Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel’s back was pressed up against the brick wall of the abandoned warehouse.

Large, black tendrils crawled out of the summoning circle and into the room. Littered all over them were glowing, green eyes staring into Captain Marvel's soul. He was dazed as he tried not to let himself get lost while staring into the speckled abyss of a robe or cape that contained endless universes. Billy felt the air freeze around them, and he shivered, but not just from the cold. 

It was terror. Pure terror.

Billy was scared of many things. Captain Marvel wasn’t supposed to be. But this creature, whatever it was, made his instincts scream at him to run away. It made him want to claw and crawl away on the ground if that’s what it meant he had to do to escape the gaze of the monstrosity before him. Even the courage of Achilles hesitated to face this thing. He grit his teeth. 

But…whatever it was, it would kill the other members if he wasn’t there to stop it. He couldn’t let Superman, the man who encouraged him to do good and led by example, die. He couldn’t let Batman, the man who tried to take care of him, however annoying it was, die. He thought of his other teammates who had fought alongside him in his own battles, even when their lives were at stake. He thought about Jon, Damian, Jason, Tim, and even their teammates who were also children of Justice League members. He couldn’t leave them. He couldn’t let any one of them die without trying to stop it.

He clenched his fists until his nails were threatening to draw blood and found the courage to look up, up into the lone eye on the face atop the torso of the half-tentacled-half-man body. Green goop that mimicked tears oozed out of the eye that was turned the wrong way, on its side. Pitch-white hair covered the other left half of the ‘face.’ Atop it was a floating crown radiating immense power, engulfed in flames.

A buzzing, sparking sound made him tense. 

Billy wanted to look around for the source of the sound, but his head refused to move and eyes refused to glance away from the monstrous being. It was moving now, the green pupil flickering around. It seemed to be orienting itself. He stopped caring when the multitude of tentacle eyes that were looking in all sorts of directions suddenly stopped and followed his movements. 

It was looking at him.

It was looking at him, and he couldn’t move.

No! Why couldn’t he move?

No, that didn't matter, he just wanted it to look away look away look away look away how could he get away-?

<Billy, did you summon me?>

The shock of hearing his real name somehow snapped him out of the stupor, though that should have been even more alarming to him. Well, that was great. Now even the freaking monster in the room towering over him knew him by name. When it came to magic in particular, that never meant anything good. 

His jaw quivered as he forced himself to respond. <You know me…?>

He could’ve sworn the being did a little tilt of the head, as if it was confused. <What do you mean…?> As the creature's eyes slowly turned to its own form instead, Billy sporadically released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Whew. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

<Ah. > A shiver went up his spine due to the unrecognizable…voice? < No wonder you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Heh.> Billy had no idea what language it was speaking. It sounded like zaps of electricity accompanied with pops, yet he could perfectly understand what it meant. 

<It’s me, Danny.> Billy blinked. That couldn’t be what it said, right? Danny? As in his ghost friend?

His voice slipped out before he could help it, but instead of English, what came out was the familiar crackle of thunder. <Um. What?> He put a hand on his throat, yet he could tell the sound didn’t originate from it.

The creature dramatically put its hand on its forehead. <Billy, after all the times we've hung out together, I can't believe you don't even recognize me!>

Billy wasn't convinced, but it would explain why he wasn't dead yet, he thought, as a berry smell still lingered in the air. Was it coming from the runes? <Let's say you're telling the truth. Why do you look like that?>

<Oh, this is my summoning form. I think it’s meant to intimidate summoners, but it’s actually so annoying. I don’t even have a mouth! How am I supposed to eat junk food like this?>

Billy chuckled. Of course those would be his priorities. Maybe it really was Danny. Suddenly, the white hair and glowing green eye seemed a lot more familiar. But he still had his doubts. How could he verify it?

<If you're really Danny… then tell me how we first met.>

The creature shifted, tentacles squirming around like maggots on a piece of flesh. <Oh. You know, when we first met, I don't even know if you knew it was me.>

Billy had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn’t have to say anything before a tentacle raised from the floor, aiming towards the ground. All of a sudden, he could feel the breath of saturated power breathing down his neck. It chilled him to the bone as the tentacle started to glow green.

Billy was worried he'd made a mistake. He tensed, anticipating an attack, though he doubted if he would even win a fight, feeling the abundance of magic drown their surroundings. The fact that he came to that realization scared him even more. 

A bright green beam struck the ground, leaving a black smoking hole behind.

<Oops.>

Ah. How comforting. Billy hoped the creature would at least spare him the torture.

The tentacle aimed at another patch of ground this time, and instead of an explosive beam, a thin laser started engraving something in the ground, though it was wobbly.

If he wasn't scared out of his mind in front of the eldritch being in front of him, he would've even said it looked like an… <Among us?>

The memory of studying in his room at the Watchtower when something broke into his room struck him. He had felt a presence of foreign magic in his room, but there was no proof except the green figure drawn on his homework; the event was quickly overshadowed by the fact that there was an intruder on the Watchtower, especially since it didn't happen again. Once he tried to look into it after the fact, the doodle had disappeared without a trace.

He sharply exclaimed, <That was you?> Huh. Why didn't he think to connect the two events?

The loud buzzes and pops were back. <Yep!>

Billy sighed in relief. If some eldritch being pretended to be Danny and drew an Among us just to steal his soul, then kudos to them, because he was about to fall for it. <So…What’s with the crown?>

<Uhh…I may or may not be the ghost king…? > The creature–no, Danny –shrunk back. Was he embarrassed? 

<Woah…that’s pretty cool.>

<It–It is?>

Billy crossed his arms. <Well, yeah. Now I’m not the only super powerful kid around! If the rest of the Justice League knew our real ages, there’s no doubt they’d say that ‘it’s dangerous’ or ‘you’re too young to fight,’ but we’re literally more powerful than they are, at this point.>

He was sure if Danny had a mouth, he’d be grinning. However, the magic power increased, probably a result of Danny’s mood improving. It felt like the sky fell on him as his legs threatened to give out.

<Could you tone down your magic? You're seriously strong.> The pressure in the air instantly receded as a few of the tentacle eyes closed their eyes and melted into the blackness hosting them. Billy slowly straightened up. He rolled his tense shoulders, grateful for the reprieve.

<Sorry.> Billy had no idea how the familiar sheepishness translated through a few buzzes.

<Aw man, you have so much explaining to do, but I’m honestly just glad you’re not evil. Wait, you don’t want to take over the world or anything, right? >

Danny jolted, eye widening. <No way! I don’t even want to rule the Infinite Realms! Over my dead bod- Uh. Anyways, do you know how much work that’d be?>

Billy grinned. <No, but I'll take your word for it.>

<Anyways, from your confusion I'm guessing you're not the one who summoned me. So…who did?>

<Oh. So, there’s been this wizard who’s been setting up random summoning circles. We weren’t sure what he was summoning, but…Wait a minute. That stuff on the floor is totally Grimace Shake, isn’t it?>

Instead of the laugh he had grown used to hearing, the buzz in the air grew stronger and the air snapped and popped. Danny’s shoulders shook as he said, <Of course! It was perfect! Literally, so much better than plain blood. So unoriginal.> Billy smiled. It was just the kind of dumb thing Danny would come up with. 

The ghost's laughter faded. His eye slimmed. <That being said, the guy shouldn’t have been able to summon me without a very special ingredient.>

The multitude of eyes fell onto the dark magician who was stuck in the maze of tentacles, probably trying to get away after he realized that neither Captain Marvel nor the Ghost King really wanted to fight. He fell flat on his butt, all but convulsing in fear. Involuntary tears streamed down his cheeks. A stray, black tentacle slithered forward and hosted the man up by his waist. 

<Tell me how you acquired the ingredients for my summoning.>

The man had no reaction, not more than a pathetic whimper that escaped his slack jaw. Honestly, Billy couldn’t blame him.

Danny facepalmed with his human-shaped hand. <Ugh. I forgot. People can’t understand ghost speak. Can you, like, translate for me?>

<Yeah, sure.>

They turned to the man again and Billy's loud voice echoed on the walls. “Tell me how you got the ingredients for the Ghost King’s summoning.”

The man babbled, “Ah-ruh-rud-hoo’. I go’ i’ fr’m his helm’t.” He managed to force out a few cries for help before relieving himself and passing out. 

Danny’s eye widened as he let go of the man and let the tentacle holding him up melt into green goop as it dropped the man onto the floor. Danny inched a few meters away from the man. <Ew. Anyways… > He started muttering, giving off a low buzz, < That makes sense…if it’s half…then…would work…then who else…?>

Billy tried to piece together what he was saying. <Does this have anything to do with the fact that Jason is a…> Billy paused to remember the term. Danny talked about ghost stuff a lot, especially with Tim, so there was a lot to remember. <A halfa ?>

<Yeah. I made it so that you need a tiny bit of blood from a halfa for it to work, but I totally forgot Jason's blood would work for it too. I'll have to tell him about it. He's not exactly subtle about his previously-dead status in the field. 

<Anyways…um ,> Danny looked around at the passed-out Justice League members around them. They had all been cursed with a sleep spell that affected them all as soon as they came within a certain distance of the warehouse, but hadn’t noticed until it was too late. Only Captain Marvel resisted the curse. <Should we get them back to the watchtower?>

<Yeah, that's probably a good idea,> Billy said, hauling Superman over his shoulder. <Maybe bring the wizard and we can bring him to the medbay? We can't just leave him like...That.>

Danny grimaced. <Eugh, fine.>

Chapter Text

When Bruce felt a dangerous presence approaching the medbay, it wasn’t just the subtle sixth sense he’d acquired after years of training and experience. He felt it as if someone had grabbed his heart out of his chest and dragged it across fifty miles of granite. He shivered, colder than he’d ever been before, recognizing the familiar chill of death brushing against his soul. 

Bruce sat up on the medical cot, backing up desperately into the wall behind him without any control over the action. His hands were trembling as he tried to protectively wrap his arms around himself. He hadn’t ever had a reaction like this. The only thing that came close were the worst nights of Scarecrow’s fear gas, and still then, it wasn’t this… visceral.

The other heroes in the room shared the same reaction. No. It was worse. The other members in the room hadn’t had Batman’s mental training or quite the same experiences in facing unexplained horrors. Most had momentarily passed out or at least fallen to the floor, many gave shrieks of horror, and those few who could move were pathetically trying to crawl away. Though he had been in the suit just a second ago, Green Lantern had transformed back into his civilian form, the ring refusing to activate. There were various dents in the wall from various superheroes who had super strength that jumped back in shock.

Something that squelched was dragging on the floor outside, along with steady footsteps. It must’ve been right in the hallway, yet no shadow appeared on the walls. Instead, there was a pulsing glow. Following the light source with his eyes, he looked up at the figure and saw void-void-void-void-

Shaking his head and trying to calm his erratic breathing by going through his usual breathing exercises and meditation, he closed his eyes and focused them again on the one superhero who wasn’t affected, standing right by the alien(?)–monster(?)–demon(?)’s side without any fear whatsoever. In fact, he seemed like he had been the one to lead it, whatever it was, here.

Letting out a shaky breath, Bruce tightened his hands into fists, not to prepare for combat. Rather, fearing that if he let go, he would fall unconscious. He hadn’t lost this much agency over his own reactions in a long time. Had the creature taken advantage of Billy to get into the Watchtower? Had he been tricked? Threatened? Mind-controlled–?

How could he have let this happen? Bruce knew Captain Marvel would always be in danger; it came with the title. But why did it have to be a child? A child that didn’t deserve to carry that responsibility?

The child in question had never complained, though. He always took his duties in stride, never backing down. Bruce had once asked Billy if he really wanted to be in the Justice League, risking his life. Reminding him of a certain tenacious circus kid, Billy had said that he would be saving lives whether he had the support of the Justice League or not. Bruce knew what the kid was signing up for. And now he had a chance to witness it. Even though he said that he would be able to help when this time came…

The Justice League didn’t seem like they would be able to help. But the other one might.

Bruce sent a distress signal to the Justice League Dark with shaky fingers. Swallowing, he also decided to send one to Jason just in case the creature really was supernatural.

Refocusing on the doorway, Bruce noticed Billy wasn’t looking at the superheroes. They hadn’t even entered the medbay yet or spared it a glance, instead staring straight ahead rather than left. What were they looking at?

His eyes widened when he saw a suit of bright yellow armor show up from the other side of the doorway, right in front of the being. Captain Marvel seemed to be saying something, but his mind threatened to shatter when he tried to eavesdrop. He opened his mouth to give a warning to leave, ask for help, or anything, but his words choked up before he could even form them in his head. No –why was Duke here? Not his son–!

-

Duke strolled up to the two of them and waved. “Oh, hey, what a coincidence! I was just trying to text you. Wanna play some Overwatch with me and–” He paused, tilting his head up and down, then from side to side. “What’s up with the light? I’m used to it, but, like, did it get bigger? I can’t even see the end of this hallway. Could you tone it down a bit?”

Billy turned to Danny. <What’s he talking about?>

< He can see my core with his powers. It’s probably going haywire from all the power that this form has and I can’t control it. Could you translate for me? >

<Yeah, sure.>

“It’s Captain Marvel here, since I’m assuming you can’t see me, and he wanted me to say that he can’t control his core cause he got stuck in his summoning form or something.”

“Oh. Hey, Captain! Anyways, that sounds inconvenient. Does that mean you have a ton of power then? Is that why you have so much…aura?” He managed to keep a straight face until Danny let out a few trills, remembering Damian, of all people, spamming him with aura memes after he heard about Danny’s core from Duke. It was stupid, but that’s why it was funny. The first time Damian sent him a Gen Alpha meme, he had to double check the contact three times before he believed it was actually the child assassin texting him at that moment.

Billy snickered as well. “Hi. Apparently he’s the ruler of an entire dimension and didn’t even tell us, can you believe it?”

“I’m just not gonna question that right now. Sounds cool though. How were you summoned, though? Does that just happen ?”

< Well, not that often. Someone just got lucky with the setup. Anyways, what was he saying–? > He stopped talking when Billy nudged one of his tentacles. < Hm? >

“Don’t you think that we should explain to, um, them?”

Danny and Duke followed Billy’s line of sight, staring at the superheroes huddled against the far wall of the medbay trembling. Not in a million years did Danny think he would ever see Batman trying to inch away from him in fear, even when he was somehow still using a watered-down version of his bat-glare.

< Oops. > Danny immediately tried to suppress his power as much as he could. When his power was as uncontrolled as in his summoning form, people around him could feel like they were passing through a ghost. It only seemed to terrify people if they didn’t know who he was, though, and the effect diminished the more the person knew about his real form, allowing them to stay comfortable in his presence like Sam, Tucker, and the two teens beside him at the moment. He wasn’t really sure how it worked.

Duke turned to them. “Wait, what happened to B?! Why's most of the Justice League in the medbay?”

“There was this wizard the Justice League was chasing, and he somehow kept activating these super powerful ancient spells to knock them all out–which I’m sure was a fluke or something that sapped lifeforce, because he didn’t even know how to cast a simple defense spell–but now he’s locked up in one of the containment cells. I wasn’t knocked out, and then he”–Billy pointed back at Danny–“was summoned and helped me out.”

“Oh. So everything’s good?”

“Yeah.”

Batman’s gruff voice sounded even more aggressive than normal when he choked out a strangled, “Who are you?”

< Wait, hold on. > A tentacle rushed in front of Billy to catch his attention.

The teen looked at him quizzically. <Huh? Aren’t you going to tell him you’re Danny?>

< Well…don’t you wanna get him back for constantly trying to adopt you? >

<I’m listening.>

< Just tell them I’m the King of the Infinite Realms first. >

Billy’s eyes widened. <Wait, those Infinite Realms? That’s the realm you control?!>

Danny knew that the Infinite Realms were a big deal among those with magic, and even those without. Anyone who died went there, after all. < Yep. Comes with being a ghost king, apparently. >

<Ghost king–> Billy facepalmed. <Oh. How did I not realize? Wait, is that what you were talking about with Deadman the day we met?>

< Yeah, I was just telling him not to tell others about my royal status. I’m surprised you didn’t accidentally find out earlier, considering you could understand what I was saying. >

Billy hummed in acknowledgement.

< Anyways, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to mess with the Justice League. We could even get the others in on it. > Sensing Billy was just about to agree to the prank, he added, < And Bruce will go insane trying to figure out who I am. Again. There’s only so many identity reveals a ghost can have up his sleeve. >

Billy smirked, and Danny knew he was onboard. He faced the room, an arm outstretched towards Danny. With a booming voice, he announced to the heroes, “This is the King of Ghosts. He rules over the Infinite Realms, and the one who the wizard summoned. We are all very lucky that he does not want to harm us, and instead helped me defeat the wizard.”

To their surprise, Wonder Woman’s complexion brightened instantly. 

“Oh! The Ghost King! I’ve heard tales of the good you’ve done during your rule!”

“What?” Aquaman interjected. “Is he not a tyrant?” His eyes shifted quickly, terror seeping into his heart again as his momentary confusion dissipated, realizing it probably wasn’t the best idea to badmouth a king right in front of them.

“No, no.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “My deceased aunt can't stop rambling about how much better he is than Pariah Dark, the old king. That is who you're referring to, Aquaman.”

“Ah…if there is a new king, that explains it. Most Atlean stories are ancient, and there has never been one about an usurper to the throne.” Aquaman turned to Danny, legs still unsteady, and kneeled to show his allegiance. “My apologies, King of the Ghosts. I have terribly slighted you and I beg for your forgiveness.”

< Umm…tell him he really doesn't have to do all that. >

“The Ghost King acknowledges your plea and mercifully acknowledges it,” Billy said with a faint dramatically posh accent to his voice.

Danny just stared at him deadpan. Billy stared back. <You want to mess with them? You go all out.>

If Danny could sigh without a mouth, he would. Alas, he was reduced to a slump of his shoulders. < You're so gonna take advantage of the fact that you're talking for me, aren't you? >

“The King has proclaimed that this dwelling is too quaint! He requests that we move to a larger room.”

Now that, he could understand. Most of Danny's lower half wasn't even in the medbay, with most of his back struggling to pass the doorway. Tentacles were squeezed up on the wall and crowded. Way too crowded. Eyeballs on his tentacles touching other eyeballs on his tentacles was not a pleasant feeling.

A larger room it was.

Chapter Text

Jason was tired. Last night, he'd finally figured out where the base of a trafficking ring was and killed everyone there, which was nice, don't get him wrong, but trashing operations like that usually left him sore in the morning, even with his enhanced healing from the Pit–no– ghost powers.

Yeah, it was still incredibly weird to think that he had ghost powers, even if he couldn't use most of them since his core was still developing. He could tell that bullets that should've hit his shoulder instead embedded themselves into the wall behind him. It took longer for people to notice him, and his jumps had a weightless feeling to them.

Though, he didn't really know if you could call ghost powers weirder than a pair of magic swords that were powered by your soul.

Hmm. Though, it had been a while since he'd used them. It's not often you come across beings who were pure evil, as much as he hated some of the people he killed in Crime Alley.

But yeah. Jason was exhausted. So when he saw Bruce sent him a message, he almost ignored it, thinking it was some dumb reminder about the family dinner, as if he'd been missing them lately. Sure, he never went a few years ago, but times change. Bruce really didn't have to be asking if he was going every other day like a broken record. But then he caught the red flashing light that only ever belonged to a distress call from the corner of his eye.

He snatched up his phone and checked the location of the alert. 

What? The Watchtower? Where there were, like, way too many heroes?

There'd only be a few things able to cause that kind of emergency. That was probably why B contacted Jason in the first place.

Maybe his swords were finally going to see some use after all.

-

Stepping out of the Zeta, his eyes fell on a giant octopus monster that took up half of the room. No big deal. He fought worse.

He stepped forward, trying to summon the All-Blades when a wisp of cold air left his mouth.

Good news: the thing wasn't pure evil.

Bad news: the thing wasn't pure evil and was probably a somewhat-evil ghost.

He saw one of the eyes on its tentacles lock onto his position. So did another one. And another one. After all of them were staring at him, the being turned its head directly towards him, its final eye ascertaining his position.

To be honest, he should have been terrified. This seemed like something that could scare anyone.

But for some reason, he didn't feel that way. He felt strengthened. Empowered. What was this? Some kind of ghost solidarity buff?

He broke eye contact and scanned the room. There were various members of the Justice League, and though they didn't look like they were fighting this thing, they seemed terrified. It would be wise to keep his guard up–

<Wha–Jason?>

He blinked. Was that a hallucination? A voice in his head? It sounded like no language he'd ever heard before, yet he could understand it perfectly fine.

<Um.>

The being’s eye widened. <Oh! Of course! Hey, Billy, I forgot Jason can probably speak Ghost Speak since he's a halfa too!>

<Well, that's convenient.>

Jason glanced at Billy who was in his Captain Marvel form. Then he glared at the monster. <Wait, Billy? You know his name? Who are you?!> He didn't seem half as scared as anyone else in the room, but he didn't know if he could trust this ghost yet.

<It's Danny. Try to sense me with your core.>

Jason tried to feel around for the familiar hum of Danny's core before realising that he already was. That was what was making him feel more powerful than usual.

<That feeling is you?>

<What feeling?>

<Like you're a beacon of strength or whatever!>

<Oh. Yeah. I'm the Ghost King, so it kinda does that. And I'm stuck in my summoning form so I can't really tamp down on it.>

<You're what? Since when? Does this mean I gotta serve you and answer to your every whim or something? Cause I'm not doing that, no offense.>

<Since I defeated a tyrant and unwittingly usurped the throne. And no, I don't usually do much with the position. The random summonings and stuff are annoying enough to deal with.>

Dang. Jason didn't know what being king of the ghosts entailed, exactly, but it sounded like it sucked.

Beside them, Signal whisper-shouted, “So, um, is Hood here? Cause I can't really tell but I swear I heard someone say his name.”

<Can he not–?>

<Power ramped up to 200%, remember?>

Jason remembered all the comments about Danny being the sun or some other significantly bright light and winced. <Wait, so Signal…>

<Yeah, he's basically blind.>

“Oh. Hi, Signal.” 

Duke nodded. “Ah. Hey. Welcome to the party. Have they filled you in?”

“Filled me in on what?”

Billy snickered in the ghost language. Somehow. <We’re pranking the Justice League.> Jason noted that none of the tense Justice League members reacted.

<And the language, communication, whatever we're using right now…?>

<No one else can understand it. Only ghosts and Billy, since he can understand any language.>

<Huh.> Jason stood still in contemplation. <That's actually…pretty useful.>

Billy grinned. <Tell me about it! We're using it to mess with your dad.>

<Say no more.> Seemed like the drama classes he asked B to sign him up for would come in handy. Now…what should he say in his monologue…?

-

Hal glanced at Bruce hesitantly. “Um. Spooky? Why does a Gotham crime lord have access to the Watchtower? And why does he know the octopus monster which is apparently the Ghost King–!?” He jumped when Diana put a hand on his shoulder as an attempt to calm him down.

Bruce couldn't say anything, because he didn't even know either. The three of his sons–no, no, he shook his head. Billy wasn't his son, even if his last name was Batson. Anyways, they seemed to be talking with the king, despite the fact that no actual words were said. Snaps, buzzes, and crackles of a fire seemed to be the only indication of any verbal communication. 

Yes, when Bruce had shown up, he willed everything in his being to somehow have an effective enough Bat-glare to stop Jason from attacking the king on sight–he didn't have to be a royal to know how many diplomatic problems that would cause. However, he wasn't expecting Jason to immediately stop in his tracks and somehow start smiling in the face of the horrific presence of the king. Uh. Perhaps thinking such things could be dangerous.

You see, Bruce wasn't scrapping the idea of potential psychic powers. It had been shown that the creature's mental influence was enough even to stagger the will of the strongest of heroes. What difficulty would it be to do the opposite and fabricate the nuances of trust even in the most paranoid of bats? He saw how his second-oldest stood up straighter, more sure of himself than he'd been in a long time, ever since he stepped foot on the Watchtower. It’d been a long time since he’d seen him smile like that too.

Bruce was deep in thought when his third-oldest son suddenly stooped down to kneel before the king, going on about pledging his loyalty to his one and only ruler. He went on and on about the king’s good qualities, those including his generosity, benevolence, and skills, specifically regarding his ruler’s intelligence and strategy in combat. Studying the king’s physical features, Bruce faintly noted that parts of the king’s face had shifted to a faint green. Was that a sign of its powers being used? The situation seemed worse than he thought. It was true that Jason had died before, but did that mean that the king of the ghosts now had possession of his soul? Could the king force Jason to do whatever he wanted? Was Jason even in his right mind? The Jason he knew would never act so…effusive.

Was that the reason for his children’s comfortability with the king? It was true that many of his children had countless brushes with death, not to mention the times they actually died. No, but that wouldn’t make sense. Many of the heroes in the Justice league also risked their lives everyday, including himself. And to add to that, Duke was one of his few children who hadn’t died yet. Er, maybe he shouldn’t say yet. Why would Duke be comfortable in the king’s presence and not Bruce?

Its motives had to be taken into consideration. Why was it only targeting the younger heroes? In terms of Captain Marvel, how would it even know? Would it target his other kids? What about Firestorm or Blue Beetle? 

What were the limits? Why was it collecting their loyalty? What was it planning?

He had to investigate more.