Arc 3 pt. 3 : Friendship is Magic
Danny groans, rubbing his head as he focuses on clearing his thoughts.
This last week and a half had been one big problem after another. Walking into Klarion's trap, getting tossed head first into a different dimension with a group of teens who don't know his secret, fighting heroes of another world, then finding themselves in yet another world that was dominated by the Mafia of all things, and being told by said Mafia members (what did they call themselves? Mafians? Mafia men? Oh, who cares.) that they would help them get home.
The only good thing about that world was that he was able to get some sleep in his human form, because they had been given separate rooms and he didn't need to risk discovery. He hadn't been able to sleep at all in the first world and had been forced to feed off the emotions of those around him more than he'd liked just to maintain ghost form.
Anyway, Danny was really hoping what Tsuna said was true, and that this dimension would be able to break the curse and get them home.
Danny, not liking the idea of tapping into his Core at the moment, pushes himself to his hands and knees, then forces himself to stand, only to somehow over balance and topple onto his back, sending a small spike of pain through him as he lands wrong.
He remains there for a second, shocked. He tries to sit up, but his body refuses to move that way. Once again, he freezes.
What on Earth is going on?!
He looks down at his body, and yelps.
He wasn't human anymore. Or, well, he hadn't been to begin with, but he wasn't humanoid anymore.
Danny roles onto his stomach and looks down at his front legs. They have white fur that stops about halfway up, turning black, the color continuing up what he can see of his chest.
"Phantom?"
Danny snaps his head toward the place Miss Martian's voice is coming from, feeling relieved to not be alone. The creature he sees standing at the edge of the clearing (they're in a forest, he really should start paying better attention to his surroundings if he wants this hero thing to last) is not Megan at all, and yet, is at the same time.
It (she?) is very delicate looking, almost insect-like, with an emerald colored body and shimmering blue wings. An equally shimmery rust red glossimer extends form the back of it's (her?) neck and bottom, like the mane and tail of a horse. The eyes are pure caramel in color, with no pupil or whites in sight. A splattering of freckles rest on it's (her) cheeks.
"Megan?" He freezes. There wasn't an echo in his voice. Why wasn't an echo in his voice?
"Phantom?" Pulled from his panic, Danny turns to the strange insect creature that the Martian had become, finding that she had moved closer when he was distracted. "Are you all right?" Megan continues worriedly.
"I-" He pauses, still trying to get his head around the sudden change in species. "I think so. Are you?" He looks her up and down pointedly.
She smiles. "I'm okay." She comes to a stop in front of him offering him a hand-er, hoof, up. "Be careful. It takes a moment to get used to walking on all fours instead of just two."
She helps him up then immediately lets go and moves to his side to steady him.
Her wings flutter. "Oh, Phantom, I didn't notice earlier. They're beautiful!"
Danny stares at her, confused. "What are beautiful?"
Megan beams at him. "Your wings." she chirps.
"My what?!" he looks over his shoulder, and spots the awkwardly held bundle of muscles and black and white feathers. He turns back to Megan, wide-eyed.
She just continues to smile at him. "It's okay, don't panic." she says. "Just... try and spread them. Like this."
She hooks her hoof under his wing and pulls, gently, as Danny shivers at the weird sensation. Once the appendage is at it's full length, she nods to the other one.
With a deep breath, Danny tries spreading it. It feels so strange, but he manages to do it.
Fully open, Danny can understand what Megan was talking about. His wings really are quite beautiful. They're mostly black, except for the flight feathers, which are the same blinding white as his legs.
"If it makes you feel any better," Megan regains his attention, "you also have a horn."
Danny freezes. "What."
"Yep." she chirps. "It's pretty too. It's a swirl of black and white, so it stands out from both your dark fur and your light mane. So do your eyes for that matter, still the same green that we're used to."
Danny groans. "Great, so I'm what, exactly? Some kind of unicorn... thing, with wings?"
Megan hums in affirmation.
With a sigh, Danny hangs his head for a moment, then turn back to his Martian teammate. "Do you think you could use the Mind-link to find the others?"
"Of course. Hello, Megan, why didn't I think of that?"
A pause, and then Danny – who had been taking his lessons with Clockwork and the importance of guarding his mind seriously after first learning of the Mind-link – feels the light brushing of the Martian consciousness against his own.
"They're making their way to us now." Megan reports.
Danny nods.
He decides to practice moving around in his new body while they wait, so he starts walking laps around the clearing. Once he's reasonably sure he can walk correctly, he moves onto his wings, opening and closing them, as well as giving them little practice flaps.
Before he can move on to doing both at the same time, the first of their teammates show up.
They walk in side by side, both just plain horses. One with dark tan fur, and long blonde mane and tail that almost drag across the forest floor and dark gray eyes, the other shorter and completely black, so dark in color it looks blue when the light glances off it, with light blue eyes.
Megan stands from where she had lain down after calling to the others. "Artemis! Robin!" she shouts, and her wings lift her off the ground, so she can hover around the two. "I'm so glad your okay!"
Danny walks over as the two say their greetings.
Artemis pointedly looks him over. "Wow, Phantom, you're... well, you certainly look different."
"Gee, thanks." Danny says dryly.
Both newcomers jerk back in surprise.
"Dude," Robin says, "your voice lost it's echo."
Danny gives him his best deadpan look. "Nooo, really? I didn't realize."
"We're in a different universe," the sound of Wally's voice causes them all to turn to where his coming out of the undergrowth, followed by two others that Danny's pretty sure is Superboy and Aqualad. "Maybe something in the air made you "come alive" again." He doesn't sound like he believes his own theory, which is understandable, considering Wally is very scientific by nature.
Traveling like this must be playing on his nerves.
Wally, himself, is now a bright yellow Pegasus with an equally bright orange/red mane and tail, his eyes the same pale green they are as a human.
Megan quickly flies to greet them, confirming by her happy shouts that the two others are, indeed, with Wally.
Danny takes a good look at them.
Superboy is a white Unicorn with a short, black mane and tail, his blue eyes currently focused completely as she chatters to him.
Aqualad, on the other hand, had a very strange choice in form for this world. He was a half horse half eagle Hippogriff – which he only knew the name of because of Sam. His fur and feathers are a dark, chocolaty brown, his mane and tail a pale blonde almost white, and his eyes silver.
Danny watches as the said Atlantean-turned-Hippogriff steps forward and takes control of the situation.
"We need to search for shelter." He says. "As well as water. I'm going to assume that our equestrian nature will allow us to eat the vegetation, so we will live until we can find help."
"That will not be necessary, young ones."
The Team acts as one, spinning around and sinking into ready positions. Even if they don't have quite the same control over their new bodies as their old ones, they won't go down without a fight.
(And boy, does it feel good to have someone inexplicably on your side for once.)
The creature that exits the foliage is like Danny, in that it (she, by her voice) has a horn and a set of wings, but that is where the similarities end. For one she's taller, taller then even Superboy, who's the tallest of them. Her fur is a dark blue, and her eyes a light turquoise. Her mane and tail are a royal blue surrounded by a light purple, and flow to the side without wind, and seem to twinkle with stars. On her chest is a black necklace with a crescent moon on it. On her hooves are silver shoes, and on her head, behind her horn, glints an obsidian tiara. Everything about her scream nighttime.
Behind her, are two identical Pegusi, fur a dark gray and wearing dark blue armor.
"Peace, young ones," she continues. "I mean you no harm. I am Princess Luna of Equestria, where you have landed. My sister and I felt your arrival, and I was sent to ensure our peoples safety. Mayhap I ask, what brings you to our world?"
Aqualad straightens – though he's the only one – and steps forward to stand in front. "I am Aqualad, leader of the Team, a group of young heroes trained under the elite protectors the Justice League. We have been cursed by one of our enemies, Klarion the Witch Boy, to travel the multiverse. Our last stop, we met some with technology to do the same. They were able to steer us toward a world with the ability to break the curse. Your world. Can you help us?"
Princess Luna studies them. Then her horn lights up with a sheer blue, and she points it at them. "If I may cast on you."
Aqualad nods.
A beam of light leaves her horn and slowly scans their leader. Once it's finished, the glow disappears and the Princess nods in a sharp motion. "I recognize this spell, though I am afraid no pony, not even us Alicorns, have the strength to cast it, nor it's counter."
Danny feels a spike of panic and terror flow through him, and while he knows that some of it comes from his teammates, he can't help but to freeze under it's assault. They were never going to get home.
"Luckily for you," the Princess' voice pulls their attention back to her. "I know someone who can, and does, cast this spell and counter."
"Truly?" Aqualad asks.
At her nod, some of the tension leaves the Team. They could break this. They could go home.
"Come," the blue equine says as she turns from them. "I will take you to the Castle. My sister and I will call him for you. Be of mind, he thrives on Chaos, and will use his magic to such an affect."
They walk through the forest, the Princess leading them, with the two guards between her and the Team, and the Team themselves following, until they reach a cobble stone path. They walk on this path until they reach a city.
They continue up the now winding streets, coming to a stop when they reach the end, on which sits a ginormous white castle that flies flags of many different colors.
Princess Luna stops and turns to dismiss her guards, then motion for the Team to follow her inside, leading them to a huge throne room that's walls are covered in stain glass windows.
Before them is a raised dais, on which stands another... Danny's not sure what to call her. An Alicorn, right? That's what Princess Luna called herself, at least.
Anyway, this Alicorn is the exact opposite of their guide. She's a beautiful cream white, with a flowing mane and tail layered in two shades of light blue, a light green, and a light pink. Her eyes are purple, and the crown on her head is made of gold, as are her shoes and the necklace on her chest.
"Sister," Princess Luna says, "these are our guests, their leader is Aqualad. New friends," she turns to the teens, "this is my sister, Princess Celestia of Equestria." She turns back to white Alicorn. "Sister, they have a curse upon them, one I recognized as something only a Chaos user could hope to wield, or break."
The new Princess, Celestia, nods and steps down from her platform. "Then I suppose there is only one Being we can call." She says, and spreads her wings as she speaks her next words. "Discord, we require your assistance."
For a moment, nothing happens. Then, the room seems to get darker somehow, and the shadows start moving and a haunting voice calls out. "WHO DARES SUMMON ME!"
Danny tenses, and stands back-to-back in a circle with his Team.
Suddenly, a breathe of air ghosts past his ear. Danny freezes.
"Boo!" The word is spoken right into his ear, and Danny spins, accidentally loosing some kind of ectoplast from his forehead – his... horn? - into the center of the circle of his friends.
The malicious voice roars with laughter as Princess Celestia shouts, "Discord!"
One of the strangest creatures Danny has ever seen (not the strangest, he's seen some pretty strange things in the Ghost Zone, after all) appears beside her. Its torso is brown furred, while its neck is gray furred and its tail is covered in red scales with white fur at the very tip. It has two different horns on the top of its head, two different front legs, one a tan lion's paw, the other an eagle's claw, two different hind legs, one a goat's hoof, the other like what most would think of on a T-Rex, and two different wings, one blue and feathered, and the other purple and bat-like. Its eyes are red on the inside and yellow on the outside, and it has one fang sticking out one side of its mouth, the rest of its teeth flat.
"Come now, Celestia," it says, smiling at the older Princess, "you can't begrudge me a bit of fun, can you?"
She sighs, then looks him in the eyes. "We need your help, Discord. These ponies are not from our world. Luna believes you know the curse on them, and it's counter."
"Really, now," he says, and Danny tenses even more as the... Thing, comes right up to him and takes a big sniff. Danny has to tap into his Core to keep his feet- er, hooves, on the ground as he suddenly feels like he's in a vacuum. "Why, my dear Princess, I do know this curse. In fact," he snaps his claws, which somehow works the same way it would if he was snapping fingers, and Danny feels as if a weight has lifted from his shoulders, "I just removed it.
"Now if you excuse me, I'm about to be late for tea with Fluttershy. Ta!" And with a Pop! he disappears.
A beat of silence.
"Wait," Wally breaks it. "That's it?! We can go home now?!"
"Yes I imagine so," Princess Celestia say with a knowing smile. "In fact, there is someone here who has been awaiting your arrival."
She steps out of the way as a tall blue Alicorn, even bigger then she is, comes out from behind the dais, wearing a simple purple cloak that trails behind him. His white mane and tail flow to the side just like the Princess', and humor dances in his red eyes.
Despite him being in a different form, Danny would recognize this person anywhere.
"Clockwork!" Danny charges his mentor, slamming into him and hugging him as tight as he can.
The Master of Time wraps both a wing and a foreleg around him, and Danny can feel the stress melting off him.
Clockwork was here, there was no way they wouldn't be going home.
"Daniel," the ghost greats, "it's good to see you again." He looks over to the other teens, "and you as well, Robin. I see you have been taking good care of my apprentice."
Danny takes his face out of his mentor's front to look at his team just in time to see Robin nodding.
"Wait," Wally says, "who is this guy? How do you-" he points to Robin, "-know him? And-" he looks at Danny, "-your name is Daniel?"
Clockwork chuckles as Danny answers. "This," he says, "is my mentor, Clockwork. He's the Master of Time. Daniel is – was – my human name. As for Robin knowing him," Danny throws a smile at the Boy Wonder, "who do you think told him where to find me?"
Danny turns back to the back to his mentor,looking at him in awe. "But, how did you get here?"
The blue Alicorn smiles down at his charge. "The Ghost Zone is not simply connected to one dimension, Daniel. It's portals touch many worlds beyond your own, including Equestria. Princess Celestia is an old friend of mine."
Said Princess nods. "We will leave you to return them, Clockwork." She turns and leads her younger sister from the room.
Once they're gone, Clockwork waves the now glowing horn on his head. A portal appears, and he motions toward it. "Shall we?"
~! #$%^&*()_+
It's a bit disorienting, being back on two legs. Clockwork waits for them all to get back on their feet before drawing attention to one of his Time Mirrors – making Danny realize they're in his mentor's Tower – which shows the same barn that Klarion had trap them in, only now it was crawling with League members.
"Your partners await your return." The Master of Time says.
Excitedly, the Team races through the Mirror. As Danny's about to step through, Clockwork catches his arm. Danny stops and allows his mentor to wave his staff in front of his face.
The full ghost steps back and smiles at the Ghost Boy sadly. "The time comes ever closer. He will approach you when he is at his strongest."
Danny sighs. "I know, Clockwork. But... does it have to be me?"
Clockwork lays a comforting hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "Unless you wish for another to take your place. But remember, there is only one other who can take it, and to have him do so..."
"Leads to a war torn future." Danny finishes quietly, not meeting his eyes. "I know."
Clockwork nods solemnly. "Yes." He gives Danny a light push. "But that will not happen. Go join your friends, Daniel. They will be the key..."
Danny steps through the Mirror.
"...to protecting us all."
~! #$%^&*()_+
The reception they get from the League is a much welcome, yet dreaded, one.
As soon as they come through the portal, they're all bundled up in blankets and shuttle back to the Cave by Martian Manhunter flying Megan's Bio-ship. Once there, the teens are escorted to the infirmary.
Danny is released faster then any of the others. He leaves right afterward.
Watching all the adult heroes fuss over their protegees had caused his chest to tighten, making him long for there to be someone there to greet and hug and fuss over him, or that he had stayed at the Tower with Clockwork.
(No, he didn't want his parents there, he didn't. They would rather tear him apart molecule-by-molecule, he didn't want them to know about Phantom, he didn't.)
His return to AmityPark didn't have much fanfare, either. He flew to Sam's mansion (the place Team Phantom had agreed to meet up after any Justice League missions) and told his two friends and his sister what had happened, then immediately had to set out for Ghost Hunting as Skulker decided to drop in.
After all was said and done, Danny layed down in his own bed, glad to be home at last.
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
Phew, that was a long one. Anyway, that's the end of Arc 3.
Good try to those who guessed what this chapter's dimension would be.
PhantomGoat13 : Thank you. Katekyo Hitman Reborn is an amazing Anime, I really enjoy it, though my chapter takes place about seven years after the show's end. Tsuna is absolutely hilarious and NOT the calm, cool, and collected young man he grows into under Reborn, who wasn't written in because I wasn't sure where to put him in. I'm glad you enjoyed.
Bananarock509 : That's... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, right? I don't really know much about them, other then the hilarious redo of the song by SonicSong182 on Youtube. (Shrugs and smiles sheepishly) Sorry.
MewNeko22 : (Chirps) You're welcome.
MysteryAsia : I love your name! Eeee! Thank you for coming back! I'm sooo glad you like it.
Guest : I'm sorry. Please read the Author's Note at the top of chapter nine. It explains why they're dimension hopping. Thank you.
Thank you all for reading, and let me know what you think in the review section.
Oh! Also, I have a new oneshot out. It's called You're Welcome, and it's in the Percy Jackson Fandom. Go check it out!