DOODLE HERE!

A random little thing I've been thinking about recently - WHAT THE HELL HAS KATY PERRY BEEN DOING IN HER SPARE TIME?! SERIOUSLY! "I kissed a girl and I liked it" - WHAT THE HELL?

Anyway. Had to get that out of my system. : )

THANKS SOOO MUCH TO THE AWESOME SPARKY-NII WHO EDITS MY STORIES! SHE'S LYK PWNSME. SRRRRSLY. :heart:

Note from Sparky: It's honestly no problem. I love doing it 8DD And hey, it means I get first read on all of Doodle-chan's awesome fanfics :3 So yeah. Enjoy the read! X3

Enjoy!

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Danny was awake. Just like that - he didn't remember opening his eyes, but the next thing he realized was that he was curled up in the corner of a cold, pitch-black metal room. His teeth chattered - it was freezing! He also really, really needed to get to a bathroom. Badly so. He squinted around the room, and his gaze fell upon a bucket. He stared at it for a moment, then grimaced. It looked like he was going to have to deal with it.

Once he was done, he hobbled around the room on stiff legs, checking out the metal room. Why was he in here? He thought back through his memory - he remembered that Falcon was going to scan him, and Fox had grabbed him from behind with a blindfold. He had been in .. a seat? A cold, stone one? Or had it been comfy, and cushioned? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything after that..

He cursed. Something bad had obviously happened in that mysterious blotch in his memory. Damn, this was bad. How was he supposed to know whether to lie or not now? Had he revealed his identity as a hybrid? Or was Vlad in charge here, an even worse prospect? Damn, damn, damn. Not good.

Danny quickly discovered that this group of people, whoever they were, were secluding him from the others. So either way, they knew he was a ghost hybrid - if Vlad was in charge here, he obviously knew of Danny's ghostly secret, but if not, they somehow knew now and were trying to keep him away from everyone else. Either way, he was stuck there, as far as he could tell.

He'd found the door, no problem. It was a part of the metal wall; the only thing that showed it was the door was the thin crease between the door and the wall. But the hard part was getting through it. There was no knob, obviously. There was no key hole. No window to look to see what was outside of his room. And when he tried to phase through it using his intangibility, he just crashed into the hard metal. It seemed that the walls in this place were all specially made to keep ghosts out.

More out of lack of things to do than anything else, Danny started feeling around the door with an intangible hand in the hope that there was a section that was not ghost-proof. After discovering the door to be entirely secure, he started feeling around his room, all the while thinking. When will they check up on me? Will they give me food? Will they let me out at all? Is this just a precaution against newcomers or do they know I'm part ghost?

Long after he had exhausted himself from using his intangibility so long and had laid down to sleep, light spilled into the room. Danny awoke from his light slumber, stunned by the sudden bright light. Dazed, he didn't stop the two men that grabbed him by his arms and dragged him away. He was dumped on the ground in front of a man he recognized through his groggy state as Falcon. He pushed himself off the ground and stood on wobbly legs.

As he finally got his senses back, he noticed that Falcon was glaring fiercely at him. He briefly wondered if this was because he knew that he was a ghost. Well, part ghost.

"Well, ghost," Falcon started, and Danny grimaced. Yep. He knew. "I'm amazed you were able to deceive us this long. Until that little ectoplasmic ray trick, of course." Danny said nothing. He couldn't remember the so called 'little ectoplasmic ray trick'. "Now, ghost boy - " Now there as a name he certainly was familiar with. " - the doors are locked and completely ghost proof, as are the walls and ceiling. There are guards outside the doors, all armed from head to foot in anti-ghost gear. I, myself, am trained to take care of ghosts like you and am also armed." Danny eyed Falcon. Whatever weapons he carried, he was good at concealing them. Or it was a bluff. "I also have this," Falcon continued, pulling what looked like a small remote out of his jacket. "While you were unconscious, we put a chip on you. Place one toe out of line and I'll give you the biggest shock you've ever felt in your after-life. It also short-circuits your powers, if I so choose. So, I'll expect you to be a good boy and answer the questions. Clear?"

Danny thought for a moment, then replied carefully, "What if the answers to your questions are truthful but not what you expect to hear?"

"After a shock, the truth tends to come out," Falcon told him a little smugly. Danny fought back a wince. The shock part didn't sound so great to him. "Right. Is your real name Phantom?"

"Yes." True enough. It was his other real name, right?

"You sure about that?" Falcon placed a finger over the remote tantalizingly. Danny glanced at it, trying not to look too worried.

"Yes."

Falcon seemed satisfied. "Who is Vladimir Plasmius?" Hatred flared inside him at the name. The hate must have shown on his face, for Falcon said, "You obviously don't like him."

"No," Danny spat out through gritted teeth. "I don't. He's a sly bastard who uses people to do his dirty work. He's powerful, he's clever, and he's downright messed up. A bad combination. And he needs a cat."

"And is he a half-ghost, half-human hybrid?" Falcon asked, eyebrow cocked. Danny started. Where had that one come from?

"Who told you that?" Danny exclaimed, alarmed.

"You did, ghost," Falcon informed him. "You don't remember the scan, obviously. Is it true?"

Danny bit his lip. Vlad couldn't keep his secret forever. He could tell them the truth. But would he shock him if he did? The truth didn't sound likely, even to him... "Yeah," he sighed, finally, mind made. "It is."

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" Falcon accused him. Danny winced physically this time.

"Because I don't want to be zapped," Danny said truthfully. He normally didn't mind pain, but he wanted to gain the trust of these people. Besides - who knew how bad this shock could hurt? Falcon chuckled.

"Alright. I don't know if it's really true, but I suppose that's what you believe. Now..." Falcon paused, and Danny waited. Now what? "Catch" was the answer to his thoughts, and a rock came speeding at him. Surprised, reflex took over and he caught the rock. He looked down at it; he assumed it was one of the AGRocks that he had overheard Falcon and Fox talking about earlier. "The AGRocks produce a nasty shock when they touch ectoplasm. You are obviously a ghost, and you are obviously not shocked. Therefore I can assume you are possessing a body." Danny's eyes widened. Possessed? Is that what they thought of him? "But how did you get past our radar without us detecting the true ghost inside?"

Danny looked down. This was one question he would not answer. Falcon waited, but Danny remained silent. "Well, ghost boy? Not going to answer?" Danny looked up, eyes guarded. Falcon raised an eyebrow and calmly pressed the button with hesitation.

The pain was bad. That was one way to describe it. Another way was "excruciatingly and horrifyingly painful in such a way he'd never felt before" - the latter being a more accurate way to describe it. He had to cover his mouth and nose to stop himself from screaming, but he was aware that he had fallen to the ground and that he was shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't remember when the pain had stopped. All he knew that suddenly he was aware that it didn't hurt anymore.

He released his nose and mouth, breathing hard, chest heaving. Sweat trickled down the side of his face and his eyes were wide and wild. He had to force himself to keep his eyes from turning a bright green color.

"Got the point, ghost?" Falcon's cold voice was suddenly unfamiliar, as if he hadn't heard it for years. "Are you going to tell me now?" Danny pursed his lips into a thin line and shook his head. He couldn't. The consequences of telling them his secret... for one thing, they'd never believe him and cause him more pain. For another, even if they did, they would hate him forever - they despised ghosts here. So he could do nothing but stay silent. There was a long silence, and Falcon sighed wearily. "You're strong, I'll give you that - not many can endure that pain in silence. And believe me, better... beings have had to go through that and went crazy from the pain."

"Beings as opposed to men?" Danny asked bitterly. "Do I look that ghostly to you?" Falcon narrowed his eyes.

"No. But we've had far too many experiences where you ghosts possess a poor human's body," Falcon said.

"Then why don't you take me out of this body that I've possessed! Just try it!" he shouted, finally snapping. "Go on! What's stopping you?!"

"I would!" Falcon barked back.

"Then do it!"

"I can't! We don't have the technology to get you out!"

Danny gaped. "What? Are you kidding me?"

"Do not mock us, ghost!" Falcon's eyes were burning with a fire that had not been there before. "Any progress our kind made on anti-ghost technology was wiped out by Plasmius. How do you expect us to make up all that work?!"

"Plasmius, huh?" Danny murmured, suddenly in control again. The name had cleared his mind. He had to focus. "He's the bad guy here, then, huh?"

"Wrong, ghost - here, you are the bad guy!" Falcon fumed. Danny said nothing for a while, thinking as he stared at the ground. He sighed, then looked up with sad eyes. Eyes that had seen far too much for a sixteen-year-old boy. Eyes that showed the hatred he had been shown in his short life. Eyes that showed he was an outcast.

"What makes you think I'm bad?"

"Because you're a ghost, that's why!"

Danny laughed, a colorless, humorless sound. "I knew someone who said the same thing to me. She was one of the few friends I had. Because of that, I couldn't help her."

"That makes no sense, ghost. Stop trying to win my pity," Falcon said coldly, turning to leave.

"Would you be hurt if the world was turned against you for trying to do the right thing?" Danny called after him, but Falcon didn't turn around. Men rushed into the room as he left, holding Danny tightly by his arms. As he was carried back to his cell, he thought about his earlier life. How did I get into that chamber? How did I get here? How long has it been? How long was I in that.. place? A lab, maybe? What does Plasmius have to do with everything? And...

His eyes softened. Where are my family and friends?

With that last thought in mind, he was shoved back into the darkness, leaving him with his confused thoughts.

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D'aw. Depression. Goody. This is what I do best, people. : D Anywayssss... Review, and all that crap. Thanks to those who actually care what I write here.

Thank you so much to all the reviewers!

Auroral Eclipse - Eh, I only just started writing the story, so I can't expect loads and loads of reviews. Thank you, though - I try!

something completely different - Thanks for the Story Alert, by the way! It means a lot to me. Ha, I like to think that I keep you guessing but I never really believed it... I guess it's true if you say so. Thank you! YES, I AM A PENDRAGON FAN! XD

Mary Blondine - Wow! Favorite Author, Favorite Story, Story Alert and Author Alert? That means the world to me, seriously! Thanks for the review - I'll do my best to satisfy your reader needs. :D

Your reviews keep me writing!

I'll be gone for the next five or four days, so I won't be able to write much until I get back.

Hobey ho, all.