Arc 5 pt 2 : Follow Me, Set Me Free
Danny watches as Robin and his brother – and wasn't that a surprise – descend from the tree where the Bio-ship had crashed, joining the rest of the Team on the ground.
The landing had been rough, and the Martian space-craft had taken the blunt of it. All Danny could tell was that it was scratched up, but by the way Megan was staring at it and wincing, it was probably worse then it looked.
"Okay, Megan?" Artemis asks, setting a hand on the Martian's shoulder.
"Yeah, just... she's really hurt. She's not going anywhere for a while." Megan gazes worriedly up at the Bio-ship. Superboy comes up behind her and pulls her away from the archer and into a hug.
"We need to get moving –" Red Hood breaks in, stepping forward and sweeping his eyes over them all, "– before whatever shot us down catches up. Will your ship be okay if we leave it here?" He looks to Megan at his question, who nods.
"She'll be fine."
Between one blink and the next, the Bio-ship fades from visibility, blending in with leaves and forest almost seamlessly.
"Right," Red Hood crosses his arms. "Now we need some way to get to the Fentons. Anyone got any ideas?"
Danny clears his throat and raises his hand. He tries not to flinch under the intense gaze of the anti-hero, which was somehow worse then any of the villains he had faced. The only person Danny had met who was even more severe was Batman, which, he supposed, is to be expected, considering Batman was probably the one to train Red Hood.
"I can, uh..." Danny coughs, clearing his throat, then tries again. "I can teleport us all there."
A beat of silence.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Red Hood snaps.
Danny startles slightly. Calming himself, he sends out his ectoplasm to surround them all, and focuses on the image of an alley about a block from his house.
Instead of his teleportation, another power, the newest one, the one of the Crown, tries to break free. Danny wrestles with it, keeping it at bay by the skin of his teeth. To use it here and now, when its so out of control and imbalanced, would spell disaster.
He firmly shoves it aside and grabs his teleportation with two metaphorical hands, sending them hurtling through space to his home town.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Danny sighs, leaning against the brick wall behind him as they leave FentonWorks. It was hard at first, getting his parents to listen to them, but they now have a way to override the ghostly Starro Tech.
The only thing they had to do now was get to the League, and use the modified Specter Deflectors to free them.
"You 'traught, Phantom?"
Danny gives a wain smile to Robin, who has a concerned look on his face.
"I'm fine, Robin. Its just a bit draining, dealing with them while in Ghost Form."
"I could tell," he says. "I was just standing there watching and I still feel like I just ran a marathon." He stretches, arms above his head and arching his back. "So, lead us to the local Zeta-tube, and I'll hack us into the Watchtower."
"Right."
~! #$%^&*()_+
Danny flies down the white-gray corridor of the Justice League's space station (He. Is. In. Space! How awesome is this?!) while keeping a tight hold on Zatanna, who had been assigned as his partner for this mission. Their main objective was to find Doctor Fate, as the League's magical heavy hitter, before moving on to any other League members they could find. No one was to engage whatever Light members were here until the mind-controlled heroes had all been taken down.
*Just encountered BC.* Kid Flash's voice rings through their heads. *Successfully applied the modified SD. The chip bubbled out of her neck. It was kinda gross.*
*Focus, babe.* Artemis, who is paired with him, cuts in. *She's unconscious, so we put her in a closet.*
*Where?* Robin, paired with his brother somewhere in the station, asks.
A beat of silence, in which Danny and Zatanna reach the end of the hall and peak around the corner, finding Doc. Fate walking away from them, just like the Boy Wonder's directions – given before they split up and updated every other minute – implied.
*The one just to the left of the infirmary.* The archer reports.
*Right, I've marked it down. Continue on to Flash.*
With the affirmation ringing in his head, Danny reaches out and places his hand on the ground, sending out a pulse of Ghost Ice that snakes across the floor and up the Lord of Order's legs, quickly encasing him in it's elemental power.
Danny releases Zatanna, who hurries to her fellow magic user and hooks the mini Specter Deflector around his neck.
There's a sizzling sound and smoke rises from his the collar-like device, then the chip bubbles out and falls to the ground with a light tink.
*Oh, I think I'm gonna hurl.* Zatanna says, covering her mouth with a swift hand.
Danny can agree that its not a pretty sight, but he had seen worse from his own ghost fighting, so is able to hold in his gag reflex.
*We got Fate.* He reports as he dissolves his ice. *Hey Robin, know a good place to stash him?*
*Two doors down to your right, there's a storage closet for the station's shuttles.*
*Thanks.*
*No problem. When you're done, continue down that corridor and hang a left. You'll find Plastic Man in the hall. He seems to be replacing light bulbs.*
*On it.*
Danny and Zatanna finish hiding Doctor Fate – while listening to Rocket and Aqualad call in about the successful capture of Aquaman and Captain Atom – and follow Robin's instructions, continuing down the corridor and finding Plastic Man changing out lights in the darkened hall. The only source of illumination is the emergency lights in the walls. The stretchy hero seemed to have gotten caught in a rhythm of taking off the light cover, twisting out the dead tube bulb, replacing it with a new one, and putting the cover back on.
Danny quickly calls on his invisibility to obscure his partner and himself from the adult's view, then sneaks them closer.
*I'll float us right up to him. You hook on the Specter Deflector.* Danny says, gaining a bit of height at his words.
*Let's do it.* She agrees, reaching into the bag she's carrying and pulling one out.
Danny brings them closer, within arm reach of the older hero. Zatanna holds the Deflector out, about to place it on their target.
*Guys, we got Flash!*
Danny startles, flickering into visibility for a moment, at the younger Speedster's excited announcement. He floats backward and looks over Plastic Man, relieved to see that the man hadn't noticed them, somehow.
*Don't do that, Kid!* Zatanna shouts. *You almost gave us away!*
*Heh, sorry, guys.*
Danny roles his eyes and refocuses on their target. Within a few seconds, Plastic Man is on the floor, unconscious, the chip laying innocently next to him.
Not a minute later, Danny and Zatanna are on their way to the main observation room, where Robin reported the rest of the teen heroes were gathered, fighting the Light and the big three of the Justice League : Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
They turn the final corner to find the observatory a wreck and the battle still in full swing. Robin and Red Hood seem to be in a brawl with Batman and... someone that Danny didn't recognize, but is wearing the Bat emblem, so is probably another one of Batman's trainees (just how many of them did he have?), Superboy and Miss Martian are somehow holding their own against Superman, and Aqualad and Rocket are facing Wonder Woman.
Meanwhile, Kid Flash and Artemis loosing their own fight against Sportsmaster and Cheshire, who they're trying to get passed to reach Klarion the Witch Boy and...
*Plasmius!* Danny snarls, glaring at the other Halfa.
*Stay 'turbed, Phantom.* Robin calls over.
*Good to see you two.* Kid says, dodging a punch. *Now if could come help us, that would be even better!*
*We're coming, Wally.* Zatanna says.
Danny quickly flies over, intent on facing his arch nemesis. He drops Zatanna, vaguely noting her already shouting spells, as he charges toward the two apparent masterminds of this plan... and, like a Looney Toons' character, slams right into a Ghost Shield.
He pushes off of it to glare at Vlad, who is laughing at him.
"Oh, Daniel, when will you ever learn, that I always have a back up plan. You'll never get passed this dome. Mwa-ha-ha-ha."
Danny blinks. This is a dome? Not a sphere? He allows a smirk to cross his face, before sinking into the ground and whipping forward, pass the line of the GS, and out of the ground, striking Vlad with a ferocious uppercut.
"Never say never, Plasmius." Danny says, cocky smirk still present on his face. He reaches back and pulls Drako Kanalo from it's sheath, settling into a ready stance.
"Oh, butter biscuis." Vlad says, standing from where he'd fallen and holding his bleeding nose. "You, Little Badger, need to learn not to mess with your betters."
The older Halfa charges, fists bazing magenta with ectoplasm. At the same time, a calm falls over Danny, who can feel his new power rushing to the surface and into his sword. This time, he let's it. At the last possible moment, Danny flashes forward, passing Vlad and scraping Drako Kanalo across the man's side.
The Ghost Boy comes to a stop, sword at his hip, and looks over his shoulder at the Halfa that had been a thorn in his side for a year now, looking on dispassionately as he clutches at the wound, which is now glowing with an internal light.
"Daniel," he gasps. "What have you done?"
"I'll deal with you later, Fruit-loop, when it's just you and me." Danny says, and watches in fascination as the green glow grows bigger, until it forms a portal to the Ghost Zone, which sucks Vlad in, screaming.
Danny sighs as the portal winks out of existence, releaved that's over with. Then, he remembersthat there is one more villian to beat. He pivots one his heel, loking around for the Lord of Chaos, only to find him gone.
Another look, this time around the whole room, reveals his teammates standing over the adult heroes and tending to each others injuries.
Danny floats over to Robin and Red Hood, who are looking over an unknown, unconscious red-headed woman in a wheelchair.
Robin smiles up at Danny as soon as he notices him. "This is Oracle, the original Batgirl. I'm really glad she's okay."
Danny nods and returns the smile. He sits a little way away from them and allows the cool beams of his transformation to flow over him. It's been a long day, and Danny could use a few moments of rest.
~! #$%^&*()_+
It takes five hours for the adults to all wake up, and another ten for Danny to be excused to go home. He had managed to sleep three of those hours away, and all he wanted was to head to bed.
But, as he exits the Amity Park Zeta-tube, Danny knows there's one more thing that needs to be done today.
Silently, he sneaks into his house and into the Ghost Zone. He spends the next thirty minutes flying to his destination. Once there, he finds a crowd of ghosts gathered in front of the gates and mingling in the courtyard.
He reaches the edge of the crowd, which parts as soon as they notice him, allowing him to float through them and to the platform that had been set up just for this occasion.
Danny lands and walks up the steps, stopping a few feet from Fright Knight, who is standing there, waiting for him.
Fright gives him a nod, which Danny returns, before turning as one to the crowd.
"WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY, TO WITNESS THE UNDERTAKING OF The Third Right, THE FINAL CHALLENGE ALL ELLIGIBLE FOR THE THRONE MUST PASS TO ASSEND. DANIEL PHANTOM PASSED The First Right WHEN HE DEFEATED OUR FORMER KING, PARIAH DARK, IN COMBAT. HE PASSED The Second Right WHEN HE BESTED THE CROWN'S MOST POWERFUL KNIGHT IN COMBAT.
"BUT The Third Right, IS NOT ABOUT COMBAT. IT IS ABOUT A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE ALTOGETHER. OUR FUTURE RULER MUST BE ABLE TO BARE THE WEIGHT OF THE ENTIRE GHOST ZONE ON THEIR SHOULDERS. AND SO, HE MUST BARE THE SYMBALS OF OUR KING, THE RING OF RAGE, AND CROWN OF FIRE."
Danny does his best to control his breathing. He had gone over what is about to happen a million times with Clockwork. There is no need to be nervous.
Silently, he kneels, offering Fright Knight his right hand, which the Spirit of Halloween immediately grabs and slips the Ring onto. Danny bites his tongue to keep from making any noise as the foreign energy drills itself into his Core, wrapping itself around his empathic abilities, usually so muted he barely feels them, and enhancing them a thousand fold, crushing him under the weight of every emotion of every ghost in existence.
Danny wrestles with it, pulling it back into his Core inch by painful inch, until he can finally lock it inside the frozen orb in his chest.
Suddenly, he's aware of his panting breaths, heard easily in the loud silence of the courtyard. Danny looks up, meeting Fright's eyes, before bowing his head.
A moment later, he feels the Crown nestle into his sweaty white lockes, and is once again overwhelmed by the sensation, only this time, he can feel the Zone in it's entiredy. He can feel every ghost, where they are, what they're doing. He can feel every eddie of energy, every movement of ectoplasmic.
And he can feel just how broken it all is. The ectoplasm, out of control and unbalance from so long without a true ruler, a caring ruler, a patient ruler, reaches willingly for him, like a hurt child for their parent. Danny accepts it, cupping it in his hands and offering it his own ectoplasm, soothing over the painful burns of corruption and tyrany.
Suddenly back on the platform again, within that tiny courtyard yet craddling the entire Ghost Zone in his hands, Danny stands and faces his subjects, his people.
Next to him, Fright Knight falls to his knees, bowing deeply.
"ALL HAIL CROWN PRINCE PHANTOM, FUTURE KING OF THE INFINITE REALMS!"
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
Here it is, the final chapter of The Phantom of the Dragon Temple.
A week late.
Yeah, sorry about that.
Review replies!
Morning Bleach : Sorry, I'd like to do something like that, but I skipped that because I wasn't sure how. You'll notice that being a theme in my stories.
TheFishKing : Not in this story, no, but I can see about including it in another.
Hrisi292 : Why, thank you. I absolutely adore the Bat Bros, I really wish there was more YjxDP crossovers with them.
Thank you all for reading! If you have any ideas, corrections, or comments, leave it in the reviews.