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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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~Tim ‘drake’ Drake~
Tim is a drake. Well, not a ‘Drake', Drake, but a drake. Let’s try that again- Tim Drake is a dragon. A scaly shapeshifting menace of a creature that terrorizes humans and burns villages. Not that he knew that from the beginning.
It all started when Janet and Jack Drake found an interesting rock at an archeological site, that seemed to be some sort of massive fossilized egg based on the tough pitted shell. True to their habit of hoarding interesting finds to themselves, they brought it home with them.
And then it hatched.
And the large wingless lizard turned into a baby.
Now, admitting that the baby wasn’t theirs would be a problem in the sense that they would have to admit that they’ve been stealing from dig sites for over a decade. Getting rid of the child wouldn’t be an option either, Janet’s always been squeamish about these sorts of things, and Jack wouldn’t want to upset her like that. So the only option left to them was to keep it and claim the child was theirs.
And thus, Tim the drake became Tim Drake. Irony at it’s finest if you’d ask him.
—————————-
It wasn’t easy growing up in a household where any adults would be out for months at a time, but Tim made do. It was hard for him, always turning around expecting someone to be there, and it always just being him all alone. He dove into his hobbies to take his mind off of it, learning to play the violin and piano at a frightening rate and picking up knowledge as fast as he could get his claws on it.
He particularly loved the ancient folktales of the dragons, whatever part of the world they were from. Feeling the shivers of his scales rattling underneath his skin as the mythical beasts fought to defend what was theirs. Even if it was rather disappointing when they lost.
Starting school was probably the first time Tim had ever been able to compare himself to the humans of his age.
It was horrible. The children attending his classes didn’t see things the same way. On top of that they weren’t as… well developed you could say. They were soft and fragile, and had trouble comprehending the simplest of things, that Tim has been aware of for years.
It didn’t take them long to move him up a few grades to better learn at his current level, but that didn’t help anything. While the children of the higher grades were much more mature than his former classmates, they detested having someone so much younger than them thriving in the class they thought was difficult. Tim didn’t make any friends there either.
The only solace for Tim was going out at night. It felt better being awake under the stars rather than the sun’s harsh light, and hopping between the roofs of Gotham felt so right being that high off the earth. Everything from the wind in his hair to the smell of the sky so high from the general smog of the lower city levels. It felt more like home that the Drake Manor ever did.
He started taking his camera out with him to shoot photos of the skyline and trying to capture the joy of flying across the rooftops. That’s when he first saw the Bats. They were out very nearly every night, doing the exact same things he was doing, and fighting the dangers of their territory while they were at it! Tim knew he would learn a lot following them on their patrols.
So that’s exactly what he did.
He didn’t put the pieces together until he saw Robin do a quadruple somersault, and realized that he was Dick Greyson. It was easy enough to figure out who Batman was after that. All it really meant to Tim though was Bruce Wayne was a much better ‘prince’ of the city than he had thought previously. Every gala he went to where the two were at he watched them interact with the rest of the 1% who attended the galas. His parents even had him shake hands with them once!
It really upset him when the first Robin split from Batman when they started fighting, but then Jason became Robin afterwards. Tim was overjoyed. Dick may have been a wonderful Robin, but he was different than Jason. Jason was kind and witty in ways he wasn’t, and was clearly a born Gothamite. It made him feel that much more relatable.
——————
It hadn’t really set in before now how dangerous following them could be. Sure, before there would be an occasional bullet whizzing past his hiding spots, or a thug would get just a bit too close, but the thing that really cemented it was dangling by the scruff of his neck being held by Batman of all people.
He had raced after Robin too fast to try and get a better action shot of him swinging on his grapple, and just about flew off the edge of the building. It still didn’t feel scary to Tim, the falling that is, he’d fallen from higher up with only some bruising to show for his troubles, but Batman clearly thought differently.
The terror of being caught in someone else’s territory was causing Tim to panic just a little, and Bruce’s deep raspy growl wasn’t helping him at all. He wriggled and kicked at the arm holding him as he was lectured, and eventually got fed up and pulled himself up and sank his teeth into Batman’s gauntleted arm. The shock of his teeth going right through his armor caused him to drop tim(a measly three stories), and he was back on his feet and sprinting away before Batman could get his wits about him.
———————-
The nights after they kept looking for Tim. Tim kept hiding, only coming out for the best pictures. Who knew if Batman would be man at him after all.
Eventually the search died down though, and the usual routine fell into place. Tim chasing them with the camera, The Bats taking down criminals, and Then all of them returning to their homes, with none of them realizing Tim lived just down the street.
They kept going to the galas and Tim even became friends a bit with Jason, albeit in the way people just talk to each other out of a shared hatred for large events. Tim’s parents come home and leave barely a week later, and Tim fights the urge to ask to go with them. They won’t say yes.
Then the unthinkable happened. Robin disappeared.
At first Tim thought it was the same kind of spat that Bruce and Dick used to get into with the increasing level of violence Batman put on criminals. And then the news broke about Jason’s death. They were never truly friends or even met in any memorable capacity(for Jason), but Tim couldn’t imagine the boy not in his life patrolling the gotham skyline and grumpily sulking around the buffet tables at galas.
Batman continued to get worse and worse and Tim didn’t know what to do except try and get the Justice League to realize what was happening in Gotham. He called and called and left so many hundreds of messages and letters and emails, until they told him to stop trying to contact them. With them cut off, Tim turned to Bludhaven to try and convince Dick to take up being nightwing again. He didn’t want anything to do with it either.
That night tim lost control of his form with the extent of his emotions for the first time in years.
With no no other options left, he walked the mile-and-a-half trek to the Wayne Manor to talk to Bruce himself. It took a lot of convincing, but he finally allowed Tim to help him, even just as a temporary Robin. Tim could do that. Just until Bruce got back on his feet and no longer.
He didn’t treat Tim like either of the other Robins, but that was fine. He wasn’t part of the family after all, no matter how often he stayed over, or Alfred made food for the both of them instead of just Bruce. Dick was over a lot to see him, and Tim figured this was his way of missing Jason. Just like being Robin for Batman was Tim’s.
——————————
Tim didn’t know what set it off, and told him something was wrong.
Nothing seemed wrong in the tower, even if it was quiet since none of the rest of his team was in there, there was nothing out of place and no odd smells in the air, but something was setting off his instincts anyway.
His eyes flicked back to track a shadow for a moment before it disappeared back down the hallway. The lights flickered and went off right at that moment, and Tim realized something must be seriously wrong.
His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly as his daylight filters receded into his eyelids and he tried not to breathe too loudly in case he missed something vital. Tim finally gave up on whatever the threat was coming to him and set off down the pitch black hallway. Every single footstep echoed creepily and he would shudder if he wasn’t able to tell exactly where the sounds were coming from.
He wandered towards the stairs to get down to the zeta tubes, but froze when he heard a single breath that wasn’t his own. Before he had time to process it, Red Hood was already on him and had him in a headlock that was rapidly cutting off his air.
“You really think you’re tough shit, huh replacement?” The modulated voice ground out far too loud next to his ear. Tim struggled and kicked, but couldn’t wriggle his fingers between the Hood’s arm and his neck. He didn’t stop struggling even when he felt a blade rest against his neck, or when Hood kept talking about something or other. He could feel the burning in his core creeping its way up his throat and had to get free.
suddenly a line of pain opened up on his neck, and he hit the ground in a pile. Red Hood didn’t wait to make sure he wasn’t bleeding out before he started beating Tim up where he was lying on the floor. Tim watched in horror as he took off his helmet and revealed the face underneath it. That was Jason, the same Jason who Tim used to follow around obsessively, and idolized before he died. And now he was here, back, to oust Tim from the territory he stole and reclaim his spot.
Tim cried out as Jason stomped on his fingers and the scales under the bruised skin ground together with a sound like bones snapping.
And then Jason.
Kicked him.
Down.
The.
Stairs.
It bruised his outside skin terribly, and the false nerves still sent his brain the same pain signals. Tim groaned from his place on the floor, and shrieked as a gunshot went off and a bullet buried itself under the skin of his thigh as the wound bled sluggishly. The damned thing had ricocheted up underneath his scales and his brain was fuzzy with the agony of it. It was so much worse that any damage to his human skin.
Jason hovers around for just a few minutes, smearing something on the walls, and then takes his leave without another word to Tim. Maybe he thought he had passed out. Figures he would think Tim is that weak.
As soon as the sounds disappear, Tim digs into the bullet wound and allows two of his claws to slice through the skin of his fingers to use as tweezers. His vision keeps flashing with white throughout the whole process, and as soon as the bullet plinks onto the ground, Tim really does pass out.
And then he wakes up in the Batcave, with Leslie Thompkins hovering over him, Waiting to grill him for answers as to how he has smooth midnight blue scales underneath his skin.
—————————-
Tim stayed in Doc. Thompkin’s care for three more days, in which he had to explain his suspicions about his origins. She was a good listener and only noted down the important medical issues in his folder of nothing else. She kept Bruce mostly out of the medical wing past the report of what happened, and put away any of his medical records as soon as any of the family walked in.
Alfred worried as good as the best of them, offering Tim soup and drinks and obviously trying to take his mind off the fact that Jason was back. Tim appreciated the attention anyway, most of the time he just came over to patrol and then went back to the Drake Manor. He sobered quickly at the thought that Jason wanted his spot back.
He knows logically how he would feel if someone came out of nowhere and stole what was his, so he can’t even be truly mad about it since he understands where he’s coming from a bit. For some reason, though, Bruce and Dick don’t see it the same way. Tim just didn’t get why they were so upset about it, as soon as Jason got what he wanted or Bruce put an end to it, it would all be over. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
Maybe Tim was just the one confused. The dynamics of the Wayne family seem so different than what he’s used to after all. The Drakes would never treat him this kindly- especially if he was injured. This kind of coddling would be unheard of, and they would get frustrated and leave for another dig within a few days.
Bruce and Alfred and Dick and now Cass and Stephanie- they weren’t like that. They hovered and wouldn’t let him go on patrol until it was safe and Jason was caught, and they cared! they cared so much about Tim’s safety and health and he wasn’t even a part of their family, he was just placeholding until a new Robin could be chosen.
He can’t help but wonder how they would react if they knew.
—————————-
Red Hood ended up probationally re-joining the Batclan and Tim was suddenly almost murdered a lot less. He knew that would happen when he finally got told by Bruce that he wouldn’t be getting the Joker’s head on a stick or whatever it was he was so set on.
However now Bruce has brought home his blood son from where he’s been living with the League of Assassins.
Damian was loud and obnoxious about how ‘he is the only blood son’ and ‘the rest of you are only placeholders and not worthy of Father’s attention’ which may be true in Tim’s case, but it’s entirely unfair to say that to the others, who are in fact Waynes, whether Damian likes it or not.
And he seems to be leaning heavily towards ‘not’ based on how he’s begun to take it out on Tim. He sets traps and Outright attacks him during training, and if Tim’s senses weren’t as good as they were then he definitely would have succeeded in killing him in his sleep one night. He’s even been thrown off the dinosaur and the railing of the cave.
Damian will just. Not. Quit.
It was fine, everything was still fine until Bruce disappeared. He was gone. Everyone was convinced that he was gone for good. Red Hood disappeared back to Crime Alley, Cass left for Hong Kong, even Dick took up the mantle of Batman and gave Robin away from Tim to give to Damian to appease him.
But Tim could still smell him. Bruce’s scent floated around in odd places, seemingly from nowhere. And whenever Tim brought up Bruce being potentially alive it just upset everyone more and more, until Dick outright threatened to put him in Arkham.
And then Tim struck out on his own. Partially to find Bruce.
Partially because he knows where he’s not wanted.
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About two months three days and eleven hours into his journey, Tim starts to get an unbearable itch whenever he’s in his human form. Whenever he even thinks of staying in his false skin, even for a minute his scales itch like they’ve got termites underneath them.
And so he hunkers down in a cave and waits for it to pass.
Soon the itching comes back, on his shoulder blades and down his spine the itch settles into what feels like his bones, and he takes to rubbing on the stone walls of the cave to get rid of the godforsaken itch, even just for a moment.
After what could only have been days of unbearable suffering at the hands of the itching, the skin of his back splits upon, and gives his new wings the chance to open fully for the first time. He cranes his neck back as he fans them, catching the air and drying the skin of the clear slime that they had burst from. Tim’s surprised to be proud of his wings that he didn’t know he would have, the way the blues catch the sunlight from the opening of the cave when the scales are angled just so.
He wished he could show them to Bruce.
The thought surprised him as he crouched in the cold cave on the mountainside, and he couldn’t help but wince at the knowledge that Bruce would probably chase him out of the city.
He doesn’t like metas after all, so why would he want a dragon shifter meta anywhere near his city. Tim shook his head and test flapped his wings a couple times to gauge how they caught the air.
It’s time to find his Bruce.
——————————
Tim found flying to be his new favorite thing.
The night winds carried him farther and faster than any vehicle could before in the direction he caught Bruce’s scent, hiding as plain old Tim at dig sites and grabbing any evidence he could.
Because Bruce was alive, and he was trapped in time.
Tim had already found several clues in different eras and time periods that could only be Bruce letting him know where he was. Even after so long, on some of them he could still catch some of his scent.
Everything was going alright until he caught the attention of Ra’s Al Ghul, Damian’s grandfather. The old bastard has been hiding out in Nanda Parbat for decades, commanding assassinations all over the world. And now he’s noticed Tim, and potentially what he is as well. At least given the assassins he sent to retrieve him, to discuss information about Bruce.
And Tim can’t refuse for that.
———————————-
Ra’s is almost a good host, despite definitely having him drugged on the way there.
Tim woke up in what he presumed would be his room, complete with clothes in the closet and servants waiting on his needs. Ra’s called for him immediately after he woke up, and as he walked behind the assassin sent to fetch him, he couldn’t help but notice the growing unease he felt as he grew closer to Ra’s guest area. There was a strange heavy smell that lingered in his nostrils, and he fought the urge to growl as the warmth in his belly built up to be stiflingly hot.
Tim realized why as soon as he was deposited in what could only be a throne room. The decorations all sparkled and smelled of what Tim immediately recognized as gold, and the tapestries and carpets were of the highest quality he had ever seen. They were nothing to the huge deep forest green dragon lounging on the throne.
Tim hadn’t exactly spent much time looking at his true form in the mirror, but he knew for certain that Ra’s looked very different from him. He had a heavy crest over his eyes for one that Tim lacked, and he had two pairs of horns, one of which swooped out behind his head and the other curled behind his ears, and his head was much boxier of a shape, but had a regal curve to his snout regardless. disregarding all of that, he was almost four times Tim’s size.
He was incredibly dangerous.
Ra’s let his head drift from side to side like a snake getting ready to strike as he watched Tim, before lounging back on his throne as if Tim wasn’t truly worth his time.
“Well? It’s considered rude among our kind to address one another in disguise, little Robin.” Ra’s hissed and flicked his tail at Tim in disdain. “Did your dam never even teach you proper etiquette?”
Tim shuddered as he tried to make sense of what was going on, heaving breaths as he locked eyes with the massive beast across the room from him.
“Ah, she didn’t. I presume that you’ve never met her then. Don’t worry little Robin,” Ra’s rumbled “This will prove to be very educational.”
And then Tim fainted.
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The next months he spent learning from Ra’s what it meant to be a dragon, how all the weird impulses and oddities he’d had over the years was his instincts, and he was never truly human in the first place. It took tim a very long time to grow used to being in another dragon’s territory without any immediate risk of being chased out, but ra’s assured him that was normal.
With every month Tim spent out in Nanda Parbat learning about his true form and instincts and what all that means, he grew to miss the Wayne’s more and more. Bruce was still out there and he had to get him back to Gotham where he belongs.
One night tim sneaks out of the temple and is halfway back across the alps before Ras even notices.
Soon, with the evidence that hes collected on his quest he finally reaches gotham to deliver everything they need to get bruce back to the league. He doesn’t stop in gotham, but flies directly to the zeta tubes in the tower and summons his second skin just to zeta up to the watchtower and deliver his information.
But they already knew.
Throughout all the time he had been gone they had also been collecting the information and they were very nearly where tim himself was at when he brought his evidence back. Downcast, Tim returned to Gotham to see how the Wayne's were doing.
It felt odd after all this time to travel the human way. He’s gotten so used to flying everywhere that it seems ridiculously inconvenient now that he has to hide his form again.
He's suddenly drawn back to the fact that Bruce and the others have no idea that he’s a dragon. the imaginings of the looks of horror on their faces as he sheds his skin takes over his mind. He can’t do that to them. can’t let them cast him out like that. Tim makes up his mind about it one last time
He won’t tell them.
it’s for the best.
—————————
Tim makes it back to the manor at the same time that dick and Damian leave for patrol, just missing them. entirely purposely on his part, but he's not ready to face them before alfred. to his shock, Cass is back in the manor, her stuff is right where it used to be in her room, and there’s even evidence of Jason having been around lately.
Tim doesn’t know what to think about the fact that everyone seems to have moved on without him and Bruce there with them. It hurts because they’re his people and they don’t need or want time there.
Turning a corner to go back to the room he used to spend the night in, he realizes downcastedly that it seems to have been repurposed as an art studio of some kind. his scales itch under his skin at the idea that they wanted him gone so much that they would actively erase every trace of him from the house.
Tim decides it’s not worth it before anyone gets back from patrol, he sneaks back out the way he came in and sulks all the way back to drake manor, empty as always where he can brood and be himself.
A place that he could never do at the house he considers home.
A house that has very visibly stated that it wants him gone. Tim wouldn’t be surprised if they changed out all his gear and even changed the zeta in the cave to keep him out at this point either, tears starting to prick at the edges of his vision.
It’s not home.
It’s not home it's not home it's not home anymore.
They replaced him.
No that’s not right, he was the one that replaced someone else, and now that he’s back there’s no more need for Tim to hang around, he’s outlived his usefulness. He’s come to terms with the fact that his parents never wanted him either, so with a heavy heart he starts packing his bags to go back to nanda parbat to be either the manipulator that at least understands how it feels to be tim
It's time to go back to the demon's lair.
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Dick catches him on the way out of Drake Manor to tell him they’re getting Bruce back and he was vital to the mission.
He claims to have missed Tim a lot along with the rest of the family, but Tim struggles to believe in his words with Damian scowling like a little demon behind him. Tim tries to explain that he’s just getting out of their hair when Red Hood pulls up on his motorcycle asking if they’ve found Tim and then stops dead when he sees him. it’s like they actually missed him
Tim hesitates for just a moment before pushing his way out of the hug and turning away. He has unfinished business with rad and he can’t let this stop him no matter how much he wants to stay. At the very least he will be returning this time and he tells them that before he goes and boards the bus to take him to the airport for appearances sake.
On the plane he glances out the window and wonders if they’ll still miss him the same once Bruce is back or if they’ll just discard him again once there’s no longer a place missing in the family.
Tim still doesn’t know.
—————————-
After getting back to Nanda Parbat to face down Ra’s he’s greeted with a frantic swarm of servants dragging him down the hall away from where he can hear terrifying roars and snarls and crashes coming from.
It could only be Ra’s, and Tim realized he was right when he walks into the stone room containing the lazarus pits and Ra’s is thrashing and howling in rage. Rage at Tim for thinking he could leave without his permission, or that he would take his hospitality for granted like that.
Ra’s had gone completely mad once he realized Tim was gone and couldn’t be calmed down until they had found him again. Tim had had enough of this
Ra’s had treated him nothing but coldly and contemptuously since he had requested he come to nanda parbat, and tim was boiling with enough rage to raise the temperature around him.
Ra’s seemed to notice this and only got more angry at tim, and he lunged at the smaller dragon without warning to fling him by the neck into a nearby wall, tim staggered to his feet and threw himself at ras, using his small side to his advantage as he scrabbled over the larger dragon leaving deep bites and scratches as he went, and just as ras lunged towards him with open jaws as he was tossed from his back, tim finally opened his jaws and let loose the flame he had been holding back for the last 16 years. It stuck to the sides of Ra’s face and ate away at the scales and flesh like some sort of potent acid as he shrieked and writhed in agony as Tim watched.
Figured he didn’t know that Tim could do that.
Serves him right.
Tim watched until the bleached white bones showed through more than flesh and then left, the lazarus pits couldn’t repair that kind of damage and he knew it. Tim figured it was time to pack up and go home.
It was time to try and be with his family again.
———————
Two days after Bruce was returned they got the news of Ra’s death. Talia had been the one to step up to become Demon’s head instead of Damian, and she filled the role better than Ra’s ever had.
Damian wasn’t handling it nearly as well and Tim kept finding him listless about what to do now that he wouldn’t be the demon head, until he started really pursuing a life with the Waynes.
Nobody else knew what had happened at Nanda Parbat, nobody else was in the base at the point of Ra’s death, except Tim And Ra’s and Ra’s had killed most everyone that had known about tim and who he was.
Bruce was actually glad to have Tim back and thankful about how he had helped get him out of the time stream.
The others never got over being happy that Tim was back either, even Damian grew to actually seem to like his company after a while. alfred told him that it was because they all actually considered him part of the family, which only drew him deeper into the family circle the more often they would repeat it to him.
Everything was good, everyone was together, and Tim was happy.
They still didn’t know about him and Bruce was still adamant about not allowing metas in the city. Sometimes when a meta rogue would slip into the city Bruce would go out to take care of them personally just to reinforce the assumption that metas weren’t safe in Gotham. That meant Tim wasn’t safe in gotham either
But that was fine. He didn’t have to tell them and they didn’t have to know. everything would work out in the end, even if tim has to hide in his skin the remainder of their natural lives. He has forever after all.
And Tim is great at lying.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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To Hands That Hold And Sometimes Let Go
The sky darkens as the smoke rises from the section of Gotham City that still burns from the latest rogue attack. Emergency sirens blare in the distance and people frantically make their way home in case the destruction starts heading in their direction.
Tim only takes a second to breathe in the sudden chaos across the city before he’s bounding down to Bruce’s study and pacing anxiously in the elevator on the way down. Tim startles when he realizes that Danny is already there just getting into his suit before yanking on his own Red Robin uniform.
“Stay here for this one, i heard on the comms that this is a planned attack by several rogues in an alliance. It’s too dangerous for you to be out and trying to help right now.” Tim throws over his shoulder as he strides over to one of the batbikes.
“And leave people out there to die? Are you insane?! You need all the help you can get.” Danny practically shouts at him.
“We don’t need you out there, you’ll only get in the way with your level of training.” Tim whips around to growl at him. There’s not enough time to argue right now with Gotham in flames and who-knows-who on the loose.
Nobody gets the chance to say another word before the bike starts, and in the next second he’s already barreling through the cave’s hidden entrance into the night to fight with the rest of the bats.
Alfred sighs as he watches him go, and Danny startles and turns around to look at him. The young masters all seem to have the same issues with communication as Bruce, and it always seems to cause problems for them. There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by without one or another of them getting in a tiff.
Danny sniffles and drops into one of the chairs. He slides a hand down his face and it’s a minute before he says anything, but Alfred waited until he was ready to say what needed to be said.
“Why did they want to keep me if they aren’t going to let me help them. Obviously i’m not exactly useful for anything else, and there’s no reason to keep me here other than Vlad asking him to.” Danny mumbled dejectedly from his spot.
“Master Danny, you don’t need to be worried about whether you will get to stay in the manor if you’re not useful. It’s not required that you go out on their night jobs with them, and we would be perfectly happy even if you stayed in the manor most of the time.” Alfred soothed.
“But that’s not what i want. I want to be so useful they have to acknowledge me, can’t leave me behind. I wasn’t helping with their inventions so my parents left me behind to work on them, and i wasn’t helpful and dragged Jazz with me. If i’m not good then i’m bad, and then even he doesn’t want me and i end up alone again.” He sobs quietly.
“Master Danny…”
“Please just let me help. I need to.” Danny asks quietly.
Alfred sighs and sets down the medi-pack he was restocking. If he lets him go he could get hurt. Making him stay could hurt him more. The boy is rough around the edges and clearly doesn’t trust adults, barely trusting people his own age. In fact, the only one he seemed to open up to was Master Richard.
“Will you promise to at least attempt to stay safe? And if things get too out of hand, come back here immediately?” Alfred asks.
“Of course!” Danny says “As long as I can help!”
Alfred simply nods and watches Danny pull on his Ghost Bat uniform and hop on a batbike of his own, only pausing to wave at Alfred as he zips out of the cave.
Perhaps it’s time to do some digging.
He sighs as he settles down in front of the bat computer to wait for news about his grandchildren.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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Over This Whole ‘School’ Thing
Dick leans on the railing of the school building's roof as he watches the building the deal’s about to go down in. It’s an abnormally quiet night, which is great, since it’s the first night he’s getting to take Danny out on patrol with him since he joined the bat clan.
It was pretty obvious that Danny had suspected them of being the bat clan the moment Masters dropped him on their porch, and finally getting confirmation that he was in the know and actually wanted to help was probably the best thing of Dick’s year.
Now, waiting on the Joker’s goons to show up for a deal, he’s glad he’s getting the chance to hang out with his newest brother(excepting Oracle on the comms, of course.). It was almost relaxing just sitting together on a quiet stakeout, and listening to the noises of Gotham and the occasional siren wailing in the distance.
“You know, I never actually liked school.”
Dick jumps when Danny finally starts a conversation. He’s been very quiet the entire time and it was almost startling how quickly he moved from dead silence to noise. It was almost a surprise that he decided to start a conversation at all, given how quiet he’d been since coming to the manor. Alfred is probably the only one he talks with regularly, now that he thinks about it.
“How so?” Dick asks hesitantly. God knows that he had a pretty rough time in school too, so he may not be the best person to talk with about the subject. “I thought Masters said your schooling was just fine? Your records didn’t say anything either.” Dick trails off a bit when Danny flinches at the mention of Masters. It’s not the first time he’s acted hesitant about the man, but nobody has been able to figure out the mystery or get any information about him yet.
“I wasn’t exactly popular, you know? Lotta bullies in small town schools, and my life outside school kinda kept bleeding over into class time. Sucked hardcore.”
That was new. Danny hasn’t really talked about his school experience before now, but it could be where they are at the moment prompting this, Dick thinks as he gazes out over the run-down neighborhood they’re watching.
“I wasn’t exactly ‘mister popular’ back then, myself.” He starts warily, smothering his words in fake cheer. “High society kids don’t take well to ‘circus freaks’ stealing their opportunities and invading their school. Couldn’t do much about it either because I didn’t want to tell Bruce I was struggling.” Dick drops a bit of the over-the-top peppy mask as he thinks about it.
“So what did you do about it?” Danny leans over, peering at the older vigilante as he waits for an answer.
“Got tired of it and beat them up after a couple months. They gossiped about it for months and refused to talk to me for a while. It was pretty sweet, actually.” He sighs in contentment at the memory. “Bruce and Alfred were pretty disappointed in me though. Practically grounded me for weeks.”
Dick preened as Danny let out a chuckle.
“Man, I wished my parents cared that much about my education. ‘A Fenton always gets A’s. Or in your Dad’s case B-‘s.’ was something Mom always said.” Danny seems to droop as he thinks of his parents. It’s obvious something happened there, but he’d usually shut down immediately if anyone brought them up.
“On top of the ‘out of school’ activities taking over my life, this dickhead named Dash made it his personal mission to ruin my day every time we interacted.” Dick busts out laughing as Danny considers what he said, before freezing and slapping his hands over his face. “Ancients, I didn't even think of that- sorry Dick. He was definitely an asshat though. Real piece of work, that one!” Danny chirped mock-cheerfully. “Did you know that if you’re really flexible you can fit in a half size locker?”
Dick freezes at the sudden question. “Uh… No?” He replies warily. The idea of someone being inside a locker that small physically pained him, and he really didn’t want to think about why Danny would know that.
Why anyone would shove his little brother into a locker.
He pushed the fear and guilt boiling in his gut down and turned to Danny with a smile. “How would you feel about online classes?”
Danny whips his head around to stare at Dick like he grew a second head. “Online?” He asks tentatively, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“Online.” Dick agrees quietly.
Danny stares out over the dreary scenery and the sun just starting to shine light over the edge of the horizon. ‘The only time you can see it through the smog’ Dick muses as Danny thinks about his offer.
“I think I would like online school. It might help.” Danny admits in a quiet voice, hands gripping the railing almost painfully tight(For a second Dick thought he saw the metal give a big, but that must have been a trick of the light. Danny’s blood tests didn’t have the meta gene.). “And thank you… For offering to do that for me I mean.” Danny mumbles.
“Of course! What are older siblings for!” Dick beams at him, only faltering a little at the well concealed hurt in Danny’s face. It was pretty obvious that he was just about to shut down the conversation completely, when the batcom went off. Perfect timing.
Dick waves the com in Danny’s direction. “Looks like our clown friend got picked up across town on his way here.” Danny glances up in confusion as Dick hops off the railing he had been sitting on. “You want to race back?”
Danny visibly perked up as he hopped over the railing and pulled his grapple out of his belt pocket. He smirked Devilishly and took off before Dick could even hop over the railing.
“Get back here! I never said start!” Dick yelled out after Danny as they sped across the rooftop and swung between buildings chasing each other back to the cave.
Back home.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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dp x dc prompt #68
Danny’s ice core is very good for enjoying extremely cold temperatures without having to drag around a coat. It even helps cool him down in ghost form, and even in human form when there’s enough ambient ectoplasm.
The problem is that his human form has grown to completely rely on it to keep cool, so when there’s not enough ecto to use and his core has to choose between continuing keeping him semi-alive or continuing cooling him down? That’s when the problems start.
It really was just his luck that he chose to visit Metropolis and one of the more destructive rogues started tearing things apart while he was walking to the college he was scouting. And he really should have expected it when something exploded and suddenly the whole city seemed to be burning.
Clark took too long to get there. It wasn’t as much of a self deprecating thought as a fact. By the time he actually took down the criminal that started all this, three blocks were completely engulfed in flames.
His own heart stuttered when he heard a rapidly fluttering heart that kept stopping and starting erratically in the blaze, but he recovered quickly and swooped down to try and save whoever was unfortunate enough to get caught up in the destruction(he ignored how it seemed like it was already too late, and how he hadn’t seen anyone pull through with a heartbeat like that before.) and landed in the rubble that toppled into the street.
The teenager(oh god, it was a teenager, no older than Connor-) reached out and tangled a hand in his cape as soon as he was lifted off the ground. He kept trying to tug him down so Clark could hear him, and when he finally obliged, the kid took a deep breath and rasped:
“Put me in the freezer.”
…What??
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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@spookytragedyshark @sailor-goddess @seraphinedemort @nerdypaintbrush @cyber-geist @dannyphantomphan @skulld3mort-1fan
for the tag list.
unfortunately i’m only good at writing short prompts and ideas, so the changes of me actually writing a fix for any of my ideas is extremely unlikely.
if anyone wants to write something based on or using any of my prompts, you don’t have to ask, just tag me when it’s finished because i love reading people’s stuff!
dp x dc prompt!
Danny has always been somewhat of a compulsive chewer. All the way up through middle school he would bite on the neck of his shirt, or hoodie strings. The portal accident and his newfound Halfa status did not help. In fact, the carryover even in his human form gave him extremely sharp teeth and the strength to crunch metal if he wasn’t careful.
Several years later in Gotham, there have been reports of various chunks of scrap metal, with tooth marks resembling fangs gouged into the steel, being found in alleyways and scrapyards. The bats are not pleased that a new meta has taken up residence and started leaving vaguely threatening ‘messages’ lying around. Anything with fangs and jaw strength like that can’t be good news.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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dp x dc prompt #67
constantine really should have started using the yearly family reunions to get out of league meetings more often. it’s a little odd watching the people he’d grown apart from wander around talking about the goings-on since they’ve seen each other while he hovers in the corner smoking a cigarette, but beggars can’t be choosers and this definitely beats the alternative.
at least until his estranged stepsister and her husband start raving about their plans to capture and vivisect a ghost, and then start casually chatting about what can’t be anything other that plans to destroy the dimension that holds the fabric of reality together.
maybe he should have just gone to the bloody meeting, because now he’s obligated to either deal with this himself or tell the justice league about it. at least his niece and nephew are willing to help him out.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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do x dc prompt #66
the anti-ecto acts were passed right when the justice league was first forming, and flew right under the meta-human rights activist’s noses.
The GIW start to get more aggressive, tracking down ghosts more efficiently, much to the dismay of the infinite realms. Phantom and his rogue gallery are forced to work together against the GIW and JL.
Frequent attacks in an attempt to draw attention to the laws declaring ghosts non sentient only backfires, and they’re declared official enemies of the US and rogues of the justice league.
It’s a constant struggle between the two sides for nearly a decade, until in a moment of weakness, Phantom let down his guard and vented his internal struggle while a young superboy still trying to find his place in the young justice listened in.
Now Kon has to try and convince the founders of the league that Phantom isn’t a threat, and the injustice the anti-ecto acts promote should be stopped, even though he’s still not completely trusted himself.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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do x dc prompt #65
The ghost zone has a way of driving all it’s inhabitants loopy over time. Especially leaning towards the more ‘mortal’ occupants. Like ghosts that died and came to the zone, or Halfas.
Danny has been stuck wandering the Zone for almost a decade. Nobody ever stopped to help him out before, and now his perception of reality started… warping around the Zone.
When a small Robin fell into the hell portal, Danny still kept enough awareness that he knew he wanted to help him back into the living world. Now they have to travel a realm worse than any realm of afterlife torment than any religion has ever constructed, and Robin has to figure out how to readjust his guide back to the living world before it’s too late and his mind slips completely.
(danny is forced to flee into the ghost zone, but there’s only so much hell a human mind can comprehend. Luckily Robin is here to help.)
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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do x dc prompt #64
When Tim Drake-Wayne stepped into that portal in the shut down government lab, he never really thought about dying from electricity would be the way he’d go. It had always seemed like it would be a rogue questing for revenge, or his investigations taking him where he shouldn’t be.
On second thought, it really looks like the second one of the list was coming true.
The last thing that crosses his mind as the agonized screaming(that couldn’t possibly be him, right? he doesn’t feel like screaming any more.(he feels like crying)) ends abruptly is that he really wishes he could have finished a few more mysteries with his family.
And then he woke up.
months later, when Tim starts obsessively digging into investigations with more vigor than he’s ever had, ripping through the pitiful attempts at hiding crimes or evidence, and even going as far as to dragging in the suspected perpetrators for extremely brutal ‘questioning’ even when their committing the crime isn’t certain, or the crime isn’t bad enough to warrant this behavior.
The newfound meta powers he uses to pursue whatever goal he’s aiming for are only the cherry on top of a heaping pile of problems. Tim is practically losing himself in his detective work, and nothing the bats do seems to help.
He’s obsessed.
(or- Halfa!Tim doesn’t have a protection Obsession. instead he’s Obsessed with investigating. And with no way of knowing what to do, all he can do is try and fulfill his Obsession. In any way possible.)
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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do x dc prompt #63
when jason stumbled upon king phantom while he was tying up and shoving the cult members who summoned him into a closet to interrogate later, he didn’t expect to get told that lazarus water was really a substance called ectoplasm from a place called the infinite realms. then danny informs him that it can ferment, and the pit waters still in his veins had been doing so for centuries, and being used to resurrect him it had soaked into him, which exponentially accelerated the process.
jason sat awake hours later with an incredibly intoxicated ghost king next to him wondering what the hell is wrong with his life
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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the best source of inspiration. concussion!
but seriously don’t do that just for a prompt, it’s apparently a one-and-done occurrence because i haven’t been coming up with as much since lol.
Lol why are you always in a constant state of being injured?
well you see.
i am, in fact, stupid.
also depending on what you’re talking about it’s just the same one that got infected and i only realized it was that bad when i finally sucked it up and accepted medical bills in my future.
if you’re looking for a list of probable reasons:
1. i grew up on a farm in the country and am used to it.
2. once again, i am not smart
3. i do stupid stuff because it brings light to my life
4. my family is my family
5. it’s genetic
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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can i get one of these?
definitely not for coworkers.
yep. only banishing evil spirits here.
YOU'VE HEARD OF SUMMONING CIRCLES, NOW GET READY FOR:
✨BANISHING CIRCLE✨
GET THAT UNIDENTIFIED FUCKING THING OUTTA HERE BOSS!! WEIRD WHITE BOY BEGONE! SEND HIS SPOOKY ASS BACK FROM WHENCE IT CAME!!!!
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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do x dc prompt #62
danny is hit with a memory wiping gadget courtesy of vlad, with the intention of creating the perfect son, but he falls through a portal into gotham before vlad can do anything.
now under the assumption that he’s a full ghost, he wanders the streets and meets gotham’s vigilantes. they get closer and eventually danny getting moved into the manor to get him off the streets is brought up.
they explain that they don’t want to see him dead on the streets from some rogue attack.
danny is forced to face his inner turmoil about hanging out with the vigilantes, because they see him as family, someone worth protecting even.
how is he supposed to tell them that they’ve never seen him alive in the first place?
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
Note
it wasn’t my aunt, it was either one of my siblings or my cousins and i don’t know who because nobody will own up to it, but it was at my great great aunt’s birthday party.
Lol why are you always in a constant state of being injured?
well you see.
i am, in fact, stupid.
also depending on what you’re talking about it’s just the same one that got infected and i only realized it was that bad when i finally sucked it up and accepted medical bills in my future.
if you’re looking for a list of probable reasons:
1. i grew up on a farm in the country and am used to it.
2. once again, i am not smart
3. i do stupid stuff because it brings light to my life
4. my family is my family
5. it’s genetic
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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do x dc prompt #61
danny is damian’s older brother and batman’s son au but bruce meets him first.
danny has been quietly attempting to get used to the idea of being the ghost king for almost three months now. unfortunately, pandora and fright knight have decided that it’s time for him to engage in the worst part of high society anywhere. schmoozing.
bruce had been right in the middle of taking out a cult when he fell into the summoning circle. suddenly, in a blur of radioactive green and purple, he landed smack in the middle of what looked like a gala for ancient gods. most of which definitely wanted to eat him or steal his soul.
phantom breaks about 85% of ghost etiquette rules to save bruce and is mostly glad of the opportunity to ditch early. after a long informative conversation for both sides, they only realize who they are to each other right as the temporary portal closes between them.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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this is your reminder that you are never too old to run out to get ice cream from the ice cream truck.
too broke? maybe.
but the fact that the neighborhood ice cream lady knows me by name and stops by every week because she knows i wait for her on my porch on saturdays? worth it.
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chaoswarfare · 1 year
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literally anyone:
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not me bro.
i’m independent in my issues.
😎
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