Phantom Files

FILE 15: Bitter Cold

Hey, so is the pacing too fast? I usually take stories pretty slow and I just zoomed through the last chapter lmao. There's more dialogue in this chapter too.

Slight warning btw, Danny ain't gonna fair too well this chapter, mild cursing too. But ya'll love angst r?

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Danny has had a sneaking suspicion that he makes incredibly rash decisions under pressure.

Exhibit A: the current Freeze situation he found himself in.

Exhibit B: pranking a certain science nerd because some b̶r̶a̶t̶ rich boy of a brother told him to.

Exhibit C: giving Kristofferson two pudding cups instead of one (because who could refuse those adorable eyes?).

It wasn't Danny's fault he was so childishly hopeful, the Tabula Rasa thing messed with his mentality. No matter how smart he got, he grew as any normal person would. That was, to say, under the mentorship of several ghosts and a dead family. That was besides to point anyway. The point was that Danny would not give up on Victor Fries.

"Victor, I'm sure Nora's a wonderful girl. Why don't we go talk about her? Preferably away from public view and or proximity?" Danny smiled despite the situation. Victor had a tight grasp on him and was coming back in and out of a daze.

Freeze spoke in a breathy tone, "Nora would love to see you. Nora will meet you."

Danny sat planted on the park bench, the sun minutes away from setting. Internally, he was doing his best to battle the aura Freeze was outputting. Increase trustworthiness. Decrease offensiveness. Increase calmness. Decrease passion.

But it was never that simple. You couldn't just push emotions off the face of the earth. So Danny had to do some grunt work.

The ice was starting to cover over his chest, spreading to his arms. Though he barely felt the chill and could very well break it with a single movement, Victor was having an episode. That was more important to take care of—he cursed his lack of self-preservation sometimes.

But then his senses picked up on something.

p...a...i...n...

It was a quiet sensation; it slowly came closer and closer. His focus was redirected to the new feeling slithering into his mind. 

hurt... pain...

Danny lost attention on Freeze, feeling a new aura creeping towards them. He nearly gasped from shock at how quickly it enveloped.

PAIN. ANGER. HATE.

It got louder and louder and it couldn't be pushed away. The emotions hammered at his head and he closed his eyes shut, hoping to block out everything.

What... who was this?

HURT.

And it slammed at his head like a bad headache. He tried to focus on Freeze's aura, but the other was too loud, too ensnaring. He couldn't even feel his own.

ANGER. MISERY. VENGEANCE.

PAIN  PAIN PAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAINPAIN-

Danny shut his powers off and willed his hands to his ears, cracking the ice of where his elbows should've been. He clasped tightly and did his best to focus on himself. It was so much. He didn't understand who could have... who could possibly live with this?