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aggressively-hyperfixates · 56 minutes ago

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YESSSSS NERDPOE, BLESS YOUR HEART I LOVE YOUR FICS

Lois Lane is going undercover to investigate a secretive part of the government.

I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THEIR WORLDS. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE MONEY WITH THIS POST. IF THIS POST IS ON TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, OR ANYTHING OTHER THAN TUMBLR I DID NOT CONSENT TO THAT. IF THIS DISCLAIMER IS MISSING THEN THE POST WAS EDITED TO NEGATE IT.

Right away, things are odd.

Her job is simple; janitorial duties.

The very first thing they give her is a thermos, and tell her to never, ever put food in it, but that she has to keep it on her at all times. The thermos is not allowed to leave the building.

She is only cleared to clean one room; the entrance. That is it. Another janitor has to pick up her trash once her trash is full and take it somewhere else.

Sometimes agents come in with white boxes that drip green, for which she has to put on a hazmat suit to clean up and, afterwards, undergo a few medical tests.

The agents, however, never have to wear those hazmat suits.

Sometimes there are protests from the nearest town hosted outside, and if that happens, Lois gets bundled away out through a different exit that she must remain blindfolded while led to.

One month in, and during a medical test one of the doctors eyes light up.

They say she's 'strong enough' to survive the next clearance level.

Lois bites her lip, swallows her questions, and dedicates herself to finding answers.

The next clearance level is cleaning bathrooms in Section 1, the point just past the entrance.

She doesn't intend to stay much longer; she's getting more questions than answers, and this is looking like something that Clark would be better suited to handling with a few of his League friends.

The bathrooms have rules of their own.

Third stall from the left in every bathroom is to never be opened, no matter what she hears or if anyone is calling for help.

Never, ever try to reload the paper towels unless she's tazed it with a specialized tazer three times prior to touching the dispenser.

But; she can finally go to the dumpster out back! Which is great, because there's a way through the fence that they don't realize local raccoons created.

Exit point secured.

On her last day, with her exit planned and Jimmy already waiting for her in a predetermined location, the bathroom stall third from the left creaks open, and out staggers a bleeding, heavily injured teenager.

He has white hair, glowing green eyes, a black and white jumpsuit, and he only looks at her with despair and tired acceptance before passing out, reverting to black hair and normal clothes.

Lois barely gives herself half a second to process what she just saw.

Then she's removing the trash from the trash bin, laying the bin on it's side and roughly shoving the injured teenager inside of it, placing the bag full of trash on top of him, hurriedly cleaning blood off of the cart, bin, and herself, and speed walking to the dumpsters out back.

If she can get him out through that opening and into her car, Jimmy can drive them to the nearest hospital, and...

Wait.

Hospitals are...probably not a super great idea, given where the teenager staggered out of.

Okay, change of plans.

"Clark," she says under her breath as she gets into the open air, "I have a hurt kid and hospitals aren't a good idea. Can you take him to the nearest secret hero doctor?"

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 1 hour ago

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This deserves more than 18 reblogs istg

Jimmy Olsen, opting to make some spare money on the side (there's a new camera that just dropped and it's worth more than his normal salary can afford), signs up for a Clinical Trial.

It'll pay more than enough for that new camera he wants, and he just has to use his two weeks of saved vacation time from work to do it.

But he should have read the fine print.

Because he went to sleep in his bed, and woke up in what looks like a hotel room without any windows.

He pushes the emergency button on his watch, trying to summon Superman, but nothing happens.

Wherever he is, it's so well fortified that Superman can't hear the frequency the watch is going off at.

After the initial freak out though, the doctors come in and explain how the trial will work; two weeks of taking a pill in the morning and getting a shot in the afternoon, blood draws once every three days to monitor any side effects, consulting with a personal doctor every day, and he gets to basically actually have a two week vacation.

The secrecy, the doctors say, is due to it being a Government Run Clinical Trial, and they really are sorry for drugging him, but they figured it would be less stressful than throwing a black hood over his head on the way to the location.

Jimmy does not forgive them.

This is shady as shit.

But also, the doctors very notably did not say he could leave before the trial was up.

The best thing he can do is play along until he can find a chance to escape.

Except that the pills glow a little. The shots definitely glow, and not just a little. If he struggles, they sedate him and give him the meds anyways, and he wakes up in his hotel/prison cell, groggy. If he doesn't talk to the doctor about how he's feeling physically every day, they strap him down and run tests with various scanners.

There's no windows. The doors, every single one of them, need a key card and a thumb print scan to open. There is no cell phone signal; he knows because he overheard the armed guards complaining about it. No matter how many times he whispers for Superman, the Man of Steel doesn't come.

Hell, at one point, when Jimmy was actively struggling against getting injected again, he quite literally screamed for Superman, only for nothing to happen.

Everything is soundproofed, then.

He's not sure how long it's been, but he's fairly certain it's been over two weeks, unless they changed the schedule for the pills and the shots without telling him. Also, his hair is getting longer than it would have in two weeks.

And things are starting to get weird. Well, weirder.

His eyes sometimes glow green. One time he accidentally started floating. They held a jar of some strange glowing orb near him and his breath started frosting over.

He's sleeping more.

He can feel his heart slowing down more and more every day.

He knows he's dying.

And he knows that, for some reason, that's the goal; when he'd been in a sleepy haze, and the scientists and doctors had thought him unconscious, he'd heard them talking about him almost having the same biology as 'Phantom', and that all that was left was the brainwashing stage.

That they were just waiting for him to die before they did that.

But the closer he gets to death, the stronger he becomes. He hides it, of course, but it's difficult to hide a bent metal chair leg. He doesn't know if that happened due to enhanced strength or...or something else.

Then one day he looks up to see his eyes glowing green, but in the way that Superman's do before he uses laser vision. The floating gets more pronounced. He accidentally froze his morning coffee when he blew on it.

For some reason, his body appears to be developing the same or similar powers to Superman, and he has no idea why, or if it's permanent.

But he won't get answers if they refuse to tell him anything face to face.

So he pretends to be unconscious more; that way they'll talk more around him.

He learns that Phantom was a hero, despite the bullshit they're saying he knows one when he hears about one, who they took down.

That they experimented on him until all that was left was...the small glowing orb in a jar they kept shoving at his face.

And something in Jimmy knows that Phantom can still be saved.

If he can time it right, he can try to punch his way through enough of the guards and scientists to get to a part of the compound in the open air, somewhere he can get help.

Somewhere Superman can finally hear him.

He just has to do half the work.

Fine.

The more he plans, the more he feels an odd attachment to the orb in the jar. To Phantom.

Something inside him knows that's just a kid, and he can't explain how it knows.

Then, one day, when the timing is right, and he feels like he's on the cusp of...something, he strikes.

He takes a deep breath, just as they go to inject him again, feels his heart finally slow to a stop, and throws the metal table at the doctors in the room.

He doesn't even pause to acknowledge that his feet aren't touching the ground. That he's flying.

He's already across the room and grabbing Phantom, using the momentum to punch out the steel door.

The weapons they try to use on him to stop him sting, but Jimmy tanks it and barrels forward, breaking down door after door without stopping.

Then, after getting blinded by a sun he hasn't seen in an unknown number of days, he's out in the open air.

"Superman! Help!"

With an army rallying behind him, a rescued hostage in his arms, and Jimmy actively fighting off a nervous breakdown, Superman hears him.

And Superman is pissed.

~~~~~~

Clark has been out of his mind with worry.

Jimmy Olsen has been missing for seven months, and no one can pinpoint where he is.

He can't hear Jimmy's heart, and the only thing preventing him from believing that Jimmy's dead is the staunch refusal to do so, and Bruce reassuring him that the evidence in Jimmy's apartment indicated that whoever took him wanted him alive.

So after seven months of no word, he finally, finally hears Jimmy's hoarse, terrified voice scream for him.

He's there before he fully realizes that he's moved, and...

Jimmy's floating.

Jimmy doesn't have a pulse.

Jimmy's very clearly alive somehow despite that, ragged with unkempt blue hair and beard so pale the blue was almost white, skinnier than he should be, glowing pale red eyes, and cradling a jar with a glowing orb inside of it.

"They did to him what they were trying to do to me, and I don't know what they did," Jimmy gasps, hands shaking. "I can fly, I have laser vision, I have frost breath, I don't know what...I don't..."

Behind Jimmy, a small army of men in white suits rushes out of a hole in the wall, leveling strange weapons at his friend.

The same friend they experimented on, for seven months, and probably did irreversible damage to if they managed to foist Kryptonian abilities upon a human body.

Clark reaches out and closes Jimmy's eyes, cutting off and containing the laser vision his friend was gearing up to use from stress alone.

Then, slowly, Superman turns to look down at the men in white suits below him, who appear to be having the sudden and startling revelation that they'd messed up.

The Man of Steel loses a little time after that.

Or; The GIW opens a Clinical Trial to try to create a new halfa after experimenting on their captured subject, Phantom, so much that Phantom was forced into his Core. The Clinical Trial only lasts for two weeks; but after that they can keep whoever signs up for it indefinitely, because at that point they're so ecto-contaminated they don't count as human and fall under the anti-ecto acts. Then, they can create their own halfa and brainwash the halfa into doing their dirty work. Jimmy Olsen, desperate to escape, has been slowly adapting to have the powers of Superman, who is his friend and who would absolutely be able to save not only Jimmy, but whoever these scientists turned into a glowing orb. Since ecto is adaptable, it adapted to the powerset that Jimmy thought he needed. This includes the very last ability he got; invulnerability, but on a lesser scale than Superman's own, hence why anti-ghost weapons only stung him.

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 2 hours ago

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Danny the weather man

The weather forecast is never a 100% reliable. That was until this no name news sender from bumfuck nowhere hired a new weather forecaster.

It was a young adult. Just out of his teens or just still in it. His name was Danny and he always ignored the screen of the weather forecast if he thought it wouldnt be accurate. The occasion that brought him to fame was one of such.

Danny was casually doing his segment of the show. He was just about to open his mouth when he frowned. "That is about as wrong as Tuckers love for greasy vein clogging bacon."

He gestured towards the screen. "Yeah, its not gonna be just a little rainy here. The low pressure will increase drastically due to a Superman rogue attempting to create red sun rays. Anyways, so the rain will increase in these areas." He pointed towards some places on the map and continued. "Though the influences will stop around here." He pointed towards the very edge of the map. "Here it will be 72 degrees instead of 75 though. Sorry folks." And because it was live, no one was able to remove it before it aired.

He was fired for that stunt. Before being immediately rehired as it turned out, he was correct. The show decides to test his limits. He becomes the highlight of their news channel. He can predict weather on the entire planet more accurately then the most advanced tech with the most advanced programs and even includes future events that will affect the weather.

This gains the attention of everyone. Scientists, villains, heroes, normal people, weather nerds, and most importantly, the justice league and flight companies. The power of having some kind of weather oracle power related weather meta on their side would he immense.

Or Danny uses his new powers gained by his core consuming the powers he got from Vortex and the time medal of Clockwork together with his developing powers due to his space obsession to give the only people who were willing to hire him a boost.

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 14 hours ago

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DC x DP Prompt

Danny ends up helping the BatFam as someone who can speak to ghosts (Constantine and Zatanna are unavailable but recommended him).

It’s only after the mission does Danny turn to Batman and says “He doesn’t blame you for not making it in time. He’s mad Joker’s not dead, but he understands you tried and now that the anger is gone, that you can’t. Stop beating yourself up about it.”

For the first time Danny can see emotion course through Batman’s face.

“Also he wants you to forgive yourself about putting him in the suit. He saw the stupid case in the cave. You didn’t make him a soldier, so stop calling him that. If anything, he was a loyal son, even at the end.”

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 15 hours ago

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DC x DP Prompt

The Horseman War was angered. Someone took his Death. He could not find him in the realm beyond, could not feel their bond thrum in his core. Every island, every small community, big fortress, and lone travelers were searched, interrogated, no grave left unchecked.

There was only one place left, one place War swore to never return to, but to find his Death, he must.

It was terrifying waking up in the box, feeling the rush of air in his lungs again after what felt like a lifetime. The wetness of his blood on his fingertips gave an unsettling feeling of nostalgia for days among rooftops.

Jason Todd climbed out of his grave, angry, and nothing would stop him from finding Danny Fenton.

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 15 hours ago

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DC x DP

Jason never made it to the Lazarus pit or the league of assassins.

Bruce gave him that excuse for his green eyes and short temper.

Jason knows he didn’t crawl out of his grave with the giant Y that scars his chest.

Jason knows he’s a revenant.

Jason knows he needs to kill to stay sane. To stay whole.

A soul sucker they called him.

Jason agreed not to kill, because he misses his family. No matter how much he starves himself, it’s worth it to get Dick’s hugs, experience Tim’s genius, see Cassandra’s award winning performance, to help Damian experience a childhood.

Jason didn’t realize Bruce doesn’t know what he is. Jason didn’t realize Bruce meant Black Gate when he said he’d take him in the next time he killed. Jason didn’t realize Bruce had no idea about the anti ecto acts.

Jason swore to stay in line, so he’d never end up on that metal table again.

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 16 hours ago

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Jason's roommate is strange.

dp x dc promp

Jason Todd rented a small apartment, he has a roommate in it. This dude pays half a rent. But Jason almost never fucking sees him.

Danny is working strange shifts, was the explanation.

And one day Jason comes home and Danny sleeps at the kitchen table. Or at least Jason thought he was sleeping, but he was dead.

Then while Jason checked what could have happened, Danny opens his eyes says good day and walks away.

That happens around three times, and Danny at some point just started walking through the walls, since Jason knew something was off anyway, so no need for hiding his powers.

So Jason's roommate is Strange.

But Danny would say the exact same thing about his roommate. This Jason dude was really strange.

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 17 hours ago

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Danny runs for Mayor

Simple Prompt: Danny runs for the Gotham Mayor position

Extended Prompt: Danny is an absolute little shit throughout his entire campaign but still manages to win because he is legitimately one of the best candidates around

Just imagine the crack that could come from this!

Reporter: What is your stance on Vigilantism? Danny: Well I agree that Vigilantes are helpful for the communities that need them, and they should work with the police at every opportunity, I feel like the idea will always be a city where Vigilantes are not needed. Also I fail to see the relevancy of the question, there are no vigilantes in Gotham Reporter: What do you mean? What about the Bat-Family? Danny: No, Batman isn’t a Vigilante. Batman is a Crime Lord.

Danny: As mayor, I promise that I will not be infected by corruption. Not because of my moral standings, but because I absolutely fucking hate clowns and I will never accept a bribe as long as that guy is still alive. Yes this is me putting a hit out on the Joker. Crime Bosses, if you want to try and bribe me, you gotta kill him first or I won’t even consider it!

Batman: Why is a Meta-Human running for Gotham Office? You know this city doesn’t have a very good track record with people like you. Even the Signal had a rough start. Danny: Well, I just had a strong compulsion to help this city reach the peak of it’s potential *looks over Batman’s shoulder to see Lady Gotham holding up Cue Cards telling him what to say. She promised to help with his paperwork for the next 50 years if he became Mayor and helped fix her city* Danny: Such a strong compulsion…

Penguin: Look kid, I don’t care if you have enough power to destroy me at the subatomic level, I have enough money to ruin you, your sister, your parents, even your uncle! Danny: Oh really? I could get the souls of every person you have ever killed to get confessions out of them. Or I could give them the power to rip you apart. Or I could even just possess you and donate all your money to charity.

Danny: Oh god dammit! Vlad: Hello Badger! Glad to see you followed in my footsteps instead of your fathers! Danny: This wasn’t because of you! Lady Gotham asked for help! Vlad: A WIN IS A WIN!

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 18 hours ago

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Danny runs for Mayor

Simple Prompt: Danny runs for the Gotham Mayor position

Extended Prompt: Danny is an absolute little shit throughout his entire campaign but still manages to win because he is legitimately one of the best candidates around

Just imagine the crack that could come from this!

Danny: Oh god dammit! Vlad: Hello Badger! Glad to see you followed in my footsteps instead of your fathers! Danny: This wasn’t because of you! Lady Gotham asked for help! Vlad: A WIN IS A WIN!

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 19 hours ago

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Jason: This better be important. I was having dinner with my family, and I don't like being pulled away from it for something unimportant. RedHood gang member 1: Sorry, Boss, we just didn't know what to do. RedHood gang member 2: Yeah, it's not in any of the employee manuals you passed around last month. We're flying blind. Jason: Just tell me what happened. RedHood gang member 1: Okay, so as you know, we were getting a shipment in tonight from our friends the Blue Flame. Everything was going fine; we got the goods, they got their money, and then, BAM, the crate burst open. There was a kid inside the merchandise shipment. Jason: What!? Those idiots thought we were in the market for people!? How dare they! RedHood gang member 2: That's what we thought too! Execpt Blue Flame was just as confused as we were. They started waving thier guns at the kid, demanding to know who he was, and then the kid starts crying- Jason: How old was the kid? RedHood gang member 2: Can't be older than fourteen, and that being generous since he's so short. Jason nodding: Old enough to not be easily manipulated but young enough to be frightened. Okay, I'd like you to go on. RedHood gang member 1: Right, so the kid is crying and we're grabbing our guns too, just in case we have to stop them from shooting the poor thing, when a loud sonic scream rips out of the kid, and destroys the docking deck, taking everything with it. The Blue Flames, the pier, and the bit of nearby ocean weren't just blown away; they turned to ash. Jason: A meta then. A dangerous one at that. RedHood gang member 1: Yeah, and one we think wasn't aware he was a meta until that moment. Jason: What makes you say that? RedHood gang member 2: Look at him. Danny inside the Red hood gang interogation room with a one way mirror:

Jason: He seems spooked RedHood gang member 1 nodding: He hasn't moved or spoken for three hours. All he asked was that we not tell Jazz. We are still trying to find out who Jazz is. RedHood gang member 2: Whoever Jazz is, they must be scarier than my mother-in-law's if they make someone with a power like that cower. RedHood gang member 1: My mother is a saint!

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 2 days ago

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Dead on Main AU Prompt Fic

Edit: i use @shewhowillrise

The Justice League was choosing their head engineer. They had a few contenders. One being the top student in engineering at Gotham University, even has a scholarship through Jason Wayne’s Scholarship for Underperforming Students. Bruce Wayne has started it after adopting Jason and seeing how smart he was but also how much he struggled in school.

Daniel Fenton lived on the same street as the Monarch Theatre, the same street he found Jason.

Batman couldn’t help but think Daniel was what Jason could have been if he was able to finish school and head off too college.

Batman knocked on the apartment door, not at all surprised at how fast it opened. When setting up the meeting, he could hear the excitement over the phone.

“Hello Batman Sir!” Daniel greeted, holding out a hand. He had a strong firm grip, reminded him of Clark’s. Possibly a meta, which is a plus. With what the kid might encounter while building or making repairs, a meta gene would be good to have, especially strength.

And over the meeting Batman fell more and more in love with the kid’s enthusiasm. Without the guarantee of the job, the kid was ready to give some ideas (that would amazing) incase the League would need them.

The meeting was supposed to be an hour but soon he noticed that the sun was low.

Batman sat up straighter upon hearing a key turn in the lock.

“Oh that’s my partner, sorry, I would I have warned you but I didn’t realize the meeting was going to be this long,” Danny (only creepy billionaires call me Daniel) said, which Batman also noted that he tried his best not to blame Batman for going over the allotted time. Kid’s respectful too.

“Hey Stardust how’d the meeting I’m not supposed to know about go? I’m sure whatever words you stumbled over the Bat didn’t hold it against you for being nerv-” the disembodied voice walks into the dining room, and freezes in surprise before collecting himself, an easy smile going on his face while wiping grease stained hands on his grease stained jeans and stuck one out to shake.

“Hi, I’m Jaylad Peters,” he says but Batman doesn’t take the hand offered. He doesn’t react at all.

In front of him is his baby boy, the one that died in his arms, the one he buried in Gotham Cemetery, near Thomas and Martha. His Jason.

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 5 days ago

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Dead on Main random idea

Usually it’s Danny talking about his crush but let’s flip it.

Jason feeling so left out and discarded by family that he has his own “guy in the chair” bc he doesn’t know if he can trust Oracle more like if she trusts him he doesn’t wanna know the answer.

His “guy in the chair” is Tucker Foley. Met the guy on a case at Gotham U. Tucker helped him hack into a encrypted USB. And then just, kept asking him for help.

They get close enough friendship where Jason feels comfortable without the helmet (and maybe without the domino mask too).

Tucker by now expects Hood to climb through his dorm window and throw a gadget at him to hack into and reverse engineer.

What he did not expect was what Hood was gushing about.

“God you know that ghost boy Phantom? He’s so small and cute I wanna squish him. Like talk about a zombie’s dream boyfriend. Don’t tell my brother but I like Phantom’s puns better than Nightwing’s.”

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aggressively-hyperfixates · 5 days ago

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Gala Daze DPxDC

AO3

“What a great idea Vladdie!”

“I don’t know Jack…”

“Oh I assure you, my dear Maddie that Daniel will be perfectly safe with me. I won’t let him out of my sight for a moment.”

“Come on Maddie, it would be a perfect opportunity for our Danno to bump elbows with some rich bigwigs!”

“Well maybe he can talk to them about getting some funding for ghost extermination. Very well Vlad. You can take Danny to Gotham.”

Danny was disassociating. While not entirely a new state of being, a dissociative episode had never lasted this long for him. He had been fully checked out from his body ever since the flight from Amity Park to Gotham. He had been thinking about turning intangible and just letting the plane fly through him so he could go home, when Vlad had leaned over to him to whisper in his ear. Vlad said if Danny stepped even one toe out of line, or did anything to embarrass him, Vlad would overshadow as many people as it took to ensure that Jazz was turned down by every college she applied to. He would ruin her entire future if Danny did even one thing wrong.

Danny had started disassociating after that.

His parents had done a lot to hurt him and Jazz. Usually the harm the elder Fentons did to their children was either accidental or unknowing. Like when Jazz was sick for days after the Thanksgiving dinner where Dad tried to fry the turkey in ectoplasm or like when they shot Danny when he was out as Phantom.

However this time there was no excuse for them hurting their kids. If they ever listened to their children they would know that Danny hated Vlad and Jazz didn’t trust him. The kids had said over and over again for years that they didn’t like Vlad, but no! Uncle Vladdie could do no wrong! Danny and Jazz were just making things up for attention.

Ancients, Danny hoped that he could keep his nose clean for the trip, he didn’t want to be responsible for Jazz having to give up her dreams of getting into an Ivy League school. He had lost huge swaths of time. He barely remembered leaving the airport and the next time he was cognizant they were heading to the gala in the tailored suits Vlad had ordered.

Fortunately Vlad loved nothing more than the sound of his own voice, not even Danny or his mom. So he was more than happy to talk to the people around them about Danny and any time someone asked Danny a question he would be the one to answer instead. Vlad kept his hand either on Danny’s shoulder or on the back of his neck at all times so he couldn’t even slip away.

Now he was talking to some rich fruitloop who kept trying to engage Danny in conversation. Brucie? Wait? Bruce Wayne? Yeah the guy was rich but why would Vlad go out of his way to introduce Danny to this airhead?

“Well, yes, my son Damian does have many interests, but I can’t say that any of them have to do with NASA's latest satellite.” Mr. Wayne was saying in response to something Vlad had said. Ah. That made sense. Vlad wanted to brag, shove his superiority into Mr. Wayne’s face. Brucie turned to address Danny. “Tell me Daniel, what do you know about NASA's deep space satellite?”

“Uh, I prefer Danny actually, Mr. Wayne.” Danny said. Mr. Wayne’s eyebrows rose marginally considering those were his first words during this conversation. “And I-”

“Yes, Daniel really is attached to that childish nickname, isn’t he?” Vlad spoke up again. “Really Brucie, you would think children would grow up at some point. We should discuss this more over a game of golf next week…”

Danny let Vlad’s words wash over him again. The worst thing about Vlad was he really knew how to push Danny’s buttons. Of course he would bring up the new satellite only to show off to his rich rival, then not even let Danny talk about it. And then insulting him for his name! Prick!

He tried to avoid looking at Brucie’s concerned face. Obviously he was a socialite and knew all about the proper behavior for galas, and Vlad probably wasn’t meeting those social rules. There was a small part of Danny’s chaos-gremlin brain that wanted to say something seemingly innocuous but super sus if you thought about it. Nothing would make Danny happier than getting Vlad investigated for something stupid like tax fraud, but he couldn’t risk Jazz’s career just for spite. Or gremlin urges.

Vlad moved his hand from Danny’s shoulder down to his lower back. Danny did everything he could to keep the snarl he wanted to make at that action from coming out. He still couldn’t help the full body shudder that shook his frame for a fraction of a second. Vlad shot him a look filled with malice and promised pain so Danny reigned himself back in and put his attention firmly on the floor in front of him.

Danny clenched his fists, driving his nails into his own palms. He was sure he was bleeding, but he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t do anything. He hated feeling powerless. You would think that after the portal accident and him gaining actual real powers the feeling would be far more rare, except it happens far too often and he hated it. His hands were shaking with rage and suppressed desire to punch Vlad right in his smug, manipulative, fruit-loop face.

He chanced a glance up just in time to see a girl melt out of the shadows near the wall. If he didn’t know better he would say she was a ghost with how easily she was able to appear. But she definitely wasn’t a ghost. Perhaps a touch liminal, but not a ghost. And she was watching him.

Danny tilted his head slightly to get a better look at her and she tilted her head to match. Her eyes flicked to the two adults for only a fraction of a second to confirm they were still engaged in whatever conversation they were having, then her hand came up and she signed for letters in what Danny recognized as ASL.

“R U O K.”

She merely looked the question at him. He risked a peak at Vlad, but he was focused on trying to strong arm Brucie into meeting for a golf match and some private drinks. Other than his thumb rubbing circles into the small of Danny’s back he wasn’t paying any attention to him. Danny looked back at the girl who was watching him intently. He gave the smallest shake of his head he could, hoping that Vlad wouldn’t notice. The girl nodded and slipped effortlessly back into the shadows, all but disappearing from view.

Several more minutes went by of mindless conversation with Mr. Wayne seemingly had given up on trying to get Danny to answer questions. He let his mind drift again to his beloved stars as he began naming the stars in biggest constellations visible in the night sky.

For a while Danny thought that nothing would come of the mystery girl who had checked on him, until a crash echoed across the hall from the entrance of the gala hall. Vlad finally released Danny’s shoulder to whirl to face the noise. Then to his surprise, Mr. Wayne turned as well to put himself in between Danny and the crash, effectively hiding him from Vlad. At first he thought that was just serial adopter Brucie Wayne’s first gut instinct in a crisis, putting his body between a threat and the nearest black haired kid.

However, immediately after Mr. Wayne stepped in front of him, two kids appeared out of the crowd, grabbed Danny’s shoulders and started to drag him away. He recognized the asian girl who had signed to him, and the other was, even more surprisingly, Damian Freaking Wayne! That meant that the other girl must be Cassandra Wayne! Sam had made sure Danny knew all the Waynes before the topic of the gala had even come up. Apparently the Waynes were the only people who made the events her parents dragged her to worth it.

Damian and Cassandra maneuvered through the crowd so effortlessly Danny had to take a moment to check if they were using intangibility. The trio weaved through as the noise behind them got even louder until they pulled him into a back room of the hall where a very tired looking Timothy Drake-Wayne was already there on his laptop. He looked up at Danny in confusion for a second before returning his attention to the computer in front of him.

“Don’t worry, that noise was just the chandelier in the entrance hall falling. Apparently it couldn’t take Dick’s weight.” Timothy, actual real CEO of Wayne enterprises said. Tucker would be losing his mind right now.

Cassandra settled Danny into a chair while Damian marched up to Timothy. Danny could finally take a moment to look properly at the Waynes. All three of them wore elegant, likely name brand suits. Timothy was wearing a plain white shirt under his suit jacket while Cassandra and Damian wore black on black suits, though Damian’s did have some green highlights at the lapels and pockets. Timothy looked like his eye bags had eye bags, which Danny could relate to.

“Father ordered you not to work for the night of the Gala.” Damian snapped. When Timothy didn’t dignify that with a response the youngest Wayne turned back to face Danny. “Vladimir Masters escorted you to the gala tonight.”

Danny couldn’t help but snort.

“What a polite way of phrasing that.” He said with a dark chuckle.

“Would it be more accurate to call you his hostage?” Timothy asked from his chair, where he was still focusing on his computer screen and whatever it was he was working on.

That brought Danny up short. He tried to stutter out a denial, but Damian quickly spoke over him.

“Has he hurt you? Threatened you or someone you care about?” Damian demanded.

“N-no! He would never lay a finger on me!” Danny was quick to say, trying to project as much confidence as possible. Cassandra moved her flat hand in line across her face. Damian glanced at her and his eyes narrowed at Danny.

“You don’t have to lie to protect him. We can protect you, our family has resources.”

Danny shook his head over and over again.

“I can’t talk about it. I can’t talk about it. I can’t talk about it.” He had to repeat himself, the phrase trapping themselves in his mind as he kept saying it over and over again.

If he told them what Vlad had done to him, Vlad would ruin Jazz’s entire life. He already regularly tried to kill his father, but there was no telling what he would do to Jazz. Danny couldn’t tell them about being thrown into walls during his fights with Plasimus, or the clones Danny had watched melt in his arms under Vlad’s uncaring eye. He almost jumped out of his skin when a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

While he was panicking, Damian had withdrawn, visibly uncertain about how best to approach him. Cassandra and Timothy had come closer, Cassandra had her hand on his shoulder providing a calm, steadying presence. Timothy had closed his laptop and scooted forward his attention now fully on Danny. He made some motion to the others that seemed to symbolize that he was going to be taking point.

“You’re not from Gotham originally, is that right?” When Danny nodded he continued. “We have some heroes here in Gotham. Believe it or not, we Waynes get kidnapped a lot, get rescued a lot. We know some of the Bats, they could help you.”

Danny was already shaking his head again.

“No, no no! That’s even worse. The worst thing that can happen if you Waynes help me is Brucie gives Vlad WE for pennies on the dollar and Vlad gets even richer. But if you get Batman involved, then he could have a man inside the JL. He could turn them against the people, use them as a tool to take over whatever he wants. He could overthrow the Ghost King…”

Now Danny was really panicking. He had muttered the last bit, terror carving its way through him. It would be like the absolute worst of the fight with Pariah Dark and Dan all over again. Danny would have to fight, and maybe kill the Justice League to stop him. If he won, he would have to eradicate Earth’s heroes, and if he lost Vlad would become King of the Infinite Realms.

“You are talking about mind control.” Damian said, his eyes wide.

“No! Not mind control. Overshadowing. Humans call it possession.” Danny was rambling now. Desperately trying to convince these silly rich people not to get involved. Danny was a lost cause, he couldn’t be helped. All he could do was keep his head down long enough for Jazz to get into her college of choice. The Waynes glanced at each other nervously for a moment and Damian pulled his phone from his pocket.

“I think I need to make a call.”

Danny snapped his head up, his attention on the far wall as his breath came out in a foggy puff, like he had just walked into a freezer. He didn't know it but his eyes were blazing green at that moment.

“It’s too late now.”

The Waynes all step back or slouch against their chairs. Only a second later the door to their room snaps open, Vlad furious, his once spotless suit now covered in red wine and assorted finger foods. His eyes burned red with rage as he locked onto Danny. Timothy immediately stood to his feet.

“Ah, Mr. Masters.” Vlad pulled himself back from his rage with difficulty to acknowledge the young CEO. “We were just coming out to look for you. Your ward was grabbed by our security team. Small case of mistaken identity. It's standard procedure during these sorts of events to get my brothers and sister to safety in the event of another terrorist attack. Or worse a Joker attack. Thankfully it seems everything is under control. You may take your charge now.”

Timothy brushed past Vlad without another comment. Damian glared at him, but he glared at everyone, while Cassandra just stared at Vlad, unblinking, like some kind of demonic cat. Her complete lack of reaction obviously weirded Vlad out even more than Damian’s aggression.

“Oh I’ll do that.” He grabbed Danny’s arm hard enough to bruise. “Come Daniel. We’re leaving.”

Danny turned away from the Waynes as he was dragged out the door. He didn’t want to face their pity. At least he did a good enough job convincing them that they can’t help him. Now he just had to last long enough to get back home again. He let himself checkout, ignoring Vlad’s crushing grip on his arm as he dragged from the gala and back to the hotel.

When Danny next checked in with his body it was to Vlad screaming in his face and burning pain in his body. In Vlad’s furious race out of the Gala after his humiliation he had pulled Danny’s arm out of his socket. And to emphasize his points Vlad would hit him with ecto fire, each hit destroying more of his once nice suit and leaving burns on his body.

“You think you can just toy with me in front of these richest elite? I will make your life hell! I will make your sister’s life hell! She’ll be lucky to make a living on the street corners of a shit hole like this!” He gestured out to the window, which Danny belatedly realized was open. “I just don’t understand why you make me do this to you, Daniel. Little Badger, you are forcing my hand and I-”

He shrieked as a batarang whipped from the open window. The lights in the hotel room flickered for a second and Batman, Robin and Orphan were standing in the room when the lights returned. Vlad turned to them, furious that they would interrupt.

“Vladimir Masters. We have some questions for you.” Batman growled.

“No! I think you’ll find Batman, that I have some questions for you!” Vlad’s eyes flared red. Danny tried to stop him but he was backhanded away

Vlad floated into the air as his ghost transformation rolled over his body. He reached out to grab Batman but before he could several things happened at once. First and most shockingly, Robin drew a katana and cut off Plasmius’ hand at the wrist. Then several voices shouted out at once.

“Azarath Metrion Zinthos!”

“Dnib siht tirips ot sti ydob!”

“Puer iste spiritus maxime!”

Chains of gold, purple and blazing fire wrapped around Plasmius again and again. The chains dragged him down to the ground even as he snarled and swore at them. A man in a trench coat, a woman in a long black cloak and an actual stage magician appeared in the room, magic sparking at their fingertips. Cassandra had bypassed the battle completely to come to Danny's side, though she did still have her weapons in her hands. Batman turned to address him, ignoring Vlad’s continued vitriol in the middle of the arcane trap.

“You’re safe now Danny. You don’t have to worry about him hurting you ever again. This I swear.” Batman said, his voice just as serious as it ever was, and for the first time in his life, Danny felt like he could actually believe it when someone told him he was safe. He collapsed to his knees, shuddering sobs shaking his body. He was safe, Jazz was safe from Vlad’s machinations. Maybe this nightmare could finally be over.

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