Endeavor wanted to get this over with. The tabloids are at it again, accusing him of infidelity. Whoever started the rumor that Phantom was his secret love child was going to get burned to a crisp.

Pan over to Shoto as he watches his father destroy another TV in his office after another lifestyle hero reporter mentioned about him and Phantom in the same sentence. Perhaps he should have thought more about the consequences before posting his theories on the internet. He sighed as the sprinklers went off again drenching Endeavor's office and his expensive Cambodian carpet.

Endeavor needed a win, something that would force the media to ignore Phantom and focus on why he deserves to be the Number Won—two hero out there. It was time to go to Hosu City.

He turned to his son, yelling despite the fact that he was like 2 feet away. "SHOTO! PACK YOUR STUFF. IT'S TIME YOU SEE WHAT A REAL HERO LOOKS LIKE."

Shoto rolled his eyes. I didn't know All Might was going to Hosu was what he wanted to say.

Danny started working at a butler café (because that's a thing in Japan, apparently). His white boy features were the only thing that landed him the job. He decided to leave Mustufasu feeling rather guilty after cancelling the Sport's Festival. The job paid well even if he still felt awkward having all those girls giggle as he served them a platter of sandwiches and probably the biggest parfait he had ever seen. What made the place great was they didn't ask too many questions and papers. Which really should have made even suspicious but Danny just wanted to end his homeless status.

His shift ended. And then the attacks started.

He groaned. Danny was doing well for himself now. He had a real job and was one paycheck away for his rent. People were screaming, glass was being smashed and the sirens wailed.

He clocked out, went to the bathroom and in the laws of magical girl transformations, said his catchphrase: "I'm going ghost!"

Endeavor did not expect Phantom to come to Hosu and start taking away his score. Phantom—who was definitely not his son—froze one of the Nomu's until it was no longer moving. Endeavor glared.

"Phantom! What the hell are you doing here!" Endeavor demanded.

Phantom read the tabloids and…being the little shit that he is said: "Come on, Dadddddd. I'm just trying to help my dear old father. Following in his footsteps and all."

Endeavor started engulfing himself in flames and threw a fireball at Phantom just because. Phantom dodged and laughed a laugh which can only be achieved by someone who owned very expensive audio equipment.

"Hello. You're that boy with multiple quirks." Gran Torino was with Endeavor. It was his first time seeing Phantom. He looks like a fun kid. He thought. Definitely not All For One's son.

Endeavor, still fuming, was ready to throw down his most powerful move on the boy but Gran Torino stopped him.

"Hey, I think he's just trying to help." Gran Torino said.

Phantom grinned. "Yup. Don't' mind me. Just trying to help. What are these things anyways?" He pointed towards the ice block Nomu.

"He's a criminal! You hurt my son!" Endeavor yelled. He stayed, not attacking, because despite all that anger, he was smart enough to admit that Phantom was nearly impossible to catch with that phasing quirk of his. Where is that Eraser fellow when you need him?

"Nomu's." Gran Torino answered Phantom, ignoring the thing about Endeavor's son. "Artificial humans."

Phantom stared far too long at the iced Nomu. Gran Torino noticed that Phantom's forehead did not when his eyebrows are all scrunched up in thought.

Finally, he said: "They're dead." Phantom looked horrified. That was not an expression Gran Torino expects from an alleged supervillain. He pitied them so much that he stopped floating.

"If you're going to continue what you're doing, child, soon you will be too." Endeavor warned. He does not want to share the spotlight with a teenage menace. Still, Endeavor was slightly worried that the kid was going to get himself killed one of these days. Soon, someone with an even stronger quirk was going to get Phantom and they might not be as merciful as Endeavor.

Phantom turned to look at Endeavor straight in the eye, and smirked.

"Oo, too soon. "

There was a story there. Gran Torino decided to file that in ALL CAPS inside his deteriorating memory.

Phantom sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen. I'm sorry if I've been a menace to you for the past couple weeks…" He had to get the flame hero to work with him so that they could get this over with. Danny doesn't know how strong the Nomu's are but the little green one he just froze was probably weak given that he hasn't busted through the ice yet. Ghost ice is practically indestructible through human means but Nomu's were dead and Danny didn't want to take the risk of fighting them alone.

"—But the city is on fire. And I'm sure as a professional, you would want this thing to be over as quickly as possible with minimal property damage. So I'm going to fly around, put out some fires while you take care of the flying Nomu that just went off. K?"

Gran Torino smiled. The kid was way more mature than he thought. That reasoning of his even made Endeavor huff in admission. "Alright, Phantom. But I will capture you one of these days. You can count on it."

Phantom floated up and turned his legs into a ghostly tail. He chuckled and said: "Oh if I had a penny for every time someone said that me" He paused and just to add icing on the burning cake, he added, "Later—Number—2." And then flew to the opposite direction to get rid of the fires.

"Don't call me that!" Endeavor yelled waving his right arm up like a grandpa trying to get noisy kids out of his lawn.

Phantom arrived just in time to see a black monster with his brain out and about attacking some people. Danny fired an ice ray, hitting it in the chest. It froze. But it was clear that it was still conscious since the eyes were still moving about. In that time, Danny extinguished the fires by shooting an ice ray to the sky where it burst into snow and cold air. Steam got mixed in with the smoke.

"Aren't you, Phantom?" one of the pro-heroes on the scene said.

One of them flinched when Phantom looked over his shoulder. His green eyes were the first thing they saw in the smoke and steam. "Yup." It gave a fanged grin towards the cowering pro-heroes. The pros on the scene found out that they could not move.

One of them thought. How is he so much scarier than the Nomu?

The sound of ice breaking cut them out of their terror. Phantom quickly turned around. He was pummeled into the ground as the Nomu broke free and punched him the gut. "Go, get out of here!" he yelled for them to run. They didn't because running away and letting a teenager solve their problems for them was worse than facing the Nomu dead on. They were supposed to be Hero's damn it!

Phantom's eyes glowed blue again and he shot another ice ray from his eyes towards the Nomu's head. It froze and grabbed its head wondering why it had become so heavy.

Smirking, Danny quipped. "Now that's what I call a brain freeze." Phantom put his arms together and concentrated. His eyes and hands started glowing blue and then he unleashed the biggest glacier that the pros had seen. It was bigger than the one Todoroki Shoto made during the Sport's Festival. It was 60 ft tall, spiky and so cold that it started freezing the concrete from a 1-meter radius. It was quite effective in trapping the Nomu ensuring that it couldn't break out of the ice again.

"That ought 'a do it." He said, looking very pleased with himself. He turned to the pro-heroes again with a smile on his face. Phantom waved. "Is everyone alright."

They nodded, wondering how so much power was caused by someone that was just five foot four.

Manual felt that a thanks was due. "Thank you, Phantom." He said. "We wouldn't have defeated the Nomu without you. You have my gratitude." He bowed which made Phantom blush green.

"Whoa, um…thanks…I mean, no thanks needed…Happy to— "

A dark violet shadow engulfed Phantom whole.

"—help."

"Nobody's going to help you here, Phantom."

Danny frowned. There was someone with a dead man's hand on his face talking to him. He knew he was teleported. Being a ghost is a non-stop joy ride of portals. From his surroundings, he was on top of a water tank, most likely still at the city because he could see the glacier he just created from up here.

His ghost sense went off. It was faint. A little wispy in his opinion.

"I apologize for bringing you up here in such a rude way," said the purple shadow man to the right of hand-on-the-face man. "My name is Kurogiri, and this is Tomura Shigaraki. We are the League of Villains."

"That," Danny said, pointing to Kurogiri, "Is the politest introduction that I have ever received from someone who has kidnapped me. Five stars."

Kurogiri bowed slightly out of cordial respect. "Thank you. I am pleased that you feel that way." Kurogiri said, smiling. "You are quite calm given the situation. We expected this to be a violent meeting."

Phantom raised his shoulders. "I'm not a shoot first and ask questions kind of guy."

"Enough dialogue." Tomura said testily. He stepped forward towards Danny's floating form and opened both of his palms. "We want you to join our party."

Danny raised a brow. So it was the classic villain join me speech, huh.

"No. thanks."

"Reconsider," growled Tomura.

Danny reconsidered and said: "No, thanks." Okay, witty banter was up. Time to shoot. Danny charged his palms with ecto-energy and charged.

Tomura clenched his right hand, ready to meet Phantom's fist just so he could disintegrate it. The two never met. Kurogiri activated his quirk warping the space between Phantom and Shigaraki so that their fists ended up punching thin air.

"Kurogiri!" Tomura said, angry that he wasn't able to punch the stupid kid.

"Now, now, Shigaraki. We must keep a level head in this situation. Why don't you explain to Phantom why he needs to join our league?" Kurogiri said.

Danny pulled his hands away and squared his shoulders making himself taller than Shigaraki which really wasn't all that hard since he was floating 3 feet from the ground. He was literally looking down on the villains. Man, if only he had his thermos, he would have gotten rid of Kurogiri. He was pretty sure that he was a ghost. Or at least, as close to a ghost here in this world. He was definitely not one of the ghosts he meets in the Ghost Zone. For one thing, Kurogiri was much too polite.

Tomura clicked his tongue. He reverted to his usual slouching posture, scratching his neck with his left hand. He said: "Society is riddled with heroes." He started, voice low and filled with contempt like he was talking about cockroaches. "I plan on destroying that."

Here comes the classic villain monologue. Danny thought. Because he was used to it, Danny floated there and kept his gaze on the shadowy arms attached to Shigaraki's arms. They were pulling them backwards. Or at least tried. Spirits most likely. They didn't activate his ghosts sense because they are not powerful enough to interact with the physical world. He felt sorry for them. Danny could sometimes see them. They mostly just roam, eyes hollow and pale. Harmless entities. Insignificant to the point that even Ghosts Zone locals don't interact with them. They lack the chaotic and robust personalities of GZ ghosts. They were rare in Amity Park but he sometimes he could see them whenever he's out of the city. He remembers his mother's lecture about stone tapes—post-human consciousness being recorded and replayed into inanimate objects like the stones in old ruins. Walking memories.

"Doesn't it get tiring?" Tomura continued unaware that Danny's half-lidded eyes were a sign of him not listening. "Here you are, a powerful vigilante. Strong enough to take on the Number 2 Hero himself. Probably even All Might. You're doing a better job than he is, cleaning streets where no hero dares to step. And yet, the media calls you a villain. They demean you. They ignore your contributions. But Justice is fragile. And so are the so called guardians that claim to protect it! They've rejected you. Why shouldn't you reject them?"

And there was silence. Tomura had stopped talking, hands raised on his sides like he was expecting the beat to drop.

Danny yawned. He blinked twice. He inhaled. He brought his hands together in a prayer. There was not a lot of words in the English language (and because Danny did not have the brightest vocabulary) to explain how much "—full of shit you are." Danny said contemptuously.

Shigaraki stepped back. He worked really hard on that speech after his encounter with Stain. He even wrote it down and had Sensei grade it for him. He got a "Well done" from Sensei which was the closest thing he got to an A+

"Why you—"Shigaraki was not planning to be rejected twice today. "I thought that we'd be similar seeing who your father is."

"?" Danny said.

"Multiple quirks. White hair. You're Sensei's son, I'm sure of it."

Danny slouched his shoulders. After hearing that crazy statement from an even crazier man really just let his guard down. "There has been a misunderstanding." He said slowly hoping that the crazy villain would get the hint.

"Sensei is willing to take care of you—pay child support and all that—if you join us." Tomura said, holding out his right hand towards Phantom.

"All For One is extremely rich." Kurogiri felt the need to point that out. After all, money was a good motivator.

"Okay One, I don't know who that is," Danny said, crossing his hands to his chest in his attempt to look cross. "Two, and even if I did, he is 100% not my father. I know who my father is okay—and before you say Endeavor, no he is not. That was a joke that someone on the Internet started. And Three—"Danny quickly fired an ecto-blast towards Kurogiri who got thrown back several feet and was down on the ground semi-unconscious. "—I already have a day job so don't you even dare tempt me with money."

"Kurogiri!" Tomura yelled. Shit. He wasn't expecting this to happen. Shigaraki was 100% confident that Phantom as going to say yes. Phantom was clearly more powerful than Stain. He was the sole reason why the Sport's Festival got cancelled. Tomura got jealous of that. How was he going to defeat him? Phantom could go through things. His quirk would be useless on him. Phantom landed on the concrete. He slowly walked towards Tomura with that glowing green hand of his raised into a punch. The sound of a helicopter's blade spinning snapped Tomura out from his thoughts.

"Look up. They see you." He said, laughing. There was a helicopter news crew above them. It was enough for Phantom to stop and look. In that time, Kurogiri got back up, seeing that Phantom was a dead end, they needed to escape.

"Make it look like he's with us." Tomura whispered. Kurogiri nodded. Phantom finally ignored the helicopter news crew and lunged. Kurogiri activated his quirk, spreading his black fog to cover him, Tomura and Phantom.

From the news chopper to the studio. We are reporting live from the skies in Hosu City. I was reporting on a different story but please take a look! There were flames and black smoke rising over the city minutes ago but it seems that someone with an ice quirk has taken care of it….We haven't received any information…disturbance caused by villains…We will report to you as soon as we get more information.

And Cut.

"Continue Filming," said the news reporter after something caught her eye. The water tank on the tall building. There were three people. One was floating and glowing like a torchlight.

She squinted. "Is that…Phantom?"

"Isn't he based on Musutafu?" said the cameraman. "What's he doing all the way out here?"

"Let's get a closer look!" the news reporter yelled to the pilot. He nodded and changed course. As they flew near, Phantom snapped his head upwards. The first thing they saw were those eerie green eyes of his. There were no pupils, just a bright illuminating green that felt dangerous. It warned you to stay back. Otherwise...otherwise...The news reporter's throat felt dry. She needed a glass of water.

It lasted for a second but to the news reporter, it felt like hours. It sent shivers down her spine. She knew that Phantom sometimes looked otherworldly (and was a bitch to capture on camera) but in the chaos of the night, he was positively eldritch. The news reporter expected tendrils of black energy to swarm around Phantom, reach up to the chopper and swallow them whole.

A black fog obstructed their view. When it disappeared, Phantom and the two people with him were gone.