hypophrenic-caravan

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Tim loved Gotham. He did.

He also loved himself, sometimes.

But apparently, not an hour ago, when a random squatter pulled a gun on him and shot him in his own safe house.

And Tim just... let them.

Yet here he was, desperately scrubbing his bloody clothes before giving up and throwing them away.

He feels different now. Wrong. He's probably just tired. But he's here and physical.

He is fine.

He can continue his activities without delay.

...

There has been a delay.

He woke up on the floor under his own bed just this morning. His fridge short circuited during the night, and now he has to chuck everything that's gone bad. He can't find his laptop from where he left it, and the pipes in the building burst all of a sudden.

He was about to call someone, anyone, to complain about his shitty morning when his hand phases right through his phone.

And the desk.

And the floor.

And suddenly, he's halfway in the ground

...

Ok, so he's a ghost now. But still also alive, somehow.

All these weird powers keep activating randomly, and it's keeping him from stalking or researching or literally doing anything!

The worst is the intangibility, clothes falling off so often he can't even go outside or else he'll accidentally flash someone.

Tim only got this far through will and necessity. The only person possiably able to help thankfully not that far out of reach.

Phantom.

Which is still the best and worst and most obvious name for a practically unknowable thief in existence, sans Catwoman herself.

Tim knows next to nothing about them except that they are excessively kind-hearted and have intangibility as well.

Maybe he could find out more on Phantom from this.

Maybe doing so, Tim will finally have someone to talk to.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

I Promise the Tea Isn't Poisoned

“Talia is in Gotham.”

After Spoiler shared this the comms erupted with chatter. There were a few groans from people, nobody liked dealing with the League of Assassins, but they were silenced by Bruce. 

“Spoiler, follow from a safe distance. Signal, go to her location and provide back-up. Stay on her until the night shift is able to come out and assist. Do not interact unless the situation changes. We don’t move until we find out exactly why she is in Gotham.”

Steph and Duke both affirmed their orders and muted their comms. Damian, who was just getting out of school tapped into the communication line. 

“Mother is likely here to visit me. My birthday is in a few weeks, she will want to wish me well before trying to bring me back into the League. Give me her location and I will see her leave quickly.”

Steph quickly rattled off their current location and Damian got into the car, Alfred was picking him up today. As they headed out another announcement was made, this time by Duke. 

“Uh guys, I think Talia is here to kill someone.” 

–

Danyal had led her on either the most random tour of Gotham or he knew she was following him. Two of Bruce’s children were already on her tail, she needed to either confront Danyal quickly or pull off and kill him another time. 

Talia followed Danyal to a cafe where he went up to the counter and ordered two drinks; chai.

Her cover was blown. 

Normally Talia would either retreat or make a move to quickly finish her target, but something in her made her hesitate. A burning curiosity. She wanted to know why Danyal was here in Gotham. She could only think of one reason why this man would want to be here. 

Talia followed Danyal to the back corner of the cafe and sat at his table with grace.

“It’s been twenty years Danyal, why aren’t you dead like I had prayed you were?”

Danyal scrunched his face when she said his name. 

“Always so direct, I almost missed that about you.”

He pushed forward the chai and took a sip of his. 

“But then I remember all the shit you put me through and I’m reminded why I ran away.”

 Talia smiled fondly. 

“The one successful thing you accomplished and it was being a coward, so like you, Danyal.”

He rolled his eyes at her. 

“Yeah between getting killed by you or the Demon Head, or deserting and being killed, I was really thriving on options.” He said flatly. 

Talia clicked her tongue, “You could have achieved any basic task and you would have been fine.” She gave a fake look of pity. “But clearly that was too large an expectation. Father should have let me dispose of you when we first smelled your weakness.”

Danyal smirked. 

“Well I escaped your notice for twenty odd years, so I’d say if anyone was the failure here. It’s you.”

The assassin's eyes turned to ice. 

“You were lucky.” She carefully stirred her drink and took a sip. “Be grateful we never put in the effort to confirm your death.”

– 

“Signal, Spoiler, explain.”

“Well we’ve been following Talia for like 8 blocks and she's been following this dude the entire time.”

“What does he look like? Do you have confirmation on his identity yet?” Bruce asked.

Duke spoke up this time. 

“We haven’t been able to get a glimpse of his face yet. He’s tall, around 6-foot, athletic, black hair, in his mid-twenties I think, could be Middle Eastern or White.”

“Robin, what's your ETA?” Steph asked. 

“Five minutes, there was a car crash in the Diamond District. The delay is being dealt with.”

“They are going into a cafe, the Batty Grind. Oracle can you see if the security system inside has audio? If not I can try to shadow travel and drop a bug under their table, they are going to sit in the far corner near the camera.”

“Camera’s do have audio, I’ll try to filter out the background noise and parse through their conversation on our channel.”

Duke and Steph leapt into the alley next to the cafe, near the side entrance. If Talia tried anything they would be able to react quickly and hopefully get the man to safety. They listened with bated breath as Barbara patched the conversation inside to their comms. 

“Be grateful we never put in the effort to confirm your death.”

–

Danny scoffed. 

“Yeah I’ll be sure to include that in the list of things I’m thankful for this year when Thanksgiving rolls around.”

Talia pounced on the information. 

“So you’ve been in America for a while then?”

Danny snorted. 

“Actually I’ve been all over the world, but yeah I’ve settled here. So many interesting things in this nation, especially the lack of insane ninjas who kept trying to get me to kill for them.”

Talia ignored the taunt.

“And what interest do you have in Gotham?”

“Business. Not that you care. So tell me Talia, what do you want?”

Talia smiled coyly. 

“Oh Danyal, you know I wouldn’t want to be rude and talk about myself. Now answer the question, why are you in Gotham?”

Danny thought carefully about his answer. He was not going to give her any details about his life, he might as well kill everyone he cared about himself. But the trick to dealing with the League of Assassins was to figure out why they were here and see if he could jeopardize their mission at the risk of interacting with him. If Talia was so focused on him being in Gotham, then there must be something here that she doesn’t want him to know about. 

If there was one thing Danny Fenton was good at, it was pissing off his adversaries. 

“Well the atmosphere might be a bit depressing, but the money to be made is worth it. Besides, Gotham is a very interesting place.”

Danny leaned forward and made a guess. 

“And the people are what really draw me here.”

Lightning quick, Talia pulled out a knife and stabbed Danny’s hand through the table. The man didn’t so much as blink, instead he started to smile, bingo. 

“If you so much as breathe near Damian I will make you feel pain in ways that you will wish you never left the League in the first place.”

“Damian huh, and who is that?”

Spoiler and Signal broke into the cafe and chaos descended as Damian Wayne himself walked in the front door. 

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Time works differently in the Infinite Realms compared to the living ones.

Everything is fucked up, and the Flash needs to use the speedforce to time travel.

Some quack scientists, some idiots named Maddie and Jack Fenton, created a portal to another dimension, that in the year 20XX, after it'd already been activated, had set off a cataclysmic event that was on the verge of sucking the entirety of the Earth into an alternate dimension. Fire rained down from the sky, most of the Justice League was dead and the Earth was splitting in two.

The portal couldn't have been deconstructed. It had already punched a hole in their reality, one that could never be stitched together. The only way to prevent this disaster was to make sure it had never been built in the first place.

So Barry Allen does a few little things, some minor changes here and there, and the Fentons never meet, ensuring they can never build the portal together. When he returns to the present, everything is practically the same. He wiped his brow in relief. Problem solved!

---

Danny's pretty sure this isn't how he left Earth. For one, there's no portal; he had to claw his way through the dimensional barrier, leaving him tired and weak. For two, his parents are no longer in Amity Park.

Danny's quick jaunt in the Ghost Zone had left him unaffected by the time travel inflicted by the Flash. His sister, his friendships, his entire life had been wiped away with a simple wave of the hand. His ghostly friends still remember him, but every connection he had on Earth was gone.

And some time later, as Danny is essentially restarting his life in the human realm, when he's summoned by the Justice League, he's angry. They destroyed his life, and they have the audacity to ask him for help?

[hypophrenic-caravan]

He's supposed to be invincible - DC X DP

Just something random that came to my mind.

So, Danny ends up being adopted/fostered by Bruce just months before Damian arrives at the manor, the how and why is your choice, but the GIW is still a threat. 

Now, Danny catches Damian attacking Tim the first time and instead of telling the rest of the family or scolding Damian, he went lik:

“You haven't even defeated me, and you think you have a right to attack Tim? Get in line, kid.”

And so Damian understands that to get the right to fight against Tim, he needs to get rid of Danny first. Climb the power pyramid, if you will. And so, Damian starts his assassination attempts against Danny. 

But here's the thing: Danny is making absolutely no effort to stop him, he just takes the attempts. The first time, Damian successfully stabs Danny, and goes to announce his victory over Danny to his father. Bruce rushes to Danny, worried for his safety, and finds him just chilling there, not a single drop of blood or injury. Damian is gapping.

“Oh yeah, the kid beat me in a round of hide and seek. He’s pretty good.”

Bruce is relieved and pats Damian’s head, not noticing his utter confusion. And so a cartoon-like montage starts: Damian attacks Danny and claims victory, but Danny is completely fine, and says Damian won at some random game. Everyone thinks the two are super close, and that Damian’s excitement about winning is super cute. 

Eventually, positive enforcement wears Damian down, because everyone congratulates him and gives him affection for winning the “stupid things” Danny comes up with. He gradually calms down and integrates pretty well. Danny does end up being his closest sibling because he’s the only one that actually knows all of Damian. The only one Damian could attack with zero restraint and still be treated the same. 

But the important thing here is: Danny becomes an invincible figure in Damians mind. He could be stabbed, decapitated, poisoned, and still come back like nothing happened.

So surely, when Phantom is shot out of the sky by a Blood Blossom, surely he’ll just stand back up in a minute like always. Surely, he’s just waiting to get back to the cave to pretend like he always did for Damian. Surely, he’s just putting on a show on the medbay. 

But hours go by, and he’s still pretending. Still looking pale. Still keeping his eyes closed.

Damian doesn’t understand why he hasn’t bounced back yet. He should be okay by now. Alfred is moving around, changing the IV,dabbing Danny’s head with a damp cloth. There’s commotion outside as everyone is trying to get an antidote.

But this shouldn’t be happening. 

Danny is invincible.

Danny should be back to normal already.

So Damian starts shaking Danny. Screaming to stop pretending and tell them he was beaten in some stupid game again. To open his eyes already. 

Father is pulling him away, trying to calm him down, but he keeps struggling in his arms, because he’s getting Danny to wake up. 

And he doesn’t notice the tears falling down his face until he runs out of energy, and all that’s left is hiccuping in his father’s arms.

...

So… yeah, that’s what my mind supplied today while on the bus :)

Maybe one day I'll write it, but I don't have time, so I would love to see someone else's take on it.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

He's supposed to be invincible - DC X DP

Just something random that came to my mind.

So, Danny ends up being adopted/fostered by Bruce just months before Damian arrives at the manor, the how and why is your choice, but the GIW is still a threat. 

Now, Danny catches Damian attacking Tim the first time and instead of telling the rest of the family or scolding Damian, he went lik:

“You haven't even defeated me, and you think you have a right to attack Tim? Get in line, kid.”

And so Damian understands that to get the right to fight against Tim, he needs to get rid of Danny first. Climb the power pyramid, if you will. And so, Damian starts his assassination attempts against Danny. 

But here's the thing: Danny is making absolutely no effort to stop him, he just takes the attempts. The first time, Damian successfully stabs Danny, and goes to announce his victory over Danny to his father. Bruce rushes to Danny, worried for his safety, and finds him just chilling there, not a single drop of blood or injury. Damian is gapping.

“Oh yeah, the kid beat me in a round of hide and seek. He’s pretty good.”

Bruce is relieved and pats Damian’s head, not noticing his utter confusion. And so a cartoon-like montage starts: Damian attacks Danny and claims victory, but Danny is completely fine, and says Damian won at some random game. Everyone thinks the two are super close, and that Damian’s excitement about winning is super cute. 

Eventually, positive enforcement wears Damian down, because everyone congratulates him and gives him affection for winning the “stupid things” Danny comes up with. He gradually calms down and integrates pretty well. Danny does end up being his closest sibling because he’s the only one that actually knows all of Damian. The only one Damian could attack with zero restraint and still be treated the same. 

But the important thing here is: Danny becomes an invincible figure in Damians mind. He could be stabbed, decapitated, poisoned, and still come back like nothing happened.

So surely, when Phantom is shot out of the sky by a Blood Blossom, surely he’ll just stand back up in a minute like always. Surely, he’s just waiting to get back to the cave to pretend like he always did for Damian. Surely, he’s just putting on a show on the medbay. 

But hours go by, and he’s still pretending. Still looking pale. Still keeping his eyes closed.

Damian doesn’t understand why he hasn’t bounced back yet. He should be okay by now. Alfred is moving around, changing the IV,dabbing Danny’s head with a damp cloth. There’s commotion outside as everyone is trying to get an antidote.

But this shouldn’t be happening. 

Danny is invincible.

Danny should be back to normal already.

So Damian starts shaking Danny. Screaming to stop pretending and tell them he was beaten in some stupid game again. To open his eyes already. 

Father is pulling him away, trying to calm him down, but he keeps struggling in his arms, because he’s getting Danny to wake up. 

And he doesn’t notice the tears falling down his face until he runs out of energy, and all that’s left is hiccuping in his father’s arms.

...

So… yeah, that’s what my mind supplied today while on the bus :)

Maybe one day I'll write it, but I don't have time, so I would love to see someone else's take on it.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Corpse AU + demon twins AU — danny realizes he can use his corpse to hopefully throw the league off his tail permanently

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“Wait,” Danny said randomly, causing Sam and Tucker to pause their digging and look over at him.

He licked his lips, mouth suddenly feeling dry. “This… this could be an opportunity.”

“Nope, we are not trying cannibalism, man. I may love meat, but I’m drawing the line at eating your body,” Tucker commented, trying to make a joke to lighten the reality of what they were doing.

Danny shook his head. “No. No, um.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve… I’ve never told you the full truth about my childhood.”

“What does being adopted have to do with burying your corpse?” Sam asked, brow furrowed.

“Was your original family in a gang!?” Tucker blurted out. Sam whacked him, while Danny let out a slightly panicked laugh.

“Actually, you’re not too far off. It wasn’t a gang, though, it was a cult. Grandfather was the leader, in fact.”

Sam and Tucker reacted in almost perfect unison. “What the hell.”/“What the fuck.”

“Yeah.” Danny swallowed. “And this,” he gestured at the trash bag they’d shoved his corpse into, “Could be the perfect way to guarantee they stop looking for me.”

“Is that really something you still need to worry about? It’s been years.”

“I don’t know. Grandfather—Ra’s—never did like loose ends. And they definitely have more than enough resources to keep trying.”

They all stood in silence for a moment, deep in thought. Sam was the first to break the silence.

“Okay, but, how would we even do that? We obviously don’t want Amity to find out about this—and I doubt you’d want those guys poking around here anyway. But none of us can drive, and I really doubt we can just mail a corpse somewhere.”

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Batfam and Danny, Part 44

As Alfred insisted they do once in a while, the family had gone on a TV interview to keep up apparencies. They had been live for about an hour and the interview was rapping up.

Host: Ok last viewer question of the night and it's a good one. What is each of yours favorite Justice League member?

Dick (grinning): Easy, Superman. The man is great, his powers are cool, and the guy has great banter.

Jason: Wonder Woman, she is the embodiment of girl power and is the best leader the JL could even have hoped to have.

Tim: The Flash, I would love to have powers like his, I would get up to so much mischief.

Steph: Aquaman, I really like the sea.

Cass (signing [Steph interpreted]): Martian Manhunter, he has a very wise and calming voice.

Damian: I agree with Cass, Martian Manhunter is the best JL member. From what I know about him he always knows everything about everything, he clearly gathers all the necessary intel for any mission.

Duke: Green Lantern, his powers are amazing. I would love to have the ability to manifest anything I want just by thinking about it.

Danny: Green Arrow, who doesn't love a bow and arrow?

Bruce (eye twitching): Personally my favorite Justice League member is Batman. Now only is he our hometown hero, but I belief he is unappreciated for everything he does.

Host: Well looks like there's love going around for the whole League. Well that's all for tonight folks. I give my thanks the Waynes for joining us tonight and hope to see you guys again soon. And I hope all you folks at home have a good night, till we meet again.

A few minutes later in the Wayne family limo.

Alfred (driving the car): Good job everyone, the ratings from the interview are perfect.

Bruce (Brooding, sitting next to Alfred): Sure.

Alfred: Now now Master Bruce no need to be all broody.

Bruce (still brooding): I am not speaking to my children.

Alfred (smiling): You know I've always liked Cyborg, he might not use guns but his hand cannon arms are close enough.

Bruce (brooding intensely): Fist I'm betrayed my children and grandchild, and now by my own father.

The kids started laughing.

Alfred (ruffling Bruce's hair): We all love you son, but you should have known none of the kids were going to say Batman was their favorite JL member on live television.

Bruce: Do you have any idea how much the other are going to make fun of me during the next JL metting?

Dick: Yes, that's why we did it.

Bruce: You're all grounded.

The kids started protesting.

Jason: I don't even live at the manor-

Bruce: Grounded.

Danny: You can't ground me-

Bruce: Jason ground your son.

Jason: Sorry bud you're grounded.

Danny: Damn it.

(Master Post)

[hypophrenic-caravan]

DC x DP

The Justice League summons the ghost king.

Unfortunately, the safest way JLD can find requires a host body to contain the being.

Obviously Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash are out - who knows what this being would do with a super-powered body. They have no idea how Captain Marvel or Green Lantern type magic would interact with the summoning, so not them either. They need Constantine and Zatanna to perform the ritual.

Basically it's down to the bats.

Batman tries to volunteer - better him than one of his kids if anything were to go wrong.

That gets vetoed. As do a lot of his offspring. The safest options (ie the least contaminated by magic, lazarus water, time shenanigans, and everything else) are Red Robin, Spoiler, and Nightwing.

Nightwing pulls rank.

After a lot of arguing, everyone at least agrees to tolerate the arrangement.

Nightwing removes every possible weapon from himself, allows himself to be tied to a chair in the middle of a summoning circle, and waits for JL Dark to complete the ritual.

It's not long before he feels a surge of cold burning through him.

He expected to be unconscious while the Ghost King took over. That's what Zatanna said had been reported the last time this ritual was performed many years ago.

They had all expected a lot of things.

Pariah Dark was supposed to be terrifying to behold - a massive, cruel, FURIOUS dictator who turned to violence at the smallest sleight.

This was... definitely not that.

Dick was present. He had no control over his body, but he could see and hear in an almost dream-like state. Foggy and indistinct, maybe a little warped, but definitely present.

He felt his heart rate and breathing pick up in panic even though he felt mostly calm (or at least no more anxious than he had been, waiting for an angry deity to possess his body and all). It was a strange sensation.

He felt the vibrations of his own voice as it left his throat, high and confused.

"Wha... Where..." It asked, warbling and afraid.

He felt his eyes blink and his limbs struggle against the bindings.

His head tilted down without his say so, and he looked at his own body as if through rippling water, warped lenses.

"I'm not..." His voice came out, still confused. Still afraid.

"Your Majesty?" Zatanna asked from beyond the limits of the circle.

His head whipped up, and he felt his neck click at the abrupt motion.

His breathing picked up again. Dick felt the ghost (pun not intended) of anxiety, like it was leaking from the other consciousness inhabiting his body.

"We mean you no harm. Our associate has agreed to lend you his body for the duration of this meeting." She continued.

Dick felt the king's anxiety again, stronger this time. Other emotions too, guilt, sorrow, anger, and a strange sort of pressing-tugging sensation.

Suddenly, Dick was back in control. He could still feel the king's consciousness, stronger now than before, but he could also move and speak freely.

"What just happened?" He mumbled, speaking to the ghost, not the audience of heroes.

"Nightwing?" Someone called from outside the circle, but he ignored them for the moment, feeling instead the consciousness inhabiting his body push back fear, guilt, and apology.

"Yeah, it's me. He's still in here, though." Dick frowned, trying to figure out how to interact with the being.

He heard a voice in the back of his mind. It sounded like him. It sounded different. It was younger than him. It was small and afraid. It was neutral and quiet and him. But it wasn't. It was speaking. It was silent. It was emotions and thoughts and nothing.

"Oooookay, this is really weird. I think we're communicating. I don't know how to talk back, but if he's in the same situation I was a minute ago he should be able to hear us just fine. Is that right?" Nightwing tried.

The 'voice' (he figured he'd call it a voice for now. He wasn't sure what else he could call it) responded in the affirmative. Like a hand outstretched, flipping up and down in a 'kinda' type of gesture. Like a nod and a hesitant smile. The feeling of victory by default.

Dick beamed.

"Okay yeah he can hear us." He announced for the benefit of their audience. "Why didn't you stay where you could speak? Wouldn't that have been easier?" He looked at his own chest, as if he could somehow find a way to see the presence inside of him.

Disgust. Guilt. Fear. An unexpected step at the bottom of a staircase. Falling off a pier into tempestuous water. A stranger pinning your hands above your head.

"Oh." Dick breathed. "Thank you, but I can handle it."

Guilt. Guilt. GUILT.

"Okay. It's alright. You can speak through me or we can manage like this." He soothed.

"Nightwing, report." Batman demanded.

"Uhh, right. I think he's trying to be courteous? To me, I mean. From what I can gather, he doesn't want to possess me or take over. He seems pretty repulsed by the idea, to be honest. I think he can see and hear and generally experience everything I'm experiencing, he's just more passenger than driver? I can feel him, and he's communicating, he just can't speak through me without taking my autonomy again, and he really doesn't want to do that." Dick explained, looking at the various states of thinly-veiled bewilderment across the faces of the heroes.

"Ask him if he's Pariah Dark, High King of the Infinite Realms, Ancient of Rage and Destructio-" Constantine begins, before Dick cuts him off

"I just said he can hear everything we're saying. Ask him yourself."

Constantine huffs. "You heard me, mate. Are you him?"

Denial. Contemplation. A battle. Single combat. A crown made of black thorns and green flames. A throne too big for he who sits in it. Victory. Desperation. Insufficiency. A question.

"I think..." Dick starts, trying to understand. "I think he's the King... but he's not Pariah Dark."

Agreement. Apology. Questioning.

"He wants to know if we're looking for Pariah Dark, or if we're looking for the High King of the Infinite Realms." He glances between Zatanna and Constantine, uncertain of the answer himself.

Constantine pales.

"Whatever is inside you defeated the ancient of Rage and Destruction in single combat, Nightwing. It's a powerful motherfucker, and a total unknown." He warns cautiously.

"Get him out of there, now. Send it back." Batman demands.

TERROR. Pleading. Unbearable suffering. Shiny metal dripping with green blood. The end of love. Unfathomable loss. Death without release. Unending torment. Begging.

"NO!" The voice tears its way out of Nightwing without his consent.

Cowering. Apology. Apology. Guilt. Apology.

Dick clears his throat. "I don't think he wants to leave."

"All the more reason to send it back." Batman growls.

"Don't." Dick protests. "I know it's a risk, and there's a chance it's manipulating me. But, something doesn't feel right about all of this."

"Ghosts are well known for their skills regarding manipulation, mind control, and emotion tampering." Zatanna cautions.

"According to those dehumanising rags maybe," Constantine scoffs.

"Every source we have-"

"Two sources, Love. Both of which have a bit of a vested interest, wouldn't you say?"

Fear. FEAR. Frustration. Heartbreak. An unheard voice in a crowded room. A layperson lecturing an expert. Mockery. A spectacle of suffering. Lies. Hurt. Fear.

"He agrees with Constantine." Dick pipes in.

Exasperation. Reluctance.

"I don't think he's too happy about it." He laughs.

"Of course he agrees with Constantine, he's giving him what he wants." Red Robin huffs.

"He's afraid." Dick's voice cuts through the argument and the heroes turn to look at him. "I don't know exactly what's happening, but he's terrified of being sent back."

Zatanna sighs. "Let's do what we came to do, and then maybe we'll talk about letting him out."

(Something goes wrong and Dick and Danny end up stuck like this for a while.

Dick moves back into Wayne Manor while they try to figure out how to remove Danny from Dick's body without hurting either of them.

Everybody starts referring to Phantom as Dick's little passenger.

Eventually they repeal the Anti-Ecto Acts and find out all of the trauma Danny's been through via talking and dream/memory bleeding between him and Dick.

When Danny does finally manage to tumble out of Dick he is promptly adopted into the Batfam (what did anyone expect, he's a traumatised young teenager with black hair and blue eyes and barely any sense of self preservation).

In the meantime, however, Dick is happily going about his daily life with his little passenger, and Danny is still very traumatised but he's also contentedly curled up in Dick's chest, thrumming with happiness whenever Dick takes care of him.

Once or twice when Dick gets into Big Danger while vigilante-ing, Phantom forcibly takes over Dick's body to save him, using his ghost powers to fight the bad guy and escape the scenario. He cries afterwards because even though he needed to save Dick's life, he knows how terrifying and violating it feels to have someone else controlling your body (thanks Circus Gothica) and never wants to put anyone else through that.)

[hypophrenic-caravan]

DP X DC

The Justice League summons the ghost king. Danny was in the middle of an emergency that only he could stop.

He screams and cries and begs them to send him back, tells them it's life or death, tells them they can summon him again in 24 hours just PLEASE send him back NOW everybody was going to die

They argue and deliberate for almost ten minutes before they send him back.

They summon him again the next day. He's different.

They try to talk to him but he just hangs there numbly, floating and staring at nothing.

Nightwing can't take it anymore. Maybe the ghost king is an eldritch god, but to him he just looks like a traumatised child.

Without hesitation, he steps into the circle (Constantine told them all to stay back from it the first time he summoned Phantom but what's the worst that could happen?)

Everybody protests but Constantine keeps them back, tells them more people in the summoning circle will only make things more dangerous.

So, Nightwing does his thing. He hesitantly approaches the loose ball of glowing limbs that is Phantom, talking gently as he goes.

He asks Phantom if he can touch him, and still gets no response. Just dull, dead eyes looking past him.

Cautiously, he lays a hand on the ghost-boy's shoulder. No response.

He pulls him into his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and talking softly.

All at once, the king crumbles. He turns into the one-armed hug, fisting a hand tightly into Nightwing's costume. He buries his face in the hero's shoulder and begins to sob. Terrible, wretched noises of agony.

Nightwing makes soothing noises to the child in his arms as he turns to meet eyes with the rest of the Justice League.

They summoned him in the middle of an emergency and instead of sending him back immediately they kept him there. Kidnapped him.

This was their fault.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

DC x DP

The Justice League summons the ghost king.

Unfortunately, the safest way JLD can find requires a host body to contain the being.

Obviously Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash are out - who knows what this being would do with a super-powered body. They have no idea how Captain Marvel or Green Lantern type magic would interact with the summoning, so not them either. They need Constantine and Zatanna to perform the ritual.

Basically it's down to the bats.

Batman tries to volunteer - better him than one of his kids if anything were to go wrong.

That gets vetoed. As do a lot of his offspring. The safest options (ie the least contaminated by magic, lazarus water, time shenanigans, and everything else) are Red Robin, Spoiler, and Nightwing.

Nightwing pulls rank.

After a lot of arguing, everyone at least agrees to tolerate the arrangement.

Nightwing removes every possible weapon from himself, allows himself to be tied to a chair in the middle of a summoning circle, and waits for JL Dark to complete the ritual.

It's not long before he feels a surge of cold burning through him.

He expected to be unconscious while the Ghost King took over. That's what Zatanna said had been reported the last time this ritual was performed many years ago.

They had all expected a lot of things.

Pariah Dark was supposed to be terrifying to behold - a massive, cruel, FURIOUS dictator who turned to violence at the smallest sleight.

This was... definitely not that.

Dick was present. He had no control over his body, but he could see and hear in an almost dream-like state. Foggy and indistinct, maybe a little warped, but definitely present.

He felt his heart rate and breathing pick up in panic even though he felt mostly calm (or at least no more anxious than he had been, waiting for an angry deity to possess his body and all). It was a strange sensation.

He felt the vibrations of his own voice as it left his throat, high and confused.

"Wha... Where..." It asked, warbling and afraid.

He felt his eyes blink and his limbs struggle against the bindings.

His head tilted down without his say so, and he looked at his own body as if through rippling water, warped lenses.

"I'm not..." His voice came out, still confused. Still afraid.

"Your Majesty?" Zatanna asked from beyond the limits of the circle.

His head whipped up, and he felt his neck click at the abrupt motion.

His breathing picked up again. Dick felt the ghost (pun not intended) of anxiety, like it was leaking from the other consciousness inhabiting his body.

"We mean you no harm. Our associate has agreed to lend you his body for the duration of this meeting." She continued.

Dick felt the king's anxiety again, stronger this time. Other emotions too, guilt, sorrow, anger, and a strange sort of pressing-tugging sensation.

Suddenly, Dick was back in control. He could still feel the king's consciousness, stronger now than before, but he could also move and speak freely.

"What just happened?" He mumbled, speaking to the ghost, not the audience of heroes.

"Nightwing?" Someone called from outside the circle, but he ignored them for the moment, feeling instead the consciousness inhabiting his body push back fear, guilt, and apology.

"Yeah, it's me. He's still in here, though." Dick frowned, trying to figure out how to interact with the being.

He heard a voice in the back of his mind. It sounded like him. It sounded different. It was younger than him. It was small and afraid. It was neutral and quiet and him. But it wasn't. It was speaking. It was silent. It was emotions and thoughts and nothing.

"Oooookay, this is really weird. I think we're communicating. I don't know how to talk back, but if he's in the same situation I was a minute ago he should be able to hear us just fine. Is that right?" Nightwing tried.

The 'voice' (he figured he'd call it a voice for now. He wasn't sure what else he could call it) responded in the affirmative. Like a hand outstretched, flipping up and down in a 'kinda' type of gesture. Like a nod and a hesitant smile. The feeling of victory by default.

Dick beamed.

"Okay yeah he can hear us." He announced for the benefit of their audience. "Why didn't you stay where you could speak? Wouldn't that have been easier?" He looked at his own chest, as if he could somehow find a way to see the presence inside of him.

Disgust. Guilt. Fear. An unexpected step at the bottom of a staircase. Falling off a pier into tempestuous water. A stranger pinning your hands above your head.

"Oh." Dick breathed. "Thank you, but I can handle it."

Guilt. Guilt. GUILT.

"Okay. It's alright. You can speak through me or we can manage like this." He soothed.

"Nightwing, report." Batman demanded.

"Uhh, right. I think he's trying to be courteous? To me, I mean. From what I can gather, he doesn't want to possess me or take over. He seems pretty repulsed by the idea, to be honest. I think he can see and hear and generally experience everything I'm experiencing, he's just more passenger than driver? I can feel him, and he's communicating, he just can't speak through me without taking my autonomy again, and he really doesn't want to do that." Dick explained, looking at the various states of thinly-veiled bewilderment across the faces of the heroes.

"Ask him if he's Pariah Dark, High King of the Infinite Realms, Ancient of Rage and Destructio-" Constantine begins, before Dick cuts him off

"I just said he can hear everything we're saying. Ask him yourself."

Constantine huffs. "You heard me, mate. Are you him?"

Denial. Contemplation. A battle. Single combat. A crown made of black thorns and green flames. A throne too big for he who sits in it. Victory. Desperation. Insufficiency. A question.

"I think..." Dick starts, trying to understand. "I think he's the King... but he's not Pariah Dark."

Agreement. Apology. Questioning.

"He wants to know if we're looking for Pariah Dark, or if we're looking for the High King of the Infinite Realms." He glances between Zatanna and Constantine, uncertain of the answer himself.

Constantine pales.

"Whatever is inside you defeated the ancient of Rage and Destruction in single combat, Nightwing. It's a powerful motherfucker, and a total unknown." He warns cautiously.

"Get him out of there, now. Send it back." Batman demands.

TERROR. Pleading. Unbearable suffering. Shiny metal dripping with green blood. The end of love. Unfathomable loss. Death without release. Unending torment. Begging.

"NO!" The voice tears its way out of Nightwing without his consent.

Cowering. Apology. Apology. Guilt. Apology.

Dick clears his throat. "I don't think he wants to leave."

"All the more reason to send it back." Batman growls.

"Don't." Dick protests. "I know it's a risk, and there's a chance it's manipulating me. But, something doesn't feel right about all of this."

"Ghosts are well known for their skills regarding manipulation, mind control, and emotion tampering." Zatanna cautions.

"According to those dehumanising rags maybe," Constantine scoffs.

"Every source we have-"

"Two sources, Love. Both of which have a bit of a vested interest, wouldn't you say?"

Fear. FEAR. Frustration. Heartbreak. An unheard voice in a crowded room. A layperson lecturing an expert. Mockery. A spectacle of suffering. Lies. Hurt. Fear.

"He agrees with Constantine." Dick pipes in.

Exasperation. Reluctance.

"I don't think he's too happy about it." He laughs.

"Of course he agrees with Constantine, he's giving him what he wants." Red Robin huffs.

"He's afraid." Dick's voice cuts through the argument and the heroes turn to look at him. "I don't know exactly what's happening, but he's terrified of being sent back."

Zatanna sighs. "Let's do what we came to do, and then maybe we'll talk about letting him out."

(Something goes wrong and Dick and Danny end up stuck like this for a while.

Dick moves back into Wayne Manor while they try to figure out how to remove Danny from Dick's body without hurting either of them.

Everybody starts referring to Phantom as Dick's little passenger.

Eventually they repeal the Anti-Ecto Acts and find out all of the trauma Danny's been through via talking and dream/memory bleeding between him and Dick.

When Danny does finally manage to tumble out of Dick he is promptly adopted into the Batfam (what did anyone expect, he's a traumatised young teenager with black hair and blue eyes and barely any sense of self preservation).

In the meantime, however, Dick is happily going about his daily life with his little passenger, and Danny is still very traumatised but he's also contentedly curled up in Dick's chest, thrumming with happiness whenever Dick takes care of him.

Once or twice when Dick gets into Big Danger while vigilante-ing, Phantom forcibly takes over Dick's body to save him, using his ghost powers to fight the bad guy and escape the scenario. He cries afterwards because even though he needed to save Dick's life, he knows how terrifying and violating it feels to have someone else controlling your body (thanks Circus Gothica) and never wants to put anyone else through that.)

[hypophrenic-caravan]

DC x DP au where Danny and Jason just have, inexplicable beef with eachother.

The JL have to summon the ghost king for whatever reason and it’s just-

Danny: BEHOLD! TIS I THE- OH- FUCK OFF! Ohhhh My Gawddddddd! LEAVE ME ALONEEEEEEEEE

Jason: What- ME? YOUR THE ONE IN MY SPACE CENTRE! -

Bruce: *my space centre

Jason: -ALSO, WHATS WITH THE NEW BIG TITLE? You compensating for something small fry?

Danny: Small fry! I remember when you were barely 5 foot! You take steroids or smth? Also-also, you stink! What are you rotten or smth?

Jason: *sniffs* it was acid actually

Just, they’re around the same age, Jason died a year after Danny and they knew eachother for approx five/six months. They hate eachother in a way that only kids on a playground could.

(Picture, Jason was born a few months before Danny, but post death he’s technically been alive for several months Less than him. Danny is now technically older, this adds to the hatred.)

(Jason joking flirts with Jazz, Danny asks if he has a thing for gingers, Jason nearly kills himself again as he realises he has the same taste as Dick)

FUCKING UPDATE: THIS GOT REPOSTED ON TIKTOK (without credits, fuck you fa.aka8) WHICH IS HELLA COOL IF ALSO HELLA RUDE BUT YKNOW

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Dp x Dc, Danny's reaction to being interrupted while on a date.

Danny was walking on air, figuratively, this time. What started as a coffee date around noon turned into a walk around Poison Ivy’s public garden, then lunch, an adventure getting locked outside of their car for two hours, a light amount of trauma dumping, dinner at a super fancy place unknowingly sponsored by Bruce Wayne, and finally a couple of Slushees from the only place open at midnight on the walk back to Danny’s apartment. 

This person who had been a stranger mere hours ago flowed with him like none other. The two understood each other. They found Danny’s weirdness endearing– sexy, even and Danny really didn’t mind that they seemed to know a little too much about him already. 

They were observant, intelligent, strong and just a little scary. 

They were literally the perfect person, Danny felt in awe of their presence and some how, some way, they liked him back. Even when he locked the keys in the car they just squeezed his hand and started telling a story about themselves making an equally stupid mistake.

The evening was winding down, the two young adults’ date could go anywhere at this point when Danny spotted something he assumed his date didn’t. 

A person with a gun, aimed at Danny’s date appeared from the alley. They made no introduction, spouted no plans. Just shot the bullet and ran off. 

Danny stepped in between his date and the gun, throwing up a shield. 

Danny had more powers than fingers. There was a multitude of ways he could have saved the two of them from being shot. 

He could have used his flight for the speed needed to push them both out of the way. He could have turned the two of them intangible. He could have thrown up an ice wall. 

Instead, he threw up the most basic of ecto-Shields, something completely useless against real, human objects. 

So, of course, Danny still ended up taking the bullet in the chest. .

A Normal Human Being’s Reaction To Getting Shot:

Screaming, Bleeding, Dying. 

Crying, choking, Horror.

Bloody hands scrabbling at wounds, and frantic 911 calls. 

Danny’s Reaction To Getting Shot: 

“Oh, Ancients. This is so cringe.” 

Now, his date was freaking out and trying to rip his shirt open— so not the ideal mood Danny wanted for that— now Danny’s freaking blood was all over their hands and staining their pretty dress shirt. 

Danny couldn’t believe he just ruined their date.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

“How dare you use his face”

The Infinite Realms and the Faerie Lands are closely interlinked. Not quite identical, but overlapping and intermingling with each other far more than they do with the mundane world. The haunts of ghosts and the distant lands of Fantasy are all but indistinguishable to most outsiders.

The denizens, too, sometimes bear many similarities. It can be difficult to tell at a glance which category an entity falls under—especially if they’re a more liminal case.

So when Damian saw one such entity wearing the guise of his missing twin, he came to a reasonable but incorrect conclusion. One that made him very, very angry at the thing standing before him.

He assumed that he was seeing a Faerie that had stolen Danyal’s face and name.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Demon Twins au where Danny is just as good, if not better, at mimicking voices as Damian and decides to make it everyone’s problem.

Danny annoys and/or haunts goons by mimicking child’s laughter down dark hallways (where he, of course, also causes the temp to go down and lights to flicker)

He starts a side hustle where, if given a voice sample, will recreate the voice and say (within reason) whatever the person paying wants him to say.

This is great for people who may have gotten or found a note from a loved one and want to hear it in their voice.

It can be used for practical jokes or calling someone out of school or other sticky situations.

… it’s also, unfortunately, used by some hero fans in a less than appropriate context.

But $20 is $20 and Danny isn’t one to judge someone’s preferences if it’s not hurting anyone.

Until it does. Because someone *cough*Lex Luther*cough*, over time, has Danny say a couple things in Superman’s voice and then releases it as proof that he’s a terrible person.

Danny is quick to realize and freaks out. He releases the full or clipped portions of the audio to show where it came from with a caption stating: “I just thought the dude was into some freaky sadomaso, degrading kink stuff involving Superman. I didn’t realize it’d be used in this context… though I wouldn’t be surprised if he also used to it get off.”

Danny thinks the problem is solved as Luther is being horrendously memed and embarrassed online for getting audio sex tapes of Superman. Unbeknown to Danny, the Bats get curious and investigate as this could be a liability but also because it’s hilarious. Shenanigans ensue.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Danny’s on the Suicide Squad. He’s the defacto team moral compass and ray of sunshine. He plays the role of the camp counselor that keeps everyone in line. He’s not afraid of working with even the gnarliest of baddies.

Everybody on the team wonders how he ended up locked up with the villains- he never talks about what he did to end up behind bars no matter how much they pester him. Then one day they’re out on a mission and Harley or somebody is caught and tortured. Danny snaps. It’s the opposite of brutal- he takes down everyone in the room with clinical, dispassionate efficiency.

After it’s over and the team is safe he comes back to himself and is almost sheepish. He radios Belle Reve.

“Whoops. Add another couple notches on my power dampener collar, would you Waller?”

“Can’t, it’s already at max.”

“Ah. Well. I’ll have a look at strengthening it when we’re back then.”

The team just stared at him slack jawed. Good thing he’s on their side.

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Danny "piece of shit teenager" Phantom is floating around being a pain in the ass in the Justice League, as normal, when suddenly, he stops in the air.

His head turns 194 degrees, and his smile stretches wide.

"Raven!" He calls, just as the cloaked half demon enters the meeting room.

She stares impassively. "Danny."

"Oh come onnnnnn" the ghost ribs, standing upside down above her like a strange mirror image. "Call me 'Dad' already!"

Raven scowls. "No."

Cyborg, who had entered the watchtower with the girl, looks between them in confusion. "Now what on sweet mother earth is goin' on here?"

Phantom's laughter grated on every eardrum in the vicinity, like cracking glaciers.

"I beat the hell out of her dad, and ate half his soul!" He explains, like it's nothing.

"I took his throne in the duel, so it's only right that I be both a better ruler and a better father, eh?"

"Not my dad." Raven growls.

Phantom just smirks at her, and tosses her a paper bag. She catches it in her magic, and immediately whips out a cookie and begins crunching on it.

On Cyborg's glance, she just glowers. "Not sharing."

[hypophrenic-caravan]

Danny steals Jason

Danny was the newbiest of noobs on the street rat scene. Poor kid isn't cut out for the cut-throat culture of Gotham homelessness. His soft heart and mid-western manners means he ends up giving up the lion's share of what he does manage to scavenge.

It concerned Jason. Being soft like that was a great way to get killed. Danny was chum in the shark infested waters. Hood asked one of the older alley kids how Danny hadn't gotten eaten alive.

"It's like taking candy from a baby" she confided in Hood. "Easy as fuck, but you can't help but feel bad about it."

Now, Red Hood has a deal with the alley kids. If anyone manages to steal from all of the Waynes without getting caught, he will pay for all their necessities until they turn 18.

Really, it's a win-win. Bruce and his brood get extra awareness training and more incentive to stay out of Jason's territory. The kids get bought a meal after they're inevitably caught. Jason gets to laugh at his family.

He never expected his deal to be taken advantage of by Danny of all kids.

"Psst! Red Hood!"

Jason glanced over to see Danny beckoning him over. Curious, and a bit wary at the nervous look on the boy's face, he approached. "What's up kid?"

"C'mon! Over here!" Danny insisted, moving further away.

Jason followed. "What's this about?"

Danny didn't answer. Instead he just grabbed his hand and sped up. He kept glancing back at him and it was making Jason nervous. Did the kid get in over his head and coerced into luring Red Hood into a trap?

"Kid?" He asked again, tension leaking into his voice.

"Not yet. Almost there."

Abruptly they stopped on a random street corner. Jason noted that it was tactically a poor place for an assassination. Still, if something was gonna go down, he'd have to make sure the kid made it to safety.

"Danny-"

"I abducted you." Danny interrupted, confirming Jason's suspicious. "I used persuasion to get you someplace you don't wanna be," He pointed at the ground at that, presumably for emphasis. "Which counts as abduction. And I didn't get caught by the Bats."

"Okay? Danny, you-"

"You're sort of a bat which means I stole you from the bats!" the kid interrupted again. "And the bats are the Waynes. So I stole from all the Waynes without getting caught! I won the challenge!"

As Jason's brain rebooted all he could manage to say was, "What makes this spot someplace I don't wanna be?"

Danny just grinned and pointed at the ground again.

Jason looked down. He was standing in a chalk outline with lots of arrows titling it the "Stupid Circle"

Based on these two posts:

Pickpocket for Hire:

Jason gets 'kidnapped':

@queeniewithabeanie @apatheticsunday @im-totally-not-an-alien-2