Disclamer: I do not own Danny Phantom in any way shape or form. If I did? Oh, the things I could do….

This Chapter Contains the Following: This chapter is the reason the story is rated M. You've be warned.

A/N: No, seriously. If you don't like blood, rape, gay sex, torture, and like….everything else that will fall under that category, then DON'T READ.

Chapter 5: What it means to be Defeated.

"You can take from every experience what it has to offer you. And you cannot be defeated if you just keep taking one breath followed by another."

It was still black when he woke up. All around him there was a horrid smell. The only reason he knew he was awake this time was the fact that his stomach retched; making him vomit up whatever the contents was of his stomach. It felt like nothing but water, but by the burning in his throat, he was sure there was stomach acid in there too. After his stomach finally stopped flipping enough to let him breathe, Danny decided he was actually awake this time. This observation, however, still did not help his current question of where exactly he had awaken.

His mind was foggy and it took some time to actually collect his last thoughts and memories, which was quite difficult, as after he stopped vomiting, his head decided it was a good time as any to start throbbing with pain. In fact, his entire body was in pain. He couldn't think, he couldn't move; hell, it was even an effort to make sure his breathing was even.

It was all still dark. He still didn't know where he was, but after another minute or two, it finally came back to him that his last memory was that of his older, crueler, sicker, future self knocking him out. Now Danny could only hope the ghost did stay true to his word and did not hurt his family or friends. For now that's all he could do. Hope. Because he was sure the reason he was still in complete darkness was because Dan hadn't turned on the lights yet to show Danny his prison he had kidnapped him to.

Danny gave out a groan, realizing he was sitting up, and went back down to relieve his body of the strains that came with the action. The floor was cool on his cheek and forehead, telling him he probably still had a fever and that the floor smelled enough like rust to let him infer that it was made of some type of metal. That still didn't help him to know where he was, so Danny groaned once more and closed his eyes, trying to will his body back into sleep so he wouldn't have to deal with the task of trying to figure it all out.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. No. Not for him. Nothing in life could be simple enough for Danny Fenton. He lay awake, not really knowing if his eyes were closed or open, as it was all dark enough to be either. He tried not to think about it all, he tried not to think about what could be happening. He couldn't go back to sleep. His throat felt like it was on fire and his stomach gave another twist when he breathed through his nose, that awful smell poisoned his senses. He had to concentrate on his breathing, in and out, in and out, fighting back the distant images of Sam being torn apart and his mother crying for help; trying his hardest not to freak out. He felt shivers rush up his spin, cold and sweat covered. It was at this time that Danny noticed something else strange. He wasn't wearing anything. Naked, alone, on a cold floor in a random dark place; his head filled with morbid images of everyone he loved dying and his entire body was working against him.

"Doesn't it feel wonderful, Danny?"

His body shot up into a sitting position, head spinning and stomach flipping once more, but he fought down the feeling of dread. That wasn't his voice.

"Now, Danny. You should know by now it really is…just not yet."

No. It wasn't his voice. It wasn't his, but it was in his head, loud and clear.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll get used to it. All in good time, dear boy."

It echoed around him, making his body shake and quiver. He racked blunt nails over the hard ground, trying to find something—anything—to grip. In the end, all he found were his bare shoulders. He held tight, hard enough that he ached. The echoes wouldn't stop. The voice wouldn't go away.

"How could I? I'm you, after all…"

Danny could feel his heart rate speeding up. He felt like he'd surely puke again. He wished it wasn't so dark—

"Hehe, no you don't…"

—he wanted to at least see. See whatever torture would come his way—

"Again, you'd regret it."

—He finally found the ability to move, as it seemed he had been frozen to his spot by the voice. Danny desperately shuffled back, trying his hardest to maybe find a way to get away from that voice—from him—but it would be no use, he knew. It never was…

A cold wall hit his back, stopping his futile attempt to get away. Darkness was all around him. His chest was heaving. Everything felt numb. The voice echoed all around, laughing.

"S-show yourself!" Danny found his voice, speaking up in a broken sound that was almost soft enough to be a whisper. He didn't care. He knew Dan would hear him.

Another laugh came before the answer. "Hehehe…as you wish, dear Danny."

An eerie green glow of a light sprang up, casting everything in shades of green and shadow. Danny winced, shading his eyes from the light, even if it was just a soft glow. It felt powerful. It lit the room in a way Danny knew was supposed to be mysterious and menacing. He knew that glow. It was the glow of the Ghost Zone. Though, when his eyes finally adjusted, he knew exactly where he was by the shades of purple, blue, and gray that scattered the walls, all made of metal, as were the random gears that covered the room, making up one of the walls even. His darker self was sitting in a chair, right in front of the large orb Danny knew was used to view time and space.

He gasped, empty stomach dry heaving as he curled away and spit up saliva and drops of acid.

Where he was didn't make his stomach curl, or the fact that Dan had a dark look of complete insanity and control in his eyes.

It was the fact that Danny knew where the horrible smell was coming from, and he really wished the lights were off again.

"I'm sure you were thinking it." Dark Danny said, never turning his gaze away from the green misty orb. "'Why wasn't Clockwork coming to save the day? Where could he possibly be…?'" The mad man grinned, turning to look at Danny and then over his shoulder. "You see I took care of that problem a while ago…"

A few feet from where Dark was sitting, there was an unmoving mass of clothing. If one looked closer, they'd notice it was a body of what used to be one of the most powerful ghosts around, and the same ghost that saved Danny and his friends and family from the first time Dark Danny showed up. This time he wasn't going to save anyone.

His torso was a foot or so away from the lower half of his body, scorch marks and a gaping hole was threw his chest, showing off an empty space where Danny was sure a heart was supposed to be, or at least the clock that was inside his chest (if he looked hard enough, he'd find the inner clock across the room, dripping). He could see where Clockwork's spine finally gave out and decided to just rip instead of hold on anymore (just like Sam, just like--). There was a huge puddle of green blood that had spread out as far as it would go. The worst part, however, was the eyes. Danny couldn't pull himself away from them. They were wide open and completely empty, no trace of the lively red that once filled them. Black. Empty. His expression was surprise twisted with pain. Danny just couldn't look away. He couldn't stop.

The only thing that ripped Danny's gaze away from the dead, broken body was the fact that Dan moved. His entire body tensed as his instincts of fighting ghost after ghost for the past year forced him to stand on shaking legs.

"D-don't move!" He said, wishing it didn't sound so pathetic as it cracked on his tongue.

To Danny surprise, his darker half did indeed freeze, but the smirk on his face didn't lesson in the least.

"Go ahead Danny. Try."

Dark lifted his hand, readying a glowing palm to attack.

Danny, even if his head said don't, his body did anyway. It was instinct and reflex and he hated them. He didn't give a shout of his battle cry, but he did feel the beginnings of the boy to ghost transformation begin at his waist. It rose slower than normal, telling him how weak he truly was. When it finally reason his neck, he felt the hair on the back of it stand up with static. He knew the feeling before. It was common, but even so he only had a second to brace himself before a bolt of electricity shot down his spine, sending him withering on all fours and a broken scream coming from his lips.

The shock continued for what felt like hours before his body stopped trying to force itself to transform into the phantom and gave up. He held up his tired and smoking body with only his arms, panting and forgetting to swallow as saliva fell from his mouth onto the metal floor. A few feet in front of him he heard laughter. His body was shaking too much for him to even think about lift his head up to see the monster before him. His insides felt like they were burning, his heart pumping too fast to be healthy. Danny was sure if he tried to transform again it would kill him.

"Nice little thing, isn't it?"

The voice was right above him, which meant Dark had moved. Faster than Danny remembered he could, but right now that didn't really matter, because he felt fingers curl around his neck, or rather something wrapped around his own neck. Fuck. He should have noticed. He should have fucking noticed that; the ring of metal around his neck. It was a Specter Deflector except in collar form.

With his fingers curled under the collar, Dan yanked Danny to his feet, forcing his head up with a soft cry of pain. His blue eyes locked onto the red ones staring at him with a clear spark of insanity.

"Do you understand now, Danny?"

He didn't reply. He wasn't supposed to.

"Do you know now that no matter how hard you try, you will always fail? You can't win, no matter how hard you fight or how hard you try to forget or run away. You can't run from me. You never could. Ever since you got those ghost powers of yours, this was your fate. I will always be you, no matter what, and you can't do anything about. Not as long as I'm still around to make sure things go right…"

Something in Dark's voice, maybe it was his utter calm or his tone that was so very positive with himself, whatever it was, it sparked something up in his body. It pushed all the pain and mental strain he had felt over the past few days to the back of his body and mind, willing it all to be forgotten, if only for this one minutes.

"No." He croaked out, his hands coming up to grip the larger ones holding him up. "I'll n-never do it…never become you. I-I'm not like that. Not evil. Not y-you!" He spat, struggling with what little strength his body could muster at the moment.

This made the smirk on Dark's face falter, if only slightly, he frowned, glaring at his younger self.

"Fine. If you want to do this the hard way…"

It wasn't what he expected, being slammed against the metal wall again and again until his lungs were empty of air and he couldn't see straight. His mind couldn't think fast enough to react at all, or to figure out what was going on. All he did know was there was a lack of wall and lack of hands on his throat before he fell to the ground, not being able to stand after that. He coughed and choked, rubbing his red throat as his naked body shivered, the air seeming to get colder.

He didn't see it happen. He didn't know what to expect after everything. He didn't brace himself. He didn't fucking know. He didn't know!

Dark was gone, and then he wasn't. Danny felt the muscled arms flip him over, making sure he was on his stomach. A hand forced his head to stay down; the other was busy running a long nail down his back. It wasn't until he felt the nail sink in, deeper and deeper, that he started to panic. The blood running down his back was warm on his skin, the pain racing up and down his spine as his flesh was torn apart in a long, thin, gaping wound. Danny kicked and screamed, trying to hit something solid. This stopped as soon as the hand on his head gripped his hair hard and pulled up, slamming the side of his head back down.

Danny saw black for a few seconds, Dark's voice distant in his ears as he recovered from the blow.

"….w…in. But it seems I still need to teach you this." Dark said quietly, his voice laced with anger. Danny didn't breathe at all as his future self leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "So I'm going to break you even more."

The nail that had scarred his back was now used to emphasize those words, sinking in deep, puncturing skin, muscle, and tissue. Danny felt too close to where his spine was and screamed. The nail twisted within him, sending another ear shattering scream from his throat into the air. His arms shook, trying to still keep his body somewhat up. This he would soon regret.

It still hadn't clicked in his head. All he could think about were Dark's words echoing over and over in his ears. They didn't connect with the fact that Danny was on his stomach, neither with the hand that now roamed his back freely, nor with the shivers that ran down his naked body.

And then those nails continued down, trailing the line of blood as it flowed from the end of his tail bone down into the crack of his rear.

That's when it hit him.

He's going to…oh God!

He started to struggle again, struggled harder than ever, not caring if Dark got mad. He didn't want to think about it. Not that. Anything but that. He struggled, kicking out his legs again, trying to get his arms under him to push away, anything, anything that got him away from this, him. Anything.

Dark was laughing. He laughed as he still held Danny's head down and then pressed his knees into the back of Danny's own, pinning the boy down with his weight. Danny still tried.

"If you struggle, it'll only hurt more…"

That didn't stop him. Danny still tried. He tried to wiggle free, he tried to overpower his older self, but it was no use. He was just using up what little energy he had, and yet, he still wouldn't stop. Not with him knowing what was going to happen.

His entire body stiffened, his breath hitched in his throat, as he felt the clawed finger from before probing his body. Moving down and around, poking and prodding. Danny shivered, lowering his head. The stress and exhaustion were catching up with him. He closed his eyes, feeling it. Feeling the finger poke at him until he found what he was looking for.

Danny choked back a sob.

"P-please…"

He could almost feel the man smirk behind him as he uttered, "As you wish."

He yelled again. He knew it would have been louder, but the finger went in easier then he thought, and it made him sick to think the only reason it did was because he could feel the blood smeared across his skin. This sensation of part relief left him fast as he felt two more fingers enter him, joining the first, stretching him out. Nails cutting and tearing as they curled and twisted inside him. It felt like nails going threw his hands. He could hear the sound the three made as they slide out, only to slam back in with a sickening slap. Danny felt like he's puke. He felt dirty and humiliated.

The assault didn't last long, as Dark seemed to grow tired of just the fingers. Danny didn't want to think about what was next to come.

Of course, he didn't have to.

There was the noise of ruffling clothing behind him, the shift of a body. Dark had let go of his hair, giving Danny control of his head once more, but he refused to look back. He refused to see what Dan was doing. He refused to see what a sight his lower half must be in.

Then came the feeling of hands on his hips as they pulled up, making Danny's torso fall forward and his backside go into the air. He made the mistake of glancing back. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes.

"Smile for me."

He watched the next few actions in what seemed like slow motion, as if it all wasn't happening to him. His reflexes kicked in again, his half-transformation sending jolt after jolt of pain through his body, but it was nothing compared to what happened a slit second after.

Danny didn't even scream this time. He couldn't. His voice was gone. His mind was gone. All he could do was feel. He felt the thick cock slam into his small body. He felt the electricity as it shocked him over and over, his body's defenses refusing to give in and admit there was nothing they could do but cause Danny more pain. He felt sharp nails sink into his hips, gripping as flesh and muscle and bone, ripping and tearing, bleeding all over. He could feel it. He felt the way his spine was bent so he could feel just how deep Dark was ramming into him. He felt his mind totally shut down. It refused to think that this could actually be happening. So it left him. It left him alone with the feeling of his body breaking down piece by piece and the monster that was causing it all.

It went on like this for hours. He could tell by the way the gears around the room moved and how in his ears there seemed to be nothing but the distant ticking of a clock. He counted the seconds. One by one until he was sure he had gone mad.

The last thing Danny did feel was Dark emptying everything inside of him as he let go, letting Danny fall into a mess on the floor.

Dark was laughing when he fell back into the darkness.

He wished he couldn't feel his heart still beating.

He just wished it could stop.

A/N: I'm proud of myself. I kept it nice and classy with that rape! It's over until next chapter, yaaaaay!