#Hyena!Danny AU

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Flowers From One Bitch to Another (2.5)

Part 1 | part 2

I'm working on another serious part of my Hyena!Danny AU but @basementqueercock suggested Harley thanking Danny for killing the Joker so while this AU is eating my brain have a little one off.

No warnings apply to this one besides a mention of sex

--------

All of Gotham was celebrating Joker's death, Red Hood and Hyena organized a street fair in Crime Alley, and Jason had never seen the place, His People, so happy. Hyena was by his side, pressing against him and purring up a storm as they enjoyed the celebration. They knew it was going on all across Gotham too, Jason was having fun imagining the ulcers Bruce was probably developing realizing he was the Only one who thought this was a tragedy. 

Jason has asked about the purring and Danny had admitted to not being entirely human but they hadn't gone into it more then that. There were tons of inhuman things, he could be part demon, or alien, or spirit, or god, or a dozen other things and he would talk about it when he was ready. Jason trusted Danny implicitly at this point, he had earned it, and they loved each other. Danny didn't have to tell him Everything, Jason didn't either, he wasn't ready to talk about the League of Shadows for instance. 

They had been enjoying the festival as well, dancing some to the live music, and constantly having food pushed onto them by just about ever vendor since it was known Danny was the one who killed the Joker. He had brought a bag with him and by the end it was full of trinkets and treats, and there were slightly wilted red flowers in his hair a child had given him. He looked incredibly happy, and Jason couldn't pull his gaze away from Danny.

Danny caught Jason looking at him and, impossibly, brightened even more, snuggling back against him. "Lets go find a place away from cameras and prying eyes to try some of these snacks hm?" Danny suggested, looking up at Jason, who chuckled softly and nodded. One thing he had learned well about Danny in the time they'd been together was the boy could Eat! He was always hungry.

The two of them extricated themselves from the celebrations, saying goodbyes and artfully dodging people who tried to draw them into conversation. They managed to escape and grappled up onto a nearby rooftop, putting a little distance between the festivities and themselves, though not so far they couldn't still hear the music and laughter.

Danny sat down on the ground and leaned against the outer wall so no one could see him and took off his muzzle, he took a deep breath of fresh air and tilted his head up towards the sun. Jason sat down next to him and took his own helmet off and took a deep breath as well. He reached out and cupped Danny's chin, turning his face back towards Jason so could lean in and kiss him. As always Danny submitted, plaint and willing in Jason's hands and under his lips, Danny closed his eyes and gave a soft sound of happiness and pleasure as they shared a long, lingering kiss.

When Jason pulled back Danny still seemed a little vague and blissed out, smiling stupidly at him. Jason chuckled and shook his head at Danny before pulling the bag from Danny's shoulder and digging around for the food in various take out boxes. He found a few beaded necklaces as well and draped them around Danny's neck making him snap out of his daze with a laugh. Jason grinned and used the necklaces to pull Danny in for another kiss.

Danny smiled at him and pulled gently at the white streak in Jason's bangs before beginning to help him set out the food on a blanket Danny must have brought with him. He must have planned this little picnic, he was always pretty far ahead on these things. Jason appreciated that about him, always looking out for people. People seemed to be looking out for them too as Jason looked at the veritable feast people had gifted them. Maybe he should have been more suspicious that it was poisoned but he didn't think any of their people would have, and Danny wouldn't have accepted food from anyone suspicious though, just in case...

"Would you heal from poison the way that you do from physical injuries?" He asked looking over at Danny who cocked his head with a crooked little smile, eyeing Jason.

"I'm immune to most poisons," He said with a little shrug. "But I can taste them. I'll be your taste tester, though I doubt anyone would poison us," He said, picking up some sort of meet kabab and nibbled it considerately, meanwhile Jason found a packaged snack without any signs of tampering and opened that. 

Danny tried a bunch of the prepared foods first and seemed to delight in feeding Jason by hand once he'd determined things were safe. Every now and then Jason took the chance to nibble or lick the tips of Danny's fingers making him giggle and blush. Food quickly became foreplay, feeding each other and occasionally tasting things on each other's lips, especially when they got in to the deserts. With sticky fingers and sugar on their lips it turned into making out, Danny laying on the hard roof and Jason over top of him, feeling the delightful rumbling of Danny's purr as he arched up against Jason. Fucking him while he purred was an experience.

A thump on the rooftop across from them had Jason pushing himself away from Danny and drawing his gun in one smooth motion, pointing it towards the noise while cursing himself for letting his guard down while they were in the open like this! He hesitated when he saw who it was though.

"Harley?" Danny asked worriedly, having scrambled to grab his muzzle and only looking up once it was back on.

"Hey there Sugar," She said giving Danny a tremulous smile, and ignoring Jason entirely. Harley was dressed in a bomber jacket and shorts, because weather didn't matter, she had a messenger bag over her shoulder and kept messing with the strap nervously. Still she looked better the way she had basically ever since calling it quits with the Joker for good. "I hear through the grapevine you were the one that killed the Joker."

"I did, because he hurt my Boo," Danny confirmed, shifting a little closer to Jason. They were both still wary, Harley was unpredictable and she had loved the Joker for a long time. Even if she didn't love him anymore there was a chance there was still some misplaced loyalty lingering in there somewhere.

"Ya, he hurt a lotta people, my Puddin," She said with a little laugh. "Hurt me too, a lot. I've been having a lot of big feelings since he died. I've been pretty damn sad, but I'm also pretty damn relieved. And Pam is thrilled, and that she's happy makes me happy. I brought you some stuff," She said slinging the bag off her shoulder and glanced up at them again, seeing them still tense and wary she rolled her eyes. "Yeesh I'm not gonna hurt you two! You did all of Gotham a favour, and he was never gonna change, I know that."

Danny nodded and wandered over to her, of course she couldn't actually hurt Danny, though they were still trying to keep his abilities under wraps. Jason stayed back with his hand on his gun just in case, though he wasn't pointing it at anyone anymore. "I brought you some flowers, though it looks like someone's already got that covered," She said gesturing to the ones wilting in Danny's hair, making him cackle. She pulled out what looked like more then a dozen roses in different colours and held them out to Danny. "They're from Ivy, they won't wilt, just get them in some water when you get home, if they start to look wilty add a bit of blood to the water. You two still kill enough for that huh?" She laughed too.

"No tricks? No poison?" Jason asked a little warily even as Danny reached for the flowers.

Harley glanced at him and shook her head; "Nope! None of that!" She promised with a cheeky little smile. "I don't think you two need any cuddle pollen either, the way ya were all over each other when I showed up."

Jason didn't have his helmet to hide his blush this time, but at least he wasn't alone, Danny's ears were turning pink as well as Harley cackled at them. "I brought some other stuff too," Harley told them, this time just handing the bag over to Danny. "Since you two seem to be jacking me 'n Puddin's old style. You don' have to keep any of it, throw out anything you don't want but hey, maybe there's a trophy in there, or something that would look good on you," She said elbowing Danny. "You're not that much bigger then me, think your man would like to see you in a corset?" She teased and Danny cackled his Hyena laugh snatching the bag.

"Thanks Harley, maybe we can go to Penguin's club to have a proper celebration some time soon," Red Hood said, finally holstering his gun and moving to wrap an arm around Danny's shoulders. "We can make it a double date."

"Is he even old enough to drink," Harley joked, gesturing to Danny who cackled.

Really neither he Nor Jason were technically old enough to drink, but who gave a shit about that with all the other stuff they'd done?

Part 3

Masterpost

[treepainting]

😂

Short DPXDC Prompts #933

Danny is a sort of Disney princess with animals. Not alive ones though, they hate him. The ghost animals of Gotham City absolutely adore him. Harley Quinn watches from her window as a teenager with a glowing raccoon on one shoulder, a tiny scraggly kitten on the other, and a half dozen glowing green rats trailing behind him, just walks past her apartment.

[leafyeyes417]

I decided to create a masterpost or two with all the reblogs that I like in hopes that when someone sends out the “help me find that post” I can find it faster. It will be added to slowly because I do not have the patience to do it all at once. Also in no particular order of preference.

Keep in mind none of these posts are my works and I do not claim them as such.

If you see *** they are really good prompts with lots of reblogs.

Will be edited later, last updated: 7-21-24

Masterlists

Multi-story masterlists

dcxdpdrabbles

Hdgnj

Tu-turu-turah

Somnoir

Specific Story lists

Jason is Catnip to Danny

Hyena Danny

Finally Getting Help

Wrong Robin

Badger Day

Man has needs

Almanac

Take out for Dummies

Danny is just some guy

Changling AU (part 5, other part links at bottom of post)

Fast Car Driver Danny

Haunted Car

Harmless Series

Don’t eat anything

Hero Tweets

Just a Bite

Single posts

Ellie-centric

Ellie realizes how dangerous Danny’s home is

Danny’s Rescues from the Infinite Realms

Green Lanturn & crew stuck in IR

Dead on Main

Jason courting Danny with a casserole

Overprotective Fenton parents shovel talk

Danny courts Jason by giving him wine cups made from the Joker’s kneecaps

Jason becomes a Ghost Summoner after giving Danny food***

Dream Lover***

Soulmate summoning ring gone wrong

Dead Tired

Coffeeshop accident

Dead Serious

Dead Silent

Danny kills the joker with his thighs

Danny on the run from the GIW

Superman startles Danny and gets a concussion***

Danny In Gotham

Sleepwalker Danny who escapes all traps

Unknowing Fae Danny works at coffee shop

Danny pretends to be a Vampire***

Feral McGee

Danny only gets a Vacation from work in Gotham

Danny seems like an Oracle of Delphi***

The GAV affected by Fear Toxin

Tucker streams while Danny does what Danny does in the background***

Danny is kidnapped(?) by Batman***

Danny gets hired for a money laundering front***

Portal is built in Gotham, not Amity

Naga Danny

Villain Danny

Danny’s obsession is twisted, forcing him to be a villain

Danny teaches heroes their mistakes by being the villain***

Adopted Danny (as in not Bio Fenton)

Danny is Hal Jordan’s son

Harley asks Batman to take away her son

Harvey Dent is Danny’s bio parent

Danny adopted by Bruce Wayne

Danny distribution system

Danny makes a sales pitch to join the Batfam

Reincarnated Danny

They wake up as Talons

Reincarnation

Clockwork reincarnated as Alfred

Misunderstanding’s that end in chaos

High Danny mistakes Batman for Jack

Mis-text-derstanding

Summoning Danny

Number is not in service

Danny: Please get that stalker (Ra’s) away from me

Demon Twin/Brothers

Damian is normal by Amity standards

Maybe(?) his lost twin

Nyssa steals Danny

Danny undercover in Amity

Jazz decided she wanted a brother

Tim Twins/Brothers

Danny and Tim are half-siblings

Danny sleep teleports to another dimension

Jason and Danny are brothers

Jason is a Baby ghost, adopts babier ghost Danny***

Ghost King Danny

Danny needs to take care of the Lazarus pits

Danny finds out there is a Ghost LOA

Miscellaneous

Danny possesses the president

Danny takes Jason’s online cooking class

Danny forgot what is regular human

Jack was a hitman named Phantom

Ghost Calls

Danny & Jason have the same scars

Superman was supposed to wait for the JLD

Water Core Tim

Fenton Driving curse still applies

Danny asks Wonder Woman to make him a grave on Themyscria***

Kryptonite is actually trapped souls

Danny and self-fulfilling prophecy

Danny pretends to be a demigod son of Hades

Danny gifts Red Robin a jar with Ra’s eyes

Vlad Cloning Danny was actually a much worse offense, breaks oldest ghost law

Amity got put back in the wrong place after the Pariah Dark fight.

Jason involuntarily taken to the ghost hospital

Phantom Letters

Danny learns Astral magic

Miscellaneous Angst

GIW succeeds in shooting the portal

DPxMarvel

Loki falls through to the IR and is adopted by Danny

Pure DP (not crossover)

Danny was Eldritch the whole time

Danny gets sprayed with a chemical where he hallucinates the person he hates

Demon!AU (with Art)

[chintadraws]

Hi! I love your art special your Danny x Paulina art. I was wondering if maybe u can do them as king and queen of the ghost zone?

Aw, I’m so glad! They’re so underrated…I really love them so much. So sorry for the delay, but I hope this sketch makes up for it. ❤

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Au where Danny gets deaged by a magical artifact in the GZ and gets lost in a different dimension with Cujo. While exploring Gotham as Phantom he decides to play up the little kid routine and use his puppy friend to do it.

At this point Danny had finally trained the pup and he actually listened to him. Needless to say there's a certain flock of bats and birds who keep pestering him at night. All he's trying to do is explore the city and play with his dog. Is that so bad?

Danny doesnt usually bother hiding from them. Not much point considering he shines like a spotlight in Gothams gloom anytime he's in his phantom form. Plus Cujo is glowy and green, so that doesn't help matters.

Danny usually runs them on a wild goose chase in the name of "Tag" before disappearing. He stole Batmans cape by phasing it off of him and he now uses it as a blanket at night (its surprisingly warm), he stole another one at Red Hoods request and gave it to him, he's set up play dates between Cujo and Harleys hyenas, he's pied Joker in the face, he's pet Penguins pet penguins right in front of him, he's been trapped in an elevator with Brucie Wayne for two hours, he's had a tea party with Catwomans cats and may have broken into her apartment to do it, he's kidnapped Red Robin and made him go to the park and play on the swings with him, he's gotten into actual fights with Robin and last but not least, he came up with the Puppy Paw of Approval.

---

Nightwing stared at the kid they had been chasing every other night for the last three months now, confused. "Whats the Puppy Paw of Approval?"

The kid moved the puppy, Cujo (which Jason finds hilarious) up in front of his face, holding him there by his armpits.

The dog was making the "no thoughts head empty" face with his tongue sticking out just a smidge. Dick was tempted to coo. "The Puppy Paw of Approval is an award! Arf!" The kid said in a higher pitched pretend voice.

"Its awarded to people we really really like! Arf!"

Nightwing gasped dramatically, playing along with the boy, "You really like me that much?"

"Of course!" The boy floated over to Dick and places one of the dogs paws on the man's chest. "Da da da daaa!" The kid sang, "You now have the Puppy Paw of Approval!"

The vigilante sniffled, "I will always cherish this! Thank you!"

The kid giggled and Cujo barked at him. The little green rottweiler panted up at him with a giants smile and his little nub tail wagging a mile and minute.

God, Nightwing couldn't wait for his newest little brother to join the family.

Dick was dismayed to learn he was actually the second person to get the PPA. The first being Tim, the third being Harley and the forth being Catwoman. Ivy was apparently salty about not getting one but the kid was scared of her for some reason.

Danny makes friends with lots of people throughout the city. Scarecrow learns of the bats recruitment attempts on this boy and decides to use the fear toxin on him. This has the unexpected outcome of making the child cry.

And then the whole city was out for his head.

[sil-and-seals-blog-something]

Gods I cackled like a hyena from this XD (no, literally, whatever laugh just came out of my throat had a wheezing build up and had click in between the end of the build up and the height of the volume)

Trigon is so proud of how well played it (what Raven did) was. Raven probably wouldn’t know how to feel if she overheard Trigon praising her actions. But, yeah! She and her brothers have finally found a place that they can just be. Where her brothers can learn more than just their nature, where they can all heal from what their father (and others) have made them endure, where they can just exist without judgement. And yeah, Dan and Pariah have really grown into their family roles by this point, and they understand how the seven feel. They’ve had their directives of Vengeance and Conquest (look at me aligning the colors for the concepts with what Lantern ring color I think best fits it- I will explain why I chose those at the bottom of this all-), but they’ve only recently taken to learning how to direct those things in a sustainable way. They know how the seven feel and are happy to help teach them how to reach a balance with indulging their concepts and controlling those concepts. Heck, you could even bring in Danny’s obsession with space! Space is all consuming in a way, and that too must be tempered to allow for the things (stars, planets, etc.) that make space so beautiful!

(Also, I find it funny that now most of the children of the Dark Family are half-human half-something-else, the adults are completely inhuman, and then there’s Billy {who is technically completely human even if he has his Captain Marvel form and magic stuff. He’s like, human+, ya know? Also, can we have some Divine Twitch Chat AU stuff going on for Billy? Simply for the funnies?}.)

And yeah. Danny is pretty alright with people having faults. As long as those faults don’t dictate them. As long as those fault are tempered healthily. So yeah, he’s supportive of his new siblings. He’s happy to see them indulging their concepts without hurting innocents.

But, yeah, all seven are being met with acceptance and patience. They’re given as much time as they need. There’s always someone to confide in that’ll listen (even if the only of the seven+Trigon who was a led to be confused in from the start. Dan, Danny, Billy, Pariah, and Raven are still a lot of people who can be confided in without fear of that being used against the one confiding. The rest of the seven reach that level eventually, and Trigon is a coin flip).

I love the implications of the house being animate enough to loom. It’s spooky and now powerful in its own right (question, does the house gain its own “Hootie” {Owl House} like being?), and it’s defensive of its cores. Because that’s what the Dark Family is to the house. They made and sustained the house’s existence as its own being, they gave it power, and they are now the organs of the house in a way. They may not have meant to, but an organ never means to become an organ, for it does not realize that it is. Although, the Dark most definitely realize it quickly after they realize the house has come to life.

Dan is best dad. He never hurt them. In fact, he has only ever cared for and comforted them since they stepped into his line of sight. All of the kids now tease him for having a “fatherly tunnel vision” and for “overtaking Batman in the adoption problem”. Trigon eventually joins in this teasing after admiring how his love has swept his own children out from under him and then swept him off as well.

——

Edit: I forgot to include the color/concept stuff, so here

Vengeance: Vengeance is usually born of anger and grief. I don’t think there’s any lantern color that lines up with grief, but there are the Red Lanterns who line up with anger. Therefore, red for Vengeance. Anger is also an emotion that is not always bad, so it works out well.

Conquest: This one was tricky. I was gonna use orange (avarice/greed) or red originally. But then I took a moment and thought further. Because conquest isn’t always born of greed or anger. There’s an intensity, a passion, that can come with conquest. So I realized that conquest lined up oddly well with the Star Sapphires and their love/passion/intense emotions thing going on. So, I chose the color of the Star Sapphires for Pariah’s Conquest concept.

After reforming Dan, Danny gets it into his head that he can reform Pariah Dark too. He takes a break from his kingly duties to go down to Earth. Both as a way to teach Pariah the wonders of humanity and to make sure Dan has actually changed his ways.

[inthememetime]

Fic Masterlist- I'll reblog every time I add a chapter or add a new WIP.

For all of these, feel free to interact with me about them! I may add/remove/change things based on your comments. Except maybe H(a)unted.

H(a)unted - AO3 link here. Summary: My most angsty/messed up fic ever! Are the Fentons Haunted? Or are the halfas Hunted?

Danny is shocked when he, his parents, and Jazz are taken to court by Vlad Masters in a custody battle. Ridiculous! Right?

Not as much as Danny would like to think. As the trial goes on, Danny discovers he and his sister aren't who or what they thought, that their parents are not as they seem, and Vlad, his enemy, may be their only shot at survival.

This story is told primarily through dialogue and epistolary storytelling as an experiment. Throughout the story, please expect body horror, illegal and nonconsensual experimentation on human beings, murder, and kidnapping. Mind the tags, please.

Darcy Lewis' Adventures Dating Dracula- AO3 link here. Summary: Follow Darcy Lewis and Vlad Masters as they start dating- and deal with everything from ghostly serial killers, the Things In Crybaby Creek, Politics, the Addams Family, and international spyassasins.

The Fantabulous Emancipation of Danny Phantom- AO3 link here. Summary: The Fenton family journeys to Gotham to get Jazz settled in her dorm at Gotham U. Things go a little sideways when Danny lets something ghostly slip, and his parents try to shoot the 'evil ghost' out of him.

Danny can't go home. But his sister's 18 and willing to rent a campus apartment, Gotham has a layer of ectoplasm so thick it's almost as good as Amity Park, and he's already made a new friend!

Harley was just going to get snacks for Bud & Lou, her hyenas. She did not mean to befriend a tourist, but the kid's almost as crazy as she is!

Join Danny and Harley in a journey of friendship, crime for good reasons, and kicking Vlad and the Joker's ass.

Jack, the DILF of Amity Park- AO3 link here. Summary: AU where Vlad doesn't lust over Maddie. No, he's obsessed with Jack, and since college (minus a 20 year gap), they've fought over the man's affections like two cats.

However, as Maddie would kill him in 2 seconds, tge shenanigans are more sitcom-esque competition, conolete with Danny begging for brain bleach multiple times, and Vlad realizing Jack isn't the only Fenton he's in love with.

Jack, of course, is completely oblivious to the fact his visiting very friendly people causes Vlad and Maddie to stalk him amd talk for once. Or is he?

Danny Phantom in Showghost!- AO3 link here. Summary: Tucker Foley was having a perfectly normal day- until he runs into Narrator, a ghost who is possibly as powerful as Clockwork or Ghostwriter. The problem isn't Narrator- they just want their book back.

No, the problem is the GIW. And the possibility that the town of Amity Park was sucked into a mini-universe outside of time. And, to add more problems to Tucker's day, he seems to be the only one who realises what's going on.

"We are on a timeline, though," Narrator said cheerfully.

"What?! When were you gonna tell me that?!"

They scowled. "Those idiots in white broke my book. If we don't wake everyone up before we run out of pages, everyone dies here."

Not Broken, Just Bent- AO3 link here. Summary: The sequel to Vlad & The Accidental Family Acquisition and Darcy Lewis' Adventures Dating Dracula, NBJB is a Jazz-centric fic about growing up asexual, and the trials and tribulations of being asexual in a very sexual culture. On hiatus until DLADD is complete.

Pending fics (planned, but not written yet, or in draft stage) will be added in reblogs.

Questions about the fics, suggestions, or just have aome ideas? Hit that ask button or ask me in the comments!

[rosemaryblossoms]

So I made an au for Tokyo revengers and it is a crossover with the Walten files, I had much fun making this, also I would like to point out some things,

1. Shinichiro is alive and still works at his bike shop

2. Grandpa Sano past away and is in peace (fly high😔🕊)

3. Mucho is alive and works with sanzu at a cafe that is famous for their cheesecake

4. Sanzu has white hair faded with rosy pink

5. I added some oc’s to help with the story line

6. Time settings 1980’s-2000’s but the diner open somewhere in the 2000’s

7. (This one is important) the story line is like the Walten files but with a few twists

8. The plane incident with sanzu and Mikey did not happen but sanzu got into a car crash which caused him not only get a mouth injury (like ticci Toby from creepypasta) and sanzu feeling uneasy in cars also he is not a drug attic but don’t worry he still has crazy goblin energy.

So anyways here is the animatronics: Danny the dog, Becca the bunny, Taiga the tiger, Hyde the hyena, and Dolly the dog. I will give more post about them, other characters, and the au it’s self.

Main characters:

Kisaki Tetta/ Felix Kranken

Manjiro “Mikey” Sano/ Jack Walten

Suna “Sue”Jack (oc)/Rosemary Walten

Marco and Mirabelle (oc)/ Edd and Molly

Kazutora Hanemiya/ Susan Woodings

Hanma Shuji/ Charles

Emma Sano/ Ashly Parks

Sora Sano (oc)/ Sophie Walten

Chihiro “Hiro” Kakashi (oc)/Jenny

Chifuyu Matsuno/ Brian Stells

Takemichi Hanagaki

Naoto Tachibana

Iris Fey “Mrs Tetta”/ Linda Thompson “Kranken”

𝙼𝔦𝕔🅗🄰ℯ𝐋 ? ? ? /?????????

Once again I will post more About “Tokyo Files” aka the au more later on so you can learn more and if you want I can post requests about my au.

[kcsplace]

I blame @snorlaxishere for this

Added to the Endless List of McDanno Aus.

George of The Jungle McDanno AU

Danny finds Steve in the jungle, brings him home with him, tries to housebreak him, civilise him so he isn’t like the jackals and hyenas but in the end...

[anthropwashere]

For the writer asks 7, 20 and 24, please!

(writer asks!)

Thank you for asking! These were some fun ones to think about.

7. What story/headcanons do you feel the proudest of?

FMA-wise, definitely Throw It Out to Sea because I managed to finish the damn thing. Sure it wasn’t technically an original idea but I feel like I gave it enough of my flavor that it stands solidly on its own. 

DP-wise I enjoy all of my older Danny and Co. fics that feel organic, the ones that feel like a natural progression of a teenager forced into a role he wasn’t  remotely prepared for, and his friends and reluctant allies dragged along with him.

20. What feedback makes you the happiest to hear?

I love a comment that makes me cackle like a hyena, so those shorter caps lock “WTF NOOOOO” ones are always fun. More seriously I love the ones the ones that tell me how they reacted in real life and the the ones that copy-paste bits of the fic that stood out to them, and why. It’s wonderful to hear the impact something I did had on someone.

24. Do you prefer AUs with the characters, or sticking to the original universe?

Ehhhh, middle ground? I am and will continue to be such a sucker for canon divergence fics. Like sure, I adore a wildly AU fic and will read all kinds of bananas concepts, but writing-wise I adore tackling the “what if X happened to this character instead?” or “what if X happened so Y never did?” and on and on. I love taking a good hard look at canon and then wondering why the fuck it flinched at some of the grimer ideas it presented, and then going ham on those ideas myself.

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Not-So-Common-Sense (Part 22)

Previous | Masterpost | Next

“Ghosts are a sovran people, more than that we’re a sovereign nation,” Hyena boomed, speaking over the assembly as he demanded everyone stop whispering and pay attention to him. He glared at the assembled leaders as he transformed in sparks and flashes, hair turning white and muzzle transforming into a snarling skull until he was fully ghost. “And I am done listening to all of this bullshit, so enough debating. Now explain to the Crown Prince of the Infinite Realms why you have allowed these people to violate my people’s rights and hold me captive.” Danny-No Phantom demanded.

He was glad he didn’t have a heart to be pounding in his chest as with a wave of his hand he created a throne of ice and sat down in it. He pushed his mask up and as it dissolved a circlet of shimmering ice formed around his brow. It wasn’t the official crown, he had yet to take the crown of flame but it was just a bit of showmanship to add to the effect. He needed these people to take him seriously after all. Jason stepped up to stand beside him, and to Danny’s surprise Deadman came down to take the other side, leaving Ellie to perch on the back of his makeshift throne, draping herself comfortably there. Danny settled himself more comfortably and confidently in his chair, and in his new role because whether he was ready or not it was time to act and he had the people who mattered behind him without question.

“Explain to me why we should not go to war.” Danny demanded in a terrifying shadow of his ghostly wail.

“What, no, the ghosts don’t have any sort of leader or structure. They’re completely disorganized,” Agent W insisted. 

“That’s not true,” Deadman said, shaking his head. “Ghosts follow the strong and have always been a monarchy. We haven’t had an active king in centuries, since the last one went mad but it is well known that, when he is ready to, Phantom will be able to claim the throne. He is not lying about his position in the Infinite Realms and many spirits will follow him to war should he command it.”

“Including you?” Batman asked in a tone of mild curiosity that wasn’t fooling anyone that actually knew him. 

“I recognize Phantom’s authority. The only reason I didn’t bow and acknowledge him when he answered the Justice League’s call the first time was that he asked me not to. More importantly many others, including multiple Ancients, recognize his authority and will follow him if he asks even if he is not yet the true king. His threats are not idle.” 

“He should not be making threats at all! This is a diplomatic meeting,” One of the leaders exclaimed indignantly.

“Oh is it?” Danny asked, raising his eyebrows. “Because it sounded like what you were about to do was excuse and pardon their crimes against me and my people and offer them more resources. If that’s not what’s happening and you were about to mete out proper consequences then by all means, carry on and prove me wrong,” Danny said with a ‘go on’ gesture of one hand and leaned back in his chair, looking down his nose at the assembly. 

Silence hung awkward and heavy over the room, which was all the confirmation Danny needed of the bad direction things were starting to go. He tried very hard not to fidget under the eyes of so many people. He knew that he was the prince, he was going to be the king overseeing basically an entire dimension with other monarchs and leaders under him, he was of a higher rank than anyone here! If only he wasn’t still so young, with so much more to learn. Speaking of which...

“How do you people deal with crimes like imprisonment and torture without cause? There are punishments for these things aren’t there?” Danny asked, cocking his head. He’d never paid much attention to politics, and what little he knew about politics didn’t really give him much hope for how this would be handled. 

“Of course there are,” Diana said calmly, once again trying to force the room to move on or get left behind. He really did admire her ability to control the room as much as she did. “Since there is no question of the crimes the Ghost Investigation Ward did commit, the only question is what the consequences will be.” She looked around, but it seemed this time her attempt to nudge the leaders along had failed. 

“With all due respect, ‘Your Majesty’,” Agent W directed at Danny, not even trying to hide her skepticism and contempt of his title. It made Danny bristle and got his hackles up immediately. To her credit, she didn’t flinch under his glowing glare. “It’s not our job to protect your people, we need to protect our own.” 

Danny heard a few murmurs of agreement, he looked down for a moment thinking about that and trying not to bite his lip. He should stay, he should try to argue further and come to a peaceful solution, but he had been doing that for years! He had always just avoided the humans who hunted him, he had barely even defended himself from them for years, and he was done trying to be nice, to play by their rules.  

“Right,” He said, standing up and surveying the collective leaders. “Who agrees with her perspective?” He asked scanning the collective.

There was a moment's hesitation before hands started to raise. He nodded firmly and looked back at Agent W. “Good, you protect your people,” he sneered, “ and I’ll do the same. Red Hood, Phantasm, let’s go,” Danny said and turned away, taking Hood’s hand and pulling him out through the wall, Phantasm followed. When Danny noticed Deadman looking torn, Danny gave him a small smile; “Stay with your team, there should still be one of us in the room. If they come to their senses let me know.”

He left the room through the wall and let invisibility cloak them as he grabbed Phantasm as well and flew straight up into the sky, not so high that Jason would struggle to breath but far enough they’d be guaranteed privacy. He let go of Phantasm since she could float on her own but kept Jason held close so gravity could not reclaim them.

“So, you’re not just giving up,” Jason said casually, “So, you have a plan?”

“Yes I have a plan,” Phantom agreed with a solemn nod. “It’s not my first choice, and I don’t really want to talk about it in case it fails. If it works I’ll let you know, if not you can help me brainstorm a plan B. Okay?” He glanced at the two of them, Jason didn’t hesitate in agreeing, Phantasm looked worried, but she nodded too. “Thank you. Phantasm take Jason please, you two stay put. I need to go… get something, and I have a feeling they’ll be calling us back soon once they see the storm they’ve unleashed on themselves.” He said with a thin smile. 

“Right?” Phantasm said, she still sounded uncertain but she offered Jason her hand, and when he took it she took over keeping gravity at bay. 

Danny smiled and drifted closer, kissing Jason’s helmet softly. “I’ll be back soon, just trust me okay?” He asked, ruffling Ellie’s hair. 

“I always trust you, Cub,” Jason said, sounding tired but fond even through the helmet’s modulators. 

“Just… don’t do anything stupid string-bean,” Ellie sighed. 

“I’ll try pipsqueak,” Danny agreed before speeding away from both of them. 

He needed to find his way back into the Ghost Zone but that wouldn’t be easy but it was far from impossible. There were natural portals opening up somewhere in the galaxy all the time, and Danny could get back in contact with Wulf somehow if he needed to. How he wasn’t sure, but he was on a time crunch so he had better figure it out fast. He didn’t want to leave Ellie and Jason hanging and time was of the essence. He had a feeling he could sense portals if he really tried, other ghosts seemed to know where they were after all! He just needed to get away from any distractions, to where his mind was clearest and his core shone the brightest, and for him that would always be space.

Once he was far enough away that the earth was a frisbee amongst the stars Danny settled into a cross legged position and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath he didn’t need and exhaled slowly, trying to remember what little he knew about meditation and, like, opening one’s third eye. 

“Alright portal, where are you,” He murmured rolling his shoulders, only to jump out of his skin when he heard a crackle and boom right under him. He shot up as he opened his eyes, half expecting an attack only to see a swirling green portal directly under him. “Great, of course,” He sighed, and let himself drop into it. 

The green resolved into the large foyer of the ghost kings palace surrounded by the observants and a few ancients. 

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Chorused the observants.

“Great, how long have you guys been watching me? Fucking weirdos,” Danny muttered, but he couldn’t stay angry as Frostbite cheered and rushed in to hug him, scooping him up in a bearhug that would have cracked a rib if he had any. Clockwork followed more slowly, moving slowly and leaning on his cane, a thin smile on his elderly lips. 

“It is good to see you, Young One. I'm sorry I know you haven’t had an easy time. I’ve been watching over you but didn’t feel it was possible for me to step in. Despite it all, you’ve done really well,” Clockwork said. He looked nervous, and Danny couldn’t blame him, he couldn’t count the number of times he had cursed Clockwork when things were at their worst, for not intervening to save him, but now…

“It's alright, I made it out and I found a new purpose. I assume if you had saved me I would have just spiralled or something like that?” He asked with a crooked smile that was really more of a grimace. It wasn't really okay, it would never be okay that Danny had lost his family and a part of him would never forgive Clockwork for having had the power to stop it and didn't. But he had also learned there was no point in holding Clockwork to human or present focused morals, he had his reasons and felt justified. Trying to hold Clockwork accountable would be counterproductive and maddening, he did trust Clockwork meant well.

“Something like that,” Clockwork agreed, mirroring Danny’s expression as he reversed into his child form. The expression looked very odd on his child-like face. 

“We've been waiting for you,” the Observants chorused again, apparently impatient with the reunion. “Are you ready to take the crown?”

“Wow hello to you too,” Danny sassed, rolling his eyes at the ridiculous collective of giant eyeballs. “Yes, I'm ready,” Danny agreed, standing straight and holding his head high. He looked sure, even though he really wasn’t, but there was no putting this off any longer. “Release Pariah Dark and I'll be waiting for him in the world of our last battle.”

“That is not how-” 

“I don't care if that's not how it's done, that's how I'm going to do it,” Danny interrupted the Observants. He really hasn't spent much time with them after his first defeat of Pariah and his capture but he was already familiar with the phrase.

“It is tradition to-” they started again and Danny interrupted with a growl. 

“If I'm going to be king, this is a good time to get in the habit of obeying me. Release him, I'm sure he'll want revenge so he can find me in the world of our last confrontation and I'll defeat him properly this time, on my terms,” Danny insisted, bearing his teeth in a snarl. He knew that they weren't pleased, but he didn't care, he didn't plan on his rule to be dictated by trading so they could get used to it. 

The Observants didn't have any mouths but he was sure that if they did they would look like they'd just bitten into a lemon. He'd never really understood why they were like this, Pariah Dark couldn't have been particularly obedient to tradition, but maybe he’d been gone so long they'd forgotten what it was actually like to have a ruler and only had the idealized version from inside their own minds. “As you wish,” they agreed sourly.

“That’s better,” Danny smiled thinly, there was little joy in this situation but he could find some in pissing off these uptight bastards. He nodded to them and looked back at Clockwork, he must know what Danny was planning and Danny was a bit surprised Clockwork didn't seem to have any objections. When he had intervened before it had been to stop Danny going ‘bad’. Maybe this time was different because Danny wasn’t planning to cause the damage himself, just… allow it to happen.

“You will be a good kind Danny,” Clockwork said softly. “Sometimes a leader has to compromise their own values to do what’s best for their people.”

“Ya, I’m not sure that’s what I’m doing Clockwork, those people hurt me worst of all, I think I have some pretty personal motivations,” Danny said bitterly.

“Even so,” Clockwork said with a shrug and a knowing smile that set Danny’s teeth on edge.

“Right,” He grumbled as he turned and walked back through the still open portal before turning and slashing through it from the other side. They would have a hard time opening another in the exact same location, not that Danny was planning on sticking around here, but the less of the universe and the more of Earth Pariah would have to rip through before he found Danny the better. He grinned far too wide and rocketed back towards earth. 

He had done it! Pariah would be right on his heels and that bastard had no respect for human life. He would give the stupid humans something to fear~ By the end of the day they’d be groveling and begging for Danny to save them, and maybe he even would, if they asked very nicely. 

He stopped on a dime next to his fiance and little sister again. They both jumped at his sudden appearance which made Danny laugh, Jason had taken off his helmet and his look of shock was particularly amusing! It was usually so hard to sneak up on the hypervigilant man. Danny reached out to take Jason back from Ellie and settled himself comfortably in Jason's lap while Jason wrapped his arms firmly around Danny's waist so he wouldn't fall. Ellie mimed gagging at the display of affection but didn't say anything. 

“So, what did you do Danny? You weren't gone long enough to have gotten that far. Did it not work out?” Jason asked curiously and Danny gave him an impish smile.

“Oh no, it worked. I'm sure the Justice League will be calling us in just a few minutes once word gets to them about what just entered their dimension.” Even as Danny was talking he felt the change, the wave of dark energy that had just broken through the barrier between worlds. He didn't react, but it made Ellie stumble. 

Danny remembered this dark energy from last time he'd fought Pariah but he had thought that was just because he had been nearby. It was disconcerting to know it could be felt at such a distance by those sensitive enough. Danny was sure he could handle this, but for a moment he was still worried he'd bitten off more than he could chew. 

“Danny, what did you do?” She asked, sounding seriously worried.

“I released Pariah Dark,” he told her plainly, no point being cryptic now since this wasn't exactly a fun surprise. Her look of horror was cold water dumped on the burning coals of his rage and he winced.  “Go back to your team Starlight, keep them safe but don't get yourself in trouble. This is… not going to be pretty,” he told her gently. He wasn't ashamed of what he was doing, not really. But he did worry about how she would feel about him afterwards, especially if one of her friends was hurt in the fall out. 

Jason's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket as Ellie rushed away from the two of them, back towards Titans tower. Danny watched her go, biting his tongue so he wouldn’t call her back and selfishly try to keep her safe. She and Jason were the ones he loved most but it would be selfish to hold her safely prisoner, especially when Jason's family was bound to be out there too.

“That can't be them already?” Danny asked Jason worriedly, forcing himself to look away from Phantasm’s retreating form to check the notification on Jason’s phone. She was strong and clever, she’d be alright, he needed to have faith in her. 

“It's not, it's an emergency alert. He didn’t waste any time fucking shit up did he?” Jason asked, unlocking his phone and opening social media. It was already starting to flood with half corrupted videos and pictures of Pariah Dark and his army of skeletons. He had landed somewhere in the US by the looks of things, which Danny was glad of, and all the videos were full of screaming and fire. Occasionally he bellowed demands for Danny to show himself, but they were in ghost speak so none of the humans understood what he was asking for. 

“Damn that's one big mother fucker,” Jason whistled. “So that's the mad king?” 

“Yes,” Danny sighed, leaning his head against Jason’s chest. “Now we just see how long it takes for those idiots down there to realize the GIW's weapons are like water guns to him. I'm not going to negotiate with them anymore, but I will accept their surrender and once they've agreed to all my terms I'll deal with him.” 

“Isn’t he coming for you? Why’s he in America?” Jason asked as he kept refreshing his social media feed. 

“He can’t tell where I am, I could find him but I’m less flashy then he is, and I got used to minimizing my ecto-signature to avoid the GIW. Pretty sure he’s hoping that if he causes destruction he’ll smoke me out since last time I fought him it was to protect my town. Not this time, it’s not my job to protect these people anymore, they’ve made it very clear they don’t want me too,” Danny sneered, rolling his eyes.

Jason nodded gravely, and hugged Danny more tightly, he knew this hadn't been an easy choice. Danny nestled in against Jason's chest, his eyes glowing brighter than usual with anger and sorrow. 

“How are you feeling, Moonlight?” Jason asked softly. They had some time as the GIW rushed to arrive on scene and prove how useless they were. “This means that you’re going to be king after this doesn’t it?” 

“I'm not sure how I feel,” Danny sighed, biting his lip for a moment before continuing. “I wish it felt better, more righteous. I wanted revenge but most of the people being hurt had no idea what their government was even doing, and they're suffering for it, so I can't really feel good about it anymore. But I also don't exactly feel bad about it either, you know? And a part of me wishes I did because I tried so hard to be good when I was younger and how little I care now feels like a failure. 

“But then again I guess it was Sam that really insisted I use my powers for good. I was a teenage boy and other than protecting my friends my first instincts were to sneak into the girls locker room, and douse my bully in half spoiled meat. Maybe I was just never that good.” He sighed, hanging his head and trying to swallow down the uncomfortable knot of shame and dread in his stomach. 

“As for being king, I never really wanted to be king, but Clockwork seems to think that’ll just make me a better king, I hope he’s right. And I do think I'm ready, with you, your siblings, and Ellie I finally feel like I have a firm foundation again. Your proposal felt like the last puzzle piece I needed to feel whole, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.” 

“You are good Danny, and you'll be a good king, but even good people have their breaking point. It's their fault they pushed you to yours. The Justice League and the Teen Titans will be on the scene to help evacuate soon and I’m sure it won’t be too long before those idiots down there will realize they’re up shit’s creek and call for help soon.”

[bells-of-black-sunday]

if dannys a cat what are the rest of them?

Expansive meme au?

Well-

Susie would be a rabbit obviously

Julie would be a hyena, they’re matriarchal and their complex social structures and protective behavior really fit her

Joey would be a dog, probably either something super stereotypical like a doberman or some a bit different like an Irish deerhound

Frank is a hard one, because I could go super stereotypical and just do a wolf or I could go a bit different and go with a snake because snoots can be super food motivated, but also get super laid back with regular handling

Anna would obviously be a bear, it’s what her name means

Aldiris I’m thinkin probably a dove

[mkarchin713]

It’s then that Bruce remembers Jon

It was no secret that Jon had a crush on Damian. At least not after Clark publicly blamed him for his little boy growing up, something about Damian inheriting Bruce’s bat like charms.

All Bruce had to do was inject Jon into the paradigm and hope that he disrupts their relationship enough for the two of them to break up.

The worst thing that could happen is that Bruce ends up being Clark’s in law….

Well it’s better than being Harley’s in law.

Short DPXDC Prompts #933

Danny is a sort of Disney princess with animals. Not alive ones though, they hate him. The ghost animals of Gotham City absolutely adore him. Harley Quinn watches from her window as a teenager with a glowing raccoon on one shoulder, a tiny scraggly kitten on the other, and a half dozen glowing green rats trailing behind him, just walks past her apartment.

[too-much-tma-stuff]

The Start of the Future (Part 26)

Previous | Masterpost

The ring of rage made it possible for Danny to open portals to the Infinite Realms on his own, which would at least make commuting back and forth much easier. While they were at the Watchtower Danny had raided the equipment that had been liberated from the GIW bases and, after his panic attack, he found a suit of ectoplasmic armour that he could update and upgrade for Jason. Sure he was already liminal but Danny would rather be safe than sorry with the amount of concentrated ecto he’d be exposed to in the Infinite Realms. It was pretty easy to tinker with, improve the blasters and repaint it to match Jason’s colour pallet, once it was slimmed down a little as well and given a better finish Danny had to say it looked cool as hell. 

Once it was done and Jason had some experience wearing it and operating the weapons, they were as ready as they were ever going to be to face the mountain of paperwork that was inevitably waiting for Danny. It was easiest to leave from the Batcave, leaving Jason’s motorbike there before Danny transformed back into Phantom. With one last check on Jason’s armour Phantom ripped a hole through space and time to get to his new castle. As he stepped through onto the dark cobblestones he felt a shiver run down his spine. God this place was so deeply infused by Pariah’s malice it was going to take him a long time to shape the haunt to his will instead of its previous master. 

Danny was not pleased to see that half the council and the Observants were waiting for him, as was Fright Knight. Just great. The portal closed and Fright Knight stepped forward, and Danny stepped back, Jason slid between the two of them glaring at Fright Knight through his visor. Fright paused looking annoyed, but after it became clear Jason wasn’t going to move and Danny wasn’t going to come forward again Fright elected to ignore Jason and just focus on Danny past Jason. 

“My King,” Fright Knight bowed to Danny. “I want you to know that my vow to the crown still holds. I will serve you however you order, I will be your knight.”

“No you will not,” Danny said calmly but firmly, ignoring the look of hurt and fear in Fright’s eyes. “I will not revoke your title, and you may continue to serve the crown, but I will be knighting Red Hood. He will be my knight, not a knight of the crown,” He said with a sneer. “For now you can serve me by making sure news of my rule is properly spread. Make sure they know, and know that things will be changing and do it without threats. Understand?”

“Yes my King,” Fright said, though he still didn’t seem pleased he wouldn’t disobey an order. He got up and shot a glare at Jason before flying off to do a task Danny hoped would keep him busy for a good long while given the Realms were Infinite and all. 

Once he was gone Danny turned back towards the rest of his ‘welcoming party’, He sighed and forced his shoulders to relax. “So, show me to the work that needs to be done,” He said, more confidently than he felt.

“Oh there will be plenty of time for that,” Clockwork said wryly, leaning heavily on his staff. 

“There’s a royal wedding to plan!” Frostbite butted in, excited and eager as ever, trigger near identical startled sounds from Jason and Danny. 

“Are you sure? We were planning on waiting and getting married in the mortal world first. I’m sure there’s a ton of stuff to do before…” He trailed off because Pandora was shaking her head. 

She held out one set of hands, the other still clasped behind her back; “A royal wedding is exactly what we need. It had been a long time since the Realms had a king, and much longer still since anything to do with a king could be called a joyous occasion. Not counting when the council managed to bind Pariah Dark.

“A royal wedding will bring everyone together so they can see you, while ensuring the expectation is that they be happy for you, and bring gifts. Since the coronation was immediate, and took place in the human world, this is the best opportunity for you to meet the other governing bodies within the Realms, and to set their expectations of you.” 

“I do not want my wedding to be a political affair,” Danny said coldly, drawing himself up to his full height, which still wasn’t very impressive at all in the face of Pandora and Frostbite. He was taller than Clockwork now at least. He relaxed just slightly when Jason rested a gloved hand on his shoulder.

“You can still have the wedding you want in the human world, the ceremony here won’t be binding there. And you can have whatever guests you want as well as the political ones, the guest list will be hundreds long as is, and we’ll make sure spaces for family are reserved right at the front,” Frostbite assured, placatingly. 

Danny took a deep breath and shook his head before turning back towards Jason. “What do you think?” He asked, taking one of Jason’s hands, he couldn’t quite lace their fingers together with the size of Jason’s gloves so this would have to do. 

Jason shrugged; “I told you I’m happy to get to marry you multiple times, This isn’t the way we planned it sure, but this can be a dress rehearsal basically, and I gotta admit I’m curious as fuck about what sort of gifts ghosts will give their king. I think Robin and Phantasm will have a blast with it too. Ohhh you should invite Constantine! Seeing him scramble to get a gift would be hilarious!”

Danny couldn’t help but smile at Jason, glad he wasn’t taking this seriously as he might have, and could see the humour in it. “Alright,” Danny agreed fondly, leaning forward to kiss his helmet over Jason’s cheek. “How do ghostly weddings even work?” He asked, turning back towards his new council. 

Clockwork smiled approvingly and Frostbite downright cheered, Jason and Danny were shepherded into a council room where planning began. For the most part Danny and Jason let the planning take place around them rather than actually taking part in it.  They put in their input here and there, colour choices, food, making sure things were human-safe options for the few guests Danny and Jason wanted to bring. The councilors were the ones who knew who in the Realms needed to be invited, mostly kings and chiefs of various sections of the realms who were too used to ruling without oversight. 

When it seemed like all the personal touches were finished Danny placed his palms on the table and stood up, smiling around the table without much feeling. “Is the guest list all you’ll be discussing now?” He asked calmly.

“Well, yes but-” Pandora started but Danny held up his hand and shook his head. 

“I don’t care who you invite other than my family. Send me a list of who you decide to invite and what I need to know. I’m going to have a look around the rest of the keep to see what else I’ve inherited from that bastard, other than a complete mess.” Danny dismissed with a wave of his hand. “Did Pariah Dark have an office?”

There was a moment of silence, the rest of the council glancing around at one another, everyone clearly expecting someone else to have an answer. “He must have had an office right?” Frostbite questioned. 

“I’m sure that he did,” Pandora agreed, nodding firmly. “He wasn’t always mad, he did his duty at some point.”

“Great,” Danny sighed, pushing himself back from the table and standing up. “Well, maybe we’ll find his office while we’re exploring and if not I’ll choose a new room to be my office. I should start remaking this place to suit me anyway, I don’t want anyone you bring to the wedding to think that I’m in any way like him after all, I should start reshaping this place.”

“Very well,” Clockwork sighed and turned back towards the table, launching back into discussions about the guest list. After that would be discussion of seating arrangements. Danny fully expected this to take days. Even if they insisted this needed to be done quickly, all of the people discussing it were ancient and immortal, to them tomorrow still meant next month. Of course thanks to the time dilation in the living world they would still get around to the wedding before Danny and Jason could, unless they wanted a Vegas wedding, which he didn’t. Although… No, he wouldn’t compromise the wedding that they had dreamed for this. 

Danny slipped out of the room with Jason on his heels to explore with him. Danny paused to take Jason’s hand again so they could walk together down the broad, dimly lit haul. Danny grimaced and glared at one of the torches. “Okay to start with we can get some more fucking light in here, and maybe a rug,” He grumbled, closing his eyes and focusing on the ecto around him. It was resistant to his touch, he wasn’t the mind that it was used to responding to and it didn’t want to listen to him. But this was his haunt now, he was the master of this space now and it would answer to him. 

The world beyond Danny’s eyelids brightened slightly and Jason gasped softly. Danny opened his eyes and gave a self satisfied smile when he saw the torches were brighter and a slightly warmer shade of green and there was now a very grand rug stretching off down the long hall. “Good, that’s better. Let’s get going.”

“How did you do that?” Jason asked curiously. 

“Oh right, you’ve never been to the Ghost Zone before! The entire place is made of ectoplasm, that means it responds to emotion and will. Not all of it I mean, every ghost has a haunt and the ecto in their haunt responds to them, everyone’s haunt is specially tailored to them. Actually… because when I died I didn’t come to the Realms naturally, I’m not sure I had a haunt here before I defeated Pariah and took his. I’d better make the most of it huh? I’m going to manifest an observatory!” Danny exclaimed, excitement getting the better of him for a moment. And why not? It was about time this place felt a little bit of joy. 

Jason laughed and Danny grinned at him, tugging him along after him. “Come on, we should find a bedroom for the two of us as well and make that ours. We’ll be spending some nights here while I set everything up, or at least I will. I’ll figure out how to make it safe for you so you can have a comfortable place here too while you’re still living.”

“I love how ominous you are,” Jason said with genuine warmth, making Danny laugh again. They continued on with a bounce in their step and the energy of giddy children exploring an ancient mansion, and they found plenty of hidden rooms and hallways to justify that excitement. Though whether they’d been there before or if the ecto was manifesting them because Danny expected them to be there was anyone’s guess. 

They carried on that way until they found a potential bedroom that, with a little editing, would work for the both of them. Danny could will a lot of the ecto in the room to be inert, or absent, but it took a lot of concentration and it wasn’t perfect. He was going to have to invent something, a miniature ghost shield maybe? Either way it would be safe for one night and Jason was tired.

Danny lay with him until he was asleep, but in his ghost form and in a place of infinite ambiently metabolizable ecto he didn’t need to sleep much and he wasn’t tired. He slipped out of bed again and left a note for Jason in case he woke up while Danny was gone. Then he continued exploring, looking specifically for the office now because with Jason asleep he had nothing better to do then get a start on the work right?

Unfortunately he did find the office, which was dusty as fuck somehow despite no one here shedding skin cells. There were piles upon piles of papers here, the stacks had probably started on the desk, but when they got too tall work had started to pile up on the floor. As Pariah lost interest in the actual work people must have continued to just drop paperwork here in the hopes he might get around to some of it… eventually. They had probably only stopped once Pariah had been bound in the coffin, and then enough time passed for everyone to forget this office even existed. 

Danny sighed and settled into work, starting with the dustiest piles because those were the oldest. Most of the papers that didn’t disintegrate as soon as he picked them up were probably not valid anymore and the ones that were were probably long overdue and increasingly desperate. He incinerated ones that said they needed things on a time limit, thousands of years expired the need had probably passed one way or another, and if not they could re-submit the request to him this time. The ones that seemed like they might still need help he set aside to ask Pandora or Clockwork about when he got the chance. 

The task became meditative; pick up a paper, scan it for dates, then set it aside or incinerate it. The small amount of ecto in each of the papers giving him a little boost as they disintegrated. It gave him the time and the brain space to pay attention to his new haunt, expanding his mind to start the process of properly melding with his new haunt. It was resistant to his will for now, and he didn’t feel like forcing it, he wasn’t going to be that kind of king after all. For now it was enough to let it get used to his presence, like sharing space with a neglected cat.

At least by the morning it was responsive enough to tell him that Jason was up. Danny sighed and got up, stretching with a groan. He had gotten through about a quarter of the accumulated paperwork, not reading it or anything, just sorting out that maybe he should read it later. But still the room looked much less crowded and dusty so he was going to call that a pretty good start! He shut the door after him and concentrated for a moment to alter the door, making it more distinctive and easier to find for the future before he rushed off the say good morning to Jason, and open a portal out of the zone so they could at least get some breakfast.

Jason met him at the door and hugged Danny tightly, scooping him up as Danny yelped then laughed, wrapping his arms around Jason’s shoulder in return. “Put me down,” He laughed, not really meaning it so Jason held him for a minute longer before putting him down and kissing him sweetly enough Danny started purring instantly. 

“Let’s go to the courthouse,” Jason announced, soft and breathless once he put Danny down. 

“What?” Danny asked, shocked, but when Jason looked chagrined and started to pull away Danny hugged him tighter and pulled him back in. “No no! I’m not opposed to it, I’m just surprised!”

“I know. And I’m really not upset about the ghost wedding thing, I meant that! And I don’t want us to rush before having our big wedding. But that’s going to include a ton of heroes right? So it’s kinda a masked wedding, and I want us to be married before we’re politically married you know? Let's pick up our siblings, maybe Bruce, and go to a courthouse. I’ll buy you a bouquet, and Bruce can pay for the fanciest fucking dinner of our lives as an afterparty…” He trailed off as Danny laughed and pulled Jason in for another kiss.

“Add Roy to the list of people we’re picking up and absolutely! I think we have to call ahead to make an appointment though. And I have a little more to do here, can I drop you off at home to call the courthouse and get those flowers? I’ll finish up here and come join you as soon as I can?” He asked hopefully.

“You got it Moonlight,” Jason agreed easily. 

“You’re the best, Boss,” Danny teased laughingly and Jason rolled his eyes. 

“Keep that nickname for the bedroom now Cub,” Jason replied, pushing Danny away for just a  moment before pulling him back in as Danny purred.

“Tonight?” He suggested hopefully. 

“Tonight,” Jason agreed and they kissed one more time before Danny ripped open a portal for Jason to head home with both of their tasks assigned. 

Danny threw himself back into work, doing what he could do. He dismissed the souls that Pariah owned, and set the ones that wouldn’t or couldn’t leave to cleaning the castle with strict orders to take regular breaks if they’re tired, and maybe try a couple hobbies as long as it doesn’t bother anyone else. That’s the best he can do for now. It’s going to be slow going until everyone he loves can join him in this world, and this time they actually will. None of them will be killed with ecto weapons which simultaneously destroy bodies and souls, he will never have to lose this family like he did his last one, no one will. 

He arrived home while Jason was halfway through making dinner, and got to hear about Jason’s day. He cooked and told Danny excitedly how he had called the courthouse and managed to get an appointment for the afternoon after next, and he’d called their family and everyone would be able to come! Including Dan who hadn’t gone so far that Ellie couldn’t catch up to him and ask him to come back for the wedding. Jason laughed as he told Danny Dan had been relieved to hear there was going to be a smaller wedding so he’d have an excuse not to attend the bigger ones later! 

Their home was warm and cozy, their safe nest just the two of them and any stress Danny had been feeling melted away. He couldn’t wait to eat, he couldn’t wait to spend the night with Jason, he couldn’t wait to get married in a couple of days! There was so much to look forward to, so much in a life, an eternity, of people that he loved. He couldn’t say he didn’t regret what had happened to his first family. But with Pariah gone, the GIW on the run, and Jason at his side Danny could say he was finally, and unequivocally, happy.

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Along Time in Coming (Part 24)

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tw descriptions of violence

Danny didn’t dodge Pariah’s lunge, he threw up a shield. Pariah’s ecto-blasts were much stronger than anyone Danny had fought before and there was no way he could stop them outright. But the shield slowed him down enough to give Danny the moment he needed to ready a counter attack. He uppercut Pariah as hard as he could, he wanted to get the mad king further up, away from the ground and all the people on it. He was almost surprised by how far he did send the larger spirit flying, and he had to rush to catch up before Pariah regained his senses. 

Behind Danny he could hear the whir of the little drone chasing after them to keep watching the fight. That worried him a little because he didn’t want the little thing to get broken, especially since it was starting to develop. He couldn’t spare much of his attention to that though, he needed to focus on this fight, he couldn’t let himself worry about anything else right now. Something that was very much confirmed for him when Pariah had his sword at the ready before Danny even reached him. 

Danny was used to fighting with his bare hands against people with guns, the sword wasn’t particularly intimidating, as long as Danny didn’t think about Fright Knight. Pariah laughed as he swung forcing Danny to contort himself to avoid the blow, not far enough that he couldn’t blast back though, and Pariah hadn’t recovered from his own swing before Danny’s ecto blast slammed him in the chest, sending him skidding back with a scorch mark on his chest plate. If Danny could hit the same place a few more times he was sure that he could break through, hopefully his aim was up to the task. 

“Your attempts are pathetic!” Pariah crowd, finding his footing quickly. “You couldn’t destroy me last time, why would this time be any different?”

Danny knew why he was taunting like that, all the ghosts Danny fought did. All of them were already dead, this felt like a game to them. It would seem like a game to Pariah too, but he was worse than the others. He only enjoyed it more when it was miserable for everyone else, he caused pain and suffering on purpose, to the people he was supposed to rule over and protect. He could not be allowed to persist. 

“This time will be different,” Danny said, with flat determination as he reformed his hands into wicked claws. Pariah was the most adept in melee combat, but Danny did best at hand to hand. He’d been trying to keep the fight at a distance and force Pariah back and away from potential collateral damage but now if he could get in close he felt like the fight was as good as won. 

Danny rushed in but Pariah was ready for him this time and managed to dodge. Danny snarled and pivoted before his momentum was finished, skidding back in time to deflect the Mad King’s sword. He knocked it aside but when he tried to get under Pariah’s guard he managed to twist away and Danny felt his makeshift claws slide off the metal of his armour with a sickening screech that set Danny's teeth on edge. Pariah laughed again but Danny was not interested in his amusement or his banter so he paid no attention to whatever it was Pariah had to say and engaged again immediately. It wasn't like he needed to catch his breath after all.

Pariah seemed like he was getting annoyed by Danny’s lack of engagement but Danny could not have given less of a shit about what that asshole felt and thought. 

“What can I do to help?” Superman called from behind Danny.

Danny dropped a foot out of pure shock at the sound of the voice. He had thought that everyone in the JL would know better than to interrupt this fight, yet here the man of steel was, hovering anxiously behind him. Man of Steel or not he knew that he wasn't immortal, he should have known better surely! Yet there he was, gloating anxiously behind Danny, at least he had the good sense to wait until he wasn't actively fighting and risk throwing Danny off.

“You can get the fuck out of the way!” Danny snapped at him trying to get between Superman and Pariah Dark without making it obvious.

“I want to help!”

“Then go check for survivors down there! This has to be single combat.” 

“But-” 

“Foolish mortal you interfere!” Pariah boomed, and before Danny could get in the way Pariah summoned a blast of red energy and shot Superman in the chest. He was sent flying back, Danny expected him to catch himself and try to get involved again. But he was wrong and Superman dropped out of the sky like a fucking stone. 

Danny had no idea if he was okay, he could smell the subtle lingering scent of burnt flesh and if he had had even a moment to think about what had just happened he would have been very worried about the hero. Whether he liked Superman or not he was one of earth’s greatest defenders and Danny sure af fuck didn’t want him to die! But Danny did not have a minute, and while Pariah was distracted was the best opportunity he was going to get.

Danny forced himself to turn worry about the Super’s smoking fall to earth into rage and rushed Pariah again while he was still looking away. By the time he looked back at Phantom, Danny was close enough to watch the mad king’s eyes widen slightly as Danny crowded into his space, under his guard. Pariah tried to twist away again, get back far enough that he could get his sword up and attack again but Danny didn’t give him the chance. 

Danny grabbed the front of Pariah’s armour, slashing at his throat with the other clawed hand. He knew a slit throat wasn’t enough to kill an even halfway stable ghost, but it would weaken him and shut him up as Danny got a better grip on the front of Pariah’s armour with both hands and ripped that fucker open like a tin can while he flailed.

His snarl was wet, ectoplasm leaking from the corner of his mouth as he bared his teeth at Danny, trying to get a good grip and force Danny back. He looked like he should have been much stronger then Danny, but Danny was denser and he was strong, he was not budging. He pulled back one hand and plunged towards Pariah’s chest where his core was housed. Pariah realized what he was doing in just the nick of time and grabbed Danny’s wrist just as his fingertips sunk in to yielding ectoplasm.

They were at a standoff, struggling against each other as Danny tried to push in further and Pariah tried to push him back. He could feel Pariah’s ectoplasm swirling around his fingers, trying to repair itself but unable to while his claws were still inside. It was a very odd sensation.

Danny pushed forward and Pariah pushed back, the force of it sent them end over end but since gravity meant nothing it got neither of them closer to their goal. 

Danny could feel his fury building in him, he was so fucking done with this sight, and all this posturing. He couldn’t overpower Pariah on brute strength alone no matter how much he wanted to and if Pariah let go of his sword and grabbed Danny by the back of the neck he would be able to rip him away. 

Danny didn’t even really mean to do it when he wailed directly into Pariah’s face, it was just a bubbling over of his rage as he screamed loud enough to rupture even ectoplasmic eardrums. Pariah flinched, and that momentary weakness was all Danny needed to plunge his claws deep into Pariah’s chest, his hand curling around the hard orb of his core, the only truly solid thing within the beings body. Pariah choked as Danny ripped his core out without a moment of hesitation. 

He clawed at his own chest as if he could fill the hole somehow, but it was much too late. Danny laughed at the sight and pushed away from Pariah even as the ghost desperately reached for him. Danny just grinned at him, and with Pariah already starting to melt but still watching, Danny popped the bastard's core into his mouth and crushed it between his teeth. 

Pariah collapsed into green goo and evaporated quickly as the power that had once animated him flooded Danny’s body. He felt rage and bloodlust accompanying the power and he gasped, shuddering as he rode the wave of Pariah’s dying rage. Danny thought his eyes might have flashed red for a moment but he couldn’t know for sure. Then… it was over, and Danny sighed, rolling his shoulders and tilting his head towards the sky. He had done it, he had won and his world was going to be safe. 

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes looking around him and grinned too wide when he spotted the little drone still following him. That meant the JL, and probably the UN was still watching, he waved at it. 

Wait! The Justice League! Superman, he had fallen, Danny needed to go check on him. He let gravity take hold of him again and dropped down towards earth. As he broke cloud cover he was once again confronted by the devastation Pariah had inflicted while Danny had been waiting for the UN to sign the surrender. From this high up he could see the full scope of the damage, there were miles upon miles of what had once been a city and countryside that was now a pile of charred rubble, some of which was still actively smoking. From this high up he couldn’t see any people, and he wouldn’t be able to see the bodies trapped under all that debris. He would never be able fully understand the effect it had on the people who were caught up in this and he’d have to accept that because trying would drive him even more insane then he already was.

Despite his rush he couldn’t help but pause to look over it, nausea churning in his non-existent stomach as he struggled to comprehend the scope of this apocalyptic scene. His brain felt like it was frozen, screeching to a forced halt as his younger self wallowed with guilt and some dark part of him thrilled at the suffering. If he chose, if he could let himself, he could have fed on that suffering and the emotions would have fueled his powers to greater heights. As if he needed to be more powerful. 

Before he could spiral into a full panic attack about the implications he spotted two figures rising up to meet him. He barely had time to notice and raise his arms before Ellie slammed into him and hugged him tight, he let out an oof as she squeezed the air out of the memory of his lunges. He smiled a little and hugged her back, before glancing at the second figure, it was Dan smiling slightly as he followed behind more slowly. 

“We were so worried about you!” Ellie sniffled as she clung to him. 

“The pipsqueak is right, I didn’t know if you could handle such a big fight,” Dan added with the edge of a sneer. 

Danny stuck his tongue out at Danny while he stroked Ellie’s hair. “Hey you beat him in your timeline didn’t you? And I beat you so of course I could handle him, don’t be… silly.” Danny said, toning down what he was originally going to say because Ellie had been worried too and he didn’t want to make her feel bad.

“Hey if you’re more powerful in this timeline maybe so was he,” Dan said with a casual shrug. Danny rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Ellie.

“How are you Ellie, how are all your friends? Are you okay?” He asked. 

“I’m alright, so are the rest of Teen Titans. Raven and Nightwing were pretty badly hurt but we got them out of the fight and they’re stable,” Ellie assured him.

Danny relaxed a little before the tension suddenly returned. “What about Superman?” He asked quickly.

“What about him?” Dan asked, and Ellie looked puzzled too.

“Pariah shot him and he fell, have you seen him?” Danny glanced back and forth between his siblings, both shook his head. “We have to find him,” Danny insisted, letting go of Ellie and continuing his fall towards earth with both of them on his heels. 

They fanned out, Danny and Ellie searching desperately, Dan more casually because he didn’t care as much. He was probably only helping to indulge Ellie and Danny but he appreciated it anyway. 

Danny didn’t see Superman yet, but he could see Red Hood making his way towards them and swooped down to meet him. Jason raised his hands and Danny took them, squeezing them gently.

“What are you looking for?” Hood asked as he squeezed Danny’s hands back. 

When all of this was over Danny owed Jason a very fun night wearing something sexy because as soon as Danny explained what was going on Jason snapped into motion. He squeezed Danny’s hands one more time before sending him up again to be a bird's eye view while he rushed to organize everyone left on the ground into a search party. Not just for Superman of course, but for everyone who might be lost or crushed under all the fallen buildings. 

They found plenty of people, the Flash family were making constant trips back and forth to take those who could be moved safely to any available hospital in the county between helping with the search themselves. Emergency helicopters were constantly circling to take those not stable enough for the Flash’s transportation methods as well. Danny had seen plenty of blood and injury in his time working for, and then with Red Hood, but some of these injuries were beyond anything he’d seen. It was trying even his nerves and yet all of Teen Titans worked alongside them, grim faced and determined. Danny almost wished they wouldn’t, but he knew better then to stay anything.

They dug out and saved a lot of people, but for every one person they found alive they found at least ten bodies, which they laid out as respectfully as they could in the longest remaining clear stretch of road and covered when possible. They would have to be identified later, the ones who could still be identified, the rest would have to be DNA tested or something. It wasn’t the best solution, but they had limited resources to evacuate and they needed to focus on caring for the living for now. 

The longer they looked the more worried everyone got. Superman had super hearing, if he had been at all conscious he should have been responding to his calls for anyone in need of help, but they heard nothing. Danny had truly hoped that the ectoplasm wouldn’t be more affective then a normal bullet, after all just because it was glowing green didn’t mean it was related to kryptonite right?! But his hope that Supes wouldn’t be badly hurt was dwindling by the minute. Ya Danny hadn’t liked the guy, sure but he was worried too, and watching as Kon searched with increasing desperation was devastating.

Finally the call came that Superman had been found and Kon rushed to see, with Danny on his heels. The Flash was already standing by since he’d been the one who found Superman, who had apparently fallen hard enough to make a small crater and have a wall fall on top of him. Kon grabbed the edge of the wall and heaved it off of his sort-of-father so they could get to him. 

Danny’s breath caught in his throat and Kon stumbled back when they saw the hero, his suit had been burned away, and so had most of the flesh on his chest. Danny could see flashes of white bone through the charred flesh and next to him Kon froze as well. He let out a choked sort of keen and before Danny could think he was pulling the larger, but much younger man into a fierce embrace, before either of them could properly examine the gruesome details. Kon hid against Danny’s chest, shaking slightly, in another moment Ellie was there too, pressed against Kon’s back and comforting.

“He’s still breathing!” Flash yelled even as Robin rushed by them, resting a hand for just a moment on Kon’s shoulder before leaping down into the crater. He always showed love and support through action, and he would make sure Kon’s shitty DNA doner didn’t get a chance to die before they mended their relationship. He got to work setting up an IV with fluids, checking vitals and shouting at everyone around him, snapping them into motion and organizing evacuation for Clark to get to the watch tower where he could get help from doctors who somewhat understood Kryptonian biology. He left Kon, Ellie, and Danny be though, letting them sooth him as best as he could. 

He was airlifted out in one of the JL’s jets before Robin climbed back out of the crater and rested a hand on Kon’s shoulder again. “He’ll survive, he’s in good hands now. But Kon, there’s a lot more people here who still need helps, he’s not the only one trapped under walls and the others are just human. Can you keep helping us?” He asked softly, trying not to pressure his friend into doing something he wasn’t ready for, even if later he wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t help now. 

Kon took a deep breath and then gently pushed Danny away. He set his jaw, rolled his shoulders, and then nodded to Tim. “Of course I’ll help,” He said in a voice still rough and thick with emotion. Tim nodded back, there would be time enough later for emotions, now was the time for action.

Danny felt a swell of unearned pride about the young heroes of character. This team, all of young justice, were so strong and mature for their age, so good. They had support in each other, and some adults, they would grow up to be a better generation of heroes, be better than him for sure. He had made the right choice in having Ellie stay with them, and he was glad she felt comfortable there and had agreed to stay.

They worked all day, and through the night finding and saving everyone they could. Those with super strength made sure no stone was left unturned no matter their size. The children they found were the worst and made Danny’s gut churn with guilt, but no matter how many times Jason approached him to gently remind him they were mercenaries and didn’t have to help if they didn’t want to, Danny rebuffed him. He said it was good politics to help since he would be kind now and one of his people caused the destruction, but in reality he wanted to help, needed to even for his own peace of mind and because he couldn’t leave the young team.

Finally they ran out of places to look, and the bodies started to be taken out to tents set up outside the city perimeter. The rebuilding was yet to begin but the emergency was over, and even heroes needed to rest sometimes. Danny could feel fatigue weighing heavy on himself, and he was sure once the adrenaline wore off Kon was going to have to carry Tim home, or maybe Cassie would have to carry both of them.

He was ready to go home too, finally, and went to find Jason so they could go home together. If only the universe would let him have that. Danny paused as he felt a familiar rush of cold and bit back a groan as he looked around to confirm the rest of the world had stopped moving. He turned to see where Clockwork was and yelped when he found the man already standing too close to Danny’s back. He jumped back and cursed while the old man wore a thin smile that told Danny the bastard had absolutely done it on purpose. 

“It’s time?” Danny asked when he had regained his composure. 

“Yes, it’s time,” Clockwork agreed. He rapped his cane firmly on the ground and the rest of the ghost council started to cluster around. Clockwork must have given them amulets for the occasion, but that wasn’t what Danny wanted. 

“Wait!” He snapped as an ambassador for the Observants stepped forward holding the crown. There was an annoyed ripple of clocks but Danny ignored that and looked to Clockwork. “Unfreeze time. I want my fiance, and the human world at large to witness my coronation.”

“Your Highness, you know as well as any of us that the Mortal world and the dead aren’t supposed to mix, it’s-” Pandora started to say, proper as ever.

“A bit too late for that,” Danny interrupted, gesturing at the destruction around them. “Besides, I’m still of this world. I’m half living, half dead, I am Balance. I’ll need to spend as much time here as I do in the Realms, so they might as well know.” 

Clockwork tilted his head, considering the proposal as he shifted through ages. Once he had cycled back to being an old man he nodded slowly. “Alright, if that is what you wish,” He agreed, and time started moving again, now with more than a dozen ghosts standing in the middle of the recent ruins. “It is long past time for us to officially crown you as the new king.”

[too-much-tma-stuff]

We Agree to Your Terms (part 23)

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TW: descriptions of violence

They talked about Danny's conditions for helping, he had an idea what they were going to be already. But he wanted and needed Jason behind him every step of the way here so Danny talked out as much of his thought process as he could.

As they talked they watched videos as they came out, livestreams and news clips talking about the destruction being caused by the new, unidentified threat. The videos were grainy and corrupted, as most videos of ghosts were, but most of them were clear enough to see what was happening, especially the ones that were taken from a bit of a distance. Those ones were less likely to come to an abrupt bloody end.  

They watched as heroes arrived on scene, and along with them the drone that Danny had infused with ecto so they hacked into its stream instead. Danny was amused to see that it was occasionally ignoring directions, apparently it had developed a little bit of a mind of its own but it was still doing its job.  

The heroes quickly realize most of their attacks had no effect at all on Pariah Dark. The only ones who seemed like they could touch him were Raven, John Constantine, and of course, Phantasm. But all they could do was slow him down and try to buy a little more time for the other heroes to evacuate as many civilians as they could. Danny tensed every time Ellie had a close call, but he couldn’t rush off to save her. Not yet.

The destruction was hard for him to watch, people were dying, and not just a few. The skeleton army and Pariah himself were ruthless and entirely without remorse. Danny saw more than one truly impressive spray of blood, limp bodies falling to the ground and after the first couple he watched with dissociative disinterest. More lives were ruined then just those who were ended, homes were being destroyed, one town was already all but levelled and those who had been evacuated in time would have little to nothing to go back to, it was a major humanitarian disaster in progress. 

They watched an interview as one of the GIW agents arrived on scene, at first they were barely able to disguise their glee as they explained that this was a ghost. Ghosts were dangerous and unfeeling blah blah blah, all their usual talking points. But not to worry! The GIW had the weapons and knowhow to deal with this threat! 

This was what they had wanted the entire time after all, a ghostly rampage to prove their worth to the world. Or at least this was what they thought they wanted, if only it weren’t a matter of minutes before it was completely obvious they were outgunned and untested. All they were good for was meat shields to get the civilians out, and at least Danny could find some joy in that. Watching those all too familiar white suits get ripped up and stained red with blood soothed deep, angry aches imprinted on Danny’s core. He couldn’t help but laugh at their futile fight, some got a few lucky shots off, but at best they took out a handful of skeletons, and Pariah could always summon more of those.

 Then the GIW weren’t even good as meat shields. They had barely bought a few minutes of time for the evacuation efforts before half of them broke and ran! Booking it as soon as it was obvious this was a real threat, and not something they could deal with with their stolen and half baked weapons. The selfish cowardly little cringelings! 

Danny snarled and curled his fingers into claws, barely resisting digging them into Jason’s arms as he held Danny close and made soothing noises. He had never felt so much disdain for another creature as these wannabe heroes who weren’t actually interested in anything besides their own glorification. 

“It won’t be much longer,” Jason soothed Danny, “They’re running out of ideas I’m sure, they’ll call soon. I’ve already declined three calls from Batman.” They had decided not to answer Bruce, he’d probably want them to do the ‘right thing’ with no guarantee of any change and that wasn’t something they were interested in. Danny was waiting to hear from Diana, or maybe one of the leaders themselves.

It was Diana who called, which made sense since Deadman probably didn't have a phone. Jason picked up her call after the first ring which was sure would annoy the hell out of Bruce knowing that his calls were being purposefully screened. 

“Hello, thank you for answering, Red Hood. I wouldn’t have blamed you and your Lover for leaving this world to its fate,” She said with bitter rage. “But I believe these ninnyhammers are ready to see sense. Will you come back and give them a second chance?” She asked patiently. Danny wondered if Themyscira would be alright even if the rest of the world fell, most Gods had to be some sort of neverborn and they protected the island of the Amazons right? Maybe Wonder Woman’s people would be okay.

“We’ll come, but we’re no longer willing to compromise,” Jason growled into the fun.

“Understood,” Diana said in a clipped tone and Jason hung up.

“Are you ready Danny,” Jason asked softly as he pocketed his phone again. 

“As I’ll ever be,” Danny sighed. “Let's just get this over with before anyone else gets hurt.” He straightened and dipped down to re-enter the meeting hall, through the ceiling this time. Danny’s makeshift throne was still there so Danny went straight back to it and sunk down into it, Jason standing at his shoulder again. He couldn’t really help with this other than supporting Danny, and being proud of him for taking charge like this. It was a far cry from how subservient he had been early on. 

Danny had grown so much, and so had Jason. When he was newly back in Gotham so full of rage and so much to prove he wouldn’t have been able to stand behind anyone in silent support. Hell he probably would have shot this place up for talking to Danny the way they had before he’d been in therapy. This was a bitter thing, having to stand in front of this meeting, but it felt like a culmination of their growth. 

“So, you called me back,” Danny said as he leaned back in his icey throne, making it look far more comfortable than it truly must be. 

“You have to do something about this,” Someone demanded, Danny didn’t bother to seek out who it was since he didn’t recognize the voice. 

“Do I?” Danny laughed. “Because I thought you just finished saying it was your job to protect your people.”

“But this is a ghost, this is one of yours!”

“Technically, No he’s not,” Danny grimaced. “That’s the previous king so he currently outranks me. Besides I could defeat him, but he’s not a threat to my people right now. So no, I will not help. I will, however, accept your surrender.” 

“What?” Agent W yelped, why she was still present Danny had no idea. 

“You heard me. He will keep going, he's obsessed with expanding the ranks of the dead he rules. He's attacked the earth before, and I'm sure you remember who it was who defeated him then,” Danny said, turning his gaze to agent W.

“Well it was a couple of our correspondents, the Dr's. Fenton. They-” She blustered.

Danny made an incorrect buzzer noise. “Wrong, some of their tech was used but who was wielding that tech?” He demanded, staring her down. “You're under oath, don't even think about lying.” 

She didn’t answer, but the lemon bitten expression on her face was answer enough really.

“That's right! Last time he broke through I saved the world from him, and my thanks was being captured and tortured. I don't plan to make that mistake again. This time if you want my help you will agree to my terms before I take care of the problem.” 

“And what are your terms?” Diana asked, despite everything she sounded patient and calm, bless her. 

Danny nodded to her gratefully and braced himself before he started talking. He needed to sound confident and reasonable, he didn’t want to sound angry but he also couldn’t leave any doubt he was serious. He did not want to waste any time debating. 

“One; I want the anti-ecto acts repealed and ghosts added to the meta protection acts. Two; I want any active portals to be handed over to the combined control of the Justice League, myself, and my court. Three; I want to be the one called if there are any future issues with ghosts so they can be dealt with through our justice system. Four; I want diplomatic immunity for me and my betrothed. Finally; I want all high ranking members of the GIW handed over to my court so I can be sure they see appropriate consequences for their actions.” 

“You can’t expect us to hand over our-” The American representative started.

“I don’t care what you’re about to say,” Danny interrupted, holding up his hand to stop them. “And I’m not interested in negotiating. If you’re not ready to agree to my terms I’ll wait. But you better not make me wait too long, because casualties are stacking up and before I agree to help I’ll need a signed surrender, and agreement to my terms.”

“Esteemed leaders, there is one more thing that we can try,” Agent W spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention to her. At least she had the good sense to look nervous, but it seemed like the GIW wasn’t ready to give up, annoyingly enough.

“What is it?” Batman was the one to ask, this time he wasn’t even trying to hide his suspicion. 

“We have another weapon, developed by Fentons and further refined by us. We didn’t want it to come to that because it’s a more destructive weapon, hard to wield, and expensive to produce. But we have developed an ecto-missile that-”

“No!” Danny interrupted glaring at her. “You built that missile to try and destroy the ghost zone itself. It’s not safe to-”

“It’s an ectoplasmic weapon it’s not dangerous to-”

“Ectoplasm is clearly still dangerous to humans! Otherwise ghosts wouldn’t be the threat you clearly think they are. Besides to increase the destructive energy and fallout I Know you tried to add nuclear energy. If you fire that thing you will cause more harm to civilians then to the enemy you’re trying to destroy! I don’t know how big you made that thing, but given that you wanted it to destroy an entire dimension, how much of North America are you willing to sacrifice in the hopes it might take out Pariah Dark?”

“What other options are you giving them!?” She snapped at Danny, but he could see the desperation on her face. She knew if they did agree she would be handed over to his justice so he could hardly blame her for grasping at straws.

“To agree to my terms. As soon as the documents are signed I will go fight him. I have a good track record of keeping civilian casualties to an absolute minimum once I’m involved. How many people from the GIW will you have to hand over? A couple dozen? To save thousands of civilian lives, rather than sacrificing hundreds of civilian lives to maybe stop the threat. I think I’m offering a very good deal,” Danny said. He was trying not to sound desperate, but he didn’t want to see any more people hurt then necessary and he was scared they were about to make a terrible mistake.

“You expect us to surrender-”

“He’s not even asking for the reparations he would almost certainly be due!” Wonder Woman snapped, her tone generally startling Danny with how furious she sounded. “His terms are downright kind. You should agree to them.” 

“I have sent the requirements to a friend of mine who is drawing up the contact,” Batman growled. “When you come to your senses the surrender will be ready to print and sign.” 

Danny felt a little tension bleed out of his shoulders at the tacet agreement from Batman. He had been worried that he wouldn’t, and he had been worried that if the leaders or their lawyers wrote the document they would put in some sort of trick or trap that he wouldn’t be educated enough to catch. He didn’t think that Batman would pull something like that. He might have been smart enough to do something like that, but he was fair and he didn’t like those sort of sneaky tricks. Not with them, not if he wanted any of his kids to keep talking to him anyway.

“Good, should we leave again so all of you can consider?” Red hood asked, standing straight with his hands loose at his sides. “I don’t want to see you have to watch you weigh these people’s lives against your pride,” He spat contemptuously.

Danny nodded and pressed his palms against the arms of his throne, ready to push himself up. He didn’t want to see that either, he could feel the mounting death toll churning in his gut with every passing minute spent here deliberating. He hoped he would be a better leader than these people at least, more decisive and willing to make the hard choices even when it scared him.

“There’s no need for that,” Someone spoke up and when Danny looked up their mouth was set into a firm line. “The decision is obvious isn’t it? We would have to be mad to prefer wanton destruction over a reasonable compromise to gain a new ally. That is what it means that we’d call you for future ghost problems, correct?” 

“Yes that is what I meant,” Danny said, settling back in his seat. “I don’t think there will be many issues, especially once we have joint control of existing portals, but if there are, call me as soon as you can. I will make sure they are dealt with quickly and with minimal damage," he assured.

Not everyone looked happy about the solution, but Danny didn’t care. If they dragged their feet signing the paper damages would be on their heads, not Danny’s. A staff member came running in with a piece of paper and Batman got up to meet them, it was two pages but it looked like the second was basically just lines for signatures. 

“Do you want to have a look at it first?” He asked Danny, in a surprisingly gentle voice walking over and offering him the paper. 

Jason was the one who leaned forward and took it before Danny could. Batman seemed a bit surprised but relinquished it to Jason with a barely perceptible nod and stood by, waiting to take it back when they were done. Red Hood glanced over it and then handed it to Danny, who gave him a small smile and a nod before taking his time to read the document. Yes they were in a rush but it was only one page and he wanted to make doubly sure it covered everything he needed it to cover. And it did, it had Danny’s list of terms of surrender reworded into formal language and asserted that by signing the document they were agreeing to the Ghost King’s terms.

He handed it back to Batman with a nod of approval. Batman nodded back and went back to his seat, handing it to Diana who read the terms of surrender aloud to the room. She signed it without hesitation once she finished reading it, and passed it to the leader next to her. It was at that point that Agent W started to have a meltdown, a sight that really amused Danny as she started screaming they couldn’t do this, they couldn’t hand her over to those monsters. She was quickly escorted out of the room and he just hoped that she was going to be held in custody or she might make a break for it. It was going to take a bit to round up all the members of the GIW he wanted he was sure, oh well, he could be patient. 

Around the room it went, some hesitated to sign more than others, but no one completely refused to sign it. As time went on and new death tolls came in and got higher and higher those who hesitated too long were booed down quickly. The urgency was starting to set in as it finally processed that this was really happening. This wasn’t exactly the begging Danny had hoped for, but given how stupidly proud a lot of human’s were, this was good enough.

Finally all of the leaders had agreed to the terms. An attendant was sent out of the room at a run to copy the document so that Danny could have a copy and so could the Justice League. Danny couldn’t help starting to fidget at that point, he was itching to Go! Both to end the suffering of the people in the path of destruction and to finally end this once and for all. The threat of Pariah Dark and his eventual crowning had been hanging over his head for years, it was time to face his demons and beat the shit out of them. 

As soon as he got the paper and had glanced it over he stood and handed the signed surrender off to Jason. “Great! I’ll be going to deal with Pariah now, the rest of you can make yourself useful and start rounding up the GIW.”

“We will,” Diana assured, looking determined and angry. 

“Great,” Danny said and grabbed Jason before flying out of the building through the ceiling again and back towards the US as quickly as he could without damaging Jason. 

“You had better not be planning to drop me off somewhere away from the fight,” Jason shouted over the sound of the wind. “I’m coming with you, both my brother and your little sister are there! I want to try and make sure Robin and Nightwing don’t get hurt.” 

Well, at least he wasn’t talking about trying to protect Danny. “I won’t,” Danny agreed with a resigned sigh. “I have a feeling that trying to leave you somewhere would just piss you off and you’d find a way to get in trouble anyway.”

“You’re damn right I would,” Jason promised, and Danny both hated him and loved him for how damn smug he sounded.

Once they were close enough for a running drop off far enough away that Pariah wouldn’t spot them and try to shoot them out of the sky. An experience which could barely inconvenience Danny and completely destroy Jason. Once Jason was safely on the ground Danny was face to face with Pariah Dark in seconds. 

“Aha! The little king finally shows himself,” Pariah sneered mockingly. “I assume this means you’re ready to be destroyed.”

Danny expected to be scared, to feel impending doom and anger. But he looked at this specter of his childhood and he felt… nothing. After everything that he had been through, Pariah didn’t scare him anymore, and he certainly didn’t hate him like Danny did the GIW. He was just an irritation, a barrier to the life that he wanted. 

“Shut up and let’s get this over with,” Danny snarled and sent a blast of energy toward Pariah that he barely managed to dodge by flying up to meet Danny in mid air. 

Danny was ready for him.