Hey so I just read through cave boy Danny again and I’m realizing something. Do the Wayne’s not ever realize that Danny is middle class(poor)?
That’s just another level of hilarious to me for some reason.
No they didn't know he was middle class.
He did show signs, like eating with his hands, looking alarmed at the amount of pocket money, and his aversion to rich people in general, but they thought it was because he was the lazy version of Bruce. They knew from day one he was Bruce's alternate, so they assumed that caused the similarities in personality and the jarring differences.
They also thought Danny was a civilian- expect for Tim- and figured it that also had a role in why he acted so off.
Batman, every version they have encountered either good or evil, has always had the same superpower. Being rich.
They can't fathom a version of Bruce who isn't rich. If they ever found out, Damian would have a heart attack, because what do you mean there is going to be a version of him that comes from the working class? Added to the fact Danny appeared to be a kleptomaniac by all the stuff he took to make his secert ship?
Yeah, that would have been a bad day for Damian Wayne. He had to sleep hugging the money bags his mother left him to avoid nightmares.
Danny: No my parents and I are middle class, we by I get decent presents on my birthday but I have nothing on my best friend Sam. Her parents are Millionaires and they have a bowl alley in the basement. She and grandma Ida are cool tho.
Damien: A millionaire is a lot to you?
Danny: Duh. Honestly I was rich enough to hand a butler did like a day but then my parents lost it. Probably for the best I wouldn’t want money to change them into fruit loops.
Bruce and the kids are shocked and yet this explains a lot about him.
Honestly, Bruce might actually get a moment of envy mixed with a strange kind of sympathy at that, he certainly has thought before that he’d give up his fortune for his parents to never have died, so seeing an alternative version of him that did get that trade off must be bittersweet and that Danny actually agrees and appreciates having his family and getting to be with them instead of untold riches despite coming from the other side of the spectrum from Bruce instead of a “the grass is greener” kind of thing would probably be oddly rewarding to him.
I like to think there's not so much a Ghost King as there is a Power Totem Pole.
Its just as its sounds where ghosts fight to determine strength and thats how they determine whos the strongest- BUT the person at the top isn't a King or anything similar. Sure there are King Ghosts, ie the Ghosts of former Kings, but that about it.
Ghosts do things for their own benefit, or Obsessions, so they don't really care for most things outside of that. There is no real reason any ghost would care or cater to a King/Boss unless serving was their Obsession.
That being said, there is some respect shown to whoever is at the top.
Ancients are excluded from this power struggle because they're very obviously more powerful, and their jobs are considered more important, so most ghosts know to leave them out of it.
Adding on to it because that is a concept I really like seeing.
The reason there can never be a Ghost King even if someone on top of the pole tried to boss everyone else around and throw explosions to be heard is that the Ghost Zone is infinite. Not the budget version of infinite of realities and universes, not a multiverse that has walls and a concrete internal system, but truly endless. The Infinite Realms is not just another piece of the multiverse lasagna, it is where all multiverses dissolve into when they die.
Thus there’s no way of exerting power over it all because no soul, no matter how powerful, can truly comprehend the vastness of true infinity, let alone actually rule over it. Even the Ancients are limited into how much they rule over, Clockwork is not the one in control of all time in all universes, just of the time in the universes within his reach, of which Danny’s is one.
If one ghost traveled far enough they would eventually find themselves out of the range of the ancients they know and likely in the territory of a new bunch of ancients or in no-one’s land where the forces of nature run wild without anyone managing them. This also translates into why there’s no point in trying to impose a government into the Infinite Realms: there’s no way of enforcing rules throughout all of it, there will always be territory beyond the power of those whose obsessions make them insist in trying anyway and any ghost can get there easily if they so wish, the entire plane of existence is an infinite and ever growing (time is more of a suggestion than something meaningful there when there’s no ancient around to force it to pass in a comprehensive manner) amalgamation of everything that ever existed, could exist, will exist, never existed and ceased to have ever existed, all spread without any order or thought behind it.
Not a prompt, might come back to reblog as one later at some point though:
Anyone ever thought that Tim would be downright terrifying as a Pokémon trainer? I mean, he is exactly the kind of person who would take 0.2 seconds flat to come up with thirty two alternative versions of the F.E.A.R tactic and then proceed to use it to curb-stomp every champion ever before even getting his first badge.
And not only him, everyone on the batfam would be overpowered in the Pokémon universe in no time. Bruce would more likely than not just have some secret Ancient Tibetan Monk Pokémon battling strategy laying around that somehow existed for thousands of years before Pokémon was created, not to mention he would definitely master Aura within a week; Dick would probably make an entire team of circus-themed menaces and train them all to do a quadruple backflip (yes, even the Phanpy you can’t convince me he wouldn’t catch) and then proceed to give all those poor trainers trauma for life because of the impossible angles of attack; Jason is definitely making all his Pokémon into relentless juggernaut wannabes with perfect sniper aim; Damian would find a way of teaching a Magikarp to use lava plume just because and proceed to make Professor Oak regret ever implying that “catch ‘em all” was part of the goal of becoming the best once Damian gets halfway through his quest to become a Pokémon master by becoming the only person in whatever region he is who has Pokémon (you can’t tell me he wouldn’t want to collect and save as many animals as he possibly could and then adopt them all until other trainers start genuinely struggling to get a Pokémon in the wild); not actually sure what Stephanie would go for, but it would be very memorable and liable to give her opponents a headache trying to understand how they were defeated; Barbara would definitely get herself a team of psychic types and raise hell by compiling a file on all her opponents that explains to them every single mistake in training and battling they made for the last three years before they battled her; Cass would have an entire team of stealth masters who could sneak up on you and take you down with martial alone despite most not being fighting type (imagine a Snorlax who is just there from one blink to another or a diglett who somehow can uppercut a Gyarados) and Duke would make a team for himself by inciting a massive riot of Pokémon to take down whatever poor criminal organization makes the mistake of operating where he lives.
As a bit of a bonus Danny Fenton would probably get himself a team consisting of ice types, ghost types, every single Pokémon with a space/celestial body theme and have Deoxys as his ace and Eve as his starter, and then proceed to completely fail to read the moves each Pokémon is supposed to be able to learn and just teach them to do whatever move seems like a good idea at the time with no regard whatsoever for type or if a move is technically possible (his Eevee might just become the first in history to learn Fly leaving many generations of professors afterwards to tear their hairs off in frustration trying to figure out how the hell it happened).
DCxDP prompt/rough draft (but also works just as well or even better with PJO or SG1, tbd):
So, one thing I kinda want to see more is Danny actually having a bunch of “yep, that’s our kid, no DNA tests required” moments with his parents: things like him getting super excited and straight-up blowing holes in walls by not going intangible when walking through them (bonus comedy points if it is scrawny 14 YO Danny), or him being even more oblivious than in cannon about something like when his parents don’t catch on him being a ghost even when their detector literally spells it out to them, or him casually building some type of sci-fi weapon/device and immediately testing it and never-mind who/what is around. Which leads to this, what if Danny has an obsession that mirrors his parents to an eerie degree, just with something else instead of ghosts.
For DC I was thinking he could be super into magic and demons, not in the want to learn it/make a deal kind of way, but in the “I’m going to open you up and poke around your organs while you are still alive to find out what makes you tick” way. He is convinced that occultists and demons don’t actually know how they do things, just that it works, so he pays no mind to their explanation attempts because he is not interested in just repeating the steps to get a spell working, he wants to understand the mechanical components of how they are changing reality. The end result is Danny’s parents having to run interference to keep him from kidnapping doctor fate to be his equivalent of a potato in the potato light-bulb experiment while Danny is scrambling to keep his parents from actually dissecting a ghost and they don’t even realize the similarities of what they are doing. A Jazz at the end of her rope from having to juggle having to council both sides in how to break the other from their “bad habits” is the one who has to sit them both down and spend hours making them understand they are doing the same thing they criticize the other for doing, only to then scream in frustration and pass the psychologist torch to Harley Queen when the result is both embracing and apologizing for getting in each other’s way. All the while a captured Spectra is bored out of her mind chit-chatting with Trigon, both captured by their respective enemy Fenton for experimenting and then left gathering dust in the lab while they argue.
Arguably the premise could work even better in a cross with Stargate - SG1 or Percy Jackson if Danny instead is obsessed with aliens (the Goa’uld in particular learn to fear him and the NSI might just recruit him on the spot, never mind his age) or with monsters (he figures out how to use the thermos to lock them up indefinitely, which prevents them from reforming and makes all pantheons panic when he accidentally stumbles into a way to force monsters - and gods - forcibly fade for good).
Curious to see what others make of this, might come back to it when I have more ideas to flesh it out.
Oh gods, if you equate Vortex with Zeus, that would be amazing! Danny doesn’t even have to be a demigod, make him just a regular ass human who just so happens to have stumbled upon the godly world.
Bonus points if he isn’t even clear-sighted (maybe Jazz is? Or one of his parents, but they just write what they see off as a ghost thing) he just saw a suspicious storm that might be sentient, decided Vortex! And was ready to throw hands even if he can’t see clearly what he is throwing hands with. Zeus is progressively more baffled at this teenager who can’t even care or hear him properly, but is still fighting him and winning, then he starts questioning all his life-choices when he is imprisoned inside a sci-fi thermos of all things and arrives at a “why me?” Mindset when he is released in the Ghost Zone far away from the door with his powers severely depleted from not being on Earth anymore and absolutely no clue whatsoever of what is going on.
Most stories put Phantom in the hot seat when it comes to Walker’s endless pursuit of “justice.” The ghost warden bursts out of the Zone with his army of guards, chains, and prison cells, and Phantom has to explain to allies (sometimes even to heroes like the Justice League) that the reason he’s being chased is because he’s “committed ghost crimes.”
But imagine if, this time, it wasn’t Phantom who was seen running from Walker’s men. Imagine it was Danny Fenton.
Maybe it’s a normal day at school. Class is outside for gym, or the whole student body is gathered for an assembly. Maybe it’s after hours and Danny’s just walking home. Whatever the case, it’s Fenton who Walker and his guards come after in the open, with their booming voices and weapons drawn.
They don’t care about subtlety — Walker never does. His men shout about charges, sentencing, and dragging Danny back to the Ghost Zone in cuffs. And to everyone watching — his classmates, teachers, maybe even his parents — it looks like the awkward Fenton kid is running from supernatural law enforcement.
Danny panics, of course. He can’t transform with everyone staring, so he does the only thing he can: he runs as himself. But when people corner him afterward, demanding answers — Sam, Tucker, Jazz, his classmates, maybe even Mr. Lancer — he blurts out the only half-believable excuse he can think of:
“Okay, look! The reason I disappear during ghost attacks? The reason I’m never around? It’s because I… I committed ghost crimes, alright? I’m a wanted criminal in the Ghost Zone. That’s why Walker’s after me.”
No Phantom identity. No mention of being half-ghost. Just Danny Fenton, in broad daylight, claiming to be an outlaw from another dimension.
Actually??? That lines up with the living world contraband that is the reason Walker is after him anyway so it’s not a stretch to use it was the seed for his lie
Then Vlad decides to screw around with him and makes it look much shadier than it is because he can commit to the bit too. So suddenly Vlad is talking to him with his parents close by (but supposedly out of sight) about how impressed he is with “Danny’s operation” and how he can help to “scale it up” and then after some time starts sending “secret” messages the least secure way he can about “quarterly profits”, “successful planting of a mole” or “problems needing to be taken care of to guarantee their hostile takeover”.
Jack is delighted his best friend turned out to be much cooler than he knew and is willing to show Danny the ropes, Maddie is much less enthused, but will grudgingly admit that if Danny is going to go out committing crimes it’s better that he does so with the guidance of a “professional slime ball”.
Reporter: King Phantom! Can you tell us some of your favorite memories of Earth during the course of your long existence?
Danny: I ran a gang once. That was fun.
Reporter: Um....what?
Danny: Yeah, it was in 1868, Gotham city had just finished establishing itself as a major trading hub and crime had picked up due to corruption running through the police forces. I was summoned by accident, when a young orphan witch, wanted to save her brother from a public hanging. I saved the boy, and took over the local orphanage which was selling the children for cheap labor. They became my gang, that wrecked havoc upon those who scorned them for being orphans. We ran that city for fifty years.
Clark: Are you-are you referring the notorious gang leader, Danny Fenton?
Danny: Wow, I haven't heard my borrowed human name in centuries. Why do you know that at the top of your head?
Clark thinking about Bruce going raving mad trying to prove Danny Fenton, fourteen year old boy from Illinois in Damian's class, is a time traveler at last week's JL meeting: I just really love history.
Bruce: NO LISTEN! He is a Black Haired, Blue-Eyed, 14 yr old, who showed up out of nowhere, ans established himself as a Center of Power in his environment.
Clark: First of all, Bruce you of all people should know how many black haired blue eyed teenagers live in Gotham-
Bruce: Its not an addiction!
Clark: -Yes it is, and second, he just won Class President in Damian's class. That is NOT the same as establishing yourself as a ruthless gang leader in the most crime ridden city in the world.
Bruce: But just think about it! If the Ghost King really did take on a Human Identity decades ago to set up a gang/cult for himself, wouldn't he want to come back every now and then to check up on it?
Clark: Couldn't he just show up normally? Why would he need to craft yet another Human Identity to do that? It just doesn't make sense.
Honestly, love the concept of Batman being sure that its Danny but every time someone goes to verify they just find a human boy of 14 because he literally is a regular human boy of 14 when hes in his human form.
Like his Phantom side is completely separate at this point ( The same way none of Fenton tech went off whenever Vlad was around.)
Meanwhile Danny is struggling with Algebra and doesnt have time to deal with another Wayne.
Danny met so many Waynes throught the course of time travel shenanigans and every since time they were some of the craziest and weirdest people hes ever encountered. They are the Addams family of the DC world and Danny can not afford to try to figure out Bruce Wayne's weird little quirk with his upcoming exams.
Clark:... Have you considered this, even if, IF, he IS the Ghost King?? Maybe, given that apparently the Infinite Realms exists outside of normal space time... Maybe he hasn't done it yet?
Bruce:.. What?
Clark: Yeah, he reads as a normal living human yes? Maybe he IS. Maybe he hasn't died yet. Maybe you are looking at it from the wrong direction. In this Fenton's timeline he hasn't done it yet.
Bruce *intense muttering, new thoughts spiralling and coming back together*: Hm. I will have to consider that.
Diana: Clark, why would you do that to Bruce?
Clark: Look, the Fenton kid is normal as normal can be. This way at least he's thinking of trying to stop the kid going down a bad path, not punishing a crime he never committed!!
I bet due to his Orphan Gang, Danny has been Jason's idol since he was himself a tyke. Heck, all the street kids know the story Fenton and the Orphans. It might be the only history they know, but they know it! It's even possible he is part of the inspiration for the Red Hood persona.
Now Jason can and will take every opportunity to fuck with Bruce. Including hindering any investigations into or interventions with this new Fenton kid. Especially since Bruce is either right, in which case this kid is or will someday become his idol; or Bruce is wrong and persecuting a 14 year old for no reason. Either way, getting in the way of that is a win-win to Jason.
Meanwhile, Danny is still just trying to finish high school and has no time or interest for Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd-Wayne, Damian Wayne (who is of course also a Wayne and undoubtedly as wild as his ancestors in some way), Batman, Robin, or Red Hood. None of this chicanery. Stop it. Just. Let. Him. Go. To. School! >: [
Idea: at some point Danny gets fed up enough with the constant badgering that he goes and tells Jazz. Jazz pets his head, tells him she’s going to deal with it and to just focus on doing well on his classes. Cue Jazz kicking down the door to Wayne Mansion and going straight to the Batcave with pinpoint accuracy (she repurposed a ghost-radar to find Batman) past all the startled and gaping batfam in civies to yell at B for bothering her brother when he is trying to do well in school. By the end Bruce is more certain than ever that Danny Fenton is Danny Fenton and got Danny Phantom to take the blame for the gang, but agrees to back down on his investigation until next school-term (won’t stop him from going full on conspiracy theorists and drive the family crazy, but at least he won’t be bursting into the class Danny is attending to try accusing him of crimes from decades before he was born in the middle of a lecture).
DCxDP prompt/rough draft (but also works just as well or even better with PJO or SG1, tbd):
So, one thing I kinda want to see more is Danny actually having a bunch of “yep, that’s our kid, no DNA tests required” moments with his parents: things like him getting super excited and straight-up blowing holes in walls by not going intangible when walking through them (bonus comedy points if it is scrawny 14 YO Danny), or him being even more oblivious than in cannon about something like when his parents don’t catch on him being a ghost even when their detector literally spells it out to them, or him casually building some type of sci-fi weapon/device and immediately testing it and never-mind who/what is around. Which leads to this, what if Danny has an obsession that mirrors his parents to an eerie degree, just with something else instead of ghosts.
For DC I was thinking he could be super into magic and demons, not in the want to learn it/make a deal kind of way, but in the “I’m going to open you up and poke around your organs while you are still alive to find out what makes you tick” way. He is convinced that occultists and demons don’t actually know how they do things, just that it works, so he pays no mind to their explanation attempts because he is not interested in just repeating the steps to get a spell working, he wants to understand the mechanical components of how they are changing reality. The end result is Danny’s parents having to run interference to keep him from kidnapping doctor fate to be his equivalent of a potato in the potato light-bulb experiment while Danny is scrambling to keep his parents from actually dissecting a ghost and they don’t even realize the similarities of what they are doing. A Jazz at the end of her rope from having to juggle having to council both sides in how to break the other from their “bad habits” is the one who has to sit them both down and spend hours making them understand they are doing the same thing they criticize the other for doing, only to then scream in frustration and pass the psychologist torch to Harley Queen when the result is both embracing and apologizing for getting in each other’s way. All the while a captured Spectra is bored out of her mind chit-chatting with Trigon, both captured by their respective enemy Fenton for experimenting and then left gathering dust in the lab while they argue.
Arguably the premise could work even better in a cross with Stargate - SG1 or Percy Jackson if Danny instead is obsessed with aliens (the Goa’uld in particular learn to fear him and the NSI might just recruit him on the spot, never mind his age) or with monsters (he figures out how to use the thermos to lock them up indefinitely, which prevents them from reforming and makes all pantheons panic when he accidentally stumbles into a way to force monsters - and gods - forcibly fade for good).
Curious to see what others make of this, might come back to it when I have more ideas to flesh it out.
You Regularly Scheduled Reminder that Batman did, in fact, go to med school and got pretty close to graduating:
Because that scene always gives me chills and might just honestly be my all-times favorite Batman fight. It’s so freaking awesome and overpowering in the best way.
Damian lit the candles on each corner of the pentagram, placed a plate of Alfred’s cookies in the middle and said, “Phantom, I summon you,” in a deadpan voice.
The smoke from the candles swirled together and Danny, in Phantom form, appeared, already munching on the sacrificed cookies. “Hey Damian! I’m surprised you actually summoned me. What’s up?”
“Grayson has been worried about my lack of close relationships with my age-mates, and in the interest of avoiding gruelingly forced social interaction, I would like to introduce you to them.”
Danny swallowed his bite of cookie and smirked, “No way. I agree with that Grayson dude, you need more friends. You Waynes need to keep your sociable facades, and having one or two friends outside of the caped community won’t kill you.
Damian sniffed. “The fools in that torturous institution you people call schools are not good candidates for close relationships.”
“I never said anything about making friends at school, why don’t you go make friends at the dog park or something.”
Damian squinted at him, not sure if he was joking. “The dog park? In Gotham?”
Danny hesitated then nodded conceding the point. “Ok, maybe not the dog park, but you promised when you came here that you’d cement your place with the Waynes before you introduced me. Part of that is making your public identity well connected enough that it would be a pain in the butt if you disappeared.”
“Rest assured, the members of this family are soft hearted enough that a lack of public facing relationships will have no bearing on my place within the family. Grayson’s desire for me to make,” Damian’s nose scrunched up in distaste, “friends stems from their concern for the fulfillment of my so called emotional needs.”
Danny, having eaten all the cookies, blew out the candles and landed softly on the floor as he turned back to his human form. “And you think that introducing them to your twin is going to get them off your back?”
“They will be so busy investigating you and your situation that they won’t concern themselves with my relationships with others for at least a month.”
“Ahh,” Danny nodded in understanding, “drop the occasional worrying tidbit and don’t let slip that I’m aware of their connection to the caped community, got it.”
“I will tell them that our mother secretly got you adopted out when you were 3, so don’t act like you’re aware of the League of Assassins either.”
“And of course, the fact that I’m coming out of your room with no sign of how I got in will just add to the mystery,” Danny grinned, “Sounds like fun! Count me in! Let’s go drive your family crazy!”
Damian nodded seriously opened his door, leading Danny towards the dining room. “Tonight is the weekly family dinner, so this is the optimal time to introduce you to everyone.”
“Sweet! Any night that I don’t have to fight my dinner is a good night in my books!”
Reporter: King Phantom! Can you tell us some of your favorite memories of Earth during the course of your long existence?
Danny: I ran a gang once. That was fun.
Reporter: Um....what?
Danny: Yeah, it was in 1868, Gotham city had just finished establishing itself as a major trading hub and crime had picked up due to corruption running through the police forces. I was summoned by accident, when a young orphan witch, wanted to save her brother from a public hanging. I saved the boy, and took over the local orphanage which was selling the children for cheap labor. They became my gang, that wrecked havoc upon those who scorned them for being orphans. We ran that city for fifty years.
Clark: Are you-are you referring the notorious gang leader, Danny Fenton?
Danny: Wow, I haven't heard my borrowed human name in centuries. Why do you know that at the top of your head?
Clark thinking about Bruce going raving mad trying to prove Danny Fenton, fourteen year old boy from Illinois in Damian's class, is a time traveler at last week's JL meeting: I just really love history.
Summary:
Danny after a series of unfortunate events where his parents have a bed reactions to him being Phantom, being hunted by the GIW, and losing those that he cares about is taken to a different dimension to rest and hide.
With nothing but the clothes on his back and a certain green ring in his pocket he finds himself meeting none other than Hal Jordan.
Everything happened so suddenly. It was a perfectly normal morning, a good morning Danny would have even said, but in the blink of an eye everything turned into a nightmare. He can’t help but wonder in a deafening moment of silence if there was anything he could have done differently as he recounts the events of the day.
Danny honestly wasn’t sure how it happened. Maybe they saw him transform between his two identities. Maybe he said something that made them realize what he was. Either way he knows he must have done something to tip his parents off that he was Phantom.
It was only because of Jazz he was even able to get out of the house. His sister had managed to block their path as they screamed about how he was just a thing that had killed their son and took his face as a means to trick them.
Once out of the house the first place Danny ran to was Tucker house. From there the two of them had contacted Sam and planned to meet up behind the school and talk about what they were going to do from here. What they were going to do about Danny’s parents, and the fact that he most likely would never be able to step foot back into his home again.
Everything was admittedly looking bad but things went from bad to worse pretty quickly once the GIW flocking to the streets in droves. Every corner they turned revealed another white van quietly waiting for him to show his face. His parents must have contacted them pretty quickly after he ran out of the house.
This is when the day truly starts to just blur together. One moment he feels like he’s mentally present and the next staring at Sam and Tucker’s lifeless bodies on the ground. They had been cornered because of course fucking course they were. Apparently, the GIW didn’t have any problem hurting normal humans if they thought that they were too far gone under the “evil influence” of a ghost. The GIW has truly lost all standards now.
Danny knows he would have been quickly caught himself if it hadn’t been for the fact that Clockwork opened a portal right under his feet just as the GIW was approaching him. Which led him to where he currently finds himself; in the Ghost Zone.
That fucking bastard is his first thought as he reorientates himself with his new surroundings. He couldn’t have done that earlier? It had to be only after he lost his friends? Danny takes a deep breath before speaking, “My friends are dead. You made me watch them die before you decided to help me.”
Clockwork who was floating in front of him looked at him with gentle eyes, “My boy I-”
“How dare you.”
“...I know nothing I say will make this situation better, but I hope you will eventually believe when I say that this is not the way I wanted things to be.” Clockwork speaks calmly to him unperturbed by Danny’s obvious anger.
“My sister.” Danny isn’t going to bother acknowledging him. His words mean little to him at this point; his intentions don’t outweigh his actions. “How is she?”
“She is well, no harm has or will fall upon her.” Danny doesn’t know if that is a lie or not but he’s going to choose to believe it’s true.
“So what happens now? There’s no way I’m going to be able to step foot back in that town again. Not unless I want the GIW following my every move.”
Instead of answering right away Clockwork puts a hand on Danny’s shoulder and gently guides him to a different area of the room until they are both standing in front of a bare wall. Of course, with Clockwork though nothing is ever as it seems so it doesn’t surprise him when a portal is suddenly standing where the wall once was. “I’m going to be sending you to a different dimension while things calm down. One that is similar but vastly different as well. I know you will do well there.”
“Y’know you’ve said a lot of crazy and cryptic things to me before, but I think this takes the cake.” Danny feels his head pounding, the adrenaline of the day must finally be wearing off. “So that’s it? I just step in and tough it out in a world I don’t know a single thing about?”
“Not quite,” Clockwork at this point pulls out a green ring seemingly out of nowhere. “This here will guide you to others that will be willing to help you.”
Looking down at the ring Danny can’t help but feel oddly drawn to it. Which is why he doesn’t hesitate to grab it when it is offered to him. He’s going to chalk that up to some kind of trickery Clockwork is pulling as a way to make Danny follow his plan. Not wanting to think more on that thought though he quickly shoves it deep into his jean pocket.
“So- so this is it then I guess.” Danny stares ahead at the green swirling portal in front of him. He’s ready to just find somewhere quiet and fall asleep. “I’m sure I’ll be hearing from you sooner or later, but I’d appreciate it if it was later rather than sooner.”
He feels Clockwork squeeze his shoulder for a moment before letting go and stepping away from him. Taking that as a sign Danny steps forward into the portal. No turning back now.
On the other side of the portal he finds himself tripping on something and falling to his knees. When he lifts his head up he finally realizes that he is in someone's messy apartment. The place almost even looks abandoned if the dust cloud settling around him is anything to go by. Maybe that's why Clockwork dropped him off here; a safe place for him to at least sleep for a few hours before venturing out in this new world.
That is exactly what Danny plans to do at least with his remaining energy before a bright green glow starts to fill the room. It's different from the normal ghost green that he has become so accustomed to. Which is why it startles him more than he would like to admit.
After a few seconds he finally realizes that the glow is coming from him, or more specifically his jean pocket. The ring.
When Danny pulls it out the glowing only seems to get more intense, and starts to float in front of his face. That is when a calming voice fills his head, "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light! Do you accept this oath?"
"Yes." Danny says in a serious tone. Clockwork gave him this ring for a reason after all, and he's not going to ever deny a chance to help others; to do what's right.
In the blink of an eye the ring is suddenly sliding itself onto his finger, and with that the green glow encompassing the room seems to finally settle. That doesn't slow his fast beating heart entirely though, still half expecting for something else to happen as he stares at it.
While nothing else happens with the ring, Danny is very surprised when a voice on the other side of the room speaks out.
"What the-"
-
When Hal walked into his apartment after spending weeks in deep space the last thing he expected to find was a kid becoming a green lantern. From what he could tell just by looking at the kid was that he was a young teen boy who looked like a strong breeze could knock over right now.
For a moment he thought this was one from Batman's brood with the black hair and blue eyes, but that was quickly thrown out once Hal got a clearer look at the kid.
"What the-," is all Hal can say before the boy is shooting to his feet and backing away. He is clearly physically and mentally exhausted yet he still raises his fist to fight. The kid's got spirit, he'll give him that. In the back of Hal’s mind he’s already thinking of the potential this boy has to become a truly great green lantern.
“Who are you?” The kid’s voice is hoarse as he tries to speak, almost as if he had been doing a lot of yelling recently Hal silently notes.
Wanting to keep the kid as calm as possible he slowly raises his hands to his head before answering, “I’m Hal Jordan, this is my apartment we’re currently having our little showdown in.”
His actions luckily do seem to calm the boy down a bit. Enough so that he feels comfortable taking his eyes off of Hal and takes a moment to look all around him. “... You live like this?”
“Ok!” This little shit, “That was very much uncalled for!”
“Well I’m just saying,” the kid now lowering his fists to gesture to the space around them. “I thought this place was abandoned when I got dropped in here.”
Hal is choosing to now ignore any comments about his apartment. So the place isn’t the tidiest right now, he was in space doing important things! “That actually brings me to another thing, why are you here?”
That question causes the kid to tense up once more before he starts to speak nervously and quickly, “My- I’m sorry. I didn’t really know where I was gonna end up exactly. He sorta just left me here.”
“Is ‘he’ the same one that gave you that ring right there?” That was another very important thing that Hal wanted to talk about. If Hal could take a look at it he might even be able to get some information about the last ring user. He turns his hand to show off his own matching ring, “I’ve got my own, see? You can trust me.”
Seeing Hal’s own ring actually seems to settle the kid down quite a lot. He’d make a guess that the kid was at least told to trust other green lantern ring users before being left on his own.
“Yeah, they’re one in the same, but I don’t think he ever wore the ring before.” Which is now something that only causes Hal more confusion to this whole mystery. “I’m- I’m Danny by the way.”
Danny. He’s happy to now have a name to call the kid, and he feels like maybe he’s doing something right since Danny felt comfortable enough to share that information on his own accord. In other words he’s nailing this!
“Hi Danny,” Hal feels himself truly begin to relax now that tenses have lowered. Taking a look at the young boy now awkwardly standing in his living room he concernedly asks, “You feeling ok?”
“Yeah, I’m just … tired.” Which is something that has been obvious since the beginning to Hal.
Taking a few tentative steps forward and gestures to the door closest to Danny. “The bedroom is right through that door. Why don’t you go and take a nap while I uh- clean up and order us some food? Is pizza good, allergic to anything?”
Danny for a moment doesn’t look like he likes the idea Hal’s suggestion, but when he looks down at the ring on his finger his shoulders slump and he slowly nods his head. “Ok. Pizza sounds good man, I’ll take whatever.”
“Good.” Hal nods as well, not really knowing what else to do at this moment, “Good, I’ll give you some time to sleep, and wake you up in a couple hours. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
Looking between Hal and the door Danny shuffles his way towards the bedroom, but before he disappears completely into the room he says one more thing, “I wouldn’t try anything funny if I were you. I might be having a bad day, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep fighting.”
With that the door is quickly shut before Hal can even think to reply. Which honestly amuses him more than anything that he did do that.
Taking a deep breath Hal puts his hands on hips and looks around his apartment. He wasn’t originally planning on cleaning up, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to let a teenager judge him about his cleanliness again.
Before he starts that though he really feels the need to just talk to someone about what just happened. Pressing his phone against his ear in a matter of seconds he waits and listens for the other end to pick up.
Danny after a series of unfortunate events where his parents have a bed reactions to him being Phantom<
I know it’s a typo and all, but I find the mental image that Danny’s parents reaction to the reveal is to literally turn into beds for a bit just hilarious. Does it make sense? Not at all my good sir! Am I giggling right now thinking on it? Hell yeah!
It's an open secret of the Batfamily that Bruce's cape is a pocket dimension.
No one's really sure how it came to be. When Dick was starting to grow a little too tall for it to make sense to hide underneath his dad's cloak anymore, he noticed. For all his analytical mind and acute sense of detail, it seemed Bruce didn't know.
Dick didn't tell Jason, either. The boy found out eventually, and planned to keep quiet until the next holder of the mantel figured it out as well. It was almost a tried and true tradition of Robin's until a crowbar swung and broke those types of fantasies.
It was a quiet thing mentioned on late nights between the group after then. Everyone from Damian to Cullen knew, though on different levels.
Tim had tried to monitor it somehow, scientifically, or recreate it with various other capes and fabrics, but it never worked quite correctly.
When he mentioned it as a hypothetical to Zatanna, the magician just shrugged. "Something like that could be a gift from a thankful sorcerer or just something that just... poofs into being."
At some point, they'd devised a plan to see how many of them could find underneath the cape on patrol before Bruce noticed.
(Bruce, of course, had known since Dick. He always knew where his Robins were.)
Except all dimensions, even the pocket ones, are tied to the Infinite Realms.
Which Clockwork or any other older ghost probably should've explained to Danny.
It's a random Friday and he's in the Zone, floating around and in a group call with Sam and Tucker. His parents had gotten a lucky shot earlier that afternoon, so he's wrapping up his shoulder an ecto-soaked bandage when he comes across an odd looking door.
He's seen some weird ones before. One with a knob with as an actual eye, some glowing with various colors or smelling weird.
This one looks like someone draped black curtains onto a vaguely box shaped thing.
Curiosity killed the cat, but he's Schrödinger's, so ultimately after a vote between friends (2-1, Sam tells him Jazz would be ticked if he got hurt again today), he decides to see what's behind it.
Danny's kind of expecting some weird fabric world or just a black void.
But once he's floated into this pocket dimension, he can tell that it's almost like there's openings to the sides and bottom where the faintest of light is seen.
With the brilliance of a fourteen-year-old half-dead vigilante, he decides to pull it back and go intangible through whatever's in front of him.
...And proceeds to walk straight through Batman into a Justice League meeting, beaten and bloody with a makeshift bandage on his shoulder.
All Danny can say is "Heyy, guys, I'm gonna have to call you back..." through comms before all hell breaks loose.
What if Danny got the full Tumblr DPxDC treatment, becoming the Ghost King, being the Ancient of Space, being an engineering genius, being super skilled at combat and mystical randomness, having access to and being knee deep in intergalactic and interdimensional culture, slightly inhuman looks, multiple instances of time travel, just EVERYTHING.
BUT... Only Danny gets this treatment. Everyone else from Danny Phantom is like they are in canon. No Tucker being some god-tier hacker that makes Technus and clowning on comicbook geniuses like Cyborg and Oracle. No Jazz being some god tier therapist for superheroes who can fight on par with Batfam members. No Sam suddenly being all in on using her family's money to gentrify Gotham or having Undergrowth's powers. No Valerie somehow being able to kick Danny's ass even without her suit and weapons. No Jack and Maddie being ghost hunters that can actually threaten even Ghost King Danny. No GiW being able to hide their actions from the entire world, including Batman and the Justice League Dark and being a real threat to even the most powerful of ghosts. None of that.
Just Danny being a Triogon level powerhouse with a ton of powers and skills, running a cafe bookstore in Gotham for the vibes, possibly being a Kryptonian deity thanks to time travel, and being friends with some random humans from the Midwest who, while abnormal, are nothing really special or notable.
How would the contrast between Danny and his friend group and sister look to outsiders? How would said friend group and sister feel about Danny being basically a god compared to their normal human selves? What about how they react to Danny having connections to the likes of Bruce Wayne and the Justice League, not as a hero but as an engineer?
What would a DPxDC world where only Danny was altered to match the over-the-top power level, skill, and scientific ability of comics look like?
My guess is that his friends and family would be in a situation just like Lois Lane and the Kents are with Superman (or Billy’s adopted siblings/best friends depending on the continuity are with him when they don’t have powers). Might even be a point in common for them to talk about if they ever got to meet, being the all too fragile, all too powerless support system to this godlike, bigger than life golden retriever in human form.
Tim woke up with a jolt upon feeling something on his bed, it wasn’t long ago that he went to sleep after getting some good shots of Batman and Robin so his sleep was particularly light. He sat up just to see a startled glowing, white haired teenager about his age floating over his bed and the fluffy orange cat he was clearly putting besides him.
Tim blinked.
Danny blinked.
The cat yawned.
Danny then straightened up, leaving the cat in Tim’s bed, and “explained”.
“You have a cat now” he said doing jazz hands. Tim blinked owlish, what do you even say to that? “There’s cat food in the pantry and the litter box is in the room besides yours. There’s also a cat bed this fellow will never use at the foot of yours and a cardboard box in the corner.”
More blinking.
“Peace!” Danny made a peace sign and then slowly faded from visibility, like an unhinged hallucination brought forth from sleep deprivation and too much coffee. Tim swore to himself to limit how much he drinks, it’s clearly starting to affect him.
Tim looked at the cat. The cat looked back, then it went to him, laid on Tim’s side and got comfy, purring like a motor.
Tim shrugged and laid down, going to sleep cuddling his supposed new cat. Making sense of things is Future Tim’s problem and he doesn’t envy that guy.
When I wrote this I was thinking just a normal and random stray cat Danny picked up from the street on his way (maybe he has the ghost power to become fast-friends with any animal? Could even be a “child ghost” thing instead of a Danny/halfa thing, their longing for a pet leading them to instinctively develop an empathic/emoting ability geared towards all animals in general and whatever they deem as a good pet in specific which lets them naturally understand and be understood by animals, especially the ones who have been humanity’s long-time companions like cats and dogs, not in “speaking with” terms, but more in transmitting emotions and intent such as fondness, affection and want to give them a good home… just realized how much I unintentionally expanded on it and how much I like this idea), anyway, I think you might actually be unto something with the idea of a non-normal cat.
It could be a cat from the GZ, not even necessarily a ghost, but potentially an species from other universe (or even Danny’s own) that unintentionally migrated there through a natural portal and kept developing there with all the ecto-mutations that come with it (my personal head-cannon for the Yetis) or possibly even a never-born that manifested itself from the concept of cat, like an archetype that gave itself a physical shape with the loose laws of physics from the GZ (“a dream who no longer needs it’s dreamer” because that quote will never not be awesome).
It could even be an alien cat that Danny found out on an adventure to another planet (CW mission?) or some kind of artificial halfa cat either his parents or the GIW (or even Ra’s himself, which could be fun) made by accident through heavy exposure to ectoplasm and whatnot. That’d sure add another layer to this if, instead of just randomly giving Tim a cat, this was Danny’s way to protect the cat by having them live with the one kid in Gotham who is both rich (and thus having less chance of being successfully bullied by the GIW) and left alone enough that his parents shouldn’t mind or even notice much their new pet.
The Justice League has had Red Huntress on their list of people to recruit. Yet, they were told to wait because of Constantine. He said that Ghosts are not what they think, and recruiting Red Huntress before Constantine reaches out to Phantom could have dire consequences.
If Constantine is right, then Phantom is a Protector Spirit. And he will need to learn more about Protector Spirits to get Phantom to join Justice League Dark BEFORE the Justice League recruits Red Huntress.
From what the Hellblazer has learned from other Ghosts and such, Phantom is a Protector Spirit that is dangerously close to abandoning his role.
A Protector Spirit that abandons its role is incredibly dangerous. As a Protector Spirit keeps the worst of the worst at bay with just their presence alone. And if a gate to the Infinite Realms has no Protector Spirit nearby, then malevolent Ghosts will come rushing through the gate and cause a lot of destruction wherever they go. Once those malevolent Ghosts are in the living world, they get stronger and more confident. The only way to get those malevolent Ghosts back into the Infinite Realms is with the Protector Spirit that they feared to beat them back into the gate they came from.
Constantine was about to go and recruit Phantom and help the Protector Spirit move the gate, he hears that Red Huntress has been recruited, in front of Phantom, who had quickly run away soon after.
Now they need to find Phantom soon, as in less than a day, the Lingering presence of the Protector Spirit will fade from the gate he was guarding, and then they will be under the constant attacks of malevolent Ghosts because of the Justice League being to impatient.
I know it was intended to say that the malevolent spirits were Danny’s rogues, but wha if it wasn’t?
As it’s stated that the very presence of a protector spirit keeps the evil ones at bay what if Danny’s rogues are the ones who slip through because they are not actually evil or malicious all things conceded, they are just hyper-focused and kinda reckless and selfish, while the evil ones, the REALLY evil ones are prevented outright from crossing the portal by the very fact Danny is around.
I’m speaking of the ghosts of serial killers, cannibals, tyrants, genocide lunatics, dedicated torturers and just about the worst of the worst whose very obsession is to just straight up spread as much pain and suffering as possible. Beings of pure evil with powers that can go up to borderline divine and a singular dedication to bring ruin upon the world and lives of everyone, THAT is what the League just invited to their dimension by rushing things and pushing Danny away from his portal. Constantine is going to yell at them so much that they’d rather Batman take over the scolding (Batman will get his turn anyway once John is away, putting the world in danger out of simple impatience after being warned with an actual complete and logic explanation is just unacceptable in his books).
Tim woke up with a jolt upon feeling something on his bed, it wasn’t long ago that he went to sleep after getting some good shots of Batman and Robin so his sleep was particularly light. He sat up just to see a startled glowing, white haired teenager about his age floating over his bed and the fluffy orange cat he was clearly putting besides him.
Tim blinked.
Danny blinked.
The cat yawned.
Danny then straightened up, leaving the cat in Tim’s bed, and “explained”.
“You have a cat now” he said doing jazz hands. Tim blinked owlish, what do you even say to that? “There’s cat food in the pantry and the litter box is in the room besides yours. There’s also a cat bed this fellow will never use at the foot of yours and a cardboard box in the corner.”
More blinking.
“Peace!” Danny made a peace sign and then slowly faded from visibility, like an unhinged hallucination brought forth from sleep deprivation and too much coffee. Tim swore to himself to limit how much he drinks, it’s clearly starting to affect him.
Tim looked at the cat. The cat looked back, then it went to him, laid on Tim’s side and got comfy, purring like a motor.
Tim shrugged and laid down, going to sleep cuddling his supposed new cat. Making sense of things is Future Tim’s problem and he doesn’t envy that guy.
When I wrote this I was thinking just a normal and random stray cat Danny picked up from the street on his way (maybe he has the ghost power to become fast-friends with any animal? Could even be a “child ghost” thing instead of a Danny/halfa thing, their longing for a pet leading them to instinctively develop an empathic/emoting ability geared towards all animals in general and whatever they deem as a good pet in specific which lets them naturally understand and be understood by animals, especially the ones who have been humanity’s long-time companions like cats and dogs, not in “speaking with” terms, but more in transmitting emotions and intent such as fondness, affection and want to give them a good home… just realized how much I unintentionally expanded on it and how much I like this idea), anyway, I think you might actually be unto something with the idea of a non-normal cat.
It could be a cat from the GZ, not even necessarily a ghost, but potentially an species from other universe (or even Danny’s own) that unintentionally migrated there through a natural portal and kept developing there with all the ecto-mutations that come with it (my personal head-cannon for the Yetis) or possibly even a never-born that manifested itself from the concept of cat, like an archetype that gave itself a physical shape with the loose laws of physics from the GZ (“a dream who no longer needs it’s dreamer” because that quote will never not be awesome).
It could even be an alien cat that Danny found out on an adventure to another planet (CW mission?) or some kind of artificial halfa cat either his parents or the GIW (or even Ra’s himself, which could be fun) made by accident through heavy exposure to ectoplasm and whatnot. That’d sure add another layer to this if, instead of just randomly giving Tim a cat, this was Danny’s way to protect the cat by having them live with the one kid in Gotham who is both rich (and thus having less chance of being successfully bullied by the GIW) and left alone enough that his parents shouldn’t mind or even notice much their new pet.
Come one, Come all, to the Greatest Park in all the realms- DP x DC
We all know Danny is a strong baby boy, especially ghostly-wise. And I got hit with memories from my childhood of my dad running us kids ALL over Disney Land (literally running, he let my mom, aunts, uncles, and grandparents relax, while he ran us 7 kids all over). And, of course, if you got to a theme park, you exhaust yourself.
But do ghosts, supernatural entities, and superheroes got that benefit?
Superheroes are HARD working individuals; they need to take out threats, keep up with others with different powers, etc. Batman keeps up and BEATS UP, other supers even if he's just human. The Flash and Superman race sometimes but they need to be careful not to reverse or speed up time.
And as Ghosts/Neverborns, Realm denizens probably only have the realms to tire themselves out or enjoy themselves, not having a true outlet outside of fighting to have fun.
Now imagine Danny creating a space like that. Something of a combo between a Ren Faire, a State Fair, Six Flags, and Disney Land/Disney World.
He's bored; he's a young king to a dimension that's basically self-governed for CENTURIES; he's trying to find something to do when it hits him that he and his rogues don't get to have a lot of fun. Fighting's good for the Core, helps bond frenemies or impress others with powers, but it becomes...stale.
It starts off slowly, especially with Amity slowly accepting itself as an in-between for the dimensions, but it grows to where his haunt (not his castle, the castle was for business, Amity was more his haunt than anything) is partially a space for Phantom Park.
Skulker, surprisingly, has some of the most fun there, a whole attraction dedicated to showing off one's skills (think Katniss demonstrating her skills with her archery from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire). Dash loves it too, a tad bit more liminal, grin more of a pleased snarl as he crushes opponents inside of the attraction.
Ember is determined to beat ALL of the musical related booths, no matter what.
Young Blood and his crew LOVE to 'ransack' the place, 'stealing' treats and 'pillaging' the gift shops. (Honestly, Danny's just happy they got an outlet.)
When the Justice League hear about it, they think it's something evil, of course, something more like Pleasure Island (from Pinocchio) than anything GOOD.
Wait, NO! Nightwing, NO! DO NOT EAT THAT COTTON CANDY! Red Hood, do NOT encourage him and-let go of that corndog!
Would be interesting if the interdimensional nature of the place makes it so that the park itself is something of a living being which maintains itself and grows out of feeding on the emotions of the park-goers (something like Spectra where her feeding doesn’t actually take the emotion out of the target - they feel just as miserable, more even - but where she actively tries to enhance those emotions in her targets).
