Hyde rose early, and almost immediately wrapped his hand around his satchel protectively. Good. Still there, along with the two idiots sleeping soundly next to him. Hyde nudged Rolland with his boot, waking him up with a start.
“Who-!” He frowned as he looked up. “Ah. Hyde.”
“We have to move.” Carpenter’s frown deepened, making him look not unlike a grumpy toddler, in Hyde’s opinion, but he nodded.
“You don’t have to be rude about it.” This time, it was the other guy’s voice, still drowsy, that had spoken up. Hyde rolled his eyes.
"Listen, Rolland. You and your friend what's-his-face..."
"John."
"Didn't ask." Nor did he care. Leer was too boring to be worth remembering, and so was his name. Joan, or John, or whatever he’d just said. “You and your friend are my allies, and my goal is to keep us all safe. Not to be nice about it.”
He offered them a smirk, turned on his heel, and started gathering his things. Soon enough, they followed suit and once again, the three of them were going through the forest. They were going in the same direction as the main road did, but Leer estimated they wouldn’t get too close to it for most of their journey.
And they didn't, not for a while. At one point, they got close enough to spot the path in between the trees from afar, but that was it. Hyde started walking faster, not wanting to risk, when he spotted something.
"Oh. Oh no." His mind processed the situation in a few seconds. Well, this would probably marginally make things worse. He had more important things to worry about, though. "This is bad, this is really bad!"
Rolland and Leer walked closer, trying to see what he was watching.
"Wanted posters?!" Rolland sounded horrified.
"Really poorly drawn wanted posters," Hyde corrected. "They just can't get my hair right!"
"Who cares?" Leer sounded even more panicked than his companion.
"Easy for you to say. Your hair looks amazing." Well, compared to reality, he completed mentally.
"What do we do?" Well, not acting hysterical would be a great start.
"Get away from the road, obviously. Too bad if we lose a few hours, it'll be safer."
The other two nodded and, together, they started again, shifting their course to go deeper into the woods. The terrain was at a slight slope, thankfully it was barely noticeable and not enough to slow their walk. Unfortunately, it might've been what led the guards to spot them from above.
✾
Hyde was the first to hear the horses. He turned on his heels before he even processed what the sound meant, his eyes widening ever so slightly when he saw the royal guards' uniforms. The others turned upon seeing his face, and for a second, both groups were perfectly still, staring at each other through the trees.
Then, Hyde was running.
He ran as fast as he could, Rolland and Leer next to him, the sound of horses galloping behind them, trees all around. And suddenly, the cliff. Right in front of them.
"Fuck!"
He looked up. It wasn't that high, thankfully, but they couldn't turn back, and there weren't many options. Hyde turned.
"Help me up."
"What."
"Help me up. I'm the best climber out of us, I'll pull you up." Rolland seemed to think it over, way too slowly for his taste.
"Fine. But give us the satchel first."
"Seriously?!" Twin glares. "You guys don't trust me?"
Obviously, they didn't. Might be the smartest thing they did so far, but Hyde didn't have time for their bullshit. He tossed Leer the bag, resisting the urge to punch the idiot's face. It took him seconds to climb up his two accomplices and pull himself up. He looked down. The soldiers were close, too close, and those two dickheads almost got him caught because they decided this was the best time to be careful. Hyde grinned.
"Help us up!"
"Mmh… nah, don't think I will."
"We have the crown!" Hyde's wolfish grin widened as he dangled the satchel in front of their eyes.
"How-"
"I'm just really, really good," he said, already standing and walking away.
"HYDE!"
"Have a nice day!" he exclaimed above his shoulder.
He walked as fast as he could, trying only to escape. He was on foot, the soldiers had horses and might not be the only ones around. So, he walked, and he ran, hiding best he could and almost getting caught several times in his downhill rush. He mumbled something under his breath about fuckin' idiots who couldn't get their priorities straight, but in all honesty, he was glad to be rid of them right then and now. Thankfully, the trees slowed most of the guards down, until he could no longer see or hear the pursuers he had left behind.
Hyde paused to catch his breath, listening. Not a sound around for the moment. He relaxed ever so slightly, sighing in relief. So far, things were fine. Now, he needed to figure out a way to get as far from the island as possible. He had barely taken a step when he saw it - the shadow of someone, someone clearly listening and looking for something.
Him. Carefully, Hyde took a step back, looking for a place to hide. His hand landed on the rocks behind him, searching for a recess, or a way to climb. Instead, his arm suddenly sunk and he almost stumbled. Practically invisible to the eye, there was a crevice, a hollow spot someone could easily slide in, perfectly hidden to the view. Without pausing to think, he slipped inside, heart beating as he heard steps coming closer, then passing without a pause.
He grinned and turned, trying to see where the crevice ended, or if it prolonged into a tunnel. What he saw instead left him staring incredulously. The morning sun shone gently into the quiet, small valley, though most of it was still covered in shadows from the surrounding cliffs, perfectly masking the small river, the hidden trail… and the abandoned tower that stood there.
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DP x DC Prompt
…
There are no more heroes.
Well, okay. Rewind a bit.
Danny has been doing the hero thing for a while now. He’s had a big reveal; everyone has accepted him (including his parents), the GIW disbanded, the Anti-Ecto acts repealed, and generally, everything is going great. Some of the A-Listers are even training as junior ghost hunters to help give him a break from his rogues! (Being Ghost King makes things hectic sometimes, and he just needs the extra help. Sue him!)
The point is, literally nothing is wrong with Danny Phantom’s afterlife.
And then Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress, disappears in front of his eyes.
Danny is baffled! She’s just…gone! Valerie just popped out of existence, like she was never there. But no matter how hard he searches in the Ghost Zone, he can’t find her soul anywhere. His core isn't broken in grief. So she’s not dead. Which is good. So then, where is she?
Some of the others come forward with ideas on how to find her. A few ghosts volunteer to go out into the mortal realm, an area Danny had declared off-limits, to see if she was out there. Danny approves it. He rounds up some of the friendlier (i.e., discreet) ghosts and Amity Parkers and demolishes the outside travel ban.
So everyone spreads out, looking for their dear frenemy and teammate. But it becomes apparent very quickly that something is wrong with the rest of the world.
There are no more heroes.
Every single living superhero on the face of the Earth has just…vanished. Villains are running amok; the countries are in chaos! Some aliens are invading Earth, mythical deities are trying to take over, and society is crumbling to the ground. Everything is on the brink of collapse.
Well, Danny was still there. And so were his people. They were pretty spread out, so could they just…take up the mantles? He also knew where to find the souls of dead heroes in the Zone; surely they wouldn't mind coming out of retirement for a little bit, especially if they couldn't die again. Oh! And that skeleton army leftover from Pariah Dark's reign might be useful in repelling those invading forces.
Honestly, there were more than enough hands to go around! And with the heroes gone, Danny didn't mind letting everyone out for a little break, as long as they followed his rules. They wouldn't stop the search for the other heroes, but hopefully, when they found them, the heroes wouldn't mind Danny's intervention too much. :)
In other words:
Someone fucks up, and all of Earth's living heroes are either wished out of existence or are whisked away to some far-off realm where Danny hasn't checked yet. In the attempt to figure out what's going on, Danny lets the dead run amok over the Earth as they search for clues. The skeleton army repels the invading armies, the souls of dead heroes deal with the world leaders, and his rogues and other Amity Parkers set up shop in place of famous heroes, trying to get the cities under control again.
Basically, they just do their best to keep everything from imploding until the Justice League and others are back.
(And why is it that Danny hasn't disappeared? Well, whatever caused everyone to go poof! only affected living heroes. Anyone heroes that were dead in the first place, or even just half-dead, stayed behind.)
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