And so the curtain closes, after we come full circle. It was QUITE the journey getting here. This is the first long comic I've ever finished and I'm proud of that. I have ideas for where this could go but I am also happy with where everything is right now. I know not everyone will be satisfied with this ending but, honestly, I would love to see others take it away from here, if they want to :)
(Wanted to thank @ectospacecadet @notllorstel and @setakendirart for helping me make this the best it could be 👍✨)
R.I.P Martin Mull. Thank you for giving us such an iconic performance and helping me love this character to the point where I dedicated over 130 pages to him.
After School Ghost Theory 101 with Professor Fenton
Switch to light mode or Classic Blue to get the full transparency effect!
[Image ID: A four page comic that starts with Danny Fenton standing in front of a whiteboard holding up a white cat. “Question: Do ghosts purr?”
Tucker: “Danny when was the last time you slept?”
Danny: “Irrelevant.”
Danny info-dumps: “The answer is yes, but also no. Technically, all beings that possess a core are constantly “purring”, a.k.a. Core Vibrations. Core Vibrations are a nonverbal, emotion-based communication system between Ghosts, similar to how some living species use pheromones to communicate. The exact tone of each ghost is different the same way people’s voices are different. Humans can only hear these vibrations when the frequency passes through their audible range (20Hz - 20KHz), hence the ‘purring’ sound. When the range dips into infrasound (16 - 20Hz) it can cause feelings of fear and unease in humans that they often associate with ghosts and the supernatural. Also known as the ‘Heebie Jeebies.’”
Danny, wiping off the whiteboard: “Any questions before we move on?“
Danny’s audience consists of Wes Weston, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Danny’s clone Ellie, and Dash Baxter in a classroom. Wes is seated at a desk at the front taking notes. Tucker is sitting on Sam’s lap playing on a Switch, Ellie is sitting on a desk behind them. Dash is asleep at the back of the room.
Ellie, now holding the cat: “Is this Vlad’s first cat!?”
Wes: “Could you tone down the floating eyes before the next part? They’re kinda distracting.”
Danny: “What eyes?”
Wes: “Please stop gaslighting me.”
A transparency trick on the last page reveals dark shadows and eyes all around Danny when viewed in dark mode. /.End ID]
An Extended Image ID is available under the read more because it’s over 1k. Side by side light and dark mode versions of the transparency trick is also available under the cut.
Jason did not expect his ghost form to feel…like this.
(Oh, dealing with his body randomly phasing through the ground and smacking his face onto hard concrete was not fun, but Jason dealt with that just like with every other hurdle in his life. By being more stubborn than the problem itself.)
It felt like something… settled into place. That was the best way he could describe it.
He felt as if spite and anger were finally not the only things keeping him awake and running.
He felt calm, almost. Stable, at least. Whatever pent up energy that was stuck in his chest cavity now flowed freely throughout his body, redistributed, instinctually easier to manage.
It's almost like he could breathe a little bit easier.
(After much… ranting that Jason decided to ignore for his own sanity, Danny said that his case ectoplasmic corruption was probably due to the fact that Death, as a concept, doesn’t let go of things easily, time shenanigans notwithstanding.)
(Becoming a half-ghost was seemingly the only working compromise.)
—
Danny once told him that broad strokes of a ghost’s personality could be guessed by looking at their physical appearance.
Despite the cool powers, this was a slight downside. Jason dealing with the filth of the Earth meant that being to hide his emotions and who he is was kind of important. Life saving, even.
He realized later on that his ghost form was way too easy to read.
—
He looked at his arms covered in bandages, and got reminded of the amount of times he had to patch himself up in the last month.
His jacket was ripped in place he knew that would have been sewn together when he was a living breathing human (well, as much as he could be).
He always looked slightly on fire?
(Danny told him it's probably related to his... core?)
(He know he died in an explosion but really?)
And then, there was his… veil? Shroud? Cloak?
It looked really nice.
But on the other hand…
It drooped when he felt under the weather. It flicked and thrashed around when he’s either irritated or barely holding back his urge to headshot someone.
And—
(No Danny, my cloak was not fucking wagging when you brought me fresh ectoplasm last week, you’ll have to get your goddamn eyes checked—)
He'll deny it until the day he dies (a second time).
And then his cloak could sometimes just…grow bigger. He figured that it acted as an extension of his own body, and had a nice add-on of allowing him to sense things he couldn't see. Hell, he could even make a hand out of it (wacking Danny with it - gently - never gets old). Jason had to also admit it looked cool, with the wispy bits and with one of its sides becoming a bright yellow.
(It reminded him a bit of his time as Robin.)
—
Being a ghost had a lotta perks.
Dealing with targets was so much easier when no one could see you. Inflitration was so much simpler when walls became optional. Cameras will glitch out when he's around, he left no traces visible to the naked eye and, combined with his training, to say that it was useful would be an understatement.
But, sometimes, he feels like he’s changing as well the more he transforms. Not drastically, but enough for him to look back and notice.
He usually was someone who prided on being efficient and straight to the point.
But now he’s starting to… have fun.
He started using his claws whenever he could. Don't het him wrong, he still uses his guns plenty, but there was just something deeply satisfying about vaulting over things, scaling a wall or crawling on the ceiling with bare hands.
(Punching people is still the most satisfying by far, though.)
That one time hunting down the Joker wannabes was fun too.
(Danny said he’d get along great with Skulker? Did Jason want to find out? No.)
Fading in and out of invisibility, he picked them off one by one, watching as panic and dread slowly but surely creeped up on the remaining ones.
(After all, he has no respect for those trying to emulate the dead clown.)
—
(Yeah, the Joker was dead.)
(Surprisingly, that has not been a good day.)
—
One of the favorite things he liked to do was rooftop parkour. The… bendability of gravity is… fun, not gonna lie.
(Not flying though. Jason is used to having feet in regular contact with solid ground, thank you very much. No offense, Danny.)
But he gets why ghosts love to fly. When he’s jumping from rooftop to rooftop in Gotham in the at night, watching the city light fly by, cloak spread behind him, it’s as if nothing else matters.
(No Joker, no petty criminals to beat up, no avoiding the Bats so they don’t find out about his existence—)
He can just enjoy, even just for a little bit.
—
(Somehow the Demon Brat and Orphan could sense him. Will keep and eyes on those two, and also the more reasons to avoid them.)
(The real problem was the new Bat in town. Bruce, what the fuck, another one? Again?)
(The yellow one, Signal. No time to check his profile yet, but probably a meta or something.)
(First night out and the guy almost managed to actually fucking see him —looked at him straight in the eyes and all, then did a double take. Jason never phased into the pavement so fast in his entire fucking life.)
(And so far no Bats on his cloak tails yet.)
(He did help the guy incognito, just a couple of times.)
(And he also did steal his escrima sticks for fun, and once the guy went out looking for them, he’d put them right back where they were.)
(Turns out, he discovered later, that being a little shit runs in the ghost community.)
—
(Sometimes he also wonders what happened to Danny before they met.)
(He wasn't a Gothamite, that was obvious. He doesn’t pry, but it doesn’t take a lot to piece two and two together.)
(He just wonders who he has to kill this time.)
—
(Jason could not believe he forgot and underestimated just how fucking persistent every single one of the Bats could be. Of course it had to run in the family.)
He gazed down, thought the agony, at the gaping wound under his right armpit.
(The Bats have been chasing him relentlessly for a while now. He got more injuries than he can count, especially from Bruce.)
(They know. Oh, they know.)
(It didn’t go well.)
(He knows the others are there surrounding him to prevent him from escaping, he knows that Dick is right behind him, but at the moment he couldn’t care less.)
It has been a long time since the last time he got shot.
(It felt like someone set his right side on fire.)
What was flowing out in abundance was a neon, toxic green.
(The Pit Waters, ectoplasm, he didn’t even know that he could fucking bleed in ghost form—)
(Danny—)
He looked back up at Batman, holding a (frankly) ugly gun, white casing and highlights in the same shade of toxic green.
(A gun that Danny warned him about. And everything behind it.)
Jason felt something in him... snap.
(Why did it have to be you, Bruce.)
His mouth opened—
(waitsincewhenhecoulddothatthoughtthe mask—)
(Jason could see the billows of neon green smoke—)
I am genuinely delighted that my last post got that much attention! Thank you so much, to all who liked, rebblogged and commented, it really does mean the most. 💕
Strange things had been happening to Danny ever since he went into the big tunnel in Mommy and Daddy’s lab and got zapped.
He got really clumsy all of the sudden, things kept falling out of his hands and he kept getting his feet stuck in weird places. He also got really good at hide and seek, Tucker looked right at him and still didn’t see him. His booboos got better really fast and he’s was better at gymboree than he was before.
Danny tried telling Mommy and Daddy about what was happening but they where so happy their tunnel was working he didn’t want to bother them, they where so sad when it didn’t work, besides Jazzy said he was a big boy now and big boys took care of their own problems. This problem however was too big for even a big boy like him.
He was just on the ops center looking at the stars and wishing he could touch them. He thought about what Tucker said about the superheroes having a clubhouse in space and he wondered if he could see it if he looked hard enough. Danny stared and stared and the stars started looking closer and closer. Then he saw the clubhouse it was getting bigger too. Danny wondered if he looked hard enough if he could see his favorite hero Martian Manhunter if he looked close enough, maybe he’d even see Batman, he was Sammy’s favorite.
He didn’t see Martian Manhunter through the windows but he did see Batman. It looked like Batman and the other heroes where having group time at their circle table, they had lots of papers out, maybe it was drawing time. Danny wondered what they where drawing and looked so hard through the window it was like he went through it and was standing in the room with the heroes.
Suddenly Danny realizes he wasn’t looking so hard that he saw the clubhouse, he was actually in the clubhouse. How was he supposed to go home? how did he even get up here? Did he fly? Was Danny a superhero too and didn’t know it?
This was definitely a problem even a big boy couldn’t solve on his own, so he did what Jazzy always told him to do if he found a problem too big for even a big boy to fix, tell an adult.
He walked up to the closest hero and tugged at his cape. “Erm,” he started “I flew up”
…….
TLDR- Danny got his powers at age five and doesn’t realize he has powers until he accidentally flies to the watch tower.
All the superheroes where really nice. Batman gave him a juice box and Flash got a bunch of fun snacks. The heroes where asking him all kinds of questions, he felt like it was show and tell.
….
What’s your name?
Danny
How did you get up here?
I flewed
Where did you come from?
My house
What’s your address?
I don’t have a dress, Jazzy has a few but I don’t think they will fit you
What are your parents names?
Mommy and Daddy
What do the other adults call your parents?
Crazy
Where do you go to school?
Miss Hartman’s class
Do your Mommy and Daddy know you’re here?
I don’t know
How long have you been flying?
I didn’t know I could fly till I got here
How did you get inside?
I went through the window
What does your house look like?
It’s a brown house with a spaceship on top and a big green sign
What does the sign say?
I don’t know I can’t read good yet, but it starts with an F, we learned about the letter F this week, Miss Hartman let me and Tucker talk about it cause both our names have an F in it.
What part of your name has an F in it?
Fenton
…
The heroes seemed really happy to learn that Fenton started with an F.
Fenton isn't the most common name but having more info to narrow things down would be great, so they ask about the little one what the F in his friends name stands for.
"Foley"
Now two last names to narrow down the City, maybe even neighbourhood.
And they found it.
Very solidly on Earth, the parents are known Ghost hunters with little ghosts to hunt. And then they ask the boy if anything weird had happened before he started feeling different.
"I've been really clumsy since I went into the Tunnel Mommy and Daddy built. It zapped me real bad and they look really happy since it started to work on top of me! I've never gone through walls, disappeared and flown though. Maybe that's from the fighting breakfast sausages I had this morning?"
It all started when she couldn’t find Danny this morning. At first she did t think is was weird Danny wasn’t in his own bed, since the portal started working she had been finding Danny sleeping in all kinds of strange places, maybe he was sleep walking.
She looked everywhere in the house; Danny’s bed, under his bed, his closet, under her bed, in her closet, mom and dads room (they didn’t sleep there again), under the kitchen table, in the cupboards, on top of the fridge, under the couch, behind the TV, in the scary closet lady in the dungeon, and every hidey hole Danny had in the ops center.
She even checked the lab, even though she knew Danny wouldn’t go there willingly, he had been scared of the lab since he got zapped, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
Mom and Dad where too busy to even listen to her worries, again. It had gotten worse since the portal started working. She thought they never left the lab before but now she knew it could get worse, because it had. After getting the net off herself (they thought she was a ghost again) she asked them if they had seen Danny. Mom said they hadn’t seen Danny since Saturday afternoon. It was Thursday morning. And it had been her Mom talked too on Saturday. Why had she asked her parents they wouldn’t have known anyway.
Maybe Danny had already headed to school. He was always saying he was a big boy now and he was ready for ‘sponsibilities like getting himself dressed in the morning and setting the table. Maybe he decided to be ‘sponsible and walk to school early today. She was going to have a long talk with Danny again, he should know better than to leave the house without telling her, or going to school without his backpack, or his lunch.
Jazz really hoped Danny was at school.
….
Danny wasn’t at school.
Miss. Hartman hadn’t seen him, Tucker hadn’t seen him, Sam hadn’t seen him, the hall monitor hadn’t seen him, the lunch lady hadn’t seen him, nobody had seen Danny.
Jazz was trying her best not to cry. Danny was missing and none of the adults where listening to her. She told them she couldn’t find Danny, that she hadn’t seen him since last night, that she had hoped he went to school without her.
They just told her not to worry, the adults were sure Danny was safe at home, and that her parents just forgot to call the school, and that she was making up stories again.
Why did adults always think she was making up stories when she told them the truth.
But no, there was no way Jazz and Danny could walk to school alone, they where far too young. No way Jazz knew how to cook, she could barely reach the stove top. No way Jazz could have fought glowing hotdogs, food doesn’t do that.
Why did adults never take her seriously. Danny was missing and no one cared. They just told her she was exaggerating and that if Danny was missing surely her parents would have noticed.
But they didn’t
Mom and Dad never notice
They are always too busy trying to hunt ghosts!
(Jazz was starting to think there where no ghosts but if she admitted it than it meant her parents ignored them for nothing)
Jazz felt the hot tears welling in her eyes.
She heard the teachers try to calm her down
She tasted the salt of her tears on her tongue as she sobbed
She heard the principal try to call her parents (like they would leave the lab long enough to pick up)
She wanted her little brother. She needed to know he was safe. She needed the adults to listen to her for once.
Does the JL have a public hotline? I can just see a conversation happening. Like, the operators are trained to work with adults and teens reacting to a crisis not distressed seven year olds crying and babbling so bad they can’t even tell what language is being spoken. So eventually after being passed from operator to operator to try and find someone who can understand her (even the parents who’d dealt with distressed kids weren’t having any luck) and knows what to do all the while she’s getting more distressed because no one is listening, someone eventually decides to see if the heroes with more experience with distressed experience could help. Wonder Woman as one of the more personable members agrees to take the call.
“Hey sweetheart,” Diana said, stepping out of the meeting room, “I know whatever is happening is probably a lot, but I can’t make out what you’re saying. Can you take a few deep breaths for me? I know it sounds silly, but it will help.”
The child on the line (the area code put them in the same part of Illinois as Amity Park which she took note of) followed her instructions before repeating their message. “My, b-brother is is missing and and no-no one is listening! I-I have-haven’t seen since last n-night and I looked around the wh-whole house! I looked all over his room and my room and mom and dad’s room and the living room and the kitchen and the lab even though he hasn’t gone down there since he got zapped because that scared him even though he won’t say it did! I even asked mom and dad but mom said she hadn’t seen him since Saturday aft-afternoo-oon but I was the one she talked to on Saturday. But he’s saying he’s a big boy so I thought he might’ve walked himself to school, but the teachers said he wasn’t there an’ Tucker hadn’t seen ‘im an’ an’ i tried to tell the teachers but they thought i was telling stories again like they always do an’ I do-don’t know what to do but i need a-a hero so I called you!”
Slightly on autopilot as she processed those words (not even recognizing the name in the poor child’s story as the same as Danny’s friend until later), she asked for some basic information. “Okay, sweetheart. I’m happy to help, but I’ll need some information to help me find him. First what’s your name? And how old are you?”
“M’ name is Jazz. ‘M seven.”
“Alright Jazz. Can you tell me your last name?”
“Fenton. ‘M Jazz Fenton.” And suddenly everything felt a bit too coincidental.
“Hey, sweetheart? Would your brother’s name happen to be Danny?”
“You know him!? Do you know where he is? Is he safe? Can you bring him home?”
“Yes, sweetheart. He actually got to the Watchtower up in space somehow. We were actually trying to figure out where he was from, but that’s a lot harder when he doesn’t know a lot of the information that would help us. We actually had just figured out where he lived to get him home when your call got to me. Would you mind answering some questions we have while we work on getting your brother back to you?”
“Yeah, as long as Danny’s safe. Can I talk to him?”
“Sure thing sweetheart, just give me a bit.” Stepping back into the meeting room, Diana handed put her phone on speaker before holding it toward Danny and telling him “Danny, your sister, Jazz, is on the phone.” Due to the view of space that they had, they had thankfully been able to contain the child. Mostly.
“Jazzy! I’s in space! I’s so cool! An’ tha hewos are weally weally nice!”
“That’s great, Danny. I was really worried when I couldn’t find you this morning!”
“I’s sowwy. I fwewed. I ‘idn’t know i could do tha’ befow.”
Oh, sweet baby Jesus! When Batman (and the rest of the JL, but we all know the biggest reaction with be from Bats) hears this, things...start to move very quickly. For the purposes of this scenario, Jazz borrowed a phone from one of her older classmates to make the call, so she’s still at the school when all this is going down. Wonder Woman is talking soothingly to her on the line, both assuring her that help is on the way and keeping the rest of the JL updated through J’onn’s telepathic link. Batman, in the meanwhile, has tapped several members as a response team (himself, Wonder Woman and Black Canary as she has psych experience), managed to get Danny to latch on to another member who is staying behind (again, likely Martian Manhunter because ACTUAL REAL ALIEN! Tell me all about Mars, please?!) and made a very stern phone call to the Amity Park CPS office. The gist of the call? You have allowed a very serious abuse case to slip through the cracks. I you don’t have an agent at Casper Elementary School in the next 20 minutes, I will ensure everyone knows about it.
They Zeta down the the closest major city and the waiting Batwing flies them over in record time. Once they arrive, Jazz comes sprinting out (followed by a rather perplexed gaggle of teachers, administrators and curious students) to fling herself into Wonder Woman’s open arms. When the CPS agent gets there...well, things are kinda tense...
CPS flunky: Really, the girl is always going on about having to fight her food and kill it again before she can safely eat it! Why are you even...
Batman: *doomglare* This child’s brother somehow managed to sleepwalk into the Watchtower.
Wonder Woman: *still cradling Jazz* Which is, if you didn’t know, in low Earth orbit.
Black Canary: *resisting the urge to use her scream on this idiot* And, even if this wasn’t the case, YOU CHECK THESE THINGS OUT REGARDLESS!!!
The CPS flunky (and the rest of the Caspar Elementary staff) goes corpse white and starts pulling out some paperwork from their bags. After listening (and Jazz is so relieved to FINALLY be listened to) to the story, they say they need to assess the home situation immediately. And the JL members insist on accompanying them for this.
Which leads to the CPS flunky, Batman and Wonder Woman standing outside the door of FentonWorks (Black Canary stayed back with Jazz) and about to knock on the door...
Dave didn’t think the situation would be as bad as it was. Everyone knew the Fenton’s where wackos, always going on about ghosts. They where annoying yes but harmless, unless Jack Fenton was driving but that was the traffic cops department not his.
Dave was not expecting to get shot by green lasers when he rang the doorbell (if it wasn’t for Wonder Woman he would have more than just a hole in his tie). Nor was he expecting Jasmine’s non-reaction as she used her house key to open the door (maybe he should have listened when she told him not to ring the bell)
At first the living room looked pretty typical for small town America but then Dave noticed some peculiarities. The room was mostly clean but only the bottom half. Everything under five feet was spotless, over five feet and it was filthy. Jasmine Fenton was under five feet but with her arms outstretched she could probably just reach the cleaning line.
The kitchen also looked fairly normal, if not for the step stools and toy guns on the kitchen table. The stools where everywhere, by the fridge, the cupboards, even the stove. Dave checked the cupboards, there was cheap but relatively healthy food at the bottom and expired snacks up top, far out of Jasmine’s reach even with the step stool.
Dave made a quick peak in the fridge and -
….
Food should not do that, it should not be glowing and moving. Those where hotdogs how where they moving? If it wasn’t for Batman and Jasmine he would be dead three times today. He thought the gun was a toy, it shot lasers just like the door bell. What kind of parents left working laser guns on the kitchen table and why did Jasmine even know how to use it. This was worse than he thought.
Just when Dave thought it couldn’t get any worse and explosion came from the basement. Jasmine didn’t even flinch, she just went to the bottom shelf next to the basement door and grabbed an EMT sized first aid kit and headed down the steps with the heroes in quick pursuit.
….
He was only a few seconds behind them, how had Batman end up covered in glowing green goo, why was Black Canary and Wonder Woman in a fist fight with the Fentons, where those open chemicals and a weapons vault and was that a swirling green portal in the wall. Why where the Fentons claiming the heroes where ghosts and telling Jasmine to throw them weapons, was that a bazooka, and a whip with Jack Fenton’s face on it. What the hell was going on!
…
Dave was going to retire. He was going to retire and move far away from the Fenton menace. The Drs. Fenton had been detained, tied up in their own glowing green net. Now they where yelling at Jasmine, saying she was a ghost, that was the only reason they could think of that she would shoot them with a net gun after they tried to shoot the downed Batman with the Bazooka.
Jasmine was seconds away from crying, saying she wasn’t a ghost and just wanted them to stop fighting. Her parents started going on about how the ghosts where obviously tricking her, and how she could be so stupid to believe a ghost, and how they raised her better than that. All this was going on as the seven year old patched up her parents wounds with a worryingly practiced ease.
Dave didn’t know what to do, none of his training mentioned what to do when mad scientists attacked the Justice League. No fosters in Amity would dare take the kids in fear their parents would come looking for them. Dave had seen Jack Fenton go through brick walls like the Kool-Aid Man, he doubted any prison could hold him for long. And if Daniel had powers like the heroes thought it would be even harder to place the kids in a home together.
Apparently Batman is a mind reader as just as Dave was about to bring up the placement issue the dark knight gave Dave the contact info of a league approved emergency foster who would take the kids in no questions asked. Dave looked at the card and thought maybe the rumors where true, maybe Batman was Bruce Wayne’s sugar baby.
This is good and all, don't get me wrong. Truly chef's kiss. But all that moving around would be harmful for the children's development. Same with a custody battle (though that would also be thoroughly entertaining). They just got out of a negligent household. What they need right now more than anything would be stability.
That's why I propose that while Bruce temporarily houses them for like a week or something, the Justice League gets together and each one presents a power point as to why they're the superior guardian for the children. Just imagine the world's top superheroes, deliberately seriously over Wonder Woman's point that she will teach the kids how to handle a spear. Which is good for self defense. That's why she's totally better than Bruce because he can't technically count Alfred's cookies since he doesn't even help make them.
Captain Marvel quickly bows out of the custody debate, claiming the Rock of Eternity is no place for a child.
Dr. Fate is forced to admit the Tower of Fate isn’t exactly child friendly but wishes to train the children once they are old enough.
Deadman is taken out of the running do to his inability to be seen by non magical people which would make food shopping and parent teacher conferences difficult. He still demands babysitting rights.
Constantine and Spectre would rather be in the uncle role anyway, screw what that blue and purple clock guy with the majority of Constantine’s soul and the Presence.
Black Canary decides to bow out so she can be the kids therapist.
Now it’s down to Wonder Woman, Batman and Martian Manhunter. They cannot make a decision and are forcing the rest of the League to vote on who should have primary custody.
Wonder Woman mentions how they would have an island full of aunts who would train/spoil them and since Danny is an undead child the no men rule wouldn’t apply to him
Batman points out his experience resources and the fact he called dibs
Martian Manhunter simply shows off the pictures Danny drew of them together titled ‘Mi Faborit’ as evidence he should be chosen.
They probably decide against Wonder Woman simply for the reason of how removed from the rest of the world her homeland is, meaning whatever dreams they may have in the world they would be torn from.
Logically speaking, Batman would probably be the best choice. He has a safe home for them, plenty of help and enrichment, access to good schooling and training with meta abilities, and a multitude of past successes in raising children, the best of which being the oh so famous Nightwing. Plus, he did call dibs.
But Martian Manhunter? He's the "Faborit". In addition, Bruce Wayne is high profile, but "John Jones"? An everyman that could give the kids the closest thing to a normal experience they could have at this point. Besides, so far Danny's powers seem very similar to his own, and he would likely be able to help with them specifically. He of course would absolutely love to care for Jazz as well, she seems like a wonderful girl that he would love to see become someone. Plus, significantly lower chance of becoming Batman's next Robin. It also helps that J'onn is one of the most powerful members of the JL, and no one in their right mind would fuck with him. Also, y'know, he doesn't live in Gotham. He could even potentially move to Amity to make sure the kids aren't separated from any friends. Bruce Wayne couldn't do that.
Danny especially still likes being a Fenton, so Danny and Jazz Fenton-Jones (or Fenton-J'onnz) move in with their new dad, and a very salty Bruce is reduced to rich uncle status. Wonder Woman is also quite salty, but she can live with being a rich aunt. Bruce especially waits for the moment having two kids is too much for him so he can take them off his hands, but as it turns out J'onn was a father of two back on Mars and thus can fucking handle it.
Disclaimer: I have read nothing canon with J'onn in it, and am working from a general impression of him I've gathered through fan-fiction. I apologize for any out-of-characterness.
(tw: blood, general discussion of destruction and murder)
~~~
There was laughter echoing deep in his mind. A cruel, vicious laughter, but laughter nonetheless.
Danny wasn't quite sure whether it was his own or not. Even thoughts he recognized as his own were twisting disconcertingly, making it difficult to find a point of reference within the dream.
If it was a dream.
Was it a dream?
Blood dripped from his fingers, the smell of copper and smoke filling his nostrils. It was a welcome scent. It was a familiar scent.
No... It was a horrifyingly unwelcome scent.
It was... Not. Real.
This was a dream. He was asleep.
Laughter echoed through his mind, and this time, Danny knew some of it was his own. A hysterical, desperate laughter at odds with the ruthless sound around him that echoed with an all-too-familiar phrase:
I am inevitable.
No. This was a dream. It wasn't real. He wouldn't have... he would never... he...
Images of a city in flames flashed through his dream, and for a moment the sound of screams drowned out the laughter.
Danny fell to his knees, blood splashing away in ripples around him, spreading impossibly far in his awareness and disappearing into a vast lake of red and smoke and...
"Child?"
A voice broke through the screams and the laughter both.
The blood rippled around him.
"Phantom."
It was not any voice he expected. It was not Dan's. It was not Clockwork's. It was not even Nocturn's voice. It was a stranger's voice, one he did not recognize...
Danny looked up.
The person standing above him was as green as any ghost, but far more solid, and watched Danny with solemn red eyes. The stranger knelt down on one knee, disregarding the blood in the dream-scape, and held a hand out to the teenager.
"I'm J'onn, the Martian Manhunter, with the Justice League. Do you recognize me?"
Danny stared at the offered hand, slowly nodding. Martian Manhunter... the man... in his brain... was an alien?! Any other time, Danny would be enthusiastically excited by that realization.
He blinked. Laughter echoed, and the mind-scape flickered and filled with a sickeningly painful red haze that smelled like...
"Blood blossom?" he murmured.
J'onn didn't move. "Yes."
Danny reached out halfway, then pulled his hand back with a hiccupped laugh. "I can't. I can't. I killed so many. So many... I'm so sorry. I'm sorry..." Why was he laughing?? This wasn't funny.
I am inevitable.
J'onn reached out and gently caught the young man's hand. The lake of blood drained, leaving rusty stains and a stifling silence.
"You weren't in control of your actions, Phantom."
"Wasn't I? Wasn't I?! Even if I wasn't... I still did all of that." He gestured around him, where visions of smoke and fire and destructions shifted in and out. "Me. Not anyone else."
"You are... afraid of yourself."
"How many people did I kill?"
The Martian was silent for several long moments. "The final count hasn't..."
"How many?!" There was no laughter now.
"The last count was 384, with several hundred still unaccounted for."
The dreamscape trembled, glowing cracks forming at the edges and along the ground, pulsing between ecto-green and blood-blossom red.
"Phantom."
Danny looked up, tears in his eyes, and met J'onn's own red ones. The Martian sighed and squeezed Phantom's hand gently.
"Sometimes we fail those under our protection. Sometimes... we hurt people we did not mean to. You can't let that destroy you."
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE DONE!" Danny snarled, pulling his hand back. Behind him, the memories of a timeline lost played out, an older, larger, more malicious version of Phantom laughing as he destroyed a city around him.
J'onn considered the scene for a long moment as Danny stepped back, wrapping bloody arms around himself.
"You have... seen alternative timelines of yourself?"
Danny nodded.
"You are afraid this event will turn you down that path."
Another nod.
"I think... the fact that you are worried about it means that you will not. We can not bring back the dead, but we can help make sure this doesn't happen again, if you'll let us help you." J'onn stood and held out his hand again to the teen.
Danny stared at the offered hand for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped and he stepped forward, eschewing the offered hand to simply lean into the Martian with a quite whimper.
J'onn, surprised, was motionless for a moment, then wrapped his arms around the boy. "I will have to leave your mind soon. You have been experiencing some fever, but we will keep you, and others, safe while you recover."
Danny nodded his understanding, and the dream faded into restless darkness.
~~~
Tim was growing increasingly horrified at the information he was reviewing concerning the Guys In White and the small city of Amity Park.
The whole city was separated from the outside world by long-term government funding. Apparently, a specific pair of scientists had been heavily funded in their early and, if he didn't know better, pseudo-scientific research upon moving to the town.
Honestly, it didn't look like the Drs. Fenton ever made the connection between their funding grants nearly two decades earlier, and the rapid "formation" of the Ghost Investigation Ward within months of the creation of a stable dimensional portal to the Infinite Realms (he had half thought Constantine was going to have an aneurysm when he heard about that).
And that wasn't even getting into the projects and experiments the GIW intended to carry out, themselves.
Apparently, the Anti-Ecto Acts' statement of considering Ecto-entities to be less than plants was no joke, and the experiments outlined in the files Tucker had sent him were bad enough that he had to step away from the computer to help with continuing rescue and rebuilding efforts for a shift before returning.
By the time he had gone through all of the files, he had a presentation ready for the rest of the family, and a loose outline of a plan set in his mind.
DPxDC au where the GIW mistaken Martian Manhunter for a ghost and tries to capture him, which leads to the Justice League finds out about the whole thing with ghosts and unethical experimentation.
But the one that's most pissed about it isn't the JL, or Martian Manhunter. No, the one who's most pissed about it is Danny, because how dare they cause harm to his favorite alien/hero. His space obsession and inner fanboy cannot accept such injustice to befall onto his idol.
So what if he's on the dissection table and bleeding profusely? Nothing is stopping him from tearing apart this facility Dan style. Oh don't worry mr Martian sir, tis but a flesh wound. Danny will get him out even if it means he burns himself out during the process.
@blobghostdoart ouchie my heart, this was very fun to write <3
~
Danny had been hurting, but it was like a low hum of pain. He watched the white walls and ceiling and the movement of figures in white. He watched and didn't feel anything.
The guys in white had done something to him when they first captured him. It had made him feel numb. He couldn't feel his anger and fear just out of his reach but couldn't grab a hold of it.
Being a creature of emotion it was off-putting. It made his core freeze in his chest, it made him only still. Something important had been scooped out, blocked away. Then when the Agents dragged him away, he caught a glimpse of his friends running towards him, but there was only a whisper of panic and then everything went dark.
When he woke up it was white and he was strapped down to something metal and cold. His emotions were closer now, almost brushing along his fingertips but an Agent came by with a device and soon enough they were beyond his reach again.
So Danny watched.
He felt empty and he watched.
They cut into him and he watched. Unable to scream because he couldn't feel the fear or rage that would have pushed him to do so. Just numb and when he told them to stop in a dull tone too many times a muzzle was used.
Silent and numb, but ever watchful.
He wasn't sure how much longer it had been and how many times his emotions had been stolen away from him when finally there was something other than white and the silver of a scalpel.
There had been a rise in the murmur of voices. They sounded happy, the Agent's voice invigorated with excitement. One that was familiar like when they first cut into him and he healed, one that showed up again when they managed to stop his skin from stitching up together and green blood dripped onto the floor
Danny thought he disliked that voice but he couldn't tell.
"-en looking for a way to catch this for so long but it finally worked! We already have information from the other but now there's a better source of comparison since the portal had been shut down."
There was the sound of a gurney being moved. No doubt to transfer whoever they're captured to the table with restraints. Once they place you there they never move you again.
Danny heard the sounds of struggle, a struggle he never gave.
"-idn't work on him like it did Phantom. Maybe that's how it's managed to trick everyone if our tools didn't work. But really a Martian? That is-"
Martian?
An adjective. Relating to the planet Mars. Or a noun, an inhabitant of Mars. Mars the fourth planet of the sun, a distance of 1.52 AU.
A celestial body.
A planet in space.
Something stirred in Danny's core.
He turned his head toward the voices and the sound of struggling.
There was someone green fighting against the white. But Danny couldn’t sense any ectoplasm, he didn't feel the presence of a ghost.
There was a large green figure fighting back. Their eyes were red along with the X adorning their chest leading to a cape along their back. It looked like a uniform, A uniform that Danny recognized.
The figure looked at Danny and their eyes met. There was a brush of horror that came from them similar but different than a ghost. It was a fitting emotion.
Danny had been numb and watched for so long, but now as he watched Agents try to pin down the Martian Manhunter, he felt his core finally do something other than be still.
The emotions that had been out of his reach came rushing back to him, rushing past the tips of his fingers and into his chest, into his core. It felt like finally taking in a much-needed breath after being held underwater for so long.
There was relief but there was something much more overwhelming.
As he looked at the hero - because the Martian Manhunter was a hero, he protected people, saved them - Danny felt rage.
He felt rage that the GIW would dare touch something from beyond Earth. That they would dare touch a Protector. That they would dare do to them what they had done to him. His core screamed inside him, vibrating with the rage held back for too long, and cold crept out to his limbs.
He would make them pay.
*
J’onn J’onzz was no stranger to scientists. He was unfortunately all too familiar with men who under the guise of searching for knowledge were more than happy to cause pain and suffering. A twisted version of what should have been a well-respected position.
Except J’onn had escaped them and had found friends with the heroes of Earth, but that did not stop from people looking at him with too much interest and clinical eyes.
It did not stop men in white from making J’onn feel trapped once again.
When he had woken up after being shot from one of their devices he found himself on a gurney in a building of white. He had tried to use one of his abilities, but it caused him pain and he felt several hands hold him down.
They moved the gurney faster, no doubt towards a room with stronger restraints and tools they wished to use on him.
J’onn struggled harder.
Pushing through the pain he tried to enter the minds of these men but there was a blockade of static and green. He could only feel their wicked glee and satisfaction before one of them was hitting him with a device that made him feel like a fire had burned him. A horrible echo of what all Martians had feared and what ended all but him. J’onn saw the men’s smiles grow the deeper into the facility they went.
He hoped the Leauge members were on their way when they finally passed through what seemed the last set of doors. The men who referred to each other as Agents were overflowing with excitement. J’onn could barely make sense of their words.
Though he could make sense of their too-tight grips trying to pull him to a metal table with straps and a light right above. J’onn would rather die than be dissected on a table and at the mercy of heartless men. He was not just some creature unfeeling to be cut open and inspected.
So he fought against them, through the pain, through the echo of fire going through him with each shock.
J’onn was a Martian. He had a family. He survived. He was a person. He wa-
Dull green eyes looked at him past the Agents. There was someone else in the room. Someone on another table strapped down. Green stained the metal and dripped down onto the floor on top of old stains. Like a corpse on an autopsy table, they were cut open and held open with metal tools. There was no rise or fall to their chest, but their eyes looked at J’onn.
A dull green. And. They. Blinked.
Alive. They were alive.
J’onn couldn’t help but reach out telepathically before retreating in horror.
Emptiness. A horrifying hollowness that should not have been there. Should not have belonged to someone who looked so young and small on the metal table. Who looked like a child.
J’onn fought harder against the men. He tried to wrench his arms out of their grip. He used his strength to make one of them bleed from a hit to the head. J’onn felt the grip loosen and he pulled but then he screamed. Burning enveloped him and he caught sight of the device on its highest setting as they roughly moved his limbs to the straps of the table.
An Agent looked down at him and opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t get a word out as there was a horrible-sounding gasp and the little warmth that had been in the room disappeared.
There on the other table was the child. Their back was arched off, reaching as far away as they could from the metal. Their head was thrown back, eyes shut, and under the muzzle, a mouth open in a silent scream would have not been out of place.
“Get control of it now!” one of the Agents yelled and two of them rushed over to the child.
Frost crept on the restraints holding them down and the muzzle digging into their cheeks. J’onn only caught a glimpse of their eyes finally opening before the agents blocked him from seeing any more.
Metal creaked, the room shook with a scream, and the two agents were thrown across the room. They did not get up.
The child was no longer strapped down. Instead, they floated above their table, the restrains gone. Their once dull eyes now glowed a pure white completely. Their white hair floated around their head as if unbound by gravity. Ice adorned their grayish-blue skin that darkened as it reached towards their hands. J’onn could have sworn that the black outfit they wore looked like a piece of space. Specks of light twinkled in a far-off distance. Sharp teeth were bared at the remaining three agents still surrounding J’onn.
One of them made a grab for something on a nearby table, but their fingers never even touched it before they were knocked back by an invisible force. Glowing white eyes followed to where they hit machinery. The other two agents met a similar fate.
Then it was just the two of them. J’onn was still trapped on a table completely at mercy.
Yet all he could pay attention to was how green flowed from the many wounds on the child. The most concerning was the sickening Y shape that just a moment ago had been held open. But the child paid no attention to it and showed no acknowledgment of pain.
Instead, those white eyes looked at him.
Suddenly there was a low soft croon filling the room. A wave of -concern-soothe-grief- swept over J’onn. A gentle soft sorrowful melody that came from the child.
Reaching out once again J’onn was relieved to see that the emptiness he felt earlier was gone, but he still retreated with how overwhelming their emotions were. There had simply been too much, the child felt so much. Then beneath it all, had been a terrifying rage.
Except J’onn did not fear them when they came closer. When they raised their hand and brought a finger to his restraints. Frost covered the metal and broke off while he barely felt a chill against his skin. He couldn’t find it in himself to move when those hands reached for his face. Cold gentle hands that held his face and smothered the echo of burning that J’onn still felt.
-worry-worry-soothe-calm-safe-protect-protect-
The sincerity of it all and the croon that had yet to stop filled J’onn with a new breath and made the pain he felt fade away. He felt like a child and as if his Mother had come to his side, her mind soft and loving as she chased his pain away. J’onn couldn’t resist the hands that helped him get off the table. He did not fear them even as he watched them turn unrelenting as they froze over the tables and with a simple gesture were crushed under an invisible pressure.
He was led to the door and the room creaked and groaned behind them. The sounds of protest as it began to collapse in on itself. The child did not falter, not once.
The was rage in the small body that held the strength to carry J’onn and the care to soothe him. A rage that did not touch J’onn at all. An overwhelming desire to protect and care was all that was directed at him. One that echoed how J’onn had felt when he wanted to protect his family and those who have come to be his friends over the years.
Instead, it was directed at the men and women in white who pointed their weapons at them.
They had no chance against this child’s rage.
J’onn saw the green trail they were leaving behind. He saw the multitude of cuts adorning the child’s body. He had seen the old stains below that table. He had seen those dull green eyes and felt that emptiness.
Of all the things he could feel from the child, mercy was not of them
*
When one of their own was taken, they had not been expecting to discover government-sanctioned experimentation and a whole town under blackout. Yet as Batman and the others looked, all they found was more and more of it. More and more evidence of was Green Lantern stated was cause for interdimensional war and what several members of the JLD said was asking for something worse than Death on the mortal plane.
Least to say that they moved quickly once they finally found out where J’onn had been taken.
“Do we have eyes on the facility?”
Flash of course had a prompt response. Having already done a perimeter check three times. He reported the number of guards and security they had in place. The others were not far behind.
“Fuck fuck fuck.”
A few turned to Constantine who was at the end of his third cigarette since they discovered that Amity Park and the Ghost Investigation Ward. “What is it?” Hal asked.
There was some more mumbling in a language they didn’t know and then some more cursing that only became louder the closer they got to the facility. “Not good is what it is. Magic is all”- Constantine waved his hands around in a flurry- “and what I’m feeling from that building is not something we want to mess with.”
“We are not going to leave one of our people,” Diana said and the others only voiced their agreement.
None of them wanted to leave J’onn with the GIW any longer. Their plans of experimentation had left more than a few of them feeling sick as they had gone over the reports in the briefing.
They finally came to a stop just at the edge of the security that Oracle and Flash had reported.
“Look,” Constantine said, flicking away the cigarette. “I’m not saying to bloody leave him with these sickos. I am just saying that you have no idea what we ar-”
Any question that they could have had for Constantine was answered by a sound so horrible it brought all of them to their knees. It sounded like the dying. Like the Dead. Death. A warning that stole their breath and gripped their hearts.
It came from the facility that had begun to creak and shake. There was the grating sound of metal bending in a way it had not been designed. Explosions of sparks from the lights and electrical structures being bent and twisted. Drawn closer and closer inward.
“Find him now!”
With that order, those enhanced with speed and flight sped their way toward the facility in search of J’onn. Hoping that he wasn’t deep inside where walls were already crushed in and only going deeper.
“I see him. He’s over here!” one of them called and the others rushed over. There was a relief when they saw him exiting one of the doors, He didn’t look visibly injured but he was slumped over moving slowly.
They went to go to his side to help but suddenly it was like the sky came crashing down on them. A weight pressing down onto them, pushing them into the ground and keeping them there.
Constantine turned his head and his blood went cold with what he saw.
A small figure was tucked to the Martian’s side. Floating. Death and so much more emanated from them. That feeling he felt from before, though he could barely handle it being so close.
He could hear the others struggling. Pushing against the force but that only caused ice to creep toward them. Sharp jagged glowing edges pressed into their skin, threatening to make them bleed. To kill them where they laid.
-rage-fury-how dare they-away-away-danger-rage-
It was suffocating and Constantine could taste blood as he yelled out, “Stop! Stop, don’t fight it! Just stop!” He didn't need to hear them question him just from the look in their eyes. “Tha-That’s a protector spirit. A fucking angry one,” Constantine said, and wasn’t that the understatement of the fucking century.
What he saw before him, eyes ablaze in white was a being from the Infinite Realms. A protector spirit that, from the looks of it, had been tortured and now was enraged. The fury he could feel from them was choking, almost burning. Constantine wouldn’t be surprised if he died now from drowning in his own blood.
There they were, either going to be killed by the spirit's ice or crushed by the pressure while the facility collapsed in on itself. A perfect example of what a spirit who wished to dole out pain could do to them. They wouldn’t even be wrong to do so.
They would have been perfectly in the right. Whatever had pushed a Protector spirit to be like this deserved what was coming to them.
But then J’onn finally spoke. His voice was raspy but soothing even though they could feel the projection of his own anger and pain. He knelt down and made himself look up at the small spirit who took the form of a child much like the younger heroes they knew.
“These are not enemies,” J’onn said.
-suspicion-worry-not safe-protect-make them pay-protect-rage-protect-
“We are safe.” J’onn moved his hand to the spirit’s shoulder drawing their eyes to look at him. He looked at the others helpless on the ground. “These are my friends. They are here to help.”
-protect-help-worry-pain-protect-not safe-
The spirit’s gaze shifted back to them. Their eyes dug into them, deep inside as if to judge their very souls. They probably were.
The spirit turned back to J’onn and their hands crept towards his face. It was a sickening feeling to know they would be unable to stop whatever this spirit wished to do, no doubt J’onn was as helpless as they were. Though he showed no fear, no trepidation as the hands touched his skin and held him. If anything, they saw him lean into the touch.
“They have hurt you,” the spirit said. Their voice was like a blizzard storm and the stillness of space. It was utterly breathtaking.
J’onn took a breath and his voice was shaky as he spoke like he was on the brink of tears. “Yes, they did,” he said and there was no question that ‘they’ were the ones who took him away and brought him to this horrible place. “But they are gone.” J’onn looked at the crushed facility where he had been held. It was silent, not a soul except for him and the others. Not one of them in those white suits. “We escaped.”
“They are no more,” the spirit said simply as one would have said the sun rose and it set each day. “They shall not touch my domain again.” There were fangs and fierce anger on their face. Though their hand never turned aggressive as it was laid on J’onn’s face. “You need not suffer the death echoes. M'yri'ah and K'hym rest peacefully among the stars. This I promise you J’onn J’onzz, Keeper of the Puru Pendant, Last of the Manhunters, Last Son of Mars, Beloved Child of Ma'lecaandra."
The words rang out and resonated with the beating of their hearts. They knew of J’onn’s story before he came to Earth. The death of his people, his family. Names this spirit spoke. Names of the last bit of his culture and the name of his home before it had ever been called Mars.
At this, J’onn dropped his head and they could see his tears. They watched as the protector spirit pressed their head against his and closed their eyes. Their mouth moved but they did not hear what was spoken.
Suddenly the crushing pressure lifted and the ice disappeared. Instead, the heroes felt a bittersweet joy and grief fill their lungs. It was from J’onn.
The spirit moved back and smiled at J’onn. An expression so soft compared to the destruction they wrought. They tilted their head up, looking at the night sky above them. The moon shone down on the land and the heroes who stood there.
The league watched as the spirit seemed to release a breath. A whisper of something they could not name.
Then they closed their eyes and began to fall.
J’onn caught them and glowing green began to cover his hands and drip onto the ground.
DPxDC au where the GIW mistaken Martian Manhunter for a ghost and tries to capture him, which leads to the Justice League finds out about the whole thing with ghosts and unethical experimentation.
But the one that's most pissed about it isn't the JL, or Martian Manhunter. No, the one who's most pissed about it is Danny, because how dare they cause harm to his favorite alien/hero. His space obsession and inner fanboy cannot accept such injustice to befall onto his idol.
So what if he's on the dissection table and bleeding profusely? Nothing is stopping him from tearing apart this facility Dan style. Oh don't worry mr Martian sir, tis but a flesh wound. Danny will get him out even if it means he burns himself out during the process.
The Justice League reached the base as it exploded outwards. Apparently J'onn was escaping. Thank the God's. Only to find that no. It was a skinny teen boy. Who was heavily injured.
The team jumped into action to help him and J'onn. They had no idea how the poor boy was even still alive at this point. His barely wrapped torso was a mess. J'onn was doing his best to help. But the boy seemed he'll bent on getting the hero out.
Once the fight was over they rushed them to the watchtower. They both needed medical help as soon as possible.
J'onn: What is your name young one?
Danny: I'm Danny Phantom! Hi!
J'onn smiled softly at the teen. He could feel the boys wonder and excitement. Competing with the anger and pain. What a remarkable young man. Through sheer bloody minded stubbornness he had broken them both free.
J'onn: May I ask why you hadn't escaped before Danny?
J'onn felt a deep well of grief rise up at the question. Danny shuddered from the feeling, and J'onn took hold of his hand to give comfort.
Danny: They killed my family. And my friends. My clone is the only person free of them. And I made her run. So I just... Didn't see a point I guess?
J'onn could feel the anger his words caused in his colleagues. A whole family wiped out. To capture and hurt this young man.
J'onn: I see. But then you saw another captive. And suddenly had a reason to fight.
Danny: I know it happened to you before. I couldn't let that happen again. I know how much it hurts after all.
J'onn have young Danny a ruffle of his hair. The young man leaned into the soft touch like a love starved animal. This poor child.
J'onn: Why did they want you so badly?
Danny: Cause they have my species. They managed to pass this law. The anti Ecto acts. We aren't part of the meta human protection act. Cause we were legally defined as being as sentient as mold.
J'onn: You say your clone is safe? Can we reach her to help you?
Danny shook his head sadly.
Danny: No. I made her got to the Realms. Then I destroyed the portal. I have no way to get there without either a summons or a new portal.
The heroes all felt pained by that quiet admission. this poor boy. Superman had one question he needed to ask.
Superman: your family were human. What happened to change you? You don't have any vital signs.
Danny laughed bitterly and tears gathered in his eyes before her firmly brushed them away. Even as he was letting them patch him up. He stated out the window.
Danny: I died. In a Lab accident. I not want to discuss the details. But, I went in alive. And came out a member of the Infinite Realms.
Batman: What are the Infinite Realms?
Danny: The free space between universes. The land of the dead. It contains the various afterlives. And the free space is home to the restless dead. Ghosts in other words.
No one said anything. How could they, he was so young. And so hirt. None of them knew how to help. J'onn kept hold of Danny's hand. He could tell the young man was scared they would turn on him for this.
J'onn: Perhaps we should invite Constantine and Dead man here? They may be able to aid your recovery.
Danny turned to look at him, his shock obvious on his face. J'onn nodded his head. He could tell the boy wanted to see if he was being sincere.
J'onn: We have worked with ghosts before Danny. Perhaps not ghosts from these Infinite Realms. But ghosts regardless.
Danny clung to his hand like a lifeline and began to cry silently. A deep emotional wound beginning to heal. J'onn mentally asked the others to leave them be. He would help the young man. His wounds were at least properly wrapped now.
DPxDC au where the GIW mistaken Martian Manhunter for a ghost and tries to capture him, which leads to the Justice League finds out about the whole thing with ghosts and unethical experimentation.
But the one that's most pissed about it isn't the JL, or Martian Manhunter. No, the one who's most pissed about it is Danny, because how dare they cause harm to his favorite alien/hero. His space obsession and inner fanboy cannot accept such injustice to befall onto his idol.
So what if he's on the dissection table and bleeding profusely? Nothing is stopping him from tearing apart this facility Dan style. Oh don't worry mr Martian sir, tis but a flesh wound. Danny will get him out even if it means he burns himself out during the process.
After days? weeks? months? years? in this mercy-forsaken lab, Danny finds himself slipping; his core straining under the weight of what he's been subjected to. In a last ditch effort to save his fracturing soul, his brain simply stops processing the pain and allows his mind to escape into a waking dream.
Danny knows it's a dream. If he thinks about it; he can still hear, see, feel the scientists at work. He doesn't think about it; instead embraces whatever false world his mind decides to concoct for him.
.
Several states away, a young boy opens his eyes to the inside of a strange pod in an abandoned lab. Though he cannot see it yet, a strange metal tag dangles from his ear, stamped on one side with the word 'CADMUS' and on the other with 'R-13'.
tw: Human experimentation mention, Torture (past), Derealization/Disassociation (?) Character Death (besides Danny)
Project R-13
Status: Inactive
Vitals: Steady
Brain Activity: Null
The subject displays instinctive reaction to outside stimuli, breathes without mechanical assistance. However, all attempts to awaken or connect psychically with R-13 have shown no results. Physically, R-13 is a fully grown fourteen-year-old male. No detectable defects in neurological development. Theoretically, R-13 would be capable of movement and speech if released from Pod 413, if not for all data showing evidence of being brain-dead.
Due to being unable to implant requested and required Trigger Phrases, Project R-13 is to be terminated at 08:00 July 19, 20XX. Following autopsy and analysis, scientists will begin work on R-14.
--------
No one was coming for him.
It was a fact he had resigned himself to the moment he was taken away in cuffs. His family had fought, of course, and regardless of his status, his parents would stop at nothing to get him back.
It was not a comfort or hope he was able to carry with him past the threshold of Fenton Works front door. The bag over his head did nothing to drown the three gun shots that echoed from guns that carried bullets instead of Ectoplasm.
They were three blocks away when the explosion of the portal being forcibly shut down rocked Amity Park.
So no one would be coming for him.
The first year, he fought back. He kept track of days by scratching them in the wall, like in all the cartoons and tv shows. Attempted to escape, refused to cooperate with tests and experiments, sassed back against questions.
He no longer had the energy. It was always bright, except for the times they sealed him in small dark containers for transport. His many escape attempts had only helped them strengthen their containment measures, he should have waited, but there was nothing he could do now.
His living self had deteriorated to the point it was no longer capable of sustaining itself and his ghost, leaving him to remain in his spectral form to the researchers delight. His Core ached from the strain of holding himself together, unable to spare energy to heal more than wounds that might end him.
If he didn't think of something soon, he'd either shatter or reveal the best kept secret of the Infinite Realms. So Danny closed his eyes during a lull in the latest torture and prayed to whoever could hear him, this worked.
He felt fuzzy at the edges and sank into the feeling, letting it take him away. The almost forgotten sensation of floating soothed him just a little before his Core constricted tightly. Condensing down, down, down. Shedding excess ectoplasm to become smaller and smaller, until he was sure it could fit on the top of a pinhead. Danny wasn’t sure what exactly was happening, he just wanted to stop being so aware of everything.
He didn’t fight it though, letting the sensation of fuzzing take over him. It was like holding his hands up in front of those old clunky tv sets, palms barely touching as the static brushed against the skin like fur. Suddenly,as though he were a puppet with their strings cut, he was floating in a nothingness.
,”,”,”,”,
A bolt of electricity shocked through his body, alarms around him blaring but muffled. There was no pain once the shocks subsided, and Danny felt himself floating in a way that reminded him of the Far Frozen Medical Center.
It made sense his mind would create a world around that first. He needed so much medical care. When Danny opened his eyes, however, it wasn't Frostbite who created him, but people in another lab.
No, a different lab. One missing the blinding white of the GIW facilities. There were no lines of green running along the wall to indicate anti-ghost measures.
This was a Lab he could escape from. For the first time in years, Danny grinned, eyes flashing a bright green as the thick glass around him shattered, and he dropped to his feet.
------
Project R-13
Status: Terminated Escaped
Vitals: Unknown
Brain Activity: Unknown
R-13 was terminated at 08:04 July 19, 20XX. Confirmed vitals ceased functioning and what little Brain Activity there was ceased. At 08:08 an electrical malfunction caused sparks to electrify Containment Pod 413 for approximately two minutes.
Subject R-13's vital signs spiked and machines registered full Neurological activity. R-13's eyes opened for the first time at 08:11. The subject proceeded to shatter the Super Grade glass of the Containment Pod 413 before engaging scientists in combat.
At some point, Subject became aware of nude state and stole Head Researcher Torrance's lab coat, trousers and my own badge when I attempted to intervene. Suspicions that the Robins possess meta abilities confirmed despite donor subjects not carrying the Meta Gene. R-13 removed clothing by simply pulling them off and through Dr Torrance, putting them on while continuing the escape attempt. Then ran through the sealed door of the Observation Room in a manner not unlike a ghost Phase Shifting.
Security pursued R-13 through the facility before Subject turned a corner and vanished, despite being a dead end with no rooms or visible ventilation. Subject may have inherited abilities from several of the Genetic Templates used for Project R, which DNA samples were used remains classified to Researchers pending capture and study of him Subject R-13.
Tracker located in R-13's tag is malfunctioning, possibly due to use of previously displayed Abilities. Signal becomes lost before appearing miles away from previous location. Points seem sporadic with no specific direction over another, several movement patterns suggest Play Behavior confusion when in one place as the signal loops on itself or circles before moving elsewhere with no warning. Several task forces have been mobilized to locate and contain R-13 before undesired parties can discover Subject.
God Speed kid.
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Meanwhile, the GIW are livid that their own test subject fucking “melted”. Scientists blaming the Agents for not properly sustaining the ghost, with the Agents arguing that letting the monster heal too much was too risky.
Danny's Core straight up just shrunk down and Yote itself into the nearest Husk. Which luckily for Danny was the Just Terminated R-13 Project 'Clone' bc he was being transported between facilities and was passing nearby enough. The Shrinking allowed his Soul to pass through the Ecto defenses by being under the threshold that registers enough to activate them.
Literally a last ditch effort because if there HADN'T been a viable vessel for him to settle into... well...
Danny has basic Ghost abilities but no alternate form and minor "Ecto contamination" which would register him as a Liminal. If Danny were to come into contact with a Lazarus pit or die he would unlock Phantom from hibernation. His Spirit form did So much heavy lifting that it deserves a nap okay.
@ailithnight @omnicrafts this dug itself into my brain so I couldn’t resist.
~
Danny flew away as far as he could. He went West. Then South. Then North. Then East. Then North again. He just kept moving, uncaring about the direction even looping back again. He didn’t care as long as it was anywhere but there. But he wasn’t there anymore.
Instead soon he found himself landing where there were no tall buildings nearby or people. Farmland. Quiet. No walls anywhere near him. Just crops and dirt. He stared at the tall stalks of what seemed to be corn and was reminded of a childhood memory from a family trip a long time ago to a farm. They had a field like this, but smaller.
Danny let himself stand there for a while just looking.
It was a nice dream. Finally being able to escape. To get away from those dammed white walls and go outside again. It was so easy to slip away from scientists that had actual names on badges and not just letters. No glowing green of ecto-weaponry that would burn. He smiled as he slipped the badge he stole into a pocket and looked up.
The sky was right there. There were clouds with the sun peeking out from behind. It was the afternoon by its position. Danny could feel the wind, so different from the stagnant air in the room where they cut into him again and again. So different from the sensation of those agents’ breaths mingling right above him as they discussed his organs and the tests they still needed to conduct. Even the lab coat and pants he stole felt nice despite being too big on him.
He was more than happy to focus on the sensations his mind had come up with.
It wasn’t very long until Danny noticed someone else had arrived. Their arrival had been silent. There were no footsteps or sound of tires on the ground. Instead, it seemed that suddenly there was someone there, standing not far from him. Danny didn’t recognize them. Dreams were typically like that though.
It was a boy. Black hair. Blue Eyes. It was amusing seeing the similarities he had with him.
But what interested Danny more was the clothes the boy was wearing. Underneath a leather jacket was something skintight and colorful. Blue and red with a giant S on their chest.
It seemed that Danny’s mind conjured up a hero.
That was nice. He had always wanted to meet one. To not be alone. Being in Amity Park there was only him and then Red Huntress, but it wasn’t the same seeing as she hunted him down before becoming an ally. He had always imagined what it would be like to meet someone like him. Someone with powers. Someone who he could have fought alongside, and gotten help from.
But people like that didn’t exist. Every search for one left him empty-handed. As far as Danny knew he was alone. Except now… there was someone there.
“Hi,” Danny said. He could see them looking at him closely and they almost looked frozen, as if shocked that he was even there. The “Hey” he eventually got in response was a little stilted, though Danny wasn't one to judge. He’d been awkward more times than he could count.
Danny dug his feet deeper into the dirt. Watching how his pale skin went underneath the brown. It felt better than the metal table. He could be free of it at any point he wished. It was better than being strapped down as they cut deeper and touched what they shouldn't. Better than being treated like he wasn’t alive, the agents uncari-
“What are you doing?” the hero’s voice was curious and warm. A stark difference compared to the clinical terms and demanding voices Danny had gotten used to.
He focused on that warmth and the warmth he felt on his skin. He focused on the dirt going in between his toes. He focused on the wind ruffling through his hair. Danny really liked this instead. He looked at the hero who looked so bright and alive. A wish of what Danny had wanted so long ago.
“Hiding.”
Danny was hiding in a dream, more than happy to get away from pain and solitude. More than happy to stand there barefoot in the dirt free and no longer alone.
The GIW fuck up, Amity is blown up and the Ghost Zone is seriously destabilised.
Danny ends up having to literally hold up the Infinite Realms to make sure that what is literally the lining between dimensions doesn't collapse on itself. Stuck halfway through the portal while putting all of his focus into his task, he stays in the ruins of his haunt for 3 years before the Justice League Dark finally manages to break through the barrier the Ancients set up to conceal him.
The entire JL have been itching to investigate what happened to the town without anyway to get in. To say that they didn't expect the ghost of a teenager playing the role of Atlas would be an understatement. Now they must find a way to relieve him of his burden.
(Danny hasn't aged in all the time he's been there due to his trauma, which is made worse by the fact that time moves differently for him due to the Zone's instability. He has no idea how long it's been, but the bone-deep exhaustion he feels suggests it's anywhere between decades or centuries.)
The infinite realms is theoretically a lot ‘heavier’ than what Atlas would have to hold.
It would make sense if this was a Ghost King Danny AU as well as maybe having some assistance from other ancients and maybe his rouges as well?
It fills in some plot holes too as his rouges and allies would have tried to help him or find help.
Or you could add in some extra angst where the only reason he’s able to hold up the infinite realms is because everyone sacrificed themselves to create pillars to help hold and contain the realms
Whether or not they died to create the pillars or are more in a suspended animation is up to you.
Just imagine Danny desperately moving and grasping the fabric of time and space fully incapable of diverting even an ounce of attention to anything else.
Even though Amity was destroyed and he could never have a normal life again with the rest of the GIW knowing where he was and what he looked like.
Even though his loved ones may never become ghosts or might not even remember him as ghosts.
Even though all his loved ones are dead and those who already were may have been destroyed by the explosion.
He can’t mourn.
He doesn’t even think he’s strong enough to last long but he has to.
Just long enough for someone, anyone to notice.
He can feel his core buckling and straining under the pressure, his form is slowly destabilizing.
Just a little longer.
He can do this.
He never wanted to be a hero.
He never wanted to be the only one that could protect his town.
But he was.
And he’s the only one that can stop the realms from destroying earth and itself in the process.
Just a little longer.
As the pressure of the realms alleviate and form into something easier to hold.
As his very being mourns.
As his sense of time and identity withers.
He can keep holding the realms up.
He never wanted this.
But who else could do this?
Just a little longer until someone comes.
Just a little longer and he won’t have to do this anymore.
Friends and Rogues and the entirety of Pariah's Skeleton Army. In the beginning Danny could look around and he'd see Pandora and Frostbite and Skulker and Boxy and Johnny and Spectra and Undergrowth and...
So many familiar faces. Everyone from his worst enemies to his closest allies (save Clockwork who was busy trying to stabilize the timestream; and Youngblood who no one wanted to see a second give himself to this cause).
Yes, in the beginning there were many.
Pointdexter was the first to fall. No. Not fall. That's not the right word. Change. He changed. He's still holding his chunk of the zone, but he's different now. Strong as stone and just as immobile. A pillar, a statue of crystalline ectoplasm in the shape of a friend.
It didn't happen instantly. It had been a transition. Danny would say slow, but he's not sure he knows what slow and fast are anymore. It feels like it's been an eternity since they took up this burden. It feels like it's been a second. All he knows is that Sydney started changing and eventually he was stone.
Danny hadn't understood what was happening then. Couldn't spare the thought to ask. Not when it was Sydney. Not when it was Skulker. Not when it was Technus or Ember or Spectra. Not when it was Walker or Vlad or Vortex. Not when it was Frostbite or Pandora. By the time the burden was just barely light enough to have thoughts beyond holding it up, Danny was already alone.
He grieved then. As best as he could when all but a fraction of a fraction of his energy and attention was singularly honed on holding up the Realms.
Just a little longer. I just have to hold on a little longer. I have to. It has to be me. No one else can. So I will. Just a little longer.
Oh.
Danny understands now.
In the distant, fleeting way he can understand with only one thought in every eternity being about something other than the burden.
He can feel it happening to him too, now.
The shift in his core, the shift in his ectoplasm to match it. Physically starting in both his outermost extremities and in his centermost self. Moving outwards and inwards to meet somewhere in between.
Mentally starting in the things he starts forgetting. The empty spaces between his thoughts where there used to sit memories and emotions and hopes and dreams. He wanted to be something when he grew up once. He wanted to be... To be a. . .
He was losing himself. Bit by bit. Everything he once was; consumed to make room in his self for this new purpose; sacrificed to stay strong enough to hold on to the Infinite.
The longer his thoughts were filled with nothing but the need to hold on, the more he changed, his form shifting to match this new purpose. This is what happened to the others. They gave everything they had to the cause until it became all they were. He had lasted the longest because he was the strongest. He'd had the most to give.
And now.
Just a little longer. He could keep dropping pieces of himself into the Abyss, as long as it meant he could ignore the strain, the pain, the creeping exhaustion. Just a little longer. He doesn't want to. He never did. But he's the only one who can. Therefore he must. Just a little longer.
.
@angelnumber1 You did this.
You used the phrase, "His sense of time and identity withered."
Freeing people from the pillars by misting them down with lazarus water like a cranky succulent
It takes a while and maybe they come free bit by bit but Danny spending the next few years running around frantically with a plant mister and continually heisting Ra’s
(Because it’s gonna empty all the pits to get everyone but Danny’s not gonna waste time taking out the League of Assassins when he can run in with a mason jar)
Okay but? The IMAGERY? Of Billy seeing this Fellow Kid, just like him? Hurting and alone? Straining and breaking under the weight of EVERYTHING? In the barren, ruined center of what must of been his home.
Alone too.
Billy CARES. He KNOWS he's strong. Might not be strong enough. But? You know he wouldn't even hesitate. He'd have to TRY.
A burden shared. The champion of MAGIC ITSELF.
Just two kids with burdens too big for shoulders so young, holding up Creation Itself.
It's going to be okay. We can do it together. You held on.
We're going to fix this.
He's here.
And just? Like trying to careful mold honey back into place. Soft fabric that drapes and dripes far beyond what it should, the green barely holding together in their hands. But like kintsugi, the art of mending broken things with gold, the realm between Realms is shot through with bands of Magic. To act like pins holding its brokenness together until it can heal.
But? The sea of pillars at the heart of the Realm. Ghosts without Obsessions. Who GAVE UP their Obsessions to CHANGE so completely for one united cause? They crystallized. United.
Joined together to try and hold up the skys.
It would be? The most painfully beautiful sea of shimmering crystal lights you could ever imagine. Tragedy made manifest. The cost of billions of billions upon billions of SOULS. All trying to prevent the end of everything, brought upon by humanity's petty hatreds, callus actions, and unthinking hubris.
With no guarantee it can EVER be undone.
Sometimes damage is permanent. Some costs are high and losses unspeakable. How much of this CHILD KING is even left? When he wakes up... IF he wakes up...
Just? The phrase "Tragedy should not be so beautiful." ECHOES in my head? Because it would be? Wouldn't it? Pillars of intricate crystal people, glowing in the light of a now silent, gold streaked world. Floating islands filled with strange and wonderful things in the distance. Soft green, ever swirling skies.
It's beautiful.
Serene.
And that? Is somehow the most terrible fact of all. Because this is the scene of an unspeakable tragedy. There should be blood on the floors. Wailing and howls. Smoke in the air and bodies in the streets. Proof they lived and suffered and DIED again. That they were brave. That something terrible and wrong transpired here.
I'm just... ok when shazam sees him there's 2 parts that cry out Atlas sees this kid taking on a burden greater than even he had foisted on him the other is billy who like you said sees this kid hurting alone straining under this
Know how what else you said The kintsugi part gold flakeing through the realms I'm viewing that as how the other ghosts of the realms become whole again the magic once the realms are tied together enough that they start healing themselves starts streaming into the ghosts
who became like this because they gave themselves up their obsessions their very cores
Of course reawakening a ghosts obsession is not simple it's not just hey you like this no they awaken them by showing them their obsession why they became a ghost them moving towards their obsession
So wraped around their crystalline statue pillers play their obsession and so slowly ever so slowly all these ghosts are crawling back to existence
Speaking of I'm viewing the ancients pillars as more than just a statue they become true pillers like frostbite has changed from massive yeti to a piller of ice frost stretching empowering the statues of yetis amd frost cored ghosts
While pandoras is like truly ancient greek that is blinding with it's light of hope glow reaching out empowering near statues etchings of hope in humanity of instances of hard fought battles that only the power of hope brought victory
God I'm fully just viewing all the ancient pillers
Awakening the ghosts from the pillars they became to support Danny in holding up the Infinite Realms makes me thing of PJO and waking up Thalia Grace from her tree that was protecting the camp. The pillars would still be there doing the job they were created for, but not quite as powerful as they were when they were literally being fueled by a beings’ energy. 🏛️
Here are some of my favorite tags from the past few posts.
Danny can feel the people helping him hold the Infinite Realm slowly losing their strength, he knows that they won’t be able to hold it less they give up something more, and he’s afraid of the consequences.
So, in Danny fashion, he tries to help his friend, despite his own burden. He encase them in ice, the unbreakable and non-melting kind. He himself is within a giant ice golem that resemble the suits that he use to fight Pariah Dark. Unlike normal ice, this ice harden and build up with time until it became gigantic crystal pillars that makes their surrounding resembles the Ice Age.
He hope it’d put them in cryostasis, lessen the load they have to bear, just enough that when they get thawed out, he’d still see them (and not just an empty pillar).
janainaart
dailybridgerton
izzy806
jbbartram-illu
stormborns
kaledo-art
blakekathryn
dededos
baratheonpilled
