Danny, 15 and thoroughly done with everyone's crap, steals the Crown of Fire and the Skeleton Key and uses the later to find a suitable new High King for the Infinite Realms. The key (also known as Deaths kay) acted like a sort of Infi-map but lacked the limitations of needing a natural portal to spawn in that time/location and could get you past any wards/protections no mater how powerful.
The key spawns him just in front of the form of a sleeping Jason Todd, and Danny decided he wasn't going to question the magical keys judgment and just plops the crown on a bleary and startled Jasons head.
The crown burned for this guy, signaling that it found him worthy and that was more than enough for Danny.
With no context whatsoever, Danny looked Jason in the eye, burning neon green meeting with wide greenish blue, "You're our king now."
Then he vanished.
Jason later finds that the Lazarus entity left behind a handmade pamphlet. It was immensely unhelpful.
The pamphlet features sections such as:
Congrats! It's Royalty!
What to do if the Old King Gets Released (besides dieing)
How to King in Zero Steps (I don't know how it works, your problem now)
Avoid Billionaires
Asserting Dominance in the Ghost Zone (hope you don't mind throwing down at any times between 12 am and forever)
How to Not Get Vivi/Dissected by the Government or Other Authourity Figures (yes this includes your parent, no I will not elaborate on that)
Afterword (please please don't find me, I don't want it, I'm failing english already, I don't need the extra stress)
There are also hand drawn pictures scattered throughout, as well as what look like blood stains and dried Lazarus water.
Jason is concerned on multiple levels, both for himself and the bone tired kid he saw for all of five seconds.
This keeps getting better <3
Jason starts trying to learn more about Danny between building a society from scratch in the Infinite Realms (they don't even have public libraries or social workers) and running his criminal empire.
What he learns is deeply concerning.
First things first, he makes sure the creepy old billionaire who's creepily obsessed with a teenage boy "disappears". Then he takes care of the anti-ecto laws. Whether he does this via the Out Laws, the Dayly Planet press release or by bullying the Justice League/Justice League Dark is the authors choice.
Then he gets the kids parents thrown into a looney bin where they can get the help they deserve before taking Danny under his wing. Danny cries and while he doesn't exactly like his parents being taken away from them he fully understands that his parents need help. It definitely helps that Hood respects Dannys boundaries and is nothing like Vlad.
Jazz is in college but that doesn't stop her from checking up on Danny and strongly enough, Hood too.
The Dani appeared out of no where with Cujo and began living with Hood and Danny.
Jason went from having 0 kids to 3 kids and a dog and no one except Jason is quite sure how it happened.
this is funnier to think about knowing any minute Jason could end up summoned and have a whole lot of explaining to do.
Also his siblings are relentlessly teasing him about following in Bruce's footsteps even down to the dog (that they haven't met and don't know is green and glowing yet)
Oh! What if Jason is still building his crime thing and hasn't yet revealed himself to the bats? What if he becomes ghost king at that particular point in the timeline? How screwed would certain people be?
If we're keeping the 'bruce sliced Jason's throat' thing that happened? Very
Imagine Danny or cujo having a sense for when Jason is in danger? (Danny arriving and doing the classic "dad!" (Without realizing of course) and then attacking Bruce (with non-lethal force bc Danny doesn't kill. But that doesn't stop him from attacking to make people *wish* they were dead by the time he's done) *OR!* working to stop the bleeding, keep jason (mostly) alive and looking at Bruce with glowing eyes and baring his teeth and threatening to make him sorry/pay once jason is healed.
And I'm pretty sure that (if fright knight is a position) Jason's fright knight would be alerted. If jason doesn't stop them, they'll probably be going after batman (and joker i imagine. .... maybe joker gets arrested for crimes against the crown? XD)
Danny felt relaxed for probably the first time in years. The new High King had been doing a first job. One of the first things he had ordered was for the other ghosts not to harm humans. He had then explained to Danny's usual Rogues Gallery that Danny had only been a ghost for a year and that they had been attacking a literal baby. Danny didn't quite want to tell his rogues that, but it did end with his fights being much more reasonable.
His positive impact wasn't just limited to the ghosts. Jack and Maddie were in jail, the GIW were crumbling and two reporters in Metropolis were roasting the Anit-Ecto Acts over an open fire. Danny was enjoying an apartment down the hall from one of Jason's safe houses. They had both considered having Danny just moving in with the new king, but Jason respected Danny's paranoia and gave him his own space. Jason however refused to allow Danny to just eat Top Ramen, so they had nightly "Cooking Lessons" which were really just Jason cooking a healthy dinner for Danny for the first time in his life.
Danny had been grabbing his laundry out of the building's laundry room, all while whistling a jaunty tune, happy about his change of fate, when he suddenly felt a pull on his core. It felt like someone had grabbed his core and twisted, and considering what his parents had almost done to him, he knew that feeling all too well.
Okay but does Bruce go, "omg I almost orphaned a child" or does he go "omg Red Hood has a kid we gotta get the kid away from him" or both?
Definitely the latter. He would probably think that Red Hood is a terrible father and try to get him in Arkham more. Maybe he'd think that Jason is trying to use the meta kid by pretending to be his father or something. Maybe he'd try to convince Danny to cut ties with Danny, causing Danny to yell at him about how wonderful Hood is and accidentally reveal that he's the king of an interdimensional death species.
Danny didn't know if he had ever been this angry. Even with his parents he was disappointed and terrified more than angry. Batman had cut Jason's throat, his own son! Danny's... he was thinking of Jason more and more as his dad and less and less as his king. He didn't... that wasn't... Jason wouldn't mind would he?
Jason was currently recovering in the Far Frozen. The healing of his cut throat was made much more complicated by the corrupted ectoplasm that had brought him back to life. Frostbite wanted the new king to go through a full detox before he returned to the mortal world.
While Jason recovered and practiced with his rapidly developing powers Danny did his part and kept an eye on Crime Alley. He couldn't protect Jason while he was kept safe in the Far Frozen and he didn't want all of Jason's hard work to go up in smoke.
So Danny patrolled Crime Alley nightly. Any thugs messing with the working ladies or threatening kids got iced. Jason was very pro breaking knees or legs if he didn't kill someone outright. Danny was a little too squeamish to break someone's legs and Jason didn't want him to have to kill anyone, but his ice did the trick perfectly. The ice wouldn't melt for at least a week no matter what they did, so they were in pain and couldn't work or commit any other crimes until Danny allowed it. Maybe not as effective as a broken leg or finger, but still good.
Jason hadn't wanted Danny involved in the "Business" side of his work, but he at least knew a few of Red Hood's lieutenants. He would check on them to make sure things were going smoothly but leave most of the actual crime lord work to them. They would tell him someone was roughing up one of the girls or interfering in the business. Danny took careful notes and left them next to Jason's bed so he could go over them when he was fully recovered.
Danny had just helped one of the local prostitutes when something bigger interrupted his night. Her John hadn't wanted to pay and left a bruise on her cheek. Danny had iced his hands together behind his back for it after emptying his wallet for her and allowed her to get a few kicks in before he sent him on his way. The woman had given Danny her scarf despite him being an ice Core and had sent him on his way.
He had just gotten back to the rooftops when he heard gravel under a boot. It wasn't Jason's heavy steel toed combat boots, and there was no one else who should have been able to get onto a roof in Crime Alley. He whirled, allowing his claws to lengthen into sharpened needle like points as he snarled. Batman had joined him on the rooftop.
"Metas don't belong in my city." Batman growled, only a little surprised that he wasn't able to sneak up on Danny.
"Fuck off bats." Danny snapped back exactly like Jason would have. "Crime Alley ain't your turf."
Batman grimaced and stepped closer. Danny hissed and let his ice loose, dropping the temperature around them several degrees and causing sharp spikes of ice to spring up around him.
"Red Hood is dangerous. He doesn't care about you. He's only using you for your powers." Batman growled again.
"Yeah like you're one to talk! You do the same exact thing with your little birds. I know my dad cares for me!" Danny said, furious at Batman trying to turn him away from Jason.
"He's not really your father!"
Danny actually smirked.
"Of course he is. Haven't you ever heard of adoption?" Danny wasn't actually adopted, but maybe he would talk to Jason about it once he was feeling better. "Or does the name Dick Grayson mean nothing to you?"
Batman only barely reacted. Which in another man would have been collapsing in shock.
"How about Jason Todd? Or Tim Drake?" Danny relaxed now that he had the bat on his back leg. "But then again you don't really care about your kids so I can't-"
The Bat pulled something out of his cape and aimed it at Danny. His eyes widened in fear as he recognized the white detailing of an ecto ray. It was one of the weapons that the GIW used. He floated back a pace, how did one of those even end up in the hands of Batman?
"My research tells me that this will neutralize your abilities. It is high time we have a conversation about how you and Red Hood know so much about my operations."
Neutralize. What a polite way of phrasing that. No doubt written by the same people who thought that ghosts couldn't feel pain and weren't sentient. It would neutralize him alright. If Batman held the ectoray on him for too long it would neutralize him right into his core.
The weapon primed and Danny took a deep breath.
"Dad!! - Aaarrrruuugghhh"
He screamed as electricity again pulsed through him. It was tearing him apart, just like his parents always threatened, he was screaming and scmreaing andscreamingandscreamingand...
A brilliant flash of green cut through the air and the pain stopped.
Danny felt himself fall backward, no longer capable of flight, but he was caught by a pair of familiar arms. Jason had arrived. His dad. His King. in all his ghostly kingly glory. His red helmet looked like it was soaked in blood, and his eyes glowed like the fires of hell. He had a pair of flaming wings over his shoulders, the wing bones made of twisted rebar, from the explosion that had killed him. The Crown of Fire raging and burning over his head.
A single flaming ecto blast is enough to destroy the weapon in Batman's hands and another sends him careening through the sky towards the harbor. Batman would probably survive, but he would know not to mess with Crime Alley, Red Hood or Danny any time soon.
"Hey Dad." Danny said weekly, his voice hoarse from screaming. "You came."
"You called for me. Of course I came, kiddo." Jason said. "Now lets get home so you can rest."
I'm getting this right and they still don't know who is red hood? Because if so, bruh, wait until they find out that's their nephew.
Wait until Alfred find out that's his great grandson. His great grandson who's Jason's son.
Terrifying.
