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They had been hearing it wail for a week now. Phantom had been searching every night trying to find the source but to no success. No one was really too worried as nothing had happened besides the noise. It wasn't a dangerous screech so much as it was distracting...it sounded more sad than anything.
Amity Park was used to ghosts. They were used to interacting with dead relatives, old historical figures, random blobs of ectoplasm, and whatever the heck Danny was on a regular basis. Still, even with all the death around them, they did their best to avoid the morbid thoughts that came with their post-life compatriots. Excluding the first interview Danny Phantom ever volunteered for, no one had tried to ask the ghosts how they died. It struck a little too close to home for the ghosts comfort, and the humans didn't want any extra upset ghosts to deal with. They had created personal filters on what was safe to mention about that.
So the issues with the depressed moaning in the night was a dilemma for all. No one wanted to bring it up or approach it, for fear of upsetting someone (or something) else. And when the wailing finally stopped, it made people really realize how difficult parts of Phantom's job were; especially since most didn't even feel comfortable talking about it.
Could you imagine trying to comfort and calm someone soon after they died?
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"Found you." Danny said in a relived voice as he slowly approached the screaming figure. It was small. Not Skulker small or anything, but more like a child. It's color and appearance kept fluctuating; it was a new ghost. Probably came straight out of the ghost zone after death. Two things were constant about its appearance though. First, it was a boy-probably 10 to 12 if Danny had to guess- as shown by his short hair style, clothes, and posture. Second? That was one painful death. The boy was in two parts, his torso completely cut in half. The top kept floating away from the bottom, which honestly seemed to be the main reason the child was panicking. Well, that and the fact he kept flickering.
The boy would vanish from one spot and appear somewhere else. Basic teleportation ability from the looks of it. 'When he died he must have wanted to be anywhere else but there,' Danny thought sadly. The teleportation also explains why he was so hard to find.
Danny quickly went up to the spot he had just appeared, hoping to help before he vanished again. The boy looked up at him, panicked, and starts to retreat.
"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here to help." Danny said, holding his hands up in a peace offering. "Let's see if we can keep you together, okay?" He says with a grim smile.
The boy doesn't return it, but he does stop moving. Danny comes closer, bends to one knee, and looks at the wound. The ectoplasm is completely disconnected. The boy is glowing a pale blue now, and the wound is dripping a bluish-green mix from both ends. Danny leans forward and slowly presses the boy back together. Once in the right position, he uses a light ecto blast of his own to solder the boy back together. Afterwards he steps back, satisfied. The wound is still obviously there but at least the boy is in one piece.
"I'm not sure how permanent that is, but it will work for now. Don't worry though, that wound is natural. It can't hurt you anymore." He says as he holds his hand out to the boy, who takes it gently.
"Where am I?" He looks down at himself, taking in the situation for the first time when not in a frenzy. "What am I?"
Danny smiles sadly, pulling the kid close. "This is Amity Park, and you are a new resident. It won't be as scary after you meet the others, I promise."
The kid looks up at him, then back at his wound. "I'm dead, aren't I?" He says quietly.
Danny nods uselessly, as the child isn't looking. "Yeah."
The kids quiet for a moment. "I'm glad; this feels less painful. The tortures over now, right?" He says in a whisper, looking up at Danny with tears in his eyes.
Danny drops to his knees and hugs him, squeezing his eyes shut so he won't cry as well. "Yes. Whatever hurt you before is gone now. You're safe here with us."
Finally getting to the question, he asked carefully, "What exactly sent you here though?"
The kid grimaced, looking down. He stopped, gasped, and shuddered before starting. "No matter how tired you are, never -EVER- let Hydra catch you. Once the organization gets you, you never get away. They needed my parents for something else; they just used me to see how long a human can survive certain kinds of torture. I was Von Reichter's pet project." He said, the tears flowing openly. He looked at Danny, and almost like he never said it aloud whispered, "It hurt."
Danny squeezed him tighter. "I know." He looked the child in the eyes. "It won't anymore. I'll make sure of it." He said with a grimace, already planning. Once this boy was safe with Jazz he had some hunting to do. It was time for a different part of his job.