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The large room in the watchtower was locked down tight. The reinforced blast doors covered the entrance and the windows were shut and sealed. Standing around the painted circle were all the heads of the Justice League along with John Constantine, Zatanna, all of the bats, and Jason’s friends Roy Harper and Starfire.
Normally the bats, Roy and Kor wouldn’t be involved with some magical bullshit being done by the heads of the J.L. but none of them were going to let Jason go in there without them. Since apparently, Constantine had said that whoever the fuck they were summoning might take it easy on the Justice League for disturbing them if the Justice League had someone who was kinda, sort of, almost, maybe at one point was a part of their dominion. That person just so happened to be Jason. Which freaked him the fuck out. Not that he’d admit that. At all.
Though he might admit it to Roy and Kor after this mess was over.
But since Jason had died and come back to life he might still be considered a citizen of the dead, or else he might be remembered for holding that status at one point. Which was what Constantine was banking on.
Normally Jason would tell him to fuck off but the lives of everyone on Earth were on the line. And since Jason lived on that so-called planet and so did people he tolerated and maybe even liked, he was willing to step up if his being there could help in any way.
Fuck Trigon honestly. The fact that Raven, their biggest asset for defeating Trigon was hurt and draining herself to hold him at bay had worried the Justice League. They were willing to call in an unknown for backup. They needed someone who could counter magic. Especially since most of the Justice League was susceptible to magic.
So here he was standing in front of a fucking summoning circle with all of his siblings and his two friends there for support. Even Barbra was here in person.
Constantine and Zatanna started to chant and the circle and the other symbols started to glow white. As the spell progressed the glow changed from white to blue. The blue then started to transition to green while black lightning started to spark from the circle as an impossible wind picked up in the sealed room. A chill went down Jason’s spine as the temperature in the room dropped dramatically. Frost creeped out from the edges of the circle as the glow settled on a Lazarus pit green.
Jason’s shoulders drew tighter at the sight of that colour, but he stayed perfectly still otherwise.
Zatanna and Constantine stopped chanting at the same time as a loud crack from the lightning filled the room and the horrid green glow from the circle became almost blinding.
After a second the glow died down, the lightning halted and the temperature stopped dropping.
The echo of the crack was still bouncing off the walls when a gloopy white hand with long spindly fingers and long claws on the end of each finger reached up from the circle. The claws clicked as they came back down and made contact with the floor of the watchtower while the palm of the hand made a soft wet splat. A second white hand reached up through the summoning circle and planted itself on the floor. Small clumps of the hand dripped onto the floor. Both hands flexed and gripped the ground, claws scraping and leaving scratches on the floor.
Slowly a burning crown and a head emerged from the depths of the summoning circle. The head hung low and the only discernible features visible were white hair and pointed ears while the dark crown was surrounded by otherworldly fire. The torso followed closely behind the head. The being let go of the ground and rose above it, floating till they were fully through the ground with the painted summoning circle. A long tail followed the torso and slowly moved underneath the being. The end of the tail turned into gloopy wisps that periodically broke off and faded. The being was easily over ten feet tall without including the full length of the tail or how it was floating a foot or so off the ground. The arms of the being were lanky and too long to be human. Most of the body was a cold black that seemed like it just held back an endless void. Patterns of white broke up the black with the hands and forearms ending in a blotchy white. Two bands wrapped around the top of each arm while white covered the sides of the torso. White also wrapped around the waist and splattered the neck.
Slowly but surely the being raised their head and looked at the people surrounding the summoning circle.
It’s empty, Lazarus pit green eyes landed on Jason and stayed there.
Jason felt The Pit jump and he instantly took a step back his heart rate spiking.
Not here. Not now. He had to stay here. He had to help. Please, not now. He didn’t want the madness and rage to come for him now.
The being, the Ghost King moved towards Jason not taking their eyes off him. Not even blinking.
Jason took another step back. He tried to breathe. He needed to calm down. He could feel The Pit making his eyes glow.
“No,” said the Ghost King in something that was definitely not a human language. Though how Jason understood it was beyond him.
The Ghost King moved forward again, but as the being got closer their form melted and shifted. A cape with stars shining through the underside flared out from behind the king as their form shrunk. When the form settled it was on something almost human, with pointed ears, and a suit with the same markings the being had before. The Ghost King took a step forward, and it was a step, the king now had sturdy-looking white boots replacing his tail.
“It’s okay,” continued the Ghost King in what was definitely English this time, “Please don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said with a gentle smile.
The Pit rose at that statement and Jason took another step back. Even though he couldn’t feel the anger that usually came with The Pit.
Jason looked into the gaze of the Ghost King and his Lazarus pit green eyes and tried to swallow down his rising panic. They were the exact shade of burning green. Jason didn’t want to be there again. He didn’t want to be anywhere near those waters ever again. Of course, the fucking Ghost King would have eyes the same colour as the Lazarus pit. He was the king of ghosts after all. King of the dead in a way. Fuck. Jason was in his jurisdiction, wasn’t he? He didn’t- he wouldn’t be controlled by The Pit again or anything related to it.
Screw this, Jason wanted out. He wasn’t going to let himself be thrown into madness again and hurt his family.
Jason was about to signal to his friends and family that he wanted to leave, but the Ghost King spoke again.
“Your mark of death isn’t right, but I can help,” the king paused for a second and winced, “Though I lied before, sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was trying to be reassuring. This is going to hurt, but you’ll be better after.”
Kor and Dick stepped in front of Jason, half blocking him from view while the rest of his family positioned themselves on either side of him. Roy was behind him, arrows ready. Batman was still off to the side, but he had a hand on a few batarangs.
The Ghost King stepped over the edge of the summoning circle and the other Justice League members snapped into fighting stances.
“Constantine,” Batman hissed, “You said he wouldn’t be able to cross the circle.”
“Bloody hell! He shouldn’t be able to do that!” responded Constantine, preparing a spell.
The Ghost King held out a hand towards Jason and twisted it into a fist.
Jason gasped and clutched his chest, stumbling forward. The Pit felt like it was being yanked forward in his chest. His blood felt like it was paused in motion and pulled towards the Ghost King. Wisps of an oily putrid green seemed to be pulled from him. Jason grabbed his chest tighter, he couldn’t breathe. His veins were on fire. He was only just aware of the fact that he was screaming.
The sounds of a fight were so distant to him. Jason was just trying to focus on staying awake. Jason closed his eyes for what he thought was a moment and when he opened them his whole world was tilting and Jason was aware that he was falling. He closed his eyes before the impact.
Jason didn’t know how long he closed his eyes but he wasn’t lying flat on the ground. He was on his knees being held up by someone, his head on their shoulder. The person was rubbing soothing circles into Jason’s back. Jason groaned. Everything ached. He weakly grabbed at the person holding him and he got a handful of a cape.
“B, you get the number of the truck that hit me?” Jason asked weakly.
The person holding him gave a soft chuckle, “Sorry, that was me.”
Jason suddenly realised why the person holding him felt smaller than Batman, and why the cape felt finer. Jason’s head snapped up to see the Ghost King holding him. Jason scrambled back, his heart drumming loudly in his ears as he reached for his knife.
Glancing around Jason saw that the two of them were encased in a small green dome. Outside the J.L. was trying to crack it open. The sounds were muffled but Superman and Wonder Woman’s punches still caused an echoey boom that reverberated throughout the whole dome.
“Hood!” called Batman’s concerned voice over the coms. Jason could see Batman near his position in the dome, a blowtorch in hand.
“I’m awake,” replied Jason, he could hear the sounds of relief over the coms.
Jason narrowed his eyes behind his helmet as he turned his attention to the Ghost King, “What did you do to me?”
The Ghost King held up his hands in surrender from his seated position, “I’m sorry I hurt you, but it had to be done. It feels better now doesn’t it?” he asked as he tapped his sternum while keeping one hand held up.
Jason frowned, and then he felt it. The Pit. It was quiet in a way it had never been. It was peaceful. Jason’s frown eased slightly, then it came back.
“Yes it does, but you didn’t answer my question.”
“You had contaminated ectoplasm in your system, Ancients know how you managed to do that, and I got the contamination out,” answered the Ghost King.
“Where is it now?” asked Jason.
One of the Ghost King’s hands rubbed the back of his head. The motion was so human that it threw Jason off kilter for a moment.
“I uh, I absorbed it,” answered the Ghost King, “It’s fine for me. My system will eat through it in a day. It’s better than just leaving the nasty parts of the contaminated ectoplasm lying around.”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Jason, who knew nothing about ectoplasm, contaminated or otherwise and how well eldritch beings absorbed it.
The Ghost King rocked to his feet and Jason tensed.
The Ghost King saw this and held out placating hands, “That’s it I promise. You’re all clean and from what I can tell you have a clean bill of health. You know, for someone who died. Actually, I’m going to need to ask Frostbite if he knows what you are because you’re not a ghost and you’re not a halfa either,” the last part was muttered but it wasn’t quiet enough to stop Jason from hearing it.
The Ghost King took a few slow and deliberate steps forward. Jason kept his knife in hand and shifted for a better angle to lunge if he needed to.
Stopping at Jason’s feet the Ghost King smiled and stuck out a hand, offering a hand up, “I’m Phantom. You’re Red Hood right?”
Jason looked at the hand and felt the quiet peace from The Pit.
With a strong grasp, Jason took the Ghost King’s hand and let himself be pulled up.
“You can just call me Hood.”
Phantom gave Jason a warm smile. Jason was surprised to note that Phantom was looking down at him. Phantom was taller than Jason by a couple of inches, though his build was lean and strong. The Ghost King looked no older than twenty, though Jason knew that appearances could be deceiving in that regard, especially for some kind of eldritch being like Phantom.
Jason let go of Phantom’s hand and took a step back as he put his knife away.
A resounding boom shook the dome they were in and both Jason and Phantom looked over to see Green Lantern’s hammer construct pull back for another swing.
“Do you mind telling them to knock it off? I don’t exactly want to add the Justice League to the list of people I’ve fought,” said Phantom.
“Hey B, tell everyone to stop. I’m fine,” said Jason into his com.
“Hood you are not the fine! You passed out!” exclaimed Starfire over the com.
Jason winced slightly not expecting the volume, “I promise I am perfectly fine. King Phantom didn’t hurt me.”
“J-Hood, you were screaming in agony before you blacked out. If that doesn’t count as ‘hurting you’ I don’t know what does!” said Roy, adding his input.
Phantom winced next to Jason, “I am very sorry about that. If I knew another way I would have done it.”
Jason glanced over at Phantom before locking eyes with Harper from behind the dome, “He can hear everything on the coms. He’s sorry and he said he didn’t know how to do it another way.”
“Do what?” asked Batman.
“Get rid of the contaminated ectoplasm or some shit,” explained Jason, “Look, we don’t have time for this. We’re on a time limit. Everyone stop fucking attacking the green dome thing,” Jason waited a moment and when the attacks seemed to pause he turned to Phantom, “I assume you made this,” he said gesturing to the dome, “Can you get rid of it? Please.” Jason tacked on a ‘please’ when he realised he should at least use manners with royalty that supposedly helped him.
Phantom scoffed, “Of course, I can.”
With a wave of his hand, the dome disappeared.
As soon as the dome disappeared Dick was by his side looking him over with Superman zooming forward and bodily putting himself between Jason and the Ghost King with a wary gaze on Phantom.
Dick checked Jason over, lifting up his arms and checking him for injuries. Jason squirmed out of his grip and battered his hands away.
“I’m fine. Really I am,” he said in an attempt to reassure his older brother.
“Jaybird,” said Dick as he locked eyes with Jason and used his ‘don’t lie to me’ tone.
“Really. He helped me. I’ll explain a bit more later, but I am fine.”
Dick looked at him for a few more moments before backing off and turning his glare to Phantom, who it seemed was not immune to the big brother stare.
Jason needed to put an end to that. They still needed the Ghost King’s help.
Jason took a breath then stepped forward around Superman, dodging the hand that reached out for him and stopped right in front of Phantom. As casually as he could manage Jason offered his hand to Phantom, “Thanks.”
“Hey, no problem. I’m here to help. That's why you called me,” replied Phantom with a smile while he shook Jason’s hand.
“Actually, the ectoplasm contamination wasn’t why we called you,” informed Jason.
“It wasn’t?” asked Phantom tilting his head, “What else could you need my help with? You’re the only one here who’s died.”
“If you don’t help us there’s a chance that more will be added to that list,” said Jason grimly. Usually, he’d joke about death. But this wasn’t his own, he wasn’t going to joke about the death of his friends and family.
Constantine stepped forward, “His name is Trigon. He’s from another dimension called Azareth. He’s a powerful demon that wants to come here and destroy all life or consume it. Most of the Justice League isn’t suited to fight magic. Raven, our best bet against this twat got injured when he reached across dimensions and injured her. She’s doing her best to hold him off so we have a chance to make a plan and gather our resources.”
Phantom’s face twisted to a frown, “I may be the king of ghosts but I have no interest in watching my kingdom grow like that. If that does happen it will throw out the balance. If the living world is destroyed then so is the Ghost Zone and the Infinite Realms. One can’t exist without the other. Not to mention that I have living people I care about too. What do you need?”
During Constantine's talk with Phantom both of Jason’s friends and every single one of his family members came to check on him. Even the Demon Brat gave him a once-over.