#ghostbusters of gotham city

[ecandjamesvpjournal]

“I’m sorry.” Michael said with a surprise, “What did you say?” “I said, that I might be on Bruce Wayne’s sh*tlist.” Danny said. Michael Johnson, a scientist who had a Ph.D in Parapsychology, Psychology, and Historical Studies (along with Quantum Mechanics, though that was on a bet once), was in a state of shock. He knew Danny was insane, but this…

Danny was gonna be the death of him.

Michael just shook his head, “Look man, I’d be careful. Vlad isn’t the only one that is holding secrets.” Danny looked a bit concerned, but intrigued. “How do you mean?” he said, keeping his voice low. Michael looked around his office, making sure that his colleagues didn’t hear what he was saying. “You didn’t hear it from me, but rumors persist that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one and the same.” he said, keeping it down, “Now these are rumors mind you, and not everyone believes them, like my colleagues. But it can’t be a coincidence that Mr. Wayne showed up after disappearing for a undisclosed amount of time long ago, which then followed but days later the arrival of a vigilante detective in a weird looking bat suit.”

Danny was sure that Michael seemed a bit off his rocker, but the connections between his new boss and the legendary Batman… it couldn’t be just that. Just a coincidence. Michael continued, “Then, there are the additional rumors floating around about Bruce working for a few years in the location of the legendary League of Assassins. A group that has been the bane of Ghostbusters, ever since we figured out that they’ve been the ones using ectoplasm to reincarnate themselves.” “You mean reanimate?” Danny added. Michael shook his head in a ‘kinda’ motion, moving it side to side, “Kinda. To explain how they do this, requires you to be here to see the visual aids to help explain what that’s kinda a bad idea.”

Danny thought about how it could be a bad idea, until he realized what Michael was saying about the LoA. “Oh no.” he said, realizing the horrific truth. Michael nodded, humming ‘mmhmm,’ to indicate what Danny was thinking was just as bad as what Michael was indicating.

“Partially how I know about some of this is because of Bruce’s adopted son, who was helping us in occult affairs against the L.O.A, when he was hurt. Thankfully, Ra’s Al Guul left behind some blueprints, diagrams and notes. Using that and your parent’s method of handling ecto-contamination, we were able to make our own Lazarus Pit.” Michael said. Danny ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “And preytell, why?” “Because, Bruce’s adopted son, Jason Todd was under the same ecto-contamination that’s found in either liminal,” he paused, whispering, “like you,” causing Danny to jolt a bit before remembering that Michael knew of his secret, “or those that have been reanimated using the Lazarus Pit.”

“Try and take a gander at what’s wrong with Jason Todd?” Michael said. Danny, sensing something, looked over his cubicle wall, seeing Jason Todd standing there, his eyes reflected light like a nocturnal animal. It was eerie, even for a halfa like him. As he slowly turned towards Danny, Danny ducked as Michael. “Anyways, the only reason I don’t tell anyone is three reasons. Reason the first, who would believe me that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person. Reason the second? Word would get around and particular people might go after him… like his rogue’s gallery, or even a few Feds.” he said, as Danny snuck into the men’s bathroom. “And your third reason?” Danny asked. Michael was silent for a moment, before replying, “Like you Danny, I wouldn’t sell out THAT truth to the public. Not even for a lot of money.”

He smirked, knowing that Michael understood what Danny did, and the good he’s done. He always reminded him, especially after the events that “were in flux” as he said, that “You’ve done good Danny, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve gone and done bad things in one possible future. If you have the ability to fight for a better future, do so, with the morals that you’ve carried with you into battle.” “So, what would you do if you did meet him?” Danny asked.

Michael couldn’t help but smirk, “Oh y’know, shake his hand, maybe a pat on the back and thank him for what he’s been doing.”

"Mr. Fenton, please explain to me again, why are you here?"

Danny leans forward with keen eyes, downright murderous. "My godfather who owns VladCo. Hates Wayne enterprise and hopes to surpass them in this years competition, so I took it upon myself to make sure you're winning, Mr. Wayne."

Mr. Wayne massages his forehead with a sigh.

"What are your motivations?"

"To see that man realise I helped bring his doom, to know that I am the reason he's going down. Maybe some tears too?"

(This was, of course, only after the proper interview where Danny had revealed his connection to VladCo.)

(Bruce was going to hire the boy anyway, but now? Now he will make sure danny doesn't turn into a villain either.)

(If danny saw Mr. Wayne put his file into the 'suspect villain' folder from the reflection of the glass behind him. He simply shrugs and deals with it later. Really, he should have expected that.)

[deadsetobsessions]

Gotham rained a lot more than Amity ever did.

Danny could not help but appreciate the differences. From the way the city itself curled around her inhabitants to the weather, Gotham was far darker than Amity ever managed to be.

Still, there were similarities. The screams, for one. In Amity, it was ghosts, their victims, and whichever ghostbuster of the day rocking up to rock each other’s shit. Another similarity? Danny’s inability to not get himself into troublesome shit, because he could never ignore a cry for help.

That scream was a cry for help if he’s ever heard one.

Danny cursed himself as he slipped through the alleyways, strides becoming smoother and agile than he normally walked like. He stuck to the shadows, the prickling of ghostly senses and honed vigilante instincts guiding him towards the scream. It was a man, getting stabbed by a guy in a red helmet.

Danny maintained that he was new here.

Which is why his foot connected solidly with Red Helmet's... red helmet.

"Motherfuc-" Red Helmet shouted as he was punted several feet away.

"Holy shit dude, are you good?"

Danny helped the guy up.

"Thank fuck! Back up! What took you so long?! Boss is gunna be so pissed if we're late!"

Hold up. Boss?

"Boss?"

“Black Mask, asshole! We gotta go before he decides to cut off our limbs!”

Danny yanked the guy to the side just as a bullet ricocheted off the rusted fire escape.

“Ope!”

“You’re not going anywhere.” A mechanical voice growled behind them.

“Oh fuck, Red Helmet guy.” Danny muttered.

“Shit, ya gotta run, tell boss I got caught.” The injured goon- because it was now apparent to Danny that the guy was working for someone dangerous- said. Danny appreciated the thought, but he only intervened because the guy was getting stabbed.

“Uh,” Danny hesitated. Clearly the guy had the wrong idea.

“Don’t make a move, unless you want your fucking heads blown off,” Red Helmet guy- wait, why does he feel liminal?- raised his guns. “Why don-”

Red Helmet guy was cut off by the thud of the now unconscious goon.

His helmet tilted down and then back up at Danny.

“Guess it’s just you and me,” Helmet guy sneered out. “Better tell me everything you know about Black Mask, or else you’ll get a taste of what he had.”

Danny held up his hands even though he knew he could just let the bullets phase through him. The smart thing would be to absolve himself and not get in the middle of two criminal’s beef as a civilian.

Danny’s full name, however, could have been Danny ‘Dumb Decisions’ Fenton. So, Danny practically interjected himself like an overexcited puppy at a doggy daycare.

“Okay, no need to get bloody. But uh, I have a question.”

Red Helmet cocked his head and mockingly gestured with his gun. “Sure, why not.”

Danny let as much of his midwestern accent into his voice as possible. “Who’s, uh, Black Mask?”

Red Helmet paused. Then he sighed. “You’re not from here, are you?”

“No…? I’m, uh, new in town.”

Red Helmet lowered his guns, and for some reason, Danny could tell that he was exasperated.

“Why would you even get in between a fight, dumbass? I have a gun! I coulda killed ya! He’s a criminal’”

Danny protested. Rude! “In my defense, you were stabbing him! You’re a criminal too, you know!”

“That makes it worse! You-!” Red Helmet paused. “Wait, do you even know who I am?”

Danny let his gaze wander down to the red bat-shaped logo on the guy’s chest. “Uh… Red Helmet… bat-guy?” He hazarded a guess.

“Oh my god, you’re an idiot.”

Danny gaped. “Excuse me?!”

“You heard me,” Red Helmet put his gun back and planted his fists on his hips. “You’re an idiot. Who gets in between a vigilante and the goon of a crime lord.”

Danny crossed his arms, leveling an unimpressed look at Red Helmet. “I’ve never heard of a vigilante killing someone, Red Helmet Bat-Guy.”

“It’s Red Hood.” Red Helmet sighed, walking closer. “And I wasn’t going to kill him.” Danny scoffed.

Danny relaxed, sensing the truth coming from Red Helmet guy’s liminal aspects.

“He’ll die looking at your ugly mug,” Danny sassed. “You’re gonna get him to a hospital, right? I’ll go with you.”

“Are you midwesterners all this trusting? What if I was the goon and this guy was the vigilante?”

Red Hood hiked the goon over his shoulder in a fireman carry. Danny followed after him.

“He’s the one that told me to go running back to his boss, Red Helmet.”

“It’s Red Hood.”

“That doesn’t look like a hood.”

Danny grinned as Red Helmet grumbled. How interesting! Maybe he won’t miss Amity as much as he thought he would!

“Ugh, fine, I guess someone’s gotta watch your dumb ass so you don’t get mugged.”

“I can take care of myself!”

Hood grunted. “I guess that kick wasn’t half bad.”

Danny beamed at him. “Thanks!”

——

Danny chucked a chimichanga at Red Hood.

“Wait a minute, you’re a crime lord! Being a goon was way less illegal than being a vigilante crime lord!”

Red Hood cackled at him.

[1mlei]

An unknown entity is tormenting a city (Gotham, Metropolis, etc, doesn't matter) and at this point nearly the entire Justice League is on location. And they are loosing, badly. The flaming green robot should have been easy enough for the entire JLA to take out, but none of their attacks have any effect, they can't even touch the robot, who is capable of devastating amounts of destruction. At this point the heroes have shifted their focus to rescue and evacuation efforts, while the JLD members present are scrambling to figure out how the hell to fight a being from the Infinite Realms. The idea of summoning someone from the Realms to help is brought up but ultimately dismissed as an absolute last resort, the risk of summoning something even worse being too great.

The robot is hovering in the sky, his mechanical face somehow morphed into a mocking grin as he looks down at the heroes. His arms morph into massive blasters, and the heroes hurry to get the area as clear as possible, then brace for impact. Except, nothing happens. And then, a loud metallic clang sounds. On the ground in front of the heroes lies the body of the robot, or what remains of it after falling 50 feet. They notice it's missing it's head. As the heroes look up to where the robot had been hovering a moment ago, they see a person flyi- no, just standing there. A regular looking kid with black hair, wearing an oversized ghostbusters hoodie and jeans, is standing on the roof right behind where the robot had been hovering. But what everyone can't help but focus on, is the decapitated head of the robot he's holding upside down in his hands.

Everyone there stares at the kid in... relief? trepidation? Mostly in disbelief, they watch as the kid looks at the head in his hands (there's a small flicker of something bright green sticking out of it) then down the side of the building at the body below. The kid lets out a pleased hum that is only audible to those with super-hearing, then turns around and walks out of sight.

The heroes are quickly snapped out of their trance and all hurry to get up to the roof, but in the 0.2 seconds it took them to get there the kid had disappeared, robot head gone with him.

They are later unable to find any clear footage of the kid, or any other clues on how to find him, he's simply vanished without a trace. .....

Danny had been busy studying for an upcoming exam, when he was rudely interrupted by Skulker being annoying outside. Phasing through his wall and invisibly flying over to take a look he finds several city blocks that have been levelled to the ground, and a Skulker hovering in the sky grinning down at his handiwork as if he's done something special. Danny is frustrated at being interrupted for this, and doesn't have time for a long, drawn out battle right now, so he lands on the roof behind Skulker and walks up to him silently. He quickly grabs the head of Skulker's suit and yanks, effectively decapitating him and making the body of the suit fall down on the ground. He checks to make sure that Skulker's actual blob of a body is in the head, then that the suit on the ground is fully powered down. Satisfied, he hums and walks away, turning invisible once more and flying back to his apartment, where he puts Skulker in a thermos for a time-out. Then he sits back down and begrudgingly opens his textbook to where he left off, unaware of the heroes collectively having a breakdown.

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPxDC prompt: Hobby

"Think I'm getting butterflies, but it's really Something telling me to run away" Sub Urban & Bella Poarch

The years go by, and the Anti-ecto Laws that don’t recognize ghosts even animals are still there. And Danny is so tired of it. Even worse, ghost studies are becoming popular. And Danny’s getting sick of it. And he really needs a break. In general, the castle of good old Pariah Dark is potentially a good place to exist, right?

Well, Danny ends up in a perfectly normal civilian family ('cause of СPS or else) in Gotham.

The city is filled with fear, death, and also ectoplasm, which is fine, because it allows Danny not to run into the Ghost Zone for energy for his core. In fact, it’s really strange why so few ghosts are formed in such a comfortable place.

So, a new family. Although the head of family is a billionaire, Danny really wants to give them a chance. Even if he break out in a cold sweat when Bruce looks at him. Well, Fenton blames his past experience. Fuck you, Vlad. Waynes are really nice. And thanks to this adoption he'll be far away from Amity Park, safe from GIW, maybe finally feel like a human being. even if he's not.

So, Danny wants to know about them a little bit more. He has already noticed that Damian collects katanas, Tim is all about hacking, and Jason is obsessed with guns, and Bruce..hm, maybe he need to ask to find out:

Oh, that's explains a lot. Of course highly intelligent ghosts are afraid to settle in a city where one of the wealthiest people is a ghostbuster. That’s why there are so few ghosts in Gotham. Danny is such an idiot that he didn’t realize it before. Gothamites are odd. What if it's especially popular among local rich people? Even if it's not, according to rumors that Bruce’s a Batman's sponsor, Danny sure as hell screwed up. Hm, perhaps he should try to escape to the Infinite Realms through one of the Al Ghul's Pits if this guy Constantine will not answer to his call in a few more minutes.

[write-or-run]

Jack and Maddy as Justice League consultants

As the world's foremost experts on ectobiology the Fentons are an invaluable resource, and their activities probably count as vigilantism, but The JL never invited the couple as official JL members. 

Officially this is due to the Fentons being so specialized in ghosts and ectobiology. The Fentons are brilliant scientists, that much is indisputable. With their skills in biology, radiology, and engineering they managed to quantify a form of magic and pioneer a whole new field of study. 

It's just that they can get a little… absentminded. 

This ends up a moot point when Fentons (believing that the JL was about to invite them to join) state that they intend to focus on studying ghosts. But don't worry they would be happy to help out with any ghost problems!

…

edit: got rid of the duplicated paragraphs, Super embarrassing!!!

The League first became entangled with the Fentons when a young sorcerer named Nicolas Edgar Nolan, more commonly known as Nick Necro, launched an attack on the members of the Justice League. He sought revenge on Giovanni Zatara for rejecting him as a student when the stage magician discovered that Nick had become involved with a dark cult. 

Nick had managed to get his hands on a gauntlet that allowed him to create gremlin-like servants by sacrificing the lifeforce of other creatures. (Unbeknownst to him, the artifact's original owner, known only as the Overlord, was locked away within the gauntlet. With each additional minion the Overlord gains more influence over the user) The dark sorcerer had sent these creatures to attack the Justice League, thereby leaving Zatara without his allies. 

The artifact is eventually identified by Zatara as the Gauntlet of Tyranny, one of many curios that could be found in the Infinity Realm. Due to the gauntlet’s nature, its creations had the same properties as those of the Infinity Realm’s denizens, making them very hard to defeat. 

At least they were, until a couple of crackpot graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Madison came blasting onto the scene. 

Like everyone else in the world, the recently married Fentons were paying close attention to broadcasts about the latest alien invasion. Of course the couple were able to recognize the ghostly origin of the minion’s powers, and the pair immediately packed up their home-made ghostbusting equipment and set out on the most important cross-country trip of their life! (Unfortunately there was no way for them to fly out as the airport security refused to let them bring their blasters onboard)

Since Zatara’s main place of residence was in Gotham, that's where Nick Necro focused his attacks. It's also the direction that Jack and Maddy’s prototype Fenton Finder points them towards.

The Fentons make their way to Gotham with a trail of defeated minions and property damage behind them. Along the way they encounter Flash, Hawkwoman, and Captain Atom. The Fentons supply the heroes with their prototype ecto-based weaponry. Unfortunately the scientists don't wait to explain anything so the heroes are left to figure out who that couple was and how the gadgets work.

Flash is given a glowing baton that pops the minions on contact. Unfortunately it’s battery cant hold a charge and Flash has to keep repowering it with his lightning. 

Hawkwoman is frustrated when the hard light ecto-blade keeps fritzing out, but discovers the nth-metal of her mace stabilizes it. 

Captain Atom gets a giant tuning fork to his confusion. Eventually he figures out that by channeling his power through it the nearby minions are forcibly gathered at the fork’s end, and he can take them all out with one blast.

Upon arriving at Gotham the Fentons make their way to the city’s last operating clinic, arriving just in time to save doctor Leslie Thompkins. Together they fortify the clinic and set up a shield that keeps out all ghostly beings. 

Poor Batman hasn't gotten a break all week. A mystery enemy had been ambushing members of the League. By the time they identified the culprit as Nick Necro the man had been able to gather enough forces to launch a siege against America's largest cities, with a special focus on Gotham due to it being the home of Nick’s target, Giovanni Zatara. Now some unknown vigilanties were setting up base in his godmother's clinic. Sure the couple claim to want to help, but Batman didn't get this far by trusting people at face value. He interrogates them about everything,  why are you here, how do you know so much about the attackers, what are your devices, etc…

The Fentons are thrilled that this bat-themed fellow is so interested in their work and are happy to gush about it in between shooting minions. Batman is immediately given full access to their makeshift lab and equipment without so much as a thought to security or safety.

Baman begrudgingly teams up with the Fentons but will definitely do a more thorough (re: invasive) investigation on the Fentons later. But for now they cooperate to make a device that neutralizes the Gauntlet of Tyranny.

…

And that’s how it all started.

On one hand Jack and Maddie now have a support system of fellow scientists and vigilantes. On the other hand they are now heroes in the DCU.

Occasionally Jack and Maddie end up on comic book flavored adventures (I'm watching clips of Batman the Brave and the Bold while coming up with this). When they're gone the Fenton kids are usually looked after by their parents' work friends. Mr Terrific, Atom, Swamp Thing, Barry Allen, etc. At some point 12 yr old Dick ends up babysitting 6 yr old Jazz and 4 yr old Danny.

[doamarierose-honoka]

Batman is back with a vengeance. Three years after HBO Max and Cartoon Network first announced Batman: Caped Crusader — the adult-oriented animated series that was eventually canceled by the since-renamed Max streaming service, only to then be picked up at Prime Video — the new Batman TV show is about to hit the small screen. Set in 1940s Gotham City, Caped Crusader is described as "a reimagining of the Batman mythology through the visionary lens" of executive producers Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond), Matt Reeves (The Batman and The Penguin), and J.J. Abrams (Alias and Lost).

"We are beyond excited to be working together to bring this character back, to tell engrossing new stories in Gotham City," Timm, Reeves, and Abrams said when announcing the series in 2021. "The series will be thrilling, cinematic and evocative of Batman's noir roots, while diving deeper into the psychology of these iconic characters. We cannot wait to share this new world."

Below, ComicBook is shining the Bat-Signal on everything we know so far about Batman: Caped Crusader, including the voice cast, release date, and the rogues who will populate the first solo Batman animated series in more than a decade.

Where Can I Watch Batman: Caped Crusader?

To watch Batman: Caped Crusader on Amazon's Prime Video, you'll need either a Prime Video subscription ($8.99 per month with ads, or $11.98/mo for ad-free) or an Amazon Prime membership ($14.99 per month with Prime Video ads, or $17.98/mo with ad-free Prime Video).

Batman: Caped Crusader Release Date

All episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader will premiere Thursday, August 1st, on Amazon Prime Video.

How Many Episodes Is Batman: Caped Crusader?

Batman: Caped Crusader season 1 consists of 10 episodes. In 2023, Prime Video announced a two-season order for the new series.

What Is Batman: Caped Crusader About?

The official description: "Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human — the Batman. His one-man crusade attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications."

Who Voices Batman in the Batman: Caped Crusader Cast?

The Batman: Caped Crusader voice cast includes Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) in the title role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets) as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, Jamie Chung (Gotham) as Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel, and Diedrich Bader — a DC veteran whose credits include episodes of Batman Beyond, 2006's The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and the Max adult animated series Harley Quinn — as Two-Face/Harvey Dent.

Announced cast members in as-yet-unrevealed roles include Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Toby Stephens (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Reid Scott (Venom), Dan Donohue (For All Mankind), Gary Anthony Williams (Hailey's on It!), Jason Watkins (The Crown), John DiMaggio (Futurama), Krystal Joy Brown (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), Michelle C. Bonilla (9-1-1: Lone Star), Eric Morgan Stuart (Fallout 4), Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), and Minnie Driver (The Witcher: Blood Origin).

Batman: Caped Crusader Villains

A cast announcement video revealed Linklater's Batman voice and the Dark Knight's rogue's gallery: The Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, the pyromaniac Firebug, Natalia Knight (in the comics, a reformed career criminal with photosensitive skin known as Nocturna, the mistress of the night), the phantom criminal called Gentleman Ghost, and Clayface (the Golden Age Clayface of the 1940s was Basil Karlo, a once-famous character actor and makeup expert turned costumed killer). Caped Crusader reimagines Dr. Harleen Quinzel as Asian American — and Bruce Wayne's psychologist. Here, her alter-ego as the jester-costumed Harley Quinn is independent from the Joker, who is noticeably absent from the roundup of Batman characters.

Batman: Caped Crusader Characters

Batman – A cold, remorseless avenger of evil, seemingly more machine than man. Forged in the fire of tragedy, every fiber of his being is dedicated to the eradication of crime. (The Batman suit is influenced by the character's earliest appearances in Detective Comics, by creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, with longer, narrow ears, a collared cape, and with black gloves rather than the original purple.)

Bruce Wayne - To the public at large, Bruce Wayne is a shallow dilettante, apparently wasting his parents' vast fortune on frivolous pursuits and hedonistic pleasures. In fact, he's an elaborate facade, carefully constructed to divert attention from his activities as Batman.

Selina Kyle / "Catwoman" – Selena Kyle is a blithe and pampered heiress whose family lost their fortune after her father was imprisoned for embezzlement. Despite having the silver spoon yanked from her mouth, Selina refuses to quit living in the lap of luxury and becomes Catwoman as a "fun" way to maintain her lavish lifestyle.

Dr. Harleen Quinzel / "Harley Quinn" – Despite a personable and bubbly demeanor, Dr. Harleen Quinzel is a brilliant psychiatrist who treats some of Gotham's elite. However, as Harley Quinn, she is a different person, entirely. A creepy, quiet, calculating menace who secretly dispenses her twisted justice to the truly despicable among her elite clientele.

Commissioner Jim Gordon – Former beat cop close to retirement, Gordon was hired to play along with the corrupt system and run out the clock till he can draw a pension. But they've sorely underestimated Jim Gordon. His unassailable character brings him into conflict with dirty cops and crooked politicians, alike. Not to mention, he has to reckon with a deranged vigilante beating up Gotham's criminals.

Clayface ��� Thanks to his "unique" facial features, screen actor Basil Karlo has been forever typecast as a B-movie heavy. Frustrated by the limitations his appearance put on both his career and personal life (he fell hopelessly in love with his co-star), Karlo turned to an experimental serum that promised to change his face. However, not only does this serum ultimately disfigure his face, but it ruptures the last of his sanity – creating the tragic, vengeance seeking villain, Clayface.

Batman: Caped Crusader Creators

Batman: Caped Crusader comes from Warner Bros. Animation (My Adventures with Superman, Bat-Family), Abrams' Bad Robot Productions (Lovecraft Country, the Star Trek films) and Reeves' 6th & Idaho (2022's The Batman, The Batman – Part II). Along with Abrams, Reeves and Timm, Batman: Caped Crusader executive producers include head writer Ed Brubaker (DC's Batman comic, Gotham Central), James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), Daniel Pipski (The Penguin), Rachel Rusch Rich (Castle Rock), and Sam Register (Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One and Part Two).

[ecandjamesvpjournal]

DP x DC x GB Story Idea

Gotham has had its fair share of crime in the city, but few know of its troubles with supernatural forces… except for the Bat Family. While they usually handle the League of Assassins and others who dabble in magic, it’s not long before Bruce hears word that a new paranormal group pops up called the Ghostbusters. At first, it appears that the Ghostbusters are a bunch of con artists, before the BatFam and League of Assassins find themselves facing the Ghostbusters. It’s only when Red Hood notices the Ghostbuster in black, with white trimming. On it, is the name tag “Fenton”. Something about Danny makes his soul stir.

“Members of the League of Assassins, I hearby demand by the powers vested in me by the Gotham City Police Department, the Gotham City Historical Society, the EPA, and even both the Justice League and JL Dark, to depart from this or any other reality, at once.” the grey-ish tan jumpsuit wearing Ghostbuster said. He re-adjusted his glasses before looking at the Head of the League of Assassins, Ra’s Al Guul. “Fools, all of you are fools. First the Bats, now these hacks.” The one with glasses looked offended. As the assassins started to surround them, the five of them moved back to each other, forming a tight circle, facing them.

“Alright guys, Alpha 47-B!” he said, as they all powered up. The female briefly glanced at the one with glasses, “I thought we were gonna name it something clever.” “Sure, but you try coming up with a name that doesn’t telegraph to the villains.” he replied. As they surrounded them, Ra’s smiled at them, no sneered at them. “I don’t know what you were expecting, but this’ll be the-“

“THROW EM’!” glasses exclaimed. The five of them threw the energy from the strange gun-like devices. While it wouldn’t exactly do damage to normal people. Those within the League were affected enough to quickly retreat, including Ra’s Al Guul, who didn’t expect this. “You should’ve listened,” the one known as Fenton said, “We did warn you.”

Ra’s disappeared before it got worse. After all of that, they deactivated the device before they looked around. “So what do we do?” Fenton asked, as glasses re-adjusted his glasses again. With a smile, he brushed something off his name tag that had the word “Smith” on it. “Simple Fenton,” he started looking around, “We need to find the source of their ectoplasm and deactivate it.” “But where is it?” the female with the short haircut said, whose name tag was “Bazaar”. Smith shrugged, “Unless someone knows what the League uses to re-animate their assassins. Like the Batman!” he exclaimed, quickly looking around for them, only to be met with silence, and slight bouts of darkness.

The young man who looked Winston, but younger, had the name tag “Zeddimore”. “Hey man,” he said patting Smith on the back, “the Batman is just a myth, nothing more.” “Oh yeah, then who has defeated the League of Assassins?” Before Zeddimore could answer, there was a cough, like someone clearing their throat. The five of them turned towards the now visible Batfamily.

Smith was the first to speak, “Ok, um hi. Sorry to bother you sir, but you wouldn’t happen to notice a place where there is tainted ectoplasm?” Batman just raised an eyebrow at them, to which Smith continued, “Well, while it does have re-animation properties, most tainted ectoplasm tends to cause bouts of anger, a inhuman savagery, and other weird side effects.” Immediately, all of the BatFam turned towards the Red Hood. Smith looked at him, then pulled out an unusual device. Smith got close, the pointed the device at him, which whirred and blinked, and the arms raised to the full position.

“Well, that’s different.” Smith said, looking at the PKE Meter.

[fordarkisthesuede]

May I please ask for a character description of Jackie lant? I honestly don't feel like combing through every page of the fics she's in (I'm sorry if that came off as rude) I want to draw her but don't know if I made shit up or it was written (I'm bad with words I'm sorry) I also really want to draw her jack-o'-lantern outfit, if you have the time or want to if not, thank you for your time

You're asking about my girl?! My precious darling daughter?!

Pfft, no problem, baby-cake! Let's go!!!

Full Name: Jacklin "Jackie" Olivia Lant

Age: 26

Birthday: 🦂 November 2nd (Day of the Dead)

Height: 5'4" without shoes (John is a known 6ft tall for comparison)

Cup size: Just barely a C

Build: Dress size 6 (US measurements)

Eyes: Brown; frequently described as "autumn leaves".

Eyelashes are short and almost invisible without makeup, so she frequently uses a brown mascara.

Hair: In the fiery orange range of red-heads (don't forget the yellow-y bits!); curl level is 3C (tight corkscrews). Currently a bob style like this:

Fun fact, her hair was modeled after my friend Maddy :)

Eyebrows: small and yellower than her hair so is frequently filled in with light brown pencil to a straight shape like this:

Face: more round than oval; no visible scars

Skin: Caucasian; has freckles across her nose and cheeks + on shoulders and peppered along arms

Tattoos: none

Scars: bullet wound on left-hand abdomen above the hip, circa Dr. Crane in AtBoM; right-hand calf has a three-inch vertical scar from a childhood bike accident; outside of thighs have several horizontal scars from self-harm as a teenager .

Favorite clothes are autumnal colors and patterns; she favors orange, yellow, brown, and black, but will wear white and owns two pairs of worn blue jeans she wears frequently. Occasionally wears green accent pieces (favors Goosebumps slime green). Dislikes wearing blue tones outside of faded jeans. Never wears solid reds. Loves plaids, ripped pants, and Beetlejuice-style stripes. Dislikes Uggs, loves boots of all other kinds, flat sneakers, and black chunkier-style heels with straps. Can and has worn stilettos, just doesn't like having to skirt around grates in the city. Can wear any and all dress and skirt styles, but prefers knee-length or shorter.

Favorite clothing item: black zip-up hoodie with pumpkin orange skeleton torso print - the zipper goes all the way up through the hood to seal the face, and the hood-face print is a jack-o-lantern!

Her original "costume", from down in the secret chamber beneath the mausoleum in AtBoM (when she's trying to get every party-goer to help her take down Dr. Crane, who used that place as a hideout), is very reminiscent of Samhain from the old Ghostbusters cartoon:

That said, her "official" villain look is undecided, since we never had to really go that route. Her official weapons at the time were a sawed-off shotgun, a classic revolver, and backup in the form of her great-uncle's mob ties, but I'll also add in mace and brass knuckles, because it's Gotham and she always has those in her purse.

I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing what you come up with!!!

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

OKAY I'M ACTUALLY GONNA MAKE A MORE COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF MY BATFAM WIPs.

EVERYBODY STAND-BY.

Red String of Fate: Draft (Silk Weaver)

Earthly Marks

JayRoy Camping (The Heart Echoes)

Morning After

Combine?

Jay and Rose

Meet Cute lol

Meet the family

Nightmare

Woodworker

First First Aid

Dami Clones

Gotham Academy

Hunger (Bottomless)

Amnesia Fic

Light on

Code Red Year

Grief

Alt Batman

Animal Death

Psychopomp AU: Draft (Can You Save My Heavy Dirty Soul)

Writer's Cellblock

Pottery AU (Long Nights, Got a Fire in My Soul)

Blue Perch

Bear Trapped: II

Jay and Midnighter

Meta Jay

Sanctuary Savior

RHATO Fix-It

Robin Shuffle

Daemon AU: Draft 2.2

Parts Unspecified

De-Aged Jason

Baby Alfie

Baby Jason

Movie Night

Alfred V Joker

Time Shenanigans AU

Tyranny Dream

Ex-vigilantes?/Succulent AU (The Oasis)

Timbat

Draft iv (to the roots of something greener)

Draft v (catch me if you can)

Draft vi (earn our bread til the wolves are fed)

Draft vii ()

Draft viii (choking like a dog on a collar)

Draft ix ()

Draft x bits (it takes you home like a smile//leads you into the conversation)

5+1 Draft (A Pain You Know All Too Well)

Sailor Jay

Batfam Good Place AU

TOG AU

Soccer AU

Batfam Motorcycle gang

Unwind AU

City of Angels good ending AU

Toy Story AU

Vampires

Titans Soccer AU

Titans Firefighters

GBBO AU

Joyfire Ghostbusters AU

Batstuff

Insurance

Flat Gotham

Libraries

Genderswap

Grafitti

Disney World Sickfic

Fanclub

Tim is Jason's Robin

Came Back Wrong, dealer's choice--SOULLESS JAY ()

Shock Collar, Jason ()

No anesthetic, Jason ()

Lost voice from screaming, titans dick ()

Reluctant Caretaker, Dissociation, ()

Misunderstanding? ()

Hm

Catatonic Jay Sickfic (Riptide)

Flying

TUA x Batfam

TUA x Batfam TWO

Dead Hood

MB vs Batfam

Bat v TOG

Rednighter Kink

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

Bodyswap Prompt

Identities

Dreamsharing

Bat Shenanigans

Crochet Capes

Wayne/Bat Family Trivia

Teaching

Stage Direct

Living Gotham

Condiment Croc Time

Good Night Gotham

DID Jason

[Redacted]

[yami268]

List of Heinz Doofenshmirtz's Enemies (Other than Perry the Platypus and his brother)

Grunkle Stan

The Entire Town of Springfield

The Belcher Family

Jerry Seinfield

The entire city of Gotham

The Ghostbusters (Especially Peter Venkman)

Kyubei

Discord

Garnet

The Care Bears (It’s not that he doesn’t hate them or anything. He just can’t deal with feelings)

Emperor Belos

The Entire Town of Wartwood

Chris McLean

Paulina Phoenix

The Entire City of Gotham

The Scooby Doo gang

Benson from Regular Show

Anti Fairies

Any characters and their multiple iterations (regardless of whether they’re good, bad, or otherwise) from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise

The main cast of Friends

Gabriel Agreste

Hawk Moth

Bob Pataki

Cave Johnson

Feel free to add your own.

[yesungsh27]

Daftar Game yang Diangkat dari Film

Daftar Game yang Diangkat dari Film

Industri video game sering kali mengambil inspirasi dari film-film populer, menghasilkan berbagai judul yang memungkinkan pemain untuk menjelajahi dunia yang telah mereka kenal melalui layar lebar. Berikut adalah daftar beberapa game yang diangkat dari film, mencakup berbagai genre dan era.

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

Diangkat dari karakter Batman yang terkenal, game ini membawa pemain ke Arkham Asylum, tempat para penjahat Gotham berkumpul. Dengan gameplay yang memukau dan cerita yang mendalam, game ini berhasil mendapatkan pujian kritis dan menjadi salah satu game superhero terbaik.

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)

Meskipun tidak langsung diangkat dari film, game ini berlokasi di universe Star Wars dan menawarkan pengalaman RPG yang mendalam. Pemain dapat memilih jalan cerita mereka sendiri, berinteraksi dengan karakter-karakter ikonik, dan menjelajahi galaksi jauh.

3. Jurassic Park: The Game (2011)

Game ini mengambil latar belakang dari film Jurassic Park dan menawarkan pengalaman naratif yang mendalam. Pemain harus menghadapi berbagai situasi berbahaya di pulau Isla Nublar, berinteraksi dengan karakter dan dinosaurus dari film.

4. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)

Game ini berfungsi sebagai sekuel spiritual dari film Ghostbusters. Pemain dapat menjadi anggota baru tim Ghostbusters, menggunakan berbagai peralatan untuk menangkap hantu. Dengan humor yang mirip dengan film, game ini telah menjadi favorit di kalangan penggemar.

5. Mad Max (2015)

Berdasarkan film Mad Max: Fury Road, game ini menawarkan dunia pasca-apokaliptik yang luas untuk dijelajahi. Pemain dapat mengemudikan kendaraan kustom, bertarung dengan musuh, dan bertahan hidup di lingkungan yang keras.

6. The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor (2014)

Mengambil latar dari trilogi The Lord of the Rings, game ini menggabungkan elemen RPG dan aksi. Pemain mengikuti cerita Talion, seorang ranger yang memiliki kekuatan supernatural, dan melawan pasukan Sauron.

7. Transformers: War for Cybertron (2010)

Berdasarkan franchise Transformers, game ini membawa pemain ke planet Cybertron, tempat pertempuran antara Autobots dan Decepticons berlangsung. Dengan gameplay yang menarik dan cerita yang kaya, game ini berhasil menangkap esensi dari seri film dan kartun.

8. Resident Evil Series

Dikenal sebagai salah satu franchise horror paling terkenal, Resident Evil memiliki banyak game yang diadaptasi dari film. Meskipun game pertama dirilis lebih awal dari filmnya, franchise ini terus berlanjut dengan berbagai sekuel dan spin-off.

9. Avatar: The Game (2009)

Berdasarkan film blockbuster Avatar, game ini menawarkan pengalaman menjelajahi dunia Pandora. Meskipun tidak sepopuler filmnya, game ini memberikan pandangan yang menarik tentang lingkungan dan budaya Na’vi.

10. The Godfather: The Game (2006)

Mengambil inspirasi dari film klasik The Godfather, game ini memungkinkan pemain untuk masuk ke dalam dunia mafia. Pemain dapat menyelesaikan misi, membangun kekuasaan, dan menjelajahi New York City era 1950-an.

11. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Berdasarkan film aksi Kingsman, game ini menawarkan pengalaman aksi yang penuh gaya dan humor. Pemain dapat berpartisipasi dalam berbagai misi yang diilhami oleh elemen dari film.

12. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Diadaptasi dari film yang diangkat dari novel Roald Dahl, game ini mengajak pemain menjelajahi dunia ajaib Willy Wonka. Dengan gameplay yang berbasis teka-teki dan eksplorasi, game ini cocok untuk pemain muda dan penggemar cerita.

Kesimpulan

Game yang diangkat dari film sering kali menawarkan pengalaman yang menarik dan memungkinkan pemain untuk terlibat lebih dalam dengan cerita dan karakter yang mereka cintai. Meskipun tidak semua adaptasi berhasil, banyak dari game ini memberikan kesempatan untuk menjelajahi dunia yang telah dikenali melalui medium yang berbeda. Dari aksi hingga petualangan, ada banyak game menarik yang bisa ditemukan di daftar ini, menjadikan pengalaman bermain semakin bervariasi dan menyenangkan

[little-pondhead]

A robbery? No, this is Patrick!

[I pity the fool who thinks this is going to be a quick read.]

———

“Holy shit, the rooms are so big!” Danny exclaimed, dropping everything in his arms to bound forward and dive face-first into the nearest bed. Unfortunately, the pillows weren’t enough to block out Jazz’s muttered “language,” but his parents didn’t say anything, so he ignored her.

Maddie, his mom, chuckled at his antics and stepped over his forgotten bags and jacket. “Come on, we need to do a room check. We don't want to see what happens if bed bugs decide to have a feast on ectoplasm."

"Though that'd be an interesting experiment!" Jack chimed in. Danny just rolled off the now-wrinkled bed and helped his parents comb through the hotel suite rooms while his sister checked the bathroom. They checked under beds, behind curtains, and even swept for bugs (the tech kind.) Everything was clean as could be, and Jazz even mentioned there was a towel shaped like a turtle on the bathroom counter. (She named it Bradley.)

Room check over, Danny claimed the bed closest to the windows in the second bedroom while Jazz took the farthest. Their parents were in the first bedroom, right next to the kitchenette. By the time everyone had finished unpacking, it was nearing evening, and the skies over Gotham had darkened considerably, heavy with water.

Maddie glanced out the windows and pursed her lips. "Do you think it will rain?" She asked, to no one in particular.

Danny walked over to the window she was looking out of and turned his upper body intangible, sticking his head right through the glass. After a few seconds, he stepped back and looked at his mom. "I can smell it, but we still got a few hours before the storm really hits."

Jazz frowned. "Guess our dinner plans are down the drain; I don't want to catch a cold this early in the vacation."

"Movie night, anyone?" Jack grinned. "We have this nice, non-possessed TV; be a shame if we didn't use it."

"Only if we watch Ghostbusters!"

"Really, Danny?"

"What?" Danny made his best innocent face, but he could tell everyone was unimpressed. "I say we just go get some groceries and cook something here."

Maddie shuffled, considering. "Yeah, that's fine." She agreed. "We can get popcorn, too. But Jazz picks the movie tonight."

Jazz snickered as her brother immediately started bellyaching.

———

Walking through Gotham was an experience, and the Fentons were glad they chose the city as a vacation place. The atmosphere had "deliciously gloomy vibes," according to Danny. Maddie scolded him for snacking on the latent emotions in the air and possibly spoiling his dinner. Danny just pouted and pointed to a random street corner across from them.

"But there's so much of it!" He said. "I'm doing a good thing! Look, there's been like five murders over there. Eating the vibes keeps me full and lifts the burden off Gotham!"

"And while I appreciate that," Maddie countered. "Shouldn't you wait to ask Gotham themself if you can eat here? How would you like it if some random kid came into your kitchen one day and ate your cookies? We don't know if they want these...vibes around or not."

Danny deflated, almost literally. It looked like gravity had strengthened its hold on him to drag him to the ground. "No. I guess you're right."

A huge hand came down to clap him on the shoulder. "That's my boy!" Jack beamed. "You can always ask later. Maybe once the sun goes down. Didn't you say Gotham was a nocturnal spirit?"

His son shrugged. "As far as I'm aware. Though, since that new daytime hero started, they might have changed those habits. I'm not really well-versed in city spirits."

"That's cause you never pay attention to Ghost Writer when he's teaching you."

"I'm a hands-on learner, Jazz!" Danny defended. "You know this!"

"Danny, you literally went to Egypt and still can't remember the names of the pyramids." Jazz snarked. The Fentons turned the corner into an alley, following Jack's sense of smell regarding the best place to find dinner. "Ghost Writer and Fright Knight regularly reenact famous battles for your history essays. Mom and Dad are constantly bringing Zone artifacts home to study. And CW literally sends you across time and space often to fix holes in reality during some of the most important moments in history."

He crossed his arms. "I know the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776."

Jazz threw her hands up. "That's because you were there and signed it!" She cried, immediately ducking right after her point was made. A lead pipe swung out from the darkness and missed her by a hair's breadth. Jack stepped forward, grabbed the pipe in the middle of its second arc, and yanked the perpetrator forward by his other arm without even a blink. The middle-aged man dropped his end of the pipe and struggled against Jack's iron grip. Maddie reached around her husband and immediately knocked out the would-be assailant with a simple chop to the vagus nerve in his neck.

Danny did nothing but stand to the side and record the interaction on his fucked-up Fenton-Foley Phone™. After the man was thoroughly trussed up and checked over, Danny sent the clip off to his friends. No more was said except Jazz lamenting over a good pipe going to waste after her father crushed it. They all moved through the alley again, leaving the man and his new sharpie mustache behind.

"Oh, there's a sale!" Jack beamed and rushed the few last steps out of the darkness. (Seriously, it was still daylight. Did the spirit of Gotham need this many shadows?? Danny should start paying attention in his ghost classes more.) Jack's nose had led them to a convenience store that featured a special on ramen bowls. A cheesy cutout of one of the Robins-Danny didn't remember which one-stood to the side of the doors, smiling and holding up a bowl of instant ramen like it was the best thing in the world. Under the cutout was a hastily scribbled sign saying, ‘HOMELESS EAT FOR FREE, ONE PER PERSON Sponsored by Wayne Enterprises’

Jazz scrutinized the sign. "Does that count as a sale? We're certainly not homeless."

Maddie pointed to a second sign stuck to the window behind the first. "Not the ramen, dear. The chips and candy are 30% off this week."

"That's good enough for me!" Danny chirped. He strode forward, pushing open the creaky glass doors, and beelined for the candy aisle. Everyone else split up since it seemed like this was their dinner tonight. Jack was in charge of making the most atrocious slushie mixes known to man, Maddie was perusing the chips and dip with a pack of napkins and paper plates in her hands, and Jazz volunteered to make hotdogs for everyone since she was least likely to bring them to life. (And if she did, Jazz was also the most discreet Fenton in the family. Dismembering mutant hotdogs with a mustard bottle and a napkin container while making sure they didn't utter a peep was child's play for her.)

The store was eerily quiet, which was odd since the promotional event was still happening. But hey, this was Gotham. Who were the Fentons to judge how people did business? A lot of people were on the ground, though, for some reason. Danny knew they were fine and alive because a family of four was crouched in the candy aisle and kept trying to wave him over frantically while he was selecting goodies. He just nodded to them and frowned when he couldn't find his favorite candies.

"Oh! Sir?" He asked, noticing someone behind the register. Danny's arms were full of candy and sweets, but now he was on a mission. The cashier stopped messing with the register and looked up. "Sorry to bother you, but do you guys have any Star Specters? Those ghost gummies?" At the blank stare of the cashier, Danny continued. "Okay, what about Zeta Zombie chocolates? Or Yeti Cakes?? Ancients, I'll even take those shitty Downwinder sour spray candies. You know, the radioactive ones with the lavender ribbon?" He tried.

Something shuffled next to his feet. Danny looked down and saw two kids a few years younger than him sitting on the ground and looking up with a donut clutched between them. "Oh shit!" He exclaimed, stepping back. "Sorry, I didn't realize there was a line! I'll just go back and look again."

Danny turned to re-begin his hunt, but the cashier vaulted over the counter, letting something metal clatter to the floor. "Wait just a minute." The man said, voice gruff. The cashier was dressed in all black from head to toe with a rifle by his side, but that didn't phase Danny. "This is a robbery, kid-"

"No, this is Patrick." Danny quipped without thinking. Then his brain caught up with his mouth and he finally squinted at the man, as if seeing him in a new light. "Wait, so you aren't a cashier?"

The not-cashier spluttered. "A cashier??? I am literally robbing the place!"

Danny shrugged. "You are a very convincing cashier."

"I was beating the register open with a crowbar!!"

"And?"

The robber growled, bringing up the shotgun to Danny's face. "For the love of-PIE! GET OVER HERE!" He yelled.

Another man scrambled out from the back of the store, similarly dressed and with a half-filled sack in hand. "What??"

"This little shit didn't realize this was an active robbery. Cover me while I teach him a lesson."

The robber stalked forward as his partner echoed, "Got it, Cow." Danny backed up with an even deeper frown.

"This isn't very good customer service." He said, trying to lure Cow-what kind of name was that??-away from the nearest civilians. As soon as they were clear and the robber barely three feet away, Danny shouldered the gun barrel to the side and performed an almost 180-degree split from a standing position as he kicked the man in the chin. Cow's head snapped back from the force, and he lost his gun in the resulting fall. The treats were still secure in Danny's grip.

The second robber, Pie, immediately dropped the sack and readied his pistol at Danny. However, he didn't get a chance to shoot since Maddie bolted forward from another aisle to bash the poor man's head in with a liter bottle of root beer. Danny, satisfied his mother could handle the restraints of the two robbers, turned his back and made sure to step on the shotgun for good measure, crushing the barrel.

Jazz peeked around the divide that hid the hot food station. Ketchup and relish were smeared across her face, and there were breadcrumbs in her hair. "Everything okay?" She asked. Something with a tiny, high-pitched voice screamed in the background.

Danny smiled and lifted his arms to show off his haul. Loud police sirens could be heard racing down the street outside. Flashing lights filled the convenience store, making each Fenton look strange and out of focus. Almost glitchy. "Never better." He said. "I found your favorite lychee candies!"

———

"I've never met a city spirit before; Gotham was such a wonderful host!" Maddie gushed, clutching a little rain pixie to her chest and cooing at it. Jack, eyes wide like a child on Christmas, was similarly entranced by the tiny thunder sprites playing on his shoulders, occasionally exploding into tiny peals of thunder seemingly randomly. (They were laughing at Jack and his giant size.)

Danny just laughed at his sister's face. She was favored by a family of wind spirits, apparently. Her new invisible friends, the Gales, kept weaving in and out of her long hair, making it look like she was caught in a personal tornado. She was not a happy camper,, but humored them anyways. In turn, Jazz giggled when Danny's own little lightning buddy decided he wasn't paying them enough attention and shocked him for it.

The Fentons were having a wonderful day. The sky was still overcast from the overnight storm, and Danny had decided it was the day they should go meet Gotham, the spirit of the city. (Technically, Danny had lectured during their walkover. Gotham was a tutelary spirit. Possibly even a deity if the actions of the Dark Knight and his family had finally elevated the territory's power enough. Only Blüdhaven counted as a weaker city spirit since Gotham has been around much longer.) Either way, the halfa had led his family through a maze of backstreets and buildings before finally stopping before the city cemetery. There, they stopped and asked politely for permission to enter. The cemetery was silent for a solid moment before the shadows of each gravestone seemed to gather.

Jack and Maddie held their breath in wonder as the shadows stretched and grew and twisted and reached until the whole mass settled on a vaguely humanoid form. The spirit stood silently with a single hand placed on a gravestone, watching them with unseen eyes. Finally, they nodded, and Danny eagerly entered. Once everyone was inside the cemetery, time outside the wrought iron gate seemed to slow drastically. When it finally stopped, Danny did not hesitate to switch to his ghost form. Then all the Fentons had a lovely conversation with the eldritch bundle of shadows that sheepishly introduced themselves as Gotham-"Gothie" for short. (Danny asked; their favorite movie was HTTYD. That's where the inspiration for the nickname came from.) Gothie explained they didn't meet with mortals and other ghosts often and so appreciated the company. And yes, Danny was allowed to eat on the latent emotions; there was more than enough to go around, and it helped take the burden off the city's metaphorical shoulders.

During the conversation, minor spirits crawled out of every crevice they could in the cemetery and decided to investigate the guests like curious pets. Jazz had spotted pixies, sprites, salamanders, gnomes, blob ghosts, devas (for some reason), and even a few she couldn't name but would look right at home in a Seelie or Unseelie Courts. (Which was extremely surprising, the two courts were famous for being enemies.) Each Fenton was latched onto but some leftover storm spirits that had yet to follow the clouds.

And now, they were walking down the street with their new friends and chatting about how the meeting went. So absorbed as they were, it didn't even register when explosions started going off left and right as they wandered into the more shady part of town. Not until the little spirits suddenly bolted in all directions from fear, making Jack pout more than a little.

"What's going on?" Maddie asked, tugging her husband's hand. Green mist was quickly filling the street, causing citizens to panic. Some managed to dig gas masks out of bags and purses, but even fewer wrangled them on before the gas reached them. Those who weren't protected collapsed in screams and sobs. Maddie was thoroughly startled but followed her husband's lead as he strapped his own Fenton Mask™ to his face. (Never leave home without one!) Jazz had also slipped a mask over her face, but Danny simply chose to stop breathing. It took a moment for everyone to understand what was happening, but it finally clicked when a man dressed like a scarecrow wandered into view, cackling and throwing more gas canisters around.

"Oh, I've heard of him!" Danny exclaimed. "That's Scarecrow!"

Jazz recoiled in disgust. "Oh, Ancients, really? Hang on, I have some words for this man. His chemistry practices are worse than mom and dad's." She stalked forward, only pausing to scoop up an abandoned high-heel from the sidewalk before clambering up onto a better vantage spot.

Danny chuckled as she started to go off at the villain from her position on top of a car. "I'll go round up the gas victims." He told his parents. "Can you guys try evacuating them?" His parents nodded, and off into the green mist he went.

Some, if not all, of the gas victims, were in some stage of a panic attack. Danny wasn't sure how the Fear Gas worked; his sister was always better at chemistry than him. He wasn't bad at it, per se, but Jazz was the type of person to go on a rant with Sam about unethical mass production and distribution of chemicals and would gladly play 'Mad Scientist' just to figure out what the secret was behind a villain's chemical attacks.

Like Fear Gas or Joker Venom, for example. Jazz once spent an entire month in the lab with Maddie, trying to hash out the finer details of the formulas just so she could create an antidote and shove the results in a cocky classmate's face. (That was a weird month for Danny.)

The point is Danny was slightly unsure of how to proceed with this plan to "round up the gas victims." What if this was a new variant? Would the victims turn violent if he approached them? How could he reason with them if each person was trapped in their own personal nightmare?

Nightmares are the key, little king. A cool shadow slid over Danny's back, and he shivered at Gotham's whispers in his ear. It felt weird, but Gothie's words triggered a memory.

Dream-walking! Danny could literally enter a person's dreams while they slept; who's to say he couldn't do something similar while they were awake? The shadow disappeared, and Danny got to work. First, he would approach one of the victims milling about the street, trying to figure out what they were seeing based on their reactions. Sometimes, it was easy. Other times, it was a little more difficult. One kid was screeching about spiders crawling all over him and desperately clawing at his skin. Danny, remembering that one-time Nocturne put him to sleep, restrained the kid using telekinesis and focused on his consciousness using Danny's very limited dream-walking abilities. The kid's mind was all over the place, buzzing with pure fear and constantly switching between fight or flight. Reaching out gently, Danny grasped and soothed the jagged edges of the kid's mind and instructed him to sleep. The kid slumped, out cold.

"Whoo!" Danny exited the kid's mind, blinking at the sudden onslaught of sensations from the outside world. "Well, that was weird. Come on, kid, let's get you some help."

Well, one down, two dozen more to go. He thought wryly. Danny carried the kid (physically, no telekinesis if he could help it) over to where his parents were waiting and placed him in Jack's hands. The kid looked tiny in his dad's hold, but Danny forced himself to look away and go back into the mist, trusting his mother to tend to the kid's scratches.

He repeated a similar process for every new victim he came across. Some people were too unstable to approach, so Danny had to restrain them before entering their minds. Others were welcome to the touch of another human, sobbing about being left alone or that it was too dark and they couldn't find anybody. With every person he touched, Danny got better and better at the waking dream-walking until he could just skim the mind of the afflicted without ever losing awareness of the outside world.

Most victims, once calmed to a degree, willingly walked with Danny to the end of the street, out of it as they were. A few people had to be put to sleep for safety reasons. They were the kind of people who used fight more than flight when they were scared. Even with the attempts to put them at ease, Danny couldn't fully remove the effects of the Fear GAs as long as it was still in the air. These victims made his father look somber, and he was quiet as could be when transporting them.

Emergency services soon showed up after the Fentons had a system in place, and luckily no questions were asked when they realized that a teenager was freely going in and out of the wall of Fear Gas with no issue. Paramedics just gratefully took the patients to the side and treated them according to their condition. Cops showed up to form a barrier and kindly made no effort at all to remove the Fentons from the premise. In fact, a few of them requested Jack's help in moving some vehicles out of the way, so the ambulances had more room.

One cop did ask about Jazz, however.

"What in the all bloomin' hell is that girl doin'?" The man asked, just kind of staring at the eldest Fenton kid with a forgotten radio in hand. Jazz was still standing on the car, in a verbal pissing match with Scarecrow, who had completely forgotten his original goal.

Maddie snorted from where she was stacking emergency blankets next to an ambulance, which sounded odd since she was still wearing a gas mask. They all were. "Stringin' him up by his trousers and shakin' him like a pig, I hope."

"Oh?" Danny could practically hear the man's eyebrows disappear into his hairline. "Dontcha know that hobgoblin of a stick bug don't take kindly to friendlies squeezing in on his side of the barn? Y'all better call her back before he decides to do 'er in."

Maddie waved the cop off, and Danny listened in fascination as her slight Midwestern accent almost immediately went off the deep end. "Nah, my baby's tough enough to hog-tie a bull pitchin' a hissy fit. That hillbilly is hardly twenty pounds soakin' wet. She'd truss him up and kick him over yonder no sweat, even if he was hissing like a wet hen."

The cop just shrugged, finally clipping his radio back onto his uniform. "Welp, alright. I ain't gonna stop y'all unless it gets physical. Tell yer folks I said hi."

Danny leaned over to his dad as the man wandered off. "What was that?" He hissed. "Does mom know him? What were they talking about?"

"Your mother was born in the south, son." Jack chuckled. "You should have heard her when we were in college."

Danny wrinkled his nose and stalked off to find more people to help. It didn't take long, but eventually, the entire street had been evacuated of civilians, and emergency services were starting to haul in equipment to get rid of the heavy Fear Gas. Finally, the cops were ready with high-grade gas masks, a bomb squad, and a special transportation vehicle for Scarecrow, so Danny volunteered to tell Jazz it was time to wrap it up.

The scene he walked in on was hilarious.

Jazz was scolding the rogue to high heaven, arguing loudly about the ethical practices of making Fear Gas in abandoned warehouses-turned laboratories. About evidence of Scarecrow's experiments and mistakes leaking out into the surrounding streets of Gotham, exposing strays and people alike to the toxic chemicals, sometimes genetically altering them. She held the high heel aloft for emphasis, to punctuate every word she was saying, trying to get her points through the man's thick skull. Personally, Scarecrow was totally sucked into the conversation, torn between making this tall teenager cower in fear and defending the genius behind his chemical epiphanies. It all came to an end finally when Jazz chucked the high heel at Scarecrow's head when he just mocked her intelligence. The man decided that death via a hot pink shoe was the most appealing thing in the world because he dropped like a fucking brick when it struck his forehead. Danny never even got a word out. (But he did manage to record the last bit and send it to their parents. That video was going in the family album.)

Behind Scarecrow's limp body stood a brick house in a red helmet and leather jacket, holding a still smoking gun and staring in surprise at the Fenton siblings. Oh. Maybe it wasn't the heel that took the villain out, but Jazz would still like the credit for giving him a decent-sized goose egg on his forehead!

———

"I still think Nasty Burger is better," Danny exclaimed, face deep in a burger and fries. "Even if the sauce is explosive."

Maddie passed her son a few napkins. The fight with Scarecrow was over, and the walking brickhouse introduced himself as Red Hood(!!!) and thanked the Fentons for distracting Scarecrow and assisting with evacuating the gas victims when he couldn't get there in time. (Of course, they helped! Unlike the robbery from the other day, where the Fentons just thought all corner stores were Like That, civilians were obviously in danger when Scarecrow showed up, and it hurt Danny to ignore them.)

After hearing the praise and subtle reports from emergency services, Red Hood put two and two together. This family, the Fentons, were obviously metas of some kind. Or at least two of them were; the youngest son and the father. The other two were up for debate, but Hood wouldn't be surprised if the oldest kid, a girl a few years younger than him, had some sort of intelligence or aim-based ability, considering her proverbial smackdown with Scarecrow. The father, Jack, happily told Red Hood that the family was on vacation-to Gotham?!-and the son, Danny, shyly asked for his autograph. Jason decided to do that and then something better by treating them all to Bat Burger-one outside his territory since the first one was shut down for renovations.

(Hey, he wasn't about to snitch to Bruce about possible metas in his city. Not until he found out how much of a threat they were.

...He did have to admit that freely hanging around like this was out of character.)

Danny was practically glowing; screw that, he was glowing. If Jason squinted, he could see a faint green outline emanating from the kid. It made Danny look fuzzy and out of focus like there were two Danny Fentons instead of one, layered on top of each other. Every time he tried to focus on it Jason's head felt a weird rush-like he was being dunked in ice water. And if he thought that was weird, when the group finally got to the Bat Burger and sat down with their orders, Jason's forearm brushed against Danny's back when the kid tried to squeeze by him. It took everything in him not to immediately stiffen in surprise.

At that single, faint touch, even through the leather jacket, gloves, and layers of clothes, Danny felt cold. The rush of ice was back, and it covered Jason head-to-toe this time. He suppressed a shiver, sitting down gently. His body was on autopilot, diligently unwrapping his burger and slipping his helmet off before his brain caught up with what had happened.

The pit was gone.

Jason did freeze this time. The sister, Jazz, glanced at him curiously but politely looked away when she saw his visible distress. Her parent seemed oblivious, so Jason forced himself to eat a couple of bites. Inside, however, his mind was a whirlwind.

The pit is gone

It's gone

I can't hear it

Where'd it go?

I can feel it

Can I?

...

I can think

This burger tastes good

My chest hurts

The pit is still here

It's hiding

why is it hiding

Danny

Danny did something

Is he a meta?

What happened?

He touched me

No

I touched him

by accident

It was an accident

But he made the pit be quiet

How-

"Dude, are you okay?" Jason was pulled from his thoughts when Danny waved a hand in front of his face. He flinched, then realized what he had done.

"Ah, sorry." Jason stammered. "I just, uh..." He trailed off, not sure what to say. His mind was still a mess.

Danny frowned, pushing his meal aside. "My guy, if you need an Ecto-Dejecto or something, I'm willing to share. I wasn't going to say anything, but you seem pretty fucked up, dude."

"Danny!" Jazz swatted her brother's arm, but she looked nervous and shot Jason a concerned look again. "You can't just say that to someone!"

Maddie and Jack glanced at each other with concern. For him. Jason. Why were they concerned?

The pit is quiet.

"Oh, Red Hood, we're so sorry." Maddie apologized sincerely. "My husband and I didn't realize you might not like human food. We should have offered an alternative if burgers weren't your style."

"Human...food?" Jason's voice was distant to his own ears, and suddenly, the burger and fries in front of him really didn't seem all that appealing anymore.

Jack was digging around in a purse. Where had the purse come from? He pulled out a sealed plastic container with fudge inside and slid it over to Jason. The fudge was glowing a familiar green.

"It's not the pure stuff, unfortunately." Jack's face was filled with guilt, not realizing the crisis Jason was in. "And it's still technically human food. But Danny says that spirits of all kinds tend to prefer sweets over anything else. I hope this makes you feel better."

Jack cracked the seal of the container, and it took all of Jason's self-restraint not to immediately dive for the sweet-smelling fudge that was suddenly two inches from his face. Suddenly, his stomach was roaring like he was a starving man, and Jason struggled not to shove the whole block into his mouth like a heathen. His hands were shaking as he tore piece after piece off the block, barely tasting them as the chocolate melted in his mouth. He just wanted to eat.

The Fentons watched him sympathetically, a little guilt still left on their faces. "I'm so sorry." Maddie apologized again.

"We should have noticed how tired and hungry you were." Jazz's expression was distant as she stirred the ice in her cup. Jason vaguely realized she was blaming herself for something.

For what?

He was hungry.

They said he was hungry.

Jason was hungry, and these people knew it before he did.

It took several moments, but eventually, Jason regained enough control over himself to push away the half-eaten fudge and gasp. His whole body was shaking now. Something in his chest was buzzing, and he was still hungry, bordering ravenous. "What," he gasped. "What the fuck. What did you do to me."

Danny frowned, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "What do you mean? Hood, you hide it well, but your core is obviously starving. We'd be horrible people to not offer aid to a fellow grave-riser."

"Core? Starving?? Grave-riser???" With every question, Jason felt his control over his panic slip a bit. He tried to muster up the will to press his SOS button, but everything inside him was still screaming at him to EAT.

Jazz's eyes widened. "Oh, holy shit. You don't know you're dead, are you?"

"I'm what?!"

Danny sucked in a sharp breath. "By the Ancients, dude. No wonder you're so sick. You know you died at some point, right?"

Jason gritted his teeth, trying to grab his gun. His hands wouldn't move. "Yes." He ground out. "I died. But I came back."

Danny nodded. "Well, yeah. That much is obvious. But you're like me; not fully dead and not fully alive. I don't really know what you are since the balance feels off. But you are, like, majorly sick. In the paranormal sense."

"So, what, I'm a zombie? Should I start chewing on human flesh? What do you mean I’m like you??" Jason felt the venom in his words, but the Fentons just shrugged it off. In fact, Maddie put a gentle hand over his, a deep sadness in her eyes.

"No." She said softly, ignoring his last question. Her gaze was far away like she remembered something sad. "No, you're not a zombie. But you are dying a second death if don't fix your core."

Jack tucked his wife into his side as she let go of his hand and dissociated. Jazz took her mother's hand, trying to ground her. "Danny, you're really bad at explaining this."

"You're the one who just straight up told him he was dead!"

"I was surprised!"

Danny groaned. "Like mom said," He tried to explain, floundering for words. "You're not a zombie. If you were, it would be really obvious. No, you're either a revenant or a halfa. Or maybe you're just extremely liminal, but I'm betting on the first two. It kind of depends on the circumstances of your death and resurrection, which you do not have to discuss. I'm just saying that since you came back to life somehow, you are ghostly enough to develop a ghost core. It's kind of like the heart of any spirit or ghost. But if you don't take care of yourself during the development phases, your core kinda warps and stunts its growth and turns into a nasty, gross ball of goop that does bad things for your mood."

Jason just kind of sat as the kid rambled. He wasn’t alive? He was still dead? Jason stared at the cold burger sitting in front of him. He had no desire to eat it anymore, something about it being human food. All Jason desired to eat was the fudge. Not because he liked chocolate, but because of that extra ingredient the Fentons were talking about. He wanted whatever that ingredient wash Did this mean he really wasn’t human?

The Fentons were truly worried about him, he could tell. Their concern was rolling off him in waves, especially from Danny. But he was still so confused, and the absence of the pit anger made Jason feel empty and lost. He felt exhausted, sick. Is this what they were talking about? And he just didn’t notice because he was constantly fighting the pit?

Jason didn’t know. He wanted to eat. He wanted to sleep.

“Hey.” Danny shoved the fudge back into Jason’s hands, willing him to eat. Jason did. “Listen, this is probably super confusing and overwhelming, right? We can go visit Gothie and they can probably help, alright?”

“Hmmm.” Jason’s eyes were drooping, just a little. The chocolate was melting on his tongue, and his hunger was finally satiated once all the fudge was gone. The Fentons hurriedly scarfed down their own meals-well, Maddie just wrapped hers up for later-and gently steered Jason down the street, sticking to the shadows. Someone was touching him at all times, making sure he was walking straight.

At any other time, Jason would have immediately pegged this as the world’s most suspicious kidnapping and immediately call for backup. But his mind was foggy with sleep, so he just followed along like a toddler, not protesting when they took shortcuts or whispered comforting words into his ear.

Honestly, it was kind of weird.

And he probably should have panicked when they appeared at the very graveyard Jason was buried in.

———

Okay, so maybe he didn’t think this through. As Gotham’s yellow eyes glared down at him from the shadows of a mausoleum, Danny considered asking Clockwork for a Rewind, just so he didn’t have to sit and be lectured right in front of the new halfa(?)

Little king, there was a reason I have not made contact with my knights. Gothie’s voice was thick and deep, reminding Danny of cold stone.

“But he’s so sick, Gothie! He needs treatment, wouldn’t it be easier to bring him to you before visiting Frostbite?” Jazz pleaded, gripping onto a very confused and out of it Red Hood. Jack was waiting outside the iron gates with Maddie, trying to gently soothe her out of the self-deprecating spiral she was in.

Gotham sighed, and the shadows shifted to stretch and reveal the more animalistic form Gotham liked to take. It was hard to distinguish even in daylight, but the best Danny could guess was that this form looked most similar to a maned wolf, with bright yellow bat eyes and tattered wings that flowed down their back like a cloak. It was easier to tell in this form that Gotham was sick; almost as sick as Red Hood. Their fur lacked luster and the looked too skinny, even for a spirit. Little wisps and daytime denizens flittered around, concerned.

Red Hood startled out of his daze, hands dropping to draw his weapons. Gotham snorted, letting cool air wash over the trio. Mortal weapons won’t harm me, my scarlet knight. Calm yourself.

“Who are you?” Hood’s voice sounded shaky, and Danny quietly retracted his touch on his mind, letting the man think fully. He felt guilty for…suggesting Red Hood calmly follow them from the diner, but he would have been more guilty if Danny let a fellow ghost meet their End simply due to negligence.

I am the spirit of Gotham, little one. I am the physical representation of the city and its people. Gotham lowered their face to stare at Red Hood, golden eyes unblinking. And you, o’ sickly one, are one of my many knights. My scarlet knight. You are the one whom I thought lost forever, and yet here you are, standing above your own resting place, clinging to life when others would have jumped at the chance for rest.

“What can I say? I’m stubborn.” Red Hood let out a breathy laugh as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. He probably didn’t. Danny understood, sort of. Ghost stuff was always wacky, and it felt like he had a new curveball thrown at his head every other week. Ancients, the first time Amity burped up a serial killer from out of town, he almost had a heart attack!

Stubborn...yes. That is one word for it. Gotham mused, raising their head once more. Now, little king. Danny ducked his head. You do realize the depth of your mistake, correct? He nodded, ears burning. My scarlet knight can no longer go through the slow process of removing that foul pit parasite leeching off his very core. Thanks to you and yours, the process has been sped up, and he has been thrust upon the world of the dead sooner than I had planned.

"I'm sorry," Danny mumbled. "I didn't realize he was already being treated."

Gotham sighed, sounding weary and tired. Do not fret so. They reassured. 'Twas my fault for not informing the courts when you first ascended the throne. I was just...worried...my knight would be taken from me. How about we take this opportunity to work together, to heal this child of mine even faster?

Red Hood shot to his feet. "Wait, hang on," he insisted. "I need you two to slow down and explain a few things. You," He waved towards Gotham. "are the city's spirit, the physical embodiment; whatever, okay. I've seen weirder. But you two are talking about me like I'm just a kid. I feel fine! Well...mostly."

Jazz followed his actions, immediately trying to calm him down. "Well, okay." She frowned. "Wow, we're really bad at this. Do you want the short explanation or the long one?"

"Short one."

"Ghosts and other spirits are real; most of them reside in a dimension called the Infinite Realms, also nicknamed the Ghost Zone. It's ruled by my brother, who is half-ghost. You came back from the dead, so you're technically one of his subjects and no longer completely human. Except, your resurrection method was wrong, and now you have a weird stunted core because some sort of angry ghost parasite decided to make your body into a new home and eat up all your ectoplasm. We didn't notice this at first, but when we did, my parents offered you that fudge that contained pure ectoplasm, the stuff your ghost core has been pretty much starved for. So to ghosts and ghostly-adjacent, you ping as a sick baby ghost which led to the misunderstandings earlier, which we are very sorry for."

Hood blinked as Jazz said all that in one breath, kind of impressed. "Okay, I think I need the longer version. I'm not human? Ghost parasite?? You're a king???" He exclaimed, pointing at Danny for that last part.

To his credit, Danny looked sheepish, rubbing his neck and blushing. "Yeah. That's a whole other story, honestly. But as King, I kinda developed a secondary Obsession to better suit my role, which evolved me into a guardian spirit. So when I realized how, uh, ill you were, I wasn't really thinking about what I said or did."

"Evolved?? Like a Pokémon???"

"Oh, please," Danny groaned. "I've already heard those jokes from my friends."

I've heard of these Pokémon. Gotham chuckled. It is an apt comparison, little king.

"Not you too!" Danny pointed a finger accusingly at the spirit, which made everyone else dissolve into a fit of childish giggles and snorts.

Gotham shuffled their massive frame, relaxing into a more comfortable role. While everyone is here, why don't all of us start from the beginning? The Master of Time owes me a favor...let us take a moment to re-introduce ourselves and how the future shall look from here on out. Take a long as you need.

Danny perked up. "That's a great idea, Gothie! I'll go first." He let go of gravity, shivered as the transformation washed over him, and willed the Crown of Fire to appear for good measure. His smile was full of sharp teeth and unnatural angles, but his core was screaming his emotions. He just wanted to help. "My name is Danny Fenton! I also go by Phantom or King Phantom if we're in court. I like space, hate Christmas, and died when I was fourteen."

"My name is Jasmine Fenton, but please call me Jazz. I'm Danny's older sister, I am not dead, but I am liminal." Jazz added her two cents. "I want to be a psychologist in the future. I love banana nut muffins, but I'm allergic to guava, and I have a brown belt in karate."

Gotham piped up as well. They were having a little too much fun with this. I am the spirit of Gotham City, and I prefer to go by the nickname 'Gothie'. I am the older...sibling of Blüdhaven, I suppose. Spirit dynamics are strange. I adore the HTTYD film series but do not enjoy the Walking Dead series. It makes some of the shades and spirits uncomfortable. I also do not like clowns, but I recognize the Joker is not mine to kill, so I cannot torture the man myself.

All three looked at Red Hood expectantly. The man just stood there momentarily before sighing and removing his domino mask. Danny was surprised. He didn't expect that development; he knew how precious secret identities were. "My name is Jason Todd." He said finally. "I like reading and chili dogs. I hate clowns with a passion, and I'm a crime lord who works out of Crime Alley. To be honest, this is all really weird."

Danny laughed. A full-bellied, body-turning cackle that had him spinning in the air. "Yeah, it'll just get even worse from here!" He said, wiping away a fake tear. "Don't worry; we have all the time in the world to catch you up. How do you feel about being adopted?"

———

Something seemed off about his city tonight, Batman decided. The atmosphere was too...light. The clouds had cleared up significantly, and the scent of fresh flowers could be found on every street. The crime was especially low, and every citizen seemed to be in a good mood. Bruce had even gotten a text from Jason! Batman was suspicious, nonetheless.

It seemed his sons agreed.

"Something isn't right." Red Robin was typing furiously into a small computer on his wrist. Oracle was no doubt feeding him information through his comms since Red was occasionally replying to a conversation none of them were having.

By Batman's other side, Robin sneered. "What an astute observation, Red Robin."

"Now there," Dick, who was visiting for the week, interrupted before the two Robins could start duking it out. "No fighting on patrol!"

Black Bat cut in with soft taps to her comms, alerting everyone that something was happening. They all listened, deathly still, as Black Bat told everyone her location via morse code.

However, that wasn't enough information for Batman, even though he was already moving, swinging through the skies with inhuman grace. "What's the issue?" He said gruffly.

There was a pause before everyone heard a quiet ". ---" over the comms. It was the letter J.

The Joker was out tonight.

Unanimously, everyone redoubled their efforts, swinging to the far side of Gotham. Red Hood and Spoiler also radioed in, saying they had met with Black Bat and were currently circling the perimeter. Usually, the entire Batfam was not needed to foil the Joker's fucked up schemes and plots, at least, not right away. For the more minor stuff, a team of two usually stopped him, and that team was Batman and Robin. But Joker had been laying low and staying quiet a little too long for their tastes, and everyone wanted him back in Arkham as soon as possible. (It was also convenient everyone was in town for once.)

"Well, shit," Spoiler whispered to them. "Guys, it looks like a hostage situation."

Red Robin swore. "Oracle, has there been any activity in that area recently?"

Furious typing could be heard. "No." Oracle sounded frustrated. "There's absolutely nothing there. I have everyone's location, and Black Bat texted me the address. The area has perfectly functioning cameras with audio, but there's been no weird footage from the past several days, except some occasional interference-but it's too minor to change anything."

"Hm," Batman said nothing more, focusing on landing as silently as possible right next to Red Hood. The building they were stalking was a two-story abandoned deli shop-decrepit enough to discourage squatters but obviously not enough to ward away idiots and rogues. Movement could be seen from inside, and Batman had to squint to see through the cracked and mostly shattered front window. A couple of goons-the more common ones-were herding two gagged and bound teenagers to the back of the shop floor, where they were manhandled onto chairs and promptly tied up even more. The teens didn't look particularly scared, just annoyed, like getting kidnapped was an inconvenience.

Red Hood shifted. "...I think we should wait." He said finally. Batman almost raised an eyebrow. Not only had his son been acting off the past few days-calmer, more relaxed. Now he wanted to wait? During a hostage situation? Wait for what? As if sensing the unsaid question, Hood rushed on. "I know those two. They can take care of themselves, and that's coming from a professional standpoint, not a personal one. We should wait to see if they actually need help and then intervene if they do."

Nightwing was probably frowning. "What's the matter with you, little wing? This is a potentially life-or-death situation. Waiting could increase the chances of the civilians getting hurt."

Hood winced. "I know! Seriously, I do! But you do not want to deal with their parents right now-" He was cut off by the echoing screech of tires on concrete as the Joker Van rounded the corner and hurtled towards the deli shop at high speeds. Everyone tensed, but the van reached a lurching halt just a few feet away from the doors. Joker and two of his personal goons stepped out, the villain already giggling like mad and practically skipping.

"Oh Danny~" Joker sang, stepping inside the shop and spreading his arms wide. "I heard you have a little something for me~"

The younger kid, a boy with black hair, had his gag removed and almost bit the hands of the goon in the process. "Take one more step." The kid spat. "Do it, and I'll deliver your corpse to a pile of dog shit. Personally."

"Ah, such fire." Joker sighed. "You know, the last kid I had tied to a chair, he was a spitfire, too! But not the fun kind; he broke after just the tini~est bit of torture." Hood stiffened. More of Joker's personal henchmen filed out from hidden side doors and filled the room. "Now, wasn't that just rude of him?" Then, the Joker took exactly one step forward, staring down at Danny with a smile ever-present on his face.

Everything started happening all at once. Red Hood bolted forward, forgoing any stealth and making a beeline for the deli. Shouts of surprise and concern filled the comms system, and everyone else was forced to break cover because oh god the kid had so many guns trained on him and people were screaming why were they screaming and Joker wanted somethin but they didn't know what-

(Later, Oracle would quietly send Bruce a private message. A video from the only surviving camera. He'd wonder how a kid who was almost as short as Damian managed to break through rope and chains, avoiding bullets like they didn't exit. He'd also wonder why the mystery teen's eyes glowed green, and he'd analyze how Nightwing dove towards the bloodthirsty Danny, who wielded a broken pipe against the Joker and his men. And he'd watch as his son was dismissed easily by the kid, practically tossed aside, seeming unable to stop the horrible rampage that was caused by this literal child.

But that was later. This was now.)

"What the FUCK is going on???" Spoiler screamed, ducking under one goon's sloppy swing and knocking him out with an uppercut.

"YOU TELL ME!" Red Robin was desperately trying to keep up with Red Hood, while Robin was switching between Nightwing and Batman.

Danny, the young teen, had worked himself free and tore a thick pipe out of an exposed wall section. Old, nasty water started spilling all over the floor and mixing with years worth of dirt and glass, but that didn't stop anyone. Shoes existed for a reason, people. Batman almost flinched as the kid gave off the most gut-wrenching battle cry and started beating his way toward the Joker, who seemed to realize this was a child who could and would make good on his promises. Goons who were foolish enough to stand in his way were knocked aside like bowling ball pins and slammed into the walls, making the whole building shake and groan. Cracks spiderwebbed their way up toward the ceiling. Nightwing tried to step in but was shoved aside himself, groaning when he slammed into a table and flipped over it.

"Welp! You're even less fun than the last guy!" Joker snickered, clapping his hands in delight and backing up. "That being said, you could stand to turn that frown upside down!" Something clicked, and the formerly broken-down air vents suddenly started pumping out purple smoke.

"SHIT! HIT THE DECK!" Red Hood shouted. Immediately, every vigilante dropped to the ground alongside some of the smarter henchmen who were cursing their boss out. Batman's guess was they weren't aware they'd be exposed to Joker Venom tonight. Red Hood was still standing, however, and abandoned his quest to reach Danny, going for the second teen instead.

The second hostage, a taller girl with bright red hair that could rival Barbara's, was wiggling like mad and desperately trying to free herself from her bonds. She'd made it through the ropes, but the chains were an issue. Red Hood reached her, tore off her gag, and promptly shattered the lock on the chains with one hand.

Since when could he do that?

What Hood did next surprised everyone. (Everyone that was paying attention.) He crouched as the girl stood up and made no effort to evacuate her. Instead, he latched onto the nearest booth table that was bolted to the floor, not caring if he was sitting in nasty rat water. The girl herself was a snarling mess. Her hair was blowing every which way like a flame, her eyes glowed just enough to be noticeable, and her whole figure just screamed rage as she rushed into battle alongside the other team, not caring if she smacked around a clown or a bat. She didn't hesitate to break a man's arm with considerable ease when someone got too close to Danny's blindsides and was a whirlwind of movement who used her own height and weight against the thugs. She shouted something to Hood that no one could hear over the sound of rushing wind.

Wait, wind?

Strong gales were filling the deli shop, seemingly from nowhere. It was so strong it almost knocked Batman over. Robin definitely took a tumble, and the others struggled to stay on their feet and out of danger. The front window finally shattered all the way, blowing bits of glass everywhere that only seemed to land on the enemies. Bruce even watched as a particularly large shard headed straight towards him but veered at the last second to implant itself in some poor shmuck's eye. (Ouch.) The wind was swirling the smoke away, making it blow back up towards the ceiling and keep it there like an ominous cloud. A crackle of the comms caught Batman's attention.

"Jazz says we should start wrapping up! She says the roof is unstable!" Hood yelled. He still hadn't moved from his position under the table. He had probably known the wind was coming. "I'll grab her if one of you can get Danny! He's currently trying to kill Joker!"

"I can see that!" Red Robin grunted. Everyone had taken their eyes off Danny in their panic over the Joker Venom and then fight with the wind. Just for a moment, but it was a moment too long.

Joker was down and limp. He was conscious, with blank eyes staring at the ceiling, but his arm lay at the wrong angle, and his legs were trapped under a chunk of the roof that had already begun to fall. A goose egg was growing on Joker's temple, and the water was sparking around them, which was probably why he wasn't fighting back. Danny was still mercilessly beating his unresponsive opponent with the pipe, not letting up in any way. Black Bat quickly wove through the few men still standing and got Danny's attention. He looked at her, fury on his face, but let the bat take his pipe and tug him out the door. Robin kicked Joker for good measure before dragging his body out, too. The others focused on the goons.

Once everyone was safely out of the building, the thin walls creaked and cried their final protest before finally caving in. The dust settled with no trace of the purple smoke.

Everyone turned to Red Hood, who was trying to hide the two teens with his body and failing miserably.

"What the fuck?" Red Robin asked.

———

Danny decided that guilting the Batman to buy him and his sister Dairy Queen at eleven at night before being whisked away to the actual Batcave almost made up for him stopping Danny in his pursuit of justice. Almost.

"One more hit and I could have given him permanent brain damage!" He whined, taking out his leftover rage on his poor Blizzard.

Jazz smacked him upside the head. "Forget brain damage, Danny! You almost managed to kill him! I expected better from you!"

"Yeah, uh, Danny. I'm with your sister on this one-"

"Have you picked up nothing from the Zone?" Jazz raged, steamrolling through whatever Nightwing was saying. "You didn't hit the temple soon enough! The pterion is the weakest part of the skull-now the Joker is at the hospital and they'll probably be able to stop the internal bleeding!"

Red Robin choked on his coffee, Nightwing stiffened, and Red Hood burst out laughing.

"Blame the Bats and goons!" Danny defended. "They’re the ones who kept trying to stop me!"

"You know very well how to get around them!" Jazz snapped. "There are so many people petitioning for the death of the Joker, and I'm the one doing the paperwork for it!"

Red Hood nodded, still holding his gut at the look on Bruce's face. "It's true-I've signed it." He wheezed. Everyone was gathered in the cave, surrounding the two bickering siblings as they munched on their fries and ice cream. Robin looked irritated at being there while Spoiler and Black Bat were sharing a milkshake.

Finally, Batman cut off Jazz's scolding and tried to turn the conversation into something more productive. "What were you two doing, getting involved with the Joker?" He asked, but not unkindly. "And you shouldn't talk about killing. No matter how bad the villain is, kids like you shouldn't be responsible for fighting them." Jazz scoffed, and gave a pointed look at Robin. Bruce decided to ignore her.

Danny rolled his blue eyes. (Nightwing made a joke about how they might be getting some new siblings; these two looked exactly like the kind of kids Bruce would adopt.) "Oh, don't get your panties in a twist, you big furry. It's not like we went looking for the Joker. He found us, and we just took the opportunity to take a potshot at him. And then you guys showed up." He turned to Red Hood. "Why were you there, by the way? I thought you didn't like the Bats that much."

Hood shrugged. "Eh, I still work with them when they're not annoying. I did try to tell them to wait, by the way. I knew you two would have had everything handled."

Jazz scowled, stabbing a fry into her ice cream. "Yeah, thanks for the save. If you guys had waited longer to engage, our parents would have found us by then, and that’s all the backup we need."

"Your parents, Hood mentioned something earlier. Do you two have an okay home life? Do you need a safe place? How do you two know Red Hood?"

Danny shrugged. "Eh, we met a few weeks, er, days ago after Jazz threw a shoe at Scarecrow. You really get to know a person when you swap life stories." A few panicked glances were thrown around. "And our parents are fine, thank you very much. A little off their rocker, sure."

"If by 'a little off their rocker' means making a ten-year-old clean the weapons vault and homebrewing every medicine known to man, then sure." Jazz rolled her eyes.

"Hey! I said I was sorry! Who stores their diary in a weapons vault anyways??"

"Someone who wants it in a secure location and not blasted to pieces! I still don't remember my Club Penguin login, Danny!"

"Club Penguin shut down years ago; stop holding it over my head! And I bought you the Five Nights at Freddy's 3 game as an apology!"

"That's rich coming from the guy who will remind me at the drop of the hat about my track record with broken bones."

"To be fair, you're even worse than me about it. At least when I break my bones, I actually tell someone."

"You have a fucking tracker implanted in your heart, Danny. It's there because you like to hide away like a rat to lick your wounds so you don't have to go to the doctor. You don't get to talk to me about our family's medical habits. Ellie is the only responsible one when it comes to injuries."

"Time out!" Nightwing cut in, making a T with his hands. "I have so many questions and the sudden desire to haul you two off to medical."

“Did you say you have a tracker in your heart??” Red Robin looked like he himself was having palpitations at the news. They were in the fucking Batcave. And there was a tracker in this kid’s heart??????

Danny waved off the concerned stares. “Eh, don’t worry about it. Mom and dad just made it so they could find me if I disappeared. I can remove it whenever I want.”

“How often do you go missing?” Robin demanded. Batman was getting increasingly concerned about the lack of reaction from Red Hood, and how the two teens were glossing over seemingly traumatic events and topics like there was no issue.

Jazz grumbled. “Too damn often. Keeps sticking his nose into other people’s business. Can’t tell you how helpful the tracker is, though. Finding him in a government lab underground is much easier when you know which mountain to look under.”

Danny puffed up in pride. “Yup! And the GIW still haven’t figured out how their base locations keep getting compromised! And even if they found the tracker, they’d have to kill me to take it out.” He snickered, as if the last line was part of some inside joke.

Suddenly, Jazz deflated, finally balling up her trash from Dairy Queen and chucking it at her brother’s head. The anger and tension just melted off her shoulders, and now she just looked like a very tired seventeen-year-old who just had a brush with death. “I’m so mad,” she sighed. “The Gales finally found us again, and then they had to leave because of that stupid Joker Venom. I can’t even ask if they’re okay.”

Something in Danny’s face softened, and suddenly, it felt like everyone else was intruding on a very private moment. “I’m sure they just went back to Gothie’s.” He said. “We can always stop by to see them before we leave on Sunday.”

Red Hood placed a hand on Jazz’s shoulder, showing her an unusual gentleness that hadn’t been present in his character in a long time. It almost startled Bruce to see it, and he felt like he was the audience to whatever was happening in front of him.

“I can go with you, too. I’m willing to watch over them if they aren’t recovered by then.”

“That’d be nice, Jason.” She sighed, not even realizing the slip up. Everyone else did, though, and tensed in surprise.

Robin darted forward, away from his hiding place in Batman’s cape, to threaten the strangers with his katana. “How do you know his name?” Robin snarled. No one moved to stop him.

“Chill, Demon Brat.” Jason reached up to properly take off his helmet and domino. “I told them my identity. Just mine.”

“You said you’ve known them for like, three days.” Spoiler protested.

Danny shrugged. “Hey, Jason is a cool guy! We're planning some cool hangouts for later, and I have some friends who would love to have a motorcycle race with him. Honestly, Jason is kind of adopted at this point. But we don’t need to know yours; we have no reason to.”

Jason agreed with him. “Yeah, little shits were practically begging me for a big heart-to-heart session, and one thing led to another, and now I'm invited to the next family potluck. Turns out we have quite a lot in common. I plan to keep in touch with Danny, Jazz, and their parents.”

“But why?” Bruce asked. How did they gain his trust so fast? What could this family possibly offer that he couldn’t?

Danny cocked his head to the side, listening for a moment. Then, he smiled a little too widely and pointed towards an empty section of the Batcave. After a moment, rumbling could be heard. “That’s why!” He chirped cheerfully.

The wall of the cave started to crack. Loud mechanical sounds could be heard behind it, as well as two raised voices. The stone buckled, and the sounds stopped. There was a faint tapping noise before an absolute giant of a man wearing a hazmat suit crashed through the loose stones like a battering ram, drill in hand. (Unlike one of those wimpy handheld drills, this one looked like a miniature mining drill, complete with the spiked rotating drill bit.) The man dropped the drill as soon as he spotted the group, letting it clatter to the floor loudly. “My babies!” He sobbed. “My babies, you’re okay! Batman, please don’t take them away! We may not be the best parents, but I love them so much!”

“Are you making my husband cry??” A woman half his size clambered through the new hole in the wall, wielding an honest to god bazooka. She, too, was wearing a hazmat suit. “If you are, I swear to the heavens above this cave will not stand to see another day.”

“Mom! Dad!” Danny darted forward faster than anyone could catch him, and launched himself into the woman’s arms. The woman tossed her weapon aside without a care and caught him in a spin.

“Danny! Are you okay? Where’s Jazz?”

Jazz sighed and stood up, making her way over to the sniffing man and giving him a tight hug. “I’m fine, mom. I’m just tired.”

“Getting kidnapped by the Joker isn’t fine.” Red Robin pointed out.

The big man gasped, more tears spilling out. “Son! The Joker? Did you kill him??”

Danny pouted. “No. I tried to, but people kept stopping me.”

“Bull! He just wanted me to do more paperwork!”

“I did not!”

The woman sighed, much like her daughter. She removed her goggles and hood, revealing the face of a petite woman with short red hair and purple eyes. (Who the fuck had purple eyes???) The woman looked tired-which was a stark contrast to her hellfire attitude a minute before-like this was a normal argument between her children. “I apologize,” she said to Batman. “Danny is still learning how to fight mortals, and he’s not very good at judging his strength. My husband and I will be happy to clean up any mess my children may have made.”

For some reason, Batman had a funny feeling their definition of ‘cleaning up’ was very different. Nonetheless, he declined her offer. “While we appreciate the offer, Mrs…..”

“Fenton.”

“Mrs. Fenton, Joker is our responsibility, there’s no need to concern yourself with him.”

“More importantly,” Nightwing cut in. “We actually have a few questions. To start with, what do you mean by the word ‘mortals’?”

Mrs. Fenton frowned. “It means exactly what it means. You’re not very good at this, are you?”

Red Hood snorted, drawing the Fentons’ attention.

“Oh! It’s Jason!” Like a switch, Mr. Fenton's tears cleared right up. He lumbered forward and grasped the crime lord's hand in a familiar way. “Are you still up for that visit with your friends? They sound like a riot!”

“Wait, no-“ Nightwing got cut off.

“Hello again, Jack. Nice to see you, Maddie. Your kids put on quite the show.” Jason seemed amused and nodded at Mr. Fenton’s question. “Yeah, I spoke to the Outlaws about it. They’d love to spend a vacation up in Amity, especially if we wait until Danny’s birthday.” The two chatted up a storm, acting like old family friends.

Nightwing threw up his hands and turned on his heel. “I’m too tired for this. B, have fun. I’m going to bed.” Red Robin drained the last of his coffee with a sigh and followed his brother, probably to beg for a refill from Alfred.

Spoiler snickered and Black Bat sidled up to Mrs. Fenton. “Do you…sign?” She asked roughly.

Mrs. Fenton blinked in shock before relaxing. “Why, of course, dear!” She said and signed at the same time. “Some of Danny’s little friends don’t speak well, so we’ve been learning.”

That is kind of you. Black Bat signed. But we have to ask, are your children being treated well at home? They have said some concerning things…

Mrs. Fenton nodded understandingly. “Yes, and as heroes, you need to make sure they’re not in danger.”

Precisely.

“Well, my husband and I are ecto-biologists.” She explained. Danny was still hugging her arm, but his attention was on Jason and his father. Jazz was nearby and looking bored. “That may not mean much, as it’s not a very well-known field. Actually, my children probably have more experience in the field than we do. Our studies can lead to some very interesting experiences.”

“What is an ecto-biologist?” Batman slid in on the conversation.

“Someone who works in the field of ectobiology, the study of ghosts.” Jazz sniffed.

Isn’t that parapsychology?

“No, that’s the psychological study of the paranormal. Ectobiology, not to be confused with exobiology, is the study of ectoplasmic-based or corrupted lifeforms. But most people don’t understand that, so we just say ghosts.” Mrs. Fenton giggled. She waved to her husband, who currently had Jason in a headlock. To Batfamily’s surprise, Jason was not only smiling, but he was going along with the impromptu wrestling match. "Danny, did you want to join them?"

"Fuck yeah, I do!" Danny pecked his mother on the cheek and immediately dove into the tangle of limbs that was Jason and Mr. Fenton. Batman almost flinched when Jason swiped at the kid's head, but Danny just ducked and laughed, dancing just out of reach and taunting the two older men. Jack and Jason changed tactics simultaneously, working together to catch Danny. With a start, Batman realized all three of them had glowing green eyes, albeit Mr. Fenton's were rather dim. A glance to the side confirmed both Mrs. Fenton's and her daughter's eyes had a similar green sheen to them, glinting in the low lighting of the Batcave. How did they miss that?

Robin sidled up to Mrs. Fenton, Spoiler behind him. "You feel like death." He said bluntly.

"You can't just say that to someone!" Spoiler scolded.

Mrs. Fenton giggled again, her gaze becoming distant. "Oh, I imagine so..."

Jazz scooted closer, putting a supportive hand on her mother's shoulder. "Mom," she frowned. "We should probably get going. Jason said he'd come with us to visit Gothie, and it's almost sunrise."

"Yes, yes. Visiting Gothie." Mrs. Fenton muttered, still distant. Batman had to watch as she seemed to shrink in on herself, the smile leaving her face, obviously on autopilot as she gathered her bazooka from where she discarded it. Finally, she turned to the remaining Batkids, giving them a sad pat on their shoulders. "You three are so kind. Thank you for making sure my children were okay. No matter what they may say, fighting the Joker isn't a small deal, and they would have avoided him if they could have." Mrs. Fenton looked so tired. "If you're ever in Illinois, feel free to stop by. Amity Park always welcomes the younger heroes, and it'd be a blast to have you. For now, however..."

She trailed off, and Jazz picked up on her sentence. "We gotta jet. It's been a long night, and we need to make sure a couple of friends who were with us got home okay."

"Friends?" Black Bat whispered in surprise.

"Yeah, the Gales. DAD! DANNY! IT'S TIME TO GO!"

The three guys wrestling looked over to protest, but at Jazz's subtle gesturing to Mrs. Fenton, Danny and his father immediately untangled themselves and hauled Jason over with them.

"Honey? Maddie, hey, I'm right here, honey." Mr. Fenton furiously whispered to his wife, enveloping her in a giant hug that hid her entire body from view. Jason looked concerned but held his tongue at a shake of Danny's head. Batman was highly suspicious at this point, but something in his chest was curling around his heart, tugging at it painfully every time he thought about interrogating them further. Robin looked almost surprised when the Fentons started to leave from the hole in the cave wall.

Jason just accepted their departure and waved goodbye. "See you later, squirt. Should we reschedule that visit to Gothie's for tomorrow?"

Danny shot him a shaky thumbs-up. "You got it, Jay. We'll be in town for a little longer, so I'll shoot you a text later if any of the Bats want to hang out. Robin especially; I want to know where you got that cool katana."

The Batfamily just stood in silence as the Fentons disappeared into the tunnel, with Mrs. Fenton still in a depressed daze.

Let them rest. Something whispered in the back of Batman's mind. He tensed at the same time his children did. Let them heal. It has been a long night. Go sleep, my knights. No more terrors shall plague the dark until the morrow.

"Sure thing, Gothie," Jason muttered. He turned to leave, and Batman noticed the shadow of a twisted hand slide off his son's shoulder as he left the cave. A shiver ran through Batman, and the heavy pressure on his heart also disappeared.

Spoiler turned towards the others sharply. "Okay, you all felt that, right?"

———

Uh, there are a lot of reblogs so I know I didn't get everyone, but here you go.

@echobrainrots @fantasticbluebirdfan @running-batty @kyrianclawraith @mi-vien-vhe-yen @markus209 @markthespot68 @shinkuyuri @anewhopefortomorrow @alinmenttreasure @welcometosasakiworld @roseisred @timberwolf-wwe-marvel @maribatshipper @michaelshadow7779

The fentons go to gothem

The fentons know dannys phantom and accept him, in the aftermath and guilt of hunting their own son the fentons decide to go on a trip

To where...

TO GOTHEM

But their the only ones who arent scared of the rouge gallery, please danny has a rouge gallery too and has been hunted by the government daily gothem is nothing.

So the fentons just do what ever they want?

Theirs a robbery at the store their in?too bad their is a sale and if a walking fortress isent present your not getting them out. They dont even stop shopping, the robbers see 2 teenagers just casually shopping, go to confront them, but they dont get far because the second they step 3 feet away from them the 5.2 walking stick of a teenager just kicked them in the face so hard they get knocked out, and continues just shopping.

They get caught in a fear gass attack? Jazz is going to phyco-analyse the crap out of scarecrow from 30 feet away and go on a rant about the ethical ramifications of fear gas.

The joker tries to involve these 2 kids in a hostages situation? Nope, danny didn't so much as let in within 20 feet of jazz before grabbing a metal pipe and going to town on him. Now when ever this kid sees him he just grabs the closes thing to beat him up with and tackles him.

He's jasons new favourite and is trying to help bruse adopt these 2.

When BAM a walking tank comes barging through followed buy a woman parcor-ing her way inside, both in jumpsuits.

What they dont expect is for the most intimidating man they've ever seen to burst into tears, saying about how they might not be the best parents but they do love them, dont take them away ect;

They also didn't expect the woman to pull out a freaking buzuka and start yelling about how those were her children, how dare you make her husband cry ect;

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC prompt: What makes ghosts ghost?

Danny begins to think that his parents brought them to hunt in Gotham for a reason when, flying near the City in his "invisible mode", he overhears the local vigilante Batman:

~ Detective Comics (2016-) #1000 ~

If this is true, should Phantom warn a colleague about ghostbusters? Oh ancients, do birds and bats know that their serial adopter is dead? Or are they no longer human either, or have they never been?

These thoughts gave the boy a headache.

[sourgrenadine]

to see you || edward nashton x female!reader

pairing: edward nashton x female cam girl!reader

summary: ed has to do some digging to find the face of his favorite cam girl

a/n: TYSM this is such a good idea!!! ed canonically being the king of parasocial relationships he definitely gets attached super quickly!! might do part two, if i can think of something

also apologies anon i accidentally deleted the original ask

You never show your face. Smart, in a city like Gotham, but ultimately so infuriating for guys like Edward. For most of your viewers, just seeing your naked body is probably enough for them to bust, but Ed likes to think of himself as a romantic. It's always neck down, you undress yourself quickly leaving only a golden sun necklace and the occasional lingerie on camera, but never your face.

Not showing your face makes it so much harder for him to imagine you on his bed. To imagine that he's actually fucking you and not some idea he'd conjured. If he wanted that, he could just sit without any visual stimulation, but it's that distinctly human connection that he really craves.

POV porn is good enough to get a quick orgasm out of, but it always pales in comparison to live cams where you're really talking to viewers. The fourth wall fully broken, allowing the dam in viewer's mind to flood out. And boy does Ed's mind run wild. It started when he sent a message in the chat, fully expecting it to be drowned out in a sea of other horny voices.

But you read it out loud, breathless and airy as you fucked yourself with a toy. You moaned out his screen name, something that no other cam girl had done. He came as soon as it came out of your lips, breathless and whining, his pulse pounding in his ears. Sure, you gave other viewers the same treatment, but Edward, if for a moment, could pretend that you were doing this all for him in particular.

And soon his pretend made way into something he truly believed was genuine. As you began to recognize his username, calling him out and chipperly exclaiming a welcome at the start of your stream. You noted how frequently he viewed your page and thanked him for supporting you so much. He'd sent you money, accompanied with a few easy riddles, and you would answer them once you noticed he was watching.

The connection feels so genuine - like you actually enjoy reading his messages and answering his little puzzles. He starts to send you more and more money, manic spending leaving his bank account with a dent, but he would pay anything as long as it keeps you answering him personally.

But he needs to see your face.

He considers DMing you privately, surely with the amount of money he has given you, you'd be amenable to sharing what you look like with him, right? But he doesn't want to take the chance that you'd turn him down. That him asking would be a catalyst to you ignoring him. So perhaps doing some of his own detective work would be better. He could get what he wanted while still staying on your good side.

It starts with finding your social media. Your Twitter is linked in your cam profile, but you hardly post any pictures on there. He doesn't bother looking for a Reddit or Facebook (who the hell posts pictures of their faces on Reddit? And Facebook? You're not that old.) He's about to give up his search when some combination of your name and some generic cute words gives way to a profile on Instagram that looks promising.

There's picture upon picture of a pretty girl, face and all, and Edward recognizes one of the shirts you're wearing from a cam he'd seen not a week ago. It's an old Ghostbusters tee, one that he knows has been out of print for decades since he had searched for it after watching your cam. This has to be you.

Deducing the rest of your personal life isn't very difficult after the initial work to find your face is done. You make no mention to camming on your Instagram, but you show parts of your life that you'd never share on video. You're a student at Gotham State, live in an apartment with three other girls, you like reading the classics, frequent a bookstore on the nicer side of Gotham and when you're not in front of the camera, you're working at some Greek restaurant as a waitress.

Edward's not entirely sure what to do with this influx of information. There's part of him that's fully content to sit back and keep watching you moan from behind a screen, but his legs are itching to run to you. He hails a cab one rainy afternoon when he knows you'll be working (he figured out your schedule based on your streaming schedule as well as when you typically post on Instagram), and directs the driver to the restaurant.

The establishment itself isn't that bad. While the dumpster in the alley next to it seems to have seen better days, there aren't any mobsters lounging around like most other restaurants and the hostess at the front greets him politely, fully unaware he's only here for you. He gets his own booth, sitting on the cracked vinyl and waiting to be served. There's hardly any servers, so you're pretty much the only one flitting about serving customers. And boy are you pretty.

Ed was smitten the minute his screen name left your lips whenever he first found you on the camming site, but it's nothing compared to seeing you in the flesh. You stride up to where he's sitting. He hadn't even picked up a menu, electing instead to gawp at you like a fish. You flash him a cheery smile, holding up your notepad and pulling a black ballpoint pen from behind your ear. A strand of hair falls from your meticulously placed bun and Edward's hand twitches as it wants to brush it back.

"Hi! I'm your server for today, can I get you started with something to drink?" Your speech is well rehearsed, repeated to every customer you serve, but unlike the repetition of username readings online, there's no anonymity here. He's face to face with you and you're speaking directly to him.

Ed's heart feels like it's about to burst out of his chest, a heavy pounding against his ribcage that makes it difficult to breathe. "Uh... just a... just a diet Sierra Mist? Please?" he stumbles. He keeps his eyes on your face, memorizing each plane and shape. He watches you nod softly. He watches your lips pull into a wide smile and feels his own mirror you.

"Alright, I'll get that out for you!"

Your uniform here is modest, a modest blouse and knee length skirt, while not deterring creeps, doesn't stand out as overly sexual. Your top isn't unbuttoned too low, and your skirt doesn't ride up like the dresses of those who frequent the Iceberg Lounge, so perhaps it's Edward's background knowledge of your night job that makes you appear to ooze sex. And - you're wearing a necklace. The gold chain is clear to see, delicate against your neck, but the charm is hidden under your shirt. He can see the faint outline through your shirt though. The same golden sun smiling at him from his computer screen.

As you stroll away from his booth, he imagines your body. Weeks of memorizing your curves allows him to map them over your clothed frame. Edward feels himself harden under the table. Shit, not now. Not while you can see him.

He unwraps his silverware and covers his lap with the napkin. His face flames and he shrinks down into the booth, hoping he's only imagining the other patron's eyes on him.

You weave through the tables like a pro; you refill empty cups, take menus and orders, and bring out food all with a smile on your face. Your hips sway as you wind past chairs and tables, and Edward maps the memory of your hips under your skirt, filing them away for later.

You return, the cold glass of white soda leaving wet condensation on your pretty hand as you place it in front of him.

"Alright, are you ready to order? I can come back if you haven't decided yet." You wait patiently, shifting your balance onto one food. Edward gulps. He hadn't even picked up the menu, too occupied watching you work.

He pushes up his glasses, if only to hide his flushed face from your kind stare. He doesn't make eye contact with you, instead electing to fixate on the sun charm under your shirt. "I uh... well, what do you recommend?"

You don't hesitate, taking hold of the conversation like a horse on a lead. "We have a great sampler platter for the beer battered fish, three pieces for $13.99, and it comes with a side of soup, salad, fries or coleslaw."

"That sounds great, thank you so much," Ed says, pushing his unopened menu towards you. You take it, flashing him a smile.

"Great! That'll be right out for you."

He watches you go, kicking himself for not saying something more intelligent. What a fool you must think he is! He keeps his eyes cast down, pretending to pick through his wallet and inspecting the various ID cards he has stashed. He only looks up when you stop at his table, black tray balanced perfectly on your open hand.

You place his food down as Edward struggles to think of something witty to say. "Um, I like your necklace." Stupid, stupid! Not only is it barely visible under your shirt, surely you'll realize that the creep sitting in this booth recognizes it from a source far less family friendly.

But you don't. Or at least, you pretend you don't because you smile brighter and pull the charm out from where it's hidden. "Thank you!" You tell him, glancing down at the gold. "Yeah, I practically live with it on. I can't remember the last time I took it off!" You chuckle a little to yourself, and you tuck the now empty tray under your arm as you brush your hair back. "Well, if there's any issues with the food, or you need a refill, just wave me over!" With that, you make your leave, blissfully unaware of the turmoil bubbling under Ed's skin.

He shakes himself out of his stupor, picking up his fork and stabbing the fish on his plate aggressively. He has to give you credit; the meal is delicious but his focus lay solely on you as he eyes you flitting about the restaurant.

Soon enough, his plates hold only crumbs and you're walking towards him carrying the black book protecting the check.

"Here you are-- oh!" you drop the book as you're handing it to him. Edward hardens at your surprise, as it's bordering on what you might exclaim during your night job. You bend down at the waist so easily, like you're bending over for a camera. Ed has to shift his napkin to cover his lap more as you're standing up.

"Sorry about that," you tell him. "I'll be around to pick it up in a tic!" Ed lets out a shaky exhale as you step away. Fuck, he's rock hard, and there's not much he can do sitting in a restaurant booth. From his wallet, he pays in cash, handing the book to you when you come back to pick it up and telling you to keep the change. He makes no move to stand until you're out of eyesight, whereupon he covers his hardness with a tight fist and awkwardly shuffles out of the establishment, not before placing a few extra bills on the table for you.

When the grunge-laden air of Gotham hits his face, Edward stumbles and ducks behind the brick building into the alley neighboring it. It's no private room, but no passengers navigate the channel, so Ed unzips his pants without thinking twice. The environment is cold, but not bitingly so as Edward begins to stroke himself, hunched against the restaurant wall.

He spits into his hand, groaning into his other fist as he works his cock. He furiously works his hand, whimpers bubbling in his throat but never making it past his locked lips.

"Fuck," he whispers. Even the faintest sound rings loudly in his ears and the single word seems like a death sentence. He imagines you walking out, maybe taking out a bag of trash, and catching him as he bucks his hips into his hand. He imagines your eyes growing heavy, chest heaving and you quickly kneeling down to take him in your mouth. Maybe, you'd say, if you're good you can fuck me.

And he would be good for you. So so so so so good. He tightens his grip around himself. He'd fuck you, right there against the brick wall. He imagines you, moaning the way you do online but just for him. You wouldn't care how loud you're being, and neither would he, because being caught would meen that you were seen with him. That someone like him would be equal to you. That you and he would be found together.

Edward orgasms, cum spilling onto the already wet alley ground with an audible splatter. He fights to catch his breath, brushing a sweat-doused lock of hair from his eyes.

The side door to the alley begins to open, so Edward dashes and hides behind the body of the dumpster, hand to his face to muffle his ragged breaths. He can't risk peering past the dumpster to look at whoever had just exited, but his heart leaps at the thought that it might be you, so close to where he had just came. The person comes and goes, returning into the restaurant and Ed lets out a breath.

He stares at the door as if whoever just left would come back, but when they don't he ducks his head and exits the alley.

You wouldn't cam tonight, but tomorrow Ed'll be sure to catch the stream.

[ecandjamesvpjournal]

There were reports of paranormal activity once again in Gotham, and it was getting more annoying than usual. Thankfully, the approval for establishing a franchise in Gotham had gone well, and it was usually went off after something had gone wrong. It did.

Just not in the way the Ghostbusters expected it to go, but as a citizen of Gotham, you could’ve seen this coming a mile away.

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Daniel “Danny” Fenton (Phantom) decided to transfer over to Gotham, after Phantom had been unexpectedly banned by superficial “moralistic” people who were full on crazy. Once he transferred, he, along with his friends, transferred to Gotham, hearing that it had a lot of paranormal activity in the area. They were warned that the “average” criminal element was usually handled by either the Gotham City Police Dept., or by the elusive “Bat-Man”.

Only two days into working as a Ghostbuster in Gotham, and their first fight with the cult, dubbed the “League of Shadows”, and they believed that Ra's al Ghul is somehow immortal. While it sounds far-fetched and insane, it’s later revealed that the science behind it is pretty sound. The nasty side-effects as they find out, outweigh the help to restore vitality like it does to Ra’s. So when they summoned up ghosts, they handled it pretty well. That was when the Bat Family decided to drop in.

Batman (Bruce Wayne) at the time, thought that the Ghostbusters were a bunch of con artists, mainly due to the fact that he did do deep digging into the product that was Ghostbusters. That changed the night the League of Shadows tried to summon a deity. It didn’t go so well, and instead an army of ghosts were causing a ruckus, thus causing the Ghostbusters to arrive on the scene. They tried talking the LoS down, and when that didn’t happen and they stuck their ghost on them, the GBs handled it like pros, capturing the spirits and trapping them easily, including a few experimental products that they decided to field test right then and there (the tripod dual trap worked like as easy as a store bought pie). It surprised Batman that these Ghostbusters were legit and not some kind of hoax.

Meanwhile, the Bat Family was trying to figure out the four new Ghostbusters while handling Ra’s al Ghul’s plan.

[forever-fan]

[Author's note: I am going to assume that this is sometime after the batfam sort of makes up, therefore placing Jason at around 19-21]

Gotham hears that Brucie Wayne, everyone's favorite billionaire, gets arrested by bad government-sanctioned Ghostbusters meets MIB, and the public goes absolutely feral. There are riots and petitions. Gotham wants their babe back.

Lady Gotham, the spirit of the city, appears in physical form for the first time in two hundred years. She is ready to throw hands and curse some fuckers. She pulls no stops. The GIW never counted on being faced with a ghost as powerful and merciless as her. (Sure, they've fought Phantom, but he was holding back.)

No GIW can enter the city bounds. Lady Gotham and her citizens attack relentlessly. It is finally revealed just how many rouges consider Brucie their dear friend. For once, the citizens and criminals are working together in a terrifyingly united force against the government.

Chaos reigns in Gotham City, New Jersey, and the vigilantes aren't too keen on stopping it. The public crackship of Batman x Brucie only becomes more popular as the Bat isn't spotted once and his children riot with the masses. the public presumes that the Bat is looking relentlessly for his lover.

When the Justice League finds a boy in the meeting room on the Watchtower, they sort of freak out. The boy, around 16-18, claims to know about the people who took the billionaire. He explains the situation of Amity Park and admits to being Phantom. Constantine uses magic to clarify the boy's status and bows once he sees the results.

"Everyone," he says plainly, "Meet the King of the Dead, Lord of Fate, and Chosen by Destiny."

Once Phantom — or Danny as he asks to be called — finishes explaining everything, including the almost end to reality itself, the Justice League begins planning. They will retrieve the billionaire from his secure prison, and Danny will teach them about ghosts on the way there.

Within a week, the situation comes to the brink of an all-out war. Brucie was rescued and returned home, the Justice League now his personal bodyguards. All of the Bats and Birds hang around just in case, too. The King of the Ghosts tries to get a peace treaty with the US Government, but nothing is working.

The GIW continue to attack and ghosts continue to get hurt. Liminals begin to be attacked as well. By now, the entirety of Amity Park is targeted, including the Fentons. The Fentons, who try to take back their claims and "research" but are denied because they now "lack sentience" to make those decisions.

Amity Park seeks a revolution. They want blood to pay back the blood they have shed for this ridiculousness. They want the GIW irradicated. The US Government claims that the Justice League has lost it. The League members deny this claim and try to point out the causes of the tension.

No peace is found.

[This is where I got away from myself and took the plot wherever I wanted to.]

Danny makes a rash decision. He comes up with a radical solution and offers it first to Amity Park. A vote is held. Each citizen, from the age of fourteen and up, is given the choice. The vote closes the day the GIW announce that they are sending legions of the US Army to wipe out the non-human threats in Amity.

The vote is almost unanimous. The few who voted against are allowed to leave, but most of them stay. With the powers only possessed by the Ancient of Space, Danny opens a rift and works quickly. The entirety of Amity Park is wiped from the Earth for the second time in five years.

Amity Park, now the Sovereign State of Amity, was floating within space, orbiting the Sun. Danny had created a planet only slightly smaller than Mars and plopped it right between Earth and Mars. The floating chunk of rock had its own atmosphere and Amity's land became one with the planet.

The people had chosen this, and their own modern version of the Declaration of Independence was produced. The citizens of Amity were free of the tyranny of America. They signed a peace treaty with the Infinite Realms for allyship. All was good for the people of Amity.

The new planet was named Proserpina, after the Roman Queen of the Underworld, keeping with the theme of the other planets.

Once a week had passed since Phantom established Proserpina as part of the Solar System, he approached Red Hood. He offered to establish Gotham as a settlement on Proserpina as well. Red Hood told the ghost king he would think about it.

Jason brought the offer to his family and the League. Nobody liked it, but it really was their best and — quite frankly at this point — the only option. Still, the League argued for hours. In the end, they decided to let democracy decide. A new vote was held.

This time, the results of the vote were different. They were entirely unanimous. Every single citizen of Gotham old enough to vote had chosen to join Amity. A Declaration was drawn up, unique to Gotham. A day later, the Ghost King arrived.

A treaty with the Realms was signed.

Space and reality bent to Phantom's will.

Gotham was no longer of Earth.

The world was tense. The news had aired internationally. Astronomers updated planetary charts and maps. Children tried to spot Proserpina from Earth and often visited observatories to see it. The Justice League met with the UN and most of the world was in agreement, America had gone too far.

The GIW was eradicated. The Justice League was in the right in the eyes of the public. After two years, a new president was elected. She got in contact with the two civilizations of Proserpina and apologized for the needless deaths.

It wasn't what Proserpina deserved, but it did make the people a little less hostile towards America.

Life on Proserpina was prosperous. Technology was advancing faster due to the dead geniuses who often visited. A unique form of space travel was quickly invented on Proserpina and the governments were set up in a near-perfect way by many of the greatest politicians, including James Madison.

Eventually, immigration to Proserpina was allowed. People from Earth move to the neighboring planet. From there, alien life starts moving to the place of ghosts. Proserpina is at peace.

DP x DC prompt #155

The GIW, at the high of their power, place Bruce Wayne under arrest for illegally harboring the ecto-entity, Jason Todd.