Note: Was rewatching Danny Phantom because I was feeling nostalgic, and I noticed that Danny's relationship with his mother was actually a really good one. Unlike his dad, Maddie Fenton genuinely cared about her son and tried to be there for him. I found it weird that such a person, especially when she's the only competent ghost hunter in her marriage, wouldn't figure out just what had happened to her son and what he was doing with his powers. So this is my take on what Danny would become with the aid of his mother to train him in his ghost abilities, weapons, and martial arts. Cause there's no way Maddie doesn't teach her kid to kick some ass.

Note: I'm going to try to start the chapters with flashbacks and those will reveal the interactions with Maddie and the other Fentons. Why are we only seeing them in the past? You'll see…..

Note: This is going to start in Gotham as I think it's the best entry point into DC but it eventually will lead into the Justice League animated series. It's one of my favorite universes and the show still holds up today. This is a loose narrative plan at the moment so that could easily change as well.

Note: For Danny's 'present' outfit just picture his future self from The Ultimate Enemy in a black version of his suit.

Note: For fans of my other works, no surprise here, but this is going to be a Multi relationship story. Just throwing it out there now so there won't be any confusion later. Fun fact, gonna be including Cheetah in the harem.

Chapter One - A Bat, A Ghost, And An Occultist

Gotham was sick. That thought kept permeating through the man's mind as he meandered through the rain slicked streets, his hooded leather jacket keeping the water falling from the sky from soaking his hair and casting his face in shadow. Though even that could not hide the powerful emerald glow of his eyes. Once they'd been as blue as the ocean, and his mother had loved to tell him how much they reminded her of his grandfathers, but years of ectoplasmic bleedthrough of his ghost half had caused some less than subtle changes. Chief amongst them his constant eye glow, sharpened teeth, and pale skin. Along with the more recent observation that he seemed to have stopped aging.

This wasn't the first sick city he'd been to, far from it. For the last ten years he'd made it his mission in life to aid the dead in whatever way he could. It was the only thing he had left, his mission. The one thing that helped him keep his promise to stay alive. But Gotham was different. There were just so 'many' ghosts wandering its streets and sky. Invisible to the eyes of regular mortals, but clearly drawn forth by his presence. They had unfinished business, wrongs to set right, and vengeance to wreak on those that had harmed them. But they were deceased and held unjustly in this plain by their regrets and uncompleted tasks. They could not right those things on their own. And that was where he came in.

He cast his face up to the sky, embracing the downpour completely and cast a great wave of intangible psychokinetic energy from his form. A silent invitation for the ghosts of this great city to come and be heard before his presence. He was Danny Phantom, the half-ghost. Speaker for the Dead, defender of the unseen, and their Avenger. And he had come unto Gotham to bring vengeance and justice.

Fourteen Years Ago

Danny limply flew through the open window to his bedroom, clutching his arms to his chest to try and cradle ribs that were most assuredly broken. Sure he knew they'd be completely healed within a couple days just like the last time, but right now they hurt like hell. He'd only been doing the ghost-vigilante thing for two weeks now but it was proving to almost be more trouble than it was worth. No matter how many people he was helping.

Floating gently down onto his bed he released his hold on his powers and twin circles of azure light started from his core before rising and falling to envelope his head and feet, reverting him finally to his human form. The pain immediately doubled and with a groan he fell the rest of the way back onto his mattress intent on trying to get at least one hour of sleep out of this miserable night, only to be interrupted by the clicking of his desk lamp. He raised his head and beheld the horrified visage of his mother. A look that was quickly mirrored on his own features.

"I-I meant to confront you about what I knew, but… my god, Danny you're so hurt!" Maddie Fenton ran out of the room and not even two minutes later she was running back in, locking the door behind her, and quickly laying out a series of hospital grade first aid ingredients on the bed and sitting her boy up to remove his shirt while she made use of them.

"How did this happen?" She asked as she cracked the seal on a cold pack and shook it out, "Was it Skulker? He's been a real problem lately."

"How did you-" Danny cut off at once as his mom pressed the compress directly to his bruised forehead before steadily wrapping a long strip of gauze around his busted ribs. Mustering his strength he tried to finish. "How did you-" Only to be interrupted.

"How did I know that my little boy was going out at night to fight specters that escaped from the Ghost Zone? Hm? I wonder?" She tapped several buttons on her portable wrist computer and a holographic screen popped up between them as she continued rubbing antiseptic into his numerous cuts and bruises. On it he saw footage from their outdoor security cameras displaying his ghost form flying out of his bedroom window.

"Of course I needed to find out how something like this could have happened, so I looked back over our security footage for the lab and found an oddity." She swiped her finger and a new monitor popped up. "One deleted file. Just one in our entire backlog of security footage. Can you guess what I saw when I retrieved it?"

Danny swallowed thickly as he beheld that horrible day two months prior when he'd gotten caught in the ghost portal and it activated. The day his life had changed. He was struck dumb at the sight, never having wanted to experience it again. But there was one thing he needed to know, "Who else knows? Dad? Jazz?"

"Oh, Honey, no!" Maddie cupped his face in her palms and stared into his eyes with all the warmth and love she could muster, "They'd never understand. Jazz would ask a million questions none of us could answer, and your father…." She steeled herself, "Your father can never know. He's too… ghost crazy. He's a bit thick sometimes though so as long as we aren't obvious around him you'll be fine. But why wouldn't you tell me? You tell me everything."

Danny tried to look away in shame but the way his mom held his head made it impossible. "I thought you'd react like dad. I mean, you hunt ghosts for a living, mom. How could I tell you I am one now? Especially after you told me over and over to stay out of your lab?" He chuckled darkly, "You were right in the end. An accident did happen."

"You could tell me because you know that I love you, that I'd always support you, and that I'd never let anything bad happen to you if I could help it."

"Mom!" Tears started falling from his eyes, and in that moment Danny didn't care that he was a 'tough' teenager. He didn't care that people his age weren't supposed to go crying to their mothers. He didn't care that his ribs were driving him crazy. All that mattered was that Maddie Fenton was there for him. She knew the truth and still loved him. And he was so tired of keeping all of his secrets bottled up inside. And as a result all the feelings he'd been suppressing since his accident, all the fear, anger, pain, and anxiety exploded out of him at once. "I've been so scared." He sobbed.

"I know, Honey, I know." Maddie pulled him into as gentle a hug as she could to take pressure off his wounds and just held him as his body shook. "There now, momma's here." She rubbed soft circles into his back and hummed softly into his ear as he clearly worked to calm himself back down. It took a while, but she didn't mind. She was a mother, and it was her job to be here for her son when he needed her. Considering he was a teenager those moments were frightfully few but she did what she could.

Finally though, he quieted and she laid him down in his bed once more before pulling his comforter up to his chin and smoothing the hair from his forehead. "Danny, these wounds… you said they were from Skulker. Is he in the thermos?"

"Yes, mom. I left it in the lab so I could send him back to the Ghost Zone during the morning operational tests."

"Smart." She grew quiet for a moment. Then she had to ask, "Why, son? Why would you go after a ghost as dangerous as that? Even with your powers he still…" She gathered herself and continued smoothing his hair, "He hurt you so bad, Honey."

Danny was starting to grow drowsy. Yes, his aches still hurt him, but his body was already enacting its faster than normal rate of healing, and his mother's presence was soothing in a way unique to mother's everywhere; and it was helping him on his journey to sleep. The half-ghost yawned and answered, "No one else could see him but me, but he could still interact with the world. He was hurting people and no one could do anything to stop him."

"Your father and I included." Maddie admitted. Jack had made a mess of their latest weapon prototype in his failed attempt to deal with the specter.

"Yeah." Danny agreed. "But I'd figured out how to access my powers on purpose a little bit ago, and even though I'm still not very good with them, I had the ability to help. You always told me that people with strength have a responsibility to use it well."

Maddie smiled at those words, proud that one of her lessons had struck true. "That's right. So you stepped up then?"

"Somebody had to."

"So I imagine if another violent ghost were to pop up you'd be doing the same thing?"

"Of course." The pull of sleep was growing ever greater and finally it became too much for the teenager. He closed his eyes for good that night and his chest fell into a steady rhythm.

Maddie however did not leave right away. She simply sat there on the side of her son's bed, gazing down upon her pride and joy as his split cheek started to heal before her eyes. Yes he could clearly recover quickly enough, but she still didn't like it. Her baby boy should not be going into danger and getting hurt, but he truly was her son, meaning he was stubborn as all hell, and if he saw someone in need he was bound to go out there again regardless of anything she said about it. And then there were his new powers. She knew far too little about them to be comfortable.

A realization came to her then. She could fruitlessly try to forbid him from performing anymore vigilante activity, or…. she could train him herself. Yes, Maddie could pass on all of her knowledge and experience while researching his abilities and helping Danny to get the best use out of them. If she could not stop him then it was her duty to prepare him!

Unable to deny the urge, Maddie ran her hands softly through his hair one final time before getting up to head down to her lab. She had some equipment to prep, and a lot more to move around. She had a secondary lab off location that would make the perfect training space for Danny. Yes, by the time she was done with him no ghost or villain would ever be able to hurt him like this again. No, her little boy would put them in the ground first.

Present Day

Bruce glared at the monitor of the batcomputer with utter annoyance lining his features. Three hundred and forty two. That was the number of unexplained cases that had started piling up over the last month. Jim Gordon had sent them all to him once he'd realized they were connected but said connection wasn't giving the Batman enough information to form a theory.

Scrolling through the list once more he reread the main statistics. Twenty two graves desecrated and dug up with the phrase, "The dead are owed what is theirs!" scrawled across tombstones. Two hundred and forty sudden, detail filled, confessions of violent crime by perpetrators that had later seemed to wake from a dream to swear they never actually said those things at all, and that they were possessed, watching their bodies move but being unable to stop what was told. And one hundred acts of violent murder. The crime scenes were vandalized with the words, "The dead have spoken" written in the victim's own blood.

In all cases references were made to the dead and ghostly possession. Such things however were beyond his purview which meant he needed to call some… outside help. He just really hoped it wouldn't end where he expected it would. Moving the mouse he selected his phone book and dialed his first choice.

It rang three times before the melodic voice of Zatanna came through clearly. "Bruce, it's been too long. It's lovely to hear from you."

"And you as well."

"So what problem has you calling me up?"

"I might have a potential 'haunting' situation, and I need an expert in the arcane to take a look and verify."

The line was silent for a moment before she answered, "Bruce, you know I'm not a medium, nor a spirit conjurer. That area is more-"

"Please don't say Constantine"

"-Constantine's domain." She finished.

"And you said it." He groaned.

"Hey," Zatanna's playful voice cut through his moping, "he's not that bad."

"You're just saying that because you dated him and you want to justify your bad life choices."

"Perhaps, but he really is good at what he does. If you really do have a ghost infestation he can root it out for you in a matter of hours."

"Hm." Batman grumbled. John Constantine, master of the mystical arts, was a master pain in Bruce's ass. Every time he came to Gotham the batcave ended up smelling like old cigarettes and stale beer for weeks after he left. The Bat swore the trenchcoat wearing Brit had a latent curse on him that caused the effect. And his language was atrocious. In his last visit alone he'd taught Damien no less than a dozen horrible words that had gone a long way toward filling the cave swear jar. Of course Jason had filled it the rest of the way but he tended to do it on principle because Alfred used that fund to buy everyone books for leisure reading.

"So you can't help here?"

"Sadly no. I can give you a few wards to keep out harmful spirits, pretty much every arcanist and magician knows some of those, but otherwise you'll really want a spectral expert."

"Thanks for the advice, I'll ask around."

"Why, you're just gonna end up calling John anyway?" She teased.

"Goodbye, Zatanna." He clicked off the call, and carried on his search.

Mr. Zatara was in the middle of a high stakes poker game with a half dozen demons of the inner rings and couldn't leave the table without risking his soul. Doctor Fate was off-world. Enchantress owed him some major favors but she was in the middle of an exorcism and couldn't leave the site without risking the victim. That left the one person he reallllllyyyyy didn't want to call.

Sucking it up, he dialed the number. "Constantine." He growled when the line connected.

"Ah, Brucey Boy, how's it hanging? Upside down I'm assuming cause of, ya know, the bat thing."

"John…."

"Oh alright, ya big stick in the mud. What do ya need?"

"Possibility of a haunting, need to make sure. How fast can you get to Gotham?"

"Hold on a tic." The line went dead and a second later a golden portal opened in the floor at the base of the computer dais. Then came John Constantine, swaggering up a spectral set of stairs to step out of it. A fresh cigarette smoking from his lips and a mug of what Bruce hoped was coffee held loosely in his left hand. "Well Brucey I'm here. Let's get down to this ghosty problem of yours."

Two hours later Constantine was whistling with interest as he closed down the last file. He leaned back in Bruce's chair and said, "Well, Bats, you definitely got yourself a haunting, and a damn violent one at that. I mean Gotham has always been haunted as hell but this is a new low even for your old girl. This is one proactive spirit."

"Can you at least tell me what it's trying to achieve?"

Constantine raised a very sarcastic eyebrow, "That should be obvious. It's avenging the fallen. Everyone this spirit has killed and coerced has been the perpetrator of a violent crime that resulted in the death of an innocent. You have an avenger on your hands."

Bruce groaned at that revelation. Another one. Jason had been bad enough when he'd been fresh out of the Lazarus Pit. The two of them were… cordial now, but things were still tense. Jason was still killing, but he limited himself to his own criminal organization and the mob, while letting Bruce and the other vigilantes handle the rest of Gotham. Batman really didn't want someone else doing the same thing so soon after they'd managed to mend the bare minimum of bridges. "Are these kinds of ghosts common?"

"Uh…. not really, no. Typically only the reallllllyyyyy powerful ones can affect the living world in this way. Last time I ran into numbers this high…." He stared off into space.

"John? John? John!"

The Brit snapped out of his daze and faced the Bat fully. "Sorry Bruce." He said uncharacteristically serious. "That was a … a very bad day. I still see it in my nightmares sometimes."

"What happened?" It was rare for Bruce to see his arcanist coworker so solemn.

For a moment John seemed like he was actually going to answer, but then he just shook his head, pulled a fresh pack of smokes from his coat, and lit one up. "Maybe someday, Bats, when we aren't in the middle of a case, and we have a table full of booze, I'll tell you what I saw when I arrived at the aftermath of Amity Park. But that day is certainly not today." He hopped out of the chair and made his way to the center of the cave, "So how do you want to do this? I can't exorcize the ghost without knowing its true name. I guess I could go out and hunt it but something like this could be hiding anywhere. Like, literally anywhere. A crack in the concrete on the street would hide it in all reality. The only other option would be to summon it here and try to contain it until we weasel out its true name or strike a bargain with it."

"Sounds like exorcizing a demon."

"The two aren't as far from each other as people seem to think."

"Seems like a summoning is the best bet."

"That's what I figured you'd say." He started moving his hands in an intricate series of precise movements and arcs, and as he did a complex circular sigil began to form in the floor before him. As Bruce watched it concentrated the lines in on itself until three rings were formed that quickly turned into nine interlocking triangles, and finally the circle ended with a seven pointed star contained within, the center space absolutely covered with hieroglyphics.

"Was that…"

"Powers asked for and received from the Celtic, Nordic, and Egyptian pantheons, buddy. Yes, indeed. I called on the Mayans too but that lot are more than a bit stingy with the magic they have left and don't like giving it out as much. Hopefully this will do the job."

When Constantine made no move to continue, the Batman asked, "Aren't you going to, you know, summon the thing?"

The blond actually seemed affronted at the question. "Alright, Bruce, first things first. This ghost is not a 'thing' it is a person. Regardless of its current form it was a living man or woman at one time or another and it is very likely held here by a very understandable piece of unfinished business. Treat the dead with respect."

Bruce held up his hands in the universal sign of surrender. "I meant no offense." He wasn't used to the Englishman being so serious about his work.

"Good. And to answer your question I was waiting for you to give me the go ahead. It's rude to summon violent spirits into someone's home, or cave I guess, without their direct say so, ya know."

"Ah, well you can go ahead any time. I am curious how you're going to bring it here though. I thought summonings required a name too?"

"Normally they do," Constantine agreed, closing his eyes and gathering power, "But that's the rub; I'm not gonna try to summon any particular ghost. Rather, I'm gonna throw a hook out for any of a certain power threshold and then I'm gonna reel em right in like the devil is on me ass chasing me down. If I'm right, this'll be the only beasty that'll fit the bill."

"Right then." Bruce tapped the side of his cowl and activated his lenses recording function. This could be useful for future cases. "Whenever you're ready."

Constantine nodded and crossed his fists down in front of his hips as he started chanting in an unfamiliar language. With every word his voice grew louder, faster, more passionate, and the crossed fists climbed higher, up to his midriff, past his shoulders, and finally straight over his head until he screamed the last phrase and tore them apart. At once a golden dome of light completely encased the summoning circle…. and the body that was suddenly standing ramrod straight within it.

The stranger, what Batman could see of him, was cast in shadow within the light. His features were hidden behind a hooded black leather jacket. Though the rest of him was cloaked by a set of black jeans and black cowboy boots. It was if he was going out of his way to reveal no color at all in his style. Then a pair of emerald lights that could have been eyes erupted into being and the outline of a pointed goatee could be seen.

"Hm. Summoned was I?" The man stalked up to the golden dome and placed his hand against it, "And by someone who knew what they were doing. How troublesome."

Constantine stepped into the view of the light. "Speak your name, spirit, and I will send you on peacefully to your next great adventure."

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha." The stranger laughed beneath his hood. "I'm sorry, but a command from a low grade practitioner like you? No thanks. What happens if I refuse?"

"Then we leave ya here to rot until ya change yer mind." The Brit finished his cigarette and stomped the butt beneath his shoe. "But I think we'd all rather finish this sooner than that. We're busy people after all."

"You've no idea." The stranger folded his hands behind his back. "Looks like it's time to Go Ghost." His final words were spoken as a dark promise and before their very eyes twin circles of azure light floated from his midsection to encapsulate his head and feet, and when they finished their arcs and disappeared a completely different man stood before them.

Gone were the hooded jacket, jeans, and boots. In their place stood the visage of a demon with the same glowing eyes. His skin was near luminescent blue, white hair flew up his head and down to his back and also hung from his chin in a writhing mass reminiscent of flames, and his heavily muscled body was contained within a black combat suit emblazoned with a stylized 'D' on the chest. A cape with a black interior and white exterior hung still on his shoulders.

The stranger smirked with triumph at the utterly terrified expression his change had created on his British captor's face. "D-D-Danny Phantom…" He gasped.

The now named Danny raised a brow at that, surprise evident. "You know me?" He chuckled darkly, "Then you know that this is not near enough to hold me for long." So saying he reared a fist back and slammed it into the barrier. The entire cave seemed to shake from the impact and several fissures cracked into being in the golden shield.

As this was happening, John was addressing the Batman. "Bruce, you didn't tell me you had Danny Fucking Phantom in your city! We need ta get the fuck up out of here!"

"What? Why? Who is this guy?"

"There's no time! We need to move!" As another concussive shockwave rocked the chamber John grabbed the dark knight's arm and dragged him after himself, leading his temporary boss on a merry chase up the stairs.

"Typical," he huffed after they reached what would have been the fourth story on a regular building, "I take a job from the Bat and end up summoning the Fucking Phantom himself. By the gods, if I hadn't spent an hour going down on all three of the Fate sisters at the last Valkyrie rave I'd say they 'might' be pissed at me."

The two kept running until they reached the portal to the Wayne family office, wherein Bruce slammed the grandfather clock closed and turned the arms to twelve forty-five. A second later they heard a series of gears turning, metal limbs catching, and bolts all slamming together. "There, the cave is on complete lockdown. Nobody goes in, and nobody comes out." Bruce expected words of gratitude for this action but the blonde man only shook his head in the negative.

"That won't hold him any longer than the sigil's barrier. You're not listening to me, Bruce. We need to get out of here, as in out of this city. Honestly, out of this country would be more preferable. The Phantom is notorious for what he does to fools who summon him and try to bind his will to their power. I do not want to end up like those Hunter brothers in Poughkeepsie."

"But we weren't trying to do that."

"He won't care! Now come on!" He ran out of the office, and lacking any better options or information Bruce followed, all the way to the main entrance hall. But before they could cross the threshold to the main doors a cacophonous sound erupted all around them and the section of floor before them exploded up in a violent mess of shrieking and concussive force. The two heroes found themselves launched backward a great distance before sliding to a stop on Alfred's painfully polished marble flooring. When they finally managed to sit back up to observe the carnage, there was the Phantom, floating over the hole he'd created with his arms crossed and a sneer on his face.

Looking at Constantine he said, "You like that? It's a new power I picked up. I call it my Ghostly Wail." Then his right hand extended toward him and became engulfed in ectoplasmic green fire. "Bad little magicians need to be punished."

The magic user was done for, he knew it, Batman knew it (there was no way he could cross that distance of flooring to interrupt the blast himself), and Phantom knew it if the sick grin on his face was anything to go by. But just as he was about to let the blast fly, a stray towel smacked him in the face. All fell silent as every eye looked to the second landing where a poshly dressed butler stood with a full tea service on a cart.

"Excuse me, sir," he began after smoothing his immaculately styled mustache, "but any further damage you do I'll just need to clean up later. Might I ask you not to increase my workload? If you wish to kill Mr. Constantine that's quite all right by me but please do it outside. It would be the perfect excuse for new landscaping."

Danny was rather impressed by the balls of this butler and lowered his hand, letting the energy dissipate into nothing. Then he flew over to hover in front of him. "I can respect that, Mr. black and white."

"I am Alfred Pennyworth, sir. Butler to the Wayne Family."

"Phantom." Danny replied. "Funny, you don't seem scared to have a ghost right in front of you?"

"I served in the war, sir. I'm well acquainted with being amongst the dead."

For a moment the floating apparition seemed to stare off into space before a sad smile came across his features. "Your comrades speak well of you, Pennyworth. You have my respect. I'll take the blonde outside then."

He turned to do just that, not noticing that Batman had already reached the other man's side or that a barrier had been erected around them both (about as likely to be effective as the last one). In fact, he'd only moved about an inch before the butler spoke again.

"Excuse me, Mr. Phantom, but I was about to serve some tea and it would be quite a waste to not do so when the water is at its perfect temperature. Before you slaughter the fool would you like a cup?"

Danny grew very still, and for the first time since he'd arrived his cape moved about in a nonexistent wind. "Do you have Oolong?"

Alfred smiled brightly and gestured to his cart, "But of course, sir, right this way."

The Halfa did as gestured, and the moment he was out of immediate sight John breathed a sigh of relief. "Whoo. That was close."

"Why would the prospect of tea turn someone like him off the hunt?" Bruce wondered idly. Very much worried for the safety of Alfred, but unsure how to help him against this threat.

"You know I've actually heard about this." Constantine noted as he released the barrier and started edging toward the door again. "Apparently the Phantom gets super nostalgic about tea. A couple blokes I know down in Sydney got him to do a favor for them by offering premium leaves as payment. Far as I can tell no one knows why he loves them so much. Are you coming or not?"

It was true, Bruce hadn't left his place under the stairs. "I can't leave Alfred alone with him."

"You can't fight that monster. None of your blows will even hit him."

"Then what can I do, John?"

The blonde thought about it for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "Keep him talking. He's after me for summoning him so if I leave he shouldn't be hostile anymore, at least not here. You keep him occupied and I'll grab Zatanna. Perhaps together we can do something to stop him. Maybe even expel him from the city at least. It would be better to have Dr. Fate here too."

"He's off-world."

"Shit."

Nerves starting to get the best of him, Bruce glanced once more to the landing above. "I'll be counting on you. Be quick."

John gave a mocking bow. "That's me all right. John the nimble, John the quick."

"You're thinking of a Jack."

"What? I can't be those things too? Just get him talking." So saying the Brit fled the building like the hounds of Hell were on his tail.

When after five seconds the doors weren't blown off their hinges by a ghost chasing after him, Bruce warily left his shelter and climbed the stairs to reach his closest friend and offer what little defense he could. To his astonishment the man seemed perfectly fine, charmed even, as he was engaged in an animated discussion about the best methods of preparing tea for service.

"Look, I'm not denying that fresh leaves scattered in the pot to steep isn't a viable method, I'm just saying that sometimes those same leaves held in a circular strainer and swirled for sixty seconds in your drink is equally viable." The ghost was arguing.

"You cannot muck around as far as tradition is concerned, sir. Tea has history, and that history must be respected in the prep. I do believe the taste reflects that effort."

Phantom smiled, his fangs revealed by the gesture, though clearly not in a menacing fashion. "My mother said something similar once." He took a slow sip from his cup.

"She made tea for you then, sir?"

"Oh yes. She didn't want her kids getting hooked on coffee like my dad. She called it the barbarian's drink. Yup, anytime my sister or I were too stressed, in a bind, or just needed to wake up, there would soon be a cup of tea." He chuckled lightly, "She'd always take a long sip before handing them over though. Called it the Mom Tax."

Having heard enough of this, and more than a bit disconcerted by the sudden shift in attitude from the rampaging specter, Batman cleared his throat, drawing both of their attention.

Phantom sighed and set his cup down. "Sorry there, Alfred. Work to do and all that."

"Understood, sir. Carry on."

The ghost then phased through the floor, only to return back a second later. "Alright, where the fuck is the magician?"

"He'll be back soon enough." Bruce answered, not lowering his guard for an instant.

It seemed only then that the ghost actually seemed to realize who he was talking to. "Oh, you're Batman? The dead have a lot to say about you. Some good, mostly bad. Although the two on your shoulders are being very loud right now. Something about not hurting their 'Little Bruce'. Guess I should have figured out the vigilante driving around in military grade hardware was the resident billionaire of Gotham."

Bruce swallowed thickly and asked, "Ghosts on my shoulders?"

Danny nodded, "Thomas and Martha. They've never left you." He floated over to the top of the stairs and crossed his legs in midair, effecting a relaxed pose with his chin propped on his fist as he stared at the door. "Guess I'll just wait here if he's coming back. It'll be easier to deal with the blond and whatever friend he brings at once than wait to be summoned again. Dealing with barriers is soooooooo annoying. You have no idea."

Bruce was still struggling with the fact that his parents had not moved on, so Alfred took the initiative, leaving his tea service behind and making his way over to the violent half-ghost. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, why must you kill Mr. Constantine. No doubt he probably deserves killing from some others, but I'm sure this scare you gave was more than enough to keep him from trying to summon you again."

"It's about the message, Alfred. If I let one fool get away with summoning me all of his little buddies will do it too, and then I'll never get any work done. Best to nip it in the bud. Plus the guy kinda just looked like an asshole."

"That I can confirm." Alfred agreed, and by then Bruce had broken out of his stupor and moved to place himself between the two men.

"Are you the spirit that's been haunting Gotham for the last month?"

For a moment Danny looked like he wasn't even going to deign to answer the man, but then he looked over his shoulder and sighed. "You're lucky your mother is persistent. Yes, I've been 'working' in Gotham for the last month."

Batman squared his shoulders, "Then you're under arrest."

"Funny, I don't feel like I'm under arrest."

"You will once Constantine returns with back-up, and if that doesn't work then I will call in Doctor Fate."

Phantom actually laughed at that statement. "You think Doctor Fate would arrest me? More than that, do you think he doesn't know about someone as powerful as me already? The guy is a Lord of Order for fuck's sake. He understands the balancing of scales and thus what I do more than most. He won't lift a finger to stop me."

The absolute conviction in his voice really took the wind out of Bruce's sails so to speak. "Would you at least leave my city then?"

"No. Gotham is sick, Batman. Its dead haunt its streets more than anywhere else I have seen before. They cry out for vindication, justice, and an ear to hear their cries. It is my duty to do so and I will see them avenged and carried on to the afterlife where they belong. If that means reuniting them with their buried treasures, forcing their abusers to admit to their crimes, or killing the ones that got off scot free, then that is what I'll do until this city is cleansed."

"So your mission is to aid the dead?" This prospect was rather strange to Bruce considering his whole adult life had been about getting justice for the dead and protecting the living. He'd never considered that those same dead might stick around or actually want more.

Phantom raised his hands and forced ectoplasmic energy to permeate the room around himself. Batman and Alfred only needed to wonder about this action for a second or two before the result became apparent. All around them spectral bodies started to appear. Some floating at the ceiling, others crawling along the floor, a few meandering in conversation, and finally two with hands on Bruce's shoulders, and three with palms on Alfred's back.

"These dead have never had their unfinished business dealt with. They've either been forced or chosen to remain behind in a realm that only provides them with fresh suffering. You do not help them, the law does not help them, who then are they to look to for aid if not me? You have no right to judge." So saying he turned back to the door to await his next challenge, and as he did the specters faded once more from view, leaving only their grieving loved ones behind.

Next Time:

-Flashback, we'll get a glimpse into Maddie's past and her training methods.

-Danny vs. Constantine and Zatanna. Who do you think is gonna come out on top?

-Gotham gets a new official vigilante. (Cause let's be real here, Alfred likes him and Bruce can't do shit to stop him).

-The start of a Justice League.

Note: Probably gonna be a few questions here about the towel throw. Gonna get into that a bit in the next chapter, but for now suffice it to say, Alfred was grasping at straws to help Bruce and threw the first thing he had on hand to distract the threat.