The Justice League sat in the Watchtower, some of them at least. The meeting was meant to be a quick one, only certain members in attendance to make sure they were all on the same page after the debrief of the last mission. Not all of them were necessary and most were usually busy.
Today Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern were in the middle of wrapping things up when the alert sounded. The siren blared twice before the red lights in the corner of each room flashed in an emergency.
“What in the world…” Flash grumbled but was obviously the first to the controls to look for the problem. None of the main alarms had been triggered, none of the doors messed with. No unusual motion noted in parts of the station that were currently vacant. “Weird.”
“What is it?” Batman was next beside him, arms crossed as he peered at the screen with narrowed eyes.
“It’s the sensors.” Flash said. “We’re picking up some kind of interference.”
“Way up here? What kind?” Green Lantern asked, he’d moved to one of the wide windows of the viewing deck as if he would be able to see something approaching. As things were, there was nothing but the normal vastness of space with Earth to one side.
“No idea.” Flash said. “Never seen something like this before.”
“Any idea on a location?” Superman asked, appearing by Green Lantern’s side.
Flash just clucked his tongue, hitting buttons much faster than a normal person. It was almost an irritation that he had to wait for the computer to keep up with him. “I mean, there’s nothing exactly to track yet.”
“An anomaly then.” Wonder Woman said, leaning back against the conference table they’d all just been sitting around. “Something natural?”
“There’s nothing natural about this.” Batman said, tone skeptical as he gazed at the screens.
“Gonna side with that bat on this one.” Flash said, “It’s more like a warning before anything happens. Something setting off the sensors but nothing else? Feels like it was on purpose.”
Green Lantern rolled his eyes. “What, like something’s knocking before they make themselves known?”
Before anyone could even offer their opinion on what they thought of something so ridiculous, a spark of green ripped through the air like lightning. Just as quickly it spread out into an obvious portal. Every member of the Justice League sprang into position, circling the phenomenon to block it in from every direction. Things like this shouldn’t have been possible, but it wasn’t the first time an intruder had gotten creative to get inside the Watchtower.
Without any fanfare, a man stepped out. They presumed it was a man anyway. He was dressed in mostly shades of purple other than his leather boots and gloves. He was covered by a cloak and hood, but when he looked up, it was hard to say what about him was the most unsettling. The red eyes. The blue skin. The pendulum clock that set back into his chest so far that he could only be missing crucial organs.
“Who are you?” Superman demanded, quickly trying to assess if there would be a fight or not.
“How did you get here?” Batman said right after, gravel tone somehow more frightening because he was calm.
The intruder just gestured with his thumb at the portal behind him. “Thought it was rather obvious.”
“Your purpose?” Wonder Woman asked, looking relaxed but her body was tense and ready to react in a moments notice.
“My purpose?” He chuckled quietly. In his hand was a staff they’d almost missed before, the top of it cradling a clock. It seemed to be a theme given the number of watches and clocks he wore. “I’ve come to call in a favor. The Justice League owes me several.”
“We owe you? Ppfff. Yeah right. We don’t even know who you are.” Flash rolled his eyes.
The intruder turned to the Flash, his brow raised. “Speedster, with the amount of times you’ve dabbled in the time stream, you alone owe me your life a fair few times.”
“Time, huh?” Green Lantern looked him over. There were a lot of clocks… “Guess that’s your schtick.”
He chuckled again. “I go by many names, only one will be relevant to you today.” He turned his attention onto Wonder Woman who squared up under his gaze. If she was going to be his focus then she’d take him head on.
“And?” She arched a brow at him. “What name may we call you?”
He looked amused, red eyes filled with mirth. “You, Diana, may call me grandfather.”
The room stilled, the others looking around in varying degrees of confusion while Wonder Woman just paled.
“Chronos. God of time…” she muttered, making it very clear to the team what they were dealing with. A God.
“I go by master of time these days, but yes. I am that Chronos. I have a task for you, Diana. One i do not think you will turn down but i’ll give you the illusion of choice.” Chronos said, the minute and hour hands on his staff moving strangely.
“You’re a god, and you come to us for help?” Batman asked, unimpressed no matter the glowers he was being sent by the others.
“You are the Justice League, aren’t you?” Chronos looked pleased. “Righting wrongs. Defending Earth. Justice is in the name and everything.”
He didn’t talk like a god. He didn’t even talk as formally as Wonder Woman herself tended to occasionally.
“Doing tasks for you is asking for trouble.” Wonder Woman muttered. She’d heard stories, so many stories.
Chronos shrugged. “Time is messy. Keeping it in line is difficult. Especially when there are those who mess with it who should not.” He was not above verbally throwing speedsters under the bus.
“What do you want?” Green Lantern asked, obviously suspicious but paying very close attention.
“Simple.” Chronos answered, still looking at his granddaughter. “You will take custody of your uncle for a time. He needs a safe place to rest and live.”
The silence that followed was loud, no one knowing what to make of that. Wonder Woman herself looked puzzled.
“Are you claiming a sibling of Zeus needs a babysitter?”
Chronos hummed. “He is my son though he holds no biological relation to your father, i suppose.”
“Then how is he her uncle?” Flash asked, with a hint of sass.
“You can ask Batman how it works.” Chronos mused, saying all he would say on the matter but that was enough.
Wonder Woman couldn’t fathom what kind of person her grandfather would see fit to adopt. “Are you going to tell me more?”
“Telling you more would imply you were agreeing to the task.”
She tsked. “None of your word games. I want to know what i could be walking into.”
Chronos never once looked threatened or put out, he did however, appear to look a few years older than he had when he’d first appeared. “He recently needed to be removed from his home for his safety. He can easily visit me but staying with me long term at this time is not beneficial to him for health reasons.”
Superman frowned. “Removed from his home? How old is he?”
“Sixteen. If that is all you need to know, i will fetch him. It may take some time for him to regain consciousness.” Chronos said.
“He’s been hurt?” Batman was frowning at the thought, looking more and more unhappy as the conversation progressed.
“I did say he was removed from his home.” Chronos said, almost flippantly as he stepped back into his glowing green portal. It remained open, everyone exchanging looks.
“Diana, is this a good idea?” Superman asked, willing to accept her judgment. Greek gods were more her wheelhouse.
“Chronos was a titan. Is a titan?” She frowned. “His power is immense for a being thought to be killed.”
“Something about him is off.” Batman agreed. “He was not worried at all. That is someone aware they have the upper hand.”
Wonder Woman just nodded her agreement. Chronos was the god of time. There was no telling what he knew. “I’ve never met him before.”
“Hell of a time for family reunions.” Flash snarked, heading back to the controls to see what readings they could get on the floating portal. It was obvious each of them wanted to study it in their own way. Scans and samples were first on their minds but it was clearly some kind of magic they weren’t familiar with.
It was almost a shame there wasn’t a single member from JLD currently in the Watchtower. They might have been able to provide answers.
Before much of anything could be done, Chronos returned, somehow looking several years younger than when he first appeared. In his arms was a lanky teen, cradled carefully as if he were fragile. He was equally a sight that left the League speechless. He wasn’t blue, in fact he looked more or less human other that the freckles that shined.
Superman was the one to immediately note they were constellation patterned.
His hair was a stark white that wisped and flowed as if he were under water. His clothes were strange, a detailed variation of an old hazmat suit, all done in black and white. Floating above his head was a crown that didn’t seem to know if it wanted to be on fire or covered in ice. It bobbed back and forth and even did a slow flip in the air but never left the area about the boy’s head.
When no one uttered a word, Chronos took that as permission to begin the introductions. “Diana, this is your uncle. Danny Phantom. Son of the Stars. The Personification of Balance. The Ghost King. High King of the Infinite Realm.”
“He’s a king?” Batman frowned. “He’s a boy.”
“He could be both, Bats. He’s got a crown.” Flash chuckled softly.
Chronos shared his amusement. “I did say he was only sixteen.” The god paused for a moment as the teen twisted in his arms, his face pressed against Chronos’ shoulder and a hand lightly pressed against the door of the clock embedded into the man’s chest.
The fact that, even asleep, the boy was comfortable in the gods arms didn’t go unnoticed.
“Is he injured?” Wonder Woman asked. They’d gone over this already but he didn’t look actively wounded. He seemed to be sleeping only.
Chronos grunted once. “One form heals faster than the other. He needs rest, ambient ectoplasm which he knows how to get on his own, and food. He can answer your questions if he feels like it.”
“If he feels like it?” Green Lantern frowned.
“He’s the King.” Chronos’ lips twitched in amusement again. “If he decides to tell you more, or seek help, that is his decision.”
“Seek help?” Batman’s eyes were narrowed. “Seek help for what?”
Chronos approached and shifted the teenager into Wonder Woman’s arms. His crown shifted back and forth but never left the teen. The grip he had on the god wasn’t noticed until he tried to pull away and Chronos needed to carefully extract the boy’s hand.
Ignoring Batman, he pressed on. “He’ll need to follow up with his doctor by the end of the week. He’ll know how to do that. If he doesn’t, his doctor will come to him. That should be incentive enough.”
“Does he know you’re dropping him off here?” Superman asked, brows knitted together in concern. The heroes had been expecting a fight, not to be handed a royal teen.
“He has a fondness for for space, so you might want to let him wake up here.” Chronos said instead, ignoring that question too. He was growing older again, a short, white beard starting to form.
“How long will he need to be in my care?” Wonder Woman asked, noting the boy weighed very little in her arms. In sleep his features were soft, hopefully he was as sweet as he looked.
“Good luck.” Chronos said, staff reappearing in his hand now, turning back to the portal without giving her an answer.
“Hey! Wait!” Flash yelled but for once, he was too slow, the god and the portal disappeared.
Five members of the Justice League just stood in a mild stupor, their attention shifting to the sleeping teen.
“Well…” Superman muttered.
Wonder Woman looked at the boy, floating hair and crown moving in tandem. “I’ll set him down. We’ll see if he can answer any of our questions when he wakes up.”
“You gonna call him Uncle Danny?” Flash asked, not bothering to hide his smile.
Wonder Woman just ignored him and turned to stride off towards the med-station.
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No idea at all if i’ll continue this. If anyone else wants too, go for it. ^_^
