Arc 4 : I Have A Bad Feeling About This
"Oh, yes. Such a perfect specimen. And you say he's just like you?"
"He is."
Danny tries to open his eyes, to take in his surroundings and see the speakers. Something was wrong. This didn't feel like his bed, or the couch, or anywhere he might have slept when at a sleepover with his friends. Also, he only recognizes one of those voices, vaguely, and that doesn't inspire confidence.
"Put him under, there's no reason to by inhumane about his treatment, and we don't want him getting away before our plans come to fruition."
The panic that had just begun to build is washed away by a sweet smell in his nostrils , and Danny knows no more.
~! #$%^&*()_+
The first sign that something is wrong, is Black Canary stalking into the Cave's common room, lookingworried, annoyed, and frustrated.
Robin pauses the game, to Wally's irritation, and turns to the heroine. "Something wrong, BC?" He asks, cocking his head to the side and giving her his best you-can-trust-me-I'm-just-a-kid look.
Black Canary sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, seeming to be debating something, before answering. "Have any of you seen Phantom? He asked for some personal training and this is the third session he's missed."
She gains the whole room's attention with those words, Conner taking his new headphones – that he got from Superman – out, Kaldur straightening from where he was polishing his Water-bearers, and the girls turning around on their stools where they were having a study session at the kitchen island.
"That doesn't sound like Phantom." M'gann says.
"Yeah," Artemis adds. "He can be late, but he never skips anything."
"My thoughts exactly." BC agrees. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's not here, and hasn't been for a good week. So none of you have heard from him?"
At the dis-affirmation (heavy on the dis) from everyone, the heroine nods and leaves, mumbling about talking to Batman.
"I can't believe Phantom would do this," Rocket says, standing from her seat and sweeping her gaze over the room.
"I agree," Kaldur says. "We need to find out where he is. He could be in danger."
"But how?!" Wally bursts out. "He's a ghost! Plus, the League was never able to get a communicator working that could pick up the signal in both the Ghost Zone and the Real World!"
Artemis makes her way over to her boyfriend, grabbing his hand and pecking his cheek. "There... might be a way." She pauses, meeting everyone's eyes one-on-one, settling on M'gann. "Sam, Tucker, and Jazz."
The Martian girl gasps and hits her forehead. "Hello, Megan! Of course! They might know where he is." She smiles and Robin looks at her, confused. He's not the only one. Only Kaldur and Conner seem to know what the two are talking about. M'gann continues, answering their unspoken questions. "Phantom introduced us to some teenagers who are always getting caught in the middle of his fights. They seemed to be good friends. They might have a way to call him!"
"Than what are we waiting for!" Wally shouts.
Robin lets a cocky smirk spread across his face. "Let's go find us a ghost!"
They rush out of the room and to the Bio-ship.
~! #$%^&*()_+
"It's time."
"Commencing first test of Operation Take-Two."
"That's a horrible name. Who even came up with that?"
"Quiet, Witch Boy! Just do your part! As I was saying, this Operation will allow us to finish what we started last year. Putting the Justice League under the authority of The Light!"
Danny tries to surface from the fog of his brain. Control... of the... league... He can't... let that... happen...
"This time, we will make sure to take out the mini-League as well. Let's begin."
A shock rocks Danny's system, and all he knows is PAIN.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Robin exits the Bio-ship, using the ropes M'gann had it form to lower himself to the ground, where the rest of the Team are already waiting. Amity Park... is not looking good. It's very obvious that Phantom wasn't just not coming to the Cave, but that he's actually missing, because they had seen the town's human ghost hunters running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to contain the ghosts running amuck.
Trading glances, Aqualad motions for Miss Martian form the Mind-link.
*Everyone online?*
After everyone confirms, they follow their leader through the back alleys and over rooftops, searching for Phantom's civilian friends.
As they move through the city, they spot more then a few mini battles taking place between ghosts and hunters, but since the hunters seem to be handling it well, they continue on.
Finally, they find who they're looking for.
Three teens, one girl with black hair, one boy with brown skin and a red beret, and a second, slightly older girl with orange hair, fighting back-to-back and doing a very good job of holding their own against the murder of ghost crows that are swarming them.
*Team, help them,* Aqualad orders, and the teen heroes jump from the roof they'd stopped on, straight into the fight.
Within seconds, the vacuum sounds of the ghost containment devices going off fills the area, and the crows are all collected. The Team gather behind Aqualad, and find themselves standing opposite their civilian counterparts – though, with that display (Hey, why does display mean to show off if play means to horse around? Right, not the time.) of skill, Robin is kind of doubting they are civilians.
Said teens stand in a triangle, the younger, black haired girl in the middle, with the older girl to her right, and the only boy to her left, both just a bit behind her. But, the balance is off. There's to much space between the middle girl and the boy, as if someone is supposed to be in between them, and despite her confident aura, it's easy to tell the girl is not used to being the spokesperson for their team. Did that mean Phantom... was hiding just how close to these people he is?
"Not that we're ungrateful or anything," the middle one says with an almost dry quality to her voice. "but what are you doing here?"
"Sam," Aqualad greets with a nod of his head. "Jazz, Tucker. Forgive our intrusion. We were hoping that you would be able to lead us to Phantom, but judging by the state of your city..." he lets his voice trail off, looking around them at the slightly cratered road and buildings.
"Yeah," Sam says, looking around as well, with the air of someone who has already lost the battle. "Da-Phantom went missing the night of the ball. We've searched for him, but every time we try, the Booo-merang, the tracking device we use, leads out of the city, and we don't have any way of following without drawing attention."
Robin blinks. Was that the only problem?
"Wait!" Kid Flash shouts. "You have something that can track him?! Then why didn't you mention that, I don't know, when he went missing the first time?!"
Jazz is the one who answers, a rueful smile on her face. "Adults have a tendency to think they are always right, and don't listen to the younger generation."
KF deflates and stares at the ground, not bothering to make a comeback. Not that Robin can blame him. The female red-head had just taken the wind out of his sails.
"We can do it!" Miss Martian chirps, gaining everyone's attention. She shrinks into herself slightly, a bit shocked by the sudden scrutiny. "I mean..."
"What Miss M. means," Artemis calls, taking the spotlight off her fellow girl, who looks grateful. "is that we can take your tracker and follow it to Phantom. We're also better equipped if he needs rescuing."
The three civilians trade glances, talking inverbally to each other, which shows just how close they are.
Finally, Sam sighs and turns back to the teen heroes, studying them.
" Tucker," she says, her eyes hard as she holds out her hand to him without taking her gaze off them.
"You sure, Sam?" The boy returns, fiddling with the phone in his hand.
"I am." With her assurance, the teen slides his backpack off his shoulders and digs in it for a moment, then pulls out a boomerang.
Robin does his best to contain his surprise. That... really didn't seem practical for a tracking device.
Tucker hands it to Sam, who walks over to them and holds it up so they can get a good look at the metallic thing.
"This is the Booo-merang." Sam says. "It's already keyed to D-Phantom's Ecto-signature, so all you have to do is throw it –" She demonstrates, launching it as you would any boomerang. It curves from it's original course and hovers off to the right, keeping there, as if waiting impatiently to be followed. "– and it'll fly in whatever direction he's in. It' been modified – the first would've just kept flying – and is controlled by this watch." She raises her arm, showcasing the metal gray, green-lined watch on her wrist, which she strips off and offers to Aqualad. Their leader holds his arm out, allowing her to hook it on his own wrist. "It's set not to go farther then five feet from the watch, and this button on the side here –" She must have pressed it, because the Booo-merang comes zooming at her. She easily catches it without looking. "– will recall it."
She steps back, meeting Aqualad's gaze with a serious look in her eye as she hands it over. "I expect to get that back once he's been found, or at least proof of it's destruction."
The Atlantean nods. "It will be, with luck, sent back with Phantom, by the end of the day, if he is able."
She returns his nod with an upward tilt of her head. "Bring him home."
~! #$%^&*()_+
No!
PAIN.
He couldn't...
PAIN.
Let...
PAIN.
Them...
PAIN.
Win...
PAINPAINPAIN.
...RED.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Following the Booo-merang proves to be quite easy.
Once in the Bio-ship, Aqualad lets it loose, and Miss M. uses it as a guide. They fly out of Amity Park, over the country side surrounding it, and a few smaller cities.
Two hours after they left Phantom's hometown, the Booo-merang tries to head down, signaling their arrival... in the middle of nowhere.
"This it, than?" Rocket asks, leaning forward in her seat as she trades glances with a worried looking Zatanna.
"So it appears," Aqualad says wearily as he recalls the tracker.
"Then what are we waiting for,"Superboy growls, standing. "Let's go."
"Hold on, SB." Robin speaks up, also rising from his seat. "We need a plan."
"We do," Aqualad agrees. "We will split into two teams. Team A will be Rocket, Kid Flash, Superboy, Zatanna, and myself. We will find the entrance to this hidden base and provide a distraction so Team B, consisting of Robin, Miss Martian, and Artemis, can get inside and free Phantom." Aqualad looks around at them. Seeing no resistance, he continues. "Let's go rescue our teammate."
They set their plan in motion. After Aqualad gives the Booo-merang and it's controller to Robin, Team A sneaks into the forest and finds the entrance. Immediately, they make a nuisance of themselves by blowing the hidden door off it's frame and picking a fight with the guards.
In the commotion, Team B goes completely unnoticed. Once passed the guards, Robin throws the tracker and they proceed into the building. They make their way through hallways, down an elevator shaft, and through even more hallways, all painted a simple white, as places like these tend to be.
Finally, the Booo-merang starts tapping a door at the end of the corridor with a quiet tink... tink... tink...
Nodding to each other, Robin hacks and opens the door, walking into the dark room beyond.
"Phantom?" he calls. "Are you here?"
For a moment, nothing happens. Robins about to turn on the night-vision in his mask, when there's a flash of red, and pain erupts at his temple. He falls.
After a second – or was it an eternity? – he tries to raise his head. All he sees is a black and white blur and red, red eyes glowing in the dark, before the world swirls, and everything goes black.
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
There's chapter thirteen, with another cliffhanger.
Review replies below.
foxchick1 : No one, but (SPOILER ALERT!) he is working with someone, as some of the flashbacks above revealed.
kimcat : Thank you. Like a Freaky Friday kinda thing? Sure, I can try that. Hmm...
hrisi292 : I'm not going to kill Vlad, for two reasons. 1, I haven't gotten to the stage where I'm comfortable with writing a character's death. 2, he's a good plot device and Danny needs a rival/arch enemy who can take him down a peg or two. But if you P.M. me a description of your OC (personality, looks, powers/weapons, those kinda things) I'll see what I can do. No promises, though.
Thank you all for reading. If you have any ideas, comments, or constructive criticism, feel free to leave a review. I may not be able to include any ideas you have, but I'll do my best to. Maybe not in this story, but they might be in another, or a oneshot if I like them enough.
See you all next week.