Before we begin, I'd like to say to those of you whom may have been a reader of mine since my story The Ranger, as well as anyone else whom would be interested in a story in the Final Fantasy 7 category, so I've rewritten the first five chapters of that story. If you're interested, I'd recommend you give it a shot, I always loved writing in that category. Okay, enough pan handling on my end, enjoy the next chapter in Nightshade.

Nightshade

As Danny lay in his warm bed, almost perfectly comfortable, but not quite homey enough for his tastes, as his mind raced through the events of the day. From opening his eyes in the ghost zone, to the events of the fight as they unfolded moved past his eyes. He sighed and shifted slightly to get a tad more comfortable. He knew himself to get frustrated during a fight with a new opponent, but not quite so frustrated that he'd lose control of his faculties. Danny lifted his right hand, and wondered why he'd never attempted to use his ghostly ecto-energy to flow into his hand as he punched somebody. He'd also not expected her blasts to affect him during a fight, so that was something to worry about in his opinion.

Danny shook those thoughts, then shut his blue eyes to force himself to sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't last all that long, so he slammed his fist down hard on the soft sheets. After a few more minutes, he sat upright and walked towards the door. Looking back to the nightstand that held a digital alarm, which read 11:02 P.M., before pressing a button to slide open the door. He frowned as the door refused to slide open, and wondered just what he'd done to get this treatment. He almost entertained the idea of phasing through the door, before deciding that wasn't a good idea.

Walking back to the bathroom, he gazed into his eyes for a few moments and wondered what was going on with his life. Just four months ago, he'd been an average teenage male whose only worry in the world was getting into the Doomed Beta. Now, he's stuck in a tower that was on the other side of the country. He sighed as he walked over to the giant window panes that were on the wall facing the outside of the tower.

Pulling the curtains to the side slightly, Danny gazed out to the ocean and felt homesick once more. He'd hated to admit it, but he missed the constant attacks that plagued his life. Sure, they did make his life hell, but at least it was familiar territory for him. Leaving the windows, the curtains flop back to their original state, as he went back to his bed.

Pulled back to his thoughts, he almost laughed at Tucker hacking the tower, and hoped beyond hope that his friend wouldn't be in any trouble. He tried his hardest once more to shut his eyes, and after much trouble fell into a restless sleep.

NS-Robin's Room-NS

After ticking away at his keyboard, Robin leaned back in his chair, which gave a slight squeak, and gave a cocky smile. After about two hours, he'd managed to gather quite a bit of information on the man who'd hacked the tower. The home itself was owned Angela and Maurice Foley, whom have a child named Tucker. Tucker himself was a known associate of Danny Fenton, through Danny's own admission. He was, until recently an A plus student in almost all of his studies with exception to his Gym scores, but now rested firmly at a high B. That alone led Robin to believe that whatever Danny was doing back in his home town, it certainly involved his friend.

It was when Robin tried to find more information on Sam that he'd fallen short. There were too many Sam's in Amity that made him completely unable to pinpoint them down. He was able to at least narrow down many of them to about four through gender alone, but decided not to force the point any further.

He surmised that Danny's influence on Tucker was a negative impact on him. Tucker was on the fast path to an amazing university that would have led to an excellent career in various fields. S.T.A.R. Labs, Wayne Enterprises, hell even Vlad Co. were now a wing and a prayer away from the Teen now. If that was the impact on Tucker, Robin almost paled when he thought of his influence on Sam.

Robin shook the thought from the forefront of his mind, then decided that he'd have to go to Amity to personally interview Tucker Foley. He decided to just scare the kid into never hacking JLA property, but then wondered if that was a good idea. If the kid didn't get info on the Titans, then Robin would waltz in and give away where his friend was. However, if he did get info on either the Titans OR the JLA, then Robin was obligated to go in and obtain that info back as well as discover his motives.

He got up from the chair and felt himself stuck between seeming the good guy in Danny's eyes, as well as seeming like the responsible guy for the JLA. He knew to please one would piss off the other, so he decided to sleep on it. He walked over to his bed and shut his eyes.

NS-Titans Tower-NS

Danny's blue eyes broke the seal on his sleep around 6 A.M. He rubbed the sleep out of his vision, then rolled out of bed. Walking to the bathroom once more, he found himself taking a shower before stretching hard. When he was done, Danny walked to the mirror while drying his hair. Once done, a shot of panic went through Danny's body as he gazed into his bloodshot blue eyes. He finished drying off and dressed into his normal day clothes before running to the door.

Pressing the door open button, Danny hoped the door would open quickly, only to feel off put when the door refused him once more. He phased through the door, and rushed down the hall. He made it to the first door at the end of the hall, then knocked hard. He heard a sharp "Go AWAY!" from the inside of the room. He recognized the voice as Raven's.

"Raven, I need help!" Danny shouted through the frame. He heard some movement inside, and then the door slid open to reveal not Raven the sorceress, but Raven Roth sleepy, unprepared teen. Danny had not seen her without her cloak covering her features, but now he took note of her striking purple hair, as well as her tank-top, and pajama pants.

She didn't say anything, but held a lot of concern when she noticed his eyes. She let her energy flow through to her hand, which lit the hallway, so she could get a better view of his face. Continuing to hold her silence, she rushed to her desk and came back. Before she called the whole team, Raven looked into his eyes once more to see them return to normal. She did a sigh of relief before reaching for one of her safe mirrors.

"They were completely bloodshot, but now they're back to normal," She said, holding her hand mirror to his face. She almost smiled when his face looked a bit of relieved. "You going to be okay?" She asked.

Danny nodded and said, "I think I'll be alright." He hoped they wouldn't have to do a complete physical, but figured that would be next.

She shook her head and said, "I'm just going to check to make sure you're alright." She held out her hands and poured her empath power through her hands.

Danny felt her mind enter his, completely unprepared for a mental attack, he could do nothing to repel her. She meddled around, and then when he felt her leave, he said, "Please don't do that again."

She nodded and stated, "I needed to make sure you didn't have a problem with your brain. I won't have to do that again, unless you fall into a coma or end up under the control of another sorcerer. If you stay, I may be able to train you to avoid mental attacks."

Danny shrugged and said, "I am completely flustered by the idea." He didn't know whether to stay, or perhaps leave and never look back.

"Come," she almost demanded. The two of them walked to the dining table, and she commanded, "Stay here, I'll bring tea."

She walked away, leaving Danny alone again. He wasn't sure if bloodshot eyes were a bigger problem, but he knew for certain that he wasn't healthy. He thought back a bit, but didn't recall anything out of the ordinary. Raven's return after a few moments holding two cups of tea broke Danny out of his mind.

"I'm sorry Danny," Raven started. When Danny said nothing, but instead sipped his tea, she continued, "When I searched your mind, I found that the blood blossom poison may have affected you in a more permanent way."

Danny almost spit his tea out, and asked, "How do you mean?"

Raven sighed, then said, "It may have messed with the chemical makeup of your mind. I can't be certain, but it could have affected your emotions."

Danny nodded, then asked a bigger question. "Would it have affected my ghost self?" He asked quizzically.

She shrugged, then stated, "Blood Blossom is a flower that repels ghosts. It being injected into your veins would probably be a major problem. I tried to get all of it out, but it had already did the damage. It may have done nothing permanent to your ghost self, or perhaps it may have weakened it. The only person who would know for certain is you."

Danny drank the rest of his tea in one go, then asked, "I don't know if I'm going to stay. If I leave, would it be a problem for my health?"

She didn't affirm, or deny. After she sipped her tea, she said, "Tell me about what you're feeling."

He shrugged, then said, "First of all, I am homesick. I miss being around my family, as well as my friends. I miss all the ghost attacks, even though they would keep me up late at night and force me to cut class during the day. I find myself sort of missing school as well. I miss going to the nasty burger and eating food like a normal teen…" He could have went on but stopped when Raven put up one of her hands.

"Calm yourself, Danny. We all get that you are homesick, but we also care enough about you to want what's best for you. I don't think you're going to go down that dark path anymore, but still…" She said, but paused midway through. Raven glanced into his eyes and said, "What else, but please calmly."

Danny gave a curt nod, then stated, "Well, I like being around people who get it. You guys know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night, being forced to take action against something you didn't expect. However, I don't know if I can handle the stress of Robin…"

"How do you mean?" Robin asked, having crept up behind them.

Danny almost turned invisible when Robin spoke. He hadn't expected the Titan to be behind them. Danny recovered, and said, "I just think that you are a tad paranoid about me being here, which I understand!" He paused, stressing the last bit. Robin said nothing else, which spurred Danny onward. "I just think that, seeing as I haven't earned your trust yet, it might create a difficult environment for the two of us to work in."

Robin nodded, then said, "I can understand that position, but I think I've treated you fairly."

Danny smiled, and said, "Perhaps I don't understand then, after all it seemed like you had a problem with me last night when we went to the training room."

Robin shrugged and said, "I have my reasons for the outburst." He left it at that, and went to the kitchen to brew some coffee.

Danny shot to where Raven was sitting, who stated, "I'm going to meditate on the roof." She got up, then moved towards the stairs, leaving Danny alone in a room with a man he'd just insulted. Robin returned with a cup of coffee.

Danny noticed Robin was in uniform, which wasn't that odd, when Robin spoke. "I have business with Tucker Foley in Amity Park. I assume that is your home town, since he's an associate of yours. We will go together to the town, and it's there that you'll decide if you are staying with us, or staying with your family," He stated.

Danny nodded, then asked, "When are we going?"

Robin shrugged, but then asked his own question, "After my coffee?"

Danny hated when people answered a question with a question, but didn't show emotion towards it. He then asked, "How are we going to get there?"

Robin gave a small smile, then answered, "The same way that you were going to get there."

Danny gave up on the conversation. There wasn't anything to gain from such little information, but feeling irritated, stated, "I was going to fly."

Robins smile widened, "Yes, we are going to do just that."

Danny just stopped talking. Eventually they would just show him what was going to happen next, instead of him asking for more like a damned fool. It wasn't long before Robin waved him towards the elevator. The two went down to the garage, where Robin got into a small jet that was fit for one. There was a big runway underground with a wide metal door that started to open.

Danny sighed, and asked him, "Where do I sit?"

Robin smiled, then retorted, "You were going to fly, right?" Robin pressed a few buttons, then sped off down the underground runway, then out the door.

"You wanna make it like that? Fine!" Danny screamed.

He ran down the runway, transforming mid sprint, and then once fully transformed, flew through the doorway. He slowly sped up to meet Robin, who had a considerable lead on Danny. When Danny made it to the jet, he felt something was wrong. They were beginning to turn back towards the city, when Danny felt his insides begin to burn once more. He slowly started to drop, which caused Robin to look back in the cockpit.

Danny flew straight down until he reached the ocean, where he leveled out and slowed down considerable. He passed out in mid-air, and landed in the ocean. After a few seconds, he reopened his eyes, and began to paddle back to the tower. He was on the beach when Robin returned, having landed the plane at some point.

He knelt down and said, "I'm sorry! I was just messing with you, we were going to fly back and board a bigger jet!"

Danny threw up a bit, then said, "Why are you hazing me!? Last night with the training room, then my door! NOW THIS!"

Robin helped him to his feet and said, "I didn't tamper with your door…"

Danny calmed a bit, then asked, "Am I going to be forced to stay here?"

Robin sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and said, "Until we are certain that you aren't losing your powers, I guess we have no choice."

The two limped back to the tower, and Robin sent Danny straight to the sick bay.

End of Chapter

I've spent the last couple days sick, so this is all pretty much what I'm able to pump out. I spent a bit thinking about how to make Danny have an issue with his powers, but figured that Robin playing games with him would be the best way to make him have an issue. I was going to have him try to fly off the top of the tower, only to collapse. I decided against that because Robin wouldn't just let him go like that.

No spoilers.

Story: 2538

Total: 2715