Hero Ascended
Chapter 1
JL
Seven men and women sat at a circular table, all of them with thoughtful expressions on their faces. Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Batman looked from one to the other, all of them knowing that their decision could affect many more than just them. The issue at hand was whether to invite a new hero into their legendary organization, the Justice League. But this was no ordinary hero, even among the many magic users, aliens, mutants, and highly trained humans within their group. This hero was none other than Danny Phantom, hailed by many on Earth below as Earth's Savior.
A frivolous statement, but one fact that could not be denied was his influence as one of the very few superheroes whose private identity was known to the general public. The former teen had grown into a powerful man in the six years since then, guided by Superman to become a more effective hero. He had not disappointed his mentor, Amity Park's crime rate dropped dramatically ever since Danny had started to fight human criminals along with ghosts. But now, he was eligible to join them and they had to wonder, should he? He more than lived up to expectations, yet there was one insurmountable issue about him that they could not take lightly: everyone knew who he was.
If he joined them, there would be added public pressure for other heroes to join him. Younger heroes, seeking fame, had done so, and many had been targeted by the scum of the Earth, along with their loved ones. And so the seven of them all sat, pondering the implications of their votes. After what felt like hours, J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, stood and said, "I believe that it is time to cast our votes. I for one vote in favor of allowing Danny Phantom to join the Justice League."
The second person to stand was Superman, "I vote that Danny should join us as well. He has proven himself more than capable." Batman then stood up and said, "No," then sat back down. Wonder Woman stood up, "I say we give him a chance." Hawkgirl then stood and said, "He isn't ready for the big leagues yet. I'm sorry, Kal, but I vote no." Green Lantern then stood, "I'm with Shayera, the kid's ego's been inflated by all the media attention. He just isn't ready for the larger universe yet." The six members then turned to The Flash, who looked like he was seriously weighing his options. He finally stood up and said, "This is the hardest decision I've ever made. Normally, I would say that we should let him join in a heartbeat on Big Blue's word alone, but the fact is that Danny isn't like us. He's a celebrity, everyone knows who he is. The fact is that letting him join could set a dangerous precedent among others of his generation. All things considered, I say…yes, its time that Danny Phantom joined the Justice League."
DP
Danny Phantom dodged a missile fired from a black tank with legs and a green face. "You need new glasses Technus!" Danny yelled at the tank, then froze one of its legs solid with an ice ray, causing it to crash into the ground. The technology ghost stopped possessing the tank and blasted several ghost rays at Danny. Danny quickly created a ghost shield, sending the ghost rays back into Technus's face. Danny then pulled out his Thermos and sucked the technology ghost in. Danny then picked up the remains of the tank and flew to Town Hall, where it had been before. As soon as he reached it, Danny placed it down as gently as he could and saw his best friend, and still Mayor, Tucker Foley. "What was that all about?" Tucker asked Danny. "Technus said that he would never let 'an inferior mind be declared the greatest mind of Amity Park' before I took him, and your tank, down," Danny told him.
Tucker took a good look at his invention and sighed, "Man, this was going to be the start of a new era of ghost fighting, did you have to go so hard on it?" "I had to stop Technus, and besides, that idea of a tank with legs was stupid anyway, it's too easy to beat," Danny pointed out as he returned to his human form. His white hair turned black and green eyes blue as his jumpsuit became a red shirt under a denim jacket with jeans and red sneakers. "Yeah, I know. I was just trying to come up with a way to improve the Fenton Ecto-skeleton, maybe have a squad of guys to use it," Tucker said. Danny groaned and face palmed, "Not the 'Foley's Fighters' again." "Oh you know it's a good idea," Tucker said, then placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. They had both grown up in the seven years since Danny had gotten his powers, Danny now stood eye to eye with his Dad and had the physique of a heavyweight MMA fighter, while Tucker was still a skinny technogeek, he was shorter than Danny, about up to his chin.
"You need help, now that you're fighting human crooks and ghosts, you can't do all of it by yourself," Tucker told him, "And don't tell me that you and Sam aren't going somewhere else next month for your honeymoon." Danny glanced at his left ring finger to see the engagement ring Sam had bought for him; it was solid iron and was molded to look like a twisted vine. He had bought Sam a gold one with two opals, in between the opals was an ice crystal he made himself. They were going to be married next month, and it had been a hassle to decide everything, and it only added to his already hectic life as a superhero.
Just then Danny's phone rang and he answered, "We have five men with hostages at the Nasty Burger. They say they'll only talk to you," the voice on the other line said. Danny quickly went Ghost and said, "I'm on my way." The Halfa Hero flew as fast as he could to get to the Nasty Burger on the other side of the city. As soon as he arrived he saw the Police standing back and five men tied up in front of the Nasty Burger. Standing tall in the shadows was someone that he never suspected. Danny flew down and walked up to the man, noting that he was just as tall as him, though Danny had wider shoulders.
"Batman," Danny whispered in awe. Danny couldn't tell through the visors on the mask if Batman, THE BATMAN, was even acknowledging his presence. "Thanks for…that," Danny said, motioning to the tied up criminals. "Your welcome," Batman said, then pressed one of the 'ears' on his mask and said, "Batman to Watchtower, Danny Phantom is three feet away from me." A bright light shimmered around the two heroes and the next thing Danny knew he was inside a large room, seeing various people walking around. "Whoa," Danny gasped, looking all around himself before he saw the Earth in a window. Danny floated up to the window and looked at his home planet. It's so beautiful, he thought as he gazed at it, he hadn't seen the Earth like this in years; he had forgotten how special it was.
"Ahem," Danny looked down to see Batman looking at him, he assumed disapprovingly. He floated down to ground level and said, "Sorry about that, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up, but well…" Batman said, not unkindly, "You can have time to stargaze later." Batman then started walking down a hallway and Danny followed him. "So, why isn't Superman doing this?" Danny asked. "We drew straws, I lost," Batman said, though Danny couldn't tell if he was being serious, "And a portal opened up in Metropolis that required his attention."
They then came upon a large window through which Danny saw dozens of superheroes working out on various pieces of equipment. "The gym is specially designed for superhuman physiology, I suggest you spend at least two hours twice a week there to keep up your strength," Batman explained. Danny then saw a slim redheaded woman in green sweatpants and blue shirt lift up a massive set of weights one-handed. "You'll get a set of exercise clothes to match your uniform should you choose to join, that woman you were gawking at was one of our newer members, Strong Good." Danny gave him a look and he said, "She got it off a webcomic."
The two superheroes walked on, past the showers when Danny saw a scruffy looking blonde man smoking a cigarette. "Constantine! How many times do I have to tell you, no smoking outside the recreation room," Batman said, then took the man called Constantine's cigarette away and crushed it in his fist. "You might as well come with us to the rec-area," Batman told him. Constantine shrugged then saw Danny. "I was wondering when you'd join these stiffs," he said. "This is just my 'invitation'," Danny said. "Riiiight," Constantine sarcastically said, then put an unlit cigarette in his mouth. "So, word on the street is that you got your powers by a lab accident," Constantine said, "Yep," replied Danny. "We're here," Batman told them, and went into a room marked 'recreation room'.
Danny and Constantine entered with him and Danny saw all the superheroes just…lounging. He recognized Green Arrow reading on a couch, saw two guys that looked like brothers, only one's costume was white with some red parts and the other was blue with white parts playing a videogame on a screen as several other heroes watched, and saw a few others, The Question and Zatanna among them, watching the news on another screen. Danny saw Superman on it and made his way over.
On the screen Superman punched a strange looking creature that looked like a crab with a moose's head and body of a crab with six moose legs, all of it made out of some kind of crystal. Superman then used a small flash of superspeed and grabbed the monster by its head and threw it into a turquoise portal that closed as soon as the creature was in it. "Monster from another dimension: 0 Superman: 1," said The Question. "You can sightsee later, we have other rooms to be in," Batman told Danny in a neutral tone. "Sorry, I just wanted to see this monster," Danny said, and followed Batman out. The whole time they walked, Batman didn't say a word except to point out the Cafeteria, the Training Room, the Medical Wing, the Bunkers for the vehicles, and the Bunks for heroes that needed sleep but couldn't make it home.
Finally, they came full circle and were back at the room Danny first entered the Watchtower through, the Teleportation Room. Batman looked at Danny and Danny looked back at him. "Man, this is awesome," Danny enthusiastically said. "Don't be so eager, this isn't playtime. What we are doing is serious work, I guess I should have gone into the Medical Wing instead," Batman told him in a dead serious tone of voice. Danny swallowed and said, "I know the stakes. I know that people's lives depend on me, but that doesn't mean that I can let it consume me. I've always wanted to do this, to be a hero. I had hoped that meant NASA, but instead, life gave me this," Danny punctuated his statement by letting his ghostly aura show, causing some people to stare at him. Batman just looked at him and said, "You have 24 hours to decide. I suggest you look up a few of us who died before making your decision." Danny calmed down and went to the Teleporter. One bright flash later and he was back in Amity Park.