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Chapter 5: Interrogation

Danny was still holding the thermos in his hands but made no move to put it away. His mind was still replaying what he had just done.

He had conjured electricity, something he had done. And this electricity had taken Technus's ghost powers, just like him. What did it mean? Was he turning into him? Even without Vlad? But how could that be? He wasn't evil…was he?

"But you've already changed." Her words echoed in his mind, taunting him. "You can't stop it. It's already done."

But something else was breaking through his reverie. An annoying voice. Rather gratefully, Danny came out of his confusing and depressing thoughts. Still, he knew it wasn't over. Not yet.

"Excuse me!" The voice wasn't just annoying. "Are you listening?" It sounded annoyed. "Ghost Child!"

That snapped Danny back to attention. "Excuse me? Ghost Child?" Didn't they know him?

"Your name, right?" A spiky, black-haired teen was staring at him impatiently. Mildly, Danny considered suing him for stealing his haircut before noticing that the teen's hair was shorter than his. "We've got questions."

"My name is not Ghost Child," Danny said in answer.

"He called you Ghost Child," the blue guy behind the black-haired teen said.

Danny sighed. "Someone else calls me 'dipstick' but that doesn't mean that's my name."

"What is it then?" the first teen asked.

"Yours first, please, color-blind guy," Danny said.

The teen bristled. "I'm not color-blind!"

"Your choice of clothes says otherwise," Danny pointed out dryly. "They hurt my eyes."

"Yo, Rob, no fighting," the other guy warned, placing a hand on Rob's shoulder. He then addressed Danny. "I'm Cyborg. This here's Robin. Raven's the dark and morbid one, Starfire's next to her, and Beast Boy is our spinach guy."

"Danny Phantom," Danny said, sticking to his ghostly persona. He'd reveal Fenton once he was sure he could trust him. He still couldn't believe that they didn't know who he was. Had they been hiding under a rock during the last so many months?

Beast Boy, standing next to Robin, had been squirming while Cyborg introduced him. Now he blurted out, "I'm not the spinach guy!"

"You're green," Danny cut in. "You know that there's no need to dye your skin, right? There are plenty of other ways to grab attention."

"Hey! I'll have you know that this is my natural color!" Beast Boy snapped.

Danny blinked. "Really? Wow."

"Enough," Robin said, shooting the green teen a glance. "Danny Phantom?" he asked Danny.

"Call me Danny." The halfa shrugged, hooking the thermos back onto his belt. 'Do these guys seriously not know me?'

"Are you a ghost?" Robin said bluntly.

Danny almost keeled over in shock. Had they never heard of ghosts before? Were these teens completely ignorant as to the ways of the outside world? He thought that the fight between he and Technus had been answer enough to wake them out of their little world. But that brought up unwanted memories so he immediately derailed his mind from that train of thought.

"Have you…never heard of ghosts before?" Danny managed to say.

"Should I have?"

"We've seen two in the last so many hours, Robin," the dark girl, Raven, said. "This is number three."

"I'm right here," Danny interjected. Then something struck him. "What do you mean you've seen two? Two ghosts?"

"Ghosts are mythical creatures," Robin stated despite a glare Danny was sending his way.

"Really? Then what am I? Dracula?" Danny shot back.

"You're like Beast Boy," Robin said, moving his right hand slightly to indicate the green teen.

"Dude!" Beast Boy stopped Robin from proceeding any further. "That was a one-time thing! I could've died! There are more than one of him anyway! There are three like him and one like me! Or have you seen any other shape-shifters around here? There's no way they're all like me!"

"Why not?" Robin retorted, turning to glare at Beast Boy and ignoring Danny. "They're not all the same. One controlled cakes, the second electrical devices, and he"—glance at Danny—"shoots green orbs like Starfire and manipulates electricity! How is that alike?"

Danny flinched slightly at the mention of his new ability as Starfire spoke up. "Robin, his bolts are not like mine. Mine…are warm and his…" She struggled to find the words.

"Are cold," Danny finished. "Right? They should be, seeing as how they're made of ectoplasm."

"What's ectoplasm?" Cyborg inquired.

"It's the substance ghosts are made of, right?" Raven replied, surprising Danny.

"Yeah." Danny looked at her curiously. "How'd you know that?"

"I read a lot," Raven responded.

Then Danny backpedaled, remembering something Robin had said. "Did you fight a ghost that controlled cakes?"

"The Cake Ghost," Cyborg confirmed, grimacing. "It's a complete idiot."

"Do you guys have it?" Danny said.

"No." Beast Boy sounded glum. "It…kinda whooped our butts…"

Danny looked at him incredulously for one moment before breaking into a fit of coughing that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"What?" Beast Boy demanded.

Danny managed to catch his breath to choke out, "Seriously, the Cake Ghost defeated you? No offense but that guy's a real pain in the neck. To think it beat you…" He shook his head amusedly.

"Enough," Robin finally cut in. He shot Danny a stern look. "What are your intentions?"

Danny looked him straight in the eye, dead serious now. "My intentions are honorable."

"For whom? For you?"

"For the both of us," Danny clarified. "I don't harm civilians unless they happen to be insane megalomaniacs and shooting for world domination."

"We get plenty of those around here," Raven commented. "But most aren't exactly human."

"All mine are ghosts," Danny said. He changed the subject. "What city is this?"

Robin studied him for a moment before answering. "Jump City."

Danny's brow furrowed as he tried to recall his geography. He had never heard or seen a Jump City before, on the news or on a map. "Where?" he finally decided to ask.

"It's on the coast," Beast Boy replied. "Dude, even I know that!"

"And he learns geography off a cereal box," Raven added.

"Hey!" Beast Boy appeared indignant.

"Are you lost?" Starfire said kindly. "We have maps."

"Starfire!" Robin hissed in warning. "We don't want a repeat!"

"I'm not sure," Danny said uncertainly, overlooking what Robin had said. "Which coast? The Pacific or the Atlantic?" 'And how did I get from the middle of the U.S. to the edge?'

"The Atlantic," Cyborg informed.

Danny's eyes widened. How had the Ghost Zone dropped him off here? Sure, there were random portals all over the place but he would've known if he had fallen through a portal like that into a different city. Whatever he had fallen through had not felt like the average portal.

Besides, these teens didn't even seem to know him. He was pretty sure that unless they all had amnesia—which was highly unlikely—there was no way they could not know him. Plus, even though his geography wasn't up to par, he was pretty sure he had never heard of a Jump City.

Danny finally spoke again. "And, um, one more question. Why are you guys all dressed up?"

Beast Boy jumped in here. "You've never heard of the Teen Titans before?"

"No." Danny shook his head. He was starting to feel that uncomfortable prickling again and tried to squash it. "Are you guys famous or something?"

"Have you been hiding under a rock for the last year?" Beast Boy asked incredulously.

'I could ask the same,' Danny thought.

Beast Boy continued, "Everyone knows who we are!"

"I don't," Danny said at the same time as Raven contradicted, "Maybe not everyone, Beast Boy."

"Japan knew who we were!"

"But that was Tokyo, BB," Cyborg said. "And that's a big, popular city along with being the capital of Japan. Danny here might be from a smaller place."

"I'm right here," Danny said, annoyed.

"Where are you from, Danny?" Starfire inquired.

Danny figured it couldn't do any harm to tell them. "Amity Park."

"I guess it's our turn to say that we've never heard of it," Robin said.

Danny divulged something else. "Ghost capital of the U.S.?"

"I'm pretty sure I would've heard of something like that," Raven said. "I'm well versed in everything spiritual."

Before Danny could say anything else, his ghost sense went off. At the same time, the prickling sensation spread throughout his whole body, just begging to be released.

"What was that?" Beast Boy had seen the blue mist.

"Ghost," was all Danny could say as he focused on suppressing his new power.

"How do—" Cyborg started.

"FOUND YOU!" A loud cackle followed that statement. "YOU SHALL NOW FACE THE WRATH OF THE ALL-POWERFUL CAKE!"

A familiar and annoying ghost popped up behind the Titans. Only Danny could see it until the Titans whirled around at the sound of the Cake Ghost's voice. Robin had a pale staff in his hand.

"You're going down, tart!" Beast Boy proclaimed.

"I AM THE CAKE GHOST! FEAR MY POWER—"

"At making other people sick," Danny finished, sighing. He winced as his fingers started tingling like nuts.

"You know it?" Raven inquired.

"Unfortunately," Danny murmured, hiding his hands behind his back. He could feel sparks dancing at the edge of his fingers.

"He also has the worst lines I've ever heard a villain use," Cyborg added.

"Enough talking!" Robin snapped. "We have to—"

A bluish-white torpedo of light enveloped the Cake Ghost, pulling it over the Titans' heads and behind them. They turned around to see Danny capping his thermos, looking rather pained.

"I feel embarrassed," Cyborg muttered.

Starfire noticed Danny's pained face and approached him. "Are you all right?" She made as if to touch him.

"Don't!" Danny jerked back but it was too late. Starfire's hand landed on his shoulder. The ecto-electricity, which he had barely been containing, immediately transferred to the Tamaranean.

"Starfire!" Robin instantly leapt forwards, pushing Danny aside and catching Starfire. He was mildly shocked but shook it off, checking to see if his friend was all right. "Are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine," Starfire stammered, shaking slightly from the shock. "H-how is D-Danny?"

"About to pay," Robin promised, shooting Danny a glare.

The ghost boy's breaths were labored as he struggled to control the power surging through his body. He couldn't believe that he had just involuntarily attacked a well-meaning stranger! Sure, it was involuntary but he had still attacked her! He could still feel the ecto-electricity under his skin and it was only a matter of time before it became too much to handle again.

His decision made, he really hoped that it wouldn't look too much like he was running. But with his luck, that would be exactly what they would think.

Before the Titans could do anything to him, Danny had teleported in a flash of green light.

Panting heavily, Danny reappeared on the top of a building. He was on his knees, eyes screwed shut as he tried to control the torrent of power coursing through his body. But he wasn't having much success.

Worse still, he knew he was alone in trying to bring this new power under wraps. After all, who would go to his future self for help, the only other person with this power? Frostbite was an ice master, not an electricity master. And Vlad, the other person even remotely capable of understanding his plight, was in outer space, far away from any human. Besides, Vlad's ecto-electricity powers didn't short out other ghost powers. Danny knew that first-hand.

He was alone. Alone and without friends. He had no clue where he was and would have to wait until morning to have a chance to find out. And even if his friends were here, what could they do besides offer support? They didn't have ghost powers; he did. He was completely alone.

But he could do one thing.

Slowly, Danny transformed back into his human self, knowing that his new power would be a bit more suppressed. After all, that had been the case with his ice powers.

Once he'd transformed back, the prickling sensation decreased to a mild itching under his skin, something that he would have to get used to.

Still shivering, Danny hugged his knees and waited for daybreak. Maybe his outlook on life would look a little brighter then.

It wasn't until later that he realized that he'd left the fried Fenton Electrifier with those strange teens. He hoped that nothing bad would happen to it. But knowing his luck, something would.

"I insist, Cyborg, that I am fine. I was only mildly stung."

"I think you mean shocked. That was not mild." Cyborg had Starfire hooked up to a large monitor. "Besides, you know Robin."

"Are your powers still there?" Beast Boy asked. "You saw what happened to Technus after he got zapped. He totally crashed!"

"Bad pun, Beast Boy," Cyborg said absently, studying the readings before him.

"My powers aren't gone." To prove her point, Starfire lit up the whole room with a starbolt. "Where is Robin?"

"Studying that weird contraption the kid dropped," Cyborg said. "I don't think he'll get too far, though. It looks too advanced for his gadgets."

"Where's Raven?" Beast Boy sat on a bed, swinging his legs back and forth.

"In her room, I think." Cyborg unhooked Starfire from the monitor. "You're all right. But I'd like to know why your powers are still here while Technus's vanished."

"It could have been the fluke," Starfire suggested.

"Something tells me it wasn't that," Cyborg disagreed. "But we can't find out more unless he answers more of our questions."

"How do we catch him, though?" Beast Boy asked. "He teleported! Plus, he flies, shoots green disks, and electrocutes people!"

"He's powerful," Cyborg admitted, "but every villain has a weakness."

"He might not be bad," Starfire protested. "What he did to me was an accident. He tried to warn me but I did not heed him."

"So he can't control his powers?" Beast Boy mused.

"We've already had someone like that and it turned out to be a disaster," a new voice put in. They saw Robin enter the medical ward. "We don't want another repeat of what happened to Terra."

"He feels good, Robin," Starfire said. "I can feel it…in here." She placed her hands over her heart.

"What about Terra? We thought she was good, too."

"She was, Robin," Beast Boy argued. "It wasn't until the second time we met that she was under Slade's leadership."

"Regardless, whether he's good or bad we know he's dangerous," Robin insisted. "And he's a ghost. All the ghosts we've fought so far were evil. We need an expert on this." His eyes drifted over to the window, where the rising sun was painting the sky pink.

He eventually turned towards his teammates after a long silence. "We need Raven."

Raven was in her room, surrounded by volumes of books. She had one on her lap and was flipping through it quickly, scanning the pages. Eventually, she slammed it shut and ran a hand through her purple locks, completely frustrated.

The Titan had looked through all her books concerning the spirit world, but none of them had anything similar to what they'd gone up against earlier. According to her books, spirits were otherworldly spirits that almost no one could see and didn't have any effect on the mortal world. In any case, these were ghosts, not spirits. But looking up ghosts in her library hadn't drawn up anything conclusive either. True, they were made of ectoplasm but they generally didn't have any color. They also didn't have the offensive abilities these ghosts had.

While she hated to admit it, these ghosts had her stumped. The ability to produce electricity, shoot green bolts like Starfire's, and teleport were out of the norm for ghosts. Even Technus and the Cake Ghost were like nothing she'd heard of before.

And then not only were his abilities peculiar, Danny Phantom as a person was also extremely interesting. Raven recalled with perfectly clarity how certain details in that fight had her intrigued.

Flashback:

Danny Phantom had thrown something with strings that were connected by a face with a cheesy grin. The weapon crackled with green electricity and hit Technus before the ghost could react, binding his arms to his sides and electrocuting him. Then Danny whipped out something else, a green and white stick with something written on it that Raven couldn't catch.

While Technus was still struggling in the other device, Danny attacked him with the stick. Raven expected the stick to hit Technus; she hadn't expected Technus to break free and grab the other end, electrocuting both ghosts in the process.

All the Titans were paralyzed at the sight of both ghosts being shocked by the little device that the two were holding. Then suddenly the white-haired ghost stopped screaming, even though he was clearly still being electrocuted. Raven saw confusion paint his green eyes as he opened them and rested his gaze on the stick connecting the two. His eyes widened.

The Titan looked, too, but at first didn't see what was out of the ordinary. Then she saw it. It was subtle but still there. The sparks were increasing in number around the strange device, seeming to come from the boy holding it. The electricity increased tenfold for no reason and then it exploded, pushing both ghosts violently apart.

Something clattered to the street, but Raven had eyes only for Danny. He seemed paralyzed, shocked at what had just happened. His eyes were trained on whatever he had dropped, which Raven now looked at. It was the stick, but it was completely unrecognizable, being blackened to the point that Raven thought it was a simple stick from a tree.

"Ha! You think you can use technology on me, the master of technology? You wish! Be glad I didn't destroy you!"

Danny didn't look up to the ghost, though, still staring at the destroyed stick. Raven knew something was working behind those petrified green eyes. Something had scared him completely.

"Are you listening, insolent ghost child?" Raven glanced up at Technus to see that his hands were flaring green. "You have interfered in my plans long enough!"

The Titans automatically took a step back as Technus assaulted Danny, his hand drawing back as if he was intending to throw a punch. Before the ghost's fist could touch the teen, though, Danny had grabbed it and, to Raven's surprise, electricity zapped out from Danny's gloved hand and hit Technus, completely ruining the ghost's hairstyle.

Most people Raven knew would have kept electrocuting their opponent, but Danny dropped the ghost two seconds after he had shocked him, looking completely shocked and scared.

As Raven examined the ghost more closely since he was no longer floating, she noticed that he was no longer glowing and seemed to be staring at his hands, stunned, too.

"What did you do? I can't use my powers anymore!"

Raven thought Danny would look triumphant but instead, he looked completely terrified.

"He took away Technus's powers?" Robin sounded stunned. "How did he do that? Just by electrocuting him?"

"No," Cyborg disagreed. "If that were the case, he'd have lost his powers, too. It has to do with how the kid electrocuted the other guy personally and not with the fried stick."

"That'd be wicked," Beast Boy muttered, looking rather awed. "I could just imagine turning off Aqualad's power." A shifty glint came into his eye.

"Do that and no video games or TV for an indefinite amount of time," Robin said much to Beast Boy's outrage.

Then, a bluish-white light attracted their attention to Technus. The ghost vanished, being sucked into a thermos that Danny had on his waist on a belt filled with other high-tech devices. Raven thought the teen looked dazed and disbelieving as he floated to the ground.

"OK. Now come our questions," she heard Robin mutter under his breath, inspecting the ghost before them thoughtfully. "Let's see if he can answer any of them truthfully."

"He doesn't seem like the typical bad guy," Beast Boy argued. "He'll probably answer them."

Robin ignored him. "Hey!" he shouted at Danny, despite the fact that he was only ten feet away. "We've got some questions for you."

Danny didn't respond, still staring blankly into space. Raven thought he looked horrified, as if some terrifying revelation was being made to him and only him. It was a pity that she couldn't read minds…

Robin's patience was running short. "Excuse me! Are you listening? Ghost Child!"

'I do not think that is his name,' Raven thought wryly as this snapped Danny back to attention. A flash of annoyance sparked in his eyes momentarily.

"Excuse me?" Danny had quoted Robin. "Ghost Child?" He sounded insulted.

Then Robin did something that proved he really was dense. "Your name, right? We've got questions."

'If someone repeats a name incredulously, it usually means that it's not their name,' Raven mused, waiting for Danny's answer.

Danny confirmed Raven's suspicions. "My name is not Ghost Child."

Cyborg decided to add his two-cents. "He called you Ghost Child."

The ghost sighed, seemingly exasperated. "Someone else calls me 'dipstick' but that doesn't mean that's my name."

"What is it then?" Robin asked.

"Yours first, please, color-blind guy," Danny said, inadvertently insulting Robin's fashion sense.

'I think that's the first time someone's called mention to Robin's choice of colors,' Raven thought, amused, raising an eyebrow in the shadows of her hood.

Robin glared at Danny. "I'm not color-blind!"

"Your choice of clothes says otherwise," Danny said dryly. "They hurt my eyes."

Luckily, Cyborg stepped in before it could blow into a fight; he placed a calming hand on Robin's shoulder. "Yo, Rob, no fighting." He looked pointedly at Danny. "I'm Cyborg. This here's Robin." Raven didn't miss the squeeze Cyborg gave Robin when he introduced the boy wonder. "Raven's the dark and morbid one, Starfire's next to her, and Beast Boy is our spinach guy."

Raven didn't mind his description of her—she was observing Danny's reactions. Her eyes narrowed briefly when she caught a short moment of hesitation before the teen proceeded to introduce himself. "Danny Phantom."

End Flashback

'Danny Phantom.' Raven mused over the name. 'It's not terribly inventive. Why the emblem, though? Do boys have to have something on themselves that screams to the world who they are?' She flashed on Robin's personality. 'Okay. I guess they do.'

She pushed the book off her lap and stood next to her window, which she normally had closed with curtains. Raven pulled them open, looking out at the dawn. Several questions still bothered her. Why had he seemed so terrified of his abilities? Everyone she knew took their abilities in stride, not questioning it when something new happened. Even Beast Boy hadn't said anything when that vat of chemicals had been dumped on him, changing his personality for the worse.

'Being able to short out other powers even temporarily is a good thing but he seemed absolutely petrified of this. And then he wasn't even able to control it.' She remembered Starfire being shocked when she had tried to touch the ghost boy. 'It's too reminiscent of Terra. But she at least pretended she knew what she was doing. He didn't bother to hide his surprise. But then…Robin and the others didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Was I the only one who noticed?'

Starfire's and Danny's voices echoed in her mind. "Are you all right?"

"Don't!"

'I'm sure Starfire noticed that he didn't want her to touch him before he accidentally electrocuted her. I wonder if she's voiced this opinion to Robin yet. Knowing him, nothing will get through that thick skull of his until it's either beaten into it or it's proven by facts, not feelings.'

She was broken out of her reverie by a knock on her door. Raven glided to the door and slid it open, staring ominously through the crack and right into Robin's masked face. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk, Raven," Robin said, jumping straight to the point. "Like you said earlier, you're the spiritual expert here. What can you tell us about ghosts and their powers?"

"Absolutely nothing," Raven said flatly. "I've scoured every book that I have but there's nothing here beyond the usual 'Ghosts are mythical creatures' or 'They're spirits of the dead trapped in the plane of the living and have no effect on what humans do'. Obviously ghosts are not mythical creatures and they do have an effect on what we do."

"Then why were you standing next to your window?"

"Thinking."

Robin looked like he was debating something for a short moment. His arm moved towards Raven's door before he seemed to change his mind. "What were you thinking about?"

"About the enigma that is Danny Phantom," Raven explained. "Looking back at that fight, I don't think he's bad. Do you remember how shocked he was after he electrocuted Technus?" Robin looked like he was about to object but Raven barreled over him. "And if you recall correctly, he never wanted to electrocute Starfire. He warned her before she touched him."

Robin furrowed his brow, thinking back. "I guess you're right," he admitted rather reluctantly. "But we still can't trust him," he added firmly.

"Didn't say we should. But I say give him a chance." Raven shrugged. She opened the door wider and Robin stepped back, letting her come out of her room.

"Was there anything else that you wanted to share with us?" Robin asked, gazing at her back as she strode away.

"How about we take a look at those readings you were talking about earlier," Raven suggested. "There are some more observations I'd like to toss around."

"I think you're talking my language now."

It's was nine o'clock and Danny was getting hungry. He was also still on top of the roof and debating whether or not he should get off to get himself some breakfast. He faced the small problem of having forgotten his wallet back in Amity Park, though.

'Great. The one time Mom and Dad can't embarrass me by dancing to music from the Stone Age I forget my wallet.' Danny sighed and ran a hand through his black hair. 'I guess I could always get a job until I find out exactly where I am…'

Danny got to his feet, wandered over to the edge of the building, and looked down, inspecting the height. He looked glum. "Darn it. Either I phase through the roof, scare the hell out of whoever's under this, or transform and fly down." He considered both options before deciding on the former and turning intangible, slipping through the roof.

When he landed on the floor, he remained invisible and quiet, looking around. Luckily, the room was dark, meaning that no one was there. He took a deep breath and phased through the rest of the floors invisibly before walking out and reappearing nonchalantly next to an alley. Already the city was bustling and teeming with life, the exact opposite of Amity Park.

'Can I find a job here?' Danny watched the shops and the pedestrians zoom by him, a thoughtful expression on his face. The itching under his skin was still bearable at the moment. He had his belt hidden under his shirt. 'Guess there's only one way to find out.'

Thanks to musiclover9419, BluFox15, Shiva the Sarcastic, Copa-Phantom, starr1095, Piece of Toast, FlameToungue, Atrum Phasmatis, ell the weasel, The Gandhara, Miriam1, and Kitsune-242 for reviewing my last chapter!

ell the weasel: Sam and Tucker will be starring in at least one more chapter. This is a journey that Danny has to take by himself without the help of his friends. So for the large part, this story will only be having random ghosts from Danny's universe and the rest will be the Teen Titans.