YO, Author's note is at the bottom so everyone can just cut to the chase and enjoy.
~~~~~~DP~~~~~~
The Autobots returned through the ground bridge with downcast looks and empty handed; not only had they been possessed for the past four hours (which the group of teenagers had the pleasure of having to explain what happened during their possession albeit a bit uncomfortably) but when the systems rebooted after the power came back on they discovered that the next set of relic coordinates Optimus had been decoding had been revealed. Quickly they'd ground bridged to the relic's location in the mountains of Iowa only to discover that the Decepticons got to it first to add salt to the wound. So now the Autobots were sullen and on edge, they felt out of place in their frames feeling grossly sticky with every movement they made when their armor shifted uncomfortably, unconsciously distancing themselves from each other and the smaller beings which didn't go unnoticed, they had that far away look like they weren't entirely all there, and now the Con's had a relic that did who knows what.
It was really made evident when Miko had ran back to Bulkhead after he returned to greet him, but as soon as she came into his peripheral vision Bulkhead instantly jumped back with a start looking fearful for a moment, Miko came to a stop after that looking up at him with worry. A moment passed before Bulkhead's tense stance relaxed, supplying an apology but made no other movement towards her. Before Miko could say anything Jack hobbled over resting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, "come on, lets give them a little space to settle down" guiding her as best as he could with his limp towards the lift.
Quietly Miko walked away from Jack's guidance and plopped herself down onto the couch huffily, catching sight of Danny perched on the arm. Miko's hand went to the forgotten pistol and raised it towards him tapping it against his thigh to get his attention "here's your ice gun back." Miko said, Danny turn to her inquisitively before down at the offered weapon. Right the freeze ray gun; the one he made in a spurt of boredom and to tinker with something or at the very least create something that didn't entirely involve using his ghost powers. But now staring at the lent gun Danny questioned why he even decided on creating a weapon in the first place. It was unnecessary. He already had supernatural abilities why would he need a gun that replicated one of his powers anyway? at best he might of even thought about giving it to one of his friends if it wasn't for the fact that he was miles away from home and probably would misplace it by the time Danny got back.
But then today's events happened. The group had been split up and partially defenseless, its by sheer luck that none of them had been severely injured, the only reason he had felt a bit more comfortable with leaving them alone once again was because Miko had a way to defend them by non lethal means. It was then he came to a decision. "I want you to have it." Danny responded making Miko's eyes widen in surprise a bit stunned for words.
"But-wh-?"
"You proved you can handle yourself" he stated simply with a shrug "think of it as a graduation present or something." There was more he wanted to say but just couldn't find the proper words to express it, instead Danny just settled for the shorter response even if was a bit lame in his opinion, but it was all worth seeing the shock melt into an excited grin, beginning to bounce happily from her sudden gift.
"Awesome, thanks!" Miko said twirling on her heel and began taking off into a run only to skid to a halt and return not even a minute later, ice pistol held out in front of her expectedly "do ya think you could give me a refill?" she prompted hopefully, nodding Danny leaned forward and touched the depleting power source, a brief glow of his fingers fixed the problem instantly as Miko bid him another thank-you before proceeding to scurry off to whatever the heck she was planning on doing in the first place. Danny shook his head amusedly before sparing a quick glance upwards, none of the Cybertronians seemed to have noticed the exchange between them or just didn't care; either answer bothered Danny a bit as he frowned.
Floating from his perch he eyed the bots carefully, each wore faces of wariness staring at nothing in particular seeming lost in thought. Arcee's tapping fingers drummed against her arm plating eliciting a sharp ping to ring out in the silence, she appeared quite anxious. Danny descended down next to her chewing his bottom lip apprehensively, he knew Arcee wasn't entirely fond of him for whatever reason she had and he wasn't even sure if he'd done anything wrong in the first place but Danny hoped he could fix it. Moral support it is then.
"Arcee?" Danny asked gently, instantly her fingers stilled but she didn't say anything in response, so he continued "are you doing okay?"
"Fine." Came her tart response, the sharpness to her tone made Danny want to flinch back, yeah, she's definitely fine. The satirical thought flickered at the forefront of his mind before he briskly pushed it away. Arcee didn't want to talk about it which was something he could understand and leave it at that, some things just couldn't be explained or put into words for others to understand.
But sometimes, it really did help to have someone to talk to.
Arcee narrowed her optics at him "is there any reason why your still hovering over me?" Danny blinked dumbly before having the sense to look embarrassed as he realized she was right "oh! uh, sorry, I was just lost in thought." Danny answered causing Arcee's frown to deepen, unmoved by his excuse. Danny coughed awkwardly. "Soooo... You wanna talk about it?"
The look Danny received from her made him regret asking, she looked like she just stepped in some expired milk that was so rank it could make rotten tuna fish smell like hot Belgian waffles, and he was to blame for the offensive aroma. "No."
"Okay, jeez... Sorry I asked. Just thought it would be-"
"Look." Arcee said sharply successfully cutting him off, growing more and more irritated at Danny's attempts at initiating a conversation "I'm sure everyone appreciates what you did to keep the kids safe but that doesn't mean that everyone suddenly wants your help. Just because your here does not mean for you to play the solo hero role every time a situation goes south. You came here to be placed under our protection assuming the cons are still after you; not the other way around."
All hopes of a friendship starting to build was gone; Danny's feeling for compassion instantly slipped as a bitter retort rested on the tip of his tongue, ready to fire at a moments notice. But surprisingly his common sense kicked in, keeping the remark just there. Arcee has had a long day and is just terrified, she probably didn't even mean it...Possibly. Danny rationalized, not even fully believing the answer himself still feeling that her response was unjustified to say the least, so instead he settled for giving her a glare as he floated more out of her personal space, no need to give her more reason to degrade him. Catching Arcee's tone garnered Optimus' attention, seeming to sense the tension arising the Prime decided to put a stop to it before things proceed to escalate to higher extremes.
"Perhaps it's best for you and the children to depart until things have settled." Optimus addressed to Danny whom turned to him disbelievingly, looking ready to argue but not a word was spoken from the frowning ghost teen, not questioning the reaction Optimus continued, turning to his friend giving a slight nod "Ratchet, if you'll please."
The seasoned medic gave a firm nod to his leader before reaching over and pulled down the lever for the ground-bridge, a bright flash grew in the hollowed out tunnel into an iridescent vortex ready for transportation. Well it's good to know that Technus didn't damage any of the ground-bridge equipment. Danny thought with relief, it was one last thing he didn't have to worry about.
The kids looked ready to protest against the sudden decision of their departure, mostly Miko. "But we barely got to hang out! we were here for at least five hours and only two was spent not running for our lives!" Miko exclaimed, despite her clear exhaustion that shown in her slouched body she was still ready to have her say in the matter even if it led to an argument, though saying that currently didn't help her in the least as their guilty expressions deepened.
Danny shrugged at that "you know, near death experiences tend to bond people closer together." He supplied optimistically, receiving a look from Miko that could be perceived as 'not helping'.
"What about our phones?" Miko quickly asked when Ratchet looked ready to start escorting them by any means to get rid of them "we can't leave without them."
Ratchet looked directly at Danny, meeting his eyes Danny wondered what the medic was thinking. Ratchet looked tired; his vibrant blue eyes had dimmed to barely a glow seeming to really show his age. A curt nod towards the doorway was the silent response, telling Danny to go retrieve the small devices. The hybrid nodded and quickly went to get them, it only made sense for he knew where they were and going by the tension in the air Ratchet wanted them to leave as soon as possible.
Not long in his flight Danny came across the ecto goop attaching one of the cellphones to the wall, it didn't take much prying to remove it. Danny absorbed the ectoplasm back into his body before turning to carry on his way only to stop dead in his tracks as his eyes became wide like dinner plates. Now with the lights back on he could see the destruction that was the hallway, flooring torn upwards in zig-zagging patterns, walls littered with deep scratches and occasional dents that must have been caused by a misstep falling into a stumble or perhaps even an angry punch.
Danny hovered above the floors surveying the wreckage in stunned silence, it looked like a tornado had torn through here, though it wasn't the case. Danny hadn't even realized he was floating forward until he noticed the torn floor winding into itself and outward, he was honestly at a lost for words. The place was a mess; and even that didn't seem accurate enough to describe it. Danny was half tempted to start welding the floors back together before the bots came through here and saw the destruction they'd caused knowing that seeing it would make them feel a heck of a lot worse about the days events. But, and he really hated the choice he was going to make, everyone was still waiting for his return with the phones and lingering around any longer would draw attention. Heaving a frustrated sigh Danny continued on with his assigned task.
Not long the retrieval of the phones was completed. Storing his own into his hidden pocket Danny returned to the foyer without a moments haste, the emptiness of the halls lacking any other occupants had sent an uncomfortable shiver down his spine, something that hadn't been triggered by his ghost sense but to be simply put, a sense of foreboding, lonely even. Entering a room full of beings that were alive was a welcomed change, even if the energy they projected felt lifeless.
The group was patiently waiting for him, although, Danny noticed with a slight cringe, Ratchet was tapping his fingers with a note of annoyance. He looked him over skeptically before letting out a huff conveying his dwindling patience "took you long enough." Ratchet remarked as Danny flew down and distributed the small devices to their respected owners, said children were regarding the still active vortex not too far behind them dejectedly. "Did you get sidetracked?"
Danny now looked to swirling portal and shrugged, neither denying nor confirming the accusation feeling himself become lost in his thoughts. I want to stay behind and help with the damage. Surely the amount of destruction he'd seen would take a good few hours worth of repairs and Danny doubted it was the half of it, betting there was more damage further down the halls and in the pipeline, they'll need all the hands they can get to fix the place up in a reasonable amount of time especially given how exhausted everyone looked, it was a pretty high chance that the bots were likely going to overwork themselves. At least Danny would feel better about leaving if he knew they'll be able to rest peacefully and wind down from the stressful day.
Danny faintly registered the other kids departure seeing Jack half drag a fuming Miko along out of the corner of his eye, Raf followed closely behind only to turn near the entrance of the ground bridge to give a quick wave to their alien friends, asking a quiet "see you tomorrow?" as he hooked the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and handed Miko the one she'd forgotten up on the lift, probably to lessen her chance to provide another excuse to stay. Not a word was spoken from the bots as they exchanged uncertain glances with each other unsure on the answer before Optimus took charge, keeping a collected air about him as he addressed the matter. "Perhaps Rafael."
Raf nodded forcing a small smile and turned to leave with Jack and Miko, it was all he could ask knowing that it wasn't a promise.
The ground bridge shut down after that as Ratchet began providing another set of coordinates to send Danny off to, presumably from the spot when he had first called in at. The hand reaching to pull down the lever once more came to a halt at Danny's sudden exclamation "wait! I want to stay!"
The outburst gained the bots attention as Ratchet raised a quizzical brow at him, seeming to read the entire teams' thoughts Ratchet voiced the question of the hour, "why?" detecting the slightest bit of urgency edging into the ghost teen's tone made Ratchet more alert, holding Danny within his gaze as a seriousness entered his optics.
Danny winced, but it wasn't at his own expense; instead it was one of pity. A suffering sigh escaped him before Danny spoke up "look, your going to find out anyway but it's probably best that you find out now rather than later." Out of the corner of his eye Danny noticed Bumblebee's inquiring stare, Danny knew what he was thinking, and the thought of his predicament with the scout sent a wave of apprehension to his gut. Swallowing, Danny continued so to distract himself from thinking on that matter further "the rest of your base is trashed, like literally trashed. Like floorboards torn up and someone took a sledgehammer to the walls grade vandalism. I only saw the hallway, but judging from the looks of things there is a lot more and not in just that one area. It's- oh god, there's a lot."
Danny's hands found his hair and began pulling it back to attempt to relieve some of the stress he was beginning to feel. His chore of cleaning up the lab back home always took him a good thirty minutes or more depending on how ecstatic his parents were the previous time they were inventing or experimenting on something, and that was just working in ghost form; at least when they weren't around otherwise that was another story. If Jack and Maddie ever destroyed the lab to this extent Danny was fairly certain he would be tempted to go rob Vlad to hire a cleaning crew. No way was he going to ask or much less beg the fruit loop.
Their eyes widen a fraction at the news, and going from the ghost's reaction the damage must be bad. Bulkhead frowned in guilt, most likely assuming that he was the cause for most of the destruction that had been afflicted which Danny knew wasn't the case.
Optimus nodded softly taking in the information "if the damage in which you speak is as severe as you claim, then we shall begin repairs to the base momentarily. For now Danny, you should head back to your residency and get yourself some proper rest after today's ordeal, you appear quite exhausted."
Danny lips went taut holding in the shout of frustration he so wanted to express, "um, have you even looked at yourselves? no offense, but you guys look as if a stiff breeze could knock you over and wouldn't even be able to get up afterwards." everyone could hear the aggravation edging into his voice, however no one objected against the statement "Look I'm not going to abandon you guys when your obviously aren't at your best, especially when everyone has a serious task that needs to be taken care of. Hey, if you want to get rid of me, then the faster this gets done the sooner I can get out of your hair, alright?" Danny proposed hoping to come to an agreement, this was his last stand against the situation, if he was shot down once again Danny would just have to concede to it and take his leave.
A tense silence settled among them as Optimus mulled his argument over, leaving his comrades and a undead teenager to patiently await his answer. Not even a second later, the Prime closed his eyes as a barely audible sigh escaped him "very well. We shall see fit that we get to working on the repairs straight away." Optimus answered. And like someone waved a magic wand, the team suddenly dispersed, seeking out the damage themselves to see what they'll need to start the repairs.
Danny almost let out a breath of relief at the turn of events, a small satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his lips at the successful negotiation. Catching sight of Smokescreen as he headed down the hallway Danny began to follow, only to instantly halt when Ratchet called out to him "Danny would you come here please?" Ratchet stood patiently waiting for him near the entrance to the pipeline, toolbox in hand with contents Danny couldn't quite see. Danny spared a quick glance back to the hallway to find Smokescreen no longer in sight and sighed, floating towards the awaiting medic instead, it must be something important if Ratchet was willing to say 'please'.
Once he was certain that Danny was following him Ratchet proceeded to enter the lower level, optics scanning the space keenly for areas that required repairing. The two walked in a comfortable silence, which Danny couldn't help but find a bit odd given the circumstances of their relationship; punk kid challenging an annoyed surgical-carrying medic to a dance off was probably not the best note to leave off on in retrospect. But despite this they weren't bothered by each others presence, neither pausing in their search as two sets of observant eyes scanned the space. It was only then when Danny craned his neck for the forth time did Ratchet say something "there, up ahead." Jerking his head to the side motioning towards a deep crack forming in the floor, Ratchet walked forward, pulling out a decent sized hammer from his toolbox before crouching down near a spot where the metal flooring stood jagged upwards. After getting a firmer grip of the tool Ratchet began hammering it back into place, causing the metal to slowly bend back from it's upright position.
Danny landed not too far from him, gripping the small section of floor tightly he began pushing it down drawing out a loud groan from the torn metal as it eventually went back into it's flatten position. They continued this process for awhile, the sounds of pounding and creaks echoed from the alloy filled the void of conversation, which Danny was thankful for seeing as he couldn't even come up with something to begin one in the first place.
However, Danny's thoughts began drifting elsewhere, body seeming to click into autopilot after becoming adjusted to the task while his consciousness withdrew into his mind. How could I have let things get so out of hand?Danny found himself asking as he gripped the metal between his fingers, if only I could have sensed Technus earlier I would have been able to deal with him sooner and not had to worry about everyone getting caught in the cross fire. He had let his guard down, became too relaxed and forgotten all about his missing ghost problem.
And now everyone is suffering from the consequences of my actions. Danny found himself letting out a irritated huff before pushing down of the flooring rather harshly. Figures. Danny examined his progress briefly to see how much he got done. He covered at least eight feet worth of damage, just four more feet to go before moving onto the next jagged tear line.
The only thing I can do now is try to fix things; figuratively and literally. Maybe then all of us will feel a little less guilty and be able to put this behind us and continue whatever weird friendship/acquaintances that started between us. Maybe I can even find the USB drive that has Tucker's anti-ghost virus on it to prevent this from happening-.
Danny was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts as he realized Ratchet was talking to him, only catching the sentence's ending "-kind?"
He blinked away his confusion, turning to address Ratchet "I'm sorry, what?"
Ratchet had set the hammer aside and let out a slightly peeved sigh at having to repeat himself. "I said: why aren't you like the rest of your kind?"
Danny did not like what he was implying. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that every ghost that we have come into contact with had malicious, destructive intentions." Ratchet elaborated. "You, on the other hand haven't displayed such behavior, making you almost as tolerable as humans given their often intrusiveness despite over better judgement."
Danny frowned taking a moment to pause. "Don't you think that's a bit racist?" but at Ratchet's perplexed look Danny doubted that the doctor didn't even see what was wrong with what he had just said. "Let me clarify; you can't just assume that just because when a few people belonging to a certain branch of civilization does something wrong that that action alone defines their entire race. No one is inherently good or evil, but subjecting an entire race to either one is discrimination."
Ratchet frowned as well, but for another reason "but ghosts aren't entirely a race, in theory; they are strong memories of past lives-"
"it most certainly is!" Danny responded a bit snappishly, feeling kinda touchy on the subject as a certain Anti-Ecto Control acts came to mind, "we may not have a specific appearance like skin tones, hair color, eyes, heck! some of the ghosts are not even sapient! but we all come from the same origin. Some ghosts like to cause trouble, yeah, but others just want to go about their business or just want to be left alone."
A minute passed after Danny got what he wanted to say out as Ratchet gazed at him expectedly, "are you done?" he received a quiet nod, satisfied that the ghost teen's short temper had finally calmed Ratchet continued "now, as I was going to say before you interrupted" at least Danny had the sense to look sheepish "meaning your residual energy that will transcend into something entirely new. You may not share resemblances or traits with one another but you are all kindred energy. That's your tether, that is what keeps you all similar like a culture. "
A pause. "Even with that said, you are however right, I did not intend to be offensive."
Danny balled his fists into his jumpsuit as he looked down embarrassingly, not really able to meet the older being's eyes as a tinge of pink colored his cheeks, mumbling a quiet "oh."
Ratchet sighed. Great, now he made Danny feel uncomfortable. He felt like he should probably change the subject before things faded into an awkward silence making it much harder to start another conversation with him. "So are you certain that your thermos will keep that ghost contained?"
That seemed to have done the trick as Phantom visibly brighten, Danny nodded, glancing over at the work that still needed to be done before hovering midair, readying a steady ectobeam to seal the floor "yeah, it's gonna keep Technus trapped in there until I release him back into the Ghost Zone." Green energy streamed from his palm at a moderate pace welding the metal until it fused together.
All of Ratchet's rational calm went out the window as Ratchet whirled on him with a bewildered expression, face plates pulled into a dissatisfied snarl, clearly that wasn't the response that he was expecting or even wanted.
"Excuse me? after all the trouble he caused?! why release that- that vile creature to run rampant again! you should just keep him locked in there to rot for all eternity is what that menace deserves." He spat. "Why would you risk the safety of every being on this planet when all this can be prevented? Danny, you claim you want to help people and yet what your planning to do is the opposite." Ratchet was not about to let this child put his team in harms way again due to his carelessness.
That gave him a moments paused before Danny snorted in bitter amusement, silencing his ectobeam in the blink of an eye as it completely disappeared, turning to give Ratchet his full attention fixing him with a serious, yet slightly exasperated look, though the irritation was more directed to the ghost in question rather than the medic. "You wouldn't believe how many times I considered it. But, knowing with my luck another ghost will come along and release him and since I kept Technus in there for so long, he wouldn't waste the chance to get revenge on me in a much more satisfying way; of course satisfying for him but not so much for me. And oh darn!" Danny said in an mockingly surprised voiced "there goes one of our only defenses who actually gave a freaking care about protecting people and not just deeming it as collateral damage, but it's okay! we can always rely on the Guys in White to endanger the public population while there being a slight chance of them actually containing the ghost!"
The giant forced smile that was on the teenager's face was dripping with so much feigned sarcasm that it was unsettling. Ratchet deliberated the answer over, finding there to be some logic behind his words as he played what could transpire in his mind, Ratchet gave a conceding nod. "And this 'Ghost Zone'? what is it exactly?" at least getting some answers to the place Danny apparently wanted to send the nuisance might make him feel a little more at ease, best case it could be some type of state of the art prison or an asylum for the critically insane complete with ghost proof straitjackets; worst case it was a shady daycare center where, just like the humans younger offspring, could escape at any given moment due to poor care givers.
Relief flowed through him at Ratchet's much calmer demeanor, before Danny frowned thoughtfully. "The Ghost Zone is an alternate form of reality, or another dimension if you will. It's where ectoplasmic entities reside when they're not on this side of the physical plane wreaking havoc that cater to their obsession." Danny recited, his parents explanation had unintentionally came out as he just blinked numbly, this is what happens when you spend too much time with the older Fentons; the crazy begins to rub off.
Ratchet didn't seem to notice the look that crossed the young phantom's face as he once again acknowledged with a bit of horror at the prospect of becoming like his parents; dangerously obsessed to the point of not being able see reason, or at least ignored it in favor of this new found information as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.
"Another dimension you say?" Ratchet received a confirming nod "fascinating. A tear in the fabric of reality which would lead to the paranormal world; perhaps even connecting to pathways that lead to others or the Shadow Zone. But how would such a phenomenon occur? what does the circumstances need to be in order for a doorway to open?" Ratchet asked more to himself than to Danny, his mind delving deeper into possible theories whilst Danny stood off to the side watching him curiously, midlife crisis forgotten. That faraway look that was beginning to etch into his face instantly snapped away as Ratchet remembered Danny's presence. "This is a topic I would like to study further in my spare time, perhaps even exploring this more would prove useful later on."
Danny perked up at that "really?" surprised at the sudden declaration. He was glad to see Ratchet appear more at ease upon the discussion, not only was he a medic but he also appeared to have a passion for the realms of science, though Danny guessed you had to seeing if that's the career you wanted to pursue in life. Something to get his mind off of what occurred earlier must have been a welcomed change.
"Absolutely." Ratchet assured crushing the tinge of uncertainty that tainted Danny's voice before continuing "now what more can you tell me about the Ghost Zone?"
~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~
The third sector hallway was looking fairly better then it did twenty minutes ago, it was slow going but it was a process that needed to be done right. Arcee had paired herself up with Bumblebee out of habit due to the state of mind she was currently in, Bumblebee tended not to pester for answers in the hopes of somehow thinking it would help, but they both knew it wouldn't and for that she was grateful. The duo made continuous progress on the walls and floors using a welder, a blowtorch and some joint compound that they had pulled out of the supply closet. Neither spoke; instead focusing their efforts into the completion of the given task, there may have been silence however, but Arcee's mind was far from it. Occupied with thoughts and memories that she couldn't seem to pull herself from.
Arcee stood still on the ridge, overlooking the valley below that was filled with stark white moon flowers seeming to illuminate like their namesake as the moon glowed gently above, their fragrance wafted through the air as she admired their beauty with a soft smile, she felt like she could sit here for hours and recharge untouched here, sleep for vorns after the centuries of war; her spark crying out in agony for all the friends she had lost and endured for so long, safe from anymore destruction. Safe from nightmares.
"Beautiful isn't it?" the smooth resonating sound startled her as she realized she wasn't alone, the softly spoken voice had sounded familiar but her processor couldn't quite make the connection quick enough, Arcee turned to address them just before her optics widen as she felt her cooling fans hitch, feeling like everything in the universe had just came to a standstill.
"Cliff?" Arcee asked breathlessly, so quietly it could have been mistaken for the whispering wind that sang gently pass. There sat CliffJumper, an arms length beside Arcee as he met her optics. Her lips refused to form words, almost afraid to at the prospect of him disappearing at a moments notice.
The corners of CliffJumper's mouth pulled upwards into that familiar smirk she remembered so vividly, the one he would make before chuckling at his own joke, giving an exaggerated wave to himself like he was presenting something grand "the one and only." And there it is; that amused little twinkle shining in his optics like the first star to shine brightly through the night. CliffJumper's charming personality was like a beacon, gaining the attention of many and annoying them to no end but was welcoming nonetheless.
"How are you here?" finally getting control over her fumbling mouth, rationalism entered Arcee's mind as she assessed the situation over. Cliff was dead, did that mean she was no longer online? but this place, it looked- no, felt so real. To the grass beneath her pedes to the smell of moon flowers that carried through the breeze made her certain that she wasn't one with the allspark yet. Then how? was she dreaming? was she seeing things?
"What am I? a pile of rusty old parts?" Arcee turned to face the new voice on her other side, optics growing wider by the second.
"Tailgate? no, no no no no! this isn't real!" this couldn't be happening, she had to get away from them. Her former partners have come to haunt her, mess with her head. Arcee began backing herself away inch by inch "all this is fake, s-some type of illusion."
"Arcee." CliffJumper coaxed gently resting a servo on her shoulder "does this feel fake to you?" Arcee tensed as he reached towards her, but when the contact was made she couldn't deny the fact she felt actual weight on her shoulder.
"We are real 'Cee." Tailgate added, the sincerity in his tone was trusting like a silent promise and made her doubt begin to fade. Perhaps, it was real. Maybe it was okay to believe; even just for a brief moment, that she wasn't dreaming and this was indeed real, the war never happened and her friends weren't offlined in the line of duty for the Autobot Cause to end Megatron's rule of tyranny.
Maybe she could feel happiness again.
Arcee could feel the coolant enter the corners of her optics as she let herself express a small relieved smile, before the trio knew it Arcee was pulling them into a embrace to once again feel their presence enter her spark, a feeling she forgot she lost and was renewed with a warm familiar pulse that resonated deep within all their sparks. CliffJumper and Tailgate's arms reached to form around the small femme to tighten the embrace.
They were reunited together again, after being apart for so long they felt whole once more.
Once they felt like they hugged long enough they broke apart, each wearing soft smiles at being reunited. Not long afterwards they were talking fondly with each other, catching up and reminiscing about various things while CliffJumper occasionally joked, which earned light laughs and shaking, yet amused helms.
But, with all good things must come to an end. The ground gave out underneath Tailgate and CliffJumper whom let out shouts of surprise, giving away to a cavern. Arcee blinked to find herself in sudden darkness "Cliff?! Tailgate?!" she called out glancing about desperately hoping to catch some sight of them, she'd just gotten her two former partners back; she wasn't about to lose them again. A sudden brightness assaulted her optics as she hurriedly blinked, optics adjusting slowly to the overhanging light as it cast a sickening green hue to it's surroundings. Arcee squinted as a silhouette formed from the darkness and entered the bad lighting, but dread soon filled her as she recognized who was standing before her.
"Why, if it isn't Arcee." Airachnid purred out, cocking her held slightly in false curiosity. She walked with an air of confidence about her, whatever plan she had in mind she was certain to succeed.
"Airachnid." Arcee's optics narrowed at the mere sight of the spidery femme, knowing if she was here then Cliff and Tailgate were in grave danger to her psychotic ways. "Where are they? I know you have them!"
Airachnid had the audacity to look insulted "oh? not even a hello? I can't believe you think so little of me Arcee, after all we been through. I'm honestly hurt." This was all just a big game to her; terrorizing her victims in the most traumatic ways while deciding whether or not if your are worth adding to her collection of 'trophies'. Airachnid fed off of the pain she caused, seeming to revel it like a warm oil bath and Arcee hated her with a burning passion, wanting nothing more then to end her worthless existence for vengeance and to prevent her from causing more suffering.
"Cut the act!" Arcee snapped "or I'll do it for you." Referencing vaguely to the blades concealed in her arms letting the threat sink in."Now, I'm going to ask you again: Where. Are. They?"
Airachnid's gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before she sighed "your no fun. And to think I went through the trouble of making sure they wore the proper attire for the occasion. Boys?" at the sudden call, twin lights turned on to shine on where CliffJumper and Tailgate hung bound to the ceiling with prohibitor cuffs, they were littered with deep acid gashes that still had a plume of smoke coming from them; fresh then.
No, n-o no no no nooo! not again! please not again! The look of horror that covered Arcee's facial features just made Airachnid all the more delighted, the extra spidery legs protruding from her back shivered excitedly before crawling towards her captives "wasn't what you were expecting?"
Seeming to finally become aware of Arcee's presence, Tailgate struggled against his bonds once more before going limp "please help me!" he cried just as Cliff tugged harder at the cuffs.
"Cee help us!"
Not needing to be told twice, Arcee lunged forward. Or at least she would have if she wasn't bonded in chains keeping her tethered where she stood, she didn't even realize when they were put on. Arcee gave a frustrated shout as she pulled harder and harder but to no avail.
"Please help!"
"Get us out of here!"
"Please don't leave us!"
"Help! Please!"
Their constant cries for help just seemed to echo in Arcee's mind adding to the fiery need to get free, feeling herself becoming desperate as Airachnid began to loom over them. No matter how hard she struggled the chains would not budge, knowing this Airachnid allowed a sinister smile flitting across her lips, magenta optics narrowing in anticipation "time to pick a partner to save Arcee." She announced, her acid dipped appendages poised and ready to strike. "Will it be 'Dashingly Clever' or 'Infuriatingly Charming'?" nodding from Tailgate to CliffJumper. "Clock's ticking."
"Airachnid," Arcee pleaded, swallowing her pride for the sake of her friends "n-no please, I'll-"
CHINK!
"that's right Arcee," Airachnid called out over her work "begging just makes this all the more fun!"
Screams erupted from both horror and pain as a series of long, quick slashes darted across the cuffed mechs' frames, streaks of blue sailed through the air from every inflicted cut. Arcee struggled all the more fiercely as an anguished scream tore through her vocalizer at the sight of her friends being tortured, a burning anger churned deeply in the pits of her tanks cursing at their captor with all it's rage. If she can just get her hands on Airachnid the other femme would be done for. Arcee swore she'll tear her limb from spider-like limb, put her on the other end of the knife. But the very things that were keeping her in place, every clink the chains made when colliding together just seemed to mock her poor attempts at escaping. The sound; that fragging sound just seemed to mingle in with every scream that rang constantly through her processor like a broken audio clip, never stopping, always echoing and no matter how much she begged for it to end, the spilled energon never stopped flowing.
Arcee didn't know how how long ago she'd stopped screaming, standing there frozen in shock as the slashes sang through the air ringing hollowly into her audio receptors, hours must have passed before feeling a numbness consumed her as a splatter of blue hit her frame as she barely even flinched.
Those gruesome images faded away when Arcee came to thankfully, but at a price. After being retold of the events of the past few hours Arcee regretted ever giving into the illusion that Technus brought forth in her mind, twisting her memories of her partners into something believable and she fell for it. Jack... I'm so sorry. Arcee thought remorsefully as a pang of sorrow rang through her spark. Jack, Miko and Raf must be traumatized of what they put them through.
No, whatI put them through, they're probably terrified of me. Primus! I'm scared of me! what if whatever that freak did to me is still there? I could turn on them again without even realizing it. Is... This... What it felt like for Bee? after what Megatron did? She glanced at Bumblebee briefly who was still applying joint compound to the dented walls, unaware of her gaze. Arcee wanted to ask, just to know she wasn't alone in this but the words, they just wouldn't come out. No. She closed her mouth. I won't bother him with my problems, he's probably just as messed up as I am. I don't need to give him anymore baggage.
A trail of bright blue sparks flew about as she angled the welder towards the deep crack adorning the floor keeping her arm steady as her optics traced over the line to keep the alignment precise. Arcee thoughts began to wander back to the darker aspect of the illusion she had been placed in, everything had been perfect, that chance to talk to Tailgate and Cliff again had come to her though it was short lived and fake, so why did everything suddenly turn into a nightmare? was it her mind just trying to punish her for giving into the false reality or a warning? a warning that any happiness in her life will be taken away? Arcee shook her head, she'd thought she was getting pass this; clearly she had thought wrong. If it was a punishment for what she was doing in reality then she sure as frag deserved it, she shouldn't have given in so easily and that was result.
Maybe it was the guilt talking or maybe it was the truth, either way Arcee felt like she deserved those horrifying images that still lingered in her processor. After all, she was good for punishing herself.
~~~~~~DP~~~~~~
Danny grinned eagerly while dusting off his hands to get rid of the excess dust clinging to his gloves, looking up towards Ratchet who shook his head in slight amusement at the story Danny had been telling. "So after going off on Plasmius I got the sudden urge to sneeze, I kept trying to hold it in but Plasmius kept mocking me about the face I was making and BOOM!" Danny exclaimed tossing his hands up for emphasis, probably would've caught Ratchet off guard for if he wasn't talking so animatedly for the past fifteen minutes "giant snot rocket just shoots out all over him! we kinda both just stood there in shock trying to figure out what had happened before I couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing, the guy's just dripping in my green snot looking like he was covered in Skulker's feces! Plasmius growled something but I don't remember what it was before he stormed off still dripping in boogers. He didn't have any right to be angry with me in the first place seeing it was his fault, he kept attacking me even after I told him I was sick and to leave me alone."
They were nearly finished with their work before Danny had offered to tell Ratchet a story that he was somehow reminded of, if only Ratchet knew beforehand of what it was going to be about he would've declined, butnooo, he just had to become interested to know why the Ghost Boy kept snickering at whatever memory that was being played in his mind. Primus, whatever brought on that memory Ratchet cursed it to no end. It was probably caused when Danny was describing how the Ghost Zone looked and operated and then brought up the fact how there was a endless supply of non-sentient ectoplasm floating through out the realm before pausing saying it always remind him of mucus.
"I suppose," Ratchet offered, finding it the only suitable answer that other wise wouldn't sound rude. Danny seemed to had taken great, yet demented joy from what had happened to his enemy that day, one could only hope that they would never have to be put through the same experience. A good hour had passed since starting the repairs to the fractures in the pipeline's walkway and had only now finished, being sure to go back over it to make sure they didn't miss anything. Danny hovered a few feet off the ground and stretched his arms far in front of him with his fingers intertwined, a few sharp pops were heard from his spine as it stretched in approval from being in a crouched position for so long.
Everything seemed to be in order, the damage that had happened earlier was near nonexistent now, if only the evidence of fused metal lines adorning the floor wasn't there you would've never known anything happened here. Danny picked up the last of Ratchet's tools and deposited it in it's designated box, and since there wasn't anything else to do down here Danny was just itching to leave, albeit from the first time he'd come down here only to have a jump scare by Bulkhead and was now getting a bit paranoid of the lurking shadows or, it was just to see how the rest of the base was coming along he wasn't entirely too certain but he decided to just go with the last one. "Hey you wanna go back up now? as I much as I like regaling people with stuff in a spooky basement; you know the perfect haunting place for a ghost, I would prefer to be somewhere more lit over this. Don't get me wrong! this is a nice basement, I know a few ghosts that would love to make this their personal haunting grounds."
Just by the look on Ratchet's face Danny knew he could tell that he was being sarcastic. Ratchet picked up his toolbox and began heading for the exit, Danny trailing close behind. "Fine, only because you were getting scared." Ratchet responded teasingly causing Danny to scoff.
"Me? scared? oh please. I've seen tons of scary stuff that don't even pale in comparison to a freaking basement."
All it took was for Ratchet to spin on his pede unexpectedly to face him at a surprising speed with a haunting dead look. "Boo." Danny was hightailing it out of there before he even knew he could even blink, all that was heard was Danny shouting out over his shoulder "y-yeah you know what? I'll just meet you in the main room bye!" Yup, that was defiantly a tinge of hysteria edging into his voice. Ratchet just shook his helm and continued walking, at least now he didn't have to worry about anymore of Danny's tank churning stories.
Danny chuckled despite himself, playing along with Ratchet's gibe seemed to have at least lighten the grumpy medic's sullen mood which was a point in his book. It made his chest swell in warmth at the small accomplishment for making someone feel a bit better after the experience they'd endured. Flying closer to the entrance Danny decided that he would see if there was anything else he could help out with before parting ways with the team so they could relax, not wanting to overstay his welcome more then necessary.
If only Danny had bothered to stick around longer he would've seen the small forced smile that Ratchet wore instantly disappeared as soon as Danny was out of sight.
The grin that Danny had immediately slipped away upon noticing that he was the only one present in the central room, the sounds of electronics running filled the silence and was devoid of life. Danny gazed around the room from his vantage point high in the airspace on the lookout for something he disregarded until now. Looking upwards he was relieved to find his parents artificial ghost-shield generator was still up in the rafters. But upon flying closer for a better inspection Danny discovered that it had somehow received extensive damage to the point where it rivaled a crushed soda can.
The frown that was present deepen after he pulled it from its perch and turned it over in his grasp, just by going off the looks of it Danny doubted that his parents could repair it, of course they'd pulled off miracle work in the past but this looked like it was ready to go into the spare parts bin until it could go in the shed in the Fenton Works backyard.
I should probably just head back now before I end up losing this so it can go back where it goes. Danny thought dissatisfied knowing with given past circumstances that he had a bad habit of forgetting stuff, if he ended up slipping into that state of mind again today he'll most likely put the wrecked invention down somewhere and lose it. Danny sighed at the garbage that was still in his hands, it was best to return it now since it was on his mind. The sound of someone approaching from the entrance he'd just came through moments ago earned his attention, glancing down Danny saw Ratchet approaching the Med-bay to most likely put the toolbox down somewhere. Well here's my chance.
Danny zipped down towards Ratchet's side, tucking the wrecked invention under his arm waiting until Ratchet finished what he was doing before addressing him. "Hey, Ratchet?"
"Hmm?" Ratchet hummed to show that he was listening, not entirely turning away from what he was doing.
"I just realized that I need to return this thing that Technus stole, they been kinda worried since it went missing and I should probably return it as soon as possible, would you mind opening up the portal?" Danny asked hoping the medic wouldn't be too mad at him given his reluctance to leave earlier.
This time the medic faced him, his expression was neutral so Danny didn't know if that was a good sign or not. "Why didn't you just return it earlier when everyone was leaving?" Ratchet inquired, this drew a light blush to return to Danny's cheeks as he looked away, scratching his neck sheepishly.
"Just, y'know... Forgot."
The sound Ratchet made was something of chiding disbelief, shaking his head before heading towards the ground bridge station Danny following closely. Fingers poised near a keypad Ratchet asked "Same place as before?"
"Yeah, sure."
Nodding, Ratchet's fingers danced along the keys as he inputted the coordinates, Danny snuck a glance at the screen Ratchet was using over his shoulder seeing a translucent map of the Earth being displayed, upon more inputs of the keys however, the image began to zoom in on the state of Nevada, closer and closer until it landed on a spot in the desert near town but far enough from straying eyes who might investigate the sudden flash of light. Danny turned for the gaping hole in the wall waiting for the transportation vortex to appear, he heard Ratchet mutter something about refueling the energon lines before the sound of the lever being pulled down sounded. Danny only had a few seconds to tense in excited preparation before the expected happened, a burst of life flourished into an iridescent galaxy inside of the ground bridge tunnel.
Holding the invention he needed to return closer to his person Danny headed for the portal, pausing mid flight when he remembered with a pang of guilt at what he was doing. Danny hadn't bothered to go look for the others to at least tell them he was leaving and bid them farewell, it was a pretty selfish act on his part that he should have thought over before rushing into things as usual.
Ratchet noticed his sudden hesitance to leave was returning as he spotted the downcast look that suddenly covered the boy's features, his shoulders sagged in sadness. "What's wrong?" surely Danny wasn't having second thoughts again was he?
"I didn't tell them that I'm leaving," Danny said carefully averting his eyes "I know I would feel a little hurt if someone did that to me and it's kinda late to do it now. So... Do you think you can tell them that I said goodbye?"
After a minute Ratchet nodded in understanding of the simple request, just seeing the ghost teen so down over something like this would be hard to say no to fulfilling this small wish, so he easily agreed. "I will."
The tiny grateful smile that lit up Danny's face made it hard for Ratchet to hide his own but he managed, although barely. The hum of energy surging through the air made the hair along Danny's neck stand on end reminding him it was time to get going."Thanks, remember to call if you guys need anything. Bye Ratchet, see you later."
And with that Danny flew through the portal, the current from the vortex sent shivers to race across his skin from the power it possessed, knowing that if anything was to go wrong with the ground bridge it would end badly for the person passing through it. A spike of apprehension tingled along his spine as the memory of the first portal he had ever entered came to mind and the pain that followed. Reflexively tensing up in preparation for any oncoming pain Danny cursed his stupid paranoia vehemently, nearly missing a distant voice call out "and for the last time it's not called a portal, its a ground bridge!" before the flash of blinding white light flooded his vision.
Danny blinked rapidly once he made through hearing the portal close behind him. Eyes now adjusted he was both surprised and relieved to find that it was still light out, the sun was going to be setting below the horizon soon but at least now he didn't have to worry about rushing home to avoid confinement to the house again. Ignoring the nauseating feeling lingering in his stomach, Danny sighed as a tired smile settled on his face before flying off into the direction of town at a moderate pace, as much as Danny hated to admit it he didn't let on to the others that after what happened he was a more than a bit tired. Nothing a small nap won't fix, Danny reminded himself stifling a yawn as he focused on the town growing in the distance.
The sky was beginning to see faint strokes of pink and golden clouds on it's wide canvas, the air was considerably cooler compared to earlier as a light breeze drifted through white locks smothering them back slightly, he inhaled deeply allowing the crisp air to enter his near nonexistent lungs, exhaling with a small whoosh from parted lips. This feeling; the feeling of flying high above the world below made all the worries he had tying him down to the ground seemed to slip away when he was airborne, they were tiny; like the things on the surface from this height made it easy to forget about anything that was bothering him. The wind that gently stroked his face to the feeling of weightlessness welling up in his chest brought on a sense of freedom that he cherished every time he took flight, the view he had was amazing; what's not to like?
A selfish part of him wanted to stay up here forever, just him and the wind soaring through different skies filled with brilliant designs over different lands that was filled with so much beauty it seemed almost magical, to never set foot on the ground again for once he did, all those problems he'd forgotten would come rushing back to him. But Danny knew he couldn't, he had too many responsibilities tying him down, friends and family that he still cared about. He couldn't just abandon everything; it would be selfish of him, Danny could not just leave his loved-ones behind, he knew he couldn't live with himself otherwise. Soon he will have to relinquish this sense of freedom that flying brought him, but for now he was going to relish in this feeling and enjoy every second.
...That was until a plume of icy blue mist exited his mouth.
...Right after dealing with this ghost problem first. He rationalized redirecting off his original flight path to investigate.
~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~
The cringe of pain that flashed across Jack's face as his mother finished up wrapping his ankle just a little too tightly was had to miss. Upon arriving home limping up the steps to the front door he paused when he heard a familiar engine approaching, his mother pulled up in the driveway finishing her shift at the hospital early much to his disappointment, having wanted to slip inside to fix himself up before June arrived to avoid her fretful attention, now it was no avoiding it. June noticed his limp immediately and rushed him into the house, the doctor she'd trained to be coming out and taking over. Seating him on the couch she lifted his leg up and gently pulled off his shoe to assess the damage, an eyebrow arched inquiringly when she saw the frost covering her son's foot, curious, Jack leaned forward to get a better look only to frown, the frost Danny had put on there earlier hadn't melted yet making him wonder what the heck was wrong with ghost ice.
Nonetheless, June swept the ice aside and prodded at his ankle experimentally with gentle fingers feeling the swelling surrounding the joint in his foot before standing up from her crouched position to go retrieve an ace bandage from the bathroom, not before ordering him to stay put with a stern expression, Jack knew from experience to obey her when she gave him that look.
After the deed was done June checked her worked over with a cautious gaze, once satisfied Jack noticed a near nonexistent bob of her head before her eyes met his. "So how did this happen?"
Jack felt a bead of sweat run down his neck, the question he'd been hoping to avoid just came into fruition. There's no way if I tell her the truth she'll let go back to the base. Jack thought with a frown. June was more than willing to move to another city if it meant she could keep her child out of harms way, and if she thought the bots suddenly became a danger to them then she wouldn't even hesitate. As much as he appreciated the concern for his well-being, she tended to go a bit overboard with the smothering, even after June promised to give him space Jack saw it in her eyes, when he was struggling with something she just wanted to rush in and help only to pause to stare at him longingly during the few times she remembered her promise. Knowing she was still waiting for his answer Jack quickly strung together a story that would make sense. Putting on a sheepish smile he shrugged.
"I was trying to show Arcee to cut a rug, didn't exactly work out."
June stared at him a moment longer like she knew he wasn't telling the truth, making Jack wonder how much insisting it would take to convince her on his part before his stomach twisted into knots, however that never came to pass as she shook her head in defeat letting out a long exasperated sigh "Jack, you know you can't dance to save your life, you act as if you've got two left feet."
"Mom!"
"Well it's true hunny" June continued despite his whine "remember that one time when you were little and you were trying to impress your aunt by showing her you could dance and-"
"Mom, I thought we agreed to never talk about that." Jack reminded feeling the heat rush up into his face at that unpleasant memory, somehow he'd managed to trip over his feet resulting with his pants falling down and no one knew how but he managed to get himself tangled up in them so bad to the point where June had to get a pair of scissors and cut them off of him, he was about seven at the time and the memory still struck a sore spot. It was something that he'd gotten his mother to agree to never speak about ever again; especially not in front of future girlfriends he might have and especially not in front of Arcee, until now anyway. Speaking of Arcee, Jack hoped she was doing alright, she seemed almost haunted when he left the base and despite wanting to help her she just insisted that she just wanted to be left alone. As much as he wanted to; he couldn't disrespect her wishes, but Jack did wish there was someway he could help. Then suddenly he remembered something.
"Hey Mom?"
"Yes?"
"have you met the new neighbors yet?"
June looked at him skeptically "you mean the ones that are renting the Ferguson's old house a few streets down with the strange RV?" Jack nodded in confirmation "no I haven't. Why you ask?"
"Do you want to meet them?"
"I wouldn't mind welcoming them to the neighborhood. " June answered heading into the kitchen to prepare dinner, looking in the cabinets to see what they had. "Do you want to?"
Jack stood up and tested putting weight on his foot, deeming it was better then earlier he hobbled over to the counter where two bar stools were stationed before proceeding to taking a seat in one to be closer to his mom. "I dunno, I mean- like I wouldn't mind doing so. When I drove past their house the other day I saw a kid staring out the window looking depressed. They looked kinda lonely y'know? Plus the adults looked kinda interesting with the weird jumpsuits they were wearing, it makes me wonder what they do." Of course Jack knew what they did for a living; but it's not like he was going to admit to his mom that he researched their new neighbors like a crazed stalker. A part of him felt like he was betraying Phantom even after he saved them earlier, despite being a pretty much stranger beforehand Jack felt like he was starting to get to know the dead teenager bit better after today, his gut twisted guiltily at the thought. But Arcee wanted more information to be certain who she was putting her trust into, and Jack hated to admit it but she was right. They couldn't just put their complete trust into some random kid they just met a week or so ago, they didn't even know much about his interests, and some of the questions they'd asked him he avoided answering like the plague.
"So you want to try befriending their kid?" June asked with a soft smile before pulling out a box of spaghetti noodles out of the cabinet "that's nice of you, I'm sure they would appreciate it. You want spaghetti for dinner?" receiving a nod June continued to pull out the needed ingredients. "I guess we can go over there this weekend to meet them, how does that sound?"
The mission he'd been assigned wasn't going to be an easy one, but it was one given to him by his guardian who had complete faith in him and he was going to do it to the best of his ability.
"Sounds great Mom." Jack answered smiling "need any help?"
Let the mission commence.
~~~~~~Amity-Park~~~~~~
"Yes, thank you for your time Detective Smith, goodbye."
After an hour of speaking he could finally put the accursed phone down on it's cradle with a little more force then necessary making it hit it's resting station with a dull click, but it did have the satisfactory effect to feel like he had some reign of control of the situation.
Pinching the bridge of his nose he let out a peeved sigh to express some frustration, answering on and off phone calls for the ongoing investigation concerning the break in that took place at Axion Labs located in Florida had been fruitless in trying to figure out who was behind the heist, he wondered if the people he'd hired to investigate the matter were complete idiots or if the culprit was just that good. Either way he wasn't pleased at the results. This didn't mean though he wasn't performing his own research.
Witnesses report's from the scientists and lab assistants claimed that whoever they were was precise and experienced; attacking without warning from the security system and most were knocked out before being able to identify their attacker, the few who were able to catch a glance described giant robots were to blame for the destruction of the compound but were immediately cast aside to seek medical attention to check for signs of an concussion or were suspected to be covering for what really happened, the rest were in a unstable condition and it was currently unknown if they would pull through.
He, however wasn't so quick to dismiss these claims, they lived in the day in age where feats in the technology world were made nearly everyday; to touch screen devices, cybernetic limbs, virtual reality gear to helmets enabling the blind to see for the first time, it would't be such a stretch if someone was finally able to build a squad of functioning robots capable of taking people out in a matter of minutes. After all, if the Fentons could build the Ecto-Skeleton battle suit that could be operated from the inside then why couldn't anyone else figure out how to as well?
His gaze wandered to the walls of his study not really looking at anything in particular frowning in deep concentration, the graffiti the detectives found outside of the building said that it looked to be the work of teenagers, it did catch his attention upon hearing this that one of the things being displayed said "Phantom is just a reject," immediately his mind went to the younger halfa. But Daniel was off his radar so far due to the Fenton's not informing him of the trip they were taking, which was unusual to say the least seeing as Jack loved to inform him about everything that concerned his family. But the youngest Fenton's whereabouts would be revealed to him soon once the Vultures he'd sent out to track the boy down returned. But given the direction they headed in when he checked the security feed he had set up all over town showed they weren't heading into the direction of the tropical climate.
But this wasn't Daniel's style he noted; hurting innocents just to get some petty revenge in order to destroy his things to get one up on him. Despite his doubts, he wasn't going to easily brush this aside. If Daniel was somehow involved in this he would find out, there was nowhere the boy could run to escape his wrath.
Regaining his composure from his short break, Vladimir Masters returned to digging deeper on what he could find on his computer for possible leads with steely determination.
Heeyyy... I'm not dead! I'm sorry for the lack of updates, I was originally hoping to get this chapter up since December but my family kept getting me sick which so far has stopped since March, so that's part of the reason (I hope I don't get sick again cause my sister is currently laid up on the couch with a stomach bug that could blossom into something worse.) Thank you everyone who has faved, followed and reviewed! your support is what drives me to write more to this story!
First order of business! I'm not canceling this fanfic nor do I have plans to do so in the future unless things get really bad irl, in which I would probably have to put it up for adoption. I've been doing art commissions as well so that has taken up a great deal of my time cause I really need the cash so I can contribute at home which sadly fanfic writing won't bring :(. Parents are still fighting so it seems like there is no help in that department. But this chapter was a real struggle to work on and according to my writer I've been trying to work on this one since November 3, yikes, that's like five months. Been skimming this chapter for mistakes but I've probably missed some stuff. I also was reevaluating this fanfic's future timeline on how certain events will play out, so now certain characters MAY appear :)
Which brings us to our next topic of discussion! I am currently looking for a beta who would be willing to fix previous chapters as well as future ones, and perhaps even help me write future chapters? (because updates has been waaay too slow.) So if anybody is interested feel free to shoot me a PM okay? :)
Hopefully you guys liked the Danny and Ratchet bonding, this story is now 103,661+ words now!
Reviews!~
funokaledi~ I'll keep trying, hopefully I'll fall into a faster updating schedule :)