Chapter 21: Cold Truth

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Three things cannot remain hidden for long: the sun, the moon, and the truth." Buddha

Chapter 21: "Cold Truth"

(Thursday-November 11, 2010)

"Hey, kid." Agent Z sat down across from the restrained Joel.

The younger ghoul said nothing and merely stared at the ex-GIW leader.

"I heard you were refusing to eat." Agent Z mentioned. "I believe it. You look terrible, you know that?"

He received no answer.

"So…you've finally given up, is that it?" Agent Z questioned. "After all that talk about valuing life above all else, you decided to just give up in the end, huh?"

Blink. Stare. Blink.

Joel did nothing else.

"…Even I feel a little sad about all of this…" Agent Z spoke nonchalantly. "You weren't a bad kid, and you had all the potential in the world. I guess, I just decided to choose me before you."

This time, Agent Z didn't even want a response.

"I know I'm a shitty person. Someone who's too far gone now." Agent Z sighed. "And I don't regret it. I won't apologize for anything I did. I did what was best for me, after all."

Blink. Stare. Blink.

"I will survive. No matter what. Even if I have to stay here. I'm treated like a king of course, but I still lack freedom." Agent Z mentioned. "I suppose in the end, people will choose life over liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I know I sure as hell did."

It was then that Joel finally spoke. "Was it worth it?"

Agent Z snorted. "Yeah, it was. Soon, I'll get what I want, and I'm going to live through it. I'm going to be around a long time."

Joel nodded slowly in understanding. There was no approval, yet there was no hatred either. He was indifferent.

"Anyway, I just came to say goodbye." Agent Z smiled sourly. "They've figured out how to duplicate your powers…or at least your matter make ability into a machine at least"

Joel closed his eyes in acceptance. He knew what was going to happen.

"They also figured out how to stabilize the failed ghouls enough to keep them alive in captivity." Agent Z noted. "When they fight, they'll still dissolve, but now the big bosses have dangerous attack dogs from all this. But they did learn the chances of making a ghoul…a real ghoul, one that won't dissolve and actually have unique powers is nigh impossible through scientific means. Hell, even you and I'll dissolve if we fight too much. Thus, the Ghoul Project is being shut down for now."

Joel was waiting for it. The killing blow was coming.

"Queen Bee wanted me to kill you so they could dissect your remains, but she was overruled by the other big bosses." Agent Z grinned. "You get to live."

"For what, though?" Joel questioned.

"Good question." Agent Z shrugged. "All I know is that the big bosses are going to turn you and Grundy into investments. I don't know what they mean, but I still wouldn't hold my breath."

Joel wouldn't.

Agent Z stood and began walking to the exit of the cell. "But to me, it looks like you decided to just let go. That might just be the smarter option. Besides, I no longer have an obligation to keep you alive. If you decide to die, then it's no skin off my back. After all, we still have Grundy as an investment."

The door closed behind Agent Z with a loud bang, and Joel was left alone with his thoughts.

"Danny! Wake up!" Dani yelled as she ran into her brother's room. She then flung herself onto his bed and dropped onto the sleeping halfa teen.

"Gah!" Danny groaned as he was painfully pulled out of his slumber. "Crap! Dani, that hurt!"

"Good!" Dani beamed. "You need to be punished for sleeping right now!"

"Dani…" Danny groaned. "It's…6:00 A.M. and I was up all night prepping for Kid Flash's surprise birthday party. I think I deserve to sleep a bit. Besides, you hate mornings."

Not to mention that Dani's birthday would be soon too. Technically, she was created earlier than the fourteenth, but she was just a glob in a tube for most of it. Plus, she didn't start to age until Phantom helped stabilize her with his own energy and DNA. If he had done something differently, then Dani might only age internally. Luckily, she could live a normal life…for a halfa.

So, considering all the circumstances, Dani decided that her birthday would be on the fourteenth. They were planning a surprise party…which would be different from Wally's party because the speedster knew about his party. Yeah, KF's 'hints' weren't all the subtle…

"Not when it's snowing outside!" Dani beamed.

"Snowing? It's November…" Danny sat up and looked out the window. "Woah…"

"Yeah, woah." Dani was bouncing up and down in excitement. "Isn't it great?! I think that I'll even get out of school! What do you thing?"

"I think that Climate Change is getting way out of hand…"

"Isn't this great!?" Dani shouted from the kitchen table in the dining room.

"Hardly…" Vlad mumbled as he swallowed his eggs. "The rate this is going, all of my meetings and business calls will be delayed. I will be so backed up…"

"Tell me about it…" Danny sighed. "What if the Zeta systems stops working? It isn't used to reacting to this kind of weather. If it shuts down, it will take forever to fly home…"

"Only a few hours." Dani shrugged. "Plus the cold doesn't bother ice users."

"True, but I think the instant teleportation thing has spoiled me." Danny shrugged.

"Why are you being such downers?! This is awesome!" Dani grinned. "Someone back me up!"

"Bark!" Cujo obeyed his master and was rewarded with a strip of bacon.

"Yes…excellent…" Wulf nodded and caught the bacon thrown at him by Dani.

"Dude, you have your own bacon." Danny deadpanned to his friend. "Why would you suck up to her for food when you have your own plate?"

"You can never have enough bacon." Wulf grinned and spoke in the first line of English he said that wasn't broken up.

"Eh…Fair enough."

"For what it is worth, I don't sense anything involving ectoplasmic energy that could have caused this." Vision suggested from across the table. "This is odd, but I know it doesn't involve ghosts."

"What about magic or technology?" Vlad questioned.

"We will need to investigate that much…" Vision acknowledged.

"Well…something is up considering that snowstorms are appearing all over the country." Danny frowned at his phone.

"It could just be a miracle birthday present that fate has gifted me." Dani grinned.

"That is doubtful…" Vision shook her head.

"Speaking of birthdays, though, I need to get to the Cave." Danny rose from and seat.

"And I'm going to go meet my friends." Dani gained an almost evil smile. "We're going to have the snowball fights to end all snowball fights…"

"You know, you're pretty excited for a girl that can literally go to the Land of the Far Frozen whenever she wants." Danny noted as he and his sister walked out of the room.

"This is different! This is snow that gets me out of school! What could be better?"

"A weather phenomenon that doesn't end in car wrecks and tons of hours spent on shoveling snow?"

"Killjoy…"

"Okay, Wally will be here soon. Are the cakes ready?" Phantom questioned as he carried food from the kitchen.

"Yeah." M'gann nodded as she levitated the cakes. "I have one chocolate and one vanilla."

"You sure that will be enough?" Conner questioned as he and Kaldur hung the birthday banner.

"No, that's why I asked M'gann to make two and why I hid the cupcakes." Phantom shrugged.

"You do know that Kid Flash will still be able to find the cupcakes no matter where you hid them." Kaldur noted.

"Well, hopefully the cakes will distract him long enough for us to eat the cupcakes." Phantom shrugged.

"Yeah, hopefully." Robin snorted as he and Zatanna finished with the other decorations. "You do remember that he beat you in a eating contest, and you made duplicates and don't have to breath."

"It's the best plan I got, okay!?" Phantom fronwed.

Everyone laughed.

Recognized: Artemis B08

Artemis walked into the Cave and greeted her friends. "Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late. My mom was freaking because of the snow."

"Must suck not to have a car that can literally drive on almost every surface." Robin smirked as he remembered the Batmobile.

"Or just fly." Phantom suggested.

"Oh yeah…" Superboy smirked as he got down from the latter and patted Sphere, aka the Supercycle. It turned out that the simple sphere machine from Bialya was actually a super advanced fighting machine. Phantom could barely believe Superboy's story about the 'New Gods' from New Genesis. "Flying is nice."

"Okay, stop making fun of my normalness." Artemis frowned.

"You do know that most teenagers get made fun of for being different?" Zatanna noted with a smile.

"Yeah, but in this group, it's different to actually be normal." Artemis shrugged.

"Define normal, though." Phantom stated.

"Good point…" Artemis didn't even look at Phantom when she spoke.

"Danny…" M'gann whispered as she nugged her friend. "I think now's the time to talk to her. You know, before the party."

Phantom nodded and turned to Artemis. "Hey, Artemis, can you help me carry Wally's presents in here."

Artemis frowned. While she was far from weak, they had teammates with abilities that would carrying the presents easy. So, that meant, Danny wanted to be alone with her. "Fine. Let's go."

Ignoring the glances of the members of Young Justice that didn't know about their falling out, Danny and Artemis walked into the hall and headed to the closet they hid Wally's presents.

"I'm surprised that Wally never found his presents." Phantom noted. "He's been looking for a week after all."

"Uh huh…Can you cut the small talk and get to the real point of all this." Artemis turned and crossed her arms.

"Fine," Phantom frowned. "We need to talk about how pissy you've been lately."

"Why? It hasn't affected the Team." Artemis frowned. The halfa noticed that she didn't deny it, though.

"Because it's bothering me." Phantom stated. "We're in the business that every day could be our last. I don't want that day to come with a friend still being mad at me."

"Alright…" Artemis sighed. "I'm sorry about basically blowing you off for two weeks, but I was hurt okay. I put myself out there, and you rejected me. How was I supposed to react?"

"I never said that you didn't have the right to be mad." Phantom clarified.

"No, you didn't." Artemis nodded. "I guess…I just thought that the signs were there. The attraction was there. Neither of us were taken. We both wanted something to keep our minds distracted. I thought you would just go with it."

"I almost did." Phantom answered. "But I couldn't."

"Why?"

"Because you don't love me." Phantom stated. "You love Wally, though."

"W-what?"

"I can see it." Phantom noted. "The way you look at him, and the way he looks at you. You're both too stubborn to admit it, but you want to be together."

"…" Artemis looked away.

"And truth be told…there is someone else for me too." Phantom noted. "Red Huntress."

"I see…" Artemis nodded slowly. "And how long has that been going on."

"Not that long at all." Phantom stated. "Plus…"

"Plus what?" Artemis questioned.

"It's just…" Phantom frowned. "I don't want to be the guy that's not good enough."

"What do you mean?" Artemis questioned.

"I haven't had the most stable love life." Phantom noted. "I've been with girls that only liked certain parts of me, but hated the other. I've had a girl use me to get back at her boyfriend. And now I've had a girl try to deny her real feelings by going after me. In each one, I'm the guy that's okay to be with for a while, but not good enough in the end. I…I don't want that."

"So then…Ember was the most stable relationship you've been in, huh?" Artemis noted.

"Yeah…pretty much…" Phantom gave a small smile. "She didn't ask me to be anyone other than myself. That's what I want, and why I won't let myself become the guy that's second best."

"…Then I guess I better get over it, right? I'm sorry for putting you in that position." Artemis apologized. "And…thanks…for being honest."

"No problem. Come on, we should get those presents." Phantom smiled.

"Right."

"Oh, and one more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"I think you should tell him."

"…I'll think about it."

Everything hurt. In fact, the pain had been a constant for a while now. Joel missed his Numb ability a lot. He now knew that he had grown reliant on it. It allowed him to ignore so much. When it disappeared, though, he was all the weaker for it.

"Gah…" Joel groaned. He was having trouble breathing.

His body was weak now. The lack of food and the experiments had taken their toll. It was a struggle to just stay awake now. Every second felt like an entire eternity.

This was especially true after his talk with Agent Z. They had found a way to utilize his powers into a machine. That meant he was no longer necessary. Yet, they hadn't killed him. No, apparently, he was an investment.

What did that even mean?

Joel didn't know what was going to happen to him next. For all he knew, it could be even worse than this. That thought made him shudder. He didn't want to suffer through this anymore…

For once, Joel was thinking that death was a viable option. He believed that life was far too sacred to give up on, but was this really living? The boy was being treated worse than a diseased, caged animal. What was even the point of his life?

Joel, by no means, feared death. It was a force that no mortal could defy forever. It was the end of life. Granted, there was ghosthood, but Joel didn't know where ghouls stood on that spectrum.

Being trained by the Shadows had left Joel with a simple acceptance of death. It happened to everyone. Not even the Great One could last forever. Eventually, his mind would not be able to handle the resurrecting effects of the Lazarus Pit's resurrection ability. That was why he was looking for a successor in the first place.

It was the Shadow's training that ironically strengthened Joel's beliefs in the sanctity of life. To Joel, every second was precious…but if every second proved to be worse than the last, what was the point? Was it better to fight to live a hopeless existence or merely accept the peace of death? Joel wasn't sure…

But he did know one thing. He was far too tired to care anymore. Damn…he just wanted some peace…

Perhaps it would be better to give up. He had served his purpose in the Ghoul Project. They wouldn't force him to live if he did stop trying. Nothing was stopping him from giving up.

Closing his eyes, Joel stopped fighting. He couldn't bring himself to care anymore. No one else did, that's for sure, so why should he?

Slowly, the pain began to fade. It was different than when Joel used his Numb ability. Usually, the loss of the pain would lead to nothing. He was filled with a void. Now, though, he felt…pleasant. It was like he was gently being rocked to sleep.

Joel never had felt so at peace in his life.

Taking in a full lung's breath, Joel sighed out slowly until he no longer had any air left. His body relaxed and slumped in the chair. His face was one of content. He would finally be getting some sleep…

…His chest no longer rose…

…His body no longer gave off heat…

…Joel could no longer move…

…

…

…

"No…You can't do this. It is not your time, young Dusk. The world still needs you."

"Gasp!" Joel's eyes snapped open as he took a huge breath. He gasped for air and looked around frantically. He was no longer alone. There was someone standing a few meters in front of him. It wasn't a scientist, soldier, or even Agent Z. It was a girl.

The girl appeared as a teenager that was a few years older than Joel. She was pale and was wearing pure black clothing. A black cross hung around her neck. In fact, black seemed to a consistent color for her with her black hair and makeup.

"Hello, Joel."

"W-who are you?"

"Me?" The girl gave him a gentle smile. It was filled with compassion and appreciation. "I go by a lot of things, but most people tend to call me Death."

"Gah!" Youngblood grunted as several different snowballs bombarded him.

"Ha!" Dani shouted from behind her snow fort. "Got you!"

The group of children were enjoying their snow day. Dressed in coats and winter clothing, Dani and her friends had spent most of their day outside. They built snowmen, snow forts, snow angles, and snow canons…that actually worked thanks to Rachel's magic. Needless to say, it was the snow ball fights to end all snowball fights.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

And Nyx was loving every minute of it.

"Ahahahahahaha!" Nyx laughed as Dani's fort was blasted away with the canon. "I am loving this!"

She turned the canon to Victor.

He raised his hands and yelled. "I give up!"

Boom!

"Ack!" He was blasted back by snow.

"No surrender! No mercy!" Nyx grinned in glee.

"Secret…" Greta eyed Nyx from her position to the side. The blond ghost was rather opposed to violence for the most part unless it was absolutely necessary.

Rachel shared a look with Greta. The look on Nyx's face slightly disturbed the two girls. Perhaps they were imagining it, but Nyx seemed to be…crueler than before. She seemed to delight in the pain of others. That much wasn't all that new, but it seemed a little more noticeable lately.

Perhaps they were just imagining it…

…Unlike that… Secret pointed up. "Secret."

"…Well, that's not good." Rachel noted as her control slipped on the canon.

"Hey! What the hell?!" Nyx glared at Rachel as the canon dissolved. "What's with that? We had them on the ropes."

"…" Rachel did not answer.

"Gah!" Youngblood pulled himself out of the snow. "We done?"

"W-we b-better b-be…" Victor shivered off the show. "I-I d-don't h-have the cold t-tolerance you g-guys have…"

"We'll get to your wimpiness later, right now…" Dani followed Rachel's line of sight. "Well, crap. I should have known that this was too good to be true…I am not going to hear the end of this from my family."

Above them was a giant flying fortress. It was huge and seemed to have incredibly tough defenses. Not only this, snow and ice were being released from all sides of the fortress. That meant that the fortress was the cause of all the snow.

"That reminds me of an anime movie." Youngblood frowned. "But I can't remember which one…"

"Castle in the Sky?" Rachel suggested.

"Yeah…kind of. Except that its releasing ice instead of being covered in trees and plants." Youngblood nodded.

"Either way, we're going to have the take it down." Nyx mentioned.

"You guys do that, I'm going to go inside and get hot chocolate." Victor said through clenched teeth.

"I'd ask you to save us some, but that thing is huge. It might take a while to take down…." Dani grinned though. "What a great snow day."

Young Justice, in stealth gear, stood in front of Batman's image on the screen in the middle of Mt. Justice. It turns out that after all their work, Wally's surprise birthday party was cut short by Batman's demand that they prepare for a mission. Granted, Wally probably would have been depressed for the rest of the party anyway when Artemis revealed to him that M'gann and Conner were in a relationship.

The poor guy looked like a kicked puppy at that point, while Artemis looked completely satisfied. Oh, yeah. It was only a matter of time now before they got together. Maybe Phantom should start a betting pool or something…

"Where's Flash?" Kid Flash questioned.

"Flash and Red Tornado already have their assignments." Batman answered. Phantom had to question how the Dark Knight got such good reception in this weather. Hell, even the Zeta Tube system shut down. "A massive ice storm has paralyzed North America from coast to coast. Satellite surveillance has detected six flying ice fortresses, source unknown, which seem to be responsible and must be stopped."

"Can't the Watchtower blow them out of the sky or something?" Kid Flash suggested.

"Wait? Is your space station weaponized?" Phantom blinked in confusion.

"Watchtower? Space station?" Zatanna blinked.

Batman sighed. "No, the League's orbiting headquarters is not weaponized. And with the Green Lanterns off world, I need all hands on deck."

Good. Finding out that his hometown could be blown to bits by the League with such ease would be beyond troubling. Besides, how dumb would it be for the Watchtower to be weaponized? If it were ever compromised, then cities could easily be blown to bits…

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Robin smirked. "The League and Young Justice fighting side-by-side?!"

"Woah!" Kid Flash smiled. "Really?

"Everyone but Phantom." Batman stated. "There is an ice fortress above Amity Park. The ghosts have already began their assault on the ice fortress. I am going to let them handle that one. Considering your ties to them, I'm assigning you to assist your friends in taking down the fortress."

Phantom nodded. That made sense. Besides, he probably would have rushed home anyway after hearing about it. This saves both time and face.

Batman gave his instructions to the rest of the Team. Each one was excited about their assignments…except for the birthday boy, that is.

"Uh, Batman, I think you skipped…"

"Kid Flash, a young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run it 3,000 miles cross country."

"Who is this girl?!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

"Does it matter?" Batman questioned.

"No, of course not…But can't we Zeta-"

"Zeta Tubes are off line." Robin reminded him. "Sorry…"

"What about me, then?" Phantom stepped up. "I can fly so I can skip any on ground obstacles. Plus, my intangibility and ice powers can help keep the heart safe."

He hated the idea of leaving his family to fend for themselves, but there were a lot of them in Amity Park. They most likely could handle this easily without him. Besides, Wally had enough disappointments on his birthday.

"No, even at your top speed, you would never be able to make it in time." Batman stated. "Kid Flash is our best option."

"Right…then how can I say no…" Kid Flash forced a fake smile. "Guess I won't be needing stealth…" He deactivated stealth mode and stated. "Speedy delivery boy at your service…"

"Everyone get to your assignments. Batman out." Batman's image disappeared.

"Sorry, Bro." Phantom placed a hand on Wally's shoulder. "I tried."

"It's fine…" Kid Flash sighed. "Thanks anyway, though."

"We need to get going." Kaldur stated to them.

"Right…" Kid Flash frowned.

"Look on the bright side, Wally." Zatanna smiled. "Maybe the girl you're getting the heart for is cute and will give you a thank you kiss."

"Yeah…maybe…"

"Death?" Joel blinked. "You…are Death?"

"Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you, Joel." Death smiled gently. "I'm just sorry that it had to be in such terrible circumstances."

"…Are you here to take me away?" Joel questioned carefully. "Is this when I die?"

"No, it's not your time yet." Death answered. "There is still a lot you have to do. A lot you have to accomplish."

"Accomplish? I haven't accomplished anything in my life." Joel noted.

"Not yet, but soon…very soon, your story will become very important." Death suddenly sighed. "I hate spoilers, but Destiny just had to make sure I knew that you would be important. At least he didn't tell me how this all ended…"

Joel was very confused. "Your words make absolutely no sense."

"I doubt they would." Death noted. "Even my chosen had a hard time understanding it all."

"I still don't understand anything. If you are Death, and you don't want to kill me…Why are you here?" Joel questioned.

"You were about to give up, Joel." Death gave him a sad smile. "I can understand why, but that doesn't mean that I can just let you surrender your ideals. That can't happen according to Destiny. If you give up, this world is doomed."

"Doomed? I'm just one boy." Joel felt like laughing at this girl. "There is no way that I can make such a difference."

"Just as Phantom is one person? Just as Spirit is one person?" Death gained a distant look. "Destiny spoke of it. Three pieces of halves. Phantom, Spirit, and Dusk. The three people who will be able to stand against the threats ahead."

"Dusk? Who is Dusk?" Joel frowned. He had heard of Phantom and Spirit, but who was that third person.

Death laughed. Joel expected it to be harsh and mean. Instead, it was soft and comforting. "Why, it's you, of course."

"My name is Joel, not Dusk." Joel stated.

"Many ghosts tend to gain a new name once they form." Death held up three fingers. "Names have power and meaning, after all. For example, a boy who was once weak and was merely a phantom to this world, but later became a bringer of hope. A girl with a cheerful and compassionate spirit that can see the true intentions of those around her. And a boy who preservers through the dusk darkness of life to find the light and peace that makes life worth living."

"…And you said three pieces of halves…"

"There may be more… or there may be less later. Like I said, I hate having too many spoilers." Death shrugged. "But as of right now, you three are the ones I know of. It will be you three that has the power to stop those that mock the Endless."

"…This is a hallucination, isn't it?" Joel noted. "I'm dreaming."

"No, I am here. It is only because you were so close to giving up and your connection to my chosen that you can see me." Death explained. "No one else can, though. Right now, it's just you and me."

"Okay, I'll just go with this…" Joel sighed tiredly. "But…even if I'm important, why should I keep fighting when I have nothing to fight for?"

"You have one of the strongest wills I have ever seen." Death stepped forward and stroked his face gently. Joel thought he would be embarrassed, but he wasn't. Death's actions was comforting. She almost looked motherly as she looked at him. "Only a handful of people could even dream about going through what you have and not crack. None of them, however, are still a young child. And for that, I'm so sorry. I hate to see suffering so much, especially with children. Unfortunately, the only way I can end suffering is by bringing the peace of the afterlife, and most people won't accept that. So I watch with sadness and tears as this world makes itself bleed."

"It does do that…" Joel slumped down a little.

"No! You cannot act this way! I know it hurts now, but this is darkest point before the dawn." Death knelt down and smiled with glee. "My chosen will come soon. With him, he will bring Cheer. Hope and Cheer will find Peace and together escape hell. All you need to do is hold on a bit longer, and then you will find everything you ever wanted. Life, love, liberty, happiness, hope, family…"

"How do I know that you're not lying? Hell…how do I know this is even real?" Joel questioned.

"Belief, Joel. Sometimes, you must abandon logic and merely hold onto blind faith that everything will work out." Death stood and began to walk away.

"W-wait!"

"I'm sorry, Joel, I'm out of time. Please, keep holding on. It will soon all be worth it." With one last gentle smile, Death was gone, and Joel was once again all alone.

Crash! Bang!

The metal of the gatling gun caved in under the pressure of Spirit's kick. It was merely one of the many, many, many weapons on the ice fortress. They had spent hours already trying to take the thing down. It was obvious that this thing was meant to take and deal a great amount of punishment. In fact, even with the great number of ghosts tearing the fortress apart, it would still take a while to destroy it completely.

Spirit grinned. Best snow day ever!

"This is pretty insane!" Nyx yelled while using her shadow energy to blow some of the weapons up.

"Isn't everything we do insane…" Raven mentioned. Her magic caused the guns and canons to turn on each other.

"True!" Youngblood yelled from his position of riding one of the machine guns like a bull. It was surprisingly effective on causing the machine to destroy other parts of the fortress.

"Secret…" Greta seemed to agree since she was using her powers to twist and distort the metal of the fortress.

On other parts of the fortress, the other vigilantes and superpowered residents of Amity Park were doing their part to take down the fortress. The entire ice fortress was covered in blasts of ectoplasm. It was a wonder that the machine was still flying.

This thing was obviously meant to last…

That led to the question as to what was the purpose of this thing? The ice fortresses were spread across all of North America. An entire content was covered in snow because of this. The point of these things was obviously something big. Most likely, they were meant as some sort of distraction or attempt to use the weather to cause some sort of chaos.

Why station one over Amity Park, though? This fortress would go down hours before the others did considering the amount of people attacking it. It could be used as a distraction for someone to get something in Amity Park, but everything worthy of value was heavily guarded. Masters Mansion, Fenton Works, Axion Labs, hell even the museum because it seemed to be a hotspot were all under constant surveillance and protection by automatic weapons. They would know if something happened.

Maybe someone just wanted to keep the ghosts in one spot. But if that was the plan, then they would be going after something the ghosts and Red Huntress would care about. To Spirit's knowledge, there wasn't a whole lot outside of Amity Park and the Ghost Zone that they cared about.

Wait…an attack on the Ghost Zone maybe? No, that would be stupid. The Ghost Zone was full of other Council members ready to fight. It would be stupid to attack with Colossus, Pandora, Frostbite, and Scribe ready to fight. Unless you had an army of Necromancers, of course, which was doubtful considering the lack of ectoranium available now.

So…what exactly was the end game here?

Logically, Spirit couldn't think of one. In her gut, though, Spirit felt that something was wrong. It was like something was poking her in the back of her mind. She had been feeling it for a while now. Something was off…

"Vision." Spirit spoke into her Fenton Phones. "I need to retreat for a moment to contact Danny."

"Understood." Vision noted.

Flying away, Spirit called Danny.

"Hey, Spirit."

"Danny, I need to talk to you about this ice fortress thing."

"I can see your point." Phantom agreed with Spirit's arguments. "Something is definitely wrong about all this, but we'll have to wait to find out."

"What about that feeling you and I had?" Spirit questioned.

"That, I have no idea…" Phantom stayed closer to the ground to make sure the wind didn't interfere with his Fenton Phones. He was about fifteen minutes away from Amity Park at this point. "But I don't like it. It almost feels like the time I met…her after my fight with Agent Z."

"Her?" Spirit questioned knowingly.

"Her." Phantom agreed.

"Does that mean someone we know is going to die?"

"I have no idea, but keep a close eye on everyone. I don't want to lose anyone." Phantom ordered. "I'll be there soon to help."

"Roger Dodger."

Phantom sighed when he canceled the call. What else could go wrong today?

…He just had to ask that, didn't he? Because as soon as he said those words, he felt a giant hand grab him and pull. Red energy flashed before his eyes, and he was dumped into a pile of snow.

"Hey there, Phantom!" Klarion cackled as he stared down at the halfa. "Long time no see. How you been? In fact, better question, how's Nyx?"

"Witch Boy!" Phantom jumped to his feet. He quickly slid into a self-defense stance.

"Oh, no need for that, Phantom." Klarion nonchalantly checked out his finger nails. "I'm not here for that."

"Then what are you here for?" Phantom glared. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? Absolutely nothing. It's about what my friend wants." Klarion's features became demonic.

"Friend?" Phantom glanced over his shoulder and saw a man standing several meters away.

This man was incredibly tall. He also looked like a complete wall of muscles under his dark blue coat with a red stripe on the edges. Despite his massive size, what really drew Phantom's attention was the three deep scars that ran across his face.

"Vandal Savage." Phantom growled.

"Danny Phantom." Savage grinned. "We have a lot to discuss."

Joel breathed deeply. Was…was that a dream? He didn't believe it. The ghoul had actually met Death, the real personification of Death. Not only that, Death was a teenage girl. How weird was that? He half expected a skeleton in a hooded rope.

Considering the world he lived in with aliens, wizards, and ghosts, Death being alive wasn't exactly the strangest thing that could have happened. In fact, at this point, Joel was sure that Death was coming for him. The conversation he got instead was confusing to say the least.

Death's words struck Joel to his core. Her gentle tone and promises of better tomorrows brought a Joel didn't know he had anymore. Part of him was now curious and hopeful about what was to come.

That part, however, could easily be crushed by Joel's reason. The ghoul was tried, hunger, in pain, and desperate. Of course his mind would play tricks on him. After all, there was no logical way that he could even hope to come out of this for the better.

Yet…Joel felt like he would. Once again, Joel felt like fighting on with his life. He no longer wanted to give up.

Soon, Hope and Cheer would find him. Soon, he would be on the path to find peace. Soon, he would be free of the Ghoul Project.

Because of what just happened, Joel believed that now. So, even if it was for a little while longer, Joel would continue on. He would wait and see where this all went and where it would all end. For a bit more, he would endure this hell.

This was merely the darkness before the dawn. All he had to do was preserver a little longer. If he did that, everything would work out…hopefully.

"Dusk…" Joel said this word carefully. He tasted it and how it sounded. It was a little weird, but he liked it.

Dusk. The darkness before the dawn. The fight before the end of the war. The suffering before the peace.

Joel liked that. It suited him and his life very well. If a ghost needed a new name, that was as good as any he supposes.

So, Joel would be Dusk. He would be the last push to the end of this story.

Spirit flew across the ice fortress with ease. She twisted and turned to dodge the various explosions and bullets sent her way. As she moved, the halfa girl used her Spectral Claws to cut through the various weapons on the ice fortress.

Despite her motions and battle expertise, Spirit was worried. She felt like something was wrong. Yet, nothing seemed to be wrong. All of her friends and family were quickly tearing the fortress apart. It wouldn't be too long before the threat was gone.

Well…there was one problem.

"Where's Daniel?" Plasmius's voice sounded through the connection in Spirit's Fenton Phones. "I thought that he would be here by now."

"Perhaps he stopped to help some civilians. The ice and snow must be causing quite a few accidents." Fright Knight suggested.

"That does sound like him." Vision acknowledged. "But it wouldn't take him this long unless there are a lot of accidents."

"There is a ton of snow and ice." Spirit tried to reason. "Who knows what problems it could be causing by this point."

"True. Perhaps I just worry too much." Vision agreed.

Maybe, but Spirit had her doubts too though. Danny wasn't one to break a promise. If he was delayed, why hadn't he called yet to inform them?

He might be in trouble…They needed to end this.

"I'm going to try to go to the core." Spirit stated. "I think we destroyed enough of the defenses, but try to keep the rest of them distracted.

Her answer was several positive responses.

Turning intangible, Spirit passed through the metal of the fortress. They tried destroying the core before, but they quickly learned that they needed to destroy as many defenses as possible in order to avoid being blown to bits or hit by an energy backlash. By now, though, the fortress was damaged enough to get to the center of the fortress without much trouble.

Despite this, though, Spirit was still forced to dodge a lot of bullets and energy blasts when she entered the core room. Her Premonition and dodging instincts made this simple, however, and she was made it to the energy source with relative ease.

Activating her Spectral Claws, Spirit smirked. "And now the fun part…"

"Discuss?" Phantom glared. "What would I ever want to discuss with you?"

"You would be surprised, Phantom." Savage began to step towards Phantom. "After all, I know about so many of your problems."

"Oh, I'm sure. I've read the League data banks." Phantom grounded out. "Vandal Savage. Caveman that's lived over 50,000 years. Enemy of the Flash. A man that has eyes and ears everywhere. Definitely, an enemy that can't be trusted."

"Good, you've done your research. That's smart." Savage stopped a mere few feet in front of Phantom. "Klarion, could you please give us five minutes?"

"Kukukukukukukuku…" Klarion chuckled. "Of course." He then disappeared in a blaze of red energy.

"You sent him away?" Phantom frowned. "Why send you ally away? Do you think I would be that easy to defeat?"

"No, it's more that I don't want him to interfere. Klarion tends to stir people up. I want this to be civil." Savage explained. "Besides, you may be strong for your age and have unlimited potential, but I have faced a ghost that would cause even the mighty Superman to crumple like a small babe."

"Who exactly? Pariah Dark? Colossus? The Reaper?" Phantom questioned.

"Yes…Nekron the Reaper. The single greatest threat this world has ever seen." Savage traced the scars on his face. "He was a threat brought about by the Reality Gauntlet. A threat brought about by me."

"What does that mean?"

"Who do you think even created the Reality Gauntlet?" Savage questioned.

"…You?"

"Of course. It…was by far my greatest mistake." Savage sighed. "At the time, I thought that I could help people. But I was mistaken. I quickly learned that altering reality through force leads to devastating consequences. I could never imagined, though, that it would lead to the creation of ghosts. So, in a way, I was the one that created ghosts. Perhaps, I am the father of ghosts."

"Yeah, you're really fatherly." Phantom clenched his fists.

"I will admit. A lot of my creations and children have come back to try to destroy me." Savage almost looked reminiscent. "None more so than Nekron, though. Most people tend to think I had these scars before my ascent into immortality. Perhaps in another life that might be the case, but no. I really gained these scars from Nekron. He is the only being with the power to hurt that which is immortal. It was not a good day for me."

"How sad…" Phantom frowned. He was thinking of trying to get away. Right now, though, there didn't seem to be any huge threat, and he was really curious about this history he had not never heard before.

"It was not that way with every one of my children, though." Savage noted. "You met my daughter on more than once occasion. She is a very useful ally."

"Daughter?" Phantom was surprised. "You have a daughter?"

"Yes…Jinx." Savage answered.

Phantom's brain shut down. "W-what?"

"That is not what this is about, though." Savage noted. "I just came from a meeting with you speedster friend."

"Kid Flash!?" Phantom's eyes narrowed. "What did you do to him?!"

"Nothing more than distract him. I'm sure you'll find out why soon enough." Savage chuckled. "This ice fortress plan has allowed me to accomplish several goals for today. That was one. Another is finally being able to meet with you without any interference."

"Meet me? Don't you mean kill, maim, or capture?" Phantom inquired.

"Of course not. I would never threaten the chance to gain a potential ally." Savage stated.

"Ally? You got to be nuts if you think that I would ever work with you." Phantom growled.

"You will change your mind in time." Savage noted. "After you see what I have planned, you'll join me willingly."

"I doubt it!" Phantom's hands began to glow.

"Please. I do not wish to fight." Savage raised his palms to show his compliance. "I just wish to speak with you. I want you to join my side because I have seen what you can become. You have the potential to become a god. Your strength, speed, and stamina were unmatched during the war, and you leadership ability is far beyond most people twice your age."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Phantom stated.

"Of course it won't." Savage grinned. "But cold hard facts will. You see, I have lived a long time. So, I have acquired vast fortunes, incredible experience and knowledge, and connections that cannot be surpassed."

"Where are you going with this?" Phantom asked.

"Don't you think that it is weird how everything seems to be connected in some way?" Savage questioned. "Think about it. The Guys in White work with the Shadows to obtain Fenton's knowledge on weapons and the Necromancers to start a war which allowed Lex Luthor and other sources to obtain energy for the Ghoul Project."

"H-huh?"

"And then, your enemies find a way to work with the villains. Walker gets into the Shadows easily. Various villains work together to create connections of drugs, technology, and magic that made Undergrowth so powerful." Savage explained. "All the coincidences. All the conspiracies. All the different people who seem to hate each other actually managing to work together. Do you really think that any of that would be possible if I didn't instigate it all?"

Phantom froze in though. It…it all made so much sense. He could see the dots connect. There was a conspiracy going on. There were people working in the background causing massive disasters and catastrophes.

And Phantom was at the center of it.

When Fenton was kidnapped…when Fenton works was destroyed…when the Guys in White obtained Necromancers and attacked Amity Park…when the Anti-Ectoterrorist Act was passed…When the GIW War happened…

Then there was almost every mission Phantom went on with the Team. They were all connected in some way. Every single problem Phantom had faced after the Nasty Burger Incident was planned about from the beginning, and it was all Savage's fault.

Phantom was stunned beyond words.

"It was you…" Phantom mumbled in shock as he stared at the large man standing a few feet away from him. "It was all your fault…everything…"

"It was." Savage acknowledged with a grin.

"W…why?" Phantom numbly asked.

"For the betterment of mankind…"

"…I have heard that before…is that your moto?" Phantom questioned.

His answer was merely that same dark grin.

"Damn it…" Phantom fell to his knees in frustration. "I can't…"

"As you can now see, I have connections to do anything I want really." Savage stated. "Even this is all because of me and my acquaintances. We have chosen to remain hidden for now, but that will have to change soon. But if the League finds out too early that would be a problem. So if someone happens to tell the League before we are ready, then my colleagues and I would become very upset. We might even be angry enough to destroy an entire city and every human and ghost that lives in it."

"You…"

"After all, we still have dozens of Necromancers, assassin's armed with ectoplasmic weapons, superpowered villains, and now ghouls to fight for us. It wouldn't be all that hard." Savage chuckled.

"…I won't say anything, but I won't join you either." Phantom glared. "You're a monster."

"Perhaps, but I know I can change your mind if I give you the right incentives." Savage noted. He pulled out a flash drive and tossed it to Phantom. "Consider that an act of good will for our potential partnership. That contains every little bit of data available on the Ghoul Project. You may go collect the scraps that remain. Soon, you'll have your chance to go there."

Phantom stared at the flash drive. "…I don't care about that anymore. That's why I left Vision to investigate it."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll care after you see the data." Savage laughed. "Now I must take my leave. I am a busy man with much to do. Klarion."

The Witch Boy appeared in a blaze of red from a ring that was on Savage's finger. "You done?"

"Yes. Let us go."

"Alrighty then. Kukukukukukuku!" Klarion and Savage disappeared into Klarion's portal.

Phantom stared at the now empty space. He didn't know how to react. He didn't know how to feel. All that he knew now was the things would never be the same after this.

"Kekekekekekekekeke…" Nyx grinned widely. "Now that was a good snow day."

"I would have preferred to stay home with some hot chocolate." Youngblood noted honestly. "I got shot by a lot of canons today. Usually, I like to be on the other end."

"You going soft on us, Chuck?" Spirit questioned. "I thought this was a blast."

"You would. I agree with Youngblood." Raven sighed as she floated above the wrecked fortress. "I'm ready for some hot chocolate. What do you think, Greta?"

"Secret."

"We seriously need to teach you more vocabulary." Spirit noted. "Maybe we can get Wulf to help you."

Hearing his name, Wulf looked up. He and Cujo had been investigating the wreckage of the downed fortress for any clues. They found none. "Que?"

"Nothing, Wulf. Just a joke." Spirit noted.

With a snort, the canine ghosts turned back to their tasks.

"Danny's still missing…" The children turned to see the adults talking. Red Huntress seemed extremely worried.

"Yes, perhaps we should start searching for him?" Plasmius suggested.

"No need." Vision stated. "My birds saw him heading this way."

"Was he harmed?" Fright Knight questioned.

"He did not appear to be so." Vision stated.

"I'm not…" Phantom flew up to the other ghost. "And you do know that you people talk really loudly?"

"Danny!" Red Huntress rushed to Phantom. She looked like she wanted to hug him, but she settled for flicking him on the forehead. "Why didn't you call or answer your phone?!"

"Sorry. A lot of people needed help with car crashes. I figured you could handle this while I helped other people." Phantom smiled at his girlfriend. "I would have called, but I was distracted. A lot of people were hurt."

"Oh…" Red Huntress deflated. "Gah…You are a hard person to stay mad at, you know that."

Phantom chuckled. "Yeah, I know."

"Goodnight." Valerie kissed Danny's cheek and turned to leave Masters Mansion. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night, Val." Danny stated.

"Bleh!" Dani groaned from her spot on the couch. "I thought we were done with that when Ember left."

"You'll understand when you're older, child." Vision soothed.

"I doubt it…"

"Daniel…" Vlad frowned at the television. "Did you know your friend was delivering a heart to a queen?"

"What?" Danny blinked as he turned to the screen. Apparantly, the queen of Vlativa was the girl that Wally was delivering the heart to. According to the report, Wally wasn't fast enough. "Damn. Poor Wally…"

"…Queen Perdita's uncle is Count Vertigo, the man from the Injustice League." Vision noted. "With her out of the way, he is king."

"That is incredibly convenient." Vlad frowned.

"Do you really think that was the point of all this?" Dani questioned.

"Perhaps. I lack the necessary information to say for sure." Vision frowned.

"Either way, that's a problem for tomorrow." Danny noted with a sigh. "I'll call Wally tomorrow and see if how he's dealing with this…"

"Yes, perhaps everyone should retire early tonight." Vision nodded. "It was a long day."

"But I'm not tired!" Dani argued.

"You always say that when you're about to pass out." Vlad noted.

"I do not! I'll have you know that I'm not…tired…yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn…at all."

"Sure you aren't."

Smiling, Danny walked up the stairs and to his room. Once he was there, though, the smile fell. Walking over to the computer, Danny sat down in his chair and pulled out the flash drive.

Danny had to tell his family at least, right? What he learned today changed everything. They needed to know. But…what would Savage and his friends do? Would he attack with a full assault if he spoke out at all? He wasn't sure.

If they did, though, people would die. After all, the ghosts needed to protect both the Ghost Zone and Amity Park. If they shifted too many people to protect one of their responsibilities, then the other would be exposed. For all he knew, they would do a kamikaze attack and just blow parts of the city up…

…He couldn't be sure. Danny would stay quiet for right now until he figured this all out. Right now, he had to deal with this.

Because of all that had happened lately, Danny had basically ignored the Ghoul Project. He left the investigation up to Batman and Vision. Perhaps he shouldn't have, but it was too late to change that now. Besides, they had absolutely no lead left…

Except for this.

"What if it's a trap or a virus or something…" Danny questioned to himself. It could very well be that. At the same time, though, the halfa knew he couldn't ignore this. He would have to check. If there were any viruses, he could deal with that later.

Danny plugged in the flash drive. He saw everything.

The Shadows…

The Guys in White…

Lex Corp…

Bialya…

Solomon Grundy…

Failed ghouls…

Agent Z…

And…A boy with dark hair, blue eyes, and a scar that reached above his right eyebrow up to his hairline…The most successful being in the Ghoul Project…A kid named Joel…Danny recognized him. Ra's Al Ghul once threatened this Joel in order to get Danny Fenton to cooperate with the Shadows...

Looking at the data, Danny realized something very important.

"That kid…Joel…is a halfa."

…Danny had to save him…

Bonding Moment: Zatanna

"Welcome to Young Justice by the way." Phantom stated as he and Zatanna stood in the middle of the Cave. "I heard a lot of good things about you from the others."

"Thanks. I'm glad to be here. I thought that my Dad would never let me join." Zatanna smiled.

"He does seem like the strict type." Phantom noted.

"Yeah…but I'm lucky to have him." Zatanna stated.

"Hmm?" Phantom blinked. That was random. "Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know. I just feel that things could be a lot worse for some reason." Zatanna shrugged.

"Well, things could always be worse." Phantom agreed.

"Yeah…so what do you do for fun around here?" Zatanna looked around the Cave.

"It depends who you ask." Phantom shrugged.

"But I'm asking you."

"Good point." Phantom paused in thought. "I really just do what everyone else is doing."

"Oh? So it's up to me, then?"

"I guess."

"Excellent…"

(Five minutes later…)

"…I don't think that this will work." Phantom noted.

"Of couse it will, just watch." Zatanna noted as Phantom turned them invisible while the stood in the kitchen.

"Babe! You in here? I thought I smelled…" Wally looked at the counter. He saw a jawbreaker. "Ooh! A piece of candy!"

He popped it into his mouth.

…

…

…

"Ah! It burns! My mouth is on fire! Someone just cut off my tongue already! It would be less painful!" Wally ran out of the room screaming.

Phantom and Zatanna burst out in laughter. That was hilarious. Besides, it was a good way to keep Wally humble after he basically saved a country by delivering that heart to Queen Perdita of Vlatava and tricking Count Vertigo into revealing his plans. "Well, I was wrong. I can't believe he didn't even try to smell it first. He would have smelled the hot sauce. I guess he does tend to eat before he thinks."

"You got to love the fun of a good prank." Zatanna smiled. "I thought that you would be too big of a stiff to enjoy it, though."

"Are you kidding?! I am the king of pranks. Not even Spirit can beat me."

"Oh, I doubt that you could even beat me in a prank off."

"…Challenge accepted."

(Later…)

M'gann turned on the TV. She was expecting her cooking show. Instead, she got Chainsaw Masacre.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" M'gann went screaming out of the room in ten minutes. No matter what she did, she couldn't change the channel or turn off the TV. Even unplugging it didn't work.

And apparently, M'gann did not like horror movies.

(Later…)

Conner was getting ready for his workout. He walked up to the punching bag and prepared to get out some of his aggression.

Punch! Splash!

He was covered in red paint.

"What?" Conner blinked at the disintegrated punching bag. "Punching bags don't bleed…do they?"

(Later…)

"Lolipop! Lolipop! Oh, loli lollipop!" Music rang through the Cave.

Artemis clutched her ears. "Ah! My ears! Stop it! I think they're bleeding! You know I hate this song, you jerks!"

She had been hearing the song all day. Even at school! Yet, no one else heard anything besides her. So, not only was she annoyed, people thought she was crazy too.

(Later…)

"Okay!" Robin yelled angrily. "Who replaced my uniform with a pink leotard? I am not feeling the aster on this one!"

(Later…)

Red Tornado awoke from his deactivation mode. He had to schedule an update to his systems. Luckily everything went well.

It would be two hours later that he realized that his body was covered in graffiti and bumper stickers. He had most of them removed. Oddly enough, he kept the bumper sticker that said, "hot rod."

(Later…)

"Okay, this is going to be the best one yet." Phantom smirked. "I called Captain Billy to come meet us at the Cave. He should Zeta hear any minute."

"And when that happens, my magic glue and feathers will explode on him and make him look like a giant chicken." Zatanna chuckled.

"Oh! That sounds so funny!" Captain Marvel noted.

Phantom and Zatanna's heads snapped to him. "Captain! What are you doing here?"

"I got your message." Captain Marvel noted. "We're going to see a movie?"

"No…but…if you're here…crap! We need to take down the trap before-"

Recognized: Batman 02

Boom! Pook! Swish!

…

…

…

"Uh oh…" Captain Marvel's eyes went wide.

"He looks mad." Zatanna noted.

"Yep." Phantom agreed.

"What should we do?" Zatanna asked.

"I suggest running like hell." Phantom stated.

"That sounds like a good plan."

"After you then."

"Thank you kind sir…AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Suffice to say, no one in the Cave was pleased that day…especially the Batchicken…er, Batman. Later, when the culprits were tracked down and punished, they gave the following statement.

"It was totally worth it."