Robin's Egg

Eggcuse me? I'm the Ghost King?

Ghost King.

They thought he was the Ghost King.

That was a lot to unpack. Not only was the GIW on the tail of the leader of an entire species but you could, apparently, summon that leader with the right circle and some candles. If the GIW hadn't picked up Danny's core that day then these guys would have summoned it to them. It hadn't mattered if Damian had found a good hiding spot. The teen would have fallen into unknown hands regardless and Damian wouldn't have been any wiser.

When Danny woke up, he had a lot of explaining to do. The fact that he could just be teleported away at any time was concerning on multiple levels and there had to be a way to stop it. Maybe Danny could resist the pull but couldn't right now because of his current state. Regardless, these cultists were involved in an attempted kidnapping of an injured kid, for all Damian was concerned, and they were not going to be let off lightly.

That didn't mean he couldn't use this situation to his advantage and mess with them though.

Danny seemed to interpret Damian's conflicted emotions as a possible threat and iced over the entire circle. It crept up the sides of the basins, effectively putting out the flames of the candles. The wax on the duck heads was only slightly melted. These candles were designed to last apparently. However, the sudden frost only aided Damian's case as several cultists were now bowing to him and others were beginning to chant in reverence.

Robin steeled himself and settled into a relaxed pose with a stern glare. They didn't need to know their summoning had worked but the person of interest was wrong. "That's right, I'm the Ghost King!" Robin declared and he elbowed Jon in the side when the kid snorted. "I'm also called the demon prince, who did you think you were going to summon?" He took a couple of steps forward and several of the cultists mirrored them backward. Damian growled, trying to ignore his friend's snickering behind him at the display.

Jon was floating above the frost so that it didn't creep up his body as well. Barely contained laughter shook the boy's frame. "I can't believe that you are doing this-"

"Silence!" Damian hissed at his friend before whirling around to the cultists again (who were freaking out about Jon's show of power with the floating). "Did you really think that by summoning me, I would just do your bidding?"

"The circle! The circle should have you contained!" cried the leader who was still attempting to stand his ground, clutching his bleeding hand in the long sleeve of his robe.

Robin looked at the circle and back up at the leader with a dangerous smirk. He purposefully stepped out of the circle, much to the dawning horror of the people before him. "Did you really think that a circle made of chalk could keep me contained?"

At this point, the leader was trembling where he stood. "That chalk is made from those who have died within our number! It's the most powerful talisman we have!"

"Aw, gross! This is made of dead people?!" Jon made a noise of disgust and started to wipe his shoes on the wall nearby. "Eww... I stepped on it. I. Stepped. On. It!"

"They were willingly donated to the cause!"

"That doesn't make them any less dead!"

Robin rolled his eyes and watched as the light of Danny's core dimmed since he was out of the circle. "Are you trying to tell me that my own subjects are more powerful than I am?" He leveled a glare at the leader, slowly stalking forward like a predator eyeing up its trapped prey. "I am the Ghost King! The moment they leave this mortal plane, they are in servitude to me forever and you have the sheer audacity to tell me that lowly peons like yourselves... are stronger than me?"