Disclaimer: All rights go to the respective owners of DC Comics and Nickelodeon/Butch Hartman. The author of this story owns nothing; this story is for fun, not money or profit of any kind.
(I had to re-upload this chapter because of my internet glitching on my end)
I'm sorry it's been so long! But, I needed a break from writing Danny Phantom stories. I was really burned out. Also, I edited the previous chapters and cleaned them up, so enjoy! (Also, sorry if my writing is a bit rusty!)
Chapter 18: Hall of Justice
Danny awoke with a yawn and stretched his arms. He quickly showered and brushed his teeth, knowing that today was a big day. The League was meeting for the first time at the newly finished Hall of Justice! As he finished getting dressed, his League communicator chirped from it's spot on the table beside his bed. "Talk to me," Danny answered cheerfully.
"Phantom, this is Batman," came the reply. "I need your help with an experiment."
"Uh, what kind of experiment?" Danny said, somewhat bewildered by Batman asking for help.
"Don't worry," Batman said. "It has to do with the Hall of Justice. I just need you to go outside and let me know when you're ready."
Danny noticed that Batman put emphasis on the word 'ready', meaning that Danny needed to be in his ghost form. Danny frowned. He just couldn't get used to the fact that Batman knew his secret identity. "Just a second," he replied.
Two rings of energy surrounded his torso and moved along his form to replace his human form with that of Danny Phantom. Flying out his window and landing on the sidewalk outside, he said, "All right, I'm all set, I guess. What now?"
"Just stand still," came the reply. Danny frowned as he crossed his arms. For a moment, nothing happened. He was used to not knowing what Batman was thinking, so he wasn't too surprised by this, but still, this was odd, even for the Dark Knight.
Suddenly, a pure white light, accompanied by an odd buzzing noise surrounded the young half ghost, and as soon as it had appeared, it vanished. Blinking his eyes, Danny Phantom was instantly aware he was no longer standing outside his house, but inside a large room he didn't recognize.
"Good, it worked," the voice of Batman came from behind Phantom, causing him to spin around. He saw the other members of the League were there, as well. Danny was standing on a large glowing white elevated platform surrounded by three large pylons.
"What just happened?" Danny Phantom asked, still unsure of what just happened.
"Teleportation device," Batman said. "We'd already tested it on everyone else, and I needed to make sure it worked on ghosts."
Danny blinked at that. "Teleportation device? Wha- ARE YOU CRAZY?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You wanted to test a teleporter on me without even telling me?! Did you even know if it would work on me?"
"Pretty sure," Batman replied, narrowing his eyes at him.
"Danny, do you honestly think we would test something like this on each other without being certain it would work properly?" Superman asked incredulously.
"Well, I don't know," Danny shrugged as he floated off the platform. "I just mean, how would I know if that thing didn't, like, scramble my insides, or something?"
"Well, you're here in one piece, right?" Power Girl asked. "You would know if something was wrong before anyone else."
"It worked on all of us, and we're just fine," Green Lantern Hal Jordan pointed out. "Besides, you're a ghost. You're already dead, so what would be the worst that could happen?" Wonder Woman elbowed Lantern in the side and shot him a glare for his bluntness.
"Since we're all here, now, we may as well begin the tour of the Hall right here," Superman said, gesturing to the platform Danny just floated down from. "As you all are now aware, we can use this teleportation platform to get us anywhere on the planet in a heartbeat in an emergency."
Batman then explained that it was powered by a modified boom-tube generator that had been left behind when Darkseid, a being of extraordinary power, had been defeated by Superman and Power Girl. Boom-tubes were worm hole generators, which was how Darkseid was able to move throughout the universe.
The boom-tube box that Superman had recovered was severely damaged, and Superman was confidant that it no longer had the range to reach Darkseid on his world of Apokolips, so he would not be able to tap into it to get back. It did, however possess the range to teleport the members of the League anywhere on Earth.
In the same, massive room there were numerous wall mounted terminals and screens. Superman called it the Monitor Womb, and it was the central hub for their work, allowing them to monitor developments across the globe.
Batman and Superman told the others that J'onn, the Martian Manhunter, had volunteered to remain in the Hall full time, but other members would take shifts on monitor duty as well. Having one or several members at the Hall would be invaluable for backup and tactical assistance. Adjacent to the Monitor Womb was a small room with a circular table with the JLA logo emblazoned on it sat surrounded by chairs; one for each founding member.
The large structure was a sight to behold. The floors were a dark blueish marble with the occasional golden accent. The walls were a mixture of white metal and marble-like stone, but make no mistake; the interior of the walls were reinforced with traces of the same type of crystal that made up Superman's Fortress of Solitude, which added extra durability.
The Hall itself had been built by the League with the help of Green Lantern John Stewart, who was an architect in his spare time, and construction of the Hall was completed even sooner with the help of the Flash and Superman. The Hall had quarters for each member of the League, which they could decorate however they pleased.
Every room and level to the building had purpose. Everything from training and exercise equipment specially designed for the League to train with, to labs and vaults where dangerous tech and the occasional prisoner too dangerous for any normal prison to hold. Danny Phantom wondered if he should build a second Ghost Portal in one of the labs, albeit one that actually worked properly. It was something to keep in mind.
"Here I thought S.T.A.R. Labs was the most advanced facility in the world," Flash whistled. He was blown away by the Hall. He wondered who was paying for all of this. He doubted even Oliver Queen could pay for something like this.
Hawkman shrugged. "It's nothing compared to Thanagar," he said gruffly.
Batman went on to explain the defenses of the Hall, as well as the hanger, which could store Wonder Woman's jet, as well as any vehicle the League may need. Hal Jordan informed everyone that the Hall could also function as a way-station for other members of the Green Lantern Corps. Everyone agreed that was a good idea, and the idea of having a few other Green Lanterns bolstering their ranks would be of benefit.
Danny wondered how ghost-proofed the Hall was, but that was something that could be tested later. It almost felt as though he was having an out-of-body experience; he still couldn't believe he was here. As much as he had been through with the other members, actually having a base for the team brought it to a whole new level.
A few weeks later, in the middle of the night, Martian Manhunter was standing before the multitude of screens. The rest of the League had left the Hall, save for himself, Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan, both of whom were presently asleep in their respective quarters. J'onn, however, did not need much sleep, and he quite enjoyed the solitude, as well as his new responsibilities.
In the few weeks since their first meeting at the newly completed Hall, the League had grown more effective. The teleporter, in particular, had made their lives that much easier, J'onn reflected. With it, they-
His musings were interrupted when he suddenly sensed another presence in the Hall.
He hadn't been aware of any change in plans for the other League members, and they were they only other people who had access to the Hall. J'onn narrowed his telepathic senses on this new presence. He was unable to identify them properly, as their thoughts were... fast. This other person's mind was moving at an accelerated rate, far too fast for even him to decipher.
His hands moving quickly, he searched the security feeds on the monitor in front of him. His orange eyes widened as he saw a streak of red lightning moving almost faster than the eye could see running throughout the hallways! He wasted no time in turning intangible and headed to confront the intruder.
Deep in the Hall, the Reverse Flash was on the hunt. He soon found his target; the Hall's main database hub. The small room was darkened, and neatly tucked away in the lowest level of the structure. Wasting no time, the speedster went to work by plugging a small device into a port on the main terminal and began typing at high speeds.
"Step away from the terminal, please," a voice came from behind Reverse Flash, causing him to spin around to come face to face with Martian Manhunter. The Reverse Flash smirked, his eyes glowing red. In the blink of an eye, he struck the Martian telepath with a shoulder tackle at super speed, sending J'onn soaring into the wall and falling to the floor.
"If you insist, Mr. Dimes," Reverse Flash said, his voice vibrating dangerously.
A look of surprise crossed J'onn's normally stoic face as he rose to his feet. Charley Dimes was one of his aliases, and one he hadn't used in quite some time. "How do you know that name?" he asked warily.
The Reverse Flash scowled and lashed out with his vicious speed, striking J'onn with several rapid punches to the mid section, once more causing the Martian Manhunter to fall to one knee. "Oh, we've met before, you and I," the Reverse Flash replied as J'onn clutched his side. "Several times, as a matter of fact. Fortunately for you, I don't have time to settle old scores, tonight."
The villain quickly ran back to the terminal he had accessed and grabbed the device he had plugged into it. "Give my regards to Barry Allen," he said to J'onn. In a streak of red lightning, the Reverse Flash sped throughout the maze of hallways, leaving J'onn to struggle to his feet.
The Reverse Flash entered the main entrance of the Hall, and sped for the door, only to nearly run head long into a wall of green light. Stopping in his tracks, the vibrating villain stared at the energy wall in irritation.
"Sorry, pal, but visiting hours are between nine and five," Green Lantern quipped, floating down behind Reverse Flash, his power ring glowing brightly. Wonder Woman was also standing beside him. J'onn had awoken them telepathically after being attacked by the speedster.
"We do not take kindly to intruders, here," Wonder Woman added.
Reverse Flash's eyes glowed bright red as he scowled at the two, his visage vibrating harshly. "As if either of you could stop me," he hissed. "I could kill you both in the blink of an eye, if I wanted to."
"Take your shot, speedy," Lantern challenged, raising his glowing ring.
"Why are you here?" Wonder Woman demanded, unsheathing her sword.
Reverse Flash smirked. "You couldn't even to begin to comprehend," he replied.
"He was in the central database," Martian Manhunter said as he floated through the floor. He had fully recovered from the Reverse Flash's attack and now stood beside his allies.
The villain, however, no longer had the patience for words. He raised his hand which held a small trigger-like switch. He pressed the button on the device, and red lights and an emergency siren blared throughout the Hall, as it's defense systems came on line. From the ceiling and walls, numerous laser turrets appeared, and small drone-like robots hovered to life, aiming their weapons at the three heroes.
"Warning, intruders detected," a computerized voice blared throughout the Hall. "Repeat, intruders detected."
"That doesn't sound good," Lantern said.
"He's tampered with our defense systems," J'onn shouted over the siren, glaring at the Reverse Flash.
"More like improved them," Reverse Flash said, smugly.
"Multiple hostiles detected," the alert continued. "Activating defense protocol Alpha Five Epsilon."
The three League members were immediately on the defensive, as the turrets and robots opened fire on them. Green Lantern reacted out of instinct, and surrounded the three of them inside a sphere of glowing light. Unfortunately, in doing so, he lost his focus on the force field that was blocking the entrance and the three watched as the Reverse Flash sped away in a streak of red lightning as the wall of green light fell.
"Damn, my bad!" Lantern cursed through gritted teeth.
"You let him escape," Wonder Woman glared at Hal.
"Well, forgive me for being surprised by our own home turning on us, princess," he retorted. His full attention was on keeping the barrier around them up and stable under the constant bombardment of fire raining down on them from every direction.
Suddenly, the Hall went quiet, as the hail of lasers and bullets ended, and the sirens ceased. The turrets retracted and the hovering robots returned to their place of origin. After such noise, the sudden silence was, itself, deafening. The three heroes were left confused by the sudden cease fire. "Uh, whatever you did, J'onn, great job," Lantern commented, slowly lowering the shield around them.
"I did nothing," the Martian replied.
"But I did," came Batman's voice, from behind them. Walking out of the shadows, the Dark Knight glared at the three members of the League. "I managed to deactivate the defense systems. I came as soon as I was alerted that the Hall's defenses had been triggered. It seems I can't leave any of you unsupervised, can I?"
"They are not to blame, Batman," J'onn said sadly. "I was foolish enough to believe I could stop the intruder alone. I only alerted Green Lantern and Wonder Woman after I realized otherwise. I should have placed the Hall on alert the moment I sensed an intruder."
"If you had, he would have escaped long before we could have confronted him," Diana pointed out.
"What happened?" Batman asked.
"The Hall was infiltrated by a speedster," Green Lantern replied. "And it wasn't the Flash."
Soon, Batman had summoned the Flash and the rest of the League back to the Hall. Everyone was watching the recordings of the intruder, which had been slowed down so they could actually see the speedster. Even in slow motion, he was still a yellow blur. Flash sighed deeply. "Eobard Thawne," he said quietly.
"Who?" Superman asked.
"He's a speedster from the future," Flash replied. "The Reverse Flash."
"But you told me that you took him down a ways back," Green Lantern asked.
"I did, a couple of times," Flash shrugged.
"Wait, he's from the future?" Danny Phantom asked, surprised. He had experienced time travel first hand, but he had no idea speedsters could travel through time. 'Oh, great,'he thought. 'Another evil nut from the future.'
"That's right," Flash said. "It's a long story, but he's always been obsessed with destroying me."
"But what could he have been after from our database?" Diana asked.
"That's what I'm trying to decipher," Batman said. He was currently sitting at a monitor, trying to find what their intruder was looking for. "But whatever kind of device he used left no trace. He must be using some kind of tech from the future that I'm not familiar with. Other than altering our defense systems, which itself was only used as a means to distract you so he could escape, I can't find anything."
"He did say one thing of interest," J'onn said. All eyes turned to him. "He told me to give Barry Allen his regards." Green Lantern and Flash exchanged a glance at that. Flash then noticed Batman giving him a dark, unreadable stare, which gave the Flash goosebumps under his red suit.
"Who's Barry Allen?" Power Girl asked.
The Flash sighed once more. He shook his head, as though wrestling with something in his mind. "I'm Barry Allen," he said, surprising the other JLA members. Pulling down his red cowl, Barry revealed his face and brown hair to everyone. "Like I said, Thawne and I have been at this for a long time. This is just another way for him to lash out at me."
Danny stared in surprise at Flash, or rather, Barry Allen. He certainly didn't seem too freaked out at the reality of the other members of the Justice League knowing his identity. 'Wow, to be unmasked by your arch enemy,' he thought. 'That's rough.' He wondered how he'd react if everyone on the League found out he wasn't really dead, but only a kid with ghost powers. After all, despite his boyish looks, Barry Allen was an adult, not a teenager.
"I'm sure this isn't the last we've seen of Reverse Flash," Batman said, returning everyone's focus back to the enemy.
"I agree," Superman said. "This wasn't a random or isolated incident, this was planned out. He knew how and when to hit us when we were least expecting it and least prepared."
"We need to redouble our efforts on finding out what he's up to," Batman said. "And we can't let there be a repeat of what happened tonight. I assume we can count on your help tracking him down, Flash?"
"Absolutely," Barry said. He scowled in anger as he looked at the recording of the man who murdered his mother. "He'll be back. But next time, we'll be ready."
Meanwhile, in Amity Park
In the posh mansion of Vlad Masters, both he and Lex Luthor were standing in front of a massive fire place. The mansion of Vlad Masters was elegant, massive, and of the utmost class. It bespoke of money, more specifically, greed.
"I must say, Vlad," Lex said, somewhat grudgingly. "You certainly know how to run a tight ship. Being mayor of a big city is no easy task by itself, let alone also being in charge of one of the biggest business firms in the country on top of it."
"Well, Amity Park is no Metropolis, but it does have it's charms," Vlad replied.
"One would think with your wealth, you'd have bigger ambitions than being mayor of a small city," Lex commented.
"True, but every empire starts somewhere," Vlad chuckled darkly. He certainly did have bigger ambitions. And with the Justice League out of the way...
"Speaking of wealth, I admire your taste in real estate," Lex said, gazing out the window. Polter Heights, a rich suburb of Amity Park was a true hidden gem, and Vlad had purchased it all for himself. His mansion now sat alone in the sprawling area, surrounded by lush gardens, beautiful greenery and statues.
"Also, I must say that was a bold move on your part, revealing your identity to a man you barely know," Lex said, turning to face Vlad, who was sitting in a large elegant chair, which was more like a throne for a king.
Taking a sip from his wine glass, Vlad smirked. "Because we have what the League does not possess," Vlad replied, rising from his seat to his full height. "A lack of secret identities. No matter what they claim, there will always be that element of mistrust among the League, so long as they do not know one another's real names. Naturally, one or two of them may have already blurted their names out, but for someone like Batman, that is a secret they would rather take to the grave."
Lex snorted at that. "Is that even an issue?" he questioned. "Their a bunch of do-gooders; as long as they fight for what they believe to be the greater good, who each other are when they're not wearing tights won't matter to them."
"Perhaps not," Vlad conceded. "None the less, it does make our work that much easier, doesn't it? After all, it's a bit harder to stab each other in the back when we're on a level playing field. Less distractions."
"Is that what you were concerned about?" Lex chuckled. "You're unbelievable! You gave up your biggest piece on the board so we could be on even footing?"
"In chess, one must sometimes sacrifice a bigger piece to win the game," Vlad countered. "After all, we're playing for the same team, aren't we?"
"I suppose you're right," Lex shrugged. "Speaking of our 'team', I wonder why our fleet-footed ally asked to meet here, anyway."
As if on cue, a streak of red lightning blazed into the room, signaling the arrival of the Reverse Flash. Removing his yellow cowl, Eobard Thawne gave a grin. "Thank you for your patience, gentlemen," he said. "I know I'm late, but, ah, well. You know, traffic. As much of a burden now as it will be a century from now."
"What was so urgent you had me fly all the way out to Amity Park in the middle of the night, Thawne?" Lex demanded.
Thawne answered by holding up a small device. "I come baring gifts," he replied. "This drive contains a portion of the Justice League's database. It's a tad less then what I'd hoped for; I wasn't able to get everything because of that damned Martian."
"Get out of here," Lex scoffed. "How would you have gotten past their security?"
Thawne rolled his eyes. "Oh, please," he said. "The Hall of Justice is a museum in my time. I must have studied it's layout dozens of times as a kid. That being said, they won't fall for that a second time. They'll have prepared for a speedster, next time."
He handed the device to Vlad, and said, "A little tech from my time. It won't leave a trace in their systems, meaning they have no idea what I took."
"Excellent work," Vlad grinned. He admired sleek work. He studied the small electronic device in his hand, practically salivating at the prospect of what might be on the drive. "Even with what you took, it'll give us the edge we need."
"What exactly did you manage to steal from them?" Lex asked.
"A complete list of the League's foes; both in custody and on the loose," Thawne smirked. "We'll need an army to win this war."
I hope you enjoyed this! As I said, I was really burned out on writing Danny Phantom stories. I did, however, write a Flash story you guys can check out called "The Flash: Lightning Collision"! It's a stand alone story not related to this one, so it's different from what I usually write.
I really wanted the JLA to finally have the Hall of Justice HQ, so sorry if it seemed like I glossed over the tour. Expect to see more familiar villainous faces in the coming chapters, and next chapter will be my take on a Danny Phantom episode, but I will make it my own so it fits in with the JLA. No spoilers! It's one of my favorite episodes!
Also, for those wondering, yes, Sam and Tucker will appear in future chapters; I've got a specific plan in mind.
Until then, a big thanks to everyone who read my stories and leaves their thoughts! You guys rock!