Jimmy was laying on the ground sleeping. It had been hours since they had been given food. Danny knew he wouldn't feel tired for a while yet. So instead he used the time he felt strong to think of escape plans or possible ways to sabotage his energy being drained. Unfortunately the cuffs and the collar repressed his powers, locking his ghostly energy in his body in order to be drained by the needle in his neck from the collar. The collar was secure on his neck so he had long ago stopped feeling the needle, as long as he didn't twist his neck. His arms had stopped being painful days ago from being held behind his back by the handcuffs. Danny's thoughts drifted to Sam's terrified face the day he was caught. Danielle's panicked shout as she lost her grip.
Suddenly Danny stiffened as the bolt on the door screeched open. Jimmy jolted awake and blearily searched for the source of the harsh noise. Danny gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet for the first time in a few days. The first couple of days, he guessed, he paced endlessly as he thought and planned. He quickly realised that the only thing he was doing was exhausting himself further and lengthening the time until Cheshire returned as he was using energy that would otherwise be collected by the collar. His legs shook slightly as he stood unsteadily but he quickly got his balance and stumbled forward slightly. Jimmy slowly got to his feet and edged closer to the halfa fearfully.
The door swung open and two men walked in holding anti-ghost weapons, pointed right at Danny's chest. Cheshire waltzed in afterwards.
"Stand down cutie. Don't want to see you get hurt," Cheshire ordered sternly.
"What do you want?" Danny snarled, instinctively trying to gather ghost rays into his hands. Jimmy watched in awe as faint green energy rippled around the halfa's restrained hands.
"The kid. Time for him to start his work," Cheshire answered, folding her arms in annoyance. Jimmy shuffled closer to Danny nervously. Danny snarled angrily and tensed his muscles ready for a fight.
"Puh-lease. Phantom. You can't fight without your hands and with no powers," Cheshire taunted.
"My mom's a ninth degree black belt in karate. You really think I don't know how to defend myself?" Danny retorted.
"Try anything and they'll shoot," Cheshire growled. Danny crouched down slightly, ready to run forward to protect himself and Jimmy from attack.
Cheshire growled angrily deep in her throat and clicked her fingers. One of the armed men fired their gun and hit Danny in the leg. Danny crumbled to the ground with a shout of agony.
"Danny!" Jimmy shouted fearfully. Cheshire strolled forward and tutted at the teen.
"I did warn you. Now be a good little half-ghost and stay down. I'll patch you up later. Come on kid," Cheshire commanded as Danny whimpered softly in pain, his eyes screwed shut. Jimmy stared in shock at the charred wound on Danny's leg oozing green blood on the ground. He hardly registered Cheshire grabbing his arm and yanking the boy towards the door.
Jimmy glanced over his shoulder to see Danny clumsily pushing himself against a wall with his good leg and bound hands. The teen gave the boy an apologetic, worried look before the door was shut. Jimmy chewed his lip worriedly as Cheshire shoved him through the corridors. Jimmy tried to remember the way but his mind kept wandering back to the image of Danny pushing himself against a wall looking more worried for Jimmy than himself. Cheshire shoved the boy through a door and shut it behind them, locking the door and tucking the key out of sight.
"Alright. This will be where you work. It goes without saying but you are not allowed to take anything from this room to your cell. Now come here," Cheshire informed the boy as she walked to a workbench.
"You may recognise this. It's a part of the pretty collar Phantom's wearing. It stores his energy for us. But we've found that there's a problem. Over time, the power unit begins to leak. We're also running out of them. So here's what you've gotta do. Make one that doesn't leak and stores more energy that will still fit in the collar. Understand?" Cheshire told Jimmy sternly. Jimmy gulped nervously.
"I've never studied ghost energy," Jimmy muttered softly.
"No time like the present to study it. Do you understand your task? I don't care about all your little complaints about needing time or equipment or whatever," Cheshire growled impatiently. Jimmy pursed his lips and nodded. Cheshire gave a curt nod and backed away into a corner, perching on a tall stool.
"Then start working. That unit there is yours to study. You will not be given a copy of Phantom's collar. If you need anything or have questions, ask me and I'll try and clear whatever your problem is," Cheshire concluded.
Jimmy swallowed nervously and gingerly picked up the power unit he was given. It was smooth to the touch with a flush panel covering the circuitry within. Jimmy saw how the unit fit into a slot and he immediately saw the weak point in the unit but for once he didn't point it out smugly and pompously correct the issue. He promised to stall for Danny. With a frown, Jimmy studied the unit and considered the second problem, increasing the energy capacity. To increase the capacity, he would need to see how it drained energy and stored it in the first place. He would also need detailed blueprints of the internal workings. He could see already that the unit was moulded into a solid casing with the only perforations being the pins that connected it to the collar. However deciding to stall as much as possible, he took his time in studying the unit excessively and then did the same for the room and tools provided, spouting a small lie that he wasn't used to this workplace and would need to familiarise himself with it in order to work. It wasn't a complete lie, but he did take a lot of unnecessary time to do so. He thankfully found a bathroom adjoining the work room and took his time to relieve himself before returning.
Jimmy lost track of time. He could do that sometimes. When he started a new project and locked himself in his lab to work, he relied on Goddard and his parents to keep him to a routine such as sleeping at night or going to the kitchen for meals. But in this room, Cheshire simply played with a sai in a bored fashion or gave herself a manicure. Jimmy was left alone to do whatever he wished, as long as it didn't endanger anyone. Jimmy blinked. He was in a lab. Cheshire didn't strike him as the type of person that would understand technology in depth. At least not in the detail he did. He could try to send out a distress signal. He looked through the items he'd been provided again, this time with purpose. He bit back a grin as he spotted exactly what he needed. It wouldn't be a beautiful piece of engineering but it should work once completed. He glanced at Cheshire before slipping a small screwdriver in his sock. He wouldn't be able to remove the collar on Danny without anyone noticing, but the cuffs were another matter.
He went back to the desk provided and grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper. He quickly started sketching out the blueprints for his signal emitter and did a few quick calculations. The signal would need to reach long distances but be small enough to not alert Cheshire and the other people here of his plan. Content with his conclusions, he rubbed out the calculations and part of the blueprint in case anyone looked at it and actually figured out his plan. Satisfied that no one would be able to figure out what he had drawn, he put the paper to one side and picked up the unit again.
"Alright, time's up for now. Next time you better have something to show for it. Do you need anything for next time?" Cheshire decided in a tired voice. Jimmy blinked and looked at her. She was standing beside the door. He hadn't even noticed her moving from the stool to the door halfway across the room.
"I'll need blueprints and a computer to look at the programming. I need to fully understand what I'm working with before I can even start looking to improve the design," Jimmy answered truthfully.
"Then what did you do now?!" Cheshire growled in annoyance.
"Preliminary study. I understand what I can of the external design. Now I need to understand the interior design. I was also familiarising myself with the tools and layout of the work space," Jimmy replied. Cheshire gave an unimpressed huff and pulled the key out of her kimono and unlocked the door. She shoved Jimmy down the corridor until they reached the cell door.
"Wait a minute kiddo. Hey, get a first aid kit for me!" Cheshire ordered, turning to a guard in the shadows that Jimmy hadn't even seen. The dark clothed guard gave a quick submissive bow and ran down the corridor. Cheshire then turned to Jimmy and folded her arms.
"Give me the screwdriver kid. Now," she demanded angrily. Jimmy blinked in shock. She hadn't been looking. He'd checked. How did she know he'd taken one?
"I'm not joking around kid. Give it to me now," Cheshire snarled and held out an impatient hand. Jimmy swallowed nervously and saw he had to obey. He crouched down and slowly pulled the screwdriver out of his sock. He straightened and reluctantly placed it in her hand. Cheshire tucked the screwdriver out of sight quickly.
"Let me get this straight. You do not disobey me. Disobeying me makes me angry. You don't want to make me angry. I'm the one providing you with food. I'm the one who can make your time here hell and trust me you've got things pretty good right now. One word, and I can send assassins to your house for your parents. Do I make myself clear?" Cheshire hissed. Jimmy bit his lip fearfully and nodded. Cheshire gave a curt nod in conclusion and turned to the guard who returned with a small red box.
Cheshire snatched the box away and opened the door, kicking Jimmy's leg gently as a silent order to enter. Jimmy complied, reeling from the serious threats the woman had given him. Jimmy looked up and saw Danny back in his corner. His face was unusually pale and the floor was stained with an alarming amount of green blood. Cheshire stepped into the room. She pushed the door to and crossed the room to stand in front of Danny who weakly looked up at her.
"Have we learned our lesson?" Cheshire inquired stiffly.
"What lesson?" Danny croaked cheekily with a dark glare.
"The one where you behave," Cheshire growled.
"Oh that one. No promises," Danny retorted angrily. Cheshire knelt down to Danny's level and suddenly lashed out to hit his large still oozing wound. Danny gave a sharp bark of agony.
"Hurts right. Getting shot. You've got it good right now Phantom. If you keep misbehaving, I might have to do something more permanent. You don't need all your fingers," Cheshire hissed. Jimmy shuddered at the implication, horrified.
"Injuring me… hinders you. I'll be using up… energy now. To heal," Danny snarled through gritted teeth, panting from the pain in his leg. Cheshire stared at Danny, the mask making her expression unreadable.
"Hold still," she commanded quietly as she clicked open the first aid box and pulled out gauze and a rag which she soaked in hydrogen peroxide. Danny screamed in agony as she cleaned the wound with unnecessary force. She pressed a dressing over the wound and tightly wrapped bandages around his leg, holding the dressing in place, all with unnecessary force. By the time she'd finished, Danny had his face screwed up in agony, his eyes firmly squeezed shut. Cheshire then returned everything into the box and clipped it shut.
"You suck as a nurse," Danny growled softly as she stood up. Cheshire didn't say another word as she left the cell, the door slamming shut behind her, the bolt closing echoed through the silent, gloomy cell.
And we now know why Jimmy was brought in.
But will Jimmy be able to build a distress signal emitter and will it work?
Danny's pretty injured now too. Will he be alright?
Let me know what you think.
I'm honestly starting to feel like Danny. I'm currently stranded at my college digs because of snow. Getting a little stir crazy. But should make interesting writing...
Until the next chapter.
