SD Chapter 11
A/N: Hey guys! So excited for this chapter, shoutout to Lux for making our ghost scary as hell. They always do an amazing job, transforming the chapter. So we've come to a plan to try and update every month! So you can look for the next chapter to be done around this time in January!
Hope you all enjoy, make sure to read Lux's A/N at the bottom, and review, review, review!
As always, much love for our dedicated readers.
-Sephora
As he ran towards the sounds of distant chaos, panic bubbled up in his chest, making his breath come out in short, misty pants. Another scream made him run faster. Just fly. He shook his head, focusing on the rhythm of his feet as they crossed the bridge over the pond in the park. It'd been years since he flew, he wasn't sure if he knew how anymore. For the first time in three years, he felt truly helpless - he couldn't do anything against ghosts as a human.
The streets were abandoned when he reached them. The air surrounding him held a ghostly tint, nearly translucent. Any human wouldn't stop to give it a second glance. If you looked closely though, you could see that it looked green. Like algae-infested lake water.
He had to be close now.
Danny slowed to a stop, chest heaving, unable to get air. He needed to change. The cool, electric buzz of his core radiated through his limbs hungrily. He turned a corner of the street and walked into the alleyway, the back of his jacket stuck against the grit of the wall when he leaned against it.
"Phantom! I challenge you to your haunt, reveal yourself and battle lest you be named a coward!"
Phantom would recognize that voice anywhere, chilling and low. A shiver ran up his spine. The Fright Knight had returned, and no one but Phantom would be able to stop him.
He couldn't justify sitting this one out.
Danny took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on the pull of his core. Tensing, he forced down the urge to resist as the electric hum of kinetic energy traveled throughout his body. Two familiar rings appeared at his waist, a blinding, brilliant white. His breath hitched as the energy ignited his core like a match to paper. The feeling was strong, overwhelming, and unbearably familiar. Gone was the scrape of his blue jeans, replaced with smooth, sticky spandex. It was done. Opening his eyes, he looked down at his trembling, gloved hands, marveling at the sparks flying off his fingertips.
He hadn't felt this energized in years.
It took him a moment to adapt to his ghost half, and he had to prop a hand up on the wall to fight the sudden urge to vomit - the world was spinning. His vision swam as his eyes adjusted to the rapid change of his senses. Everything was sharper, more attuned and bright, and the sudden inversion of colors made his head pound. His suddenly hypersensitive hearing picked up on anything and everything, but the nearby spirits were what caught his attention. Naked to the human eye, shades milled about, whispering in fear.
"He's here," they murmured, "The Fright Knight is here. He wants Phantom."
They moved away from the direction that his Sense was pulling him towards, trying to escape the blast zone. Danny turned his eyes away from them, reveling in the cold of his core and the comfort it brought.
He nearly laughed aloud as he took to the sky, letting himself get used to the feeling of weightlessness on his shoulders. Then, another scream pierced the night, and he sobered. This wasn't the time for nostalgia or fun. He was needed.
He took a deep, unneeded breath, and made his way into battle.
...
During his career as a vigilante, Robin had seen some very strange things. Meta-humans of many shapes and forms, he'd fought a variety of villains with special abilities alongside Bruce and his own team. He'd been thrown into warped realities created by enemies that were nearly incomprehensible. He'd even been to hell and back - literally - fighting Trigon himself.
But this guy, no, this thing wasn't like anything he had ever faced before.
It was human-like, huge, and radiated a dangerous aura. The air around it smelled like death and decay and fear. Its gray and black armor, marred by discolored blood stains, greatly contrasted the purple flames bellowing around its spiked helmet. A tattered cape, also made of flame, adorned the creature's shoulders. The steed that the being sat on had wings, was pure black and on fire, gnashing teeth bared menacingly.
The ghost pulled the reigns on the horse turning to pierce its - his?- gaze on them all with glowing green eye sockets. Beast Boy immediately cowered and stumbled backwards, holding back a whimper, hackles practically raised. Robin himself stared, wide eyed, unable to suppress the shiver running down his back.
If this was what ghosts were, then everyone had everything to fear.
"Mortals, I search for Phantom, keeper of Amity Park. Provide his location!" The ghost roared, thrusting his sword into the air for emphasis. It's sharp edges were complimented with a glowing neon green aura.
"Phantom hasn't been seen in Amity Park for years!" Robin shouted back, cursing the slight tremble in his voice and settling into an offensive stance. His shaking hand reached for his bo-staff as he dutifully ignored the sinking feeling that none of his gadgets would work against this ghost. Briefly, he also cursed his lack of foresight springing the trip on their resident ghost-hunter. If he'd known about coming to Amity, he may've been able equip the Titans with weapons.
The horse snorted and flicked its tail, snapping its teeth at the team as if they were to blame for Phantom's absence. The ghost pulled back authoritatively on the reigns before fixing his gaze back down at them. The sword suddenly seemed a lot more dangerous in his hand.
"He is here! I can sense it! If you do not possess the knowledge of his location, then you are all useless to me."
The ghost went to turn around, intent on searching elsewhere. Robin's eyes narrowed as his protective instinct kicked in.
"We'll show you just how useless we are. Titans Go!"
In an instant the team was in motion, moving together in formation. Robin took off in a run on the street, Cyborg racing beside him with his Sonic Cannon pointed at the center of the ghost's chest. Robin pulled out his bo-staff extending it fully, then slowed when Cyborg fired. The ghost didn't even seemed concerned about the attack at all and turned translucent right as the blast approached, passing straight through. Robin growled and quickly took out three explosive discs, simultaneously flinging them towards the ghost. They exploded upon contact, creating a film of dust. Seconds after, it cleared, leaving the ghost unscathed.
Robin swallowed convulsively, eyeing the weapons on his belt. For all that they helped, they may as well have been toys.
"Fools! Human weaponry cannot touch me!"
"Then it is well that I am not a human!" Starfire cried from the air above them, swooping down and throwing starbolts in quick succession. Most deflected harmlessly off the ghost's armor, who didn't even attempt to defend himself. What the ghost didn't count on was the few starbolts that managed to hit his horse, causing a high-pitched whinny of surprised pain. The horse reared backwards, nearly throwing off its rider. The ghost howled with anger. The flames on his back moved as if they were alive, lashing out in response to his rage.
"You shall face the wrath of Fright Knight!"
Then, he charged.
"Titans, move!" Robin commanded, falling back to let the others take the lead as they dispersed. He grabbed the communicator off of his utility belt, melting into the background as he searched for a familiar name.
Swallowing his pride, he sent the distress signal before grappling to the top of one of the buildings nearby. The fight had taken to the air, and it was raging.
Cyborg acted as a support from the ground, sending the occasional blast whenever Starfire was out of his trajectory. Starfire herself was still shooting starbolts, weaving through the air as she avoided getting anywhere near the ghost's deadly-looking sword. Above her, Raven had her hood up and was playing damage control, throwing up shields and keeping both her teammates and the buildings around from being harmed. Robin did what he could to help, yelling out battle commands and trying to keep everyone in order.
The Fright Knight's mare whinnied when Beast Boy, in the form of a vulture, dove towards him, getting the Knight's attention. His eyes glowed ominously.
Robin's eyes widened. "Beast Boy, move!" he cried as the beam neared his teammate.
Laser eyes. As if a ghost calling itself the Fright Knight weren't unbelievable enough, it had to have laser eyes too. Had the situation not been as dire, he may've laughed. Maybe he still would.
Beast Boy only just managed to dodge in time. The acrid smell of burnt feathers clung to the air as they smoked lightly from the edge of his left wing.
Cyborg quickly stepped in, shooting a few blasts to give Beast Boy the few seconds he needed to recover as Starfire readied another attack. Robin watched pensively, knowing their attack only served as a distraction. They needed to do something big, and they needed to do it very soon.
"Enough!" The ghost bellowed out loud enough to make everyone freeze as a wave of terror flared around them. Then they saw the flaming meteor growing in his hands. Cyborg's eyes went wide. No one moved as he reared back to throw it. Its purple flames crackled dangerously, and Beast Boy took a hesitant step backwards. Robin froze. His voice acted on his own accord, his body reacting involuntarily from years of fighting.
"Titans, Scatter!"
The panicked cry was enough to snap everyone to attention. Raven quickly threw up a shield trying to cover everyone as the blast came, the situation dire enough for her to access her powers without using her mantra. Robin heard the harsh breath of Star next to him before the meteor exploded upon contact, instantly shattering Raven's shield and throwing everyone backwards. Robin threw his hands up in front of his face, thrown backwards against the roof as he was met with a burst of hot, metallic air and debris.
It took him longer than it should've to register the pain, but when he did it was agonizing. It came over him in waves across his body, a deep, throbbing, searing ache. Quickly, he took inventory, biting back a whimper as he started checking his limbs. Ignoring the strange numbness moving up his left leg coupled with the stinging of his skin, he sat up.
The shield had definitely done its job. Had it not been there, it would've been a lot worse than a few burns and an injured leg. Head spinning dizzily, Robin took a deep breath, evaluating the area around him. Panic surged through him as he realized that none of his team was in his line of vision, and he forced himself to stand, groaning as he stepped on his injured ankle. Definitely sprained, probably not broken. Thank goodness for small miracles.
The meteor had landed twenty or so feet away, leaving a crater in its wake. A moan from nearby caught his attention, and he moved towards it with purpose. The rubble shifted, and a graceful limb became visible, purple armbands gray with dust. With a grunt, Starfire emerged, looking bruised and dirty but no worse for wear.
"Friend-Robin! Are you injured?" She rushed over, eyes concerned, searching him for wounds.
Robin frowned, "I'm fine, Star. We need to find the others." He took a few steps away in an effort to escape her prying, stumbling slightly over a rock that he'd stepped on with his bad leg before righting himself.
"You're hurt." she pointed out, putting an arm out to steady him. Robin grit his teeth, looking away.
"I'm. Fine." he practically growled. He didn't need coddling. It was bad enough that he was the most likely to get injured in battle due to his non-meta human status. There was still a villain to worry about, after all.
In his panic, he'd forgotten to keep his eyes on the enemy. Following the sounds of nearby destruction, he found the Knight quickly. He was in the sky, floating aimlessly as he fragmented the surrounding buildings. Suddenly, Robin had an idea.
"We need to get the Knight's attention away from those buildings. There could be civilians. Can you distract him? I can find our teammates down here and call for back-up."
Starfire stood up straighter, clenching her fists, "Of course, Friend-Robin. Make sure that the others are well, and I can keep Fright Knight occupied."
Robin nodded, and she sent him a brilliant smile before her eyes began to glow with power. He watched as she flew towards the ghost, power radiating off her like starlight in the night sky.
Robin worked as quickly as he could, gathering his team while ignoring the stabs of pain in his leg as he walked across the debris in the street. Starfire wouldn't last long and he was rapidly running out of ideas to stall. He gasped as the needle-like pain shot through his ankle when a slab of concrete slipped from under his weight. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to fight at all for much longer.
He found Cyborg making his way over towards him, covered in dirt but otherwise unhurt. A few scratches adorned his metal chest, and a few of the more delicate metals seemed dented. In his arms he carried Beast Boy, who was unconscious. A dark, purple bruise had already begun to form on the side of his forehead. No doubt he had a concussion. They regarded each other grimly.
"Have you seen Raven?" Robin asked, quickly scanning the streets around them. Cyborg shook his head, shifting slightly to get a better hold on the changeling. Seeing movement he turned, seeing the flap of Raven's dark blue tattered cape.
"There!" He pointed, leading them albeit the limp in his step. Cyborg lifted a brow and Robin shot him a heated look, before trudging forward. He shook his head in disapproval, but remained quiet, and for that Robin was thankful.
Raven looked worse than the others - bruises, scrapes and burns all covered her body. Robin bit back a curse. She had taken the brunt of the blast, and used quite a bit of power strengthening her shield and protecting them all. He stooped down on his good leg, allowing the other to fall back on his knee. Gently he pulled her arm out of the rubble and put two fingers against her wrist, feeling the steady beat of her heart. He let go of a relieved, shaky breath.
"Raven." He shook her gently, putting a hand behind her head to prop her up. She groaned, eyes fluttering before putting a hand to her head with a wince. As she removed it, blood coated her fingers. There was no way she'd be able to continue fighting.
"Star's holding off Fright Knight for now, we have to try and get into a store that sells ghost equipment. If we can't defeat him, the least we can do is detain him." He told Cyborg, keeping his eyes on the empath who was slowly coming back to consciousness.
Any reply Cyborg may have given was suddenly cut off by the loud blast above them. Starfire's body slammed into the ground with a thud, scattering debris and dust. Robin's heart jumped, Starfire didn't move.
"Insignificant fools!" Fright Knight growled at them, sword perched high above his head. His aura flared and the flames around him spiked in height. Robin stumbled to his feet, into a defensive stance.
"No mere human can defeat Fright Knight. Now, prepare to die!"
"Not on my watch!"
The shield came from out of nowhere. Despite the telltale glow of ecto-energy, it didn't feel threatening. In fact, it almost felt… safe.
Behind the shield, holding it up like it weighed nothing, stood a figure. The newcomer was tall and glowing, illuminating the darkness of the sky above like a beacon. As he approached, the air grew colder. He brought with him the scent of ozone, sharp and heavy, like a lightning storm. Power radiated from him, an electric hum mixed with the chill of a day in midwinter. It was a welcome change from the aura that the Fright Knight gave off, full of death and decay and fear. Robin drank it in, reveling in the temporary security that it brought, before stopping himself.
Like any ghost, this one was dangerous. Danny, for all of his defense of Phantom, had made it clear that ghosts were always a threat. He needed to stay on guard, just in case.
"Hey, Fright Knight! Heard you were looking for little ole' me. Is that true?"
The voice sounded almost distant, as though it were coming from far away. It had a strange, echoey quality that Robin supposed was a characteristic of all ghosts. Unlike the Knight, though, it wasn't filled with the undercurrent of nightmares, or the feeling of impending doom.
Suddenly, Robin registered the meaning of the new ghost's words. Looking for him… was this-
"Phantom! How dare you attempt to stall for time by sending these worthless creatures to do your bidding!"
Oh.
"Jeez. And here I was thinking you wanted a reunion. How'd you get outta the Ghost Zone, anyway?"
Phantom transferred the shield to one hand, facing the Titans, "You guys should get out of here. It's not safe."
Robin bristled at the statement, "You don't get to determine what is and isn't safe for us. We're the Teen Titans. We know how to handle ourselves."
Phantom's calm smile morphed into a disconcerted frown.
"I know who you are. I also know that you guys handle meta-humans. You handle muggings and bank robberies and supervillains. Ghosts are another thing entirely. That's my job. You're not needed here." His shield flickered at these words, and he turned back to use both hands to feed energy into it.
"It was your job. Was. What, did you think you could just disappear for three years and still come back and play hero? That isn't how this works, Phantom. It's not how being a hero works. You don't get to leave your city behind and expect other heroes to not come in to help."
The ghost didn't argue, intently focused on holding the shield. But Robin was trained to read body language, human or otherwise. He saw the way Phantom's shoulders stiffened slightly before relaxing. He'd gotten under his skin.
So he wasn't at all surprised when the ghost said his next words, "Fine. Do you what want, but stay out of my way. This is my battle."
Phantom dropped the shield unceremoniously, taking to the sky like he was meant for it, taking his protective aura with him.
Robin just watched.
A/N - astrovagant -
Hey everyone! It's been awhile. I would apologize for the delay, but me and Sephora have very busy schedules between health issues, work, school, and living in general. We're still working on coordinating our schedules for writing time, but we're definitely becoming a lot more productive regarding both the quality and size of the chapters here. Working on this chapter came really easily to us, and it was so fun! I love having Sephora as a writing buddy. She keeps me on-task, which is something I really struggle with as a writer.
I saw all of the reviews from last chapter, and while some of you did agree with my A/N, others didn't. And that's okay. Honestly, it doesn't change how I feel about the way that the fandom treats Valerie. But she's not the villain here. She's a character with flaws, and because characters are modeled after people, they change and grow just the same.
Regarding updates - my co-author and I have decided to update monthly from now on. It works the best for us, and while we will occasionally update more than once a month, expect monthly updates unless we say otherwise!
Please review if you can! We love feedback! Oh, and also: I finally caved and made a DC tumblr. It's starfyrs! Don't forget to follow that and my DP blog, which is spaectral!
