AN: Tumble prompt: Bamf! Ghost king au where Danny meets thread Avengers

Drabble 64-Bored

Danny had always figured that he was to busy to ever go back to the mortal world. When he died for good and became a full ghost, he had immediately been made king and schooled in the art of Ghost Zone politics. And that had been…God, that had been such a long time ago. Occasionally his core would ache, and there wasn't really anything he could do about it. His obsession was to protect, but all of the ghosts stayed In the Zone for the most part. Ever since he had died for good they never felt the need to haunt the real world. And because he was king now, they didn't cause much trouble. Any trouble that was caused was either taken care of by Walker, or it was the Observants on the receiving end of a prank. His obsession wasn't getting the attention it needed, and it was finally starting to take a physical toll on his body.

He sagged in his throne, the armor he wore biting into his skin in a few places, but he didn't bother moving. He had long ago gotten used to the feeling. His eyes wandered to the large walls of Phantom's Keep, eyes raking over the paintings that Princess Dora had her artists make. They were amazing, and highly detailed, if a bit over-dramatic. Some were from when he was a halfa, standing tall and proud. Some were him defeating the old king, Pariah Dark. Some of them were more recent, showing off his broad shoulders. In those ones his face was always young, because he had died young the second time, but somehow they always managed to capture his blazing green eyes just right. Old and tired.

If he was bored like this for more than an eternity he could see why pariah lost his marbles.

He sighed, glancing over to his faithful servant. When Fright Knight had first started taking orders from Danny it had been…Strange. He wasn't used to ordering his old enemies around and them actually listening. Fright knight not only listening, he went above and beyond for Danny. He remembered Clockwork mentioning that serving the king, no matter who the king was, was the Knight's obsession. Pariah had taken full advantage of that.

Danny sighed again, tapped his fingers on his thigh a couple of times, and stood up.

"Fright Knight," he said in a commanding voice. "I'm going to the Mortal World. Watch over the castle."

"As you wish, my lord," the faithful servant replied.

Danny couldn't give you an answer as to why he wanted to go to the mortal world. Maybe he missed it? Maybe he missed people? Either way, the feeling in his gut felt right when he said it. Danny had always been one to go off of his instincts.

Without saying anything else, he held out his hand and opened a portal.

"We're under heavy fire!" Came Captain America's voice as he barreled through the enemies. Hawkeye rolled his eyes. Of course they were under fire, they were always under fire. It's not like the old man has to point it out every fucking time.

He knocked few arrows, quickly letting them fly through the air, not bothering to make sure they hit their mark. He knew that they did if the gurgling was anything to go by.

He quickly reached back to get more, and a pit in his stomach grew when all he got as air.

"Aww, arrows," he whined. That's okay, though. He was Hawkeye. He was good at improvising. Hell, he did so much that at this point he was a fucking expert at it. He heard the guns stop.

He let out a huff before spinning around, ready to fight fire with a bow, but he stopped short. Because standing right in front of him was a floating, glowing man. He had broad shoulders and a tall frame that was covered in bits of armor. Around his shoulders was a white fur cloak, but it wasn't nearly as white as the dude's hair. Floating above his head was a crown coated in ice. He looked around, seemingly unphased by the commotion he had walked into. In fact, the guy almost looked bored.

"Who are you?" Hawkeye called to him. The words left his lips before he could stop and think that maybe this guy wasn't on his side.

The figure turned around, and a chill went down Clint's spine because of how freaking green they were. But it wasn't any kind of green he had seen. It was a toxic color, like the kind you find in those barrels full of chemical waste in the movies. Like acid. It was unnerving.

"Where am I?" He asked. And holy shit. On top of his voice being a deep baritone, it also had a sort of echo to it, like a tinging Clint really couldn't place his finger on. For a split second he wondered if it was the being, or if it was just his hearing aids acting up.

"Uh," Clint said. Perfect. Very smart. The being cocked his head tot he side, amused. It was a very human thing to do, and Clint didn't know if it was because he looked human but man it was so obvious that he wasn't. Nobody had eyes like that. Nobody glowed like that. And he was sure as hell nobody hovered like him. It wasn't much but it was enough to catch Clint's attention.

"East Berlin," somebody answered behind him. He whirled around, only to see Sam Wilson, holding two guns up. One was pointed at the figure, and the other was pointed at the hydra goons on the other side of the miniature No-Man's land, staring in awe at the glowing man. "Who are you?"

"My apologies," the stranger said, completely unconcerned a the gun pointed his way. "I do suppose introductions are a polite thing to do. My name is Phantom."

Phantom? Like-as in a ghost? Does that mean he's a ghost? Why would a ghost name himself Ghost? When did ghosts start being more than fiction?

"Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Clint asked. If he was bad then they were in trouble, because e could practically feel the power coming off of this Phantom character. If he was good then maybe he could help them with the whole 'let's take down this hydra base in case we find out more information on Steve's long lost friend, Bucky' situation. Namely getting past security.

"Good, I guess," he shrugged. "And you?"

"We're the superheroes, they're the bad guys!" Sam called to him, gesturing with his pistols. Phantom nodded before turning around to the hydra army He floated forward, and stopped before turning his head back.

"You might want to duck," he warned. And despite wanting to see how this guy would totally mess up those other guys, he did as he was told. He crouched back down behind his little makeshift shield, gad it was big enough for two.

They waited patiently, listening to the noises of screams and some other scraping noise. He heard explosions and gun fire. For some reason, Clint had the odd urge of twiddling his thumbs, but when the fighting stopped the thought left his mind as soon as it had come.

Instead of standing up, he and Sam just kind of peaked their heads over the top of their tiny barrier, eyes widening in surprise at the scene.

Ice coated the ground as well as turning some of the hydra guys into popsicles. Other were bleeding, their suits deteriorating and the smell of burnt flesh heavy in the air. The rest didn't have heads.

"Woah," Sam said behind him. Sometime during their starring Cap, Tony, Natasha, and Thor had dropped behind them, ogling at the mess like them.

"What the hell?" Tony asked, his mask flicking up so hey could see his expression. It was a little bit of amazement, a little bit of fear. Clint glanced at the rest of the team. Natasha's face gave nothing away but the hesitation in her hands showed that she was thinking they were on thin ice. Steve's jaw was set and his eyes were hard, and he couldn't tell if it was because of Phantom or because if the death grip Thor has on his shoulder, holding on so tight his knuckles were white. His eyes were huge, starring at the ghost (?) Intently.

"Do mine own eyes deceive me?" He whispered, almost to himself. Nobody but Clint seemed to hear though, and that in and of itself was ironic.

"Most of them are alive," Phantom said, turning back around to them. The white of his armor was stained red, and something told Clint that none of it was his. In fact, this guy didn't have a single scratch on him. Like what he had just done was the easiest thing in the world.

"How did you know we were the good guys?" Sam asked. "I mean, you just kind of took our word for it."

"Well," Phantom gave him a smile. He was young - or at least looked that way - but his eyes were old and weary, kind of like Steve's. Like he had seen to much shit. "I can see your auras. You are all good in your own way, but them? Their auras are dark, vengeful. And I can hear your heart beat. You were telling the truth when you said you were good."

"My liege," Thor stood up, walked forward, and actually kneeled before Phantom. The only person they had ever seen Thor kneel to was Odin, so this was a surprise.

"Rise, Odinson. There is no need for such formalities in this mortal world." When Danny had heard of Norse gods being real, he had wanted to laugh in Clockwork's face. Now though? He had seen enough proof that they existed, and now he actually had the Thor bowing, practically kissing the ground he floated above. Danny almost didn't feel worthy.

Thor did as he was told, standing up straighter than ever, maybe trying a little to hard to impress Phantom. But it's not every day you meet the slayer of Pariah Dark. Because if this man the spirits of Asgard can sleep in peace.

"Who are you?" Tony asked, walking forward. Thor glared at him, wondering why he would show a king such disrespect. But Phantom didn't seem to mind at all.

"Nice suit, dude," he said, staring at it in awe. "Did you make it?" Tony took notice of how he avoided the question, but he couldn't help but puff out his chest just a little. Apparently this guy was new to the 21st century.

"Yeah, I did," he answered. "Now are you gonna tell us who you are now?"

"Man of Iron," Thor spoke, and even though it was an introduction, there was a bit of warning in his voice. Tony decided that he was going to ignore it. If this guy wanted them dead he would have done it already. "This is Phantom, King of the Ghosts. I advise you to show more respect."

King of ghosts? Was Thor serious? Ghosts aren't real. Or maybe Tony had just grown up way to fast. But either way this guy's identity was a bit of a stretch.

"It's fine, Thor, " Phantom said, placing a hand on Thor's shoulder. The blonde looked over at him.

"I mean no disrespect when I ask, my king, but why have you left the Ghost Realm?"

"My obsession is to protect, but in the Ghost Zone there is nobody to protect. So I thought I would…Stretch my legs. It had been a while since I've been here, after all."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. It was a stupid question considering his title, but a guy couldn't be too skeptical, could he?

"I died here, on Earth, many years ago. I haven't been to the mortal realm in so long. I almost forgot what it was like."

A smile crept up on the ghost's lips, and they all saw how it didn't quite reach his eyes. Steve briefly wondered how many people that smile has fooled. The shape of his mouth provided a sense of happiness, but inside it was a different story. Steve could somewhat relate to that. Because pretending to be okay, and lying to yourself that you're fine, was a hell of a lot easier than facing what's bothering you and making you not fine.

He has seen a lot of shit. He's probably been bored out of his mind for centuries. His obsession, Steve guessed, is what keeps a ghost going, but if there's nobody to protect then what's the point of even simply being? He would have kept analyzing his facial features if it weren't for those acid eyes being trained on him. The small smile grew to a big, toothy grin.

"You're Captain America! Man, I grew up reading about you!"

That threw them all for a loop. He was dead, yeah, and had apparently been King for fora while now, so how did he grow up reading comic books about Cap?

"How…?" The words died on Steve's lips.

"When did you die?" It was the first time Natasha had spoken. Her eyes were narrowed but she was..Intrigued to say the least.

"The first time was in the early two thousands, and the second time was when I turned 26? I've been stuck like this ever since. But time in the Ghost Zone is weird. It's like a sort of limbo where it doesn't really exist, so I could be living in the Zone for centuries and come back and only a few minutes have passed. It's really confusing, honestly."

"Wat do you mean the first time? How do you die twice?" Clint asked.

"Well, when I died the first time I became a halfa - half ghost, half human. When my human side died, I became a full ghost."

"Weird."

"Yeah, you're telling me. Anyway, I'm glad I could help. If you guys need help just give me a call or something. I sure there's a few pages of Latin around here somewhere."

None of them really wanted to know what that meant, but they waved their goodbyes nonetheless as he opened a swirling green portal and disappeared. Tony blinked a couple of times before sighing and turning to Thor, still trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

"So…Ghosts, huh?"