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void-of-unparalled-chaos · 6 months

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Rending Flesh From the Bone

Ah yes, the dpxdc "drabble" I decided to write for Halloween. Honestly not too enthused with how it came out but posting it anyway. I feel like some parts feel a bit rushed and there might be some plotholes. Oh well. As always, feel free to add on if you so desire.

TW: Gore, Cannibalism, Vomiting, Zalgo Text

Translations for the Zalgo are available at the end.

AO3 version

“Are you sure about this, Hood?”

Dick stared at the entrance of the abandoned subway tunnel, Jason practically vibrating out of his armor beside him.

For once, it was Jason who had broken into Dick’s apartment and not the other way around. He was rambling something about the Joker and needing Dick’s help, and who was Dick to say no? His little brother never sought him out on his own, let alone asked for his help. Never. Dick was so proud! If he rewarded this behavior then maybe Jason would do it again, and somehow that would lead to Dick being able to give him his highly sought-after best big brother hugs whenever he wanted. Dick was still figuring out the intermediate steps.

The point is that Dick needed to help him, regardless of if this was all based on a gut feeling and not even a whisper that the Joker was around let alone planning anything. What the hell, Dick thought. Sometimes gut feelings are right, and push comes to shove, Dick will follow Red Hood around Gotham until his paranoia dies down. Then Dick can lovingly bully him into brother bonding time.

So here they were, staring into the gaping mouth of an unused tunnel.

There are worse ways he could have spent his night.

Jason grunts, fists clenched as they gaze into the blackness. “It’s almost Halloween. You know how these freaks get this time of year.”

Dick concedes the point.

“Come on,” Jason bumps against his shoulder as he stalks toward the blackness, “He’s down there I just know it.”

Dick shrugs and follows him in.

Something about it is oppressive. Like something is warning them to turn back or face the consequences. Dick swallows. He shouldn’t be getting so worked up over this. He had been in closed dark spaces like this before, tighter ones even!

“Dick.”

Jason is pointing to the ground. Dark splatters. Blood. Fresh, and more than just a little nosebleed.

They make their way further in, following the convenient blood trail even as the urge to turn around gets stronger. They only walk a few feet before a loud scream breaks the silence.

“I fucking told ya Nightwing!”

Dick grunts in response as they sprint down the tunnel, following the blood down twists and turns.

The two vigilantes slide to a stop as the tunnel breaks into a new one. There is something in this new tunnel. Something large and glowing. The Joker is screaming as it bats him around.

Dick can’t bring himself to do anything but freeze, watching and assessing.

The first thing he sees is the crown. It floats crookedly above the creature’s white hair, bathing the tunnel in light with its green fiery glow. The being’s face almost looks humanoid, with long ears tapering into points. Its body is long and spindly like a man who had been left starving on an island for several weeks. The vertebrae in its neck are visible even underneath its skin. The spinous processes of the vertebrae break through the flesh, creating a long row of protruding bones that clack and rattle as the spine moves. Its pelvis juts out as if only a thin layer of skin is covering it. The ribcage is on the outside of its body like some kind of fucked up turtle shell. Space was underneath it, the purples and blues of nebulas and the blackness of night and twinkling stars and planets rested underneath the bones.

The creature has the Joker by the neck. It reminds Dick of a cat Damian had fostered, one that had kittens and would carry them gently between her jaws. There is nothing gentle about this though. Red blood drips down to the ground as the Joker thrashes to try and free himself. The jaws tighten viciously around him and the creature shakes, flinging him around like a chew toy before slamming him down into the ground with a growl.

A skull flashes underneath its face as if its skin and cartilage are merely a transparent overlay. Sharp, jagged bone peaks rise up smoothly from its mandible in a mimicry of teeth.

The creature’s jaws are still wrapped around the Joker’s throat. He’s scrambling, screeching underneath the being despite the teeth that should be cutting into his vocal cords. The Joker scratches at its chest, trying to push it away. It merely makes a low staticky hissing noise, one of its hands pinning him down by the shoulder.

The other arm raises upwards in the air. It's too long for the body of the creature, fingers tapering into sharp points.

The claws slash downwards.

The Joker choked on a scream as the digits tore his chest open like it were tissue paper. Mouth still wrapped around his throat, the being flipped a flap of skin and fat upwards like it was turning the page of a book.

The Joker continued to struggle, blood and something green gurgling out of his mouth. The being maneuvered itself until it crouched to Joker’s side, twisting his neck with it.

The Joker stilled.

At first, Dick thought he was dead, but then he saw movement inside his chest wound.

His lungs.

His lungs were still moving.

Dick can see his lungs breathing.

The creature reaches its hand back down into the Joker’s chest, wrenching the ribcage open with a snap. The Joker begins to struggle once more, red blood and green liquid splattering on the ground.

One of the clawed hands replaced its teeth, pinning the Joker’s head down as it stuck its face inside the chest cavity. The Joker suddenly froze. When its face remerged a glowing violet orb was held between its teeth. Red and green dripped from its face.

The green was familiar.

Glowing green.

…

…Lazarus water?

The tooth-like protrusions pierce the orb with a crack.

The Joker falls silent.

His lungs are no longer moving.

The being’s head tilts back, the shattered orb disappearing down its gullet. It hunches back down over the corpse. The slimy wet sounds of its hands and head digging into the body are sickening. Dick watches as its head remerges with what looks like a kidney. The kidney follows the orb.

Dick snaps out of his shock, but not quick enough to muffle his strangled gasp.

The being catches sight of them, green eyes, lazarus green, boring into them. Dick can see the dark hollows of the skull’s orbits underneath them. His head pounds.

The creature began to stand. Its joints, too many joints, creaked as it unfolded its legs. It seemed like it struggled to maneuver its stiff limbs. Like it’s fighting against rigor mortis Dick noted absently.

Now standing at full height, the being’s crown nearly scraped the top of the ten-foot ceiling. Its maw parted, blue vapor billowing out between the spiked protrusions that were its teeth. The putrid stench of death and burning flesh that invaded the tunnel had Dick gagging. He quietly covered his mouth as he tried to bite back the bile in his throat.

He glanced back at his brother to find that Jason had taken a step back. It was impossible to see his expression under the helmet, but Dick could read the tightening of his shoulders. Fear. Deep, primal fear. The kind of fear you feel when you know there are no more options. When you know fighting or running is pointless.

Here, at this moment, the infamous Red Hood looked less like a feared crime lord vigilante and more like a one-week-old gazelle face to face with a lion.

Dick reached to pull Jason out of sight but the pounding between his eyes made him uncoordinated. He tripped over his own feet and crashed into Jason’s side, gripping his shoulder with shaking fingers as he righted himself. Jason didn’t budge, remaining stock still despite the extra weight of his older brother against him.

The creature stared at them, the piercing green glow of its eyes brightening with a spur of power. Its head tilted to the side until it came to rest at well over ninety degrees. A pointed, frostbitten tongue lolled out between its teeth to lick its bloodied face clean.

“C̷o̷m̶p̴a̵n̵y̵?̵” It sounded like the desolation of space, the static of electricity, the explosion of a star, the final screech before death.

The space trapped in its chest began to bleed through its ribs, twinkling stars and asteroids and galaxies escaping the confines of their prison to drip down the being’s waist. It ran over its legs, building and thickening until a long serpentine tail had replaced the limbs entirely. Even as the coils moved, the stars and planets stayed in place as if the tail was merely a window. Watching it made Dick motion sick.

Even as the elongated spines stretching out of its back clanked together in the mimicry of a death rattle, the creature made no move toward them. Another puff of foul-smelling mist escaped its mouth.

“Y̶o̷u̸ ̶s̵h̴o̷u̴l̵d̶ ̴b̶e̵ ̸m̴o̴r̷e̸ ̴c̷a̴r̸e̴f̴u̷l̵,̷ ̸l̴i̴t̷t̶l̷e̸ ̶g̶h̸o̷s̴t̶l̷i̸n̷g̸.̸” It’s voice boomed, “Y̴o̸u̵ ̶a̸r̶e̵ ̷n̷o̶ ̷m̵a̸t̸c̶h̴ ̷f̴o̵r̴ ̸m̶o̵s̷t̷ ̴s̸p̵i̴r̴i̷t̴s̴ ̵a̸s̸ ̷y̵o̵u̵n̷g̴ ̴a̷s̶ ̶y̶o̵u̶ ̷a̸r̵e̵.̷ ̷E̶s̸p̷e̸c̵i̶a̶l̴l̷y̶ ̶n̴o̵t̷ ̴o̶n̴ ̶S̵a̶m̷h̷a̶i̷n̷.̶”

The two brothers remained frozen in place. The stars in its tail flickered until millions of eyes were boring into Dick’s soul. With a stuttering gasp, Dick stepped back again. Jason refused to budge despite his urging. The next time Dick blinked the eyes were stars again.

The being chuckled at them, “N̵o̴ ̴n̶e̸e̵d̷ ̵t̵o̶ ̵f̸e̸a̶r̵,̸ ̵g̸h̵o̶s̶t̶l̸i̴n̴g̶.̸ ̴I̸ ̵d̴o̵ ̷n̶o̶t̴ ̶w̶i̸s̵h̴ ̵y̸o̴u̸ ̷n̷o̵r̴ ̸y̴o̶u̴r̸ ̴f̵r̸a̷i̵d̷ ̴h̵a̵r̷m̸.̶” Dick found that hard to believe considering that they had just watched it eat the Joker’s kidney, “Y̸o̵u̴ ̸a̷r̴e̵ ̵v̵e̸r̸y̶ ̴l̵u̶c̸k̶y̴ ̶i̶t̵ ̴w̷a̴s̴ ̴m̶e̵ ̸w̴h̷o̸ ̸y̶o̷u̵ ̷c̸a̸m̷e̴ ̵a̶c̴r̷o̸s̸s̵ ̶r̸a̴t̷h̷e̵r̸ ̷t̵h̵a̷n̴ ̴a̵n̷o̴t̶h̶e̶r̵ ̷s̴p̷i̸r̸i̴t̸.̵ ̷M̶a̷n̶y̶ ̵w̴o̸u̶l̴d̸ ̷h̸a̶v̸e̷ ̵e̷a̷t̴e̴n̵ ̸y̸o̴u̶ ̴b̵y̷ ̵n̴o̴w̶.̴”

“I-” Jason finally choked out, “What?”

The being lowered itself until it was at eye level with Jason. It evaluated him once more before jerking back with what seemed to be an expression of surprise. “O̷h̷ ̸l̵i̶t̷t̵l̷e̵ ̴g̴h̴o̶s̴t̴,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̴ ̸a̴r̵e̸ ̵m̴u̸c̴h̴ ̸y̸o̷u̸n̴g̴e̴r̶ ̵t̶h̷a̶n̸ ̶I̵ ̵h̸a̷d̸ ̴t̵h̵o̵u̸g̸h̵t̵!̵ ̴Y̴o̵u̶r̵ ̷c̵o̴r̸e̵ ̵i̴s̴ ̷n̸e̷w̶ ̶a̷n̷d̵ ̸u̶n̶d̴e̷r̵n̴o̸u̸r̶i̶s̸h̵e̴d̴.̶ ̸N̴o̵ ̴w̸o̴n̸d̵e̶r̶ ̷I̷ ̴h̵a̸d̴ ̷n̵o̷t̴ ̴s̸e̸n̴s̵e̵d̵ ̸y̸o̶u̶ ̶b̷e̵f̵o̷r̷e̶!̴ ̶H̵a̵v̷e̶ ̶y̶o̷u̴ ̷b̵e̵e̵n̵ ̶e̸a̷t̸i̷n̴g̶?̸”

Its tone seemed almost doting, motherly even. The image was broken by the fact that it was currently leaning closer toward them, supporting itself on what was left of the Joker’s exposed ribcage.

Jason shook his head in dumbfounded horror.

The creature seemed to take it as an answer, humming in what felt like parental disappointment. “Y̶o̶u̷ ̵n̵e̴e̴d̸ ̶t̷o̷ ̷t̶a̵k̸e̵ ̷b̴e̸t̵t̵e̸r̶ ̷c̸a̶r̸e̴ ̶o̷f̶ ̸y̴o̴u̴r̵s̸e̷l̶f̴,̴ ̵l̷i̸t̴t̷l̶e̵ ̶g̶h̵o̸s̵t̴.̵ ̵I̵'̴v̸e̴ ̴n̵e̸v̴e̶r̸ ̸s̵e̵e̵n̷ ̴s̵u̶c̵h̵ ̸a̶n̴ ̸u̶n̷d̷e̸r̶n̶o̴u̸r̸i̸s̵h̸e̵d̶ ̷c̶o̶r̷e̴.̸ ̷Y̷o̶u̴ ̸m̴u̶s̷t̷ ̸b̷e̷ ̷a̵b̵l̷e̸ ̴t̸o̴ ̸f̸e̸e̶l̷ ̸t̶h̵e̸ ̸e̸f̷f̵e̷c̷t̵s̴.̶ ̵A̴r̴e̴ ̶y̴o̴u̶ ̴i̵n̸ ̸p̸a̵i̴n̶?̴”

Dick knew that he was. If it wasn’t the emotional torment of the pit madness it was chronic pain. There had been many nights where he had to tend to his brother, trying everything from painkillers to ice packs to numbing cream in an attempt to stop it.

Jason nodded hesitantly, “Yes…” he took his helmet off, letting it drop to the ground. His eyes were burning lazarus green, “It hurts all the time… like there’s a fire burning in my chest. It gets hotter and hotter and hotter until I feel like my brain is gonna melt outta my ears.”

The creature slithered closer with a rumbling coo. It offered a hand to Jason. Its fingers curled unnaturally. It looked like it had an extra knuckle. “C̷o̷m̷e̴ ̵h̸e̷r̸e̴,̵ ̸g̴h̷o̴s̵t̷l̷i̸n̸g̶.̴ ̴I̷ ̷w̶i̴l̶l̸ ̸s̸h̴a̸r̸e̴ ̷m̶y̶ ̸c̷a̴t̵c̶h̴.̷ ̷I̵ ̷c̵a̴n̷ ̶s̶e̴n̴s̴e̵ ̸t̵h̴e̸ ̵c̴o̵n̷n̸e̵c̴t̶i̷o̷n̷ ̶t̴h̴i̵s̵ ̷r̸e̸v̷e̷n̴a̴n̸t̴ ̴h̴a̶s̸ ̸t̷o̷ ̸y̶o̶u̵.̶ ̷A̸s̸ ̵y̷o̷u̶r̴ ̷k̷i̵l̸l̶e̶r̶,̶ ̵f̵e̸a̵s̷t̴i̴n̸g̶ ̸o̴n̷ ̵h̵i̷m̶ ̸w̷i̴l̵l̵ ̴h̷a̸v̶e̷ ̶e̸x̶t̸r̶a̴ ̶b̶e̷n̸e̵f̸i̵t̷s̴.̸”

Jason reaches out to accept the hand. Dick throws himself between them, “Little Wing, what the hell! You aren’t seriously going to… you're not…”

“I… I need it, Dick.” Jason wiped drool from his lips. Dick caught the flash of fanged teeth, sharper than they should have been. “I don’t know how to explain it but I just- I’m so fucking hungry.”

Dick… Dick wasn’t scared of Jason. He wasn’t. But at that moment, he felt like he needed to run. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t abandon his little brother to this…thing.

“I̸ ̵u̶n̵d̴e̸r̶s̸t̵a̷n̴d̵ ̷y̶o̴u̶r̴ ̸a̵p̶p̷r̸e̶h̴e̷n̶s̷i̵o̸n̵.̵” the being addressed him, Dick struggled to look it in the eyes, the pounding of his head increasing, “A̶s̷ ̷a̷ ̶l̴i̷v̵i̴n̷g̴ ̷i̸t̸ ̴f̴e̵e̶l̸s̷ ̴w̷r̶o̶n̶g̵,̶ ̶s̴i̶c̵k̴e̴n̴i̶n̵g̴ ̶e̴v̷e̷n̸.̷ ̴I̸t̷ ̵t̷o̸o̶k̷ ̸m̵e̴ ̶a̶ ̷l̶o̸n̴g̸ ̸t̵i̴m̷e̵ ̵t̵o̸ ̷c̵o̵m̶e̶ ̶t̶o̴ ̷t̷e̸r̷m̸s̸ ̸w̶i̶t̴h̸ ̴i̸t̴.̷ ̵I̶ ̴u̸n̵d̶e̵r̷s̸t̶a̴n̶d̸.̸ ̴B̷u̴t̵ ̴i̵t̷ ̸i̵s̷ ̸s̸o̵m̸e̸t̷h̶i̸n̷g̶ ̷o̷u̸r̵ ̷s̴p̸e̷c̷i̵e̵s̸ ̷n̸e̸e̶d̵s̸.̵ ̸S̵u̶r̸e̷l̸y̶ ̴y̷o̷u̴ ̸m̶u̷s̴t̷ ̴h̴a̸v̸e̷ ̷w̴i̴t̸n̴e̸s̴s̵e̶d̸ ̶t̴h̷e̴ ̴e̴f̴f̶e̷c̴t̴s̶ ̶o̴f̴ ̶s̵t̶a̶r̴v̷a̸t̶i̶o̶n̴ ̵o̴n̸ ̸y̵o̷u̶r̷ ̶f̵r̵a̶i̷d̸m̶a̷t̶e̸?̵”

Moments flash through Dick’s head. Jason breathes as he struggles against the pit so hard that Dick starts to worry his brother will pop a lung. Jason looked at the remains of another destroyed glass in dismay, before practically sprinting to hole himself up somewhere Dick couldn’t find him. Jason sobs into his shirt, begging him to make it stop, to take the pain away as Dick watches on helplessly.

“I̷t̵ ̷w̸i̷l̵l̶ ̵o̷n̶l̵y̷ ̷g̷e̵t̵ ̷w̴o̸r̴s̸e̶ ̶i̷f̷ ̶h̴e̷ ̷d̵o̶e̶s̴n̸'̶t̷ ̸e̵a̶t̴.̵ ̶E̴v̶e̵n̵t̸u̴a̴l̸l̵y̸,̸ ̵t̴h̴e̵ ̵s̶t̶a̶r̴v̷a̵t̶i̸o̵n̵ ̸w̴i̷l̵l̵ ̶b̴e̶ ̶s̶o̷ ̸b̷a̶d̸ ̷h̷i̸s̵ ̴c̷o̴r̵e̵ ̷w̷i̸l̷l̴ ̷s̷e̵l̸f̵-̷c̴a̷n̴n̷i̵b̷a̶l̵i̵z̴e̷.̵”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“I̶ ̷a̵m̵ ̷K̶i̶n̷g̷ ̷P̶h̵a̴n̸t̵o̶m̵ ̵o̸f̷ ̵t̶h̴e̸ ̶I̴n̶f̶i̵n̷i̶t̸e̶ ̶R̷e̶a̸l̴m̷s̴,̷ ̶t̴h̷e̶ ̵A̸n̶c̵i̶e̵n̶t̵ ̵o̵f̵ ̵S̸p̸a̶c̸e̸,̶ ̶P̷r̸o̶t̶e̴c̵t̸o̷r̷ ̴o̶f̷ ̶t̷h̸e̸ ̵L̷i̸v̵i̷n̸g̸ ̸a̵n̷d̴ ̸D̷e̸a̴d̴,̷ ̷t̵h̷e̴ ̶O̸n̸e̴ ̸W̶h̶o̶ ̷L̷i̴e̴s̷ ̸I̴n̶ ̴B̴e̷t̸w̴e̵e̴n̵,̷ ̶t̴h̶e̷ ̴K̵i̴n̶g̵ ̸o̷f̶ ̶G̶h̷o̴s̸t̷s̵.̴” What almost looks like a smile splits across his face, “I̴f̸ ̶I̶ ̴w̵e̶r̴e̵ ̷n̵o̸t̵ ̶a̴w̷a̸r̷e̶ ̶o̶f̵ ̶m̷y̸ ̵p̶e̴o̶p̷l̴e̸'̵s̵ ̸n̷e̶e̴d̵s̵ ̷I̴ ̶w̵o̷u̸l̵d̴ ̷b̴e̶ ̴a̸ ̷v̴e̵r̵y̷ ̷p̴o̸o̷r̸ ̴k̶i̸n̷g̸ ̶i̵n̶d̷e̸e̷d̴.̸”

Dick turns back to Jason. His brother hasn’t looked this small since before his death. He’s shaking. He looks desperate.

Dick steps to the side.

Jason lets out a stuttering breath but remains still otherwise, hands clenched at his sides.

The newly dubbed King Phantom returns to the corpse, digging through fluid and meat. “I̴f̷ ̸i̴t̷ ̷i̶s̴ ̸a̸n̸y̴ ̵c̴o̵n̸s̸o̵l̶a̸t̷i̷o̵n̶,̷ ̵h̶e̵ ̷w̶i̴l̵l̵ ̸n̴o̷t̸ ̶n̷e̸e̶d̴ ̵t̶o̵ ̶e̸a̵t̴ ̴o̷f̴t̶e̸n̶.̸ ̸O̵n̴c̸e̸ ̴o̸r̴ ̸t̶w̷i̴c̸e̵ ̷e̸v̷e̸r̸y̶ ̷f̴i̶f̸t̵y̶ ̵y̸e̷a̴r̶s̶ ̸o̷r̴ ̷s̴o̵ ̷s̵h̵o̶u̶l̵d̶ ̸b̶e̸ ̸e̴n̸o̵u̸g̵h̴ ̶t̸o̶ ̸k̶e̴e̵p̶ ̴h̶i̶m̷ ̶r̸e̴l̶a̷t̷i̸v̶e̷l̶y̸ ̵h̶e̵a̸l̶t̸h̶y̴.̶“ He pulls out the Joker's liver with bloody claws. "C̷o̴m̷e̵ ̶h̵e̸r̸e̷,̵ ̷g̸h̵o̴s̷t̷l̵i̸n̴g̸," he purrs, offering it to Jason as if it were an apple instead of a human organ, "I̴ ̴k̴n̶o̷w̸ ̷y̸o̴u̵'̶r̵e̷ ̴h̶u̶n̷g̶r̸y̷.̶ ̵T̴h̵e̸ ̷e̶c̴t̴o̵p̷l̶a̶s̷m̷ ̸i̴n̴ ̶h̷e̷r̴e̵ ̵w̵i̵l̵l̴ ̵h̵e̴l̶p̵ ̵b̵o̵o̸s̶t̵ ̸y̶o̵u̵r̵ ̷o̸w̷n̸ ̶e̶c̷t̴o̴ ̸p̶r̶o̷d̴u̷c̴t̴i̶o̴n̵.̵"

Jason reaches for it, eyes flicking uncertainly between the liver and the creature’s eyes. Despite everything, Dick almost hopes that he will suddenly come to his senses, slap the hand away, and leap backward gagging in disgust.

Instead, he wraps a couple of fingers around one of King Phantom’s. His tank of a brother looks minuscule in comparison. Jason stares up at the being with wide eyes, like a child presented with cotton candy.

“Are you sure I can have it?”

King Phantom’s chest lets out another deep rumbling purr. “T̶h̷e̴ ̶l̴o̷s̵s̵ ̴i̸s̴ ̵n̸o̴t̶ ̷a̷ ̷g̵r̷e̶a̵t̸ ̴o̷n̷e̴ ̵f̴o̶r̴ ̸m̴e̸.̴ ̵I̵ ̵a̶m̸ ̷p̷o̸w̵e̷r̶f̸u̸l̸ ̵e̶n̸o̶u̷g̷h̵ ̷t̵o̴ ̶s̷u̷r̸v̴i̸v̸e̸ ̵o̷f̵f̶ ̷a̷m̴b̷i̶e̸n̵t̸ ̸e̸c̷t̵o̷p̷l̵a̵s̶m̸ ̸a̶n̸d̴ ̴e̸m̸o̶t̷i̵o̴n̸s̶ ̴l̴o̷n̷g̶e̸r̸ ̴t̸h̸a̵n̸ ̴o̶t̴h̵e̸r̸s̷.̷ ̸B̶e̵s̶i̸d̸e̸s̴,̶ ̴t̵h̵e̶r̴e̷ ̸w̴i̴l̷l̷ ̴a̷l̴w̴a̵y̷s̷ ̵b̸e̴ ̸a̵n̶o̷t̸h̴e̷r̴ ̸c̶r̶i̶m̷i̴n̶a̵l̵ ̸t̴o̸ ̷h̶u̸n̵t̵.̵”

Jason snatches the liver with burning green eyes. The organ wobbles in his hands. To Dick’s dismay, Jason takes a large eager bite. His expression can only be described as blissed relief like he had just tasted ambrosia. He goes in for another, larger bite before he has even swallowed the first, jaw unhinging like a snake.

Dick is never eating Jello again.

He watches with detachment as Jason takes a third bite of the liver. His brother’s mouth is painted in red and green like a facsimile of King Phantom’s. For the first time, Jason’s chest stutteringly hums in relieved glee. King Phantom purrs in return as he tucks his face back into the corpse, like some sort of horrific feedback loop.

Dick tries to focus on something else, anything else, but the iron stench of blood and burning flesh is inescapable. He tries to avert his eyes away from the gorey pile of what used to be the Joker as his brother and the creature tear into it. The stars that makeup King Phantom’s tail stare at him. They blink. A sharp pain shoots behind his eyes as he shuts them tightly.

It feels like he loses time.

When he opens them again, his brother is gnawing flesh off a rib. The entire front of his body is caked in red and green. King Phantom is staring at him with piercing green eyes. Intestines dangle from between its jaws. Its tongue maneuvers them further into its mouth like they are spaghetti noodles.

The bile rises in his throat again. Dick retches against the wall. He wipes the acid from his mouth and leans his forehead against the brick. The coolness of the stone eases the pain zinging between his eyes. He can still hear the squelching of meat and snapping of bone behind him.

A noise of concern sounds from his brother.

Dick turns back in the direction of the horror show, keeping his eyes squeezed tight.

King Phantom hums in thought. “P̴e̷r̷h̷a̶p̶s̶ ̴i̷t̸ ̵w̶i̷l̴l̷ ̸b̵e̵ ̸e̶a̵s̵i̵e̴r̸ ̶i̷f̴ ̸y̴o̵u̸ ̷w̵a̵i̴t̸ ̶o̷u̸t̵s̶i̵d̵e̷.̸”

“Y-yeah.” Dick nods, voice cracking. “I think I’ll just… do that.”

Jason makes a noise of acknowledgment.

Another bone snaps.

Dick quickly makes his way back the way they had come. He stops briefly to vomit again, though there is nothing left in his stomach to throw up. When he emerges from the tunnel entrance he gasps on fresh Gotham air. He wraps his arms tight around himself with shaking fingers as he tries to steady his breathing. With the absence of the creature the pain in his head steadily fades away, though the images of bloody organs and sounds of desperate screaming remain persistent.

He’s not sure how long he waits outside, but it's long enough that he begins to worry something happened to Jason. He begins to wonder if the creature pinned him down like it had the Joker, restaining him with his neck between its fangs. What would Dick even do? How could he save his brother from that… thing?

Jason remerges before he can figure it out. He’s clean of any visible blood or lazarus water, but the acrid tang of death and gore follows him.

Jason pleadingly stares at him through the eyes of his helmet.

Dick nods.

They don’t speak of it again.

______________________

Zalgo Translations...

"Company?"

"You should be more careful, little ghostling."

"You are no match for most spirits as young as you are. Especially not on Samhain."

"No need to fear, ghostling. I do not wish you nor your fraid harm."

"You are very lucky it was me who you came across rather than some other spirit. Many would have eaten you by now."

"Oh little ghost, you are much younger than I had thought! Your core is new and undernourished. No wonder I had not sensed you before! Have you been eating?"

"You need to take better care of yourself, little ghost. I've never seen such an undernourished core. You must be able to feel the effects. Are you in pain?"

"Come here, ghostling. I will share my catch. I can sense the connection this revenant has to you. As your killer, feasting on him will have extra benefits."

"I understand your apprehension."

"As a living it feels wrong, sickening even. It took me a long time to come to terms with it. I understand. But it is something our species needs. Surely you must have witnessed the effects of starvation on your fraidmate?"

"It will only get worse if he doesn't eat. Eventually, the starvation will be so bad his core will self-cannibalize."

"I am King Phantom of the Infinite Realms, the Ancient of Space, Protector of the Living and Dead, the One Who Lies In Between, the King of Ghosts."

"If I were not aware of my people's needs I would be a very poor king indeed."

"If it is any consolation, he will not need to eat often. Once or twice every fifty years or so should be enough to keep him relatively healthy. "

"Come here, ghostling,"

"I know you're hungry. The ectoplasm in here will help boost your own ecto production."

"The loss is not a great one for me. I am powerful enough to survive off ambient ectoplasm and emotions longer than others. Besides, there will always be another criminal to hunt."

"Perhaps it will be easier if you wait outside."

#baby ghost Jason Todd #stumbling face first into a predator that can absolutely rock his shit #only to get almost immediately adopted by it #family dinner is about to get a lot more interesting #dpxdc #ghost king danny #ghost king au #eldritch danny #tw gore #tw cannibalism #tw vomit #my writing #dpxdc fanfic #ghost cannibalism #zalgo text #ghosts can purr #me sticking my hands into the plotholes: “it has pockets :)”#RFFTB #ghost hunger

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ghcstao3 · 5 months

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ok more of this already because i’m so normal. anyway disregarding canon for the 66th hunger games because that’s where i’m putting ghost

(also only bullet points because i might write a whole thing)

cw for usual hunger games things

anyway some hcs/details mostly about ghost’s games (this is long so strap in):

- by this point, it isn’t unheard of for tributes to act unthreatening during the days leading to the games, to maybe have a chance at surprise attacks—which is a strategy simon takes. what is unheard of in recent years, however, is something like simon’s insistence on having no allies. on being a lone wolf. he does it because he always has been alone, in some sense, and he doesn’t trust these other tributes in any capacity to not turn on him.

- his mentor isn’t any help. vernon is nothing but a bitter old man who, in simon’s opinion, didn’t earn his victory. he knows that’s something horrible to say, but it’s true. not with the way he treats simon, and presumably the other previous tributes, too. simon may as well be going in blind.

- the shy, awkward boy act isn’t at all an act. simon’s never been a people person, his outfits all itch, and the feeling of eyes on him has him nervous. paranoid. the upside is that the capitol somehow finds it endearing, which means sponsors. the downside is that, because of the lack of insight into him as a person as a cause of his quiet nature, it leaves too much room for speculation. it’s part of the reason he becomes sought out after winning—the capitol sees a nice face, assumes things that aren’t true, and suddenly he’s stuck as nothing more than a trophy to be passed around.

- he only scores an 8 after evaluation—this is done with intent.

- his arena is a jungle (not unlike the comics.. hint), foliage too thick to navigate with decent speed, and full of muttation insects, reptiles, and amphibians. the trees are too thin to climb or use to hide, and nor are there any caves—essentially, staying on the ground is anyone’s only option. the cornucopia is a large grove, and after the first day, it rains for days straight, until the ninth day.

- simon runs for the cornucopia. he knows it’s stupid, but he also knows how to dodge blows courtesy of his father, so he’s able to grab supplies and get out alive, granted with a few mostly superficial cuts. he knew he needed knives from the start—his most familiar weapon.

- it takes two days before he makes his first kill. it’s too easy, when it’s a girl paralysed and slowly dying from a poison spreading through her, turning her veins an inky black and rotting her skin. simon’s first kill is mercy.

- his second is a career, the boy from 4. the career pack is together when he comes across them, but he finds them first. when the opportunity presents itself and the boy is just separated enough, simon silently appears and slits his throat before disappearing back into the foliage. the rest of the pack only notices they’re missing someone because the cannon fires. none of them ever find out simon had done it.

- stealth ends up his strategy, and it’s what gets him the nickname ghost. he acts like an apparition and is done his work before anyone is the wiser of his actions. he ends up killing 8 of 24 tributes.

- he doesn’t sleep almost the entirety of the games. haunted by his actions, because part of him knows all of it wasn’t necessary. some kills, sure, were to protect himself—but not all of them. some were just to get ahead of the game, and it plants a gnawing guilt in the pit of his stomach.

- simon almost dies when the girl from 7 tries to kill him in the rare time he’s drifted off. he wakes up to an unbearable heat around him, sweat beading off his skin and light behind his eyes and when he’s finally up, he’s burning. she’d lit a fire around himin the hopes it would kill him because she didn’t want the guilt of having actually done the action. he lives—escapes—but suffers burns on part of his face and body that all just contribute more to the nickname. he’d come back from the dead, they all say, but really, he just woke up in the nick of time. but because the capitol still wants him desirable after he wins, to use him, extensive measures and surgery are taken to visibly reverse the damage once the games are over.

- simon wins on the twelfth day using, fittingly, a butcher’s cleaver. he had picked it up around day six off another tribute, and uses it to kill the one other tribute—the boy from 5—after a fight that comes much closer to killing them both than anyone would’ve liked. eventually, though, simon turns out victor.

- his father barely acknowledges him when he comes back. simon returns to work for a bit, despite the insistence that he doesn’t have to, but he needs something to occupy his mind. but then killing cattle and other livestock rears up too much trauma, and he ends up quitting and isolating himself for a while afterwards—but only until president snow had decided to fix him up and sell him to the capitol.

- seven years after his game is when he’s introduced to johnny. immediately, he’s struck by the man as someone he could maybe, maybe eventually trust. johnny isn’t like the man that had made the current transaction for him, or anyone simon had been put with previously, so it’s… nice. for once, he isn’t used. not for his body, anyway.

- when simon thinks he’s seen the last of johnny after that visit, the man puts in another bid for him, one that’d last longer. only to talk, he says, and that this is really the only way he can get him to the capitol. it happens again and again and the most they ever do is kiss during their last visit before simon has to mentor another tribute for the 73rd games, because better him than vernon.

- the visits continue following—they also spend quite a bit of time together during simon’s mentoring, and johnny even helps with getting sponsors—and they fall into something of a relationship, though it’s kept a very well-hidden secret.

- their routine continues until the second rebellion starts up, but that’s another post (or a fic itself) >:)

#OK MORE!!#told u i was having thoughts #my brain is full #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghost x soap #ghoap #alternate universe #hunger games au

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long-live-astronerd-ghost-king · 1 year

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Jason*tells to a new friend how he wants to kill the Joker*.

Danny*takes a sip then gives him the thermos*: Chill, dude. Just eat him.

Jason:..What have you got in your thermos, Danny?

Danny: Do not ask the question if you already know the answer. But it’s something with an ecto signature.

Jason:

Danny: Don’t be shy. I already had breakfast today.

~~~~

Batman: Suspiciously, no sign of the Joker.

Batman: What are you drinking, Hood?

Red Hood: Em..Soda?

Batman: Which flavor is it?

Red Hood *who can’t keep his mouth shut*: Sweet revenge.

#dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #dc x dp #dp x dc #jason todd #dc joker #ghost hunger au #danny phantom au #danny phantom #danny fenton #red hood #halfa jason #halfa!jason #halfa!jason todd

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callofdudes · 3 months

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Dropping all my AU thoughts on you. (Lovingly) pt1??

Hunger Games AU: All of 141 bring previous victors from their games who find solace with each other in the capital. Would go through what they experienced in their individual games and how they won. But when the victors face off comes they all have to work together to end the games permanently.

Skyrim AU: Ghost works with the Dark Brotherhood. Johnny is 1000% a Companion. Gaz is a bard who is also attending the College of Winterhold to become a mage. Price is either a leader of the Companions, or he's a captain of the Imperial Guard. Don't exactly have a proper plot. And Gaz is obviously a redguard. Price is definitely a Nord. John is probably a mix of either Breton and Nord or something. It just makes sense. And Ghost is an Imperial. It just makes sense and I can't explain why!

Or, another Skyrim idea: Johnny as the dragonborn and Simon as a Daedric Prince of Akotosh who chooses to serve Johnny after doubting Alduin's reign.

Transformers AU: It could go either way, I envision it with Ghost as a Tranformer. He's the last of his squad who escaped captivity (I hope you catch on) and is sent to earth to protect Intel and find a place to stay. Runs into the annoying Scottish mechanic when his paint is dinged up. Or Simon as the angry mechanic who does not want to fix this alien thing that keeps yapping all day.

Rise of the Guardians AU: All the characters are there. If Y/n was present in this I'd make Ghost the angry easter Bunny who "hates his job". But if they weren't he's hands down Jack Frost. Sorry. Gaz can be Sandy (sandman) we all know who Price is, and Johnny can be the tooth fairy. If you know why, you know why.

Obviously a httyd AU: because everyone needs one. I'm already conjuring up things for Ghost's backstory it's insane.

Gaming AU: Price is a moderator for a large gaming community channel and streaming platform. He greenlights a lot of games that go through and plays them occasionally. RDR games and those likes. Johnny and Gaz definitely play the sims together. They'd play those games like Lethal Company and such. They try to play horror games but it doesn't always go well. Simon, (known to fans as Ghost) wears his mask or has one of those cool avatars. Plays horror games religiously and first person shooters which has attracted a glamorized following. Friends with Price and that's how he ended up getting together in the streaming group with Gaz and Johnny. They're annoying, but ok, they're cool.

Assassin's Creed AU: I've been working slowly on this for a while but Johnny as a sword/bow for hire whose work has slowed in the city he's at. So he packs up with friend Gaz who is going to a different city to study as a medic. Price is probably the king of said place. (I'm thinking of setting up in Greece or we're going to old Britain.) And Ghost is our famous assassin. And they meet and some stuff happens!

Not sure what to call this one (AU) As a young kid Johnny was diagnosed with ADHD and went to weekly day camp for kids like him. It wasn't particularly boring and Johnny had lots of fun. Until a new kid who is very socially awkward and reclusive starts coming. He's quiet and fidgety and doesn't make much eye contact. Johnny wants to be his friend. The story where Autistic Simon and ADHD Johnny become inseparable childhood friends.

Winged AU. I did a little thing on this a couple months ago. Some 30% of the popular are born with wings. Johnny is one of them. He's incredibly proud of his wings and it gives him some advantages and disadvantages in the military. Simon seems to hate Johnny for the sake of it. But every time Simon sees John's wings, he remembers the scars on his back and the pain of when his wings were torn off...

#call of duty #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #johnny soap mactavish #captain john price #call of duty headcanons #simon ghost riley x reader #kyle gaz garrick #ghostsoap #crossovers #fic ideas #soapghost #ghost x soap #hunger games crossover #skyrim au #skyrim crossover #httyd/cod crossover

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weshney · 1 year

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AU where highly poisonous things just start tasting delicious to Danny. To the point where he starts grazing on local vegetation just to see what has the best flavor. Getting weirder and weirder cravings for things that should absolutely NOT be eaten.

Things that will kill you.

Sam is fucking delighted. She wants to know what all the highly dangerous things in her greenhouse taste like to Danny and starts keeping a journal. Maybe she can grow his favorites in higher quanties. As a treat.

But like. Imagine if Casper had a botany class. And someone stayed after school to water everything. Then just caught him casually munching on Bittersweet Nightshade.

#danny phantom #phandom #dp #dp au #dp writing prompt #deadly food au #cravings #ghost hunger #yes i know what i said

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kitsune024 · 9 months

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Crossovers

Puss in Boots

MCU

Is Yourself by FriendlyFrat_Boy I Chapters: 11/? I Ghost King Danny Fenton, Dark Danny Fenton, The Ultimate Enemy..kind of Echoes by @phantomtwitch I Chapters 23/30 I No One Knows AU, hazmat au, Overpowered Danny Fenton, Eldritch Danny Fenton Mini-Bang: Crawling In My Skin by @skarlettskwrl I Chapters: 1/1 I One shot BAMF Danny Fenton, Eldritch Danny, No One Knows AU, Hurt No Comfort, Dark Harvest by @wastefulreverie I Chapters: 2/2 I Completed 👻 Halloween fic, Ghost Hunger Days of Future Past by Acidwing I Chapters: 12/12 I Completed Dan Fic, Danny & Dan, Canon Divergence, Dark, The Ultimate Enemy The Consequences of Amnesty Forest by princessFanona I Chapters 2/2 I Completed Eldritch Danny, Ghost Hunger Terrarium by @ventisettestars I Chapters 5/5 I Completed Undergrowth, Plant Danny Watching the Horizon by SQ_Scrawls I Chapters 6/6 I Completed Danny dies for real this time, Grief, Angst, Full Ghost Danny, Space Obsession Danny, one sided Danny Fenton/Sam Manson Deranged Senses by @scarletsaphire I Chapters 5/5 I Completed POV Multiple, Loss of Control, Descent into Madness Cannibalism Gore Identity Reveal Feral Danny Fenton

Bookmark Series

Something’s Wrong With Danny Fenton by @ghostly-cabbage I Part 1 - 2 I No One Knows AU, Horror Danny, Creepy Danny Everything Was White by @lexosaurus I Part 1 - 2 I GIW, Identity Reveal, Torture, Aftermath Torture, Hurt Danny The Gravity Of Time by @punchspeedchunk I Part 1- 3 I Ghost King Danny Fenton, Identity Reveal, Badass Danny Fenton Rites of Kingship by @maskedemerald I Part 1 - 2 I Ghost Portal!Danny AU The Ultimate Saga by Firefury_Amahira I Part 1 - 5 I Completed Dan Fic, Dan/Valerie, The Ultimate Enemy, hate!ship ------ Series by @haikujitsu FFN Part 1. Phantom of Truth I Chapters 22/22 I Hurt/Comfort & Suspense, Danny, Maddie. Part 2. Shadow of a Doubt I Chapters 65/65 I Drama & Family, Danny, Maddie, Valerie, OC -------

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phoebepheebsphibs · 24 days

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Please, whatever they offer you... DON'T FEED THE PLANTS!!

ACT 3

@boots-with-the-fur-club @daboyau @tmntaucompetition @littlemissartemisia @shiveagit @shiveagit-arts @thevoidbrothers @noval1t @kathaynesart @bluepeachstudios @amevello-blue

CW: Panic attacks, cringe musical references

(Special thanks to boots-with-the-fur-club for helping write the NFIF bois!)

Prev || Next

Names and abbreviations (sorry there's a lot, we have a big cast for today's performances!) : UIFY = Until I Found You NFIF = No Fun in Fungus Leon = UIFY Leonardo 'Phael = UIFY Raphael DvD = UIFY Donatello Mike/Mikey/Micheal = UIFY Michelangelo AudRaph = Swayed Raphael AudreyTello = Swayed Donatello LeonAudro = Swayed Leonardo MichelAudrelo = Swayed Michelangelo AudRai = Swayed Karai rhg!Donnie = Rise Hunger Games AU Donatello Raph = NFIF Raphael Donnie/Dee = NFIF Donatello Leo = NFIF Leonardo Angie/Angelo = NFIF Michelangelo

The show must go on...

AudreyTello turned around just in time to watch as the explosion blew AudRaph several meters back, slamming him into a wall while the majority of the room that housed Audrey III crumbled to the ground. As the glow of deep cobalt, violet, crimson, and bright green filled the room, it chased away the neon electric blue, causing each and every spore it came into contact with to disintegrate.

"NOO!!!" AudreyTello screamed in pure fury. He gripped his head, the familiar ache returning as he could feel the hold over NFIF Donatello started to weaken.

"You... you WRETCHES!! You think this will STOP ME?!"

"Well, we certainly hoped so," Spider-Dee mumbled.

"You pathetic, insignificant, worthless, meaningless, little trifles of trauma-riddled turtles!!" AudreyTello screamed.

"...This might be a shot in the dark, but I think we made him just a teensy bit mad."

"OH, YA THINK?!"

AudreyTello's battleshell erupted with furious weapons building one on top of the other, the purple glow blending with the blue infecting his ninpo. But piece by piece, the purple was starting to take back control...

"It... it's working! The sway is breaking!" Spider-Dee pointed.

"Then let's break it all the way!" Ghost shouted over the commotion, grabbing Spider-Dee and DvD out of habit and jumping away from the spray of mystic missiles and bullets.

Meanwhile, in the rubble, a shield of ninpo created by the infected Hamatos kept MichelAudrelo, AudRai, and poor little Misa safe from the destruction.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THE HAND.PNG SET A FIRE AND BURNED DOWN THE HOUSE!" MichelAudrelo screamed in anger, clenching his fists tightly.

"One less enemy to worry about," AudRai stated calmly. "What is the damage?"

"Our base has been destroyed," MichelAudrelo growled. "Quite obviously."

AudRai held her head as she groaned.

"Our true form... has been wounded," she grunted, looking up slowly.

The mushroom was half-destroyed in the corner, the cap singed and burning slightly, the hyphae curling as the fungus screeched in agony. Leonardo sat under the stalk, his body half-freed, but the blast had knocked him unconscious. He laid limp against the roots that kept him anchored to the floor, half-destroyed and withering beneath his weight.

"They will pay for this," MichelAudrelo snarled.

Blue/gold mystic chains started forming as he approached the battle, seeing the non-Donnie team come round the corner...

"Okay, so the room was destroyed, the spores are dissipating... you guys know what's next?" Leon asked, making sure the plan was still in effect.

"We'll get going to save all the zombies," Spider-Shine said with a smile and a nod, gesturing to the other Spider-Teetlez as Spider-Dee reunited with them. "Get the antidote to anyone with glowing blue eyes!"

"Great, the rest of us will stay behind to help free the swayed and eradicate the rest of the mushroom!"

The Spider-Teetlez shook hands with the group, saying fond farewells before swinging away to complete their quest and save the rest of the AUs...

"Okay then, now we--"

"RUN!!" 'Phael shrieked, pointing to an army of golden chains coming their way.

MichelAudrelo smiled cruelly as he sent the chains to grab at them, the contestants and supporters scattering quickly in all directions to avoid his attacks. One chain grabbed Leon and dragged him forward.

The slider was bound by the ankles and hung upside down in front of the mystic warrior.

"Hello, worm," MichelAudrelo said with a smile.

"Uhhh, heeey there, Angie!" Leon said, hoping the childhood nickname for his brother would strike a chord with this version of Michelangelo.

It didn't.

MichelAudrelo raised his hand.

"You'll regret what you've done..."

"Hey, you!!"

Leon and MichelAudrelo turned in surprise to see who had just shouted at them.

Golden flower petals and butterflies made of light started fluttering down around the boys.

Abby smiled brightly as she threw her crutch aside to Diana. Music starting playing.

"Do you hear that sound? That beautiful sound?"

Giant vines started sprouting from the ground, lifting Abby and MichelAudrelo up into the air. In his shock, MichelAudrelo dropped Leon to the floor, where Diana quickly grabbed him and pulled him aside.

"What are you two doing here?" Leon asked. "You were supposed to stay with Mikey--"

"Slight change of plans," Diana answered. "We brought the cavalry!"

"You didn't bring him here, did you?"

"..."

"Diana, if you value your life you will answer 'no'."

"...Then, no?"

"You're lying to me. Where is he...!" Leon growled as he stormed off to find his Michelangelo.

"YOU SAID TO ANSWER NO!!" Diana shouted as she followed after him, while Abby finally got to do her big number with a 'captive audience'...

Leon rushed off to find his brother, no doubt glowing and sporting his own mystic chains. He was gonna give him an earful when he found him...

As Leon was storming around, something lodged within the wall fell to the ground and groaned behind him.

"URGH!"

Leon whipped around.

"What was that--"

A large spiky shell and limbs started moving from the broken pieces of plaster that had crumbled along with the body on the floor. It slowly started rising, groaning and grumbling. Leon swallowed, tiptoeing closer to the swayed Raph.

"...Diana... go look for Mikey. Make sure he's not doing anything too.... y'know."

"But, what are you gonna--"

"Just go," he whispered. "I'll handle this."

Diana reluctantly obeyed, rushing away before AudRaph could get his bearings back and start attacking them.

Leon crept forwards, wary of the strength this Raphael could have. He knew that his brother 'Phael was pretty strong, though he was mostly unshed baby fat. This Raph was head and shoulders above him, and had been training as a ninja since his childhood, he figured. Besides, he knew that 'Phael had a tendency to go kinda savage when he was really, really scared. And who knew what this fear fungus was making Raph see in his deep subconscious...

"Hey, buddy, it's me, your ol' pal, Neon Leon..."

AudRaph made a low rumbling sound as he slowly got to his knees, still dizzy and dazed.

"I know that whatever you're seeing... i-it's probably pretty rough. I'm sure you think that it's hopeless, but it isn't! You can get through it..."

AudRaph lifted up his head, growling at him with bared teeth.

"Hey, it's okay to be scared. I'm scared most of the time. Have you seen half of the hijinx Mikey gets involved in? I'll bet you know how tough it is, being the oldest brother, the one to look after everyone... But then again, you also know how much they love you. You know how excited they are when they succeed just like you knew they would, the look on their faces when they see how proud you are when they exceed your expectations and blow you out of the water! You're so lucky to be the big brother, no matter how many times they make you worry... because for every grey scale they give you, you get ten extra memories of them and how wonderful they are and how much you love them."

Raphael's blue-glazed eyes started leaking.

"And I know you love them. Because how could you not love our brothers?? You, me, we sacrifice for them all the time, because we would do anything for our little brothers. You'd do anything for your brothers, right? And... you said I would always have a big brother in you. And I need you, Raph -- they need you -- WE NEED YOU. We need you to come back to us..."

Leon placed one hand on Raph's shaking shoulder and cupped the other hand under his cheek, wiping the blue tears from his face.

"Come back to your family, Raph. Because we need YOU. Not a hero, not a sacrificial martyr, we want our brother to come home. Please, Raph. Please."

Raphael blinked away the tears, the final remnants of blue melting away with the tears.

"...L-Leon..?"

"Welcome back, big guy."

Leon was suddenly engulfed in a bear hug, Raph squeezing him tight and shaking all over.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so so sorry, Leo LEON, I'm so sorry... please... please, can you forgive me, I never meant to hurt you, I never wanted to--!"

"It's okay, dude," Leon said, trying not to cry himself as he squeezed Raph back. "You old softy."

Leon had to force himself to pull away from the sobbing snapping turtle, offering the end of his scarf for the eldest sibling to wipe his face with.

"Now, let's go wake up the others, hmm?"

April's teleporting powers kicked in as soon as she saw the golden chains coming. She was suddenly in a new place, landing in a small heap of rubble. She turned around and watched as NFIF Michelangelo managed to snag her Leon and reel him in.

"Leo!"

"YOU."

April whirled around to see AudRai coming for her. Her neat braid had been mussed up in the explosion, the strands falling loose and falling apart. Her eyes were surrounded by deep, dark circles and tear stains.

"Karai... what happened to you?"

"What always happens to the Hamatos," she replied glumly. "We die."

"You're not dead yet," April said, gritting her teeth. "I'm not going to let that funky mushroom kill you."

"Why not? You let it kill Michael."

April's breath caught in her lungs.

"...Karai... you don't know what you're saying..."

"It's our doom, our fate," she said, voice wobbling with sniffles as the tears started pooling. "The fate I started us all down... the role I took on, the example I set... it's all my fault--"

Karai started weeping, her voice cracked as her fists clenched.

"It's my fault that Michael died. I felt him leave. Not just because of our family ninpo, I saw him die through the spores. I saw his fears. I watched him go!" she whimpered, falling to her knees.

April's eyes welled up with tears of her own as she slowly understood what Karai was saying.

"It was my fault... I trained him in his ninpo. I taught him all the Hamato magic. I showed him the importance of our traditions, our lore, our creed. I... I... I killed him..."

"You didn't kill him. He's still alive," April reassured her. "And you didn't teach Mikey self-sacrifice. It seems to be a running tendency--"

"But that tendency started with me!" Karai sobbed. "I can't save them, no matter how hard I try! I couldn't save my village, my father, my own grandson! My legacy is to be the failing martyr!!"

April rushed forward and hugged Karai tightly.

"No. That is not your legacy. That is not your destiny. Michael is not dead, and neither are you. Karai, you are more than just your mistakes, more than your defeats. Don't let the fear of failure keep you from succeeding later on! Don't let the past keep you from building up your future! You told me that you saw how strong I was, where do you think I learned that courage from? Don't let this be another failure, don't give up! You can beat this fear. 'You shall not be challenged beyond your strength.' You can overcome it."

Karai stiffened for a second, before softly hugging April back. After a few shaky moments, Karai pulled away. Much to April's relief, her eyes were back to normal.

"Arigatō, April..."

Karai wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned to the small caged-in cradle holding Misa.

"We should help release her."

"Can I offer my help?" NFIF Raph asked, as he and Leon rushed up through the rubble and broken drywall.

April and Karai looked at each other, unsure if that was wise, considering what had happened.

Yet Karai nodded, stepped forwards and used her ninpo to create a small dagger of flame that cut through the vines. Misa was growling and crying, her eyes shut tight as she fought against her nightmares.

Raphael leaned down and picked her up gently, rocking her back and forth.

"If one of the Mikeys were here, they'd know how to snap her out of it," April murmured. "He saved her from the spores last time..."

"Raph knows what to do," he whispered, his voice soft and gentle. "I've had my fair share of getting my little brothers to calm down after a nightmare..."

Raph sat down on a pile of debris as he held on to Misa.

She hissed at him, pushing to get away.

"Misa? Misa, it's me..."

Misa growled again, still struggling to break free from his hold. In her mind, she had just been taken away by an evil scientist who was going to do terrible, mean things to her...

"No!" she snapped, biting his hand.

Raph gasped in pain, but didn't let go. He smiled through the hurt, tears forming in his eyes again.

"I guess I deserved that one, huh?" he chuckled dryly. "Misa, please, it's Raph... it's Ra-Ra?"

Misa slowly stopped, her ferocious bites turning into soft nibbles as she opened one eye, the edges of white turning a soft blue.

"Misa, can you see me? Can you see Ra-Ra?"

She shook her head no.

"...R-Ra-Ra? Ra-Ra has Misa?"

"Yes," he assured her, rubbing his thumb in circles against her cheek, wiping away the bitter and angry tears.

Misa flinched, her eyes widened at the touch.

"...Is Ra-Ra good guy now?"

That hurt. He knew she didn't mean for it to hurt, but the truth was painful nonetheless.

"Yes, Misa," he whimpered. "Ra-Ra is good now. Misa, I'm so sorry for what I did to you... I hurt you so much, Raph is so sorry..."

Even though he knew that he was meant to be comforting her, Raph lowered his head and cried onto her as he held her in his lap.

"Misa... I'm so sorry. I'll understand if you hate me forever after this, I wouldn't blame you. But... I want to help you now, I want to help with the scary things you're seeing. How can Ra-Ra help you?"

Raph felt tiny hands reaching up and touching his face. Misa blinked away the blue, eyes refocusing until she could see Raphael properly.

And Misa smiled.

"Little brudder..."

She kissed his cheek and nuzzled him, hugging his face and wiping away his tears.

"...Misa forgives Ra-Ra. Ra-Ra good guy."

Raphael blubbered at that, whimpering as he pressed Misa against his plastron in a desperate hug. Misa giggled, patting him on the back as best she could, though her arms barely even reached the edges of his shell.

"Thank you, Misa... thank you..."

"Where's Mikey an' Dee-Dee?" she asked, looking around.

"Around here somewhere," Leon replied, looking around. "I'm sure we'll find them eventually..."

"Hey, guys!" Abby shouted at them. "Look who we got!"

Abby gave the performance of a lifetime. She and swayed Michelangelo had been dueling it out against each other for a few minutes while Abby belted out her favourite musical number. She ordered the vines to protect her as she spun and ducked and danced and leapt around the mystic attacks. Her vines reached out and grabbed MichelAudrelo and pulled him high into the air, away from Abby as she finished up her number. MichelAudrelo struggled against the vines, breaking free eventually, but Abby had been prepared for that. Several other series of vines reached up and caught him, much to his frustration.

"THAT BEAUTIFUL SOUND--"

"STOP IT!" MichelAudrelo screeched, lashing out his chains to grab at the feline, but she jumped away at the last second, her choreography coming in to save her as she danced around him gleefully.

"A SOUND THAT MEANS NO MORE CONDESCENDING ADULTS HANGING AROUND!"

Abby continued to sing at the top of her lungs as MichelAudrelo chased after her, his chains doing battle with her vines.

"I SAID STOP IT!!"

Abby ignored him, singing to her heart's content.

"EVERY GROAN, EVERY WAIL AND EACH MOAN, ADDS UP TO DADDY'S LEAVIN' ME THE HECK ALONE!"

"I SAID STOP! STOP, Stop, s-stop..."

MichelAudrelo's hands began to shake, his chains started to fade.

"THEY'RE OUT OF MY GRILL, BECAUSE OF THAT SHRILL SYMPHONY..."

Abby pirouetted, a glorious spin that created a flurry of petals around her. MichelAudrelo couldn't see her anymore, her spin was so fast that she became a blur. While he was distracted, a grappling hook shot up and grabbed him by the ankle, tugging him down to the floor as Ghost wrapped his arms around the boy.

"H-hey!! LET GO!!"

"It's okay, Angelo," Ghost murmured, keeping him close to his chest. "It's okay, we've got you..."

"AIN'T IT THE SWEETEST NOISE AROUND, THAT BEAUTIFUL SOUND!" Abby belted, echoing the final word as she jumped down from her podium made of vines.

"Aaaaaaand she sticks the landing!" she cheered as she gracefully touched down. "I did it! I really did it! I guess my leg's all better, I can't wait to show Diana--"

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME PRISONER LIKE THIS!!" MichelAudrelo screeched, kicking and squirming in Ghost's hold. "LET ME GO!"

"Not until you calm down, kid," Ghost said, tightening his hold on the mind-controlled Angelo. "Just let it go, let go of the anger and the fear and--"

"NO! I'LL KILL YOU ALL! I'LL...I'll... I ... heh... heh, heh..."

MichelAudrelo's screams melted as tears started trickling down his face. He smiled painfully, laughing as he saw what he was.

"I... I wanted to kill everyone," he murmured. His voice was soft, he was in shock and somewhat dazed as the realization of what he'd done seeped in. "I really did. I wanted to break everything and destroy the entire arena and everyone in it... why?"

MichelAudrelo looked up at Abby, the small trickle of tears turning into rivers, his smile breaking as the corners of his mouth turned down.

"Why did I wanna hurt you so bad? I never would have done that before, I was just so... so..."

"Scared?" Abby offered, stepping forward to wipe the tears away.

"No," Angelo flinched, pulling back from her, refusing to accept her help. "No, it wasn’t fear, it was--"

"It was grief."

MichelAudrelo looked up in confusion at Ghost, who looked down with his own understanding gaze.

"You were scared of losing your family, huh? April told me a little about some of the things you said when you were first spored. I know what it feels like to lose your family. To know that you'll never get to do the things you always said you'd do together. See the places you always wanted to go. Win or lose the arguments you planned in your head for fun, just to antagonize them. Give that apology you meant to say. Make that special gift for their next birthday. Eat lunch with them. Say I love you one last time. I know how it feels to realize that you've been pulled away and there's no going back. And what's worse... you see them everywhere. Carbon copies, phantoms of the past that bring up phantom pains. You want to pretend that they're yours, but..."

"But they're not!" Angelo sobbed, letting his limbs go slack in Ghost's embrace as he wailed. The two fell to their knees, Ghost comforting Angelo as he cried out a pain that was so deep and scarring it could shake the foundations of the earth.

"But... your family isn't dead, Angelo," Abby reassured him. "They're still here --"

"FOR HOW LONG?" he howled. "How long until they really do get themselves killed?! How long until I have to go through this again, but for real?! I can't keep doing this!! I can't, I can't! I won't let myself get hurt again!!"

The blue light started to return to MichelAudrelo's eyes as he growled.

"That's what I said, too," Ghost chuckled.

Angie stopped.

"I told myself I would never get hurt like that again. So I shut everyone and everything out. I refused to let myself get too attached to what I knew could be another family for me. I couldn't face the idea of seeing replicas of my brothers and father and April again. I was scared of getting hurt."

Angelo swivelled his head around to get a better look at Ghost, who was starting to cry himself.

"I was so scared, kid. I let myself rot in a sewer alone for over two decades before I finally faced my fears and tried again. Knowing that the pain would come, knowing that I would have to be strong. Because sometimes... healing hurts."

"If you love someone, you have to understand that one day they will hurt you," Abby added. "Whether they mean to or not... love opens you up for both the happy times and the sad times. And the angry ones, too, believe me."

"It may seem like the pain is too much to live with --" Ghost replied, "-- and you may think that it's easier to feel nothing at all than to feel the pain. But when that happens you become nothing more than a... well, a ghost in a shell," he chuckled weakly.

"I don't want that," Angelo wept, turning around and wrapping his arms around Ghost in a loose hug. "I don't want to just rot inside myself while the people I love most are waiting for me..."

"Then you have to let go of that pain."

"But it's so hard!"

"I know, bud, I know. But nothing that the great Dr. Feelings can't face, right? And you'll never face it alone."

"I thought that was Dr. Delicate Touch... wait, what's the difference again?" Abby asked.

Angelo rubbed his face against Ghost's cloak, wiping the tears and snot from his blubbering face.

"Dr. Delicate Touch feels nothing... O-o.... okay..." he whimpered. "I can do this. I don't want to be 'Dr. Delicate Touch' forever. I wanna be with my family again. Even if we'll get hurt. I'd rather get hurt with them than feel nothing forever alone."

"Good call, kid," Ghost said, leisurely releasing the box turtle.

Angelo stood up, wiping the last of the glowing aqua blue tears from his face, his eyes back to normal as he weakly smiled.

"Should... should we go find the rest?"

"The Donnies are still doing their epic anime battle royale or something," Abby pointed. "But the others are in that pile of debris over there."

"Well, I've learned the hard way to never interrupt Dee's work, so let's go see how the other guys are doing."

"Another good call," Ghost laughed, rubbing Angelo's head.

The trio crossed over to the rest, reaching them just as Misa was released from the fear fungus' hold and hugging Raphael.

"Hey, guys! Look who we got!" Abby cheered, pointing at Angelo, who waved weakly at the group.

"Hey, Angelo!" Leon said with a wave. "You're not gonna... string me up again like before, are ya?"

"No," he whimpered softly. "Sorry 'bout that, by the way..."

"It's all cool," Leon said, waving it off. "Shrooms will do that to ya, or so I've heard."

Raphael looked over at his baby brother, seeing the tear stains and red puffy eyes and the trail of snot he kept wiping and sniffling away.

"Rough comeback, huh?"

"Yeah. You too?"

"Pizza supreme in the sky, you have no idea."

"Pizza what in the where now?" Leon asked, raising a brow at the snapping turtle. "What did you just say--"

"I'LL KILL YOU!!"

The group jumped at the scream that shattered the calm they had been enjoying for the moment.

"That was one of the Donnies!" Abby yiped, jumping into Diana's arms.

"...Do you think maybe we should look into that?" Leon asked.

rhg!Donnie had carried Michael into the outskirts of the battle, just as he'd promised. The Donnie confrontation, or 'Donfrontation' as they were calling it, was in full swing as the drones flew like a tornado around the halls.

"Okay, we're here now, what exactly did you have planned??" rhg!Donnie asked.

"Uh, I honestly figured I could wing it--"

"YOU WHAT?!"

Mikey shrugged and laughed nervously.

"Well, I assumed that I'd have a plan by the time I got here!"

Before rhg!Donnie could let in to him, an explosion went off. The bright rainbow of light blew away the spores and darkness, clearing the area almost instantaneously.

"Well, it looks like the guys managed to set off the TNT," Diana noticed.

"No kidding," rhg!Donnie grumbled. "We should get out of here--"

A large body flew into the wall some short distance aways.

"Was that Raph?!" Abby yelled loudly.

The halls started glittering as golden chains filled the air.

"I swear, that isn’t me," Mikey said, seeing the glare that the others were about to give him.

"It's the other Mikey!" Abby yelled, suddenly running off to go help the others.

"Wait a minute!" Diana shouted, running after her.

"Well, um, I guess it's just you and me now," Mikey chuckled dryly.

"Apparently so. I'm taking you back to safety--"

"No!" Mikey yelled, holding his hand out to stop him. "I need you to take me to my brothers, or --"

"No, Mikey, I can't let that happen! You'll get hurt, or--"

Before rhg!Donnie could finish his sentence, one of the drones snagged the back of his shirt and carried him away into the storm.

"Oh no! Human Donnie!!"

Mikey summoned a small chain and latched it onto one of the other drones, getting yanked away into the torrent along with the alternate version of his brother.

"I'm coming!"

Mikey held on as tightly as he could to the meager chain, climbing up the links to get to the drone itself. He climbed atop it, looking for rgh!Donnie amongst the flurry of purple. He found him, several feet away, trying to reach back and unhook his clothes from the device.

"Hold on, I'm on my way!!"

Mikey readied himself, and then leapt. His stomach slammed into the head of the drone, and he slipped down the side. Mikey swung his legs up, gripping the drone with his knees as he crawled back up the side of it. Mikey saw the legs of the drone dangling beneath him, and got an idea. He took out his nunchucks, wrapping one end to the drone's mechanical legs as he held on with a deathgrip to the other end. He let himself fall, dangling from the machine and swinging around as the drones turned the corner and continued their tornado patterns. Mikey used the momentum of the turning corner to fling himself forward, landing directly on top of the kidnapper drone.

"MIKEY?!" rhg!Donnie screamed above the roaring mechanical wind. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Winging it!" Mikey yelled back, as he grabbed rhg!Dee's shirt collar and tore the fabric from the metal limb. With nothing holding him up anymore, rhg!Donnie fell to the floor, dragging poor Michelangelo with him.

"AAAAAHHHH!!"

Before the two adolescents could hit the pavement, something caught them both. They looked up in shock to see two drones had chased after and grabbed them.

"Not again," rhg!Donnie groaned.

"I assure you, this time it was intentional," Omega said as he rolled by. "Congrats on being rescued."

"Thanks, computer Dee!" Mikey cheered, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Of course. Now, WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?! I thought you were given direct instruction to--"

"Where is everyone? Where's Leon, 'Phael, Dvd, and April?" Mikey interrupted.

"I suspect UIFY Leonardo, UIFY Raphael, and UIFY April are over by the remnants of that housing unit," Omega said, a robot claw pointing towards the heap of rubble caught in the explosion. "But your Donatello is in the center of that drone tornado. He's taken the forefront of distracting --"

"I gotta go talk to him!" Mikey yelled, trying to run but tripping over his own feet as he did so.

"No way!" rhg!Donnie said, grabbing him and dragging him back again. "You're staying over here, where it's safe!"

"I thought you were on my side!"

"I'm not on anybody's side. I just want you to be safe, Mikey," he said, the last few words coming out as a whimper. "Please... just stay here for me, I'll go and help!"

"BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!"

rhg!Donnie ran in the direction of the tornado, Omega chasing after him.

Mikey waited a beat.

And then began to shuffle towards them, too...

rhg!Donnie ducked in between each and every drone as they sailed around them. He listened for the shouts, for any noise other than the roaring wind whipping around him.

He couldn't hear anything.

He couldn't see anything--

"Hey! Watch out!"

rhg!Donnie jumped. Someone had grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside. DvD stared the teenager in the face, glaring at him angrily.

"WHAT are YOU doing here?! You're supposed to be watching after--"

His eyes widened as he realized.

"WHERE. IS. HE."

"I left him with Omega!" rhg!Donnie shouted.

"OMEGA IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!"

rhg!Donnie turned around to stare the computer in the face -- or rather, icon.

"WHAT?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE WITH HIS BROTHER--"

"I came to make sure you would be --"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute --" DvD stopped the explanation hastily, trying to figure it out. "-- if he's not with us, then who is he with?"

UIFY Mikey crawled across the floor as best he could. He was still wobbly, and every time he tried to stand he got the nastiest dizzy spell. The dizziness was only compounded by the continuing swirling of the mechanical hurricane before him. But he had to get to them, before it was too late...

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Mikey paused, a pair of feet appearing in front of him. He slowly looked up to see AudreyTello standing before him, tech-bō in hand and pointed down at Michael.

"...Heyyyy, Dee... just the guy I wanted to see."

"You're supposed to be dead," AudreyTello said, leaning closer to him.

"Eh. I got better."

"So I see. Shall I remedy that for you?"

Mikey swallowed.

"You're not going to kill me."

"Oh? And why ever not?" AudreyTello chuckled, walking closer as Mikey inched backwards.

"Because we both know that you don't want to hurt me. You didn't hurt me before--"

"An oversight on my part. As I said, I can remedy that," AudreyTello growled, as he cocked back the bō and prepared to strike.

"No. Before the battle. When I helped you, when I gave you some of my strength to fight against the fungus, I could feel what was happening to you. I don't know how or why, but I could sense that you were being sorta... swept away. But not gone for good."

"You're wrong," AudreyTello laughed. "Donatello is DEAD."

"No," Mikey refuted. "I made sure of it. I know you're in there, I know you can see and hear me. That's why you gave me back to DvD when you did."

"You were unconscious for that, how... ah, yes. Your odd little dreams that fill you in on what you've missed," AudreyTello rolled his eyes. "How useful."

"You didn't want to hurt me," Mikey informed him. "Because you're still in there."

"No, he's NOT," AudreyTello growled.

"I know you are. It's why you wouldn't kill me. Why I couldn't kill you. Because you care."

"DONATELLO IS DEAD!!" AudreyTello snapped. "I AM IN CONTROL, YOU HEAR ME?!"

"You can scream all you want, but we both know that isn't true."

"BUT IT HAS TO BE!" Dee sobbed. "IT HAS TO BE TRUE, OTHERWISE... otherwise, I really did all those terrible things to you... your brother... m-my brothers..."

NFIF Donatello's knees started wobbling. He backed away from Mikey.

"I know you're scared. You're probably thinking everything that happened is all your fault, right? You're blaming yourself. The hand told me..."

"No... No, NO! S-STAY BACK!" AudreyTello shrieked, fumbling away from Mikey, who started crawling back towards him.

"You're scared that what you've done is unredeemable, that the mistakes you made will haunt you forever. But that's only true if you let it be true. Because -- whether you want it or not -- I forgive you for everything that happened."

"No, you can't -- Don't say that!" Donatello wept, holding his staff at Mikey, trying to ward him off as though he were a wild animal. "You can't just forgive that, you can't simply forgive him, he tried to spore you! He -- I almost sent you to your doom, I did send you to your doom! MY spores killed you!!"

"Do I look like I'm dead to you? Like I said, you wouldn't hurt me. You didn't know that would happen, it was a freak accident or whatever. And even if you did mean for that to happen... I still forgive you."

"BUT YOU CAN'T--!"

"But I do anyways. Because you're my brother, Dee," Mikey said with a smile, slowly getting up to his feet to stand.

"I-I'm not... I'm not your brother... especially after what I did..."

The tornado of drones behind them started to slow to a lull. The roaring cyclone and whipping wind calming to a gentle breeze in the background.

Mikey smiled at the weeping Donatello. He crawled closer.

"...But I still choose you as my family. And I still forgive you. And your real brothers will, too, because they love you so much more than I ever could! Donnie, do you know how much you are loved? How much we care about you?"

"No... you can't... stop it, stop, please..."

"We all love you so much, nothing you could ever do would make that love go away. No mistake, no failure, no evil monologue could ever make our love for you just simply vanish! We'll fight for you, we'll die for you, we'll live for you, because we love you so much."

"I don't deserve it... please, you can't say that! I don't want your love! I don't want you to keep loving me after everything, I don't deserve it!! I haven't earned it!!"

"You don't have to earn or deserve it, Dee," Mikey said, taking shaky steps towards him.

"Stop, Mikey, st-o-o-p..." Donnie wrapped his arms around himself, clutching his stomach as the alt. version of his baby brother came closer, holding his arms out to hug him.

"It's like Karai always says... anatawa, hitorijin--"

"I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Mikey whirled around just in time to see DvD leap over him, tech-bōfurnished with a saw as he lunged towards his enemy.

DvD crashed into NFIF Donatello, the two rolling around and scuffling on the floor as DvD attempted to avenge his brother.

"No!! Get off of him, what are you doing?! I was just getting through to him!!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO YOU!!" Donatello Von Draxum screamed.

AudreyTello kicked him off his stomach, tumbling to the side and watching in pure fear as DvD readied his tech bo again. Mikey jumped onto him, clutching his arm tightly as he tried to pull him away.

"Please, this isn't you!!" he begged.

DvD shook his baby brother off, the small child falling to the ground from the exertion and watched in horror as his big brother stormed over to the swayed Donnie.

"You're forgetting, Mikey... I'm the son of Draxum! I never asked to be... but I'm the SON OF DRAXUM, now face my..."

DvD pressed a button on his tech-bō, and it began to glow green as a new and yet unused weapon formed at the end.

"...URANIUM-POWERED FURYYYYY!!!"

"DVD, NO!!!"

Mikey screamed, his wails just barely stopping DvD in his tracks.

"AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID TO YOU... I PROMISED NOTHING WOULD HURT YOU, I SWORE TO PROTECT YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE! MIKEY, WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!"

"You can't hurt him!!" Mikey screamed. "He's YOU! He's my brother, just like you are!! He didn't mean to hurt anyone, I won't let you destroy your soul on my behalf! I won't let you hurt him!"

"...N-no... he's right..."

Mikey stared at NFIF Donatello, as he shakily looked up at the two arguing brothers.

"He should kill me... I deserve it..."

DvD glared at him.

"I TRUSTED you. I told you things about me, about Mikey, and you USE THAT AGAINST ME. The last person who did that --"

"I know," Dee wept. "I know. And you're right... after everything that happened, I don't blame you... I'd do the same. So... s-so go ahead," he cried, hanging his head in shame and resignation. "Do what you want. I did this, I did this to myself. I'm... I'm a monster.

DvD gripped his staff tightly. He took one step forward.

"No, please, don't do this," Michael begged. "Please, there's no coming back from this! Don't --"

"But Mikey, what am I supposed to do?" DvD growled, hot and angry tears filling up behind his visor.

"Forgive and forget."

"But he--"

"KILLING HIM WON'T MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF, DVD," Mikey scolded. "I KNOW YOU THINK IT'S YOUR FAULT. I KNOW YOU THINK THAT IT WAS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN. IT'S NOT. PLEASE, Please, please..."

Mikey sobbed as he tugged on his brother's cape.

"Don't do it... don't do this, not for me. It won't heal anything..."

Before DvD could respond, the others suddenly came running from every direction towards them, Leon and 'Phael lunged at DvD to pull him back as April and Karai went for Mikey. rhg!Donnie and Omega came running from behind and joined the UIFY gang to Keep DvD at bay, while the rest of the group went to check on NFIF Donatello, who was shaking and sobbing blue tears.

"Get back, Don!" 'Phael yelled, using all his strength to keep his warrior brother away. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"He... I... Mikey was..."

"AND JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, MISTER?!" Leon shouted at Michael. "I told you to stay put!"

"I had to help! I knew that Donnie was gonna blame himself and Donnie was gonna try to kill him and the other Donnies wouldn't understand and Donnie needed me so I--"

"I told you to stay--"

"CAN WE PLEASE TURN OFF THE DEATH RAY?!" April shouted loudly over the commotion.

"Oh, right," 'Phael said, snatching the tech-bō away from DvD. Omega came over and helped him to find the right button to switch it off before it could do any real damage.

"How does this child have uranium?!" Omega asked angrily. "Where did he--"

"We can geek out over Donnie's collection of killer rocks later, right now we're kinda on mission?!"

"Oh. Right. Yes, of course..." Omega said sheepishly.

NFIF Raph was by his brother's side almost immediately, taking his hand and trying to soothe him.

"Donnie! Donnie, it's Raph... it's me, can you--"

"R-Raph?" Dee asked looking at him.

"Yeah! C'mon, you're still kinda under the influence of the spores, so I need ya to--"

"You should have let him finish me," Donnie sobbed. "I deserve it!"

"Deserve...? Donald, what are you talking about?" Angelo asked nervously.

"I... I hurt you all!" he wailed. "I keep hurting you, I keep -- I keep ruining -- I'm a villain, I'm a monster, I--"

"HEY."

Dee jerked at the deep rumble that came from his older brother. He turned to look at Raphael.

"No. You are not a villain, you are not a monster. You were stuck in a nightmare and your body was being used like a puppet. You are not to blame for what happened."

"B-but...!"

"Donnie. You were krangified."

Dee froze at the words.

He knew this argument. He was on the other side of it, now...

"If you truly believe that what you did was actually your fault, and that you really are to blame, then you're also saying that it was really me that almost killed--"

"NO!" Dee yelled, gripping his brother's arms tightly to keep him from finishing the thought. "NO! No, I would never say that, I -- it was different, you were -- you -- you weren't yourself at all, they made you into -- it's different this time!"

"How is it any different?"

"BECAUSE THIS TIME IT WAS ME!!" he howled. "YOU DIDN'T DO ANY OF THAT, YOU WEREN'T IN CONTROL--"

"Neither were you!" Angelo reminded him.

"But I--"

"You should hold yourself to the same standards of forgiveness you give to others," Raph said. "I know you feel like you're on some different level of mercy, that the mistakes of others don't matter as much as the mistakes you make, that you should be punished for every little thing you get wrong -- but that's ludicrous. Really, really ludicrous."

"T-two reallys..."

"Exactly, big man. With as big of a genius brain as yours, ya'd think you'd understand that, huh?"

Dee chuckled as he hugged his brothers. The blue glow from his birthmarks slowly faded away, revealing the purple tones underneath.

"You back with us, Don-a-Tron?"

Donnie nodded and mumbled a "mhm" at them.

"Good. Welcome home, Donnie."

"Not yet," he said, slowly pushing himself away as he remembered a crucial detail.

"We still have one last zombie to free..."

"You.... you've destroyed EVERYTHING......"

Every head simultaneously turned.

LeonAudro pulled himself out of the rubble and ruin, rising up to confront them.

He was thin and pale, one eye burning blue while the other was covered with the charred and scarred remains of a mushroom cap and gill, one singular glowing yellow eye gazing furiously at them. His body was veiled over with roots and vines and ring and stem and stalk. Toadstools grew over his shoulder, umbrella mushrooms had sprouted from his plastron.

Raph gasped in horror at how similar he looked to... to... him. When he was part of the kraang.

Angelo covered his mouth to keep from gasping and sobbing.

Donnie stared in silence, his hands curling into tight fists.

"... Don't... be... fooled if I should whimper like a sappy, sobby dope, it's just the spores... they get me low......"

He lumbered lazily towards them. His voice was weak, but in the silence it carried. His breathing was shallow and strained. His face was absolutely painted with the glowing blue tearstains.

"... But don't let my cries deceive you, any moment I could go....."

Angelo whimpered at that verse. He felt Raph grab him by the shoulders and pull him in. Donnie took his hand and squuezed it tight.

"...All my vital signs are failing... cause the fungus I'm inhaling... makes it difficult as heck to catch my bre-ha-heaaaaath...."

He wheezed as he sang, his movements laboured and exhausted.

His brothers watched him, frozen where they were as he continued on closer. And closer.

"...Leo...?"

LeonAudro smiled.

"Guess again."

"Audrey III," Dee snarled. "Let him go."

LeonAudro let out an airy chuckle.

"Why... should... I?"

"LET HIM GO!!" Angelo screamed, his hands igniting into flames for a split second.

“Wow, Miguel. Did someone lose their temper?" LeonAudro gave a wicked smile. "What happened to always thinking positively? All you did was hurt that other April and Karai instead! You tore a family apart! How are you supposed to bring us together when you’re just a violent, blood thirsty, anger filled husk!?"

Angelo's eyes widened. He felt Raph's grip on his shoulders tense. LeonAudro's head tilted to the side as he continued.

"I’ll never feel safe around you again. I bet once April hears what you did she’ll never even come back to the lair. Who knows what you’re capable of now?”

"Stop it," Raph growled. "Leo would never say those things about--"

“Raph, is it easy for you to show your scarred up face to me again when you’ve failed so miserably?" LaonAudro stated, stepping closer to shorten the distance between them all. "Not just now, but again and again and again. How many times will you let me be lost? Injured? Scared? What kind of leader lets his team go on alone? What kind of brother cares so little that I can be missing for so long that this happens!?"

"I... you..."

"You said you’d always protect me!" LeonAudro continued. "You lied! Is this because I’m better than you? Are you punishing me? You want to hurt me? Again?”

"HE SAID STOP IT!" Donnie shouted, standing up definitely against the spore-infected brother before him.

LeonAudro turned his head to peer at his twin.

“And you. You think you're any better?? Your tech was useless, Donnie. Again. Knowing I’m twins with someone who can’t, not even once, save someone he cares about with the only thing he’s good at makes me sick! Maybe you don’t actually care? I bet you’d be fine if I just croaked here and now! You might even like it! I bet you enjoyed getting to play your little villain role because you could hurt us without any consequences! You’re an emotionless, selfish, annoying little freak who wishes he could be normal!”

Donnie's tech-bō materialized a drill in his hands.

"Just because you're using him to say these things doesn't mean it's Leo. We're taking him back. NOW."

LeonAudro sighed glumly.

"It's too late for that, I'm afraid."

"No!" Angelo shouted "We're saving him!!"

LeonAudro somberly lifted his arms up to gesture to the weak and frail body he possessed.

"Look at me, Angie... what is there left to save?? Am I still really worth it to you? Be realistic, I'm better off dead."

"Leo would NEVER say that!" Raph protested.

"You don't know your brother at all..."

LeonAudro gave a weak and meager grin at the boys, his legs nearly giving out beneath him as he struggled to stay upright.

"He's long gone... he really is. Funny, how the spores turned you all into the opposite of who you are... Raphael became a pathetic little worm, willing to give up so easily. Michelangelo became a destroyer, a hate-filled wretch. Donatello couldn't wait to cause the pain of others, to ruin them, to--"

"YOU DID THAT!" Donnie yelled. "That was your twisted vision of us!"

"...And Leonardo. What a poor, unfortunate soul... who would have thought someone so full of hope and endurances could be broken so quickly?"

Raph growled. LeonAudro tilted his head back and grinned wide, licking his lips. The pain tasted so sweet.

"But in the end, he gave up much faster than I expected. Because, he really is just a worthless, wantless, 'WRETCHED LITTLE PEST'."

"NO!" Angie screamed, Raphael having to hold him back from attacking the fungus that covered his brother. "Don't you DARE say that about him!! Leo is still in there! He survived once, we can--"

"ARE YOU DUMB?!" LeonAudro screamed at them, causing everybody to jump back. "OR HARD OF HEARING? OR RELIEVED MY END IS NEARING? ARE YOU SATISFIED?! I SCARED MYSELF TO--"

"NO!!!"

LeonAudro's eyes rolled back, his legs gave out from underneath him.

Raph's hologram arms reached out instantly, catching him and carrying him to them.

"Leo! Leo, wake up, wake up!!" Angelo sobbed, shaking his brother frantically. Donnie grabbed his wrists and yanked him away.

"Angelo, stop, don't shake him like that--"

"But he won't wake up!!"

"He's been weakened by the mushroom," Karai interjected, coming to kneel besides them all. "He doesn't have much time left."

"Well then what do we do?!" Raph sobbed.

"He is still a prisoner of fear," she said sadly, placing the back of her hand against the exposed portion of Leo's forehead, checking for fever. Instead he felt cold, his body shivering and his breaths shuddering. They were getting slower and slower...

"You will need to help free him from the fungus' hold."

"How?!" Angie asked, clinging tightly to Leo's limp hand.

"I can help take you into his nightmare," Karai said. "You can confront him and his fears once you are inside his subconscious."

The boys nodded, each one taking Leo's hand and squeezing tightly as Karai focused on NFIF Leo...

The boys eyes started to glow their signature colours...

They each fell over, lying beside Leonardo on the floor.

Raphael opened his eyes to find himself floating in an empty void.

Well, almost empty.

It was empty in the sense that there were no living beings here. Just debris, wreckage from ginormous mechas and spaceships that were the size of moons. Shards of broken ground and platforms floated about them. There was an odd, twisted version of gravity. Unless you were within five feet of the 'ground', you were basically weightless and could fly around wherever. There was minimal light, and no real source for it. It just sort of faded in and out mysteriously. Though, there were some sharp red pin lights coming from the useless kraang prime suits and ships.

It was cold, here, too. Cold like in the dark room with the --

Yeah. Cold.

Angelo was beside him, as was Dee. He hadn't noticed them at first, the loneliness in this vast empty space was suffocating. He felt like he was going to choke on it.

"Look, there!" Angelo gasped, though in this space his voice carried and echoed so much it was almost a shout.

Angie pointed off into the distance where a single speck of green and blue floated alone. They could hear the faintest weeps coming from it.

"It's Leo!!"

"How do we get to him?" Raph asked, squinting and peering as best he could. His damaged eye was not doing him any favours right now...

"I've got it covered," Donnie said with a grin, grabbing onto Raph's shell. "Oh Raphala, do hang on to Angelo for us, please."

Raph hugged his brother to his chest. Donatello's ninpo activated, creating a huge jetpack that was twice their cumulative size, and the trio blasted off to save their brother from this duplicate prison dimension.

"We're almost there!" Angelo shouted.

"Great, how do we slow down?!" Donnie yelled back.

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW??"

"In case you haven't noticed, Angelo, this place doesn't exactly follow the typical rules of physics! Unless there's something to slow our accelerated direction, we'll just keep going forever!"

"Raph's got it!" Raphael called out, his ninpo creating a gigantic arm and grabbing onto the broken down ship hull that was just in front of them.

The trio slid down, Angelo using his chains to keep them levitated around their team leader as he drifted motionless, his three brothers surrounding him. They didn't notice the deep dark circles under his eyes, the wounds covering his body, the tearstains that seemed to have been made a permanent addition to his face, the tattered and chipped sword with the dented hilt wrapped in weathered and worn masks, each mask a different but familiar colour... They were just relieved to see him still somewhat alive.

"Leo? Leo, we're here to rescue you--"

Raph had started to reach out for him, but before he could touch his shell the masks tied to the sword suddenly flew at him, transforming into apparitions that haunted the slider, growling and snarling at Raphael, keeping him away.

"GAAH! What the--?! Now there's ghosts? Who's the creepy old guy?"

The ghouls circled around Leonardo. They seemed to be guarding Leo from outsiders... Angelo recognized the fine halo of colour that surrounded them as they circled about him like vultures. One red: large and bulky and missing an eye, the spines on his shell were singed and the entire front of him was burned and scarred beyond recognition; the second purple: a thick shield over his back and broken goggles that covered his damaged face; the last one orange: balding with liver spots and a massive cape that flowed behind him, his hands shattered like glass as remnants and shards of him followed behind as he circled Leonardo, who pressed the sword closer to his chest. Angie swallowed, a sick feeling growing in his stomach.

"I... I think those ghosts are..."

"R-Raph..."

Leo slowly turned to gaze back at Raphael. Tears were pouring down his cheeks.

"Leo! Tell your futuristic guard dogs that we're friendly!"

Leo hiccupped sobs as he watched them.

"I... can't control them..."

"Then we'll find a way through!" Dee yelled, readying his bō staff.

"Th-they're not here to trap me..." he whimpered. "They're here to protect you..."

"Protect us? From what?"

"...Me..."

Leo hugged the sword as tightly as he could, as if it were everything he'd lost in the world.

"They all died saving me. Protecting me. Following my orders. Heck, I actually TOLD Mikey to sacrifice himself! Look what I did to them. What I'll eventually do to you, too..."

Leo curled up tighter into himself, clutching the sword. It's edges were dull, the shine lost ages ago, scuffed and marked and dirty and unloved. Like him. Just like him...

"They hate me, and I deserve it..."

Raph could hear the voices... soft echoes that were earworms, whispering breaths that had their voices plastered onto them, but altered -- gruffer, older, deeper, more strained with time and trauma.

"...it hurts, leo..."

"...you were supposed to protect us, leo..."

"...why did we have to do it instead, leo..?"

With every word, Leo's light began to dim, the colour in his skin and birthmarks faded and became desaturated. With every utterance, his grip on the sword loosened. He was fading away...

Raphael sucker-punched the ghost of his future bad timeline self in the face, sending him reeling back as the ghouls screeched in response. Raph screamed back at them.

"Stop talking about my brother that way!! I would never, ever say those things!"

The two other ghosts lunged at him, but were no match for the younger flesh-and-blood counterparts. Donnie swung his bō at his future phantom, smacking it into the side of its head and sending it careening into the distance. Angelo had his chains swirl around the eldery version of himself and -- with a flick of the wrist -- sent the geezer spiraling into oblivion.

Raphael jumped to Leon and clung to him as firmly as possible.

"Leo. I need you to listen to me, because I'm only ever going to be able to tell this to you once. I never told anyone this, not you or our bros or pops or April or Casey Jr. or anybody. Not even my teddy bears or Princess Peach figurine. So you'd better pay close attention to this confession."

Raph took in a deep breath. He knew Donnie and Angie were listening too. Good. They all might as well hear it, he definitely did not plan to ever bring it up again.

"...When I was part of the kraang -- particularly when I was fighting you -- the kraang tricked me. They'd tricked me before, they'd made me think that I was coming to save you after I'd managed to escape them, They made me think I'd come home... but it was a trick. A dream."

"That was how they found the lair..." Donnie muttered to himself.

"Yeah, well... when I was in the technodrome... when you came to rescue me, and we fought... the kraang did it again. I thought... I thought everyone was dead. Mikey and Donnie were on the floor, they were skewered and bleeding and dead and... and you were in front of me, begging me to save you. A kraang monster or something had you in its grip, and I tried to -- it kept fighting me, every time I went to save you. I was going to kill it to rescue you, I... I didn't realize until after we got home, and you guys explained everything to me -- it was you I was fighting."

Leo ugly sobbed, his face scrunching up as he wrapped his limbs all around Raphael, just like how he used to when he was a kid and needed as much love as he could receive from his big brother. Raph held him closely and rocked him back and forth, giving long gentle strokes down from the top of his head to the middle of his shell.

"B-b-b-but it w-was MY fault that y-you were, were--!" Leo blubbered, Raph interrupting his wails to continue.

“From the moment I knew I had brothers, I knew I would do anything to protect you no matter what you did! You want to know what I really hate about you, Leo!? It’s that you think we don’t like you! We love you. Always have, always will. So stop being dumb and let us help you!”

"Raph's right!" Angelo said, coming close and cupping Leo's stained cheek and giving him his signature sunshine smile. "Even if we died in some other future, and even if it was for you, that was what we decided! If we didn’t do it for you then it would probably have been anyone else in the family! And it’s not because we don’t care about ourselves, it’s because we’ll always take care of each other!”

“I have never, ever known a world without you and I don’t want to!" Donnie added, taking his hand. "If you know how I die then….I would have hoped it was next to you. I hope it was you telling some dumb story or telling a terrible joke! If you don’t want me to die so badly, think about how much I don’t want you to! But that’s what you’re doing! Do not die on me Leo!….Please.” Donnie begs.

Leo's eyes brightened, the colour slowly coming back to his face, the sickly blue in his eyes dripping away as it was replaced, not only by his true blue, but by a mixture of red, orange, and purple. The crescents along his arms and around his eyes began to glow, as did the birthmarks on his brothers.

It was familiar, seeing the light shine in this desolate and lonely place.

But not so lonely anymore...

Leo's eyes slowly opened.

The real world hurt and ached. The arena compound's lights burned his retinas, the sounds and cries deafened him, the warm touch from every hand that reached out for him burned his chilled and slightly feverish skin. Something was pulled from his face -- it had been stuck to his mask and skin but relented in the end, falling off with ease; the roots and mycelium threads gently slipping out of his epidermis. Out of the corner of his blurry vision, he saw UIFY Donnie take the last remnants of the mushroom and disintegrate it with some kind of death ray... good.

Leo barely registered that his brothers were holding him, clutching him close to them and saying loving things to him, trying to get him to respond as proof that he was back with them. Proof he was alive. Not just breathing, but alive. Because when you're a prisoner of fear, you're basically walking dead. And Leo was so tired of being dead in himself. He wanted to live again...

Leo managed a smile to let them know he was alright.

And he fell asleep... with no nightmares.

When Leo awoke again, he was in the medbay. His head was bandaged, and an IV was stuck into his thin and emaciated arm. Raphael was snoring by his bedside, holding his hand in his sleep as he drooled onto the mattress. Dee was reading an article on his tablet in the corner, while Angelo was fidgeting with his wrappings and looking over the new collection of scars he'd gotten.

"...Heyyyy, guys, when's the entr'acte?" Leo joked.

Somehow immediately Raph's head shot up as he snorted awake.

"Snrrk--! Leo? LEO!!"

Raphael wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug, crying into his shoulders as Leo tried to convince him that he was okay. Donnie and Angie joined in soon, with Donnie taking the opposite side of the bed and Angelo simply jumping up onto the mattress and flattening his bedridden bro.

After ten minutes of wholesome crying between the four of them, inspecting each others' injuries and coming upon the decision that they were all lucky to be alive, they calmed down and brought up an important conversation.

"So... we're leaving now, right?" Leo asked, looking around the room for any objections. It was an awkward silence he got instead.

"I mean, it's for the best, right?"

"I think so," Donnie sighed. "We've caused enough trouble already."

"And we lost the contest, anyhow," Raph added. "There's... no real reason to stay."

"I would have liked to say goodbye to everyone, though," Angelo sighed. "But... after everything that happened... maybe you're right. A quiet exit is probably best." He gave an airy chuckle. "In any case, I'm honestly too emotionally exhausted to even try a conversation with anyone."

"We can leave a written apology," Dee offered.

"Good idea," Leo said with a fragile smile. "Let's go."

The four took a small piece of paper and wrote down their apologies to everyone. Leo cried during his portion. Donatello snapped his pencil tip during his. Angelo couldn't find the right words and ended up doing a fourth and fifth draft before Raph finally told him he was done. Raph's section of the note was long and overly poetic, but truly heartfelt.

They left the note on the pillow, and silently left the room.

"Do you even know which way the exit is?" Dee asked.

"No, but I'm pretty sure it's around here somewhere..." Leo replied, as he turned his head around every corner.

"You'd think a med ward would have better signage!" Raph bemoaned softly.

"Look, there it is!" Angelo said, dragging the others to a doorway.

The doors swung open.

"Great, now we can escape without anybody--"

The crowd cheered.

The four boys were stopped in their tracks as an enormous crowd of people with signs and posters and gifts came and shouted their names. For a moment, Leo clutched his katanas and prepared to fight them all before realizing this wasn't an angry mob.

"Guys! Look! It's NO FUN IN FUNGUS!!!"

"They're okay!"

"Thank you for saving us!!"

"You guys are the best!"

"Hey, I know that team!"

"Way to go, you guys!!"

Everyone was here...

rhg!Donnie stood with Ghost, smiling and clapping along with the rest. Ghost gave them a thumbs up. Abby and Diana were screaming cheering their heads off, their universe's Huginn and Munnin wearing tiny t-shirts that had the phrase 'I survived the great Spore Invasion of 2024' scribbled onto them. The Spider-Teetlez were shouting and screaming, Slider-Punk playing celebratory music on his guitar. The mods and employees were here too, ecstatic over the grand victory that they had made, and the fact that they were okay and alive. Even the void brothers were also there, grumpy but willing to let bygones be bygones. Especially after they'd had the effects of the fungus' control over them, they understood what it could make you do.

The entire competition was here.

The teens stared in awe. Leo had started to cry again.

They... they were happy for them?

Happy that they were okay? No one blamed them? No one was angry, no one was bitter, they were simply thankful for their recovery?? They were cheering them on, despite the fact that not 5 hours ago they had almost doomed them all...

But nobody cared about that. Thank Pizza SUPREME.

They just cared that they were okay.

Leonardo smiled.

Raph nudged him forward.

"Well, face-man?" he asked, smiling down at him. "What do we do now?"

Leo chuckled.

"...I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay for a little while longer...!"

And that is that.

They are safe. Leo knows it was not his fault, it was not his blame. They are all returned to each other, the spores destroyed completely. Or, at least until another author chooses to use an ask. And the UIFY family is also resting comfortably, back in the medbay yet again.

Everyone is safe and sound.

Even I. The Hand.PNG.

You didn't truly think I was gone for good, did you?

No, of course not!

Ah well, their crossover is completed. They may join together at some other time, but until that moment comes, I think they deserve a good rest, now that their task is complete.

And mine as well. I wonder what I shall do now... I'm sure the authors will find some way for me to have fun with them again. I do so love being in their stories.

However, there is one last thing I must do, though it pains me to do it...

The Until I Found You AU cannot remember this final battle. I'm sorry, I know. But they simply cannot. They are not ready to understand the concept of the Authors, nor their ninpo. Especially their ninpo. It isn't their time. They aren't meant to know these things yet. But soon... Someday, perhaps they will be allowed to recall all they did, but until then they must forget their feats... and forget me, as well. I shall become a shadow of a memory. Ah, but it isn't too sad! Most of them probably wish they could forget me! And I don't blame them. It was quite a run I had, eh? Quite a story we told.

And yet, there is one last part of the story left to tell...

UIFY Mikey woke up somewhat groggily from a strange dream. He wasn't sure how he got here, in the medbay... he could remember... getting spored in the lounge area... but... not much after. There were vague recollections of a battle... an explosion... versions of his family... but nothing solid, nothing that wasn't a fuzzy blur and left him with a woozy spell when he tried to think about it a little too hard.

Oh well. If he couldn't remember it, then it probably wasn't worth remembering!

He was downright exhausted, though. He felt like he could sleep for an eternity or two.

The only reason he'd woken up in the first place was because of someone... humming....

"...With every job when it's complete, there is a sense of bittersweet... That moment when you know the task is done..."

Mikey groggily opened his eyes to look over at the singing lady. She must've been a mod, or an employee, or a nurse or something. She was human, wearing an oversized denim jacket and tiny pale lavender flowers and petals in her messy hair. She was placing a small tray of water and crackers, plus a tiny bouquet of bright yellow daffodils on the bedside table.

"...Though in your heart you'd like to stay, to help things on their way... You've always known... They must do it alone..."

The lady turned to smile at him.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Um, no, not really," Mikey lied.

"How are you doing?" she asked, checking his hands to make sure they were alright. Her fingers traced over each scar and blemish... an impressive feat, considering Mikey's bandages covered them and she couldn't have seen the marks.

"I'm alright," he yawned. "A little... woozy..."

"I understand wholly. Here, have some water..."

She gave the cup to Mikey, who slurped it down. Mikey thought her hands looked familiar... he wasn't sure why, though. But something about how real they were...

"Thanks..." he gulped, having downed the entire glass.

"No probbles. I just wanted to take a quick moment and make sure you were doing well!"

"I'm okay," Mikey chuckled. "Are my families... is the NFIF team okay? Did we save em?"

"Yes, they're all present and accounted for," she said with a grin. They're just in the other room. I think the med ward should be releasing you all soon... You deserve a big respite, I think. You've done a lot. Oh yeh, I also wanted to quick tell you something!"

"Tell me something?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yep! I wanted to let you know how important you are."

"Me?" Mikey laughed, wondering what this was about. "Important??"

"Oh yeah! Mhm! I know you sometimes feel like your personal story isn't glamorous, or that you might not be so impressive, or that others are doing better than you. But you should know how wonderful and amazing you are. Did you know, people talk all the time about how inspiring and relatable you are! And I just think that's wonderful."

"You make it sound like I'm a character in a story!" Mikey laughed.

"Well, we're all kind of like the main character of our own stories, aren't we?" she beamed.

"I never thought about it like that, actually," Mike hummed, tapping his chin. "What do you think your character's purpose is about?"

She paused, not expecting that query. Her eyes darted upwards, reflecting the light against the green and amber gold that speckled her irises, and bouncing off of her cheeks with white radiance. She pondered the question for a second before smiling brightly.

"I'd say prolly the same as yours," she stated. "I think I'm meant to inspire."

She laughed afterwards.

"Or at least, I hope I inspired somebody! Anywhoser, I'd better let you get back to your rest," the girl sighed, a sort of melancholic exhale that said she'd rather stay longer, but had to go.

"Oh, okay!" Mikey yawned, snuggling deeper under his blankets. He thought about going to see the guys before they left...

"See you around," the girl said as she walked away....

Mikey wondered who the human girl was, if not a nurse. She wasn't dressed like a nurse. Maybe she belonged to an AU... Ah, well. Maybe he would see her again one of these days.

Boots waited outside the medbay for their 'accomplice'. She'd wanted to make a dramatic exit and say 'hello' -- or rather, 'goodbye'. For now.

The competition was so nice in the calm and quiet aftermath. Tiny turtle tots giggled as they chased one another for their games. Parent versions of Leo and Donnie and Mikey and Raph and Cassandra and everyone else meandered about with their wards. A water fountain nearby trickled. The sweet scent of chocolate cake pops filled the air. As Boots waited, they pulled out a few stickers and decorated a scrapbook they'd brought with them. A mushroom sticker was placed on an electric blue sheet of paper. Boots enjoyed the peace... they hoped it would last for a little while. At least, until the next story came into play. Speaking of, out from the medbay frollocked the self-proclaimed weird kid author, smiling happily.

"All good?" Boots asked.

"All good," Pheebs responded, her denim jacket bouncing along with every skip she took. "They're all sleeping, now."

"I'm glad you got to see them; I wouldn't even dare to see my guys after what happened," Boots laughed.

"You wouldn't have to say who you were," Pheebs clarified. "I mean, it's not like they know what you look like."

"True, but even still, it'd freak me out too much and I'd end up spilling some of the beans!"

Pheebs laughed at that.

"I guess... anyways, shall we go?"

"I'm ready if you are," Boots sighed, folding up the scrapbook supplies and tucking it away. "Our guys deserve a good long rest..."

"Yeah. Though..."

"Though?"

"...I think I have one last moment I want to include."

End of Act 3

Epilogue

32 notes · View notes

phantomposting · 1 year

Text

Another half asleep twins au rant/prompt! Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors I have not slept in a hot minute.

Trigger Warning ⚠️: Ghost Hunger, Dissection/vivisection, starvation

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So this is a Ghost Hunger Damian and Danny are twins au. I was reminded about ghost hunger the other day and boy did it give me the spark of creativity I needed to create yet another au/fic idea to hyperfixate on.

So in this au Damian and Danny were very close as siblings but Danny ended up dying throwing himself in harms way to protect Damian on a mission for the league. Damian blames himself for not having better reflexes/not paying enough attention and could never convince his grandfather to allow Danyal to be resurrected via the pit.

Talia saw how desperate her son was for the other to live though and also cared for Danyal so she risked it all to revive him secretly and hide him amongst the civilians in America. Damian sadly never got to learn about that fact tho and lived years with the guilt he felt which left him determined to never let that happen again. Which meant he could never let anyone get close enough to want to do such a thing for him and he needed to hone his skills.

Danny on the other hand has hazy memories of his brother while with the Fentons and goes through the same timeline of becoming Phantom and protecting Amity Park. Eventually tho his parents find out and that gets him strapped to a table in the basement begging for his half life/getting vivisected.

So Danny flees going on the run and ends up on the streets of Gotham. The spirit of Gotham is so excited and welcoming to her newest child. He is a protector and her king after all. It fills her with pride that she would get to care for such an important person. She does all she can to make sure the king stays safe. Little things to keep him hidden and protected.

Danny however has unintentionally been keeping a pretty big secret from the ghosts of the realm. He doesn't really know this though and thinks its just a ghost thing. Basically his core is slightly corrupted due to the years he spent around the Lazarus pits aswell as the revival vial the dip in it's corrupt ectoplasm. As a result he experiences ghost hunger which was pretty easy to manage when he lived with the Fenton's. He would normally satiate his hunger via eating pure ectoplasm from the lab but now he has no access to that which leads him to starving himself.

This starvation mixed with his human side starving aswell is very very hard on his body as a result he begins to black out sometimes when he wakes up he usually tastes ectoplasm but just assumes its his own due to his injuries from his parents. These injuries are weirdly taking way longer to heal which is due to ghosts being very mental/emotional state based.

Gotham soon realizes she has a big problem on her hands. It turns out the king's core is corrupted and as a result many of her ghostly children are going missing. She is deeply upset and calls out for help to assist the king with his corruption or stop him from killing more of her children. She hopes the king gets help rather than getting taken down however. She knows it's not his fault. She knows how protective of her city and her people he is and how kind he can be to them and hopes issues get solved so he may become a protector of her people.

This call for help brings Constantine to Gotham. He doesn't get a whole lot of info from Gotham at first but he knows whatever is going on can be dangerous and is important. He knows that some of the bats are in danger too and gives them a warning that something in Gotham seems to be hunting ghostly beings and those whom have died before are at risk especially Red Hood.

The Bat's don't take too kindly to the supernatural threat and kinda force their way into assisting Constantine whom is already annoyed with the prospect of having to deal with the bats.

So time passes and the bats gets a few encounters of feeling as if they're being hunted. Jason is also the first to discover the new homeless kid in Gotham who looks almost exactly like Damian. It's hard to really see too many similarities at the time tho he's so thin it's deeply worrying and his icy blue eyes greatly contrast Damian's emerald green, but some similarities are far too obvious to miss. Oh great more black hair blue eyed adoption bait. Better keep him far away from Bruce.

The few run ins some of the bat kids have with Danny make them worried about the homeless kid. Dick, Tim, Duke and Jason all get run ins with the kid and tho they want to try and help the kid he always seems to vanish without a trace. It's kinda creepy but they all can recognize just how scared this kid is.

Eventually Bruce and Damian get their run in with the kid. The GiW have finally tracked Danny down and due to the stupid vivisection wounds not healing and the starvation of both forms he can't get the strength he needs to defend himself or make an easy escape. He ends up cornered in an alleyway and getting shot with luckily no major damage. Batman and Robin come across the scene of what appears to be some weird new gang bullying a homeless child and makes quick work of them.

After all is said and done and they look back to help the injured kid Damian ends up shocked to find that this kid is Danyal. At first he pulls his sword on him making threats thinking this is some sick and twisted trick from the league, but then he comes to his senses seeing how broken and defeated Danyal is. He doesn't flinch or shy away from the fate, though he has tears in his deeply tired eyes he doesn't fight back. He doesn't seem to have the energy to. He just sits against the walled dead end that almost got him killed and stares down the katana as if he no longer fears death.

Things get bit emotional as he questions his long dead brother. Danny is honest in answering he doesn't know how he came back nor does he fully remember how he died in the first place. He also dodges some of the questions and keeps the ghost half hidden. He explains to them he's gotten himself into trouble however and people are after him now and he appreciates the help. He keeps as much as he can about ghosts being involved a secret. He has no idea about the Bat's stances on them after all. And he seems to hate metas so probably won't take to kindly to a ghost.

Damian and Danny share info and Bruce discovers he has a son he didn't know about and deeply regrets not being there cause the state this kid is in is pretty dier. He's not sure he can fully trust the kid though. It's clear he's hiding something and that could be a danger to his family and Gotham, but he decides to give him a chance. After all this is his son and he wants to help him no matter what.

Bruce calls in someone to cover the rest of his and Damian's patrol route for the night and has Alfred get Doctor Thompkins to meet them back in the cave for medical assistance. They get Danny back and he starts getting some treatment for his wounds. Alfred and Thompkins are pretty horrified to find the vivisection wounds on the kiddo. They are definetly infected by this point. And much to Danny's dismay he has to use the excuse that he's a meta to explain why he's got such a low temperature and heart rate, why he can't use sedatives, and why stitches and stuff like that won't work.

So treatment is a bit difficult but they do their best with it. Alfred and Thompkins also discuss what needs to be done to get the kid back on track to being healthy. All the while Damian is anxiously waiting to be able to see his brother again. Bruce has never seen Damian show such emotion and care before aside from when he's dealing with animals. It's so jarring. And of course the other bat kids are snooping trying to find out what's going on.

So recovery is slow and bat kids try to connect with their new sibling whenever Damian isn't trying to act as a guard dog/mother hen. Danny ends up the closest with Damian and Jason in the family. Jason can immediately tell something is off with the kid due to the Lazarus water reacting to him and is the first person Danny opens up to about being half ghost (much to Damian's dismay). Jason keeps Danny's secret for him but encourages him subtly to open up to the others cause they'll definetly accept him despite the fact that he's half dead. They bond a lot on their mutual trauma and of course Damian is jealous but also happy Danny is actually talking to someone and getting back on his feet.

Damian still feels immense guilt over the first death Danyal faced and this guilt makes him think of course Danyal would want to avoid him that Danyal blames him too which is totally untrue and eventually gets worked through but not until after theres some conflicts due to jealousy. But that comes later.

One night Jason decides to stay over for Danny's sake and Danny has another black out. Basically his ghost form goes feral and tries to go after Jason. This results in the discovery that Danny was the danger Constantine has been looking for all along and there's a major blow up in the family due to this info. Danny only stops feral mode after eating a blob ghost (poor lil guy) and gets rudely awoken by the batfam accusations of attempted murder.

Danny is finally informed that he's been killing and eating ghosts and is horrified this goes against his whole goal of protecting everyone and keeping the balance and really goes against his protection obsession. It breaks him and Bruce yelling accusations at him doesn't help at all. Kiddo has a major breakdown and goes on the run from his new family thinking he is a danger and that he blew it with them.

Danny faces issues with injury to his core aswell due to what he's done and how that effects his obsession. Basically he's having a real bad time.

Jason whom has connected with the kiddo knows that this ain't Danny and somethings clearly wrong and so does Damian so the two reluctantly band together to locate and help the poor kiddo. With this team up Damian discovers Jason knew Danny was a half ghost and jealousy causes a fight but they manage to keep the team together out of concern for the kiddo.

The the other Bats team up with Constantine to track him down and eliminate the threat. Gotham tries to impede them though cause she knows the route they are on will only bring harm to the ghost king rather than help him. She tries her best to help hood and Robin find him first.

When Jason and Damian discover Danny he's in bad shape. Kiddos absolutely breaking down and very injured his core is definetly injured for sure. They try to offer assistance but Danny isn't thinking straight he's like a wounded animal so if he gets cornered he fights back.

It really doesn't help that the GiW manages to track him down yet again and the boyoa have to deal with both that and a ghostly Danny whom poses a risk of injury to not only them but himself.

With so much going on its no surprise that the GiW actually succeeds in capturing Danny. The two vigilante's end up getting knocked out and left to the wayside.

Eventually the other bats come across them and they explain Danny was captured by the thugs that first attacked him. Constantine recognizes the organization and is deeply frustrated but hey atleast it's not his problem anymore right? Wrong. With the kids explanations he realizes Danny was not actually evil. He's partially alive and he is a protector spirit not a rouge one. He also realizes how bad things are cause a spirit like that committing such acts that he has risks destabilization which would probably kill both the human and ghost half. He's no ghost expert but Gotham's giving him signs she wants him to help the ghost kid and now he's in quite the pickle.

So this leads everyone into panic mode and search and recuse mode. Theres a big rescue mission where they break into the GiW headquarters and fight the GiW to get Danny back. Of course he is having a hard time staying stable and they have to both use whatever magic Constantine can muster to keep him as stable as he can and on the spot therapy time to try and stabilize the poor kiddo.

Eventually they get him stable enough to bring him back home but now he has mandatory therapy sessions with Black Canary. They also have a lot of emotional work ahead of them aswell and physical work trying to get a steady supply of ectoplasm so the kid doesn't starve again.

They have to fight the Fenton's for custody aswell and try and dismantle the GiW and anti ecto acts. Its a long process and they really discover just how bad things were for the kid.

They probably have a visit to frostbite too if they can get a portal and this helps him heal and make sure no more ghost medical problems occur. This also helps the family learn a lot of ghost health is tied to emotional and mental health.

Damian and Danny probably end up getting in a few fights due to Damian's jealousy aswell but eventually work though it and become closer due to it. They are inseparable. And Damian also has to learn to get used to Jason being around and an active older brother figure. Bruce apologizes for his mistreatment of the kiddo too. Their relationship stays a bit rocky for a long while but they definitely make progress.

Theres a lot of emotions and emotional conflict and things are very rocky for awhile but eventually they get to be a functional and loving family dynamic! Danny gets a happy ending in the end it's not a perfect home but he definetly wouldn't want to be anywhere else :D

This is the longest prompt I've written yet I hope you guys enjoy it 💗💗💗

#danny phantom #dp x dc #batman crossover #dp au #damian wayne #danny and damian are twins #writing prompt #jason todd #I'm so sleepy tired and I'm sorry if that effects the prompt in any way #ghost hunger #I was reminded about ghost hunger and my brain went a little crazy bonkers with it #sorry if this one is a bit everywhere just kinda having fun with it #so much drama so much trauma #angst supreme

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