I do not own Metro 2033 or Danny Phantom.
Chapter 2: One Hell of a Ride
Artyom's Journal: To say I was surprised by what Dani had told me during our conversation would be an understatement. She explained that she was from another world, just like mine but the war never happened, and ghosts were a constant thing. I was sure she was crazy... until she transformed right before my eyes and displayed abilities no human possessed. There was no denying her story, and now I understood why Hunter wanted her to come with me to Polis Station. Speaking of Hunter... he did not return. It wouldn't be easy to find an excuse to leave the station and travel to Polis, but I had given my word. I had learned that the caravan was headed to Riga the next day, and needed guards. I signed myself and Dani on for the ride.
Exhibition Station
Artyom slowly started to awaken as from his sleep (if you could call it that), he barely managed to sleep after learning everything he did about the stations new resident, Dani. As Artyom sat up, a man from the caravan heading to Riga approached his open doorway and spoke.
"Finally!" The man said. "Taking your time as usual, ah? All right, grab your gear, go to the platform, they're waiting for us... I'll meet you there. Hey, Artyom, don't forget anything? And remember to get your friend, Dani."
Hearing her name again made Artyom's mind wander back to Dani and how she managed to convince him not to tell anyone else about her... situation. They both agreed that it would likely cause problems especially given there being those who'd think she's a mutant and try to kill her on site or those who would try to capture her and experiment on her. Not to mention the possible panic that would arise if word got out of a super powered being capable of tossing cars and destroying buildings was walking around in the Metro. Yeah, keeping it a secret would be best.
Shaking his head, Artyom grab journal and bullets (which are currency in the Metro) and headed out into the station. First he stopped by Dani's room to get her, and to his surprise she was sitting by several children out in a small open area near her room and was playing an old banjo.
While playing a slow tune, Dani looked up and saw Artyom leaning against a wall nearby. She decided to end the tune and bid the children a farewell even though they wanted to hear her play more. As she approached Artyom, the two started to chat while walking to their next destination.
"So" Artyom started. "Where did you learn how to play the banjo?"
Dani was a bit surprised at his question, she expected him to try and ask more about her world or her powers. Though given the two only meet a day ago, he could be trying to ease into it, which was fine by her. She was surprised herself that she revealed her secret to him but she needed someone to understand her situation, and give Hunter, a man who kept her secret, trusted Artyom, she decided to take a leap of faith and so far, he seemed like an okay guy.
The sound of Artyom clearing his throat caused Dani to remember their current conversation that she totally just spaced out on.
"Oh, sorry" she said sheepishly. "I kind of spaced out. But to answer your question, I traveled a lot back where I am from and meet a lot of people, several of which were music types and I learned from them. Though I wouldn't say I'm really all that good."
Artyom was about to comment when he noticed Dani looking on at the various residents of the station with a look of sadness in her eyes. He could tell she wasn't used to seeing lots of people like this and given how she explained her world, he wasn't surprised.
"It's not all bad" he spoke, causing Dani to look at him with a confused look on her face. "Don't get me wrong. Every day, we're struggling to survive, be it from lack of supplies or the constant mutant attacks. However, we make due with what we have... and there are those of us who keep a smile on our faces and live life the best we can, in order not lose ourselves."
The half ghost girl took in Artyom's words. As her eyes wondered, she could see some people laughing and children playing like nothing was wrong in the world. However she couldn't shack the sad feeling plaguing the back of her mind. She continued to wonder just how the world could have gotten like this, and even after losing their homes above and forced into the dark Metro tunnels, there were still those who fought for control! It made no sense to her... you'd think something like this would have brought everyone together but it didn't.
Going further through the station, the two headed trough an open market area that was filled either people. As the passed by, a man sitting on a bench, stop Artyom and spoke to him.
"Artyom, please..." the man spoke with a tired voice. "My son is sick... Could you spare a couple of cartridges? I'll pay you back as soon as I can..."
Without a word, Artyom reached into his pocket and gave the man a few bullets (which Dani still couldn't believe was the currency in this world) and gave them to the man.
"Thanks, Artyom! I knew I could count on you." Artyom simply smiled and they went on their way.
Behind Artyom, Dani had a smile on her face from seeing his selfless action. 'He didn't half to do that but he did anyway, he really is a kind person' she continued to think to herself about when she was traveling the world alone and how there were some people who helped her out when she needed money for food or a place to sleep. 'Glad there are still good people in this world'.
The two eventually reached Artyom's next destination, the armory. While Danielle pretty much knew she didn't need weapons, she and Artyom thought it best that she also grab some gear in order for her to blend in.
"Hello, Artyom! And your the new girl, Dani right?" Dani nodded at the man behind the counter, who continued to speak. "I assume you're both hear for some weapons? Okay, let's see..." the man pulls out a gun that looked like it was of poor quality.
"Submachine gun, 5.45 caliber - made in the armory. It's got poor accuracy and overheats like hell - that's why they call it a "bastard gun", hahaha"
'Well that seems pretty bad' Dani thought to herself. 'Especially giving something like that to your own guards'
Artyom didn't seem to mind or didn't voice his opinion and simply picked up his new weapon and looked it over.
"Use short bursts, Artyom... help yourself to some ammo, too. As well as this universal charger, to keep your batteries powered"
The two grabbed the ammunition, and chargers.
"Here you're gas masks and filters." He pulled out two masks and several filters. "Put them on if you cross any radiation hot spots... or, God help you, go up to the surface."
Once the two collected their masks and filters, the man pulled out one final object and placed it on the table.
"And finally. Army issue first aid kits, just in case."
As Artyom collected the first aid kit, Dani looked over her gear and as expected, she didn't really need any of it. She was more deadly than any gun, she could create light with her ectoplasmic energy, she could heal from virtually anything while in her ghost form as well as breath on the surface. Now that she thought about it though, she'll be spending a lot of time in human form to not scare people by using her powers. So in the end, this stuff isn't completely useless, especially since she lacked her ghostly regeneration and the ability to survive the surface radiation while in human form.
Now that they were geared up, Artyom made one final stop, his father's office, Alex. While she didn't know him much, Dani could tell Alex was a good man, and although a bit overprotective of his adoptive son, Artyom, she knew he really cared. Which is why she knew Artyom was sad that he was about to lie to his father and leave the station.
Dani waited outside, not wanting to intrude on their conversation. After a few minutes, Artyom exited the office with a sad look on his face.
"You ok?" Dani asked, though she already knew he wasn't.
"Yes..." He said, his sad expression, now switching to one of determination. "I made a promise and I plan on keeping it... let's go."
With a nod, she followed him. The two finally made it to the train cart where the others were waiting for them.
"Hey Artyom!, Dani, you finally made it. You two all set to go?" Asked the member of the caravan.
Both nodded and headed to the handcart tracks.
"All right, Eugene, Artyom, you two take those seats. Dani, and I, will take these ones."
Everyone took their assigned seats but before they took off, a young man walked up to thier cart.
"Hey, guys, you going to Riga?" He asked.
"Yeah, we are." The caravan guy replied.
"Can I get a lift?"
"Sure, but no free rides, you'll half to pull the lever sometimes."
"I can do that."
"Let's go then."
The young man took a seat next to Dani who was a bit uncomfortable being somewhat squished in between the new addition of their group and the caravan guy but luckily she didn't take up much space so she had "some" breathing room, though she could have sworn she saw Artyom notice her predicament and smiled at her.
And with that, the group of fix began to ride through the barely lit tunnels towards their destination, the new addition of there group repeatedly pulling the lever to move their cart.
"Wow hoo" Eugene started, looking over at Artyom. "Artyom! Free at last... well, for as long as the ride takes, anyway. It should be fun... or dangerous, even better, right?"
Dani guessed that these guys really didn't leave the station much it at all given the way this guy was talking. Regardless, she'd definitely prefer a simple ride over a dangerous one.
Metro Tunnels
Artyom's Journal: It was the first time I had left the safety of my home station. It troubled me that I haven't told my stepfather the truth; We would not be heading straight back from Riga. But Hunter was depending on us.
The group were now further into the tunnels. They made small conversations, one of which was asked where Dani was from, which obviously made her tense but she was able to lie and say she was from another station, with help from Artyom.
Dani's thoughts trailed off from the group but her attention was caught when the young man pulling the lever stated something about "Reds, Nazis, and bandits". This reminded her that Artyom did say something about the two former of the three battling each other for control of the Metro and their methods of dealing with their enemies, which disgusted her. She was honestly surprised Nazis were still a prominent thing in this world but after what she has already seen, it wasn't to surprising.
After about a minute, the group reached a checkpoint and someone hailed them to slow down.
"Peter, what's up?" The caravan guy asked.
"A military caravan got stuck near Alexeyevskaya. A tunnel collapse or some other shit. You have to use the service tunnel bypassing Alexeyevskaya." Peter explained.
"Oh, fuck, I hate this tunnel..." he muttered and sighed. "Alright, Peter. Open up the gate. No point in being stuck here forever..."
"Why, what's wrong with that tunnel?" Eugene asked, the worry in his voice was evident.
"Well... it's an ordinary tunnel, not as well lit, maybe... I went through there last month, and... well, I just don't like it, that's all."
Dani was in deep thought about what she had just heard. She could tell the caravan guy was afraid of that tunnel despite no saying it out loud. However, if it were mutants in the tunnel, he would have just said so. She didn't say anything, but she started to feel worried as well, and had this strange feeling in the back of her mind. It was the feeling you get when something is about to go wrong.
As the young man started to pull the lever again, they reached the service tunnel entrance that had just been opened for them, and the caravan guy wasn't lying... it was dark. Everyone turned on their lights, which didn't help much. Dani wished she could use her powers to create a brighter light but she'd then half to explain to everyone on board (minus Artyom) as to how in the world she was doing it.
"Have a safe trip." One of the checkpoint guards said.
"We're riding a handcart and we're armed, so I think we'll make it there okay."
Dani hoped he was right, but something told her it wouldn't be that easy. And as if on que, as the group moved further through the tunnels, things started to happen.
"Damn, does my head hurt" The caravan guy muttered in slight pain.
Dani didn't say anything, but she to felt a slight sting of pain in her mind, as if... something or someone was trying to enter it.
"If you help push the lever, we'll get there sooner." The young man stated.
"Ok, Eugene, you go help the man - we should move faster here. You watch the back Arytom, Dani, you cover this side."
With a nod, both turned themselves to face each opposite end of the handcart with guns drawn. However, none were prepared for what was to come.
"Sure, I'll help." Eugene said, holstering his weapon and grabbing on to the other lever and began to pull. "That way we'll get to Riga in no time, right?"
The young man began to speak, with fear evident in his voice. "Now, we should get out of here sooner, it's scary they're around... And I pity them."
As she heard these words, Dani's entire body became stiff, and an all to familiar mist left her mouth. However, something was wrong this time... instead of a cold mist, it was a burning red mist that left a stinging pain in her throat.
And that's when she saw them. On each side of tracks were shadow figures walking back and forth. A wave of emotions rushed through her, pain, sadness, hate, regret... as she silently watched them, some even looking directly at her.
"Ghosts?" Was all she could say in a whisper.
However these... ghosts weren't like the one's from her world. She couldn't understand it, but could sense the emotions of all the souls in this tunnel, and the same mental note was screaming in her mind 'We need to get out of here!, now!'. However, Dani couldn't say anything, due to the wave of strong emotions running through her, tears almost started to form in her eyes as she realized one thing... 'these spirits... there all trapped in this tunnel.'.
All while Danielle was in her own world, the others were trying to understand what the young man was talking about when he mentioned "they" and "them". That was short lived as everyone started to feel dizzy and a bright ball of light appeared behind them and started to move closer, sparks emitting from it's glowing aura.
Dani could only stare in amazement, and slight fear. Her body was still stiff from the wave of emotions, but suddenly, everything became white. She checked her surroundings and saw nothing until her eyes laid upon the sight of Artyom and Hunter, both surrounded by a sea of dead bodies the later of the two was shooting at a gray skinned humanoid. Who appeared out of nowhere and forced Hunter to the ground with even touching him.
Dani tried to move with all her might but she couldn't do anything. As the gray skinned humanoid stood over Artyom, it simply stared at him for a moment before turning away and leaving. But not before being shot in the back several times by an unknown person and falling to the ground.
She didn't understand anything that was going on but as her vision flashed with white again, she regained consciousness and shot up. Noticing everyone was still unconscious, she heard Artyom stir and regain consciousness.
"What in the hell was that!" Dani shouted.
"I have no idea..." was all Artyom could say.
Suddenly, the sound of roars echoed throughout the tunnels. Mutants, and judging by the sounds of it, there were a lot of them. Artyom wasted no time shaking Eugene awake and it didn't take him long to regain consciousness, however, the same couldn't be said for the two men on Dani's side of the cart. No matter how hard she shook them, the didn't awaken.
"What the hell is going on?..." Eugene groaned, inspecting his surroundings. That is, until he also heard the roars and footsteps of mutants racing towards them. "Shit! Wake up people, people, wake up for Christ's sake!"
"It's no good! I've already tried!" Dani shouted.
Eugene wasted no more time and began pulling the lever as fast as he could while instructing Artyom and Dani to shoot the incoming horde of Nosalis. The two drew their bastard guns and began firing on each of the oncoming mutants, and while Artyom's aim was on point Dani's wasn't so accurate. She had to remember to fire in short bursts to not overheat the gun.
The horde of mutants seemed never ending, and managed to reach the handcart due to the Artyom and Dani needing to reload. One by one they began leaping on to the cart, but that was a mistake on their part, as it put them with in melee range and while Dani was holding back her strength, she made sure to strike them hard enough to keep them down permanently.
Artyom was also holding his own with his solid aim and stabbing any mutant that got close. They seem to be doing well, until one leaped directly on top of Dani just as she had finished off another, and while she was holding it at bay and ready to strike it, another leaped on to the side of the cart, snatching the young man who had joined them at the last moment before they're departure to Riga.
"NO!" shouted Dani as she tossed the Nosalis off of her and into the wall.
The jolt of being pulled from the cart must have awoken the young man as his screams could be heard as he was dragged into the dark tunnel. In that split moment, without hesitation, Dani's body acted on his own and without fear, she leaped off the back of the cart and over several of the mutants. She didn't even hear the sound of Artyom calling out to her as she disappeared into the darkness.
Using a small green ball of light to see, Dani phase through several of the strangling mutants, she reached her companion who was currently screaming for his life as a Nosalis was biting into his arm and another biting into his lag. She wasted no time blasting both with a ghost ray from each hand, knocking them off and killing them instantly.
Racing over to the young man, Dani could see he was losing a lot of blood from both limbs and quickly pulled out her med kits. Luckily for her, they were simply and easy to use. She took two needless and jabbed them into each limb, causing the young man to cry out in pain.
"How…" He spoke softly. "How did you get past the Nosalis?"
"Don't worry about that now, I'm going to get you to Riga" She stated as if it was a fact.
The man just looked at her in shock before voicing his opinion. "Are you crazy!... I don't know how you passed those other Nosalis but they don't give up, they catch us and—" Before he could finish his sentence, the group of Nosalis stragglers that Dani phase through made they're way towards them and blocked them in from both sides.
"See!, we're both going to die now…" he cried.
Dani said nothing, she stood up and looked at both sides. There were four mutants on the left and three on the right.
"No." She said firmly, with a determined look on her face. "I'm not going to let us die in a place like this." And with those final words, Dani's eyes glowed a toxic green and illuminated the dark tunnel.
The Nosalis backed away in fear but didn't retreat. One from the leaped directly at her but was easily grabbed and swung into one of the unlucky ones on the right side, both sent back. Two decided to attack her from both sides, while another went for the easy prey on the ground. As the man shouted in horror and closed his eyes and awaited the his death, however, after a few moments of nothing, he opened his eyes to find himself and Dani, enclosed in a green barrier.
The mutants tried their hardest to break through the ectoplasmic barrier but couldn't. Dani extended her arms outward and pushed the shield with intense force, sending the mutants flying into the wall with enough force to kill them.
Dani looked at the remaining four mutants and took a step towards them, but as soon as she did, they all turned around and ran away in fear. Once they were gone, Dani's eyes returned to their normal blue and she breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly rushed over to the wounded man who's limbs stopped bleeding. She wondered just how good were those med kits, but the thought was quickly pushed out of her mind as she needed to get this man to safety.
She picked him up with ease and lifted him on to her back like she was giving him a piggyback ride. Usually, one would feel embarrassed that a girl this young was carrying them like a child but this man was still in shock at what he saw. He almost couldn't speak… almost.
"How did you do that? What are you?" He asked her. His voice didn't have fear in it, at least from what she could tell. He sounded mostly curious but with some amazement in his voice.
Dani didn't know what to say. It was unlikely, this guy would understand what she is, heck even Artyom still couldn't completely comprehend it. She thought a bit more before speaking, she had to tell him something.
"It's complicated." She started. "I doubt you'd be able to understand my situation and who… what I am but I need you to not tell anyone about what you seen me do."
"I honestly doubt I'd be able to understand, but why wouldn't you want people to know what you can do? You could help a lot of people." He said.
"I know that but… there are people like the Nazis and Reds who would see me as something that needs to be destroyed or used as a weapon, not to mention most people likely won't understand what I am." She took a breath before continuing "People knowing about everything I can do would likely cause more problems and would get a lot of people hurt because of me, and I don't want to make things worse."
"Well, you convinced me. I won't tell anyone… I'll just claim you've got skills like a Polis Ranger, and are stronger than you look."
"Thanks."
Following the trail of dead mutants 'likely Artyom's work', the two looked on and further in the distance, they noticed a bright light that emitted from a fire. Dani decided to pick up the pace, and as she got closer, she could see several Nosalis burning to death in the flames and could hear voices on the other side of the wall of flames.
Roadblock – Riga Station
Artyom had just barely made it to the Riga Station roadblock after being knocked off the handcart. He was watching the pursuing Nosalis burn from the waves of fire released from the flamethrower. His mind was somewhere else however, he knew Dani was strong and capable of handling herself but a small part of him feared she was overwhelmed and killed by the Nosalis when she leaped out of the cart after the young man that was snatched.
As the flames died down, Eugene place a hand on Artyom's shoulder, which got his attention. "I'm sorry about your friend, Artyom, she-" Eugene's words where cut off when a guard at the roadblock spoke "Hey! Who's that!'
Everyone's attention turned to see Dani, carrying the wounded man on her back and stepping over the burnt mutant corpses. They all just stood there mouths a gap.
"A little help would be nice!" Dani shouted. She didn't really need help carrying the man but it's not like she knew where to bring him. "He needs a doctor."
A guard quickly moved over to her and took the man off her shoulders and brought him into the station. Meanwhile, Eugene and a few others still stood there dumbstruck.
"How…" Eugene asked "When that guy got snatched off the cart, and you jumped out after him, I thought you were both gone for sure! How did you manage to survive!"
"I'm tougher than I look and I've got great skill when it comes to combat and survival." She replied with a slight grin, while scratching the back of her head.
"Shit… I'd probably not have believe you but there's no way you could have survived otherwise."
Artyom walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad your ok." He said.
"You didn't think a few mutants could take me down despite knowing what I could do did you?" She said with a smile.
Artyom chuckled but noticed something was off about her when her expression changed to one of worry, but he didn't know what. He decided to give her some space and let her tell him about it when she was ready.
The two headed into the station, along with Eugene, Boris and a few others. Everyone wanting to hear about their trip through the tunnel with detail.
Chapter End.
Please read and review.
Dani has had her first experience of what it's like being in the Metro. Hope you enjoyed reading this, any criticism is welcome and if you have any ideas let me know.