#they're the spirits of Gotham now. you can't tell me otherwise

[duskyashe]

NaNoWriMo Day #8

[masterlist] [part two]

Prompt found here

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It was summer break, and Danny was lost in the Infinite Realms. He wasn't too worried, now that he'd officially been crowned the High King, his subjects had mostly stopped attacking Amity Park, and he was eager to finally get some exploring done now that he could take a break. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker knew Danny was, his parents thought he was spending the week at Tucker's, and he had Clockwork's promise that Danny would make it home by the end of the week no matter how long he was stuck in the Realms, so he was golden. The only thing he'd forgotten was the map of the Infinite Realms that would tell him where he was and how to get back home, but he'd been working with Wulf on making his own portals, so if he really needed to, he had a way out.

But that was just in case, for now, he was just having fun being lost. There were so many things to see and places to explore! Like where he was exploring currently, it was this old gothic theatre with surrounding alleys, there were hidey-holes and hidden storage rooms, and there was an old fashioned elevator floor, this place had everything!

"Martha, there seems to be someone here," a man's voice came from around the corner ahead of him. Danny froze, not sure what to do. W-was this someone's haunt?! It didn't look occupied when he first found it!

"Oh, the poor dear! I thought Bruce had put an end to theatre shootings, though?" A woman, likely Martha, responded. She sounded genuinely worried and confused as to why he was there, and that... That gave Danny pause. Because that wasn't the normal reaction of a ghost whose haunt had been intruded upon.

The man sighed. "Martha, dear, you know he prefers to go by Batman when wearing the cowl. I've told you before, we should respect our son's wishes."

Their son is Batman?! Does that mean Batman's a ghost?

"I know, I know, but Thomas, that's not the important part! There's someone in the theatre when there shouldn't be! What if they're hurt, or lost, or confused? We need to help them!" Martha exclaimed.

Danny took an unneeded breath and floated forward, a sheepish grin on his face. "Uh, hi there," he said, giving a small wave. In front of him were two gothically dressed ghosts, one male and the other female. The woman, Martha, was wearing a dark green and black striped ball gown, a line of golden buttons decorating the front of the bodice. Thomas, her partner, was wearing a matching green overcoat with black trim, and a matching pair of black dress pants and dress shirt, with a classy top hat, golden buttons, and cufflinks to finish the look. They both had black hair and glowing blue eyes, and both had a small golden bat pinned to their chest above their hearts. They both seemed surprised to see him, maybe they expected him to be hiding somewhere deeper in the theatre?

Martha seemed to come to her senses before Thomas, and was soon hovering right in front of him, pale fingers ghosting over his face and arms with a concerned look on her face. "Oh, you're just a child! You poor dear, you must be so confused! Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking? You certainly don't feel like one of ours, were you visiting Gotham when you died?"

Danny leaned back slightly, flustered and unsure what she was talking about. "I, uh, I've never been to Gotham? I was born and raised in Amity Park? I-I technically died there, too, but that's a bit of a story. Um, what exactly do you mean, I don't feel like one of yours?"

Turned out, if someone highly influential to a city or town died in either a highly traumatic or a sufficiently influential way, they became the spirit of that city or town. Thomas and Martha Wayne were highly respected and looked up to by all of Gotham before they were murdered, and while their deaths weren't exactly traumatic enough at the time for them to have become the spirits of Gotham, they did inspire their son, well known billionaire Bruce Wayne, to become the vigilante and Justice League founder Batman. Once Batman became well known across Gotham, the couple were elevated in status and the previous spirit of Gotham was relieved of their duties. A brief tangent revealed that the spirit of a city or a town had different duties depending on what their city or town needed. For Gotham, and more specifically Thomas and Martha, it was being a beacon of hope and change as well as helping their family's fight to better the city and minimize crime.

"So," Danny said slowly. "Because I'm the protector of Amity Park, does that make me Amity's spirit?"

Thomas shook his head. "It doesn't quite work like that, son. Not every town or every city has a spirit, and a city or town spirit can't be less than fully dead, unlike other powerful positions, such as the High King."

"Not to mention," Martha spoke up, "that as the High King, you can't hold any other ghostly position of power, or else the balance would destabilize, sending all of reality into chaos. As such, the oaths of the High King include the renouncing of any and all former ghostly appointments that might interfere with the balance. It's part of why the Observants never tried taking the throne from Pariah Dark, to be honest."

Danny sat there, thinking over everything he'd just learned. Honestly, he'd learned more about his kingdom, subjects, and the culture that goes with it in one conversation than he had in the entire time he'd been a halfa. "There's so much I don't know, isn't there?" Danny asked after a moment.

Thomas and Martha smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry," Thomas said as he put an arm around Danny's shoulder. "You have time to learn it all, though some of this you really should have learned before making your oaths. I'd like to have words with your guardian, they appear to have been slacking in their duties."

Danny's mind blanked. Guardian? Surely, not his parents. Though. This seemed to be another ghostly thing, so probably—"Clockwork? Or... Maybe Pandora, or Frostbite? I'm... Not actually sure who my guardian is, are they supposed to let me know they're my guardian? Also, how does that work, how does someone become the guardian of a younger ghost?"

"You don't know your own guardian?" Martha cried in disbelief.

"Danny, may I take a look at your core? I feel we'll get more answers that way, but I wouldn't want to impose," Thomas asked gently.

"Why would that be an imposition?" Danny asked.

Martha gently took his hand in hers. "A ghost's core makes up everything that is them, their likes, their dislikes, their personality, their obsession, even their bonds. To let someone look at your core is to trust them with your very soul. Never let someone look at your core unless you trust them with everything you hold dear, alright?"

Shocked, Danny nodded. There was a lot he didn't know. "O-okay, um, yeah, you can look at it, Thomas," he breathed shakily. "I trust you."

Danny did not have a guardian. He had fright-mates in the form of his liminal sister and friends, but he didn't have a guardian or really any other bonds. Thomas raged and Martha cried and the both of them begged him to choose someone to be his guardian. He was a baby ghost, halfa or not, and his core needed the support of a guardian in order to not overwork itself trying to protect him, and end up hurting him instead, potentially permanently. They cautioned him that, with how powerful he already was, his guardian would have to be quite powerful, themselves, like an ancient or a tribe leader. When Danny asked if a city spirit or two would work, they both hugged him so tightly and so warmly that he melted into the embrace, frozen tears falling from his eyes.

"So, does this make me Batman's little brother?" Danny asked with a sniffle sometime later, after the couple agreed to be Danny's guardians.

Martha gasped and put a hand to her mouth, looking to Thomas with mirth in her eyes. "Bruce always wanted a sibling, growing up," she agreed with a laugh.

Thomas smiled at both of them. "Danny even looks the part when he's human!"

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Two weeks after Danny's ghostly adoption saw Danny giggling to himself as he walked up the front steps of Wayne Manor with his backpack hanging from his shoulder. He knocked politely and waited for Alfred, the butler and his brother's father figure, to answer. When he did, he took one look at Danny and smirked. "They're in the family media room, master Danny. Would you like some tea?"

Danny grinned and nodded. "You're the man, Alfred. They suspect anything?"

"Not a thing, master Danny. I shall be recording everything via the security cameras, just as the master and madam requested. Nothing will be missed. I'll bring the tea in when things have calmed down," Alfred said as he started walking back to the kitchen.

He suppressed a maniacal laugh. This was going to be awesome.

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MWAHAHA!!! I SUCCESSFULLY MANAGED TO WORK IN A WAY OF ADDING ONTO THIS FICLET WITH AN ALREADY EXISTING PROMPT!ヽ⁠(⁠`⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ﾉ Now. If someone could find me the post about the spirits of cities, specifically Gotham, that'd be great. I know there IS one, cuz that's what spawned the fic "A Change in Management" over on AO3 (I'll provide a link and proper citing later), I just can't find it (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

I'm really happy I managed to finish this, because holy heck, my day was just... Really crazy (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）but it was worth it for y'all (⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)⁠—⁠☆

Have a good morning/day/night!

[dukereviewsxtra]

Duke Reviews Extra: Duke's Top 15 Favorite TV Christmas Episodes

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Another Duke Reviews Xtra Where Today We Continue Duke's Yultide Reviews...

And As You Know We're Reviewing Christmas Movies And Specials Every Sunday In November And December But There's One Thing That I'm Unable To Review Without Looking At A Series First On Duke Reviews Tv And That's Christmas Episodes And On Today's Top 15 I'm Counting Down My Top 15 Favorites..

With A Few Rules For Myself And My Audience With The First Being One Christmas Episode Per Show Otherwise I'd Be Talking About Every Home Improvement Christmas Episode And Every Glee Christmas Episode Because They're That Good Of Episodes And I Watch Them Every Year During The Holidays But I Might Merit A Mention Or 2 Throughout The Countdown...

Also No Bad Comments Please, This Is My List And It's What I Like, So If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say, Just Don't Say It At All. Now, On With The Countdown...

15. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers "I'm Dreaming Of A White Ranger"

Go Ahead, I'm Ready...

This Episode Sees The Power Rangers Celebrating Christmas At Ernie's But Lord Zedd And Rita Repulsa Have Evil Plans For The Holidays As They Send Goldar And Rito Revolto To Kidnap Santa And Take Over His Workshop So They Can Have The Elves Mass Produce Lord Zedd's Evil Christmas Toy That Will Enslave The Minds Of All The Children Of The World...

This Episode Has Gotten Alot Of Flack As One Of The Series Worst Episodes But Unlike The Power Rangers Zeo Christmas Episode, I Kind Of Like This One...

It Captures The Right Amount Of Christmas Spirit For Kids While Also Keeping Some Of That Power Ranger Magic Even Without The Suits Which Leads Me To Say See It...

14 Smallville "Lexmas"

This Episode Sees Lex Considering Whether To Have Someone He Knows Get Fake Or Damaging Information On Jonathan Kent In An Attempt To Ruin His Campaign For Senator But When Lex Is Shot By The Navy Thunder Ranger (Seriously It's The Same Actor Who Played That) He Falls Into A Coma And Is Visited By The Ghost Of His Mother Who Shows Lex What His Life Would Be Like If He Frees Himself From His Father. Meanwhile, Clark Helps Chloe Deliver Presents For The Daily Planet..

This Episode Is An Interesting What If Episode...

It's Shows Us What Lex's Life Could Be Even If He Makes The Wrong Choice In The End Either Way I Say See It...

13 The Brady Bunch "The Voice Of Christmas"

In This Classic Episode Of The Brady Bunch, Carol Gets A Case Of Laryngitis, And May Not Be Able To Sing At The Holiday Service This Year But When Cindy Goes To Ask Santa To Give Her Mom Her Voice Back For Christmas...

(Start At 1:47, End At 2:37)

Carol Gets Her Voice Back Via Christmas Miracle And Manages To Sing For The Christmas Service...

(Start At 0:33, End At 2:12)

It Was Hard Placing This So Low But That's Mainly Because There Are So Much Better Christmas Episodes Than This Now...

But It Is A Very Memorable Episode Of The Series And I Can't Help But Remember It When I Look Back At The Brady Bunch And I Definitely Say Give It A Watch...

12. Family Guy "Road To The North Pole"

This Episode Sees The Griffins And All Of Quahog Getting Ready For Christmas, But When A Mall Santa Blows Off Stewie, He Makes It His Mission To Kill Santa Claus. Going To The North Pole With Brian The Dog, They Discover That All The Years Of Lists And Demands From Us Have Practically Killed Santa Claus And If Something Isn't Done, Christmas As We Know It Will Be Gone Forever...

This Episode Has A Great Storyline...

The Songs Are Great And I Can't Help But Sing Along With It Every Year But Despite Some Scenes Being Funny Others Aren't But Either Way It's Still A Fun Christmas Episode And I Say See It...

11. Glee "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"

This Was A Hard Decision To Make As This And The Season 2 Episode "A Very Glee Christmas" Are Both Good Episodes, But This Is Mainly On The List Because Of It's Storyline...

This Episode Sees Sue Recruiting New Directions To Perform For A Bunch Of Homeless People At Homeless Shelter Where She'll Be Volunteering, But When The Glee Club Gets An Opportunity To Create A Holiday Special For PBS With The Paraplegic Artie As Director, The Glee Club Jumps At The Opportunity To Do It To Sue's Dismay...

With Artie Making The Special As A Homage To The Judy Garland Christmas Special And (Sighs) The Star Wars Holiday Special, It Leads To A Special With An Interesting Storyline And Great Songs And I Can't Help But Say See It...

10. Full House "Our First Christmas Show"

I Realize That There Are Some People (Namely The Nostalgia Critic) Who Hate The Tanners But I Can't Help But Love This Episode...

This Episode Sees The Tanner Family Headed To Colorado For The Holidays But When Their Flight Is Forced To Land Until Tomorrow (Which Is Christmas Day) It Has Stephanie Upset That Santa Won't Find Her And It Has DJ Upset When Danny Tells Her That The Presents Are Missing...

But When Jessie Makes A Speech That Unites Everyone Together...

(Start At 1:27, End At 2:39)

They Just May Have The Merriest Christmas Ever...

This Is A Fantastic Christmas Episode With A Great Message That's Definitely Worth A Watch...

09.Friends "The One With The Holiday Armidillo"

While This Is More Of A Hanukkah Episode, It's One Of My Favorites To Watch During The Holidays...

This Episode Sees Ross Wanting To Introduce His Son Ben (Played By Riverdale's Jughead) To Hanukkah But Ben Loves Christmas So Much That It Botches All Of His Attempts But When He Tries One More Time It Leads To A Funny Scene...

This Episode May Be Friends Only Memorable Christmas Episode But It's One Of Their Best And I Can't Help But Say See It...

08. The Flash "Running To Stand Still"

While The Arrowverse Uses Their Christmas Episodes To Introduce The Big Bad Of The Seasons, This One Doesn't And Is Just Focuses Something That Happens Around The Holidays In Central City...

This Episode Sees Weather Wizard Busting Out Captain Cold And The Trickster (Played By Mark Hamill) Out Of Jail So They Can Finish Off The Flash After He Was Nearly Beaten To Death By The Big Bad Of That Season, Zoom. With Captain Cold Passing On The Offer (Only To Go To Legends Of Tomorrow Which Premiered The Following Year) Weather Wizard And The Trickster Team Up To Fight The Flash With The Trickster Going All Out For The Holidays...

This Episode Is Full Of Both Action And Comedy From Both Hamill's Trickster And Miller's Captain Cold, Who Gets Kind Of A Precursor To His Role On Legends In This Episode When He Talks With Barry About Weather Wizard And Trickster And Barry Tells Cold To Help Him Stop Them Only For Cold To Tell Barry That He's Not Interested In Being A Hero When That's What He Ends Up Becoming On Legends Because Barry Inspired Him. Also This Episode Introduces Wally West To The Series Who Would Eventually Become Kid Flash Either Way It's A Great Episode And I Say See It...

07. Doctor Who "The Snowman"

This Episode Sees The 11th Doctor Mourning The Loss Of His 2 Companions, Amy Pond And Rory Williams To Both The Marvel Cinematic Universe And The CW's Arrowverse

But He Is Soon Forced Into Action When A Governess Named Clara Oswin Oswald Investigates Living Snowmen Who Are Being Brought To Life By The Great Intelligence (Voiced By Sir Ian Mckellan) With The Help Of A Man Named Dr. Simeon...

What Can I Say About This Episode? It's The Doctor Vs. An Army Of Snowmen And It's Just Awesome, Plus The Acting In It Is Fantastic, You Can Honestly Feel The Doctor's Pain Over Losing Rory And Amy But When Clara Comes In, It's Like He's A New Man Plus In This Episode We Get A New Interior For The Tardis That Would Soon End Up Belonging To The 12th Doctor As Matt Smith Was Leaving Soon And They Would Find A Replacement In Peter Capaldi, Still It's A Fantastic Episode And I Say See It...

06. Everybody Loves Raymond "The Toaster"

This Was A Hard Decision To Make As Most Of The Everybody Loves Raymond Christmas Episodes Are Pretty Good But I Felt That What Happens In This Episode Happens More Often To Some People...

In This Episode, Ray And Debra Get Personalized Toasters For Their Family And Friends For Christmas, But Despite Ray's Brother, Robert And Debra's Parents Loving The Toasters, Ray's Parents, Frank And Marie, End Up Taking It Back To The Store And Switch It Out For A Coffee Machine...

Realizing That Their Son Is Upset With Them, They Return To The Store To Try To Get It Back...

This Episode Is Funny, What Happens When Ray Finds Out That Marie And Frank Traded In The Toaster For A Coffee Machine Is Freaking Hysterical And That Scene Where Marie Tells Frank That She's Not Just A Trophy Wife Is Also Funny And I Say See It...

05. Batman: The Animated Series "Christmas With The Joker"

This Episode Sees The Joker Escaping From Arkham Asylum To Pirate The TV Airwaves With His Own Christmas Special...

(Start At 1:27, End At 2:06)

Where He Causes Trouble Not Just For Batman And Robin But All Of Gotham As He Kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock And News Reporter Summer Gleason...

While This Is The First Appearance Of The Best Joker Of All Time, This Episode Is Filled With Action, Christmas Cheer, And Comedy That's Mainly Done By Hamill's Joker And I Definitely Say See It...

04. Two And A Half Men "Walnuts And Demerol"

This Episode Has Charlie About To Have Sex With A Girl Named Gloria But When All Of His Family And Friends Come Over It Goes From A Date Which Is Leading To Coitus To A Funny Christmas Party Despite Charlie Telling Everyone That It's Not A Christmas Party...

Between This And The Episode "Santa's Village Of The Damned" This Was Another Hard Decision...

This Episode Is Funny, With The Stuff Berta Says In This Episode, Candy Playing The Piano And The Surprise Twist In The Episode (Yes, There's A Surprise Twist) It's A Good Episode And I Say See It...

03. Frasier "Frasier Grinch"

This Episode Sees Frasier Crane Preparing To Spend The Holidays With His Father And His Son Fredrick, But When He Wrong Box Of Toys Him And Niles Have To Get Fredrick The Presents He Ordered On Christmas Eve At A Toy Store...

This Episode Is Very Funny I Absolutely Love The Scenes Where Fraiser Is Trying To Tell His Annual Christmas Story To His Viewers Only To Be Interrupted By "Bulldog" Briscoe And Gil Chesterton Who Bring In A Stripper To Distract Frasier From Telling His Boring Story And When Frasier Comes Home To His Penthouse Apartment To See That His Father Has Turned His Apartment Into Santa's Winter Wonderland For Fredrick, Either Way, It's A Good Episode And I Say See It...

02. Home Improvement "Twas The Night Before Chaos"

Again With Alot Of Good Home Improvement Christmas Episodes This Was A Hard Decision To Make...

The Taylor Family Spend Christmas With Tim's Brother, Marty, His Wife And Their Newborn Babies But When Jill's Parents Also Come Over For The Holidays, Jill Notices That They're Defiantly Not Getting Along As Ever Since Her Father, The Colonel (Played By The Same Guy Who Was Tim's Older Neighbor In Christmas With The Kranks) Retired From The Army, He Hasn't Done Anything Except Watch Patton In His Den Over And Over Again

And Jill's Mom Thought That Once He Retired That They Would See The World...

If Roseanne Was Good At Halloween, Then Home Improvement Did Christmas Just As Good, From Tim's Lighting Contest Fights With Their Proctologist Neighbor, Doc Johnson To Tool Time Around The Holidays These Episodes Are Funny And This One Is No Exception And I Definitely Say See It...

Before We Get To Our Number One Let's Look At The Top 5 Runners Up That We Wanted To Add But Just Couldn't...

05. X-Men "Have Yourself A Morlock Little X-Mas

The X-Men Celebrate Christmas Together However When The Morlocks Ask The X-Men To Save Their Youngest Member, Wolverine Has To Make A Decision Whether To Use His Blood To Save Him Or Not...

04. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't"

Between This And The Santa Claus Conquers The Martians Episode, This Was A Hard Decision To Make...

The Team Aboard The Satellite Of Love Is Forced By KInga Forrester And Her Partner Max, Tv's Son Of Tv's Frank To Watch A Movie Called The Christmas That Almost Wasn't Which Sees Santa Claus Asking A Lawyer To Help Him Deal With A Miserly Land Owner Named Prune, Who Will Own Santa's Home Unless He Pays Him Back His Entire Debt He Owes By Christmas Eve Or Gives Him All Of The Christmas Presents As Collateral Which Would Destroy Christmas As We Know It...

03. The Monkees "Our Christmas Show"

The Monkees Look After A Rich Kid (Played By Eddie Munster) Who Believes Christmas Is A Waste Of Time So, The Group Tries To Get The Kid Into The Christmas Spirit...

02. The Real Ghostbusters "X-Mas Marks The Spot"

The Ghostbusters Accidentally Go Into A Time Portal To Victorian England And Accidentally Capture The Ghosts Of Past, Present And Future Which In Turn Creates A Grim Future Where Christmas No Longer Exists And Everyone Acts Like Ebenezer Scrooge And The Only Way To Fix This Is To Get The Ghosts Out Of The Containment Grid And Place Them Back Where They Were With Scrooge...

01. Kim Possible "A Very Possible Christmas"

As Kim Spends Christmas With Her Family And Her Grandma, Ron And Rufus Take An Assignment To Deal With Dr. Drakken's Latest Attempt To Take Over The World As A Secret Santa Gift For Kim, But When The Mission Goes Wrong With Ron, Rufus And Drakken Stranded At The North Pole, It's Up To Kim And Her Family To Rescue Them Before Shego Gets There...

And Now Onto Our Number One Favorite Christmas TV Episode...

01. The Big Bang Theory "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis"

This Episode Sees Penny Getting Sheldon A Christmas Present Which Forces Him To Get A Christmas Gift For Penny With The Help Of Raj And Howard, Stopping By Bed Bath And Beyond, Sheldon Decides To Get Penny A Gift Basket Of Bath Items But Not Knowing What Size, Sheldon Decides To Buy A Boatload Of Them And Give Penny The Correct Basket Depending On The Size Of The Gift, So, When Christmas Morning Comes Around This Happens...

#1 (Start At 0:41, End At 1:54) #2 (Start At 2:38, End At 3:19)

This Episode Is The Most Hilarious Christmas Episode I Have Ever Seen And That Is Because Of Jim Parsons' Sheldon Cooper And How He Handles Christmas Or Saturnalia....

(Start At 0:08, End At 0:40)

And Because Of That, I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...