Batman is taking down the Court of Owls with the help of a small specialist government task force. They have weapons that can target the undead and put them to rest.
Batman allows the weapons because they don't hurt regular humans, only the undead. He's also glad that he can finally put the spirits to rest peacefully, as they can't be exorcised, and the bodies won't stop moving until the trapped soul is released.
The GIW had sent a small team of their best agents to Gotham to scope out rumours that the rogues and vigilantes there were all ghosts. Thankfully, the Bat, who was just a human or a meta, was willing to accept their input when they came across him being attacked by a small horde of Undead.
The changeling that went by the name Robin was even able to help them improve their weapons! There was much less recoil now, and they were able to lock onto a target with much higher accuracy.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stay for long. They had to get back Amity, as a situation was beginning to unfold there. A small town that sat on a thin spot in reality had just had a stable tear open, and the undead were flooding in.
One of their junior agents said that they had taken to mimicking the locals, to try and engender sympathy, before turning around and attacking everyone in sight.
Batman was grateful for the information. From his own research into the matter, the local ghost hunters were definitely ill-equipped to handle the situation. He gave the agent in charge a way to contact him, then set about flagging the town in the JL systems. Any calls from the town were to be checked for authenticity by himself or a other Bat before being responded to - the local rogues had a way to possess others and make them commit crimes or acts of violence. Any calls made against the GIW agents were to be sent to him directly so that he could pass it forward to the relevant authorities, as the rogues liked to cause chaos and dissent amongst allies. Thankfully, the agent he was in communication with was able to quickly determine them as not being true ghosts, but actually baby poltergeists.
Batman updated the system to make that section of Illinois a no-fly zone. The LAST thing they needed was a possessed superpowered person.
It would be a lie to say Bruce wasn't drained. He'd been thrown through timestream and just got back. his mind was abuzz with everything he did, his Robin is not in the right uniform, and for some reason everyone ignored his wishes for Batman to die with him. his mantel of grief was not something to carry on; apparently Gotham disagreed. he'd address this shortly with both the city and his family. he didn't make a mantel to pass down—its duty is to contain his own self-destructing cycles and ensure his mentees don't fall into the traps he did.
he'd barely seen his hoard of kids all together—Dick having him in a desperate octopus hug the likes of which he hadn't seen since the nightmares about his parents' death long before Nightwing became a twinkle of an idea—before the infamous and non-existent (he checked with the magic users several times) curse of his struck again.
Jason collapsed. Stephanie too.
the world tilted on its axis.
not again.
not again.
he can't-
everyone scrambled to get them to the medbay. Both bodies were completely comatose. neither brain showed signs of life. Vegetative state; cause unknown.
he barely managed to get a hold of Leslie as everything pressed into his chest and his family panicked.
"I don't have time right now Dick—"
"Leslie," Bruce barely got her name out.
a sharp intake of breath and something clattered to the ground. a cup of various pens, if he wasn't mistaken.
"Bruce," she whispered, breathy and hopeful and it twisted the knife in his heart all the more. He didn't know how long he'd been dead to the world. how long his family grieved him. only that Tim found his clues.
"Leslie, i, I need," Bruce took a moment to collect his thoughts. too much stormed about. "Jason and Stephanie are vegetive, all signs point to brain dead but our scans are finding no cause."
"They're not the only ones. Calls are pouring in all over Gotham, and we're getting alerts of it happening everywhere."
his heart stopped. was this because he came out of the timeline? did this have something to do with—
"Current suspect is something to do with magic. only commonality so far is all patients have been resuscitated."
something cold and numbing washed over his being. something else niggled in the back of his mind.
"How long?"
"Starting a half hour ago—kids are coming in with friends. Crossing all causes from medical intervention based or magical intervention. I have to go—See what your club finds out and Bruce? Its good to hear from you, i just," Leslie's voice wavered in that unfamiliar way that made Bruce almost wish he'd stayed gone. "I wish we could have our reunion under better circumstances."
She hung up.
Bruce ran a hand over his face and looked over how long he'd been gone. 19 months. well over a year, nearing two.
he decided to check the cases he flagged as requiring Bat Intervention before escalation first. if this is as wide a phenomenon as his gut feeling suggested, it was tied to one if these special care cases.
he froze at one of the cases, updated five minutes before his return. the text color was wrong. none of his files supported colored text in the Byline.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Veil Guard System Danny.
A vague memory of a case washed over Bruce. It wasn't too early into Tim's time as Robin—not long after he established Young Justice. He and Tim had run into a few agents from a paranormal investigation group under the US government called the "Ghost Investigation Ward" (GIW) that focused on handling various types of ghosts and restless spirits to end their interference in the earthly plane. Their guns had an issue with leaning too far to the side when shot that drove Tim insane during their mission handling a particularly nasty cult. If he remembered correctly, the GIW merged magic and technology in a fascinating combination that only low-level magic users could adequately use. Tim had rambled about the technology for a while before a new project caught his attention.
it had been a little over four years since initial contact… they usually only sent the occasional update on how containing an anomaly that caused a severe spike in supernatural activity in one city was being maintained, and occasionally asked for help improving spec designs on the mechanical aspects.
Veil Guard Danny has been Severed by white clad humans. Fail Safe Fenton and Phantom activated and returned to proper guard sides. All Ectoplamsic entities recalled to the Cradle by end of one earth rotation. Carbon aspects will remain, but ectoplasmic aspects will be recalled without exceptions. Enjoy your ecto-free existence under guard Phantom's care. All message recipients are to be aware: this is what you wanted, and the consequences are not negotiable. Seek Veil Guard Phantom for further information. End of Carbon Language Translation Services.
a pit formed in Bruce's stomach and all but consumed him.
He tried to call Zatana, but got no response.
Constantine picked up the phone to hang up while swearing.
Bruce sent out an emergency meeting beacon, choosing to suit up and head to the designated meeting room. They would need to do a headcount, at the very least.
Bruce was the first to arrive. he choked when he got an alert that Clark was similarly comatose and braindead from Lois.
Martian Manhunter paused at Bruce.
"You are alive." the statement smacked him in the face. J'onn paused, his face shifting before settling on an apologetic expression. "This is not your fault for coming back to us, and i am glad you un-did your role as a living timebomb before you came back to us. Those that come will be most glad for your true return, even if these circumstances are far from the best."
Bruce let his shoulders drop. Sometimes, dropping your mindshield came with its advantages when telepathic teammates were in the room.
Bruce paused when Arsenal appeared, taking Oliver's usual spot.
"He's comatose. Canary's watching him with my siblings and daughter," Arsenal explained before his eyes narrowed in on Bruce. "You're not Dick."
"Good to see you again Roy."
Arsenal opened and shut his mouth. "how?"
"long story short—trapped in a reincarnation and death cycle by Darkseid to become a living bomb to destroy the timestream. My Robin bartered his way into the timestream and tricked the energy into releasing in controlled bursts until the omega energy was depleted."
Arsenal nodded before patting his shoulder. "Good to see the right face in the cowl."
Bruce hummed in agreement.
Wonder Woman walked in next, glancing about at the unusually empty seats. "I heard from John Stewart that he is fine, but will not be able to attend as he's helping another planet with the same issue. Has anyone heard from Zatana?"
Arsenal held a finger out before sending a message on his communicator.
"Superman is out of commission," Batman murmured.
"Hawkgirl is alive, but busy helping in her city," Wonder Woman added, looking at the too empty room. "I—Bruce?"
Bruce barely nodded before his friend held him tight.
the Flash ran in, handing out cups of coffee at each seat before taking his own. "Sorry, just, lot of bodies to move in Central to hospital beds before i came in—doing another sweep in twenty minutes."
Bruce nodded slowly. "Thank you for coming Wally."
"No Biggie D—you're not—Uncle Bats!"
a smile curled on Bruce's lips.
"holy shit. Well, is it time for the meeting to start?"
"Not quite—give it a few more minutes."
"Update on Zatana—she went black out a few days ago for a magic mission according to Canary, so MIA. Stewart is stuck on off-world patrol, Supes is down, Hawkgirl is busy, Green Arrow is down, Supergirl is down if the group chat is anything to go by and being brought to the fortress of solitude by baby Superboy—really need to give him a different mantel or have the elder change his psued—and Blue Beetle is down so we get a either a very focused or very depressed Booster Gold—Not it!—Plasticman is somehow alive and helping move a lot of people, Captain Marvel is alive and well with his team in Fawcett, Fate is flakey as usual so who knows, Cyborg is likely down given the patterns, Huntress is responding to messages but too busy to attend and will accept cliff notes. before anyone asks—do not question the power of the Arrow Family Group Chat."
"So no Kryptonians, Green Arrow, Blue Bettle, and Fate, likely no Zatana and Cyborg, With Marvel, Huntress and Plas too busy to be here and no word on Aquaman?" Wally summarized.
Bruce rubbed his temples before projecting the update from earlier.
"This is an update from an unknown that occurred five minutes before Red Hood and Black Bat became comatose, and it correlates with the uptick in comatose bodies and brain dead individuals. It is from a chain of updates from a paranormal investigation branch of the US government, the Ghost Investigation Ward. I propose we do a joint investigation with whatever members of JL Dark are available to find out the true cause, and see what can be done to fix this mess."
the three present agree, with Arsenal adding "Canary, Huntress and Plas agreed to go in person to help. Marvel is not responding right now, but its around when his screen is taken from him by his adoptive family so no response until tomorrow at the earliest there.
Bruce nodded.
"Oh, and when this is all over its been agree you are getting a welcome back party," Arsenal added as he got up to leave.
"Dude, spoiler!"
"Like he doesn't already know."
—
Elsewhere, the Veil Guard Phantom examined how the bright red dried into a flaking brown on his hands. As much as Danny viewed them as gloved, Phantom knew better. It was all his own ectoplasm, all part of him.
It was strange. Knowing everything now. Halfas are limited to instinctive and experiential learning. but a core-less phantom has such a clear bond to the Veil that all information flows into his being seamlessly. Granted, he is limited to his biology and knowledge of all potential timelines on this side of the Veil, but far more than he knew before.
Fenton would be jealous if he knew.
But Fenton will never return to this side of the Veil…
should he send Fenton their former frightmates? Phantom has no use for such bonds. Fenton's duty is the emotions and decisions of if any may pass the gates, and on what terms. Phantom is merely… enforcing them with the Extreme Prejudice needed to keep the Realms safe.
Sam would be proud of his resolve. would call it heroic, even.
Phantom knew it would have made Danny Fenton happy.
Phantom doesn't need or want anything from these bonds himself. he just finds the echoing impulses an intrusion on his work. He must return to his grave, obliterate intruders, and answer questions from those not wielding weapons.
if those seeking him fail to understand that anything can be considered a weapon, well… Phantom already lost Danny and is Severed from Fenton. He is not risking the deal that birthed him too.
Danny was naive enough to.
Phantom, carefully typing a message to the omnicidal fanatics' allies out, is far from naive. If anything, Phantom knows far too much and feels far too little. A strange echo of something—the sensation not unlike apples and coffee stolen from the teacher's lounge right out of the pot in front of Mr. Lancer.
he hit send.
the corpses' lingering spirits were snapped from their anchoring points with a wave of his hand. He has many to liberate and return to their rightful place. Especially the traitors. The realms can sort them out once there.
he has more intruders to End.
---
*for my own sanity, if the omega beam caused an endless reincarnation cycle (see Bruce) i am counting this as someone excluded from the Ghost Zone/IR, and anyone revived by the White Entity of Life is given a similar exemption as the GZ/IR will count that as a weird version of reincarnation or the being moved about in time and body restored.
So. attempts will be made on this in the future but uh, which line of follow-up is more interesting:
dead DC characters trying to escape (feel free to add more in the comments, so far i have the supers, Jason, Donna troy, Blue beetle and Barry Allen.. probably Ra's al Ghul too) stuck trying to find a portal and then their body
DP characters recovering from GIW experiments in Amity for the living while the ghosts find themselves on the other side (unsure if i want Danny's fright/Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Valerie to be still on the living side despite their ecto-contamination due to bond with Danny or not) and KnowingTM that Danny (missing for YEARS at this point) is somehow gone but Not Quite
Ghosts and co realizing that the Halfa Danny was Severed (sent a vibe through the IR and everyoneTM knows now) and the fallout of realizing the human half of Phantom is running around likely with No Context radiating raw emotions from Just Before his death
POV of 13/14 year old Danny waking up in the realm unaware of anything before he died and having a plethora of medical scarring, random emotions he can't point the source of and No Familiarity/Support... and his concerns on waking up are 1)his parents must think he's dead or have no way to find him in this sea of green sky and 2) shit are Sam and tucker okay? 3)The building didnt blow up too—did it? 4) How badly did he screw over Jazz and the whole block? Fuck!'
JL find GIW base destroyed while Batman and traces the updates from when he was gone and before and starts to see A Pattern that makes him feel worse and worse as he dropped the ball with this case since Gotham was not part of the US during No Man's Land and the Clench and death of Stephanie Brown
can follow multiple and all of these, just would like a better starting point. feel free to add more dead DC characters (if they were dead anytime before Bruce returned, i am counting it. Not sure what to do with Aquaman here in either case but man's a king who may be handling that shit rn instead so he can be left out if i want/need to)
@silvershadowspark requested: GIW captures Danny, he destroys the base and escapes, but they hurt him enough that the only way for him to survive is to overshadow someone (a Bat who stumbles into the remains of the destroyed base)?
---------
At first Danny had kept his senses, he had begged, and bargained, and cried, he had tuned out the pain and waited for rescue, but none had come. He tried to escape himself but it never worked and the pain was always worse afterwards. It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone when he chose to fight, and yet somehow it was.
His core cracked like a nuclear blast, the energy that escaped enough to practically vaporize the two standing over him at the time, sending the lab into careening shambles and freeing him from the table he was strapped too, not by breaking the scraps, but by turning the table itself into rubble.
More rushed in, with weapons, and goggles, and so much white. He couldn't stand the white anymore, good thing it was relatively easy to turn it all red. The shouting turned into screaming and he couldn't stand either, the noise vibrated on every raw nerve and the exposed parts of his very soul no longer protected by the shell of his core. He didn't stop until there was silence.
Fire flickered around the building, casting beautiful orange and yellow light, the white was coated red now and it was quiet. The crackling roar of the fire wasn't to loud, lost of the base had been stone after all. Danny drifted to the only section of the roof he hadn't torn down an collapsed, laying on his back and staring at the sky.
The stars... he hadn't seen the stars in so long. There was some smog, but he could see the brightest stars at least. Here under the stars, with the crackling of flames the only sound he could feel the edges of his ghost form starting to lose their form and melt. That was alright, this wasn't a bad place to die, and at least then the pain would end.
It wasn't to be then, because just as he was drifting he heard another sound, another voice. He was barely more then a shadow but he snapped to awareness anyway. Could they really not even let him die in peace!? He rolled over with a ghostly groan and lifted off the ground. He needed to stop the sound so he could go back to dying alone.
He found the person, they weren't wearing white, the black and red was much more soothing on his tired eyes, but they were still talking. Danny reached out, intending to slide his hand into their chest through their back and pull out their heart before they knew what was happening, but that wasn't how things went.
Instead, he blinked, his vision was different. He could still feel the pain but it was dulled, and deeper, bellow something else. He lifted a hand to his chest and took a deep breath, how long had it been since he had breathed?
"...- Do you read? Red Robin come in, are you there?" A voice in his ear was still talking. Who was Red Robin? who was this voice, it wasn't who had been talking before.
He lifted his hand to his ear, his limbs felt like they were weighed down with led. He pressed the button on the com on auto-pilot.
"Sorry, I read. I don't know what happened here but I don't think there will be any survivors. It's some sort of lab and it looks like something broke out, not in." The voice wasn't his either, but it felt good to speak and be listened to.
Danny tilted his stolen head back towards the sky and a grin spread across his face. He had been ready to die on that rooftop, but now he wouldn't. He didn't want to die. He hadn't gotten this far by being willing to give up and he sure as hell wasn't now.
He knew this body had a soul, a strong one too, he could feel it fighting against his control in a way trapped souls usually didn't but he shoved it back down. Distantly he could feel their panic at being controlled but it blended in with his own suffering, and he couldn't bring himself to care.
After all, he had access to a body, and a mind, a mind with all sorts of useful information, a very smart mind that could be used for all sorts of things, and a long, long list of places to hide, and enemies.
Danny needed to hide, for now at least, so that he could heal. He wasn't quite sure what he would do once that had happened either. But he knew that he was never ever going to let a human touch him again, and he would do whatever he needed to to ensure his own survival.
"Affirmative, we'll send back up in case it's still in the area," the clipped voice said through the coms.
"Don't bother. I already found him," Danny hummed before pulling the tracker out of his ear and dropping it. It was a good thing he could still fly while possessing a body. He ripped out the other trackers he could find as he flew. It was time to find a place to hide, and maybe, just maybe, a bit of revenge. On the GIW of course, and on those who should have stopped them but didn't.
Everything was great! After 2 years of fighting ghosts and avoiding the ghost hunters, I had befriended them and started a brawl schedule which let me raise my grades back up to solid A's and B's, and the biggest change of all was after planning as many contingencies as possible, and had my friends on standby I had revealed my identity to Mom, Dad and Val... and they accepted me (though the tears they shed at the revelation of all the shots they fired at me and words they said left them a sobbing mess for hours), and after a big battle (and a LOT of therapy) we had gotten both Vlad and Dan to chill!
Vlad had somehow reconciled with Dani and Dan, Dani got officially (unofficially) adopted by the Fentons but Dan moved in with Vlad and started working on having a healthy relationship with him which calmed down his family obsession (though Vlad still is annoying it's no longer endangering anyone)
Dan (who after gaining a clone body looks to be 17-18) due to being a fusion of Vlad and I, he gained a fusion of our obsessions now he is protective of his family to the point of herding us like sheep dogs when stressed. It's kinda funny to watch this 6ft 8 tank of a man pick up Vlad from his villainy because it's past curfew (now if he would only stop doing the same to me when I'm doing hero work!)
Jazz started college early with a full ride primarily majoring in psychology, but also wants to get a major in ecto science, anthropology, and sociology so she can prove that ghosts are conscious and sentient beings with their own cultures... Knowing her and her tendency to overachieve she will do it in record time! Though I probably should get Dan to move with her just so she won't overwork herself (even if I have to fight Vlad more often)
Val helped with any new ghosts and started proper training so she would stop destroying property, Sam helps find places for the ghost fights so there will be less damage to property or people, and Tucker helped with scheduling and tech support for Val and I when we had to go fight a ghost who didn't get the memo
It was about 7 in the morning, when my template and I were playing tag at the nearby park, Jazz gave me the job of keeping him distracted while they got his 16th birthday party set up Dan baked him a 5-tiered cake (surprisingly he is REALLY good at baking!)
We went all out getting 3 big gifts he would love, one was a year's free pass to the biggest observatory/space exhibit in the area. The second was a spaceship that Vlad funded which was named after him and was set to launch sometime later this week. And finally, we had gotten him 4 collector's edition model rocketships he had been talking about for WEEKS (apparently one of them only had 100 models ever made. so apparently very rare!)
It was going to be a great time!
While he was chasing me his face made a sudden shift "WATCH OUT!" He shouted, as he launched himself at me at full speed, before I had a chance to ask any questions I heard the shots, Danny had took the brunt of the hit but it was strong enough to knock us to our butts, we didn't even have a chance to move as an ecto net had been launched and wrapped itself around us and sent a jolt of electricity through us. While in pain I was able to look up at who shot at us, it was the GIW?
Over the years they had gotten better at hunting and capturing ghosts, but after Vlad had chilled out he used his influence to get them disbanded, and even more confusing was that they shot at us as civilians, we weren't even ghosts! Why did they shoot us!?
Too many thoughts raced through my head as I was trying to find a way out as Danny was screaming for help when another jolt of electricity struck through us hitting our very cores as the world went black.
It took us a while to get it all set up with the little stars and rockets hung up around the dining room, and we had a bit of an accident with some experiments that were left lying around.
Something was wrong I could feel it in my very bones, Danny and Dani were supposed to be home by now, I had called them 3 time now yet neither are picking up their phones.
Mom and Dad are not worried but Dan was getting ready to go out and grab them, when Tucker called us on the emergency cell that we had made in case something had happened.
It didn't even ring once before I picked it up "JAZZ! THE GIW ARE BACK, THEY HAVE DANNY AND DANI!!!"
I didn't even get to voice my thoughts when Dan had practically burst down the door running as mom and dad had raced to the Fenton-RV with Vlad in toe grabbing anything that could help on his way. "I already called Sam and Val, and am already tracking them, and am sending you their location"
"What happened?" I said as I finally snapped back to reality while getting into the RV. "They got shot in the middle of the park in their civilian forms, I think they found a way to track them as humans, I'm trying to hack them to find out how they did it, I'll report my findings."
My heart had practically stopped when the call ended, this is probably the fastest Dad had ever driven as their voices blurred into the background there was only one thing I could say as all possibilities flashed through my head "Please be ok..."
2 hours in the park, 3 hours following the trail, 2 hours to come up with a plan, and 2 hours to get through security and fight off all of the agents blocking our path.
I can remember much while running through the solid white corridors and fluorescent lights, barely registered the crunch of bones, the screams of monsters (was it the agents or his own he would never know), barely stopped himself from destroying walls to not endanger his sib-, his... (he was dangling off the edge of a sanity, tears barely held back by the flood gates)
Then we found them, well what was left of them... and everything else was swallowed by black as he could only stare at them, as his blood shifted not knowing whether it's become as cold as ice or boil from his rage.
Dani had been cut open and destabilized, Danny somehow absorbed her core before it could be 'examined' by the doctors despite being heavily restrained and bolted onto the operating table, Danny on the other hand was not fully there barely able to respond when mo- Maddie was asking him questions trying to keep him conscious.
... They had cut into them as humans, they weren't even ghosts!!! yet, yet they had done this to them, THEY WERE ONLY KIDS GOD DAMNIT!!! ONE NEWLY 16 AND THE OTHER 2!!! (physically 14 though she may be)
The only thing I heard was screaming, all I felt was pain, all he could see was Danny being tortured and experimented on, how long was he hurting with no one to call to for help (or was that me? During a time no longer)
I barely registered that they had left the facility, that he stomped the bodies on the floor of enough force to fracture the supposedly ghost resisitant tiles, how we got shot at and even hurt
I barely registered how da- Jack was driving without saying a word, hands squeezing the wheel so hard it left indents of his fist.
I barely registered mo- Maddie as she tintively stitched up Danny, making sure he was still alive using them medical equipment they had just recently added to the Fenton RV
I barely registered Vlad firing the guns at our pursuers.
And I barely registered Jazz doing her best to calm me down from my disassociation brought out by my anger, grief, stress, and whatever other emotion is keeping me from tearing this world apart again, despite having been shot herself she focused her attentionon me.)
All I can remember it from that night was how empty I felt as we made it to the portal.
I saw dad destroying the restraints, I saw Vlad stealing information before sending it to Tucker, I saw Mom holding me close to your her as she worked to keep me alive, I saw Jazz and Dan barely holding themselves together.
I heard the plan to blow up the portal behind them, and to destroy the GIW for good
I felt the floor as we got shot in our house, Dad taking the blast, I felt a kiss from a weeping mother and Father.
I smelt fire, blood and ash as the plan unfolded.
I tasted the ecto of the realm between.
And I sensed when time stood still when he granted us a moment of reprieve.
... Mom and dad weren't with us, they stayed behind to make sure that nothing was left, Vlad use the time granted to destroy his portal and all of his information after sending everything to Tucker, before falling to his knees screaming from emotions to stong to name.
My body being held gently by both Dan and Jazz as their tears reflected the myriad of emotion they either felt or repressed.
My last thought before everything faded was, a desperate call to my fraid to my family both blood and chosen. "Please don't leave..."
