Chapter 25: Assassins

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"May death provide you the peace you seek. Requiescat en Pace." Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed)

Chapter 25: "Assassins"

(Saturday-December 18, 2010)

"Are you ready?" Vlad questioned as the limo they were in pulled to a stop.

"Not really, but I'll manage." Danny pulled at the tie on his neck nervously.

"You don't have to do this, you know." Vlad noted as he looked out the tinted window. A wave of reporters were waiting for them. "If you explained the situation to Mr. Wayne and Mr. Fox, I'm sure they would understand. This announcement can wait."

"It's not about the announcement." Danny glared out the window. "I'm tired of having to hide my human side in Amity Park. Each time I leave, I get attacked. First at Metropolis, then Star City, and now New York. I have to make this stop. I need to send a message that you don't get to screw with me."

"Couldn't we do this in a different city, though?" Vlad questioned. "We could use the League to our advantage."

"No, I need neutral turf." Danny sighed. "The League and I don't want the political crap that will come with them protecting me so blatantly. That's why Young Justice is here."

"I know, but…your safety is more important, Daniel." Vlad noted. "You won't be able to use your powers. There will be no ghosts to help you. Even I won't be able to help invisibly. I'm sure these reporters and assassins have something to detect ghosts, and if I got caught, then it would be all for nothing. It would say that Fenton is on the ghosts' side."

"I know. That's why you need to get to safety as soon as it goes down." Danny crossed his arms.

"You do know that I won't be able to do that…" Vlad frowned. "If you get into trouble, I'm going to help no matter what, consequences be damned."

"…I know. Just be careful not to get caught." Danny grunted.

"And you be careful not to be shot." Vlad nodded.

"Okay…Let's go…" Danny reached for the door and opened it.

"It looks like Mr. Fenton has arrived." Cat Grant, the blonde reporter for GBS News, stated to the camera. "He's being escorted by his guardian, Mr. Masters, and it seems that his publicist Harriet Chin is meeting up with him as he goes. As most of you know, Mr. Fenton has not left Amity Park since the war between the ghosts and the Guys in White last summer. It has been questioned if he was afraid to leave his home after having so many attacks on his person, but he appears completely confident and comfortable."

"Of course he does…" The Fright Knight huffed at the television. "The King must always look composed in public. Did they expect anything else?"

"They do not know who he is." Joel noted as he looked up from his station. "Mentor has to make sure to keep his human image different from his ghost image."

"Yes. This is especially true with his mortal friends." Vision stat as she spread the floating holograms around the lab in Fenton Works. Each hologram showed a picture of what was happening in New York. All of the images were from different angels, though.

"Yeah…" Dani mumbled as she adjusted her headset. "But I have to ask…why can't I have a more fun job?"

"We all have our places, Dani." Vision noted. "Yours is to inform Danny on what he needs to know. I need to stay focused."

"By why does Joel get the fun job?!"

"Because I am better than you." Joel's face did not show judgment, only facts.

"Say that again!" Dani growled.

"Hey, hey!" Victor got between his two friends. "Can't we all just chill?"

"I don't even know why we are here…" Raven muttered.

"Because this is going to be a fun show!" Nyx smirked as she sat in a recliner. "And this is the best damn seat in the world for it."

"Arg!" Youngblood nodded. "The show shall be the best looty in the world."

"Rack! It's booty, not looty."

"Ha! You said booty…"

"Secret." Greta was looking on the nearby computer. "Secret. Secret."

"Who gave Greta the job to search the data banks?" Raven muttered.

"That's your job." Nyx tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "You're just too lazy to do it. Go help her."

"Says the girl in the recliner…" Raven muttered as she moved to the computer.

"Er…Miss Vision. I'm glad you let me come down her, but…" Victor mumbled. "Why? I can't really contribute like the others."

"You underestimate yourself, Victor." Vision did not look away from the images. "We all have our place here."

"What about me?" Youngblood questioned.

"…Except for you and Nyx." Vision answered. "I just let you be here because you asked. If you cause trouble, though, I will throw you out."

"Fair enough." Nyx shrugged.

"Okay." Harriet was fixing Danny's hair and suit to look presentable. "You're going to be in front of cameras that are sending feed all over the world. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions will see what you do. So, please, don't do anything stupid."

"When have I ever done anything stupid?" Danny questioned.

"Every day of your life." Harriet chuckled. "Did you practice your speech?"

"Yeah…but I don't think it will matter…" Danny muttered that last part.

"What?" Harriet blinked.

"I said, that I'm sure I'll mess it up somehow." Danny shrugged.

"Have more faith in yourself. You lead superheroes and ghosts for Pete's sake." Harriet stood up and examined her work. "There. You look perfect."

"I look like a douche." Danny stated.

"Exactly."

"So I'm supposed to look like the perfect douche?" Danny questioned.

"Don't be a smartass." Harriet turned to Vlad. "He's ready."

"Okay." Vlad motioned to an African American man with greying hair. "Mr. Fox, it's a pleasure to see you."

"And you, Mr. Masters." Lucius Fox shook Vlad's hand. "I'm glad to see that you could make it."

"And I'm glad Mr. Wayne could be here." Vlad smirked at the tall broad man with a sharp chin and trimmed appearance. "I thought that you might come down with an illness with the Joker's sudden escape from Arkham…"

"I assure you, I'm fine." Bruce Wayne gripped Vlad's hand tightly. Despite the strength in the shake, Vlad did not seem to even feel it. In fact, he was amused.

"Of course."

"Mr. Wayne. Mr. Fox." Daniel shook the hands of the older men. "Thank you for this opportunity."

"Oh, the pleasure is all ours, young man." Luscious Fox chuckled. "It's an honor to work with the 'Pheonix'."

"Gah…I hate that name." Danny grumbled.

"We all get stuck with bad nicknames." Bruce actually cracked a small smile. "Wasn't a friend of yours called Inviso-Bill?"

"He never approved that name…" Danny scowled deeply.

"Hahahahahaha!" Vlad laughed. "How amusing."

'Mental link established.' M'gann's thoughts rang through the minds of Young Justice. Miss Martian had transformed into a female reporter to blend in with the crowd.

'You know what, I think I'm starting to get used to this.' Zatanna noted as she and Robin hid in the shadows of the press conference.

'Do no worry.' Kaldur, who was dressed as security at the edge of the stage. 'Eventually, the mind link becomes second nature.'

'Just don't go thinking anything you don't want heard.' Artemis remember her first time with the mind link as she sat on her perch in the upper levels. She had a good view of the stage in the conference hall of the Wayne Tech building.

'Amen to that.' Wally sighed. He was dressed as a simple camera man.

'I'm just glad we learned that lesson eventually.' Superboy, also dressed as security, grunted.

'Hey, we need to stay focused.' Robin noted from his spot hidden in the shadows. 'I think we should link up Fenton too. We'll need to be able to direct him if something happens.'

'Understood.' Miss Martian's eyes began to glow.

'Ah!' Fenton grabbed his head in fake pain as he sat next to Vlad on the stage. He was used to the mental link by now, but had to act to keep his secret preserved.

The teen did not want to lie to his Team, but there was no helping it. They all thought that Phantom wasn't on this mission because of political reason. This was a half-truth. Phantom could cause some controversy by being here, but there was another reason.

Danny could not maintain duplicates anymore. His powers refused to do that even with an ecto-boost, not that it would be helpful right now. The ecto-boost would hurt Danny while in human form. He couldn't afford to get violently ill at this point. Thus, he was at this obvious assassination attempt with fluctuating powers. Not that he could use them, of course, but he might have gotten away with cheating with them. That was off the table now.

Thus, Young Justice was sent of the mission to protect Fenton while thinking that Phantom was in Amity Park. This was even supported by Amorpho impersonating him at this moment. Right about now, the morphing ghost would It was the perfect alibi to get them to cooperate.

The halfa was glad that he asked Batman for help. He needed as much assistance with this as possible. If the people that showed up were who he thought they were, then this would be a challenge even if he had League members here.

'Can you here us, Mr. Fenton?' M'gann questioned.

'Yeah…I guess…' Danny mumbled mentally. 'You know I appreciate the help, but I would rather not be distracted right now…'

'We will stay silent, but we need to keep this connection established.' Aqualad stated.

'Fine, but please…I'm nervous enough as it is without other people's thoughts in my head.' Danny sighed.

'It's understandable.' Red Arrow mentioned as he hid in the upper level on the opposite side of Artemis. The archer actually had a liking for Daniel Fenton. He was the one that gave the archer ectoplasmic empowered arrows without asking for anything in return. 'You do have assassins after your head. Don't worry, though. We have your back.'

'You keep reminding me of that.' Danny sighed. 'At this rate, I'm going to wish that you weren't here at all.'

'Wow…you sound so grateful…' Artemis noted dryly.

'Give him a break, Artemis.' Wally spoke up. 'He's an assassination target right now. Anyone would be on edge.'

'Um, guys…I don't think this is helping.' Superboy noted.

'No. It isn't.' Danny mumbled.

'Just stay whelmed. We're here to help you.' Robin encouraged.

'Whelmed?' Danny had to fake his curiosity.

'It's a loooooooooooooong story…' Zatanna giggled.

'Okay…' Danny sighed. 'Whatever…'

"Be ready to pull him out." Vision instructed to one of the images.

"Si, we ready." Wulf nodded to Vision from his position in the Ghost Zone.

"Woof!" Cujo agreed beside the larger canine. They were the last resort plan. If all else failed, pull Fenton out as quickly as possible, consequence be damned.

"Right. Thank you." Vision turned to the people in the room. "Is everyone ready?"

"The controls are set." Joel mentioned.

"I am ready for my performance." The Fright Knight agreed.

"We have the data banks ready." Raven nodded.

"I'm almost ready." Dani agreed. "I won't be able to get a visual until everything starts happening, but I'm about to contact Danny…"

"Danny, this Dani." Dani's voice rang in his ears. "Nod your head slowly if you can hear me."

Danny followed the instructions.

"Good. We have everything ready. Make sure that you're prepared. It can start at any time." Dani finished.

The halfa knew that this was true. For all he knew, almost everyone in this room right now was an assassin. Hopefully, that wasn't true, but he had to be ready for any scenario. Fortunately, he was ready. He had been prepping for weeks in order to be ready for what happens next.

"Thank you, Mr. Masters." Wayne spoke into the microphone.

Damn. He did not pay as much attention to what was happening in front of him as he should have. Vlad had already spoke. That meant that it was almost his turn to speak. Not good. Most likely, the assassins would attack when he was up front and center.

"-and now, Mr. Fenton would like to speak." Mr. Wayne gestured to the teen sitting on stage.

It was show time.

Taking a deep breath, Danny rose to his feet and walked to the center of the stage. His eyes were assaulted with dozens of flashes as the masses tried to get a picture of him. He could hear the reporters throw hundreds of questions. One person in particular caught his attention.

G. Gordon Godfrey was in the front of the masses. He was a blond haird Caucasian man with sharp blue eyes and a few wrinkles. This reporter was well known for his strong opinions. In fact, he used to be completely against ghosts before the GIW War. After all the blame was pinned on the Guys in White, though, he quickly changed his tune.

And people wondered why Danny didn't like most reporters.

For a split second, Danny thought there was something wrong with the man. He seemed to be looking at Danny with something akin to pity. That look quickly passed, though, and his smug demeaner returned. Maybe Danny just imagined it with all of his nerves. He just needed to stay focused.

Taking a deep breath, Danny spoke, "Hello, today I want to announce-"

Boom!

…And the chaos began…

"Holy hell!" Artemis' eyes widened as she saw the gun shot she thought that she diverted ricochet off the wall and hit Superboy. 'Superboy, are you okay!?'

'Yeah…' The clone grunted. He had blocked the bullet with his arm, and he really didn't feel anything. Of course he wouldn't. The Shields made him so much stronger.

"How…" Danny muttered. His hand was on the back of his neck ready to turn on the energy shield he prepared. He only stopped because Superboy jumped in the way. No, that was not really correct. The Kryptonian just appeared out of nowhere. He didn't even crouch to jump. How did he get beside him so fast, and how did he block the bullet with his arm? Could he really do that?

"Damn." The shooter hissed. He wore a mask that hid everything but his beard. Oddly enough, the mask had a red scope over the man's right eye. The man also wore a black and red combat suit that seemed to have guns at every angle. The two most prominent guns were the ones on his wrists. "I would have gotten a perfect head shot too. But I still hit someone, so I don't count it as a miss."

'I'm gonna need help up here!' Artemis hissed mentally. When she first saw the shooter, she didn't know who it was. She just reacted. Now, though, she had a perfect view of him. She only heard stories of this guy from her dad, and even he was cautious of him. In fact, Sportsmaster said that he would rather fight anyone else at a distance compared to this man.

'Robin, Red Arrow, assist Artemis!' Kaldur order. 'Everyone else, surround Fenton! There are probably more enemies! We get Fenton out of here!'

Danny ignored Conner's shouts to get moving. In fact, he even ignored the panicking people and the security rushing the other men that were part of the conference off the stage. Instead he focused on the man in the balcony.

"Floyd Lawson, A.K.A. Deadshot." Raven read from the enemy data banks that they created combining League and Council intelligence. "The world's greatest marksman with guns by a huge margin. Some even call him the World's Greatest Assassin. This guy can make shots from any angle and is a master of all known firearms. If he knows where you are, then he can shoot you."

Dani repeated this to Danny through the microphone.

"I have heard of this man." Vision examined the images. "Apparently, his assassin lifestyle has made him self-loathing. Yet the only thing that gives him fulfillment is the kill. Quite the paradox."

"He already has the greatest marksman in the world after his head?" Victor gulped.

"And to think…" The Fright Knight growled. "He's only the first to show up…"

"Get moving!" Superboy roared.

"And go where? They'll find me anywhere I go." Danny looked at the emptying hall. "As long as I'm here, though. No one else besides me can get hurt."

"That is a noble thought process, but I must insist." Aqualad looked over his shoulder to Robin and Artemis fighting off Deadshot. "The sooner we get you to safety, the sooner we can help our teammates."

"I'm not defenseless."

"Oh I beg to differ, mate."

Crack!

"Ahr!" Kaldur grunted as he was smacked away and sent crashing into a wall.

"Kaldur!" Superman glared at the blonde haired man with the brown suit. He had a rather thin frame, yet he sent Kaldur flying with only a simple backhand. Ignoring caution, Superboy lunged at the man and sent a punch at his midsection.

…Only to have his full-powered Kryptonian punch stopped with one hand…

"What!?" Superboy blinked.

"Kryptonian, eh? I had ya pegged when I first saw ya, mate." Using his other hand, the man grabbed Superboy by the throat and lifted him into the air. Oddly enough, he seemed to be hurting the clone.

"Get away from him!" M'gann dropped her disguise and used her telekinieses to hit the man with several different chairs. Each one broke when they hit the man's body. He didn't even seem to feel it, though.

"Sorry, love." The man used his free hand to reach up to the left side of his face and peal away the skin to reveal a metal skeleton underneath. "But that's not going to work."

"John Corben, A.K.A. Metallo. When he was terribly injured in a car crash, he was completely modified to be a cyborg…more of an android really. He's definitely more machine than man now." Raven noted.

"Secret…" Greta muttered as she stared at the data.

"Okay, that explains the power and endurance, but still…" Youngblood frowned. "He's taking on a Kryptonian like it's nothing."

"That's the kicker." Raven actually seemed worried. "His power source is Kryptonite."

"That ain't good." Nyx frowned.

"So…That makes two of Mentor's super powered teammates defenseless." Joel mentioned. "The Kryptonian can't do anything, and the Martian's telepathy is pretty useless on someone outfitted with a synthetic brain."

"Yes." Vision frowned. "That takes out two of their most diverse power users. Can the others make up for it?"

"GWAH!" Superboy screamed in pain as Metallo's chest opened to reveal the Kryptonite in the core.

"Yeah. You Kryptonians tend to say that around me." Metallo chuckled.

"Tih mih htiw a raeps!" Zatanna yelled out as she ran to try and help Superboy. A spear formed out of the metal chairs that shattered against Metallo earlier. The spear flew at the arm holding Superboy in the air. In order to avoid having his arm torn off by the magic empowered spear, Metallo dropped Superboy and pulled his arm back.

Just after the spear passed by the android, Kid Flash ran into Metallo. The speedster's momentum caused the android to go stumbling back. The teen in yellow and red grabbed the should he hit Metallo with. "Ah! Damn! That hurt! Not my smartest move…"

"Conner…" M'gann mumbled as she floated Superboy over to her and cradled his injured form.

"I'm fine…" Superboy muttered as he forced himself up.

"Evom notneF yawa morf ollateM!" Zatanna yelled as she faced Metallo. Danny was sent flying back to M'gann. The Martian girl used her telekinesis to gently lower him onto his feet behind her.

"Not on my watch!" With a roar, Metallo launched himself past Kid Flash and Zatanna towards Fenton.

BOOM! A bullet from Deadshot bounced across the room and headed to the back of Danny's head.

Both attacks were stopped though. Walls of water protected Danny from both sides.

"I shall not let you hurt him." Aqualad stated defiantly.

"Says the boy I flung into a wall." Metallo growled as the fake skin on his hands peeled off to reveal sharp claws.

"Ekam senolc fo rudlaK!" Zatann cried. In a puff of smokes, illusions of Aqualad appeared around the Atlantian. This caused Metallo to pause in confusion and allowed Kaldur to use a sledgehammer of water and hit him back on stage to Kid Flash and Zatanna.

"Get Fenton away from here." Aqualad ordered a he followed Matallo to the stage.

"Wait!" Fenton yelled as Miss Martian used her telekinesis to lift the teen into the air.

"Can you walk, Superboy?" Miss Martian asked.

"Yeah…" Superboy nodded.

"Oh, would you look at this? A floating target."

"What?" M'gann turned to see what appeared to be a woman and cheetah hybrid.

"RARW!" The woman lept at Danny. She grabbed Fenton out of mid-air. She then twirled, somehow landed on her feet, and shoved Danny against the wall. The teen could feel sharp claws push against his neck. Small trickles of blood began to drip down from where her claws were grabbing him.

"Sorry, kid. I need the money."

"Kitty!" Nyx cried out in joy. "I love kittys!"

"Barbara Ann Minerva, A.K.A. The Cheetah." Raven blinked at the picture of the red-haired woman with the fur, claws, and tail of a cheetah. "She's a British scientist that infused herself with cheetah DNA when her funding was cut. All of her crimes have been done to fund a way to turn her back to normal."

"Wow…" Joel looked over to the gloomy girl. "That makes me actually pity her."

"Kitty!"

"Don't sympathize with her too much. She had a mean streak before the experiment and is known to be brutal with civilians. She's also a long standing enemy of Wonder Woman. Her speed, strength, agility, and reaction time are enough to give even Wonder Woman a hard time…" Raven noted.

"Things are looking worse with each passing second…" Victor frowned.

"Secret…" Greta nodded in agreement.

"Kitty kitty!"

"Will Young Justice be able to handle it all?" Nyx questioned.

"Do not worry." Vision spoke up. "They aren't as alone as they think. After all, we ghosts may not be able to be there, but that doesn't mean a human ally can't be."

"Kitty!"

"Shut up, Nyx!" Dani glared.

"Don't get cocky." Danny gasped out. "I planned ahead."

"What?"

Bang!

"Ack!" Cheetah yelled out in pain as she was sent flying away from Danny. A blast of ectoplasm hit her on her side and blasted her away.

"Sorry, kitty cat." Red Huntress lowered her ecto pistol and helped Danny up. "But I need him to make weapons for me."

"Psh!" Cheetah glared as she landed on her feet. "Stupid little girl."

"Never knew you cared that much…" Danny grunted.

"Oh, shut it, Fenton." Red Huntress glared at him. "I wouldn't have had to save you if you hadn't been holding back this whole time."

"Sorry." Danny frowned. "I wanted to see what they were capable of, and I dropped my guard. Not used to be in situations…like this."

To others, it might seem that he wasn't used to action. Valerie knew better, though. He wasn't used to having the speed and endurance of a simple human while in situations like this. Danny was far more used to being Phantom than Fenton at this point.

"No excuse, you should have activated your suit." Valerie glared.

"Fine, I'll do that now…"

Beep.

And the metal began to move.

Memory sequence begin

"I think this is going to work out fine." Danny said as him helmet retracted to show his face. Before him was a wide variety of targets that were destroyed and broken. There were even a few vehicles that were broken into tiny pieces.

"And that was with you holding back." Vlad commented as he looked at the carnage in Axion Lab's test area.

"Everything seems to be functioning effectively…" Silas Stone examined the armor that coated Danny's body.

It was almost purely white with green flames dancing around it and a green flaming F that was on the chest. The armor was jointed and thick, but still allowed for mobility. The jetpack on the back was supposed to allow the fastest speed, though. The left arm was completely covered in a gatling gun that had retracted a bit to allow Danny to use his hand. On his right arm was a type of canon with double barrels on the top of Danny's forearm.

His shoulders were outfitted with retractable rocket launchers. On the teen's back but on the side of the jet was a rifle, while on his hip was a folded up piece of metal that when activated would turn into a Fenton Shotgun. The shotgun was attached to a belt that was filled with grenades. The feet of the armor had jets on the bottom to allow him to move if the back jet was damaged.

"Yeah…but this is a lot heavier than expected." Danny noted.

"The armor is thicker than the previous battle suit, and it does not give you the benefit of increased hand to hand combat skills." Vlad noted as he referred to the Red X suit. "But it will protect you from a lot of damage and has a lot more raw power than anything you made from scratch before this."

"That it does…" Silas sighed. "I reinforced those targets myself. Your weapons tore right threw them."

"Yeah…I'm thinking I'm going to have to tone it down even more if I don't want to kill anyone." Danny noted.

"Yes. But that is your priority, not mine." Vlad mentioned. "All I need this suit to do is keep you safe.

"Oh, yeah, I think it will do that." Danny smirked as the helmet came over his head and covered his face. Unlike the Red X suit, this battle armor was not a visor with a skull on it. This one was a metal gas mask. "In fact, I think this is going to be perfect."

Yes, it was perfect, because it was…

Memory sequence complete

The Fenton Exorcist Armor.

"And here we go…" Danny raised his left arm as the gatling gun completely covered his arm. Everyone looked over when they heard the humming of the machine.

"Crap!" Cheetah yelled as she hid behind a pillar.

A wave of bullets flew to where Cheetah was hidden. It completely stopped her from moving. "Go help Robin, Red Arrow, and Artemis with Deadshot. I'll be okay, and they need your help more."

"Fine, but be careful." Red Huntress huffed and used her hover board to go over.

"Yes, ma'am." Danny grinned behind his mask.

"Cheetah has enhanced senses and reflexes." Dani gave advice over Fenton's radio. "As long as she is focused completely on you, you won't be able to land a hit on her. At least not if you can't move as fast as her. If you distract her, though, you can take her down."

"Right." He stopped his gun and turned to Superboy and Miss Martian. Luckily, Cheetah wouldn't move immediately because she thought he was merely bating her. "I need your help."

"He's weakened right now." Miss Martian argued. Deep down, she was troubled by something else. She was focused on Cheetah. Her appearance was vastly different from what human would consider good looking. Did that make her a bad person?

M'gann was deeply troubled by this. If appearing like a monster made you a monster, then what would her friends think about her true white Martian form? They would be disgusted by a form that was so twisted and monstrous. That was why she had to keep her secret. That was why she made Psimon comatose during the mission in Bialya and why she had to submit to Queen Bee's blackmail of her…

"I'll be fine." Superboy grunted. "Just tell me what to do."

"Martian, use your telepathy to fling her to the wall. Kryptonian, keep charging at her. Keep her busy."

"Right." Miss Martian used her telepathy to fling Cheetah out of her hiding spot. The woman with feline DNA was sent flying to the wall with dizzying speed. Her cat instincts kicked in, however, and managed to land with her feet to the wall. With the force gone, Cheetah slipped to the floor.

As instructed, Superboy ran to Cheetah with a roar. "RAW!"

"Please, little boy!" Cheetah grinned. "You're just giving me a shield from Fenton."

It was true. Superboy was now in between Fenton and Cheetah. Thus, Fenton couldn't hit Cheetah without going through the Kryptonian clone. Using this to her advantage, Cheetah decided to beat Superboy down and use him as a shield to approach her target.

Superboy sent a fist at Cheetah's head. The woman ducked down to avoid the hid and slashed at Superboy's midsection. Because of Metallo weakening him earlier, Superboy was weak enough to get hurt. Five slash marks appeared down his midsection. None of them were deep enough to bleed, though.

"Gah…" Superboy grunted, but continued his assault. He sent a barrage of punches and kicks at the woman. Unfortunately, his opponent had the speed and reaction ability above that of one of the world's deadliest cats. She danced around the attacks like they were nothing. The woman even smiled as she moved.

This continued for a few more moments. Superboy gained a few more scratches, but he continued on. Cheetah decided enough was enough after a few more dodges and tried to knock the weakened Kryptonian out.

"Too late." Fenton spoke from right behind Superboy. While they were fighting, he used his jets to get in close to the duo. He managed to cross the space of several meters in the blink of an eye. The teen then took his right arm, reached around Superboy, and placed the barrel of the hand canon on wrist to Cheetah's stomach.

Boom!

"Ah!" Cheetah was sent flying into the far wall. She hit it spine first and slid to the ground unconscious and with a smoking and burnt stomach.

"…Nice job…" Superboy stated as Fenton drew his arm back.

"Thanks for the assist, and sorry about the scratches."

"I'll be fine." Superboy shrugged. They did hurt. In fact, they hurt a lot more than Superboy cared to admit, but he put on a touch face.

"Still, go to the Martian and rest for a second. I'm going to help with Metallo."

"Yeah…" Superboy nodded at that. "I really don't want to be around that guy."

"He shot Kitty!" Nyx cried out.

"Calm down, Nyx." Raven rolled her eyes.

"But he shot Kitty!" Nyx complained.

"Cheetah was the bad guy…er, girl." Youngblood noted. "She was going to kill Danny."

"That doesn't mean he could be so mean to Kitty…" Nyx huffed.

"Ha! I didn't know you were so weak against pussy cats." Dani chuckled. "I'm so going to use that later…"

"Secret…" Greta sighed at her distracted friends.

Zap! Boom!

"Gah!" Kaldur tried to use his water bearers to block the explosion, but it proved to be too much for the water and the Atlantian was sent stumbling back.

"Damn!" Kid Flashed hissed. He was surprised when Metallo sent out blasts of green energy out of his chest. It appeared he could use the Kryptonite energy as a beam.

"Nrut ollateM otni dnas!" Zatanna cried. She tried several times to affect Metallo's metal body directly, but nothing work.

"Eh? Sorry, little girl. That won't work." Metallo laughed. "I fought some magic users before. Had this body updated so it can't affect me directly."

"Fine." Kid Flash ran behind Metallo at rapid speeds. He then kicked behind Metallo's knee and sent him falling to the ground on his hands and knees. "How about physical attacks?"

"Part ollateM!" Zatanna cried. The stage below Metallo dissolved a bit and turned to a liquid. It swarmed around his limbs and held him in place. "My magic may not affect you, but it affects everything around you."

"Sorry, love. But this won't hold me long." Metallo mentioned as he began to pull his arms free.

"It doesn't have too."

"Raw!" Aqualad charged towards Metallo and used his water bearers to hit Metallo. The force of Kaldur's blow loosened the hold the floor had on the android and sent his opponent sprawling back.

"Ah…" Metallo forced himself up. "Nice hit there, mates. Now, though, it's my turn."

"Get ready!" Kaldur ordered as he used his water bearers to form a shield in front of him, Kid Flash, and Zatanna.

Metallo's chest opened to reveal the Kryptonite core. The core began to glow as it charged for the next blast. A wave of green energy was sent to the water shield. Zatanna was going to interfere and reinforce the water shield with her magic when someone stepped in between them and the wave of energy.

Boom! Swish!

Everyone's eyes widened as the explosion of minor radioactive energy seemed to be sucked into a single location. The green energy swirled to Danny Fenton's hand and into the orb that he was holding. "Like it? I call it a Negative Grenade. It absorbs the force and energy of an explosion."

"How? How could that possibly work?" Kid Flash questioned as Kaldur lowered the water shield.

"Scientific stuff that will take too long and is too complicated to explain right now." Fenton shrugged. "But it absorbs explosions, so I think it's pretty badass."

"Yes. Yes it is. Can I get a few of those?" Zatanna questioned.

"Let us discuss this later." Kaldur pointed to the android enemy. "Right now, we need to stay focused on the enemy in front of us."

Unbeknown to everyone else, Dani was still giving advice to Fenton. "Metallo is made up of reinforced steel. Trying to just shoot him down will take forever. But he has a fatal weakness. He needs the Kryptonite in his chest in order to move. Take that out of the equation, and he's done for."

"Right." Fenton reached to his side and grabbed the shotgun at his hip. He whipped it out and the metal unfolded into the full gun. "Let's take him."

"Looks like my target has come to me." Metallo grinned as he charged forward. "Way to make this easy kid!"

"Yeah…" Fenton raised his shotgun. "Like shooting a fish in a barrel…"

BOOM!

The shotgun fired. The blast hit Metallo in the shoulder. The force caused the metal to crack and began to peel away just a little bit. "Ah! What the bloody hell!? That's deadly force! If I were flesh and bone…"

"You'd be dead." Fenton nodded. "But you're not, so I get away with excessive force."

"Sthgil llaf!" Zatanna shouted. The stage light above the android broke off and fell down. It hit Metallo in the shoulder and caused the cracks to spread a little more.

At the same time, Aqualad used his water bearers to form whips and used them to strike Metallo's weakened shoulder. The android grunted but felt no pain. After a few hits, Metallo grabbed one of the whips, but was stopped from further action when Fenton shot him in head.

Roaring in anger, Metallo opened his chest and tried to shoot a beam of energy at them. Of course, Fenton had a Negative Grenade ready to absorb the impact. That was unnecessary, however, because Kid Flash ran into action. In the blink of an eye, the speedster crashed into the android and caused the man turned machine to stop the blast. Before Metallo could retaliate, KF ran off and avoided the swipe of his claws.

His chest now closed, Metallo turned to Fenton and growled. "That all you got, brat? Cause I can do this all day."

"Oh, I doubt that. You see, my Negative Grenades don't just absorb explosions. They also expel the ones that they've absorbed." Fenton grinned.

"Eh?" Metallo paused when he heard a beeping noise from his chest. It seems that when Kid Flash ran into him last time, he placed the grenade in his chest…right where his power source was… "Shi-"

Boom!

A small explosion occurred in the android's chest. Smoke rose out of Metallo's mouth and chest. The android froze and stuttered incoherent word. Then, the man turned machine fell back and landed with a loud thud and clang noise.

"That was easier than expected." Aqualad noted. "I am impressed by your quick strategies."

"It's not just me. I have a command center set up that's feeding me info." Fenton noted.

"That's smart." Kid Flash stated as he approached them. "We should have one of those."

"That means someone has to stay at the Cave while everyone else goes on the mission, though." Zatanna chuckled. "I don't think anyone will volunteer for that."

"Meh…true enough…" Kid Flash frowned at the thought of getting left out of the mission.

"Damn!" Artemis hissed as she continued to move around randomly. She couldn't keep moving in one pattern, or Deadshot would get her. It was the same way with Robin.

She, Red Arrow, and Robin managed to get close enough to land a few blows, but they couldn't stop moving. If they stopped, Deadshot would get them. In fact, there were a few times that they were almost shot. For a moment, Artemis noticed that her bow and arrow had less of an impact compared to a gun.

That was the point, though. Deadshot went for the kill. Artemis didn't. That was her choice. It was her choice to not be like her family. No matter what Sportsmaster said, she was nothing like him, and she was going to prove it.

Pulling out an arrow, Artemis shot the stun gun arrow at Deadshot's chest. The assassin dodged the arrow and sent a bullet at the archer. Luckily, the blonde hid behind a pillar. She still felt the concrete spread as the bullet destroyed part of it.

Robin quickly jumped into action. He pulled out three shuriken and threw them at Deadshot. Imagine the Boy Wonder's surprise when Deadshot only needed one bullet to take out all three. The bullet bounced off the walls and managed to stop Robin's attack dead in its tracks.

Not all was lost by the attack, though. Robin was now close enough to fight hand to hand with Deadshot. That proved to be difficult because of the guns attached to Deadshot's wrists made it so that if the assassin ever had his wrists straight, then Robin would be dead. That prevented Robin from dedicating to an attack. One mistake would be the end of him.

Hearing a swishing sound in the air, Deadshot raised his left wrist gun and shot the arrows that Artemis and Red Arrow sent at him out of the air. He then shot at Robin with the right wrist gun and forced the boy to retreat behind a pillar.

"I have to admit, I'm impressed kiddies." Deadshot mentioned. His voice was deep and gruff. "I didn't think that I would have so much trouble with you. I've already wasted half of my bullets. You're making this interesting."

"How about I make it even more interesting?" Red Huntress questioned as she pointed her own wrist gun at his head.

"Ah…The Red Huntress." Deadshot chuckled. "I've heard that you're a pretty good shot yourself?"

"I'm not one to boast about my skills. I let them speak for themselves." Red Huntress mentioned.

"As it should be."

Bang!

Moving his wrist a fraction of an inch, Deadshot managed to ricochet a bullet across the room to destroy Red Huntress's wrist gun. Ducking to the side, Deadshot managed to avoid a net arrow that was shot at him. The dark skinned vigilante used an ectoplasmic shield to stop the net from hitting her.

"Nice shot almost capturing an ally." Red Arrow mentioned as he shot off three arrows towards Deadshot.

"Shut it. I'm not used to fighting with her…." Artemis smirked as Red Huntress was forced to dodge a few of Red Arrow's attacks. "And I'm not the only one."

"Fine, fair enough." Red Arrow grunted.

"Oh…crap!" Deadshot yelled at that instant. "I was having so much fun, I forgot my target! Damn! Now I need to-Guh!"

Robin took this moment to run at Deadshot and do a viscous side-kick to the assassin's midsection. He then followed up with a pop 360 kick that knocked him off balance. The archers of the group quickly moved and fired off sticky foam arrows to Deadshot. All the arrows hit their mark and trapped the assassin against the wall.

"Gah….No…" Deadshot struggled to get free, but was stopped when Red Huntress slammed his head against the wall.

"Too bad, so sad." Red Huntress smirked at the now unconscious assassin.

"Woo…" Robin sighed out. "Thanks for the assist."

"I think you would have gotten him eventually," Red Huntress mentioned. "I just sped up the process."

"Nevertheless, it was a big help." Artemis approached her. "Never fought such a trigger happy enemy."

"Deadshot's a special case." Red Arrow frowned at the assassin. "He's a distance fighter like us, but he has a lot deadlier equipment. If it were just one of us, we probably would have gotten shot."

"That's what teammates are for right?" Red Huntress questioned. "To have your back?"

"Yeah…" Artemis grinned at her fellow female vigilante. "It is…"

"Well…" Fenton mentioned as all the teens all met up. His helmet retreated to reveal his face. "That was fun."

"Yeah, man." Kid Flash lightly hit the human Danny on the shoulder. "You're a natural at this. You should think about joining our Team."

"You too." M'gann smiled brightly at Red Huntress. "You'd be a big help."

"I'll think about it." Red Huntress looked over at Danny. If she was on Young Justice, then she could look after Danny all the time…

"No thanks." Danny sighed. "I'm not cut out to do this every day."

"Yeah, well everyone's life can't be revolved around making appliances and weapons for other people." Superboy grunted.

"SB!" Robin hissed. He was surprised. Conner could be blunt about his comments, but he seemed to be even more rude and angry lately.

"What? I'm not wrong." Superboy shrugged.

"You don't like Fenton Works machines?" Fenton questioned.

"Oh, I don't really care, but some of your stuff is stupid." Superboy mentioned. "Laptops? Really? Why spend your time on crap like that when you can make weapons of mass destruction."

"Not everything has to have a deadly purpose." Red Arrow mentioned. "Besides, don't you know that Fenton makes weapons for the League and hero vigilantes? He doesn't even ask for compensation."

"So that's why the League is so focused on keeping you safe." Zatanna hummed.

"It's not that big of deal." Fenton shrugged. "Besides, Super…boy?...is right. I kind of intent on two different extremes of the spectrum, don't I?"

Robin chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Well…" Superboy smirked. He felt a bad for that comment deep down. Fenton wasn't a bad guy. It was just those stupid shields he got from Luther. They gave him the full power of a Kryptonian, but they made him even angrier than usual. But…he couldn't give them up. "At least you have a good attitude about it."

"I hate to break up this discussion, but there may still be assassins around." Aqualad mentioned. "Perhaps it would be best to move Fenton to a safe location."

"Yeah…" Fenton nodded. "I think the other big shots have already been moved to a bunker. But I should be fine as long as I'm in this suit. You'd be surprised by what this thing can handle."

"I bet…" Kid Flash examined. "This sure is a piece of work. How did you build something so complicated?"

"I had help. In fact…" Danny paused. "What? I can't move…"

"Is the armor too heavy?" Red Huntress questioned.

"No. It's not that, I…" Danny's eyes widened. His arms swung on it's own. It smacked M'gann away and blasted Superboy in the stomach. "My armor is moving on it's own!"

"Move back!" Aqualad ordered.

Young Justice spread out. They were forced to dodge about as Fenton's gatling gun opened fire. Bullets flew everywhere as Fenton's jetpack activated and began to send him crashing out of the room. "Help!"

"Danny!" Red Huntress activated a shield as she chased after him. Kid Flash was right behind her. Just as they were at the door, though, an energy shield appeared. They ran into the shield and bounced off it.

"Ack…" Kid Flash groaned as he forced himself to his feet. "I get really tired of running into crap."

"Yeah…" Red Huntress agreed.

"Robin." Aqualad turned to the younger teen.

"Already scanning…" Robin muttered as he looked at his holographic computer. "It appears to be a shield made up of different forms of energy…"

"Can I use my magic to dispatch it?" Zatanna questioned.

"No. If you do that, it might become unstable and explode…" Robin frowned.

"What do we do then?" Red Arrow questioned.

"Give me a minute." Robin focused on his computer.

"Um…guys…" M'gann's eyes widened. "I don't think we have a minute."

"Ahaaahaaahaaahaaahaaa!"

"Snot brain!"

"Crud flinger!"

"What the hell are those things?! Metal spiders?" Artemis drew her bow. She was right. The room was completely filled with mechanical spiders the size of a large dog. The metal was painted green and black, there wide white teethed grins on the head, and the eyes were white swirls.

"They kind of look like Ivo's…" Superboy muttered.

"No…The Ivo uses MONQIs, not spider things." Kid Flash mentioned.

"Great, something knew." Red Arrow gritted his teeth.

"That's not all!" Zatanna's eyes widened in fear.

"RAWR!" Cheetah roared as she jumped to her feet. "I'LL KILL THAT KID!"

"Backup power source activated." Metallo's body called out as the android regained consciousness and pushed himself up off the stage. "Arg…Nice nap. Now, where were we?"

Cha-Click! Deadshot brought out his sniper rifle as he peered down at the teens from the upper level. "Round two. Who wants to be shot first?"

"Damn…This is gonna take a while." Red Huntress muttered. 'Looks like I won't be able to help you, Danny. Please…stay safe.'

"Danny?! Danny?!" Dani yelled into the microphone. She received no answer. "I can't get Danny to answer, and all his armor's signals have went off line."

"Woah…" Victor looked at the readings on the monitor in front of Dani. "Those are some heavy encryptions. Whoever did this worked hard on these, and it took a while too. The hacker must have been working on this since Danny first arrived at the Wayne Tech building."

"Can you do anything about it?" Youngblood questioned. "Like find a hole in the water wall?"

"Rack! It's firewall." Polly corrected.

"Oh…That actually makes more sense." Youngblood nodded. "It sounds a lot more threatening…"

"Maybe, but it will take a lot of time." Victor frowned.

"I don't think Danny has that kind of time." Raven looked over to Vision's images which were still working. "I have no data on the guy that's doing this from the spider things, but it looks like Danny's getting close to the guy."

"Then will you have Wulf and Cujo pull him out?" Nyx questioned.

"No. Not yet." Vision shook her head. "This mission can still be salvaged. Joel. Fright Kight. It's time."

"Finally…" Fright Knight chuckled. "Time for my performance."

"I won't let Mentor down." Joel nodded to himself.

Crash! Crack!

"Damn…" Fenton Muttered as he landed on the concrete. He had flown a relatively long way away from the Wayne Tech building. He saw the shield from around the conference hall. That meant that Young Justice wouldn't be able to help him. Not yet at least… "What the hell happened?"

"I happened, fart brain."

Pushing himself up, Fenton turned to see… "A bald midget with green goggles?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GUY SO TINY YOU COULDN'T SEE HIM WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS!?" The small dude with high tech goggles, a metal backpack, and what appeared to be a high tech jumpsuit yelled.

"I didn't say that…" Fenton mumbled. "Um…who are you?"

"Me? Name's Gizmo, burger breath." Gizmo grinned. "And I'm here to prove that I'm better than you!"

"…What? Don't you mean kill me?" Fenton questioned.

"What? No!" Gizmo's eyes widened. "Why would I want to kill you?"

"The bounty? That's why the others attacked me…"

"Fool! Snot brain! Burger breath!" Gizmo snapped. "Money is meaningless! It's just what I use to make my stuff! I can always just hack bank accounts or sell my old stuff or something. I don't need to kill anybody for it."

"Then…why are you here?" Fenton questioned.

"Because of you!" Gizmo pointed a finger at the older teen. "Everyone calls you the best young inventor in the world! The Pheonix! I hate that! I'm so much better than you! I completely hacked your system after all! Now you can't use your suit all the way. No helmet, not gatling gun, not arm canon."

"Damn…" Fenton muttered. "And you did all this to prove you're better than me?"

"Of course!"

"You do realize that you've weakened me against other assassins…" Danny sighed.

"Please, snot brain! I can easily handle any assassin that comes this way!" Gizmo boasted.

"Is that so? Let's test that theory."

It all happened faster than Fenton could see. One moment, he was facing against Gizmo, the next he was rolling away in a heap. Someone had hit him back. Acting with instincts that were built from countless battles and sparing sessions, Fenton raised his left arm. The gatling gun may not be able to shoot right now, but it was still thick metal. It easily stopped the sword that was aimed at his head.

"Impressive, kid." A man with black and gold armor. Not only that, his mask was completely black on one side, even covering one eye, and his right side was gold. Another odd thing that Fenton noticed was the long white pony tail that held the man's hair. "Didn't think you could move like that."

"That's Slade Wilson, A.K.A. Deathstroke the Terminator." Raven read from the data banks. "Apparantly, he's an assassin that's had minor genetic modifications. Not only that…you should read this guy's resume. This guy's an expert and a pro. He's even fought the best of the best to standstill. Batman and Lady Shiva are just too examples. They didn't get out of the fight cleanly either."

"Wow…" Nyx muttered.

"This guy is another contendor for the World's Greatest Assassin." Raven looked even paler than usual. "Unlike Deadshot, he's better up close and personal, though. It's kind of one of those things that a distance fighter would have a better chance against Deathstroke, while you can only beat Deadshot with close combat."

"But…Danny's suit's not working, so he can't move away that fast and his armor won't protect him as well." Youngblood mentioned.

"Yeah, I can't even get in contact with Danny." Dani added.

"I'm working on it…" Victor mumbled.

"It's a good thing we came up with more than one backup plan." Vision stated.

"Gizmo! Could you reactivate my armor, please?!" Fenton yelled.

"Sorry, a little busy right now!" Gizmo shouted back.

Glancing over, Fenton saw what was causing the problem. Gizmo seemed to be in a similar situation to Fenton. He, however, was being attacked by a miniature version of Deathstroke…that was also a girl.

What?

"Ack!" Fenton desperately blocked Deathstroke's sword attacks. He was so busy blocking, he couldn't counterattack. "Idiot! Your equipment is working, right?"

"Yeah…but she's a girl, and she might be pretty! I'll never get a date if I shoot her!"

"What are you, five?!" Fenton screamed.

"No, I'm eleven!"

"Gah…" Fenton turned back to Deathstroke. "Any way I can change your mind about killing me?"

"Sorry, kid. I already accepted the contract. Besides, what kind of message would I be sending to my daughter if I just shurked on a contract." Deathstroke explained.

"Wha-Daugher?" Fenton was so caught up in his confusion that he let his guard down. Deathstroke quickly took advantage. He knocked Fenton off guard and brought his sword down on Fenton's unprotected head.

Clang!

…Only to be stopped…

"You…" Deathstroke mumbled.

"Me." Red X stated as he used the extended blades on the back of his glove to block Deathstroke's attack.

"Gah…" Deathstroke broke his attack and flipped back. He stared at Red X as he stood protectively in front of Fenton. "Red X…Why are you here?"

"Employee loyalty." Red X chuckled as he brought out his twin pistols. "Unlike you, I can't be bought by simple money. I believe in sticking by those who earned my trust already."

"I figured you were hired by Fenton before, but…" Deathstroke frowned under his mask. "Are you his bodyguard?"

"I am now." Red X aimed his guns at Deathstroke. "And I will cut down everyone that tries to hurt my employer. Now tell me, are you going to force me to kill you?"

"No, but I don't plan to fight you to the death. I brought Ravager for a reason. After she finishes the bald brat, she'll…"

"GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Gizmo yelled as the girl called Ravager held onto her and he began to rocket off to a nearby roof.

Deathstroke blinked as they disappeared. "Well, damn. Death match it is."

"I still don't see why I can't control Red X…" Dani mumbled as she stared at Joel using the controller to move Red X.

"Um…Cause he's better at video games than you?" Nyx suggested.

"That is so mean!" Dani cried.

"Well, you have to admit that his gaming skills are off the charts for a guy that doesn't even like to game…" Youngblood frowned in jealousy.

"Rack! Now I'm the one that doesn't understand what you mean…" Polly grunted.

"Why not have him speak as well?" Raven questioned as she looked at Fright Knight speaking into the microphone.

"I can't act that well under preassure…" Joel mentioned. "And I don't think I can pretend to be a cutthroat mercenary. Plus, I can't do the voice thing, so..."

"Yes, Fright Knight is far better at drama than all of us. Acting-wise at least." Vision noted.

"We're just lucky that we're using a separate system for the Red X suit." Victor mentioned. "If we weren't, then we'd be in some deep trouble."

"Move back!" Red X ordered Fenton as he began to open fire on the assassin.

"Like that will help!" Deathstoke blocked the blasts with his swords. Whiel doing this, he continued to march forward.

It was clear that this tactic wouldn't work against Deathstroke. Putting the ectoplasmic pistols back in their holsters, Red X activated the x's on the back of his gloves again and charged forward to trade blows with Deathstorke. "Go find some place safe! I'll take care of the has-been."

"You can try, brat." Deathstroke chuckled as they traded blows with their blades. "Too bad you had to stand against me. You would have made a good partner. Unfortunately, I have to kill you."

"You wish!"

Retreating, Fenton tried to get his weapons working again. Even his shotgun and rifle weren't working. That Gizmo might be annoying and a brat, but he was good. It would take a few minutes to get everything right. He would need to find some place safe just in case…

"Danny!" Harriet Chin's voice sounded from a nearby ally.

"Harri?" Danny questioned.

"Come on! I know some place safe." Harriet ushered him into the ally.

Danny quickly followed after her. "What are you doing? Why didn't you go with Vlad to safety?"

"Do you really think I would abandon you?" Harriet smiled back at him as she led him into the ally. "I got Mr. Masters to safety and went out looking for you. I saw you soaring through the air and wanted to do something, but…"

"It's fine." Danny smiled. "This is enough Harri."

"No problem." Harriet continued forward, but stopped when Fenton stopped moving. "What is it?"

"…Harri Chin…" Danny said.

"Yeah, that's my name-Woah!" Harriet flipped back as Fenton swung his gatling arm at her. "What are you doing?!"

"Harriet hates when I call her that. Just like when my dad did." Danny frowned.

"Ah, you are move perceptive zan I zought." Harriet's voice changed to a thich French accent. Her face morfed to a white woman with short, straight black hair and red ruby lips. Her body also changed from lithe frame to one that was curvier. The suit she wore morphed in a red and black body suit.

"…I have no idea who that is…" Raven mentioned. "She doesn't appear in the data banks."

"She can morph her appearance." Vision's eyes narrowed. "That means…she's a master of disguise. She might have blamed hundreds of different people for her crimes…"

"And she's never once been caught." Dani finished.

"Who are you?" Danny questioned.

"I like to call myself Madame Rouge." The woman smiled appreciatinlgy at him. "And I was hoping to get to you earlier. Zat's why I disguised myself as G. Gordon ealier…"

"You…" Fenton's eyes widened.

"But Deadshot ruined zat plan. But everzing worked out. Now, zere will be no witnesses." Madame Rogue smiled.

"And how do you…ack…" Danny's eyes widened when Madame Rogue moved in a blur. She punched at him. Fenton went to block, but was surprised when the punch streatched around her and she stretched as well. In an instant, the woman had stretched herself around her like rubber.

"You're like Plasticman-Gack!" Fenton gurgled as her arm wrapped around his neck like a boa constrictor.

"Somewhat." The woman chuckled. "Except, I'm better at zis."

"Ah…Erk…." Danny's face began to turn blue.

"I am zorry about zis." Madame Rogue apologized. "I hate zee zought of killing a man with zuch potential. Especially one zo handsome. But work is work."

Fenton's vision began to fade.

"Goodbye, Mr. Fenton-Ah!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Fenton took a deep breath as Madame Rogue was thrown off of him.

"Ah…" Madame Roque looked back at her attacker. "…What are you?"

That was a good question. The man that saved Danny was only wearing black tights. This allowed them to see his pure white head and his unusual body. His right arm and right side of his torso were orange. The left arm and torso were purple. His right and left legs were brown and white respectively.

"I am Metamorpho! A hero of justice!" Metamorpho shouted.

Danny blinked at his outrageous declaration. That was very specific. Maybe…wait. The waist of this man…thing's tights almost looked like a Fenton Disguise Belt…

'Vlad?' Fenton thought as he stared up at the thing.

Out of sight of Madame Rogue, Metamorpho turned to Danny and winked.

'I don't know if this a good thing or a bad thing…'

"Gahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Nyx burst out laughing.

"Dad…" Dani placed her face in her hands.

"What is he supposed to be?" Youngblood questioned.

"An idiot?" Raven questioned.

"Secret." Greta spoke up. It appeared she agreed, though.

"Hey, that's my fiancé you're talking about. And I'll have you know…" Vision sighed. "I can't defend this. I feel the shame that will come from knowing that he chose that appearance and that persona…"

"Villain! I shall stop your attack on this innocent boy!" Metamorpho cried.

"…What are zou, an idiot?" Madame Roque questioned.

"No! I am a hero of justice!"

"You sure?"

"Of course!" Metamopho posed like Superman. "I am a defender of the weak! I am the defeater of eviiiiiiiiiiiiil! I am…"

"Hideous? Moronic? Stupid? A weirdo? Delusional?"

"No, I am…" Metamorpho raised a hand to the sky and gave a thumbs up. "METAMORPHO!"

"Whatever. I will defeat you and kill…" Madame Rogue blinked. "Um…Where did zee boy go?"

"What? He's right here…" Metamorpho turned. "He's gone…"

"…"

"…"

"…Do you zinth zat he left because he was embarrassed for you?"

"NO! That's not it." Metamorpho panicked. "Where'd he go?"

"Where did he go?!" Dani asked in panic.

"I was distructed by the stupidity!" Nyx yelled.

"I'm having my birds look for him now…" Vison frowned deeply.

"This is bad." Raven muttered. "There aren't any more backups besides Wulf and Cujo, and if we don't give them a location they might be too late and..."

"Secret…" Greta held her throat in worry.

"Ack…" Fenton grunted as landed on his back after being thrown to the roof of a building. "Okay, I'm officially sick of getting thrown around."

"Don't worry." A foot stepped on the teen's chest. "You won't be thrown around ever again."

Fenton looked up. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter." The man with greying hair took a breath of his cigarate and pointed a gun at Fenton's head. "I'm not one to talk like the other assassins. Let's just get this over with."

"Wait!"

"I don't like killing kids cause I got one of my own, but this is a lot of money." The man puffed out smoke.

"No!"

Boom!

With that, blood splattered across the ground.