Going Ghost! (Young Justice)

Chapter 214: The Youngblood Pirates (2)

[Third Person Pov]

Danny, Robin, and Batman were aboard the pirate ghost ship, moving through the deck while using the thermos to absorb the remaining ghosts and clear the area. The air around them was cold and heavy with ectoplasmic residue, but things had finally started calming down.

Then the entire area suddenly began to shake.

The ship groaned beneath their feet as deep rumbles spread through the water around them. Loose wood cracked while chains swung violently from the mast. Danny immediately stopped what he was doing while Robin and Batman turned toward the source of the disturbance.

All three of them looked toward the underwater temple just in time to see it explode outward in a violent eruption of rubble and debris. Massive chunks of stone blasted into the sea while glowing cracks spread across the structure.

Ghostly underwater abominations burst free from every side of the temple. Some resembled twisted sea creatures while others looked almost unfinished, their bodies transparent and distorted. Ghost rays and beams of ectoplasmic energy fired wildly from their mouths, eyes, and bodies as they surged out into the open water.

Danny's eyes widened. "Oh, that is definitely not good."

The three of them quickly looked upward as a massive magical dome began spreading above the battlefield. The barrier expanded rapidly like a bubble of glowing energy until it sealed over the entire area, isolating everything trapped inside. The water itself shimmered beneath the dome as the magic locked the battlefield in quarantine.

"It seems the bad scenario has happened," Robin reported while staring toward the temple. Spectral creatures continued pouring out endlessly from the cracks in reality itself, vomiting into the sea in massive waves. "The Ghost Zone portal has been opened."

The situation escalated almost immediately.

Atlantean soldiers suddenly emerged from where they had been lying in wait and charged directly into battle while maintaining their formations. They moved like an organized cavalry unit, riding massive seahorses and armored sea turtles while carrying Atlantean spears, tridents, and enchanted weapons.

The soldiers slammed into the incoming ghost creatures head-on.

Within moments the space trapped inside the quarantine dome turned into a complete warzone. Shouting echoed through the water alongside roars from the monsters and the constant blasts of ghost rays and Atlantean magic. Explosions of green ectoplasm and glowing blue energy lit up the dark sea while the sounds of violence drowned out nearly everything else around them.

Meanwhile, deep beneath the ruined temple, the crack between dimensions continued widening little by little under the overwhelming pressure from the Ghost Zone.

Danny, along with the Aqua-Family nearby, wore grim expressions as they watched the situation spiral further out of control with every passing second.

One of the massive leviathans suddenly lunged toward Danny, its enormous jaws snapping shut hard enough to create a shockwave through the water. Danny barely peeled himself away at the last second by creating a duplicate of himself to shove him aside.

The clone wasn't fast enough.

The leviathan's jaws clamped down on the duplicate instead, rupturing it instantly as ectoplasmic blood exploded between the creature's teeth like a busted ketchup packet.

Danny stared in horror as ghostly blood splattered across his face.

"That is so going to give me nightmares!" Danny exclaimed loudly, wiping the blood from his eyes in disgust.

He immediately brought his hands together as they glowed with pale blue energy. Ice rapidly formed between his palms before extending outward into a long jagged harpoon. Danny gripped the weapon tightly and hurled it forward with his super strength.

The harpoon slammed into the leviathan's side.

The impact instantly bloomed into a massive formation of jagged ice that spread across the creature's body and sent it crashing sideways through the water. Before it could recover, Danny quickly aimed the thermos and activated the suction beam.

The underwater temple lit up green from the thermos as Danny did his best to clear the battlefield. Ghosts screeched madly while resisting the pull, their claws digging uselessly through the water as they were dragged toward the opening.

But it wasn't only spectral sea monsters emerging anymore.

More pirate ghosts started pouring through the widening cracks between dimensions. They came in all shapes and sizes, but nearly all of them shared themes connected to pirates, drowned sailors, and underwater creatures.

Some were glowing green skeletons carrying rusted swords and flintlock pistols. Others looked like rotting scuba divers covered in glowing algae while holding harpoon guns. A few resembled ordinary men and women with bandages wrapped around their heads, eyepatches over empty sockets, and crude stitches running across their bodies.

Danny clenched his fists before unleashing a powerful ghostly wail.

His neck strained from the force as the sonic scream blasted across the battlefield. Ghost pirates and monsters caught in the attack were violently slammed into the ground or nearby ruins, left too dazed and weak to properly hold their weapons.

The second they were vulnerable, Danny quickly used the thermos again and captured them before they could recover.

Due to the chaos happening everywhere around him, Danny failed to notice the incoming attack until it was too late.

A harpoon suddenly shot through the water and struck him directly in the shoulder.

"AAH—!" Danny cried out in pain as the force jerked him backward violently.

The attached chain pulled him across the battlefield before he was abruptly caught by the ghost scuba-diver waiting behind him. The diver immediately wrapped the heavy chain around Danny's neck and pulled hard.

Danny grabbed desperately at the chain tightening around his throat while choking noises escaped him. His feet kicked against the ocean floor as the scuba-diver continued strangling him without hesitation.

At the same time, nearby pirate ghosts began charging toward him with weapons raised. Rusted swords, harpoons, axes, and flintlocks surrounded him from every direction.

Danny's eyes suddenly flared with a cold bright light.

A massive beam of ice energy erupted outward from his eyes just as the chains tightened further around his throat. The freezing blast tore through the battlefield in front of him. Ghost pirates caught directly in the attack froze solid instantly, their bodies turning into jagged statues of ice.

Others managed to dodge the beam and immediately tackled Danny before he could recover.

They slammed him down onto the ruined temple floor beneath the water and piled on top of him. Pirate ghosts and spectral monsters clawed at him from every direction, pinning him beneath their combined weight until only the pillar of icy energy from his eyes remained visible, pointing upward toward the ceiling.

Then even that flickered and died out.

For a brief second, the battlefield went still around the pile.

Suddenly, a glowing ring of light formed around Danny's waist.

An instant later a powerful repulsive force exploded outward from his body, blasting everyone away from him in all directions. Pirate ghosts screamed as they were hurled backward across the temple ruins while chunks of debris scattered through the water.

Danny slowly rose back to his feet.

Cuts and wounds covered his body while blood drifted through the water around him, but he ignored every single injury. His hand grabbed the harpoon still lodged through his shoulder before he violently shattered it apart in his grip.

His expression looked almost manic now.

There was something unhinged in his eyes, like he had completely fallen into a combat frenzy while fighting through the endless waves of spectral enemies.

Danny suddenly launched himself straight toward the scuba-diver with a furious roar. One of his fists ignited with ghostly flames before he slammed it directly into the diver's chest.

The impact exploded with a deep rumbling blast that sent fire and ectoplasm bursting through the water.

Danny didn't let the ghost escape afterward either.

The moment the scuba-diver was blasted away, Danny fired out his own chain construct and wrapped it around the ghost before violently yanking him back in. At the same time he created a glowing spear construct in his other hand and drove it straight through the diver's torso.

"Let's see how you like getting stabbed, you bastard!" Danny shouted angrily.

He immediately blasted off toward the other recovering pirates at super speed. As he flew forward, two twin swords formed in his hands. The blades grew brighter and brighter until they ignited into flames hot enough to create streams of bubbles around them underwater.

Danny tore through incoming ghost rays with brute force alone, slicing directly through the attacks while charging ahead without any technique or restraint.

He fought almost entirely on instinct.

Ghost blood covered his body while his eyes reignited with freezing blue energy again.

Danny continued battling both pirates and monsters simultaneously while completely ignoring the injuries he kept receiving during the fight. Every hit only seemed to make him more aggressive.

Nearby, Youngblood floated above the battlefield laughing brightly while watching the chaos unfold around him.

Arthur and Manta were tearing into each other in another section of the battlefield while Garth, Tula, and Jackson fought desperately just to stay alive against the endless hordes. Blood slowly spread through the surrounding waters as the battle continued escalating.

"Arrr!" Youngblood exclaimed while laughing happily. "What a jolly good show! Har! Har! Har!"

"Youngblood!!" Danny shouted furiously while holding back four ghost pirates at the same time, their weapons struggling against the strength of his crossed swords. "Whatever game you're playing, this ends now!"

Danny intentionally raised his voice louder, trying to bait Youngblood into revealing what his actual plan was.

"Hahaha! I think not!" Youngblood shouted back excitedly. "I'm having way too much fun to put an end to this now! We, the Youngblood Pirates, and the seven seas will forever know our names! Especially when we plunder Atlantis for all of its riches!"

Youngblood started cackling manically like a comic book supervillain. It was painfully obvious to everyone watching that he was enjoying himself far too much.

"Are you serious?!" Danny yelled back. His voice mixed with a partial ghostly wail that made Youngblood wince and cover his ears. "You mean to tell me you don't actually have some grand master plan and just wanted to play pirates?!"

Youngblood blinked once before smiling innocently. "Yup."

Danny immediately had to suppress every violent urge to create the construct of a belt and beat him with it.

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