Chapter 7
"Morning, kiddo!" Hal grinned, ruffling Danny's hair as he came out of his room the next morning.
Danny sighed in content, leaning into his hand.
"Headed to the cave?"
"In a minute," Danny hummed.
"What's up?" Hal questioned gently.
"...Y'know how I told Batman I didn't wanna be anyone outside of Phantom?"
"Mmm," Hal nodded.
"Well...I think...I think I do."
"Okay," Hal smiled gently, eyes shining, "We can talk to Batman, create an identity."
"Really?" Danny's eyes lit up, "Just like that?"
"Just like that," Hal beamed, "Y'know if we create an identity for you you'd have to go to school, right?"
"Yeah, I don't mind," Danny smiled.
"What grade?"
"I'm fourteen," Danny said, that was the age he'd been looking when Hal had yanked him out of space and if he'd be here for a while he'd let himself age from that time.
"Very neat," Hal ruffled his hair, "So, what name you wanna go by? Danny Phantom, like before or somethin' else?"
"How," Danny hesitated, anxiety rolling through him, "How about Daniel Jordan?"
Hal froze and then promptly burst into tears. Danny stumbled back, startled before he hurried forward, hugging Hal and awkwardly patting his back.
"I'll-I'll talk to Batman!" Hal wailed.
"Okay, then, um...I'm-I'm gonna..."
Danny pried Hal off him, backpeddling and leaping out the window of their apartment, making his way as fast as he could to the nearest zeta tube, a dumpster just below them. Leaping into it and closing the lid over him...Danny vanished and reappeared, stepping out of the tube in the cave.
"Phantom!" Robin greeted enthusiastically, "How was your night?"
"Good!" Danny beamed, "Ah, except I made Hal cry again."
"Again?" Robin repeated.
"Yeah he, um, he gets really worked up over emotional breakthroughs," Danny smiled sheepishly.
"Ooooh, what happened this time?" Robin wondered, even though Batman would probably tell him that night.
"I...wanna create an identity outside of Phantom," Danny said, "And...when discussing potential names I may have suggested the surname Jordan?"
Robin cackled, "I can just picture him crying now!" He laughed.
"It was amusing," Danny agreed, hiding a grin.
"What, um, what first name goes with that surname?" Robin asked inconspicously.
"Oh, D-"
"Rob, Phantom, come join us!" Wally called out from the other room.
Robin silently cursed his friend as he and Danny made their way into the other room, looking on at the holotable in the training room where M'gann and Aqualad were currently playing hologram air hockey. Danny lit up and dragged Robin over to the table, looking on, buzzing with excitement.
The current present members of the team, everyone except Superboy who was out in Metropolis, were playing with way too much competition in their hearts. They were playing where the loser left the table and a new person would take on the winner.
Danny started, playing against Kaldur who he beat fairly easily, then he played M'gann who, unused to the game also lost fairly easily. Robin however, the tricky gremlin sent a taunting grin Danny's way that smashed right into his core and made him feel...warm or something and he distracted Danny which led to him winning quickly. Robin claimed Danny's spot as the one to beat which Wally did the next match.
The order reset and Wally was currently playing Kaldur.
The Atlantean's expression pinched as Wally won their round, the rest of the team looking on in amusement.
"Recognized," The automated voice called out, "Superboy; B04."
The hero stalked forward.
"Hi, Superboy!" M'gann greeted cheerily, "How was Metropolis?"
He ignored her, walking through the holotable.
"Ready for training, everyone?" Black Canary called out as she and Martian Manhunter approached them.
"Black Canary!" M'gann gushed, "Uncle J'onn!"
She hurried over to him and hugged him tightly.
"M'gann," J'onn smiled once she pulled away, affectionately resting a hand on her shoulder, "I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting."
"A few bumps," She admitted, "But I'm learning."
"That's all I can ask," J'onn smiled tenderly.
"Frère," Danny called out to Superboy in French, sending Canary the stink eye for opening her mouth, presumably to stop him from leaving.
"Quoi?" Superboy growled lowly.
Danny could be excited to speak other languages with his brother later, now though, he needed to find out what was bothering him.
"Ce qui s'est passé? Était-ce Superman?"
The way Superboy clenched his fists and pointedly looked away told Danny the problem was indeed Superman.
"...I'm sorry," Danny sighed, moving in and wrapping his arms around his brother.
Superboy immediately melted in the hug, leaning further into Danny's embrace, hugging him fiercely. Danny and Superboy held each other for a little while, Superboy squeezing Danny tightly, reveling in the grounding presence. Once he was calm, which he usually was in his brother's presence, he let him go.
"Sorry," Superboy winced as he eventually released Danny, immediately filled with shame at how tightly he'd been holding him, "If I hurt you-"
"You could never hurt me," Danny promised with a tender smile, "Now...shall we?" His smile turned wider and challengingly.
"Oh, let's go," Superboy grinned.
"Alright," Canary looked on at Danny in pride in a way that had his skin crawl with distaste, adults being proud of him? no thanks, "Class is in session."
The floor began to glow white as Superboy and Danny rejoined their team, standing by their side.
"I consider it an honor to be your teacher," She said, "I'll throw a lot at you, everything I've learned from my own mentor," She grimaced, letting out a pained hiss as she pulled off her jacket, "And my own bruises."
"What happened?" M'gann looked on with wide eyes.
"She was in a fight," Danny said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world which...it was.
"The job," Was Canary's response, "Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner."
"Right here!" Wally's hand flew into the air, "Yeah! After this," He tossed his banana peel, "Swish," He sang even though the peel was now on the floor as there was nothing for it to go into, "I'll show you my moves~" He flirted.
Canary smirked and surged forward throwing a punch. Wally blocked it but in one smooth, continuous move she twisted and sank low to the ground, swiping Wally's legs out from under him, the young hero crashing into the floor, the wind knocked out of him.
"Ooh," He whimpered in pain, "Hurts so good."
"Good block," Canary praised, "But did anyone see what he did wrong?"
"Ooh, ooh!" Robin gushed, "He hit on teacher and got served?"
"Dude!" Wally hissed.
Everyone stilled though...as Danny let out a bark of a laugh. The noise was brief and more scoffish than a laugh but...it was the first one anyone had heard from him and...it was a beautiful sound.
"Anyone have a serious critique?" Canary couldn't contain the soft smile that escaped her at the sound of Danny's laugh.
The boy in question rose his hand.
"Yes, Phantom?"
"Despite your experience he underestimated you," Phantom spoke, glad to have spent all that time analyzing fights with Fright Knight, "Perhaps thinking he could rely on his speed to best you. In doing this he, um, well he let you control the fight."
"Correct," She praised, "He did indeed allow me to dictate the terms of the fight. Now then, each of you is going to be fighting against me, we'll see if you make the same mistake as Wally."
Everyone fought her in strictly hand-to-hand combat.
M'gann was first and the girl, who often relied on her powers was bested fairly quickly.
Kaldur went next, lasting a little over a minute. He was large and strong but at the end of the spar that proved disadvantageous as he couldn't avoid Canary's takedown hit.
Robin was next, lasting the longest so far. So far he was the only one to land a hit on the woman. He had been fighting for years and his smaller form made it easier to evade the woman.
The boy went in for a feint and as she went to block he all but threw himself to the ground, swiping her legs out from under her. Canary lurched backward and fell, putting her hands on the ground and flipping over before darting into the fight and kicking high at the boy. When Robin ducked under the kick she moved quicker and shoved him, boy stumbling back, woman swiping his legs out from under him, boy hitting the floor hard.
"Good job!" Danny cheered, Robin smiling sheepishly as he made his way to the others.
"Phantom," Canary had a hand on her hip, "You're up."
The boy startled to attention.
"Are you...sure?" He asked cautiously, "I'm...not really supposed to..."
"Underestimating me?" Canary scoffed, "No powers," She stated, "Everything'll be fine."
Danny scoffed internally now who was underestimating who?
He nodded firmly and moved onto the training platform. Danny's defensive stance appeared casual and even non-existent to the onlookers. Canary clicked her tongue and shot forward.
She punched high so Danny went low, before she could go low too and attack the boy who was 'off balance' she was met with a knee to the gut. The woman stumbled back but Danny didn't stop, the king shot a leg into her sternum, sending her stumbling further back. He charged forward again and leapt into the air, coming down on her with two carefully controlled punches. The woman barely managed to block and in the next moment her legs were sweeped out from under her, the hero collapsing to the ground, panting, and cringing in embarassment at the 'fail' that was announced.
"I didn't underestimate you," Danny blinked, peering down at her, holding out a hand to her, "You underestimated me."
"I won't be doing that again," She grit out, accepting his hand allowing him to pull her to her feet.
"Sorry if I agravated any injuries," Danny winced.
"It's fine," She waved him off.
"That was so cool!" Robin hissed giddily.
"Thanks," Danny flushed.
Up next was her final spar with Superboy.
Superboy threw a punch but Canary side stepped it, grabbing his forearm and flinging her over him and through the air, the boy landing hard against the floor.
Robin pointed at him and cackled, even Danny having to hide a smile at his brother's misfortune. Robin slapped both hands to his mouth as he continued to wheeze.
"You're angry," Canary observed as Superboy rose to his feet, "Good, but don't react. Channel that anger into-"
Superboy roared and shot forward.
Danny shot forward too, cutting through the air quickly, appearing before his brother and Canary. Superboy halted immediately.
"You are not a good teacher for children," Danny observed, "I'll handle his training."
"You?" Canary scoffed, "And what are your qualifications?"
"He's my brother," Danny said firmly, "Goading him and making him upset and then trying to get him to utilize his anger properly is not beneficial. I can help him."
"Alright," Canary rolled her eyes, "Have at it, we'll see how you do."
She moved to stand with J'onn and the others.
"I would much rather prefer doing this with some semblance of privacy but whatever," Danny huffed, "First we need to deal with what kind of style would suit you best."
"..." Superboy wordlessly nodded in understanding.
"You could be an offensive type," Danny studied his brother, "Or a defensive type, you could be a sneak attacker or long range fighter, there are all kinds of fighting styles."
"What style do you use?" Superboy wondered.
"...I used to be what one would call an offensive type," Danny spoke, "I had a great deal of anger when I was young," Young, not younger he'd said, the onlookers frowning in concern for the boy, "And I took it out while fighting. Now my style is more of a...redirectional style. I use others weaknesses against them, like Canary underestimating me, I used her thought process against her and with a quick succession of attacks took her down."
Danny placed both hands on Superboy's shoulders, peering intently into the boy's eyes.
"We need to look inward and figure out which style you'd benefit most from."
"Maybe...something that demands calmness?" Superboy flushed red, uncomfortable with all the eyes on them.
Danny hummed, deep in thought, "I think Baguazhang, might suit you best," Superboy nodded in understanding, "It's a fight style that utilizes ones palms and precise palm thrusts."
"Like...the Hyuuga clan from Naruto?" Wally asked.
"Yeah, Baguazhang was actually the inspiration behind the Hyuuga's gentle fist," Danny beamed, "Here," He turned back to Superboy, "Defend only," He instructed.
Superboy was confused but he trusted his brother explicitly, nodding in understanding.
Danny surged forward throwing punches that Superboy instinctively brought his arms up to block. Danny punched in various places, Superboy's clocks forming a pattern of sorts.
Canary watched with open interest, eyes wide, seemingly able to see a fight style forming.
Superboy had never...been fought like this before. It pleased him that his brother wasn't holding anything back but it alarmed him too to be on the receiving end of his brother's strength, if he didn't block a hit perfectly his bones would ache and he'd nearly stumble back.
"Alright," Danny slowed his assault about thirty minutes later, Superboy panting for air, his brother seemingly unfazed, "Now attack me with those patterns you made."
"I don't-"
"It's okay if you don't remember them," Danny reassured, "Your body will."
"No, it's not that it's just...I don't wanna hurt you," Superboy protested.
"You could never hurt me," Danny reminded him.
Superboy hesitated...and he surged forward. Sure enough his body knew what to do, His hands, palms outward, shot through the air and smacked Danny in specific places. Superboy immediately recoiled, horrorstricken as his brother didn't even attempt to dodge.
"Very good!" Danny praised, "Now, if you hit a human in those places even without your enhanced strength they'd be imobilized and then you could go in for a knockout punch. Now, normally a human won't stand still so..." Danny crouched low, mask meeting Superboy's gaze, "Again," He commanded.
Superboy shook off his alarm and surged forward, he and Danny sparred like that for a while, it was honestly better referred to as a dance. Superboy would throw out aimed palm thrusts that Danny would elegantly dodge but Superboy keeping up his strikes, aiming at the specific places Danny had wordlessly shown him was making the boy's fighting evolve on the fly.
"Alright," Danny stopped with a smile, Superboy gasping for air as he too stopped, "We shouldn't put any more strain on you today."
"That was very impressive," Canary spoke, unable to quite hide the awe in her eyes.
"Thanks," Danny smiled.
A hologram turned on behind them suddenly, video playing for them.
"Batman to the cave."
Everyone moved to stand in front of the screen, watching intently.
"Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents."
On the screen they could see the android grab Superman, swinging him around and around and around, swatting away other heroes who charged in.
Danny snickered at the moment unfolding on the screen and Superboy hid a grin, lightly elbowing his brother.
"Arrow called in reinforcements which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."
"Whoa," Wally looked on with wide eyes, "One guy with the powers of the entire league?"
That was...kind of Danny, right?
"In the end, it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."
"An android?" Robin repeated, "W-who made it, T.O. Morrow?"
"Good guess, Robin," Batman praised monotonously, "But Red Tornado doesn't think so."
"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo," J'onn spoke, "But the object we've identified as the creatures apparent 'heart' was created by a company called Fenton Works."
Danny stilled at J'onn's words, ears ringing. Even now...even now he couldn't escape them. It was 2010 and in this timeline (Danny Phantom's believed to be set in 2004-?? but in this fic it'll have been set from 2008-2010) Ellie had died about two months ago which meant...everyone else would be dying soon, before the year was out.
"Ivo?" Kaldur's voice pulled Danny from his thoughts, "But Ivo's dead."
"So we all thought," Canary murmured, "Or hoped."
"What about these, Fenton Works people?" Robin wondered.
"We haven't been able to reach them," Batman said.
Which meant that at this point in time they were already dead. It meant that they had already vivisected him and ripped out his core and began to try to destroy his essence to see if there was something inside. At this point in time it meant...they'd already cracked his core and nearly Ended him. It meant Dan and Vlad had already come to his rescue and...killed them. It meant they turned into Ghosts and Danny ripped out their own cores...crushing them into dust in his hands.
Or it could've been a little after Tucker had strengthened the non-physical barrier the government put around Amity not allowing any outsiders contact with the town.
"To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized," Batman's voice pulled Danny out of his dark thoughts, "We're sending two trucks carrying the Android's parts to two separate STAR Lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safegaurd the two real trucks."
"Yes!" Wally gushed, "Road trip!"
"So now we take out their trash," Superboy muttered bitterly under his breath.
"Calme-toi, petit frère, ça pourrait être amusant," Danny whispered, squeezing Superboy's shoulder.
Immediately Superboy calmed, eyes fluttering closed as he enjoyed his brother's grounding presence.
Kaldur's phone beeped.
"Coordinates received," He said, "On our way."
Immediately the team headed for the bioship.
★・・・★・・・★
Sure enough their were six trucks waiting for them next to a crater in Litchfield County.
Danny stood tall, staring down impassively at the android in the box before him, or, more accurately...at the opening in the android chest were a cilindrical object was residing, it...called to him, but Danny was good at not answering it.
The box slid closed and the workers in yellow hazmat suits, that had Danny internally recoiling, lifted the boxes into their specific trucks.
Danny rolled back his shoulders and returned to his team, stradling his motorcycle, helmet in his hands. He was once again grateful to Johnny for teaching him how to ride.
"Il regarde," Superboy muttered to Danny.
Danny was pleased that he noticed but not surprise, Superman's gaze had a very distinct feel.
"Je peux le sentir," Danny murmured before grinning at Superboy, "Quel fluage."
Superboy snickered and nodded in agreement.
"Did you just call Superman a creep?" Robin blurted, unaware of the hero in the clearing bristling in offense.
"Tu parles français?" Danny asked, surprised.
"No," He admitted with a sheepish, "Just...shoved it into google translate and used some context clues."
"Ah, yes, well, I did call him a creep," Danny hummed.
"You know he can probably hear you, right?" Robin looked amused.
"Eavesdroppers often do," Danny said with faux wisdom.
Superman bristled further and stubbornly turned away, trying to ignore the stifled laughter from the boys as they pulled on their helmets.
At Batman's command...the trucks moved out, the team following them.
★・・・★・・・★
They rode and rode and rode until the sun was beginning to set, Danny smiled wistfully at the painting in the sky before one of the trio of he, Robin and Superboy, spoke.
"If dislike is the opposite of like is disaster the opposite of aster?" Robin questioned, "See, instead of things going wrong, they go right."
"Well," Danny began thoughtfully, "'Dis' is a negative prefix meaning not or none. When 'dis' is added to the beginning of a word, we give it the opposite meaning. That logic stands to reason that yes, aster is the opposite of disaster."
"Wicked," Robin grinned.
"You're idiots," Superboy huffed in amusement.
"So...what your favorite color?" Robin questioned curiously.
"What?" Superboy and Danny faltered.
"Well, I wanna get to know you guys better," Robin hummed, "What's your favorite colors?"
With a quick glance to his brother Superboy said, "Green."
"Mine's blue," Robin beamed, "What about you, Phantom?"
Danny pursed his lips, deep in thought. All colors could be associated with important things in Danny's life but what...what should he say? He paused...and fell deep in thought.
"It's not so big of a deal," Robin hastily said, "It's okay if you don't have one."
"I think I'll have to go with green too," Danny said, "My brother," He beamed, "What great taste he has!" Superboy bristled and brightened at his words, Robin looking on with a fond smile.
"What's your-" Robin was cut off by warbled cackling.
The three boys looked on, bewildered as robotic monkeys flew towards their truck.
"Robin, Superboy!" Kaldur's voice rang through their comms, "Our truck is under attack!"
"Kind of figured," Robin scoffed.
"I hate monkeys," Superboy growled.
"Robot monkeys!" Robin gushed, cackling, "Totally Ivo's tweaked style!" Suddenly one of Robin's wheels vanished, now on a motorized unicycle of sorts, the wheel and mechanics that were gone turning into a drone that hovered above them, "Hey, hey, switch your ride to battle mode," He called out to the other boys.
"There's way too many buttons on this thing for me to figure out how to do that," Danny deadpanned.
"Valid," Robin snickered.
"Besides there's no point," Superboy smirked, leaping off his bike, landing atop the truck.
Danny shot off his bike too, going into the air, flying after the truck. Robin leapt from his bike too, grappling to the truck where the robots were trying to cut into it.
The trio worked together, knocking away the robots but also tearing them apart. This wasn't working well as the swarms of monkeys just kept coming. Danny created a large hands of ectoplasm smashing them together and crushing a couple dozen of the monkeys.
"Nice!" Robin gushed.
"Thanks," Danny beamed.
Superboy's anguished cry had Danny freezing in alarm. His own gaze, behind dark glases as they were supposed to be undercover darted to his brother who didn't wear his glasses outside of his hero self. He was clutching his smoking eyes. The monkeys grabbed him and lifted him into the air.
"Hands off my brother!" Danny snarled.
He shot up after them and yanked Superboy away from them, destroying them with bolts of ectoplasm from his eyes, unaware of Robin gasping in awe below him.
"You okay?" Danny asked Superboy gently.
"Not really," He admitted with a sardonic snort.
Danny lowered back to the truck, setting Superboy down and quickly ripping off the bottom of his shirt, now essentially in a crop top. He wrapped the ripped off fabric around Superboy's eyes, infusing his shirt with a bit of his healing ice, not enough for anyone to notice, though.
"Keep this on, if you can keep fighting just try to use your other senses, if you're done I dunno...jump off the truck?" He suggested with a dry chuckle.
"I can keep going," Superboy promised.
"If you need me just holler," Danny smiled.
The three boys were all on top of the truck now fighting back the monkeys together and doing it well. The monkeys learned from this though...and burned out the tires on one side of the truck. The driver lost control pretty much immediately.
"Get out!" Robin ordered him.
The man hurriedly opened his door and Robin grabbed him, leaping away from the truck and to safety, holding him as he went.
Danny lunged for Superboy as the truck snagged on the ground and began to flip. He wrapped his arms around Superboy, coating him in his ectoplasm, keeping him safe from harm as the truck flipped along the street.
Superboy was completely safe Danny...not so much. His head banged against the truck hard and he went limp, releasing Sperboy for the next couple flips but maintaining the ectoplasm protection.
★・・・★・・・★
He knew his brother told him to keep the bandages on but when the truck had crashed and his brother had been flung away from him, no longer hugging him, he had to check on him. Superboy ripped away the faux bandage from his eyes and immediately sought out his brother.
Superboy raced towards the downed truck and ran around it, breath hitching in his throat when he took in the sight of his brother, more accurately...his brother's injuries.
Superboy was by his side in a moment, cautiously pulling his brother into his lap, feeling his neck for a pulse. He didn't let himself relax when he felt it, albeit slowly, beneath his fingers.
"Phantom," He hissed worry echoing through him, "Phantom."
"Mmm..." Phantom groaned as he stirred slightly.
Superboy exhaled slowly and shakily in relief, he would be okay, he would.
His head rose to the sky and he glared hatefully at the cackling monkeys flying away...and he leapt after them, ignoring Robin calling after him. They hurt his brother, and he was going to make them pay.
★・・・★・・・★
"Superboy!" Robin cried out as he watched his teammate leap through the air after the monkeys.
"Aqualad to Robin," Kaldur's voice rang through the comm, "We've lost our cargo, did you-"
"It's gone and so is one of my partners," Robin huffed.
"Aqualad to Superboy," Kaldur addressed him over the main comm channel, "Radio your position, we'll help you."
"I don't need help!" Superboy bellowed, "What I need is to make them pay!"
"Superboy?" Kaldur called out after an abrupt silence fell over the line from Superboys end.
"I think he ditched his comm," Robin remarked.
"Super," Wally rolled his eyes, "Now we can't even track him."
"He's out of my telepathic range," M'gann admitted.
"Wait," Wally frowned, "Superboy said 'make them pay,'" There was definitely worry in his voice, "But...pay for what?"
"Stealing the cargo?" M'gann offered.
"Phantom!" Robin gasped.
Robin silenced the comm and raced toward the wreckage of the truck. His breath caught in his throat as he took in the bloody sight. Phantom was strewn across the floor, bleeding heavily, Robin ignored the green flecks in his blood, that wasn't important right now. He raced to his teammate, collapsing to his knees next to him.
"Phantom!" He cried out, shaking him frantically, "Phantom!"
"I'm okay," Came a slurred mumble.
"Oh, thank goodness," Robin pulled Phantom into a hug.
The boy panicked and was just about to release him but to his surprise Phantom snaked his arms around him, holding him closer.
"We need to stop the bleeding," Robin said frantically.
"It'll stop in a minute," Phantom breathed out, "Just...just hold me?"
"Yea-yeah," Robin's face was burning red, "Yeah," He exhaled deeply, hugging Phantom closer.
A few moments later Phantom's hold on him loosened and Robin cautiously let him go.
"...Sorry for bleeding all over you," Phantom flushed red sheepishly.
"It's okay," Robin mustered up a smile even though the blood would haunt him forever.
"Here," Phantom ripped off more of his shirt, making it even more of a crop top, Robin's face burning a brighter red. Phantom wiped his shirt across Robin's jacket and in that single motion he removed all the blood, "Good as new!" He beamed.
"How'd you do that in one motion?!" Robin gawked.
"Practice," Phantom smiled and that didn't make Robin feel better, "Now then, you got a match?"
"A match?" Robin fiddled around with his utility belt, finding the right pouch and pulling out a lighter, "I've got this?"
"Perfect!" Phantom beamed.
He pulled Robin to his feet and away from his red and green blood. He then lit the lighter and knelt before his blood, extending his hand, flame igniting his blood, burning it all away.
"Why'd you do that?" Robin couldn't help but ask.
"Don't want anyone getting access to this," He explained briefly.
"Are-are you sure your injuries are okay?" Robin asked cautiously.
"Yeah, here, look," Phantom reached out and gently took Robin's hand in his, bringing the other boy's hand to the side of his face, Robin gingerly caressing his skin, crusted in blood. His eyes widened in surprise when he felt a smooth scar under a lot of the blood, "See," Phantom beamed at him, "All healed."
"Amazing..." Robin whispered, "You're amazing."
"Thanks," Phantom flushed red.
"How...how'd you get hurt, though?" Robin questioned, "Agent A said they couldn't pierce your skin when they were trying to give you nutrients through an IV."
"Oh, well," Phantom blinked, "My invulnerability isn't necessarily a conscious ability of mine," He said, "But it's not constant either. When...when I get startled, usually by explosions or loud noises...I can get hurt."
"Why?" Robin frowned.
"'Cause my body's like, oh that brought up some traumatic memories let's add more," Phantom shrugged.
"Dude," Robin deadpanned.
"How are the others?" Phantom asked.
"Oh!" Robin hastily turned back on his comm, "Hey guys, Phantom's okay."
"Thank goodness," Wally sighed in relief, Phantom smiling softly.
"Where's Superboy?" Phantom frowned.
"Uh...he went chasing after the monkeys," Robin winced.
"Oh," Phantom frowned.
"This Ivo," M'gann said, "If he's really alive it seems like he's two steps ahead of us. Maybe w-we should contact Red Tornado?" She offered.
"Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves," Kaldur reminded her, "And the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they're reasembled."
"Well that's a great plan," Wally drawled sarcastically, "Except for the part about us not knowing where to look!"
"Maybe we do," Robin crouched before one of the deactivated monkeys, "We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked," He plugged into the monkey, typing on his wristband, "So how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target? Ha!" He grinned, "The parts have GPS!"
"And the League didn't think to check for that before?" Danny rose a brow with a dramatic huff.
"The monkeys can track the signal," Robin continued, "Which means I can track them with the one I captured! Looks like both sets of parts," He studied the holomap, "Are converging on," His eyes widened behind his glasses, "Gotham city."
"That far south?" Kaldur pursed his lips, "M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon, I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you, Aqualad out."
"We can...share?" Robin offered as his motorized unicycle came down the street.
"It's okay," Danny smiled, "I always enjoy flying," He lifted off the ground.
"This is definitely a disaster," Robin commented with a sigh, "Heavy on the dis."
"Everything will be fine," Danny promised him, sending him a small smile.
★・・・★・・・★
Meanwhile at a diner in Metropolis Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were ordering some food.
"Apple pie," Clark ordered.
"The devil's food," Bruce smiled suavely.
"Something tells me this isn't about food," Clark remarked thoughtfully as their waiter walked off.
"The boy needs you," Bruce said simply.
"No," Clark denied quickly, "He needs you. He needs Red. I'm just a constant reminder of what he's not."
"Sorry, Clark, but you're dead wrong. Look, I know he...troubles you, but he's here. You have to get over the how and why. Trust me on this. This boy needs his father."
Clark shot to his feet, "I am not his father."
"Sit down," Bruce growled.
Clark stilled and hesitantly sat back down.
"He is your son."
"I already have a son," Clark reminded Bruce vehemently.
in this fic i'm changing the ages of the batfam/superfam a bit to match more with other iterations of stuff so
batfam ages currently:
- alfred: 56
- bruce: 26
- barbara: 13
- dick: 13
- jason: 11
- cass: 10
- steph: 10
- tim: 10
- duke: 6
- damian: 6
superfam ages currently:
- clark: 26
- superboy: 10 (physically and emotionally and he'll be aging slowly from that point on)
- jon: 6
also: there will be no relationship between m'gann and superboy they're just friends
"And now you have another," Bruce said simply.
"It's not as easy as you're trying to make it out to be," Clark hissed.
"Isn't it?" Bruce pressed, "You're so ready to accept Danny, why is the boy different?"
"Because he's not a natural kryptonian," Clark hissed under his breath, "He was...he was created by violating me."
"Danny has a clone," Bruce said simply, "Did anyone tell you that?"
"No," Clark blinked.
"Unlike you," Bruce said casually, "Danny loved his clones...but his clones were unstable and they all died. In front of him."
"..." Clark listened in mute horror.
"Imagine then, how it makes him feel when you have Superboy...but you reject him because of how he's here. Imagine what he'd give to get his clones back and you have one who you don't want. Imagine how much he's gonna hate himself when he realizes that you accept and want him...but not Superboy. Imagine how much hurt and self loathing."
"..." Clark flinched as he did imagine that.
"They've acknowledged each other as brothers," Clark looked surprised, "I'm assuming you also didn't know that. They need a family...and they found one in each other because your head's too far up your ass to be there for them."
"I-" Clark let out a strangled hiss, stopping when Bruce's phone rang. The man visibly softened when he saw who was calling.
"Dick," Bruce greeted, "How's the mission?"
"Uh...good?" And that was a red flag, "Just wanted to call you and say..." Dick trailed off, "Is Clark there?"
"Yes," Bruce rose a brow at Clark.
"'Kay I'll tell you later-"
"You can tell me now," Bruce encouraged him.
"Fuck, alright," Dick huffed, "...Phantom has heat vision."
Bruce and Clark shared a glance.
"More evidence he's like Clark then-"
"But," Dick faltered.
"But?" Bruce repeated with a raised brow.
"...B, he bleeds," Dick pressed.
"Bleeds?" Clark repeated alarmed.
"He heals fast but-but yeah, he bleeds, and...there was green in his blood," Dick hissed, "If he's Kryptonian, which I'm not saying he isn't...there's something wrong with him."
"Wait, if the mission's going good how is he bleeding?" Clark questioned.
"Uh, going through a tunnel, I'm losing you-" And then the kid hung up, Clark and Bruce sharing looks.
★・・・★・・・★
"I'll go on ahead," Danny volunteered as they got steadily closer and closer to the target, he had long since changed into his uniform, "I can smell Superboy, he might need my help."
"Okay," Robin nodded in understanding and with a burst of speed, Danny was off.
He shot through the air at astounding speeds and in moments he was reaching Gotham. Danny's flying stuttered when he saw his brother get thrown across the city, an android hot on his heels. Danny didn't hesitate before following him at his incomprehensibly fast speed.
Danny followed the duo through the air. They came to a stop somewhere that appeared to be a school of sorts.
Dany turned intangible, easily passing through the wall into the building to see the android throwing Superboy through the window of the building, the hero smashing into a trophey case.
The ghost shot over to his brother, pulling him to his feet, inspecting the case. There was only one photo left undamaged and it was Danny's goal to keep it undamaged. So...he plucked it off the ground and held it close to his chest, adamant to keep it safe.
The photograph was a picture of a fairly cute boy holding a trophey. MATHLETE HONOREE, was printed on the frame, DICK GRAYSON.
"It was ordered to kill me!" Superboy shouted to Danny, "Priority Alpha or something, it won't stop coming after me so just go-"
"Never," Danny swore fiercely, "Still though," He grabbed one of his brother's hands, "If it's deadset on following you...let's give it a chase," He grinned sharply.
He lifted his brother off the ground with ease.
"Hey!" Superboy yelped in alarm as they shot off down the halls of the school, the android on their heels, well, not really as Danny was just that fast.
"Here!" Danny exclaimed as he burst into the gym, "We finally have room to move," He and his brother shared a wolfish grin, Danny intentionally ignoring the frankly creepy man in the bleachers and the girl trying to hide in the rafters.
"Access Superman," The android rang out, standing before the brothers.
"You do that," Danny's eyes, behind his mask shone with eagerness.
"This can help me work out some issues," Superboy cracked his knuckles.
The duo surged forward together. They moved in sync, as if they had been training together for centuries. When Superboy would punch from one side, Danny would kick from the other, when Danny punched high, Superboy would punch low and so on.
They were a force to be reckoned with.
However...that didn't mean they were immune to mistakes.
Superboy overextended himself on a punch and was caught in the stomach by a knee, crumpling to the floor.
"Superboy!" Danny cried out in alarm.
In his distraction the android grabbed Danny's throat, lifting him off the ground, the boy continuing to protectively hold the photograph. Superboy was still in a daze at the android's feet, he rose a leg hovering his foot over the young hero.
"Yoink!" Kid Flash declared, grabbing Superboy out of the way of the android's foot coming down on the ground.
"I," Danny growled, eyes burning green behind his mask, "Am not allowed to lose!"
Green actoplasm beams burst from Danny's eyes and into the androids arms, forcing it to release the Ghost King. Danny was over by his team in a moment, Robin throwing a birdarang at the android.
"Martian Manhunter," The android accessed that ability, the birarang sailing through him, blowing up when it hit the far wall, "Access Red Tornado."
Sure enough a red tornado formed around the android's bottom, the creation utilizing it to fly menacingly through the air toward the team, the powerful winds scattering them.
Danny grit his teeth and let forth a barrage of attacks on the android, all one handed as he was still holding the photo.
Superboy lunged in but was all but swatted away. Robin threw more birarangs that were also swatted away. Wally ran in and was grabbed off the ground the android squeezing him tight enough to start hurting.
"Martian Manhunter," The android declared as an arrow went whirring through the air toward him, Wally falling through the androids arms, speeding away.
The android turned to Superboy who was racing forward again.
"Access Black Canary-"
"Oh, no you don't!" Danny lunged forward.
Danny leapt through the air. He dug his knees into the android's neck, holding himself up and repeatedly punching the android in the face with one hand, distracting the android, taking it's attention away from his teammates.
"Access Superman."
Danny yelped in alarm as the android's eyes began to glow red, shooting forth beams of red that slammed into Danny's mask, throwing the boy backward and to Wally and Robin, both of whom immediately checked him over for lasting damage. Danny being a ghost would of course be fine.
"Oh, yawn," The creepy man sighed, "Normally, Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle but what's the point? You're all such poor copies of the originals."
Superboy's eyes lit up with an idea.
"So everyone keeps saying," He grit out, "It makes me angry!"
He lunged for the older man, smashing into the bleachers, allowing him to 'narrowly' escape his wrath.
"Wanna see me channel that anger?!" He bellowed.
"Great," Wally groaned, "He's gone ballistic again."
"Maybe not," Robin said the same time Danny said, "Watch yourself," in a warning tone.
"Amazo!" Ivo cried out in a panic, "Protect your master, priority alpha!"
Danny stilled at the phrasing. Master...master, master, master, master. Master. Master master master master master master master master master master master master master. Master.
Danny growled lowly, eyes narrowing on Ivo. The king shot forward, helping his brother attack the man.
Amazo sent a 'Captain Atom' blast at Superboy and Danny, blasting them backward. Superboy who took the brunt of the hit was lodged into the bleachers, Ivo was lifted off the ground by his monkeys.
"Anyone wanna play keep-away?!" Robin grinned as he kicked Ivo in the back, sending the inventor skidding forward, falling on his face.
"Oh, me, me!" Wally sped forward.
"Access Superman."
Amazon stomped on the floor, the shockwave of the action sending Wally flying. Robin threw a birdarang at the same time.
"Martian Manhunter," Amazo accessed his powers, density shifting through the birdarang.
Danny shot forward. He reached through Amazo, forcing his power source, his core to turn tangible. Danny pulled it out of Amazo right as he 'accessed' Superman.
Amazo stilled, without his power source...he was done.
"Help me disassemble it!" Robin shot forward and Danny who could not find any words didn't stop him just yet.
"Dude, it doesn't have a power source," Wally reminded him.
"Don't take any chances!" Kaldur burst into the gym, followed closely by M'gann.
"Everyone! Are you alright?" She rushed into the room.
"I'm fine," He smiled softly, "Feeling the aster," He looked to Robin who grinned back.
"Hey!" Wally exclaimed, "Where's Ivo?!"
"Alright, let's just get you disassembled," Robin grunted.
He moved to disconnect Amazo's arm from the rest of his body and Danny stepped forward.
"No," He commanded softly.
"No?" Robin repeated.
Danny wordlessly retrieved a piece of his ice from his pocket. He tinkered with the android's core, opening it and inserting the ice into it. The ice froze the core's circuits, preventing it from being controlled while allowing it to operate. Danny turned his attention back to the android, lying on it's back. Danny moved forward...and carefully opened up the android's chest, placing it's power source back in it's chest.
"Wait, what're you doing?" Wally took an alarmed step forward.
Danny ignored him and closed the android's chest. A few moments later as the android's insides reconected to the core. The android whirred as it came to, sitting up.
"What the hell, Phantom?!" Wally hissed.
"Hello," Danny greeted gently.
"It's...it's so cold," The android breathed out, "It's been so dark for so long...where am I?"
"You had intelligence," Danny said gently, "And now you have sentience. You have the ability now to make your own choices. To be who you want to be. Ivo is not your master anymore, no one is. You don't have to listen to anyone ever again."
"...Free will..." The android breathed out.
"Yes," Danny smiled softly, "Free will."
"You...are kind," The android breathed out, "I wish...to be like you."
"Holy shit, did Phantom just adopt an all-powerful android?" Wally gawked.
"To adopt: legally take, a child or pet, and bring up as one's own," The android supplied.
"Well, I mean, if you want you can come home with us," Superboy added, smiling widely.
"Home..." Amazo said softly, "I...would like that."
"Oh, Batman's gonna love this," Robin snickered.
"Alright, then!" M'gann blinked in surprise, wordlessly calling the bioship over to take them home.
★・・・★・・・★
Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter and Batman stood side by side expressing various degress of disbelief as they looked on at Amazo standing by the team's side.
"What are we looking at here?" Black Canary questioned dryly.
"Amazo has been reprogramed."
"Not reprogramed," Danny corrected Kaldur, "Given free will."
"And I have wish to stay by the Phantom's side," Amazo said.
"How?" Batman questioned.
"The Phantom calls my power source my 'core,'" Amazo recited, "The Fenton technology that created my core added all my programming within there. The Phantom has frozen the commands and submission within my core allowing me to retain my powers and intelligence while giving me the ability to make choices."
"Frozen?" Batman repeated.
"Yeah, he, um, he put ice in it?" Robin winced.
"And what if the ice melts?" Green Arrow pressed.
"This ice hails where the antarctic continent meets the morstil ocean," Danny blinked, "It will not melt."
"The fucking where?" Green Arrow hissed to Canary.
"That's...on Krypton," Batman recalled Superman showing off a map of the world long gone.
"Yes."
"See, it hasn't melted in decades," Robin said, "If Phantom says it won't melt," He smiled at the other boy, "It won't melt," He smiled.
"Alright, if...you're fine with it, Amazo, would you want to stay here at the cave?" Canary offered.
"Is The Phantom staying in this cave?" Amazo wondered.
"If you wanna stay with me that'd be fine!" Danny beamed, "We'd just have to ask Hal first."
"Hal?"
"My guardian," Danny smiled widely.
"He wouldn't really fit in in the normal world, though," Wally pointed out.
"Neither do I," Danny blinked.
"I can assimilate into society with relative ease," Amazo said.
Before their eyes his appearance shifted. He shortened and shifted into a teen, about the same age as Danny. He grew soft white hair, like Danny's, pale skin, and he chose sky blue eyes for his appearance. He looked very similar to Danny his form was just a bit larger, more muscular.
Superboy bristled in annoyance at that, Phantom was his brother, he should look like him not the android, but then he calmed himself, if he could change his appearance he'd want to look like Phantom's too.
"Wait, if you're looking like that won't you not be able to access your other abilities?" Wally wondered.
"I do not mind limiting myself to the abilities of the Martian Manhunter."
"You can pick a name for yourself, if you want?" Danny smiled.
"...I am partial to Amazo," The android hummed.
"Alright, Amazo," Danny beamed, "Welcome to the family! You already know me but this is my brother Superboy and he'll be your new brother too!"
"Okay," Amazo blinked.
Superboy got over his jealousy quickly, sure now he and Amazo would be officially competing for Danny's affection and attention but Superboy knew Danny's affection wouldn't need to be competed for, it would be freely given...because that's just who his brother was.
"Brother?" Amazo repeated.
"Found family, chosen family," Danny clarified.
"Brother," He nodded in understanding.
"I live here at the cave," Superboy spoke up, "So you could stay with us here."
"I feel that would be best," Batman spoke up, "That way the Justice League could also keep a close eye on you."
"I will not revert to subservience to evil," Amazo blinked, "My loyalty is forevermore to my...new brother, but I understand your suspicion...I will stay in this cave."
"Alright," Canary mustered up a smile.
"Ivo escaped, despite our best efforts," Kaldur continued his debrief, "And he's arguably more dangerous than Amazo as he originated his technology."
"The Fentons too, any luck finding them?" Robin wondered.
"It appears the Fentons have been missing and presumed dead for some time," Batman said.
Danny externally was impassive while internally he let out a sigh of relief.
"Regardless," Canary spoke, "Capturing the professor will be a league priority."
"We understand your mission encountered complications," J'onn spoke in his usual gentle, solemn tone.
"Complications come with the job," Batman stepped forward, "Your ability to handle them has impressed the league."
"The...whole league?" Superboy asked hesitantly.
"Given time, yes," Batman promised him with a notable softness to his voice, "Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads," Superboy smiled more to himself than anything at Batman's words, "Of course," Batman addressed the whole team again, "There's no shame in asking for help. That's why the league exists, because there are some problems even we can't handle individually."
"Please," Robin scoffed, "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask. Look familiar?" He held up an arrow, "You were following us! Babysitting!"
"This does not contain Green Arrow's scent," Danny said simply, "They have faith in us," He patted Robin's back awwkwardly, "Trust that they do."
"We didn't follow you," Batman continued tone almost gentle as Green Arrow pulled one of his own arrows out of his quiver, comparing the two.
The arrow that had saved Wally, that the girl had shot had a silver shaft with a sharp point but smooth sharp edges. Green Arrow's shaft was titanium with almost two arrows at the end, due to the jagged indents in the arrowhead.
"And that's not your arrow," Robin blanched, "But that means-" He grinned.
"Speedy!" Wally gushed.
"He has our backs," Even Kaldur was smiling.
How was Danny supposed to share that the one who shot the arrow was a girl in a hoodie and hello kitty pants who probably was not the protégé 'Speedy.'
Danny and Amazo shared a withering glance, noting Batman and Green Arrow shared a similar one.
"Souvenir!" Wally gushed yanking the souvenir away from Green Arrow.
Superboy cleared his throat as he approached Black Canary, "I know...you didn't teach me much but your lesson," He waited a beat, "To act and never react it...it came in handy so, um, thanks."
"You're welcome," She smiled softly.
"'Recognized, Superman A01,'" The zeta tube announced.
Everyone tensed. Instinctively Danny shifted Superboy behind him, boy gladly doing just that, peeking out from behind his brother and to his template.
"I..." Superman hesitated, "Would like to speak with you."
"Who?" Danny asked coldly, much colder than anyone had heard.
"Both of you," Superman swallowed heavily.
"...?" Danny looked to his brother, brow raised in a silent question.
"I'm okay," The boy mustered up a shy smile.
"Alright," Danny looked back to Superman.
"Alright," He mustered up a smile of his own.
The man didn't know why but...his instincts told him to look on at the boys with his x-ray vision and what he saw...apalled him.
"Your...your insides," Superman breathed out in horror.
Danny staggered back, almost as though he'd been struck.
"Phantom, wait," Robin called out knowing Phantom's fight or flight response had just kicked in.
It was too late though, Danny zipping out of the cave.
"Phantom!" Superboy cried after him, "What the hell was that about?!" He rounded on Superman, still silent in horror, "What did you do?!"
"Superboy," Robin got between the two kryptonians, hands on Superboy's chest, keeping the boy still. At the same time Batman had gotten between the two kryptonians too, hands on Superman's chest, holding him still.
"...What has happened?" Amazo frowned.
"I'll handle this," Batman said.
He shoved Superman into a spare room, pulling off his cowl, staring into his friend's beautiful blue eyes.
"Clark," Bruce growled, "What was that about?"
"His heart."
Clark looked to his friend with wide, pained, horrified eyes.
"He has kryptonite in his heart."
Frère -- Brother
Quoi? -- What
Ce qui s'est passé? Était-ce Superman? -- What happened? Was it Superman?
Calme-toi, petit frère, ça pourrait être amusant -- Calm down, little brother, this could be fun
Il regarde -- He is watching
Je peux le sentir. Quel fluage -- I can feel him. What a creep
Tu parles français? -- You speak French?