#also I love the dukes
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Binge read “I failed to Oust the Villain” AND OH MY GOD REINHART REINHAAAARRTTT
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IF YOU LIKE YANDERE INSANITY + FOUND FAMILY READ IT READ ITTTTTT
#i failed to oust the villain#reinhart#i failed to oust the villain reinhart#REINHART IS SO GOOD BRO#HES A PSYCHO WHO HOLDS POWER OVER THE MC#BUT THEY SOMEHOW ARE ALSO EXTREMELY WHOLESOME AND CUTE??#IDK HOW TO EXPLAIN IT#reinhart is so hot bro 😳😳#also I love the dukes#THEYRE VALETAS PARENTS#so happy I read this#valeta and reinhart are so cute together#VALETA BOUNCES OFF HIM SO WELL#manhwa#male yandere#yandere
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Love the idea of the Batfamily showing a serious, united front whenever they’re working with the Justice League (i.e., obeying Bruce’s orders without question or defaulting to Dick’s authority, following Bruce’s comm protocol, upholding expected field etiquette, coordinating with one another with terrifying efficiency, and generally just not fucking around), but then the minute they get back to the Cave they immediately start to throw hands over who gets to use the PS5.
#I love my BAMF batfamily#but then switching from scaring the shit outta the JL with how good/serious they are and then going home to fight is so funny#And Bruce is so so proud of his kiddos… but they really need to cool it during Mario Kart or they’re gonna burn the Manor down#dc#dc comics#bruce wayne#batman#batfamily#dick grayson#batfamily headcannons#tim drake#jason todd#justice league#damian wayne#cassandra cain#stephanie brown#duke thomas#kate kane#batman family#bruce wayne loves his kids#Bruce Wayne is proud of his kids#Bruce Wayne is also a little scared of his kids#batdad#black bat#spolier dc#red robin#red hood#robin#robins#the batfamily is fucking nuts
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game night
#wayne family adventures#batman#batfam#dick grayson#jason Todd#timothy drake#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#duke thomas#damian wayne#draw the squad#meme#art#digital art#princeorcaart#im sorry I had to bring back the meme#i love them all so much#also I’m just a causal batman enjoyer I’m new here#I just wanna clown
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The lack of substantial Duke and Tim interactions is funny to me because in a lot of ways Duke is Tim's exact opposite. They have really dissimilar backgrounds; Duke's motto, 'Robin doesn't need a Batman', is a deliberate inversion of Tim's 'Batman needs a Robin'; in their introductions, Tim helps pull Batman out of a dark place, whereas Duke more or less puts an amnesiac Bruce back into a dark place. They also have wildly different opinions on basically every other Robin, particularly Dick. It's funny that even with all of their differences they have no real dynamic - they kind of just know each other. I don't think they dislike each other, but given their opposing philosophies and perspectives, I think it would be very hard for them to understand each other.
#duke thomas#tim drake#batfam#always baffled when people think they would be close#out of all the robins duke is LEAST close to tim#tim was literally dead for a lot of duke's early tenure#they do have some things in common (both detectives who prize intellectual activity + figured out dick's identity)#i just think this similarity would make it even harder for them to get along#imagine the world's most unabashed hater and the world's speciallest little brother working on a case together...#anyway i would love to see them grow a dynamic but i also kinda love them being very very distant coworkers
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If Tim and Steph decide that 7am is time for sibling bonding activities, it'll be so, even if the sibling they're bonding with is trying to get some goddamn sleep
#also so you guys know Damian draw that dragon for Tim's dungeon master thing#idk what its called#art#dc#dc fanart#tim drake#batfam#jason todd#tim drake fanart#stephanie brown#stephanie brown fanart#jason todd fanart#they are the most chaotic trio and I love them#okay who am I kidding everyone in the batfamily is chaotic trio no matter who you put there#you can even leave duke cass and dick in the same room cause they all look sane enough#come back in a few minutes and BOOM there's corpses and fire and why is duke holding firearm???#no no the previous statement is not true#because none of them is incompetent enough to leave the evidence
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Homesick
#okay so the scenario here is that she’s visiting the coast of Enbarr in Duke Gerth’s territory#I think where she’d usually be in Duchy Gerth wouldn’t be on the coast#it’s hard to tell on the canon map but this coastal area would be like former Nuvelle territory#so Duke Gerth would probably live in a more central location#and Petra really loves the ocean and swimming#so she’d obviously want to go to the coast as often as she could#and the direction is a little off but she’s supposed to be looking south west towards Brigid#but yeah I think it would be very bittersweet for her to visit the coast some days#also she ended up looking older than I planned so maybe this is around the time she goes to Garreg Mach? idk#my art#petra macneary#fe3h#fire emblem three houses#okay actually I think some Gerth territory is on the coast but#I think Duke Gerth is probably in a central location regardless
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Dick:….
Jason:….
Tim:….
Dick: okay so was anyone gonna tell me Bruce is dating Joe Chills daughter or was I supposed to figure that out by myself.
Jason: HES WHAT
Tim:???????
Damian: I think I just threw up in my mouth
Cass: …is this that Freud guy you were telling me about?
Steph: somehow worse? I think?
Jason: Idk where does dating the daughter of your parents murderer fall on the Oedipus scale of morality?
Tim: more importantly where did you find out this information?
Damian: please tell me it’s a tabloid so I can bleach my brain of this conversation.
Dick: Babs tipped me off that something was up and I stalked em for a week
Tim: Ah classic
Jason: you really have one trick Grayson
Dick: Hey! No I do infiltrations, Tim and Cass are the stalker duo
Cass: *nods*
Jason: so… Bruce is actually dating the kid of the guy who offed mama and papa Wayne. That’s cold. I’m a little impressed actually.
Tim: Clark was RIGHT THERE
Dick: so was Selina
Steph: we could’ve had a Step wonder mom
Cass: you’re not adopted
Steph: is Wonder Woman was in this family I’d marry into it
Tim: *nods solemnly* Bernard would understand
Jason: Talia was there
Damian: that might be worse actually
Tim: nothing is worse than this
Dick: actually I might agree with Damian
Dick: anyway zatanna
Jason: didn’t you date her
Dick: that’s another timeline ignore it
Tim: Constantine
Damian: Dent
Dick: I’d take viki vale over this
Jason: same
Dick:…hey Duke can see into other realities right
Jason: depends on the writer..
Dick: when does he get back from his families
Tim: he stops by for 45 mins to steal some pastries and check his gear before patrol
Dick: … wanna see if we can get him to look into other realities and see the worst person Bruce has dated
Jason: yes
Tim: yes
Damian: no
Cass: yes
Steph: yes
Dick: you’re outvoted Damian I’ll see all of you tomorrow at the cave bright eyed and bushy tailed!
#dick grayson#nightwing#batman#jason todd#batfam#tim drake#bruce wayne#comics#damian wayne#batfamily#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#they look#it’s batjokes#they’re traumatized#Duke narrates the plot of Lego Batman#and Jason is the only one who prefers Bruce with babs#dick loves Lego Robin so much#he also hates it here why is babs with Bruce eweweweweewwwww#Tim also loves Lego Robin#cass sneaks into the cave and dyes one of Bruce’s suits pink and adds a tutu#I am on painmeds nothing makes sense
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ANOTHER SKETCH DUMP! Featuring more of me playing with lineless art. Batman reborn era trio (dick, damian and steph) I miss you...when will you return from war. Also featuring Steph designs bc I've seen ppl dissatisfied w/ her current look, some good mom Talia, and Jason Todd poetry club. Duke is confused not that Jason would start a poetry club but that he'd have such mid poetry opinions. (ID in Alt)
#dc comics#batfamily#damian wayne#stephanie brown#dick grayson#talia al ghul#duke thomas#cassandra cain#mine#woo new art tag. please god let me keep this up all year#uhh anyway yeah! still a big backlog of sketches but i got burnt out which means i had time to collect some#i feel like my art looks. extremely different w/o lines compared to with? idk i worry that's it weird/off-putting#but hey at the end of the day I'm hardly worrying about my brand integrity on tumblr dot com#duke and cass being at poetry club is based on them canonically being into poetry and for a good while duke and jason got along well#Steph is there for both jason and cass' emotional support (unfortunately there's a design flaw. she can't do both simultaneously)#(which is fine bc cass is fleeing the scene at the idea of having to casually hang out with jason)#(they're the exact amount of similar and more importantly different that it's like putting two firecrackers together. bad)#i really like the steph mask designs... it'd be fun to do something with them but idk what y'know?#I'm just like. if we're assuming that her mask has to be different from both babs and cass then this is what I've got as alternatives#i mostly wanted to practice character interaction with the talia and damian one... and also i love them#looking at james gunns batman movie proposal. you keep your hands OFF HER MR GUNN#please if shes evil in a movie they're never gonna let her be good in the comics again 😭#dc when you inevitably cave and do your next big reboot let the ppl finally have the son of the demon origin (w/ tweaks of course)#idk it's canon in my heart. heartcanon if you will <3#anyway yeah uhhhhhh enjoy?
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Okay so I’ve been reading a lot of reverse robin AUs recently and I have a hot take. Duke Thomas should be the Dick Grayson parallel instead of Damian.
Hear me out. So bare bones Duke was the last to join in cannon, so he should be the first to join for reverse robins. But to get deeper into it Duke lost both of his parents at the same time setting him down a path of becoming a vigilante. He becomes Bruce’s ward instead of being adopted because he already was raised with two good parents and doesn’t want them to be replaced. He also created his own mantle that was the opposite to Batman, the light to Batman’s dark, inspiring hope against Batman’s fear. He’s friendly and works well and inspires others, but also extremely sharp and smart which people often forget.
Damian would work well as a batgirl parallel more. He would join after Duke but be a few years older, got there already trained and immediately jumping into crime fighting. Covering the areas that Bruce and Duke don’t fill. While Duke takes up his own name Damian would use a name more inspired by Batman himself.
I just think this dynamic of Bruce and Duke being the first dynamic duo would fit so well (also get to spotlight Duke who so often gets overlooked).
#batfam#batman#bruce wayne#dc#signal#signal dc#duke thomas#damian wayne#reverse robin au#reverse robins#robin#this thought came to me at 3am and I needed to get it out#duke would work so much better as a dick parallel than damian#give my boy duke some more recognition pleaseee#I also think steph should be the red hood parallel#but that is a rant for another post#also it has been more popular recently which I’ve been highly enjoying#don’t get me wrong I love all the reverse robin fics/AUs#I just think this is neat#4am posting
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I think movie buff Duke Thomas should force Jason to watch the LOTR movies and literature nerd Jason Todd should force Duke to read the books.
They should make a movie night out of it and then a weekly book club that's really just Jason periodically hacking comms during Duke's patrol so he can yell at him to finish each chapter like a deranged English teacher that follows you around at work. And then they should get into heated arguments about Tom Bombadil; and Duke should get really invested in overanalyzing all the poetry in the book trilogy; and Jason should rewatch all three movies like seven times at least so he can scribble thoughts into the margins of his paperback copies, write dissertations in his head about the effectiveness of different story changes, and cry at Sam's "But I can carry you!" without having to stop reading.
And then they should repeat all of this with The Hobbit. They're both a little psychotic about it and the rest of the family is tired.
#added the tags and more stuff to a reblog!#genuinely I think tom bombadil would frustrate the fuck out of duke#that boy loves the thrill of discovery and putting all the puzzle pieces together and tom bombadil is unsolvable#and I think jason would resonate a lot more with the movie ending than with the book ending#coming home from a life-changing journey to find that everything has stayed the same#like that would hit different for him than the scouring of the shire#duke thomas#jason todd#signal dc#signal#red hood#batfam#batfamily#jason also tries to get duke to read the silmarillion AND beren and luthien#“but you said beren and whatever is already in the other one!”#“that's just one version you need to read all of them for the full experience!”#“NO”#“YES”#EDIT: I've decided that duke and jason have a tom bombadil murder board#it's got cutouts of book lines and Tolkien quotes and artwork and written snapshots of Tolkien's history#all connected with color-coded string and littered with sticky notes and scattered scribbles#some parts are highlighted#it takes up two sides of a whiteboard in the batcave and a whole wall in one of jason's safehouses#one of the other batfamily members sees the safehouse version once and wisely does not comment#duke and jason can go on about this shit for hours and as soon as you get one going the other will materialize and cause problems#but anyway#duke and jason the brothers ever
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I hc that after Bruce’s infamous spine-breaking fight with Bane, all the Batkids pitch in and get Bruce one of those super bougie gamer chairs for the Bat-Computer. Like this thing is all leather, it’s got cup holders and LED lights, and that bad boy swivels smoother than butter.
It’s also bright fucking red. Robin red.
#Bruce hates it but it has great back back support and after he broke his spine he NEEDS to be comfy in that chair#he pouts for an entire week abt it#all his kids cackle#I bet they also put a bunch of stickers on the back that say I love Gotham and stuff like that#Barbra feels bad and gets him a file cabinet as an actual glad-you-aren’t-dead present and Bruce loves that infinitely more#I love silly grumpy dad bruce Wayne#dc#dc comics#bruce wayne#batman#batfamily#dick grayson#batfamily headcannons#tim drake#jason todd#damian wayne#barbra gordon#stephanie brown#Duke Thomas#cassandra cain#bruce wayne headcanon#batdad#batman family#black bat#batfam#batman comics#OH and bruce does the signature dad groan whenever he sits down
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Batfamily Powerpoint Night! (Part 8: Duke)
<<Part 7: Damian | Part 9: Barbara >>
[Masterlist]
Duke: My turn!
Bruce: Finally I can count on something normal.
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Bruce: [migraine noises]
Dick: I feel like this information and Damian is a bad combination.
Damian: Grayson, I am offended you assume I need lessons from Duke on how to lead troops
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Tim: You should bring the beard back Bruce.
Steph: Yeah your amnesia era was kind of a slay
Barbara: My dad’s Batman era was not a slay
Jason: Well maybe slay in a different sense-
Duke: That’s all behind us we’re moving on!
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Bruce: I don’t think-
Jason: Bruce sit down and don’t pretend like this isn’t exactly what you did to form your child gang
Bruce: I don’t-
Steph: Look into our eyes, Bruce, and tell us, your crimefighting children, that you did not start a child gang
Bruce: Hn.
Tim: That’s what I thought.
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Steph, Barbara, Cass: [hysterical laughter]
[talking over each other]
Dick: That is not what I looked like!
Jason: I looked so much cooler as Robin than that!
Tim: I looked cooler because I had pants, I can’t speak for you two.
Damian: My costume has been improved vastly since that iteration.
Steph: Alright, traffic cones.
Duke: Okay really not the point
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Barbara: Seems like this step should’ve come before the outfits?
Duke: It was my first time starting a gang let me live
Jason: Shouldn’t “training” have been part of-
Duke: This is not open for criticism thank you
Steph: Yeah only Bruce can critique Duke’s child-gang leader skills as a fellow child-gang leader
Bruce: [noises of general regret]
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Bruce: Why does something absurd always happen with you guys when I’m gone
Tim: Maybe because nobody in this house knows how to cope with loss or something I don’t know
Dick: Also it gets so much worse Bruce
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Dick: I mean that wasn’t exactly your fault
Jason: Cop Batman didn’t seem to agree
Barbara: [sighs]
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[talking over each other]
Jason: Woah woah woah
Tim: Hired??? You did not hire-
Damian: I did not say that?
Jason: Also I don’t remember being asked nicely I remember saving your a-
Dick: ‘Specialist’ sounds pretty cool and professional thank you Duke :)
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Steph: Is that Damian in a Court of O-
Damian: The situation was resolved I am fine now
Tim: “Beat up some bird guys”
Jason: I mean besides the imprisonment and attack on a school and Dick leaving us in the dust for a hot second there that’s basically what happened
Dick: I did not-
Bruce: Excuse me?
Duke: Don’t worry about it :)
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Tim: That’s n-
Cass: [signing] The Court of Owls is still-
Damian: That is libel
Steph: What a cute picture
Jason: Weren’t there casualti-
Duke: I have no idea what you’re talking about everything was fine in the end and everything is good!
Bruce: I am... so worried about all of you
Barbara: Well anyway let’s keep that streak going, it’s my turn. >:)
<<Part 7: Damian | Part 9: Barbara >>
[Masterlist]
#batfamily powerpoint au#I AM BACK FROM THE DEAD#GUESS WHO FINISHED HER FIRST YEAR OF COLLEGE#also in march i had to fly home for a funeral so i've been busy#and like going through it#BUT IM BACKKKKK#also I barely remember the events of We Are Robin and Robin War#lets just agree to overlook the inevitable mistakes#anyway love yall and i cant wait to finish up this series#sorry for the wait#batfamily#batman#duke thomas#the signal#batfam#dc#dc comics#dick grayson#tim drake#damian wayne#bruce waybe#jason todd
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Dick: I can't stand Bruce. He's always making decisions for you. He thinks he knows better and "It's what's best for you, Dick". Maybe I don't want what's best, maybe I want to make my own informed decisions. Like, can't he just trust I'll know what to do if he gives me the info?
Duke:... isn't that what you do constantly, all the time, unapologetically???
Dick: that's different because I'm actually right.
#this is about the time Dick set the We are Robin gang up#and sold them to the gcpd so they would be safe#also I say this with all the love from my heart#i love dick grayson and I love that he has flaws#and I love that his flaws parallel his father's#dick grayson#Nightwing#duke Thomas#the signal#batfam
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Duke Thomas Being Rude and A Hater
Role Call (Batman & The Signal TPB)
We Are Robin #1 & 2
Robin War (yes he's speaking to Damian in that bottom panel. The brothers of all time)
Batman (2011) #47
Batman & the Outsiders (2019)
#duke thomas#the signal#batman#almost all of these being people he cares about#being rude is his love language#if duke isn't being rude and honest to a fault and yelling at bruce for being selfish is he really duke at all#also how duke's blunt honesty is a direct and deliberate contrast to dick's constant performance#think about it. their first interaction is duke being like 'what's your name' and dick dodging the question#but then duke's like 'i knew all along dick' - and it's this act of seeing through dick's performance that makes dick select him as robin#okay derailing once again because of dick and duke... when will dc see my vision and let them interact!!
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“Are you okay?”
Duke whipped his gaze towards the voice, blinking away the colorful spots that tried to remain after how hard he’d been pressing his eyes into his skull. A boy stood in front of him—or was it even a boy? His form seemed to glitch. Sometimes it looked like a regular black-haired boy in a Gotham Academy uniform, what looked like a prosthetic hand peeking through his sleeve. Sometimes the colors inversed, revealing green eyes and floating white hair and a black jump suit—hazmat suit? Duke wasn’t sure. The prosthetic hand switched to a completely ice arm, bones encased in an unnaturally blue ice. Still his form seemed to morph at times, becoming something completely inhuman with wings and horns and fur and feathers all combining to reveal a maw that threatened to swallow Duke whole.
The boy-creature tilted his head. “… hello? Can you hear me?”
Excerpt from chapter two of
Animated gif below the line
#dpxdcbang2024#dpxdc#duke thomas#danny nightingale#duke's powers were so fun to draw#eldritch danny#i also love whenever Danny has an eldritch form
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Could i request a ghostlight where danny can turn into a dragon, it could be though a curse or just training from queen dora?
Like dragon Danny seeing the yellow signal outfit and thinking "mmmmm gold, shiny, must take".
He should probably be more worried about being cursed.
Scratch that, he should definitely be more worried about being cursed. However, it wasn’t done intentionally or in bad faith. This is just the consequences of him, Sam, and Tucker fucking around and finding out when left unsupervised with the grimoire of a long dead witch.
In their defense, they didn’t know Tucker could use magic. This revelation both upset Tucker, who refused to be swayed from tech, and Sam, who thought she was a better fit for magic considering how goth she is. Danny hadn’t really cared, since he was too busy being turned into a dragon. At least it isn’t like with Dora’s necklace; Danny is still himself, can think clearly, and isn’t overcome by rage.
He’s just… Danny. But as a dragon.
“Well, you do something to fix him then!” Tucker shouts, waving a hand in the air angrily, “Since you want to be so good at magic, you do it then!”
“I would if I could! But you’re the one who gets to use magic, so figure it out and turn Danny back!” Sam shouts back, getting in Tucker’s face with a fierce scowl.
Danny sighs, shifting uncomfortably. His room is not big enough for a dragon, and his back is starting to cramp up. He looks longingly out the window to the clear skies that call to him, and wonders when his friends will stop fighting.
They keep shouting, so he doubts they’ll be able to focus on actually helping him for at least another hour.
The only silver lining about the situation is that Jazz and his parents are gone, taking the weekend to visit a few colleges so Jazz can decide which one she wants to go to. Though he’s been cursed into dragon form and his friends are yelling about it, at least his family can’t make it any worse with their attempts to ‘fix’ things.
There’s a lull in the yelling, Sam and Tucker both turning their attention back to the grimoire. Danny shifts his wings, tail flicking slightly, and leans his head closer. He wishes he could help figure this out, but he can’t talk in this form, and any attempt at charades will destroy his room.
His friends look focused, at least. So maybe they’ve decided to focus on finding solutions instead of fighting.
“Here,” Sam says, shoving the grimoire over to Tucker roughly. “Try that.”
Tucker reads over the spell, then scoffs and pushes the grimoire back. “That’s not going to fix anything. Didn’t you read it? It clearly says truth is the greatest revenge, revealing one’s true form force it into light. It’s talking about making people who are secretly cruel turn ugly or something like that! It’s not going to do anything for Danny!”
“It says one’s true form and Danny’s is a human! That would work!”
And they go right back to arguing.
Danny sighs, turning to stare out the window again.
In any other circumstance, being a dragon would be so fun. He has wings! He’s big and has claws and can probably breathe fire! And it’s not making him act on animal instincts or anything! If he could just be outside…
He glances at Sam and Tucker again.
Maybe he can go outside, enjoy the curse a bit before they figure out a way to undo it. Spend some time flying around with wings.
All the curse did was turn him into a dragon. It just changed his form. If he still has his ghost powers, if the curse didn’t change his nature from halfa to dragon…
Carefully, Danny focuses on his tail and tries to make it intangible. There’s a strange sensation of ice running down his spine, then it goes into his tail. In the next second, his tail drops through the floor, and Danny bites down a grin.
He is so out of here.
He gives Sam and Tucker another glance; they’ve got their heads bent over the grimoire, paying no attention to him.
Perfect.
Danny goes fully intangible and sinks through the floor of his bedroom, then maneuvers his way outside the house. As soon as he’s out, standing beneath the sunlight and able to stretch out his new body, Danny pulls his power back and takes a few careful steps on the grass, testing his balance. His wings shift on his back, and he stretches them out, feeling the way his new limbs move.
Everything feels natural, as if he’s always been a dragon.
Taking a deep breath, Danny spreads his wings out and takes off running. A few hard pumps of his wings gets him into the air, and he can’t help but let out a joyful roar.
Distantly, he hears Tucker and Sam yelling again, but he’s too happy to be free of that room to care. Let them argue. He wants to have fun.
Staying in Amity Park is a no go; Val might go after him, thinking he’s a threat, and ghosts could pop out at any time to cause problems. He might as well take this chance to fly around wherever he wants. Chicago wouldn’t be too hard to reach with how fast he’s flying, but he’s been there before and doesn’t want to stay in Illinois.
What other big city is nearby that he can fly to?
New York?
Or, better yet, Gotham.
It’s definitely a bad idea, but if any city is able to handle a dragon appearing without warning, it would be Gotham. Plus, he might get to see some of the heroes in action! Sure, it’s the middle of the day, but surely a dragon is a good enough reason for Batman to show up before the sun sets.
Mind made up, Danny flies up into the clouds and heads towards Gotham, following the roads out of Amity Park.
The flight is quick. It takes barely over an hour to see the dark figures of Gotham’s tallest buildings, fog surrounding the city like something out of a horror movie. The sun glints off the ocean behind the city for a rare, cloudless day. He’s heard stories about Gotham’s weather, how dreary it is, the occasional acid rain, the gloominess of it all. As bad as his luck is, it seems that the sunny day is trying to give him something good to even it out after being cursed into a dragon.
Excited, Danny angles himself down, diving out of the lower clouds and shifts his wings to catch on a wind current that smoothly sends him towards the city.
Just to be careful, he goes invisible as he gets closer, staying out of sight once he enters the city proper.
Noise overwhelms him immediately, cars honking and voices yelling, the occasional gunshot and sound of something breaking. It makes Danny wince, disoriented enough to make him falter as he flies above the streets.
Amity Park is quiet and peaceful in comparison, so much so that he hadn’t realized just how enhanced his senses had become in a dragon’s form.
The sounds of everything are so much, and all the movement of such a big city is dizzying. At least he can’t smell anything but salt from the sea; if he had to deal with the constant smell of blood, guts, and sewage, he would find a way to fully die to get away from it.
He slows down to a smooth glide, weaving his way between buildings as he takes in the city. Even with the sun out, it’s gloomy, the tall buildings casting shadows across the streets, a mix of art deco and gothic architecture filling up the space. He wonders if he should find some place up high he can rest, maybe bathe in the sun for a bit until he felt like moving again. If he managed to fall asleep, that might give Sam and Tucker enough time to figure out how to undo the curse.
“Ow! Shit, that hurts.”
Or he indulge in his curiosity and check up on whoever just cursed loud enough to be heard over the ambient noise of Gotham.
It takes a minute of searching before Danny’s eyes zero in on a bright flash of yellow moving across rooftops.
All other colors seem dull in comparison, and Danny has just enough time to think, Oh, there’s the dragon instincts taking over, before he’s flying after it, unable to focus on anything else.
Every time the yellow leaps out of the shadows, it’s as if it glows. As if Danny’s chasing sunlight.
He gets close, but loses the yellow every so often with how he has to maneuver around buildings, putting his new flying abilities to the test in an effort to keep up.
Then the yellow comes to an abrupt stop. Danny can’t stop in time and flies past it, tilting his body and spreading out his wides as far as he can to make a tight turn.
“I’m fine, just bruised up, but I feel like I’m being followed,” the yellow says to no one. There’s a pause, and then the yellow says, “I don’t see anything, is the thing.”
If the yellow has anything more to say, it doesn’t get the chance to do more than open its mouth before Danny’s crashing into it, tackling it to the ground.
He’s elated as they roll across the roof, the living sunlight caught safe in his arms. He holds it close to his chest, protecting it until they come to a stop, dropping his invisibility as a low rumble builds in the back of his throat. The dragon brain has thoroughly taken over, and it takes far too long to wrestle control back from it.
Once he’s able to think more clearly, Danny looks down at the poor guy he’s caught and realizes, hey that’s a hero!
And then he realizes, that’s a hero. I fucked up.
He tries to say sorry, but all that comes out is a low chuff. The hero, who he can recognize as the Signal because who else wears mostly yellow in Gotham, leans back as much as he can, trapped in Danny’s grasp.
“Hey, dragon,” Signal says nervously. “I’m really hoping you didn’t catch me because you were looking for a snack.”
Danny huffs, bumping his head against Signal’s chest. He hopes he doesn’t come across as aggressive, because all he wants to do is laze around with a hero, his dragon brain happy to keep hold of its yellow sunshine.
He’s not going to let go of Signal, though. He intends to make the most of this moment while he can.
“Okay. You seem friendly? That’s good I guess.” Signal sighs, then tries to wiggle out of Danny’s grip. Danny doesn’t budge until Signal gasps and curls into himself, clearly in pain.
Worried, Danny lets go of him and tries to see what’s wrong, his snout poking against the Signal’s ribs.
The Signal hisses out a breath, trying to push Danny away. “Stop, don’t do that. Man, I hope my ribs aren’t broken. That would suck.”
That would suck. Rib injuries are the worst, and the bruises always seem to stay longer on ribs than anywhere else, in Danny’s experience. He would love to offer the Signal some ice, but as a dragon, he’s not sure how to use that particular power. He settles instead for backing off and making himself small, offering an apologetic rumble.
“Thanks,” Signal smiles, gingerly uncurling from where he’s hunched over, an arm crossing his stomach, protecting it. “I guess you’re friendly, then?”
Danny nods.
“...And you can understand me?”
Danny nods harder, a high pitched growl slipping out of his mouth.
“That’s so cool. What are you doing here in Gotham?”
It’s not a yes or no question, so Danny’s stuck on how to answer when words are so far out of reach. He shrugs, wings shifting against his back, then carefully bumps his head against the Signal’s helmet.
“Yeah, that was a bad question. Do you need help?”
Danny scrunches up his nose as he thinks. He is cursed, but so far, being a dragon isn’t all that bad. It sucks that he can’t talk, but everything else is cool! He just doesn’t want to be a dragon forever. But it’s nothing the Signal can help with, so Danny just shrugs again.
The Signal tilts his head. “Alright. I guess I’ll get going then, and you can chill up here.”
The low growl comes suddenly, without him even thinking, and Danny wraps himself around the hero again. Distantly, he thinks that he should stop, that this is technically holding the Signal in place against his will, but the much louder, dragon part of him is deeply upset by the thought of the Signal leaving while he’s injured. Danny can protect him, so there’s no need for him to go anywhere! In fact, he’s only safe as long as he’s with Danny!
He leans more of his weight onto the Signal until they both fall back onto the roof, pinning the hero in place.
Danny tries to be gentle, but the impact still makes Signal groan, tensing up in pain.
Sorry, he tries to say, the words coming out in a low chuffing noise. He draws his tail up to curl around the Signal so he’s completely surrounded by Danny, kept safe from anything that would try to attack him.
Letting out a breath, the Signal lightly knocks his head against Danny’s neck, the helmet barely felt through Danny’s scales. “Alright, Oracle, can you send someone to my location? I’m a bit stuck.”
It’s hard to hear, but Danny manages to make out a voice saying, “Black Bat is heading there now. What’s wrong?”
“I’m a bit stuck.”
“Injured?”
“Just my ribs, but that’s not really the problem. There’s a dragon who’s very determined to keep me on this roof.”
“A dragon,” the voice repeats.
“Yeah. It seems to like me? But it’s also not letting me leave. So. I’m stuck.”
There’s a pause, then a soft burst of static before the voice says, “I’m going to send a message to everyone else just in case they’re able to provide any back up. I’m sure Tim is looking for an excuse to ditch Bruce at that accounting meeting.”
“Guess I’ll just wait to be rescued, then,” Signal says, sighing. Then he tilts his head up to look at Danny. “Is there some way you could talk to me? To pass the time. Maybe morse code? Do you know what that is?”
Dragon brain makes him stupid, apparently, because Danny does know morse code. He didn’t even think of alternative ways of communication once he discovered talking was impossible with his new vocal chords.
It’s probably not even dragon brain. It’s just Danny brain that makes him like this.
Embarrassed, Danny drops his head onto the roof, drawing his tail closer to himself so it can cover his eyes, his best attempt at hiding his face. Then, with one sharp claw, he taps out Y.E.S.
“Oh! So, what’s up?”
N.O.T. D.RA.G.O.N. H.U.M.A.N. G.O.T. C.U.R.S.E.D.
“Why did you say you didn’t need help if you got cursed?!”
Danny wants to say it was an accident, but has no confidence that he can spell ‘accident’ correctly, so he goes with F.R.I.E.N.D. M.A.D.E. M.I.S.T.A.K.E.
“And can they fix it?”
I.D.K. T.H.E.Y. W.E.R.E. F.I.G.H.T.I.N.G. Danny huffs out a breath, flicking his tail in annoyance as he uncurls slightly, giving Signal some more breathing space. He doesn’t look as stressed out anymore, which is nice, but he still holds his ribs tenderly, careful not to move too much. G.O.T. B.O.R.E.D. L.E.F.T.
The Signal taps his own fingers against the roof, thinking after he takes in Danny’s words. “Do you think we can call them and see if they know how to fix it? I doubt you want to be a dragon forever.”
N.O. P.H.O.N.E.
“It’s cool, we can use mine.” And he pulls out a cell phone from… somewhere. Danny has no idea where. It’s like he blinked, and a phone suddenly appeared. His hero suit probably has a lot of hidden compartments and pockets to hold as much stuff as possible, but it’s so well designed that Danny can’t begin to think of where he’d put anything. Especially when his dragon brain keeps getting distracted by how nice the yellow is.
Danny taps out Tucker’s number when Signal asks for it, watching as the call connects and is put on speaker.
“Hello?” Tucker’s voice says, hesitant and a little distracted.
“Hi,” Signal responds with a mischievous smile, “Do you happen to be missing a dragon? Cause I’ve got one here who’s hoping he can get a little help from a friend.”
Danny hears something clatter on Tucker’s end, then Tucker starts yelling for Sam. He’s not quite able to bite back his laughter, entire body shaking with it. The Signal keeps his composure better, but he does share a glance with Danny that has him biting his lip, trying to keep his smile from growing.
“Where is he?!” Tucker demands, and for a moment Danny feels ashamed of how much stress he’s putting his best friends through. And then he remembers them fighting nonstop while ignoring him and doesn’t feel bad at all.
“Gotham.”
“...Gotham,” Sam repeats. Her voice is flat in the way it always gets before she verbally (and sometimes physically) tears someone apart. Danny winces hard enough that it jostles the Signal, making him glance back at Danny.
“Yeah. Gotham. He said he was cursed?”
Sam sighs heavily. “Yeah. Not my fault. It is Tucker’s fault, though.”
“I think I found the solution though! And also, it was an accident. You were the one who wanted to read the grimoire.”
He can tell they’re gearing up for another fight, so Danny lowers his face closer to the phone and lets loose a dark growl. It shuts them right up, and he briefly wonders about learning how to growl like that as a human, since it’s so effective.
Tucker clears his throat, and continues as if nothing happened. “Anyways. The cure. The thing that will make Danny stop being cursed.”
There’s another long pause.
“The cure…?” Signal prompts.
“Kisses.”
“Sorry, what?”
“It’s kisses.”
“Like… true love’s kiss?”
Danny hopes it’s not true love’s kiss. If it is, he’s never going to be human again. Who would his true love even be? As much as he liked Valerie, that ships sailed long ago. And he loves Sam and Tucker, but not quite like that.
“No. Thankfully,” Sam says. “Just kisses. What matters is the amount, not the person it’s from. So whoever you are, we’re gonna need you to be giving Danny as many kisses as possible until he’s human again. We’re also on our way to Gotham now. Johnny’s offered us a ride.”
On cue, an engine revs loudly.
“We’ll be there soon!” Tucker shouts over the engine, and the call ends just a second later.
Danny huffs, shaking his head lightly.
“Interesting friends you got there,” Signal comments idly.
Y.E.S. Danny taps out. L.O.V.E. T.H.E.M.
The Signal sits up and moves away from Danny, who has to stomp down the urge to curl around the hero tighter to keep him in place. He stands up, putting his phone away, and looks over Danny. His gaze feels like a physical weight, moving from his face, and the horns on his head, to the scales covering him, to his wings and tail.
His tails flicks back and forth nervously. Danny can’t get it to stop.
“Dragon,” someone new says, startling Danny. He spots the newcomer immediately, a lithe figure in all black perched on the ledge of the roof. Her voice is rough and he can’t see her face at all, fully covered as it is in her mask.
This must be Black Bat. He doesn’t know much about her; no one does, with how she’s managed to avoid being photographed and how rarely she is seen by anyone at all. He honestly wasn’t sure if she was real or not, but here she is.
“Hey,” Signal greets easily, “We need to kiss him better.”
Black Bat tilts her head. “Kiss… dragon?”
“He’s cursed. And kisses will fix him. Not true love’s kiss, but just a lot of kisses.”
“True love’s kiss?” she repeats.
“Oh, shit. I guess you haven’t read any fairy tales?” Black Bat shakes her head, and Danny wonders how she’s managed to avoid all fairy tales for so long. They’re usually among the first stories children are exposed to. “Yeah, in a lot of those stories, a curse can only be broken from a kiss by someone by love.”
Black Bat nods slowly, and it’s clear she doesn’t really understand, but she does hop off the ledge and walk over to Danny. She pulls up her mask to reveal her mouth, then looks to the Signal for guidance.
“Like this,” Signal says, then leans over and presses a soft kiss to Danny’s cheek.
If he were human, Danny would be blushing madly. As it is, he has to force himself to stay still and not hide his face in his hands, claws and all, from how flustered he is.
Black Bat follows in suit, dropping a delicate kiss to the top of his head.
Danny loses track of how many kisses he gets, all over his face, beyond flustered by the amount of affection two heroes are showering him in. It’s just to break the curse, but it’s still a lot of kisses!
Signal kisses the tip of his nose, and there’s a flash of light. Danny feels himself change, growing smaller, his human softness returning to him. It’s barely a few seconds, and then Danny’s human again, sitting on the roof with the Signal and Black Bat standing over him.
They blink at each other for a long moment, then Black Bat smiles and pats the top of his head.
Danny smiles. He knows his cheeks are red, can feel how hot they are himself, and ducks his head, too embarrassed to look at either of them.
“How are you feeling?” Signal asks, crouching down to be eye level with Danny.
He tries to answer, but all that comes out is a hoarse rasp. He winces and brings a hand up to his throat, then shrugs and gives the Signal a thumbs up.
He clears his throat. This time, he manages to whisper, “Thank you.”
Black Bat gives him a cheerful wave, then hops back onto the ledge and jumps off. Signal barely takes his eyes off Danny enough to give her a nod goodbye. He reaches out and brushes Danny’s hair off his forehead some before his fingers trail down the side of his face.
“I’ll admit, you looked cool as a dragon,” Signal says, “But you’re much cuter like this.”
Danny gives in and hides his face in his hands. The Signal laughs, warm and bright, and kisses his forehead.
“Come on, let’s make sure your friends can find you.”
“They’re going to be so annoying about this,” Danny mutters.
“It’s how friends show affection.”
“Seriously, though, thank you. I know being tackled by a dragon isn’t what anyone expects. Did I hurt you? Your ribs…”
The Signal shrugs. “Nah. I’m all good. Just a little bruised, but it’ll heal quickly enough. Though, you’re more than welcome to give me a kiss to help me feel better.”
Danny shoves him lightly for the teasing, but he does pull the Signal back for a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth.
It’s only fair, after all.
#ghostlights#dc x dp#dp x dc#dcxdp#dpxdc#dc x dp fic#prompt fill#my writing#this was supposed to be written last week... cries. work killed me but ghostlights is bringing me back to life#with a bonus cass!! i love cass in case u couldnt tell#duke is gonna roll up at the cave for evening training. have people insist he ice his ribs after they see the bruising#and he'll say 'no its fine a dragon kissed it better' and not elaborate#everyone has questions but damian is the only one upset that HE wasnt called to help the dragon when they know he's good w goliath#this doesnt change even after duke tells them the dragon was a cursed boy who is now human again#damian is lowkey wondering if he can find tucker to also be turned into a dragon. just for fun.#it'll give duke an excuse to see danny again so obv hes gonna say yes.#meet cute? no. meet DRAGON
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