Hello readers and welcome to another installment of The Run Away in Jump! I am thrilled to introduce my second muse, the master of the seas, and that one time in space... Youngblood!
Youngblood- Yep, I am now stationed in a collage dorm... well whatever is left of one.
-_- you fired the canon in my room again didn't you?
Klemper- How come you introduced him but not me? D:
...Um... because he's played by Taylor Launter :3
Bones- Although it doesn't really change his maturity level much
Youngblood- HEY! DX
Aw man, Grammer you typed in your actual boring name ):
Bones- T-T' you mean my real name that Jeanette9a was nice enough to give you? (Thanks you Jeanette9a)
YES, I like Grammer better! D: *sigh* Well, enjoy the story everybody... I have to go and see if Grammer will be willing to legally change is name.
Also some people may have been thrown off by the GiW in the last chapter, don't worry, I have a feeling they will be... 'disappearing' pretty soon. And it would seem like I may have been a little off on my estimates on when my OC will be appearing... so she maybe coming a little late... I'm not sure is that is good news or bad news to some of you :/
And last but not lease... I OWN NOTHING! Not even my poor muses :,( Although Grammer's possible name change is my own little idea.
~Ned
Chapter 14-
A few Presences That Go Under the Radar
Danny flew as fast as he could with Dani being dragged behind him. He was trying his hardest to find the best places he might be able to use to lose the two ghost hunters pursuing him. Thankfully, he had gotten a good lay of the city from all the times he walked around it, attempting to find some ways to avoid the Titans. So the Guys in White were a little too easy to lose since they had been nowhere near Jump City until very recently. However, thanks to their new gear, ditching them completely was going to be difficult, so Danny had to resort to some old, yet very new, tricks.
"Alright Dani, here is where you need to listen to me, and no asking questions." Danny commanded as he phased Dani and himself through another tall building to lose their pursuers once again, even if it was for a limited amount of time. Right when they got out of the building and into an alley way, Danny stopped abruptly, and Dani reluctantly did the same.
"What are you doing, they can be here at any minute?" Dani whispered as she looked around.
"We're changing," Danny stated as he let himself revert back into Ned, "you need to do the same if you want to lose them."
"But Da-," Dani started.
"No questions just do it!" Ned stated and Dani reluctantly did as she was told, leaving Nif standing where she once was.
"Now what," Nif asked while she still looking around the alley, expecting the GiW to pounce on them at any moment, "you know better than I do that your parents' gear can sense us while we're in our human forms just as easily as if we were in our ghost forms."
"That's why I said to listen to me." Ned said with an all knowing smile. "Here is a trick I taught myself not too long ago. Focus on your core and compact it as tightly as you can. If you do it right you should disappear from their radars, and possibly my Ghosts Sense."
Nif stared at Ned in shock. "How…?"
Ned rolled his eyes, "Just do it, trust me." Nif sighed and tried to do as her cousin instructed. When she thought she got it she looked over at Ned who only smiled at her and nodded. "You're doing well, just a little bit more. My Ghost Sense is still slightly picking you up." He said and she sighed and closed her eyes to really concentrated. Right when the sound of jetpacks filled the air panic struck Nif and her concentration only grew stronger as the thought of going through a lot of painful experiments went through her mind. "Alright you got it. Now just try to hold it and I'll tell you when it's safe to stop."
"What the hell happened to all the ghosts?" Nif heard one man ask, but she refused to open her eyes and see who spoke. She was way too busy trying to keep her core in check. "There were supposed to be two of them right here."
"I don't know, one minute they were on my radar, the next it has nothing," Another man, with a much deeper voice than the last one, stated in confusion.
"Maybe they got put inside one of those thermos things that the Fentons and Phantom were said to have. They have been known to block ecto-energy, and hide the ecto-signature of ghosts, and that pirate kid seemed to have been sucked into one not too long ago."
The other man then growled. "Yeah, too bad that was one of the few inventions the Fentons could not give us, like that Ghost Portal."
"Hey, after what happened at the Fenton's house a few years back with that portal. I say good riddance. That thing was haunted!"
"Oh, suck it up," The man with the deep voice commanded, "that was a long time ago!"
"That's easy for you to say, you weren't there!" The man practically yelled in aggravation. "After that day half of our organization quit, and we were barely able to stay open long enough for the Fenton's to retire and donate most of their stuff to us."
"Yeah, but only in return for capturing that Danny Phantom, and returning their son, but that seems next to impossible. Within the last year Phantom has gone from a scale seven to a scale eight of ectoplasmic power, and that last measure was taken over five months ago."
"You said it. The only good thing about this whole mess is, of course, the new gear, and the fact that every time we see Phantom he just runs away. He has yet to throw a single punch at us… or an ecto blast."
Nif let out a sigh, 'Of course Danny would run, he's in enough trouble as it is without your stupid group getting into the mix.' However right when she thought that she heard a set of jet packs let out one loud roar in unison and the talking between the two men ceased.
"Alright, we're safe." Ned said and Nif let out a relieved sigh and opened her eyes. Right when she did she saw Ned's breath escape his mouth in a blue cloud of smoke.
"So how did you learn to do that?" Nif asked while looking at Ned with a smile. "Trying to get a handle on hiding your core seems like it would take a lot of time to master, much less think of."
"I had a lot of spare time," Ned said with a shrug, "most of which were spent making several of the stuff that the Guys in White now have. The rest was seeing how I react to them and how they react to me. After a couple experiments I noticed that when I turned from ghost to human the signals on some of the ghost detectors would get a little weaker, so I made a few hypothesizes as to why.
"One was that it could be because my core was being suppressed, to an extent. The scientist in me that I apparently got from my parents, then decided to test a couple of the theories out. Within a couple weeks of attempting them and then trying to hide and/or subdue my core, that theory was then proven right."
Nif just looked at Ned in shock, "You just tested this out?"
"Pretty much," Ned stated as another smile appeared on his face, "although I did have a few ideas and experiments before I got to that one. Let's just say the results were a little… unorthodox."
"You must have a lot of spare time." Nif pointed out and Ned could not help but laughed in response.
"You could say that," He stated as he turned back into Phantom and then got out his Fenton thermos. "Now it's time to deal with Walker and his new cell mate."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nif stated, but before she had finished Danny had already opened the thermos and the two ghosts poured out.
Youngblood and his bird still looked the same as they did a few minutes ago when Danny sucked them into the device, so it was safe to assume that the ghosts inside did not get into a major fight. Walker, on the other hand was another story, but not necessarily a bad one though.
Walker's clothes were covered in his bright green ectoplasm that Phantom had caused the warden to lose while he was separated from Ned last night. However the scratches and bruises on his face seemed to have healed some. That was pretty much all Danny could see that could indicate that the warden was somewhat alright, well despite all the yelling he was doing.
"What do you mean it was nothing?!" Walker yelled at Youngblood right when they got out of the thermos. "That riot you triggered was almost as major as the one that ghost punk Phantom produced three years ago!"
"Are you kidding me? That was the most fun I've had in ages!" Youngblood said letting out a few chuckles. "Plus only Grammer and I got out, so no harm no foul, right?"
Walker's usually white face then turned bright red with anger. "That does not give you the right to break the rules!"
Youngblood let out another set of chuckled, "Of course it does. Have you ever caused a riot before? It's exciting and entertaining, you have got to give it a try some time."
Walker's face only turned brighter, "Why you lit-," He started, and Danny knew he had to step in.
"Hold it you two." He said stepping towards them, although he did not dare to literally step in between them. He knew better than to step in front of Walker when he was on one of his moods. As a matter of fact, Danny has learned to make a habit of getting out of the warden's way whenever he was. "I'm sure that we can come to a peaceful solution, that doesn't involve violence or excessive jail time, or preferably has nothing to do with jail at all."
Walker looked over at Danny and his bright red face returned to its usual white in just a matter of seconds, he might have even looked a little whiter. "Y-You!" Walker yelled in clear anger, although, pretty much everyone could hear the slight squeak in his voice.
Danny sighed, "Yes, me." He said while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about what happened yesterday. Are you alright?"
Walker's shocked and angry face turned to one of suspicion and confusion. "What are you playing at boy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing, I'm just wondering if you are alright…" Danny started then paused. He knew he had to say something else or point to conversation in a different direction. After all, Walker is not one to trust easily, especially if you break his rules, which Danny had done... multiple times. "You need to be in top shape to take care of your prison, right?"
The suspicion in Walker's eyes did go down, but it did not rise either, and Danny considered that a win. "It's nothing that requires me to abandon my job Punk." The warden stated. "Now do you have a reason for getting me out of that stupid container, or am to assume you only let me out because your fellow vigilante was in there with me?"
Danny let out a light chuckle, "I was actually going to let you go back home, to the Ghost Zone," he answered, "but if you prefer the thermos than I'll be more than willing to put you back in."
Walker seemed to have paled even more (if that was even possible), and answered, "N-no I would like to get back to my jail before Bullet decides to torment anymore of my prisoners without reason."
"You mean you don't do the same?" Nif asked while crossing her arms and scowling at the warden with clear anger. She had never seen Walker in person before, but she knew about pretty much all of Danny's tales about his past experiences with the warden. She even met Wulf who had a few tales to tell about Walker as well. Although their first encounter was probably not the best.
Every time Danny though about it he could not help but smile and imagined how far Nif jumped into the air after Wulf phased through the floor boards and scared the living daylights out of her. Of course now she is just as close to him as Danny is. However they all go their separate ways and do what they want. They only met up on rare occasions, or by coincidence.
Walker scowled back at Nif, "Of course not, girl. I only harm my prisoners out of necessity, not to get a sick thrill."
"Really because that's not what Wulf tol-," Nif started.
"Hey!" Danny yelled interrupting the dispute before it could truly begin. "How many more fights do I have to put a stop to today?" He then stared at all of the ghosts in front of him, daring any of them to start another bout. "Now… as I was saying, if you want, I can take you home, Youngblood that includes you."
"But I don't want to go back!" Youngblood whined.
Danny let out an exhausted sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I said, if you 'wanted' to, I never said you 'had' to."
Youngblood looked at him with a shocked look and then let out a nervous snicker, "Oh… sorry."
Danny then let out another sigh and lifted his right hand that held his new ring, and poured a little bit of his ecto-energy into it. Right when he did a portal appeared and everyone stared at him in shock.
"Whoa," Nif stated in amazement, "when did you learn that?"
"Nice trick Cap'in." Youngblood said with a wide smile.
Walker on the other hand simply stared at it with a grimace, "That's a powerful and dangerous trick Punk." He said now giving Danny the same look he gave the portal. "It's bad enough that Wulf can do it, I really don't need you to do it as well."
"Will it make you feel better if I said I will only use it when I want to give you a ghost that broke the rules?" Danny said with a shy smile, not sure if Walker would buy it.
"No, but I won't turn down the help. Besides, after what happened yesterday, I know that it's useless to go after you unprepared, which I am right now. So the next time we meet, be ready, because I sure as hell will be." Walker then took a step towards the portal and a thought suddenly hit Danny.
"Walker, wait!" Danny almost yelled as he took a step towards the warden in an attempt to make him pause. It worked.
"What is it Ghost Punk?" Walker said while still looking at the portal.
"Don't tell Vlad about what happened over the past two days. Like me knowing the Titans, or what my human form's name is, or what it looks like." Danny pleaded.
Walker looked over his shoulder towards Danny with a curious look on his face. "Sure thing kid, but only because you did me this favor," Walker's face then hardened into the expression Danny knew best, arrogance, "but don't expect any more charity from me."
"Thanks, and didn't plan to." Danny said with his own cocky smile. Walker simple nodded and then stepped into the portal and Danny immediately closed it, not too keen on the idea of any more of his ghost 'friends' coming through to give him any more hell.
"Neat trick Cap, when did you learn that?" Youngblood asked his eyes were as wide as saucers at where the portal once was.
"Yeah, I don't remember you mentioning that the last time we traded powers." Nif stated. Danny and Dani had kinda made a game out of their abilities, like who developed the most powers and the amount of time it took them to master all of them. So far Danny was winning, big time, without the help of his new magical objects.
Danny blushed, remembering how it was actually the ring that did the so called 'neat trick,' and not actually him. "Ummm…" Danny stalled, not wanting to seem weak to the two in front of him. "How about this weather?" he said out of nowhere.
Nif crossed her arms and gave him a 'Really?' look, while Youngblood actually looked up at the clear blue sky.
"It's nice I guess," Youngblood said while the bird on his shoulder rolled his eyes, "but I can't really tell. I couldn't get out of the Zone until recently."
Danny smiled, 'At least someone bought into my attempt to change the topic,' he thought. "Well you're out now." He said as he let a halo of light appear on his waist that transformed him back into Ned. "So let's get you back to your parole officers before they start to worry." Ned said, referring to the Titans. Youngblood nodded, but the look on his face made Ned pause, he looked… surprised. "Is everything alright?" He asked, now a little worried.
Youngblood only flew towards Ned with the same look on his face. It took everything the halfa had to not take a startled step back. "Um… Cap'in you…you look so different, so…Nerdy." Youngblood said while poking Ned's cheek.
Ned felt his eyebrow twitch in aggravation, "I know, and don't call me Cap, or 'Cap'in,' and most definitely don't call me Phantom when I look like this, just call me Ned." He then grabbed the ghost kid's finger that refused to stop poking his cheek. "Especially in front of the Titans or Valerie, they don't know that I'm Phantom, and I would like to keep it that way."
"Alright Cap, you can count on me!" Youngblood said as freed his captured hand and gave Ned an army salute.
Ned let out an aggravated sigh, "Why do you keep calling me that anyway?" he had to ask.
Youngblood smiled a wide smile. "Because that's what you are!" He explained and Ned could tell he was really excited about the subject, well more than usual. "Clockwork told me everything because I will eventually bec-."
"Stop it you twit." The bird on the kid's shoulder said. "How many times do I have to tell you to not spoil everything today alone?"
Youngblood looked at the bird in confusion, his excitement now deflated. "What do you mean, I thought that Rose told him already… or is it too early?"
The bird let out a sigh, "She won't tell him until later, you really need to consider the situation before you blurt things out… and get a longer attention span."
"Hey!" Youngblood yelled in his defense.
"What are you two talking about?!" Ned and Nif both yelled in aggravation, "What am I, what did Clockwork tell you, and who the heck is Rose?" Ned finished alone.
"Sorry Cap," Youngblood said with a sad smile, "but like Grammer said, we can't spoil anything yet. A-," The bird, Grammer, then let out a loud cough and Youngblood paused. "Ops, I mean Rose, is the only person that Clockwork permitted to talk to you about all that."
"The only thing we are allowed to say is that Rose has more in common with you than you might think, and not all of it you can see physically." Grammer, stated in the same monotone that Ned had heard over the past couple years. "She is the only person that Clockwork found that can help you sort through the upcoming pandemonium."
Ned looked at Grammer in surprise, his mind trying to sort out what he just heard. In all honesty, he was still amazed at how much the bird had just talked. Ever since Danny had first fought the two, the bird had never said more than just a few words, most of which were only towards Youngblood to help get his pirate and the occasional cowboy words right.
"Alright enough talk it's time to get back to the game that Beast Boy and I were playing!" Youngblood said as he started to fly off towards the direction of the park, his excitement now back in full bloom.
"Hey, wait up!" Ned yelled, now chasing after him with Nif not far behind.
Under the ever populated city of Jump was a series of tunnels. The only things present throughout them all were over a hundred scavenging rats, ten times as many cockroaches, and a single presence. However, as the presence floated throughout the tunnels every last one of the festering pests were immediately scared back into their pathetic holed. This presence glowed with a soft white light that only a few people have seen on earth, except for the poor people of Amity Park who used to see those kinds of glows every day, until a certain person left.
This presence floated through the tunnels until it reached a large black door with only an orange 'S' shaped door handle apparent on it. Upon seeing the door the presence faltered, he did not like what lied on the other side of the ominous entrance, and would prefer to turn the other way and go home. However, the presence could not turn back unless he wanted to be wiped off of the face of the earth, both mortal, and ghostly.
So he simply phased through the door and entered a dark room. The only existence of light radiated off the single presence as he floated through the room towards the center. Where the only living being in the room sat, waiting patiently, quietly, for the presence to deliver his package.
"I-I had done as y-you asked." The presence stuttered as he reluctantly dropping a small box on the table in the middle of the room, where the man sat, looking down on him.
The presence would normally never falter, especially to a lone human. He was a proud and frightening being, but the human in front of him probably deserved the fear that the presence radiated. After all, just the other day the human had totally destroyed a fellow presence in just a matter of seconds, and it was much stronger than the one cowering under the man's boots now.
"Good work Box Ghost." The human stated. The presence flinched at the sound of his name being called by the man, it just did not sound right, but then again, nothing the man ever said did. "I trust that what I asked for is here and untouched."
"O-of course." The Box ghost stuttered. "However everyone you hired was defeated even the Warden and all of his guards."
The man simply laughed a maniacal laugh that made the ectoplasm running through the Box Ghost's veins to turn cold. "I did not expect them to succeed," the man said, amusement clear in his voice. He then opened the box and took out a single CD. "I simply wanted to observe. After all the fuss all of you ghosts kept saying about this… Phantom was it? I want to see what he is capable of."
The Box Ghost looked at the man in confusion. "Then why did you have those humans captured?"
The Box Ghost flinched at the pleasant gleam in the man's one visible eye, "Because, the Titans have always been a… hobby, of mine. Now, leave. I have work to do." The man said while turning his chair around to face a series of monitors that immediately turned on when the man faced them.
"Y-yes Slade," The Box Ghost stuttered as he immediately did as he was told. He quickly floated out of the room as fast as he could, not wanting to end up as a pile of ash like Technus. Slade simply smiled as the ghost ran away from him, with his tail practically in between his legs.
However that single piece of entertainment did not stop him from doing his work, so without a moment pause, he took the CD in his hand and stuck it into its compartment. Immediately the series of screen presented a chain of footage. Some showed a group of Teens that Slade immediately recognized, plus one that he was not all that worried about. The last few were the ones he was really interested in. They showed a room with four figures present, two boys, one girl, and a ghost that Slade had hired. His eyebrow rose at the sight of the three kids.
He only planed on observing one of the boys, that Slade suspected was the Phantom that all of the ghosts had complained about. He was glowing, like all the other ghosts he had hired, and wore a long white cape. The girl was a person that Slade knew all too well, and was not all that interested in. She was the orange haired Titan that had helped steel his two apprentices in her own way.
The other boy one the other hand looked pretty normal, as far as Slade could see. He had Raven hair and a normal set of clothes, jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeved red and white shirt. He did not glow like the boy next to him did so he was obviously not a ghost. Slade could also see that he was not a Titan, since he had a record of every single one of them. Nonetheless, one of the ghosts that he hired to capture the teens was talking to him like he was just as much as a present as that Phantom kid next to him was. Slade was most intrigued by the scene in front of him, so he continued to watch as a series of events unfolded in front of him.
Alright, to everyone who is shocked or pissed that Technus is now a pile of ash... Well, all I can say is that Slade had to set an example to the rest of the Ghosts for disobeying him, and so far Technus is the ghost that gets on my nerves the most... and seemed to fit the profile... besides the Box Ghost, and I could never kill the Box Ghost D:
And so far Grammer still refuses to change is name, but I plan on wearing him down ;) Now time for the reviews that I still can't PM back to:
Newboy(1 there are a lot of these O.O)- Thanks for supporting my pairing and giving people some reasons as to why Star and Danny are good in their own way. If the rest of you haven't read the review, then go ahead and do that now, because they are pretty good. And your idea of Danny being a peacemaker I will honestly say did inspire some of this chapter, so kudos to you :D Also if I could throw a random guess out there I would say yes to Danny being able to age, but who knows he might eventually stop at some point since he is still half ghost, and will eventually stop gaining powers. But that has yet to be determined.
Newboy(2)- Yeah the GiW did do a lot of bad things, although the missile they tried to launch in the Ghost Zone wasn't nuclear, it was just weird purple goo that was said to harm ghosts. And nope, the Titans aren't going to like the GiW one bit, but that'll come into play shortly.
Newboy(3 wow that's a long one o_O)- I would agree with you through out most of your review. Vlad does seem more maniacal and devious with everything that he does to Danny, but Slade is ruthless and cunning, plus he just came back from the freaking dead. So he is definitely going to be more careful with his future plans. And about Starfire's reaction to all the mental and emotional pain Vlad had inflicted onto Danny... that would be a sight to see.
Newboy(4) I agree, Starfire being pushed into an alien emotion such as hate that quickly and with such intensity as that would be difficult for her to deal with and I'll defiantly think about putting it into the story in the future. Also I would appreciated that you submit one review per chapter so I don't feel like I'm cheating the system, but feel free to PM me your thoughts or ideas, I promise to never ignore a single one.
Alright now that that is over, thanks for reading and reviewing, please continue, and I'll keep posting ;) I also except questions off all kinds about the story or about the cartoons I'm crossing over.
~Ned