#cryptid Gotham

[goblinwithartsupplies]

Gotham should be like Chongqing

Chongqing is a city in china that has a really confusing layout. There is buildings on top of buildings. You might think you’re on the ground floor but nope! You go in an elevator and you are on the 12th story. Then you go to the elevator right next to it and it says you are on the 23rd floor.

I think crime alley and the Bowery should be extra confusing by having a bunch of technically illegal construction that no one really reports because it’s a better income source than actual crime.

Only people raised in the area should be able to navigate easily. It’s part of every Robin and bat adjacent’s training to be able to navigate every neighborhood.

Wayne tech offers not only free accessibility features for buildings regardless of legality of its construction but will pay the building owners.

The Bowery in particular is like a hive and only Jason, Steph and Duke are able to navigate it with ease. Everyone else needs to have Alfred or oracle on comms or to reference a map that’s only a couple months old but barely helpful because it’s changed so much.

I need Gotham to be actively hostile to outsiders purely based on its architecture.

[puppetmaster13u]

Slowly rotating combining my cryptid omegaverse Gotham (where they can swap and switch between secondary sexes and if you stay in Gotham long enough your scent starts to disappear as well) and my Dragon Curse Gotham (Originally a DP crossover but probably wouldn't for the main AU) prompts. Into its own Au.

Where Gotham can change into dragons, and it's like the One thing they all keep secret from Outsiders. Everyone has three forms depending on the secondary sex they are at the time, while children have a form similar to a parent just, more stone-colored for camouflage. If that makes sense.

So normally I'd make world-building from scratch but I'm not drawing dragons from scratch for this. Like three for each character ever? Ehhh, sorry not happening lol. So I'll probably use Flight Rising or something similar to come up with things to base their dragon forms off of.

Anyway if you're here, hope you don't mind ramblings lol.

Everyone in the world is either Alpha/Beta/Omega/Delta but Gotham is cryptid-like in that they can change their secondary sex at will

The longer ones family has been in Gotham the quicker while newcomers might take months for a single shift 

Newcomers’ scents will also begin to disappear like a delta’s but continue to have a 2nd sex

Secondary sexes are a mixture of body parts, scents, and aura, almost akin to psychic bubbles around someone that shows mood and other information 

Most second-sex puberties come in around the age of twelve, though the semi-sexual half doesn’t come in until the age of seventeen on average 

It’s a well-kept secret of Gotham having a more benevolent curse of people becoming dragons

The form is influenced by whatever secondary gender they are at the time

Unless they are children in which case their form is similar to whatever their parents’ might be, but a solid gray-black color that camouflages with the Gotham streets 

Gotham also has several animals & plants similarly mutated well, everything

Reality warping is also canonically an issue with an entire street disappearing every week & gravity around certain places being odd on certain days

So if You're a Gothamite you get to have a third dragon puberty where you start getting your adult forms and colors and all that stuff

Secondary sexes are a mixture of body parts, scents, and aura, almost akin to psychic bubbles around someone that shows mood and other information

The longer ones family has been in Gotham the quicker they can shift between genders while newcomers might take months for a single shift

Deltas are: People with no secondary sex, usually due to a medical condition that is usually hereditary, but can also happen from large damage to glands as a young child before presentation Unless you are a Gothamite, as every person who stays there for extended periods of time becomes scentless or a combination of scents/auras even if they’re another sex Children are sometimes wrongly referred to as Deltas even though the proper term is Unpresented 

So in other words, Gotham is Really Fucking Weird to the rest of the world. Some people might and probably would use it to transition though, also helped by the fact that there's so many scholarships in Gotham. I mean, look at how many of the rogues have PHDs.

Now the Delta thing is semi-important because for example Clark, as an alien, doesn't have a scent. Which mean he's very much Noticed the first time he's sent by Perry to Gotham. He's kind of confused as to why he's so welcomed compared to all the other Daily Planet reporters, but he's not complaining. And it gives him an excuse for his scent, as it is known that Gotham is in fact Like That when it comes to scent disappearing and other such things.

I would continue rambling but I need sleep at some point lmao Will definitely add more later tho

[charlieeenby]

gotham city's children

gotham city is a cryptid and the batfam are Their children.

warnings and tags: blood, injury, fighting, a little angst

Dick was the first to see Them, likely because he was the first Robin. He had only just become Robin, so when he got lost on the streets of Gotham, he didn’t want to admit to Batman that he was lost. So he wandered the streets, looking for something familiar.

Slowly, he became aware of something behind him. Oddly, despite knowing he was being followed, the presence didn’t make him feel unsafe.

Dick wondered if maybe it was a child, or someone who needed help, so he turned around and called out, telling whoever it was that he could help them.

Nobody answered. But the wind blew a bit harder and Dick swore he heard a voice, so he called out again.

This time They answered. “You’re lost, little one, not me.”

Dick jumped. “Who are you?”

“I am no one. But I can help you find the Bat.”

“How?”

“I can find anyone. Come, child, it’s too cold for you.” a breeze nudged at Dick, feeling more like a parent, nudging their child along than wind. So Dick let himself be guided through Gotham, giggling when the wind tickled him.

And then he was deposited behind Batman and Commissioner Gordan.

“Batman!” Dick bound over to Batman, hugging the man's legs.

“Robin. Where were you?”

“I was exploring! The wind brought me home!”

Batman frowned. “Stay close, Robin.”

Tim met Them next. He too, was lost on the streets of Gotham, but unlike Dick, Tim was injured, and badly. He was beginning to think he might die, like Jason had, only he would die because he couldn’t figure out where he was or stop the bleeding.

As Tim was trying to stop the bleeding, a gust of wind tore through the alley he was hiding out in. When Tim looked up, a shadowy figure stood at the entrance.

“Batman?” Tim’s voice shook, because he knew it wasn’t Batman.

“I am not the Bat, child. I can help you, though.”

“Who are you?”

“I am no one.”

“Okay, well why should I trust you?”

This seemed to stump Them for a moment. Then They answered. “The first little bird did. I took him home one night.”

“Can you fix a bullet wound?” Tim didn’t want to die here and No One seemed nice enough.

“I can. I can also take you to the Bat, if you’d like.”

“I’d appreciate it, yeah.” The figure moved towards him and seemed to stoop down in front of Tim, reaching out a shadowy limb. They pressed it to his wound, ignoring his wince.

Then, the pain was gone, and They were standing, offering Tim a hand. Tim took it, and was gently pulled up and off the ground.

“Come, little one.” They turned away and walked off, leaving Tim to follow, and he did, partially out of curiosity.

After a while, They turned a corner, and vanished, but Tim was standing at a crime scene. Then he saw Batman and went over to him.

Tim didn’t mention Them.

Jason didn’t meet Them until after he came back from the dead. He had just killed off a room full of drug dealers that were selling to kids when the doors flew open, wind pushing them open.

“What the fuck?” he muttered, going to close the doors. When he turned back around, his eyes landed on a shadowy figure in the corner that hadn’t been there before.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I am no one.” Their voice echoed around the room, Jason’s hair standing up on end.

“Well you must be someone. And if you don’t tell me, I’ll shoot ya.”

“I am no one and shooting me will do you no good.

“Then what the fuck do ya want?”

“I am here to help.”

Jason scoffed. “Help? Help with what?”

“You are lost, little one. I can take you home.”

“I ain’t lost.”

“Not physically, no.”

“Kay, this is weird. I don’t need your help, I ain’t lost, physically or otherwise, so fuck off.” oddly enough, They did, and Jason didn’t see Them until he asked to.

He really was lost and he just wanted to go home, wanted his dad, wanted to see Alfred and Dick and maybe the new kid. So he called out.

“No One? You there?”

“I am always here, child.” Their voice echoed less this time.

“I wanna go home.” Jason was crying.

“Then I shall take you home. Come, little child.”

A warm breeze guided him to his bike and when he climbed on and started it up, it was like someone else was driving, guiding him though the streets and eventually, to the manor.

The breeze came back, nudging him up the stairs and knocking on the door for him. It stayed, wrapped around him, until Alfred answered the door, then They were gone.

Damian met Them when Dick was Batman. Dick had been injured, and the comms were out. The two of them were stranded in a field outside of Gotham’s city limits, a fight with Scarecrow leading them out there.

Damian didn’t notice the wind picking up, but he did notice the figure that stood just a few feet from him.

“Leave us alone!” he had cried, knowing that if they were attacked, more than likely they would die.

“I am here to help, little one. Do not be afraid.” They said, which historically, has never worked well.

“Who are you?”

“I am no one, and your brothers have trusted me. Let me save this one again.”

“Okay.” Damian was tired and he knew Dick was dying. So he sat back, watching Them approach and kneel next to Dick.

They placed a hand on his chest, and after a few seconds, Dick’s eyes flew open and he gasped. When he saw Them, he smiled.

“You’re here.”

“I am always there, child. Let me take you home now.”

“Yeah, okay. Damian,” Dick turned to Damian, and frowned when he saw that the boy was crying silently. “Come here, bud, it’s okay.” Damian hugged Dick tightly while Dick carried them home, a warm breeze swirling around them.

None of them knew exactly what or who They were, but if they asked for help, or got lost, They were always there when needed.

Strangely, or maybe not, they never appeared when Batman was around. Maybe they knew he would help them and that he could save them, but even when having Them help would be good, if Batman was there, They never appeared.

Until one day. One day, when a new rogue appeared, this one with deadly intent. When It went after all of them, taking out one member at a time, It saved Batman for last.

Except the wind kept picking up, giving them all slight advantages, making them hard to beat, but still, It eventually was able to take them all down.

And when It turned to lunge at Batman, It found a shadowy figure standing next to him.

A voice echoed. “I will not allow this. You will not hurt them.” as They spoke, every vigilante it had taken down, had killed, even, stood up, uninjured, full of energy.

And the rouge started and then started to attack again, only this time, They were there, They were fighting it, and They were angry. It had hurt Their children and this was an unforgivable crime.

They would kill It and Their children would be safe. And that is exactly what They did. They made Themself into a weapon, a killer, took all the pain It had inflicted and then, They killed It.

When They were done, when It was dead, Batman approached. “What are you?” he asked quietly, somehow knowing that They were not a who, but a what.

“I am Gotham City, and you are all my children. You were created by my hand and I am always there.” and then, They were gone.

Of course, They are still around, when the Bats need help, they call out, and They appear, ready to help Their children.

[frownyalfred]

but actually the idea of Gotham being eldritch-y or like American Gods where belief/fear/prayers = power means there’s a world where Bruce came home from one of his first successful weeks of patrol high as balls literally stumbling all over the Manor with a concerned Alfred trailing behind him because Gotham’s fear and belief in the Bat is so unexpected and heady that it takes him — even someone as superhuman as him — time to adjust.

…which also means there’s a world where that same Bruce gets to watch every new Robin “get” it as they come home to the Manor after their first patrol. he gets to see Dick’s confusion morph into wonder and into something ageless, leaking out at the edges of his mask. he gets to hear Jason’s choked-off breath as Gotham’s love for Robin hits him the first time.

[dc-gotham-instincts-wild]

I have this idea that each of the Batfam were given nicknames alongside their actual vigilante names by civilians that they do use every now and then. It's either a bird or a type of bat.

Bruce/Batman is obviously just called 'the Bat', probably it SHOULD'VE gone to a more specific species later, but yeah. By the time the Batlings showed up it kind of...... well, it just stuck and stayed.

Dick/Nightwing at first was only called Robin, but as he grew older, they named him 'the Owl' for his silence even in the air. And when some learned that there were evil owl masked assassins (Talons from the Court of Owls) the name became also a rebellion against them, they liked Nightwing better. He's a silent hunter, agile in fight, and idk Owl just fits him. 

 Jason/Red Hood literally died and came back, so they named him 'the Phoenix'. Also for his fiery nature and how he allegedly (to the civilians) died in an explosion, but came back from the black ground like a phoenix is said to rise from the ashes. 

Cass/Black Bat was named 'the Noctule', after the Greater Noctule Bat, since it just fit and also Noctule bats are known to even hunt small birds and THEREFORE are in the same league as them, lining up with how Cass is just as, if not more, dangerous as her siblings. 

I also toyed around with calling her Kite after the Black Kite, but she's Bat vibe more than Bird vibe, (even tho in my view all the Birds are still Batlike) so.... yeah. 

For Steph/Spoiler, I decided on 'the Magpie'. Magpies are smart, mischievous, and have a habit of spoiling things for others.

I toyed around a bit with Wren, since that could also work for her, but magpies are corvids and corvids are more Gotham, so I chose Magpie.  

Tim/Red Robin would get 'the Crow', both for his darker appearance as Robin and Red Robin than the previous two, the calls he lets out sometimes (In some of my AUs) and idk I just came up with it and it unsettlingly fit. So Tim is the Crow. He's smarter than expected and a bit smaller than normal but he can fight, so he is the Crow. 

Duke/Signal would get 'the Sunbird'. I checked. There's a bird called the Sunbird. It's way too obvious as to why i call him that so yeah.

He's also called the Day Bat. Cause to me, he's in direct equilibrium to the Bat and Bird thing. All the others lean more towards one side or another, but he's directly 50/50 to me, that's his vibe. So Signal is 'Day Bat' and 'the Sunbird'. 

 Damian/Robin gets 'the Swift', for the fact that he's small but deadly and fast, and it just fits him idk. Swifts are like..... idk the vibe and all fits. Robin gets the Swift.  

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic!Danny Phantom- pt. 8

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3] [Pt.4] [Pt.5] [Pt.6] [Pt.7] [Pt.9] [Pt.10]

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been to the hospital in the past three years, I’d have enough money to buy a bag of skittles from Target. Most of it wasn’t for me though lol I’ll add this onto the list in a bit, but I tend to do that from my desktop but I’m still currently attached to an IV drip. I’ve also never been this hydrated in my life lmao

——

Danny poked a puffed up pufferfish. The poison floated through his ghost form and did nothing but give him a little zap. Danny chuckled, wiping away a bit of oil that had gotten onto the fish from a nearby oil spill. Jesus fuck. Danny knew that bald headed, easily drawn Vlad wannabe from across the river would do something terrible to Gotham’s waters (not that it needed help being atrocious to Danny’s clean water appreciation).

The puffer fish- Danny gave up on understanding Gotham’s water ecosystem, having realized that it was a cursed mix of saltwater and freshwater and swamp- gave a fearful little wiggle and Danny let it go, turning to the oil particles floating around.

Danny took out his phone.

“Danny? Why the hell are you calling at three in the morning?”

Danny raised a hand and blasted out some ice, gathering the oil up. “Hey Sam. If I got you into contact with Poison Ivy, do you think you could team up to get rid of Lex Luthor’s new holding company in Gotham?”

“Danny, are you asking me to commit an act of ecoterrorism?”

“That’s not even the weirdest thing I’ve ever asked you to do.” Danny placed a hand on the ice mass and flew it, the oil, and himself across the river to Metropolis.

“Deal.” Sam’s voice gets further away as she pulled her phone from her ear. “I’ll text Tucker, see if he could futz with Luthor’s taxes. I heard her doesn’t even give his workers a livable wage, and that’s so not gonna fly.”

“Perfect! Thanks! We could totally meet up and hang out with my new friends!”

“Hah! That Tim guy? The one that wanted you to introduce Phantom to him?”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, goth girl.”

“Sure, dork. I’ll swing by Friday?”

“Sure! Want me to pick you up?” Danny phased through Lex Luthor’s frankly ridiculous amounts of security measures, still completely invisible and towing a giant mass of oil covered ice.

“Cool. Now hang up. I actually need sleep.”

“Ah, you must be dead tired. I get it.”

Sam hung up, and a second later, Danny got a pic of her holding up a middle finger with her signature purple nail polish.

Danny stared down at the sleeping billionaire. Gross. He let his face re enter the visible spectrum and lowered the temperature of the room drastically. Luthor groaned, waking up as he shivered like a hyped up chihuahua.

Danny bared his teeth, glowing green skin reflecting the black holes of the universe and imploding stars and burning planets as he leaned towards the frozen two bit villain.

“RESPECT THE PLANET,” Danny snarled. He unmelted the invisible ice as he simultaneously made the oil visible, the entirety of the oil spill coating every single inch of Luthor’s penthouse bedroom. Danny winked out, but not before snapping a quick picture of Lex Luthor’s absolutely covered in his company’s oil spill.

If Danny had made sure that there were fish droppings mixed in with the oil… that was his own damn business.

——

Danny floated over to a brooding Batman.

“Do you have two hundred dollars on you?” Danny asked in lieu of a greeting.

Batman grunted a yes.

“Two hundred dollars for a photo of Lex Luthor being hit with karma.”

Batman instantly handed over the cash and received a printed out photo of Lex Luthor (in his Lexcorp pjs) covered by fossil fuel.

"Is this..."

"The oil from his oil spill? Yes."

Batman stared at the picture.

"Why was this more expensive than ID'ing corpses?"

"Cause it's funnier. And dead people deserve more consideration than a egg looking ass polluting everything he touches."

Superman zoomed into the space in front of them, face eager.

"I heard you had something about Luthor?"

Danny figured that Batman probably contacted the hero, and confidently said, "$200 for personal use, $300 for commercial use."

Superman quickly got together three hundred dollars in cash and quickly forked it over. Danny gave him another physical copy of the photo and a usb drive with the photo in a digital format.

"I am so pinning this up." Superman muttered.

"Get out of my city." Batman said flatly. Superman waved a hand, beamed at Danny, and left.

"Did you know Gotham's waters is a mixture of freshwater, swamp, and saltwater habitats?"

Batman grunted.

"Also, please stop stalking Danny Fenton. It's odd."

Batman swiveled his head over. "What."

Danny stared him down. "Stop. Stalking. Innocent. Bystanders. Or else I will recreate the phrase "drowned rat" with you as the subject."

Batman stilled.

"I don't kill, by the way. I can, however, dunk you in the sea and lift you up like a goth version of Simba."

Batman relaxed minutely. "I can't."

"And why not?"

Batman gave him a despairing look. "Have you met my children?"

"... Point."

[garpen]

I love Gothamites thinking that the batfamily are Cryptids when they're not.

I also love the idea that to begin with, Gothamites know Robin has been a bunch of different human kids that the: Definitely a Cryptid Batman™ (bc let's be honest that thing is not human) has taken under his wing.

I think it makes the Robins scarier to them. Like "There's something fucked up enough about this kid that the Demon Bat took them in." And they're all pretty sure that every time there's a switch in Robin's it's bc the Cryptid Demon Batman thing probably killed them off or something.

They always try and warn off whatever new Robin he's taken in, but whenever they do the New Robin always laughs them off or attempts to assure them that they're fine and not worry.

[aroace-madness]

I like the idea that Gothamites are desperately trying to figure out what kind of a bat Batman is

Is he a fruit bat? A vampire bat? A big eared flying fox?

Nobody knows

Gothams chiropterologists are constantly studying his looks, behaviors and habits to figure it out and they're loosing their mind

[ayspooky1]

Cat!BatBlob & BatMimikyu

Cat!BatBlob isn’t blob, He’s a shadow.

Shiny Mimikyu👆🏽He’s looks like him.

[clockwayswrites]

The Owl Eater roams the tunnels, Long abandoned by Gotham's fare. If they see you, beware, beware, For now your fate is theirs.

[bluerosefox]

A Fair Warning

It was only a matter of time, and a long awaited and well deserved comeuppance, when Joker tried to hurt the wrong person or people.

Not everyone was going to play his games like 'Batsy' does. Not everyone will hesitate or let him live should he put his hands on someone to hurt them. Not everyone will believe Arkham could 'fix' him, he just needed more time and help.

No.

This time Joker bit off more than he could chew when he kidnapped the newly hired Arkham psychiatrist Jasmine Fenton (and he had plans, so many plans, for her. With her mixture of Harley's mind and her looks matching Gordon's daughter would sure to cause some chaos and pain in memories) and the girl's visiting sister Danielle 'Ellie' (and did he laugh when he noticed the 'Wayne' adoptive looks the girl had, on the fun he'll have, maybe he'll beat her the way he beat the second Robin just for funzie's, it'll no doubt upset Batman) from Jasmine's apartment.

He had plans to keep the Bats guessing where he was and by the time they reach him it'll be far to late for them to save either of the two girls, he had just sent the little video he taped to the Bats and the police to get the ball rolling...

So...

So why did a shiver run down his spine for the first time in years when they both looked unafraid (it was their eyes that made him shiver, a look of already dead yet somehow alive, something he never seen before. He's seen the light fade from people's eyes before yes, he's even laughed as he watch people desperately cling onto life only for it to fade into nothing as they took a final breath but never have he seen someone, something alive yet dead at the same time before. It, their eyes, held a natural yet unnatural sense as they stared at him, stared at everything that made him Joker and it unnerved him), honestly they looked very bored, and one of them (the youngest of the two, and the one with more of the look of death than life in their eyes) said with a chill tune in their tone.

"Last chance to back out of this Freakshows Reject. You wont like what'll be waiting for you."

The tone alone was enough to send another bone deep chill down Joker's spine.

But instead of listening to his natural instincts, the deep inkling of run blaring at him, Joker merely placed a grin on his face, ignoring the strain he felt from doing so, and said as nastily as he could in order to scare the two girls (BOTH OF THEM STILL LOOKED BORED WITH HIM?!?! Not even a twitch of fear!)

"OH? And pray tell what is awaiting little ol' me hum?"

His mocking question got a wide feral grin from the smaller girl, a grin with sharp teeth and iris eyes beginning to bleed slowly from sky blue to neon green with each second he stared at her and he barely stopped himself from jumping in his spot when Jasmine answered his question.

"Your end."

-x-x-

By the time the Bats get to the warehouse Joker had taken Dr. Jasmine 'Jazz' Fenton and Danielle 'Ellie' Fenton they were prepared for anything and everything to go wrong. As much as they held the tiniest bit of hope that the two young women were still okay they knew better than to really do, this was the Joker that had them after all.

They had manged to narrow down his location much quicker than normal when they gotten Joker's first video and his little 'game' he was setting the Bats on, most locations he gave them were going to be red herrings or traps to keep them busy and it would had worked. Batman and the others would had been searching for hours for even a hint of the clue of where the Joker and his hostages were actually being kept.

It was nearly, not really, a shame all of Joker's plans went to waste when Red Hood had stumbled onto something when scooping out Jasmine's apartment with Red Robin.

You see, not only were they looking for clues at first but something about the apartment Jasmine rented seemed off, Red Robin noticed it first and called in back up encase there was more to oldest Fenton than what they could dig up (oldest daughter of Dr's. Jackson and Madeline Fenton, grew up in a small Illinois town, straight A student and a goal to become a psychologist, has two younger siblings, etc etc) and their suspension raised up more when the moment Red Hood entered the apartment and seemed to freeze for a moment.

Red Hood couldn't really explain it but he said it felt like something was... strange. Not evil bad danger strange but it felt familiar? Like he was a kid again on the streets and had walked into someone else's territory but knew the person wouldn't be too much of a hardass about it as long as he didn't stur up trouble or disrespect. A kind of... as long as you don't fuck around you won't find out feeling.

It was because of this feeling that Jason had manged to stumble across something in the room, his instincts telling him there was more to it, and they had discovered a clunky old custom PDA hidden away in a false floorboard in the office room. Thankfully Red Robin, was there in person because the old thing apparently had a rather ingenious firewall to keep others (aka Hackers) OUT but it did nothing against someone who held the main thing.

But still it took Red Robin almost frying the damn thing to get to open up, turns out the ghost and star stickers on the PDA was a rather large hint of the pass code. Once Red Robin was in the PDA he noticed some rather interesting files, one of them labeled "Gremlin Tracking" with a tiny green blob with red eyes and a green outlined star as the icons.

Curiosity taking a hold on the most curious of the Bats he opened it up, hoping it would need another password, and watched as the screen split into two maps, one was... strange, there was no land marks or anything but the star icon seemed to be right in the middle of wherever it was and the only hint of anything was the name "baby brother" and the map labeled as IR.

The other one showed an above map of Gotham, before zooming into the city, heading towards some abandoned warehouses Red Robin knew of and stopped right at one. This was the green blob icon, the short abbreviation for Gotham in the corner of the map, and the name for the icon was 'baby sister'

Red Robin immediately got onto coms to tell the others of what apparently was a tracker for Jasmine's younger siblings. Some questioned why the young woman had trackers on her siblings, though some of the others snarked back that "oh didn't know keeping trackers on each other wasn't normal. Mind if I loose the one you got on me than?"

After a quick sweep into the warehouses camera feeds, the very few up that could be accessed, done by Oracle they quickly discovered that yes the tracking on the younger girl of the two, Danielle Fenton, was correct and that was where they and Joker were at.

Despite this, Batman decided that in order to make sure Joker didn't have suspicion that they already know his actual location he made sure to send a few of the others to the fake locations.

So here they were now, staking out the warehouse where they could see a few of the Jokers goons walking around and looking for a way into the building without alerting any of them. As they talked low into coms, Robin mentioning a possible way in for Red Robin by how small it was, Red Robin hissing back a "just because you got a growth spurt doesn't mean you can poke fun at my height you little-"

"Wait!" Red Hood suddenly hissed shouted, his tone startling the rest of them and they all turned their heads to him. Batman made a quick and harsh grunt as a way to say "report."

Under his helmet Jason's eyes were wide and wild. He could feel something, something huge was on the rise, like something was out of sight but the energy of it was felt.

And if Jason could feel it from his spot, the Jokers goons all felt the same thing from the way they all dropped their weapons, turned toward the warehouse and looked ready to bolt like scared animals.

Jason opened his mouth to explain but fell silent when the feeling suddenly popped. Whatever was causing the feeling was here and like the calm before the storm he could only watch as the first drop of rain fall.

The next thing they know, was the noise and the screaming.

It was inhuman, a mixture of noise and sounds to hard to explain. The closest they could explain was a thousand voices coming in all at once mixing with radio static that kept changing volume so only few words could be even hinted at, and the angry cawing of crows along with the flapping of their wings as they took flight. The noise was so bad that many who heard it nearly ripped their coms out, or covered their ears. Thankfully it only lasted a few seconds.

Then, the air itself shifted. It felt like the coldest of winter nights and bone chilling shivers ran down their bodies for a moment. The air was suddenly that sharp cold that hurt to breathe sometimes.

The goons surrounding the warehouse fled in fear. Many scrambling to get far, far away from whatever was happening. If they felt even a fraction of what Jason could feel, he could understand. He honestly felt like a small animal cornered by a predator and there was no escape.

Then just as suddenly as it happened, everything shifted again. The noise of Gotham returned to normal, cars honking, a stray cat hissing or a dog barking, police sirens in the distance, hissing steam from a nearby factory. The air went from winter cold to a chill mid winter harbor feel now.

Once everyone registered what had just happened and not wanting to waste anymore time they bolted towards the warehouse, cautious and alert in case they needed to fight. Batman went in first, quickly making his way to the area he knew Joker would be with the Fenton sisters and wondered just what the fuck was that? Did Joker do something? Was he messing with things outside of his usual MO?!

He walked into the room and stopped.

There was nothing.

The room was in fact the room Joker had used to record his first message to them, the layout was correct and the evidence of two people who had been tied up were still there as well, ropes that weren't cut sitting on them, a lone lamp light above shining down from above no doubt to emphasize the two girls were meant to be the 'stars' of Jokers latest show. Thing was, the two weren't there despite the fact Oracle swore she could see them a few mins ago from a camera set up in the room, she would later explain that she heard the noise as well and that all her tech had glitched hard.

The only other thing in the room was, sitting innocently on one of the chairs was a green sticky note and on a tiny pillow was a tiny sickly green orb with hints of purple, white, and red swirling in it.

A note they would later read the following message written on it after carefully examining it over.

'Joker learned not to touch what is mine to protect. Sorry not sorry, but hey one less killer clown and he was warned not my fault he didn't take it seriously... The massive amount of souls wanting to rip apart the Joker's soul into nothing was quite a sight to be honest.

They were so ruthless. Best not mess with the vengeful dead am I right?

PS. I left a tiny gift for Jason Todd aka Robin Two. It's the tiniest piece of Joker's soul left over after everyone else got done. He can finish it off since he's a reverent and all, and well they need their revenge filled in order to peacefully move on later or else they'll be stuck forever in a loop of madness and revenge. So yeah. Hope he likes the gift.'

D.P.'

It took Jason less than a second after those words were spoken out to reach for the orb, ignoring the cautious and alarmed cries of the others, and could feel deep, deep, deep in his own soul the absolute pure weeping joy as he threw the orb onto the floor, the bottom shattering thus it didn't roll away and stomped hard with his reinforced boots. Crushing the broken orb into more pieces and if one listened closely they could hear the pure screaming terror that came from it.

And Jason for the first time in years felt his rage finally leave him.

[sleepy-ghost-reads]

Cryptid Batman, but only outside of Gotham

Gothamites get to witness LEGO Batman.

[puppetmaster13u]

Hear me out: Demon Batfam but Bruce gets them as babies because people won't stop trying to sacrifice their children and he is So Tired

And it is semi-early Batman Bruce too.

[emo-batboy]

Things Battinson Totally Did During His First Year of University

Using Unhinged or Odd Things I Also Did as a College Freshman :D

Note: for this list, let’s believe Bruce was living in an (admittedly expensive and swanky) dorm because it is required for first-years, especially those entering at a young age, and Alfred told him he needed to make friends. Also yes I did every single thing on this list. I never claimed to be a role model

Bruce, to his TA: I’m so sorry I’m late to class. I gave blood a few hours ago and almost fainted on the way here, but it won’t happen again.

Signs up for a class called “Age of Dinosaurs” despite it not being required whatsoever and proceeds to work his entire schedule around it

Bruce: Your mental health is super important. If you think you should see the on-campus therapist, go see them. Friend: Fine. I’ll sign up for therapy if you sign up for therapy too. Bruce: Hold on-

Finds a loophole in his housing contract that allows him to get a pet frog, calls him kermit :)

Gets a second frog because Kermit was lonely, names it Constantine after Muppets Most Wanted, then realizes that they’re gay for each other. Wonders if the rainbow-colored rocks he got them triggered anything

Swings dramatically between calling Alfred every single day and ghosting him for weeks, cries when he realizes what he did

“Accidentally” joins the student body council, doesn’t know what he’s doing, gets re-elected anyway

Molds a dragon out of Laffy Taffy instead of doing his work

Bruce: *joins Honors, gets all A’s, takes the max amount of classes, has several minors, overachieves* Also Bruce: I’m a failure.

Breaks into a building after hours to study because NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO SHUT THE FUCK UP AT THE LIBRARY

Bruce: I will not get seasonal depression this year. Bruce: *gets real and seasonal depression that year*

Meticulously schedules his day with a color-coded planner because if he sits down for too long, the thoughts will consume him

Gives a presentation to his rhetoric class on how much he likes Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (it is 20 minutes long)

Successfully allocates funding from the student body council to pay for free feminine products in the dorms OUT OF SPITE because someone said it couldn't be done. fuck you, Andrew

Bruce: It is not an all-nighter if I go to sleep before my first class. Friend: It is 7:30am, the sun is in the sky, and your first class is at 12:30. Bruce: But I am getting sleep.

Refuses to go anywhere without his backpack because what if he needs three notebooks at once

Loses over 20 pounds because ✨stress✨ and scares the shit out of Alfred when he comes home for Thanksgiving

Argues with his TA over the one (1) question he got wrong on his Dinosaur exam

Bruce, calling Alfred: Hello father figure. How do I do taxes? Do I have to do them myself? Also, I think I’m having a panic attack.

Joins in on a charity arts-and-crafts project that gives kids books with matching activities made by volunteers, proceeds to commandeer the project because “it’s not color-blind friendly” and rewrites the instructions for everyone

Makes a murder wall

Goes to one (1) sports game and proceeds to leave in the first ten minutes because it’s way too loud wtf is wrong with people

Professor, addressing the lecture hall: I dare you to write an essay about these two sentences. Bruce: *writes an essay about six words, gets a 100, never even read the book*

Crawls into the ceiling for some alone time

Ghosts someone after a date because he’s too scared to tell them he didn’t know it was a date in the first place and now he feels bad

Classmate: How tf does he walk across campus that fast? I go in the same direction he does on my bike, and he’s always ahead of me. Bruce: *is gay sprinting to Dinosaur class*

Refuses to let others use his Favorite Pen TM

Constantly gets mistaken for a Grad Student because he is “so wise and mature” (bestie, that’s the autism)

Alfred: *casually mentions he got into a car accident through text* Bruce: *replies with a meme while hyperventilating because he doesn’t know what to do with that information??!*

Wears a suit to one of his finals

Regularly eats non-organic food for the first time in his life, proceeds to learn about several allergies Alfred forgot to mention he has

Writes “What is a Hot Pocket?” in calligraphy and proceeds to laugh his ass off alone in his dorm because he is so exhausted he’s reached the point of delusion

Locks himself out of his dorm right before class, frantically asks the floor group chat if someone can help, proceeds to tell the nice gay man on the floor who saved him “I love you” because his social skills have hit rock bottom

Makes a little music album display next to his desk for his favorite band (Nirvana) His friends call it a shrine, and they are technically correct

Has a blacklist of people he refuses to interact with because Reasons

Counselor: What do you want to do when you graduate? Bruce: *gestures vaguely*

Refuses to take the bus because there are people in there and he doesn’t like those

Loses one of his frogs, how tf did he do that, they’re fully aquatic, oh fuck, this is probably why they got rid of that loophole a year later because unbeknownst to Bruce, he accidentally started a frog revolution in the dorms, btw he SWEARS he did not mean to do that

Has two trash cans in his room: one for the Good Garbage, and one for the Bad Garbage. Only Bruce knows which is which

Bruce: *writes a creative piece about a ship’s final thoughts as it sinks, bringing its passengers down with it* TA: Absolutely lovely, Bruce, but are you okay?

Goes on Night Walks, keeps himself safe by maintaining a level 12 resting bitch face at all times

Earns the nickname “8th floor cryptid” after pacing the halls at 3am when it’s too cold for Night Walks (honestly tho how tf didn’t he get the nickname earlier?)

Bruce: Do you think a depressed person could do this? Bruce: *has a manic episode*

Okay that's all love you BYE

[batboopp]

this is the first sign you see when you try to get into gotham

[roses-and-revolutions]

The people of Gotham both fear and revere The Signal. As they do the rest of the Batfam but for Signal it's a bit different.

For starters, he's the only daytime hero. The other Bats usually only come out at night when the city is quieter. And while it's far from asleep, they prioritize stopping the numerous crimes that occur in the shadows. Civilian interactions far and few. Most pictures of them online seemed more like cryptid sightings than heroes soaring through Gotham skies.

The Signal on the other hand was the people's Bat. They got to see him soar through the sky, or ride his bike in all his golden glory. He gave autographs, took photos, and joined them on their daily commutes. He was a regular at mom-and-pop shops, made sure the troubled kids made it to school, and checked in on the sick and elderly. And while he did work with them when necessary, he mostly liked to fuck with the police, like a true Gothamite would.

All in all, he was the sweet sunshine that Gotham needed. He was far more human than the others. Not that he was human, oh heck no! NONE of the bats were human! But it felt that way. Until you were reminded that he was INDEED a Bat.

The way he merged and appeared out of the shadows despite his bright yellow suit, and moved without a sound. He knew about people and things before they happened. And had an intelligence that was absolutely terrifying when thought about. And the way he took care of crimes?

The Signal is cold, borderline brutal, and efficient (with commentary that leaves you agape and a chill down your spine) when dealing with criminals. It was always jarring to witness the sudden change from Gotham's sunshine boy to stone-cold Bat, and back again. It almost gave you whiplash to realize that this was the vigilante that you were talking to about your puppies a few moments ago. And it really instilled the Fear™ that that bats were known for.

The other Bats were terrifying, shadowy demons that moved through the night. Stopping crime in the darkness. Gotham knew and appreciated this. But the Signal? He was the bright light at the end of the tunnel and the warmth of the brilliant sun. But he was also...

'Gotham's Darkest Angel'