Yup! I'm back. For a little while, still busy but I'm trying to get back into the rhythm of things. Here is MttM Chapter five, will replace the AN with it later.
Chapter Five
One Month Later
Danny was walking to school with his friends, even though he stayed silent, listening to them talk to each other. A month had passed since he learned Tōshō name, and the normal Ghost started showing up along with Hollows, which seemed to be drawn to him. Tōshō said they were drawn to his spiritual energy, because of how powerful it was and wanted to turn him into a tasty snack, much to Danny's disgust and wariness.
The teen glanced silently from under his bangs at his two friends. He also noticed that throughout the month, they had been getting more and more distant from him, more inclined to leave and go off somewhere without him. They weren't dating or anything- but he suddenly had the feeling that they just…didn't seem to want to be around him, and only tolerated his presence now days. So right now, the only people he could talk to was Tōshō and Red.
Whenever he tried to talk to them, they forced on fake smile (he could tell they were fake) and give him some watered down answer before turning back away from him again.
He never felt so alone. If it weren't Tōshō's for uplifting comments and dry jokes, Danny wouldn't know what to do with himself anymore. And Red's calm and easy going personality just helped Danny relax whenever he was around.
The blue eyed teen sighed and turned his head away, lagging behind from his supposed friends, internally wishing they would tell him to hurry up, and not ignore him like they normally do.
"Daniel, maybe it's time you found new friends." Tōshō commented faintly from his mind- his Inner World.
Danny was now contemplating that very idea, but he just didn't know how to go about finding friends that were as loyal as they once were. He was a social outcast and had enough trouble as it was talking to people. He would admittedly say it… he was 'socially awkward'.
The boy paused when he felt a chilled breath come out of his mouth in a blue mist, causing the teen to grimace. Now? He sighed and pulled his book bag off his back and pulled it in front of him, unzipping it. He looked inside to see Red curled up on top of his books and papers, looking up at him.
"Already?" Red sighed.
Danny nodded slowly. "Yeah, sorry." with Red's go ahead, he retrieved the Soul Candy from the plush toy and swallowed it quickly. He exited his body and turned back to Red who was getting adjusted in his body once more. "You know the routine." Danny said with a smile.
Red chuckled and nodded. "Sure do."
Danny paused only long enough to look up ahead to see that Sam and Tucker had stopped too, and was watching him curiously. Danny sighed and took off in the direction that he was sensing the Spirit. He still hadn't been able to tell just what type of spirit it was yet, so it was like a guessing game. Hollow or Ghost today?
Danny stopped in midair, looking around. He spotted the nuisance from a little ways away, and couldn't help but scowl. "Really Vlad? Just gonna ruin my day today, aren't you."
Vlad Masters aka Vlad Plasmius, Danny's all time arch rival and enemy, stopped and turned to look at Danny as the teen approached. His blood red eyes widened as he saw Danny standing in midair, seemingly in human form with strange new cloths and a sword strapped onto his back.
"Daniel? What on earth are you wearing?! And why are you in your human form? Aren't you concerned about your secret identity still?" Vlad asked with wide, confused eyes.
Danny paused at the man's questions before remembering. "Oh yeah…I forgot you haven't seen me in this form yet, have you?" The statement only caused Vlad's baffled expression to sink further. "Dude, humans can't see me like this. Well, normal humans anyways." Danny explained. He then reached up to grasp Tōshō's hilt, but didn't draw it just yet. "Now, what are you doing this time, Plasmius?"
Vlad stared at the boy before glaring. "Business, Daniel. I'm thinking of…over throwing a company here in Amity and I'm simply here to spy on them. None of your concern."
Danny raised an eyebrow. "A hostile takeover? Why does that not surprise me?" the teen grumbled. "No matter, I want you to leave, Vlad. Your presence is throwing my Ghost Sense for a loop right now and I can't detect anything else while you are here. I need to be on the lookout for Hollows, not Pain-In-The-Ass Fruitloops like you."
Vlad scowled at the insult before he tilted his head at what Danny had said. "Hollows? What in blue blazes are those?"
"Aaooowww!"
"I'll give you one guess." Danny said dryly as he finally drew his Zanpakuto. "Just get outa here Vlad. I don't need you getting in my way!" the teen ordered before turning his back on the halfa and towards the direction of the howl.
Vlad was both stumped and irritated that Danny would just turn his back him like that, something the teen never used to do before willingly. When he saw Danny hop through the air- not flying like he used to do, the older man gave chase and followed the younger one.
When he came around the corner that Danny had taken, the Halfa skidded to a halt and looked on with horror at the creature Danny was facing against. Huge, with a mutated body and a white skull mask that had glowing yellow eyes that burned with hunger peering out of the eye slits. Vlad looked at the former Halfa and saw that he was wielding a katana like sword and was staring the creature down, the silent challenge burning in his blue eyes.
Vlad was about to call the teen to get away from that thing, but paused when he watch the boy shift his stance before leaping, moving so fast that the monster couldn't react until one of its arms was already slice off at the shoulder. It roared in pain and anger, taking a wild swipe the smaller boy with its other arm, who expertly dodged the blow.
Vlad flew up to Danny's side and looked at the boy with a glower. "What the devil are you doing, boy?! I get you want to protect this pitiful town, but what the hell is that creature and just why are you fighting it?"
Danny barely spared Vlad a glance as he blocked an attack from the hollow and almost sliced off one of its fingers. "Okay, in order, Fruitloop. What does it look like I'm doing, that thing is called a Hollow- a demon so to speak, and I'm fighting it so I can keep it from eating any of the humans or ghost around this town." The boy said bitterly. "…and me." He said as an afterthought.
Vlad gapped at the teen like he was crazy, then grabbed him by the scruff of his Shihakusho and flew off in a direction to get away from the monster- Hollow- thing.
Danny growled and twisted, slamming the heel of his palm into Vlad's wrist, forcing him to let go of the material. "What the hell are you doing!?"
Vlad glared. "Getting you away from that thing! I might not like you, but you're the closest thing to competition I have! That thing would have killed you! Even I could feel the energy coming off of it, and I didn't like it!" he shivered.
Danny sneered. "Aww, is poor Vladdy scared of a big bad Hollow?" the teen mocked. "I haven't even released my Zanpakuto yet, so there's no way in hell it would win against me."
Vlad's eye twitched, but somehow managed to restrain himself from strangling the cocky teenager. "Zanpak-what?"
Danny held out the katana in his hand. "My Zanpakuto. All Soul Reapers have one. And it's in its sealed form right now."
Vlad gave the sword a withered look. "I think you have hit your head one too many times in ghost fights, Daniel."
Danny, pissed at being called crazy- hating that word ever since the Young Blood incident, snarled at the man in front of him. "Freeze all Enemies… Tōshō!" Danny called, and the blade quickly morphed and changed, now pure white once more with the Snowflake hilt guard.
Vlad's eyes widened at the display.
Danny turned away from the man. "Now if you don't mind, I have a Hollow to bea- Vlad, look out!" Danny yelled with fear.
Vlad turned just in time to see the monster from before, descending down on them from above with a howl of rage. Vlad was too frozen in shock to move, but suddenly felt his body getting shoved violently from the side and into the ground, away from the gaping maw of the masked creature. Vlad heard a sickening crunch sound and a sharp cry of pain. He turned.
The top left side of Danny's body was in the creature's mouth, from shoulder to hip, but Danny had his blade wedged in between them, jammed it inside the mouth, cutting into the mask. The creature howled and bit down harder, forcing the blade to cut deeper into its own mask, but sill crushing Danny's smaller body in its jaws. There was more crunching sounds and Danny screamed in pain, as his bones crack and a few broke from the force, blood dripping from his body from the bite wounds.
There was a bright flash of magenta pink and the creature was blown off the teen, but still ripped its teeth across the boy, shredding the shihakusho and pulling another pained cry as the boy dropped.
Vlad reacted and caught the teen before he could hit the ground, and placed him down gently. "Daniel, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
"Damn it, Vlad…I'm fine." Danny rasped as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position. Blood was now pulling around his body. "Shit…that thing has one strong bite force…" the teen commented through gritted teeth.
Vlad, seeing the damage, placed a hand on the boy's chest and pushed him back down. "Daniel, you're hurt, so stay down. I'll take care of that….Hollow."
Danny shook his head. "No, it has to be purified by my blade." He told the man, trying to force himself back up, and felt his vision swimming and growing lightheaded. No…I need to fight. I can't let…anyone…even Vlad…get hurt. No...
Danny could faintly hear his name coming from Vlad, but he was so focused and forcing himself up to his feet that he didn't bother playing any attention. But once he was back on his feet, he couldn't move any farther. He felt frozen in place, not even able to raise his arms the slightest inch.
"Daniel! Daniel! Stop, you too weak right now, you can't fight!"
Yes, Danny-Boy- you're too weak to fight! A voice from inside his mind laughed, and he felt his vision snap like a cord and met darkness.
"Daniel!" Vlad called, trying to get a response out of the frozen teen, who was standing in front of him, head bowed so the man couldn't see his face. He was amazed that the boy could even move at all with all that damage to his body. It was unreal. "Daniel!"
"Hehehe."
Vlad froze and stared at the boy before him with shock at the sound he just made. Was he…laughing? But it sounded so… "Daniel?"
But when the boy's head rose, Vlad took an involuntary step back in horror at the white and blue mask that was forming out of thin air on the teens face, taking up his left jaw and crawling up around his eyes slowly. The boys once, bright blue eyes were now radioactive green on black sclera and a twisted, insane grin split across his face.
"Danny-boy's no longer with us right now. Would you like for me to take a message?" the Masked Danny asked with a mocking and warbled voice that sounded like there was Danny's voice and another all talking at the same time, sending a shiver down the man's spine.
"Wha…who are you?" Vlad whispered.
The thing smirked and readied its blade. "'Who am I', you ask? I don't have a name, foolish human!" It suddenly vanished and appeared in the air right above him, blade raised above his head as it cried with an insane laugh and smirk that looked so wrong on Danny's face, bringing the sword down with a forced that caused the air around it to rip with the sound of tearing fabric. Vlad jumped away and turned intangible at the same time, avoiding the sharp steel. The thing continued to laugh and lung at Vlad, who in turn continued to dodge and block the attacks with shields.
"Guess I need to rephrase my question!" Vlad growled. "What are you?"
The Masked Danny turned and sneered at the man. "Now there's an intelligent questions! Fine. I am Danny's instincts! I am his Inner Hollow! Awakened when he first gained his Soul Reaper powers, and lying in wait until the right time to take over his body during a moment of weakness!"
There was a howl from above, that caused the duo to look up, one with shock and fear, the other with amusement. The arm of the creature swung down towards Hollow Danny, intending to pound him into the cement. The teen gave a smirk and raised up his arm holding the sword, blade pointed down to the ground as a bright green shield appeared, blocking the powerful blow. A shock wave of energy rippled out from the impact, nearly throwing Vlad off his feet as we watched the thing get thrown back from the force and slam into a building.
The hollow then crawled out of the rubble and howled in outrage at the pair.
"You really are weak, Danny-boy, if you can't even beat a low level hollow like this. I'm DISAPPOINTED." With the last word, the Hollowfied Danny swung the blade in an arc and a frozen wave of energy shot free and hurtled towards its target, slamming into its mask and freezing it over as it split in two and shattered, making the hollow disintegrate. "Tch, see what I mean. One attack and I had it finished. Pathetic." He mocked before turning back to Vlad. "Now, to finish you off! HAAHA!-"
Hollow Danny suddenly froze in mid leap, eyes growing wide as a strangled sound escaped its throat. The hand not holding the Zanpakuto shot up to grab at the mask on the side of his face, tugging and scratching as the smooth bone-like material, pealing it away bit by bit. "No! Let me stay out! You're too weak! You'll get us killed! NO!" it pleaded as it swung the blade around violently as if trying to hit an invisible enemy.
'LEAVE!'
A pained and enraged howl ripped through the air, as the hand that was grasping the mask finally managed to rip it away, making it shatter to pieces and fade away. The howl changed from the Hollows to Danny's as it happened. The boy collapsed to the ground, eyes returning to normal, but looked hazy and faded.
"Daniel!" Vlad yelled as he rushed forward, slidding down next to the teen. There were hurried footsteps from behind, and Vlad turned around to see-
Daniel?
Baffled, the man looked between the two, the only difference where their cloths, one was wearing the normal everyday teenage attire, while the Danny at his feet wore the black robes.
"Danny!" The other teen called, his voice different from the originals. The twin was giving Vlad skeptical looks as he approached. "Who are ya?" he demanded.
The halfa blinked, a little too shocked to argue. "V-vlad…who...who are you?"
The twin glanced at the man with hard blue eyes as he knelt down on Danny's other side. "Name's Red. I'm Danny's gikongan- or artificial soul as ya might say. I inhabit Danny's body while he's like this." He said, gesturing to the Danny in the robes.
Vlad shook his head slowly. "Artificial soul? So you're a fake soul? How is that possible?"
Red snorted. "How would I know? I was simply created through the science of the matter, I know nothin' about it." He reached down and gently rolled Danny over so he could look at him. "Yo, Danny, ya still kickin'?"
A pained groan came from the boy below them and a blue eye cracked open. "Yeah, and if you don't stop talking so loudly, I will be kicking… your ass!"
Red grinned "He's fine." He then leaned forward and helped Danny up by sliding the boys arm over his shoulder. "Let's get ya home so we can get those wounds cleaned up." Danny sighed and nodded, before looking back up at Vlad.
"Vlad…I…I'm sorry-"
The man held up a gloved hand. "Stop right there, Daniel. I have no idea what that was that took control over you, but I do know you had no control over the matter. But I will be coming back for answers. I just want to finish my business trip first." The man's hard red eyes burned into the teens blue ones. "So don't be too surprised if I show up in the next day… or two, got it?"
Danny groaned and closed his eyes, but nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah. Alright. Just not during school, deal?"
Vlad nodded sharply. "Deal." He then turned to Red and stared at him. "You, make sure this brat doesn't get himself killed before I have my answers, yes?"
Red chuckled. "Whatever, old man."
The man's eye twitched. "I'm Forty-two years old! I am not old!"
"You're old." Both Danny and Red said in unison with deadpanned expression.
Vlad grumbled at the pair before calming himself and turning to leave. "No matter, I'll be taking my leave. Do expecting me in a few more days, Daniel. I can NOT miss this business mission I was on." And with that said, he turned invisible and Danny could sense him leaving.
The Soul Reaper sighed and leaned heavily against Red. "Great, just another problem I get to add to the list of what's wrong with my life."
Red chuckled and helped to guide Danny home, sticking the alley ways and back roads to avoid being spotted. After a few minutes of hobbling around, they finally showed up at the doorsteps to Fenton Works.
"Think ya can make it up to your room without my help?" Red asked. Danny nodded and pushed himself away from his body, swaying for a second before regaining his balance. Red watched him carefully as he opened the door and allowed Danny to go in first. The living room was empty, and he couldn't hear anyone in the kitchen, so that meant that Danny's parents were most likely down stairs in the lab. That gave Red and Danny the chance to escape back into their bedroom to hide.
Danny laid down on the floor, so not to get his bed sheets dirty with the blood, allowing Red to clean the wounds. Something the Gikongan picked up after any major ghost fight. Danny stayed as still as he could, only moving to roll over so the mod soul could clean the wounds on his back. Once finished and bandaged, Red helped Danny up so he could lay down on the bed.
"Stay here and get some rest. I'll go to school and take notes for ya, alright?" Red then glared and pointed at the Soul Reaper. "But this is the only freebee you're getting, got it Mr. Soul Reaper?"
Danny chuckled dryly and nodded. "Got it, Mr. Gikongan." He quipped back.
Red then left and headed off to Casper high, letting Danny rest and heal up. Danny stayed in bed, staring up at the ceiling, pondering over what had happened moments ago. He had lost complete control over his body and could feel a new, menacing presence take over. He had tried to fight against it during the whole encounter, but after it mocked him and destroyed that hollow, then turned to attack Vlad, it was then that he managed to regain control and rip off that….mask that had started forming on his face from the presence.
Danny remembered when he first became a Soul Reaper, he had a mask on, but nothing happened to him to make him lose control over himself like that. Just who or what was that? Tōshō said it was his own Inner Hollow, his raw instincts. But Danny still didn't understand most of it.
The teen sighed and closed his eyes, allowing himself to sink into trouble sleep, his mind burning with those powerful green on black eyes and the insane laughter.
Danny had only been woken up once during his rest, and that was when Red came home from school, so they could switch again as he informed the teen that he had left his homework and notes on his desk to work on later. After that, Danny went right back to sleep and let Red the Fox curl up against his legs to join him.
Danny woke up the next morning to hear a loud pounding on the door downstairs. Danny sighed and sat up, stretching, popping the bones in his body as he twisted, body aching. After hearing another loud and insistent knocking on the front door, Danny groaned and climbed out of bed making his way through the house, to the noise. When he reached the door, he was about to grab the handle, when a sudden chill when down his spine. Not his Ghost Sense, but something else. Like a sixth sense that warned him when something bad was about to happen.
The teen was frozen in mid grasp of the door knob, staring with furrowed eyebrows. What the…
"Daniel, be careful. I felt that as well." Tōshō whispered from in his mind, causing fear to creep into his body. Danny swallowed and nodded before slowly turning the knob and pulling the door open to look outside at who was there.
Danny's fear double when he saw two men in white business suits at the door, but there were several more in the street and sidewalk, all looking armed and dangerous. "Umm…hello?" Danny croaked.
The man on the right studied the boy behind shaded glasses. "Are you Mr. Daniel Fenton?" he asked sharply.
Danny froze and stared at them with wide eyes. "Y…yes, sir."
The man nodded and pulled out a pair of cuffs. "Daniel Fenton aka Danny Phantom, you are under arrest and are now property of the US Government- the Guys in White to be accurate. Come quietly or we will use force."
Danny let fear take over and turned, bolting through the house, tearing up the stairs to his room. But he was stopped just before he reached his door, by both of his parents, where were aiming at him with guns whining, ready to fire.
"Freeze, spook!"
"Red! Hide!" Danny cried and threw himself to the side, avoiding a green energy blast form his parent's weapons. The blast seared past his head, slamming into a GIW agent that had been coming at him from behind.
Danny twisted and used his years of ghost fighting instincts to kick in, lashing out with a roundhouse kick at the nearest agent, catching him in the side, and slamming him into the wall, cracking the drywall. The teen ducked and avoided another hot blast that would have taken his head off his shoulder. He turned to see that he mother had been the one fire that shot.
"Mom! Dad! Why are you doing this?" Danny yelled, avoiding a GIW grunt that tried to tackle him from behind, by back flipping over him and slamming his heal into his back, knocking him to the floor. Danny landed gracefully next to the limp body, turning back to his parents.
"Don't call us that, Phantom!" he mother shouted with venom.
Danny's eyes widened. "You...you know. But yet you're still trying to hurt me?" Danny's eyes started burning with unshed tears. "Why!? How did you find out?"
"You little friends told us." A voice from behind said.
Danny twisted and saw another GIW agent, but this one seemed to be in charge. "My… my friends?" Danny croaked, horrified.
"Daniel! Get out of there!" Tōshō cried from his Inner World, fear lacing the Zanpakuto's voice.
"Yes, your friends, Ghost Boy. Or, should I call you a Soul Reaper now?" The man sneered. "To be honest, I had no idea that Soul Reapers existed until your dear friends called and told us about you and your… abilities. How you can't been seen by normal humans while in Soul form, and that you wield a sword that has its own being living in it? And they even mentioned a little talking plush toy that you now take everywhere with you to help you become a Soul Reaper? Am I right?"
Danny swallowed and turned back to his parents, giving them a pleading look. "Mom…Dad…please, let me explain." Danny begged.
He saw them hesitate for a split second, their resolve wavering. But it was gone soon enough. "Don't try that on us, spook." He father said, aiming his Fenton bazooka at Danny's head, the teen completely pale from fear.
"Daniel! Run, please!" Tōshō yelled once more, spurring Danny into action.
The teen made a wild leap for his bedroom, determined to get to Red and run away. He managed to knock his mother aside and jumped into his room, eyes quickly scanning his room for a flash of red fur, praying that Red was safe.
Danny only made it one step into his room before a solid and heavy weight slammed into his back, ripping a shocked cry as he was tackled onto the floor, giving a pain grunt as the weight went with him, slammed him into the hard floor. He then felt rough hands grab his arms and wrench then behind his back, making the teen grit his teeth as he felt his joints being twisted and muscles pulled. He then felt cold metal bands trapping his arms from wrist to elbow, binding them there with complete restriction.
Danny lifted his head off the floor just enough so he could look around his room. He spotted beady black eyes staring fearfully from under his bed, hiding in the shadows. Danny offered a weak smile before he was suddenly yanked up by his now bound arms. Danny hissed at the agent, but didn't fight him, knowing it would be pointless and would only hurt himself in the long run.
Danny refused to look his parents in the eyes as he was guided past them, only cast a betrayed look in their direction, refusing to let tears give away how he truly felt. Once he was outside, he looked up and saw the two people that brought this whole thing down on him. He snarled at them and forced himself to come to a stop, refusing to let the agent that was manhandling him move him until he finished with the business at hand.
"Why?" the teen growled, blue eyes haunted as he glared at them with enough anger to melt steel.
Sam refused to look him in the eyes, only adding fuel to the boys burning rage. "We saw what had happened with Vlad." She said, "how you went…insane again. We watched the whole thing. But that was only part of the reason. We noticed you were becoming…different."
Danny sneered, tears burning in his eyes as he tried to mask the pain. "I thought you liked different, Sam? That it made you unique. What happened to that phrase you used to always go on about?"
Sam flinched and crossed her arms stubbornly. "You were changing, Danny. We could feel your power just by being in the same room as you. It felt…dangerous. Like if you lost control- you could destroy us all with but a flick of your finger." She turned back towards him and her amethyst eyes meet his turquoise. "And you only proved that fact yesterday. It was then that we decided to turn you in…to keep everyone else safe. That's what you would have wanted, isn't it Danny? To protect everyone? Even from yourself?"
Danny reared his head back, eyes widened. "That is the most twisted logic I have ever heard…none of you were in any danger from me." Danny closed his eyes for a second before opening them, staring at her without emotion showing this time, giving nothing away. "I hope you're happy with yourself. Now let's see who will protect this town once I'm gone." He then turned away and let the agent lead him to the back end of a white van.
I'm sorry, Tōshō. Danny whispered in his mind.
"Just stay strong, Daniel. We'll think of something to get you out." His Zanpakuto whispered back, but he could hear the sadness that lingered.
As Danny was shoved into the back seat, he heard one of the Agents walk out of his house and spoke to the man in charge. "We searched the spooks room." He announced. Danny froze, catching his breath as he listened. "But we found no trace of the talking stuffed animal. The kids might have giving us a bit of false information, sir."
Danny exhaled the breath in a silent sigh of relief, leaning back against the hard seat he had been forced into.
"Very well. Let's just get this thing back to the labs before it tries something funny." The man grunted. "Alright! Let's roll out, men!"
Soon, GIW agents were piling into to the van as the engine started up. Once the doors were closed and combat locked, he felt it move forward. Danny closed his eyes, and gave into his fate. Praying that what Tōshō said was true, and they did indeed find a way to escape.
Because he wasn't sure how long he would be able to handle 'lots and lots of painful experiments'.
End Chapter Four
Hoped it was good so far. Not too cliché I hope?