Hello one and all. I'm afraid that there was a misunderstanding in the last chapter. Having an OC of your creation make an appearance was only reserved for the first two people to review in the reference correctly. Anyone who submitted an OC but did not win, your OC's will be saved and possibly make an appearance in another chapter (Unless you no longer want me to use them. In that case, put it in a review or send me a PM). On that note, let a "congratulations" go out to princessbinas and Leviathan Tamer. They were the winners of the little contest so keep an eye out for their Original Characters in this chapter.

In case you haven't noticed, the story cover has been changed. Let a big "Thank You!" go out to BlueStar95, who so graciously decided to create such a fantastic picture and allowed me to use it as a story cover. Thanks Bluestar95!

Review Reply Time!

The Virus: Solider: "Sir, we have isolated the T virus in the city and walled it up." Me: "Nuke it." *Large explosion*"Nuke it again." *Another large explosion* "Your move Virus": D

unknown: Thanks! And, rest assured, it will. Just not for a while. As for when the other Titan's realize that Orpheus needs help, which depends on what you mean by "help". Do you mean actual help with the GIW and such, or do you mean metal help, helping him heal from the trauma the GIW put him through? The answers are different. I'll try to update soon.

Warlord: A badger, huh? That'd be hilarious. As for a girlfriend with a temper, a girlfriend that gets four glowing red eyes when she gets mad has a bit of a temper, wouldn't you say?

coldblue: To answer your questions, eventually the other Titan will find out about his scars eventually. It'll become a plot point where he refuses to wear anything that won't cover the scars, despite the fact that it might be hot enough to warrant lighter clothing. Second question: Too soon to tell. Third question: yes. Fourth question: The Teen Titan's enemies. Last question: No, I'm good.

Guest: Good suggestion

Ironic Twist: Glad you enjoyed it. He got in because he is very good at sneaking. Good suggestions, I'll consider them.

Guest: Thanks for the suggestion

Rockstar: Thanks for all the compliments. I really don't plan on putting smut of any kind in this story (What will be in the story will be completely innocent. Kissing, snuggling, ect.) On the microscopic chance that smut of any is in my story, it will be only be referenced to. (As in, saying that they woke up in the same bed together, unclothed or something like that) Anyone who wants to fill in the blanks any further than that can use their imagination or, if they wish, they have my permission to write a one shot that'll fill in the gaps. (I have this underlined because it is more of a message to everybody, rather than just Rockstar).

Sparxthehdgehog: Dani is going to show up eventually anyway (Around the same time that Danny's ghost form makes its appearance.)

Guest: A raven because of its connection to death Interesting.

Kelly Kelly: A penguin huh? Well, a penguin sliding on its belly is hilarious (To me at least). Thanks for all the compliments. I'll keep updating as often as I can.

GhostGirl89243: Many choices… Good reasons for each one (I'm big on reason)… But there can only be one…

guest: A falcon or a raccoon? Well I give you points for originality.

ATTENTION. POLL WILL BE CLOSED WITH THE POSTING OF THE NEXT CHAPTER. VOTE IN IT NOW IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO. Currently the poll is: Be angry but give it a chance at: 21 Be happy and continue reading at: 13 Not feel one way or another: 10 Be furious and stop reading or reviewing in protest: 10

On with the show!

Chapter 11

Orpheus felt mad. He felt mad and he didn't even know what he was really mad about. Maybe it was because Robin and Cyborg kind of messed up his plan. Maybe it was that laugh that Cinderblock did as he was walking away that got him mad. But he was pretty sure that he was made about how much of an idiot Robin and Beastboy were being when he left. Mostly Robin though. And Cyborg. When he thought back, he wasn't completely blameless either. 'Probably shouldn't have gotten involved in their argument and just let them have it out.' He thought, hitting himself over his own stupidity. After all, words hurt, but that was all the two could've done to each other. If either of them decided to throw a punch, he knew without a doubt that the rest of the team would have them restrained before the first punch even landed.

After he had stalked off away from the team, somewhere in the back of his mind, he resolved to stay with Cyborg, if for anything else than the company. That plan failed completely. Mad as he was, he was more or less thinking about and going over the entire fight with Cinderblock, the after effects, and what lead up to him being where he was now. This more or less caused him to absently wander around, deep in thought. Now he was on an abandoned street corner, not a person in sight.

'I don't want to quit.' The though came to him as quietly as a whisper, growing in strength until it became a mantra, repeating it to himself. 'I DON'T WANT TO QUIT.' All of the suddenly he stopped. Quietly, he said to himself "I really don't appreciate such blatant manipulation of my mind, Clockwork."

He didn't receive a reply. Then again, was he really expecting one? All of the sudden he noticed it. There was a stillness to the air that wasn't there to begin with. Given that there weren't any people on the street, nor any birds or clouds in the sky, there wasn't any indication that time had stopped, save for the lack of a slight breeze. Orpheus sighed. "How long has time been stopped and I just haven't noticed Clockwork?"

"A few seconds before you told me you didn't appreciate my manipulation." Came the bored reply as a portal opened up, revealing the Time Master in all his age shifting glory. "You don't want me trying to help you?"

"How is it helping if you're controlling me?" Orpheus countered, eliciting a frown from the ageless ghost.

"I'm not controlling you." Clockwork replied, frown continuing. "If I was controlling you, do you think you would've noticed it?"

"Just because I noticed it, doesn't make it any less controlling." Orpheus said. "Even now after I noticed it, the thought you just placed in my head is still there. It's a little disturbing to think of when, if I decide to act on it, that I might be acting on thoughts not my own."

"I have never placed thoughts in your mind Danny." Clockwork remanded firmly. "Never forget that. I have only taken feelings that you already possessed and amplified them to be at the forefront of your mind. You didn't want to quit anyways but that feeling was hidden by your anger at your teammates. I just brought it out of hiding."

"That's not the point." Orpheus said. "I want to make my own decisions. I don't object to a little push here or there to keep me away from the GIW, but other than that, can you let me make my own path, and not the one you chose for me?"

A quiet silence settled over the pair, the Ghost of Time's face unreadable. Then "I just want what's best for you Danny." Unbidden, the statement aroused memories of a different time, a simpler time, where the worst thing he had to worry about was a bad grade and bullies.

Flashback

"I just want what's best for you Dano, even though I know I'm a bit of a goof and it doesn't always turn out like that, just remember that's all me and your mom ever wanted for you."

End Flashback

Orpheus swallowed the lump in his throat, holding back tears. 'Dad…'

Clockwork continued anyway, seemingly unaware that he was barely listening. "You have to understand Danny. I'm not supposed to interfere to any large degree in the affairs of others. I'm allowed to influence others in order to direct events into the best possible long-term outcome but no more than that. The fact that you have even seen me and are aware of my presence breaks a lot of rules. Talked with me, a few more, and the number just keeps going up."

Orpheus, still getting himself together, stuttered out "You have rules you have to follow?"

Clockwork nodded. "You have to understand Danny, I'm not omnipotent. I can still, despite my wealth of knowledge and power over time itself, make mistakes. The rules are in place because any mistake that I make causes unimaginably disastrous results. The rule's make it hard for me to make one without breaking them."

"How disastrous?" It was probably the stupidest question he could've asked, but he had to know.

"Apocalyptic disastrous." Clockwork replied bluntly. The weight of that last statement hung over him like a thundercloud, making it hard to think of little else. "Anyway, when I broke the rules, I had to stand before a court of the Observers and be held accountable for my actions."

Orpheus frowned. "I thought you said the Observers couldn't force you to do anything."

"They can't but they could cause a lot of trouble for me if they decided to go over my head and tell my superiors about it."

"Your superiors?" Orpheus asked.

Clockwork just gave him his patented mysterious smile. "Come now, Danny, I can't give you all the secrets of the universe now can I?" Clockwork shook his head. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. The court decided that I was to be responsible for you, for your actions, as your very existence is due to my intervention."

"If you're responsible for me, then why didn't you break me out of the GIW facility?" Orpheus asked quietly. He took off his goggles and lowered his hood; reveal two neon green eyes with tears streaming from them. Voice rising with each word, he continued "Why didn't help me escape? Why did you make them give their lives in order to get me out of that damned place?!"

"I did." Clockwork replied, voice unwavering. "So many of their experiments should've killed you. So many of them should've driven you insane or twisted you into something… different. Something ugly, something nasty. Something… evil."

Clockwork took a deep breath before continuing. "I had to let them take you. I had to let them do what they did to you."

"WHY?!"

"The number one part of this job that I hate." Clockwork said quietly. "I once told you what that part of my job was. Why you should never trust me. The reason why you don't trust me, even now."

"Because you'd have to let half of the world burn if it meant having a sure chance at saving the other half." Danny said quietly. Clockwork nodded, face grim.

"Exactly! Letting you stay there as long as you did was not the best for you, but it was best for the world at large, as much as I hate it." Clockwork shook his head. "But we're off topic. You're my responsibility Danny. I'm only looking to protect you." The ghost finished, putting a hand on Danny's shoulder as the half ghost looked down

"Even if you are trying to protect me, how am I ever going to be able to make my own choices with you manipulating me?" Danny said as wiped his eyes, put on his goggles and hood, becoming Orpheus once again. "Part of learning is making mistakes, and learning from them. How am I ever going to be able to take care of myself if you never let me make any mistakes?"

"I'm not stopping you from making any mistakes; otherwise you would not be here. I see your point though. If you wish, I will let you make mistakes. I'll let you fall, skin your knee's a few times, and, short of the GIW getting a hold of you, let anything happen to you. Is that agreeable to you?" Clockwork's voice was calm as ever, but his face was hard, making Orpheus think that he may be making a mistake.

'No.' He thought to himself. 'I was under the control of Freakshow once. The GIW once controlled whether I lived or died. Nobody will control me ever again. Not Freakshow, not the GIW, and not Clockwork, no matter how slight it might be or how benevolent his intentions may be.'

"It is." Orpheus affirmed. If Clockwork was angry at his answer, he didn't show it.

Clockwork sighed. "So be it." (AN 1)

A portal to Clockwork's lair in the Ghost Zone opened up behind the ghost. Clockwork floated back into it silently, eyes never leaving his. The portal began to close once Clockwork was on the other side, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Once the portal closed, Orpheus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Everything was silent for a moment. Then the wind blew, tossing his cloak to the side. Orpheus sighed. 'Now that that's done with, what the hell do I do now?'

Walking to one of the buildings, he jumped onto the side, sticking to it and running up it and jumping once he hit the top, landing on the roof. Looking at the sky, he noted that sunset was in a few hours. Looking around, he noticed something strange. There was something akin to heat waves around what looked to be a museum. When Orpheus focused on his aura sensing, he found something strange. If he had to describe it, it felt like a person's aura was forming right in the middle of the museum. 'What the hell?'

Following his senses, he jumped from roof to roof until he landed on the roof of the museum, then he turned invisible and phased through the roof. He landed on the upper level of what was a round room with a skylight in the middle of the roof. Displays lined the sides of both levels of the room, featuring multiple different things.

Orpheus wasn't looking at that however. He was looking at the center of the room as a portal opened up. Instead of the green that he was used to in portals to the ghost zone, this one was a deep purple and had rough edges, like it was freshly torn from something. Turning away from that for a second he noted the lack of security guards. 'Whoever maintains this museum must rely off of a locked door to stop criminals. Stupid.'

As he watched, the portal seemed to cave in on itself, and then it exploded, blinding him with the flash and sending out a minor shockwave of force that was strong enough to create cracks in the floor directly underneath where the portal had been. Luckily it was a big room so the force dissipated by the time that it reached any of the displays. It did, however, kick up a lot of dust and dirt from the floor into the air. 'When the hell was the last time somebody cleaned up in here?'

Orpheus coughed, flickering into intangibility for a second to get the dust out of his lungs. 'Not sure what just happened, but for some reason I don't think that was a natural Ghost Zone portal that just opened, or even a portal to the Ghost Zone at all. Something just came through and…' Orpheus turned invisible. 'I don't its friendly.'

Activating the thermal vision, he saw a humanoid figure standing in the dust. Only…'Are those wings?!' He could see something that could only be wings extending from what appeared to be its back. The wings flapped, once, twice, three times, clearing the air. His supernaturally good hearing picked up "Man, why are the first times in a new dimension always so violent?" in a distinctively deep male voice. The dust was clearing and he got a clear look at the figure for the first time

It was a human-looking. Teenage male human-looking, to be specific. Once Orpheus got over the black and red reptilian wings that sprouted from the teenager's back, he took in all the other details of the guy. He was Orpheus's height, with a build like his too which was a combination of Robin and Cyborg's build in that he, like Orpheus, had a build that had more muscle mass than would be found on the body of a skilled dancer while retaining most of the grace, but also not as much as a body builder. He was wearing worn out looking blue jeans, which were held up with a plain worn out black belt, that were ripped at the knees and at the bottom of the legs where a little dirt could be found. Plain brown equally worn out boots were on his feet. He was wearing a shirt that was a faded cameo green with the sleeves ripped off. His wings seemed to come out of small slits that were cut on the back of it. He was wearing black fingerless gloves. He had a tan complexion and messy brown hair. But what stood out the most were his eyes, which he saw when the winged teen turned around on the spot to scan the room. His eyes were a deep ruby red, the pupil being slitted slightly. When he saw the red eyes, he started in a cold sweat and his heart began to beat faster.

*Flashback*

Cold, blood red eyes shining with madness and cruelty stared at him, inches away. "You just don't get it, do you?! I still exist! YOU still turn into ME!"

*End Flashback*

He calmed down slightly when the stranger continued scanning the room. The half ghost was disturbed by the momentary accidental eye contact, even if he was invisible and the stranger showed no sign at being able to see through his invisibility.

The teen started forward, walking out of the room and down the joining hallway, Orpheus following as silently as he could. So concentrated was he on the kid with wings, he wasn't paying attention to his surrounding as much as he should've. His arm bumped on a vase sitting on a pedestal, knocking it over. Panic kicking in, he managed to catch it just inches before it would've smashed against the ground. The sound of the vase hitting his palm though, slight as it was, was apparently loud enough. The stranger whirled around, a shiny black katana appearing in a small purple flash at his hands. Luckily, he allowed his power to flow through the vase and turn it invisible, leaving no sign of his presence that he could see. However, from his angle, he couldn't see the ever so slight rocking of the pedestal, the few specs of dust the fell off the vase and became visible, or the bare spot on the dusty pedestal that was occupied by the vase. Orpheus could see none of these things, but the stranger could. And see it the stranger did.

Earlier, right after the Titanic Argument

Robin was back at the tower, staring out the window at the bay. He said nothing, but then again, he didn't have to. Raven could easily pick up the guilt coming from the masked teen. He wasn't the only one though. Beastboy seemed to feel similar and Starfire usual bubbly mood was brought down. She got into the kitchen and was making… something. She didn't know what it was, only that it growled at her when she walked by it to fix her herbal tea. When Starfire heard it, she just sighed, said "Not done yet" and hit it with a spoon to shut it up.

Robin looked down, stalking out the room. Watching him leave, she shut her book and got to go to one of the computer displays on one of the walls of the Ops room. Azarath was pretty low tech, which incidentally lead to her past time of reading books. However it did leave her unfamiliar with the obviously superior and a bit overwhelming technology of Earth. If she was going to be living here (At least until it came time for her to be the instrument of its destruction, she was forced to remind herself) then she needed to get familiar with the technology of the place. 'After all, no time like the present, right?' She told herself; try to forget the fact that she was only doing this because meditation and reading had failed to distract her from the fact that she'd just lost two teammates, one of them well onto their way into becoming a close friend, and that, short of going to Nevermore to confront her emotions face to face, this was the only way she had to distract herself from her own feelings of guilt at not doing just a little more to try and stop it.

Line Break: With Robin

Robin stalked down the hallway, deep in thought. Looking back, he felt bad about what he'd said to Cyborg and Orpheus. Sure, he still believed that Cyborg had been too far forward and that had been the reason that their attack had failed, letting Cinderblock get away. And Orpheus… he really didn't know why he yelled at Orpheus in the first place. He was just trying to mediate between the two of them, and even if he did fail epically at it, that was no reason to yell at him. Even he was sloppy and let Cinderblock get a hold of him; he got himself out of it too with his intangibility. And Robin had to admit: If he could turn intangible, he would be sloppier with defense as well. "Powers" Batman had said when a younger Robin had asked about them "are a double edged sword; their good to have but the problem with them is that their owners tend to become over dependent on them."

Turning, he found himself standing in front of the door labeled "Orpheus". He paused for a second, contemplating whether or not he should go in. 'He quit. So really, what does it matter if I go in if technically it's not his room anymore?' Mind made up, he pushed a button on the wall, causing the door to slide open.

Stepping in, he looked around the room. There really wasn't anything that stood out in the entire room. Walking up to the night table next to the bed, he picked up the only photograph in the entire room. He forgot what day it was taken, though it was apparently a very nice day by the look of it. It was the team, standing on the beach on a clear summer day, with the Titan Tower still in construction in the background. The funny thing about the picture was that, despite how it looked, it wasn't, for the most part, posed. Beastboy was completely oblivious, caught in the middle of animatedly telling a bad joke, face frozen in a grin and arms waving. Starfire was oblivious as well, as she was looking toward Beastboy and giggling into one hand with her eyes closed. Cyborg was standing next to her, in the middle of a fist pump, staring straight at the camera. Next to the Cyborg was Robin himself, arms crossed over his chest, a confident smirk on his face. Orpheus was standing next to the boy wonder, standing there with one of his arms stuck out for the camera, two fingers sticking out to form a peace sign and a easy going smile on his face. Raven was at the edge of the photograph, standing next to Orpheus. Her body was turned slightly away from the camera, but her head was turned back toward the camera, piercing amethyst eyes staring straight into the camera.

Robin smiled slightly at the picture. It seemed to capture the personality of each of them in the poses they were frozen in. Putting it back, he looked back over the room. "I'm sorry." He mumbled as he turned and walked out, door sliding shut behind him.

Line Break: With The Others in the Ops Room

Whatever Starfire was making had apparently just been finished as she flew up to Beastboy, who was calling Cyborg on the phone repeatedly trying to get him to pick up, and said "Taste!" And shoved the spoon in his mouth before he could protest.

"Ack!" Beastboy gulped as he shook his head repeatedly and ended up rubbing his tongue against. "What the heck was that, cream of toenails?"

"Pudding of sadness." Starfire explained, lifting up another spoonful of the brownish substance. Briefly Beastboy noted that she had used the same spoon that she had just shoved in his mouth. "It what the people of my planet eat when bad things happen." She lifted it and swallowed a spoonful, face contorting in a grimace. She shuddered as it went down her throat. "D-delicious."

Flying forward to Raven, who was at one of the terminals, she held out another spoonful of the substance. "Would you care for some, Friend Raven? It helps ease a troubled mind."

Raven glanced at the alien, managing to allow an insulted look flash across her face so quickly it barely registered. "My mind is never troubled. People come, people go. It's pointless to worry about things so trivial." While saying this, she failed to notice the screens behind suddenly glow black for a second, and then several cracks spread throughout them. At the same time, a sudden breeze went through, tossing the hair on the back of her head around.

Of course Raven felt her powers cause both of these things. Of course she knew why Starfire was now staring at her with a confused expression, raising one arm and lifting one finger to point behind her.

'I need to meditate.' She thought absentmindedly as she looked at the confused Tameranian in front of her. She wasn't proud of the fact that she couldn't control her power completely. It wasn't a fact that she liked to broadcast. Naïve Starfire was, if she told her that her powers weren't completely under her control, she wonder why that was. That would lead to her either lying which was ALWAYS a bad idea, or telling her that her powers were linked to her emotions. That wasn't something that she felt like sharing just yet. So she chose the path of ignorance, pretending not to notice either of the things that just happened behind her. "What?"

Starfire just shook her head, slowly floating away.

Line Break: Orpheus

After the close call with the vase, Orpheus made the executive decision to use his aura sensing to lock onto the aura of the strange sword wielding teen and follow at a distance, still invisible.

The katana, as he remembered the sword was called from his brief time in Feudal Japan during that whole fiasco with chasing Vlad around when he got his hands on the Infi-Map, was rather standard. Standard length, width, the only thing that stood out was the black color scheme. Everything on it was some shade of black, the blade itself being the darkest part of all.

Suddenly, the katana user stopped moving. Or at least his aura did. 'He's doing something in that room…' Stalking forward, he turned intangible to phase through a few walls. When he finally got to the room with the sword wielder in he stopped, turning tangible but not visible in order to observe the scene unfolding. The brown haired teenager had taken out a clipboard and was currently walking around the room, stopping in front of and looking down at his clipboard in front of each exhibit. "That's not it. Neither is that. Nope, nope, nope. Where the hell is it? It's supposed to be in this room."

'Huh. Despite that impressive entrance and that sword he seems to be no better than your average thief.' Deciding that he could handle some above average thief, he dropped his invisible and announced his presence. "Misplaced something? Maybe I can help you find it." He said in a voice that showed that he had no intention of helping him.

The brown haired thief shook his head; not even seeming surprised at his presence and turned to look at him. "I didn't misplace anything. I am though looking for something. I doubt you'd be willing to help me find it, considering most hero's attack after hearing that what I'm looking for isn't mine, but—"

He never got the chance to continue as a ghost ray impacted against his sword, having used it to block the attack. "Seems I was right. Funny thing is that when I take what I'm looking for, you'll never be able to tell, as I will replace it with a perfect replica."

"You'll never get the chance to!" Orpheus declared, looking confident. On the inside though, he was nervous. For a second, he rubbed his hand on his Titan communicator, and then reached deeper to touch the communicator Nick had given him. 'I'm not gonna call Nick's guys for help for just this guy and I sure hell ain't calling the Titans for help just so soon.' Besides, as far as he could see, all this guy had was a sword. Sure that suggested that he had some amount of skill with it, but he was pretty confident that he could beat him. After all, he just had a sword… right?

Orpheus sent another ghost ray at the thief's head, then one at his knees, chest, and one at his arm. They shot through the air, streaks of green that his eyes could only just track. They came short though, as each and every one of them was blocked by the thief's katana. 'This is boring. And here I thought this one was something special. Oh well.' The thief thought. What he said though was "I suppose if we're going to fight, we may as well know each other's names. I am known as Vorpal. Yourself?"

The grey cloaked hero paused, hand still glowing from where he was prepared to shoot off another ghost ray. "Orpheus."

Vorpal raised an eyebrow at the name. "Were you actually named that at birth, or did you choose it?"

"I chose it, why?" Orpheus asked, being careful not to lower his guard.

Vorpal frowned. "You're aware of the history associated with your name, right?" Orpheus nodded, causing Vorpal's frown to deepen. "Then why choose it?"

Orpheus relaxed his stance for just a split second, a pained expression flashing across his face. "Because… it fits."

Vorpal relaxed for second, confused. It was at this moment that Orpheus decided to attack.

Rushing forward, he activated his brass knuckles and threw a right hook at his head. Vorpal waited until the very last second to lean back, letting the fist pass through the air where his head just occupied. Capitalizing on it, Orpheus kicked at Vorpal, only for Vorpal to right himself and slide to the side, and then slashed at him. Orpheus managed to create a small crescent shaped shield quick enough to block the sword. Sweat beaded on his brow as he poured energy into the shield to keep it up as Vorpal put more and more force on it, attempting to cut through.

Letting it fall, he jumped back and let loose a ghost fang midair at the thief. Lowering his sword, Vorpal stretched his hand out a hand in front of him. Orpheus watched in confusion as the marble floor seemed to bend… up and blocked the wave of ecto energy. 'What the heck was that? It wasn't telekinesis, but I don't know what else to call it…' (AN 2)

Running forward, the sword user swung at him. Moving quickly, Orpheus backed out of range of the katana, then covered his wrist to his elbow in the densest, hardest ice that he could. At the same time, he opened his gloved hands and activated his claws.

Vorpal swung again, only this time he was blocked by Orpheus's ice covered forearm. Wincing at the amount of strength behind the blade, he slashed at him with his claws. Vorpal jumped back, easily dodging the claws.

They went at it for about ten minutes this way, Orpheus using his claws and the occasional ghost ray to attack and his ice protected forearms as well as a shield here or there to defend. Vorpal used his sword for attack and defense, throwing a little bit of that strange "space manipulation" for defensive purposes.

'This is getting me nowhere.' Orpheus thought angrily as he did a back flip to put some distance between the two of them. He glanced down at his forearms, looking at the multiple cuts across the surface of them. Cuts that had come from blocking that sword. And given the fact that the ice had near diamond level hardness, he knew for a fact that that sword wasn't something he wanted to get hit with any time soon.

Vorpal smirked at the frustrated teen in front of him. On the inside though, he was a little impressed. Even though he came for the hour hand of a special old and expensive clock (AN 3) for one of his projects, and when he was done playing with the hero in front of him he would still get it, he still enjoyed a good fight. The adrenalin rush, the excitement, the burning in his limbs whenever someone managed to push him, no matter how slight. Granted, the teen in front of him was very rough around the edges, at least to him, when it came to combat, but had a whole lot of potential, at least in his eyes. 'Interesting and varied abilities, good speed, good reaction time, decent strength. Adapts on the fly. All in all, this kid could go places… Wonder when the second one will jump in.'

"You're not too bad, I'll give you that." Vorpal commented dryly, cracking his neck. Orpheus smirked at the compliment.

"Getting tired?" Orpheus quipped mockingly, getting a shake of the head from the thief. "Not a chance." Vorpal charged again, Orpheus running to meet him. Vorpal swung his sword up, preparing for a downward slash that would've cleaved Orpheus straight in two. Recognizing the move from the few times that he had used it before from their earlier in their bout, Orpheus stopped running and instead jumped high over his head.

Doing a flip in mid air, he sent a small ghost ray directly at the hand holding the blade. Seeing the thief was still facing the opposite direction, he didn't even see it coming. It hit home, eliciting a short cry of pain from Vorpal and causing him to drop the katana. Following up, he hit him with an ice beam, quickly covering his arms in a thick layer of ice. Then his feet, icing them to the floor. And last a thin sheet over his torso and a thick sheet over his wings for good measure

"Who's 'not too bad' now, huh?" Orpheus smirked, confidently walking up the restrained teen. Vorpal just gave him a deadpan look. "If you could ice me up the entire time, then why did you fight me and not just do it in the beginning?"

"Uh, hehehe, well you see…" Orpheus trailed off, not sure how he would be able to explain the restrictions on using his ice powers in human form (Or for that matter, why he should tell a thief about it). It was like this. In human form, his ice powers were constantly active on some level, making it so that the cold didn't affect him as well as making him harder to burn than the average human. That use was subconscious and, since he had been doing it for so long, it didn't put any strain on him or anything. However, to use them actively put a lot of strain on him. Unlike all of his other powers, save transforming into his ghost form, he actually had to manifest his ghost core temporarily to use his ice powers, which wasn't easy. That made using his ice powers difficult. Not only did he unconsciously have to use his powers to stop the presence of his ghostly ice core in his human body from causing any damage to his body, which that alone was taxing on his ice powers, but he also had to channel almost twice the amount of energy into anything that he used them for. Half for the actual attack, half to be used to stop the energy from his core from damaging himself as it traveled from his core through his body and out of it into an attack. The reason why he had not used his ice powers to freeze him from the very beginning was because of the fact that he now felt like if he had just dead sprinted from one side of the city to the other with weighs tied to his legs. The upside however was that when he tired himself out this way he recovered faster than he did from any other way and the more times he did it, the more his body got used to it. (AN 4)

"Why I didn't in the beginning doesn't matter. What are you after here?" Orpheus stated in a 'no nonsense' tone. Vorpal just grinned like a mad man. "Come on, you expect me to just tell you outright?"

"Well, you either tell me or…" Orpheus turned intangible. "I go inside your head myself to find out."

"I wouldn't recommend trying that." Vorpal replied, expression dark. Orpheus just turned tangible and leaned forward, smirking. "Try me."

Vorpal remained silent for second, weighing his options. One on hand, he could not tell him and hope that he wouldn't be hurt too much from entering his mind. He wanted to beat him after all, not cripple him. Or he could just not take the risk at all and just tell him. Of course, there was always the option of just breaking out of the ice and not telling him anything at all. 'Yeah' the thief thought, 'I'll go with that.'

Focusing, he summoned his katana to his hand, shocking the hero and breaking the ice around his right arm. Wasting no time, he brought his full strength against the weakened ice, breaking it in his other arm and in his wings, and then beating his wings to fly up slightly and break the ice that had him frozen to the floor by his legs. Lastly, while he was still up in the air, he used his katana to skillfully slice off the remaining ice on his chest as well as anywhere else.

Vorpal smirked as he dropped back down to the floor to avoid two ghost rays. Orpheus went to charge, but Vorpal wouldn't have that, using his space manipulation to bend the floor so that it rose up rather dramatically in a bump, tripping the hero —much to his embarrassment- and he slide to the floor on his stomach, stopping at Vorpal's boot clad feet.

Vorpal grinned, casually laying the tip of his blade at Orpheus's neck as said hero propped himself up on his elbows and looked up to the thief standing over him. "Now then, what were you saying earlier?"

However, just before he could form a reply, the unexpected happened. A female voice rang out throughout the museum in a foreign language, saying "Questo ragazzo si rivela non essere così bello, così lo lasciò gustare potenza di un drago!" (AN 5)

"Wha..?" Vorpal said looking around. Orpheus looked right in front of him, which was behind the thief, and smirked at what he saw. Before Vorpal could do anything to stop him, Orpheus phased through the floor. Then he heard a growling sound and felt heavy footsteps hitting the floor behind him. Turning he saw a green traditional Chinese dragon. The dragon opened its mouth and let out a roar, spewing out a raging torrent of fire straight toward the wide-eyed thief. Quickly, Vorpal used his space manipulation to make the floor in front of him rise, blocking the fire from toasting him. When he lowered it however, he was treated to the sight of the dragon charging straight at him.

'Ah, hell.'

With Orpheus

Orpheus phased back up through the floor behind the dragon just as it began to charge at Vorpal. He had no idea where it had come from, but he was glad that it came when it did. 'I guess that whatever that was earlier must've been some kind of summoning spell? Who cast it, if it was?'

"You're weird." Orpheus turned at the sound of the same female voice from before to see a pale skinned golden brown haired girl in a pink petal leotard with a matching skirt and slippers. Looking to be about a year or two younger than he was, she had brown eyes and her hair was put back in a pony tail. She had a small red wand in one hand, which she then proceeded to clip to belt that held her skirt. Orpheus, however, was paying attention to the pink and glittery butterfly wings that went out of her back. His first thought was 'Am I the only one around here that doesn't have wings?!'

"I'm guessing that was you that created that dragon?" Orpheus asked rhetorically.

"Yup!" She dipped her head as she answered. "Names Nymph, you?"

"Orpheus." He answered, offering up one of his hands to shake, which she did, giggling. Orpheus just ignored it. Pointing behind him, he "Thanks for the help, by the way."

"No problemo! Say, you haven't seen a friend a mine around here, have ya?" She asked, leaning forward and succeeding in making him feel uncomfortable with the closeness.

"A friend?" Orpheus asked, confused as he back up so he could have his personal space. Concentrating, he quickly activated his aura sensing and scanned the building with it. 'Only people here are me, her, and Vorpal. Wait, where'd the dragon go? It's aura just faded!'

Turning, he was treated to the sight of Vorpal standing on top of the dragon with his katana sticking out of the dragon at the base of his neck. He pulled it out and, instead of blood, smoke poured out of the wound as the entire dragon dissolved into smoke.

"Well, that was annoying." Vorpal commented dryly, hair and clothes disheveled and a thoroughly annoyed look on his face. "And what I want isn't even here, for some reason. Strange. Someone must be messing in the time stream in order for it not to be here. Guess I got to find who first." He mumbled that last part, not wanting them to hear it.

"Ah, well, no harm, no foul, right?" Vorpal said brightly, arms out stretched and a smile plastered on his face as his katana disappeared. Orpheus just frowned.

"I don't think so. You're under arrest." Orpheus replied, face stretched in a frown. Vorpal just sighed.

"See, that's not going to work. You want to know why?" Vorpal replied mockingly, getting a rise out of the grey cloaked hero.

"Why? Need I remind you that we fought to a standstill earlier, and now I have help?" Orpheus said, nodding in Nymph's direction.

"Who's your help?" Orpheus nearly jumped out of his skin as the whispering voice of Nymph suddenly appeared in his ear as the fairy like girl was standing next to him, looking around conspiratorially. Vorpal just shook his head and watched the proceedings amusedly.

"You!" Orpheus whispered back, getting a frown from the pink obsessed girl.

"Who told you I was going to help you?" Nymph responded, backing up and putting her hands on her hips, looking affronted.

Orpheus sighed in exasperation. "If you're not going to help me, why'd you sic that dragon on him?"

Nymph frowned. "I did that so that I could ask you if you'd seen my friend. I don' really want to do anything else till I find her."

"Aw, come on!" Orpheus complained, frustrated as he hung his head.

"Well…" Nymph said, getting Orpheus to look up in hope. "I might be willing to help, if you promise to help me find my friend and you say 'pretty please Nymph, you're beautiful and you're the best'.

Orpheus sighed. 'Why can't things be simple?'

Nymph tapped her foot in impatience. "Well…?"

Orpheus just grimaced. "Pretty please Nymph you're…" He cut off, causing Nymph to cough loudly and glare at him. He continued. "Beautiful and you're the best."

"And…?" Nymph prodded, prompting to sigh again.

"I promise to help you find your friend." Orpheus finished, sealing his fate.

Nymph's eyes went wide. "REALLY? AW, THANKS A BUNCH!" She cheered, running forward and tackling him to the ground with a hug.

Orpheus blushed at the contact at first. Then 'Personal space…. You're invading it…'

"Get the hell off me!" He cried, jumping to his feet and pushing her off, leaving Nymph sitting on the floor. Tears appeared in her eyes and she sniffled. 'Oh, brother, please don't tell me…'

"You're so mean!" She cried, sobbing hysterically into her arm. On another note, Vorpal had pulled a popcorn bag out of nowhere and was watching the scene. 'Man, these two are the best entertainment I've had in a while…' Vorpal though as he munched on his popcorn.

"No, wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, honest!" Orpheus said in panic as he pulled the fairy like girl to her feet. She blinked at him.

"You…You didn't mean it..?" She asked, sniffling and looking up at him with tear filled wide eyes. On the inside though, she was cackling madly. 'Guilt trip, successful!'

Orpheus gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Of course not."

"Yay!" She said in an elated tone, giving him another bone crushing hug. Thankfully he managed to stay on his feet this time, and he was used to stronger, frequent, hugs from Starfire, so the surprising strength didn't faze him. 'Looks like I've got another hugger on my hands.' Orpheus groaned internally.

Thankfully, she let go of him on her own this time, beaming at him. Sighing, he turned back to a thoroughly amused Vorpal. "Now, where was I?"

Vorpal just raised an eyebrow at the carefully emotionless tone, but answered none the less. "I believe I was about to tell you why the two of you attempting to arrest me wouldn't work."

"Ah." Orpheus remained silent for a second, and then adopted the cold tone he was using earlier with the thief. "And why is it that arresting you wouldn't work?" He asked rhetorically, not really caring about whatever answer he gave.

"Simple really." Vorpal answered as he resummoned his katana to his hand. Concentrating slightly, the katana began to glow a purplish light. Vorpal grinned as he raised the glowing katana above his head, causing both Orpheus and Nymph to get into combat stances. Dimly, Orpheus was aware of Nymph drawing her wand, the tip of it glowing faintly.

Vorpal suddenly slashed down with it, causing Orpheus to put up shield big enough to cover him and Nymph by instinct.

No blast came though, and he saw through the shield that a portal had opened in the air that Vorpal had slashed that resembled the one that the thief had entered through earlier. The thief entered the portal without a word, the portal closed quickly behind him.

Even though the thief was gone, Orpheus couldn't shake the feeling that he was still around somehow.

Nymph opened her mouth to say something, but Orpheus held up a hand for silence, much to the fairy girl's annoyance. He stretched his aura sense as well as all his others to the max, trying to find the thief. Suddenly the thief's aura appeared… right behind them.

Turning around, he was about to shout a warning but it was too late, as Nymph collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the flat edge of a katana being slammed into the back of her head. Orpheus was about to mount an offensive, but before he could, Vorpal disappeared in another portal.

Orpheus whirled around, looking around wildly, trying not to keep his back facing one direction for too long. Another portal opened up right in front of him and Vorpal flew out of it. Orpheus dropped to the floor to avoid a strike that would've rendered him unconscious just like Nymph. He looked up from the floor, only to feel something suddenly slam into the back of his head, rendering him unconscious.

Vorpal just grinned at the unconscious pair. 'He put up a good fight, I'll give him that. Even with me holding back some. Hell, he almost managed to handle me going all out for a second there. Vorpal frowned at Nymph. 'Shame I didn't get to see more of what she could do. That dragon was no pushover. Ah, well, another time. Looks like I've got a clock to track down.'

Humming quietly to himself, he opened another portal, glancing back at the unconscious duo, before walking into portal without looking back.

Later

Orpheus slowly opened his eyes to see brown eyes staring into his from less than an inch away. Startled, he jumped back, a strangled cry of surprise coming from deep in his throat and eliciting a laugh from the girl in front of him.

Orpheus glared at her the best he could while rubbing his head from where he hit it on the floor. "Why do you do that?" He complained

"Because, your fun to mess with." Nymph replied in a singy-songy voice.

Orpheus just groaned. "Whatever." He started walking away. "Anyway, thanks for the help."

"Wait!" Orpheus turned to see her looking at him with pleading eyes. "What about helping me find my friend?"

Orpheus frowned. "But we didn't capture him."

"But… but… You promised!" Nymph protested, face transforming into the wide teary eyed look know as the Puppy Eyes. 'Ha! Nobody is immune to the persuasive powers of the Puppy Eyes Spell!'

'Must…. Resist…. Dammit!' "Ok fine, I'll help you find this friend of yours." Orpheus relented, ashamed.

"Great!" Nymph cheered again, lunging for another hug. This time though he was ready and he stepped to the side, causing her to crash to the floor.

"You're so mean…" Nymph sniffled. Orpheus just ignored her.

"What led you to believe that she was here anyway?" Orpheus questioned, hoping that he didn't have to leave Jump City to find Nymph's friend

"Tracking spell! But for some reason, it leads me to you and not her…" Nymph trailed off, making Orpheus's eyes widen. 'It couldn't be… Her friend, could it be?'

"What's your friend's name again?" Orpheus said voice full of hidden apprehension.

"Well, I don't know if it's her real name or not, but she told me to call her Dani Phantom."

End Chapter

AN 1: This is more or less my rationalization as to why some of the bad things that happen to Danny will happen, with Clockwork not doing anything to stop it.

AN 2: Yeah, I don't really know how best to explain Vorpal's space manipulation. It's kinda like telekinesis, but not really. Vorpal's Leviathan Tamer's OC. LT explained it better than I could find the words to do so… yeah it's not that important anyway.

AN 3: This clock will be important later.

AN 4: This is the reason why Orpheus got tired earlier from using his ice powers to freeze the robbers. Don't worry, this effect will gradually fade

AN 5: Nymph's (Who is princessbinas OC) spells are in Italian according to the Google Translator. What they say is unimportant, as the effects will either be told before hand or be obvious (In this case, obvious as it summoned a dragon to attack Vorpal)

Fun chapter to write.

Remember, every time you read a chapter and don't submit a review for it, God kills a puppy.