Chapter 10

Danny sat at the table in his home, or rather what was left of his home after he and Blackheart trashed it. He had his hand against his head, and he looked absolutely miserable. Tired, and broken. There was a cup of coffee in front of him, given to him by his mother. The police had tried to question them over what happened, but Agent Romanoff drove them all away with false stories that were surprisingly believable. Jazz had just been taken by an ambulance. She would live. But Sam...

Danny put his face in his hands. Why did this have to happen? What did he do to deserve all of this?

Danny could hear his mother arguing with Mr. and Mrs. Manson over the phone. When they had heard what happened to their daughter, the two parents went into hysterics and immediately started blaming Danny, spouting out insults at him and calling him a delinquent who corrupted their little girl. Danny, not in the mood for their stupidity, locked himself in his room for hours, not talking to anyone. His parents drove the meddlesome Mansons away, but they continued to make threats over the phone. It seemed they had every intent to make Danny suffer.

"You can't keep blaming my son!" Maddie shouted angrily. "You think he wanted your daughter to die? Yes, I went there... Then find someone else to torture instead of wasting your time with us... She's dead now. It's not like making us feel bad about it will bring her back..."

Danny flinched when his mother said that. While he knew it was just said to make the Mansons back off, he still felt a pang of sadness at that.

As if sensing her son's sorrow, Maddie sighed. "Whatever. I'm done with you people. Goodbye."

Maddie hung up the phone, and walked into the kitchen, looking at her son. "You alright honey?"

Danny looked at his mom. "What do you think?"

Maddie sat down next to her son, pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I can't imagine how you must feel."

Danny fell into his mother's embrace. "I told her to stay safe. Why wouldn't she listen... why would she..."

"Because she cared."

Danny and Maddie looked up to see Agent Romanoff, who looked at the pair with sorrowful expression. The two looked at her wearily, and Natasha sighed.

"I'm really sorry for everything that's happened, Danny." Natasha admitted. "I feel as though most of this is my fault."

Danny immediately objected. "It wasn't..."

"Please." Natasha said, lifting her hand up to stop him. "The demons wouldn't have bothered with you if I hadn't agreed to come here. Your girlfriend would be safe at home right now if not for me."

"Agent Romanoff you can't possibly blame yourself for this." Maddie said.

"Force of habit, I guess." Natasha said, plainly.

Maddie sighed. "Would you like me to get you anything."

Natasha smiled. "No thanks."

Danny looked at his coffee for a few moments, and then looked back at Natasha. "Agent Romanoff... why did it wan't me? What was I to it?"

Nat gave Danny a soft smile, and sat down on the chair across from him. "It wanted you, because it saw somebody with great power that it wanted to corrupt. It thought that by destroying those you held most dearly, it would have made you just like it. A monster."

Danny's face turned bitter. "Well it didn't work."

"And we're all thankful for that." Natasha said, smiling. "You're a tuff kid, Danny. We really could use you."

Danny's face fell at those words, and he looked away from Nat. Maddie frowned at Natasha, still not liking the idea that Nat was suggesting. Seeing their reactions, Natasha quickly corrected herself.

"It's up to you. We're not gonna force anything. Especially after what you've been through today."

Danny looked up at Natasha. "You've seen stuff like this, haven't you. Like New York?"

Natasha frowned, and nodded.

"So whose to say something like this won't happen again?" Danny said. "You and your team... the Avengers? You won't always be around to stop it. You'll need all the help you can get."

Natasha's eyes widened slightly, understanding where the boy was getting to. Apparantly, so did Maddie, who looked at her son in surprise.

"Danny... what are you saying?"

"I'm saying this might be a good idea." Danny said. "I don't like the idea of people like that demon walking around putting innocent people at risk. I want to be there to stop them if they try something."

"So... your answer?" Natasha said.

"I'm in." Danny said, a determined look on his face.

Maddie quickly tried to dissuade her son. "Danny... you can't we... I mean... what about all the ghosts?"

Danny sighed, knowing his mother was just trying to come up with a good reason to stop him. "Mom, there are barely any ghosts left anymore, and any ones that do bother to show up, you and dad, hell, even Jazz can easily take down."

"But honey..."

"Please, mom. I want to do this." Danny said.

Maddie looked so uncertain, but she sighed in defeat.

"Ok... you win."

Danny smiled. "Thanks mom."

He looked back at Natasha. "So, when do I start?"

Natasha smiled back. "Well, first I have to call my superior, see if you qualify. Then we'll see."

"What are the chances I don't qualify?"

Natasha smirked. "Very slim."

ooooo

Danny, clad in a normal black hoodie and dark blue jeens, followed Director Fury through S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. It had been three weeks since that horrible day in Amity Park, and a week after she had died, Danny attended Sam's funeral, as well as Valerie's. Sam's parents were there, and they spent the entire service staring at Danny with hatred. He merely returned their glares, not caring what they thought of him anymore. Jazz was released from the hospital two days after that, and was a little surprised that her brother had agreed to Agent Romanoff's invitation. He spent a lot of time with his family after that, still shaken by the experience. Then, a few weeks later, Agent Romanoff finally called back. Fury had agreed to Danny's admission.

They passed by several agents, who looked at Danny in confusion, finding the teenager's presence strange. Danny ignored them.

"I'm glad you were eager to join our little team, Mr. Fenton." Fury said to the boy. "You're the second youngest person to to admitted into the Avengers Initiative."

"The second youngest?" Danny said, confused.

"You'll meet her soon." Fury said.

Her? Danny thought.

Changing the subject, Fury continued. "We've been pretty edgy after that incident in New York. We've been keeping track of every high profile being we could find to add to the ranks. When I get a chance I'll give you the other dossiers of your teammates."

"Thanks." Danny said, and then frowned. "Speaking of New York, what exactly is the story with that? Agent Romanoff said it was an alien attack, but she was a little vague on background info."

Fury's face turned serious. "Well, it kinda goes back to one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biggest technological projects. We called it the Tesseract. It was an extraterrestrial object that harnessed large quantities of energy that we hoped could be used as an unlimited power source. But a month ago, a member of the alien race who created the Tesseract made a deal with another alien race, offering to give them the Tesseract if they gave him their army so he could conquer Earth. So, he came to Earth and used it to open a portal in space that let the alien army loose on Earth. Thankfully, we used this event to reinstate the Avengers Initiative, which had been shut down a few months prior due to lack of global threats to act against. If it wasn't for the Avengers, the aliens would have won."

Danny blinked. "Wow. What happened to the alien who let the army lose on New York?"

"Another of his species had helped us repel him and took him back to their home planet once the battle ended. I'm not sure what they did with him after that."

Danny nodded, and thought some more. Then he frowned. "But... that army. If it wasn't his... then whose was it?"

Fury grimaced. "Well... we really don't know. We got a few leads on his identity and appearance, but other than that we have no clue. But whoever he was, he was powerful enough to threaten our little visitor."

Danny felt a feeling of dread when he heard this. So whoever they were, they were still out there...

He looked back up at Fury, deciding to move onto a different subject. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Combat training center. If you're going to be part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most advanced response team, you're gonna have to improve your fighting skill."

Danny made a face. "And what's wrong with my fighting skill?"

Fury smirked. "I wouldn't know. Haven't really seen you in action. But according to Agent Romanoff, you could use some work."

"Whatever. She's not the one who got her ass kicked." Danny said. "Is anyone else undergoing training right now?"

"Just one. That other initiate I told you about." Fury said, and then glanced at Danny. "You might like her. She could use someone to talk to."

Before Danny could respond, the two entered a large training room. Danny looked around at the huge empty space and the mat set out across the ground. Standing on the mat was a woman with ivory skin, brown curly hair, and light freckles. She was talking to this younger looking girl, whom Danny found quite cute. She looked very young, but Danny could tell she was close to his age. She had bright blue eyes, light clear skin, and beautiful blonde hair then went down to her shoulders.

The two women saw Danny and Fury enter, and smiled.

"Nick." The brown haired woman said.

"Agent Wrekk." Fury said, and then motioned at Danny. "I'd like you to meet Danny Fenton, our new recruit."

Danny waved nervously at the woman, who looked him up and down, and then smiled.

"Ah. The Ghost Boy." She said, and then offered her hand. "Soladat Wrekk. Nice to meet you."

Danny took her head and shook it. "You too."

Soladat then motioned to the young girl she was talking to. "This is Carrie. Our resident telepath and the youngest person to ever join the Avengers. Well, before you, anyway."

Danny blinked, and then looked at the girl. "You're a telepath?"

Carrie smiled shyly, and nodded. "Telepath. Telekinetics. A lot of head tricks."

Danny smiled. "Cool."

Carrie smiled back. "What can you do?"

Danny started counting off his abilities. "I can shoot ecto-blasts, make force fields, create and control ice, walk through walls, turn invisible, and I have a ghostly wail. It's sort of like a sonic scream."

Carrie's mouth fell open. "Wow. That's a lot. You have more powers than Thordis."

Danny blinked. "Thordis?"

Fury and Soladat watched the two chat, and Soladat smirked when she saw a familiar look in Carrie's eyes. It was that look Xegh Hikesh gave her whenever the two were together. She saw that Danny seemed to be giving her a similar look.

Fury noticed it as well, and gave them a smile. He glanced at Soladat.

"Coffee break, Agent Wrekk."

Soladat smirked at him. "Sure. We'll leave these two alone."

The director and the shadow agent left the two superpowered teens, who had seated themselves on a piles of mats, talking away. Danny smiled as he listened to Carrie speak, and found himself admiring her personality and appearance. For the first time in weeks, Danny felt happy again.

ooooo

Mephisto glared at his two underlings, who, despite failing in their objective, appeared quite confident. Claire noticed Mephisto's look, and batted her eyelashes.

"Something wrong, my lord?"

"Is that your idea of a joke, Claire?" Mephisto hissed. "I gave the two of you simple instructions to follow, and yet I don't have the Ghost Boy's soul in my grasp. You lost me a potential emissary. You failed me, yet you both appear suspiciously confidant with yourselves. And I'd like to know why."

"The Ghost Boy is a lost cause." Claire said with a frown. "He made it quite clear that he had no intention of becoming one of us. Even after everything Blackheart accomplished."

"And I accomplished quite a lot, father." Blackheart said with a smile. Mephisto just rolled his eyes at his son.

"But Blackheart, amidst his bloodthirsty rampage, did aquire a possible substitute." Claire added with a smirk.

Mephisto blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Claire smirked, and nodded at Blackheart. Nodding back, Blackheart faced his father and smiled. The demon prince waved his hand, and Mephisto watched as a torrent of fire appeared, and a figure appeared. Upon seeing it, Mephisto's eyes widened slightly, but he soon smirked.

"Interesting."

The figure standing before Mephisto was Sam Manson. There wasn't a stitch of clothing on her. Her hair had grown longer and now went below her shoulders, and her pupils were glazed over with white. She was ghostly pale, and appeared to be in trance-like state, not realizing where she was or who she standing among.

"The Ghost Boy's girlfiend. Or should I say ex-girlfriend." Claire explained. "She's not a strong as the Ghost Boy, but with your abities, my lord, I'm sure she can be... perfected."

Mephisto studied the girl, walking around her and looking her up and down. In a predatory fashion, he licked his lips.

"Yessss..." He said. "She will do nicely. So young. So pretty. Similar to you when I first discovered you."

Claire hid her distaste of Mephisto's statement, and just gave him a smirk. "I live to please, my lord."

"As do I, father." Blackheart said with a bow.

Mephisto looked at his two servants and smiled. "You are both to be commended. You not only brought me a servant, but you brought me a way to the Ghost Boy's heart. When our plan is finally set in motion, we will have a way to cripple the Avengers should they stand in our way. It seems working with Blackheart has wrought some success, eh Claire?"

Claire just rolled her eyes. "I'll admit. He's not bad. For a beginner."

Blackheart just sneered at Claire. "Who did all the work? Not you."

Claire just scoffed and turned back to her master and their newcomer. Mephisto turned to Sam as well.

"Do you know who I am?" Mephisto asked the girl.

"Yes." Sam said without emotion.

"Will you do exactly as I tell you?"

"Always."

"Do you surrender yourself to me as my obedient servant."

"Yes, my lord. I am your obedient servant."

"Will you kill for me?"

Then, Sam looked up, meeting Mephisto's gaze. She gave him a sinister smirk that was frighteningly like Claire's.

"I thought you'd never ask."

The end. Danny's story in the United They Stand saga will be continued in Phase Two of United They Stand. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this fic.