AN: October 6th, 2014 - February 8th, 2015

In the next couple weeks I will be moving and I will not have access to the internet. I'm not sure when I'll be able to once again have it, either.

On another, slightly similar, note, I'm hoping to get a least a small something to you guys before that happens. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've gotten anything to you guys. It's mostly been writer's block, but then other things have come up and I just haven't really been thinking about it. Once again, though, I will NOT abandon this story. I WILL finish it, I'm just not sure when it will happen. Thanks for the follows and favorites, guys! And now, on to the part that you guys actually came here for.

WARNING: Be prepared for angst. There will most likely be a bit of it in here.

Twenty-Five:

After Wraith sent the Titans and ghosts away, he curled over in pain as a new wave of guilt flooded his system. Thoughts accompanied it, and Wraith struggled to send them away.

This wasn't the first time he regretted giving up what he had to get the Reality Gauntlet. This wasn't the first time he pondered if all this pain and anguish was going to be worth it. He fought it off and straightened up again. He had something he had to do. He didn't have time to be feeling sorry for himself. Not when the world, or at least Jump City, was in danger.

He focused on the power that the Reality Gauntlet was giving him, and focused on transporting himself to town center. He surveyed the town. I never should have left, he thought.

It was eerily empty, but in shambles. Most people had been evacuated days, if not weeks, before. The only people who seemed to stick around were the police and a few people who wouldn't be chased away by the ghosts. If Pariah and Wraith were going to be fighting, the town would need to be empty. Wraith would have to do it himself.

He channeled his powers through the gauntlet and focused on the people of the town. One by one they disappeared and were transported to Amity Park as well. He knew they would be safe there. It was a long ways away from Jump City. He contemplated flying back to his small apartment to wait it out until Pariah showed his ugly mug, but decided to go to the Titans' Tower instead. It there was trouble in town, it would let him know.

He explored the Tower, attempting to find a room that he could stay in. He passes by Robin's when he felt dizziness hit him again. He wandered into Robin's room to see that it looked like it was hardly ever in use. With a wave of Wraith's gauntlet the dust disappeared and Wraith transformed into Danny.

Danny walked over to Robin's bed and collapsed. He was going to need his strength for whenever Pariah was going to attack. He was asleep within minutes, falling into a restless, dreamless slumber.

A few hours later, all the alarms in Titan's Tower began to go off. Danny blinked away the cobwebs of sleep quickly and rushed to the main room of the tower. Out of the window he could see Nocturne. Didn't I just send him away? Danny thought.

"Doesn't matter. I'll send him right back," Danny growled.

Danny transformed into Wraith and flew out into the center of town. The couple hours of sleep had helped immensely. This time he barely even had to stress his thoughts on teleporting Nocturne back to the Ghost Zone. The Gauntlet gave him more powers than he was willing to admit to. At least to anyone other than himself.

Moments after Nocturne disappeared, the second wave hit. A red portal formed in the sky and two more ghosts emerged from it: Technus and Ember. Both of their eyes were glowing a deep, blank red. They immediately began to attack Wraith.

Every blow Wraith dealt to them was shrugged off, as if it didn't even hurt. If this wasn't proof that they weren't in control of their actions, Wraith thought, then he didn't know what was. He ducked and avoided as many blows from Ember and Technus that he could and what he could not, he sent right back to them.

They were both vicious in their attack against him. Wraith formed a few ecto-bands around the two ghosts and forced them to the asphalt below them. He flew down and put his gauntlet covered hand on Ember's forehead. He screwed his eyes closed and focused on clearing her head of Pariah's control.

Wraith was forced back suddenly by an ecto-blast in the shape of an arrow. A new ghost had joined the fray. A ghostly archer that Wraith had only seen once before: when he had gone against Prince Aragon. He transported Ember and Technus back into the Ghost Zone and turned to fight the archer.

Wraith's ghost senses went off and he ducked a blow from a ghostly executioner, a companion to the archer. He went intangible and flew away so that he was facing the two, instead of having one or the other at his back. What he wouldn't give to have his battle axe back!

His eyes flashed green and he let out a ghostly wail. It went soaring into the two ghosts, as well as destroying the buildings to either side and behind them. They both went flying back into a skyscraper, crashing through the broken windows and walls. The skyscrapers began to collapse, but Wraith waved the Reality Gauntlet and the falling rubble disappeared.

The archer and the executioner flew out of the rubble. Their bodies wilted, but the control of Pariah kept them going. Wraith attempted to do the same thing to them as he had to Ember and Technus. He formed two more ecto-bands around then and stuck the ghosts to the ground.

When he put his hand on the archer's forehead, he focused harder on ridding him of Pariah's control. Suddenly, the archer blinked and his eyes turned green again. Wraith grinned beneath his hood. It worked! He moved over to do the same to the executioner when, once again, his ghost senses went off.

The executioner used his eyes to blast Wraith off of him. Another ecto-blast hit Wraith's back and sent him in another direction. He turned to see Youngblood. His face was missing its usual smirk. His eyes were blank as well. It gave Wraith a chill.

More ghosts started to appear. Wraith didn't have time to cure them all. He waved his arm again and again and the ghosts disappeared in hand fulls.

"Where do these guys keep coming from?" Wraith growled. He screwed his eyes shut and tried to imagine blocking the exits to the Ghost Zone with the Reality Gauntlet. Each red portal disappeared with loud pops. Unfortunately, he didn't know how long that would last.

~~..~~..~~

"We need to get back to Jump City," Robin said.

"Robin?" A voice call out.

The Boy Wonder turned around. "Chief?" He asked. It was the Chief of Police in Jump City. "What are you doing here?"

"That's a good question, son. We were trying to clear out a couple of our boys from a high danger area when suddenly we're all here, safe and sound. No idea how to explain it," the chief explained, shrugging.

Jinx and Raven joined them. "Did you guys see Wraith?" Jinx asked.

"Who?"

"He floats, wears a white robe, and has this copper gauntlet on his arm?" Beastboy supplied.

"Didn't see anyone like that. Haven't even heard of him," the chief responded.

"I saw someone like that," one of the other officers supplied.

"The whelp must be clearing the city of anyone that might get in his way," Skulker pondered.

"Or people that might get hurt," Jinx glared at the ghost.

"I agree with Robin. We need to get back to Jump City," Raven said.

AN: I'm sorry about the long absence. The last couple months... well, they've been very crazy. I'm now living in my own apartment with my best friend and have all the internet I could possibly want. I've also been getting a little more inspired so hopefully I'll be able to finish the story soon. Let me know what you guys think? Thanks for your patience!