Mouse in a Maze, Men in a Maze. Two of Clockwork's toys.
Instantly, Mr. Benedict fell asleep, just barely being caught by Number Two. Constance had fled the room, followed by the Halfa. He couldn't explain it. He just felt linked to Constance. But, hey, right now they were running to the second floor landing.
The little girl stumbled a bit, actually, she stumbled a lot. Danny, fed up, lifted her up and continued to run.
When they reached there, Danny set Constance down, covering her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound. But Constance struggled.
She was scared. She was terrified. She felt… exposed.
Once she managed to escape Danny's grasp, she did so by hitting his hand, she sprinted into the maze.
Danny quickly pursued her, cursing in his mind. They should've stayed with the group.
Then they heard them. Quick, yet delicate, footsteps approaching the room two door ways. They bolted.
Running as fast as they could, Constance's hand in Danny's, they weaves in and out of doorways. A quick buzzing sound was heard as Danny felt Constance drop unconscious.
"Not good!" He said, just as he heard the buzzing. It had hit him right in the shoulder, sending volts of electric charge into the Halfa's body.
Danny didn't fall into darkness, though. Plasmius' volts were ten times as powerful, and he could withstand four of those. The raven-haired teen plucked what looked like a wire out of his shirt.
"Aw. The little kitty is still awake." A man's voice echoed. He had a very strong cologne on, the sent of vanilla. What ever it was Danny had expected to see, it was anything but this. Two very well dressed business men, one over six feet tall, looking back at him, smiling warm smiles.
But Danny wasn't fooled. He lifted up Constance and backed away, only to bump into a corner.
"You scared, boy? Well, this won't hurt much if you just remain still." He rolled up his sleeve revealing a bright, silver watch.
"What did you do to her?" Danny demanded, referring to the limp girl in his hands.
"We just gave her a small jolt. But you obviously were unaffected by it, so we at have to give you a larger one." In one swift movement, a wire flung out of the watch and towards Danny.
But Danny was quicker.
He ducked to the ground, diving into a roll, dodging the attack. He rode in between the men's legs, making him look. Danny, who had stood up, Constance still in his arms, kicked the men's butt, making him roll into the wall. The Halfa felt a pain of guilt. He didn't like hurting humans, the GiW and Freakshow as the only exceptions.
The other man watched as the mystery boy no-handedly defeated his partner. They had gone through years of intense training… and one was taken down by a teen boy holding a toddler. This infuriated him.
"You just made an awful choice, boy!" The business man readied his watch, ten thousand volts charging. But Danny could withstand three times that many on a single blow. That was what shocked the man when his wire hit Danny square in the test.
The Halfa contracted in pain, but refused to be taken down. Clutching his teeth, he regained himself, standing up straight, ignoring the pain in his blood.
"How—" the man stumbled, no very afraid of the boy. "How did you—" but he quickly snapped out of his shock when he saw the boy sprint in a random direction.
Danny sprinted, using his ghostly vision to see through the dark and look for the yellow arrows. When he no longer could hear the man, he turned him and Constance invisible. And he did it just on time, too.
Apparently, they had three men in the building. This one had been in black camouflage, trying to conceal himself so he could sneak up on someone. But who?
His friends. Reynie, Kate, Sam, Sticky, and Tucker were wondering around without a flashlight. Milligan was with them, probably looking for him and Constance.
Danny didn't realize how long he had stood still in that place until he saw his other man approaching the hidden one.
"Careful, Tom. If all of those rascals are like the one I had to get…" he left it hanging. But Tom wanted to know what was so bad.
"I thought there were two? And what happened that made you come back empty handed?"
"That boy was hit with ten-thousand volts."
"And? Where is he?"
"That's the thing, Tom. All he did was cringe. That colt would've knocked a full-grown adult out cold. And, he took Jason down with pure strategy."
Tom let out a quiet whistle. If they could get this boy… he would be perfect for Mr. Curtain. They had gone through years of intense training just not to pass out from a pressure point. And they couldn't stay awake from that kind of power.
"What about the kid?" Tom asked, remembering the second child.
"Seven-hundred volts knocked her out cold. But the boy… Tom, he did a summersault while holding her. And he shot to his feet directly after that. Tom, he knocked out Jason kicking him in the rear!"
If they weren't on a mission, they would've continued talking. But, the other group of kids were about to turn the corner.
"Other way, guys! I got this!" Danny shouted, losing his invisibility.
Instantly, the two men shot around to see Danny ten feet away from them. "Tom! That him!"
But, instead of panicking, they both smiled. And it wasn't the warm smile he had received earlier. It was pure cold, dark. Tom quickly activated his watch, charging it to the highest, (Fifteen-thousand) and, as he did, his partner did also. Thirty thousand volts of pure electricity.
And Danny knew it.
When the wires shot out, Danny did a backflip, then, kicking off the wall behind him, tucked into a roll and landed behind the men.
Then he realized he had forgotten Constance.
Muttering a curse, Danny quickly crawled under the confused men, moving out of the way of the sparking wires.
However, Tom recovered when he saw him. Moving his wrist, the wire followed, slamming into Danny's rib cage.
He collapsed. The Halfa hadn't been expecting that kind out move. But he was still well aware of the task at hand.
Danny pulled his feet up, catching the mans in his and pulled forward, tripping him. The wire was forced back into the watch, giving Danny some relief.
The other man watched this unfold in awe. This was something that Mr. Curtain would be told as soon as they got back.
Danny had made his way to the toddler, slowly and shakily standing up with her in his arms once more. Then, he bolted before the other man could have a chance to catch him.
Reynie, Kate, Tucker, Sticky, Sam, and Milligan hadn't left as Danny had told them. They had simply watched, all 100% intrigued by the events. And when Danny had bolted, Milligan had swiftly shot the remaining man with a tranquilizer.
Danny, meanwhile, was following the arrows to get to the landing. He had thought that if they had done what he asked, that's where they'd've gone. But he was proven wrong.
Danny set Constance down behind the coach that they'd been taken to during testing. Then, he ran off to find his friends.
As he sprinted down the hall, he tried to call his rings to allow him to transform, but, because the electric charge had shorted out his ghost half, he was left without his ghost side.
So he released his mind, letting it flood with all emotions.
Three people were all knocked out. Another six were all relieved. Then, there was an emotion of annoyed. Danny had guessed Constance had woken up.
He let the six emotions guide him to his friends. When he got to them, they were all smiling widely, yet worriedly. They asked if he was okay, he said he was. Which was a lie. They began to walk to the landing when Danny felt someone's emotions kick into horsepower.
Danny shot the group worried looks, then took off running. He new they would follow, so, instead, he turned invisible and intangible and took off in the directions of the emotions.
Jason shot up with pure fury. How had a 14-year-old boy defeated him? How had he been so darn flexible and yet so agile without any of the hard-core training they had to face? Where were is partners?
He jumped to his feet. Jason glanced at his watch, glad it was still at full power. But, maybe he wouldn't need it. Maybe those two idiots had gotten the job done without him.
But he wasn't counting on that.
The boy… he was going to pay. Sure, he was going to give him a very nasty jolt of a few thousand volts. But then Mr. Curtain would take care of him. He laughed just thinking about it.
What he wasn't aware of was that the boy was only a few feet behind him.
"And what are you laughing at?" Danny asked bravely.
The man smirked before turning around to face the teen. "Just how much Mr. Curtain will love you."
He activated the watch, which Danny so wasn't in the mood for. He turned intangible, not really caring about his secret at the moment.
"How the heck did you do that, boy?"
"I'm sorry. We never had proper introductions. My names Danny, Danny Fenton. And you are?"
The mans mouth twitched. This boy wasn't even afraid of him. And that scared him; but he refused to show it. "Jason Parkisten." Danny nodded.
"And who's this Mr. Curtain?"
"Oh, shut up, kid. Stay still and this won't hurt. Long." He recharged his watch and shot it again, this time with even more volts. But Danny remained intangible.
Danny was getting bored. He wanted to take him in for questioning. If they could find out who this Mr. Curtain is, then he could be done with this mission quicker. And help Constance with her incoming telepathic abilities.
Danny had remained intangible as the sparking watch flew past him, or, through him, really. To be honest, Danny was getting sick of this. Sure, he missed the occasional fights between him and other ghosts, but, this? HA! It was too easy.
Danny walked forward, hoping to intimidate the man known as Jason. But his plan didn't work the way he had hoped.
Jason is a fast learner. Very observant, vary clever, and knows how to turn the tables on his victim. And when he saw the boy walk forwards grinning, well, he knew something was up. So, he did what any sane person would do if you saw an item fly through someone; he ran.
Danny was shocked by this. Yes, he had wanted to scare him a little, but he didn't want him to run! How was he supposed to find him now? Oh… duh. Danny followed his emotions, letting him just sense the direction they were coming from. Then, something happened he hadn't been expecting.
He had been shock. With electricity. Only then did Danny realize he had lost his intangibility when he was following the emotions.
The volts in the shock were over twenty-thousand, something not even most ghosts could withstand without being forced back into the ghost zone. He let out an ear-piercing wail; unintentionally calling forward his ghost half, forcing it to resurface just to avoid passing out from the electricity.
He received three gasps.
Shooting around to face those who gasped, Danny was faced with even more business men to deal with! That guy had called for back-up. Not good.
But Danny wasn't one to give up. Not now, not ever.
Quickly with new adrenaline, Danny flew behind the new group of men and pinched a place on their necks, making them fall to the ground. They might be able to withstand normal blows to pressure points, but not when there's any amount of ghost strength.
Danny ignored more shocked gasps and grabbed three of the unmoving men, phasing them through the ceiling. He ended up in the dining room. And, instantly, Danny began to tie up the men with ecto-ropes. He sure hated that power, but it was needed.
Leaving the limp bodies, Danny floated back down to the maze invisibly.
It was empty. No one was hiding in the corners, no one was moving from room to room. It was pure silence. Quiet. Too quiet.
And as soon as that thought popped into his mind, Danny heard it.
Screams.
The men had left him and gone after the others… man, they were good. A million times better then the GiW.
Fast than sound, Danny shot upward to aid his friends.
Reynie and everyone else had taken refuge in one of the spare bedrooms; well, besides Milligan. Anyway, the kids were hiding out under covers, even though they knew it would do them no good.
They all panicked when a wail, a howl, broke out. But, just as quickly as it had started, it ended.
Five minutes passed. Then ten. They were at the twelfth minutes when they heard very quiet footsteps heading their way.
Then, the men entered the room. One of them broke out laughing at the kids weak attempt to hide. One scowled and muttered, "Pathetic."
Jason, for he was the one who thought it was 'pathetic', stepped forward, large sacks in his and his partners hand.
"Kiddies, c'mon, now. We all know that hiding like that is completely intolerable; so, pleases, come out with your hands up. They obeyed, for they preferred to keep their heads. "Good, now, if you stay still, this won't hurt. Long."
"NO!" Danny instantly flew through the wall, crashing into Jason.
"Twit!" He screamed. "I don't care who the hell you think you are, but I swear to god, even after you have no memory of this, I will make it my life's mission to ruin yours!"
Danny smirked. "In case you haven't caught on, I'm Danny. Danny Phantom. As in, ghost. I'M HALF-DEAD!"
Let's just say, no one in the room took that well. Sam and Tucker hadn't even thought that Danny might be dead. The other kids had just assumed he was a kid with awesome powers, but, half dead?
And Jason? It was like busting a dam that held his sanity. So, Danny was able to tie up the men quite easily. (Sorry, I need to finish this.)
One hour later, Danny had eight men bound and ready to talk. He hadn't even threatened them or caused any internal damage! That made Danny very happy to know he hadn't seriously hurt anyone.
What they had learned? Well, Mr. Benedict has a twin, evil brother who uses a disastrous machine called the whisperer to look into the minds of children. The men had been put through hard training and endless shifts of kidnapping and hunting. Oh, and that Mr. Curtain was the head owner of a school called L.I.V.E. Yeah, that was the most helpful piece of information.
So, now with the men tied in actual ropes, Mr. Benedict called the police, or, the army, whichever you prefer, and told them everything. Yes, many were skeptical, but, he was able to strike a deal: One man's confession and Mr. Curtain is as good as gone.
And it worked out well enough. Now, the government knows Mr. Curtain is evil and has people out looking for him 24/7. Oh, did I mention he escaped the police with some of his men? Yeah, that's important.
Anyway, things sort of went uphill from there. Mr. Benedict never told them Danny Phantom had even helped, keeping Danny's secret a secret. And… something else happened.
Milligan got his memory back.
And, apparently, he was Kate's father! HA! Who knew?
LINE BREAK! XD
Danny sat at his desk at the school he was staying at in Stonetown. It had been a month since the event and Danny still couldn't push those thoughts out of his mind. Mrs. Foley had demanded to know why her child and his friends had been missing for almost 48 hours and received a (almost) full explanation.
All in all, everything was back to normal. Well, almost.
Team Phantom had to remain in Stonetown where the danger was at a minimal. AS IF! Ever since Danny had let the idiot Box Ghost back into the Zone, he started telling all ghosts where Danny was 'hiding.' So, now he was back on superhero duty.
This is as good as life gets for Danny Fenton.
Clockwork smiled at this sight. This turned out much better then the other way it would've went. And, it was because of a mistake he made. He made a slight chuckle upon recalling what he'd forgotten about.
How is it that you forget about a stitch in time? Literally? Especially, if you know everything.
It was cute. How did that saying go? 'A Stitch in Time Saves Nine?' It seemed to fit this scene just right.
'A Penny Spent is a Penny Earned,' was Clocky's favorite, though. He did that all too often.
Clockwork pressed a button on his time staff. "All is as it should be," he said.
I had to add in a theme for my story. It fits, though. REVIEW!
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