A New Beginning

Chapter 26

Pariah offered them Danny.

Huh.

Okay.

Danny blinked a few times, his heart beating fast with fear as his mind flashed with his time with the organization. His neon green eyes began to sting and grow wet and he fought hard against the urge to start sobbing. He couldn't go back, if he went back there would be no Bruce, or Dick, or Ace, or Phil to save him this time he would be trapped for the rest of his unnatural life. His hands clenched where they were resting against his older brother, the fabric of Dick's cape crinkling. He inhaled silently until his lungs hurt, then slowly let out the air through his mouth. The ever-present fear rushed out of him with the air and it was replaced with another feeling he rarely ever felt, not this strongly at least.

Anger.

Skulker stopped arguing when he spotted the commotion going on behind Batman's sidekick. The rest of the teens also looked over, most of their mouths dropping open in shock. The radioactive green that normally was restricted to the child's iris spread over his pupil then the whites before it looked like a sphere of pure energy trapped behind the thin skin of the kid's eyelids. The light began to expand further, creating cracks and lightning-like lines down his cheeks, up his forehead, and over his temple. His hands began to radiate the same color light of his eyes and objects around the room began to rattle and fall over, some even bursting.

"Danny, buddy? You okay? What's happening?" The boy released the cape and Wally immediately pulled his best friend away from the clearly unhinged Halfa. Danny levitated a foot in the air, his hands in claws as balls of pure, destructive energy began to form in his palms with his fingers, which upon closer inspection were becoming a dark blue along with the now-visible veins from his wrists to his biceps, curling around the spheres, not quite grabbing to throw but almost as if they were restricted and forming the energy. His loose shirt fluttered in the now present wind that circled the small, wrathful boy. The energy in his hands began to sark and crackle, lightning beginning to flicker around his forearms and the lights flickered.

"Holy. Shit." Artemis said, watching with wide eyes at the display of pure power. Skulker smirked smugly at Robin.

"Still think he's not all-powerful?" Robin opened his mouth, eyes glued to where his little brother was embodying a supernova about to explode. Before Robin could respond, or try to calm Danny down, or do anything really, Batman and a few members of the league rushed in. They had weapons out and were powered up, ready to fight the threat. They all stopped dead when their eyes registered that the floating, glowing figure was their resident half ghost.

"Robin, what the hell is going on?!" Bats yelled over to his protege. Robin couldn't form the words, and he just shook his head, still overly shocked at the usually terrified and timid boy becoming...this.

Bats watched his eldest shake his head, looking lost, worried, and a tinge frightened and decided to de-escalate the situation. The look on his youngest's face was nothing short of pure rage, it was look he had never see, never thought he would see, on his child's face.

"Danny, hey," He called to the kid, "Dnny, look at me kid," The boy's head turned to the Dark Knight, solid green eyes locking onto the man's form. Bats smiled gently at him.

"Hey, buddy, I need you to calm down, okay? You're okay, I'm okay, everything is going to be fine so I need you to calm down," he ordered in a soft tone. Danny didn't budge. Before Batman could continue to try and get him down, Danny opened his mouth.

"SevEn yEaRs, 3 mOnThS, 1 wEek, 6 DaYs, 14 hOuRs," his voice was echoed by ten different whispers, all high pitched and almost wistful in their anger, "tHeY tOok seVeN yeArS, 3 MonThs, 1 WeEk, 6 daYs, 14 HoUrs aWaY fRoM mE. ThEy kiLleD mY mOm, mY dAd, My sIsTer. ThEy toOk My inNocEncE, My cHiLdHoOd, mY fReEdOm. TheE tOok eVeRytHiNg fRom Me. I am tHe HaLfa, BoRn oF bOth LiFe aNd DeAth. I hAvE tHe PoWeR oF boTh And thE liMitAtiOns Of neItHer. ThEy'Ve StoLeN eNoUgH fRoM mE, aNd I wiLl nOt LeT tHoSe PeRveRteD, deSpIcAbLe deGeNerAteS tAkE aNy MoRe," the Halfa slowly lowered to the ground, his bare feet landing soundlessly on the floor and the electricity that was dancing on his skin immediately latched onto the surface. Spotting this, those who could fly immediately did so, while those who didn't were aided into the air a few feet above the now-deadly floor. The boy took no notice as he continued his haunting speech.

"ThEy wiLl AlL mEeT a SlOw aNd pAiNfuL eNd aT tHe hAndS oF mE--tHeIr eXpEriMeNt, tHeiR lAb RaT, tHeiR mOnSteR--aNd ThEy WiLl rEgRet tHe dAy ThEy WeRe BoRn."

And just like that, the accumulation of ice cold electricity and energy that was festering inside the small vessel of an eleven year old ghost child exploded. It climbed the pipes, the wires, it blew out all the lights and made all of the technology that met its current spark violently. The display lasted a solid five minutes before it fizzled out and left the entire mountain submerged in the dark. Another thirty seconds and the emergency lights, the ones that survived the onslaught, sprung to life. The floor had a large scorch mark and any item that wasn't bolted to the ground was tipped over and broken and the kid that stood at the epicenter of the visage of destruction was breathing deeply and evenly through his nose. His eyes were ice blue and he had no glowing aura, but his hair was still bright white and his skin still tanned. He stood straight, his muscles less tense, his face still hard with anger but his temper had sizzled to a mere fraction of what it had been. There was some residual sparking from the fried tech, and when the group lowered themselves back to the ground there was a tingle of what almost felt like static emit from the surface under their feet. They all just stood there, standing in a circle around the Halfa and staring with disbelief (besides the ghost who had a hopeful gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face). The silence was broken by Superman's comm that was installed on a watch on his wrist rather than his ear to prevent any hearing damage to his enhanced senses.

"What the hell just happened on your end? I just watched the GIW facility in Star City get struck by the biggest bolt of lightning I've ever seen and explode. I swear I could feel the energy wave from three miles away. Superman? Hello? Do you read me?"