In which Danny kicks some ass and (naturally) gets his ass kicked.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The first thing that went wrong was Danny's innate impatience.

In his defense, it was hard not to be annoyed when you'd been called out into the middle of g*d-knows-where to fight g*d-knows-who and been designated the honor of warming the bench.

So, when Tony identified Barnes in the nearby airport terminal and only Spiderman was sent off to deal with it, he naturally took the opportunity to join him. He'd phased through the wall of the terminal and spotted Bucky and a hero he recognized as the Falcon dashing away from where he was positioned.

Not too long after, Spiderman swiftly dropped in through an open portion of the ceiling and took a few seconds looking both directions down the hall before rushing off in the same direction as the other two.

Needless to say, Danny wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

"Mr. Stark," He made sure to keep his voice somewhat hushed, "I've got eyes on Barnes and the Falcon. Permission to help Spiderman with 'em?"

"No, we discussed this," A series of high-pitched repulsor blasts sounded on the other side of the comms, "You stay quiet, stay out of the way, and only come in when the tide starts turning for the worst."

Danny groaned. Spiderman had already swung off and Danny could hear the distant sounds of fighting that echoed along the hall. He sighed and silently drifted down the corridor.

That was when the second thing that could have gone wrong, did.

Peter was seated on top of a map booth of sorts, with Barnes and Falcon pinned down by webbing.

"-but I've gotta impress Mister Stark, so, I'm sorry about this." Peter was saying, and he moved to flick his wrist out and send out another web when a red and silver drone shot by, attaching a short anchor line to his outstretched hand.

"Oh, come on-!" With that, Peter was yanked out the nearby broken open glass window.

Danny cursed slightly, noticing Barnes start to pull against the webs with his metallic arm.

"Mr. Stark-"

"Kid, I've already told you," Tony sounded strained, "Stay out of the way."

"Uh," Peter piped up, "Maybe he should help?" A muffled thud was heard, "I'm dealing with Falcon's drone right now and I don't know if he and Barnes are still where I left them."

Tony swore quietly. Falcon had gotten one of his arms free and Danny was itching to do something, "I've got Falcon and Barnes right here, but not for long."

Silence on the comms. "Okay," Tony huffed, "Phantom, keep it low-key, please. Keep Barnes where he is until I can get someone over there."

Danny grinned, "That won't be a problem."

In a swift movement, he dropped down and silently landed on the tile, watching Barnes and Falcon intently. Once Barnes ripped both his arms free of the webs, Danny took the opportunity to turn visible.

"So," Both heroes snapped their heads up. Danny's eyes glittered, "You two wouldn't mind making this easy for me, would you?"

They blinked. Falcon narrowed his eyes, "I'm sorry, are you a kid?"

Danny groaned, "Not technically. Now-" He crossed his legs, sitting in midair, "As I said, you guys wanna do this the easy way? 'Cause I would much prefer that."

He ignored the confused looks he got from the two and took the opportunity to assess the situation while they were distracted. He noted the webs still covering Falcon's legs and how Barnes was almost entirely free.

He sighed at their silence, casually cracking his knuckles. Barnes took the moment to kick away the remaining webs and easily swung to his feet. Danny eyed him, grinning.

Truth be told, he was quite nervous. He'd never really fought anyone other than ghosts, let alone a super-soldier on the same level as Captain America.

Danny kept his position loose, easily leaning on one leg. Barnes acted quickly, taking a hard swing at Danny with his metal arm. The teen didn't flinch and swiftly ducked down, twisting slightly. Bucky deftly shot his leg out and barely missed Danny's side. The ghost's eyes flickered a brighter green and he flipped back, sliding slightly on the slick tiles. Falcon had taken a few minutes and managed to free himself entirely.

"Alright," Danny glanced between the two, "Let's wrap this up, shall we?"

He blinked into invisibility and darted behind Barnes, who glanced around, alert. Falcon spun around, staring Danny straight in the eyes. He ducked down and rolled to the side as Bucky, noticing Falcon's focus on the invisible teen, swung wildly. He glared at Falcons' goggles.

Realizing invisibility was useless, he flickered into visibility and shot a blaze of green energy at Bucky's chest. He let out a grunt of pain and toppled to the floor, coming to a rest a few yards away.

Falcon wasted no time rushing Danny, aiming a few well-placed punches at the ghost's face. Unfortunately for him, Danny seemed to anticipate each strike and ducked around them. After exchanging a few more hits, Danny managed to swipe his leg around and catch Falcon behind the ankle. He slammed into the ground and groaned.

"Told you the easy way would have been better." The halfa grinned smugly.

Falcon groaned again and Danny put his hands on his hips. The victory was short-lived as Barnes got in a solid hit on Danny's side, sending him sprawling to the floor. If he felt any remorse over hitting the teen, he didn't have time to mull it over. Barnes pulled Falcon to his feet and they exchanged a bewildered glance.

Danny groaned, slowly rolling over onto his stomach and sitting up. His gaze hardened.

"Okay," He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "Okay."

Falcon turned to Barnes, whispering something incoherent. Danny rolled his shoulder, standing to his feet and immediately shooting off three fast-paced ectoblasts. Barnes dodged by sliding to the floor and quickly jumping back to his feet, while Falcon simply threw himself to the side. Bucky didn't wait for Danny to make another move and rushed at him.

The teen, anticipating an attack, slipped to the side and was extremely confused when Bucky kept running. He put two and two together quickly enough but was immediately occupied with Falcon, who started throwing punches again. Danny's determined expression quickly turned into a wide grin as he dodged strike after strike. Unfortunately, Falcon, who wisened up to Danny's tricks, tapped his arm in between punches and two prongs extended from his bracer, alighting with electricity.

Danny's grin faltered, "Oh shi-"

And then came the third thing that could have gone wrong.

To be frank, getting tased by a former superhero and nearly fainting wasn't on Danny's afterlife bucket list. The pain wasn't the worst part of it, but he could do without the paralyzing sensation in his limbs. He toppled to the ground with a heavy thud and a groan.

"Cap," Falcon panted, "We've got an enhanced allied with Tony, male, about fifteen or so."

Danny slowly pushed himself up on his elbows, disoriented beyond belief. The world kept spinning and his limbs were so sore they felt like bricks. He forced away the burning sensation and shakily sat back on his knees. Falcon was already on him with another taser blast. Thankfully, Danny managed to get ahold of himself enough to roll to the side. He propped himself up and flipped to his feet.

"Oh, great." Falcon muttered.

As soon as his mind stopped reeling from the shock - literally - Danny decided his best course of attack would be to get rid of the taser as soon as possible. He darted to the right and changed directions almost instantly, grabbing Falcon's arm and yanking forward.

Falcon saw his play and immediately spun back and elbowed Danny in the face. The teen scowled and let go of his arm, eyeing the taser warily. He edged back a few feet and came upon a decision.

Being discreet could wait.

"Tony," He called, "Barnes got away, I'm going after him."

"No need kid," Tony sounded slightly annoyed, "I've got him right here with Cap. Can you get out here?"

"On it." With that, Danny gave Falcon a mock bow and phased through the ground.

The hero glanced around, expecting Danny to pop out at any minute. When he didn't, Falcon sighed heavily.

"Cap, I've lost visual on the teenage enhanced."

Silence over the comms.

"Cap, do you read me?"

"Yeah, I read you-" A heavy metallic clank and a grunt of pain were heard, "-any idea what his skillset is?"

"Invisibility, energy blasts, and possibly flight. He just sunk into the ground too."

Cap paused, "What does he look like?"

"White hair, black and white suit, and green eyes. He's easy to recognize."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. Stay on recon duty, alright?"

Falcon nodded and was left in silence.

Meanwhile, phasing back up through the ground outside, Danny made eye contact with a man in a strange motorcycle suit. The man's eyes widened.

"Hey, you're the kid Cap told us about!"

Danny tilted his head, "Really? Well then, let's see how well you can fight."

Ant-man's jaw dropped as Danny went invisible. He spun around, sure that the teen would be going from behind to catch him by surprise.

Of course, you don't need to rely on such things when the element of surprise is what you were made for.

"Boo." Ant-man jumped as the whisper came from behind and got into a fighting stance. Danny resisted the urge to laugh and quickly landed a strike on Ant-man's cheek, sending him reeling.

He was equally as surprised as Ant-man was when he recovered from Danny's punch and disappeared. Danny glanced around a bit before noticing a flicker of movement.

"No way..." He muttered.

Deciding he needed a little help with this one, Danny slid down his goggles and the world was alighted with green. He could now very clearly see a tiny man darting underneath a nearby truck. He blinked.

It was startling, of course, but Danny had seen weirder.

He was almost too distracted to dodge the enormous shipping truck that shot towards Danny with immense speed. He yelped and turned intangible last-minute, shaking his head with disorientation.

He could feel his energy levels starting to get a little low - he'd used a lot of his energy fighting Barnes and Falcon, not to mention the taser that drained him almost instantly.

Yet another truck was flung at him and he darted over it, nearly being grazed by the right side mirror. He considered his options - using an ectoblast may be accurate enough to hit Ant-man, but then again, it may very well disintegrate him. If he used his ice then the man might freeze to death immediately. The next best option was telekinesis. So, Danny did what he does best.

"Hey, tiny!" Danny jested, still invisible, "Nice aim!"

Ant-man bristled at that but kept quiet. Unfortunately for him, he'd stayed still long enough for Danny to lock on with his telekinesis and he shot forwards - right onto Danny's outstretched fist.

He slammed into the ground and grew back to normal size at the impact, looking around frantically for his invisible adversary. Danny was hovering above the ground, panting as quietly as possible. Being invisible for the whole fight had taken a lot out of him.

"Oh come on, where the hell-?" Ant-man grumbled, getting to his feet.

Danny considered the fact that his invisibility had been his main advantage during this fight, but then there was the fact that he still had a lot more fighting to do. With a moment to run through his options again, Danny turned visible.

"Right here, beetle boy."

"It's Ant-man! Ant. Man." The hero retorted, annoyed.

Danny shrugged, "Whatever you say, beetle."

With that, Danny sent a flurry of green energy at Ant-man, getting about five off before the hero once again shrunk. His goggles automatically focused on the tiny man dashing around a large shipping container and he took off after him, not bothering to go invisible.

The shipping container was mercifully spared from being kicked in Danny's general direction and he turned the corner to find Ant-man looking very smug.

Danny landed silently on the ground and grinned, "You seem happy about something."

"Yup," Ant-man agreed, emphasizing the 'p'.

The teen rolled his eyes and examined the environment closely before finally smirking. He noticed the barely-visible corner of a strange metallic disc peeking out from underneath the shipping container, just near Ant-man's foot. He decided to play the game anyways, considering he now had the upper hand.

Danny took a few confident steps towards Ant-man, preparing to fight. The other hero simply kicked the metallic disc and the shipping container was flung high into the air, tipping on its end and landing directly on top of Danny. Ant-man actually paled a little at that - he'd only intended to stun the teen, after all. Danny had been invisible every time he'd used intangibility and the hero was certain he'd crushed the teen.

"Oi!" Ant-man glanced around, seeing Danny's head peeking out of the top of the shipping crate, "What was that for?"

The hero stood, mouth agape, long enough for Danny to notice the unnaturally-large piece of rubble right underneath where the metallic disc and shipping container was situated. He put two and two together and realized the man must be able to shrink or enlarge things remotely.

Ant-man recovered quickly, remembering Falcon's list of Danny's powerset. He simply watched, fighting stance ready, as Danny casually floated the rest of the way out of the shipping crate. He cracked his neck and stretched out his arms before turning back to Ant-man.

"Y'know," Danny's eyes burned a dangerous green, "I really hate when people underestimate me."

The fight was back on in a matter of seconds. If you asked either hero how many punches they threw or how many hits they dodged they couldn't tell you. Eventually, Ant-man got a short break while Danny was stunned and listened intently on his comms set.

"I've got something big - but I can't hold it for long." He commented.

Danny grumbled something incoherent and began to shakily get to his feet. He'd made the mistake of using up too much energy too soon.

"Alright, on my signal, run like hell." Ant-man said to nobody in particular, then began jogging steadily away from Danny, who scowled.

"Hey, don't turn your back on- ow, ow-!" Danny trailed off, holding his side, which he was sure had bruised ribs. The steady metallic clang of footsteps made Danny freeze up.

He immediately rolled over, eyes blazing in fearful defense. He shot off an ectoblast which went far too much to the right and hit the ground about two feet from Danny's face. Tony, startled, jumped back. Danny quickly relaxed when he recognized him and slumped back against the concrete.

"Oh, okay- you scared me there, sorry-" Danny panted.

"I scared you?"

"Ghosts can still get scared." The teen scowled.

"Right, well-" Tony sighed, "You've gotta stay down, kid. You look like a mess."

"What? No-" Danny shuffled around and tried sitting up, "See? I'm fi- ow! Ow, ow..." He groaned and laid back down.

Tony raised a brow under the mask, "Just stay down. We'll regroup once this is taken care of."

Danny groaned in protest but gave in, putting one arm over his eyes. Tony had already flown off and Danny's eyes widened as Ant-man appeared, much, much bigger than when Danny had fought him. The teen was barely able to move and simply watched as Spider-man and Black Panther darted around him.

"Hey, guys!" Peter called over the comms, "You ever see that really old movie-" He dodged a blow from Ant-man, "-Empire strikes back?"

"Jesus, Tony, how old is this guy?" War Machine commented.

"I don't know, I didn't carbon date him, he's on the young side!" Tony retorted.

"You know that part..." He panted, clearly doing something Danny could barely see over the shipping crates and trucks, "Where they're on the snow planet... with the walking thingies?" As soon as he said it, Ant-man stumbled back in response to Tony and War Machine uppercutting him square in the jaw.

Peter's victory exclamation was cut short as he was struck by Ant-man's flailing arm. Danny winced at the impact heard over the comms. Then the line went silent for a good while. Danny gratefully took the opportunity to rest, feeling his energy slowly and steadily start ebbing back into him. He wasn't sure how long he was lying on the concrete, but it had to be only five minutes or so - he was definitely thankful for whatever he could get.

A roaring sound equivalent to that of a rocket interrupted his relaxation. He rolled his head to see the Quinjet rising slowly out of an open hangar. He scowled.

"Back to work," He muttered, before forcing himself to rise to his feet.

He stumbled slightly, limping in the general direction of the Quinjet's flight path. Right on its tail were Tony, War Machine, and - Danny noted with a hint of remorse - the Falcon, who had recovered. Another figure soon joined the chase, more or less a blur of red with a golden cape.

Danny watched curiously as he hobbled towards the group. He slowly built up the strength to fly and began to soar, although he was close to the ground. He was about a hundred yards away from the group and still only about fifty feet off the ground when the fourth thing that could have gone wrong happened.

Vision missed.

Normally this wouldn't be an issue - just try again, right? Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

If War Machine was flying just a little bit lower, he would have been hit in the back and his propulsors knocked out. A little higher and he would have been in the clear. Of course, Vision's strange energy attack grazed the front of the suit and the Arc Reactor had gone completely dead.

Time slowed down as Danny watched, horrified.

He was barely a blur as he flew, eyes burning a blinding green light. He was at the perfect point to intercept War Machine's fall, the only issue being the weight.

He was still thirty feet out, War Machine tumbling over in the air. They were both only seventy feet or so off the ground and quickly losing height. Danny would be too exhausted to make them both intangible when they got there, and he already felt his head spinning.

Just gotta make it there. Danny thought frantically, just gotta make it.

Within a few seconds, Danny had reached War Machine and swiftly grabbed him around the torso. The wind whistled loudly, emphasizing the speed at which the two fell. Making sure he was securely holding on, Danny grunted from the effort and managed the smallest hint of intangibility. They began slowing down - but not enough - Danny thought desperately.

His arms felt like they may pop out of their sockets at any minute, teeth grinding against each other painfully. War Machine's armor was weightless when intangible, but Danny couldn't bring himself to manage it all of the way. The ground seemed like it was shooting up to meet them.

Time to make a miracle, Fenton.

In a last-ditch effort, Danny scrunched his eyes shut in concentration and summoned a sloped shield of flickering green energy. It looked like it might fizz out at any minute. He tucked his legs in and pulled War Machine to his chest, bracing for the impact.

Luck finally decided to acknowledge Danny's existence.

The shield worked only half as well as he'd planned, but Danny didn't mind - he and the hero in his arms rolled painfully down the sloped plane of energy and tumbled the last ten feet. Clumps of dirt and grass flew as the heavy Iron Man suit struck the ground. War Machine let out a hiss of pain as his head spun wildly. Danny fared no better - getting tased and using up all his energy left him completely drained and the impact knocked him out. A trickle of green blood stood out against the dirt on his forehead.

Tony was on the ground instantly, alongside Vision and the Falcon, who had been taken down by Vision not moments before.

"Hey, Rhodey?" Tony croaked, by his best friend's side instantly.

The muffled grumble of, "Five more minutes," let everyone know War Machine was still alive and kicking.

Danny rolled over, holding his head. He planted one hand on the ground to keep himself from falling over and sputtered out a wet cough, ectoplasm staining the dusty ground. Tony gave him a concerned look, still hesitant to leave Rhodes' side.

"Kid, you alright?" Tony called.

"Huh?" Danny blearily stared his way, "Uh, yeah. Shou'd be f'ne." He muttered.

Standing wasn't an option so Danny opted to simply lie on the dirt, one hand covering his eyes from the sunlight.

The team members that were able to had regrouped in the main terminal of the airport. Danny - embarrassingly - had to be carried by Vision and was resting on the tile floor. The others were situated in various places - Black Panther had left, angry with losing Barnes and decided to go after them, and Natasha had betrayed them all at the last minute and ran, so they were absent.

Not long after the fight began, Tony had called in a SHIELD team to apprehend the heroes allied with Cap. The group sat in tense silence, waiting for the team to arrive. Ant-man, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and the Falcon were in the middle, secured with a golden rope procured by Vision.

Hawkeye finally managed to shuffle around enough to spot Danny - who was resting at the top of a short staircase. His normally bright glow was barely a dim flicker.

"Wait a minute," He began, cutting the silence like a knife through butter, "Who brought a kid here?"

Danny frowned, "For the third time today, not technically a kid."

Hawkeye narrowed his eyes, "You sure about that?"

"Uh, yeah." Danny glanced over at him and pointed at himself, "Ghost."

The captives all acquired different variants of shock and confusion.

"What? That can't be right." Ant-man shook his head, "Ghosts aren't real."

Danny grinned mischievously, deciding resting could wait. He swiftly sat up and floated into a cross-legged position, only slightly wincing at the pain.

"See? Ghost." He gestured to himself.

Only Hawkeye and Ant-man could really see him, considering they were all tied up back-to-back.

The Falcon grumbled something like, 'no need to show off' while Wanda kept silent.

"Well, ghosts can turn invisible, right?" Ant-man began, "And you went right through that shipping container like it wasn't even there."

Danny nodded, "Yup. Standard ghostly skillset."

"I'm sorry, but how is that even possible?" Hawkeye interrupted.

Tony gave Danny a harsh glare and he sheepishly shrugged, "Okay, as much as I enjoy you two debating my existence, maybe keep it down, alright?"

The captive heroes quieted pretty quickly after that. Danny slowly lowered himself to the ground but didn't lie down. He gave Rhodey a concerned look. The hero was still in his suit - without the arc reactor working it was safer to keep him inside - and Tony's diagnostics revealed little more than a fractured hip and a concussion. He was also lying nearby, although he got to have the only bench in the area to rest on. Danny didn't mind, he healed quickly after all.

Vision never drifted far from the three in the center of the room, keeping a close, albeit worried, eye on Wanda. Spider-man was in the rafters, keeping a watch out from above. He didn't seem much for conversation, even despite his near-constant witty banter. Danny was also quite downtrodden.

Tony kept pacing back and forth, causing the heavy metallic clang to echo every time he took a step. Danny sighed, finally lying back down and rolling over.

The group sat in silence for a long time, the atmosphere filled with palpable tension and hostility. Danny felt himself getting influenced because of it and opted to ignore the others whenever the aggressive glares became too much. At one point Tony's assistant chirped up and he quietly considered what she said for a moment.

"Alright, everyone." The team looked to him, "SHIELD agents are here. We need to debrief and then we can head off. Kid-" Both Danny and Peter sat up, "No, I mean Phantom." Spider-man slumped back down, but still gave Tony his full attention, "You stay with me, I need to make sure everything goes smoothly."

Danny nodded and got to his feet, limping slightly on his way over to Tony. In a few minutes, the group could hear harsh orders being barked outside and Danny tensed up. He didn't usually get along with government officials, even if they meant to help him. Tony stood confidently and a huge number of agents streamed in, each with a gun lowered to the ground and a comm set in their ear. Someone Danny supposed was the leader of the group came over and began talking with Tony.

A few agents gave him strange looks but otherwise, Danny was left alone. It took a little less than five minutes to get Falcon, Hawkeye, Wanda, and Ant-man into vans with their hands bound. Danny winced when he noticed the collar Wanda was forced to wear. He gingerly approached Tony.

"Hey, uh-" He looked at the collar again, "You sure you can 'handle a couple of government officials' for me, right?"

"Why wouldn't I be, kid?" Tony casually responded, certainty evident in his voice.

Once the armored van with the captive heroes was sent off Tony gathered everyone up for a debriefing.

"Okay," He sounded tired, "SHIELD is taking Cap's allies to the Raft - a prison just off Roosevelt Island. Cap and Barnes are still missing, although an investigation is underway to find them. For now, we can head back to the Avengers Tower. We can't do much until we get news so just relax if you can."

Tony was interrupted by a SHIELD agent clearing his throat to get Tony's attention. "Sorry, sir, but Secretary Ross needs to discuss something with you. It's urgent."

He narrowed his eyes, "What does he need to talk about?"

The agent gestured to Danny, "Him."

The teen felt his blood run cold and stood completely still, "Uh, Mister Stark...?"

"Don't worry about it, kid." Tony set his jaw, "I'll handle this."

The bravado in Tony's voice didn't sound false but Danny still had his doubts. Even when all of Amity Park vouched for Phantom's innocence the government still sent the GiW to track him down time and time again. Tony stalked off with the agent and Peter inched a little closer to the other hero, giving him a comforting pat on the back. Danny hoped Tony knew how to deal with this 'Secretary Ross' guy.

He really, really, hoped he did.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Alright, so the next pair of chapters should be out next week from today! After that, the update schedule may vary but I'm aiming for every other Friday. Also, keep in mind chapters 2 and 3 are some of the longest chapters I have so far until more action happens. Thankfully that should be soon! Until next time!

-DPC