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They say war is hell.
He'd come here for peace. A dimension so saturated in heroes that Phantom would not be needed. A place where Danny could rest.
But…
There had also been so many young heroes. Teenagers or sometimes rarely, preteens, parading around in small groups or on the cape tails of older, more experienced heroes.
He should stay out of it, but Danny couldn’t leave them alone. Especially when it was a small group with no true adult around. He'd been in those shoes, alone. He'd learned from enemies and his fights much more readily than from his allies, few as they were.
He could do it for them. Be their enemy that teaches. It wouldn't be the first time Phantom was viewed as a villain.
But war isn't hell.
The invasion came suddenly and swiftly. They came from multiple fronts, hero plants and civilian disguises as well as the skies. Their initial strike was brutal, targeted. They swept through cities killing hundreds of thousands of innocents.
Even a few of the young heroes. Some of Danny's favorites.
War is war.
He would wonder, once he is snapped out of it, if this was how Dan felt in the beginning. The sweet release of letting go and tearing through intruder after intruder.
They were not prepared for Phantom. How could they be, when he had disguised himself so well?
Ship after ship fell. Phantom reveled in their suffering, and lost himself in the carnage.
And hell is hell.
“Phantom!”
A voice called his name. His head swiveled around to look.
“Phantom you need to stop!”
Another voice, different from first. Distantly, he recognized they were not targets. He turned from the figures; there was still work to be done.
A hand grabbed his wrist. A second held his other hand. A third body crashed into his chest, the head barely reached his collarbone.
“Phantom, please! This isn't like you!”
It's the “please” that does it. He stopped long enough to register who was attached to him. It was his little heroes, the ones not much older than he was when he started.
No, not them. Their ghosts.
Phantom fell in place, and wailed.
There are no innocent bystanders in hell, but war is chock full of them.