Mount Justice

July 2 10:20 EDT

The clones looked over to the Kitchen to see M'Gann walking over to them with a few glasses of water.

"Did you guys manage to find anything?" she asked as she used her powers to place the glasses on the coffee table.

Conner eyed the younger halfa sitting next to him wearily. "No. None of his parents' old inventions will work since they just end up tracking onto Danielle's ecto-signature. And he hadn't made any new inventions that would help track a ghost."

"For someone that used to be a ghost hunter 24/7, you'd think he would thought of something like that," Wally commented on the opposite couch.

"Of course, he thought of it," Dani huffed with her arms crossed. "He just didn't get the point of it since he has a ghost sense he can use. He can track ghosts pretty well on his own as long as he knows enough about them."

"What about you guys?

"Nothing yet, we're still waiting for Dick to come back with more narrowed-down locations," M'gann explained.

Conner heard more footsteps and turned to see Beast Boy looking around curiously.

"Everything alright, Gar?" M'gann asked with a gentle smile.

The younger shapeshifter turned to them with a frown. "Have any of you guys seen Wulf? He wasn't in the Hangar."

They all turned to Danielle who rolled her eyes in return. "He probably just went back to the Ghost Zone. He sometimes does that if he gets bored or something," she waved off, as if not worried about the hulking Esperanto-speaking werewolf ghost in the slightest.

Conner heard hurried footsteps yet again.

"I got it!"

They turned to see Zatanna come rushing into the living area, out of breath, but with a victorious smile.

"What'd you find!?" Danielle asked urgently, her excitement tangible.

"The artifact... that the Light stole- has origins from the Caribbean!"

"The Caribbean is still a huge area, is there anything from the buyers?"

"As a matter of fact-" they turned to see Dick had followed the magician into the living room.

They watched as he pulled up a hologram from his wrist, with a map of all known weapon-smuggling locations. One of them just happened to be in the Caribbean.

"Santa Prisca?!"

"As in Bane's territory?"

"Yep."

"How sure are we that this is the location? What if it's a dupe?"

"Who cares! Let's go!" Danielle shouted as she transformed mid-jump and flew off towards the Hangar.

They all looked at each other and seemed to have the same thought. What other choice did they have?

"Get everyone together," Dick ordered with a determined smile. "It's time to get our friend back."


Santa Prisca

July 2 13:23 UTC+2

Danny took a steadying breath focusing on the shape he wanted to form, his eyes glowing a dim blue in his human form.

He felt his core seize meaning another power surge was going to happen and quickly froze in place.

'This would literally be the worst time for that, Fenton!'

"Are you alright?" His friend's baritone voice whispered behind him.

He nodded and took a few deep breaths, focusing on the cold that radiated from his core to try to ease the pain. He waited for it to subside before going back to focusing on the shape, the ice and snow sticking the the lumpy figure next to them. After it was done forming he inspected it before nodding and allowed some of his ecto energy to flow into it.

The creature began to twitch and shook off its extra 'snow' and a wolf made entirely of ecto-ice and snow was left sitting in front of them, its eyes the same shade of green as Danny's.

He gestured towards the guards and watched as the white wolf stalked up to the guards until it was nearly a few feet away before pouncing. One of the guards completely crumbled underneath the wolf, knocked unconscious, while the other was startled. "What the-?"

The Halfa quickly took that moment to dash towards them and slide next to them, freezing their feet to the ground in the process.

"He's escap-!"

The teen shot an ectoblast, successfully knocking the last guard out.

He chuckled humorously before standing back up and turning towards his immortal friend. "Okay lets-"

His core pulsed yet again, this one worse than the last, and he hunched in on himself.

Danny felt Marduk place a hand on his shoulder and heard the wolf jog over to him with a concerned whine.

He quickly waved off their concern and looked down the hallway the guards were watching. "Should be all clear now… let's go," he urged softly as he started down the hall.

"This way, young one." The spirit's familiar voice whispered as they neared the hallway.

It took most of the night to try to convince the spirits to try to help them escape. A new name and promise of restoring the shrine later, and they were able to come up with a plan. Belos and his spirit companions would help lead them through the maze of the base, while Danny and Savage took care of the guards.

Only problem? Danny's power surges were getting worse and more frequent. The more it happened, the more drained he felt.

"There they are!"

Danny hadn't caught the sound of the Shadows moving, being distracted by his thoughts.

He quickly dodged a swing of a sword, the blade narrowly missing his arm. He stumbled back and it took only half a second for him to recompose himself as the white wolf lunged and bit the man's arm. The Halfa's eyes narrowed as his transformation rings appeared and washed over his body, the cold from his core intensifying tenfold.

But before Phantom could charge towards them, he watched in awe as Marduk took down three of the four Shadows with ease. The wolf panting happily next to him.

He let out a chuckle as he closed the distance. "Guess being around for a couple hundred years taught you some things?"

The man sent back a knowing smirk. "You could say that," the man commented as he knocked out the last Shadow.

He heard the spirits whisper again, Belo's voice sounding off to the right of him.

"Come on," Phantom waved as he started to walk towards where he heard the spirit's voice.

A hand caught his arm and he turned to Marduk with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"This place is beginning to look familiar," the immortal started. "I believe there is a shortcut in this direction."

The Halfa frowned, "But Belos said we should head that way."

Marduk's frown deepened. "Danny, do you trust me?"

The teen was taken aback. "Of course I do, but-"

"Then please, follow me," Marduk interjected as he let go and turned to walk the other way,

Phantom frowned and looked between the two paths before deciding to follow Marduk.

He heard the whisper start to become frantic.

"Naming One, where are you going?"

"My friend here is an immortal and says that he's been here before. He thinks there may be a shortcut out of this place in this direction."

"You must not go this way, young one. Lady Ata-"

"Ah yes, it's up these stairs, Danny." Marduk interrupted as he started to ascend a darkened stairwell made of old carved brownstone.

Phantom frowned but continued to follow the man, the whispers of the spirits fading with every step.

He stopped and turned to look back, his brow furrowing as the silence began to get to him. He looked around and noticed that the wolf was absent as well.

"Marduk, something's wrong," he mumbled as he turned to see his friend had made it to the top of the stairs.

"Did you say something, Danny?"

He opened his mouth to repeat himself as he joined him at the top only to stop in awe.

They were in what looked to be the inside of a giant brown-stoned dome. The walls were decorated with eroded carvings and pictures of animals or people, the floor was a giant circle with a platform and a rectangular stone table or altar in the center. Greenery and old vines stretched across the walls and floors, though the ceiling was in relatively good shape.

The two escapees walked towards the center of the room, the teen now being able to make out smaller engravings in the stone that encircled the entire platform. Upon closer inspection, the stone table or altar also had these same carvings engraved on it. He felt an odd pull towards the table and decided to get a closer look, but as his hand rested on its side, the entire room shifted.

The platform below them shook and rose a few inches higher, as this happened, a ring of unnaturally red fire surrounded the entire platform. Trapping Phantom and Marduk inside.

He quickly began to look for a way out, and after a few more seconds of panic, shot an ice blast towards the flames. But the flames simply extinguished it it only seemed to enrage it, as the flames grew in size.

Phantom could feel fatigue starting to pull at him and he desperately tried to shake it off. It was a split second later that he realized what was happening.

"Marduk stay away from the flames, it's magic!" he warned.

The man frowned and took a step away from the flames just as a familiar cackle filled the air.

"Well, well, well, well, well, well."

The Halfa whipped around and sent the Witch Boy a menacing glare. "Klarion."

The demon smiled widely. "Hello, little Heir~"

Phantom barely managed to throw up a shield in time for the red chaos magic to dissipate against it.

"Tut tut ut, no cheating~" the sorcerer warned playfully.

Glowing red tendrils of magic shot from the ground and wrapped around his arms tightly, enough to probably leave him with bruises in the morning. He turned his head to find Marduk in a similar situation.

Before he could make some sort of comeback, he felt a tug on his core and looked to see the magic brighten as his aura dimmed.

The witch boy licked his lips and closed his eyes. "You may be an abomination but I must admit your power is quite a feast, little ghost."

He sneered at the sorcerer, "Let us go Witch Boy!"

Klarion smirked and shot a blast at the ghost, sending him flying. With a snap of his fingers, the red magic grabbed him in midair and pulled/slammed him down on top of the altar.

Phantom gasped in pain, his mind dazed when something clasped onto his wrists and ankles. He looked down and saw that faintly glowing green chains attached to the altar had been locked onto him telekinetically.

Cheerful humming and footsteps were heard when the sorcerer came into view. The teen glared daggers at the Lord of Chaos above him.

"Aww and here I thought you might have been happy to see me," the boy commented with feigned hurt.

"As if!" the teen seethed pulling against the restraints again. "What do you want Witch Boy?!"

"Oooo the scary eyes! Please, you don't scare me, little hero," The Lord of Chaos teased.

"That's enough Klarion, I think it's high past time we started yes?" An unfamiliar voice cut in as footsteps were heard.

"Fine," he whined. "Always making me do the hard work around here."

The witch boy snapped and the fire that had surrounded them before extinguished itself, some of Phantom's energy returning to him. Klarion's smile morphed into amusement as he turned around and grabbed something, turning back with a familiar jeweled cup in hand.

Phantom's glare intensified to which Klarion smiled more as he swirled whatever liquid was inside of it around.

"Wanna taste?~"

The ghost teen moved his head to the side as the witch boy brought the cup closer and sealed his mouth shut.

"Oh don't be like that… and here I thought you'd like a sip after such a long trip."

The Halfa continued to glare at the sorcerer with daggers when he suddenly felt something click around his neck.

He whipped his head around to find Deathstroke walking away from the altar.

"Aw, you're no fun! Oh well, I already have what I need from him anyway."

Phantom's brow turned to confusion as he turned back to the sorcerer before his eyes widened in the realization that he had technically already drunk from the cup.

His eyes flashed a furious bright green. "You sneaky-!"

"Hey, those need for that kind of language. We are in a sacred place after all~"

The sorcerer nodded towards someone out of his view and heard someone walking up.

Danys eyes widened as Marduk came into view and Klarion handed him the cup. "Drink please~"

Marduk remained stoic as he accepted the cup and took a drink from it before handing it back.

'What's going on? Why did Marduk drink that? Are they threatening him? Is he being forced?!'

"Great!" He exclaimed as he threw the cup somewhere behind him carelessly. "Now, it's time for the fun part!"

The platform turned red and symbols began glowing on the altar underneath him. He squirmed and fought against the restraints with as much strength as he could muster but to no avail.

"Everyone into positions," the Witch boy ordered with mirth.

He saw Psimon come into view as he positioned his hands on either side of the teen's head. He glared daggers at him, the psychic ignoring him.

A few more people moved around, but the only people in his sight were Psimon, Klarion, Marduk, and Deathstroke.

The Witch Boy's hands came alive with chaos magic. "Once I start I can't stop, so let's just get this over with as quickly as possible," the sorcerer warned with a more serious tone.

He began chanting in another language, his eyes glowing a deep red, his chaos energy taking on the shape of fire of the same color. After about a half minute went by, the carved symbols changed to the same red and Danny suddenly felt a sense of vertigo, his vision swam and his body felt heavier than before.

The scarlet fire surrounded the Witch Boy's hand and grew brighter, the markings on the altar mimicking the glow as he continued to chant. Klarion then hovered his hand over the ghost's chest, causing the fire and markings to glow brighter as chaos magic phased into his chest.

The halfa gasped in pain and bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming as glowing red and black markings crawled up his neck and spread dangerously close to his Core. Klarion raised his hand above the teen's head as he began chanting louder. At the same time, he felt Psimon's presence in the back of his mind, the pain having distracted him and barely giving the telepath any resistance.

Whispers started to be heard in the back of his mind as Klarion continued his chanting and the pain started to become more and more unbearable.

'Protect…. Save…. Protect Savage…. Saved you… Protect him…'

The teen tried to shake his head in an attempt to rid himself of the whispered words, but Psimon's hands kept his head from moving.

Bang!

Phantom's sensitive hearing caught the faint sound of a gun going off. He pried his eyes open to blurrily see Klarion and Marduk share a look. After a beat, the former turned back to him and started chanting faster and with more urgency as the red chaos energy glowed brighter.

The teen screamed in agony as the pain returned with a vengeance, his entire body feeling like it got dumped in a blood blossom bath. Deathstroke and the green-robed man quickly wrestled the writhing boy down and held him still while red chaos magic chained him down. His screams then began taking on a physical form of green sonic waves, ice started to form on the platform and crawl up walls, and small objects started to float into the air. Both men quickly released the boy, choosing to step away from the altar. The teen felt the inhibitor collar quickly being turned on. Slowly, the green sonic waves disappeared, the ice stopped spreading but remained, and the objects fell back to the ground with loud thumps and clangs. Eventually, the screaming came down as well, the telepath having shifted his focus at a nearby woman's insistence.

Hearing more gunshots in the distance, Phantom watched as Marduk locked eyes with Klarion again. The other nodded and a quiet yelp of pain was heard as Klarion had started channeling more chaos energy, probably in hopes to finish the ritual before their visitors showed up.

Marduk replaced Psimon as he gently held the teen's head, running a hand through his hair. His mind flashed back to red hair and a comforting smile, the lab's ceiling above him. He blinked away tears and was once again in the stone shrine.

"Shhhhh, it's alright, Danny… it'll all be over soon," the baritone voice muttered softly with a sympathetic tone.

The teen couldn't stop a whimper from escaping as fresh tears fell from closed eyes.

He was so stupid, he never should've stayed. He should've left as soon as he had the chance. But now he was being put through some kind of ritual and he was honestly terrified. It had been a long time since he was scared for his own safety, and now suddenly Clockwork's warning felt all too real. And yet what scared him the most was that he couldn't figure out a way out of it. There was no ghost to bail him out. There was no secret power up his sleeve that he could use. There was no rescue party from the League. And for the first time in his life, he felt so alone

"There's no need to be afraid Danny," Marduk soothed, his voice cutting through his fearful thoughts softly. "I'm right here," he continued after a beat. "You are not alone… I'm right here."

'Not alone…Friend… Safe…' the whispers said in the back of his mind as the pain in his chest flared up making him cry out in pain again.


Santa Prisca

July 2 14:25 UTC+2

'Any sign of him?'

'No just the guards outside. But they do seem on edge about something.'

BOOM! CRASH!

Superboy was startled as he saw blasts of red and green shoot through the air close the the warehouse.

He looked next to him and his eyebrow twitched as he realized Danielle wasn't next to him anymore.

'Dammit! I'm going in after her!' Superboy announced as he leaped from his hiding spot and crashed into the guarded warehouse.

'Guys wait!' Beast Boy yelped.

'Well, too late now I guess!' He heard Kid exclaim over the Link.

He saw a flash of yellow run by and rolled his eyes as he took down another one of Bane's men.

The hero heard more glass shatter and turned to see Nightwing tackling another man to the ground. The latter turned to him with a glare, 'What happened to lay low?!'

'Tell her that!' He retorted as he pointed to the trigger-happy Halfa laughing as she took down two more men.

He heard the leader groan exasperatedly over the Link.

They spent the next five minutes knocking out all the goons and tying them off to the side.

Kid ran up to the gathered Team with a frown. 'I searched the entire place, top to bottom. Danny isn't here.'

Danielle's eyes turned panicked. 'What? But he has to be here! We have to find him!"

Miss M quickly began to try to calm her down when the younger female stumbled.

"Are you alright?" Superboy asked as he helped her right herself.

She looked up at them with a confused expression. "Something's not right… I think Danny is in trouble."

Superboy shared a glance with Miss M when his super-hearing caught the faint sound of a wail.

Danielle must've also heard this as her head whipped towards the direction of the sound and without another word took off like a bullet. The other clone took off after her without a second thought.

The Team didn't need to ask as they collectively followed Superboy and Danielle toward the depths of the tropical forest.


Santa Prisca

July 2 14:41 UTC+2

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"GET THEM!"

"AGH!"

BANG! BANG!

The sounds of the gunshots and fighting were getting closer and closer to the entrance to the Shrine.

Savage frowned and turned to give Deathstroke new orders.

"And done!" Klarion exclaimed happily, as though he had just finished a craft project.

The Halfa went completely still as Klarion's energy faded resulting in the scarlet flames and the red and black markings (that were on his neck and chest) slowly disappearing as well. The red chaos chains that had kept him in place disappeared, leaving the altar's chains loose but still functional enough to keep the ghost from escaping. Though with how the boy was barely able to pry his eyes open or breathe properly, the man hardly believed he'd even have the energy to try. Savage looked at his hand and watched as the scarlet rune on his hand, as well as the one on the teen's neck slowly faded from view.

His attention turned back to the shakily breathing Phantom, whose skin had gone pale and his aura was no longer visible. He gently brushed the teen's hair out of his face, his eyes closed with a pained expression.

"Our time is up here, we must be on our way," Savage stated as he gestured for Deathstroke and Al Ghul to come back over.

The two of them had a difficult time trying to release the unresponsive boy from the altar's clutches due to all the ice that had formed during the ritual. But eventually, they unlocked all the restraints and chains.

Right when the boy had been set free, the entrance doors were blown off their hinges. The Light turned towards the doors and watched in irritation as armed men came barging in.

Most of the men had masks on or their faces covered up, but the one who was instantly recognizable was none other than Bane himself.

The villain sneered at the Light members present. "This is my island," the heavily-accented man growled. "Santa Prisca is my island! You go take your business elsewhere!"

The guns held by his men clicked into place, all ready to fire at the faintest movement.

"Bane, if I remember correctly, I believe this part of the island was purchased by Lex Corp, is it not?"

"It was never for sale! This island is mine, now leave!"

"I see, well why don't we-"

The guns all suddenly flew out of the minions' hands and turned on them, floating menacingly in mid-air.

Savage raised an eyebrow but didn't bother to turn around. "Psimon. I'm sure we can come to an agreement as gentlemen. You can stand down."

A beat went by but the guns remained where they were.

"Psimon-"

"That's not me."

Savage brow furrowed and he turned to see that the telepath was, in fact, correct. Instead, standing beside the altar with a blank expression and a glowing hand raised was none other than Phantom.

'How intriguing…' he hummed to himself.

He put a placating hand up unsure of how to read the situation at hand. "Daniel stand down, it's alright," he reassured calmly.

The boy's brow furrowed, his eyes seeming to flash red for a moment.

Savage heard movement and one of the men quickly snatched one of the guns and fired it at Daniel.

The bullet met his shoulder, yet there was no cry of pain. The boy's eyes flashed blue, but before the immortal could utter a word, a shard of ice erupted from the ground and cut through the gunman's arm.

He screamed in pain as he dropped the gun.

"Why you-!"

SHINK!

Another shard of ice appeared from the ground this time right under Bane's jaw. His men froze.

After a few beats of silence, they all watched with wide eyes as all the guns started to huddle together and then fell to the ground behind Savage in a pile.

Savage cleared his throat to gain the attention of the room again.

"This is your only warning, leave," he glared.

Bane growled but just as quickly stopped when the shard started cutting into his skin. The man glared but held his hand up signaling a sign of retreat. His men slowly began walking away, and as they did the shard slowly receded as well.

"You win this time, Savage. You won't be so lucky the next." Bane glared furiously as he turned and walked away with his men in tow.

Vandal waited until the footsteps couldn't be heard anymore before debating on how to handle the situation at hand.

"Daniel that-"

He heard something hit the ground and turned to find the boy had collapsed.

He looked over to a Shadow and gestured towards the door. The guard didn't need to ask as he quickly left to find a medic.

Savage carefully walked over and knelt beside the boy, Al Ghul and Queen Bee behind him looking on.

"Is he dead?" The villainess asked distastefully.

Savage carefully pulled and maneuvered the boy into his arms so he could get a better look at his shoulder. While it did bleed, it wasn't heavy, fortunately, it had already begun to heal itself.

"His wound is already healing, other than that he seems fine. He'll need to change his form if are to be thorough-"

Before he could finish, the boy's transformation rings appeared and slowly changed him into his human form. The sensation was cold and rather odd against Savages' skin, but he ignored it as he noticed the other's breath had turned shallow.

He watched with a furrowed brow as red started to seep through the grey shirt, the boy's face contorted in pain.

"Can he hear us?" Al Ghul asked, his tone clearly showing signs of intrigue as well.

Savage hummed in thought before saying out loud. "Change back."

Not a second layer, the boy's transformation rings appeared again and changed him to his ghost form, his expression unchanging.

He experimentally snapped his fingers next to his ear but received no response.

Interesting…. He thought. But if it's not a verbal command, is it the intent?

'Transform,' he thought as a projection.

That's when he saw it. The red Sigil from before glowed on the boy's neck, the mark on the man's hand mirroring it.

The transformation rings appeared again and his human form lay in his arms.

"What do you think?"

The three turned to the sound of Kalrion's voice and saw the witch boy giving them a devious grin.

"It's exactly what we needed, thank you Klarion. You've outdone yourself yet again," Savage praised.

The Lord of Chaos's grin widened as he chucked, "No need to thank me, just be sure to make your demands clear and concise. Making him transform or summoning him is easy without words. If you want him to follow a more complex order it will need to be said out loud."

"Understood. Any other suggestions?"

"Just one, you're the only one he'll protect instinctively. So make sure to give him orders to protect anyone else."

Hurried footsteps were heard as the medical team finally arrived.

"Very well. If that's all, the wound will need some attending too."

He gently placed the boy back onto the floor and got out of the way of the medics.

"So onto the next phase then?"

Savage hummed in thought again before turning towards Klarion who was now petting his cat.

"How long do we have until they realize?"

The witch boy froze and looked up with a serious expression. "They already have. I've heard rumors of search parties being sent out."

"I see… and his abilities?"

"That ritual should've zapped his energy entirely."

Queen bee hummed. "Impressive, though with how you're talking about it, it seems we have our work cut out for us."

Al Ghul nodded in agreement. "Should we isolate him for a few days?"

"No." All eyes turned to Savage. "We will continue the schedule as planned. Daniel's powers can be dealt with whenever the situation arises. Honing any new abilities will benefit us in the future."

Queen Bee sighed, "You make a good argument. I'll see that preparations are made."

Savage walked out of the room, followed by the present Light members.

Al Ghul followed Savage out the door. "Back to base then?"

Savage frowned. "While he may be familiar and comfortable with the area. The Justice League may have already found evidence of our activities there."

Al Ghul stopped and sent the man a knowing smirk. "I believe I may have the perfect location."