This chapter is frikkin long.
Kadzait: Oh, it's only 28 pages long.
My chapters USUALLY average 10. This is a treat for you people.
Ch. 21: Not A Happy New Years
Mount Justice: January 1, 10:13EST
Batman dodged yet another snowball thrown at his head. Danny growled. "Come on! Just let me hit you!"
Batman rolled his eyes. "No."
Ice cracked at Danny's fingertips. Batman narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."
Danny smirked evilly. "Oh but I would."
In five seconds flat, Batman was knocked over by a bunch of snow that came from Danny's fingers. The entire Justice League and the Team laughed as Danny did a victory dance. Batman sat up and glared at his protégé.
Robin smirked at this. "Hey Danny."
The Ghost Boy continued his victory dance, not really caring who saw. "Yes Rob?"
Robin pointed to Batman. "You might want to run."
Danny finally stopped. "Why?" He looked at her mentor. "HOLY CRAP!"
Danny started running from his mentor who was hot on his trail.
Again, everyone there started laughing as Batman chased his protégé. Wally held a camera, recording everything, laughing hysterically.
Even though it was a Wednesday, the League let the Team take the day off since they had worked all night to save their butts. After everyone had said good night at the Watchtower, went home, got a few quick hours of sleep, they met back up at the Cave that morning. It was a good day off for the Team since the League was there to share it with them.
All of the Leaguers were in costume, but not the teens, who were in winter civvies as they played in the snow. Even Danny was off break and in human form. Batman had forced him to wear sunglasses though. The Team was surprised when Danny had black hair like his brother.
Batman continued to chase Danny, and the others continued to laugh hysterically. Batman finally tackled the teen and pinned him to the ground to everyone's joy. Danny laughed nervously up at his mentor. "I'm sorry?"
Batman glared and Danny sighed.
"I'm sorry I hurt your pride by pelting you with snowballs in front of the entire League and my friends. Thank you for taking care of me for the last nine months. I'm very happy that you took me in. Yada Yada Yada. I'm sorry again. Now please get off."
Batman smirked and wordlessly got off his adopted son and helped him up. Only to push him back into the snow, face first. The adults and teens watching burst into another fit of laughter. Danny shook his head of the snow sticking to him. "Was that necessary?"
"Yes."
Danny let his face drop back into the cold snow to everyone's amusement. As Batman walked away, Danny's head came up with an evil smile.
"Don't even think of freezing my feet to the ground."
"DANG IT!" Danny shouted and punched the snow drift.
Canary walked up to the teen. "Ah Danny, you should know by now that Batman does not do embarrassment."
She helped the Ghost Boy up, and he scoffed. "Oh, I know, but he banned me from ice-cream for the next week!"
"You ate the whole gallon of ice-cream faster than Wally!" Artemis said, pointing at her boyfriend who shouted in protest.
Danny shrugged. "So! I eat ice-cream all the time! I think that's the only thing keeping my weight healthy!"
Batman rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't surprise me."
Danny glared. "You are a horrible guardian."
Batman shrugged. "Fine with me."
Danny groaned before getting up.
Wally continued laughing. "Ah dude! I don't think I've ever seen you get your butt kicked like that!"
Danny walked forward and pressed something on the speedster's neck. Wally's eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell down unconscious.
"Danny." Artemis groaned.
Danny shrugged. "Your boyfriend needs to learn to shut up. Or at least know when to keep his mouth shut."
Artemis looked as if she was about to protest before shrugging also. "I guess you're right."
After, they dragged Wally inside and got lunch. The young speedster was horrified that they had food while he was unconscious. Danny and Robin recorded his entire tantrum, unsurprisingly. They spent the rest of the day having a video game tournament between the teens. The adults gambled. It was surprising who won, since Wally and Robin were considered video game champs. Now don't get any assumptions yet.
For the gambles, the respected mentors went with their respected teens. Batman was given the special privilege to bet on both of his protégés. So, in the end, the adults ended up with these people betting on different kids, twenty bucks from each person to the winners.
Wally: Flash, Red Tornado (He did a simple logic thing), Hal Jordon, and Captain Marvel.
Megan: Martian Manhunter, John Stewart.
Danny: Batman, Black Canary.
Superboy: Superman, Hawkman.
Robin: Batman (special privilege), Red Arrow.
Zatanna: Dr. Fate (Zatara made him do it), Hawkwoman.
Rocket: Icon, Plastic Man.
Aqualad: Aquaman, Atom.
Artemis: Green Arrow, Wonder Woman.
The adults tried to at least give the teens more than their mentor so they wouldn't feel bad.
The kids all agreed on the game DOOMED while the adults discussed the betting. In the first round, Megan was knocked out rather badly. The second time, Zatanna was the loser. The third was Aqualad. The fourth was Superboy. The fifth was Artemis. The sixth was Rocket. The seventh was, to most people's shock, Robin.
That left Danny and Wally, to everyone's, including Wally's, shock. The only people unfazed were Robin and Batman, but the Dark Knight was always passive so…
The last round started up, and Danny gave a devious smirk. Only bad things will happen from here on out.
The match started and Wally started furiously beating Danny's avatar, but the Ghost Boy was more or less unfazed. When it looked like Danny's avatar was about to lose to Wally's, the black haired teen pressed a few buttons. Danny's avatar regained his health and actually leveled up. One more button push and Wally was staring at a nasty defeat.
The entire room fell quiet as some stared in wonder, shock, horror, and amusement.
"YES! FINALLY! Someone beat Wally besides me!" Robin shouted and high-fived Danny. Batman silently ruffled his hair. Black Canary gave him a silent thumbs-up.
Wally turned to Danny. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"
Danny smirked at the fallen speedster. "You seem to be saying that a lot lately."
Wally's eye twitched. He did not take defeat very well. "Answer me."
Danny leaned back in his seat. "It was rather easy actually, and those were minor cheats. My biggest one is actually phasing into the game and beating you with my powers."
"But that's against the rules!" Wally shouted, almost victoriously.
Danny shook his head in amusement. "We made no rules." Wally sputtered.
"Danny's right. We made no official rules for the tournament." Megan commented.
"Yeah, but Danny did have them in mind, and chose not to say anything." Robin said with a smirk. Danny smirked back. "You know me so well."
Wally fell back in his seat unconscious, for the second time that day. The others laughed and congratulated Danny's success. Some adults forked over some money to two certain people. One of them doesn't even need it.
Once they were done with that, the adults took their protégés homes. Some teens were already there though.
Danny was still doing a victory dance after they had gone through the Zeta-portal to their home, the Batcave. Alfred looked at the older teen weirdly. "Would you mind explaining, young master?"
Danny gave a beaming smile. "I kicked Wally's butt at a video game tournament!"
"I shall go get the ice-cream to celebrate." Alfred said with a small smile of his own.
"He's not allowed to have any, remember?" Batman said, breaking the mood.
Danny glared at his mentor. "Oh come on! I'm going to lose twenty pounds in the course of a week because you won't let me have any! I practically live off ice-cream!"
Robin couldn't contain his laughter. Because all of this was true. Sadly. But it was true.
Batman sat down at his computer. "And that's why I banned you."
Danny rolled his eyes and then glared at his brother. "Oh shut up."
His brother did not listen, probably too busy laughing to hear.
"So, got any jobs for us, Bats?" Robin asked after he had calmed down.
Batman nodded. "Gordon's got the spotlight going." He got up and headed for his tank of a car. The two younger boys quickly hopped on their sport bikes. Together, the residents of the Bat-family were soon racing through the streets of Gotham, two sport bikes flanking a tank's sides.
Batman, Robin, and the recently added Danny Phantom, stood in the shadows of the roof of the police station. Batman stepped into the light, followed by his protégés. "Gordon."
The commissioner quickly turned, startled at the sudden appearance, but quickly got over it. "Batman, Robin, Phantom."
The Caped Crusader remained passive, but Danny and Robin waved with cheeky grins. "Hey Gordon!"
The commissioner gave them a smile. "Happy New Year, boys."
The two teens gave award winning smiles.
Batman looked at the two boys, giving them the Bat-family gesture of shut up. The two teens smiled sheepishly before backing down to let the adults talk.
"What do you need, Gordon?" The Caped Crusader asked. Robin and Danny waited patiently behind their mentor for instructions.
"There's going to be three drug-dealings in an hour at three different locations. The dealers are highly dangerous and are selling crystal meth, cocaine, and a few other drugs of the like. It's a highly dangerous combination." The Commissioner said.
Batman nodded. "Do you have the addresses?"
Gordon nodded and handed on three index cards. The Batman handed one to each of his protégés.
Robin smirked. "I have one a few blocks down."
Danny more or less just shrugged. "Mine's on the other side of town, but I can break the sound barrier when I'm flying. I have nothing to worry about."
"And mine's in-between both of yours. Call me if you need help." Batman said. The two boys nodded at their mentor before taking off. One disappeared into the shadows, and the other flew into the air, taking off at high-speeds.
Gordon looked at Batman weirdly. "I thought you said you got them three more trackers."
The Dark Knight shrugged. "I did, but I also hid another one on the insides on their boots."
Gordon sighed. "You are so overprotective."
Batman gave a mild glare. "They've both been kidnapped more times than I care to admit. I like to be cautious."
With that, the Dark Knight disappeared into the shadows to take care of the drug-dealing, leaving Gordon to wonder how they do it.
The three worked well into the night, stopping various attempted muggings, rapes, murders, explosions, etc. Around three in the morning, Gordon had the Bat Signal high in the sky again.
Robin had passed out in the Batmobile since he wouldn't have been able to keep upright on his motorcycle. Danny wasn't able to ride his either, but he was still fighting sleep. To Batman, that was highly annoying since he was going to send them to school the next day and Danny continually refused to go to sleep, which either made him loopy or a bummer. Tonight was loopy.
Batman sighed again as Danny laughed for absolutely no reason again. "Go to sleep."
Danny chuckled. "No! Robin said I could have twenty bucks if I could stay awake till four."
Batman cursed. He couldn't stand when the boys made bets. It was so annoying and they acted as if the world depended on it.
When they finally came to the police station, Danny refused to be left in the Batmobile and went with his mentor to see Gordon. The Caped Crusader set the Batmobile to defense mode, just to maintain Robin's safety as he slept.
Batman walked out of the shadows and Danny followed, giggling happily. Gordon looked at him weirdly and gave the Dark Knight a questioning look. "Don't ask."
Gordon shrugged and told the darkest hero that Joker had escaped Arkham again. Danny continued to be his little exhausted happy self.
The Dark Knight sighed. "What will make you sleep and call off Robin's bet?"
Danny smirked. "Release the ice-cream ban."
Batman cursed under his breath. (Of course…) "Fine."
Danny cheered before passing out and falling into Batman's waiting arms. The Caped Crusader picked him up and Gordon gave him a sympathetic look. "I'll find Joker as soon as I put the two boys to bed."
Gordon nodded and let Batman go into the shadows. The Dark Knight landed silently in the ally and walked to his car. Danny jerked awake. Batman looked at him questionably. The boy shrugged and more or less passed out again. Batman sighed again. Why him?
Danny ran. That's all he could do. Everything hurt but he had to run or he was doomed. He heard them behind him but he didn't dare look back, he only urged himself further on. He sped up and started losing them. He didn't know how long, but the noises started getting farther away. He smiled in victory. He was almost there!
He tripped and rolled around some because he had stupidly looked behind him to see how far they were, now that things seemed promising.
Danny pushed himself and looked up. He was sprawled out in the middle of a ring of stones that looked quite old. There were thirteen in all. On all of them, a dozen or more animals were carved. One had forest animals such as pumas, bears, raccoons, wolves, etc. Another had different sea creatures like sharks, fish, whales, dolphins, etc. It was all totally new to him, but also familiar.
He got up and the scenery changed all around. The forest he was running through and the night sky above changed. He was surrounded by a violet/pink vortex. The only land he could see in this sea of violet and pink was the green grass under him and the rocks.
He got the urge to look behind him and what he saw stunned him. It was a person who looked a lot like him, but with a few facial differences. His hair was black and his eyes were blue, like his. He wore a gold tunic; dark blue pants and a shirt were under. He also had gold sandals, a golden flowing cloak held up by two deep blue sapphires. Around his head rested a band with thirteen symbols.
Danny felt he knew this person. The other figure smiled and walked forward, right into Danny. Danny's hair became white, and his eyes silver. His cloak also became silver. The two gems became black and white before they disappeared, leaving Danny as he was before. He looked around confused but felt the presence inside him.
"Ebony the Wolf of Wisdom"
A black wolf with white specks throughout her fur jumped out of one of the rocks. Her eyes were a deep violet with gold and red mixed in. Her ear tips and tail tip were white.
As her front feet hit the ground, she was swept within a golden vortex, leaving a horse-sized, blinding-white wolf in her place. Her eyes were the same gold color as the vortex. A golden symbol rested on her forehead. It was a circle with a cross standing on top.
"Malachi the Tiger of Care"
A tiger jumped out of the rock next to the white wolf's rock. The tiger was black, just like the wolf. He had white stripes, green eyes mixed with silver and blue.
Just as the wolf, he touched the ground and a silver vortex overcame him. He was just as big as the white wolf next to him. The tiger went from black to white with silver stripes and silver eyes. The silver symbol on his head was of a pole with two snakes wrapped around it, wings sprouting forth, much like you see on ambulances.
"Anhur the Cobra of Protection"
A black cobra with a white diamond on his visor slid forth from the rock next to the tiger. He had green eyes mixed with silver and blue, just like the tiger's.
He touched the ground and was swept up within a silver vortex. In its wake left a white cobra with a silver shine to his scales, his eyes the same silver as the shine to his scales. His body was wrapped around himself and he waited patiently, head up. The symbol on his visor was an Ankh, plain and simply.
"Amoux the Python of Stealth"
Another snake slithered out from the rock next to the cobra's. He was black, much like the others as they came forth. He had white diamonds down his back and greens eyes with a silver and blue tint.
He landed on the ground to be swept in another vortex. It let a huge white python with a silver shine. His eyes were the same silver as the last few creatures. A single diamond with a triangle from each side rested on his forehead.
"Gale the Bald Eagle of Spirit, of Strong Will"
The eagle body that emerged from the rock next to the python was black with a white head and feet. His eyes were the same green mixed with the blue and silver as the others.
He landed safely on the ground and was swept in another silver vortex. A giant white eagle with silver eyes was the only thing left of the small eagle before. He had three spirals on his head, all connected to each other. Danny vaguely realized it was the Neolithic Triple Spiral symbol.
"Banshee the Raven of Mystery"
A plain black raven flew forth from her rock. She had a white tint to her feathers and purple eyes mixed with red and gold. She landed gracefully on the ground to be swept up in a golden vortex.
In the vortex's wake left a magnificent white raven with golden eyes. Her symbol was an Egyptian sun disk symbol with a crescent moon inside the sun. It spread across her back to outline her wings.
"Whisper the Dolphin of Kindness"
A black dolphin emerged from her rock, floating. Her fins had white tips and she had purple eyes mixed with red and gold, much like the wolf and raven.
She stilled over the ground under her and was promptly swept up in a vortex, leaving a white dolphin with golden eyes. A golden shine rested on her skin. The Native American symbol for friendship, two arrows criss-crossing, rested on her forehead.
"Oceanus the Orca of Gentleness"
An orca, already bigger than everyone else, emerged from her rock. She was black, like all orcas, but had the white on the sides of her face and no other place. She had purple eyes mixed with gold and red.
As expected, she was swept up in a golden vortex, leaving behind an albino orca with absolutely no black spots. Her eyes were golden, as expected. She had a golden locust flower as her symbol.
"Conan the Griffin of Growth"
A black griffin emerged from his rock. His feathers were tinted white, much like the raven. His eyes were the exact opposite though. They were green mixed with blue and silver.
His front feet hit the ground and a vortex appeared, swirling around him. It left a slightly bigger white griffin with silver eyes. He had a pentagram surrounded by a beautiful flower on his forehead.
"Isis the Caladrius of Magic Healing"
A horse sized blue bird with white mist falling from her wings flew forth. Her beautiful violet eyes with red and gold mixed well with her blue body.
She was swept up in a golden vortex and left a white bird where the blue one was. Blue mist fell from her wings and her golden eyes sparkled. A golden pentagram rested on her forehead.
"Raul the Phoenix of Strength"
A black phoenix emerged from his rock next to the Caladrius'. He had shining green eyes mixed with silver and blue. Red flames sparked from his wings. He was an intimidating creature indeed.
As he landed, he was swept up in a silver vortex and was left a blinding white. Red flames continued to burn at his wings but his eyes were now silver. On his forehead rested the symbol for strength in Japanese. (力)
"Marrok the Thunderbird of Appearing"
A black body with blue lighting cracking on his wings emerged from the rock. His eyes were also green with silver and blue tinting.
When the vortex disappeared around him, he was left white with the blue lightning cracking on his wing. His eyes were silver and shone brightly. His symbol was of a triangle with another upside down triangle inside the first.
"Runner the Amarok of Loneliness"
Instead of a black body, a white one jumped forward. The giant wolf had no flaws; he was just a white, horse-sized wolf with green eyes tined blue and red. He hit the ground and was swept in a red vortex.
The white wolf was left with a black wolf with four red, slitted eyes. He had many jagged teeth in his slightly malformed face, saliva dripping to the ground. He had a midnight blue shine to his coat, instead of silver or gold. His symbol was the ancient symbol of danger. It was a circle with a dot in the center, spikes on the right corner of the circle.
Though the animals would make anyone cower in fear, it gave Danny comfort and strength.
"Wisdom."
The white wolf rushed forward and entered Danny's body.
Danny saw himself directing the other teens, ready to bring back the adults.
"Care."
Danny found a wandering kid in the park. He was alone and was forlorn. Danny abandoned his friends and picked up the kid, asking where his parents were. The kid didn't know and Danny offered to help him find them. The kid nodded eagerly and hugged Danny's neck.
"Protection."
Skulker launched missiles from his shoulder, headed directly for a kid. Danny swept in, grabbed the kid, and turned his back, taking the hit from the missiles.
"Stealth."
Danny snuck behind the school and hid behind a dumpster. Dash and his friends ran by, unnoticing. Danny came out, went ghost, and took off to find the evil ghost.
"Spirit."
Danny felt everything burn, but he had a city to protect. He pushed himself up to everyone's surprise. Danny's breathing was ragged but he flew into the air and shot an ecto-blast at Plasmius.
"Mystery."
Danny headed in the opposite direction of his class. A teacher caught him and told him to get on to class. Danny ran in another direction and seemed to disappear to the teacher.
"Kindness."
Danny handed a cowering student half his sandwich when Dash took the poor kid's lunch. The student smiled at him and took it.
"Gentleness."
A small girl cried as her hand continued to bleed from a small cut. She looked around for her mother, forlorn. Danny noticed, walked up, and kneeled down next to her. He took out a band aid from his wallet and gently put it on the cut, telling the girl how brave she was.
"Growth."
Danny steadied his hand and shot a cardboard ghost cut out. His friends cheered when he actually hit it this time. Danny smiled at them, big.
"Magic Healer."
Sam held her ankle in pain after tripping. Danny bent down, looked around, before putting his own hand on top of her ankle. It glowed a pale blue before he took it away, healed.
"Strength."
Danny looked at his older self angrily. He got in a stance, drew in a breath, and released it in the form of a ghostly wail.
"Appear."
Danny slunk from the cafeteria, only to reemerge a few minutes later from a different entrance. Everyone looked at him weirdly but he just shrugged it off.
"Loneliness."
Rain pounded on Danny's window. The boy in question sat in his dark room, shirtless, gauze wrapped around his chest. His elbows were on his knees as he sobbed, the rain and thunder overpowering his whimpers.
The purple and pink vortex appeared, leaving Danny in the rings, confused. The G.I.W. burst forth from the trees and easily captured him. He screamed but no one heard it.
…
Danny screamed and tried to kick, but his hands and feet were restrained. No one other than the monsters heard his screams and cries, and they drank it in with pleasure.
Ebony attacked anyone near her. She shook her head as pain coursed through her body. She knocked things over but did not injure anyone seriously. She let out a desperate, pain-filled howl before the pain faded and so did the body of the wolf. Did anyone understand her song?
Danny tried to move away but his cage did not allow him to. A needle was roughly stabbed into his skin and the unknown liquid was injected into him. The pain was unbearable!
Malachi growled at the person who dared to near him. He swatted the net away easily. The pain was horrendous and his limbs felt like they were on fire. He let out a distressed ROAR before disappearing. Would anyone understand?
Danny screamed, tears streamed down his face as they whipped him. He wasn't even allowed to speak here! How could someone be so cruel?, he wondered. It made no sense.
Anhur hissed at all his opponents, though they were bigger than him. He snapped his jaws in warning, his fangs dripping with poison. He convulsed as he felt every whip mark and hissed rather loudly. Will anyone know to help?
He was drowning, that's all he could think. He needed to breathe! Let him out! Please! Doesn't anybody have a heart?
Amoux continued to strangle the man in his grip, but limped. He wasn't getting any air into his lungs! He had to get away and get air! How does nobody see the signs?
Electricity coursed through Danny's limbs. This was inhuman! It was like the ghost portal, only at a smaller scale! But it still hurt immensely! He wasn't immune! Doesn't anybody see that?
Gale screeched at everyone who ran from him. His wings locked and he felt himself dropping from the sky. He felt the electricity course through his body at a painful rate! Did no one care?
Danny was thrown into a ring where a large ghost puma waited for him, snarling. He tried fighting back, he really did, but everything already hurt. His ankle was broken, dang it! He let the puma swat him around, hoping it'd kill him.
Banshee screeched in her shrill voice. She was fighting anyone she could. Danny was dying by the hands of the enemy! Someone had to save him! Why aren't they doing anything to help?
Danny hurled and let his blood coat the floor. His stab wound was all the way through, the blade sticking out his back. Please help. He was going to bleed out.
Whisper splashed everyone and rammed into boats. Why didn't they see? The ocean became red with blood but no one knew it wasn't hers that tainted the ocean…
Danny tried moving his hands and feet but he couldn't feel them. His ankles and wrists were broken and he couldn't move anything. It hurt to move his arms and legs at all.
Oceanus continued to make a big seen under a bridge. She ran into boats, making them tip. She splashed at the smaller ones, easily tipping those too. She swam into the bridge support, making the entire thing shake. The sound of cracking bones went throughout the air but they weren't hers.
Danny weakly got up, but collapsed again. He felt people start to beat him, but they wanted him up. Why did they beat him and make him weak when they wanted to get him to stand up?
Conan screeched, knocked things over, and got dangerously close to hurting people. They needed to help! They needed to get off their lazy butts and help Danny! Why did no one understand and answer their calls?
Danny tried healing his bleeding wounds but they refused to close. Everything hurt and was burned open. His pain only gave his captors joy though. Why was that exciting? They'd been doing this for a long time now. Why did it matter anymore?
Isis, the normally calm and collected one, was on a destructive rampage. They did not listen to her friends! They must listen to her! She froze things as she screeched. Why did nobody listen? Were they deaf?
His normally cool body temperature was rising. Danny sighed. He'd just healed a fever and he was already on another one? Oh wait, it was just the fire around him…
Raul threw his flames around carelessly. If they did not listen to one of the three glorious birds, then they should listen to two of them! Why weren't they listening though?
Danny didn't dare sleep as he laid on the floor. They told him it wasn't time. He was not allowed to sleep. But in the far corner he saw his friends. So, he must hallucinating now. As long as they were the nice ones, he was alright with it. As long as it was nice…
Marrok didn't care that he was shocking every conductor there was on this stupid street. When would they listen? His friends were running out of ideas! They needed to know the truth about Danny! Were they unseeing to the signs they gave them?
Danny hid in a far corner, in the shadows. He cried silently, not allowing anyone to hear them. They would punish him if he did. He gave up leaving this hell-hole a long time ago. If anyone was going to save him, they already would've. They were transferring him to Europe later anyways. No one would know he was gone. It was useless to hope. He'd never felt so alone.
Runner let out a long sad howl. It rattled the buildings and people's soul. Runner's voice was mourning. They had to do something now or it would be useless to come any longer. His voice continued over the city, rattling everyone's demeanor. Runner stopped and looked around. No one understood. He didn't expect them to. If they did, they would've done something a long time ago. They were useless humans, they were. Runner's heart hardened and he felt Danny's loneliness. He disappeared because he needed to go comfort a sad boy.
...
Danny walked into his house and froze. His parents. His sister. Danny ran to sit in the middle of them. He nudged Jazz and his mother. They didn't move. "Mom? Dad? J-Jazz? Wake up. Don't leave me. Come on, wake up. Please. Please!"
Danny shook his head. This couldn't be happening.
His family had bullet wounds in their chests, blooding seeping out. It looks like they had been beaten before they were killed. Various cuts and bruises marred their skin.
Tears leaked out of Danny's eyes and he didn't bother wiping them away. "Please! You have to wake up! You can't leave me!"
Danny collapsed in their blood, getting it all over him.
He laid there the whole night, crying, and screaming at them to get up. In the morning, he got up and ran. He didn't stop for Sam or Tucker or the police. Nobody. He just kept running.
…
"You awake, kid?" Oh yeah, his eyes were still closed. Danny cracked them open and was met with black boots. His eyes traveled up the figures body. Black suit, black cape, black cowl, yellow bat symbol.
Batman.
Danny's eyes closed. As he did, the two sea mammals made clicking noises. They knew he ok and he felt their presence leave. Not like they swam off to the ocean, but more like… vanish.
But Danny fell into Nevermore before he could ponder it.
…
All the adults and teens were in a battle stance in a minute, all except for Batman and Robin. The figure running stopped, skidding on the ground, and put his hands up. "Whatever the media said I did, I swear! I didn't do it!"
…
"You all are fools." Everyone turned to Danny who had his eyes burning with rage. "And I don't see where you're coming from, Superboy. You came to the surface a little over a week ago."
Superboy glared at him, but Danny beat him in that department.
"Yeah, she made a mistake, but you three made the mistake of not listening to me! You ignored me! What kind of teammate does that?!"
The boys were in complete shock. Danny shook his head. "You all are hypocrites. You all are pretty much rookies too. You've worked with your mentors your whole career! I'm the only one who's actually looked death in the frikkin face and won! I am the only one who has done this alone! So why don't you give Megan a break! She was just trying to be part of the team! Oh who am I kidding? There is no team!"
And with that, he took off into the air.
…
Robin jumped back, and landed by his teammates. Anhur slithered over to Danny, who picked him up and placed him on his shoulder. The cobra wrapped its tail around Danny's neck gently. "It's sad when you're afraid of your own namesake."
Kobra looked them over, and started backing away. "Another time then."
And with that, he disappeared into the shadows.
…
"Canary, why?" Danny whined.
Canary motioned for him to come to her, and he complied. "It was going to come out eventually. Anyway, his powers match that of Superman's, possibly even higher, because of their rarity and the fact that he is the only one who has ever had these powers, but he also knows combat, which makes him exceptionally more of a dangerous opponent. Danny, you and me, practice."
…
Danny ran out of the cave and collapsed on rock ledge. He brought his knees to his chest, and started sobbing. "Why? Why are you such a freak, a monster! There's nothing good about my existence! I'm a failure! Why should I continue living!?"
…
Klarion's body was enwrapped in red flames. He started shooting them at the two. The Lords of Order easily flew around them. "I am bound to the Helmet and use a human host." Dr. Fate said.
"I bound my soul to a human's, bounding me to the physical plain." Da-, Natick said. Dr. Fate shot an Ankh, and Natick shot a Ring of Thirteen Symbols. Klarion used a rock slab as shield.
"But that is not your way." The two allies said.
…
Danny smiled. "You wanted me to stay?"
Dick smiled. "Course, you're like a brother. Wait a minute, don't change the subject!"
Danny rubbed his neck nervously. "Oops?"
…
Danny looked around again, and started running in a random direction, not knowing what else to do, and many questions assaulted his mind. Why was he here? Why didn't anything hurt like it should? Why wasn't he starving? Why wasn't he dying of thirst? Why wasn't he hurling, because he was pretty sure he was going through withdrawal. What day was it? Where was he? And most of all, how did he get away in the first place?
He felt a presence behind him.
…
Robin was now covered in Danny's green blood, and the Boy Wonder was about to have a panic attack. The Ghost Boy was out cold, his skin a very pale color, even for him. The burns, which usually would be healed by now, were still bleeding. The blood around them was a frikkin puddle, and the smell of blood, death, and decay filled the air around the three.
…
"Danny… You're a little pale… Well, paler than the paler you were earlier, anyway. Are you ok?"
"I'm going to be sick…"
…
I failed Bruce. I failed Dick. I failed everyone… Even myself. Tears poured out of Danny's eyes, and blood started to trickle down his arms, but Danny didn't notice. I'm sorry, Bruce. I'm so sorry…
…
Danny clung to Runner's fur as he trotted on. He didn't care anymore. Everyone was dead. Of course he would keep his promise and not take his own life but… Why should he continue living if he had nothing to live for?
…
Bruce laid Danny down, and the hybrid grabbed the first animal he could; Isis. Immediately, Danny's skin iced over, his tears froze on his face, and he started to fall back asleep. Bruce sat next to him calmly.
…
Danny sighed again, and rubbed his face. "I wanted to run. I wanted to leave. I wanted to be with you guys, or my thoughts of you guys anyway." Canary remained calm, knowing he meant committing suicide.
…
Artemis looked down. "I don't have any secrets."
Danny shook his head. "We all have secrets, every last one of us."
…
Dr. Fate tilted his head and saw something that made his gears start working. "You are angry because this is what has happened to you."
Danny remained quiet. Dr. Fate sighed. "I might release him, in time."
Danny trembled. "This is when Zatanna needs her father most."
…
Then it hit him, all at once. Danny choked on a sob. Three words drifted in the air and as he sat in the dirt, they whispered in his ears. Three little words.
He was dying.
…
Danny smiled brightly. "Awesome! Just don't do it again!"
His happy demeanor went from happy to annoyed. "I'm really tired of it."
…
The leader and second-in-command shared a look.
"Everything alright, Danny?" Robin asked. Danny looked at him, grief-stricken.
"I-I don't know…"
…
In space, the dragon flung Klarion away. "Klarion, you better hope I don't kill you."
…
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"
Danny smirked at the fallen speedster. "You seem to be saying that a lot lately."
…
Batman, Bruce, Robin, Dick, Zatanna, Artemis, Aqualad, Kaldur, Wally, Kid Flash, Rocket, Raquel, Megan, Miss Martian, Alfred, everyone he loved.
Danny and Robin walked into the kitchen, joking around, but what they saw stopped them both. Danny's mom, sister, and arch-enemy sat around a table with an uneasy Bruce.
"I want you back in my custody!"
"Vlad Masters has custody over Daniel Fenton."
He ended up a crying mess, leaning into Bruce with Dick right next to him.
Danny shot up in bed, breath coming out in short spouts. He checked the time; five thirty. He had some time till school. But, man, that dream was incredibly weird dream and it had startled him.
Danny threw his legs over the side and got up, rubbing his eyes. You'd think he'd be used to getting up early with late nights by now. Oh well.
The halfa walked to the kitchen, went to the fridge, and got out a pint of ice-cream, smashed Oreos, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. The ice-cream was moose-tracks, his favorite.
He popped off the lid, put it in the microwave, let it melt some before taking it back out. Danny dumped a lot of the Oreos into his breakfast, and then added the chocolate syrup. He stirred that up before squirting a lot of the whipped cream into the container, then his mouth, before putting it away.
Danny grabbed a spoon when he was done with his 'perfection' and headed out to the game room, where he turned on the TV and started watching America's Funniest Home-Videos after pressing record. He laughed dryly at people's mishaps.
Dick walked in a few minutes later with a bow of cereal. He looked at the ice-cream Danny had.
"I thought…"
"He released the ban last night when I wouldn't go to bed."
"Ohh. So the plan worked?"
"To perfection."
The two sat in silence after that and laughed when they saw Wally on it. He had tripped on his last birthday and landed with his face in the pie. Guess who sent it? If you guessed the two brothers, then you were correct! It got even better when Wally was named winner. Of course, this was a repeat. It was live the night before and millions of people laughed at Wally.
Bruce walked in as Wally was proclaimed winner. He leaned on the doorframe and saw his kid's choice of breakfast, but didn't mention anything as this was usual for them. "So, who sent that in?"
The two boys didn't turn to their mentor. "Yours truly." They both said, grinning like idiots.
"You planning on sending that to Wally?" Bruce asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Yep, and to the rest of the Team."
"And the entire Justice League."
Bruce nodded. "Alright then."
He left to go get himself some breakfast and join the boys. Alfred walked in, hardly glancing at the teens. "Please don't get any food on the couch."
The two boys nodded, not even looking at their superior. "Planned on it."
Bruce came back in and sat down by Danny, who was in the middle of the three. "You want me to replay it?"
Bruce nodded. "Why not? Maybe I'll have something interesting to think about in my meeting later."
Danny went to the DVR and replayed the episode of Wally's win.
Central City: January 2, 6:00CDT
Wally's phone beeped and the speedster groaned. Who would wake him up at this ungodly hour in the morning? Only two people. Oh no, what did he do?…
Wally checked his phone and saw that is was from Dick's phone. He looked at the message and saw there was a tab connected to it. He read the message first.
We are two fellows.
Who love to bring you misery.
What have we done this time?
You'll just have to wait and see.
Who are we?
What did we do?
If they were following the Riddler's lead, only bad things could be in the link. Maybe it was the Riddler! Maybe he captured the Bat-family! Though the message screamed Dick and Danny. He pressed the link hurriedly and watched the clip.
"OH DEAR LORD!"
Gotham City: January 2, 5:50EDT
Artemis groaned as she heard her phone ring. She picked it up and looked at the text.
Hey Arty! Sorry to wake you up but we sent this to everyone else, so you're not the only one who wants to rip us apart. Anyways, click the link. Poor Wally's probably crying right now. His social life is ruined.
Love,
DP + R
Artemis pressed the link half-heartedly, but found herself laughing despite her mother in the next room.
Poseidonis: January 2, 5:54UTC-2
Kaldur woke to the sound of his water-proof phone. He didn't want it at first but his team insisted, and now it's waking him up at early hours in the day. Aqualad grabbed it.
Hey Kal! Yeah, yeah, kill us later with the others. Anyways, if you want to know why we're texting you at ungodly hours in the morning, press the link.
With love,
DP + R
What did the little demons do this time? He pressed the link and found himself laughing in the darkness. So, Danny and Robin's death will be quick and painless instead of slow and painful. Ok, he could live with that.
Mount Justice: 6:05EDT
Megan woke up to the sound of her phone. She rubbed her eyes and grabbed it. The brightness made her squint but she saw the message clearly.
Hey Meggy! So, this premiered last night while we were busy kicking butt. R and I were going to watch it since we sent a video in, but we didn't get to. Bummer, I know. But, we did get to watch it this morning. If you have no clue what I am talking about, press the link.
Love,
DP + R
Megan did as she was told since she was already up. She watched the video, and laughed, and laughed, replayed it, and laughed some more.
Superboy, as everyone else did, woke up to his stupid phone. He was tempted to smash it, but decided to see what it was, at least.
DON'T KILL US! We thought you would enjoy this video. Don't feel bad. We did this to the entire Justice League so...
Please love,
DP + R
P.S. Probably shoulda put code names and not our real ones so you have no idea we're the ones sending you this...
Superboy rolled his eyes and pressed the link. It was so funny he showed it to Wolf and Sphere.
Zatanna groaned when her phone went off. She turned over and grabbed it.
HEY Z-Z! Yeah, yeah, we know. You'll kill us later. Before you decide which way to kill us, click the link. PRETTY PLEASE! You did kiss me.
Love,
DP + R
P.S. More R than DP though.
Zatanna rolled her eyes and pressed the link. She told herself to give Robin another kiss and then give one to Danny.
Dakota City: January 2, 6:00CDT
Raquel felt like smashing something when she heard her phone go off. Then she found out it was Danny. Why would he text?
Hey Rocket! DP and R here! We wanted to make you feel like the team and sent you something that practically screams don't prank us cause R and I are relentless with revenge. This video proves it.
Love,
DP + R
Raquel pressed the link excitedly, and accidently woke up the entire apartment with her laughter.
Danny and Dick both smirked when they got texts from their friends.
"Oh this should be good." Danny said. Dick nodded excitedly.
I'm going to kill you later.
Love,
The Wal-Man
What did he do? And how did you get the idea to send that to a TV show? You know what, I'll ask when someone messes with me, K?
Love,
Arty
Very funny, you two. But next time maybe you should wait until everyone's up to send a text, no matter how funny.
Love,
Kaldur
That was very funny! I watched it like five times! But next time could you send it when I'm up and not on a school day?
Love,
Megan
At least it was worth my time. Wolf and Sphere thought it was funny too.
Love,
Superboy
I'm kissing you both later, K?
Love,
Z-Z
That is a prank, my friends! No, I will never double-cross you for fear of what will happen! Hey, do you think you could help me prank Icon?
Love,
Rocket
Danny and Dick high-fived. They were geniuses, plain and simply. Bruce looked at them. "What did you do?"
Dick smiled widely. "Well, we sent it to the Team, and they texted back. We were going to text the Justice League when we went to school."
The two boys ran to the kitchen to put their stuff away before Bruce could say anything otherwise. Bruce picked up Danny's phone and started looking through the texts. He laughed at a few.
After getting dressed, going to school, texting the entire Justice League the video and getting responses, and getting passing grades, the two teens found themselves in the limo again, on their way home. Alfred was driving them uneasily.
"What's up Al? You seem distraught?" Danny said smirking.
Dick smirked also. "Yeah, what'll make you get traught and feel the aster?"
Alfred sighed tensely. "You won't be 'feeling the aster' or 'be traught' when we get home boys."
The two teens stopped smiling altogether and looked at each other worriedly. They didn't have any pranks set up, they didn't do anything wrong that they know of. So, what's wrong at home?
Alfred parked the limo and the two teens got out, following their butler.
"So Danny, did you hear back from the gig people?" Dick asked.
Danny had signed up to perform at different bars and restaurants for fun.
Danny nodded. "Yeah, my first one's today."
Dick punched his arm with a smile, the tension momentarily forgotten. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Danny rolled his eyes. "I only found out at lunch."
Dick gave the 'whatever' sign. "Doesn't matter! You could've told me when we met up, or in the car!"
The two bickered as they were unconsciously led to the kitchen. They walked in, joking around, when they saw who was at the table. The two froze on spot.
Jazz Fenton, Maddie Fenton, and Vlad Masters.
Bruce looked at them uneasily. "Hey boys, how was school?"
Danny didn't answer as he turned to Dick. "You see them too, right?"
Dick nodded numbly. Danny shrugged, "Looks like we're both insane."
Vlad smirked. "You are not insane, Little Badger."
Maddie got up and ran to hug her son. "Oh my baby! I've missed you so much! Jazz told me everything! I can't believe I hunted my own son! I'm so sorry, Danny! Please forgive me!"
Danny, even though he knew he should be happy, pulled away confused, eyeing his mother and sister. "You're dead. That robber shot you. Everyone said you were dead! If you were alive, why am I finding out now?!"
Maddie looked at him sympathetically as Jazz walked up behind her. Maddie placed her hands on the sides of Danny's face. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry! Jazz and I were in critical condition. Your father… is dead. Vlad didn't want anyone knowing we were alive to help our recovery. I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner, but we were released only a week ago!"
Danny looked at his sister and then at his mother. "Alright, just to make sure you're actually real and I'm not actually dreaming, who was my first friend?"
Maddie smiled. "Your imaginary friend named Nabu."
Danny forced a smile. "Not so imaginary now." He said through his teeth so only Dick could hear. The younger teen actually smirked.
"Danny, they're here… to take custody over you." Bruce said, finally speaking up.
Danny pulled away from his mother. "What?"
Dick was looking a little afraid now.
"You heard him, Daniel. We're here to take you back to Amity Park to live with your mother, sister, and I." Vlad said with a smirk.
Danny glared at him, his eyes turning green. "No."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Danny!"
The boy in question glared at his mother. "I have a gig to get to."
Dick followed Danny out nervously. He fell in step with the older boy. "You're not leaving, are you?"
The tension in Danny's shoulders relaxed at his brother's worried tone. He gave a reassuring smile. "Nah Dick. I'm Batman's second protégé, and Robin's mysterious partner. I have too many responsibilities here."
Dick was still nervous. "If you weren't Phantom, would you go?"
Danny's step wavered. "I-I don't know Dick. Maybe. But I'm not going. You're my brother, Wally's my annoying friend, Artemis is Wally's savior, Kaldur's my leader, Rocket's my new ally, Megan's my little sister, Superboy is… Superboy, and Zatanna's the girl I have to protect you from. I am not leaving you here with your hormones acting up every time she shows her face."
Dick glared at his brother. "You're hilarious."
Danny smirked. "Anytime Dick, anytime."
Maddie sank into her chair. "I thought he'd be happy to come with us back home."
Bruce cleared his throat. "Danny has told me that Mr. Masters here always gave him the creeps. Who knows? Maybe that's why he'd rather stay here."
Bruce was lying through his teeth, but no one but Alfred seemed aware of it.
Vlad rolled his eyes. "Of course."
Maddie looked confused and Jazz was nervous. "Why would Danny fear Vlad? They know each other well."
Maybe too well, Bruce thought.
Jazz sighed. "Mom, maybe we shouldn't push Danny. He thought we were dead for well over two years. He's probably gotten used to having Mr. Wayne as his guardian."
Maddie shook her head. "No Jazz. I want my boy back. I hope you understand, Mr. Wayne."
Bruce gave a small, fake smile. "Of course. I just want what's best for Danny."
Maddie nodded and got up and walked out of the room to find her son.
Jazz sighed. "I'm sorry Mr. Wayne. Ever since I told her, she's wanted to find Danny and bring him back. She wanted Danny back before I told her."
Bruce nodded and eyed Vlad's smug face.
Danny got his guitar. Dick was sitting on his bed, watching and messing with the Anhur and Raul stuffed animals. Danny could only laugh at his brother's antics. He put his guitar on his back and headed for the door. He looked behind at Dick. "You coming?"
Dick nodded and got up to follow. The two walked down the hall, side-by-side, as usual. They were going into a new plan to fend off Wally for the time being.
It was stopped when they bumped into Maddie when they rounded a corner. Danny and Dick backed away from the woman some. Maddie gave her son a sad smile. "Danny, can we talk?"
Danny shook his head. "I told you. I have a gig. I'm taking Dick with me."
Maddie sighed. "Please Danny. This is important."
Danny crossed his arms. "I have to be somewhere. Dick and I plan on walking. We have to go now."
Dick looked nervously between his adopted brother and his adopted brother's mother. He felt like he should leave.
Danny walked around Maddie, dragging Dick behind him. The young teen wondered if he should tell Danny to talk to his mother, but he knew Danny was also still a little ticked knowing that his mother knew about his secret and that she wanted to take him from his duties here in Gotham.
"Daniel Fenton, get back here!" Maddie shouted angrily. This is not how she thought this would go. She thought Danny would be happy to go back to Amity Park, and fight the almost non-existent ghosts that didn't show up anymore.
Danny turned back to his mother. "I'm not going back! I've monitored Amity Park since I left! The ghosts are gone, making my powers useless! I can't give that up! Batman and Robin need me here, in Gotham, where I'm needed! Robin's like my little brother and so is Dick!"
Maddie glared. "I know full well Mr. Wayne is Batman and that his ward is Robin. How else can he afford his fancy toys?"
Danny glared. "Those 'toys' help save lives. Like I said, Batman and Robin need me." Danny turned around and started walking, gesturing for Dick to do that same.
"Daniel Fenton, you are my son! I shouldn't be separated by a billionaire and his ward!"
Danny didn't know why he grew angry. He's wanted to see his mother and his sister for more than two years. Why was he so angry when they showed up? Wait! That's why. Maddie didn't see that hero-ing meant everything to him.
Danny turned on his heel and faced his mother with a glare. "How many times did you not notice I had broken limbs, or a gash across my chest? Mom, being a hero means everything to me. Batman and Robin understand that and help me out! I'm not alone anymore! I'm more careful! I know how to take an opponent out without too much effort now! Don't you see this is the life for me, just as it is for every other hero?" He asked desperately.
When you're a hero or a heroine, you fight the good fight because this is what you want, what you thrive off. Doing good deeds won't cut that burning obsession. You want to do more. You want to save people and cities because it makes you feel good. You don't care if people like you or not, this is who you are. If you're a true hero, you won't back down when things get tough. You'll stare death in the face and say bring it on!
Maddie glared back at her son. "Danny, I want you back in my custody!"
Danny deflated. She didn't understand. She never would. "You're not going to get it. Come on Dick!"
Danny grabbed Dick's arm and started dragging the younger teen through the halls, ignoring the shouts from his mother.
They ran right out the door and down the street. Danny smirked at his younger brother. "Nice save."
He was talking about how Dick almost tripped on the door mat.
His brother beamed. "Thanks!"
Danny pouted. "Though I wish you would've so I could've hacked into the security cameras and then give it to the America's Funniest Home Videos people."
Dick smacked him, and laughter could be heard throughout the block.
Danny and Dick entered the small bar called Jack Willies. Danny, checking the time, walked to the stage and sat down on the stool provided. Dick sat down at a table near the stage. Danny tuned his guitar for a few minutes before starting.
"Hey guys, name's Danny. My brother's over there. First gig ever. Please no criticism. I probably won't care anyways so…"
Some people laughed and Danny smirked. "Well, my first song will be Drink To That All Night by Jerrod Niemann." Some people cheered at Danny's choice in music as he started strumming his guitar.
The way home from Jack Willies was spent joking as the sun went down. Most people were heading indoors but Dick and Danny spent the whole time joking around. They were unafraid since one of them had ghost powers and the other was a frikkin ninja.
As they walked in the door laughing, the tension in the house that was there before was gone, replaced with something stronger. The boys chose to ignore it.
"Night Dick." Danny said and walked to his room.
"Night Danny." The smaller teen said.
The two boys separated and Danny walked into his room. He changed into a pair of sweats and got into bed. He snuggled deep into his pile of plushies and smiled before drifting into unconsciousness.
Danny huffed and panted as he ran. He was running through a forest. He looked behind him and saw them coming. Not the G.I.W., not Vlad, but them. They were chasing him.
'Them' just had to be his Totems reversed.
Wisdom was Arrogance. Care was Neglect. Protection was Threat. Stealth was Obvious. Spirit was Ill-Will. Mystery was Known. Kindness was Hatred. Gentleness was Roughness. Growth was Decline. Magic Healer was Magic Harmer. Strength was Weak. Appear was Disappear.
The only person who did not join the chase was Togetherness, the reverse for Loneliness. He did not give chase. He watched sadly.
All of the Totems were black, plain black. They had no accents at all on their fur, skin, or scales. They all had a midnight blue shine, malformed faces with saliva dripping from their mouths, and four slitted red eyes.
Arrogance's symbol was a circle with a cross of the bottom. Neglect's had a broken pole with drooping wings. Threat's was an upside down triangle with a Y going through the middle. Obvious's was a triangle with a diamond in the center. Ill-Will's had an upside down V with two uneven lines going through it. Known's was a circle with a bunch of spikes shooting out of it. Hatred's was the swastika. Roughness's was three wavy symbols one on top of another. Decline's was an arrow pointing down. Magic Harmer's was a circle with two crescent moons hanging off the sides. Weak's was an oriental dragon in a circle eating its tail. And Disappear's was a circle with a dot in the middle.
Obviously, these were creatures Danny did not want to have as his personality. It's why he ran. Everything the twelve animals passed turned to ruins. Danny didn't want that.
The Ghost Boy tripped and fell. He looked up fearfully and saw Known the Black Raven make a dive for him. Mystery the White Raven flew in front of him at the last minute and the sun disk symbol on her back appeared as a shield in front of them. Known the Black Raven hit at it with her wings and a red beam that was shot from her eyes, but she didn't get past the shield.
Danny got up and tried running again. Arrogance lunged but Wisdom attacked her before she could get to him. They rolled around and Wisdom ran to Danny's side with a snarl.
Care, Protection, Stealth, Spirit, Mystery, Kindness, Gentleness, Growth, Magic Healer, Strength, Appear, and Lone ran up to his sides and together they created a transparent shield that blocked off the Dark Totems reaches. Only Togetherness didn't beat on it. Lone and Togetherness shared a look but didn't move from their spots.
Danny looked at his Totems, a safe feeling enveloping him. Wisdom bent down and nuzzled his face with her muzzle.
'All will be better in due time. Do not let the Dark Totems take you.'
Danny looked at her, trying to understand but the realm around him started fading. "No! Wait! Don't go!"
Danny shot up in bed, panting and in a cold sweat. He looked around but saw his room. He rubbed his eyes and got up. He checked the time and the numbers 'three thirty' mocked him.
Danny walked to his bathroom and turned on the faucets for his tub. He let it fill up before he got in with his sweats still on, not bothering to take them off.
The cold water brought Danny back to reality and the Ghost Boy slid half his face under the water. He breathed in and out, in and out, in and rested his head against the side of the tub and shut his eyes.
At four thirty, he slid out of the cold water, let it drain, and changed into his civvies. He left his sweats in the tub to dry. Alfred was going to have a cow when he found out what Danny did but oh well.
He walked to the kitchen and made his ice-cream breakfast, then went to the sitting room where he watched the TV unseeingly. He was too busy thinking about his dream to bother. By five, he was done eating and he wordlessly threw his container away and then brushed his teeth.
When he was done brushing his teeth, he washed his face and just let the water run as he rested his head on his hands which were resting on the counter of his sink.
"Something eating ya?"
Danny looked at his guardian that was leaning on his doorframe. "No. Just had a weird dream, that's all."
Bruce shrugged. "What was it about?"
Danny turned around and jumped up to sit on his counter. "Dark versions of my Totems were chasing me and then my regular Totems saved my butt, telling me everything would be 'better in due time' and not to let 'the Dark Totems take me'."
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Weird."
Danny nodded. "Yeah."
The teen stretched. "So, what happened with my mom when I left?"
Bruce shrugged. "We sat in an awkward silence."
Danny laughed. "That's hilarious!"
Bruce rolled his eyes. "It's not funny when you're the one in it."
Danny gave a lopsided grin. "You'd be surprised how many times I've had to sit through those."
Bruce rolled his eyes, once again. "Get ready for school."
Danny huffed as his mentor left the room. "I'm already ready! Wow that sounded weird."
He heard Bruce chuckle as he left. He rolled his eyes.
The day went by pretty fast for a Friday. As Alfred drove the two boys' home, they didn't notice their butler's uneasiness. The two teens were too busy singing a really stupid song to notice. Singing really badly too.
"Set fire to your hair!" Dick started.
"Poke a stick at a grizzly bear!" Danny continued and pointed to Dick.
"Eat medicine that's out of date!" Dick pointed to Danny.
"Use your private parts as piranha bait!"
Then they both sang the chorus together.
"Dumb ways to die! So many dumb ways to die! Dumb ways to die-ie-ie! So many dumb ways to die!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Get your toast out with a fork!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "Do your own electrical work!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Teach yourself how to fly!"
The two cracked up because Danny could fly. Danny pointed to Dick. "Eat a two-week-old un-refrigerated pie!"
The two actually gagged at the thought.
"Dumb ways to die! So many dumb ways to die! Dumb ways to die-ie-ie! So many dumb ways to die!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "Invite a psycho killer inside!"
The two cracked up again. They were in Gotham.
Dick pointed to Danny. "Scratch a drug dealer's brand new ride!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "Take your helmet off in outer space!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Use a clothes dryer as a hiding place!"
"Dumb ways to die! So many dumb ways to die! Dumb ways to die-ie-ie! So many dumb ways to die!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Keep a rattlesnake as a pet!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "Sell both your kidneys on the internet!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Eat a tube of superglue!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "I wonder what's this red button do?"
They both made an explosion noise.
"Dumb ways to die! So many dumb ways to die! Dumb ways to die-ie-ie! So many dumb ways to die!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Dress up like a moose during hunting season!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "Disturb a nest of wasps for no good reason!"
Dick pointed to Danny. "Stand on the edge of a train station platform!"
Danny pointed to Dick. "Drive around the boom gates at a railroad crossing!"
They both pointed at each other.
"Run across the tracks between the platforms! They may not rhyme but they're quite possibly…!
"The dumbest ways to die! The dumbest ways to die! The dumbest ways to die-ie-ie! So many dumb, so many dumb ways to die!"
They both started laughing and they both said the last line together. "Be safe around trains! A message from Metro!"
They both started laughing very hard and very loudly. They high-fived.
"Did you like our performance, Alfred?" Danny asked. They didn't get an answer. Dick and Danny shared a look before shrugging and singing it again, and again, and again.
When they pulled up to the mansion, they were still singing it. They had their arms around each other's shoulders and were walking in step, still singing the same song over and over. Alfred walked ahead of them wordlessly.
The two boys found themselves headed to the kitchen, once again. As they entered, they wrapped up the song by landing on their knees and throwing their hands in the air. They both then crumpled to the ground in laughter. They stayed that way for about five minutes.
When their laughter finally died down, they both had to help each other up. They looked to their mentor who was watching them both amused and sad.
Danny tilted his head one way innocently. "What's wrong, Bruce?"
His mentor sighed, rubbing his face. The two protégés shared a worried glance. "Boys, sit down."
The two teens did as they were told, still worried.
Bruce handed Danny a piece of paper wordlessly as Alfred set down drinks for everyone. Danny picked his up and took a sip as he read the paper. He ended up choking on his drink as he read it.
"MASTERS IS FIGHITNG FOR MY CUSTODY!"
Dick stole the paper from Danny's hands and skimmed over it. "He can't do this! Can he do this?" Dick asked in one breath.
Bruce nodded. "Masters can do it since Maddie is Danny's mother and she's staying with him."
Danny's eyes turned green. "I don't want to go back to Amity! I like it here, in Gotham with you guys and the Team!"
Bruce sighed. "Danny, I know but Masters has a better reason for keeping you than I do. All anyone knows is that I decided to adopt you, like I did Dick. Masters is an old family friend and your mother is staying with him. He has a more reason for your custody."
Danny sputtered. "But that's not fair!"
Bruce sighed again. "I know that Danny, but that doesn't mean I didn't come up with something. I got us a court case set up for Monday. My excuse was that you don't like Masters and would rather stay with me than him, but the jury still might choose him over me."
Danny glared at the table. "Then we'll show them everything we can to show I want, more than anything, to stay here. That fruit loop of a millionaire ain't getting me."
The weekend went by fast and Dick was allowed a free pass from school to see the case.
Throughout the entire case, Danny fought with an iron will to stay with Bruce, much to his mother's horror. She didn't understand why her son would want to stay with some vigilante and his partner over the person who raised him.
Everyone was shocked, and some even choked on their drinks, when Danny called Vlad a stalker. Dick almost started laughing. Bruce could only stare. He never thought Danny would say something like that. Though he wanted to start cheering, he remained shocked.
The jury was utterly mortified with that sentence and it looked as if they changed their minds and decided to go with Bruce because Danny went into very detailed accounts as proof for his stalker statement. Notice I said accounts. The plural form of account.
In the end, it looked like Bruce was going to win and Masters was going to lose badly. It was almost funny how they were going to win.
The jury went back to their little room and Danny and Dick fist bumped. The jury came back out a few minutes later and handed the judge the ruling. Judge Brown took it and read over the card.
"Vlad Masters has custody over Daniel Fenton."
Bruce, Danny, and Dick froze in their seats as some people cheered and others booed.
Something snapped.
Danny started screaming and knocking things over, a plain tantrum. It took ten minutes for him to calm down. The security guards couldn't even hold him down.
In the end, Danny broke down and started crying into Bruce's chest. Dick was next and the millionaire had two crying teens to calm down. Most people could only stare in shock. Most of Vlad's supporters switched sides and felt sorry for Danny. Maddie could only stare in shock. Jazz, who had come, only watched in anger and sympathy.
"I don't wanna go, Paĉjo. I don't wanna go." Danny cried.
Bruce, for a minute, could only freeze in shock that Danny had called him daddy in Esperanto. Then he finally regained his bearings.
"It'll be alright, bebo, it's alright."
Danny couldn't believe his words.
HAHAHA! CLIFF-HANGER!
Kadzait: The viewers are gonna kill you...
No they won't. THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE I LIVE! HAHAHA!
Thanks to these people for favoriting and/or following: Suntan140 and Cerustar.
Reviews:
KuriMaster13: HEHEHEHEHE... I'm so evil... *evil smile*
Azorawing: Oh my gosh... Everything your last review said was true... Mind = frikkin blown.
Guest(1): You frikkin crack me up. XD
Supaherolena02: Hahahaha! I'm so glad you think I'm an awesome writer! And Batman probably whispered he wanted ice-cream, that son of gun. XD
Inviso-Al: So glad you enjoy!
Breyannia: Actually, they stuck those things on his face as he phased through the wall so it wasn't inside his body. And yeah, he could be an Inspector Gadget! XD
IWasNeverReal: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S ONE WAY OF PUTTING THIS STORY! XD
THEBOXGHOST113: THANKS SO MUCH! SO GLAD YOU ENJOYED! XD
Anonymous: I have no idea what that song is. :D
BringbackDannyPhantom: 1) As he phased through the wall, 2 and 3) No. No they don't show up.
Heather: Awww, glad you think so! And holy crap, you have a lot of ideas... SWEET! For Idea #1: I am so going to fit that in somewhere. Idea #2: I already have something extremely similar to that written down. XD Idea #3: I'm going to have to fit that in too. For your requests: I will see how many of those I can fit into one chapter. XD
Lee: I know, right? :D
Hitmoi-tama: Honey, this story is nowhere NEAR finished... It's going to keep going until I have an ending for it. And I don't have an idea for the end so this is gonna take awhile. XD