A/N: Sorry for the wait! I would've updated sooner, but I had a tiny bit of writer's block on this chapter, even though I have nearly all the story planned out. Anyway, on with the phic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I do own Itzal, Torqueo, and anything associated with it.
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"Get up hybrid! Come on, we don't have all day!"
This was the first thing that Danny heard as the van he was held in finally stopped moving. He looked up to see the tall man who had called himself Itzal standing over him.
"Where am I?" Danny demanded. "Where have you taken me?"
"None of your business," Itzal snarled at him, giving him a hard kick in the side. "We've arrived at your new home." He grabbed Danny by his chains and forced him out of the black van, which was now in a strange, large white garage with several more of these vans. Itzal and the others dragged Danny though a door leading into a long, dimly lit hallway.
"What is this place?" Danny half whispered to himself. "Where is it?"
"This facility is called Torqueo. Look it up in a Latin dictionary and you'll see why we chose that name." Itzal said coldly. "It will give you an idea of exactly what you'll experience here."
"As for where we are, that's for us to know, and for you to never find out!" one of the men surrounding Danny snapped. He raised a bright green whip and struck Danny on the back.
"Not too much now, Dougal." Itzal said. "You can torment the boy later, once he is Placed."
Danny's head slowly looked up. "Placed? What do you mean by that?" The only answer he got was another sharp whiplash from Dougal.
"Don't ask questions."
Danny sighed, seeing that he obviously wouldn't get any answers. He looked around as the men pulled him along, his blue eyes desperately searching for something that would ease his nervousness. If anything, it only increased the tension he felt. Small rooms that looked like jail cells lined the walls of two of the white hallways. Danny could see that there were shimmering green force fields stationed almost everywhere. "Ghost shields," he muttered, realizing now why they had demanded he turn into human form as soon as he got in the van.
At long last, Itzal turned down another hallway, opening a white office door, throwing Danny on the hard floor. Itzal went in next, followed by Dougal and the others. He sat in the chair stationed behind the desk.
"Now hybrid," Itzal smirked. "It's time we got down to business."
"Stop calling my hybrid!" Danny shouted. "My name is Danny!" Dougal suddenly jerked on Danny's chains, choking him.
"You're name won't matter soon," Itzal said, glaring down at his prisoner. "You'll be getting your new identity soon."
"New identity?" Danny gasped. "What do you-" another hard pull on his chains silenced him.
"How many times must we tell you, don't ask questions?" Dougal whispered threateningly. "Do you want us to put you through the hardest tests of the Survival Game before you've been here for 24 hours?"
"What is the-" Danny started, but remembering what they had said about not asking questions, he fell silent.
"All your questions will be answered in time." Itzal hissed. "I will explain some things, however." He got up from is desk and proceeded to circle Danny like a vulture. "I am Itzal Apollyon, the leader of this place. Whatever I say goes! Otherwise," he whipped out a dagger and waved in dangerously close to Danny's throat. "…You pay the price. Understand?"
Danny nodded fearfully, eyeing the dagger that was so close he could almost feel it pushing into him.
Taking away the dagger, Itzal continued. "My assistant here, Dougal Carey, often trains our prisoners here in the Survival Game. He has a habit of using some of the most painful training tactics." He laughed, a dry, insane laugh that reminded Danny very much of the crackle of dead leaves.
"The contract you signed," Itzal went on, "gives us full right to do whatever we want to you. No exceptions."
"Contract?"
Danny turned toward the door. A brown-haired girl about 15 years old stood at the doorway. She wore a white shirt and pants that looked like some kind of uniform, her blue eyes widened in confusion.
"Arlene," Itzal stated with no emotion. "What are you doing here?"
"Melinda sent me to check on the new prisoner, Sir." Arlene handed Itzal a note.
"I see," Itzal said. "Well, in that case, you can escort him to his new quarters when we're done here. We were just about to give him his new identity."
"New iden-" Arlene started, but a malicious look from Itzal cut her off midsentence.
Itzal turned back to Danny. "From this day onward, you shall not be known as Danny Fenton. You are not human, but a hybrid. From now on you shall be called 139."
"One-Three-Nine?" Danny echoed in shock.
"Correct." Itzal said. "We shall make it official tomorrow."
"Uh, Sir?" Arlene asked, pointing at the clock, which read 12:14am. "It is tomorrow."
Itzal turned toward the clock and smiled. "So it is, good job Arlene. We will wait a few hors anyway, for the new round of the Survival Game to start." He looked toward the newest prisoner. "139, come with me and Arlene."
Danny, now known as 139, glared at Itzal as he slowly got up. Itzal grabbed his long chain and dragged him along. "Great," he thought. "I haven't even been here a half an hour, and already I can tell this place is bad news."
The group finally stopped at one of the cell-like doors they had passed earlier-Cell 24. Arlene quickly walked into her cell room, giving a slight nod to Itzal.
"Bye Danny," she whispered as the door shut.
Further down the hall, Itzal came to a stop at another door-Cell 13. This one looked smaller than Arlene's had been. Releasing the young hybrid from his bounds at last, Itzal threw him into his cell, locking the door behind him. "Good night, half-blood."
Danny looked around at the room that he was now to call home. There wasn't much in it: a small bathroom, a bed, and a table with a book placed on it. Exhausted, he flopped down on the bed, trying to fall asleep. "I don't know how I'll be able to fall asleep in this place," he muttered to himself.
Then something occurred to the young halfa-something that Itzal had said. He picked up the red book on the small table, and saw it said Latin Dictionary. He flipped through the dictionary until he found the word he was looking for. He steeled himself to read it:
Torqueo: (vb) – to twist, curl, rack, torture, torment, distort, test.
As the young hybrird felt sleep overcome him in his new surroundings, he had only one thought on his mind:
"This place is going to be a living nightmare."
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A/N: Muahaha! Danny arrived at Torqueo and already it's bad! What new horrors will he face? Find out next chapter! Remember to review!
