Danny felt exhausted. The collar hummed against his neck with his own energy. He was hungry too, and his throat felt like sandpaper. He hoped Cheshire would come soon. The woman would come whenever the collar was full and would give him some kind of liquidised food. The first time, Danny had felt humiliated and angry that he was being hand fed by a woman who took pleasure in teasing him and refused it. But after that, he quickly learned that there wasn't going to be a better option. It was either swallow his pride and let Cheshire feed him or he'd get nothing. And with how fast he was getting drained, he needed the extra energy. He didn't know why these people wanted his energy or why they needed Jimmy but it couldn't be good.
Speaking of Jimmy, the ten year old was sitting opposite Danny rambling on about how he was working on some regenerative candy bar for kids with little allowance. Danny had tuned the kid out after ten minutes, very used to it from Jack's constant blathering about ghosts.
"Are you listening to me?" Jimmy demanded. Danny blinked.
"Sorry Jimmy. I'm sure it's very interesting but I'm finding it hard right now to focus on much," Danny admitted tiredly.
"Huh?" Jimmy retorted confused. Danny tilted his chin up to show his collar.
"It's taking my energy. It tires me," Danny elaborated.
"Oh. Sorry," Jimmy muttered worriedly. Danny shook his head.
"It's fine Jimmy," Danny assured the boy.
Both prisoners turned to the door as they heard the bolt screech open and a woman wearing a green kimono and a cat-like mask with a shaggy mane of black hair stood in the doorway.
"Hello cutie. Making friends?" the woman drawled. Danny rolled his eyes.
"Hi Cheshire," Danny retorted dryly. Jimmy frowned in confusion. Cheshire walked into the cell, pushing the door to behind her.
"By the way kid, I wouldn't get any ideas. You make a break for it, you'll get caught. I can promise you that," Cheshire warned.
"What are you doing here?" Jimmy wondered out loud.
"Dinner kiddo. Catch," Cheshire answered and threw a bag filled with bread and jerky to him. Jimmy sloppily grabbed at the bag but missed. Cheshire chuckled.
"Now, the kid's sorted. What about my favourite ghost?" Cheshire remarked and knelt beside Danny. Danny scowled at her. Cheshire roughly shoved Danny's head to the side and clipped out the filled power unit and replaced it with an empty one. She then slipped the power unit into her pocket and pulled out a bag with an inbuilt spout.
"Open up baby," Cheshire teased smugly.
"Why do you want my energy?" Danny growled before Cheshire pushed the bag spout into his mouth. Danny obediently drank despite how annoyed he felt and how horrible the grey smoothie tasted.
"Oh you know I can't tell you that. But I can tell you that you're very helpful in providing it," Cheshire muttered mockingly. Danny swallowed the last of his food and Cheshire put the now empty bag into her pocket and stood up to leave.
"You're lucky I'm bound Cheshire," Danny snarled. Cheshire giggled as she crouched down to Danny's level again. Danny flinched as the woman ran a gentle hand across his cheek.
"You'd hit a woman?" Cheshire gasped in mock outrage.
"Yes. I'm not sexist," Danny confirmed angrily. Cheshire laughed.
Cheshire glanced at Jimmy who was watching the exchange in confusion holding the bag of food limply.
"Start eating kid. I'm not leaving that bag when I go," Cheshire urged sharply. Jimmy blinked in surprise and glanced at Danny who nodded in agreement. Jimmy carefully unzipped the bag and pulled out a piece of bread and chewed it slowly. Cheshire nodded and leant against the wall as she waited for Jimmy to finish.
"What did you give Danny?" Jimmy mumbled after swallowing a dry piece of bread. Cheshire shrugged.
"I'm not the chef," Cheshire sniffed.
"You can tell whoever is that it's disgusting," Danny interjected with a glare. Cheshire chuckled.
"You are a comedian," Cheshire commented. Danny narrowed his eyes at the woman. Jimmy chewed the jerky slowly, trying to understand this woman.
Cheshire pulled out the full power unit from her pocket and toyed with it. Danny watched the power unit with a possessive longing on his face.
"You know that this is stealing," Danny remarked angrily as he watched the unit closely. Cheshire glanced at halfa.
"I don't care. You have no idea how valuable this is," Cheshire retorted.
"I have no idea! It's my energy! I know exactly how much energy you've stolen from me. If anything, you don't understand how valuable that energy is," Danny snarled in outrage. Cheshire slipped the power unit in to her pocket and scoffed. Danny glowered at her, his eyes pulsing slightly brighter despite his weakened state. Jimmy swallowed another piece of bread and took out the last piece of jerky. Cheshire crossed the room and snatched the now empty bag from Jimmy.
"See you soon cutie. You too kiddo," Cheshire called over her shoulder before leaving the cell.
Jimmy glanced at Danny and considered the jerky in his hand.
"You eat it Jimmy. Whatever that stuff Cheshire gave me will kick in in a few minutes," Danny interjected, reading the boy's mind. Jimmy bit his lip.
"Are you sure?" Jimmy muttered worriedly. Danny nodded and sighed tiredly as he leant back. Jimmy bit the jerky and chewed slowly, feeling guilty.
"Are you alright?" Jimmy whispered. Danny grunted softly.
"Yeah, just… just tired Jimmy. And angry," Danny mumbled.
"Angry?" Jimmy repeated in confusion. Danny nodded.
"Taking my energy is like… like taking your blood, without consent. And I can't stop them. So yeah, I'm angry at the situation and Cheshire," Danny confirmed. Jimmy frowned as he swallowed the last of the jerky.
Danny opened his eyes and gave Jimmy a tired, grim smile.
"That stuff's kicking in now. I'll start to perk up in a few minutes," Danny reassured the boy. Jimmy nodded slowly. Both prisoners fell silent. Danny pushed himself upright and seemed the most alert Jimmy had seen the teen since being thrown into the cell.
"What was all that stuff with Cheshire?" Jimmy wondered, breaking the silence. Danny shook his head.
"Nothing for you to worry about. Cheshire likes to taunt me when she comes in here. And since getting my powers, I'm not the type to take that stuff lying down," Danny answered. Jimmy scanned the room searching for something to talk about.
"How did you get your powers?" Jimmy asked. Danny frowned.
"Lab accident. Very painful. I don't like talking about it," Danny replied, not thinking it was a good story to share with a child that seemed to be a little too smart for his own good.
"Oh. Sorry," Jimmy mumbled.
"It's fine. Feel free to ask something else. I'm not upset," Danny assured him.
Jimmy bit his lip lightly. He was way out of his comfort zone. He had no idea what to talk about with Danny. Danny was a teenager and Jimmy was a child genius.
"What can your energy do? You said Cheshire didn't know what she was dealing with," Jimmy asked curiously. Danny laughed.
"I have to say, I've never been asked that question by a kid. Usually kids ask me stuff about fighting ghosts," Danny remarked with a chuckle. Jimmy flushed.
"Would you prefer I asked about that?" Jimmy mumbled nervously.
"Nah, I get it Jimmy. You're a smart kid. You're gonna ask smart questions. I don't mind," Danny assured Jimmy easily. Jimmy smirked proudly.
"Okay first thing you need to understand is that this collar stores a lot of my energy and concentrates it. I can actually feel the energy gathering there. It's my energy after all. The amount they take from me in each unit, if made into a weapon which I suspect they are going to do, could take out a tank. Easy. They've taken about thirty units worth of energy. I've lost count to be honest. Like you convert food into energy to walk and run and stuff, I convert food into ghost energy, among other things. I'm sure my parents can tell you the ins and outs of ectoplasm and ghost energy. But that's with the power in human hands. In ghost hands, it's even more dangerous. I can use that kind of energy to charge up my vocal chords and emit a ghostly wail that can destroy entire buildings. I can make enough ice to freeze over cities. Make ghost rays that can burn items to ash in seconds. These are criminals Jimmy. Imagine what they could do if they could utilise my power to turn invisible, intangible or fly. That's how dangerous my energy can be," Danny explained seriously.
"And you can't stop them," Jimmy whispered in realisation. Danny sighed sadly and nodded.
"They don't come in until the unit's full. By that point I'm exhausted. That stuff Cheshire gave me, it kind of energises me. They're… they're harvesting my energy from me Jimmy, like I'm an animal or plant. Do you understand how this is for me? And worse… they want you to fix something. I'd be willing to bet that whatever they want you to do will be bad news for me," Danny concluded grimly. Jimmy nodded seriously. He could understand Danny's situation now.
"I'll stall for as long as I can," Jimmy vowed solemnly. Danny smiled in gratitude.
So a little more about how captivity is treating Danny and Jimmy.
Let me know what you guys think.
Until the next chapter.
