Sins

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans or anything DC related. If I did then it wouldn't be as popular as it is.

Story written & developed by Nightmares Around Winter. BETA'd by Leaf Ranger. Story based on 'The Forgotten Hero' by TheWhiteTitan.

Author's Note: Sorry this is hasn't been out for awhile. Sorry!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Demonic/out worldly voices or thoughts"

(Author's Note/Translation) The ANs that are numbered are at the bottom.

Chapter 8: Killing the Past

Danny entered the second level of Luthor's island complex, which contained the facilities for the security and armed task forces as well as the cells. As he did, several members parted a path for him upon looking at the distant but hateful look in his eyes and as soon as he passed the temperature dropped so suddenly that those close to him shivered violently. Even those who had never seen what he could do knew that it was right to fear him on a regular basis, but seeing the look on his face everyone in the second level knew that Hell was going to be following. Empathy wasn't a common trait for those who often worked for Luthor's forces but even then they knew whatever had angered the young man, it was going to suffer in ways most didn't think possible.

As he entered the security checkpoint leading to the cells and main interrogation hall Danny was greeted by Franz, the leading officer of the raid and the one who contacted him on the intercom. "Where is it?" Danny asked as soon as Franz saw him.

Franz handed him the blueprint as the young man snatched it out of his hand. Franz swallowed his uneasiness as the young man studied the schematic. Danny's eyes scanned the paper and each detail he absorbed; his anger grew as his hands trembled. There was no mistaking it: it was the design his mother and father worked on. It wasn't just a copy taken from a person reading their files and making it their own. It had his father's messy handwriting; his mother's added notes and suggestions. Even some stains from coffee or tea.

As Franz noticed Danny's attitude he coughed, getting Danny's attention. Danny fixed him with a glance making him jump. "I-I have the facility's commanding officer already awaiting interrogation. Are you ready sir?"

Danny nodded as he walked towards the room at the ether end of the hall, passing by several of the cells. Along the way he looked at the cells, seeing those dreaded white suits but seeing that many of them were beaten, bloodied, and broken, which did make him smile on the inside. Till one got his attention, making him turn to his right to see one man taking care of an immensely injured one, one that was blinded and was walking on crutches as his legs seemed broken and useless. He turned to the cell as he saw the man assisting the other turn to him.

"W-Whatever you want, just leave him alone," he told him; he was scared but it seemed that the care of the other was more important as he tried to stare Danny and Franz down.

Danny ignored him as he kept facing the blind man, the man that he made into his private messenger. "I see you are still well." He said to him.

"NO!" The blinded man screamed. "Oh God please no!" He dropped to his knees. "I-I did what you asked! Please no more! 'In the name of Vengeance, he came and delivered punishment that was well-deserved and as sure as the setting sun, he will come for you'!" He repeated like a mad prayer. The other GIW members looked from their cells as the mad ravings went on. Danny smirk grew more and more. "'In the name of Vengeance, he came and delivered punishment that was well-deserved and as sure as the setting sun, he will come for you'!" The messenger repeated, instilling more fear into the people.

"Good," Danny said as attention was on him, "now you know: Your fate is sealed here. There is no escape, no salvation, and no miracles. If you don't believe me, go ahead...pray. Pray to whatever god you can think of, it won't do any of you any good." He said simply as he turned towards the interrogation cell. The prisoner looked up as he saw Danny.

"You're the one hunting us down?" He asked in a defeated but sarcastic tone. "Well, congrats. You killed our leading officers, top researchers, and every capable man. Are you happy?"

Danny's response was for him to conjure a small but long spike of ice and with a flick the sharpened shard pierced the center of his skull and out of the other end. After a moment's pause the prisoner began to scream bloody murder as he grabbed onto the spike that penetrated his skull. "I wouldn't," Danny said, getting the prisoner's attention. "The human brain is separated into two hemispheres along a deep crevice. Something as large as a bullet from a nine millimeter can pass right through this crevice and out cleanly without any real permanent damage, unless it penetrates or destroys the brain stem," he explained. "A little Anatomy 101." He tossed the blueprints at the prisoner's face as they hit him and scattered on the table. "Now, you've learned something new. It's your turn to enlighten me: How did you get these schematics?"

"A-Amity Park!" He stuttered as the cold of the shard was numbing his brain.

"I didn't ask 'where', I asked 'how'." Danny responded as he waved his hand over the shard, making the ice colder, causing more harm to the man as he whimpered out.

"I-I was a part of a team! O-Our mission was to break into a lab there! F-Fenton Works! IT WAS CALLED FENTON WORKS!"

"TELL ME MORE!" Danny snapped as the ice shard's cold grew in intensity.

"AAAAH AH AH! WE WERE TOLD THAT THEY WERE GHOST EXPERTS! T-THAT THEY HAD A PORTAL TO TRAVEL INTO THE GHOST DIMENSION!" He wept loudly. "P-Please just make it stop!"

"What did you do to the people in that lab?" Danny asked, trying to hold back his tears as the faces of his family and first friends flashed in his mind eye.

"W-What?" With a twist of his hand, the shard twisted in turn causing more pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! OUR ORDERS WERE TO DESTROY THE LAB! MAKE IT LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT! CIVILIAN CASUALTIES WERE NEGLIGIBLE!"

"...'Negligible'?" Danny asked, his eyes glowing red in fury as the room become a fridge. Franz tried to leave but as soon as he tried to open the door to escape the cold burned his hand. "My mother...my father...my sister and my best friends weren't 'negligible' to me. Who told about the portal?"

"V-Vlad Masters...V-Vlad Master! Please spare m-!" The prisoner's head exploded in an eruption of frozen blood and brain tissue, which coated the room and the two leaving occupants in gore.

"O-Oh God! Some got in my mouth!" Franz complained as he spat out some gore. Danny didn't hear him as he stared at the bloody stub that just shed new light on his path to revenge. He knew eventually he would clash with his old arch-nemesis, but he hadn't felt any specific reason to focus on him. Now though, Vlad Masters had his full, wrathful attention.

At That Time

Shayera Hol, better known as Hawkgirl, was in the archives of the Watchtower, the massive orbiting base of operations of the Justice League and its many smaller detachments. She was investigating into the fate of the first and only true ghost member of the League: Danny Phantom. Outside of his role in what used to be called 'The Teen Titans' in Jump City, the only string of information was out of Amity Park. Of course, Amity Park being a small city in comparison to most that heroes work out of created two different images of the ghost boy—one as a villainous entity, the other as a misunderstood hero, but nothing else.

She sighed heavily as she stretched her arms and wings outward she felt two hands on her shoulders. "Hmmm?" She looked up to see a familiar face. "Hello Jon," she said with a smile.

"Pulling an all-nighter again?"

"Yeah."

"Danny?"

"...yeah." She confessed.

"How long are you going to beat yourself over it?" Jon Stewart asked in concern.

She sighed in response. "He was my responsibility. I came across him; it was my idea to have him sent to Jump City to work with Robin and the others. He probably disappeared because of me."

"You know for a fact that it wasn't," he said.

"Maybe...but I still can't help but feel like it is," Shayera stated.

Jon frowned in an understanding manner. "You're like a mother, looking for her only child." He said offhandedly. Shayera smiled at that statement, as she couldn't help but inwardly agree with the dark-skinned Lantern. He kissed her before leaving but he stopped at the door before turning to her. "Nobody could ever say you didn't try Shayera. Even if Danny never shows up again, it isn't because you didn't try." He said as he left.

Meanwhile

Some time had passed since a Justice League-sponsored group simply known as 'The Team' began operating out of a base inside Mount Justice. The Team has its fair share of members and den mates coming and going depending on situations as they change; currently, the team is composed of seven members. One of these members was the first Robin and former leader of the Teen Titans of Jump City, Dick Greyson, and now better known as Nightwing. Nightwing along with the other members sat by the Zeta-Tubes, their means of instantaneous travel between the Sanctuary and various other Justice League areas.

"So, who's coming over?" Asked Wally West, better known as Kid Flash as he paced around the mission control room. In one second he would be standing in one half of the room and in a second he would be at the other end.

"She's an expert on the paranormal." Commented Conner Kent, aka Superboy the clone offspring of Lex Luthor and the Man of Steel.

"Paranormal? Like Doctor Fate or some other sorcerer?" Commented Artemis, the skillful marksman of the team.

"No, apparently she's a ghost-hunter." Said the Team Leader, the Atlantean named Kaldur'ahm better known as Aqualad.

Nightwing picked up on this. "Ghost-Hunter?"

Aqualad nodded as he looked at her profile. "She hasn't been involved with the league that much, usually sticks to her turf over in some small place called Amity Park, but due to some recent rises in unusual activity of an unknown origin she's coming around to explain to us a few things."

"Wait," started M'gann M'orzz, AKA Miss Martian, as she turned to Dick, "didn't you used to have a ghost on your team back in Jump City?" The Martian asked.

Nightwing nodded. "Yes...Danny Phantom."

"Wait, that dude was an actual ghost? Not just a guy with ghost powers?" Kid Flash asked as he suddenly appeared right in front of him.

Nightwing noticed that the other members were staring at him intently. "I didn't know much about him, he never liked talking about himself, but I did know he had some ghost abilities or physiology. I never knew if he was a mutant or an actual ghost. All I know is that he disappeared on Christmas without a trace," he said as he frowned slightly; even to this day with another team on the other side of the country, he is constantly reminded of his mistakes.

His teammates seemed to accept his answer as the teleporter emitted a bright light as a woman dressed in black and red walked into the room. She took off her helmet and sighed. "That was brighter than I would have liked." She said as she rubbed her eyes as she approached the group. "Valerie Grey." She introduced herself.

"Hello Miss Grey," Kid Flash said approvingly, earning him an annoyed glance from Valerie and an elbow to the side from Artemis.

"Nice to meet you," Connor said as he offered his hand. "Conner Kent." He introduced himself as Valerie shook his hand. "But most people from the league like to call me Superboy."

She nods. "I won't take up too much of your time; I'm just here to give you a heads up and to know what you're looking for."

"Ghosts?" Aqualad asked.

Valerie nodded. "I know that many don't believe in such a thing, but when gods, aliens, and magic are well known, is ghosts really that out there?"

"She...does make a point," M'gann responded.

"What exactly has been going on that you have to give us a little presentation?" Artemis asked as she crossed her arms.

Valerie nodded as she activated her hoverboard from underneath her feet. "Impressive," Nightwing said as the board projected a map in front of them.

"I've been hunting ghosts for several years in a small city called Amity Park," she stated as the map focused on the city, "but for a while, things have quieted down since the deaths of these two." She said as the image switched to a photo of a large smiling man with a shorter woman, both wearing jumpsuits. "Jack and Maddie Fenton, after a lab accident took their lives along with their daughter, Jasmine, and son, Daniel." She went on to show images of a girl with long orange hair and a teenager with short black hair. "Daniel's friends, Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson were also lost." She said as the image changed to one showing Daniel with a dark-skinned boy wearing a red beret and large glasses and a girl with heavy dark makeup and a 'goth' attire. "The Fentons," she said as she hopped off the board, "were the only handful of ghost hunters and experts that managed to boil their studies down to a scientific root, whereas most other so-called specialists relied on superstition and other paranormal means: psychics, mediums, so on."

"Were they the ones that gave you your suit?" Cassie Sandsmark, the daughter of the god Zeus and a mortal woman, asked.

"No, the suit was given through an anonymous donor. It has been...upgraded throughout my time." Valerie answered. "Anyway, after they died ghost activity went down significantly in Amity Park. Until rather recently I received word that facilities and cells of a highly secretive government agency, nicknamed the 'Guys in White' due to their operatives wearing distinctive white suits, have been attacked systematically and their members hunted down. A member of the League named 'Question' told me that he got into contact with a scientist named Dr. Ville who voiced concerns on what his employer was working on. Something they retrieved from a GIW facility."

"What else did this doctor say?" Nightwing asked.

"Nothing, Question lost contact with the doctor. It seems like that whatever Ville was working on, cost him his life. After Ville, I received a tip from another source named 'Chronos' that there was going to be a massive ghost attack in Dakota City." She said as the image switched to an image of the Stag Man.

"What...the hell is that?!" Kid Flash yelled as he stared at the image of the beast.

"That was the ghost I was told about," Valerie started. "It was nothing I have ever seen before." She said as she switched to a recording of her hunting the Stag Man, it fading into ice and frost only to reappear, killing and devouring people. The disturbing images went on until she shut off the jet's projection. "After some research, I believe this creature is what's called a 'Wendigo', a spirit known to such tribes like the Cree or the Ojibwe. It is said that it possesses people and fills them with an unquenchable hunger for flesh."

"What can we do against a ghost?" Aqualad asked.

Valerie pulled out some notes and spread them on a nearby table; the team began looking at them. "These notes were taken and made by STAR labs after looking into my anti-ghost equipment and some potential magical countermeasures. But if all else fails then run. Run like hell. Because if I'm right and for once I hope I'm not, then this could be the start of something more. And we are going to need every capable soul we need to stop it."

Back with Danny

The look in Danny's eyes as he moved through the facility towards Luthor's office was the eye of the storm: an eerie but peaceful calm that hid a wave of approaching death and destruction. Luthor looked to see Danny enter his lab."Daniel, what's wrong?" He asked picking up on his inner emotions as a chill went up his spine.

"Vlad Masters, do you know him?"

Luthor was silent as he tried to think about the name. "'Vlad...Masters'?" He repeated, "Oh! Yeah, the billionaire who kept trying to buy the Packers. What about him?"

"He killed your sister..."

"...What?"

Danny handed Lex the schematic of the Fenton Portal. "The last GIW officer was holding on to this, it wasn't some lab accident, it was deliberate sabotage so they could steal the only available portal to the Ghost Zone and the one who told them about it was Vlad Masters, a man that has made my life hell since I became Danny Phantom."

"Are you...sure he killed Maddie?" Lex asked, his voice taking on an unusually somber tone.

"Yes. He's like me: a hybrid. He blamed my father for the accident that made him into one and claimed that it was what ruined his chances with my mother. He's been obsessed with her and trying to find some way to make my father look like a fool in some sort of deranged attempt to get her to fall for him. Now that obsession cost me my family and my life as Danny Fenton." His eyes began to well with tears as his anger grew. "I...I spent all these years thinking that I was responsible for their deaths, I ran away from the life I knew because I was ashamed. Only to find out later, that I didn't lose my family because of something I neglected to do but because of a delusional freak who didn't have his way!"

Luthor patted Danny on the shoulder. "It's okay, Danny."

"Luthor," Danny said as he fixed him with a gaze, "if you truly think of me as your nephew, help me find this man and we will both make sure that we make every fiber of his being regret the day he set eyes on her."

"Of course, dear boy. Of course."

The End

Sorry that this took too long and isn't very long, I got sick with Cat Scratch Fever, which I'm still recovering from, and I kinda been trying to write an original fantasy novel which I've been having problems with. So...sorry. I try to write when I can when dealing with the complications of day-to-day life. Anyway, on to your reviews! Speaking of which, I noticed that the most reviews this story got on a chapter is thirty-five. If we beat that then I will strip naked and dance to 'Rasputin' by Boney M.