Work Text:
The freshly washed plate clinks as Danny sets it down by Jazz who takes the new addition to dry. Soft music plays in the background, barely heard over the sound of Neil and Secret playing in the living room.
Despite Conner and Ellie's absence, the former with his friends at the cave, and the latter who knows where, Danny relaxes at the evening's peace.
A particularly loud laugh from the ghost teen leads Danny to remark, "She's been getting stronger."
With even just a few days of staying in Amity, Secret's voice and form have become more solid, the ecto in the air transforming her from a lingering spirit to a full-on ecto-entity.
Danny bets she'll be able to hold conversations with non-ghosts in no time.
"Yeah," Jazz agrees and sighs. "She probably wouldn't have this improvement outside of Amity Park though."
"She'd fade overtime without a strong enough power source," confirms the grim halfa. Based on what the girls explained to him, Secret probably already completed any last regrets that kept her tethered in the first place; she wouldn't last without any external energy.
"I guess that settles it then," declares Jazz, putting her recently dried dish in the cupboard.
"Settles what?"
"I'm moving back to Amity Park."
The cup in Danny's hand clatters back into the sink. "Wait, what? I thought you said the only way you were coming back was if you died and popped back up as a ghost."
Jazz flusters, twisting the drying-cloth in her hands. "Well— I mean, I didn't actually mean that!"
He raises a disbelieving eyebrow.
She crumples. "Okay, so I did mean it, but, come on, Danny. I was 18 and angry. It's been almost a decade since then!
"Besides, it wouldn't be so bad to be closer to my nephews, now would it?"
"…Is this because Ellie's winning at best aunt?"
"She has teleportation, Danny!" she snaps. "Not all of us can just whisk them off across the world for lunch."
Danny snickers at her suffering, earning himself an eye-roll.
"Plus, I just— I kind of miss it here, with everyone else. In Connecticut, I barely even know anyone, and it gets lonely, sometimes," she admits, eyes focused solely on the counter. "Even after years living there, I just can't— it's like everyone else can just sense something off about me."
Danny stills, staring at his sister from the corner of his eye. He's not usually on this side of the emotional conversations. He barely refrains from joking about the irony of the most 'normal' sibling of the group thinking they're the one who's strange.
Jazz seemingly shakes herself from her current thoughts and changes to a milder topic. "Besides, I don't want to keep missing out on all that's happening here. I want to be here for the kids and get to know them all."
"What about school?," he questions knowing how much her education means to her.
But it seems this is not too much of a concern seeing as Jazz shrugs and explains. "I don't have on-campus courses right now. Most of my studies are focused on my dissertation, and I can work on that here just fine.
The conversation lulls into a contemplative pause. Danny wouldn't mind having Jazz nearby after all these years apart— not that he'd ever admit that. It would be nice to have someone he can entrust the kids with if needed. As well intentioned as they are, his parents are far from reliable.
The moment is broken by Jazz claiming, "Also, my lease ends soon."
Danny snorts. "Call me if you need help moving then."
A new song begins in the background and the halfa groans when he recognizes Ember's voice.
"Ooh, I love this song," Jazz cheers, walking closer to the speaker.
"Here we go again," he sighs.
"Don't be like that Danny," she chides, turning up the volume.
"Are we forgetting that she kidnapped half the town? Twice?"
"Oh hush. You're just biter she banned you from her concerts."
"As if," he scoffs. "I couldn't care less."
Jazz makes a disbelieving hum, but drops the argument in favor of singing along— offkey, might he add.
The halfa continues washing dishes in offended silence, resigning himself to his next few minutes of torture when he hears a new noise from the living room. Neil is trying to sing too.
Jazz turns to Danny with a smirk and sings louder. Neil copies, his babbles even more offkey than Jazz.
"Noo," he cries, hanging his head into his hands He doesn't know what he's done to deserve such a fate. His only consolation is the fact that Secret didn't join.
A second glance, however, reveals the ghost girl's silent laughter.
Danny gasps at the betrayal.
They must never meet Ember, Danny thinks with resolve.
His pity-party is cut short by a violent, sharp pain in his core, as if a piece of him has been torn out. He doubles over in pain, barely able to hear Jazz at his side asking what's wrong.
Her surprised gasp and tight grip on his arm ground him enough to look up and find living room empty: Neil and Secret are nowhere to be seen.
Reaching out his ghost sense, Danny realizes he can't sense the two ghosts at all, not in the house, not right outside. It's as if they just vanished off the face of the planet.
"They're not here," he informs the frantic Jazz who had been calling out to the kids and searching the room.
"How could they just disappear like that?" she asks, distraught.
Danny isn't sure either. He looks around the living room, but senses no foreign ghost energy that could give him a clue.
As if to spite him, sounds of screams and panicked shouts rise up from outside. He can't hear any fighting or feel a ghostly presence strong enough to warrant such a fear, especially not from the townspeople who have been desensitized to most ghostly antics for years now.
The town needs him… but so do his kids.
For years, Danny has given his life and afterlife to save the town, fighting over and over again to keep everyone safe. Phantom would never let harm come to Amity, even when an opponent far outranks him, even at his own detriment.
His social life, his relationships, his dreams, even his own high school graduation, Danny has chosen to the town over himself each and every time.
But now... he can't fail his son. He can't fail the little girl he promised he'd keep safe.
And so, for the first time in a decade, Phantom turns away from the chaos and focuses on the ones right in front of him, the ones he needs most. His core aches, but nowhere near as painfully as the thought of losing his kids.
A hand grabs his arm, and he can't bring himself to look in Jazz's eyes, fearing the disappointment he may find.
"Bring them back," she says, startling him enough to make eye contact. Her eyes are filled with grim determination.
"I will," he promises, because there is no other option he'd accept.
As the two separate, Danny calls upon his ghostly transformation, prepared to find the kids no matter what it takes.
His conviction is instantly deflated, however, when he opens his eyes to find Secret and Neil standing 3 feet away from him.
"Huh?" Danny blurts out, staring dumbfounded at the bawling Neil and frightened Secret sitting in the same spot they occupied less than five minutes ago.
He startles when the kids jump up and cling to him, but hugs them tightly when his brain finally catches up.
"You guys can't just disappear like that!," he scolds. "You really scared me and Jazz."
"But…" Secret says in ghost speak. "We didn't go anywhere. You were the ones that disappeared."
"What…?" Danny trails off, looking up to find Jazz gone. "What in the world," he says, breathless.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
He nearly drops his phone in his attempt to answer it and is greeted with the sound of Ellie's ghost-form voice. "Finally! I've been trying to call you like three times already."
"Ellie, I'm kinda busy right now," he answers, distractedly, trying to piece together what's going on.
Ellie laughs, her tone hysterical. "You and the rest of the world, dude. Where are all the adults??"
Cars abandoned, crashed, alarms blaring, children screaming, cries sounding in every direction— Danny isn't entirely sure where to start. As Phantom, Secret, and Baby fly through the city proper, the lack of adults in Amity becomes more and more apparent.
Who on Earth could possibly be capable of this? Danny questions, crossing off practically all his enemies from his mental list. Even Ancients themselves would at least leave some sort of trace for him to follow.
The scene around him reveals no further answers, only cries of distress that soon turn into cheers when the kids notice their town hero in the sky.
Mind racing, Danny creates four duplicates of himself, a skill he has been practicing near-manically ever since Vlad's abduction attempt on Neil. He sends out a mental command towards the duplicates to go save any kids trapped or lost in all this confusion.
As the duplicates and fly off to search for kids in most need of rescue and offer assurance to the growing group of kids on the ground below, the original Phantom heads towards Fentonworks, Neil clutched tightly to his chest and Secret's hand in his grasp.
He doesn't bother checking inside the house, aware that if his parents were here they would already be out trying to rile up a mob to take down the invisible threat. Instead, the three ghosts head straight to the roof, floating right into the Ops center.
Needing both hands, Danny transfers the baby into Secret's arms, and begins adjusting with the various, definitely not legal settings on the dashboard in order to hijack each radio frequency in Amity.
"Hello there, kids and ghostlings, this is Phantom speaking," Danny cheerily says into the microphone. "As you can see, the adults not here right now, but I need you all to stay calm okay? Those inside, stay safe, and those who can go home, please make your way back for when your parents return."
His voice becomes more serious as he relays his next message. "As for the teens and older kids, please help out any kids you find lost or in trouble. Until their parents return, I am counting on you all to be in charge.
"I will be taking the abandoned infants and toddlers to the Casper High Gymnasium. Those who are able, please report to Casper High to help.
"I know this may seem scary, but this will all be over soon. Just stay together and stay safe."
Danny still isn't sure what happened to separate all the kids and adults, and he hasn't felt any of his duplicates being destroyed either, so he knows there is not immediate threat attacking them.
Slowly, he makes his way towards the school, walking on the ground to keep pace with the growing line of kids behind him and occasionally ducking into a home to grab a screaming baby,
Talking with the kids seems to help sooth their fears, joking and answering all the questions they have about being Phantom makes them almost forget about their current situation. The conversation is cut short when they reach inside the school and hear the sound of a guitar riff. The kids all run to the sound, towards the gym, apparently.
"You have got to be kidding me," Danny mutters, staring at the cheering crowd of tweens surrounding Ember on her make-shift stage in the gym.
In stunned silence, he takes in the rest of the room.
Sidney Pointdexter is trying and failing to perform stand-up comedy to a group of toddlers and babies. They laugh when he accidentally trips on his shoelace.
Youngblood is in another corner of the gym dressed as a cowboy and encouraging a group of 7-10 year olds to go on some kind of ghost bull-ride. A Phantom duplicate is frantically arguing with the ghost and attempting to block off the kids from jumping on the accident-waiting-to-happen.
Box Lunch is making box fortresses with a bunch of 4-6 year olds and feeding them snacks.
Neil's giggle snaps Danny out of his observations, and he looks down to see the baby reaching out towards Ember's concert. Danny plans to hide the ghost pop-star from view, but his hand is tugged back when he tries to turn away.
Secret's eyes are filled with awe, and she too points at the concert.
With a groan of defeat, Danny drags his feet towards the flame-haired ghost. His plan to hide in the crowd fails immediately due to both his towering height over the group and the fact that the kids vocally announce his arrival.
"Sup, Dipstick," Ember greets when she notices her fans' new focus. She squints, giving him a once-over. "Did you get older?"
Danny rolls his eyes. "Yes, yes I did. I don't have much time to talk right now though, I have to go help get the adults back.
Youngblood pops up from behind, startling the halfa. "Get the adults back??" he cries. "Why not just leave them? We're better off without those stinkin' adults anyway."
Danny glares at the young ghost.
"I'm just saying," he mutters and floats back to his corner.
"I'm surprised you're actually leaving the town by itself," Ember says before giving a vicious grin. "Not afraid of another ghost taking over the place?"
"If you try anything while I'm gone, I'm leaving you in the thermos for two weeks," Danny deadpans.
The grin drops. "Someone's in a bad mood."
"Jeez. I wonder why," Danny grumbles before sighing. "Sorry, just not a good time right now. Thank you, Ember, for helping take care of the kids," he says, genuinely grateful for the unexpected ghostly assistance.
"Hmph, about time I get some appreciation around here." With that, the ghost pop-star struts back to her awaiting audience and starts up a new song.
He isn't surprised when Secret pulls on his arm and points towards the mini-concert.
"Who would have guessed Jazz would end up being the bad influence," he huffs under his breath but nods for the girl to go join the group.
In the middle of the gym, a green portal forms, and out marches a line of kids linked together by their held hands.
Wraith's voice can be heard through the portal calling out, "Alright everyone, you got this, one by one, come on now."
At the end of the line is Ellie pushing a shopping cart filled with diapers, formula, waters, snacks, and various other essentials.
Danny walks up to the other halfa as her portal shuts.
"Did you steal this?," he questions.
"I left money on the counter," she defends.
"Good enough."
"Here," Ellie says, pulling out a baby from the cart seat and handing the kid over to Danny. "Got you some more kids for your collection."
"Please don't phrase it like that," he pleads, but his words are left unanswered as his sister walks off into another portal.
The doors to the gym open with a flourish, and a group of teens wearing black cloaks stride into the room.
A teen girl in glasses up front takes in a deep breath and opens her mouth to speak, but whatever she had in mind ends up being a small squeak when she notices Phantom watching the newcomers.
"Hi!," Danny greets the weirdly dressed teens. "I'm guessing you guys are here to help?"
The girl stares at him with wide eyes, frozen. Danny doesn't really have time to get into all that though, so he hands her the baby Ellie dropped on him and makes his escape.
"Thanks! You're a real life saver," he says before flying away.
He briefly hears another kid shout something about a "Leader!" in a tone of concern, but seeing at there's no crying baby, he's going to take that as a win.
Ellie pops into the room again with another cluster of kids and Danny dashes to her before she can take off.
"Wait! I need you to take care of Neil for me," he says, holding out the baby.
"Yea. yea, I got it. Go ahead and join your hero club," she replies, bringing Neil into her arms.
"Ellie, I mean it. Don't let anything happen to him."
His sister glares up at him in offense. Danny didn't mean it as an accusation, he knows that Ellie would never put the baby in harms way. It's just that the thought of leaving the city, of leaving Neil, has his nerves ready to burst from his skin.
Each fiber of his being is demanding that he stay to protect his haunt, and yet… the last time there was a full scale attack like this, Neil almost got taken straight out of his own arms.
He refuses to live through that again, to sit helplessly and wait for the rest of the heroes to stop the threat.
Something on his expression makes Ellie lower her hostility in favor of confirming.
"I'll keep him safe."
Mount Justice…
Danny bursts out of the Zeta tubes in search of the team. He had called Conner earlier that evening to check in and learned about the team's plan to regroup at the cave after making some kind of broadcast for the rest of the world.
As Phantom turns into the common room, he makes a beeline towards his son.
"Conner!," he shouts. The only warning the teen gets before getting barreled into by the speeding halfa.
The Kryptonian stumbles a bit but keeps himself upright as he returns the hug.
Further greetings with the team are pushed aside in order to discuss the disappearance of the adults, or rather, the separation of adults and children into two different worlds. Danny explains his brief experience on the adult world before transforming into Phantom.
"Wait, so how old is your ghost form?," Wally breaks off topic.
Danny shrugs. "Younger than 18, I guess."
His ghost form is about Conner's height now, still a good few inches off his human side. He was a bit of a late-bloomer growing up, so it's difficult for him to get an accurate estimate of his age based on size alone.
Not to mention, the growth spurts he's been having seem pretty inconsistent as well. The only pattern he's been able to gather is his slight aging whenever the boys are in danger— he guesses having kids really does age a person.
As the conversation gets back on track, the team and Phantom form a plan to reach out to the Justice League using Danny's ability to move between words.
Before this plan can be put in place however, a bright flash of light and a high-pitched voice shouting, "It worked!," freezes them all in place.
Danny turns to the new voice, ectoblasts illuminating his hands, and there stands a kid in a red hoodie a few feet away from the team.
"Who are you?," Robin demands, bo-staff pointed threateningly at the kid. "How did you get in here?"
The boy opens his mouth to reply, but stops when his eyes land on Phantom, his expression brightening.
"Hi Danny!," the random kid chirps. "It's me, Billy."
The teens in the room simultaneously turn to stare at the flustered halfa who raises his hands in confusion. He doesn't know this kid either.
The kid's expression grows sheepish at the resulting silence. "Sorry, I guess you wouldn't recognize me. I'm Captain Marvel."
"Last I checked, Cap wasn't a nine year old," Wally snarks.
"I'm 12!," the boy protests.
Danny is hit with a sudden, horrifying realization. "Billy," he says, voice deliberately even, "On Halloween, when you said you were 12, you meant a human 12 year old?"
"Well yeah," Billy answers hesitantly. "What else could it mean?"
"I thought you were a baby god or something! Not a literal child!"
"Why would you think that?," the kid shouts back. "Wait… are you a baby god?"
Danny hears Conner snort in the background. His reply to the kid—Billy, is interrupted by Kaldur stepping in.
"Phantom," he says. "Can you confirm that this is truly Captain Marvel."
"I mean, it'd be a weird thing to lie about."
"You can have Miss Martian check my mind," Billy confidently declares.
The Martian steps forward to do just that, her eyes closing and face set in tense focus before opening once again with clear fascination.
"It really is him," M'gann says.
"I told you so," Billy crows.
"Okay, so now we have one and a half JL members," Wally states, ignoring Billy's offended "Hey!" "Now what?"
Billy puffs up and claims, "Well, did you know that all the adults are actually in a separate world?"
"Yup."
"Aw man."
Danny pats the disappointed kid on the back. "Cheer up, Billy. At least we can go back to the adult world together."
"You can go there too? How?"
"You're about to find out," Danny answers before letting his transformation flow over him.
He finds himself staring face to face with Batman, Red Tornado, and Zatara. A flash of light to his left tells Danny Captain Marvel is now joining the group as well.
"Hi there." Danny waves, shuffling his slippered feet along the cave floor. To his mortification, his human form is still wearing his earlier pajamas.
"Who are you?," Zatara questions, looking at Danny in suspicion.
Mustering up enough confidence to overlook his current wardrobe, Danny begins to introduce himself. "I'm—"
"Daniel Jackson Fenton, age 24. Resides in Amity Park with Conner Aster Fenton and Neil Elio Fenton," Batman cuts in.
"It's Danny, actually," he corrects with a cringe. He should have known Batman already had him clocked. Looks like he owes Clark 20 bucks.
Danny turns to the remaining JL members in the cave flashes his eyes an unnatural shade of green. "I also go by Phantom."
"Hm," Batman grunts, sounding unimpressed. "Captain Marvel, Phantom, report."
And report they did.
With the two groups of heroes now able to make contact with one another, as limited as it may be, the source of the world split was tracked and a plan put in place.
The two teams head towards the source of the magic, Phantom joining the teens and Captain Marvel with the adults.
"Of course it's magic," Danny grumbles under his breath, already done with this whole mission.
Give him ghost fights any day, he'd take that over magic each and every time. At least with ghosts, there's a science behind it, technology he can use to counter threats. With magic, Danny can't help but feel like he's jumping in blindfolded.
It doesn't help that magic is annoyingly effective on ghosts. Case in point, the few hits Klarion has been getting on the ghost despite his intangibility.
Fortunately, Danny's hits are just as effective in return, but actually reaching the Lord of Chaos behind his never-ending shields is the real challenge.
This stalemate would be a lot more discouraging if Phantom didn't notice the anger and slight strain marring the mage's face.
Danny winces when Conner is thrown towards the tree-line by the giant cat familiar. He hopes the ghost proofing on the clothes helps in this fight, fearing for the teen's natural weakness against magic.
A familiar flash of white light appears in the corner of his eye, and Billy's voice calls out to destroy the gem in the center of the ritual circle.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Danny says, meanwhile the rest of the teens divide between taking down the cat and attacking the mage's current shield.
Energy builds up in Danny's hands and he raises the ball of concentrated ecto above his head, ready to break through the barrier once and for all.
A swooping sensation in his stomach makes the halfa momentarily scrunch his eyes and he launches the attack once the disorientation fades.
The blast doesn't hit the barrier though, neither does it hit the gem in the center. Instead, Danny watches as his attack smacks straight into the back of some evil-wizard looking dude who goes down for the count.
"Sorry about that," Danny apologizes with a wince.
He looks around the clearing and finds the adult team fighting some other evil-wizards, so maybe Danny should retract his apology…?
Either way, a sense of joy fills him at the newcomers. They did it! The worlds are back together.
The joy ebbs away when he processes the lack of the teens nearby. The worlds aren't back to normal… but he no longer has access to the kid world.
"Phantom? What are you doing here?," Captain Marvel shouts, the first to notice the halfa in their midst.
Batman snaps his head to the ghost, but is too far away for Danny to make out his response.
"What about the kids?," Zatara yells after taking down another sorcerer.
Danny looks down at his gloved hands, remembering the last memories he has before shifting to this world, the way the kids' attacks seemed to have little effect on Klarion. The ecto weapons helped, when they got a clear shot of him, but with the barrier in tact and the others not having enough fire power to shatter it…
"I don't know," he answers, fearfully.
Phantom helps the other heroes take down and round up the last of the mages, before having to wait in the excruciating silence that follows.
Billy offers to go over and check on the teens, but none of the adults want the unarmed 12 year old being thrown into an unknown battlefield. So, they wait.
Zatara paces in the distance, and Batman stands unnervingly still in the shadows. Cap tried to break the silence a few times with reassurances, but the tension remains.
The overarching suspense doesn't release until the teens appear right in front of them.
Danny laughs in relief before flying to check on Conner. He's a bit scraped up, but no serious injuries. What Danny can't understand is the boy's panic-stricken face.
"What's wrong?"
"Zatanna," the boy whispers, looking up at the sky.
There, flying, is the young magician wearing Fate's helmet, blatantly possessed by the Lord of Order.
"I thought we agreed not to bring that thing," Danny hisses at the rest of the teens.
"It was meant as a last resort," Kaldur explains, his voice only slightly betraying his fear, a fear that spreads throughout the rest of the observers as Nabu denies Zatara's demands to release his daughter.
Danny sighs. He wasn't planning on fighting today, but it sounds like another battle is starting up. Who knows, maybe the guy—err, Lord, would listen to reason?
The possessed helmet starts ranting about his importance or whatever as Danny flies over to join Zatara.
"Aw, come on, Fate," he starts, hands raised in surrender, "I'm sure we can all come to some kind of agreement?"
Rather than any kind of pleasantry, Dr. Fate, with a disgusted tone, says, "What is that?"
"Ouch," Danny holds a hand over his un-beating heart. "You know, most people would ask for a name."
His joke is not appreciated if the outstretched hand filling with golden light aimed his way is any indication.
"A wretched thing like you should have never been allowed to exist," the Lord of Order condemns. "And I will endeavor to correct this mistake."
"You know, that would hurt a lot more if you weren't holding a kid hostage," Danny retorts before dodging giant golden symbol flying towards him.
Welp, looks like diplomacy is off the table. At least he can tell Jazz he tried.
He's not delusional enough to think he can take down the Lord of Order, not after expending so much of his power tonight, and especially not without hurting Zatanna in the process.
His mind whirls as he evades blast after blast. Concerned shouts sound off in the background.
Think, he urges himself. He doesn't need to defeat Fate, he just needs to get off the helmet. He needs to get closer somehow.
Plan forming, Danny yells, "I think I liked you better when you were a bucket!"
"Silence!," the Lord demands, attacking once again.
Danny laughs mockingly, launching an ice ray that gets blocked by a glowing, golden shield. "That's never really been my strong suit!"
Come on, come on, Danny chants, expectant.
His wishes are answered, but not in the order he wanted. He watches Dr. Fate turn around to attack the empty air, the only sign of a target being hit is a pained yelp.
Danny cringes at the destroyed duplicate but uses the distraction to dive forward and grab the helmet. Making contact with the golden vessel, however, floods the halfa with a burst of electricity.
He screams during his ensuing fall from the sky, limbs trembling from the aftershocks.
Before he can make contact with the floor, a blur of red and white crashes into him, and Danny finds himself being carefully carried in Captain Marvel's arms, concern painting the larger hero's features.
The ringing in his ears drowns out whatever words Cap is trying to say.
"That sucked," Danny groans.
The arms holding him tighten as Phantom stumbles out to fly on his own. His surroundings become much clearer when a glowing symbol knocks him to the ground.
"Ow…" he huffs, becoming one with the forest floor.
"Danny!," Conner cries out in the distance. Danny is relieved to see Batman and Red Tornado corralling the kids away.
Note to self, Danny reflects, Don't touch the possessed helmet.
He pushes himself up with his still tingling arms, watching momentarily as Captain Marvel punches at Fate's golden barrier. The fractures that form are promising, but they repair themselves almost instantly.
So no touching, and no brute force…
His thoughts race at the fact that his powers alone aren't going to cut it. Sure, he has tools on hand, random gadgets and gizmos for when his powers fail, but he doubts anything he has could be used against a Lord of Order.
Even if they were to somehow over-power Fate, Danny would still need to be able to un-possess Zatanna. It's not like he can remove a ghost without touching—
Phantom inhales sharply. "Zatara!," he yells at Giovanni, the older magician is petrified as he watches his daughter being puppet-ed around. "Help keep him busy!"
Resolve forms on the man's features and he jumps into the fray.
Danny digs through his suit's various hidden pockets, and an absurdly large pile of discarded devices form around his feet. Blaster, Fenton-phones, ecto-dejecto, Lip stick ray, wrist ray, no, no, no… Yes!
"Got it!," he cheers, flying toward the magic fight.
Between Cap and Zatara forcibly tearing down so many shields, Dr. Fate seems to have switched to the offensive, striking golden cross-like symbols at the attacking heroes.
"Enough of this!," Fate declares. "Your efforts are futile!"
"Oh yeah?," Danny goads, forming four duplicates to further surround the Lord. "Well, your face is futile!"
The fighting pauses as heroes and helmet alike turn to stare at the ghost.
The original Danny squirms under their disappointed stares. "Give me a break, okay! They can't all be winners."
The fighting commences. The Phantom duplicates simultaneously aim their freeze ray's at being in the center, and they continue their onslaught of freezing well after ice has formed around Fate's host.
Phantom yells at Zatara to restrain him as well, their combined forces are probably not able to hold down the Lord of Order for longer than a few moments.
A few moments, however, is all Phantom needs to pull out the portable ghost catcher and swing it down on Zatanna. The helmet-wearing human is left untouched by the dream-catcher-like device, but a second form is forcibly separated from her.
An Egyptian warrior ghost is pulled out from the helmet. He wears a white cape and an identical copy of Dr. Fate's helmet with long black hair spilling out from underneath.
The duplicates stop their ice, willing it away when Zatanna begins to shiver and gently carry the girl to the ground.
The new ghost looks down at his own hands, then at the scene around him, gaze intensely lingering on the helmet still adorning Zatanna's head.
Before the ghost can snap out of his confusion, Phantom soups him into the thermos, the lid shut tightly.
The area is in complete silence, apart from Zatanna's weak groans and Giovanni's soft cries. The helmet is pulled off her head without issue though it looks much more dull than it did before.
Apart from the reunited father and daughter, everyone else in the clearing stare at the halfa with wide, frantic eyes.
"Uhh…," Phantom stutters, clutching the thermos to his chest. "Yay?"