AN: Tumblr prompt: A villain shows the avengers their worst fears and this is how they learn about dan?

Drabble 41-Dream a Little Dream

Dr. Strange hummed as he led Phantom, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Wolverine through someplace he liked to call the Dream Realm. One of the Doc's old villains, Nightmare, had returned, drawing people into endless sleep to feed off of their nightmares so he could grow powerful enough to escape the Dream Realm. Sounded easy, but if they got caught in the Dream Realm there was no going back to the real one, so they had to be extra careful.

They walked along a path full of doors, but they didn't look like they opened up anywhere. Phantom opened one and he and Spidey peered inside.

It was Cap's dream. He was in an empty dance hall with a beautiful woman in a red dress, swaying back and forth to the music with no origin.

"We can finally go home, Steve. The war is over," she said. She sounded absolutely gorgeous. But before they could keep watching, Wolverine came and slammed the door.

"That ain't your business," he told them before stalking off towards Dr. Strange. Spider-Man mocked him in a funny voice, and Danny turned into a giggling mess. Neither of them wanted to know what Cap's biggest fear meant.

Then a blast of black energy came out of nowhere, hitting Spider-Man in the back. He flew forward, landing only a couple of feet behind Iron Man, who whirled around and started blasting Nightmare and…

"Who is that guy?" Wolverine asked, unsheathing his claws.

"Nocturn," Phantom said, turning paler by the second. But he quickly gained his footing and sent an ice blast at Nocturn's face. It hit him dead on, but did practically nothing to phase him. He grabbed Phantom by the throat and lifted him up, feeling both Nocturn and Nightmare's powers pulling at his mind, making him wan to sleep but he couldn't. If he failed here there was no going back.

Nocturn laughed and threw him to the ground, laughing maniacally alongside Nightmare, who was apparently having a blast. Dr. Strange flew after him, pulling out his magical chains as another being started to beat Phantom up.

He was blue with white hair and his logo, and Phantom suddenly found himself unable to move. They hadn't been trying to get him to go to sleep, they had been searching for his biggest fear.

His biggest fear was Dan Phantom.

"Who is that guy?" Spidey called, jumping in to help Phantom up.

"Later," Phantom replied. Dan chuckled darkly and used his powers to swat Spider-Man away. When Phantom made a move to go after him, he as blasted backwards. Phantom tried getting up, but a large boot came down on his chest. Dan leaned in close to Phantom's ear with a grin, his forked tongue swishing this way and that.

"Miss me?"

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and looked over at the bigger fight. Dr. Strange and Wolverine were tag teaming against Nightmare while Spider-Man and Iron Man took on Nocturn. Missiles that weren't Stark's flew in every which way, while several soldiers from the early 1900s, maybe WWI or WWII, fought alongside Nightmare. He looked like he was getting stronger with every passing minute. Danny strained against the being that was holding him down.

He pressed his foot further into Phantom's chest before grabbing his throat and lifting him up. Phantom's throat burned from the energy Dan was emitting, making it harder for him to speak. Meaning he probably couldn't use his ghostly wail.

But he had gotten stronger over the years since they had last seen each other. He had gotten taller and broader, and now he was almost as big as Dan.

Over to his side he heard Spider-man cry, "No! Aunt May!" And he had o force himself not to look. It was just a mind trick. Nothing more than that.

He wrapped his legs around Dan's arm and twisted, bringing him down to the ground. Phantom stood up and quickly took a few steps back. He glanced over at the fight, and it looked like they had things under control. Sort of.

Dan got back on his feet and tackled him into another door.

It was bright and outside inside of the door. They were in a desert-like area. Arizona or Nevada probably. It was completely empty aside from the small man in a lab coat and glasses hiding under a rock. It was Bruce, and behind they rock was Hulk. But weren't they one and the same?

Phantom dodged a hit from Dan and wept his legs out from under him, pulling out an ecto-ray he kept on his belt that Stark had specially made for him, to make his ghost hunting needs a little easier. He hit Dan with the green beam and he went flying, bouncing off of the ground once before rolling to a stop. Bruce nor the Hulk gave them a second glance.

Danny ran and tackled Dan as he got up, sending them back outside onto the pathway with the multi-colored sky. He tried punching Dan in the face, but he caught his fist and flung him towards Nocturn.

Nocturn. That was it. He and Nightmare were the cause of Dan. Dan wasn't actually there.

"Everyone, back up!" He yelled. Iron Man and Spider-Man listened, half-dragging Wolverine with them. Dr. Strange was standing up again.

Dan charged at him again, and Phantom was ready for him. As his evil future self wrapped his arms around Danny from behind, he gripped his arm and flung him over his shoulder towards the two dream thieves. Then he sucked in a large breath and yelled.

The first time he had used his Ghostly Wail, he almost passed out form the amount of energy it took away from him. But he had been using it more often to get used to it, to build up immunity to the exhaustion. To make them last longer.

Long enough to last almost two whole minutes.

By the time he was done, Nocturn had disappeared, Nightmare was holding onto the edge of the path, not wanting to fall into the endless abyss below, and Dan, who had managed to stay on top using a door. His flaming hair had disappeared, making him look like a bald version of Danny.

Danny walked forward, ignoring the weakened Dan and stepping on Nightmare's hands, making him scream in pain.

"Don't mess with our world again," he threatened. With his hands charged with ectoplasmic energy, Nightmare didn't need to be told twice. He got his hands out from under Danny's boot and fell into the endless multi-colored sky.

"That was awesome," Spidey breathed.

"Who was that, kid?" Wolverine asked. Danny didn't want to answer, but a part of him always knew they would have found out about Dan sooner or later. But that didn't mean he couldn't put off the story for another couple of hours. He sighed.

"I'll tell you, but after we get everybody woken up. Okay?" He had never been more thankful that they agreed.