All the dabbles I have posted on my DC x DP account. Under a read more due to how long it is. Broken into three categories:
Multi-parts - Dabbles that have more than one part written.
One-shots- Dabbles with only one part written.
Requests- Dabbles written for the requests of readers. (Note: If a request is for a continuation of the other two categories, they will be filed in Milti-parts)
Master Post 1 Link
Master Post 2 Link
Master Post 3 Link
Completed AUs Master Post Link
NSFW (+18 ) Link
Please read the indexes to determine which master post each au is filed in.
As of 12/25/2024: The newest stuff is inside of Master Post 3.
(Updated as of 06/05/2025: Stop onOne-Shots: The Fib: Part 1)
~{Heyyyy, So here you gremlins go, sorry if this is a bit long I got the brain cell and it fucking RAN!}~
•“ONE NORMAL DAY”•
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
One normal day is all that Dan wants!
But seeing as his little sister is currently beating the ever living shit out of the guy who tried to hold Danny at gun point while they were walking back from visiting Jazz at her new dorm at Gotham University for psychology. Dan knew this couldn’t be a normal trip.
But let’s go back a bit to how this happened, A few weeks after Danny’s 16 birthday Maddie and Jack had been arrested for seriously injuring a guy on one of their recent “Ghost Hunts” where they would get in the van and drive around town like mad men looking for ghosts but due to their more brutal and erratic behavior over the last couple months they missed the random guy crossing the street with his kid.
Luckily the guy got his kid out the way in time but he had multiple broken rips and injuries on his right leg and torso due to the crash and of course the guy sued them but with the investigation into the Fentons their unsafe and heavily neglectful home environment was revealed and Danny who was still in high school and Jazz who was almost to graduation was taken out of their parents custody and put in Vlad’s.
And due to the Fentons behavior they almost put Vlad back in the hospital he hated so much when they shit at him in ghost form and Danny had to save his ass following that Vlad (wisely) decided to actually start going to therapy (His therapist is a ghost named Mave who’s obsession is helping mentally) and due to the therapy Vlad had chilled out and was bettering his relationship with Danny and Ellie while making one with Jazz.
Around this time Dan had been let out of the thermos and was basically put on parole and was sent back clocky to live in the manner where everyone was living and after the time they all lived together they all started to view each other as siblings/children and everything was good.
Then Jazz was accepted into Gotham university.
This would’ve the first time they would be visiting her and on the way there it was fine, sure they got a few looks by their clothes (Vlad’s love language is apparently gift giving) and had gotten to Jazz’s just fine and had a great time.
But on the way back Ellie had gotten tired and wanted to take a short cut to the hotel where she could sit down and harass Vlad to buy them all food and the short cut was down a dark alleyway that had Danny saying what bad horror movie are they in.
Then when they were halfway through a guy in a black hoodie had grabbed Danny and held him with one arm around his shoulders holding his back to the guys front while putting a Glock to the side of his head. And for a moment all was still before Ellie had started to shake and practically start foaming at the mouth in rage and Dan would probably be the same if he wasn’t having a flash back to losing everyone in his old world.
Danny had just sighted and phased through the guy before turning to him and looking at him like he was a dumbass and walking over to Dan while Ellie ran to the guy and tackled him and started to go ham, as Danny got to Dan who immediately just picked up Danny and held him close while Danny calmed him down.
After a few minutes and after Dan had calmed out enough, he put Danny on his shoulder where Danny was fully just sitting in his shoulder and walked over to Ellie who was on top of the now bloody spot that can only be classified as meaty goop in a vaguely human shape and wrapped his free arm that wasn’t holding Danny put on his shoulder around Ellie’s middle.
And after picking her up she went still before starting to flop around like a dead fish that somehow got rabies and Dan just started to walk to the hotel because the last thing he needed now was to get arrested.
What the three of them failed to notice was the two figures one in red and one in purple looking down from above.
-•—••••••••••••••••—•-
•Appearances•
Danny
Make his hair shorter and his eyes are a bright blue with equally as bright green near his pupils.
Dan
Add a sleek gray coat and his eyes are a bright red.
Ellie
Her hair is tied up into a ponytail and her eyes are blue with red almost brown spots near her pupils with green.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
~{And that’s it! When I said the brain cell ran I meant it RAN but anyway hoped you gremlins enjoyed my random bullshit and until next time byeeeee}~
Crack prompt: Danny has declared war on the curses in Gotham. He is armed with a water balloon gun, but the balloons are full of medical-grade ectoplasm. He targets any location, ghost, or liminal being tainted by curses and/or corrupted ecto - absolutely drenching them before yeeting off again.
This includes the Bats. Danny is smart about it, though. He lived in Gotham for several months before acting, so he could get the lay of the land. He also waits for patrol to be finished before hitting the Bats - he doesn't want to interrupt their Quest to Better Gotham (or be labeled an invader to their haunt).
One night, Danny happens upon Batman patrolling alone and waits for him to finish cleaning up a crime scene before hitting they guy with a half-clip of balloons. Batman gives chase, like he always does, and Danny runs, like he always does. He knows by now that, for whatever reason, Crime Alley is off limits to Batman. The whole alley just gives off "no (other) bats allowed" vibes.
Red hood is just more territorial. Whatever.
At any rate, Danny is enjoying the chase, using just enough ghost powers to stay ahead of batman, almost-but-not-quite taunting him. Crime Alley isn't too far, so instead of turning invisible around a corner like he usually does, he makes his way to the Alley to see if the no-trasspassing rule is enough to stop Batman mid-chase. He leaps across rooftops and weaves through fire escapes, ecto-balloon-gun bouncing by its strap against his back, until finally he's at the border, slightly tapping into flight to make the jump across a slightly wider road into the alley proper.
He turns around immediately, spotting Batman skulking on the rooftop on the other side of the road, stopping the chase and suit half-covered in healing ectoplasm.
"Sanctuary!" Danny yells, pumping his fists in the air from getting caught up in the exciting rush of adrenaline, "I claim sanctuary!"
"Who the fuck is claiming sanctuary in my territory?" Red Hood booms from almost directly behind Danny. He would have yeeted out of his own skin from surprise if he hadn't spent years honing his ghost-fighting instincts. As it was, Danny instead whirled around and emptied the clip of balloons into Hood, purely out of reflex.
Hood stood there, drenched in ecto like his fellow Bat one rooftop over, glaring murder at Danny with glowing eyes. But his haunt betrayed Hood's true emotions.
Surprise, concern, impressed, you-little-brat.
Danny booked it to the fire escape and turned invisible the second he was out of sight.
Jason is going to hunt the best down for this. That was impressive. He wants to see what else the kid can do. Also, he wants to shake his hand for the he'll he's been giving B and the rest. He's fully aware he got drenched in reflex. Can't blame the kid. But the kid has been playing keep away for weeks now. And had the audacity to run to his territory and claim sanctuary. Knowing B wouldn't chase him further.
Then his response time, and reaction, to bring startled? Was to drench him as well! And he managed to escape? Yeah, he's gonna track the kid down. Train him up a bit. Ask why the weird drench attacks. Kid clearly doesn't mean any harm. But why?
The group chat has been going wild over the brat. And now he has his own footage to upload. Plus, getting to see B sulk in the background after the kid claimed sanctuary? Hilarious. The rest are going to love it. Jason hasn't been so amused in years.... Jason hasn't been so amused in years!?! What the fuck?! He's calmer.... Ok, he definitely needs to find the kid. The rage is still there. But it's easier to ignore. What. The. Fuck.
Danny? Really wishes Hood didn't have the full helmet. Given the feelings from his haunt? The look on his face would have been fantastic!! Best! Night! Yet! And he's nearly found the source!! It's definitely in the sewers. He's pretty sure it's near the creepy frozen undead. That he absolutely needs to kidnap to the Far Frozen. He's doing that later. He's so glad he chose to get a gas mask. And a cap. He just knows if he hadn't? Last night would have given them a great view of his face.
Lazarus-gun kid dropped off the face of the earth for the next few days. Probably laying low. Smart move, if a bit frustrating.
In the meantime, jason feels like he's experiencing the world in color after being resigned to black and white. Everything around him is new and interesting, now that he doesnt have to fight so hard against the Rage.
It is slowly returning back to normal, though. Or maybe he's just adjusting to the new level? Either way, the kick of euphoria it had given him was wearing off. He's back to spending a few minutes after patrol hanging around the device Lazarus-gun Kid left on his rooftop just to take the edge off again.
Kid's been littering the city with the strange devices. Batman has taken to dismantling every one he finds, and the kid responded by disguising them better. Tim has thoroughly examined them and determined that they're somehow pulling lazarus water right out of the air, pushing it through a filter, and releasing it back.
The filters were collecting all sorts of toxins and pollutants. Most of the bats were of the mind to leave them be, and had taken to not informing bruce whenever they happened upon a well-disguised one. Bruce, of course, insisted that releasing pure lazarus water into the atmosphere would have unknown effects. Everyone else argued that it couldn't be worse than leaving the toxins in the atmosphere.
Jason, in particular, had a knack for finding the devices, as if he were drawn to them like a moth to flame. He'd found more than a dozen in Crime Alley alone and found a new one nearly every time he ventured out of his territory that the others hadnt already found and catalogued (the catalogue being very carefully kept away from bruce).
After a few days of fruitless searching, jason turned to the device on his own rooftop. If the security cameras he'd set up fuzzing out every few days were any indication, Kid returned to this one often for maintenance. He just needed to camp out until the kid returned.
On danny's end, he'd been spending the last few days scouting out the strange underground ecto-cryo facility he'd discovered. From what he could gather, the ecto used to feed the undead contained here was full of chemicals that suppressed emotions and personality. The poor creatures were literally turned into mindless weapons. Frankly, it was a nightmare scenario.
But danny is a fenton and knows how to sow maximum chaos. He attached an ecto filtrator to the pipes, hidden away in a dark corner. It definitely isn't big enough to filter everything, but it should create a slow improvement in the undead creatures. He'll have to come back often to replace the filter and check on their progress, and to see if any of them are ready to be rescued and removed.
In the meantime, he needs to return to the surface. Its already been a few days since he last checked the ecto filtrator that he placed in the center of Hood's haunt, and that particular one needs to be babied quite a bit. He also has a half dozen alarms going off for other filtrators throughout gotham that need replacement filters, and a handful that need to be replaced because batman apparently found them. Paranoid bastard.
Though, it looks like the other bats are letting things be. About half of the filtrators have been tagged with stickers of the bats' various insignias. If theyre anything like team phantom, they probably turned the easter egg hunt into a competition.
Oooh, what if he takes the pure ectoplasm that he filters the pollution from, and fills his water balloons with that?
Like, he has ones with a hidden tap that he can attach the balloon and turn the nozzle to fill it up. It would explain how he has such a steady supply to keep going out and drenching people with it.
Also, regular material goes weird around ectoplasm, so is he using a special kind of material for the balloons? And balloons are acutely really bad for the environment, especially in large amounts. The rubber/latex doesn't break down and can do some pretty bad environmental effects en masse.
Just had another thought. They're shaped like water balloons, but he actually just gathers balls of ectoplasm, and then surrounds them in a thin layer of his ghost ice. The ice is thin enough to not hurt on impact, but thick enough to stop the ecto from dissipating into the air.
Omg you're putting more thought into my crack prompt than i did. Absolutely danny is using his ice to make the lazarus balloons. That is now canon. It took two whole weeks of targeting the bats before any of them realized that the "water balloons" didnt leave any fragments behind.
And i was imagining he was in regular contact with frostbite for the medical-grade ecto, but the tap idea is good too. OTOH though, if gotham doesnt have enough ambient ecto to sustain herself, her knights and all the shades and ghosts in her borders, then recycling the ecto isnt going to improve things. He needs to add more to the system while cleaning what's already there. That was my headspace before your ideas, anyway. I do like the tap idea.
I was also imagining that the city as a whole starts to exhibit more symptoms of healthy liminality the longer danny operates, becoming similar to a liminal! Amity Park. Batman sees it as the purified death juice giving people supernatural powers, like it's a mad science experiment. Jason's slow improvement is the main clue that something else is going on (the other biggest clue is that "cursed" things stop happening in the locales that he's drenched, which tend to correlate to the epicenter of various Traumitizing Historical Events). The rest of the bats are noticing and trying to unravel what's going on while keeping bruce's paranoia in check.
Mind you, i dont consider bruce's paranoia anywhere near toxically inhibiting in this story, just that his first reaction is "worst case scenario" which he has to be slowly eased out of like handling a wet feral cat. He has questions, and he knows that this kid that reminds him so much of his own kids has answers, dammit!
I feel like he's letting the filtered Ecto do it's thing. Let it settle you know! He has absolutely been in contact with Frostbite. He's got drums of fresh healthy Ecto ready to go! People and places to drench. (Here's a fun fact, once filtered any scan? Wouldn't show it as Lazarus water. Lazarus water is dionesium Ra's fucked with. So it's showing as a weird dionesium like liquid instead)
Now, Danny has more filters to place. He's absolutely started phasing them in hollow spaces. Check mate Batman. Try finding them there fucko! Jason is frankly impressed. He found on in the fake wall. Somehow without the door release being triggered?! Tim keeps finding them in his favourite crawl spaces B can't fit into. He's having a blast tagging them. Yes, every bat has their location tracked stickers. Yes they are using that to score points. Yes, Jason is somehow winning. Bastard!
Danny is gonna drench Arkham tomorrow! He's got a blimp, several gallons of ecto, and audacity. Batman's gonna go spare... He should totally hack the bats. Lead them to a chat room. He won't get into their system. But, he can make them chase his signal! Then he can beg for a picture of Batman reacting to tomorrow!!
Plus, he's gonna be causing havoc soon. All those undead in the crypts! Well, Frostbite is setting up a safe place for them. So, he's sure whoever made mindless slaves is going to kick off when he rescued them. May as well send a selfie of him taking them to their rehab home right?! Let them know what, if not why or how!
When Danny drenches Arkham, he takes very special care to repeatedly target this one patient who really really needs his system flushed. He has to go back and spray the guy several times; and ultimately has to go home, restock, and come back. But eventually, slowly but surely, the deranged clown stops laughing.
Hopefully, having been flooded with the good stuff, top tier medical grade ecto straight from the glacial springs of the far frozen, hopefully now the Asylum can actually start helping it's patients. Because that dude? Looks like he's having some realizations. Danny predicts many breakdowns and issues to work through in his future.
Anyway, time to go! Lay low and stock up to hit his next big target. There's this big fancy pants rich person's house on the edge of the city that seems to be another hub for activity.
Tim couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now, he's used to a lot of crazy. A lot. But this? The sheer audacity! The guts! The pizazz! The sheer, pointless chaos of it! the lack of harm! Just chaos. Water gun guy, has a blimp. With a cutesy Batman and Robin drawing on it. With drums, raining whatever the Fuck that stuff is. On Arkham. He's dodging him shots, with a blimp. The skill! The daring! The showmanship! Steph, you gotta catch him, he's gonna swoon. He's never seen B look more ruffled!! It's perfect. Joker looks like a drowned rat! Croc is basking, while Riddler seems to be dancing!? What the fuck?!?
Babs is on coms. Talking about a hacker as well. Who apparently isn't trying to breach their firewalls? Just kind of... Poking them. Then backing off and doing it again? In what seems to be a playful manner? Tim is all for a friendly hacking match. Seems a great way to end a brilliant evening. Since there is nothing he can do to be useful here? He's just gonna, go home. Unwind on his laptop. Yeah...
Oh, oh, it's him! It's audacity guy. He's giving them a good run around as well! He's not brilliant like Babs is. But he's good. It's fun to have a friendly match for once. Each place he leads them to? Gives them hints for the next challenge. It's nice, him and Babs should definitely do this again. A few hours later and he's finally got to the finish line! He's set them up a secure chat room!
Him and Babs are going to upgrade the security obviously. But Tim knows not many hackers could get in here. But, better safe than sorry! Time to add everyone, but B, to the chat!
Red Robin: So! What do we call you? 'That Audacious guy' Is a bit long.
Mischoef: Welp, check my user name lol! So, I need to know!! Did I manage to make the big Bat swear yet!?!
Nightwing:... That's why you set this up?
Mischief: I was also hoping for a picture of the face he pulled. It was better than me claiming sanctuary right?!
Red Robin:.. Trade you, for at least why!?!
Mischief:... Hmm. I suppose that's fair.
Red Hood: Wait, how do we know you ARE the brat?
Mischief: Aww! Um, a picture of my and my lovely super soaker?
Spoiler: Nah, tell us something we know about!
Mischief: Ohh!!! Ok, Red Robin found the filter at *location*. I love the rates you've used in them btw.
Red Hood: Speaking of. How, did you manage to sneak in into the wall. In my seconds safe house? Hmm?
Mischief: Nunya!
Signal:.. So, what do we have to trade for answers. We know what we get for a picture of Batman's reaction to the Arkham escapade...
Black Bat: Hm... We have many questions. Also, many pictures.
Mischief: Vigilante and Rogue fails through the years. One picture per answer!!
Nightwing: Are we really giving out our hard earned blackmail proofs for answers!?
If this is a Camera Stalker!Tim AU, then Tim has so much blackmail on everyone from when Dick was Robin. He’s the blackmail king, Barbara is the blackmail queen, neither are to be trifled with
Now, they won't be using anything they've kept in reserve. All the pictures they send? Will have been used at some point as revenge, bribe or just for fun. They aren't going to let themselves lose future options. But Mischief doesn't need to know that. But a picture of B's reaction to the Arkham escapade? Well worth an explanation.
Danny gets sent a picture of Batman, The Batman himself. Looking ruffled. Upset, perhaps irritated. And confused. Danny loves it. Now, he can never share this with a living person. So it's a good thing he's met Martha and Thomas Wayne's ghosts!! They will love it!
Mischief: So, explanation time! Gotham is so cursed. Like, SO cursed. I'm using extra pure, uncorrupted and non contaminated magic juju. To basically dilute the cursed and contamination. It's gonna take forever. The filters? take in all the cursed stuff, and filter it, to release it back into the city!
Red Hood:... Is that why I'm so fucking chill lately?! Your filters are literally uncursing me?
Mischief: Yup! Pretty much.
Nightwing:... And you had to do it by being a menace why?
It's not just Discowing. It's Discowing fails. It's Dick flubbing a landing. Smacking into a window. It's a glorious collection of Discowing's worst moments. Danny loves it. Yes! This is his jam.
Mischief:.. My hand in marriage? Those! Are! Glorious! Nightwing, why?!
Nightwing: The fuck is this? Bully Nightwing hours....
Dick retaliates with Red Robin fails. From there it's going to turn into a half hour of them just teasing each other. The initial objective forgotten in the heat of the moment. Danny is crying tears of joy. He absolutely owes them a proper answer... He's gonna write them up a report. Then play with Red Robin to make him find it. He just knows Red Robin loved their earlier hack batle!
Then? It's time for a nap. He's gonna be stealing all the undead this week. Now they are healthy enough to survive the Far Frozen. Ohh, he should warn them about that actually.
Mischief: So. Random question. So you happen to know about the undead in the catacombs? Kept as slaves!
Nightwing:... You found the Talons? Of course you did.
Red Robin: Please don't go there alone?
Mischief: Too late for that. Soo... I know a healer who can help them. We've set up a secure place to keep them while they heal. And I'm gonna take em there this week. I'm guessing the bastards that made them that way won't take it well.
Nightwing:../ You're going to steal the weapons of the court of owls?
Spoiler:... Oh dear. Things are going to be chaotic.
Signal: You guys are missing a key point. With out the Talons? The Court will be weak.
Red Hood: Oh yes. Time to get plotting. We can finally take em down in the chaos!
Bruce knows that his kids are up to something by the way they're all avoiding him. Even damian has switched loyalties and refuses to explain. When they get like this, good old-fashioned investigation is the only way Bruce can figure out what's going on.
...
It has something to do with Lazarus Balloon Kid. With a bit of sleuthing, Bruce pieced together that they've set up a face-to-face meeting in a few days, at the entrance of the Old Catacombs. Bruce immediately considers the worst-case scenario - mind control - but forces himself to take a deep breath. Experience dictates that the most likely explanation is shenanigans. If it is shenanigans, there are a few assumptions he can likely make:
Lazarus Balloon Kid is either defected from or unaffiliated with the League of Assassins. Otherwise, Damian would have warned Bruce of League involvement.
They've learned something reassurring about the Lazarus Water that Kid uses, or Jason wouldn't have joined the group.
Kid is not a threat because Barbara would have informed Bruce otherwise, and Dick would have enforced stricter coordination on contact with an unknown.
Cass is going and will detect any ill intent once she meets Kid. Bruce trusts his children to react accordingly (as long as it isnt mind control).
The location is bothersome, but Bruce trusts that Tim would have found any connection Kid might have to the Court of Owls if it existed. They've known the identities of all the major members for a while and have only been unable to act because of the chokehold they currently have on Gotham.
Still, Bruce wouldn't be Batman if he didn't consider and plan for the worst-case scenario. He'll tail his kids and watch the meeting, and only interfere if he believes they've been compromised.
Oracle: B, what are you doing?
Batman: Just watching.
Oracle: I can hear your paranoia from here. I promise they're safe. I would have warned you otherwise.
Batman: How else am I supposed to figure out what's going on if none of you will tell me?
Oracle: *sighs* Either join them now or leave. If you interfere after the operation has started, you don't have enough intel to not ruin it.
Batman: What kind of operation?
Oracle: Technically, rescue and exfil. But I can guarantee it's not whatever you're thinking.
Batman sighs and heads to sit with Oracle. If this is a pre planned mission? A late addition will throw it off. As they have decided to trust the other teen? He will sit back and observe for now. Whatever the kid is using? Doesn't read the same as anything they've seen before. It has markers of dionesium and Lazarus water. But it IS different. He can also use this as a chance to question Oracle.
Danny led the group to where the Talons were kept. They were strictly there to ward of humans attempting to stop Danny. He's not always great at holding back when fighting humans. Danny is also pretty aware they think this is going to go wrong. Then have to rescue him from unsettled undead. Silly vigilantes,Danny knows his undead!
Now for the most draining part, opening a damn portal. Danny had trained long and hard. Managed to bully a few magic using ghosts to help. And has learned how to create temporary portals. Ones he makes using sigils as an anchor are even easier. So the Talons new home had a sigil carved into the wall of the building. Frostbite and their new Drs are waiting, ready to move them along.
The vigilantes watch as with what looks like pure willpower, a portal grows until it could accept two grown adults at a time. As soon as it stabilised an icy arm came out, to test? They watched as Mischief grabbed the hand, clearly a pre arranged signal. As a 7ft Fuck off YETI walked through!!!
Red Robin:... A yeti?!
Danny: Yeah, this is Chief Frostbite. He's the one who set up a new home. He's gonna help me move the uh, less functional ones!
Red Hood: The ones missing bits?
Danny: Yeah. The ones missing bits.
Nightwing had a restraining hand on Robin's shoulder. The moment a yeti walked through the portal? He just knew baby bat wanted to ask a million questions. He could feel his brother tense with a desire not to fidget.
Danny and Frostbite immediately began to usher the Talons through the portal. The rest watching with disbelief. The Talons were completely docile! Went without a fuss! They knew the mischief maker had believed it would work. But they hadn't honestly expected it to work so well. The next hour was spent keeping an eye out for Court members, and staring at the moving line of undead assassins be herded away from Gotham.
Once the last Talons were through, Frostbite have Danny a hug and left. He focused again, and let the portal close. Then he turned to the bats and grinned, waving them on. It was time to go back to Gotham proper. They had a chance now to take out the main players of a large criminal group after all. Danny was going to be going about hitting a few high traffic areas with ecto.
Batman watched through the cameras and had to double check that he wasn't drugged.
Batman: Oracle?!
Oracle: Oh calm down. He's magical, not meta. Has a friend who works with undead. They set up a secure deprogram the Talons. Which, means the Court of Owls? No longer have their greatest weapon. Mischief also gave us a hefty star of paperwork and other proof we can use to arrest them.
Okay, near the end before frostbite left, robin took a chance and reached out to touch his fur. Frostbite is very good-natured about it because he understands that children are naturally curious and tactile. Letting younger patients (and sometimes older ones too) touch his soft fur is actually a common ritual during their check-ups.
The group walks pretty leisurely out of the catacombs, a pre-planned opportunity for more subtle interrogation by the bats, but it also allows danny time to pick up the filtrators and surveillance tech he had hidden around the place.
Red hood: so... what the fuck did i just witness?
Mischief: a successful rescue op, obviously.
Red robin: i concur with hood. What the fuck? How did that go so smoothly?
Mischief: are you implying that your own rescue ops always go sideways? Is this the part where i get to tell the Bats to get good?
Red robin: oh, hardy har.
Spoiler: to be fair, mischief *has* been playing lazarus tag with us for weeks now, and none of us have caught him yet. I am curious about how successful we are with the easter egg hunt, though.
Mischief: that will require another photo.
Spoiler: How about a picture of Robin petting Frostbite's fur?
Robin: *scowling*
Mischief: You guys have tagged about half of them. Also, nobody has explained yet why you guys keep calling it Lazarus Water.
Nightwing: there's a cult called the League of Assassins that guards underground pools of what they call Lazarus Water, which looks a lot like your ectoplasm.
Red Robin: Chemical analysis shows some differences, though. The ecto in the air before it gets filtered is chemically closer to Lazarus Water than the purified ecto you filter devices release back out.
Red Hood: dont forget that the stuff the talons were sleeping in is also different.
Red Robin: Right. The Court of Owls buys Lazarus Water from the League of Assassins and puts it through another chemical process. They call the result Dionysium.
Mischief: i could tell that the ecto the talons were in was modified. If the stuff it started as was Lazarus Water, ive gotten a sample of that from this cryo facility too. Its basically raw ghost sewage, and the Dionysium is basically raw ghost sewage with a handful of added sedatives.
Spoiler: and here i thought i couldnt feel more bad about the talons.
Mischief: The Court clearly had no idea what they got their hands on. The fact that they were pumping their "weapons" full of sewage also made the talons extremely sick. They were operating at a small fraction of their potential.
Red Hood: That's a terrifying thought that I dont want to think about.
Mischief: Technically, you guys aren't operating at your full potential either.
Meanwhile, Batman is having an internal crisis while monitoring from the clocktower with Oracle. Kid knew about the talons and how to help them? He just removed them from the playing field that easy? How did he meet a goddamn yeti? Where did they send the talons? His kids have found more devices than they've reported? (He's not surprised, but he is disappointed.) What does he mean that the Bats arent operating at full potential?
Danny: Soo... I'm guessing your BatDad is grousing in your ears to ask me questions?
Nightwing:... Enhanced hearing?
Danny: That would be telling!! Anyway. Once I've dealt with the zombie in the sewers? And the swamp that revives people wrong? I'll swing by with some paperwork. My family did loads of research into ectoplasm. My parents stuff was hella biased. But the actual science was spot on. Me and my fraid fixed the rest of their research when my parents passed.
Red Hood: How old are you? To be already writing your own scientific papers!
Danny: Oh... Uh, less than 100 years old. I stopped trying to keep track after I got sent on time missions.
Red Robin: You aren't human are you?
Danny: Rude! I'm a human! I'm just dead is all! Well, undead, but you know what I mean.
Robin: I have questions about Chief Frostbite!
Danny: Frostbite is a fantastic topic. He's amazing, and I adore him. He helped me so much after I'd just died ya know?
---
Batman say with Oracle hearing this and internally screaming. Undead teen? No, no no no! He looks 16!!! Even if he's been dead decades he still died as a baby! Oracle just patting him on the shoulder to calm him down. There there B.
The bats find Mischief's blimp circling around Slaughter Swamp a few days later, dropping thousands of seeds into the swamp.
From Danny's POV, Wulf finally arrived with the bags of seeds Danny had requested from Sam. She's in the middle of rescuing another planet from the brink of ecological collapse, so she can't come herself, but Danny knows her operation well enough to get started without her.
The seeds are sterile hybrids that Sam programmed to target and break down dozens of industrial toxins. They grow large, fast, and die off without breeding and becoming an invasive species, leaving healthier and nitrogen rich soil behind for the native species to move back in. They're also heavily ecto contaminated, as Gotham and the surrounding geography appear to be a strongly liminal microclimate, cursed as it is. (Sam customized the seeds as much as she was able to for the various soil samples Danny had sent her way.)
Hopefully, they'll be able to turn this veritable tar pit back into a thriving wetlands. Sam should be available in a few more months to check their progress. In the meantime, Danny just has to placate Ivy and monitor any changes.
And since he was out and about in the blimp, the Bats came to him, which is rather convenient, as he's got loads of data, intel, paperwork, and a handful of ecto devices to give them.
Ivy would love these plants. They are helping save the swamp! and the surrounding woodlands! Where is the child! She has questions! Who made these?! When can she meet them?! Tell her now!!!
Danny finally let's himself be 'caught' by Batman. Who definitely knows he has been allowed to catch up. He's not salty about it. At all. The eternal teen has already helped Gotham a lot. While he doesn't entirely trust the reasons why. He does at least know the results are positive.
Batman: Why?
Danny: Lady Gotham asked for help. The Lady is badass. Definitely deserves the help ya know?
Well, Batman can understand that at least. Given the fact that the boy chose the handle 'mischief'? He just knows getting a more complete answer is going to be a nightmare. He is sure his children will slowly pry it out of him. Now to make sure the brat is at least staying somewhere safe.
Batman: Have you got proper housing while here?
Danny blinked a few times. Lady Gotham had told him Batman was a total Dad. But, what the heck?!
Danny: I can make portals dude. I just slip back to my lair to sleep.
Batman could hear his children mocking him over the coms. Apparently Oracle had decided to broadcast this conversation. Wonderful.
Batman:... How long will this, curse cleansing take?
Danny: I mean, we are talking centuries of curses here. It's gonna take a while. My friend is coming over in like two months? She's probably gonna kidnap Poison Ivy? To help fix the local ecosystem.
I agree that ivy would like the plants, but i think danny (correctly) predicted that ivy's first reaction to seeing the swamp overrun by an alien species is that some rich guy thought they could profit off of the land somehow, not actually restore it.
After a few days of chasing danny around the swamp with a broom (metaphorically or literally, its up to interpretation), she finally gathered enough info and studied the strange death-touched plants to be satisfied that danny 1) genuinely wants to help, and 2) his form of help is actually helping.
Danny may or may not have needed to bribe ivy by promising to introduce her to the hybrid plants' creator. Ivy has Big Ideas, and it would be great to have another like-minded individual to talk shop with.
Meanwhile, the bats are pretty busy collecting and arresting all the members of the court of owls. They have to prevent a lot of assassination and terrorism attempts as the court lashes out in its dying throes.
Duke is extra exhausted, as the glowing blobs only he can see have started leading him to wherever the bats are needed most during this clean-up period. Bruce is moping too much to be paranoid about it.
Danny can't wait till Sam gets here. Tucker can't come. He's busy doing magictech something, something in another dimension. And will be for a few years. But Sam? He gets his bestie here in Gotham!! Till the local city is cleansed!!! It also means Miss Ivy will stop asking him questions he doesn't know the answers to! Not his field of expertise ok! He doesn't know how she made her magic plants! Take a spare seed, study them. He'll text her when Sam is here to answer her questions ok!!
He's also being followed around by Red Robin. Who apparently read, and retained, and understood the entire packet on ectoplasm. Already. He has follow up questions. So very many. Danny can at least answer those questions! Well, most of them. Some are a bit too medically focused. Danny isn't a trained healer ok! He has his Ecto emergency health care knowledge. The basics of ecto-biology and cores. But he's just not old enough to know everything ya know?
Red Robin and Spoiler are becoming good friends in chaos though! And Signal has become a weird power mishaps buddy. The blobs like Signal. It's cute. They love to cuddle him. Danny can't help but be amused.
Now, Danny has been told by Lady Gotham who her knights were. And the mansion that needs cleansing? Definitely their home. So... Danny could just ask. But where's the fun in that! Plus, now they know he's a ghost? He can have fun with it!! He's installing a filter a week before though. And in all the other rich people homes. They all live so far out!!
Ah yes. The Big Charity Gala. One of the biggest in Gotham every year. Danny forgets the technical name for it. He's been so busy with the talons and the court of owls that the date has snuck up on him. He really should get a filter set up in wayne manor before they host such a big event.
But he knows his shenanigans are pushing Batman's limits. He doesn't want to break the poor guy, and while danny is confident his ghost powers could carry him through the manor without triggering its security, Bruce doesnt need to be more stressed out by finding more devices he doesnt trust in his own home days before a big event.
So, he'll ask red robin and spoiler to accompany him. That way, they'll know what he's doing every step of the way and be able to watch where he places each of the filters.
Mischief: so there's that Big Charity Gala coming up, that wayne manor is hosting?
Red robin: what about it?
Muichief: ive already identified wayne manor as an ecto hot spot. I'd like to set up some filters there before the party cause i think everyone who attends would benefit. But i dont want mr wayne thinking im another gotham rogue planning some dasdardly scheme, ya know?
Spoiler: i can already see that this is gonna be a hard sell.
Red robin: literally all you do is scheme.
Mischief: but they arent DASDARDLY schemes! My schemes cause maximum chaos and minimum damage.
Mischief: And mr wayne is too much of a golden retriever to be an entertaining target.
Mischief: and im pretty sure he's single handedly keeping gotham from falling into financial ruin with all the charity work he does. I dont want to interrupt that.
Spoiler: phhht, you had me at Big Charity Gala. Whatever your planning, i want in.
Red robin: fuck it. Im in too. Tell me everything, and we'll get you into wayne manor to set up.
This was all over chat of course, because danny didnt think he could call batman a golden retriever with a straight face. With that out of the way, he just had to get ready to actually *attend* the gala. Cant crash (affectionate) a party without attending, right?
It would be pretty interesting to see how many people show up, though. With half of gotham's elite arrested for connections to the Court, and half of the rest having long since flown the coop to escape arrest, it was probably a good thing that this charity event was known for being open invitation. Anyone up to the dress code and able to pay the entrance fee could attend.
Danny had free access to Pariah's coffers, so that wasnt an issue. He just had to pull out some earth-origin jewelry and give the stuff a bath in blood blossom extract to remove any lingering ecto-signature, then sell it in gotham's thriving black market for cash to pay the tailor and the entrance fee.
Shame that sam wouldnt make it in time. Danny enjoyed attending galas with her and all the games they played to keep themselves entertained.
Lady gotham had also given danny a pearl necklace with explicit instructions to give to bruce. He had it wrapped and signed from Lady Gotham because he didnt want to risk touching and accidentally tampering with that death echo. There was far too much love and protection wrapped up in those pearls which was desperate to reach their orphaned son. Martha deserved to have her dying message sent.
He still wasnt sure how to deliver the gift. He was half tempted to sneak it into bruce's office to find later, bat paranoia be damned.
Danny absolutely sneaks in the week before and sets up the filter. In Tim's room, Red Robin said he wouldn't care. (Danny is pretending he doesn't know. But it's getting so hard when they are being so careless) He then takes the chance to place the pearls on Bruce's pillow. He's not gonna make the poor guy find them the day of. That would be cruel.
Bruce finds them and has a lot of feelings about it. Knowing they came from his Mom and Lady Gotham? And delivered as soon as they had someone who could? There's grief, but healing grief. They get very carefully cleaned and restored. Then placed in a glass case in his office.
He turns up in a suit covered with constellation patterns. The inside lining looks like a galaxy seen through a telescope. He's wearing his favourite star earrings. Gone all out. Rather than donate cash. Which would look dodgy AF? Danny brings out a few pieces from the treasury. For the auction. The best part is that, none of them have seen him bare faced. At all. They have no idea who he is.
Danny gladly used this chance to set himself up a backstory. Newly inherited wealth and belongings from family you see. Thinking of moving to Gotham. Thought he'd attend and meet people! Will be checking a few other cities as well! He's really selling the act. The bats are suspicious but it's a common enough thing for nepo babies to do.
Now, he won't be getting the gala or auction. He's set up a blimp with a duplicate waiting for the end. Once the door opens at the end? He'll get everyone then. Much chaos and annoyance. No disruption of the event. If it happens to set his new human ID as NOT Mischief? Well, that can only be a good thing.
He chats and flirts and charms, as taught by his ghostly advisors. Takes the chance to invite Steph and then Tim to dance. Which causes some titters. How bold! To openly go for both! He's not actually interested. He's doing it to cement a certain perception in people minds. Plus it means he can make friends with their civilian identities!!
Now, when the gala ends? Danny is also going t get drenched. Which he knows, so he made sure to act surprised as everyone else. But decided to just take not in the chaos. Once it happens he starts laughing quietly, Steph and Tim? Find this random nepo kid has a sense of humour. Which is dutifully added to his brand new file. Someone wealthy, new and with a sense of humour? Might just be a good addition to their charity work!!
This is perfect, and I have struggled for *days* trying to figure out how to add to it.
And this is still open for anyone else to join, especially if im taking forever to respond.
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The next couple of weeks go by fast, as Mischief spreads his namesake with the various Bats, and Danny is toured all over the city with the Waynes.
He's pretty sure Bruce is suspicious of Danny’s himbo act, which means the others will be eagle-eyed for any slipping of character. Joke's on them, Danny can channel his inner Jack Fenton like a pro.
Tim is the most inquisitive of the group, constantly asking questions both in and out of the cowl. Danny is happy to answer most of them, but there have been a few moments he's been certain Tim was about to piece things together. Even now, he's not sure sure how much Tim knows - he's far better at acting than Danny could ever hope to be.
(Maybe that's why he's so confident in his carelessness? Or he at least realized that Mischief knew their identities a while ago? Ancients, Tim is impossible to get a read on.)
Suddenly, it's already time for Sam to arrive, and Danny almost isn't ready. He's got tons of plans to show her around the city and give her a warm welcome, depending on what she wants to do. Anything from a quiet date night to catch up to a city-wide ecto-balloon war, it's all up to her.
Unfortunately, those plans got immediately derailed. Apparently, Ivy's connection to the green made Sam a homing beacon on her radar the moment she entered the city. Ivy showed up at Danny's doorstep within the hour to meet the new plant meta that encroached on her territory.
There were a few tense moments before Sam realized that this was the nymph liminal Danny had warned her about, and she quickly explained that she was here to manage the plants she sent ahead for Slaughter Swamp.
Double unfortunately, Ivy had been at the gala under Bruce's dime to represent a handful of environmental charities, which meant she had met danny as a civilian before today and had enough information to piece together that he's Mischief.
Mercifully, Ivy promised not to tell the Bats his identity. (Danny got the impression that she was enjoying the chaos and too grateful for the chance to meet Sam to try to extort him for that promise, even if she made it sound like a hard sell.)
Sam and Ivy spent a few days girl-bonding, and finally Danny got the chance to catch up with Sam himself with their adventure slash date that he had planned.
The night after that? Harley and Catwoman decided to tag along with Mischief and Nightshade. Ivy may have promised not to tell the Bats, but the Sirens keep no secrets from each other.
Danny won't even care that Selina is demanding bribes for his secrets. Pariah had a ridiculous amount of sparklies in his treasury. His fraid had already gone over it to pick out the bits they want. Everything else was used for gifts/bribes/selling for mortal cash. Oh, Danny lending them amulets so they can enter the Realms safely. He takes them through the armoury and treasury. Lets them choose what they want. Then carefully decontaminates them. Sam carefully chooses a selection of extinct seeds for Ivy. Ones that are safe to reintroduce. Harley loves her new weapon that can turn into a bracelet. Selina adores her array of random knick-knacks. She is also amused by the fact that everything she pocketed was reclaimed before they left. Carefully decontaminated and then left in a box on her desk the day after. She does like the pair.
Danny gets to introduce Nightshade to the Bats. Sam is going to adore Spoiler and Black Bat. Seeing her and Robin together should also be hilarious. He can't wait!!! Sam is thoroughly enjoying her work. She and Ivy are absolutely besties and having the BEST time. Danny frequently finds the two plotting out how best to do their work. Which of course means Harley is spending a lot of time with him and her boys. Which meant he brought Cujo over for a play date. Harley LOVED the glowing dog who can change size.
Bruce absolutely groaned the first time he saw Mischief playing with Harley. He is glad they were just having a city wide de cursing water fight. But he really wished he'd had more time before they met. And Nightshade teaming up with Ivy? Yes he is glad those businesses who were dumping chemicals were stopped. Yes he is glad Gotham is healthier. But, did they HAVE to grow cursed trees like that? Sure the things wither and die eventually. But the city is FULL of the damn things. At least his kids are having fun? And Selina has met them now as well. Fantastic.
The Bats are all gonna want their chance in the treasuring after hearing the sirens brag about it. What do you mean Mischief is richer than god? At least they still (probably) dont know that Danny and Mischief are the same. Tim looks a little too calculating for Danny's comfort, but its *probably* just resting gremlin face. Hopefully.
However, all this chaos is starting to come to a head, good-natured as it is. Bruce has found hints that Ra's is in town, no doubt investigating the boy flaunting lazarus water by drenching everything in it. Bruce knows it isn't *quite* lazarus water, which means Ra's has probably figured that out too, but that isn't going to make Mischief any less interesting to him.
On top of that, sightings of the talons have picked up again. There haven't been any altercations (yet), but bruce is worried about how they'll behave while not under the control of the Court, or if the remaining missing members will find a way to regain control over them.
The Joker has also woken up from his semi-lucid state, though the Arkham nurses report that he's constantly muttering about the shadows having eyes and hasn't (yet) caused any trouble.
A few developers have tried to make moves to gauge the property value of Slaughter Swamp now that it's being cleaned up. The Sirens, Mischief, and Nightshade have had to scare them off. A few have gone missing. Tours into the swamp have picked up with the appearance of the alien plants, which have so far been tolerated. Nightshade has warned the tour guides that the plants will attack anyone who annoys them enough. Bruce is only about 80% sure she's joking, and that certainty drops with every new developer or surveyor that goes missing.
Gotham high society has been abuzz about Mischief's prank at the end of the Big Charity Gala. Apparently it was the Most Acceptable Rogue Attack Ever? He didnt attack until after the party was over, didnt steal anything, and the weird goo evaporated without damaging anything or causing adverse health effects. In summary, it made a great distraction to fill the media news space so no one has to talk about all the high profile arrests happening.
The information blockade isn't fooling anyone, though, if the parties in the streets and on the rooftops are any indication. Petty crime is down and drunken brawls are way up as the common people celebrate a major win against gotham's seemingly endless corruption.
And the newest member of gotham high society, Danny Nightingale, has been keeping all of Bruce's kids very distracted. Bruce would have suspected him of being Mischief if that didn't require him being in two places at once. Though, working with mischief wasn't off the table.
At least the kid couldn't have picked a more perfect time to move to Gotham - when all of its most predatory natives are running for their lives. And with all the jewelry danny had donated to the charity auction, he has high hopes that his kids will be able to ensure that danny is converted into a force for good instead of become the newest face for corruption in the city.
Ohh, the Talons are being allowed out on short, chaperoned visits to the city. They aren't anywhere well enough yet to be left alone. But the Dr's agreed that letting them visit Lady Gotham in their old haunt? Might be a good incentive to get better. Lady Gotham is thrilled at how much better they are already! She's so glad Phantom/Mischief came to help.
Danny and Sam are highly amused that they are considered actual rogues now. This is Gotham. They expected to never be considered more than an annoyance. But full blown rogue status? Danny cuts out the news reports and frames them. Sends a snap to the bats, with his pride made obvious. Cass sends him a thumbs up, while the rest laughingly threaten to get him next time.
The and developers are found stumbling out of the swamp. Sobbing and screaming about the things chasing them. No one can get a proper explanation about what is chasing them. Only that they can't escape! They can't! They will find them again. They are all quietly sent to a nice, calm mental health retreat. People stop trying after that. The tours dwindle after the plants start to die off. Sam designed them so the would die and rot quickly. Rotting quickly has a small side effect. It smells beyond foul. Especially to humans.
Danny would be highly amused to be accused of funding himself. He wouldn't be able to stop himself from laughing if they asked him. He has been enjoying his outings with Sam and their new friends. He does like Gotham. They do also visit other cities. After all, some of what they are up to? Takes time, and they can't move to the next step without it being done. So they have plenty of time to visit other cities.
Bruce is highly amused when Danny and Sam come back from a gala held by Luthor complaining about everything. The space museum was about the only aspect of Metropolis they enjoyed. Bruce was especially amused when they pronounced Luthor to be a 'fruitloop supreme'. He was also relieved when they complained about stupid rich folks who buy their way out of trouble. At least they are less likely to become engaged in Gotham's corruption.
Oh hey, youre back! I was thinking about figuring out how to close out this fic, but have been too busy and burnt out the last few days to come up with ideas.
Maybe Danny and Sam figured out that Luthor was behind the land-grab attempts on Slaughter Swamp. Luthor even cornered them and tried to make a deal they couldn't refuse during their Metropolis visit.
They are absolutely not going to let that slide. By the time they returned to Gotham a few days later, all of the furniture in Luthor's penthouse AND all of his safehouses were phased partway into the ceiling, and all of his Secret Illegal Science Labs had been dismantled by rampaging plants of Nightshade's calibur.
Bruce didn't even find out until the Justice League had been called in to contain and clean up the mess. According to the files Oracle and Red Robin collected from the disaster sites, some of these labs had evaded the Justice League's radar for a couple of decades! Bruce would be bewildered about how they managed to find the labs if he didn’t already know that Mischief was in regular contact with the dead. No doubt the ghost of someone who ended up on the wrong side of Luthor's wrath spilled the beans.
Some of the Leaguers are talking about inviting Mischief and Nightshade to join the League. Yeah, that'll probably last right up until some of them become a target of Mischief's pranks.
He also doubts that they would accept the invitation. They may be good-aligned, but even on the best of days, they're chaotic-good. The rules and bylaws of the League would be too restricting. Certainly, they'll throw in their help during an emergency, but that's the most he would expect.
A week after the Luthor debacle, Ra's makes his move by abducting Nightshade. One of Bruce's kids informed him one evening that Mischief far too calmly informed them that "some old lazarus-contaminated fruitloop" kidnapped Nightshade and to cancel all plans over then next 72 hours as they wreaked havoc... then sent them a nvm five minutes later because "the talons dealt with it before I could :("
It's been two weeks since then, and none of the batclan have yet found any hint as to what happened. Nightshade smirked but otherwise didn't answer when batman tried to question her.
During those two weeks, Damian attempted to adopt a couple of talons and bring them home, insisting that any creature capable of killing his grandfather is worthy of respect. Despite Bruce putting his foot down (and insisting it was too soon to make that call), it seemed that bringing those two talons to the batcave opened some sort of floodgates. Now, there are never less than three talons wandering the cave at any given time, and he's certain at least a half dozen more hidden from sight.
Dick has started training them on how to use his gymnastics course and scoring their proficiency. Stephanie has started giving them bowties and hair clips to differentiate them while Duke has filled out dozens of those "hello, I'm ___" stickers with random common names written on them, and left the pile out for the talons to sort through and choose a name (Bruce is kind of blown away that at least some of them can read). Alfred has taken to giving them cookies as some sort of pavlovian scheme, and Tim is trying to teach them how to use the coffee machine. (Alfred gives them a cookie when they make Tim's order a decaf.)
Jason has actually started patrolling with them, swearing up and down that he can sense their intention, and they always seem to know exactly what he wants them to do. Also, crime in Crime Alley dropped by 300% once word of the talons joining his gang got around.
Bruce hasn't slept well the last few days. He's woken up twice now to Ivan watching him sleep in his own bedroom.
Another one of them (Erick) makes themselves apparent while Danny Nightingale is visiting, who, instead of being terrified, absolutely lights up with glee, greets the talon, and offers a high five.
The talon reciprocates.
Bruce would like to know exactly when his life got derailed.
On the note of Gotham thinking Nightingale funds Mischief:
Obviously the bats have been looking into Danny. And the strange thing is, no matter how hard the look, they can never find where the wealth comes from. Not even on the illegal side of things. By all appearances, Nightingale is Old Money, riding out his life by steadily liquidizing inherited assets with no sentimental value. Selling off gems and jewelry and relics whenever he needs money.
But there is no inheritance. There is no trail. There is no history. Until Danny showed up at the charity gala, no one had even heard of a Nightingale family. They have no idea where he's getting these things. They are only mostly confident he's not a thief or treasure hunter.
The answer reveals itself, quite by accident, at another charity gala. Nightingale, as has become his MO over these last few months, brings in several pieces to be auctioned off for the charity. And Damian startles to realize he recognizes one of the pieces. It's some kind of small tapestry; a beautifully woven mandala of deep green, vibrant red, rich black, and shimmering gold. And last time Damian -or technically Robin- had seen it, it was hanging on one of the walls in Mischief's lair.
No wonder Daniel always laughs whenever someone asks if he funds Mischief.
The conspiracy board is getting quite full at this point. Several suggestions are thrown out. One, Danny and Mischief are dating. Two, Danny is Mischief, and had a friend play act him during the gala incident. Three, He is Mischief and his undead powers do include being in two places at once. Four, some secret other thing they missed as it is too obvious. None of these questions get an answer. Nightingale laughs so hard he stops breathing if asked. Sam is no better.
Given all the work their new friends have been doing is to help? Bruce has decided regardless of the reason? Nightingale and Mischief (if they are two people) are allies. At least for now. Their new Talon friends(?!?) Are extremely good judges of character. They are curious and wary. The long term effects of their treatment at the hands of the Court of Owls. That they happily greet both Mischief and Nightingale? Can only be a good sign. Bruce is aware Mischief will likely tell them the truth. At the time it amuses him most. He is going to invite Diana over to meet them. He is sure she will find their antics highly amusing.
The time to tell the truth that would be the most amusing for Mischief is inevitably going to be the same time that will give Bruce the most new grey hairs.
It's going to be when Danny has allowed himself to be kidnapped in place of one of the Wayne's from a gala. Danny knows they have to go suit up to save the day. They can't be down a member against a team up from Riddler and Two-Face! Danny is tied up in a death trap. And oh so casually mentions the latest picture he was sent as Mischief. So they know not to stress TOO much.
If things start to get dangerous, and the Bats are taking too long? Danny can always make a duplicate dressed as Mischief to save himself. Thus making his ID safer against anyone not a Bat. He knows he is just fine. Now the Bats do too. They can focus on the actually endangered civilians. They know Danny well enough to know he isn't at all scared. If he's not even a tiny bit scared? He's not in danger of anything but outing himself as Mischief. Which he only cares about to be a chaos gremlin anyway.
Using a duplicate to save himself is also gonna have the secondary effect of fueling the rumors that Nightingale funds Mischief; in the same way that there always being a Bat to rescue Bruce and his kids fuels the rumor that Bruce funds Batman.
I am not immune to magical animal transformation fics. Also, my cat!Danny agenda. So, like, Damian finding a magically transformed Danny, mistaking him for a regular cat, then sneaking him into the manor obviously tickles my fancy. But also, Cat!Danny winning Alfred over by being a complete narc every time one of the bats try to do something stupid while injured is just... *chef's kiss*
Bruce- *trying to sneak down to the batcave while injured*
Danny- *looking for mischief, sees injured Bruce swaying in hallway* Mrow?
Bruce- Shh.
Danny- *slightly louder* Mrep?!
Bruce- I will give you all the tuna in the world if you-
Danny- *air raid level yowling*
I need them to rehome Danny and have all of them being super relieved, only for them to get out of the car and enter the manor only to see Danny sitting there near the entrance before he flashes them the cat version of a cheeky grin.
He then snitches on them by yowling and hiding behind Damian when the boy gets home. Damian rightfully knows his family did something, but no one will tell him what.
Bonus points if he's hiding from something. I'm kinda bored of him running from GIW or his parents. I want a comedy of some ghost trying to catnap danny only to fail hilariously over and over as subplot. Maybe it's vlad, and the bats have to deal with a creepy old guy that this cat absolutely despises. Maybe it's some new ghost cause we definitely need some new blood in this Fandom. I look forward to someone pulling a Wes again ;)
Oh, and Batman cannonballs has sensors for ectoplasm (and I'm betting protection from spirits entering) so that could be another reason danny refuses to leave/ the Waynes agree to keep him
Cats have a good sense of smell yes? So Danny will be able to smell any hidden blood. Which likely leads to more than one instance of him getting it wrong. He thinks he's snitching about a hidden injury. But nope. He's snitching about them beating a rogue bloody instead. This is of course, just as annoying.
Alfred makes him gourmet cat food. Danny is being spoiled rotten, in the most healthy way possible. He is going to have the best of the best supplies. None of them know who trained this cat. But whoever they are? They just wanna talk. Honest.
The cat has anxiety. Who gave this cat anxiety? Did that blue vampire give the cat anxiety?
Since he's a cat, I guess Cass wouldn't be able to 'read' him well? But...
Catwoman. My knowledge of Catwoman is a bit... conflicting... as some versions of her are Very Cat-like and some are just cat-themed sneaky thief. But imagine Catwoman learning about "Snitches"... by sneaking around Wayne Manor during one of the charity balls.
Danny: Merp?
Selina: Oh, what a handsome little tom with such bright eyes. Now where did Bruce get you?
Danny: RAAAAAAAAOUUUU!
Tim, hiding from the party: SNITCHES, SHUT UP! I'M NOT EVEN HUR- oh.
Selina, eyebrow raised: Your cat is named Snitches?
Bruce: He's rather vocal about certain things.
Tim, mutters: And weirdly smart even for a cat.
Selina: Bruce.
Bruce, hand raised: Kyle.
Selina, drops some mcguffin into his palm: You never let me have any fun.
Selina trying her best to win over Danny. But he isn't having it. Every time she sneaks in he screams for attention. Conversely, every time she shows up in civilian attire and through the door? Perfectly fine. This amuses her greatly. She knows 'Snitches' can tell she's the same person. The first time she visited as a civilian he stared her down until Alfred introduced them. She would also like a guard cat please. Where did you find him?
They try to rehome him again, this time into Selina's place while she's out. He sticks around long enough for her to see him then bolts. He leads her on a long chase around Gotham until he finds Robin, climbing his shoulder as Catwoman comes to a stop on the same rooftop.
Damian is furious that Selina attempted to steal his cat, until Selina explains that he was simply in her apartment along with an open carrier when she got home. She was simply trying to catch him to ensure he made it safely back to the manor. Damian takes Snitches' calm demeanor as Catwoman offers him a couple of scritches and compliments as his verifying her story. Of course, that begs the question of how he ended up at Kyle's place to begin with. Snitches' "hiding" and hissing when one of his siblings lands on the rooftop seems a decent clue.
Damian is going to be so damn petty for months. He's also telling Alfred. None of them deserve after patrol sweets! Only plain boiled healthy stuff! Bland! Flavourless! Alfred, make it so!! Danny of course is also being a menace. They thought he was bad before? He's teaching Titus and Alfred the cat to snitch as well.
One of them probably complained, causing Danny to perk up and preen gleefully. Since he reacted to it the name stuck. It would be great if he's the most loving of cats. When he isn't telling on them for misbehaviour? He gives them all so much love. Cuddliest cat in the world. They can't escape affection from him. They love and despise him in equal measure.
Don't you see? Him being a snitch is a form of love! He loves you. He loves you and doesn't want you to hurt yourself [more] by pushing yourself past your limits. He wants you to take care of yourselves. Because he loves you.
Danny is trying his best! It's not HIS fault his humans are dumb and stubborn! He will impose self care by being a menace if need be! He is slowly training them into looking after themselves. And Alfred is living for it. The best moment was most definitely when Master Bruce answered a called from Miss Diana. And had to turn down a case due to Snitches sitting on him. Claws lightly dug into his skin in a threat of worse to come if he dared move. Miss Diana was highly amused. And had shared the news of Snitches with the rest of the Justice League.
Bruce just sighs as the call ends. He looks at the cat? (Evidence suggests this is no ordinary cat, perhaps not a cat at all, but certainly at least near human intelligence, if not on par.) He gives the animal a couple scritches behind the ears, no need to be unkind to the juvenile creature, which Snitches delights in.
"Wonder Woman will tell the others that I am being bullied by a kitten. They will all have a good laugh about it. I have allowed this. I trust you understand that this behavior is only tolerated among allies. Batman has an image to uphold to maintain efficacy, which would be undermined should the criminal underworld learn of this."
Snitches blinks slowly at him, staring for a long moment before bumping his head into Bruce's with a purr. Bruce elects to read the action as an agreement of understanding.
About an hour after the phone call from Diana, Snitches still was perched on his chest. Bruce sighed (which the cat responded to with a twitch of his ears) and gave the feline a level look.
“I can, and do, appreciate the need to comply with bedrest, but, if I don’t shift position, it’s going to be really uncomfortable for me. Not to mention the risk of developing bedsores.”
Ok, maybe Bruce was overplaying the risk of bedsore, but he really wanted to move just a bit.
Snitches narrowed his eyes a bit, then shifted over the the extreme right on Bruce’s chest…and then set in his claws juuuuust a tiny bit as a warning.
Bruce rolled slowly onto his left side, chuckling a bit as Snitches deftly shifted position so that he now sat pretty on Bruce’s lateral ribs. He was still pinned by cat, but moving felt good.
Clark and Diana are going to pester Bruce to introduce Snitches to the League. He might be more technically civilian support. But he is still doing good work looking after hero's no! The fluff bundle should get to meet them!!!
A week later, Bruce has FINALLY been cleared to go back to full duty. First thing on the agenda is a Justice League meeting to get up to speed on what has happened in the last month. As he suits up in the Bat Cave, his glance happens to fall on Damien who is studiously scratching the ears of the Bane Of His Existence (AKA Snitches) as the feline sits on his son's lap. And then he remembers the texts Clark and Diana have been sending him ever since he had been barred by cat from helping with a mission.
"Damien. Suit up."
Damien looked up with a look of mild surprise. "Father?"
Bruce smiled and said, "I'd like you and Snitches to attend this meeting."
Snitches looked at him warily as Damien carefully placed him on a bench to fetch his uniform. Bruce's smile only became sharper. "It's just that Superman and Wonder Woman wanted to meet you." He pulled down his cowl and stood. "And as for the rest of them...let's say their sense of self preservation is sometimes worse than mine."
Oh, dear! How could a cat grin so evilly?
A short Zeta Tube ride later and Snitches is being cooed over by Wonder Woman. Batman is about to start the meeting when Green Lantern and Green Arrow stumble in. Batman's sharp eyes catch that Hal is trying to hide a limp and Oliver has his lips pressed hard together, but Snitches' nostrils flare. The cat jumps out of Wonder Woman's arms and starts yowling!
"Do you two have something to share?" Batman dryly asks the puzzled pair of heroes.
Martian Manhunter joins the meeting and very quickly becomes Stitches obvious favorite.
This might be the point were its confirmed that Stitches used to be a (half) human teenager as Danny even as a cat would probably be mentally geeking out over a real martian
Martian Manhunter: Why thank you, Danny. It is always nice to meet a fan.
The whole room freezes as Martian Manhunter starts petting Snitches (Danny) and the cat showing such affection, you'd think J'onn J'onzz was his owner.
Damian: his name is snitches. Why do you call him Danny?
J'onn J'onzz: well, he told me his name is Danny. And that he is excited to meet his favorite hero. Said he used to be one too before getting turned into a car by his arch nemesis. Said you met the man, called Vlad Masters.
Everyone is shocked. They call the magic users in for an emergency and Constantine gets there first.
Constantine: alright spooky, what did you call me here for? It better be -
Constantine stills and stares at the cat being pet by J'onn J'onzz. He puts his flask and cigarette away and clears his throat. He crosses his right hand over his left pectoral, and thumps thrice. With a low bow, he speaks.
Constantine: I greet your Majesty Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms, defeater of Pariah Dark, the boy king, Hero of Amity Park, Saviour if the Realms and Living beings, the Balance between the veils, protector deity of Heroes, children and the innocent, Infant Ancient of Space, the True Halfa, changer of Fate, Saviour of Earth.
Constantine bowed again, before standing upright and at attention. The JL had never seen him this serious and that was saying something. Constantine asked J'onn J'onzz to set up a telepathy link between everyone present, and in doing so, everyone heard Danny's voice.
Danny: Hellblazer, it seems recovering your soul fragments has done wonders for you. Would you be able to reverse the spell Plasmius cast upon me.
Constantine: it has, thank you for your aid. I will try my best, your Majesty.
As Constantine turned to leave, Danny called out till him.
Danny: by the way, where is my niece?
Constantine: Raven is currently on a mission, your Majesty. Shall I send for her to present herself upon completion of her mission?
Danny: Hm, very well Hellblazer. I await your return.
With one last bow, Constantine dashed out the room like it was on fire. The Bats turned to Danny to ask questions, but Danny held a paw up.
Danny: While I would love to answer your magnitude of interrogation questions, Dark Knight, I require my afternoon sleep. By the way, Lady Gotham sends her greetings.
With that, Danny leaped into Damian's hands and slept, leaving a flabbergasted JL behind.
Everyone knew the rule of No Metas in Gotham, but there's was an unspoken second rule, no blue-eyed and black-haired child in Gotham.
Or you would be abducted by Bruce Wayne. It didn't matter if your parents are alive or not, if you're are mistreated or not, he would get you and never letten go.
What Danny didn't expect was for the youngest Wayne, Damian, track him down and try to abduct him for having fox ears and tail.
The two had met at a museum in Metropolis, each accompanying their classmates through a tour. Damian saw his foxy meta features and got obsessed with him, and somehow discovered his Phantom identity. Even though his foxy side didn't show in his ghost form.
DP x DC Prompt (picked up AC Black Flag, the sea shanties inspired me for this one)
The entire DC world knows of the historical figure known as Captain Nightingale. The youngest pirate captain to ever live, as the stories tell that he was just a teenager when he began to earn the respect of adult piretes with his combat skills and his magic. Captain Nightingale had the largest navy to exist during the time of his reign.
Captain Nightingale was a boy who had pure white hair and tanned skin. His pirate outfit was mostly black with white accents and an amulet around his neck that is said to guide him to whatever he desires, yet the hear didn't seem to bother him. And he remained looking like a teenage boy for decades before he just vanished, leaving his ship, his sword, his outfit, and his amulet behind.
The "artifacts" of Captain Nightingale's reign have been scattered in the modern era of the DC world. Ra's Al Ghul has the entire outfit of Captain Nightingale, Ra's Al Ghul himself, has lost many times to the young Captain after it was decided that the pirate Captain would become a problem to them. Lex Luthor is the current owner of Captain Nightingale's ship, having used all of his devious methods to obtain it. Selina Kyle had stolen Captain Nightingale's amulet from a museum across the seas before arriving in Gotham. The Wayne family has the Sword of Captain Nightingale, as it is rumored that the Wayne's of that time were somehow part of Captain Nightingale's crew.
Danny, sent to the DC world on a vacation because of overworking himself on his Ghost King duties, learns about his other vacation as a Pirate Captain through a Lex Luthor funded tour about his ship, the Sagittarius, on display like a trophy.
Danny debates whether he should rally his crew again or remain a normal person. His debate is interrupted by a sticky note appearing on his forehead that reads:
"Try not to kill anyone, My King
C.W."
It looks like Captain Nightingale is going to make a dramatic reappearance into the living world after all.
The Justice League is looking for a mysterious thief that has been stealing the artifacts of Captain Nightingale. They learned of the artifacts going missing through Batman, as Catwoman complained to him about the Amulet of the Pirate Captain she stole was now stolen from her. Then Batman learned from Talia that the outfit of Captain Nightingale was stolen from her father's personal treasury. The sword of Captain Nightingale was just recently stolen from Wayne Manor, and only the ship remains, which Lex Luthor us doing all he can to prevent it from being taken.
The Justice League needs to catch this thief to stop them, as they learned from Constantine that the artifacts could be used in a ritual due to their strong magical affinities.
The Justice League had rushed to Lex Luthor's museum, where they caught the "thief" in the act of stealing the ship of Captain Nightingale. A teenage boy wearing the outfit, which looks to be a perfect fit, of the Captain, sword hanging off the hip of the "thief," and the Amulet glowing brightly while hanging off the neck of the "thief." But it's when the "thief" turns around to face them as he's climbing the ships side that shocks them. It's the spitting image of Captain Nightingale that looks at them.
"Ahoy there, landlubbers! I am ashamed that my personal property has been kept as far apart from each other for so long. Didn't none of you respect others' property?"
The ship began to float as the boy got closer to the steering wheel of the ship.
"I've come to teach you all a lesson for disrespecting the dead, but I won't be doing it alone"
The boy had grabbed the sword from his hip and raised it high.
"Rise from the grave, me hearties!"
The ship of Captain Nightingale began to be filled with undead pirates, all looking at the Justice League. Then, right before the ship had flown away, they all heard the boy, no, Captain Nightingale himself, say:
"It is time to set sail once again! Prepare for the return of Captain Nightingale!"
Due to the return of Captain Nightingale Bruce looks into any connection between his family and the captain.
He finds one Samantha Wayne, a noble lady of the Wayne family. She was a rebel against the status quo and had done many things not acceptable for women of her time. As punishment her parents, Jeremy and Pamela Wayne, had sold her into marriage.
Naturally she had fled and joined Nightingale's crew and became his right hand man. She was known for her witchcraft and swordmanship. She was called the "lady in black" or "the voodoo queen".
Bruce also found evidence of large amounts of money being paid to the British navy admiral Pennyworth to kill Captain Nightingale and bring back the embarrasment of the Wayne family.
It is rumored that when Samantha died she was buried in an unmarked grave on the new Wayne estate in the new world.
It's not known, but Danny was always scared he would use his powers for evil, like Pariah Dark, so he shares his power with Sam and Tcuker, unable to use it all unless the two are with him, in turn he also shares the title as well.
Because of this, one of the first things he says when he becomes captain again, is about the two. "Now! Full speed toward my second in commands! Then. We'll be unstoppable!" (Or something like thst, idk.) Then after more research it's found that Tucker was also known as Danny's like, left-hand man, or also right hand-idk. But the three were considered unstoppable together, and that each were stronger together. Constantine mentions how Captain Nightingale doesn't seem to he at full power, and that it's possible the three being considered 'unstoppable' could also be magical in nature.
Idk, it would be super interesting if they have to search for Tucker's body as well. I like to imagine that Danny was forced back into the Infinite Realms pretty soon due to his duties, but he was still in a relationship with Sam and Tucker. Sam's pregnant, or already had some children that she and Tucker raises(probably with Danny visiting ngl-) but when Tucker does die Sam's parents refuses to bury him in their cemetery, so Sam gets it buried in a secret grave that soon becomes the Gotham Cemetary, with a special headstone that, even though it's withered with age, somehow has stayed up this whole time. It's in the middle of the cemetery.
Commissioner Jim Gordon meets an odd kid in the precinct.
--
“Come on, you really don’t have a way to directly contact Batman?”
Jim smiled. Kids came to the station and asked that all the time. Usually, it was just curiosity and showing them the signal was enough to get them to sign up for the Junior Police program. This one looked a little older than most, teenagers were often “too old” to believe in Batman, but again, give them a little faith now and they’ll never loose it.
“Lookin’ for the Bat, kid?” Jim asked, knowing he was about to make this kid’s –
Jim froze. The kid turned to face him and it was Bruce Wayne. Not playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, but freshly a teenager Bruce Wayne. The Bruce Wayne who Jim had checked in on time and again from age eight until he ran off on a globetrotting trip to find himself. The little Bruce Wayne with too pale skin and dark bags under his eyes, and not enough love to make up for all the grief weighing him down. And he didn’t look like Damian either, where Bruce was obviously his father but there were distinct traits from his mother. This was a carbon copy of a boy Jim remembered vividly.
“I am.” He even sounded like teenage Bruce. All business, like he was on a mission.
“I might be able to help you, but it’ll take a while.” Jim said and the officer the kid had been talking too gave him an odd look. He waved her off and told the kid to follow him to the commissioner’s office. Normally, he’d be more dramatic, put on more of a show for the kid, but his gut told him this was different, this was important. He offered the kid a styrofoam cup of water then closed the door behind him. “So, what do you need to talk to Batman for?”
“It’s personal. I need to talk to him in person.”
Jim took a sip of coffee from his cup. “He doesn’t appreciate me calling for no reason in the middle of the day.”
“So you do have a direct line?” The kid nearly jumped out of his seat. “If he’s upset, it’ll be my fault, just call him, please.”
“Who should I say wants to talk to him?”
The kid hesitated. “He doesn’t know me, but I have to talk to him.”
Jim frowned. “What’s your name, kid?”
He swallowed and looked like he wasn’t going to answer for a moment. “Danny.”
“Danny…?” Jim wanted a last name but Danny kept quiet. Jim sighed, “He’s likely not going to show up until sundown.”
“I can wait, as long as you guarantee he’ll show.”
“And you’re not going to tell me why you need Batman?” Jim just got a glare in response. “What about one of the other heroes?”
“Only Batman, no one else can help.”
“You sure about that? Not even Superman?”
“Not unless Superman can get me in the same room as Batman.”
“Why’s it so important that you meet him in person?”
“It’s personal.”
Jim liked this less and less by the minute. “Do your parents know you’re here?”
Danny looked away but right when it looked like he wouldn’t say anything he mumbled. “They wouldn’t care anyway.”
After another moment to give the kid time to reconsider, Jim pulled out the Bat-phone. It was a normal Wayne-Tech cell phone, but Jim had been given very specific instructions on how and when to use it. The phone listed all the Gotham Vigilantes without visible numbers so they couldn’t be copied and handed out. He pressed the one for Batman.
“Stand outside, would you?” The kid gave him a look, but followed the request. Jim could see his shadow in the door’s window, not so subtle eavesdropping.
It rang a few times, and Jim sat there awkwardly with a teenager listening to his every move. Finally, a familiar voice picked up the other end of the line. “Commissioner Gordon.”
“Sorry to call you out of the blue Batman, but I’ve got a kid here who needs your help.”
“Who?”
“Says his name is Danny, that you’ve never met him but you’re the only one who can help him.”
“Why?”
“Refuses to tell me.”
“What’s your best guess, Commissioner?”
Jim looked at Danny’s shadow, it looked like he was straining his ears to try and hear what he was saying. Danny had given him almost nothing to work with. Just his name, that he’s never met Batman but needs to talk with him in person. But Jim was here because he listened to his gut. A feeling like when you see a random rock on your neighbor’s doorstep but you’d never go in without an invitation. A feeling like you know what’s in the present and are preparing your surprised face. A feeling like when you cheated on your wife and you know she knows.
“He looks like Bruce Wayne.”
A beat of silence. “What?”
“Danny looks exactly like Bruce when he was a teenager. Exactly the same.” Jim hoped Batman would get it, feel in his gut what Jim felt.
“And he wont say why he’s there?”
“No, and he demands to see you in person.”
“I’ll be there in an hour.”
“10-4.” The line cut off before Jim had finished saying it. He called Danny in again. “He’s on his way.”
Danny glared at him. “If he’s not, if you called some social worker or something, you’ll regret it.”
“I’m sure.” Jim sighed and downed the rest of his now cold coffee.
The sun hadn’t set, but only just barely. Jim ended up taking Danny up to the roof in the end after all, if only to save his window from being broken into. The kid had a red hoodie on, but he was still shivering in the autumn chill and it was just going to get colder by the minute as the sun made its way behind the horizon.
Jim checked his watch and, at exactly an hour from when he called, he acted surprised when Batman and Robin appeared out of nowhere. “Bats.”
“Commissioner.” Batman greeted but his eyes went straight for Danny. “Danny, I assume.”
“Yeah, I…” Danny hesitated, looking at Jim and Robin.
All it took was four words from Batman. “What do you need?”
The kid held out his hand with a flash drive in it. “I’m your clone. My par- The people who made me wanted to make a stronger version of you, but they got ahead of themselves. My DNA is degrading and I’ll die if I don’t get your DNA to stabilize me.”
Holy cow.
“You don’t expect us to believe that, do you?” Robin sneered at him.
“The flash drive has all the info on it. All the data about the cloning process and the, uh, relevant experiments after that.” Batman gave the kid a look. “I didn’t want to waste time on unnecessary data.”
“If what you’re saying is true, why are you here, alone? Are they working on a different solution?”
Danny’s shoulders hiked up. “I’ve been a failure for a while now, I’m not worth the resources and they’d learn more from an autopsy.”
Oof, kid. Jim looked at Batman who seemed to feel the same… if Jim was reading him right.
“So, you wont object to a DNA test?” Robin asked with a cocky head tilt, at least he was relatively easy to read.
“You can try.” Danny said, and then realized what that sounded like. “I mean I wont stop you, but my DNA degrades faster outside my body. You’ll have to take me to whatever lab you plan on using.”
“Then we will.” Batman said and jerked his head towards where they’d probably parked that ridiculous car of his. But then he looked at Jim with a nod. “Commissioner.”
“Batman.” Jim returned the nod. “You’ll tell me how things turn out, yeah?”
“I’ll give you a report.” Batman joked – Jim could tell, it was gut feeling.
I really like this prompt! I've seen one version already that has me hooked, but I'm contemplating something a bit different.
What if Danny is lying, just a little bit? What if he's still just fine, completely hunky dorey, not in any danger of melting. But Dani, on the other hand...
A clone of a clone. Both done by people who aren't experts in the field, who didn't and still don't know all the ins and outs. Unstable and already prone to melting, the ecto-dejecto is just a bandaid.
Dani's back in Vlad's lab, the man doing his best to keep her stable. For now. Vlad has no idea who Danny is a clone of, and Danny wants to keep it that way. It's why he went to Gotham all on his own, he's trying to keep them separate.
The favor he's going to owe Vlad after this leaves Danny cringing. But Dani's worth it, she'd be worth it even if Danny did have somewhere else to go. Jazz is too young to gain custody of Danny, no one else in Amity would take in the son of the local mad scientists, no one else knew he was a halfa, and no one else had easy access to the Ghost Zone.
Just a quick in and out, get the DNA Dani needed to be stabilized, go back to Amity and save her life. It was the only condition Danny had for staying with Vlad, if Dani doesn't make it he's gone. But she won't be, Vlad is doing his best to keep her alive if it means finally getting his claws in Danny.
Just get the DNA and go back. No need to interrupt Batman's life more than however long it takes to convince him. No need to even find out his real name or see his real face. Just in and out.
Bruce didn’t like letting Danny just leave. The boy was so anxious, jumping at the least little shadow and clearly desperate to get what he needed and leave. Bruce had tried to convince him to let them help him instead, the Justice League had access to cutting edge technology that wouldn’t be released to the public for years, but Danny had insisted. Only this mysterious man he refused to talk more about could help Danny. It was frustrating. It was probably a trap.
The fact that Danny’s blood sample wasn’t degrading only confirmed this.
He was clearly a clone, and there was definitely something wrong with his DNA, but it wasn’t actively getting worse. Danny seemed stable. But he still needed Bruce’s DNA, insisted on it, was desperate for it.
Bruce suspected there was a clone that did need stabilizing, it just wasn’t Danny. Clones, after all, are rarely made as singles, usually they come in batches.
So Bruce had given in, unable to say no to Danny’s big, tearful eyes. And loaded the boy down with trackers of every kind. He knew the others had as well. Trackers on the backs of his shoes, in his hoodie’s hood, slipped into pockets and the inside of the bag he’d had with him, one was even on the underside of the stopper on the small vial of blood.
That’s when they got to see what Danny had been carrying in his bag: a small styrofoam box mostly filled with what looked like snow, though it was strangely greenish. He carefully placed the vial in the box and just as carefully replaced the box in the bag (which Bruce had seen three different trackers get tossed into while Danny was focusing on the vial).
Then Danny had insisted on being taken out into the city, that he could make it home from there. Bruce hadn’t liked it, two more trackers had been hidden on Danny as he got back in the batmobile. He’d also purposefully driven around a bit before taking Danny to the agreed on drop off point, Nightwing and Red Robin both on nearby rooves to see what Danny would do once the batmobile was out of sight.
He’d vanished into thin air.
There one moment, gone the next. The current theory was a meta of some kind. Not that he had the metagene, not possible with Bruce as his only genetic donor, but not all metahumans had the metagene.
The trackers were working though, so at least they had that. Until suddenly they didn’t. They’d all gone dark at the exact same instance and none of them knew how.
That left them with just the flash drive. Danny had left it behind for them, and after much digging Bruce finally found the boy again. He laced his fingers together and rested his mouth against them as he stared down at the screen, a very proud, very oily looking man beaming at the camera as Danny looked forward blankly and a younger, smaller version of Danny gave the camera a big grin.
Danielle Madeline Masters.
Likely the person who had actually needed stabilizing. Likely the reason Danny had agreed to go live with a man who he had very publicly hated up until whatever fallout had happened with the Doctors Fenton. Even Jasmine Fenton had left, emancipating herself and moving with Danny and Danielle to Wisconsin with Vlad Masters, though she wasn’t ever at any of his events.
Well, now Bruce had some arrangements to make. Afterall, what kind of father would he be if he didn’t fight for custody of his long missing son and daughter?
💚🦇👻🖤
Brucie chuckled lightly as the gala host told an old joke, one Bruce had heard every other gala for years, one Bruce himself had told to his own guests at his own gala. If he never heard that joke again…
“Ah, and here is my friend, Vlad!” The host said cheerfully. “Why Vlad wouldn’t ever let me hear the end of it if I didn’t introduce you.”
Bruce put on his best gala smile as he looked towards the shorter man, but it quickly fell as he made eye contact with Danny at Vlad’s elbow. “Danny?!”
Danny, who had looked bored half out of his mind, suddenly looked up at Bruce and went pale.
Time to put his acting skills to use. “Oh my god, you’re still alive!” Bruce pulled Danny into a hug and choked out a few sobs. Before anyone could say or do anything, Bruce pulled back and dropped to one knee, keeping his hands on Danny’s shoulders so he could look up at him. “And your sister? Is Daniella with you?”
“What?” Danny asked, clearly confused.
“You were so little when the two of you went missing, just a toddler and she was a baby. Please tell me you weren’t separated.”
“What?”
“Dick!” Bruce turned and beckoned for Dick to come join them. Dick, who was only too happy to help sell the story they’d been planting evidence and backdating fake paperwork for since finding Danny again, came running up. Bruce turned his attention back to a very confused Danny. “You remember your older brother, Dick, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Bruce, what is… Danny?! Oh god, Danny!” Dick, never one to turn down a hug, practically swallowed Danny with his arms. “Danny! Danny we found you! Oh my god!” Then, just like Bruce had, Dick pulled back and held Danny out at arm’s length. “And Daniella? No, shush, it’s alright. You’re enough, I can’t dare hope she’s alive and with you too.” Dick pulled Danny into another one of his all consuming hugs.
“What?” Came Danny’s muffled question.
Bruce glanced over at Vlad to find the man both confused and miffed. He locked eyes with Bruce, “Mr. Wayne,” he said dangerously.
Bruce ignored the man in favor of turning Dick and Danny’s hug into a group hug. He even managed to squeeze out a few tears to really sell the touching family reunion.
“Mr. Wayne!” Vlad said loudly, “I insist you take your hands off my son!” He grabbed Bruce by the shoulder and forcefully pulled him away. The man was surprisingly strong for having such a slim build.
“I think you’re confused, this is clearly my son who went missing as a small child.” Bruce swatted Vlad’s hand away.
“They do look remarkably alike,” the host said as he looked back and forth between Bruce and Danny. “And say, isn’t Danny adopted?” The host looked towards Vlad expectantly.
“Yes, but I know very well who his parents are.”
“Good,” Bruce said emphatically, “because I’d like to know the names of the kidnappers who took my children from me.”
“And maybe we can find out where Daniella is as well,” Dick said hopefully.
“What?” Danny asked again.
“Danielle cannot possibly be your daughter,” Vlad said dismissively.
“I’m quite willing to take a paternity test to prove it.” Bruce squared his shoulders as he looked down at Vlad.
Danielle came wandering up around then, sidling up to Vlad’s side as she looked back and forth between Bruce and Danny.
“Daniella?” Bruce breathed, staring down at the little girl.
“Uh… hi?” She looked up at him curiously.
Dick squeaked and pressed his hands over his mouth, eyes appropriately teary.
Bruce lowered himself down to one knee again and smiled at the girl, even younger than Damian. Their ages were definitely going to give the gossip rags plenty of fodder, but if he cared about his reputation he would’ve never become Brucie to begin with. “Hello, Daniella. I know you don’t know me, you were just a baby when you were taken, but I’m your father.”
“You, sir, are a stranger!” Vlad motioned for Danielle to move behind him.
Danielle glanced over at Dick, who was smiling brightly at her, then down to where he had an arm over Danny’s shoulder, then looked back over to Bruce. A wicked smile spread across her face. “Daddy!” She threw herself into Bruce’s arms. A bit surprised by her willingness to play along, but certainly not disappointed, Bruce quickly wrapped his arms around the girl and stood up, rocking her as if she were just a baby.
Bruce turned to look down at his new son, “Well, Danny?”
“Um…” Danny furrowed his brow as he glanced back and forth between Dick and Bruce, “You both do look really familiar.”
Bruce pressed his face to Danielle’s head to hide his growing smirk.
The host of the gala ushers the group into a side room to chat and leaves them there. Bruce drops the “long lost dad” act the second the host was gone.
“Hi. I spoke to Batman. He ran a DNA test, so I know you’re my clone, Danny,” Bruce says as way of explanation. “I figured ‘long lost son’ was easier to explain to a gala full of people than ‘my clone that I only learned about recently’ hence the little show.”
Danny’s eyes widen immediately. “Spoke to Batman, huh?”
Danny’s already put it together. He knows he’s a clone of Batman, but he does look just like Bruce. So, Bruce is Batman. Dani’s figured it out too, and Vlad has as well. None of them are saying that aloud any time soon though.
“We wanted to make sure you knew that you had other options. I did my research and I know you spent a lot of time very publicly hating Vlad here. If you want to live with our family, we’d love that,” Dick explained.
“Now hold on a minute-“ Vlad began, but both Danny and Dani looked immediately interested in this turn of events.
“Yes please!” they simultaneously shouted.
“Sorry, Vlad. But if I have to choose between two billionaires, I want the one who hasn’t stolen my DNA to clone me,” Danny said.
“The one who hasn’t lied to me and betrayed me,” Dani added.
“I think Jazz will agree,” Danny added. “If she can come with? She’s my older sister, though obviously not by blood.”
“Most of us aren’t blood related. It’s 100% ok,” Dick said.
“But-“ Vlad tried.
“Vlad, you can have visitation rights if you behave and play along with our decision,” Danny said. “If not, I’ll make sure you can’t step foot in Gotham much less anywhere near us.”
Obsessed with the idea of Shane randomly encountering Bad Bunny at a bar just like he encountered Rose. (Because he has the BEST luck.)
But he doesn't know who Bad Bunny is, and Bad Bunny doesn't know who Shane is... So they're both just making small talk with this hot guy they met at the bar while they wait for their drinks. They're enjoying talking to someone who doesn't know their celebrity status. And Shane is getting a little flustered despite being married, because damn if this guy isn't his type, and Bad Bunny is lowkey flirting with him.
And then Ilya shows up and has a heart attack. Alternating between fanboying over Bad Bunny and wanting to fight him. Just standing there frozen with this bonkers expression on his face.
And Shane is completely oblivious. "Hey, you're back! I ordered you a beer. Oh, and this is Benito. Benito, this is my husband Ilya........... Baby, are you okay? Why do you look like that?"
Danny moves to Gotham, hear him out! There's really good jobs there that pay through the nose and the cost of living is cheap!
Plus, the city is riddled with heroes and vilains! It's so easy to slip under the radar!
Unfortunately, there are so many civilian casualties. Like, all the time. Even in Metropolis!
So Danny, for his first year in Gotham, opens small portals to the Far Frozen and gets schooled on being a field medic. None of his powers can really be used for healing, but they can make people feel better. He just has to be careful to be as far removed from the Phantom moniker as possible, so he can't use any obvious powers.
He gets a bit of a reputation in Gotham; a small time hero of the people, for the people. A hero not invested in fighting, but in dragging civilians away from the danger. He doesn't even have a moniker; people are too busy arguing over the best one for him.
So while aliens are attacking both Metropolis and Gotham, Danny is out in full kit; a gas mask to hide his face, all black, repurposed kevlar from the vests the GCPD did not properly dispose of, no identifying markers.
But one of the clean up crews notices something insanely worrying; the geiger counter they have to point at alien spaceship parts? Yeah. Yeah, it's going off when they point it at the new small-time hero.
That hero's power is radioactivity. Holy shit. It's not at a level that will hurt people, but when he's dodging through fighting the level goes up.
The clean up crew concludes and shares via Twitter that the medic-hero is only a danger to others if he gets too stressed.
Word spreads fast, and pretty soon the absolute second Danny shows up on a scene, all fighting stops.
After all, no one wants to piss off the living Nuclear Bomb.
Basically, Danny's ghost-everything sets off Geiger counters, and now absolutely everyone is convinced that the medic-themed hero only refuses to fight because his meta power is just...being radioactive.
But he isn't.
So now, because it's the perfect cover and completely disassociated from Phantom, he has to play along and pretend like yes; that is his power.
@dcxdpdabbles OKAY- SO- I read the comment section- and in the original post it’s said that people can’t decide what to call him right?
So it’s comes to the split between Curie & Nightingale right? Now I’d love to imagine that it’s debated on the tumblr and redit of the DCU- but I digress.
Danny’s great fun for the cover story, he is, honest! But maybe it got a little … too out of hand? Like it’s nice and all that people stop fighting- but turns out that’s only the ones who apparently have some sense of self preservation.
Cue his encounter with Atomic Skull.
The first thing Danny picks up on that sets this battle field apart from the rest is the weird almost buzz in the air, yet the air itself feels stale in the weirdest way.
The second thing is the bright blast of light coming straight towards him.
Now Danny would never admit to being out of practice, but he has been in Gotham for around 7-8 months now, and people have all but stopped attacking things within a 2 block radius of his known position. (He has found that citizens during lockdown will claims he’s in vicinity just to get the rough of the day to bugger off)
Back to that bright ass light cause ‘WOW OKAY THATS HMMMMM WHAT WAS THAT’ is what he’s left with when it washes over him completely. As he’s blinking away the few spots in his vision he notices that the dude who sent that shot at him, from what little of his face he can see, looks paler than from ghosts he’s encountered! And that’s saying something!
But then this guy, this guy has the GULL to point a charging blast at a little red headed girl trying desperately to cover her little brother who’s semi trapped under some rubble. And Danny decides that playing pacifist is no longer an option.
He won’t be Phantom- but Phantom’s not needed here, oh no, Danny’s been getting at least a little bit of muscle on his frame from dragging and lifting people from danger zones.
He rolls his shoulders, cracks his neck, and dead sprints at this piece of something that would have even Sam and Tuk gasping
And he DECKS this ugly puke colored bitch with a satisfying CRACK.
The street so silent you could hear a pin drop.
And honestly? The guy went down with one hit, and Danny knows for a fact he’s not all that strong (leave him along the trash is heavy sometimes and the dumpster is down two flights of stairs!)
Next thing the witnesses know he’s rushing around like normal (the new Gotham during & post-battle normal) help people out of rubble, pulling antiseptics and gauze in near infinite supply from his pockets and fanny pack, and ensuring those unable to move are relocated.
When the police and ambulances finally get their everyone is still mildly unsure if what they witnessed was real, that skinny but somehow built small-time peoples hero shrugging off a blast that disintegrates apartment building then running faster that the eye can track and punching Atomic Skull right in the face while glowing in a faint green.
Meanwhile the Bats are desperately trying to figure out not only where this kid has disappeared to but also if they need to Heavily, with a capital H, reconsider what threat tier they put this Curie Nightingale person in
(and maybe see if he would like to hangout with any of the bats on a late night Batburger run)
I love this, and can't get out of my head that his identity... isn't really secret. Danny hadn't really thought about disguises in Amity, okay? His built up Curie's protection gear piece by piece to help alleviate the concern the city has for him (and to keep up appearances - ripping off a lead vest and placing it over someone before he leans into his ghosty/radioactive nature to protect them gives him extra brownie points) and so there are people in the know. It means you get interactions like this.
---
A woman slams down her cup on the counter, interrupting Frank's attempts to order.
"I said I wanted a soy latte. This is regular milk. I'm lactose intolerant. Are you trying to kill me? Because I'll sue. I'll sue you so hard-"
Frank likes this cafe. Coffee is decent, the sandwiches are well stuffed, and Danny works here. The city likes to keep his tip jar full, for obvious reasons. Most people who come don't mind the news instead of music on the radio, they say nothing when Danny suddenly takes an hour break. And they are utterly polite because Curie's radiation levels raise under stress.
Frank can see it. Danny's shoulders tensing. The flash of green in his eyes.
Frank snags the coffee from the woman. The shock on her face cuts off her tirade. She's frozen, then shakes it off to turn to Frank, face turning red.
"You should be nicer," he says.
"Nicer? This place is trying to kill me-"
Danny places a receipt on the counter. It's the same order number as on the coffee in Frank's hand. It doesn't say soy latte.
"You also shouldn't lie." Danny's smile is bright. "We're called Cozy Coffee for a reason, we encouge soft vibes here. Get out."
"If you don't," says a voice from a corner booth that sounds supsiciously like Red Hood, "I'll toss you out."
Frank does not turn around. But the woman leaves and he watches Danny take a deep breath. "You wanted a chai latte, yeah? Thanks for the assist. It's on me."
Frank wants to thank him for the help getting to safety two days ago, but that's not an allowed conversation. So he says thanks, stuffs a twenty in the tip jar, and does not look at the corner booth when he leaves.
Okay I have seen the bat fam figure out Dani is Danny's clone (AKA Danyals) but what I haven't seen is the pure utter confusion and yelling as well as arguing so it goes something along these lines
Dani gets snatched (kidnapped) and woken up in the batcave. She's confused scared and angry until they tell her she's a clone of someone they know and she in her little mind is like "oh these are associates of Danny! Allies friends! :D" and sort of wants to make a little big reveal where they say the name of the person at the same time because she's a kid and wants to do fun things like that even though she knows what's going to happen (or at least what she thinks is going to happen) and the bat fam let her be a kid (but also confused on why she's not acting like a league member but assume she just got out of the manipulation and stuff like that)
The moment comes and they both yelled different but similar names.
Silence....
They all stare at each other in confusion
Damian: father. This clone is clearly a failure. Not only is she not like the league but she also doesn't know how to say her dead donors name right!
Dani: excuse me?! Who said I said it wrong I said it perfectly! It's all of you who got it wrong! What league are you even talking about the justice League?! Do I look like an eye sore of colors to you-
Damian: she doesn't even have the memories! I do not understand how they let her roam! I doupt she has the ability to escape the facility! Why did they let you free child?!
Dani: AGAIN WHAT FACILITY?! I WAS BORN IN A CREEPY ASS BASEMENT IN THE MIDDLE OF FUCK NOWHERE ILLINOIS!
Damian: where were you all this time?! What basement?! The league his operations in Illinois?!
Dani: in more places then you will ever be bitch! April in India eating the best food I ever had you jealous infant brain!
It basically continues like this (Dani trying to explain herself but they don't believe her) while the batfam try to calm them down until Dani says that she knows her template and Damian is like "PROVE IT" and Dani calls him. Not even a few seconds later Danny bursts through the wall looking pissed.
After again much calming down he agrees to a DNA test and low and behind he's Danyal!
Dani screams loudly that she knew itand giving the batfam shit
Dani walks up to him being like "your the better twin" as he drags her away trying to go home
I think I saw something similar, except the batfam was colder and wanted to exterminate Dani, like all other "evil" clones. It goes differently than your prompt, but to read into it somewhere along those lines.
---
Ellie woke up in a cave, behind a glass wall, and she was freaking out. Her bag was missing, her money was gone, and her luck was that she stored her phone like her dad, shoved into her body, intangibly. When she finally saw her surroundings, she was shocked. There were people outside the glass and they just stood there, watching her.
When she asked for help (because why tf were they just watching her like that), they asked what her purpose was. She was so confused. She was in New York sightseeing when she suddenly lost consciousness. When she came to, she was being kept in a cave by ferries who were staring her down with such virtiol that she was ... scared. When they finally spoke, she knew she had to call for help.
Robin: It's conscious.
Red Robin: good. The results are out. It shares some resemblance, but more so to a sibling of yours. Is there anything you need to tell us, Robin?
Robin Froze. This was a cline of his late twin.
Ellie Stilled. Robin was related to her d- template.
Robin: Later. Let's determine how to dispose the thing.
Ellie: excuse me, why did you kidnap me and why are you talking about me like I'm not right in front of you?
Red Robin: the rest are on their way. We'll dispose it after they arrive.
Ellie was certain she had to get out. She had steered clear of Gotham because her da- template had asked her to. It was full of corrupt ectoplasm, and the Knights of Lady Gotham, her champions had one of the worst reps in that side of the Realms. They did not tolerate anything other and had actively been ending others (Constantine isn't sending them back to whence they came. He is bottling and finishing them off. Similarly, the wilderness of the all blades has been ending others too. As long as he thinks of them as evil, the blades work, which is a problem in and of itself.)
Batman: alright, which type of clone is it and who's it cloned from?
Red Robin: Robin has a sibling and that is who was cloned.
Everyone in the cave froze and turned to look at Ellie, before focusing their gaze on Robin.
Red hood: is there anything you'd like to share, demon brat?
Robin: it's none of your business. Red Robin, is the neutralizer ready?
Ellie: let me go. Let me go, NOW!
Nightwing: can we hurry up, I need to hear the story from Robin. Ghat, and agent A has made dinner. I'm starving.
Ellie started crying. This could not be happening. She had survived so long. She had been raised, LOVED, and thought of by the people who ought to hate her. Who showed her that she could be more than she was made to be. If not that she was trying to figure herself out, she would have moved in with him all those years ago. Now she was trapped, in a cave underground and about to be killed.
Robin: can you hurry up? The sound it's making is disturbing and unnecessary.
That was her breaking point. She plunged her hand into her chest, despite the words of protest from her captors. She opened the emergency contact and called him.
0Ellie, in tears: Daddy, save me!
Her captors were stunned and confused. Especially Robin (because he thought that the template was dead). Before anyone could say anything, the cave started trembling. Suddenly, a giant humanoid figure appeared. Its body was pitch black with its extremities white (hands, feet, hair). Its eyes were green and its mouth a dark and endless void. Its head was the size of the cave.
It reached a hand out and brought out the captor. Her belongings floated towards the being on their own. After cradling and comforting the crying clone, his eyes turned flaming like a raging tide. He glared down at them, amd started smashing everything. He did not care if they were in the crossfire (there was certainly a lot of wrongly facing limbs). How dare they try to harm his star, his daughter, his baby. After everything was done, and the cave was thoroughly destroyed, he turned to leave with his baby in tow. He cursed them out.
Danny (eldritch form): you shall never know peace. You shall be plagued by the death of your children. Your bloodlines will always lose a child. The shadows shall reject you henceforth. The light shall shun you forever more.i rebuke your right to ectoplasm and the great beyond. You will not live longer than 60, and even then, your journey shall be riddled with misfortune.
Robin: Danyal?
----
I just love the angst potential. Especially when the Batfam//JL get the consequences of their actions.
other superheros get training from their mentors, from the super secret society, from alien tech,from the monks or they have some kind of military background.
phantom, on the other hand, got training from the firefighters in his town after he crashed on their cases one too many times and they decided that "yup, if your gonna try to help, might aswell give you some training so you could be useful.", he got training from the paramedics because they were worried he wouldn't know how to help an injured human, he got training from his local town detective who smokes too much and gives him cookies when he can help with his Ghost senses and figure out if this was a human crime or a ghost crime.
I want either the firefighters or the paramedics to give him like an honorary firefighter suit or like one of the jackets that paramedics use or shirts that they wear cause I think that would be so cool. Another thing I think would be cool for this is if Danny figured out how to put those things on his hazmat suit in his ghost form and show that he is certified from these things that these people are training him in. 
Deaged Danny. Except he isn’t found by the Batfam, he’s found by Barry Allen. Barry finds this black haired blue eyed toddler scaling the side of a building like Spiderman and saves the child, who then turns invisible in his hands in an attempt to escape. (Danny forgot about intangibility) Barry now has a meta son and nobody can pry him from his hands.
Especially cause Toddler Danny has Older Danny's OP powers. Just randomly uses one or gets a new one and forgets it too.
Barry finding his kitchen frozen cause of a sneeze. Little Danny stuck half way through the cabinet caue he wanted cookies and remembered his intangiblilty only for it to stop. Barry discovering his kid can level a wall with his scream and wondering if Danny is an escaped Amazo experiment?
Barry calling Clark like, “dude, my son really hates toast.” And Clark responding with a laugh and “Yeah, Jon hates strawberries.” And Barry says, “No, no no. You don’t understand. Danny HATES toast. He threw it at the wall and the wall shattered. THE WALL SHATTERED, Clark! My security deposit won’t cover that—WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!”
Man, if the wall shattered, the toast likely just exploded into crumbs when it hit the wall! Poor Barry, lmao. Maybe Bruce will help you with that security deposit.
Bruce wants to step in more, but Danny clocked him as a billionaire and goes into hysterics if he gets too close. Bruce is very upset by this but Barry thinks it’s funny. Try to adopt HIS meta kid huh? I don’t think so Bruce!
Barry: Well. Since I am pretty sure he's invisibly followed me? Sure.
Danny: How did you know Daddy!?
Captain Cold: Well, ain't you a cute one huh? Making you're Daddy worry too much isn't good though kiddo!
Danny: But! I don't want Daddy to get hurt! I can help! If Daddy gets hurt I can get him to a Dr!
Barry: Oh honey! Shh, come here for a hug ok? I've got hero friends. You don't need to worry ok? I know you don't like Batman. But you do like Superman right? He's only a call away.
He is only small. Barry can't crush him like that! Oh! Danny following his Dad to work. He wants to help! Daddy does science to help catch bad guys! He can help! Barry's co workers melt at the tiny child in lab safety gear 'helping' by carefully carrying paperwork for his Dad. Bringing bottles of water to all the staff. He do darn cute!
Also! Really has yet to be mentioned. So I'm guessing this is before Barry gets married and has him. Danny gets to be a big brother! And likely ends up one of the first side kicks. Works with Dick's Robin Teen Titans. As the teams collective older brother. Who is probably 18-21. Not quite their adult mentor. But definitely there to help them. Without being a 'proper' adult. But that's years in the future. For now? Danny is gonna learn stuff! So he can help Dad!
This is so adorable. But now I’m imagining Flash like that babysitter for Jack Jack in the Incredibles. Actually that os probably anyone Barry can get to babysit. Superman and other League members aren’t laughing after the have had a turn as sitter. Batman may turn it into a form of training activity. Since he is still salty Danny doesn’t like him.
Also even if this is before Barry and Iris married and in the early years wouldn’t Dick and Wally still be older? Even if just by a couple years.
Hmm we need more funny fluffy chaos. Oh Mary men. 🎶 @chaos-bringer-13 @confusedshades @azulhood @bloggerspam @clockwayswrites @dragonsrequiem @evilminji @hypewinter @kizzer55555 @menolly5600 @ourrechte-blog @puppetmaster13u @radiance1 @stormikitty @virgamsysxvolumes @zeestarfishalien
Let's say there was some kind of JL level threat that meant Barry had to go be a hero for. But! He can't exactly leave his kid with anyone! And all the heroes /people with powers are already on the mission he's late for.
Wait! He remembers GA and Batman had some conversations about their sidekicks. He calls GA first (because yes Barry understands that Danny isn't comfortable with Batman's whole *vague hand wave* vibe) but it turns out that Speedy is out of commission with a broken arm and a few torn tendons. So he calls Batman and asks if Robin would be okay to babysit Danny but apparently Robin is being left in charge of Gotham while Batman is out so there's no chance there.
Then he remembers how gentle Captain Cold was whenever he sees kids and especially with Danny. How he's been less antagonistic in the recent encounters and that he was the first one to notice how tired he's been. Barry decides to take a chance.
He finds Leonard and strangely enough, the man is willing to babysit Danny IF Barry will write him a letter the next time he goes as a character witness solely on the basis of his babysitting abilities. Barry thinks why not the world is strange enough already and Leonard has been better.
Berry gets back to pick up Danny from captain cold’s place he finds Leonard frozen to the ceiling the trickster tied up in his ribbons, captain boomerang hiding behind a turned over couch with a boomerang in hand ready, and Danny playing tag with mirrors master jumping from one reflective surface to another. Oh and something in the kitchen sink is on fire.
“Hey Boo! Daddy is back!” Berry called out the nickname Danny had sort of chosen for himself when they played peekaboo as a baby.
With a squeal of glee Danny barreled into Flash hugging him like a little octopus. Berry chuckled and patted his head. “I see Lenny had to call in back up. Did you have fun?”
Danny then launched into a high pitched fast ramble about his day while Flash went about putting out the fire and freeing his rogues. When the got to cold on the ceiling he asked, “Let him have too much sugar, didn’t you?”
Leonard let his head drop some. “Yeah. I should have only let him have one piece like you said.”
Deapite the rough first go at babysitting, the Central City Rogues don't back down and give babysitting Danny another attempt. It goes about as well as the last time, but noticeably less chaotic than before.
They keep doing this until they can actually manage to wrangle Danny whenever he is dropped off for another emergency babysitting session. Sometimes they even drop everything in the middle of a Crime just to rush to Leonard's house.
They also inadvertently use their Babysitting Sessions as training, since by the time they all team up again for a big heist they almost manage to beat Flash. Turns out working together to keep a constantly evolving metahuman baby in check is a pretty good way to work on Spacial Awareness and Teamwork.
Barry still beats them, because he has to deal with that every single day, but it was a good attempt.
Meanwhile, Danny's busy growing and as toddlers get older they also hit those very strange phases where they want the weirdest food or singular person near them only. And if it's not given there's anger/sadness/despair/what have you.
Danny? Likes cold things - and Leonard Snart specifically - for about a month. God forbid he can't have one or the other. Captain Boomerang still twitches whenever Danny laughs a little too loudly.
Then he wants everything shiny so poor mirror master gets strange requests and Barry can't even look at glazes anymore. (All the food had to be either liquid or glazed. Yes even the sandwiches) (he consumed a Lot of soup that week)
Then there was a few weeks where Danny refused to wear anything or eat anything that wasn't red.
I think we should do a time skip next. Danny is about 7 years old now when 11 or 12 year old Wally gets his speed. Which means Danny has years of experience tormenting his baby sitters and needs to show his cousin the ropes.
Also he is feeling a bit put out now that his dad Barry has a girlfriend and they just got engaged and a lot of focus is going to this wedding planning stuff.
He got in trouble for acting out already. So now his plan B is to get Wally to cause mischief’s for him. This misadventures also leads to wally’s aunt Iris learning about his strained relationship to his parents early. (In some versions it is just disapproval, in others he was actually abused. Writers choice in the next reblog.)
another time skip to three years latter, Wally is new Kid Flash and living with uncle Barry, and aunt Iris and is basically Danny's big brother. oh and just for fun let's throw in what happened the one time Batman was allowed to baby sit.
Flash (and other league members not important to this) had to go on an off planet mission. Batman was recovering from a cracked rib and benched to “take it easy”. But we all know how batsy is and Flash got the idea that if they have him babysitting his protégé’s would keep the bat too busy keeping an eye on them to go out.
Yeah that didn’t work out. Instead Batman got distracted reading a case and researching on his bat computer. 12 year old Kid flash, 11 year old Danny (who we need to come up with a side kick name for), and 10 year old Robin got bored. And started a game that led to rough housing and got them sent to play outside. The game gets even wilder and before long Danny flying and is carrying Robin as they chase after Kid Flash. They stop somewhere for a snack (using the credit card Dick had swiped off of Bruce awhile ago) and lots of poor sugary choices later the game resumed. Ends up in the city where Danny accidentally knocks over a livestock truck carrying about 1000 chickens to a meat processing facility. Setting the chickens to run loose in the middle of the city.
They find Joker who no one even noticed was out of Arkham. He was trying to get his next scheme set up at a candy factory but was just in the early stages of it and wasn’t ready for anyone to find it yet. The fight is short but still ends up with an explosion that has candy and sugar falling from the sky for a 3 block radius and they leave Joker hanging by his underwear on the police station flagpole. More accidental damage from Danny just trying to tag Wally, and then they get to the park with the riverside walk.
In the more overgrown section of the park they find the Shed that Poison Ivy was using and developing a new plant growth formula. Kid Flash and Danny are still on the sugar high and barge in thinking they can just as easily deal with her like with the caught off guard Joker.
Ha! Nope! What instead happens is that while fighting the plants Poison Ivy is controlling, they accidentally cause that experimental growth formula to get knocked into the river. And oops the water is spreading the affects and causing plants all over the riverbank to grow out of control. Pavement, pipers and power lines are all getting torn up. As well as building foundations. And people getting caught in the too fast-growing roots, branches, and tendrils. Poison Ivy is upset because the incomplete formula and too fast growing has the plants practically screaming in pain only those blessed with the Green can hear.
Fortunately this is about when Batman has tracked down his missing charges, and is able to help Ivy make a counter to the formula. The boys are all very much in trouble.
And that is the Sugar Rush incident that got them the Knick name Chaos trio, grounded for about 4 months and not allowed unsupervised together for 3 years. And Batman on the “do not let babysit” list.
Why not make his hero name Boo? It might even be funny if some people complain that it’s a horrible hero name.
You could even add an angst option where Danny slowly starts getting memories from his previous life.
At first, he was fully de-aged, but as the years went on, he started to remember things, It started with feelings. He had always had certain strong feelings like not liking billionaires and clowns or loving plants and space. He enjoyed cold things and found comfort with them. Then came the dreams. Just snippets or glimpse of another time. He normally didn’t think about them much. Since he seemed older and like a hero, even if he told Flash about them, they would think it was a part of his imagination. Thinking it’s what Danny wanted to grow up as. But the dreams would start to get so clear, so much so that he could actually feel the rush of adrenaline or the breath before a ghost attacked. And he would new get ideas on how to use powers from the dreams, or even see powers he didn’t even know he had until curiosity led him to try them out.
Then the dreams got…strange. It was no longer just vague scenes of him battling bad guys and winning…some of the battles became more violent…and there would be two people in jumpsuits that would shoot at him and threaten things…And…he started seeing a place. A building with a spaceship on it that filled him with both comfort and dread. And most often pain. But his dream self always went into the building. Over and over again.
And…he didn’t always win the battles. He remembers plants reaching up all over the city. He remembers a circus forcing him to steal. He remembers…he remembers a green portal. And…it’s hurts. It hurts. Hurts. Hurt. Stop please stop!
And suddenly he’s waking up from nightmares. Gasping in the middle of the night and his dad comes running.
He started…closing off after that. And hiding the nightmares. They shouldn’t matter…they were just dreams. And not all the dreams were bad. He still saw scenes of playing inside video games and having an eating contest with one of his dream friends, or watching a movie curled around a large glowing wolf with a small green dog on his lap. Feelings of safety and comfort and content.
…And then he started seeing the dreams while he was awake. Glimpses and words and phrases catching him off guard mid day. Often accompanied by a headache. Scenes overlapping his visions until he felt blind and deaf to the world for a few seconds. Dissociating to everyone else.
Does a magic user sense that he’s regaining memories of a past life? Does Danny hide it and feel like a fake person? Do the villains get concerned?
By the end of it, when ‘Boo’ finally joins the heroes, he takes some inspiration from Red Arrow decides to change him name.
…he think’s he’ll go by Phantom….how does that sound?
I think Flash would catch on pretty quick something was wrong, but Danny would stonewall him.
It gets to the point where Danny has a "dissociative episode" more than once a day before Danny agrees to let one of the members of JLD take a look at him.
They are promptly horrified, because it looks to them like a ghost was unwillingly forced back into the realm of the living after a second brutal death and that he is also currently dying due to the ghostly marks on his soul.
Of course, Danny just wants the memory assaults to stop, which is something that the JLD aren't sure is possible.
(Maybe this is where Tucker with all his reincarnation magic could come in to help?)
Vaguely inspired by that one post where Danny gets summoned by the JL and keeps throwing his shoes and stuff at them bc HE might not be able to leave the summoning circle but his clothes sure can!
I think the twist for that was that the circle doesnt effect him at all because hes a halfa and he was just goofing with the JL.
But imagine if the summoning and containment WORKED.
Like, he gets summoned and its startling, but once he realizes hes been summoned hes mostly annoyed.
Its a school night! He has work to do! Sure he wasnt DOING it, but it was still a possibility!
And hes trying to banter with the JL. Which for him just means being vaguely-obnoxious-but-somewhat-charming.
But then he tries to leave.
Maybe hes worried about his friends reaction to seeing him disappear.
Maybe the JL are saying some anti ghost/demon/whatever they think he is nonsense.
Maybe he changed his mind about doing that homework.
But either way, it doesnt work.
He drags his hand along the edge of the spell. It doesnt give, and he realizes hes not sure what this spell is supposed to do.
Its all along the floor beneth him, he cant fly through the floor.
He tries to get away from the walls and floor, worried whatever spell makes up the container can be triggered to hurt him or brainwash him or SOMETHING.
Its not his best guest, but he has never been summoned before, at least not with this type of barrier, and he doesnt know what to expect.
He barely gets a few feet off the ground when he hits the spells invisible roof.
And he is trapped.
And now this fourteen year old child is caged in a room with clearly dangerous adult strangers.
After hes been more or less kidnapped.
He’s suddenly regretting insulting them.
And its not his first time beimg kidnapped. Or his first time being in danger in general (obviously).
but its usually some ghost! Or Vlad “Loser, I hardly know her!” Masters!
Both of whom explain literally everything they plan in long ass evil monologues! It usually takes danny five minutes tops to learn their entire life story Dr Doofenshmirtz style!
He knows most of them personally! They hang out sometimes! Heck! even the local ghost hunters are either literally related to him or someone he’s dated!
He knows their powersets, their strengths, their weaknesses.
Most importantly, he knows their goals
But now hes trapped. In a room of clearly superpowerd strangers. With magical abilities strong enough to trap him for real.
And has no idea what they want
And Danny just freezes up
This could be super angsty if the JL were told that he was evil and think his panic + young features are only done to manipulate them.
You can also add angst with a language barrier/translation issue
I imagine the JL would be trying to get information about ghosts/ are trying to get someone to fight a villain they can’t defeat
Its going to scare the shit out of Danny either way- like imagine fourteen year old you gets kidnapped by strangers and they start asking you about your weaknesses or say they will only let you out if you agree to fight this monster.
And if Danny doesnt know this villain or how tf hes going to fight them he might feel like hes being sent off to get his ass kicked.
I can just imagine Danny being told he has to fight this supervillain and being like “…if i like..die…trying to fight this guy…what are you going to do with my body? Like will you send me home? Cause my family will freak if my corpse is teleported into the living room”
JL would not be happy about any of his responses.
Im begging someone to write this please have a nice day
He watched as Constantine finished the chalk circle, double checking all the little symbols and lines. It was more intricate than what Batman would have thought, but he only dabbled in magic when necessary; able to perform it sure but didn’t have a talent for it. “You’re sure this will work?”
“I’m sure it’ll summon the protector spirit and keep it contained until we can explain the situation.” Constantine answered. “Alright, stand back.”
The circle began to glow.
Off in the distance, Batman could hear the fight that was still ongoing. A cult that worshiped a deity of death had managed to summon a being known as The Ghost King. His forces only had a handful of standout powers, but the rest were undead skeletal being that pulled themselves back together after being downed. They needed to take out the King in order to stop the hoards, but the hoards prevented enough of them to get to the King to really fight him. Superman might have been able to save the day if their enemy wasn’t magic based. Wonder Woman came in on her day off, but she couldn’t handle both the King and the Fright Knight.
Constantine had conveniently remembered that while the Ghost King that had all but taken over a dimension known as the Infinite Realms, was defeated twice. First by a counsel of ancients no one remembered the identities of, and when he’d been released by some fool looking for power, was defeated by a singular protector spirit with a known name.
The circle suddenly burst into a pillar of flame and in the center of it stood a singular being.
He tilted their head at Constantine and looked annoyed. There was an echo to his voice, layered over itself in what Batman recognized as a translation spell, the original language echoed by the translation. “Wow, can’t say I was expecting to get summoned by I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-A-Conman and a living Spirit Halloween costume tonight, but here we are.”
Batman looked at Constantine. “That looks like a teenager.”
“Protector spirits like to either look big and scary or like someone you’re more likely to trust.” Constantine shrugged. “It does seem really into the role though.”
“Hey, fellas,” the spirit waved his hand to get their attention, “it’s a school night and I’ve got homework to ignore. So lets get this sleepover over with.”
“You really a protector spirit? They tend to be more…” Constantine waved his hand in a circle and started walking around the magic circle, examining the ghost. “…pleasant to talk to.”
The ghost squinted at him, “Then you must have the wrong guy! I'll just leave-” He walked up to the warding wall and tried to walk through it. He hit it and stared at it, then pressed his hand against it and was clearly trying to get through it.
“Not going to work, mate.” Constantine said and came to a stop in front of where the ghost was trying to get out. “Even if you’re not the spirit we were aiming to summon, you can’t leave until we say so.”
The ghost looked far too convincingly panicked. He tried to claw through the spell, push his feet through the floor, and tried to fly up just to be knocked back by the containment spell’s lid.
Constantine must have sensed Batman’s misgivings, because he said, “Don’t worry, the containment will hold.”
“That’s not what has me worried.”
“Yeah, yeah, I bungled the spell and got the wrong guy…” Constantine gave him a tilted smile to hide his disappointment in himself. “Or maybe this trickster spirit thought it would be funny to disrupt my summoning. Either way, we’re wasting time with Pariah Dark out there destroying the world.”
Batman was about to add that he was also uncomfortable with a being that looked like a kid, and on the slightest chance might actually be a kid, looked like they were on the verge of a panic attack.
“Pariah?” The spirit stopped and stared at them with wide eyes, glowing toxic green, and seemingly on the verge of tears.
Constantine nodded, “Yeah, we were trying to summon the protector spirit that defeated him a while back, but we got you instead.”
The kid looked like he just got slapped in the face. “I – no, you got the right guy. I’m Phantom.”
“You?” Constantine asked with an air of disbelieving condescension. “You’re the protector spirit that defeated Pariah Dark?”
“I had some help.” Phantom replied. “Is that what you want? You’ll let me go if I fight Pariah again?”
Constantine looked between Phantom and Batman – thought Batman didn’t do or say anything, paranormal negotiations were why Constantine was there. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we want.”
Batman watched the looks on Phantom’s face, he was terrified but resigned. He glanced between the two of them. “Okay.”
Once the official agreement is made, Danny felt the invisible walls disappear. He shot into the sky in relief, but couldn't escape the tug on the tip of his tail and the squeeze on his core.
A magical chain, each link a word of their deal.
The squeeze on his core would get tighter and tighter the longer he didn't fight.
Not that Danny was unwilling to join the battle - he'd never turn away from a group of people who needed his help.
Still, it stung. The magician could have simply asked for his assistance. The combination of confidence and assumption, how he talked about the circle and explained away his age, reminded Danny of his parents. In their unshakable belief that ghosts were creatures of instincts and not rational beings. At least the magician treated him as sentient, but there'd been an edge there. Like he didn't believe a ghost would willingly help humanity. Like he was evil or just selfish.
Danny knew his parents' opinions were common. He faced them every day around the dinner table, but it still hurt coming across heroes who believed the same.
The bind on his core tightened. Danny turned his attention to the battle below. There were no fleeing civilians, already cleared out or crushed. Instead, the streets and sky swarmed with ghostly skeletons and brightly colored heroes. There were a lot more heroes fighting than Danny had ever seen, but most of them struggled against enemies that could turn intangible at will. Fright Knight laughed as his sword sent a hero dressed like a cowboy to the Nightmare Zone. At least this league of heroes seemed to have developed a strategy of dodge the hits and protect the mages.
Danny turned to Pariah Dark. He moved slow, following Fright Knight and the foreguard of skeletons. Grinning, the ghost ran a gauntlet through a building, glass falling to the street below like a rain of glitter.
Last time they fought, Danny had time and a plan and a team. He could make a plan now - take out Fright Knight who was rapidly diminishing ranks, rally the flying, strong hitting heroes to serve as a distraction - but the bond around his core squeezed again.
He promised to fight Pariah Dark. The sooner the better, because the longer he delayed, the more he'd risk his core. Soon, the band would be more than just uncomfortable.
Danny swallowed. Took a lungful of air. Looked at the moon, the one celestial object he could see in the late afternoon without squinting.
Clockwork had told him about summoning contracts. Danny knew what would happen as soon as the deal was offered.
He'd fight Pariah without his friends. Without the help of other ghosts. Without the ecto-skeleton suit. Without the Sarcophagus and Key nearby to lock him away again.
He'd fight, and he'd lose.
Dying in a ghost fight is a fear he faces before. He'd take it, took it, in a heartbeat over being trapped by someone who couldn't see the good in him.
Danny called ectoplasm to his fist and prepared to slam it into Pariah's face.
He was going to die. He had known it from the start, but now he really knew it. Danny couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face at the sight of Pariah wiping a single drop of green blood leaking from his nose. The old king hadn’t expected Danny to come flying in out of nowhere, but once he saw his old enemy, he screamed, “Impudent Brat!”
It took all of Danny’s speed and agility to dodge Pariah’s attacks, he was so fast for something so big. Danny was able to get away with only a few nicks at first, but he’d agreed to fight. His ecto-blasts did little damage, even a charged up ecto-ball didn’t do much more than singe Pariah’s armor. Pariah realized too, that Danny outside of the ecto-skeleton was no match for him. Even in the ecto-skeleton, Danny had barely…
Danny couldn’t dodge forever. Pariah grabbed him. Snatched him up after Danny barely escaped his sword’s edge. Danny’s entire body was encased in the ghost king’s hand, and in a last ditch effort, he wailed. It caused more damage than it did last time, cracking the ground and destabilizing buildings. It actually pushed Pariah back! But it made Danny light headed and limp in Pariah’s hand.
“Oh my…” Pariah pulled Danny closer, gripped him harder to prevent him from getting another deep breath to wail with. “I was wondering why you were being so direct, why you came without your armor. You’re under contract.”
Pariah stabbed his sword into the ground and used his newly freed hand to make the invisible chain that clamped around Danny’s core visible. He used his magic to tug on the metaphor made real, and in the distance, he saw that Constantine guy stagger forward, compelled by the other end of the contract.
Pariah squeezed Danny tighter and shouted at the man “You thought this child your savior? He didn’t even win our last bout. It’s by luck I was taken out of that fight, and only by luck did he survive. Watch, human, as your hope dies.”
Pariah squeezed harder. Things inside Danny were snapping and ectoplasm leaked from his mouth. The world was going dark and Danny felt his grip on his form slip from his control.
can you write more? like Jazz and danny's friends reaction to his death or maybe Justice League (expecially Batman and Constantine) plz I need more angst in my life to distract me from my exam session at university
Can I write more? Physically? Probably. Write angst? I had a bad day, so I don't think I have that in me at the moment. Have some hope, motherfucker.
John was going to kill himself for real this time. He'd summoned a teenager! Not a protector spirit who looked like a teen to get people to trust him, not a trickster spirit who looked like a teen to get people to underestimate him, but the actual ghost of a teenager who probably hadn't died that long ago given the outfit he was in. He'd summoned a kid and ordered him to fight a god. John just killed another kid.
John could feel it. The magical contract wrapped around his heart as thick as it had wrapped around Phantom and through it he felt Phantom failing to keep his end of the contract and fading from existence. There was a flash of light and John was certain he'd see the chain fall to dust, still visible and solid since the ghost king wanted John to watch as Pariah crushed a child in his hands. But it didn't.
"What's this!" Pariah suddenly shouted and John looked to see - everyone was back! John looked and saw Wonder Woman with Fright Knight tied up in her magic lasso under her foot and his sword held high above her head, glowing with energy as she released everyone it had touched. Phantom had distracted Pariah enough for Diana to beat Fright Knight!
Pariah snarled at her and, thank the stars, threw Phantom aside to pick up his sword and fight the entire Justice League. Sure, some of their returned team mates looked worse for wear, but with them back and the Fright Knight handled, it wasn't hopeless. Not for them anyway.
John wasn't paying much attention to the fight other than to get soldiers out of his way and stay out of the way of the big hitters now that they were back. He got to the rubble Phantom had made with that screaming attack of his. The ground was unstable and whatever buildings stood around him wouldn't be standing for long. He followed the softly glowing chain that was quickly dimming. He wasn't sure if that's because Pariah wasn't powering it anymore or if it was because Phantom was...
The chain vanished and left John frantically looking around for the spirit. He couldn't see him or sense him or... John felt his throat close up and his tongue go heavy. As he tried to push the burning of tears from his eyes, he caught sight of something. He stumbled around the ruins and found someone. Short and thin, wearing torn up jeans and someone had written "Fenterd Stinks" on the back of their white shirt in marker.
They looked like a civilian. Civilian's shouldn't have been there, they'd been evacuated hours ago, and no one would have been stupid enough to stick around after the Justice League got there. Even the paparazzi had fucked off to safety.
But as John got closer he could slowly start to feel it. Something was off about them. It was him, it was Phantom! John could sense it was him. He could feel the spirit hiding inside... no that wasn't right, this was something else. He had the same face in different colors, maybe rounder ears and not as many visible freckles, but it was the same and John could figure it out later.
John pressed his hand into the kid's neck and found a painfully slow pulse, his breathing was shallow and harsh. "Alright kid, new deal." John said and re-positioned the kid in his arms. "If you die, I die too. But if you live, you tell me how you beat this guy last time and let me take care of the rest."
John moved his hand slightly, making Phantom - or at least the body he was in - nod in agreement. John waited, and as death didn't over take him, he sighed in relief. This was salvageable.
After another moment, the kid opened his eyes and looked dazed. "What happ-"
"Hey kid, sorry, but we're still in the middle of things." John said, trying to sound urgent but not scare the kid. It didn't work. His eyes went wide and his body went tense. "How was Pariah beat before?"
The kid swallowed and his voice was scratchy. "I - I had a battle suit, my parents made it, and it gave whoever was inside it a hundred times more power, but it drained them like a battery. I was able to get Pariah back in his Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, but I - I almost died. The suit almost killed me."
"Alright." John nodded and sighed to reset his thoughts. "First thing's first, get you to safety."
What if this means that Constantine will die every time Danny goes ghost? Maybe this turns Constantine into a Halfa and his transformations are controlled by Danny. That would be incredible.
Of course, given how easily Constantine changed the terms of the deal, I'm sure he could easily do it again.
BUT
Maybe he's only able to reverse the connection: If you die, I die. But not the change that made the deal possible: Constantine becoming a Halfa to mirror Danny. So changing the deal a second time only gives him control over his own transformations, and doesn't turn him back fully living.
John's obvious regret and self-loathing is delicious. (his panic is so dad shaped) The wording of his second deal is so slap-dash and vague, you can tell how upset he is. But think about the wording here: "If you live... let me take care of the rest." John's new deal turns himself into a halfa and makes Danny agree to let John take care of everything.
If that isn't adoption, I don't know what is.
Anyway, I don't think I've ever seen Halfa!John Constantine before. I'm really digging it.
It began as harmless flirting. Danny and his family were in Gotham for a paranormal convention. Danny’s parents were the worlds leading ectobiologists, and he was their assistant. They had a portal to another dimension in their lab and it WORKED.
Danny and Stephanie got close really fast. Far closer than either of them had meant to. Steph, the daughter of a villian and full-time vigilante, broke it off when she realized she was pregnant. She didn’t want to burden Danny with her drama. He barely know who she was, let alone drag him down with her. She planned to give the baby up for adoption when it was born.
She was five months pregnant when she met Tim. It was love at first sight for Stephanie. She was still broken over her breakup with Danny, and the fact that she was pregnant with his daughter. Tim took all of this information in stride, and told her that he still wanted her regardless. They began to date. After all, Tim had got her on a level Danny couldn’t. He wasn’t a vigilante, and if anything, he was a budding supervillain. He wouldn’t want anything to do with their baby. She convinced herself of this.
Steph was eight months pregnant when she learned something devastating. Danny, who was 16, had been murdered by his parents. They had found that he was helping the ghosts escape their lab, and had been saving them for months. They thought he was possessed and tried to ‘save’ him, but all they did was kill him instead. Steph cried for days when she found this out.
When Danielle was born, Steph looked into her sky blue eyes—the same eyes Danny once had—and knew she couldn’t give up her daughter. Consequences be damned, she was going to raise her daughter. Tim fell in love with Danielle from the moment she was born. He wanted to be her dad, no matter how much Steph tried to tell him that he didn’t have to be. Tim signed the birth certificate and Danielle became Danielle Drake-Wayne. Meanwhile, Danny woke up in the morgue with no memories and ghost powers.
Or, an au where Dani isn’t a clone. Danny didn’t have a portal accident. He was murdered by his parents and revived due to being liminal. As a new half-ghost.
A few years later, a New Villain showed up on the scene.
He is an extremely elusive Criminal, nobody can ever catch him, nobody has ever even seen his Face. He is known for his escapades stealing Artifacts from Museums and Rich Old Guys Personal Collections, leaving a calling card of Static filled Security Systems and Frost covered Windows.
The few time she has been caught in the act, nobody had been able to beat him. One time a JLA Hero managed to corner him, and he was found 3 hours later strung up under a bridge with Ice-Chains.
The JLA had placed the so-called "Phantom" on the A-List, for Threats beyond the capabilities of average Members. Mostly because of the Artifacts he had stolen.
Among them were some extremely powerful Magical Artifacts, some taken from the Tower or Fate and the House of Mysteries themselves. Nobody knows how he even got in there.
Red Robin had come up with a plan however. It seemed that his Powers were Magical in Nature, as Constantine had picked up a strange energy reading from the Frost covering the Windows of his House. So, he had all of JLD camp out at his house while he had a big show on the News about buying a new Artifact, saying that he would be storing it at his Family Manor.
Spoiler and Orphan had volunteered to help, while Oracle babysat Danielle for the night.
It had gone well at first, Phantom had taken the Bait and JLD reported that the Wards surrounding the House had been tripped. He managed to catch a glimpse of Phantom's Semi-Transparent Form as he approached the Artifact.
His face was hard to see, it was constantly flickering in and out of visibility, and the slight green glow surrounding his Form making his exact skin tone hard to decipher.
"Red Robin to JLD, Target is approaching the Artifact." He whispered into his Comms, keeping his voice ad low as possible, even under his Sound Proofing Mask.
Phantom reached the Case of the Artifact, and the trap was sprung.
Magical Heroes burst onto the scene, surrounding and attempting to restrain the Villain. The Battle ensued, and surprisingly they were making little headway. Phantom just had too many varied powers for them to get an upper hand on him.
They managed to corner him, but he phased through a Wall. They shot Fire at him, he countered with Ice. They shot Lightning Spells at him, and he created a Storm Cloud to absorb and redirect it. It seemed Hopeless, until Constantine shouted out, "I got it! He's a Realms Being! Give me a few minutes and I'll be able to get him vulnerable!"
So, they held him off for a few more minutes. As they fought, Tim couldn't help but feel as if he had seem Phantoms face before. Nothing came to mind, but for some reason looking at him felt like he was looking at someone familiar. Someone he knew.
Finally, Constantine was ready. "We've got one shot, this won't last long! Strike when the Blood Blossom Spell hits, he'll be vulnerable!"
Phantom seemed to react to the mention of the Spell, and went to stop Constantine, but it was too late.
The Spell hit, and Spoiler dropped down from the Rafters to go the knockout. But she faltered. He looked up at her, and Tim could see shock and emotions spread across her face before she fell to the ground, completely missing her attack.
The other Heroes managed to land a few hits, but the Blood Blossom Spells effects ended before they could end it. Phantom was recovered, and quickly managed to defeat the other Heroes while they were off guard. He took the Artifact, shooting a final glance at Spoiler over his shoulder before flying away.
Red Robin ran over the Spoiler as the other Heroes picked themselves up.
"Spoiler, are you okay?" He asked.
No response.
"Spoiler, please answer me!" He pleaded.
No answer.
"Steph, talk to me, what happened with Phantom."
She finally looked up, past his shoulder at the hole in the ceiling thay Phantom had flown out of. A single question escaped her lips.
By the time everyone had gotten back to the Batcave, John and Bruce were furious. Everyone had barely gotten through the door before Bruce was growling, “Explain.”
Steph hesitated. It wasn’t something she ever wanted to think about ever again.
When Danny had died, it had taken a large piece of her with him. Maybe, deep down, she had hoped that Danny would want to be a dad to their daughter too. Tim was the most amazing, wonderful dad, but Dani was Danny’s daughter, too. She could see Danny in Dani. She had his eyes and hair, and his laugh. Sure, to most people, Dani looked like she was Tim’s daughter. But to anyone who knew Tim, her features wasn’t his. Tim’s eyes were too dark, his hair a few shades lighter black than Dani’s. The rest of Dani was all Steph, though. Dani had her eye shape, nose, smile, ears and skin tone.
“Steph.” John prompted.
“Phantom is Dani’s father.” She said, knowing that there was no point in hiding it any longer. “Well… he was when he was alive. He died… four years ago. I was eight months pregnant.”
Tim’s eyebrows raised. “I thought you weren’t in contact with him after you broke up?”
“I wasn’t.” She said, “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t keep an eye on him.”
“How did he die?” John asked. “Realm spirits only form from violent deaths. The more violent, the stronger they can be.”
“His parents murdered him.” She responded, “They’re serving life in prison.”
“Do they know?” Tim asked.
“That they have a grandchild? No. Why would I tell them they have a grandchild when they killed her father?” Steph crossed her arms.
Tim was silent, looking away from Steph. It was obvious her words had hurt him, no matter how true they were. Tim wasn’t Dani’s biological father, but he was the man that was raising her. He was her father in every sense except for biological.
“Fuck,” John swore. “This isn’t good.”
“What gave you the first idea?” Tim snapped.
“How do we defeat him?” Bruce interrupted.
“He knows we’re onto him now and he’ll be more wary of us. We won’t be able to use blood blossoms again. But there is a rare rock I might be able to get my hands on if I call in a few favors.” John said.
“Like kryptonite?” Bruce asked.
“Sorta. It’s called Ectoradium. Supposed to make him vulnerable to attack.” John stroked his chin as he thought.
“How fast can you get some?” Bruce asked.
“Depends on how rare it is. Could be hours, days…” John trailed off.
“We don’t have that kind of time.” Barbara pointed out. “Based on the things he’s stealing, he could be building something, or amassing power.”
“Well, this mess ain’t my bloody fault.” John hissed, “Blame blondie for being distracted by her dead baby daddy.”
“Hey!” She protested.
Cass placed a hand on her shoulder, making her instantly calm down. She took a deep breath and tried to reorient herself.
“I need some air.” Tim pushed past everyone, not even bothering to change out of his Red Robin uniform.
“Tim.” She walked over to him, relief crashing over her when he stopped to let her catch up. They walked up the stairs towards the manor together.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” Tim asked quietly.
“What’s the point in talking about my ex? He may be Dani’s biological father, but he’s not you. That little girl looks at you like you hung the stars. You’re her daddy, not him.”
“I didn’t want to be blindsided by this, Steph.” Tim looked her in the eye. “I need to know more about him.”
“Don’t go all Bruce on me, Tim.” She frowned.
“We need to know why he’s doing this. And who, if anyone, he’s working for.” Tim hesitated as he stared at the blank wall in front of him that would lead him to the manor. “I can’t keep our daughter safe if I don’t know everything.”
It would be interesting if it were Phantom doing recovery assignments for Clockwork, after he and Frostbite recovered him after waking up in the morgue with no memory.
and that the first glimpse of memories is about a vigilante that he only saw for a moment but now he can't get the memory of her smiling and laughing at something he said out of his head but he doesn't remember what exactly.
so the first thing he does when entering the time master's tower is ask who she is while he throws the box on the table without worrying about the contents.
For me I would lean more towards freakshow as a the manipulator.
+the drama about Danny coming back just to be mind controlled or even brainwashed when freakshow realized he was a halfa, a rarity, and powerful AND an amnesiac.
A real blank slate of dreams for his machinations~
It’s seeing Dani that breaks him free. It shouldn’t have been possible and hell it’s only a glimpse but christ that’s his daughter.
He falls to his knees screaming. Because fuck! fuck! He’s had a daughter this whole time and he should have known Stephanie would help him. Why didn’t he go to her back then. He could have been with his child, his beautiful baby daughter all this time.
But he knew why. He’d been scared out of his mind. He kept falling through floors and frosting things over, and flying into walls. And he’d been dead, like all the way dead and then he just wasn’t. He’d woken up in a morgue for god’s sake. And then that fucking ringleader had done something to him. Put him under a mind control so powerful he couldn’t do anything but scream in his own mind “I don’t want this” and then eventually “please just kill me” it was months of constant control he was so so tired.
But he saw her and he’s free and the scream in his head pushes its way out of his body and he’s crying and please please can I hold her please. When they tell him no and lock him up he’s ok with that too just can he have a picture? And he tells them all about the horrible fucking circus and that evil mind control rock and he hates it, god does he hate it but if it’s for her? If it means he can see her again even just once he’ll let Martian manhunter root around in his brain as many times as necessary.
Their psychic flinches when he connects to Danny’s mind. Sorry sorry it’s been so long since he’s been able to use his voice and he’s been screaming for help for so long. He can stop. Sorry. The whole time Red Robin watches him with a glare that’s ok the bats are notorious for being untrusting and he was a thief for so long he can wait he can speak with his mouth and he can wait and they took him to space which is the next best thing to seeing his baby again can he please have a picture.
John and Martha Kent went out to start their chores one morning, only to find a young man crouched in their pig pen, staring intently at the baby pig he held in his hands. At first glance he looked like any other young man, but there was something slightly 'other' about him, like his barely pointed ears, and cartoonishly blue colored eyes, and the little fangs that grazed his bottom lip. As they stared at the young man, trying to decide how to approach him, he took notice of them. Gently, he held the piglet against his chest, and stood, before pointing down at it and addressing them. "Si siht ah gip?" Well, they hadn't a clue what he said, but being 'other' had never dissuaded the Kents before.
Danny had to hop dimensions, and ended up in one where things were so so similar but at the same time so different. Like Pigs, in Danny's dimension, were all only pink in color, but in this one they are black, and pink, and white, and brown and they could have spots and patterns. And the stars, oh they were beautiful and Danny could match some stars with his own, but there were more than he was used to, and more planets too. The States were also different, there was no Amity Park, but there were other cities like Gotham, and Metropolis. The strangest was the language- Danny was speaking English, at least the English of his dimension, but despite being in an obviously American Town, no one could understand him, and he couldn't understand thrm either. How was Danny ever going to adjust?
Basically: Danny has to dimension hop for his own safety and ended up in the DCU. But while things are almost the same, they're also so very different. From the animals, to the states, and cities, to the stars and planets, to even the language. Its so similar but so different and Danny isn't sure how to adjust. Luckily he stumbles upon a farm in a place named Smallville, where hes found by two kind farmers who are more than happy to help the young man learn how to 'live' in this new world.
I love this so much I just know that when that pig is bigger Danny is going to ride the pig like it’s a horse lol it was strange at first to everyone in smallville now it’s normal to see him riding his pig to town or carrying it like it’s a baby still.
Damian very nervous with very little social skills trying to think of a cute way to ask his crush out: do you want to help me shampoo and condition my cow?
Danny who is absolutely smitten: that is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me, I would absolutely love to help you shampoo and condition your cow
Danny didn't know how this had happened. He really didn't. All he had done was befriend the Young Justice as a civilian in order to throw them off the scent of some small time vigilantism he was doing. Now his rinky dink college apartment was like a hub for all the young superheroes. Both the Young Justice and the Teen Titans would stop by all the time. Hell, even the Outlaws and Titans popped in on occasion.
He won't lie, he does enjoy their company quite a bit. It's just that it's becoming increasingly hard to hide his former heroic tendencies with everyone constantly dropping by.
They would think all the suspicious hiding is because he's a meta who had a bad experience when people found out so they left it relatively alone. They don't wanna scare him off!! But. They try to "subtly" show their support and help him get thru his "issues" with his meta abilities. Doesnt help that when the GIW captures him, calls him very degrading and dehumanizing stuff then implying that they knew him and has captured him before. YJ/Teen Titans would get a little light bulb moment like:
Those are some delicious tags. So, the brain worms decided to crawl around a bit.
I can just vividly imagine Danny barely restraining himself from going out there before deciding “Fuck it. I’m saving my friends.”
And just gearing up with Fenton-style tech (in an attempt to hide his old hero identity, he’d use his powers if needed) and hitting the base that they’re being held at. Literally breaking through the wall with a blast of ectoplasm (ecto-grenade maybe?) and going on a rampage through that place until he finds his friends.
His only explanation after the fact is “At least it’s not like the Dan incident”. He doesn’t explain what that means either. Not why he used tech more than his powers (which were probably used a bit), not why he decided to break into a dangerous situation to save them, not how he got that tech, just that it wasn’t like the Dan incident, which they don’t know what that is. All they know is that their friend is more capable than he seems.
Absolutely. He's just like "Don't worry about it." Which makes them worry about it even more. I can totally see the team thinking that Dan is a meta friend or relative of Danny that went on a rampage and something happened to him. Now they're even more determined to protect their friend. They might also be slightly intimidated by him too.
I completely forgot about how anyone would react to seeing Fenton style tech! Brain zoomed in on tech m-based ass kicking and bonus powers, BUT I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT I IMPLIED THE MAD SCIENTIST PART-
I’d love to just imagine one of them asking about the tech and Danny just showing his work bench, his parents original blueprints + his edits, and his own original blueprints, but with his introducing it as his side hobby/relaxation area. Just, absolutely mad scientist levels of invention going on and Danny being like “Yeah, it’s sounded fun so it’s one of my projects for when I’m feeling too stressed or bored. Not that I’m bored much anymore, you all are pretty fun to hang out with after all.”
Like, imagine that reaction to finding out that they inadvertently slowed down the progression of mad science inventions being mad by just… hanging out with the guy that they viewed like a local capybara (before the whole rampage to get them to safety).
But also, the rush to get their own mad scientists to not sit down at that workbench with Danny, to not explore these ideas, and to not turn the mad science levels exponential.
They’re so certain that they gotta protect their buddy from a self destructive path. So so certain that when they here their buddy talking about some sort of revenge plot, they freak out and panic ask if he wants to go out for smoothies with them.
Danny, on the other hand, was plotting his petty revenge against Skulker because Skulker came by earlier and took one of his inventions- again- when his hero pals came by and asked if he wanted to get smoothies. Oh he had ideas on how to get back at Skulker later, but smoothies first! How nice of them to offer!
@hypewinter You wonderful wonderful individual. You were picking up what I was putting down. (I like blue raspberry or watermelon ring pops most. What flavor{s} do you like?)
I just imagine their reactions to finding out that all those revenge plots they overheard were prank wars with Danny’s old… friends? Acquaintances? Fight buddies? Rivals? They don’t actually know. They just all have slightly embarrassed expressions as they realize that they did not in fact divert revenge plots, they gave ideas for them. They gave ideas for a prank war.
It would make them pause for a moment like “Wait, is our pal actually making these inventions for revenge or are they literally just actual relaxation inventions?” Or would they think that Danny’s more secretive about the actual revenge plots and start investigating more hurriedly?
Especially since (in an earlier post) the GIW have a grudge against him for escaping them so easily.
They just have a theory board that’s being added to and scrapped with each minor lore drop.
(I think only the other mad science ones understand the “making weapons for fun” mindset, but since the rest are keeping them away from hearing much about the workbench, they’re stuck getting the secondhand assumptions that the non-mad science heroes have)
Ok but imagine the way they find out is that one of the mad scientist heroes finally gets close to Danny's workbench and is like "You know these are all non lethal right?"
Everyone else: ????
Either that or one of them sees an ad for one of Danny's commercial inventions and is like "Wait a minute. I recognize that design." Cue major face palming for all parties.
Maybe now that they know better, they can take a more active role in helping Danny with his various prank devices. They will continue to keep all the inventors at bay though. They only had to make the mistake of letting Danny and Tim work together one time to learn their lesson.
What if they start pulling Danny in on some of the inter-hero-teams prank wars? You cannot tell me that the Young Justice doesn't get in prank wars with the no-longer-teen Titans. Or that his teammates don't help Tim get revenge on Jason/Damian.
It’s a glorious wave of effective pranks. The YJ team’s now got a minimum of two mad geniuses to plan out their pranks. Revenge is imminent. Horror is approaching.
The Justice League would end up finding where they got those devices...
Imagine Danny's horror on opening the front door to goddam BATMAN!!!!
Danny: Why?
Batman: The Young Justice team have been using your non lethal weapons for pranks. I am here to ask if you are willing to negotiate a contract with the main Justice League to supply us with your designs?
Danny: ... Yeah ok. When?
----
Young Justice team turn up at his house and he just stares at them. They think they fucked up. Until he grins.
Danny: Batman apparently wants me to design tech for you. Something about Robin being stuck to the ceiling for 5 hours?
*muffled snickering*
Red Robin: Yeah.. Robin tried to stab me. So I used the goo gun on him. VERY effective. Especially as I refused to give them the solvent!!
Danny dug such a hole around his past vigilante activities that he wrapped around to somehow making his civilian self competent and bizarre enough to be hired as the JL’s tech guy. Beautiful.
Rogues all around are gonna hate when they see a stylized D/F pop up. They know it means that some absolute bs invention is going to be used that they just can’t account for in their planning. It drives them insane. Especially with the knowledge that the inventor isn’t an easy target to attack.
Danny absolutely looks like he’s some hero’s rogue when he’s at his workbench. It mildly terrifies observers if they having experience the invention craze before. Sometimes, the ideas just flood in and he needs to make them before the vision leaves him. No time to question the should, only the could.
Danny loves seeing his inventions in action, being used in unintended ways. He’s absolutely just like “You brilliant brilliant idiot, how did that idea even strike you? And it worked despite the odds!” He’s thriving. He’s getting paid and he gets to see new ways that his inventions can be used, creating new ideas. So weapons/tools are more concerning than others.
Batman: Under NO circumstances are Danny Nightingale and Red Robin to be left in a lab alone together.
Superman: Surely they aren't that bad?
Batman: They are. I walked in to find them on what can only be described as a death ray. The fact it was designed to disintegrate rubble does not change the lethal applications of the weapon...
Batman probably spared them from knowing about that more concerning parts about that. Like how it was a pocket-sized death ray. That could be carried around for easier use.
Those two are dangerous when working together. They have no concept of asking if they should actually be making something, only that they can and will. Bruce hates how unpredictable they become.
Alone, they’d at least contemplate the question of if the should more. Together though? They feed off of each other’s energy and get tunnel vision.
I love that. They need supervision when in a work room with each other. They’re insane enough to somehow make a weapon that could kill a god just for the purpose of making cooking more convenient on long term missions. The team hates when they only mention a concept without explaining how they’ll go about actually making it (they’re keeping Danny’s ‘believe it into functioning’ thing under tight wraps, it would just complicate them being able to work together more).
Also, Danny probably understands because he grew up with mad scientist parents who didn’t have a spotter restricting them, and that eventually ended up with a purposefully made hole in reality. He… understands the necessity even if he doesn’t like it.
Tim being grumpy over not being able to do mad science is great.
I feel as though Jason one day got dragged into being their spotter. He was promptly banned after that day because he only egged them on because he found their mad science highly entertaining, like a whole drama.
Edit: I should add that Arsenal (Roy) is completely and utterly banned from inventing in the same room as them as he’s also the type to make something just cause. Does he listen to that ban though? Not really, the two are too good to bounce ideas off of.
Jason sat there and actively asked them how to make it worse. He has no idea how they made, whatever, it was. Only that it did indeed turn off gravity. Or increase it to unhealthy levels.
Jason thought it was great!!!!! Bruce? Not so much.
Jason loves causing problems on purpose. He gets along too well with Danny because of that. They both thrive in causing problems on purpose. At least Tim is thriving in the environment as well this time.
I think Bruce hates it for the very explicit reason of not being able to understand how they managed it. Most of the reasonable inventions? He can take apart and understand. But those ridiculous ones? He doesn’t understand how they function, they shouldn’t be able to function, but they do. They do, and he doesn’t have any answers for how. It’s impressive and frightening in equal measure.
(Sorry I took so long to actually respond to them)
Yeah, Danny would certainly look like he’s constantly just one step away from being a genuine supervillain and it’s great. We obviously know that it takes more than that, but it’s so entertaining to imagine most of the heroes desperately trying to keep him distracted enough to not go down that route.
Danny is just thriving at this point. He’s technically not a vigilante! Yeah, he’s the weapon supplied for vigilantes/heroes, but he’s still succeeding! He’s getting paid! He has mad science buddies! He’s succeeding!
(Sam, Tucker, and Jazz are all turning on their stopwatches for how long it takes him to get dragged into something, even if he- technically- already did something vigilante esc. The only reason they’re not counting it is because Danny did it to save his new friends and those friends somehow didn’t realize that Danny was a vigilante at some point.)
I can imagine Danny is just inching closer and closer to being a hero again and meanwhile Batman is in a corner like: I need to develop a contingency plan in case he goes off the deep end.
Batman: *Sees Danny casually assemble a new gadget during a one minute talk with the Flash*
Batman: Is there even a contingency plan that can stop him if he goes off the deep end!?
Combine that with this paragraph I made in one of my reblogs:
And Batman will just have a whole spiraling moment of “oh no, if he goes off the deep end, he can make an army to support him” but also “ah, he forgets the implications behind stuff he makes, maybe he isn’t as close to going off the deep end? Or maybe he’s closer?”
Someone would probably make a comment like “Why are you worrying so much. Outside of his tech, he’s just a normal guy.” Completely forgetting his powers and combat capabilities to the point that Bruce is just staring them down for their comment until they remembered what they were forgetting about Danny.
—
Also FLASH FAMILY AND DANNY SCIENCE PALS- (Wally does get scolded for purposefully recreating a lab accident though. If any of the other members of the Flash Family did that as well, then they also get scolded)
That conversation was just them talking about some obscure science stuff honestly. Or, experiences with time travel, spoken so casually that anyone hearing it has whiplash when they finally process what they’re saying.
Danny and Tim awkwardly parenting their robotic love child. Is not something I thought I meeded. But it is. Especially as they are not dating. And no one would let them date. So they have to figure out how to do this.
Bruce just sighing when it's Tim's week. Because, yes he wants grandchildren. He did not expect the first one to be a science project dammit!
Tim absolutely gets teased for accidentally inventing a robotic love child with his mad science buddy, because of course it was Tim who managed that. Also, I love that they just aren’t allowed to date each other. I imagine that it’s Vlad who points out that Danny and Tim dating would be very much like the elder Fentons (aka uncontrolled mad science). Now see, if we pull a SuperBrainDead, then they might just slip away with being in a polyamorous relationship as Kon is in it and willing to try and temper their mad science, at least.
But, yeah, I love that Bruce’s first grandchild came from a science project. Though, you can’t tell me that he wouldn’t love helping build cosmetic/new parts for his first grandkid to use. The first lineup of parts would probably be ones focused on allowing ‘em to blend in with humans should they wish or need to.
(I imagine Tim and Danny keeping a constant enough supply of ectoplasm and emotions around their robot kid allows ‘em to properly form a ghost core and to officially be a neverborn)
I don't think Jon would want to deal with both of them lol. He's Kryptonian. Not a God! And yes, Tim gets teased relentlessly, because not only did he make a whoops baby. He did so before he turned 20.
Bruce will love helping make cosmetic parts. It's like helping pick out accessories but more personal. He in no way dislikes his newest family member. It just gives him a headache over the how.
I love the idea of baby Nightingale-Wayne forming as a proper neverborn. Full of love, curiosity and a slight edge of manic glee. Gonna be one powerful being one day.
I love the idea of Vlad pulling Danny aside. "Daniel, do not date him. It will be your parents all over again!"
Danny "Oh I'm more into red heads! " * Winks at Impulse*
I think Vlad was struck with that thought after seeing the robot neverborn emitting absolute manic glee alongside Tim and Danny. He felt more dread than he did the first time he saw that type of shared, manic glee between Maddie and Jack. He’d probably be extremely glad that Danny isn’t interested interested in Tim, but cautionary with the other option being a speedster from the future. (Maybe this Vlad isn’t exactly redeemed, but has a decent truce/foundation for redemption going on)
But yeah, you’re right, Kon’s sane enough to realize that he wouldn’t be able to handle the two of them.
Little Nightengale-Wayne just changing up their body parts like cosmetics is an amazing idea. I’d love to imagine that they’d eventually get ahold of a Green Lantern corp member and have them go through a catalog of aliens for inspiration. The GL is probably Kyle, he’d be happy to help inspire the little neverborn’s body parts, no matter how weird it sounds. (I was originally gonna say Hal or Guy, cause they’d be incredibly smug, but then I thought more and remembered that Kyle’s an artist, he’d love to both go through a catalog of different alien species and show off other cool things)
I already love the concept of Baby Nightingale-Wayne.....
And Uncle Kyle sitting them down with options? Helping them sketch up parts? Yes please! Drawing up the designs in such a way that they could mix and match as well.
Vlad remembers the manic glee. And he remembers how that went. No thank you. I can imagine him ringing the JL tipline to warn them.
"As much as I love my Godson. You can not allow him to end up courting Red Robin. It's bad enough they keep finding ways to work together! "
Batman hears it and is so very glad Tim is dating Kon. Because the mere idea? Sent shivers down his spine. No no thanks! It's bad enough they made a child who shares their passion. And he knows they would make more if they married.
Tim and Danny spend weeks arguing about a name. Danny wants to go for a celestial name. Tim wants nothing too pretentious. Ellie sneaks in and sits with her nibling and a book of names. Baby chooses Moxie with Auntie Ellie's help. Both have to laugh, because really. That's something everyone in their families embody to some degree.
Kon thinks Danny is great! He just had no interest in dating him. One mad scientist at a time thanks!
Impulse? Absolutely dying in the corner. Please he's so cute. Can I? Did he mean it? Wait, if I date him I become a step Dad. Am I ready to be a step dad? The rest of the Flash family get shivers at the thought. But if they are happy?
I, too, love the concept of this little one. The villains/rogues on the other hand? The moment they hear about little Moxie, they hole up and cry.
Imagine if Moxie’s first “words” (partial words count, right?) are calling Kyle “Unc”. Just tugging at his pant leg while repeating “Unc” over and over until they have his attention to show off a body part he helped design. (I imagine that Tim and Danny let Moxie go up to the Watchtower because it’s A- safe and B- Moxie probably really looks up to Cyborg and likes watching him work on things in the Watchtower. I say this because I would love to imagine some of the heroes melting at the adorable scene and a bunch of photos/videos being taken/saved)
Vlad’s all for preemptive action with this. He knows that the two likely won’t get together, but he’s gotta ensure that they don’t. Their team ups already scare him.
Batman loves his grandkid, Moxie, but he solemnly hopes that no more robotic grandkids are made. Moxie’s got more energy than a human kid, and causes an appropriate amount of stress.
(Btw, I imagine that Moxie’s ghost body is just so small. Bruce gets caught just carrying Moxie around just so gently and carefully and helping them reach things even though he knows that Moxie can fly)
I love Tim and Danny arguing over the name only to hear that Moxie’s picked one out already. They adore the name and can both admit that it’s fitting. Ellie makes sure to ensure that everyone knows that she and Moxie picked out the name, not Tim or Danny, Ellie and Moxie.
I also love Kon just being like “I can only handle one of them at a time, please do not put me in a room with them both doing mad science together”.
Impulse/Bart just full on having to be like “Am I ready for that?” He’s willing, but he isn’t sure if he’s ready. He’ll certainly try if Danny’s willing. His family better be ready. (I also imagine that, when the Nightengale name change happened, Clockwork made himself an identity connected to the Nightengales. So he gets to join in any large family get togethers as the “we don’t know how they’re related, but they’re somewhere in the family tree” type relative in the future and cryptically reference the Flash Family’s time adventures while staring at whichever one did the adventure he’s referring too before feigning obliviousness)
The villains pray the kid doesn't go into heroics.
I love the idea of Moxie being fairy sized as a baby. Just, so smol! And Bruce having a heart attack every 5 minutes because where did Moxie go! I've lost the baby! What do I do! Danny installs a Ghost shield in the manor. So Bruce at least knows Moxie is somewhere in the house.
Ellie is very smug. Very very smug. And very proud of Moxie. Baby did good! Everyone in the Realms knows about Moxie. Ellie is so happy. Danny and Tim will randomly get gifts for Moxie by portal. Skulker sends a battle body. Neither are impressed. Moxie is a baby!
Mainly because they realised what they did before they could give them memories. And decided to raise them properly. So they could gradually grow. Both know how Ellie and Kon feel about the implanted knowledge and memories. They have Moxie some as a base. But left the rest for them to learn as they wanted to.
Kyle would die of cuteness overload. And from Bruce glaring at him. He stole babies first word!!!!! Babies first word should be Dad! Or B?!
Bart probs of bothers his family about it so much. Asks all the questions ever. It helps that Kon is dating Tim, and he knows that Kon managed well. So he tracks down his team mate as well.
Danny just waved off Clockwork and his comments.
Danny: Oh PeePaw has the sight. But it made him senile. Don't mind him!
There’s a few things most rogues can agree on. One of those is the hope that Moxie Nightengale-Wayne doesn’t go into heroics.
I imagine with Moxie around, Danny finally decided to take care of the GIW (while they aren’t competent, Danny’s not risking having them around while Moxie, a baby, is on the same plane of existence). He preemptively warns Tim that, on Tim’s week, he may be hearing about a certain government agency collapsing and to not worry about it since they were never all that competent or ethical anyways, just a light warning done vaguely so that Tim has plausible deniability by the end.
But yes! Bruce going into a panic is now a common occurrence in the manor. Moxie’s aunts and uncles are totally not rewarding them for scaring Bruce, totally not! The Ghost Shields are the only reason that Alfred lets them get away with it. Also, I imagine that lil’ Moxie sometimes just curls up in the nape of Bruce’s neck, all snuggled up and Bruce can’t move much because of the sleepy baby on him. If Moxie doing this cause Bruce to get more rest? Well, that’s just the cherry on top. (Moxie does this with the other members of the Batfam. Just ambush naps on them. Family spotted? Nap time! After all, grandpa Alfred has taught them that nap time will make everyone happier in the end!)
YES! The Infinite Realms residents just adore this little neverborn! They’re adorable and their origin is a great piece of gossip to tease Phantom with! Skulker sending a battle body is great though! He’s aiming for that favorite uncle position! After all, small ecto-entities should stick together! They have many similarities as well! He just wants Moxie to stay safe.
I adore that. Just, Moxie has a bit of a base to work off of, but they get to make their own memories, enjoy the world at their own pace, not have to deal with numerous memories that they know aren’t their’s. Tim and Danny are honestly doing great as accidental parents to their robot kiddo.
Kyle knows he should fear for his future a bit more, but he’s currently melting under the cuteness of being called Unc by Moxie, and that’s turning Bruce’s glare rather ineffective.
Bruce just has a slight pout for a week until he manages to get Moxie to call him B! Everyone is very amused when they realized what his smile across the following few days was for. (I imagine that, a few years later, for Halloween, Moxie asks Bruce to dress up as a bee with them, full puppy dog eyes and tiny ghost form)
Bart just preparing himself to be the best step-dad he can be. It’s endearing, so very endearing to Danny when he finds out.
I love how easily Danny waves Clockwork off. CW is just dropping all the possible hints he can about being the “ghost of time” that Danny mentioned once, knowing it would take a while for the pieces to be put together. He’s using the same green sticky notes. He’s signing as CW-N. He’s wearing clocks! He’s loving it all.
Danny texts the group chat. "I'm doing an RR". And oh no. Please say it isn't so.
5 days and 23 government bases later, there is a VERY public announcement of the retraction of a law no one knew about. As well as a very generous pay out to Danny's home town. When Danny shows up smelling of burning building they look the other way. They saw the leaked files.
Tim is happy to show Moxie the news of their Papa doing what he did. Tim was the only one who knew. When the first few bases blew up, Tim turned to Moxie and whispered to them.
Ti.: That's what your Papa is up to! Look how quick he's doing it! How do you think he did that?
And turns it into a teaching moment. Which his siblings are horrified by. But Moxie is the child of so mad scientists. You have to give them proper enrichment!
I love the idea of Alfred teaching them to sleep on people so they rest. Moxie gets all the cookies. Danny teaches Moxie to purr as well. Because the purr helps the batfam relax.
What if Danny can do little baby man form? He could play with Moxie like that. And confuse everyone!
Kyle can't even pretend to care in the moment. He just picks up the baby and takes them off to show them more designs.
Pandora and Frostbite like to visit the little one. The first time they show up at the manor everyone freaked out. And the Moxie flew right at them in excitement. It took them a bit to explain about how they knew Danny. But screw it they can question Danny later.
I love that Tim’s RR stuff has been used as a verb by Danny (and others). Wonderful.
Danny just so efficiently backing the government into a corner is always beautifully wonderful. Especially if he decided to rub it in by doing it the way he did when he went to save YJ (earlier in the reblogs), mostly with tech and sparing usage of powers. The slight power usage just shows that he can do so much more, but the GIW doesn’t even register as enough of a threat to truly warrant it.
Tim and Moxie keeping up with the reports of Danny basically going scorched earth on the GIW makes me so happy. Tim knew that having Moxie analyze Danny’s actions would be great enrichment and he encourages being opportunistic at times.
His siblings being horrified is great. They should expect it at this point, but still.
Bruce is having t reevaluate the Fenton contingency plans following the scorched earth plan Danny just pulled off. All while wanting to give the mad scientist the equivalent of a hug because he just swiftly ensured that a threat to Moxie was no longer a threat! (I saved this just in time cause I almost just lost stuff when my Tumblr crashed)
Alfred needs at least one family member willing to hold a healthy sleep schedule, so he started using positive reinforcement on Moxie. If Moxie decided to extend this to their family? Well, Alfred would just have to give even better positive reinforcement for that behavior.
If Danny has a LBM form, I can only imagine people seeing little white/black and green blurs darting around the Watchtower. When they follow those blurs, the blues just end up leading them to normal form Danny just holding a tuckered out Moxie. Eventually they actually ask about the blues only to find out that Danny and Moxie were the blurs. Danny had walked away before they could figure out how to ask more about that.
Kyle eventually just keeping a sketchbook of designs for Moxie. Other GL members who don’t know about Moxie are confused about the sketchbook full of sketches of various body parts, but the ones who know about Moxie always smile or chuckle a bit when they see the book, so the ones who don’t know just shrug it off.
I love Pandora and Frostbite, two very powerful (power-wise and sway-wise) individuals, just acting like grandparents around Moxie would probably cause some more questions, but- honestly- Moxie is pretty relaxed with the two and they’re being very careful with Moxie, both in ghost form and in their robot body. A little warning might be nice, but Alfred has found allies in the two and is ready to start scheduling a regular meetup with them both.
Jason drops in after. "You should join the outlaws!"
Danny: I'm flattered but no. Moxie needs one parents not doing hero shit around.
Jason:... I can respect that.
Moxie also loves spending time in the work shop. They have took attachments they can use. And Papa is teaching them how to use their telekinesis as well! Moxie is getting really good! The fact that Tim and Danny are teaching Moxie engineering? Might be a cause for poor sleep.
Bruce is very glad Danny took out threat to his family. But also mildly horrified at how efficient it was. Just a tad bit worrying. Moxie is the only real pull. Yes. There we go. Threaten to take away parental rights of Danny starts to slip!
Justice league being confused at how Danny always drops there tiny lore drops and then vanishes. It's like he's a Ghost himself B!
Moxie loves the body book! They get so many cool designs! And Uncle Kyle is teaching them how to draw as well. Moxie is learning all about art. Uncle Damian helps as well!
Moxie deserves only the best. And therefore get Frostbite and Pandora as grandparents. Alfred of course gets his weekly chat. They like him. He's very wise already. Imagine how wise he would get with enough time! They uh, might start slipping excess Ecto in his tea. Make it easier for him to become a ghost. Might be, maybe. Danny just laughs whenhe catches on. Cause he has been to all these bats. Doesn't want Moxie to lose their family. Also been doing it to Kon and the Flash family.
Moxie will do many things for Grammy Alfreds cookies. Including nap on their family when they feel tired. dad's family are bad at sleep. Papa isn't great at sleep, but he's better. Papa doesn't need much promoting to go to bed and cuddle!
The one thing still keeping Danny from returning to hero life is ensuring that Moxie has one parent who won’t be dragged off for an emergency. Yeah, that sounds about right for Danny, even if he’d really fit well with the Outlaws-
I love the imagery of Moxie (as tiny pixie ghost and/or child-sized robot) in the workshop is adorable. They give Moxie child friendly things to do there (so, no power tools or other dangerous tools), and help Moxie through little projects. I imagine Moxie enjoys making new body parts and is trying to get permission to make mini vehicles (they’ll get it eventually, Tim and Danny just want Moxie to learn a bit more coordination beforehand-). But yeah, Moxie’s manic glee for engineering reminds everyone too much of their parents and causes some sleepless nights because they realize that Moxie will eventually be doing as crazy of inventions as Tim and Danny.
Bruce knows it’s a dirty move, but he also knows that that one has worked on him before. He understands and appreciates Danny’s reasoning for going scorched earth
Oh, if Danny heard that, he’d be cackling. They’re so close, so so close to the truth. It’s hilarious.
Moxie will have such an intimate relationship with art it general. Kyle, Damian, and Moxie all just having Art time together. (I’d love to imagine the reactions to “the Body Book” from those who aren’t in the know, because it sounds so ominous without context)
Danny, Frostbite, and Pandora all ensuring that the people they care for have the ability to become ghosts is great. They aren’t loosing anybody who isn’t ready to move on. Honestly, it’s probably a comforting prospect, being able to continue on past death until you’re ready to move on.
Moxie’s just the sweetest. They get cookies! No one can blame them for doing whatever it takes to get Alfred’s cookies, honestly. They also have to admit that they’ve been feeling better ever since they’ve been getting more sleep. At least they get cuddles.
