Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Ultimate Marvel

Chapter 19: Puppet Master Part 2

"So, what do you two think of the movie so far?" Kitty asked Danny and Rogue as they watched the Negotiator.

He had thought since they had the time that they should watch a movie together. He brought out the pack that he had bought during his trip with Mary Jane and let Kitty pick. Thankfully she picked crime/action movie.

"I have to admit that this is a good movie." Danny said as he picked up some popcorn. "Though I am kind of surprised how much Lieutenant Roman looks like director Fury."

Currently the framed Lieutenant is waiting for Sabien and is tormenting officer Farley.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Danny asked as he used telekinesis to open the door.

Dr. Storm walked in.

"I am sorry to interrupt but I was head to oversee the result of the sample analysis and wondered if you wanted to come?" Dr. Storm asked.

It was what he was here for after all.

"All good things come to an end too early." Danny said with a sigh as he stood up and passed the popcorn to Rogue.

They walked into the elevator and went up a few floors before Dr. Storm pressed the button that halted movement.

"I heard about Johnny's request." Dr. Storm said as he turned to him.

Going by the look on his face it seemed like this is going to be a rather serious conversation.

"It's no big deal." Danny said as he leaned against the backwall.

"I would appreciate it if you did not do that." Dr. Storm said.

"Why?" Danny asked. "Johnny seems excited about being part of the team."

"Johnny likes to think that he is invincible." Dr. Storm said with a sigh as he put his left hand on his nose. "He does not like to consider the possible dangers of his actions."

"As a parent that should be a concern." Danny said as he ran his hand through his hair. "However, if he wants to do the superhero thing, even if he believes the Ultimates rejected him, he may decide to do it alone and that can be a dangerous thing."

Peter Parker had been thrown out of a building by the kingpin and if not for him he would have been splattered like a New York hotdog.

"I do not want the government to use my children as weapons." Dr. Storm said as he slammed his hand onto the wall. "Nor do I want him taken advantage of by Wealthy Industrialists like Norman Osborn.

Danny waited a couple of seconds for him to calm down.

"You are right that is a possible outcome if he joins the Ultimates. However, restricting him will lead to resentment." Danny said. "If he wants to use his powers in a way that helps people why not have him do it in this city where you can support him, and he has friends that can bail him out if he needs them."

"You make it sound so easy." Dr. Storm said.

"You have to be willing to compromise. That is a rather hard thing for most people. Let alone a parent." Danny said.

"Did you have problems with your family when you were alive?" Dr. Storm asked.

"It will be centuries before I am willing to talk about my folks." Danny said with a grin and thumbs up.

"I will think about what you have told me." Dr. Storm said as he pressed the button and the elevator started moving again.

0-0-0-0-0-0

The elevator door opened, and they walked out.

"How are things going with the sample?" Dr. Storm asked as he walked through the lab.

"The sample has not changed in any way." H.E.R.B.I.E. answered.

"How many people are watching the sample?" Danny asked Dr. Storm.

"There are four guards a shift watching and making sure nothing comes into contact with it." Dr. Storm said.

"That's good. Ole Nick Fury wants to be certain that people are at no risk." Danny said looking past the viewing glass to the glowing blue sand. "What have you discovered so far?"

"Compared to regular sand the sample has been energized." Dr. Storm said.

"Energized like it can be used as a new energy source?" Danny asked. "Or Energized that at the slightest spark it can blow up five states?"

"I do not think either outcome is likely, but I do believe that it has mutated in an unforeseen way." Dr. Storm said.

"We should be careful with this." Danny said.

It would take very little to get the mutant protesters to blame this on the mutants.

"Dr. Storm." H.E.R.B.I.E. called out.

"Yes?" Dr. Storm replied.

"Ben Grimm is calling the Baxter Building." H.E.R.B.I.E. said. "However, he is trying to call from an unsecure line."

"That is strange." Dr. Storm said frowning.

"Why?" Danny asked.

"Because all four of them have secure phones in case they need to reach us." Dr. Storm said.

"He could be in trouble and needed to make the call quick." Danny said offering a possible answer.

"If it is enough to unsettle Ben then we might have a big problem on our hands." Dr. Storm said. "H.E.R.B.I.E. put him through."

"As you wish Dr. Storm." H.E.R.B.I.E. said.

"Good evening, Dr. Storm." The voice on the other end of the phone said.

That sounded way too old to be a kid in college.

"Who are you? Where is Ben?" Dr. Storm asked.

Seems that he was right.

"Your monster is perfectly fine. He just cannot come to the phone at the moment." The mysterious called said.

What have you done to him?" Dr. Storm asked.

"That is not the question that you should be asking." The mysterious voice taunted.

What do you want?" Dr. Storm asked.

"What I want is simple. Dr. Storm I want the sand that you and your government stooges collected from the beach." The voice said.

"I cannot do that." Dr. Storm denied.

That was not good. He may not have finished the movie but what he had learned is that in a hostage Negotiation you cannot tell the hostage taker no. Even if he asks you embarrassing questions. Instead, you have to move the hostage taker towards other items and outcomes.

"Give it to me or I will eliminate the hostages that I have taken." The voice said.

"Who are you?" Danny asked taking over. "Even if it were possible to bring the sand out of the building how could we deliver it to a person that we don't know?"

"You must be Phantom. The government lackey that they are calling a hero. There is no need for you to know who I am. Just a place where you can drop of the sand. I want you to know that I have other hostages as well." The mysterious voice said. "If you don't do what I want, I promise you that Ben Grimm will find himself in a nightmare."

It seems that whoever the voice belonged to on the other end was not an idiot and had the resources to hurt an enhanced individual.

"How can we contact you?" Danny asked. "If we want to set up a meeting to give you the sand, we are going to need to set up a meeting."

Dr. Storm turned to him alarmed but quieted down at his raised finger.

"Call me on this number." The mysterious voice said before hanging up.

"What do we do?" Dr. Storm asked.

"You contact the security for the building and inform them of the situation." Danny said. "I will contact Nick Fury. Then we make a plan."

He walked into an empty hallway. He planned to contact Clockwork and see what he knew of the situation. The ghost had informed him that he would want to contact him, and this seemed to be the reason why.

"How is your mission going?" Nick Fury asked.

"It seems that sending me was a good idea." Danny said with a sigh. "It seems that someone is after the sand."

"Do you know who it is?" Nick Fury asked.

"I have a lead that I am looking into." Danny said as he watched the duplicate appear before him.

"Do you require assistance?" Nick Fury asked.

"I thought the Ultimates were busy?" Danny asked.

"I meant that I could send a squad of agents to assist you." Nick Fury said.

"That is alright. I have soldiers in the building that can be of use." Danny said.

"Very well." Nick Fury said as the conversation ended.

He put his Ultimates' I.D. card away and pulled out his cellphone. He found Clockwork's number. It was easy to spot as the number was under the letters CW.

He tapped the button and watched as his phone began to glow a familiar green.

"What is going on?" Danny texted Clockwork.

"Hello Daniel." Clockwork messaged back. "I take it you have learned that Ben Grimm has been taken?"

"I would like to know what I am going up against." Danny texted.

"His name is Phillip Masters." Clockwork messaged.

"Is he related to Vlad?" Danny texted.

He wondered if this guy is an evil uncle that he had never been told about. It would not surprise him given his family.

"No. He just has the same surname" Clockwork answered.

"What has he done to Ben Grimm?" Danny texted. "How did he even know about the sand?"

"Phillip Masters was there when the satellite crashed into the ground. He stole some of the sand before the government arrived and quarantined the area. The radiation absorbed by the sand mutated his D.N.A and gave him the ability to manipulate the people he makes clay statues of." Clockwork messaged.

"If he already has some of the sand why does he want more?" Danny texted.

"Right now, his abilities are young and underdeveloped, he believes that the special sand is a requirement to control people." Clockwork messaged.

"He doesn't need the special sand to control people?" Danny asked.

Fury would definitely rate this as a nightmare.

"Regular sand will do just fine." Clockwork answered.

"Is there a limit to his range?" Danny asked.

"At the moment he needs to be able to see the person that he is controlling." Clockwork answered.

'That is good news.' Danny thought. "Can he affect me?"

"No, he will not be able to affect you, but he believes that does. The problem is he will spend the night preparing clay statues of Susan, Johnny, and Reed as well." Clockwork answered.

"So, I should head to his lair and stop him now?" Danny texted.

"No, you are going to let him continue as it is. It will be better if he gets to use his sculptures." Clockwork messaged.

"Why should I do that?" Danny texted.

"If he has those two under his control it will be easier for us to capture him." Clockwork texted. " I will explain it to you when you apprehend him."

His phone stopped glowing. He took that to mean that the conversation is over.

Danny shook his head but pushed off the wall.

It seems that he needed to come up with a plan.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"What are you going to do?" Johnny asked slamming his hands on to the table.

"I see you have heard the news." Danny said as he looked up from his game.

"Ben has been kidnapped and you are just playing some game on your phone." Johnny Storm said. "You are an Ultimate you should be flying into action to rescue him. Whoever this guy is he already has had Ben for a whole day."

"I was informing Director Fury over what happened." Danny said. "Also, I was checking with an informant of mine to see what kind of threat that we are dealing with."

"What does Director think that you should do in this situation?" Susan asked.

"He thinks that us meeting with this guy is a dangerous idea." Danny said.

"Us?" Susan asked him surprised.

"This is your friend that has been kidnapped." Danny said. "I figured that you would want to come with and make sure that your friends."

He knew that the original would rush into any kind of danger if he knew that his friends were going to be in a bad or harmful situation. He flew alone to fight Pariah Dark because his town was captured and under threat from his skeleton soldiers.

"Alright what are we going to do?" Johnny asked.

"Let me tell you what we are going to be up against." Danny said.

If he was going to have to deal with them being mind-controlled, then he would make the situation as much to his advantage as possible.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"I take it that this is the person that we are waiting for?" Danny asked Phillip through the phone while watching the rocky form of Ben Grimm sit on a carnival bench.

"Do not try anything." Phillip Masters said through the phone. "Ben Grimm is under my control. Try anything and I will use him to crush you."

"I don't doubt that you would try" Danny answered taking a seat on the bench and placing the case on the ground.

"Open the case." Phillip ordered.

"I don't think so." Danny said. "Who says that you are going to release Ben the moment I let go of this case? Release Ben first."

"You don't understand its power." Phillip yelled. "You are no artist, and you have no choice. Give me the case or I start using The Thing to go on a rampage."

"I am tired of this!" Johnny yelled while waving his arms around and igniting on fire. "We have you surrounded and outpowered!"

Truly he and Bobby would get along with how impatient they could be.

"All you have done is surround yourselves." Phillip yelled.

He heard the man yell and turned to find his location. He found him sitting in the food area under a large umbrella.

Phillip is a thin and bald black man with an intense look in his eyes.

"Guys I can't control my arms." Johnny said from behind him "Watch out."

A fireball formed in his hands and shot towards him.

Looks like it has started.

"No." Susan cried out as a barrier formed around them.

The fireball broke into sparks as the flames hit the invisible barrier.

"Good job Susan." Danny said.

"You still don't get it." Phillip boasted. "With the time that you have given me I have had plenty of time to make clay versions of the Fantastic Four. That includes the girl."

"Watch out Phantom." Susan said in warning.

Danny slid to the side as Susan threw a punch at his face.

"You are not going to get away with this." Danny said as he turned intangible and phased out of Susan's barrier. 'This guy certainly deserves whatever Clockwork has in store for him.'

He hoped that Rogue and Kitty are having luck finding the people that Phillip had kidnapped.

0-0-0-0-0-0

(Duplicate)

"It's started." Duplicate Danny said to Kitty and Rogue. "You ready?"

Before they had left the Baxter Building Rogue had tapped Kitty's finger receiving a bit of her power.

"Totally." Kitty said.

"Ahm ready." Rogue said.

The plan was very simple. While the original was putting on a show with Johnny and Susan he was going to go with Kitty and Rogue and steal the remaining bit of clay that he had stored at home.

"Then let's go." Duplicate Danny said as the three of them phased through the roof and ended up in front of the studio door.

They walked inside and saw that the place is pretty bare. Though the thing that grabbed their attention was the artists on the wall that had their eyes hit with darts.

"This guy is like totally obsessed." Kitty said as she looked around.

"His journals are filled with rants about people that he dislikes." Rogue said pulling a book from his bookshelf.

"The worst type of person to have a mind control power." Duplicate Danny said. "Do you hear that?"

"What?" Kitty asked.

"It sounds like someone is screaming for help." Danny said as he opened the closet door.

"Are you sure that you heard somebody?" Rogue asked. "This place is small. If someone was trapped here, we would have met them already."

"Yeah. It definitely sounds like someone screaming." Danny said hearing it even louder.

He tuned his head intangible and put it through the wall. He could see statues that were made of clay.

The most important thing was the girl that was tied up and gagged on the floor. She had dark skin and bright red hair.

"There is a secret entrance behind this." Danny said after pulling his head back. "Inside is a girl tied up."

"Let's go." Rogue said.

They passed through the wall and released the girl.

"Who is there?" The girl asked looking around.

"Don't worry." Danny said as he turned the ropes intangible and let them fall around them.

"Thank you." The girl said once she was free and began to stand up. "My name is Allica."

"How did you wind up here?" Rogue asked.

"My father has gone crazy. He is controlling Ben. You have to stop him." Alicia said.

"You are the daughter of Phillip Masters?" Kitty asked.

"Yes. We have to tell the police what he has done." Alicia said.

"We may not have expected this, but we did come prepared." Duplicate Danny said looking at Kitty and Rogue. "It is time to contact the soldiers."

0-0-0-0-0-0

(The original)

"Give up." Danny said.

"Never." Phillip yelled. "You have seen what I can do to your friends. What makes you think I cannot control you as well?"

Danny waited for the seconds to pass and for Phillip to realize that he had failed.

"I am protected from your power but are you protected from this?" Danny asked as he activated the signal on his utility belt.

The soldiers across the street started throwing light grenades into the park.

It did not bother him. He was prepared and The Storm siblings were hypnotized so they did not react. There was only one person surprised and so his reaction made sense.

"Aahhh." Phillip yelled.

"You should have thought twice before you started this." Danny said walking to Phillip. "Now you can enjoy a nice jail cell with padded walls."

"Stay away from me!" Phillip yelled running away.

"You should have thought of this before you decided to kidnap people and threaten the city." Danny said.

"Defend me creature and crush him!" Phillip screamed as he held Ben's statue.

Ben started stomping over to him.

Danny turned intangible and phased through Ben's body and blasted Phillip's back knocking the sculpture from his hand and his body to the ground.

"The game is over." Danny taunted the man with a smile.

"You may have stopped me today, but I will have my revenge." Phillip said as he clenched his fist and turned around to glare at him.

"Swear vengeance later. Now it is time for you to take a long nap." Danny said placing his hand on the man's head and giving him a small shock that knocked him out.

He realized time was frozen as the flag's movement were stuck between moments and watched as afterwards a ghost portal appeared.

"Good job Daniel." Clockwork said as he appeared.

"Time for that explanation?" Danny asked.

"It is too dangerous to leave him in prison. The governments of the world might be tempted to use him, and it is possible that through them our enemies will learn of him." Clockwork said as he lifted Phillip's body with telekinesis.

"Are you planning on killing him?" Danny asked.

He knew very little actual facts of Clockwork but if his threat assessment is accurate, he might be motivated to do it. A part of Vlad told him to let it happen, but he knew that he could not let that happen. This would be a step too far. Even if he is afraid of the ancient ghost.

"No. I do not plan on killing him." Clockwork said.

"Then what do you plan on doing with him?" Danny asked as he lowered his hands.

"He will be moved out of the way until his powers can be neutralized." Clockwork said before he disappeared.

He watched as time resumed.

"What's going on?" Ben Grimm asked after shaking his head.

"It's a long story." Danny said as he looked at the stone man.