Sam ended up winning the game of monopoly, much to Young Justice's amusement. They were just trying to decide which game they should play next, or rather whether or not to play monopoly again or split up and play different games. Suddenly there was a crash below them and Danny and Danielle's ghost senses triggered. Danny changed into his ghost form instantly and phased through the floor to investigate. Danielle, startled first by her ghost sense and then her adoptive brother's fast reaction, changed into her ghost form moments later and followed him. The others sprinted through the kitchen and down to the lab.
Danny fell through the ceiling of the lab at a controlled speed and landed on the tiled floor easily. He blinked with surprise as he spotted Ember scowling at his parents pointing rifles at her, Jimmy was currently hiding behind a desk. Danny spared the boy genius a glance before walking forward to handle the ghost.
"Ember! What are you doing here?" Danny called, stopping beside his mother and folded his arms, fixing a stern expression on the ghost.
"Look dipstick, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm just trying to find my best friend and boyfriend. Skulker told me he was coming here for a few hours and Kitty went on a date with Johnny. They never came back," Ember explained. Danny raised an eyebrow. Something in the back of his mind told him that he knew where those ghosts were but another part of him told him he couldn't tell Ember.
"Weren't they in Amity Park yesterday?" Danielle's voice asked from behind Danny. Danny glanced at his clone and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, but I caught them," Danny reminded her.
"So they're in the Ghost Zone? Why haven't I seen them then!?" Ember snapped.
Danny suddenly felt guilty. He didn't remember sending them back. But he knew that the thermos he sucked those ghosts into was empty… right? There were no occupied thermoses in the lab.
"Danny, you did send them back right? You didn't forget?" Sam pressed worriedly, seeing her boyfriend withdraw into himself. Everyone turned to him with scowls.
"Danny?" Jazz encouraged sharply. Danny swept a hand through his hair.
"I… I don't remember. I thought I did. But… I know there aren't any occupied thermoses here. You can checked them in the vault. But… I don't remember emptying any thermoses into the Ghost Zone," Danny admitted with a frown. Ember glared at him.
"Well! Where are they then!?" Ember demanded angrily.
Danny turned to the ghost and slowly shook his head. He didn't know. That was the scariest thing. The last two nights he had had a black out. As the thought came to his mind, his mouth clamped shut. He couldn't tell anyone. His lips wouldn't let him. Danny growled in his throat and ran his fingers roughly through his hair in frustration. Everyone watching was confused and astonished at Danny's actions.
"Is something wrong sweetie?" Maddie ventured worriedly.
"I don't forget these kinds of things. Not recently! But I don't have any memory of releasing them," Danny muttered, more to himself than the others. Ember snarled and approached Danny threateningly. Danielle rushed forwards with glowing green hands. Danny was distracted and wide open to attack. She would protect her adoptive brother.
Jake and Zatanna shared frowns of concern.
"You're sure that potion would have gotten rid of all enchantments?" Zatanna whispered.
"I'm not the expert but that's what I was told. Fu knows more than me," Jake replied quietly. Zatanna glanced at Danny as he scowled at himself, deep in thought.
"Go ask him. I'll cover for you," Zatanna suggested softly. Jake flashed the magician a quick grateful smile before quietly rushing back to the kitchen where he found Fu dog waiting for news.
"What's up down there kid?" Fu dog inquired.
"Ghost. But that doesn't matter. Fu, are you sure that that potion worked? I mean, is it guaranteed that Danny's magic free?" Jake questioned. Fu dog frowned and hummed in thought.
"Well, most spells would have been removed with that potion. But I guess it's a possibility that the potion wasn't as effective as we hoped it would be. Come to think of it, I don't remember the potion having such a bad after taste, maybe the ingredients weren't as fresh as I thought," Fu dog speculated. Jake scowled at the dog.
"You gave me funky potion to give to Danny!?" Jake accused angrily.
"Hey! I said maybe! Relax, I can double check. But… unless we can get rid of everyone, we might need to come clean kid," Fu dog retorted sharply. Jake sighed away his fearful anger and nodded.
"We'll come clean about you. Alright. The less they know the better," Jake suggested worriedly. Fu dog nodded in agreement. Both magical creatures walked down the stairs to the lab.
Danielle glared at Ember as the ghost's eyes flickered red with rage. The ghostly diva clearly wanted to attack Danny but Danielle's intervention was enough to deter the ghost, for now.
"We might have a way to know what's going on," Jake informed everyone. Fu dog cleared his throat.
"Sorry, but that potion mightn't have been as fresh as I hoped. But I can try to make sure if there's any magic on Danny," Fu dog announced apologetically. Sam and Tucker nodded in understanding, Danny was too busy trying to figure out what happened to the thermos with the missing ghosts, the rest of the room was gaping at Fu dog.
"Did that dog… just… talk!?" Wally exclaimed.
"Yep. I can do more tricks than speak too," Fu dog retorted sarcastically. Jake rolled his eyes at his magical companion before turning to Danny.
"Danny!?" Jake called worriedly. Danny turned to the younger teen.
"You okay?" Jake asked with concern. Danny nodded slowly.
"I think so," he mumbled, his confusion very much evident.
"We want to try one last thing to make sure you don't have any spells on you," Jake told the halfa. Danny turned back to the dragon, having turned away as he lost himself in his thoughts again. He chewed his lip lightly before nodding in agreement.
"What do you need Fu?" Jake prompted the dog, who was currently glaring at everyone staring at him.
"Everything I need is in my suitcase. But I'll need plenty of space. We'll need to be comfortable too. I suggest the living room," Fu dog answered. Jake nodded and turned to everyone.
"Okay, you can stop staring at Fu now. He can't be any weirder than a half dead teenager," Jake grumbled, pointing at Danny who looked up to scowl lightly at the dragon. Fu dog rolled his eyes as he trudged up the lab stairs back to the kitchen where he grabbed a glass of water, resorting to jumping on to the counter to reach the sink without aid. Jake led the way into the living room with everyone following, including Ember who still wanted her answers. Danny, lost in his thoughts, dropped onto the couch distractedly.
This didn't make sense. Were the black outs just because of his elevated energy or was it something else? He hadn't had one that first night he got back. Then was that pang of pain in the bathroom earlier that day connected or something different? Were there other symptoms? What happened to Kitty, Skulker and Johnny? Did he send them back or did he do something else? He knew that they weren't in the Ghost Zone but… he had to have sent them back! Why wouldn't he? Before, he had only forgotten or got delayed because of his parents and his secret preventing him or excessive work load or ghost attacks. He had never chosen not to return a ghost. This didn't make sense. None at all.
Seeing that Danny was distracted, Jake fetched the heavy suitcase for Fu dog, struggling downstairs loudly until Conner offered his assistance. Fu dog returned a few moments later and opened the suitcase and started making a potion which suddenly exploded and left a blue powder behind in the vial.
"Danny, I need you on the floor," Fu dog informed the teen as he pulled out a few more things. Sam nudged her boyfriend when she realised that he hadn't heard. Danny looked up and Sam repeated Fu dog's request for him. Danny fluidly slid off the couch and sat cross legged on the floor a few feet away from the coffee table.
Fu dog walked over to Danny and grabbed a fistful of blue powder from the vial and unexpectedly blew it at Danny. Danny sneezed as the powder got in his nose before he gasped and began to shake as though he was in pain. Fu dog scowled.
"What did you just do!?" Jack shouted fearfully.
"This is powerful magic. No wonder Zatanna didn't sense it. This is meant to interact with the magic on him. Only the magic. But this seems to have affected Danny completely. I've only seen this with blood magic," Fu dog explained gravely.
"Blood magic?" Jake repeated in confusion as Zatanna gasped in alarm. Fu dog threw the glassful of water at Danny, washing the powder off the teen. Danny shivered before wiping the water out of his eyes.
"Yep. Blood magic is binding. The only way to remove the spell is to somehow undo the ritual used. And the only way to do that is to find out which ritual was used. And we don't know what that spell has done to Danny until we find that out or until the spell takes control," Fu dog told them all, not lifting his gaze off Danny who was shaking off the shock of getting soaked while listening to the talking dog worriedly.
"Danny, have you felt compelled to do anything?" Zatanna asked. Danny turned to her before frowning in thought. He had felt compelled to do things. He had felt compelled to carry a thermos with him yesterday. He felt compelled to wait before releasing the now missing ghosts. He felt compelled to lie and hide his black outs. He opened his mouth to admit that but found his voice and lips wouldn't work. He scowled and tried again.
"We'll take that as a yes," Robin interjected, noticing Danny's difficulty.
"Does that mean he can't tell us?" Artemis wondered worriedly.
"I think so. But that does make sense. Whoever put this spell on Danny obviously didn't want us to know," Kaldur remarked. Jake gasped.
"Fu. Do you reckon they made Danny sabotage the potion? I did tell him about it last night," Jake realised, ignoring that he had admitted the potion definitely came from Fu dog and himself, not Zatanna.
"It's possible. But Danny wouldn't know how to do that," Fu dog muttered, surveying the halfa in front of himself with a frown.
Maddie glanced at the defence system control panel beside the front door worriedly.
"Danny, have you turned the defences off and let people into the house at night when we're all asleep?" Maddie inquired fearfully. Everyone turned to Danny, realising the implication of this. Danny sighed and nodded.
"I let Jake and Fu in last night remember," Danny reminded them.
"Did you let anyone in after us?" Jake pressed. Danny blinked and frowned in thought. He had a black out shortly after Jake and Fu dog got to the house. He bit his lip as he realised it was possible. But he didn't know. He didn't even know for himself, let alone was he able to tell the others.
"Danny?" Sam called to her boyfriend worriedly.
"I- I let in Jake and Fu… I don't remember letting anyone else in," Danny answered eventually.
"But you can't be sure," Jazz muttered. Danny turned to his older sister, intending to nod but found himself unable to.
"We can always look at the security footage. There's a camera on the front door," Danielle suggested.
"Brilliant idea. Jazz, take her to check them," Maddie agreed. Jazz nodded obediently and gestured for Danielle to follow her. Ember had finally stopped glaring at Danny, gradually understanding that the halfa honestly didn't know where her friends were.
Danny dropped his gaze to his hands before they curled into fists. He thought he had everything under control. But he hadn't. He was someone's puppet. It was worse than when Freakshow took him over. That at least had been obvious and Sam and Tucker had been able to fight it. But this time… he hadn't known. He had two periods of time uncounted for. Who knew what he had done during those times!? He was scared. What if the next time he came to his senses he had done something unforgiveable? Had he already done something bad? Where were Skulker, Kitty and Johnny?! What had he done to them?!
"Danny, you okay?" Tucker inquired worriedly. Danny took a deep breath before he phased through the floor into the lab and grabbed a thermos before returning to the living room.
"I can't be trusted. Here," Danny decided and handed the device to Sam. Sam stared at the thermos in stunned silence.
"Please Sam," Danny whispered.
"No. You're being ridiculous Danny," Sam snapped sharply, shoving the device onto the couch beside her, almost like it had burned her.
"Am I!? I'm not in control of myself! I could try to hurt you, all of you," Danny exclaimed.
"You wouldn't. I know you Danny. And I know what you're thinking. You stopped yourself hurting anyone when Freakshow was controlling you," Sam replied.
"Really? Then where are Skulker, Kitty and Johnny?! Tell me! Because I have no idea what I did to them! I can't be trusted! Freakshow's staff controlled my ghost side. This controls me! All of me. It's different," Danny argued firmly, his concern and fear evident to everyone. Sam stared at her boyfriend before shaking her head.
"I can't. What will happen if we can't find a cure without you?" Sam whispered fearfully. Danny growled in frustration before turning to Tucker.
"Please Tuck," he pleaded. Tucker blinked in shock, torn between Sam and Danny's pleading gazes, both pleading him to do something different. Tucker picked up the thermos.
"We'll let you out in the ghost cell if we need your help," Tucker decided. Danny nodded in agreement and readied himself to be sucked inside the device.
So they figured out that Danny is being controlled.
But… will they be able to suck Danny into a thermos?
Let me know what you guys think so far.
Don't forget to check out my website and cast your vote in the poll. There's a link in my bio.
Until the next chapter.
