Chapter 10
The Tower was something that became the new resting place for Danny and Valerie. It was too good to stay away from. They came as often as they could, which ended up being a couple times a week if they were lucky. The whole alliance thing between the human realm and ghost realm made them extra busy, but the payoff was definitely worth it.
The Tower was a beacon, a safe haven away from responsibilities. He felt like he was at home, even though at home he would never be in his ghost form like he always was when he was around the Avengers. Out of all of them, the only one who knew he was a halfa was Thor, who thus far had kept his secret. Danny was grateful for it.
Thor wasn't the only one he had grown closer to. He could say, without hesitation, that he was really close friends with all of them by now. Even Natasha, who kept everything secret from everybody except for maybe Clint.
Clint, who was currently watching Supernanny reruns while making a very precarious, cartoonishly large sandwich in the living room. Danny was watching Clint's sandwich intensely, praying it would fall over. After the week he's had, it would be a godsend to have a good laugh.
"What the fuck?" Clint asked. His hands stopped for a moment as he looked at the TV. Danny turned and watched it.
"Hello, men, women, and children of the world," a familiar voice said. But Danny couldn't quite place where he knew it from. "I know me jumping in on your television can seem quite scary, but I assure you, I only want one thing."
Without warning, a red, glowing scepter appeared on screen.
"What is up with this broadcast?" Clint asked, looking over at Danny. He was grabbing his head, as if in pain. When he blinked his eyes flickered between green and red.
"I heard a little friend of mine recently got a promotion, and I would like to congratulate him," the voice continued.
"Clint," Danny groaned. He was on the floor now, clutching at his skull. Clint was right beside him, his hands hovering around Danny's body, unsure of what to do.
"What's happening?" Clint asked him.
"F...Can't…" Danny said. He tried fighting whatever it was that was happening, before looking at Clint, his eyes blown wide. They were green. "Staff," he finally grunted out.
"King Phantom, come see me in Amity Park, where you ruined my life. Come to Circus Gothica!"
His eyes flicked to red, and his whole body relaxed. He looked straight at Clint, but seemed to stare right through him as if he wasn't there.
"Oh, and if you see any of our little superhero friends," the man said, "then destroy them." The man burst into a fit of high pitched, hysterical laughter, before being cut off as the TV turned back to Supernanny.
"Danny?" Clint asked. He was nervous, no doubt, because he did not have superpowers, and he was in the presence of the Ghost King, who had several powers, and he was an Avenger. Which technically made him a superhero.
Yikes.
Danny didn't say anything. No, he just silently ignited one of his hands before looking straight down at Clint. He was eerily calm, blank-faced as he pointed his open palm at Clint's head.
"Jarvis?" Clint asked. He could feel the heat coming from Danny's hand. "Where are the others?"
"I've already alerted them."
Just as Jarvis had finished talking, Danny let out a blast of green ectoplasm. Clint blinked, ready for the sweet release of death, but when he opened his eyes again, Steve was standing over him, his shield smoking.
"Let's go," he urged, helping Clint up.
"What the fuck man," CLint said, ducing behind the bar with Steve.
"What happened?" Steve asked, daring to glance over the bar. He ducked down quickly as a green ectoblast fired where he had just been.
"I don't know! We were watching TV and then it got interrupted with some broadcast!"
Before the conversation could go any further than that, Danny appeared before them, out of thin air. He still had that blank, vacant look on his face, and red eyes.
Neither of them understood how someone like Danny could have defeated the worst ghost in history. But looking at him now, they were absolutely terrified. Danny had a monumental power, and the two humans could feel it oozing out of him as he stared at them. The fear that the both of them felt was more than skin deep.
When they looked into Danny's eyes and saw nothing, it shot fear into their very souls.
But they didn't have time to be afraid. They had a job to do, and that job was to not die.
Steve noticed it had gotten significantly colder in the past few seconds, and the white puff coming out of his mouth with his next breath didn't go unnoticed.
He roughly grabbed Clint by the shoulder and hauled him over the bar with him. Steve's shoe, which had been frozen to the floor, was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
Steve flipped the coffee table onto its side to use it as a sort of barrier between them and Danny. Clint picked up a small pile of toothpicks that had fallen when the table was turned.
"This is no time to try and salvage your sandwich," Steve said.
"We can't let that sandwich's death go to waste," Clint said, his voice cracking. He took a brief moment to peak over the edge and came back. Then, without looking, his back to Danny, he flicked a toothpick over his shoulder.
Judging from the pause in movement, Clint had hit his shot. It did nothing, really. More of a minor inconvenience at most, but it was enough of a distraction for Tony to fly through and tackle Danny to the ground.
"What happened? Tony asked, standing back up and pointing his hands at Danny, who was getting up. His face was still blank, and he had a small sliver of green running down the side of his face.
"Explain later!" Clint said as the others ran in. Natasha threw him his bow and quiver, which he more or less caught. Thor was growling, swinging his hammer around.
"Avengers!" He shouted. He had been right the whole time, and now his friends were going to get hurt because of it.
"Let's get rid of this foul beast, shall we?"
