Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Ch.18 Awaiting Death
Danny raised his hands defensively as his father raised his weapon.
"Don't move." Jack warned, "After all these years of hunting you in Amity Park, I finally have you."
Jack's finger tightened on the trigger of his weapon and Danny stepped back fearfully.
"You may have escaped me back home, but this time I finally have you Ghost Boy. Your reign of evil ends here."
"Look there's been a mistake-"Danny started.
"There is no mistake, you're one of the ghosts that's been terrorizing this defenseless city, and we're going to send you back into the black void from where you came!" Maddie declared.
Thinking quickly Danny went intangible and his parents open fired, green blasts of energy passed through his body harmlessly, while Jack and Maddie looked around wildly for their quarry. A boomerang-like blade flew from out of nowhere and cut the two ghost hunter's weapons in two.
"Relax, he's with us." Robin leapt from his hiding place in a nearby pine tree.
"And who are you?" Jack asked turning to him, Danny reappeared in front of them.
Robin held out his TT communicator, " My name is Robin. I'm a Teen Titan; a superhero, and this ghost is assisting me and my team in apprehending a dangerous cultist."
"Robin?" Jack repeated, "Batman's sidekick?"
Robin nodded.
"And you say that this ghost knows something about what's going on around these parts?"
"Yes." Robin answered truthfully, "This ghost has agreed to lead us to the ones that kidnapped those teens in the hotel."
"You can't trust him!" Jack shouted pointing at Danny, "He's a ghost! Ghosts exist solely to prey on the living and strike terror into the hearts of men!"
"Maybe so," Robin replied, "But this one is…different."
"Different? You trust him just because you think he's different! You can't trust them! Me and my family have hunted them for years! They're nothing but fiends! This one especially!"
Though the words injured him, Danny resisted the urge to shout out his identity and remained silent.
"Look I don't know what crimes he has committed in the past, but I need him now. He's all I have to finding those kids and bringing them home."
Both hunter's glared at Danny than Robin, "Our kids are the ones that are missing, and we want them back."
"I understand that, but-"Robin started.
"We're coming with you." Maddie said.
"What?" Robin asked.
"We're coming with you, our kids are missing and we want to make sure that they're home safe and sound. And the only way to do that is to make sure that this ghost remains truthful." Maddie said.
"Let's be reasonable, you can't possibly be-"
"We're coming with you whether you like or not." Jack said firmly.
Robin stood silently, "Very well then, since you two are ghost hunters you could be of use."
"Our vehicle was hurled into the woods, most of the equipment within is most likely scrap metal, do you have an tech with you?" Jack asked.
"Our vehicle was hurled into the woods" the words burnt through Danny's mind, "Tucker!" he realized.
"My friends will be arriving shortly, they'll bring what you need."
Seeing his chance Danny slipped away from his parents and Robin.
"Excellent," Jack said, he turned to where Danny originally was, "as for you…where did he go?"
"Oh God no!" Danny shouted when he saw the wreckage of the Fenton van.
The vehicle had caught fire and was alive with raging flames, moving forward towards the wreckage Danny faced the grim truth; Tucker was gone.
Trying not to cry, Danny turned from the wreckage only to see them-a trail of footprints leading away from the crash site deeper into the woods. Realizing that Tucker may still be alive Danny let out a sign of relief. But something was wrong, the spot where the vehicle had fallen was not that far off from the road behind Danny.
"Wouldn't Tucker head towards the road rather than deeper in the forest?" Danny asked himself.
An icy, dead wind blew in Danny's face along as he faced the forbidden woods before him. Danny sensed a strange yet ancient presence close by.
"Something isn't right here." Danny said.
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"Ugggh." Tucker slowly slipped back into consciousness.
His stomach was in knots and his head felt two sizes too big, he tried to rub his eyes but he couldn't move his arms…or legs.
"Huh!" Tucker peeped in horror, the teen's hands and legs were clamped together with iron chains while his body was suspended upside down on a thick chain.
"Where am I?" Tucker thought, "Why can't I remember anything."
Twisting around Tucker only saw frightful glimpses of his dungeon surroundings. His eyes darted sideways desperately looking for a way out, his eyes passing over the remains of those that never found it.
Face towards the floor Tucker made a desperate attempt to escape from his restraints when he saw Dash on the floor a few feet away from him, the former football star was chained to the wall and was still out cold.
"Dash!" Tucker shouted, "Dash come one wake up!"
CLANK! Something metallic fell on the floor, Tucker's attention was drawn away fro Dash and towards the gleaming silver object on the floor; his eyes wide eyed with horror at the realization of what it was-a serrated dagger.
Tucker felt a cold blast of air from behind along with a harsh, sadistic laughter. A dark shadow passed over Tucker's face, time seemed to stop as Tucker was frozen in untold terror. When his assailant picked up the knife below it and held its sharp edge to his face, Tucker began to wonder whether he would see the light of day again…