#Paulina's looking out for her friends

[zillychu]

designs for a zine piece! enjoy some background story my illustration never needed under the read more (fair warning I did NOT edit this at all):

newbie mage apprentices Sam and Tucker who became friends bc they're kinda… the ones at the bottom of their class and struggle the most, for different reasons. they become besties over time and practice together!

except one night, something goes terribly wrong. they spent the last few nights preparing for a project, a bigger spell that needs an intricate circle with precise measurements to work. but when they try to activate it, well… 

oops. they summoned a demon.

which is, for one, extremely illegal. only certified demonologists are allowed to summon demons because they're so dangerous. anything less than a perfect binding circle and thoroughly researched info on the demon, including their true name, is even remotely safe.

but, weirdly enough… the demon seems just as surprised as they are. as Sam and Tuck frantically try to figure out how to dispel the demon, they realize–oh god, did their circle actually sufficiently bind the demon? it can't leave. they watch the demon tentatively poke it's claws into the air around the boundary, and watch it fizzle, retreating back with a strained hiss.

okay. okay, they can do this. without death looming over their heads, they can figure out how to send the demon back. it's cool, it's fine. except while they leaf through their books, they notice the demon watching them. it looks kind of… curious. timid. interested in what they're doing. it catches them noticing his staring, and it. apologizes? it seems flustered?

weird, okay. they keep looking, and the demon starts talking. at first, little comments to itself. mumbles that soon get just loud enough to hear. little “ooh, is that a telescope?" and “is that what fire looks like up here?" and “that must be for making charcoal…”

Sam is the one brave enough to be like "are all demons as chatty as you??” and the demon gets flustered again, apologizing. says he's just never been topside before, he's only read about humans in tomes. oh wow is that the moon outside? it really IS blue up here! is it always blue? what are you doing up? I thought humans slept at night?

Sam and Tuck can't help getting pulled in with the demon's genuine curiosity. they're wary though, since they know demons can be clever, conniving. there's a number of ways a demon can get the upper hand on a summoner who has them bound. if he gets their full names, gets them to smudge and break the circle… there could also be ways they aren't aware of. so they consider their words carefully, but engage in some chatter while they research.

it's almost morning by the time they find a way to send the demon back–but as they prepare the spell, the demon says WAIT WAIT and they stop, uncertain. the demon starts stammering out how this is weird but like… he really had fun tonight. he doesn't get to just hang out much, especially with anyone his age.

Tuck is like “how do you know our ages??" and the demon points out "oh, you said something about Paulie’s 18th birthday party, so I thought…” and they're both like oh shit we didn't even notice we did that?

“Paulina" Sam corrects in her dumbfounded stupor. 

“Right, Paulina!" the demon snaps his fingers, but quickly loses his confidence when Sam and Tuck continue to stare at him like they're not sure what's going on. he coughs and fidgets and says “um, well, I was just wondering, I guess… if you wanted to summon me another time, I wouldn't mind. you see those circles there? yeah, that's what summoned me. the candles helped too I think. oh, it doesn't need all those runes though, probably don't want to redraw all those.”

Sam and Tuck are practically gawking, but… for some reason, this demon looks so sincere. so much like them, awkward and lonely and genuinely curious.

it's a bad idea. a terrible one, even. the demon probably noticed they're newbies and not demonologists. it could be hoping they make an error in their circle, or mess up a candle, or reveal their names on accident. 

But, well. They're stupid. they're also eager for anything to help them in school, and too empathetic for their own good. they send the demon off with a yeah, no. they then think about it for a week, and end up summoning the demon against their better judgment.

the demon is shocked and so happy, they can't help but be a little endeared. they lay down some ground rules, take care to be as safe as possible… and soon, this demon that introduces himself as “Phantom" becomes a nightly visitor. they talk about their worlds, find out they share a lot of common interests, and help each other in their studies. which, hello, demons also study? bro are you serious??

they play games, laugh till their ribs hurt, and open up to each other on a far deeper level than anyone expected. over time, Phantom becomes a true friend.

Sam and Tuck quietly begin to lament the fact Phantom is stuck in that damn circle. they want to take him places, let him see the human world he seems so interested in. they want to paint his stupid claws and noogie him between his dumb horns and hug him.

but it's an astronomical risk. it's legal for a demonologist with a proper permit, but it's still considered a grave taboo to grant access to a demon outside a circle. there's just too much at risk. demons can be dangerous enough to lay waste to entire towns, take multiple teams of military-rank mages to take down.

they wouldn't risk it… if they hadn't snuck into the library’s restricted section and copy a page from a demonologist book that gives them good framework for a contract. they make some edits to it though, giving Phantom at least a little wiggle room to protect himself if need be. and allow him use of transformation magic so he can hide somehow. but they spend weeks making sure they have airtight wording to ensure Phantom can't cause anyone or anything any substantial harm. 

when they finally bring the contract to Phantom, he's stunned. he cries. nothing needs to be said, they all know the gravity of their proposal. even if they ask for proof of Phantom's trust in turn, first. they ask for his full name, so they can bind him. just temporarily. but in that moment, they'll have full control over him. they could instead tell Phantom to serve them, force him to obey their every order. even if it's just for a moment, giving them his full name with the proper circle and incantation, is putting his life in their hands. 

Phantom, with tears still in his eyes, smiles warmly and nods. with only a breath to steel himself, he gives them his full name. Daniel James Fenton.

magic sparks in the circle, and Sam and Tuck finish the incantation. ethereal chains sprout up to wrap around Phantom's arms and legs, which makes him jump–but the unwavering trust in his eyes makes the two humans choke up.

they release the binding. all that's left is to break the containment barrier in the circle, so Phantom can walk free.

“Uh, about that…” Phantom laughs sheepishly… then proceeds to step outside of the circle, merely wincing when the barrier zaps around him.

Sam and Tucker gawk. Phantom scratches his neck. “Y-yeah, so… your barrier circle was already broken that first night. It's, uh… right over there. You missed a spot.”

abject horror overcomes them because this entire time Phantom's been visiting, he could have broken out? EASILY?? THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD.

Tucker falls to his knees, but soon starts to laugh. it's kind of hysterical at first but slowly, he and Sam are genuinely laughing. they're so STUPID, and Phantom is the most un-demonlike demon they've ever HEARD of. Phantom is still flustered, stammering out apologies because he wasn't trying to deceive them or anything! he just didn't want to scare them! without a proper containment circle they technically couldn't send him back either, so he just… went back using his own magic each time they “dispelled" him. 

once they've calmed down, Phantom morphs his body into a human form–which shock Sam and Tuck, because uh, only elite demons are capable of that. they were expecting an animal, or straight up going invisible. Phantom laughs it off, says he just, spent a lot of time practicing bc he's so interested in the human world (not a lie, but). he proceeds to adopt the nickname Danny, and they all have FUN WONDERFUL SHENANIGANS

(and sometime in the near future, when faced with something truly threatening he needs to protect them from, Danny reveals that. well. their contract also had some holes in it. and he's had access to his full demon power this whole time. whoopsie! it's a good thing he genuinely loves them and doesn't want to hurt anyone, or their asses would be SO dead lol)

they're about as normal about his full demon form as you'd expect from me btw:

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

Danny was livid.

The Guys In White had been following Phantom around constantly and while they weren't much of a threat, they were a massive nuisance. They had shot him down on Thursday and caused him to crash into some poor kids birthday cake in the park.

On Friday they had accidentally released ghost rats into the school.

On Saturday they had somehow managed to turn Paulinas hair ectoplasm green. She refused to leave her bedroom until it was reversed

On Sunday they tried to commandeer his parents GAV and earned the ire of his mom. They found out exactly why that was a bad idea.

On Monday they bardged into Danny's classroom, interrupting his math test because they were looking for a ghost parrot. It was mostly harmless but kept insulting them in a cheery tone. Danny decided he liked that bird.

We won't speak about what happened on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, he scowled at an agent that had accidentally blasted him and his friends with liquid ectoplasm while they were sitting and eating lunch. It was then that Danny began plotting his revenge.

That night he when ghost and lead the GIW on a while goose chase. Did danny take them across state lines? Yes. Did he manage to pull a massive following of these creeps? Also yes.

Did he plan for his target-the guy he had been leading them to- to already be in cuffs when he arrived in Gotham? No. Not at all.

"Hey, uh..." the words died on his tongue as Batman- The Batman- turned to him with narrowed eyes. Mustering his will, he started again, "Could you let him out? Just for a little bit?"

"No."

"Aw, Cmon!"

Condiment King began raving about something, but Danny didn't particularly care to pay attention. "If you're not going to let him out, then can you at least call the rest of the paw patrol? I wanna ask if they wanna throw mud at evil secret organization people. For enrichment." Danny gave his best, most cheeky smile for extra measure.

"Hn."

[demonic0angel]

Part 4 of Phantom’s Royal Court (click for clarity)

Extra notes:

+ Paulina and Dash are the two models in the picture :) (with a tiny Star at the bottom). They and all of their friends who bullied Danny have chosen to work inside of his castle in order to make up for their past. I hate the idea of “victim forces their bullies to become their servant for revenge”, so I choose to believe that Paulina and Dash voluntarily chose to become Danny’s employees. They technically just count as extra bodyguards and do some errands for him when they have free time, unlike Sam and Tucker who are with Danny 24/7.

+ Because the Observants are so paranoid, most humans inside of the Phantom Castle do not have weapons (except for Jazz, Valerie, and Wes). However, Danny didn’t like the thought of them being defenseless, so he advocated for them and Tucker developed their wrist guards, which form shields when the buttons are pressed. Said shields are able to protect them from both ghost attacks and human bullets but can’t really do much else.

+ Paulina and her friends help Sam and Valerie in defending Danny when needed. They rarely attack people, but when they do, it’s incredibly vicious. Dash and the boys tackle people when protecting Danny tho lmao

+ Wes works as Valerie’s attendant and assistant and mainly works with Jazz and Tucker in counsel/advising and informative work. He wears a mask similar to Valerie’s and wears red in order to differentiate himself from the others. He also receives a few weapons from Valerie to protect himself bc he’s Valerie’s closest ally and she does not fully trust anyone else.

+ I like Wes as Valerie’s best friend bc I believe that when she heard that Wes was investigating Phantom, she immediately befriended him for his investigative abilities and bc she was so lonely when she lost all of her friends. (Also, I think it’s funny asf to imagine Wes pulling his hair out bc Valerie won’t believe him when he says Danny is Phantom, even tho she literally fights him everyday.)

+ The design for both Paulina and Dash both look servant-like, despite how I tried to avoid it. It is somewhat unintentional because I wanted them to have formal, but practical clothing without looking like any of the others. The fact that they’re uniforms doesn’t help 😞

+ Like Jazz, the black veil is meant to resemble a mourning veil. The idea was that Danny’s human friends would wear it as a sign of mourning for him, while the “gods” wore masks as burial shrouds and to hide their human faces. The only two humans who don’t wear a veil are Valerie, who was chosen to kill Danny if he ever went rogue, and Wes, who is loyal only to Valerie.

Part one

Part two

Part three

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC PROMPT #28

(#) = Notes at the end of post

✦

Chartreuse

Due to the high levels of ambient ectoplasm, all the citizens of Amity Park gained a permanent change in eye color. They don't glow or flare in response to rampant emotions like true ghosts or the halfas though. They're just an unnaturally bright yellow-green.

The thing is, nobody else on Earth has this eye color, and it's never been seen in the human race until the recently graduated Amity Parkers started branching out to other cities to find jobs.

Nobody paid this any mind at first, though. Many just thought the individuals liked strangely colored contacts or it was a trick of the light. It's not until Danny and Tucker are both hired for positions in Wayne Enterprises that questions start popping up.

At first, the other employees thought the two might be related. It could happen, it's not that strange. However, when both of them said they're nowhere near related, just childhood best friends, it left everyone confused. If they aren't related and they aren't wearing colored contacts, then what are the odds of too completely unrelated people having the exact same strange and unseen eye color?

After a while, everyone just stops asking questions. After all, both men are easy to get along with and are excellent at their jobs, so a strange eye color isn't really something to complain about. Their stares were just a bit more intense than most people, and honestly, they've seen stranger things.

It helps that they've started seeing other people with the same eye color popping up in celebrity, sports, and activist circles. (1)

However, It's not until the power goes out during a late meeting/presentation, and Tim Drake accidentally turns on and shines his cell phone light into Tuckers eyes, that he starts seriously digging.

Needless to say, the animal-like green shine of his pupils scared the shit out of him and got him wondering if two of his new employees were part of a previously unknown alien race that'd recently settled on Earth without anyone noticing. When he looks into the middle of nowhere town they came from, this idea is even further cemented when he sees every person he finds a photo of have the exact same shade of chartreuse eyes. Ignoring the ghost rumors and "sightings" as just a strange tourist trap for the strange little town to make extra income, he brings the info he found to the other bats and birds.

They aren't exactly welcomed when they go snooping around Amity Park, unfortunately... (2 & 3)

✦

Now. To make this a bit more cracky, when confronted, do Danny and Tucker just come clean or do they milk the idea of them being aliens for all it's worth? (4) Add in a few strange, but perfectly normal for them, things they do that have people scratching their heads and make the assumption even worse/more irrefutable. This includes the unexplainable eye shine Tim discovered.

✦

(1) Paulina became a supermodel and is coveted for her striking eye color and beautiful complexion. Dash became a coach for a well known college in Metropolis, while Kwan became a fitness trainer and sponsor for health related items that actually work, also partnered with the college Dash coaches at. Sam became a notorious environmental activist and is the enemy of many companys who are determined to turn the world into a toxic wasteland. With the help of Danny's parents, she's found many eco-friendly chemical compounds that dissolve many of the toxic substances damaging ecosystems around the world. Etc, etc.

(2) Ectoplasm exposure has made everyone a bit more territorial over the town, including their protectors. They don't need outside heroes/organizations interfering with their work and don't/won't take kindly to the sudden interest hero organizations gain over them and their strange little town. That hasn't worked out too well with other government sanctioned organizations in the past and they don't want a repeat, thank you.

(3) Maybe Team Phantom even established themselves right around the same time or even before the Justice League was formed and they just flew under the radar until now. Maybe Amity Parkers feel a bit superior due to their seniority in having an excellent team in the know about the supernatural/non-human side of the world/universe? Who knows? You pick! Amity Park has been through a lot by themselves, so it's no shocker if they have an extreme amount of solidarity towards those they call their own.

(3 cont'd) Also! Since Amity Park has become so rich and saturated in ectoplasm over the years, they were eventually annexed/became an outside part of the Ghost Zone. Jack and Maddy are border patrol and any ghosts coming through need a passport now. Amity Park is basically a vacation hub for ghosts? Ghosts can freely roam the streets, they just don't wreak havoc anymore. That'd basically be terrorizing their fellow citizens at this point anyway and that's a no no. That means jail time with Walker. Amity Parkers also aren't afraid anymore and in fact CAN hit back now. This does not stop the Bat Clan and eventually the Justice League from thinking they're a town full of aliens tho. Some are just more human looking than others. Or they've been on Earth and procreating long enough with humans that their hybrid offspring have also started looking more human, is the ongoing conclusion.

(4) The Anti-Ecto Acts are not an issue here! Team Phantom already dismantled and annihilated the GIW years before they even thought of leaving Amity Park on its own. Before graduating highschool even. Yes, Team Phantom is perfectly self-sufficient and able to handle their own problems and have kept the city-wide ghost infestation pretty isolated outside a few events that were handled quickly and with the world none the wiser. So the world is still pretty ignorant of the existence of ghosts/the Ghost Zone. Would Team Phantom and Amity Park prefer to keep it that way though?

[evilminji]

I've seen references to it in other Prompts?

But unironically? Paulina should Heckle superheroes more.

Like? Look at her AS A CHARACTER. You think she respects Authority? In their Tacky suits and with their weak ass boundaries she's been stomping over her ENTIRE LIFE, largely unpunished? Because she's Pretty and gifted in the Social Grace's department?

Granted, rarely USES them on most of these needs. But she HAS them and CAN. Why do you thinks she THE popular girl? Looks? Please. There are plenty of pretty girls out there. SHE can make you feel like you're the most important person in the whole world. Her BEST friend.

SHE put in the work to have flawless skin and a complexe social network based on future networth and political significance. A cute butt. Socials beyond reproach.

And SHE? Is so, SO fuckin PISSED.

Her Boo (don't judge her, it's a cute pun) is being SHOT at! Is run in to the ground EXHAUSTED. Doing jobs that CERTAIN people should be getting off their asses to do. CERTAIN people keep making pretty little speechs and getting good PR, while out here HER BOO is getting LAZER HOLES punched through him!

He should be of DATES. Laughing and going for flights. Sitting in the bleachers of cheer practice, safe and silly and shouting tips even though he doesn't know the first thing about Cheer. Getting to be YOUNG. In love!

And Paulina? Always on her phone. Their socials are just... RIGHT THERE. Oooh, Mr. "We protect everybody, aren't we such GOOD GUYS~☆" Her favorite flats! And, maybe, yeah, it's the pain from getting THROWN from the top of the pyramid they were practicing by that fucking GIW explosion.

Maybe it's the fact that Phantom hand to shield her with his BODY and those bastards SHOT at them. Could be the squad egging her on, furious and phones out. But how the weather in Metropolis, Supes? Enjoying up in your little ivory tower? Guess only city kids matter, huh?

Fastest man alive to ignore a genocide, HUH, Flash?

Nice Speech, Wonder Hypocrite. Guess "all woman are Amazons" until they're DEAD. Then you can do what you want to them?

Just. These Pretty, Bland, Offend No One, We're Aiming For Good Sport Colleges And Know They Check These accounts? Going NUCLEAR. All pretty, made for TV faces too. The sort of thing that makes for GREAT news segments and terrible PR.

Because? If Paulina is doing it? Well, A Lister solidarity. Jocks gotta have their back. They've been holding back some Opinions(tm). Time to throw um to the web.

And the blockades? Doesn't do SHIT. Because the GIW forgot one simple factor(well, MANY factors).

Cheerleaders have Away Games.

Paulina and Company? If they can't text INSIDE Amity? Fine. They'll cue them up. Release them at Amity VS. Whatever loser they're crushing next. Rah, rah, go teeeeam! Guess who has internet nooooooow!

GIW may have access to high tech devices and authoritarian control... but they're IDIOTS prone to easily avoidable human errors.

Meanwhile? Most of the JLA is metaphorically ON FIRE.

[starry-bi-sky]

More clone^2 snippets

Snippet 12: hands

Lancer: dear god, Mr. Fenton, what happened to your hands!?

Danny, had a run in with Damian’s katana and both of his hands have stitches: um… cooking… accident. I can’t use them that much currently

Lancer, pale: right, yes, of course. You may have one of your friends right you notes until they are properly healed

————

Snippet 13: more hands (and dash is a dick)

Dash: I bet Fenturd’s just faking his hand injury to get out of doing class work. Getting out of classwork is my thing! I’ll show him.

Danny, minding his own business:

Dash, yanks on his fingers harshly: Freak! Did you think you could copy me and het away with it?

Danny, his stitches torn from the way Dash grabbed him: you’re the last person I’d want to copy Dash, let go.

Dash: we all know you’re faking the hand injury, there’s no way you’d— you’d—

(Danny’s hands are bleeding, and starting to smear on Dash’s hands.)

Danny, (fake) calmly: you were saying, Dash?

Dash: I - uh—

Danny: thanks for opening them up, jerk.

—————

Snippet 14: Danny is Bruce’s Clone and Bruce Wayne has been hottest man alive for many consecutive years

The A-Lister Girls are at a sleepover

Star: Never have I ever had a crush on Danny Fenton

All girls (including Star): puts a finger down

A-List Girl: Paulina put your finger down

Paulina, begrudgingly putting a finger down: he shouldn’t count - he’s a loser!

A-List Girl: he’s still the cutest boy in our grade. Put your damn finger down.

—————

Snippet 15: unstoppable force vs immovable object

(In the Clone Danny Au, since Danny is not a ghost Valerie doesn’t see Phantom as the guy who ruined her life, but a very exhausted vigilante trying his best. They’re allies with conflicting ideologies on how to handle ghosts.)

Red Huntress: are you kidding me, Phantom? You dragged a kid in with you to fight ghosts? I thought you were better than that

Wraith, offended: *opening his mouth*

Phantom, tiredly putting a hand over Damian’s mouth: *in ASL + one hand* you don’t think I tried to stop him?

Red Huntress: he’s a child, Phantom, how hard could it be?

Phantom: looks down at Wraith

Wraith: looks up at Phantom with the eyes of a hundred enraged bulls

Phantom, kneeling down to Wraith and pulling his mask up to show his mouth: *whispering inaudibly*

Wraith: *takes off in the opposite direction*

Phantom, standing up to Red: *ASL* well? go get him

————

Snippet 16: identity

(Danny and Damian are sitting on a rooftop, in the middle of a break from patrol. Damian sits between Danny’s legs and Danny is slumped over Damian’s back.)

Damian, playing with Danny’s fingers:

Danny: who are you?

Damian: Damian.

Danny: who are you not?

Damian: Damian Wayne.

Danny: do you have to be?

Damian: no.

Danny: who do you have to be?

Damian: I just have to be me.

Danny: who are you?

Damian: I’m Damian.

Danny: good.

Damian:

Danny:

Damian: who are you?

Danny, smiling: Danny

—————

Snippet 17: long hair

(In the Clone Danny Au, Danny’s hair goes to his shoulders. I was in a GNC mood at the time the au was made and it passed on to Danny.)

Tucker: are you going to cut your hair, Danny? It’s getting long.

Danny, laying against the bed frame with Sam doing his hair: probably to get the dead ends cut off. I like it long.

Sam: I like it long too.

Tucker: you like it long because he lets you do whatever you want to it

Sam: it’s also a stand against the oppressive stereotype that men can’t have long hair and must always have it short in order to appear masculine! Danny’s showing individuality and sticking it to the patriarchy at the same time!

Danny: and because I let you do whatever you want to it.

Sam, making a punk hairdo for danny: yea that too

——————

Snippet 18: Danny is Bruce Wayne’s clone and Bruce——

Danny, getting stuff from his locker: my parents have a new ‘Fenton anti-ghost sticky bomb’ they’re working on and—

Student with a photography camera: Hey, Fenton!

Danny, looking over: what?

Student: *snaps a photo* thanks!

Student walks away

Danny:

Tucker:

Sam:

Danny: so… um…. Is that- is that another Wes? Should I be worried?

Sam: you should be angry! He just took your picture without your consent! That’s a violation of your bodily autonomy.

Danny: we can keep an eye on it, Sam, and if it becomes an issue then I’ll report it to a teacher.

Danny: and as I was saying, I can’t wait to have to make sure that that doesn’t hurt anyone.

Danny: i love having to stay up late sabotaging my parents’ inventions. Yay…

—————

Snippet 19: Danny is Bruce’s clone and—

Wes: ranting about how Phantom = Danny and how there’s proof and he has it and—

Random Student from his photography club: you wanna kiss him so bad it makes you look stupid.

Wes: I do nOT

Student: Its okay Wes, so does literally everyone else.

—————

Snippet 20: Lookalike

Danny: the only good thing about being Bruce Wayne’s clone is that my Brucie Wayne Impression is spot on

Damian: what??

Danny: my Brucie Wayne impression. It shouldn’t be as fun as it is doing it

[vln-vibes]

Amity Park; Clone City ?

It started with a video.

Tim had been scrolling through social media, as one did when procrastinating doing boring paperwork for Wayne Enterprises. He found himself going down the rabbit hole and somehow ended up going down the Unreality/ARG path.

He had to appreciate the dedication to bringing these stories together, some of the stories could actually happen given all the shit he'd seen in his hero career. Anyway this ended in him getting fed back to back Not Real videos. At least that was until he found The Video.

The caption on the screen was the first thing that popped up in front of the face of a latina teen who was trying not to laugh; Imagine getting wrecked by a twink

The camera flipped two buff guys wearing red and white Leatherman jackets, one was on the grass with his head tilted to the side and a basketball next to him, the blonde guy was looking at his friend with tears in his eyes before turning red and turning to the side and yelling out.

"You're dead Weston!"

"I said sorry!"

The camera then did a sharp turn to zoom in on a lanky ginger teen. It looked as though the blonde was about to go beat the shit out of the guy before the ground shook and the sky turned momentarily green.

"Ah shit, must be Skullker"

The audio began to glitch before the cameragirl began to run, the blonde could be seen carrying his companion, the ginger guy running besides them. A sudden cry came from behind as they could hear what seemed to be a girl trip.

"Star!"

The video started to glitch again and the camera fell from the girl's hand. As the girl picked up her phone the video showed that the ground where the blonde fell was now charred. When the girl panned to the side he could see that the ginger guy had tackled her.

"Are you guys okay?" her slightly accented voice could be heard with a weird echo, the ginger guy had his head back to the camera as he helped the girl up.

"Ugh Skullker's the worst, I still can't believe Ember dates him" the girl groaned. She looked up;

Kara?

"At least Phantom's already on it" the ginger guy turned around.

Wally?

The video ended and Tim found himself rewatching it over and over again--- There was no doubt that those two were Kara and Wally. Sure they looked younger but it was them.

There had to be more to this, was this really some sort of ARG? The explosions and the weird glitches, was that just all some part of a gimmick? Also why were there two younger versions of prominent heroes? Were they clones? Was Cadmus involved?

If it was clones then Cadmus was definitely involved.

He clicked on the girl's profile--- PaulinaxPhantom<3

Most of it was blank, not in a 'She doesn't really post much' sort of way, like her photos and video were whited off. He could see a sporadic picture and video here and there but they were divided by blank pictures that never loaded or video that crashed without ever showing anything.

He knew it had nothing to do with his connection so what the hell was going on. Could it be something with the site?

On a recent picture it was a selfie of herself with 'Star'/Kara with a link to 'Star's' profile.

Same thing as Paulina; pictures and videos surrounded by never loading and permanently whited out.

He checked the blonde jock's, Dash, and had the same result. Apparently the guy he’d been carrying was named Kwan—

Was that Garth? Sure he was a lot bulkier but he had an uncanny resemblance to the Atlantean.

Then he found 'Wally' again, or Wes apparently; Wally West and Wes Weston? It wasn't giving him much hope.

Wes was apparently part of Casper High's journalism club given his video about trying to meet the deadline and ranting about how annoying 'Boxie' had been, having trashed their clubroom and making them pick up after him.

"Stop complaining and actually pick up the slack Weston" a female voice spoke up from behind him.

"Yes, yes Chief Editor Manson"

Raven!?

Another video had him in a local food joint where the waitress was taking an order from a black haired customer, scowling as she noted the camera on her and flipped him off as the camera zoomed in on her, which was a dick move on the guy's part (as if service industry workers didn't have to deal with shit customers in the first place). The customer she was helping didn't even look back and also flipped him off.

"Get a life Weston"

Karen?

Oh holy hell bats! Was that Dick!?

Oh crap. Oh motherhecking heck!

This was bad.

Fumbling off of his bed and out of his room with a single drive to get to the Batcave, where he knew Bruce would be at the time and be able to assemble an Emergency Meeting with the League, he only had one thing in mind.

Why the hell would they hide clones in the middle of bumfuck Nowhere Illinois?

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Town Ghosts

Ok, so this is inspired by this post.

Danny almost lost his balance as he turned on Casper High’s street corner. Catching himself in the nick of time, he resumed his uncontrolled dash down the streets of Amity and finally made it to his locker just in time for the first bell to ring. As he looked up from his locker and noticed how sparsely populated the halls were, Danny frowned. First bell indicated they had 5 minutes before the actual beginning of class, and usually that meant a decent amount of stragglers were still chilling around.

“Damn it, do we have an exam?” Danny mumbled as he took out his phone to text Sam and Tucker.

Wheres everyone? He sent

Assembly, came the answer from Tucker to which Sam added, We saved u a seat

Danny didn’t bother answering and instead quickly gathered his things from his locker before hurrying down to the assembly hall. Everyone was talking which meant he wasn’t late, and he managed to catch Tucker waving him over. Danny maneuvered his way to his friends before sagging into the promised saved seat.

“I swear, if Boxy wakes me up at 2am again to rave about packing peanuts one more time I will put him in Soup Time for a month.”

Sam winced. “Rough night, huh?”

Tucker patted his shoulder in commiseration.

Danny closed his eyes. “At least tell me assembly is taking Lancer’s period?”

“We still have half of it afterwards,” Tucker answered.

Before Danny could groan, the teachers started shushing the crowd. As he looked up to the shoddy stage, Danny could see a blonde woman wearing all black.

“Nice boots,” Sam whispered.

“Hello everyone,” started the woman on stage. “My name is Black Canary, you may know me as a member of the Justice League.”

At that Danny sat up straight, suddenly way more aware. Simultaneously, a wave of whispers started amongst the crowd which was quelled by the numerous teachers shushing everyone. Once silence had been more or less reestablished, Black Canary started again.

“I am here as a spokesperson in our efforts to raise awareness about discriminations against meta humans. This initiative started as a personal project of a lot of the founding members of the Justice League. Did you know that recent studies that show that violence against meta humans is disproportionately more frequent than violence against baseline humans? In fact-”

And one she continued for the next half hour, after which she had some students distribute some pamphlets with different phone numbers on them. There was a little more time dedicated to a few exercises and a video of a testimony from a former meta human criminal. As the presentation progressed, Danny started relaxing more and more, to the point that he was half asleep when time for questions was announced.

“What about ghosts?” Paulina’s voice came through the mic the teachers had passed around, “Are they covered by all those fancy laws you mentioned?”

And yep, Danny was fully back to being awake now.

“Ghosts?” repeated Black Canary, in an even tone but before Paulina could answer, another voice cut through the room.

“Ghosts aren’t people, Paulina.” Valerie’s voice came through sharp and clear.

Paulina’s eyes narrowed in on her former friend. “Says who?”

“Says science!” Valerie exclaimed. “Though I shouldn’t expect a Phantom groupie to understand that.”

“You’re just jealous.” Paulina flicked her hair dismissively.

Danny sank into his seat as he tried to block out the very public argument happening in front of him. Black Canary seemed to be observing the exchange with curiosity, while the teachers were trying to reach Paulina to get the mic out of her hand. There were a few students with their phones out, filming the whole debate and Danny would bet it would be on the school forum by the end of the day, probably sparking yet another Phantom debate.

Just then, as if it wasn’t enough, Danny could feel his ghost sense activating. As he turned his head, he caught a green shimmer at the edge of his vision zooming past the window.

“Come on,” he mumbled. “Gimme a break.”

“Do you want backup?” Sam asked.

“I got it,” Danny grumbled. “Cover me.”

“For sure, dude,” Tucker answered.

Danny stood up and shimmied his way down the rows of chairs to a teacher with Paulina and Valerie still arguing in the background. When Danny reached the nearest teacher he asked for leave to go to the bathroom and by was granted it after which a teacher finally managed to get the microphone away from Paulina. As Danny walked out of the room, he could hear Black Canary’s fading voice asking a question as he got further and further away.

“What do you mean by 'ghosts'?”

[picturejasper20]

So @murcielagatito recently made a post talking about the Phandom and how it is weird that the Phandom created a character like Wes to be someone who investigates who Phantom is when there are characters like Paulina and Valerie in canon that can fit that role.

I want to talk about some of the characterization/moments that Paulina has in the series since we are already familiar with Valerie and i think she fits better as friendenemy- antagonist turned ally role but that's on me.

So one thing about Paulina is that she has a huge crush on Phantom but not on Danny Fenton. In Season 1 episode ¨Lucky in Love¨ has near the ending showing that she has somewhat of an altar dedicated to Phantom in her locker.

So we know from this that she is really into Phantom and she seems to idolize him. I wouldn't say that she is obsessed with him, more like she just really likes him.

This alone builds some potential cool interactions between Danny and Paulina because of how she sees the two halves of who Danny is so differently. For her Danny is a huge loser and Phantom is a hero/idol.

Another very interesting is that in ¨Memory Blank¨ Paulina invites the Phantom trio to her quinceañera (15th birthday), which leaves the teens confused of why she is doing this if she doesn't like them much. Paulina then says the following:

She explains to them that she is inviting Danny because she has noticed a connection between Phantom showing up whenever Danny is close by, so she thinks that way if Danny comes, Phantom is likely going to be there too.

This is worth of noting because not many characters in the series realize this or go to this level to being this close to figuring out that Danny is Phantom, not even Valerie with her technology used to be this precise.

These things alone can set up for potential things to work with, with Paulina finding out who Phantom is and some potential character development for her.

Now this crush thing she has was clearly inspired by Lois Lane from Superman- but it could be written to be one sided crush and her staying friends with Danny after she learns his secret. It could also be changed in a way she really looks up to Phantom and she would like to be more like him. So it doesn't have to rely on the romance stuff that much.

What i'm trying to say is that Paulina as character has more potential to fit the role ¨person who investigates Phantom¨ than instead having to... use a character that isn't even in the series. Plus, it could give some good character development she needs- considering that in the series she was mostly a static character.

[space-dreams-world]

DPXDC soulmate prompt au:

Everyone has a soulmate. Even if the way you meet your soulmate is different, you can still feel a click in place. Even with different species, romantically or platonically, and multiple soulmates. ( like one person has by sight, and their soulmate is by touch. Basically, you can have soulmates with the same markings or two different types and still work)

So, Danny, after becoming Phantom and dealing with the ghosts, finally finds a way to shut down the Portal around his last year of high school, and multiple people aren't happy about that, i.e. his parents, the ghosts, Sam, the GIW, and even Vlad as he was banking on the fentons for his shit to work, and he had plans surrounding Danny's family.

He gets run out of town by Amity and his parents after they uncover his secret. Danny then spends the next few years in space, discovering aliens.

(During his disappearance, the GIW are disbanded, Vlad doesn't have access to the zone anymore and asking for him to search in space is a permadeath sentence for him, his parents regret their Gung ho attitude and miss him. In a twist of faith, an accident kills them off, and they are working through their regrets in the zone, waiting to see Danny so they can pass)

Now, as I mentioned at the top, this is a soulmate au, so in Death, Danny is able to get a feel for soulmate, like if his soulmate had a marking for him to recognize even if his soulmate identifier is lock on sight. (He essentially has an advantage of figuring out his significant other as he has his soulmate symbol on him.)

So, whose Danny significant other? Look no further than Gotham depressed himbo dad, Bruce Wayne, whose soulmate identifier is a tattoo of Danny's mark.

This could be pretty early on in his hero career or after Duke is a part of the Bats, but basically, Bruce goes on a space mission with the league and in one of their stints to get info, Danny immediately recognizes Batman's mark which was his soulmate clue. So, Danny, who hasn't spoken human or been on earth in years, has zero in on him,but they don't get to talk before Bruce heads back to earth, but Bruce knows there is something off about the possible alien man.

On Bruce's side, he hasn't seen anyone that has made it work, except if if you want to make it a polycule with Superman. (Dick has his redhead squad or the titans, Jason ends up with Roy or someone else, Tim has Bernard and Kon, and Damian is starting to platonically be friends with Jon. Cass has found her soulmate in Stephanie.

(The Joker is a weird case where he has a soulmate that isn't born yet or died already, or he has no one and that why he is crazy and scars the Bat symbol on him as he sees his enemy with no soulmate either.)

Anyway, something big happens on earth, like an invasion, and the Bat is almost killed before a bright light descends upon the sky and removes the threat. Batman, once recovering his sight, sees the same masked alien man from before. Once they regroup, the masked man removes his helmet, and Bruce finally gets his soulmate connection. Danny has aged significantly since his first departure of earth and attempting to relearn earth's customs and figure out what happened with his family and friends.

( Jazz is soulmates with Talia and is in a secret relationship with her after Damian is made.

Sam is soulmates with Paulina but despises this, which causes her some mental instability, and refuses to acknowledge their bond, somehow still banking on Danny being her knight, and rebrands herself as Pamela Isley or Poison Ivy and finds love in Harley.

Tucker actually renames himself after Amity as Silas Stone and has a child. He works with Alien Tech to see if he can find his best friend again.

Dani is only made after Danny's return to earth but loves her indefinitely as he feels that the Portal had robbed him of a good life with offspring.

And Dan is working on his aggression in the zone.)

[anonymous-existences]

Chapter 2 : Oddities and Chills

[𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒓, 6:38 𝑷𝑴, 𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆-𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄]

Dante was driving back home after dropping THEE BRUCE WAYNE off at the Wayne Manor which was coincidentally not too far away from the Masters Manor, Dante was humming as he drove home with a few bags of Toys that Danny and Dani will love... He slows down as he approaches the gates and slowly it opened, he shudders as he can imagine Jazz beating the living shit out of him but as long as he can see his two kids smiles he'll be fine. Dante parked his car in the garage and slowly heading towards the doors. As he opens the door with the bags He was greeted by his twins just happily seeing him.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Both Danny and Ellie said in unison as they jumped up to be carried by him, he puts down the bags and cooed on them both who were giggling and hugging him with their small hands. "My cutie Pies." He coos ignoring his sister who was holding the Phantom Creepstick with a smile and letting it bounce on her hand slowly, Dante chuckled slowly and handed the Amused Clockwork(Butler Disguise) the bags of Toys for the twins... "Please take them upstairs and let the twins play with them Clockwork..." Dante smiles nervously and Clockwork Nodded as he told the twins to follow him upstairs.

"Jaz—" Dan was cut off with a Bat to his gut, "UGHK—" He groaned In pain as he leaned further and kneeled on the wall. "I'm sor—" he tried to apologize but Jazz hit him again this time with a Sandal. "WE HAD EXPLICIT RULES!! EXPLICIT FUCKING RULESS!! DANTE!!" She kept hitting him with her sandal "YET YOU HOOK UP! WITH THE PLAYBOY BACHELOR NEXT DOOR?!" Jazz yelled "AH— IM SORRY IM SORRY HE WAS HOT OKAY??" Dante tried to reason but to no avail. Jazz huffed and stood back up in annoyance but she just crossed her arms. "This is so fun to watch." Paulina says as she sat on the couch and watched Dan get beat up whilst drinking milk boba tea.

"WHY IS SHE HERE??!" Dante yelled as he slowly stand up and dusting his suit.. "god this suit smells so much like him—" he kept sniffing his wrist and received a sandal thrown to his face. Paulina laughed, she was only there for girly girls night out stuff with Valerie and Jazz. "You look like a smitten loser Dan.." Valerie chuckled. "Please don't tell me you're Inlove or something—" She glared at Dante and he just smiled cheekily. Jazz sighed in defeat, "Valerie, HunnyBun, And Paulina, Let's go out yes? Girls night out." Jazz composes herself and smiles, she's wearing casual clothes and ready for a night out. "Star and Ember say they're totally coming." Paulina giggled and stood up from the couch and patting Dante's Chest, "Manboobs." Paulina laughed as she went outside.

"Please don't ever call my chest Manboobs ever again... God— that hurts so much— Jazz why—" Dante asks and just curled back up on the floor clutching his gut. "Cuz you fucked A WAYNE! THE MAIN FAMILY BACHELOR OF THE WAYNE!! ARE YOU INSANE?! SHOULD I PUT YOU IN ARKHAM?!" Jazz shook him and Valerie laughed as she calmed Jazz Down. "Calm down Hun, he might not make it until Vlad wakes up, let Vlad do the hitting once the old man wakes up." Jazz sighed at the statement and nodded. "You'll be spared for today. But only because my Girlfriend told me to. capiche?" Jazz drops him. "Can I court him then?" Dante asks shamelessly earning him another sandal to the face on the floor as he laid there. "I'll take that as a Yes!" And Jazz just groaned and Valerie laughing as she led her out.

"Clockwork how did you court my father?" Dante sat up slowly facing Clockwork. "I fought him a lot physically? I do not know how mortals court each other but I seduced your father through sparring." Dante just stared at him and combed his hair. "... Sparring?..." Dante asks hesitantly and Clockwork nodded. "Perhaps ask Ember McLain or that Revenant friend of yours back in crime alley." Clockwork suggests. "Maybe tommorow... Or later this night when the kids are sleeping. Where's Nocturn?" Dante asks as he took off his corset waist coat. "He's with the children playing with them." Clockwork says as he followed Dante. "And Vlad?" Dante sighs in exhaustion. "Still resting and asleep ofcourse." Clockwork answers...

Yeah, Dante would've guessed so. It's been 8 months since the Man's been asleep... When will Vlad wake up? When will his Dad Wake up? Dante shook his head to drown away the negative thoughts and took a deep breathe before going to playroom to play with his kids. Right now his priority is Jazz and the Kids... His precious family.

[𝑾𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒓, 9:23 𝑷𝑴]

"Alfred, Father seems Constipated and... Out of touch with reality, is he possesed or...?" Damian motions his hands and slightly tilts his head in confusion. "Master Bruce is not Constipated but he is spacing out Master Damian, It seems that Master Bruce might have fallen for someone again." Alfred chuckled and Bruce just occasionally smirking then shaking his head trying to focus on his work and files. "Hmm.... Who is the person who has seduced my Father Alfred?" Damian whips his head and looked at Alfred who kept chuckling softly. "I heard from Master Bruce that the name of the Other Is Dante Jamie Masters, Master Damian." Alfred said softly, very pleased with Bruce's current state.

"I'll Tell Drake to do a background check on this... Dante." Damian fixes his clothes and walks out heading to the Batcave where Tim Basically Camps. "Drake." Damian says with a serious tone As he slowly walked towards Tim, "What do you want Demon Brat." Tim scowled. "Alfred has told me something Peculiar." Damian started and Tim looked at Damian Curiously and places his mug down. "And what's that?" Tim smirks.

"Father as Alfred Says has fallen... In love... In the early stages of being smitten with someone." Damian states and Tim looked back at the computer. "Name." He demanded

"Dante Jamie Masters. Look up everything about him." Damian demands and Tim complied only out of pure curiousity with a smirk plastered on his face. "Uhm what are you two doing... And why is there a silent truce here?" Dick Grayson asks behind them and Damian looks at him, "Father is in the process of being smitten with someone, specifically a Man." Damian states once again. "... Translation?" Dick asks and Tim sighs "What the Demon Spawn means is that Bruce is falling Inlove with Someone, that's also a man, which is new, since I mean... Selina and Talia— but yes." Tim states as both turned back to the screen.

"Wait wait wait? B? As in Playboy B persona? Or?" Dick asks again trying to process this information. "No. Not the persona this time. Like the actual Bruce. We'll check if he's a clone later." Tim states. "Dante Jamie Masters, Adopted by Vlad Masters when he was 7 years old... Odd the timelines match but there's something weird about it." Tim stared at the screen. "Some text are green. Like. Lazarus Gree—" Tim was cut off by the Burner Computer suddenly shutting down. "What—" Tim tried to power it on again but all it does is show a Lazarus Green Screen. "Alright what the fuck—" Tim was cut off again by Lines Typing itself on the screen and he raised his hands up.

"ץØย'я𝑒 Ø𝐍𝑒 Øⓕ 𝐓𝓱𝑒м.... ץØย'я𝑒 𝐍Ø𝐓 𝐚ᒪᒪØ𝔀𝑒𝓭 𝐓Ø 丂𝑒𝑒 卩𝐚丂𝐓 𝐍Ø𝔀."

"Drake this isn't a prank correct?" Damian squints and throws a glare at Tim and he denied and shook his head, "Uh No Demon Brat, this isn't my doing. Neither would it be steph, she'd make it "preppy" as that woman likes to call it." Tim rolls his eyes and the Computer's System quite literally burst. "Oh. What in the Technological Supernatural Shit just happene—" Tim AGAIN was cut off now by Dick Pulling the two away from the burner laptop and taking them upstairs, "nope. We don't deal with the supernatural kids. That's not our job, that's the JLD and I don't think I can deal with ghosts or something today, neither would I want an eldritch monster, good thing it's just technological right? Yeah yeah— but nope we're leaving that alone." Dick sputtered, "Unhand me Richard! This is utterly despicable and Unmannered of you!" Damian complained.

"Yeah! what the gremlin said!" Tim says as Dick finally let's them go as soon as he assured that they were far from the Batcave entrance. "I'm gonna Call B for that." Dick walked away. "Utterly despicable." Damian huffs as he fixed his hair and clothes again. "Ugh... My thermos is still down there... Whatever he says or asks do not tell him I'm back down there." Tim groans and stretches his slumped back up straight and heading back to the Batcave. Damian sighed in annoyance and checked a mirror if his hair was messed up but fortunately it was not.

Hopefully that Green Screen literally doesn't mess up anything other than Tim Drake's Burner Laptop. Maybe he'll inform Father later when he asks but until then he needs to finish his schoolwork. Damian heads back to his bedroom but felt a chill in his spine creeping. He whips his head around frantically for a moment before standing still hearing for any movements. He didn't hear anything else but a slight paranoia catching up to him as he enters his bedroom and locks the door firmly.

What was that chill? Please let it just be the wind and not something.. supernatural. Dami wouldn't like to be involved in something such as the Unnatural Line Between Life and Death just like the Lazarus Pits. He doesn't want to be involved for now. His gut feeling is telling him not to get involved.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Outsiders

ectoberhaunt24 day 10- creepy tw- none summary- Danny's always been a bit creepy. He is a Fenton after all.

masterlist ao3

Danny Fenton had always been a bit strange. But after the portal opened… After the ghosts started coming through… Things changed.

—---

His classmates were the first to notice, whispering to each other about fangs and eyes that reflected light like a cats.

Dash had been the one to realize the thing about Danny’s eyes. He had been leaving the locker room, Danny the only one left, and Dash had shut off the lights, smirking over his shoulder only to freeze as Danny’s eyes reflected eerily back at him accompanied by a slowly growing and glowing smile that was wider than it had any right to be.

Dash had fled, though he’d never admit that to anyone.

Star had noticed the fangs after having seen Danny laughing at something his friends had said. He had quickly covered his mouth, but Star had seen.

Paulina mentioned that his ears look pointy. Kwan had confessed that he was pretty sure he had seen Danny step through a library bookshelf. 

But he was a Fenton, and Fenton’s were weird.

But things got stranger. Star’s friend was visiting from out of town and they went to the Nasty Burger for lunch. But as soon as they stepped through the door, Star’s friend froze. Star followed her gaze and saw the weird trio. Her friend’s eyes seemed to be locked onto Fenton. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Her friend just shook her head, her eyes not leaving Fenton. She was pale and starting to shake. 

Star frowned and led her friend out of the restaurant.

“What was that?” she asked when her friend seemed to have calmed down.

“I don’t know. That guy was just really scary.”

Star refrained from scoffing. Fenton? Scary? Ridiculous. But still. Something was up.

And when Star mentioned it to her friends they were quiet for a moment before mentioning times when they had witnessed out of towners’ strange reactions to Danny.

They resolved to test it.

Dash invited some friends over and took them to Nasty Burger after he received a text confirming Fenton was there.

His friends froze a few steps past the door, their gazes locked on Fenton.

Dash continued on toward the registrar, and though his friends kept Dash between themselves and Fenton, their eyes constantly flickered toward the dark haired boy.

—--

“Hey, Danny.” Paulina said, throwing an arm around the boy's shoulders. He stiffened but blushed, and Paulina smirked. She knew the effect she had. “Sooo… I was wondering if you’d like to come to tonight’s game?” she asked in her sweetest tone.

“Umm…” Danny’s gaze flickered to Sam and Tucker, but they seemed to be reveling in his discomfort. “I don’t think so?” he stammered.

Paulina pouted. “Come oooon.” she pleaded. “It’ll be fun! The team will love it if you come!”

“Uh, huh, sure.” Danny said, rolling his eyes, but Paulina saw Sam and Tucker exchange a look. They knew something, she was sure of it.

“Why do you even want me to go?” Danny asked.

“We need more student support, and if you come then your friends will come too.” She paused. “I’ll even pay you.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “You’ll pay me to go to the game, and what? Just sit in the student section and cheer when they score?”

“Yes.” Paulina said.

Danny shared a glance with his friends. Sam nodded. “Fine.” Danny said, rolling his eyes.

—--

That night with Danny sitting front and center in the student section, Casper High won by a landslide since the opposing team couldn’t seem to stop casting scared glances in Danny’s direction.

It became a thing after that, and an easy way for Danny to earn money.

[rey-129-fan]

Gotham-Amity Co-op AU

Part 1 | Next

Wow, okay, people seem to really like this. Awesome! Whelp, here's part 2!

“Alright, order.  Order.”

“Yeah, I’ll take a Triple Nasty with cheese, extra mustard and pickles.” Laughs rang out at Dash’s remark as everyone settled in to their seats.  Sam, who stood at the front of the room by a blackboard, just gave the quarterback a flat look while Danny and Tucker snickered at the teacher’s desk.  The group was meeting in an empty classroom at Casper since most were still Casper students, at least for another couple of months until graduation.  Jazz and Kyle, both of whom were attending school in Gotham, were dropping in to visit and attend the meeting.

“We are now beginning the first meeting for the Green Amity Co-o-”

“Oh, we are not calling it that!” Paulina cried out.  Sam’s eye twitched and started to glow slightly as those around the Latina nodded in agreement.

Jazz quickly stepped in.  “While naming something Green in a city that has a known meta Eco-terrorist might not be a good idea, we can discuss names later.  For now, let’s focus on more important matters for the co-op.”

“Right,” Sam sighed, releasing the tension in her shoulders.  “So has everyone had a chance to look over the info and pictures Jazz and Kyle were able to gather?”  Getting various conformations, the goth nodded. “Does anyone have any objections on using the building as a Gotham based co-op?”

“Not really.”

“Nope.” 

“None from me.”

“Okay, so we’ll put down an offer to buy the building,” Sam nodded before shuffling around some papers in her hands.  “Next on the agenda is rent.”

“Won’t we own the building?  Why would we need to pay rent?” Dash asked.  Kwan nodded while several others in the group just dropped their heads.

“Because we need to pay for things like utilities and taxes,” Valarie shot back, arms crossed as she stared down her former friend group.

“Not to mention that we should collect some money for potential repairs that will be needed in the future,” Wes added, nodding.  Dash turned and glared at both of them.

“As Val and Wes said, we may own the building, but we still need to gather money to pay for things like water, electricity, internet.  Things needed to make the building usable,” Jazz explained in a less condescending tone, mullifying the blond.

“So we need to figure out how much each utility is and split it between everyone, with a little extra on top to make a fund for repairs?” Danny clarified.

“That is a start, but some people will use more of some things than others.”

“Well, we can always start with it and adjust as we get a better idea of how much it costs and who uses up what amount,” Star said as she stood up and walked over to the board.  She picked up a piece of chalk and began writing down numbers.  “Do we know how much we have to pay for property tax?  From what I could find on the internet, the average cost of utilities in Gotham is about $118 a month, give or take.”

“That lines up with what I saw too, though that doesn’t include internet or phone plans,” Val nodded.

“Well, our phone plans aren’t likely to change, so we don’t need to worry about that.  Most internet plans start about $40 a month,” Tucker added.  Star nodded and added the 40.

“As for property taxes, given the building’s estimated amount, it would be about $15,900 a year, which is paid quarterly.”

Star continued writing.  “So 15,900 a year is 1325 a month.  We currently have 11 people, so that’d be 120.45 per person per month just in taxes.”

“So utilities plus internet and taxes would put us at about $242 a month.”

“Don’t forget insurance and repairs.  Gotham isn’t the safest place, what with all the supervillains,” Danny added.

“Never mind random ghosts dropping in just to fight Fenton.  We’re probably going to have to repair the place more often than the average,” Kwan nodded.

“Hey!  Don’t pin the property damage from ghost fights on me!  It’s mostly the GIW doing that!”

“We know, Danny, but you can’t deny that there are going to be at least a few ghosts that will come just to fight, and the GIW are likely to follow them.”  Danny crossed his arms and grumbled, but conceded.

“We should just double the amount we have for now.  That way we can cover the basics and have enough to cover anything that could come up, while most can afford it with a part-time job,” Tucker suggested.

“It’s a start,” Jazz agreed.

“And if we need to adjust it, we can always discuss it again,”Mikey pointed out.

“Alright, so all in favor of starting rent at $485 a month, raise your hand.” Sam counted the hands in the air.  Eleven.  “Very well.  Up Next: rules.”

“Oh come on!  We’re no longer kids and are going to college!  Why would you wanna create rules?!” Dash protested.

“Just because we’re adults now doesn’t mean that there aren’t still rules we have to follow,” Jazz responded.  “Pretty much any place you could live would have quiet hours and cleanliness requirements.  Plus I’m pretty sure there are places or things that you wouldn’t want others to mess with.” More grumbling was heard but no more protests.  “Now, from what I’ve observed and read on the internet, in general quiet hours are generally between 10-11 pm to about 8 am during the week, with it rolling back an hour on the weekends.  I don’t need it to be that strict, but I would like to have some quiet by the time I’m going to sleep.”

“What exactly do quiet hours entail?  Is it like a curfew?” Mikey asked, pushing up his glasses and looking at the two actual college students.

“Nah man, they’re just the hours you have to be quiet for.  Ya can do whatever ya want, so long as yer not disturbing anyone or keeping them up.  Just don’t do anything that’ll get the cops or Bats on ya, and yer good,” Kyle explained.

“Sweet!”

“So what should these quiet hours be?  Not going to lie, but midnight seems like a good start, especially if you have early morning classes,” Wes spoke up.

“Midnight is good for me.”

“Aw, but what if we want to have a party!”

“Well, if you start at 8, that gives you four hours,” Sam explained, raising her eyebrow.

“A 4 hour party seems to be enough, especially since not all of us would want to have a crazy party outside our door all night,” Val stated, glaring at Dash and Paulina.

“It seems common consensus is quiet by midnight.  What about when they end?”

“Well, most of us will likely have classes starting by 9.  Including travel time and getting ready, we’re likely to be up around 8 or so.  That’d give us 8 hours of quiet to study and fall asleep.”

“So midnight to 8 am for quiet hours?  Any objections?” None were made.

The meeting continued on in much the same way, with only a few protests to some rules, mostly related to shared chores and the creation of a chore schedule.  But these protests were quickly silenced by a glare from Valarie that slowly glowed a slight red the more protests were made.

“Alright, I think we’ve covered everything we set out for today’s meeting,” Jazz said, tapping some papers against the desk she sat at.  She took over the meeting as Sam grew more annoyed.  The goth was now sitting between Danny and Tucker, who were both offering small touches of comfort.  “Remember, if you have any questions, share them in the discord server.  And if you have any suggestions for a name, please feel free to send them to Wes, who will compile them into a poll so we can vote on them in a week.  Now, would anyone like to add anything else?”

A few mutters and shakes were the answer.

“Very well, that concludes this meeting.  Hope everyone has a good summer, and when we next meet, hopefully, it should be in our new building.”

***

Did I seriously just write 1363 more words of set up? Yes, yes I did. I have no regrets. We should be in Gotham starting next chapter and get up to the shenanigans then.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! I started writing this while I was baking a pie for my own mother.

I am going back and forth on whether Phantom Planet is canon or not, but either way, all of Amity Park knows about Danny in this, but not the outside world, and especially not the GIW. While I do read a lot of bad parent Maddie and Jack, I much prefer to have them as good parents that love and accept both Danny and his little clone/cousin/sister.

Sorry guys, but Bruce is not adopting either Phantom.

Again, feel free to leave suggestions for names for the Co-op, as well as for this little AU itself. Also, suggestions for shenanigans and powers our liminal teens might have outside just glowing eyes.

[clockwayswrites]

You all don't see this. Nope. Didn't write it.

WC: 1284, Masterpost CW: visit to a leath kink shop, mentions of sex work

Paulina held up her hand, looking at her freshly painted nails. “You, Nickie, are a goddess and an artist.”

“I know,” Nickie said smugly.

“Like, seriously, you could make bank,” Paulina said. She pulled out her cellphone to snap a photo. The crystals in the center of the flowers that frame the sugar skull flashed beautifully.

Nickie gave a little shrug. The muscle tank she worn slipped off her tan shoulder, revealing more of the over the top, bright red bra. “Considering it for after. Right now sex pays well, I got the body for it—”

“Hell yeah you do,” Paulina agreed.

“—and it let’s me look after my girls. But I might be putting money aside for a shop front, yeah.”

“When you open I will let anyone I know in the area to come to you,” Paulina said. “And come myself if I’m still haunting Metropolis. Got to visit my boo Danny.”

“Someone has to come keep him in line.”

“Hey!” Danny protested from where he was carefully painting Han’s nails a blinding magenta. He did just fine with himself these days.

“He’s mixed up with a bad crowed,” Nickie continued, completely ignoring Danny, “just like Han here.”

“I don’t even know why I’m here,” Han protested meekly.

Paulina flipped her hair. “Who do you think helped him get his bad crowd? Danny can’t dress himself worth shit.”

“I know,” Nickie said with a sigh. “I remember what he was wearing when he moved in.”

“Again- hey!”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t love your new gets.”

“That is true, I look amazing,” Danny said. He struck a pose as best as he could while sitting at a coffee table with nail polish in hand. He felt his bootleg Red Hood crop top ride up with the act, exposing a sliver of skin between it and his black joggers. “But I hate you for getting me hooked on lululemon, it’s stupidly pricey.”

“Good thing you have two sugar daddies then, ain’t it honey,” Nickie pointed out.

“Blessed life,” Danny said, finishing off the magenta polish with a flourish. He capped it before he started with the other hand to carefully remove the tape. His tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth as he focused.

“You should get them something nice.”

Danny snorted. “What, with their own money?”

“Sure,” Nickie said, starting to clean up. “Doesn’t matter who’s dough bought it if it’s good fun for everyone.”

Danny paused in his work of revealing the highlighter yellow polish under the tape to look over to Nickie. “What? I don’t— ooh.”

Paulina just laughed at him, of course. Even Han chuckled which was frankly a little insulting.

Danny cleared his throat. “I, um, do you think they’d… like that?”

“Honey, I’ve seen how they are with you. Doesn’t have to be nothing cray either. You can start simple, just a little accessory.”

“Huh.”

“I, uh,” Han said, nervously, drawing everyone’s attention. “I know a place?”

At least Danny was able to follow how they ended up standing in a leather centric kink shop, even if it felt like a bizarre turn for his life to take. He looked at the harness wearing mannequin he was standing in front of and tilted his head.

“Who has the patience to get into that?”

“Well,” drawled the shopkeep who had appeared next to Danny so suddenly he was half tempted to think the other was a ghost, “for some people, getting their partner into the harness is half of the fun. The obedience, the touches, the control… the denial.”

Danny swallowed heavily. Huh.

“Hello my darling, bring in some friends?” the shopkeep asked and swanned over to kiss a blushing Han.

“I’m not sure what they are,” Han said with a weary sigh. They let the other pick up their hand and examine their bright nails. “But Danny here was thinking of picking up something on the… introductory side to treat his boyfriends with.”

“Oh well we can certainly help with that. I’m Liam, Han’s boyfriend,” the shopkeep said, holding out his hand.

Danny shook the hand. “Danny, like Han said.”

“He’s dating the Boss and the Boss’ boy,” Han explained.

“They’re his sugar daddies,” Paulina pipped in.

“And damn adorable,” Nickie said.

Danny released Liam’s hand to bury his face in his hands. “I hate you all.”

“No you don’t,” Paulina said. “Now, what do you have in mind for the blushing boy, Liam?”

“Well that’s something for him and I to talk about,” Liam said. He put an arm around Danny’s shoulder (though was really barely touching him) and guided him away. Over his shoulder he called, “Show them around, Han!”

When they had space and a tall display between them and the other’s, Liam stopped. “Now, best way for me to get you something good is for you to be honest with me. I promise, nothing you say to me is going to be something I haven’t heard before. I’m not going to judge you. You and your boys ever done anything like this before?”

Danny shook his head.

“So you’ve had sex but it’s been mostly vanilla?”

“Yep,” Danny said, the word coming out as a strangled squeak. He cleared his throat. “I mean, Red Hood keeps his helmet on so that’s not really… usual. We haven’t done much, in any combo.”

“But you like this idea?” Liam asked, motioning around them, “Or did they just bully you into coming? Because if that’s the case I can find you something cheap to buy you won’t feel bad about throwing away or you can come back and return it in a few days provided you keep it in it’s packaging.”

“I, um,” Danny picked at the edge of his hoodie as he glanced around the store from under his bangs. What Liam had said about the harness came back to mind. “Sometimes, like, not in bed, Jason will tell me to ‘stay’. And, um…”

“That does things for you.”

Danny nodded, feeling mortified.

“Not that odd at all. Now, there are a few ways we could go,” Liam said and started walking again. “Handcuffs and restraints are one way. Or rope, it’s an art form so one of your boys would have to be interested in learning, but it can be something special. Or, I think maybe for you… this is where we should start.”

They had stopped in front of a display of collars and leashes. There were more types than Danny could have ever dreampt up. There was leather of all colors and patterns. There were plain black and brown collars and bright colors with poppy cutouts and rich jewel tones with detailed filigree and earth tones with geometrics. They were lined with suede and velvet and fur. Danny itched to reach out and touch them.

“Yes, I do think we’re in the right area. Go ahead, you can touch. If nothing here works for you, you could always custom order something instead.”

Danny reached out and ran his fingers over one of the collars, thinking. If this was Red Hood, Danny would have to go custom order red and black. But really this was for Jason. Danny lingered on one that was lined in turquoise suede. The leather was a bold rust and turquoise patina on a delicate, detailed circle and diamond pattern. Brass circles studded across the pattern.

“You know, I think we have a leash that will match that one beautifully. Should we ring you up?”

-

When Jason walked in a few days later to find Danny sitting on his kitchen counter, swamped in one of Jason’s large shirts, and wearing the collar he nearly swallowed his tongue.

---

AN: So this is a thing that I've now written! Loved the response to the tease I post last night~ Danny has gotten ideas and Jason is gobsmacked. Don't worry, I'm sure he bought something for 'Red Hood' too. ^_~ (Collar 100% inspired by one of Big Cat Den Crafts)

I no longer tag people, but you can subscribe to the mastpost.

[evilminji]

You know what I never see explored?

"Not on MY watch!" Superfan Dash Baxter. The young, limnal, quarterback built like a tank and willing to hit like one.

Because let's be real here. Imagine that scenario: Dash, heading to practice with his Bros. His best friends. The team. When? Oh shit! It's PHANTOM! Best day EVER right?

Except it's NOT.

Somethings wrong. He's not as graceful as he usually is. There is no clever comebacks. He looks beat up, man. What HAPPENED? Everyone looks confused when Dash looks around. But before he can call up to him?

Phantom is Shot Out Of The SKY.

Hits the football field HARD. The entire team is already running. Full sprint. It's those fucking GIW. Already driving onto the field and tearing it up. Jumping out, weapons primed.

Phantom's not... oh god, he's not getting up.

He looks hurt. Really hurt. Those bastards are closing in.

Dash's team? Has his back. They're also fans. Friends of his. Not a single one hesitates. They put their BACKS into it and welcome these sick fucks to Tackle Practice. With a follow up of "Taste Your Own Teeth". Amity special, coach would be proud.

But Dash... fuck, he can't wail on these guys AND protect Phantom at the same time. Kwan tells him to go. Throws him his keys. His car is least shit. Dash owes him SO many pizzas for this. First pick on movies for LIFE, man.

It hurts to leave his team behind. His best friend. But Dash has to GO. He can already hear the Fentons closing in. He grabs Phantom, his HERO, and runs for his life.

Barely manages to peel out of there in time. Floors it. Calls Paulina, obviously. She and Star are doing a spa day thing. She picks up because she KNOWS he wouldn't bother her if it wasn't serious. And-!

Oh...

Oh fuck.

In the rear view mirror. The Fentons and GIW just screeched onto the road behind him. Closing distance FAST. What does he do? Paulina he can't... he WON'T hand Phantom over!

And of course she understands. For God's sake, she in LOVE with the guy. He's never heard her sound so scared and furious. They'll get phantom over her twice dead body. She and Star are making some sort of noises, chanting, and...?

Giant Amazons with swords? GHOST Amazons. Suddenly in the road, jumping over his car to attack the cars behind him. Paulina what the FUCK?? She been talking to her Abuela, APPARENTLY. Who's friends aunt's "roomate" was particularly good at communicating with the dead. So OBVIOUSLY Paulina got her to send notes and studied them in secret.

Gotta be able to speak to you future husband's family in their native language. You win brownie points. Gives her a step up. "Not the point"? It's kind of a point! Giant warrior women! Who-?

Paulina made friends while practicing.

Of course she did. Why is he even REMOTELY surprised she chose the giant terrifying Amazons to be beasties with? He's know her for years. He should know better by now.

.....he feels small asking. Hates that his voice shakes. But... but what do they DO, 'Lina?

What he hates even more is the little shake in his childhood friends voice, even though she's trying to sound certain and strong. What they Do? What they DO is Dash drives his ass the her house, gets in her BETTER car, which she is going to load up, and they leave Amity.

She has LOADS of money. All sorts of jewelry. They're very last season. Frankly, she.. she can't WAIT to pawn them if they have too. They just have to drive. Get Phantom as far away from those freaks as possible. Get help.

And? It could go so many ways from there? Paulina LOVES Phantom. How will she reconcile that with her views on Fenton? How will Dash? Seperated from their roles as "the popular ones" and "the crazy people's son". Knowing that... that Danny likes her TOO.

But she's been AWFUL to him. She said so much. DID so much.

Do the even? LIKE each other? Or just the IDEA of each other? The person they made up in their heads.

They're afraid, tired, on the run. But free from school, the expectations of others, the baked in histories of a small town. Who ARE they as people? Do they like each other? COULD they?

I want to believe that Paulina really means it. That no one is at their best in middle and high school. They say and do stupid, mean, shallow shit. Because the world presses and presses and tells them it's all they are worth. Because they don't know who they ARE yet. Because she is a child. Not yet eighteen.

And Danny isn't perfect either. He saw a pretty, pretty face and got distracted by it. Didn't see how HARD she works. How smart she is. How ambitious and brilliant at reading people.

Are they trying to get to an Embassy? To Paulina's extended Family to the south, who would most certainly take them in, and would gladly fight gods for them? Or is this a crossover? Are they going towards other Heros? Older ones?

Is Paulina planning to pull a Lois Lane and Cause Problems On Purpose? Is Dash HAUNTED by "oh fuck, Wes was right." And now knows he's gonna have just... just WALK UP TO THEM. Broad ass daylight. Like "hello, I clearly know your secret identity! Please don't kill me!"?

Whatever the plan? Danny is in the back row of Paulina's once nice, now beat to hell car, bleeding irresistibly damaging acidic ecto-blood all over the seats. Wrapped up like a mummy. Texting Tucker.

The live tweets from Amity are... An Event. A Spectacle for the ages. His parents KNOW now, have speed run their grief STRAIGHT to RAGE, directed that rage at the GIW, and gone to WAR. Once a Fenton, always a Fenton. Jazz was right. "Anti-ghost" sentience testing once a week DID pay off.

Was it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. But results don't lie. He clearly passed. Is clearly sentient, emotional, and their son. All in hard numbers they ran themselves. Will it stop them attack FULL ghosts? Jazz has no idea. But it sure did convince them to put the GIW in a hole and fill it with concrete.

Danny's getting reports of "you SHOT MY BABY!" Being shouted in public. Sam has decided to channel her frustration at being unable to help him into Full Goth Dramatic Shit Stirring. Non-waterproof mascara, disheveled hair. Clutching a picture of him. Dramatic howling and weeping in the arms of her parents.

Apparently now that he's presumed DEAD, the Mansons ALWAYS loved him. Like a SON to them. A sweet, innocent child. Their daughters friend! The GIW are monsters and child killers, they decry.

And the Red Huntress is... Oh, yikes. Yeah he should call her. Val is one more bad thing happening from her villian origin story. At least she... PROBABLY... has killed anyone yet. Note to self: when Danny can actually move torso again, buy Valerie soothing anti-stress...everything. All the things. She responds to stress by punching. Deliver from safe, non-punchable distance.

All in all? My Dash? Needs more Dash! Give the popular kids a chance to prove they aren't just cardboard cut outs! That they can grow beyond the roles high-school and society has pushed them into! Give them some trauma! Why only Danny? Spread the psychic damage!

@stealingyourbones @hdgnj @the-witchhunter @nerdpoe

[howdoyoudothedew]

Rated: G

Pairing: Swagger bishie (Danny/Dash)

Word Count: ~2k

A/N: Final words soulmate au

It burns. Dash’s soulmark burns, the words feeling like they’re on fire for a few agonizing seconds. Once it’s stopped, he looks down at the now faded blue text.

His soulmate just died. Their last words– at least to him– burned into his skin. The words are normal, everyday ones, but Dash has always kept track of the people around him. The words which come out of their mouths. He knows without much thought who’s dead. Fenton.

It doesn’t matter to him. He absently wonders how Foley and Manson took the news, because there’s no way his loser friends weren’t told immediately. It doesn’t matter to him. He rolls over and forces sleep.

The next morning, he wakes with a new soulmark in the same thin font. This time, it’s green. Apparently fate has decided to give him someone new, since he failed so badly with his last.

The A-listers all knew what each other’s soulmarks are. It’s a common pact among close friends– show each other your soulmarks, and never say those words to the owner. Dash is sure the loser squad has the same pact.

Had.

He wonders if Fentina ever had words, or if he always knew he’d die first. Paulina has no words. Dash knows it keeps her up at night sometimes.

But that is why Dash is glad for his letterman jacket. It hides the new words on his arm away, the thin green feeling oddly damning. See how little you cared about your soulmate? Maybe this one you’ll care for more.

At school, Dash faces the impossible.

“Are you alright, dude? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Kwan’s words barely register. All Dash can see is Fenton. Alive, whole, and not looking even a little like he died just last night. Instinctively, Dash knows the soulmark is Fenton’s again. Of course, who else would Not today, Dash be for? For whatever reason, Dash has been given a second chance.

He doesn’t take it. Everything in him knows Dash will outlive Fenton, knows he’ll witness the mark fade again, and Dash can’t bring himself to act any differently to his crush soulmate. If he does, it feels like Fenton will know. Dash doesn’t want Fenton to know.

Dash also doesn’t know what he doesn’t want Fenton to know. That his soulmate is destined to outlive him? That his soulmate is the same person who bullies him and shoves him into lockers? Whatever it is, Dash knows he wants to keep it from Fenton.

When Fenton sees him and says the words painted onto his arm with tired eyes, Dash panics. It’s too much suddenly, to know for certain someone won’t make it through the day. If Dash were anyone else, maybe he’d just walk away. If Dash had more time to mentally prepare, maybe he would’ve been able to scoff, throw out a ‘whatever, Fentina’ and act like it didn’t crush his ribcage because this is Fenton who’s just some loser. Instead, Dash panics and shoves him hard into his locker. He successfully avoids him the entire rest of the day.

After school, Dash feels the same burning sensation. It last just a few seconds– five, he counted them this time– before going away. Once it’s done, Dash rips off his letterman jacket. The thin green text is faded. The memory of Fenton saying them flickers in and Dash bites his lip. Without a thought, he hurriedly shrugs the jacket back on.

He sleeps in the letterman jacket that night.

The next morning, as he’s changing, he spots new words just under his pec. The same thin font, but this time in purple. He knows they mean he’ll see Fenton again today. It’s still a shock when he does.

Dash keeps track of the colours and the words and the times Fenton dies. It’s a daily occurence, happening most often at school, though sometimes Fenton makes it to the end of the school day before dying. But it does happen every day. Every day, Fenton dies. And every morning, Dash wakes up with new words in a font he now associates with Fenton in a different colour to tell him what new thing Fenton will say before he does. By now, the faded colours wrap around his skin like a multi-colour tattoo. Sometimes Dash thinks he’ll be more rainbow than skin by the end of the year.

After the first few deaths, Dash stopped wailing on Fenton so much. He still makes fun of him, because he has appearances to keep up, but he figures if the other boy is dying so much he doesn’t need Dash hip-checking him in the middle of the hallway.

As his skin gets more covered, he decides to avoid Fenton totally instead. He doesn’t want someone to see him, to see his skin, and know just how strange he’s become. To see how messed up whatever is happening to his soulmate must be. Already, he has to change in the bathroom stall for gym and practice, just so no one will see his skin. Before long, or so it seems, the words will have no where else to go but his neck. If he can avoid Fenton, at least he can delay the next new set of words.

Only, it doesn’t last longer than a few days, because it’s one thing to make it through the weekend without feeling your words burn at least once. It’s another to make it through a week, spending every night knowing your soulmate has died– because they die every day, so of course they’ve died even if you don’t have the faded words to prove it– and not knowing in the morning if this has been the one. Sure, none of Danny’s other deaths have stuck. But what if this one has? What if the next one has? Dash has nightmares, centered around Danny’s unknown deaths, and he hadn’t realized the ever changing words were the only thing holding him together, but apparently they were.

After a week, Dash traps Danny against a locker just to make the other boy speak to him. When his soulmark burns in Lancer’s classroom, Dash feels his heart stutter. But Danny is in his next period, whole and alive, and Dash wakes with new words the next morning. It’s a return to a comfortable normalcy Dash wasn’t even aware he’d become reliant on.

Eventually, Dash will probably have to talk to Danny about the whole dying thing. And the soulmate thing. Especially since their lives are bound to go different directions– Dash is a jock, Danny is a loser in love with space. The odds they go to the same school are zilch. If Dash can’t make it a week avoiding Danny after knowing for just half a year they’re soulmates, how is he supposed to make it after four years? Not to mention the toll constantly dying has to take on Danny. Dash has noticed the dark circles.

They echo his own.

It’s something Dash is only to put off for so long. Another month, several more nights of bad sleep, and a nearly lost football game and Dash cracks. He ambushes Danny after school, grabbing him before he can meet up with Foley and Manson to leave and pulling him into one of the  janitor’s closets. Before Danny can ask, Dash shrugs off his letterman jacket. He watches Danny’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, his mouth open to probably ask Dash what he’s doing, then the slight widening of his eyes as realization hits. When Danny grabs his arm, his hands are cold and the touch feels like an electric spark. Danny moves up his arm, pushing his sleeve up to see the words on his shoulder. One sentence, bright and unfaded, curls partly there from his back. Dash doesn’t move to stop him, even when Danny pulls his shirt up to examine the skin of his stomach and chest.

“What…?” Danny breathes, hands shaking as he pulls away. Dash pulls his shirt back into place and pulls his letterman jacket back on. “So all this time, you…”

“Had a front row seat to you dying every day,” Dash finishes for Danny when it seems like he won’t. The other boy flinches. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” Danny says.

“Why are you sorry?” Dash asks, frowning at him. “You’re the one constantly having your heart stop and start again.”

Danny shrugs. “You’re the one feeling it.”

“Yeah, well,” Dash looks away, fiddling with the cuff of his jacket. Really, Danny has a point. It’s a shit situation either way. But if Dash could just know why. He thinks, somehow, it would solve everything. At least it’d let Dash not worry so much he’ll wake up without new words. “Just. Tell me why you’re dying so much.”

Danny bites his lip, looking at the ground. After a while, Dash thinks Danny won’t say anything, and Dash thinks he might have to beat it out of him. Because Dash very suddenly doesn’t want to leave without an answer. A very big part of him needs to know just what is happening to his soulmate. Needs to know Danny is relatively okay. Needs, at least, to know Danny won’t randomly and permanently die on him before they’re even out of high school. Or out of their twenties. Or thirties. Or perhaps married with two kids, five grandkids, a paid off mortgage, and a good life insurance policy.

Preferably the last.

Dash refuses to consider why his mind gave him that specific scenario, though.

Finally, Danny does explain. Danny explains impossibilities, and ghost portals, and the cold burning heat which covers Dash for all of five seconds each time a soulmark fades. Danny explains Phantom and ghosts and– at least partly, Dash can hear words unsaid but he gets an answer and that’s all he cares about so for once he doesn’t push– being functionally immortal because of it. None of the deaths will stick.

“How can you be so sure?” Dash asks after it all, because death is made to be permanent and half-ghosts seem like a thing of fiction. Because he’s seen Phantom and it makes a lot of sense for Danny to be him– it’d certainly explain the deaths at school– but it’s hard to connect the boy who’s always dying with the ghost hero. Or, maybe, it’s frighteningly easy. After all, who better to be a ghost hero than someone who constantly kisses death?

Danny transforms for him. As blue eyes become green, Dash feels his back burn and closes his own eyes because even if he’s used to it it doesn’t change the few seconds of pain. When he opens them, Danny is dead. He looks apologetic.

“Sorry, I didn’t think-” Danny reaches for Dash-

“No, it’s okay-” Dash starts-

- and Danny’s hand connects with Dash’s shoulder, under the letterman jacket. Cold sweeps over him. A soft glow fills the space between them, different from the pale glow Danny gives off now, and Dash looks down where Danny’s eyes are staring wide-eyed to see a faint glow below his shirt. His own eyes widening, Dash backs away– the glow stops– and strips off both his letterman jacket and his shirt. Looking at each other with equally wide eyes, Danny slowly touches Dash. The cold sweeps over him once more and his skin becomes a mottled rainbow of glowing words. Each one feels like it’s radiating life. Whatever keeps Danny alive in his ghost form, Dash can feel it, beating along each death heralding word.

Dash breathes and for the first time, it feels like he’s getting oxygen.

“Oh,” Danny says quietly. Dash can’t do anything but repeat it.

“We seriously need to talk about you ending all our conversations with, like, one word sentences. I only have so much skin, Danny,” Dash says after he’s dressed again and Danny’s no longer Phantom. Danny laughs. Neither of them mention how this is the first time Dash has used Danny’s actual name.

—

Most people don’t get to know who their soulmate is, not really, until they lose them. But Dash is special. Dash loses his every day, sometimes several times, so he does know for certain.

Danny does have words, right over his ribs. They’re blue and blocky and have never changed.

It’s strange to know for certain what your last words are.

Everything will be alright.