A/N- Please read! I decided not to kill of the Fenton's and Danny's friends because I had an spout of creativeness and made a whole chapter with them in it. This will be the only thing that will change in this story. Thank you for reading!
A facility of pure white contrasted greatly against the vibrant green foliage of the surrounding forest. The same forest that was usually bursting with noise and life was as silent as Death. No wind blew, no birds sang, not a single sign of life besides the humans that surrounded the facility. All of them in white suits and carrying some form of weapon that had glowing green parts. Whispers through ear pieces was as loud as they would speak with the tension. Unmoving form their ordered spots, they waited for something to happen.
Hands shook, breathes were erratic, and sweat dripping. The unnatural silence from the forest was putting them off. They had every right to be scared, someone or something had been picking off their facilities one by one for months; and here they were with the last Guys in White facility. With no government support they had no backup and no hope about putting back together their organization. All that stood between them and some unseen enemy was a giant green ectoplasmic shield. It didn't belong to them.
Three agents stood evenly spaced out at west side of the perimeter. It was the only part of the shield that almost touched the foliage, and they were the ones to hear a twig snap. Jumpy and irrational, they decided to go towards the noise without calling it in. About twenty feet in, they found what made the noise, a monster Doberman that wore a giant spiked collar. Its eyes glowed red, its body covered in glowing green fur, and large fangs protruding from its lower jaw allowing giant globs of saliva to pool on the forest floor. Before they could even make any sound of fear or warning, the dog attacked. Two were crushed in the giant maw of the dog, while the other was crushed under its giant paw. The dog continued to shake the limp bodies in its mouth as two figures appeared beside him out of thin air. One was a tall metal man with a green flame Mohawk carrying weapons and ammunition of all kinds, and the other was a woman with grayish blue skin and blue flame like hair high in a ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a black leather crop top, same pants, and an electric guitar.
"Cujo spit those nasty things out, they'll upset your stomach," the woman said. Cujo complied and let the crushed bodies to fall to the ground with a wet plop. "Ember, I think it's time to make our presence known," the metal man commented while taking a fairly large gun and began to load it. Floating closer to the shield, with them visible it didn't take long for the GiW agents to go into a panic mode over the three ghosts. Guns, large high voltage cattle prods, nun chucks, and other kinds of weapons were pulled out in their direction. One of the agents stepped forward, "You are in violation of the Ecto-right act three, chapter one, section c. If you do not return to the Ghost Zone you will be terminated." Cujo let out a growl and dragged his claws on the shield leaving large claw marks.
"We will not leave without what was taken from us, and we know that you have him here. I, Skulker, Ghost Zones greatest hunter was finally able to pin point his signature." The now dubbed Skulker stepped closer with Ember. "We want Phantom, and if you don't return him it will be all of you to be terminated," Ember threatened with her hand creeping closer to her guitar strings. This brought nervous laughter from the agents. The one before spoke again, "You and what army?"
Ember lips grew into a sadistic smirk before letting her hand strum out a deafening chord that shattered the ghost shield. The agents huddled together as one of their last line of defense was shattered, but what scared them the most was the rapidly appearing ghosts coming into view. They didn't just come from the forest, but the entire surrounding area above the facility. Ember launched herself into the sky above the undead army shouting "WHO DO WE WANT?" "PHANTOM! PHANTOM! PHANTOM!" Came the reply, and Ember disappeared and reappeared right in front of the agent that threatened her, "And what will we do to get him back?" "KILL! KILL! KILL!" The agents shook with visible fear and Ember grabbed the lapel of the main agent's suit before lifting him into the air, "So are you willing to give your life and your men's for one ghost?"
GIW scientist were hunched over a small green blob on a dissection table when Ember and Skulker busted in with the head agent. "What are you doing? Did you really let them in here?" One scientist questioned while holding a large green glowing scalpel. Skulker's eyes narrowed on the form on the table. "What are you doing to that ecto-puss?" The group went silent as Skulker raised his gun, "Uh, we are studying the extent of how long an entity that is only pure ectoplasm could continue to exist after being… prodded by anti-ghost weapons." Skulker scowled and shot the strap off the poor ecto-puss. The creature rose sluggishly moving slowly towards its savor before purring against the ominous metal man.
Letting the tired creature rest on his shoulder, he shot ectoplasmic ties around the scientist. Unknowing that hidden behind a one way mirror was the head of the compound shaking in fear of being found. As quietly as he could, he moved towards the giant screen of a mega computer. Typing as quietly as he could, he signed on to the main screen. Apparently it wasn't quiet enough as he heard Skulker give a shout of outrage and something banging against the hidden metal door. Beads of sweat began to roll down his face as he opened up a video feed. "Last GiW facility to Justice League Watchtower, this is Andrew Mathews the Head Chief of the facility. We are under attack by unknown ghost assailants are trying to steal our weapon that could bring the end of the world as we know it. So if this reaches you in time please- Oh God…" was all he could get out as Skulker entered the room blasting the computer to kingdom come.
Andrew lay shaking in fear on the ground as pieces of his last hope flew past him cutting his bare skin on his face and hands. Skulker paused in his rapid fire looking quizzically at it before shooting it one more time for good measure. Giving the Chief a thorough look over Skulker grabbed the man by the lapels of his suit, "We are in need of… your assistance." Then began to drag the man through the floors of the facility with his intangibility. The fall was quick with the weight of the man dragging Skulker down, so they made it quickly to the lowest level of the basement. There stood a glowing green coffin like prison that was completely covered in frost and some icicles.
Skulker threw the man at it with a short order, "Open it." The Chief began to shake his head wildly in fear, "Do you understand what would happen? We would lose our one chance to withstand your forces. You would take away our best test subject, with his mind still somewhat intact with sanity. That, and what we did to him would most likely lead him to kill us without a second thought." Ember scoffed at the last statement, "Then dipstick would have to go against his whole obsession, and even though you might have destroyed the reason he gained it; it's still a part of him. We are not the monsters you make us out to be, in perspective you are the ones who are even worse than that." Skulker stepped closer and pointed a gun to the back of the man, "Now I will not be saying this again. Open the damn box."
The Justice League stood in shock as they watched the static of the ended video feed. Batman was already typing furiously on the league computer and pulling up security feed from the GiW facility. The footage was slightly grainy from the damage done the mainframe and the sound was out, but there was a collective sigh of relief when Batman found the Chief alive and well. Two other agent lay almost unmoving except for the movement of their chest taking breaths. Superman squinted at the glowing thing on the video, "What is that?" Batman pulled the image up closer to see the chief punching in something on the keypad of the glowing box. Skulker then swiftly knocked him out and tossed his body aside like it was nothing more than a rag doll.
Ember gripped the edge that was slightly open and ripped the door completely off the box. Mist came pouring out of it with a blinding white light. It radiated with such a brightness the League had to cover their eyes from the video. When it finally began to dissipate, what was contained inside of the box was a young boy no older than sixteen with blinding white hair. Then his eyes flickered open showing bright toxic green eyes that filled with hope and recognition at the two figures before him. Batman's eyes widen, "I know who he is…" All other eyes turned to him.
"What?!" was the unified exclamation as Batman was rushing forward again, fingers typing more furiously than before pulling up old newspapers with blurry pictures of a white haired figure. Though it was not clear, the features to the supposed "weapon" and the picture were remarkably similar. "This was a hero from a small town called Amity Park. Around ten years ago, he disappeared off the face of the earth after the GiW investigated an anonymous tip . Two ghost investigators were found guilty along with three high school students for supplying the ghost weapons. One of the students was the son of the investigators and disappeared after questioning, and soon after the ghost boy was captured. Names of everyone involved has been wiped from files due to the governments involvement. Many of Amity's citizens protested of the custody, and the student completely destroyed the school when the council allowed the Phantom to be taken into the Guys in White containment."
Their eyes returned to the video feed to see that the ghosts weren't in the basement any more. Batman returned to the first screen, searching the long lost hero. "Manhunter, I need you to infiltrate what is left of their documents over any and every experiment before they mysteriously disappear." He said as another video feed that showed Phantom outside of the building leaning heavily on a giant green monster dog who was showing the patience and loyalty of a service dog. Manhunter nodded, his fingers flying across the keyboard with as much speed as Batman's. Files by the hundreds came flooding in, and each member grew more horrified at each one. "What did they do to him?" Wonder Woman asked while pictures and videos flooded their system.
One video opened, and the speakers were filled with the most deafening and agonizing screams. "Shut up you worthless piece of shit!" a yell pierced through the scream and then came a resounding pop of skin hitting skin. "You can't feel anything, not this scalpel peeling away your flesh, not the weapons we test on you, not even when we beat you. You are never leaving the compound this compound alive… well at least your afterlife." Another scream rang through the air and the voice once again spoke, "You will obey us, and only us. You are nothing but a tool for us to use only to get rid of later." The screaming stopped only to be replaced by a weak, broken chuckle. "You think I would ever listen to you. You would have me kill millions of innocent beings, just because we make you question your own existence and religion. You took away my home and my family, and you want me to obey you?" rasped who could only be Phantom. "You do what you want, but I promise you; there is nothing you can do to break me, for I have already been destroyed. So I challenge you… Do. Your. Worst."
Black Canary looked away, "Please, someone please turn it off." Martian Manhunter complied as Green Arrow comforted her. Superman turned to the screen that Batman was watching, and what he saw made his eyes widen in awe. "What are they doing?" On the screen showed Phantom surrounded by not just the original three ghosts, but thousands all dressed in armor and carrying weapons that ranged from guns to medieval swords. What appeared to be a yeti with an arm made of solid ice came forward and knelt before Phantom holding a small solid black crown. The crown began to glow white as Phantom reached for it. Once his hand touched it, Phantoms whole body also began to glow with this light. One large green gem formed in the middle of the crown that was now covered in white fire, and Phantom now wore a white tunic with black trousers with a white cape that inside was lined with black fabric. Dr. Fate stepped forward, "My Order… that is the Crown of Fire. That impossible though, that was last seen on Pariah Dark before he was sealed away."
A second ghost then stepped forward, a woman with long braided blonde hair and dressed in formal medieval attire. She then knelt down next to the yeti and then presented a simple ring. Dr. Fate then began to float closer to the screen, "That's the Ring of Rage… They're inducting Phantom as their new King, but that would mean he defeated the old King." Phantom held out his hand and the woman slid the ring onto Phantoms left ring finger. There was a flash of light, and the skull that adorned the ring changed into an emerald gem. Phantom stood completely straight now, like he hadn't been beaten to death or been cruelly experimented on. A flash of sadness crossed his eyes, before he let a small smile cross his features. Phantom extended his hands towards the two ghost, and they looked up with surprise. Their features softened with their own warm smile and accepted the hands, and allowed Phantom to pull them up to stand beside him.
Then suddenly the League could hear the words that were being spoken. "My friends and old enemies, I cannot express how much joy I have for just seeing you all safe and sound. I am even more grateful for your bravery in facing the GiW and rescuing me from what I thought would be my final resting place. You have placed your trust in me to becoming your king, and I will do all I can to make sure that trust was rightfully placed. Let us return back to the Zone and hope that no other ghost has to face anything like this again, or the humans will have to face a wrath that they will never see again. They are like us though still; there are the bad and good. We are going to prove that today. From what I've heard the Chief was able to send a SOS message to the Justice League. A league of hero's, from what I'm told, who came together to protect the Earth form danger of invasions and evil masterminds. Let us prove the theory that we are only evil beings so wrong, by letting the men who have caused your new king so much grief live. There is nothing of value to us by killing them, innocent or not, the League will have evidence against them and justice will prevail. All I want for us is to be able to live peacefully where we belong, the Ghost Zone. Let us make it the place where we want to stay, our sanctuary. You will not be ruled under a tyrannical method anymore, you will have your own say as citizens of the Ghosts Zone. What do you think?" Phantom finished.
There was a pregnant pause, before loud cheers filled the air, "KING PHANTOM! KING PHANTOM! KING PHANTOM!" Phantom smiled and called out, "Wulf, would you do the honors of creating a portal home." A wolf man stepped forward to Phantom, and gave him a long sloppy lick and nod with a happy smile. Taking its long pointy claws, it swiped the thin air. Four long tears opened up to what appeared a green sky with purple swirls and light blue grass. Ghosts soon followed Phantom and Wulf in long lines until there wasn't a single ghost left, and then it was gone. Superman turned to Batman, "What do we do now? They have left, and I'm not sure that the GiW deserve our help." Other of the members murmured in agreement, and Batman nodded. "We aren't the ones to decide that though, even with what we have that points negatively in their favor, we have been called to for help. So let us give them some help."
"So let me get this straight… You want us to go to a site where a recent ghost invasion occurred and investigate where this Phantom was held." Aqualad restated while standing in front of his team. Kid Flash grinned widely, "An actual investigation with questioning and stuff, SWEET!" Everyone rolled their eyes at his actions, but most held fond smiles at their friend's actions. "So when do we leave?" M'gann asked. "Now, the breakout happened about an hour ago, so the crime scene is still fresh." Batman stated as he took the zeta-beam back to the Watchtower to deliver other mission that needed more expertise.
The team quickly packed up their things into the Bio-ship, and began their quick flight into the forest that lay on the Rocky Mountains. "So anyone else wondering about what happened to Phantom, and the reason we are not allowed to mention his name to any of the agents?" Robin mused to his teammates and there was nods in agreement. "They showed us only two videos of what happened; the Chief's cry for help and Phantom's speech. The words that the Chief used was 'weapon' though, so it makes me wonder what they did to Phantom during his stay." Aqualad thought out loud and Superboy frowned at it. "What if we find evidence of experimentation? The Ecto Rights act states that ghosts are not even considered human, so it's not illegal for any experiments to be tested on them." KF stated with a concern look upon his face. M'gann's face fell with worry, "You heard the speech though, and Phantom said that they are only misunderstood."
Superboy finally pitched in his two cents, "I learned of Phantom from the Genomes, and somethings about his past. He was a hero of Amity Park, only to some though. There were a few questionable deeds that were done by him, but nothing was proven. He appeared out of nowhere with the other ghosts. The only thing was that he acted completely different from the other ghosts that appeared; never caused mischief that caused harm to humans, protected both the ghost and humans even. There were never any casualties, until the explosion of the Nasty Burger that killed a family of four, two students, and a high school teacher. If you searched deep enough on the internet you could possibly find the names, but they didn't inform me of that because they deemed it unnecessary. The cause of the explosion is unknown, but Phantom capture into GiW custody was right after. This knowledge was granted to me in case Phantom ever did come back, and wanted some form of revenge."
KF gulped and clutched onto Artemis who trembled slightly. "Well, at least they will be staying in the Ghost Zone now." The Bio ship began to descend to the ground on top of the GiW facility. Andrew Mathew stood waiting with four other agents. Superboy began to hear what they were saying even before the door to the ship opened.
"They sent their sidekicks to help us?!"
"Do they really think that couple of kids can bring back Weapon P?"
"This is beyond insulting. Not only are they sidekicks, they have aliens on their team."
"Shut your mouths, they are coming out."
An angry sneer formed upon his face, but quickly returned to neutral as M'gann put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She had heard it, and gave him a soft smile. He gave a soft, sad smile in return before jumping out of the ship. Aqualad stood in front of his team, and handed Andrew a piece of paper. He sneered while reading it, "What the hell is this?! We ask for your help and you come with a search warrant!" Aqualad nodded, "You and your agents are under investigation due to your mention of a weapon that was being created without the government's knowledge of the project. If any information or evidence is withheld from us, you be subjected to the law in regards to obstruction of justice and treason. Now, please show us where all of your copies of videos and document. An interrogation will be held for every member of your team. These interrogations will be held by M'gann, Superboy, and myself, is everything in understanding?" Andrew shook in rage, but nodded his consent.
It took two full days to get all the agents interrogated, but nothing came from it as M'gann told Aqualad and Superboy each time an agent lied or withheld any information; which was a lot. Artemis and Kid Flash had done investigations of the grounds, and many more questions popped up for Kaldur to ask. A torture chamber that held a mixture of dried blood and ectoplasm, an arena that held the same contents, and cages that only held puddles of ectoplasm. Encoded hard copies of all documentation had Robin busier than ever, and that included briefing all things found to Batman.
Now that everything was mostly complete, the team sat in the Bio ship in a very depressed state. "The memories of what the agents did to Phantom was beyond gruesome. Those agents are monsters." M'gann state with tears streaming down her face as the images flashed in her mind. "I know, I saw the videos," Robin shuddered. Kaldur sat back heavily, "At least we know the League will continue with an even thorough investigation." He turned to M'gann, "Are you okay enough to fly us home?" She wiped fiercely at the tears on her face and nodded.
The ship began to fly smoothly only to come to a sudden halt. Things began to beep and lights flashed red. "What's going on?" Artemis shouted over the commotion of the ship. "I don't know, something has a hold on her." M'gann replied pulling up a picture of the back of the ship to find a giant blue glowing dragon holding the ship in its claws. "What the he-" Superboy started before falling backward as the dragon started to fly away with them. Looking out through the main window of the ship, they saw that they were being flown closer to a swirling green portal. Robin pulled out his communicator and pressed the button, "Robin to Batman, we have a problem. We are being taken into a portal by what is probably a giant ghost drag…" The connection went to static as they passed through the portal, sealing them into the separate dimension.
Everyone gapped at the portal that was their only way home vanished, only for them to see a giant white castle that was rimmed with black on the tops of each tower. A giant flag was raised on the highest tower that held a symbol that looked like a D with a hidden P inside of it. Artemis was the first to speak, "Is it just me, or are we going towards the giant castle that probably belongs to Phantom?" The rest nodded. KF sighed, "Shit, how screwed are we?" No could answer as the ship was thrown onto a clearing inside the walls of the castle. No one moved as a giant green dog that was almost the same size of the ship put its face right to the glass of the ship, and let out a growl that shook the whole ship.
Robin gave a small gulp of fear, "I would say very.