Chapter 2: Calm Days

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Making peace, I have found, is much harder than making war."

Gerry Adams

Chapter 2: "Calm Days"

(Friday-September 13, 2013)

Amity Park was a city well-known throughout the world. Like Gotham City and Metropolis, it was famous for its residents. Unlike the other cities, though, Amity Park wasn't famous for the living. No, the city was known for being the most haunted city in the world. Most people would be ashamed of such a title. The people of Amity Park were proud of their fame, however, because the ghosts that haunted their town were not the malevolent kind, far from it in fact.

The ghosts of Amity Park protected the city in which they lived. The city had over a dozen different incredibly powerful ghosts protecting it. Despite the numerous threats that once stood against the city, the ghosts protected the city and defeated every villain that stood in their way. For that reason, super villains had avoided the city for years now. Amity Park even gained the nickname the Hornet's Nest in the underground community.

Despite their fame and power, though, the ghosts were still able to hide easily, though. No one besides their allies new where they lived despite the fact that it was a well-known place. The reason for that was simple. The ghosts had secret identities just like other heroes. There was only a small difference. Four of the ghosts in Amity Park were half-breeds. They were half human and half ghost. The technical term of these hybrids were ghouls, but most of the ghosts and allies of the ghosts often referred to them as halfas.

The halfas's human forms were actually high profile humans. They all lived in the best neighborhood in the city and in the biggest home. Masters Mansion was the place that the halfas called home. It was a large, white estate that was the size of several homes. The size and isolation of the mansion was what allowed all the ghosts to live in peace.

Well, peace was a strong word. The ghosts lived in Masters Mansion. That was the best way to describe it. Peace had nothing to do with the equation. This was especially true in the mornings.

"Danny, it's time to wake up." A computerized female voice sounded through a large room in the mansion. The room was the ten times the size of a regular room. Most parts of the walls were lined with outlines, blueprints, and posters. Scraps of metal and half-finished inventions were spread across several desks that were lined with computer monitors. At the end of the room was a line of couches that faced towards a massive TV. "Don't make me blare the screamo music again."

"Gah…" An eighteen year old man with long shaggy black hair stated as he rolled out of his king sized beg. "I'm up. I'm up. You can calm down."

The man named Danny Fenton stood up to his full height of about six feet. Sleeping shirtless, Danny's torso was exposed. His body was lined with muscles that came from years of fighting and training. Surprisingly, he lacked a lot of scars despite his deadly clashes. The only scars that lined his body were ten different finger sized scars. Five appeared over his defined stomach, and five showed on his lower back.

"If I don't threaten you, you won't get up." The A.I. mentioned. Danny had created her in an attempt to help with several different tasks. He decided to give her a familiar personality in order to avoid the A.I. betraying him.

"It was one time, J.A.Z.Z. Over a year and a half ago…" Danny yawned and stretched. As he did this, three duplicates appeared beside him in a blaze of green. These duplicates were almost identical to the man, except that they had a darker skin tone, pure white hair, and glowing green eyes.

These duplicates instantly flew over to the various work stations in the room. As they did this, the original quickly got ready for his day. Knowing that he lacked a lot of time, he didn't spend a whole lot of time relaxing.

Exiting the bathroom once he was done, Danny spoke to the A.I. once more. "Alright…What do I have to do today?"

"Let's see…Breakfast first. Then you have a meeting at Axion Labs. Then your video conference calls. Oh, and you need to make a public appearance as both Phantom and Fenton today. Also, you're meeting at the Cave today for training. Then you told me to remind you to work on your personal projects again. Plus, there's the box you have to pick up from the store..." Jazz spoke out.

"Right…" Danny sighed. "The same as yesterday…How much sleep did I get last night, anyway?"

"Three hours."

Danny groaned as he turned to his duplicates. He was lucky that his powers made it so that he didn't need as much sleep as a normal person. "Beats yesterday's two hours, I guess…"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…" A loud snoring sounded through another room in Masters Mansion. This room had the walls covered as well. Unlike Danny's room, though, it was a bit more colorful and creative. Paintings and drawings were spread everywhere. Dozens of shelves were filled with sculptures and figurines that were all initialed 'DM.'

Along with that, there were dozens of pictures spread across the room. The photos were of several very different and unique people. The framed pictures covered the room's desk, television, and entertainment center.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Crash!

In the corner of the large room, an arm slipped out of the pile of sheets, covers, and pillows. A blast of green energy flashed out of the slim, pale arm and destroyed the alarm clock that sat by the bed. With that done, the arm went slack and a soft feminine groan sounded out from the bed.

"Dani!" A woman's voice sounded from the door. The voice was silky and cunning. "I know you broke your alarm again. You need to get up."

"Mgggggaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh…." A voice moaned from the bed.

"I don't care if you're tired." The woman from behind the door noted. "I'm determined to have everyone at breakfast today, so get up, or I'll be forced to take extreme measures."

"Iwaaaaaaaaaaaaaack…"

"Alright, you asked for that." The woman's voice sighed.

The bed was covered in a purple glow and lifted into the air. Once in the air, the bed tilted to the side and dumped the pile onto the floor. This revealed what appeared to be a teenage girl with long raven hair.

"Noooooo…Five more minutes…"

"Fine. I'll have to be cruel. Cujo, get her."

"Bark!" A green puppy fazed through the closed door. The puppy ghost instantly rushed to the pile and began to lick the teenager's face.

"Gah! Bleck! Fine, I'm up!" Dani Masters sat up from her pile of sheets. Despite her wild hair and disheveled appearance, the girl still had a gorgeous face and piercing blue eyes. Her loose fitting shirt and shorts hung to her to reveal the fourteen year old's distinctly feminine form.

"Good, stay up and get ready. I'll be back in ten minutes to make sure you haven't gone back to sleep." The woman noted as she walked away.

"I hear you, Mom…" Dani picked up the green puppy in her lap and stood. She looked over to her smashed alarm on her nightstand, or more specifically, the picture next to the alarm. The photo held five different children standing outside Masters Mansion. One of them was a younger version of Dani, while the other four were a few old friends. Sighing at the picture from almost three years ago, Dani turned and with a sad look began to get ready for her day. "I hear you…"

Even the wildest families have oddities. During the mornings, almost every room in the mansion is loud. There were exceptions, though. Some of the rooms and the inhabitants were oddly quiet in the morons. One room was always dead silent because the person that lived in that room was deadly silent.

The inside of the room could be described as somewhat Spartan. Different kinds of weapons were on display throughout the room. This included more ancient weapons such as swords and staffs and newer weapons such as ectoplasmic pistols and bazookas. There were also a few pictures on the walls. Besides that, there was a single bed in the room that was already perfectly made and neat. The reason for that was simple. The person who slept in this room had been awake for hours.

Joel sat on a small mat in the middle of the room. His eyes were closed, and his legs were crossed. The thirteen year old boy had very short, trimmed black hair. His face was calm, but a large scar that stretched from his right eyebrow up into his hair line stole the attention from his face. This boy, while not related to anyone in the family of ghosts dubbed the Phantom Family genetically, had long since been accepted as an important member of the ghosts in Amity Park. He even took Danny's last name and posed as a long lost cousin to the older halfa.

"Gah…" A large creature behind Joel stirred. He was a large werewolf ghost with pitch black hair and green eyes. Green shorts and a green hoody covered the beast ghost named Wulf. "I smell food."

"Good morning, Wulf." Joel Fenton did not open his eyes.

Wulf grunted and got to his feet. "Morning, Joel…"

"Like every morning, I have to ask…Why are you in my room?" Joel questioned. "You have a room of your own."

"Gah…Jaguars." Wulf shrugged. "They keep me up. Your room is the quietest besides Greta's, but it would be weird to sneak into her room, so…"

"Why are there jaguars in your room?" Joel asked.

"Let's just say that it's complicated and leave it at that." Wulf rolled his head.

"But…"

"Hey, I don't tell you how to live your life." Wulf glared at the teen.

"Fine, fine. At least you're quiet." Joel didn't mention that even though the werewolf ghost was silent, Wulf still woke him up every time he entered. The teen had training earlier in his life by the League of Shadows. Thus, he usually very aware of what was happening around him. "But you know…you could just admit that Vision told you to sneak in here."

"What? Psh…Why would she ask me to do that?" Wulf looked sheepish. "It's not like she's worried that the fact that you're a teenager now and that a girl you have a crush on is in the house will cause you and Greta to do something stupid."

"There's nothing between me and Greta." Joel's face was completely calm. His body didn't move. It was the perfect lie, quite unlike the terrible jaguar lie.

"Right, because it's not like I can't smell the hormone changes when you two are together." Wulf snorted.

"If you say so." Joel opened his eyes and turned to Wulf. "By the way…Did you mention that you smelled breakfast?"

"Right! I forgot!" Wulf jumped up and ran out of the room.

Joel waited until he was gone, and then gave a small smile. "And that is how you change the subject…"

"Good morning!" Danny rushed into the dining room. He wore a lab coat over his normal white shirt with green flame patterns along with his darkened jeans. The man quickly grabbed a plate of food and began to walk away. "Thanks! Running late."

"Danny." A woman dressed in purple robes spoke calmly to the man. Vision had long since forgone her usual purple headdress and veil at home, so her long blond hair and beautiful tan face was freely seen. "Sit. We are having breakfast all together for once."

"But I have work I need to get done." Danny argued. "If I don't start now, I might end up having to work tomorrow."

"Daniel, listen to Vision." A well-dressed man with long white hair pulled into a pony tail spoke to the younger halfa. Vlad Masters' strong chin was covered by a white goatee, and his calculating blue eyes stared at the second eldest halfa. "You're not going to leave on her watch. So, you can either sit down calmly or have her restrain you."

"Ah…Fine…" Danny sat down at the dining table. Despite the massive size of the dining room, the table wasn't ridiculously long. Vision wanted a more personal eating experience. She always argued that a larger table could be brought in for guests.

"Good." Vision nodded to the man.

Dani snorted at the man she considered an older brother. She wore a light blue blouse and light jeans that hugged her developing curves. Her usual red beanie was over her long dark hair. "You thought that you could actually get away with that? I thought you were smarter than that."

"You tried that two minutes ago…" Joel mentioned dryly.

"Shh! Don't tell him that!" Dani glared at him. "Besides, I got further than he did."

"Yes, and Vision actually had to force you to sit." Joel mentioned.

"Yeah, I thought I could move fast enough." Dani sighed. "I should have used duplicates."

"It wouldn't have helped." Vision noted.

"Man, no one is letting me get away with anything…" Dani grumbled as she took a bite of her eggs.

"Considering what you get away with on a regular basis, I don't think that this is much to complain about, Lady Spirit." Most people would be frightened by the shadowy knight at the table. Everyone in the mansion was used to the Fright Knight now, though. It was years ago that the knight wearing black armor with silver shoulder pads, gauntlets, and helm dedicated himself to serving Danny Phantom.

"Oh…Fair enough." Dani conceded.

"By the way, my Liege." The Fright Knight turned to his master. "What has you so busy? Can I assist you with anything?"

"No, I don't think you can." Danny chuckled. "Not unless you can understand nanobot technology, can deal with several different conference calls at once, and deal with the Team." With that, he turned his attention back to his breakfast.

"…No, I do not believe that I could help all that much." The Fright Knight admitted.

"Oh! Speaking of the Team, am I getting a juicy mission today?" Dani questioned with a grin.

"You'll just have to wait to find out. Just like everyone else." Danny snorted. "That includes you, Joel. I know you tried to hack my computer. Only Nightwing and I get to know about potential missions until they're approved."

"How did you know I did that?" Joel blinked. He could have sworn he dusted off the finger prints.

"There were dents on my dashboard, dude." Danny snorted. "You have many talents, Joel. Hacking is not one of them."

"Right…" Joel nodded. "Stupid computer."

"How can you be so good at video games, but suck at using most tech?" Dani questioned.

"Secret." A blond haired girl wearing a white hooded robe spoke up. She wore a gentle smile on her face as her piercing blue eyes danced in amusement. A silver pendant hung proudly around her neck, "It's one of the many mysteries of life."

"Like why you still make that 'Secret' joke, Greta?" Joel inquired to the girl.

"Exactly. The answer should be simple, but it is forever out of our grasp." Greta nodded.

"That's very deep, Greta." The Fright Knight noted. "I just thought you liked making the joke because it annoys people."

"Well…there is that." Greta conceded.

"Yes, and…Danny, get off your phone." Vision glared at the halfa man.

"But I have to deal with something at Axion labs." Danny argued.

"And Dani, stop trying to manipulate the hash browns to jump into the Danny's face."

"But you told me to keep up on my control training." Dani mentioned.

"And Joel, quit feeding Cujo from the table. He's had his food.

"Alright, but don't blame me when he jumps up on the table." Joel shrugged.

"I will stop him." Vision noted. "Please. Just one calm morning breakfast where we all pay attention and have calm conversations. That is all I ask for. Will you give me that?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good."

"GOOD MORNING!" A red skinned giant chose that moment to rush into the room. The giant of a ghost had blue swirl tattoos across his body along with several different scars. His spiky black hair was long and shaggy just like his hakama pants.

"Colossus?" Danny blinked at his old rival. "Why are you here?"

"Young Spirit asked me to come today! She said that you having a good breakfast and that I needed to come!" Collosus roared as he walked to the dining table.

"…" Vision glared at her adopted daughter. "Why did you do that?"

"Well, you dumped me out of bed, sicked Cujo on me to wake me up, and restrained me to my chair so I couldn't leave." Dani grinned mischievously. She held up her phone and showed a text to Colossus. "I call this revenge."

"Let's eat." Colossus sat. The force of the giant's flop to the ground caused the table and food to jump up and spread everywhere.

Pulling at the eggs in her hair, Vision glared at Colossus. "Must you always cause a mess?"

"Hahahahaha! That's half the fun of eating!"

It was at this moment of distraction for Vision that Cujo discretely jumped up and began to tear into Wulf's bacon. The werewolf ghost obviously didn't like that. He tacked Cujo onto the table. "Don't touch my bacon!"

Reacting to the tackle, Cujo's puppy form shifted into a massive attack dog form. This allowed the two canine ghosts to roll around and fight on the table. Food spread everywhere.

Vision was about to restrain them, but Dani quickly jumped into action. "Alright! Food fight!"

Using her ectoplasmic powers, Dani threw food all across the table. The food splattered everywhere and caused more chaos as Greta was covered in greasy food. Now upset that her white clothes were stained, the blond ghost used her golden smoke to attack Dani in retaliation. The smoke was blocked, though, and it spread across the room to make it difficult to see.

Food continued to fly through he smoke, though. Seeing this, the Fright Knight jumped unto the table to shield Danny. "Don't worry, my Liege! I will not allow you to get dirty before your meetings!"

"You do realize we could all just use intangibility?" Danny chuckled.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!" Colossus roared in laughter. He slammed in fist into the table. "Now this is an exciting breakfast!"

Unfortunately, the force of the giant's fist caused the table to crumble. This caused everyone on the table and all the food to fall and to spatter on everything and everyone around the area. It was then that everything erupted into chaos as playful fights broke out and laughter spread across the room.

Joel, who stayed out of the conflict, turned to Vision. "You do know that you could have avoided this…"

"I know." Vision sighed.

"Hehehe…Don't worry, my dear." Vlad placed an arm over her shoulder and comforted his fiancé. "This is simply how we are."

"True…" Vision couldn't help but smile at her family despite the chaos. "This is just a regular morning for us…"

"Don't worry, Mr. Luthor." Danny grinned at the screen. "We'll get the schematics for the new jet to you soon enough."

"I have no doubts, Mr. Fenton." A bald man wearing an expensive suit smiled back. "Your work is always top notch. I just wish that you would give me a peak at your personal projects."

Danny laughed. "I'm sorry, Lex! You know that no one gets to use my weapons but me. You won't be getting your hands on the Red X suit or the Exorcist armor any time soon."

"I remember a time where you refused to sell ectoplasmic weapons at all." Luthor mentioned. "It's hard to keep secrets in this world."

"My personal weapons are no secret. Everyone knows about them." Danny stated. "Thing is…no one can use my weapons but me. If anyone even touches them, they'll regret it. I've learned from my past mistakes."

"I'm sure. You're no fool, Daniel."

"That's a big compliment coming from you." Danny snorted. "Anyway, I'll sent the schematics tomorrow. If you'll excuse me, though, I have other meetings I have to attend."

"I completely understand. I have several meetings to attend to myself. Goodbye, Daniel." Lex nodded.

"Goodbye." Danny nodded back and canceled the feed. Now free from the eyes of Lex Luthor, Danny let out a groan. "Gah…I hate dealing with that guy…"

"That's what you get for trying to keep up a ruse with your enemies." A woman of Asian descent snorted as she walked up behind Danny. This tall thin woman with her hair pulled back into a pony tail was Harriet Chin, the personal publicist for the Phantom Family.

"Keeping the relations open with the Light could be helpful in the future." Danny looked over shoulder to his longtime friend and ally. The halfa was referring to the criminal organization called the Light. This group had control over most of the criminal world. Their control was so deep that they could actually instigate several huge conflicts such as the ghost's war against the Guys in White and the massive criminal attack of Amity Park over two years ago.

"Very true, but you knew it wasn't going to be fun~" Harriet sang out.

"Yeah, yeah…" Danny grumbled and leaned back in his chair. They were currently in Fenton Works' lab. Danny basically took over his old home as his personal workshop. The entire basement was filled with moving equipment, half-finished weapons, and a Fenton Ghost portal. "Is there a reason you're here?"

"Someone has to keep you in line." Harriet noted. "You do know that you have public meetings today, not just this computer stuff."

"I know." Danny sighed and looked at the numerous monitors at his station. "Luckily, I've got all my online meetings done. I'm on time for once. J.A.Z.Z. has me on a strict schedule."

"And for once, you actually listened to me." J.A.Z.Z.'s voice sounded from the phone of desk. "Now you actually have time for lunch today. Make sure to eat healthy today. You need to eat more vegetables."

"Right…" Danny snorted. "Jazz, you're my A.I., not my caretaker."

"…Fine…" The A.I. noted.

Danny rolled his eyes, "Don't pout."

Harriet laughed, "Now this is funny. Arguing with your own assistant program."

Danny snorted, "Everyone else makes fun of me, why not my A.I.?"

"Fair point," Harriet smiled. "Remember, you have a meeting with Silas at Axion Labs, and Danny Phantom promised to show up at the charity event."

"I know. I know." Danny waved her off. "You don't have to keep reminding me of everything. I have J.A.Z.Z. for that."

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure that you were thinking straight." Harriet laughed as she left the room.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Danny paused at his desk. He was about turn around when he was stopped.

"I think that she thought that you would be distracted by me." Valerie Gray noted as she hugged her boyfriend from behind. The eighteen year-old African American woman wore a red blouse and black skirt that hugged her rather curvaceous form. Her bright green eyes shined with mischief as her long brown hair slid over her shoulders.

"Val…" Danny looked to see his girlfriend place her chin on his shoulder. "I thought you had class today."

"I skipped." Valerie shrugged. "I hate my history professor anyway. Spending the day with you sounds a lot better than listening to him drivel on. I can just get notes from my friends later."

"Oh, so the righteous Red Huntress is actually skipping class." Danny chuckled as Valerie released him and sat on the table in front of him. "It seems that this slacker has finally rubbed off on you."

"Slacker? Danny, all you do is work." Valerie gave a smile as she spoke.

"That's not the way people talk, though." Danny mentioned. "Apparently, I should be going to college as well as all my other crap."

"To be fair, they don't know that you're Danny Phantom." Valerie smiled. "They only know about half your work."

"Tsk…I hate being a public figure. Everyone's all in my business." Danny groaned and leaned back in his chair. "Can't get any peace…"

"Then take the afternoon off." Valerie suggested. "We can just relax for once."

"Val, you know I can't." Danny sighed. "I have a ton of work to do. I have responsibilities that I have to take care of."

"You sound a lot older than eighteen." Valerie mentioned. "Danny, you shouldn't take so much stuff on your shoulders. It's not healthy, and we should enjoy the free time we have together."

"I know. I know. But I have set days off, you know." Danny stated. "That's why I need to get all my work done. So I can rest over the weekend."

"Alright. I get it." Valerie smiled. "You don't mind company, though, do you?"

"No, but it's going to get boring. You sure you don't want to go anywhere else?" Danny questioned.

"Naw, I'm fine as long as we're together." Valerie chuckled and got up. "So, where to first?"

"I needed to go to Axion labs to talk to Silas about a project…" Danny paused for a second. "But you know what; I think he can do without me. And later, I can get Amorpho to cover for me at the charity event. And I can just leave my own work until tomorrow. That leaves my afternoon completely free."

"You sure?" Valerie questioned.

"Yeah. The Danny of tomorrow is going to be pissed about it, but I don't care about that guy right now." Danny stood and took Valerie in his arms. "I think I'll act my age today and do something fun."

"Sounds good to me." Valerie grinned and pulled the taller man down for a kiss. Suddenly, work didn't seem to matter much anymore.

"…" Dani frowned as she looked across the empty lunchroom table. "Well…This sucks."

"What sucks?" A very pale girl with violet hair sat down in front of Dani. She wore a dark purple hoody and black pants. Her clothes were very baggy and the hood over her head hid most of her snow white skin from view.

"Oh. It was because no one was here..." Dani mentioned.

"Good to know where I rank." Rachel Roth muttered dryly.

"I said it before you got here." Dani rolled her eyes. "No need to be all upset about it."

"I don't get upset." Rachel noted. "The biggest reaction you will ever get out of me is apathy."

"Uh huh…" Dani placed her cheek in her right palm and grinned cheekily. "Please, I've seen you rage out a bunch of times."

"Those moments don't count. You and Nyx were involved." Rachel sighed.

"…Right, Nyx…" Dani's grin instantly fell. "It's been a week."

"Are you really worried? Nyx ditches school all the time." Rachel eyed the empty spots at their table.

"It's been too quiet, though." Dani's eyed narrowed. "Sure, she's taken weeks off before, but she usually showed up to do something after school. Plus…Pandora's been quiet lately. She won't respond to any of my messages."

Rachel looked at the seat next to hers. It was the seat that Nyx usually occupied. "True. Perhaps it is time to look into. Your instincts have never really been wrong before."

"…Then would you think that I'm insane to worry about Victor?" Dani looked to the other empty seat at the table.

"No, that has me concerned too." Rachel's lips pursed. "There's a home game tonight. Victor wouldn't even think about missing that."

"Yeah." Dani leaned back and crossed her arms. "Vic and Nyx are missing…Damn, I don't feel good about today."

"Friday the 13th. Bad Juju." Rachel acknowledged. "People mock this day, but they forget that numbers have always played an important role in luck, fate, and witchcraft."

"That sounds like something Mr. Blood would say." Dani mentioned. "He must be rubbing off on you."

"Yeah…" Rachel nodded. "I've learned more things from him than just magic."

"Right…" Dani nodded. "But you are right about the day. Something is off. And what's worse…My Premonition is sounding like crazy in my head."

"Is an enemy going to attack?" Rachel tensed as she gathered magical energy just in case.

"No…it's the boys…" Dani's right eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Their stares and intentions are disgusting."

Rachel groaned and placed her face in her palm. "Dani…"

"You may be able to sense emotions, but at least you can't hear about how they want to use them." Dani hissed. "How can guys think about sex so much? I mean, I think about it too, and I get that puberty is a pain in the ass; but they are just ridiculous."

"Give them a break." Rachel glanced around at the different tables. A lot of the boys in the lunchroom were giving them glancing looks. "We all have troubles with puberty. Girls have to deal with a lot of crap, but at least we don't have to fight off mating instincts older than our species. I pity them."

"Well, I don't. You don't hear them…" Dani snorted and looked away. "And I'm too distracted to limit what intentions I hear. Life was easier when I could only hear physical threats. Now it seems like the only time I get any quiet is when I'm at home, and that's just sad considering how loud we all are."

"I don't think today is the day to hide behind jokes, Dani." Rachel frowned. "Three friends are missing at our table after all."

"Three…Not Greta…So, you still act like Chuck counts." Dani looked to a chair at the very end of the table. "But he hasn't counted in a long time…"

Rachel looked away. "I may not be able to read intentions, but I can read emotions. He counts. You know it. He's always counted."

"Two and a half years, Rach." Dani muttered.

"That doesn't matter. Feelings never change. Not yours. Not his." Rachel hid under the shadow of her hood. Of course, Youngblood's feelings were far different from Dani's. Rachel started working on her empathy abilities right before he left. She knew what he really felt, but she couldn't tell Dani. It wasn't her place to reveal the emotions of others."

"Hey, Joel! How's it going?"

"Joel, could you help me with my homework? I suck at algebra."

"Check this out, Joel, this video is hilarious."

Joel smiled and greeted the various people in the hallway. He made sure to be as polite as possible to the people that he went to school with. His natural intensity, athletics, whit, and intelligence made him well known and somewhat popular, but his usual quiet and introvert kept people at a decent distance.

Overall, though, he was well liked in his school. The normality often leaved him shocked considering how strange his life had been. Of course, this was always what he wanted when he was younger, but it was something odd, or normal, that he had to deal with. Many times, though, the strange aspects of his life came to interrupt the normalcy that felt so strange to him.

Letting the smile on his face drop, Joel walked to the staircase. Quickly running up the stairs, the young teen made his way up to the roof. Now on top of Casper Middle School, the eighth grader walked to the edge and looked across the parking lot down below.

"Why are you here, Carol?" Joel questioned to seemingly no one.

A girl with Asian descent with dark hair and eyes walked out of the shadows. Oddly enough, the girl that was a year older than Joel was wearing a white blouse and blue skirt. She looked like a perfectly normal school girl. "Joel, it's Cassandra. Quit forgetting my name."

"Sorry." Joel shrugged, but did not turn to look at her. He obviously didn't care about getting her name wrong. "Why are you here?"

"I have some information." Cassandra mentioned as she walked beside Joel.

"And why give it to me? And why are you dressed like that?" Joel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Danny is busy. Dani is with her demon friend, and the Trigon spawn hates me." Cassandra Cain mentioned. "And everyone else in your family might be more difficult to get to than you. As for the clothes, I'm trying to blend in."

"Yeah…" Joel eyed her. "That outfit will totally make you blend in a school with boys entering puberty. You won't get any stares at all."

"Shut up." Cassandra sighed and pulled a piece of paper out of her sling on purse. "Here. This is the information that Mother gained for Danny. Father is still working on his share right now."

"Thanks, I'll give it to Mentor." Joel placed the paper into his pocket. "And thanks for delivering it personally. It must be dangerous coming here so often, but we can't have the information leaked out."

"It's fine." Cassandra shrugged. "It's nice to get away, and I'm not watched like Mother. Besides, my partner Rose disappears all the time in between jobs. Plus…"

"Oh, please. I thought you were over that crush you had on Mentor." Joel snorted.

"I am. That was not what I was going to say, you idiot." Cassandra turned and began to walk away.

"Uh huh…" Joel did not look as Cassandra left. "If you say so."

"Don't think that you can read me so easily, Joel." Cassandra looked over her shoulder to him. "My wants and desires are beyond your understanding."

"If you say so."

"Tsk…Just get going." Cassandra walked back into the shadows. "If you keep standing here, you'll be late for class…Plus, you're going to get soaked."

"Yeah…" Joel looked up at the darkening clouds. "Looks like rain."

"Damn…" Danny Phantom growled. Now in his full ghost form, the man had white hair, tanner skin, and glowing green eyes. A large black trench coat with white rimming and stitches covered his black and white sleeveless shirt and baggy black and white pants. White flames danced across the edges of all his clothing, even his black boots. On the front of his shirt and on the back of his coat was the famous DP symbol.

"What is it?" A man that was a few inches shorter than Phantom questioned. The sixteen year old teen had slicked down black hair. A domino mask covered his face. His black and blue body suit showed off his muscled body.

"A crap load of work for me, damn it." Phantom grunted. "We got three missions to take care of, Aquaman took all of his protégés, and I have trouble to deal with in Amity Park. Dumbass Silas did something stupid…"

"Shorthanded again, huh?" Nightwing, who went by Robin not long ago, sighed. "Good thing the new recruits are coming in, huh? Been a while. Last new member was Secret."

"Yeah…They can't get here soon enough." Phantom nodded and turned away from the holographic computer at the center of a large cave. They were in the main center of Young Justice's base, Mount Justice, which was located in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. This part of the Cave was mostly rock and metal, but off to the side were several Zeta Tubes which allowed them to teleport across the country. "It's about time with Barb and Jase. Batman's been holding them out for too long."

"To be fair, Jason is really new and Barbara's main problem was getting her father's permission. He thinks that she'll get shot or something." Nightwing shrugged.

"True. I guess I should be grateful for the extra help. The League keeps piling us with missions, yet takes away our members at the drop of a hat." Phantom snorted. "Only down side is that Gar is going to get on my ass again about him joining officially."

"He has been begging since Dusk joined." Nightwing noted. "I thought he would go insane when Secret joined. And now that we have new members coming, I don't think we can stop him."

"Well, then we'll have to put the Beast Boy in his cage." Phantom joked.

"Hey!" A boy's voice rang out through the Cave. "No one is putting me in a cage, dude!"

Turning, the two men saw the members of Young Justice approach them. The boy that spoke had green colored skin, hair, and eyes. Oddly enough, the shapeshifter boy changed his appearance to give him simian features such as a tail and fur that was mostly covered by his red body suit.

"No cage, Gar. He was just joking." Another green skinned person spoke. This female had long red hair and freckles. Her black body suit with an x in front and cape were organic material and changed shape with the Martian woman's will.

"Although, it is tempting…" A man with the appearance of a sixteen year old body spoke. He had jet black hair, a strong chin, and piercing blue eyes. The Super Boy was a very muscular person which was shown by his long sleeved shirt with the famous S shield on the front.

"Tsk…" The green skinned Garfield Logan pouted.

"Don't get upset, Gar." Nightwing laughed. "You'll be uncaged soon enough."

"Yes!" Beast Boy jumped up and cheered.

"But until then, we have a lot of work to do…" Phantom waved his hand and spread out the different images across the group of young heroes.

"Bro, this is a lot…" A red haired man wearing a yellow body suit with red goggles and a red lightning symbol on the front. This was Wally West, aka Kid Flash, the famous speedster of Central City. "What exactly are the missions?"

"Team Alpha will be Miss Martian, Superboy, Rocket, and Kid Flash." Phantom explained. He gestured to pictures of Axion Labs. "We got another tip that the Shadows are going to try and steal more tech. No one knows why yet, but it can't be good."

"Alright. We got this." An African American woman wearing alien tech and a brown leather jacket grinned. This woman was called Rocket, and she used her kinetic energy tech to fight. "The Shadows won't get away from us again. I owe that Jinx a bloody lip from last time we saw her."

"Alright, Team Beta will be Artemis, Zatanna, Spirit, and Raven." Phantom pointed to pictures of the high security prison Belle Reve. "There was a problem at Belle Reve. Someone broke in and busted out a prisoner."

"Someone got busted out of Belle Reve?" A woman with extremely long blond hair question. On her back was a bow and arrow along with her quills. This archer wearing a green top with an arrow on it and green pants was Artemis. "How? Who?"

"It's complicated. Let's just say there's a reason that the four of you are on this mission. I'll have Nightwing fill you in as you go. Take the Supercycle." Phantom ordered.

"That's vague. You trying to be mysterious on us, Danny?" Zatanna questioned. The raven haired woman wore a magician's outfit that hugged to her curves. Her attire quickly gave away her magical abilities.

"No, I just don't have a lot of time. Team Gama will be Red Huntress, Secret, and Dusk." Phantom scowled at the last images that floated above them. "You all will be going to the Ghost Zone."

"The Ghost Zone? What happened?" Valerie Gray was wearing the Red Huntress suit 3.0. Like the previous model, the suit was high tech and colored red and black and color. The newest suit was developed by Danny personally to make sure that his girlfriend was prepared for anything. He made the armor thicker and more durable, yet made the joints so that her movements wouldn't be slowed.

Every inch of the suit was covered in weapons. Her wrists had guns attached. Pistols hung from her waist. Rocket launchers were inside her shoulder and knee pads. There was even an ecto bazooka across her back. Unlike her previous suits, this one's helmet only allowed her eyes to be seen through the black and red metal.

"I don't know, but Vision asked for some of us to come home and look into it with her." Phantom sighed. "I would do it personally, but I have an emergency of my own to deal with."

"Do you have any idea who's involved?" Dusk was Joel's ghost form. In his form, the boy had the same color scheme as Phantom. He wore a black hoody with white swirl patterns across it. Along the right side of his hoody was a large DP symbol. His black pants were covered by white shin and knee armor. The halfa's facial scar had moved from his forehead to his left cheek. His white hair with green highlights was covered by his hood.

"Yes…" Phantom sighed. "Clockwork…"

"That weird guy that you always have tea with? Don't you want to go and help him?" Greta, aka Secret, questioned.

"I do, but I have something else to deal with first." Phantom frowned. "I'll head with you back to Amity Park, and we'll split off from there."

"Something happened back at home?" Dusk's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"Axion Lab is doing something stupid. I have to get there before someone gets hurt."

"Silas!" Daniel Fenton roared as he went into a testing chamber of Axion Labs. The room was large and filled with computers and machinery. At the very end of the room was a large circular device. It looked a lot like a Ghost Portal, but Danny knew better. "Silas, stop this now!"

"Danny?" An aging African American man turned away from the machine to face his boss. His dark brown hair was beginning to grey and his face showed a few wrinkles. On his face were thick glasses that had slid down to the end of his nose. "Please, wait, I've done the math. This is perfectly safe."

"It doesn't matter. I am in charge here. I make these kind of calls." Danny said and looked to two of the scientists at the computers. "Roquette! Tillman! Turn off the machines now!"

"Danny," Elinore Stone walked up to Danny. She hid her age better than her husband. The African American woman was a tall beauty with curly black hair and brown eyes. A lab coat covered her form. "Please, you know that if we do that then the backlash would terrible. All our equipment would be fried."

"I don't care." Fenton glared at the portal as it started to glow and spark when the other scientists tried to turn everything off. This caused them to instantly stop trying to power off the machines, "We can get new equipment. I'm still not sure on the math of the portal you want to make. I know that we're trying to improve the efficiency of the Zeta Tubes, but this will only backfire. If this goes wrong, the result could kill everyone here."

"It's not just the equipment. Some of us might be hurt if we force it off." Silas tried to appease his boss.

"Then I'll call some ghosts and get their help." Fenton glared. "Do not think that this will work, Silas. Just because I took an afternoon off, that doesn't mean that you get to do whatever you want."

"Dad…Maybe you should listen to him…"

It was then that Fenton noticed that there was a minor in the room. Victor Stone was a bulky sixteen year old man. He stood as tall as Fenton and was just as muscular. His dark hair was short and trimmed while his eyes were a sharp brown.

"Victor…Silas, what is your son doing here?" Fenton hissed. "Victor, you need to get out of here now."

"That was just what I was trying to do before you got here." Silas sighed and looked to his son. "Victor, go. We'll talk about your little game later."

"It's not a little game! It's my life! My choice! Football means everything to me, and you haven't even been to one game yet." Victor glared.

"For the love of…Victor, it's just a stupid sport! You waste your brilliance by focusing on brawn." Silas shook his head in disappointment.

"No, Dad, I want to use both." Victor looked like he wanted to say more, but he was stopped. "Please, I've spent all day trying to convince you."

"Yes, and you skipped school! But I'll address that later. As for right now-"

"This argument has to wait!" Fenton stood between the two men and snapped out. "Victor, you need to get out now. It's not safe. In fact, I'm calling for a full evacuation now! Everyone out now!"

The various scientists obeyed instantly. Dozens of people rushed out of the room in waves. With a sigh, even the Stones went to exit the room. Victor followed, and all that was left was Danny. He was going to shut this down. The man could see it. The portal was becoming unstable. Energy sparked wildly as the metal grew red rot. It was going to explode.

In the blinding light, Danny used his powers. No one saw as ghost duplicates rushed out of him and flew to the equipment. This didn't last long, though, because energy burst out from the machines in a blaze. The duplicates were destroyed instantly. Fenton was caught up in the blast and thrown across the room. He crashed into the metal wall and formed a large dent in the solid steel.

While Danny was incredibly durable in both his forms, his human half was obviously the physically weaker side. The blast and landing did not cause any lasting damage to his body, but the man instantly blacked out from the damage. This only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough for everything to go to hell.

"Victor, NO!" Elinore's voice cried out and snapped Danny back to the land of consciousness.

Looking up, the hafla man saw that the room was burnt and destroyed in the blast. The portal was still working, though, but that was a bad thing. Large purple tentacles reached out of what appeared to be a swirling portal of energy. Most people got close enough to the exit for this not to be a problem, but one person got caught by the tentacles.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Victor Stone screamed in pain as a large tentacle held him into the air by his legs. The tentacle then began to squeeze. The cracks and sound off shattering bones were loud enough to be heard over the yells. It was doubtful that those legs would ever be usable again.

"Help!" Victor cried out as the tentacle dragged him through the portal.

"No!" Elinore was restrained by Silas from charging into the portal. The man looked ready to break down, but he knew that charging into the unknown was stupid and would get people killed.

"Damn it…" Fenton pealed himself out of the metal and pulled out his phone. "J.A.Z.Z., activate the Exorcist Armor…"

"Of course."

Metal spread out from the metal vest under his clothes. The armor quickly covered his body completely. 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. The armor's helmet was a metal gas mask that would shield Danny from any airborne toxin and provided him with his own oxygen.

"Stay back!" Fenton roared as his jets activated and flew him into the portal. He was glad that he outfitted his armor to fit under his clothes while inactive. The Stones knew about his powers, but none of the other scientists did.

Once through the portal, Fenton was greeted by a site of what looked like to be an anti-Ghost Zone. The entire area was white with swirling energies of different colors across the plain. Different meteors and rocks floated across the space because the entire area seemed to lack a gravitational field.

"Crap…" Fenton now realized where he was. Superman told him stories about this place. Apparently, he and this area shared a name. The Phantom Zone was an alternate reality that existed out of time and space. The Kryptonians used this area to imprison their criminals. In fact, one of Superman's most dangerous foes was trapped here. Danny really hoped that he could avoid running into General Zod.

Looking around, Fenton saw Victor by a larch octopus creature with dozens of eyes. Rushing to the monster, Danny opened fire at the octopus's exposed eyes. Both his Gatling arm and his canon arm sent dozens of green blasts at the exposed eyes of the monster. This caused the creature to roar out in pain and agony. Its arms flared around in turmoil.

Quickly flying to the boy trapped by monster, Fenton used his rocket launchers to destroy the tentacle's lower part and free the teen. Now with a clear path, Danny flew to the boy and grabbed him. Quickly retreating back to the portal, the man looked at his sister's friend. "Oh shit."

Victor was doing very badly. His legs were crushed beyond repair. The monster also seemed to rip off his left arm. Acid burns covered most of his body, especially the left side of his face. One of the worst parts, though, was that the monster took a bite out of him. The boy's internal organs were on display for all to see.

"RRROOOAAARRR!" The monster charged after Fenton in a rage. Energy gathered around the mouth of the beast as its tentacles spread out to reveal the circular mouth. A wave of red energy then blasted out towards the men.

"Tsk…" Fenton grunted. Holding Victor in his right arm, the man allowed the Gatling gun on his left arm to retract. Now having a free hand, Danny grabbed a grenade from his belt and threw it back at the energy. It was not a normal grenade, though. It was a Negative Grenade that had the ability to absorb explosions. Thus, it was easily able to stop the blast, though.

This did not stop the monster's charge, though. The octopus monster charged to Fenton with the intent of regaining his meal. Not wanting it to get back to the portal, Fenton reformed his Gatling gun and opened fired behind him. The blasts hit the Negative Grenade and caused it to blow up. The explosion that followed quickly blasted the monster away from the humans.

Now free from the threat, Fenton rocketed through the portal back to Axion Labs. Back in the safety of the lab, Danny gently placed Victor on the ground. He then pointed both of his guns at all the machines and opened fire. The machines shattered before the might of his guns, and the portal instantly turned off before anything else could come through.

"VICTOR!" Elinore ran to her son's side and instantly fell to the ground next to him. She began to sob over the mangled body of her son.

"Son of a…" Silas was incredibly pale at the sight. "Call… CALL AN AMBULANCE RIGHT NOW!"

"No." Fenton shook his head as the metal retreated. "He's too injured. He has only minutes before he dies. And ambulance won't help."

"Then what do you suggest we do?!" Silas was in tears.

"We can save him, Silas." Fenton noted as his armor returned to its vest form. "But it will come at a big cost. He won't be normal ever again."

"You mean…that project you were working on with Roquette and Tillman?" Silas's voice was but a whisper. "But if we do that, then he'll be more machine than man…"

"Maybe, but he'll be alive." Fenton noted. "I can't make this decisions for you, Silas. You're his father. Chose. Do you want him to die, or do you want to make him a cyborg?"

"I…I don't…"

"Do it!" Elinore cried from her spot by the dying Victor. "Don't let my baby die!"

"Yes…I won't let my son die." Silas nodded. "Let's do this."

"Alright." Fenton looked across the scientists that had slowly filtered back into the room. "Get a station ready now! Get all of our medical equipment and supplies! Roquette, Tillman, get the nerve tech! We're going to save Victor's life!"

"I see why Danny wants us to deal with this." Artemis mumbled as she viewed the security footage. Currently, they were all in the warden's office of Belle Reve. It was darker room, but the chairs they were provided were extremely comfortable. "I also get why he didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone. Greta would have been really upset by this."

"Yeah, she didn't need to be on this mission. We can handle this, but…Why would anyone want to break Harm out in the first place? He has no allies, and everyone hates his guts. Why would anyone help him?" Spirit was the ghost form of Dani. At one time, she wanted to go by Dani Phantom like her brother, but she thought that the similar names would give away their secret identities. Like her normal form, the girl had her white hair pulled up into a pony tail, except this form lacked a hat. Similar to her brother, Dani's skin tone was tanner and her eyes were neon green in her ghost form.

Unlike her brothers, Spirit had changed her uniform more than once because of her changing tastes and style. A black scarf was wrapped around her neck and lower face. The girl had long since forgone her usual jacket and instead wore light leather armor over her chest and torso. This thin black armor with white zigzag lines across the side stood over her white blouse and hugged her feminine form while helping to prevent any incidents of undesired exposure of skin. The white cloth under the armor had a long sleeve on the left arm but no sleeve on the right side, thus revealing her thin yet powerful arm.

A white skirt flowed down her legs. This covered the black tights that ran all the way down her legs to her white sneakers. Like all three halfa in Young Justice, Spirit proudly wore the famous DP symbol on her clothes. In fact, the girl had two sympols on her. One was on the chest of her light armor, and the other one was on the left side of her skirt.

"That is what we are trying to figure out." An African American woman who could be described as somewhat husky. This was the warden of Belle Reve, Amanda Waller. "Unfortunately, most of the footage was destroyed in the chaos and my men are still unconscious, so we have no way of figuring out what happened."

"We…might have a clue." Zatanna entered the office with Raven. Raven was Rachel Roth's vigilante name. She was dressed in a purple cloak which had a hood that covered most of her face. Under the coat was a black leotard which hugged her developing form.

"I think I managed to identify the magical signature that we sensed from the Harm's cell." Raven frowned deeply. "It's…very familiar."

"Whose is it?" Aretmis questioned.

"…Nyx."

"What?!" Spirit jumped to her feet. "Nyx was here?"

"I've never heard of a Nyx…" Waller mentioned. "How do you know her?"

"She's a friend." Raven sighed.

"Really? A friend that breaks out your enemies?" Waller stroked her thick chin. "Did she betray you?"

"NO!" Spirit glared at the woman. "Nyx would never do that."

"But why was she here?" Artemis was deep in thought.

"If it helps, we found another source of energy. Well, really there were multiple sources, but they were identical." Zatanna mentioned. "It's kind of confusing. It's not duplication or anything like that, but twenty people had the same exact energy signature."

"…I recognized that signature too…" Raven looked away.

"Who was it?" Spirit was looking for anything that could get her friend out of trouble.

"…Youngblood." Raven sighed.

"Chuck?" Spirit was confused. "Why was he here?"

"This isn't making any sense." Artemis noted.

Waller was looking at her phone as a report came in from one of her men. "Well…It looks like some footage was recovered. Here, let me pull it up for you."

The warden then turned the screen of the computer to face the girls. A very blurry video played. In the video, a purple haired girl wearing golden armor on her upper torso and a black skirt over her legs was fighting a twelve year old child dressed up as a pirate complete with a hook for a hand and a peg leg.

"That's them alright." Raven scowled.

"Are those skeletons in the background?" Zatanna questioned.

"That's Chuck's pirate crew." Spirit noted.

"They're the ones that are unlocking Harm's cell…" Artemis mentioned.

"So it was the boy that freed Harm?" Waller questioned. "And the girl was trying to stop him."

"…No that's not it." Zatanna leaned in to the screen. "Freeze that image."

Waller complied. "What is it?"

"Look at their faces and eyes." Zatanna pointed to the screne. "I've seen that look before."

Raven glared at the screen. "Youngblood is being controlled. His eyes are pure red while his face is blank. He always used to smile when he fought…"

"And Nyx…her sclera is black." Artemis gained a thoughtful look. "But she seems to be in complete control of herself."

"She's being influenced by something." Zatanna mentioned. "Not completely controlled like the boy, but something is pushing her do something. Kind of like she's being drugged. It's still her, but she can't make clear choices responsibly."

"So they're both being controlled." Waller mentioned. "Obviously by different people, though. One who wants Harm to be free, while the other wants him locked up."

Spirit clenched her fists in anger. How dare someone control her friends like that! She was going to tear those jackasses apart.

"But why would anyone want to free Harm?" Raven questioned.

"Wait…What is that in Youngblood's free hand. It's a huge red gem." Artemis peered at the jewel in the boy's non hook hand.

"I know that gem." Raven's eyes narrowed. "My teacher has a book that explains its purpose. It was made by Morgan Le Fay to control demons and spirits."

"So, an evil sorceress is involved with murdering psychopath's breakout? And they have control over a ghost that is close to your family?" Zatanna paled. "That…Isn't good."

"No…" Spirit in a deep sadness eyed her friends on the screen. "It's not."

"What the hell happened here?" Red Huntress questioned.

Clockwork's domain was now only rubble. Dark smoke rose from the wreckage and reached up to cover portions of the green, swirling sky. Everything that Clockwork used to observe the flow of time was now destroyed. Standing outside the once beautiful building, Red Huntress and Secret could only look on in shock.

"We don't know…" A giant of a woman stood by the girls. This woman towered over them and had blue skin, long purple hair, and three arms. Golden armor covered her upper body while a dark skirt covered her legs. The helm on her head covered most of her face but allowed her deep red eyes and purple hair to show. "One minute, everything was fine. The next, the place blew up."

"How's Clockwork, Pandora?" Secret questioned.

"Not good…" Pandora sighed and pointed off to some of her servants using a stretcher to carry the unconscious body of the Master of Time away. "He's alive, but not responding. I think he's gone comatose on us."

"Danny is going to be pissed." Red Huntress sighed.

"Everyone is." Pandora clenched her fists. "Someone hurt one of our own. We cannot let this injustice stand."

"But who could possibly do this? Clockwork can stop time." Secret mentioned. "Who can fight that?"

"I don't know, but we will find out…" Pandora looked over to the rubble that was once Clockwork's domain. "What is Dusk doing?"

"I don't know." Red Huntress shrugged. "Maybe he's looking for clues about the enemy."

"My servants already searched. There was nothing." Pandora mentioned.

"…" Secret broke away from the two older women. She left them to their conversation and floated to Dusk. "Joel, what are you doing?"

"Looking…" Dusk continued to dig through the rubble.

"For what? Pandora's servants already searched for evidence. They didn't find anything." Secret mentioned.

"I'm looking for something else…" Dusk paused as he went through the rubble. "And I found it."

Dusk pulled out a Fenton Thermos from the rubble. It was perfectly intact, but the cap was open and the release switch was activated.

"Is that…" Secret's eyes widened at the sight. She heard stories of the thermos that was in Clockwork's care.

"It is." Dusk nodded. "This was the Thermos that contained Dark Dan…its empty now."

"No…So he broke out and did this?" Secret was pale.

"No." Dusk shook his head. "Someone released him. He didn't break out."

"That's why Clockwork wasn't killed." Secret sighed. "The attacker was after Dark Dan, not Clockwork."

"Maybe. Maybe not…" Dusk looked at the Thermos. He was glad he wore gloves. They would have to check for finger prints later. "We can't be sure yet, and we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"I guess you're right…" Secret nodded. "But no matter how you look at it, this can't be a good thing."

"Yeah…" Dusk nodded in agreement. "No Clockwork. Dark Dan is loose. And some unknown threat is behind all of this. I think it's safe to say that our lives are about to get complicated again."