Lord Pugsy here. Here is the next instalment, which will outline details into what exactly the threat is that the heroes will be facing. One reviewer was actually really close with their guess. Once again, I only own the story, not the characters, apart from the villain.
It had been a week since the Dark Knight's visit and Robin could tell how frustrated Danny was getting. He had been back for nearly two weeks and he still couldn't remember all of his powers. He had only just remembered his ice powers when he sneezed and froze a large section of the bay; his telekinesis came in when he went to swat a fly and sent Cyborg flying across the room. What he was really concerned about was the fact that he couldn't remember how to do his Ghostly Wail; his most powerful attack was dormant and he was scared for when the time came when he would need it, he wouldn't be able to do it. Robin's frustration revolved mainly around the fact that he still didn't remember the Titans; the only upside was that Danny had become more comfortable and relaxed around them, insinuating that he knew he was familiar with them. He walked into the kitchen to find a very welcome sight; Danny was cooking breakfast for them all again. Robin smiled at this. Danny was always the one to cook breakfast for them in the mornings. He always managed to make something that everyone enjoyed; whenever he cooked, Starfire never had to add any mustard. Robin pulled a chair up between Raven and Starfire and reached across for some toast.
"Good morning boyfriend Robin." Said Starfire, smiling brightly.
"Morning Star." Said Robin. "Hey. Where are the guys?"
"Cyborg came in here earlier to make a bacon sandwich and then went down to the garage." Said Raven, sipping her herbal tea. "As for Beast Boy, I think he's still asleep as it's before noon."
"Nah." Said Danny, from the stove. "He came in a little before I did to get a drink and some food, before heading back to his room. He seemed down."
"I'll go see what's up." Said Robin, walking to the door, toast in hand. He arrived at Beast Boy's door, which was slightly ajar.
"Hey? BB? You in here?" Asked Robin.
"Yeah. C'mon in." Came Beast Boy's response. Robin entered to find the changeling sat on his bed with his back against the wall.
"What's wrong man?" Queried the Boy Wonder.
"Nothing." Said Beast Boy unconvincingly. "Just a bit tired."
"BB. You're talking to the guy trained by Batman here." Smirked Robin. "I can spot when someone is lying to me a mile off, blindfolded." Beast Boy just huffed.
"You mean just like you can tell Danny is lying to us all at the moment?" Countered Beast Boy.
"I don't know what you mean." Said Robin, almost as unconvincingly as Beast Boy.
"Leave it out Rob." Beast Boy said exasperatedly. "I know you know something stinks around here." Robin just sighed.
"How did you know?" Robin finally asked.
"You may be able to sense a lie a mile off, but my animal instincts have been going haywire ever since that first time Danny started training with us again."
"Yeah." Confirmed Robin. "That's when I first noticed he was lying to us. But you have to understand something Beast Boy. The reason why I haven't called him up on it yet is because I know what he's going through. He still doesn't remember us; therefore he still doesn't trust us yet. We have to give him more time."
"I know, I know." Groaned Beast Boy. "But how can we rely on him in a battle if he doesn't trust us enough to tell us what's going on?"
"We can, because we must BB." Robin said simply. "Remember how broken he was when he first arrived? Just looking for somewhere to start again?" Beast Boy grimaced at those memories.
"Exactly." Said Robin, noticing the changeling's face. "It's not so different from then. We just need to be patient. Can you do that for me dude?"
"I can try." Was his only response.
"Thanks man. Now, stop being a hermit and come out and play some videogames." Smiled Robin, up until the alarms started blaring. "Or kick some bad guy butt?"
"I like the sound of that." Laughed Beast Boy. As they were about to leave Beast Boy's room, Cyborg rushed around the corner.
"Guys. We've got trouble. Big trouble." Panted Cyborg.
"Dude, we know. We heard the alarms." Cyborg shook his head.
"You don't understand grass-stain. We have really BIG trouble. Danny told me to tell everyone to bring their ecto-weapons. Something wrong is going on at the quarry."
The Titans just stared in shock at the sight before them. In front of them was Cinderblock attacking the quarry. But this wasn't the Cinderblock they were used to fighting; this Cinderblock was three times his usual size and a ghostly green.
"Well. I guess I'm not the only one with a new look." Joked Danny. The other Titans turned to glare at the ghost teen.
"Sorry. Bad habit." Said Danny, rubbing the back of his neck.
"TITANS GO!" Shouted Robin. Danny stilled at the leader's shout; it seemed incredibly familiar. He was brought out of his musings when Beast Boy sailed past him in rhino form.
"Damn." Cursed Beast Boy. "I thought he was tough when he was normal." Danny flew up to where Starfire was firing her starbolts at Cinderblock's face, and used his own ecto-blasts to aid her, whilst Raven was surrounding boulders in black energy and launching them at him. None of their attacks were having any effect. Before Danny could think of anything, a giant, green rock hand loomed into view. He turned intangible, only for it to fail as Cinderblock's hand smashed him to the ground. Damn, that hurt. Thought Danny, seeing double. He wearily looked up to see the same fate about to happen to Raven. She brought up a black shield, but she was swatted to the ground as Danny had been. Danny darted forwards to catch her before she hit the ground; he gently laid her down, unconscious but alive. Danny then had an idea and froze the ground, causing Cinderblock to slip and fall with a crash.
"We need a plan!" Shouted Robin. He was right. He had been swiped aside as easily as Beast Boy had. He had nothing which could be effectively used against Cinderblock.
"We need more power." Said Cyborg, his sonic cannons doing nothing but chipping bits of rock off, as Cinderblock began to stand back up again.
More power? Thought Danny, as his eyes set upon Cyborg's cannons. A memory came back to him; Cyborg's cannons and a certain fruit loop flying through the air.
"CYBORG!" Shouted Danny, flying over to the robot teen. "GET BOTH YOUR CANNONS OUT!" Cyborg looked at him confusingly, before it dawned on him at what Danny was planning. A smile crossed his face as he got them out. Danny landed behind him and began charging them up.
"FIRE!" Twin beams of sonic-ecto energy erupted from Cyborg's weapons and hit Cinderblock square in the chest, causing him to fly to the other side of the quarry, knocking him out cold.
"BOO-YA!" Shouted Cyborg. "I was so hoping to do that again." Danny just smiled as he used his telekinesis to levitate some steel beams and began to tie up Cinderblock in them. He then noticed Cinderblock begin to glow, before returning to normal size and colour; the green mist floating away into the sky before disappearing. He readjusted the steel beams before making his way over to the Titans, who were huddled around Raven, worrying about the green mist.
"Hey. How's she doing?" Asked Danny, concerned etched into his voice.
"She'll be fine man." Replied Beast Boy, before looking up to Danny with a smile. "But seriously, what you just did with Cyborg was awesome." Danny blushed before looking over to Cyborg.
"I remembered we did the same thing to Vlad a while ago, and that seemed to work." The Titans were elated at the fact that Danny was getting his memory back; Starfire was squealing with joy.
"Oh how wondrous!" She squealed. "Friend Danny is remembering us." She then pulled him into one of her signature hugs, before Danny phased out, not wanting to add any broken bones to the growing headache he was getting.
"Whilst this is good news." Started Robin, still smiling. "We need to get back to the Tower to sort out Raven."
"Buzz kill." Whispered Beast Boy, but Robin heard and glared at him.
"Hang on." Started Danny. "I think I might be able to get us there." He had been practising his teleporting after he watched Raven do the same thing, and was just about getting the hang of it. He linked hands with everyone, and disappeared in a bright green light. The Titans landed in the living room, disorientated. Danny keeled over, before standing up.
"Wow." He managed. "Remind me not to do that too often."
"You ok man?" Asked Cyborg.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." Said Danny. "I'll take Raven to the infirmary." With that, he picked her up and left the room.
An hour later Raven finally came to, to find Danny sitting at the end of her bed.
"Wow. What hit me?" She groggily asked, her eyes finding Danny's. Danny chuckled at her question; it was always his first one whenever he woke up from being unconscious.
"Does a large rock hand sound familiar?" He asked, smirking slightly, but relieved that she was ok. Raven sat up before she answered.
"Just a bit." She said sarcastically. Before she could stand, Danny was at her side, pulling her into a tight hug. She froze at the embrace, but slowly melted into it, remembering how much she enjoyed it whenever Danny had crept up behind her to hug her. As Danny pulled away, a brilliant blush on his cheeks, Raven couldn't help but lean in and kiss him on the lips. Both sets of eyes widened upon the contact as they pulled away from each other, both sporting matching blushes. Danny was about to say something, before Raven interrupted.
"I'm…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Stuttered Raven, before disappearing in a black swirl. Danny's headache turned into a migraine as he tried to remember why that felt so familiar, and so good. His thoughts were interrupted as Robin came into the infirmary.
"Hey Danny. Everything ok?" He asked, wondering why Raven wasn't in bed resting.
"Yeah Rob. Everything's fine." Stated Danny, his mind still reeling. When he got it back under control, he turned to Robin.
"Actually, no. Everything's not ok." Robin looked at him with a frown. "I need you to call everyone to the main room. I have something to say. And by everyone, I mean everyone." Danny emphasised. Robin's eyes narrowed.
"Are you talking about the League?" Danny nodded.
"Alright. Give me a few hours." With that, he left Danny to his thoughts, thinking about everything he was about to tell them; wondering if after they knew everything, would they still see him as a friend.
Several hours later, the Titans and the Justice League were all seated around the largest sofa in the living room, with Danny in Phantom form, floating cross-legged in front of them, getting nervous about being around the world's greatest super hero team.
"I've been lying to you guys since I got back. I never forgot about this new threat." Danny started. Before he could carry on, the entire room erupted into angry yells and questions; Beast Boy and Robin just looked down with disappointment, having knew this already but were sad nonetheless.
"QUIET!" Shouted Danny, using his ghostly echo to send chills down everyone's backs, even Batman's.
"Please." Begged Danny. "Don't make me gag you. Just let me explain myself. Please." He met everyone's eyes for their acceptance, apart from Raven's. She was making a point of not looking at him; Danny just sighed at this. After a while, everyone mumbled ok, allowing Danny to continue.
"As I said, I didn't forget. It's hard to forget something like this." He said looking down. "The ghost that Clockwork sent me to investigate goes by the name of Mortuus. He was the Ghost Zone's very first King." Raven forgot about being mad at Danny at this.
"Wait. Wasn't Pariah Dark the first Ghost King?" Asked Raven. "All the books say he was."
"Unfortunately no. He wasn't the first. The records say he was because the Ancients were too ashamed to put down the truth." Said Danny.
"Who are these 'Ancients'?" Piped up Flash.
"Quiet Flash." Said Superman. "We need to hear it all before questions are asked." Flash just grumbled.
"The Ancients were the Ghost Zone's very first ghosts Flash. Very powerful ghosts too. Anyway, back to Mortuus. When the Ancients realised that the Ghost Zone and the Human realm were two sides of the same coin, they wanted to find a way to create a being that could rule over both realms." More cries of outrage ensued again. "I know, I know." Said Danny. "Every other ghost agrees at how stupid that idea was."
"But they did it." Danny started again. "Somehow they managed to create a super-being; powerful enough to rule over everything. But they made a mistake." Danny said bitterly. "As he developed, Mortuus saw how powerful he was, and turned on his creators and terrorised the Ghost Zone for nearly a hundred years. Many ghosts were wiped out." Danny paused at this, starting to shake. He may have only been half-ghost for three years, but he still saw himself as one of them, as well as human. To learn how many had been killed hurt him. Superman looked at the ghost teen with sympathy at this; he knew what it felt like to lose people.
"Phantom?" Asked Wonder Woman, motherly instincts kicking in at the sad child in front of her. Everyone was looking sadly at Danny in front of them; all anger gone from their minds.
"Sorry." Danny said, wiping his eyes. "Anyway, with the help of Pariah, him and the Ancients were able to seal Mortuus away in the Coffin of Eternal Damnation in the deepest depths of the Ghost Zone. Because of his involvement, Pariah was awarded the Crown of Fire and became King, but we all know how well that turned out. It took fifty Ancients to take out Mortuus, but only six were still around to do the same to Pariah; Mortuus had fully killed the rest." Ever the investigator, Batman glared at Danny before speaking up.
"How was this Mortuus created though? Why was he so much more powerful than these Ancients?" Danny wasn't fazed by the glare, too caught up in memories. Both Raven and Beast Boy could feel the anguish coming off of Danny in waves.
"Danny? How was he made?" Beast Boy asked. Danny just gave a large sigh.
"The Ancients, in all their wonderful wisdom, took a toddler from the Human Realm and trapped him inside a natural portal, turning him into a ghost." Everyone gasped. "But what you have to understand about natural portals back then, was that they had a thousand times more energised ectoplasm in them than ones nowadays. That much ectoplasm can turn anyone insane with power." Danny looked down again before carrying on. "The Ancients messed up though. Their plan didn't work. The portal only half killed him." This time everyone was speechless, realisation dawning on them at what this meant.
"Wait. Does that mean…? Are you saying…? Is Mortuus…?" Stuttered Cyborg.
"Yeah Cy. Mortuus is a Halfa. Just like me." Nobody could speak after this revelation; all were staring wide-eyed at Danny not knowing what to say.
"Hold up kid." Batman said gruffly, interrupting everyone's thoughts. "You still haven't explained why he is so much more powerful."
"That's the reason I didn't want to tell you the truth. I didn't want you to see me as a threat after you knew the truth." Admitted Danny. "As you are all aware, Halfas are an incredibly rare species, only four having come into existence. Halfas power levels overtake a typical ghosts power levels by miles. To put it into perspective, I was able to defeat Pariah after only having my powers for eight months, albeit with a little help from my parents' battle suit. A standard ghost's power levels are capped on their fourth deathday, but a Halfas can continue beyond this, but there are still limitations and exceptions. Plasmius' power levels are capped because he only got a small direct blast of ectoplasm to the face. His power levels capped a few years ago. He is probably only slightly weaker than what Pariah was. As for Dani; her powers will cap when she reaches fourteen; the age I was when she was created." Danny stopped, not wanting to carry on.
"But friend Danny." Started Starfire. "What about you? When will your power levels do the capping?"
"Remember when I said there were exceptions?" He asked quietly; everyone nodded, too enthralled to be able to speak. "I'm an exception. It turns out when I stepped into my parents' portal, I was shocked with the same amount of energised ectoplasm as Mortuus was." Everyone's jaws dropped, even the Leagues'.
"Wait." Spoke up Green Lantern for the first time. "What does that mean?"
"It means." Danny sighed. "It means, like Mortuus' power levels, my power level will never cap. My powers will keep developing and become stronger and stronger until the day I fully die." He finished, turning his head away from the heroes, waiting for their rejections. The Titan's finally realised why Danny was so afraid of how powerful he was. It wasn't only because of Dark Dan, but because his power levels are potentially limitless. So if he were to turn into Dark Dan later on in life, he would be unstoppable.
"But Danny," started Beast Boy, looking up at the floating teen. "That's impossible. No one could be that strong."
"I wish that were true BB. I really, really do." Confessed Danny. "But I have witnessed how much power Mortuus has. Even though he has been locked away for a thousand years, his powers continued to grow. He destroyed half the Ghost Zone in a matter of minutes." The League turned to each other and muttered hurriedly to each other, before Batman stood up and addressed everyone else.
"In the world's best interests after hearing this grave news, both you and this Mortuus have to be dealt with, permanently." Danny's eyes opened wide as the League prepared their weapons; the Titans standing up, backs to Danny, preparing to defend their friend.
"Titans, stand down." Commanded Superman. "Phantom must be dealt with before he too becomes too powerful to stop."
"I am afraid." Came a voice, its echo stopping the League in their tracks. "I cannot allow that to happen." A large purple clock appeared in the centre of the room as the Ghost of Time made an entrance. On instinct, Batman hurled a batarang as Green Lantern sent a green energy blast at the ghost, only for their attacks to sail cleanly through him.
"There's no point." Said Robin, glaring at his ex-mentor. "Clockwork is a ghost, and none of you are even close to being able to harm him." Realising this, the League sheathed their weapons, but kept their battle stances.
"Thank you Master Robin." Said Clockwork. "As you have just been told, I am Clockwork, Master of Time."
"What do you mean 'Master of Time'?" Questioned Flash, his eyes never leaving the ghost.
"It means, Mr Allen, that I see all that has been, what is, and what will be. So if you follow through with your plan of attempting to race to get Danny, it will end very badly for you." The League just stood in shock; this ghost had known what Flash was going to do, and he even knew his name. What puzzled the League more was that the Titans were completely unfazed by the Ghost of Time.
"As I was saying." Clockwork started again. "I cannot allow you to take out my ward because he is the only hope the world has at defeating Mortuus. Are you seriously going to consider killing the only being able to defeat such power?" The League, realising how brash they had been, relaxed their stances and acknowledged what Clockwork had said was true. They needed all the help they could get.
"A wise decision." Said Clockwork. "Now, I do believe that there is a problem occurring just outside the city which requires your attention." As he said this, the alarms started blaring. "Daniel? I require a quick word with you before you aid them." Stated Clockwork. The Titans looked at Danny to see if he'll be alright. He nodded, so they raced out the door, following the League to the situation.
"Why save me Clockwork?" Asked Danny, the sad look reappearing on his face. "They're right. I am just as much a threat as Mortuus is."
"No Daniel. You are not. Where Mortuus' heart is filled with greed, revenge and power-hunger, yours is filled with compassion, loyalty and honour. You are nothing like him." Danny looked up into the eyes of the Ghost of Time with a genuine smile on his face.
"Thanks Clockwork. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked. Clockwork looked down at his apprentice.
"I am here because it is time you knew. Mortuus will arrive in exactly a month, and attempt to lay waste to the world, starting with Jump. I am here to tell you how you can defeat him."
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter; took me ages to write and rewrite. The next chapter will reintroduce one of my favourite characters from Danny Phantom. Until then.
Lord Pugsy.