Danny made a chirp noise from the back of his throat and the little green blob made one back, dashing from where it had been floating idoly. It passed through dannys chest a few times, makeing more chirps. After several exitable moments, Danny cupped his hands out for the ghost to settle into with a smile.
"This is what you've been freaking out about?" He said, raising an amused eyebrow. Bruce scowled "it compromised our security!" He argued "and it keeps takeing things! For all we know, it could be working for a bigger threat" the man huffed. Danny just chuckled again and nestled the green mass onto his sholder gently.
"Yes. That would be me" he smiled.
Although Bruce didn't actually vocalise a 'what...?', his face portrayed the question. Danny shrugged, the little blob bouncing cartonishly as he did but not moving.
"Its a blob ghost. They hang 'round places and beings with alot of concentraighted energy and purify the ectoplasm." He placed a finger on his chin "kinda like pilot fish" he elaborated. Bruce mulled that for a moment and then crossed his arms.
"Pilot fish...that would make you the shark?"
A michevious smirk took up dannys features, splitting into a grin with far to many pointed teeth. "Exactly"
This isn't very long, and it's pretty late, but I hope you see it anon!
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"This has happened five times," the apprentice says with trepidation. He'd worried the hems of his robe sleeves so much this morning that the hand-sewn seams are popping raw.
"Has it really?" The magister squints and looks over the rim of her reading glasses.
She'd been so engrossed in her studies of late that, admittedly, she'd not paid as much mind as she should have to seemingly trivial matters like the occasional apprentice cursing themself. It was simply a risk in this field.
Five, though? And all related to the entity most commonly called The Unknowable? Now that was cause for concern.
The apprentice nods, brow furrowed and biting his lip.
The magister sighs and sets down her pen. "Do you know which rituals they attempted during their... mishaps?"
The apprentice stares blankly momentarily before fumbling with the notes in his pocket. "Transformation. Physical transformation."
The magister sighs and stands.
"I was afraid you would say that."
She only hoped she had time before the curses became irreversible, and that the medical ward had done their jobs keeping it at bay while she'd been busy. Transformation curses had a nasty habit of becoming infectious without sufficient treatment.
A month after Richie helps bury him, Eddie Kaspbrak turns up on his doorstep.
Eddie comes into view. For a second Richie is distracted, as he always is, by Eddie’s running shorts, then, a moment later, he’s distracted by the fucking dog in his arms.
“I'm here for the Joker,” The boy said and bruce nearly dropped his cup.
He’d come out of nowhere and it had taken the man a moment to recognise him. Phantom, an odd character he’d sparsely worked with before, stood in the Batcave with his eyes trained on bruce. The green irises bore into him, conveying just how serious the young hero was. Bruce sighed.
“Well, he’s not here-”
“You know that's not what I mean, Dark Knight.” Phantom cut off, not giving an inch. How a 5’6 teenager managed to look down at him, he’ll never know, but the use of his ‘title’ told Bruce this wasn’t a visit from phantom as a hero. He was visiting as Phantom, The Ghost King. That never ended well…
Phantom the hero was merciful, bashful, even playful and flippant in what little experience bruce had but Phantom The Ghost King? They had only met twice before and the first time almost ended in an interdimensional war.
When he didn't respond again, Phantom softened only marginally. Apparently sympathetic to the bat's position. He crossed his arms. Not in a self-important way, but more how a disgruntled parent might when dealing with a stubborn child.
“Look, I’ve tried to give you time but my subjects grow restless”
Phantom spoke again, knitting his brows and raising a hand as he spoke. Bruce scowled back “So let them. Surely they can't expect you to drag a man to his death prematurely” he argued. Phantom cocked his brow.
“The joker's death is far overdue. He should have faced his justice years ago.”
“You don't get to decide that!”
The moment after he said that, Bruce regretted it as the room took on a chill. The boy's eyes shone brighter and something crackled in the air. He didn't move. How he spoke and held himself didn't change an inch but suddenly, the air was filled with a sense of danger and bruce could swear he saw the faintest silhouette of a crown above Phantom's head for a moment.
“Actually, I do.”
His voice was final. “I came here out of respect for you and your territory, not to ask permission.”
“You have 3 days, Dark Knight. If The Joker is not in my domain by then, I will have no choice but to take him myself.”
And Phantom was gone. Leaving nothing but icy air in his wake.
Venti is woken from his sleep by a cold brush of air, warning him that something dangerous had entered his domain. Something so dangerous, he had to go and see to it personally. When he got close enough to sense exactly what, he’d whipped his bow out in an instant and almost fired it without thinking. He wished he had because, when he looked, he couldn’t unsee what it was, and, suddenly, just shooting it down became almost impossible.
Or
Venti is awoken earlier than in canon because he senses Kaeya arriving in Mondstat. He shoots his father down, just fine, but can’t bring himself to kill a helpless 7-year-old. Instead, he accidentally gets so attached, he risks Mondstat to help him.
For one, the shoulder pads made him look much too square for his liking. The fitted waist was all to exposing and three layers? Absolutely not. As he approached the building, a shimmering skyscraper that practically screamed ‘you can’t afford to look at me’, Danny decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and took off his blazer. A vest and tie where enough, right? Besides, its not like he actually worked there. The dress code wasn’t really his problem beyond looking vaughly like he fitted in.
The stiff fabric hooked over one arm, he strutted into the building with all the zeel of a man who worked a wall street office job.
“Nicholas Halden” he said to the receptionist, putting his hands in his pockets as she clicked on her computer. “Your not on the system” she replied, eyeing him suspiciously. “First day.” he countered, easily. “Inturn?” damn, what was this girl, a cop? Danny brightened his smile a little more “new P.A, actually”
She gave him one last look over her glasses, scanning him. “I don’t have any ticks or fleas. Promise.” He crossed his heart with that, leaning into his smile so it became more of a smirk. The woman finally cracked a little, huffling through her nose with an up turned lip before flipping through a folder. She handed him a lanyard “make sure you keep it that way, Mr. Halden” Danny took it and began to walk backwards in one motion, towards the security gates. “Nick” he offered. She finally smiled at him. “Nick.” she corrected in a slightly warmer tone. “Get a proper security pass before next week”
“Will do!” He responded as he turned to walk properly, shooting a finger gun over his shoulder as he did.
Receptionists. They held the keys to the castle and they knew it. Thinking about it, Danny would rather get grilled by a cop. They where easier to charm.
The office itself managed to be both claustrophobic and far to big. Rammed with people in suits of varying quality, tapping on keyboards and scribbling on paper. They chattered to each other about one thing or another and it was absolute murder on Dannys over sensitive ears. He fought the urge to cover them as he made for the office at the top, of course, that was sectioned off by a glass wall and a door twice as big as it needed to be.
He recognized his employer inside, looking more commanding in his own set of shoulder pads and dress shoes. Danny would almost believe you if you told him this guy and the tussled looking dude from last night were different people. Almost.
They were still the same in some very key ways. The tightness in his movements, the way his eyes scanned his surroundings so he noticed Danny long before he approached and, of course, that scowly tilt to his brow that darkened his features and shadowed those mottled blue eyes.
It was a shame, really, and Danny found himself, briefly, wanting to make the man smile.
He did not smile when he clocked Danny. Infact, that serious scowl seemed to deepen slightly as he waved him in, dismissing the other men in equally stuffy suits he'd been talking to.
"You got past reception?" He questioned, seeming surprised. Danny shrugged "don't panic, most people wouldn't"
Tim just hummed, positioning his laptop so it faced away from his office facing window. He pulled up a very official looking document with 'Nicks' ID and employment files. "Nicholas Halden. That's a little on the nose" Danny crossed his arms. "Does that make you Burke?"
The other man snorted "yeah. It dose." He handed Danny another lanyard, this one looking more official than the 'guest' card he was wearing. "I'm not dumb enough to let a known criminal walk around without keeping tabs-"
"-I'm not known" Danny butt in, a little prideful. Tim waived a hand at him.
"I know. In any case, this'll track your movements."
"Your not a convicted fellon so you can leave it at the door at the end of the day but if your on the clock, your wareing this."
The way Tim was debriefing him made Danny wonder if the nervous, flighty looking man he'd met last night had been a mask. This guy was clearly no stranger to being in authority and had no problems dolling out orders. It was, in a way, reassuring. He just hoped Tim could back up his thunder.
He directed his attention back to the computer, where Tim pulled up work schedules, fake contact details and a bit of fabricated history for nick. Just in case.
"Nick is my new P.A, employed with good recommendation, on a probationary period. That gives you clearance to do most things on the grounds I asked for it. Just don't go abusing the privilege-"
Danny rolled his eyes, Tim didn't bother acknowledging it.
"You work the job. You find my rat. When we've tied the loose ends, Nick starts underperforming and we let him go."
It was Dannys turn to hum as he looked over the startlingly good fake documents. Damn, even tucker would struggle to produce something like this! Did it make him curious? Hell yea but for now he was gonna mind his business.
"Its a good plan" he commented, flicking through the tabs a few more times as he did. "Though I don't remember you mentioning I'd have to do actual work around here when we spoke last"
Tim glanced at him "What, think you can't handle it? Or do you just have an aversion to legit work?" Danny huffed and rolled his eyes again "whatever, sure. Book you a taxi and reserve you a restaurant between actually doing what you're paying me for. Piece 'a cake"
"Better be" Tim sighed, closing his computer. "This has a time limit. The-"
"Yeah, yeah, the longer they get away with it, the more confident they'll get in what they leak. I got it." Danny finished and Tim raised an eyebrow. "Don't do that infront of the other employees. You might not answer to me but Nick does." He dead panned.
Danny just gave another one of his easy smiles, picking up his new ID, which felt more like a tracking collar, and spinning it on one finger. "You got it, pretty boy"
Tim puffed out his cheeks in the biggest expression Danny had managed to get from him, pointing a finger in his direction as Danny went to leave. "And don't call me that either!" He called after him.
You roll around the gothems under belly long enough, you’ll hear plenty of people say ‘I know a guy’. A fixer, a driver, a particularly good con artist. ‘Guys’ are a dime a dozen. There's one, however, that everyone knows but no one seems to be able to work with.
He went by ‘phantom’. Apped, considering his reputation. The man could do almost anything and leave no footprints. You need info digging up? Check back in two days. You need a fence? The money will be in your account by the next day, minus his cut. You’ll never connect him back to it. Need something stolen? Even you won't be able to figure out how to when he managed it. What you asked for will just appear, gift rapped, a week later.
Seriously, though, Phantom didn't work with just anyone. In fact, you’d be pressed to find proof he existed at all, outside word of mouth. The only way to get any contact with him, so the story goes, is to go through Red Hood.
Maybe he owed the crime lord a debt, maybe Red Hood had some dirt on him. Maybe Phantom was just really loyal. who knows? The point is that without the ani-heros mark somewhere on your credentials, you’ve got no hope of even finding the man. Let alone getting him to do a job.
So imagine Tim's surprise when a criminal so elusive even he can't dig anything up about him just appears, brazen as anything, in the middle of the day. He hands Tim a small card, fucking winks at him, then disappears just as seamlessly into the crowd.
‘Hay pretty boy.
The boss said you need some info found.
23 clover st. 10pm tomorrow.
Phantom’
Meanwhile, Danny has no idea why Hood’s getting mixed up with the Waynes. What on earth a rich kid like Timothy Wayne needed to know that was so serious, he approached one of gothems biggest crime lords, he couldn’t fathom but the boss said jump and Danny wasn’t about to say anything to the guy that had taken him in beyond ‘how high’. He just hoped Hood knew what he was doing.
