Chapter Twenty-Two: Arena
"Eat slowly, or you'll get sick." Dr. Wilson scolded Danny as he practically inhaled his first decent meal in weeks. Phantom was also eating, and Dr. Wilson made a note to bring two dishes for the next meal, after the tests were complete.
Jack sat back, apparently not amazed by the sight of Phantom eating. Then again, he must've seen it many times by now. "I've never seen a ghost eat." Dr. Wilson commented finally.
"I'm not all ghost." Phantom replied before taking another bite.
"Would you mind if I gave you a medical examination?" Dr. Wilson asked.
"Long as you don't cut me open or shoot anything into me, I don't care." Phantom replied.
Interesting. The ghost-boy seemed apathetic about everything but Danny, and whenever it came to Danny he was like a mother bear protecting her young. He would like to get a chance to observe him further, but that was up to Jack Fenton, the scientist in charge of them.
A man came to the door. "Is he done? The other one's ready." He said calmly.
"Already?" Dr. Wilson looked at him, then at Danny. Danny had finished his food and gotten up, his fists clenched his face set firmly in a determined expression. "I think he's ready, yes."
"Good. The four of you, come out to the square." The man walked off.
"Good luck. I'll be there if you need me, just call my name." Phantom assured him as they walked out.
They got to the square and Danny stepped up onto it, his fists tightly clenched. Soon, a door opened and what looked like a boy that had been given some kind of animal DNA came out. He let out a hiss when he saw Danny and Danny took an offensive potion. Even if the thing was leashed, he didn't know how strong that leash was.
"Are the subjects ready?" An overheard voice said. Danny glanced up and saw a brown-haired man dressed in white wearing a labcoat overlooking them.
"They're ready." A man replied.
"Good. Everyone step back, this could get messy." The first man said, and then he made a signal to the other boy's "handler". The leash was removed and the boy lunged at Danny.
Danny gasped and darted to the side, just barely avoiding the creature's claws. He felt himself be lifted into the air and let out a cry as he was suddenly dropped down. "Oww, my butt…" He winced, rubbing it, then rolled to the side when the creature lunged.
By process of elimination, this boy seemed to have ESP but they decided that wasn't enough and gave him fangs and claws. He couldn't keep dodging forever and every time the creature used its ESP or landed from a lunge it looked a tad dazed. He took that chance to attack. When it next lunged, he jumped over it and landed behind it, quickly spinning on his heel and wrapping his arm around the creature's neck. It let out gagging sounds as it claws at his exposed arms, but he held on and the more it thrashed the tighter he held on. Finally, he felt it start to go limp and he released it, leaving it to cough and gasp for breath. When it turned to him he thought it would attack, but it bowed down in submission. Danny had won.
"Good work, Daniel." The man high above said. "Lewis, take ESP-097 out of here and bring in the next one."
"'Next one'?!" Danny and Phantom cried in unison. They hadn't been told about this!
"Of course. You'll keep going until you finally lose." The man replied. "The point of this test is not to watch you beat the enemy and then walk away. The point is to test your endurance and see how much stronger we can make your opponent before you're finally beaten."
Phantom shot an angry look at Jack, but either this was news to him or he had just forgotten. Or he was acting like it so that Phantom wouldn't yell at him again. Jerk.
"Let's take a look at your arms. Come over here, Danny." Dr. Wilson coaxed.
Danny walked over and allowed Dr. Wilson to attend to his arms, looking a bit dazed.
"Is the subject Daniel Fenton ready?" The man asked.
"Almost." Dr. Wilson called, tying off the bandages. "There we go." He smiled. "You should see a real hospital after this; I'm hardly what you would call a 'real doctor'."
"Later." Jack said dismissively. "We're here, so you're his doctor."
"Daniel Fenton." The man called again.
"He's coming!" Dr. Wilson called back, then nodded to Daniel. "Good luck." He smiled and patted Danny's upper arm.
Danny nodded and went back to the square, taking an offensive position. They nodded and then the door was opened, a large man walking out. He was wielding knives, and had a hungry look in his eyes.
"This is CRS-758." The man introduced. "He was once called 'Jack the Ripper the 58th', but that was his old life."
Danny looked confused. "So, you're saying he's a—"
"He was a criminal, and can and will kill you, Danny. You have to beat him, a fellow human with super-human strength." He heard the man chuckle. "Good luck."
"Wai—" As soon as the buzzer sounded, Jack the 58th was running at him. 'He's fast!' Danny thought, ducking to the side and just barely avoiding getting his arm cut off. His shoulder was nicked, but he ignored the pain and slid in-between the man's legs, getting behind him. He got up quickly and swung a leg up between his legs before the man could turn around. His groan of pain was strangely satisfying and Danny jumped onto the man, punching him repeatedly. Jack the 58th recovered quickly, though, and threw him off, bringing his knives down to where Danny would've been if he hadn't moved as soon as he landed.
Adrenaline was rushing through Danny's ecto-blood, and his white shirt was stained red and green from where he'd been hurt before. Was this what desperation felt like? The willingness to kill to live, above all morality? He shook it off and dodged again, moving behind him and turning on his heel to throw a kick at the man's leg.
The man wasn't even fazed by that one, and Danny's ankle was sore from the effort. He ran out of the way when he turned and swung his knives down, but he felt one of the blades whizz through the very tips of his hair. 'Too close!' He thought, ducking low and swinging another kick. Hitting his ankle seemed to do more damage, and he groaned in pain and knelt down, giving Danny a chance to jump onto his back and wrap his arms around his arms around the man's neck. Again, the man tried to thrash him off but Danny held on, his legs kicking and his teeth digging into the man's ear.
"I give! Get him off, I fucking give!" The man finally yelled after trying with no avail to get the boy off.
The buzzer sounded and Danny hopped off panting, letting the man run out muttering about "psycho monster kid". He dusted himself off and walked over to Dr. Wilson to receive medical treatment, taking off his shirt.
"That was too close." Phantom frowned. "Way too close for my liking."
"I managed it." Danny smiled.
Phantom wrapped his arms around him, making sure not to interfere with Dr. Wilson's treatment.
"Is the subject Daniel Fenton ready?" The man asked again.
"Almost." Dr. Wilson replied, tying off the bandage. "Put your shirt back on, Danny." He smiled.
Danny nodded and pulled his shirt back on. The bandage was safely concealed from the next opponent, though there was nothing he could do about the bandages on his arms.
"Daniel Fenton." The man called again. Danny nodded and gave Phantom a reassuring smile before he went back out to the square.
"You're so quiet." Dr. Wilson remarked to Jack. "Are you experiencing guilt, perhaps? After all, this is your son."
Jack glanced at him, but continued to watch the battle. "My son died when Phantom was created. Now he's just a shell of him and I have no feelings for this monster who claims to be him." He said coldly.
Phantom looked over his shoulder at Jack and let out a hiss before looking back at the battle.
The next opponent was big, bigger than the Ripper guy, and Phantom worried if Danny could handle it. It seemed that every move Danny made, the guy knew and had a move planned for once he made it. Maybe he'd been watching the previous battle, Phantom didn't know, but it didn't look like Danny was gonna win this one.
He flinched as Danny was slammed down and pinned, and after enduring a few hits he heard him weakly call out "Phantom!"
Phantom moved quickly. He flew in and slammed the man away, punching him repeatedly until the buzzer sounded. Then he picked up Danny's weak form and flew him to the hospital room, Dr. Wilson and Jack in close pursuit.
"Let me see him, Phantom." Dr. Wilson said, moving past him and pulling up Danny's shirt. The boy's body was riddled with cuts and bruises and he cringed before he set to work removing Danny's t-shirt and cleaning the wounds.
Phantom and Jack watched closely, Phantom right next to the doctor and handing him things when he asked for them.
"I think he's done all he's going to today." Dr. Wilson sighed, turning to Jack once Danny was all bandaged up. "You can take him home now, and I suggest you take him to the hospital as soon as possible. It looks like he has a few cracked ribs and some other wounds I can't determine from here, and you need a real doctor to look at him."
"Of course." Jack nodded. "Phantom, carry Danny. We're going home."
"By 'home' you mean the lab, right?" Phantom scowled.
Jack didn't reply, walking out. Phantom lifted Danny up and turned to Dr. Wilson. "Thanks for doing what you could." Phantom said softly. "You've given him the best care he's had in two weeks."
"I only wish I could do more." Dr. Wilson sighed. "Unfortunately, my hands are tied. Anything having to do with the Guys in White is to be kept completely secret and that includes anything they're involved with. I can't get you two help."
"I understand." Phantom nodded, flying out with Danny in his arms.
They got into the van and Phantom held Danny close, smoothing his hair gently. Jack gone in a bit later and the Guys in White nodded before closing the door. Jack sat down and then the van started to move.