I Don't Want to be Great, I Wanna be Me.
So we all know the classic âJL meets Phantom through summoningâ prompt, and we usually get Danny âHigh King, Savior of Worlds, Eldritch, Cryptid, Ancient, No Shits Given, Chaos Gremlinâ Fenton making an appearance, cool and confident, running circles around the JL. But what if, this High King they summoned, just⌠wasnât.
The Justice League was prepared for anything, with the latest BBG threatening the world they had to take drastic measures. The JL Dark managed to scrounge up the summoning spell they⌠âliberatedâ from a cult group a couple months back. At first the JL was against the thought of summoning another highly powerful unknown, but with extensive research, Constantine and various others vouching for this so-called âKing Phantom'' , and no option left, well, their hands were tied. Said to be the vanquisher of the previous Tyrant of the throne, Savior of the Infinite Realms, thousands of years old, infinitely powerful, infinitely old, and some smaller rumors claimed, infinitely kind. Phantom is said to be extremely protective of humans (something they were banking on), loyal to its subjects, and said to rarely get angry (yeah right). A terrifying creature, tall and confident in its destructive power.
So yes, the League was prepared. They gathered as many members as they could spare for this meeting, everyone ready for a fight, but praying for none. The Big Three stepped forward while the rest hung back. Constantine and the Dark members start chanting, beginning the ritual.
The chanting ends. The silence hangs. Bodies still.Â
Then, a flash from the hieroglyphs on the ground and an explosion of wind with no origin, a blinding light originating from the summoning circle grows in strength, letting out a vibrating hum that causes Superman to cover his ears and wince. The hum starts shaking the ground and the light condenses into itself, revealing the silhouette of an object.Â
The wind stops. The light is gone, the vibration a memory. Everything is as it is before, with one exception.
Wonder Woman, wasting no time, straightens, âHigh King Phantom, Ruler of the infinite Realms, We are the Justice league, We ask your help in vanquishing The BBG, it threatens the lives of all those who liveâŚâ Her eyes widened as what stood before her.
This⌠this didnât look like a High King, Vanquisher of Pariah Dark. This little thing did not give any indication of confidence, power, or age⌠it looked⌠young. The only thing terrifying about this creature is the size of bags under his eyes. Drowning in soft clothes, hunched over, looking utterly defeated, Nothing like they expected. Diana would almost mistake it if for a human child if not for the glowing eyes, fangs, and slight aura it gave off. But this, this was no King⌠Is- are those tears in its eyes?!
Danny has not been having a good day. Or week. Or month, or- anything really. It seems like dying was only the beginning of his problems. No, scratch that, this all started with his parentsâ damn obsession with ghosts. Danny swore they were part ghost too with their utter infatuation with all things Ecto. If only they hadnât tried to access the ghost zone, if only Vlad hadnât been involved to become Dannyâs biggest nightmare, if only his parents gave up their research once they had kids, if only he didnât walk in that stupid portal to impress his friends.Â
If only he had stayed dead.
If only he didnât gain powers, then he wouldnât be stuck in this mess.Â
Danny scowled to himself and let himself flop onto his bed. Heâs been spending the last couple weeks cycling through this whole rogue gallery, TWICE! Plus fighting a handful of random ghosts who thought they could take on the âGhost Kingâ (Pariahâs evil reign and thousand year slumber didnât help either with all the paperwork thatâs left for Danny.) Running from the GIW, his parents, and Val as usual, (Ghost Scum,Â
Dealing with âMayorâ Vladâs Evil Plan of the Week -Dannyâs powers were still on the fritz after that encounter, painful, was a word for it- Not to mention school, between Dash being Dash, forgetting his science homework, missing a test because of Skulker, Lancer and his threats of, âBlack Beauty Fenton! If your grades keep dropping youâll spend the rest of the year in detention! With ME!â and now his teachers (and Jazz) are talking to him about college? Heâs still a sophomore, give him a break! It isnât Dannyâs fault the whole universe is apparently out to get him.
The real cherry on top of this whole thing was the recent âsummoningsâ. No thanks to the Fruit Loop and his meddling, with Jack Fenton unknowingly helping him, again. A nice little instruction booklet called, âHow to Summon the Ghost King, Made Easy!â got out onto the internet and the world, free for any psycho to speed dial Danny away from his life. At various points in the last month Danny has been forcibly -and if he was honest, painfully- ripped from anything heâs been doing and dumped smack dab into the center of various cultsâ plans, usually they wanted power, money, or world domination. His saving grace was the process of summoning forced him to transform or no identity reveals, thank The Ancients.Â
Sam and Tucker have been a godsend in getting the Booklet wiped from the internet, Danny would be lost without them. He wouldâve fallen apart the first week into his powers if not for them. Who knew watching your friend half dying created lasting relationships? They really kept him going and he trusts them with his life, really he does.
But Danny would never tell them about some of the things heâs seen getting summoned, he couldnât do that to them. The various groups of psychos seemed to think Danny was more likely to listen to them if they offered sacrifices.. human sacrifices. Some nights he couldnât stop smelling blood and incense, couldnât get those images out of his mind. He hated himself for keeping track, and hated himself for not wanting to. 15. 15 people, so far just because some handful of lunatics wanted some money or something equally stupid like that. Danny was 15, thatâs one whole human being, for every year he was alive, one of them was even younger th- she was just- Danny couldnât- she was- so smallâŚ
Pulling his blankets over his head, Danny took measured breaths against the tightness in his throat. Itâs Not fair. Itâs not. He didnât ask for this. He didnât want to be King of the undead, heâs just a kid himself isnât he? It was just an accident turning on the portal. He didnât mean to. Why is he stuck fixing everything? Can't he just be a normal kid? Go to school, get good grades, become an astronaut? Heâs so completely out of his depth, who is he kidding, itâs just a matter of time before he screws up again and someone gets hurt, or worse. He's trying, though, he is. He tries so hard to be good, to do good. To not turn into Dan.
âStop it, Danny. Nowâs not the time for bad thoughts.â This is the first time Dannyâs had a chance to sleep in two days, his parents are out and left the home defenses are down, Jazz is studying at the library, Sam and Tucker are playing Doom while keeping an eye on ecto readings around town. He has maybe 4 blissful hours to spend in dream land. He sighed and sunk into his pillow trying to blank out his thoughts before he could spiral again.
A tightening in the chest, and eyes snap open, âNO! NO! Please not now!â is all Danny manages to think before the unfortunately familiar sensation of space displacement takes hold. His transformation is forced on him as he feels himself fall apart and get put back together simultaneously.
âJust a couple hours rest, is tHAT SO MUCH TO ASK!!??â The anger leaves before it can fully form due to the pure exhaustion that washed over his ectofied bones and straight to his core. It feels strained, like glass under pressure, not knowing if the slightest change will shatter him. He slowly gets his bearings and- oh, this almost seems worse than a regular cult summoning. At least thereâs not a dead body.Â
Itâs the Justice League, and Wonder Woman is talking to him. And Danny, Danny canât. He canât. He doesnât know if they want to trap him, kill him, experiment⌠if the GIW got their claws into the JL⌠Danny canât anymore, He can practically feel his core splintering into jagged gut- wrecking pieces. He just wants to rest, to feel safe, for just a little while. Why canât he?
Throat burning and eyes watering, Danny realizes he can do something, just one thing. Itâs the only thing left that he can do. Something he hasnât done for a long time, ever since dying.