Chapter7:Ends and Beginnings Part II
-Start-
"Danny, what's going on? Is the world ending? Another alien invasion?" Tucker asked through the phone.
"Yeah I want to know too?" Sam asked as she connected in on the call.
Danny sighed as he looked at his tied up father. "I-I need you two to come to Amity. Catch a flight back or jump through a ghost portal if you have to. Jack created a Spectre Destabiliser and it's corroding ectoplasm and not only that but it's somewhere in the GZ and you know how big that place is."
"Danny, are you alright? You sound like you're in pain?" Sam asked through the phone.
The halfa was about to come up with an excuse when his ghost sense went off and it wasn't Cujo for sure. He turned around for a second with a frown before he went back on the phone quickly.
"Call you guys back, a ghost's coming," he said cutting the phone despite their protests.
He slowly made his way downstairs before he heard grunting and a familiar laugh that sent chills down his spine. Trembling arms opened the basement door. Danny looked frightfully into crimson eyes.
Dan smiled. "Hello Danny"
Danny stumbled away before realising that his father was in Dan's hand, groaning in pain. Dan smiled charmingly as he threw Jack to Danny's feat.
"Why don't you finish him off?" Dan asked with a toothy grin.
Danny moved to a defensive position and frowned. "You know I don't kill," Danny growled.
"That's right, because you're a little boy-scout," Dan laughed. "Now why don't you end that poor sods pain with a little ectoplasm to the head?"
Danny growled threateningly. "Leave dad out of this!"
Dan's eyes narrowed. "I'm surprised that you care so much about the man who's been torturing you."
"H-how did you know?" Danny asked, his stuttering taking semblance over his usually brave façade.
"Well the perks about living with Clockwork is that he tends to update on you ever so often. He takes so much more pleasure than I do watching you get beaten and starved," Dan laughed.
"You're lying!" Danny yelled desperately, "Clockwork would never let you out!"
Dan's smile brightened. "And you're right about that. It was dear old daddy that I have to thank for that. Clockwork had to revert to his primordial state considering time was too important to leave unguarded when ectoplasm was failing. His powers over me and that dammed thermos was finally released and I was able to break free. Of course absorbing other ghosts and adding destruction to the Zone seems like the cherry on the top for now."
"You're crazy! Do you want to destroy both worlds? You'll destroy yourself too!" Danny reasoned.
"That's where you're wrong. Jack's machine is under my control and I can use it to create infinite supplies of ectoplasm. Once enough of the Ghost Zone and the human world is destroyed everyone will be begging me for protection!" Dan grinned victoriously before he threw Danny the claw he was tortured with. "You can live with me as my pet if only you plunge that into Daddy Dearest."
Danny caught the claw let out a shuddering breath. He looked down at the groaning figure of the man who had loved and tortured him for years… his own father. He knew he would never join Dan but the thought of just killing the man and making himself feel a little better seemed appealing.
"I-I am a monster, I am a ghost, I am a phantom but I will not kill!"
Danny clung to that memory as he threw away the claw. He instead shot out his hand and threw ecto-beams at Dan. The older ghost just frowned before catching the attacks like it was nothing.
"Oh and here I was thinking you'd look cute in a collar," Dan laughed as he charged at his younger self. Danny was caught by Dan's strong hands as he was slammed into the ground. Danny quickly used the momentum to kick Dan's stomach so the ghost would be forced off of him. Dan skidded across the living room, breaking the tea table in the process.
"Fuck you Dan," Danny growled.
"Language son," Dan replied jokingly as he lunged at his younger self.
Danny found himself unable to block the barrage of punches that came his way. He ducked under Dan's punch only to be taken off guard as he was kicked back into the basement. Danny groaned as his wounds started bleeding again. He noticed the Spectre Deflector next to him and hid it behind him despite the stinging pain. When Dan lunged at him again, Danny quickly took the device and wrapped it around Dan's neck. The ghost growled in pain before backing away and grabbing at his burning neck.
"Phantom!" Superman growled as he came crashing through the door.
Dan broke the Spectre Deflector as he threw it to the ground. He noticed the Flash, Superman and a few other heroes come in. He growled in irritation, wondering since when had they ever come together as a team. Clockwork hadn't shown him this and this had never happened in his reality.
"This is not over," he growled before opening a portal and disappearing.
Barry ran over to Danny as he knelt down next to the wounded and coughing Phantom. Danny leant in towards the older man as he coughed up ectoplasmic blood. He looked into Barry's worried eyes and frowned. He was going to revert back to his human form.
"Phantom, did he hurt you?" Diana asked worriedly.
"Yes and no," Danny replied evasively as he coughed a little. "Can you see those vials in the corner? Bring it to me."
Hawkgirl took the green liquid containers and handed it to the teen. Danny groaned as he poured the liquid over his chest. It stung at first but it soon melted into his body and stopped the aching pain a little. Danny found himself half-lidded as the rings of light crossed his body. Hawkgirl, J'onn, Green Lantern, and Diana watched in surprise as Danny's human form was revealed.
"Can someone explain to me what is going on?" John asked voicing everyone's concern.
"He's-" Barry began when Danny stopped him. The teen forced himself up and onto a chair as he grabbed his chest in exertion. Cujo, who had recently awoken forced his way into Danny's arm before licking his face. Danny smiled a little at the dog for comforting him before he put him on his lap.
"I wasn't honest with all of you," Danny admitted guiltily. "My real name is Daniel Fenton. I'm not entirely ghost or human… I'm half. It's a long story and… I don't know where to start."
J'onn knelt next to the boy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Everyone in the room could see it, the boy was wounded and he looked thin and pale to the point where a single touch looked like it could break him.
"What happened to you Phantom? Didn't you say you were going to the ghost zone?" Superman asked in concern. Batman looked at the boy with silently, knowing where this conversation was going to lead. So he took the bound man and dropped him in the middle of the Leaguers. The heroes looked at the groaning man in confusion.
"Did he do this to you?" Batman asked, his voice sounding even but faltering a little in anger.
"No! I-I… yes," Danny confessed before his fists clenched in anger directed towards himself. "It was my fault. When I had told my parents about myself they didn't take it well. They wanted to cure me and I didn't want to be cured. I was so selfish and because of that I killed me mom, and Jazz left, and dad went crazy."
The team was shocked to see the usually sarcastic and childish boy cry. Diana was especially angry at the man for having caused such harm to his own flesh and blood. J'onn had to stagger back a little so he wasn't affected by the halfa's strong emotions. Hawkgirl was about ready to use her mace on the man and John could only agree. Their thoughts were interrupted by the ground underneath them shaking.
"Phantom, you said there was a reason to all of this," Batman asked. While he and the rest of the team really did feel like giving a blow of justice to Jack, the whole world was going crazy and they didn't have time to waste.
"Yes. J-Jack created a machine- the Spectre-destabiliser. It's destabilising the ghost zone but the problem is that the ghost zone and the human world are connected. If one falls the other falls along with it. I've destroyed one machine but the other one is in the Ghost Zone."
"That's no problem then. I'll just run in, find it, destroy it and all this will be done," Flash said quickly.
Danny shook his head, frowning a little as he thought about how he should approach the topic of Dan. He sighed as he looked at the heroes in tired shame. Out of all of his screw-ups Dan was real high on the list. For once the room was silent. Everyone looked at the teen that looked about ready to just give up and it made them afraid.
"Dan… He's a really powerful ghost that… well he is me from the alternate future where I turn evil. No one was a match for him and he destroyed the whole world… including all of you," Danny replied with brutal honesty. His grip on Cujo became tighter as he thought about the horrible futuristic world he had seen where there were no heroes, no villains, just a pack of survivors and Dan. "I defeated him, trapped him in a thermos and intrusted him into the care of Clockwork, a ghost who controls time. Since Dan himself is outside of time Clockwork must have been unable to see his escape and therefore became unable to prevent it. Unfortunately Clockwork is bound to protecting time and he had to revert to his primordial state before time itself collapsed with the ghost zone. Dan was able to free himself afterwards and I'm sure he has control over the remaining Spectre Destabiliser."
The team took a moment to contemplate the information they were given. Danny shifted a bit in his seat feeling entirely uncomfortable when Barry hugged him tightly. Danny flinched at the contact but found himself stiff and shocked when he felt Barry's tears drip into his ruined shirt.
"I can't believe you've been holding all of this in," Barry cried into Danny's shoulder.
Danny didn't know why but he felt happy. Here was someone crying for him after finding out who he really was. Danny hugged the hero back and found tears of relief running down his face. The team watched the touching moment without making a move. They didn't want to ruin the moment considering they didn't know exactly what the teen had gone through the past week.
"Next time you come straight to me if you have problems. We're all here for you. We're a team," Barry said as he pulled away.
Danny wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded. The earth shaking seemed to strike his mind back in tangent to the problem at hand. He put Cujo down before standing up shakily and moving to the weapon storage. There were a few Fenton Peeler's and other weapons such as the Fenton Wrist Ray and the Fenton Foamer but he went mostly for the Spectre Deflectors, cringing a little as he grabbed the whole lot.
"We'll be going into the ghost zone. Ghosts aren't easily affected by humans but considering all of us aren't exactly normal we'll be fine. Just keep in mind that in the ghost zone the humans are the ghosts," Danny replied as he handed everyone the spectre deflectors. "If you wear those ghosts will most likely not touch you and will be unable to overshadow you either."
Danny quickly moved to the portal when he felt Superman's arms grab his shoulder and halt him.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Into the ghost zone," Danny replied with a 'duh' face.
"Phantom, Superman is right," Diana said as she stepped forward, "you don't look ready to fight."
"Especially someone who's destroyed the whole world before," Barry added.
Danny fumed. "I've defeated him before and I can do it again!" The sudden yelled caused Danny to cough out some blood which reinforced the Leagues ideas. Danny paused and took a deep calming breath. "Look I don't have to even fight just take me along. You need me in there. I'm the only one with experience travelling through the zone."
"Fine but you are not transforming in your condition," John finally gave in.
"I am not being carried," Danny blushed before his thoughts wandered to being held by Diana. He flushed and shook the thoughts out. Tucker really was corrupting him.
"We'll take the jet," Batman spoke up for the heroes who couldn't fly to which Danny breathed a sigh of relief. The teen turned to Cujo and patted the bruised ghost dog's head. "You look after Jack while I'm gone okay. Make sure he doesn't do something stupid."
Danny, Barry and Bruce then walked out of the house and towards the jet. Batman took out the device he had been working on and decided it was a good time to inform the half-ghost.
"I've nearly finished the design for the ghost portal," Batman said as he handed Danny the prototype. It was a small, watch like device that was square at the ends and had a circle in the middle.
"You knew?" Barry asked in shock to which he was ignored.
"No one's tested it have they?" Danny asked worriedly.
"No, why do you ask?" Batman asked.
Danny fidgeted. "My parents weren't the first people to try and open a portal to the ghost zone. Magicians and scientists of the past have been doing so for quite a long time. I've heard of rumoured magical artefacts and spells that can open gateways to the zone but only my parents have been able to achieve it by science. If the exact location isn't correct then you could end up being trapped in the Unworld."
"Unworld?" Flash asked in confusion.
"It's a place in-between the ghost zone and the human realm. Over there you are neither ghost nor human. You can get there by messing with portals or when a ghost loses its obsession. It's also where the observants send you if you do too much damage," Danny said shivering at the idea. It would have been where Dan would be sent if it weren't for the fact that he soon became someone outside of time. In fact he only knew of one other ghost that had been cursed to that horrible fate.
"Then it's best if you don't turn it on," Batman replied, "unless it's absolutely necessary."
The trio got into the jet and somehow got it into the house and through the portal (don't ask how). The team then made their first entry into the Ghost Zone. Like Barry, they were quite shocked to see the green and purple landscape in front of them. It's twists and turns of irregular stairs and doors seemed to stretch into endless expanse.
"This is your world," Superman said a little miffed. He attributed it to the lack of sunlight and how weak it made him after a prolonged period of time.
"Yay, hurray me right," the teen cheered sarcastically. "In any sense there are far worse places to be," Danny replied. "Now there are a few rules to obey in the ghost zone; firstly rules are relative to the place we are in, and secondly non-ectoplasmic entities are prohibited to enter. Now I want you all to forget those rules because the world is ending."
"Way to put it Mini-man," Barry replied dryly. He was just happy that Danny was back to his sarcastic self again even if he did look like the walking dead.
They soon found themselves travelling deeper and deeper into the zone. There seemed to be more groaning and melting ghosts as they went in. The usually messy structured stairs leading who knows where seemed to be crumbling in on itself. It made Danny increasingly jittery.
"Stop! If you proceed any further we will have to stop you!"
Danny groaned before taking the microphone from the jet. "Look here you little twit! The ghost zone is collapsing in on itself and people are dying every-fucking-where, and you're worried about us passing through your territory?! Where the fuck is Walker when the whole world is chaotic?!"
Suddenly the one guard was backed up by a hundred more and a few other ghosts mixed in. Now Danny regretted his sudden bout of cussing and provocation. It also begged the question as to why other ghosts were supporting Walker's men.
"Hey that's Danny Phantom in there. Weren't we given a catch on sight order?" one of the ghosts yelled out.
The other's started murmering in agreement as they drew in closer towards the gang. Danny was becoming increasingly frustrated. Didn't those ghosts see that the Zone was crumbling in on itself? Did they not care?
"Let me out of here," Danny growled as he went for the door. Batman grabbed Danny's arm and frowned a no.
"You're in no state to fight. Let the team handle this," he said sternly.
"People are dying. Ghosts are being fed to the Unworld!" Danny growled, his eyes flashing toxic green in anger. "I can't just sit by and watch! I have to take responsibility!"
"This wasn't your fault," Barry said putting a hand on Danny's shoulder.
Danny looked outside and his eyebrows knit together in suppressed anger. "It is me. I'm the one holding the machine. I'm the one who destroyed a whole timeline. It was all me."
"We are our decisions," Bruce replied shutting the teen down. "You are not the one who made this decision. It was someone else. Now let the team fight and we will let you make the decisions."
Danny slumped back in his seat as he watched Superman, Hawkgirl, John and J'onn fight through the hordes of ghosts. Batman was piloting the jet which he had inbuilt ectoplasmic guns into after he found out about ghosts. Thankfully it seemed to be working.
"We've made it through most of them. Phantom, where do we go next?" Superman asked through the link.
"We are travelling to the Far Frozen. Areas in the ghost zone never stay in the same place. Ectoplasm likes moving around so my friend and I created an algorithm to predict the circumference of it-"
"Just tell us where," Hawkgirl grunted through the link.
"Right," Danny replied quickly.
Bruce was thoroughly impressed as he watched Danny make those calculations. He had looked at Danny Fenton's grades and they seemed to fluctuate randomly. Ever since his mother had died, Batman noted the rise in Danny's grades. It seemed it was attributed to the recent decline in ghost attacks on Amity grounds. Of course he didn't know whether Jack had a part in it either. He hadn't expected the level of abuse he had found out when he first did his research. He had assumed that Jack simply neglected Danny and that was the extent of their relationship. If he'd known the teen was being literally tortured in his own home he would have done something sooner.
"There it is," Danny said as he pointed to the large floating expanse of ice. It seemed there was a giant barrier in front of it. "Now I really need to go out and negotiate."
Barry sighed. "Just be careful"
"Sure thing boss," Danny replied as he transformed with great pain and exited the jet. The rest of the team watched as he walked to the barrier and placed his hands on it. Danny put a hand on it and inscribed the ancient yeti code onto it before creating a door. He felt instantly tired as the rings passed through his body turning him into a human. Diana quickly caught the weak and thin boy as he fell.
"They'll be alerted to us having opened the barrier. I need to show them it's me," Danny replied trying to get out of Diana's grip and onto the icy land.
"You're too weak," she replied with finality.
Danny was about to grumble when he supposed it was a good thing he was being held by older beautiful women. He reluctantly shoved down those inappropriate thoughts when he saw yetis approach. They looked armed and angry until they saw him.
"The Great One!" they called out in surprise.
"Great one?" Barry asked as he zoomed next to Diana and Danny.
Danny didn't respond but instead pushed himself of Diana despite her protests. He shakily stood on the ground and bowed his head as customary greetings to which they followed by bowing lower.
"We have come because of the dire circumstances in the Zone," Danny said coughing a little. "We need to see Frostbite."
"Of course Great One, follow us!"
Diana gestured to carry Danny again to which he refused. Any other day he would have been fine being held by a pretty older woman but right now he couldn't afford to look weak. He was meant to be Far Frozen's protector. That was the title he was tasked and the Far Frozen was not a place where the weak were looked onto gently even if they were injured. He didn't need political problems and people questioning his decision making skills at a crucial time like this… not when Dan was on the loose.
"This is fascinating," J'onn said as he walked by Batman and Green Lantern.
"To think the ghost zone inhabits whole nations of civilisations," John agreed.
"If you think this is cool, wait until Bats finds out there's a library with every known written record, book, or notes that anyone has ever written," Danny replied with a light jab.
Batman perked at the news and subconsciously drew closer to listen in on the conversation. Barry blanched.
"You mean my in-class essays from my high-school days are there?" Barry asked, although what he really wanted to know about was whether his diary would have been recorded down as well.
"You bet," Danny replied. He pushed it into the back of his head as a reminder to go in and get some useful blackmail on Barry. "Although I do go there every once in a while to read some fanfiction."
"You mean to say that you had a library with classified documents on your finger-tips and you don't use it? But you went to read fanfiction?" John asked incredulously.
Danny laughed a little despite the pain and exhaustion he was facing. "You underestimate the extent of which a teenager can procrastinate," the teen replied. "Plus I did do some research there on the GIW once but that's a story for later. We're here."
The heroes gaped as they entered what looked like an advanced civilisation of Yetis and other ghosts. Danny figured he had good reason to worry now considering there were other ghosts inside the Far Frozen. From what he knew of the Yeti's they hardly had contact with others and were very protective of their land. Danny even noted a few of Dora's citizens and wondered if the ghost princess was safe. Soon they made it to the high court. Danny often visited Frostbite here.
"Great One!" Frostbite greeted gravely, his usual energetic tone lost. Princess Dora and Pandora appeared from behind the Yeti leader.
"Frostbite, Princess Dorothea, Pandora," Danny greeted as formally as he could. He wasn't here visiting as a friend but rather as a sworn protector. He couldn't simply hug them like he really wanted to.
"Pandora… I had always thought of her as a myth," Diana gasped.
Danny walked into the large Ottoman like building. The Far Frozen prided themselves in their ability to sculpt from ice so Corinthian like designs of ice arched through the walls and glittered clear. How they managed to make the ice clear he had no idea but if anything they were setting his own standards high. This time though Danny walked through the beautiful building with his eyes set on the meeting table. There he was pleased to see many ghosts he had once fought. The Box ghost, Lunch Lady, Ember, Johnny & Kitty, and Amorpho were standing by the table.
"Danny!"
Danny whipped his head around at the familiar voice. He nearly fell to the floor when his clone charged at him and hugged him tightly. Through the pain he felt immensely happy. Even Wulf was standing behind her with a smile.
"Dani… I'm in pain," Danny wheezed.
Dani let go and the heroes gave Danny a pointed look that screamed for an explanation. Before Danny could explain why there was a little girl that looked an awful lot like him he was beat to it by Dani's excitement.
"Oh my god! Wonder Women, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern! You're like my favourite heroes!" she squealed in fan-girl mode before she realised she hadn't introduced herself. "My name's Dani, with an i," she said excitedly as she shook Hawkgirl's hand like crazy before moving onto Diana and John.
"Dani is… well I guess you could say she's me," Danny answered with a frown before he continued, "but also not me. Well she's my clone but she's also my friend Sam's clone too. So I think you could say she's like my daughter?"
"Don't even try and categorise me! I'm too cool for that," Dani said as he puffed her chest with pride.
Danny smiled a little at her antiques and shook Wulf's hands before he just went in for a bear hug. He didn't tell the wolf-man but he was grateful that Wulf took care of Dani. Without him Dani might have had to live in the ghost zone and only be able to visit through his portal… and he didn't want her finding out about Jack. The team looked on with intrigue. They're youngest member was a 'father' even before they were. Frostbite decided to break the reunion as more pressing matters were at hand.
"I'm sorry Great One but we must get back to the meeting at hand. We are facing a grave situation," Frostbite ushered.
Danny was led to the end of the table and he felt mostly awkward having sat down at the head seat when it should have been Frostbite, Pandora or Dorothea. They were the people with royal and military blood in them after all. But he knew of his position as Protector and he knew that the responsibility now fell on him. He watched silently as the heroes took seats on the sides of the long table and waited patiently as they sat. He followed etiquette and stood up before starting the meeting.
"We shall now start," Danny said before he sat down.
The team watched in bewilderment. Barry especially because Danny was being given so much respect from the other ghosts. He looked to his right and noticed the pretty ghost and wondered if he should ask her.
"Why is Danny sitting up the front?" he asked. John and Diana listened in completely enthralled to know what exactly their youngest teammate had done to earn such respect.
Dorothea gave the human a pointed look. "Did you not know? Phantom is the saviour of the ghost zone. He has accomplished many things such as freeing my kingdom from my oppressive brother and defeating Pariah Dark the Ghost Zone's tyrannical King."
Barry was admittedly impressed but even more so when Frostbite stood up and imposed his domineering figure upon the rest. It looked as if he were about to say a speech.
"As you know the Ghost Zone is now collapsing along with our sister dimension. Any planet connected to the ghost zone will soon be destroyed unless we put a stop to this. Right now we have been sent a messenger who has claimed that all resisting dominions will be destroyed unless it aligns itself to Dan Phantom."
"What say Phantom? He knows this man well, correct?" Pandora interrupted.
Danny stood up and his face turned grim. "I will not lie to you. Dan Phantom is a version of me that has chosen the path of destruction and he is a strong individual. If my suspicions are correct he will be gathering as many desperate ghosts as he can under his rule and more so undoing the seals of those who are in imprisonment."
"What of the Observants?" Dora asked, raising everyone's concerns.
The halfa sighed as he thought of those useless eyeballs. "They will not save us and nor will Clockwork but I have bought a team of heroes from Earth to aid us in this battle. No doubt the observants have fled to protect time… and themselves. We cannot look to unseal the Ancients anymore because the pbservents hold the keys. We are going to face this battle ourselves."
The room broke out in murmurs while the heroes watched on silently. They had little experience with Ghost Zone politics and as such decided to let Danny do the talking. People broke out into whispers about joining Dan and that's when Frostbite stood up again and the room fell into silence.
"According to Ghost Law, Dan Phantom is not allowed to assume control over the Zone unless he has beaten the current line to the throne or the King. Danny Phantom still holds the mantle."
"I have not assumed the crown," Danny replied rubbing his temples. He didn't want to be King. The responsibility of ruling the whole Ghost Zone didn't seem appealing.
Some ghosts started protesting. The idea of a half-human child as a King seemed utterly wrong to them but now Danny was starting to have enough. He held out his hand and silenced the room before using his levitation abilities to pull the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire towards himself. The ghosts watched silenced by Danny's suddenly intimidating figure as he held the powerful artefacts.
"A Kingship is not a democracy," Danny stated with as much force as his tired body could. "Let it be known that I have defeated the previous King Pariah Dark! Instead of ruling the Zone with an iron fist I laid down the crown and simply became your Protector. Did I not take down our threat the GIW? Did I not put away ghosts such as Vortex and Dan Phantom before? Right now we are in a war. If need be then I will assume power not only as a King but also as your Protector! Now we can either sit here waiting for the collapse of our homes and our very cores or we can stand up and fight!"
The room broke out into applause. Danny took the Ring of Rage and put it on his finger before adorning the Crown of Fire. A green fire seemed to surround his body and Danny felt powerful. He could feel his Phantom form grow to the height he really was and his wounds started closing and healing. He could feel the thrum of his core singing with calm, flowing power.
The members of the Assembly watched on as the transformation took place in awe. Danny Phantom stood tall as an imposing figure now. He had grown in height, his white hair grew in length so it almost looked like it was being blown back gently by a breeze and a long black cape extended from his back. He glowed brightly with power and demanding authority.
"Is that Danny?" Barry mumbled in shock.
The ghosts in the room quickly got on their knees and bowed. The utterly magnificent image of a King was broken when Danny started fretting over their actions. Barry chuckled a little causing the teen to huff in embarrassment. Danny stopped fretting and felt a little pride at the respect his people were showing him. A voice in the back of his mind whispered he was a failure that he was a monster but what Danny saw in front of him spoke differently.
"If I am a failure, and a monster then I am the King of failures and monsters"
"What do you wish for us to do?" Frostbite finally asked as he looked up.
Danny's eyes hardened. "Send a messenger. If Dan is not to give up the machine destroying our worlds then we will wage war."
"As you wish my lord," Frostbite said with a small amused smile. Danny smiled back at the ghost Yeti as he watched him and the other ghosts leave. Dora and Pandora stayed behind as they approached him.
"From an honorary Knight to a King," Dora chuckled.
"You have fought well for us and I'm sure you will continue to do so valiantly," Pandora added before she bowed lightly and left the room.
When the two ghosts left the room Danny found himself alone with the League members. He slumped down on the chair and groaned loudly causing the team to remind themselves that this was still a teenager. Barry sped up next to Danny and patted his back chuckling.
"So mini-man has become the big guy huh," Barry laughed.
"God, why did I agree to this?" Danny groaned. "There's a reason why Pariah became an oppressive and destructive King. I heard the paper work will drive anyone insane!"
"Can't see why you're complaining when you've got hot ghost chicks all over," Barry commented before Batman walked forward.
"How many ghosts do you presume are approximately on our side?" he asked, bringing the problem to attention.
"That's hard to say," Danny replied mulling over the question. "Dora's kingdom has about 600 denizens, Frostbite about 1000, Pandora only has dead mythical Greek creatures, and what with all the other ghosts who want to resist Dan we only have an estimate number of 1800. Dan probably has the rest of the GZ dead or begging him for mercy so it's hard to say what we're up against."
"Is there anything we need to know before we do go into battle?" Superman asked.
"Yes. Now that I've become King, the old king Pariah Dark will no doubt awake and aid Dan. There are other rather important heavy hitters such as Fright Knight, Vortex and Aragon. Those three will definitely have you guys sweating. We will have more concrete information once we send in spies to gather information."
Danny got up from his seat and made his way to Dani and Wulf when John stopped him. "Shouldn't you be resting from your injuries?"
"Injuries?" Dani asked curiously.
"The crown gave me more power than I imagined," Danny replied as he poked his chest, "I'm completely healed right now."
"But are you really well?" Diana asked.
Danny closed his eyes and tried to forget what happened the past few weeks. He did not want to remember what he had gone through. He did not want to remember just how close he had come to believing his father's words and simply rotting away in self-hate. He did not want to remember how close he was to simply giving up Cujo because of his irrational fear.
"I used to think that I was a failure… that everything I touched would add to it. I had failed my whole family and even you Dani. I could not provide for you and instead threw you out into the streets when you were barely even a year old," Danny said disgusted at himself.
"No biggie," Dani replied uncomfortably. "Plus it's not like you just threw me out. You took a whole day off of school to find Wulf and ask him to help me."
"That is not all," he replied looking away. "I had failed to help Jazz when she needed me and drove my own father to madness. I was the one who broke up my family… I was the one who created Dan." Danny mulled over what he said before he looked the team straight in their eyes. "However I am tired of dwelling on my mistakes. I cannot wallow around anymore. I've realised some things are just outside of my control. I could not stop the car crash that killed my mother. I couldn't stop Jazz from hating me. I couldn't help my dad overcome his grief. I couldn't stop my alternate self from accepting his pain and moving on. But there are things I can do and if I don't then I'm afraid I'll really be a failure. Right now I will focus on the things that I can do."
Barry zoomed next to Danny and put a hand on his shoulder. "We have your back no matter what Mini-man," Barry said ruffling Danny's hair.
Hawgirl, Superman, J'onn, Diana, Green Lantern, and Batman stepped forward as well. "We are a team," Superman said causing Danny's heart to jump a beat. He still hadn't gotten over his man-crush on Superman.
"We will follow you to battle as you have followed us," Diana added.
"You're a real soldier," John agreed.
"Well actually I'm a King now," Danny replied as he pointed at his crown jokingly.
"But you're still a kid," John added making the teen pout.
"And you're the best father anyone could have," Dani added before Danny gave her a 'really' look. "Actually no you're not but I'm darn happy I was your clone and not Vlad's."
"True, true," Danny agreed not wanting to witness a female Vlad. He shivered at the thought before he looked at his friends. He felt his cold core thaw a little in joy. A small genuine smile made its way across his face.
A King of monsters and failures, eh?
For once Danny felt assured. The war, that would be later recorded as the War of the Two Worlds, would be taught as history and told as tales for the eternity to come.
-To be Continued-
A few people thought the mysterious person was Vlad. Man I'm sorry if I made it seem like Vlad was the mysterious bad guy. In all honesty Vlad's become a hermit in this story. Of course many people forget the Dan is also somewhat half Plasmius and may take some of his qualities as well. I thought it would only be fitting if Dan had a fixation on the Packers as well. Once in a while Vlad concocts a plan to destroy Danny but other than that Danny pities him now because the man is without an obsession. Of course that doesn't mean it's the end of Vlad Masters. There's going to be a separate arc just for him like there is for Lex Luthor in the JLAU. All of you are probably wondering where Sam and Tucker are at during this calamity. Danny left the Spectre Speeder so they're definitely going to make a cameo during the war. They are just held up because of natural disasters and such but Wulf's going to help them get to the GZ and fight alongside Danny.
Do you like Danny as a King? Personally I never liked the idea of Danny as a King but I haven't thought too far ahead for this story (I have planned out this arc) so who knows if Danny will remain King. I'll just let you guys decide whether you want that to happen or not. Just pm or leave a review on what you think should happen. He just needed to be king for a few things in later chapters to go through.
