#Batman’s instant adoption tendencies

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny laid across his throne, legs planted across the left arm of the ornate chair and back pressed uncomfortably against the right.

"Listen," Danny started, letting his head flop to the side as he glared at a hovering Observant. "This meeting has wasted enough of my time. You all have been arguing for hours and that's without Clockwork slowing things down."

"Your Majesty, this is a matter of great importance. Belial means to overthrow and rule my-our world!"

"I am distinctly aware aware of that," Ancients, Danny couldn't wait to go home and rid himself of the formal speech he'd had to adopt in order to be taken seriously. Well, as seriously as he cared to be taken when sprawled across his throne instead of sitting on it intimidatingly or something. He slowly placed his gaze on the suddenly still demon sitting across from him. "Yet you've proposed fifteen different plans that were all unviable for whatever reasons you've cooked up. Your conclusion is that I must step in. Does your world not have heroes to take care of it?"

The demon- another lord of hell from this Belial’s universe- fell silent.

“Ah. But if they do, they would also take care of you.”

“No- no, that’s not-”

Danny allowed his voice to drop to the artic freeze he knew his core was capable of. "I opened these these doors to allow all of you to present me with reasonable concerns regarding your own universes and realms. What is not on the table for discussion is your petty politics. Do you think I am unaware of your intentions in tattling to me? That I do not know you are trying to use me to further your own position?"

"Your Majesty, I-" The demon growled out, fear slowly coating its expression.

"It no longer amuses me. You think that I am young and easy to manipulate." Danny froze the demon to its chair. It tried to break free, but Danny isn't the High King of the Infinite Realms for nothing. "Bring to me a miserable problem like this ever again, one that could be easily solved if you used even a smidgen of your intelligence, and you will find exactly how I tore Pariah Dark from his throne."

Not that Danny knew how he did it either, he just did it.

"Yes, Your Majesty. My-my apologies."

The room is dead (Danny patted himself on the back for the pun) silent. Some of the Ancients looked bored, like Clockwork who knew Danny would never hurt them, but everyone else looked close to crying. He held eye contact with the demon until it looked away.

When Danny settled back into the throne and allowed his ice to dissipate, the room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"The next item on the agenda is another demon, by the name of Trigon." Clockwork announced, the large piece of paper comically huge next to his currently toddler-like body.

"Another?"

He flicked an amused look at the previous demon, who kept his trap firmly shut.

"He is attempting to take over multiple worlds in an attempt to conquer the universe. I had thought you would be interested in this one, Your Majesty, as he plans to begin with Earth 135."

Danny stilled. That was his Earth. His haunt.

"Does he know of the Realms?"

"Vaguely, I believe."

"Then he should know the rules. I will wait to see if my Earth's heroes are capable to step to the task."

Danny would be a hypocrite if he doesn’t let the heroes of his Earth try first, even if he is one of those heroes.

"Of course," Clockwork grinned at him, fully aware of the shit Danny's about to stir back home. Ah, the wonders of being able to influence the time stream. Perhaps the young Ghost King will finally get some friends, and maybe get those pesky speedsters to stop making his jobs so hard. Cujo yipped at Danny as the King begrudgingly moved onto the next topic.

——

Raven shuddered as she watched the footage of her "brothers" laughing while steering their human "meatbags" around. She turned back to the giant circle of donated blood and herb filled candles.

“This is a nuclear option, don’t you think?” Green Arrow mumbled, clearly not against it by the half hearted way he’d said it. The Star City billionaire nursed his cracked ribs.

“No,” she floated over to where Zatanna and Constantine kneeled, trying to see if they needed help with the inscriptions. “Trigon is coming soon, and my brothers will no doubt find their way here in a moment. We are out of time.”

“Yeah. Plus, we don’t want Raven to be turned into a portal.” Garfield piped up, switching animal forms rapidly.

“No one dies.” Red Robin muttered. His wrist computer was open, monitoring the surroundings of the open field they found themselves uneasily occupying. Batman grunted in affirmation, eyeing the tree line. Every hero except the magical ones were on look out, preparing themselves for one more battle against the two demons that were trying to take Raven and force her into becoming a portal.

“Hey guys, we might want to hurrythisupbecausethey’re kind of close!” Impulse slammed into the room.

“Done.” Zatanna got up, motioning for everyone to step back. In Superman’s case, he floated back.

“Too bad you won’t get to use it,” a voice drawled, dripping with malice and the screams of a thousand souls.

“Come now, little sister. Why fight fate? Be grateful father has deigned to spare you. If not for your dirty blood being useful, you would be dead, little sister. Give up, before our patience runs out alongside the lives of your little pets.” Another, mocking, voice gleefully rumbled.

Raven would rather gouge out her own heart than to claim these two as any type of family.

“You won’t touch them.” Raven snarled, powers rising even as the marks on her body burned a painful red.

“Buy us some time!”

With that, the group of beaten and battered heroes rose to clash against just two demons, for a chance to save their world.

——

The Circle crackled. Danny felt a tug on his core. He followed the thread of the summoning. Oh. It was his haunt. Earth 135. Hm. It tasted of blood. Desperation? A hint of anticipation. Oh, an overload of fear. Could use some more hope, but Danny understood that it was rather hard to season these kinds of summonings with hope.

“Stop.” Danny commanded, straightening in his chair.

“Sire, we have more-”

“There is an issue with my haunt,” with that, he followed the summons.

——

“Ugh,” was the first thing everybody on the frozen battlefield heard. The demons had smacked away many of the heroes, but they all turned as one when the circle lit up a bright green. “Why do you people always use blood? I’m dead, I don’t need any more iron!”

A boy

Raven’s eldest brother let out a hideous rumble. “You fools tried to summon the king, and you got a dead boy. And now, you’ve doomed another.”

Constantine looked resigned, and regretful. “I am so, so sorry,” he whispered. It was just a kid. John might be a lot of things, but even he found summoning dead kids for demons to devour was just a step too far. “Shite, we got the wrong fucking-”

“Hey, man, that’s rude,” the boy snapped back, waving John off.

“Brother, kill the whelp.”

“I vote on not killing the whelp. Not killing at all, really,” the boy stepped out of the massive blood circle, wrinkling his nose at the drying stains.

“This is not one of your pesky democracies, fool.”

In response, the demons lunged at him, ignoring the screams of the surrounding heroes as they shoved their human arms through the boy’s stomach.

“So,” the boy continues, “I heard your dad was after my haunt?”

“Your haunt, whelp? This earth shall be his! And through him, ours!” Raven slammed against the demons with her power, shadows enlarging and tossing them away from the unharmed… ghost boy?

“Is it?”

——

Wow, these demons are so rude. Normally, it’d be a breath of fresh air compared to the stuffy halls of his throne room. But since they’re attacking his haunt…

“Thanks. You’re… Raven, right?”

Raven nodded, arms outstretched in concentration as she held her brothers back.

“You have to go. We’re- we’re sorry you got pulled into this, but it’s not safe here.”

“Eh. It’s cool. You don’t have to do that anymore, by the way.” Danny stepped forward once more, green skin shifting and gliding as everything about him sharpened. He flew at the demons piloting the human shells, catching them around the necks and dragging the demons out of their stolen bodies. The threw them even further away as he floated in the air, a beacon of green and white. Raven thought it looked like hope.

“My name is Phantom, the High King of the Infinite Realms,” let it be known that Danny always had an eye for dramatic entrances. He shifted into something more off, more eldritch, more kingly. The crown flared to life above his head. “You have invaded my haunt. You have challenged me. What do you plead?”

“You’re not-” they said.

“Wrong answer,” Danny flew at them once more, body contorting into something undeniably terrorizing, his maw unhinging and crunching down on the demons with a sound that made the present heroes cringe.

“Ugh,” Danny grunted, turning back and floating peacefully to the group of heroes- Tucker and Sam would be so stoked he met Wonder Woman and Batman!- and chewed rapidly. He shifted back into his normal form. “Eating demons always leaves me with indigestion. And their bones get everywhere up in my teeth!” Danny pulled out a giant femur looking bone from his mouth, despite it not logically fitting in there.

“Right. No eating demons, solid life advice.” Red Robin said.

“Right? So, you’re Raven! It’s nice to meet you! Think you can summon your dear ol’ dad for me?”

“But we summoned you to stop Trigon, not help him come here.” Superman said, frowning.

“One! That summoning circle is wack. Those things you piled up as offerings? Mid. Also, if you thought you could control me with those terribly written spells, you’re dead wrong. And yes, I am making puns about death.” Danny jabs an aggressive finger towards the shabby circle.

“Have you considered that maybe not every being that can be summoned wants a shit ton of useless blood? Like what if I wanted food? And two, how am I supposed to beat up Trigon if he’s still stuck in the prison realm?”

“I have a cup of coffee,” Nightwing offered. “Kid Flash could probably get you food, right?”

“Yep, surethinganythingyouwantyourMajesty.”

“You wouldn’t catch me alive accepting food from a speedster. You people fuck up the timelines so much,” Danny grumbled, crunching on the last of Raven’s brothers. Raven thought she should probably sit down.

“But you’re dead.” Batman said, something about his voice catching the sharp attention of his protégés who all started making cutting motions at him.

“Fair,” Danny pointed at him, grinning. “I’ll take two pizza and Nightwing’s coffee as payment for taking care of your little demon overlord problem. Raven, summon your dad.”

——

Didn’t much like the characterization of this piece but it’s been in my drafts for a while and I needed it out

[nitholites]

Assuming someone in the BatFam is the end game:

It's been only a week or so since Tony figured out who Ladybug is

She's captured everyone's hearts, but has to go to Gotham soon

For help, but also because of her internship

The Stark Gala becomes a 'you better live and come back one day, Mari or I STG' party, hosted by Tony Stark, of course

She makes all the outfits of the Starks, her parents, herself, Jagged, Penny, Luka, and Kagami (the last two friends minus Chloe from Paris) and she makes extra in case someone has a wardrobe malfunction

Meanwhile, the Waynes have heard a lot about the newest Stark: MDC

Tim is a fanboy. He's found everything related to his favorite rock star's designer/niece there is to find ("I'm not obsessed! They're just super talented, and I'd like something from them! Stop laughing at me, Dick!")

Dick has no room to tease him, as both him and Jason are pretty much in the same boat

Kor'i and Mar'i love MDC, as well

Every one of the Bats are huge Jagged Stone fans

Like... Nearly rabid

(Damian, Bruce, and Alfred redact that statement)

They're invited to Tony's gala thing (he only started it to surpass the Wayne Gala, like the Lil Shite he is)

The night of the party, only Bruce and Jason go, since the rest of the bats are busy

Bruce, Jagged (who brought Fang), and Tony are all chatting in the middle of the floor, 2/3rds of the group are just talking up Marinette

Jason, meanwhile, accidentally runs into this small, adorable child who proceeds to spill her punch all over his suit

He insists it's fine, but she won't take 'no' for an answer ("I am so sorry, please let me make it up to you" "Kid, it's fine, accidents happen" "No, seriously, let me help")

There's a look in her eyes that insists she do something, and he eventually agrees

Cue to Marinette having a suit jacket that matches and fits Jason because "You look like you're the same build as Mr. Stark (she's all for joining Peter in calling Tony 'Mr. Stark' to get under his skin)"

"you know Tony?"

She shrugs, and doesn't comment anymore on it

"give me your address, and I'll bring this back when it's clean again. I'm moving to Gotham for a while soon, anyway"

He does, she doesn't realize he's a Wayne, and they part when the party ends

Cue the entire BatFam sprinting into Jason's room, chasing after a full on scream

Like, they didn't know Jason's voice could get "so high and squeaky, what the hecc?"

They pause as they see Jason litterally jumping up and down

"What the hell, Todd."

Instead of answering, he shoves the jacket in Tim's face with a shite-eating grin

It takes a moment, but Tim scowls and pulls out his wallet

When the rest of the family only look confused, Tim sighs and explains

"He got an MDC original first."

"...you had a bet on that?"

Jason freezes, eyes widening

"HOLY SH*T, I MET THE MDC! SHE WAS SO TINY, OH MY GOD, BATS, WE HAVE TO ADOPT HER!"

They're confused for a solid minute

"YOU DONT UNDERSTAND SHES AN ANGEL AND HAS BLACK HAIR AND BLUE EYES!! SHE'S OBVIOUSLY A WAYNE!"

It takes all of Bruce's willpower not to adopt her on the spot when she visits them

Like, he almost brings up adoption papers

But he knows Stark would fight tooth and nail to keep this baby

So he restrains himself

(for now)

(he swears if one of his children doesn't marry her, he's bringing the adoption papers to court)

She doesn't stay long, only meeting all the Waynes at the house and going back to her hotel

The next day, a villain goes after Mar'i, near the park/mall/something Marinette is by

Instead of becoming Ladybug, she heccin kicks arse

As Marinette

She gets both her and Mar'i out of danger without a scratch using a yo-yo of all things and meets Batman and Robin as they clean up the rest

She's all like "no, it's alright, I'm sure anyone would do the same please stop thanking me, my family's gonna kick my ass to next year for scaring them like this"

Bats comes up and takes her statement, and she happens to mention the situation in Paris

"oh, this was nothing compared to some of the Akuma I've faced" "What's an akuma?" She paled, eyes widening in shock. "You don't know? About Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuuko, Viperion, Queen Bee, Red Wasp, Multimouse, Hawkmoth, Mayura, Carapace, Rena Rouge, and all them?"

She explains a little, giving basic information everyone knew, then shows him the app she made a while ago

The Akuma Alert app that held much more than just akuma-related things

She leaves soon after, and Batman has a goal in mind

Within the day, Diana is furious at the lack of response towards the Paris situation

"This Ladybug was left alone for all this time?! Shame on you all, leaving my mother's successor alone!"

When Ladybug is later spotted (hehe, get it?) in Gotham, the entire BatFam finds her and gets her in touch with the League

She explains how she asked both the League and the Avengers for help, all those years ago, and was pushed aside with warnings not to send in prank calls anymore

Of course, Iron Man has already looked into it, but he's not exactly a detective and the more brains on this, the better

Meanwhile, as civilians...

The normal shipping stuff happens

With the exception that nearly every criminal in Gotham low-key adopts Marinette

They may think she's the next Wayne, but the Angel of Gotham is off limits

And not because the little Wayne chases after anyone who even looks at her wrong with a katana

Not just as Robin. As Damian

Marinette actually meets a few villains on the street

She was going to a commission, carrying some hero, vigilante, and villain themed macaroons when she got lost

(before meeting the Waynes officially, actually)

She was in a park, looking lost when Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn came up

She offered treats, and ever since she's the Angel of Gotham

Once, when on a date with her romantic interest, Killer Croc tried taking the restaurant hostage after robbing a bank

Key word: tried

Marinette calmly slipped behind him, grabbed his tail, and dragged his butt outta there

(he blames the fast French girl and the tile on the floor, which didn't let him get a good grip)

By the time Bats and the police got there, Croc was in tears as this tiny French girl lectured him about manners and interrupting dates

(the BatFam can't think of a funnier time)

When the Joker actually kidnaps her as a way to get to Batman, literally everyone rages a rescue mission

Harley, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze (Marinette reminds him of the daughter he's always wanted, with his frozen wife), Two-Face (Marinette talked philosophy with him, showing him he still had choices beyond the black and white), Killer Crock (who was impressed by the tiny French girl who threw him out of a restaurant by his tail that one time), Batman, Robin, the Teen Titans, Red Hood, Red Robin, Wonder Woman (she could feel Tikki's influence on Marinette and guessed her identity), Nightwing, all the Avengers, Red Wasp (Chloe, with the Bee Miraculous because she earned it back ages ago), Sabine (no one messed with her baby. No one), a teenage boy wielding a potato gun (who let this kid here?), Pepper, Penny (the two women were fast friends, bonding over their husbands' eccentric ways), Jagged with Fang, Audrey Bourgeois, and the entire police force storm the Joker's hideout

He didn't have a chance

Later, they admit it was kinda funny watching the small Sabine beating the crap out of the deranged clown

Fang, who was usually a puppy with scales, didn't hesitate to bite off the Joker's hand, reminiscent of Captain Hook and the Croc

Marinette's fine (or not, depending on how much angst you want in the story. It's easy to have her tourtured and nearly killed in the Joker's clutches {or actually killed and focused on angst from everyone who knew her [possible heavy Lila/class salt]} and see her move past her PTSD) and she gets home eventually

Around this time, she's made the Guardian of the Miraculous

She eventually goes back to Paris with her huge family (or everyone she thinks could keep their emotions in check)

They kick Gabriel's arse, but Adrien gets away with his mother (who was healed by Ladybug)

Possible second book

Marinette's ship becomes the Black Cat

Time skip, fiveish years later, some of Marinette's classmates see her for the first time since she left

They insult and sass her, not changed since school

Her S/O scowls and debunks them easily, defending Marinette

When they don't stop, Marinette's S/O calls Bruce, Tony, Jagged, and the rest of the League and the Avengers to destroy the morons in the class because they know how long they've waited for this moment

Mari puts her head in her hands, but doesn't stop them because she knows how long they've waited for this moment

Three hours later, the speeches and lectures aren't done yet

Lila eventually goes to Gotham or wherever Marinette is, and tries to warn the person on her arm about Marinette's 'bulling tendencies'

That gets another lecture

Or, her class gets a tour at either SI or WE, depending on when in the story you write it (could be both, and the class just doesn't learn or Tony, Pepper, and their kids were visiting WE to talk about Mari Protection Measures when they overhear it)

Lila goes off on how Mari's S/O is actually Lila's, or how she's BFFS with Batman/Iron Man/ Bruce Wayne and his kids/ Tony Stark and his kids/ the Avengers/ the Justice League

Cue the class seeing Mari

Instant bullying

The resident children and billionaire steps up, insulting and embarrassing the class while defending Mari

Lila tries to turn it around, but they're having none of that

First the kids jump at the chance to defend their little sister and/or girlfriend, then the big guns show up

At WE, it's Bruce, a highly protective Jason, and Tim, who has every single sin/mean thing/lie pulled up in a folder

It's thicker than his hand, and hard to hold

It's both in digital and physical form and sent to every single member of Mari's family- blood related or not

At SI, it's Tony and Pepper

FRIDAY steps up, too

Harley shoots Lila with the potato gun mk 3 until she leaves

The class don't know what they did wrong, but they swear to make it up just to get the scary CEOs and relatives

Also, if anyone knows the AU where Marinette was a street kid with Jason and his little sister (I can't remember who made it or what it was called, but I fell in l o v e), that could work with this one too. Jason would be so proud of his Lil sister being so famous and awesome and "how dare you let me think you were dead!! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" "I made you worried?! You up and nearly got killed last I checked!"

Jason swore not to tell her he actually died once. He prays she never finds out.

@tired-butterfly @evil-elf16 @doggiediva13 @krispydefendorpolice @mochegato @legallyspawned @kryptored

[willow-salix]

Another work of the genius that is my kid. She wrote this, I'm just sharing it. Revel in the awesomeness of this...

[AU] Four of the Tracy Brothers are all adopted by Jeff after being orphaned when he is unable to save their parents during rescues from the VERY early days of International Rescue (yeah I know the canon but whatever this is an au). Also this is total trash but I'm too lazy to write this proper proper so here ~ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

SCOTT: The first of the boys to get adopted by Papa Jeff is originally from Scotland (Scott-Land), and was orphaned after the tail end of a hurricane left his family home as nothing more than a pile of rubble - and since it wasn't anticipated, the extent of the damage done wasn't heard about until later, after a series of rescues in higher risk locations. By that time, it was too late. When J.T. finally got to the scene, he spent a few hours sifting through the debris for any survivors. By the time the sun had set, seven bodies had been discovered and he was giving up hope, until he heard the unmistakable sound of a baby crying. Wading through to where the nursery used to be, as if by some miracle, there was a perfectly in-tact crib and an infant inside, blocked from the destruction by a large ceiling tile that had fallen, and effectively acted as a shield as the rest of the home toppled down around them. Jeff took the baby in his arms and rushed to the basecamp, refusing to let go of the child during his check-up and the search for any living relatives for him to go to; but all of his living relatives were in the same house, and the little boy had nowhere to go. As J-Dog looked down at those big blue goo-goo eyes, he felt an overpowering sense of guilt, before it was replaced by total determination. He couldn't save his family, so the least he could do was give him a new one - and that's exactly what he did.

VIRGIL: The pilot of the mean, green, thicc flying machine gained all of his culture and artistic tendencies from his country of birth, Italy. A heavy rainstorm saw the canals of Venice break their banks and caused floods throughout the city (it would take them three years to get over it entirely). When Jazzy Jeff arrived, it was a matter of evacuating everyone and minimising the amount of accidents/casualties as much as possible. As roads cracked and buildings became submerged more and more with every passing second, the evacuation order soon developed into a time-sensitive rescue mission. By the time he finally reached Virgil's family, their car was teetering on the edge of a broken road, under which was several feet of water. They handed their newborn son over to him, only just in time before the concrete gave way and the car fell into the murky depths. Another member of the crew attempted to rescue them as Jeff held the child, deja-vu hitting him when his teammate came back to the surface and mournfully shook his head. They were unable to get them out in time, and, same as last time, there were no relatives to take the boy. Ever since the mother handed her son over to Jeff, he had felt a sense of responsibility over the welfare of the child. One look at the chonky little thing confirmed what he had been feeling in his heart all along: Scott now had a brother.

JOHN: Irish-born John's adoption was a little different to the other two, but a rescue all the same. Big Daddy J had a conference in the Emerald Isle, and on his way back to his hotel the same night, he came across a car that had crashed into a tree on a fairly deserted road. The only survivor was in the back seat, and was the toddler son of the two adults in the front. The child was old enough to be semi-aware of what was going on around him, so while Jeff attempted to remove him from the wreckage, he told him to "just do one thing" for him - "look at the stars, just look at the stars". The blonde boy did so obediently, and as they waited for the emergency services to arrive, he told the tot about all of his adventures in space. Even though he probably didn't understand what he was saying, tiny John was still absolutely hooked. Once at the hospital, the parents were confirmed deceased and further checks revealed that his grandparents were unable to look after him. Just because he wasn't wanted by his family, however, didn't mean he wasn't wanted by others. After cancelling his flight back the next day, Jeff once again went through all the necessary steps. When he returned back to America, his seven-year-old and his four-year-old were greeted with their new brother, and his wife and mother with a new son and grandson, respectively.

GORDON: Born and raised in Australia, Gordon's parents were adventurers that never seemed the type to settle down and stay in one place for one time. When International Rescue was called for an outback recovery, it seemed like a stupid prank when the campsite the call originated from was found to be empty. The fire had burnt out, several items had just simply been discarded on the floor, and it appeared that the tents were empty at first glance - but on closer inspection, it revealed that the bundle of cloth in the corner was actually a sleeping baby. They waited for any other people to arrive, but after a few hours, decided to take the baby to the hospital. With no records of him, there wasn't much they could do except confirm that he was healthy. All it took was one look into those big, brown, cow-like eyes and Jeffo knew that for the fourth time in ten years he was bringing home another baby.

ALAN: The youngest son, and the only biological one of Jeff and Lucille. When they first learnt of his conception, they were quick to assure the other boys that they weren't any less special than him because they weren't related by blood. The only response they recieved came from an eleven-year-old Scott remarking that yeah, they knew, because they had been chosen, which made it even more special. Each of the boys came from different backgrounds, but thanks to Jeff and his "Batman Syndrome", they were all united as a single family (until Lucille died and shit went down). The End.

BONUS: After rescuing Buddy and Ellie for the umpteenth time, they and Gordon dissolved into small talk as Virgil flew them home in Thunderbird Two. It was the first time they had rescued them in Australia, and the second-youngest Tracy couldn't help but notice that there was something odd about the couple's demeanour this time around. Usually, they were high-spirited after a rescue, talking about their next dangerous adventure or the new season of their show. They still spoke with a certain degree of excitement, but their hands were interlocked on Buddy's knee, and there was something that looked like... sadness? in both of their eyes when they looked at each other. Eventually, he couldn't help himself. "Hey, listen, I know it's not my place to ask, but... are you two alright?" Buddy opened his mouth to respond, but he was quickly interrupted. "I don't mean because of the rescue. I mean that you two are just acting a little - well, different."

Before he could make another comment about it 'not being his place to ask', Ellie gave a wan smile and sighed, ducking her head for a moment. "It's nothing. Only - the last time we were out in that direction, we had to call International Rescue out, too. It was a long time ago, when we were just starting out. I think it was when you were just starting out, too."

Gordon glanced over to Virgil, who reminded him that "International Rescue existed before us, remember?". He nodded before looking back to Ellie; a silent invitation for her to continue her story. Buddy's hand tightened around hers, and she sighed again.

"We had set up camp, had a fire going and was starting to unpack when the wind picked up. It just started latching onto everything, and soon there was this massive dust storm. We tried to stay together, radio'd for help, but we couldn't see anything, we just couldn't. There was no way that International Rescue could have gotten to us, but we didn't care. We just wanted-"

"We wanted them to save our son." Buddy finished for his wife. Gordon nodded, but internally, he was shocked. He had no idea that they had a child. He was about to ask, when Buddy started to talk again. His voice was steady despite the slight waver in it, and his eyes seemed glassy. "He was only young, so - small. We left him in the tent for shelter, tried to find a way to signal for the ship if we could. We didn't even realise we had been walking, until the storm died down and we found that we were nowhere near our camp. And when we got back..."

"Little Stevie was gone." Ellie whispered. "That was our boy, Stevie. Steve. And he was gone."

"What was the year?" Gordon found himself asking, his throat dry. The reply was instant, and it made him swallow heavily to try and remove the lump from his throat. Their dad - Jeff - had never kept anything from them about the way they came to the family. Buddy and Ellie's story, along with the recollection from Jeff and the date... there was only one conclusive answer.

Before he could stop himself, he blurted it out. "I think I'm your son."

[gpsoftun]

At the age of eight, Bruce Wayne witnessed the senselessly brutal shooting deaths of his parents. The mentally scarred child went into the care and guardianship of their loyal family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Incited by the loss he suffered, the billionaire spent his young adulthood traveling the globe to learn an array of different fighting styles, languages, espionage, and every skill imaginable to forge an alter ego that would cripple the criminal underground of Gotham City. To the public he maintained the image of a rich playboy. The thugs and sociopaths who plagued his city, however, very quickly learned to fear him as the shadow lurking vigilante, Batman.

A few years into his career as, what Gotham City dubbed, the Dark Knight, Bruce unexpectedly gained a new family. When a night at the circus ended in the murders of the famous Flying Graysons, Bruce felt an instant connection with their orphaned son, nine-year-old Richard. He took the boy in as his ward and heir to the Wayne fortune. Not wanting his son to lose his sweet and spirited nature to his grief the way Bruce himself did, the billionaire trained Richard in crime fighting while offering him every opportunity for a normal childhood. When he became a teenager, Richard finally got the greenlight from his adoptive father to become his sidekick, Robin. The vigilante pair became known as Gotham’s Dynamic Duo.

Bruce acquired another protégé in the form of young Jason Todd, motherless with a criminal father who abandoned him. Not wanting Jason to turn out anything like his natural father, Bruce adopted and trained him. Now a full-blown hero in his own right as Nightwing, Richard happily relinquished the role of Robin to his new brother. During this time, little Tim Drake joined the Wayne household after surviving a car accident that instantly took his parents. Even with their individual tragedies in mind, the BatFamily did not know what darkness truly awaited them.

While out as Robin, Jason faced off against the Joker, who beat and killed him, leaving Batman to discover the boy’s body. Cementing his inability to save Jason as his greatest failure, everything about Bruce drastically altered even beyond what he experienced from his parents’ deaths. He fully embraced his rage-fueled creature-of-the-night persona, including expanding his weaponry to include firearms. He bred untold fear throughout Gotham’s underworld, implementing torture and disregarding the lives of violent offenders altogether. Those he did send to prison often went in wishing for the release of death.

Bruce’s anger brewed distrust and contempt for Superman, believing him to be an overpowered ticking time bomb. After they all discovered one another’s secret identities, the intervention of SuperWoman but fellow Earthling Lana Lang helped end the billionaire’s unfounded crusade against her fiancé. Lana related to Bruce as another orphan who lost her parents in the blink of an eye. Her revealing that her mother and father died in the meteor shower that brought Clark to Earth gave Bruce serious pause, especially Lana’s declaration that she would not trade her life with Clark and all the good he’s done for anything.

The mutual ally they found in Wonder Woman also made Bruce realize how harshly he had judged Clark and metahumans as a whole. Though he believed himself too far gone to comprehend emotions beyond pain and rage, Bruce developed feelings for the beautiful, charismatic, formidable Diana. Gaining a true friend in Clark, Bruce made the decision to fund Justice League Fellowship. Despite the strain in their relationship, Richard joined the team, hoping Diana and Clark could help his adoptive father regain some semblance of the man who raised him. Bruce gets along well with John Stewart, another seasoned soldier in the never-ending battle. John is the most supportive of some of Batman’s harsh methods, believing them necessary at times.

Between the currently 9-year-old Tim, Wayne Enterprises, and being Gotham’s sole caped crusader, Bruce is not as hands on with the JLF as Clark and Diana are. Despite Tim’s desire to become the next Robin someday, Bruce refuses. The unyielding agony of burying one child compels him to keep an eye on the teens of Young Justice Fellowship. He only agreed to their involvement to keep the super-powered youngsters structured and safe. Bruce’s protectiveness can come off as condescending towards Diana’s 13-year-old niece, Cassie/Wonder Girl due to her being only slightly younger than Jason when he was killed. Bruce looks out for Barry Allen/Flash while trying to use his influence to overturn his father’s murder conviction. With a stern but devoted father of his own at home, Virgil Hawkins/Static has the most patience for the billionaire and shares a comfortably amical dynamic with him.

Bruce’s dark past and the experiences that molded him can be detrimental when he becomes too dismissive of his team members and their issues. He also has a tendency to go solo all too often and acts without properly communicating with the others. Alfred continues trying to keep his surrogate son’s feet on the ground and frequently encourages Bruce to romantically pursue Diana. Clark, Lana, and Diana do well to remind the brusque Dark Knight that, on or off the field, he isn’t in the fight alone anymore.

[whothefuckiscassandracain]

Counter Summary 1: Cass Appearances 1-100!

Welcome to my first counter summary! We have now examined exactly 100 issues of Cass Cain material, so let’s see what we have learned about her so far and what that will mean for her Arkhamverse introduction, shall we?

For starters, here are the counters sorted from highest to lowest:

Living Emoji: 59

Aphasia: 58

Fast As Lightning: 37

Little Lady Of War: 29

Batmom: 25

Batdad: 21

Fiercely Assertive Protector: 17

Creepy Bat: 16

Better Off Dead: 13

Symbolism!: 10

Ghost Of Failures Past: 10

Plight Of Permanent Perfectionism: 10

Unusual mannerisms: 9

Made Of Steel: 7

Dubious Characterization: 6

Cass Sass: 6

Ballet Battler: 1

Spells ‘Team’ With An ‘I’: 1

I have to say, I am really glad that Cass was the winner of the “next Batkid” vote, because not only is she an interesting character, but also she is mostly consistent in her characterization. Six cases of dubious characterization in 100 issues is really not so bad (especially considering that two of those issues were written by Devin Grayson). Kudos to Cass’ writers for being mostly consistent.

Unsurprisingly, the most common and consistent thing about Cassandra is her aphasia and her tendency to overcompensate for that by using her entire body language to “vocalize” her thoughts and feelings. It makes sense, since she was raised without vocal language, and even though she had her brain re-wired early on to actually understand words, I am grateful that it was not treated as a magical instant fix. It certainly made for an interesting character to read in comic form and it will make for one hell of a challenge trying to write her in prose! The No Man’s Land novel took the easy way out in that regard, but it will be a fun challenge to write someone who has no idea what any words anybody says mean. What is surprising is that her tendency to use unusual gestures to express herself pretty much dropped off after No Man’s Land, so perhaps that was just early writing weirdness.

Secondly, Cassandra has been consistently characterized as extremely fast (she can dodge bullets) and a master of combat. I do feel sorry that her “depowering” arc didn’t last longer, but at least they were smart about demonstrating that the ability to read body language mostly affects her defensive maneuvers. She does not need to read someone in order to be perfect in every martial arts form on the planet. Likewise, I loved that Cass was shown as having trouble against robotic or metahuman opponents, even though she has also managed to take hits that should really have killed her, or at the very least incapacitate her for weeks. Mostly, though, I will enjoy writing her kicking the butts of everyone in the batfam at some point, even if only in training.

Among some other character traits that have been consistent throughout her appearances so far, if less frequent than the big four, we can count Cass’ tendency to prioritize offense over defense, especially when protecting someone, coupled with an insane drive to be absolutely perfect. Both make sense, given that she was trained to be a master assassin, and means she’ll fit right in with all the hotheaded batboys of the Arkhamverse. Also, her tendency to snark at her opponents, once she has actually developed the verbal skills to do so. Definitely going to fit in well with the rest of the Arkham Batfam. :)

As for things that have changed in her characterization over time, it is great to see that Cass eventually lost her death wish, even though she still has a tendency to blame herself a lot for every single failure to save someone. I’m looking forward to seeing if this tendency will eventually wither away. Likewise, we’ll see if there’ll be more instances of her insistence to do the job herself causing trouble, or the undoubtedly cute, but so far singular, occurrence of Cass expressing herself in dance.

That leaves us with Cass’ relationships inside and outside of the Batfam, as demonstrated so far.

Throughout her appearances up until this point, there has been an interesting comparison mechanic between Cass’ real parents (spoilers about the identity of her mother ahead, if you don’t know Cass’ later storylines) and her new, “adopted” parents.

On one hand, we have Cass’ fathers: David Cain and Batman. Both have a tendency of looking at her more as a living weapon than a human being, at times. Cain raised her to be an assassin and has not seemed to realize how much he actually cared about her until he “lost” her. His response to those newly found feelings has been consistently self-destructive and it is clear in his interactions with Cassandra that she still loves him, but is unable to actually be close to him due to their irreconcilable ideological differences. Whoever had the idea of using a single crimson rose to underscore that visually was a genius, because a single crimson rose stands both for deep, unconditional love, and deep sorrow and grief. Bruce is surprisingly similar to Cain in so far as he too has trouble actually showing Cass how much he cares about her, but is fiercely protective of her. Cass, for her part, admires Batman and is grateful to him, but does not seem to look at him as new father figure yet. That’s what you get for taking on a kid who’s not an orphan yet, Bruce. This time you gotta earn your parenting cred.

On the other hand, we have Cass’ mothers: Lady Shiva and Barbara, and whereas Cass’ fathers are quite similar in how they treat her, her mothers could not be more different. Cass does not know that Shiva is her mom, and I’m not even sure if Shiva knows that Cass is her daughter. I believe she suspects it, given her dialogue during their first encounter, but I’m not sure. Either way, Shiva has not been a part of Cass’ life for seventeen years and while she has been courteous and even helpful towards Cass, she has not demonstrated any interest in getting to know “Cass the girl”, only “Cass the martial artist”. I do hope the pearls symbolism is going to come up later, because it does fit their dynamic rather well. Meanwhile, Barbara has no such troubles. She knew Cass before she became Batgirl and learned to care about the girl, not the fighter, and Cass appreciates it, even going so far as to almost tell Barb that she was like a mother to her. That is not to say that Barbara is perfect. She projects A LOT, constantly assuming that her motivations for and attitudes towards the Batgirl title are Cass’ as well and that she knows what’s best for Cass. She makes some good points, but it is a good thing that Bruce is there as a counterpart, because otherwise I’m afraid she might just smother Cass.

Last but not least, we have Cass’ relationships outside her parental figures and it is here where things get really interesting. A common theme in Cass’ interactions is that people are thoroughly creeped out by her, but eventually come to appreciate her for the kind, loyal, and fiercely protective person she really is. Tim takes the direct route and flat-out apologizes to her for his initial attitude, then offers her to be friends. Steph... never really gets over Cass’ creepiness, but is smart enough to connect with her in ways that are mutually beneficial for both of them (Steph gets some training, Cass gets some fun and socialization). And Nightwing... well, Dick broke my heart with just how quickly he accepted her and genuinely cared for Cass, despite having all of maybe two or three interactions with her. It seems like a repeating pattern for his comics character (caring deeply about his family, but not really having that much time to spend with them) and I look forward to writing a more involved version of him in Cass’ Arkhamverse stories.

Outside of the batfam, we have seen three notable interactions so far: Azrael, who had a crush on Cass that did not end happily, Superboy, who also seemed to have had a crush on Cass that was sort of left unresolved, and Leslie Thompkins, whom Cass greatly admired for her inner strength and her unbelievable compassion. I have to admit I won’t be sad if I never see Superboy or Azrael interact with her again, since I couldn’t bring myself to care about either of those two, but I do hope we get to see Leslie and Cass interact again in the future. If there is any way I can include her in Cass’ introduction into Arkhamverse (I don’t want it to be a mere re-hash of No Man’s Land), I will do so.

Last but not least, I’m kind of sad that we haven’t really seen her interact with Alfred all that much yet. I’m gonna have to fix that.