Chapter Text
The world was ending....again. Batman stood still, his spine strait, feet spread equally below his wide shoulders, making it possible for him to move in any direction at a moment's notice, as he mused about the last time they had faced this particular threat.
Darkseid was returning, the last time he'd been on earth he had nearly died, nearly lost one of his kids and been lost in the timestream for an undetermined amount of time, so...no Batman was not excited by the return of the bastard, which was probably why he hadn't argued as much as he normally would about what Zatanna and Constantine were about to do.
What were they about to do?
Summon the Ghost King.
It's probably a bad idea.. he thought, watching the intricately drawn lines that mimicked the Milky way spiral galaxy, exactly as it would have looked on the exact moment when the summoning was to take place, the runes that surrounded it written in a language that he could only hope to understand. Ghostspeak, Constantine had said, his gaze drifting to the cheeseburger with fries and the strawberry milkshake on the table, waiting to be placed into the center of the circle.
"Are we sure this is going to work?" he growled out.
"Yes, Mate, it is going to work." Constantine replied.
"Even if i wish it wouldn't." Zatanna sighed.
Constantine had warned that there would be a price, which is why he had ordered all of his children away with their various teams and friends, if there was a price he wouldn't have it be one of his children, over my dead body.
He took a deep breath, going over everything in his head, he had done everything that needed to be done.
Called Alfred, written a letter to each of his children, updated his will, just in case the price was somehow something that involved his life, he was nothing if not prepared.
He looked around at the other hero’s, the one who had help save the world over and over, he had once, in his hopes and dreams, thought they could accomplish anything, Superman, WonderWoman, Flash, Aquaman, so many others, and his kids, his babies, all safe and sound on earth.
Yes, he decided, even if his soul was the price, as long as his kids were safe, it would be worth it….huh…maybe the therapy was working.
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Danny was minding his own business, sitting quietly in his office going through what felt like the 9 trillenth complaint about being unfairly killed by some creature call Darkseid. "What a ridiculous name." He muttered to himself. "OH HO!" he laughed as he read the introduction this particular soul had been given before his untimely demise. "all of existence will be yours? I think the fuck not."
It was purely coincidence that this happened to be the same universe that Bruce Wayne/Batman had come from, the man lost in the timestream, he'd given Clockwork a run for his money, always slipping away just as the Ancient had tried to catch him and put him back where he belonged. It was quite a show. He wanted to buy the man a drink.
Hell, he wanted to tie the man to the oversized bed in his keep and have his wicked way with him for as long as the man would allow.
He remembered the first time he’d seen the man in a viewing screen at clockworks tower, in a universe he was familiar with, one that caused SO many problems, but was oh so entertaining.
They had aliens! And magic, villains and Superhero’s, god and demons, cabbages and kings. It was one of the few universes that interconnected with the realms often.
He worked another several hours, before quitting and calling it a day, he made his way through the keep, now as homey as it was massive, and remembered the look of determination on Batman’s face when he vowed to make Gotham a better place, he saw every choice, and chance, and change, and perhaps most importantly, he saw how the man loved his children.
Each child that was directed into his path by chance and fate, watched him fail, get back up, and keep trying to love his kids the best he could, he had gotten better in recent years, apologized to each of his children for his failures, kept pushing himself to do better be better, for them.
As his head peaked around the corner to gaze at Dante (formerly Dan) and El (formerly Dani) both asleep, in a pile of blob ghosts, now adults but no less loving with each other or him. They were happy, finally after so long they were all happy, at peace, and it only took us several 1000 years. He snorted quietly.
He was about to enter, wake up his children and usher them off to bed when he felt it, a summons, it smelled of cheese burgers and strawberry milkshakes, he paused for a moment to feel the souls calling for him…2 aliens, a hellblazer, a magical, a royal, speedsters, and……”Hello, Batman.” He smirked.
"Well might as well save the energy of a portal if they're summoning me anyway." he mused, as he surrendered to the pull, They’ll probably appreciate me allowing them to skip the chant. He thought as he allowed himself to fade.
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The circle had turned a bright toxic green the moment the burger had hit the circle, and Constantine had cursed, "We haven't even said the chant!" he grouched as the circle blinded them.
Batman had closed his eyes on the first glow, and when the light receded, he was met with a man, not a ghost, not some terrifying spirit, just a man in combat boots, jeans, and a black hoodie, he had piercing blue eyes and messy black hair, one ankle thrown over his other knee, as he lounged in a throne munching on the burger, the plate of fries sat on the wide arm with the milkshake.
"So," the man started, chewing slowly as he took them all in. "Where'd you get this burger?"
"What..." Constantine sputtered. "the actual fuck!"
"Language soul-slut." the man joked. "You called me."
"We called the Ghost King!" Constantine rebutted.
"Yea." the man replied. "So Burger? Where'd it come from? I do have other things to do today." he stated as he pulled a bottle of ketchup from thin air.
Sensing Constatine was about to lose it Batman stepped in.
"If i tell you, can we get down to why we are here?" he growled.
The man's ice blue eyes met his and widened fractionally before a smirk lifted across his face.
"Well hello, tall, dark, and scary." He smirked. "by all means, tell me."
"I had it specially made for you." Batman stated, before forging on. "Now, are you the Ghost King?"
"I love a forward man." his smirk deepened. "Yes I am the Ghost King."
"How can we be sure of that?" Batman asked.
The man sighed, as if bored. "How many of my titles do you want?”
He could hear the others murmuring around the circle.
Arthur: “this man is a king?”
Diana: “he is not mortal.”
Hal: “he looks so normal.”
Clark: “he doesn’t have a heartbeat.”
Manhunter: “you all realize he can hear you?”
“All of them.” Batman replied.
“We will be here for days.” The man grouched. “I will inform you of those that matter, in order of importance of course.” He sighed, standing as the throne seemed to fade into nothingness.
The circle that once been glowing green changed until there was a replica of the milky way galaxy, shining with billions of stars, like tiny diamonds strewn across the floor, pulling ever inward to the massive black hole at the man’s feet.
It began to move, drifting slowly up the man’s legs, changing his appearance as it went, seeming to lift him from the floor.
“I am father of Dante, Spirit of Anger for those Lost Souls gone to soon, I am Father of El, Spirit of Freedom and Hope,” his voice reverberated across the room, layering in on itself as he continued. “I am son of Clockwork, Master of Time. I am the Balance in all, I am the inevitable, the impossible, I am life and death, I am the Slayer of Tyrants.” He continued seemingly unaware of the slow transition of his form, “Protector of those who Linger.” his lounge clothing melting into armor, black as the night sky, accented by white in the boots and belt, “Ancient of Space.” a cloak unfurled at his shoulders, drifting in invisible wind.
Black hair fading into white, as the galaxy condensed into an circular aurora above his head like a crown.
“I am Savior of the Ghost Zone,” he smirked, as the galaxy swirled across his chest before it settled into some kind of emblem in the center. “But you may call me Phantom, King of the Infinite Realms.”
The being before him was almost beautiful in an otherworldly way, he was pale blue, like he had frozen to death quietly, his ears were slightly pointed and his smile showed sharp fangs, his once human hands now sported gauntlets tipped with sharp claws.
“How’s that for an introduction?” He laughed, breaking the seriousness of the moment.
“Acceptable.” Batman hummed.
“Hard man to please aren’t you?”
Clark cleared his throat, and interrupted. “If we cou-“
“Speaking to me is a privilege you have not earned,” Phantom growled at him. “Be silent.”
Clark froze, confusion clear on his face. “I’m sorry?”
“As you should be.” He said as he looked around at the other hero’s, “Now let do a headcount shall we?”
“Let’s see,” he mused “There’s Martian Manhunter whose family are revered politicians and peace makers. You have family that waits for you,” he informed. “But they bid you not come to soon.”
“Green Lantern, intergalactic peace keeper, basically a cop. John Constantine, Hell Blazer, soul-whore. Zatanna, Magician. Aquaman, fellow king, guardian of Atlantis.” He continued a respectful nod to his fellow monarch. “Diana, little niece, Daughter of Zeus, Grand-daughter of Kronos, Princess of the Amazons, Warrior of Justice, favored of Pandora.”
“Flash- whose family has caused much paperwork, and more timeline corrections than any one family should make possible.” He glared, at a glowing green sticky note that appeared in his hand. “Favored of Kronos because he finds you amusing.” He read, rolling his glowing green eyes.
”Batman,” he purred. “The man lost to time, who outran Clockwork at every turn, Knight of Lady Gotham, Vengeance given human form, Leader of the Cauldron.” he winked, winked at BATMAN.
He expression turned hard as he faced Clark. “Cal-El, the Superman.” He sneered, “The man who spits on his family history, who refused to care for a scared, broken child, because his little feeling are hurt. The BoyScout, tell me do you think you make her proud?” He asked.
Clark paled, his skin almost white. “I don’t understand what you are talking about.” He whispered.
“Lies!” Phantom hissed, before his face cleared. “But perhaps now is not the time, but make no mistake, we will be talking,” he murmured. “Tell me,” he said turning his back on Superman, “why have you called me here?” He asked, sitting as his throne materialized behind him, milkshake still on the wide arm.
The room was silent for a few moments as the other process information that Phantom had dropped like Easter eggs, he cleared his throat.
“We wish to make a deal.” He started, pausing as Phantoms eyes met his through the white out of his mask. He motioned to continue. “A creature we have failed to exterminate before is coming to our planet, to destroy it, we’ve beat him back before, but not for long, we need help.”
Phantom pinched the bridge of his nose, as he mumbled about Clockwork interfering. “Tell me, who found a glowing note.” He asked “Perhaps on a book detailing exactly how to summon me?”
“I found it in the archives.” Zatanna volunteered.
“Of course you did.” He muttered, taking a deep breath, “Well I’m here now, so I might as well take care of it.” He stood again stepping out of the supposedly inescapable magic circle, what the fuck Constantine?! Taking a long drink from his milkshake as he did so.
“We’d like to discuss payment first.” Diana intervened before he could go further.
“24 hours of Batman’s time.” The creature intoned, dead serious.
“Deal.” Batman replied.
“WOW, not even going to ask which 24 hours? What if I take the first day of your life? The last? The day you got one of your children?” The King sighed, “You have to ask for specifics my guy.”
Batman lifted a brow, it was impossible to see this under his mask, but he got the impression that the King could tell anyway. “I already up a contract that should work for this situation, including days you are not allowed to take, and it is my understanding that the contract must be signed for the deal to be complete, verbal agreement doesn’t mean anything until ink his the page. I may need to adjust the length of time but otherwise I will suffuse.”
Batman was never more grateful for his cowl than he was in this moment. When the man/king/creature smirked at him, eyes full of what could only be described as lust, and practically purred. “I love a man who’s prepared.”
TBC