A very very loud part of me thinks it looks best with just flat colors, and the other, quieter, but pissier part of myself doesn't want my 3+ hours of rendering to go to waste.
Still can’t believe the Phandom gaslit ourselves into thinking so much that is headcanon is canon.
Ghost King Danny isn’t a thing, Wes Weston doesn’t exist, Ghost Cores are debatable, Red Huntress isn’t Valerie’s ghost hunter name, Bones is not Youngblood’s parrot’s name. Etc.
It just goes to show how powerful, creative and influential one person’s idea has spread amongst the community, many times, and I love that for us.
In fact, Waylon doesn’t even think he had actually chose himself to keep him. Instead he thinks that this kid chose him.
Right now, the small and skinny black-haired boy who’d inserted himself into his life was sat at the table his weapon’s engineer used to work. Tinkering at the bits and pieces scattered over the messy surface while Waylon himself hovered nearby.
“Are you sure that’s safe for you to be messing with kiddo?” The large, scaled man called to the boy, a hint of concern peeking through the southern twang in his accent. Elongating is ‘O’s and ‘E’s and ‘A’s.
“Yeah, it’s fine, I used to work on my parents experiments in their lab all the time,” The boy called back, and— unironically— it didn’t soothe his anxiety.
“That don’t make me feel any better squirt.”
“Well? Too bad.” This twig was going to be the cause of all Waylon’s fictitious gray hairs, he was calling it now.
Instead of lecturing the kid on safety, Waylon simply ruffled his hair with his large, clawed hands and left him to his devices.
Danny was tired. He hated working long nights. But Team Phantom was the only hero team in Amity Park, Illinois and it had it's demands.
"Hello"
Danny did not jump or yell. He was just not used to people meeting him while in the air.
"oops sorry! um Hi my names Blonde Blazer. Your Phantom right? Of Team Phantom."
"Uh yes I'm Phantom. I know who you are Miss Blazer. Your a Big time hero in California. Why are you in Illinois?"
"That is a great question. I'm her to offer you a proposition, a job proposition that is. The SDN is looking to expand and Amity Park is the most hero/villain active city in Illinois. So the SDN wants to start offering jobs to the local heroes, thats Team Phantom and you, with benefits like increased pay, vacation time, insurance, a 401k, and backup if needed."
"Wait i can get a paycheck for hero stuff?"
"Of course you get paid! Wait, has Mayor Masters not been paying his town's heroes?"
An original post instead of reblogging stuff?? I'm not dead! (Unlike Danny 👻)
This is the longest I've ever spent on a single drawing clocking in at 32.5 hrs over 3.5 months
Everytime I thought I was done, I would realize I forgot someone. As it is, I still ended up leaving out a few. Did you see your favorite character show up? Or did I miss them
GREAT ONE! I have received news of your imprisonment from Wulf. We of the Far Frozen received your letter with great joy and concern. First, I must address your concerns. The rescued have been treated accordingly. Most have recovered and have returned to their haunts or pleasure. A few of them have not left the Far Frozen, so frightened they are by future assault. They harbor in the warmest reaches of the Far Frozen and remained on guard.
Your second concern, I am well.
Your third concern, I have looked into this illness you have described in your letter and notes. It is an odd case. I have contacted several other doctors within the Realms to investigate. This meeting is scheduled within the fortnight at Pandora's residence. It seems the doctors of her time and place have been maintaining their studies of human medicine. I am hopeful we will have something to advise you, GREAT ONE. I humbly request you convey our sympathies. Our concerns is the frequent disruption to the systems preserving the patient will allow the disease time to progress. One day will prove fatal.
My concern, GREAT ONE, is for your health and freedom. Walker has taken interest into your case and promises to send word.
I understand that the living realm has many contradictions between their morals and their laws. I also understand that one must always be true to their honor and righteous to assist the injured with true intentions. GREAT ONE. Your title is not an idle one. It was not granted to flatter or appease. It is an acknowledgement of what lies within your core.
Your greatness is not only your goodness. It is your hope. Your understanding of the many oddities of existence. Acceptance of these differences. Your strength, matched only by a handful. Your willingness to protect and aid.
We of the Far Frozen acknowledged your greatness. I acknowledge it. One day, GREAT ONE, I hope you will be able to acknowledge this one day.
May Your Rest Be Peaceful,
Chief Frostbite of the Far Frozen (MD)
The letter crinkled faintly under Danny's fingers as he scanned the short page again and again. It had been delivered portal slit open just above his head and the letter was stuffed through. he'd taken the time to read through it a few times, sure to keep it out of sight.
"I should talk to Victor." Danny told the picture of Nora Fries.
"Talk to him? I'd tell him that Joker is getting out of solitary today." A goon stood at the entrance to his cell, muscular, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. Danny wasn't sure if he was one of the men he'd beaten up in the past but he was definitely in his Trigonometry class. "He's gunning for you."
Not a total surprise. "Are you?"
The man shrugged. "Hell, no. We goonies know when we're licked."
"Then what?"
A sheaf of paper was produced. "What the fuck are we supposed to do with this?"
"It's...." Tucking his letter away, Danny rose to took a look at the paper. Basic trig he could do in middle school but given the baffled expression was probably beyond the man in front of him. "Okay. Let's go the library."
"What for?"
"Because I'm not letting more people in here than I have to. Come on." He grabbed a few things and shooed the goon out of his cell and toward the library.
He spent the next two days tutoring other inmates on the variety of subjects he'd once failed at Amity Park.
"Hey, Prof, you're seeing the dumbass tomorrow, right?" The first goon, Martin who preferred to be called Iron turned toward Danny where he was perched at the end of the table.
"Yeah?" Danny didn't look up from his book. "If he makes it."
"So what do you think he wants?" Ted piped up. He had a Joker tattoo on his right arm which he'd been frowning at for most of the week.
"Dunno. A laugh?"
"Nah, I've taken Brucie hostage before. He's not the type of guy to do this just to laugh at you. He's nice, and I'm serious. When Batman slammed me with an uppercut he even gave me an ice pack!"
Danny hummed a bit. "Did you finish your problem?"
With an aggrieved sigh, the man returned to his studies.
#$#$#
Bruce watched the outline of Arkham Asylum sharpen as the town car approached. His head ached badly and for the first time in a while it was from a concussion. Just business for WE, Justice League, and working to convince Damian that he didn't need an interior designer to start working on a room for Danny. Vlad Masters lawyers were ruthless, and a brutal extension of the man's domineering personality. It was becoming damningly clear why Danny might have hated the man so much. General creepiness aside, he only wanted Danny to be free of Akrham if Masters himself had a hand in it. His help came with strings and caveats and term and conditions which would prove a relentless pitfall for even a seasoned lawyer.
Still, they were ruthless only in the Midwestern sense. WE lawyers, and Bruce's personal family lawyer were Gotham ruthless. Blades sharpened over years of geopolitical chaos and Gotham's unique brand of misery which no Wisconsinite lawyers would ever hope to match.
He let his head fall back against the head rest as he thought carefully.
Why Danny had done what he'd done didn't make much sense. Most of his records were redacted and whatever motivations were there weren't clarified. He'd have to ask Danny. To do that he'd have to have his trust.
"Mr. Wayne! Welcome back!" Valery greeted him after the security checks and metal detector. "How are you doing."
"Just fine, Warden. How have you been?"
"Never better! Well. I guess I could use a vacation." Both men laughed, neither believing the other. They chatted amicably through the walk to the meeting room. Guards whispered and he settled into the guest chair with an easy grace.
A few minutes passed. He tapped away on his phone and glanced up then minutes when a security guard shuffled to the warden, leaned down and began to whisper. When the warden jumped up, Bruce's fears were concerned. "LOCKDOWN!"
"Lockdown?"
Bruce blurted stupidly. "Why? What happened?"
"Escape, Mr. Wayne." Warden Valery rubbed a hand down his face. "Fuck."
He sprinted out of the reception room. Barking orders for Bruce to be protected until the situation stabilized.
:Arkham Breakout: He sent to the BatChat.
Oracle replied with a single thumbs up.
:In lockdown with witnesses. Unable to leave without compromising ID:
Another thumbs up from Oracle and he leaned back in the chair. Hopefully no one was killed during the escape.
#$#$#
Danny knew from practice and experience the cold and subzero temperatures could do more damage to a building than most people realized. The cold could damage whole buildings and crack badly tempered metals. He hadn't seen Victor in a few days and attributed it to their half-hearted argument. Now that he needed to tell Victor of Frostbite's theory. He'd stood in the sub-zero of the man's cell for a moment, scanning the scrap of newspaper before deciding that the rogue wasn't going to climb out of the walls and floor.
He checked the library, mess hall, gym, and a few others places before scratching an old memory and moving toward the older part of the facility. As soon as his breath became visible he paused. Horror, anticipation, and fear cascaded through his body which ad begun to move without conscious input. Danny was kneeling at the side of the brand new frozen escape tunnel. It went down a few feet, curved and stretched out of sight. Ice crystals jutted from every angle through the entire tunnel. It was big enough for the suited man to step through. He had to have put the icicles in after he'd past through.
Danny got as close as he thought he could manage. It brought him to the edge of the escape tunnel. His soft shoes crunched over the cracked stone and frost as he circled the entrance. He could escape, but then he'd be on the run. He'd be FBI's Most Wanted for as long as he existed and as long as he had his collar. With a careful finger he traced the constellation.
It would be a waste of time. He turned his back on the tunnel moved a few feet before a bolt of realization hit.
"Nora!"
Victor would go to Nora. Detach her from the power supply and cart her along to some lab. He might kill someone. He could kill Nora. He would be back to robbing bank and thievery. Even if Batman captured him the cycle would start all over again.
Danny toed one of the crystals only for it to collapse. As it fell more and more collapsed in a thin line down the tunnel. So, there was a way past Victor's trap.
It took longer than he would have liked to make it through the tunnel. Victor had added a five solid ice walls. His weapon must have been low power because Danny was able to break through them with a kick.
Daylight blinked as he hit the end of dirt. Ice continued, free of traps and too-sharp icicles, straight through the water. Shadows of fish moving flickered on his periphery. Some already flash frozen to the outside of the tunnel.
