Hello everybody! To answer Ironchef13: no I am not alive!

XD Just kidding!

Sorry for the delay, been busy and I've been stuck rewriting this chapter.

Had trouble with the flow.

…~~~oOo~~~…


"Okay, how am I going to do this?" Danny mused to himself as he flew over Gotham. Despite hoping for the rescue party, it became apparent to the teen of the odds of his friends coming for him over the course of his stay here were low... and swiftly dropping.

The reality of his situation was finally starting to sink in. Yes, he did know logically how bad his predicament was, but it didn't really ever register. He now had to plan accordingly. He had compiled together his different options along with the slow research of this dimension, which was a lotconsidering the differences of the worlds' histories (Jazz would be so proud). The ghost boy let out a frustrated huff, a gloved hand running through his snowy locks while the other clenched a paper firmly, not really paying attention to his surroundings. It was all so much.

"I could probably go to a hospital: birth certificates and other documents like that are made almost everyday, especially in large cities. I could go to one and whip up the needed papers. Nobody would probably notice. But then what?"

While so much may be uncertain, Danny had made the executive decision to leave Gotham. Of course the (uni/multi?)verse had already proclaimed that any of Danny's choices will be screwed with. This time around, it came in the form of Lobo shooting the teen out the sky.

"Eeerrrrgh… there goes the hope of a quiet flight." Phantom muttered to himself, grunting as he stood up from being blasted. The teen had crashed in an old train yard; many lengths of tracks ran side by side before splitting of to various directions. He turned to glare at the persistent bounty hunter. 'I totally jinxed myself earlier…'

"Seriously dude?! Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No deal keezy Marta. I've got a contract and my employers payed a hefty sum for your capture," Lobo sauntered towards the halfa, the teen crouching down. "You've got two choices: surrender… or die."

"Hmmmm… how about neither?!" Phantom sent a blast at the Czarnian's face. While the blast was dodged, it bought the teen time to fly upwards. The bounty hunter growled, a predatory look etched on his face.

"…then die it is."

Danny fired several blasts at his stalker, the Czarnian dodging each blast with little effort.

"Ree? You think that you can get away from the Main Man so easily?"

"Considering that I have done so before, yea." Danny snarked, moving to dodge the hook shot from the hunter's gun.

Lobo grinned darkly, brandishing other weapons on his person. "You won't be so lucky this time…"

The fight crawled its way down the rundown railway junction, blasts exchanged from both sides. Danny, while ducking and evading the hunter, noted that the bounty hunter was coming at him much more aggressively and Danny, even though he withstood the hits, was having a much trickier time this round evading and landing a blow. The teen, coming up near a shed that was used for parking engines, flew up and alighted on the roof. With a use of his strength, the bounty hunter leapt to the top of the shed with ease.

"My employers want you alive… doesn't mean left in one piece."

"Well at least he's not speaking in gibberish now," Phantom muttered to himself, dodging another attack from the riffle-looking blaster. "Hey, does that belt-thingie work both ways?"

"It can translate any language that your skahveyt Marta mouth can utter." Lobo spat out, sprinting at the teen to deliver a blow to the head. Danny, having landed on the roof, rolled out of harm's way. The sharp ringing of dented metal reverberated throughout the train yard.

"Oh, so what if I say this? He stulta, malbela diras 'kio?'"

The bounty hunter looked baffled, "What?"

Danny chuckled, quite satisfied that the Czarnian fell for his little verbal trap. "Apparently not!"

"VLASH!"

"WOAH!" The hook was a hair short from lodging itself into the halfa's cranium.

"The first thing I will be doing, little man, is ripping out that tongue of yours!"

"Hmmm, that's admittedly new," Phantom remarked about the threat. Maneuvering around the thrown punches, the teen leapt to the air, putting distance between himself and the hunter before diving back down to the ground and vanishing from view after ducking behind a freight truck.

The cement cracked where the hunter landed from leaping off the roof. Lobo stalked down the line, the yard eerily silent save for the heavy footsteps of his boots. The hunter's eyes roved his surroundings in search of the halfa.

"You can't hide forever keezy Marta…"

Thuds of boots on pavement soon morphed to the soft echo of metal as the bounty hunter crossed onto the turntable, which has long since to this day remained stationary…

The hunter was pitched to the floor as the turntable was violently spun. Taking advantage of his pursuer's lack of stability, Phantom phased from the ground, sending a barrage of ectoblasts. The energy attacks caused the still rapidly rotating table to pitch precariously. Gaining much needed footing, the Czarnian charged forward and vaulted over the teen.

Danny had little time to register the train car that was flung at him, letting intangibility wash over his form. The flung car hadn't completely passed through when the ghostly hero sent a bolt of lightning.

The bolt of electricity found its mark, the explosion throwing debris and dust into the air, covering the area. Flashes of green and orange could be seen before the smaller form of Phantom is sent spiraling into the air before he corrected himself in the air.

Before he could retaliate, the halfa heard a sharp whistle, followed by the roar of rockets.

"Oh great." Danny groaned, then darting sideways to evade the weapon fire from Lobo's spacecycle. Now Danny found himself dodging weapon fire from two different points.

"Can't you find something else to do besides chasing me around?" The teen conjured a shield to block the cycle's blasters as he fired ectoblasts at the bounty hunter. "How about gardening? Joining track and field? Scrapbooking? Hunting down rare, collectible stamps?"

Weaving through the teen's attacks, Lobo fired a blaster, immediately followed by a grappling line. While the teen moved his head to avoid the laser, his attention was diverted long enough for his ankle to be snared and be flung with a yelp and a crash between several freight cars. Danny, having rolled to cover behind a car to evade weapon fire, sent his temporary shield barreling down the tracks towards the Czarnian with a powered kick. With a quick flick of his wrist, Danny froze the front, and the blasters, of the cycle.

Bracing himself for the collision with outstretched hands, Lobo caught the incoming car, the force causing the grey-skinned man to slide back. With a heave, the train car was flung to the side, its long forgotten gravel and dust exploding outwards. The bounty hunter made a bull rush at the halfa, brandishing a set of long daggers to slash the teen.

"I know that you're trying to make a point dude," Danny quipped, dodging the slashes and throwing a fist or kick at opportunistic moments.

A roundhouse kick sent the hunter back. Growling, Lobo, with a flick of his wrist, sent one of the blades flying. Danny let the intuitive sensation on intangibility wash over his form while lurching to the side. To his shock, in more ways than one, the blade slashed his left shoulder. Pain from the cut and the unpleasantly familiar shock sent the ghost boy stumbling with a shriek, clutching his shoulder in agony.

"What?!" Danny glimpsed the wound, green and some red slowly seeping through his gloved fingers as the wound.

Oh man, apparently "The Main Man" has weapons that worked on ghosts!

'NOT GOOD!'

Danny barely had a millisecond before the bounty hunter closed the gap, managing to nick the teen a few times until he was blasted back. The Czarnian equipped a blaster and fired several shots at the teen, who created a shield in response. The shield proved to be naught as the blade slashed through. As the teen shook off the effect of the blade destroying his ectoshield, he was rammed by the still mobile cycle.

The halfa grunted in annoyance, floating off the ground before completely freezing the cycle, the flying motorbike plummeting to the earth. Danny was then met again with the onslaught of the bounty hunter. The teen flew back to make distance between themselves, but not before getting a slash on his leg.

"C'mon, I want you to cut me some slack, not slice me to ribbons!" With that exclamation, Danny phased through the ground.

The Czarnian, anticipating the youth's next move, spun a complete 180 to land a punch right to the gut then grabbing the teen's collar to hurl him to the earth. Lobo pressed a boot onto Phantom's chest, the ghost boy somewhat winded and stunned.

"I got these blades off a Thanagarian during a previous contract," Lobo mused, looking at the blade in his hand. "Nth metal: a special alloy that contains special properties against supernatural beings."

"You were lucky the first round keezy Marta," pressure was applied, making the teen grunt in discomfort. "Luck isn't on your side today."

"Yeah?" The teen glared back at the sneer being sent his way. Then Phantom smirked. "Well it's a good thing I have more than luck up my sleeves."

Intangibility washed over the halfa's form, with Phantom phasing himself into the hunter. Lobo snarled, his body spasmed as he felt something try to take control over his body.

The tug-of-war of will lasted for much longer than Danny had previously encountered, but eventually won out. The hulking form of Lobo slouched, showing the diminishing tension of the ghost boy. "Ughh, finally."

Danny then steered Lobo towards the down cycle, occasionally fighting the Czarnian for control.

"Okay, the guy has to have something like handcuffs, some sort of restraints or-" Danny was halted in his musings when he came across the dart gun. "-those darts back in DC. These will work."

The buzz of a comm (Danny assumed by the appearance) caught the teen's attention. A flick of a switch brought it to life and confirmed his theory. "Yes?"

"Lobo, status report." The voice seemed familiar to the teen, "You said that you were nearing the target."

Oh. "Uh- The Main Man will get your keezy Marta," 'Lobo' replied, "He had managed to flee, but not before I had shot him with a tranquilizer. It would only be a matter of minutes to track down his unconscious hide."

"Yes, this is what I like to hear. It is very well that I had my staff provide that tracker for your usage once you got a scan of the youth's energy signature."

That did NOT sound good to Danny.

"Please do hurry and bring him to me. The Light would have much use for a subject like that."

"The Main Man always fulfills his contracts."

"As you have aptly proven before," was last said before the line went dead.

'And the award for 'Best Improv' goes to one Daniel Fenton. I'd like to thank my sister, my two best friends and the fact that my nerves failed to get the best of me. Thank you, thank you! Never taken a lesson.' Danny mentally patted himself on the back for managing to trick the caller on the line.

After his little celebration, he knocked out the Czarnian with the darts, then restrained him with some cuffs that he found. After securing the bounty hunter was then that Danny had realized where he had heard the voice before.

"That was that Luthor guy… LEX LUTHOR! He sent Hobo the hunter after me! I knew it, Chrome Dome was a fruitloop…"

Danny then went through the bounty hunter's gear, making sure to disarm him of his weapons, electing to destroy most of the gear while keeping some. The main things that Danny made sure to swipe was the tracker (promptly destroyed) and the blades. There was absolutely no way he was leaving those with Lobo.

Danny studied the prone figure. "Okay, what to do with you…"

…~~~〄𝕲𝖔𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕲𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖙〄~~~…

Having sent the bounty hunter on a trip via freighter, Danny was then able to find a quiet place to tend his wounds and take a breather. Danny sunk into the oversized hoodie that he wore, dark grey that boldly declared 'WayneTech University' in white lettering. An older man had given it to the teen the other day after Danny had offered help in carrying some of the man's bags, saying that "a cold snap is due quite soon and I'm sure that you could put this to good use, young sir." While the accent reminded Danny of Princess Dorathea, the elder gentleman had an air of wisdom that could be on par with Clockwork.

With this moment of peace, Danny could now examine the daggers. The blades had a curious workmanship about them, the style being alien to him. While he could hold the handle no problem, merely touching the metal flat side of the blade gave the teen a shock… even in human form. Danny shook out his hand before sheathing the blade. The daggers were very likely the same like the mace that Amazo had used. The zaps certainly felt the same.

Stowing it in his pack, the teen headed off with the intent of finding a bus stop. While he could fly, he was worn down a bit from the fight and still was hurting. It was better to conserve energy. Fortunately for the teen, his trek was quiet-

*WHOOWHOOWHOO*

Scratch that.


"C'mon Lil' Wing, you won't know if you don't ask her!"

"Nightwing, it's not that simple." Tim sighed, not wanting to deal with his brother's pestering. "I don't have the 'Nightwing' charm when it comes to girls."

The upper edge of Dick's mask raised as he gave the younger lad a questioning look. "And who says Robin doesn't have his own charm? Just be yourself."

Tim gave a noncommittal humm, scanning the streets below for the escapees. "So, how did your chat with Red Hood went?"

"Okay considering. He's opened up a bit more…"

"But he still refuses to rejoin the Team?"

"Same response." Dick ran a hand through his hair, the action communicated more than words.

"Hey, he'll probably come along even- wait, I've spotted two of the goons." A gloved hand pointed to the streets down below, directing attention to the aforementioned thugs a couple blocks away and sprinting away.

The two protégés of the Batman sprung from their perch on the apartment complex, using the rooftops to close the distance. Spotting the vigilantes in pursuit, the two men hastened their pace.

"Hey, stop right now!" Robin called out.

A small beam of green light burst from a nearby alleyway, slicing the base of a stop sign directly ahead of the chase, toppling to the ground. With no time for a reaction, the two thugs tripped on the downed stop sign, landing face-first with grunts of pain. Robin landed on the ground behind them, swiftly detaining them. Nightwing, a second behind Robin, crouched down and held up the sign.

"Well now, at least you two seem to have a respect for traffic laws," Nightwing quipped, while indirectly looking at where the beam came from.

"Batman, we apprehended two of the Joker's men."

"Any sign of the Joker himself?"

"Not yet. There was an interesting encounter though…" Nightwing began to relay what had transversed as the duo made sure the two captured goons were immobilized.

"Hopefully no one runs into that clown." Robin muttered to himself.


'I'm really starting to not like Gotham, it's like someone jinxed me…'

Danny mentally groaned at his typical Fenton luck. It seemed that some goon tried to pounce the teen at every turn. Especially now, being surrounded by henchmen after sending a discreet ectoblast to trip up the fleeing thugs. Facing off gunmen was a different experience for the halfa.

'Okay, you can do this. Last time you were just caught off guard. This time you have a better idea what to expect.'

The henchmen were armed with mostly blunt intruments and a few guns. The men were under the command of a clown guy that reminded the teen too much of Freakshow. While clownman lacked the gothic attire like his own rogue, the unsettling vibes were the same.

The clown had a predatory look, circling the teen as he eyed his new victim. "Oooh, look at what we have here." Joker couldn't quite see who the person could be. Their clothes were baggy, masking their body shape while the oversized hoodie completely covered their face. "Hey kiddo, ya came to see the circus?"

Danny chose to say nothing, instead taking in his surroundings to see the best possible escape route.

"Aww, there's no need to be shy! What's your name?"

"None of ya business," was the terse reply.

The clownman simply 'tsk'ed before pulling out… one of those squirty flowers? "Aw come now, I bet that I can turn that frown upside down with a little game."

Yeah, Danny can taste the bad vibes oozing off the man. The teen eyed the madman as he, with an inchmeal pace, slipped the straps of his backpack off.

"No thanks Homey D. Clown," Danny readied himself for what he was about to do, "I don't play that way!"

The purple backpack, laden with painfully hard metal FentonWorks ghost hunting gadgets, made contact with Joker's head. The psychopath was pitched off his feet, landing stunned on the ground.

Two of the henchmen each grabbed an arm of the Joker, pulling him to his feet.

"Larry, Moe; what are you two doing?!" Joker screeched, "you're supposed to nab the kid!"

Said kid had already cranked out a good distance between himself and his potential assailants.

"After HIM!"

Danny had heard Joker's yelling, and glanced behind to see the three henchmen in pursuit.

'Gotta find a place to disappear, but there's no good hiding places.'

Another of the clown's henchmen came out of an alleyway, stance wide and arms in front like a catcher ready to strike out the player running for home. The young halfa simply slid under the man before sprinting again.

'Think Fenton! These guys aren't ghosts, so the ghost tech's kinda useless-' Danny ducked and dodged two men. '-wait, maybe I could use something: the thermos is out of the question, I don't see how the Specter Deflectors could be of use, wrist rays and blasters can only do so much… the Fenton Peeler!'

Time seemed to slow as Danny drew the collapsed gadget and pressed a button to activate the Peeler. The henchmen, who had cut off the teen's path both forwards and backwards, gaped as an armored battle suit materialized around the youth's body. A metal fist connected to one guy's nose, the guy falling flat from the momentum of the teen's charge. Danny felt a brief shudder of cold as the helmet and tinted visor covered his head, but the teen paid it no mind. Danny slid to a ready position, the peeler's metallic boots screeching on the pavement. 'It can withstand ghost attacks, so hopefully the peeler can hold up against normal weapons.'

The halfa wove and dodged the attempts to hit him, sidestepping one guy, bringing an elbow to another's gut before delivering a kick, knocking the guy unconscious. While Danny didn't typically use the peeler, he had enough experience with it where it wasn't cumbersome, though he did have to watch his footing more than usual. He could hear the occasional 'ding' of something bouncing off the suit, soon realizing that the peeler did, fortunately, have some durability against normal weapons… but for how long?

"Oooh, there goes Moe." Joker muttered, watching the spectacle.

"S'matter? Can't do anything without your three stooges?" Danny asked, stepping over the three downed henchmen.

"Oh I assure you that I can do so MUCH more my boy!" Joker retorted, drawing a pistol as his other goons pulled out their weapons. By his immediate count, there looked to be about over a dozen or more henchmen.

"We'll see about that Binky."

Two figures dropped down, landing to be on either side of Danny. The on on his right looked a bit older than his sister, clad in a dark suit with some sort of blue bird symbol and domino mask. The other was a teen who could have been Danny's age, if not a tad older. He was in a red and black uniform with a stylized 'R', equipped with a cape and domino mask. Both young men had utility belts. A sensation of safety tickled Danny's mind before fading.

The guy with the bluebird gave an impressed whistle. "Well they're not going to feel the aster anytime soon."

"Huh?"

"Oh, that's just how Nightwing talks." The caped teen threw in. "We got this kid. Head to safety."

Danny didn't argue, choosing to retreat to find a hidden place to transform. He found an quiet alleyway.

"This seems to be a good place," he noted, deactivating the peeler and stowing it away. "I'm going-"

While ducking behind a dumpster, he bumped into a person of a similar height. Danny gazed into the dark, almond eyes of the girl as her hood was knocked down, giving him a clear view of her face.

"Uh, sorry. Was this your hiding place?"

The girl raised an inquisitive eyebrow (there was a small bandage on it, Danny noted) at him before shaking her head. Just then sounds of fighting reached the alleyway.

"Well-p, gotta go!" Danny dashed off, finding somewhere to transform (silently and with no witnesses, he made sure). It took no time to fly back to where the clown guy and his henchmen were fighting the two heroes. A well placed ectoblast knocked two goons off their feet.

"Hey, would you like some help?"

Nightwing gave a curious look at the glowing teen, but smiled brightly. "If it's not a bother, sure! I don't believe we've met though. I'm Nightwing and that's Robin. What can we call you?"

"Phantom. Da-"

"Hey, I'm right over here! It's quite rude to ignore people."

"And who's the birthday party reject?" The floating teen jabbed a thumb in Joker's direction.

Joker spluttered. "You don't know who I am?! I'm the Clown Prince of Crime: the Joker."

"Uh Huh, okay. And I don't really care."

Nightwing shifted to a ready position, his drawn eskrima sticks given a light twirl. "You're not getting away."

"AhhahaHA! Aren't you the kidder."

The three vigilantes got to work in dispatching the henchmen. His okay sparring definitely dulled in comparison to the others. They were better coordinated, their fighting showing skill and training. Nightwing especially caught his attention as the man did somersaults and the like with the practiced ease of an acrobat.

"Watch out!" He was snapped back to attention, seeing the one thug coming at him from his peripheral vision. Phantom sidestepped, delivering a roundhouse kick to knock the guy out. He shot a low-powered ectoblast, knocking the gun out of one guy's hand. A fist followed after the gap was closed.

"Robin, on your seven."

The caped teen, Robin apparently, threw bolas at a pair of thugs, then jumping into the air with a flip, landing behind a goon who had tried to hit Robin with a rod. The man went down faster than Jack Fenton could scarf down fudge.

Nightwing, after doing a one-hand cartwheel, took down three guys with a flurry of jabs and kicks.

"Dang, can you show me how to do that?" Danny asked, in awe of the acrobatics. Nightwing simply smirked.

"At least someone appreciates my acrobatic skill!"

"What, Red Hood dissed you again?" Robin questioned, pinning a guy to a wall with several birdarangs.

"He said 'not bad for a girl's gymnastics performance'!" Another flip brought Nightwing adjacent to Robin. "I've never been more hurt!" The hero sighed dramatically, arm draped over his eyes.

"It's over Joker," Robin called out, ignoring Nightwing's melodramatics, "you're heading back to Arkham."

"Now that joke is in bad taste."

"Then how about I tell you a joke," a voice piped up, the Joker whirling around in surprise. Danny suddenly appeared next to the clown. "Here's the punchline!"

The fist connected squarely, sending the madman to the ground. Stunned by the blow, it took no effort in restraining the Joker.

Danny let out a breath. That felt quite satisfying. A chuckle drew his attention to where Nightwing and Robin walking up. "That was was a stellar comeback!"

Danny grinned, feeling a bit bashful. "Hehe, thanks."

It was at this moment that a dark clad figure dropped in front of the group. The man was tall and muscular. Clad in a dark gray costume with the symbol of a bat spread over the chest, with black gloves, boots and cape with the edges jagged. The man wears a black cowl with pointed ears. A yellow utility belt was clipped to his waist. The man gave a similar, if not the same, impression that Nightwing and Robin emitted before.

'Wow, who's this? His cape looks like the one Sam wore at the water park. Where does one get stuff like that, Goth's Я Us?'

"It's the Bats!" Came the exclamation of shock from some of the conscious restrained men… and fear as Danny noticed how some of them paled.

"Just in time Batman," Robin said as the newcomer approached.

'Batman, right! He's one of the heroes here.' It was then that Danny noticed the Dark Knight giving him a questioning look. The teen abruptly felt nervous under the scrutiny.

"Hey B, this this Phantom," Nightwing introduced, "he helped with apprehending Joker."

"I see." Batman intoned in his deep voice.

"I was in the area passing through. I wasn't going to stand by while Ronald McDonald served up trouble." Danny earned snorts of amusement from the younger men.

"We thank you for your involvement today. However, some of my colleagues have been wanting to talk to you. Would you be willing to come?"

Danny shifted in place, "um, what for?"

"Just to ask a few questions. We seek to do no harm to you."

Danny mused over the request, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "Can I have a few minutes to think about it?"

Batman simply nodded. The sounds of sirens, now noticed by the teen, signaled the arrival of squad cars.


"So, what do you think?" Robin silently inquired his mentor as the henchmen and Joker were loaded up. Nightwing was chatting with Phantom, both making jokes.

Bruce wasn't sure of what he should have been expecting concerning Phantom. How young he looked was a bit unexpected. Lean and lanky, face still round from youth, a tad shorter than Tim. And while the youth did seem nervous around him, judging by the micro fidgets, his expression conveyed an earnest desire to do good.

"I have an idea, but more information should be acquired before a definite decision is made." Robin nodded at the reasoning. "What about the teenager that Joker had cornered?"

"That's the strange thing." Robin muttered, pulling up a map on his hologlove. "The tracer had tracked him going down some alleyways, then all of the sudden it disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Batman parroted, watching the glowing youth. His suit had no noticeable defensives. No protective gear. As far as he could tell, the teen was wearing what appeared to be a rubberized suit of sorts. Hazmat?

"Yeah. It's as if something's messing with the signal."

"Not the first time a tracker had been rendered useless." Batman commented, his gaze never leaving the teen.

"…are you saying…"

"Just a hunch."

It was then Phantom approached the two, with Nightwing following a few paces behind.

"I'll come along. Where would we be meeting your colleagues?"

…~~~【ℂ𝕣𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕕𝕖】~~~…

Phantom was starting to see why some people would be nervous around Batman. The way the man carried himself could be quite intimidating, with his monotone and lack of apparent expressions only added to that intimidation.

At least Robin and Nightwing were hanging around, they were friendly enough. They didn't have to wait too long before five people entered the room.

The first was the blond woman that the halfa had met when he first arrived in this dimension. 'We meet again.'

The second was a man dressed completely in a red full-body suit, but has two small yellow lightning bolts across the waist and wrists and with equally yellow boots. A yellow lightning bolt logo is displayed on his chest. 'Huh, that's interesting…'

The third was the raven-haired woman from DC. 'Oh hey Miss America.'

The fourth was a green-skinned humanoid figure, dressed in a mostly black costume, with a large belt and x-shaped straps across his chest colored red. A blue cape is fastened by gold clips to his shoulders. If Phantom didn't know any better, he would have thought the figure was a ghost.

The last person was a tall, muscular Caucasian man.

'Hmmm, costume with bright primary colors and a cape. Super Danny would approve.' He thought, looking at the large 'S' crest proudly worn on the man's chest before his gaze trailed up to his face. 'I wonder wh- wait, he seems familiar…'

"Phantom, you very likely remember Black Canary and Wonder Woman," Batman gestured to the two women of the group, "and these are the Flash, Martian Manhunter-" a Martian?! "-and Superman."

'Superman. He's from Metropolis, right?'

Superman stepped forward, offering an outstretched hand to the halfa. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Phantom tentatively accepted the handshake, his gaze never leaving the man of steel's blue eyes. "The same sir."

'Where have I seen him before?'

"Nice to meet you kid," Flash interjected, pulling the ghost boy out of his thoughts. "We've been dying to meet the person who took down Amazo single-handedly."

"O-oh?"

Wonder Woman gave the teen a questioning look. "Yes, we are also curious as none of us have heard of you before. A warrior of your skill would have better renown."

"And your intentions." Batman added.

"My only intentions are to help, I don't seek to harm anyone."

"Where are you from?"

"…I'm not exactly from here," Phantom responded shyly, rubbing his neck.

"And where would your home be?" Phantom nearly jumped out of his seat when Manhunter had asked his question. He sounded very familiar. "I apologize, I did not mean to startle you."

The ghostly teen chuckled, settling down. "It's okay, no harm done. As to where I'm from…"

"Yes?" Black Canary asked, noticing the nervousness of the teen.

"Well… to be honest, it's kinda far and I'm sort of lost."

"We can help you find your was home." Flash supplied, lounging back in his seat. "We're the Justice league. We help people."

Phantom snorted. "I still thing that sounds like some sort of baseball team."

"That's what I said!"

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke off the deviation of the conversation.

"Ummm…" how does he explain the whole different dimension hopping scenario?

A hand fell to Phantom's shoulder, causing the teen to look up at Superman. "Listen son, we'll do whatever in our power to help you get back home, whether it be as far as Mars or as close as a city like Chicago."

The young halfa arched an eyebrow. "It's definitely farther than Chicago." Danny was going bonkers trying to recall where he's seen this man before.

"Regardless, we just want to help."

"Danny, both Lois and I had noticed that there's something wrong."

Phantom narrowed his eyes as his mind dug up the memory. 'Wait a minute…"

"Phantom?"

"I know we're strangers, but we want to help." Eyes widen in realization.

"CLARK?!"

Phantom hadn't meant to screech that out loud, but he couldn't help the shock of realizing that the superhero that was in front of him was the reporter Clark Kent.

The heroes in the room looked surprised at his outburst. Batman gave a glare (the chills Phantom got were definitely NOT his ghost sense). "What did you say?"

"Er- Dark! It's getting pretty dark. Does someone have the time?"

"I'm most certain that you said 'Clark', Phantom." Oh dang, this guy is really sending chills down his spine. The other heroes were now looking at the teen in varying levels of confusion, suspicion and concern. "You recognize Superman and somehow know his civilian ID. Those looks that you were giving him were of recognition. Who are you? How. Did. You. Know?"

"WaitwaitwaitWAIT! I can explain!" Batman halted in his procession towards him but didn't let up on his glare. "Okay, I may have met Superman here in his civilian ID. As to how I know him…"

Now this was a risky move on his part. Many pros and cons to this choice.

"Just know that there won't be any judgement from us."

Jazz has always nagged about putting trust in adults, he had done enough research to make an educated decision, and they were heroes…

Superman gave the teen a questioning look when he fished a piece of paper from his belt. It was charred around the edges from when Lobo had jumped him earlier, but Phantom was glad he had managed to hang on to it.

Phantom handed the paper to the Kryptonian, the man's eyes widening after going over the note. "You and your wife had given me that…"

"We'd given this to…"

A bright ring burst to existence from the teen's waist before splitting in two. The rings repeled each other, changing the youth's appearance. What was left after the rings disappeared was a figure in tattered jeans, worn red sneakers and an oversized grey hoodie. A purple backpack rested on the shoulders. The teen pulled the hood back to reveal familiar jet-black hair and baby blue eyes.

"Danny?!"

"Hey Clark," Danny waved sheepishly. "How have you been?"

…~~~oOo~~~…

Lex Luthor regarded the man that sat directly in front of his. He looked to be very distinguished. Nice suit, freshly pressed. His silvery hair tied back into a ponytail. Deep, cobalt eyes watched him with interest.

"Ah yes. Pleasure to meet you Mr…"

"Vladimir Masters." The silver-haired man replied.

"Yes. You wanted to meet to discuss a business venture?"

"Yes. I've come across some of your less known projects," Vlad reclined somewhat in his seat, looking quite at ease. "Such as your company's investments in, say, Cadmus."

This caught Luthor attention. "And what of it?"

"I'm a huge fan of your work. You see, I have experience, technology that none in this entire world would even have the notion of, and I have information about a common interest. The youth that had demolished Amazo. And I'm quite willing to… enLIGHTen you and your colleagues."

"I'm listening…"


…~~~oOo~~~…

I hope this chapter makes sense. I've rewritten this at least three times. It's one thing to see the story in your head and to draw out the scenes, it's quite another to write it… I did have fun with the clown puns though…

Now a fun question: who do you think would be the best mentor for Danny? I already know who's gonna fill that role in this story, but I want to hear your guys' opinions.

Coming up next: the full story, meeting some other members of the team… and the custody battle.

Superman: Bruce, you do not need to adopt every kid you come across.

Batman: I have the funds and experience of raising children.

Superman: Lois and I can look after Danny.

Bruce: You had your chance with Conner.

Jason: As if you're one to talk.

Dick: Jay, you're NOT helping! Don't you want another brother?

Jason: Do you want the truth?

Green Arrow: If neither of you will make up your minds, then Dinah and I will take in the kid.

Flash to GA: are you serious?!

GA: Naw, just wanna rile up Bats. 50 bucks says Bruce wins.

Batman and Superman: You stay out of this!

Danny: Why is there so many people wanting to adopt me?

Vlad enters the scene: Because you'll be the perfect son.

Danny: GAH! Get away fruitloop!

JL: step away from the child! *ready to attack*

Vlad: oh, Butter Biscuits!

The real question is who will be Danny's guardian? Mentor is one thing, but the person who will actually "adopt" him is a whole different matter.

Now before I forget!

What Danny said in esperanto: Hey Stupid, ugly says 'what'.

Fun Fact: Both the Martian Manhunter of 'Young Justice' and Skulker from 'Danny Phantom' have the same voice actor.

Martians phase in and swipe Danny. He doesn't resist because they're nice… and duh, they're Martians. Space.

Miss Martian: Yay, a new brother!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!