Hi everyone! I honestly wish I had more ready, but school's kicking my butt. I might tweak this later.
Uuuugh⦠school⦠help me, I'm dying~ Brain is mush XD
I had more tidbits that I would have liked to include here, but I've decided to save it for the next chapter.
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"Hey," Superman spoke into the line that connected to Lois' phone. "Listen, there's going to be a little delay."
Down below, a trio of thugs that were robbing the bank are swinging wildly as laughter seemed to echo around them. While the thugs were distracted with their surroundings, a pair of white gloves reached out from the ground and snatched their bags of stolen cash.
"There's a traffic jam on Steelsmith avenue. We're nearby that bakery⦠sorry, they're closed, otherwise I would have picked some up."
"Come out and fight like a man!" Exclaimed what could have been the leader, pointing his pistol about with shaky hands. The man then yelped when it was snatched from his hands and vanished into the air. This happened also to the other men as well.
"Ooooh, a Desert Eagle .357 Magnum," Said the voice before Phantom came to the visible spectrum, who had the guns the men were wielding. "An AK-47? A little clichΓ©, don't ya think?" Superman rose an eyebrow at the comment.
"Give those back!"
The teen merely rose an eyebrow before phasing the guns into the sidewalk. "Oh sure, I'm going to return the guns to the guys that plan on blasting a hole into my skull."
One of the men leapt at the teen, swinging a fist to punch. The fist sailed through harmlessly.
"Now that was just rude."
"I think some of the spares should be good for tonight," Superman said into the device, then listened to the question that was asked. "Oh Danny? He's good-"
A cry of surprise had cut off the Kryptonian, followed by an unimpressed scoff. "Really? A pocket knife? I'm soooo scared." Clark heard the teen say before thumping the man unconscious. "I've seen vacuum cleaners that were scarier!"
"Somebody down the street, don't worry about it," The man of steel said over the line as Lois had heard a bit of the background noise.
"There was an error concerning your withdrawal, so I'm gonna have to freeze your account!" A cold breeze blew past.
Superman answered as Phantom floated up, police cars approaching the site. "Traffic's clearing up so we'll be there soon."
Ending the call, the man of steel then turned to the teen. "Are the robbers secure?"
"Yep!" Phantom replied, looking rather smug.
Glancing down, Superman saw that the thugs were indeed restrained. The first one was cursing up a storm as he hung harmlessly from a street light. The second one was stuck in an icy cage, restrained with what looked like his own belt as the man's pants pooled between his ankles, revealing pink teddy bear boxers. The final one was stuck headfirst inside an ice crocodile, the legs flailing about as the man couldn't escape.
Superman merely raised an eyebrow at Phantom, who's smirk then melted into a falsely innocent look, "What? Did I do something wrong?"
The scene fades away, leaving the surface of the screen blank like the other many viewing screens that adorn the lair.
Soft ticking of clocks encompassed the stoney chamber, accompanying the faint turning of the gears. Several mirrors floated about, with the occasional flash of something across the surfaces.
Floating by a larger screen was a cloaked being. The being, ghost if one will, was a light blue, garbed in royal purple robes and cloak that is held in place by a onyx gear at the shoulder. Many wrist watches and the occasional pocket watch were on his person, each reflecting a different time. The chest cavity of the ghost contained the inner-workings that mimicked a grandfather clock. The ghost had a faint smile.
"At least some are in good company," Clockwork mused, twisting a knob on his staff. The staff looked to be a long, dark iron rod topped with a decorative stand with a clock. "Can't say the same for myself. Took them long enough."
A slam echoed the chamber from the slamming of the door. "CLOCKWORK! What is the meaning of this?!" Demanded several cloaked ghosts as they entered the chamber. The ghosts were all dressed in white robes with golden accents. Black cloaks with high collars framed the single eye that took up each of their entire heads. They had no legs, instead wispy tails flickered about with irritation as they floated towards the master of time.
"Hello Clockwork, how are you this cycle? Oh, I'm doing well, thank you for asking," Clockwork mumbled to himself, before turning to address the (un)welcome guests. "What brings you to my humble abode?"
"You know quite well what we came here for," said one of the cyclops ghosts, the deep tone sounding irritated.
"Actually, I do not," Clockwork said, his appearance changing to reflect the youthful innocence of a toddler. "Could you please elaborate?"
"We are talking about Daniel Fenton and Vladimir Masters," one said, her exasperation evident in her voice. "When Plasmius and Phantom fought for possession of the Infi-map, they had managed to send themselves to another dimension."
"I fail to see what the problem is," Clockwork said, eyebrow arching upwards. "The Infinite Realms are connected to infinitely many dimensions. They could have ended up anywhere simply by using one of the natural portals."
"Except they ended up there," one of them stressed, "that one dimension of all places! Do you know what would happen if either of them were to go where they don't belong? Especially Plasmius with his record."
A screen floating up above them flickers to life.
"WHO DARES?!" Demanded the towering figure that exited the recently open sarcophagus, his one eye narrowing.
"Um, excuse me," called out the cautious Vlad, floating up to be more eye level with the awakened king. "Plasmius. Vlad Plasmius, and I must say I'm a huge fan of your work."
The towering figure did not look impressed.
"And if you recall Daniel's track record, the boy will stop it," Clockwork stated, aging to an elderly persona. "The boy has, and will, surmount such odds."
Another screen plays a scene:
"Such an interesting young one, aren't you?" Drawled the hulking mass of muscle, the stony being's jaw shifting his face to an expression of almost curiosity.
"You think that's interesting, then you'll love this," Phantom panted, fists alight with electric bolts.
"The risk is too great! Clockwork, it is your job to fix this."
"Actually, no."
"WHAT?!"
"My job is making sure that the timestream remains as it should. This is not a temporal matter, as both Daniel and Vladimir are merely dimensionally displaced. The timestream is not under threat, therefore I need not do anything" the time master shifted again, this time to an age that would be considered the prime of life. As Clockwock spoke, a scene lights up.
"This course of action is unacceptable!" Screeched a female ghost of Grecian origins, her tall form looming over her companions as she griped her spear with enough force to crumple the weapon. The others were in agreement, though some were more vocal than others.
"There wasn't any other options," an Observant stated. "You all knew what was to happen-"
"Imprisoning our allies along with our enemies was not necessary," another ghost argued. He had the appearance that dates from quasi-Roman Briton.
"The risk of them escaping was too great!"
"Or," the being mantled in the night sky drawled on, his red eyes narrowing in suspicion, "the risk that they could pose to you was too great."
"Enough! No one is to cross the barrier. On this side, or from the other side of that reality."
"You were quite strict back then, so I don't see why you would go against that decision now."
"What. Are you insinuating Clockwork," one Observant accused, eye narrowing.
"I'm just stating the facts that you have apparently missed. Either way, I see no need to interfere." His form changed twice, back to a toddler, then of an elderly man. "Now, if you don't have anything that is worth my time, I suggest you return to whence you came."
A terse stare off lasted for a moment before the Observants left begrudgingly.
"The one eyed fools think they know everything when they fail to see the more pressing matters. For a group called the Observants, they're quite blind; especially if they failed to notice what I've been doing."
Clockwork then sighed, before smirking a little. "Now that that's taken care of, I can get back to more important matters. I'm sure I am not the only one that would rather see what young Daniel will do next rather than deal with the Observants."
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Black, gloved hands tipped the container into a funneled end, pouring the contents into the apparatus. While Vlad was certain he built the system correctly, it was still prudent to do a test run; he would know what a mistake concerning ectoplasm could result.
Vlad hummed as the machine whirred smoothly, the sounds of flowing liquid signifying the water and other fluids being filtered out. The Lazarus Pits, besides containing ectadized ectoplasm, consisted of a mixture of water, sediments from the cave, and goodness knows what else.
Vlad let the satisfactory smile creep onto his face when the capsules began to fill with the newly-filtered, pure ectoplasm, the green light growing in luminance.
"Excellent! A perfect test run," Vlad remarked, his fanged grin widening. "It's only a matter of time before I have enough to kickstart the portal, and the portal itself is well on its way." He turned to the duplicates of himself that were working on the far side of the hidden lab, the opening of the wall that housed the framework of the portal yawned before the ghostly man.
His moment of satisfaction was briefly interrupted by the notification feature of his watch. While he didn't appreciate any interruptions in his projects, he was waiting for this notification. The man, after securely shutting off the filtration device and storing the fresh ectoplasm, casually made towards a set of monitors.
"Let's see what we can learn about this 'Reach'," Vlad thought aloud, activating a single monitor and toggling the settings until the screen showed the inside of a large enclosure. The room had several pods lined against a wall, with a handful of aliens at several monitors, likely for the pods⦠and their contents. The aliens, while humanoid, possessed an insect-like appearance. Within the pods, Vlad could pick out a few human forms. "And I get to give my newly made spybugs their test run. 'Two birds, one stone' they say."
A set of doors opened, with another of the aliens entering, followed by a dark-skinned young man clad in black armor. The young man's pale green eyes roamed the laboratory. "And these are our labs. Most dedicated on researching the human Meta-gene," the newly arrived alien said to his human companion, gesturing to the room around them.
'What does he mean by meta gene?' Vlad pondered.
"Meta-gene?" The young man asked, voicing out Vlad's question.
"A genetic marker indicating the potential of an individual human to survive catastrophic physical trauma," the alien explained. "By adapting new abilities."
Understanding dawned on the young man's features. "In other words Ambassador, the Meta-gene allows certain human to gain certain superpowers." The Ambassador nodded in confirmation.
'Is that so?' Vlad mused over this information, wondering about the significance of this genetic trait.
The two approached one of the aliens that were working in the lab, probably the head scientist if Vlad had to haphazard a guess.
"Kaldur'ahm, this is the scientist in charge on all Meta-gene research," Ambassador said, unknowingly confirming Vlad's hunch.
The Scientist in question, when addressed, turned around to greet the two. "I understand you are responsible for providing several of our test subjects," she said, looking at the young man. "Gratitude, Kaldur'ahm."
Kaldur'ahm just nodded and walked towards the pods, gazing inside at the occupants. Inside, the humans were sleeping as tiny, metal hands kept poking at them, giving them small shocks.
"I assume that it would interest you to know that in this lab, we are attempting the isolate the Meta-gene by stimulating potentially dormant powers in average humans," the Scientist stated.
"But La'gaan already has powers," Aqualad said, turning to look at the Scientist, gesturing at the person with fish features in the pod. "And he is Atlantean, hardly an average human."
"But his powers are based on training in sorcery," the Scientist countered. "Beyond that, he is an average Atlantean, is he not?"
The young man didn't reply, but the subtle movement of his head conceded her point.
Vlad instructed the miniature spybot to follow the three as they entered a second lab. This one was like the first, though the pods were mostly empty save two. The occupants of those pods voiced their agony as the pods shocked them. While the Scientist and Ambassador were unaffected by the screams, Vlad noted that the young man looked perturbed.
"In this lab, we study humans with active Meta-genes," the Scientist said, both she and the Ambassador hadn't noticed their guest's distraught as they were facing away, "and how they respond to various level of stress. The goal is to learn if their abilities can be extracted or duplicated."
Kaldur had managed to school his expression before addressing the aliens. "I see⦠you seek to weaponize the Meta-gene." The two members of the Reach were unaware of the young man's lidded anger that Vlad had managed to pick up on.
"You never mention he was clever," the Scientist commented to Ambassador, both aliens smirking in amusement.
At this point, Vlad's attention drifted as he mused on what he had learned, barely noting the comment about the blue beetle.
'What sorts of abilities can the meta gene manifest? Are there limits? Does the nature of the event affect what powers develop, or familial lineage?' As he pondered on the possibilities, his gaze fell on the portal in progress. 'I wonderβ¦'
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The bright sun shone down from the clear sky onto the city, the already hot rays bouncing around on the reflective surfaces of skyscrapers before reaching the citizens down below.
Danny grumbled to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow, the heat threatened to bake the ghost boy. This only added to his already sour mood. "Ugh. Don't criminals have anything better to do?"
"Someone's grumpy today," Supergirl stated, flying up to the half ghost.
"What do you mean? I'm as cheerful as I've ever been."
"Sure," the girl said, not sounding convinced. She alighted on the top of a store sign 'Advert Slams', balancing as she tightroped across. "If you were Kryptonian, you'd have melted the streets with that glare of yours⦠uh, you don't have heat vision, right?"
"Not that I'm aware of, but I do have one that will chill you to the bones."
A huff of exasperation escaped as Kara gave an unimpressed look. "Apparently you're not upset enough to stop making puns."
"Apparently," Danny's demeanor lightened as he chuckled, a small smile appearing before turning sheepish. "Yeah, sorry for the sour mood lately. I'm just frustrated that those jerks got away back in Egypt and worried for our friends."
"I get that," the blond nodded, stopping nearby a pair of pigeons resting on the sign, "but there's nothing we can do until the Bats do their magic. After that, we can punch their lights out, rescue everybody, and get back in time for cake."
"Huh?" Phantom looked at the blond inquisitively. "Cake?"
The blond, realizing her little slip-up, gave the ghost boy a carefree shrug. "Or cookies, brownies, or whatever. Knowing Miss Martian, she'll probably bake up something after the mission as a celebration."
Phantom nodded, accepting the explanation as from what he had learned from the female Martian, aside from various tidbits about her homeworld, is that she particularly enjoys baking. "Her cookies are pretty good."
Supergirl hummed in agreement when distant sound of an alarm caught the teens' attention. The girl leapt into the air, startling the birds in the progress. "We got another one!"
"Why are there so many robberies happening in the middle of a heatwave?"
"Don't you wish you were dressed more like me?" The blond teased, indicating her attire, which was a short-sleeved white tee with the super 'S' paired with a light-blue pencil skirt.
Danny sent her a mock-serious look. "Skirts aren't my style."
"You know what I meant," Supergirl huffed playfully, punching him lightly in the shoulder as they both flew towards the sounds of the alarms.
"Speaking of outfits, that's the third different costume I've seen you in. Why is that?"
"I couldn't make up my mind of what I wanted, so I got a couple different sets. This one I'm particularly fond of," she explained, then gave the ghostly teen an impish grin before speeding off. "RACE YA THERE!"
"Hey!" Danny protested, a grin plastering on his face as he flew after.
"LAST PLACE BUYS ICE CREAM!"
"YOU'RE ON!"
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The ring from the phone broke Maddie's concentration of the modifications to their project; the one that would hopefully help in the search to find Danny.
"I got it!" Jack called out, sprinting to the phone to answer it. "This is FentonWorks! How-" the man's shoulders sagged upon hearing the person on the other end. "Ohβ¦ hi momβ¦ No, Danno's still missingβ¦ yeah, and with it coming up tomorrowβ¦ as well as I could be doing consideringβ¦. They're holding upβ¦ I'll tell themβ¦."
Maddie listened to what she could as she snapped a panel in place. They still had an problem with accuracy.
"Hey Madds, mom says if you need to talk about anything, she's got two good ones."
"Tell her it's much appreciated," Maddie said earnestly, then more to herself, "I might take her up on that offer later."
While the Fenton parents were busy with their tasks, the sisters of the house were ready to head out. While Jazz was grabbing something from her room, Dani was already booking it to the front door. The ghost girl pulled the door open, revealing three figures dressed in white suits, the one up front dropping the hand that was ready to knock.
"Hey there kiddo!" The lead Guy in White greeted in an overly cheery tone. "I'm agent M, these are my associates O and K, and we work for the governme-"
The man didn't get the chance to finish as the door was promptly slammed into his face, and for good measure, she engaged all the locks on the door.
"Danielle, what was that?" Maddie called out.
"Nothing!" The girl responded. There was a rap on the door, followed by the chiming of the doorbell. "Nothing important at least."
"Please answer the door, I'll be there in a minute!" Maddie called out; she wanted to clean off the oil from her gloves.
The girl let out a groan, but did as she was told. She opened the door, taking her sweet time to disengage the locks, then peaked out, showing that the three suited agents were still indeed there. "Hey there kiddo~ Agents M, O, and K; we work for the government. Are your folks home?"
"They're busy," was the girl's terse statement as she glared out from the door.
Maddie then arrived to the entrance of the home, opening the door fully. "Who is it hon- oh." Her cheerful tone dropped to something still polite, but otherwise neutral. Danielle remained behind her mother, glaring daggers at the agents. "Can I help you?"
"Hello ma'am, we're agents M, O, and K. Our employer had sent out a proposition-"
"We already gave you our answer," Maddie interrupted the man, "several times in fact: Jack and I aren't selling FentonWorks."
"And Alpha's asking for you to reconsider," M said politely. "He's even willing to raise the offered amount."
"Still not interested," was Maddie's firm answer, which the ghost girl looked smug about. "If that's all, I really need to get back to an important project."
"β¦Yes, of course. Thank you for your time ma'am, have a good one." The agent bid before they left.
Maddie closed the door, finally removing her hand from the knob. "Really."
"Who was that Madds?" Jack asked, hand over the mouthpiece.
"The Guys in White again," the mother responded, "they apparently can't take no for an answer."
"They want to buy FentonWorks?" Dani questioned.
"Yes they do. They especially want the ghost portal. They have plans to harness the Ghost Zone or something; they were quite secretive on the why."
"Not to mention the check they toted: man was that a lot of zeroes!" Jack exclaimed. "Imagine all the fudge that I could buy-" he cut off at the look Maddie sent him, "I mean, it's our life work and our home! You can't place a price on that!"
"That's what I thought you meant," Maddie said in approval as Danielle snickered. "Is your mom still on the line?"
"Oh!" Jack exclaimed, removing his hand from the mouthpiece. "You still there Mom?β¦ yes, that would be niceβ¦. Madds, Mom says hi!"
Jazz had gotten down the stairs and both girls left when the large man started blathering about how his mother's neighbor was a jerk and should probably get a hobby instead of pestering her.
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There was no noticeable life to be seen as the Bioship sliced through the depths. Despite the issues with the tracer, the Gothamite heroes had pinned down the coordinates of where their enemies were holding Blue Beetle, Beastboy, Impulse, and very likely someone called La'gaan aka Lagoon Boy.
"Who's⦠La'gaan?" Danny asked, making sure he pronounced the name right as he admired the Bioship. When he first saw it⦠he wasn't sure what to expect when they had entered the hangar: at least something more aerodynamic. There sat a large egg-looking thing, at least until Miss Martian awoke the craft. To his awe, the Bioship morphed into its arrow-like model.
(It took a good fifteen minutes for Danny to calm down from gushing about the Bioship.)
"He's a teammate from Atlantis, goes by the moniker 'Lagoon Boy', and is the same age as the senior members," Wonder Girl explained in answer to Danny's question, leaning back in her seat. "He was taken captive before you joined the Team."
"And now we have a chance to rescue him as well as the others," Nightwing added.
"How do you know that this La'gaan would be there too?" Danny questioned, with Cassie nodding in agreement.
"Honestly, we can't be entirely sure," Nightwing responded. "But we do know Jaime, Gar, and Bart are there, so it's likely that we'll find La'gaan held there as well."
That made sense, Danny supposed. The intuition seemed more likely when the Manta-Flyer was spotted, the black craft gliding through the water like the manta rays it was modeled after; by the looks of it, the craft seemed to be going in the same direction as themselves.
"We have company," Robin stated as they watched the enemy sub from within the Bioship, generally glad that the camouflage of the Martian craft kept them hidden from immediate sight.
Nightwing tapped out something on his screen before addressing the others. "ETA to the coordinates five minutes. Everyone be ready."
Anticipation brewed in Danny's gut as they followed the Manta-Flyer, the inside of the Bioship engulfed in anxious silence. The sub and Bioship descended into a trench, the waters darkening as they dove downwards and wove past rock formations. Turning past a outcrop, the large form of a craft took form in the depths; the ship was elliptical, a hue of blue-green, and the design had the resemblance of an insect. The bioship halted a little ways away, the occupants watching the Manta-Flyer dock inside the larger craft.
"I should have brought the bug repellent," Danny commented, though it was more to himself as he gazed at the vessel in awe.
Supergirl, having heard the half-ghost, agreed with the sentiment. "Or a giant bug zapper."
"This must be the Light's partner," Nightwing stated, eyes roving their target. "That ship shares the same design sensibility as the bombs that destroyed Malina Island."
"It kinda reminds me of Blue's armor," Wonder Girl remarked.
Nightwing gave a humm of interest before turning towards the back of the ship. "Miss M, Phantom, I want you two to go inside and investigate. Miss M, look into the Manta-Flyer and what the Light may be doing. Phantom, see if you can find the others."
Danny leapt from his seat as Miss Martian stood up from the pilot's seat, allowing Nightwing to take control as she established the mindlink for communication. The new presence caused Danny to startle a bit, despite expecting the mental connection.
{You okay?} Megan asked in concern to the ghost boy.
{I'm good! I'm just not used to talking to others via instant mental chat.}
{That's good. It does take some getting used to from what I hear.} the female Martian said with relief, but there was also a tone of curiosity as well. Huh. {Everyone connected?} She asked the others, getting confirmations in response.
{Everyone, move out.}
Intangibility washed over Danny's form as both he and Miss Martian phased out of the Bioship, the Martian changing her form to acclimate to the deep-water climate.
'Into the belly of the beast,' Danny thought as they phased into the ship, Miss Martian heading in the direction where the Manta-Flyer docked while Danny went the other direction. The inside made Danny think of various video games and other forms of media that depicted aliens with the hallways looking like the inside of an animal. The walls were varying hues of purples and blues.
{Phantom and I are inside the alien ship.} Miss Martian said, through the link. {The Manta-Flyer's docked in some kind docking bay⦠and it looks like they have several people inside pods of some kind.}
{So they're abducting civilians⦠probably for the same reason why the Kroloteans were.} Robin mused. {How many civilians?}
{About a dozen from what I can see, though there may be more. I found the perfect place for the Bioship to dock while we mount the rescue-} For a brief moment, Danny could feel anger flare through the link. {Oh no, Aqualad's here.}
{Stay whelmed.} Nightwing said. {He shouldn't be looking for you. Either way, don't attract attention. Phantom, what's your status?}
{Haven't found them yet, just a bunch of creepy-looking rooms with creepy-looking bug people.} Danny replied as he phased through walls, passing guards and other possible threats invisibly. The aliens would never know of the ghost boy passing them easily.
He eventually entered what looked like a lab, and immediately spotted Beastboy and Impulse inside two pods. The setup was a little too familiar to the ghost boy, phantom sensations of electricity prickled his skin before he shook off the unwanted memory.
{I found Beastboy and Impulse!} Danny declared through the link, zipping up to the pods. {They're unconscious, but seem okay. Blue Beetle's not here though.}
{Good work Phantom. We're inside as well with a visual of the prisoners. Get them out and we'll track down Blue.}
He needed no further prompting, phasing his hands in and grabbing the teen heroes, then phasing them back out since he figured that attempting to open the pods would trigger some sort of alarm.
"Beastboy, wake up," Danny said, grasping the shapeshifter's shoulder and giving him a light shake.
The boy gave a groan, eyes blinking at the lights as he tried to focus off the teenager before him. "Phantom?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah⦠sore, but I'm good," the shapeshifter said as the ghost boy helped him to his feet. "That wasn't fun."
"I can imagine," Danny quipped before turning his attention to Bart, who was already stirring and getting up. "You okay Impulse?"
"I'm good. Thanks for the save Travel Buddy!"
Both Danny and Garfield gave the speedster a questioning look, with Danny voicing out, "Travel Buddy?"
"Yeah, we're travel buddies! I'm the tourist from the future, and you're the impromptu vacationer from another dimension." Suddenly, alarms blared overhead, gaining their attention before the speedster got up. "GottafindBlue!"
"Wai-" Danny wasn't able to finish as Impulse sped off. "Aaaaand there he goes.
"Probably could be called Impulsiveβ¦" Beastboy looked between the ghost boy and the direction Impulse had ran off. "Should we follow after him?"
"We should," Danny replied. Floating off the ground, the ghost boy scooped up the shapeshifter, who gave a surprised yelp, and flew after Impulse. {Impulse ran ahead to find Blue Beetle. Beastboy and I are following after.}
{Understood. Once you find Blue, get to the Bioship.}
"Okay people, let's go!" Batgirl called out, she and some of the other heroes escorting the rescued civilians while the others fended off several aliens garbed in red armor. "The Bioship is down this hall."
One of the red-clad aliens was just about to attack the newly released Atlantean, but was intercepted by Miss Martian. Lagoon Boy gave the Martian a playful grin. "Thank you Angelfish."
"You're welcome!" The Martian chirped before embracing the Atlantean. She nuzzled into the crook of his neck before gazing up into his eyes. "I missed you."
"As did I," La'gaan said, giving a light peck to her lips as one hand carded her hair while the other went to the small of her back. He savored the warmth of her embrace and especial scent-
"Get a room you two!" The distinct voice of a young female called out.
"Where's Beastboy?" The Atlantean asked, pointedly ignoring the remark from the Kryptonian.
"He, Impulse, and Phantom are looking for Blue before meeting up with us."
La'gaan's version of eyebrows scrunched up a tad, showing his confusion. "Who's Phantom?"
The Martian blinked, then lightly bopped her forehead with the heel of her hand with a "Hello Megan!" before explaining. "It's a long story, but he's basically a new member of the Team."
Lagoon Boy looked like he wanted to ask questions, ones that M'gann would have answered, but he didn't get the chance as Superboy was thrown down the hall. Emerging from their intended getaway, a hulking alien stalked forward with a menacing grin. The alien was clad in an armor that resembled Blue Beetle's, but with a black color scheme and a burly build compared to Jaime's slim build.
"Apologies, Meats," the alien sneered, outstretching his hand to touch the wall. The door behind him responded, slamming shut⦠and effectively trapping the Team. "But no one's going anywhere."
"Listen, uh⦠Black Beetle!" Wonder Girl said, pointing at the newly dubbed Black Beetle. "You're totally outnumbered! Open those doors now and we'll go easy on you!"
"You? go easy on me?" Black Beetle exclaimed in what could have been mistaken for incredulousness before giving a sinister chuckle.
"Why don't I like the sounds of that?" Bumblebee asked rhetorically.
"I'm going to give that guy a real reason to laugh," Supergirl grumbled, eyes glowing red.
Beastboy, having changed his form to that of a spider monkey, clung to Danny's back as the half-ghost sped down the hallways in the direction that they saw Bart head down.
"I hope that he hasn't gotten too-" as Danny rounded the bend and, unable to react fast enough, ended up colliding with two figures. He glanced up to find Aqualad and the woman called Tigress gazing at him. "Um, we're trying to find the restrooms. I don't suppose you'd be willing to give directions?"
Tigress leapt at the ghost boy, the teen managing to duck the intended blow to the head before dodging a water whip.
"I guess that's a no."
The monkey hurled himself off the ghost boy, morphing into a panther
to fight off their assailants as Danny aided with a mix of ectoblasts and punches.
Phantom eventually found himself facing off the Atlantean, the man armed with two water-bearers.
"Take your best shot, but you'll find that you don't stand a ghost of a chance against me!"
Aqualad lunged at the ghostly teen, twin blades of hard-water constructs slicing at their target, but simply struck a green energy shield a few times before he had to retreat back a few steps to dodge an ectoblast.
Phantom shot two more blasts, each evaded, before letting intangibility wash over his form as the Atlantean found an opening to make a stab. The ghost boy vanished from view, only to reappear behind Aqualad to kick out underneath his legs.
Taken by surprise, Aqualad manage to recover, rolling to his feet. The blades became writhing whips, assaulting from different angles at the teen.
Beastboy, currently a panther, attempted to pounce the female fighter. Tigress simply flipped over the panther, casting a set of bola's to entangle the shapeshifter. This worked for but a moment, as the panther simply morphed to a python, easily escaping his bindings. Once free, Beastboy morphed into a kangaroo, kicking out both legs to strike the woman. While Tigress had dodged, she did not anticipate the shapeshifter to morph into a goat, ramming his head into the woman's side and sending her tumbling.
The ghost boy wove between strikes of manipulated water, trying to land a hit on Aqualad. "So, are you able to control other elements as well as water, or those glowy tattoos don't mean that you're the Avatar?"
"I'm familiar with the strategy that you're attempting to pull," Kaldur stated, wrapping a tendril of water around the teen's ankle while feinting an attack and tossed the ghost boy across the hallway. "You'll find that it won't work easily on me." The tendrils poised up above the Atlantean before striking downwards at Phantom, the teen phasing through the floor before emerging not far from where he first was.
"You're the 'stick-in-the-mud' type? Water bummer! I thought that you would shorely be a chill dude," Danny quipped, his eyes glowing blue before freezing Aqualad's water constructs when they attempted to strike again, shattering the ice with a kick.
Danny barely noticed the bolt shot at him, narrowly evading the shot before Tigress came charging with a staff. Dodging Tigress' onslaught with some difficulty, Danny created his own staff from his ice, blocking each attack.
A kick. A jab. An elbow in the ribs. A staff was knocked from hands, only for the offender to be grappled. An attempt to throw the brunette, only for her to twist herself and pull the ghost boy down. The teen phased through the floor.
Having an idea of what Phantom was intending, Tigress pulled out several tablets. Just as he emerged behind the woman, Tigress flung the tablets to the ground, closing her eyes as they went off in a blinding flash. The ghost boy gave a yelp, temporarily loosing focus as the flash blinded the boy. This moment was all that was needed for Tigress to pin the teen against a closed door.
"I'd stay down if I were you," Tigress hissed at the teenager.
"When I thought of being in a girl's arms, this wasn't it," Phantom commented to himself, making a blind grab for her shoulder straps. "Sorry kitty, but this cat fight ends now."
Turning both himself and the woman intangibile, he let himself and Tigress fall backwards through the door. In a backwards roll, he used the momentum to launch the brunette with his feet. He didn't notice that his hand had snagged on something, pulling it free.
Tigress pulled herself from the ground, grunting a bit. He was pretty sure he heard the woman mutter "The kid's a scrappy fighter." Blinking the remaining spots from his sight, he shifted to a ready stance in case if the blond-
The teenager blinked; His vision had already recovered from the flare, so it shouldn't be him. "Uh, what's with the color change?" Danny voiced out, pointing at her blond locks. Not just her hair, but her eyes and complexion changed as well odd enough.
"Wha-" Tigress quickly grabbed her hair, then frantically patted her neck before searching the ground. "Where is it?!"
Confused, the boy glanced about, eventually spotting a necklace nearby. He recalled the young woman wearing it earlier, figuring that it was what she was looking for. "Hey, I think th- OW!"
A smack to the head dazed the ghost boy, the necklace swiped from his hand as Tigress swiftly clipped the trinket back in place before vacating.
"You're welcome," Danny grumbled, rubbing the sore spot as he exited the room.
Tigress had regrouped with Aqualad, who fought off Beastboy and the recently arrived Impulse and Blue Beetle, the Hispanic teen leaning against the speedster.
"There you are Travel Buddy! Let's get going! Hasta pointo!"
"It's hasta pronto," Blue corrected the speedster.
The ghost boy flew to his friends, grabbing them. "Sea you later Aquaboy!" Phantom called out, phasing the four of them through the walls.
The two young adults stood there, looking at where the youth had disappeared before Artemis let out a groan.
"God, that kid's got Nightwing's humor!"
Aqualad gave the disguised archer a small smirk. "So you've noticed." It was somewhat nostalgic hearing the teen's witty banter, reminding him of his comrades several years ago. While Nightwing had matured a lot over the years, he was still witty and his preference of wordplay remained.
"How could I not," the archer grumbled before turning to look at the Atlantean and whispered in a urgent tone. "Kaldur, the charm came off while I was fighting the kid. He saw."
Kaldur's brow was furrowed in worry and contemplation. "Did he recognize you?"
"I don't think so."
"β¦That's something we'll worry about later. Right now, we have to ensure that the plan goes accordingly."
La'gaan gave a pained grunt as he pulled himself from the floor, muscles aching from both fighting and his prolonged imprisonment. He and the others were struggling against the Black Beetle. It was thanks to the efforts of both supers and Wonder Girl that kept the armored alien from having too big a upper hand, but Black Beetle was like a machine in wearing them down and not seeming to tire himself. It also didn't help matters that Shimmer was fighting against them as well.
The Black Beetle laughed, swatting one of the birdarangs away before shooting his sonic cannon at Robin, "You are all foolish to think that a couple of meats can stand against me."
"You'd be surprised!"
"I highly doubt it," the beetle said snidely, calling forth a pair of scythe-like blades to swat away Superboy as he fired a plasma cannon at two of the Bats and Wonder Girl.
A green shield materialized, protecting the three from the attack as someone unrecognizable appeared; it was a kid, and very likely the one that conjured up the forcefield.
"Hey bugman," the white-haired kid called out, "two words: Buzz off!" La'gaan then realized that this must be the Phantom guy M'gann had mentioned.
The doors opened, revealing Beastboy, Impulse, and Blue Beetle. The shapeshifter morphed into a moose, charging at the Black Beetle while Jaime fired his own weapons.
{Great timing guys!} Batgirl said, {We need to get the rest of the civilians to the Bioship, and Black Beetle here's not making it easy.}
{Beetle? How about roach.} Kara commented, rescuing Beastboy from an impromptu flight. {He can really take a hit.}
{Roach? That's appropriate.}
{Focus. Any of you that are able, divert Black Beetle's attention while the rest get the civilians and injured out.}
{Aye aye captian!} Phantom said through the link in response to Nightwing. Without warning, the energy shield was dropped and the kid sped at the Black Beetle, ramming the armored alien in a shoulder tackle. "Hope you're up for a little game of slug bug!"
La'gaan couldn't help but be drawn to watching Phantom evade Black Beetle's attacks with interest. The way the teen wove through the air was almost reminiscent of some eels he's seen before, but with more grace.
"C'mon La'gaan, let's get going," Wonder Girl said, shaking the Atlantean's shoulder lightly. Snapping out of his daze, the Atlantean moving with the blond, her helping him along some.
"You're attacking us with a stapler? What's next, giant paper clips of doom?" La'gaan heard the teen taunt as his group escorted the civilians to the awaiting Bioship.
They made it to the Martian craft without any further impositions, Nightwing waiting there for them. "Nice to see you Lagoon Boy."
"Took you long enough," La'gaan said without heat. "Neptune's beard, am I glad to be out of there!"
It was not too long after when Impulse, Supergirl with Robin in arm, and Beast Boy came sprinting down the hall, with water rushing from where they came.
"Everyone get in now! The ship's gonna flood!" Supergirl called out.
"Blue and Phantom aren't here," Wondergirl said worriedly. The walls rumbled before the rate of flooding increased to the point where the Bioship started taking on water.
"Nightwing, seal the hatch!" Batgirl shouted. "Docking base is flooding the hold!"
"Acknowledged!" Nightwing replied as he shut the hatch, stopping the water from flooding their craft more.
"But what about-"
"We can't help them if we drown or got crushed by the pressure of this depth!" Batgirl stated.
"Besides, doors are optional for me," Phantom snarked as both he and Blue Beetle phased into the Bioship. The sudden appearance of the two heroes startled some of the civilians. "I hope you weren't planning on leaving us here."
"Blue!" Impulse called out, dashing to the two teens as the rest of the younger heroes gathered around the duo. "Phantom! You made it hermanoes!"
"Of course we did," Jaime said tiredly, plopping into a chair with a satisfied huff.
"Bugman was all wet if he thought he could stop us," Phantom snarked. "Bet he's in deep water with his bosses."
The blond Kryptonian, who had sat in the chair next to Phantom, gave him an unimpressed look. "Really?"
"What?"
"We have everyone, let's go!"
It was a tense moment evading weapon fire from the larger ship, but they slipped away none the less. Once away from the ship, the passengers of the Bioship lost their apprehension.
Now that they were reasonably safe, La'gaan could now really get a good look at the new team member. M'gann had once shown him a video of a kitten, the young thing stumbling about on its large paws and getting into mischief because of curiosity. The teen could have been the personification of that kitten: bright green eyes glowed with mirth and curiosity, white gloves and boots housed hands and feet that the teen had yet to grow into, and a slight clumsiness that manifested when the teen walked to his seat, tripping a little on his own two feet. There was also the fact, to add interest, that the youth had a glow about him, bathing his surroundings in a soft light.
La'gaan wasn't the only one looking, as several of the civilians were also studying the teen and speaking quietly amongst themselves.
"So," he eventually stated, gaining general attention, "There's quite a bit I've missed, and there's a new guppy added to the school."
The teen realized he was talking about him and all the stares, as he gave an awkward wave and fidgeted in his spot. "Um, hi⦠I'm Danny Phantom- Phantom! Uh, you're Lagoon Boy, right?"
Here's the 'Before the Dawn' chapter.
The title of this chapter and the previous chapter are from the song 'Until I Go' by Kyle Gordon. I like to listen to music as I write for inspiration. So congrats to Jhon Bayona for guessing the title reference of Chapter nine; it was indeed a Hamilton reference. The music service had suggested the song as "something I would like" based on previous songs and artists... While I hated that function (that turned back on every update) and the suggestions are way off mark, I will concede that it was right once. So that chapter, I was trying to mimic the vibes from both that song and 'Friends on the Otherside' from The Princess and the Frog movie.
I enjoyed reading everyone's predictions of which ghost(s) will be showing up. I've seen some really close guesses, but no mentions of a certain ghost. Don't worry: they all will appear at one point or another.
Sebatiean: What's that? *yeets character development at characters* you don't like the amity Park scenes? *hands freshly-polished Chekhov's gun to character* oh well, that's too bad. I found that's it's better to show rather than tell, especially for certain details coming up...
If you don't like it, then okay; but I'm still doing scenes in Amity.
Brenne: Oh yes, Danny will be practicing his duplication, but I think we all could guess how that could go...
Hypothetical situation, very hypothetical
Danny tries to duplicate.
Fails, instead gets second head.
GA has the misfortune to enter room at that point of time. I'm pretty sure you can guess what happens next...
Coming up next, unless changes happen: the GIW are hiding something, a Danny and Constantine mission, a visit to the Kents, a not-so-glorious encounter, and a surprise. Not necessarily in that order...
A friendly reminder to please be polite in the comments, to others as well as to me. I thank you and have a good one!