So it's been a while since I've written or updated any Danny Phantom stories, so I'm deciding to rewrite one of my old ones—Arbitrary. I posted a notice as the confirmation for Arbitrary's discontinuation, so I hope everyone got the notice. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Title: Corpse Flower

Rating: M

Summary: My mind is a dark place, an endless abyss filled with horrors that no sane person could ever dream of. Everything I care about is gone, and I am constantly on the run as I struggle to control my demons. But my dark past is rapidly catching up with me, and my sanity continues to slip by the day. It hasn't helped that I'm now stuck with a bunch of egotistical superhumans, either. I just hope I don't end up killing them, too.

Warnings: Schizophrenia, Extreme Gore, Masochism, Sadism, Torture, Graphic Descriptions of Illness, Graphic Descriptions of Corpses, Slight Necrophilia

Author Notes: Heed the warnings, as I have stated multiple times. Also, I don't own Danny Phantom or the Avengers. Let's just be glad that I don't, okay? Enjoy the story and don't forget to like, follow, and review, please!

You cannot run from the shadows, but you can invite them to dance. That is what I have learned in the past few years.

My demons will always continue to haunt me, and I know that no matter how hard I try, it is only the cruel hand of fate that guides my wandering soul. I can feel it now—its swollen, fleshy arms cradling my body and mind in an embrace that warned me of its sheer power, of how easy it would be to tighten its grasp and wrench the life out of me.

Currently, I feel...somewhat protected. I've always had this sort of paranoia where I glance over my shoulder every two seconds to see if someone is following me, but that's always been there. No, what's changed is that the monsters that had followed me ceased to be ages ago. They had heard about my fate and had stopped following me for fear of their afterlives. I couldn't exactly blame them. I was far from stable at the moment.

A chill raced its way down my spine and I suddenly found myself gasping for air. No. I couldn't lose control here, not now, and certainly not with all of these people here.

Daniel...

I whipped around, my eyes wide and my breathing shaky. My aura flared out—oh, so wide and filled with fear; tremble in fear my darling little bag of flesh—and I could almost swear my vision flashed crimson and I was submerged in a lake of molten lava.

My throat burned as I held back my screams—my cries of pain; no, leave me alone and don't come closer—and blinked to clear the violent ruby tint from my eyes.

There was no one there.

Keep calm, Fenton. Now isn't the time to lose your cool.

My mind hissed curses and warnings at me, and my fingers began to twitch at my sides. My aura was pulsing wildly, and my mouth had become dangerously dry. I coughed, attempting to lessen the aching fire in my throat.

Keep running, and running, and running. Don't look behind you, and don't you dare stop, my dear little boy. Because I will always be there, watching you, hunting you, until the day you succumb to your deepest desires.

I gagged, swaying on my feet again as I breathed heavily through my nose. I trembled from head to toe, struggling to keep my balance as the world around me was coated in the blood of those victims—what am I saying, they're my victims, the ones I hurt—that had screamed for mercy and forgiveness.

I laughed softly, crimson fluid coating my hands. Blood, all around me, like a viscous sticky blanket warming the dew-stained grass...

I paused in my pacing to lean against the stained wall behind me, my legs giving out and forcing me to slide into a position somewhat similar to a crouch. My mind whirled and the blood was beginning to turn my field of vision into something else, something different. Not entirely unwanted, either—

I jolted in my makeshift seat as a heavy fist pounded on the motel room door.

"Mister? Are you okay in there?"

What? When had I—?

"I'm coming in now! I've called the cops!"

The...cops? What was—did they mean the police?

Heat surged within me, making me cry out and curl over myself.

Your mind will crumble beneath my fingers, like decaying stone and flesh from the ageless bodies of our victims. You will never cease to be and I will never cease to be, and our desires will tear you to shreds. Your blood will coat the walls of the asylum and the cavernous, never-ending tunnel of your sanity will continue to get darker and darker until all you know is the blackness of your soul. You will be afraid of the darkness, and you will be afraid of your own soul.

My eyes shifted down, and it was then that I realized I was covered in drying, tacky blood. But I didn't remember anything—why had they called the police?

Honestly, my dear Daniel. You killed someone, don't you see? You held someone's life in your hands and made them beg like the pitiful worm they were. You do remember what I told you about suffering, don't you, my boy?

Damn it. I had to get out of here.

I could hear the sirens in the distance. They were getting closer.

My nausea snarled at me as I staggered to my feet, and I took a brief second to compose myself before grabbing my backpack and unlatching the lock on the window.

The darkness of the night embraced me with poisonous arms.

She watched the strange teen from a distance, her body pressed against the cold, slick cement of the building roof.

He was covered in blood, and there was a haunted look in the depths of his multi-colored eyes.

For a moment, the young man almost looked as if he were enjoying being on the run.

She tensed as he froze suddenly, his hands twitching at his sides. His head swiveled to the side, and she watched intently as the light of the streetlamps reflected off of his gaze.

There.

His eyes flashed crimson in the artificial light.

Rising to her feet slowly, she raised a hand and pressed it against the communicator in her ear.

"The target has been found. Further investigation is required. Radio silence will be maintained until the mission is complete."

She turned and headed for the stairs leading to the parking garage beneath her.

Her car was waiting for her, devoid of any distinguishable markings that would make her stand out any more than she needed to. Her keys jangled, echoing eerily in the blackened silence as she unlocked the door.

A chill worked its way down her spine, and she slowed her movements, her keys slipping from her grasp. As she bent over to pick them up, she took in her surroundings. There was a flickering fluorescent light a few yards from her, and a few other lone cars parked. An icy wind blew, and she shivered slightly as she tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened to her full height.

Two burning crimson eyes tore into her soul through the darkness of the night.

Leaping away and putting a few feet of space between her and the monster, she took a knife from a hidden sheath and kept a steady grip on its glazed wooden handle. In any other circumstance, she would have used her gun automatically, but it would cause too much noise and cause a commotion.

The teen continued to watch her, his molten gaze tracking every movement she made. He tilted his head to the side as a faint frown pulled at the corner of his lips, and the iciness of the air became more powerful as he rocked slowly on the balls of his feet.

Moving without warning, the teen lurched forward and slammed into the spy, using his momentum to push her far enough to slam her into the nearest wall. She gasped as the breath was knocked out of her, raising her watering eyes to meet the young man's stare.

His pale face was eerily devoid of emotion as he stared down at her, coldness surrounding his body and darkness concealing his movements. He shifted slightly, and then his long and skeletal fingers were trailing over the swell of her breasts, stopping just above her heart.

Her eyes widened and she tried to slash at him with the knife, but he leaned forward and pressed his body weight into her, his free hand pushing at the arm holding the knife. She cried out as bones snapped and her now-useless hand dropped the weapon, a dark sense of fear filling her to the core.

The man's tongue lashed out, trailing over his lips. His breath was strangely cold, and he was trembling slightly as a sheen of sweat shone on the expanse of his skin.

She clenched her teeth together, terror and rage filling her heart. She twisted her other hand, a blade extending from a hidden sheath as she pointed the tip at the monster's stomach and pushed her arm forward.

He barely even flinched as the knife sunk deep into his body, sliding easily past layers of skin and flesh and grazing over the surface of his bone as she attempted to bury the blade within him. Crimson and green blood stained his shirt briefly before his flesh visibly trembled and the wounds sealed off, trapping the knife within him.

Something similar to disappointment burned in his eyes, startling her slightly—no matter if it was an act, the monster was known for being incapable of showing emotion, so she couldn't help but wonder how he was doing it now and if it was an act. For a brief moment, the expressionless look vanished as he stared down at her through glazed eyes.

Her eyes widened as the pressure on her chest increased suddenly, and her body jerked in shock. She barely had time to scream as his fingers tore through her flesh and muscle and bone, her body jerking again as his hand brushed over her wildly beating heart.

She wondered how his face could be so inexpressive as he wrapped his hand around her heart and squeezed, sending her into an eternal darkness.

I did it again.

I did it again, I did it again, I did it again.

I had watched the light go out of her eyes and had reveled in grim satisfaction at the feeling of her blood coating my hands.

I lurched to the side, breathing heavily as the world tilted on its axis around me. My heart pounded in my ears, blood racing throughout my body, and a wave of unrelenting heat washed over me. I gasped as the invisible hands around my throat tightened their grasp, and I doubled over as I attempted to breathe correctly.

Daniel, you must stop doing this. We cannot have you passing out every second.

Why don't you learn to shut up sometimes?

My, my. Someone's in a touchy mood.

A growl rumbled in the back of my throat as bile stung my mouth, and I bent over again to choke up my last meal. My eyes watering, I took a deep, gasping breath and leaned heavily against the alley wall, the formerly subtle pounding in the back of my head roaring its fury.

I had to get this under control. To keep control of myself long enough that I didn't hurt anyone else.

—why sugarcoat it, huh? You know what you did...you killed that woman—

I whined, tangling my hands in my thick forest of raven hair as I began to rock back and forth. No, no, no. It wasn't me—that wasn't me, it was all him—

Liar. You enjoyed it, don't you know? Or don't you remember staring at her lovely face and groaning as you imagined her lips around your—

Stop it, stop it, stop it.

My heart was racing, and I was finding it difficult to breathe. Acid fire ran throughout my body as I trembled harshly.

He growled in the back of my mind, suddenly wary and concerned. Daniel, what are you doing? Don't do this now—

"Shut up." I staggered to my feet, hissing in pain as my sense of balance was disrupted and my shoulder slammed into the ragged brick wall.

I had to get out of here. It was the only logical thing to do, and that woman had been a part of some government agency that would send every man and woman they had after me for killing one of their top agents.

See? Now you admit it, don't you?

You're not helping anything, you know.

Oh, I do. I just love messing with you.

Jerk.

I shuddered as the light of the early morning began to burn away the demons clawing at my back.

"Sir, we have a problem."

The aged African-American man turned, the scars beneath his eyepatch reflecting the harsh lighting above him with a gruesome efficiency. "What?"

Letting out a deep breath, the government agent held out a thin manila file. "It's been suggested that this takes top priority." The agent nodded and turned away, briskly leaving the room.

Nick Fury pressed his lips into a thin line and pressed a button on the large keyboard before him. "Coulson, Maria, get down here now."

In almost record time, the impassive man and the spitfire woman entered simultaneously.

Scowling deeply, the SHIELD Director spread out the file before them on the table. "It's happened again."

Coulson scanned over the file, his expression unchanging even as he took in the horrific scene. "I could have sworn we sent out an agent that wouldn't have been caught."

"He's getting better, that's for sure." Fury crossed his arms, clenching his jaw together.

"We can't keep sending people out there to die. This thing clearly has no remorse and doesn't care about the mess he leaves behind," Maria stated grimly, looking slightly pale as her gaze wandered back to the scene of the crime.

"I suppose, then, that we have no other option." Coulson's dry voice seemed heavier than usual as he stared intently at the director.

Fury's nostrils flared briefly, and a vein pulsed on his temple. "No, we do not. Get the protocols ready and have them completed in the next hour. I want them all on standby, but don't send anyone out without my say-so."

Hill flipped the file shut as a bead of sweat slithered down the side of her face. "Sir, what about the initiative programs?"

"Out of the question. They are the only ones who can deal with this type of threat, and I don't think they'll appreciate being mere cannon fodder."

Fury turned and headed for the window, linking his arms behind the small of his back.

"Call Stark and tell him to get here. Now."

As Maria and Coulson both headed off to their respective tasks, the Director of SHIELD let out a heavy breath through his nose and glared down at the land beneath him.

I hope the Avengers can contain this situation before it gets any worse.

The next chapter will be up by the end of next week. Let me know what you think!