I have finished the first chapter! Have mercy on any mistakes, this is my 2nd fic I’ve written EVER and the first was when i was basically a baby ok… anyways here ya go
Gutterball AU: A dpxdc Fic
Chapter 1: All the King's Horses and All the King's Men…
Danny drummed his fingers nervously on the long meeting table, bouncing his leg with impatience. Frostbite gave him a pitying look from the seat to his right.
“Do not worry Great One, the meeting will begin soon enough and you shall be free to do as you please afterwards, no training or duties for today. The preparations for your crowning are almost complete and the time is drawing near to us. Are you nervous about this? Or is it something else that ails you?”
Danny looked over at him with a quiet sigh upon his lips.
“No Frostbite, it’s fine, I’m just worried about tomorrow. 18th birthdays are a big deal to the living, and I haven’t heard what my parents are planning, only that it’s some “big secret surprise”. You know how they are with surprises, I just hope this one doesn’t come to life and eat me, or have some ghost-proof element to it. Whatever it is, it can’t possibly be worse than last year I guess.”
He remembered his 17th birthday party with a shudder. The “Fenton Anti-Ecto Birthday Candles” had filled the room with an awful smell, almost like a dead skunk with a dash of nauseatingly sweet vanilla. Not to mention his gift, the “Fenton Ghost-Proof Bean Brewer”, which was a coffee maker with a filter infused with… something… that didn’t actually harm ghosts but did make the coffee have a bizarre aftertaste and a strange glow that was certainly off-putting enough to keep a ghost (or anyone sane) from wanting a second sip.
He looked around the room as the Ghost Council filed in and took their places around the table. Danny was seated at the head of the table, his back to one of the two grand doors, this one guarded by Fright Knight and his trusty steed. To his right sits Frostbite, Dorathea, and Nocturn. To his left sits Wulf, Clockwork, Pandora, and Undergrowth. At the opposite head of the table sit 3 of the Observants, whispering between each other, huddled over their notes. Next to the second grand door, near the Observants, was a small black table covered in boxes wrapped with glowing ribbons. Danny wondered for a moment what that was about when a gavel bang rang out from across the room.
“Greetings ghosts and ghouls of the court! I am the Grand Observer, as you should all well know by now, and these two are my Great Secretaries.”
Danny withheld an eye-roll. The two Great Secretaries bowed slightly beside the Grand Observer, then had a seat.
“As was stated in our last meeting, the focus of this meeting will be to go over the list of kingly milestones and to vote on whether or not our young king is ready to take the throne. Any other festivity related conversation shall take place afterwards. If the king is ready, let us begin.”
All eyes in the room shifted to Danny, and he felt a nervous churn in his stomach.
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, let’s proceed.”
The standing Observant gave a nod, then pulled out a long glowing scroll wrapped in red ribbon. This was the same scroll the council had made together with Danny years ago, after the defeat of Pariah Dark. Danny had not been ready for kingly duties yet, and overwhelmed with responsibilities that he didn’t even know he was getting, he had set off for the already established council for assistance. They worked to set a list of goals for Danny, things that he needed to achieve before he would take up the crown. Danny had been training hard, and the last goal in sight was his 18th birthday. One could hardly be a good ruler if they weren’t even an adult, could they?
“The first on our list of goals is independent portal opening. Wulf, can you confirm this to be a goal well achieved?”
Wulf stood from his place next to Danny, puffing his chest out proudly.
“Danny atingis la celon fiksitan fare de la konsilio. Liaj portaloj funkcias perfekte!” [Esperanto: Danny achieved the goal set by the council. His portals work perfectly!]
Wulf sat back down after a nod from the Observant.
“May the council see a demonstration from his highness? For confirmation?”
Danny let his eyes roll this time. He stood quietly and faced the grand door behind him. Reaching out, he did just as Wulf had taught him, focusing on where he wanted the portal to lead and carving through the air with a glowing hand. The space around the line he cut sagged, like a curtain splitting apart in the wind. Behind the wispy cloth-like folds in reality that he held apart, a green portal swirled vibrantly.
The members of the council clapped lightly, like he had shown them a magic trick. Dispelling the portal, Danny sat down.
“What next on the list? Let’s hurry this along, I’ve got ghosts to catch and birthday plans to make.”
The Grand Observer pulled out a very goofy looking pen, with a small pink eye on the end and glittery strings dangling off of it. He drew a huge check next to the goal on his list.
“The next goal set by the council was to learn to properly wield the Ring of Rage. Pandora, what say you on the completion of this goal?”
Pandora stood from her seat.
“I have worked hard to train our young king to control the rage brought on by the ring. He has made lovely progress towards this goal, and I deem him fit to wield the power of the ring. I have no doubt he will wield it far better than our past king.”
With that she sat down, smiling towards Danny warmly. The Grand Observer checked the box and moved on.
“Our third goal here is to establish a higher level of ghostly knowledge, so that our king may understand those he rules with confidence. Frostbite, your comments on this goal?”
Frostbite stood, his chair squeaking loudly behind him as it was pushed back.
“Our weekly lessons have gone lovely, and I can assure you I have done my best to teach The Great One as much as our time would allow. He has passed our little exams with flying colors. I deem this goal achieved.”
Frostbite patted Danny’s arm as he sat back down. The Observer marked the goal achieved just like before.
“Last, but certainly not least, is the goal of adulthood. Today marks the last day this goal shall remain unachieved, and tomorrow our young king celebrates his 18th year. Given that all goals will be reached by then, the council wishes to hold the crowning ceremony as soon as possible, one day after the birthday of our highness. To any that would object, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
The room is silent for a few moments before the Grand Observer continues again.
“With that being said, let us move on to more festive conversations. Your Highness, it has come to my attention that many members of the council wish to impart with you gifts and well wishes. Please observe the table by the door and see these gifts.”
Danny perked up at that, standing and floating towards the table with a surprised smile on his face and a light blush of green dusting his cheeks and ears.
“Aww you guys got me birthday presents? You didn’t have to, that’s so sweet of you!”
He looked at the one closest to him on the table. It was wrapped neatly, with a tag that said ‘To: The Great One, From: Frostbite, Do not lift’ in very neat handwriting. Danny pulled the ribbon off and carefully unwrapped the box without lifting it. Inside was a cake box with a clear top, a bright green cake with the Phantom logo in black surrounded by pretty white and black piping shown through the film.
“Frostbite! You made me a cake?!? Wh- thank you…”
Danny’s voice softened and he looked touched. Frostbite simply smiled back at him.
“Of course, what is a birthday without cake? Since we cannot be with you on your actual birthday, why not make one for us to share today? It’s my own recipe, complete with ecto-cream frosting! Open the others and we can all dig in and have a slice.”
Not needing to be asked twice, Danny excitedly eyed a smaller present. This one was from Clockwork. Unwrapping and opening the little box, he found a watch. The band was plain black leather, the dials and numbers glowed like uranium, but the watch face was the real surprise. An image of the night sky swam across it, almost like it was reflecting from above him in a pool of water. He could see every star brightly, as if on a cloudless night. He looked up at Clockwork, shock and awe painting his expression.
“It is a reflection of the night sky, as it would have looked on the day you were born. I hope it serves you well, it should help you keep track of time even in the Zone where time can be a little… odd.”
Danny smiled warmly as he put the watch on his wrist. His core buzzed with happiness, a quiet rumble settling in his chest.
“Thank you, this is one of the coolest gifts anyone has ever given me! How did you even manage to do this?!”
Clockwork just smiled back at him, shrugging his shoulders.
Danny laughed at that and moved to the next box. This box was fairly large, and wider than the cake box. The box was from Dorathea, Undergrowth, and Wulf. The tag read ‘Dora taught us a new skill while we waited for meetings to begin the past few months. I hope these are to your liking - Undergrowth’.
After opening the box the first item was a scarf. It was a medium green, with little forest green spikes knitted into it. He could tell the knitter was inexperienced, with some of the stitches being uneven, but a very solid attempt overall. This one was clearly Undergrowth's work.
Under the scarf was a pair of socks, black with a little white ghost knitted into the sides. The knitting was much messier on these but it was obvious that the one making it did so with much care. Looking up, Danny could see Wulf blush and turn his head, tail swishing behind him.
The last item in the box was a light green, almost white sweater. In the center it had the Phantom logo knitted in black, and the sweater had a slight glow to it, almost like the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling in his room. Speaking of stars, a few tiny black stars were stitched on it, seemingly randomly. Dora spoke up as Danny looked over to her.
“I learned to knit things with a special ectoplasmic yarn, if you get a tear in it it should heal back together itself. I tried to mimic a constellation with the stars but I’m not sure it comes across well… I hope you like it nonetheless.”
She smiled sheepishly at him. Danny put the sweater on immediately. It was a little loose on him, but it was a pleasant amount of oversized.
“I’ll cherish it Dora, and thank you two as well. Y’all are really trying to butter me up today, huh?”
Danny looked at the last present as the others giggled behind him. Picking it up, he could see it was from Pandora. He turned to her with a mischievous grin.
“It’s certainly not everyday I get to open Pandora’s box, is it?”
Pandora just scoffed fondly at him as he opened it. Inside was a silver chain, long and thin.
“Once you become our king, you will carry the Ring of Rage around with you wherever you go. I made this chain so that you could hold it safely and securely around your neck without needing to feel the rings rage all the time. I hope it is handy to you, let me know if you need more links added or removed.”
Danny could feel his core thrum happily from all the attention and gifts. He wasn’t expecting so much from the council, much less a whole table of gifts. His ears felt warm and his face hurt from smiling. He could see the Observants looking tired and uninterested in the corner however.
“Thank all of you so much, I won’t hold you here if you have something else to be doing, but if you’d like, stick around and let’s cut into this cake shall we? This meeting is adjourned.”
A gavel rang out from seemingly nowhere at this proclamation. The Observants eagerly rushed out the door, with Nocturn, Undergrowth and Pandora following behind a bit slower, polite goodbyes on their lips as they excused themselves to get back to work. The others gathered around the small table, lining up to take a slice of Frostbites homemade birthday cake. Cutting himself a big slice, Danny sat back down at the table. The others joined him, pulling their chairs closer than they were during the meeting.
Frostbite hummed happily at them, clearly pleased that others were enjoying his cake. Danny took a bite, the icing tasted like ectoplasm with a pleasant hint of coffee. It was a chocolate coffee cake, his favorite flavors combined to make the ultimate dish.
“How did you know what flavor of cake I like? I don’t remember telling you, but this is definitely my favorite.”
“Miss Sam, the living girl, told me once when we were discussing her unique food preferences. She had mentioned your fondness for chocolate, and that she presumed you got it from your father, perhaps like a milder form of his great love of fudge.”
Danny blushed in embarrassment at the thought.
“I don’t think anyone could like chocolate or fudge as much as dad does. It’s like a personality trait and not a preference at that point.”
Frostbite nodded in agreement, finishing up his own slice of cake.
“I appreciate all you’ve done for me, not just today but the last few years. Thank you for mentoring me in all things ghostly, dunno what I would do without my walking breathing copy of a dummies guide to the afterlife.”
Danny winked and chuckled at his own joke. Frostbite just rolled his eyes fondly. They finished up with their plates, returning them to the table with the others. Danny pulled Frostbite off to the side for a private word as the others filed out and slowly said their goodbyes.
“Was there something you needed from me, Great One?”
“I’ve done some thinking and talking with my friends and Jazz, and I wanted to let you know that since I’ll be a legal adult tomorrow, I plan on telling my parents soon… about the whole “I died but not really and you’ve been hunting me like an animal for years” thing. Now that I’m (almost) 18 I don’t have to worry about being stuck under their roof if they reject me, but I worry what their reaction will be. I’m telling you just in case, if I don’t make it to meetings in the near future you may need to send in the cavalry haha…hah.”
Frostbite looked at him with alarm. He took on a serious tone and put his hand protectively on Danny’s shoulder.
“Great One, I should hope their reaction will be a positive one, but have you somewhere to go in the living realm if not? What if they are… less than peaceful about it? What will you do?”
“I’ll do what I’ve been doing all along, I’ll run. What else is there to do? I can’t hurt them in retaliation, even if they are idiots, they are my parents. Besides, I can room with Jazz for a bit if I need to. She’s gone off to Gotham University to get her psychology degree and she’s staying in the dorms there. Surely she wouldn’t mind for a bit? She knows about my plans and I’ve had a go bag ready for the past 4 years, just in case. I’m tired of running, and if this means I can have a break from being hunted I’ll take that chance.”
Frostbite just sighed and nodded. He knew very well the stress Danny’s secret half put him under. Time after time, he would find Danny crawling through a portal to his realm, seeking treatment for wounds inflicted by his own unknowing parents. He could see the toll it took on him with every cut and bruise, every bullet wound and burn mark.
“I will check in with you frequently this week then. Do not hesitate to come to Far Frozen if you have need of my assistance, or even just to talk. I support your decision, and I hope for your safety. Please do be careful. I must be heading back now, I have some patients to attend to.”
Danny nodded, and said goodbye with a tight hug. Frostbite left out the grand door behind them and then it was just him in the meeting room. He gathered his new gifts and opened a portal to the area behind the Nasty Burger, closing it behind him. His phone buzzed in his pocket, having reconnected to its signal now that he was out of the zone.
TuckAndFoldy: hey dude, did you ever figure out what your parents were planning for your bday? I know they invited me to the party but it makes me a biiiiit nervous not knowing what to expect about this “surprise” of theirs yknow
GothicGhostieGal: i haven’t heard anything new either, just the invite
HalfaMyHeart: nope, just got done with the council meeting. they gave me birthday gifts!!!
TuckAndFoldy: WHOA the watch!! are the stars moving?!?!
HalfaMyHeart: sorta, it’s the sky from the day I was born, isn’t it neat?
GothicGhostieGal: is that sweater glowing? SWEET i need me one of those, but maybe with more black
GothicGhostieGal: how did the meeting go otherwise? Did the Observants give you trouble again this time?
HalfaMyHeart: nah, it went pretty smoothly actually. I told Frostbite about telling mom and dad afterwards tho. I think he took it well
TuckAndFoldy: that’s good. wanna come over and spend your last day as a “kid” playing some Immoral Combat? sounds like you’re gonna be a busy adult pretty soon lol, might be the last chance we get for a while. Sam too?
GothicGhostieGal: I’ll kick your asses in IC any day of the week, adult or not >:)
HalfaMyHeart: oh you’re ON
Danny put his phone away, transforming out of his ghost form and tucking his new belongings into his backpack. He headed off to Tucker’s house, excitement in his steps. One more day, and then things would be so much different.
Commissioner Gordon rubbed at his temples as he watched the firemen put out the fire in the practically melting dumpster behind the Astral Lanes building. He turned to the officer to his right.
“Hold down the fort here for me. I need to make a call.”
He only hoped the Bat could figure this mess out before every dumpster in this hell hole of a city was in blazes.
