AN: Tumblr prompt:freakshow never lost the staff and has danny under his control for years until he makes danny challenge the

Drabble 95-Control

The day Danny was taken, Sam and Tucker knew the end was close. They tried their hardest to break the spell Freakshow had over Danny, but it was too strong.

Lucky for Danny, though, Sam and Tucker weren't.

He left their bodies on the floor of the circus, sprawled at odd angles. Freakshow, his new master, was behind him, praising him for a job well done. Saying something about wanting more, needing to do more. About how he was going to rule the world with the strongest weapon ever seen at his side.

Years past, and Danny grew along with Freakshow's plan. He was tall and strong and shackled to this human and his crazy dreams that would soon become a reality. Danny didn't know how old he was, and he didn't really care either. The only thing he was worried about was his Master's plan. It needed to succeed. It was going to succeed if he had anything to say about it. Er, if Freakshow had any say in it.

It wasn't uncommon for people's riches to go missing over the years. Freakshow needed to build a fortune, and who better than the most powerful ghost in the Ghost Zone? He had Danny steal from the big people, like Bill Gates, Justin Hammer, and Tony Stark. The only person who noticed was Stark, but he never found out who did it or how they did it. No security system would hold him back because no security system was ghost proof.

Once he had enough money he could fund construction for his weapons of mass destruction. He could

"-ust in, a new team has arrived to save the day. They are apparently calling themselved the Avengers, and together saved New York, and possibly the world, from an alien invasion. I would person-n-n-y l-nk-em-"

Freakshow glared at the television, which now had a crowbar sticking out of it. The Avengers. Just another obstical. He had heard of what happened in the Battle of New York. They were powerful, indeed.

But he was even more so.

It was in the middle of the night when it happened.

Tony was attacked first. He was down in the lab working, tinkering, avoiding his mental health problems, and sipping at his soda. He had slunk back in his chair when it had gotten cold out of nowhere. So much so that he could see his breath.

He looked around, unable to find anything but a quickly growing sheet of ice on the floor that was headed straight for him.

"Jarvis, what's going on?" He asked his friend.

"It appears that there is an intruder, sir. However, I am unable to pinpoint his location."

"Sound the alarms. Wa-"

Tony was cut off by a cold grip around his throat. He knew he wasn't dreaming when he was lifted slightly out of his chair, and he wished he had been when the stranger revealed himself.

He was bigger than Steve. More tall and more muscular, with blinding white hair and glowing, terrifying red eyes.

"Master says you're first, Tony Stark," he said. Tony was pretty sure the room dropped an extra ten degrees with that small sentence. Who in the hell was his master? And why was he first?

He glanced to the side to see if anything would work. Anything at all, but everything was out of reach as he was pulled from his chair completely, his feet dangling a few inches above the floor. He was going to die. He was gonna-

Suddenly the grip was gone, and he was on the floor, gasping for air. Steve was at his side in seconds, trying to help him get up. He was in his pajamas, but had thankfully grabbed the shield on his way out.

"Thanks, Capsicle," he gasped, clutching onto Steve's arm like a vice.

"What is that?" Clint asked. He was kind of swaying a bit, and his hair was a mess, but he had his bow and arrows at the ready, ready to shoot. Natasha was right behind him, not a hair out of place as she tied the string on her sweatpants. Bruce shuffled on his feet a little. He couldn't risk turning into the other guy. Not now. It would make the situation worse.

In the back of his mind, Danny could feel a nagging sensation. He would often get it, not knowing why or what is was from. He often felt it, and over time it had gotten worse and worse. But he didn't tell his master. If he did it would only be met with punishment for bringing up his own problems. But a part of him didn't want to do this, not really. But he couldn't stop himself. He fought.

The stranger blasted something green at Steve and Tony, who barely managed to get out of the way. He kept firing at them until Natasha and Clint diverted his attention. He flew towards them with a speed unlike any other, his arm thrown back for a punch. That's when Clint saw it. A movement behind one of Tony's several sports cars.

"Tony, you can always buy more cars later, right?" He called, narrowly dodging a blast from the newcomer.

"I already told you you can't have any of them!" Tony called back. He raised his right arm, which was now decked out in the Iron Man gauntlet, and fired. The blast went right through the enemy, baffling all of them.

"What is this thing?" Steve asked, bewildered.

Clint wanted to tell him it was a ghost, but they were in the middle of a fight, and even though he was good at cracking jokes he had more pressing matters to worry about.

Like the old tiny man behind Tony's car.

He was sickly pale, almost grey really, with the same red eyes as the other guy and a long trenchcoat. But what caught Clint's attention was the scepter he held. It was ancient looking, and at the top was a red sphere. Deep down Clint knew that he had something to do with it. With the attack. H eknew he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him to the side. He whirled around, hackles raised, but they dropped when he saw that it was just the good doctor.

"Focus, Clint," he panted. Clint nodded and drew two arrows.

"I am," he said. And then he fired.

Everyone was so focused on the one going for the bad guy that they didn't notice one going for Tony's car. It beeped quickly before detonating, causing a couple of flaming tires to be thrown their way. Steve narrowly missed a hubcap to the face, and Tony looked legitimately heartbroken.

"Awe, car no," he whined.

"Just so we're clear, I'm not getting you a new on," Clint said, firing off another arrow into the smoke. There was a surprised yelp, and some shuffling.

"Jarvis, vents," Tony commanded. Jarvis silently obliged, and within a few moments the smoke was gone. There was only little fire patches, debris, and a shaking old man stuck to the ground with Clint's arrow.

"Minion!" He called, pointing with his scepter.

"Oh no, you don't," Tony snarled, blasting the scepter out of the creepy guy's hand.

The atmosphere, once tense and brutal, had shifted completely. Everyone was still, and the floating man even more so than the rest of them. Until, after a moment, he forced himself to relax, blinking a couple of times. He looked towards them, his eyes now a bright green.

"W...Where am I?" He asked. His voice was deep, and still echoed, but not in a creepy way. His eyes went wide as he grabbed his throat, now looking terrified. "What's happened?" He asked, more urgently this time.

Wordlessly Natasha pointed to Freakshow, who was trying to reach for the scepter. The man's eyes widened in realization before quickly flying forward and snatching the scepter with one hand and the human with the other. He looked highly troubled, and obviously still needed time to process everything, but turned to them nonetheless.

"I'm sorry for anything bad I've done. I..." he sighed and looked down, guilty for stuff he had no control over. "I'll be back."

And then he was gone.

Everyone looked at the spot where he used to be, not really knowing what to do, or what this all meant. How long had that being been under that creep's control? Apparently too long if he was scared by the sound of his own voice.

"Do you think he's really going to come back?" Clint asked.

"He seems like a man of his word," Bruce replied as he pushed his glasses up. "I think we have a high possibility of that happening."

"Not only that," Steve added, "but he seemed to want answers. Or answer any of our questions. He's probably just as confused as we are."

"Well," Tony said, pausing for a moment to stretch. "We'll be here when he comes back. In the meantime everyone go get some sleep."

"Only if you do too," Natasha said. Her tone held no room for argument. And surprisingly there was none.

"Yeah, I'm coming. After all, we have a guest to prepare for."