Disclaimer: All rights go to 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.
Yikes, this was actually a nightmare to write for me! I based it after the episode, "Boxed Up Fury", and I found it very hard to fit other characters into it. As such, sorry for any errors! I did my best, so I hope you like it!
Chapter 19: Pandora's Box
Wonder Woman was standing in the Monitor Womb of the Hall of Justice. She had volunteered to take the next shift on monitor duty. After the incident with the Reverse Flash invading the Hall, Batman was securing the base against any future speedster attacks with some unique help.
"Uh-huh, yeah, that was bad-ass!" The excited shout of a young man came from the teleporter pad. Cisco Ramon stepped off the pad alongside Barry Allen, aka the Flash. The young tech genius from Central City gazed around in wonder at the Hall, admiring the technological expertise that went into every part of the League. "Oh. My. God. This is in-credible!"
"I know, right?" Flash grinned at his friend. "It's pretty sweet!"
"Barry, who is this?" Diana asked the young speedster as she stepped out of the Monitor Womb. Barry's identity had been outed by the Reverse Flash during his attack on the Hall. Flash insisted to the others he didn't mind them calling him by his name, so long as it wasn't in public or around other villains.
Flash glanced at Cisco who was staring wide-eyed and mouth agape as the Princess of Themyscira walked up to them. "Yeah, this is Cisco Ramon," Barry said. "He helps me out in Central City; he's a tech genius. He can help us with our speedster problem. Cisco, this is Wonder Woman."
Barry nudged Cisco in the ribs, snapping him out of his daze. "Uh- Yes- Yeah, that's me, Cisco," the long haired engineer stammered, shaking his head. He stepped forward and shook hands with Wonder Woman. "And let me just say: You are the bomb!"
Diana tilted her head; Cisco's compliment going over her head. "I assure you, I'm no bomb," she said, frowning.
Barry laughed out loud at that "It's an expression," he chuckled. "He means he thinks you're awesome."
Wonder Woman nodded, understanding. "Well, Cisco," she smiled. "If you can help us prevent another attack, I will think you are awesome, too."
"Oh, trust me, gorgeous," Cisco grinned. "I am going to trick this place out and make it so tight, even Barry here won't be able to sneak in!"
"I'm going to hold you to that," the unexpected growl of Batman came from behind the group, causing Cisco to jump out of his skin. The young scientist turned to see the Dark Knight heading towards them..
"You're- It's-" Cisco stammered to Barry, who sighed at Cisco's hero worship.
"Yeah, Batman, this is Cisco Ramon," Flash said. "He's going to help us making the Hall speedster proof."
"So you've said," Batman said.
The sound of an emergency communication sounded, distracting everyone. Walking over to the Monitor Womb station, they saw Danny Phantom's logo on the screen. Activating the view screen, the group saw Danny Phantom with a frazzled expression. "What is it, Phantom?" Batman asked.
"Is everything alright?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Uh, hey guys," Danny said, glancing over his shoulder, as though nervous. "Um, Diana, by any chance, do you know anything about Pandora's Box?"
"Pandora's Box," Wonder Woman repeated. "Only the legends; it was said to have contained all the world's evils. There are many versions of the tale; some say her curiosity got the better of her and so she opened the box, others claim she created the box to contain evil. But the scholars on Themyscira all agree that Pandora and her box vanished ages ago; if she even existed at all. Why do you ask?"
"Look for yourself," Danny Phantom said, stepping aside to reveal a park over run with hordes of frogs, bats and snakes. "Turns out, it's very real! A certain annoyance of mine somehow got his hands on it in the Ghost Zone, and brought it here!"
"Danny! Evil Pegasus at three o'clock!" shouted the voice of a girl no one recognized.
"Peggy who?" Danny asked, turning his head to the sound of the voice. Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Cisco watched in shock as the form of a massive blue horse with wins made of black fire slammed into Danny on the screen, knocking him down and causing Phantom to drop his communicator. The Pegasus then neighed angrily and flew off.
"Danny, are you alright!?" Batman shouted.
"Ugh, fine...," Danny groaned as he stood up, retrieving his communicator. Glancing back up, presumably at the Pegasus, he continued, "Just send back up, gotta go!"
As the feed cut, Batman turned to Diana. "You need to get to Amity Park," he said. "Your knowledge of the box might help. I'll continue to monitor the situation from here."
Diana nodded and ran to the teleporter pad, and Barry looked to Batman. "What about me? Should I go help, too?" the Scarlet Speedster asked the Dark Knight.
"No, we're short-handed as it is, with Superman and Power Girl off world helping the Green Lantern Corp," Batman said, not even turning his head. "You and Mr Ramon have work to do. I'll alert you if they need your help."
"Just send back up, gotta go!" Danny shouted and cut the feed to his communicator. He turned his attention to the creepy Pegasus floating above himself and Sam and Tucker. The beast whinnied angrily and flapped it's black flaming wings.
"Don't worry," Sam said. "I don't think it can do anything else."
The Pegasus reared it's head back and expelled a stream of blue flames from it's mouth at Team Phantom, who barely jumped out of the way in time. "Apparently, you should read more, too," Danny frowned at Sam, who clutched her goth book.
Turning back to the Pegasus, Phantom flew into the air. "Hey, horse-face," he shouted. "Do the words 'glue factory' mean anything to you?" He hurled several glowing green discs made of ghost energy at the beast, who merely absorbed the attacks with it's wings, surprising Danny.
It then flapped it's wings at high speeds, generating a hurricane force wind that blew everyone and everything across the park. Danny collided with Sam and Tucker and they rolled to a stop. "Ugh, this day just keeps getting worse," Tucker groaned.
A bright portal appeared next to the three and Wonder Woman stepped through and gazed around at the madness, her long black ponytail flowing behind her. "And suddenly, it's all better," Tucker said in awe as he and Sam and Danny stood up.
"It would be, if you could stop drooling," Sam frowned at Tucker as she dusted herself off.
"Great Hera," Wonder Woman exclaimed at the sight of the chaos around them.
"You can say that again," Danny Phantom said. "This is way out of hand."
"Who is responsible for all of this?" Wonder Woman frowned. Phantom pointed up at the Pegasus, where the Box Ghost was sitting on it's back.
"Yee-haw!" the Box Ghost shouted. "There is a NEW sheriff in town!"
"Him?" Wonder Woman raised an eyebrow skeptically. "That round buffoon stole Pandora's Box? I thought you and Hawkman said he was harmless, albeit annoying?"
"He normally is," Danny said. "But that cruddy box made him... more annoying."
"Now it is time to meet my new deputy, of death!" Box Ghost yelled, not noticing the arrival of Wonder Woman. He raised Pandora's Box above his head and a new ominous blue pillar of energy rose into the skies. When the light faded, a gargantuan green reptile with ten heads towered over the park! It's numerous heads bellowed loudly, with it's curved teeth dripping saliva.
"And suddenly, I miss the snakes," Tucker said, dumbfounded.
"A Hydra!" Wonder Woman shouted in surprise. She unsheathed her sword and shield, preparing for battle. Three of the heads spotted the shocked and spat fire at them. Danny, Sam and Tucker threw their arms over their heads as the flames approached them when Wonder Woman jumped in front of them, raising her shield to deflect the flames. As the flames subsided, Diana lowered her shield, which glowed brightly from the heat.
The Hydra noticed several frightened bystanders who ran for their life and proceeded to chase after them, bellowing and spouting fire. Wasting no time, Wonder Woman yelled and leaped onto the dragon's back and drove her sword into it's spine. The creature flinched and one head turned around and snapped at Diana who dodged and pulled out her sword from the creature's back. "Do not decapitate any of the heads," Diana told Phantom over her com. "More will grow in it's place!"
One bystander tripped and fell to the ground and one of the heads spewed more flames at the man. Danny flew in front of the man and blasted twin beams of ice energy at the flames, dousing them and freezing the offending head solid. The other heads became distracted and started breathing fire on the now frozen head. "Fight fire with ice, I always say," Danny said, smirking. "Or, at least I'll start saying it now."
"I always say, 'fight fire with phlegm!'" Box Ghost shouted from his perch on the Pegasus.
"What?" Danny Phantom asked. "That's just-"
In response, the Pegasus snorted loudly and spat out a massive ball of snot at Danny. "GROSS!" the half ghost shouted as he sore through the air. He crashed to the ground with a splat and thud. "Ugh, ghost-nasal drip."
"Let's see," Box Ghost said to himself, looking at a calculator. "Ten headed dragon, snotty horse with wings... Yes! My bounty increases!" In his exuberance, he fell off of the Pegasus and landed on the ground.
Wonder Woman was on the fat fool in an instant. "Your folly ends here," she sneered, gripping him by the collar. "Hand over the box, now, and I'll let you go unharmed."
"NEVER!" Box Ghost shouted and he emitted a devastating red blast that tossed Wonder Woman aside. "Horror, dread, fear! And all because of me!" He laughed maniacally and rose into the air, bathed in ghostly red energy.
"Is it just me, or is he actually starting to sound menacing?" Tucker asked as he and Sam helped a weakened Wonder Woman to her feet. He then looked down to see several hissing snakes slithering around their feet and yelped. Diana merely kicked the offending creatures away.
"It's the Box," Diana said. "It's feeding him more and more evil energy the more he uses it." The Hydra bellowed as it approached them. It's heads reared back, preparing to incinerate them. Phantom flew to them and raised and icy blue shield to protect them.
"Now, I will reign over your world, and you will all bow to me!" Box Ghost bellowed gleefully from his steed. "Or you will face my wrath!" The Box Ghost and his steed flew away, leaving the small group to fend off the Hydra.
"I'm open to ideas, here!" Danny shouted, straining against the Hydra's onslaught.
Several green explosions suddenly knocked the Hydra off balance briefly, and the group turned to see the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle roar onto the scene. "Taste my fire, dragon-breath," Jazz Fenton shouted from the roof of the vehicle. She lifted a ghost hunter bazooka and fired two more shots at the behemoth!
As the tank-like machine roared to a stop, Maddie Fenton opened the door and lifted a device. "Ten heads, meet nine tails!" she shouted and launched the Jack-O-Nine-Tails at the creature, which wrapped itself around several of the long necks, electrocuting them!
Jack Fenton ran around the side of the vehicle and bellowed, "I don't have a clever quip!" He then raised his ghost rifle and opened fire. The onslaught confused the monster, causing it to bellow in pain as it turned around and fled.
"Who are they?" Diana asked. She had fully regained her bearings after the blast from Box Ghost. "They'll be killed!"
"They're the Fentons," Danny explained. "They do this kind of thing for a living."
Frowning, Wonder Woman opened her communicator. "Batman, we need reinforcements," she said. "The situation is getting out of hand."
"Understood," Batman replied. "I'm sending Hawkman and Hawkgirl to help."
"Good," Diana said and turned off the communicator.
"Sam, Tucker, help the Fentons find that thing before it destroys the city," Phantom said to his two friends. "Wonder Woman and I need to go into the Ghost Zone and find this Pandora."
"I don't like leaving the city with that monster on the loose," Diana frowned.
"We don't have a choice!" Danny insisted. "Pandora might be the only one who can help us. It's her box; maybe she can help get it away from him and put all of this stuff back in it. And you're is basically from Greek mythology; maybe you can help convince her!"
"I have never encountered her before," Diana said. "I only know her from what I've read."
"My book says her realm is weird and dangerous," Sam said. "Maybe you can use it to guide you?"
Danny took the book from her and the two shared a dreamy smile before looking away awkwardly. "Uh, it was the last copy at the Skulk and Lurk, so, uh, just be careful, okay?" Sam stuttered.
"I'll be back," Danny promised. Then, he and Wonder Woman took off into the air, dodging several large bats.
"How do we get into the Ghost Zone?" Diana asked as they flew from the park.
"Oh, right, you were on Paradise Island when I got my ice powers," Danny said. "There's a portal into the Ghost Zone in the basement lab of the Fenton Works building." The two flew over the city towards the Fenton's home. "They're ghost hunters."
Diana's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Hunters?" she repeated, surprised. "Do they hunt you, as well?" She didn't like the idea of anyone hunting her friend, let alone someone who hunted the spirits of the dead.
"Um, they used to, a lot, but not anymore," Danny said. "We, uh, sort of came to an understanding." The two heroes landed in front of the absurd building and Danny phased them both into the basement.
"Into Hades, then," Diana murmured as Danny opened the Ghost Portal. The ominous, hazy swirling of green ecto-energy cast an eerie light over the two. "Is this how you returned to the world of the living?" Diana's voice was laced with sadness. She still felt pity for the young ghost for having apparently died so young.
Phantom's eyes widened at that. "Um, no," he replied, the question catching the young hero off guard. "It's a little more complicated than that." He always felt kinda guilty for letting her and the other heroes, minus Batman, think he was an actual ghost. Especially for someone as kind as Diana. But, he also just wasn't ready to let them know he was only a teenager.
Shaking his head he headed for the portal. "Anyway, let's find Pandora," he said. As they stepped through the swirling green mist into the Ghost Zone. Danny and Wonder Woman flew through the creepy realm of the Ghost Zone.
Wonder Woman cast her watchful gaze about them as they flew. "This is not what I expected," she admitted.
Danny chuckled. "Oh, man, I know the feeling," he said. Danny flipped through the book Sam gave him "Let's see. Plagues, pestilence, boy bands... Whoa this is one evil box."
After flying through the Ghost Zone for what felt like an eternity, the pair came across a massive floating structure that Diana recognized instantly as a replica of the ancient Greek Acropolis. "This feels... wrong," the Amazon said as they landed.
"Hey, maybe she knows where Pandora is," Phantom pointed to a figure draped in red moving in the shadows of the pillars. As they ran up to the figure, Danny asked, "Excuse me, but do you know where we can find-?"
His question was cut short as the figure turned around and hissed harshly. Her hair suddenly began moving unnaturally and uncoiled itself to reveal that her hair was, in fact, a massive tangle of black snakes! Diana gasped and raised her shield in front of her face and yelled, "Medusa! Don't look her in the eye!"
"Why?" Danny asked. Medusa's eyes glowed red and Danny yelped as he was turned to stone!
"Danny!" Wonder Woman yelled in shock as she looked at Danny's now stone form. She unsheathed her blade, preparing to battle Medusa, when to her surprise, Phantom simply phased out of the stone that encased his form, leaving a perfect statue!
"Whoa, talk about a bad hair day," he quipped dryly and blasted a green ghost ray at Medusa's face, burning away the snakes on her head! Medusa shrieked in pain and horror as she slithered away, clutching her burnt face and head. "That's a really good look for you!"
Diana was at a loss for words as she stared in shock at Phantom. Even Perseus, himself, had not beaten Medusa so easily. "Danny, that was-"
"Painful," Danny finished for her, making a face at the Danny Phantom statue. "That was something I really don't want to repeat. Now, let's go before she comes back with a new hairdo."
Diana shook her head as Danny simply shrugged off the experience of fighting a true monster like Medusa so easily. Let alone surviving being turned to stone. Either the young ghost was a very humble warrior, or simply clueless.
"Let's see," Danny said as they flew through the Acropolis, thumbing through the book. "Pandora's castle rests on the other side of the lightning arch. You will be amazed how easy it is to find." They soon found the arch made of lightning, which led to a massive hedge maze. "A maze. Clever. Well, we better get moving." He walked towards the the entrance of the maze when Wonder Woman stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Why not simply fly over the maze instead?" Diana asked.
Danny blinked and then face-palmed. "Oh, duh," he muttered. They wasted no time and flew over the gargantuan maze and saw what could only be the castle of Pandora. It was a massive structure made of pure marble and gleaming gold. "Nice place."
"Let me do the talking," Diana said. They went to knock on the giant front door, only for it to swing open. Standing in doorway was a blue woman with four arms and gleaming gold and black armor from ancient Greece. She was at least nine feet tall and fierce pink flames rose from her helmet where it's plumage would normally be. She was holding a spear-like staff that was as tall as she was.
Danny and Diana were both surprised by the being's appearance. "Uh, Pandora?" Danny questioned.
Pandora frowned. "Who wants to know?" she shouted angrily.
"Great Pandora," Wonder Woman said. "This is Danny Phantom and I am Diana, of Themyscira. We seek your help!"
Pandora scowled beneath her helmet. "An Amazon," she sneered. "Why would I ever help an Amazon?"
"What do you have against Amazons?" Diana frowned.
Pandora huffed and folded two of her arms. "Ask Hippolyta," she curtly replied.
Diana was tempted to press the issue, but thought better of it. "Pandora, we really do need your help," she insisted. "We know who has your box, but we cannot stand against it's power alone."
The situation in Amity Park was nearing a crisis. Hawkman and Hawkgirl had arrived and were keeping the massive Hydra's attention on them and not the citizens of the city. But the Box Ghost had continued to release more and more evil from Pandora's Box. The Fentons, Sam and Tucker were busy trying to contain the massive swarms of evil frogs, snakes, bats, rats, and all other manor of vile monsters.
The Box Ghost had turned a frightening shade of red as he rode atop his dark Pegasus. "Get a load of my booooombox!" he yelled. The pudgy annoyance opened Pandora's Box once more and unleashed a blue wave of energy which exploded mere inches in front of Jack Fenton, who yelled out in agony.
"Dad!" Jazz called out.
"Jack!" Maddie yelled. "You alright?"
"Burnt my tongue on my smores," he whined, pointing to his mouth.
"Foolish humans," Box Ghost shouted. "The reign of the Box Ghost has only begun!"
"This is going to be the shortest rule in history," Danny Phantom shouted from behind Box Ghost, causing him to whirl around.
"Uh-oh," he muttered, seeing Danny Phantom flanked by Wonder Woman and the intimidating presence of Pandora herself. "Er, uh, I mean- Uh-oh, for you! It is time that you crumble, and, uh, fear me! Fear my box of terror!"
"'Your box!?" Pandora repeated, her voice filling with rage at the statement. "Your box?! That is MY box! You stole it from me! And for that, you must pay!" She raised two of her arms and unleashed a massive blue energy ray aimed at the Box Ghost. The little thief opened the box just in time to deflect the blast back at a surprised Pandora!
The attack stunned Pandora briefly, only for her to recover and launch herself at the Box Ghost at full speed. Box Ghost looked afraid and raised a chubby arm and launched a ghost ray of his own, which struck Pandora head on, hurling her back. "Whoa," Box Ghost exclaimed, surprising himself as well as the onlookers.
Danny flew to aid Pandora with Wonder Woman. "He's never been this powerful, before," Phantom said.
"Oh, he's opened the box so many times, he's now filled with it's energy," Pandora surmised, angrily. She looked at both Wonder Woman and Danny for a moment. "I thought I could handle him, myself. But I need your help."
The Earth itself suddenly trembled and several large cracks formed in the pavement. "The Earth shall crumble before me," Box Ghost yelled.
Wonder Woman attempted to lasso the Box Ghost, but his Pegasus evaded. Box Ghost opened Pandora's Box and let loose another blast of energy. Diana blocked it with her gauntlets, but the sheer power through her back into the side of a building with a loud crash.
He then noticed Danny Phantom flying towards him and shot twin lasers from his eyes! Phantom gasped and responded with two icy beams from his own eyes, freezing the Box Ghost's attack. Danny followed up with another blast, which froze Box Ghost and his Pegasus in mid air, but the raw energy of Pandora's Box melted the ice around him.
"How about you just give us the box, and no one gets hurt?" Danny asked.
"Ha ha, you are the only one's getting hurt!" Box Ghost responded.
"Yeah, I noticed that, too," Phantom said flatly. "But that is about to change!"
A shadow loomed over the Box Ghost and he spun around to see Pandora, fully recovered floating before him. She released a massive blast of purple energy from her spear, which struck the Box Ghost full on, and knocked him off his steed. The Pegasus flew away in fright, and the Box Ghost shouted, "Come back! I command you!"
"You command NOTHING," Pandora's furious voice boomed. "And you do NOT steal from ME!" She unleashed another energy blast from her spear, this one far more powerful than the last, this one hurling Box Ghost into the pavement below! Wonder Woman was waiting, and quickly lassoed the stunned Box Ghost. The magic properties of her lasso prevented him from going intangible and escaping.
"I did ask nicely," Danny said as he picked up Pandora's Box and returned it to it's rightful owner.
"My most treasured possession," Pandora said fondly as she took the box in her hands. To the Box Ghost, however, her tone changed dramatically. "How dare you betray it by using for evil?" She pointed a finger at the Box Ghost and repeatedly zapped him painfully.
"Wait, all of the legends say that the box was an instrument of evil," Diana questioned.
"Yeah, I thought it contained all of the malevolence in the universe," Tucker said as he and Sam walked up, each holding a ghost gun.
"It does," Pandora nodded. "Because I created it to contain it all. I was trying to rid both the Earth and the Ghost Zone of all this, ugh, 'malevolence', as you say, and make both our worlds less evil! Underneath all this fury and rage, I'm really a very kind and thoughtful gal." She then quickly shot another brutal blast of energy at the Box Ghost, who was regaining consciousness.
"Ow, so much pain..." the Box Ghost whined.
"Can we do anything to help you collect all of this evil?" Wonder Woman asked, noticing Hawkman and his wife were still battling the Hydra in the distance.
"No, Amazon, you have done enough, already," Pandora replied. "Besides, this is the easy part." She examined her box and found a switch. "Oh, I knew that spew switch was going to come back to haunt me."
She raised the box above her head, and a massive vortex of energy that only affected the monsters that escaped, sucking everything in, even the gargantuan Hydra, back into the box! Slamming the lid shut, Pandora turned her attention once more to the dazed Box Ghost. "You will face punishment for what you will done," she said, lifting him up by one arm. "And you have a lot of cleaning up to do, both here, and in the Ghost Zone."
Later, a grateful, and much calmer, Pandora had returned to the Ghost Zone. Wonder Woman spoke to Batman over the comlink. Apparently, the Flash's friend, Cisco, had nearly finished installing his security systems and they had returned to Central City.
Wonder Woman watched Danny Phantom speaking to the two teenagers that had been helping him when she first arrived. Soon, Danny and his friends parted, and Danny joined her. "Quite the adventure," she commented.
"Yeah, thanks for helping out when you did," Phantom nodded, grinning.
"Of course," Diana said.
"So, did Pandora say anything to you before she left?" Danny asked. "Like why she doesn't like Amazons?"
"No, she didn't," Diana sighed. "I'll have to speak with my mother. But Pandora did explain that her appearance is due to her residing in the Ghost Zone for so long. She was human and very much alive when she first entered."
"That explains the four arms," Danny chuckled.
Diana then turned her gaze down the road to Danny's two friends, who were talking to the Fenton family. "So," she said. "Who are your two friends?"
Danny's eyes widened slightly. "Uh, Sam and Tucker," he said. "They, uh, help me catch ghosts. Just like the Fentons."
"You seem to work well with them," Diana said. She noticed Sam kept glancing in Phantom's direction. Diana then narrowed her eyes coyly and smirked at Danny. "She clearly has feelings for you."
"What?! Sam-? Uh, no- We- She-" Danny stammered, his glowing eyes wider than normal.
Diana's amused smirk widened, but before she could say further, her comlink chirped again. Batman was on the other end. "If you're done, you're need elsewhere," he said. "I've just picked up a report that a woman named Circe is causing trouble."
"Circe," Diana scowled at the name. "Teleport me there, at once."
Batman acknowledged, and a glowing boom tube opened a few feet away. Wonder Woman turned to Danny and said, "Be well, Danny."
"Need any help?" Danny offered.
"No," Diana shook her head. "This is... a family matter." Wonder Woman then walked through the portal, which vanished shortly after. Danny was about to join Sam, Tucker and his family, when a sonic boom sounded, and a blur of red that trailed yellow lightning blasted down the street and came to a stop in front of Danny Phantom, causing a gust of wind to nearly blow Danny over.
The Flash, who looked winded, stood in front of a surprised Danny Phantom. "No time to explain," Flash panted heavily. "I need your help in Central City. Ghosts!" Before Phantom could respond, the Scarlet Speedster grabbed Danny and ran off in the blink of an eye, leaving only a gust of wind!
I hope you enjoyed this one! As I said, it was hard to get this one right. That being said, don't expect any more chapters based on pre-existing episodes!
On the bright side, the next few chapters will culminate into something very, very special that people have asked about in the past, and I'm very excited for it!
As always, a big thank you to everyone who reads my stories and leaves a review! You guys are awesome!