Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Danny was a kid he hoped he would one day go to space. He hoped that his parents would find time for him and his sister. He hoped he would get to spend time with his friends. He hoped he would do well in school and make his family proud.

When Danny died he hoped it would be over quickly. He hoped that Sam and Tucker would be okay. He hoped that Jazz would forgive him. He hoped his parents would care more about his death than their portal finally working. He hoped the pain would end.

When Danny was 15 he hoped that he was enough. He hoped that he would be able to save everyone. He hoped that Jazz, Sam, and Tucker, all of his classmates and the people of Amity, even Vlad and the other ghosts, would be okay. He hoped that he would survive.

When Danny was 17 he hoped he would escape. He hoped that someone would save him. He hoped that Ellie would be okay. He hoped that Jazz would forgive him (a reoccurring hope over the years but it felt stronger this time than ever before). He hoped Sam and Tucker wouldn't ever see what happened to him (he knew they wouldn't be able to forgive themselves even if it was never their fault). He hoped that it would be over quickly. He hoped the pain would end.

He could hear others crying out in hope too. Hoping to be saved. Hoping to end. Hoping someone would come. Hoping to let go. He held onto their hopes and repeated them all. A mantra of life from the cores of the dead.

Maybe it was their collective hope that did it. A prayer that reached across the stars, across space and time and dimensions, into a galaxy like Danny had once hoped to explore one day. Echoing back to a small blue ring.

It heard their call, their hopes and dreams, their faith and love, and it answered.

It felt their pain, could feel how weak some of their hopes were, how close they were to giving in. How much they hoped for it to end. It rushed towards them faster.

When it burst through the roof and down into the lower floors of the compound it went for the source of the hope. The ring forced its way to the being that had the most hope, that the others centred their hopes around, that was fading even as it held onto hope. It could feel the swirling thoughts, from one's in and out of the compound, hoping for the one strapped on the table to return.

It forced itself onto his hand, blue hope blasting to life in the room, mixing with toxic green in a display of death and life, courage and hope. It healed his wounds, pulling him back together and growing back missing pieces faster than he could on his own.

Black clothing turned blue, bright and glittering like the deep reaches of space it had heard them from. It resonated with the core deep in his soul, brushing against him like an old friend coming home. He opened his eyes, green pools shining bright for the first time in far too long. The ring didn't give him strength, but it healed him and that was all he needed.

Suddenly, Danny no longer hoped to die, he hoped to live. He felt strong and safe and happy covered in blue with this little ring that had forced its way to him. He could feel the hopes of every ghost there with him. Their hope to get home fuelling him even more. He ripped off his restraints.

When Danny, freshly 18 and physically healed from the scars inflicted on him by people who should have protected him, looked out at the people who would call him king he felt hope like a never ending chorus. It spread from everyone watching, hope that he would help them, hope that he would protect them, hope that they were safe now, hope that the realms would flourish under his leadership. On one gloved hand glowed a green ring, red eyes flashing and filling him with the righteous rage he was owed, allowing him to fight for those he protected. On the other hand, a soft blue light shone, powered with the hopes he embodied and cherished in his heart and core.

The crown floated over his head, flames frozen into icy peaks where it drifted in lazy circles. His suit was more solid, no longer the flimsy material he had died in. White gloves and boots still covered his hands and feet, though they were more solid looking than before. His outfit featured more blue now, and the letters that once stretched across his chest were now encompassed by the same symbol that the blue ring which had saved him just a year ago showed. His cape, soft white fur and the cosmos shining out from the underside, rested comfortingly around his shoulders.

Clockwork’s elderly face smiled at him, floating just to his right. “I’m sure you know but we are all very proud of you, Danny. I have no doubt-” his form flickered, now a young man “-that you will lead the realms the best way possible. I will be behind you the whole way, and I know I am not the only one.” The ancient, now a small child, nodded at the beings still cheering for him.

“Thanks Clockwork,” Danny looked out at the sea of faces, eyes drawn to those he knew but making sure to look at everyone he could. “I hope I’ll live up to expectations.”

Clockwork was too… professional to groan at Danny, especially on such an official day, but the others' eyes did crinkle in a way that Danny knew was fond resignation.

“Perhaps you should say a few words, young king.”

Danny was mature enough that he didn’t groan at the suggestion… out loud at least. But he knew Clockwork was right. His people had waited for years for him to take the crown. Least he could do was give a speech.

He didn’t project his voice at all but he knew everyone would hear him anyway. The crown would make sure the whole realm heard what he had to say to them.

“For millennia the realms have been without a ruler, taken care of by the ancients and observants, but not truely united. 3 years ago I fought the tyrant king, besting him in single combat and forcing him back to sleep. I didn’t know at the time what that meant. Didn’t know that because of that one fight I would come to stand before you all today. When I died so much changed for me, for the realms, and for everyone who resides within them. None of us knew what would happen, what access to the mortal world would entail or cause. No one, except maybe Kronos, could predict what would happen, but even he is subject to fate and her whims. One switch led to me dying, to coming to stand before you all, be heard by so many thousands of beings, after being crowned your king. I do not know what the future holds for us. I do not know what will happen as the infinite realms continue ever expanding and growing. But I do know that you chose me. That it was your hope and faith that led to me being here before you today, rings on my hands and crown on my head. I hope that together we can build a home we are all proud of, that together we can bring peace to the realms once again. I hope that I can be what you need and that I will be a just and kind ruler. I hope that you trust me to do what I can to protect us all. I hope I am a good king.” Danny took a deep breath, cape swirling behind him as he lifted his hand.

The little blue ring on his finger was a symbol, even more than the ring of rage he had been bestowed today. The ring of rage was a relic from times past, when the previous kings had to fight for their throne, had to fight fkr the relams. The ring of hope was the embodiment of his denizens' care and love for him. It proved that they wanted him, that they trusted him to lead them right, that they had hope in him just as he had hope in them.

His voice was strong as he recited the oath. Clockwork and he had discussed it in depth, if he should say it today, if it would mean what he hoped it would. In the end he knew it was the right thing to do, so he steadied himself as he stood before his people and held the ring up high.

“In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite. When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars-- for hope burns bright.”

The blue light that shone from the ring was calming and peaceful, healing. Those it shined on felt just that little more hopeful for their new king than they had already, and the realms themself felt cracks closing over deep down where light never reached.

Danny smiled softly as his people cheered. They would be okay.

—------------

Space was cold. Space was cold, and empty, and unforgiving in nature. It held everything and nothing all at once. Galaxies and nebula, planets and the cosmos, folding together to create an infinite expanse.

Danny wanted to explore it all.

The cold didn't bother him, between his own core, the crown of frozen fire (not that it was visible as he was at the moment), and the suit that covered his skin, he felt more at home in the cold than anywhere else.

He drifted aimlessly, tail twisting and keeping him moving through the stars while he relaxed. He didn't often get time to do this.

Being king was busy work, but after a few years (weeks? Decades? Millenia? Minutes? Time had stopped mattering when he stopped visiting the mortal plane) of work the Realms had finally calmed down enough for him to take a break every now and then.

Ellie was currently acting princess for him. She had come home a while ago, saying she wanted to settle down for a bit and work on her core, having explored all of the earth they came from and a few other dimensions too. She, with Jazz as her advisor, made a good princess.

Jazz would have made a better princess all things considered but she wasn't a ghost, just very liminal. Oh well. Either way it meant he finally got a break. Of course they could summon him if they needed. But they likely wouldn't.

He wasn't that far from Earth currently. It wasn’t his own, he only went back to that dimension to visit Sam and Tucker. But it was similar enough that the stars were the same and that was all that mattered to him.

He floated through the stars just on the edge of the Milky Way. He'd been there for a week (or three, or twenty, or a hundred) looking at all the stars he used to dream of. His core felt calm. He could feel himself relaxing for the first time in eons, form stretching and loosening into something less human the longer he spent out with the cosmos. A constant rumbling came from deep within him, his core pleased on a deep and spiritual level. Occasionally his ring would pulsate lightly, blue echoing around him, as it picked up on his denizens hoped for his happiness and health.

It was peaceful out there, quiet and calm and welcoming. Though he had a feeling that was about to change.

A presence was heading in his direction. Light and strong and fast.

He stretched, arms cracking like a pond frozen over and tail lashing out against nothing. His mouth stretched wide as he yawned, sharp teeth glinting, reflecting the light of a far away star. His form pulled in slightly, body condensing into a more humanoid shape, less fluid and more solid, but still larger than anything from earth could be, probably the length of an olympic swimming pool even with his tail looped in on itself.

The presence got closer and closer until it was almost on top of him. He twisted slowly, bending backwards to face upside down as a boy, close to Ellie’s biological age, stopped a good distance away, eyeing him carefully. Danny could sense a few people further behind him, still traveling in their direction in a small ship. Clearly he was the scout, flying ahead to check their way was clear? Or just making first contact?

When Danny didn’t make any indication towards moving the boy hesitantly moved closer. He looked like a punk, similar to something Kitty would wear. Black jeans and shirt with a red symbol, leather jacket with spikes and fingerless gloves, sunglasses that were pushed up into his hair.

“Hello, can you understand me? I don’t mean you any harm but my friends and I need to pass through here.”

Danny smiled lazily, waving his hand as he twisted his body to face the boy fully.

“Go ahead, I won’t stop you,” his head tilted, unnaturally far, as the ship came into view behind the boy. “May I ask what you are all doing out here?”

The ship stopped behind the boy and Danny could see more people through the window, all of similar ages. A group of teens, though they were all dressed in costumes. Heroes then? Danny hadn’t actually researched the dimension he was vacationing in, only that it had similar enough stars to be almost exactly the same. Clearly he should have looked into it a little more.

The other teens seem to be talking to the boy in front of him, if the buzzing Danny can hear means anything. One, another boy with dark hair and a mask covering his face, is eyeing Danny like a puzzle. He looks at the boy next to him, covered in a yellow and red suit, who is gesturing to his chest and then Danny’s rapidly, hands flying at impossible speeds. The girl on the dark haired boy's other side is nodding along and adding her own thoughts as the yellow one speaks.

Danny focuses his eyes back to the one outside the ship as he moves slightly, bracing himself before speaking again.

“We were heading to a nearby planet to check something, nothing major,” he winced as the buzzing in his ear got louder, glancing at the others behind him. It looked like the yellow one had gotten a hold of the microphone, leaning dangerously close to it as he spoke.

“Does your friend have a question?” he asked with an amused smile.

The boy huffed and crossed his arms. “Yes, fine, okay I’ll ask. He wants to know if you’re a Blue Lantern?”

“Ah, is that why he was gesturing to my chest? I suppose I might be, if that is what this symbol means to you. Though I can’t say I’ve ever met another to be sure,” he cocked a finger in the ships direction. “If your friends come closer I will be able to hear them myself. I would be happy to talk, you are the first people I have met here.”

More buzzing as the other spoke, before the ship carefully eased its way forward, stopping just next to the boy. Danny drifted a little closer to them all, slowly so as to not startle them, and then bowed his head (just a little dramatically, because what was the use of being an eldritch being if not to mess with others).

“My name is Danny Phantom, of the Infinite Realms. And who are all of you?” he smiled at them, mindful of his teeth as he did.

“I’m Kon-el, or Superboy. The one with the mask is Red Robin, the red head is Impulse, and the girl is Wonder Girl. We’re heroes, from Earth.”

“How fun!” his tail twisted behind him, to the others he probably looked excited, but he was furious. Who named a kid that? Whoever had done that had better not known what it meant or Danny was going to have words with them. “And what brought you all the way out here? Checking a planet?”

Kon’s face flushed a little and he cringed but the masked boy, Red Robin, spoke up before he could answer.

“You. Kon said ‘planet’ but we were here to see you,” the boy met Danny’s gaze head on, like he was daring Danny to say something about it. “You were picked up on some scanners so we decided to come check you out before someone else did.”

Danny smiled with just a bit more teeth than before, causing Impulse to ‘hide’ behind Red Robin. “Well you found me, now what, little heroes?”

Now listen. Danny didn’t want to fight the tiny heroes but… he would if they wanted to. It would be fun! Exorcise! At the very least Kon, Superboy, was clearly enhanced so they could play a little! He wouldn’t hurt them or anything! But really if they decided to come check out the weird thing in space all on their own then surely it was his responsibility as a grown up (lies and slander, he could feel Ellie laughing at him from his keep) to put these young people on the right track which is not going in to space to meet weird entities!

The four of them exchanged looks but all seemed to defer to Red Robin for the final decision. He looked at Danny contemplatively for a while before answering carefully.

“We don’t want to fight, we just wanted to see who you are, make contact, that sort of thing. There are other heroes on our planet who noticed you, and they have been debating-” he said the word with no small amount of distaste “-what to do about you for the better part of a month now. We were tired of the discussions and decided to come out ourselves. You had made no major movement since being noticed, and we had no clue how long you had been here before that, so I made the educated assumption that you would either be someone drifting or lost, injured, or at the very least non-combative enough for us to have a conversation.”

His reasoning was sound, Danny couldn’t fault him there. But still.

“Why would you assume I’m non-combative? That’s a strong assumption to make on very little information, little Aves.”

He cringed a little, but stood his ground (metaphorically, he was on a ship, in space, there wasn’t a lot of ground around to stand on).

“You may be large, and clearly not human, but compared to many other non-terran entities we have met you have done nothing to make us assume you would be aggressive.”

“Yeah man! You literally just did loop-di-loops of the stars! You didn’t even attack the earth or the watchtower! That’s like, the most chill anyone has been coming into terran space in ages! Even people who aren’t actively attacking us usually do more damage!” Impulse yelled through the glass of the ship.

Danny hummed while Red Robin and Wonder Girl reprimanded him, clearly not appreciative of the sudden loudness in such a confined space. Kon just sighed and shrugged in agreement when Danny looked towards him again.

“He’s not wrong, even most heroes do some damage when they first arrive. My genetic doner, as Rob calls him-” and didn’t that sound like something to keep an eye on, the same one who gave him that name? Likely. “-literally crash landed on a farm in the south and blew up a tractor. And he’s one of the ‘big three’ now.”

“Plus you may be a little creepy-” Danny let himself grin wider at Wonder Girls words, he worked very hard to be this creepy and ghostly! It was nice to have that effort acknowledged! “-but you haven’t actually attacked us yet and we’ve been talking for like 20 minutes now so… I’d say this is a win!” She high fived with Impulse behind Red Robin's back, making both him and Kon sigh at the same time.

Danny laughed at their antics, shrinking to a more human size. He was still much larger, longer, than any human, especially the teens in front of him, but it was a more reasonable size, less intimidating. His ring pulsed blue slightly, acknowledging his hope that these young heroes would like him, and their hope that he would be an ally.

It doing so drew Impulse's attention back to it and he yelled out, zipping around the ship for a moment before stopping where he had been before. “Look! Look! See! It’s totally a lantern ring!”

He was holding a phone with a picture of a man on it. Danny drifted closer to the window of their ship to see, close enough that he could easily drift through and into it if he wanted (which he wouldn’t do… yet… gotta let the little heroes invite him in first, he had manners no matter what Jazz said). The man was dressed similar to Danny, though his outfit looked more like a flight suit than Danny’s, with a very similar circle pattern in the middle. The main difference though was that the man’s outfit (and eyemask) was a deep Green instead of the comforting Blue that Danny wore.

“Ohhhhhhh… yeah I guess we must be connected somehow? How do you know him?”

“He’s a part of the group that have been debating how to approach you,” Kon came close and leaned against the ship, lounging like it was a couch and not a freezing hunk of metal in space (Danny was vaguely impressed at his ability to lounge in zero G, he knew some ghosts that had issues lounging like that). “He’s called Green Lantern, though that's more his job? He’s not the only one. There’s at least 3 from earth and apparently it’s a whole thing.”

“I’ve heard B call them ‘space cops’ before, which was… mostly teasing but isn’t wrong. They are meant to be an intergalactic law enforcement agency basically,” Red Robin must have seen the distaste on Danny’s face because he was quick to offer reassurances. “That’s just the Green ones though! They’re the ‘cops’. I’m not sure what the other colours do really, we don’t see them much, if ever, but they definitely don’t answer to the same people the Green ones do.”

“Sorry, I’m sure they’re… fine… if your heroes are working with them. I’ve just had bad experiences with law enforcement before. ACAB and all that.”

“ACAB?” Wonder Girl asked, though they all looked confused.

“Oh do you not have that? It means ‘All Cops Are Bastards’. It was a big thing where I used to live, my friends were very into protesting and that was the slogan for a lot of police brutality protests and stuff.” Clearly their earth was just… a little to the left of Danny’s own.

“Huh, I like that… Rob reckon we could get that going for the protests back home?” Kon looked at the boy in question, smirk on his face.

“Please, I can get that going before we’re even back on earth with one tweet. Never doubt me,” he replied, smirking back.

“Ohhhhhhhh… they’re plotting again,” Impulse stage whispered to Wonder Girl, who promptly ignored him.

“Hey, how ‘bout you come inside and we can go back to the watchtower together!” she said instead, breaking Red Robin and Kon out of their weird little staring contest. “We can ask Green Lantern if he knows any other Blue Lanterns, and show the others that you’re chill.”

“Can you breathe oxygen?”

“Oh my god, Impulse you can’t just ask people if they can breathe oxygen!”

“What! He’s an alien! He’s clearly not human! It’s a valid concern!”

“You still can’t just ask that! What if he got offended! How is he even gunna get onto the ship, idiot?”

“Hey you’re the one that invited him on, not me! Sounds like you’re the idiot, idiot.”

“I can’t believe-!”

Danny phased through the window of the ship, cutting off Wonder Girl’s, no doubt scathing, reply. Red Robin just looked disappointed in the two, but did smile at Danny (and Kon when he made his way inside too).

“Well… that answers that question. Uhhhh… to the watchtower!!”

Impulse zipped around but it was Wonder Girl who actually took the controls of the ship and turned them back the way the heroes had originally come. Kon settled himself into a seat nearby, so Danny floated above one too, twisting his tail under himself so it looked like he was a spring ready to pop. Red Robin joined them, while Impulse and Wonder Girl mucked around on the controls. They made some small talk for a while, the two teens sharing some information about earth and the heroes they were going to see on their watchtower.

Danny was curious to meet Wonder Woman, who sounded like she was one of Dora’s descendants, and Martian Manhunter because… well he’s literally a Martian! Batman, Red Robin's mentor, sounded… interesting (in that Red was clearly deferential and devoted to the man but given Kon’s expression when he thought no one was looking there was clearly more to most of what Red was saying). Red made similar faces when Kon talked about Superman, though he made little effort to hide them seeing as Kon made the same, if not worse, faces anyway. He mentioned that Superman had named him and Danny thought about bringing up the meaning of his name, but decided to wait and see this Superman first. Better to bring it up when the man was in punching distance. Impulse mentioned his own mentor and Danny had a twinge of recognition, vague memories of Clockwork complaining about someone messing with time steams in another dimension…

The teens mentioned their base, which somehow led to the story of how Red Robin was attacked by an ally that had come back from the dead. Apparently the ally, a Red Hood, was okay now, had apparently been influenced by his resurrection and basically drugged into a rage as Red Robin explained. They had worked out their differences after Red had saved Batman from disappearing from time and then mostly separated himself from said mentor, spending more time with Hood instead. Apparently Hood was basically an older brother, and he had more siblings too who were all heroes of some kind as well.

Kon then mentioned that he had a younger brother too, who was friends with Red’s little brother, “though he was actually born so I can’t blame Supes for liking him more,” he said bitterly.

“Were you not born?” Danny asked gently.

“Kon was made by Superman's nemesis. Combined Supermans and his own DNA to make Kon here. We actually broke him out when we were raiding his base one time,” Red Robin spoke up.

“Oh you’re a clone!” the others tensed noticeably but Danny plowed on. “My sister is a clone! Well maybe more like daughter? My fruitloop of a nemesis made her to replace me but she was way too cool to go along with that. She’s actually back home taking care of things for me with our big sister while I’m on vacation. Her name’s Ellie! I’ll have to tell her to come visit you, she’d love to meet another clone. All her siblings were too unstable to survive outside of the cloning tubes so she loves all clones that do, and so do I.”

Kon had tears in his eyes, and Red looked happy, nudging the other with his shoulder in an ‘I told you so’ manner. Impulse was zipping around while Wonder Girl smiled at them. Clearly this kid didn’t get enough love. Danny could fix that.

“Do you want a hug?”

Kon nodded and Danny was wrapped around him before he could blink. The benefit of being not quite human was that he could give the best hugs. His tail wrapped around the boy's midsection, catching Red Robin and pulling him in too, squeezing like a snake. He hunched over Kon’s head, patting one hand carefully through his hair while the other stroked down his back. He rumbled deep in his core, causing Kon to go slack in his arms.

“Whoa,” Impulse whispered, coming closer to lean against Danny and his teammates too. Danny stretched his tail to wrap him up too, and Wonder Girl when she stepped into his range. Danny felt like a mother chicken, sitting on his chicks, or maybe like an otter holding onto pups so they wouldn't drift away. Danny chirped happily as he felt them all click into his fraid. Clearly all of these baby heroes needed someone to take care of them if this was all it took for them to accept him (because even if they didn’t know it they had to have also wanted him for something like that to happen).

They stayed wrapped up for the rest of the trip, the sound of the engine and Danny’s rumbles causing them to fall into a relaxed state. Red Robin straight up fell asleep, which caused the rest of them to laugh and explain to Danny that he likely hadn’t slept in around 2 or 3 days knowing him. Eventually, the ship's controls beeped, indicating they were at the watchtower. Red Robin startled awake at the noise, but quickly settled back into the cuddle pile happily.

“My names Bart,” Impulse, Bart, spoke up quietly.

“Cassie,” chimed Wonder Girl.

“Kon-el, or Conner,” Superboy mumbled under him.

“Bats is gunna hate this…” Red grumbled. The others nudged him a little and Danny squeezed him comfortingly. He sighed heavily. “Tim. I’m Tim.”

“It’s lovely to meet you all,” Danny chirped happily. “Since we’re doing introductions again I’ll give you my full name.”

Danny squeezed them all one more time before, mostly, untangling himself from the pile (he still kept a part of his tail wrapped around them all, as a comfort for both them and himself).

“Danny Phantom, Ancient of Space, Protector of the Dead and their Peace, Light of Hope, Defeater of Priaha Dark, and King of the Infinite Realms, at your service,” he bowed low, winking at them as he did.

They looked a little star struck when he lifted his head, but he just used his tail to shake them a little, knocking them out of their stupor. Bart was the first to recover, pointing a blurry finger at him excitedly.

“You’re a king!! A creepy, non-human, space king! We just cuddled with a king!”

“Technically you just pack bonded with a king,” Danny said, enjoying the way all of their eyes widened in shock.

“We what!?” Conner and Cassie asked at almost the same time.

“Ohhhh… B is going to kill me,” Tim moaned dramatically, leaning backwards with only Danny’s tail to support him.

“Don’t worry about it, little starlights,” Danny said happily, nudging them upright with his tail. “Now didn’t you say the adults are all on this watchtower? Let’s head in! I want to have words with some of them!”

Tim and Conner exchanged worried looks, but didn’t make any effort to stop Cassie and Bart from opening the doors, letting the eldritch being they’d picked up in space loose on the watchtower. They all walked in, Danny floating protectively above them, and headed towards the meeting room where the heroes were undoubtedly still arguing over what to do about the creature above their heads.

Danny was just supposed to be on vacation. This was much more fun.

Chapter Text

The teens decided that they should get him to meet the Green Lantern before he got distracted by the other heroes on the tower. So Tim, voted the most trustworthy and least likely to give them away, snuck into the meeting room to draw the current Green Lantern on base out. He apparently just said there was a call from Oa, the leaders of the space cops the Lantern was a part of, in another room. None of the other heroes cared to join him and so Red Robin walked confidently into a room 2 floors down with Green Lantern trailing unenthusiastically behind him.

The Lantern didn’t even realise there were other people in the room at first, busy complaining about Oa and the other Lanterns. 

“-really I’m telling you they suck. You would think space cops would be at least a little better than normal cops but noooooo. The only real difference is that they have a wider reach and think they are above literally everyone in the galaxy. And let me just-”

Conner coughed loudly, cutting off the Lantern mid sentence. The man stopped and looked up, the lenses of his mask widening as he took in the teen heroes and eldritch being in the room. 

“Uhhhh guys isn’t this-”

“The ‘creature’ that you all have been debating about for the past month? Yes, yes it is.” Tim said, stepping towards them.

“Hello, Green Lantern. I am King Phantom. The children said you have a ring similar to mine,” Danny flashed just a few too many teeth at the hero, watching as he went a little pale.

His eyes flickered over Danny’s form, finally taking in the similarities in their outfits, colour aside, and the symbol at the centre of his chest which almost matched his own. 

“Oh! You’re a Blue Lantern! What are you doing out here?” The man clearly got over his apprehension with the new knowledge, stepping closer and offering Danny a friendly smile.

“Well, I was on vacation until these guys came and dragged me here, saying I should meet you because I don’t know any other ‘Lanterns’,” he huffed but also nudged the teens playfully to show he wasn’t actually bothered.

“You’ve never met… didn’t your ring take you to them when you first got it? That’s what usually happens!” 

“I mean, I was being held captive when it found me, and then I was in the Infinite Realms being crowned King, and fixing all the stuff the last King stuffed up so… It hasn’t really had a chance. This is the first time I’ve been in a normal dimension in… Years? Maybe eons? I don’t know, time is fake anyway.”

Everyone looked at him for a long minute before Tim clapped his hands.

“Welp, that’s very whelming but let’s not get distracted by the Kings lore! You-” he pointed dramatically at Green Lantern, “-call a Blue Lantern so the King can meet them! You-” he swiveled to point at Bart, “-go check and see what the others are discussing right now. And you-” he swiveled again towards Danny, overshooting a bit when Bart brushed past him on his way out, “-let’s go meet Red Hood!”

“Red Hood?!” Green Lantern got distracted from where he had been typing on a weird glowing device to look at Tim in concern. “Isn’t he a crime lord?”

“Unimportant, I want the King to meet him and I know he’s on the tower cause he wanted to annoy B so we’re gunna go find him before introducing Phantom to the others.”

“But… why?”

“Not your business, you just focus on contacting the Blue Lanterns space cop.”

Green Lantern sighed but did as he was told, focusing back on the device in his hands as he muttered under his breath about sidekicks and teenagers and Bats. He wandered off, towards one of the rooms with deep-space communicators, while Danny allowed the teens to pull him in the opposite direction. Apparently Tim had a tracker on Red Hood (“don’t worry he has one on me too!” “That’s actually not comforting Rob”) and so knew exactly where the other was. 

They chattered happily as they made their way towards their target, avoiding all the other heroes on the station (not that it was hard when most were still in the meeting). Bart joined them part way there, reporting that they were indeed still talking about Danny, and had gotten no further than they had been a few hours ago when the group had stolen the ship and gone off on their own.

Tim and Cassie were laughing at Bart when they entered the room Red Hood was hiding out in, Conner trailing behind with Danny wrapped around his shoulders. Danny had drifted down while they had walked until he landed on Conner and, when the boy hadn’t protested, had wrapped around him like a large boa, resting his head on Conner’s own happily. 

Red Hood looked up when they entered, helmet focusing and hands stilling where they had been cleaning a pulled apart gun on the table in front of him. Danny liked him immediately. 

Between his large frame, he would have no trouble holding Danny when he went noodly , tall stature, he’d make a good place to perch , and obvious liminality, seriously he might be on the same level as Jazz and she basically lived in the Realms . Danny was maybe a little in love.

The man clearly looked them over, seeing the weird creature with the teens and their obvious comfort with said weird creature, and tilted his helmet to indicate his confusion to Tim. Tim just shrugged, “We adopted the space thing that B and the others have been arguing over.”

“Technically I adopted you, but whatever works Aves,” Danny smiled, reaching to ruffle Tim’s hair.

“Huh,” Danny shivered a bit at the deep growl of the others voice, even mechanised as it was through the helmet's filter. Conner shot him a look of betrayal and disbelief as he felt the movement against him. “Well, welcome to the family I guess. What’s your name?”

“King Phantom of the Infinite Realms,” Danny did a little bow over Conner's head and winked. “But you can call me Danny.”

“Alright then Danny,” Red Hood pulled off his helmet, revealing a scarred, handsome face, eyes covered by a mask similar to Tims, and sat it on the table in front of him. He looked briefly at Tim, who nodded slightly, before focusing on Danny again. He smiled teasingly, sharp canines catching the light. Danny was definitely in love . “I’m Red Hood, but you can call me Jason.”

Danny wiggled in joy against Conner, his core purring happily as Jason was quickly and easily snapped into the little fraid he was making in this world. Conner huffed good naturedly and walked towards Jason. 

“Hold your arms out.”

“What?” 

“Just do it.”

Jason held his arms out, head tilted, making his hair fall across his face. Conner ignored his questioning, and the questioning of the others behind him, and instead used his telekinesis to lift Danny off his shoulders and onto Jasons. Everyone froze for a moment, Jason’s eyes flashing green through the lenses of his mask, until Danny’s purring kicked up a notch, pleased with the development. 

Jason lifted a hand to rest against Danny’s tail, relaxing back into his seat with his new living (heh) scarf. 

“What the hell replacement.” 

“I don’t know Jay, he’s just like this I guess. He said we pack bonded after cuddling and apparently he likes you too?”

“You all like me! That’s why we bonded!” Danny whisper yelled excitedly. He loved getting new fraid mates, and now he was getting like 5 for 1 or something! “You all liked me enough that when my core reached out during the cuddle pile your souls responded! I already liked Red Hood based on what you’d said during the trip Tim, and Jason clearly trusts your judgment Aves, cause as soon as you said I was okay his core answered mine happily!”

Tim looked at him in disbelief and, while he couldn’t see Jason’s face, he could tell Jason was doing the same. Conner, Bart and Cassie laughed at them both. 

“Our souls responded? Danny what does that even mean!” Tim yelled, cheeks flushing red.

“Hmmm… think of it like waves of light! Humans and most beings can’t see the full spectrum with their naked eye but we know that infrared and ultraviolet and stuff exist right? Every sentient thing has a soul, and when that soul dies it either goes back to the cosmos or it comes back in the Infinite Realms. All Realms denizens are made of ectoplasm, and all of us are centered around our core. Our core is like our self , and it pulses out, manifesting through ectoplasm to make visible, tangible, beings like myself. But that’s only what you can see! Cause our core’s are also always interacting with the universe around us, taking in and putting out information. And sometimes that means brushing against other people's souls. Usually we just take in some emotional feedback, occasionally we can leave our own. Sometimes we can resonate with other people too, whether they have cores of their own or not. Everyone lets off light, just in a range that isn’t visible , and that light interacts with each other. You guys are all around each other that often that your lights soften together, blend and merge and mix with trust and love, same with Tim and Jason, though theirs are both more guarded than you three. And my core, well I’m fairly open, especially to kids, so when it reached out to you all, and you were all receptive and positive in response, we bonded. In the Realms it’s called a ‘fraid’, the collection of people you have bonded with, platonically and romantically and familiarly. I have a few people in my fraid back home, my sisters and friends and mentors, and I can feel them like I can now feel all of you,” Danny paused and tilted his head at them, watching as they all took it in. Tim looked like he understood and had followed the explanation. The others hadn’t fully followed, not really caring about the how of the situation and trusting Tim to work it out anyway. “I can break the bond, if you want. It won’t hurt you all, except maybe you Jason cause you’ve got like… a baby core from all the ectoplasm in you. But even then it would be like bad heartburn or something, nothing major this soon after forming.”

“What happens if it's broken later?” Tim asked but he didn’t look like he really wanted the answer, he just needed to ask something .

“I’ve seen broken bonds shatter the cores of others before.”

“But if your core is like your… being … then wouldn’t that mean…” Cassie seemed hesitant to finish the question but Danny just smiled softly down at her.

“Death. One of the only ways to kill a Realms being is to shatter its core. Breaking the bonds probably wouldn’t shatter me, being King of a whole dimension has to have some perks, but it would likely crack, at least for a time,” Danny looked out above them, seeing the bonds he had with other people stretch and twine and fade into the distance. “I have other bonds with those I know will die. Some will continue on in the Realms with me, others will simply cease to exist. It will hurt, for a time, but I wouldn’t trade our time together for the world.”

They all stood in silence for a moment before Bart dashed forward and wrapped his arms around Danny, and Jason too, seeing as Danny was still wrapped around the man. Danny startled for a moment before patting Bart on the head. The others quickly joined them, wrapping themselves around Danny, who lengthened his tail to wrap around them all, and Jason, who grumbled and threatened them half-heartedly ( “I'm a crime lord I can’t be seen in a cuddle pile with a group of teenagers!” ) the whole time. Tim just shushed him.

Eventually one of Tim’s devices beeped, and he pulled away to check it. He got all of their attention by clapping his hands together loudly.

“Okay! So I don’t think anyone wants to break these bonds, correct?” He waited but no one spoke up. “Right. So now that that’s done we still have the other heroes here to introduce Danny to, and we need to see if Green Lantern has contacted any Blue Lanterns for Danny too. We should also probably send a message to the other Bats, Mor’gann, and the others back on Earth that we have a new ally. Or we could not, see how long it takes them to notice the interdimensional king in their midst.” He said that with an evil smirk that reminded Danny of Sam when she was scheming. 

“Will it help your evil plans to know that I can turn invisible and intangible?” He offered helpfully.

“Yes, yes it would. But that’s for later! For now, Bart and Cassie, you guys go find Green Lantern and see what he’s up to, Jason fix your gun you’re coming with Conner and I. Because we are going to introduce King Phantom to the Justice League.”

“Aww why do we have to go find him?” Bart whined.

“Because you two will give away the fact that we've done something wrong as soon as you step in the room! So you get to get GL and whoever he's called instead, and then met us at the conference room. Okay?” 

“Okayyyyy…” Cassie and Bart groaned in unison. 

They gave Danny one last hug before heading out of the room, bickering to each other as they did. Jason quickly put his gun back together, ohhh big strong hands yummy , pulled his helmet back on,  and the four of them were off.

Danny had stayed on Jason's shoulders when they left, but migrated over to Conner as they walked. Tim laid out a plan which basically boiled down to; walk in with Danny invisible and then wait and see how long it took for them to be noticed. 

So they did just that. Danny was floating, invisible, above Tim and Conner when they walked into the meeting room, Jason lurking behind them. The man Danny assumed to be Batman (based on Bart and Cassie's descriptions of various members of the “Justice League” as they’re called) nodded towards them as they came in, but otherwise no one else acknowledged them. They made their way around the room, stopping in a secluded corner to the side of the room.

Danny studied the heroes in the room, taking them in. They were centered around a large circle table, with the ‘major’ heroes sitting and others standing around and behind them. Danny could see some obvious hero/sidekick combos from their costumes (like the Flash, who Bart was clearly connected to, and Superman, who shared the same emblem as Conner). They were all discussing him, or the creature , as they called him. It sounded like they were repeating themselves for the umpteenth time. A lot of the members around the room weren't even paying attention to what was being said, primarily by Superman and Aquaman.

Danny's attention was drawn to a tired looking man wearing a trench coat. He was face down on the table, an empty coffee cup in front of him and a page full of scribbles poking out from under his dirty blonde hair. A large man was boredly drawing on his own piece of paper to his right, and the chair next to his left was empty, but a small book was on the table in front of it so clearly the other person was coming back. The man next to him smelt like magic, strong, old magic, but the blonde himself smelled like death, magic, alcohol, and depression in equally staggering amounts. Danny could see his soul and all the chains wrapped around it, pulling in what looked like hundreds of directions. Some of the chains were much thicker than others, weighing the man's soul down. Reading the chains and runes carved into his soul, a flash of recognition made its way across Danny’s mind, and he grinned sharply. 

Danny focused, letting some of his presence slip out from where he had had it carefully hidden.

As he watched, the man shivered and twitched, a ring on his finger glowing brightly as he loudly gasped awake and looked up. Blue eyes looked directly at Danny despite him definitely still being invisible (he looked around quickly to see if anyone else was looking at him but no, just the tired blonde man, which was a little disappointing because really? Only one magic user? Surely there are more? ). The large man next to him startled at his gasp, softly asking if he was okay and trying to get his attention. Danny watched as the man, named John if the other man was to be believed, ignored his friend entirely, focusing instead on Danny’s presence. 

Danny drifted down, settling his arms across the shoulders of Tim and Conner, wrapping his tail around them and Jason, standing behind them all. All three shivered slightly at the cold coming off him, but otherwise didn’t react. John narrowed his eyes, likely following his movements and seeing how it was settled against the young heroes, even if he couldn’t see Danny himself.

“Red Robin, Superboy, where did you and your friends go earlier?” John called across the room, effectively silencing the discussion still happening around him.

“Constantine, is something wrong?” Batman asked, suddenly much more alert than he had been before.

“There is something here, and it’s attached itself to Red Robin and Superboy. Maybe Red Hood too. I can’t see it exactly but I can see where it should be. Whatever it is is strong. Set off my alarms just by looking at me.”

Tim rested his hands against his hips, smiling sharply at all the heroes now looking at him. 

“Well you guys were taking so long to decide what to do about the thing out in space that we figured we’d go say hi instead,” Tim smiled wider as Batman slowly lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Turns out, it’s very friendly.”

Danny took this as his cue to turn visible, head cocked and smile wide and sharp as he did. He had manifested some of his more kingly regalia, mainly the crown, ring, and coat. Clockwork always said it was important to look his best when meeting new people ( the being in question chuckled softly from his tower at the dramatic nature of his king ). Galaxies swirled in the cape behind him, and snow drifted gently down from his crown, resting on Tim and Conner briefly before fading away without any trace they had ever been there.

“ Ohhhh what the fuck, what the fuckkkkkk. ”

“ Jesus christ what is that?! ”

“ Holy shit, that’s creepy .”

Danny laughed, internally, and grinned wider, externally, at the reactions the various heroes in the room had. Most turned pale, the ones nearest them stepping away quickly. A lot moved into stances ready to fight, hands on weapons and bodies ready to go. A few said quick prayers to various Gods (one of which Danny was close friends with, that was going to be a fun story at the next Realms meeting). 

John, Constantine? , swore loudly and hid behind the man next to him, pointing a finger at Danny.

“No! Absolutely not! Go back to the Realms! Your kind aren’t meant to be out here!”

“Ạ̸̽̎̽ṇ̸̮̤̻̠͖̮͐̕͠d̴̼͓̜̤̜̦̔̍̃̽͜ ̷̡̻̥̠͋w̶̡̧̝͎̙̋͋͋́h̵̢͐̇͆ȧ̵̭̘̖̺̰̼̣͊̂͐̂́̚t̵̤͖͌̍̑̆̏́ ̸̢̠̞͚̦̾̃̚w̴̨̻̖̹̥͔̕ō̵̧̧̦̙̂̍͝ū̵͔̮̭͚̦̺̓͐̐̈́̔̉l̶̮̈́̐͘d̴̢͇̜̣͙͔̽̀̉̍̕ ̶̰̜̱̙̘̃͋͊̀͋͘y̶̯̺̥̥͙͙̏̌̉̀͘͝ͅȯ̵̟͔͖͎̈́̿u̷̻̎͛͑ ̷̰̹̰͚̘̌̈́͛̍ͅk̷̤̏̎͊̋͝n̸̙̩̭͎̿͆̍͜͜ṏ̴̤͍̬́͑̈́͑̋w̴͈̑̈̆̑̽̿͘ ̸̰͕̀̄̈̊́̔͠ḁ̵̡̯͓̯͇̓̐̌b̸̰͎̞͂͛̽́̆ò̴͇̟̩̺̤̻̏͊͝͝u̸͕̭̟̭̲͇̿ẗ̴̘͉̌͜ ̶̣̣͇͙͔̀m̷̡̘̟̈́͛̂̏ẙ̵̺̭̥͉͊̌͋̎̋̌ ̸̛̼̱̤̩ḱ̴͈̺͕̪i̸̜̮̥͉͓͎̇̀͠ņ̵͎̜̬̩͙́̍̂͘d̶͇̳̮̗̖͕̠͌̌͐,̸̛͇̱͕̩̲̈́̔͑̉͑͆ ̸̛̫͓͕͖̱̗͑̅̽̌̏Ș̶͔́͆̑͊̈́̕ö̶̰̱̰̘u̴̡̥̙͝l̵̤̳̱͂̌͂̈́̒͆̓ ̴̡͈͓̆̈̓D̸͉̺̫͕́̃̈́́̋͘͝e̷͙̘̒̃̾͆͗̽ä̶͖͐͗̾̄͝l̸̢̪̤̯̀ȩ̷̯̬̲̰̤̉̀̀r̶͍͊̔̈̑͗͝?̵̱̥̺̟̀̋̈́̈́̑̐͘” Danny’s voice echoed in the room, ice shattering, glaciers crashing, stars forming, galaxies shifting, behind every word.

“I know that the king made a decree years ago that souls weren’t allowed to cause trouble in the mortal Realms, that it wasn’t worth the issues it inevitably brought. Surely Pariah wouldn’t be happy about you being here!” The man tried to sound confident but he was clearly terrified, the only one in the room that had any idea of the power Danny had, of what he was. 

“Ǫ̶̢̨̤̗̯̱̝͉̬̦͓͂̉ͅḥ̶͚͓̣̖̮͒͊̅̏̓͌̓̍͜ ̶̡͙̰̦̳̪͙͉̹̩̥̩̺͋̽̆̔͂̅̌̈́̂̓̕͜͠͝J̷̨̳͓͚͕̜̖̱̌͊o̸̰̮̣͎͗h̶̨̢̫͖̗̫̟̦͇̳̫̞͆́̒̀̂̆̓͘ͅn̴̟̍̔̈͒̏͋̓̄̀͝͝,” the blonde flinched at the address, “I̴̫͙̟͎̲͊͊̈̐͐̀̚ ̵̱͒̆̀͒̇̈́t̴̟̆͌̅̓͌h̶͈̞͇̙̤̏ỉ̵̧̛͇̈̀̊͘̕n̷̯͔͉͉̦̝̓̓͗̀͝͝͝ḳ̴̨̫̊̓̎̕͠ ̸͈̯̬͍͓͒͜ͅy̷̨̛̋͆ớ̸̤͊̽͐ư̶͎̝̭̩͂̄̚͝’̷͖͔̞͈̟̲͊͊̈̔̄̌̕r̸̡̢̦͔̗̼̈́̀́͝ͅë̶̢̧͎̻̗͈͉̂̉̐̃ ̸͚̂̅̋͐̍̍a̶̧̳̞͙͎̩͇̋͊̓̓̏́͋ ̶̭̱͚̯̥̳̊̈́̄̃͆̇͜l̵͈̫̀̔i̸̼͚͓̼͉͒̀̆͒t̵̪͈̲͚̮͔́́̓͐ͅt̷͖̫̤̣͛̏̎l̵̲̹̰̺͚͖̪͒̒̄͠ë̷̗̈́́͠ ̷̱̪͂͗͠o̵̝̾̓̏̆̐̚͝u̵̖̖̳̦͓̘͐̈́͋̚t̴̨̡̤͚͚̎̔̏̽ḑ̸͐̂́̉͋̒̚a̷̧͔̞͇̘̫̎̕͜͝ṫ̴̻̹̠̟͙̔̓̊͌̕ȇ̵͇̹̬̈́̑̌̽͌͐d̴͔͆.̸̢̨̦̻̥̪̓̈́̓̅̀̚͘ ̶̮̖̯̫͉̲̅Y̵̘̻͙͈̳̍̇̆̓̒͝e̴̡̟͖͙̳̔̾́͗͌̆š̶͍̟̟̠̱̈́́̇̓̓͘ ̵̡̬͕̥̲̜̅̀̽͛̇̇t̶̯͙̲͋ḣ̸͙͕͖̀̇̕̕͝ȩ̴̳͠ ̷̺̜̘̤̝͒͝k̸͔͓͖̙͎̀͒̃̆͠ī̵̝̘̺̝̻̃̓̀n̷̢͕͕͍̮͗̈́̆͛g̶̨͈̫̽̀̀͒ ̴̧̹͓̖͕̉͐͗̕m̸͙̼̮͙̈ä̵̡̡̢̗̞̼̘́͛̎̉̇d̷̫͋͗̇̆̀ė̴̡̯̭̪̂́͂͜ ̴̡͉̣̱͔̯̗́̈́̈́̌̇a̷̡̛̞͙̹̫̅͗̇ ̴̡͉̠͇̹͕̊̉̓̋̀̃ď̸̨̪̖̹͕̠͚͒ë̸̹͓̮̱̿̎̓͆͜ͅč̴̡͍̫͂̊̀͌ŗ̸̧̢̜̫̩̅̈́ẹ̴̡̗̖͎̣̞̈́̇̚e̵͖͇̠͉̪͊̿͊ ̵̢̟̠̱̩̣͗͂͆̚̚͝͠t̷͎̦̞̪̎̏͘̚͜͠͝o̸͖̹̽̄ ̷͔̞̭̜̩̪̏̑̓̂́̌l̴̛͙͚̝̀̀͐͌͠é̷̡̥̬̩̮̙̋̀̎̓̅à̶̮̺̮͉v̸͕̲̬͐͗̌͗̑̌ě̵̢̮̯̬͎̱̎̍͐͝ͅ ̴͍̰͙̝̖̘̫̉̏̈́̀̈̅̕ṭ̴̤̳̉̅h̴̤͌͑́̆̉̚̚e̵̳̯̔͗ ̶̲̪͉̍̎̓̀̓́̕m̸̳̗͔͉̩̰̎̾ȍ̴̪̰̱̹̝̪r̶̡͎̖͔̻̐̉̒̀͌͒t̷̘̎̅͊͛a̴̞̱͊̈́̆̆̈l̵̼̘̹̘̭̣̟͘ ̷̛̫͕̀̈̏R̸̨̨̛̺̳͔̊̌͛̒̕ẹ̶͇͂͝ͅa̴̩̭͙̣͌̀̀̄̅l̵̖͎̠̤͐m̷͖͉̉͐̎͑s̷͓̣͊̉̕̚ ̵̨͚͓̺̹̐̕̕a̴̟̥͙̳̕l̸͙͌̒̌̄̈ͅo̴͎̕ṋ̴͔͚̟͎͌͋͑e̷̬̘̽́́̓͘,̸̣̻̗͍͉̈́͜ ̷͉̰͛̇́̾̔b̸͚̫̮̆̿̆͆͝͝ũ̴̡̯̈́ţ̷͓͉͓̜̂ ̶͉̟͉͈͎̬͗̉͗͗͜ẗ̴̩͖̋͘͝h̸̪̠̤̭̣̮̅̽̋̓̋a̵̛͓̳̞̒̀̒̆̚̚t̸̜͈̐͊͒͆ ̸̟͍̘̏̅̀̓͘͠w̷̬͖͎̠̯͋a̸̙̼̣͇̦͎̽s̶̻͓̑̅̿ņ̴̢̭̌̇͆̀͠͝’̷̨̟̩̣̖̭̥͑̆̓͐̉t̶̳̗̖͖̂͝ ̸̧̦͛̈̎̉́͂P̴̡̳͔͉̯̃ͅä̷̟̪́̍͝r̷͙̟̼͙̉͜͝i̷͍̯͗̿͗͂̾a̷͎̦͙̟̣̭̺̋̑͐̂͌̋h̶͉̯͕̍̾͋.̵̛̟͖̫͕̈́̎͆”

There was silence for a moment, John looking at Danny with wide eyes, finally taking his outfit in properly and realising the implications of his words and actions. The magician made a noise, soft and terrified.

Batman, clearly recognising John wasn’t going to be talking anymore, especially not to Danny, asked the question most others in the room were thinking. “Who is the king then?”

Danny straightened to his full height, hands still resting on Tim and Conner (who were radiating smug and joy and entertainment ), crown almost touching the ceiling of the room. His eyes glowed brightly as he looked down on the heroes of the room, and he smiled with all his teeth.

“Ṁ̸̧̨͙͚͉̝́͊͊͗̚͝e̶͙̜̳̟͉̰̽̅͛͐̀͠.̸͙̺͙̭̠͋̏̄̽̑͝ ̸̡͈̕K̶̜̠͍̫̠̔̓ͅi̸͍͖̝̍̿͛͘̕͝n̴̡̲͙̆͐̄̏͑͠ģ̶͉̳̰͚̬̤̊̈̉͘ ̶̪̖̻̮͒͆̓P̸̮̤̞̂́͋̃́͑h̸̲̥̯̗̼͈͈́̒̐̕͠͝ȁ̵̟̼̻̞̱̍͐̓͘ͅn̷̛̺̝̟̲̈́̚t̴̤̬̔̃ô̴͈͕͒͐̏m̶̩̘̲̄͒̀͐͒͝ ̸̩̯̫͇̠͇̒̆̃̀õ̸̩̩͈͑͆f̴̹͋̐̕ ̴̹̜̰̝̀̈́̚͜ṯ̶̾̀̄̅h̴͈͙̻̤͉̘̪̽̎͐͗͝e̵̛̜̠͋̾́͊̇̕ ̷͇̲̈́I̶͈̳̙̼̟̅ň̵̢̛̜̰̜̏̄̇͘ͅf̸̧̢̤̯͔̟̹̈̔ỉ̵̢̲͖͉̗̻̿͊́̄͛͜͝ǹ̷̨̨̻̬̰̻̥̾ĩ̶̛͚̬̫͇̺ṫ̶̙͉̠̐̆́̓͑͌͜ͅę̸̹̜̲̓̆̑͌̂̆̓ͅ ̷̢̞̯̖̭͎̈́͐̓̅͐R̸͙̪̜̞̿e̵̼̳͔͛̐̕͜ȁ̸̜̰͈̮͌l̵̰̜̺͎̯͙̳̔̋m̵̪̼͛͠s̴̡̡̖̤̟̐̆̔̄̏̅̚ͅ,̷̞͋̋̎ͅ ̷͈̬̗̟͗̐́͋͊͘̚D̴̺̬͉̰͕̳͎̈̑́́̂̕͠e̷͚̜̜͖̰̼̓͂f̸̭͛͋̈̽̉ḙ̵̢̓̏̓́͝ȧ̷̡̛̦̣̦̭̓̌͐t̷͉͖̲̚͝ę̸̭͕̈͝r̵͍̱̲͒̃ͅ ̷͎͈̺̹͖͚̭̐̿̈o̶̟̩̳̟͖̭̽̐͑̈́̆́f̸͈͕̅̀͠ ̶̹̙͚͊̈́͒̾P̵̡̣̤̂͛̀͆ǎ̵̱͇̳̬͇̘r̷̛̻̦͇̍̔̅͆i̶̲̲̖͎̹̪͆̽͝à̷͉̀h̶̛̯͎̬͚̯̻̔͑̂̒̍͝ ̴̧̛̘̗̘̜̿̈̇̎D̴̲̄͂̑͛͝á̷̧̧̞̮̯̘̳̀̌̀͠r̵̡̪͚̺̊͊͒͑̉͜͜k̵̥̮̲̂̃̐͊,̵̨̧̢̺͊̍̈́͊̾ ̴̝͚͛́̇́̓A̶̧͚̾n̴̛͓̣̭̯̗̮̫̔c̶̗̬̞̜̤̈́̊̚i̴͓̖͔̫̋͗̓͌e̷̡̖͊n̶̡̛͉̎͒̅̿̅̒t̴̺̒̒̆̾ ̷̨͈̥̦̲̈́̃͑̄̚o̶̱͚̎̀͝f̸̢͉̗̠͉̰̂̃͂̀͑͂ ̶̧̺̼̖͇̻͔̾̓̓S̵̲̮̭͎̻͗p̴͖̻̖͓͖͉͊̓͊͝͝͠a̶̞̓͒̂͠c̴̩͉̊̒͑͘e̴͈̘̝̙͓̱̽͛͗͆,̴͇͊ ̷̬̔̿̈́̆P̴̧̭̗͌͂̏́̃̾r̶̛̘̯̓̚o̷̥̝͂̈́̚t̶̛̗̩̮̤̓͊̀̽͛e̴̙͍̗̭̘̓̇c̶̡̡̤̻̻̣̙̑̈́̉̓̅̆̒t̷͍̯̣͔̮̾̿͌o̵̥̦̱͎͐̂̑̐͗ř̴̨͉͙͈̼̼ ̴̛̛̬̞̮̻̩̈́̈́͜͝͝͝o̸̥̳̘͊f̶̡̨̪̪͇͉͕̄̌̕̚ ̵̱̠̹̹̐͛̌t̸̬̿h̴̛̰̰̲͙̘̻́͊̉ë̶͎͕̬̤͚́͒̈́̈̀͜͝͠ ̵̝͕͓̲͔̻̥͋̈́͒̾̽D̷̢͔̯͓̉̿͊͛̀̕e̷̜̺͂̎̿͌a̸̻͎̋̾d̸̫̮̬͑̎͘ ̶̰̹̬̥̉̂̆̀̒̓̚a̸͔͐̓̊̊͌ṉ̸͇͈̀͋̓̀̇̈d̸̡͈̼̗̟̙̰͒ ̵̙̮̹͈̳̂͌̂t̵̨̹̟̔́̕̕͝h̸̡̼͈̹̳͇̹̾̿̋̄e̴̳̱̩͓͐į̸̞̗̰̮̑͊́͆̇̕r̷̜̺̮̎ͅ ̷̡̣̤̥̈́P̵̝̣̱̓͊̍̓̋̈̐e̵͎̭̗͍͆͑ͅa̵̱̭̯̎̔ĉ̸̗̤͖͎͒̉e̴̜̜̗͐̈́́̾,̵̜͓̤͊̉̈́̅ ̷̺̱̥̈a̵̧͔̫͎͕͓̓̕͝ͅņ̴̻͇̹̝̀͌̎͌̚͜͠d̸͈̫̘͍̟̒͌͌̈ ̷̧̡̠͎̙͍̆̑̈́͑͘͝͝L̴̹̭̺̟̀̓̈̐̏̂ĭ̷͙͚͔͔̫̥̫̉̕̕ǵ̸̦̻h̸̬̼͑t̵̟̱̂ͅ ̴̢̣̏͌͗͜o̴̭͕̝͓͍̓́͛̓f̸͍̬̓̔̅̓̐̃ ̵̣̩̹̽̈́̏̈̍ͅH̶̗̤̝̭̫͕̤͌̋̓́͊́̌o̵̡̢͇̐̇̚p̴̢̫̼͓̈́̋̎̓e̴̹̤̝͈̿̆̽̂̕.̴̟͎̰̟͓̠̙̑̒͂̆͠ ̶̣̪̖̙̫̉̓N̷̙̗̻͍̗̙̋̓̿́̐̓̚i̷̡̟͊̀̓͒̀̚c̶̙̜̳̪̟̀͛̂̒̕ḙ̵͓̔̈́͑͘ ̷̘̻̭̣̜͍͊͐͊̽̕̚t̸̬͇̣̲́ó̸̭̣̹͒̚ ̴̨̫̤̣͖̪̜̈̈̆m̶͓̗̐̊̋̿̔͋͂ḙ̵͈͈̮̎̂̐͜e̷̛͓̱̥͆̎͝ţ̴͍̝͚̥̼́̕ ̶̠̽͒̏̓̉̈́y̴̛̛̗̓̂̔̆͘o̵̖̦̘͇̅̈́͗͆͝u̸̹͕̮̺͌̏̃̃̋.̸̲̑”

Chapter Text

John Constantine was having a very not great day. 

It started when Bats had called to tell him he did need to be at the meeting the league were having, even though it was undoubtedly going to be the exact same as the last 15 meetings they had had on the creature doing loops around the stars. They were getting absolutely nowhere with the conversation, none of their devices could get a clear picture of the thing, no one was game enough to go up to it and see in person, and what they could track of it barely even said anything! The mini bat and his group clearly agreed because they snuck out an hour in and honestly John was so so tempted to join them. 

Except Zatara gave him a look (she’d already stolen his alcohol, meaning he had to drink normal coffee instead of his usual spiked concoction) and shook her head in disappointment before he could. And then, to add insult to injury, about an hour after that he had run out of coffee and Zatara said he should take a nap on the table if he was that tired! So he did. Just to spite her. 

And then of course, because he couldn’t have anything, not even a petty nap during a meeting, one of his rings, spelled to detect when powerful presences focused their attention on or around him (listen he had a lot of enemies okay), went off. He woke up panicked, no Zatara in sight (figures she would escape the meeting but he couldn’t leave), and only got more and more panicked as Red Robin and co revealed they had gone to talk to the creature that had been the focus of at least ¾ of his headaches the past month, and then BROUGHT IT BACK WITH THEM.

And then it talked. And knew his name (and gave him a nickname?????? help ). And revealed it was King of the Infinite Realms . 

John wanted to go back to sleep.

Instead he got to watch as everyone around him processed the news that the thing that had been hovering around the edge of their galaxy, the thing they hadn’t been able to get any usable footage of, the thing they only knew was there but nothing else about it (not even how long it had been there just that it suddenly was ), the thing no one had been game enough to go near resulting in the past month of overly long meetings, was a King . And a group of teenagers had brought it onto the Watchtower. 

Where the fuck is Zatara when you need her? At least she would know what they were dealing with! No one else here was gonna be useful if the King decided to attack, aside from maybe Captain Marvel (and that was a big maybe because the man hadn’t sensed the King's presence at all, though neither had John until it was aimed at him ).

John was looking back and forth from the King, Phantom , and Batman, hoping to convey the need to be really fucking careful with this. Batman seemed to understand his message, based on his little grunt and shrug, but before he could do anything Superman had to go an fuck it up. 

“What are you doing with Red Robin and Superboy?” Superman asked loudly. 

And listen. John didn’t have the highest regard for good ol’ red and blue. The man was loud, and rude, and kinda dumb, and just a touch condescending, especially towards the Justice League Dark members like John. But John was unprepared for how unimpressed the King looked when facing the ‘man of steel’.

Claws, which had been resting lightly over Red Robin and Superboy’s shoulders, tightened their hold slightly on Superboy. Not enough to dig in or hurt the boy (John doubted anyone in the room but him knew that they even could hurt a kryptonian, even half as Super Junior was), but enough that anyone perceptive enough would notice. And heroes were nothing if not perceptive. 

“I̶̡̓ ̷̕ͅh̴̦̕a̴̳̎v̵̗͑e̸̢̎ ̷̢̽a̴̛̯d̸̩̀ò̷̫p̶̠̉t̵̻͗e̷͚̓d̸̼͒ ̵͖̀ṯ̷̇h̸̺̋e̶̡͘m̷̱̈́ ̴͓̋i̵̱͌n̶̈́͜t̵̖͋o̶̘̐ ̶̨̌m̶̝̎y̵̙̆ ̷̢̛f̸̳͝r̴̙͗a̶̤͠i̶̼͘d̴͉̈,̴̟̇ ̴̠͑á̸͎s̴̻̚ ̸̜͑w̶̬̐į̶̅t̶͍͑h̵̳͛ ̸̅ͅṞ̴̅e̸̒ͅd̸̻̅ ̶̦̇H̷̫͝o̶̥͛ŏ̶̬ḑ̵́ ̶̲̈́a̵̠̐n̴͉̄d̵̢̑ ̷̟̀t̴̡͆h̶̢̎e̶̠̐ ̷͖̉o̵̮͋t̴̹͂ḧ̵̦e̴̱͌r̴͚̄ ̵̟̌c̶̗̓ḩ̸͗î̸̮l̵͖̆d̷͓̊r̸̼͝e̶͓̽n̶͔̋.”

(("I have adopted them into my fraid, as with Red Hood and the other children."))

King Phantom’s face gave nothing away as he stared at Superman, ominous smile still present, glowing eyes impossible to read.

Batman tilted his head to make ‘contact’ with said crime boss turned maybe vigilante behind the King and while John couldn’t work out what conversation they had (given one man only had his mouth uncovered and the other was wearing an expressionless helmet ) Bats was clearly satisfied, if not happy, with the answer he got. Red Hood shifted slightly and the King’s tail twitched from where it was wrapped around his neck like a scarf before settling against him again. Batman just sighed quietly.

Wonder Woman stepped forward, pulling King Phantom’s attention off of Superman for the time being.

“King Phantom, I apologise for my coworkers outburst. I am Wonder Woman, one of the founders of the Justice League. We have been discussing how best to approach you since we noticed your existence in our galaxy but were unsure of the correct course of action. I am glad to see these young heroes were not hurt in their attempt to make contact.”

John internally praised Wonder Woman. Bringing the focus away from Supes and back on the kids was definitely the lesser of two evils. And given the way the king relaxed slightly it was clearly the right call too.

“Yes,” everyone jumped at the sudden change in speech. Gone was the crashing of ice and stars and life and death. Instead the king sounded almost normal. Still ethereal and otherworldly, but not nearly as unnatural as before. “I was quite surprised to have my star-gazing interrupted by a group of teenagers, but I can’t say I’m surprised. My daughter is currently ruling in my stead, but only because my sister is there to help her. I have no doubt if I left her alone I would come back to a throne in shambles.”

Superboy and Red Robin chuckled slightly at the King's joke, and Wonder Woman gave a smile, though no one else was game enough to join them in the pleasantries just yet.

“I’m glad to hear they weren’t too much trouble, I can’t say I blame them for getting bored and taking matters into their own hands. Can I ask how long you have been out there? We only noticed you around a month ago.”

“Hmm,” King Phantom tilted his head at an unnatural angle, as if his neck didn’t have bones (which… as far as John knew maybe it didn’t), “I think maybe 6 months in your time? Based on how the planets around me moved at least.”

“Thank you,” she nodded her head at him and he smiled politely, “May I ask what your plans are? Now that you’re here?”

His head tilted the other way and he looked down at Red Robin.

“She’s asking if you’re an ally, neutral, or a foe. That’s the main reason they didn’t want to contact you, cause no one could be sure who or what you might be,” the boy explained.

“Oh! Well I think I’m still waiting to meet someone that Aves wanted to introduce me to. And neutral I suppose, t̴̬̖̑͗̚̚ḩ̸͍̳̞̿̊͌̓ḛ̸̬̺̉ͅ ̸̟̦͓̳͐̏̅ḋ̴̢͂̐̎̇ė̷̤̝̎͂͝â̶̝̮̏̅d̶̡̓̈̈ ̷̖̟͐͋͝d̴͕͓̫̠͑̐ͅo̴̙̺̹͉̹̍̌̄̃n̷͖̭̒̈́̕’̸͇̰̱̊̉t̸̢̛̠̲̱̰͆ ̸̪̺͗͌͘n̶͉̬̎͘͠͝͠ę̵͍̲̦͌͜ë̶̛͈̗̖̰͕́͆d̴͚̾̽́ ̸̧͕̬̲̗̾t̸̰͚͓̱͋͠o̴̠̅̓̑̌ ̴͐͂̀̾ͅţ̷͖̖̙̓̊̿͗à̶͍̞̱̭k̷͎͔̜͇͖̈́é̷͎ͅ ̴̼͉̻̯̤̑̎̽͛̾s̴̱͑̀̈́ī̵̛̬̩͉̽͊͝d̵̡͕͓̍e̵͍̖͎̲̔̀͒͆̂ŝ̴̼̣͈̋̓̚͜ ̶̖̻̪̪̈̕̚͝ä̶̮̮̯͍́̏̓͘f̷̢̣̩̟̐̾ͅṯ̸̉̆͜͝͝͝è̵̯̈́͌͝͝r̵̛̻̱͑̒̽̚ ̶̣̟̐̐͠ͅa̸̰͚͒̔͊͝ͅl̴̹̥̻̦̀̋̿̚ͅl̷̻̲̯̲̀̽͜͝, though if my fraid asks I will protect them and theirs.”

(("...the dead don't need to take sides after all,..."))

John hoped so badly that no one commented on that middle bit. Given what he knew of the Realms, even if that info was outdated like the current King proved it was, any comments on the whole ‘dead’ thing probably wouldn’t go over well. Thankfully Batman spoke up before anyone else could comment, voice gravelly and deep in a way that John was sure had to hurt. 

“Why have you adopted Red Robin and the others into your ‘fraid’, as you call it? What does that mean?”

Red Robin spoke up to answer instead, “A fraid is basically family for Realms beings, though they can form with creatures that aren’t from the Realms too, which is why myself and the others bonded with Phantom. Red Hood has a bit of the Realms in him, likely from the pitts is my guess. Basics is that our souls all bonded and now we’re connected. I’ll add more in the report later B.”

Batman nodded, though the set of his mouth was slightly displeased. 

King Phantom turned his head to Red Hood behind him, “P̶̻̻̺͆͊i̶̜͙̋͌t̸͔̹̰̏ẗ̷̨̘̺̒̾ṡ̷̳?̶̳̱̋̄̆”

(("Pitts?"))

“Don’t worry about it snowflake, I’ll tell you some other time if ya want,” the man raised a hand to pat the tail still wrapped around his shoulders, causing it to squeeze slightly. “We can make it a date.”

How John could tell he was winking at the King, with a full face helmet on , was beyond him but it was definitely happening. And if the King's suddenly green tinted cheeks said anything he could tell too.

The tension in the room had been steadily lowering as Wonder Woman and Batman took over talking to the King, and was almost gone with Red Robin’s confident words and Red Hood's blatant flirting. But of course, all good things get ruined by idiots.

Superman coughed loudly, causing glowing eyes to grow cold as they snapped back to the man.

“What are your intentions with the young heroes? Surely you can’t expect us to just accept that you’ve ‘ adopted ’ them all.” He didn’t exactly sneer as he spoke to the King but it wasn’t far off in John's opinion.

“Of course I can. I h̸̡̢̛̞̲͑́̆ȁ̶̞̦͝v̵͍̂͝e̷̦̦̭̓. They are mine now and they shall stay as such for as long as they desire ,” King Phantom stared down at Superman with no small amount of contempt in his eyes. “I have heard how you have behaved towards Superboy and I w̶̧̬̙͝ḭ̷̢͉̇̔̋l̸͍̭͂l̶̢̫̙͒̓ ̷̩̿ṋ̵͚̔͝o̴̪̓̍̋ẗ̴͍̠̲́ allow such treatment to continue.”

(("I have... I will not..."))

Superman looked shocked at the King's words, though John was more concerned with the ice that was slowly creeping along the edges of the room. Some of the heroes on the edges were starting to shiver, breaths visible in the sudden cold.

Surprisingly Red Robin, Superboy, and Red Hood seemed unconcerned with the cold. John was sure Phantom must be radiating it, could see flakes of frost and snow falling more heavily from his crown and being, but it didn’t bother those he was in contact with. Due to their bond maybe? It would be worth investigating, at another time when the room wasn’t slowly freezing because Superman was an idiot who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Wonder Woman stepped in again, hands raised in a gesture of platitude. “What behaviour are you referring to your highness? Superboy is a valued young hero, I can’t think of any time he may have been mistreated by one of those here.”

“Clearly you do not know your fellow heroes very well, Amazonian ,” her eyes widened at the address but she did not interrupt. “I understand that Superman is one of Superboy's genetic donors, but given how he has treated the young clone, he should not be trusted with his child.”

Superman scoffed. “Clearly you don’t understand how invasive it is to have your DNA stolen and made into a… weapon! He was made to replace me! He was made with the DNA of my greatest enemy and who knows what else! Honestly, it’s barely even kryptonian really. I don’t see why you care so much about that thing .”

Superboy curled against himself slightly with each word, and John watched in vague horror and disgust as Superman ranted about the injustice that was the boy's existence. Around the room various heroes were going pale as they realised what the King had been talking about.

“You know, I could almost excuse the poor behaviour if it was just that. Because believe it or not I do know exactly how it feels,” the King's grin was sharp and cutting, his gaze cold. John felt like he was staring into an icy abyss, one that was going to swallow him whole. “But unlike you I didn’t take my frustration and fear out on the child that was created in my image. My daughter may have been made to replace me, but that doesn’t make her any less mine. I love her with my whole being, as I do all my children. And apparently yours.”

Superman spluttered but couldn’t seem to think of a response to the King's words. John took a moment to look around the room, taking in the harsh looks of disappointment most heroes (the ones who weren't busy freezing) were giving the man.

The King tilted his head, neck cracking like a stalagmite of ice falling from a cliff, drawing the room's attention back to him.

“What is your name, k̶̪͎͗͒͑̅r̸̹̠̮̱̿̾y̵̳̋̏p̷̠̀̅t̸̜̝̓͂̆̕ȯ̴̻͖̻͕n̴̩͔̲̰̑͑̑͝i̸̱̠͗͝á̸͓̎͋ń̶͖̾̃̑?” 

(("...kryptonian?"))

There was a pause as everyone waited for Superman to answer. When it became evident the man wouldn't, Batman took it upon himself to answer instead. 

“Kal-El is his kryptonian name, your majesty.”

“Voice of God… or Child of the Stars ,” the King looked gleeful in a way that spelled trouble for everyone else. “Tell me, Star Child , do you know your language? Your culture? Have you learnt it, tossed out into the cosmos and landing on this planet of dirt and rock like you were?”

“I have.” 

Personally, John felt like Superman should be just a little more respectful when addressing the all powerful King which was currently very unhappy with him but… it was his funeral not John’s.

“Then you know what your name means. And you know what you named Superboy too.” 

Superman’s eyes widened at that, his face rapidly losing colour, but not as much as Super boy ’s. The boy looked back and forth between his donor and the King in confusion. The King looked down at him, smile softening into something more genuine, but distinctly sad, as he did. John could see the King nudge Red Robin, encouraging him to offer the other boy support, which he did readily. Phantom leaned down towards the two, speaking quietly enough that he doubted anyone but Red Hood could hear what was being said to them.

Eventually, he straightened again, and the two boys stepped behind him. They stood next to Red Hood, the King's tail carefully wrapping around them all as they did. When the King turned his attention back to Superman, John could feel the room temperature rapidly drop again. The snow falling from his crown got heavier, moving with a chilling wind that blew through the room.

“Kal-El, Star Child,  survivour of Krypton, god of the house of El. I have met your people. I have learnt your language and customs. I hold all the knowledge of the dead. And that includes yours ,” Superman took a step back as Phantom grew larger, his form seemed to stretch and bend, looming over him, crown scraping the roof. “Would your people be proud to know what you named this child? Do you think your parents would smile at you, their little starlight , for how you treated their blood? Do you think they will welcome you with open arms, when you reach my realms and they see who you have become?”

“His name doesn’t mean anything!” John could see the slight shake in Superman’s frame, could hear the waver in his voice.

“Ľ̶̡̪͂͊̄i̵̢͍̅̉̊͐e̸̙̯̣̔̾̇ṣ̴̼̊͜ ,” the King’s voice echoed through the room and John felt it as it slithered over his bones. “Tell your colleagues, your friends, these heroes you work beside. Tell them the name you gave your child, tell them what Kon-El means in your language.”

(("Lies,"))

“Clark,” every eye in the room snapped to Batman. “Tell us. Now.”

Superman seemed to shrink under the glaring eyes of Batman but John was distracted by the two red themed vigilantes behind the King. Red Robin was looking at his mentor with vague amazement, while Hood was also focused on the Bat, his body significantly looser than it had been most of the conversation.

“It means a…”

“Speak up Kryptonian. Let everyone hear you.”

“Abomination! It means abomination.”

The wind stopped. John hadn’t noticed how loud it was until it wasn’t there anymore. The only sound in the room was the swish of the King's claws scraping against the ground. 

All of a sudden there was a loud crashing sound. John slammed his hands over his ears, looking around wildly only to see others doing basically the same. John looked to the King and noticed he had moved from a moment ago, one of his hands ( had that skull ring been there before? The glowing red was really obvious against the King's soft blue, surely he would have noticed it before now) clenched into a fist at his side. 

And Superman wasn’t where he had been either.

…had the King punched him?

And… yup. John turned his head to see a Superman sized dent in the wall opposite the King, with said ‘Man of Steel’ slumped down against the wall under the new addition to the watchtower. 

“Well!” John turned back to look at the King, who had shrunk back to a more ‘normal’ size again, clapping his hands together and smiling at the room at large. “I feel much better now! I’m going to go ahead and take the children to another room, away from him , and I trust you will all do something regarding this.” 

Most of the room flinched at the cold address of the King, but Batman simply met his eyes and nodded.

The room was quiet as the King bundled up Red Robin and Superboy, ushering them out of the room and away from everyone else. Red Hood stayed in the doorway for a moment, eyes locked with Batman, before he nodded his head ( what did that even mean?) and left to follow the others. 

Superman groaned from his spot on the floor. 

John wanted a nap. 

Chapter Text

Danny hummed happily to himself as he settled into the room Tim had led them to. It was a recreational room, with multiple couches and tables scattered about. Tim had sent a message to Cassie about the change of destination but wasn’t sure if she would see it, so was standing by the door to keep an eye out for her, Bart, and the Lanterns.

Punching assholes is always so satisfying . 

Conner was somewhere between upset and giddy with happiness. The reveal of what his name meant had stung, but having Danny defend him and Tim support him clearly helped. He was sat next to Jason on one of the room's couches, the man allowing him to lean against him for support while the young clone worked through his emotions. Danny would offer more help but he was busy trying to rein in the ice that was trying to spread due to his smug joy.

“You probably broke his nose, you know?” Jason spoke up, looking up at him. Danny just grinned wickedly back at him.

“He deserved it,” was Tim’s distracted reply from the doorway. “Finally! Guys! Over here!”

Bart was the first inside, a streak of lightning following him before he settled. He was followed by the Green Lantern from before, plus a second Green Lantern who nodded politely to Danny as he entered. Cassie walked in talking to a tall… man… in a blue suit similar to Danny’s own. 

Danny thought that would be everyone but before Tim closed the door a voice called out. “ Wait for me please !”

The voice sounded automated, like Tucker's computer girlfriend he made himself that one time, but also familiar to Danny. Tim held the door open for a moment and finally in came another Blue Lantern. A floating corgi in a blue suit. Danny flipped upside down on the roof to better see the new creature in the room. 

Cassie finished talking to the Blue Lantern before joining Conner on the couch, replacing Jason as the man stood up and leaned against a nearby wall. Bart joined the two on the couch, while Tim made his way to stand under Danny. 

“Alright then,” Tim looked at the Blue Lanterns, smiling welcomingly. “I would like to thank you for coming on such short notice. I’ll start with introductions as I don’t believe we’ve ever met before. My name is Red Robin, and behind me is Red Hood. We are both Gotham based vigilanties. On the couch is Impulse and Wonder Girl, who you’ve met, and Superboy. Obviously you know the Green Lanterns to some extent. And this is King Phantom of the Infinite Realms.”

Danny floated down when Tim gestured to him, waving a clawed hand at the two Blue Lanterns happily. 

“ Danny Phantom, Ancient of Space, Protector of the Dead and their Peace, Light of Hope, Defeater of Priaha Dark, and King of the Infinite Realms,” he offered with a smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“King Phantom, the pleasure is ours. I apologise that we did not meet when you first received your ring, but glad to meet you now. I am Saint Walker, the leader of the Blue Lanterns. And this is Hope Corgi, another of our members.”

Saint Walker bowed low as he addressed Danny, and Hope Corgi did the same next to him. It was almost comical watching them do it. Saint Walker was a tall, spindly, man. At least a head taller than all of the humans in the room, with a lean body and smooth head. His white skin almost shone with the blue of the suit. Hope Corgi on the other hand didn’t even reach Walker's knees, even though the dog was floating, not standing. Its fur was also white and fluffy ( was that a Blue Lantern thing? Was Danny meant to be another colour but the ring made him white? Probably not…) and it wore its lantern ring as a dog collar instead.

“I don’t think that’s anyone’s fault. Green Lantern explained that usually the rings take users to the other lanterns when they receive them, yes?” Danny inquired curiously.

“ Yes! New members come and play when their rings activate! Why didn’t you? ” Hope Corgi barked up at Danny, but he realised it was their ring that projected the voice for everyone to hear. Danny’s ring didn’t talk to him often but it had done so on occasion, and it sounded almost exactly the same.

“Well I was badly injured when it found me, and when the situation was dealt with I went straight to the Infinite Realms, so it didn’t really get a chance I don’t think. Honestly, I’m not even sure if it came from my dimension or broke through from this or another one to find me.” Danny twisted his tail up under him as he drifted towards the two Blue Lanterns, Saint Walker looking intrigued by his story.

“Another dimension? We have records of Lanterns from other places, so it isn’t impossible. The Blue Lanterns are a smaller corps, compared to the others, so I am unaware if there is a way to tell where a ring came from?” Saint Walker directed his question to the two Green Lanterns in the room.

The new Green Lantern, not the one Danny had met before, stepped forward. He was slightly shorter than the other Lantern but seemed broader and much more calm than his counterpart. “Not that I know of, but I will ask OA if they know anything about the rings and other dimensions,” he turned to face Danny directly. “I am John, your majesty. I came along after joining Hal in finding the Blue Lanterns. It’s an honour to meet you.”

Danny nodded politely at him as he stepped back to stand with the other Green Lantern, Hal apparently. He noticed them squabble slightly, nudging each other back and forth, before his attention was pulled back to the Blue Lanterns with them.

“Well either way, we are glad to have another bearer of Hope. I imagine as a king you have many obligations but would you be open to staying in communication? We occasionally help the other corps when they need assistance and there are so few of us that we would undoubtedly benefit from your presence.”

“ And come play! ”

Danny smiled at them both, eyes glowing brightly as he did. “I would love to stay in touch! I am planning on staying in this dimension for a while yet, unless my people need me, so I’m sure we can work out a way for me to stay in contact even when I am not. And if you want to play,” Danny raised a hand to his mouth and whistled loudly, causing everyone in the room except Red Hood to flinch slightly. “I have just the friend!”

A green portal oozed open in the air near Danny as a loud alarm started blaring through the Watchtower. The portal’s green glow illuminated the room as red lights flashed along the walls. Danny just smiled as the others in the room panicked, though not as much as those still in the conference room. 

Danny’s ears twitched as he heard Batman yelling for everyone to calm down. He could just pick up the sounds of Constantine doing a spell under his breath. The spell tingled as it washed over him, but he could tell it was just an information gathering spell so he let it be. Constantine must have given the ‘all good’, as the alarms stopped just as suddenly as they had started. 

The lights turned off completely for a moment, the portal being the main source of light, casting everyone in its neon green glow, before they returned to their normal settings. Jason moved away from the wall, walking to Danny and wrapping his gloved hand around his tail, using it as an anchor to pull the ghost down from the air. Danny smiled, teeth on full display, as he settled around Jason’s shoulders, leaning over to look into the eyes of his helmet. Danny could feel Jason’s amusement, concern, safe leaking from the large man. It was cute that Jason was worried about him even a little, though most of the concern was directed at the children in the room, not at Danny himself.

“What’s with the light show casper?” Jason’s modulated voice asked, nodding his head to the portal sitting innocently in the air near them.

“Just what I said Hood, I’m calling a friend for Hope Corgi to play with,” Danny leaned closer as he smiled sharply, winking and whispering to the man. “Don’t worry, we can play later though.”

Jason tightened his grip and rolled his shoulders back, clearly trying not to react too much to Danny’s words when surrounded by others, though his emotions coloured with anticipation, fun, want . 

Bart, Cassie, and Conner all laughed from their seats on the couch as Bart loudly whispered about Spider-Man kisses. Danny giggled quietly and then leant forward to press a kiss on the red helmet still in front of his face, causing the children to screech with laughter. Bart fell off the couch, and only Conner's quick reactions kept Cassie from the same fate. Tim laughed with them slightly, though he was more focused on the tablet in his hands (assumedly he was informing Batman about what was happening and checking the portal readings the watchtower was picking up).

The various Lanterns were unfazed by the actions of the king in front of them (aside from Hal who looked like he was thoroughly confused), though not as much as Hope Corgi, who was shaking in anticipation as they watched the portal. 

Eventually the steady light of the portal pulsed, becoming brighter as a glowing paw pushed through. Danny sent a burst of ice at it and Cujo burst through the portal, launching himself at Danny and almost knocking him off of Jason’s shoulders. The portal closed as the puppy yapped at Danny, jumping and spinning in the air around him.

“Down boy!” Danny laughed happily. “Heel! Cujo! Heel!”

Cujo stopped and sat in the air in front of Danny (and Jason technically), drooling tongue dripping ectoplasm as he did. Danny looked at the others, but mainly Hope Corgi, as he gestured to Cujo.

“Everyone this is Cujo, he is a ghost dog from the Infinite Realms and one of my friends. Cujo, meet everyone.” 

Hope Corgi and Bart raced to the glowing dog, one barking in hello while the other made baby voices at the new dog in the room. 

“A ghost dog?” Tim asked as he walked up to Danny and his brother. Conner and Cassie joined them, and soon everyone was standing around while Bart, Hope Corgi, and Cujo played nearby.

“Yup. He can do a fair bit honestly, but he likes to be a puppy and play mostly so I figured him and Hope Corgi would get along, what with all their talk about play.” 

“I am sure Hope Corgi is most grateful for the new friend. We try to keep them happy but sadly there are not many like them, and we do not always have time.” Saint Walker seemed almost apologetic, though he smiled as he watched the other lantern play.

“You guys should come to OA more often!” Hal spoke up, shoving at Saint Walker playfully. “There are plenty of lanterns and others who would kill to take a break and play around.”

“I will keep it in mind, thank you.” was the mild response.

“Okay!” Tim clapped his hands together, getting the attention of everyone in the room. “Let's go to the observation deck! We can grab some food on the way, I know you haven’t eaten for like 2 hours Impulse, and then everyone can relax and chat there. There’s more space for everyone to muck around, plus actual space outside the window so those that want to can go out there while others watch if they want.”

“Sounds like a plan Red,” Jason said, ruffling Tim’s hair and causing the other to squawk.

Bart and Conner laughed at him, though Conner at least reached out to fix what Jason had done. Cassie was already heading out the door, the two Green Lanterns following along. Hope Corgi and Cujo rushed after them, and Saint Walker followed at a sedate pace. Jason moved to walk next to the Blue Lantern, allowing Danny to strike up a conversation with the man as they went.

Bart and Conner dashed past, laughter and lightning trailing after them, and Tim brought up the rear. He paused at the end of the corridor, looking back to nod at Batman from where he was watching in the doorway that the rest of the league was still behind. The man nodded back and turned back into the room, barely keeping himself from groaning at the noise his coworkers were making. 

Hopefully they could get this sorted soon. He wanted to go and meet the ghost king properly. It looked like he might become a lot more involved in the family from now on.