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bloggerspam · 1 month ago

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Danny gets the text from Conner (or Kon, as he's told Danny to call him in their texts) one week after the fated reunion that changed everything.

Mom and Dad and Jazz have been spending the past week or so having meetings with the JL regarding the GIW, and leaving Danny to babysit Ellie.

It's been amazing.

It's summer vacation, so Danny and Ellie have been sleeping in (or at least, sleeping in as much as Ellie will let Danny) and hanging out with either the Kents or Sam and Tuck since coming back from the reunion.

Game tournaments and sleepovers and tea parties with Great Aunt Martha and the occasional brawl with the Kent boys that Danny and Ellie thoroughly enjoy.

So when Danny receives a text from Kon he's expecting another invitation to fly out somewhere, or brawl somewhere in the Realms.

What he doesn't expect is a text from Great Aunt Martha informing him that Ellie is already at the Kent's farm, and a text from Kon asking if he can test out the summoning circling Danny taught him last week.

The idea is that Kon would like to not panic and mess it up on the off chance he needs to summon Danny for some world ending threat.

It feels reasonable, but reads entirely suspicious.

Still, it's likely that he either got the idea from one of his Bat friends, or he's just genuinely curious about Danny's summoning circle.

Both of which Danny can't really find fault in, and he has no other plans, so he agrees.

He regrets it the second he gets the summons and slips in.

Because little known fact: whilst Danny can't pinpoint every place he's summoned too, he can tell if he's being summoned to a familiar (or in this case, unfamiliar) place.

Floating up out of the circle and coming face to face with Red Robin instead of his cousin?

Danny really should have trusted his gut.

===

Funnily enough, Tim's not had much experience with magic.

But Tim finds it oddly soothing following the steps provided by Kon to create the summoning circle.

Phantom's summoning circle, it turns out, isn't precise or complicated at all. In fact, it's stupidly kind of simple—draw a vaguely satanic circle with some symbols in the cardinal directions and drop a little blood into it. It doesn't even need to be fresh, as Tim has proven now with his vial of Kon's blood. The tricky part is that whilst any blood will do, Phantom will apparently recognize if the blood is a stranger's.

All in all, easy peasy.

They had anticipated Phantom's ire, of course. Chill guy he may be, he's expressed his total and complete distaste for PR and his stubborn insistence that he's a retired hero.

Hence Kon being in the next room over, so Tim can have a chance to at least state his case.

Tim knows they've done the right thing when Phantom emerges from the circle like some kind of rising Angel of the Dead, bright white hair glowing in tandem with the whites of his suit. His eyes, when he opens them, glow neon green and narrow into slits like a cats upon landing his gaze on Tim.

It makes Tim shiver, this half second gaze, until it redirects towards the rest of the room, no doubt searching for the object of his annoyance.

The glow, of both the retired hero and the circle, starts to fade as Phantom floats to step down before Tim.

Tim is happy to note that Phantom is just as, if not hotter than Danny Fenton.

It might be the skin tight suit, but the jury's still out. It might even require extensive research.

"Red Robin, right?" Phantom asks, tilting his head and looking at Tim up and down suspiciously. "Tell me: was this your idea, or Superboy's?"

"It was a….collaborative effort, so to speak." Tim coughs, yanking his thoughts away from the R-rated research methods he was contemplating, "And yes, Red Robin at your service. Nice to meet you, Phantom."

He does a little bow, hoping to soothe the new hero's anger.

"Nice," Phantom sighs, not soothed at all, "Right. Sure. It'd be a whole lot nicer if you just texted."

"All due respect," Tim smiles his gala smile, "Would you have even answered?"

"Respect would have been respecting my no," Phantom rolls his eyes, floating back up and heading towards the door where Kon and the others are.

"Wait—" Tim tries to block his way, hands up and placating, but Phantom simply phases through him and flies forward.

Right. Intangibility.

So much for stating his case.

"Scatter!" Tim intones to which, as agreed, Bart's signature dash of light carries Kon away.

Kon surely could fly at light speed himself, but Tim knows he's particularly attached to his cousin, even though they've only met barely 2 weeks ago.

If anybody can understand the delight in expanding your family circle, it would be Tim.

"You know I can catch him right?" Phantom hums, looking towards where Bart has disappeared. "I'm faster than Kon and don't have to worry about solid objects."

"And yet you're still here." Tim points out, coming up to stand beside where Phantom floats slightly in the open arch that empties to the hallway.

"Clearly, you're not just the mediator." Phantom surmises, finally looking at Tim head on with those bright green eyes. "I vaguely knew you were the team leader, or at least the plan maker considering you're a Bat, but as you can imagine not much information is given on the intricacies of hero teams."

Phantom speaks more eloquently than Danny does, Tim notes. More regal, mature. He's surely grown from the scant footage he's found on Phantom's heroism back in Amity Park three years ago.

"So you're saving yourself the trouble?" Tim grins, cheeky, gesturing for Phantom to follow him towards the room the others vacated. "Smart man."

Phantom rolls his eyes, stepping down to the ground and falling into to step with him as they head towards the lounging area.

There's a gathering of seating (a sofa, two armchairs and a loveseat) that form a loose square around a large rug and a small collection of bean bag chairs. A large TV monitor is mounted on the wall facing the doorway, and to the side a small, open concept kitchen can be seen on the other side of the island bar that hosts a vertible mountain's worth of snacks.

Tim takes the opportunity to observe Phantom from the corner of his eyes. He's taller than Tim, and his muscles are comparable to his Kryptonian cousin's. Tim thinks about Jack Fenton, and the height of his older sister Jasmine.

Tim licks his lips, wonders if Phantom will go through another growth spurt in later years. He knows Kon is still growing, and even though Phantom doesn't exactly share blood—

"You might as well call them back." Phantom huffs as he plops back into one of the armchairs. "You've got me here and I'll at least hear you out."

As if listening in, and no doubt they were, Kon and Bart show up in a flash of light and a gust of wind. Cassie walks in leisurely behind them.

Before anyone can get comfortable, however, Phantom flat out tackles Kon into the floor. The two of them wrestle with each other like kids, with Kon looking like he's losing very rapidly as Phantom gets him on his stomach and into a headlock.

"Uncle!!!" Kon clearly isn't hurt, but he's also very much not having a good time as he slaps at the arm around his neck. "I give up! I'm sorry okay!!!"

"You have two seconds to tell me what the hell I'm doing here, Kon." Phantom gruffs out. "Or I'm siccing Phantasm at you."

"You know why you're here!!!" Kon whines. "Besides, 'Tasm knew about this whole thing!!!"

"And I told you I don't need to do PR!" Phantom finally lets Kon flop down onto the ground, groaning into his hands. "What did you bribe her with?"

With his cousin present Phantom seems more his age now, more boyish and childish in a way Tim's not opposed to, surprisingly. Kon rolls over, kicking at Phantom who grunts but doesn't retaliate. "Nothing. Junior just asked nicely."

"Damn it, this is so unfair." Phantom floats up, flicking a hand at Kon to roll him away with, presumably, telekinesis. "Phantasm would have been a cuter shtick, and she would have had a blast doing them!"

"Batman deemed her too young to be exposed to PR." Tim decides to speak up, nudging Kon with the tip of his toe until he gets up. "And you've been making splashes."

"What does that even mean," Phantom rolls his eyes, putting his fingers into air quotes and sneering "splashes?"

"It means we've been hearing all about you, Phantom." Cassie pops a hip, giving Phantom a look. "and your….let's just call them accolades."

"You blew up three GIW buildings," Bart counts out on his fingers, "Hid the disappearance of an entire American town…"

"And oh yeah!" Kon cuts in, scrunching his face at his cousin in mild offense, "You street brawled a tyrant and subsequently became the king of a whole ass undead dimension!"

"Okay, that's not fair." Phantom argues, seating himself on the loveseat this time to face the room at large. "Two of those explosions were my parents!"

"That's what you're focusing on??" Kon's face turns disbelieving for a moment, before facepalming. "What am I saying, of course that's what you focus on…"

"It's the most pertinent one," Phantom defends, "and the only one I want to expand upon."

"This beef my dad has with your mom is starting to make a whole lot of sense to me right now." Kon grumbles, though he flops onto the loveseat and leans heavily on his cousin so he clearly doesn't mean it.

"You and me both." Phantom grumbles back, crossing his legs over the arm of the loveseat and resting his head more comfortably against Kon's shoulder.

"Did you like, cause the disappearance or what?" Bart dashes away for a millisecond to grab a bag of chips and plop onto the sofa.

"No."

"That's all you have to say?" Cassie reaches in to steal a chip as she takes the middle. Tim delicately seats himself on the arm of the loveseat, next to Phantom.

"Yes." Phantom eyes Tim's choice of seating, glancing at Kon but ultimately doesn't say anything about it.

"What about the king thing?" Kon nudges his shoulder, but Phantom doesn't budge.

"Seriously??" Kon slumps further down, notably to annoy Phantom and dislodge him slightly. "I'm your cousin!"

"We've only known each other for a couple weeks!" Phantom adjusts his position to get comfortable again.

"Still! Why am I only hearing about this through Batman of all people!"

"Look." Phantom sighs. "I'm not gonna get into it because there's nothing to get into. I'm technically not even king—I'm Crown Prince. I won't be formally coronated until I'm like dead dead."

"What does that mean, dead dead?" Tim asks, leaning on a hand and tilting his head.

"That's how I got my powers." Phantom explains, waving a hand. "I'm sort of dead, but not really. Don't ask."

Tim thinks on that for a moment, before deciding fuck it. "…I have someone for you to meet."

"Is it Batman? Because I don't want to meet Batman."

"It's not Batman—wait why don't you want to meet Batman?" Then again, Tim can't really blame him.

"I suspect he's rich," Phantom shrugs carelessly, as if that's not an insane reason to not meet someone, "and I am not about that vibe."

"Isn't your best friend a millionaire?"

"Her parents are rich." Phantom corrects, "plus shes goth so."

"Fair point." Kon allows, as if that makes any sense. Does he remember that Tim's a billionaire? Even without Bruce's help?

"It's not Batman, though you should meet him at some point." Tim brings them back on topic. "Unrelated, how bullet proof are you?"

"Very!" Phantom grins, fangs gleaming in a way that makes Tim's gut tingle. Wait, no. That's the fault of Phantom's hand that is currently phased through his stomach. "Oh, hey. What happened to your spleen?"

Tim freezes, and not just because it feels weird when Phantom withdraws his hand. "No comment."

"Uh, yes comment?" Cassie sits up so fast Tim's impressed she doesn't launch off the sofa. "What the fuck??"

"I blew up a couple LOA bases, lost a spleen, made a friend. It was fine." Tim rushes out, leaning closer to Phantom. "Tell me about your rogues the footage of you is so corrupted"

"Oh, yeah. Ecto doesn't play nice with technology." Phantom blinks up at Tim. Tim really does like how pretty his green eyes glow. "Pretty sure my parents dabble in magic to get their tech working, but they also think magic is hokey so."

"There are a lot of concerning statements being said in this room and I am unsure how comfortable I am with it." Cassie deadpans.

"Welcome to my life." Kon throws his hands up, jostling Phantom enough that he rolls off the loveseat.

"I mean, you're on a team with an Amazonian," Phantom doesn't move from where he's flopped on the floor. "And speedy over there's kind of magic adjacent."

"You cant call me speedy. That's another hero's old name" Bart now has a plate of nachoes, which makes Tim so jealous. As if noticing, Bart dashes away for a second to hand Tim one too. He loves his teammates."

"Whose? The second Flash?" Phantom turns to look up at Kon, "Which, seriously, what is up with the hero name copping?"

"No, he goes by Arsenal now." Tim answers. "He's one of the Outlaws,"

"Arsenal?? Isn't he that arrow guy?? Why would he be called speedy??"

"Beats me, but that was his sidekick name." Cassie chuckles.

"Makes no sense, none of ya." Phantom shakes his hand, starfishing on the rug.

"Phantom is a pretty cool name." Bart says through a mouthful of popcorn. Cassie steals some of that too.

"It really isn't, if you know the context." Kon grins, leaning forward to smugly look down at his cousin.

"Shut up, Superboy." Phantom sneers. Thinking on it, Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom. Huh.

"I was assigned boy at birth," Kon dramatically puts a hand to his chest before flexing an arm into a pose. "But I'm all man now! Dad's just keeping the brand for now."

"There's a trans joke waiting to be told here," Cassie squints, "But I don't know if thats appropriate."

"Wait can we go back—what do you mean I'm magic adjacent?" Bart bounces his leg, now snack-less.

"Well, I mean—you've got that whole…" Phantom gestures to basically all of Bart, "*aura thing* going on."

"What aura???" Bart screeches, patting himself down, even going so far as to stand up and turns this way and that to inspect himself. "I'm a time traveling meta-human, there should be no aura!"

"Uh, I don't know what to tell you dude." Phantom looks like he regrets even bringing it up. "That whole…yellow light thing that happens when you run?"

"That's the Speedforce! Are you telling me the Speedforce is *magic??*"

"I mean, I guess?" Phantom scratches the back of his head, "It feels magic adjacent anyway. Kinda science-y but like, inexplicable."

"Why does that both make no sense and complete sense?" Cassie hums, turning towards Bart. "Does Flash know this?"

"He's gonna know now." Bart bounces a little before—

"Aaaand he's gone." Kon sighs, slumping back onto the loveseat. "Great."

"I didn't think he'd take it so badly?" Phantom sheepishly smiles.

"It's more that the Flashes are…scientifically inclined?" Tim purses his lips in thought. "They don't even really believe in ghosts."

Phantom honks out a laugh at that. "Yeah? Would love to get them in the same room as my parents."

"Rao, don't even joke about that—" Kon nudges at Phantom's shoulder with his foot.

Phantom's answering laugh is surprisingly cute, small and short, a little heh that makes Tim smile a bit.

"Did we need him for…" Phantom wiggles a hand. "Whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing here?"

"Oh," Tim blinks. "I thought maybe—I mean. We're supposed to be exposing you to the world as a sentient being."

"Expose me like, how?" Phantom tilts his head like a little puppy—Tim might actually coo. "I'm still technically illegal you know."

"Well, I suggested we do some Beepbop trends," Cassie brings out her phone, making a moue of disappointment, "Like the cinnamon challenge? But with your whole…thing messing with phones I'm not sure if it's even possible."

"Oh." Phantom digs into his chest, "We can use my phone. It's ecto treated."

Cassie and Tim stare blankly at the phone in Phantom's hand, still processing the fact that just pulled that out of his own body. Tim scans the other teen from head to toe, snagging on how the suit hides basically nothing and everything at once, but also does not have pockets. Thinking on it—where does Nightwing keep all his things? This is actually not a though process that Tim wants to follow up on and—

"Is that WayneTech?" Tim is a fucking fool. Is that really what he's going to focus on?

"Yeah, I've been messing around with a bunch of different brands and I've found that WayneTech is the most compatible with ecto." Phantom grins, coming in real close to show Tim the phone and giving Tim a better subject to focus on. "Plus, WayneTech has the most sophisticated and affordable parts to work with, not to mention how flexible it is when it comes to replacing parts for my own needs."

"Fascinating—was it easier to dismantle an existing phone than it was to just start from scratch?" Tim isn't so distracted by how nice Phantom is smelling to pass up on the chance to tinker with some new tech, but the thought is there in the backburner for him to think about later.

"Yeah, even if I did start from scratch I'm a dunce when it comes to coding, so using an existing phone to work off of was just the fastest way for us to get functioning equipment." Phantom phases the backplate of the phone off, showing off the internal workings of the phone. "And with it's open source functionality my friend Pharaoh's been able to program some useful apps for me."

"Do you have any of this ecto-treated tech for me to mess around with?" Tim might be drooling—from the tech or Phantom's close proximity and clever fingers, he doesn't know. It doesn't really matter.

"Red, salivate later," Cassie rolls her eyes and grabs the phone from them. "Beepbops now."

Phantom pats Tim on the back with a smile and a sparkle to his eye that Tim really likes, actually. "I get the same way with new tech all the time. Have Kon give you my number, we can chat later."

"That'd be amazing." Tim beams back, hoping the domino covers up whatever warmth his face is feeling right now. Phantom pats him once more in response before flying off towards Cassie to put the backplate back on his phone, the others already discussing what trends they'll be doing with which members.

"Rob!" Kon calls out. "Get over here already!"

Tim rushes over beaming—he got Phantom's number!

The fact that he already had it is irrelevant and does not diminish the joy.

Cousins, Clones and Conning the Family

Family Reunion AU, where cousins Maddie and Clark try to smuggle their clone children into the family reunion that happens every 5 years and pretend they've been there the whole time.

Spoiler alert, one of them does significantly better than the other. Mainly Kid POV, and also on AO3! Multichapter. ===

The problem with big family reunions, Danny thinks, is how utterly fucking lost Danny is all the gosh dang time.

"Well now, you're Maddie's son now ain'tcha? How old is you now?" The woman standing before him guffaws, ruffling his hair. He lets it, trying desperately to remember the speadsheet Jazz created for the family and (obviously) failing to recall this woman's name.

Agatha? Selene? Riri? No, Aunt Riri is over there—

"Yes ma'am," Danny smiles up at the unnamed aunt, accent going a little twangy like it always does at these functions, "I'll be hittin' 17 in a coupl'a months or so."

"My, my, you youngin's sure grow like weeds!" The aunt coos, gesturing to a height by her hip, "You used to be this tall last time I saw ya, betcha don't r'member me now do ya?"

It's a trap. If he says he doesn't remember, which is expected at reunions such as these that happen every 5 years or longer, she'll start going on and on about the stories she has of the family. Danny would have to stand here and demure and laugh at these cousins he doesn't really remember too well, but know enough to know that she's gotten them all mixed up.

"Pshaw," Danny doesn't react when a whisper breathes the answer into his ear, "I'd never forget a pretty lady like you, Aunt Helena!"

It works like a charm.

The second he's out of her clutches, he feels around for a cold spot. There, trailing just behind him, is Ellie. She's not invisible anymore, so he tucks her under his arm and bee-lines it towards the metaphorical kid's table.

"Thanks, Ellie. Weren't you supposed to stay with Dad?" Danny leads them around, trying to avoid any other mishaps. "Did Jazz send you?"

"She made me flashcards!" Ellie smirks up at him, ignoring his other question and pulling a corner of an index card out from the palm of her hand. She's always been better than him at manipulating the ecto in her body, for obvious reasons. Danny's not bitter about it at all.

"Damn, all I got was a presentation." Danny grumbles. Jazz and Dad somehow know every single one of their family members, which is ludicrous when even Mom doesn't know despite it being her side of the family.

He still can't really believe how big his family actually is, but he supposes that's natural. He only sees them once every couple of years, the only relative they see even on a remotely regular basis is Aunt Alicia, who has no kids and refuses (rightfully so) to remarry.

Danny's fine with that, he gets the best of both worlds after all. Cozy holiday stays with Aunt Alicia and he has places to stay all over the country if he really needs it, no questions asked.

Plus, crazy as they can be, these reunions have always felt like a big country festival for Danny.

"She likes me better." Ellie snickers, tugging him back to avoid Uncle Charlie's drunken stumbling.

"Everyone likes you better," Danny rolls his eyes, pushing Ellie's head down and ducking to avoid a stray kid's toy flying overhead, "I like you better."

As if somehow knowing Danny's being self deprecating again, Jazz shows up to smack him on the head. "I like both of you equally in special ways."

Danny makes a disgruntled noise, grumbling as he rubs his head, "Mooooom, Jazz is therapizing me again!"

Even though he was only half joking, Mom does show up specifically to laugh at him. "Honey, your father and I love all our children equally!"

"It's a secret," Dad says from behind Jazz, kids climbing all over him, "But Ellie's the favorite!"

"Jack!" Mom yells at the same time Jazz screams, "Dad!"

Ellie dissolves into giggles, making everyone but Dad helplessly laugh. It's good to see Ellie laugh, she does it a lot but it still doesn't feel like it's enough. Danny picks her up, giggling mess and all, and tosses her at Dad.

She lands, as expected, straight into the pile of children who scream and accept her easily.

"Nice." Jazz chuckles, this time patting him gently on his head in approval. Danny shrugs, dusting his hands off and heading back towards salvation: the food.

He and Jazz mingle a bit, exchanging greetings and school updates with the Aunts and Uncles they occasionally bump into, making their way slowly through and keeping an eye out for the other cousins.

Eventually, Jazz gets nabbed by Cousin Dermot just as Danny reaches the table, tossing a pig-in-a-blanket into his mouth and chewing with glee. The locals of the family usually something potluck style—and though Dad's genes are strong and the Fentons can't cook, the bulk of the Walker family definitely can.

In fact—Great Aunt Martha said she was going to bring some mini pies right?

Danny spies a pile of them in the middle of the large table and reaches for one, only to bump into the spikes of black fingerless gloves.

The gloves are, of course, attached to someone else.

It's a boy, around Danny's age, in a spiked leather jacket (matching the gloves) and white tee shirt with ripped jeans. He's got the tiniest John Lennon sunglasses and piercings everywhere—it makes Danny squint at him, with how much the sun keeps catching on everything—the spikes, the piercings, the metal arms of the sunglasses, is this dude also wearing lipgloss?

Danny's not judging, a guy can appreciate proper hydration to avoid chapped lips or even just for the aesthetic, but it doesn't help with the glare.

"Sorry, my bad." Right, okay, city slicker then. Not that Danny's much of a country boy or anything. "Did my spikes get you?"

Maybe Cousin Jenny brought a plus one? Danny eyes the guys jeans—they look tight. Was Cousin Mark into guys? Is this dude a guy or possibly a masculine girl? Ack. Stupid sun frying his brain.

"It's okay," Danny says, blinking away and tossing mini pie to the other person. "Aunt Martha's pies are worth the minor injury. You comin' in with one of the cousins?"

"Uh, yeah." Citypunk looks at Danny nervously, "I mean, I am one of the cousins." The guy bites his lips, shrugging, "Uh, one of the Kents, actually. Ma's real proud of the pies."

Danny blinks.

"…You're not Jon." Danny says, very carefully and slowly.

"…No…" Stranger Danger draws his vowels out, "I'm Conner. His, uh, older brother? Can't blame ya for being confused though!"

"…You can't." Danny agrees, because out of the two them, Danny definitely isn't to blame for the confusion.

"Yeah, lots of cousins, and all," Curiouser and Curiouser beams at Danny, shrugging and rubbing the back of his neck, "Plus, I know Jon's more sociable at these things."

"Right, he really is rambunctious, that guy." Danny nods, as if that's the problem, and not the fact that Danny knows every single cousin his age. Big as his family might be, Danny's generation came out the smallest. Cousin Jenny and Cousin Mark are the only two his age.

With Ellie and Jazz each being four years younger and older than Danny, and the other cousins being well beyond those ages in gaps, there is no way this guy is a cousin.

"Don't worry," Punk'd laughs self deprecatingly, "I know he's the favorite. even if Mom won't admit it."

Danny feels a vein throb in his right temple.

He's unsure if he should slowly back away or get up in the guy's face. It's just—now that Danny thinks about it, if wedding crashing is a thing, does that mean family reunion crashing is a thing too?

What's the protocol here? Should he fight this guy for having the audacity to use Great Aunt Martha's name in vein?

Wait, no, that's Jesus.

Is Great Aunt Martha Catholic? ...Is that the one with Jesus, or was that Christianity?

Wait, Danny, you knuckle head, Uncle Clark was adopted. Conner could be adopted too! Even though he looks exactly like that Uncle Clark when he was younger…

"Is this your first time at a reunion?" Danny ventures, "We only have 'em—"

"Every 5 years, yeah." Conner huffs, "Nah, I just used to hide with Ma in the kitchens."

Okay, clearly Great Aunt Martha isn't in on this, because Danny used to hide with Great Aunt Martha in the kitchens. Danny's about to lose his shit on this guy—or maybe sic Ellie on him. Whichever is worse.

"Oh yeah? That's must have been cozy." Danny grits out, taking a deep breath so his eyes don't flash.

"Yeah, it was!" Conner beams shyly. though all Danny sees is a smug smirk. "She's real nice-like, I'm sure you know. Real lucky to have her for a Grandma."

"Real lucky." Danny agrees, because Great Aunt Martha really was one of the better Great Aunts. Though most of the Walker Kin were hardy and tough, in that badass kind of way. Mom really liked Great Aunt Martha's lessons on bull wranglin' back when they were younger. "Speakin' of, she ain't here?"

"Nah," Conner makes a sad little pout. "She hadta stop by Auntie Agatha's for an emergency. She left two days ago, so she's runnin' a little behind. Cl—Dad went to go pick her up."

Danny squints at the possible imposter. That sounded like he was going to call Uncle Clark by his name, which makes things confusing for Danny. Guy will call Aunt Lois Mom but he won't call Uncle Clark Dad easily? Maybe he's a kid Aunt Lois had before marrying Uncle Clark? But Aunt Lois would never hide a kid, and Great Aunt Martha would never let her treat a kid like that. That's not even taking into account that this kid looks way too much like Uncle Clark for it to be a fucking coincidence. Plus, Danny knew about Aunt Aggie's emergency and how she might not be making it to this year's reunion—this gives Conner's story credibility.

But Danny knows that the best way to lie is with truths, even if the truths are confusing.

So what the hell is going on? Is Clockwork fucking with him? Did an alternate timeline get switched with his?

It wouldn't be the first time, but Clockwork at least had the decency to let him know at least.

"What the—" Danny blinks, as Conner picks up a very familiar, eye-searingly green colored post it note that was stuck to the plate under a mini pie. "Is this yours?"

"Yeah," Danny huffs. taking the note and rolling his eyes as lies roll off his tongue, "Sorry, y'know how it goes with Jazz."

"Oh, yeah." And Danny has to give it Conner, he at least rolls with the punches real quick, "I heard about it but didn't ever uh, see it in action."

"Really?" Danny feigns surprise, head pulsing in irritation at the words all is as it should be written in purple pen. There's no mocking smiley face, but Danny feels it in the ink anyway. "Thought she got all the cousins at the last reunion."

Conner chuckles nervously, "Oh, yeah—Guess I'm just, easy to miss you know?"

"Uh huh…" Danny eyes the guy and his piercings and very distinct style, from the tip of his clearly styled hair and needlessly ostentatious big black studded boots. "…Right."

Conner laughs, wincing. "These're new. High school debut."

"…You're a freshman?" Danny tilts his head, squinting.

"Junior." Conner automatically corrects, before stiffening. "…I just wanted to reinvent myself for Junior Prom."

"Right." Danny repeats, drawing out the vowels and finally giving up. He can tell Conner already knows what Danny is going to ask, and is trying to exit this conversation post-haste.

Fortunately for Conner and unfortunately for Danny, Jazz comes barreling in, almost knocking the former out in the process as she grips the latter's biceps tightly with her eyes wide and nervous.

Unfortunately for Conner and fortunately for Danny, though the look in Jazz's eyes thoroughly distracts the latter and gives the former a window to escape, Jazz's hissed out words end up keeping Conner rooted to the floor.

"Baby Jon has powers!" Jazz hisses as she moves Danny away from the possible imposter a couple feet. Even though she says it low enough for only Danny to hear, Conner's wide eyes as he whips his gaze towards them suggests that Jon's not the only one with powers.

And then words actually register along with that thought.

Danny hisses out the first thing he thinks of. "Since when?? I thought he took after Aunt Lois!"

"Since now," Jazz gruffs, switching her grip to drag Danny away, "and I need you to do something about it!"

"What?" Danny doesn't struggle, going along even as he eyes Conner who seems to be following them at a distance. "Why?"

Jazz pushes him towards the kid's area, rushing out a frantic "He's in the bounce house with Ellie!"

Danny freezes, or tries to even as Jazz keeps tugging him along, before shaking off her hand and booking it towards the bounce house.

Once the bounce house (a castle) comes into view, Danny clocks several things in succession:

One: Ellie and Jon are thankfully the only ones in the bounce house right now.

Two: Ellie and Jon are laughing, and through the mesh Danny can see Ellie watching Jon jump way too high to be considered normal.

And three: The bounce house is about to fucking tip over.

There's a gaggle of Aunts herding the younger cousins towards the food that's dense enough for cover, but sparse enough for Danny to dash through.

Between one blink and the next, he disappears.

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in1-nutshell · 4 months ago

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I need more Ranidae. I need Ranidae being clingy and following Jack and Arcee to the Darby residents. Oh no, it looks like they're going on a night time drive. Oh fuck thats mech, OH FUCK THATS HIS DEAD MOM! I need Ranidae standing up to his mother to protect his new friends, I need Airachnid being a manipulative bitch. And I need Arcee to grapple with the realization that her boy is actually Airachnid’s boy. I yearn for the drama

Ranidae just wants to make frog friends not get dragged through the mud in drama... yet here we are.

Hope you enjoy!

Ranidae and Arachnid reunion

SFW, Platonic, Angst, Familial, Cybertronian reader

TFP

It was on June’s second visit to the base when she met Ranidae.

The first time she visited, the bot was sleeping after having a long day in the marshes and scrubbing algae out of his joints.

June was not expecting a small bot to be following Jack around.

June: “Jack.�� Jack stopped as Ranidae stopped at the new voice. June puts her hands on her hips. June: “Care to explain your shadow there?” Jack: “Mom this is Ranidae. Ranidae this is my mom.” Ranidae looks from Jack to June. Ranidae: “Your mom?” He nods. Ranidae walks quietly over to June, stares at her for a bit before smiling and patting her head. June: “Umm, nice to meet you too.” Ranidae still smiles at her. June turns to Jack. June: “So, what does he bring to the table.” Jack: “He isn’t allowed out on missions yet.” June: “Why? Because he’s small? Arcee is small but that doesn’t stop her.” Jack: “Mom, Ranidae is a kid by bot standards. Not even teen years yet.” June pales a bit as Ranidae continues to pet her ponytail. June: “What?! Who’s his parents!?” Jack: “We don’t know, but Arcee sort of adopted him.” Ranidae nods. Ranidae: “She is a good mom.”

And June accepted this challenge.

Jack and Ranidae were both in the crossfire of the ongoing battle of the mother figures.

Mama June vs Mama Arcee.

Jack is banging his head on the wall with how weird and embarrassing these things can get.

Ranidae is just happy to have 2 moms.

Both who are way better than Arachnid.

June gave some of the best hugs, despite her smaller size.

She was surprised to see that the smaller bot turned into a frog.

But all things considered, it suited him.

Though she would soon find out that said alt mode came with… surprises.

Most famously, sticking onto objects and staying quiet.

June and Jack return back home in their car. Jack: “Thanks for the ride back, Mom. Arcee was too busy with today’s mission.” June slightly rolls her eyes. June: “Its no problem, Jack. But I can’t help but feel sorry for Ranidae. He is without proper care for too long and—” RIBIT! Both human’s freeze as a pair of robotic frog eyes. Ranidae: “Hi Miss June! I’m okay!” Jack and June: “Ranidae!” Jack: “What have you been on the top of the car the whole time?” Ranidae: “We where playing hide and seek remember? I put the tarp on and hid… I’m guessing the game is over?” Jack: “Kind of is.” Ranidae looks sad. Ranidae: “I’m sorry.” June: “Its fine, hun.” Jack: “…This is going to be an interesting phone call.”

Ranidae got grounded after that.

No frog hunting for a week.

That might as well have been the equivalent of a death sentence with how miserable the bot looked.

There was one point where Bumblebee was holding Ranidae under his arms, with the most depressed look on their faces.

The scout showed Arcee the bot and practically begging for him to go frog hunting.

He would even watch him!

But no more of… this…

Arcee: “No.” Bumblebee: “Beep beepbop (Please! I’ll watch him! He just looks so miserable here.)” Ranidae does a pitiful croak in their alt mode. Bumblebee holds him higher. Bumblebee: “Beep! (See!)” Arcee is desperately trying to hold it together. Acree: “What I said—” Ranidae does a loud and pitiful croak and visibly deflates. Arcee: “… You have 2 hours. Time starts now.”

It was rare for Ranidae to go venturing out of the base without supervision.

But Arcee had been so stressed lately, and he knew the perfect bunch of flowers to give.

Quietly placing the groundbridge coordinates, Ranidae tried walking out.

Only to get stopped by the kids.

Ranidae promised that he just wanted to get Arcee some flowers.

Jack agreed to go along with, while Miko and Raf stayed behind.

It was nighttime and no one was around the pond, perfect.

Jack chuckled to himself as Ranidae eagerly went to the pond and started picking ‘the best flowers and plants.

They were about to leave when a web caught Ranidae’s pede.

There was only one bot he knew that could do this.

Jack looked surprised at the webs. Jack: “What in the—” Ranidae pushed him towards some trees. Ranidae: “Don’t come out Jack! Not for anything!” Jack was confused but decided to hide. A helicopter suddenly appeared in the sky and transformed in front of Ranidae. It was Arachnid. Ranidae managed to get out of the web and stood straighter. Arachnid: “Well, well, look how far my little one has gone. I thought I raised you better than to run off too far.” Ranidae: “…Hi…” Arachnid chuckles darkly while walking over and cupping the bots face. A sickly-sweet look on her face. Arachnid: “Come now, is that any way to talk to your mother.” Ranidae: “No, Mama…” Arachnid: “Good. Good. Now, I thought I saw you talking to something.” She moves towards the trees, but Ranidae quickly moves in front of her waving his arms. Ranidae: “A bird! I saw a bird carrying a mouse up a tree! I thought they could understand me!” Arachnid seemed to have bought this. Arachnid: “Poor child, you have been alone for too long. Now, come to mother and we’ll go to our new home.” She grabbed his servo tightly. Ranidae: “Where are we going?” Arachnid: “To the Nemesis. Lord Megatron will be waiting.” He quickly glanced back to where Jack was hiding and flashed a sad smile. Arachnid transformed into her alt mode, while using a web to stick Ranidae and fly off. Jack came out to see the retreating forms leave. Jack goes to the com lines.’ Jack: “Raf! I need a groundbrigde right now!”

Miko and Raf immediately know something went wrong when Jack is sprinting through the groundbridge, a bouquet of flowers in hand but no sign of Ranidae.

He quickly gives them the run down of what went down.

They don’t know what’s more shocking.

The fact that Ranidae’s real mother was Arachnid.

Or that he had been kidnapped by Arachnid.

They needed to get the bots in on this now.

Jack through the com lines. Jack: “We need you guys back at the base!” The bots are just finishing fighting. Arcee: “We’re a little bit busy right now Jack!” Bulkhead throws a Con over his shoulder. Bulkhead: “Real busy!” Raf: “Its Ranidae!” Arcee almost stops. Bumblebee: “Boop? (What happened?)” Miko: “He got kidnapped by his real mom! And she’s Arachnid!” Arcee full on freezes. Arcee: “WHAT?!” Meanwhile on the Nemesis… Arachnid drags Raniade to the throne room. He visibly gulps in fear seeing the mighty Megatron. Arachnid: “My Lord, I have brought you a new recruit. My own sparkling.” Megatron glares at him. Ranidae just wants to be back at the base where its safe. Megatron: “Step forward.” Ranidae takes a couple steps forward. Megatron: “What is your designation?” Ranidae: “R-Ranidae.” He raises an optic. Ranidae: “I mean Lord Megatron!” He nervously bows at him. Megatron looks back at Arachnid: “He is yours?” Arachnid: “Adopted.” Megatron nods. Megatron walks forward to the youngling. Ranidae wishes that he could say sorry to Arcee for leaving the base. Megatron: “Hmm… we shall see what good is he. Have him report to the med bay for Knockout to check him over. No doubt the organic filth has seeped into his wiring.” Arachnid: “Of course. Ranidae.” Arachnid grabs harshly at the youngling servo and drags him down the dark hall. He wishes he had told Arcee he loved her one last time.

#maccadam #transformers x reader #bot buddy #tfp #tfp x reader #tfp x platonic reader #ranidae

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