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With the end near and no other alternatives, John Constantine proposed summoning the King of the Infinite Realms.
King Phantom was considered benevolent compared to his predecessor. In mortal memory, ancient paintings depicted his deeds from times when the tyrant king still lay dormant. In many of those monuments, two figures always accompanied Phantom. Little was known about those beings, but one word stood out constantly… rulers. The relationship between Phantom and the rulers wasn’t clear, but throughout the Infinite Realms, it was known that the rulers had stolen an object they were pursued for over many years—a resurrection talisman considered a myth until they used its power and created a revenant being in the mortal world.
When Pariah Dark awoke, his wrath turned on the rulers who had dared steal the talisman from his possession. The strength of those entities paled before the tyrant king. They were imprisoned, destined to fade into nothingness, but like a meteor, Phantom came to their aid, facing Pariah Dark in an unprecedented battle. For a time, it seemed the tyrant king would prevail—until the power of the Infinite Realms bent to Phantom, who, chosen by the cosmos itself, cast Pariah Dark into his final slumber.
Then why were Martha and Thomas Wayne appearing before the Justice League? It made no sense.
“What...?” Constantine ignored Batman’s bewildered whisper and instead stepped closer to the two entities. “I summoned the Phantom King,” he said abruptly.
“The king is still a child,” Martha Wayne explained kindly. “We’ll hear your plea on his behalf.”
That was unexpected.
“There are murals of Phantom in different centuries. How can he still be a child?” Constantine asked, confused.
“Time travel,” Thomas Wayne answered this time. “King Phantom is only fourteen.”
Such a statement rattled the League. They had pinned everything on summoning King, hearing that he was just a boy… Constantine could practically smell the disappointment. But he trusted that age didn’t equate to power, not if the boy had defeated the ancient king.
“There’s a cosmic entity, a colossal monster that’s been destroying worlds in its path. We have less than two days before it reaches us.” He gestured toward the nearest window of the station. “It’s clearly visible from here.”
The abomination had no distinct shape, but the way it consumed and ravaged planets was almost serpentine.
“Oh, darling,” Thomas muttered in astonishment.
The League took it as a bad omen.
“I know,” Martha consoled him. “I hoped we might handle this ourselves.”
“He waited all week for some time,” Thomas sighed.
Martha’s eyes shimmered for a moment.
“Danny,” she called out, her voice echoing.
Just seconds passed before a green portal opened above their heads, from which descended the king... a boy with fine features, green eyes, and white hair braided with beads. His clothing was intricate: a long, open tunic revealing a shirt and loose pants, cinched at the waist with a white belt that contrasted with the rest of his black garments.
Constantine shot a confused glance at Batman, who staggered at the sight. The rest of Gotham’s heroes seemed just as stunned. He ignored them, focusing on Phantom, whose energy was the most condensed he had ever sensed.
“Darling, the League needs your help,” Martha’s voice brimmed with visible affection. “That thing is destroying everything in its path.”
King Phantom blinked.
“Did it just eat Neptune?” he asked in disbelief “Why the hell didn’t anyone call me sooner?!”
“Danny, watch your language,” Thomas scolded. “We’ve taught you more decorum than that.”
Phantom sighed.
“Sorry.”
“Why don’t you take care of it? We’ll stay here and speak with Batman.”
Phantom’s gaze drifted to the batfamily. His eyes lingered on Robin for just a second longer than the others.
“Oh... fine,” he said, turning to the Green Lanterns. “Show me your rings. I’ll infuse them with enough power to form a shield around Earth.”
It only took him seconds, though Hal, John, and Guy’s expressions revealed their rings were now pulsing with unfathomable strength.
Phantom glided across the station with ease, a barely visible trail streaking toward an unspeakable terror.
“How is this possible?” Batman was heard asking. “Who is Phantom? Why…?”
Sensing the rising tension, Superman and Wonder Woman ordered everyone to leave except for Gotham’s vigilantes.
“Why does he look like Robin?” Martha gently continued his question. “We’ve always been here... unable to hold you, only to watch. We saw the family grow with each grandchild you adopted, and we felt the birth of the twins. We were there for their first cries.”
Twins. That word alone shocked him.
Overwhelmed, he tore off his mask, gasping for breath, trying to shake the image of Phantom from his mind.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything, Damian?”
The silence was tense.
"I didn’t want to remember," he confessed in a whisper.
"None of what happened is your fault, Damian," Thomas interjected. "Would you prefer your grandmother and I to explain what occurred?"
Damian’s face remained stoic until he gave a slight nod.
"Ra’s al Ghul is a horrible man, and I certainly wouldn’t call him anyone’s grandfather," Thomas said tensely. "Damian and Daniel were eight. Their instructors evaluated them equally in skill, two children, but only one heir was required. So, al Ghul devised a final test" The hatred in his voice was palpable. "He lied to them, made them take a psychedelic that altered their senses. Each believed they were eliminating a League target. Under the drug’s influence, they didn’t recognize each other. It took Damian two minutes—amid al Ghul’s laughter and praise—to realize the body at his feet was his brother’s."
It was Jason who prevented Bruce from collapsing on his knees. Dick tried to reach out to Damian, but the boy recoiled from his touch.
"Mother promised she would bring Daniel back. She lied”
"He wanted to return with you," Martha knelt to his height. "In a way, the pit worked, but not as it should’ve, and that’s our fault." Her expression was saddened. "Your grandfather and I had been hiding for months. Everyone knew our lair was in Gotham, but that night, our emotions spilled over, and they allowed the most obsessive hunter of the realms to track us. We stood beside Daniel’s spirit, trying to guide him back to his body as your mother lowered him into the pit. That’s when we were attacked. And your brother, not yet fully merged with his body, withstood dozens of electric blasts. He... changed, was unstable. We had to use the leftover half of the resurrection medallion, and the path to this time and realm were close to us."
"You are the rulers," Bruce's voice finally broke the silence. "Daniel is the revenant?"
"It’s a mistranslation, we are not rulers, we are regents," Thomas corrected, hesitating only briefly. "No, Daniel is something else. Your mother and I... Jason was with us when he died." Red Hood’s face showed surprise. "He’d been with us for two months when we heard whispers about the medallion. All we could think of was our shattered son, and our grandson far too young to be dead... We had to try."
"We overestimated the medallion’s power," Martha admitted to Jason. "Our cores didn’t have enough energy to sustain it. We could only give you half. You came back without memories, nearly catatonic. We tried to stay long enough to recover our energy and fully restore you, but we had to flee. It was always our goal to return the other half of the medallion to you, but then Daniel’s situation happened." Martha floated slightly, placing a palm over her face. "We felt your pain," she apologized. "We can help with your rage, if you’ll let us."
Jason looked at her, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions crushing his chest.
"Why does he look Damian’s age?" Tim asked confused. "I know they’re twins, but if he died..."
"Daniel isn’t like us or Jason," Martha explained. "He’s caught in the veil, as dead as he is alive; a Halfa, a half-ghost. He needs both the Infinite Realms and the mortal world. But we couldn’t return to this universe. An ancient ghost guided us to the best possibility for Daniel, a universe where two scientists had opened a portal to the realms. They raised Daniel for a time... well, their daughter raised him. Jasmine is a clever girl. She quickly sensed Daniel’s true nature." A faint smile crossed Martha’s face. "She calls us Grandpa and Grandma. She sees us as family."
"You can imagine that a rift between realms is quite a spectacle," Thomas added. "That dimension began to be invaded by other ghosts. We helped however we could, but Daniel got involved. It was difficult at first, but his powers grew, and the attacks lessened. Many ghosts agreed to stop harming the town. It was a peaceful time until Plasmius awakened Pariah Dark."
Martha and Thomas bowed their heads in remorse.
"We ordered Daniel to flee, to destroy the portal," Martha’s voice dripped with sorrow. "Thomas and I were ready to vanish, but our stubborn grandson stepped forward. He challenged the king, fought him—for us—and he almost..." she had to cover her mouth for a moment. "To us, a core is everything we are. We thought Daniel lost when Pariah Dark captured his core. We saw it crack." Her voice broke. "Then the realm began to collapse, as if dying alongside him. We all felt it, even Pariah Dark," she hissed the name like a curse. "He was king, but Daniel was the favorite of the Infinite Realms, the balance between life and death."
A voice cuts them through the speakers.
"Phantom is about to engage," came Hal Jordan’s transmission. "Activating shields."
The Green Lanterns surrounded Earth, the Moon, and the Watchtower, but the space around the destructive entity remained visible.
"We should’ve gone with him," they heard Damian mutter. "What was Constantine thinking?"
Before Bruce could respond, his parents stepped toward Damian.
"He’s stronger now, much more than when he defeated Pariah Dark," Thomas assured. "He’s missed you, you know? He tries to deny it, but we can see he’s still ashamed for trying to kill you."
Damian’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. At last, he let Dick come close enough to hold him.
"I’m the one who killed him," he whispered.
"He blames Ra’s al Ghul"
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
Leaving Thomas with Damian, Martha approached Bruce.
"You’re worried," she observes gently. "And sad," she whispered just to him. "This wasn’t how we wanted you to meet Daniel."
"Were you planning to come back?" Bruce asked.
"Eventually. We weren’t lying when we said the path was sealed. But when Daniel claimed the throne, our power grew with his. Still, there are only things he can face."
They looked toward space. Daniel, who had begun as a streak in the void, had become a nebula. The collision was breathtaking, like a clash of titans. And even from such a distance, it was clear King Phantom was dominating the battle.
"His form," Bruce murmured, "it’s changed."
"A true cosmic horror!" Thomas quipped.
Martha smacked his arm for the ill-timed joke.
The fight ended swiftly. The entity collapsed, and bursts of energy scattered. Amid the debris of shattered worlds, only Phantom remained vast and magnificent. Though many in the League would debate Batman’s words, he alone didn’t call the figure terrifying.
Only his green eyes and white hair remained recognizable. The rest of his body was a humanoid shape with a tail instead of legs. Defined, but gaseous in texture.
A sound surrounded them; a rumble fused with static.
"The system’s gravity is collapsing," Thomas reported.
The League had considered this possibility... that their world would fall no matter what in a domino effect triggered by the destruction of others.
"How much time do we have?" was all Bruce asked.
Cassandra closed the distance to her father, taking his hand in quiet comfort. If it was the end, she would be grateful to be with her family.
"Enough time for Daniel to fix it, but he’ll need the Green Lanterns to scan all sectors and confirm planetary trajectories."
Before anyone could ask which planets they meant, a bright light drew their eyes. Phantom opened his jaws, and with one exhale, thousands—perhaps millions—of orbs spilled from his breath into the cosmos.