(Clockwork's Tower)
'I swear the things I do for the multiverse.' Clockwork thought to himself as while he was the ghost of time, he also dealt with other aspects of reality even not from this reality, an acquaintance of his had asked for his help as a timeline was missing a blonde and green hero and he had his own hero he could ask a favor from, which he already did, not that Danny remembered, he made a temporal duplicate and was erasing the duplicate Danny's memories and adjusting his body to the world he was going to "Now, your ghost side won't exist and having half of you missing won't do you any good." he said as he brought in multiple colored energy, one was black with a purple hue, white, red, blue, yellow, and green "Ah yes eco." he said fusing these powers to Danny's missing half seeing him now be complete, his clock staff had the dial spinning in reverse and soon the teen was now an infant with pointy ears "Safe travels Danny." he said wrapping the infant in a white blanket with his name on it.
(Dessert)
A woman was traveling the desert alone, she had dark green hair and was riding through a sandstorm. 'I swear there should be some precursor artifacts.' she thought as sandstorms basically rearranged the terrain out here, she stopped her vehicle and killed the engine as she heard a sound that wasn't supposed to be out here, an infant crying, she dismounted and went in direction of the screams and soon found the source.
(1 hour later)
"My queen." King Damas said seeing the love of his life "You know it's bad for your health to go out in the middle of a sandstorm." he said in a caring tone rarely seen by his people, he stopped seeing a bundle in her arms a small baby with silver hair and colored stripes resembling the various colors of eco at the front.
"I found him in the storm." the woman said to him as she rocked him.
King Damas saw the babe resting comfortably, but he seemed to be sweating a lot even here the room the was the most moisture in the city "We should take him to see the precursor monks." he said as he had been to them recently as his wife's health was declining and to top it off they were trying to have a child.
(2 hours later)
Damas hated the drive here as it was always a hassle, he met a young monk and despite hating the fact he was dealing with a child, he knew the monks often held each other at a similar level of rank or status with one another, so one monk was as good as another despite appearances.
The king and queen followed the monk to a small chamber.
"This child will be a powerful force in the future." the monk said to the couple "Damas we make a request of you." she said to him.
Damas gave her an odd look at the monks who were nomads even in the city of wastelanders, they never wanted anything or asked for anything.
"The healing we have been giving your wife hasn't been showing many results, but this child can be saved." the monk said to him.
Damas held his staff tightly as he was no fool, he knew his wife's condition was steadily declining and there had been no results as of yet.
"Save the child." Damas's queen said steely without a hint of wavering.
"But my queen." Damas said to her only to stop as she looked at him.
"Damas, my darling Damas, we may not be able to give you the heir you always wanted, but we can save this boy." the queen said to him.
"He will be your son Damas, in the ways that matter and the ways that don't." the monk said as she saw them look at her strangely "For this to work, I need your blood to mix with this green and light eco, the child will be yours." she said to them.
Damas saw a small upside, but knew blood didn't make a person family, but he was happy his family blood wouldn't die with him as his wife was his one and only.
(5 years later or a few years in the past)
Samos saw the island he and young Danny had arrived on, he smiled at the young boy and was amazed to see he had a strong connection with eco as he was able to generate it in his own body much like he and the other sages 'The house of Mar will be in good hands.' he thought to himself establishing his tree.
(10 years later)
Samos looked to Danny outside helping the town as ever since he was able to, he had been learning to use his eco powers, he couldn't do much due to his age, but he was able to do a lot more than him when he was younger, he saw Danny now on the beach laughing and smiling with his daughter Keira as he had fished out a lurker shark glowing bright red 'At least he's smart, unlike certain company.' he thought looking to Danny's friend Daxter the clown of the group.
"Oh Danny." a feminine voice said catching Samos' attention, the girl in question was Desiree, a little girl the village took care of as she had washed up on shore somehow all alone with no memories of her past or anything, but she took to Danny immediately.
Samos chuckled seeing his daughter get jealous at the sight as he had long known his daughter had a crush on the boy and the boy was a bit oblivious if not completely respectful to his daughter, he felt the day was approaching when they'd return back to the present as Danny was sent back in time about a decade or so in order to buy them time with the metal heads, he just hoped he and his friends would be ready for the challenges they'd face.
"Are you guys ready to gut this thing?" Danny asked the girls as they gutted the lurker shark, Danny's nails becoming like talons.
Samos watched as it always interested him in how Danny used Dark eco as he had seen the destructive power it had and how the lurkers used it, Danny seemed to be the same and he hoped it stayed that way as dark eco was destructive on the best day there was no telling what it could do to a person when it was inside them, but Danny seemed fine and unchanged when he used the power so he felt his body had naturally bonded to it like the other ecos he used.
(few days later)
"Dude, you're an ottsel!" Danny said, busting his gut and laughing at Daxter.
Samos saw Daxter and knew the time was much closer than he realized that the annoyance he had lived with was now in his orange furry self.
(next day)
Danny and Daxter finished their training and began collecting power cells for Keira as with the teleport gates down they needed an alternative way to get there, they got the needed power cells and more in case Keira needed them and made it to the blue sage's hut in no time flat, the sage was gone and it made Samos worried.
(few days later)
Danny had been running around collecting as many power cells as he could so Keira could get them to the dark eco expert Samos knew, but whenever he dealt with a precursor statue he felt they were whispering amongst themselves whenever they thought he wasn't around talking about him.
Danny made it to the red sage's hut where he met Gol and Maia telling them how they kidnapped all the sages.
"You seem very different from all the other sages, I sense dark eco in you." Gol said getting close to Danny "Join me, you can feel the power of dark eco can't you?" he asked him.
Maia smiled, feeling it as well "Perhaps he needs a woman's touch Gol." she said to her brother finding the blonde alluring as she could sense power coming off him in waves
Desiree and Keira glared at her as she shamelessly flirted with Danny, they also blushed as the woman was rather well built.
'The dark eco in him is strong as is the other eco, it's as if they are magnifying his power.' Maia thought to herself thinking his power was very alluring.
"Sorry, but I'm not into crazy." Danny said to them.
"Give it time." Mol said as he and his sister vanished.
(next day)
Danny was wondering what he was capable of as Mol and Maia were capable of flight and teleporting it was far more than what he could do as so far he could only let off sparks of static and grow his nails out with dark eco.
"Are you ok?" Desiree asked Danny curiously.
"Yeah, just wondering about my powers." Danny said to her.
"Feels like you're lacking huh?" Desiree asked, getting a nod in return "Well now you know how the rest of us feel." she said seeing his surprise "Danny we see you do amazing things all the time, I mean we could try to learn these things too or use the eco that naturally occurs, but you do it so effortlessly and just do it." she said with a chuckle "I mean someone is hurt if they don't go to Samos they go to you." she said as Danny could heal himself, but also others.
"Eco please." Daxter said to them "This guy right here never needed eco to get the job done." he said proudly.
"No he just fell into a vat of it like an idiot, becoming an ottsel." Desiree said as she and Danny shared a laugh.
(few hours later)
"Hey Danny, mind giving me a charge?" Keira asked as whenever she was working she often needed a power source and Danny was almost as strong as the one the windmill provided.
"Trying to hack into precursor tech again?" Danny asked as Keira had been trying to make her tech compatible with precursor technology or make something akin to it.
"It's so frustrating that this tech is so old and yet we haven't advanced upon it or our own technology." Keira said to him as she hated no progress her village was a bit backwater not counting the blue sage as apparently he had tech similar to her own.
Danny had to admit she had a point as if the artifacts were as old as people said why haven't there been more advancements, then again they were on an island in the middle of nowhere
Keira always enjoyed these talks as Danny actually understood her and tried to learn the tech she was making and he could keep up with her, it was nice as her father while encouraging her barely knew what she was making half the time.
(few days later)
Danny had gathered over a hundred precursor power cells and gave them to Keira as they were interested in the precursor tech they had managed to take from Mol and Mila. Keira had taken apart most of the tech and placed it next to her home. It was honestly impressive how dedicated she was.
Desiree had cleared out Mol and Mila's items admiring Mila's style and secretly wanting to catch Danny's attention she borrowed a few.
(later at night)
Danny, Desiree, and Keira were on Samos's hut looking to the sky.
"Where do you think it'll take us?" Danny asked looking at the portal arch.
"Space?" Keira said unsurely "Oh maybe the precursor home world!" she said excitedly.
"Or another world entirely." Desiree said jokingly as the arch could take them anywhere.
They sat and thought about the portal that would lead them to their next adventure.
(next day)
Danny and Keira ended up in the middle of an active race and ended up in someone's garage.
"Do you have any idea where we are?" Danny asked Keira only to see her ogling at the race and the tech around them, he held up his finger charged it with blue eco, and zapped her "Do I have your attention?" he asked as she blushed.
"Sorry, but I can't believe all the tech here." Keira said to him as this was a big step up from the island.
Danny was listening and looked around, listening and paying as much attention as possible.
"A month's worth of eco for this race?"
"20,000 precursor orbs for winning this race to."
"The Krimson Guard is looking around, we should leave."
Danny was paying as close attention as he could 'We need to enter this race.' he thought to himself as they'd win much needed money and eco would be nice as well "Got any ideas to get us in this race?" he asked her.
Keira smiled as she liked speed and fast vehicles "Give me a moment." she said to him as she turned a corner.
(few minutes later)
"Keira who owned this hover bike?" Danny asked her.
"Some guy stole his keys and locked him in a garage." Keira said to him as he went onto the track staring at her.
'Keira's was faster.' Danny thought as Keira's hover bike on the island was much faster than this 'These guys are driving similar bikes.' he thought as that'd be easier to predict their speed.
(3 minutes later)
"You won!" Keira said to him in excitement.
"Yeah c'mon." Danny said as he went over to collect their winnings.
(2 hours later)
Danny immediately rented out a garage and given they were gonna be regular racer's the price was discounted, he bought Keira a list of tools for maintenance on the new bike they bought having returned the one Keira 'borrowed' and for other such devices.
"We should keep racing Danny, it's good money." Keira said to him as racing paid good.
"Yeah, but we should also hunt metal heads." Danny said as metal head crystals were worth a lot of money to a lot of people.
Keira couldn't deny Danny could handle himself in a fight and it did provide them with another source of money "Where do you think the others ended up?" she asked as after picking themselves up she was curious to where her father, Desiree, and Daxter were.
"I've been asking around as we all fell out of the sky, that's hard to miss." Danny said as he heard a small orange creature land in another sector.
Keira had to admit he was right and she was concerned as the KG was looking for the people who fell out of the sky, but what for was the question.
(with Desiree)
Desiree was sweating from every pore she had as she had been taken by the KG at the moment of her landing and sent to prison.
"Look Ashlen, a subject that survived the dark eco injection." Baron Praxis said showing his daughter one of the survivors of the dark eco injection.
Desiree looked at the man in hatred and then saw the girl next to him, she looked 1 or 2 years older than herself.
Ashlen gave her an apologetic look as there was nothing she could do at this moment.
"Tell me girl I have heard from Onin that there is a child who can wield all powers of eco, is this true?" Baron asked her.
Desiree stayed quiet and became tense when he started to laugh.
"Word to the wise, whenever a person DOESN'T answer a question, it usually means they are afraid or know something." Baron said to her as he chuckled.
"A person that can wield eco?" Ashlen asked him curiously.
"Such a marvelous thing, to wield all that power and they are able to wield it whenever they wish, that is more than what she is going to be." Baron said to his daughter motioning to Desiree "We can not break him sadly." he said as to her.
Ashlen was surprised as her father believed in people being bought or broken "Then what?" she asked wondering what he was going to do.
"We'll need a way to secure his loyalty." Baron said to himself mostly "But I need to see what he's capable of so I can see if I can infuse it in my soldiers." he said as a person who could wield all eco types was invaluable.
Ashlen now felt pity for this person as her father's interest was not something a person wanted and his tests were often suicide missions for the guards.
(next day)
Danny heard there were two places where metal heads could be found outside the city and inside the sewers, he decided to fight outside the city for obvious reasons and immediately spotted some metal heads, he killed them quickly punching them as hard as he could ripping out their crystals fast.
(2 hours later)
"Ma'am we have someone here wanting to be reimbursed for metal head crystals." a guard said to Ashlen.
"So we pay people all the time what's the problem?" Ashlen asked as the city did it as a way to kill the metal heads faster by encouraging civilians as it made them seek out metal heads, bugs or beasts, the people would find them and kill them getting a reward for their crystals.
"Ma'am this person brought in a hundred crystals." the guard said to him.
Ashlen was surprised as an average guard could bring in maybe three, but that many was insane. She went to the public office and saw the man waiting "Lieutenant Ashlen Praxis, are you the one that caught all those crystals?" she asked assuming this was the person as they had about 4 sacs filled with metal head crystals.
"Yes." Danny said as he was a bit annoyed that he was kept waiting for his payment.
"Impressive catch, I don't see any weapons." Ashlen said as that was a huge red flag in her mind.
"I have my own means." Danny said seeing a guard slowly walk to his blindspot and when he heard a gun cock, his hands glowed yellow.
'Is that!' Ashlen said in realization seeing yellow eco 'It's him!' she thought to herself in surprise.
Danny shot a fireball at the guard before he got the chance to fire at him and held his hand up looking at Ashlen waiting for her to make a move.
Ashlen looked at the public office worker and motioned for him to pay Danny "What's your name?" she asked needing to walk away with something.
"Danny." Danny said walking away.
'Funny doesn't Damas have a son by that name?' Ashlen thought to herself thinking of the king of the wasteland.
(1 hour later)
"We'll have to keep an eye on this guy." Torn said as it helped Baron wasn't acting on him, but it meant he might have someone watching him like them.
"The guy took on a hundred metal heads, that alone screams talent eco or no eco." Ashlen said as the resistance was small, but someone like that could do a lot of good.
"My father wants to assign him a mission for a wasteland metal head." Ashlen said as it was rare for the KG to assign missions to metal head collectors, but it did happen.
Torn had seen the reports as some often tried to attack the wall surrounding Haven, those things were colossal.
"Wastelanders weaponize their vehicles to fight those things." Ashlen said as it was more difficult otherwise.
"You think he'll survive?" Torn asked as if Danny accepted they couldn't do anything as he was sure the Baron would be close by.
"Who knows." Ashlen said as she could be with her father when this test happened, but that was it, her father's trust in her varied as he knew she acted independently, but when she did something worthy in his eyes he momentarily brought her closer.
(1 week later)
"So the Baron wants you to fight this?" Keira asked as she hacked into the KG files and when she saw the beast Danny was gonna fight she was shocked to say the least.
"I'm sorry I didn't know I was the one they were after." Danny said to her as apparently, they wanted him for his eco powers.
"Well cat's out of the bag, are you gonna fight this thing?" Keira asked as he could turn it down.
"Yeah, might make things easier for us, keep your enemies close." Danny said as the moment he saw Baron Praxis, he knew what the man was, a power-hungry dictator.
(next day)
"Danny welcome, we're here to escort you outside the walls." Baron Praxis said with Ashlen in tow.
"You fried a guard, think you can fry a metal head of that size?" Ashlen asked him neither taunting or suggesting, she was genuinely curious.
"We're about to find out." Danny said to her "Can I get a KG hoverbike?" he asked the Baron getting a nod.
(few minutes later)
"Are those things strong enough to pierce that thing's flesh?" Ashlen asked her father as they rode alongside Danny, him being too far to hear them.
"Those cannons on the front are higher caliber than the staffs the guards carry, but it shouldn't do much to the thick skin of these metal heads." Baron said to her truthfully.
Ashlen didn't like Danny's odds even with his powers.
(20 minutes later)
"So will it work?" Danny asked Keira over the comms.
"Theoretically yes, but it's insane." Keira said as Danny's plan was suicide if he failed.
Danny heard the ground shaking and focused, he channeled blue eco into the hoverbike and smiled feeling it hum and heat up from his charge.
(with Ashlen)
"He's charging the bike with blue eco!" Ashlen said as she was keeping track of that hoverbike for various reasons and the output was through the roof.
"He's sending all the systems into overdrive." Baron said seeing the bike's performance "The cannons will be much stronger now due to the excess power they have." he said excited to see Danny fight now more than ever.
Danny shot right for the beast's eyes thinking that was its most sensitive spot and easiest to hit.
The metal head running around roared as Danny had hit one of its eyes causing it to stumble.
"He's smart at least." Ashlen said as reducing a creature's vision was very smart, especially for a beast that size.
"I'm more impressed he can keep the charge up so long." Baron said to her as he watched and monitored Danny.
Danny kept the fire and soon the metal head fell crashing to the ground.
"Impressive, mind doing a repeat performance?" Baron 'asked' as both Ashlen and Danny could tell there was no possible way he'd accept a refusal.
(2 hours later)
"Ok, I've gotten you seven metal heads." Danny said to the Baron over the comms "Can I please go home!" he said as these things were no joke.
Baron was amazed as it would've taken a battalion for each of those beasts and he had seen Danny use his eco powers in full succession he had seen him use it to enhance him and his attacks, the boy was skilled and his powers made him deadly.
Ashlen was a bit afraid as if her father ever found a way to make more of Danny then the resistance was done for.
"We are keeping this between us." Baron said to Ashlen surprising her "This boy is a game changer and a power we need." he said to his daughter "If we can somehow make even a fraction of what he is the metal head scourge will be gone forever." he said to her as he was deep in thought.
"We should have him work for us, we can't hold someone like him." Ashlen said as that was pure truth.
"And to top it off I don't know how to infuse a person with eco, I shall look into it with Onin." Baron said as that was one citizen he couldn't control despite his wishes that he could.
"We could hire him again." Ashlen said giving her father a suggestion.
"Hmmm, he will need to be checked on regularly, I'd normally leave this to Errol, but he is busy." Baron said as Errol was busy helping him with the dark eco experiments, he was convinced now more than ever they needed eco enhanced soldiers "So you will monitor him." he said as if the discussion was done.
'Well I guess that answers that.' Ashlen thought as Torn needed someone to monitor Danny and now her father was sending her for himself, she was doing the same mission for both sides.
(2 months later)
Danny and Keira made a decent amount with their racing and metal head hunting, plus they mostly lived at the garage, so they had a nice amount of income, Danny had become a pro quickly gaining some unwanted attention.
"Ah Daniel." an annoying and gruff voice said getting his attention.
"The answer is no Krew." Keira said as this man wanted to 'sponsor' Danny in all his races, which basically came out to highway theft, they both decided it was to much of a hassle and no profit working with him, plus Danny discovered through many trials and errors that all information went to Krew or through him, which made it impossible to find Daxter, Desiree, or her father as he was silencing loose ends, they wouldn't be blackmailed so they tried their best as a team to find their friends.
"And I see you still let the help speak for themselves." Krew said in annoyance "I am here with an offer." he said as he floated to Danny.
"Whatever it is I am not signing jack squat, if you wrote it, then there is gonna be stuff in the fine print." Danny said not trusting Krew as far as he could throw him.
"Fine, a gentlemen's agreement." Krew said as Danny raised a brow at him.
"Ok, what do you want and why ask us?" Danny asked curiously "I mean Keira hates you and she's the best mechanic around." he said as Keira was a great mechanic and he had been teaching her how to drive even having her enter some races, she may not have won each one but she managed to get into the top 3 of each race.
"I need a team of 3 to enter a kras city race, I have a wager going on with the local crime boss." Krew said to them fanning himself.
"Brutal honesty from a crime lord." Keira said in slight surprise "Wait you said 3, Danny makes one, but who are the other two?" she asked seeing him smile eagerly.
"Why you my dear and my daughter." Krew said to them.
'He's had sex?' they both thought unable to think of what desperate and possibly blind woman would sleep with him.
'Wonder if his daughter is as much a slob as he is.' Keira thought before they heard the sound of clicking heels and soon walked in an elegant woman who was everything Krew wasn't, she had an even tanner complexion than her and she grew up on an island.
"Danny and Keira yes, I'm Rayn." Rayn said introducing himself.
"You are your father's daughter." Danny said surprising everyone "It's your eyes, they have that same calculating gaze he has." he said surprising them even further.
Rayn was quiet now and her mask was shaken a bit, not many could see past her mask, but to do so in the first meeting 'He's no fool.' she thought as the people her father was usually around were muscle headed idiots, he was different, smarter.
"Ah finally someone notices the resemblance." Krew said to himself "Now what do you say, Daniel, all your mechanics needs will be taken care of and you'll be given the prize money, I keep the trophy." he said to him.
Danny was curious for many reasons, but he nodded all the same.
(10 minutes later)
"I can't believe you agreed to help him." Keira said to him.
"I did it mostly for the publicity, I mean think about it, this race is televised in both cities, our missing friends should be able to see us then." Danny said as with Krew in his way it was hard so he was hoping this could help them get the message out.
Keira had to admit he had a point as their races while public weren't the kind of thing to draw attention unless one was a racing enthusiast or who liked danger and competitive sports, so Daxter or Desiree should be able to see it.
(with Desiree)
Desiree sat in her cell sweating profusely, her body was fighting the dark eco and it was if she was detoxing from some drug.
'Don't fight it.' a voice said in the back of her mind.'Let it settle and unleash it.' the voice said to Desiree.
Desiree tried to ignore it, but she hoped she was going crazy as she knew that voice, it was Maia.
'You have so much potential with dark eco Desiree, you have seen Danny fight with it, I know you've felt its allure before we even met, and think of Danny~.' Maia said to her 'Think about it both of you wielding the power of eco, the things you both could do.' she said to her with a small chuckle.
Desiree thought about how she and Danny were on the island, even on lurker island she wasn't much help, she may have had his back and helped him, but she wanted to do more she wanted to be of use to him, the white in her eyes turned completely black for a moment.
(few days later)
"I can not believe I have a damn babysitter." Danny said looking to Ashlen as they arrived at Kras city.
"I need to keep an eye on you as you're a part-time military asset." Ashlen said as that was what her father came up with as Danny was no fool something her father respected, but he wasn't easily manipulated something he hated, but he needed to compromise given Danny's unique nature, it was kinda funny that Onin wouldn't tell him much of anything else.
"So who are we racing?" Keira asked boredly.
"All time racing champ, Razer and his team UR-86 and his sideman Shiv." Rayn said to her simply, holding up her tablet with their most recent photo.
"Why does it look like a KG?" Danny asked seeing the robot.
"It was originally designed to fight outside of the city, but it got overloaded with driving and killing and gained a form of sentience." Ashlen said to him as this robot was the very definition of road warrior, it was meant to drive and kill.
"And this Shiv is a wastelander, he is not the best, but he adapts." Rayn said to them informing them of the last member.
"So a high class racer, a killer driving robot, and a guy who drives in a wild and weaponized environments am I missing anything?" Danny asked curiously.
"We need to win." Rayn said to him.
"I'll get to work." Keira said as she had Rayn pull up footage of their previous races.
(1 hour later)
"The race uses eco?" Danny asked her curiously.
"In a way, there are checkpoints all over some are wild weapons or traps or eco, some rev up our engines and some is green eco and if you do impressive feats like long drifts or take out a racer, you are rewarded with dark eco." Rayn said as it was a bit unfair, but that was the race, everything was chance.
"What if we use eco from outside the ring?" Danny asked her.
"Illegal." Rayn said as it was an unfair advantage and it would alter the even playing field the racers got.
"There might another way you can do with your powers Danny." Keira said to him "That bot UR-86 is technically connected to his vehicle he doesn't so much drive it as it is a part of his body or an extension and he might be supplying his vehicle with power to make it go faster." she said to him.
"What powers?" Rayn asked curiously.
"I have eco powers, I can generate it and channel it." Danny said to her making his hand glow in various colors.
Rayn looked through the rule book about person and driver and there was nothing about what he could do that was illegal "Can you alter his vehicle to channel his power better?" she asked curiously.
"Lady what do you think I'm doing." Keira said to her flatly.
(next day)
"So who gets who?" Danny asked them curiously as it'd be best to take one at a time.
"I'll take UR-86." Keira said as tech was her specialty and she had been watching him closely in his races.
"Given your eco powers, you're gonna take Razer." Rayn said as that left her with Shiv.
The team nodded and went to the bar for lunch and unfortunately, their enemy team was there as well.
Razer saw Danny and approached him "Ah the up-and-comer of Haven." he said having often seen many races and learned of the budding skill in each city "Is that imbecile Errol still saying he can beat me?" he asked as Errol was a pain in the ass whenever he visited the city.
"He runs his mouth a lot." Danny said to him as Errol kept challenging him to a race and Danny thought it'd be more trouble getting even more KG attention.
Razer laughed at that "You know Mizo would be interested in a driver such as yourself." he said passing along the offer.
"I'm not so easily bought and I let my skills do the talking." Danny said to him.
"We'll see what your skills say in the race." Razer said walking away.
(next day)
"Last ones standing." Danny said as he and Razer were the last remaining racers, Rayn was taken out first, Keira took out UR-86 and then Shiv, but was taken out by Razer.
(in the audience)
"Think he can win?" Rayn asked Keira as they nursed their injuries.
"Are we watching the same race look at him." Keira said as Danny was in the lead.
Danny and Razer were in a heavy firefight, but Danny was doing much better as he fueled his weapons with dark eco and was using green to undo any heavy damage he took.
Everyone was on the edge of their seats seeing the two battle and clash violently.
Danny smiled as he slowed down and hit the back right side of Razer's vehicle causing him to lose control and spin allowing Danny to gain the lead.
"No!" Razer said starting his engine again following Danny, but before he could get any farther, he struck a landmine.
(few minutes later)
"We are the victors." Danny said as they all enjoyed a nice drink, in their garage.
"Yeah, and I found out what the bet Krew did was." Keira said filling him in "Apparently it was a power control for Kras city, a winner-takes-all kinda bet." she said to him.
"Doesn't change anything really, I mean the crime will be the same just with a different person running it." Danny said to her "But there is an upside." he said to her.
"There is?" Rayn asked as with her father there rarely was one.
"We can re-enter this tournament and not be under Krew, we won the grand prize and the cash of 100,000 precursor orbs." Danny said as this race was a cash grab.
They had to admit he had a point.
"What about her, we can't be a team of three anymore and you need someone to watch your back." Keira said as even Razer had hired help as one couldn't win a race without backup "Plus she's Krew's daughter, she might sell us out or use us herself." she said as that was an honest concern.
"I am nothing like my father." Rayn said as they stared at her blankly "Fine, I'm smarter and more efficient, besides I can get you all the yet-to-be-released toys." she said as her father often acquired many items from various jobs "Plus I haven't told anyone about your eco powers." she said to him.
'Lot of good that does us.' Keira thought as the KG knew, but it wasn't known publicly as the Baron wanted it close to the vest, so she assumed only he and Ashlen and possibly his higher-ups.
"We'll do a trial run." Danny said to her "But if you betray us there will be many consequences." he said to her very seriously.
(4 months later)
Danny won yet another race back in Haven City, In the 6 months they had been here, the metal heads were becoming easier targets having learned their movements in the sewers where he could predict their movements and kill them.
"Danny!" Baron said walking into the garage "Excellent performance." he said as Danny had once again won the Haven city championship gaining money and eco "And nice work clearing out the metal head nest." he said as he sent Danny to clear out a nest recently.
Danny really hated talking to this guy, but it was better for them if he thought they were on his side "How's Errol's ego?" he asked as Errol often said that he was only keeping the title warm for him.
The Baron laughed "How are the Haven city champions." he asked as after Kras city Danny and his team gained a lot of fame, he didn't like that Krew had sponsored them, but just having Danny would be enough.
Danny had to admit Rayn had been straight with them, while it somewhat killed him and Keira working for Krew wasn't all bad as they had been properly compensated in weapons and cash, they still raced as a team and had been winning good money.
(Krew's bar)
Sig was having a difficult time as something recent happened in the Wastelands, his king's son was taken, Damas was the most honorable man he knew and he respected him greatly, the man may have been as cutthroat as any other wastelander, it didn't mean he wasn't a kind person, he never allowed children to suffer or do combat until properly trained, but Sig recently hit both a lead and a dead end as one of Krew's recent hire's one of the few he liked and considered wastelander material, was somehow the child he was looking for, Damas had recently supplied him with a blood eco sample of his child and the strongest and closest match was Danny himself when he told Damas, the man thought he was an idiot as there was a decade age gap between the two, but he paused when he mentioned Danny's name and the fact he had eco powers, Damas then sent him additional help, in the form of his sister Valerie.
Valerie while young was just as skilled as Sig was in tracking and even combat, she had broken into KG labs and stolen plenty of their gear earning her nickname the Red Huntress, her suit seemed small as it was black with red as a secondary color, she would monitor Danny while Sig kept his eyes peeled out for the child.
"So Damas wants a blood sample?" Valerie asked her brother as they sat at the bar as Krew sleep floated.
"Yeah, he also gave me this." Sig said revealing a red talisman "It will react to anyone in the house of Mar, it should prove conclusively if these two are one in the same." he said as the blood of Mar was extremely rare only Damas was the last known person to have it along with his child, while eco was in everyone it was possible to match the results of people.
"Did Onin have anything to say?" Valerie asked as while she didn't believe in a lot Onin seemed like the real deal when she said she was all knowing.
"Nothing, she's giving Baron Praxis the run around, it makes me think he is the kid somehow, because Onin doesn't hide anything and if she was it would mean that whatever she was hiding is pretty damn special." Sig said as Onin was easier to read than people thought if they looked at it from the right angle, she wasn't telling people anything about Danny which meant there was something special about him besides his eco powers.
Valerie had to admit he had a point as Onin's silence was an oddity "So how do we get it?" she asked as it wasn't going to be easy.
"He goes to the range close by on occasion, Krew has joint ownership, we'll be alerted when he goes there, when he's on the range you join him and 'miss' a shot graze him." Sig said as Danny would be close enough for the talisman to react.
Valerie nodded as it was a sound plan "What if he is Damas' son?" she asked curiously as she doubted they could take him on as they had spied on him fighting metal heads and even Sig had to admit Danny was more a match for his level when it came to killing metal heads.
"Then something is really wrong cause he's supposed to be like 6." Sig said as his best guess was a precursor artifact or something of that nature as certain artifacts possessed certain powers, he had seen some strange ones in his time.
(few weeks later)
Sig was in an awkward position right now as he was in a bit of a standoff.
"I'm gonna ask this once, who are you and why are you after Danny." Torn said to him his gun fully loaded.
At the same time Ashlen was having a similar standoff in the targeting range as Danny had left priorly as Keira called him to test out a new engine "Why are you after Danny?" she asked as she saw Valerie collect some of his blood, when she 'accidentally' grazed him.
The two pairs of people were all loaded.
(2 hours later)
The shooting range looked like a war zone, each pair having shot pretty much in every direction trying to kill their opposing enemy, the explosions were large and vast, eventually, each person went to their partner.
"Who the fuck are these people?" Torn asked Ashlen as he was almost tempted to recruit them here and now for the resistance.
"I don't know, but that bitch took Danny's blood." Ashlen said as her father tried something similar months ago and he injected it into a few prisoners, none lasted an hour, and while not usable for soldiers, her father thought it could be used for weaponry.
"And I thought Haven didn't have any good warriors." Sig said reloading.
"These guys are top of the line." Valerie said willing to admit that.
"Alright I'm gonna give each of you one chance to surrender!" Torn said bluffing his ass off.
'That voice.' Valerie thought to herself.
"Fuck your surrender!" Sig said as death was a better alternative.
'Is that.' Ashlen thought as she got up and saw Sig.
"Ashlen!/Sig!" Sig and Ashlen said upon seeing each other.
"Valerie!/Torn!" Torn and Valerie said seeing the other as they got up the moment their partners did.
(20 minutes later)
"So Danny is Damas' son." Ashlen said in surprise as it meant Danny was royalty and the true heir to the throne.
"According to the talisman and the blood sample we got yeah, he is definitely Damas' kid." Sig said to her.
"I thought the heir was a child?" Torn asked him.
"Still trying to figure that out, might be some precursor artifact or something." Sig said to them.
"So what do we do, Damas' wants his son, but Danny doesn't seem to know anything, and to top it off, he's possibly the only one that can dethrone her father." Valerie said pointing to Ashlen.
"Doesn't do us any good if he leaves the city, if he stays here he can do a lot more good." Ashlen said to them "He's been getting the attention of the people, he has been clearing out metal heads faster than a few dozen of my father's troops." she said to them.
Sig had to concede to that as he had heard about Danny killing metal heads by the pound, even hearing he cleared a nest and a few wasteland metal heads Damas would be pleased by that.
"So do we tell him?" Valerie asked them.
"I've been contemplating adding him to the resistance for a while." Ashlen said as the reason why she was waiting was because she needed him to be as popular as possible along with her father thinking that whatever would occur would be because of the resistance and didn't want any of it to lead back to Danny as her father would try to destroy him then especially if he knew that Danny was of Mar's bloodline.
"Does he even trust you?" Sig asked as he knew Ashlen's regular personality left much to be desired, but if she was with Danny as ordered per her father, he didn't see anyone with Damas' blood liking or respecting that.
"...I try to be nice." Ashlen said as her niceness was debatable if it was nice at all, but Danny respected her as a soldier and a woman, it was a bit nice as most soldiers mainly followed her due to who her father was.
They were all a bit silent all of them contemplating.
"You know maybe we should try to get Danny on the throne." Valerie said getting Sig's attention as their orders were to bring him to Damas "Hear me out, with Danny on the throne, he could open the borders of Haven with the wasteland, I mean by drive it's only an hour or two from here to Spargus." she said to him "Plus imagine if we followed his lead, alone he can take down an army of metal heads, but if we follow him a lot more than that." she said to her brother.
Sig had to concede as Damas was able to do a lot of damage on his own whenever he left the city, but with him leading the city and his judge of character many soldiers such as him came to be and did much damage "So how long do we wait, and how do we get him on the throne?" he asked them.
"Gotta be a year, the underground is about a score of people, that ain't enough to mount a resistance." Torn said to them.
Sig didn't like that but understood as the underground was small right now.
"So question is, do we tell Danny?" Ashlen asked them as that was the most pressing thing on her mind.
"He might have answers as to how he's an adult." Sig said as he was curious to what Danny knew that could help him explain this to Damas.
"If we tell him could it blow up in our faces?" Torn asked them.
"How he fights the metal heads, he's a racer, and he doesn't seem to like the Baron." Sig said as he saw the Baron with Danny before, and Danny seemed to be putting a false front to the man constantly in his presence.
"Well, he could just say fuck it and leave it to the city and let's be honest this city is full of power-hungry idiots, we need someone to take the throne." Torn said as that was how people like the Baron and Errol got into power.
That was a possibility they couldn't deny.
(1 week later)
"Mind explaining why you broke into my garage?" Danny asked Valerie, nursing a shot he took in the arm, as Valerie was tied up hanging upside down.
"Wanted to see you in action." Valerie said as she had yet to meet him professionally as they were only on the range together, she wanted to see him in real action and he didn't disappoint. 'Didn't even use his eco powers.' she thought as she was both impressed and insulted that he didn't use them on her.
Danny lit the tip of his finger and tossed a yellow eco flame at core parts of her bindings letting her fall down.
(10 minutes later)
"So you are a criminal, who attacks the KG…have you met Errol his garage is just down the hall." Danny said as he pointed directly to it.
Valerie smiled and put that information to the side as she loved flipping off the KG "So want to cause some mayhem?" she asked him.
Danny raised an eyebrow as he was curious now.
(30 minutes later)
"Here." Valerie said, handing him a red bandana to cover his mouth "You got anything to hide your hair?" she asked as silver hair with highlights was pretty specific.
Danny answered her question by channeling dark eco, his hair became pure black and his highlights were non-existent.
"Cool." Valerie said to him "We're robbing a KG armory, they keep the good stuff for the higher-ups." she said to him as she raised a hand and a small wrist blaster came out "Made this little baby after modifying it from some KG staffs, it's smaller but packs a punch." she said shooting the vent cover they were above dropping down.
"And no security?" Danny asked her curiously.
"They are dumber than they look." Valerie said to him.
Soon they both heard rolling and saw red spheres.
"Those are new." Valerie said before the PA came online.
"Hello intruder, I've noticed a shortage in armory inventory for months now, so I set up my security to capture anyone not part of the KG." Errol's voice said loudly of the PA system.
The spheres popped up and soon revealed robots designed after the KG.
"Just so you are aware, I can't use my special gift." Danny said as if someone was caught wielding eco they'd link it to him immediately.
Valerie understood completely, they both equipped themselves with their weapons.
(2 hours later)
"Broke into the KG armory and helped me liberate a lot of their tech." Valerie said to Torn.
Torn was impressed "He's willing to stick it to the Baron, well I'm convinced." he said as Ashlen nodded in agreement.
"We'll start making a cover and could use Krew to hide certain activities." Ashlen said as while there weren't enough members of the underground to fight against her father there were enough to undermine him "I guess I'll have to be the one to tell him everything." she said to them.
"Are you gonna tell him?" Sig asked as they had yet to tell Danny who he was.
"We gotta." Ashlen said as she hoped Danny would take the throne when the time came.
(next day)
Ashlen followed Danny on a metal head hunt something her father encouraged as there was little to no security down there.
"So you gonna ask me to join your little rebellion?" Danny asked seeing the shock and surprise in her eyes "Ashlen, I've known you for 6 months you don't spend that amount of time not learning about the person you are constantly with." he said as he didn't like the Barons people constantly following him Ashlen was an exception as he respected her 'take no shit' attitude.
Ashlen let out a small smile "Can I ask you something before you join?" she asked him getting a nod "What do you fight for?" she asked him as that was what truly defined someone the cause and the reason they had for fighting.
"Simple." Danny said firing a shot that took out a metal head "I fight for friends and family, I fight to protect others, but I also fight for myself." he said seeing her look at him as if to explain "The world isn't a fair place, I'm not just gonna sit there and take when I can do something." he said to her as he couldn't sit back and do nothing when people were mistreated and hurt by some dictator.
Ashlen smiled at his response as she felt the same way as while she was her father's daughter, she didn't like what he did to other people and the power he abused.
(with Sig)
Sig listened to Danny's answer to Ashlen through a bug he slipped into Ashlen's gun via an upgrade mod.
"He's Damas' son alright." Valerie said to Sig as she was impressed by the answer and saw it coming Damas never took to disloyalty or injustice, it seemed Danny was the same way.
Sig was going to tell Damas about Danny he was sure his leader would like and respect the plan of Danny battling the Baron.
"Think he's single?" Valerie asked as she was a wasteland girl and when a wasteland girl wanted a man they pursued them like predators and tried to claim them as was the rule was for finding precursor or other artifacts in the desert, she was reminded of that woman Keira Danny was always with, she had attitude something she respected, but she wanted Danny and she would have him.
(with Desiree)
Desiree sat in her cell, no longer feeling the detox symptoms as previous times, now she could feel her body creating and generating the dark eco, she retained all her features, but when she focused on them she could turn her skin to a dak shade of silver, her black hair turned a dark grey shade, and her eyes were pitch black.
'You have done well Desiree.' Maia said to her 'Soon you will be a powerful dark eco warrior.' she said as in truth Desiree had matured her powers nicely especially within a prison cell and keeping it a secret, while unable to fly much like she and her brother or teleport, her physical abilities were at a high level and she could generate her eco to become lightning like blue eco 'Soon we will both be free.' she said chuckling inside Desiree's mind.