Bruised

Chapter Sixteen

Round Two

Put our heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

Swami Sivananda

Hawkgirl hit the shield one time before it glitched and went down. People started screaming before backing away. Batman started towards the house being followed by the others. He wasn't letting those agents hurt his charge, however temporarily he was.

"We need to find those agents," Batman ordered as they entered the House. "Split into teams, no one goes alone. Once the threat is neutralized, we'll get the president and Phantom out."

"Got it," Diana said as she and Hawkgirl went off together. Batman glared at Superman.

"You will keep your mouth shut," Batman growled out. "You've already caused enough trouble for Phantom as it stands."

"I didn't know who he was," Superman tried to defend himself only for Batman to turn to him with a pointed finger.

"It doesn't matter who he really is, it matters that it wasn't information for you to give out," Batman yelled before turning around and then glaring at the two ghost hunters who were staring at him.

"You knew he was a hybrid this whole time," Maddie stated as she crossed her arms. "He's a dangerous ghost that is looking for more power."

"Considering he didn't even really want to be crowned as the Ghost Zone's King, I doubt that. Maybe you should take your bias and shove them," Batman growled out making Maddie back up in surprise. Jack looked at Batman cautiously.

"You know who he was…or is, I guess," Jack said quietly making Batman stare at him for a moment.

"In fact, I do, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect him. He's still just a teenager regardless of the power he can weld," Batman warned making Jack nod. "Hurt him, and I'll come after you."

"Perhaps our theories were wrong," Jack suggested looking at Maddie who just glared at him. "Mads, I don't want to upset this if we're wrong. What would happen to our kids then?" Batman watched as his cousin glared at her husband before shaking her head.

"No, Phantom's playing some kind of game. If we let this continue…" she trailed off as white suits appeared around the corner and then pointed their weapons at them all.

"Freeze," an agent yelled. Batman reacted quickly by sending batarangs out to take out their weapons. Both agents looked down at their hands now that their weapons were on the ground and away from them.

"Stand down," Batman ordered watching them carefully. Superman floated behind deciding that being a quiet steady presence there would be best since Batman was still angry at him.

Both agents looked at each other before bolting away. Batman sighed before turning to the Fentons.

"Get out of here," he said before continuing on down the hallway. Jack grabbed Maddie and started heading for the front door.

Phantom laughed watching as Batman took down two agents by barely doing anything.

"You know, your agents were just as bad in Amity Park," Phantom said looking at the president. "Why create them in the first place? I mean, if ghosts were a known problem, why not just ask the Fentons?"

"They weren't created all that long ago. It was when there was a bounty of millions on a ghost's head," the president started only for Phantom to start laughing. He looked at the ghost before he realized that the bounty was probably on his head. "That ghost was you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah it was," Phantom laughed as he turned back to the computer. "You know where it was coming from?"

"No, we looked, but by the time the GIW were given resources to research it, the bounty was taken off. And since it seemed the ghost issue was contained to Amity, we just kind of…threw money at the problem and hoped for the best," the president said. "I wasn't the one in charge for that crazy, just this latest crazy." Phantom narrowed his eyes before laughing.

"Vlad Masters, billionaire creepo and certified fruitloop," Phantom answered who held the bounty on his head. "There's more, but maybe once this is all over with, I can help set you guys up with…maybe better ghost hunters?"

"Yeah, we'll be interested in that," Horne said hating the mess the GIW has caused already. He was only doing this cause war would definely be a hinder his future plans. "Perhaps we get this agreement settled and then work on that." Phantom smiled before noticing that the agents were now in the room that led to the panic room.

"How likely is it that they figure out how that door works?" Phantom asked starting to get antsy again. Horne noted that, and he knew from past experience with veterans that Phantom was about to have another attack.

"Remember, as long as you're here, we're protected," Horne said. Technus had basically told him to use those exact words to help keep Phantom calm and collected. The twitchy of Phantom's finger stopped and it looked like the ghost was able to center himself once more. "Now, my agents are at that door. The Justice League is rounding up those traitors. We need you here."

"I'm alright," Phantom whispered as he closed his eyes. "They're too close for comfort."

"Yeah, that's why we need you here," Horne said as he put his hand on the ghost's shoulder and stopped himself from pulling away at the coldness.

The coldness of death.

"Alright, as long as they can't get…oh hey, Batman," Phantom pointed out as Batman appeared on the screen where the agents were. They watched as Batman and Superman took them down. Batman turned and looked into the camera with a nod.

Phantom watched the screen as Horne announced the truce with ghosts was under way and that the US government was shutting down GIW bases.

And any of the agents who worked in Amity were to turn themselves in pending an investigation by the Justice League.

Batman was happy about the last one.

"I may have done a deal with a reporter to get you time to clear this up," Batman said making Phantom turn to him.

"What kind of deal?" Phantom asked wondering why Batman would tell him this.

"An interview with you."

"Wouldn't you need parental permission for stuff like that?" Phantom asked glaring at Batman. He so did not want to deal reporters himself. Batman smirked.

"Usually, but considering you're a king, I doubt it matters." Batman looked over the information that was on screen, and most of the reports that were coming seemed to paint the GIW in the bad light now as news stations released the information that the government had accidently committed war crimes against an unknown species and instead of those creatures going to war, they simply asked for the government to back off.

"Well, think my parents will ask me to come home early since they're no longer working?" Phantom asked Batman as they watched the proceedings from the WatchTower.

"Not sure. Something else is going on here. Superman told your parents that you were a hybrid," Batman inform making Phantom shoot up and glare.

"I'm sorry, he did what?!" Phantom yelled throwing his hands up. "Why in the hell would he do that?"

"He doesn't trust you, and instead of giving you a chance, he decided to out you," Batman said bitterly. "Since he knows who you are, his name on Earth is Clark Kent. He's a reporter for the Daily Planet."

Phantom lost his anger at the information before grinning.

"So when he shows up here I can…?" Phantom asked making Batman nod.

He had to out the hybrid more than he wanted to, but Superman should've known better.

An eye for an eye and all that.

"When will you be going back to the Zone?" Batman asked as he watched the teenager seem to plan his revenge on the man of steel. Phantom perked up slightly before registering the question.

"Unsure, Horne has to get me the full thing and go over it one more time. I asked if they wanted my council to be there, but I think Horne is afraid of the ghosts I warned would've been there if I hadn't taken the crown."

"The Sons and Daughters of Lazarus," Batman sighed. Even in death, Ras al Ghul managed to be an interference in peace talks. Pissing off a bunch of very powerful ghosts that later overthrew the Ghost government and ensured Phantom was crowned all within 24 hours of being free was definitely one of the more annoying things he'd done.

Luckily it would be the last.

Hopefully.

"Yeah, half of them have decided to set up as part of my council and the others are checking on all the pits," Phantom said as he pulled out his phone to text his friends. "Everything pretty much runs itself there, so I won't have to do much, and Technus and Ember seem to want to stay on my good side…I think Technus is hoping I'll help him get ahold of better tech, but it seems I may only need to deal with animal ghosts for the time being…. oh and Vlad, but he's probably gonna hide for a while till things calm down."

"I wanted to talk to you about him actually," Batman said as he remembered that was the current mayor of Amity.

And who refused to call them back about the situation in Amity.

Phantom looked at Batman with a smile and told him everything.

By the time he was done, Batman was ready to the kill the man.

Danny held his phone debating if he should try his parents again. It'd been two hours and no answer. He was upset.

They should've checked in by now. It'd been three days since he was dumped on Bruce's doorstep and they refused his calls.

They told him to check in and now they were ignoring him.

The only reason he knew they were okay was because he'd seen them as Phantom.

They were temporarily placed as liaisons, even though they were given warnings that they were on thin ice.

Horne asked him about the teens that were working with him.

Phantom wasn't much help as he didn't want to blow his own cover. Horne realized that he was protecting himself and backed off, but Phantom could tell that the president was getting annoyed with his family.

Phantom just told him two more years and then they could help with better liaisons.

People who knew a lot more about ghost culture than the Fentons.

Danny buried his head in his hands and listened to the outside world. The Manor was quiet; Bruce having business meetings most of the day.

His phone vibrated and he looked quickly at it.

It was his father. He answered.

"DAD! I've been trying to reach you guys forever," he answered a little upset.

"Sorry son. We've been caught up in a few things. Have you seen the news?"

"Yeah, that's awesome that they're trying for peace," Danny said sounding excited.

He truly was. He may still have to fight the occasional ghost, but Technus and Ember have both backed off, and he figured Walker would be too afraid to try to touch him now that he was of a higher authority.

"Yeah. Your mother isn't happy, but with the information I learned, I think I'm glad it turned out this way instead."

Danny wondered about that.

"What information?"

"Humans can have ghost powers apparently. Those students probably weren't lying about their infections. Even though those were temporary powers, but there's hybrids!"

Danny swallowed.

"Really?"

"Yes, we always thought ghosts were just spirits of the dead! But if hybrids existed, then ghosts are just aliens from another dimension!"

Danny laughed lightly seeing how excited his dad was over this information.

"Your mother doesn't like it, but oh well…oh, and apparently our resident menacing hero is now the King of Ghosts!"

Danny was speechless for a moment. His parents never called Phantom a hero.

Even though his father added the menacing part, it still sounded like his dad was excited about it.

"I'm hoping I can learn more about the culture, and since Phantom lives in Amity. Once things die down a bit, I'm gonna ask him to help me do more research!"

"That's awesome, Dad." Danny smiled. "What about Mom?"

Danny heard Jack mutter before there was silence.

"Your mother isn't as happy about the development…she wanted to find a hybrid to experiment on to figure out a way to divide our world and the Ghost Zone. Or at the very least to see if it was possible."

Danny felt the floor drop out from under him.

"But…that would destroy our world…like…our reality, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, Horne put protections on them by including interdimensional hybrids to the Metahumans Protection Acts, but we know hybrids exist, and I fear your mother may try to track Phantom down."

"Why Phantom?" Danny asked knowing it'd be good to cover bases in case he slipped later.

"According to Superman, he's a hybrid. I don't know how it works if his parents were different species or something, but I know…I fear your mother may be at a breaking point. She wants to figure out who he was…or is still I guess."

"How do you plan to do that?" Danny asked fearing their reactions.

He was pretty sure his father would be okay with it based on what he's heard so far.

His mother seems like am entirely different story.

"I don't know. I'm heading home soon though. I can stop by Gotham and get you if you want to come home?"

Home. He hadn't been there long, but he enjoyed being around the vigilantes. Batman was even showing him some hand to hand!

But he missed his friends and family.

And everything was a mess.

"What's mom doing?"

"She's helping in DC to clean up some of the stuff that's left over from the GIW. President Horne wants to start a fresh new ghost hunting division that's more towards researching and development. Especially with the truce Phantom provided. It's honestly more than I thought we'd ever get. We could explore the Ghost Zone! And do so safely!"

"That sounds fun," Danny whispered. He'd already mapped out several hundred miles of the Zone from their portal. Jack hummed.

"I know you're afraid of ghosts…"

"I'm not. I never was," Danny whispered looking out the window. "Maybe come to Gotham? We can do something and go home?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow maybe? I just want to go home. There's a lot that's happened."

"Alright."

Bruce sighed as Danny and Ember came down to the cave talking. He heard them discussing different ways for Ember to be helpful in this truce by providing information about the Zone itself.

Danny didn't want to since he was busy doing other stuff and he didn't want humans to know everything.

Not all ghosts were exactly happy with the arrangement that Danny had started.

Although there were many who were excited at the prospect of peace between the worlds. The chances and possibilities that it could open up would change the course of everything they knew.

"What are you doing down here?" Bruce asked checking on where his kids were.

Robin was still at Fentonworks cleaning up.

Red Robin was on the WatchTower with Technus who was helping them with protections from ghosts and other hackers. He was proving to be helpful against other tech villains such as Brianic.

Nightwing was back with the Titans and Hood was refusing calls on account of Ember annoying the hell out of him.

Bruce smiled about the last one.

"My dad wants to come get me from Gotham," Danny informed making Bruce turn to him.

"I haven't heard anything," Bruce said as he pulled out his phone and checked it.

"I just called him…well he called me back. Mom's staying in DC to help with GIW cleanup, but he wanted to go home. They're fighting over…Phantom's hybrids status," Danny sighed. "I think my dad wants to call a truce with me, but my mom wants to use the information to separate the worlds."

"Okay, are you wanting to tell your father?" Bruce asked seeing the way the teen twitched. Danny nodded.

"I've been hiding for so long, and…I was…"

"Scared?" Ember finished for him when he trailed off. Danny nodded again before crossing his arms around himself.

"Yeah, but from what it looks like, my dad already accepts that Phantom's different. I feel a little safer, but my mom, I can't let her know. Not until I know she won't experiment on me," Danny explained looking at Bruce who watched the kid for a minute.

This kid who held the power of an entire dimension was afraid of his own mother.

Bruce was genuinely angry at his cousin for putting her son in this position.

"Alright, when's your father supposed to be here?"

"Tomorrow?" Danny smiled slightly making Bruce take in another breath.

Everything was always happening way too damn fast with this kid.

There was a police chase that happen in front of my house with a stolen semi last night at about 1:30 in the morning. It made it into another state before crashing.
So that's fun.
Also, which one should me focus be on next? Criminal or TwinAU which is called The Lost One.
Both are started, but I'm farther in Criminal which may not be as long as this is...