#I really want to make a Tim Drake villain origin story in this au. I am SO gonna make Tim spiral in this.

[mortiferumsomnum]

Soup Kitchens and Runaway Ghosts (Part 3)

*throws idea-fic at you guys* THANK YOU FOR LIKING THIS!!!! ASLDGKHSALKDGHLAKSDGH

Part 1, Part 2

****

When your boss tells you to come to Apartment 304 in Schnapp Avenue along the Upper West Side of Gotham, you don’t question it. You especially don’t question the grocery list that your boss listed down for you, neither do you question the need for fluffy blankets, pillows and paper bags.

You have to gather up the things in a box, get into your (stolen) car, and drive to your second location.

It’s just something you do.

The less questions you ask, the less you have to deny. That’s what Bill had learned in his life as a professional henchman.

However, after a long career of being a henchman, none had ever compared to the experience of working under the Red Hood. Sure, the guy threatens you with his guns, and shoots and misses your feet as a joke, but the man had been changing the lower-class neighborhood for better with all the control he has in the Gotham Underworld.

Bill never had to fear for his life, either. He didn’t have to worry about living a new day, and he didn’t have to worry about what wacky idea his boss had just cooked up. Now, all he worried is what kind of soup they’ll be making for the next day at the soup kitchen, and what new recipe the Red Hood’s favorite person, Jason, was going to teach them.

Honestly, Bill didn’t feel like a henchman at all. Maybe a butler-in-training, even if there was no hope for him being employed as a butler.

(In the future, Bill would fondly look back at this moment as he serves tea to a graying Alfred, who is relaxing in his bed as Jason... well, Master Jason, retold his semi-mundane day to his grandfather.)

Finally, he arrives.

*****

- ‘Congratulations! You killed someone! But not just someone! It’s multiple people!’ a voice in Tim’s head laughs. It sounds like a mix between murder-hungry Jason and that lunatic Joker. 

- There had been a time before he killed someone. Well, he thought he killed him. Johnny Warlock. Although in the end, the guy was actually alive the whole time, Tim remembers punching the guy’s fake until he couldn’t hear the fake’s grunts, until he couldn’t hear the fake’s heartbeats. Warlock hurt Spoiler, hurt Steph who he was in love with that time; he broke her leg and made her scream. He was so beat up over being a murderer, it took a while to get over it. (Source: Robin #123, Die Screaming, Boy Wonder!)

- It also doesn’t help that he even met a future version of himself who killed everyone, donned in a fucking Batsuit and acting like going far and killing your enemies was the norm. To be fair, in this future, every single teen titan were killing and taking things too far, but there is nothing more frightening than knowing that you have the potential to kill so efficiently without remorse. (Source: Teen Titans vol. 4 #17-19, Teen Titans of Tomorrow; Robin Today, Batman Tomorrow; Running Out of Time)

- Now, he killed people. On accident. Fuck.

- Before heading to the apartment, he decided to head to the scene, staking out in a shadowed area while observing what was going on. It wasn’t good. There were police everywhere. Jim Gordon was talking with a bunch of... investigators? Wait, they’re not Gotham-based investigators.

- He threw a tiny drone into the air, letting it catch wind before controlling it to fly closer to where the investigators were, planting a few bugs onto them and turning up the volume in his installed listening device. He was too far to lip-read. (I’d like people to know that in this au, he has some bugs on every officer in Gotham.)

- “Look,” that was Jim Gordon’s voice, “I get that you want to take over investigating this case, but I’m not handing it to you. You don’t understand the going-ons in this city. Red Hood is a crime-lord, yes. But this situation looks like the Red Hood was being chased for things not related to crime. Excessive how these ‘government based agents’ took to chasin’ after a single rogue without a single thought of avoiding civilians. It was the Red Hood leadin’ them to a civilian-less road, from how it looks like, rather than being chased into an environment where they could go all out. They didn’t hesitate to run-down a civilian, much less avoid children or seniors. In comparison to Red Hood who took great care to staying off of civilian roads and within GCPD territory.”

- “I don’t trust any of ‘ya folks who say yer from the government to keep my city safe.”

- “Like you have been keeping it safe for all the years you’ve been Commissioner?” one of the investigators scoffed. “Letting caped vigilantes beat up bad guys, and receiving weekly break-outs while your officers do nothing but sit pretty in their car with a gun?”

- Tim bristled. Jim Gordon is the only person who’s trying to do anything to make sure Gotham citizens stay safe, trying his best to weed out all the corrupt officers no matter how slow it had been going. Things ARE getting better. It’s not like Jim likes relying on vigilantes, either. The only time he relies on the Bat is when there is No Other Option. But he has mutual respect with all the Bats.

- Commissioner Gordon only raises an unimpressed brow, which looks so much like Barbara’s. “You’re still not getting it,” he said, turning around and doing a great impression of Batman walking away like a badass, letting his long coat billow in the wind. Unlike the Bats, however, he doesn’t disappear from sight and only enters his car, driving away.

- The investigators start talking to themselves. Here’s what Tim gathers: 35 men had been killed from his little accidental murder. (Breathe in, Tim. You can brood about it later...) They weren’t just chasing after Red Hood, but they were also after a ‘Daniel Fenton’ and an ‘unauthorized clone’ possibly made from Daniel’s genes. This ‘Daniel’ also can’t be brought back to his home, because his parents have also teamed up with them.

- They confirmed Jason’s claims about these people hunting down ghosts. But Tim finds out from them how they not only aim to hunt them down, they aim for complete extermination. It’s ‘Daniel’s’ parents who wants to conduct experiments, given that any findings will be reported to these people. 

- There’s... there’s just no way these people are actually from the government. If ghosts were real and the government were involved... wouldn’t that mean that there are actual laws on how ghosts are treated and dealt with?

- “Make sure to report to the boss about how much we need to spend to catch these ghosts.” Tim almost growls, clenching his fists. Because not only were they talking about getting rid of ghosts, but including the extermination of his definitely-not-but-totally-is-brother. He can’t let this happen. 

- Once these investigators were done talking, they went into their own car. Tim made sure that his bugs wouldn’t be tracked for at least the next 3 days. Then, he opened his comms to a private link to Oracle.

- “O, I need you to search something. Ectobiology laws.”

- “...What?”

- “Laws on how ghosts are dealt with.”

- “Tim... I... fine.”

- After a few moments, Oracle cursed. “This can’t be real. There are actual laws on--- Tim, how did you find out about this? Does Bruce know about this? What the actual--”

- “I don’t think even Harvey Dent knows about this, and he was an attorney. What did it say?”

- “In summary? It’s all ‘kill on sight’ for any ghost. They’re making reforms for some of them, though. None of them good. It mostly involves research.”

- “Are there any research on ghosts?”

- “That are not just narrative reports from Ghost Hunters? Yeah, from Madeline and Jack Fenton. They’ve written so many of them, they’re probably the only scientific source. Ectoplasm... it seems to be similar to the Lazarus Pits...”

- Tim pursed his lips. He doesn’t know how much Jason wants to share about Daniel and the clone. “O, these people want to catch Jason. He has the same ecto-signature as the ghosts that they seem to like tracking down.” He needs to update his safe-house to avoid Jason and his new wards from getting caught. But also, “We might want to see if Robin and Batman has some kind of ecto-signature on them... Maybe even Dick from how much time he spends with them. I’ll try to nab some of the gadgets from these vans and see if we can turn them into our own tech. 

- “You do that. I’ll update Batman on what’s going on.”

- Tim cuts the line off and sighs. His body suddenly feels heavy, and it’s not because of anything physical. It was a weight in his mind that refuses to lighten, only growing heavier and heavier. 

- But he remembers what he told Barbara, and he remembers that Jason is waiting for him with hot chocolate in the safe-house he needs to upgrade.

- He pushes his body forward. It’s probably thanks to his training that his body is able to do exactly he needs to do, staying out of the people’s eyes while snatching the tech before it could be loaded in some government trailer. his head felt foggy, and he couldn’t feel his hands and legs. But his body was moving. And the next thing he knows, he’s already changed out of his costume, headed to Jason on foot.

***

- The Doctor, Theodore “Teddy” Sturgeon (HEH. I named him after some author. Have you read To Marry Medusa? don’t remember much of the plot, but damn I remember loving it!), checked over Danny again. 

- Everything was healed. The vivisection and blaster wounds have healed into scars. Other parts of his body also showed some light scars, but the most dangerous ones have been healed.

- He sighed, rubbed a hand down in his face, and took a spare pillow. Then, he screamed into it.

- The smell of chocolate wafted around the apartment, making him feel nauseous, so he laid on the cold floor. Which, of course, made his nausea worse. 

- “Hey, Doctor Teddy! Do you want some hot chocolate?”

- No. Maybe some soup. But Teddy was too nauseous to talk. So, he only groaned back.

- “I’ll take that as a yes!”

- Of course groaning was a mistake.

- The Red Hood, who was now dressed like a civilian named Jason, came back inside with two mugs. He handed one of the mugs to Dani, who took it with a smile. Everyone in the room could tell how shaky her hands were, and that’s why ‘Jason’ led Dani to one of the smaller couches for her to sit down on.

- Then, Jason sat down at another couch and sipped from his own mug. Thank you Mr. Red Hood for thinking he was pathetic enough to not have any of his own hot chocolate.

- That was when there was a knock on the door. The Red Hood laid his mug on the wooden table that was also in the room, before getting up to answer the door, Dani doing the same thing and running right after him.

- [And I’d like everyone to know that Dani is smol. Like, she reaches until Jason’s hips smol.]

- He heard Dani gasp. “IT’S BILL!!!”

- He heard the Red Hood sigh. “Timmers, why are you burritoed and carried by my best chef?”

- “Hrrrrnnngggg...”

- “I’m not... I’m not that good, man.”

- Huh... that last voice sounds familiar. Doctor Teddy took a great effort to stand up, groaning and feeling his knees click. Then, finally, the people came back in, with Jason heading straight to the kitchen with a paper bag... probably full of groceries, and...

- “Oh, shit, Bill??”

- “Teddy??”

- Dani blinked at the both of them, sitting back down at the small couch while picking up her mug. “The two of you know each other?”

- Know each other? They used to work under the same bosses during the first Robin’s earlier years! Teddy was trying to get his degree while also getting paid doing all the easy stuff, y’know, like bandaging other henchmen up?? He was there when Bill had lost two of his femurs to Batman. He’s the one who brought him to Dr. Thompkins’ hospital.

- During those years, both he and Bill were so desperate to make a living, they refused to see exactly how deep in crime the both of them were getting. By the time the third Robin came into the picture, they drifted apart... well, it’s not like the two of them were close in the first place, but whichever boss Teddy was with, Bill was there too. It just felt weird not seeing the other whenever they were working under a new boss.

- Teddy got his degree, tried practicing in legal stuff, got too sentimental with some patients, and got arrested for doing unauthorized surgeries on people who definitely needed them. After being released, there was no hospital willing to accept him anymore... that’s when the Red Hood recruited him... and the rest was history.

- Bill chuckled. “Small world, huh?” he said. Then, gesturing to Danny with his chin, he smiled at Teddy. “Looks like we’re going back to old times, eh?”

- Teddy, who no longer felt the effects of nausea, only nodded. “Yeah,” he said, smiling back. Then, he gestured to the kid that Bill was carrying over his shoulder. “Does he need help?”

- Bill shook his head. “Nah. The kid just needs a cup of Jason’s hot chocolate. He looks like he’s been under the influence of Scarecrow’s fear toxin.”

- Teddy winced. “Yeah, okay,” he said, stepping aside so that Bill could place the kid wrapped in a fluffy blanket on the small couch the Red Hood was sitting on earlier. 

- Teddy squinted. “Is that... Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne?????”

- Bill nodded.

- Oh shit... he knew that the Red Hood, Jason, looked familiar. Does that mean that his name is actually, truthfully Jason?? THE Jason Peter Todd-Wayne??? Second adopted son of Bruce Wayne who died????? No... no... maybe they just look alike. And have the same name. Or the Red Hood chose that name specifically because he LOOKS like Jason.

- But that makes no sense! The Red Hood shoots anyone who disrespects the dead. He’d be a hypocrite if he wasn’t... Jason...

- Red Hood, who might also actually be known as Jason, walked into the room with a tray carrying three mugs. He handed one to Bill, then one to Timothy, who accepted it with a tired thank you, and then a mug towards Teddy. Upon accepting it (and no, Teddy did not squeak while he thanked him! *sobs* he didn’t!!), Teddy realizes that his mug was filled with good ol’ chicken soup.

- Okay, whatever. You don’t throw under the bus someone who feeds you well. Taking a sip, he inwardly cried at how good it was.

- “So, the kid sleeping on the couch is your brother?” Bill decided to ask, taking a seat on a chair he dragged from the kitchen.

- “Yeah... kinda... but we like thinking we’re siblings!”

- “Hm... how long has he been out?” Bill asked. 

- Here, the small girl seemed to become smaller. Her face turned sad, and it broke Teddy’s heart because no small child is supposed to look that sad. The Red Hood... Jason patted the girl’s back to comfort her.

- “He’s been out even before she took me to check on him, Bill,” said Jason. “He’s also never woke up when the Red Hood brought him over to Doc.”

- Oh, ohhhhhh, so we’re keeping Jason and the Red Hood being the same person a secret? Okay, yeah, Teddy could do that. Wait, he called him Doc, and only Doc. He doesn’t want Bill to misunderstand that he’s being legal in his Doctor stuff. He’s as much in crime as Bill probably is.

- But he doesn’t have time to point that out, because Timothy Drake-Wayne grunted, bringing out from his blanket a plastic bag full of tech, looking a bit more lively now that he’s drunk the hot chocolate.

- “Is everyone in this room in the know about who’s chasing after... the kids?” he was looking at Jason for confirmation, who nodded.

- “The official story,” said Timothy, “is that the ‘Government Investigation Ward’ or GIW is after the Red Hood, due to his constitution being similar to that of a ghost.”

- Bill blinked. “I’m sorry... what?”

- Timothy ignored him. “Ghost is just a general term for anything that has ectoplasm. The real story is that they’re after the kids AND Red Hood, because all three of them have ectoplasmic components in their body.”

- Bill looked to Teddy with a question in his eyes. Ectoplasm? his gaze seemed to ask. 

- “When I was treating Danny over here, he had some green substance in his blood,” he explained. “It both enhanced his healing and the infection, so his body was literally at war on the inside.” Turning his gaze to Timothy, he confirmed, “That green substance must be what you’re calling ectoplasm, right?”

- Timothy nodded. “It is. I don’t know the full description of what this ectoplasm does, but it seems that all three seem to naturally create ectoplasm in their bodies.”

- “When the Red Hood said to the Bats that the GIW seemed to follow him due to what he was, it mostly meant that the GIW was following them through their ectobiological signatures.” Timothy then shook the plastic to make all of their attention point to it. “The tech in this plastic bag? I took it directly from the vans before they were retrieved by the government. Once I figure out how they managed to sense ectoplasm with these things, I’m going to upgrade the security measures in this room... and then to the new safehouse we’re going to move into.”

- Bill whistled. “I knew that the Waynes were probably sponsoring the Bats behind the scenes, but to be the ones personally making their gadgets? That’s amazing.”

- Doc suddenly put the pieces together... techy... Timothy Drake-Wayne being Jason Todd-Wayne’s step-brother...

- Oh shit. That’s Red Robin, isn’t he?!?????

- “You okay, Doctor Teddy?? You’re looking a bit pale over there...” said Dani with worry on her face.

- “I’m... I’m fine.” NO I’M NOT!!! “I’m just... processing that the government... is using the people’s taxes to chase after people who are very clearly alive....”

- Dani snorted. “You don’t know the half of it! But, yeah! This IS where all the taxes are going. That’s why a whole bunch of people where me and Danny came from commit tax fraud!”

- Jason huffed. “Danny and I, Dani.”

- Dani gave Jason the stink-eye. 

- Jason then pointed a thumb to the kitchen while looking at Timothy. “The dining table is clean. You could do your stuff there. There’s also extra hot chocolate on the stove.”

- Timothy gave a small thanks. But before Timothy could pass Jason, Jason took him by the shoulders and whispered into his ears that the Doctor couldn’t hear.

(”Thanks, Tim... I’ll chat with you later, yeah?”

Tim shrugged. “Or we don’t have to talk about it.”

Jason pats his shoulder. “Whatever makes you comfortable...” What else would Dick say, Jason wondered. Then, he added, “Just know that I’m here to listen when you do wanna talk.” Because there’s no fucking way he’s letting Bruce talk to Tim about what happened.

Tim was quiet, eyes shining under the dim light of the living room. “Yeah... thanks.

Nailed it.)

- Timothy then briskly disappeared into the kitchen.

***

- The investigators, who are actually known as Operative J and Operative K, using the aliases John Jones and Keith Keys, stopped their car in front of Wayne Manor, their gadget blinking and beeping softly as they stood in front of the gates. “Two ectoplasmic signatures here, over,” Operative J, John Jones, said into his comms.

- Operatives L, M and N were in front of Arkham Asylum, their own gadgets beeping softly. “One in Arkham, over.”

- Operative O, who was staking out in Schnapp Avenue, put his binoculars down. “Three in Schnapp Avenue: Daniel, the clone and an unknown man. Apartme----”

- Operative O wasn’t able to complete his report, because he was thrown into a wall, wheezing as he slid down.

- Then, he felt an electric shock to his neck, putting him to unconsciousness.

- “Operative O. Operative O, respond!”

- The Operative’s comms were crushed. Then, Operative O received another electric shock, frying any trackers he may have on his body that may lead the other government freaks to his location.

- Nightwing turned on his own comms. “O. Message Hood and Red Robin. Tell them that their location has been compromised.”

- “On it.”

- Nightwing then walked up to the unconscious Operative, picking him up by the back of his collar, and dragging him out of the rooftop. Some interrogations were in order.

****

Taglist (holy fuck there’s a lot of you *wheeze* I’m stopping the requests for tags cuz *gestures*): @203moonysello @crimsonfreakshow @quirky-gardener @ultimatebluff @8000fangirl @ashoutinthedarkness @lady-time-lord- @deathssilentapproach-blog @slytherindemonqueen @akikoyuii @ depressed-bitchy-demon @ crazylittlemunchkin @ angelheartgamer @ spicyramenstuff @ cat-in-a-fedora @ kawaiikenna @ scaehime @ kotaleartzu @ blankliferain @ xarexraven @ roseunivers999 @ mysticalcomputerdetective @ icedoverdestiny @ mlpizza @ rhyme-is-sublime @ yurijay @ distractedducky @ rosiea184 @ tinybrie @ absol-01-blog @ crystaldrops20 @ emilytopaz @ ae-vixrose

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[hashtagonlyingotham]

Can you suggest a great place to start for a new Batman comics fan?

Hi! Ooooh this is a tough one. It kinda depends on what kind of Batman stories and which characters from the batfamily you like. 

 A great place to start is Batman: Year One by Frank Miller because it’s basically a modern retelling of the origin story. 

I can also recommend some classic/pre-n52 Batman stories that you can read as standalones (in other words, they don’t require catching up with a year of comics before reading):  

- Batman: Two-Face and Scarecrow Year One. Introduction to well-known villains. Basically, everything with “Year One” behind it is designed to be a starting point.

- The Long Halloween, by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Very well-known and acclaimed. It has a sequel, Dark Victory. 

 - The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore. This one is a bit controversial in the fandom, some hail it as a classic, others don’t care for it much or downright hate it. In any case, it’s famous, maybe even famous enough for your library to have a copy. 

- Hush, followed up by Hush Returns, and Heart of Hush. Hush isn’t a very well-known villain outside of the comics, but I feel like he’s brought up pretty often in the comics after his introduction, so it might be a good idea to read “Hush” just so you know who he is. "Hush” also has lots of appearances by other Batman characters, villains and heroes alike. 

- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. This is an AU story (which of course makes it a perfect standalone) but it’s a very famous one. Its success kinda started the “darker and grittier” trend that most movies follow. 

There are many more but it has been a while since I’ve read them. No doubt some of my followers will be able to add to this. 

If you’re interested in the Batfamily, here are some pre-n52 books for them: 

- Robin Year One (Dick Grayson) 

- Batgirl Year One (Barbara Gordon) 

- A Death in the Family (the death of Jason Todd) 

- “Robin” is a solo title for Tim Drake’s Robin, the collections are called Robin: Flying Solo, Robin: Teenage Wasteland, and Robin: The Big Leagues.

- Battle for the Cowl: this story takes place after Bruce Wayne/Batman has “died”, leaving Gotham in disarray. It introduces Dick Grayson as Batman with Damian Wayne as Robin. 

- Tim Drake becomes Red Robin and has another solo title. Collections are: Red Robin: The Grail, Council of Spiders, Collision, Hit List, and Rabbithole.

- Gates of Gotham: a solid story that features Dick Grayson as Batman. 

If you do want to read an actual run, I can recommend the Batman n52 run. The n52 was a reboot in 2011, which had a lot of issues as a whole because it erased fan favourite characters and storylines, so you’ll find a lot of people complaining about n52 online (usually for good reasons).  However, the “Batman” title was actually pretty good. (Although I’ve only read the first 5 TPs, I couldn’t keep up with comics anymore when I started working full-time so if they became terrible after Zero Year, do let me know in the comments lol.) Here are the collections of that run: Batman: The Court of Owls (2012), Batman: The City of Owls (2013), Batman: Death of the Family (2013), Batman: Zero Year - Secret City (2014), Batman: Zero Year - Dark City (2014), Batman: Graveyard Shift (2015), Batman: Endgame (2015), Batman: Superheavy (2016), Batman: Bloom (2016), and Batman: Epilogue (2016).

(I personally wasn’t a big fan of what the n52 did with the other members of the batfamily, so I focussed mostly on Batman stories during this time. I heard the n52 “Detective Comics” run, which is Batman’s other title, was decent as well but I wasn’t keeping up with that one so I can’t be sure.) 

I can’t recommend anything more recent (after 2016) because I actually wasn’t able to keep up with comics anymore. (I know the n52 ended, but idk anything about what followed it.) But I’m sure some of my followers will be able to give even more recommendations! 

In the end, this is very personal. When it comes to comics, there’s just so much out there, you can’t possibly read it all and there really isn’t such a thing as “required reading”. There will be writers whose interpretation of the characters you like, and ones you hate. ^^; You’ll have to discover what your taste is, and have fun along the way. :)

[pl-panda]

Damienette arranged marriage: part 22

Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 part 14 part 15

part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Part 21

Damienette arranged marriage: part 22

NEXT

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“I can assure you me and your father can take care of ourselves.”

“Against normal villains yeah, but what if someone scarier comes. Or a particularly vicious Akuma?”

“What do you want to say sweety?”

“Maman… I want you to join the miraculous team.” Marinette stated and pulled a small box from her bag. 

--------------------------

“Oh sweety.” Sabine took the box and opened it. Inside laid a panjas bracelet with tiger mark in the middle. “You didn’t have to. Your old lady can kick ass without such things.” She smiled and put on the bracelet. A dark pink spirit reassembling a tiger appeared.

“Oh! Hi there. Hi hi. I see I have a new wielder.” Roaar turned to Marinette. “Thank you guardian for choosing me for this. I am sure we will achieve great things together.”

“No problem Roaar. I hope you two will get by great together.” The girl smiled at enthusiastic Kwami.

“Uh… Hi little spirit. My name is Sabine.” Mother spoke, getting Roaar’s attention. 

“Ah. Pleasure to meet you. Hi Hi. I am Roaar, the kwami of power. I can grant you the strength, speed, agility or endurance in battle.”

“Roaar is also very friendly. You told me that you wish to have someone to read books with like the old times but I am always busy. She said she loves adventures. I am sure you will have a perfect time together maman!” Marinette was beaming. She could already see that her mom and the kwami would match each other perfectly. 

“That is indeed very considerate Marinette. Thank you for this gift. I can assure you we will do our best to help you sweety. And kick Chat Noir in the ass the moment I see him.” Sabine smiled overly sweet at the thought. 

-----------------------

The next two months passed without much progress. Police disregarded the evidence whatsoever and all attempts to infiltrate Agreste manor ended with failure. The new heroine Pink Tigress joined the permanent rooster of heroes in Paris. Ladybug offered her father a miraculous too, but he decided that he will leave this stuff to the awesome girls in the house. 

Marinette spent most of her days either with Damian or Chloe. The girl didn’t pester Marinette for a miraculous like she expected and even covered for the young heroine when she needed it. She declared that she will earn her right be hero properly this time. But she was still her sassy self.

Alix indeed shifted sides, but so far she was unable to convince anyone else about Lila’s lies. Any attempt would end up with some Akuma and later the person would not remember what caused it or would eat up Lila’s lies. In the end it seemed that the liar was rooted too deeply to remove her. It didn’t really disheart neither Damian nor Chloe from trying. The two made it their personal mission to at least make Lila fear for her little empire at each step, albeit with little success besides few Akuma attacks. Marinette had no way of persuading them to stop. 

On the bright side of things, Sabine got in contact with Cass. At first the girl was reluctant to trust her newly discovered aunt, but as the relationship progressed the two woman got on the good side. Roaar also helped. Even if the sprite was not visible on camera, she still spoke on the phone and somehow the curious cat made Cass open up just enough for Sabine to make a connection. 

---------------------------------------

With the trip rapidly approaching, Ladybug called the war council. All of the active heroes (and Chloe) gathered in Hotel Grand Paris since it was easier and less risky. They all came in civilian clothes under different excuses. Only Pink Tigress actually used her hero persona to enter. And Chat Noir was not invited.  Nobody wanted him and Tim decided that he had some revelation about the cat. 

“Okay. We can begin.” Tim said as he activated the scrambler. No transmission could now enter or leave the room without his permission. 

“Yes. As you all know soon Damian and I will have to leave for Gotham to finalize some of the… matters.” Marinette started, but her husband interrupted her

“tt. We are formalizing the marriage.” Damian bluntly explained.

The girl blushed, but continued anyway. “Yes. And it will be hard to keep fighting Akumas on the distance and with the time difference.”

“Maybe give someone else the earrings for the time.” Stephanie disregarded the matter. “I mean look at how many heroes there are here. I am sure we can deal with this.”

“Actually, the only two staying will be Ryuko and Viperion.” Sabine quickly dozed off the girl’s hopes.

“What?” Stephanie was surprised by this. 

“Miss Bourgeois...” Damian stopped himself from saying ‘Yellow Menace’. Just because the two worked against common enemy (Lila) didn’t mean they had to like each other. They both rivalized for Marinette’s attention. So far Damian still got most of it, but the girl made sure that Chloe didn’t feel neglected. She always made sure to invite the mayor’s daughter to all group activities and things that weren’t dates. Or at least what she didn’t think would be dates. That was one weird evening. 

“Chloe is going with the class. And I am very sorry Chloe but I am still hesitant to trust you with Miraculous.” Marinette stopped Damian from saying something that would turn the war council into just war.

“No worries Mari-bug. I know I acted utterly ridiculous! and I still must work for the trust. And I have some business in Gotham that I couldn’t really miss.” Chloe grinned maliciously. 

“Do we want to know what is that you seek in the city of crime, miss Bo… Chloe?” Kagami asked. She was still not used to referring to others by their first names. 

“Nope!” The girl stated smugly, popping the ‘P’. 

“Maybe it would be best to look back at Paris right now.” Luka decided to remind them why they were here between humming some songs. 

“Yes! But before the Hawkmoth matter, “ Marinette looked at the older Wayne in the room. “Tim, you said you had something about Chat Noir.”

“Right. Just let me get some coffee first” He stood up but Steph and Damian pulled him down.

“No coffee for you before this is over Drake. Some of us had evening plans.” The glare Damian sent him could only be rivaled by his fathers one, but Tim just shrugged. The boy was either bravest person on earth or just much too tired to care about his health. Given the amount of coffee he drank, it was almost certainly the second one.

“Fine Demon Spawn. Way to ruin the mood.” Red Robin instead displayed the video of fight with Chat d’Amour from various cctv cameras. “One thing bugged me about this one. He was akumatized to go after Mari, but it doesn’t make much sense. What would get him upset?”

“I… Actually I have no idea…” Marinette admitted.

“Oh! I can have few ideas.” Chloe chimed in. “But none are good. The best one is that this leather-clad jerk was just self-pitying himself so much that he attracted Akuma. But the other one is much worse: he actually followed you around and got angry with the fact you were dating Damian. It means he is even more creepy.” At this idea Marinette couldn’t help but notice that Kagami and Damian instinctively grabbed their swords. The fencer now carried a katana around. Her mother was pleased when the girl extended her repertoire and Damian had a sparring partner. Plus both looked less awkward if both brought swords to school. What Mari failed to notice is her mother slipping one hand into the sporting bag she had and pulling a rather large knife. It only got her attention when Sabine started sharpening it while looking about as casually as Chloe when she was applying make-up. She seemed natural.

“Uh… I apreciate the protectiveness, but I think you are scaring someone maman.”

“Don’t worry sweety. I just remembered that I forgot to do this back home.” Mother said casually, trying to calm her daughter. “I asked your aunt to get me one with Cat motif on it.” 

“Maman!”

“ekh.” Damian faux-coughed, getting their attention.

“Right. So what is the real reason Tim?”

“Well, I did some thinking and I came to the conclusion that while both reasons are probable, neither match the timeline.”

“Get to the finish line hon.” Stephanie urged him.

“Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste.” Tim sighted.

“I take it back. Explain.” The dumbfounded expression on Spoiler’s face spoke volumes.

“So first I back-tracked the time of his akumatization. Based on the moment he crashed your party I put it against how long it would take him to get there from each point in town and how long it would take Akuma to get from the spawning zone to him in that location. All times were average and I factored in the uncertainty. But no matter how you look at it, to match with this exact timing he had to start from this circle.” To make it easier to understand, Tim displayed the map of Paris with maked Hotel, the spawning zone as they came to call area from where Akumas supposedly originated (now even smaller than before with Agreste Manor close to the center), and a ring around the hotel. “As you can see, the ring goes directly through College Francoise Dupont. It would make sense if he was actually in the building or at least close. We also already knew that Chat Noir was around the same age as Marinette. This leaves us with three options. He would either need to be home-schooled, attend the college or not go to school at all to be able to be there. That is unless he was skipping school, but it is improbable.”

“And why is that Sherlock?” Chloe interrupted.

“Because it would be too hard for him to skip school enough to stay Chat Noir. I checked his arrival time on other Akuma cases. There is no other school in close enough proximity for him to attend if he didn’t constantly skip classes just to patrol the city or more specifically shadow your class. Take that Queenie!” He raised his hand in the air before resuming his serious tone. “Anyway. Based on this and the fact he was always close to his class I came to conclusion that he was a student at the school. Then I just went through all the male students that weren’t akumatized and compared their confirmed locations with Chat Noir sightings. I admit the Gorrizilla case threw me off track for a moment, but then I noticed that Chat was not present for the most of the case until Adriens head was covered by a helmet. It just so happened that our model just so happened to meet his look alike on that day. Coincidence? I think not!” He screamed.

“That is indeed some revelation…” Kagami started, but Tim shushed her.

“That’s not the end. I believe that Chat Noir is now working with Hawkmoth!”

——————————————————————————————————–

Taglist (sorry if I missed you)@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 @dragonflyswing @silverwhiteraven @shamefullove @magic-miraculous @valeks-princess @heaven428 @mlbchaosqueen @winter-gardenflower @spicybelladonna @emo-elaine13 @vetilora @karukofox21 @my-name-is-michell  @sturchling @lokiifriggasonn @redscarlet95 @melicmusicmagic @interobanginyourmom @the-fusionist @razzledazzle247 @miss-mysterys-blog @darkthunder1589 @i-is-mysterious @catthhay @the-one-woman-army @zestyzealot @dahjokester @write-for-your-life2 @mermaidreject @peachedpocky @sassakitty @dahjokester @crazylittlemunchkin @novicevoice @justafanwarrior @eliza-bitch @schrodingers25 @tired-butterfly @toodaloo-kangaroo @redscarlet95 @miukiiu @sassakitty @corabeth11

[purpleladyofthenight]

Huntress Beyond

I remember the Batman Beyond cartoons they were showing a long time ago, I really enjoyed that series and its characters. It had such a cool concept. As I got into comics, I figured out how many references to the original Batman the show had (Barbara, the reference to Dick Grayson, Tim Drake being in it at one point, etc.) So since I really liked that series and I like Helena, I always wanted to see how Helena would fit in that story. Here’s my headcanon AU of Helena Bertinelli in the Batman Beyond universe:

Helena Bertinelli is a counselor at Hamilton Hill. She is no longer the Huntress, but is being kept up to date with things about the Batfam and new villains and everything else that goes on in the city. She visits Wayne Manor and the Batcave occasionally to see Bruce. She is a mentor to Charlie Gage-Radcliffe (Misfit), who is the now the Huntress.

Misfit’s Huntress is a must for this universe because how cool would it be if Charlie and Terry team up as Huntress and Batman?

Oh and here’s this picture I edited to make it look like Helena if she was 55 and living in Gotham!Beyond.

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

asks (22)

Anonymous said: Fake-Dick death angst headcanons? Sorry if you already did this tho

*finger guns*

There’s also some in here and a couple fics over here :)

Anonymous said: I want to start reading the comics where Damian first appeared. Do you know which comic that would be? Thank you!

Sure thing! That’d be Batman and Son (2006), Batman #655-658. After that it’s The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul.

@macko-99 said: Amy was it you who wrote Batman #16? It looks like something you would write. P.S. I hope you're having a great day. ☺

Lmao yeah it does kinda remind me of this one. I think most of us have written a restaurant fic or two in out time, but it was interesting to see it in canon. I wish I really could claim credit for it, mostly because that would mean I have a job (@DC please hire me. I don’t have a job. Catch me while you can)

And thank you, my day is going pretty well so far <3

Anonymous said: WHY ISNT DEXTER SOY THE ARTIST FOR RHATO REBIRTH ANYMORE?!?!???!?!??!!? HIS STYLE IS BEAUTIFULLLL!!!!!! WILL HE BE BACK??? (srry for the caps...)

Ah well artists move around a fair amount. I think a lot of times they get offered a specific number of issues, and then they’re out.I’m afraid I don’t know if he’ll ever be back

@therobin53 said: If the Batfamily attempted the Krispy Kreme Challenge, who would come out on top (without puking)?

Jeeeeez I had to look that challenge up, and kinda wish I hadn’t, because that sounds awful

Suppose I’d go with Tim or Dick tho

Anonymous said: I love all the Drake Protection Squad fics, but I was wondering how Harper Row would play into them. Would she help Damian and Jason with Tim, or would she be more like Tim (not taking care of herself)? Or do you think she would get involved at all? Anyway, I love all your headcanons, thank you so much for all of them!

Hmmmm she’s got a pretty strong protection instinct and very little regard for what Tim wants her to do, so I reckon she’d be more on Damian’s side of things. Problem is, she doesn’t know Damian, so I don’t think she’d ever be in a position to get involved. 

Anonymous said: Who's the scariest batboy? Like, who's the one that the others would at least low-key fear if they were villains? Who's the one no one wants to get on the bad side of?

Well on the one hand Jason totally kills people, and the rest of them don’t do that. On the other hand, Dick is scary as hell and I would never cross him ever

Anonymous said: *raises hand* Mother, do you know when Steph learned that Bruce Wayne was Batman?I've been trying to find it, but haven't had any luck so far.

Hm.... that one might be a little up in the air? I can tell you exactly when she found out who Tim was (Robin 87):

At this point, however, Tim’s birth dad was still alive, and he wasn’t living at Wayne Manor, so knowing about Tim doesn’t definitely mean she knew about Bruce. That impression gets reinforced over here

where “Who pays for all of this?” makes it pretty clear she doesn’t know. Worth noting that this panel occurred before the Tim reveal though.

I skimmed through Steph’s Robin run and the first bit of War Games, and I couldn’t find any time that she referred to Bruce by his name-- it’s always “Batman” even though she does use Tim’s first name in her mind. She didn’t know Catwoman’s secret identity, and she didn’t know that Matches Malone was one of Bruce’s aliases. Bruce always wears his cowl around her. I don’t think we ever get to see her find out?

She died/fake-died at the end of War Games, and she definitely knew by the time she came back. The cowl comes off in Robin 174, but you’ll notice she doesn't seem surprised.

After that, she refers to Bruce by name a lot. It’s possible that there is an explicit reveal that I’m missing? But I’ve never seen one

Anonymous said: Have you ever thought about the culture clash that would have happened when dick first showed up? Traveling Romanian “g***y” boy who grew up in a circus with a huge circle of people who counted as family, meets super rich emotionally closed off bachelor who’s literally only had Alfred. Batman probably got along with dick better than bruce did at that point.

Okay I’m.... guessing by the quotation marks that you know that word is a racial slur, but I’m gonna go ahead and star it out anyways.

Beyond that, yeah, I always figured Dick and Alfred got on immediately because of the performer angle. Alfred was a Shakespearean actor, and I reckon that would have felt familiar. I have a fic about it over here

@therobin53 said: Just listening to a playlist full of sneaking music for midnight snacking, and had an image of Alfred cleaning the manor like Christopher Walken in the Weapon of Choice music video. Do you think he does that when the manor is empty?

Pfffft that’s a great image, and I certainly hope he does

@quadpen said: Do you have any opinions on the rhato rebirth?

Hmm not strong ones, I guess. I definitely appreciate the move back to Jason’s post-crisis origin story, but I still don’t trust anything written by Scott Lobdell.

I’ll also say-- and RHATO isn’t the only book guilty of this one-- I don’t like it when Bruce’s attitude towards the Red Hood is “well maybe it’s good that there’s someone to do the things Batman won’t do.” I consider that kind of tacit endorsement very out of character for Bruce. The fact that Jason kills needs to be a huge problem for him. I can take it when he sort of ignores it and pretends like he doesn’t know what’s going on, but for him to explicitly say yes, this is going on, and I think it’s a good thing? Not a fan.

Anonymous said: Imagine Jason and Dick doing that acrobatic maneuver together??? Like??? I need a fanart gif of that

Pretty cool, right?

Anonymous said: I just thought about an au where Cass is a dancer because it's an awesome way to express herself without needing words and I'm :') idk i just felt like sharing I guess??? Sorry for bothering you

Cute!

Anonymous said: When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy. Then send to the last ten people in your notifications anonymously. (✿╹◡╹)

Hm post offices, chocolate cake, anything that glows in the dark, spoons, straight lines

Anonymous said: Hi I'm here for the ace in the hole project how do I sign up

Greetings, new applicant! Due to the wide-scale success of our program, we have moved into a localized recruitment model. If you are still interested in joining our organization, please contact your local office with your completed application and schedule. Snacks are provided. Thank you for your interest!

Anonymous said: Hi! First off, I want to say that I love your blog and all your headcanons. They're seriously the best. Do you have any more songs for the different members of the batfamily/bat-affiliates, especially unusual characters like Harper Row or Maps? Thank you for your time!

Oh hm I always forget which songs I posted, so bear with me if there are any repeats here. I don’t actively search for this kind of thing, so all I can give you are the ones that I already associate with characters... which means nobody unusual. Sorry bout that

Laura Palmer (Bastille): Jason

21st Century Breakdown (Green Day): Tim as Robin

Great Big Storm (Nate Ruess): Dick

Wait For It (Hamilton Soundtrack): Tim

Gavi’s Song (Lindsey Stirling): Damian

Alone Together (Fallout Boy): Jason

Drown (Seafret): Tim

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (either the U2 version or Peter Hollens/Sabrina Carpenter): Stephanie

There’s a certain kind of music that always reminds me of Dick for some reason, and these are all it:

The Parting Glass (Peter Hollens)

Happiness (Needtobreathe)

Hallelujah (Pentatonix)

Also just because you specifically asked about Maps, the first song I think about is My Eyes from Doctor Horrible’s Singalong Blog. Don’t ask me why. Seems like something she would like singing I guess. For Harper it’s I Wanna Get Better (Bleachers)

Anonymous said: Sorry you didn't get that job :/ not that a strangers consolation on the internet will do you that much good but i'm sure the next thing you apply for will feel all the better when you get it as a result

Ah it sucked, but I’ll get over it. I suppose I’ll start applying to law schools now :/

What are things/concepts/aesthetics you associate with me?

Anonymous said: For things I associate with you? I often think about you in relation to family, because of the great things you say about yours, and the lovely stories you write about the batfam. Also the colors red, green, and yellow, because duh

Ohhhh that’s good that makes me very happy

@accidentallyhopeful said: I associate you with warm hot chocolate, the smell of old books, and pens that have spilled ink everywhere

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ thank you

Anonymous said: aesthetic- rain and freshly sharpened pencils

Oh I like that yes I do

@inkdropfox said: southern accents, sweet tea, cheeseburgers, surprise presents, history, damian wayne, batfamily, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and the (ง •̀_•́)ง emoji

GOOD

You never did get back to me on the sweet tea thing, did you? I’m guessing that means you didn't like it. Outrageous. Heretical. Unacceptable. 

Anonymous said: batfamily, angst, and jail.

How did you know I went to jail

[starspatter]

DCAU AU Questions: If Batman was able to grab real hard onto the Red Hood before he fell into a vat, pull him back up and then had the cops arrested him (thus, prevented the Joker to be born), how would life go for the Dark Knight if his clown faced nemesis never came to be? Note: This scenario would take place during Bats early year/s as a crime fighter.

Yo I’m actually really glad you asked me this bc first of all: NO JOKER JR HUZZAH *shot* (Although I’m sure Timmy Todd would get screwed over in some other way. OTL)*cough* But I’m getting ahead of myself.  As you said, let’s start at the beginning with Batman’s early days as a crimefighter.  This is, of course, assuming Joker’s origin story of being the Red Hood still holds true in DCAU (I was honestly really confused at first and thought you were referring to Jason Todd, who doesn’t exist in DCAU), as it’s never explicitly stated how Joker came to be.  What we do know is that he had ties to the Mafia through Mask of the Phantasm, which in itself was an initial turning point in Batman’s career.  However, I don’t think Joker’s absence would affect the plotline of the movie much; Andrea returns Bruce’s ring after his proposal and goes on the run with her father, leaving a brokenhearted Bruce to become Batman; her father would still be killed and she becomes a cold-blooded assassin for vengeance, thus making it impossible for her and Bruce to reconcile.There is one other woman who was influenced heavily by the Joker: Harleen Quinzel.  If he hadn’t come to Arkham, she might not have been manipulated into becoming a villain and remained as a psychiatrist.  I’d like to imagine she was assigned to Poison Ivy instead, and the two fell mutually in love during their sessions.  After a successful rehabilitation, they get married and live a peaceful happy life (with maybe some mischief once in a while) together.  (Incidentally, I just recently watched the “House & Garden” ep where Pamela “marries” her doctor at Arkham and appears to lead a normal life for a while.  Harley might not be quite sane to begin with, but somehow I see her subsequently being okay with willingly giving her DNA so that she and her partner can have “plant-clone babies” together.  So… It’d work out? *shrug*)As mentioned before, the lack of both Joker and Harley means Return of the Joker would never take place.  Tim Drake would hence go on to become Red Robin, Bruce wouldn’t become (quite so) bitter and lonely and continue carrying on his crusade while still having hope and faith in humanity.  When he does retire, Tim takes on the mantle as he expressed desire in doing so.  (And thus Terry would never come into being.  Sorry to BB fans, but since according to “Epilogue” he was a result of Waller wanting there to “always be a Batman”, I don’t see it happening here.  Maybe Damian might be born instead though?  Idk at this point.)

While I’m at it, I’ll insert another alternate headcanon that Bruce doesn’t enter into a relationship with Barbara, and instead she and Dick have a child together.  Barbara quits being an active vigilante in order to focus on raising their son (”John”, based on the Justice Lords universe in BB 2.0), but remains helping out behind the scenes, essentially becoming “Mommy Oracle”.  (Ofc, his father and uncle Tim take the lil hacker acrobat-in-training on wild escapades and get in all sorts of mischievous trouble, much to her chagrin. ;P)  Stephanie Brown, a.k.a. “Spoiler”, takes over as Batgirl, and she and Tim still end up together, as evidenced by RotJ.  Cassandra Cain was also shown to exist during the JL ep “The Savage Time”, so I expect she’d join the team at some point as well, perhaps as “Black Bat”.  …And so Batman’s legacy is upheld and everyone is one big happy family. \o/ *shot*