#The GIW is still a threat though

[jinjeriffic]

DPxDC and OOC

I've had a couple of posts cross my dash recently where people lament that a lot of the dpxdc fandom writes characters very OOC and how we're proliferating these characterizations among each other. I figured I'd add my own two cents.

I think the fundamental discrepancy comes from trying to reconcile two canons with vastly different tones.

Danny Phantom is a comedy superhero show operating on cartoon logic. Why do ghost experts Jack and Maddie never realize their own kid is a ghost? Why is the status quo restored at the end of every episode? Why does Danny shoot an ectoblast out of his butt that one time? Because it's funny. It's cartoony action fun where the plot is resolved in 22 minutes, there's never any lasting consequences and it's aimed at kids.

DC meanwhile wants to be taken Seriously. Heroes get beaten within an inch of their life, traumatized, killed and even the good guys do messed up things (often to each other). Yes there's action and puns, but also horrific violence, actions have consequences and it's (mostly) aimed at adults. When a main character dies the comics show their family and friends mourning and things are very dramatic. Even though at this point we, the audience can pretty much expect every death to be undone within 2-5 years of publishing, but I digress.

So how do we, the fanfic/fanart creators reconcile these differences when we make our crossovers? We either make DP more serious and somber, or we make DC more comedic.

Suddenly we have a DP verse where the Fentons' bumbling obliviousness is elevated to serious neglect or outright abuse. The GiW are no longer a minor annoyance, they are a serious threat with genocidal plans and a desire to vivisect the protagonist. When actions have consequences, we imagine Danny as dealing with serious PTSD from having to be a solo superhero and witnessing his family's death that one time (and maybe also getting vivisected). Danny is not just a teen superhero, he's now the Ghost King with serious responsibility on his shoulders.

On the flipside, if we make DC more comedic we tend to exaggerate character traits for comedic effect, focus more on the interpersonal dynamics (especially the Batfam) and have the characters act more casual and silly. Suddenly the Batfam goes from a group of seriously messed up individuals who have trouble communicating with each other and fight all the time to Batdad "Kids if you don't stop killing criminals you won't get dessert ffs" Bruce. Violence is played for laughs instead of taken seriously. Yeah they fight, but they still Love Each Other.

And THIS IS PERFECTLY FINE. It's transformative work! And trying to reconcile these disparate fandoms is hard! Fandom is a labor of love. We do it for free. We do it for our own entertainment. And no one is forcing you to read fics you don't like. DLDR and all that.

[too-much-tma-stuff]

No Body to Bury

This is a full dead spin off of another one shot I read about Danny being given flowers for his grave by a child.

-------

The Justice League had been working with Phantom for a while now, not consistently, but he showed up when they were dealing with something ~spooky~, and he’d given them a way to contact him. They called him in to consult, or to back them up sometimes because he was a bit of a power-house. At first they had thought the name was part of his shtick, after all his powers were ghostly enough and there was something satisfying about having a theme.

They had started to suspect something when the child citizen had given him flowers for his grave, and his delighted reaction. It could have just been a kid happy to get a gift, but it wasn’t, it was clearly more then that and Batman had had a flashback to one of Constantine’s crash course lesson’s on supernatural, the one on ghosts. Graves were very important to them, as were morning gifts like flowers and candles, whatever was culturally appropriate.

None of them knew where Phantom’s grave was, Batman had tried to find it, to find anything about the ghosts life and death, but there wasn’t much. Not before he became a hero in Amity park, so he could maybe guess that the other had died in Amity (if he had died), but there was no deaths that matched up with his appearance. The closest thing was a boy named Danny but he had gone missing years after Phantom showed up, and he’d never been declared dead officially. More was impossible to find, even after the GIW had been disbanded the information they had destroyed about the town couldn’t all be retrieved.

Since Batman didn’t know where Phantom’s grave was he couldn’t leave flowers on it directly which meant he had to actually give them to the ghost boy. It was a bit uncomfortable the first few times, and his kids made fun of him for being emotionally repressed but… it made Phantom so happy, and brought him closer and closer to Batman. He had already started to see Phantom as one of his kids, even if he knew he’d never get the ghost to come back to the manor. The gifts helped, he found that Phantom also liked to receive food, he even picked at it sometimes even though it seemed he didn’t need to eat. Sharing meals with him was a good excuse to actually talk some though, Batman would listen and eat his own food as Phantom picked at his and rambled about space, about recent fights he’d been in, and people he’d met.

Through all that Batman managed to learn more about the young hero, about what he valued, and what he did when he wasn’t being a hero. Apparently he spent a lot of time off world but exploring rather then being a hero to the galaxy. Batman had a feeling superman would be upset by that, that Phantom could be doing more good then he was and was choosing not to. But the ghost was clearly still a kid, or at least had been when he died, and he was plenty heroic, he didn’t need to be dealing with universal threats at maximum sixteen years old, Batman felt bad calling him in for the planetary threats, but sometimes it was unavoidable.

As they got closer Phantom started to let other things slip, that he’d had a sister, and a couple of close friends that he still watched over when he could. When Batman had asked if those people knew he was dead Phantom had fallen silent for a full minute and then changed the subject entirely, Batman hadn’t pushed it that time. If he had Phantom would have retreated, but as it was they kept having lunch together, and the boy let more and more slip. Including more stories about those friend he must have had while he was alive, it was during one of those that he let his name slip.

“So my sister said to me, ‘Danny you should-‘” his mind seemed to catch up with his mouth and he froze, Batman was still too but when Phantom started to fade from view he spoke up.

“Phantom, wait, why don’t we leave the tower and go somewhere private. We can talk secret identities, I’ll tell you mine too,” Batman promised, he thought it was the best way to make Danny feel better, besides he did trust Phantom.

Danny hesitated before fading back into full visibility and nodding, “Alright,” He agreed, looking very young and vulnerable. “Do you mind if I fly us down to earth? I’ll keep you safe from space,” He asked and Batman nodded, letting Danny grab his arms and phase them through the building and out. Danny flue quickly back down to the earth, the side facing away from the sun so it was the middle of the night, putting Batman down in the middle of an abandoned park, landing as well and going to sit on the swing set.

Batman followed, sitting down next to the young hero and trying hard not to think about Ace, another talented and powerful person who went through to much and died to young. Once he was sat down Bruce sighed and took off his cowl, showing his face to the other young hero. “I’m Bruce Wayne,” He said with a wry smile when he saw familiar recognition cross over Danny’s face.

“No way, that makes so much sense,” Danny cackled, which wasn’t the reaction Bruce was expecting. He’d ask about that later, instead he just gestured for Danny to introduce himself next.

“Danny Fenton,” the kid introduced, holding out his hand with an impish little smile. Bruce chuckled and shook it as if this was the first time they’d met instead of having known each other for nearly a year.

“I know that name,” Bruce hummed thoughtfully, back peddling a little when Danny tensed. “Sorry, worlds greatest detective and all, I did a bit of research on Amity Park when you joined us to see if I could track you down. I had ruled that out because your civilian identity didn’t go missing for two years until after you showed up as Phantom. Does that mean you’re not, well, dead?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck at the awkward question.

“Oh, no, I’m very dead,” Danny said with a bitter chuckle, pushing himself to rock on the swing a little. “But I didn’t die for a couple of years after I got my powers, not fully. I don’t think most people understand what it’s like to die twice,” He said, looking down, already pale hands going white around the knuckles with how tight he was holding the chains.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Batman said softly, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. “But if you want to talk, I’ll listen, and I won’t break your confidence,” Bruce assured, they sat quietly for a few more minutes before Danny sighed and looked away.

“My parents were.. well probably best classed as mad-scientists. I loved them and they loved me but they were obsessed with ghosts and with discovery, it was always a tossup which was more important. I would join them in their lab to get their attention, and it was often my job to clean up after them. I ended up being micro-dosed on this stuff they called ectoplasm a lot which probably helped when the accident happened. My parents were trying to build a portal to the ‘ghost-zone’, what Constantine calls the infinite realms. It didn’t work at first, not till I stepped inside it, then it opened and it electrocuted me at the same time as flooding me with that weird glowing green ooze. It killed me and resurrected me simultaneously but not properly.

“Instead of actually bringing me back to life it bound my ghost back to my own body so I became the ghost possessing myself. That’s when I started working as a hero, while I was still partially alive.” He paused, swinging for a moment while Bruce stayed quiet and still, trying not to think about what Danny’s homelife must have been life, or how much it must have hurt to be killed like that.

“After a while the GIW showed up, they tried to catch me, but my parents had been trying to catch or destroy me as phantom for years. The GIW weren’t nearly as competent as the Red Huntress, so I avoided and ignored them. But I started to take it for granted and dismiss them, I didn’t pay enough attention, and they finally got the drop on me. I don’t want to talk about everything they did to me, but it was bad, and it was to much for my human half,” Danny stopped again and bit his lip, there was a hitch in his breathing that told Bruce exactly why Danny was hiding his eyes.

“Danny died, but it turned out that being half human was sort of holding back what I was capable of as a ghost,” He snickered with a little bit of bitter, vicious glee. “They couldn’t hold me anymore, all their little devices got left on my corpse when they forced me out and I destroyed the lab. After that I just… couldn’t go back to my life, it’s not natural. I died, they need to grieve me. That’s- that’s how it works.”

“And did they? Did you… get a burial?” Bruce asked, because he hadn’t seen anything about it in the news. His fear was confirmed when Danny took a deep breath and shook his head.

“No, I didn’t leave my body in the wreckage. I was worried… scratch that, I knew my parents would cremate me to try and keep me from coming back as a ghost, because they didn’t know I already was one. And that would weaken my connection to this world. I need to protect people, it’s half my purpose, I need a connection to this world.”

“Where did you hide it?” Batman asked, his breath catching when he saw Danny’s eyes flash a dangerous red.

“Why do you want to know?” He growled, bearing teeth that were sharper then they usually were. “You gonna give it back to my family for ~closure~? Destroy it yourself to curtail my power? I know Constantine is scared of me, he’d like that.”

Bruce immediately held his hands up in a placating gesture, of course Danny would be protective of his body. “No nothing like that Danny, I promise,” He said quickly. “But I just remember from what I’ve been told about ghosts, having a grave is important and, if you wanted, I would like to see you get a proper burial. It’s your body, you should get to control what happens to it but if you wanted a grave, a funeral, we have a protected graveyard for fallen heros. You’d fit right in,” He said with a uncertain smile.

Danny relaxed slowly, his eyes going back to green and his expression turning contemplative, looking back down as he thought about the offer. “Maybe… maybe,” He murmured. “It would be nice to have a grave, I’ve been leaving the flowers near my body in the ghost zone but… it would be nice to have a grave. I can feel the longing, the instinct. It feels bad to not have… have that, have something.

“But… I am scared. Would you be willing to- if you do an empty coffin funeral and burial for me, I’ll put my body in it, once the coffin is in the protected ground I can phase my body into it?” He asked, looking up at Batman worriedly and it was so obvious Danny was just a kid, a neglected boy who had been unlucky enough to die violently twice.

“Of course Danny, however you feel most comfortable,” Batman assured. Watching as Danny took a deep breath, more out of habit then anything, then nodded firmly.

“Then, I would like that. I know I am still here in a way so it feels weird having a funeral for me but, I still died, and I’d like to be remembered.” He murmured uncertainly.

“Of course, I understand. We didn’t get rid of my son’s grave when he came back because he still died. Being brought back, in any way, doesn’t really undo that,” Bruce sympathized, finally getting a small smile from Danny.

“Thank you Bruce, you’re a good guy. Now… do you need a lift back to the watchtower?”

“Yes please,” Bruce agreed with a sigh, finally standing up and pulling his hood back on. He had a funeral to plan.

"When we do have the funeral, can you ask your son to come? I'd like to meet him," Danny asked and Batman hummed, not sure how to explain the complicated relationship he had with Jason now.

"I'll try," He agreed, that was the best he could do really.

Part 2: here

[radiance1]

Okay guys.

Dragon Danny, this time not eastern.

BUT HEAR ME OUT, HEAR. ME. OUT.

He's made of....

GOO!

Not just any goo, obviously. But ectoplasmic goo :3

This au is gonna be disconnect from both the Ghost King and Ghost Prince headcanon I should say. Instead of being king of all ghosts, he's basically like...

A mega Blob ghost.

King of the Blob ghosts, even.

Like, basically the equivalent of those giant slime monsters or that King slime boss from Terraria but a dragon!

Whenever he's in dragon form, he can choose if he wants legs or not, if he doesn't, he basically just moves like, well, a snail. Obviously faster than a snail, but still. He doesn't leave a trail behind most of the time though, because he actually needs that stuff thank you very much and leaving a trail behind is pretty messy obviously.

Whenever he uses legs he just walks as any other two legged creature.

Because of his unique biology, he can basically shift between Eastern and Western dragon form at will. He can manipulate his body far more than that, but anyways.

So, Danny has outlived his friends and family, so there isn't much for him to really, well, do anymore. Like, at all.

The GIW was and still is persistent as ever though. Even if he's outlived the original members that were gunning for him.

Apparently, becoming a goo dragon and ascending to his status as King of the Blob ghosts bumped up both his valuableness and his threat simultainously.

Which he guesses is fair because if he saw a guy turn into a giant dragon and he doesn't have a positive relationship with he would see him as a threat too.

So, how did this lead to him being locked up inside of a heavily fortified base created explicitly for him to be contained within.

Well, funny story that (It's not).

He was just minding his business, having recently broken out of another containment facility by the GIW to try and contain him, and he went back to the forest near Amity Park to just chill as he always did.

A few... weeks? Months? He honestly couldn't remember, he was confronted by the GIW. Didn't take them seriously, got this gas/liquid thing shoved inside of him, knocked out, then woke up in contaiment.

Which is basically a giant hole in the ground.

Except that it's a high-tech hole in the ground.

Something, something, ectoplasmic suppressors or whatever that leave him less able to manipulate his own ectoplasm, which is a bummer. He can still manipulate it, of course, just to a far less degree than he could've before, along with that liquid that'll be pumped into him via some metal round in the ground directly below him whenever he gets too rowdy.

Well.

Consider him effectively contained.

So, time passes, how much he couldn't tell you since his concept of time is warped after living for so long plus, it's not like anyone there would really tell him if he asked now would they?

However, today seemed to be an exciting day, because something was happening.

He could see it in the way scientists scramble for an exit and how the guards run through his area. Of course, some still stay to 'guard' him, since he thinks he's some kind of priceless item.

A scientist's words, not his, but being referred to as priceless is nice.

And then wouldn't you know it?

That one scientist that said they would do their best to help him actually pulled through with their words! Thanks, Henry, he has decided that he will not kill you!

(He wasn't going to do it anyways, but it's fun to scare people.)

With both the guards gone, the ectoplasmic suppressors down, and no one to stick that liquid shit into his system.

Well.

You can say he finally gets to go apeshit.

And a dragon is a formidable foe any day. Add to that a rampaging, bored of his mind, petty, dragon that's able to manipulate himself however he wants?

Even better situation for him, how the facility is seemingly being raided right now!

Danny then, no warning, shoves Henry inside of himself. For protection, and then continues his rampage.

Meanwhile, the Justice League, the ones raiding said facility, is currently here because of the Anti-Ecto Acts.

A set of laws they do not, and will not, stand by.

[bet-on-me-13]

Danny goes on Vacation: Bad Ending

(Kind of a Part 2 to This Post, and specifically the comment made by @gamermineral about the GIW)

So! Danny has not had a Vacation in Years. Not since the day he became a Hero.

Its not even that he hasn't tried before, its that every time he does it all goes horribly wrong.

The first time he ever tried taking a vacation, Undergrowth broke out of the Zone and took over the town for a 2nd Time. It took a week to fix that mess.

The next time, he tried just going away for a few days, and that was the day Aragon and Vlad teamed up to try and take over the City.

The final time was a few years later. He had mostly managed to establish a Stable Situation after months of Hard Work. The Rogues weren't attacking as Frequently, and in fact many of them had become good frenemies with him over the years. Their Battles were more like Play Fights at that point, although he did need to keep them from going too far and hurting civilians.

He thought he was safe for a few days break in the next city over...

Turns out some random Cult decided to Summon Pariah Dark out of his Coffin in them middle of a Major City that very day. That Incident had both Secured his Position as the new Ghost King, and had caught the attention of the JLA. They approached him afterwards offering a position on their Team.

Still, Danny held off on having a Vacation for a while longer. He still didn't know if it was even worth asking them to cover for him, the situation was mostly peaceful and they weren't that big of a threat usually.

Eventually though, after a few months of working up the nerve he asked the Team if they could cover for him so he could have a Vacation. They had enthusiastically agreed, happy to help even if it was a supposedly easy job.

Danny left them a few instructions on what to do in the case of a Rogue Attack, and left for his Vacation in Space.

But he still wasn't fully sure, so he went back to check on them after 2 days. It seemed like everything was actually fine, and he left again.

A week later, he was feeling nervous again, and check up again. And it still seemed to be going well.

After one more minor checkup, he felt secure in the safety of the Situation. So he left to deep space for the remainder of his Vacation and enjoyed the hell out of it. He felt free for the first time in YEARS!

But the situation wasn't going nearly as good as the Team had lead on.

The Rogues were too powerful for the initial team dispatched to handle the threat, and they needed to call in a few more Heroes to fight them off. When Danny showed up for his check in, they had played if off as Much as they could and sent him on his way. Then they did the same for the next two times.

The JLA Team was struggling far too much, much more than they could handle. But they didn't want to call in high level members, they had too much pride.

And unfortunately, the GIW was there to "help" them. They said that they could use the GIW Tech at their disposal to contain the Ghosts until the Hero of the town got back, that their weapons were Optimal for battling them without hurting them.

And the JLA Team took up the offer.

The next time they beat a Rogue, using GIW Weapons, they sent them to the nearby GIW Base and called it a day. And they continued doing that for the entire month Danny was away. They didn't know better, they would later claim.

Danny returned from his trip happy as can be. Until he sought out his Fight Buddies, and could find none of them.

"Hey guys, I just checked up on the Zone." Said Phantom, "And I couldn't find any of my Rogues. Do you know where they are?"

One of the Team Members who had taken over Amity for the month responded, "Well, we weren't having an easy time forcing them back through the Portal, so we took up the offer of some Locals who said they could help."

"Oh!" Said Phantom, "So Ms Mason and Mr Foley helped? Or was it Mrs. Grey? Or the Fentons? What did they do to keep the Ghosts from the Zone?"

"Oh no, it wasn't any of them" Said the Team Member, "It was this little organization called the Ghostly Investigation Ward, they helped us contain all the Rogues in their Base. We started last month, and-"

And Phantom stopped listening after that. His Heart stopped, his blood drained from his face, and he felt a deep sense of horror permeating his Core.

The GIW had captured all of his Friends.

And the JLA had helped them.

[little-pondhead]

Thinking about if Dani ever gets added to the Villain Everlasting Trio au, like how would she fit in? Obviously the JL would have to figure out she's a clone and try and figure out why she exists ("maybe fenton is just that narcissistic?" flash asks, meanwhile batman is already texts agent a to get ready another room in addition to the three already prepared). Maybe she acts like the innocent kid in danger until heroes get close? batfamily trying to pspspsps her away from fenton? The trio collectively calling her their daughter?

I love this au so much, even if I still don't fully forgive you for making Tucker hot.

The way I SPRINTED to my computer.

Disclaimer: This particular AU has nothing to do with Fun Sized and Feral by @nutcase8691 or my Dani Fenton redesign from a while ago. This isn’t really important, but I thought the plot of this au might be straying the tiniest bit too close to the Feral AU (which I love btw) and I just didn’t want to cause confusion.

TLDR: Dani had to mature too quickly in their home world, so when she arrived in the DC universe, she finally got to slow down and be a kid. :)

Okay okay. Give me a moment. Since everyone is acting like the opposite of their usual self when they're playing villains, your question was, how would she fit in? To backtrack to this earlier post, I said that each of the trio's specific gimmicks somehow ties into their everyday lives. They looked at their immediate friends, family and acquaintances, picked out the traits they saw as 'villainous,' and then applied that to themselves.

Danny became a mad scientist because even though his parents love him through and through, they still hurt him the most. The threat of capture and dissection from the GIW didn't help, either. He wears a suit similar to his parents, pushes his hair up so he can see better, and his white lab coat looks a little like the GIW's suits. The suit is also red, which is the opposite of green, distancing himself further from his hero life as Phantom and connecting him more to his civilian self, where red is present on his shirt. He refuses to use his powers, as well.

Sam looks like an angel, which seems odd given her completely goth look and slightly pessimistic attitude. And if she uses her plant powers (shut up, she totally has them) as part of Team Phantom, then that rules out using them as a villain. They want to completely separate these alter-egos from each other. Well, one of the most significant sources of strife in Sam's personal life is her parents. In the show, they're seen constantly fighting with Sam, trying to mold her into their perfect daughter, when Sam is very obviously happy with how she is right now. So as a silent fuck you to her parents, Sam gets a hold of a Realm artifact, the halo, which gives her a pair of ghostly wings and the ability of flight. Now, she's the one in the air, and Sam is still doing what she does best, even as an angel. She tries to show the world that not all angels are perfect, and in fact, they can be downright monstrous. (This is where her more aggressive and destructive attitude comes in.)

As far as I'm aware, Tucker doesn't have any trauma related to his parents. (The lucky bastard.) He is the tech-nerd stereotype, however. And since he's from a cartoon from 2004, that means he gets bullied. A lot. The show focuses mainly on Danny, but you cannot tell me Tucker wasn't bullied like that, either. For the sake of the au, let's say Danny was taking all the beatings for Tucker. Maybe he was in canon; I can't remember. But not only is Tucker being physically bullied but so is his best friend. (Eventually lover!) And imagine his feelings when Team Phantom shows up to a ghost fight, and Tucker is absolutely useless the entire time. He just can't help at all. Danny and Sam are on the front lines, redirecting hits and doing damage control, and here he is, waiting for the Wi-Fi to catch up on his PDA. It eats him up. He wants to be helpful in more ways than one, and that's what the DC universe gives him. He takes another Realm artifact; this time, it's actually his by birthright, and the artifact drastically increases his physical power, just like he's always wanted. He learns Egyptian magic and dresses in a way that gives homage to his time in Egypt-which was traumatizing by itself, but hey, he has sweet beetle magic now.

Basically, Fenton, Manson, and Foley are all the results of the trio's frustrations and fears. They become the things they stress about the most to help cope with their everyday lives. The DC universe is their outlet.

So where does Dani fit in?

Well, Dani is a clone, as we know. Her creation and introduction to the world were rather sudden if you compare her to a typical baby. And that's what she is; a baby. Unless you jumped the timeline far into the future, Dani is barely a year old in canon (I think.) And after her team-up with Danny to defeat Vlad, she makes the decision to leave Amity and travels the world. She has to navigate an entire world independently, even if Danny wants to help her. So now, plop her in the DC verse. What's the opposite of an independent clone who's had to fend for herself from a very young age and has had almost no real familial bonds?

A kid. A scared, touched-starved child who's had no one to look after her for who knows how long. (Vlad doesn't count here.) Dani gets to the DC verse and cries because she and Danny can finally bond like she always wanted to. She doesn't have to put up a strong front because the trio is there to protect her. Dani is extremely young, and now she can finally be a kid. It's not mental age regression; instead, Dani no longer has to hold herself back from doing childish things or crying. Both are things that could be a danger when you're living on the streets. She spends almost all her time here now.

The Everlasting Trio had already missed her before, but they had just fully adopted her in this new world. Dani is their baby. Their little girl. She didn't ask to be born-she shouldn't have to suffer because it was unsafe at home. Well, they can make a new one, just for her, here in this universe. And look! There’s more clones for her to bond with! The GZ is more accessible than ever, and their commute between universes really isn’t that bad. They like it here! And the heroes and villains will never take her away, no matter how hard they try. Sure, Dani can have playdates with some of them, but she will wail and scream if anyone so much as suggests she stay the night without her parent's permission.

Oh, and she never stops being a little shit. If anyone doubts that Fenton and Dani are related, they are simply ushered online to see that one viral clip of Dani latching on to King Shark with her teeth and not letting go in the middle of a shopping plaza. The camera pans to the left a moment later, and the audience spots Fenton doing the exact same thing to John Constantine.

The first time the Justice League meets Dani, it's right after she got lost during a spacewalk with Danny and Sam. She enters the first place she sees, the Watchtower, and breaks down in front of Wonder Woman about how she can't find her parents and doesn't know how to get home. The heroes are baffled and try to comfort her until Danny comes barging in five minutes later, panicking over his baby girl missing. They reunite, the heroes are reeling, and Superman mentions he didn't think Fenton was old enough to have a kid.

Fenton looks up from his bear hug and goes: "Huh? Oh, no. I'm only seventeen. (work with me here) Dani is technically my clone, but we adopted her properly as soon as possible."

And now the League has two issues. Their most annoying enemy is only seventeen. And he has a clone.

What the f u c k.

Extra analysis: Dani's outfit is cleaner and a little fancier than what she wore in the show. She ties her hair up like Tucker and pins her bangs back like Sam. She already looks identical to Danny but likes to wear his sweaters, especially in cold weather. The oversized clothes remind her of her time with Danny in Amity Park, and helps hide her physique better, so it's hard to tell how old she is. She wears leggings to show that she no longer has to fight for her life every day on the streets. Now that the trio adopted her, she can relax and let someone else take the hits for a while. (We all know how fast leggings and tights can be ruined when doing literally anything.) Fright Knight gifts her a cursed doll that helps protect her in stressful situations and functions like an SOS beacon. JLD hates the bear. (She named it Strawbeary.)

She acts on her impulses more often, which the trio sees as a good thing. Even if that impulsive desire gets her in trouble, it gives everyone a chance to learn and grow as a family. Dani also refrains from going ghost at first, following her dad's wishes. Right now, she's just giving herself a break from her previous nomadic lifestyle. After a bit, she and Danny will bond over their halfa status, and she'll grow into her own unique core and powerset. The heroes dread the day the littlest Fenton decides to join her parents in their shenanigans.

[starwrighter]

surprise! I'm alive :D

Chucking out one of my prompts anyone can take this.

Prompt starts with the whole idea that everyone believes that ghost are malevolent, non sentient beings that aren't capable of feeling pain. Amity parkers believe that, the Fenton's and the GIW "proved" that and the ghosts that escape the portal have caused so much mindless damage that it just further cements the idea that ghosts aren't sentient.

But during one of Phantom's ghost fights The Fenton parents realize Phantom is a bit different than the ghosts he fights. They finally decide to observe Phantom more carefully after this (they're still shooting at him just watching him a bit first)

During this observation period they notice it's not just phantom's rapid power growth that's different about him. It's everything he does! He's proven to be more intelligent than the other ghosts, having managed to steal and operate Fenton tech despite the fact he doesn't appear to have powers like technus.

He has body language?! Subtle body language that isn't destructive or angry! He fidgets when he's nervous, smiles and is more talkative and expressive when he's excited or happy. He shows emotion more humanly than any of the other ghosts showing emotion that wouldn't benefit him in the moment. Now the Fenton's wanted to brush this off as clear ghost manipulation at it's finest but in the most recent ghost attack gave a preposterous theory a leg to stand on.

They had been shouting their usual threat's of tearing the ecto scum apart molocule by molecule. Most of the ghost ignored them, fixated on the destruction they were causing but Phantom hesitated, the GAV cameras catching a look on Phantom's face that would be game changing.

Fear.

Genuine fear. It was not the robotic mimicry of human emotion they were used to. The emotion they got was that of a being that fully understood what was going to happen to it and had the capability to be afraid.

They compile all the footage of past ghost fights and ghost sightings and come to the horrifying conclusion that phantom is a sentient ghost who could feel pain.

They're horrified that they've been hurting this little boy (because that's what phantom is) who's just trying to help and didn't understand why the other ghosts lacked the empathy he had. As for Phantom's crimes they finally had a reason for them. He's a scared child , loney and confused with everyone around him trying to hurt him even though he was trying to protect people; of course he would act out!

The Fenton's show their undeniable proof to the GIW and within a week a law is passed stating that phantom is the only sentient ghost and it's illegal to harm him.

Danny is very confused to say the least, especially when everyone starts treating him like a little kid (Danny either looks young for his age or the accident happened earlier whatever causes more angst) The worst part is they don't believe him when he tells them some other ghosts are sentient no matter what he says! They just give him this sad look and nod or try to comfort him by telling him he wasn't evil like the other ghosts. The other ghosts like the thought of being able to get away with crimes without being charged so they don't even try to prove their sentience if anything they try to disprove theirs and prove Danny's.

Bonus Dp x Dc crossover:

The justice league is called about Phantom's situation Amity Parker's demanding that phantom be taken somewhere safe where he can be a regular (but spooky) child. Double points if the heroes don't believe any ghost but Phantom are sentient.

Tldr

Regular ghosts are too spooky for humans to believe they're sentient but Danny's halfa status makes him look more human and genuine (Vlad is not a true halfa you can fight me on that >:c) the other ghosts ramp up their acting skills so they can crime without consequence as "non sentient beings"

[chaoswarfare]

do x dc prompt #66

the anti-ecto acts were passed right when the justice league was first forming, and flew right under the meta-human rights activist’s noses.

The GIW start to get more aggressive, tracking down ghosts more efficiently, much to the dismay of the infinite realms. Phantom and his rogue gallery are forced to work together against the GIW and JL.

Frequent attacks in an attempt to draw attention to the laws declaring ghosts non sentient only backfires, and they’re declared official enemies of the US and rogues of the justice league.

It’s a constant struggle between the two sides for nearly a decade, until in a moment of weakness, Phantom let down his guard and vented his internal struggle while a young superboy still trying to find his place in the young justice listened in.

Now Kon has to try and convince the founders of the league that Phantom isn’t a threat, and the injustice the anti-ecto acts promote should be stopped, even though he’s still not completely trusted himself.

[mutable-manifestation]

Actual Scientists Jack & Maddie AU Part 4

Part 1 & 2

Part 3

Explaining The Papers (™) to Frostbite takes a While (also ™).

Though with no more imminent threat of “Vlad maybe finding out he’s the ghost king and becoming Insufferable (also also ™) about it” Danny was feeling a lot less stressed - Sam and Tucker, too, if the fact that they were actually drinking their tea now instead of just barely sipping at it was any indication - or they could’ve only just cooled enough to actually drink, the FF did tend to overestimate the level of heat they could tolerate just a tad.

Not to say that he wasn’t still stressed, given the whole “the Justice League is trying to summon ME” thing. But like. They were reaching out hoping for peace, not hoping to skin/dissect/exterminate him. 

Plus they don’t know how to summon him; he figures he has time. Hopefully enough to get Frostbite’s advice.

And mostly to cool his own nerves, because now that he knows they did try to help and are helping the Justice League is Cool again! And they want to meet him! 

Well, they want to meet the ghost king, but they already watched him! They thought he was a capable hero! 

Danny isn’t really used to getting positive feedback, so being called “good hands” by Superman - Superman! The hero! The Alien hero! (well, one of them. Martian Manhunter is also amazing but he hasn’t complimented Danny in person yet so he doesn’t have any expectations for Danny to live up to. Maybe. Hypothetically). 

The JL is so cool and they think he’s cool! Or at least capable! Except now he has to impress them not just as a hero but as a king?

Yeah.

Suffice to say, Danny is now a little nervous.

(And also maybe redirecting his nerves intentionally to be about the JL so he doesn’t have to breathe into a bag about being probably the only thing between the Zone and eventual total dimensional collapse because Frostbite was very ‘this is normal and okay’ about it but it’s eventual total dimensional collapse [ALL OF THEM] and it is Danny’s problem. But no, he’s just nervous about meeting the JL. Totally.)

Reciting pretty much his whole life story - well, the basics of his parents’ work and then pretty much everything from the portal onward - gives him time to untense, and honestly, getting it all out to a mostly uninvolved third party - one he likes and trusts - really is a weight off his shoulders.

He’ll never tell Jazz; the amount of I-told-you-so-energy she’d leech into the air would be unbearable.

Sam and Tucker tag in here and there too, and mostly take over when they get to the part where the GIW bought Fenton Works for a short while to try and destroy the zone. Danny winces at the memory of his behavior back then.

The explanation runs for longer than it could have, given the aside they make when they get to his parents’ theories. 

Frostbite is quick to confirm the combat-as-a-positive-social-behavior thing, and it turns out Sam is right about how to tell the difference.

Of course, Danny thinks they were all trying to kill him the rest of the way, but then that’s not a concern most ghosts have, so Frostbite offers his own perspective.

Skulker wants to hang his pelt on a wall: clearly unfriendly.

Technus is just having fun - enjoying playing with new technology in the living realm and throwing Danny around/being thrown around. He’s a friend. The whole world domination idea isn’t malicious as far as he’s concerned, because damage to the living realm doesn’t mean much to ghosts. What do they care about the living? What is the value of a single world as collateral when weighed against the games of ghosts? 

If Danny wants him to stop that, Frostbite tells him, he can just propose a new game.

Ember genuinely just wanted a powerboost from the Earth that first time, but her returns since are a gesture of friendship.

Spectra definitely hates him though. Which is good. He wouldn’t know how to feel if Frostbite had said that that whole mess was an attempt at friendship.

As for the thing with his parents, Frostbite compares it to winning a tournament only to find out the other participants lost intentionally. You haven’t really won a competition if the competitors were not competing. 

Like going in for a handshake only to get a “too slow” - even more insulting if it’s the first “too slow” you’ve ever gotten - Tucker suggests.

Or like asking a parent to a hug and only getting a wave. Not even a high-five.

They each go through another three cups of tea before the story winds down, Frostbite doing adding little more than the occasional nod or noise of acknowledgement - barring the social combat explanation, of course. 

It’s nice, Danny thinks, to have an adult that actually listens. Even if said adult is a dead yeti.

“You have given me much to think on Great One, Friends Sam and Tucker,” he says after the three of them finally run out of words, giving each of them a nod. “And soon, we shall have much more to discuss. First, however, it seems that I have a meeting to call. And you have living needs that require attending to yet. Eat, rest, and, if you would, return here… let’s say the day after tomorrow? Then we can begin to discuss the…issues. At hand.”

Back in the Specter Speeder, Tucker wonders aloud if “call a meeting” is code for yelling at the Observants.

Then he looks at his PDA and realizes how late it’s gotten - namely, past all of their curfews - and they promptly turn the conversation to getting their story straight (and three backups because they’re all feeling paranoid with how high-stakes everything suddenly became. Not that the occasional ghost looking to wreck earth wasn't already high-stakes, but the whole political aspect made it feel... different).

***

Danny is thankful it’s summer vacation at the moment, because the next morning is a Monday. 

He doesn’t know how he’d manage school with his mind miles away wondering about things like “how to king” and “how to maintain the fabric of reality” and other totally normal, non-stressful topics. 

Just normal high schooler things.

His parents are gone before he’s even up, leaving a note for him and Jazz on the kitchen table. 

They eat a quiet breakfast together.

The whole house is quiet. It’s unnatural, he thinks, and the small frown on Jazz’ face tells him she feels the same. 

They normally enjoy the brief lulls of quiet that their parents leave behind, but this is perhaps the first time they’ve ever missed breakfast - well, the first time they haven’t been in the house during breakfast at least. A welding torch, clanging metal, clinking glass, minor explosions, and excited shouting is the usual background noise of their morning meal - whether from the basement door or at the table itself.

This time, the silence is disquieting.

Even more so since it means that Danny could, at any time, be teleported somewhere. He really should have asked Frostbite about how that works before they left - they’d already missed curfew anyway.

After they’ve both finished eating, he takes the opportunity to fill Jazz in on the whole… everything.

She is, to put it lightly, Not Impressed.

“-s bad enough they let you fight Pariah Dark in the first place! You should never have been in that position! I know that you’re a capable fighter Danny, but you’re fourteen-”

“I’m almost fifteen,” he grumbles.

“You’re not yet fifteen,” she says, glaring into the distance, expression practically snarling. Danny thinks she might be imagining strangling an Observant, based on the… choice words she’d had for them earlier. “And they want you to be a king!”

Tucker chooses that moment to arrive, walking right into the path of where Jazz is glaring and freezing until Sam shoves him out of her way to close the door and drag him into the kitchen.

“Who spat in your cereal?” she asks, moving to sit and kicking the fourth chair out for Tucker.

“Whoever or whatever is responsible for deciding that a fourteen year old child should be king when there are no doubt numerous thousand-plus year old candidates who don’t have human lives they still need to attend to!” She bellows, throwing her hands up in frustration.

The trio exchange a glance while she takes a few calming breaths.

Danny kind of wants to point out that he isn’t a child, he’s a teenager. And she’s barely older than him.

But he does have some sense of self-preservation, even if there’s only so much self left to preserve. Heh.

Then she gasps.

“Danny! You’re still half alive!”

“Er, yes?”

“Maybe that’s why the Watching Wraiths didn’t say anything! Maybe you can’t be the Ghost King if you’re still partly alive!”

“But Frostbite said-” Tucker starts, only to be cut off by Jazz.

“Frostbite could be wrong.” She sniffs. “And even if he isn’t you there are millenia before it becomes a problem. The Zone can wait for you to graduate high school before it goes demanding things of you. Or longer.”

The words are decisive.

Still….

“The Justice League-”

“Can cope. They’ll be a little paranoid about retaliation, but a little paranoia won’t kill them. And maybe letting them stew a bit will teach them to be more active about taking down genocidal organizations before they hurt so many people.”

“That’s a great idea,” Sam says, tone saying the opposite, “except the part where they’re actively working on figuring out how to summon the ghost king - who is Danny - and are probably also going to try and make contact with Phantom at some point - who is also Danny.”

Jazz frowns.

“Well. You don’t have to be a king to talk to the Justice League. Just tell them you’re still too young - which is true - or that the coronation is going to take a long time to plan - which, according to Frostbite, would be a reasonable claim. And also true since you will not be taking the throne until you are at least 18 if the Fenton Peeler and I have anything to say about it.”

“Uh. I don’t know if the Peeler is the best idea. With your…aim.” Tucker cringes, shrinking back in his seat when her unhappy frown snaps to him.

Then she looks thoughtful.

“You know what. I’ll just use a specter deflector. You mentioned before how humans are ghosts in the ghosts zone; see if they still feel like making a child a king when they’ve got an unstrikable target punching their lights out about it.”

“Please don’t antagonize a bunch of ghosts who could try and attack you while you're sleeping,” Danny pleads.

“It’s bad enough that all this has impacted your sleep and grades and attendance records so much; I’m not going to let a bunch of ghost nobles - or whatever they’re called - mess things up for you even more. If they don’t like my proposals they can un-friendly fight me about it, and if you’re worried about retribution I can turn on the house defenses in my room when I sleep. But I am not letting this go.”

She stands.

“Since he didn’t give you a time, we’ll leave to visit Frostbite after breakfast tomorrow-”

“We?” the trio ask hesitantly.

“Of course. But for now, there’s something else we need to do, little brother.”

That said, she turns and heads for the basement.

Danny and Tucker blink at the abrupt departure, while Sam just frowns thoughtfully.

The three exchange one more meaningful glance, before sharing a shrug and moving to follow her.

They arrive in the basement to Fenton Fighting Ring rising out of the floor.

“Uh, Jazz?” Danny tries.

“We’re going to fight!”

In stark contrast to both her words and her furious demeanor upstairs, her tone and expression are bright and eager.

“Um. That’s. Nice, but you know that’s a ghost thing, right?” he offers hesitantly.

“I mean, I still fight with Dora,” Sam adds, the traitor.

“Thank you Sam,” Jazz starts. “But even without that example; you are part ghost, brother mine. That means fighting loved ones is a you thing. I love you, so of course I’m going to fight you.”

“Mom and Dad theorized - and Frostbite confirmed - that the fighting is a social behavior. Many social behaviors are also needs. Members of social species that are not allowed to socialize become stressed and their health worsens. Humans who don’t communicate with other humans for too long experience negative side effects, too little physical contact can lead to depressed mood and so forth,” she monologues as she moves into the ring.

“As you’re still half human, neglecting the social needs of your ghost half could negatively impact your wellbeing. Also. I’m your sister and I love you. If I could never hug you I’d be bummed. This is like the ghost equivalent of that. So. Square up, little brother.”

Danny is kind of touched, actually. 

Still.

“...Don’t you at least want an anti-creep stick?” he asks, gesturing at her general lack of ghost gear as he slips intangibly through the ropes around the ring.

“Nope!” She says cheerfully. “For this match we’ll be doing no powers and no weapons - just basic human strength and skill. We can try other kinds of fights later.”

Danny pales.

“No way! You’re a 4th degree black belt!”

“9th!” she corrects, still cheerfully - and she clearly means well, but for Danny that smile is beginning to look like an omen of ill fortune.

“That’s even worse!” he cries. “I’m only a blue belt! Barely!”

“I ~told~ you you should’ve stuck with mom’s training,” she sing-songs teasingly.

He cringes, but takes a stance.

“Now let's see how much you remember.”

That’s the only warning he gets before she’s in his face.

His strength, speed, stamina, endurance, and durability are all completely back to baseline in human form unless he actively uses his flight to compensate, but one thing he notes as the fight draws on is that his reaction speed is still the same.

Even so, it’s painfully obvious just how beyond him she is in terms of skill.

Without any powers to fall back on, Jazz runs circles around him like it’s nothing.

His reaction speed means that he sees everything she’s doing and that he has time to bring his arms up, but he keeps lagging trying to recall forms and getting shoved around for it, the defenses he manages too poor to be of any use. 

Other times he lags because he’s suppressing instinctual power usage.

And multiple times he accidentally, instinctively abandons proper stance all together, habitually falling into the stance of his usual “feral racoon” style of fighting - as Jazz had one called it - which isn’t much of a stance at all in a fight with no powers. Especially given how it's not made for someone fighting on the ground. She takes brutal advantage of every opening.

He’s on the back foot from the first second of the fight, and it’s obvious that it only lasted for longer than one because Jazz allowed it to, testing him.

It’s frustrating that he’s doing so poorly - he knows he’s doing poorly - but despite that, he really is having fun. 

It reminds him of the training spars at the Far Frozen - restrained skill set, fight with defined boundaries and win conditions-

Aaaaand evidently he let his mind wander too much. 

And Jazz noticed. 

And flipped him.

He’s thoroughly pinned in short order and he cannot for the life of him remember how to escape the hold short of cheating with intangibility.

“Uncle,” he calls.

Jazz pulls him to his feet and ruffles his hair.

He squawks indignantly, but she just chuckles.

"Good fight little brother," she calls as she slips between the ropes out of the ring.

"Our hero," Sam drawls as he follows.

Danny just pouts.

"That was just sad, man," Tucker ribs. "And I thought your early ghost fights were bad."

"I'd like to you do better against the 9th degree blackbelt," he grumbles.

"Don't fret, little brother. You'll improve with time," Jazz says as she rejoins them. "Though we'll have to do refreshers of all the previous levels first, given the amount of skill degradation I just saw. But with regular practice you'll back to your previous level and more in no time!"

"Uh. Refreshers?"

"Of course!"

"That seems a bit overkill just for sparring. Couldn't you just...wear a specter deflector or something? Then I can just not use karate."

Jazz, for the first time in a long time, levels him with a very serious look.

"You said that the reason Frostbite can't be the king instead is because he can't beat you in an all out fight. You told me the alternative."

She grabs him by the shoulders and stares into his eyes.

"Danny, Vlad already made a way to shut you away from your ghost powers. Frostbite may be unwilling to end you, and I don't think Vlad would. But you and I both know there are ghosts out there who would destroy you in a heartbeat for that power. And if Vlad has that kind of device, someone else could get one too. Ecto-weapons can give you a leg up if you get sealed away from your ghost powers, but you'll also need the skill to use them successfuly."

She lets go and steps back, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"Even with the ghost powers it's probably a good idea; the crown and ring might power you up but so did the exoskeleton. Clearly they aren’t the only power-ups out there so you can’t rely on strength alone. Skill could be the determining factor one day. And you already said you had fun," she smiles. "Come on little brother, give in to the karate side."

He grimaces.

"Didn't you say you were gonna make the royalty thing a non-issue for like three more years at least," he whines, slumping dramatically.

She raises a brow.

"A blackbelt isn't made in a day."

"Ugh, fine."

He's actually looking forward to it, but Jazz doesn't need to know that. He's duty-bound as a brother to be as annoyingly contrary about sibling bonding as possible, after all.

When Sam asks if they'll teach her and Tucker as well, Jazz is all too happy to include them - best not to have only one sparring partner, avoid forming bad habits and all that.

Both girls dutifully ignore Tucker's protests while they hash out a schedule. Danny pats his shoulder consolingly.

[strong-with-the-sarcasm]

Revenant!Jazz ideas:

Continuing from this DPxDC prompt of mine, I’ve had some more thoughts about Jasmine Fenton and Revenants, especially where it concerns DC lore and Jason Todd in particular.

———————-

In my original post, @starlightcat04 asked whether or not Jazz’s eyes would glow toxic green too. I propose that, no, they wouldn’t.

While it’s a common head canon that Ectoplasm is heavily influenced by emotions, Jazz’s Ecto-contamination is bone deep and pure, unlike Jason’s. So no, I don’t believe her eyes would glow green.

They turn from the teal she had in life to a smoldering green that reflects light just like a feline, with a heavily damaged sclera that is perceived as black in low lighting, with ash grey veins spreading from her eye sockets down to her jaw like tears.

Her once bright hair turns from a lively orange-ish red to the color of cooling embers.

That which caused her death, a punctured artery is half-way healed by the time Jazz reanimates in the crematorium, so not only is she supposed to be dead still, she also has to be very careful with her movements otherwise she could very well bleed out again before she is fully healed.

What else changes with Revenant!Jazz?

In exchange for a higher mental processing and the high damage absorption of Revenants, Jazz loses most (almost all) of her memories of her life. What she does remember is thankfully not her death, but rather Danny’s, his death scream and ghostly wail overlap in her mind, at times causing severe headaches and nausea.

(According to his wiki page, Jason spent a year in a coma and as an amnesiac vagrant, therefore it’s not entirely without precedent that Jazz wouldn’t keep hers.)

Her Ecto-contamination has to factor in a lot though.

Jason was revived by Superboy-Prime’s Reality Shattering Punch. Jazz was reanimated by her own willpower, aided by Ecto to allow her body to heal and regress the stages of rigor mortis.

———//:///////———-

What does Jazz need to accomplish as a Revenant?

In the original prompt I wrote that Jazz returned to keep Danny safe- broad enough for a prompt, but what exactly does “safe” for a halfa entail?

Let’s list the major threats to Danny’s health, beginning with the obvious: the Ghost Investigation Ward and The Fenton Parents.

The Fentons are capable of tracking Phantom by his Ecto-signature, creating and having created weaponry specifically designed to target the ghost in question, to which they pass that tech on to the GIW.

If Danny remains in Gotham, the ambient Ecto will scramble the tech over enough of a distance, but if Danny were in a line up of three people right next to a GIW agent he’d be clocked almost immediately.

So, the Fentons and the GIW have to go. How does this happen?

The greatest irony I could possibly inflict on these anti-ghosters- becoming ghosts themselves. I won’t go into detail about what my brain jumped to when I thought about that outcome, but let’s just say it was pretty dark.

(And karmically well-deserved.)

#3 on the list depends on where Danny is when Jazz is finished with numbers 1 & 2 on her list.

If Danny is is Gotham and staying there for the long haul, then I believe this girl would take one look at Batman’s rogue gallery and nope them so hard everyone in Gotham gets the sense of their world about to be rocked, but the ones she gunning for the most?

(Joker, Bane, Manbat, Firefly, Madhatter, Riddler…)

They get the sensation that someone just walked over their non-existent graves.

(I got a little gleeful demented imagining Jazz just straight up ripping Manbat’s wings clean off, burning Firefly alive and throwing a detoxed Bane into a crowd of vengeful Gothamites.)

(Jazz learns that Joker killed a young hero with a crowbar and a bomb. She’s fully onboard with turnabout being fair play when it comes to that Pennywise reject.)

(I can’t even begin to list every rogue Jazz cuts down, it she doesn’t kill all of them, just most of their number.)

(Gotham celebrates for weeks.)

(I’m not sure whether or not Jazz kills the four mentioned previously in a couple of nights, one night or over a a few months, but it doesn’t take as long as one might think.)

/://:///////:::/::::///////

What’s next for Revenant!Jazz?

I’m still writing The Regent series, so I doubt I’ll come back to this for a while, but I’ll still be posting ideas and whatnot about Revenant!Jazz. There’s still plenty to explore here, and I have a pretty angst/bittersweet ending for Jazz in mind I want to talk about later.

If you have any ideas to add, please feel free to comment! If anyone does write this, please let me know so I can read it!

[avelnfear]

Chapter Ten

Masterlist

Damian wondered if it would be okay to give into the urge to tackle Danny for cuddles now. He’d held back during the entire plane trip back, and he had snuggled with his mother rather than Danny when he’d found where they’d been fighting. He’d spent way too long pretending that he didn’t know such an important person in his life, and it was getting hard, he could practically feel himself vibrating in place. Damian was staring at Danny as he tried to figure it out, even though he knew that he could be considered rude for doing so. 

Nellie was curled into one side, so the other was open for snuggling and there was enough room on the couch. Finally after twelve centuries, it was only five minutes according to his internal clock, Danny noticed him staring and smiled an okay. Still, Damian waited until Nellie gave her consent too before diving at Danny.

There were gasps around the room, and Damian heard at least one person yell his most common nickname in the tone that said they thought he was about to hurt somebody. He ignored all of them in favor of finally, finally, curling up into Danny’s side, one arm reaching behind them to tangle his fingers with Nellie’s. Damian’s eyes slipped closed as he let out a noise of contentment, but he knew that there were shocked looks directed at him from almost every member of his family. It wasn’t his fault that acting like the well adjusted person he used to be would have doomed the world to ending, so he didn’t feel like the gazes were quite warranted.

“So. How about I start out with a brief backstory and then we can get into your questions?” Danny’s voice sent soft rumbles through Damian with how close he was to them. It made Damian let out another sound filled with how content he was to be right where he wanted to be.

“That would be acceptable.” Father’s voice was tense enough that Damian knew him being so close to someone Father considered an unknown probable threat wasn’t giving everyone else the same comfort it was giving him. Oh well.

Danny took in a deep breath, telling Damian which story they were going to tell before they even started. “This is not the first life we’ve lived together. At first, we didn’t really know each other. Tim and I were online friends who discussed superheroes, but we didn’t know each other irl, we didn’t want to. In those days Amity Park, my hometown, was a neighboring city to Gotham, only about an hour or so away. I was adopted at around the age of ten by the Fenton family, in that life at least. I met Jason about eight years later when a government agency picked up signs of contamination on both of us. They called us ghost scum even though the actual term coined by the species we were technically a part of is Existences. Jason and I had both died at least once, brought back at different times and in different ways, but it meant we showed up on their scanners.”

“They’re called the GIW and they’re nearly nonexistent.” Nellie sounded sleepy, but Damian refused to open his eyes to double check.

“Yes, I was getting to that, but thank you.” Danny was surely smiling at Elle, but Damian knew it would drop as soon as the story continued, this was a hard time to relive for all of them who were there and remember. “The GIW did horrible experiments on us with a secondary purpose of killing us eventually. One of the worst things they did was make us believe we were being rescued utilizing some sort of hallucinogen that would make us see and hear whatever we wanted to see and hear then pretending to break us out only to punish us for attempting to escape. It took too long for us to be found, so by the time a real breakout was actually happening-”

“Jason flinched at his own guns.” Damian interrupted, finally opening his eyes to stare at Jason as the memory of that day played in his head. “He only realized it was a real gun when he used it to save us from an agent who was sneaking up on us. The hope and fear that lit up his face at that moment will always stay with me. No one got mad at me when I started to use excessive force, mainly because they were too busy doing the same. By the time we realized Da and Pops were gone, we’d basically destroyed the entire base, leaving the crippled remnants of their agents behind.” Damian saw the horror in Jason’s eyes, and all it did was remind him of that fateful day.

Danny ran their fingers through his hair, and he let it relax him enough for his eye to drift closed, leaning into the point of contact. “We didn’t fully trust that it was actually real, so Jason and I ran to Clockwork and Frostbite, two Existences who live in the dimension all Existences can call home, the Infinite Realms. We stayed there for a couple months to a couple years, time is hard to judge around Clockwork. When we got back, we couldn’t be separated from each other for too long because that typically meant the next experiment would be absolutely awful. Jason and I lived that life to an end that was a long time coming, dying side by side in the same way we’d always lived. It was a good life. Jack and Maddie were good in that one, we managed to rescue Talia from the mind control and brainwashing she was under, and we lived a full life that was full of love and joy.”

“If only it could have lasted into the next.” Elle’s voice was so miserable that Damian scooted closer to Danny to tangle the fingers of their spare hands together, giving his precious ghoul as much comfort as he could.

“Elle is right, the next life was absolutely awful. Damian was never born because Talia died early, Tim died as a tiny child, almost everyone we knew and loved were dying left and right. A combination of having to personally see most of those deaths, Fear Toxin, Joker Venom, and being constantly dipped into the Lazarus Pit drove the Dick of that life to such insanity he eventually blew up the entire universe, forcefully making everyone  in that universe move on. Jason and I remembered our first life for the entirety of our second, but I didn’t remember either life we’d lived until I reached what I think is eighteen years of mortal life and full maturity as an Existence. Existences don’t age or count maturity in the same way that mortals do, so Elle is technically my adult child even though she’s only about sixteen-ish in mortal years.”

Elle hummed. “Jack’s a piece of shit in this life though.”

Danny groaned playfully. “You’re so lucky that you can swear because you weren’t there when most of the town got soul cursed because of that stupid wish.”

“What, you gonna tell me I’m strawberry crepe grounded because you’re jealous I can say fuck?” Elle was probably smirking, if the teasing frame of voice was anything to go by. Damian just stayed floating in the void of black behind his eyes, letting the voices of his loved ones wash over him as the sense of peace rocked him to sleep so suddenly that he barely registered when it happened.

~`~`~

“I’ve never seen Demon Brat go to sleep like that before.” Jason’s voice was quiet and full of shock, managing to express himself while still making sure he didn’t wake his brother up.

“You mean you don’t remember him sleeping like this before, just like you don’t remember him ever calling you Pops before.” There was a slight smirk on Danny’s face that Jason saw in the corner of his eye as he kept staring at Damian, half expecting him to wake up because Danny hadn’t lowered their voice at all. “Don’t worry he won’t wake up.”

Dick shifted, drawing Jason’s attention to the stiff way he was sitting. “Why did he call you Da and Jason Pops?”

“Because that’s what I call them!” Nellie chirped.

Danny chuckled. “He married Nellie here in our first life, so we were his in-laws. Talia is his mother, Bruce is his father, Jason is his pops, I’m his da, and you, Dick, are his dad. He just didn’t have a chance to address you as such before falling asleep.”

“How does he remember? Is there a way that we could remember?” Tim sounded like he wanted to ask more, but Jason respected his ability to cut his questions off, staying silent because he didn’t think he could do the same.

“I think he made a deal with Clockwork to prevent the chaos of our second life, taking upon himself the burden of remembering for us. I don’t think he remembers the second, because I don’t know if he ever existed in the second. As for a way that you could remember… Jason will remember eventually, as soon as the Pit’s Influence finally leaves him behind. As for the rest of you… only if you become an Existence, of which there are many types. If you’re asking to see if you managed to solve your case before, you didn’t.” Danny looked so sad at the end there that Jason couldn’t help what blurted out of his mouth next.

“What happened to Tim with the twin case?”

Danny looked even closer to tears, and Jason felt like kicking himself at seeing that expression on their face. “He died.” Shock kept the room completely still and silent. “He didn’t share it, adding another massive project on top of his work in his civilian life and his vigilante life. The rest of you, not knowing what was bothering him and not wanting to push him too hard just tried to pick up the slack in a desperate attempt at giving him a break. It didn’t work. The more time he had off from his other obligations, the more he sunk into the twin case, but he never found anything.” The words poured out of Danny like a waterfall of agony, paralyzing everyone else in the room with the sheer depth and intensity of the feeling. “It.. It got to the point that we all tried to bench him, but he grabbed a spare suit and snuck out. On route to the Twin Case Safehouse, which is where I live now, he ran into the Joker, who killed him. We.” Danny paused, taking in a deep, fortifying breath that had Jason stiffening in fear for what would be said next. “We managed to keep Tim alive and back to the Cave. He was the right kind of personality and in the right kind of space to become an Existence after death, but he-” Tears started leaking from Danny’s eyes, as he broke off to do some calming breathing techniques. A minute of silence later, he picked the thread of the story back up again. “He said that he didn’t want to continue existing, that he didn’t deserve to, because he’d never finished his case. He said that the only solution he could come to is that his target was already dead and he refused to continue living in any way when they’d already passed into Limbo. He was the first to die.”

“Who else died to the Joker?” Bruce’s voice was quiet and fearful, yet steady, like he was horrified of the potential answers but needed to know regardless. Jason needed to know too, Danny had come home exhausted every time he’d been assigned to guard the clown. Jason needed to know how bad it was.

“Jason and I in our second life, Bruce, Tim, Dick, Duke, and Steph in our first life. He ordered the bomb set that killed Jazz, Tuck, Sam, and Jack in that first life as well. He was at least involved in the situations that killed most of you in the second life as well. He blinded Dick only a month before he killed him, so there’s that. He baited Scarecrow into the attack that killed Alfred. He tortured Jon into silence and a near coma, and he was at least part of a lot of the hero deaths that occurred in that first life, although most of those weren’t the most well known of heroes. Every time I see him, I refuse to give him any satisfaction, locking my emotions and feelings deep inside to present a blank mask to him all the while fighting back my natural instincts to kill him,” Danny’s face and voice were as dark as the topic, “To torture him and show him just what he put my family through in a life he no longer remembers, to show him what true fear really is, to make him the focus of every joke he once pulled, to-” Danny cut off when Damian stirred in his sleep, automatically brightening as he turned a little more towards Damian to pass their fingers through his hair again, muttering things that Jason couldn’t hear that caused Damian to sigh and relax back into sleep.

“We’re movin on from this topic. You guys can go discuss whatever ya want to in another room, but I’m gonna set this couch up inta the bed it can become and Ma, Damian, n I will be takin a nap. Don’t disturb us for your own safety, now shoo.” Nellie glared at them while flapping her hands until everyone had left and closed the door.

Jason was worried for Danny, that was a heavy topic and a heavy burden to carry. He was worried for Damian too, carrying the same weight for so long must have been exhausting. Talia was waiting for them in the sitting room that everyone settled into for the post questioning discussion. She took one look at their faces and gave them all an understanding smile.

“I remember everything too. Jason and Danny both needed a stand in to take the burden of remembering everything in order for this whole thing to work. Ask all your remaining questions to me, I’ll answer what I can.” At the disbelieving looks she received, she let out a short bark of laughter. “I swear on my loyalty to High King Phantom that I will not lie to any of you for this discussion.” The words sent a feeling of power through the room. “Believe me now?”

Taglist: @blacksea21090 @chrysanthemum9484 @samgirl98 @may-rbi @justwannaseesomebrozawa @serasvictoria02 @treepainting @fluffykster @enderglace @sigdexae @persephoneblackrose @angelofsongsoteira @lazy-bouqet @littlefeather345 @icedbluesoul @autumnwulf @thefearfullone @alixanterm @skulld3mort-1fan @dulceringo @vidimirrayne @betinaplayingwriter @the-legal-shipper @currant-owo @crystalqueertea @fisticuffsatapplebees @bugaboo25 @dannyphantomphan @botwadtict @kyrianclawraith @mnemovoid @lyra689 @demiourgias @d4ydr34min9 @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @emeraldcorpral @bobred18 @emergentpanda-blog @apointlessbox @pastalavistamf @v-inari @shadow-otaku20 @hellomygay 

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Hail Black Sheep

“Mind if I bum a cigarette?” A voice asked behind Hood, startling him so bad he nearly fell off the edge of the roof where he was sitting, taking a little break from patrol. He had made sure there was no one up here and no way to get up here before taking off his helmet, and yet when he turned around there was another man on the roof. Dark hair and sunken blue eyes that reflected an odd unnatural green when the light hit them wrong.

Jason’s breath caught in his throat as he recognized the stranger. He had appeared in Gotham months ago and had immediately pinged the bat’s radar as a potential threat. There was something very wrong with the young man and none of them could figure out what it was, any attempts to find out more had gone nowhere because attempts to follow him never worked! More then that it seemed like any mention of him had been erased from the record, they knew he went by Danny and that was all. And here he was standing on an inaccessible roof right in front of Jason.

“Sure,” Jason said as casually as he could manage, shoulders tense and ready to fight if he needed to. He didn’t know why Danny had sought him out but this was the best chance to learn… well, anything about him that they’d had. He held his smoke between his lips as he shook another out of the pack and held it out to Danny.

The other man smiled, revealing canines that were a little to long and pointed to seem entirely human, not long enough to be vampiric though. He came over and sat down on the edge of the roof as well, out of arms reach but close enough he could reach out and take the smoke, Jason was glad he wasn’t any closer. Danny seemed to be making an effort not to seem threatening as he let Jason hand him a lighter as well, lighting up before passing it back.

“Thanks,” Danny said before taking a drag and exhaling slowly. “I hope you don’t mind I messed with your coms, they’ll work again just fine once I leave but I just wanted to talk in private.”

“What do you want?” Jason asked, tense beyond belief, his hand twitching towards his gun, Danny didn’t seem worried which made him all the more nervous.

“Just to talk. I know you and the Bats have been following me.” Danny said with a casual shrug, leaning back dangerously over the ledge.

“And yet we never manage to actually track you,” Jason said a little accusingly.

“No one sees me if I don’t want to be seen,” Danny told him flashing a cheeky grin. “I don’t exist~”

“Yet here you are,” Jason argued and Danny shrugged again.

“Here I am,” He agreed taking another drag, slow and deep, exhaling just the same to create a break in the conversation before he glanced over at Jason. “That looks like a nasty story,” He commented, touching his own cheek where Jason knew the scar of a J still sat on his own. He snarled wordlessly and Danny held up his hands in a pacifying gesture. “I won’t ask, I have some nasty stories too,” He murmured rolling up his sleeve to show Jason Lichtenberg scarring shooting up along his arm.

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you, I guess. You and I have a lot in common really, and you don’t follow the laws when you don’t agree with them, that too,” He chuckled.

“You know that’s why we’ve been following you right? You’re suspicious as fuck,” Jason said accusingly.

“I know,” Danny said with a little sigh. “Have you found anything at all?” Jason scowled and looked down, not wanting to admit that they really hadn’t. Danny just nodded. “You could look up the GIW to find out, not about me, but about what happened to me. Who declared me dead and erased me from the world so they could smuggle me away into a lab and figure out how to use me. I won’t let any of the bats follow me because if you know where I am then others might be able to find out. And I can’t promise they won’t add me to the wanted database again and they’d take that at face value.

“Interdimensional terrorist sounds pretty damn bad huh? Nevermind that I was fucking born in this world and it was scientists they hired that made me this way.” Danny grumbled, looking up at the smog covered sky.

“What way?” Jason asked, because everything Danny had just said was concerning as fuck but that was what he wanted to follow up on.

“Don’t worry about it,” Danny chuckled. “I’m not going to cause any trouble. I was a hero for a couple years as a teenager, before it got so dangerous with people hunting me, and now I’m retired as fuck, the only person I can afford to protect anymore is myself. But I want you to know that too, I’ll defend myself if I have to. If any of you or the GIW come for me again I’m not going to go quietly and I can do a lot of damage when I have to.”

“You know making threats does not help me believe that you aren’t going to cause trouble,” Jason said bitterly and Danny at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“I know, I’m sorry. I genuinely don’t want to cause any trouble for you, us black-sheep should stick together right? I’ve noticed that about you, all the folks the other bats and birds tend to overlook, you look out for them. The whores and the addicts and the street-rats. I like that, I was hoping you might look out for me too, I’ve been mostly haunting your area recently anyway. I could look out for you too? No one sees me if I don’t want to be seen and I can get into anywhere. I’ll keep an eye on things, if I find anything that you should know I’ll come tell you.”

“You’re offering to spy on me as a bonus?” Jason asked incredulously and Danny winced.

“Not on you, for you,” He promised quickly. “I’ll stay out of your business and I really won’t be any trouble! I’ll just keep an ear out and tell you if I hear anything in the way of plotting or people breaking your rules. Like I said, I like how you run things here, I’d like to help.”

Jason was quiet as he thought about that, Danny shifting nervously on the wall next to him as Jason finished his smoke and put out the butt. “Alright, you can stay in my territory, the bats don’t come here often. But I want some sort of accountability from you, at least regular check ins, once a week here and a way to contact you.”

Danny hesitated, biting his lip for a moment before he nodded. “Alright, Saturday night at midnight? I won’t come if I see anyone else around. I don’t have a phone or anything.”

“I’ll get you a burner next Saturday but this is basically a trial period. I know that the crap cops and the other bats say about ‘if you have nothing to hide’ is bullshit, you’re allowed to want privacy especially if you’ve been targeted. But you’re still suspicious as fuck and you’d better be telling the truth about not making trouble on my turf.” Jason said pointing an accusing finger at Danny before putting his helmet back on.

Danny nodded eagerly, looking relieved, tired, and a bit sickly. It wasn’t hard to believe the guy had had a hard life, if that hadn’t made him violent he was a better man then Jason. “You got it! No problems here, cross my heart!” Danny assured, actually making the motion which made Jason chuckle a little.

“Alright, see you Saturday,” He said before pushing off the edge of the roof, using his grappling gun to swing to the next building. When he turned around to look back at the building he’d just left Danny was already gone.

“O are you there?” He asked, tapping at his com to see if it was working again.

“Ya I am, what happened there?” She asked through the voice modulator. “Did you turn off you coms?”

“No, you’re not going to believe this,” Jason chuckled, but he wasn’t going to tell Oracle everything Danny had shared, wanting to meet Danny halfway with trust. Just enough to get her looking into the GIW, maybe if they could get whatever that was off Danny’s back he’d be willing to come out of the shadows and stop acting so fucking shady!

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Death by Exposure

Written for the Phic Phight Prompt: At first Danny had been worried sick that Wes had figured out that he was Phantom, but when no one believed him it had sort of become funny. Still, after the anti-ecto act, and the GIW, and his own parents very public very violently vitriolic screeds against ghosts, Danny had to wonder what he'd ever done to Wes that the guy would risk exposing Danny to all that. (from @hpwotters-blog, or at least I think that's you're tumblr.)

Other prompts that will be included in later chapters but aren't in this one:

Wes Weston wakes up to find an injured Phantom on the fire escape. (from @half-deadmagicperson)

With how much time he spends on basketball and his delusional conspiracy theories, no one would ever suspect that Wes Weston has another secret hobby… (from @kadziduo)

And Wes has been spending more and more time around Fenton and Co. lately - hey! he’s only trying to get some much-needed evidence against them, not trying to get all buddy-buddy with them. And anyway, they’re an entirely annoying bunch, so he wholeheartedly blames them for the fact that he’s currently being monologued at by the ghost holding him hostage. (from @a-closet-emo)

Chapter 1: Exposé

AO3 Link

[Warnings for anxiety and dehumanization]

Wes was the first and only person to figure out that Danny was Phantom without seeing him transform between the two with his own eyes. The first time Danny learned this, when Wes had loudly announced his discovery to the entire quad, he'd felt sick to his stomach. He was so utterly terrified in that moment Wes exposed his secret that he genuinely thought he might throw up from worry.

For a brief moment, Danny had been paralyzed with fear, panicking, and then the laughter had started. Basically everyone in the quad who didn't already know Wes was right had started laughing. They hadn't believed him. They had teased and berated him for coming up with such a stupid theory. None of them had believed a single word, and Danny breathed a sigh of relief, his queasiness slowly fading. 

That wasn't the end of it though, because Wes was determined, and confident in his theory, and he kept trying, again and again, to expose Danny's identity to the school and to the world. No one ever believed him. Some jokingly accused Wes himself of being Phantom and making up the theory to cover his tracks, much to the amusement of everyone else, who laughed heartily at Wes' offended gasps.

Slowly, the anxiety stopped rising into Danny's throat whenever Wes started to speak, and it actually became funny. Danny started to laugh and tease alongside the others.

It became all the more fun when Wes finally confirmed with his own eyes that his theory was true. Danny had to transform to fight Skulker, and the only one around was Wes, so he just did. He'd turned to Wes with a shit-eating grin and said, "No one will ever believe you." Then he'd taken off to deal with Skulker while Wes cussed him out from the Nasty Burger parking lot.

After that, Danny began to take great pleasure in antagonizing Wes, and screwing with him as much as possible. He was secure in the knowledge that, no matter how hard Wes tried to convince people, they would never believe his theory. Wes had developed a reputation as being a crackpot conspiracy theorist by that point. He could say something as veritably true as 'the sky is blue and grass is green,' and people would argue with him. Meanwhile, Danny was having the time of his half-life goading reactions out of Wes.

That had lasted a few months.

Then the anti-ecto acts were passed.

The G.I.W. came to Casper High School to give a presentation at a school-wide assembly on exactly what the anti-ecto acts entailed, and what the citizens of Amity Park could do the uphold the law and keep humanity safe from the ghost threat. Danny's heart dropped into his stomach as he listened to their speech.

"Since the passing of the anti-ecto acts," Operative O said in a cold, hard voice, "ecto-entities like ghosts are rightly classified as non-sentient beings. They do not experience emotions like fear, pain, anger, or joy."

With his enhanced hearing, Danny could hear Wes scoff on the other side of the auditorium. "That's ridiculous," he muttered, only to be shushed by the people sitting next to him. The G.I.W. ghost informational assembly had been long-awaited by most of the student body. And not just because they got out of classes for the first half of the day.

"What exactly is an ecto-entity?" Operative K posed the question as a segue. "An ecto-entity is defined as any creature or object that is composed of ectoplasm, produces ectoplasm, or requires ectoplasm to survive or to function. Here are some examples of ecto-entities that you may recognize." He pointed a small remote at the projector screen that had been set up behind the operatives.

"This ecto-entity calls itself the Box Ghost," Operative O said as an image of Boxy flashed up on the screen. "It is a class two ecto-entity, meaning that it looks and acts like a human. However, you must remember that ghosts are not like humans. Don't be fooled by their outward appearance and behaviors. Rather than emotions, desires, or logic, ghosts are driven by obsessions. These obsessions vary from one ecto-entity to another."

"That's only partly true," Wes started to say, only to be shushed again. Danny wrapped his arms around himself and silently wished for the presentation to be over soon.

Operative K clicked the remote again and a grainy image of Vlad's vultures appeared on the screen. "These are class three ecto-entities. They look like animals, but are able to mimic the sapience of humans. Do not be fooled into thinking that they are intelligent. Parrots can speak too, but that doesn't put them on the same intellectual level as human beings."

"If it did, they would have to pay taxes," Operative O added seriously while his partner switched to the next image. "And parrots do not pay taxes." The assembled Caper High student body wisely didn't laugh.

The next image was of an ectopus, cowering in the corner of a transparent ghost catching device. Danny's heart throbbed seeing it so afraid and he bit back a whimper. "This is what is commonly referred to as an ectopus," O continued. "It is a class four ecto entity. Animal in both appearance, and ability to mimic behaviors."

The presentation continued, showing the students each classification of ecto-entities. From class five, intelligent blob ghosts like Skulker; to class six, the more animalistic blob ghosts; to class seven, ectoplasmic technology. Finally, they circled back to class one. Operative K clicked the remote and a picture of Danny Phantom appeared on the screen. Danny could feel his heart stop. He wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but in that auditorium. Fighting Pariah Dark again would have been preferable. Fighting an angry Clockwork would have been preferable.

"You may think class one ecto-entities are indistinguishable from class two, but you would be wrong," Operative O said. "Rather than their appearance and ability to mimic human behavior, class one ecto-entities are characterized by the incredible power they wield. This particular ghost is the G.I.W.'s number one most wanted, but it's not the only class one out there. You may remember this ghost, that abducted your town into the ghost zone not long ago." Operative K switched to a picture of Pariah Dark.

"Or this ghost, that threw the world into a global climate crisis," K said before switching again to a picture of Vortex. They went on to show pictures of Fight Knight, Plasmius, Nocturn, Undergrowth—literal Ancients, ghosts with world-ending power, that they'd classed Danny with, and his stomach churned with dread. He was just a kid. He wasn't a god, or a king, or a force of nature. He was just fourteen.

"They're giving Fenton way too much credit putting him on the same level as those guys," Wes said, and the girl sitting next to him finally snapped at him to shut the hell up.

"Will you give your stupid conspiracy theory a rest for five goddamn minutes," she whisper-yelled at him. "I'm trying to pay attention."

"If you see a class one ghost, do not attempt to fight it," Operative O told the students as K switched to an informational slide with a big red phone number on it. "Run the other way, and call this number to alert the G.I.W. of the threat. Let the professionals handle it."

The presentation didn't end there. 

The G.I.W. operatives went on to explain that ghosts didn't have any vital points, so the only way to take them down was to do mass damage, and not precise damage. They described the functions of ecto-guns and ghost capture devices, many of which had been designed by Fenton Works, which had a weapons contract with the G.I.W. Then they explained what kinds of experiments they performed using the ghosts that were captured.

Even the sanitized-for-high-schoolers version of their ghost experiments made Danny feel sick, and tremble with fear. He wanted to turn intangible and sink right into the floor to escape. Of course, if he did that he would be exposed as an ecto-entity and the G.I.W. would declare open season on him... again. 

For the last part of their presentation, the operatives gave a demonstration of how to use Fenton Wrist Rays, which they then proceeded to hand out to every single student at the end of the assembly. Anti-ghost weapons couldn't hurt humans, after all, so there were no safety concerns with giving them to high schoolers. And Fenton Wrist Rays retracted into an easily transportable and non-obtrusive bracelet which instantly became all the rage at Casper High.

Danny refused the wrist ray Operative O tried to give him, saying he already had one at home. Recognizing him as the Fenton's son, O just nodded and continued to arm Danny's classmates against him. He ditched school the rest of the day and flew out to the observatory to help himself calm down. Once school was over, Sam and Tucker joined him. They knew exactly where he'd be—sitting on the edge of the domed roof on the cliff side of the building, where no one could see him.

"Danny!" Sam called out to him, and he reluctantly flew down to the ground and turned human again. "You know, it's not all that bad, really," she told him, try to reassure him about the days events.

"How is everyone at school being given the means to kill me not that bad?"

"They only have the weapons to kill you," Tucker pointed out. "If you'd stuck around long enough to see everybody try 'em out you'd see that they severely lack the skills."

"Their aim was pretty terrible," Sam agreed. "But more importantly, everyone at school loves Phantom, no matter what the Guys in White say. If anything, they'll use the wrist rays to try and help you fight other ghosts. They won't try to hurt you, or turn you over to the suits."

"Wes might," Danny argued. "He hates me and he's obsessed with exposing me."

"No, he won't," she said. "He doesn't hate you, and he doesn't want you gone. He just wants people to know he's right because he's a selfish dick."

"Sam's right." Tucker nodded. "Wes is all bark and no bite. He might yell all the time about you being Phantom, but nobody ever believes him, and I don't think he'd do anything to actually hurt you."

"Nobody at school believes him. The Guys in White are another story. They're already suspicious of me."

"Danny, we can handle the Guys in White." Sam put a hand on his shoulder, grounding and comforting him all at once. "We've done it before and we'll do it again. We always come through, right?"

"Yeah, have a little more faith in your team!" Tucker prodded, elbowing Danny lightly and coaxing a smile out of him. "Now come on, let's go home. It's way cold up here." 

"Alright," Danny relented. "And, uh, thanks guys."

Next

[samgirl98]

Cain and Abel Wept 11/?

Prev | Next

Not really proud of this chapter, but I need a transition lol anyway, enjoy Bruce's and Jazz's POV

Bruce would never admit it out loud, but he was jealous of his youngest and second oldest.

They had gotten a chance to be with Danny all morning and get to know him. Bruce could admit to himself that he yearned to talk one-to-one with Danny.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he focused on the task at hand; getting rid of the threat to his children (and trying to talk to Talia to tear her a new one.)

Bruce had Oracle monitoring the city to make sure no suspicious characters were lurking in his city. He may not have been able to protect Danny from the League of Assassins or save Jason from his death, but he would be damned if he let any more harm come to his children.

(Even in the short time he knew about Danny, Bruce had already thought of Danny as his, with or without the biological ties there.)

“Are you sure this will work? It’s not as if the whole UN is there at the moment, and the United States isn’t known for admitting its mistakes,” Maddie asked, bringing Bruce back to the present. Bruce was in the Batcave, talking to the Fentons through video call.

“It may have been last minute, but most countries are coming since it’s a call from the Justice League. It may take a week, but they’ll be there. You provide the evidence you and your allies have complied against the GIWs, and we’ll do the rest.”

“We appreciate everything you’ve done for Danny, Bruce,” Jack said, “We don’t think we would’ve been able to do this so quickly if it weren’t for you and the Justice League. It makes me feel a little bad we didn’t go to you first, but” Jack shrugged.

Bruce understood. The Justice League had been an unknown, and they didn’t want to risk their son (Bruce’s son). Bruce would’ve done the same thing. He could appreciate when parents put their children first (something even he forgot to do sometimes, though he was trying.)

“Do you know what you’re going to talk about and what you’re going to show?”

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking and planning. By the time they were done with their plans, it was close to dinner.

“Bruce,” Maddie said, “thank you for doing this for Danny and us. We will let Danny decide, but if and when he wants to have a relationship with you, we won’t stand in the way. Just be good to our boy.”

Bruce wished he had been there for Danny but thanked whichever higher being that his son had people as loyal as the Fentons when he couldn’t be there.

“It is my pleasure to help you and Danny, more so because he is my son. Thank you for saying what you did. I don’t want to force him, but if he ever wants to build a relationship with me, I would be proud to get to know him.”

“He is extraordinary,” Jack praised.

Bruce smiled; he already knew that.

____

Jazz was glad that Damian and Jason had left before dinner. As proud as she was of Danny, a part of her couldn’t help but be worried for her little brother. Damian may feel guilty, but he still brought unresolved trauma to Danny.

Maybe she should help Danny, but she would have to learn to hide her feelings about Damian. A part of her wished Danny hadn’t forgiven Damian. He hurt her little brother; he didn’t deserve a second chance.

She sighed.

That wasn’t fair. Danny needed this. She just hoped he wasn’t doing it out of guilt.

The small family ate dinner with their parents being cautiously hopeful that the Justice League would be able to repeal the Anti-Ecto Acts. Jazz wanted to be optimistic, really, she did, but she couldn’t be until it happened.

(She knew it was her paranoia but couldn’t stop herself.)

After dinner, Jazz, Danny, and her parents sat to talk about how they would speak to the UN. It was already decided that Danny wouldn’t show up (no matter how much he protested.). Still, he would give them evidence through rules, cultures, and literature written exclusively in the Infinite Realms.

It would be hard to prove a whole species was non-sentient when they saw proof of their poetry and romance books, laws, and art.

Next, Maddie and Jack would hit them with all the pictures and videos Tucker had downloaded when he hacked the GIW. Jazz hated seeing them but knew if Danny had to watch his subjects suffer, she should, too.

After a long evening of sifting through videos, photos, and reports, the elder Fentons decided to go to bed. Jazz and Danny went to the living room and put on a random sitcom show. The canned laughter filled the silence between them.

“You don’t have to do this, Danny.”

Danny frowned, “Of course I do, I may not have wanted to be king, but I am now. I have to protect my people.”

Jazz was shaking her head.

“No, not that, little brother. I mean forgiving Damian.”

The canned laughter grew louder for a moment.

“Who said I forgave him?”

Jazz frowned, “I don’t understand.”

Danny muted the TV and turned to Jazz.

“I’m being…selfish. Ancients, it's worse when I say it out loud.”

Jazz took Danny’s hand and waited patiently for him to continue.

“I already told him I don’t know if I’ll be able to forgive him; I won’t forget. But I want to build something new. I still want my little brother by my side. It might be toxic to want him near me even though I haven’t forgiven his betrayal, but,” Danny looked up, and there was a raw vulnerability in his eyes, “I missed Damian so, so much.”

Hours later, while Danny slept on her lap, Jazz couldn’t help but mull over his words.

She understood it to an extent. If she had been in Danny’s shoes and Danny had been the one that betrayed her, she would still want him near, even if it wasn’t the healthiest thing. Then again, at least Danny was honest with Damian from the beginning.

She sighed; what a clusterfuck.

If she could, she would find this League of Assassins and tear them a new one before destroying everything they had ever built.

She could get Damian to help her. It would be a good bonding experience…

Jazz tensed when she heard light footsteps on the roof. She wouldn’t have heard them if she hadn't had advanced hearing. Which means it could only be a member of the Batfamily.

Jazz felt anger blossom deep in her chest.

How dare they? Danny hadn’t called anyone else up except for Jason and Damian, and here was one of them clearly ignoring Danny’s boundaries.  

She carefully maneuvered herself without waking Danny up and took the Boo-staff. She was about to show how feral a Fenton could truly be.

Next Chapter: BAMF! Jazz and a certain member of the Batfam are gonna find out that you don't fuck with the Fentons. Extra points for anyone who guesses who it is that came to visit.

@spectralstardustandphantomnights @avelnfear @idfk-man10 @blackroserelina @candeartist422 @luer-mirin @mur-ururu @insufferablecrab @skulld3mort-1fan @meira-3919 @aethernorwood @mimilikey @marshmelloe @latheevening226 @ahyesanerd @lexdamo @chrysanthemum9484 @spooky-fm @gmkelz11 @jotaroslooseeyebrowhair @supershot73199 @starscreamlover

[wisecloudnightmare]

Tim&Danny Twins au

Just an idea. I can't write a story to save my dog's life. Can someone come to take it out of my hand? (the idea, not my dog, go away)

Kon is heartbroken after Tim has a boyfriend (Bernard). He travels (soul searching and shit) and meets Dani, and like, becomes friends with her. Maybe they tell each other they're clones. Maybe Dani senses something. After months of knowing each other, Dani introduces Kon to team Phantom as her clone friend and Kon gets to meet Phantom who looks just like Tim. But he's dead? Does Tim have a dead twin he doesn't know about? He's not telling Tim though, he's a teenager with feelings and it hurts too much thinking about Tim rn. His gut also tells him he's gonna mysteriously disappear if he babbles.

After many visits to Amity Park, Kon slowly develops feeling for Phantom but not pursuing him because he thinks he'll do Tim and Phantom a disservice, repleacing one with another (not quite true Phantom pulls him in at first bc he looks dead tired like Tim after tearing through four cases in three days (still sharp and competent but needs some rest), but they have their own charms). Danny's still unsure about letting an outsider into Amity Park's and his own business. Team Phantom isn't worried though. They went through Kon's life story after the first time Dani showed up with him. Some (Jazz) thinks Kon's gonna be good for Danny, some (Sam, Tuck) aren't that optimistic but placate with the knowledge that he has weakness and if push comes to shove, they can take him. Despite being the first to acknowledge their friendship, even Dani isn't above overshadowing Kon if he becomes a threat to Danny and Danny's.

They end up setting up a date for Kon and Phantom and with Danny's luck, it becomes their first team-up against a horde of ghosts on another ghost-steroid Jack tries to create to weaken the ghosts but fails. While spliting his focus to keep Kon from being overshadow, Phantom's human identity gets exposed in front of Kon. "Wait. You're alive?" "Eh, yes. But also no." They go on another date after this. With Danny as human and all. I don't know where they go but they really enjoy themselves, being all lovey-dovey (as much as two smartasses with existential crisis can be, that is). Somehow Bernard runs into them (can be literally, can be just seeing from afar). I don't know where to go from here, a timbern drama seems to be a logical leap but I want to add some conspiracy theorist!Bernard to this too. "Conner's tricked by Tim's evil clone from a shadow organization! I have to tell Tim!" (the irony alone...) Or something. IDK.

Eventually the truth comes out that they're twins and the plot proceeds like the usual twins au. I have no brain juice left y'all. The most important thing is the feels between Kon and Danny though. And Kon/Danny and Timbern drama (i.e. Danny feels inadequate, Kon's afraid Danny's gonna think Kon deceives him, Tim with his "I hAve a TwIn alL AloNg? WhY diD I haVe tO be AloNe All my cHilDhOod tHen???" breakdown, and Bernard's "Kon liked Tim? Am I the third party that broke their relationship?")

Batman is not (much of) a paranoid jacka*s here. Or maybe bc he's no screen time lol. Maybe he can shut down GIW for Danny, as a treat.

So, thoughts?

[gunebuggieswriting]

̶Good Bad Habits Run In The Family: Chapter Five

DPxDC Crossover, Jason Adopts Danny AU

[AO3] [FF.net] [Wattpad]

First Chapter || << Last Chapter || Next Chapter >>

Danny didn’t know where he was going, but he honestly couldn’t find it in him to care. His mind was a mess with running thoughts that fled before they could become clear. Almost like him and how he just ran away.

He wonders who was the person that was sneaking in there. Did they know he was in there? Were they part of the GIW? Did Red Hood know them?

It was these questions that came and went and then circled back around in a hurried manner that he felt like he didn’t have time to try and think of the answers. It was frustrating and made his head pound, but he kept flying aimlessly, the world around him nothing much more than a blur. The only way he was sure that he was still invisible was from the lack of shouting down below. He didn’t want anybody else to see him. He needed to leave this city, if he could actually figure a way out of it. It was ridiculously large and with him not paying attention to where he was going, he didn’t know if he was actually getting anywhere.

He sighed, an unnecessary breath leaving his lips before he slowly hauled himself to a stop. He wasn’t doing himself any good flying around without knowing where he was trying to go. He would only tire himself out and be stuck in here longer. What he needed to do was clear his mind a bit, allow all the boiling thoughts in his head to simmer down a bit so he could properly think.

His wispy tail separated into two legs again, and he settled down on a roof, leaning against the metal beam holding up a billboard. He didn’t allow himself to relax against it, or detransform for that matter, but to breathe. He didn’t need to breathe in this form, and sometimes it took more effort to get himself to breathe, manually taking in air and filling his lungs only to let it back out a second later. It was weird how unnatural it felt when it was supposed to come naturally. It was just another thing that reminded him that he wasn’t human anymore, that he never would be again.

He tried to focus back on his manual breathing, wanting to distract himself from those thoughts. Right now wasn’t the time he needed to think about all of that. He wanted to push it all behind him, to forget it all, to just be Danny again. Though could he ever really be Danny again? How was he Danny without Sam or Tucker? How was he Fenton without Jazz or his parents? How was he Phantom when the government deemed him a threat and he left the very place he swore to protect? How was he human when he was truly anything but?

He gasped again, taking in air with a shaky wisp, his lip trembling with his thoughts. He gathered his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his head in them with a broken sob. He couldn’t do this right now, he shouldn’t be giving into these thoughts again. He had been pushing them away as much as he could while in the warehouse, using Red Hood as a distraction, but now that he was alone again, there was nothing stopping all the hurtful things surfacing in his brain.

His breaths became more ragged, and he was trying his hardest to only focus on that, on his breaths. Ja- he was told before that getting himself to breathe properly would help him to calm down. Yet right now, it only served to remind him of everything he lost, of everything he’s done, and everything he deserves.

Tears welling up in his eyes, he looked up from his face being buried into his knees, wiping his eyes furiously with the sleeve of his suit. He didn’t go back to the confines of his inside turmoil, instead hoping the outside world would be a much better distraction. He saw how the sun was beginning to rise, and his forced breathing caught in his throat as he stared straight at it. He hadn’t seen the sun in what felt like forever, and he couldn’t help but admire its beauty at the moment, however dim it was from the city’s constant darkened state from the pollution. He hugged himself tighter, not daring to look down a little bit from the sun, knowing that he would be looking at the edge of the roof. He didn’t want to think about that either.

Danny continued to stare at the sun slowly rising. Watching as the sky slowly turned into a swirl of different colors, the stars blinking out without him really realizing it, the city lighting up with the sun’s rays peeking defiantly in the corners where the shadows once lay. It was wonderful, and although it didn’t make all of the teen’s thoughts magically disappear, it made them a little easier to shoo away.

It wasn’t healthy to ignore them, he knew that, he’s been reminded several times by. . . Well, that didn’t matter, just like his thoughts didn’t. He let go of the tight grip he had on his legs, letting them slip back down flat on the concrete roof. He didn’t transform back into a human, even though he had a hard time staying in his ghost half, the form bringing more harsh memories than his human half did. His eyes were drifting a bit from the sun, becoming more hazy and unfocused, but he didn’t fall asleep. He felt exhausted, sure, but most of that was mentally, as his ghost part didn’t need sleep. Perhaps his human half was growing tired, after all he didn’t exactly sleep yesterday, or eat in that case.

He knows that Red Hood would probably already have left for his daily, sometimes more than once in a day, visits and saw him gone. Would he be relieved that Danny was gone? Maybe, Danny doesn’t think the other would be worried, right? Sure, Red Hood was shockingly kind and generous, but that didn’t mean the anti-hero would actually care for him. He hoped not, as that would make things more complicated for him. He didn’t want anybody to care for him anymore, to worry about him and want to know him. The less people that knew about Danny and actually cared about him, the safer it was for him and everybody else. It has been proven time and time again how dangerous he was, and now he knew that he couldn’t keep endangering people because of his ignorance.

Danny sighed, rubbing his temples. Couldn’t he have one moment to himself without going down deep thoughts that only caused him headaches? He thought he agreed to shove them down until he could find a safe place again, this time away from people. Maybe he could find a ghost portal, but the only one he knew of was in places he dared not to go. Was there other ways he could get to the Ghost Zone? He didn’t know, nor did he know how he could find out. What would he even do when he got in the Ghost Zone? Fight the ghosts in there for the rest of his pitiful existence? Because there was no way that any of the ghosts would want him there without a fight.

Danny began grumbling underneath his breath, cursing out his fate and all of his terrible luck. He finally stood back up, his muscles sore and aching from the position he sat in for far too long. He stretched a bit, hoping that the pops would relieve it a bit, but knew that his ghost powers would take care of most of it. It was only one of the good things that came with his ghost side. Though the terrible parts and things that have come from it would always weigh those down.

Shaking his head once more, willing away the tiredness and desperate thoughts clinging to him. He allowed a bit of energy to form in his hand, molding it a bit into different shapes before letting it fizzle out, wanting it to distract him. The city was already waking up, the more dangerous parts residing for the day, although that didn’t mean the place and lingering shadows still didn’t have danger lurking. He knew he wasn’t invisible at the moment, but he hoped that nobody would see him from up here. All the vigilantes should have already retired for the day, so he should be safe from them up here, safe from Red Hood seeing him again.

At least that was what he thought. Before he could turn himself back invisible and fly off, with a somewhat clearer mind, and find his way out of here, he felt a shift in the atmosphere. The teen stiffened, his mind coming to a screeching halt, and he strained his ears searching for any signs of the being causing the disturbance. He didn’t hear anything, not even with his supernatural hearing, but he could still feel it, the pressure that was building up.

Then he felt a surge of courage seep through him, allowing a stupid thought to run in his foggy mind and come out of his mouth as he turned his head slightly. “Who’s there?”

As soon as the words left his mouth he mentally cursed himself, feeling all the courage drown into a puddle of panic. Well, if the person here with a strange aura didn’t already think the strange teenage boy with stark white hair and a jumpsuit was signs of anything unnatural, surely that did it for him. What if they were a rogue, or part of the GIW, or literally anybody else in this city that wanted to hurt him. Red Hood said it was dangerous, and if anything, he believed him, although he already knew that was true. It was one of the many things Gotham was famous for.

A few moments of silence passed, making the panic in Danny double over, and with his already hazy state, he didn’t think about going invisible and flying off. Even if he did, that would probably only make this situation worse, him giving up more proof to the other about who he was, about what he was. He really was in a pickle here.

Then he heard the sound of cautious footsteps slowly come forward from the shadows of the rooftop, watching as they slowly undid their hold on the person as they stepped out. He might have thought this person was a ghost, if it wasn’t for his ghost sense not going off. The sound of the boots coming closer made Danny fully spin around to look at the person instead of just barely peeking. It was Signal, Danny knew it was, as he was wearing his signature yellow suit with the bat symbol on it. Wonderful, just wonderful, another member of the bat clan has spotted him. How could he forget that there was also a day-time hero as well? This time while he was a ghost instead of a human, this could only go well.

“How did you know I was there?” The wary voice of Signal asked, his hands hovering over his escrima sticks in case the person posed any threat. He didn’t know who the boy was, but he did know that they weren’t human, not completely at least, if the flowing white hair and glowing eyes were anything to go off of. The teen must have also had enhanced hearing, or something, as there was no way he could have been spotted otherwise.

“I- um- well,” Wait, Signal narrowed his eyes at the other, seeing how panicked they looked. Was they some new rogue and didn’t expect to see a vigilante in the day or something? The other sounded pretty confident calling him out, but now they only seemed to want to get away. Also, was those teeth he barely saw sharper than normal, or was it just him?

“Who are you?” Signal continued, his head tilting to the side, taking another step forward. He had never seen this person before, and although they did look like a teenager, actually they looked around his age, that didn’t mean that they weren’t dangerous.

“I promise, I-” Danny hated how he kept stumbling over his words, not able to get anything out properly. He took a step back, closer to the edge, and took a breath. “I don’t want any trouble, um- sir?” Danny didn’t know how old Signal was, but he felt like it was only right to try and be polite, after all, he really wasn’t in the mood to fight at the moment. The snort he got didn’t help. “I was actually trying to leave the city,” He nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know I shouldn’t be here, but I’m sorta lost?”

Alright, now Signal was confused and on the verge of letting out a laugh. The teen before him seemed so anxious that he couldn’t help but believe him a little. “Okay mystery guy, maybe I can help you. If you tell me who you are and what you’re doing here first.”

“I- you see- I can’t tell you much.” Danny said, putting his hands in the air, taking another step back as Signal crept forward a bit more. “I really do mean no harm though. I was only passing through, but this city is huge! Like, how does anybody figure their way around here?” There was a small chuckle that escaped his lips, his nerves becoming worse with each second that Signal stared at him. What if he figured out who he really was? Would he try to capture him and turn him in the GIW? Did some vigilantes work with the government?

“Not many people come to Gotham, only ‘passing through’. It’s pretty dangerous here, and it seems like you understand that, so why come here in the first place?” Duke asked, taking another step forward, watching how the other would mirror him by taking a step back, getting closer to the edge of the roof, trapping himself. He would have to report this person to Batman, as having a new possible meta or alien here could cause some problems. If they really did mean no harm, then Duke wanted to make sure that they would be safe here, or at least be able to safely leave.

“I- I can’t really answer that. Please, you gotta understand or something. I have to get out of here.” Danny said, a little more desperately. He didn’t want to answer any of the Signal’s questions, knowing that he shouldn’t give anything away that could possibly backfire on him later.

Signal heard the rising desperation in the teen’s voice, how it cracked a little, and was almost about to let him go. Though the idea of him letting somebody go and then them causing harm later on, wasn’t something that he could let happen. “I know you’re probably really anxious right now, but all you have to do is answer a few questions and I’ll help you out of the city, okay?”

He took another step forward, his hands moving away from his weapons and one moving closer to the unknown boy, trying to show that he truly wasn’t going to hurt them. It seemed like that was a mistake as the boy took another step back, this time flinching a bit, and then freezing when his foot hit the edge of the roof.

Danny was full on panicking now, and no matter how much he wanted to breathe he couldn’t, his lungs constricting in his chest like they forgot how they didn’t need to breathe. When his foot hit the end of the roof, it brought him back to a few weeks earlier, a painful memory that only brought more with it. He needed to leave, now.

He spun around, watching how Signal’s outstretched hand went straight for his weapon as he leaped back from Danny, only proving how he really thought about him. He didn’t peer over the edge, knowing that the sight would make him sick, and jumped. He heard a shout behind him as he fell, and he turned invisible before the vigilante had the time to look over the edge for him and flew away as fast as he did last night, away from another bat. How ironic was this?

------☆------☆------☆-----☆-----☆-----☆------

Signal watched with terror as he saw the other boy fall away from the roof, and he rushed forward with a yell, letting go of his weapon. He looked down, but was surprised to not see anything in the street below. There was no flattened body or really anybody in sight, except for the normal civilians that walked as if nothing happened. Where did the other go? How did they straight up disappear like that? There were no open windows to slide through, no dumpster to land in, nothing that would have allowed the boy to escape that easily and so quickly.

Signal furrowed his eyebrows and mentally yelled at himself for scaring the other like that, he knew he shouldn’t have approached like that when the other was clearly on the verge of panicking. He sighed, and looked around, using his own power to see if he could track down where the boy went. He could see how they fell down a bit, and how his body maneuvered as if he was used to this, but then there was nothing else. They had actually disappeared completely, not even his powers able to detect any change of light after those few seconds of falling. Did this person have some sort of teleportation power? It would make a lot of sense given how people don’t usually blink out of a space like that, especially without disturbing light in the process.

Now that his powers were useless in tracking the other, he would have to report them to Batman and ask Oracle to look at some of the street cameras in case some of them caught where he teleported to. Though if they could actually teleport it brought a lot more questions. Such as why not just teleport out of the city or something? Unless the boy was lying, or perhaps was only limited to being able to teleport to certain places, maybe by sight or something. It was a confusing matter, and Duke knew that Bruce would be needed for this.

Grabbing his grappling hook he got down from the building and into an alleyway, easily slipping back into the shadows and allowing it to swallow him so he could get back without being spotted. Hopefully, as the mysterious person was able to know he was there, even while he was so sure he was hidden. He didn’t even really make a sound and the other noticed him. It was weird, and just another thing he would have to explain to B. He mentally sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long day, and that he would have to finish his patrol later.

When Duke finally arrived back in the batcave, he didn't bother to take off his suit or even his helmet as he made his way to the bat computer. He had already told Barbara to tell Bruce to be down here as soon as he could for a report of a new possible super powered teen in the city. That’s why he wasn’t surprised when he saw the man in full Batman attire right next to most of the other bat members, some of them in hushed conversation that stopped as Signal approached, he was surprised to see Jason among them. He had been especially rare to spot nowadays.

“What do you know about this possible superhuman?” Batman asked Signal, wasting no time to get started with the new case they had.

“I saw him on top of the roof of an old tenant in Shelton Street. He seemed to be stretching as I got closer to get a good look of him as I noticed how odd he looked.” He began, and Oracle behind them began bringing up the map for Shelton Street. “I was sure that I didn’t make any sound that could alert him, and I was also using my powers to stay hidden in the shadows, but he still knew I was there. That’s when I knew something other than just his looks were different from your normal everyday civilian.”

“Oracle, pull up Duke’s suit footage, I want to see how ‘odd’ this person looked.” Batman ordered, turning his head towards Barbara as she nodded and turned to another screen to access his footage, then he turned back to Signal. “What else happened?”

“Well, you’ll see in the camera soon enough, but I was trying to ask him some questions when I realized how terrified he looked. He said he wasn’t from here and that he was passing through, but he didn’t tell me much else. It seemed like he was too afraid to.” He reported, and he noticed how Jason shuffled on his feet and crossed his arms as he was explaining. He was again surprised by how quiet Jason was on the matter, as he usually always had something to say, and he seemed almost uncomfortable. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who noticed that, as Tim was staring straight at him, analyzing his every movement.

“After that, I tried to get closer, but he fled via jumping off the roof.” He said, and he could see Batman’s lip tighten and Jason tense slightly as well. “I looked over the side but didn’t see anything, even while using my powers there was no path that I could detect. It was almost like he disappeared into thin air, though I suspect they may have teleportation.”

“Hn.” Was all Bruce responded with before turning back to Babs. “Barbara, the footage.”

“That’s the thing B, the footage seems corrupted.” She said, clicking away at the keyboard, staring at the screen with a harsh intensity. “It becomes all glitched and distorted as soon as Signal faces the person, and then it suddenly is fine after a few minutes and they're gone. They must have somehow been able to mess with Signal’s camera when they're near. Maybe a blocker or some other tampering signal? Either way I don’t think I can fix it.”

“It appears that this superhuman has more than one ability then, or perhaps they had some technology with them? Which would have to be very advanced to get past all the security that are on the suit cams.” Tim added, no longer glaring at Red Hood but stepping closer to the screen and Barbara.

“What did the person look like?” Finally, Red Hood spoke, looking at Signal with slightly narrowed eyes. Duke won’t really admit it, but Jason kinda made him nervous sometimes, especially when he was dressed up in his crime lord stuff.

“He had bright white air, which kinda flowed like he was underwater. Pale skin, a black and white suit with a weird symbol on the front, and white boots and gloves. He kinda looked like a rogue or a superhero.” Signal explained, and looking back on it, maybe they were? Did the Justice League have any new heroes or something?

“I have not heard of any heroes or villains that would match that description, and I would know.” Damian said, a frown present on his face from not knowing something.

Then Cass appeared out of nowhere, slinking out of the shadows and appearing right beside Duke, making him jump a bit. Sometimes he swears that she was the meta with superpowers and not him. “I haven’t seen anybody like that either.”

“Was there anything else about him that looked off?” Red Hood pressed, looking at Duke again with a rigid body. It was almost like Jason was looking for something, or that he knew something and was trying to see if that something was connected to this. Duke frowned, thinking hard about what he might be asking about. Then he remembered something he hadn’t mentioned earlier and straightened up.

“Oh! He kinda looked like he might be a teenager, as he wasn’t very tall and sounded young. He also had glowing green eyes, super bright and stuff, and maybe sharp teeth? I didn’t really get a good look at his face with the lighting.” Duke said, remembering how the new light of the rising sun and the other’s glowing eyes didn’t really allow him to have a good look at his face from up close, even if he could control light to a certain degree. It was another weird thing adding to the pile of oddities this superhuman had, which was to be expected.

Jason tensed even more, his eyes widening only a small fraction, that reaction being reflected from his helmet. Duke was confused from this, watching as Jason turned away and stared at the batcomputer. Did Jason recognize the superhuman?

“Is there anything else that is needed to report?” Batman asked, glancing at everybody in the room, and took the silence that followed as a no. “I want nobody to engage with the unknown superhuman. We do not know their intentions or what they may be capable of. If you see him, report to me immediately and keep watch of him while maintaining your distance. From what Duke said, this person can sense others and mess with technology when nearby. Until we know more about this possible threat, I want everybody to keep a close eye on him and anything else out of the ordinary. The last thing this city needs is another person causing trouble.”

Duke’s eyebrows furrowed again, agreeing with most of what B said but grew confused with the last part. “I don’t know if this person is a threat though. He seemed to genuinely want out of the city, not to stay in it and cause trouble.”

“That doesn’t mean that they cannot be dangerous.” Batman said, before looking at Duke and adding on. “If anybody does see him though, do not attack them unless attacked first.”

Duke nodded, his hands tightening a bit as he looked at the other bats. Cass was already walking away, no doubt about to hide in the shadows once more, and Damian had already disappeared. The two assassins were scarily similar sometimes. Tim was talking with Babs about the whole camera situation and how it was possible, both seeming equally frustrated. Then there was Jason, who’s white out eyes of the helmet were narrowed and arms were still crossed, obviously in deep thought. Bruce was heading out, to do who knows what. Duke needed to get back on patrol as well, so he shook himself before walking out of the batcave as well and back out into the not so bright world of Gotham.

------☆------☆------☆-----☆-----☆-----☆------

After talking to Barbara about Duke’s camera becoming distorted like that, Tim had a sinking feeling that something was going on in Gotham. First, Jason started acting weird, then he found out that he was keeping a kid with him who had just left, and then Duke sees this supernatural teenager a day after that. He wasn’t an idiot, and neither was Jason, he saw how tense the other was, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. This was the “kid” he was trying to hide, and it made everything make much more sense on why Jason was being so secretive. Hiding a superhuman in Gotham right under the big bat’s nose? He should’ve known that Jason would be the person to do something like this.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead and filling up his coffee again. He had waited for all the others to leave so that he could be alone in the batcave. He was going to do this last night, but Alfred caught him sneaking into the cave and told, or more so ordered him, to go to bed as his night patrol was over. He tried arguing with the butler, but inevitably lost in the end as he could never argue with the man, and was promptly dragged up to bed. He knew it would be harder to leave his room without getting caught after that, as Alfred would have been keeping a close eye on him for the rest of the night, so he stayed right in his comfy bed and gave in to his tired urges.

Now though, he was much more awake and since it was well into the afternoon, Alfred couldn’t force him to go to bed. This was also one of the rare moments that somebody wasn’t in the batcave, either to try and solve a case or training, and Tim was eager to take advantage of it while he still could. With his new steaming cup of coffee in hand, he walked right over to the batcomputer, sitting down in the huge chair in front of it. The cave was mostly silent except for the occasional drip and Tim typing on the wide keyboard, like it was just as tense and anxious as he was.

He pulled out the harddrive in his pocket and plugged it into one of the USB ports, waiting impatiently as the screen quickly downloaded the information and brought it up on the screen. Tim went through the files, already knowing where to look.

He had gone back to the warehouse earlier that day, before he was called in by Bruce for the important meeting over what Duke had reported. It was a good thing he came, as the new info he had brought a new light to everything he already knew. He had went to the warehouse for the camera footage there, hoping that it could provide him some answers as well.

Finding the date that Red Hood first started acting strange, he clicked onto the file and began watching the footage. It was a bit grainy, obviously not one of better quality, but worked nonetheless. At first there was nothing, then around two in the morning the light was turned on and he could see movement in the corner of the camera. He paused it, and tried to enhance the image, but found that the low quality made it impossible to make out anything but a blurb of colors. From what he could see though was the red of Jason’s helmet, and the fact that it seemed like he had something next to his side. He unpaused the video and waited a few more seconds, watching as the two figures slowly moved to the other side of the warehouse.

Tim could make out a bit more, that the person appeared to be slouched over, and had black hair. Black hair? Didn’t Duke say that the person he saw had white hair? Tim watched more closely, staring as they slowly got closer, waiting for the person to be in a more clearer angle so he could get a better look.

That was when the camera began to bug out, the pixels becoming gray and mismatched as they danced around the screen, creating a fuzzy look. Tim abruptly stood up, the chair he was in rolling away with the sudden movement.

This was the superhuman. The camera did the same thing that Duke’s did, meaning that this person was the same as the other. This also strengthened the theory that the person had an ability that corrupted camera footage, maybe even subconsciously as the boy never looked at the camera to know it was there. This was huge proof that solved all of Tim’s doubts.

Jason knew the superhuman, and was perhaps more connected to them than anybody knew. Tim needed to get to the bottom of this, before everybody goes crashing into the bottom of whatever mess that Jason has caused. He stood up, took the hard drive and left the batcave, already knowing what he needed to do in mind.

[ghostboidanny]

This is OUR hero

Ao3 link Part 1

Danny Phantom’s secret identity is a very well kept secret. Not by Danny Fenton, even though he might believe that. Oh no, that boy is awful at keeping secrets. What with yelling “going ghost” in public places and using ghost abilities constantly. But the people of Amity Park … the people are excellent at keeping his secret for him. And they do not like any outsiders trying to hurt their little hero. 

A 5+1 story where different Amity Parkers finds out Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton is one and the same and can't do anything to help him. And then one time they can help him.

Prompts used this chapter:

The GiW have their eyes set on ALL ghosts, not just Phantom. So when a member of Danny's rogue's gallery goes missing for a worrying amount of time, coupled with a notable lack of white suited pursuers, Danny has a bad feeling. (PR293) by @grimgrinningghoull

The school field trip to the Guys in White facility goes wrong. (PR298) by @higgidigs

The GIW mess with the wrong ghost. (PR380) by @summerssixecho

Chapter 2: Into the dragon's den

“Did you hear?” Tucker whispered the moment Danny joined him and Sam by their lockers. 

“Hear what?” he asked, immediately lowering his voice too. Sam leaned in closer. 

“Apparently the school has been pressured to add some more safety things in case of ghost attacks, including requiring all students to learn about what to do in case of an attack.”

Danny groaned. “My parents are coming here again? I thought I would die fully last time they were here, I was so embarrassed.”

“No, worse”, Tucker said and he looked so grim Danny had to suppress the urge to immediately start looking for the threat. “The school has arranged field trips to the GIW facility. One year at a time, starting with us. Mr Lancer will tell us about it in his class”

Danny grimaced, his heart skipping a beat. “That is worse.”

“Worse?” Sam whisper shouted. “Danny! You can’t go there! If the GIW discovers what you are they’ll strap you down on a table and do experiments on you! Going in there is suicide!”

“I know!” Danny exclaimed, loud enough that a few people looked their way. He grimaced and continued in a softer tone so only Sam and Tucker could hear. “Don’t you think I know that better than anyone? But what am I supposed to do about it? Danny Fenton doesn't have any reason not to go there so unless I reveal myself to a teacher or my parents I’m not getting out of this.”

“But-”

“Besides, when else are we gonna get an opportunity like this?” Danny hurriedly continued before Sam could say anything else. He didn’t want to hear anything more about how he’ll be experimented on if caught. He already had enough nightmares about that as it was. It was easier if he convinced himself this was something he wanted to do. “We’ll get to see the inside of the GIW facility without needing to break in. It's the perfect opportunity to do some spioning.”

“It's called espionage”, Sam muttered and crossed her arms. “And it's a terrible idea.”

“No it isn’t. Think about it, this is the least risky way for us to get intel. We are invited inside and we’ll have the whole class with us and several teachers. The only other way for us to get intel would be to break in by ourselves.”

“He does have a point”, Tucker admitted, but with some obvious reluctance. “Even just hacking into their base would be a risk.”

Sam nodded, slowly, she too looked reluctant. “Yeah, but Danny … what if one of their sensors pings you?”

“I’ll just have to be very careful and keep my powers buried deep inside. You know I’ve become better at that, even my parents' things don’t react to me in human form any longer! And … you both know the GIW have been acting strange lately. There has barely been any white clad people on the streets these last few weeks. What if they’re up to something? This might be our only chance to find out what!”

“We could still do that without you”, Sam mumbled. “I think we should at least try to get you out of the trip.”

“How?” She didn’t answer and Danny nodded, his face twisted in a grim expression. He had hoped she would have a solution, because no matter what he might say, he really didn’t want to enter the den of the enemy. 

The bell rang, delaying all further discussion. The trio quickly collected their things and went to their first class. Which was also Mr Lancer’s class. At least they would be able to find out more about the trip. 

They piled into the classroom and sat in their usual seats near the door so Danny could quicker run out of class if there was a ghost. The other students were chatting among themselves and Danny heard more than one student mention the GIW school trip. Mr Lancer entered a minute later, and the class quickly shut up. Mr Lancer went through roll call and was it Danny’s imagination or did he linger on Danny longer than on anyone else? 

“As you might have already heard”, Mr Lancer began once he was done with roll call. “The school is going on a trip to the GIW facility in an effort to teach you all how to stay safe during ghost attacks. Usually we would ask the Doctors Fentons, but the school administration has decided on a new approach in hope it will help.”

“Our class is scheduled to go there next week on Monday with the rest of your year. You need to bring your own lunch but otherwise everything is already arranged. We will meet up here at the start of school to take buses together to the facility. Please be on time as the bus will leave without you”, he said the last part with a significant look Danny’s way. Danny tried to project his best innocent face, as if to say he had never been late, no sir. Though lately Mr Lancer and some of the other teachers seemed to have given up on getting him to arrive on time and to stay the whole class. They just sighed when he was late or asked for a bathroom break. It made ghost fighting easier, knowing he wouldn't get an earful once he managed to drag himself to class.

Sam raised her hand and Danny whispered a quiet but sharp “what are you doing?” which she ignored. Mr Lancer called on her. “Sir, if we’re going on this trip to learn more about protecting ourselves from ghosts, then why does Danny have to go at all? His parents are literally the leading experts on all things ghosts. I bet he learns more every dinner than he will during this trip.”

Danny couldn't help himself, he turned to stare at her, his mouth open in shock. What was she doing ? Did she want to jeopardize his secret? Sure, it was a pretty good excuse, but if anyone looked closer at why he didn’t want to go, it could backfire on them!

Dash snorted. “I think Fenton doesn't want to go because he’s terrified of ghosts. Every time one shows up he yells like a little girl and goes to hide! I bet he would pee his pants if he had to go into a whole place filled with ghosts. Even I wouldn't want to see that, so maybe it would be best if the coward stayed behind.”

Several of the students laughed and Danny could feel his ears burn. Dash had been a bit nicer to him lately, not having stuffed him in lockers or beaten him up for weeks. But it seemed like Danny’s respite was over. 

“That’s right, I once saw Danny run in fear from a blob ghost. A blob ghost !” Kwan said while chuckling. Danny hunched his shoulders and slid down deeper in his seat. Not his fault he had to always transform to catch ghosts so as to not risk any people making connections between Fenton and Phantom. 

“Oh please”, Wes Weston’s drawling voice cut through the laughter and Danny tensed. “The real reason he doesn't want to go is because he’s Phantom. He’s probably afraid the GIW would find out if he went.”

Oh fuck , Danny thought and exchanged panicked looks with Sam and Tucker. Of course Wes had to say something. Even if his attempts to convince other people that Danny was Phantom hadn’t succeeded yet, it was only a matter of time until they did. And if he said something while they were inside the GIW facility maybe they would listen to him …

“Oh shut up, Wes!” Dash yelled and Danny blinked in surprise. “I’ve warned you not to compare Fenton with Phantom! Fenton is a little whump while Phantom is a hero ! If you compare them again I’ll give you a beating!”

“Mr Baxter”, Lancer said, a reprimand in his tone, probably at the overly forward threat of violence. While the teachers looked away from a lot of things the jocks did, they couldn't ignore too much. But before the teacher could speak, several other students started speaking over him. 

“How dare you!” Paulina cried and dramatically threw a hand over her forehead like a damsel in distress. “My perfect darling Phantom doesn't look anything like the loser Fenton!”

“Dude!” Kwan said. “You’re such a conspiracy theorist, it's so annoying.” 

“I’m honestly starting to suspect you got a crush on Fenton”, Star said with a little smirk, eyeing Wes who was starting to get redder and redder in the face. “This feels like a desperate attempt to get his attention. But calling your crush dead is more than a little bit weird.”

More and more classmates joined the frenzy, all of them laughing at Wes. Wes sunk further and further down into his chair, his face blazing red. Danny started breathing again. While they were all basically insulting him as much as they were insulting Wes, it was a huge relief. He would much rather they think he’s utterly pathetic than have them thinking he’s Phantom. His secret was still safe. 

“Alright class, calm down!” Lancer yelled over the ruckus. It took a few seconds before the class grew silent again. “Pride and Prejudice, please stop insulting each other.” He turned towards Sam and Danny, his face apologetic. “I’m sorry Miss Manson, Mr Fenton, but the school administration has made it clear that everyone has to come. I’m not allowed to give anyone a pass.”

Danny sighed, but he had already accepted that he would have to go. It would be fine. He was always fine in the end. 

👻👻👻

On Monday, Danny was all but a nervous wreck as he and his friends walked up to the buses. He tried to hide it, but even his parents had noticed that something was up. Though, to be fair to them they had started to act more attentive lately. Which was great since there were no longer any dinners contaminated with ectoplasm and he had gotten help on homework a few times, but it also meant it was much harder to keep Phantom from them. But most amazing of all was that they hadn’t punished him for breaking curfew or sneaking out in a couple of weeks now. And the talks about ghost hunting - but specifically about hunting Phantom - had trickled to a stop. Maybe he should be suspicious, but he was too happy about the change to care. 

Sam and Tucker kept close to him, closing rank on either side. It seemed like they were only a second from actually startling to cling to him. Not that he could fault them. He wanted to cling to them too. 

They walked up to Mr Lancer and Ms Tetslaff, who were two of the teachers joining them for the tour. The teachers both frowned when they saw him and his friends. “Mr Foley, Miss Manson … Mr Fenton. I almost thought you would be late today.”

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you said that if I was, the bus would leave without me.”

“Yes … I did say that.” Danny stared at him in confusion. He almost sounded disappointed that Danny was on time for once. As if he’d wanted Danny to miss the tour. But that didn’t make any sense, so he shrugged the thought away. 

“Well, since you’re here, take a seat. We’ll be leaving soon.”

The trio nodded and climbed onboard. The moment they did, the bus fell silent, all eyes on them. It only lasted a moment before all conversation started again, but the atmosphere suddenly felt strained. Weird. Maybe the rest of his year were nervous about going to the GIW facility too. Or maybe they had all thought cowardly Fenton wouldn’t dare show up and were disappointed they couldn’t make fun of him for it. 

Halfway down the bus he saw Valerie, sitting by herself. She gasped when she saw him but when he met her eyes she quickly looked down. Danny sighed but continued walking. 

For a couple of weeks now, she’d been unable to look him in the eye. And as the Red Huntress she had stopped hunting him so relentlessly. He almost would have thought she’d figured out his identity, if it weren't for the fact that he was sure she would have confronted him if she had. 

The respite had been nice though. In fact, everything had started to get easier and easier. Red wasn’t as aggressive towards Phantom and would even team up with him against the ghosts most of the time. His parents were so busy with some sort of experiment they barely went on any hunts at all, meaning Phantom didn’t get shot at by them. He just had to keep an eye out for that experiment to make sure it didn't bite him in the ass. School was better than ever, with Dash and his other bullies having backed off not only him, but all the nerds. Most of the teachers had also grown lenient about giving him detention when he missed class and had started giving him make-up work and extra credit stuff to help him get his grades up. Not to mention that most of the public hate and distrust towards Phantom had died down. Seemed like they were finally seeing that he only wanted to help. Even his ghost enemies and the GIW had calmed down! During the last two weeks he’d barely been in any ghost fights at all and very few men in white had been seen out and about. 

Danny had actually started to grow suspicious and a bit paranoid. He never had it this good. His luck just wasn’t good enough for that. No, he’d been certain that something bad was just around the corner, waiting to jump out on him. Seemed like he’d finally found out what. A trip right into the bowel of the guys in white. 

They sat down near the back of the bus. Tucker next to Danny and Sam in the seat behind them. Danny’s hands were shaking subtly so he curled them into fists to make them stop. Tucker noticed and nudged his shoulder. “It's gonna be okay”, he whispered. “We got your back.” Danny forced a smile and nodded. 

The trip to the facility seemed to both take ages and be over in the blink of an eye. He’d seen it before, of course. He, Sam and Tucker had spied on it numerous times in the hopes of finding out a weakness or what the GIW were planning. But never before had he actually been inside, the closest had been the one time Tucker managed to hack the security cameras so they could see inside.

The facility was a practical fortress. Thick concrete walls covered in ghost repellent and with phase proof windows. And then to get to the actual containment cells, you had to pass through corridors of the same concrete and dozens of operatives, down an elevator and through several ghost sensors and anti ghost weaponry. Unless you had an army at your side, breaking in was impossible.

“Alright everyone, keep close to me”, Mr Lancer called out as the bus came to a stop before the doors. “I don’t want anyone to get separated from the group.” Did his eyes linger on Danny when he said that last part? Danny shook his head, he had to stop being so paranoid. 

They piled out of the bus and Sam and Tucker immediately closed up on either side of him. Somehow, despite having been at the end of the bus, they ended up near the front of the line. Valerie walked over to them and pushed another student out of the way so she could have the place before them in the line. Danny swallowed and offered her a shaky smile but she still wouldn’t look at him. Glancing behind him, Danny startled when he noticed Dash and Kwan standing behind him. The two jocks looked tense, hands curled into fists. He hoped they hadn’t suddenly remembered he existed and were meaning to cause trouble. He really didn’t need that. 

“Remember, kids!” Lancer called out. “Don’t touch anything and do as you’re told by our guide, behave yourselves!”

Lancer started walking, the teenagers following behind him like ducklings. Danny took a deep breath, it shook on the way out. Sam and Tucker took one of his hands each, squeezing. He squeezed back with a grateful smile. Though to his surprise there was no snide comment from Dash about him needing to hold his friends' hands because he was such a coward. 

Together they walked into the den of the dragon. 

White clad people everywhere . Despite knowing what was waiting for him, Danny still almost had a panic attack the moment he stepped into the facility and saw just how many people worked there. Guards and scientists who would all be far too happy to rip him apart. He gripped Sam’s and Tucker’s hands harder until he was afraid of breaking their bones. At least it seemed like all the other students were worried too, considering how they all seemed to cluster together. 

A woman in a white lab coat walked up to Mr Lancer and talked with him for a few minutes before waving him forward. The students followed closely and Danny had to remind himself to breathe as they walked further and further away from the doors. He wanted to make a break for it before it was too late but he couldn’t because it had been too late the moment he stepped on the bus. If he ran now people would just grow extremely suspicious. 

As they walked down long, completely white corridors, Danny tried to pay attention to the layout. That’s why he was here after all, to learn how to break in and out of this place in case of emergency. But he just couldn’t . Every time he caught sight of another person dressed in a white suit he was sure they would suddenly point at him and yell that he was Phantom. Every time he saw someone in a lab coat he was sure they would call for security to tie him down in a lab somewhere. He was spiraling. 

“Breathe”, Sam whispered in his ear. “We got you, just take deep breaths and concentrate on walking. Tucker and I will remember the layout and keep an eye out for suspicious activity. It's gonna be okay and we’ll be out of here before you know it.”

He nodded and forced himself to take a deep breath - though that only reminded him that he didn’t need to breathe as often as a human and would any of the GIW personnel notice? He ducked his head so he couldn’t see anything but his own feet and his friends on either side of him. Just breathe. He could do that. Breathe in, hold for five seconds, breathe out, and hold for another five. He could breathe like a normal person. Even if it made it feel like he was drowning in oxygen. 

They walked for what felt like miles. All sounds seemed to reach him from a far distance while at the same time as he was hyper aware of every little sound, listening for that first shout that meant they had figured him out. 

Danny concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and to keep breathing at a steady pace. Those two tasks were his whole world. So when they came to a stop he almost fell over. He would have if his friends hadn’t caught him. Looking up frantically to see what the threat was, he noticed that they had stopped before a pair of elevators. 

“Down here we have the labs and containment cells”, their guide said while pressing the buttons to summon the elevators. Danny stopped breathing completely. Labs. Containment cells. They had figured him out. They were trying to lure him down there to trap him. 

Tucker nudged his side and Danny almost jumped out of his skin. “Dude, breathe”, he whispered, glancing around to make sure no one else had noticed. Danny gulped down air. “No one suspects anything. You’re fine.”

He nodded, his whole body shaking. Just keep it together. Don’t act suspicious. Keep all ghost powers hidden deep inside and no one will find out. He could do this. 

“Now, you will have to be divided in smaller groups to go down the elevators as they only room twenty people at a time”, the guide said. “Who will go first?”

Danny did not want to go but he was pushed forward with the rest of his class. Somehow he ended up nestled right in the middle of the students, Sam and Tucker still on either side of him. It actually made him feel a bit better, like his classmates were acting like human shields around him. Still, the ride seemed to take forever and the walls seemed to be getting closer and closer. With a ding the elevator doors opened and Danny had to stop himself from running out. 

“Wait here while I go up and get the other groups”, the guide said and disappeared back into the elevator. Danny felt a little bit safer without her here. The only adult in sight right now was Mr Lancer. He was looking at Danny, forehead creased in a frown. Danny tried to smile at him but had to stop when it felt like he would puke instead. Lancer’s frown deepened. 

It took ages to get all the students down the elevator but at least it gave Danny the time he needed to gather his nerves and face this new part with his head held high. He had fought ghost kings and gods and his evil self, he could walk down a corridor. 

“And here we have the labs where we perform experiments to figure out how to create better instruments to protect ourselves from ghosts”, the guide said. Danny grit his teeth and tried to not imagine what exactly the guys in white did when experimenting on ghosts. But still, he didn’t feel too worried about that, considering they had never managed to actually catch a ghost as far as he was aware. Except maybe a blob ghost or an animal ghost. Danny did his best to make sure no ghost fell into the hands of any ghost hunters. Even the ghosts he really wished he could just leave to someone else for a change. 

“We’re actually developing some better ghost detectors that will soon be able to compete with those the Fentons are making. But we will be able to produce them at a larger scale, meaning we can protect more people. We will keep the ghost scum away from you citizens.”

Danny scoffed but luckily it couldn't be heard over the sounds of all the students around him. As if the GIW could hit a ghost even if it was standing still right before them. Actually, it was a bit embarrassing he’d been so panicked when first entering the building. It was true that if he was caught the experiments they subjected him to would be horrible, but first they had to actually catch him. If their sensors weren't even as good as his parents he didn’t have anything to worry about unless he lost control of his temper and actually used his powers. 

“And now we’re entering the containment unit”, the guide said and stopped before a pair of massive reinforced doors. She smiled and clasped her hands together. “We actually have something quite exciting to show you. We here at the Ghost Investigate Ward are aware that the people of Amity Park have lost a lot of trust and respect for us considering our repeated failures to catch the ghost known as Phantom.” Danny rolled his eyes. Yeah they really were awful in their attempts. The class shuffled around him, seeming to move in closer to him. They must be thinking the same thing and were trying to stifle their laughter. 

“Therefore, we decided to change our approach”, the guide continued, her smile growing wider. Something about it made a chill go down Danny’s spine. He tried to shake the feeling off. “We realized Phantom was far too powerful for the equipment we currently had so it stood to reason that what we needed to do was build our way up to him. Children don’t learn to run first, after all, first they need to crawl. So we started on level 1 ghosts and have slowly worked our way up the scale. Let me show you our progress.”

The guide turned around and opened the huge reinforced doors. The class hesitated for a moment before walking inside and Danny followed them in a daze. The first thing he noticed were containment chambers lining each side of the corridor. Then he saw the ghosts inside. The first few containment rooms only held blob ghosts, though the sight of them was tragic enough. Most were lying motionless on the floor and the few that moved were doing so lethargically. So unlike the bubbly little blobs he was used to. Then, the animal ghosts started to appear. 

Small ghost animals first, ghost rats and mice, then cats and dogs and then ghosts of various wild animals. Wolves and deer, even one moose. Danny gasped and barely kept from pushing his way through the crowd to one of the containment chambers. Cujo! Cujo was here! He had been a bit surprised at how many weeks the puppy had been away recently but knew Cujo could be gone for long stretches of time so he hadn’t been worried. How stupid could he be? Why hadn't he bothered to look for the puppy? Cujo might be a strong ghost in his other form but that didn't mean he was invincible! He looked miserable, lying on the floor with his eyes closed. His green fur was matted and … was that ectoplasm? He was hurt! Danny had to get him out of here.

“As you can see we have managed to catch blob ghosts and ghost animals, even some that are level 3!” The guide said with pride in her voice. Danny felt sick to his stomach. “And thanks to our experiments on them we have even managed to catch humanoid ghosts!”

They walked further down the hallway, leaving the animal ghosts behind, and Danny completely stopped breathing when he saw the next ghost in line. Ember. She was sitting on the floor of her containment unit, her back against the wall. Her hair was completely extinguished and her eyes stared blankly at her feet. 

Danny dropped his friend's hands and started to push through the students around him. He barely noticed how they seemed to be trying to keep him trapped among them. Barely noticed Val gripping his arm with such force a normal human would bruise, he just shook them all off. 

Danny pressed a hand against the glass that separated him from Ember. She didn’t notice. It seemed like she wasn’t aware of anything around her. Danny had to swallow down the lump that had formed in his throat. It had been some time since he saw Ember last, but he hadn't thought anything about it. Just like he hadn’t thought about Cujo’s disappearance. It wasn’t like the ghosts appeared on a set schedule. Well, no one but Skulker with Tucker’s PDA embedded in his suit. The ghosts would just appear at random, he’d fight them, put them back in the zone and then it could be a day or it could be months until he saw them next. 

“I’m sorry Ember”, he whispered. “I’ll get you out of here, I promise.”

Two pairs of familiar hands closed around his upper arms and he let them pull him away from Ember. Tucker and Sam looked just as guilt-stricken as he felt, but they were also glancing towards their guide and their classmates with worry. Danny grimaced, he’d forgotten about them and now it was more important than ever to not let the GIW figure him out. 

The GIW never catches anything, huh? Well, turns out they just never caught me ! he thought bitterly, scoffing at his own ignorance from just minutes ago. He had to figure out a way to break in here and free all the ghosts. No way he could leave them in the GIW’s hands to be tortured until they were discarded and ended. 

When he looked up, most of the class were looking at him, though several were also staring at the ghosts around them or at the guide. He couldn't tell what they were thinking and could only hope no one suspected anything. At least the guide hadn’t noticed anything, as she was further down the corridor, Lancer at her side, pointing at the containment cells one after the other. Danny’s heart sank in his chest. Did they have more humanoid ghosts? 

He shook off Sam’s and Tucker’s hands and stalked after the guide. His friends ran to keep up with him and the other students followed at their heels. At every new containment cell, Danny froze for a moment as he took in which ghosts had been trapped. And for every new ghost that appeared his anger rose. 

As if it wasn’t enough that Cujo and Ember had been caught, he also saw the Lunch Lady, Sydney, Technus, Kitty and Johnny in containment chambers one after the other. There were some ghosts that he didn’t remember the names of, as he hadn’t actually fought them, just seen them around Amity. Far too many ghosts that he had failed. 

And then…

“Dani!” he yelled as his core lurched violently in his chest. 

Several hands grabbed hold of him to keep him back, but he barely noticed. If he phased through them or just used strength he couldn’t tell, but suddenly he was near the end of the corridor by one of the last containment cells. He threw himself against the glass with enough force that a hairline crack appeared in it. Behind him he could hear some commotion but he didn't pay it any mind, all his focus directed at the ghost before him. 

Dani was lying on her side, her back to him, but it was unmistakably her. He would recognize her anywhere, would be able to pick her out of a crowd of a thousand people. His little sister. 

His core lurched again, with such force he fell to his knees. It burned in his chest, at his failure to protect someone who was dear to him. “DANI!” he yelled, banging his fist on the glass. The crack spread. Overhead an alarm started blaring but he didn’t care. He only had eyes for his sister. She slowly turned around until she was facing him and he started crying at the state she was in. 

She was in her ghost form and her white hair was a mess, her bangs clinging to a forehead that was wet with sweat. Her black and white suit was torn in places and through the holes he could see cuts and bruises. Green ectoplasm were splattered over her and some had pooled on the floor beneath her. And … green ectoplasm was dripping from her nose, ears and eyes, the first stage of destabilization. 

“DANI! I’M HERE!” he yelled. Her eyes finally focused on him and she gasped. ‘Danny’, he could see her mouth, though he couldn’t hear anything through the glass and over the alarm. He started sobbing. His sister! His little sister was here! She was supposed to be far away, across the ocean. She was supposed to be safe ! Why was she here?

“I’M GOING TO SAVE YOU DANI! I'M GETTING YOU OUT OF HERE!” Without caring about where he was or who could be watching him, he transformed. Dani gaped at him and tried to sit up but seemed to be too weak and collapsed on her side again. 

‘Danny, no’ she mouthed and shook her head, looking frantic. ‘Get out of here.’

“NOT WITHOUT YOU!” He hit the wall with his full ghostly strength and numerous cracks spread over the glass. A jolt of electricity jumped from the glass into him and he swore. That hurt, but it didn't matter. He hit the glass again and more cracks appeared. Again and again he hit it, not caring that ectoplasm from his knuckles had started to smear across the glass or the electric spasms spreading through his limbs. The only thing he cared about was getting his little sister out of here. 

He hit the glass once more and with a loud crack a small hole appeared in the glass. At the same time the bones in his hand broke and by the sheer force and speed of the impact he drove his whole fists into the hole, scraping long bleeding wounds across his hand and forearm.

Struggling to free his arm led to more cuts being opened against the sharp glass but he forced his fist out. Just as he was about to hit the glass again to make the hole larger, Dani pointed behind him and yelled, now audible. "Behind you!"

Swirling around, the shot that had been headed right at his head just barely missed. It hit the containment cell, making the cracks larger. Not large enough though. Not by far. There was no way Dani could get through it and they had run out of time. 

The corridor leading out of here, towards the elevators, was swarming with white clad people. Danny could just barely see his classmates through them, being led out of here. Dozens of people in white. All of them pointing different ecto weapons at him. He was trapped. Not that he would have left anyhow, not without Dani.

With a growl he threw himself forward, ready to fight until his heart stopped beating entirely, all in the hope that maybe Dani might escape. 

Person after person he downed with punches and kicks he barely pulled - too angry to care that he might accidentally kill a human with his superior strength. These monsters would deserve it too, for what they had done to his sister. 

The hallway was soon filled with injured and unconscious white bodies, but no matter how many Danny put down, more came to take their place. And those he managed to take down managed to hurt him in turn. Ectoburns littered his body. Cuts sluggishly bled ectoplasm but there were so many of them he was soon covered in green. Electricity made his whole body spasm and had his eyesight white out for a few seconds each time. Bones cracked and broke.

Still Danny fought.

He fought until there was no strength left in his body. Until the pain was all he felt. Until he could no longer keep his body upright. 

With one last scream of defiance, loud enough to almost turn into a Wail, Danny fell, surrounded by dozens of white clad bodies.