It took everything inside Danny to not shrink down and hide. The looks the teens were giving him sent shivers up his spine in a way he wasn't sure was possible until now.

Ice dude was fine, he looked like he was still sorting through his feelings on this whole thing and hadn't quite reached any clarity.

The other two however.

Buff dude and green girl were both staring at him. There was something about that glance they shared and the lack of expressions on buff dude's face that unnerved him. Was this what animals in a zoo felt like? He could almost physically feel their eyes on him as they clearly assessed his threat level. Perhaps having all his collars still on display wasn't the smartest idea but in his defense he had forgotten about them. He'd had them on for so long he had long since stopped feeling the metal on his skin. Buff dude was slowly moving to put himself between Danny and the green girl. Perhaps she would be less of a threat if buff dude felt the need to get defensive.

Or perhaps he sensed the danger Danny posed and was simply acting accordingly.

Who knew.

The silence edged on for a bit longer than what felt comfortable. The awkwardness he felt being around this many people in a non-battle setting was very unfamiliar to him and made him rather uncomfortable. The need to start swaying slightly to deal with the awkwardness was becoming increasingly intense and hard to fight. Luckily for him it seemed like ice kid reached his impasse.

Blue boy sighed deeply and rubbed his face as if trying to scrub away the tiredness he now held. "Look kid,"

Danny inwardly scoffed. Rude. He wasn't a kid, he was almost 14 for crying out loud! That is definitely teen territory! The way blue dude looked at him held the same bored look the guards would sometimes give him when they did their rounds. In his humble opinion, blue dude was starting to look more and more punchable. But he had to remain calm to try and get them all to cooperate.

"I'm really not having a good day, so if you think I would go back then you are out of luck. I'm getting out of this joint."

Oh.

Well that wasn't what he expected.

"Before my dad finds me."

And Danny was sure he wasn't mean to have heard that. Guess like father like son to end up in here. Perhaps space suit man was his dad? They're both blue...ish

Blue dude started sauntering over and Danny would bet the next weeks' worth of meals he wasn't planning on going back to his cell so easily. He moved just a step to the side to block his path. Behind him, Danny could feel Cujo's presence grow. Clearly the pup was also getting agitated by this fellow inmate and was preparing to jump in.

Danny tried to add a small chuckle to his tone to try and ease the growing tension in the air. "I'd really prefer it if you don't." He kept his eyes trained on the blue teen, not wanting him to slip past him somehow. "There is no way you are getting out of here, so again, I do advise you to go back to your cells." He wasn't really asking for much was he? Surely this dude must know that the plan failed. "Ms. Waller would go a lot less harsh on you if you are back where you belong by the time the cops arrive." Perhaps that sounded a bit too much like a threat. "Plus I really don't want to fight any of you, so please just go." He added with a soundless chuckle.

Yup.

No threat here.

None at all.

Smooth.

That definitely didn't annoy the frosty teen more than he already was.

Totally not.

As the teen started walking again he very clearly bumped into Danny on purpose. Danny felt Cujo grow more annoyed and ready to pounce. He had to act now while there was still a chance to save this without a fight.

"I don't care what that bitch will do."

Danny froze a little at the unexpected insult. How dare this imbecile insult such a wonderful lady as Miss Waller!? It isn't her fault he got thrown in here! That's his own failure's fault! How dare he! Who gave him the right to judge her for doing her job!? Ancients know he didn't do his right or he wouldn't have landed his ass in this involuntary hotel!

Danny felt anger bubble up inside of him and he didn't need a mirror to know that the anger was physically manifesting in his eyes already.

A certain fruit loop would have called it his 'angry eyes'

No

Now is not the time for that.

"I'm getting out. A little snowflake like you can't stop me, so leave me-"

Danny had no intention of letting him finish that. With a swift move and a bit more super strength than he would like to admit to, he grabbed the icy teen and threw him back over his shoulder. He rolled a little ends away from the other two teens who now started to get themselves ready for a fight.

How great this was ending up to be.

"You little imp!"

Wow, so creative! It's totally not like he hasn't been fed enough and hasn't had his growth spurt yet.

"I don't care what kind of stupid deal you have with the boss lady but she ain't here to protect you now!"

Dude seems to have this all twisted around. Not like Danny cared much to correct him.

Icy teen haphazardly shot some ice at the young ghost boy which he easily dodged. Danny breathed out a command for Cujo to stay. This temper tantrum throwing toddler was no threat to Danny. They needed the surprise for the other two once they decided what they wanted to do.

Danny saw one hit coming at him from what felt like a mile away even though it was closer to a few feet. Getting fed up with the spray of shots, Danny didn't bother to dodge it this time. Whatever abilities frosty the pissy in front of him had, it was nothing compared to the sheer power of Danny's own ice abilities. He added a miniscule amount of his own ice over the hit so he would be able to control the direction and sent it off to the wall opposite of the other teens.

Was he showing off? Maybe. But it felt good seeing the shock and dread fill the rude failure of life before him.

Danny took a deep breath before he actually punched the teen, a little bit of his ice power being forced into his breath to have some kind of release instead. Somewhat lucky for him, his clothes hid the whisp of air that would have betrayed his powers to them. He grabbed one of the inactive collars he had left. He didn't want to waste it but he was being too much of an issue and he really wanted to get back to Miss Waller for his final status update.

"Really, I didn't want to do this," Honestly, punching would be the preferred way at this point, "but you left me no choice."

He made a finger gun with his hand and aimed it at the shell shocked teen in front of him. It didn't take much concentration to put just enough ectoplasm in his shot that it would mess with the teen's brain chemistry and cause him to pass out. Quite humane for what Danny knew Cujo would do to the frosty teen if he let him.

Blue dude went down quite easily and just for sake of safety he secured the collar as well. Considering the machine felt it necessary to send out a shock he wouldn't have been out for long.

Now he would though.

When he stood back up to address the other two teens, he fought back the nth deep breath he had to take in a very short time. Judging from their combative stances they weren't going down easy and chances of talking them out of this were slim to none.

Why did they have to chose the hard way? It's not like he threatened them.

He shifted into a loose defensive stance he pulled from the depths of his memories. Back when Maddeline tried to train him in self-defense.

Oh how she must hate him for what he has become.

Even though buff dude and green girl were the first to show their willingness to fight, it had taken comically long for something to actually happen. At this point he wasn't really sure if they were just stretching for more time or what. He raised an eyebrow, hoping it would convey the silent question on his mind.

We doing this or not?

He wasn't one to take chances either. Buff teen really looked ready to smash his head in. Definitely a higher threat than green teen but with her shifting abilities he wasn't sure what powerset she had. He faked relaxing his stance, letting an arm drop just slightly unnaturally far behind him. Just enough so his hand would be hidden behind his thigh. Big dude would definitely need more than a tiny shot like ice boy. As subtly as he could he tried to guess how much it would need to get him subdued enough to slap the last collar on him.

Tried being the keyword here

He didn't have much time as buff teen decided to finally act and rush at Danny. The ghostly teen instinctively jumped backwards, avoiding a punch to the arm. Good thing he did it seemed as the flooring beneath the teen's fist had cracked.

Definitely super strength. How wonderful.

He didn't have much time to react as he had to fly up a bit to avoid getting his legs swept out from underneath him. This dude definitely had some type of professional training that's for sure.

With barely any hesitation the buff teen went in again. This time he jumped up to try and hit Danny like a super abled basketball player going for a slam dunk. Too bad for him, the air is Danny's specialty. Using the buff teen's momentum, the younger grabbed onto his arm and spun him around a few times in hopes to have his vestibular system out of whack and subsequently throw him off balance enough to have him not be able to block his dive into the wall.

You know, thinking back on it, and the newly created massive hole where the wall used to be, that wasn't really the smartest move. Yet another thing to add to the laundry list of things he had to apologize to Miss Waller to.

Ha

Laundry

He didn't give himself much time to laugh at his own joke as he still had the other teen to deal with. Or well, the other teen and a very pissed off Cujo. Before he had even noticed that Cujo had moved, the pup had jumped green girl. Perhaps he had sensed her going for a backhanded attack while he was distracted with lover boy. The ghostly puppy definitely deserved some extra snacks and scratches later.

A frightened yelp brought him out of his musing. He floated through the hole into what seemed to be the woman's mess hall. Perhaps the hole could be fixed with some glass paneling for extra supervision.

Continuing to distract himself wasn't quite a good idea though. The girl didn't seem to put up much of a fight. Despite her fearful look, her breath was unnaturally calm. Practiced breathing in an attempt to keep Cujo from attacking most likely.

Just who were these people?

Just as he was going to call off Cujo, Prince Charming decided it was a great time to tackle the poor dog. Really this guy seems to have it out to start a fight with people.

Or he was just protecting who he loved

At least he was doing a better job at it

"Cujo," he called, "sta." Cujo didn't seem all too pleased, giving a last final warning growl. As he started to walk towards Danny however, he let himself shrink down to his puppy size.

Murderous side of Cujo contained, now for the inmates.

Buff dude watched Cujo shrink down in an odd mix of confusion and realization. "H-hey!" he stuttered, "That's that dog that stole my food earlier." Danny looked at Cujo. The pup had what only could be described as a smug look as he wagged his tail a little too excitedly. "Oh, heh." Danny chuckled oh so awkwardly again. The adrenaline of the fight leaving his body and his utter lack of social interactions with his own age group coming back full force.

"That was yours? I'm really sorry about that, he was just trying to take care of me."

Danny crouched down to give Cujo some pets. "Nu poți pur și simplu să furi mâncarea altora, Cujo. (You can't just steal other people's food, Cujo)" He scratched the pup behind his ear, little twitches in his hind leg threatening to turn into little stomps. "Trebuie să mănânce și el. (he needs to eat too)" Danny squished Cujo's face a little as he rubbed his cheek on the pup's forehead. "Dar mulțumesc. (but thank you)"

"No sweat."

Oh yeah.

Inmates.

Cujo gave him a, thankfully not drooly, lick to his cheek as the young boy pulled away.

Now that everything seemed to have calmed down, he was a bit more relaxed. He started walking towards the two inmates, going slow so as to not seem like a threat again. "Now, if you guys wouldn't mind." He pulled out one last collar from his pocket. "This is kind of the last one I have left, so big guy, this one is for you."

Buff dude didn't seem all too impressed but at least he wasn't resisting.

Yet

"It would really be nice if you guys could just go back to your cells. Miss Waller isn't going to be happy if there is an even bigger mess to clean up than there already is." He awkwardly laughed a little as he jabbed a thumb up to the hole upstairs. Honestly she wasn't going to be happy at all regardless of the hole or not. Might as well try to keep her the least upset possible.

The two teens before him seemed to at least somewhat contemplate listening, if their confused looks were anything to go by. Honestly at least they weren't actively fighting him so he counted it as a win.

He wasn't that far off from the two when he felt danger and alertness flow off of Cujo. Within a blink of an eye Danny went from looking at the teens, to having his face in Cujo's front leg. With the way Cujo was standing, had either the hound been taller or Danny been smaller, he would have been standing above Danny instead of just next to.

"Cujo, ce s-a întâmplat? (cujo, what happened?)" His question went unanswered as the agitated hound looked around. The hairs of his fur standing up the more he growled at the unseen enemy. With every new direction the hound looked at, he moved Danny in a way to shield him from as many directions as he could.

Whatever danger Cujo sensed, it wasn't something another inmate could pull off.

Had they found him?

Danny didn't have much time to devolve into an entire panic attack as Cujo tried his best to shield the boy with his body. Danny wanted to poke his head out from his furry shield but something in him warned him against it. Whatever Cujo sensed was bad news.

Before he could do much else, he saw the gleam of an arrow flying through the air. Turning himself and Cujo instinctively intangible didn't help much as the entire area around him burst into smoke.