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Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman stood in the forefront of the summoning circle along with John Constantine, Zatanna, and Captain Marvel. Constantine had been nearly frantic when he had called the emergency Justice League meeting. He’d stormed into the Watchtower, saying that they needed to summon the Ghost King, right then. Hence, the emergency meeting being called. Not many heroes were available at the drop of a hat, but enough heavy hitters were available that hopefully whatever had gotten the magician spooked would be enough. Enough for what the League didn’t know, but they prayed it would be enough.
Constantine began chanting, and Batman felt his teeth set on edge. He looked at the edge of the circle to see his kids, and all of them were just as tense, Hood even more so. Green light could be seen radiating out from the lenses of his mask which was never a good sign. He was, fortunately, still in control of his rage, but every line in his body was rigid with fierce control, as if it would only take the thinnest of moments for his resolve to shatter. Robin and Black Bat were almost as tense. Nightwing, Spoiler, and Red Robin were strung out, but only marginally less than the rest of the Gotham based vigilantes. The only one who wasn’t as tense was Signal.
The summoning circle lit up a sickly neon green, and Batman thought he was going to throw up right there. Because that…that was the Lazarus Pit. He wanted to strangle Constantine. The noise coming from most his children indicated that he wasn’t the only one. Green Lantern Hal Jordan was struggling to contain Hood who had gone into a blind beserker rage.
Icy blue fog filled the air, and Batman swore he could hear the crackling of glacial ice off in the distance, which was statistically impossible since they were…you know…IN SPACE. Two beings appeared inside the circle. One was obviously a woman, but she was well over nine feet tall and had four arms. She was dressed in what appeared to be ancient Amazonian armor, and in two of her arms she was cradling a small bundle. The other being was…a fucking baby???...with a clock in his chest. They both had blue skin and red eyes, although the baby had a jagged scar over its left eye. The woman stepped forward and over the circle that was supposed to contain any being summoned and handed the small bundle to Superman and then went back to float beside the clock baby.
Superman gave a shout, and every head snapped to the bundle in his arms. He was cradling it ever so gently like one would a baby…wait, what???
“An infant!!!” Superman cried. “She just handed me an infant!!! With a neon green envelope tucked in its blanket!!!”
The entire room erupted in noise as each hero tried to talk over the others. It was utter chaos and a complete cacophony of baseless noise. It got so loud that no one noticed the baby when the poor thing started to whimper and eventually cry. It was only when the baby let out a piercing wail that a kind of stilted silence settled over the heroes. Superman gently bounced the baby hoping the little one would settle. The infant was fussy but eventually stopped crying.
Batman looked over at the Man of Steel and saw a mop of black hair. “Does the baby have a name?” he asked in a gruff voice. The baby let out a coo at hearing Batman’s voice.
Superman walked over to the table so that he could have a workspace to unwrap the baby from its swaddle. The baby was clearly unhappy with being manhandled and let everyone in the vicinity know with little grunts of displeasure. Once the baby was fully unwrapped, the next step was to determine the baby’s gender. The Kryptonian carefully pulled back the diaper and then announced to those watching that the baby was a little boy. Superman carefully placed the envelope to the side. No one noticed that neither of the summoned beings had ever actually left.
“Greetings, Justice League of Earth. John Constantine, Conman, Laughing Magician, Hell Blazer, Soul Trader, you summoned the Ghost King. However, there is something you should know,” the woman began. Everyone looked up, frozen, because they had forgotten the two mysterious beings.
Wonder Woman stepped forward. “Greetings, I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira.”
“I know you well, Daughter of Zeus, First of the Amazons. Pandora speaks highly of you. You would know me as Kronos.” The baby being nodded to indicate his companion. Many of the heroes grew even more tense, if that were possible, and thought about drawing their weapons but decided against it. After all, this was supposed to be a “diplomatic meeting.” “I am now known as Clockwork. And there is a tale to tell, so listen closely.”
Pandora placed one of her massive hands on the one who had introduced himself as Clockwork because she could see him getting upset. “We are denizens from the Infinite Realms. There was an…incident. There were those whose bigotry and prejudice far outweighed their ability to see humanity in others. They launched a missile at the Infinite Realms…”
“Fu…Blackbeard’s bollocks. They DID WHAT???” Constantine screeched. The infant in Superman’s arms startled and scrunched up his nose in preparation to scream. Superman quickly began bouncing him again to attempt to prevent him from wailing.
“Yes. They saw those from the Realms as ‘other’. As something to be contained and destroyed. But never understood. They allowed their bigotry to rule. But Daniel,” Pandora nodded at the boy in Superman’s arms, “Daniel worked hard to prevent them from destroying everything. Unfortunately, he failed. The missile exploded when it impacted on the portal doors. It took out Daniel’s entire dimension. The only ones who survived were those already within the Realms. Daniel’s friends and the Denizens of the Realms.
Daniel himself suffered untold injuries. He took the brunt of the missile’s impact. He was trying to protect both the Infinite Realms and his home dimension. When the missile exploded, Daniel was forced to retreat into his core. For the last few months, Clockwork and I have been searching for a comparable or compatible dimension. But there have been…complications.
Daniel’s chief physician, Frostbite, one of the Realms’ foremost experts in denizens’ physiology, determined that Daniel would need a dimension with heroes. For one reason and one reason alone. Daniel is what is known as a halfa. Half human. Half ghost. That is why we searched for a dimension in which the Justice League existed. But more than that. Daniel needs someone who will care for someone who is not completely human. Who understands a child with supernatural powers.”
The room waited with bated breath. This was NOT what they expected when Constantine had summoned them for the emergency meeting. When Constantine had said something about the Infinite Realms gaining a new Ghost King, all the Justice League had wanted to do was to make sure that the new King wasn’t some power hungry mad tyrant. Because apparently, the last one was known as the Mad Tyrant. Now WHY Constantine thought that summoning the Ghost King was a good idea…no one had an answer for that particularly vexing question.
And then Hood asked the most damning question of all. “So, you mean to tell me that a literal baby defeated a missile and shit?”
Pandora turned her baleful red eyes on Hood, who felt like he was being appraised under a microscope like an amoeba. “Daniel was not always a baby. He was once a fifteen-year-old boy. A very bright and selfless boy. There are two things you must know about Realms denizens. The first is that you must never ask about their deaths. If they begin to share first, then you may ask. But do NOT, under any circumstances, ask first. The second is that you must never ask about their Obsessions.
To understand, a denizen of the Realm, or in layman’s terms a ghost, is someone who died, usually under violent or terrible conditions. A ghost is rarely formed under a peaceful death. I’m sure that the Hellblazer can give you more information on the different types of Realms denizens. But for now, we shall focus on those who formed from death itself. When you ask about a denizen’s death, you force them to relive their often painful and excruciating death. This will very likely cause them lash out.
The next thing you need to know is about denizen’s Obsessions. This is not the same as a human’s obsession. A denizen’s Obsession is the thing that they must fuel to keep them tethered to their core. Daniel is a special type of denizen, being a halfa. His first Obsession is protection. This can come from either being protected or to protect others. This is why we needed to find a world of heroes. The other is Space. Anything and everything to do with Space. Which is why I chose to hand him to one of the aliens.”
And then, Red Robin had to break the uneasy silence that had descended on the room as he muttered, “So, does this count as international baby trafficking? Or he like the Ghost King’s son, and we just messed up that bad?”
Batman looked at his third son because WHAT?!?! He was thinking the same thing, but he would never have said it out loud. Sometimes, he wondered if Red Robin was actually his biological son because that brain-to-mouth filter broke more often than not. And it was often things that Bruce/Batman was thinking.
Red Robin must have realized that he’d said that out loud because his cheeks flushed a dark red. Hood clapped him on the back as he barked out a laugh. Nightwing pulled his little brother in for noogie, and Robin shot him a glare. But fortunately, the beings inside the summoning circle didn’t look put out.
“Be at ease, Justice League. The letter will explain more in detail. Our time as run out,” Pandora said with a small smile. Once again, she stepped out of the circle and pressed a kiss to the baby’s forehead. “Αντίο Μικρέ Πολεμιστή (Farewell, Little Warrior),” she whispered.
Clockwork, still in his baby form, also floated forward and ran a gloved hand through the mop of black hair on Danny’s head. “Adiaŭ mia nepo. Ĉio estas kiel ĝi devus esti. (Farewell my grandson. All is as it should be.)”
Then both of them turned and disappeared the way they came. In a puff of whirling ice and Lazarus green. When they left, Daniel started screaming, as if he realized that he was alone. A green sticky note appeared on his head. “He likes to be called Danny” it read. No amount of bouncing from Superman could get the boy to calm down.
Several things happened at once. The first was the realization that they had nothing with which to care for an infant. No clothes. No kind of pacifier or soother. And at the moment and most pressing no diaper. Which led to the second realization. Danny was in need of diaper change. BADLY. Those with super senses, especially Superman, were assaulted with Danny’s nearly deadly diaper. Which then led to the third realization. Danny was going to need a bottle of some kind. And soon. And that led to the fourth realization. Someone, or multiple people, was going to need to step up to take care of this little boy that had been dropped into their midst.
And that led to a problem. Or well multiple problems. Batman, of course, with his analytical mind was the first to step up. “Flash. You’re on shopping duty. Here is a credit card. Oracle will forward you the appropriate size of clothing, diapers, as well as a safe formula and one or two bottles. You don’t need to get a whole bunch of clothes just a few changes. Same with the diapers. Those can wait until he’s with his permanent guardians. Kid Flash, here is a different credit card. You’re to go buy an appropriate car seat as well as a few toys and things he might need for bathing. Again, Oracle will forward you the correct information. Impulse, you’re going to be on furniture duty. Cribs, playpens, diaper bags, things of that nature. Now go.”
All three of the Flashes heard a ding as their communicators beeped with the information that Oracle had found for them. Then, Batman moved on to the next problem which had presented itself in the form of Danny not wanting to be held by anyone other than Superman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, or surprisingly Hood. Danny had strongly rejected all of the Green Lanterns, Green Arrow, and Nightwing (he was pouting in the corner…but don’t let anyone tell him otherwise because he would strongly deny it). Danny had even rejected most of the younger heroes, although he had giggled at Starfire.
A whip of air indicated that at least one of the Flashes had returned. Batman hoped it was the original Flash so they could change Danny’s diaper and then start feeding him. Batman felt his shoulders sag in relief as it was, indeed, Flash. The Speedster ran over to Martian Manhunter, who was now holding Danny, and held out the aforementioned pack of diapers. The Martian looked slightly panicked at the thought of having to change a human…well human-ish…diaper.
But Hood was there to come the rescue. He snatched Danny out of the Martian’s arms and grabbed a new set of clothes, a changing pad, a clean diaper, and some wipes from the supplies that Flash had brought. Then, he opened the pad on the table. He set out the supplies he would need in the order that he would need them. But before he started, he unclasped his helmet.
“Hood,” Batman called softly.
“Don’t wanna scare the lad,” Hood answered gruffly as he pulled out the clothes. “Ordinarily, we’d want to wash any clothes, especially new ones, before putting them on ‘im, to make sure they don’t irritate his sensitive skin. But that can be fixed once he settles in his new home, and it’ll only be for a few hours.”
They watched in utter amazement as Hood slowly took off Danny’s soiled clothes and diaper. He was ready when Danny used that opportunity to pee, but Hood was waiting with a wipe and covered him so fast that it didn’t go anywhere. Then, Hood wiped Danny clean and laid a new diaper underneath him. Noticing the beginnings of a rash, Hood took off his leather glove so he could apply some diaper rash cream to Danny’s bare bum. And then Hood used another wipe to clean his hands before putting Danny in a new Superman onesie.
Then, Hood swaddled Danny in a new blanket before handing the baby to the nearest hero, which happened to be Batman, and walking out with the supplies to make the boy a warm bottle of formula. When Hood returned, they could tell that he’d washed his hands thoroughly and had the bottle of formula in one hand. Before giving it to Batman, he tested it on the skin of his inner wrist to make sure that it wasn’t too hot for the baby. Satisfied, Hood handed the bottle to Batman, so that he could feed him since he was starting to get fussy.
“How in the hell do you know do all that?” Someone, probably Spoiler, snarked.
Hood looked up in surprised, as if he’d forgotten that he had an audience. “I used to babysit some of the younger kids back when I was…Before. And sometimes, that included babies,” he said with a shrug. “That shi…stuff stays with you. Like riding a bike or something.”
Thankfully, before Hood had to answer any more questions, another crack of air indicated that the other Flashes had returned. Impulse and Kid Flash brought their bounties to the table so that they could be inspected and gone through. Now, the only thing left was to decide who Danny would stay with. While Danny let Batman feed him, he had begun crying the moment he realized that none of the “space” heroes or Wonder Woman was holding him. Much to Batman’s consternation and dismay.
Superman proposed something like a custody schedule. Each of the heroes that Danny had attached himself to could have him for a length of time, and then he could rotate to the next one. This would work even when Danny was in school since those heroes could all fly or had access to zeta tubes. In the event of an emergency, Batman or Hood would be the backup. It wasn’t perfect. But Danny, in all of his baby babble, seemed happy with it.
Batman wasn’t pouting. NO. He wasn’t. Shut your mouth. His kids absolutely did NOT gain so much blackmail from his “pout fest” as Hood dubbed it. It was just that he wanted the baby. He’d never had a chance to see any of his kids as small as Danny, and this would have been a golden opportunity. He took a small measure of comfort knowing that he could see Danny at some point during emergencies and that the others had promised him pictures.
Superman was the first to take custody of Danny. All three flashes took their bought supplies and ran them down to Metropolis. Lois was absolutely thrilled as she was getting baby fever, especially since Jon was getting older. But the pregnancy had been hard on her, and she’d been told that if she had another half-Kryptonian child, it could kill her. Plus, Clark and Lois were used to having a baby with superpowers.
And somewhere in the Long Now within the Infinite Realms, Pandora, Clockwork, Dorathea, and Frostbite watched as the Man of Steel took the bundle known as the Ghost King home.
Clockwork turned to his compatriots, “All is well.”