#Danny gets his powers in front of Damian and Tim

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #58

Gotham is a city with a lot of ambient ectoplasm, enough that the Fentons move here instead of Amity Park. Danny being a pretty smart kid being the son of 2 scientists gets a scholarship to Gotham academy where he makes friends with Tim and Damian. Well the 2 were only doing it at first because they wanted to keep an eye on them scientists rarely didn’t become rouges in Batman’s gallery so can you really blame them for being cautious?

Danny is telling them about the portal that they were trying to build and how it wasn’t working and how Danny felt guilty about it. The 3 venture down there when the parents are gone and Danny wearing his hazmat goes into the portal while the other 2 watch on. Danny trips and no one’s having a good time.

They decided to take Danny to Wayne manor until they can figure out what exactly happened to him, unfortunately Danny’s new powers act up and he winds up phasing through the floor into the basement… or more accurately the Bat cave.

[nerdpoe]

The Waynes, distant cousins of the Fentons, are watching Jazz and Danny for the summer so that their parents can do particularly dangerous experiments.

And the kids keep saying the most concerning shit.

Jason accidentally leaves a gun out and within reach?

"I mean, it's not like you've tried to shoot me yet. It's fine." From Danny and "That model has issues, why would you use that? Is this because of a deep-seeded belief that you don't deserve nice things? Do I need to take you to a gun shop?" From Jazz.

Dick turns too quick and almost stabs Danny?

"Mom's got better aim and sharper knives. Get good, scrub."

Damian's hidden weapons cache gets revealed when Jazz almost sticks an arm into it?

"The main issue is that you put it in a high traffic area, so I can only assume you were focusing too hard on making it an area you wouldn't go to. Let's sharpen these and scope out some better options."

Tim accidentally flips Danny when the visiting teen somehow manages to sneak up on him?

"Don't worry about it-I've taken heavier hits than that and walked away just fine."

Duke accidentally uses his powers in front of Jazz and temporarily blinds her?

"It's okay, Duke, I'm not mad at all. I can already see spots, so this isn't nearly as bad as those experimental Flashbangs."

Needless to say, none of them have any desire to return these kids and are scrambling for evidence of abuse to win custody.

[radiance1]

So, Ghost Prince Danny. Except that he also, ALSO, is Damian's younger twin brother who was sent to keep an eye on the Fentons because of their discovery of a substance that looked like Lazarus Water yet isn't Lazarus water.

In truth, it was really just Talia's way of getting Danny out of the way because he lost against Damian in the battle of heirs (No Danny did not hold back, Damian was just better than him) and she didn't want him dead so that was the next best thing.

Danny does pop up in the League at odd times, mostly to report about the research done by the Fentons. When he became half dead he's around a lot more, mostly to be monitored for his unique condition (somehow someway they don't know about Vlad) and because Danny can just come and go as he pleases cause ghost powers.

So, Danny gives Damian a flute that he handcrafted himself as a birthday present because really, what can he buy that Damian himself couldn't? Also, because he didn't actually want to spend money on his older brother.

They're brothers, but they don't have the most cordial relationship. They don't hate each other, but they don't like each other either.

So, Damian takes this flute and is like: "Fuck you gimmie this for I don't need this shit."

And then Danny is like: "Just take the gift you stupid ahh fruitloop."

So, Damian takes it while berating that Danny would give him something as stupid as this, but then does a full one 180 by keeping the thing on his person at all times.

Not that Danny knows that, really.

So, cut forth to Damian being known by Batman and taken in. Trying to kill Tim and being an overall little shit, I can see one of the Batfam coming across this flute just, randomly really, and then Damian is fucking pissed that they dared to touch it and then takes it back.

Leaving basically everyone stumped over the significance this random ahh wooden flute has but decides not to touch that landmine.

So then the Batfam don't know that Damian has a half sibling (Danny came from Jack and Talia, so he isn't blood related to Bruce but is to Damian) running around out there and Damian isn't gonna say anything and you already know Talia isn't since Danny AIN'T his kid.

Plus, he got a job to do that being with Bruce Wayne would make harder.

So then Damian becomes robin an allat, then the entire Batfam pull up to the Justice League for some big threat and then both Constantine and Zatanna are like: Yo why do you kid carry round an item drenched heavily in death energy to the extreme

Batman is obviously like: Excuse me?

Damian, meanwhile, just does not give a fuck about the flute given to him by his half-brother on his birthday is apparently drenched in death energy to the extreme because that is his and he isn't going to just give it up.

So then one way or another Damian ends up playing it, maybe he was told to play it by both Batman and Constantine just to make sure it isn't actually anything dangerous or whatever and also because Damian wouldn't let anyone else hold it, let alone play it.

Which Damian smirks at because he's played it before and literally nothing happened aside from very good music, but Damian hasn't played it since he came to the Wayne household and has missed it. So he reminisces over how he got it, thinking of his half-brother and their relationship.

He plays it, but this time, since he genuinely thought about Danny death energy just condenses in waves. Damian couldn't see it since he was too focused on playing and reminiscing, everyone isn't really that calm and tries to get him to stop but the death energy blocks them.

Then a summoning circle appears in front of Damian and Constantine recognizes it as being from the Infinite Realms category and it seemed to be a high-level summon circle too so he's like: Well fuck.

Then, contrary to their expectations of some eldritch abomination, it's just Danny. Who, fun fact, was in the middle of his coronation as prince and such, dripped out in royal wear.

Safe to say, Constatine goes: Well double fuck.

The tension is just broken, as all Danny does is cry. Like, genuinely, he just cries because Damian still kept his flute that he made, he genuinely thought the guy just threw it away since he hated it so much.

Danny: Ancients, my big brother actually liked what I made this is making me emotional.

Damian: Why the hell are you crying this thing is still trash btw.

Danny: Yea whatever you say big bro, you love it.

Batman: What do you mean big brother?

Danny: Who in the hell is that-

Damian: Right, I never told him about you.

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Ras creates an evil clone of Tim Drake for whatever reason and after he trains it it runs off and none of his assasins can find him.

Ras isn't too concerned because he specifically made this clone in a way that it would start to fall apart after three years and he fully expected the clone to come crawling back when that happened.

Except, the clone never came back. If fact no one heard anything from or about him since he ran into this forest three years ago and never left. His men searched that forest countless times and deployed his greatest trackers. They all said the same thing, his trail stops dead in a small grotto. There was no where he could have gone.

Its like he just vanished.

The evil clone turned out to have stumbled apon a natural portal and decided he was screwed if he stayed so why not take a chance. He could probably fight his way out of hell. Probably. The angry swarm of Assasins after him was probably going to be its own form of hell anyway, so why not. He jumped through.

The other side of the portal was not hell, thankfully. It was a small city in Illinois...for some reason. He began to patrol the city in his altered Red Robin Costume, looking for the basic necessities when he stumbles across Phantom who was in the middle of finally being captured by the Fenton parents.

Danny could do nothing as his parents were quickly killed in front of him. When he was freed from his restraints he didn't attack the other teen, he didn't get angry or yell. He cried and thanked him then cried harder.

The clone really didn't know what to do in this situation and just awkwardly comforted the ghost. Danny dragged this guy home when he found out he didn't have a place to stay. Clone Tim was planning on using the hero for a while before bouncing but all this plans changed when he saw what Phantom could do. That kind of power would be owned and controlled by someone eventually, whether it be the League of Assasins or the Justice League it was all the same. So why not him?

Danny was easy to manipulate, his sister not so much. Once he started pointing out that he was protecting Danny from people who would hurt him she became swayed.

He disliked Sam. She reminded him too much of Jason and Damian, or more accurately, a fusion of the two. The horror.

He genuinely liked Tucker, he was carefree and true to himself. Plus who was he to turn down an assistant for creating tech. He had discovered he was no longer in his own universe and the JL and LOA didn't exist here.

Tim Drake didn't exist here.

He was free.

The clone almost cried. He was Tim here. The real Tim. The only Tim. No one to prove he's better than. No one to the "the evil clone" of. Just Tim.

He was going to make the universe regret that. Starting by dating the ridiculously cute and over-powered boy that he most definitely is not in love with. No siree its just him using someone. His heart definitely isn't pounding in his chest right now as he asks him out. Nope. He definitely isn't super giddy when he says yes and kisses him. Haha that only something someone in love would do.

.

.

.

Crap.

-meanwhile in Batmans universe-

Ras casually explains he created an evil clone of Tim and its out there somewhere and its failsafe has somehow been destroyed. (Thank you Danny)

Tim freaks out and the batfam investigate. They do eventually open a portal into Amity Park where Evil Tim immediately tells them to frick off. So much chaos ensues

[samgirl98]

Forgotten Demon Twin 7/?

Prev | Next

“So, does that mean you can get us that sweet, sweet new Wayne tech,” Tucker asked.

Sam hit him in the back of his head.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Thanks, Sam.”

“No problem,” she said.

“Betrayal from my only two friends!”

The three teens were in Sam’s basement/entertainment room. Danny had just finished giving them an unabridged version of his family’s history. Barring a few things. Like the fact that Bruce Wayne was Batman and his kids were the other Gotham heroes.

“So, what now,” Sam asked. She still couldn’t believe it. Danny was raised by assassins! She wanted to be disgusted; she couldn’t condone any life-taking, but she was also aware enough that it wasn’t Danny’s fault.

Besides, he has stopped, and he was a hero now.

“Now, I tell my parents the whole truth about Phantom.”

Sam and Tucker stared at each other.

“Are you sure, dude,” Tucker asked.

“Yeah, what if they don’t accept it and attack you?”

Danny shrugged, “They took it just fine when they found out during the whole reality gauntlet fiasco.”

“Yeah, but that was then; this is now. Danny, you just told them a cult raised you. There’s only so much you can dump on people before they break. Especially parents. Why can’t you accept me for who I am, mom?”

Sam was breathing hard at the end of her little rant.

“Okay,” Danny drawled, “Your parents aren’t my parents, Sam. I would have to tell them eventually. I might as well get it over with.”

“Are you going to tell them about the Ghost King thing, too,” Tucker asked.

“I’m not the Ghost King yet,” Danny said. Tucker rolled his eyes, “Fine, crowned prince.”

“Yeah, I am,” Danny said. For it to work, he had to be fully honest with his parents about Phantom and everything it entailed.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other.

“If you’re sure,” Sam said, “Just know we will always be here for you.”

“Yeah, dude, the three of us are a team.”

“Thanks guys.”

The three friends sat in silence for a while.

“So, are you really not going to ask for that sweet new Wayne tech?”

“Seriously, Tucker?”

“Boo,” a pillow hit Tucker in the face.

“Hey! A guy should be allowed to ask.”

____

Vlad Masters sat in his office listening in to the three friends.

He was glad he had the foresight to bug more than the Fenton’s home. (Daniel always found the bugs, anyway.) What he had just learned had him reeling. Daniel wasn’t Maddie and Jack’s biological son. Not only that but that buffoon Bruce Wayne was Daniel’s father.

What’s more, Daniel had been raised by assassins.

This changed things. He got up and looked out the window.

Daniel was a valuable asset just for being a half-ghost like him. But now, he was not only the crowned prince of the Infinite Realms, but he was also the biological son of Bruce Wayne. If he could get Daniel on his side, Vlad would have more power than he could have thought possible. Daniel would be his son, and Maddie would be his.

It was time to scheme.

____

Damian got out of the car and left as soon as they got to the hotel room. Bruce was glad he had called Dick to meet them in front. His eldest followed Damian, even if it was from a distance.

Bruce sighed. He had no idea what to do. How do you deal with a long-lost child forgotten by his mother and brother? A child who had been abandoned by the only family he had ever known? A child who Bruce had no knowledge of?

“God, I wish you were here, Alfred.”

As he exited the car, he could’ve sworn he heard the older man speak, “I’m still here, Master Bruce. Always.”

He turned and saw an empty car.

The city must be getting to him.

____

Tim had not slept since he got to Amity Park. Now that the firewalls were gone, he had done research.

What he found disturbed him.

“Duke, come here for a moment,” the newest member of the family walked up.

“Tim, you should really sleep.”

Tim took a gulp of his energy drink, “Read this.”

Noticing her brothers’ tense posture, Cass came up to read whatever had caught their attention.

“That can’t be right,” she said, “that violates the Protection Meta Act.”

“Well, it’s there and it exists.”

The Anti-Ecto Act laws were laws that carried out government-approved genocide. They allowed ecto-entities to be hunted down, studied, and exterminated without prejudice. Not only that, but the way the laws were written allowed for any ectocontaminated human to be classified as an ectoentity and stripped of all rights.

How had the Justice League missed this?

“Bruce is going to be pissed,” Duke said.

“Our new baby brother is in danger,” Cass stated.

Tim kept the tab on the Anti-Ecto Act open and took notes to present to Bruce. He was also able to find fights between Phantom and other ghosts. The kid mostly fought in the air.

Tim took more notes of every power Phantom showed. The list was extensive. He whistled when the kid gave a well-placed kick to a vampire-looking ghost. Tim could easily see the League training. It was easy to notice when you knew what to look for.

He found blogs of teenagers praising the teenager and articles claiming that he was as big a menace as the ghosts he fought. Over the years, though, it seemed that the perspective had shifted on Phantom.

He cataloged the shift after Amity Park had been sucked into an alternate dimension and Phantom had helped save the city.

There were more articles.

Phantom Saves the City from an Eternal Sleep.

Phantom Stop Giant Plant Ghost from Eating Amity Parkers.

The more he read, the more Tim learned. The more he worried for his new brother. He was different from Damian. There were no articles of decapitated people or people stabbed by a sword. Danny didn’t seem to be as violent as Damian had been.

It made sense. Talia and the League didn’t truly raise him. He had had a chance of a semi-normal life.

Tim also looked into the other hero, the Red Huntress.

She seemed more like a ghost hunter than a hero to Time. She shot any and all ghosts. There was an interview of her saying that all ghosts deserved to be exterminated. Yikes.

There was a knock on the door. It was the secret knock Bruce had taught them. Cass opened the door.

“Hey, Bruce,” Tim looked up and saw the weariness on Bruce’s shoulders. The guy must really be going through it. It made Tim feel a bit bad for what he was about to show Bruce, but the man deserved, no, he needed to know what was going on in Amity Park.

“Tim. Found anything?”

“Oh, I found plenty. You might as well get comfortable. This is going to be long.”

So, I'm better from Covid, which means I'll start working again. I won't update as often as I did the past few days but I'll try to update at least once a week.

I hope you liked this chapter.

[mewnekoice-mecha]

DP x DC

Part 2 of Idol!Danny

Quick summary: Danny is performing in Gotham, the bat boys & girls go see it. Que Simps Damian and Tim

Here’s Danny’s outfit as always

*knock**knock*

“Phantom ,your on in 5 ok”,said the manger for this event, “Please head to the stage, we’re ready”.

“Ok, I’m on my way,” came a light male voice with a soft undertone that didn’t seem human. The male in question was none other then teen idol and meta sensation PHANTOM or in his dimension Danny Fenton, a teen with glowing white hair that constantly shifts like it’s underwater, eyes that glow a bright neon green, small fangs that fill a faerie like face, his entire appearance screams supernatural. That’s not the only reason he’s so popular, but we’ll see why later.

At the moment he was about to do one of his biggest concerts to date in the city of crime itself Gotham City, Home of the Bat and His Birds. Doing one last check to make sure his outfit and makeup was perfect, Phantom left his room and headed to the main area in the arena that he will be singing in, in just a few minutes.

Taking a breath Danny shook himself and grabbed the headset that was handed to him, as the workers fitted around him doing last minute checks before he goes on. Eyes flashing brighter then ever, a smirk came across his face as he felt Lady Gotham’s Knights had decided to join his little concert, now he HAS to make this a performance worth remembering.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, YOU KNOW HIM YOU LOVE HIM, PLEASE WELCOME PHANTOM!!!!”

Time to knock ‘‘em dead Fenton

*Jason’s POV *

‘I can’t believe Cass and Steph, dragged us to a concert for some lame meta twink singer, I could be sleeping or shooting at assholes right now buutt nooo I gotta be here with demon brat, replacement and dickie as well’ I thought as we grabbed our seats. Steph and surprisingly Cass have been raving nonstop about some meta singer that popped up a year ago. Apparently he’s been taking the music scene by storm and he’s already won awards for his music despite his young age, I can’t help but Amit I’m a little curious about him as it’s almost unheard of for a meta to be so open about they’re powers like he is. As soon as I thought that, the announcement to welcome the kid who’s stage name is apparently Phantom came on, guess I’ll see what’s the fuss about ,when QUIETNESS and Darkness greeted me.

*Danny’s POV*

After my announcement came, i floated invisible and intangible to the center stage, then I grabbed on my core and PULLED all the light to me so there was only Darkness, that’s when the music started and I began to SING

🎶Better-Arc North, Rival🎶

I slowly became visible as I sung a bright spot in total darkness

“Like we’re underwater

Can’t hear nothing

You’ve been casting a spell

I’m all yours now

Yeah, you’ve been

Fillin the space upon my mind”

I floated slowly around the stage like I was looking or daydreaming about someone, a dazed/happy expression on my face

“And tell me everything

Both the good and bad

Cause whatever you tell me

I will still like everything that I see

Cause nothing feels better then us

I’m so high can’t get down

No nothing feels better than when I’m with you”

Moving closer to the edge of the stage I could see and hear the dazed, blushing faces of my fans screams and cries of I love you and Phantom filled the air, it was almost time to dazzle my little specters

“My future is buried in your eyes

I got so much to say and I won’t lie

Nothing feels better than you”

As soon as the bass started to drop Releasing my hold on my core, the entire arena became a NEBULA with me as its center, bright blues and purples filled the arena as shooting stars shot behind me

“Nothing feels better than this

No nothing feels better than this”

Looking at the faces of my fans I could spot some shocked faces in the front row, and low and behold it was Lady Gotham’s birds. Creeping closer I leaned close to one of them a male with shocking blue-gray eyes and smelling a bit like coffee I sang my next part

“Let me be your safe place

If the sky would open

I’m making sure that you stay dry

In the greatest of storms

I’ll be your light”

Leaving him slacked jawed with a pretty blush I moved on to the next bird closest to me which happened to be the one with pretty green eyes and gorgeous Arabic tan I’ve ever seen, he was scowling but had a light blush that was unnoticeable to untrained eyes, taking a clawed finger I lightly brushed against his face not quite touching but still noticeable

“And they can’t tell me nothing

That will make a difference

Since I got everything I need in you

I’m invincible I believe”

He was staring wide eyed at me like he couldn’t even believe I was talking er singing to him, moving back to the stage I started using my ecto-ice to make a light mist that cause the nebula around me to sparkle as I air danced

“Cause nothing feels better

Than us

I’m so high I can’t get down

No nothing feels better

Than when I’m with you

My future is buried in your eyes

I got so much to say and I won’t lie”

Bringing my hands in front of me I slammed them together creating a would be universe around me with a shadowy figure reaching a hand out toward me for me to take, reaching for the hand I grasped it and pulled it towards me as the shadows peeled away from the figure showing a gothic loli teen with a bat choker on and golden eyes

“Nothing feels better than you

Nothing feels better than this

Nothing feels better than this

My future is buried in your eyes

I got so much to say and I wont lie

Nothing feels better than you”

Ending the song on that note I hugged Gotham as a thanks for letting me use her as a stand in.

But as for her knight’s I had no way of knowing just how true my song would become for me and them

@skulld3mort-1fan @kawaiikenna @xye-chan

as always this is an open prompt so if u like the prompt you can borrow it or make a story out of it all I ask is just a mention of where it came from

[bluerosefox]

[2023 Prompt List 1][Previous] [2023 Prompt List 2][Previous] [2023 Prompt List 3][Here] |Ghost Marriage Allows More Than One! (A TimxBernardxDanny Vegas Marriage idea) (Tim wakes up to a chest that doesn’t belong to his boyfriend... and finds out he’s married to that stranger... and so is Bernard it seems... GHOST MARRIAGE IS A THING APPARENTLY!) |Of Tiny Tots, Mistaken Identities, and Reunions (Deaged Danielle (Ellie) and Dad!Danny and Twins Danny and Damian AU) |Test Tube Babies, Spleens, and Fruitloop Father?! NOPE. No thanks. (Reborn little Danny and Danielle (Danyal and Helen). RR and Ra’s are the donors. and returning a certain spleen) |Courting Chaos (to Balance) ( KlarionxDanny)( Klarion falls head over heels and decides to kidnap the only person he knows whose dating and how to woo people in the modern age for dating advice... Only he does it in front of the JL. Poor RR.) |Curiosity and Puzzle Boxes (Tiny Tim is curious when he’s left home alone and his parents send a rather interesting puzzle box from their dig. Danny wants to know whose suppose to be watching this kid when he’s summoned.) |Tim in Infinite Realms (Feeling like Alice tbh) (Tim lands in the Infinite Realms due to coughBartandKoncough a mission. He now has to find his way home) (read the reblogs for feral gremlin menace Tim, its great) |Summoning the Summoner (Long lost/or twins Danny and Damian)(Ghost King Danny is annoyed with being summoned, and when given the chance reverse it he takes the chance. He wasn’t expecting for the ‘summoner’ to have his face. Damian, as he was to be sacrificed by a cult, wasn’t expecting the all powerful ‘Ghost King’ to share his face either) |A Sibling Sacrifice (A Justice League meeting is interrupted and what is implied doesn’t sound good) [Ghost Prince Danny, Deaged Danielle] |The Drakes [Dead Tired] (Ra’s kidnaps the Bats, and their missing Red Robin’s hidden family for the last few years) [Ft. Toddler Ellie] |A Fair Warning (Joker was warned... He should had taken it seriously and let the Fenton girls go when he had a chance) |Rioting Jasmine Flowers and Dead Robins [Anger Management] [Warning mentions character deaths and other things][ Dark!Jazz and Crime Lord!Jason] |Danny “I know a Guy"™ (Danny works with the JL.... as an engineer that is, but he does become the ‘I know a Guy’ person everyone goes to when they need something impossible) |Mysterious Relations AU (Danielle sneaks into Wayne Manor after getting some odd looks from Gothamites and commenting on how she looks like Martha Wayne. She precedes to troll text Danny the Wayne painting not noticing the elder gentlemen behind her

[lapetitechatonne]

Slept on Ships P1: Space Princess

Slept on Ships: Space Princess; Silent Jasmines hello!! so after taking a look at the very long Batpham shipping chart and seeing so many slept on ship dynamics, i decided to start a series all about highlighting romantic and platonic dynamics that---in my professional opinion---deserve more love. i'll be starting with the first dp/dc ship i created: Space Princess.

Space Princess: Dani Phantom/Mar'i Grayson

Relevant Background

so, in general, if you're not knee deep in the DC Fandom, you might now know who Mar'i Grayson, aka Nightstar, is. Mar'i Grayson is the daughter of Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, and Koriand'r, aka Starfire, from Earth-22. she appears in the Kingdom Come series, where she has her own issue and everything! she's shown as protective of her family, like her father, and just as strong-willed as her mother.

if you'd like more info on Mar'i here's a like to the wiki article: Mar'i Grayson (Earth-22)

fun fact: in Kingdom Come, Dick and Kori are actually divorced, while in most fanfic, people portray them as together. Mar'i is also part of the Teen Titans on her earth, along with Lian Harper and Irey West.

in this post i'll be reference a few head canons such as; Dani being considered a Princess in a Ghost King Danny au and Dani possibly having an ice core (we don't know what core she has in canon.)

Why is the dynamic interesting?

they are prime Sun and Moon couple energy

Mar'i who lives her life in the sun as a public figure, her powers fuled by the sun and just as bright as her, while Dani hides in the shadows of society, lurking. giving Dani and ice core adds an extra layer of opposites.

they are equal parts soft sapphic girls, and battle hardened heroes. they're both incredibly capable political figures (in a Ghost King Danny Au) who always have to put up a front, they have to be the perfect leaders their kingdoms need them to be. they would understand each other in ways that other people couldn't

i also imagine them bonding over being the child of very famous/rich parents.

they also have colorful girlfriend and grunge girlfriend vibes.

Dani deserves to run Tameran like a fortune five hundred company while Mar'i is off being a superhero. the dynamic works strangely well for them.

Dick and Kori would love Dani, and if Mar'i doesn't marry her they're adopting her

Mar'i can be scary when she wants to, just like her mom. Dani thinks it's very hot.

Mar'i inherits her mother's height, which makes her both taller and stronger than Dani, and Dani would love it.

i like to imagine Dani having purple eyes or powers later down the road (since Vlad's are pink and Danny's are green/blue) which would make them almost opposites. it could be a fun story device to use.

A lot of people compare Mar'i to her mother, but realistically, i think she would be a lot like her dad's family, specifically Tim. it would be fun to explore the dynamics between Mar'i and Tim as niece and uncle, and they dynamic between Mar'i and Damian as sort of siblings (yes, i am a 'Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne's dad' fan). it could be prime real estate for a little bit of Danny/Damian or Dan/Tim or Jazz/Cass on the side.

Mar'i inherited her mom/dad's anger, and he Uncle Tim's ability to compartmentalize her feelings until she breaks. enough said.

through Mar'i, and by extension the batfam, Dani learns what real love looks like. she finally understands how abusive Vlad was to her. this could be in the context of a Vlad trying to redem himself, or a Vlad trying to manipulate Dani back into his life, but now she knows better.

with how much Mar'i hung around Raven as a kid, it would be interesting if Mar'i knew that Dani was not normal before everyone else. maybe Mar'i even knows a little bit of magic.

Some Prompt Ideas

a photographer and model au

Dani joins the Teen Titans and meets Nightstar

Vlad and Bruce are business rivals, but neither Dani or Mar'i particularly care and get together anyways.

Mar'i sees a clip of Dani in her ghost form with her green powers and thinks she's Tameranian. Mar'i channels her inner Uncle Tim and goes all detective to find Dani.

Dani is a mechanic and Mar'i is a student who refuses to get her very old car replaced.

Mar'i gets lost in the Zone after the destruction of her universe. She had no idea what to do or where to go. Dani finds her, and together they traverse worlds they were never meant to see.

Fic Recs

(i will admit the second one is self-promotion but i'm working with a small pool of fics lol)

Our Love Will Last Us by foldingfacets (READ THE TAGS)

Dani fell in love with the hot girl who watched her smash her skateboard into a dude without care. Little did she know the girl saw her first and fell in love faster. Maybe, just maybe, Dani doesn't have to be alone anymore. Maybe Mar'i would stay.

Can I have this Dance? by petitechatonne

When Dani goes to a gala with Sam, originally intent on keeping her friend company, she meets someone who sweeps her off her feet. Literally.

Playlists

Pintrest Boards

this paring has the ability to be cute and horrifyingly angsty at the same time, with a good helping of family chaos on the side!!! i will admit i'm quite bias about this one as the first ship i really made, but i also think they have the potential to have interesting and complex stories. there aren't enough sapphic pairings in the dp/dc fandom and yes, i am trying to single-handedly change that. join the revolution today!!!

-- find the wonder in creating. love, Kate💗

[hailkingphantom]

Dp x dc

Twins au

After a clasic summoning in gotham danny met with his brother, his twin.

He miss him

They start to talk again, about everything

He can't keep secrets from him, he barely can keep his secrets from his sister before. ¿How he could keep it from his other half?

They reconnected, damian help him with the weight of be a prince a king , and Bruce teach him better ways to fight and hadle people crazy for power

He still mad at him for how he treat damian at first, when damian told him, damian cried, he never cried

After a lot of things, they are getting better.

He even see The batcave, it was huge!

Then, when he saw the batmovil he knew. He need a ride

He tried a lot of plans, but nothing look to work, until bruce see Orion

He know what they will do today

---------------------------------------------------

Damian never thought this would happend.

Damian thought that wolud never happend a lot of thing.

Fight aliens, go to another realities, have more brothers, see his own brother again

But this is in the top of the list

"Dami! Look at this!"

It was Danny, in The batmovil !!!!

"How did you do it!"

"We make an exchange, I let ride Orion today and he let me use the bat movil for all the day" his twin said with a wide grin

You have a license

Nop

I drive

Ehhh~!! You dont a license too

I show my license to him "are you saying something?"

"Damn.." he says

-------------------------------------------------

Jason todd was having a normal day

Punch a couple of guys in the crimen alley, talk with dick and tim, annoy bruce

And see the Batmovil in the day light

Wait..

SEE THE BATMOVIL IN THE DAY LIGHT ?!!

"Dick, ¿are you seeing the same as me?"

" You too!!, I thought that I was hallucinating..."

the batmovil stop in front them and the window opened, showing-

"DAMIAN!?" Tim yell

"Drake, Todd, Richard" that litle shit greeting

"Do you steal the batmovil?!" dick scream

"No"

" He didn't steal nothing, I bribe Batman" say a new voice

Then they look and see the other teenager sit next to the brat. He have sunglasses and a shitty grin

Bruce adopt another kid?

"Who are you?" Ask tim

" I damian's twin! It's a pleasure! " He says

" Let's go Danny, we still habe so many places to go" damian says

" okay!, Bye~"

"Farewell"

Then Damian and his twin left

Wait...

"WHAT!!"

---------------------------------------------------

Duke was in patrol

He heard from Tim that Damian have a twin a that they convince Bruce to let they use the batmovil, THE BATMOVIL

He never let anyone use it

He need to know how

So he dragged jason, dick, cass and tim to search bruce

"RUN!! Its batmam and that FUCKING horse!!"

A horse? How was Bruce convinced to use the Batmobile in exchange for riding a horse?

"Really..." he hear tim muttered

Then they hear steps, fast and going straight for where the criminals are

It was Baman

He defeat the criminals easily and fly away in...

" IS THAT AN ALICORN?!!!"

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #89

Danny didn’t know what would happen when his parents portal turned on for the first time but this wasn’t it. He accidentally turned it on and the next thing he knew he was in front of this pool of green swirling liquid with this lady named Talia telling him she’d take care of him. The weird thing is he was now half dead with weird ghost powers and he somehow was turned back into a 5 year old. He met a kid the same age as him and the two quickly became inseparable, his name was Damian and even though he was to be the next head of what Danny assumed was a cult, he knew it was but he was in the body of a 5 year old and couldn’t exactly go home like this.

5 years pass and Danny gets sent along with Damian to Gotham to live with Damian’s birth father Bruce Wayne. Danny didn’t want to go at first but Bruce seemed to welcome him with open arms regardless of his background with the league. Everything is going well for the 2 until Danny meets Tim’s secretary, it’s Sam and she absolutely did not know how to handle her now smaller best friend. Tucker is doing an internship at Wayne Tech too.

[nerdpoe]

TWINcognito mode part 2 (Tim and Danny Pretend to be Twins AU)

Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, AO3

“And you’re absolutely certain that this is my universe?” Bruce asked again, causing Flash to let out a loud groan as he turned around to pace the BatCave.

“Yes, I’ve checked you over and over again. Did you trigger some sort of event when you went back in time? Yes. Is this your universe? Also yes! Look, whatever changed wasn’t that big of a deal-”

“-I consider my children rather important, Flash.”

Flash froze, a look of horror briefly crossing his face.

“No. No, is one of them no longer-?”

“I didn’t lose any children,” Bruce reassured Flash, “But I appear to have gained one. Red Robin has a…twin. That twin most certainly did not exist when I left.”

Flash frowned, tilting his head.

“Huh. Well, congratulations on the new kid.”

They stared blankly at each other.

“And you’re sure-?”

“Yes!”

~~~~~~

“Ah, so Ti-Da-son, I-uh. How…how’s that case going?”

Tim turned, half out of his Red Robin suit and tired.

“It’s…fine?”

“I see. That’s good. How is your…how are you?”

Tim narrowed his eyes, and even Damian joined in to stare at Bruce, both of their noses wrinkling in confusion.

“Bruce, are you-?”

“Father, are you having a stroke?”

Bruce turned around, all rough edges as he marched to the batcomputer.

“Nevermind. Carry on.”

~~~~~~

“What the fuck are you doing here, Replacement?”

Tim raised an eyebrow and lifted up the ground coffee he was holding.

“Shopping?”

Jason snarled, and some of the other shoppers moved away.

“You know better than to-”

“When did you tell me not to come here?”

Jason froze, shock temporarily wiping emotion from his face.

“When did I-? Ages ago! What, did you forget?”

Tim shook his head slowly.

“No Jason, you told Tim not to come here. When did you ever tell me?”

“What the absolute hell is that supposed to mean?”

Tim sighed, Disappointment etched into his face; the little shit was clearly being condescending on purpose. Jason felt like punching something. Probably the punk in front of him. What was this third person bullshit?

“How many years, and you still can’t tell? I swear, I’m just gonna stop responding when you mess up.”

“And I reiterate; what does that mean?” Jason cried, throwing up his arms. 

Tim ignored him and walked to the checkout.

“Don’t you walk away from me! Hey! Pretender! Get back here!”

~~~~~~

Bruce stared at Tim. Daniel. One of them. Only one of them ever showed up for Brunch, and currently Bruce wasn’t sure who’s turn it was. He was also certain that all of his children just automatically assumed it was Tim every time, like Daniel didn’t exist. 

He was starting to suspect that whatever he’d done, his family maintained knowledge of how the universe used to be and were almost wholly unaware of Daniel. He’d have to hold a family meeting and explain it to them, but he refused to let Daniel feel like he was worth any less than any of his siblings.

It didn’t help that apparently, Daniel and Tim refused to be seen together. From the files he’d pulled, it was probably a leftover habit from Jack and Janet Drake hiding the twin with the meta powers. Daniel had a listed incident of blasting a hole in the wall when he was six, and from there his parents had elected to avoid potential embarrassment by just…not including him.

And apparently, to Daniel and Tim at least, Bruce had done nothing to dissuade that. He had to change that, but he wasn’t sure how to address it without letting Daniel know that he just…hadn’t existed until Bruce came back.

The twin at the table stole Dick’s bacon and just ate it without a word. From what Bruce could tell from his few interactions with Daniel, the boy loved puns. 

So given the silence, he was fairly confident that this one was Tim.

“So, Tim,” he started, interrupting another argument between his children, “You do know that all of my children are welcome here, right?”

The table fell quiet as every single person there turned to stare at him like he was mad.

“...Is this because I broke Damian’s favorite paintbrush? Because I swear I wasn’t trying to establish dominance and kick him out of his own home. Unlike some people.”

“You did what?!”

Bruce leaned forward and buried his head in his hands, letting the noises of the table wash over him.

The family meeting could wait; he’d have to spell it out to Daniel himself.

~~~~~~

Dick knocked on the door to Tim’s penthouse. They hadn’t hung out in awhile, and he still felt bad about the whole…Robin thing.

It hadn’t been fun when it had been taken away from him, and he could have at least been a bit gentler in easing Tim into the loss.

Tim answered the door, bleary eyed and tousled hair a testament to the bed he had just walked away from.

“...Dick?” he asked, voice rough.

“Hey Baby Bird! Mind if I come in?” Dick held up his package; donuts from Tim’s favorite place and coffee from his other favorite place. “I thought maybe we could hang out!”

Tim stared at him, then shrugged and opened the door all the way.

“Sure, let me get him.”

Dick was left standing in the entryway, bewildered, as Tim disappeared down the hallway to his own room.

Dick was still bewildered when Tim walked back out of his room, still in his pajamas, but with a different shirt.

“Coffee?” his little brother asked, reaching out eagerly.

“Uh, sure?”

There was no further movement in the penthouse. Was Tim suffering a mental break?

Dick made a mental note to check in on Tim more often.

~~~~~~

Duke stared at Not-Tim.

Not-Tim stared back.

“Can I help you or…?”

Duke squinted at Not-Tim.

Not-Tim was a bright void, for all that the description negated itself. Lazarus green danced along the edges, but ultimately it was a bright, luminescent void.

“Are you…a meta?” Duke asked, trying to figure it out. Maybe this was a shapeshifter friend of Tim’s?

Not-Tim smiled, an out of place one that didn’t fit on Tim’s face.

“I am, yes.”

“...But?” Duke prompted, sensing that the sentence wasn’t finished.

Not-Tim leaned in close, a mischievous smirk replacing the smile.

“My twin isn’t,” Not-Tim whispered, handing Duke a drivers license for one Daniel Janus Drake-Wayne.

Oh. 

Oh!

“Wait, where have you-?” Duke whispered, leaning in closer.

“Ra’s was very interested in Tim 2.0, but I’m not the detective my brother is, so he was actually pretty disappointed. I got the information I needed and left; I really only just got back.”

That made so much more sense! That was why Ra’s was so obsessed!

“Have you told the family you’re back yet?” Duke asked, wondering if everyone was even aware that Daniel was alive.

“We never told them we were twins. It started as a joke, only ever being here one at a time. Now we’re just seeing how long it takes for everyone to realize without outright showing them. You’re the fourth; according to Barbara, that makes you have a passing grade of 80.”

“Can I help?” Duke hissed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening in.

Daniel (Danny? That seemed to fit better.) laughed.

~~~~~~

“Well?” Damian asked, glaring at the back of Drake’s head as the fool showed his back to the enemy.

The Imposter didn’t even turn around.

“Well?” Damian repeated, gritting his teeth.

“Well what, Damian?”

“You have yet to call me that degrading name. Have you reconsidered utilizing it? I must know now lest I be constantly waiting for that foul name to leave your-”

“What name, el-witwaat?”

Damian felt himself stiffen. The last time he had heard that name had been from his last nanny, and his mother had made sure that it was the last thing that ever left the woman’s mouth. It was…cute. To hear it and know it referred to him was a stain on his honor.

Damian was not cute. He was a formidable warrior.

He needed to be prepared if Drake was going to utilize psychological warfare and-

“It isn’t my nickname for you, though.” Drake said, typing away at his laptop. Damian fought the urge to obliterate the machine. He was making no sense, and Drake knew it.

“On the plane, you insisted to Thomas that you were the only one to call me that atrocity.”

Instead of acknowledging it, Drake only made an irritated huff and shut the laptop, standing up to leave.

“Yeah, he said that it was his nickname for you. Not me.”

Damian trailed after Drake as his older…predecessor left.

“I do not understand why you refer to yourself in third person, Drake, but it is not becoming of someone from your station.”

The door to the front of the manor was shut in Damian’s face.

Rude.

Confusing.

Drake was up to something, and Damian needed to know what it was.

~~~~~~

Dick watched as Kon came by to pick Tim up, laughing a little as the Super swooped down to yank Tim into the sky.

“Come on, flying buddy, let’s go; we gotta race!”

Huh. Well that was a weird phrase to say. Tim couldn’t fly.

…

Tim couldn’t fly, right?

Duke shoved past Dick, almost knocking him over, as he rushed towards Kon and Tim.

“Kon, that's Tim! Kon, you have the wrong-that’s Tim! Kon!”

Dick narrowed his eyes, the detective part of his brain that never turned off starting to pick up on the strange inconsistencies from the past month or so.

In the training exercise, he hadn’t seen Tim put the spiders in his bag. Or steal his socks and sleeping bag, but he’d been very careful about making sure the bag never left his sight. So sneaking by him, who had been Batman on multiple occasions, and filling it with spiders? Nearly impossible.

Unless it was a meta.

Tim walking into his room, only to walk back out in a different pajama shirt flashed into his mind.

The Tim that had greeted him at the door had slouched a bit more, his voice had its intonations and mannerisms just a little to the left of the Tim that had come back out of the bedroom.

No. No way.

Dick…had another brother?

~~~~~~

Steph was on a mission. It was important. Life altering.

She needed graham crackers and for some fucking reason, every single grocery store she’d gone to was out.

This. This was her last hope.

Not because it was the last grocery store in the entire city, but because if she didn’t find the stupid graham crackers here she was just going to give up and buy a cheesecake.

She really hoped she wouldn’t have to go that route; homemade was best.

Cass was right there with her, scouring the shelves for just one box of those sweet, crumbly crackers.

But this store was a bust as well-Steph watched in horror as the last box was snatched up by some deranged criminal, an absolute villain oh wait it was Tim.

“Tim!” she cried, jogging forward.

But Tim didn’t turn around?

Wow. Rude.

She’d remember this.

Cass tapped her shoulder and shook her head, laughing quietly.

“Not Tim. Danny!”

Tim stopped and looked around, confused, before his gaze fell on Steph and Cass.

Then he just looked surprised.

“Steph? You never talk to me. What’s up?”

What?

Steph didn’t respond, stuck in her thoughts as she was.

What was happening? Who was Danny? Had she fallen into another universe and just not known? Was Tim’s name Danny in this universe?

Cass stepped forward, amusement visible as she gave Tim-Danny?-a hug.

“Steph wants to make cheesecake, you have the last graham crackers.”

Tim’s lookalike made a surprised sound, before shrugging and handing over the box to Steph.

“I’ll tell my brother you said hi,” Tim-Danny- said, waving before walking away.

Wait.

Wait.

Brother?

Tim had a twin?!

Tim had a twin and he hadn’t told her?! That bastard! This would not stand.

Steph bolted forward and draped herself on Danny’s back, throwing the graham crackers back in his cart.

“Change of plans; I’m going to make cheesecake and we aren’t giving any to Tim. It’s punishment for not telling me about you.”

Danny looked delighted, and Steph preened. Yes, this boy knew when good food was being offered to him. None of that ‘Oh I can’t eat right now Steph I’m about to leave for a mission’ or ‘Are you sure you know how to cook that’ shit.

“Barbara’s going to be there, and Harley and Pam and fuck it we’re going to make it a girls night plus Danny. I cannot believe he didn’t tell me about you; can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been if I’d made that mistake when we were going out? Can you imagine?”

Danny laughed and pushed the cart forward towards the chip aisle.

“Well if we’re having a girls night, what else should we get? I’m feeling green and purple nail polish.”

Oh yes. Yes, this one would do nicely. The Birds of Prey would keep Danny; the Bats could have Tim.

~~~~~~

“Dami!”

Damian turned from his painting, observing as Richard stumbled to a stop in front of him.

“Richard? Is something wrong?” Damian slowly set aside his brushes, subconsciously preparing himself for bad news.

“No, no nothing’s…well. Hey, next time Tim calls you el-witwaat, tell me immediately, okay?”

Damian frowned.

“I fail to see what that has to do with-”

“I don’t think it’s Tim,” Dick interrupted, wild eyed and tense.

Damian slid off of his chair. For how insufferable Timothy was, he was still a part of their family; if someone had taken Tim’s place then they would have to mobilize immediately to rescue him.

“I am prepared to rescue the Imposter-”

“Boys,” Father interrupted from the doorway; Todd was standing behind him, as was Thomas, “Family meeting in the Cave.”

~~~~~~

“So I know it’s a prank, but I’m kind of feeling…”

“...Mildly offended that they can’t tell us apart?”

Tim cracked open an energy drink and chugged it.

Danny sat, content with his Orange Juice.

It had been roughly a month, and Danny was beginning to remember who he was as a person and learn what he liked as a mortal.

Danny liked puns, Tim did not unless it was under very specific circumstances. Danny wasn’t a die-hard coffee fan, Tim most certainly was. Danny liked sleeping; he’d forgotten how fantastic it was. Tim actively avoided it. Where Tim was detective-minded and his smarts focused on crime, Danny was not, and his smarts focused on engineering and space. They were both combat trained, but Danny was more inclined to use it for self defense, as opposed to Tim using it for active offense.

Most importantly though; Tim craved being a vigilante with every fiber of his being. Danny was perfectly happy living his new life as a civilian this time. His obsession, while there, was muted; he knew he could fulfill it by creating protective devices. Which, honestly, given what company his twin brother owned? It was looking like a great career choice.

He was so seriously considering it that Danny was actually looking at taking classes at Gotham University in engineering, but he and Tim had…concerns. About paparazzi, mostly.

Essentially, they were two very different people; but while Danny may have started out as a clone, he and Tim felt that the term ‘Twin’ was actually rather perfect. 

It had been unanimously decided to keep the identity that Tim and Barbara had made Danny, and that was exactly when the trouble had started.

Danny and Tim were starting to get annoyed.

Now that the lines between them weren’t so blurred in terms of identity, and they were very aware of who each other was, it was honestly a little offensive that their siblings hadn’t been able to spot who was who. Or at least notice that something was off; they’d given a million clues.

“They’re idiots,” Tim sighed, throwing himself into his chair.

“It was fun at first, and it still is kinda, I just feel like…” Danny trailed off, sighing and burying his woes in his scrambled eggs.

Tim nodded, understanding.

They wanted to continue this venue of entertainment, but maybe with a little different flavor.

“Oh, if you two are bored you don’t have to worry about the prank changing pace,” Barara said from the open laptop, distracted as she worked on something separate, “B has decided that Danny’s existence is new due to him messing with the Time Stream, and that the Bats are the only ones that were unaffected by the knowledge except Tim. He doesn’t want to hurt Danny’s feelings by letting him know that he’s a relatively new existence.”

Oh?

Danny and Tim looked at each other, identical grins beginning to shine through.

It was time to change tactics.

~~~~~~

Jason sat on the hood of the Batmobile, hating that he had been roped into this stupid family meeting.

Dickface was pacing, the baby bat was sulking, Narrows looked nervous, Cass was in Hong Kong, and Babsgirl looked bored from her place on the screen.

“Thank you for coming here,” the Old Man started, pulling up some poor fucks entire documented life on the computer screen, “I will get to the point. I believe I altered the Time Stream when I was lost in it, and there have been a few consequences. I am mainly concerned about this one; do any of you know of Daniel?”

Jason squinted at the screen, trying to see if this was an instance of remembering a face and not a name, and-

-Hold up.

That was Replacement’s face.

“His name is Daniel?” Dickface asked, sounding fucking happy for some reason.

“You guys didn’t know about Danny?” Duke asked, looking confused.

“Wait, none of you remember Danny?” Barbara asked, looking pissed, “He’s literally the only male member of the Birds of Prey. Bruce, what did you do?”

B looked dumbfounded.

“He’s one of your-? There weren't any files about the Birds of Prey.”

“That would be because I wiped them; he just spent two years in deep cover at the League of Assassins; there couldn’t be a trail that would indicate espionage. Which is his speciality. Bruce, do you really remember none of this?”

“This does rather explain a few things.”

Jason felt his jaw drop.

“Oh that fucker!” slipped out of his mouth as he slid off the car and started pacing.

“...Todd?” The little demon brat asked, confused.

“‘You told Tim that, you didn’t tell me’, fuck! He fucking spelled it out for me and I didn’t see it!” Fuck the whole magically appearing twin thing, had it really taken them this long to spot it?!

Wait.

Jason rounded on Duke.

“Do you remember him?!”

Narrows shook his head, holding up his hands.

“He left on that mission before I got here, but yeah I pretty much knew the instant he came back. None of you noticed?” Duke looked alarmed, glancing between them and Barbara.

“Well pretty much every single one of you failed the test we set up for awareness, but now there’s a bigger problem,” Barbara sighed, taking off her glasses so she could massage her temples.

Dick just looked thoughtful.

“The espionage thing is probably why none of us caught him during the prank war in the forest. Training. I meant training.”

B cleared his throat, redirecting attention.

“I have reason to believe that we may be the only ones who do not remember Daniel-”

Duke hissed, wincing.

“Yeah, he really doesn’t like that name. It’s Danny.”

“...Danny. We may be the only ones who do not remember Danny. I suspect that I interfered with the Time Stream, despite my efforts not to, and it resulted in Tim being a twin. Not the worst outcome by far, but the issue is that as far as Danny is concerned, he’s known us for most of his life.”

Jason felt a bit sick.

“And we just…forgot him. From his point of view.” Dick finished, sounding ill as well.

“We cannot let him know that we do not know him,” Damian said, looking surprisingly determined, “We must use our skill sets to learn as much as we can to paint how we treated him in the past, and either emulate it or change it to match our current circumstances.”

The Old Man nodded in agreement, as did Dick. Duke and Barbara just looked done, and Jason…Jason felt like throwing up.

What, it wasn’t enough to forget the kid, now they had to lie to his face and pretend like they knew him?

All fake smiles and hidden glances, just like when he’d calmed down enough to first come back to the Manor without attacking anyone. Faking trust where there was none, pretending to accept him when they knew nothing about him.

Fuck that.

Fuck this.

Jason walked out of the Cave without a word.

~~~~~~

The new plan was simple.

They’d show up together at perfectly normal places and act like nothing was new.

@terzatheunderscorerima @darkbiscuitvoidstudent @akikkobara @reach-for-the-horizon @bitter-coffeecup @moodycow210 @kisatamao @thefantasmarex @fisher-with-the-morbs @jaguarthecat @jotaroslooseeyebrowhair @moonshell25 @

[ayamari-no-goshi]

And think of him as Living - Duke’s chapter

AO3 — > Companion to this fic, To Join the Whispers

Fandoms: Danny Phantom (DP) / DC universe

Summary: THIS IS A CROSSOVER. What was supposed to have been a normal mission to stop  members of the League of Assassins became something so much more when  their family accidentally tangled with a ghost. And sometimes, the  details leading to the resolution were obvious to some while completely  missed by others. Companion chapters to ‘To Join the Whispers’ written from the POVs of some of the others

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, and questionable mental health

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr

“You’re Martian Manhunter!! I’m so happy to meet you! I’m a big fan!”

Duke watched in fascination as Danny floated in front of J’onn J’onzz and held out a hand to shake. Even though he was trying to contain himself, his ghostly tail, which sometimes replaced his legs, twitched like that of an excited cat. Even though the kid from Amity Park had been acting as a hero for at least a year, he hadn’t had any interactions with other heroes before they waltzed into his home. It was nice to see someone else get starstruck.

In truth, he wasn’t exactly sure why Manhunter was there. He had seen him and Bruce talking a few minutes ago, so maybe it was Justice League stuff. Though he vaguely remembered someone, probably Bruce, talking about how a ghost’s ability to manipulate its body might be similar to that of a Martian’s, so maybe it had something to do with training. Even if it wasn’t, Danny was thrilled. One thing he did remember was Jason mentioning that Danny would like to meet the guy at one point.

Speaking of Jason, he was watching the interaction from across the room. Just like Bruce’s other kids, his expression was hard to read, but the core in his chest gave him away. Sure, it was much harder to see when he was in his human form, but it was still there. Though it took Duke a while to get a hang of it, the intensity and, for a lack of better word, its pulse gave him an idea of his mood. Right now, he seemed content, if not pleased. As weird as it sounded, it made him more human.

Out of all of the Bat kids, as they were often called by the other heroes, Duke had the fewest interactions with Jason. Part of it was due to the very clearly unresolved issues between him and Bruce (Duke knew better than to ask even if he was dying to know) that often kept him out of the city. The other part where due to the whispers of how he died and what he did when he came back to life. And since he rarely stayed long enough to chat after a mission was done, it didn’t help get rid of the negative whispers.

Then there was the glow which only Duke could see. When his powers first started coming in full force, he nearly stumbled when he first got a look at Jason. The faint sickly green glow of something followed his blood and laid in healed breaks in his bones. Bruce, Cass, and especially Damian had traces of the stuff in their bodies from their past interactions with the Lazarus Pits, but it was everywhere in Jason. He kept that information to himself, but when he saw how it seemed to flare when Tim was shocking him with the weird belt from the Fentons, Duke realized just how badly the stuff affected him.

But after the whole half-ghost thing happened, Duke really started seeing Jason’s humanity shine. His newly formed core helped express his emotions, even if his face and posture didn’t. While it didn’t help the others, it at least helped Duke better interact with him. Jason wasn’t as antisocial as he sometimes came across, and the one-time Duke asked him for help with an English paper after Alfred suggested it, his core absolutely shown with excitement.

Amazed, Duke offhandedly mentioned it to Bruce after he got a ninety-eight on that paper. With an unusually soft smile, Bruce mentioned Jason was loved literature and had done exceedingly well in school. Duke never would have expected the Red Hood was a straight A student. When he asked Dick about it afterwards for a confirmation, a distant expression momentarily appeared. He explained that if Jason hadn’t died, they expected he would have become a professor or even a lawyer. He even remembered overhearing Donna talking about him maybe going into the medical field on a mission. It was so strange to imagine Jason could have had such a different life.

Then there were the interactions with Danny. There was an openness between them that was rare to see among any of the Bats. They all had theories as to why they were becoming so close: shared experiences with death, a shared rough childhood, Jason not wanting to scare Danny away, weird ghost things, etc. But whatever it was, it was becoming increasingly common to see the two talking and joking with each other. And since Jason wouldn’t usually say anything if the others decided they wanted to join into the conversations or help with training, it helped break away some of the the walls he’d built around him. It helped show Duke that Jason was just a guy who had trauma, a lot of trust issues, a seemingly unlimited supply of zombie jokes, and an aversion to being touched.

They still couldn’t get Jason to willingly use his powers in front of them. He’d only do that during training if it was just Danny and Bruce in the room, but that was a work in progress. Duke was just glad he wasn’t the only one in the family with weird powers anymore. One of these days, he was going to have that conversation with the second Robin, and he was looking forward to it.

Speaking of which, as he watched Danny fly over to Jason to tell him something, Duke had to wonder if they were ever going to let his status as a halfa be known. If Danny was going to be trained by Martian Manhunter, then having Jason train with him too would make sense. Well, it would make sense to anyone but a Bat. To them, secrets kept them safe, and this was a big one. Heck, Duke was pretty sure the only reason people in the hero community knew Jason was back because they’d seen him as opposed to hearing it from say Dick or Tim.

“Thank you! This is the best day ever!” Judging by how tightly Danny was hugging Jason, he must have been the one to get the meeting with Manhunter in motion. Even with him being in his ghost form, Danny’s core shone with unbridled pleasure.

Jason’s, on the other hand, pulsed strangely as he stiffened. Was it shock? It settled after a moment, and he ruffled the teen’s hair before trying to get out of his grasp.

It didn’t work. Danny just laughed and latched on harder. As childish as it seemed, Duke recognized it as a tactic Danny sometimes used to get Jason to use his abilities, particularly intangibility. Another favorite tactic of his was to steal some of Jason’s gear left on a table and launch into the air in hopes of being chased. The kid liked using his powers, and it seemed this was his way of trying to show Jason how to have fun with them. And strangely, Jason’s powers sometimes malfunctioned after these attempts. Bruce theorized there was an unconscious call and response that happened between their energies when this happened, but he was hoping to ask Frostbite about on when the older ghost next visited the cave.

However, Jason didn’t take the bait. With his own devilish grin, he hit a pressure point under Danny’s ribs which caused him to crumble to the ground. Openly laughing, he was nice enough to help the teen up before excusing himself. “You don’t need me to hear stories about Mars. Go have fun. I’ll be upstairs.” After pushing Danny back over to J’onn, he headed over to the stairs.

If Duke wasn’t mistaken, Jason’s core was flickering. He’d seen it before when Jason accidentally transformed or one of his powers malfunctioned. Yep, he wanted to duck away from anyone before it happened. Catching Danny’s attention, Duke gestured that he would follow him to make sure everything was okay. The teen nodded in understanding, but a troubled expression replaced his previous smile.

…

“Hey, Jason? I know you’re in here. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Duke cautiously knocked on the door to the library before opening it. Instead of going immediately after the older boy, he gave him about fifteen minutes alone. Since his powers were still a major sore spot for him, Duke figured it was better to give him some space before trying to talk to him about it.

Ducking his head inside when he didn’t hear anything, he caught sight of Jason’s glow. At first glance, he was sitting in his favorite spot reading a well-loved book, but after a moment, Duke realized he was hovering a few inches above it. Crap, he was staring. He needed to not do that if this was going to go well.

“Danny’s worried about you,” he supplied when Jason raised an eyebrow at him.

Sighing, he slid a bookmark in the book before closing it. “I know.” While he didn’t move from his spot, Jason rubbed his chest as his core pulsed. It was more noticeable than it had been when he was down in the Cave. “I was content to just watch, but the dumbass wanted me to join him. I hate when he does that.”

“Does what? The hugging thing? I’ve noticed it flickers,” Duke tapped his chest to let him know he was talking about the core, “after he does that.”

For a moment, he thought he might have said something he shouldn’t have as Jason’s eyes narrowed and seemed to glow, but thankfully relaxed his expression and leaned backwards. “Should have figured you could see it.”

“It’s noticeable,” he admitted. “But if it makes you feel better, I can see Danny’s and Vlad’s too, but only if you’re visible. When you guys go invisible, all bets are off.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” A ghost of a smile appeared on Jason’s lips, and Duke took that as a win.

“But seriously, what’s wrong?”

“You guys know I can feel when Danny and other ghosts are nearby?” There was a hesitance as he spoke. “It’s kinda of like a mood ring, but instead of colors, it’s like there’s a whisper of intent. He does this thing I can’t explain when he does that, and he knows he does it. It’s like he’s broadcasting, ‘It’s okay. It’s safe. You can stretch.’”

“Stretch?”

Jason pointed at his chest. “It’s not a good way of explaining it. ‘Relax’ or ‘let go’ might work better. And this stupid thing responds to it like a beacon, and I can’t stop it yet. Danny keeps telling me I need to work with these powers more…”

“Man, I get that.” Flopping on the nearby armchair, Duke to sound as earnest as he could. “I know it’s not the same thing, but I nearly lost my shit the day the x-ray vision kicked in. Do you have any idea what it’s like to see things normally and then just see bones when someone’s talking to you? It took a heck of a lot of practice to figure out how to get things under control. You guys know I still have trouble with the glimpse of the future. What?” Although Jason’s expression had remained neutral, his core pulsed in a way Duke understood to be questioning. “Surprised that the eye thing is new? I don’t really think I had these abilities as a kid. If I did, they weren’t really noticeable.”

“Yeah, but I’m not always in the loop with things going on in Gotham.”

Crap. The questioning pulses gave way into something more muted and sadder. He wanted to have an actual conversation about their powers. “Is anyone except Oracle completely in the loop with things in Gotham? Too much goes on here. I swear the city’s cursed.”

“There are rumors it is.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Jason shrugged. His core was starting to brighten again, and he stopped floating. “We’ve heard a lot of things over the years. Bat gods, vampires, wizards, rumors there’s a fucking Lazarus Pit somewhere under the city…” He spoke through his teeth as he mentioned the Pit. “I once told Bruce that Gotham’s evil. I don’t think she was originally, but too much happened here.”

“Speaking of the Pit, I thought I heard that you have to drink ectoplasm or something now?” The look of disgust on Jason’s face almost made him laugh. Almost. He still snickered.

“It has the worst texture.” He sounded so offended. “I’ve had to eat a lot of questionable things… but that, ugh! Alfred was kind enough to listen to Danny’s suggestion to mix it into a smoothie. I learned that day that even bananas can’t magically fix all smoothies. Frostbite is apparently trying to find an alternative for me. I really hope it’s a pill or something cuz there’s no way I can walk around carrying that stuff with me. If Bruce keeps me here much longer, I might take a stab at it myself. What about you? Anything you have to do?”

“You mean food and stuff? Other than eat better? I didn’t realize why you guys eat on the fly so much until I started patrolling.” That was true. With how much they trained, it was sometimes hard to keep up with meals. There were times where he had no idea how Bruce, Dick, and Tim didn’t starve. “But powers-wise, I just have to practice with them regularly. Things have gotten a lot easier since I started that.”

A comfortable silence fell between them before Duke eventually spoke up. “Can I ask why you don’t want anyone to see your powers?”

When Jason shifted, Duke expected him to either flip out or leave, but instead, he sat in a contemplative silence for a few moments. “Did you ever look in the mirror and realize that you don’t know who or what you are anymore?” When Duke shook his head, he continued. “I already lost myself once, and I don’t want to lose the few pieces I got back.” Sighing again, he stood. “Now that everything’s settled, I might as well go back down. Danny’s going to be too worried about me to enjoy his chance at talking to J’onn. The kid’s gonna turn me into a sap at this point.”

“So you did set up their meeting!”

“I just happened to mention to Bruce that Danny loves astronomy and was a big fan of Martian Manhunter.” Although he shrugged, Jason did sound pleased with himself. “He’s still a kid, and I think he forgets that sometimes. I don’t want someone else to look back and realize they never had a chance to live.”

…

After their conversation in the library, Duke decided to do a little bit of digging into Jason’s past when he thought he could get away with it and not get in trouble. When he said he had a rough childhood, that was putting it mildly. Due to his dad being jailed, he somehow managed to help keep himself and his mother off the streets until her death at an overdose when he was ten. Then he lived on the streets for two years until the fateful meeting with Bruce. Even before becoming Robin, Jason had too much responsibility. Maybe that was part of why he went off the deep end when he came back to life.

Speaking of Jason, he seemed to be in the library again. Seriously, did anyone in this family ever sleep? But something was off. Even for his human form, his glow was unusually dim. No one had said anything about weird developments, and he looked fine earlier in the day. Should he say something to someone? Maybe. It probably wasn’t a good idea to do that until after he spoke to Jason first though. It was probably nothing, probably.

So, he found his way to the library and stopped in. While a bit grumpy and a bit pale, Jason seemed to be okay and was surprised when Duke mentioned the change in his core. Though troubled, he thanked him for the information. That by itself should have been the first warning something was seriously wrong.

When he returned to the manor after class, the entire building felt wrong. There was a palpable sensation of fear and pain along with a supernatural chill that made the hairs on his neck stand up on end. Something happened. Was it an enemy?

He called out in hopes it was just another prank war between Tim and Damian. Those two were wicked when they got into it. The last time it happened, he nearly tripped one of the more dangerous rigs from Damian. Seriously, how did these people think this was a normal way to live?

“Greetings, Master Duke.” Alfred’s sudden appearance made him jump. Sheepishly, he turned to see the butler standing in the doorway. His eyes were twinkling in the way they did when he managed to sneak up on any of them, but the amusement hadn’t spread to the rest of his face. That was a bit concerning.

“Hey, Alfred. What’s going on? Did someone get hurt?”

“Master Jason has seemingly fallen ill, and as I believe you can tell, it seems to have affected the entire manor.”

“Hmm… he told me he was okay earlier, but his core looked weird.”

“What do you mean? You’re actually able to see it?”

“Ack!” Bruce’s sudden appearance scared Duke more than Alfred had. After catching his breath, he turned to see just how frazzled the man was. The slight frown and furrowed brow combined with a slightly ruffled shirt and matching jacket suggested this situation took his immediate priority. It wasn’t something he’d seen very often. Don’t get him wrong, Duke knew the guy loved his family, but openly showing his emotions was not something Bruce Wayne seemed to be able to do. “Seriously, Bruce. But yeah, it was really dim earlier.”

“Master Bruce, wouldn’t it be prudent to phone Master Danny?” Bruce almost looked sheepish at the suggestion. He nodded and excused himself. Chuckling fondly, Alfred glanced over to him. “I’m about to make some refreshments and start on some cookies for later. Would you like to help?”

“I thought I was banned from the kitchen.”

“I believe you can help me crack eggs without setting anything on fire.”

…

Danny appeared in the manor about an hour later. He was sporting a healing black eye, but it didn’t seem to bother him as Bruce filled him in. After Alfred relieved him of kitchen duties (he was totally going to gloat about how he didn’t torch anything), he along with Dick, Tim, Damian, Cass, Steph, and Babs had been waiting in various places on the first floor. Duke told himself he was listening because he was worried, but he knew it was curiosity. The others? He was pretty sure they wanted blackmail material more than anything else.

During the wait, the unsettling feeling in the manor had gotten worse. It was making all of them jumpy. There was talk that maybe Jason developed a new power and was messing with them, but Tim confirmed that Jason hadn’t been out of his room in a few hours. In fact, Jason hadn’t seemed to have moved at all whenever someone went in to check on him.

“You mean to tell me you forgot this was the day he died?” they heard Danny snap from the staircase. That didn’t sound good. So, Duke did what anyone else in the home would do and peeked his head out so he could look.

“This is the first time he’s been in the manor on the anniversary.” Bruce sounded uneasy.

“You need to pay attention to this type of thing! For ghosts, death is just as important as life. This is his first Deathday as a proper halfa, and it sucks. Like, royally sucks. Do you have any idea what it’s like to relive every excruciating detail of what happened to you when you kicked the bucket? I was electrocuted, and let me tell you, it wasn’t fun feeling like my entire body was cooking from the inside out as a hole to another dimension opened on top of me for a second time.” Danny gestured widely before he let his hands drop.

“Is… is this going to happen every year?” Dick stepped out of his hiding place and moved up the stairs.

Danny stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “I’ve been told it does. Most of the ghosts I know throw parties on theirs since it’s the day they started their new lives, so I know they aren’t bothered by it anymore.”

“But…?”

“But when it comes to halfas, I don’t know. The whole being still kinda alive throws things off. Ask me again next August, I’ll be able to tell you then. And to make things worse for Jason, he’s technically died twice. I don’t know if he’s going to go through this again when the anniversary of Vlad being a crazed-up fruit loop comes around.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” If Duke wasn’t imagining things, Bruce sounded worried.

“Keep an eye on him.”

…

While Danny elected to keep watch during the entire thing, the rest of them decided to keep watch in thirty-minute shifts. It wasn’t very long, but the supernatural chill of Jason’s room prevented any of them from being in there for too long. No matter how many blankets or jackets they wore, the cold seemed to seep into their very bones.

It was Duke’s turn at the moment, and with everything he’d witnessed in the last couple years, this was one of the more unsettling situations he found himself in. If it hadn’t been for Danny’s reassurances, Duke would have been convinced he was watching over a corpse. Jason was curled up on his side with his arms covering his head. He hadn’t moved once since he’d been in there, but his eyes were open, unfocused, and glowing. His chest didn’t seem to be moving, but if Duke stayed quiet enough, he was convinced he could hear faint death rattles. Then there were the glowing marks on the visible areas of his skin that slowly appeared and faded. Tim said something about them being a type of scar. Really the only sign he was still functioning was his core which violently flickered on occasion.

He still didn’t know the full extent of Jason’s injuries from when he died. After all the talk about death and ghosts, Duke was starting to get morbidly curious, but he still couldn’t bring himself to look at the reports. Asking just seemed rude and kind of offensive.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, he decided to ask Danny, who was in his ghost form, about his meeting with Martian Manhunter. The teen brightened up and spent several minutes fanboying over the entire encounter and the couple training sessions they had in Amity. Since some ghosts could shapeshift to an extent and Danny occasionally altered his body without really knowing how it was done, Manhunter thought he might be able to help. He thought it was helping and wished Jason would join in.

“With how much Jason has trained in like everything, I’m surprised he won’t,” Duke admitted. Jason had skills the rest of them did not, and no one knew how he got them.

“We’re working on it. I know part of it is his lack of trust in himself, but he’s also having a lot of trouble adjusting to being a halfa. Can’t blame him on that. It took me months before I was comfortable using my powers on my own let alone when my friends were around, and they were the ones who watched me get fried.”

“Is that why you tease him?”

“Yep.” Danny popped the ‘p’. “He knows he needs to use his powers to stay in control of them. You know… now that I think about it, I don’t know if any of the other heroes know he’s a halfa now.”

“Probably not,” Duke agreed. “He regularly works with two others who are about ready to storm the manor to get him back.”

“Do you think they’ll be okay with…?” Danny made a vague gesture.

“Probably. I mean, the one’s an alien.”

“What? That’s so cool!”

As a comfortable silence fell between them, Duke noted that the room didn’t feel as cold as it had. Actually, it was starting to get unbearably warm, and Jason was beginning to shift. Minutes later, the heat stopped, and Jason started screaming as his core flared with the strange sickly color that used to run in his veins before it was replaced with clean ectoplasm of his core.

As his screams died down, he shot out of bed and transformed. There was a tense moment as his shoulders heaved as he glanced around. Duke wasn’t entirely sure if he saw them or not. But he knew what a cornered animal looked like, and Jason looked just like that. He… he should go get Bruce while Danny tried speaking to him.

As he dipped into the hallway, Bruce was already at the doorway. Dick, Tim, Steph, and Cass were behind him, and if he wasn’t mistaken, Damian was taking his time following behind them.

“What happened?”

“He’s awake, but I’m not sure if he’s aware of his surroundings.” After a slight pause, he added, “For a moment it looked like the corrupted ectoplasm in his body flared. It’s settled, but I don’t know if that’s going to mess with him or not.”

“You know, for a bunch of vigilantes who pride themselves on being quiet, you sound like elephants.” At Jason’s voice, they turned to see him in the doorway to his room, wearing a crooked smile. His voice was raw and there were bags under his dull green eyes. Danny was at his side, supporting him. Even with him being in his ghost form, his skin looked pale and sickly, though the green scar markings from earlier were no longer there.

Dick rushed forward and pulled his brother into a hug. “You idiot. You scared us!”

“Todd, Pennysworth told me he is expecting you for tea in ten minutes. Do make sure to make yourself more presentable first. Death isn’t an excuse for looking like trash.”

“Damian!”

For a moment, Duke thought Jason would absolutely loose it, but instead, he laughed. It was deep and surprisingly rich; a laugh Duke didn’t think he ever heard before. And if he wasn’t mistaken, some of the color seemed to come back into his face. “Well, guess that means I gotta drag my sorry ass down there. I’ll freshen up, but,” he pulled on his tuft of mismatched hair, “I don’t think I can fix this right now.”

“Don’t even try to force yourself to change back,” Danny scolded. “Let it happen when it happens.”

“Alright mom.”

“Say, I know we’re all happy you’re among the living and all, but can you eat regular food like that?” Steph pushed forward and poked at him.

“I…” Jason blinked a few times before glancing at Danny. “Can we?”

“Huh? Of course! You just have to be really careful not to accidentally swallow the silverware, but if that happens, you can just reach into your chest and pull it back out. But I don’t think Alfred would appreciate you doing that.”

All of them just stared at the teen. Was he joking? Duke really hoped he was joking, but when it came Danny, all bets were off.

“Right. Well, no costumes in the house.” Jason shooed Danny into the hall but stumbled at the loss of support.

Tim cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Guess you’re not quite up to doing things yourself yet. We should help.”

“Nope, fuck off.”

“Don’t be like that, Little Wing.” Dick pushed him back into the room with Tim following. It was always a little weird to hear Dick call Jason ‘little’. The guy was a freaking tank and as tall as Bruce, but it seemed like that nickname was something special between them.

Bruce chuckled fondly as the door closed and stopped Danny from trying to follow. “They’ll be along shortly. But there is a rule that we don’t wear our uniforms in the manor. You can stay in your ghost form, if you want. I’m sure Jason would appreciate it. Duke, do you think you have some clothes Danny could borrow for the evening?”

“They might be a little big, but sure. Follow me this way.”

============

Notes:

I'm not entirely certain when Duke's powers started. Most of the information I have suggests it was after he became a vigilante, but I'd think some of the more mundane aspects would have started before that. His powers definitely got a major upgrade afterwards though.

Gotham is canonically cursed. Regarding the Lazarus Pit under Gotham, there has been a couple references to it outside of Arkham-verse.

The thing about bananas and the smoothies... I actually hate bananas. Part of the reason is that they overwhelm other flavors. If you give me a smoothie with a banana in it, I will only taste the banana. In this universe, ectoplasm will overpower anything else... except maybe onions.

[impyssadobsessions]

Jazz lead the way through the vent, looking for a way to get to the floor below. Spotting a dropping point, she turned back to Damian, who was paused a ways down. She furrowed her brows confused, “I found a drop.” Damian didn't respond outside of a grunt of acknowledgment. He was stuck on the commotion on the comms. There was no way he could get out and down there in time. He should have ended Plasmius while he had a chance. Idiots, how could they let the enemy get the upper hand? He should have waited to rescue Jazz and focused on taking down Plasmius first. He should have-

Damian jolted back then hissed hitting his head on the top of the vent when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He glared at the culprit, as Jazz just gave him a weak smile back. “It'll be ok. Luck tends to favor those always living dangerously close to death...” She tried to comfort, but she had no idea what was happening. It scared her. “I don't need to be comforted like a child.” Damian hissed. “Adults need comfort too.” Jazz hummed, with a slightly warmer smile. “Tt.” Damian pushed past Jazz despite the cramp space, to lead the way down. He wasn't worried...

–@w@

“Dammit, Dickie! What floor!?” Jason cursed kicking the wall of the elevator. Even if he knew, there was no guarantee they would make it on time. If anything happened to them, he swore- “I.. have an idea..” Danny panted from his corner. Jason whipped his head over, remembering Danny was still with him. Danny waving a thermos in his hand.

–ewe

Dick pulled Tim and Cass close, trying to cover them as much as he could with his body. All of them trying to find an exit point, but there were only flat walls. Plasmius's duplicates had them completely surrounded. They wouldn't be able to take enough of them out in time. Dick could only hope his body would protect them enough. What Dick didn't expect was a giant moose coming through the walls and ramming down the duplicates turning them into goo on the spot. Nor did he expect to see Jason riding on its back. Jason vaulted off of the moose-wolf, flipping bazooka off his back and aiming it at the duplicates behind Dick, Tim and Cass. He fired before the duplicates could continue their attack. A large beam of green shot out of the bazooka, knocking Jason back, as it took out all of the duplicates in front of him. Jason took in a moment to admire how powerful this weapon is, grinning, as he stood back up to face any remainder duplicates. Jason aimed the bazooka again, “Bullwinkle! Get going!” Jason's voice having a bit of static near the end of his speech. The Moose-wolf phased through the wall, as Jason fired the weapon again. Clearing out the halls. He hissed at the pain of his shoulder. The Fentons made powerful weapons, that's for sure. Dick stood there stunned for a moment, then smiled in relief. “I never took you for a white knight kind of type. Though riding on an undead steed seems oddly fitting.” “White horses are cliché.” Jason huffed. Tim looked at Jason, plainly stating, “Danny's idea.” Jason nodded, as he swung the bazooka onto his back. He rolled his shoulders, trying to work through the pain of using it. Didn't help one shoulder was still shot from an earlier blast. “Yeah, he's on the elevator. Speaking of, tell him its floor 4. I handed him my comm.” Jason waved. Dick was going to do just that when Danny's voice came on. “For the record, rodeo-ing animals is not how I usually handle these situations. It just seemed like the best solution... tonight-day... …wait, four? Gotta go back down.. We could have made it..” Danny spoke on the comm, breathing heavy. “Still made it just in time.” Dick was just grateful it worked. Though Danny was sounding worse. “Come on.” Jason gesturing down the hall as the others got to their feet. “The elevator should be this way. Can't let that rejected theater disaster of a cunt to catch up with us.” “Dramatic, but he does hit pretty hard.” Tim rubbing his cheek. “Tt. Imbeciles, allowing the enemy to get the upper hand like that.” Damian cut in on the comm. “Awww, was the Demon brat worried?” Jason teased. “To be killed by a man that replaces swears with bakery goods, would be a dishonor to us all.” Yes he was worried. “That's Vlad, for ya. Its really funny when you do get him to curse. Done it, once. And I think we're going to get him to do it again,” Danny snickered in his mumbled tone. “Though.. you think for a billionaire, he would have something better to do then try to forcibly adopt a teen with a laundry list of issues.” Everyone suppressed the chuckle at that statement, trying not to laugh. It didn't help as they could hear Bruce clear his throat over the comm. “Is everyone alright?” Batman asked. He had been holding his breath while listening to their fight. “Fine B. Thanks to Jaybird and Danny.” Dick stated. “Those ecto-blasts are rough, though.” Tim rubbed his wrist. Cass trying to rub the spot on her back too. Jason rubbing his own shoulder in agreement. “You get use to it...” Danny muttered. “Luckily Plasmius's blasts are weakening. He never was much of a fighter.” Everyone felt a chill, as that sunk in. They were taking the brunt of his weaker blasts. Talk about a shot to their egos. How strong was Danny at his full strength then? Ding. They heard the elevator chime in the hall, hurrying to move towards it as the door opened. Revealing Danny leaning against the wall with a light trail of slime from where he originally sat to where he stood now. “What floor-hey.” “Sit.” Jason told Danny, as he lightly pushed on the boy's shoulder to make

him sit back down. Danny huffed, letting himself slid to the floor. Tim grimaced getting to see how Danny was doing in person. Cass moved to crouch near Danny, tempted to touch the oozing teen. Dick pressed his lips, glancing at Jason, who was already pressing the button for the 7th floor. Jason not returning Dick's look. “I'm guessing Damian and Jazz are on 7?” Jason asked turning to the others. Dick nodded, as Damian confirmed it over the com. “We found where the Fenton parents are located. They're in pods, from where we can see.” “Plasmius will strike there next. We can't let him get the upper hand again.” Dick stated. “Yeah, because I'm all out of free rides.” Danny muttered. “How do we keep from being thrown through floors?” Tim asked. “Don't suck?” Jason answered, as Tim frowned. “We'll have to cover each other's backs, or feet in this regard.” said Dick as he crossed his arms, leaning against one of the walls. “Or get my parents out first...” Danny sighed, “Vlad.. kind of falls apart.. when his plans and back up plans start to crumble.. Plus.. he's running out of steam.. or should be.” “So that was a final attack type of strategy.” Tim put a finger to his chin in thought. So that means the chances of him doing it again, was low. If he did, he could only do it once. As the just reached floor six, they felt the elevator jerk to a stop as the lights flickered off. “FUCK!”

–(0u0)

Jazz and Damian peaked through the window of the door, watching the three vultures casually flying around the room. Jazz could clearly see her parents shapes in pods behind them. “They're stuck. Again.” Damian's eye twitched in annoyance. Jasmine nodded, as she stared at the room. She took a deep breath, “Ok, Do you think you can sneak in over to that table? In the large cage under it, it looks to be the weapons our parents had on hand.” Damian only needed to take a glance, “Easy.” He slipped through the doors, not waiting for Jazz's reaction, keeping his eyes trained on the vultures as he slipped into the shadows. He paused in his movements to keep track of the vultures, every time he needed to slip behind another piece of furniture. Jazz watching with baited breath, glancing back and fourth from the room to the device in her hands. She was trying to keep a look out for Plasmius. If he showed up, it would be a problem. Damian made it to the table, relatively easy as two out of the three vultures had fallen asleep, the third one on its way. Its head kept drooping, as it flew to sit on a piece of furniture by the others. Damian snorted at how terrible they were at their jobs. He glanced down at the lock on the cage, it was a pin pad. Damian frowned as he tried to hack into it. Jazz drummed her fingers on the Fenton Finder. Her parents were right there, but she couldn't run to them. That would put Robin in harms way. She didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt. So she just had to wait a little bit long- Damian cursed as the pinpad denied access with a loud distorted beep, causing the Vultures to startle awake. “AH! What-” “Hey, what that kid doing there?” “That's the one that stabbed me!” “Like a swish kabob?” “Very one.” “And I'll do it again.” Damian threatened as he pulled out the roasting stick pointing it at the birds. The vultures flew up, ready to attack. “We're not going to be so easy this time.” “You'll see the full extent of our power-” “Wait!” Jazz rushed in, door swishing behind her. “Can we.. talk this out?” “...eh?” The vultures paused and so did Damian to give Jazz a questionable look. “Y-yeah! I mean, you three have been working with Vlad for like two years, right? A-and after all the work you've done, have you ever felt.. rewarded for your time?” Jazz's face carried a nervous smile, as she side glanced at Damian. Hoping that give him the signal not to attack. Damian was just too dumbstruck to act. Even more as it worked. “He did threatened to turn us to goo.” “That carrion was good.” “Not enough for a balding tail! I will never be popular with the ladies at the bird sanctuary.” “You never would have even if you had tail like a peacock!” “I could dream!” “Y-yes! Right, what about your dreams? What are your aspirations?” Jazz pulling a chair, sitting in her therapist pose. “And how is this path in life preventing you from it?” The Vultures all took a moment to look at each other, before landing. They started talking, all at once. Jazz just nodding as she listened, taking a moment to glance at Damian. She shifted a nod towards her parents, before focusing back on the vultures. Damian lowered his roasting stick in confusion. He was now convinced that Jazz must have some meta abilities of her own. There was no way that should have worked. Snapping out of his shock, he broke the pinpad lock as being quiet no longer was necessary. Then he turned his focus on the Fenton Parents. It shouldn't be too hard to free them. Though many machines and wires were hooked to the pods, making it a bit difficult to get to.. or find how to open them.

–>w<

Jason and Dick managed to open the door to the elevator, allowing them all to slip out. They let Cass and Tim out first, then Dick climbed out so he could help catch Danny. There wasn't any obvious sign of Plasmius, meaning the power to the elevator was probably cut. Actually looking at some of the blinking lights, half being turned off, it made it even more true. “He.. probably had a hissy fit.” Danny explained, as he was supported by Tim. Tim was trying not to get grossed out by the slime coming off of the teen. Or think about it soaking through his suit. “Great, on foot we go.” Jason sighed, scratching at his skin. “Probably safer that way, we might find another source of water down here too.” Dick chimed, patting Jason's back as he lead the way forward. “He might be guarding the stairway. That's what I would do, if I wanted easy shots.” Tim shifting Danny, so he can walk. “Should we go ahead, then?” Cass asked. “You three almost got obliterated and you're wanting to face him head on?” Jason inquired. “I didn't say I wanted to-” Tim muttered. “Its probably the best idea we have,” Dick stretching his arms as they walked, “Jazz and Damian are dealing with the vultures.” “She's giving them a therapy session.” Tim pointed out. “Jazz's specialty.” Danny smirked, though he was growing more and more silent. He was getting really sleepy again. “Vultures are insufferable... and though I do not need assistance.” Damian was definitely not frustrated with the machines that bound the Fentons to their pods. “...I have a better chance of not falling for Plasmius cheap tactics unlike Drake.” “Brat. You wouldn't last a hit.” “Perhaps not, but that assumes I would allow myself to be hit. Unlike you, I am much better at dodging.” “Robin, stay there until we reach stairway, then you and Red Robin can switch out.” Dick was trying to reign them in a bit. “Sword.” Danny shifted, trying to gesture it. “Right, can give it to Robin when we switch.” “Here, I'll take Danny, you take the sword.” Jason picking up Danny, as Tim took the sword off his back. “Can walk..” Danny fussed. “Faster if you don't.” Jason huffed, then shifted to take off the bazooka handing it to Cass. Danny sticking his tongue out at Jason. Jason ignored it as he looked at the others, “Don't lose it.” “We'll be better prepared.” Dick stated, as he motioned Cass and Tim to follow, going up ahead. Jason frowned watching them leave, he hated not being there by them after the stunt Plasmius pulled. But he was starting to stumble a little himself from his head, and Danny was close to passing out. Hopefully, this floor had access to water, somewhere. If not, he was tempted to bust a hole and flood the place. Though that would not be ideal for any of them.. it was still an option. It just put them on a stronger time constraint. “...Stars are prettier.. when they're in the sky.” Flooding was starting to sound more like a good idea.

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch. 8

What's this? An update! Massive thanks to my betas for helping me get through this chapter <3

In Which: A few answers are given to the family and Danny is rudely awoken

[Side note: If you wanna know the general ages of the batfam, its listed in the AO3 version. I also talk about katanas in the end notes ^-^]

AO3 | Prologue | 7 | [ 8 ] | 9 DAMIAN INFORMED TODD—and Drake when he arrived on his bike sometime later on—that the boy whose face is plastered across the monitor was neither a picture of himself nor of Father.

Drake took one glance at the monitor and sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Just when I thought this day was getting better.”

“What, did that café on 5th finally let customers supersize their drink?”

“God that would be the dream, wouldn’t it?” Drake sighed wistfully. “Nah, but I did get a lead on where some of that stolen Cadmus tech might’ve ended up. I was gonna spend the night following up on it, but I guess we have to deal with,” he gestured to the monitor, “whatever this is.”

Todd leaned against the edge of the computer, arms crossed over the red bat insignia on his chest. “What are we dealing with this time, brat? A clone? An alternate universe counterpart? Magic shenanigans?”

Maybe. Perhaps. All of those were perfectly valid conclusions for the enigma that was Daniel James Fenton. (Why Fenton and not al Ghul? Or even Wayne?)

Damian, too, was a genetic experiment; a ‘test tube baby’ as Drake put it at times. Damian was born for greatness, created to be perfect. The perfect soldier. The perfect assassin. The perfect heir. Was this boy—Daniel—like him as well?

A failed one, then. Perhaps the precursor to Damian’s own existence. But that would not explain why the boy was allowed to exist for so long. His grandfather demanded perfection, especially from those of his own blood. If the boy was a failure, he would have been eliminated immediately, not sent to live with some eccentric scientists in the Midwest.

Damian was not naïve enough to think that his mother and grandfather did not keep secrets from him. On the contrary, he expected it. The League of Shadows dealt in secrets as often as it did in death. Certain information was worth its weight in gold, whether it was given or buried away.

But he could not help the sharp pang in his chest. A lightning strike, quick and electrifying at the notion that they kept secrets about their family from him.

His father’s face flashed in his mind. The shock turned into a slow, dawning horror. That flicker of light, of recognition, as he scrutinized the contents of the flash drive and cross-referenced it with a public database.

And grief.

Damian recognized the grief.

Alfred, too, nearly dropped his tray of fresh-baked cookies when he stepped in front of the monitor. His usual unflappable demeanor was momentarily broken at his father’s whispered “Sixteen years. Alfred— he’s sixteen years old.”

His father knew of the boy. He was allowed to know of Daniel when he was not allowed to know about Damian.

------

Grayson returned to the cave with a distinct lack of energy in his step. His mask dangled off the tips of his fingers, chin angled downwards and covered largely by his hand. For a split second, their eyes met. Grayson shifted his gaze away, scratching the back of his neck. Father told him, then. Damian wondered how much Father revealed to his favorite son.

Damian clucked his tongue and buried himself deeper into the chair, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. If it was not for his accursed ankle, he’d have headed out to the training ring to take his frustrations out on the dummies.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Dickface. Damian’s completely out of it.”

Damian shot him a look. “Shut up, Todd.”

“Leave him alone, Jay. Is Tim back yet?”

Drake emerged from the changing room in a dark green shirt, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He took one long sip before exhaling. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“O-kay…” He pressed his hands together, mouth thinned into a grim line. “Uh, hey Tim, glad to see you back safe. Bruce is coming down soon to explain some things.” He let out a deep sigh, carding a hand through his hair. “This kind of thing would probably be better with the girls around, but I—god, I don’t know.”

Todd raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know whether to call Steph and Cass in Hong Kong, or don’t know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

------

When Father arrived, Pennyworth following dutifully behind him, it was with an aching slowness in his gait. His steps measured and precise, preternaturally quiet as he made his way to stand by Damian’s chair. Damian sat up straighter, shoulders squared and back an inch away from the backrest. The rest, even Todd, stood at attention; an ingrained habit among Robins and an amusing instinct even among the senior heroes of the Justice League when it came to facing the Batman.

His father kept a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Damian, shamefully, leaned into the touch; his head inclined towards his father’s hand so much so that he could feel the ends of his hair being pushed up slightly as he brushed against his father’s forearm.

He spoke with his usual monotone, as if he was heading a Justice League meeting as opposed to unveiling the secrets surrounding that boy. He brought forward the few photos they obtained from the flash drive. “A few weeks ago, we were alerted of suspicious movement from the League of Shadows in Amity Park, Illinois. Their objectives are, as of now, unclear, though it appears to be tied to the death of Amity Park resident, Daniel Fenton.”

One photo was a standard ID picture people get for their driver’s license, the lighting deliberately horrible so that any attempt to look decent would always end in failure. Another photo was a little better; a candid scene of him chatting with two others his age, a Caucasian girl in gothic-style clothes and an African-American holding a sleek, but still very outdated PDA. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, hand reaching up to his face to stifle a laugh. There were other photos like this, some candid, others posed. At the forefront of each, a boy that looked too much like his father, too much like Damian.

His father glanced at the photos. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, he fixed them on some distant stalactite in the Cave. “Around six months ago, Daniel was pronounced dead in a vehicular accident. A body was present, but according to police reports, he was identified via his driver’s license as opposed to any kind of DNA profiling.” He leaned over Damian’s chair to pull up a profile of Masters. “Our source—Vladimir Masters, mayor of Amity and a friend of the Fenton family—indicated his belief that Daniel is actually alive. I am inclined to agree.”

“He’s your son, isn’t he,” Drake said, more of a statement than a question.

Father gave a curt nod. “I cannot say for certain until I can perform a DNA test, but I highly suspect that to be the case.”

“First the demon spawn, now this. Great.” Todd made a hand motion towards the screen. “You know, Bruce, not knowing you have a kid once might be a coincidence, but twice? How do you do that?”

“As of three hours ago, I was still under the impression that my son never made it to term.”

“What?”

“Over sixteen years ago I was involved in a mission that put Ra’s and I on the same side. During that time, Talia and I entered a relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. Though initially ecstatic, she eventually led me to believe she miscarried the child and pushed me away. For what ends, I do not know, but trust me Jason, if I knew—” He paused, the hand that was not on Damian’s shoulder curled into a tight fist.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why she hid it from me then doesn’t matter. Why Talia wants him back now is important. Judging from Daniel’s records, he was adopted into the Fenton family as an infant and has since lived a seemingly normal life as a civilian. His adoptive parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, are brilliant scientists and engineers focused on the field of paranormal studies. Eccentricities aside, they have zero connections to the League of Assassins or any other concerning parties.”

“So why now?” Dick asked, shifting his concerned gaze from Bruce to the static picture of Danny’s tired smile. “Why, after all this time, decide that now would be the best time to recover him?”

------

Danny’s experienced plenty of rude awakenings before, but waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to avoid his kidnapper-slash-assassin-slash-biological-mom launching a surprise attack takes the fucking cake. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but thank god for all those late night ghost attacks that conditioned him to be a light sleeper. And, of course, the League’s insistence that everyone be in optimal condition regardless of how little sleep you actually got.

Danny kicked Talia off of him, ripping his blanket away before scrambling to his feet. Seriously, if the universe decided to spontaneously give him powers again, he’d really like an upgrade to his ghost senses, please and thank you. Something that works on humans and not just ghosts. Like spidey-senses. He’d really, really like some spidey-senses.

“Your reaction times have improved considerably,” Talia said.

He eyed the katana sheathed beside his bedroll. “Thanks. Who could have guessed that constantly challenging someone to a spar in the unholy hours of morning would make them paranoid to sleep too much? Really, how am I supposed to grow taller at this rate? ” If he could just get it--

She smiled, taking a step forward. “Prepare yourself.”

“Heh.” Danny stepped further away from Talia, keeping his back to the mouth of the cave. One hand stretched in front of him and the other, coated in a green light, was kept hidden behind his back. “Am I actually gonna get some answers today?”

“Let us make it interesting. Last 10 minutes against me and I shall tell you more about your brother.” Talia twirled her blade. “If you happen to draw blood, you may ask any one thing of me.”

“Anything?”

“Within reason.”

His face caught between a grimace and a smile. He’d rather be sleeping right now, but if he had to be awake, then he’d better make the most of it. “Deal.”

Talia’s smile dropped. She veered her body to the right, barely dodging the streak of bright green that whizzed from behind her. The ectoplasmic energy that surrounded the katana bled away as the handle connected with Danny’s outstretched hand.

She quickly glanced back at Danny’s bedding. Beside it lay an empty sheath. “You have telekinesis?”

He shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Yeah, no way was Danny gonna admit that seven-out-of-ten-times he forgot that he had telekinesis. Besides, that shit was hard to do when he wasn’t Phantom.

“A surprise attack from behind is a sound strategy, Daniel. Though it’ll take a lot more than that to harm me.”

Danny pointed to the side of his cheek. “Are you sure about that?”

Talia frowned. She reached up to her face. Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came away with a thin streak of blood.

Danny grinned, pointing his blade at his opponent. “First blood goes to me.”

------

Fact: most fights don’t last long. An average street fight could last anywhere between 25 to 40 seconds, and sword fights rarely last over a minute. Like Talia said, the goal of a fight was to end it with as few injuries to oneself as possible. Humans, even the most skilled ones, can rarely last long in a fight. Prolonged combat is suicide; it makes you tired, makes your muscles heavy. It’s nothing like what Hollywood would have you believe.

Even with Danny’s own enhanced stamina and Talia holding back, he couldn’t last a full ten-minute spar. If Talia didn’t finish him within twenty-five seconds, then he’d fall by his own human limitations.

But the goal wasn’t to spar continuously for ten minutes.

He only had to last that long.

Danny sprinted out of the cave. The sun barely peeked out of the horizon, a thin line of deep orange breaking apart the wide expanse of blue-black sky above. He couldn’t see shit; great news since that meant there’s a good chance Talia couldn’t either, but that doesn’t fix the fact that he can’t see.

Nearly stumbling on the ice, Danny veered to the left. The edges of the lake stopped at towering rocks twice Danny’s height, leaving little room for cover. Though if he remembered correctly, there should be a few crevices here and there to hide in.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Daniel.”

Shit—

Danny stopped. He brought his sword up to parry Talia’s strike and twisted away, putting distance between them.

Well, so much for just avoiding her for 10 minutes.

He adjusted his grip, keeping his sword steady and eyes trained on Talia as they circled each other. Danny lunged with an overhead strike. Talia used one hand to block the downswing by gripping his wrists. She thrust her sword forward, the tip harshly poking Danny’s abdomen.

“Less than three minutes.” Talia let his wrist go, Danny’s arms slumping to his sides.

He sighed as he sheathed his sword. “Damn, I thought I’d last longer than that.”

“You made a good effort,” Talia assured him. “Putting as much distance between us at the beginning was a good strategy. You recognized the win conditions immediately and attempted a battle of attrition.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am very proud of you habibi, especially as you managed to draw first blood.”

A warmth grew in Danny’s stomach at the words, heating his cheeks. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t entirely sure that would work, honestly.”

“It was clever; half a second later and you might have even killed me. You are an al Ghul through and through” She brushed his hair out of his face. “What would you like as your prize, then?”

Danny’s heart clenched. He frowned, dropping his arm to his side. If I was such an al Ghul, then why didn’t you keep me? The question lodged itself in his throat, stifling his thoughts. It was something he’d been wondering for a while, actually, in the moments of solitude he had at the compound. Talia, during their training, would always remark at his potential. How talented he was, how adaptable he was, how much greater he would have been if he had been trained at a younger age.

Well then, why wasn’t he? Why did she give him up?

But each time he tried to ask, his tongue would turn to lead and the moment would pass, the question still left unsaid and simmering at the back of his mind. A Pandora’s Box that held none of the world’s evil but all of Danny’s possible shortcomings.

He could ask the question now.

He could.

He didn’t.

“Why did you take me?”

Talia tilted her head. “It is because you’re my son.”

“No. Not that. It has to be something more than that. You had sixteen years to come back for me—or, hell, you could have just never left me.” His breath hitched, fingers mussing his hair and hiding his eyes. “Why else did you take me?”

“It is true that there was more than one reason why we decided to retrieve you from Amity Park. One of which is because you are my son and an heir of the Demon’s Head.” Talia stilled. The dark skies of dawn made it impossible for him to read her. “The second reason was to protect you.”

“You kidnapped me…to protect me?”

“Knowledge of the ghosts of Amity have spread through the more insidious parts of the world. There are many out there who would pay exorbitant fees to study one of you or to use you.”

Use him? What did she mean by—

Oh.

Ghosts—Amity Park’s brand of ghosts—were a new element that the world had to contend with. Amity Park might have a crime rate of zero but that wasn’t the case everywhere else. Theft, assault, murder; the world was rampant with crimes and criminals clawing their way to the very top. Having ghosts, even ones with the most basic powerset, would be a huge advantage.

“There’s no way that would work,” Danny insisted. “Most ghosts just want to be left alone, and the ones that want to wreak havoc would never work with humans. The only reason they even work with halfas like me at times is because they still consider us as ghosts.”

“If my sources are to be believed, ghosts might not even get a choice.”

Danny’s blood curdled in his veins.

No.

Someone’s found a way to control ghosts.

[damianwaynerocks]

Ghosts in Gotham

Danny Phantom / DC Comics

Dedicated To: @psychovigilantewrites​

Description: The Batfamily has been through their fair share of the supernatural. That’s why they originally weren’t worried whenever ghosts started showing up in Gotham City. Until one day, something happens; Batman is captured and taken into the Ghost Zone. With no way to go in there themselves, with no way to fight the ghosts inside, the bats decide to call the person who can; Danny Phantom. Together, Danny takes Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne into the Ghost Zone before the Batman is lost forever.

Word Count: 3523

Ch 1 Ch 2 Masterlist

Chapter 3:

_

Danny could deal with a lot.

He'd dealt with dying. He'd dealt with becoming a ghost. He'd dealt with ghosts trying to kill him. He'd dealt with finding out that his dad's best friend wasn't only a halfa like him, but that he wanted to get with his mom. He'd dealt with ghost prison. He'd dealt with finding out he'd been cloned. He'd dealt with finding a future in which everyone he loved was dead and he himself was evil. He'd even dealt with girls.

He thought he could deal with anything.

But being stuck a small space with Damian Wayne and Tim Drake?

He wasn't so sure he could deal with that.

"You incompetent creature, why on earth are you listening to a C-average oaf instead of me?"

"Because the 'oaf' has been here before. We haven't."

"I possessed more intelligence than you and Fenton combined whenever I was four years old, and I have memorized the Infi-map. I am completely capable of commanding this voyage."

Danny's eye twitched at the arguing. It was worse than he and Jasmine. "Does it ever end?" he asked Stephanie through gritted teeth. The blonde sighed.

"Damian feels like he has to prove that he's superior to Tim," she explained. "It's not my place to tell you exactly why, but it's true. And he knows exactly how to get under Tim's skin."

"So.. no?"

"No."

Danny groaned. "It's giving me a headache." He perked up as he saw the island in front of him. "Hey, guys," he said, "We're here."

They had reached the lair of Clockwork. Clockwork was the master of time and could see into any timeline and all of the possible outcomes. Danny had the idea of asking him if he could show them the moment in which Bruce Wayne had disappeared, in the hopes that they could see which ghost it was.

It was a long shot, but it was the only idea Danny could think of.

Tim and Damian had stopped their arguing, unbuckling their seat belts as Danny landed the Speeder on the grounds of the lair.

"So this guy can tell us who took Bruce?" Stephanie asked as she opened the door, stepping on to the ground. Danny nodded.

"Yeah. I can't promise he'll help, but it's our best bet."

The foursome walked towards the massive clocktower, Damian walking in step with Danny as he gripped his sword. Danny knocked on the door, and it opened with a creak.

"Hello, Danny," a voice said. "And hello, Bats." Clockwork floated down. He was a small ghost, purple in color with a darker purple cloak.

"Whaddup, Clockwork," Danny greeted. "Long time no see." He heard Stephanie laugh at the pun behind him and then heard her grunt as Damian elbowed her.

"It has not been long to me, Danny," Clockwork replied. His eyes drifted over the group. "What do you want?"

"I assume that you know, Time Master," Damian answered before Danny could open his mouth, stepping forward until he was right beside a swirling vortex, although his eyes remained on the ghost. "We are looking for my Father, and Phantom says you can help."

"Damian Wayne," Clockwork said curtly. "Son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al’ Ghul. I understand that you are worried about your father, but I would suggest you step back before you see something you don't want to."

Danny was surprised to see that Damian obeyed. He narrowed his eyes. Clockwork almost seemed... nervous? "What aren't you telling us?"

"You are indeed a smart boy," Clockwork chuckled, "I hope you also can deduce that you were not brought here on accident. I was originally going to go and tell you myself, however, I have seen that it would be better for you to have Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne at your side."

"What's wrong?"

"Something has happened," Clockwork turned around, clasping his hands behind on his back as he floated further off. "The Observants have underestimated your power," he turned back around, locking his gaze with Danny's. "The power you have not yet gained."

Danny's face paled. "You don't mean-"

"That is all I can say," the ghost interrupted. "Leave now. I have work to do. I have to stop a little boy with a powerful watch from destroying his timeline."

Danny, however, couldn't move. He was frozen, his eyes wide. There was no way. He was locked in a thermos, with no possible way for a ghost to escape.

Although, that ghost wasn't just any ghost.

"What do you mean by that?" Damian demanded. "Tell us more. Now."

Clockwork looked at the boy with humor in his eyes. "Mr. Wayne, you should not threaten me." He waved his hand. "Now go. You do not have much... time."

Danny shook his head and turned around, walking towards the exit in a trance-like state. With a glance at Clockwork, the others followed, with Damian at the rear. Before he could leave, Clockwork called his name.

"Damian, listen closely," he said, shifting into an older ghost as he spoke. "You will one day get an offer. It will be a tempting offer, one that you will not want to refuse," his eyes darkened. "Do not accept it."

Damian blinked, before strutting outside to follow the others, not responding to Clockwork's warning.

Tim, Stephanie, and Danny were already on the ship as Damian walked out. As he opened the door to step in, he tuned into the conversation.

"So, you're telling us that an evil version of you exists outside of time, and it has Bruce," Tim said slowly. Danny nodded.

"We call him Dark Danny. In the alternate timeline, he- or, I, I guess -watched our family die. He couldn't handle the pain and guilt, so he had Vlad Masters- bad guy, by the way, deck him if you ever see him at a rich-person party -turn him into a full ghost, getting rid of the human side completely. It drove him mad, and without his human side, he was the most powerful ghost in the Ghost Zone. He destroyed the world."

"How did you defeat him?" Damian asked, pulling a capri-sun out of his cooler as he listened. Danny ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know. Dumb luck, honestly. I guess I have a power that he didn't get until years later, and it knocked him off his game so I could take him down." He grimaced. "I probably wouldn't have beat him if I hadn't surprised him. He took down all of the other ghosts in the Ghost Zone by that point,"

"He must've taken out the Justice League, too," Stephanie mused, crossing her arms. "You said you didn't see them anywhere, right? The only reason they wouldn't have been fighting him is if..." she trailed off.

"We can defeat him," Damian said, crushing the capri-sun in his hand as he finished. "If Phantom can defeat him, then with our help, we can, too."

"Yeah, but like I said, it was only because I surprised him," Danny pointed out.

"Then let's surprise him again," Tim said. He took out the Infi-map. "Danny, who's your worst enemy here? If we can get them to help, and that might knock Dark Danny off his game."

"Pariah Dark," Danny answered instantly. "But that's a terrible idea, trust me," he paused, thinking. "We do need backup, and I know of at least two who could help." He turned his body intangible before Tim could respond, and flew out of the Speeder. He landed in front of it, and putting both of his fingers in his mouth, he whistled. "Come here, Cujo!"

It took a few seconds, but a small green dog zipped in front of Danny, jumping in his arms and knocking him over. Danny smiled widely as he scratched behind Cujo's ears.

"Hey, little guy!" he laughed as the dog licked his face. "I missed you too! You down for an adventure?" Cujo barked, wagging his tail. "I'll take that as a yes," Danny said, phasing back into the Speeder.

"Guys," he said, setting the dog down. "I'd like you to meet Cujo, the best boy in the entire Ghost Zone."

Damian's eyes lit up behind his mask, kneeling down and hugging Cujo as the dog barreled into him, not paying attention as Tim spoke.

"Don't get me wrong, he's adorable, but he doesn't look like he can pack a punch," he said, watching the dog fondly.

"Trust me, he's a fighter," Danny assured him. Tim nodded.

"If you say so, but man, I wish I had a dog," He walked over to where Damian was, scratching Cujo's back. Damian scowled, pulling the dog closer.

"Get back, Drake, Cujo clearly prefers me over you."

"Damian, come on, you have so many pets and I don't have any-"

"You have Bart."

"Bart is not my pet-"

"He is the human version of an Australian Shepherd minus the intelligence-"

As the two bickered, Danny looked at Stephanie. "Damian likes animals?" Stephanie laughed.

"Oh you have no idea, he has a dog, a cat, a cow-"

"A cow?"

"His name is Bat-Cow!" Damian snapped from where he had begrudgingly let Tim hold the dog.

"I love everything about that," Danny laughed. "That's the best name." Damian looked at Tim with a smug look on his face.

"See, Drake? Bat-Cow is a great name."

"I never said it wasn't!"

Danny started to ask Stephanie a question before he heard a crash and the Speeder lurched to the side.

"We've been hit!" Tim yelled, jumping off of the floor and grabbing the Speeder's controls, trying to steady the craft. Danny merged out of the Speeder and narrowed his eyes as he saw the culprit.

A gray ghost in black armor with flaming hair sneered, his arm smoking from where he had shot the Speeder. "Whelp," he growled.

"Nice to see you too, Shorty!" Danny said in a mock-cheerful tone. "Here to kill me? Because you didn't have to shoot the ship, you could've just yelled 'I am Skulker, and you are my prey! Prepare to die!'" he lowered his voice as he imitated the bounty hunter. "And then I would say something witty back, and I would pound you into the ground."

"You aren't the only prey this time, Ghost Child." Skulker answered with a menacing grin.

"You after the Bats?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you were trying to kill them, you did a crappy job of it. That blast didn't kill anyone."

"That's the point. I think it'd be fun to beat the proteges of Batman, so they need to be alive and able to fight." he pointed downwards, and Danny followed his gaze, before swooping down to follow.

Somehow, he hadn't noticed that the Speeder was plummeting down to the island below. While the Specter Speeder was durable enough to keep from dying on impact, he didn't want them to crash.

He hurled himself in front of the Speeder, and crossing his arms, made a force  field that surrounding the Speeder. Danny grunted at the exertion, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep the force field surrounding the heavy ship.

The ship still crashed with a loud bang, leaving a large crater around it, but the ship itself was intact. Danny dropped his arms and fell to his knees, exhausted.

The door opened, and his three companions stepped out. "Nice one!" Stephanie praised, and Danny gave her a thumbs-up as he tried to catch his breath. He felt somebody nudge his shoulder, and he saw Damian standing above him with a capri-sun in his hand.

"Drink this," he said, handing Danny the drink. "Do not waste it. I can destroy you."

"Thanks," Danny panted as he poked the straw into the pouch. Damian nodded stiffly.

"Hate to interrupt," Tim said, helping Danny to his feet. "But that that Iron Man wannabe is headed this way."

Danny finished his drink and threw it over his shoulder as his fists lit up with a green aura, ignoring Damian's huff of protest at the littering.

Skulker chuckled as he cracked his knuckles. "Well, look at that," he sneered, "Not a scratch on you! I'm impressed."

"You? Impressed? Who would've thought," Danny said, narrowing his eyes.

Tim pulled out a bo-staff, twirling it around as Damian unsheathed his sword. Stephanie moved to stand beside Danny as she gripped her eskrima sticks.

"Oh, you will soon be impressed yourself," Skulker said as his arms morphed into guns. "You see, I-" he was cut off with a grunt as Danny rushed forward and sent a strong right-hook into his face.

Skulker flew back a few yards before finding his feet again. He glared at Danny. "That was low even for you Ghost Boy. Interrupting me I monologue."

Danny shrugged. "What can I say? It’s the same reason why I’m failing Chemistry; I have a short attention span.” He grinned. "But he doesn't!"

While they had been talking, Damian had managed to get behind Skulker. He jumped into the air, drop-kicking the ghost, sending him to the ground with a thud. Danny picked Skulker up and gave him an uppercut, launching him into the sky.

Skulker shook his head, steadying himself, and shot a barrage of ectoblasts at the four heroes below. Danny made his body intangible while the others, used to being shot at, dodged the blasts with ease. Tim shot his grappling hook at Skulker, wrapping the cord around his leg and pulling him back to the ground.

Tim swung the cord, launching Skulker to the side where his body was met by two hits of Stephanie's eskrima sticks. Skulker merged through the cord and landed on the ground, his teeth grinding together in fury.

"Enough!" he shouted, and sent a shock wave from his arms that blew them back. "I am sick of your pathetic attempts at besting me, whelp! When will you learn that you cannot best the Ghost Hunter!"

"Uh, kind of hard to learn that after I've beaten you, like, every single time we've fought," Danny retorted, putting his hands on his hips with a smirk.

Skulker's eye twitched. "My employer said to bring you in alive, but I don't think he'd mind you all missing a few limbs." His arms morphed into missile launchers, and he held them out at the four.

"Phantom, you possess electrokinesis, correct?" Damian asked quietly, tensing his muscles. Danny nodded.

"Yeah." He met Damian's eyes and smirked as he realized what the younger boy had in mind.

Damian grabbed on to Danny's arm, and, turning them both intangible and invisible, Danny carried Damian into the air, right above Skulker. One of Danny's hands crackled with electricity, and the tip of his fingers brushed against Damian's sword. The blade lit up like a taser. Damian and Danny exchanged a glance and, using Danny's shoulder for leverage, Damian jumped, free-falling towards Skulker.

By the time Skulker saw Damian, it was too late. Damian jabbed his electrified sword into Skulker's armor.

"Oh, crud," Skulker muttered as his armor crackled with electricity, before short-circuiting and launching him into the sky and out of sight.

"Nice one, Damian!" Danny floated to the ground, a wide smile on his face. He raised his hand for a high five. "Up top!"

"Tt. The act of high-fiving is such a ridiculous notion," Damian muttered, but he smacked his hand against the other's anyways. "You did quite well yourself."

"That guy-" Tim popped his shoulder back into place, wincing. "-does not pass the vibe check."

Stephanie snorted. "That guy is the vibe check, Timbers."

Damian sheathed his sword. "I assume that we all have gathered that his employer was Dark Danny?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Oh, for sure," Danny said, before stumbling as Cujo barreled into him. Danny huffed as he lifted the dog to his face. "Where were you, big guy?"

"Are you sure this dog can help us take Future-You down?" Stephanie asked with a raised eyebrow. "A fat lot of help he just was."

"I think he was just sleeping," Danny said as he sat the dog down. "I promise he'll be useful."

"Ship looks pretty good, considering," Tim said from where he was looking at the Specter Speeder. "I think whatever he hit us with just killed the engine. It should start back up."

Danny frowned, a finger on his chin as he pondered aloud. "So if Future-Me has employed Skulker, then he's gotta be somewhere that Skulker has access to. His lair, maybe? But I doubt it. They'd need to be somewhere with some pretty high-tech stuff if they're keeping Batman hostage."

"Are there any technology-related ghosts?" Stephanie asked. Danny didn't answer at first as he watched Tim switch the Speeder on.

"Yes," Danny finally answered. "There is, but I doubt he knows who he's working for. Skulker probably doesn't know either." Danny paused, and the smallest hint of a smile ghosted across his face as another thought struck him. "And I bet Skulker's girlfriend knows even less than that."

_

"So you're tellin' me Skulker's working for Future You? Who took away my voice and my beauty?" A ghost with pink, flaming hair in a high ponytail asked. "Now why the heck would you do that for? I thought we were cool."

"We are. This guy is me from another timeline. He isn't me." Danny explained to Skulker's girlfriend. Ember McLain, the Ghost of Song, crossed her arms, her lips turning into a frown.

"No way he would work with someone who wronged me like that. He would never."

"He doesn't know," Tim spoke up. "He probably just offered him money, or whatever currency you use, in exchange for taking Danny and us."

The Infi-map had taken the four to Ember's lair. If anybody could convince Skulker to stop, Danny had reasoned, it would be her.

"With you, Skulker, Cujo and Wulf on our side, we can beat him," Danny said. "Seeing Skulker and I work together might trip him up," he paused. "You do want to beat this guy, right? I mean, he will end up destroying your voice." Even though Ember might not care about the human world being obliterated, she would definitely care about the same thing happening to her voice.

Stephanie and Damian had stayed in the Speeder with Damian. Stephanie's eyes were wide behind her cowl. "Damian, that's Ember McLain," she whispered. "Remember that song Remember from a couple of years ago? The one Jason wouldn't stop singing on patrol? She sang it! And she's a ghost!"

"Of course she is a supernatural being, Brown, I told you she had the voice of a siren," Damian whispered back.

"I'll talk to him," Ember agreed. "He'll listen to me. You guys go find Wulf, and we'll meet you at Technus' place."

"Great." Danny smiled. "Thanks, Ember. I owe you one."

"Well, I might just take you up on that sometime, Ghost Kid."

"So, Wulf," Tim began as the two walked back towards the ship. "He's like a werewolf? You said?"

"He isn't a werewolf, but he looks like what you'd expect a werewolf to look like," Danny explained. "He's a beast, literally and figuratively. And his claws can tear open a portal to our world, so once we get Batman, we can get out of the Ghost Zone fast."

"Great. Where is he?"

"That's the fun part," Danny replied as he got into the Specter Speeder. "We have to break him out of prison. And the people who own it do not like me.”

[impyssadobsessions]

“Static.” Cass stated as the comms went down. Dick nodding, “We must be getting close, everyone keep an eye out for anything glowing or green, or both. Tim keep a look on the levels.” “Power levels are high, you’d think we entered a nuclear bombing zone.” Tim frowning. Jason gritted his teeth as the area made him uneasy. Something didn’t settle right with him. Damian had his face pressed again the glass, trying to look. “Tt. It sure doesn’t look special.” Dick was flying low, keeping an eye out for openings encase he had to make an emergency landing. He was prepared not to- “Crash!”

Dick flinched, taking his eyes off in front of him for a moment to gaze at what his siblings were piling at the window to see. Signs of wreckage were visible. “Father couldn’t have gotten more than a scratch. He’s escaped worse.” Damian glaring at the remains of the plane. “He isn’t invincible. He couldn’t have predicted this.” Tim then groaned at the realization that this will only increase Bruce’s paranoia. “Now he will.” Dick chuckling weakly, “Maybe our new ghost hunting crew will help keep him from over doing it?” “Nah, it’ll just make him worse.” Jason huffed. Cass patted Tim’s shoulder, but then the plane started to stutter. It caused her to accidentally smack Tim instead, as they fell to their knees. “ow!” Alarms blared and flashed. Dick wasn’t going to take the chance and decided to land, they should be close enough to where Batman and the teens set up camp. “Everyone buckle in!” Jason yanked Damian by his cape and dropped him into his seat. Damian grumbling but buckling nonetheless. Cass took up Jason’s seat and Tim strapped back into his own. Jason took up space beside Dick, keeping low instead of buckling up himself. Dick frowned at Jason, receiving a cheeky grin back. Flash of green darted through the cab, and another. Dick was determined not to crash, his siblings were with him. There wasn’t enough time to land in a large enough clearing, so he had to make due. Trees cracking and crashing as the plane landed. They’ll have to do some repairs before leaving, but that wouldn’t be a problem. All the bat kids let out a sigh of relief as the plane stopped moving. Dick’s arms were shaking from holding the controls so tight. “I see something green.” “And glowing.” “And... animal?” Dick glanced over to what they were looking at, giving a half-smile. “What are the chances they’re domesticated?” Jason huffed, “Big fat 0.” ----

Batman sighed as the comms went to static. They were close, his eyes squinting at the sky. It was still too dark to see anything besides the stars and moon, but it wouldn’t be much longer before the sun rises. Bruce glanced down at the weight that pressed against his leg. Jazz was asleep and leaning against him. Her hair tied in a messy bun, using her own hair to tie it. Danny had helped, reason it was messier than it would have been if she had done it. Yet, Jazz wasn’t worried about the knotting mess her hair was becoming. He glanced down at Danny, who unlike his sister, was laying on the ground instead of sitting up. He was sleeping, using his sister’s lap as a pillow, while Jazz’s hand rested on his hair. The young teen had fallen asleep, due to Jazz’s persistence that he get some rest. At least, Batman hoped he was sleeping. His breaths, if he took any, were so shallow that he couldn’t hear it at all. It made his stomach turn as the idea popped into his head, remembering the information that his kids had shared. “Electrical burns and hypothermia.. don’t know what happen to the kid, but it sounds like he’s lucky to be alive.” Lucky to be alive, or more like.. he wasn’t. Batman shook his head, he didn’t want to dismiss the possibility, but it wasn’t an easy concept to handle. Maybe he was more like Jason, or at least he had hoped. If he was a ghost and his parents were- He cursed at himself having already gotten so attached to them. They weren’t his kids, but he’ll look out for them. They needed someone. Batman had been busy talking and listening to the bat family, to converse with Jazz and Danny after they successfully tested the repellent with the mask. He wanted to ask them more about the GIW, Amity Park, and Plasmius, but he saw the exhaustion wear on them long before they passed out. They needed to rest, so he felt relieved when he looked over and found them asleep. Batman will ask more, when the time came. For now, they could rest and wait. After all, he had a feeling that Amity Park’s mystery may take months to tackle, even with their help. He rubbed his chin in thought, staring at the flames. He was trying to make sense of all the pieces of information he had discovered, filing each away in his head. Danny had powers, had been in a terrible accident, and was contaminated with enough ectoplasm that made him able to handle the substance with his bare hands. They both were confident enough in combat, has knowledge of high tech gear, have in depth knowledge about ghosts, and has scientists/ghost hunters as parents. Amity Park was being blacklisted on the internet and kept a secret. No one outside of the town knows whats going on in it. Ghost attacks are common occurrence. GIW is an unknown “government” organization that deals with ghosts.- It was a lot to unpack at once, and it seems to just keep growing. To think something that’s on this scale would be missed, just made him wonder what else had he missed? What else escaped their notice? Batman glanced at the kids again, wondering how many were like them? It wasn’t something he should dabble on. He’ll handle each problem at a time. For now, rescuing their parents was the goal. If by Jazz’s and Danny’s impressions of them, they might be very happy to help, though they’ll need to work on their bias about ghosts. Though, That might have to be held off until later too. Unless Danny was- -GASSSSP- Batman jolted out of his thoughts, looking towards the gasp, to find Danny scrambling out of his sister’s lap to his feet. He furrowed his brows, judging by Danny’s alertness, this could be bad. Danny was having a very pleasant dream about hanging out with his friends and his sister at Nasty Burger, until he was awoken by his ghost sense, eyes snapping open. His brain barely registering where he was, while he pushed to his feet. The crackling of the fire reminded him as the feeling sunk in. He scanned the sky in worry as his skin crawled. Jazz let out an “Oomph!”, coughing as her brother pushed off of her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to regain alertness.

She frowned, noticing her brother’s stance. He looked like a small animal ready to fight or to flee. “Danny?” Jazz shifting to try and stand, wobbling. Batman kept her from falling by placing a hand on her back, helping stabilize her balance. She uttered a soft ‘Thank you’. “There’s.. more of them.” Danny glaring at a specific direction. “Ghost? But... we should be fine under the shield, right? Or.. is it Plasmius?” Danny never took his eyes off the sky. “We’re safe.” Batman frowned, then it clicked. “They’re not.” Jazz’s eyes widened, as they heard sound of engines roaring and trees cracking in the distance. Danny scooped up any weapons he could fit in his arms and ran towards the sound. Jazz attempting to follow, picking up the remaining weapons. “Jazz, stay! Protect Batman.” Danny disappearing into the tree line. “What-Danny no! You can’t just- UGH” Jazz glad she tied her hair up again or she would be ripping it out. “We’ll go after him.” Batman stumbled as he stood up, his legs were stiffed from him not moving much. “But your hurt-” Jazz bit her lip, watching Batman stand. “And they are my- allies.” Jazz caught the short pause. The realization dawned on her. She tried to think of what to do-catching sight of the ghost shield. Reaching down to pick it up, so Batman wouldn’t have to. “I was really hoping you’d be less reckless than Danny,” She teased, giving Batman a grin as she passed him the square device. “We’ll bring camp to them.” She couldn’t blame them for being reckless, she was guilty of it too. Jazz stayed to make sure Batman could walk fine on his own, before running up ahead after Danny, once satisfied that the Dark Knight would be fine. Batman frowned as he walked, definitely feeling the humiliation of the situation. -- Ok, this was not ideal. The bats stood back to back, weapons drawn as the mutated animal ghosts stalk closer. They had tried everything they could think of, but nothing had worked against the ghosts. “I know B said they were hard to hit, but for some reason I didn’t think that meant they hit hard either!” “Incoming to your right-” “Thanks.” “Is no one else going to talk about how Jay can just suplex a two headed GHOST deer?” “Jealous-SHIT. Little fuck-” Jason was bit by a gopher with fangs on his ankles while he was flexing. He kicked the gopher into a small flock of boney birds. “No one could be jealous of being bit by a rodent.” Jason was the only one that could hit the ghost, they had found that out during initial combat. Since then, he was the one keeping them at bay. The others had to dodge attacks. Their weapons didn’t work, and Damian’s sword seem to have an opposite effect. His sword managed to slice apart a badger with wings, only to make it double in size. Tim eyes had widened at what this could mean about the ghosts and kryptonite. But They didn’t really dwell on it, there was no time to. That was when they had found out Jason could hit the ghost. Jason had punched the badger out of the air when it swooped in to attack Damien. “Ungrateful-” Jason grumbled as he sent another rolling kick at a pouncing mountain lion with a snake tail, sending it right into a group of ghosts. He huffed under his red helmet. Cassandra was the only one not with them, she managed to sneak away, planning to alert Batman and the Fenton kids where they were. Since they were the only ones with weapons that could fight ghosts. Dick was hoping the rest of them could get a moment to escape, but as they pressed their backs against the plane, he knew they just had to bide their time. He wished Jason didn’t have to fight them alone. Tim wished he had that ecto-battery. Batman had briefly talked about as to why the Fenton’s weaponry worked against ghosts, but he obviously didn’t know specifics. Tim wanted to rig something up. Was there really nothing they could do? Jason vaulted himself up onto the two headed deer’s back, doing a flip and smashing his boot into a bear’s face. He stumbled back, assessing what mutated animal to tackle next. They weren’t predictable and fighting

felt chaotic. He only had a short moment, not the hardest thing but it was annoying. The mountain lion pounced at him first, but missed going into the ground. It took Jason a confused second to realize it wasn't going after him. On que, it popped back out of the ground from behind Jason, attack his brothers instead. Jason whipped around trying to grab it by the snake tail. A blast of green shot from the forest, straight into the side of the cougar (Just another name for Mountain Lion). Sending it into the forest, with a terrifyingly womanly shriek. Jason blinked staring at where the mountain lion was moments ago, then followed where the beam of green came from. A teenage boy with black hair, and icy blue eyes that pierced through the shadows stood, aiming a white scifi looking handgun. He then shot remainder of the animals, not missing a single one. Some of the ghostly animals fled as the sight of him, the larger and more aggressive ones stayed, but they were pushed back. “Would you call that being late or on time?” Danny pushed out a weakly chuckle. Whatever demanding aura he had gave, seem to be a farce. Dick was the first one to break the awkward tension giving a laugh, “Right on time. Danny, right? Those for us?” Danny looked at what he carried under his arm, as if he forgot he was holding anything. “Oh right, here! You can fight with these.” Danny tossing over the weapons, letting Dick distribute them. Danny shooting down the two headed deer before it could charge again. “Fuck yea! Now we’re packing, who wants to keep score, eh?” Jason catching the Ecto-ray Dick tossed him, twirling it around in his hand to get a good feel of it. Despite the bulky scifi design, it felt light than a gun. “If we’re keeping score, then you might want to get to shooting. Danny already got 10 on you. Sorry, 12.” Tim grinned as he examined his ecto-ray, briefly. “Doesn’t count! I didn’t have a gun, until now.” Jason shooting at the bear. Damian frowned as he held up the handle to the Anti-ghost roasting stick. “This can’t seriously be a weapon.” “You’re right. Its not. Its suppose to roast marshmallows.” Danny grinned as he shot at the badger that flew in. “That be 6 then to your 4?” Damian looked at the stick with more confusion, as it sparked with green energy. Trying to decipher if this new teen was messing with him or not. Jason cursing, at the mocking teen, grinning underneath the helmet. He shot down 5 ghost with one shot. “Make that 9.” “This ones a dud.” Dick tossed the broken ecto-ray to the ground. Danny shooting 3 more ghosts, trying to catch up to Red Hood. He looked over at Dick, “Oh-sorry. Was in a rush. Uh... here.” Danny tossing Dick his gun. Dick caught it, opening his mouth to refuse, not liking the idea of Danny being weaponless, when the boy pulled out a lipstick from his pocket. “Is that lipstick?” “Yeah, wouldn’t recommend using it on your face though.” Danny aiming and shooting down a giant rabbit. Dick shrugged, with a shake of his head. With weapons in hand, the animals started to flee one by one. They started tag teaming the animals that chose to stay. Damian had begun to love his stick, using it much like his sword, zapping the flying badger that had wronged him earlier. The others would switch tag team partners. Sometimes Tim and Jason shot a ghost down, then it be Danny and Jason, and so on. Danny stopped as the bear and puma finally fled. The bat brothers high fiving each other. Dick was about to get Danny to join in the high five, until he noticed the young teen’s expression. “What’s with that face?” ”.....Nothing! Er.. well.. I can’t explain it.” Danny frowned, he didn’t feel like the ghosts had left. Honestly, thinking about it, he isn’t sure why they attacked. They didn’t act like any ghostly animals he knew of. He had assumed Vlad was manipulating them, like he had in the past. But they weren’t behaving like before. Perhaps he made it so they couldn’t turn on him? Even so, he didn’t like the churning feeling in his gut. Jason had stopped in his celebration, as he felt the

Lazarus Pit swish. It felt power, something was growing. He motioned with his hand towards the others, as he stared out into the trees. A gangling terrifying screech of different animal cries echoed from the dark. Danny frowned as the sound seemed eerily similar to his wail, sending chills down his spine.

He didn’t even notice Nightwing having pulled him and the other bats close together. --- Cassandra was very skilled at not being seen. She was a master of sneak, and yet there was a ghostly moose-wolf chasing after her. It didn’t matter if she took to the trees or the ground, the moose was hot on her tail. Her only hope was to out run it.

That is until she had smacked head first into someone with red-hair. Jazz let out an oomph! Groaning as she fell back onto the ground. She had to admit, she was bad at directions. She didn’t have Danny to help use the stars as reference. She also had forgotten her flashlight within her rush. Which led her to blindly trying to chase after her brother. Fully recognizing her hypocrisy of having just teased Batman for being reckless, then proceeding to be reckless.. Way to be a big help to your brother, Jazz. Can’t even follow after him, without running into a.. Jazz blinked, whatever hit her was soft. She looked up, seeing a masked face looking down, startling her a bit. “Oh-oh! you must be one of-” She froze as the sound of the moose-wolf’s howl. Cass swung around, arms held out protectively in front of Jazz. The moose-wolf was charging straight at them. Jazz flashing back to the fight at the camp, before snapping out of it. She dropped the rest of the stuff she was holding, fumbling to hit the button on her specter deflector. The shield flung around her and Cass, just as the moose-wolf was a hair from Cass. The shield glitched and frizzed when it made contact with the ghost. It wouldn’t last many hits. The ghost seem to know that, having shook off the pain from the shield. The moose-wolf circled getting ready to run them down again. Cass seemed to be in awe as the shield pulled around them. She turned back to Jazz, “Jazz, weapons?” Jazz was shaken from her stun at the call of her name. She took a minute to understand and then moved to get back on her feet, “Ah! Yes! Here, this is an ecto-ray. Basically a gun for ghosts.” Cass took the blaster gratefully, eyeing it down for a moment to get a good look at it. It seemed to function much like a regular gun, so she took aim and fired at the moose-wolf. It seemed to stutter, but wasn’t affected by one shot. If anything, it made it mad. Cass was confused. “That ghost is difficult. It took Batman, Danny and I to hurt it. Shoot, Danny has the thermos too!” Jazz huffed, as she shuffled her hand through the items she brought. Cass nodded, deciding she needed multiple and precise shots. She aimed again as the moose charged. She shot in succession, hitting each knee until they buckled. The Moose skid towards them, Cass reaching out to try and pull Jazz out the way. But Jazz was standing, with a metal bat in hand. She whacked hard at the moose-wolf when it neared, changing the course of its direction into a tree. Cass having to duck from being hit. “S-sorry. Heh.” Jazz rubbing the back of her neck, she felt embarrassed about almost hitting some one in the cross fire. Seems she was aware only if Danny was present, more in likely because of her subconscious to keep him safe. That older sister complex of hers. Cass just nodded, standing up. She pointed at the blaster on Jazz’s hip, “Mind if I have two?” The moose-wolf stood up again, a gnarly growl. Jazz wasted no time in handing Cassandra her blaster. Cass moved outside of Jazz’s shield range, preparing to tango with the moose. The moose-wolf then disappeared. Causing Cass to frown, glancing at Jazz. “Ghost can turn invisible, animal ghosts usually don’t but doesn’t mean they can’t-AH!” Jazz screamed as she stumbled back, the shield popped around her. It glitched and frizzed. The moose-wolf reappeared as the shock caused its form to show. Cass didn’t loose the chance to shoot at it. The Moose-wolf howled and turned to charge towards Cass. She leaped into the trees, grabbing onto the lowest branch, swinging up onto it. The ghost followed her up, when a bat flew into the air and struck the moose-wolf back down. Jazz had flung her bat to keep the ghost from following. Cass took the chance to shoot again. This time the angle didn’t allow her to hit vulnerable points. She kept moving in the branches, hoping her constant shooting would still do the trick. The moose-ghost was getting agitated. It stomped and dug into the dirt, before phasing into the ground to avoid the ecto beams. Cass frowned, watching Jazz collect

her bat. She didn’t see a sign of the ghost, until Jazz’s eyes widened and pointed behind her. It wasn’t a quick enough warning. She felt the antlers dig into her back and toss her up into the air. She grunted as branches whacked her face and she spun in the air. She twisted to turn the momentum into her court. Aiming the blasters, she shot at the ghost before it phased into the ground again. Landing like a cat back on her feet. “Are you ok-Ah!” Jazz was running towards her, when her shield activated again. The moose-wolf attacked from below, sending Jazz in a bubble up into the air. The shield phasing out once the ghost was out of range. Cass used her grappling hook, on a high branch, pulling herself up into the air to catch Jazz in her arms. The red-haired teen clung to her, eyes wide, body shaking. Jazz was trying to repeat a mantra to herself, but she clearly felt unprepared for this. She was out of her element, and watching this ally of Batman’s, made her feel really out of her league. Danny didn’t need her, he needed people like them. Doubt swelling in her mind, as fear consumed her. Cass swung them around, preparing to land when the ghost appeared above them ready to charge. She gritted her teeth, unhooking the grappling hook. She wrapped her arms tightly around Jazz, as the ghost made contact slamming them into the ground. The shield shattered upon impact with the ground and the belt buckle burst, going from a bright glowing green to pitch black. Cass tumbled protecting Jazz from the majority of the fall. They rolled several feet. The moose-wolf dug its hoof into the ground, ready to charge. Cass reached to grab a blaster, struggling to move. Jazz rolled herself up onto her hands and knees. She was in better condition, but still shook from shock. She fumbled with the other blaster, aiming with shaky hands. Cursing herself for being consumed with pity, and self-doubt at a time like this. Didn’t matter what they needed, she is what they had. She fired repeatedly at the moose-wolf, remembering Danny’s previous advice. She rapid fired at the knees and the eyes, switching targets, while she played back in her mind how Cass had fought. The moose-wolf hybrid ghost didn’t stop in its charge, even as it stumbled and tripped from the shots. Jazz having shifted her body in front of Cass, preparing to take the brunt this time. Cass had grabbed the blaster she was reaching for, and aimed through the small opening that Jazz’s side gave her. They repeatedly shot at the ghost as it neared, causing it to tumble. The momentum of the ghost will cause it to roll right on top of them. Or it would have, if a large green shield didn’t encase them, sending the moose-wolf off in a direction like a ball. Jazz and Cass panted, lowering their weapons. A voice startled them both, whipping their heads back to see Batman standing there, with the ghost shield in his hands. “Are you both alright?” Batman glanced between the disheveled Jazz and the grounded Cass. They nodded in response, Cass moving to get up. Jazz jumping at the chance to help her. Once they were both standing and dusting each other off, they let out a relieved laugh. Batman walked closer, glancing over to make sure they weren’t injured. “Where are the others?” “At the plane. We were ambushed after landing.” “Did you see Danny?” Cass shook her head, but she could have missed him while running away from the ghost. Jazz pursed her lips in concern, but dismissed her worry. “I’m sure he made it to them. He has the knack for popping up at the right time.” Jazz convinced herself, gathering up what she dropped. Getting a good look at the shards on the ground and her specter deflector’s busted buckle. Jazz hated that it was busted, after Danny spent so long working on it too, but it had full filled its purpose. It kept them safe. They all froze, hearing the terrifying wail echo through the forest. “That’s.. where I came from.” Cass informed. All three of them felt the surge of urgency and ran towards the echo.