[Third Person's PoV]
A chilling, childlike laugh echoed throughout the abandoned factory. "Hihihihihi."
The men inside immediately raised their weapons, their eyes darting around nervously.
"Who's there?" one of them shouted, his flashlight sweeping across the room.
The beam caught a fleeting shadow on the wall, and chaos erupted. Bullets ricocheted as the guards fired wildly. But as they unleashed their panic, the overhead lights began to shatter one by one, plunging the factory into creeping darkness.
Flashlights flickered to life as the guards tried to regain control, but the laughter grew louder, reverberating from every direction. The men tightened their grips on their weapons, their breaths quick and shallow.
Robin, perched silently on the second-floor rafters, observed the chaos. With a swift, silent leap, he landed behind a guard who was shining his flashlight at the ground. Crouching low, Robin crept closer. Before the man could react, Robin clamped a hand over his mouth, disarmed him in one fluid motion, and knocked him out cold.
Using his grappling hook, he shot upward and disappeared into the shadows, already seeking his next target.
Meanwhile, Danny hovered unseen, observing a group of three guards moving cautiously through the darkened factory. Possessing one of them, Danny spoke with a trembling voice, "W-W-What is that?"
The other two guards spun around, their weapons and flashlights aimed in the direction of where Danny was pointing.
"What? What are you talking about?"
Danny smirked through his borrowed vessel and grabbed their heads, slamming them together with a resounding crack. Both men crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Danny floated out of his host, leaving the possessed guard dazed, then delivered a quick punch to knock him out as well.
Invisible again, Danny flew through the air, hearing the heavy steps of reinforcements running above. Positioning himself below the group, he pressed his hands to the ceiling and concentrated.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" came the screams as the floor above turned intangible. The guards tumbled down in a chaotic heap, groaning as they hit the ground.
Danny charged his fingers with ghostly energy, firing non-lethal blasts to knock them out.
"Everyone, gather around!" one of the remaining guards shouted. "They're picking us off one by one! Stay together!"
The remaining guards regrouped, forming a tight circle as they descended the stairs, their weapons and flashlights pointed in all directions.
"Call for Grundy!"
"Yeah! This has to be Batman! Let Grundy deal with him!"
Their plan was short-lived. Small metal spheres skittered across the floor, landing at their feet. A second later, tear gas erupted from the devices, enveloping the guards in choking clouds.
A mocking voice echoed out of the smoke. "Idiots~ Now I don't even have to hunt you down. Thanks for making my job easier."
Robin leapt into the fray, a gas mask strapped to his face and a metal bo staff in hand. With calculated precision, he began dismantling the group one by one in the smoke-filled chaos, which was filled with sounds of coughing, grunting and weapons firing.
While Robin handled the main group, Danny focused on clearing the remaining rooms. He phased his head through a nearby wall, spotting a man with a gun aimed at the door, ready to fire. Behind him, a group of frightened women huddled together, they were wearing face masks and had gloves on, Danny suspected they were the ones who configured the drugs.
Danny pulled back, assessing the situation. Moving silently to the man's blind spot, Danny phased his hands through the wall and grabbed him. Before the guard could react, Danny slammed him repeatedly into the wall until he collapsed.
The women screamed in fear as Danny phased into the room, hands raised in an attempt to calm them down. Unfortunately, his sudden appearance only made them scream louder.
"Shhh, shhh, it's okay… It's all okay… You're going to be fine," Danny said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.
The women, though still uneasy, began to calm down as they noticed Danny's youthful appearance. He was just a kid.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uhh…" he stammered, clearly trying to find the right words. This was new territory for him. "Everything's going to be over soon. Just stay here and don't open the door for anyone. Even if they say they're Girl Scouts. Especially them. Those girls appear sweet trying to sell you cookies but those girls are bloodsuckers they would suck you dry of every cent you have."
The women stared at him, confused by his odd comment. Danny's face reddened, and he quickly disappeared through the wall into the next room, muttering under his breath.
Few of the women couldn't help but chuckle despite their situation, Danny's antics offering a moment of levity.
Danny continued moving room to room, systematically taking out any remaining guards. By the time he was done, Robin's voice crackled through his earpiece.
"Phantom, I've cleared my end. You?"
Danny tapped his earpiece. "Just finished. I was about to check if there's an underground floor… Crkkt, over."
A brief pause. Then: "...Did you just make a static sound with your mouth?"
"...No… Must be these faulty earpieces. Over," Danny replied, feigning innocence.
"These are the latest models," Robin deadpanned. "Made personally by Batman. I wonder how he'd feel if I told him you called them faulty."
"Snitch," Danny muttered, clicking his tongue.
Robin sighed. "Anyway, come get me. Checking the basement is a good idea."
"Hmm? What was that? Over," Danny teased.
"I said come get me! The basement's a good place to check!"
"Still not catching that. Over."
Robin's voice turned flat. "...Are you just doing this to say 'over'?"
"To say what? Over," Danny replied, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Robin groaned. "Fine. Come get me… over."
"There we go," Danny said, suddenly appearing above Robin. Landing gracefully, he looked him over and noticed a few small cuts.
Danny grabbed Robin's shoulders, mock concern on his face. "Were they too much for you, Bird Boy?"
Robin scoffed. "They pulled out knives after I disarmed their firearms, I for one, can't turn intangible,"
The duo made their way down to the basement, the air growing colder as they descended. The moment they stepped into the dimly lit storage room, their eyes fell on stacks of cocaine packets and other drugs, neatly packed and ready for distribution.
"Well, this looks promising," Danny muttered.
Bang!
"Argh!" Danny cried out as a bullet tore through his arm, green ectoplasmic goo spraying from the wound.
Robin reacted instantly, tackling Danny to the ground and rolling them behind a metal shelf for cover. A barrage of bullets riddled the space they had just been standing in, perforating Robin's cape with multiple holes.
"I got one!" a voice shouted triumphantly.
"Good! Keep firing!" another barked.
Robin crouched low, eyes scanning the room. "Let me see," he said urgently, motioning to Danny's arm.
Danny winced but held out his arm, revealing the gaping hole in his bicep oozing green ectoplasm. "It's fine," Danny grunted, his voice strained. "It's not as bad as it looks."
Robin scowled. "You've got a hole in your arm, Danny. That qualifies as bad."
Robin pulled a birdarang from his belt and hurled it toward the gunmen. The birdarang exploded on one of the cocaine packets, filling the area with a thick white mist. The gunfire ceased momentarily as the attackers struggled to regain visibility. Wasting no time, Robin grabbed Danny and carried him to a safer spot behind a stack of crates.
Kneeling beside Danny, Robin reached into his utility belt to grab medical supplies, but Danny stopped him with an outstretched hand.
"Wait," Danny said through gritted teeth.
Robin paused as Danny grabbed his injured arm tightly, biting his lip in concentration. A faint green glow emanated from the wound as ectoplasm from within and around the injury began to coalesce, trembling as it slowly pulled together to seal the hole.
Robin watched, stunned. "What the hell are you doing?" he whispered, his eyes darting to the shadows as the sound of reloading echoed around them.
Danny exhaled shakily, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "I can manipulate ectoplasm, remember? Since I'm basically made of the stuff, I can use it to heal myself… but it takes a lot—"
Whoosh!
A white ring of light appeared around Danny's waist, splitting into two as one ring moved upward and the other downward. In seconds, Danny Phantom was gone, leaving Danny Fenton in his place.
"—out of me," Danny finished weakly, slumping against the crates. "Well… darn."
Robin stared at him, his expression equal parts disbelief and exasperation. "You're kidding me."
Luckily, Danny had anticipated this kind of situation. A black domino mask concealed his eyes, but it didn't make their predicament much better.
"This is bad," Robin muttered, his mind racing as the sounds of boots and muffled voices approached.
Danny forced a shaky smile. "Understatement of the year."
Robin rolled his eyes, pulling out another birdarang. "Stay down and let me handle this. Try not to get shot again, you are now made out of flesh and blood, not green goo."
"No promises," Danny mumbled, reaching for a nearby piece of metal as an improvised weapon.
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