#but unfortunately for him the shenanigans potential trumps my sympathy for him

[hypewinter]

3 HC/AU Prompt Game (3)

1). Baby Ancient Danny!

2). Liminal Batman

3). Ghost Adoption Instincts

:)

Due to his overwhelming affinity and power, Danny becomes the ancient of space. Ordinarily, this would be a momentous occasion that would call for a lot of fan fair and celebration. After all, a new ancient being born is a really big deal. Doesn't happen too often. And when it does, everyone feels it. From the most powerful of ghosts to even the slightest of liminals. If you're even a smidgen touched by death, you're gonna realize something powerful has just awakened.

But there is no celebration this time. Why? You see, not for the first time, Danny's halfa status throws a little wrench in things. When one becomes an ancient, everything gets reset for them. It's basically like a new birth. You get a new form, new core, new haunt (etc) but you still retain key aspects of your old self. Like the general age appearance and memories. But this doesn't happen with Danny. Whatever power is involved with turning a ghost into an ancient can't really get a feel on Danny considering he's not a full ghost. So when this "new birth" happens for Danny, well he gets new everything. He's basically a new ghost. A new baby ghost. A new baby ghost with dominion over space. Yeah things are about to get fun.

It doesn't take very long for Clockwork to lose sight of his new godling ward. And by lose sight, I mean lose sight. No matter how many timelines he flips through. He. Can't. Find. Him. Why can't he find him? Where did he go?? Why is this happening!? Ahhhhhhh!!

Meanwhile, Danny is vibing as he stares up at the Wayne family. The Wayne family of the DC universe. The universe famous for its convoluted and twisted timeline. The universe that's gonna take CW a while to work through (good luck buddy).

Now remember how I said that all liminals recognize when a new ancient is born? Well that's not the only ghost sense they have. You see there are two reactions to the baby currently sitting on the table depending on when someone died or at least had a brush with death compared to Danny's death. The first is, "Very powerful. Must respect. Must garner favor. Must not show weakness." This sentiment is held by all those who had their tastes of death after Danny. This includes Damian, Cass, and Tim. Then there's the other side. The ones who tasted death prior to Danny. When they look at this baby the reaction is, "Baby? Why baby alone? Must protect baby. Must take baby under my wing and keep it safe until baby can be on its own." This feeling is strong with Jason, Bruce and even Dick. There's only one problem. There is one baby but three dad candidates. Let the adoption wars begin!