I don't know what's worse, me torturing Danny and enjoying or shoving all the l33t in here? n0, l33t is g00d. Torturing Danny is just plain fun…! XD

Six: Remedies for Memories

"You've been acting weird since last night, man," ZeE said in a low voice, spearing a piece of egg on his fork and putting it in his mouth, speaking past it, "I mean, we're all a little weird and I dunno if this is some sort of halfa thing you have once a month or something but your moodiness is really bugging me."

Danny didn't respond, his brow furrowed, more playing with his food than eating it. He was contemplating a way to escape, trying to recall of the things he'd learned about Ed's School since he'd been there. But it was like a blur of happy memories; he could barely remember the paths he'd taken the night before, the moments smudged together at the edges, making him lose his focus. His thoughts would take sudden turns of their own as his ears caught the melody that was constantly playing in the background, making him wonder what was for lunch later or what they were doing after breakfast. It was these moments when he'd shake himself and set his thoughts straight again. But having ZeE and Alex chattering away in his ear wasn't helping.

"Danny…!" Alex sounded almost like he was whining, "Quit moping, you look like you've lost a million dollars on the streets on New York!"

"I have lost something…" Danny murmured, not looking up from the mess of food on his tray, "All the important things that I shouldn't have forgotten but I have."

"And what did you forget?" ZeE asked cheekily. The halfa shot him a glare and then turned away, closing his eyes and tilting his head back.

"Precious memories," He said in such a low voice that the other two almost couldn't hear him over the noise of the cafeteria, "Treasured memories…memories that should not have been forgotten but have…memories of a land far back in time…memories of a home…" A frown came across his face and ZeE and Alex shared a glance; Danny sure was acting weird, "Memories of loved ones…memories of friends…memories of fun times…memories of a pure night sky filled with stars…"

"Danny, are you okay?" Alex asked but the boy didn't respond.

"Memories of peace and quiet…memories that I wish I'd held on to…memories of things that are shrouded in tears and darkness…" Danny's hands were clenched into trembling fists on the table top and several of the other kids had stopped to see what was going on, "Memories in memories…memories that I cannot recall…memories of smiles and laughter…memories of who I am…memories of things that I should not have shunned but have…" A shiver ran through him and the bracelets of his wrists glowed softly but didn't spark like before, "Memories unable to pass that wall of regret…memories…precious memories…long forgotten memories…empty memories…memories…treasured memories…"

"Daniel." The group of kids parted and several men in blue walked forward. Danny opened his eyes and turned towards them, "You are needed for medical exams. Please come with us."

"Nuh-uh!" Danny shot up and jumped over the table, scattering food and drink everywhere, leaping from one table to the next, "Can't catch me!"

"Get him." The man who had spoken ordered and the other men were after Danny in a split second. ZeE, Alex, and several other teens cried out, throwing themselves out of the way as the men barreled along.

"Go, Danny, go!" ZeE cheered from the floor, "Run, run, run! Ouch!"

"Don't encourage him! He's going to get in big trouble for this!" Alex moaned, "And we might too!"

"Crud…!" ZeE's flashing bluish-gray eyes followed the chase around the cafeteria, worry etched into his face. Danny, meanwhile, was doing a brilliant job of avoiding capture. No doubt his almost two years of fighting ghosts had honed his skills and, despite what a klutz he usually was, when it came to fighting (or in this case just running away) he became quite agile and quick.

A cocky grin of determination had split his features as he went, jumping over other teens, bouncing from one table top to the next, never slipping, always two steps ahead of the men in blue. He had almost made it to the door when one of them actually jumped and grabbed his ankle, sending him crashing to the floor. A struggle ensued. Danny kicked out at the man, catching him in the nose and spurt of blood splattered across the floor but he didn't let go. The other men snatched at the struggling fifteen year old as well. One of them managed to get a hold of his wrists and pin them behind his back while another looped his arm around Danny's neck. Danny bit him and he cried out, reeling backwards. The boy shouted a few choice words, completely oblivious to the fact that every single kid in the cafeteria was watching him, still kicking at the man that clung to his ankle. One man grabbed a fistful of the halfa's hair and yanked backwards savagely. Danny screamed in pain and this gave the other men a chance to grab his other leg, lifting him into the air and dragging him out the door, kicking and screaming all the way.

"Whoa…" One girl whispered though it carried over the silence, "I've never seen anything like that before…"

All the kids started muttering about how Danny had acted but ZeE and Alex were silent, starring at the closed door. Something was up and it wasn't just the fact that Danny was acting weird. If someone didn't want to go to a medical examination, they weren't forced to, the doctors left them alone until the person worked up the courage to face them. Never before had someone had to put up a fight like that. Then again, no one here was a halfa.

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"Why're you doing this!?" Danny screamed, pulling, twisting, wrestling against his captors' holds, the only thing he saw was the ceiling or the arms or faces of the men holding him, "Let me GO! I don't want to go back there! Let GO!"

He saw the familiar white ceiling of the medical hall, heard a door hiss open, and then was thrown into a chair, the hands holding him releasing their firm grips. He immediately tried to get up and run but one of the men pressed a button on a control panel and green and silver cuffs strapped his arms and legs down.

"Hey! Let me go! Don't leave me in here!" He screamed after the men as they left, leaving him strapped in the chair, "Dang it all…" He lolled his head back and looked up at the ceiling, rage boiling in him, painful little sparks leaping off the bracelets that were, in a way, like the Specter Deflector (I'd forgotten what it was called until now XP), "I have to get out of here; whatever's going on here, why ever they're kidnapping kids, I've got to get out of here and tell…and tell…and tell…" He trailed off miserably, his anger dying down in a wave of sorrow. He still couldn't remember people's names, only faces and feelings. It hurt.

"Well, well, well, Daniel," It was the monotone-voiced doctor from before, face and eyes covered, "I heard you gave our staff a bit of trouble. Do you not like the doctor's office?"

"It's all white and boring," Danny growled back, "And you shocked me last time, of course I don't like it here…!" After a brief pause he added, "And you made me forget. You people, whatever that song is that's playing everywhere, it's doing something to me! I can't remember-!"

"There's nothing to remember, Daniel."

"Don't play dumb with me!" Danny shouted, leaning towards the doctor as far as the restraints would let him, "You know! I know you do! Tell me why! Why can't I remember any of their names!? Why can't I remember who they're supposed to be!? Why are my memories so screwed up!? What did you do!?"

Doc sighed, taking a seat at the control panel and unwinding some wires. Danny watched him with blazing blue eyes, his anger returned. He hated this place, he decided, he didn't know what they were planning but he hated this place all the same.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to go to sleep, Daniel," Doc bent forward and stuck something over Danny's head, covering his ears and Danny struggled against it but it did little good, "I suppose you have an addiction to music, right, living in the same room as Alexander?" He snapped something over the boy's face and Danny blew a raspberry into it. Like it helped any.

"What're you doing?" Danny snarled, "Why're you doing it!?"

"Can't tell secrets I don't know." Doc replied flatly, turning some knobs and flipping a switch, "You can just stay here for a couple of hours and I'll come back for you later." He left.

Danny glared at the closed door, his rage making his breathing faster. A few seconds later, that cursed music started playing in his ears and there was nothing he could do about it. It fogged his mind, like the sleeping gas that was probably coming into the mask that was over his face, his eyelids grew heavy, he sank limply into the chair, vision blurred, fighting to stay awake…and inevitably losing.

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"You think Danny's gonna be okay? He's been gone for almost four hours." ZeE asked, tossing a plastic ball he'd snatched from the gym up and down in the air, laying on his back on his bed, "He looked really, really upset about something."

"I've never seen anyone act in such a rage before," Alex responded, more to himself than anything, one earphone in his left ear, the other dangling over his chest, "It was insane…! I'm sure he's fine, though, ZeE, I don't think you have to worry. Danny's a tough goober!"

"Goober?"

"What?"

"I never thought I'd hear you say 'goober'."

"Goober. There, I said it again."

"Yeah, but this time you were smiling and-." The door opening cut off the hacker and distracted him, the plastic ball smacking into his forehead and rolling under Danny's bed. Standing in the threshold was a woman in blue and Danny. Actually, the woman was standing and Danny was swaying on the spot, his eyes dulled, half-closed, a giddy little smile on his lips.

"Daniel has gone through some rough examination," Said the woman, "He's currently under the heavy influence of a medical drug and needs care. Alexander, take those ear bugs out right now." Alex did so slowly, his eyes locked on Danny's strange expression, "Good boy. Now, go on Danny, go to your friends."

She nudged him into the room and he took a couple of shaky steps forward before bursting into a fit of giggles and collapsing. The woman closed the door, leaving Alex to heft Danny into a more upright position while ZeE, in a hurried effort to get to the other two, got tangled in his bed sheets.

"Danny, are you okay!? Danny answer me, come on!" Alex lightly shook the other boy, searching his face for some sign of recognition but Danny just sat there grinning, spurting out little giggles every now and again, limp as a rag doll and just as responsive as one.

"What's wrong with him!?" ZeE had finally managed to get untangled and was crouching beside Alex on the floor, pushing Danny's black bangs out those dull blue eyes, "He's acting like he's wasted! Danny?" Light fingers tapped the halfa's cheek and the boy rolled his head on his shoulders, turning his vacant smile on ZeE, "Man, you're freaking me out…!"

"Hee, hee," Danny sniggered, sprawling into Alex's lap, "Ahahaha! It's so funny…!" He gave a shout of a laughter and the resided into his giggling again before continuing, "I don't care…!"

"You don't…what, I don't understand." Alex pushed the drugged Danny off of him, "And you're scaring the crap out of me."

"I don't care…because there's nothing to care about…!" Danny laughed, rolling around on the carpet floor like a dog rolling in the dirt, "No, no, no…! No nothing! Nothing no!"

"He's stoned or something," ZeE muttered, "I've met a couple guys like this. They don't think, they just talk and they don't even know what they're doing most of the time."

"He's not stoned or wasted or whatever," Alex growled, hooking his arms under Danny's elbows and attempting to drag the boy to his bed, "It's just some sort of medical reaction thingy. I dunno, help me over here…!"

The two managed to get Danny into the bed and after a moment of laughing seemingly at nothing, the halfa settled down and closed his eyes. Eventually the other boys figured he must have fallen asleep because every so often, Danny would twitch or mutter something incoherent. ZeE and Alex ignored him.

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"That worked far better than I thought it would have, especially on him."

"Sir?"

"Well, he's a halfa, isn't he. To think that a simple song could block out all those memories, amazing. Are things going well?"

"Yes sir, we have most of the test samples ready to be tested. It's only a matter of time before we get the last two. Would you like us to begin?"

"Yes, I would. And make sure you snag the halfa as a subject, I want to see what results from his contact with this…ectoplasmic essence."

"Of course, Sir."

"And his orange haired friend looks to be a likely candidate. I want him tested as well. And no mistakes, do you understand?"

"Perfectly, Sir."

"Excellent. Now, tell me how that shield over the Yokai Ghost Pits is holding up…"

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Whoa! Long chapter and I gave a lot of stuff away if you can put the pieces together! Smoly Hokes!
Hee, hee, Danny was in a drugged sleep, can you blame him for acting all weird. Don't worry thought, he'll be normal by the next chapter. And whoever was talking there knows about the Yokai Ghosts. Good or bad? Hm, let's find out, shall we?