Danny blinked as he felt the haze of being controlled fade away. As his free will returned, he gasped in horror. He was standing in front of Sam who was in a cage, staring at him with purple eyes filled with unshed tears. Then he groaned softly in pain and put a hand to his shoulder. He had a massive wound in his shoulder that was still bleeding. Although, it was already starting to heal. Danny knew who shot him. He glanced at Sam and gave her the most apologetic and understanding look he could muster.
"Come here Phantom. Now," Klarion called impatiently. Danny obediently walked over to Klarion. Teekl had shrunken back to a domestic cat and was casually sitting beside the Witch Boy.
Danny stopped in front of Klarion. The Witch Boy scanned the room, lingering on each captured rescuer for a second.
"Your little plan didn't work," Klarion remarked, his voice serious and angry. Danny didn't reply. He knew it didn't work. But if that alarm outside the room hadn't gone off then it would have, as long as someone convinced Sam to leave him behind.
"Tell me what you planned. Exactly and don't miss anything out," Klarion ordered.
"I told you. Lead them here so they could rescue the ghosts and then resist your orders long enough so they could escape," Danny replied, his own voice tight with anger. Klarion's anger only grew.
"Don't lie. In fact, I forbid you from ever lying to me again," Klarion snarled and Danny's eyes pulsed black.
"What was the plan?" Klarion repeated himself.
"That was my plan," Danny retorted sharply.
"Then what was their plan?" Klarion pressed angrily, gesturing to the trapped Robin. Danny shrugged.
"No idea. I didn't want to know. That way I wouldn't be able to tell you anything," Danny answered. Klarion scowled. He knew Danny wasn't lying. Now he had to figure out a punishment. He could just beat the halfa up but a broken weapon was useless. So he had to do something to hurt Danny that wouldn't actually stop the halfa being useful. Klarion's angry scowl melted into a cruel grin.
"Alright. But I do have to punish you. Because of you we almost lost a lot of power sources," Klarion began.
"Hurting me is pointless," Danny spat.
"I know. So I'm going to break you. First, you will always refer to me as master and show me respect," Klarion commanded. Danny's eyes pulsed black and the halfa glowered furiously at the Witch Boy.
"Next, your girlfriend. Bring her to me," Klarion ordered. Danny's furious glare faltered as fear bled through. He suspected what Klarion was planning. He hesitated. His order didn't force him to obey instantly so he could hold off.
"Don't hurt her. Please, I'll stop resisting," Danny muttered pleadingly.
"That's not the point. This is a punishment. Now do as I say!" Klarion replied and folded his arms. Danny pursed his lips and slowly walked over to Sam's cage. He didn't want to do this. But he was in his ghost form still and had to obey.
Sam backed away from the cage door, watching as Danny approached her, his face showing his fear and reluctance despite the surety of his walk. The door swung open with a flick of Klarion's fingers. Danny reached into the cage and grabbed Sam's arm.
"I'm sorry. I can't stop myself. I'm so sorry," Danny whispered under his breath as he walked Sam back to Klarion. The Goth struggled desperately as the others around the room shouted their outrage and fear. The couple stopped in front of Klarion. Klarion smiled and leant close to Sam's face. He traced a finger along her jaw line causing her to shudder in fear and Danny to tense. He loosened his grip on Sam's arm, hoping the Goth would break free and run for it.
"She is pretty Phantom. It's a shame that won't last. Freeze her feet to the ground. Now," Klarion commented and took a step back. Danny's body obeyed before he could even attempt to stop himself. Sam gasped as the cold encased her combat boots. She was shaking with fear but she refused to cry in front of this person. And she refused to make this harder on Danny than it already was. Klarion glanced at the spectators.
"My control over Phantom is absolute. If any of you upset me or tries to escape then this will happen to you," Klarion announced before turning back to Danny.
"Stand here," he ordered and Danny obediently stood where Klarion had been standing, the Witch Boy stepping to one side for him.
"Face her and point one of your palms at her," Klarion instructed. Danny's arm slowly rose to aim his palm at Sam's chest. Sam could see that Danny was trying his hardest to stop himself.
"Shoot her," Klarion ordered. Danny's eyes flashed black and his hand began to glow green with ghost energy. Tears welled in his neon green eyes, he didn't want to obey. But he couldn't stop his body from obeying the spell. He was going to hurt Sam and he couldn't stop it. He grabbed his wrist and tried desperately to move his arm away from Sam but he wasn't strong enough. It was like pushing a wall. While Walker's prisoners didn't care about the fate of a human girl, the others were shouting at Klarion to stop what was happening, that he made his point. Danny tore his gaze away from his girlfriend's face and glanced at Klarion. As he struggled against his own body, he quick ran through the orders he'd been given. Suddenly he realised something.
"Shoot her now Phantom!" Klarion shouted angrily. Danny shouted as he forced himself to change into his human form and shoved his arm as he fired.
Sam yelled in pain as Danny collapsed to his knees, panting with exertion. Sam clutched her burnt arm and turned to her boyfriend on the floor. Her wide eyes held only concern for him. Klarion glowered at the halfa.
"You disobeyed me," Klarion growled angrily.
"No. Y-you only ordered me to sh-shoot Sam. N-not where, m-master," Danny gasped, spitting out the word master with venom. Klarion blinked before nodding slightly.
"Put her back in her cage," Klarion ordered. Danny staggered to his feet and glared at Klarion before stumbling over to Sam and turning her intangible to release her from the ice. He placed a gentle hand over her burn as he guided her back to the cage he took her from and channelled his ice powers over the injury.
"I'm so sorry Sam. I couldn't stop myself," Danny whispered in her ear.
"I understand. Thank you for fighting it," Sam muttered as he gently helped her into the cage. The door swung shut and locked itself.
"Open the door for me Phantom," Klarion called impatiently. Danny turned to him slowly and glanced at the glowing green door.
"You told me that door is lined with ectoranium m-master," Danny reminded the Witch Boy nervously.
"Yes. Open it," Klarion agreed, giving Danny a hard look. Danny gulped before obediently crossing the door and tentatively hovered his hand over the handle.
"I don't have all day Phantom," Klarion grumbled. Danny sucked in a sharp breath and pushed down the handle. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream in pain, as the anti-ghost element shocked him. He knew he would be in a lot more pain if he were in ghost form. It was a small mercy that Klarion hadn't ordered him back into his ghost form. He pushed the door open and dropped his hand, flexing his tingling fingers stiffly.
"Good Phantom. Now I want you to carry the dragon to your room," Klarion commanded calmly. Danny blinked and turned around to see Jake in his dragon form, unconscious and half-buried in ghost-proof cages. Danny glanced at Klarion before going to Jake and used his ghostly strength to uncover the large red dragon and heaved the scaled arm around his shoulders, carrying his friend back towards Klarion.
Once the door shut, the members of Young Justice, Danielle and Fu dog turned to Sam.
"Are you alright Sam!?" Danielle called worriedly.
"Yeah. I'll be fine. But how do we get out of here now?" Sam replied, wincing as she moved her stinging burn.
"I think we should resume using the mind link from now on. There could be cameras or microphones in here," Robin commented over the mind link.
"Good idea. Kaldur, we've all been captured," Wally agreed.
"What about Danny? I heard that he was under Klarion's control," the leader inquired.
"Sort of. He can't disobey Klarion outright. Or Cheshire apparently. But he can manipulate their orders to a degree," Zatanna answered.
"Sit tight then. We'll think of something and rescue you. Who's been captured?" Artemis recommended.
"Sam, Zatanna, Fu dog, Wally, Conner, M'gann, Danielle and myself. Jake was as well but he's knocked out and Klarion ordered Danny to take him," Robin listed.
"Alright. We'll call Fenton Works and get back up," Rocket replied.
"Let them know that Danny could be getting worse with his elevated energy. He was in pain for a split second in his chest," Danielle interjected.
"What!?" Sam exclaimed in alarm.
"He said he felt fine. And it wasn't the first time either," Conner added with a shrug.
"Noted. We'll inform them. M'gann, will you be able to reopen telepathic contact with us if we leave and then return?" Kaldur replied.
"No. You'll leave my telepathic range and it's dangerous to leave my mind open to find you. Someone might sense me or a telepath could be here and force their way into our mental link. And you remember what happened last time," M'gann answered.
"I'll stay put then. I can get up high and watch the base for activity. You can stay connected to me and I'll let you know when back up gets here so you can involve them," Artemis decided.
"Alright. We'll be as fast as possible," Kaldur concluded before he and Rocket moved out of M'gann's range.
"Is Jake still connected?" Fu dog wondered.
"Yes, but his mind is silent. Until he wakes up we won't be able to talk to him," M'gann confirmed.
"Speaking of Jake. What was all that stuff about the American dragon and protecting ghosts?" Conner inquired.
"Er… I better let Jake answer that question," Fu dog muttered nervously.
Oops, looks like Jake's secret is out.
Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.
Until the next chapter.
