Chapter 5

Act 1: Containment

Danny didn't know how long he'd been in that room. Days at least, but with the way time had felt lately, it could have been longer. The only reason he knew it hadn't been less than that was because that hunger pang he'd felt earlier was now a deep, hollow ache in his stomach. He was starving.

The two of them would work in shifts so they could torment him around the clock. If Danny started falling asleep, they would shock him and keep him awake, just so they could keep up with their stupid question-and-answer game. They kept asking him questions for hours, making Danny repeat things he knew weren't true, but had to say to avoid getting shocked. For a long time, it was still the name thing. He wasn't Danny Phantom; he was Subject EE0626. After that, they kept asking, "What are you?" At first, Danny had said "a hero" and was zapped for it. Then he said "a ghost" and they decided that was also the wrong answer. "Evil" was what they made Danny say. They made him say it for hours, so long that Danny wasn't sure it wasn't true anymore. When Danny couldn't say it anymore, the two of them recited all the horrible things he'd done, or that they thought he'd done, that Amity Park News had reported on. They made Danny repeat everything over and over. By the end of that one, Danny really believed that he was evil, even though there was a small voice in the back of his mind that screamed against everything that they were making him say.

Danny's body hung loosely in the restraints. He was sore from being tied to the vertical table for so long. He was alone in the room for the first time since he'd been put in there. Where had his mom been? Why hadn't she been able to do any of her work? He missed her. She was the only connection he had to home in this place, and he could feel that he was losing himself without having that anchor. He couldn't take any more of the maniac's torture.

He heard someone walk in, but he didn't have to look to know who it was. The sound of his loafers on the concrete floor was distinct. The agent wasn't too far behind.

"Take it to Containment room 15. We're moving on to phase two," Dr. Maniac said sharply, an edge of anticipation in his voice.

"Yes, sir," the agent said in response, returning the table to its horizontal position, and Danny groaned as the pressure from the restraints lessened, and he wheeled Danny to the room he'd been in before with the glass cube. Danny couldn't even cringe at this point. He almost preferred being tortured with gasses than this mind game the maniac was running on him.

Dr. Maniac opened the door with the control panel and Agent Q pushed the exam table into the cube. This time, they released Danny from the restraints. The agent hurried out of the box and the door closed behind him. Danny stayed on the table, reluctant to move. What was the point?

He heard the collar on his neck make a noise and Danny braced for a shock, but it didn't happen. In fact, it felt… looser? Danny brought his hand to the collar and pulled it off, holding the cursed thing in his hand as he sat up, almost like he didn't believe it was really off. It was deceptively mundane-looking for everything it had done to him. It almost looked like his parents' Specter Deflector without the round buckle. He gripped it tightly in his hand and gritted his teeth as he glared at it. After a few seconds, he threw it across the cage and it smacked against the glass. Danny scowled at the pair of men behind the control panel. "Why?" he asked. There had to be some ulterior motive to this.

They didn't answer. Instead, the cube hissed and a giant swamp ghost looking thing appeared in the cube with Danny, angry, and already rearing back for an attack. Instinctually, Danny waved his arm and created a shield. When the ghost hit it, Danny was thrown backwards into the glass, but his shield was still up and working. He could use his powers again! This cube didn't have any extra suppressants in it! This could be the break Danny had been waiting for! He flew up and counterattacked with his ghost ray, hitting the creature in its singular eye. It roared and fell backwards and Danny bolted towards it, fist outstretched and punched it hard enough to throw it into the ceiling of the cube. He had to get this thing knocked out quickly so he could work on getting out of this glass box, but the more he beat up on the ghost, the more he couldn't stop. He kept pummeling it until there was nothing left of it except a few piles of ectoplasm. Danny hovered above its remains, panting. He'd never done that to another ghost before. Why had he done that? Danny shook off the thought. He couldn't think about things like that right now. He had to figure out what they were up to so he could stop it. It seemed like they were trying to collect more data on his abilities. He couldn't make sense of it any other way. There had to be something in here that was monitoring his powers like the collar had been. Another beastly ghost appeared, just as angry as the first, and Danny had no time to continue thinking before the creature attacked. Danny rolled out of the way and countered with a leg sweep, knocking it off balance. While it teetered, Danny sent out a ghost wave that slammed it to the ground. He leapt up and began punching it the way he had the other one until there was nothing left. Danny didn't know where this overkill was coming from. It was like the maniac had gotten in his head. Danny put his hand on his forehead, but again, he didn't have time to think about it before another monster showed up.

The trend continued, and each time they sent a new ghost in, it got harder for him to beat. The inside of the cube was painted in ectoplasm, both his and the remains of however many ghosts he'd fought; he'd lost track. He was still standing, but only barely. His legs were shaking as they struggled to hold his weight, and he panted hard as he wiped off some of the last ghost's ectoplasm from his cheek. Or was it his own? He couldn't tell anymore. When no new ghost materialized to replace the last one, Danny turned to glare at the two men behind the control panel. His ghostly wail. That would be strong enough. He took a deep breath and let out the loudest, most powerful wail he'd ever used, using all of his pent-up rage, fear, sadness, hatred as a power source. He saw them covering their ears and the thick glass began cracking. It was working! He felt a rush of relief, but before he could celebrate, he felt the exhaustion threatening to overtake him. Just a little bit more, Fenton. You can do this, he thought to himself. He collapsed to all fours on the floor, but continued wailing. He was getting out of here and he was getting out now. There was no more room for failure. He felt his power being pushed to the limit and he could tell his body wanted to transform back, but he held on. It wasn't going to be much longer until he could finally relax. The glass shattered all around him, and he stopped using his ghostly wail.

Danny saw the two men on the ground, unmoving, blood dripping from their ears. They couldn't stop him now. Just as he thought that, he heard an army of footsteps in the hallway rushing towards the containment room. Of course, they heard the commotion. His ghostly wail wasn't exactly subtle. Danny turned invisible, but the wail had used up a lot of his remaining power. He knew he couldn't keep it up for long, especially not if he wanted to stay ghost. Danny leapt into the air and tried flying up through the ceiling, but collided hard with the material. He couldn't phase through it? Not good. Especially not good because the impact had stunned him and everything around him started spinning. He felt himself lose his invisibility as spots started blocking his vision. He was falling. No, not like this…! He'd almost escaped. He just needed a little bit more power. Wake up, Fenton! Wake up! He heard the horde of agents filter into the room and a net wrapped itself around him just as he hit the floor.

It was no use. He'd failed. The last thing he saw before the black spots completely took over his vision was his mom standing amongst the throng of agents, a look of horror on her features.

When Danny woke up, he was strapped to the exam table again with the collar secured tightly around his neck. He was back in the ecto-containment cube, alone. Everything in this room was still the same; confining, cold, and creepy. After his look around to discern where he was, he stared listlessly at the ceiling. He'd failed. Again. Danny was so tired of this. Couldn't he do anything right? When did he start sucking so much? How could he let himself get into such a helpless position? He was so pissed off at himself. More than that, he was pissed off at everything. Angry, depressed, anxious. Something was fraying in his mind. It was like he wasn't all there anymore. He began spacing out, receding into a deep crevasse in his mind that was far, far away from this little piece of hell on earth.

Danny imagined being back at home, hanging out with Sam and Tucker, maybe having a movie marathon with all their favorite movies in her basement theater during one of the rare down-times when a ghost didn't show up to terrorize the town. Then he imagined hanging out in the park with them and being interrupted by a ghost like the three of them so often were. He imagined taking off after the ghost to fight it, the way he did before, not pummeling it into nothing. With as many times as he returned with different boxes to take over the town with, he imagined it was probably the box ghost he was fighting while engaging in fun, witty banter. After that, he imagined trapping him in the Fenton thermos to release back into the ghost zone, then going home, back to Mom, Dad, and Jazz. Everything was normal.

"Phantom."

Except everything was so not normal.

"Phantom."

He was still stuck in his fantasy, but something was trying to pull him out of it. Someone.

"Phantom!"

Danny blinked as he came back to reality and saw his mom standing over him. He met her eyes, but stared blankly at her. He felt empty.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. What were you thinking so hard about?"

Danny's eyes dimmed as he thought of it. "Home."

"Ah," she said as she pursed her lips, and there was a long silence between them.

Danny looked away. He couldn't muster the strength to be like his usual human self, even if it was the only thing he could do to escape. He didn't believe anymore that he would.

"Look, Phantom—"

"Subject EE0626," he cut her off in a monotone voice.

"What?" she asked, taken aback by what he said.

"Subject EE0626. That's… that's my name. Apparently."

She looked at him, dots seeming to connect in her mind. "Look at me."

Danny kept his eyes aimed at the wall, as if it was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Look at me," she said again in a sterner tone as she knelt down into his line of sight. Danny flinched. That was her no-nonsense voice. He reluctantly met her gaze.

"You are Danny Phantom, hero of Amity Park. Don't forget that. Never forget that."

Danny searched her eyes for any sign of deception, but only saw genuine concern. He nodded once, then returned his gaze to the wall. Did she really think that? He knew she hadn't thought of his alter ego like that before. Did he finally convince her? Danny shook off the thought. He couldn't have. "Why do you care?" he asked. "I'm just a ghost." Yes, he was just a ghost, and she hated ghosts.

"Because, Phantom, you reminded me of something very important that I had forgotten. Ghosts used to be human, and just like humans, can differ greatly from one another. Some, like you, may be almost indistinguishable." She sighed and stood up. "I apologize for the way I've treated you. And if I had any idea what he was doing to you in that room—"

"You would have done what?" Danny felt the sudden shift in his mind as something inside him snapped. The frayed part. "You would have stopped him? Instead of just rolling over like he ordered you to?" He glared at her. "You could have stopped him, anyway! I was in there for days! Where were you?!" Danny started struggling against the restraints, and she took a few steps back. "Where were you?!" he yelled again as his vision blurred. He stopped struggling as the surge of rage left him. "Where were you?" His voice was barely more than a pleading whisper.

She looked at him with guilt plain on her face.

Danny looked away when realized he'd been talking to her as if she knew who he was. He hadn't been able to control what he was saying, and it terrified him. Just how messed up was he now? How much more could he take? He composed himself as much as he could, but the reaction he'd had left him reeling with anxiety.

"I did try," she said. "I wasn't allowed in."

Danny's heart sank as a wave of shame washed over him. He hadn't thought of that. Whatever his mom and the maniac were doing with him had been part of the same project. He didn't think the maniac would shut her out of it. Did that mean Operation Maelstrom wasn't the same project the maniac was working with his mom on? He glanced back at her. "I'm sorry. For yelling at you, I mean," he said in a quiet voice. "I wasn't… I didn't mean to."

"I appreciate that, but you don't owe me an apology." She gave him a small smile as she began undoing the restraints on the table. Even when Danny could move, he didn't. He was in too much pain, too hungry, too overwhelmed. As he was laying there immersed in his thoughts, he realized she did care, at least to some extent. Once she'd seen how horribly the maniac was treating him, she'd started treating him differently. Maybe his plan to get her on his side had been working after all. It hurt to think about getting out anymore because everything he'd tried had failed, but maybe there was still hope that she would help him. He felt like he should say something, but he couldn't think of something good to say.

"Well, let's get a look at your vitals," she said, then sat him up to begin checking his vitals like she had the first day he was here. Something she saw in her data made her frown.

"What?" Danny asked, worry creeping into his mind.

"Your current vitals… they're not consistent with your intake vitals. It's only a slight difference, but there shouldn't have been a change."

"What's changed?"

"Your temperature is two degrees cooler, and your weight has dropped by two pounds."

Danny thought about it for a moment. The temperature thing could be because he hadn't been able to use his ice powers much, not even his ghost sense, but losing weight was concerning. The only conclusion he could come to with that one was, in all the time he'd been here, he hadn't had anything to eat or drink and his human half might be wasting away underneath his ghost form. Though why should that matter? He was never going to be able to change back into himself again.

Danny shrugged. "Doesn't seem like that big of a deal."

"It may not be, but the more I know, the better. Having the reason for the changes would be ideal, but for now, all I can do is observe and make sure it doesn't get worse."

"So what if it does?" Danny spoke without thinking, looking away. "If the only way out of here is dying, I should just die."

He saw her turn towards him out of the corner of his eye. Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could still see the shocked expression on her face.

Danny's eyes fell further to the floor. He hadn't wanted her to see how broken this whole situation had made him, but the words had escaped him before he could stop them. He had nothing left to look forward to. Not in here. Every day was worse than the day before, and he would never escape this awful place.

"Phantom," she said in a soft voice, "you're aware I have a son, correct?"

Danny nodded and looked up at her, not seeing where she was going with the conversation.

"You remind me so much of him in so many ways. He doesn't need me very much anymore, teenage independence and whatnot." She trailed off and looked down at the floor absently, seeming to debate how to phrase what she wanted to say next.

Danny's chest felt heavy, and his throat tightened. He hadn't realized he made her feel that way. "He needs you," he said in a choked voice, then saw a glint of confusion pass over her face. "Your son. He needs you. He'll never not need you."

She smiled. "Thank you." She took a slight pause. "My son and daughter are the greatest joys of my life, and if I heard either of them talking like that, it would break my heart. I'm sure, wherever your mom is, she wouldn't want to hear you talking like that either, especially having lost you once already. After being here for so long without being able to talk to my family, I empathize a bit with that feeling."

"You talk to them? Why?"

"This place is permanently on a communication lockdown. I had to hand over my belongings before entering."

That explained why she didn't seem to know he was missing. Danny was about to speak when the door flew open with a chaotic clatter. The maniac burst into the room, once again showing up to dispense whatever torture he'd come up with next. He didn't waste any time. Danny felt the collar deliver a long shock, flattening him to the table as he screamed, gripping the thing, trying in vain to rip it off. The shock stopped, and it left Danny too drained to move.

"Restrain the beast!" the maniac shouted, and Danny felt someone tightening the restraints back onto him. It was probably the agent from before, but he didn't care to confirm it. What was the point? It didn't matter who it was. They were still going to torture him.

Something told him that he wouldn't be seeing his mom again, at least not as anything she would recognize, if anything at all. Danny didn't know which would be the better option. He gave her one last look as he was being rolled out of the room, sure it would be the last time he saw her. He mouthed a silent goodbye as they removed him from the room.

Author's Comments:

Hopefully this works. I usually upload on my computer but the website is down. Anyway, enjoy and I'll see you next week for the conclusion of Act 1!