#ecto signatures

[vladdyissues]

I guess, one day halfas have to find a simple way to hide their ectoaura from hunters nerby (mostly: Jack and Maddie). I'd suggest for Vlad to possess the indicator with by a weak clone. We don't know how good Danny will be in cloning (my hc: 4 is forming except snow and ice is too tough for him), but he can try to decrease temperature around the indicator.

What would you suggest for them?

A way for Vlad and Danny to hide their ecto-signatures (spectral frequencies) from ghost-detecting technology, correct?

I think it would be a simple matter—at least in theory—of masking their ghost signatures by using their human signatures as a shield. Basically just like signal jammers. I imagine Vlad already knows how to do this, which is why Danny's ghost sense has never gone off when Plasmius was nearby*.

I think Vlad would be willing to teach Danny this trick—for a price, of course.

*I'm 99% sure of this, but I haven't checked all the Vlad episodes yet.

[kettlefire]

Booo-merang Trouble DP x DC Idea

Okay but leeching off the idea that Jason gives off an ecto-signature, and I probably saw a post about this somewhere. I just for the love of me can't find it. If anyone knows it, please link it so I can credit!:

Jason isn't even on patrol, he's visiting the manor. His chilling, eating away at lunch. He doesn't come to the manor often, but he always needs a dose of his crazy family every once in a while. There's no way he'd stay away from Alred's cookies for long.

Then boom, something shatters the window behind him. On instinct, Jason moves. Taking cover and trying to get a sight of the situation. Of the perceived attack. However, before Jason could do much a heavy object rams into his chest before landing on the ground before him. It doesn't really hurt, nothing compared to his prior injuries.

A boomerang. A glowing green and silver boomerang laid on the ground before him. Jason's a million and one ways confused as he stared at the device. His hands carefully picking it up, and looking over the softly beeping device.

Jason thinks maybe it's a bomb, but something in his gut says otherwise. He can think of a million different things it could be. Maybe one of the rogues got a hold of their DNA, and it tracked them. Maybe it's going to expel a gas any moment, an attack on the Waynes rather than their vigilante personas.

Except it's none of that. The beeping stops and suddenly a robotic voice sounds from the boomerang.

"Ghost located, prepare for your end ghoul."

Jason tenses once again at the clear threat in those words. His gaze scans around the kitchen, still crouched behind the kitchen counter. Except nothing happens.

Except for a voice ringing out from the boomerang once again. This time, this time it's not a robot. It's a clear record of a young woman speaking. Her voice filled with fear, concern, and urgency.

"Okay, this should work right? You know what, that doesn't matter. No one but you should have a signature. Beside's Tucker thinks he set this up to go to you only. So Danny, you should be hearing this..."

Jason only finds himself more confused. The urgency in this girl's voice was enough to keep his nerves on edge. It sounded important, but Jason had no clue who these people are. Who these names could be refering to.

"Danny... Things here aren't doing to good. Look, I know why you left. You have every reason to. What mom and dad did... It's unforgivable and I don't expect you to come back. But, thing is..."

There's a lull in the recording. The distant sound of soft chatting. If Jason strained his ears, he could somewhat pick of the sound of another woman and man.

"Everyone thinks Phantom is dead. Which I would think is a good thing, but it's not. Danny, the GIW is on a rampage now that you aren't here. Mom and dad are on their side..."

Jason made the conclusion that the speaker was this Danny's sister. The message was intended for him, yet it somehow landed in Jason's lap.

"They have everyone locked up in the school... Radars to see if anyone has a signature, and if they do... They separate them from everyone else."

Jason's brows furrowed, finally pulling himself to a stand. He placed the boomerang on the kitchen counter. Leaning forward as he took in the words.

"We don't know what they are doing. Sam, Tucker, and Valerie... We're all hiding. We'll have the highest signatures, and... Listen Danny..."

Jason had a growing pit in his gut. He knew something wasn't right. These people were in danger. It didn't matter he didn't know about what, or who the GIW was, but these people needed help.

"... We need you. We need Phantom, baby bro. I'm sorry, I know you're still recovering. We can handle things here, but please. Please tell me you're still alive, you're in Gotham right? Tell me you're safe, and you're healing and still kicking Danny."

Jason swallowed, placing his hands flat on the kitchen counter. He needed to get this down to the cave. Have the computer tracked where it came from. But Jason couldn't move, not at the sound of pure desperation in this woman's voice.

"I just need to know you at least made it out of this nightmare. I don't care how you do it, just please let me know things are okay... They have... They have Vlad, Danny. Things are complicated, and I hate to put this on you... But Amity needs Phantom..."

The recorded suddenly broke into static, but Jason thinks he got enough of what he needed. Amity. The place these people were was called Amity. It gave him a lead, something for them to work with.

"Da... We... Help... They..."

Jason could hear the woman's voice breaking through the static. He gripped the boomerang, turning on his heels and heading towards the cave.

"Sam... Mom... Tech... I..."

Every broken word only fueled Jason's own urgency. Jason felt a strange urge, a connection. Something that told him he had to help. They needed to help. The boomerang found him, and that had to mean something.

"... I love you, Danny..."

Those four words were the clearest compared to rhe rest of it. It made Jason's heart seize, and he took a breath. He was going to help.

It didn't matter if Jason didn't know these people. If they weren't from Gotham. This was important, and something told Jason he needed to find this Danny.

Danny would be the only one that would know that to do. If Jason manages to rewind the recording, he was certain Bruce would be equally on board.

That voice, the emotions that dripped from it. It gave the sense that this wasn't just life or death. This was a world ending problem.

And Jason would be damned if he ignored it.

[tanglepelt]

Dpxdc 177

Danny and Damian are twins. Danny was killed by Damian obviously. The normal only one heir business.

When he was put into the pit. Either by a guilt ridden Damian or Talia late in the night. He vanished. Natural portal whipped him away. Right in the path of Jack and Maddie. They adopt the little 8 year old who has no memories of his past.

Normal stuff happens. Danny dies a second time becomes a halfa and befriends cujo.

Now cujo loves Danny and loves to visit him. Too bad cujo gets Damian confused with Danny. But hey. He had two people now. Double the pets.

One day Danny is playing with cujo and cujo unannounced decides his ppl need to meet.

Danny was clearly confused. First where is he? Cujo that was completely naughty behavior. Then there was a dude staring at him. A doppelgänger? Another clone? Like this dude looked nearly identical to him besides the eyes.

Now Damian. Damian recognizes Danny right away. Now he likely thinks this is a clone or something.

[mortiferumsomnum]

Soup Kitchens and Runaway Ghosts (Part 3)

*throws idea-fic at you guys* THANK YOU FOR LIKING THIS!!!! ASLDGKHSALKDGHLAKSDGH

Part 1, Part 2

****

When your boss tells you to come to Apartment 304 in Schnapp Avenue along the Upper West Side of Gotham, you don’t question it. You especially don’t question the grocery list that your boss listed down for you, neither do you question the need for fluffy blankets, pillows and paper bags.

You have to gather up the things in a box, get into your (stolen) car, and drive to your second location.

It’s just something you do.

The less questions you ask, the less you have to deny. That’s what Bill had learned in his life as a professional henchman.

However, after a long career of being a henchman, none had ever compared to the experience of working under the Red Hood. Sure, the guy threatens you with his guns, and shoots and misses your feet as a joke, but the man had been changing the lower-class neighborhood for better with all the control he has in the Gotham Underworld.

Bill never had to fear for his life, either. He didn’t have to worry about living a new day, and he didn’t have to worry about what wacky idea his boss had just cooked up. Now, all he worried is what kind of soup they’ll be making for the next day at the soup kitchen, and what new recipe the Red Hood’s favorite person, Jason, was going to teach them.

Honestly, Bill didn’t feel like a henchman at all. Maybe a butler-in-training, even if there was no hope for him being employed as a butler.

(In the future, Bill would fondly look back at this moment as he serves tea to a graying Alfred, who is relaxing in his bed as Jason... well, Master Jason, retold his semi-mundane day to his grandfather.)

Finally, he arrives.

*****

- ‘Congratulations! You killed someone! But not just someone! It’s multiple people!’ a voice in Tim’s head laughs. It sounds like a mix between murder-hungry Jason and that lunatic Joker. 

- There had been a time before he killed someone. Well, he thought he killed him. Johnny Warlock. Although in the end, the guy was actually alive the whole time, Tim remembers punching the guy’s fake until he couldn’t hear the fake’s grunts, until he couldn’t hear the fake’s heartbeats. Warlock hurt Spoiler, hurt Steph who he was in love with that time; he broke her leg and made her scream. He was so beat up over being a murderer, it took a while to get over it. (Source: Robin #123, Die Screaming, Boy Wonder!)

- It also doesn’t help that he even met a future version of himself who killed everyone, donned in a fucking Batsuit and acting like going far and killing your enemies was the norm. To be fair, in this future, every single teen titan were killing and taking things too far, but there is nothing more frightening than knowing that you have the potential to kill so efficiently without remorse. (Source: Teen Titans vol. 4 #17-19, Teen Titans of Tomorrow; Robin Today, Batman Tomorrow; Running Out of Time)

- Now, he killed people. On accident. Fuck.

- Before heading to the apartment, he decided to head to the scene, staking out in a shadowed area while observing what was going on. It wasn’t good. There were police everywhere. Jim Gordon was talking with a bunch of... investigators? Wait, they’re not Gotham-based investigators.

- He threw a tiny drone into the air, letting it catch wind before controlling it to fly closer to where the investigators were, planting a few bugs onto them and turning up the volume in his installed listening device. He was too far to lip-read. (I’d like people to know that in this au, he has some bugs on every officer in Gotham.)

- “Look,” that was Jim Gordon’s voice, “I get that you want to take over investigating this case, but I’m not handing it to you. You don’t understand the going-ons in this city. Red Hood is a crime-lord, yes. But this situation looks like the Red Hood was being chased for things not related to crime. Excessive how these ‘government based agents’ took to chasin’ after a single rogue without a single thought of avoiding civilians. It was the Red Hood leadin’ them to a civilian-less road, from how it looks like, rather than being chased into an environment where they could go all out. They didn’t hesitate to run-down a civilian, much less avoid children or seniors. In comparison to Red Hood who took great care to staying off of civilian roads and within GCPD territory.”

- “I don’t trust any of ‘ya folks who say yer from the government to keep my city safe.”

- “Like you have been keeping it safe for all the years you’ve been Commissioner?” one of the investigators scoffed. “Letting caped vigilantes beat up bad guys, and receiving weekly break-outs while your officers do nothing but sit pretty in their car with a gun?”

- Tim bristled. Jim Gordon is the only person who’s trying to do anything to make sure Gotham citizens stay safe, trying his best to weed out all the corrupt officers no matter how slow it had been going. Things ARE getting better. It’s not like Jim likes relying on vigilantes, either. The only time he relies on the Bat is when there is No Other Option. But he has mutual respect with all the Bats.

- Commissioner Gordon only raises an unimpressed brow, which looks so much like Barbara’s. “You’re still not getting it,” he said, turning around and doing a great impression of Batman walking away like a badass, letting his long coat billow in the wind. Unlike the Bats, however, he doesn’t disappear from sight and only enters his car, driving away.

- The investigators start talking to themselves. Here’s what Tim gathers: 35 men had been killed from his little accidental murder. (Breathe in, Tim. You can brood about it later...) They weren’t just chasing after Red Hood, but they were also after a ‘Daniel Fenton’ and an ‘unauthorized clone’ possibly made from Daniel’s genes. This ‘Daniel’ also can’t be brought back to his home, because his parents have also teamed up with them.

- They confirmed Jason’s claims about these people hunting down ghosts. But Tim finds out from them how they not only aim to hunt them down, they aim for complete extermination. It’s ‘Daniel’s’ parents who wants to conduct experiments, given that any findings will be reported to these people. 

- There’s... there’s just no way these people are actually from the government. If ghosts were real and the government were involved... wouldn’t that mean that there are actual laws on how ghosts are treated and dealt with?

- “Make sure to report to the boss about how much we need to spend to catch these ghosts.” Tim almost growls, clenching his fists. Because not only were they talking about getting rid of ghosts, but including the extermination of his definitely-not-but-totally-is-brother. He can’t let this happen. 

- Once these investigators were done talking, they went into their own car. Tim made sure that his bugs wouldn’t be tracked for at least the next 3 days. Then, he opened his comms to a private link to Oracle.

- “O, I need you to search something. Ectobiology laws.”

- “...What?”

- “Laws on how ghosts are dealt with.”

- “Tim... I... fine.”

- After a few moments, Oracle cursed. “This can’t be real. There are actual laws on--- Tim, how did you find out about this? Does Bruce know about this? What the actual--”

- “I don’t think even Harvey Dent knows about this, and he was an attorney. What did it say?”

- “In summary? It’s all ‘kill on sight’ for any ghost. They’re making reforms for some of them, though. None of them good. It mostly involves research.”

- “Are there any research on ghosts?”

- “That are not just narrative reports from Ghost Hunters? Yeah, from Madeline and Jack Fenton. They’ve written so many of them, they’re probably the only scientific source. Ectoplasm... it seems to be similar to the Lazarus Pits...”

- Tim pursed his lips. He doesn’t know how much Jason wants to share about Daniel and the clone. “O, these people want to catch Jason. He has the same ecto-signature as the ghosts that they seem to like tracking down.” He needs to update his safe-house to avoid Jason and his new wards from getting caught. But also, “We might want to see if Robin and Batman has some kind of ecto-signature on them... Maybe even Dick from how much time he spends with them. I’ll try to nab some of the gadgets from these vans and see if we can turn them into our own tech. 

- “You do that. I’ll update Batman on what’s going on.”

- Tim cuts the line off and sighs. His body suddenly feels heavy, and it’s not because of anything physical. It was a weight in his mind that refuses to lighten, only growing heavier and heavier. 

- But he remembers what he told Barbara, and he remembers that Jason is waiting for him with hot chocolate in the safe-house he needs to upgrade.

- He pushes his body forward. It’s probably thanks to his training that his body is able to do exactly he needs to do, staying out of the people’s eyes while snatching the tech before it could be loaded in some government trailer. his head felt foggy, and he couldn’t feel his hands and legs. But his body was moving. And the next thing he knows, he’s already changed out of his costume, headed to Jason on foot.

***

- The Doctor, Theodore “Teddy” Sturgeon (HEH. I named him after some author. Have you read To Marry Medusa? don’t remember much of the plot, but damn I remember loving it!), checked over Danny again. 

- Everything was healed. The vivisection and blaster wounds have healed into scars. Other parts of his body also showed some light scars, but the most dangerous ones have been healed.

- He sighed, rubbed a hand down in his face, and took a spare pillow. Then, he screamed into it.

- The smell of chocolate wafted around the apartment, making him feel nauseous, so he laid on the cold floor. Which, of course, made his nausea worse. 

- “Hey, Doctor Teddy! Do you want some hot chocolate?”

- No. Maybe some soup. But Teddy was too nauseous to talk. So, he only groaned back.

- “I’ll take that as a yes!”

- Of course groaning was a mistake.

- The Red Hood, who was now dressed like a civilian named Jason, came back inside with two mugs. He handed one of the mugs to Dani, who took it with a smile. Everyone in the room could tell how shaky her hands were, and that’s why ‘Jason’ led Dani to one of the smaller couches for her to sit down on.

- Then, Jason sat down at another couch and sipped from his own mug. Thank you Mr. Red Hood for thinking he was pathetic enough to not have any of his own hot chocolate.

- That was when there was a knock on the door. The Red Hood laid his mug on the wooden table that was also in the room, before getting up to answer the door, Dani doing the same thing and running right after him.

- [And I’d like everyone to know that Dani is smol. Like, she reaches until Jason’s hips smol.]

- He heard Dani gasp. “IT’S BILL!!!”

- He heard the Red Hood sigh. “Timmers, why are you burritoed and carried by my best chef?”

- “Hrrrrnnngggg...”

- “I’m not... I’m not that good, man.”

- Huh... that last voice sounds familiar. Doctor Teddy took a great effort to stand up, groaning and feeling his knees click. Then, finally, the people came back in, with Jason heading straight to the kitchen with a paper bag... probably full of groceries, and...

- “Oh, shit, Bill??”

- “Teddy??”

- Dani blinked at the both of them, sitting back down at the small couch while picking up her mug. “The two of you know each other?”

- Know each other? They used to work under the same bosses during the first Robin’s earlier years! Teddy was trying to get his degree while also getting paid doing all the easy stuff, y’know, like bandaging other henchmen up?? He was there when Bill had lost two of his femurs to Batman. He’s the one who brought him to Dr. Thompkins’ hospital.

- During those years, both he and Bill were so desperate to make a living, they refused to see exactly how deep in crime the both of them were getting. By the time the third Robin came into the picture, they drifted apart... well, it’s not like the two of them were close in the first place, but whichever boss Teddy was with, Bill was there too. It just felt weird not seeing the other whenever they were working under a new boss.

- Teddy got his degree, tried practicing in legal stuff, got too sentimental with some patients, and got arrested for doing unauthorized surgeries on people who definitely needed them. After being released, there was no hospital willing to accept him anymore... that’s when the Red Hood recruited him... and the rest was history.

- Bill chuckled. “Small world, huh?” he said. Then, gesturing to Danny with his chin, he smiled at Teddy. “Looks like we’re going back to old times, eh?”

- Teddy, who no longer felt the effects of nausea, only nodded. “Yeah,” he said, smiling back. Then, he gestured to the kid that Bill was carrying over his shoulder. “Does he need help?”

- Bill shook his head. “Nah. The kid just needs a cup of Jason’s hot chocolate. He looks like he’s been under the influence of Scarecrow’s fear toxin.”

- Teddy winced. “Yeah, okay,” he said, stepping aside so that Bill could place the kid wrapped in a fluffy blanket on the small couch the Red Hood was sitting on earlier. 

- Teddy squinted. “Is that... Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne?????”

- Bill nodded.

- Oh shit... he knew that the Red Hood, Jason, looked familiar. Does that mean that his name is actually, truthfully Jason?? THE Jason Peter Todd-Wayne??? Second adopted son of Bruce Wayne who died????? No... no... maybe they just look alike. And have the same name. Or the Red Hood chose that name specifically because he LOOKS like Jason.

- But that makes no sense! The Red Hood shoots anyone who disrespects the dead. He’d be a hypocrite if he wasn’t... Jason...

- Red Hood, who might also actually be known as Jason, walked into the room with a tray carrying three mugs. He handed one to Bill, then one to Timothy, who accepted it with a tired thank you, and then a mug towards Teddy. Upon accepting it (and no, Teddy did not squeak while he thanked him! *sobs* he didn’t!!), Teddy realizes that his mug was filled with good ol’ chicken soup.

- Okay, whatever. You don’t throw under the bus someone who feeds you well. Taking a sip, he inwardly cried at how good it was.

- “So, the kid sleeping on the couch is your brother?” Bill decided to ask, taking a seat on a chair he dragged from the kitchen.

- “Yeah... kinda... but we like thinking we’re siblings!”

- “Hm... how long has he been out?” Bill asked. 

- Here, the small girl seemed to become smaller. Her face turned sad, and it broke Teddy’s heart because no small child is supposed to look that sad. The Red Hood... Jason patted the girl’s back to comfort her.

- “He’s been out even before she took me to check on him, Bill,” said Jason. “He’s also never woke up when the Red Hood brought him over to Doc.”

- Oh, ohhhhhh, so we’re keeping Jason and the Red Hood being the same person a secret? Okay, yeah, Teddy could do that. Wait, he called him Doc, and only Doc. He doesn’t want Bill to misunderstand that he’s being legal in his Doctor stuff. He’s as much in crime as Bill probably is.

- But he doesn’t have time to point that out, because Timothy Drake-Wayne grunted, bringing out from his blanket a plastic bag full of tech, looking a bit more lively now that he’s drunk the hot chocolate.

- “Is everyone in this room in the know about who’s chasing after... the kids?” he was looking at Jason for confirmation, who nodded.

- “The official story,” said Timothy, “is that the ‘Government Investigation Ward’ or GIW is after the Red Hood, due to his constitution being similar to that of a ghost.”

- Bill blinked. “I’m sorry... what?”

- Timothy ignored him. “Ghost is just a general term for anything that has ectoplasm. The real story is that they’re after the kids AND Red Hood, because all three of them have ectoplasmic components in their body.”

- Bill looked to Teddy with a question in his eyes. Ectoplasm? his gaze seemed to ask. 

- “When I was treating Danny over here, he had some green substance in his blood,” he explained. “It both enhanced his healing and the infection, so his body was literally at war on the inside.” Turning his gaze to Timothy, he confirmed, “That green substance must be what you’re calling ectoplasm, right?”

- Timothy nodded. “It is. I don’t know the full description of what this ectoplasm does, but it seems that all three seem to naturally create ectoplasm in their bodies.”

- “When the Red Hood said to the Bats that the GIW seemed to follow him due to what he was, it mostly meant that the GIW was following them through their ectobiological signatures.” Timothy then shook the plastic to make all of their attention point to it. “The tech in this plastic bag? I took it directly from the vans before they were retrieved by the government. Once I figure out how they managed to sense ectoplasm with these things, I’m going to upgrade the security measures in this room... and then to the new safehouse we’re going to move into.”

- Bill whistled. “I knew that the Waynes were probably sponsoring the Bats behind the scenes, but to be the ones personally making their gadgets? That’s amazing.”

- Doc suddenly put the pieces together... techy... Timothy Drake-Wayne being Jason Todd-Wayne’s step-brother...

- Oh shit. That’s Red Robin, isn’t he?!?????

- “You okay, Doctor Teddy?? You’re looking a bit pale over there...” said Dani with worry on her face.

- “I’m... I’m fine.” NO I’M NOT!!! “I’m just... processing that the government... is using the people’s taxes to chase after people who are very clearly alive....”

- Dani snorted. “You don’t know the half of it! But, yeah! This IS where all the taxes are going. That’s why a whole bunch of people where me and Danny came from commit tax fraud!”

- Jason huffed. “Danny and I, Dani.”

- Dani gave Jason the stink-eye. 

- Jason then pointed a thumb to the kitchen while looking at Timothy. “The dining table is clean. You could do your stuff there. There’s also extra hot chocolate on the stove.”

- Timothy gave a small thanks. But before Timothy could pass Jason, Jason took him by the shoulders and whispered into his ears that the Doctor couldn’t hear.

(”Thanks, Tim... I’ll chat with you later, yeah?”

Tim shrugged. “Or we don’t have to talk about it.”

Jason pats his shoulder. “Whatever makes you comfortable...” What else would Dick say, Jason wondered. Then, he added, “Just know that I’m here to listen when you do wanna talk.” Because there’s no fucking way he’s letting Bruce talk to Tim about what happened.

Tim was quiet, eyes shining under the dim light of the living room. “Yeah... thanks.

Nailed it.)

- Timothy then briskly disappeared into the kitchen.

***

- The investigators, who are actually known as Operative J and Operative K, using the aliases John Jones and Keith Keys, stopped their car in front of Wayne Manor, their gadget blinking and beeping softly as they stood in front of the gates. “Two ectoplasmic signatures here, over,” Operative J, John Jones, said into his comms.

- Operatives L, M and N were in front of Arkham Asylum, their own gadgets beeping softly. “One in Arkham, over.”

- Operative O, who was staking out in Schnapp Avenue, put his binoculars down. “Three in Schnapp Avenue: Daniel, the clone and an unknown man. Apartme----”

- Operative O wasn’t able to complete his report, because he was thrown into a wall, wheezing as he slid down.

- Then, he felt an electric shock to his neck, putting him to unconsciousness.

- “Operative O. Operative O, respond!”

- The Operative’s comms were crushed. Then, Operative O received another electric shock, frying any trackers he may have on his body that may lead the other government freaks to his location.

- Nightwing turned on his own comms. “O. Message Hood and Red Robin. Tell them that their location has been compromised.”

- “On it.”

- Nightwing then walked up to the unconscious Operative, picking him up by the back of his collar, and dragging him out of the rooftop. Some interrogations were in order.

****

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[asjjohnson]

I had a thought in October about what if, in the TUE episode, Danny returning to his time was more complicated than just finding Vlad.

I made a gif out of a little sketch story thing I've made based on that thought (it's part one, out of... two? three? I haven't finished it yet so I'm not sure. But I thought this was a good place to stop for the gif.)

The story starts during the episode, right after the older Vlad removes the fused time medallion. The basic thought is that Danny doesn't make it to Vlad soon enough (plus I have some fun with an idea that the medallions have different models).

(The only way I know to start the gif over is to refresh the page. Oh, but first try clicking on the gif.)

Under the cut are the still pictures, as well as a written version. (...I 've spent too much time on this.)

Here's the still pictures.

And here's a written form. (...I'm not good at only giving the words with basic description. It was nearly unreadable that way. So I tried storyifying it. Just a little bit. It includes actions that are implied in the images but not specifically shown.)

---

Within Vlad's cave, in the future, Danny Phantom asks, "It didn’t work?"

Several feet away from him, the older Vlad stares down at the time medallion—still in the palm of the gauntlet he'd used to pull it out of Danny.

The medallion has a central piece with an entwined letter 'C' and 'W'. Above this, in fine print, are the words 'Back' and 'Forward', with corresponding arrows pointing counterclockwise and clockwise. And, below the C/W logo, are the words '10yr model'.

"…Perhaps something had happened…" Vlad says, "causing you to no longer be recognized by your time."

"But Sam and Tucker made it back just fine!" Danny says in confusion.

However, Danny doesn't give Vlad time to come up with any theories. "My future self is in the past, trying to force this future to happen. I need to get back to my time before it’s too late."

Vlad gives Danny a pitying look. "My boy, it may already be too late."

"No. I can’t accept that." Danny walks over to Vlad, raising one hand, palm up. "Here, let me see the medallion." Vlad drops the medallion into Danny's awaiting palm.

Danny looks at the back side of the medallion, saying, "If he was able to use one to go to my time, then I can, too."

The back of the medallion is undesigned smooth metal, but it's engraved with instructions. It reads, "Time anchor and travel device combination. Single use. Up to ten years forward or back. Simply remove to return to own time." And, beneath that, "Please recycle."

Danny puts the medallion around his neck and twists the front face counterclockwise, saying to himself, "I better turn it as far as it will go."

Before he even lets go of the medallion's face, a swirling bubble encompasses him, and then the bubble fades away.

Danny turns to look at the scenery. He's still in the cave—he sees the same cave formations—but, while there used to be a large, desk-like computer console and some lab equipment, now there's only a blank cave wall, and no sign of Vlad. "I guess it worked," he says. Then he flies through the cave.

A while later, after flying all the way to Amity Park, Danny hovers in the air, over the place the Nasty Burger used to be. Now there is only a large scorchmark, and a bewildered-looking version of Danny Fenton sitting in the middle of it.

"Oh no, I didn’t get here in time."

Danny has gone exactly ten years into the past, along the timeline he had started from. (In the corresponding sketch, this information is given by a narration rectangle that reads, "Exactly 10 yrs earlier in original timeline." ...Although that's not exactly true because it was exactly ten years when he first appeared in the cave, and it took time to get from Wisconsin to Amity Park. But the point is that Danny hadn't traveled far enough back in time to reach the intersection of the two timelines.)

Danny flies away, saying, "There must be a way to go farther back!"

The version of Danny Fenton left sitting on the scorched ground thinks, "Maybe I should move in with Vlad."

Some time later, Danny is flying through the Ghost Zone.

"I have no idea what the outside of Clockwork’s lair looks like. I’ll just need to trust I’ll know it when I see it."

Around him are floating doors and swirling patterns, as well as some kind of gear-themed castle that Danny has already passed (it's Clockwork's lair).

Danny turns his head. He doesn't notice the Fenton Boomerang approaching from the other side.

The Boomerang hits him in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Danny grabs the Boomerang and rubs his head. He scolds it like a disobedient pet, saying, "I look away for one second."

"Look," Danny orders, and uses his other hand to reach into his pocket, pulling out Jazz's note and unfolding it with a jerk of his wrist, "I already have one."

He throws the Boomerang. "Go find past me—or the me in the future? Whatever."

The note slips out of his hand.

"No!" He spins around, reaching for it.

"What are you doing way out here, Baby Pop?"

Danny pauses on hearing the voice.

He turns toward the voice and sees a maliciously grinning Ember McClain. "Ember? I don’t have time for this!"

"Well, you better make time. How about some killer volume?" Ember strums her guitar, and a spiral of energy shoots toward Danny.

"I seriously don’t have time! But you want volume? Fine! How’s thiiis?!" He transitions into his Ghostly Wail.

The Wail overpowers Ember's attack and blasts her through the air. She's pushed onto a chunk of floating ground.

The Wail ends, and Ember looks up in surprise and fear. There's a thin stream of ectoplasm leaking from the corner of her mouth. She puts a hand to her mouth and pulls it back to see ectoplasm on her palm.

Then she glares up at Danny. She coughs, and hoarsely says, "I won’t forget this."

Danny's just as horrified as she was. Wide-eyed, he subconsciously leans back, but also reaches a hand toward her in concern. "Wait, I didn’t mean to…"

But then he drops his hand and looks away, his expression hardening. "Never mind. Once I return to the right time, this will never have happened."

Assuming Jazz's note is a lost cause by now, he flies off, leaving Ember on the chunk of rock.

An unknown time later, Danny is in the Ghost Zone, hovering in place. He now has Jazz's headband tied to his belt, and he reaches a hand toward it, and rubs the material between his fingers. He says, "Jazz… Everyone… I’ll find my way back to you."

The camera moves upward until Danny's shoulder and half of his head is visible. His hair is a little longer now, and the shoulder part of his outfit is different. He continues, "No matter how long it takes."

[mutable-manifestation]

Part 3 of The Gotham Puddle Boy: Danny Fenton

(Ages bc I didn't clarify before: Jazz 18, Danny 16, Tim 17, Duke 15, Jason 20, Damian 12, Bruce 40, Alfred 70, Dick 25, Cassandra 20 - Idk anything about the Batman timeline or Cass so I'm winging it [ha, winging. Bats])

Duke POV

Duke shared a look with Tim as Jason - Jason - took over the conversation with Tim’s guest, wrangling prank details out of him and talking up Alfred’s cooking as he led the way to the dining area.

Danny lightly elbowed Jason as he suggested he take part in the prank, causing both Tim and himself to stiffen, but Jason only laughed despite the contact.

"Sure kid," and he snorted and ruffled his hair at the indignant 'I'm 16!' "Bruce could do with a little pranking. Tim already fill you in on the basics?"

"Yeah, I got an hour crash course basic family facts and which utensils to use when - which, yikes." The part of his face that Duke could see scrunched up in displeasure.

"You're playing the part of 'another adopted son that's already been here a while and how could he forget you.' You want my advice? Don't bother with utensil orders. Just eat however - the more comfortable you are the more convincing you are, at any rate. It's social engineering 101. Damian's the only one who really cares, anyway."

Danny took a moment to glance back at Tim, who shrugged. Danny shrugged as well.

"Sounds like a plan, J-man." At that, both of them grimaced.

"Just. Call me Jason - it's an inside joke. Bruce'll have a fit."

"Jason, got it."

At that point they arrived in the dining room, Damian and Cass already present.

"Danny, I presume?" Damian asked, zeroing in on the guy before he could even cross the threshold.

"That's me! Here to assist with all your parental pranking needs," he gave an exaggerated bow. "Nice to meet you - Damian and Cassandra, right?"

Cassandra gave a small wave in reply. Damian declined to answer, turning to Tim and raising a brow meaningfully before his eyes flicked behind them.

"Yep!" a bright voice chirped, causing the four of them to yelp and whip around. "I'm Dick - but we might want to save the chatting for after the prank since Bruce is finally on the way up."

Tim scrambled to sit next to Cass, shoving Danny into the seat next to him even as Dick chuckled and walked to his own seat next to Damian.

Duke settled down next to Dick, all of them trying not to stare as Jason sat directly next to Danny and started up a conversation, asking about the convention he'd mentioned earlier.

Dick openly stared before glancing at himself and Tim. They both shrugged.

Everyone cut off as the dining room door opened once more, Bruce finally arriving.

"Alright-" he cut off, staring straight at Danny - Alfred must have followed Tim's request to stay quiet after he'd texted Bruce that his friend had left an hour ago. He hastily plastered on a pleasant smile, asking, "And who is this?"

Danny immediately made a noise like he'd been shot, bursting into tears and curling into himself to bury his face in his hands.

Tim and Jason move as one, each rubbing a shoulder soothinly as the latter glared death at Bruce, who stiffened in place, visibly stuggling to maintain a neutral expression.

"You forgot Danny again?" Tim questioned incredulously.

"Of course he would, that unreliable leech is the most pathetic of the lot of you," Damian sneered at the sobbing boy.

"Damian." Dick reprimanded. Duke decided to focus on sinking into his chair, glancing breifly at Cass, who seemed content enough to simply observe the chaos.

"Well it's true."

"You-"

Dick's reply was cut off as Danny croaked out "It's o-okay. H-he's right anyway." Duke could almost admire how real he'd made it seem, progressing carefully from bursting into tears to slowly getting them under control.

"It is not," Jason spat. "It isn't your fault Bruce can't be bothered to pull his head of his work long enough to remember his family."

"IT IS!" Danny positively shrieked, jolting up out of his chair and knocking the hands from his shoulders to look Jason in the eye, tears visibly streaming down his face. "I-I'm not athletic and my grades are garbage no m-matter how much I try to fix them and I-I can't do anything right-!" His voice cracked on the word as he cut himself off, clenching his fists.

"I- excuse me," he said quietly, tossing the napkins he'd put in his lap onto his plate before weaving around the stunned Bruce and out the door. Alfred must have been nearby with the food as they could faintly hear him call out "Master Danny," at which Bruce's eyes widened a fraction as the other sat in silence a moment, stunned by the performance.

"I'm going after him," Tim and Jason spoke in unison, standing from their places.

"And what are you gonna say to him, Replacement," Jason sneers, "'Sorry Bruce doesn't care about you?' At least I know what it's like to be a throwaway Wayne," he stares dead at Bruce at the last bit, shouldering his way past the man as Tim sits frozen in place.

"Jason-" Bruce turns, cut off by the dining room door slamming shut in his face.

~

Bruce POV

Bruce had pulled all-nighters before - too often, according to Alfred. He was familiar with the effects, and hallucinations weren't meant to begin until hour 72; Bruce was barely on hour 30.

Despite that, Bruce had entered his dining room only to be faced with what was most definitely the boy he had seen vanish into a puddle the night before.

He was young, somewhere in the 15-to-20's range, though likely on the younger end. Bruce was relieved to see that he was okay, but suspicious. The water had tested normal every time, and while people did tend to respect his no metas rule this was likely a teenager - with the greater tendency to disregard authority that entailed.

Tim had said his friend had left already, and he was generally truthful. Still, with the sudden appearance of the boy the night after he'd seen him disappear into a puddle - and keeping in mind that it was well within Duke's abilities to manipulate light and make him appear to vanish - it was entirely possible they were playing a prank on him.

Still, better not to make assumptions. So he started simple: by attempting to prompt an introduction.

Instead of an introduction his question had been met with a deluge of tears and accusations that even Jason was taking part in. The boy's speech before disappearing was worrying - even if the context was wrong there was a hint of truth in every lie, and the lack of self-worth evident in his words….

But it was Jason's parting shot that hit him like a knife to the heart. As if he had ever wanted to lose his son - as if he ever wanted to lose any of them.

It was only Alfred opening the door not three seconds after Jason closed it that prevented him from spiraling further. Alfred might keep quiet and allow the kids to prank him, but he would never answer dishonestly, which meant he could make sure this wasn't some sort of mind control/memory alteration event.

"Alfred, have I ever adopted a boy named 'Danny?'"

"Not yet, Master Bruce."

"…Yet?"

Alfred merely glanced around the room at his children - black hair and blue eyes for all but Duke's black-and-brown - before pointedly raising a brow.

Bruce scowled before looking back at his children, noting the grimaces and hunched shoulders - "Who was that, really?"

"Danny," Tim spoke up, "The guest I mentioned earlier? He didn't really go home, I just texted everyone about him so we could prank you." He paused, winced. "I…didn't think about how the prank might hit a sore spot for Jason." He concluded grimly. At that, everyone grimaced.

Bruce took a breath before trudging on. "And the puddle incident last night, was that a prank as well?"

Dick, Duke, Tim, and Cass shared a look while Damian merely raised a brow. "No? Why would that be related?" Dick finally questioned.

"Because 'Danny' is the person I saw disappear into the puddle."

"Another meta?" Duke asked, perking up.

"Why come to Gotham, then?" Damian tagged on, face twisting in dissapproval.

"Because his parents dragged him here for an engineering convention," Tim filled in. "The one Jason was asking about earlier. If they don't know he's a meta he might not have been able to come up with an excuse to be allowed to stay home."

"Full name?" Bruce demanded.

"Danny Fenton," Tim answered, not missing a beat. "But seriously, Bruce. He's sixteen and he's only in town for a week because of his parents - and it's already been like three days. He's not doing anything - we literally spent four hours playing Damned-"

"Tim." Bruce cut him off, not looking away from his phone as he opened up a background check. "I'm not going to chase a random teenager out of Gotham - but if there's an outside meta in the city it doesn't hurt to know what to expect."

"Uh," Duke spoke up, "Not to put a damper on things but. Jason's been acting…weird."

"Weird how?"

"Not in a bad way!" Tim defended, "He's just been calm. Which is a nice change of pace! Maybe Danny has some kind of calming aura?"

"For Jason specifically?" Dick asked, raising a brow.

"But he wasn't calm," Duke says softly.

"Because he was confronted with a stranger in the house-"

"No," Duke cut off Tim's response, "He froze before either of you came into sight, before we could even hear your voices. I watched him stare at the stairway for a solid ten seconds before you ever came into view. And you saw how he wouldn't even talk until he suddenly just… switched to friendly-mode. A mode I didn't know he had, by the way. Isn't it odd that Jason is the only one affected less than 24 hours after Bruce sees the person likely causing the affect disappear into what he thought was Lazarus water?"

"You think he's related to the League of Assassins somehow?" Bruce narrowed his eyes, humming as he looked at the screen.

"We've been playing video games alone for four hours, Danny's been nothing but nice. And I'm the one who invited him here - he didn't ask about it, he was just leaving when I offered to hang out. And he had four hours to stab me if he wanted to and didn't." Tim shot back.

"Still, it won't hurt to run a quick background check while he and Jason cool down - every lie has a grain of truth," He frowned sadly, thinking back on Jason's words, "And unless that was scripted they probably both need a minute."

The room winced, frozen quietly in place as Alfred passed out the food and Bruce typed away.

`

Danny POV

Danny scrubbed his eyes as he retreated to 'his' room - a guest room he and Tim had spent some of their prep time making look lived in earlier. It was the designated retreat room for after he completed his tearful speech - Tim would follow soon enough to tell him if Bruce was actually falling for it or if he should drop the joke and come say hi.

He tried to tell himself that it was only for dramatic effect when he slammed the door behind him. He slid down the adjacent wall to hug his knees to his chest, doing his best to ignore the pang in his chest in favor of thinking about the look on Bruce Wayne's face when he'd fled the room.

He heard a few doors open and close before 'his' door opened, and he looked up to find Jason looking down at him instead of Tim - expression just as heavy as Danny's.

"Hey," he said, taking a glance around. "Nice digs."

Danny snorted. "Thanks. What happened, I thought Tim was going to come get me?"

Jason closed the door behind him, sliding down to sit crisscross on the floor against it in an echo of Danny not ten seconds earlier. "Prank's probably canceled. I said something that… hit a little too close to home." He grimaced.

"Yeah." Danny muttered, looking away from him to stare blankly at the window a moment.

His brows drew down as he mulled that over, pushing away his own feelings for the moment. Tim had mentioned the rooms were soundproof, so with it just being him and Jason, now was the best time to ask.

He turned to rest his head on his knees, looking at Jason as he asked, "Do they know?"

"Know?" Jason echoed, turning to look him in the eyes.

"You know," Danny said, flashing green eyes.

Jason jolts out of his seated position, putting another ten feet between them even as he sees his own eyes flash green from a mirror in the corner of his vision.

The feeling of calm and safety hasn't disappated but he won't let that stop him from reacting.

"You're from the League?" he questions, even though it sounds wrong the moment he so much as thinks it.

"What?" Danny asks, baffled. "I don't think the Justice League accepts scrawny teenagers."

"What? No! The League of Assassins!"

"…isn't that one of the optional add-on groups for Dragons and Dragons?"

"What? NO!" Jason runs a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Okay, what is anyone supposed to 'know' here? Something about Lazarus water?"

"Lazarus water? Is that like, some kind of alternative holy water?" Danny's face scrunches up before he shakes his head. "Whatever, not the point. I mean 'Do they know you're liminal?'"

"Liminal." Jason echoes again, face blank before his eyes narrow. "Does that have something to do with why I felt like I was about to be murdered before you introduced yourself?"

Danny freezes, face cycling through embarrassment, confusion, and realization before settling on dawning horror as he paled. "YOU don't know? You don't know? Ancients. Okay. Alright, okay, quick question - a few questions. They are very important and you need to answer honestly."

Jason narrows his eyes at the demand, "What?"

"Okay, starter: your eyes just flashed green-" Jason stiffened, blinking "-were you aware that happens?"

"Maybe my eyes just look green in different lighting," he deflects, "why do you want to know?"

"Because I want to help you," Danny says grimly. "Because if you're liminal and you don't know then you're in danger. And you are liminal - I couldn't sense you until I saw you because your signature is so small but it's obvious to anyone with the ability or the technology for it. And I'm sure you could sense me even before that. You thought I was 'going to murder you' because your liminal instincts told you that I could have-" Jason tensed. "-and you relaxed because I satisfied that liminal part of you's fear by making it clear that I wouldn't - that I won't. That I was - am friendly."

"Great. If you don't want to murder me then why does being 'liminal' put me in danger."

"Because it doesn't matter how small your ecto-signature is, the fact that you have one at all classifies you as an ecto-entity-"

"'Ecto?'" Jason cuts him off, raising a brow.

"As in ectoplasm; the thing ghosts are made of."

Jason flinches as if slapped. "Ghosts aren't real. I'm not a ghost. I'm alive."

Danny's face softens, and Jason hates it. "You aren't a ghost. But something happened - whether it was… an injury… of some kind, or a contamination by exposure."

Memories of his death play behind Jason's eyes, along with memories of his revival, hazy agony-fear-confusion weaving through each like a nightmarish mockery of a carousel.

"You have an ecto-signature, which means you're maintaining your own ectoplasm levels by producing it. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, your ecto-signature means that the Anti-Ecto Acts apply to you. Which is why I need you to tell me if you've noticed any suspicious guys in white suits and sunglasses around recently - or if you've tried to donate any blood since… whatever caused this, if you know?"

"Anti-Ecto Acts?" Jason asks, mind still reeling.

"I'll be happy to explain, but the other two things are way more urgent if we want to avoid being vivisected-"

"IF WE WHAT!?" Jason shouts, grabbing at the weapons in his pockets to calm himself.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just so used to that kind of threat I didn't think about how it might be…concerning to hear. Look, I won't let anyone vivisect you. The GIW are incompetent idiots anyway. But if you get on their radar and they know your identity it'll be a problem - assuming you want to keep your current life and identity instead of changing your name and moving to Mexico or something. So: white suits, blood donations? Any yeses?"

"I-no."

"Great! Then let's walk through the Anti-Ecto Acts, starting with your new classification in the eyes of the government as a non-sentient being incapable of experiencing thoughts or feelings - or pain!"

-----

Anyway my tags got put in a different order on two other posts so sorry if they look wonky :\

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

So… @quill-n your ask about my greatest showman au put me in the mood to draw them finally so <3

*very gently hands you these*

[radiance1]

Danny wears sunglasses 24/7.

So much so that slowly it's been ingrained into everyone's minds that he's never taken them off. Like, they can't even remember a time where he hasn't worn sunglasses.

It's just like, his thing.

Why does he wear them? Well, because Danny's previous blue eyes changed to a startling, glowing green that he knows the GIW would eat up and use as a reason to force him into their custody.

Solution?

Sunglasses.

His parents? Oh yea they went all in when he they found out why he was wearing them (Reveal gone right au babyy). They made them extremely durable; they can film audio, take pictures, take videos, see through walls and even track down ecto-signatures for whenever he's tracking down a ghost in human form, see through walls and self-cleaning.

(The ectoplasm tracking system is for when they aren't close enough to set off his ghost sense.)

He honestly believes his parents watched a spy movie before they built him these, but it's not like he's going to complain about it. The only time he isn't wearing them is when he goes ghost, you know as a way to not link him to Fenton or whatever.

So, Danny meets John Constantine while the both of them were on the hunt for a ghost who was causing problems in the area. Danny manages to find them first, the ghost in question being an animal who was terrorizing a place because it didn't understand the fact it was dead yet and wanted to protect it's children.

John Constantine comes while Danny is pacifying it. He watches as Danny calms it down enough to get to the babies and sends it to the Ghost Zone after promising it to get them somewhere safe.

John Constantine also saw his eyes, because he pulled his sunglasses off to show them to the ghost as a silent sign to trust him. John Constantine of course asked what he was going to do with the babies, and Danny just sent them over to Sam.

After that he decided to keep an eye on Danny because of his eyes. Which were the eyes of a ghost, and he was genuinely thinking Danny was possessed before that went out the window. So he thinks Danny is a ghost pretending to be human and wasn't able to hide his eyes so he wore sunglasses.

Danny neither confirm nor deny that.

So Danny just kinda followed him around until Constatine eventually made him into a contact whenever he was dealing with ghosts that he could peacefully deal with instead of just forcefully banishing them to the Infinite Realms.

This, eventually, comes to light when Constantine goes "I know a guy." In front of the whole Justice League, bonus points if they somehow come to the conclusion that Danny is Constantine's secret child, sidekick or both.

[ikiprian]

Ghost Kitchen (brought to you by criminal entrepreneur, Red Hood)

Danny’s got the easiest job in Gotham.

He works as a fry cook at a shoddily-run, independent burger joint. Hardly anyone comes in, despite prices being criminally low, and portions insanely large, and while the manager looks like the average tough-as-nails ex-con, he lets Danny mess around in the kitchen whenever the place is empty. (Which is often. This place has to be the city’s hidden gem or something!)

Mr. Manager’s the only one ever there with Danny, except for sometimes when his buddies come over to smoke and play cards. Danny would find it shady, except part of his job is not to ask questions. Literally, he was told during the interview.

(It was a weird interview. Why would they need to hire someone who’s been in a gunfight before? Like, he has, but Gotham’s idea of “hirable qualities” is so bizarre.)

So instead he whips up some killer burgers with the frozen ingredients, and basks in the praise as the guys tell him he shouldn’t have, he does too much for this joint, ain’t that friendly!

Now, Danny’s a chef on the newer side. As a teen he’d preferred the look of Nasty Burger over anything with Michelin stars, and he only really took up cooking after Jazz moved out for college. But just like ecto-exposure used to turn the groceries sentient, Danny’s low-level ecto signature imbues all his food with something historically haunted Gothamites just love! And Danny’s never been one to half-ass a job when it makes people happy.

With fresher produce, real meat, Danny’s sure he can take his dishes to the next level. It takes a couple months of badgering, but his manager finally agrees to contact the mysterious store owner, who keeps the place going, despite profits Danny knows have to be in the red.

Danny spends the morning prepping. He pours his heart into his food, eager to impress. The big boss will be here soon, and he wants to prove that despite the dangerous location, this place has real potential!

It isn’t until the Red Hood shows up that Danny realizes he’s been working for a money laundering scheme.

[azulhood]

Danny was tired, like 'I feel it in my bones and soul' tired. And he didn't want sleep at home because there's only so many nights, he could spend lying awake making sure his heart was beating in case his parents checked on him.

Currently he was flying aimlessly not really taking in his surroundings, but he could neither sleep while flying or fly forever. Normally he'd sleep over at Sam or Tucker's, but the Mansons had made it clear that he wasn't welcome at their house anymore and Tucker was grounded. Both would sneak him in if he asked, but he didn't want them to get in trouble for him. Which leads him to decide between his two choices, sleeping in a graveyard, or sleeping in a forest.

The graveyard was a little crowded with all the ghosts that called it home but he could probably find a quiet spot to sleep. The forest had a great view of the stars but was filled with traps from both his parents and the GIW after tracking his ecto-signature. Both options weren't appealing, but he wasn't about to chance sleeping on the roof of his house again. There were too many ghost detecting guns attached to it now. Danny sighed, graveyard it was, at least the ecto from all the shades/ghosts would hide him well enough. Decision made, now all he had to do was make his way over there. But first, where the heck was he? Danny looked around at the unfamiliar grey sky and gargoyles littered around and realized he had no clue where he was. He must have flown too far away from Amity without noticing...Again. It was really becoming a bad habit. Danny stared down at the city's inhabitants that were going home or heading to nightshifts or whatever and dreaded the long flight back to his town. And maybe it was ghost instinct, or maybe it was just his exhaustion. But his brain suggested 'What if I just possess someone?' And to him that seemed like a perfectly logical train of thought. He wouldn't control their body or anything, just sleep in their skin...That did not make it sound better at all. Before he could think twice, someone left a general store, arms filled with stuff and somehow projecting an aura of safety. The two thoughts of 'They look comfy' and 'screw it' clashed together in his head as he made the very stupid decision of performing a swan drive right into the someone. "WHAT THE-" "Don't worry, I'll be gone by morning I just need to sleep" Danny cut off the persons freakout-he should really get their name at some point- he would have explained more but the sleep gods had already done their job. This left one very confused, scared, and freaked out Batkid.

[nerdpoe]

There are ecto-detectors in the Batcave. Sometimes, they'll go off for no discernable reason.

This is why Bruce tells the kids to behave when they're in the cave.

The entity isn't Deadman, he knows that for sure. They don't mean harm or any malicious intent, or they wouldn't be able to get past the barriers. There's no poltergeist activity, so they aren't bored and there to deliberately cause chaos.

When he opted to look through the thermal imaging one day, once the ecto-detectors stop alerting, he sees a cold spot roughly the same size as Damian. It's sitting on the edge of the cave, swinging it's feet, and just, as the kids would say, vibing.

He decides to leave it alone. The dead can't really impact the living, and it appears that this one just shows up for some peace and quiet now and then.

He tunes the detectors to this particular entity's signature and sets them to silent. He'll still get an alert, but it'll only go to him.

Months later, when he finds himself mind controlled and helpless to do anything but watch himself attack his own family, he feels a cold sensation permeate through his body, and his punch freezes in the air before he feels his arms forcibly dropped to his sides.

Then, a tween girls voice comes out of his mouth.

"Okay, I've got him restrained. What next?"

Or; Dani likes the "ambient" side of Youtube. So much that it's no longer good enough for her, and she seeks out places that have good ambience. She prefers caves, but her favorite combination is cave sounds, waterfalls, papers shuffling, distant conversation, and computer typing. This means the Batcave is literally the most perfect place ever if things get to be too much. Her second favorite sounds are snowstorms, high tech beeps, the creaking of ice, and radio chatter. So her second favorite place to hang out is in the Arctic, in some fortress made of ice. But there's not really a lot to do around it, so she doesn't go there that often. She ends up hanging around Metropolis and Gotham just due to proximity to her favorite hang out spot, mostly staying out of sight. She doesn't really care about who the Bats are, so long as they stay out of her hair. But she won't lie about getting a little bit attached from her creepy totally-not-spying thing. Then Batman gets himself mind controlled, and he's about to lay out Robin, and all Dani can think about is Vlad and his 'discipline'. She possesses Batman and forces him to stop. The gig is up. Farewell sweet hangout spot, it was her favorite.

[bet-on-me-13]

Danny may be a Ghost Baby who feels like an Anicent, but his friends don't.

SO, we all know the Ghost Baby Headcanon by now right? The idea that Danny is literally a Toddler by Ghost Standards, but because of how powerful he is everybody else believes that he is an Ancient or a God who is hogging the Mortal World to himself.

But what about his friends?

They were right there when the Portal opened. No Hazmat Suits, no Cover, no Protection from the Dimension of Pure Energy that had just been opened right in front of them.

That has to have some kind of Side Effects!

And actually, we do know of a Character who was just standing in front of a Portal when it opened and still got affected by it. Vlad.

While Danny was turned into a Halfa instantly, his friends would be more similar to Vlad in that they are slow to transform.

It takes weeks, but eventually they become mini-halfas themselves. Except they didn't have an entire Dimension of energy pushed into them upon fully forming, so their Ecto-Signatures actually feel like the babies they are supposed to be.

So imagine this from the Ghosts perspective.

They meet this guy called Phantom, a Halfa who is Extremely Powerful, but nobody has seen him in centuries. He was known as a very powerful Protector Spirit for millennia, randomly showing up across history, but always helping others. And then he just vanished one day, not seen again for centuries.

Until recently, when he showed in the Mortal World, stopping any other Ghost from fulfilling their Obsessions with Humans. And by his side are 2 smaller Halfa's that feel like they must have barely formed. You can see where this is going.

They think Sam and Tucker are Danny's children.

It makes sense! A Powerful Ancient, known for protecting people, suddenly disappears for centuries and then shows up again with 2 baby Halfa's in tow? That sounds like a Protector Spirit who lost his will to fight, decided to settled down in the Mortal Realm, and then found out that 2 baby Halfa's were formed when a Portal was opened!

He isn't selfishly holding the Mortal Realm to himself! He's protecting the Fledgling Haunt of his 2 Babies! They must still have living Family, that's why he is so adamant that they don't hurt the Civilains in their battles!

Now they just feel like assholes for attacking the Baby's dad when he was just trying to protect their stuff.

Danny finds this both extremely infuriating, and also agonizingly hilarious.

[hughmanbean]

Loving Threats

Inspired by a song and its remake. But I am trash at syncing lyrics to storybeats.

Danny and Jason met in the ghost zone when Jason was dead, but he forgot it all coming back to life. When the two of them were together, they went through the entire song and dance (literally) of asking each other out.

I'm serious. There were like 10 different musical scenes with varying themes. It was Fenton Romance at its finest. And Jason's old school romance heart was certainly played a large part too.

It was their love language. Dramatic acts, vague threats and all.

Post revival and reconnection with the Batfam, Jason spots a familiar face. A flood of memories wash through him, and with it a bout of giddiness. Though he's currently dressed as Red Hood, Danny'll be able to tell who he is and keep quiet. Just have to greet him in a way that he'll recognize.

---

Danny is out taking the kids for a walk. Dan was grumpy since he wasn't allowed any ecto chips, for both his health and as punishment for severely beating a guy who tried to mug Danny without permission yesterday. Ellie is quite cheerful, since she's going to visit the Crocodile and Zombie sewer-dudes when Danny's not looking.

All of a sudden, Red Hood, casually wielding a gun, approaches Danny. He makes an overly familiar gesture, wrapping an arm sideways around Danny's waist. He whistles under the hood, a faint green glow from the white eyespaces.

"Well who do we have here? You look half dead, honey."

Danny looked at him. Horrible pick up line? Check? Thin veneer of confidence? Check. Zero self control around Danny? Check.

Jason. The rancid ecto signature is new, though. Honestly, not surprised he's a crime lord now.

"Well, you know how it is. The kids have been running me ragged. And you sure haven't been any help."

Danny puts on an innocent smile. Jason sidles closer. A few bystanders watch them with varied expressions.

"Well you don't need to worry about that now. How about you and I go somewhere more private?"

---

"A crime boss, huh?"

Dan is raiding the fridge. Ellie is watching a fight on TV.

"It was a... necessary step. I promise I would've visited you sooner if I had known."

"It's fine. What else happened while you were gone?"

"Well..."

[bluerosefox]

Presence Pressure

Danny learned the reason why both his adopted parents and the GIW find it a little hard to somewhat track him down in human form (unlike when he's in ghost form) is because when he was still in the LOA he learned to suppress his presence (he was always good stealth, blending in, and other things like that, unlike his brother who didn't have the patience for it) and he does it subconsciously in human form but not in ghost form.

After finding that out he starts to train his ghost form to suppress his core/presence to that nearly of a blob ghost (and boy has it been fun being able to sneak his way into fights when his rogues come to town. Skulker is both the best and worst, he enjoys the challenge, Danny won't lie he enjoys testing his abilities against the 'greatest hunter')

Once Danny got a good handle on it, his parents suddenly burst into his room and announced that they're heading to Gotham tonight!

Cause apparently that 'ghost scum' ecto-signature has been detected there and they finally found it after months of recalibrating their inventions to find his trail. (And where his parents went the GIW have their eyes in his parents which meant they're not to far behind)

Danny is stunned (he forgot Damian and his DNA were very similar due to being 'hand-crafted' and the fact they grew up around the Lazarus Pits, that Danny suspected was dirty ecto now)

Oh... oh no.

[periswirl]

We're all familiar with the DP×DC trope of Danny telling Jason he freaking reeks but I raise you this.

Jehovah's Witness Danny

Now he's not actually a Jehovah's Witness. No, he was just tasked with seeking out liminals to ensure their health as the only galfa with some sense; aka the only halfa the Observants could get away with strong arming into doing it. Dani was too young and far too unpredictable, Vlad was a mess, and the less said about Dan the better.

So, Danny. After accepting the role with all the grace of a cat being dragged screaming into a tub of water he set out to check on all the liminals listed. In order to cheer himself up Danny decided he would partake in the best form of cooperation he could.

Malicious compliance

That's how he found himself inside a cave staring down a set of massive steel doors. The ecto signature tracking on the paperwork had led him here. He raised his fist and knocked; imbuing the knock with some ectoplasm to make sure it was heard. His haunting lessons were paying off.

-----

Jason sat bored in the cave. Bruce had everyone working with Constantine to track some mysterious entity that had popped up in Gotham.

Constantine had felt a huge spike in death energy in the city and teleported over with a quickness Jason wasn't aware the man had.

Jason was preparing to head back home when a knock rang through the cave.

"What the fuck?" Dick whipped wildly towards the cave entrance where the knock had sounded from. No one should even be able to have found the entrance.

Tim was at the BatComputer in record time pulling up the cameras. Outside stood a teenage boy.

"Hello. Do you have time to talk about the fate of your immortal soul?"

------

I just love the idea of them looking at the cameras and Danny's just;

WHERE WILL YOUR SOUL GO WHEN YOU DIE? ARE YOU SAVED?

[lilianade-comics]

Revisiting my College Trio on the Run stuff! (if you didn't know, this is a situation where Vlad's plan to get Jack imprisoned for life by the gov backfires and they end up on the run together + Maddie shows up and all three of them fight the government + maybe also they have a real conversation at some point)

the major addition here is that Vlad gets nerfed via ecto-signature neutralizing early on and spends the rest of the ordeal slowly recovering his powers!