Hey guys! I think this is the fastest I've ever written a chapter. I guess I write better when in pain? Enjoy, and please review. I'll try and update my other stories ASAP.
Chapter 2: If I wasn't, this would probably never work.
The first thing Danny realized when he woke up was a constant beeping sound. He groaned and sat up, feeling the jagged remains of his restraints as he stood. His ears wrung like nothing he'd ever felt, blocking out all other noise. It was slowly fading, but the noise was really starting to get on his nerves. It seemed to be getting louder and sharper by the-
Crud, it was an alarm.
Danny stumbled around, trying to find a wall, a doorway, something to try and regain a sense of where he was. He clicked his tongue a few times to try and listen for echoes, but had no luck. Eventually, his groping hands came upon a support beam. He felt around, finding strips of shredded steel and uprooted concrete everywhere. Had his wail done all this? He couldn't properly view the carnage, but his wail had seemed to have obliterated the entire room. How? Did he really have that much power inside him?
Danny was suddenly forced up against what was left of the wall. Something cold and sharp dug into his throat, and hot breath suddenly washed over his face.
"YOU LITTLE INGRATE, I'LL KILL YOU!" Zerum was beyond mad, his voice boiling with a rage Danny didn't know was possible. Zerum's voice tore at his damaged eardrums like a rusty knife, and he instinctively lashed out. Zerum flew across the room, crashing into the wall like a ragdoll. He was quick to recover, and he stood, staring at the ghost boy with hate in his eyes. He raised his weapon, growling like a dog looking for a fight.
Ordinarily, Danny could have taken Zerum. But the wail had left him drained, and his ears still refused to shed any light on his surroundings. So, he did what any sensible person would do- he ran.
"That's right!" Zerum's sneering voice echoed after him. "Run like the coward you are, freak!"
Danny ran down the hallway, trying to block out the insult. The blaring alarm sending stabs of pain into his already damaged eardrums, and his fast beating heart forced sticky bursts of blood out of the cut in his cheek. Danny wracked his brain, hoping desperately that he was remembering the right way.
Danny crashed into something, tumbling to the floor with a yell. An arm instantly wrapped around his neck in a choke hold. "I got him! I got the ghost b-"
Danny elbowed the agent in the face, forcing the man to drop him. He ran in the opposite direction, feeling his heart sink when he realized he was going to get completely lost.
-Line break-
Team, report for mission.
Everyone glanced at each other, slightly confused. They had gotten back yesterday from their first mission with Artemis very worn out, though no one would have admitted it. They hadn't been expecting a mission until later, especially not from a mysterious voice in their heads. Finally, Wally said,"Um, that didn't sound like M'gann."
M'gann shook her head. "It wasn't me." She suddenly jumped to her feet. "I think that was J'onn!" She got up and flew through the door. After a moment, everyone else got up and followed. They arrived in HQ within seconds, Artemis stopping Wally short with a yank on the scruff of his uniform. He glared at Artemis, shrugging off her hand with a scowl. Robin quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing. They all turned toward the front to find a sight that confused them even more. J'onn, Batman, Flash and Black Canary were all looking up at the screen. They all looked worried. Batman turned, his face more grim than any of them had ever seen. The others stepped aside, showing the entire screen for the junior heroes to see.
"We have just picked up a major power surge in Washington. It's coming from a government agency known publicly as the "Guys in white". We want you to infiltrate this agency and find the source." He looked at them, his voice leaving no room for misunderstanding. "You will not make contact with government officials unless absolutely necessary." He leaned forward slightly, his voice deadly low. "Do I make myself completely clear?"
The team looked at each other, slightly uncomfortable. They had a bad habit of getting into things they shouldn't. Kaldur stepped forward, speaking for all of them. "We understand sir."
Batman gave a silent nod, and the team headed toward the bio-ship.
-Line break-
Danny's lungs burned, his head spinning from the amount of blood he'd lost. He had known that face cuts bled a lot, but he didn't know they bled thismuch. He fell to the floor yet again, crashing down with all his running force behind him. He lay there for a moment, wondering how he could have gotten so lost. His original plan had been to find the source of raw ectoplasm he had been sensing. Danny had sensed it over a month before, as they took him to an unfamiliar part of the complex. He had thought that if he could ingest some, he would regain enough power to escape. Of course, this was before the place was swarming with agents. At least, it had been swarming with agents a moment ago. Now it was eerily quiet. Even the obnoxious alarm had stopped.
He had gained most of his hearing back in the time since he'd begun to run around nilly willy. He slowly stood, feeling a sudden sense of foreboding. The alarms wouldn't have stopped for no reason, and he couldn't think of a reason the agents would have abandoned their cat and mouse game. He backed up until he felt a wall, then pressed his back against it. He tapped his foot on the floor, listening to make sure the hallway was empty. It was, but his nervousness only increased.
He heard something. It sounded like a fight. He could hear gunshots from ghost hunting guns, and he winced as bad memories flooded back to him. He shoved them away and listened harder, trying to picture the scene in his mind's eye. Following each gunshot was followed by a strange splatting sound, then the scream of a wounded man. Danny felt something inside him, something he had long thought was dead. He wanted to go and help, he wanted to find this threat and protect the people it was hurting. He took off running again, toward the sounds of battle.
His mind tried to tell him it was crazy, that these people had tortured and experimented on him for more than a year, but somehow none of that seemed to matter. He reached deep inside himself, trying to find the cold spark he knew was there. Danny began to worry when he didn't feel it. He hadn't 'gone ghost' by his own free will since he'd been captured, and he wasn't sure he remembered how. But at that moment, he found it. He felt the familiar cold wash over him, and he launched off the floor as he rounded the last corner.
He flew through the air as if he was suddenly on the moon, slamming into the ceiling and changing into a human. He plummeted down, but instead of hitting the floor he landed on something else. Something big, slimy, and moving.
He slid off the thing and hit the floor with a splat, the slime soaking into the rags that were his clothes. He sat up, slightly disoriented as the ooze dripped off his face. He shook his head to regain his senses, running after the thing. He went ghost more cautiously this time, trying to lift himself off the ground with his will rather than his momentum. He wobbled a bit, trying to find his center of gravity. He didn't remember flying being quite this hard.
A gooey hand suddenly grabbed him, and a hurricane blast of air hit him as the creature roared in his face. A glob of mystery goo splattered all over his face and hair. He wiped it away, gagging as some of it got in his mouth. "Say it, don't spray it!" He spat, not caring that it couldn't understand.
"Apologies, ghost child. It's been so long since we fought, I thought I'd give you a warm welcome." A high pitched voice sneered.
Danny's mouth dropped open, not even attempting to conceal his shock. "SKULKER?! How did you get so-so-"
"Big?" Even though he couldn't see it, Danny could tell he was smirking. "These government clowns had gallons of raw ectoplasm lying about for the taking! Consuming them has made me more powerful than I ever was before!" Skulker let a howl of laughter.
Danny was silent for a moment then said, "You know, you would be intimidating, except you sound like a smoker who inhaled helium." He paused, then added, "Seriously, why did your voice get higher when you got bigger?"
"WHY DID YOU GET MORE SNARKY WITH TORTURE?!" Skulker roared, hurling Danny down the hall. Danny focused, trying desperately to remember how to- got it! He felt the familiar tingly sensation as he phased through the wall, but he felt immediately drained. He hadn't fought anyone in such a long time. The second he came through the wall he turned human again.
He immediately crashed into someone else, tumbling to the floor and somehow ending up on top. The person shoved him off, and he landed on his back, choking as a hand clamped around his throat. The person said something, but Danny could feel himself fading into unconsciousness. The hand abruptly released, but Danny was already out.
MWAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! *Everyone grabs torches and pitchforks* Eeep! *Runs away*
