I'M STILL ALIVE! YAY!
Review Reply Time!
The Virus: How did they meet? That is a long and awesome story… That will be saved for another time! (^-^) Attendant: Sir, Black Death has been spotted on the horizon. Me: Tell the RPG team to have fun with him. *Multiple explosions later* Attendant: Sir, nothing remains of Black Death. Me: Nuke the area a few times just to be safe, and then wall it off. *Turns to the screen* Your move Virus.
RockStar: Thanks!
Warlord: Alright
coldblue: He's not from a different time line. Neither is Nymph. Their OC's created by the winners of the contest on Chapter 10. As for the ice powers… that's not a permanent thing. After a while, Danny will get used to them and then using them will be easy again. For the harem idea (If it happens, that is) the magic number is 2, with 3 being the absolute really-pushing-it limit. "As long as the 3rd girl is not HUMAN or PART HUMAN"? Umm, Ok? (-_-) That doesn't sound too right. First question: Possibly. That will be revealed at a later date. Second Question: Nymph is princessbinas's OC. That's where she comes from, until I feel like elaborating. As for how Dani knows her… As said above that is a long and fascinating story… that will be told at a later time. Third Question: Dani is… somewhere interesting. And they will… eventually. (And when I say eventually, I mean it'll be a long time coming) Fourth Question: I like to think things like this shouldn't be rushed.
unknown: They will be unknowingly helping Danny overcome the trauma just by being there. (*Spoiler*Especially Raven*Spoiler end*) Actually helping will happen eventually.
Weirdo: Good to hear. Valerie will appear around the same time as the GIW, ghostly villains and all the other baddies from Amity.
unknown: No. Unstabilized happened before Ultimate Enemy in my DP timeline.
Sparxthehedgehog: Nymph helps just like the rest of the Titans (Especially Raven). By being there for him. Ever heard the phrase "Time heals all wounds"? Kind of like that.
dannyphantom4eve: Umm… I really hate to break it to you…. But that will probably never happen... Sorry…
Yin And Yang: Um… (You're review confuses me so please bear with me) Thanks? Yes it was Tucker… You can still submit an OC, there's just no guarantee it will be used… I'm confused, are you FOR or AGAINST the harem? And thanks? (I think…)
anon: Little early to tell, don't you think? Besides, if you would prefer one of those stories where the main character is godlike, can do no wrong, can have no wrong happen to him, and completely wipes the floor with everyone, then I can tell you right now that you're looking in the wrong place.
Kelly Kelly: Are you absolutely sure? (No) Exactly, why take a chance? XD
coldblue: Yes, I am still alive. Studying for exams takes up almost all of my time. Marvel Phantom eh? Hmm, guess I'll check it out. l:3
hullo: kh reference? I wasn't aware I made one. (What is a kh reference?) And thanks!
Poll is now CLOSED! Results!
1st Place: Be quietly angry at me but give the story a chance and continue reading at 24! 2nd Place: Be happy and continue reading at 22! 3rd Place: Be furious and stop reading or reviewing in protest at 16. 4th Place: Not feel one way or another 13!
So those are the results. I'll admit I was surprised with the results. I thought for sure that "Be furious" would be overwhelmingly in first place. What this poll tells me is that it mostly depends on my ability as a writer whether or not a harem would be a good thing. Curious… I've always said that the poll influences my decision. It alone isn't the decision so… My verdict is... something that will be revealed in a few chapters. You may now begin praising me for my evilness. (^-^)
TO EVERYBODY (Just to get this out of the way since I KNOW some people are thinking this way): No this is not a Danny/Nymph nor will it ever be. Even if I do go forward with the harem idea, she will not be available as a choice of one of the girls for Danny to (eventually) hook up with. A close, kind of bratty, annoying yet lovable little sister is the role Nymph will play in relation to Danny. That is not open to debate! I'm playing with the idea of possibly putting Nymph with somebody else. (Beastboy?… (If Terra doesn't end up hooking up with him)?
So… yeah. Don't think I have anything else to say.
Chapter 12
Unknown Location
Slade was many things. He was both a flunky and a leader, able to take orders and give them, even though more often than not he gave them. He knew what it was like to be on the lowest rung on the ladder of organized crime, to all the way to the top. He was both a merchant of death and a drug lord. At one time, he was a master assassin by trade, hired by governments and criminal organizations alike. At another time, he was a body guard, again hired by both sides of the law. Most considered him to be a jack-of-all-trades.
However, if asked to describe himself, the easiest description to make was very simple. He thought of himself as a man who did things that were not always legal. Of course, that would usually mean that one was a criminal, wouldn't it? And wouldn't such a description be indefinitely simpler than labeling him as one who did things that "were not always legal"? Wrong. He did not think of himself as a criminal. It might just a simple case of pride, but he believed himself to be on a level far above any criminal.
Of course, to understand why exactly he thought so much of himself was simple. Anonymity. He was a unknown. He was the unpredictable factor, the variable in any equation whose actions could not be completely rationalized. Criminals were predictable in the way that their actions were almost always rationalized. His were not.
However, as he watched video after video of the team of teens, which would later be known as the Teen Titans, fighting Gordanians then, a little after that, separately fighting armed thugs, he was focused on two in particular.
The first one that caught his interest was Robin, the highly trained and weaponized fighting machine. He fought with a controlled impulsivity that reminded him scarily of his own, with a speed, strength, and skill to near match.
The second one that was interesting was the mysterious Orpheus. Having never heard of this one before, he attempted to divine his origins through technology. Which ended in a complete and utter dead end. The first time he appeared anywhere was on a rooftop opposite the bank, where he proceeded to stop the robbers that he had hired to rob the bank just for fun as he really didn't need the money. The only other thing that he got was a couple of Greek myths about someone also named Orpheus. Which were pretty much useless, as Modern Day Orpheus showed no signs yet as being Mythical Greek Orpheus.
'I have to do more research before I could even thinking about doing anything focused on Orpheus. Now, Robin on the other hand…' Slade wasn't stupid. He wasn't immortal, not by a long shot. Even now he could feel it as he grew older. He was weakening, slowing down slowly but surely despite his best efforts. He wasn't afraid of death. He had long ago transcended such irrelevant things such as a fear of death. No, what he was afraid of was that, once he had died, he would be forgotten. His achievements would be erased, fading away to be lost forever to time. If he died, then all would be for naught, as his criminal empire devoured itself without his guidance. He would be reduced to just another criminal, brought low by the one enemy that eventually reduced all to dust. Time.
It was for that reason and that reason alone that he sought an apprentice. Someone to pick up the feared and weighty mantel of Slade. To continue what he had started.
Of course, at first he thought that the best heir for the title Slade would be one that would actually be his son, bound to him by blood as father and son. That would be the best, as that way he could ensure that his heir's physical attributes were closest to his own. It also ensured that he could train and groom him from day one to impart all of his skills, wisdom, and knowledge.
This plan hit a good many speed bumps. First off was that he was soulless to the point that he near didn't have any emotions at all. So it went without saying that he wasn't interested in any sort of loving relationship with any female or, really anyone in general. Really if cloning technology was a lot farther along than it was now then he wouldn't have need of one at all. But it wasn't so he ended up with few options.
The one he decided on was simple, if extremely distasteful. Find a female that possessed the notable traits that he needed in an heir in bulk, such as good physical condition and high intelligence. Research them extensively, their family history, medical records, everything to make sure that she was viable. Make sure that both sides of her family didn't have a history of diseases, cancer, drug abuse, or genetic disorders or, really anything that could cause problems in any sons she might have. Then kidnapping her, putting her in his own special built room, with a team of hired doctors, each paid enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. They'd restrain her and put her on a special cocktail of fertility drugs, and then when they all took effect they would inject himself into her, causing her to become pregnant with his child. Then after his son was born, they would inject her full of an experimental new drug that would wipe her memory and she would wake up back in her bed, with no recollection of the last nine and a half months.
Everything had gone as planned. They found an unwilling candidate. They kidnapped successfully. They impregnated her successfully. Only she didn't have a son. Against his wishes, she had a daughter. Which was a problem for him. He was male. As such, for a seamless passing of his mask from him to his successor, his heir too had to be male. Oh, there was no sense in wasting all the resources that he had put into his new daughter. He'd still give her all the training he'd have originally given her had she been male, but now he had to repeat the process in order to get a viable successor. And repeat it he did. And that time he got a male, just as he intended the first time.
That was about fifteen years ago. He had sent them both to an automated training facility on a secluded mountain top, built specifically for the training of his off spring. The plan was for them to do the majority of their training there, and when that was finished he personally oversee the rest of their training himself. Then, when his son was ready, he would step down and assume a position as an advisor while his son would assume the mantle of Slade, with the new Slade's own half sister being his top agent. Then, when his son began to slow and age, he would repeat the process that he, the current Slade, had done in continuing the legacy beyond his own life span. And, in this manner, the name Slade would be remembered forever, not as an old, forgotten past, but as a reality. Just like a phoenix, reincarnating himself every couple of centuries. In this manner, Slade would be immortal. Forever lasting.
But, it seemed, it was not meant to be. His son, his legacy, did not want this life. His fourteen year old son had run away and was using his training to remain hidden. Apparently his mental conditioning wasn't enough to ensure loyalty and he had made a mistake in not making the facility like a prison. His son had been skipping off to a nearby village and found that he'd enjoy life more doing something else than he'd planned for him to do. Oh, his daughter supposedly loyal to him and was faithfully continuing her training, just as planned. He installed security to make escape impossible anyway.
Now, though, he had another problem. In another life, it would have been simple to simply repeat the process again for another male son. However, that course of action was no longer open to him. Because of him being on a drug regimen designed to slow the weakening of his body and mind he had become sterile. Having not the fore sight to freeze some of his seed before this happened; the path of having an heir bound to him by blood was beyond him forever.
At first, it seemed that he would have to allow himself to fade after all or allow his daughter to take his place. Neither of which he wanted to happen. Not only would people notice if he suddenly switched genders, but it was also because, as the old saying went "One bad apple spoils the bunch". Sure his daughter said she was still loyal to him, but he couldn't be sure that her half-brother hadn't got to her.
Then Robin entered the picture. He was already trained, possibly better than either of his children, by the Dark Knight himself. He had already distanced himself from said Dark Knight, making him ripe for shanghaiing into being his apprentice, then slowly converting him into his successor. He could see it in the boy. If he could see his eyes, he was sure that they'd be burning with a fire identical to the flames that burned within him. As soon as he got him to abandon his pathetic morals, he'd have his successor and legacy. All that lay between him and Robin was his new team. A team that had yet to be tested.
A test then. To see how they performed against an opponent whose capabilities he was more familiar with. So then, he sent Cinderblock to free Plasmus from Prison. Cinderblock was a dumb brute, to be sure, but he was durable and strong. What followed was a disappointment. Not only did Robin allow Cinderblock to succeed in his mission, he drove off two teammates in the process. 'That'll be a problem.' Mused Slade. 'I'll be sure to have to teach him how and when to play well with others.'
Slade smirked, an action hidden by his mask. Just because he had intended Cinderblock to fail, didn't mean he should abandon his plan.
A few hours later, same unknown location.
A loud stomping sound echoed through the corridor, created by Cinderblock as he walked, carrying a still sleeping human-Plasmus over his shoulder. Stopping, he opened a chamber in the room. It had a throne sitting in the middle. And sitting on that throne was Slade.
He tapped his foot impatiently as Cinderblock approached. "Ah, Cinderblock. I trust you were successful?" Cinderblock presented the capsule containing Plasmus as an answer. "Good. Wake him."
Cinderblock twisted the top off of the container and dumped the contents onto the floor, waking the human form of Plasmus. As he opened his eyes, panic set it. "I—I'm Awake?! I can never be awake! I'm only human when I'm sleeping!"
Slade nodded in ascension. "Yes, but for what I have planned, your human form is too weak. I need Plasmus."
That statement seemed to trigger a reaction as, before his very eyes. Plasmus's skin bulged and began to purple and slough off. His mouth widened as is teeth disappeared. His eyes turned green and his hair disappeared.
Now, standing before Slade, was the slime monster, Plasmus. Slade gave a cold laugh.
"Good, let's begin the next phase."
Rooftop, later
Orpheus grit his teeth for what had to have been the fifth time that day. After he found out that Nymph's friend was Dani, the only fully functional (And stable, at least now) clone out a few dozen created of himself. The only clone that survived. The only clone that he knew of, that came out female, somehow. Dani was, as far as he knew, the only member of his family still living, even if it was in the same unnatural half life that he himself lived.
As he was sitting on top of the roof of the hotel they (read 'he', seeing as she magically didn't have any money and he did) had rented a room in. Half way through the night though he found himself unable to sleep in his bed and left the room where Nymph was sleeping in her own bed. (AN1) He climbed on top of the roof and stayed there, thinking on how he might go about finding the only female half ghost the he knew of in existence. 'How the hell do you find someone that can turn invisible, intangible, and fly?' And it was true. He never found Dani. Whenever she was becoming unstable, she sought him out, not the other way around. Every couple of months or two after she almost melted, she crash in the spare bedroom whenever she got tired of traveling, Jazz finding some excuse to get their parents out the house. They'd hang out for a while, Dani and Danny would have a few friendly matches and exchange tips and tricks for ghost hunting, then Sam would give her some traveling money as well as a new wardrobe, Danny would supply her with a few ghost gadgets and off she'd go. He still remembered what she'd told him when he'd asked about her obsession with traveling one time.
*Flashback*
"It's just, like I don't know. After I was created I spent almost all of my time locked up being tested on by Vlad to see why I wasn't so unstable like the others. When he wasn't doing that, he was spending time pretending to be a "caring father" and teaching how to use my powers. I remember though, no matter what we were doing he never let me leave the mansion. That time that he sent me after you was the first time I'd ever been out of the mansion, period. Afterwards, when everything was said and done with that whole affair, I didn't know where to go. I could see that, despite you're many complaints about it, you were happy with the life that you had and, well, I was afraid of messing that up. All I knew was that I wasn't going to be spending time cooped up in one place like that again for a while now. So I decided that it would be good for me to spend some time traveling. I found out that life on the road had a certain… allure. And now it just feels even better. Because, I know, that no matter where I go or what I see, I can always come back here… Right?"
*End Flashback*
A though suddenly came to him, causing to freeze up and a cold sweat to appear on his forehead. 'She doesn't know.' He hadn't see Dani since the GIW captured him. She didn't know the new danger of going ghost. She didn't know that transforming and being in ghost form was like holding a flare as bright as the sun in a dark room, just asking for the GIW to find her.
Another thought, darker than the first, came to him. When Dani was in trouble the first time, she went to Amity looking for him and his friends to help. Whenever she visited afterwards, it was because she was feeling run down or was out of money, or got hurt somehow and needed a place to heal. Bottom line: whenever Dani got in trouble, she came to Amity looking for him and his friends to help. 'Not only does she not know that I'm not in Amity any longer, she doesn't know that Sam will sooner turn her over to the GIW than she will help her at all.'
There was only one thing that stopped him from abandoning Jump City and any hope of rejoining the Titans right then and there. During his entire length of his captivity, they had never proven that they had Dani, something they would have taken much glee in doing once they had her. Sam had, of course, gleefully told them all about Dani, and her origins, as well as how close the younger half ghost was to him. Seeking to further torture him, they had pretended to have any number of people that were close to him, Dani included.
The thing was, he could tell their fakes apart from the real thing easy enough, and they could let him see and even touch any host of body parts and pretend like they belonged to loved ones, but that didn't prove that they were. Hell, he remembered them bring in bins full of the stuff, dumping all over him. Then they would splash buckets of what they claimed to be the blood of loved ones in his face. Long story short, he was certain that they didn't have Dani when they had him. He was also dead certain that as soon as they did capture her, they would be sure to try and use her as bait to get him to come out of hiding. And seeing as he had yet to hear about it that meant that they had yet to capture Dani.
But that didn't mean she knew about their scanners. Or how Sam now worked for the GIW. Hell, for all he knew, they were closing in on her right now. But then, it could also mean that Dani did know and had gone off grid, just like he had. And that hope, small and fragile though it was, was the only thing that kept him in Jump City. 'And besides, if I rejoin the Titan's, it means that I have greater resources available to use to devote to finding her with anyway.'
He heard a rush of air behind him and knew that the strange fairy girl had found him. "There you are!" Nymph cried, lunging to greet him with a hug, only for him to turn intangible at the last moment. She sniffled, having landed on the floor and hit her head on it. "You're so mean…"
Orpheus just rolled his eyes, an action that went unseen due to his goggles. Ignoring her last statement, he said "I wasn't exactly hiding, you know. Just needed to get some air."
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say." She fixed him with a dangerous glare. "You weren't thinking of skipping out on your promise, were you?" She asked, expression dark.
"N-o Ma'am" Orpheus stuttered out. Who knew how terrifying such a glare could be?
Nymph suddenly smiled brightly, completely doing a 180 in her expression, making Orpheus sweat drop. "Great!" She said, giggling.
'Ok? One moment it looks like she's going to try and kill me, the next she sitting there giggling to herself. She's either bipolar, multiple personality, or just plain batshit crazy.' Were the thoughts of our resident halfa as he observed Nymph's giggling fit, which progressed quickly into a bout of maniacal laughter complete with the dark clouds, lighting, and the boom of thunder. 'Definitely batshit crazy. But then, who am I to judge?' He thought rather amusedly, remembering that he wasn't exactly a good advocate of mental health himself. He cleared his throat, getting her attention "So do you actually have any plan for finding Dani Phantom?"
"Nope!" She replied cheerfully, making his eye twitch in annoyance. In a light hearted tone, she continued "I would try and use that tracking spell I specifically made to find her, but for some reason it leads me to you instead of her." Suddenly she adopted a serious tone. "You wouldn't happen to know why that was, would you?"
Orpheus frowned. He did have a pretty good idea why. But then, why would he tell somebody he had just met that it was probably because whatever spell she created to find Dani most likely found halfa's instead, and that was the reason why it lead her to him and not his clone? 'At least it didn't lead her to Vlad.' He thought, a bit relieved. He still had yet to see what Nymph could do, other than flight and spells, but Vlad was a tough opponent, no matter who you were or what you could do. He knew that from experience.
"From what it sounds like, this Dani Phantom sounds like she has abilities like that of ghosts. Flying, ghost rays, intangibility, invisibility, things like that?" Orpheus said, being as accurate as he dared with the abilities he knew Dani had.
Nymph nodded. "She can do a good bit more than that, but that's the general idea of it, why?"
Orpheus continued. "Is she a ghost?"
That gave Nymph a pause. Of course, Orpheus knew the answer, but he didn't want to tell anyone this early in the game, much less somebody that he just met, despite her apparent relationship with Dani.
Nymph gave him a strange look. Suddenly, she grabbed her wand from where it situated at her waist. Chanting in a voice too low to hear without enhancing his hearing, she waved her wand in a few rather complex motions, before a bright light suddenly emanated from its tip, blinding him. When his eye sight returned, she was standing there looking at him, wand clipped back on her belt and a serious look on her face. Only this time, as he looked around there was some sort of heat haze that went around the two of them in a perfect circle.
Nymph nodded to herself, pleased. "There, now nobody can be spying on us. As for your question…" She paused, biting her lower lip. "Can you keep a secret?"
Orpheus nodded, prompting her to continue. "She's a half ghost." She paused after that statement, clearly expecting some kind of reaction from him.
Orpheus blinked several times, eyebrows rising to become hidden behind his raven bangs. "Excuse me?" He said in a tone that suggested incredulity. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he was thinking 'If this hero gig doesn't work out, I might have a future as an actor… Ha! Who am I kidding? If this "hero gig" doesn't work out, I'll have more important things to worry about than an acting career.'
Nymph nodded, oblivious to the fake nature of his 'surprise'. "You heard right. A half ghost."
"How does something like that even come into existence? I sincerely doubt that you're going to tell me that she has one dead parent and one living."
"She claims to be the secret sister of the Lost Hero, who shares all his powers." Orpheus's eyes widened ever so slightly at the mention of his ghostly alter ego.
When the GIW captured him, Phantom had apparently become a rather well known about name thanks to the GIW broadcasting across the country that he was a terrorist, serial killer and rapist, pedophile, wife beater (Even though to his knowledge he had never been married), and just slapping on any bad label on him that they could in a no-holds-barred smear campaign in an attempt to quiet Phantom's fan bases that were wondering just where he had disappeared off to. Retribution was swift however, as the furious Phans (As Phantom's hardcore fans had named themselves) retaliated anywhere they could. They did everything from handing out merchandise with his DP symbol, to passing out flyers in the street, the more extreme ones hacking news channels and forcing them to play videos showcasing his heroics. That sparked a veritable small war between the Phan's and the GIW. A war that was fought using words and campaign, rather than guns.
It didn't really go anywhere, but the political clash attracted interest that expanded the ranks of Phan's as well as others. Rewards were posted by the Phan's and GIW both, attracting bounty hunters for both sides. Conspiracy nuts used his disappearance as another example of the "oppression of the fascist government". It became a pass time for defense or prosecution attorney's to work on his case, either trying to clear him of all charges, or bury him deeper with new ones. PI's were hired by the wealthy Phan's. Even super hero's occasionally were rumored to be "looking into it". All the publicity lead to several news papers and news channels doing a few stories about him. In those stories, they each gave him his moniker. Some were nice, some were not, but one that ended up sticking was the "Lost Hero". (AN2) When he himself learned of it, he liked it. 'It's certainly a better moniker than "Damn Ghost" to be sure.'
"And I take it you don't believe her." Orpheus commented dryly, earning a nod in reply.
"They look similar, I'll give her that. And they did have a lot of the same powers. But that's it. If she was his sister, wouldn't she know just where he disappeared off to? Besides, Phantom was a full ghost and she's only half right?"
"Who can say for sure?" Orpheus said noncommittally, giving the fairy girl neither a yes nor a no as well as ignoring the fact that she referred to Phantom, to him, in past tense. Like he was dead. Gone. A thing of the past. Never to be seen again.
"What does it matter anyway?" Nymph asked, curious about why he needed this information.
"Because I think I know why you're tracking spell lead you to me and not her." Orpheus replied, closing his eyes and folding his arms over his chest. He remained quiet for a second, thinking of how best to explain it in a way that didn't give away his secret. He opened his eyes and hid a smile as he came up with the perfect excuse.
"I know that ghosts are made up of ectoplasm, right?" At Nymph's nod, he continued. "So then, it would be right to say that Dani is, at least partially, composed of ectoplasm?" Nymph nodded again, not really understanding just where he was going with this. "I think that, instead of tracking Dani, your spell tracks down concentrations of ectoplasmic energy. This would mean that, instead of finding Dani, you would be lead to ghosts, half ghosts, and, considering I gained my powers via an infusion of ectoplasm, me." He wasn't exactly lying either. Becoming a half ghost did involve an infusion of ectoplasm, as far as he could tell.
"Are you a half ghost?" The question was innocent enough. Said in a tone conveying nothing but openness and honest curiosity, but, never the less, he hesitated in providing an answer. On one hand, he had yet to lie in his extremely short career as "Orpheus". Give half truths and avoid answering certain questions were the closest he had come to lying so far. On the other hand, he hoped to actually have a long career as "Orpheus" and spilling his secrets this early could jeopardize that. It wasn't a matter of trust. He knew that if Dani trusted her enough to tell her that she was a half ghost then she was more than trustworthy enough for him to tell her all about his. Only one thing stopped him. The fact that he didn't know her. He didn't know this girl, with fairy wings and a wand. He didn't know this girl who acted like he was a close friend after just meeting. He didn't know her. And right now, that was reason enough not to tell her. Even if he had to lie, he would.
"No." He said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away. "I got some ghost powers from a rather unfortunate lab accident, but I'm not a half ghost. I don't really know what word you could use to categorize me, but I'm sure half ghost isn't it."
"So that means that the only method that I have for finding her is a shot in the dark as to whether or not it will actually lead me to her. Just great." Nymph whined, hanging her head.
"It's not that hopeless." Orpheus encouraged gently. "A tracking spell isn't the only way to find someone. Granted, Dani's various abilities will make finding her all the harder, especially if she's using them to hide, but it's not impossible."
"Nice to see you're so hopeful."
He grinned. "I got tired of moping around and complaining about how unfair life is. So now I try and look at the bright side of things."
"Words to live by." Nymph mumbled. Orpheus just kept smiling. "So how do you plan on finding her then? That spell was the only way I had to find her."
"Give me a second." Orpheus answered, waving her away distractedly and rubbing his chin, deep in thought. 'It's too bad I didn't get aura sensing until just recently. Make finding her a whole lot easier.'
He snapped his fingers suddenly. 'It's a gamble, considering he might not be happy to see me, but it might just work…'
"Got something?"
"Yeah, a light bulb."
"Excuse me?" Nymph tilted her head, looking slightly confused.
Chuckling, Orpheus said "You know, in those cartoons? The ones where a light bulb comes out of a character's head after he just had an idea?"
Nymph just gave him a blank stare. "I happen to know a spell that can do something similar."
"Really?" Orpheus said, curiosity peaked. 'I wonder if I could learn to use magic?... Nah!'
"Yeah, so if you don't want me to use it on you, why don't you tell me your idea?" She snottily, turning up her nose at him, annoyed.
Orpheus just sweat dropped, but complied. "Well you see, first we got to find a friend of mine…"
Line Break
Cyborg wasn't in the best of moods. Even though his body could go weeks without rest as long as he kept himself repaired, batteries charged, and didn't exert himself, his mind couldn't. Even though his mind possessed a keen intellect and high IQ, something that was enhanced to even high levels due to half of his brain being replaced with a cybernetic-brain, his mind still needed to 'sleep' in order to recuperate and process all the new information or otherwise he would be stressed out and irritable. Of course, since half his brain was cybernetic, he couldn't just go to sleep. Unless he hooked himself up to all the various wires and cables needed to sleep, he could only sleep halfway, as he couldn't put the cybernetic part of his brain asleep. And sleeping half way was no substitute to actually sleeping.
So after an uneventful walk through the city, he ended up half sleeping on a bench, leaving him in a grouchy mood. It didn't help that Beastboy had been calling him all through yesterday, well through the night, and started again this morning. He did feel a little guilty about ignoring the green teen, but he really didn't feel like talking right now.
On a whim, he brought up his arm, activating and looking at a holographic display of a map of the city, complete with glowing dots on it to indicate the locations of the Titan's, or at least their communicators. Looking at it, he found that all but one of the Titan's were still at Titan's Tower. Given that the dots were color coded to the Titan that they were given to, (Robin's dot was red, Starfire's was orange, Beastboy's was green, Raven's was black, and Orpheus's was gray. His own would show up as a light blue on the other communicators.) he knew for a fact that it was Orpheus that was coming toward his position at a rather impressive speed. Cyborg could deactivate the homing beacon that showed his position on the communicators with a simple mental command. It would be easy and actually beneficial, considering that he would be saving the very small and inconsequential amount of power that it took to keep the homing beacon active. But he didn't. For he knew that Orpheus was using something that was arguably far more precise than technology to find him. It'd be pointless to turn off his beacon.
Cyborg turned to the direction that Orpheus was approaching from and waited. He didn't have to wait long though as Orpheus shimmered into existence on the opposite side of the street and began walking toward him.
Wordlessly, even though nobody seemed to notice the two, Cyborg pointed to a nearby rooftop. Orpheus nodded and Cyborg got up from the bench he was sitting on, silently making their way there.
For a full minute, nobody said anything. Orpheus was staring off into the distance, trying to work out how to say what he had to say. Cyborg was staring straight at him, trying to meet his goggle covered eyes. At last, Cyborg's patience ran out and he barked out in a gruff voice "Well? You gonna say anything or just stare out into space all day?"
Orpheus didn't respond immediately. He acted like he didn't hear him at first, then he slowly turned and looked him straight in the face. "I need your help to find somebody."
"Really? How convenient." Cyborg replied sarcastically, glaring at the black haired teen.
"Not really." Deadpanned Orpheus.
"I think there's something more important that we need to talk about first." Cyborg said after a while, earning an irritated and slightly apprehensive look from Orpheus. "Why did you tell me?"
Orpheus knew what he was talking about. But that didn't mean that he had an answer. He just stared at Cyborg, not sure as to how to continue.
His silence prompted Cyborg to continue. "Look man, we just met. That being said, you need to understand that there are some things that I'm not ready to tell you. What I don't understand is, why did you tell me something like that to someone you met not a week ago? Especially something like that?"
Orpheus was silent for a second. Then "I don't know. I really don't. The only sort of explanation that I could come up with is that you're like me." At Cyborg's raised eye brow, he chuckled. "Aw, come on. Both of us victims of some sort of accident that turned us into couple of monsters?"
Cyborg couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, when you put it that way…" They settled into an uncomfortable silence, until Cyborg noticed something else that Orpheus had just said. "You're not a monster."
Orpheus just gave him a sad smile, as if he didn't believe him. "Yeah, sure."
Defeated, Cyborg tried a different approach. "You remember a couple of days ago, on that day that we became a team?"
Orpheus nodded, not sure where he was going with this. "Yeah, the day that Starfire crash landed. Why?"
"Because it seems like you forgot something about that day." Cyborg answered bluntly.
Orpheus raised an eye brow. "What did I forget?"
"That you helped out too." Orpheus gave Cyborg a confused look, so he continued. "Look, were you coerced to help?"
Orpheus had the decency to suppress a offended look, settling for another look of confusion. "Of course not. I chose to-"
"Exactly! You chose to help! You chose to help, even though you knew that there was a chance that you could get hurt, even killed, doing it." Cyborg said in a rather forceful tone, interrupting Orpheus. In a gentler tone, he continued with his speech. "You cared. You cared enough to help. Trust me, I've seen monsters…" His eyes seemed to glaze over, and then he shook himself. Putting a heavy hand on Orpheus's shoulder, he said "A true monster wouldn't care. A true monster is one who has the power to help, yet does nothing. Having a power like yours doesn't make you a monster. Not using it to help others does. That's all that evil needs to win; for good people, people like you, to do nothing."
Cyborg took his hand off of Orpheus's shoulder, staring at the hidden halfa meaningfully. Orpheus, however, was lost in his own world.
*Flashback*
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."Samantha Mason, aka Sam, quoted, smirking at her two male friends.
"Who is that, Edmund Burke?" Danny Fenton, aka Danny Phantom, resident super hero and high school student, asked, getting a vigorous shake-of-the-head from his best friend, Tucker Foley. Or 'Tucker, as in Too Fine', as he introduced himself to pretty ladies, usually ensuring that they would never be interested him in "that way", nor would they want to see him again, unless forced by circumstance. Circumstance that Tucker conviently mistook as either "them wanting to him again" or that they are "fated to be together".
"Naw, man. I'm pretty sure she got that out of a movie somewhere! Definitely didn't get it out of English Class!" Tucker cracked up, getting a glare from the resident Goth.
"What're you trying to say, techboy?" She growled out, incensed. Tucker just rolled his eyes at her silent threat.
"I'm trying to say that eating all that grass definitely can't be helping you're brain, especially with how hard Mr. Lancer's class is already." Tucker replied, oblivious to the seething Goth in front of him.
"Why you little….!? I'll have you know that my grade in his class is higher than yours!"
"Speaking of Mr. Lancer, why do you think that he called this meeting?" Danny said, not interested in having to break up another fight in what had been a peaceful morning. No ghost's had attacked recently, Vlad was quiet, Dash had been leaving him alone lately, and this was the first argument that they'd had in a long time. Things were looking up for the unfortunate halfa
"Didn't your sister say it was about some test we're going have to take or something?" Sam answered, Danny nodding in agreement when he heard her.
"Now that you mention it, you're right. Something about some kind of CAT test or something?"
"Whatever man!" Tucker declared, appearing between them and throwing an arm around each of their shoulders, pulling them close. "I'm sure it's nothing for us to worry about, right?" He declared, getting sounds of agreement from his two closest friends.
*End Flashback*
Orpheus blinked when Cyborg began snapping his fingers in front of his face. "Yo, Earth to Orpheus. You ok man?"
Orpheus shook his head for a second, clearing away the cob webs. "Yeah, I'm good. What were you saying?"
"I was asking whether or not you wanted me to keep it secret. You know, about the whole 'suppressed power thing?"
Orpheus put on a thinking face, but in reality, he already knew his answer. "For now, keep it to yourself, but if you're asked, don't lie and you can tell anybody on the team if a situation comes up and they need to know."
Cyborg nodded thoughtfully to himself. "I think I can live with that, at least for now. Now didn't you say something to me about finding someone?"
Orpheus nodded with a grin. Gesturing, he got Cyborg to bend at the waist as he whispered his plan into his ear. Cyborg frowned. "I'm afraid for that to work; we'd have to be at Titan's Tower." He said at last, after thinking it over.
Orpheus nodded. "I thought as much." They remained quiet for a second. Then Orpheus caught and looked Cyborg straight in his human eye. "We messed up, didn't we?"
Cyborg didn't need to even ask about what he was talking about. "Yeah, big time." He was quiet for a moment longer. "How do we fix it?"
Orpheus frowned slightly. "I got an idea or two. It's going to take a good bit of luck though."
"Why don't we just go back, swallow our stupid male pride, and apologize?" Cyborg just blurted out. It was the easiest method and, like it or not, Robin did need Cyborg at the very least, as none of the others were as good with technology as he was. And if he took Cyborg back, then he had to take Orpheus back as well.
"Aw, come on, where's the fun in that?" Said a female voice from… somewhere?
'There it is.' Cyborg thought to himself as he focused his cybernetic eye and picked up distortions in the air like heat waves to his right. Switching to thermal, he confirmed that there was indeed someone there and trained his sonic cannon at it. "Show yourself!"
Orpheus just groaned as Nymph dropped the Disillusionment spell she was holding with an "Eep!" And then flew behind him, using him as a shield and shaking like a leaf, peaking over his shoulder at the big man pointing a cannon at them. Orpheus just groaned again as Cyborg yelled "Who the hell is she?"
'This is going to be one long ass day.'
Line Break
Robin sunk a fist into the punching bag. Without pause, he quickly drew it out and repeated the action with his other hand. He kept up a rhythm, noticeable to none but him. The only sound in the room was the sound of his gloves hitting the rough fabric of the red punching bag in front of him. He pounded into it relentlessly, eagerly trying to pound out the feelings of guilt at the same time. Sweat beaded on his brow, his arms began to burn from the exertion, and the edges of his vision were darkening, a byproduct of him not doing much breathing, instead focusing on beating the life out of the red bag in front of him. But still he pushed on, unaware of the worried green eyes of a certain Tameranian that were focused on him from the opened doorway. His knee's suddenly buckled and, completely unprepared with one arm halfway to the punching bag, he fell to the ground, letting out a cry, one mixed with both pain and frustration.
Pain having brought his senses back to fine alert, he waved off help from a worried Starfire. "I'm fine Star." He lied forcefully through gritted teeth, waving her away again as he got up slowly. He experienced no problems, until he tried to stand up fully from a kneeling position. As soon as he tried to take his left knee off the ground, having experienced no problems with the right knee, pain shot through his leg and he collapsed again.
"I said I'm fine Starfire!" He yelled angrily when he felt her slender yet strong arms wrap around his torso and began to pick him up. Starfire recoiled at the anger in his voice. At the same time, her eyes hardened.
"No, Friend Robin, you are not fine. You're grievously hurt. Why will you not allow me to help you go to the room of healing?" Starfire replied in a rare 'no nonsense' voice, belittling the worry she felt.
"I'm—I just…" Robin just shook his head. "Just…. Can you just leave me here for now Star?"
Starfire stared at him for a second, face scrunched up in thought. After a second, or two, she said "Very well. I shall come back in minutes of five. If you are still on the floor when I return, then I shall take you to the room of healing, whether you like it or not. If, however, you are continuing with the strengthening of your body in any way for the rest of today, then I will restrain you until I am certain you are no longer hurt, ok?" Not waiting for an answer, Starfire gave him a cheerful smile, and then flew away, closing the door and leaving him speechless.
Still sitting on the floor, he rubbed his leg slowly, feeling the pain slowly start fading. 'Why'd she overact like that? It's just lightly bruised. Nothing I can't walk off if you give me a minute.' Still, her concern was touching, if unneeded.
Looking around, he gazed at a very big set of weights. They were tucked away in the corner, out of the way. And given that the weights were in the tons, there were only two people that would have a use for them. And given that one of them didn't have much of an interest in weight lifting, he knew that they belonged to Cyborg.
And therein laid the source of his guilt. He had known it at the time. Somewhere, deep in the very far back of his head, he had known that he was the one who had messed up. He knew it, yet he denied it in a childish attempt to avoid being the one blamed for the failure of the mission to stop Cinderblock. Their very first mission as a team. What was worse was that it was under his leadership. It was his responsibility and not only did it fail, it was because of him that it failed. And just to rub salt into an open wound, then he had to go and try and blame it on someone else, resulting in not one but two people leaving. 'Maybe it would've been better if Orpheus lead after all.' He thought glumly, recalling how he had hacked the system of security cameras for the prison and cut it away so that he only had the moments that he knew that he messed up. He had zoomed in on where he knew his failure had occurred, but the quality on the video wasn't good enough to make out what he knew was happening, so he put it through a number of enhancement programs. Remembering them, he checked his watch and, seeing that enough time had passed for them to be done, decided to head off to his room.
Getting up, his leg only causing minor discomfort now, he walked briskly to his room, passing a glum Beastboy holding a phone in the hall way on the way there. Upon arriving, he went to his laptop that was sitting on his plain wooden desk. He opened it and powered it up; hitting "Play" once it had done so. A single cut out segment of the prison video tapes, quality enhanced and zoomed in to showcase the milliseconds before, during, and after Robin's leg hit Cyborg's and set off the spin that let Cinderblock escape.
Robin just stared as he watched his leg hit Cyborg in quick succession. Not even bothering to stop the video, he left his room to wander the hall. Again passing a desolate Beastboy holding a phone, he couldn't help but glance at the green Titan. It was easy to see that Beastboy, with nothing to distract him, was depressed over the loss of two friends, one in particular. Something that was surprising was that, after getting to know one another, the two became quick friends. 'No, strike that, close as childhood friends, brothers even.' Robin amended. It was strange, considering how Cyborg was a meat loving incredibly smart and driven cyborg, while Beastboy was an incredibly laid back tofu loving changeling with slightly below average intelligence. But there was no denying that the two had become as thick as thieves in the short amount of time that they had been together. A fact that lead to another potential problem.
'He and Starfire get along fine, and the same could be said for me. But he and Raven can barely be in the same room together without an argument breaking out after an extended amount of time. He must've realized by now, or he will soon, that with Cyborg gone there's really not much keeping him here.' It was rather disturbing to think about the fact that a proud team of six could soon become a team of three. And even that much was doubtful. He was pretty sure that Starfire wasn't anywhere close to leaving just yet, seeing as the alien seemed to have a bit of admiration for him. But Raven was another case entirely, seeing as she was impossible to read in any way, shape, or form other than moments where she was clearly pissed off. It was impossible for him to make any sort of prediction of how Raven would act in response to these events long term. Right now, the only seen effect it had on the Dark Titan was that she spent more time in her room or meditating than she did before.
His thoughts on just how long he would actually have a team to lead were interrupted by an alarm sounding through the tower.
Running to the Ops room, he encountered the rest of the Titan's already there. "Is it Cinderblock again?"
Beastboy sighed. "You wish."
End Chapter
Author note 1: Yes, they were sleeping in different beds. How justified was my paranoia in including this detail?
Author note 2: I wanted to give Danny Phantom a different moniker than the "Ghost Hero" or anything in relation to his half ghost status. Sue me.
I'm just going to come out and say it. I don't like this chapter. What do you call it when you know what you want to write (Or type, as in this case) but don't know how to word it? Because that was just the reoccurring theme for me in writing this entire chapter.
Meh, I'll get over it. Still going to probably go back and rewrite and reword this chapter though.
Still, that's no excuse not to REVIEW!