AN: Please note, the rating for this story has been raised to T for some violence etc., but it's a pretty mild T, I think...
Dick's thoughts were a jumble as he was pulled up through the darkness. Danny could go intangible like a ghost. It felt exactly the same as he remembered when he was first kidnapped, although that lasted only a second or two. He had experienced something similar when overshadowed by Plasmius too, but that memory was hazy. He fought down the mild panic that was threatening to set in. Pulling away from Danny's hand while still under tons of topsoil would probably be a bad idea.
Danny was alive, Dick had no doubt, and he clung to that thought. Danny was breathing, well had been breathing last Dick could see him, and Dick could feel Danny's heartbeat pounding through his tightly held hand. Definitely alive.
So, a human with ghost abilities. That was the most logical conclusion, Dick decided. It was probably no coincidence that the son of ghost hunters – ghost researching inventors – had that particular kind of powers. The only question was did they experiment on him deliberately or was it an accident?
Dick flinched as they emerged into the daylight and everything suddenly became overwhelmingly bright. Danny let go of him and he once again became solid, standing in the middle of a fern-covered clearing in a vast forest. "Wow, you weren't kidding about the middle of nowhere," Dick joked, trying to cover his disorientation as the tingling sensation slowly left his limbs. Once his eyes adjusted, all he could see in any direction were trees – hemlock and birch with a few scattered pines, he noted. That matched with approximately where he thought they were. Danny hadn't been sure of their exact location, but they were still in the U.S., about 250 miles west of New York, which would put them somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania.
Danny scanned the area for threats, every line of his body tense. Not noticing anything immediately, he said, "We should get moving."
Dick snapped back into Robin mode, "Right." Questions about ghost powers would have to wait. Their first priority had to be getting out of there and contacting help. A quick glance up at the dazzling dawn sky surprised him by how much time had passed, but quickly oriented him to the cardinal directions.
"This way," Danny said with a slight frown, "I think." He headed off to the east at a quick pace, but the Boy Wonder was easily able to keep up. In decent terrain, two miles would take Dick maybe 15 minutes at a good run. In a dense forest, however, with no shoes and rough ground, it was going to be double that at least. Maybe triple, he amended, looking again at his companion. Danny had obviously suffered from his months in captivity and not being fed often enough. Dick noted however that Danny was looking better than he had earlier. All the bruises on his arms and the red chaffing around his neck from the collar were gone.
They had come about a mile when Danny unexpectedly stopped, his breath briefly visible as a frosty mist despite the relatively warm morning. "Wait. I think…" was all Danny managed to say before a piercing howl cut through the forest.
The sound sent a chill up Dick's spine. "Wolves?" he asked, unsure if he hoped it was or not.
"Kind of." Horrified blue eyes glanced at Dick. "More like ghost wolf-bear things..."
"Of course it is," Dick deadpanned. "Couldn't have thought to mention them earlier?"
"I didn't know Plasmius had any here," Danny hurriedly explained as they started running again. For a few brief minutes there was silence except for the boys crashing through the underbrush, then the howling returned, excited this time and closer. Danny cursed. "They must have found our trail."
"What can we do?" Dick asked without stopping.
"Just keep running." Danny instructed between winded breaths.
There was no sound of pursuit except for the occasional eerie howl, each time a little nearer than the last. Dick ran harder than he ever had before, ignoring his scraped and bleeding feet, his breath coming in burning gasps. Two minutes later he could see a building taking shape ahead of them, the log walls blending into forest. He glanced backward, dismayed to see how far behind Danny had fallen.
Suddenly, up from the ground rose a terrifying creature. "Danny! Behind you!" Dick yelled, but it was too late. The huge green beast's enormous claws came down on the other boy, and Dick stumbled as he was unable to tear his eyes away from what he was sure would be Danny's last moments. A fraction of a second before the blow landed however, a glowing green dome formed around Danny, deflecting the claws. Danny spun toward the creature and raised a hand, blasting the animal with an emerald energy beam. The monster roared in pain, but did not seem significantly injured.
"Plasmius will be coming!" Danny gave a panicked yell. "Keep going!"
Right, Dick remembered, Danny had said Plasmius would be able to track him if he used his powers. And some powers they were too, he thought, as a second ghost animal appeared and only just missed Danny, taking down a large tree instead. Dick realized he had slowed down to watch the fight, but at Danny's shout he resumed his frantic pace. The ranger cabin was within sight.
Dick caught green flashes out of the corners of his eyes as he fled. Turning back once, he saw Danny dodging among the trees, narrowly avoiding the slashing claws of the ghost beasts pursuing him. It appeared Danny had managed to draw all of their attention for the moment, firing his peculiar green energy at them.
As Dick reached the abandoned looking cabin, he slammed the door open and rushed inside. He frantically looked around for a phone or radio or anything useful. It was one room, sparsely furnished with a desk, chair, and bare cot. No one had been there for months, as evidenced by the thin layer of dust over everything – everything except an eight inch square on the corner of the desk which was oddly clean.
"Are you looking for this?" a chillingly familiar voice said, just before Plasmius appeared. In his hand was a short-wave radio that exploded with a burst of pink energy. Dick reacted reflexively, grabbing the desk chair and flinging it at the ghost then diving for the doorway. The sound of wood hitting wood behind him indicated the ghost had dodged the chair, or let it go through him, to hit the wall instead.
For a terrifying moment a hand caught at the back of Dick's shirt, but then a bright green beam of energy shot over his head and he was released. Dick sprinted outside and skidded under cover of a clump of ferns around the side of the cabin, hoping to lose the ghost.
He glanced back to see Danny squaring off against the animalistic ghosts creatures, Plasmius floating leisurely behind them with a smirk on his face. Apparently, Plasmius wasn't worried about where Dick had gone as his focus was now solely on Danny. Seizing the opportunity, Dick grabbed a nearby stick and started frantically scratching at the side of the cabin, still keeping an eye on the confrontation.
Danny brought the glowing green shield forth from his hands again and held it up to meet the charging claws of the ghost beasts."This has to end now, Plasmius!" Danny shouted.
"I quite agree, Daniel. Surrender to me and all this nonsense will be done with," Plasmius said, obviously not expecting the boy, still desperately fending off the attacking ghostly animals, to give in.
To his surprise however, Danny said, "You're right." Dick froze to stare at Danny. There was a look in Danny's eyes that knocked the breath out of Dick, bringing to mind flashbacks of his team's disastrous train-to-fail exercise.
Plasmius's grin widened in delight for just a moment before somehow the ghost paled even more than he was and his glee turned to shock. Danny dropped his shield just as the large claws of something that strongly resembled a green saber-toothed tiger came crashing down upon him.
"No!" Plasmius screamed in frustration, drowning out Dick's own shocked yell, as a deep gash was cut across Danny's midsection and he collapsed, blood quickly coating the leafy ground.
"No more, Vlad," Danny panted between shaky breaths, not even trying to stem the flow of blood, but managing a defiant grin. "You don't get me anymore." He closed his eyes with an involuntary groan.
Plasmius growled with anger as he flew to the boy's side. He grabbed Danny around the neck, easily lifting the bleeding human boy off his feet. Danny couldn't help giving a strangled cry as Plasmius eyed him with distaste.
An evil grin slowly spread across Plasmius's face. "You know, Daniel, this does not actually look fatal. Not with your ghost healing abilities at any rate," he observed. "You never learn, do you?" Plasmius asked, his usual sneer returning. "We will have to make sure that your next lesson is particularly memorable." Danny went wide-eyed with panic, struggling futility, his mouth open in a "no" that lacked the oxygen to be heard due to the ghostly hand pressing against his throat.
Plasmius slipped something out of his pocket with the hand that was not holding Danny. Dick only caught a glimpse of an object that resembled an oddly shaped taser before Plasmius jammed it against Danny's side and an electric shock jolted through the boy. Danny let loose a guttural scream as Plasmius released him, the electricity arcing white-hot over Danny's body until it formed a glow so bright it forced Dick to look away. A second later it was gone.
When Dick looked back up, all the air left him. Where Danny had stood a moment before, there was now the ghostly figure of Phantom.
Phantom's glowing green eyes briefly met Dick's, despite his concealment. Phantom mouthed an anguished "I'm sorry" before he bent over with another cry of pain. The scream cut off suddenly as Phantom straightened and turned blank crimson eyes to where Plasmius was standing with the red gem in his hand.
"You cannot get away from me, Daniel. Don't you get it yet? You cannot even get yourself killed correctly, how can you expect to ever defeat me? Your life and the lives of all you hold dear are in my hands," Vlad sneered. "You will bow down, you will submit to me. There is no escape."
Time slowed to a crawl as more pieces finally fell into place for Robin. It didn't explain everything – Phantom may be part human, but certainly not all of the ghosts were. As much as he wanted this to mean there weren't really ghosts, it didn't. But Plasmius… Plasmius must be like Phantom, and that was the secret that Danny said he would kill for. Which meant…
Dick scrambled to his feet and fled, although he knew it would be useless before he'd even stood up. Where could he go?
Plasmius's eyes flared as he caught sight of Dick. "Ah, it seems your little friend has seen too much now." He motioned to Phantom with a tilt of his head. "Get him."
Phantom was incredibly fast, strong, and agile, even severely wounded as evidenced by the dark green stain slowly spreading across the front of his black suit. Dick dodged for all he was worth, but Phantom was faster, leaving Dick no choice but to attempt to fight. Unfortunately, Phantom had the ability to let Robin's strikes go right through him, but become harshly solid again when he delivered his own blows.
To Dick's credit, the first time Phantom got his hands on him, he was able to flip Phantom, momentarily surprising him, and land a solid hit of his own. The second time though, Phantom was prepared and able to hold him. Dick responded with a vicious elbow to the stomach that caught Phantom exactly where Danny had been raked by the ghost beast's claws.
With a strangled cry, Phantom let Dick go and fell to his knees, causing Dick a momentary flicker of guilt. Phantom's eyes wavered between green and red. Dick ran again, hoping to gain some cover among a particularly thick group of pines.
Plasmius cursed in frustration, quickly reasserting his will over the boy with the red stone. "It appears I will have to do this myself," he said, quickly splitting himself into four exact duplicates, three of which took off after Dick.
It wasn't even a contest this time. With rest, food, and his gadgets, Robin might have been able to take Plasmius, but as it was Dick was quickly surrounded. Dick managed to take out one duplicate with a blow from a tree branch he was using as a makeshift staff, but it turned out to be only a distraction. A stunning ectoblast to the back of his head dazed him, as he was grabbed from behind by another Plasmius duplicate.
They flew quickly back through the forest, the duplicates remerging into the one holding Dick, and Phantom following impassively alongside them. Without even pausing, they phased through the forest floor and back into the metal box that Dick and Danny had escaped from not even an hour before. As soon as Dick was back on solid ground he started struggling again, but he was held with inhuman strength.
Continuing to hold Dick with one hand, Plasmius picked up the collar that was still sitting where it had fallen when Dick released Danny. He examined it for a moment then growled in frustration at the fried circuitry. He crushed the collar in anger, then threw Dick carelessly against a wall. Dick's head hit with a thump, stunning him again – probably a concussion he thought dully.
Through blurry vision, Dick saw Plasmius turn to the mesmerized Phantom standing next to him and raise the red gem in his hand imperiously. "Kill him," Plasmius commanded.
Phantom took a step forward and Dick's breath hitched with panic. There was nowhere to run here, no way to get away. "Wait," Plasmius said before a second step was taken. "I am getting ahead of myself. He will need some bruises to support the narrative we are creating, and bruises don't form on corpses." His eyes narrowed at Dick speculatively. "Don't break any bones and don't leave any marks on his face," Plasmius ordered, waving Phantom toward Dick again.
AN: I'm so sorry to have left this hanging for so long. The chapter really wanted to be written, but Real Life had other ideas. Also, sorry to leave this chapter in such a dark place, but necessary I think. I'm not quite ready to write graphic bad stuff in my stories yet, so I'll just leave it implied for now.
Finally, a giant THANK YOU to everyone who continues to follow, favorite, and review this story!