Work Text:
Dan liked being one of the ‘good guys’, don’t get him wrong. He enjoyed saving people, and being seen as a superhero. What he didn’t like was being on a team.
Oh he could work with them just fine, but Ancients did they get on his nerves. Superman constantly checking in on him, Batman trying to figure out his identity (he didn’t have one in this universe anyway, take that asshole), Flash trying to befriend him. All in all, Dan was not a fan of his coworkers. (Ellie insisted that he secretly liked them, but she was wrong and also being very annoying about it.)
They were being particularly annoying today. Flash hadn’t stopped talking for the last 20 minutes. They were all in the main meeting room, for some sort of meeting. Honestly, Dan hadn’t been paying attention, so he had no clue why they were all here. Batman was droning on at the front of the room, something about a cult? Dan had no clue, and really didn’t care enough to listen.
He was idly tossing his thermos (which he still hadn’t told the Justice League the purpose of) back and forth when John Constantine burst into the room.
“We’ve got a problem.” He said, slightly out of breath.
Everyone had stopped talking when he burst in, turning to stare at the man. Batman sighed, before asking “What is it?”
Constantine came up to the table they were all sat around, setting down an ancient looking book across the table from Dan. He noticed that the title was in something similar to Ghostspeak. Interesting. He wasn’t gonna tell any of his coworkers about it, though. They all thought he was an alien, which technically he was, and it would be suspicious for him to know some random magical language, even vaguely.
“Someone is summoning powerful entities from a dimension parallel to ours, using this book.” Constantine said, gesturing to the book “I brought my copy, but I don’t know how to stop these beings.”
“Why?” Batman grunted out the question, already flipping through the old book.
Constantine sighed aggressively, pulling out a cigarette. He lit it, before answering sarcastically “I don’t know, maybe because they’re significantly more powerful than most beings from this dimension? Maybe because they have an insane set of abilities?”
Batman grunted in acknowledgement, turning back to the book.
A few moments passed, before everyone started talking, shouting questions over each other. Dan sighed. This was going to be a long day.
\(oo)/
A few hours passed, everyone still trying to figure out what the hell to do. Well, almost everyone. Dan had long since given up on planning, playing a game on his phone under the table. It wasn’t like anything could actually be a threat to him, and if it was? He’d just call Danny. He’d prefer if his coworkers figured something out, however, so he hadn’t bothered telling them about the fact that he could probably deal with whatever this was in a snap. If they still hadn’t figured anything out in the next hour, he’d deal with it.
Wonder Woman looked up from the book Constantine had summoned for her to read through, hoping it had answers.
“Where are these entities from? You didn’t say what dimension it was.” She asked.
Dan realized that no one had thought to ask that anytime in the last few hours. Seriously? He knew that most of his coworkers were stupid when it came to magic and stuff like it, but seriously? He slipped his phone back into his pocket, wanting to see where this was going.
Constantine glanced up from where he was studying a leatherbound tome. Dan couldn’t see what it was about from here, but he bet it was unhelpful, considering how much Constantine had been glaring at it over the last few minutes.
“The Infinite Realms. It’s an extremely dangerous dimension, home to the dead.” Constantine answered, his tone grim.
Dan couldn’t help it. He chuckled. His coworkers looked at him like he was insane, which only caused him to laugh harder. He bent over the table, laughing.
“Something funny, Phantom?” Batman asked, glaring at him.
(Dan had stolen Danny’s superhero name, it was his first anyway. And besides, everyone found it hilarious, including Danny.)
Dan theatrically wiped a tear from his eye before replying “Yeah, it’s so damn funny that he said that with a straight face. I mean, c’mon, ‘extremely dangerous’? Maybe if you’re an idiot.”
Superman raised an eyebrow at Dan, before exchanging a look with Batman.
“Have you been to these ‘Infinite Realms’?” Superman asked, voice calm.
Dan snorted “Yeah, of course. Ancients, if the problem’s just some guy summoning ghosts, I’m just gonna call my mom.” Dan could deal with it himself, but where was the fun in that?
He pulled out his phone again, dialing Danny’s number. The ‘mom’ thing had started as a joke, but honestly? It fit Danny so well, and Ellie already called him that, so why shouldn’t Dan?
“Why are you-“ Flash asked, before being cut off by Batman.
Batman glared at Dan “What are you doing.” He asked flatly.
Dan laughed, waiting for Danny to pick up.
“Calling my mom, duh.”
Batman gave an aggravated sigh, and went to speak.
Danny picked up, and Dan immediately started talking, cutting off whatever Batman was about to say.
“Hey, so, apparently some asshole is summoning ghosts and causing problems over here. Thought I’d have you deal with it.” Dan said, explaining quickly. The Justice League stared at him, shocked and very confused. Dan hadn’t told them anything about his family, so their reactions were pretty justified.
Danny sighed “Not even gonna say hello?”
Dan sarcastically cut him off “Hello!”
Danny sighed again, but Dan could tell he was amused. They shared a sense of humor, Ellie had the same one too. Perks of being a clone/evil future self and their original/past self (Their relationships were all kinds of funky, but it worked for them.)
“You said someone is summoning ghosts? I’ll be there in a sec.” Danny said, before hanging up.
Dan put his phone away, finally glancing at his coworkers. They all looked extremely confused, except Batman who was fuming, and Constantine who looked wary.
“Who was that?” Batman growled.
Dan looked at him, the picture of innocent confusion.
“I already told you, my mom. He’ll be here in a moment.”
Dan could see Flash mouthing ‘he?’ to himself a few seats away. Dan relished in the sense of confusion he was causing. It was extremely funny watching his coworkers flounder in the face of Dan’s sheer chaos.
Constantine took a moment to speak “I don’t think-“
He was cut off as a green portal opened up in the middle of the room, above the table. Everyone, excluding Dan, went still as it appeared.
“What the-“ Superman started to say, as Batman pulled out a weapon. They were both startled by a white and black blur flying out of the portal and attaching itself to Dan.
Dan was knocked out of his seat as Ellie bowled him over. He tumbled down to the floor, falling flat on his back. Ellie grinned at him, sitting on his chest.
“Got you!” she gleefully yelled out. Dan chuckled, gently shoving her off him. He sat up, and was greeted with his coworkers, who all looked ready for a fight. Their faces switched to confusion when Dan just blankly stared at them.
“What’s up?” He said, slightly sarcastically.
Ellie floated into the air, hanging upside down in front of Dan.
“Well, you were just tackled by someone they don’t know.” She pointed out, a grin on her face.
Dan sighed, gesturing to Ellie “Please meet my little sister, Ellie. She’s an annoyance.”
Ellie smacked him on the shoulder, before flipping around so that she was facing the Justice League, and also so that she was right side up.
“Hi! It’s nice to finally meet Dan’s friends!” She said, darting away when Dan attempted to hit her.
“They’re not my friends! We’re coworkers!” he shouted as she flew to the corner of the room, sticking her tongue out at him.
He sighed, before looking at his coworkers. Most of them were still stuck in a state of confusion, and Flash hesitantly asked “I thought your mom was coming?”
“Oh yeah.” Dan said, before yelling over to Ellie “Where the hell is Mom?”
Ellie floated closer “He was right behind me, so-“
The portal, which had slipped the Justice League’s minds when faced with the chaos that is Ellie, sparked as Danny stepped out, before it flickered out of existence.
Immediately, the aura of Danny’s power settled over the room. Being the King of the Infinite Realms afforded someone a lot of power, and death magic always affected people more than other magics. Also, the crown, ring, and cape made him look very intimidating. Combine that with his imposing stature (inherited from Jack) and he was downright terrifying. It was a comforting thing to Dan, who was used to Danny’s powerful presence. To the Justice League, however, it felt like the Grim Reaper himself had just come for the souls.
Danny looked around, spotting Ellie floating up above the table.
“Ellie, I told you not to scare them! We want to make a good impression.” He said, Ellie immediately darting down to stand next to him.
“Sorry Mom, I just wanted to say hi!” Ellie defended.
Danny sighed, ruffling her hair.
The Justice League looked so confused. Constantine looked like he was about to throw up.
“That’s… King Phantom.” Constantine said, shocked, before he scrambled to stand in front of the Justice League.
“We didn’t mean to offend, I swear-“ Constantine started, before Danny cut him off.
“Dude, it’s fine. I just came cause Dan asked.” Danny said with a chuckle, slightly uncomfortable. He had gotten better at the formalities that came with kingship, but he still wasn’t that comfortable when people begged for his mercy, understandably.
It seemed to hit everyone then. That this terrifying man, and king, was who Dan had been referring to when he said ‘Mom’.
While his coworkers processed his chaotic family, Dan floated over them to stand next to his mom.
Danny smiled, ruffling Dan’s hair. They were almost the same height now, so Danny didn’t even have to stretch to reach it.
“How have you been? I know we talk everyday, but it’s not the same as seeing you in person.” Danny said, a soft smile on his face.
“I’ve been fine, Mom. It’s nice, helping people.” Dan replied.
Danny beamed at him “I’m happy it’s working out!”
“Yeah, and you haven’t even tried to kill someone!” Ellie cut in, a smirk on her face.
Dan reached out automatically to swat at her, but she dodged.
The Justice League seemed to snap out of their shock.
They are started to talk at once, before Batman yelled “Quiet!” over top of the noise.
“I believe introductions are in order.” He said, before muttering under his breath “especially as they’re some sort of royalty.”
Dan hadn’t told them about his enhanced hearing, so Batman had no way of knowing that the three ghosts could hear him perfectly. Dan and Ellie shared a smirk at how done the man sounded with them.
Danny clapped his hands, startling some of Dan’s coworkers.
“Yes, you are correct! Danny Phantom, King of the Infinite Realms, at your service!” Danny said cheerily.
Ellie spoke next “Ellie Phantom, Princess of the Infinite Realms.”
They both looked expectantly at Dan, who sighed.
“Dan Phantom, Prince of the Infinite Realms.”
Technically, he was also sort of the king, but it had been a different Infinite Realms that he conquered, so this one had decided he was a prince. He was fine with it, honestly being King sounded annoying.
Predictably, that led to another outcry from his coworkers. Constantine looked like he was having a mental breakdown.
When they had settled down, Superman asked “You’re a prince?”
Flash chimed in “Also, your superhero name is just your last name?”
“You’re the prince of the Infinite Realms. The place the entities are from?” Wonder Woman added.
Dan rolled his eyes at the questions, before looking at Danny pleadingly. Danny sighed, but answered the questions for him.
“Yes, we are the royal family of the Infinite Realms. And the beings there are called ‘ghosts’, by the way. Also, Flash, it was a superhero name before it was a last name.”
If anything, that answer made Flash even more confused.
Ellie stuck out her tongue at Dan “If you just told them about us, you wouldn’t have to deal with all these questions!” she sang out.
Dan groaned “Can you stop it for two seconds?”
“Nope!”
“I swear to the Ancients, I’m gonna-“
“Settle down, you two.” Danny cut in, stopping the argument.
Dan and Ellie gave him matching pouts. They loved arguing with each other over nothing, it was fun.
Danny sighed, before turning back to the Justice League.
“So, Dan said that you’ve got a ghost problem?”
Batman stepped forward.
“Yes. Someone is summoning ‘ghosts’ into our world and causing havoc. Constantine doesn’t know who, but they need to be stopped.”
Danny closed his eyes for a moment.
“Okay, got it. Some asshole in Central City.”
Constantine startled “How do you know where he is? I couldn’t find him, even with my most powerful tracking spells!” He shouted, before a look of immediate regret came over his face. He probably just remembered that he was yelling at a death god, or close to one.
Danny dropped his smile, his eyes going blank. His presence seemed to double, a crushing sense of doom coming over the room. Constantine realized just how much he screwed up.
“The Realms is connected to all, especially those who are going to die shortly.” He said, flatly.
Dan chuckled slightly at Danny’s scary act, sharing an eyeroll with Ellie. Danny tried so hard to be intimidating, and it never really worked.
(Meanwhile, the entire Justice League is trying not to faint. Constantine really needs a drink.)
Superman shook it off first, asking “Going to die shortly? Are you going to kill him?” his voice pitched down at the end, trying to sound threatening.
Danny laughed, the crushing aura receding “No, of course not!”
Superman nodded, relieved.
“I’m just not gonna stop the others from doing it!” Danny continued.
Immediately, the mood of the room plummeted.
“What do you mean?” Batman asked.
Danny gave them a sharp smile, Ellie and Dan mirroring it on either side.
“He is enslaving my people, Batman. I’m sure they’ll want justice for that.”
Danny turned, opening another portal above the table.
“I’ll go deal with the asshole. Ellie, Dan, let’s go.” Danny said, smiling at them.
Ellie patted Dan on the head, before darting through the portal.
Dan looked out at the Justice League.
“I’ll be back in a bit, don’t wait up.” He said. He was definitely going to take advantage of his family coming to visit him, he wanted to hang out with them a bit. Maybe show them Gotham? He knew Danny and Ellie would get a kick out of it.
With that, Dan walked into the portal.
Danny surveyed the Justice League for a moment.
“Thank you for helping Dan. Don’t be too annoying to him over all this, okay?” His words were light, but his tone was anything but.
Batman nodded seriously.
Danny smiled, stepping through the portal to go keep his kids from getting into too much trouble.
(Constantine looked seriously at Batman “Don’t call me for the next week, I need to get drunk. To deal with all…that.”)