Chapter 4
Apparently, according to Thor, a draugr is a Norse mythological undead creature that have super strength and smell like actual, literal death. They usually eat people or drive them crazy. They hang out in graves, but also like to wander, which is just really unfortunate in general.
This explains the uneasiness that Thor feels around Danny, even after Danny explained everything to him. Danny knows why Thor is mixing up ghosts and draugrs together, because after all, draugrs are ghosts. Or, at least, they used to be.
In the Ghost Zone they are known as the Rotten. They are ghosts that either got stuck in a world that wasn't the Zone, or if they just refused to go back, and they slowly go crazy and they slowly become bloodthirsty. So Danny can understand where the confusion is. But considering that they're just hunks of bone and a little flesh, and smell like death, Danny thought Thor would give him a little more credit. He knows he smells sometimes, but never as bad as a Rotten.
Once they become Rotten, there's really no salvaging them. They are no longer ghosts, and they need to be put down. All of those cryptids in the woods or in a real life haunted house are typically a Rotten. They can die again, and when they do it's thankfully for good. Usually fire or ectoblasts do the trick. Danny hated having to take care of them, but he also understood that it was nobody's fault. Things just happened, and he needed to roll with the punches.
Danny leaned against the table that sat in some conference room that they had moved to. Both parties had questions for each other, and they were both willing to give answers to most of them.
"Where have you been for the past five years?" Natasha asked him.
"Valerie and I have been in the Ghost Zone, rebuilding. It all started when the old king, Pariah Dark, somehow broke out of his sarcophagus and started going on killing sprees and terrifying ghosts. According to Clockwork and Frostbite he was never satisfied with just the Zone, he would have moved his forces to this world in no time. Since he was the king, ghosts couldn't help but listen to him, unless they were powerful enough to fight against it."
"So it's just been the reconstruction process of an entire dead realm for five years?" Clint asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. But what about you guys? I heard from the Council that there was an alien invasion?"
"Loki, Thor's brother-" Steve started.
"-Adopted!" interrupted Thor.
"-led an army of Chitauri aliens into New York. Fury brought us all together and we beat them."
"That's cool. I've always wanted to see an alien. Oh, that reminds me, Tucker still owes me fifteen bucks."
"What for?" Clint asked.
"Aliens are real. Anyway, what are your powers and stuff? Humans are strong but there's gotta be something to bring you all specifically to the table to deal with an alien invasion."
"I'm a genius, and Iron Man, Steve is...patriotic? Those two are spies, Bruce turns into a giant, green rage monster, and Thor has a hammer that can summon lightning," answered Tony.
"Can I have a hammer like that?"
"Not unless you want to rule Asgard, draugr," Thor replied.
"Kidding, kidding. I've got plenty to deal with just ruling my own kingdom."
"What about you?" Bruce asked. "What are your powers?"
"Oh, that's a laundry list in and of itself. Let's see, I've got basic ghost abilities that all ghosts have, like invisibility, intangibility, flight, strength, overshadowing, and basic ectoblasts," he said, holding out his hands that was now glowing a bright green. "But then there are some that have way more powers than that. And I'm one of them. For instance, there are some ghosts that have special cores. Kind of like Pokemon, except we're real. I've got an ice core, so I also have ice powers. Oh, and I can also make portals, and I have this thing called the ghostly wail, where I just scream at enemies until they're incapacitated, but that one take a lot of energy to do, so I don't do it very often."
He looked around. Valerie had been counting all of them on her fingers, nodding to herself. Everybody else looked stunned.
"How come you have certain powers that other ghosts don't?" Steve asked.
"I'm just naturally a more powerful ghost. Especially since I'm king, too, so everything is turned up to like, eleven." Danny wasn't going to tell them he was a halfa, and that's why he's overly powerful. Hell, he forgets about half his powers most of the time. It was a half truth, and it seemed to satisfy them, thank goodness.
"...Wow...With that much power have you ever considered taking over the world?" Tony asked. This question was to be expected, but it still made Danny a little shook. The bluntness of the question almost took him by surprise.
"Eh, no, not really. Just the thought of it makes me feel bad. It goes against my entire being."
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.
"Well," Danny said, thinking for a moment. "All ghosts have an obsession. The thing they obsessed over the most when they were human, or it was something that grew inside of them after they died. Skulker, he's a good friend of mine. His obsession is hunting. The Fright Knight's obsession is protecting whoever rules, so in this case me. He's like my own personal bodyguard. My obsession is protecting.
"For a ghost to go against their obsession is them going against their very being. Their reason for existing. If I were to do the whole world domination thing, I would probably die in the process. Well, not die. I'm already dead. I guess...Cease to exist?"
"What is a core? Biologically, I mean," Tony asked. "You mentioned yours was ice, and that gave you cryokinesis."
"It's like a ghost heart. It sits right next to where a normal heart would be."
Danny loved talking about ghost physiology but he knew he had to be careful. He couldn't give them everything. Like how his is right next to an actual human heart. How the ice from the core has affected his very being, how ice is in his veins all the time. He doesn't feel comfortable talking about how much a ghost core affects the ghost itself.
"Why are you trying for peace now?" Natasha asked. "Why not sooner, before the Battle of New York?"
"The Ghost Zone has never been more peaceful. I finally have the opportunity to take a step back every now and then. The reconstruction of everything is pretty much done, we just have to put in the final touches. Plus I didn't even know superheroes existed until like, four days ago. So there's that."
"You seem oddly calm giving us all of this information. What makes you think we won't exploit it for ourselves? Maybe invade your kingdom?" Clint asked.
"I apologize, but that wasn't a threat, was it?" Danny asked. Valerie put a hand on his thigh. The sign for get your temper under control, I'm freezing..
"No threat, just wondering," Clint said, noticing the drop in temperature once he asked that question. If this guys reason for existing was protecting, it was probably best of him if he didn't ask if he could invade the kingdom.
"Well, you guys just fought off an alien invasion. And you can't make your own portals to the Zone, only a ghost can."
And some certain Fentons, but we don't talk or think about them ever, Danny thought. Not after what they did when they found out.
"How did you all become superheroes? Well, except for Steve, I already know about you."
"I used to be a weapons developer but then I got kidnapped by some terrorists and got this," Tony pointed to the blue circle in his chest, "I stopped the weapons and went into clean energy, and then Obadiah Stane, who didn't like that decision at all, tried to kill me so my girlfriend Pepper killed him first."
"I was in a lab accident and broke Harlem," Bruce answered, sheepishly rubbing his neck.
"Ex-carnie," Clint said. "I picked her up along the way after I joined SHIELD," he pointed thumb at Natasha.
"I was banished here on Midgard without my powers so that I could learn a lesson, but then Loki started messing Asgard up and I had to return. Then I came back once Loki started wreaking havoc here."
"Cool," Danny answered. "That sounds way better than my origin story."
"What is your origin story?" Clint asked. Danny just stared at him for a moment, thinking it was a joke. And when he saw that Clint was being serious, he answered.
"I died, dude."
"Oh, yeah," Clint said. "Forgot about that."
"Anyway, how did you and Phantom meet?" Natasha asked Valerie, changing the subject.
"Oh, we went to high school together," she answered.
"High school? What was that for you, like ten years?" Tony asked.
"Something like that."
"The you must have recently died, then," Tony said, doing the math in his head.
"I mean, sure, if ten years is in the realm of recent," Danny answered.
"Jesus christ," Bruce muttered under his breath. "You must have been just a kid then. What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh, um," Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. "My parents were ghost hunters, and they had used the basement as a lab to invent ghost hunting stuff. There was an accident, and I got electrocuted with ectoplasm. Usually that would kill someone permanently but I guess growing up around that stuff I had some immunity to the effects. Still, it hurt like a bitch, though."
Everyone but Danny noticed the words he chose. What did he mean by usually kill someone permanently? Wasn't he dead? You can't just un-die. At least, not to any knowledge that any of the other Avengers had. But, they all collectively decided not to bring it up. Obviously this was a...sensitive topic for him, so if he didn't want to go into full detail they weren't going to press.
They talked for a few more hours after Natasha promptly changed the subject. They discussed politics, plans, favorite cheeses, but that one was more by accident than anything, and hey scheduled visits with each other. The next time they would meet, Danny would take them on a tour of the Zone, which everyone was more or less excited for. Especially the scientists in the group, as they wanted to see ghost technology and ghost culture.
Danny talked about his mentors, Frostbite and Clockwork, and his friends, Sam, Tucker, Dora, and a few other newer ghosts. Overall, the meeting was successful, and all of them were satisfied with everything by the end of the long discussions.
By the time they left the sky was dark out, and Valerie was trying to hold back her yawns. Danny smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her.
"Well, I think this is where we say goodbye for now," Danny said, opening up a portal with his free hand.
"We'll see you in a couple of weeks," Steve said, giving him a small wave. Danny and Valerie returned it before leaving through the portal, a small chorus of goodbyes at their heels.
They stepped out into their bedroom, and Valerie promptly fell face first into the bed. Danny laughed as he let the white rings wash over him, turning him into a living, breathing being. He threw on a pair of shorts and climbed into bed with Valerie, who was too tired to change into actual pajamas.
"I think...This is really gonna work out for the best," Danny said. He looked up at the ceiling, smiling to himself. He didn't need Valerie to respond, he was just thinking aloud. But Valerie did anyway, but squeezing his hands encouragingly.
Then she fell asleep, and after a few moments, Danny did too.
He really did think this was a good idea. There was no need to worry, right?
Right?
