AKA "Phantom is the Justice League Dark's newest junior member. He does not realize his field logs are regularly reviewed until The Batman himself sets up a meeting for a performance review." DPxDC prompt idea!
A frazzled teenager in a hazmat suit appears in front of a camera. The background is a swirling mass of green that the camera can't seem to focus on. His white hair drifts around his green-tinged face, expression in a grimace as he holds his clearly injured side.
"Constantine, you suck. You suck, man. Stop summoning spirits that you don't know how to fight! Guess who has to fight them! Me! Seriously, go suck a d-" The camera glitches, refocusing on a gigantic serpent swimming concerningly fast at the teen. An angry mutter of oh, for the love of- can be heard before the camera turns off abruptly.
Entry 24, Location: Petra, Jordan, Asia
Phantom slumps against a stone pillar. Red hot sun turns his usual Lazarus green skin a warmer, sickly grey-green.
"Can't talk much. It's a jinn. I did find the Pharaoh's treasure, but it's cursed. Reversed the curse, but it altered the timeline so I'm in the past to reverse the curse reverse. Constantine, I don't know where you are, but I'll be... here, I guess. See you in the future. Oh, BRB. Gotta talk to Al-Uzza."
The camera spins for a moment, focusing briefly on a woman's silhouette in front of the sun. Everything turns black.
Entry 31, Location: Gotham City, New Jersey, North America
Phantom's white hair is black, wet and plastered to his head. His skin is pale and flushed with a pink blush. He's wearing an oversized NASA hoodie and sweats, sitting at a desk with a hotel bed behind him.
"Okay, so I think I got caught up in something big? There's this villain who I'm pretty sure is literally a walking corpse, a revenant haunting an entire city block, ninjas who say they're part of a league of something, and something called Lazarus water that I'm pretty sure is causing a generational curse on the city. Oh, and I think Batman may be Bruce Wayne. Anyways, I'm at the hotel. I'm not sure what bar you're at but if you could call me, that would be great..." Phantom shuffles uncertainly before leaning forward to turn off the camera.
Batman and Danny stare at the large screen in silence.
Who would've thought he'd get a performance review in under two months of working with the JLD? Not him, definitely. The panic of oh my Ancients, I'm going to lose my job, wars with oh my Ancients, he knows I think he's Bruce Wayne.
"Do you have anything to contribute before we continue?" Batman asks gruffly.
Danny grimaces and shakes his head. He does actually: he wants to apologize, say that he'll be more professional in the future and that he didn't actually know anybody - especially not Batman, one of the founders of the original Justice League - reviewed field logs. Instead, he keeps quiet. Just like how he normally does when Zatanna and Deadman ask if anything's wrong. How working with Constantine has been. If he's enjoying his job here.
Batman nods as if he expected the answer. "John Constantine has been removed from the mentorship program with the JLD. Furthermore, the Justice League has placed a hiatus on JLD membership until resources can be allocated to provide proper support for onboarding members. Given your aptitude is more scientific and less magical application, Superman, Wonder Woman, and I have decided to offer you a new position that may be more suitable."
"I-uh," Danny gapes. Was Constantine just fired?
"You would be relocated to Gotham City, New Jersey, to complete an apprenticeship. Given your experience in the JLD, we recommend you to join a smaller Justice League affiliate, such as the Titans or Young Justice. This would provide you more support, direct leadership, and utilize your versatile powerset."
Batman clicks through a presentation - field logs minimized, the new slide is recognizable heroes in a lineup. Black Canary, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood, all surrounded by their team members.
"Uh." Danny answers. He's still stumped on the fact that he's leaving the JLD after less than two months. Granted, he's not had the best two months. It kinda was... horrible, actually. Constantine ditched him at every turn, he was assigned missions to deal with magical beings he'd never even heard of, and he had back-to-back missions. It was exhausting. "Uh. Sorry, wait, an apprenticeship in New Jersey? With who?"
Danny led them further into the dark, musty manor, into an area without windows where they had to pull out flashlights and a spell to fight the gloom. Danny reached into the wall and pulled something, thankfully the mechanism was fully manual and the lack of electricity didn't stop the hidden door from creaking slowly open.
Jason put a hand on Danny's shoulder, "We got it from here, go find Kenny or Artemis."
"Yeah… okay." Danny quickly turned and left the room.
"I've gone into worse," Roy joked as he led the way down the dark stairs.
Jason put on a face mask, attached a flashlight to his shoulder, and put another in his hand, then took up the rear. The flashlights were pretty redundant with Zatanna using a spell to light the way, but Jason liked the reassurance of having his own light.
The stairs led directly into the lab, and what a mess it was. The dust was just as thick as the rest of the building, making Jason glad for the mask. There was plenty of equipment and tools scattered around on work tables, some having fallen to the floor. Jason could just see a row of tubes further in the room
"Oh its thicker here," Boston commented. "I'd say it's almost as thick here as Nanda Parbat."
"That's saying something," Zatanna commented. "But yes, the air is thrumming with power."
"Guess we'll need to bring Danny down and see of he absorbs it?" Jason asked.
"Oof, not without covering these first," Roy called, pointing to the row of tubes.
Jason walked over to get a closer look and cringed internally. The tubes were full of murky, scummy water and corpses in the middle of decomposing. One tube had a clone leaning against the glass, useless oxygen mask still attached to its face half full of murky water, and skin slowly peeling away around said mask. Black, shaggy hair nearly covered half lowered lids and the milky, unseeing eyes under them.
"Think we can nick some bed sheets to throw over 'em?" Boston asked casually.
"Suppose we could," Jason agreed. Danny would know exactly why they were there, but at least he wouldn't have to see.
"If it helps they're empty, never had a soul." Boston casually gestured at the tubes.
Jason wasn't sure if it did.
Zatanna had wandered further into the lab, heading for the back wall. Jason followed, stopping a bit behind her as she cast spells at the empty doorway that probably used to be Vlad's portal. Zatanna grimaced, "They really somehow managed to punch a hole directly to the deepest parts of the other side of the veil, completely bypassing the areas where the veil brushes with our world."
"Yeah?" Jason wasn't sure what that meant.
"No wonder the beings on the other side were so powerful, it's so far beyond our realm it's basically a higher dimension."
"Like Mr. Mxyzptlk?"
Zatanna's head whipped around to stare at Jason. "What?!"
Jason shrugged, "I never met the guy, I just know he's some 'fourth dimensional imp' that sometimes bugs Supes for shits and giggles." B's reports made for good bedtime reading, they were so boring they always put Jason right to sleep.
Zatanna rubbed at her forehead, "Yes, like him. Please don't go around saying the names of fourth dimensional beings, that's how you get their attention."
"A'ight."
"So, quick question," Roy announced. "Can you just send Danny to whatever's on the other side of this portal that doesn't exist?"
"Theoretically," Zatanna said slowly. "It would take a lot of time, effort, and would drain several mages working together. Danny does have allies there, if we did manage to send him through we could hope he finds his way to them and maybe they can help him. But humans aren't meant to wander that deep, just crossing to the other side of the veil can change us, let alone getting dropped in the deep end the way Danny did when he died. Eventually his human half would fade until he becomes a full ghost."
"Right, so that's not the plan," Jason stated.
"Yeah, no kidding," Roy agreed.
"Does any of this tell us why he's still trapped in Amity Park?"
"That may actually be psychosomatic," Zatanna said before turning her attention back to the portal.
Jason furrowed his brows, "Didn't Danny say ghosts are made of emotions? Wouldn't everything be psychosomatic?"
"Technically yes, which makes finding a solution harder. Perhaps if we moved all the victims to a proper graveyard…"
"Dig up and somehow identify each individual in the mass grave you found," Jason said in a deadpan.
"That would take forever, the DEO is out there right now," Roy whined.
"Well, we can offer and see how that affects him," Zatanna said with a huff.
"How about we start with covering the clone tubes and get Danny down here, see if absorbing his weird death goo radiation improves anything," Jason stated, then turned and headed for the stairs.
It took a bit of hunting, but they eventually found a (very gauche) bedroom with all the bedding still on the bed. They bundled the whole set up and threw the blankets and sheets over the clone tubes. That done, it was time to go find Danny and bring him down to the lab to hopefully get a boost. Zatanna and Boston stayed down in the basement while Jason and Roy wandered off to find their wayward ghostboy. They found Artemis barricading the grand front entrance, she hadn't seen Danny or Kenny since they had arrived.
"… hesitant, little ghost will be sickly." Biz's voice carried from around a corner.
"I hope so," Danny said as if he didn't believe it. He perked up when Jason and Roy rounded the corner, smiling up at them from where he and Biz were sitting on the floor across from a barricaded door. "Hi! Kenny and I were just talking, he helped me realize something!" Danny hopped to his feet in excitement, "He reminded me that I had said ghosts need purpose, and I lost mine again. So maybe if I find a new purpose it'll help."
Jason sighed, he was not equipped for what he was about to do. "What's wrong with the whole bridge thing?"
"Well, it's not like there's much bridging I can do when there's no ghosts around."
"Telling people who don't know what's going on about ghosts and how everything works is also being a bridge. You said it yourself, you don't have to be kicking ass to be a bridge."
"I… I guess," Danny said uncertainly.
"Listen, kid, you may be ghost but you're also still human, tying your entire identity to one thing, one goal or mission or whatever you want to call it, that's a one way ticket to misery. Either yourself or everyone around you. Get more goals, get a hobby, make friends. Well, once we figure this out and get you out of here, anyway."
Danny's face fell, "I did have all that."
Jason groaned, silently, in his own head. "Yeah, it sucks that was all taken from you." Jason paused, unsure what to say next. He decided a change of subject might be in order, "Zatanna and Boston said the basement is thick with freaky death energy, wanna go down there and see if you can absorb it?"
"Sure, why not?" Danny walked past them, heading towards the secret stairway.
"That went well," Roy said hesitantly.
"Red him did great," Bizarro said before following after Danny.
Danny led them further into the dark, musty manor, into an area without windows where they had to pull out flashlights and a spell to fight the gloom. Danny reached into the wall and pulled something, thankfully the mechanism was fully manual and the lack of electricity didn't stop the hidden door from creaking slowly open.
Jason put a hand on Danny's shoulder, "We got it from here, go find Kenny or Artemis."
"Yeah… okay." Danny quickly turned and left the room.
"I've gone into worse," Roy joked as he led the way down the dark stairs.
Jason put on a face mask, attached a flashlight to his shoulder, and put another in his hand, then took up the rear. The flashlights were pretty redundant with Zatanna using a spell to light the way, but Jason liked the reassurance of having his own light.
The stairs led directly into the lab, and what a mess it was. The dust was just as thick as the rest of the building, making Jason glad for the mask. There was plenty of equipment and tools scattered around on work tables, some having fallen to the floor. Jason could just see a row of tubes further in the room
"Oh its thicker here," Boston commented. "I'd say it's almost as thick here as Nanda Parbat."
"That's saying something," Zatanna commented. "But yes, the air is thrumming with power."
"Guess we'll need to bring Danny down and see of he absorbs it?" Jason asked.
"Oof, not without covering these first," Roy called, pointing to the row of tubes.
Jason walked over to get a closer look and cringed internally. The tubes were full of murky, scummy water and corpses in the middle of decomposing. One tube had a clone leaning against the glass, useless oxygen mask still attached to its face half full of murky water, and skin slowly peeling away around said mask. Black, shaggy hair nearly covered half lowered lids and the milky, unseeing eyes under them.
"Think we can nick some bed sheets to throw over 'em?" Boston asked casually.
"Suppose we could," Jason agreed. Danny would know exactly why they were there, but at least he wouldn't have to see.
"If it helps they're empty, never had a soul." Boston casually gestured at the tubes.
Jason wasn't sure if it did.
Zatanna had wandered further into the lab, heading for the back wall. Jason followed, stopping a bit behind her as she cast spells at the empty doorway that probably used to be Vlad's portal. Zatanna grimaced, "They really somehow managed to punch a hole directly to the deepest parts of the other side of the veil, completely bypassing the areas where the veil brushes with our world."
"Yeah?" Jason wasn't sure what that meant.
"No wonder the beings on the other side were so powerful, it's so far beyond our realm it's basically a higher dimension."
"Like Mr. Mxyzptlk?"
Zatanna's head whipped around to stare at Jason. "What?!"
Jason shrugged, "I never met the guy, I just know he's some 'fourth dimensional imp' that sometimes bugs Supes for shits and giggles." B's reports made for good bedtime reading, they were so boring they always put Jason right to sleep.
Zatanna rubbed at her forehead, "Yes, like him. Please don't go around saying the names of fourth dimensional beings, that's how you get their attention."
"A'ight."
"So, quick question," Roy announced. "Can you just send Danny to whatever's on the other side of this portal that doesn't exist?"
"Theoretically," Zatanna said slowly. "It would take a lot of time, effort, and would drain several mages working together. Danny does have allies there, if we did manage to send him through we could hope he finds his way to them and maybe they can help him. But humans aren't meant to wander that deep, just crossing to the other side of the veil can change us, let alone getting dropped in the deep end the way Danny did when he died. Eventually his human half would fade until he becomes a full ghost."
"Right, so that's not the plan," Jason stated.
"Yeah, no kidding," Roy agreed.
"Does any of this tell us why he's still trapped in Amity Park?"
"That may actually be psychosomatic," Zatanna said before turning her attention back to the portal.
Jason furrowed his brows, "Didn't Danny say ghosts are made of emotions? Wouldn't everything be psychosomatic?"
"Technically yes, which makes finding a solution harder. Perhaps if we moved all the victims to a proper graveyard…"
"Dig up and somehow identify each individual in the mass grave you found," Jason said in a deadpan.
"That would take forever, the DEO is out there right now," Roy whined.
"Well, we can offer and see how that affects him," Zatanna said with a huff.
"How about we start with covering the clone tubes and get Danny down here, see if absorbing his weird death goo radiation improves anything," Jason stated, then turned and headed for the stairs.
It took a bit of hunting, but they eventually found a (very gauche) bedroom with all the bedding still on the bed. They bundled the whole set up and threw the blankets and sheets over the clone tubes. That done, it was time to go find Danny and bring him down to the lab to hopefully get a boost. Zatanna and Boston stayed down in the basement while Jason and Roy wandered off to find their wayward ghostboy. They found Artemis barricading the grand front entrance, she hadn't seen Danny or Kenny since they had arrived.
"… hesitant, little ghost will be sickly." Biz's voice carried from around a corner.
"I hope so," Danny said as if he didn't believe it. He perked up when Jason and Roy rounded the corner, smiling up at them from where he and Biz were sitting on the floor across from a barricaded door. "Hi! Kenny and I were just talking, he helped me realize something!" Danny hopped to his feet in excitement, "He reminded me that I had said ghosts need purpose, and I lost mine again. So maybe if I find a new purpose it'll help."
Jason sighed, he was not equipped for what he was about to do. "What's wrong with the whole bridge thing?"
"Well, it's not like there's much bridging I can do when there's no ghosts around."
"Telling people who don't know what's going on about ghosts and how everything works is also being a bridge. You said it yourself, you don't have to be kicking ass to be a bridge."
"I… I guess," Danny said uncertainly.
"Listen, kid, you may be ghost but you're also still human, tying your entire identity to one thing, one goal or mission or whatever you want to call it, that's a one way ticket to misery. Either yourself or everyone around you. Get more goals, get a hobby, make friends. Well, once we figure this out and get you out of here, anyway."
Danny's face fell, "I did have all that."
Jason groaned, silently, in his own head. "Yeah, it sucks that was all taken from you." Jason paused, unsure what to say next. He decided a change of subject might be in order, "Zatanna and Boston said the basement is thick with freaky death energy, wanna go down there and see if you can absorb it?"
"Sure, why not?" Danny walked past them, heading towards the secret stairway.
"That went well," Roy said hesitantly.
"Red him did great," Bizarro said before following after Danny.
Danny led them further into the dark, musty manor, into an area without windows where they had to pull out flashlights and a spell to fight the gloom. Danny reached into the wall and pulled something, thankfully the mechanism was fully manual and the lack of electricity didn't stop the hidden door from creaking slowly open.
Jason put a hand on Danny's shoulder, "We got it from here, go find Kenny or Artemis."
"Yeah… okay." Danny quickly turned and left the room.
"I've gone into worse," Roy joked as he led the way down the dark stairs.
Jason put on a face mask, attached a flashlight to his shoulder, and put another in his hand, then took up the rear. The flashlights were pretty redundant with Zatanna using a spell to light the way, but Jason liked the reassurance of having his own light.
The stairs led directly into the lab, and what a mess it was. The dust was just as thick as the rest of the building, making Jason glad for the mask. There was plenty of equipment and tools scattered around on work tables, some having fallen to the floor. Jason could just see a row of tubes further in the room
"Oh its thicker here," Boston commented. "I'd say it's almost as thick here as Nanda Parbat."
"That's saying something," Zatanna commented. "But yes, the air is thrumming with power."
"Guess we'll need to bring Danny down and see of he absorbs it?" Jason asked.
"Oof, not without covering these first," Roy called, pointing to the row of tubes.
Jason walked over to get a closer look and cringed internally. The tubes were full of murky, scummy water and corpses in the middle of decomposing. One tube had a clone leaning against the glass, useless oxygen mask still attached to its face half full of murky water, and skin slowly peeling away around said mask. Black, shaggy hair nearly covered half lowered lids and the milky, unseeing eyes under them.
"Think we can nick some bed sheets to throw over 'em?" Boston asked casually.
"Suppose we could," Jason agreed. Danny would know exactly why they were there, but at least he wouldn't have to see.
"If it helps they're empty, never had a soul." Boston casually gestured at the tubes.
Jason wasn't sure if it did.
Zatanna had wandered further into the lab, heading for the back wall. Jason followed, stopping a bit behind her as she cast spells at the empty doorway that probably used to be Vlad's portal. Zatanna grimaced, "They really somehow managed to punch a hole directly to the deepest parts of the other side of the veil, completely bypassing the areas where the veil brushes with our world."
"Yeah?" Jason wasn't sure what that meant.
"No wonder the beings on the other side were so powerful, it's so far beyond our realm it's basically a higher dimension."
"Like Mr. Mxyzptlk?"
Zatanna's head whipped around to stare at Jason. "What?!"
Jason shrugged, "I never met the guy, I just know he's some 'fourth dimensional imp' that sometimes bugs Supes for shits and giggles." B's reports made for good bedtime reading, they were so boring they always put Jason right to sleep.
Zatanna rubbed at her forehead, "Yes, like him. Please don't go around saying the names of fourth dimensional beings, that's how you get their attention."
"A'ight."
"So, quick question," Roy announced. "Can you just send Danny to whatever's on the other side of this portal that doesn't exist?"
"Theoretically," Zatanna said slowly. "It would take a lot of time, effort, and would drain several mages working together. Danny does have allies there, if we did manage to send him through we could hope he finds his way to them and maybe they can help him. But humans aren't meant to wander that deep, just crossing to the other side of the veil can change us, let alone getting dropped in the deep end the way Danny did when he died. Eventually his human half would fade until he becomes a full ghost."
"Right, so that's not the plan," Jason stated.
"Yeah, no kidding," Roy agreed.
"Does any of this tell us why he's still trapped in Amity Park?"
"That may actually be psychosomatic," Zatanna said before turning her attention back to the portal.
Jason furrowed his brows, "Didn't Danny say ghosts are made of emotions? Wouldn't everything be psychosomatic?"
"Technically yes, which makes finding a solution harder. Perhaps if we moved all the victims to a proper graveyard…"
"Dig up and somehow identify each individual in the mass grave you found," Jason said in a deadpan.
"That would take forever, the DEO is out there right now," Roy whined.
"Well, we can offer and see how that affects him," Zatanna said with a huff.
"How about we start with covering the clone tubes and get Danny down here, see if absorbing his weird death goo radiation improves anything," Jason stated, then turned and headed for the stairs.
It took a bit of hunting, but they eventually found a (very gauche) bedroom with all the bedding still on the bed. They bundled the whole set up and threw the blankets and sheets over the clone tubes. That done, it was time to go find Danny and bring him down to the lab to hopefully get a boost. Zatanna and Boston stayed down in the basement while Jason and Roy wandered off to find their wayward ghostboy. They found Artemis barricading the grand front entrance, she hadn't seen Danny or Kenny since they had arrived.
"… hesitant, little ghost will be sickly." Biz's voice carried from around a corner.
"I hope so," Danny said as if he didn't believe it. He perked up when Jason and Roy rounded the corner, smiling up at them from where he and Biz were sitting on the floor across from a barricaded door. "Hi! Kenny and I were just talking, he helped me realize something!" Danny hopped to his feet in excitement, "He reminded me that I had said ghosts need purpose, and I lost mine again. So maybe if I find a new purpose it'll help."
Jason sighed, he was not equipped for what he was about to do. "What's wrong with the whole bridge thing?"
"Well, it's not like there's much bridging I can do when there's no ghosts around."
"Telling people who don't know what's going on about ghosts and how everything works is also being a bridge. You said it yourself, you don't have to be kicking ass to be a bridge."
"I… I guess," Danny said uncertainly.
"Listen, kid, you may be ghost but you're also still human, tying your entire identity to one thing, one goal or mission or whatever you want to call it, that's a one way ticket to misery. Either yourself or everyone around you. Get more goals, get a hobby, make friends. Well, once we figure this out and get you out of here, anyway."
Danny's face fell, "I did have all that."
Jason groaned, silently, in his own head. "Yeah, it sucks that was all taken from you." Jason paused, unsure what to say next. He decided a change of subject might be in order, "Zatanna and Boston said the basement is thick with freaky death energy, wanna go down there and see if you can absorb it?"
"Sure, why not?" Danny walked past them, heading towards the secret stairway.
"That went well," Roy said hesitantly.
"Red him did great," Bizarro said before following after Danny.
A drag path, etched in the surface, as evidence I left there on purpose - DPXDC Au
i have an idea for a new batdad au.
i have an idea for a general oneshot but the gist is, after having a rough day--between school, getting another detention thanks to Dash, ghost fights, having an argument with his parents about his misbehavior that morning, and getting into a small argument with his friends-- Danny, after a ghost fight, picks a random direction and just flies. And he flies as fast as he can, burning off a bunch of ectoplasm and healing himself from his fight as a result.
But he eventually ends up in Gotham. Pretty standard premise. But he doesn't really do anything. He just picks a random rooftop to detransform and sit on. And he sits there, taking in the sights of the city and vaguely dissociating for a few hours before feeling like he's finally calmed down enough to return to Amity. He turns the location off on his phone before shutting it down, that way he doesn't have to deal with texts and calls from his parents about missing curfew. He's already going to be in trouble, so it doesn't matter how long he stays out for.
And at first he thinks it's just a one-and-done deal. He probably won't ever return to that rooftop ever again. Until he does,,,, about a month later. This time after a particularly nasty dealing with Vlad in his civilian life. He didn't feel like there was anywhere safe enough for him to go in Amity, so despite himself, he decided to dip after a few hours.
It becomes a pattern. Until eventually Danny's sitting on that rooftop at least once a week. Trying to find a slice of peace in America's most dangerous city. He has a lot of thoughts about Gotham, many of them reflective, and many of them comparative to Amity. He tries not to do it too often, especially once he catches himself feeling bitter once or twice.
And then he meets Batman.
Their first meeting is brief, inconsequential, and lasts no more than probably five minutes. Danny had never heard of the Batman prior to this, and so after meeting him,, he's kind of hyped. He leaves the man to his city, and doesn't really plan on seeking him out, but it doesn't stop him from feeling a sense of solidarity with him.
There are a few more run-ins with Batman after this. Sporadic and random, but they happen. Until eventually--Danny guesses that Batman figured out he had a pattern--Batman starts showing up often to this spot Danny's carved out for his own. Danny allows him. He knows he's encroaching on Bat's territory, and he views it as them existing in parallel to each other.
Danny's first proper conversation with Batman--the first one that lasts longer than a minute and consists more of short, awkward answers from Danny and curt responses from Batman--is when Danny, city-watching and lost in thought, tells him that he thinks Gotham is pretty.
Batman turns and looks at him, and goes: "...You do?"
Danny stumbles through an explanation after that, and somehow the conversation keeps going. And keeps going. And keeps going.
They don't always talk, and Batman doesn't always stick around for long, but Danny likes the little bouts of camaraderie they have. It reminds him of passing some of his classmates in the hallway, and they nod in greeting at each other. Sometimes, Batman lands on the roof, and then disappears a few seconds later. Danny thinks he might be checking on him.
Something interesting starts happening sometime after this. Usually, if Danny is flying to Gotham after a ghost fight, his injuries heal on the way there. Something about the rate he's burning ectoplasm that exacerbates his healing. Like cauterizing a wound.
That's been faltering lately. Danny doesn't know what's wrong. It started with a twinge in his shoulder that should've disappeared after a fight with Skulker, but lingered all the way to Gotham and up until Danny had to fly back to Amity. When he got back to his bedroom, it healed.
In any case, he didn't pay it too much to mind -- his little bumps and bruises were easy enough to hide from Batman. And they healed before he got home.
And then he shows up on their shared rooftop with a shiner that refused to heal, even when Danny tries to force it, nothing changes. It only forcibly reminds Danny that he doesn't have as much finesse over his powers as he wished he did.
He's frustrated and hurt, and on top of that, his ribs smart from a hit he took point blank. Deep breaths hurt. He pushes himself against the HVAC that's not up to code, throws up his hood, and curls into a ball.
This isn't something he can hide from Batman. A fleeting thought hits him to just leave so he doesn't have to explain himself if the man decides to stick around.
He doesn't.
And Batman, much to Danny's brief, insincere consternation, sticks around. He notices immediately that something is wrong. Danny keeps his head buried in his knees and tries to deflect.
It doesn't work.
Normally, Danny is very good at getting people to get off his back. Just be a bit prickly, a bit snappish, throw in some sarcasm, and they back off with a scoff, or they decide to scold him for that instead of pursuing their original reason for bothering him.
Unfortunately--Danny should've seen this coming, considering Batman's occupation--Batman sees right through him. He sticks around, verbally prodding at him, and when Danny snaps at him, he falls silent and just. waits. And perches patiently from a distance away. Which stings in a cathartic way.
Danny's resolve crumbles in minutes. Eventually, he silently turns his head and rests his cheek on his knee. He doesn't say anything, just hopes that maybe the light pollution in the city is bright enough to show off the bruise circling around his eye. Or it isn't bright enough, and hides it.
Batman is quiet for a beat. Then calmly and flatly asks who hit him. Danny stays stubbornly silent, and refuses to meet his eyes. When it becomes apparent he won't respond, Batman stares, and then reaches for a pocket on his utility belt.
He pulls out an icepack, and holds it out to Danny.
Danny is flabbergasted.
And then feels immediately fragile for reasons he can't articulate or understand.
Quietly, he takes it, and mutters "thank you". It's the kindest thing he's said all night.
Batman nods, and when he has to leave, it's with great reluctance.
This keeps happening. Danny shows up occasionally injured, mostly bruised and scratched up, thankfully. Batman appears, and notices, and quietly prods. Danny sometimes throws out an excuse--he fell, he tripped, he made some other clumsy mistake--and Batman doesn't believe him, but he doesn't pry. He quietly hands off to him something that could help. A bandaid or an icepack. Or just his quiet company.
The bruises increase; Batman gets just a little bit tenser each time. And then it plateaus.
And then it comes to a head after a nasty, ugly fight with Plasmius that included his favorite physical pastime: strangulation. Danny books it to Gotham the moment he thinks the coast is clear, and is furious upon landing to find that the bruising refuses to heal.
He's not fast enough to leave before Batman shows up, seemingly having pinpointed the time of Danny's arrivals by now. He whirls around on his foot when he hears him landing, and isn't fast enough to slam his hand over his throat and duck before Batman sees it.
And Batman sees it.
And Batman is very calm, and very furious when he says; "Who did that?"
Danny, despite his flawless deflections all the other times, falters and panics. Caught off guard by his arrival and already running on adrenaline, he stammers out an inconsistent slurry of excuses.
"Nobody. Nobody! It was nobody-- just my, just my uncle--" Danny's eye twitches in panic, "Just- nobody. Nobody important. Nobody did anything."
It's too late to take back anything.
"Your uncle?"
Danny refuses eye contact, staring off over the edge of the roof widely, "No! No-- nobody. Nothing. Nothing happened." His ruined voice says otherwise.
"Is he the one that's been hurting you?" Batman sounds very resolute as he says this.
Danny isn't quite sure how he managed to get out of that conversation-- it ends up being a total blur--but he does know that he gets out of it with his secret identity intact.
He doesn't return back to Gotham for almost a month; he regrets it every time he misses the days he goes and visits. The passing time presses down on him. He feels increasingly flighty and on edge; his temper shorter.
When he returns, Batman is waiting for him already. He doesn't say anything, and for a -- disappointing? -- moment, Danny thinks they're just not going to acknowledge Danny's freakout the last time he was there.
But.
Batman is waiting for him.
And with a burner phone for him.
There's only one number on it: his own.
He doesn't need to say anything for Danny to catch his meaning, or what his intentions are.
Danny stares at it dumbly for who knows how long, his eyes stinging suspiciously, before he looks up at Batman. He's gawking.
The first thing out of his mouth: "Are you sure?" it's croaky.
Batman grunts affirmatively at him. Holds it out closer to him: "For emergencies."
"You don't have to do this." Danny says, but he's reaching out for the phone anyways, snatching it out of Batman's hands, and cradling it preciously to himself. He's so cognizant of his hand and the weight of the phone against it.
Batman says nothing; it means everything to Danny.
"And you're sure?" He repeats, and sniffs conspicuously. He hates how fragile his voice sounds. He knows how monumental this is, not just to Danny, but to Batman as well. That solidarity in heroism coming back to bite him as Danny knows, intimately, how important it is to allow someone access to you personally. "You-- you're sure? You're sure." He sounds like a broken record.
Batman nods curtly.
Danny's vision wobbles. His next words come out in a broken, horrifically fragile, barely-there whisper: "What if- what if I just, just want to talk? Uh-- text. N' it's not an emergency."
Batman thinks for a moment. "…You can do that," he says after a beat, "Call if its an emergency."
"Really?" Danny doesn't know why it hurts so much to say that. He sounds pathetically squeaky.
"Yes."
Batman is a man of few words; Danny quite likes that about him. He's surprised by it himself.
The dam ends up breaking; Danny's tears spill over and his shoulders convulse. When he cries, it's entirely silent, he doesn't want to draw attention to himself. He makes short, choked-off breathing sounds, and begins to curl into himself. He's not sure why he's reacting this way; it's just a phone.
He still ends up tilting in towards Batman, and collapsing into him. Batman catches him, and sinks them both to the ground, and lets Danny smear tears into the armor plating of his suit.
-----
I dug my heels into the gravel
As evidence for you to unravel
A drag path etched in the surface
Can you find me?
LGBTQ+ color coded tags — part of my AO3 Tweaks collection
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covers up to 30 orientations and the code is really detailed so hopefully any related tag variation will get picked up!
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Give it a name, then paste the code into the CSS field
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I love the Danny Phantom fandom's medical gore, but why not torture our DC blorbos too?
Lots of fics make Jason an underdeveloped halfa. Lots of fics make Danny basically unkillable because he's a halfa.
I'm going Maximum Angst Route on this one.
The Justice League buys the GIW's rhetoric. They hear about these dangerous energy imprints, these volatile mimicries of life that are hurting people. The GIW claim they've controlled it in the rest of America, but this one small town has a strong one that protects the rest and helps them attack. They ask for help stopping this one, assure them that once Phantom is neutralised, it'll be easy to deal with the rest. The JL agrees. The JL captures Phantom and hands him over to the GIW.
It takes months to capture most of the other ghosts, as they slowly trickle through the portal to find each other. The JL gains an appreciation for the GIW, having previously fought off entities like Skulker and Plasmius without hero help. They trust the GIW, and so when they ask to scan the heroes for any lingering radiation, they agree.
They're alarmed to find many heroes are mildly irradiated. The GIW removes the lingering ectoplasm from most of them, and they're drained afterwards, but they recover. Damian, who had much higher levels than most, seems almost sedated from his usual fury and violence. Cass privately notes that she can't read people as well anymore, and Damian's lethargy looks uncomfortable for him. She gets suspicious, but when no one listens to her concerns, she leaves for Hong Kong again. She's scared that if her levels get higher and they drain her again, she'll lose the ability to read people entirely. She doesn't want to lose such a fundamental part of how she interacts with the world.
When scanning, however, Batman gets pulled aside. They explain they've found a parasitic ghost in Red Hood, and removing it will be a much longer process. They show the ectoplasm levels, the scans with a visible core. Bruce connects this to the Pit Rage, and agrees to let them take Hood, hoping he will finally get his son back. Jason is cautious, but eventually agrees. This could be the cure he never thought he'd get.
The GIW is estatic. They've discovered a new halfa, and if they do this right, they'll be able to study halfa development. They have Phantom to tear apart to see what an actualised halfa looks like, but watching Hood grow and form? Trying to influence his development, maybe even weaponise him? This is an opportunity they have to make the most of. All they have to do is claim the parasite killed Hood before they could remove it, and they can keep him forever.
The second Jason is alone with the GIW, they sedate him. He wakes up in a cage too small to stand in, right next to the very Phantom he helped capture. The kid is asleep, curled on the floor, bleeding through loose stitches on an autopsy wound. He immediately realises they fucked up, and his rage/guilt/panic attack wakes Phantom up. He expected the kid to be angry, upset, even gleeful that Jason was caught too. He didn't expect the kid to look at him with sad pity, to calm him down and say he's sorry that Jason was mislead and betrayed like this. That yeah, shit's gonna suck now, but Danny (as he insisted) would be there for him for as long as their cages were kept together. That unlike Danny these past few months, Jason wouldn't be dealing with it alone.
The scientists slowly feed Jason ectoplasm, and cut him open daily to monitor how it affects him. Ironically, his Pit Rage is cured, but that doesn't make it any better. If anything, it's worse, because now he's fully cognizant and has no extra energy to fight with. He still does fight at first, even without the Pit, but he knows no one's coming to his rescue. Eventually, he joins Danny in his nihilistic snark and dead-eyed stare. And yeah, they joked about that pun.
Time becomes meaningless. They do whatever they can to escape the hopelessness. Horrifyingly morbid jokes, empty bets on what form of torture they'll endure next, whispered stories about the people they miss. They reach through electrified bars just to feel a hand that doesn't mean harm. They spill their guts, metaphorically and literally, exchanging their deepest fears and secrets until they know each other entirely. Their necessary codependency becomes actual love, because how can you go through this together and know each other so deeply and not love each other? Platonically or romantically or the secret third option that's just insanely codependent affection.
Not sure who ends up rescuing them, but I'm thinking either a) Tim gets suspicious, b) the Outlaws go hunting, or c) Cass realises they have Jason and immediately freaks out. Whoever, they meet up with Team Phantom. Tucker and Sam been on the run since Danny was caught, and Jazz could be in Arkham? Or dead, or on the run too. Team Phantom was only held back by their lack of muscle (that's usually Danny), and now that they have trained fighters on their side, they're able to break in and get their boys. Cue long healing journey and revenge time.
“What, come to gloat at the fallen king, again?” The tired yet mocking voice echoed down the hall unnaturally - and Dick frowned.
They had no idea what this building had been used for. Just one day it came onto their - Batman’s - radar with a concerning number of unlicensed and unofficial military personnel… and now it was empty, hastily packed up and abandoned by the day they’d intended to check it out. They’d not gotten a clue of what this place was for, outside of automatic systems firing on Red Hood of all people. Not even giving the rest of them a single thought. In fact, Batman stepping in the path stopped the automatic machines.
“What’s the matter? Normally you’re laughing it up - lemme guess, did Boxy give you the slip again? Maybe Ember caught you in her songs yet again. The lot of you are simply incompetent, I swear.” There was something about the way the voice said the word incompetent that tickled at Dick’s brain, but he couldn’t place it at the moment.
He tapped his comm before moving down the hall, easily finding the only occupied cell.
The being looked awful. Their clothing appeared to be some sort of modified royal regalia - which, Dick realized, lent some credibility to the idea the other was a king - but had been torn and ripped to shreds. They had wounds that were sluggishly weeping a toxic green and their eyes were hazy, as if they weren’t able to see what was in front of them. If comparing them to a human would create an accurate assessment, they looked sickly and malnourished. He’d be surprised if someone told him the other had more than one meal a week for several months. “Awfully silent there, Agent A,” the being smirked in Dick’s general direction - he jolted slightly, realizing the being literally couldn’t see - and Dick grimaced at the codename. “No big, evil plans to destroy my Realms? No demands for me to help you capture my subjects? Not coming in here to make sure I don’t get any bright ideas about escaping? What’s the plan of the day, hm?”
“I’m not Agent A,” Dick didn’t know how to start this conversation, really, but that seemed like a safe starting point.
The being tried sitting up, movements limited as more glowing green trickled out of them, before grimacing and going back to their slumped position. The frown the king sent towards Dick was equal parts a misdirected glare and confusion. “No, you’re not,” the being agreed, “who are you then? Still haven’t gotten my eyesight back from your latest inane tests, fuck you very much, but I don’t recognize that voice.” Dick’s eyebrows raised and he heard Jason snort over the otherwise silent comms.
“Ah, I’m not part of… whatever this place was. I’m Nightwing,” Dick started, prepared to explain further that the Justice League was investigating this and a few other facilities like it that had come to their attention, when the king snorted.
“Sure, and I’m the Riddler.” The being stated drily. “The Justice League don’t give a damn about my people or the GIW, try again.”
Dick paused, tilting his head slightly - that tone of voice… “Why do you say that?”
The king sent as incredulous a look as they could towards Dick before they seemed almost… resigned. “Right, we’re gonna go this route, huh? A reminder that no one is going to save me or whatever? Fine, sure, might as well.” The being huffed a sigh, the sound worrisome if Dick were being totally honest. If the being were human, he’d be either getting them immediate medical attention and their lungs checked out or setting about trying to make their last moments as comfortable as possible. “Hm, let’s see, our first few calls to the JL were written off as prank calls, then I presume we called too many times - so our calls then got rerouted to you imbeciles.” Dick knows who this being was reminding him of, he knows he does, it was just on the tip of his tongue. “Tuck sent out some distress calls himself directly to a few superheroes, including Batman since you’re masquerading yourself as one of his associates.” Bruce grunted over the comm, which Dick interpreted as I never got those calls. “Then, as I’m sure you’re well aware of as Agent A gloats about it all the time, you employed one of the Justice League to help capture me. You wouldn’t have been successful in the least if you didn’t have their tech and influence. Though, the fact that you got my adoptive parents to get the drop on me helped immensely.”
There was no sound as Dick and his family processed that explanation.
The king spoke up again, seemingly unaware that they’d thrown them all for a loop, “so, did I pass? Or are we going back to the table?” Their tone was impatient, obviously wanting to dismiss whoever they thought Dick was, but with a tired wariness that came from knowing whoever it was would not leave and that they’d likely inflict pain upon the being.
“If you believe the Justice League aren’t going to help,” Dick tried wording it as carefully as he could, “then why won’t your people?”
“I’ve already told you all this,” the king growled, eyes flickering with a glow of power. The display made Dick wary - if the being could summon power while in this pitiful state, then how powerful were they actually? “I made a royal decree, telling them to avoid you lot specifically. Maybe get your head out of your asses and communicate a little better.”
“I found the power and security,” Tim said over the comm, breaking up the silence that’d permeated the device as they listened in on the conversation happening. A couple seconds later, the faint buzz Dick could hear faded and the door to the cell unlocked. “You’re safe to extract them now; medical has been set up in front of the building.”
Dick hurried to open the door, “we’re gonna need a lot more than a few bandages, Red.”
“I can see that,” Tim stated drily, likely cataloging what he could see of the being’s wounds.
“Alright, your majesty, I’m going to be moving you to a safe place to try to take care of your wounds,” Dick approached the being that was vaguely following his movements, wary of the previous power display, “so uh, please don’t attack me?”
The king frowned, had been since the moment Dick referred to them as your majesty, but didn’t protest being carefully lifted into Dick’s arms despite their confusion outside of a grimace of pain.
By all rights, the being looked as if they should be screaming.
It was a bit of a walk from the cell to the entrance, even with Dick hurrying as much as he dared, so he continued asking questions - easier ones this time. “So, what’s your name?”
The being snorted - then winced at whatever pain that had brought up, “you really have no clue what’s going on here, huh. King Phantom, High King of the Infinite Realms, Protector of Balance, yadda yadda, a bunch of titles that mean jack shit at the moment since I am, all in all, a glorified test subject.”
“And uh, how old are you?”
King Phantom didn’t respond for a moment, before weakly asking their own question. “What is the date?” When Dick responded, the King seemed to deflate even more. “I’m 16, then.”
Dick hesitated, “and… how old were you when you were captured?”
“It was a week before my 15th birthday.” More than a year. More than a year, this kid the same age as Dick’s baby brother had been in captivity, being treated as a test subject - worse than, considering their wounds weren’t even treated and they were left to die in their cell if Dick hadn’t checked that floor.
Dick could hear crashing and cursing on the other end of his comm, certain Jason was trashing whatever he could in a rage, before the sound was abruptly cut off as Tim filtered the loud noises out of the connection.
“I’m sorry,” Dick said sincerely - and the king just stared at him, despite the lack of vision.
Teen dad Danny Fenton moving into Crime Alley and getting a reputation for helping. Street kids willing to babysit Ellie and Dan while he’s job hunting can spend the night, have a meal, get cash, whichever they choose. Sec workers who do Ellie’s hair/nails/babysit some nights also get the same benefits. He will treat anyone with injuries for the low price of showing Ellie and Dan their guns/taking them to the observatory/getting him job opportunities.
All of the people in Crime Alley know the single meta dad with two kids, who has helped half the alley at least. Everyone is also aware of how Ellie calls her other parent ‘The Bastard’, and how bad their nightmares are, the ones they have to call Danny for(A few of his repeat guests have seen the scars and burns on his arms. Some of the older street kids recognize that hunted look he gets when people touch him when he doesn’t know they are there. Some of the sec workers notice how protective he is of his kids, and the younger workers. No matter who they are, they all notice how Dan gets quiet and angry when asked about his ‘other dad’. They all have sworn never to let those kids go back to the other dad, Danny included. They are a part of Crime Alley now, and they protect their own)
Danny doesn’t realize how far his reputation goes/how much everyone trusts him until two of his regulars bring in an injured Red Hood, promising him whatever he wants in exchange for him helping their boss.
"Nah, if he was dead he would make more work for daddy."
"Oh wait! I think he's waking up!"
Red Hood woke up with difficulty, his ears still ringing from the explosion that he had been far too close to. Fuck he hated how explosive happy every rogue in Gotham was. Himself included.
He opened his eyes and was eventually able to focus them to see two kids with black hair with their faces inches from his. He tried to raise his head to get a look at his surroundings past the kids but it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.
"Is my helmet still on?" He slurred the words out, but the two kids, one boy and one girl seemed to be able to understand him.
"Yeah, I wanted to play with your helmet, but Daddy says its fucked to brim with explosives." The girl said, and he could hear her tapping on his helmet which did nothing good for his helmet.
"Hey, language."
"Seriously? Aren't you a crime lord?" The boy gave him the most condescending look Hood had ever experienced. Why the hell did a kid have the ability to give a dirty look like that?
"Just because I'm a crime lord doesn't mean I wasn't raised right." Hood said as he tried to sit up. Neither of the kids were very helpful as the boy continued to sit on his chest as he flailed and the girl kept grabbing his arms and moving them around like she was dancing with him.
"You know, I think you being a crime lord exactly means you weren't raised right." A new, older voice said. "Look at you, people who have good childhoods don't dress like you do."
The new person walked into Jason's field of view, and revealed himself to be the mysterious, yet helpful Danny. A new person in Crime Alley who had made a name for himself by helping people out. Giving kids a place to stay and a warm meal, protecting the working girls, repairing just about any broken appliance he could get his hands on. Hood was keeping an eye on him to make sure he wasn't a rogue in the making, and to ensure that if he was just a good guy, that he stayed safe.
"Hey, I'll have you know that exactly one person tried to raise me as an upstanding gentleman and I will be back in my grave before I let his lessons go to waste." Jason said.
Danny lifted his kids off Jason's chest and he was finally able to sit up and look around at the apartment he was in. He could feel heavy bandages on his torso and arms and vaguely remembered one of his guys pulling him out of some rubble and saying they were going to bring to someone who could help. He had kind of expected to wake up in Leslie's clinic, but maybe Danny was closer.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure he's very proud of you. Now you pretty haggard when you were brought in, but I think I've fixed everything that can be fixed. You'll still need a couple days of rest before you hit the streets or rooftops in your case."
"Thanks kid. What do I owe you?" Jason asked. Now that he could see clearly he could see that Danny was at least 4 years younger that Jason was. This kid really is a teen dad out here in Crime Alley taking care of his neighbors. Gods above Jason hoped this kid would make it to adult hood.
"There's no need for repayment-"
"Shut it daddy!" The girl said pressing herself into Jason's space followed by her brother.
"You can make sure The Bastard can't hurt daddy anymore!" The boy said, the meanest glare ever on his face. The kid could give Batman a run for his money with that glare.
"Now, Dan, Ellie, we don't need-"
"The last time The Bastard took daddy he tied him up and made him scream!" The girl, Ellie said. Tears flooded her eyes as she grabbed Hood's shoulder and weakly shook him. "Please Mr. Hood, you gotta stop him from hurting my daddy!"
Jason stood with difficulty without shaking the girl off. Oh he had heard rumors of "The Bastard." The other parent of the two little mites, some fucking piece of shit who knocked up a teen transman.
"Don't worry kiddos, if this fuckwit shows his face in My Alley, it will be the last thing he ever does. You have my word on that."
Jason could feel the Pit bubbling and churning in his gut as rage filled him. Yet he didn't feel out of control. For the first time Jason felt fully in control of his rage, and he had a target to aim it at.
#I know some people wanted this to be dead on main#but Jason being a few years older pretending he's even older and protecting danny is my jam#jason will fucking murder Vlad and make him a full ghost if he ever shows up in the alley#everyone in the alley would either pretend they didn't see or they would join in#dan and ellie are tiny and can't protect their daddy#but they are not above black mail or emotional manipulation to protect him#they knew as soon as Hood was brought in exactly what they would ask him to do#they steal danny's plans for ecto guns and give it to hood#jason and tim have a family bonding day making weapons to fucking end vlad masters
Au where Danny's tiredness actually gets concerning to everyone around him
Danny is a type of person who stays up all day and tonight doesn't sleep because he doesn't have time and it gets even more hectic after he becomes the ghost king.
He has far too many responsibilities to juggle like being the ghost king , being the local vigilante taking down ghost whenever time of day or night , family responsibilities , political lessons , generally a lot of lessons for some reason he has to master , school , friendships , dismantling every weapon in his parents basement , trying not to get shot etc
So because of that he randomly passes out. Everywhere. Somehow falls asleep everywhere to be honest they only reason he's still awake it's because of the monstrosity of coffee he's making so like imagining scenarios like these were like Mr lancer is teaching and catches Danny sleeping and decides to ask him a question about the book then he wakes up and assumes he's asking about something political and ghost king mode is activated as he explains the whole concept in vivid detail the pros and cons of everything what situations that certain situation should be applied to and what not be applied to gives a vivid examples and proof of crime rates going down or up depending on the city's needs and does a whole lesson on it. Mr lancer asked about the hero in the book and the city he protected… Danny thought he was talking about the crime rates about every hero in the justice League and if they were actually helping or not.
He randomly walks to nasty burger when he like falls on the ground and doesn't get up dash is about to go make fun of him when he notices hold up dis bitch ain't awake so like he stares at Danny for like a good 20 minutes waiting for him to wake up only for Danny not to wake up. It ends up with dash and other A-listers of trying to wake him up with every possible way and failing miserably until jazz or someone else picks him up.
At Wayne enterprises? They have never witnessed Danny wake up to something looking at the board of mathematics unconsciously going to fix it while the tour guide/worker who's trying to show their work stare at him see how he works and nods looking straight at Mr lancer congratulating him for having a genius in his class
The same thing happened at daily planet. Except Danny solved a whole damn murder case like it was second nature and proceeded to bitch slap superman calling him stupid as he proceeds to act like Gordon Ramsay with the case.
it becomes viral on the internet. Danny doesn't know it and frankly does not care.
The class accidentally stumbles upon a jl fight with some kind of super villain (because let's be honest that's their luck) only for Danny to walk up there punch the guy proceed to threaten him in a language none of them know as the super villain looks down ashamed like he just got scolded by his mother as he gets dragged away by Danny continuing the ranting. The class had the supervillain next to them for the rest of the field trip while Danny kept dragging him around until he found some sort of portal and yeeted him in it.
The JL stalk Danny? Everyone has a misfortune of watching this child take 10 of each energy drink and coffee variety and shove it all in some water just to drink it all in one go like he hadn't eaten for days. They thought he was going to die and rushed him to the hospital. He in fact did not die and only slept despite everything he drank. The doctors are either having a heart attacks or trying to come up with some other reason like he's a meta or on a secret alien going to find out he's neither of those.
Everyone watches him in nasty burger as he somehow negotiates with the ghost as if it's some kind of meeting. The ghost leaves red hood comes in Danny gives a whole therapy session and medical advice
Meeting at Star city were they announce a collaboration with another planet? Danny takes wonder woman's notes looks at them redoes them in a second and does the announcement and interview for her. Somehow he nailed it with information the justice League was certain they didn't reveal to anyone.
A cult of assassins appear? Danny looks straight at them with one look and they leave. They are too scared to ask if he was an assassin at some point.
Amity park is convinced that Danny has some weird shit going on in his life for him not to even falter when judging dark sides clothing choices giving him more cultural clothes that they didn't even know exist how does Danny know what this being's culture is?
But one thing is for certain. If Danny ever takes over the world they are not going to question it
#dpxdc#dp x dc#dc x dp#dp x dc crossover#dc x dp prompt#danny phantom#danny fenton#Okay basically Danny is scary AF in the perspective of others because how do you do all that sleep deprived how are you alive#Danny is used as a joke on the internet now because overworked but still competent. Yes many workers relate#Accidentally goes on the justice League of radar#Amity park is probably watching him not even interacting with him anymore because of their morbid curiosity#It becomes even worse when they start stalking him#Danny talks about how peaceful Gotham is and everyone stares at him concerned because if he's this relaxed here what is his home life#I just imagine Alfred the cat somehow gets out of the manor finds Danny and just drags him around while Danny is limp and unconscious#They drags him back to the manor on the doorstep. Everyone watches from the security footage as well for the cat drags this teen#The teen they were investigating limp on the ground with no senses at all with Alfred the cat on top of him at the front door#Staring at Damian like: father I have found a pet I wish to keep this one#Louis instantly gets along with Danny like go child she just met! Go find tea and wreck whoever you find!#It gets the point where the JL get kidnapped and Danny is there... As a sacrifice looks at them like “first time?” Like he's used to this#This is becoming more concerning for them the more they look into him
masterpost please no editing or concrit, this is a first draft <3
“Stop fidgeting,” Dick murmurs.
“I’m not fidgeting,” Wally hisses back.
“You’re a Flash you’re always fidgeting.”
“Then how do you expect me to stop?”
Dick rolls his eyes and pulls Wally into his arms. He presses against Wally’s back, arms over his, and holds Wally’s fidgeting hands still. Dick’s chin perching on Wally’s shoulder is the last part of the puzzle. Wally breaths out a sigh and finally relaxes.
“There you go,” Dick says, words stuffed full of satisfaction.
“Oh shut up,” Wally says back with absolutely no heat. He leaned his weight back against Dick, who wasn’t even supposed to be there. He probably knew that Wally would need the support so that he could be Danny’s support. But showing up as Nightwing. “He might guess you.”
Dick shrugs, shifting them both. “I know. We’ve talked about it. He’s one of you, it’s fine.”
Wally almost argues that Danny isn’t even adopted yet, but he didn’t want to risk hitting a sore spot with Dick even though it’s not the same at all. They communicate, unlike the Bats. It’s why they were there. There was a new concern that Danny was still actively injured in a way that they didn’t know how to handle. But Danny and medical personal…
“You’re fidgeting again.”
“Shut up.”
The door opened and Danny came out, Bart at his side and with basic back domino on his face.
“W—Flash?” Danny asks, wide eyes shifting to Dick. Danny tilts his head. “And…”
“Nightwing,” Dick answers with a smile, “as well as who you’re thinking. It’s nice to formally meet you, Afterimage.”
Danny shifts on his feet like he’s some how ended up in the wrong hallway after therapy. “Yeah… same.”
“Come on,” Dick says as he starts to peel away from Wally. “I have someone who wants to meet you.”
“Don’t worry,” Bart whispers (or tries to) once they start walking. “We’d never introduce you to someone bad.”
“I’m not worried,” Danny lies.
They’ve all been learning over the last several weeks how afraid Danny is all the time. Well, not all the time anymore. Seeing Dinah has been amazing for Danny’s overall mental health. They still had so much work to do, but there were more moments of Danny being relaxed rather than strung tightly. The dependency on Bart being near was a little concerning, so they’re going testing if any of the family will do. Iris was first up with a shopping trip.
Well, assuming he didn’t backslide with this.
The door slid open and the four of them entered a conference room. Bruce stood from the table and, when it was clear that Danny wouldn’t enter further than the door way, walked closer.
“Hello, Danny. I’m Batman.”
“I know.” Danny blurted out. “I don’t—I mean, sorry. Ancients. Just, I think everyone knows you are! I didn’t mean to be rude!”
Barry pouted. “You don’t care if you’re rude to me.”
Danny’s head whipped that direction. “Have I been rude to you?!”
“Flash,” Wally admonishes.
Bart waves his hands. “No! I didn’t mean it like that. Just… don’t want you to like Batman more than Flash.”
The last part was mumbled so quickly that it was a blur of words. Everyone in the room blinks. Wally is the first to react, trying to hold his laughter and failing.
“Don’t worry Flash!” Bart chirps. “I like—well, okay, I like Robin best, but…”
Wally can’t help it, he’s laughing so hard that he’s leaning on Dick, who’s not much quieter.
“I like you better than Batman, sorry Batman, just, I was surprised!” Danny says quick enough to make a Speedster proud.
“Aw, thank you Afterimage!” Barry says. He’s almost quicker than his words to Danny’s side. He stops for a moment to make it clear that he’s offering a hug, and then with Danny’s little nod sweeps him up into a hug.
Wally, wiping away tears, catches a tick of a smile on Bruce’s face. Not that Wally has doubts about Bruce, but it still helps settle Wally to see it. They all know that if they press on Danny, they would have more information. Danny knows the Ghost Investigation Ward. He knows Amity Park. He knows this case. Danny knows things they need to know. And they just have to press for that information. But they don’t, because pressing might very well break Danny and it’s not worth it. Not when Danny is already safe.
Eventually they get settled at the table, Danny is sandwiched between Bart and Bart. Dick and him serve as the bridge from Flash into Bats. Along with Dick and Bruce, Babs is on call with them and Tim sits on the other side of the table next to Bart. The size of the room and number of chairs was clearly carefully chosen. Well, it was the Bats.
Bart is excitedly telling Danny about Robin and Tim about Afterimage, clearly hoping that the two will be quick friends. It’s leaving Tim looking fond and Danny looking bemused. Wally is pretty sure it will work out but right then, they do have things to talk about.
“Hello Afterimage,” Bab’s says from the screen. “We wanted to give you a brief update. Thanks to the tip, we’ve been able to interact with what we think might be this Technus.”
Danny leans forward immediately. “You have? He’s… he’s still…”
“We’re not sure of anything,” Tim says quickly. “But whatever is there isn’t just a normal artificial intelligence. And it’s way beyond what should be at a random government agency.”
“And,” Babs adds, “there was a… response to us sending ‘Phantom’ to it.”
“Him,” Danny corrects. “Even if… even if he’s not left… not enough left to be him, he still deserves… he was still…”
Wally’s leg starts bouncing.
“Him,” Babs says softly. “We think that mentioning Phantom caused him to pause. He’s not letting us in, but he’s not kicking us out of the ground we have gained anymore.”
“It’s like a stalemate right now,” Tim says. “If there’s anything else you know to pass on that would be great.”
“Otherwise we’re trying to build up sort of call and response with Technus that might unlock a different line or type of communication,” Babs says.
“The other thing that we’d like to address,” Bruce says when the quiet hangs too long in the air, “Afterimage, you’ve spoken about not knowing how many parts of Technus are left. What should we be look for? If there is any way to help him, we will try our best to do so.”
Danny fidgets with the cord on his hoodie.
Wally’s leg bounces faster.
Dick reaches over and puts his hand on Wally’s leg, squeezing his knee reassuringly. Wally tries to trust the process.
“It’s called a core,” Danny says, finally. His words are quiet, wobbly, forced… but he meets Bruce’s cowled gaze evenly. There’s a stubborn little jut of his chin as he continues. “A core is what makes up a ghost. They can project another form, what humans would see them as, but a core is what it all comes back to. They hooked Technus’ core up to their servers, but he… he fought them. So they broke him into pieces again and again and again—”
Bart reaches out and squeezes Danny’s hand and Danny takes a breath that gasps like he hadn’t breathed in hours.
“Sorry,” Danny says. “When his pieces were small enough that he couldn’t fight them… well. I don’t know if they kept the others or sent them to other places or… he fought them. He didn’t deserves this.”
“Of course not,” Bruce says. There’s a weight to his words that makes it feel real.
“We’ll look into it,” Babs promises and Tim is nodding along to her words.
“Afterimage,” Bruce continues. “You’ve spoken about a part of you being taken. From a standard human template, you seem whole, though you have not been scanned for internal organs.”
Danny juts his chin again. “Ask.”
Wally’s bouncing leg freezes in place.
“Afterimage, are you a ghost?”
“Part.”
Dick squeezes his knee.
“While you were held by them, did the GIW take your core?”
Okay listen Danny is NOT a college student but do you know what he is? A UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHICH IS SOMEHOW EVEN MORE FULL OF BS don't get him wrong he loves his classes although why do some of them have to be on 7:00 a.m.
Worst part? Metropolis is expensive AF so he's just in Gotham having to take the bus and in case it gets delayed has to get the previous one which unfortunately is on 4:00 a.m. and the amount of assignments he has... so you can only imagine his addiction to coffee and his fantasies about sleeping
So here he is in the middle of a rogue attack at the bus stop sending the most professional email he can on 4:00 a.m. to his professor with a guy that looks more dead than he is beside him clutching his coffee as if it's the only thing keeping him standing which to be fair so is Danny. You know Damian just walk to the other bus stop sure it might take a bit of running and powers but what's the worst I could happen I mean it's not like he's a center of the attack after all.
....
Great he and the could be caffeinated corpse beside him are stuck in a room together and honestly both of them are struggling to even keep awake so much so that the goons have to encourage them to stay awake not even tying them up.
The guy looks at him and he looks back they come to a silent agreement.
Both of them use each other as blankets while they sleep if they die they die at this point they're going to die either out of a heart attack caused by caffeine or exhaust themselves to death and Danny would rather die in his sleep then any other option
... Oh wow that was actually the best sleep he had in years and he woke up with said guy in his arms... He fits perfectly in there and guy is snuggling him on his chest? He also fits perfectly in guys arms? Could this be the miracle he needs for good sleep?! Vigilantes are separating them NO HE NEEDS TO ASK THIS MAN TO BECOME HIS PERSONAL PLUSHIE HE NEEDS A SLEEPING BUDDY SCREW IT PUT ALL HIS SHYNESS AND EMBARRASSMENT IN THE CLOSET THIS IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH TO HIM HE IS GETTING A VERY HUMAN PLUSH (with consent of course)
.....
Tim would very much love to talk about the day he found the miracle the human embodiment of it that comes in the form of Daniel Aether Graves. His sleep deprived the other half, his favorite pillow and blanket
That miracle of a man straight up asked him to be a sleeping buddy because he recognized how sleep deprived they both were and how somehow someway they're the perfect pillows for each other so they went on this arrangement where they would go either to one of their apartments and do something while cuddling to fall asleep.
This is the best freaking arrange in Tim's life
Why and how is it so easy to fall asleep and wake up energized with this man he will never know but he is not sharing
.....
The bat family are convinced Tim is dating and if he's not dating he's definitely seeing someone when they first heard of Tim's "sleeping buddy" they immediately shut their mouths not wanting to walk into that but something is clearly happening Tim is more energized what are they doing together that's their question...
Will they have the nightmare and risk of possibly walking in something they don't want to see yes but also they might get the secrets to Tim's now energized self
Only to see Tim and some random guy cuddling on the couch with a bunch of blankets covering them in his apartment and the Barbie movie from 2023 playing in the background with a pillow fort at the side was a huge sign saying "EXTREME EMERGENCY SLEEPY TIME"
masterpost, I let the HH discord vote and hill won by tiebreaker. please no editing or concrit, I know there are tense changes I missed but the world is burning and I am tired
Tim ran his fingers through Danny’s hair. Danny was asleep. Three days in and it was very much the normal for Danny to be asleep. Combined with how little Danny managed to eat each meal, it all had Tim concerned. This morning Alfred has spoken to Danny about being certain to eat something each time he was awake. Tim knew the next step was IVs or drip feeds if that didn’t work. He didn’t think that either option would go well.
Alvin shoved back at the constant worrying. He was right, but he was also a hypocrite. Alvin was the biggest mother hen of all of them. If he was fronting then… but Alvin couldn’t.
Because the family still didn’t know.
Half and half. Halfish.
They were in the most comfortable living room. Jason was on the other couch reading. Cass had tucked herself at his feet. Duke was in one of the massive bean bags. Damian sat cross-legged on a plush armchair, bent over his drawing tablet.
Half and half again. Halfish.
“I have dissociative identity disorder,” Tim blurted out.
Damian sat up and stared at Tim. Duke looked like he didn’t know if he should be there or not.
“It’s not exactly new, but me… recognizing what it is and giving the other alters the room they deserve is,” Tim continued, because he had to. Alvin and Caroline deserve it. “Dick and the girls have known for a few weeks—months. Sorry. I forgot that it’s been…”
Damian slided smoothly from his seat and over to the couch. He sat next to Tim and held his hand palm up on his knee in invitation.
Tim took it. He stared down at their joined hands. Would the next part be the deal breaker? “Dick learned when he visited suddenly and accidentally met Caroline. Caroline has always been with me, I think, but the mission where she got her name was important.”
Damian tilted his head. “Another sister then. Are you alike?”
“No,” Tim said, the word let out in a relieved breath. He at least had a chance to explain. “She’s amazing. She’s so confident about herself and everything that she does. It’s hard to see… feel that she’s really struggling with the events of this.”
Damian gave a slow nod.
“We will bring her clothing here,” Cass offered.
Tim ran his free hand over his shaved head. There was the peach fuzz of new hair coming in. “Maybe a wig too.”
“She is a Wayne,” Damian said with a little sniff, “she can have whatever she needs.”
That made Tim smile. Caroline would like Damian if he accepted her this easily in person. They could bond over looking down on the rest of the upper class. “Thanks. That would help a lot. She’s been… it’s hard to explain but it’s like she’s a program that’s running on another hard drive or something.”
Damian nodded as if he understood. “When she is ready.”
Cass cleared her throat.
“There’s also Alvin,” Tim said. Another moment where it might be too much. Caroline was classy. Alvin wasn’t. He didn’t want to be. “We think he came around when I started running around after Batman and Robin. I used him as an alias too before I recognized how… separate we all were.”
“Ah, someone to attempt to prevent you from being so stupid,” Damian said.
“Hey!”
“I mean, you are pretty reckless,” Duke said. He was still sitting like he might be asked to leave at any moment, but he was still there.
“Yeah, like you aren’t,” Tim said. “Alvin and you will get along.”
“Look forward to meeting him,” Duke said. They can almost believe him.
“Thanks for not freaking out about this,” Tim said His smile might be a little wobbly, but he didn’t think anyone could blame him. “It’s not how any of us would have wanted to tell you, but… what happened happened and I need to make sure that Caroline has what she needs to heal too. Oh, and Alvin needs to fuss over Danny.”
“Oh, because you don’t,” Duke says with a snort.
“I’m nothing compared to Alvin—a point he denies, but I’m right here,” Tim said.
“So just Bruce and Alfred left to know before that can happen,” Jason said.
Tim frowned. “Right.”
“Do you think that Father will be anything less than noble in his response?” Damian asked, affronted.
“No, I mean, not exactly. But you know him, he’ll have questions and do research and DID hasn’t had the best history of acceptance. And also there’s… I mean, well, there’s Harvey and Two-Face…”
“Ah.”
“I’ll punch him if he’s a jerk about it,” Jason said. Tim was sure the offer was genuine. “Do you want me or Dick to explain it to him?”
Tim hesitated. “I should do it myself…”
Jason shrugged. “I can still be in the room.”
“That… yeah, thanks.”
“Alfred?” Cass asked softly.
“Like I said, DID doesn’t have the best history. And Caroline being a she…” Tim didn’t want to think poorly of Alfred, but he was born and raised in a very different time.
“Yeah, if Alfred hasn’t cross dressed before I’ll eat his waffles,” Jason said. “I get the fear, but give him a chance, okay? If you tell him after Bruce there will already be research Bruce can hand him too.”
Damian squeezed Tim’s hand. “You are family. That means all of you are. I believe both Father and Alfred accept Caroline and Alvin, even if they do not understand.”
“Yeah, dude. Like, we’re not a normal family. This is way less weird than dressing up like a giant bat. He can’t judge any of y’all,” Duke said.
It made Tim give a startled snort of laughter. “Yeah, it sorta is.”
Gimmie a Danny and Damian twins au, but not one where they're all gushy gushy and huggy huggy about the fact that they're reunited.
I want one, where they HATE and try to KILL EACH OTHER. Where they're extremely fucked up in their relationship with one another, but can't kill the other because Taila hoped that they could get along.
They spew poison at each other, inflict pain on each other as easy as BREATHING and would leave the other while heavily injured while saying that they could take care of themselves.
I want them to be near mortal-enemies wrapped up in the bodies of two highly-competent and powerful 14 year olds who cannot give a fuck about each other, has a fleeting thought of killing the other on the best of days but doesn't because of their dear mommy Taila.
Then force them to interact with each other after a long period of separation. I don't give a flying FUCK how you manage to do it, perhaps Danny has to run because his parents vivisected him, perhaps the Nasty Burger explosion couldn't be reversed because Clockwork said no and Danny is torn or perhaps Vlad brings him to Gotham for a gala (either redeemed or not redeemed Vlad), etc, etc.
Force these two children who fucking HATE each other under the same roof, make them interact, make them watch each other interact and make comments about it. Maybe even make an unstable Danny try and KILL Damian, but is stopped by the batfam, or maybe make it that Danny can't even bring himself to kill Damian because he's (discounting Talia) the only family he has left.
Maybe even (if you go the Nasty Burger/Dead Fenton fam au) make Danny hate Bruce Wayne's fucking GUTS because this man is trying to replace his dead father (even though Bruce IS his biological father) and hates him even MORE because he looks so similar to Jack's face that he's literally torn whenever he sees him. Make it that he never stays in the same room as Bruce whenever he's not in mask, make it that he tells Bruce TO HIS FACE that he hates the man for trying to replace his dead FUCKING dad and that he will NEVER accept him as one, biologically related or not.
Maybe even make him not like the batfam either just for the fact that they associate with both Bruce and Damian.
(I just remembered about that one post I saw, but BOY is this ramble gonna get even WORSE for dear old Danny. Though this part isn't really necessary could just read the on top bit lol)
Maybe they even find a way to take away his ghost side, and Bruce (With or without Talia) say that it's for the best for him, and Danny? Danny just fucking BREAKS. DOWN. He's full-on crying and screaming at Bruce and maybe has to be held back by the other batkids or not, or maybe he's just fulling on trying to hit Bruce and Bruce either dodges or just takes it.
Saying how fucking DARE he take away his ghost side, that was apart of him and he had NO FUCKING RIGHT to take away something so precious from him. Then Bruce could say that he doesn't need powers, he could be fully if not even more capable as a human.
And Danny just goes "You don't even get it, do you?" And Danny just cries harder because technically that was one the LAST things linking him to his parents. His DEAD parents. Sure, the accident was his fault, but phantom was created because of their portal, in their lab, in their basement.
Even worse if the reveal went RIGHT and they starting accepting how he was half ghost and trying to change their views on ghosts as a whole, only to die. Then, for some guy to just, take away something like that from him?
Maybe Danny would even say that, rip into him about how that was one of the only things linking him to his parents and even if it wasn't he didn't have the fucking right to decide what to do with HIS body.
"You never had to fucking worry about your parents not accepting you, I did. They still loved me regardless, they tried to change for me. But you wouldn't even know what that feels like, would you, you stupid fucking rich boy."
[idk why I typed that part out but just role with it.]
Maybe Bruce tries to sympathize with Danny about his parents, but Danny just doesn't have any fucks left to give about Bruce's life, or anyone else life in Bruce's life at all and just shuts it down or steamrolls over it. At the end of it all Danny is just a crying, shivering wreck and stares down Bruce with eyes full of HATE that tells Bruce one step closer, and he would KILL him.
Maybe then Damian (Either walks in or was there the entire time.) insults Danny over his weakness and depending on his ghost form or something, and Danny just sees fucking RED and jumps on him. No care that he's no longer half ghost, so that he means he could die more easily, no care to anyone else in that room, no care that Talia wanted both of them to get along and not kill each other.
He tries to kill Damian.
He fails miserably, of course, but he still tries. Then tries again and a fucking gain.
Then after all that he just, doesn't come out of his room, or tries to escape and leave Gotham every chance he gets. He never gets far, but he keeps trying, and he never opens up to anyone in the batfam, not even Alfred.
He's just a kid who lost everything he worked so hard for, everything he tried to hide from his biological mother and her assassin league who tried to keep whatever he had left. Now that kid is fueled by nothing but pure, revolting hatred for the people who took even that from him.
Basically like Dark Danny, but way more powerless and fully human.
hmmm, what if we add the anxiety that the ghost half keeps Danny in good health? But without that decline, slowly but surely? It starts with chronic pain in his scars, especially the electrical one from his accident, then muscle weakness leading to heart problems.
But Danny hides it from everyone, there's no way he'll show the slightest weakness to these censorship
But, Cass first, they realize that something is wrong. Bruce assumes that Danny has a withdrawal part of his ghost side that must have acted as some sort of drug, explaining to him how Danny would rebel to get cured.
Then Danny has a heart attack in the middle of the Gala, he collapses in public, to give him a cardiac massage, part of his clothes are torn off and more than worrying scars are seen in the light of day and taken in photos.
The batfam had never seen these scars…they checked their notes and…she wasn't there before, or she was barely there
A full x-ray is done… all of Danny's bones are cracked in multiple places and show no signs of healing… on the contrary
And the photos taken are taken up by the Gotham media
All of the batfam being unable to notice is good to me, plus with his experience as apart of the eague of assassins it would just be that extra bit harder to notice some things.
Bruce thinking that Phantom was the equivalent of a drug would make sense if you look at it from a certain angle, one where ectoplasm itself wasn't capable of being addictive, but that Phantom was a parasite. Messing with Danny's head to make him not try and chase him out of his body, and influencing to keep Phantom safe from harm as well.
Bruce thought Phantom was the equivalent of a parasite that forced itself onto his poor son to hide from ghost hunters, and tricked Danny's brain into thinking that Phantom was apart of him, instead of just a random ghost.
But, well, you know what happens. Danny gets a heart attack, and then all of the scars he attained over his life that should've healed came back with a vengeance. Danny would probably end up in a hospital bed to be honest, might have become to physically weak to walk on his own for prolonged periods of time, or even move himself perhaps?
Either way, Damian would definitely berate him over his stupidity of hiding such a thing, and that he should just stop the theatrics already and be thankful that their father decided to even accept him, and still help him as he is now.
Danny would've goddamn punched him if he could.
Danny probably doesn't even want to be hooked up to a hospitable paid with Bruce's money, probably near the start of it he pulled out everything meant to keep him alive and tried to run from the place, didn't get far, but had to have someone watching him after that. Until he got so weak he couldn't do much anymore.
"If you really wanted to be my father, then you can start by letting me die." So says Danny to Bruce currently sitting by his bedside, he isn't even looking at the man out of spit if anything.
Obviously, Bruce isn't going to do it.
But Damian totally would if he asked. I mean, come on, he's been waiting for an excuse to kill his brother since childhood (Danny has as well.), and his mother surely could not fault him if it were a request by his brother himself, right?
That part of Damian, who did sort of cared for Danny, rationalizes it as a mercy killing, if all else.
That was a request Bruce could handle. The boys needed to talk, with Danny secured to the bed (he wished the restraints weren't still necessary) and Damian divested of his weapons they'd be on somewhat even footing. He left the room, the camera inside directly hooked up to the Batcomputer. He could monitor from there.
Damian stood, with stiff, perfect posture, staring at Danyal. Danyal was slumped on the bed, his eyes glued to his hands laying in his lap. He gave no acknowledgement of Damian's presence.
"What did you want?" Damian bit out. He looked angry, as if visiting his brother's sickbed was a hassle and a bother. It was.
Danyal was silent for a bit, before he asked "Do you know what it is to be empty, Damian?"
When he got no response, he continued. "It's nothing. No hopes, no dreams, no fears. Love, emotions, connections, they're only memories with no understanding behind them. I remember hating you, but I don't now. There's just nothing there anymore." He turned his hand over in his lap. "I remember love. Mom, Dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker. Ellie. I remember fear, I was afraid of myself, of becoming the worst version of me. Now I don't know why. I remember being horrified by what he did in that timeline, and I remember all of what he did, but now when I look back I feel nothing." He lifted his hand, the one where the branching, tree-like burns stemmed from, still not looking at Damian. "I remember death. Being afraid. I was just fourteen, I was already fourteen when I died." Finally, he looked at his brother. "I asked to see you because I knew you were the only one who would consider this request. Damian Al Ghul, Son of the Bat, Heir to the Demon's Head." Danyal looked at Damian with the coldest, deadest eyes he'd ever seen.
"How pathetic." Damian stared down his nose at his younger twin. "You cannot even kill yourself, so you ask me to do it for you." Damian walked over to Danny's bed, until he was standing right next to it, instead of by the door. He held out a palm. "Hand it over, Danyal, and I will make this quick."
Danny's eyes glanced at Damian's outstretched palm, and Damian clicked his tongue. "Tt. Having second thoughts already? Can you truly get any more pathetic?" Damian raised an eyebrow, tilting his head as if it were a genuine question. Danny shook his head, before tilting it downwards, and Damian crouched down, looking under the bed to see a small, thin pocketknife taped to its underside directing in the middle. Easy enough for him to reach, but practically impossible for Danny, he took it and stood back up.
Damian twirled the knife between his fingers, before placing the blade at Danny's neck as Danny tilted his head upwards, bearing his neck exposed. "Farewell, brother. I hope we do not meet in the next life."
A flick of his wrist, and blood dripped down Danny's neck, the boy in question laying back against the bed as the various machines hooked up to him began to cry and whine. Danny's eyes closed, and Damian considered if he should keep the knife as a hidden backup weapon.
Danny smiled, for the first time since Vlad's ill-conceived gala he smiled. He felt the blade cut through his jugular, felt the blood gushing down his neck, staining the hospital gown he was in.
Thank you, he tried to say without words, as his eyes closed for the final time.
I wish I could see my family again.
That was the wish that had started this whole mess, he hadn't realized Desiree was in hearing distance (she wasn't supposed to be there at all) and had gasped it out, sobbing into Vlad's arms.
Desiree couldn't bring the dead back to life, especially when they hadn't left a ghost, but she could search for more living relatives.
She'd found the Waynes, and put them on the guest list for Vlad's next gala. She'd put the idea to have Danny attend into Vlad's head. Made him stubborn on the matter.
She regretted that wish so much now.
The boy was dead now, both halves of him. Desiree worried that this half of him would slip away as his friends and parents had, with his other half locked away.
But as she watched, the boy's eyes became nigh inperceptably greener before closing. A small, whispy trail of familliar green escaped his mouth and she darted over to catch it before it could dissipate.
She needed to get him to the zone, now. The princess had commanded the search for her template's prison long ago, but until Phantom was found, what was left of Danny, memories carried in the tainted ectoplasm he'd managed to siphon away from the Avenger, would need to be kept safe.
She'd caused this. She'd do her part in fixing it.
Damian stared at the corpse of his twin, laying on a hospital bed with a soft smile he only saw when he talked about his other family. Whenever the two were well and truly alone.
"Tt." Damian wiped away the blood on his new pocketknife on the part of the bedsheet not drenched in Danyal's blood and hid it away on his body. "Even in death, you still manage to make such an expression."
Damian turned around, calmly walking towards the door, even if he knew there were to be consequences to his actions. "Be at ease, wherever you end up."
This would hopefully be the last time Danyal Al Ghul, failed heir of the Demon's Head, would ever plague his shadow.
===
He got in trouble for his act, undoubtedly. But he didn't care, much, even if being disallowed from patrol for the foreseeable future is dissatisfactory. His father was watching, and he took that into account while preforming the act, and he would do it again and again if there were no unforeseen variables added into the mix.
"Danyal requested for me to kill him, I simply did my duty as a brother. Is that not what you wished for, father?" Which seemed to be the right words to say, as Bruce was stunned, then his expression turned into a mix of pain and rage before he turned around and stormed off.
Damian didn't get what the big deal was, Danny was going to die anyways. It was plain as day, he was the only one who fully accepted it, it seemed.
So why did it matter if Damian granted him the mercy of a quick, relatively painless, death. Rather than a long, slow, and drawn out one?
...
Goodness. He even finds himself... missing, his younger brother. His constant annoying presence, now that it was extinguished, made everything feel... quieter. Ah well, it doesn't matter, Danyal Al Ghul.
No, Danny Fenton. Died by his hands.
He wouldn't have had it any other way.
===
Vlad regretted ever making Daniel go to that Gala.
He should have gone alone, given the boy far more time to grieve. His mistake caused his lost custody over the boy, and it most certainly resulted in this situation now.
Vlad peeked at the newspaper that laid innocently upon his desk from between his fingers, the crisp, clean paper betraying the dark contents it beheld. The headline 'YOUNGEST SON OF THE WAYNE FAMILY FOUND DEAD', was one of the most damning pieces of news that has ever had the displeasure of entering his eyes.
He rested his elbows on his knees, and his head in hands as he breathed a heavy sigh. The last link to Madeline, (and as much as he surprised himself by this) the last link to that utter oaf Jack, a member of his race, and the one who was closest to a son that he doesn't, and now will never have.
The halfa population has been cut down from its measly three, to an even measlier two.
What does he do now?
===
Ellie held the small blob of tainted ectoplasm as gently as she could possible will herself to be. As if the slightest force would break it.
And to Ellie, it very well seemed possible.
Her gaze was filled with an incredible anguish, as she stared at what was left of her template. Tears dripped down her face, despite her best attempts at trying not to cry.
They need to Phantom.
And quickly.
Her template didn't deserve to die like this, not after everything he's been through, fought so hard for. He saved her, more than once. A steely look entered her eyes, and a determined look etched itself onto her tear-stricken face.
A princess, by the look of her delicate tiara, that flickered out of view if you looked at it the wrong way. A warrior, by the look of the armor she wore, gleaming like the full moon.
A sister, by her story, whose brother had been torn in two and imprisoned. She wanted him back. Her people wanted their king back.
She had heard that the Justice League had assisted other royals. She asked if she could count on their help.
Of course, they promised, they'd do whatever they could. Did she have any information on the person who'd taken him, a description, a name?
Bruce Wayne.
The Justice League's vanguard tensed at the name. The princess asked if they knew him, a cold glint to her eye. She knew what she was doing.
Superman and Wonder Woman said there were things they had to discuss. They welcomed her to wait in one of the Watchtower's many meeting rooms.
"Don’t take too long," Princess Ellie Phantom of the Infinite Realms, eventual Ancient of the Speedforce, replied with a grin. "My people want our king back. And we will have him, by any means necessary."
Then she blurred, and vanished, leaving the Justice League with the knowledge that they were on the brink of war.
Diana was not sure what to feel as she walked into the Conference Room for the Emergency Meeting with the Extra-Dimensional Princess.
They had been contacted by Justice League Dark about two hours ago. Apparently they had been approached by the Princess of the Realms, asking to be granted an audience with the Justice League. She had warned that the topic of discussion was urgent, and that it could mean a War if not properly handled.
Beforehand, those not familiar with the subject had been given a crash course on The Infinite Realms and its Denizens.
Flash had been skeptical about the idea of Ghosts (ignoring the fact that he had literally met Boston already), until Zatanna caved and just gave him a few research papers on the species. (Apparently they were written by a pair of Technomancers who wanted to rationalize magic)
(She had thankfully been exempt from the Class as she was familiar with the Realms through her Aunt Pandora.)
She walked to her spot in the meeting room, and took her seat. To her right sat Kal-El, with an empty seat in between the two of them. That seat belonged to their missing Team Member, and arguably their leader, Batman. He was currently on mandatory Time-Off while he dealt with the tragic loss of his youngest son.
The Void in the seat next to her fell to the back of her mind as the one who called for the Meeting walked into the Room.
A pair of beings walked into the Room. The one that drew the most attention was the larger one, a 7 ft tall man in a set of intimidating Purple Armor, with a glowing green sword at his side.
The second one was shorter, much shorter. She was obviously young, maybe 12 years of age, with flowing snow white hair and glowing green eyes. It seemed obvious she was the Princess by the Circlet of Ice that sat on her Head. The other one must have been her Bodyguard.
She walked to the center of the Room, in the middle of the large U-shaped Table often used for Conference Meetings. She looked up, an expression of determination on her face.
"Greetings, my name is Danielle Phantom, and I am the Princess of the Ghost Zone. This-" She gestured to the Knight at her side, "-is my Guard, Fright Knight. I am here to discuss a matter of great importance.
She sounded awkward talking like this, as if she was not used to speaking formally. It was probably her first time addressing a crowd as the princess.
"We welcome you, Princess Danielle. We are the Justice League, the Protectors of the Human Realms," Diana introduced them, "What have you come to ask of us, your Majesty?"
"I come here to ask your help in avoiding a War with my kingdom." She said in a grave voice, "Recently, a member of the Human Realm nearly succeeded in Ending our King, Phantom."
"What?" Asked Zatanna, shock clear on her face. "Who could do such a thing?"
It was a good question. Diana was more than familiar with King Phantom's actions through her aunt Pandora's stories. She constantly gushed about how well he was doing for himself, and how proud she was that the Warrior she had trained had risen to be the King of the Realms at such a young age. He was too powerful to be beaten by a Human, how did this happen?
She voiced the question.
"It was his Human Father." Princess Danielle said bitterly, "Phantom was staying in the Human Realm with another of our kind as he grieved the recent loss of his adoptive family. Unfortunately, while he was there, he was discovered by his Birth Family and taken from Plasmius' care."
It was lucky they had covered just how young Phantom was in the Crash Course, or there may have been a few questions raised here.
"He resisted their attempts to replace his lost family, and his Father took offense to that." She said angrily. "He knocked Phantom out while he was in his Human Form and decided that his Ghostly Side was the problem, that it was what was making him too, 'emotional' and 'unstable'".
Diana felt as if she could see where this was going. And she did not like it.
"He resolved to remove the problem at the source by ripping out his Core."
The others, who just understood the basics of what a Ghost was and what their Core was, got angry on his behalf, not fully grapsing the situation. Those who fully understood what that meant froze in Horror.
The Core of a Ghost is the most important part of their being. It is their Soul, their Being, the 'Core' of their very existence. To even touch another Ghosts Core was a crime, but to rip out the Core of not just Royalty, but a Baby by Ghost standards? It was the most unforgivable atrocity one could commit. It would End most Ghosts in an instant.
"Due to his nature as a Halfa, my brother managed to just avoid Ending. But his Human Half began to deteriorate, and he lost all emotional connections." She explained, "When it Eventually gave out, we managed to capture his Human Half's Essence. But we still need his Ghostly Half, his Core, to save him. Neither aide can survive without the other for long."
Kal-El quickly asked, "Do you know what happened to it?"
"No. We know that it was sealed away in some sort of container so he couldn't retrieve it, but not where it ended up." She answered. "What I am asking of you is help in finding my brothers Core before half of his being is fully destroyed, and he ends forever."
"We'll start searching immediately." Answered Flash, "But what about the Human who did this?"
She looked at the entire room. "Do you promise to hand him over so we may punish him to the full extent of our Laws?"
Kal-El spoke up, and in a confident voice he stated, "Yes, we promise. What was his name?"
She stayed silent for a moment, but before she could answer, her Knight spoke up for the first time since he walked in.
In a deep and hollow voice, he merely stated, "Bruce Wayne."
As much as we all love a happy ending, the point still stands it simply, was not meant to be.
GIVE me the justice league who are struck with the realization, the complete Gravity of this situation.
So much so they all rush to where the Core would be. All thier practiced movements becoming sharper more refined in an attempt to save the Orb.
GIVE me the moment when they arrive, to an empty cave with only the faint sound of water slowly dripping onto the barren floor.
When they walk to the only source of light in the unlit cave, an eerie green glow lighting up a far corner of the cave, behind an imposing shadow.
GIVE me the moment that exact millisecond when they realize whats goin to happen. Only for them to rush forward, thier practiced movements all becoming sloppy and desperate. All of them trying so hard to reach the orb in time.
Give me the moment when they see it be ruthlessly crushed to pieces. Shattered into pieces so small it was beyond repair.
Shattered by a grieving father seeking closure
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