many warehouses are there around here?" He asked himself. Danny was suddenly shot to the ground by a stupid red X. "You wouldn't want to fight me." Red X said. Danny phased out of the bonds and fired ectoblasts at the villain, but he managed to jump around them all. "You're no fun." Danny commented.
Red X ignored him and continued to shot Xs at Danny, who dodged them all too. "You're a better costume designer than a shot." Danny said with a smirk. "And to be honest you're really bad at both." Red X held out his right hand and fired another X. Danny decided to take the shot to amuse the villain. He had become way too cocky.
Normally he could just phase out of whatever the X happened to be, from sticky goop to a heavy duty sticker, but this time it was neither. The X grabbed a hold of Danny and strapped his arms to his sides, nothing new there. But after a second a shock went through his body, causing him to go stiff.
Danny gasped and became numb. He fell to the ground with his mouth hanging open and his eyes staring at the space in front of him. Red X kneeled beside Danny and whispered. "I told you not to fight me." He then stood up and ran away dramatically. Then he disappeared, again dramatically. "Everyone's a performer…" Danny then remembered the painful numbness that ran across his entire body. "Ow."
Hope you all liked it! And I hope you all have a good summer! I've got a softball tournament this weekend down in Delaware, so wish me luck! ;) Thanks and BYEEEEE!