OMG! Over 100 followers already!? Dang! I'm glad so many are already interested/enjoying the story so far!
Answering some comments down below!
ghust95: Same here!
Crazzytony: I'm glad you're enjoying this story. You'll just have to wait and see for who else shows up. I'm enjoying the interactions between Danny and the arrow team too (I have some more 'Robin Hood' puns to use).
Ghost500098: I think we all can agree that taking down arrogant dudes a peg or two is what Danny does the best. It is best evidenced by my favorite line in the series:
"Bye Vlad! And as a single man in your forties, might I suggest internet dating… OR A CAT?!"
germanjustiniano9: My understanding of Spanish is okay, though the lack of punctuation kind of makes it harder to read. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Yeah, Danny is arguably very skilled and tough. He'll definitely give them a run for their money, especially if you consider his powers (he has so many), skills and logic (Danny's very clever and uses his surroundings and other factors to his advantage), and other factors.
The main edge he has right now is the element of surprise; nobody has any idea of what he is capable nor any (known) ways of combating him. Don't underestimate the ghost boy!
I don't plan on having Danny fight Superman, but you might like this chapter…
Danny's powers definitely function differently than how the other abilities in this world function and will have some (hopefully) unexpected benefits.
SilverExcel115: I'm guessing you mean that this story isn't mainly about "Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl… girl goes into hypersleep" (Hehe, 'RocketMan' movie quote). You should be happy to know that this story doesn't focus on that kissy stuff. In fact, I haven't really thought of any pairings whatsoever. Oh well. *shrugs*
CRUDEN: I'm glad that you're enjoying this!
Crystal Da Pony: Why hello~ my good friend! This story is my little project. Oh, you want to know the plot? TOO BAD! HAHAHAHA!
You know me, I love humor and Danny's witty banter. Actually, Green Arrow humming his epic fight music is a reference to the 'Justice League: Unlimited' series where he did just that (though it is also like Kronk doing his own theme song now that I think of it).
Yes I stabbed the Infimap, DEAL WITH IT! And yes, there's something about Danny using swords that makes me so happy…
Guests: glad you like it!
'Funkatron' and 'Crywolfseven': Thank you both for pointing those little errors out to me! I did say it has been a while for me when it came to 'Young Justice'. In fact I was looking up some information for the story and I find out that Star City is in California! Dang it! Ah well, I'll fix those chapters later… maybe XD.
Thanks for pointing out the spelling errors… especially 'cheep' (darn you autocorrect, I know I put in 'cheap'!).
Ben Turner1: Thanks! And I also like Danny Phantom- well, anything actually! XD
BarrettSlayer: OMG! You- this comment- YAS!
Well, Danny has done some near impossible things, so… XD. You are most certainly right: something as powerful like the Infimap isn't going to be destroyed just like that. There will be certain safeguards and whatnot in place (not revealing them just yet) and you have some good points. I wasn't thinking of an offshoot of ghost yetis, but it now sounds so awesome!
A hypothetical situation:
DC ghost yetis: Hail! The Great One has graced our village with his presence!
JL and YJ: 'Great One'?!
Danny:*nervous chuckles* It's nothing!
DC ghost yetis: But you are the Savior of the Infinite Realms!
Danny, at the questioning looks he's receiving: No need to go into all that! Can you help us?
DC ghost yetis: It would be of the greatest honor to aid the Great One and his servants.
Kid Flash: SERVANTS?!
Danny: Not servants!
DC ghost yetis: would you like to see the shrine?
Danny: NO! That's not necessary!
YJ and JL:*smirks* Oh, It's absolutely necessary!
I also love how you just described Clockwork! "Everything is as it should be" while munching on popcorn. Hahaha! Yeah, there is a mention of Clockwork and there is a purpose for his 'ward' to be there. I'm not doing the 'ghost king' headcanon, it feels overdone.
Iron Rock Man: Hi there! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Yeah, I can understand what you wrote.
I understand the trouble of reading versus actually writing in another language as I have similar issues with Spanish: my understanding is moderate, it's writing and sometimes speaking that's the trouble! XD And thank you for the effort of translating your review for me, I really appreciate it!
Yeah, I'm planning on Cassandra to make an appearance and I totally agree Alfred is one of the best characters of DC.
I haven't really put much thought into any pairings. I'll consider your idea.
KorevainsoLightshire: Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, Danny does have a lot of powers. I really don't blame him on forgetting some of them during a fight (I know I would), though there will be some reappearances of them. Yeah, the League is going to be puzzling over Danny's powers and what he is. If fact, there's gonna be some scrambling in this chapter! Oooh, the Martians…
Hypothetical situation:
M'gann has Danny in a tight embrace, squealing with happiness.
Martian Manhunter: We claim this child as our own.
Batman: *batglares at the floor, adoption papers in hand* Darn it!
Hahahaha! I know about Bruce's need to adopt black haired, blue eyed boys. I have nothing against Batman/Danny having the father/son relationship. What will actually happen in this story? I'm not saying!
I never heard of a dulluhan until now, but the whole "freaking people out" idea you presented made me chuckle. There's actually a favorite character of mine that does things like that. "The Beyonders" book series by Brandon Mull. There's a race that's able to remove and reattach parts of their body at will. The character has done all sorts of things; from just freaking people out to escaping various prisons as he still had control of the de-attached limbs. He was hilarious! Will Danny be able to do those things and more? It will be considered…
Another hypothetical situation:
Phantom and Nightwing are at a base. Three guards are blocking their path.
Guard 1: No access without identification. It's the rules.
Danny: Those rules don't apply in a nightmare. *pops his head off with one hand*
The guards are too frozen in fear to even react to Nightwing's attacks.
Inner Tiamat Dragoness: *chuckling evilly* Think of all the puns you could make from that kind of ability!
Shhhh! None of that me!
61394: Thanks!
End of comment answering!
Dang, this was such a long author's note. Sorry about that! Enjoy this chapter!
…~~~oOo~~~…
Flashback starts here.
"Will you brats hold still?!" Demanded one of the ghost vultures before getting blasted in the face.
Tucker smirked as he blew out the smoking end of the lipstick blaster. "It's a lipstick and a blaster; 'cause I'm worth it," Tucker said smugly to himself.
"Quit goofing around and get to sucking those feather dusters into the thermos!" Sam remarked, zapping an ectopus with her wrist ray before using her thermos.
"Relax Sam, we totally got this." To prove his point, Tucker then sucked up a vulture as it swooped at him. "See?"
Before Sam could retort, an ectopus rose out of the ground between the two, only for it to be sucked up into a thermos by Jazz. She screwed the lid shut, her scolding glare showing through the plexiglass visor of the Fenton Peeler. "Will you two stop you silly bickering?"
"You insufferable child!"
Their attention was turned to the sparring half-ghosts, both contending with swords. Just as Danny had knocked back Vlad, an ectoblast shot past the teens and hit Vlad dead center in the face. Danny froze in confusion, as he didn't shoot that blast. The moment of hesitation gave Vlad the chance to lunge at Danny.
Tucker mentally cheered as Danny dodged the stab and delivered a roundhouse kick. He was cut from his mental celebration when the earth pitched underneath his feet, causing him and the girls to fall. Hearing a gasp from Sam, Tucker looked up and let out his own noise of shock.
The air rippled with green energy, with Danny falling to his knees. Vlad, a few paces from Danny, was leaning against a nearby tree, steadying himself.
"What's going on?" Jazz asked, worry evident in her voice.
No one could answer, nor will be able to give one. At this point was when something materialized right where Danny was standing, wobbly expanding and pulsing with power. Getting up on shaky legs, Tucker's vision distorted as he tried to walk forward.
It was then that the anomaly, at the same time that Vlad lunged towards Danny and Tucker thought he caught a black/white blur streak past in his peripheral vision, exploded in a burst of blinding light.
"DANNY!" Tucker and the two girls called out. The world then settled. Tucker was still blinking back afterimages when the sound of the Fenton Peeler being disengaged followed by urgent footsteps reached his hearing.
"…guys?" Tucker questioned tentatively, his vision finally returning. Getting up, he edged to where Sam and Jazz waited, blocking his view. Tucker paled as he registered the scene before him.
The earth had a considerably sized scotch mark, about 15 feet in radius. There was no sign of his friend.
Flashback over, returning to the story.
Tucker shook the memory from his head.
They had been searching all over Amity Park for Danny, thinking (desperately hoping) that he was just flung from the explosion. They spent hours searching. They tried the Fenton Phones. Nada. Danny's cell: zilch. They made a cover story, as Danny would show up and everything would be fine. None of them slept. Next morning and Danny was still nowhere to be found.
It eventually came to the conclusion (Sam's accusation) that Vlad had somehow manager to kidnap Danny (again), so they went back to Vlad's mansion. No sign of either Plasmius or Phantom. They immediately, after stopping Sam from further trashing the place, went back to FentonWorks to regroup. The three teens got the Specter speeder and the BOO-merang, in hopes that Danny was being held at either of Vlad's other lairs. Hopes were dashed as the "stupidly named tracking device" simply fell to the ground as soon as it was thrown.
Danny's parents are now worried as Danny wasn't seen in quite some time. There was a slip (Tucker's ear was still sore from Sam cuffing it) and the Fenton couple were now patrolling the streets, calling out for Danny on the GAV's speakers. The news started spreading of Danny's disappearance. Sam had spotted Valerie on her board scouring the city, her face twisted with worry.
They had brainstormed for some time before coming to the conclusion that since Danny wasn't anywhere on earth, then he must be in the Ghost Zone.
Swirling green had met the teens as the Specter Speeder passed through the portal doors. With an unspoken prayer, Jazz threw the BOO-merang with all she had. Reality hit the teens just as the device simply fell onto a rock: Danny was nowhere to be found.
They had gone to their ghostly allies for help. Pandora and Dorathea were more than willing to send out men to search for the missing teen. As soon as the words "Danny's gone missing" were uttered, the Far Frozen had gone to a full on man hunt for the 'Great One' as they had come to view Danny as one of their own. The search was to remain as quiet as possible, as so Danny's enemies wouldn't learn of Phantom's absence and invade. As of right now, there were only a small handful of ghosts that were attacking; perfectly manageable for now.
They had tried to get aid from Clockwork. While Danny had no trouble finding his lair in the past, The teens couldn't find hint nor trace.
They now sat in Danny's room. Well, Sam and Tucker sat while Jazz paced about.
"We haven't tried everything, right? Isn't there something we can do?" The stress and sorrow was clear in Jazz's voice, though she tried to remain levelheaded.
"What else could we do?" Tucker asked.
Sam let out a frustrated growl, "Ugh, I bet that old stopwatch knows! Why won't he-" she trailed off, muttering angrily to herself.
"Hey, Frostbite or Pandora will think of something," Tucker tried to soothe the goth.
Jazz came to a stop in front of the window, silently gazing out in thoughtfulness. An tense silence hung in the air for what felt like an eternity as the three shuffled through distressed emotions and thoughts.
"We need to tell Mom and Dad."
"What?" Both Sam and Tucker swiveled to the redhead.
"We can't keep this quiet forever. Danny's been gone for far too long."
"We can't tell them," Sam tried to argue. "Danny's-"
"Danny's life may be in jeopardy! His safety is more important than his identity at this point. As soon as Mom and Dad come back, I'm telling and you two will be there to verify." The authority in the older teen's voice left no room for argument. Jazz's gait held purpose as she left the room, leaving Danny's friends where they sat. "And besides, they might have something that could help." They heard her call out, scrambling after her.
Their options were being limited and were steadily decreasing as Danny has been missing for…
…~~~oOo~~~…
Three days. It has been three days since Danny figured he was in another dimension.
He let out a frustrated groan as he leaned back into the park bench. Danny had long since hightailed it out of Star City. The archer trio and, to a lesser extent, the blond lady had been scouring the city for him. Knowing he overstayed his welcome, Danny decided to jump to another city to hide out as he tried to come up with a plan, making various stops and occasionally stopping bad guys.
Right now he found himself in what could possibly be a larger city than Star City was. Danny gotten there in the early morning of yesterday and had already stopped a heist attempt, rescued a dog from getting ran over, put out a small fire and rescued two school buses from going over a bridge. Oddly enough, Danny had the vague impression that it was the same school bus with the same driver and kids…
Danny was currently situated in a public park, resting on one of the benches near an archway. He currently had a good view of a skyscraper with a globe perched on the top. The words 'The Daily Planet' were proudly displayed. The building as a whole could be seen throughout a good portion of the city.
'Wow, and I thought my parents were subtle,' Danny thought ruefully. 'How am I going to get home?'
The options weren't looking good for Danny as he pondered his predicament.
The first option was finding a natural occurring portal. This in of itself wasn't feasible. Natural portals were unpredictable when it came to when and where they'll open. It might be possible to find one if you had the proper equipment or- Danny gave his backpack a sad glance, as the Infimap rested inside. Very likely anything he tried on the map would result in him blowing up, and he really wanted to remain in one piece. There were a handful that tend to open like clockwork (haha) in areas where the connections were strongest, like the Grand Canyon or the Bermuda Triangle. Those, and his hometown, were ones Danny knew of, assuming this earth was the same as his. Even if he managed to find a place like the ones mentioned, he didn't know how long he'd have to wait for a portal to open.
The second option would be to make a manual portal or open one himself. Obviously this one isn't even possible for Danny. He hadn't learned how to make them with his powers and there is absolutely no way how he could build one like his parents. And based on what he had managed to learn from the library before Livewire decided to mess with the power, there was no studies on ecto-biology, ecto-technological studies, or anything ghostly whatsoever. Decades of research non-existent.
What Danny would very likely be ending up doing (option three) would be to sit tight and hope that his friends rescue him soon or he himself comes up with a solution.
Question then was how was he to survive long enough? All he had to the Fenton name now was the fifty dollar bill in his wallet. He had, oddly enough, more cash stowed in his backpack. How it got there, Danny wasn't certain. Either way, what he has now won't last and he was dreading the idea of him needing to steal unless he could find a way to make some cash. Then there's the problem of identification. He was fairly certain that his ID from his dimension wouldn't register and would probably attract the attention of the government if they caught on; that would be the last thing Danny wanted.
Knowing the problem wouldn't solve itself with Danny sitting and freaking, he simply got up and went walking to clear his head and settle his nerves. Hey, if he's in another dimension, might as well enjoy the sights. The buildings loomed over the teen, making him feel smaller than normal (c'mon growth spurt). Leaving Centennial Park, he had passed several office buildings and places of interest.
"It's amazing how everything is so different," Danny mused to himself, before his attention was drawn to a couple preteen girls at a bookstore squealing over a dark-cover book, they passionately and loudly talking about how romantic the vampire character was and how amazing the movies were, "and yet so alike to home it all is. You would think that being in a new dimension would give me escape from the sparkling vampires and their fangirls."
His thoughts drifted to when his sister herself got drawn to the world of vampire and werewolf lovers. It was all annoying. The only good side was that Danny had used the books and movies to prank Sam. The goth was absolutely horrified that Danny had said books in his possession and ran from him like there was some sort of plague that its victims turned prissy, snobby and pink permanently. Danny and Tucker then got the (most stupid and horrible) idea to replace all of Sam's Monster chick-flicks with the glitter-vampire movies. They both nearly died from her fury; though she was almost too late as they were close to dying of laughter at her expression.
While his mind took a trip down memory lane, his body ended up at the base of 'The Daily Planet' skyscraper. Danny snapped out his inner musings, noticing a dark haired woman struggling with some boxes and her book bag. Danny walked up to the woman.
"Excuse me, would you like some help?" Danny asked.
"That would be wonderful actually." Danny grabbed the top boxes, halving the load. "Thank you! May I know the name of my valiant helper?"
"Danny. Danny Fenton." Danny followed the woman, who had introduced herself as Lois Lane, through the lobby to the elevator. It turns out that the building was a influential publisher of articles, newspapers and other informational pieces.
The floor they had arrived lead to a nicely furnished area, the windows gave a spectacular view of the city. The main room (break room) had almost white/gray walls, several doorways leading to the reporters offices and featured a large oaken table with several chairs. A kitchen area took up one wall. At the table sat a raven haired man, typing on a laptop while sipping from a mug. Thick-framed glasses framed blue eyes. Even though he was sitting, Danny could tell the man's stature would easily surpass Jack Fenton. And the suit couldn't hide the fact that the man was built like a mountain.
The man gazed up at the woman, his eyes radiated fondness for the woman. "Lois, glad you're here. Perry's asking about the report on the 'Debraw fiasco' for this evening." It was then the man noticed the teen. "Who's your friend?"
Lois plopped the her boxes on the table. "This is Danny. Danny, this is Clark Kent." She introduced the teen, who was setting his boxes down next to hers.
"Nice to meet you Danny," Clark smiled, offering a hand to Danny.
"Nice to meet you." Danny accepted the handshake. "So you two are reporters?"
"Some of the best in the business," Lois said proudly as she dug through her book bag. Clark gave a small smirk at her comment.
"Gotta love her self-confidence," Clark stage-whispered to the teen.
"I heard that."
It was then a middle-aged man entered the room, looking flustered. "Lane, there you are! Have you got the-"
"Right here," already pulling out a stack of papers, Lois handed them to the man.
"Excellent! Now if only Meyers and Steadman could pull their weight. And we need some extra hands for- who's the kid?"
"Perry, this is Danny. He helped me carry some boxes with the office supplies inside."
Danny gave a shy wave.
Perry hummed in acknowledgment before he seemed to get an idea. "Hey kid, would you like to help out here for the next two weeks?"
"Huh?" Danny was surprised by the sudden offer.
"We're covering a special press conference and we could use the extra hands around here. You'll be generously compensated for your time."
"Uh, sure?"
"Perfect! Kent and Lane here will provide the details. I need to check in with the 13th floor division. Their article on the recent politics is due and I haven't heard a peep!" He then strode out, leaving the three ravenettes in a contemplative silence.
Lois let out a sigh, "welcome to the thrilling world of investigative journalism Danny. Sorry you got dragged into this." She muttered something under her breath.
"I don't mind, really. It was just so… sudden."
…~~~oOo~~~…
It was the last day that Danny would be helping at 'The Daily Planet'. Danny actually enjoyed working with Lois and Clark during those two weeks. Those days were busy, though the staff were quite friendly. Since everyone was working overtime for the press conference, lunch was always brought to the office. During the two weeks, he learnt great tips for his writing and learned about this world's current events, along with several tips on journalism.
"Well I'm certainly gonna be missing your happy face around here since today's your last day," Lois commented, sorting through some photos to use.
"She especially loved your sarcasm," Clark mentioned offhandedly, washing some mugs.
"You would be lying if you said that his comment about Luthor using floor wax to shine his head wasn't hilarious!" Lois grinned at the teen who was spell-checking her draft. "Can't blame you though."
Danny snickered. He had joined the couple on one of their interviews. The business man had reminded Danny of a certain fruitloop and Danny had the tendency for making snide remarks when it came to fruitloops. Fortunately, it was when they had left Lexcorp when Danny caved to his need to snark. "I thought I was going to be permanently blind when the sun reflected off the dude's head, what else am I going to think?"
The two adults laughed.
…
Clark shuffled through some papers on his desk, more occupied with his thoughts than the contents of the papers.
The last few months had many turning points and major events. The Justice League had come to the knowledge that Vandal Savage had mind-controlled several members to attack the planet of Rimbor. This would have warranted the arrest of those members (himself included) but evidence had been provided by an anonymous benefactor of the League's innocence and Savage's involvement, thus clearing their names. The only clue of the identity of the benefactor was an insignia: it looked to be a gear of sorts with the letters 'CW' inscribed elegantly. Even today, Batman's still trying to uncover the identity.
This had set off a domino chain effect as tides were then turned. Several allegiances with different worlds were made, also the gauge warning about a group called 'The Reach'. There was the addition of several members to both the League and the Team, one of the additions included his cousin Kara. In a series of (either coincidental or intended, Clark wasn't sure) events, a Kryptonian pod was discovered with the girl frozen in suspended animation.
Then there was the recent report of a young teen male with powers. Since appearing in Star City, there had been two sightings of the teen, one of which was Central City. There was some speculations on what the kid could do based on the encounters and sightings. So far the teen had exhibited enhanced strength, flight, density shifting and possibly camouflage. Green Lantern Guy Gardner had spotted the teen in Chicago dispatching several thugs. The teen had disappeared from view and had proceeded to disarm the men and subdued them. Guy Gardner had no chance of even interacting with him as the teen had disappeared. Since that encounter, there had been no appearances of the teen.
Speaking of teenagers. Danny had just entered to restock some office supplies. Clark couldn't help the grin as he and Danny chatted. The teen was quite eager to help around the office and many of the staff had grown to like the teen, himself and Lois especially. There was, however, some concern for the youth that both reporters had. There was some slight suspicion when Lois had asked about the kid's family. Danny had answered easily enough, but his story about them traveling in a family business trip seemed off. And those suspicions only grew as they both picked out little things and details. While Bruce may be the world's greatest detective, Clark was fairly good at piecing together clues.
"Well, here's your payment kid," Clark heard later that evening as he packed up his briefcase. He came out in time to see Danny thank Perry as he stowed away the wad of cash in a worn, purple backpack.
"And here's Clark's and my contact information. We would love to hear from you again," Lois handed a folded paper. "Don't hesitate to call or whatever if you're in town again, need help with an assignment or you just want to talk." One of the things Clark admired about his wife: she never hesitated to act, whether it be direct or a more subtle approach.
Danny nodded with a smile. Clark almost missed the flicker of guilt that crossed his face. "Thanks. I'll send an email once I get the chance."
"Hey Danny, can we talk for a moment?" Clark asked, noting the floor was now just about vacant. Lois, understanding her husband's intention, left the two.
Danny gave a look of curiosity to the reporter. "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"You mentioned before that you're from Illinois, right? What city did you say you were from?"
Though the kid kept his face pretty neutral, Clark could see some nervousness peek through. "Uh, it's a small town. You probably never heard of it before."
"In about a month Lois and I are going to be covering a game that will be held in Chicago. Maybe we'll drop by for a visit."
He could see that Danny's calm demeanor was cracking. "It's really far from Chicago. I wouldn't want you to go all the way there just to see me."
"How about Lois and I drop by the hotel you're staying at and meet your family." Danny started to pale at this comment.
"Uh, you probably wouldn't be- I mean, they would… they tend to be really embarrassing." The teen stumbled over his words as he tried to, quite possibly, come up with an excuse. Like all the other times when either Lois or himself had asked to meet Danny's family.
Clark gave a reassuring smile. "We all tend to think our families tend to be embarrassing."
"My parents are professional ghost hunters and they wear fluorescent jumpsuits everywhere they go."
Okay, Clark did not expect the deadpanned answer, and Danny was absolutely serious judging his tone and expression.
Clark threw up his hands in surrender. "…Okay, you win. My 'I was raised on a farm' pales in comparison." This earned a chuckle from the teen, though it was strained a smidge. Clark then became serious. "Danny, both Lois and I had noticed that there's something's wrong. I know we're strangers, but we want to help."
Danny looked torn, as if he wanted to say something but was unsure. "I…"
Clark placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just know that there won't be any judgement from us." Danny studied his eyes, weighing the options.
The floor shook, catching both ravenettes off guard. The sounds of citizens panicking reached the Kryptonian's ears.
"Wha- earthquake?" Danny asked, surprise evident on his face.
Clark frowned. "Or possibly an attack. We need to get to ground floor either way."
They got to the entrance of the building when the ground shook again. Crowds of people were evacuating from the northern district.
"Access: Captain Atom" the familiar mechanical voice, followed by sounds of destruction became more clear to the older disguised hero.
"Attack. Danny, head to those police cars. The officers will direct you to a safe area. I need to call Lois to make sure she's alright."
The teen seemed hesitant, but nodded anyway. Clark ducked out of sight as Danny sprinted in the direction of the squad cars. Finding a secluded place, his shirt was pulled open to reveal the shield of Metropolis' protector.
Superman
…~~~oOo~~~…
What Clark did not realize was the same teen he had sent to safety was in fact a hero from another dimension. The young teen that has started a stir in Star City with the resident vigilantes.
Danny felt bad about lying to the reporter couple, but wasn't sure if he could tell them what his circumstances were actually. He couldn't go up and say "Hi, I'm Danny Fenton. I just so happen to be from another dimension. Oh, did I mention I have ghost powers from an lab accident in my parents' basement?" Yeah, that would get him committed.
'Not the time for an internal war Fenton,' Danny scolded himself. The real problem was whether Danny helped at whatever was happening. His hero complex won out without much of a fight.
While Danny did head to the direction of the police, he ended up ducking in an alleyway. A lone dumpster rested at the opening. Trash littered the ground and boxes were stacked against a wall.
"The things I go through to save the day," Danny sighed, as the dumpster was the only hiding place and there was people nearby. Without further hesitation, Danny jumped into the (thankfully empty) dumpster, summoning his transformation rings.
Phasing himself out, Phantom oriented himself.
"Okay. People are running that way, so the opposite direction is a safe guess."
Phantom was shocked by the level of destruction that greeted him. Yeah, the ghost fights caused some damage, but this was easily one of his bigger fights multiplied by three.
Smoke rose from the smoldering remains of a oil-tanker blocked off the three lane, two way street. Several buildings in the vicinity had sustained heavy damage. What used to be a skyscraper had collapsed on itself. The road was completely torn up. What was left of various automobiles were scattered about. Phantom gazed wearily at the silver pickup that was logged in a streetlight.
"I don't think that's legal parking."
The sound of smashing caught Danny's attention. Turning a corner, Danny came across a figure, whose attention was drawn to a hole in a building. The figure was metallic; Phantom assumes either a robot or a tiny blob controlling a suit in the head. Danny rose up to be level with the (extremely likely) robot.
"Hey metal head, you're kinda disturbing the peace," the Android whirled around to view the new threat. Danny could now get a better look at the machine, taking note of the red eyes, grey "skin" and pointed ears. The joints were visible and what resembled the clothes were dark green. "What are you supposed to be?"
Much to Phantom's surprise, as he wasn't expecting an answer, the -yep, definitely a robot- buzzed "AMAZO" then barreled at the teen, fist cocked for a hit. Reacting, Danny lunged to the side.
Amazo pivoted, hurling a fist again. Phantom, doing the equivalent of a sidestep in the air, dodged the fist, then delivered his own punch. The Android was sent crashing to the ground. Danny landed, shaking out his hand a bit.
Getting up, Amazo charged at Phantom and attacked in a flurry of blows. Phantom evaded many of the hits before one landed, sending him sprawling with a grunt. Wasting no time, the robot charged, attempting to deliver a crushing blow while the teen was down.
Phantom rolled out of harm's way just as Amazo's fist created a small crater in the pavement. Letting out a small yell, the ghostly teen chucked a smashed mailbox at the robot-
"Access: Martian Manhunter"
-and the projectile sailed harmlessly through!
"Hey! That's my thing!"
"Access: Superman" the heat vision was activated. Phantom launched into the air, weaving to avoid the lasers. Abruptly, Danny phased through the ground to then immediately come back up underneath the robot, both fists slamming into Amazo's jaw as Phantom's trajectory took him skywards, only for the teen to loop and deliver a kick to the back of the head.
Amazo, catching itself from the kick, turned to face the halfa- who had disappeared. The robot walked slowly, taking its surroundings in carefully. No sign of the teen was to be found.
"BATTER UP!" Amazo, turning to the voice, was met with the end of a streetlight.
Danny popped back to visibility, holding up the damaged streetlight. Amazo charged the teen to hit again, only for the ghost boy to become intangible, letting the robot go harmlessly through. Phantom dropped his makeshift bat before disappearing. As soon as Phantom had turned invisible, a barrage of melee attacks assaulted the robot, which started to dent the outside to an unnoticeable degree.
"Access: Martian Manhunter," the robot droned when Phantom popped back to visibility and coming at his to deliver a punch. Despite the density shifting, Phantom's fist connected. The robot stumbled back, while Danny looked shocked. He didn't expect to actually hit the droid once he saw the thing go intangible!
"Access: Superman."
Superman recovered from his 'short flight' through several walls and was calling in for backup when he spotted Danny confronting Amazo. The man of steel was shocked by the kid's arrival and was about to rush in to prevent the kid from coming to any harm. Imagine to his utter shock of the white-haired teen holding his own against Professor Ivo's creation.
Superman hesitantly let the kid fight Amazo, opting to activate the comm. "Um, guys? The black and white clad teenager GA met is here… and is fighting Amazo."
"What?! Doesn't he know how dangerous that is!?" Flash yelped on his comm.
"He's actually holding his own quite well," Superman said, watching the teen.
A spluttering was heard on the comm. "Are you serious?!" Was all Green Arrow said.
"We'll be at your location in a bit," Wonder Woman said.
Danny, meanwhile, attacked the robot in a slew of punches and kicks. The way he popped in and out could be described as reverse, three-dimensional whack-a-mole. Instead of the moles popping up from the ground for the person to whack, Danny, with a mix of invisibility and intangibility, was whamming Amazo from many different directions at once.
At this point of time Superman was joined by Wonder Woman, the Flash, two Green Lanterns (Hal and John), Hawkwoman, Black Canary and a rather reluctant Green Arrow.
The elder heroes watched in amazement and shock. "Okay, so this kid's got strength, flight, good reflexes, can disappear-"
Phase in from one building, flying fast and delivering a punch before phasing into the building directly across. This is followed by a fierce uppercut from down below to immediately duck back into the earth.
"Access: Black Canary"
Danny had just exited a building and was swerving to launch at the robot when Amazo released a sonic attack much similar to his 'ghostly wail', but not as damaging and sounded more like a high-pitch screech.
With a "Gah!", Danny was sent tumbling with a series of 'oomphs' and grunts-
"Access: Superman"
-as the android came rushing foward to launch a punch at the teen, who was correcting himself in the air. Just as the first was about to make contact, it was caught by a white-gloved hand. Lunging at the robot, Phantom grabbed the shoulders and, whipping Amazo overhead, stuck the android into the pavement with intangibility.
"-and has an impressive use of density shifting." John Stewart finished.
"I don't think even J'onn J'onzz could make other things phase through like what the kid here just did," Flash said softly, watching in awe.
The eyes of the robot began to glow, signaling heat vision. Danny took to the skies, avoiding the android's (literal) murderous glare. Amazo broke itself free from the ground, dirt exploding from the force.
"Access: Green Arrow"
Several arrows were fired in Danny's direction. The ghost boy wove through the barrage of arrows. A final arrow came hurtling towards the teen. Instead of just letting the arrow phase through, Phantom, with spectral manipulation, caused a hole to appear in his torso. The arrow sailed harmlessly through the ring, with the teen then reverting the manipulation.
"Did-did he just?" Green arrow spluttered, not registering what just happened.
"Are we dealing with a Martian?" Hawkwoman asked out loud, though it sounded more like it was directed to herself.
"Nice try bucket of bolts," the teen called out.
"Access: Captain Atom"
"Woah!" Phantom exclaimed as a bolt of energy came right at him. Reflexively, he created a shield. The blast hit the sphere shield, but did no damage.
"Okay, no more Mr. nice Phantom!" Fists glowing green, Phantom fired two ectoblasts at Amazo. This seemed to be more effective than his other attacks so far.
"A Martian who can possibly go head on with Superman and possibly has a Green Lantern ring. Again, I did not sign up for babysitting duty of overpowered kids!" GA muttered to himself. The other leaguers dutifully ingnored the archer.
Danny was pleased. This thing wasn't built to resist ghost powers.
"HAAYHHH!" Phantom let loose several blasts, each one connecting to their target, before he took off like a bullet, intending on landing a ecto-enhanced punch.
"Access: Flash"
A blur knocked into the teen, causing him to tumble to the earth. Just as Phantom pulled himself up, he was suddenly met with an onslaught of punches, yelping with each impact. It was an uppercut- at least he thought it was, for it was too fast to tell- that sent Phantom backward, crashing into a wrecked sedan in the middle of the street.
Danny grunted as he rolled onto his hands and knees. The robot came to a stop a good distance away. Danny's eyes widen. 'Seriously, super speed?!' He then noticed that the robot was about to move.
"Okay, so you're good at running. Let's see how you fare at ice skating!"
The robot then sprinted forward as Phantom's eyes and hands glowed blue. Ice rapidly spread across the ground, stretching for a couple of meters. As soon as Amazo's foot made contact, the android came crashing to the ground and slid towards the teen. Phantom quickly phased into the ground just as the droid collided with the sedan.
The teen hero reappeared, firing a blast of cyrokinesis at the robot. The machine moved out of the way, the blast instead colliding with the car, encasing it in ice.
Amazo regarded the teen, eyes glowing as it attempted to scan the halfa. "You had enough? Or are you thirsty for more?"
Neither Danny nor the stunned leaguers ("where's the ice powers coming from!?"), who were observing the teen, noticed that they both had an audience.
Lois scribbled down on her notepad furiously, taking in every detail. "A new super, a teenager, going toe to toe with a weapon that takes several members of the Justice League to take down. Jake, you're getting some good photos, right?"
One of the Daily Planet photographers, a twenty three year old brunette named Jake, was messing with the camera in confusion. "Er, I'm not sure."
"What do you mean?" She sidled up to the young man, keeping an eye on the teen as he fired blasts at Amazo. "We need some good shoots. Especially of the kid!"
"That's the problem! Look at this," Jake held out the camera. Looking at the pictures already in the memory, Lois gaped. There was one particular photo that would have been perfect. The details on the wreckage and the android were crisply-clear. The teen, however, was nothing but a blur. And it was odd because she knew that both the boy and the robot weren't moving at that moment.
"Huh," she noticed some news channel vans parked several feet away from where they stood. She briskly speed-walked to the reporters.
"Hey wait!" Jake called out, hurrying after the woman.
"Hey! Mind if I see the footage?" Lois asked some of the crew.
The guy with the mike, surprised by the request. "Wha- no, you can't-"
"Lois Lane from the Daily Planet. My photographer and I noticed some 'issues' with getting a shot of the teen. I have a theory, but I need to see your feed."
The crew looked hesitant, but eventually nodded consent. Lois and Jake were led into the van with the anchorman following.
Lois gained a look of surprise and understanding. "It's happening here too! See here?" She pointed to the live coverage, "everything else is coming through, but the teen is blurry. I think the kid's distorting the cameras or something."
The teen then rose into the air, putting some distance between himself and the robot.
"Catch me if you can rust bucket!" Danny taunted, zooming off, with the android on his tail.
The teen rose in a gradual ascent, Amazo catching up. Just as it reached him, Phantom abruptly dove, speeding straight down to the ground at an astonishing speed. The robot was slowly closing the distance as the hard, unforgiving pavement approached. It was just as Phantom reached the ground when he pulled up, shooting off to fly parallel with the ground. To those who were watching, his flight path was a perfect right angle. Amazo, unable to pull up in time, crashed into the ground. Danny flew in a lazy loop around the crash sight, a cloud of dirt having been thrown up.
Amazo recovered from the crash, once again chasing the teen. Not slowing down, Phantom wove through abandon buildings, looped and dove to dodge energy attacks and then some while dishing out his own attacks. The chase led to a bridge, which the halfa flew past, tightly corkscrewing the structure before slingshotting back at the android and delivering a punch. He then whipped around shooting from his hands and sending disks from his feet.
It became apparent to the leaguers that the teen simply did NOT follow the standard laws of physics, weaving about obstacles and enemy fire at high speeds. None of the leaguers that could fly could pull off such stunts.
Danny was feeling worn out from the long fight and some of the blows he had received; they were few, but man could that thing hit! Fortunately it probably wouldn't go form much longer as the robot, at this point, looked pretty banged up.
"Access: Wonder Woman"
Phantom was not aware of the change until he was coming to deliver another blow. By then it was too late, as a lasso snared his midsection.
"GAAAHH!" Danny yelled out as he was whipped overhead and crashed into a building, only then to be pulled again. Trying to phase himself from the lasso and failing, Danny discovered that this feature of Amazo could work on ghosts. Phantom was then flung to the ground.
"Say hello to my little friend," Gripping the rope with his hands, Phantom sent electricity through the line, "Ghost Stinger!" He was surprised to see that, instead of the usual greenish lights of the stinger, large, golden bolts of lightning danced up the lasso, exploding once it made contact with Amazo.
'Wow, I just shot lightning… AWESOME!'
The lightning stunned the robot, just long enough for Danny's body to morph into a blue mist, allowing himself freedom from the lasso's bind. Recollecting his form, he then charged the robot, fist cackling with electricity.
By this time cracks adorned the surface of the droid's surface, pieces having fallen off.
"Access: Hawkwoman"
Danny was quite surprised to see wings materialize on the android, which was now armed with a mace. The robot then lunged at the teen, mace hefted high. Dodging several swings, Danny moved to disarm the droid-
Big mistake, VERY big mistake. Turns out that the mace can zap him like a Specter Deflecter cranked up to an eleven. Phantom screamed out in pain once his hand made contact. Amazo rammed the weapon into the young hero's torso, sending him flying (not the good kind). Danny ended up crashing into a building, cracking, but not breaking through the wall.
"Ooooooowwwwwww…" now that was painful. Fortunately for Danny, there was nothing broken. Just some seriously bruised ribs. He then noticed the robot sauntering towards him, the mace cackling with energy. It was just at the still standing streetlight, lifting up the mace, when Danny shot cyro beams from his eyes. It hit the mace, encasing it and the streetlight in ice. This distracted the robot long enough for the young hero to phase himself into the earth.
'Dang, this thing's tough,' Danny thought, coming up invisibly behind the robot. 'It's taking too long to beat. At this point, the only thing that could stop it is-'
That was when Danny got an idea: one so good that he facepalmed himself for not thinking of it sooner, but then started to smirk. This was going to be fun.
"Over here tin man!"
The leaguers, and the news teams further back, arrived to see the white haired teen dodging Amazo and its utilized Hawkwoman attacks. It was then that the teen abruptly turned intangible and phased into the android.
Amazo froze, spasming a bit before a greenish glow overcame in and the robot's eyes changed from the deep red to neon green. The machine then straightened and a laugh came from Amazo.
"Yeah BABY! Thank you Jazz for that Pixar movie marathon!" The boy's voice spoke through the robot.
Dumbstrucked, the leaguers watched as Amazo began to attack itself. The robot ran to a wall, slamming itself into it a couple times before running into the street. It then lifted off the ground and was flung about, slamming into the ground repeatedly.
Soon Amazo was punching itself in the face. "Why are you hitting yourself?" Danny asked, amusement clear in his voice as he made the robot destroy itself. "Seriously, why are you hitting yourself? Stop hitting yourself!"
Gripping the left arm with the right, Amazo tore off the left arm before hitting itself with the removed arm. It then started to spasm, sparking with green energy. The overload blew off the right leg from the knee downward and smoke rose from the cracks. On a spot on its torso began to glow green, steadily glowing brighter until a hole was blown, exposing circuits.
Danny phased himself out of the robot. The machine, surprisingly still operational, spluttered.
"A-aaa-ccess: ..s.s…sSuper-"
"Yeah, I don't think so." Concentrating his energy, a glowing snowball laced with an ectoplasm blast materialized in his hand. "I calling for a factory recall-"
Danny chucked the snowball at Amazo, the snowball hitting dead center of the hole, then the ghostly teen flew back. Upon contact, the snowball exploded with a brilliantly blinding burst of light. Once the afterimage was blinked away, all that remained was a jagged ice pillar. Pieces of the robot were found inside the ice.
"The joints tend to freeze up," Danny said, finishing his statement. He chuckled a bit before wincing, gingerly rubbing his side; the fight had left him sore and worn out.
"I hope Technus never makes a robot like that," he muttered to himself, walking up to the scrapped robot. He admired his handy work. "It would be horrible: not only it would be tough, but I would have to hear the constant monologging." It was then the distant sound of sirens that brought him out of his musings.
The heroes were just about to talk to the teen when he vanished.
…~~~oOo~~~…
Watchtower
The members of the Justice League, both the ones that had witnessed the teen in action and the ones that weren't present, were gathered in the conference room…
Aquaman gave a serious look at Black Canary, "so the young man has exhibited abilities similar to a Green Lantern, strength almost on par with Superman…"
"And many abilities quite like our resident Martians." She finished.
Martian Manhunter had a curious expression. "Just how similar were his abilities?"
Flash piped up. "We're talking about flight, disappearing, possible shapeshifting and density shifting. The only thing none of us saw the kid do was any mind power stuff."
There seemed to be an excited gleam in the Martian's eyes. "Intriguing…"
"Aren't we missing that the kid shot ice and lightning? Can Martians even do that?!" Green Arrow asked.
"… not that I was aware."
"And there's what Lois had pointed out to me. Apparently the kid has some sort of ability to distort photos and footage of himself." Superman added, though his thoughts were on a different teen.
"So we're looking for a young teenage male," Gotham city's dark Knight summarized. "White hair, neon green eyes, black and white suit with this insignia." On the screen appeared a stylized white 'D', with three little tails on the flat side and the negative space on the inside making a 'P'.
…~~~oOo~~~…
Danny flew invisibly as he reached the city limits. He had spotted a couple of the heroes as they did a search of the city (probably for him). Mainly, the green archer, gothic lady and a lady garbed like a bird of prey. While Danny felt okay with the blond woman, he wanted to avoid the archer. He only felt more weary when he spotted the winged- 'OMG, she has wings!'- woman as he noticed the mace at her side.
Thanks to the little job at the press, Danny had enough cash to last him for some time; a couple of weeks, give or take. Danny took in the view of Metropolis for one last time, then blasted off in a random direction, flying over several shops before disappearing into the horizon. One was an electronics store, with several televisions playing some news report.
"-left wondering: who was the new mysterious hero that had stopped Amazo and where has he gone? As of right now, the Justice League has no statements concerning recent events.
In other news, a series of bank robberies have occurred along the Great Lakes. Officials have no leads as to who may be committing the thefts."
