Memories

Chapter 14

A Danny Phantom/Teen Titans crossover

"Wakey, wakey, my duckies. Time to rise and shine."

Phantom frowned when the irritating voice drifted into the sweet darkness of sleep. He could feel awareness returning to him slowly. A low groan escaped his mouth. Ug … what's going on? And why do I hear a British dude's voice? Phantom pried open his confused, blue eyes and saw the most hideous sight he'd ever seen for as long as he could remember.

A pair of stained brown teeth directly in front of his face.

"Naagh!" Phantom gasped, trying to move away from the disturbingly dirty smile, but he found that he couldn't. He was seated in an uncomfortable chair with his hands secured to the arm rests and his feet to the legs by steel bands. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. The half-ghost grimaced as the gross smile stepped back and a face formed around it. Phantom glared at the strange looking guy dressed in an outfit even weirder than Robin's. It was like the British flag threw up all over the lean, male figure. Who the hell is this guy?

The English dude looked just as confused by Phantom's presence as the teen felt for him. They stared curiously at each other until the rest of the Titans began to stir. Phantom broke eye-contact with the weirdo and looked around at his friends. They weren't in a better position than him. Robin was tied down in the same way as him. Starfire had red lasers crisscrossing over her hands. Cyborg had a huge, metal ring around his arms and chest. Raven was encircled with a ring of bright light, and BB had elastic restraints around his body.

Oh, yeah, this isn't good. Phantom swallowed nervously as the Titans raised their heads. Upon realizing they were captured in a déjà vu fashion, they quickly became irate.

"Aw, man," Beast Boy whined, struggling against his restraints with little success. "Not again!"

Phantom stared down the line of captured Titans to rest his gaze on the changeling. "This has happened before?" he questioned dryly. BB's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He opened his mouth to answer, but Robin jumped in before he could.

"Mod! What's this about?" the Boy Wonder snarled, his intense glare leveled on "Mod" for which Phantom was very grateful. He was glad that someone was there to take charge of the situation. If he'd been the one making decisions, they'd probably be dead already. His luck and intuition so far hadn't done him so good. It was then Phantom realized he wasn't in ghost form anymore. He squeezed his eyes shut and let his head thump back against the headrest of the chair as he muttered a curse under his breath. Great … could this get any worse? Crud, why'd I think that? Bad idea.

The Mod person grinned and spun his black cane in amusement. "C'mon, Robin," the man said in his thick accent. "You know better than that. Don't use that tone in front of an adult. It's disrespectful."

Robin growled, looking like he wanted to tear the Mod guy's head off. Phantom almost felt sorry for the Brit – well, ok, not really. "You obviously don't know Robin, man," Phantom mumbled under his breath, unable to stop his sarcastic response. He cringed when Mod turned his eyes to him, a frown pulling at the edges of his mouth.

"I don't think I've been introduced to this disrespectful ducky before," Mod said, venom clear in his tone. Against his will, Phantom shivered and pushed his head back into the chair's headrest as far as it would go. Jeez, stop lookin' at me with your freaky eyes and gross teeth. Stop it, stop it, stop it. Someone say something. C'mon, I know you can do it, guys.

"Leave him alone, Mod," Robin ordered, grabbing the man's attention once again. "He's not part of this. Let him go." Phantom raised his eyebrows at the Boy Wonder. He's trying to get me outta here … Wow, he does have a soul. I totally knew it.

Mod shook his head and chuckled menacingly. "I don't think so," he answered, moving up and down the line of captured Titans. "You see, my young friends, I'm not lettin' anyone go. I have my revenge to enact, you see." Mod peered into Raven's un-amused face, far surpassing her personal space. The girl only stared in annoyance back at him, not even flinching. Phantom would have applauded her, but seeing as how he was a tad tied up at the moment, he decided to save that for later.

"Dude, you are so nuts," Beast Boy said, staring at the man. Mod only laughed loudly and obnoxiously, spinning his cane in glee.

"Really, now, you little bugger?" Mod exclaimed, smacking BB on the top of the head with the cane. The changeling yelped and bared his teeth. "That is trite, full of trite, in fact! That's the problem with you trouble-making children these days. So repetitious!"

"I agree with BB," Phantom grumbled, straining his arms against the cold metal clamps around his wrists. They didn't even budge. I wish I could get my ghost form to work. It'd be really helpful right about now! The half-ghost didn't understand why he suddenly felt like he'd lost all control over his abilities. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even muster up the capacity to turn his pinkie finger invisible. Was it because of his fear? He certainly hoped not. He didn't want to be considered a coward and a freak.

Mod smirked, continuing to twirl his cane as he inspected Phantom intently. The dark haired teen tried to meet the villain's eyes, but couldn't. The Brit just creeped him out to no end, and he wasn't exactly feeling very tough at the moment. The cuffs holding him down were bringing back bad feelings – Phantom didn't know why, but they were. Mod leaned forward, entering Phantom's own personal bubble to the teen's immense distaste.

"You are an interesting little ducky," Mod surmised, and he reached down to grab Phantom's chin. The boy tried to protest by pulling away, but Mod only increased his hold, squeezing Phantom's defined cheeks tightly as he looked him over. "Very interesting."

Phantom grunted in discomfort, wishing he could shove the man away. His foul smelling breath was strong enough to knock out a full-grown elephant. "God, dude," the half-ghost muttered, his words sounded odd because his face was literally being squished. "You ever heard of mouthwash?"

The thin man shook his head. "Disrespectful little ankle-biter, aren't you?" he said, continuing to squeeze Phantom's face. Not enough to hurt, just to create discomfort. Mod flicked his eyes to the other Titans who were watching with simmering glares, struggling valiantly against their binds. "I think I got a special place for you, my newest ducky."

Well, that doesn't sound good. Phantom grimaced as the man's fingers dug into his skin. "Just tell me it's away from you and your au de bad breath and I'll be A-OK," Phantom grumbled, once more unable to keep the sarcastic remark in his mouth. Sheesh, I suddenly became witty at the wrong time. This is just flippin' fantastic.

Mod smirked without humor. "Oh, you could say that, laddie," he answered and released Phantom's face as he smacked his cane down against the stone floor. As he did, five trap doors opened up beneath each of the Titans chairs, and they dropped into the darkness with differing cries of shock and fear.

Phantom stared after them in wide-eyed horror. "Guys!" he shouted, becoming instantly more anxious at seeing them disappear. His chest started to rise and fall in rapid succession. He didn't want to be left alone with the creepy British guy. Oh, man. Please tell me they're coming back soon – or, like, now if they can manage it.

"Not to worry, my ducky," Mod said, patting the teen on the head. "We'll have puh-lenty of entertainment, you and I." Phantom just narrowed his blue eyes at the man, subtly pulling at the metal cuffs. Maybe if he could just turn intangible for a moment he could get away. Pssh, right, wishful thinking there. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

The half-ghost winced when Mod suddenly spun around and bright lights erupted throughout the room. Peering through half-lidded eyes, Phantom stared around at the enormous warehouse in awe. He and the crazy Brit were far above the floor which had been turned into a massive, high-tech maze. From his position, the boy could see that the Titans had been placed at the very beginning and were released from their binds.

Mod twirled his cane and began to speak, "Welcome back to school, my duckies!" His voice was projected throughout the warehouse from hidden speakers. Phantom could hear the Titans protests rise up even from so far away. They were obviously quite annoyed with the whole situation. This is so weird. Phantom thought, looking around in confusion. The mad-man grinned. "Now, now, children, no complaints. This won't be like your last school day because … this is SUMMER school!"

Phantom flinched at the sheer volume of Mod's voice. It echoed obnoxiously around the entire warehouse. "You don't have to shout," the teen griped, wishing he could plug his ears. The lean man sent a glare at him over his shoulder, and Phantom looked away. He figured he wasn't too good at this whole "captive" thing.

Phantom could see the Titans talking to each other, and Robin pointed up. Immediately after, Starfire took off from the ground, flying towards Phantom. She never got there. In fact, she never even got close.

The moment her body cleared the metal walls of the maze, she was zapped by a strong amount of energy that sent her tumbling down to land on top of Cyborg. Phantom heard the half-robot cry out in surprise, and he rolled his eyes slightly.

"Nu-uh-uh," Mod chastised them, mockingly wagging a finger. "No flying today, I'm afraid." It was almost scary how much he was enjoying himself. Phantom stiffened up when Mod danced back towards him and a spot-light cascaded around his trapped form. "Now, my duckies, today the lesson is simple. Get through the maze, and I'll give you your confiscated item back."

"Hey!" Phantom protested at being called an "item," but he was quickly silenced when Mod bonked him on the head with the cane. It wasn't hard enough to cause permanent damage, but it got the message through to his messed up mind. Be quiet or else.

"Fail …" the mad-Brit continued, a wide grin blooming across his features. "And I'll keep 'em!" Mod then delved into a laughing fit as he leaned on Phantom's shoulder. The boy grimaced.

Crap …

-T-

"Hey, uh, Sam?"

"What, Tucker? Kinda busy at the moment!"

"Yeah, I know, it's just I feel the need to inform you of the fact that I not only missed my 4:00 feeding … I also missed my 4:05 feeding."

"Tucker, if you mention that stupid feeding one more time, I'm stopping this ship and beating the crap out of you!"

"I wouldn't suggest that, Sam, considering we're in enough trouble as it is."

"Well, it's not-"

Jazz listened to the squabbling teenagers for a few more moments before she angrily shouted, "Quiet!" Her voice caused Sam and Tuck to immediately become silent, and they turned in their seats to peer into the back of the Specter Speeder. "We've got bigger things to worry about. Namely, big, angry, glowing green things." She scowled and gestured for the two to look out the front window. They did. Just in time for Sam to snap the steering wheel to the side and avoid getting eaten alive by the very upset four armed creature they had unwittingly disturbed not long ago … and Tucker had time to scream in fright.

"Ug! How'd that thing get in front of us so fast?" Sam hissed, smoothly navigating around several floating chunks of land. She could tell the thing was still behind them, roaring in anger. This only urged her to drive faster.

"Maybe it heard you two arguing about Tucker's empty stomach and decided it was hungry too," Jazz commented in annoyance, though she subtly snapped her seatbelt around her waist just to be safe.

Sam glared out the window. "You know, Jazz, you didn't have to come. Tucker and I are completely capable of going into the Ghost Zone ourselves. Right, Tuck?"

The techno geek glanced at Sam with a steady look as if to say 'do you really want me to answer that?' The Goth girl sent him a pointed look back, silently urging him to say something. Eventually, he said, "Oh, yeah. We've been in here loads of times before – Door!"

His shouted warning caused Sam to quickly pull up, dodging a near-fatal hit. She sighed gratefully. "Thanks, Tuck." He sent her a thumbs-up in response.

"Oh, yes, you two definitely know what you're doing," Jazz remarked calmly, crossing her arms over her chest. She could see Sam's shoulders flinch, but the girl somehow managed to stay silent. She was probably focusing on actually driving – for which Jazz was very happy. I didn't come all this way to get killed by Sam's bad driving.

The three teenagers heard an upset roar reverberate behind them, and Sam immediately hit the brakes and shoved the steering wheel down. The four armed lizard creature shot over their heads, unable to stop because of its high speed. Before the thing could turn around, the Specter Speeder had dropped out of sight behind a swath of trees and landed on an island. The three waited with bated breath until they heard another frustrated howl, then all was silent … well, as silent as the Ghost Zone could be.

Sam sighed in relief and Tucker punched the air in victory. "Nice driving, Sam," the techno geek said, and the girl smiled. The three then fell silent with differing expressions of thoughtfulness. Sam was upset with herself and with their situation. They'd gone into the Ghost Zone at least two hours ago and had spent most of their time running away from that snake-like creature. It was safe to say they'd found nothing that would help them get closer to finding Danny. And, of course, the location of Clockworks Tower was still as mysterious as ever. Their exploration had been a major failure.

Sam could tell that Jazz felt the same way that she did. She interpreted the older girl's silence as disappointment. And Jazz is usually so bright and bubbly – which I ordinarily hate with a fiery passion, but now … I kind of miss it. Sam sighed again and placed her forehead lightly against the steering wheel. I'm sorry, Danny. She glanced up at Tucker when she felt him pat her gently on the shoulder, his expression comforting.

The girl quickly turned her head away to hide the tears building in the corners of her eyes.

-T-

After helping Starfire off the downed Cyborg, Robin immediately started snapping out orders. "Alright, team, we're splitting up. Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, I want you to go down this left hallway. Beast Boy and I are taking the right. We have to get to Phantom before Mod does something crazy."

"Friend Robin, is it most wise to do the splitting up?" Starfire questioned softly, looking quite nervous at the moment. She was concerned for the Phantom's predicament. She wanted to get to him as soon as possible, but she wasn't sure she wanted to leave some of her teammates in the process.

"It's the best chance we have, Star," Robin replied seriously. He would never admit it, but he was worried about their newest resident. "Stick together, don't leave anyone behind, and we'll get out of this just fine." The Boy Wonder turned to walk down the hallway with Beast Boy, but stopped to add, "Remember everyone, whatever you see isn't real. It's all probably fake just like last time."

With that said, the teen continued walking, and BB followed after waving a quick good-bye to his friends. The changeling jogged to catch up with his leader's long strides, glancing worriedly around him. Robin caught Beast Boy's actions and said, "You see anything black and white and swirly, close your eyes."

BB nodded rapidly. He was seriously worried about getting hypnotized again. I wonder if that'll cause brain damage … 'cause according to Raven, I don't have much brains to waste! Beast Boy bit his bottom lip. "You think Phantom'll be ok, Robin?" he asked nervously.

Robin glanced at the changeling out of the corner of his eye before raising his head. If he looked up high enough, he could see their captured friend quite clearly because of the light shining down on him. The masked teen couldn't help but give a small smirk at the annoyed look Phantom was shooting Mad Mod as he danced around his seated form. "I think he'll be fine, Beast Boy," Robin answered honestly.

BB sighed gratefully. "Yeah, you're probably ri – ah, crud!" A hypno-disk had popped out of the wall in front of them, and Beast Boy immediately covered his eyes with his hands. Don't look, don't look, don't look.

"Hiya!" Beast Boy heard Robin yell, followed quickly by the sound of crunching metal and then sparking wires. The changeling peeked out from between his fingers and his mouth opened slightly at seeing the screen broken in half and barely hanging on to the wall it'd popped out of.

"Dude," BB gasped, staring at his leader's back with wide eyes.

"C'mon," Robin said and started walking again. "We need to keep moving."

Beast Boy looked around himself before quickly going after Robin. He did not want to be left alone in Mad Mod's version of a fun-house.

-T-

"I don't know about ya'll, but this place is seven kinds of creepy," Cyborg muttered as he walked along behind the two girls who were floating slightly above the ground. They hadn't encountered anything yet, but the half-robot had a good feeling it was only a matter of time.

Starfire nodded slightly, rubbing her forearms slowly. She did not like their position one bit. The Mad Mod was a most frightening character, especially after he had put her in the room of books. She'd a fear of the papery devices for learning for a long time after that. "It is most unnerving, friend Cyborg," the alien princess murmured in agreement.

Raven remained silent, her eyes scanning their eerily white surroundings closely. Something was obviously off. And that something showed itself when the ground in front of the three teenagers slid open and a hidden platform raised up, carrying several broad and tall robots with large guns held in their hands.

The Titans froze at the sight of the guns. There wasn't much room to maneuver in the tight hallway. They're options were limited. Cyborg was the first to recover, and he shouted, "Titans, move!" The two girls flew to the sides, and Cy took a knee as he fired his sonic cannon at the robots. The plus side of the Titans not having room to move was that their enemies didn't either. Cyborg's arm cannon shot hit right in the middle of the robots and blew them to pieces with a resounding explosion.

Unfortunately, one of the robot's guns managed to go off in the blast. Cyborg's eyes had time to widen, and he muttered, "Aww, man," before a heavy book smacked him directly in the face. The half-robot released a cry of surprise and fell onto his back with a loud thump.

"Friend Cyborg?" Starfire called uncertainly as she landed beside him. "Are you undamaged?"

The only response she received was a low groan – the book was still covering Cyborg's face, and it didn't look like he was going to move it any time soon.

Raven dropped down on Cyborg's other side and stared at him without a word. Starfire glanced at her female friend before lightly poking Cyborg in the side. "Friend Cyborg?" The alien princess looked back at Raven and said worriedly, "Why does he not respond? Did the device for learning injure him in such a way that he can not speak?"

Raven rolled her eyes and replied, "I don't think so." She reached down and flipped the book off Cyborg's face, displaying the dazed expression underneath.

Cyborg raised his head a little and held up an index finger. "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a good book," he mumbled, watching as the pretty birds floated around his head.

Raven scowled and said, "Snap out of it. We need to keep moving."

The half-robot quickly shook his head and rubbed the human half of his head. "Ug, what hit me?" he moaned, standing up with help from Starfire.

Star glanced up at him and answered seriously, "A device of knowledge."

Cyborg stared at her for a moment with a confused expression. "Ooookay, then," he said, drawing the word out before striding after Raven who'd already floated away. "Wait for us, Rae!"

-T-

Phantom could see his friends' progress from his position high above them. He knew they were moving as fast at they could, but he really wished they would hurry it up. He wasn't sure how much more of Mod's talking he could handle. At the moment, the man was babbling on about … something. Phantom had stopped listening a long time ago.

Just keep talking, Mod … I'll be outta here before you can say American without your accent. The half-ghost had been focusing on recovering his powers, biting down on the inside of his cheek to hold in his grunts of annoyance. He didn't understand why he couldn't bring his powers to the surface so he could use them. Even before he'd known he had abilities, he'd been able to use them slightly. Granted, it had been during times of extreme stress when he needed them the most.

Is that it? he wondered, clenching his hands into fists. Can I only use them when my life is in jeopardy? It better not work like that! His frustration was building at an alarming rate. The boy gritted his teeth to bite back an angry curse. He didn't want to alert Mod to what he was doing. As long as he was quiet, the guy would just keep on talking.

Alright, powers, I'm in trouble. Help me out here. Phantom narrowed his blue eyes down at his right hand, urging it to become intangible so he could escape. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. The universe officially hates me. The dark haired teen released a low growl and immediately winced afterwards when Mod stopped in his ramblings to glance at him. Smooth.

"Something wrong, my ducky?" the British villain asked with harsh amusement. Phantom only glared back at the man, wishing he could punch him right in his ugly face. "Aw, now, now, laddie. Don't get sour with me." Mod said, pointing at the boy with the end of his cane.

Phantom's glower became more pronounced, and his scowl deepened. He wanted to tell the man to get a life, but didn't want to anger him. He was still trying to escape. Perhaps acting whipped would make him seem less interesting. I mean, how amusing can it be to taunt someone who won't talk back?

Mod chuckled quietly. "Not speakin' to me, aye?" he questioned, and Phantom resolutely continued his silent treatment, keeping his gaze locked on the slowly progressing Titans down below. He urged them on with his eyes. Mod slid in front of the teen and sent him an eerie grin. "If you don't want to talk, my ducky, then I've got a special treatment for ya."

Phantom's eyes widened slightly. He didn't like the sound of that. His reaction sent Mod into a giggling fit, and he took several quick steps back before hitting a button on his cane – that damn cane. The half-ghost tensed, fearing for the worst. But when a blank screen rose up out of the floor in front of him, he sputtered out a laugh.

"That's it?" Phantom scoffed, shooting Mod a mocking look. "Ooh, the scary screen. What are you gonna do? Make me watch day-time television?"

Mod sent the boy a creepy smirk. "Oh, something like that," he said lightly. Phantom's dark eyebrows drew together in confusion, and he glanced back at the screen just as a swirling black and white pattern appeared, moving in a hypnotic spiral. "It rots your brain just as much!" Mod shouted, laughing loudly once again.

Phantom blinked, suddenly feeling extremely lethargic. Why-why couldn't he look away? The screen was suddenly so important to him. He felt himself drifting off, but managed to yank his gaze away with a startled, "No!"

The-the screen – it's hypnotizing me. How? The half-ghost kept his head turned away and his eyes squeezed shut, trying to think of a way out of this mess. A startled gasp wrenched itself from his throat when hands roughly grabbed each side of his head and forced it back to face the screen. Don't open your eyes, don't open your eyes. Just keep 'em closed, keep 'em closed. Phantom cried out when the hands reached down to pry his eyelids open and the swirling black and white filled his vision.

-T-

ML: Heh, hey guys. I know, I know, I've been a bad authoress. Shun me if you will! The only thing I can give those who still care about this poor o'l fic is an update. *grins* And a cliffhanger. Dang, I'm so evil. Sorry it took so long, folks. Thanks for sticking with me, though. Hopefully, my posting will pick back up. No promises, however! Fun Fact about this chapter: I seriously got into the Mad Mod thing. I mean, c'mon, what other character can say "my duckies" like every other sentence? Awesome! But, he was also a complete bugger to write. Sheesh. Took me 4-eva to get it right! Tell me how I did on that if you want. Hope I didn't ruin the poor crazed man. Have a lovely day, my duckies.

Disclaimer: I don't own DP or TT.