Danny wheezed as he pressed his fingers from his left hand around the blade while he yanked the blade out. Ecto-blood started spurting out. He froze the wound and the surrounding area, trying to maintain the pressure that his fingers had had on the injury. The ice would help it heal, so he wasn't too worried.
He spotted a figure darting behind another piece of rubble through the mist. He let himself slip into invisibility and heard a small annoyed grunt. He flew around the pieces of rubble to where the figure was, and tackled them, pinning both their arms behind them, and digging a knee into their back.
"Who are you?"
"Screw you," a feminine voice answered.
"I'll start then. I'm Phantom. Who are you?"
He was met with silence, but he could practically feel her rage.
"I'm the soon-to-be king of the Ghost Zone. Or the Infinite Realms. Call it what you will," he hummed, ignoring the throb on his side from bending down.
"Oh, so now the ghost king takes interest in us," she turned her head so he could see the sneer on her blue lips. "Where were you when the fighting started? Where were you when we couldn't even get a few measly supplies? Where were you when the ghosts here nearly ceased?"
Danny felt an unreasonable spike of guilt in him. "I didn't know I would be crowned until a couple days ago. I didn't even know cities existed until a few hours ago either."
"How could you not have?" the woman scoffed. "You're an old and powerful ghost if you could incapacitate me in a few seconds with an ectoplasm wound."
His eyebrows crept up. "I'm powerful, sure, but I'm definitely not old." He twisted to get a better look of the blade lying on the floor. To his surprise, it wasn't a knife like he had initially assumed, but a pure ectoplasm construct.
Huh.
Maybe Danny could do that too?
"I'll ask again. Who are you?"
"Min," the woman snarled through her gritted teeth.
"Min. Okay. How long has it been since you died?"
Min glared at him. "Seventy-seven years."
Danny blinked as he did a quick calculation in his head. 2021 minus seventy-seven was 1944. Also a year before World War Two ended. So Min died a long time ago. Or not so long in a ghost's perspective. How old, or young, did a ghost have to be to be dumped in this place?
When he asked, Min replied bitterly, "I was the first. So, anyone between 1944 and the present I suppose."
"Alright. Are you going to attack me the second I let you go?"
She scoffed. "I'm not stupid. You showed how strong you were when you incapacitated me."
Danny cautiously released her, preparing for an attack. He was pleasantly surprised when all she did was stand up and remain still. Her back was tense and he could barely hear her breathing. She was dressed in all black, with a few red accents highlighting her outfit.
It looked more like a worn out uniform, though.
Min looked like a soldier.
The unreasonable guilt sparked up again.
"Min, we're ending this war today," Danny said firmly. He watched as her crimson eyes grew wide as she stared as if he was an idiot. "But I'll need your help. Will you help me?"
"Are you stupid?" she snapped. "This war has been going on for almost eighty years. How can you stop it when none of us have been able to? It's only by luck that none of us have ceased."
"I'm going to be the Ghost King." She stiffened at the reminder, a snarl forming on her face. "I have power and authority to end this situation, so I will. Every single ghost in the zone is my subject," and wow wasn't that weird, "and I won't allow ghosts, especially new ones to be treated like this."
And he meant every word. If he had died completely from the portal incident, then ending up in a place like this would've been one of the worst things that could've happened.
Min snorted. "I'm not a new ghost."
"But what about the ghosts that arrived within the last week? None of you guys deserve this."
She sighed, more out of slightly helplessness than anything else. "Then why are you asking me for help? It's not that I don't want to end this damn war, but you don't even need me."
"You've been fighting this your whole ghost life. You deserve a part in this too," Danny said firmly. "And so does the other side. So we're going there before we head to your base. If you agree, that is."
"Fair enough. But why should I trust you?" she raised an eyebrow. "You could be planning to stab me in the back just because it amuses you."
Danny sucked in a breath as he debated whether he should do it or not. On one hand, she was a ghost, and on another, it was his biggest secret.
But it would show that he could be trusted.
He needed that trust from her. How could he even call himself a king without his subject's trust?
He licked his lips as he let his transformation rings pass over him, leaving his human form in his ghost form's stead.
Gasping, Min reached out as if she wanted to check if what she just saw was true, but pulled back at the last second. "What the hell?"
He smiled. "My name's Danny. I'm a half-ghost," he said sheepishly.
"You're-you're just a kid," she furrowed her brow. "And how the hell is that possible? One of your parents a ghost? Didn't think that was possible, even for this insane place."
His smile turned bitter at the mention of his parents, but returned to full force after a second. "Nope. My parents have no clue, and it'll stay that way unless I want to get dissected-slash-vivisected. It was actually an accident that made me like this."
"What kind of accident half-killed you?"
"A bad one," he grimaced, shivering at the phantom electricity running over his skin. "You're not going to question the parents part?"
Min shrugged. "Mine were pretty shit too."
Danny smiled at her again. "So will you help?"
"Sheesh kid, turn your smile down. It's too bright for this place. But yeah, I will. I want to have a safe place for me and my people to stay without having to watch our backs. I can say the same for Merc's side."
"Merc?"
"Green's leader. I'm Red's leader," she gestured to her uniform.
"Very creative," Danny said dryly.
Min shrugged, grinning sharply.
"So how did this war even start?" he asked. "Like I know it was about territory, but I would've assumed you guys would work together instead of trying to tear each other apart."
"It started four years after I became a ghost. Originally, there were just over fifty ghosts inhabiting this section, so it was fine. We were doing okay. But then, the stupid Elder ghosts just shut us off from the rest of the city. We were trapped, and we only got supplies once a month. Still do. Everyone declared war, and it was every ghost for themself. In a few months, I gathered a few ghosts and we started the Red group. Merc did the same, and suddenly, we had two sides waging war on each other and trying to steal items and supplies." Her lips formed a scowl.
Danny gestured for her to continue as he transformed back and started following her.
"It got worse after that. There was ectoplasm everywhere, and ghosts learned that they could create these," thin blades suddenly appeared in between her fingers before she made them disappear. "Everyone started using these on the enemy until both sides retreated, trying to get some semblance of peace. For a while, it worked. We even drew out a boundary from our ectoplasm to separate sides, but it all stopped when our border lines were redrawn by the Elders, who made our already tiny space even smaller."
"How many ghosts does this whole place have?"
"About two thousand ghosts live here."
Danny frowned. This entire place was three quarters the size of Amity. No wonder there was a freaking civil war. "You're okay with Merc being a part of this?"
Min shrugged. "He was actually one of the first ghosts here. He's not that bad, but the circumstance is what it is. And besides, if we can end this, then we will. But I have a question."
"Shoot."
"Why didn't the previous ghost king help us?" she asked, uncharacteristically, from what he'd seen, softly.
"His name was Pariah Dark, and he was a tyrant." A dark look crossed his features. "He was in the Forever Sleep for a long time. Trust me, it was for the best."
They walked in silence for a few minutes.
"Does this place have a name?"
Min smiled, fangs poking out, flashing dark and dangerous, all hints of softness gone.
"We call it Ground Zero."
When Min first left for supply foraging, she expected it to go like any other day. Get a few things here or there, or maybe return with nothing at all.
She certainly wasn't expecting the goddamn Ghost King child person to just appear randomly and declare that this damn war was ending today.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, she had hope. It was a strange sensation, a desperate kind of hope that she didn't want to let go and left her feeling giddy. She was certain Merc would feel the same way. He never did want to fight, but like she had told Phantom, it was the circumstances.
Currently, they were hiding behind a crumbling wall, deep into Merc's territory. Her core, as she'd found out many years ago, was sending out calming signals in this kid's presence. It was weird, but she knew she could trust him from the moment she saw him. She just ignored that feeling since trusting then getting stabbed in the back wasn't fun.
She would know.
She was Terminator after all.
She'd done it and it had been done to her many times. No need to add another time.
She was the special agent sent to take care of high-profile assassinations and killed for a living.
Blood stained her hands like saffron dyed red.
But it made her happy that ectoplasm didn't.
When this literal infant with the whitest hair and the softest eyes with the most ethereal glow she'd ever seen smiled, Min knew he was the one she would lay her life for. She knew he would do the same.
It made no sense, but neither did anything about this situation.
"So how do we get past all these people?"
It was so weird how her core was telling her how amazing, powerful, and kind he was.
It was like signals from her chest to her entire body. From her heads to her toes, to her left arm to the right, nothing got left out. It was… nice.
She glanced at them thoughtfully before turning back. "Well—"
Phantom gave a mischievous quirk of lips before he leaped out of their hiding space to the middle of all the ghosts. "Hi! Can we pass please? We need to talk to Merc."
All the ghosts gave a battle cry before attacking. Phantom just dodged and made sure not to hurt them.
Min's eye twitched.
He was also, as she was realizing, an idiot.
Well, he tried talking before the ghosts attacked.
Jazz would be so proud, considering how he usually attacked first, make witty banter throughout the fight, talk like reasonable ghosts never.
Danny grinned in amusement as a ghost tried to stab him with a spear.
Now, someone out there (Min), might be thinking he was a crazy maniac.
But no, he was in fact not a crazy maniac.
He was just a ghostly maniac who had two hours before he had to go back.
The pressure might be getting to him.
Danny quickly incapacitated the five ghosts trying to reunalive him, and motioned for Min to step out of her hiding place. His grin grew into a smirk at her annoyed expression.
He refrained from commenting though.
"What the hell was that?" she threw her hands up in newly discovered, he was sure, exasperation as she stormed towards him.
"No idea what you're talking about," Danny replied with an innocent little whistle.
"No idea, my ass, you little—" He tuned her out as she began calling him multiple profanities. Bad for his Ghost King child ears and all that.
Instead, he turned to face the largest structure he could see that wasn't crumbling down and pointed to the top. It was built of some brick looking material, and shaped in a perfect rectangle, except for the top corners and a bit on the sides, which were deteriorating. "Is that where Merc is?"
Min paused in her swear monologue. "Yeah. The problem is that it's all the way on the top floor, so no one has been able to get up there yet. Come to think of it, how the heck did you get inside Ground Zero? As far as I know, there isn't a door anywhere."
Danny smirked. "Would you like me to show you?"
Min eyed him warily. "Not really, no."
He grabbed her hand anyways and shot off into the sky.
Min shrieked in rage.
And then in confusion. "How the hell are you flying so high?!"
Danny shrugged as they crashed through the window. He used his other arm to repel the glass shards from them. "I'm a Halfa. I can do a lot of things better than a normal ghost can."
"That makes no sense," Min said flatly as her feet hit the ground. She snatched her hand back. "And if you ever do that again, I will find a way to eviscerate you."
"Duly noted," he said cheerfully before turning to the five ghosts seated at the table.
"Min?" the ghost at the head blinked wildly before settling on a glare.
"Merc." She met his glare evenly.
"Min," he said grimly.
"Phantom," Danny threw in pleasantly.
Everyone paused to stare at him. He gave a jaunty little wave.
"Hi! I'm Phantom and I'm the soon-to-be King of the Ghost Zone!"
I guess I'd better get used to introducing myself like this , he thought dryly.
Min facepalmed and muttered under her breath.
Merc's eyes hardened even more. "The Ghost King, huh? And what, pray tell, is someone so important like you doing here, Your Majesty?"
Danny's smile disappeared, and face turned determined. He locked eyes with Merc as he walked calmly up to the other end of the table. His fist slammed down on it, leaving spiderweb cracks indented deep into the wood, the splinters bouncing harmlessly off his glove.
All the ghosts flinched back. His gaze swept the room intensely. Now that he got a good look at them, he could tell they were all weary and tired. They looked exhausted, which was something Danny hadn't seen on any ghost other than himself and Klemper, who didn't really count.
His core vibrated, and a spark of anger rose up as he grit his teeth.
None of these ghosts should feel this way. Maybe it was his hero side talking, or maybe it was his king side, but it was wrong for anyone else to be living this way. They did nothing to deserve what they've been put through.
And, shit, were other ghost cities doing this too?
How was he going to fix it if it was like that?
"We're ending the war today."
Min watched as Merc's expression turned from anger to confusion to disbelief to anger again.
"Do you hear yourself?" he asked harshly. "You think you can just come up to us and make false promises when all these years you've done nothing to help us." He stood up, feet slamming on the floor, making a small cracking sound as he walked up to Phantom.
"We've been at war for seventy-three years. We've been forced to live in this wasteland all this time, and everyone here has nearly ceased because of it. We've spent this time withering away. Do you know what it's like to see someone get so tired of living here that they just start losing themselves? Have you seen a ghost lose faith and hope and passion and hide away in their core? Have you!?" he roared into Phantom's face.
Phantom stayed silent.
Merc placed an arm over his eyes, head tilted towards the ceiling. Min's eyes were suspiciously wet.
She knew exactly what he was talking about.
The pain of seeing a core because the ghost couldn't bear the world was heartbreaking.
"Because I have," he croaked, the anger turning hollow as he was undoubtedly remembering all the ghost cores he'd seen. "All of us here at Ground Zero have. We have so many ghost cores, and we don't know how to save them, or if they even can be saved. They're just there, pulsing away, but no matter what we do we can't get them out. And do you know what it's like seeing a new ghost gets thrown over the wall like garbage going to a dump?"
Phantom shook his head.
"It's torture. It's like all your insides are being torn out of you. It starts at your core, and then expands throughout your whole body. It's numbing at first, but then it feels like someone drizzled oil on you and lit you on fire. It's worse when it's a kid who gets put here."
Phantom paled. "Child ghosts get put in here as well?!"
"Every kind of ghost gets dumped here." Merc hardened again. "Young or old, it doesn't matter. Now leave. You can't help us stop the war, or you would've done so already."
The white haired menace shook his head. "I only found out about this today."
"Congrats," Merc snarled.
"No, not congrats. I should've found out sooner. I should've found out two years ago, when I became part ghost."
That stopped Merc from returning to his seat. "Part ghost?"
Phantom nodded solemnly and those rings of light passed over him. Somehow, just because his features changed, didn't mean the etherealness of him did. He stared back at the ghosts' wide eyes with the wise blue of his own.
If she looked close enough, she could see the cosmos in them.
The child with the universe in his eyes.
How fitting.
She could tell Merc felt the same way as his eyes widened with concealed awe. He shook it off and continued glaring.
"I'm not lying to you when I say we will end this war," Phantom said firmly. They all inhaled sharply when some kind of aura enveloped him, shifting and twisting to the shape of a crown, lighting the barely-there freckles on his face with a pure white glow like the stars. It then altered even more to envelop him in, caressing him gently.
He didn't appear to notice.
Phantom held a hand out. "Fight with me?"
"We'll… give it a try," Merc said dazedly as he accepted it.
He beamed, and Min's core let out a happy signal.
She could finally live again.
All two thousand and something ghosts were gathered in front of the wall. Confused murmurs spread throughout the whole crowd as each side eyed the other warily. Merc and Min stepped on the ice construct Danny made, and the ghosts grew silent as they stared wide-eyed at the two leaders standing together peacefully.
Danny flew down in between them, stepping out of the shadow of the wall. "My name is Phantom. I'm the soon-to-be king of the Ghost Zone."
The mutterings turned hostile.
Before anything could say anything, Merc placed a hand up, silencing them.
"I apologize deeply for not knowing about this situation earlier so I could put an end to it. You've all been through so much, and it's my fault for not realizing that something like this was happening. But that changed today when someone told me about what exactly was going on here. This war is ending today."
Everyone was silent.
Danny kept his gaze steady.
A ghost in front glared at him. "Where were you all these years, then?"
"Not a ghost," he replied.
He could feel the confusion multiplying.
He transformed back into his human form, and watched as they all were stunned into silence. "My name's Danny. I became a Halfa, a half-human, half-ghost hybrid, two years ago. I didn't know any of you existed until a few hours ago, and I hope that you will all forgive me for not being aware of this sooner." His mouth pressed into a firm line. "But now isn't the time. I'll be happy to answer your questions after we put a stop to this war."
With that said, he turned around, gathered all his strength in one arm, and punched the wall.
The air rippled.
The wall cracked.
Light shone through those very cracks.
Then, the wall crumbled.
Jason felt a shift inside him and shuddered violently.
Tim paused in his research to look at him. "You okay?"
Something changed. He wasn't entirely sure what, but it was something deep inside him was rising. He could feel the Lazarus Pit stirring, but strangely, none of the rage bloomed. Instead, a feeling of peace washed over him.
"The Lazarus Pit."
Tim was at his side at an instant. "Jay, your eyes are glowing. Should I get Bruce?"
"I think I'm fine," Jason replied hesitantly.
Dick appeared out of nowhere, and Jason yelped as he started fussing.
"I'm fine, Jeez!"
"You just said something was up with Lazarus Pit," Dick said flatly. "That constitutes that something is definitely wrong."
"No, it's acting weirdly. It's not angry. It's peaceful."
He was met with twin stares of disbelief.
"You're joking? The Lazarus Pit, peaceful?"
"Interesting," Damian said, popping from presumably the same place Dick had to Jason's side. "Grandfather said that the Lazarus Pit is violent, volatile, and uncontrollable by any other than him, but that it is also the essence of life. He also said there was only one other recorded case of the Lazarus Pit being peaceful."
"Again," Tim put in, "The Lazarus Pit, peaceful?"
Their youngest brother nodded. "It was two years ago. I can't remember the day, but Grandfather said it was pure peace and that he'd never felt anything like it before."
Suddenly Jason remembered. He remembered waking up two years ago with the Lazarus Pit active, but never bothering him. It was a weirdly nice day for him.
He might've also forgotten to mention it to his family.
Whoops
"I remember that," Jason muttered.
"Why did you tell anyone?" Tim glared, huffing.
"Forgot."
"How do you know Ra's said that," Dick questioned, eyes narrowing at Damian.
"It was when you made me deliver Timothy soup because the idiot got himself sick but went to work anyways."
"And Ra's just told you that?" Tim raised an eyebrow, ignoring the jab at him. "Why?"
Damian shrugged. "Who knows why Grandfather does anything?"
"Hear ye, hear ye," Jason muttered in agreement.
Every ghost watched, dazed and with unadulterated awe and joy as the wall came crumbling down into fragments of various sizes ranging from the size of an eyeball to the size of a truck. Hope, which had become an unthinkable and unreachable concept, unfurled from its tiny spot buried deep inside all of them.
The wall fell.
The wall actually fell!
The first few seconds after Phantom punched the wall, nothing happened. Their hope had started plummeting, but then, out of nowhere, the air began shifting around him and cracks started spreading throughout the entirety of the wall.
They could even hear the bangs and see the dust clouds from where it collapsed on the opposite side of Ground Zero.
What even was this child?
How the hell did a single punch from him, while injured in the side, judging from the ice patch, and in human form (because that was a thing now apparently) make a ginormous wall just fall like it was mere glass?!
Especially the wall that caged them and loomed over them, as if sneering at their oppression.
Murmurs and shocked whispers rippled through the crowd.
Phantom turned to them.
"We're going to storm up to the Elder ghosts and give you what should've been yours from the moment you came here." His fist rose up, piercing the green sky above them as his blue gaze burned through their cores. His eyes may not have been a ghost's, but it still left them dry-mouthing as the feeling of amazement choked them. "Who's with me?!"
And as one, the ghosts roared in agreement as they raised up their fists to match their leader.
Finally, after so long, they would be all right.
And all thanks to this half-ghost, half-human child who helped them when no one else did.
Danny was definitely not freaking out as he transformed.
Nope. Freaking out? What was that? Haha, no, he was as cool as a cucumber.
...okay, so maybe he was freaking out.
But who wouldn't when they just cracked a huge damn wall with one fist in human form?!
If it was a small section, he'd understand. Danny knew his strength was ridiculous. He knew that he could lift a truck with one hand easily. He'd done it before.
But what he didn't know was that he could apparently demolish a wall running around an entire city section with just one hand.
Like what?
He remembered the exact moment it happened. Something rushed through his veins like adrenaline, but it warmed his body the way adrenaline couldn't. It was only for the split second his fist connected to the wall, but he could feel it both inside and out. It was intense and overpowering, but at the same time it was calming and non threatening to him.
Maybe that's what gave him the strength to destroy the wall in human form. He'd have to ask Clockwork later.
Because right now he was about to reach the city border, leading two armies into the city to have a talk with the Elders.
And a talk it would be.
But first he needed to find out where the heck they even were during the day. He gestured to Min to fly next to him. She raised an eyebrow but nodded, flying closer and lowering her voice. "What's up?"
"Where are the Elders?"
Min rolled her eyes in disbelief. "I've known you for about three hours and I can say with certainty that only you would lead an entire rebellion and not know where the people you even need to talk to are."
Danny blinked. "I'm not leading a rebellion."
She guffawed before stopping when she realized he had no clue what she was talking about.
"Are you for real? Did you not notice the two armies behind you marching towards freedom and hope?"
"That's not a rebellion," Danny said insistently. Because there was no way he was leading a freaking rebellion without knowing it. "It's a—it's a—"
"Rebellion," Merc, who had apparently been eavesdropping, finished. "You tore down the wall that has kept freedom and peace from us for decades. You've managed to restore our hope, and are about to guide us to victory. We are opposing the authority of the Elders who have oppressed us. Isn't that what a rebellion is?"
Danny's mouth opened and closed like a fish's. "That's not—It's isn't—"
He was—oh Ancients he really was leading a rebellion.
Of course he was.
He wanted to smash his head on a tree.
How him?
Danny just closed his mouth and resolutely stared on ahead, completely ignoring Merc's and Min's snickers.
They ended up coming up to the city border a few seconds later, where a blue uniformed cop was waiting. Huh. Did the cops have rotations around the city?
"Blue?"
Blue stared in confusion as he observed their dirty appearances. "Sir, who are these people?"
This time, Danny was the one in bemusement. "You don't know who they are? They're the people who were forced to live in the limits of the wall."
Blue just looked more bewildered. "My King, there is no one living inside of the closed off section."
One of the ghosts he was leading stepped up, flaring out aggressively. "Really? Because I've been in that damned place for fifty years. I know some ghosts have been in there longer."
The others eyed Blue warily.
The ghost cop was darting around them frantically. "Are you the ghosts from the years 1944 to the present?"
Multiple nods.
"You were behind the wall?!" Danny jerked back, not expecting him to explode like that. "We were told that you all had been transported to a different city because of space issues! We were definitely not told that you were shoved behind the wall!"
"So… no one knew?" he said a little awkwardly.
"How do you explain the monthly dumps?" Min asked, crimson eyes boring into Blue's ecto-green ones.
"The Ancients tell us that whatever we don't want, we give, and they'll dump it in the North side. We were told that that area was for garbage only and that ghosts were strictly forbidden from entering. It's why I tried to stop King Phantom from entering." Blue's scowl turned darker. "How many of you were below the age of twenty-five when you died?"
Several hands tentatively shot up. And wow, Danny was not expecting that many.
Blue's expression turned murderous as his green eyes turned vengeful. "How dare they," he growled, the noise coming out raspy and like the sounds Danny had seen in movies. He wouldn't deny the shiver that trailed across his spine as he heard it. He wondered if his own voice could become that frightening. "It's bad enough that ghosts were trapped in there, but child ghosts are the most precious things to a ghost. How dare the Elders throw them away as if they were garbage. For this crime, the consequence will be enormous."
Blue's stormy face didn't change as he got a black horn with gold carvings from the pack on his back, and blew.
Danny didn't know what he expected, but a whole tsunami of ghosts reigning down from the sky definitely wasn't it. The Reds and Greens huddled closely, watching cautiously at the newcomers.
Holy Guacamole, it looks like the whole freaking city is here, Danny realized in wonder. Woah.
"How did you do that?" he asked in a near breathless whisper to Blue.
"I'm the police commissioner."
He couldn't even see the end of the swarm of ghosts. Even hovering a few feet above the rest of them, at the same level Blue was, he could only see green and blue blobs from the crowd.
Everything was still that Danny could hear his own heartbeat.
"The Elders have wronged us!"
Confused murmuring came from the crowd.
Blue pointed at the RedGreens. "They threw all the new generation of ghosts into the wasteland and dared to deceive us by telling us that the reason we have had no new ghosts for the past seventy-seven years was because they were being transferred to a different city!" Danny gaped at the snarl on his face which was becoming quickly adopted by the others.
The ghost who asked him to visit his restaurant looked feral.
The one who wanted to give him jewelry looked the same way.
Heck, even Seamstress matched them.
Crap, he had to step in. "What's the punishment for a crime this huge?"
"Core removal," Blue stated bluntly.
Danny blanched.
Other ghosts muttered in agreement.
Danny let out a sharp breath. That might be fair, but he was still a hero, for Ancient's sake. As much as he wanted to agree, he couldn't let the rage get to him. He took a deep breath, letting himself calm down, before speaking. "We won't do that."
"But my King—"
"My King, this isn't right—"
"Sir, you can't possibly believe we should let them get away with this!"
"Quiet!" he snapped.
Everyone shut their mouths.
"No one is getting away with anything. Do they deserve punishment? Yes. Will they get punished? Yes. But core removal isn't the answer. It's a savage crime that I wouldn't wish on or do to Pariah Dark." He heard several gasps, but ignored them, soldiering on. "Instead, I want them arrested. Blue do you have any place good to keep them that won't torure them?"
Blue almost protested, but took in the grimace on Danny's face thoughtfully for a moment before nodding.
"Good. Then that's what we'll do. Blue, lead the way."
So, it turned out that the Elder ghosts were having a meeting right now in the dome shaped building on the highest point of the city. It was up on a hill as tall as the wall had been, and shinier, reeking of careful maintenance. Danny thought about making it collapse to prove a point, but disregarded that thought almost immediately. He didn't want to cause much collateral damage.
The steps up were steep, but no one paid any mind. He was kind of surprised that the Elder ghosts didn't notice that the whole city plus extras were making their way up the steps right now.
"And that concludes my report of keeping 'Ground Zero' the same as it has always been."
Danny grit his teeth in rage.
He made a fist to avoid destroying the wall. He wasn't sure how much being the soon-to-be ghost king affected his powers anymore.
Instead, he pushed the door open.
The ghosts inside wore cloaks of hubris. He could tell from a single glance.
"How dare you interrupt a meeting of the Elders! Who do you think you are?!" The one at the front yelled, rising out of his seat.
Danny gave a cold, humorless smile. "Funny you should ask that. I'm King Phantom."
The air turned chilier.
"Ah, he didn't—he didn't mean that," the Elder on the council president's right stammered.
"Oh, I'm sure he did."
"What can we do for you?" the ghost nearest to him asked nervously, remembering a second too late to add a "Sir" at the end of his question.
"You're all under arrest," Danny proclaimed. "Blue will be taking you into custody."
The head ghost snarled spitefully. "We refuse. What were the Observants thinking, making a mere child as king? You don't understand anything! You're an insignificant pest who just happened to become the balance of life and death when you should have died!"
…the balance of life and death?
What did that even mean?
Whatever. Now wasn't the time.
Frost lined the corners of the walls.
"Are you done," Danny said, almost boredly as he observed them. He was anything but. He might've heard worse from his enemies, but these ghosts meant even more business than the ones he was used to fighting.
"NO!" The head ghost screamed, pointing at him with a singular bony finger. "I challenge you for the Ghost King's throne!"
Say what now?
Danny stared dumbly at the Elder. "Are you even allowed to do that?"
He huffed haughtily. "Of course I am. Any ghost is allowed to challenge the ghost king for the throne."
Danny turned to Blue for confirmation, and the Elder squawked indignantly.
"Is he allowed to do that?"
Blue nodded. "Any ghost is allowed to challenge the ghost king. Technically, even if they don't challenge him officially and the king is defeated, they still get the throne. I'm assuming that's how you got it, Your Majesty."
Danny winced at the title, but nodded. "Yeah. I ended up beating Pariah Dark up after he invaded my town two years ago."
Blue beamed proudly.
Danny blinked at him.
He coughed. "Er… anyways, as I was saying, there is no need for an official declaration, but it is tradition."
"Tradition?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "Hasn't Pariah Dark been the only ghost king in the history of ever?"
"Yes, but it's tradition for the challengers."
"Ah, okay." Danny checked his time mentally. One hour and fifteen minutes left. "How much time will this take?"
"Not too long," Blue assured. If looks could kill, both he and Danny would be dead two times over with how hard the Elder was glaring at them. "All you have to do is incapacitate the other ghost. No core destruction is necessary."
Danny sighed in relief. That was something he was worried about, but it was a relief that he didn't have to be. "Alright then."
"You will not be able to defeat me, you abomination."
He could feel all the ghosts next to him bristling. Danny opened his mouth before anyone could start spewing insults at each other. Sheesh, since when did he become the peacemaker?
Like he knew he'd been called a goody-two shoes before (which was not true, excuse you Ember), and he knew he was always trying to keep ghosts and humans from attacking each other, and that he was always stopping his friends from fighting, but… wait a sec, if he thought of it that way, he really was a peacemaker.
How did that even happen?
He decided to just dump that into his trauma box and move on for now.
"Can we take this outside then?"
The Elder flared his nostrils, keeping his head high as he hovered out the door. Danny and apparently the rest of the whole freaking city followed him down the hill.
It took a few minutes before they reached a decently sized clearing. Ghosts were stalked on top of each other, trying to watch the fight which would start in a few seconds.
"I'll be acting as judge," Blue informed.
Danny nodded, but Elder clearly didn't agree. "No," he snapped. "One of the Elders will be. I do not trust you not to turn this against me."
Blue sneered at him. "How do we know the Elders wouldn't call it in your favor? And I do not need to turn the duel against you for King Phantom to win. Didn't you realize that the explosion a few minutes ago was caused by him?"
The Elder lost a little bit of green in his face as he furrowed his thin brows. "What are you talking about?"
He received a sardonic smile from the police commissioner. "How do you think we crossed the wall? King Phantom was the one who broke it down. And not just one piece. The whole damn wall."
"That… that shouldn't be possible. No ghost has ever been able to possess such strength! Not even Pariah Dark could do that without time and help!"
"Yeah?" Min raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Well he does. And not only did he destroy the wall, but he did in his human form, injured, and it only took one punch."
The Elder paled.
"Guys," Danny frowned at them. Why were they making such a big deal of his strength? "You're making this sound more epic than it really was."
"Nope, sounds legit to me," a random RedGreens ghost inputted cheerfully.
"It doesn't matter," another Elder replied, shaking her head. "We will win."
Numerous murmurs of agreement came from the other Elders.
Danny just shook his head. One hour left. He needed to hurry, or he wouldn't be able to get back in time. He didn't have time for this.
"Can we just fight already? I need to get back within the next hour, preferably thirty minutes, or else I'll be late. So can we just speed this up? I promise we can argue all about this later." He turned to the Elder as they both flew to stand opposite to each other. "What's your name?"
"Alistair," the Elder sniffed, confidence completely restored. "And you will not be late, because the moment you lose, you will be locked away."
"Sure thing, Buddy," Danny rolled his eyes. "If I win, you Elders get arrested. If you win, you become the Ghost King. Seems easy enough." He turned to face Blue and nodded.
"Begin!"
He would be nice about this, because he knew there was no way he would lose.
Alistair took a deep breath, and suddenly, in the place of his frail looking body was a fit, healthy one with ridiculously huge muscles. Danny furrowed his brow. He was pretty sure his freaking biceps were as big as Danny's head.
"Well, damn, didn't expect that," he muttered, dodging a surprisingly fast blow.
"Are you surprised, Ghost King ?" The words were said mockingly, with a sneer on Alistair's face as he dashed to Danny's side and dug his fist into his injury. "This is my fighting form, and with it, I will take your throne!"
Danny grunted. The ghosts gasped as he staggered, clutching the wound and dispelling the ice as soon as it started digging into his skin. But that didn't stop ecto-blood from leaking out.
"Crap," he muttered. Danny glared in annoyance at Alistair. "I really don't have time for this."
He would've been more apologetic, but sue him, he was bleeding.
He was allowed to be salty if he had to patch it up properly now.
Danny darted forward, dodging a quick blow that would've broken his arm, reared his arm back, and punched with a mere five percent of his power. Usually that would be enough to stun a ghost.
He would've landed the finishing blow if Alistair didn't go flying at least hundred feet back and getting knocked out.
Danny watched him stumble back plainly, confusion rippling in his mind. "What the heck?"
"Well, that was anticlimactic," he heard Merc say.
"We knew it would be," a RedGreens said, with a 'duh' in his voice.
"That, Daniel, was a show of your increased strength," a familiar voice said next to him. Danny jumped.
"Clockwork?!" To be completely honest, he'd forgotten that the older ghost was still watching him. Whoops.
Clockwork smiled at him, and Danny couldn't help but smile back. "Daniel."
"Who're you?" Min glared.
"I am Clockwork," he responded pleasantly. "I'm Daniel's guardian ghost."
Blue gaped before bowing slightly. "Lord Clockwork! I'm not surprised to hear, honestly. Your child is amazing in every aspect, and you must be proud!"
Clockwork nodded. "Indeed I am. But perhaps we should get him stitched up, yes?"
"Of course, Sir!" Blue exclaimed.
"Wait. Before we do that, can we lock away the Elders? Also, you still up for that meeting tomorrow?"
"I should be asking you that, my King," Blue said gently as other police ghosts gathered the Elders and created ecto-cuffs to bind them.
"Of course I am."
"Then I am up for it as well." He turned back to Clockwork. "Where are we getting it stitched?"
"Here should suffice," Clockwork said, grabbing a medical kit with NASA stickers from his cloak and holding it out. He stared expectantly at Danny and nodded at the ground.
Danny stared. "Where the heck did you get that?"
"Your hotel room," he said dryly.
Danny accepted that answer, and transformed back. It was always better to stitch in human form since they healed slower and didn't fuse to his skin because of not checking on it for a few hours. He grimaced as he remembered the first time he realized that. It was bloody, and definitely not fun.
He had to wake both Sam and Tucker to pry the stitches off his skin. It sucked, and he never wanted a repeat.
He heard gasps from the city ghosts as he plopped down onto the electric green grass and rolled up his T-shirt. The gasps grew louder.
Danny glanced at it. It wasn't too bad compared to what he'd gotten before, but it was still the length of his hand from his middle finger to his palm. It didn't feel shallow either.
Min winced. "I'm so sorry."
He waved her apology off. "It's fine. I'm pretty sure it only looks this bad because Alistair targeted it. Don't apologize."
He stayed still with practiced ease as Clockwork stitched his injury up with quick, precise movements. "I'm finished."
Danny nodded, and pulled his shirt back down. "Thanks, Clockwork."
"Of course."
"How much time do I have left?" Danny asked, scrunching his nose as he let gravity fall off him as it was a blanket, and hovered into a sitting position a few feet in the air.
"Forty-five minutes."
"Then I better be going." He gave a considering look to the other ghosts who were all peering curiously at him. "Listen up. I want one of the city ghosts to pair up with one ghost from behind the wall. This way, we'll have living arrangements set temporarily. Do we have a construction crew?"
Multiple hands. Danny nodded.
"Great. I want you to get started on destroying the Elders' homes and building a livable space for all the RedGreens and future residents. Understood?"
They echoed the words back to him enthusiastically.
"Wonderful. Clockwork?" He glanced at said ghost hopefully.
Clockwork grabbed his hand indulgently. Danny waved before the world twisted for a millisecond, then blinked rapidly to clear the spots in his vision.
"Tell your sister I say hello." Before he had a chance to respond, Clockwork teleported away.
Danny collapsed on the hotel bed, careful not to jostle his injury.
"Danny?" He looked up at where Jazz was emerging from the bathroom wearing an oversized woolen shirt on, along with a pair of warm pants. Her hair was tied back, and she had the slightest dab of makeup to look presentable.
"Hey Jazz," he waved from the bed. "Clockwork says hello."
"Is that ecto-blood?" she asked in alarm, rushing towards him, hands reaching out, but never touching him as if she was scared to hurt him.
"I'm fine. Just led a rebellion and stopped a civil war," Danny grinned tiredly. "Vive la révolution!"
"You did what now?!" she nearly shrieked. "I thought you were just visiting the ghost city! How the heck did you get caught up in a damn rebellion?!"
"Long story. I'll explain later. Let me take a shower and get ready first. I'm sweaty and I stink of ecto-blood and sweat."
"Fine," she agreed begrudgingly. "But you better not leave a single detail out!"
He gave a two-fingered salute, and gathered his most comfortable ghost hoodie, jeans, and headed into the shower.
Danny emerged a full ten minutes later, eyes bright and lively, feeling almost completely refreshed. The ting of exhaustion still lingered around, but it wasn't as bad as it was before his shower.
He opened his mouth to start explaining things to Jazz, but the door opening made his mouth slam shut on instinct.
"Jazz, Danny, how do I look?" Maddie said, giving a twirl. She was outfitted in a purple winter dress with a belt that reached her knees, and knee-high leather boots to finish it. Her hair was tied back like Jazz's, but not nearly as long.
It was weird seeing her in something other than those lab suits.
"Fine," he grunted. He was too tired to deal with them right now.
"You look… good," Jazz said, forcing a smile.
"I'm so glad you think that!" she giggled.
"Where's Dad?"
The second those words exited his mouth, Jack came through the door too, a woolen navy blue cardigan buttoned on top of a lighter blue shirt.
"What do you think, Dan-o?" He grit his teeth at the nickname, and nodded.
"Looking good," he forced out.
Maddie grabbed her purse from the table as she and Jack began exiting the hotel room. "Be good, kids. I better not get another call from the police commissioner."
Hah, like they even cared.
And didn't they know that Danny and Jazz were coming with them?
"Mom, Dad, we're coming with you. Bruce Wayne invited us too," Jazz, his savior, said.
They stopped. "Mr. Wayne didn't say anything about that," Jack raised an eyebrow.
"He dropped Danny off from the police commissioner's office. He said he wanted us to come and socialize with his children."
Maddie and Jack looked at each other before shrugging. "Come on, then," Maddie called, continuing to walk to the elevator.
Danny quickly pulled on his boots as he and Jazz followed them.
"This is gonna be a disaster," he groaned at Jazz.
She nodded in agreement.
Danny stared at where Jack and Maddie were entering the Fenton Assault Vehicle. "Why the heck are we going in that thing?"
"Well, everything we want to show Mr. Wayne is in here," Maddie answered brightly. "We even have a special surprise we'll be showing him at the end of our presentation. It's recent and exciting!"
Danny groaned and resigned himself to the humiliation he was pretty sure was coming as he dragged his tired feet into the back of the FAV. Ancients, he wished he could fly so he didn't have to use his feet, but that was never going to happen as long as he was around these two. He knew what would happen at the first sign he showed of ghostliness, and it definitely wasn't pleasant.
He felt Jazz run calming fingers through his hair, and he lost some of the tension in his body.
"This is gonna suck," he whined, fiddling with his hoodie sleeve. He paused, and turned to look at Jazz. "You aren't going to scold me for wearing a hoodie and jeans to a billionaire's house?"
"You stopped a civil war. While a may not know the whole story, I think that deserves some leeway, billionaire be damned," she said gently.
He grinned, closing his eyes, and tucked his head under her chin like he used to when he was smaller.
It wasn't until twenty-five or so minutes later that Jazz shook him awake that he realized that he had dozed off.
"We're here," she murmured softly. Danny blinked slowly before shaking himself.
"Thanks for letting me use you as a pillow."
"Always," she said seriously. They both got out of the FAV and waited for Jack and Maddie to bring whatever they needed in their arms, which turned out to be quite a lot of stuff.
Jazz placed herself between Danny and them as they walked towards the front door. Looking at the freaking long driveway, it must've taken a few minutes to pass.
Cool.
Hm, Bruce's manor looked way bigger than Vlad's. Danny smirked slightly.
So there were some people who were richer than Vlad. Nice to know.
The door opened before Danny could even get a chance to lift his hand to knock it. He stared in awe at the elderly man who had opened it. His mustache made Danny admire him even more than he'd just started to. He could already tell by the stache that this man was a boss.
"Greetings, Mister and Misses Fenton, as well as Mister Daniel and Miss Jasmine," he said with a prim and proper British accent as he stepped aside to let them in. "I am the butler, Alfred. Master Bruce will be with you momentarily. I will escort you to the living room until he arrives."
Danny followed Jazz as he stared at all the antiques as well as the paintings on the walls. While some were clearly professionally painted, others were childish. It gave the Manor some warmth and sense of home Danny hadn't felt at his home.
It was nice.
They finally arrived at a living room looking like it cost at least a million dollars. Probably more, considering that this was the house of a billionaire. Danny took a seat on the loveseat and motioned for Jazz to do the same.
"Shall I get you any refreshments?"
"Water, please," Maddie answered, clearly both excited and anxious to meet Bruce Wayne.
"Water for me too!"
"I'm fine," Jazz said
"Very well. Mister Daniel?"
"It's Danny," he corrected instinctively. "Just Danny, please. And um, do you have any juice?"
A small and amused smile played on the butler's lips before it disappeared. "Of course. Master Bruce has many children. I keep the fridge stocked as they all have different favorites. There is apple, orange, cranberry, tart cherry, pomegranate, as well as grape. Which shall I bring for you?"
Maddie was giving him a look, but he ignored her. Seemed only fair. "Um, just apple's good."
"Certainly," Alfred said, disappearing out of the room.
Not five seconds later, Bruce Wayne himself walked through the very same doorway.
"Hello," he said, giving a smile which made him feel different from when Danny had spent time with him earlier today. Bruce's eyes turned to him and he could see the slightest flash of something in his eyes before they lit up. His smiles turned softer. "Danny, you came."
"Yeah."
"You two know each other?" Maddie asked, her eyes moving back and forth between the two of them.
"I texted you about it, remember?" Jazz said, a hint of rightful aggravation entering her tone.
"Sorry, Sweetie. I didn't look at it."
Was it just his exhausted state, or did Bruce's eyes narrow?
…meh, probably his imagination.
"Here is your juice, Mister Danny," Alfred's voice declared, and Danny nearly jumped. How the heck did he, Phantom, heir apparent to the king of all things sneaky and ghostly, not notice someone sneaking up on him?
He accepted his juice with a grateful "Thank you," as he guzzled it down. It wasn't nearly enough to satisfy him, especially after the kind of day he had, but it would have to do until dinner.
Bruce furrowed his eyebrows at him. "Alfred, can you please get Danny a few snacks? Jasmine, do you want anything?"
"It's Jazz," she corrected as she thought. "Yeah, but not too much. Just a light snack. But give Danny something more. He's a growing boy with a huge appetite."
Hah, huge was an understatement.
"Of course, Master Bruce."And with that, the butler disappeared again.
"Bruce, how do I make him call me just Danny?" he asked, adopting a thinking expression.
Bruce snorted. "It isn't possible. I've been trying my whole life. Trust me, it won't work."
Danny sighed heavily.
Bruce mirrored it.
Danny didn't see the way Jazz's eyes flickered between them, narrowing thoughtfully with a half-formed theory of her own.
"Mr. Wayne," Maddie cut in, gesturing the bags at her and Jack's feet. "Perhaps we could start showing you our inventions?"
"Of course," Bruce said politely. "Give me a moment. I asked your children to come and hang around mine, because God knows how much they need it, so I'll lead them to my other living room. I'll be right back." He motioned for Jazz and Danny to get up and follow him.
He ended up leading them past the kitchen and the two staircased foyer, up the stairs to apparently another living room. This one had more of a homely feel with controllers on the coffee table and a giant TV taking up the entirety of the wall.
He then noticed seven pairs of eyes staring curiously at him.
Great.
Danny met the eyes of some man with a white patch in hair, and he could've sworn that his eyes glowed for less than a millisecond before Danny blinked and it was gone.
"These are my children. And their friend, Stephanie."
"It's Steph," she corrected, rolling her eyes. "Literally everyone calls me Steph, Old Man. Why can't you?"
Bruce gave her a deadpan look that said he wasn't going to respond to that question.
Instead, he pointed a finger and began naming each of his children as he moved his finger along. Danny followed with his eyes."That's Dick, Tim, Cass, Jason, Duke, Stephanie ," he punctuated, "and Damian."
He blinked rapidly when he met Damian's eyes.
And he didn't mean to sound cliché, but holy crap it was like looking into a mirror .
Danny's eyes traced over similar ones as they both scanned the other's faces with wide eyes. He took in the same shade of blue eyes, the similar cheekbones, the thick black hair, the same buttoned nose, and the exact same skin color as his.
The only differences were that Damian was probably around two inches taller than Danny's 5'7 and had more muscle mass.
"Woah," Danny breathed. "Does this mean we can do a real life Spider-Man meme?"
All of the other occupants of the room snorted, clearly taken back.
Damian just blinked once slowly. "No."
He looked at the other teen accusingly as he recalled his numerous encounters throughout the day before his Civil War field trip. Ancients, that seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it was just this morning. "You're who everyone mistook me for!"
"Yes." Damian nodded.
"Dang, I was annoyed at first, but I can't say I blame them," Danny answered, squinting as he stepped closer, hand clutching his chin as he tried to get in every small feature with his enhanced vision. "We really do look alike."
Damian just stood there and took the scrutiny.
"In all seriousness, though, I've heard of the 'there are seven people in the world who look like you thing,' but wow, what a coincidence!"
Yeah, no, it definitely wasn't.
"Out of curiosity, do you know someone named Vlad Masters?"
Yes, he was so subtle, he knew.
"Of course we do," Tim (and Ancients, was that Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne?!) replied casually. "We've attended the same galas before."
Danny wrinkled his nose before staring in awe at Mr. Drake-Wayne, completely ignoring his look-alike. "Mr. Drake-Wayne, I know you've heard this a million times, but I can't believe I'm meeting you!"
Mr. Drake-Wayne smiled. If he hadn't turned to grin at Jazz, he wouldn't have missed the smug yet surprised smirk that was thrown to Damian.
"So," the one named Dick grinned, "what's your favorite movie?"
"The Empire Strikes Back," Danny scoffed. Like that was even a question.
"Oh God, not another one," Duke(?) muttered under his breath.
Mr. Drake-Wayne beamed at him. "Ah, finally someone with good taste."
Danny beamed right back at him.
Jazz let out a long-suffering sigh. "You have a Star Wars nerd too?"
"With a family as big as ours, of course we do," the white striped one, Jason, nodded.
"I've watched those movies so many times, I can't."
"Same," everyone not Danny and Mr. Drake-Wayne chorused.
"And please, it's Tim. Mr. Drake-Wayne definitely wasn't either of my fathers, but it's way too formal."
"I can't do that!" Danny protested.
"You most definitely can," Damian grumbled. Woah, with the sentence, he could tell that even his voice was similar to Danny's.
Danny blinked as he looked around and realized that Bruce had probably slipped out of the room a while ago to talk with Jack and Maddie about their inventions.
"How old are you guys anyways?" he asked, tilting his head. "I'm pretty sure Damian's the only one my age, but I could be wrong."
"Dick's the oldest at twenty-eight. Cass and I are twenty-five and tied for second because we can't decide—"
"I am second. You are third, Jay."
"—Steph doesn't count, but if she did, she'd be third, Tim and Duke are twenty-two, but Tim's older, and then Damian who's also sixteen," Jason continued smoothly, as if he wasn't interrupted at all.
Danny was starting to like him.
"Huh. Are you all here because Bruce saw a lookalike of Damian and decided he wanted you guys to meet me? I would assume so because, unless I'm wrong, and correct me if I am, since most of you are adults, you guys have your own place and wouldn't usually swing by every time Bruce invites a family over to see if he can look at their merch. How'd I do?"
"Good," Jazz nodded approvingly.
"It was easy enough to figure out," Dick smiled. "But good job!"
"You caught us. Normally we'd be doing our own thing, but we all got curious, so here we are," Jason shrugged unapologetically before smirking mischievously. "Who's your favorite superhero?"
That got him annoyed looks for some reason. Danny wondered why.
"Red Hood!" he exclaimed excitedly.
Because who couldn't love Red Hood?
"Second favorite?" Steph asked, leaning forward from her place on one of the couches as she patted next to her for him and Jazz to sit down.
Danny pretended to think about it before declaring resolutely, "Red Robin."
Tim and Jason high-fived.
Damian's eye twitched.