Chapter 5: Harmful Control

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Only you can control your future."

Dr. Seuss

Chapter 5: "Harmful Control"

(Wednesday-October 30, 2013)

Dakota City was in complete chaos. People were screaming and running in fear through the streets of the large city. Multiple civilians were on the ground injured, and many of them were dead. All around these bodies were very strange beings that were fighting in death matches. Half of the beings fighting were green in color and used ectoplasm to fight. The other half were demonic in nature with their sharp claws, pointed teeth, and curved ears.

The day had started out as incredibly peaceful. No one even thought about something like this happening until green and red portals opened up all around the city. The ghosts and demons poured into the city and instantly attacked each other. Destruction and chaos ensued immediately. Backlash from the ghost's and demon's attack caused the ground and buildings around them to crumble.

It was as this moment that the people of Dakota City wished that they had more native superheroes to their city. Icon and Rocket could usually handle any issues the city had, but today was definitely the exception. The heroes were struggling to keep up with all the chaos. They were fighting an uphill battle and could use some back-up.

Until then, though, it would be up to the non-super powered heroes to deal with some of the chaos. The police, firefighters, and medics of the city were rushing around trying to help as many people as possible. Unfortunately, these people could not fight the ghosts and demons directly. The only thing they could do was run into the chaos and try to get the civilians out of there, and this led to even more deaths. People seemed to instinctively understand that, even the children.

"But Mom! I've got this really bad feeling." A twelve year old Virgil Hawkins spoke into his phone. He was a young African American boy with dreadlocks covered by his blue baseball cap. "Can't you just come home where it's safe?"

"I'm sorry, Virgil, but you know I can't do that." Jean Hawkins's voice spoke through the phone. "People out here need my help. I can't just abandon them."

"I know, but-" Virgil never got the chance to finish that thought.

"What? Right, I'll be right there. Sorry, Virgil, but I have to go I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait!" Virgil was too late, though. His mother already hung up. "No…"

"I'm guessing she's not coming home, eh dude?" Richard Foley glanced to his friend as they both sat on a couch in the Hawkins living room. The Caucasian boy had blonde hair and thin glasses covering his concerned brown eyes.

"No, she's not…" Virgil crossed his arms and slumped into the couch cushions.

Robert Hawkins looked to his son from his spot by the window. The African American was slightly overweight and had a thin mustache on his upper lip. He was just peering out into the darkened street. They lived at the edges of the city, so they weren't as effected as badly as the city. A few ghosts and demons went by randomly, though, "I know you're worried, son, and I am too. There's nothing we can do. Your mother already made up her mind. We can only hope and pray that she'll come out of this safely."

"I'm with Virgil on this one, Dad." Sharon Hawkins pulled her legs up to her chest as she sat in a nearby chair. She was a fifteen year old girl with dark skin and long thick black hair. "I mean, there's a bunch of weird creatures out there…"

"I know, honey…" Robert sighed. He looked to the boys, "Maybe you boys should try to sleep. It's getting pretty late. Richard, I already called your parents. They agree that it's too dangerous to go outside, so you're going to stay here tonight."

"Alright, Mr. H," Richard nodded. He didn't really want to go out anyways. The boy's chest was beating a mile a minute in fear already.

"Dad, there're no way we're going to be able to sleep with what's happening." Virgil frowned.

"Maybe not, but it's best to at least try." Richard noted.

"…Fine, come on, Rich. I'll get you a sleeping bag." Virgil jumped off the couch and walked over to the stairs.

"Alright." Richard followed.

"Goodnight, Virgil." Robert called up to his son.

"Night, Dad." Virgil responded before he entered his room with his friend.

As soon as the door was closed, Richard looked over to his friend. "We're not going to sleep, are we?"

"No." Virgil walked over to his window and pulled it open. "I have to get to my Mom, Rich. She's in trouble. I can feel it. You can stay here, but-"

"Stay here?" Richie scoffed. "Please, dude. You know me better than that. If you go, I go. There's no way I'd abandon you like that."

Virgil grinned. "Really? Because you look terrified."

"I am, man. That doesn't matter, though." Richard forced his legs to stop shaking. "I won't leave a friend to go out there alone."

"You could just get my Dad and try to stop me." Virgil noted.

"I doubt that would stop you." Richard walked over to the corner and picked up a metal back-pack that he made. It had a single metal strap that instantly latched on around his torso. "I memorized a map of the city, and I can use Back-Pack to listen to the radio chatter so we can find your mom."

"Thanks, Rich." Virgil held out his fist. "I owe you one."

"You owe me a whole lot more than one, dude." Richard fist bumped his friend. "Now let's go before I lose my nerve."

"Remember to stay focused." Vision reminded the two girls as they flew towards the battle zone. "It is likely that both the ghosts and the demons will try to kill us. If we want to win this fight while minimizing the amount of ghost's deaths, then we'll have to be careful."

"I know, Vision." Raven mumbled. The half-demon girl looked down at the city of Metropolis. It looked pretty chaotic down there. People were scrambling everywhere, but they didn't seem to be getting away from the chaos of the fights. Luckily, they had Superman and Superboy to protect them.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be careful," Spirit looked like she was ready to rocket down into the city. "Can we go now? Wulf and Chuck are down there, and they might be injured as we speak."

Vision eyed her adopted daughter. "Spirit…You need to calm down. We'll save them, but if you keep acting like this, you'll get yourself into trouble. Take a calming breath."

"Fine…" Spirit stopped her fidgeting and breathed in and out deeply.

"Good. Now, let's go." In a blaze of purple, Vision flew down to the battlefield below them. She was quickly trailed by Spirit and Raven. They flew into the chaos that filled the city. The blaring neon lights actually seemed dull in comparison to the fights between the ghosts and the demons.

Vision instantly went to work. Purple balls of energy formed and began to orbit around their master. As quickly as they were formed, the balls of energy flew to the various creatures currently in combat. When the orbs made contact with one of the creatures, the energy stretched out all around them. The ghosts and demons were instantly captured within a cocoon of flaring purple energy.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven placed her hands on the concrete below her. A black pool of demonic energy appeared below some of the ghosts and demons. Dark claws reached out, grabbed the creatures, and pulled them into the darkness to the point where only their heads were showing.

Spirit lacked the natural ability to trap the creatures like her comrades did. As such, she had to knock out or use equipment on her enemies instead. Splitting up with three separate duplicates, the girl rushed through the crowds of ghosts with the flow and grace of a river. The duplicates tried to break up the fights and knock out as many ghosts and demons as possible. As this was happening, the original Spirit pulled out the ghost capture device called the Fenton Thermos and was using it to capture all the ghosts that she could. A blast of energy hit the ghosts and dragged them into the thermos.

"It is good to have you here." A muscular man wearing a red and blue uniform stated. His black hair was slick and smooth. Bright blue eyes enhanced the man's handsome feature to the point that some woman might start drooling over the man. The famous S shield stood proudly on his chest. "We could use some back up."

"Danny's right." Superboy grunted to his mentor as the clone grabbed a demon and flung it into an empty care. "We really need to start carrying some ectoplasmic tech, or at least I do. Sphere's helping, but she's having trouble flying around in all this crap."

"Here!" Spirit flung a Fenton Thermos at Superboy. "I brought an extra!"

"Thanks!" Superboy grinned and uncapped the thermos. He then used the device to start capturing the ghosts.

Superman used his heat vision to blast several of the different ghosts and demons away in an unconscious heap. "Nothing for me?"

"Do you really need it?"

"No." Superman took a deep breath. He then let out a cold huff. A wave of ghosts and demons were instantly frozen by his Freezing Breath. "I'm fine."

"Then don't complain." Spirit chuckled and immediately went back to work. As she fought, she looked through the crowds of demons and ghosts. The girl tried to find even the smallest glimpse of Youngblood or Wulf, but she found nothing. Through all the fighting, there wasn't even the tiniest glimpse of the two ghosts.

'Where are they?' The halfa girl questioned.

"GAAAHHH!" The sound of Superman yelling out in pain instantly caught everyone's attention. They all turned and saw one of the people that Spirit was just looking for. Youngblood floated in front of the Man of Steel. In his non-hook hand stood a green glowing rock that appeared to be Kryptonite, one of Superman's few weaknesses.

The hooked hand of Youngblood was covered in blood. Superman was holding his bleeding chest in agony. Using this to his advantage, Youngblood hit Superman across the face with the stone and then transformed his peg leg into a cannon. A glowing green cannon ball flew out of the cannon and struck Superman on his injured chest. The Man of Steel was instantly sent flying into a building.

"Kal El!" Superboy shouted. He would have jumped after his genetic father and adopted brother if it wasn't for the ghosts and demons clawing at him. His shout drew Youngblood's attention to him. The eternally young ghost then held out the Kryptonite to the clone and began to fly to him.

"We have to stop him!" Vision commanded. She, however, was the furthest away from what was happening and was trapped behind a wall of ghosts and demons.

"I got him!" Raven flew, the closest to the even, rocketed towards the event.

"Right behind you-"

'Slice at head. Tear skin. Kill.' Spirit's Premonition screamed at her. The young woman instantly ducked and rolled away. A pair of razor sharp claws flew right were the girl was a second ago.

"Grr…" Wulf growled at the halfa girl.

"Wulf…" Spirit eyed her longtime friend. "It's me, your friend. Please, fight against this. You don't have to do this."

"No…You're…wrong…" Wulf snarled. "Kill…kill…KILL!"

With that, Wulf once again lunged at the girl with the full intention of ending her young life.

Dusk frowned at the people in front of him. "Why did you bring her?"

"I had to bring someone as backup, someone that could give me an alibi." Black Bat shrugged. "My mother was away, so Jinx was the only option."

"Nice to see you too, Joel." Jinx grinned devilishly at the young teen. "And how have you been?"

Dusk just grunted and looked away.

The three people trained by the Shadows stood outside a ruined apartment stained with blood. Secret was inside investigating the scene. She insisted that Harm was just here and that she needed a few minutes to find out what happened.

"And here I thought that you were actually polite." Jinx chuckled.

"I am usually, but you're one of the people Talia and Ra's frequently uses to try to recruit me." Dusk mentioned.

"To be fair, so am I." Black Bat mentioned.

"That's different. I know whose side you're really on." Dusk glared at Jinx. "Her on the other hand…"

"I'm not gonna tell anyone that you got a mole in the Light." Jinx shrugged. "It's only fair, I kept Young Justice's mole problem from Danny. Now it's my Dad's turn to get played."

"So your loyalties are equal to them?" Dusk's eyes narrowed. "Sounds to me like you're on the fence, and people that stay on the fence too long eventually get impaled."

"Oh, you're worried about me. How sweet." Jinx patted the boy on the head. "Don't, though. I can handle my own situation just fine. For example, I can write all this off as us trying to recruit you while you're away from everyone. No one will question it at all."

"Well…that's good I guess." Dusk looked to Black Bat. "At least you won't get in trouble for this."

"That was my plan from the beginning." Black Bat shrugged. "So…Just to clarify, we're going after Harm, but not going to kill him? That's a waste. That guy needs to be put down."

"Don't act like you have any right to judge and decide someone else's punishment like that." Dusk frowned deeply.

"I don't claim to be a judge. I merely listen to what fate is saying." Black Bat mentioned and shook her head at the halfa. "Sometimes, people have to die. It's either them or the good people. Trying to spare those that need to die will only result in people you care about dying."

"No. I refuse that claim. No one has to die." Dusk stated. "If my allies stand by me, then we will protect each other and keep the enemy alive as well."

"You're naïve, Joel." Jinx rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall leading to the apartment building.

"I don't think he's naïve. I think he's optimistic and caring." Secret stepped out of the apartment. "He views life as precious, and that's more than can be said for you two."

"Whatever, little girl." Jinx scoffed. "You obviously don't understand how this world really works. How people need to die in order for things to be better…"

"You're right…" Secret nodded. "I don't know anything about death at all. It's not like I was stabbed to death or something."

Black Bat sighed and addressed the blonde ghost dressed in white. "Moving on now. What did you find?"

"My brother was definitely here." Secret's face twisted in disgust as she glanced back at the room. "He was here for a reason. There was a ghost here. I'm not sure who cause I'm not as good of a sensor as Vision, but I can still feel the power radiating off this place."

"That shouldn't be." Dusk mentioned. "Morgaine's jewel shouldn't be able to control a ghost all that powerful."

"I know, but that doesn't change what I felt in there." Secret explained.

"So we're assuming that Harm came here for that ghost, right? That makes sense, but if the ghost was so powerful, though, why didn't you know that he was out in here in Los Angeles?" Jinx questioned.

"Vision definitely would know…" Dusk noted. "She wouldn't let a ghost powerful enough to leave such an after effect go unguarded and without giving us a little knowledge on him…That means we know about him…Oh crap, the Spectre."

"Oh, that's not good." Secret paled so much she might even look invisible. "The Spectre is already unstable, right? He did mention once that he shared a body with a human to stop his vengeful killing. That would explain the blood. Harm killed the Spectre's host."

"Would the Spectre's lack of control make it so that Harm could control him?" Black Bat questioned.

"Definitely considering Harm's desire for revenge," Dusk clenched his fists. "But he would have to stay close to Spectre at all times."

"So, we find the Spectre, we find Harm and the jewel." Jinx noted. "Looks like we have a plan."

"The only question is where would Harm take the Spectre?" Black Bat frowned.

"It would have to be against someone that would require the Spectre to beat. One of the Ancient Six comes to mind…" Dusk muttered.

"We'll have to find out soon enough." Secret mentioned. "I managed to use my connection to my brother to track him. He's moving kind of slowly. I think he's basking in the chaos and victory."

"Can all ghosts track people like that?" Black Bat questioned.

"In a way, yes." Dusk mentioned. "If a person is a core part of a ghost's obsession, then the ghost will automatically be drawn to it. But only a powerful enough ghost with far above average sensor abilities could track a person like this."

"Interesting. I'd love to discuss this more, but we have to move if we want to intercept Harm and stop the Spectre going on a rampage, we should probably get moving." Jinx noted. "Considering that Harm isn't on the Light's hit list, I won't go for the kill if I don't have to…if only as a favor for Danny. I make no promises, though."

"That's fine." Secret mentioned as she began to walk away from the apartment. "Considering the situation, if we don't use as much force as possible, we might fail and die."

"Grr…" Gizmo growled as he struggled to hold a wrench correctly. His arms shook and trembled from exhaustion and pain. "Dumb Burger Breath Witch. Freaking a sadist is what she is. I swear, I'm going to get revenge on that dumb…"

"Geeze, man, take it easy." Cyborg mentioned as he helped Gizmo fix his machine. They set the signal device on the top of Fenton Works. When the machine was fixed and the jewel was returned, they would be able to bounce the signal across the communication lines among Young Justice, the Justice League, and the ghosts. With that, they could stop Morgaine le Fey's control over the ghosts at every battle zone.

"Don't tell me to take it easy, Metal Head!" Gizmo hissed. "I'm trying to fix this damn thing with a couple of broken rips. Besides, getting angry and cussing the hell out of stuff makes me work faster."

"If you're that hurt, then let me handle it." Cyborg noted as his right index finger morphed into a makeshift torch, and he started to fix part of the metal. "I'm pretty good with the tech stuff myself."

"Idiot, you could be the smartest person in the world, and it would still take you at least an hour to figure out how this damn machine works if you don't have my help and know-how. Not to mention how long it would take to reverse the signal." Gizmo grunted. "And I doubt you have all that much time to waste. You want to save as many ghosts as possible, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." Cyborg nodded.

"Then let me work. You dumb Snot Rag-AH! Son of a…" Gizmo clutched his ribs after reaching too far into the machine.

"My apologies," Fright Knight looked back at the two tech geniuses working on the machine. He floated over the edge of Fenton Works standing guard. "I wish our medic was here, but she left to find le Fey's jewel."

"Gah…huff…Whatever, I'll get over it…Don't need a medic…" Gizmo grinded his teeth together. "I can deal without her. Although having a better view would definitely help my motivation. Why couldn't that hot Red Huntress chick stay?"

"She went to help Lord Phantom." Fright Knight explained.

"Lord Phantom? Psh! Lame…" Gizmo snickered.

Fright Knight's flaming hair flared out as his glowing eyes glared at the thief.

"Careful," Cyborg whispered to the smaller teen. "He's doesn't like people badmouthing Phantom."

Gizmo gulped. "I can tell…"

"I shall forgive the blasphemy this time because of the circumstances." Fright Knight turned away and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "But be careful of your words next time, tech wizard."

"Got it…" Gizmo went back to work. "I'll just-" The teen was interrupted by the blare of alarms all across the city. Red lights flashed as different cannons and turrets appeared out of different spots in the city. "What the hell is happening?!"

"It's the city's new sensor system. It alerts us when there's a drastic change in the energy field in Amity Park." Cyborg raised his right arm and examined the holographic computer the floated over his right arm. "Damn! There are alerts of demons and ghosts entering the city!"

"Morgaine le Fey is no fool." The Fright Knight reached down and unsheathed his green blade Soul Shredder. "She know that our forces are spread out, and the city is not as protected as usual. The sorceress probably predicted that we would try to alter the machine to stop her."

"For the record, all my shit is broken, and I'm injured to hell; so I can't really fight." Gizmo mentioned.

"Don't worry." Cyborg stood to his full height and transformed his left arm into his energy cannon. "We got this."

"We're going to need help, though…" Fright Knight pulled out his communicator. "J.A.Z.Z., I'm overriding normal protocol. Prep the Red X suit."

Colossus let out a massive roar as he rushed towards Morgaine le Fey. His roar was so powerful, it almost seemed to shake the ground. Of course, this was nothing compared to his devastating shockwave empowered blows. One of the reasons that Colossus was so dangerous was that his power shook and broke everything in its path. The ground fled from his. The sky bowed to him. Enemies fell like flies before him.

Of course, this was assuming that his enemies were around to be hit.

"Amazing." Morgaine le Fey clapped her hands at the display of power. The massive shockwave sent to where she just was seemed to distort the space that they were in. "I can see why you are considered one of the strongest ghosts. Very few could ever hope to keep up with you."

"Gah!" Colossus yelled out in frustration. "Quit running away from me and fight, witch!"

"I am very sure of my own powers, but I do not intend to fight you." Morgaine mentioned. "You exist on a completely different level than normal beings. It's amazing how far ghosts can go. You could fight against people proclaimed as gods. So I know very well that I would inevitably lose a fight against you. But my purpose is not to defeat you. It's to take you out of the game altogether."

"What? You're not making any sense!" Colossus kicked at the woman and used a shockwave blast to hit her. Like all of his other blows, though, it didn't hit. Just like before, Morgaine disappeared from the spot and reappeared somewhere else instantly.

"Of course it doesn't." le Fey chuckled sweetly. "How could a brute understand? It's not like with you out of the picture, my plans can go more smoothly. Especially with that mirror in your back pocket taken out of the equation as well."

"I see…" Colossus growled. "That's it, eh? You don't want me or the Mirror of Memories to interfere in your plans. So basically…You spit on my honor by making so that I can't fight at all!"

The giant red ghost spread his arms out wide and sent a giant shockwave out. The entire area around him shook as if afraid. Despite everything being blank and almost nothing except for faint outlines, the place still began to shatter and fall apart.

"And that's why I can't just leave you here." Morgaine le Fey mentioned as her formed reappeared after the shockwave had ended. "You would destroy and escape this pocket dimension I created if I left."

"Then what's the point of your plan anyway? You said that you wanted to see the battles." Colossus argued. "How is staying here going to accomplish that?"

"The answer is very simple…" Morgaine waved her hands. Thousands of images appeared all around them. They all showed the different fights happening across the planet. Colossus looked in wonder as the different battles showed both his friends and enemies fight and bleed. "I shall watch and record what is happening while I'm here. That way, I can relive this day forever."

"You…You refuse to fight me, yet you torture me with images of different battles?" Colossus trembled in absolute rage. "This…this is the greatest insult to my honor that has ever occurred…Such a crime deserves only death."

"You can try all you want, but I can teleport, exit, and move freely throughout this space at will." Morgaine le Fey mentioned. "Nothing you can do will hurt me as long as I refuse to fight."

"Then it's pointless." Colossus glared.

"Exactly." Morgaine le Fey smiled. "With you and the Mirror of Memories you protect out of the way, my glorious day will remained unruined. Especially now that Harm has recruited the final piece."

Morgaine pointed to a specific image. Colossus's eyes widened. "No…The Spectre."

"Yes, he's under my command now." Morgaine le Fey let out a giggle that would cause most men to melt before her. "And with you out of the way, there's only three people active right now strong enough to give him a challenge. Superman has his own problems to deal with, though. Captain Marvel will soon have a problem with his powers. And Dark Dan is being entertained by a few new friends of mine."

"What about Phantom?" Colossus argued. He expected some sort of reaction from le Fey. Hell, he thought she might even laugh at the implication that such a young fighter could handle the Spectre. Her reaction, though, shocked him to his core.

Morgaine le Fey let out the cruelest smile that Colossus had ever seen and spoke once more. "Exactly. What about Danny Phantom? The answer is very simple…there's a reason I put his closet friends I brainwashed into two different cities. I knew he would go after one of them, and with Spirit's attachment to Youngblood, it was obvious that he would be going to Dakota City."

Frostbite let out a massive roar that seemed to distort the water around him. Even the mind-controlled ghosts and demons flinched back in fear and shock as the yeti ghost charged at them. All the demons in the water were slashed with Frostbite's claws and tossed away. The ghosts were covered in a blaze of blue energy and instantly frozen.

"Wow…" Aquagirl paused her attacks as she watched the large ghost tear through the enemies and smacked them allow like flies. "I am glad that he is on our side."

"I have thought that many time," Aquaman nodded as he grabbed a demon and flung it into a ghost.

"At this rate he will kill the ghosts…" Aqualad noted. He used his Water Bearers to shield himself from various ectoplasmic attacks.

"That is his choice," Tempest mentioned. With wave of his hands, he sent a twister of water and sent several of their enemies sprawling. "They are his people."

"But I know him…" Aqualad noted. "He will regret it…I need to stop him."

"Wait, Kaldur, he is in a rage. It would be best to keep—Kaldur!" Aquaman shouted as his longest lasting protégé rocketed away from their group.

Shaping his Water Bearers into whips, the blonde Atlantian smacked his foes away with swift swings of water. He quickly made his way through the water while dodging stray blasts of ectoplasms. Once he got close to the raging S-rank ghost, Aqualad swung his water whips and wrapped them around the yeti ghost's arms before the ghost could use his claws to tear through one of the ghosts.

"What are you doing?!" Frostbite roared. A wave of blue energy blasted off him. The ice energy spread out and instantly froze the ghosts and demons around them. Aqualad's water whips froze instantly, but the Atlantian prevented himself from being frozen by using his mystical art skills. Electricity danced from his eel tattoos and heated his skin. He still winced as frost still formed over his skin despite his electrical shield.

"Stopping you from doing something you will regret." Aqualad stated. He released the hold he had on the frozen water and used new water to form blades with his Water Bearers. "You are not thinking rationally."

"Of course I'm not!" Frostbite hissed. Cryo ectoplasmic energy focused around his mouth and allowed the yeti to communicate underwater. The temperature of the water continued to fall all around the two allies. "My people and my closest friends are brainwashed and being forced to kill each other!? How would you react?!"

"Possibly the same as you," Aqualad admitted. "But that is why I rely on my friends to keep me grounded and stop me from asking like a wild beast."

Frostbite paused.

"This is not who you are, Frostbite. You are a kind soul, even if you have some wild instincts." Aqualad stated. "Do not let your righteous anger make you do something that is far from righteous."

"…Thank you, young one." Frostbite let out a long breath. "I needed that. Don't worry, I shall control my anger from here on out."

"Good." Aqualad nodded. "Now come and help us. Working together will help create the most beneficial outcome."

"Yes. Of course…"

Gotham City was a place well known for housing strange people. Before the time of the Batman, it was filled with crimes and different gangs. That was the normal time. After Batman arrived to the scene, thing only got weirder with people like the Joker, Two Face, and the Riddler running around the city. All of that was nothing in comparison to what was happening today, though.

Demons and ghosts flooded the city. They fought and scrambled around the entire city. The chaos this created made even the strange days in Gotham seem normal and safe. Luckily, the people of Gotham City were a rather prepared and ready group. Most people had plans to escape such situations and get to a safe place. Thus, causalities in this city was most like the lease in comparison to most of the cities throughout the world.

There were always problems, though. Some stragglers couldn't get to their homes and were forced to hide in alleys. This was their best chance not to get caught in the chaos. Unfortunately, their planned failed. A pair of demons and ghosts scrambled into the alleys. They bit and clawed at each other in a frenzy. The concrete around them was smashed and clawed to bits. Fortunately, the people in the alley were saved by an unlikely ally.

A man with icy blue skin dropped into the ally. His crimson eyes gleamed in the darkness. Sleek black hair lifted up into two horns. His white body suit and cape flared as a magenta energy danced around his fingertips. That energy was sent out in a pink wave that covered the side of the alley that the civilians didn't occupy. The ghosts and demons dropped to the ground with thick thuds.

Vlad Plasmius glanced back to the civilians, "I made a clear path so some of the buildings. Get inside before more enemies show up."

Not waiting for a response, Plasmius rocketed out of the alleyway. The halfa was a blur as he flew through the city of Gotham. Using his ability to alter his body structure, Plasmius became a cloud of pink smoke. The smoke flew through the crowds of ghosts and demons. Plasmius's limps formed randomly throughout the smoke and began to strike the enemies down.

After a while of this strategy, Plasmius solidified into a whole being. His arms then formed into a silver dense steel. The ghost then struck several of the enemies on the head and slammed them into the concrete below them. The enemies didn't get up from this.

"Ha! Dracula's got moves!" Robin eyed Plasmius as the halfa moved through the streets. The Boy Wonder was using his ectoplasmic equipment to give him an edge against his enemies. He flung shuriken at his enemies, and they collapsed as the shuriken sent jolts of electricity through their bodies. "You're the guy that helped train Phantom, right?"

"Yes…" Plasmius's chest changed into plasma as a demon thrusted its claws through his body. The plasma spread down the demon's arm and formed into a fist. The fist struck the demon in the face several times until black blood spilt from the demon's mouth and nose. "That was me."

"Well, that explains why you're both so freaking badass!" Robin chuckled as he flipped over a ghost and used a Fenton Thermos to capture it.

"Robin, pay attention!" Nightwing chastised his predecessor. The older vigilante send a lightning fast series of blows to the demons in front of him and then flung them into nearby cars. "You keep dropping your guard!"

"Oh, it's not like these idiots have the skill to even lay a hand on me." Robin's smirk screamed arrogance. He pulled out a metal bar from his belt. Two demons rushed at him from both sides. With complete calmness, the Boy Wonder pressed a button on the metal bar and made it extend into a staff. The ends came out and smacked the demons away.

The Boy Wonder then flipped through a crowd of ghosts and swung his staff around with practiced ease. The swings of the staff not only hit the ghosts away; they deflected blasts of ectoplasm away like they were flies. Once done with his tricks, Robin twirled the staff around and smirked at the downed enemies. "They just can't touch me."

"Your protégé is quite skilled, Batman." Plasmius spoke into the Fenton Phone earpiece that fit perfectly over his ear canal.

"Yes, but he's still too arrogant. That might get him killed one day," Batman grunted. The Dark Knight was using his Batmobile to rush around the city and stop as many ghosts and demons as possible. "Batgirl, get over to Robin and Nightwing's location immediately. Make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"Roger that."

"Wow! Torch is glad that Torch came here." Torch twirled his scythe slowly in his right hand. His left hand was extended out controlling the flames in front of him. A massive wall of fire stood in front of him stopping the charging demons and ghosts. "You look like you need help."

"Your shield is not helping," A mechanical voice sounded above Torch. A large red android with a masculine build, a yellow arrow on his head, a blue cape, and T symbol on his chest. "Martians can become catatonic when they even see such intense flames."

"Oh…" Torch pushed the fire shield. The fire spread out and blasted down the streets of Chicago. Different ghosts and demons were sent sprawling in a flaming heap. "Torch's bad. Torch automatically uses fire as Torch's main way of fighting."

"It…is alright." A green skinned man with red eyes groaned. A black body suit and cape covered the Martian Manhunter's frame. "At least you kept the flames from touching us."

"Y-yes," Miss Martian was helped up by her uncle. "Having a flame shield a few meters in front of us is a lot better than be hitting by those flame and smoke attacks…"

"True enough…" Torch watched as Red Tornado flew to go fight more of the foes. "Torch has to wonder if this was the witch's plan, or if this is fate that Torch's minions are here."

"It was probably le Fey's plan," Martian Manhunter as flames burst out several streets away. "She knew that we could not fight against fire users, and almost all of your…minions…have abilities that revolve around extreme heat."

"That is likely…but Torch often thinks that it is the decisions of free choice that lead people to their destiny…"

"Huh?" M'gann blinked. "That's…oddly deep of you, but I don't think now is the time for philosophy."

Torch gave her a side glance. "Yeah…Torch is tired of talking anyway…You should leave the city and fight somewhere else. Most of the ghosts here are Torch's minions."

"There are still some enemies that we can fight. Besides, we can't just abandon the city we have sworn to protect." Martian Manhunter argued.

"Suit yourself. Torch really doesn't care either way." Torch shrugged as he floated up into the sky. "Just don't complain to Torch if you get burned again."

With that, Torch burst away in a blaze of flames. He rocketed down the street to where more of his minions and the demons were fighting. Spinning, Torch swung his scythe around rapidly. A flaming vortex was created. The spinning fire danced all around the ghosts and demons. They were all shouting and screaming in pain as the fire consumed them.

Torch's minions, while injured, would survive such an attack because of their tolerance to heat. The demons on the other hand were another matter. Of course, Torch didn't care if they lived. They could go back to hell as punishment for hurting his minions.

"Impressive…" Red Tornado noted as floated down in a flurry of red wind. The flames started to die down and fade. All that was left was smoking bodies. "You have improved."

"Yeah, that's what Torch does…" Torch mumbled as he swung his scythe over his shoulders and frowned at the smoking unconscious bodies.

"Are you alright?" Red Tornado questioned with a touch of curiosity and concern. "Usually, you are far more energetic than this."

"Torch has had a bad feeling all day. Torch thinks that—" Torch stopped speaking as he urgently grabbed Red Tornado and formed a shield around them.

VVVVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Physical manifestations of sound rang through the street. The energy caused the glass window of the buildings to shatter. Glass rained downed like rain, but the shield stopped the sharp blades. Once the glass and sound faded, Torch dropped the shield and allowed Red Tornado to step away.

"What was that?" Red Tornado questioned.

"The sound of rock and roll…" Torch clenched his fists around his scythe and glanced down the street.

At the end of the road was a single girl. She was dressed in black leather pants and top that showed her midriff. A silver belt covered her waist, and silver skull boots covered her feet up to her calves. A black chocker was around her neck. Fiery blue hair was pulled up into a single pony tail. Her makeup was black and left black swirls under her eyes. An electric guitar sat in the hands of the siren ghost.

"Is that not the famous ghost rockstar, Ember McClain?" Red Tornado asked. "Isn't she an ally of Phantom's?"

"She's more than that…Of course, le Fey would send Ellie here; she's a fire ghost after all…" Torch sighed heavily and looked up to the sky. "Torch knew it. Torch felt it in his bones. Fate wanted to kick Torch in the balls today."

"Dang, man…" Richard panted as he and Virgil hid in a shop. "This…was a bad idea."

"I know, alright." Virgil peaked out of the window to look at the demons and ghosts fighting. "I thought Icon and Rocket would have handled most of this crap by now."

"There's a lot of them, though." Richard looked at his phone. "And this is happening all over the place, so I doubt they'll get any back up from the Justice League."

"Tsk…" Virgil clenched his fists and walked to the back of the store. "Come on, let's go through the back. You said my Mom was close, right?"

"Yeah," Richard pulled off his Back-Pack Tech and examined his radar. "Her phone's a block from here, but…Dude, seriously, I don't think we should go back out there. We'll be killed, Virg."

"Maybe, but I have to do this, I feel it in my gut," Virgil glanced back at Richard. "You can stay here, man. You've done enough."

Richard sighed and walked over to Virgil, "You heard me earlier, man. I'm not leaving you. Now, let's get over to your mom, you moron."

"Right, let's go!" Virgil pushed through the door to the back ally. The two boys rushed through the ally and out into the street. Sticking to the buildings to avoid the ghosts and demons, they managed to avoid being mauled, but there were a few close calls of being hit by stray blasts of ectoplasm.

Eventually, the duo did make to where Virgil's mom was. Covered in the blaring red and blue lights of an ambulance, the African American woman was helping to put an injured man into the back of the ambulance. Her white uniform and wavy black hair were covered in blood, but none of it appeared to be hers.

"It's going to be alright," The woman stated soothingly to the man strapped to the stretcher. "We're going to get you to the hospital."

"Jean! We need your help! There's a couple more injured over here!" One of the other paramedics yelled over to the woman.

"Be right there!" Jean stepped away from the ambulance after her patient got inside and then went to help the over injured civilians.

"Dude, what do we do?" Richard questioned as they hid in another alleyway. "Do you want to go up to her?"

"No…If we do that, she'll just send us away," Virgil frowned. "We have to wait, cause I know something's going to happen, and I have to be here to stop it."

"I thought you could use some help," Doctor Fate noted as she floated above the streets of Central City. A blast of golden energy in the shape of an ankh spread out from her fingertips and trapped the ghosts and demons in a cage of golden energy. "But it appears that you are doing fine on your own."

"The ghost fighting equipment helps," The Flash was the Fastest Man Alive. He was dressed in a scarlet body suit with lightning bolt ears. A yellow lightning bolt symbol stood on his chest. The speedster held up a fishing rod that contained of ectoplasm empowered wire. "But I wouldn't complain if we got some help from a magic user."

"Yeah, Dr. D.," Kid Flash held a Fenton Thermos in his hands. He used the device to capture the ghosts while he sped through the crowds of enemies. "We could use some help. The numbers of these bozos is nuts, man."

"Very well…" Doctor Fate raised her hands. "Fate shall stop the restless spirits…"

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Everyone paused. The Flashes stopped running. Doctor Fate paused in her spell. Even the demons and ghosts froze under the sound of a massive roar. All the super-powered beings turned to where the roar originated. They were all shocked by what they saw.

There, towering by several large buildings, was a large monster. It was towering with its massive torso and limbs. The super-powered fighters might have been somewhat intimidate by the creature's massive size if it wasn't for one odd fact. The monster seemed to be made up entirely of meat products.

"Is that a giant monster made of meat?" Kid Flash questioned.

"To my utter disbelief…yes, it is…" The Flash was at a loss for words.

"Is that a demon or a ghost?" Kid Flash questioned.

"A ghost, I believe," Doctor Fate stared as the monster flung steaks as the smaller demons and ghosts. The creatures might have been delighted if the steaks didn't explode on impact. "That's probably the Lunch Lady."

"Huh…Hahahahahaha!" Kid Flash began laughing. "Now that's funny!"

"What's funny?" Flash questioned.

"I was just getting hungry." Kid Flash grinned. "Now I've got a bad guy whose powers are basically to control a buffet of meat. Now this is my kind of fight!

"Dnib meht htiw sekans!" A magician dressed in a full tuxedo and top hat was floating on invisible energy as he cried the spell out. He extended his wand out and hundreds of snakes jumped out from the stick. The snakes then wrapped around the various demons and ghost around a street in Fawcett City.

"Nrut eht sekans otni epor!" Zatanna shouted out with her hands extended. Her spell turned all the snakes into magically empowered rope.

"Wow! That's awesome, you guys!" A rather bulky man with sleek black hair smiled. He wore a red body suit with a golden lightning bolt on his chest and a white cape over his left shoulder. "You captured so many of them! All I can do it punch them…And zap them with electricity, but that's trickier."

"We all have our talents, Captain Marvel," The magician Zatara noted. He sent out a fire ball to knock several other ghosts away. "It just seems that this time, my talents are more useful in the situation. There are plenty of times that your skills are needed instead of mine, though."

"That's true, I guess…" Even while in deep thought, Captain Marvel was fighting skillfully. He grabbed a large demon and flung it around rapidly. This action created a tornado that smacked all of his enemies away. The man then flung the demon in his hands away like a piece of garbage.

"Hehehe…" Zatanna chuckled. "See. Wish I could do that."

"Oh, you're making me blush—"

"Beware!" A tiny voice called out. All the heroes could only blink as a tiny ghost floated up to them. It was a ghost that didn't even appear to be two years old yet. She wore a pink dress over her blue skin. Freckles danced over her face, and her hair was pulled up into two pigtails. Tiny Box Lunch glared at the heroes. "Beware!"

"Oh! She's so adorable!" Zatanna cheered. "Parw reh ni a teknalb!"

"Ah?" Box Lunch cried out as a magical blanket wrapped around her snugly. "Beware!"

"Oh~" Zatanna smiled at the toddler as she took the toddler in her arms. "I'll beware all right. Cause if I don't, I'll die from how cute you are!"

"That's sweet," Captain Marvel smiled.

"I don't know how to feel about my teenage daughter holding a baby like that…" Zatara muttered to himself.

"Oh…I, uh…I get what you mean…" Captain Marvel blushed and pulled at his collar. While his captain form was that of an adult, his normal form was that of a twelve, almost thirteen, year-old. As such, he was beginning to notice how attractive his female friends were, and the talk his Uncle Dudley had with him didn't help…

Zatara paused, "Wait, why did all the demons and ghosts stop fighting?"

It was true. All of the demons or ghosts were fleeing or cowering. It was odd. Why would they do such a thing?

"Beware…" Despite being the same word as what Box Lunch said, this time the word sounded far deeper and more menacing.

All of the heroes turned to see a very muscular man dressed in overalls. His skin was light blue, and his eyes were red. A gray beanie sat on his head. The most eye catching thing they could notice, though, was that his right hand was missing. In its place was a two way hook. Despite being hypnotized, the Box Ghost was still aware of a few things. One of those things was that strangers were holding his daughter. He didn't like that. "Let…her…go…"

"Hey! I recognize him! That's the Box Ghost! Remember all those stories Danny told us about him! They were hilarious!" Captain Marvel smiled.

"I don't know…He doesn't look as goofy as he was in Danny's stories…" Zatanna felt a strange stir in the air.

"Men often change when their children are born. Their protective instincts and real power can come out…" Zatara eyed the baby in his daughter's arms. "Zatanna, I suggest you put the baby ghost down slowly."

"Isn't that dangerous too, though?" Zatanna questioned. "There are demons running wild after all…Besides, his powers revolve around controlling boxes. How dangerous can he really be?"

The Box Ghost pointed his arms to the side. Green energy began to spread out around the buildings on either side of the ghost. The buildings began to shake and tremor as they began to lift off the ground.

"…You know, buildings have been called boxes that contain people…" Captain Marvel noted as his Wisdom of Solomon came out to play. "And…Considering the circumstances…Morgaine le Fey might have manipulated all this with a little magic to make the Box Ghost more competent and powerful…"

"He wouldn't do anything that would harm his baby, though, right?" Zatanna's question was answered as Box Lunch turned intangible and slipped from her arms. "Well, crap."

With that, the Box Ghost flung the buildings at the heroes.

"Wow…That was easy…" Troia dead panned. She had a disappointed look on her face, yet it was also mixed with relief. "I do not know how to feel. I missed out on a great battle, yet my sisters beith safe…"

"I understand your mixed feelings, sister." Wonder Woman laughed and patted her sister's head. They all stood on the outskirts of the brick city they called home. The jungle was thick all around them.

"Do not treat me as you would a child, Diana! I am a woman and a warrior now!" Troia hissed as she smacked the hand away.

"Of course, of course…"

"You have my greatest thanks, Pandora," Queen Hippolyta, mother to both Wonder Woman and Troia, was a tall woman with long blonde hair. She was dressed in white robes, golden tiara, and scepter. Despite the fact that Amazonian woman were known for being tall and muscular, Hippolyta looked almost tiny in comparison to Pandora's massive size. "If you had not come, my sisters might have been in trouble."

Pandora smiled as she closed her famous box. "It was nothing. My box was made to capture for situations like this. Chaotic demons and ghosts were one of the reasons my box was made. It was easy to capture them all. Besides…your people look a little disappointed."

"That is just in an Amazon's nature. We do love battle," Hippolyta chuckled as she looked around at the disappointed Amazonian women around her. "But considering the threats of the ghosts and demons, I think that your interference was for the best."

"Well, I'm glad to help. Sorry that I can't stay very long, but I have to go help more of my allies." Pandora bowed her head.

"Of course." Queen Hippolyta nodded.

"Come, Pandora," Wonder Woman approached Pandora. "My invisible plane lies on the shores of Themyscira. We can travel together to the next battlefield."

"Tsk…" Troia muttered under her breath. "I would prefer that not happen. I actually want to experience battle today…" The younger Amazon was ignored, though.

"Right, I'm sure that Vision and Batman will be able to tell use exactly where we're needed. Let's—" Pandora froze. A familiar ectoplasmic signature danced over her senses like the scent of a lost home.

"Pandora?" Troia looked up at the giant woman. "Are thou alright?"

"Nyx…" Pandora gripped the box in her hands tightly. "My daughter…She's here! Nyx is here!"

"Nyx? The daughter that was brainwashed by the Witch Boy?" Wonder Woman questioned. "Why would she be here?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself," All the women turned to see Nyx sitting on the roof of the edge of one of the buildings. She waved enthusiastically. "Hi, Mom! How ya been?"

"Nyx…" Tears began to pool around Pandora's eyes.

"Not good apparently. That's too bad," Nyx shrugged. "Can't always have good days, though, can we?"

"I found you!" Etrigan shouted out as he held a demon's head down into the concrete of the street. "Did you think that I wouldn't track you down, Ghast?"

"Etrigan, you bastard! You never let us have any fun!" A demon that could only be described a pink furless monkey grunted as he was held down. It had wide eyes and sharp ears.

"Your kind of fun involves slaughtering innocent people!" Etrigan slammed Ghast's face into the ground. "Now where are the other members of the Demons Three?! Tell me, or I'll rip your arms off!"

"They're right behind you~" Ghast chuckled.

It was true. Two more demons that looked similar to Ghast were running at Etrigan's unprotected back. One of the demons had swirl tattoos all across its body while the other had a large green mohawk. They both went to jump on Etrigan's back, but neither of them got close. An explosive arrow hit the first demon and knocked it away. The other demon was hit by a sonic wave and sent flying into a car.

"Idiot!" Etrigan laughed. "Did you actually think I was alone? I know better than that when dealing with you three."

"And here I thought today was going to be calm." A blonde man dressed in a green Robin Hood outfit mentioned. He pointed his green bow and arrow at one of the downed demons. His domino mask covered eyes narrowed. "There goes that thought."

"Suck it up, Green Arrow," A blonde woman wearing black leather and fishnet mentioned. She took a self-defense stance. "Our days are never calm."

"You alright, Blood?" Artemis ran over to Etrigan and used her arrows to keep other demons and ghosts off his back.

"Not a scratch," Etrigan smiled. "I'm just satisfied that I can start capturing the demons again. I've been prepping for a while."

"Damn you, Etrigan! I won't go back to being trapped in your damn books—" Ghast was silenced as Etrigan's demons transformed the smaller demon into a book.

"You were saying?"

"Gah…" David Cain groaned as he was tossed onto his back. "Ah…reminds me of our first date…"

"What are you doing here, David?" Lady Shiva questioned as she and one of Talia al Ghul's personal guards stood beside her. The female assassin wore dark armor and a dark mask over her face.

"My boss sent me to track a dangerous ghost under le Fey's control…" Cain grunted out a he gripped his cigarette tightly between his teeth.

"And why would le Fay send a ghost to a Shadows hideout?" Shiva questioned as she placed her foot on his chest.

"No idea," David shrugged. "I just tracked it."

"You story is absurd. Why should I believe you?" Shiva questioned.

"Because hiz story iz true."

"Gah!" Shiva cried out as she was sucker punched in the face. The assassin quickly flipped away and glared at Talia's guard. "Why?"

The guard's appearance twisted and changed as she turned back to her original form. Madame Rogue smiled at Shiva. "Because I'm zick of your orders, Ziva."

"Oh, it's you…" Shiva frowned at the other female assassin. "When did Fenton get you into the Shadows?"

"A few monzes ago," Madame Rogue shrugged. "It wazn't zhat hard conzidering hiz connections."

"Did you know about this?" Shiva snapped to Cain.

"Yeah, actually, I did," David grunted as he stood. "Fenton didn't tell you cause he thought you would think you were being supervised."

"Well, I do now." Shiva's anger flared. "Are my motivations not enough for him?"

"No one questions your motives, Ziva. In fact, Fenton probably trusts you the most out of all of uz. My end goal wazn't to get into zhe Zhadows, zhough," Madame Rogue argued. "Fenton wants to get me cloze to zhe Brain to find out why he needs zo much equipment. My current plaze is just a ztepping ztone."

"Yeah, the Light's been pretty tight lipped about all that. But he still could have told me."

"I only know cause we both called in at the same time," Cain grunted and took a drag of his cigarette. "This infiltration hasn't been going on for that long."

"Fine, fine, I get it…" Shiva let her anger drop. "Anyway, you said you were here because of a ghost?"

"Yeah, this ghost can't be tracked normally, but he did agree to having a tracking chip planted on his person so Fenton could find him if need be," Cain explained.

"Who iz zhis ghost?" Rogue was intrigued.

"Get this, Fenton's had another shape shifter on his side. This Amorpho guy can literally change everything about his body to fit another person, even their smell, DNA, and energy signature." Cain mentioned.

"That's…dangerous…" Shiva paled a bit.

"Yeah, usually the kid just uses him as a stand in for him, but he knows how dangerous Amorpho can be. If the ghost wanted to, he could start wars without anyone ever knowing what really happened." Cain gained a troubled look.

"But I ztill don't underztand why le Fey zent him 'er," Madame Rogue stated.

"…The reason I'm here is because some of the Light are meeting here today…" Shiva paused. "I was to help guard them…but the meeting already ended, though."

"Well, the ghost's still here." Cain mentioned as he looked at his tracker. "Let's just find the sucker and find out what he was here for."

The Royal Flush Gang was not a group of heroes. At best, they could be considered thieves and thugs. At worst, they could be considered terrorists considering their actions against Lex Corp. As such, it was shocking to the people of New York City to see the group get up and fight when the demons and ghosts arrived. It was even more surprising considering the fact that recognized heroes such as Captain Atom, Green Lantern, and the Hawks fought in another part of the city.

Of course, no one stayed around to ask the Royal Flush Gang for their reason for helping. The people of New York City were all too busy running away and screaming. If they did stay close, though, they would have had an answer.

"Dude! It feels so good to fight ghosts again!" Ten chuckled as he trapped a small group of ghosts into an ectoplasm empowered net.

"I know, right?!" Queen was so ecstatic that she ignored being addressed by a term that usual refers to a male. She instead used a bazooka to blast away a few demons.

"The demons are different, though," King commented. He created a shield around himself and rammed into several of his enemies.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!" Jack laughed as he blasted several of the demons out of the air. "They're just more targets to hit."

"Tsk…" Ace looked up at her laughing teammates. "They talk too much."

She did nothing to stop them, though. Ace was the one that wanted to fight after all. Something was going on, and Ace wanted to find out, even she had to break her rule about fighting against ghosts. Luckily, it as rather easy to find out what was happening by using her powers.

"RAW!" A large demon with several horns sticking out of his body charged at Ace. His teeth were sharp and barred at Ace. Despite the danger, none of her teammates made a move to help her. They knew better than that.

One glance was all it took. Ace met the elephant-sized demon's crazed eyes. Flashes blared through their minds. Images of le Fey and Harm flashed into Aces mind as she sent her mental fingers into the demon's mind and stabbed down. The result was a collapsed and drooling demon at Ace's feet.

"Hmm…" Ace pursed her lips. She would have to look into this Morgaine le Fey character.

"That was impressive." A voice right beside Ace mentioned.

Ace jumped in surprise and turned to the dark haired, fair skinned woman beside her. "What? When did you get beside me?"

The woman was silent as she looked at the piles of demons and ghosts that laid around them. "You took out all of them?"

"I did, and I could take you out too if you try anything," Ace threatened.

"I bet you could," The woman didn't seem to care about the threat. Despite her voice being a mere whisper, the sound still rang clearly in Ace's ears. "Your powers are strong. It makes mine seem like nothing."

"So you have powers?" Ace found herself curious.

"Yes, watch," The woman grabbed the large demon by its horns and tossed it with ease into a crowd of ghosts and demons. The shocked supernatural beings were surprised even more when black creatures made of ink and ectoplasm jumped out of the ground and began to attack at them. The little creatures included bats, rats, squids, and other unusual animals.

"That's…a ghost power…" Ace mentioned.

"Yes…" The woman's features bled into something different. Her fair skin was now green. A red cloak with a hood was opened slightly to reveal that her curves were covered by a leather top, tights, and knee high boots. Various piercings were on the woman's person. This included a nose ring, ear rings, and various black spikes that rose from the woman's shaved head. "They are."

"Who are you?"

The woman's red eyes met Ace's own darkened orbs. Normally, doing this led to the threat of falling into madness. Both girls, however, were no strangers to insanity.

"My name is Lydia."

"Come on!" Jean Hawkins shouted to the man on the ground. She rapidly began to pump his chest. "Breath, damn it!"

She pinched the downed man's nose and forced breath down his unmoving lungs. The paramedic had been at this for a several minutes now. Unfortunately, all the ambulances were full right now, so she could only do CPR until another one arrived.

"Jean," Another paramedic placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "His heart hasn't been beating for fifteen minutes. He's gone."

"I know…" Despite her answer, Jean kept pumping the man's chest. "Damn it…"

"Come on, other people need our help."

"Right, I'm right behind you," Jean stated even as she lingered by the dead body. She had lost people before, but she never had to leave a body like this. It was an unnerving feeling. After a few seconds, she got up and began to walk away.

"Mom! Look out!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Jean was shocked when a rather small figure rammed into her stomach and knocked her to the ground. This happened just in time too. A large ghost the size of a house was about to smash her to dust. The massive creature had deep red fur, four massive arms with claws, and a long tail instead of legs. It meant to crush Jean as it flew by, but she was pushed out of the way at the last second.

"V-Virgil?!" Jean was shocked to see that it was her son that saved her. "What are you doing here!? It's dangerous!?"

"I'm sorry, Mom…" Virgil winced under her glare. His hat flew off when he pushed his mother out of the way, so he felt the flesh of his head when rubbed his head in stress. "I felt like you would be hurt, so I came to make sure that you would be okay."

"Oh, Virgil…" Jean didn't know whether to be angry, sad, or proud. It appeared that Virgil inherited her protective instincts.

"Hey, Mrs. H., I would have to ruin whatever you were about to say, but…" A nearby Richie was shaking as the massive creature turned and flew back towards them. "That thing's coming back!"

Acting on instinct, Jean leapt to her feet and grabbed both the boys. She then began to pull them down the street in a desperate attempt to escape. The Behemoth ghost was too fast, though. It quickly began to catch up to them. The massive creature took up the entire street, so moving sideways wouldn't help. They had nowhere to run.

Jean realized this, so she did the only thing she could. She pulled the boys in front of her and pulled them into a deep hug. The paramedic held the boys tightly and shield them with her body with no fear. It probably wouldn't be enough, but it was the only thing she could do besides pray.

Time seemed to stop for the group as they waited to be crushed or eaten. The boys trembled in fear of their impending death. Jean let sorrowful tears run down her eyes as she realized that her son and his best friend were going to die with her. They no longer had any hope of survival.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"

Boom! Crash! Sssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh….

The impact never came. Instead, the group heard a blast and a crashing sound. Peaking open their eyes, the glanced back to where the monster was. Instead of the sight of massive teeth about to bight into their flesh, they saw a smoking and unconscious Behemoth. Feeling a presence above them, they then looked up.

"Are you okay?" Danny Phantom stood above them protectively. His hand was extended and smoking slightly from the blast he used on the monster. Blazing green eyes peered down to them in absolute concern.

"Y-you saved us…" Jean whispered. She began to cry again, but this time it was not out of sadness.

"It's what we heroes do, isn't it, Mrs. Paramedic?" Phantom gave them a soft smile.

"Thank you…Thank you so much!" Jean sobbed as she hugged the boys close to her.

"It was my pleasure," Phantom raised his other hand to reveal the hat that Virgil had lost in the scuffle. He gently placed it on Virgil's head with the bill on backwards. "I saw what you did, kid. Thanks for the assist, I didn't think I'd make it in time."

"N-no problem." Virgil looked up in awe.

"More of the demons and ghosts have probably felt my presence by now. They'll be coming here," Phantom reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal cube. He handed it to Richie, "You look like you're good with tech. This is a miniature energy shield. When I get a few feet away press it, press the red button."

"Y-you got it…" Richie nodded dumbly.

"Good." Phantom stepped away from the three humans and looked down the street. It seems as though all the ghosts and demons that were still active in the city were all rushing at him at once. Some of them appeared to be injured, so they probably just got out of a fight with Icon or Rocket on the other side of the city. "Well…This might be hard. Good thing I got back up, eh RH?"

"You got that right," Red Huntress flew up and came to a halt right beside her boyfriend. In the woman's arms was an unconscious Cujo in puppy form. "Sorry for the delay. Zeta Tube's down here. Had to fly here from another tube and track down Cujo."

"It's alright, you're just in time for the party," Phantom smiled up to his girlfriend, "That shield protecting those three won't hold up if too many of those guys attack it at once. We'll need to defend it until Rocket and Icon get here to back us up."

"Please," Red Huntress grinned. She gently placed Cujo into the bag that hung from her back and then readied her guns, "We'll be done with these clowns by the time those slowpokes get here."

As the duo began to engage the ghosts and demons in a massive brawl, a chime went out throughout the city. It was soon followed up by twelve bells. Midnight had come and ended the day that this miniature war had started on. It was now All Hallow's Eve, the day that the spirits of the damned came out to play. Only this time, there was a force waiting to push them back where they came from.

(Thursday-October 31, 2013)

The wind in the sky roared and blasted with anger. A deep scratching whine danced around his ears. It was as if nature herself knew what was happening this day. The whisper demand that he intervene. It told him that he must stop what was about to happen.

It was almost laughable to Dark Dan. He was a destroyer, not a protector. How he longed to go on a rampage and burn this world to ash once more. That would be a stupid thing to do, though. Death and destruction only made his enemy stronger after all. So, for now, he would keep his growing bloodlust under wraps. At least until Nekron was put to rest once more.

Until then, though, Dan had to make sure that Nekron did not grow too strong too quickly. The alternate Phantom needed time plan. There had to be a way to profit from all this. He knew that much. There was always a way to turn the situation around and make it beneficial. Right now, though, Dark Dan didn't know how this situation would ever be considered beneficial to him.

"Damn it," Dark Dan hissed deeply. He floated high up in the air. The wind and sky roared and cried around him. "How the hell did you know that I would come here?"

"We knew that you would come to the place that would result in the most devastating death." A deep chuckle escaped the being whose long thin body appeared like the night sky except for a long black scar that ran across his torso. His face was colored ash, but his eyes were a deep red with this scar running over his right eye. Two purple curled horns stuck out of his head, but the left horn was merely a stub.

"Son of a…Nekron's a crafty bastard, huh?" Dark Dan let out a long sigh. "He planned it all out, huh? All of this…just to result in the greatest amount of death energy."

"HAHAHAHAHA!" A large dragon flew in a circle above Dark Dan. This ex-king was Aragon. Colored with black scales with a purple underbelly, the flying lizard menacing to the point of being almost demonic with his thick claws, sharp teeth, and muscular body. A dark amulet hung around the dragon's neck. "You act like you're surprised, peasant! Did you think that our Master was a mindless demon of death? No, he's far more dangerous than that!"

"Yeah, I know that much, Nocturne," Dark Dan crossed his arms. "He's just like me. A monster with unbelievable power and an intelligent, cunning mind. That's why he's so damn dangerous…That's why he's the only person in existence that I'm actually afraid of."

"You're a wise individual," A being that could be describe as a muscular mummy nodded. Hotep-Ra floated behind Dark Dan. Bandaged wrapped around his entire body and most of his face. Only his green eyes and long goatee lacked any of the covering. "Even as strong as you are, you still know that you're outclassed by Nekron and the Black Lanterns."

"For now," Dark Dan snarled. "I may be outclassed, but I promise you that will one day change. I will become stronger. In fact, I'll become so strong that not even Nekron can compare to me."

"Coming from anyone, that would sound stupid," Nocturne grunted. "But from you…that's a real threat. That's why Master wants you either under his thumb or dead before you find a way to push past your limits."

"Hehehe…If only I still had to connection to Death that my other self does…" Dark Dan gave a sharp grin. "Then I could whip Nekron's ass with ease. I guess it's too bad that killing my human side cut off that connection, huh? Hindsight's a funny thing…"

"If you want more power, you could just get a Black Lantern ring," Aragon taunted. His slitted eyes danced with glee. "Then you would have even more power."

"And I would be under Nekron's thumb," Dark Dan scoffed. He eyed the Black Ring User's appearance. They all had bloodshot eye, and their veins were black and bulgy. "Not to mention the side effects. Of course, considering my nature, I probably won't suffer from the decay you have to deal with. So finding a way to absorb some of Nekron's power does have some merit."

"Good luck with that," Hotep-Ra stated sincerely. "But I doubt that is possible."

"I think it is…" Dark Dan took a fighting stance. "I guess I'll just have to steal one of your rings and find out if I absorb some of that power without Nekron getting control over me."

"Go ahead and try," With that, all the Black Ring users pointed their power rings at the alternate Phantom and fired blasts of energy at him.

As Dark Dan dodged the blasts and rushed towards Nocturne to instigate the fight, he thought about the real reason he came out all this way. He planned to intercept Harm and the Spectre before they could get to their destination. That way, he could control the Spectre and use the spirit of vengeance as his own weapon.

These Black Ring users ruined that plan, though. While incredibly powerful, Dark Dan didn't like his chances against three Black Lanterns. Even if he found a way to win, he couldn't do it fast enough or get out of the fight with enough stamina left to handle the Spectre. That meant it would fall to someone else to stop the Spectre's rampage.

Glancing over his original destination Dakota City off in the horizon, Dark Dan frowned deeply, "Don't die yet, Danny Phantom. You don't get to die until the day that I punch a hole in your chest and tear your bleeding heart out of your chest."