#undergrowth

Birch trees under the snow.

URBAN JUNGLE Pages 39-40

The Young Justice team was in a bind; the Justice League wasn't there, and this new enemy they were fighting was too much for them. 

He was called Undergrowth, and the sentient plant being had them and the city completely overwhelmed. No matter what they threw at him, his sprawling, ever-growing flora simply absorbed the blows and came back stronger. Surrounded by his pants and running out of options by now, they came to a desperate conclusion: they needed outside help. 

Zatanna's research led them to a peculiar legend—the "Heir of Pariah, who defeated that plant god once." The name Phantom was strange, but the success against a similar foe was too good to ignore.

Zatanna began to draw the summoning circle. As she chanted, Cassie Sandsmark, aka Wonder Girl, watched with a grin. "Wait, just to be sure," she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "You're summoning the Heir of Pariah?! RIGHT!"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Zatanna responded without looking up from her spellbook. As she continued the spell, she couldn't look away and summon the wrong being.

Cassie's grin widened into a mischievous smirk. "Nothing," she said, her voice full of anticipation. "Just give me a minute to prepare myself!"

Before anyone could ask what she meant, Cassie was gone, sprinting out of the cave. 

The team could only exchange bewildered glances as Zatanna continued the ritual. They heard Cassie’s footsteps thundering back down the hallway, but what they saw when she returned stopped them cold. 

She wasn’t wearing her usual Wonder Girl uniform. Instead, she was clad in a dazzling, flowing white wedding dress, complete with a veil and a bouquet of flowers. The team was speechless. She looked ready to walk down the aisle.

Just as they were about to question her sanity, the ritual's energy flared. A spectral, green-white portal opened, and a teenage boy, no older than they were, floated out. He had silver hair and neon green eyes and was wearing a white suit with a "D" logo on his chest. Before them stood Danny Phantom, the Heir of Pariah.

Danny blinked, taking in his surroundings and the bizarre sight before him. His ghostly form, usually a calm white, blushed furiously as his gaze landed on his friend Cassie. He knew her from the political meetings of the Gods; he was most of the time a +1 of Lord Hades. That is how he met the daughter of Zeus.

The flush on his skin shifted through shades of red and green before settling into a deep, muddy brown. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her as he ignored all the others around them.

Cassie, with a sly smile, stepped forward. "Are you here to Persephone me, or should I Hades you?" she asked, her voice a playful challenge. Ready for what he wants to try.

Danny stammered, his usual composure completely gone. "Y-yeah... you did summon me," he managed to get out, still captivated by her wedding dress. He had no idea why she had one on, but it looked incredibly beautiful on her.

"Oh, then I'll Hades you," Cassie replied, a laugh in her voice. "I know a great wedding hall for us to tie the knot."

The team snapped out of their stupor. "You seem to have forgotten the problem!" Zatanna yelled, gesturing to the giant, rampaging plant monster.

Danny finally tore his attention away from Cassie and looked at the chaos. He quickly assessed the situation. "Ah, Undergrowth," he said, his tone turning serious. "You need at least an ice user. Fireworkstoo. Just kill the plants around him, and I'll do the rest to capture him."

With a plan in place, the team sprang into action. Danny flew through Undergrowth's sprawling network of vines and roots, freezing them with blasts of ice. As the team's collective efforts chipped away at the monster, Danny finally reached the Ghost, and after attacking him a few times with ice, he used the thermos to capture him.

As soon as the threat was neutralized, Cassie flew over to Danny, grabbing his arm before he could even process what had just happened. "Well," she said, her smile brighter than ever, "time for our wedding or better yet to elope!!"

Plus, Sam is the one who broke off his brainwashing and showed his statements and ideas in a more positive light than he and Ivy ever could. That's why Undergrowth still considers her his child, despite her choosing the witch's path.

Poison Ivy and Sam are like the yin and yang of each other. Sam uses riots and positive reinforcement to get her point across, but will use underhanded methods when it is necessary (she got that bank). Poison Ivy would kill and destroy companies, harming the Green, but now she can see that there are other options at her disposal that she can use. It's just a matter of whether she wants to use it or not.

(Funny Part) Let's just say that the way Undergrowth differentiates who is older is by who he claimed chronologically. So in Undergrowths' book, a 14-year-old Samantha Manson is older and more responsible than a 37-year-old Pamela Isley. (Of course, you can have Sam be older than Ivy, but wouldn't it be more funny if she were younger but was considered the older sister. No time shenanigans or anything, just this.)

Danny defeating Pariah and being hailed as a hero and saviour is cool and all, but upon being told he has to become the new Ghost King, he's extremely resistant to the idea.

Not because he's afraid of going mad with power like Pariah did and Vlad definitely would have, not even because he's only half-ghost and has a whole other life to live, but almost entirely because he just....doesn't want to. Too much responsibility, he hasn't even been dead that long, guys! Cut him some slack!

Sooo, the Ancients/The Council, Pandora, Nocturn, Vortex, Undergrowth, Clockwork, Frostbite and maybe, part-time members Dorathea and Ghostwriter?

They show up, minus Dorathea since she's busy with Princess stuff, drag Danny to some random island in the GZ and tell him the news.

*

"No." Danny's reply is simple, short, and clear.

The Council, cause apparently that's a fucking thing in the Infinite Realms of Migraines, stops, processing the curt refusal. Vortex is the first to snap out of whatever shock has fallen over the group, his voice loud over the now roaring winds.

"No? No?! What do you mean no?!"

Danny crosses his arms; everything about him, from his pouty scowl to his general stance, screams "teenager" in its purest form. He turns away from them, still pouting. "I'm not gonna do that. And you can't make me."

Pandora and Clockwork share a look behind Danny's back.

Smash cut to Danny, being suspended in the air in Phantom form with Clockwork and Nocturn's magic, breathing heavy, surrounded by destruction, a surprising amount of which he didn't even cause, but he's pretty much unharmed aside from some bruises and scrapes. The Council wasn't so luckly.

Undergrowth is very slowly trying to regrow himself. He's the size of a very young tree sapling at the moment, and he's still defrosting.

Vortex can barely hold his physical form. He gets very close to dispersing into clouds before he manages to literally pull himself back together.

Nocturn also has some parts of himself that need defrosting. He's covered in wounds, sluggishly bleeding green, and he must have taken a hit to the head at some point because his right horn has been broken.

Pandora got both her right arms blown off, and they are healing surprisingly slowly. Her armour has several cracks, chips, divots and scorch marks on it now, and she too is covered in bleeding wounds.

Clockwork's cape was unfortunate collateral in this fight, and his staff has many breaks and chips in it now, as does the clock on his chest. He's probably the most fine, not because he didn't get hurt, but because whenever he age-changes, his wounds heal instantly. He probably took the most damage over the course of the fight, but the only indication of that is the writing above.

Frostbite also had one of his horns broken; it's okay, they'll grow back. He was tossed around a lot, so he's more sore than anything else, but his ice arm broke at least twice, and he's still trying to restore it from the first time it broke.

Princess Dora, in dragon form, is kinda just...there at the moment. She's sitting there, trying to look regal and all but one of her wings is bent the wrong way, her snout is bruised, and she's covered in burns from Danny's ecto blasts.

Fright Knight, ever loyal to the crown, didn't get directly involved, but since he's also loyal to the wider Council, he didn't try to stop them either. He has gained a new respect and a healthy amount of fear for Danny.

Ghostwriter got it the worst; he's all the way fucked up. He has areas that would be severe frostbite on a living person, he has burns from getting thrown in Vortex's fire tornado(do you guys like Vortex can imitate volcanic eruptions, or is that just me?), he has burns from Danny's ectoblasts, and he took almost the full brunt of Danny's wail. He's kinda just...lying on the floor. Give him a day. Or two thousand. He'll be fine, probably.

Nocturn, after a moment of silence to mourn the death of their collective egos, approaches Danny with the same wariness someone would approach a rabid animal.