Chapter 18: Gotham

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Cast off your fear! Look forward! Go forward! Never stand still. Retreat and you will age. Hesitate and you will die."

Zangetsu (Bleach)

Chapter 18: "Gotham"

Memory sequence begin

"Danny?" A fourteen year old Jazz Fenton walked into her brother's room. "Are you alright?"

Danny looked up from his desk. "Yeah! I'm fine! Just peachy!"

"Then why is your voice so abnormally high?" Jazz approached her twelve year old brother.

"I'm just happy, happy, happy!" Danny's smile looked completely forced.

"And I'm the queen of England." Jazz gave her brother an onceover. "Where did you get that black eye?"

Danny said nothing, but his smile dropped.

"I heard about what happened." Jazz knelt down to look her brother in the eye. "Why didn't you fight back? You wouldn't get in trouble for protecting yourself."

"You don't understand…" Danny lowered his head in shame. "There was five of them. I couldn't do anything against them…"

"Then why didn't you go get an adult?" Jazz frowned. "Why just let yourself get beat up instead of defending yourself? You know that now that I'm in high school I can't protect you."

"I…was scared." Danny mumbled. "If I fought back, the beating would have been worse, and my friends might have gotten involved."

Jazz sighed. "I see…"

"I know that you're disappointed." Danny whispered. "I'm sorry I'm so weak…"

"You aren't weak, Danny." Jazz noted as put her arm around her brother's shoulder. "Being afraid is natural, especially if you're afraid for the people you care about."

"But Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, 'There's nothing to fear but fear itself'." Danny noted. "I'm afraid of a lot more things than fear itself. Bullies, getting hurt, losing my friends…"

"You're misinterpreting what he meant." Jazz smiled gently. "He wasn't saying that you should never be afraid."

"Huh?" Danny questioned.

"Everyone has fears." Jazz explained. "There are no exceptions, but we have to stand up to our fears and fight back, otherwise we lose."

"Everyone has fears?" Danny questioned. "Even the superheroes?"

"Especially them." Jazz stated. "I read in my psychology book that the reason that they even became heroes was because they were afraid of people dying and bad guys getting away with their crimes."

"But how do they get over their fears?" Danny asked in a confused manner. "How come they don't just freeze like I do?"

"They use their fear as motivation." Jazz grinned. "Fear is just information. Information that there is danger and that something needs to be done. They act on that information and use it to make them stronger. An addreneline rush."

"A what?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Er…how bout like a sugar rush? The fear acts like energy to make them stronger very quickly. It's the fight or flight instinct." Jazz said lamely.

"So fear can make you stronger? But how come I just freeze?" Danny frowned. "Is it because I'm weak."

"No…sigh…Danny, you act like fear is a bad thing." Jazz stated. "It's information. You're just not used to it, yet."

"So…one day I won't be affected by fear?" Danny questioned.

"Everyone is affected by fear. Some people just decided to use if positively." Jazz stood up. "Remember, fear isn't evil. It's information. What you do with that information is up to you, though."

"…You're really smart, Jazz." Danny smiled up at his sister.

"I like to think so." Jazz beamed in pride. "Now, come on, dinner's ready. Mom cooked meatloaf."

"Now there's something to be scared about." Danny joked. "What if I used that information to pretend to be sick?"

"Then you'd be the smart one."

Memory sequence end

(Friday-May 7, 2010)

Danny opened his eyes from the table he was sitting at. He must have dozed off. The coffee cup in front of him was cold. It made sense that he would fall asleep. He hadn't had a good night's rest in a while.

Looking around the room, Danny saw that the Starbucks he was in was rather busy. Students appeared to be finally out of class and decided to go get some coffee and hang out. They all looked like went to a private school, too, considering the official uniforms.

Danny checked to make sure his disguise was still okay. His hood was up and hiding his face and white hair. The baggy hoody and jeans he was wearing to hide his suit were fine. The weapons strapped to his side were still hidden. Good…

Danny felt rather weird having a second pair of clothing on, but it couldn't be helped. Masked vigilantes weren't new to Gotham, but he needed to remain incognito until the time was right. It didn't help that the suit was somewhat bulky. It had to be with all the tech Danny put into it, but trying to hide it was a pain.

"Unfortuantely, Mayor Hill has yet to…"

"Beautiful day here in Gotham…"

"Wayne Tech stocks have risen…"

Danny absentmindedly listened through his Fenton Phones to the reports being filtered by his Tucker Phone. Nothing major had happened yet, but in Gotham something always came up to draw the attention of the Batman. When something like that did happen, Danny's phone would alert him.

A well-known fact in Gotham was that if you ever wanted to get away with anything, you had to do it while Batman was busy. That meant, when the super villains attacked, then that was the opportunity to act. If you tried to do something illegal while Batman was ready, then you're bound to get caught.

…Of course, most criminals were caught afterwards anyway, but by that time, Danny hoped to be out of Gotham…

"Glad your dad actually let you come, Barb." A pair of girls walked by Danny's table. "He's so strict sometimes."

"He's just worried. He remembers what Gotham was like before the Batman." The red-headed girl noted.

"Please with the big bad Batman here…"

Ring! Beep! Ring! Danny's phone went off. Everyone one turned to see what the loud noise was.

"Breaking news! Two Face is holding the mayor hostage. He claims that the politician is as duel faced as he is and is threatening to cut him into two…"

That was all Danny needed to hear. Danny stood and began to walk out of the coffee shop. He probably had a couple of hours to get this done. He'd have to work fast. Time to find a good source of information.

As he walked out, everyone turned back to their own conversations. If he was leaving then he wasn't a threat…

"Everyone freeze!" The shout stopped Danny in his tracks.

A couple of men burst into the room. They held assault rifles and were pointing them angrily around the room. "Get on the floor!" They shot into the air.

The entire room instantly got to the floor. Danny did so as well. He didn't have time for this, but he didn't want attention to be drawn to him yet.

"Where's Barbra Gordon!?" One of the men shouted.

Whispers went around the room.

"All we want is the Commissioner's daughter! Two Face wants her as a bargaining chip!" Danny noted that the two men had on unusual masks. One side of the mask was white while the other was black.

Everyone was silent.

The men scanned the room. "There she is! Boss said she was a red-head!"

He grabbed the red haired girl and dragged her to her feet. "Come on, little girl!

"Let go of me!" The girl Barbra shouted.

"No one tries anything or we put a bullet in your skull!" The other thug shouted. "Let's go…"

Danny had an internal debate. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself yet, but…The girl needed his help. Oh, well, he needed someone who knew this town to tell him where to start his search. It might as well be one of these idiots. Danny quickly pulled his mask over his head while still wearing the hood.

Bleep…swwwwwwng…beep. Danny grunted as his suit activated. He could feel the needles cut into his spine. His regeneration quickly kicked in and stopped any permanent nerve damage.

"What was that?" The men froze.

Bad mistake.

Danny quickly activated the teleport function of his suit. He was instantly behind the two men. With lightning quick speed, Danny disarmed the thugs, put the weapons on safety, and kicked the guns into the corner.

"What?!" The thugs turned to face Danny.

Before they could react, Danny hit the man holding the girl in the jaw. The man let go of the girl, and Danny pushed her to the side none too gently. He didn't react as she crashed onto the ground.

The other thug tried to punch Danny, but didn't get close. Danny kicked his legs out from under him. He crashed onto the ground painfully.

The man that Danny punched earlier took out a knife and stabbed at Danny. The teen easily blocked the stab. Extending the arm in his grasp completely, Danny jammed the arm as hard as he could. With a pop, the arm was taken out of its socket.

The man shouted in pain, but before he could grab his dislocated arm, Danny elbowed him in the temple. The thug was knocked out immediately.

Danny turned to the other man. He had just stood up and was charging at the masked teen. Danny quickly extended his left palm. The red x on his palm blasted out a large red x that latched onto the thug and trapped him. With that down, Danny merely pushed the man onto the ground.

"Eh? Thank you?" Barbra said from the ground as she held her sore side.

"I didn't do it for you…" Danny's voice came out dark and smooth.

"Great! Another freak playing hero!" The still conscious thug exclaimed.

"Hero? That's funny…" Danny kicked the man in the nose. It broke with a crack.

"He's down! You don't need to do that." The worker behind the counter yelled.

"It's one of the perks of my job." Danny lowered his hood. Everyone in the room gasped. The mask on Danny's head was shaped like a white skull in the front while the back was solid black. A large red x was on the mask's forehead. The skull seemed to be eerily grinning at everyone in the room. "Don't ruin my fun."

"Fun?" Barbara's eyes narrowed.

Red X knelt down and picked up the thug. "Hi, there. Let's have a little chat."

Red X's form blurred as he teleported himself and the thug out of the Starbucks.

"…What the hell just happened?" One of the other students asked what everyone was thinking.

Barbara looked at the spot her savior from which her savior disappeared. Suddenly, her face turned into a frown. She didn't like being a damsel in distress…

Perhaps she should take some more self-defense classes. If she remembered correctly…Dick was rather good with the martial arts. Maybe she should ask him for help…

"Gah!" The thug grunted as he was thrown to the ground. Red X had teleported them to a nearby roof. "What do you want?!"

"What do I want?" Red X sounded amused. "It's very easy…"

Red X turned the man on his back and planted his foot on the man's chest. The thug looked up fearfully. Red X had rid himself of the hoody and loose jeans. He was wearing black tech armor all over his body. Various red lights glowed in the armors joints and crevices. On the man's chest and boots were dark red X's.

Over the man's shoulders was a black cloak that flowed to his feet. It was torn and ripped in various places. The cloak hid most of Red X's body from vision. Perhaps it was meant to hide his movements.

"Tell me everything you know about the Scarecrow!" Red X growled.

"Scarecrow?!" The thug was shocked. "What do you want with that freak?"

"I've been hired to find him." Red X put pressure on the man's chest. "Where is he?"

"How the hell would I know?!" The thug questioned.

"I don't expect you to know…" Red X's dark voice made the man shiver. "But you know who does know. Tell me…who knows everything that happens with the super villains of Gotham?"

"Like hell I'll tell you!" The man snarled.

"Oh?" Red X knelt down and grabbed the man's right arm which was still trapped by the red x holding him. "I'll have to motivate you then…"

"Fu-AK YUA!" The man's scream hid the small crack of hi pinky finger.

"Language, good sir, language." Red X teased. "We don't need any of that."

"Ah…you bastard…" The man groaned. "AHCK!"

"There goes finger two." Red X chuckled. "Want to try for three?"

"O-okay, you psychopath!" The thug desperately yelled. "The Penguin! That midget had his stubby little fingers in everything in the underworld of Gotham. If Scarecrow needed supplies, equipment, or anything that he couldn't get through regular mean, he'd go to the Penguin!"

"Stop lying." Red X grabbed the man's middle finger. "I've never heard of a Penguin before. Now tell me the truth before I have to break another bird."

"I'm telling the truth! His name is Oswald Cobblepot! He's the supplier of the underworld! Even my boss has to get stuff from his sometimes!" The thug said desperately.

"Why would the Batman let him do this, though?" Red X questioned.

"I don't know. The guys think that the Batman lets him do it so he'll know what's going on!" The thug struggled to escape the red tape holding him.

"…Okay." Red X stood up. "Where can I find this Penguin?"

"The Iceberg Lounge!" The thug desperately said.

"Okay, then…" Red X's mask glared down at the man. "If you're lying I'll come find you."

"I'm not! Just let me go!"

"Oh? And I thought the Joker was the only one in Gotham that told bad jokes…" Red X chuckled.

"What?"

Crack! Red X's boot met the thug's head.

Red X stood over the unconscious thug. What just happened? Did he really do that?

He had never…interrogated someone before. Yet it felt so natural. Looking down at the broken fingers, Red X was surprised by what he felt…

Nothing. There was no disgust. There was no joy. He didn't fell anything.

Maybe he had felt angry and hateful during the interrogation, but now? After all was said and done, shouldn't he feel…bad?

Granted, Danny never claimed to be a moralist, but what he just did was, by every definition of the word…unethical. Yet, he didn't feel anything. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't even concerned about the captive girl. All he cared about was getting the info, and he made damn sure he got it…

Well… at least he didn't feel joy from it.

Turning, Red X didn't give the thug another thought. He had a mission to accomplish.

The Iceberg Lounge wasn't what Red X thought it would be. Red X thought it would be a thug's hideout. He expected burly men and loose women to be at the entrance. What he saw was surprising for the base of a criminal.

This Penguin's bar was actually one of the biggest nightclubs of Gotham. The rich and famous was entering the lounge without a care in the world. There was even laughter in the air.

Red X looked down at the fancy nightclub. He had originally planned just to barge in, but with so many people…

"It appears that Batman and Robin are on the scene! Unfortunately, Two Face has city hall under guard. It may be some time…" Red X grunted as he turned off the Fenton Phones under his mask. He was running out of time. Who knows how long it would take the Dynamic Duo to finish. It could be anywhere between five minutes to two hours.

Red X didn't want to take any risks with the time situation. He couldn't go into the Iceberg Lounge, though. He wasn't going to take off his Red X suit and wearing the baggy closes in a place like that…He'd be thrown out for sure.

"There has to be a back way in…" Red X circled around the roof tops. There was indeed a back entrance. Several guards were there. Jumping down into the alley, Red X approached the back door. His form was concealed in the shadows during his approach.

"Yeah! What you doing back here! Only Mr. Cobblepot's people are allowed to be back here!" One of the guards pulled out a gun and pointed it at Red X.

"I'm sorry, but you see, I have business with the Penguin." Red X stepped out of the shadows. The guards tensed when they caught sight of him. In Gotham, people in black armor and masks meant something was going down.

"And who the hell are you?!" The rest of the men pulled out their guns.

"A customer." Red X stated darkly. "And I'm sure the Penguin doesn't want you to turn away potential customer, especially high paying ones."

"Take off the mask then!" One of the guards shouted.

"That's strike one." Red X sighed. "I'll be willing to hand these over to you temporarily…" Red X move his cloak to the side to reveal duel ecto-pistols strapped to his belt. "But the mask is the deal breaker…"

"Shut up!" One guard shouted. "If you won't take off that dumb mask, then we'll just fill you full of bullets and rip if off your cold dead face."

"Strike two…" Red X teased. "Really, I would think that a crime lord would get smarter guards. Do you really think you can kill me?"

The men readied their guns.

"Apparently you do. Maybe you can mull over your mistake in the ER." Red X chuckled.

The guards fired their guns. Bullets flew at the form of Red X. Right before the bullets hit Red X, he activated a red shield which stopped all the bullets in their tracks. "What?!"

"Strike three…" The guards froze as the dark voice filled them with terror. "You're out…"

The sounds of cracking bones and cries of pain filled the alley.

Red X walked through the back of the Iceberg Lounge. The employees gasped as the masked man stormed through their working place. One man, a waiter, tried to stop him.

"You can't be back here!" The waiter grabbed Red X's shoulder.

Red X reacted by putting the man in a simple wrist lock. "Don't care. Where's the Penguin?"

"Ahh! Help! Call the-" Bam! Red X knocked the man out.

The other employees looked ready to panic, so Red X pulled out one of his pistols. "Shh…"

Silence.

"Where's the Penguin?" Red X asked again.

"Who wants to know?" A short overweight man approached the masked man. He didn't seem intimidated by the gun at all, but having two large guns by his side probably helped.

"A customer." Red X noted as he looked down at the man. He could instantly tell that this man was the Penguin. The black and white suit, crooked nose, and waddle like walk did make the man look like the flightless bird.

The Penguin barked out a laugh. "And you come in, hurt my guards, and threatened my employees…haghaghahaghag! I like you boy!"

Red X put his weapon away. "No offense, but I don't care if anyone likes me. I just want to get my job done."

"Haghaghaghag!" The Penguin laughed as he gestured the masked man into his office. "And I like you even more! Well said!"

The Penguin walked over to his desk. The two guards stood on either side of the man's desk. He quickly took off his top hat and sat down. Three beautiful woman instantly flocked to the man. "Ah…"

"I expected you to be mad at me for breaking your guards." Red X noted as he stood at the opposite side of the Penguin's desk.

"That just means I need new guards. They couldn't even stop a man that didn't even try to kill them. They're dead to me." Penguin took out a cigar. One of the woman leaning against him lit it.

"I see…" Red X…Danny…should care about that. He really should…but he didn't. He didn't care that the Penguin was implying that he would kill those men. All he cared about right now was the mission. He had to avenge Klemper.

"Say…you want a job?" Penguin took a large drag of his cigar. "I'm good to my people, and after you gain my trust, I might even trust you to run security for this joint."

"You're quick to make big offers." Red X noted.

"Haghaghaghag! And I'm quick to kill those who fail or betray me." Penguin laughed.

"I'll think about, but right now I have a job I have to finish." Red X sat down in the seat across from the Penguin. "I need all the information you have on Scarecrow's whereabouts. My employer is willing to pay for the info."

"Nos that…" Penguin noted. Another girl took a bottle and a couple glasses out from under his desk and pored a drink for the Penguin. The Penguin instantly took a sip of the drink. "Might be hard. Want some? Pore him a drink."

Red X stared at the glass for a moment. He shouldn't… "Sure."

Lifting up his mask enough to reveal his mouth Danny downed the drink in one swig. The alcohol burned his throat. 'What the hell am I doing?'

"Nice isn't it? It was a gift. I felt that the time was right…" Penguin sipped his drink.

Red X pulled down his mask and put the glass down. "Pretty good. Had a smoky taste…now about the..." Red X felt his head throb. Must be the after effects of his first drink. He ignored his slightly blurred vision. "Scarecrow?"

"As I said…" Penguin blew smoke at Red X. The short man's features suddenly seemed more pronounced. Despite the fact that he could almost feel the ugliness and evil rolling of the Penguin, the masked man didn't eve flinch. "That might be difficult. I just can't go and give out client's information like that. If I did, no one would be willing to go through me to get what they needed."

"I see…" Red X wasn't deterred. "So this is about customer loyalty?"

"Haghaghaghag! Exactly!" Penguin laughed out tons of smoke. The smoke surrounded Red X like a suffocating shroud.

"And what exactly is worth such loyalty?" Red X questioned.

"Now you're talking my language boy…" The Penguin smirked. "You see, I'm a collector. I like to get things that no one else has. And if you say, bring me something that can't be purchased anywhere else…I might be willing to give some info on that fear obsessed freak."

"I sense some hostilities." Red X noted.

"He's driven more than one of my client's insane with that gas of his…" Penguin glared. "And no one has to know that I sold him out…"

"So you want something that can't be bought?" Red X sounded amused. "I might have something then."

"…What?" Penguin raised an eyebrow.

Red X reached behind him. The guards tensed for a moment, but Penguin quickly waved the down. Red X pulled out a curved purple horn.

"The hell is that?" Penguin laughed. "A unicorn horn? Haghaghaghag!"

"No, you remember the Nocturne Incident?"

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, I bet you don't know this. When Phantom beat the sleep ghost, he broke off one of the ghost's horns. This is that horn." Red X smirked under his mask.

Penguin's eyes widened. He stared at the horn. "Prove it."

"You." Red X looked at the woman stroking the Penguin's balding head. "It that necklace made of diamonds?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Hand them over." Red X extended his hand.

The woman was reluctant. Penguin glared at her. "You heard the man, slut!"

Red X had to fight not to flinch at the offensive word. He took the necklace and dragged the purple horn across it. A deep gash appeared on the jewel. "Believe me now?"

Penguin looked at the horn greedily. "How did you get it?"

"I told you, my employer is willing to pay top dollar for the info." Red X explained.

"And this employer is…"

"Looking for revenge." Red X finished the sentence. Of course, it wasn't the Scarecrow that Danny Fenton wanted revenge on, but the Penguin didn't need to know that.

Penguin smiled. His yellow teeth were on display for all to see. "Okay, then. Let's do business."

"I've been in the sewers before, but this…" Red X gestured all around him. "Is disgusting. The people of Gotham care nothing for the environment, huh?"

"Grr…." The scaled man ahead of Red X growled. "You sound like the plant lady…"

"I may like the environment, but I'm not that into it." Red X snorted. "But you have to admit, Croc, this is just sad."

"Not disagreeing with you, but you learn to live with it…" The nine foot tall, green scaled man turned to face Red X. His grin showed the razor sharp teeth. "Or you don't, right Mr. Corpse?"

"Hahahahaha!" Red X laughed. "That nose of yours is something I'll give you that."

"Hehehe…" Killer Croc turned. "Did you actually think I would lead you through the sewers if you were human? I'd make you dinner instead."

Red X recognized the threat. In response, he activated his forearm guard's electric shock function. Electricity danced at his fingers. "Be careful, I might burn your tongue."

"Strong words, corpse." Killer Croc noted. "I wonder if you could back them up…"

The Penguin gave Red X all the information he needed. Red X learned where the Scarecrow was hiding and how to get there. Unfortunately, the entire area was surrounded by GIW. They were above and right below the warehouse according to the Penguin. Going in above ground wouldn't work unless you were stealthy.

Red X wasn't anywhere near stealthy. He might as well be the opposite. It didn't matter which persona he took. Red X, Fenton, Phantom…they were all the loud and in charge type of people. He could, however, temporarily be stealthy.

But that wouldn't be enough. Red X would need to get through the sewers quickly and quietly. He couldn't get turned around and get lost. He would need to know the sewers like the back of his hand.

Thus, he went to Killer Croc. The Penguin's instruction made finding the scaled an easy task. With the proper payment, Killer Croc was more than willing to guide the masked man.

"I have to ask…" Killer Croc growled out. "Are you a zombie or a ghost, cause if you were a ghost, you'd just fly right in there instead of coming to my neck of the woods?"

Red X laughed. To fly in, he'd have to take of the suit, and if he did that then the GIW would detect him. "I like to think of myself as a memory."

"Hmm…" Croc gave his a side glance. "Yep, you fit in with Gotham just fine…"

"We haven't seen any GIW…" Red X noted.

"Those morons wearing white clothes in the sewer?" Croc chuckled. "They don't stay down here long. Their suits get 'dirty.' Bunch of wimps."

"…How do you know that?"

Pause. "These sewers I my domain. I know everything that goes on under here."

"Hmm…Fine…" Red X grunted.

"And we're here." Killer Croc pointed to the manhole above them. "Right above there is that warehouse you wanted."

"Good." Red X took out as wad of cash. "As we promised, here's the rest of your payment."

Killer Croc quickly took the money. Slapping the masked man on the back he stated, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Red X felt a small prick on his shoulder. "Watch the claws big guy."

"Hehehehe…right…" With a splash, the scaled man disappeared under the water.

"Alright…" Red X ignored his rising headache and climbed up the latter leading to the opening. "Let's do it…"

Peeking out of the manhole by lifting the lid, Red X looked out. He scanned the area. Good. No one was there.

As quietly as he could, Red X entered the warehouse. Staying low, he tried not make any noise as he move around. He couldn't hear anything, though. Why was it so quiet?

After searching for a minute, Red X found a work station. It was filled with vials and chemicals. That's not what caught Red X's attention. No… What really caught Red X's attention was the body tied to a chair.

"Lord have mercy…" Red X approached the body. It was a ghost for sure considering the green skin and gooey body. The masked man couldn't tell if he was alive or not, considering that he was still solid, then he must still be alive. There was a thin layer of drool rolling down his chin. "Is it bad that I wish you were dead instead of…this? At least death is fair and merciful."

Red X bowed his head in respect. This ghost didn't deserve this.

Turning, Red X looked for clues to Scarecrow's location. It was so dark, though…The darkness seemed to be creeping up on him. Was it grabbing his leg? Red X shook his leg to escape the imaginary hand.

"What's happening…?" Red X swayed back and forth. "AH!" He felt something sharp enter the back of his neck.

"Fear, Mr. Mercenary. Fear." The comatose ghost's voice sounded demonic as he jammed a needle into Red X's neck.

The world around Red X twirled. Everything became distorted and demonic. Colors blurred. "Y-you…"

"Me…" The ghost's image blurred and became brown. Straw came out of the image. The face and body were stitched and torn. Maggots and worms crawled out of the demonic…scarecrow.

"Go go go!" White demons poured into the room. They had the face of jackals and horns similar to Nocturne. Their forms were completely white, except their glowing black eyes and green, horned tail.

The room around Red X changed shape. It was a shape that Red X saw in his nightmares. It was the image of a destroyed Amity Park.

"H-how…" Red X trembled and fell to his hands and knees as he felt his skin began to dissolve. It was a fear that he had since he got his powers, which was that his form would become unstable and dissolve.

"This is K!" One of the demons screamed into a skull. "We caught something, but it's not Phantom!"

"It has to be ghost or the fear toxin wouldn't work! It's designed for ghosts only! That's why the Penguin's drink and Croc's slime didn't influence them when they came in contact with it!"

Scarecrow ignored the demons and knelt by Red X "Didn't you find it odd? That everything seemed to be going right? That Two Face distracted Batman? That Penguin so readily agreed to do business? That Croc didn't try to maul you? So naïve…or perhaps it was the doses of fear toxin that made your mind cloudy. I guess we'll never know."

"I-it can't be…" Red X groaned. "Why…would they w-work for the GIW?"

"Same reason I did…" Scarecrow laughed. "Money, power, immunity from the law…We almost had Joker too, if he didn't hate governments so much…"

"Hehehe…" Red X chuckled despite his terror as two of the white demons grabbed his arms and pulled him up.

"What's so funny?" One of the demons snapped.

"Now I don't feel so bad for ripping them off." Red X pulled out a purple horn and one of the demons in the shoulder. When that demon let go, Red X punched the other demon in the jaw to dislocate it.

Red X quickly dived out of the way of incoming bullets. He tried to go for his guns, but his shaky hands wouldn't let him properly grasp them. His suit was sending all the right messages to his body, but his body wouldn't listen. Fear caused him to become defenseless.

His body felt like it was dissolving. Amity Par was in ruins all around him. Demons were scrambling to kill him. It was a miracle he could move at all.

"Gah!" Red X grunted in pain as two blasts of energy hit him in the chest. He instantly crumbled to the ground. His body couldn't stand the pain and the fear. Nocturne's horn slipped from his grasp and slid onto the floor.

"Report: target neutralized." A computerized voice made Red X's blood run cold. If he was frightened before, he was utterly terrified now. He could barely keep up with the Necromancer with his powers. Take away his powers, the fighting abilities his suit gave him, and his ability to stand up…and he was screwed.

Looking through trembling eyes, Red X froze at the sight of the Necromancer. It covered in green blood and ice...Klemper's blood and ice. Red X felt physically ill as the Necromancer picked of Nocturne's broken horn and crushed in a burst of green anti-ghost blasts.

"Good work, Necromancer." One of the demons praised the machine. "Take his mask off!"

Red X could do nothing as he felt arms grab him and pull him up. He grunted in pain as they struck him, despite the fact that he couldn't fight back. The masked man wanted to struggle. He wanted to stop them from removing his mask, but he couldn't move.

"Aha…" Pause. "Who the hell is this?"

If Red X could think coherent thoughts, he would revel in this small victory. His belt was, in fact, a disguise belt. He now appeared to be a young man who appeared normal in every way possible. His brown hair and eyes were common. He had no distinguishable features on his face. In all, he appeared to be the definition of average.

"That would explain why we didn't pick up any ecto-scans. He isn't a ghost at all!" One of the demons holding him exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Scarecrow ran towards them. "My ghost fear toxin is flawless! It can only influence ghosts just like I designed it!"

"Did you test it on meta-humans?" Another demon asked.

"No…" Scarecrow trailed off in thought. "But Killer Croc could be considered a meta-human…No, his condition comes from a disease, not a meta-gene. Yes… Hmm… I have not tested this on meta-humans. Tell me, young man, what do you see?"

Scarecrow's form twisted again. Red X almost fainted at the blue skin, fiery white hair, red eyes, and forked tongue. Dark Dan was peering down at him.

"He seems to have lost to ability to speak and move…interesting." Dark Dan stroked his chin. "I will need to get test subjects…"

"What do we do with him?"

"He's not the one we're looking for, so he's disposable." Dark Dan chuckled.

Red X felt himself be thrown to the ground. His back hit the concrete painfully. The demons began to beat Red X. They apparently wanted to have some fun before he killed him.

Danny felt helpless as the GIW demons slowly began to beat him to death. In truth, Danny never expected that this would work, but really? He didn't even get one hit in before he lost. How pathetic was that?

The only thing he try to do now was keep his promise to Vlad. All he needed to do was get enough strength to get to his gun. If he died while in ghost form, he'd dissolve. All that would be left would a suit that is useless to anyone but him.

Yet, he couldn't even do that. He was completely frozen in fear. Danny would die, the GIW would search and dissect him, and his secrets would be out. The halfa wouldn't be the one to pay the price, however, his family would. His fear induced panic attack caused images to appear before him.

Valerie was being arrested for association with him.

Wulf was being experimented on with the fear toxin.

Cujo dissolved as he failed to protect his masters.

Vlad was filled with bullet holes because he tried to protect everyone.

Dani was crying as the GIW began to dissect her.

"Fear is just information. Information that there is danger and that something needs to be done…"

"Everyone is affected by fear. Some people just decided to use if positively."

"Remember, fear isn't evil. It's information. What you do with that information is up to you, though."

Yes…the fear was telling him what would happen if Danny failed. If Danny failed, then his family would die. If he failed, Amity Park would be destroyed. If he failed…everything he cared about would be gone.

…This isn't how he chooses to use this information…He didn't want to just give up…Danny would protect them until his last breath…

(Play: Man Without Fear by Drowning Pool featuring Rob Zombie)

The demon above him once again tried to kick Red X in the head. This time Red X blocked the kick.

"Trying to fight back?" Acid like spit came out of the demon's mouth. "You're pathetic."

The GIW demon tried to pull his leg up, but couldn't. Red X prevented him from moving. "Pathetic am I? Let me show you how pathetic you are, worm!"

In a single motion, Red X twisted the GIW demon's ankle and kicked his knee the other way. With a loud snap, the GIW demon fell to the ground in pain. Red X then quickly grabbed the ankles of the other two GIW demons standing over him. He quickly activated the electricity in his forearm guards and shocked the two agents into unconsciousness.

As quickly as he could, Red X jumped out of the way of incoming bullets. He quickly formed a shield around him. Unfortunately, the shield would only last for thirty seconds. In order to win, he would need to come up with a plan…

"Urg!" Red X grunted as his shield was destroyed by missiles. The Necromancer had activated its far range attack mode and fired several of its anti-ectoplasm missiles. Red X could feel the shield generator in his chest armor short circuit.

That was one tool out of his arsenal…

Using the adrenaline rush he was on, Red X ran at the Necromancer. He would have to at least take that thing out to stand a chance. The masked man didn't know how he would beat it, though. He couldn't use any of his stronger powers while in the activated suit. If only he had managed to decipher the codes of his mom, then he would know its weakness…

That's right. It had to have a weakness, but what was it?

The Necromancer entered its mid-ange attack mode. The bloody panels across its body sent dozens of ecto-blasts at Red X. His suit did its job, however. With the help of his suit and the adrenaline rush he was feeling, Danny moved, ducked, and dodged is ways he didn't know were possible.

Luckily, the GIW demons couldn't dodge like he could. The barrage of ecto-blasts that missed Red X struck down the GIW demons who were preparing to attack too. They wouldn't be a problem for few moments at least.

Closing in on the Necromancer, Red X froze for a fraction of a second. He felt bile run up his throat as he caught the scent of decaying flesh on the Necromancer. The masked man was painfully aware of the green blood on the Necromancer's armor…

That was one weakness at least. The Necromancer wasn't designed to fight with groups of people.

That fraction of a second almost cost Red X. He barely managed to dodge the Necromancer's attempt to decapitate him with its wrist blade. It had apparently shifted to its close combat mode.

Even with his suit helping, Red X could barely manage to dodge each slice of the Necromancer's blades. He would need to go on the offense. The x's on the back of his gloves extended and began to spin like a buzz saw.

Red X tried to use his spinning blades to cut the Necromancer. He managed to get two cuts on the Necromancer's side, but they only left small scratches. Those types of injuries wouldn't hurt the Necromancer. He would have to do that a million more times to injure the Necromancer.

As he continued to dodge, Red X thought of all the possible strategies at his disposal. Running away at this point wouldn't work. His guns wouldn't cause any damage. The blades in his gloves weren't hard enough to pierce the armor. If only they were made of ectoranium…

Like the blades on the Necromancer's wrists…

Maneuvering so the Necromancer would stab at him, Red X was ready to put his plan into action. The Necromancer stabbed at him with its right arm. Red X used the minimal amount of room needed to dodge to the outside of the Necromancer's reach. Grabbing the wrist and pushing the elbow of the Necromancer, Red X guided the blade to a different direction.

Crack! Slink! Zap! The blade cut deeply into the Necromancer's shoulder. Red X almost blanched at the sight of black goo and electricity coming out of its shoulder, but he controlled himself. He couldn't let this illusion get to him right now.

Despite the fact that he was trembling uncontrollably, Red X acted. He grabbed the Necromancer's free arm while the machine was distracted. Then, with exact precision, stabbed it into the Necromancer's other shoulder.

The machine tried to pull its arms free, but Red X stopped it. He thrust his left hand forward and sent the red x tape to trap the Necromancer's arm. It wouldn't be able to use them for the rest of the fight.

In response, the Necromancer tried to use its knee blade to try and stab Red X. The masked man expected this, however. He dodged and twirled around the machine. With as much power as he could, Red X kicked behind the Necromancer's leftover knee. It fell to its knees instantly.

Grabbing the Necromancer into a rear naked choke, Red X pulled the machine up to use as a shield. He did it just in time, too. The GIW demons had recovered. They had sent dozens of ecto-blasts at the masked man, but instead hit the Necromancer.

The Necromancer's armor deflected the blasts, but that wasn't the problem. The Necromancer wasn't designed to work with people. If something attacked it, it would attack back.

"New tactic: wide spread attack." Missile launchers appeared out of the Necromancer's shoulder and chest. The following barrage knocked out half the GIW demons. The rest quickly lowered their weapons to avoid the same fate.

Realizing that this was his chance, Red X activated his spinning x blades. He cut the rocket launchers out of the Necromancer's shoulders. Then, the masked man used his left glove hand to lock the launchers to the back of the Necromancer's neck. As quickly as possible, Red X then used his right palm x to attack an explosive x to the launchers.

Red X's form blurred as he used his teleportation device to move out of the way of the explosion. In a huge explosion of ectoplasm, the Necromancer's head went flying off its body. The GIW demons were momentarily shocked. A normal human had taken down the Necromancer, granted he had their help, but still…

They had little time to reflect, however. The place Red X teleported to was right behind them. He quickly used his twin pistols to knock out two GIW. Now alerted, the GIW demons quickly turned their weapons on the masked man. Before the Red X even drew his pistols, however, he had dropped a couple of smoke pellets. His form was hidden from the GIW demons.

This didn't stop the GIW, though. They opened fire on the location Red X was last seen. He wasn't there, though. He teleported away from the blasts. Unfortunately, his suit only had enough power to teleport about thirty yards, and he could only do it three times every two hours. With his shield broken, he would have to use his last teleportation wisely.

Red X's second teleportation set him amongst the GIW demons. He quickly blasted some of the GIW. Putting his pistols away, Red X got in close and sent several hard kicks to the GIW demon's head. The next few moments were filled with the sounds of GIW being knocked out.

During all this, the Scarecrow had retreated to his work station. Seeing that the GIW were losing, he quickly pulled out a gun. He would kill the masked man when the smoked cleared.

As the smoke cleared, Red X was nowhere to be seen. There were plenty of unconscious GIW, but no Red X… "Where did he-"

"Behind you…" Red X had used his last teleportation to get behind the Scarecrow. The masked man disarmed the Scarecrow and punched the villain in the face.

Pinning the Scarecrow to the wall, Red X fought the urge to beat the man into unconsciousness. The image of Dark Dan was quickly raising the halfa's temper, but he had keep control. He needed answers. "Where is the GIW base?!"

"H-how? It's impossible." Dark Dan's image faded back to Scarecrow.

"I just used the fear instead of it conquering me." Red X growled. "It made me stronger."

"It never makes people…stronger…" Scarecrow now seemed to be scared. It was true. At the best, fear gas could be tolerated. Even then, only people with the strongest minds could possibly do that. No one had ever become stronger from it…

Red X had to laugh at that. He was a halfa, different from both ghosts and humans. His every emotion made him that much stronger, even the ones that didn't relate to his obsession. "I'm a special case."

Scarecrow trembled at the grinning skeleton mask.

"Now…where is their base!?"

"I-I was only there once!" Scarecrow screamed. "W-we dec-cided to use the t-tech ghost as b-bait for Phantom. We thought that he would come to investigate!"

Red X growled. That meant that the GIW had the ability to go into the Ghost Zone. "Where is it?!"

The ghost fear toxin was wearing off. Now while this could be considered a good thing for most people, the halfa was relying on it right now to keep up his adrenaline rush. Red X could feel it. His body was becoming sluggish and tired.

He couldn't breathe… He was suffocating…Slowly, Phantom took off his mask and put it in his belt. Unfortunately, his suit was now low on power. The disguise belt no longer hid his appearance.

Stumbling into an alley, Phantom tried to keep himself going. He had to get there. He was so close. All he had to do was get there…

Suddenly, Phantom collapsed. His legs had gone numb. "D…damn it…"

He tried to crawl, but he only got far enough to hide himself behind a dumpster. Phantom had to get there. Everyone he cared about was counting on him. Yet, his body was exhausted. No amount of will power was going to change that.

"I…I'll just take a little nap…" Phantom mumbled as he leaned against the dumpster. Yes…he'd sleep, then he would go to the base.

The world around him slowly faded to black. Everything was blurry and unfocused. His exhausted mind didn't care that he was out in the open. Anyone could stroll into the alley and find him.

And someone did.

Phantom felt someone drag him up. It wasn't a quick or gentle journey. The person holding him obviously wasn't someone who relied on raw strength.

"Guh…" Phantom groaned as he tried to open his eyes. There was only darkness…No…there was something else. A flash of gold. He could feel something on his face. It felt like…hair, and a lot of it.

"It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." A girl's voice responded to his grunt.

Phantom's exhausted mind instantly accepted the girl's words. He was far too tired to resist anyway. So, the halfa allowed unconsciousness to take him.

(Saturday, May 8, 2010)

"…few days since the Anti-Ectoterroist act has been passed. Since then, there have been no sightings of the heroes known as Danny Phantom, Spirit, and Red Huntress. This is…"

Phantom did not enjoy waking up to the voice of G. Gordon Godfrey. But that wasn't what really surprised Phantom. What really caught Phantom's attention was the soft couch on which he seemed to be sleeping. When he passed out, Phantom thought that he was in an alley…

Slowly, Phantom sat up. His body was groaning from fatigue. He could feel his mind swimming. The side effects of ghost fear toxin were rearing their ugly heads.

"You're up…" A voice noted from Phantom's right.

Looking to a nearby chair, Phantom took in the appearance of the person speaking. She was sitting cross legged in the chair. Her simple white blouse and jeans showed of her slim figure. The girl's skin has a slight tint to it. Her face was unblemished and beautiful, but what really drew attention was her incredibly long blond hair tied up into a pony tail.

"I am." Phantom nodded. "But the question is where exactly did I wake up?"

"My apartment." The blond girl state. She had yet to move. She merely stayed there and watched him.

"Hmm…" Phantom looked around. It did seem like an average apartment. There were simple furniture across the room and several pictures hanging on the wall. "Okay, then how did I get here? Last thing I remember is passing out in an alley."

"I carried…well dragged you here." The girl noted. "You're heavier than you look."

"It's probably the suit…" Phantom noted as he gestured to his Red X suit. "There's a lot of equipment in it…" He checked to make sure he had his guns. He did… that meant that the girl was either naïve or trusted him.

"I was wondering about that…" The girl noted. "From what I saw on the news, Danny Phantom wears black and white, not black and red…"

"Usually not…" Phantom shrugged. "You have at the disadvantage here. You know my name, and I don't know yours. You better tell me, or I might have to call you Rapunzel."

The girl didn't seem to like that nickname. "Name's Artemis."

"Goddess of the hunt, huh?" Phantom chuckled weakly. "Well you caught me. Was there a reason for it?"

"You mean why I helped you?" Artemis clarified. "Felt like it."

"Ah…" Phantom slowly stood up. He could feel his body groan as recovered from the fatigue. "You felt like helping a wanted criminal, at least according to that guy." Phantom pointed to the television.

"I prefer to form my own opinions." Artemis stood too and walked over to him. "And from what I've seen, you are far from being the bad guy…now sit down, you obviously are still tired."

Phantom grunted as he complied. Something told him that arguing wouldn't work. "Well…you obviously aren't with the GIW or you would have shot at me. And you aren't a thief…None of my stuff is gone."

"You want to know what I want." Artemis noted as she crossed her arms. "I guess I just wanted to do something good…something other than this."

Phantom looked up at the girl. She seemed conflicted. "Then you're a rare sort of person Artemis. Thank you for helping me. Most would have just left me there, or even went to the police, I owe you one."

Phantom extended his hand to shake her hand. Artemis merely looked at the hand for moment, then she took the hand. "No problem."

"Really?" Phantom raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't a problem with your parents…"

He looked into her eyes. Almost instantly, he was filled with a sense of déjà vu. Had he seen here before? She looked so familiar…No, he hadn't seen here, but she looked like…

Naw…

"My parents…aren't around." Artemis looked away.

Phantom made no sound. He wasn't one to judge, so he didn't comment. All he said was, "Okay."

Feeling somewhat better, Phantom stood. "I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but I have to go. There's a job I have to finish."

"Is that why you're here, and in disguise?" Artemis questioned.

Phantom figured she had the right to know. "Yeah, I need to infiltrate the GIW base. This suit hides my ectoplasm signature."

"I was wondering why you were in Gotham. After what happened in Amity Park, everyone thought you'd be long gone." Artemis noted.

"Yeah, it's a complicated…Wait? The GIW actually revealed what happened in Amity Park?" Phantom was surprised.

"Yeah…wait." Artemis activated her Tibo and rewinded the show. "It was on a little bit before you woke up."

"…Riot of Amity Park! Danny Phantom has indoctrinated an entire city behind him! Each and every one of them broke the law when they tried to stop the GIW from doing their jobs! Phantom and Spirit resisted arrest and attacked the GIW agents. Dedicated to their little 'heroes'," Venom rolled off of Godfrey's tongue at that word. "The people of Amity Park intervened.

"Now, the entire city is under lock down. Patrols have been set to make sure these rebels don't attack…"

"What kind of bullshit is this?!" Phantom growled. "This has be illegal."

"Now many people are crying out saying that this is unconstitutional, but I say it's necessary to keep the world safe. Amity Park is the ghost capital of the world, and all the ghosts will come out there! Eventually, the people of Amity Park will come around." Godfrey grinned. "Like Vladimir Masters and his family. They were intelligent and distanced themselves from Amity Park. They quickly allowed the GIW to take action and remove all the illegal ecto-weaponry from their home…"

"Since when?" Phantom questioned. "I read that bill hundreds of times. There was nothing in it about that!"

"It was added after Red Huntress fought the GIW." Artemis noted. "You can imagine the controversy. Breaking the second Amendment and all that…People were especially mad when one of Godfrey's people was arrested. Harriet…something."

Phantom clinched his teeth and growled. Another friend was suffering because of him...

"…it has been a few days since the Anti-Ectoterroist act has been passed. Since then, there have been no sightings of the heroes known as Danny Phantom, Spirit, and Red Huntress. This is a problem! The ghosts have probably retreated to the ghost world to plan a rebellion, and the human? Who knows what she's doing!? Soon, though, the GIW will find her and arrest the 'hero.' Then-"

Boom! Crash! Phantom had enough of that. He took out his pistol and shot the television.

"…You shot my TV." Artemis glared.

"I can't believe this…" Phantom growled. "I should have paid attention…"

"You shot my TV." Artemis once again said.

"I was just so focused on finding the base. Damn it…" Phantom trembled in anger.

"You shot my TV."

"I'll buy you a new one!" Phantom pulled a couple wads of cash and handed them to her. "In fact get an upgrade!"

Artemis gave him a flat look.

"I…I'm sorry." Phantom collapsed onto the couch. He placed his head in his hands. "It's been a bad week. I…" Tears formed in Phantom's eyes. The stress was too much. Everything he loved was falling apart all around him.

Artemis was shocked. She didn't think a hero could cry. "It's okay…What…what happened?"

Phantom wiped his eyes and looked up. He didn't know if he should tell her. "You sure you want to know?"

"…Yes…"

"The GIW killed my best friend." Phantom growled. "So, I'm gonna tear their organization apart, but to do that, I have to get info on them."

It was part-way the truth. He did want his revenge, but he was also going to stop the potential war in the process. It wasn't like he could tell her that, though.

"…do you need help?" Artemis questioned.

"Probably, but I don't know who to turn to. The criminals already…" Phantom realized what she meant. "Are you offering?"

"Yes." Aremis nodded.

"You got anything to hide your face?" Phantom questioned.

"That's your question? Really? Aren't you going to ask if I'm sure or what I can do?" Artemis seemed amused.

"One: you don't like the person to offer help without meaning it. Two: I'm not that stupid. I can tell you've been trained. You've been glancing at my guns every couple of seconds, ready to grab them if necessary." Artemis blushed in embarrassment at that. "Three: I'm not in any position to turn down any help, especially from someone who has proven to be trustworthy."

Artemis stared at him for a moment then smiled. "You are something else."

"I am…" Phantom nodded.

"Alright, lead on, white rabbit." Artemis grinned.

"White rabbit? You mean my hair?" Phantom touched his long white hair.

"Something like that…" Artemis stated. She had found her rabbit hole…

(A few hours later…)

"Okay this isn't a job we can do without a plan." Red X pointed to the bulletin board. "I managed to get a schematic of the inside of the base."

"How?" Artemis questioned. Her appearance was hidden by a backup disguise belt. She now appeared to have black hair and pail skin. She was also wearing simple black gear for the plan.

"From the Internet. The GIW aren't the smartest people at times. They bought a building by the docks and didn't change anything." Red X chuckled. "I figured out that the south end has the weakest security, and with your help, Catwoman, we'll get in quickly and efficiently."

Memory sequence begin

"Hello, Miss Kyle…" Red X petted one of the many cats on the couch as the woman walked into her apartment.

The woman tensed as she saw that masked man on her couch. "How did you get in here!?"

Red X twirled a green key in his free hand. "I have my ways…"

The masked man stood and turned to the woman. She was very beautiful. Her black leather costume clung to her curvaceous body and come up into a cat ears hood which hid her short brown hair.

"You…" Catwoman relaxed a little when she saw who it was. "You're the one that's caused that big ruckus yesterday. You sure have Batman stirred up, you know. An explosion in the middle of the Iceberg Lounge courtesy of your horn, Killer Croc going on a rampage because of your fake money, and Scarecrow being beaten to group along with a bunch of government agents…The brooding one is angry, but I thought it was funny."

"They were sellouts." Red X noted. "Something I know you would never do."

"Very true." Catwoman sat in a nearby chair. Her three cats instantly flocked to her. "But from what I heard, you're not the most trustworthy business partner."

Red X threw her a thick wad of cash. Catwoman caught the wad. They were all one hundred dollar bills. "You can check them if you want. They're not fake and I'm paying you upfront."

Catwoman inspected the money carefully. After a few minutes, she said. "It's real and… a lot. What exactly do you want done?"

"I need help sneaking into highly secured building. I want to hire you as a consultant." Red X explained.

Catwoman smiled. "You have my attention."

Memory sequence end

"We'll be causing a huge disturbance." Red X noted. "Batman will quickly take notice."

"That's bad…" Catwoman noted.

"It is, so I've planned a distraction." Red X stated.

"What could more important than a full on assault on a government building?"

"The one person Batman could never ignore…" Red X didn't want to use that guy, but he was the best plan…

Memory sequence begin

"heheheHaHaHaHAHAHAHAHAH!" The Joker laughed insanely as he felt cold metal of an ecto-gun pressed against the back of his head.

Various thugs were unconscious all around them. They didn't stand a chance against Red X. The blond haired girl, Harley Quin, tried to attack him too, but Red X had no problems hitting girls. She was knocked as quickly as the others.

"I don't know how you thing this is funny." Red X noted. "I could easily kill you."

"But will you?" Joker smiled.

"I'm willing to…" Red X growled. "If you try anything funny."

"Hahahahah!" Joker seemed delighted. "A joke!? I already like you better than mean old Batsy!"

"Shut up!" Red X kicked out Joker's knees. The clown fell painfully to the ground. "I'm not here to joke. I'm here to get you to do what I want."

"We all want something, like right now I want to cut that mask of your corpse." Joker said with a smile.

"I'm already a corpse." Red X pointed his gun at the downed clown. "And I'll make you one too."

"Oh, I don't-"

Bang!

"Gah!" Joker shouted in pain as Red X shot him in the leg. "Ah! You shot me!? The hero doesn't shoot the villain!"

"I'm not the hero." Red X laughed darkly. "I'm the man losing his patience. Now listen, I'm going to give you weapons. You are going to go into the middle of town. You are going to draw the attention of the Batman. Any questions?"

"…What type of weapons?"

Memory sequence end

"Now, even if the security is lighter at the south, we're still going to have to distract the GIW. From the east side, you'll be sniping people, Tigress." Red X called the hidden blond what they agreed.

"And this won't kill anything?" Huntress questioned as she held up her ectoplasmic sniping rifle.

"No, it's powered down. It will hurt, but won't kill…I'd avoid head shots though." Red X noted.

"Got it."

"Okay, from the west side, this will be causing problems." Red X held up a spear.

"How will that help?" Catwoman questioned.

"It belonged to a powerful being. It can harness electrical powers." Red X explained. "I'll stab it in the ground on the west side. Electricity will surge through the area for ten minutes, but after that it will explode from overuse….or at least it will in theory. I only ran a few tests…"

"Who owned that spear?" Huntress asked.

"The Controller of Chaos," Red X answered. "Now, when we enter the base, I'll place a huge explosion. That way, there won't be any suspicion, but there will be no immediate danger after that, so the GIW will focus on the other sides, especially the north."

"Why the north?" Catwoman asked.

"They'll be having a lizard problem." Red X showed them an amulet.

They were almost ready. Red X kidnapped on of the GIW, hid him, and placed the Amulet of Aragon on the unconscious man's body. He would be woken by electric electric shock when they were ready.

Artemis as Huntress would open fire when he gave the signal. Hopefully, she would be able to last long enough to give him and Catwoman enough time to get what they needed. If not, she knew where to retreat.

All he needed now was to place the spear. He would head over to the west section, and the plan would be set into motion.

"Was it wise to give Joker weapons?" Catwoman asked from their hiding place behind some crates.

"Don't worry," Red X smiled under his mask. "In a few moments, the weapons will short circuit and explode, not big enough to kill anyone, though."

"…Should I feel threatened?" Catwoman questioned. "You've turned on almost everyone you've worked with. What's to stop you from betraying me?"

"Those fools planned to betray me from the start, so I acted before they did." Red X explained. "This time, I haven't acted before, so you do have the chance to betray me. Just know this, if you screw me over, I won't come after you…"

"That doesn't seem like much of a threat." Catwoman noted.

"What was that girl's name…Holly?" Red X questioned.

Catwoman tensed.

"Poor girl. Doesn't have much to rely on." Red X sighed. "Be terrible if she lost an arm or something."

"I get it…" Catwoman said through gritted teeth.

"Good, I need this to go right." Red X moved into the direction of the west entrance. "I'll be back."

"Asshole…" Catwoman mumbled, but Red X still heard it.

As he traveled, Red X had to question himself. Why was he acting this way? Threatening people? Interrogating without a second thought? Betraying at a moment's notice?

Had Klemper's death really affected him that badly? Maybe…or…

Red X looked into a window. He could see his reflection. The mask and suit truly were intimidating. Danny could barely recognize himself as he played the role of a mercenary.

What did Jazz call it? Social role? She went on about some prison experiment for some time. Something about how even the most normal of people would act differently if they were placed in a specific situation.

Was he acting this way because of the suit? Was the role of the mercenary Red X so powerful it changed his very morals? It was possible…

Looking away from his reflection, Danny sighed. He didn't particularly like what he was doing. He was being a huge asshole, but it was necessary. This had to be done.

When he got to the west side, the masked man stood on top of a building across from the Red X pulled Pandora's spear out of the portable Fenton Crammer. Then he waited and listened to his Fenton Phones.

"Hahahahahaha!" Joker's insane laughter hit the bug he planted on the weapons. "Let's see if these things work on people just like they do on-Ah!"

There goes the short-circuit function. The Joker and his thugs probably dropped the guns just in time to avoid the small explosions. Red X wondered if the Joker thought that was funny.

Deciding that now was the time, Red X threw the spear. It landed a few meters away from the west entrance. Electricity surged outwards.

Red X quickly retreated back to Catwoman. He knew that the GIW would respond quickly. Thus, he decided to divide their attention. Pulling out a trigger button, Red X quickly shocked the GIW agent at the north entrance.

"ROAR!" A black dragon appeared at the north entrance.

This was the signal for Artemis. She was probably snipping GIW as soon as she saw the dragon…After she got over her shock at least.

"That is…surprising." Catwoman noted. "I don't think I want that piece of jewelry."

"No, you don't." Red X pulled the bomb. "I'll plant this when we get to the entrance."

"That…" Catwoman mad a face. "Isn't a bomb. It's a broken scythe tied to what looks like a sword made of glass."

Red X chuckled. "You'd be surprised."

BOOM!

Red X had planted on of his explosive x's on the two weapons. The explosion broke of the ice and fire ectoplasm holding the weapons together. The conflicting energies multiplied the explosion several times over.

"Damn…" Catwoman noted as they moved through the base. "I am surprised."

"Told you…" Red X followed the woman. Most of the GIW agents were busy dealing with the problems at the other entrance. With the explosion, they would have to be careful for any GIW coming their way. Most likely, however, the agents would stay on the upper floors to scan the area just to make sure there wasn't more of those explosions.

By the time they got to the main place of operations, Red X was incredibly grateful that he brought Catwoman. If he went in alone, he would have gotten caught for sure, but Catwoman knew how to keep hidden.

She pulled him into closets to avoid approaching GIW. She led him threw larger vents to avoid patrols. She even had to knock out a few agents by using silent take-downs.

"This is it…" Red X noted as he peaked into the entrance. There were only four agents in there. They appeared to be directing the other agents. "Two each, I got the ones on the left."

"Got it…"

Red X sneaked behind his two agents. He grabbed the two agents into chokes and activated his electric gauntlets. They were shocked unconscious in moments.

"You good?" Red X asked his companion.

"Yep." Catwoman walked over the unconscious bodies of the GIW agents she knocked out.

The room they were in had several computers. Each seemed to be running complicated programs. There seemed to be a large main computer at the front, however.

"They didn't have time to lock any of their programs…" Red X noted happily as he plugged in his Tucker Phone. All the data would be downloaded in a few moments, but until then, he decided to look at the important things.

After a few minutes of reading, Red X felt his blood run cold. This was not what he was hoping to find. No, this was bad. It was very bad… "Son of a…" He growled.

"What?" Catwoman questioned.

"Nothing. I just thought this download would be faster." Red X noted.

Beep! It was done.

"Well, no need to freak out." She rolled her eyes. "It's done."

"Right, let's go." Rex X noted as he unplugged his phone.

"That was unbelievable!" Artemis smiled as she plopped down on her couch. "I've never had that much fun."

"Careful…it's addictive." Phantom sighed as he pulled of his mask. After exiting the base, he separated from Catwoman whose job was done and retrieved the amulet by teleporting in and out of the area with the dragon. Then, he turned to the meeting place.

"What's wrong? You look sick." Artemis noted.

Phantom looked at her. She had proven to be loyal and trustworthy. Concidering that she risked herself for this, she deserved to know. "I wasn't completely honest to you about my reasons for attacking the base."

"Really…" She didn't seem to like that.

"The truth is that there has been some tension in the Ghost Zone for months now. An old and wise ghost thinks that the humans are planning to invade the Ghost Zone. I managed to stop a preemptive strike, but everyone is still on the edge." Phantom sighed. "I thought things would calm down, but then the Anti-Ectoterrorist Act was passed. My family and I were attacked. One of us were killed, that part was true…"

"So there is still some revenge there…" Artemis still seemed on edge but for different reasons.

"I would be lying if I said no." Phantom noted. "But I mostly came here to try and prevent war. If I could prove that the GIW couldn't attack or didn't plan to attack the Ghost Zone, then everything would be fine. But…"

"But what?" Artemis questioned.

"There is a problem. The thing that killed my friend…there are hundreds more. Not only that, they developed technology to temporarily tear holes into the Ghost Zone." Phantom closed his eyes in frustration. "They aren't planning to attack the Ghost Zone. They're planning eradicate all ghosts…"

"What are you going to do?" Artemis questioned.

"What I have to in order to prevent this war…" Phantom once again looked at his new friend. "Thank you for everything you did to help me. Words can't explain how much it means to me. I couldn't have done this without you."

"Don't mention it." Artemis smiled at the praise.

Phantom handed her a piece of paper. "This is my number. If you ever need anything call. I'd be happy to help, but…I'd call that favor in soon. I don't know if I'll be able to fulfill it by the end of all this…"

"Thanks…" Artemis took the paper.

"And Artemis…"

"Yes?"

"On May twenty-fifth…get out of Gotham. In fact, get everyone you care about and get out of this city. Don't tell them why, but make sure they are not here or in any major city on the twenty-fifth."

"Why?"

"Because on that day…all hell is gonna break loose."