Untitled

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

BONUS

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

PART 8

PART 9

PART 10

PART 11

PART 12

PART 13

PART 14

Panel 1 shows Jason hesitantly raising his hand up in a wave, an unsure expression on his face.

Jason: Bruce…?

Panel 2 shows Bruce as Batman turning around to look at him, blank faced. However, something is probably not right. He says nothing.

Panels 3-5 are a sequence of the same picture as "Batman" begins to smile and contort, becoming nightmarish. His face stretches and elongates, his neck twists and lengthens, tentacles come out of his mouth and his cowl's ears multiple and turn into horns.

Panel 6 shows the finished product of "Batman" smiles with tentacles and eyes coming out of him, looming over Jason. However, Jason is uncharacteristically smiling and looks relaxed.

Jason: Oh! Shadow, is that you? I didn’t expect to see you here!

Panel 7 shows all of the characters being chibi. Jason is still smiling while Shadow has paused, staring at him.

Jason: Your version of Batman is pretty cool. Have you seen him in the Diamond District yet? I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you again!

Panel 8 shows something similar to panel 7 but Shadow has grown smaller and is turning into a closer version of Batman, but still with tentacles. Jason is still smiling.

Shadow and Jason: ….

Panel 9 shows Shadow turning to leave, now looking extremely similar to Batman's usual form. Shadow looks relaxed and almost happy while Jason hasn't moved behind him, just smiling and giving him a wave.

Jason: Oh, leaving already? Give Bruce my love!

Panel 10 shows Jason still stuck in place, his hands behind his back, having fallen silent with a smile.

Jason: ....

Panel 11 shows Jason sweating and shedding tears from sheer stress. Shadow has officially left and Jason looks distraught with a fake smile.

Over the course of sixteen weeks, members of the Justice League Dark followed Fenton around, attempting to get to the bottom of everything. They noted everything, waiting to see if Phantom was somehow trying to body snatch the boy or something as equally sinister.

Different members switched shifts in their stakeouts, noting where he went, who he spoke to, and creating a file of his daily routine. For the most part, Fenton was a normal young man, freshly graduated from high school and just starting out into the world.

Upon a closer evaluation, they found a few oddities. On hikes, Fenton would come across interesting sticks, tasty berries, and pretty rocks on the hiking paths. He seemed to think they were chance encounters. The members of the Justice League Dark knew them as the offerings from nature spirits, left out for the boy to find.

Ghosts were hyper-aware and respectful of him. Fenton didn't seem to notice them, but even then, they still bowed or curtsied when he walked back. Regardless of the era, type of power level, they would treat him like a high-ranking noble- never mind that Fenton couldn't even see them.

Fenton experienced insane amounts of good luck, so screwed in his favor, that the JLD members knew he had some higher beings blessing. The lights always turned green when he pulled up, he won every chance contest he entered, he always got the last of the limited-time products, and he danced through life with a carelessly little spring in his step because he knew everything would work out.

How? Why?

Phantom was one of the highest-ranked and most mysterious ghosts in history. Information on him was as scarce as Clockwork, and his sightings seldom involved him with a particular human. He had no champions, no followers, no believers and were it not for the many documented recordings of him over time, they likely wouldn't know about him at all.

So why now? Why this boy?

What did he have that Phantom found so entertaining? It was Batman who presented his theory at the tail end of their surveillance, bringing with him an alarming amount of proof to back it up.

"They look exactly alike." The Dark Knight said, throwing the file on the table. Out of it slipped recordings, events, and even some of Phantom's known powers. As well as proof of a botched cover-up of an adoption by Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, which placed Danny Fenton in their care under very suspicious circumstances. "Danny Fenton is Phantom's son, and if I'm correct, he is the heir to the dukehood. Phantom? He's a duke of the ghost zone. And Phantom is waiting for the moment he can bring his son home."

"But-how? Ghosts can have children, sure, but not living children!" Zatanna counters, confused.

"That, my dear," John cuts in while lighting up a cigarette with a smirk, "Is why we are here today. Batsy is on to something, and I believe he already knows how Duke Phantom went about popping a little nipper."

Batman is quiet for a moment before speaking, "Fenton isn't a whole human. I tested his blood. There are traces of something else in there, but the human bits I did find matched with someone. Someone we all know is not a normal human himself."

An image of Vandal Savage is held up from the folder that Batman brought, and everyone sucks in a breath through their teeth. The immortal was a threat to them and extremely difficult to defeat.

"My theory? Phantom, sometime, somehow had a relationship with Savage, and gave birth to Fenton. Realizing his son turned out more human- contaminated with the same medeor that gave Savage his powers- he brought him to Earth to be raised by humans who understood what his body needed but always watched over him." Batman explained, then waved his hand at the final piece of evidence. A copy of an ancient scroll explaining inheritance. "Upon Fenton's twentieth birthday, he will be eligible for Phantom to name him his official heir. He likely plans on collecting the boy soon. Until then, we must protect Fenton and ensure Savage does not learn of his son. Who knows what he would do when he realizes he can use the son of a Ghost Duke as leverage?"

The room breaks into mutters, gasps, and even suggestions to lock the boy up to keep him safe, to avoid the trouble of Savage.

"How do you propose we do that? Savage will notice heroes start hanging around the kid." Someone called out, which earns them a glare from the Bat until the muttering in the room dies down.

Batman holds up a new folder, titled Operation Fog. "We send in undercover members to befriend Fenton as civilians. Red Robin, Spoiler, and Signal have offered under fake names and faces. But we need a magic user to pose as an instructor at Gotham U. Who can commit for three years?"

All magic users pale, and before Batman can snap out of the magic to escape. Thankfully, before the very last person could run, Batman threw out a net, covered in magic-cancelling runes, and snagged one person.

"No!" John cries, wiggling around. "Let me go!"

"Congradulations. You are now Professor Evans, teacher of Latin at Gotham U," Batman tells him, flinging the blond man over his shoulder. "Bruce Wayne has offered to help you secure a job under the guise of you two being lovers and him pulling strings."

"No, no, no- wait, Wayne? That man might just be fit enough to make this bearable. Can I kiss him?"

"If you ask and he says yes, sure."

"Do you think he'll say yes?"

"I believe Wayne would rather kiss a dog's ass."

And still, that small meeting had been the start of Clark's restless anxiety, cold anger, and consuming shame that had weighed on him for over a month now. 

“Hey, if you don’t want to talk about it-”

“No. Um… I will, I just…” 

Clark let out a long breath, and stood to his feet walking slowly to the front wall and eventually laying his back on it to face Danny. He hoped the motion would at least kick his mouth into motion, but the words remained stubbornly trapped. 

Danny just looked at him patiently, without offering a second out, because that’s how they talked through things. Because they had agreed long ago that once an out had been denied, offering to drop the subject again would only stress them out. 

Clark looked back at the window. From this angle he could see the moon. It wasn’t a full moon, it was in its waxing gibbous phase. The outside was completely dark at this point, with few lights on like Danny's and Clarks. It was a shame Clark could see the hints of clouds approaching. It would likely start raining soon. 

He swallowed. “The league had been keeping an eye on project Cadmus for 32 days.” He started like he did with any other mission debrief in the league, eyes focussed on that moon that was slowly getting hidden by the clouds. It made it easier to talk. “Almost everything that Lex Luthor is involved in is kept under supervision, since it often develops into plans to harm metahumans.”

“Often you specifically.” Danny added.

Clark nodded. “That day, a fire at project Cadmus went unchecked in order to prioritize a JLD call about an incident involving Wotan which required full league response.”

“Oh, it's rare for Justice Dark to want heavy hitters around enemies with mind control.”

“Yeah.” Clark huffed through his nose. 

It was clear Danny had caught up with his attempt of separating himself, and was trying to make it more conversational by adding his own comments. It was fair game, as Clark did the same when Danny tried to do it, but it was still annoying.

“Batman received the alert that Project Cadmus building had collapsed, and discovered that Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad were there. Most of the Justice league was already reunited to deal with Wotan, and Project Cadmus was something we had to check. It was decided that in order to resolve any collateral damage of the collapsed building, deal with anything that would be uncovered, and reprehend the young heroes, everyone available would go to Project Cadmus.”

“So basically trying to intimidate the kids into behaving using the excuse of the collapsed building.” Danny quipped.

Clark didn’t answer this time. In the end all the context hadn’t been anything more than more delayment for the actual meeting. He had been doing that a lot lately, delaying and avoiding. 

“I arrived first. A kid that later would be identified as my clone, stepped forward and he...” He passes his hands through his hair, Every attempt at separating himself fell to the ground when it really came to it. “It was like looking at a picture of myself as a teen, just a little to the left. And Danny, the kid looked at me with so much yearning, like he’s been waiting all his life to meet me, and thinking about it he probably has.”

“How did you answer to that?”

“I didn’t. I couldn't. Our similarities were eerie and I couldn’t tell you what my face did, but I remember my jaw tightening, and the boy's face quickly falling into anger. I missed most of the kids' debriefs after he confirmed he was my clone.”

“Okay… what happened after that?”

Clark is still having a hard time grasping how calm Danny remains about it all. If he didn’t know all of Danny’s tales, he would think he was simply holding back his anger. 

“Well, a building had collapsed, and an illegal project had been uncovered, there wasn’t really a lack of ways to excuse myself. So I left the kids to Batman and… made sure to give my back to the kids while I discussed things with Wonder Women and Martian Manhunter.”

“So that you didn't have to interact with the boy or so that you wouldn’t have to look at him?”

“Both… I could feel the boy staring at me the whole time, and I tried really hard to pretend I didn't. I was hoping that somehow, someway, I would be able to get through the whole debrief without having to acknowledge him again. But I couldn't keep it up when Martian Manhunter pointed it out, so I went to the kid.” 

“And I'm guessing that conversation didn't go too well?”

“I tried to think of something to tell him, talk to him like I would with any other kid we’d find involved in illegal business, but, and I know how bad this sounds Danny, but I really couldn’t bear to look at him. I managed to briefly tell him the Justice League would figure something for him and ended up scurrying away to the watchtower.” Clark finished lamely. 

He really felt stupid. Almost 10 minutes hyping himself up to talk about such a small thing, and yet he isn't sure he would do it a second time. 

“I think you managed it pretty well, actually.” Danny said almost nonchalantly after a couple of seconds. 

Clark's eyes snapped back to Danny from the window. Danny wasn’t looking back at Clark, eyes stuck somewhere in front of him in a thoughtful frown. 

“What?”

“I mean, it's not like you screamed at the kid or attacked him. You even let him know he wouldn't be left to fend for himself.” His eyes drifted to look up at Clark.

“You’re giving me too much credit.” Clark said, feeling a bit numb. “I just threw him at the Justice League and then kept avoiding the boy from then on.” 

Clark had heard the complaint a thousand times, from Bruce, from Diana, from Arthur, from Barry, even from Dick that one time the kid came to visit for the first time after their Young Justice group was created. 

“I’m not saying the boy doesn’t deserve better Clark, or that you managed it perfectly, just that it could have been worse.”

Clark kept staring at Danny “I may not know how things were for Ellie and you, but I won’t believe you if you tell me you reacted worse Danny. Ellie has said that the day she met you was a pretty fun one before.”

Danny made an exasperated grunt. “Can you stop searching for a correct way to react in my own story? The circumstances in which we met our clones were completely different, Clark.”

Clark frowned. “I don’t think different circumstances would affect that much-”

“I didn't know Ellie was my clone when I met her.” Danny deadpanned, making Clark pause. “Ellie appeared in my room one afternoon claiming to be my third cousin once removed, and that she had run away from home. My parents said Vlad found her roaming around and had already talked to her father, supposedly a cousin my dad hadn’t met.”

“And they… believed him?”

Danny shrugged, “You know how even to this day my dad trusts anything Vlad says unconditionally.”

Clark sighted. “Right.” He had a lot of problems with Danny’s parents and wished he had cut them off from his life completely but… that wasn’t Clark's choice to make. They’ve had a few fights about that. “So Ellie just pretended to be your cousin and you weren’t suspicious about it?”

“Oh, I was a thousand percent suspicious… and worried, but not about her being my cousin." Danny peeked up at the portrait for a minute, then look down at where his hand started playing with his sleeve, searching for words. "My dad’s side of the family has always liked to joke that their genes were the strongest, and with her being a girl and four years younger, I didn’t immediately suspect clones. Not sure I would have suspected clones even if she had been my same gender and age, that simply was not within the realms of possibilities for me.”

“Then what were you suspicious of?” Clark asked with a frown.

“I honestly didn’t know, just that she may be up to something shady? Maybe getting something out of my parents lab? I didn’t think it could be more than that, she was ten, and as far as I knew at that point, just a normal little kid. But Vlad was the one that vouched for her, and that man wasn’t beneath using little kids.” 

Danny brought his legs up to hug them and glared at the floor. It was the first time he had shown the conversation was difficult for him as well, not just because words were hard, but because the subject hurt, and Clark felt bad about opening old scars. 

He opened his mouth to tell Danny that it wasn’t necessary to talk about it if he didn’t want to, that he could figure out this whole cloning situation without making Danny unearth memories he’d long buried, but before he could, Danny slightly raised a hand with one finger up, asking him to just wait him up.

Danny’s comment about him and Ellie never really dwelling on their own experiences lingered in Clark’s mind. It made Clark wonder whether Danny had ever had the chance to tell his cloning story to someone who would listen patiently. Whether he had carried this alone for years, and whether this was the first time he had spoken about it at all.

Sure, Jazz had helped Ellie and Danny sort out boundaries and communication, but that didn’t mean they’d ever talked about the experience itself. It was a pattern he’d noticed often with the Phantom Team: They rarely really talk about the things that have happened. It wasn’t really necessary when everyone was present enough to know the gist of it, present enough to make inside jokes about it, so why talk it out?

Clark had become an outside person Danny could talk to about his hero work, just like Danny had been for him, but they never really dwelled on the past either, did they? Just on the new things that happened. And maybe, opening up about this was not only for Clark's sake, but for Danny’s too.

By the time Danny started talking again, the first droplets were falling against their window, moon and stars fully covered by dark clouds.

“I kept trying to find evidence that Vlad was using her for something, but I thought I had found it all when the second week of her staying with us Ellie transformed to help during one of my battles with the new ghosts that were appearing. To say I was absolutely horrified would be an understatement.” 

“...You thought Vlad had killed her.”

Danny nodded slowly, glaring harder at the floor. “And Ellie leaned into it. Made up some story about Vlad offering shelter, that turning into her getting invited into the lab, and Vlad killing her with the portal. According to Ellie, the man found out it wasn’t enough to have any halfa because he wanted me specifically. She managed to escape and get to their home, and to cover his tracks Vlad made up the whole thing with her parents.”

Clark stared at Danny appalled. He knew how sensitive death was for Danny, how important it was for him. It was hard to imagine the Ellie that he knew would make up a death story to… cover her origins? Especially as a neverborn. Clark will not pretend to understand the intricacies of the infinite realm's culture, but he knows that death-borns find it extremely offensive for neverborn to speak freely about the experience of death, something most neverborns are conscient about.

Danny peeked up at Clark from the floor after a moment of silence, and Clark’s face must be reflecting just how he feels, as Danny huffs a humorless laugh.

“Yeah, even to this day I still get mad thinking about how she made that all up, but she didn’t exactly understand the depths of what she was saying, and has apologized for that since.”

“That’s good…” He said, still feeling uncomfortable with the idea Ellie had done that. “But then when did you find out about her being your clone?”

“I’m going there.” He said, rolling his eyes at Clark's impatience. “After that “reveal” I became extremely protective of Ellie, and she kept integrating in our lives. She met my friends, sometimes sneaked into school, went with us to Nasty Burger and sometimes fought ghosts with me. It wasn’t until a month later that Vlad attacked us and this “perfect” routine fell to the ground.”

“Did he try to take Ellie back?” 

Danny shook his head. “He came with the objective of capturing me. By that point I completely trusted Ellie to fight beside me, so I didn’t see it coming when she blasted me in the back.”

“She did what?” Clark exclaimed.

“It turned out that had been the plan all along, Ellie had been gaining my trust to be able to easily capture me.” Danny shrugged like Ellie betraying him wasn’t a big deal. Like being blasted by someone you were becoming close to wasn't a big deal.

He hated how easily Danny accepted that loved ones could attack him, another thing Jack and Maddie had accustomed him to. He resisted the urge of redirecting the conversation into addressing that, it would be an easy scape from the whole clone thing... something Clark still desperately wanted to drop, but that wouldn't be fair for Danny.

“So it was then that you discovered she was your clone?” 

“I mean, not during that battle, no. Vlad revealed it while I was trapped in one of his restraint inventions. You know, during his great villain monologue. Not only was it revealed that Ellie was my clone, but that pretty much all of the “new” ghosts that had been attacking those months were failed attempts at cloning me.”

Clark shifted uncomfortably. Attempts at cloning. He hadn’t thought about that yet. Cloning couldn’t be easy. How many attempts were made before the "successful" clone he met was achieved? He shook the thought out of his head to focus back on Danny’s story. 

“So how did you react then? To the whole clone revelation?”

“Well, I told Vlad he was a crazed up fruitloop, but I didn’t exactly have the time to have much of a reaction besides that before Vlad knocked me out again” 

“So you didn’t say anything to Ellie?”

“She wasn’t around for the great reveal, and…” Danny munched on his words for a moment, and then sighted. “Look, I don’t want to get into detail, but a lot happened that day, there wasn’t really time to actually process the clone thing. I did what all heroes do when experiencing traumatic things but still having to be a hero.”

“Placed it in a mental box to deal with later?" Danny nodded. "You were too busy with Vlad to actually have a reaction about the clones.” Clark said, realizing what Danny meant with how different their circumstances were.

“Yep," Danny said popping the p. "By the end of the day Ellie accepted Vlad didn’t care about her, and we both escaped with my friend's help, but once we were back home we didn’t really talk things out, Ellie said she needed space and told my parents she was ready to return home.”

Clark frowned. “Wait. If she didn’t stay with you, and wouldn’t go back with Vlad, where did she go? Didn’t you say she was 10 at the time?”

Danny nodded and grimaced. “She basically wandered from city to city as a street kid, and if I’m honest to you Clark, I didn’t really question it until the second time she came back around, when I gave her a way to communicate and Sam made me the enormous flavour of using her funds to sustain her while I got my own.”

“How long did Ellie wonder alone before that happened?” Clark questioned worriedly.

He hated the image of 10 year old Ellie fending for herself in the streets. Ellie had moved into his apartment not long after Danny did. He had assumed she had been living with Danny's parents up till then... He had assumed a lot of things about his siblings past.

If Ellie was used to roaming the world by herself from such a young age, it made sense she decided to pick up the travelling once more the moment she turned 18.

“Almost three months, and I know it isn’t great to have a 10 year old out and about. Trust me, I’m not proud of that.” Danny said resigned with the past he couldn’t change.

Clark quickly shook his head, he hadn’t meant for it to be accusatory. “You were a child, there wasn’t much-”

“I know. It doesn’t change that I wished it had been different.” Danny said calmly. “But you see how we had completely different circumstances now don’t you? You can’t base your reaction on mine Clark. You didn’t know this boy before discovering he was your clone,  you have no relation with him other than the fact he has your genetic material, and you didn’t have some big fight happening that allowed you to just pack everything in a box while you worked together with him to get out of the situation.”

“I… Okay, yeah, you're right. I can see how our circumstances would give us space for different reactions” 

Clark sighted. It was uncomfortable to have how different it went for the both of them placed so plainly in front of him. In a way he was thinking of Danny and Ellie as a clear marking about how it all should go. He isn’t sure how he thought that, when he basically didn’t know anything about how they constructed their present relationship as siblings. 

Clark looked back at the window. The rain was still going strong and Clark let his mind get lost in the sound of water falling. He knew there was a lot of his story that Danny wasn’t telling him, but Clark wasn’t about to dig for more than Danny was willing to share. He was not interviewing Danny, this was just a conversation between siblings. 

It was also apparent that Danny wasn’t going to judge his reaction to his clone, even more willing to excuse it than Clark himself. After months of anxious fear for Danny’s reaction the real conversation was relieving but it also left Clark feeling somewhat numb, and he wasn’t sure where to take the conversation from there. 

He actually wished they could drop it there, and with the silence growing, he actually thought Danny had decided the same. Except, when he turned to look at his little brother, he realized Danny was just waiting him out.

Almost all of the ghosts were back in the Zone to seep back up ectoplasm. Everyone was exhausted, emotionally drained, and sporting a new injury.

Jazz had harped on all of them to get their fluids and proteins in while they could, but it had been a group decision to do another broadcast.

Kids needed someone to rely on, to look up to after almost half a day of chaos and uncertainty.

Why Team Phantom, basically unknown to all of the world except Amity Park was doing this?

Danny honestly didn't know.

Kinship, maybe. Responsibility. Duty. Not really a desire; he didn't want his face— even if he was covering part of it was a face mask— all over the world. He didn't want the awe or respect of everyone.

"You guys ready?"

"Helllll no," Danny groaned, but pushed himself to his feet, swiping his hair into disarray.

"Not really."

"Absolutely not. I'd rather dump hand sanitizer on my cuts."

"Great enthusiasm, guys." Tucker muttered, tugging his goggles and gaiter over his face again. The rest of Team Phantom followed through despite their loud complaints.

"We look terrible," Sam observed, sliding into place next to Jazz as they stood in front of the blank wall. She tried to wipe off some of the dirt from her cheek, but just smudged it.

All of them were covered in dried blood, dirt, bruises, water, and who knows what else.

"We'll do great. Danny, do you want to take the lead?"

A slow nod. Tucker started a countdowns and all of them took in deep breaths and prepared themselves.

"And... we're live."

"Hi, children of the world. My name is Phantom."

Great start, Danny, he thought sarcastically. What was this, an interview?

"Beside me are Team Phantom: King Tech, Cherry Bomb and Phobos. Most people watching do not know who we are. I know, even after we might've saved you or have one of our friends help you, you might not trust us."

He feels like he's stumbling through this with a concussion and hopping on one foot. The ghost shuts his eyes for a moment, exhales, and thankfully, none of his friends step in.

"But... I hope you trust the people around you. Because this is how we'll get through this. You don't have to be big to be a hero. You don't have to do big things, either. That's not what makes a hero."

A pause. Why was he harping about heroics here? What convoluted, unhinged world did he live in that Daniel Freakin' Fenton was talking about being a hero?

"We ran into a lot of heroes today. Someone in Portland was riding kids with their bike to their homes. Another went to the grocery store and grabbed formula and food for everyone at their school." Phobos chimed in, a hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Sharing their lunch with a stranger." Sam continued.

"Or teaching the younger kids how to braid hair." Tucker finished. It was weirdly synergized for a group that could barely get through a teamwork game without failing.

"What we're trying to say is to be nice. Be brave. We can get through this, despite sadness or fear about... everything. It might sound corny, sorry, but we're only as strong as we are together."

Sam tilted her head after a moment, and Danny shut up.

"Words of encouragement aside, we still recommend that you stay at home if it's safe and go to a school or a main building. Older teens, you're still in charge. If you're going to go to supermarkets for food or formula, please avoid small businesses if you can."

"Oh, and," King Tech interjected, "if adults haven't returned by tomorrow morning in American time, then we'll have another broadcast."

"Thank you. All of you. Also, please stop screaming at the yetis, they don't bite nor have rabies." Danny really felt bad for them. They were doing the best they could to save as many kids as they could in the hospitals.

"Right." Jazz finished with hopefully a confident look despite her state of being dissolved. "Best of luck and strength to you all. Team Phantom out."

There was a click, and all of them exhaled. Danny slumped back into the wall as Sam moaned in embarrassment into her hands. "I feel like we did bad. We did bad, didn't we?"

"Sam, we did fine." Jazz tried to soothe as she searched for baby wipes underneath the sink.

"Okay, okay— uhm. Guys. We all need sleep but it's not like all of our issues are going to just... poof. Should we sleep in shifts?"

A group grimace, but a smattering of agreeing noises or words from the teens.

"I have the most energy at the moment, and besides. Frostbite and the rest need ectoplasm. I can probably find some jugs and haul it around to the hospitals for them."

"Smart," Sam remarked. It seemed the day and strain had removed her sarcastic tone for the time being.

"Still keep your comm on you, Danny." His sister reminded, and he sighed dramatically, well aware of Team Phantom safety rules.

"You got this, man." Tucker said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Danny did not got this. Or however you said it.

-

"Hey! You're that... Phantom dude on the electronics!"

Danny swiveled to see some 12 or 13 year old in a sort of Superman suit. A little kid Superman who was hovering in the clouds next to the ghost, arms crossed and a bruised lip and tired eyes.

"There's more of you? Wait. What do I call you? Mr. Super-tot?"

"I'm Superboy!"

"There's another? Jesus, are you guys cloned in the Just Is Late basement?"

"No—! I'm just... using the- the mantle for a little bit." The little kid spluttered. "Just Is Late?"

Danny rolled his eyes. Kids these days. Or maybe he's just sleep deprived and his brain has shorted out from stress. "The Justice League. Duh. What are you doing out here? It's like, eleven at night."

"I could say the same to you, weird ghost man! How did you access Justice League tech? You're not even any of the rosters for even backup heroes. We've checked!"

"Oh. Yeahhhh. So, we're not really... associated with that." Danny waved his hand dismissively upwards.

"You're not a hero? Or a sidekick? What are you doing... doing this?" The definitely Superboy, 100% not a clone persisted.

Danny sighed, gaze turning upwards. "You don't have to be a card carrying member of Jet 2 Holiday—"

"Justice League."

"—Just Losing to be a whatever you mean by a 'hero.' Me 'n my group aren't bumbling hicks with superpowers just 'cause I'm not in your Meta boyband."

"How do we know you're not a villain, just biding time?"

"Are you the Big Blue Boyscout's little ankle biter or Batman's? Look. I'm not going to debate the semantics of heroism with a preschooler—"

Both of their heads snapped towards a blink in the distance, making an ominous wisshhh and creaking noise of large, falling machinery.

"Is that a plane?"

"No, it's a bird, Superman." The ghost boy rebutted, blasting off with a shot of speed towards what definitely was a plane.

"Fuc—" wait, there's a bonafide baby in his presence, "fudging hell, I thought Dorothea got all the planes out of the sky."

Evidently not.

There didn't sound like there were any screams of people, and by the way Babyface Boyscout over here didn't punch into the airplane like paper, there probably wasn't.

Little wins.

But a big ass airplane. Great. They were over China or some other Asian country (Danny hadn't really been paying attention) and needed to get this bad boy out of the sky and away from structures and people.

And it was starting to dip dangerously low towards a rocky, high range. Big plane + hit big snowy mountain = avalanche over villages and houses. He's bad at math but he can compute how screwed they are.

"Field! We need to get it to those fields!" He shouted to the other superhuman, flying up to the cockpit. They didn't look like farmland, just rocky ground with nothing on it. Perfect-ish.

Superboy flew to the tip of the airplane next to him, and Danny drove his shoulder deep and put all of his strength into pushing against it.

He felt the kid next to him doing the same. Slowly, the plane began to continue its descent, but less towards the mountains. Super-tot went to direct it more to the right, which put all the force onto Danny.

His shoulder gave a crack and ominous pop. The ghost bit back a scream, if barely, and the Kryptonian stopped pushing for a moment, either in horror or shock.

"Push!" He shouted back, voice high and taut with pain. His whole right side was alight with pinpricks of growing agony.

Ghosts had some sort of adrenaline system, but he really wasn't in the mood to prove how long it lasted.

By the grace of some god, or maybe just superhuman capabilities, the plane came to a creaking drag across the jagged terrain and mud.

"Oh my— Holy moly— are you okay?!"

"Mmm," Danny said through grinder teeth, "could be real better but—" he fixed his free hand and wrenched it in the direction that always worked for dislocated limbs (ghost biology, he thinks). Another sickening shhick pop sound and it was back in place.

He couldn't stop the grating shout this time. Superboy hovered nervously, talking over a communication device that the ghost didn't care to eavesdrop to.

A few rattling breaths. It's not like he could comm his friends without ruining the little sleep they'd get. He had this.

"Right, pipsqueak." He grunted. "I got things to do, you got things to do. Great teamwork, but I think we should break up."

"What?! You're injured, ghost man, you can't be—"

"I'm sorry, it's me, not you! There's more fish in the sea! Be single and ready to mingle or whatever!" He called out as he floated upwards, going invisible.

Now, how do I get to the hospitals in Africa, Danny wondered as he gulped down an uncountable amount of Advil from a side pouch.

-

Danny was sprawled out on his couch, shoulder in a sling, when he felt his gut swoop. He sat up straight like some vampire, and immediately shook Tucker and Sam awake.

"Guys," he hissed. "Guys!"

Both startled up, immediately rolling off the pillows and grabbing at their weapons. "No, we're fine, kind of. I think— Mostly sure the adults just returned like, right now."

"What? Holy shit, okay, really, um." Tucker fumbled with his PDA, turning on the news, but once he saw nothing, he turned to CCTV footage.

Adults were back in their cars in the dead of night on the freeway. Crashes happened before their eyes.

"Oh my— FUCK! People in airplanes!" Danny bolted upright, and was flying through the roof before Sam or Tucker could get a word out.

Both of the teens looked at each other, and threw off the blankets and rushed down to the portal before the Fenton parents could return.

-

The adults have returned.

And they keep trying to kill themselves.

Jazz knows that the other heroes have probably their hands more than full, more than tied tight with other emergencies, but god, she doesn't feel like she's able or ready for this.

Every psychology textbook, presentation, lecture, every YouTube video and pamphlet didn't prepare her for wrestling men bigger than her away from a railing. To tell a woman to put it down.

Phobos stops trying to reason with them after so long, and simply lets her control of emotions manipulate them into sleep. She zip ties this hands and ankles together and writes down notes.

Jazz knows its so cruel. It's not what these people— who mostly either lost a child or believe they have— deserve for being driven to the brink by grief.

But she's seventeen. She doesn't have a mentor and she's been working for fifteen hours with only a three hour nap in between.

She's so (horrified, disgusted, empathizing, disturbed, mournful) scared.

And she has to be a hero, which means making the tough decision to save more lives even if it means to leave some for those more able.

The adults have returned.

And Jazz Fenton is on a bridge at 4 a.m., dragging another person onto a sidewalk.

-

There were millions of unanswered 911 (or equivalent) calls. There was an estimated amount of a thousand children dead and over twenty thousand still missing around the world.

There's reports of yetis, ghost rockstars, dragons, centaurs, Greek warriors and vigilantes unheard of.

Heroes, civilian and military alike scour the globe for missing children and adults. It takes days for the bulk of those to be solved while some still were being investigated.

Most hours weren't spent questioning. Some got reports of a few unheard of creatures and entities, but it certainly wasn't a focus.

There were mass funerals. Days of mourning and searching and work.

Just because some "ghosts", vigilantes and hero sidekicks had prevented most disasters, it didn't mean there weren't destruction or children in critical condition.

Only until a couple of days after was their a first true glimmer of an investigation of events that transpired with the adults were in another plane without their children.

Mission reports from Jonathan Kent, Duke Thomas and other sidekicks were compiled. Videos and news broadcasts that were found were combed through. Radiation levels recorded in hospital and other areas.

Bruce Wayne sits and listens to his kids comms while the photo of other children sits on his monitor. It's a blurry photo from security, but it shows "Cherry Bomb" holding onto "Phobos", visibly crying.

He closes the photo and brings his head to his hands.

Superman holds one of his sons close and listens.

There's a Justice League meeting emergency meeting scheduled in twenty minutes.

Who are these children?

And where are the adults to them?

-

Deep in imprisonment in a realm not too understood by most, a witch boy lays on a stone bench, cat curled on his chest.

An entity appears in front of the warded bars, hands clasped behind their black. Their tattered purple cloak swirls with their appearance in this plane, clock and gears ticking lightly.

"You have caused much sorrow and distress in the mortal world, Klarion."

"So I have," the boy-but-not-quite replies, lips curved into an unnatural smile, "Uncle."

A clock chimes deep in Clockwork's chest. The time keeper has Sight, and he does not look forward to this conversation.

-

Worlds away, Danny Fenton awakes from sleep to the oddest feeling. He rubs his face and rolls back over.

Future and fate could wait for now, couldn't they?

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Tag List: MERRY CHRISTMAS!! here's my gift for you all because I'm only on the internet and can't get you guys the presents you deserve :))