#parental clockwork

[olivethetiger]

THIS IS ALL I WILL BE THINKING ABOUT FOR THE REST OF TIME

[dp-marvel94]

Seafoam Sky -Chapter 1

Summary: Danny has dreamed of glowing lights for as long as he can remember. When he almost dies pursuing them, an unknown powerful entity saves him. Now the entity is calling him too, though Danny can’t tell if it’s for good or for ill. He hopes the memories and dreams of being lovingly cradled under the stars are real. But with his parents’ stories about wind spirits that lure mer to the surface and steal their souls… how can he trust his mysterious savior?

Word Count: 4,210

Next Chapter

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note:

It's finally here! Happy Ecto-Implosion! A huge thanks to my artist, @ecto-stone whose art inspired this fic. Thank you for being cool with all my crazy ideas and always excited to read my ramblings. Check out the art work here! And thanks to my beta, KindStar This story would make a whole heck of a lot less sense if it wasn't for your help. Thank you for all the constructive comments and all the encouragement. :) And thanks to everyone reading! I hope you enjoy!

The young mer floated in the darkness. Lights sparkled above and below. All around him. He reached, wide eyes awed. If he could just touch-

“Danny! Wake up!” His mom’s voice roughly pulled him out of the dream. 

Startled by the shout, Danny twisted out of his sleep hammock. “Ah! Wha- Umph!” His light-blue flank spasmed, knocking nick-nacks off his shelf and down onto him.

Nose wrinkled, he rubbed his sore side. Where was-

Oh right. His eyes flitted over the room. Rough stone walls, wovened sleep hammock, scatters bits of shell and seaweed. This was his room; he’d gone up for a nap. And..

That dream. He had that dream again. Every few months, since he was a fry, he dreamed of the sparkling lights. Suspended among them, so far, yet close enough to touch. Something in him reached, pulled towards the-

A pounding below interrupted his thoughts. “Danny!” His mom’s annoyed shout. “The door!”

“I’m coming!” The mer-boy finally shouted back, shaking the last fog of sleep away.

This time, Danny anticipated the knock. 

“Get the door!” His dad complained. “Your friends are here!”

His friends! Danny’s eyes lit up. “Coming!” 

He raced down the corridor and into the livingroom, eyes taking in the scene. His mom and dad tinkered with some gadget again, googles fixed over their eyes. 

“I’m going out with Sam and Tuck.” The mer-boy said. “I’ll be back later.”

The adults waved him off casually, not even looking up. A stab of disappointment struck his heart. As always, they had eyes only for their work…

Danny shook his head, dismissing the feeling. He opened the door, “Hey guys.” And swam through.

“Tell us if ya see any wind spirits!” His dad yelled, as the door closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, where are we going?” Danny’s friend, a purple-tailed mer-girl named Sam asked.

“To the trench.” The boy grinned, eyes sparkling. “You guys have to see it!” Swimming fast, he pulled his friends along beside him. “If you look out over, just after the Dimming, when it gets dark, there’s all these tiny blinking lights. Like thousands of them!” 

“The trench?” Tucker, a yellow-tailed mer-boy with his customary hat of woven, red seaweed, squeaked. “You mean the one where if you swim too deep the weight of the water on top of you alone will kill you?” He raised a brow. “Haven’t there been, like, rabid shark sightings near there?”

“Those are just rumors, Tuck.” Danny shook his head. “And it’s not like we’re going to swim down in the trench. We’ll just watch from the top.” He dipped down, swimming through a gap between two rocks.

The three swam for several minutes more, the blue-tailed mer eventually pulling to a stop just at the edge of the ravine. “See!” He waved excitedly. “I mean, there are no lights yet but give it a few minutes.”

The mer-boy drifted down, settling on the cluster of boulders above the trench. His friends swam over, sharing fondly amused grins at his excitement. Sam took a seat to one of his sides, her dark hair swirling around her head.

“So they’re like the lights in the above world from the stories. The floating ones, up really high?” She asked.

“Stars.” Danny nodded, awe entering his voice. “They’re called stars.”

Tucker joined the group on Danny’s other side. He blinked, disbelieving. “How'd you know that?”

The blue-flaked mer’s eyes drifted to the open water in front of them, gaze far away. His mind drifted…..

A busy market square. A tiny mer crying for his mother. A cloaked man, a scar over one red eye. 

“It will be alright, little one.” A soothing, melodic Voice came from the merman.

Wide eyes traced the painted lines and dots on the stranger’s blue skin. “What’s that?”

“It is a map of the stars.” The stranger smiled kindly.

“Stars?”

Blue fingers followed the silver and gold marks. “The floating lights in the world above. In the world of air and light.” They seemed to shimmer, almost glowing. “They are called stars, child.”

Danny blinked, drawing himself out of the memory. “Someone told me once, when I was little.” 

“My grandma told me she went up there, when she was our age.” Sam leaned forward, purple-eyes sparkling conspiratorially. 

“How didn’t she die?” Tucker gaped. “You dry up and suffocate if you go to the surface! That's what my mom always says.” 

The purple-eyes mer waved him off. “You only really start drying out after twenty minutes, and it takes at least an hour to suffocate.”

“Only an hour?” The yellow-tailed mer scoffed sarcastically. “That’s plenty of time.”

“Exactly.” The purple-tail raised an eyebrow pointedly. 

This earned another scoff from Tucker and the two started squibbling. 

“Bub says the far lights are giant balls of gas, burning billions of miles away.” Sam argued.

“That’s ridiculous.” Tucker countered. “They’re obviously glowing plankton in the ocean above.” 

“What?” The mer-girl’s mouth dropped open, eyes narrowed skeptically.

The yellow-tailed mer motioned, one hand palm down and parallel to his chest. “There’s this ocean, the water below.”The other hand stacked on top of the first.  “The air.” The stack grew, his left hand added above the ‘air’ layer. “And then the other ocean, the water above.” It was as if the parts of the world were rock strata in a cliff-face, one piled atop the other. “Except it’s upside-down so we’re looking at the plankton floating near the surface.”

“You clearly just made that up, Tucker. Everyone knows that….”

The two argued lightly and Danny smiled, just enjoying the banter. It wouldn’t be a hangout section with his friends unless Sam and Tucker gave each other a hard time. And really, they were great for letting him drag them out here. It was quite a swim, and one his parents would not be happy about him making, but it would be well worth it when the lights came out. It wasn’t the stars but it was as close as he could hope to get. And-

“Danny! Look out!” Sam shouted. 

The boy jerked up, but not in time. Something gray and rough slammed into him. Sharp teeth flashed in his vision.

“Rabid shark!” Tucker cried.

Heart pounding, Danny flailed. Jaws snapped, eerily close to his tail. Frantically, the mer jabbed. “Take that!” His finger met the creature’s eye. “Gross!”

The shark jerked away, bits of gore drifting out its wound. But… madness linger in its remaining eye. The creature rushed back. 

“Sam! Tuck!” Danny screamed, floating over the ravine. 

He sprinted away, diving down. Frantic words, shouts sounded. The mer boy couldn’t process. Just flashes of his friends' panicked faces high above, where he had left them. Above?.... He hadn’t meant to swim this far down, below the cliff face.

“Guys! Help me!” He yelled, eyeing the shark still focused on its prey.

Above him, the groaning reverb of rocks shifted. The creature lashed out, inches from his caudal fin. Danny dodged but-

“Ah!” Too slow. Teeth sunk into flesh. 

“Now!” Sam shouted.

Immediately came a heavy boom. Danny turned to look, eyes widening. Oh no. A torrent of rocks fell. One slammed into his attacker, releasing him from its hold. 

“Danny!” “No!” Sam and Tucker reached towards him. But-  

A wordless scream, as the boulder impacted. His bloody flank spasmed uselessly and he spun, head over tail.

The worlds spun, light above and dark below flashing. His friends’ screams…. He couldn’t understand. His breath heaved, heart pounding in his ears.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. Danny spun, mind in chaos. Then-

Glowing lights sparked into existence.

Eyes widened, his heart slowed. The lights all around him… they were so beautiful. 

A tiny fish, lines of glowing green flickering on its side, darted towards him and nibbled at his fingers. Danny flicked it off with a feeble chuckle.. And… his breath choked. 

His tail throbbed. Weakly, he tried to flex it, tried to kick but… the limb screamed, pain radiating down. He gasped. It must be broken. He couldn’t swim.

The realization should have caused panic, especially with the blood leaking from the wound, drifting up, just visible in the blinking light. But-

The blinking light…. Two pale white jellyfish undulated past, tentacles as long as he was tall drifting behind. An octopus, orange and pink small enough to fit in his hand, darted around; glowing spots dotted its skin. Masses of green plankton gently floated.

Danny sank deeper, his mind growing fuzzy and indistinct. The water pressed down on him, heavier and heavier. His tail ached, sensation dimming as his gills fluttered, straining to take in water. 

A colossal fish, long and eel-like with glowing blue dots lining its sides; a glowing spot hovered above its eyes. Miniscule jellyfish flashed different colors. 

Danny’s vision faded, growing black around the edges.

A clear oval luminesced, edges red. Fanning, branching, fluttering clumps, like the coral that rooted on the rocks near home, and yet it drifted in the open water. Lines of tiny blue squares, stretching as far as the eye could see. So many creatures floated around, beings he never could dream of. 

Floating on his back, surrounded by the ethereal glow, Danny reached up, towards the surface, towards his friends. 

Light shone above him, coalescing. White-blue. Golden yellow. Fanning, branching, spread-wide. Expansive but near. 

Something soft and light gently brushed his face. The boy reached back, the luminescence a hair’s breadth from his finger. 

Just like his dream.

A whisper into his mind. Almost a Voice. It was like a song, chiming and sweeping. Light and ringing. Immaterial, ethereal. Like nothing he’d ever heard before.

Danny’s heart pumped, slow and heavy. His gills struggled. One more breath. 

His watery mind barely grasped for understanding but… slipped.

He was dying.

The Voice’s words whispered soft, tender, kind. It was… a desire to save, to rescue. A plea to accept the offer. It just required a small sacrifice, something surrendered…. 

The mer-boy’s throat barely twitched. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. Eyes fluttered, closing. One last moment. One last glimpse.

Against the pale blue, glowing white lines and dots made a familiar pattern. But he couldn’t quite remem…

Heart stopping, Danny exhaled. 

I want to live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny gasped, twitching eyes darting around, unseeing. 

His mind raced. What? How? He wasn’t dead-

“Danny! You’re awake!” His mom’s voice, quivering.

The boy flinched at the sound. Too loud, too close. His head hurt.

“Son!” Large arms swept him up. “It’s alright. You’re alright. The wind spirits didn’t get ya!”

The mer squeaked, body pressed on every side. For a moment he was back in the ravine. The water crushed him. He couldn’t breathe. 

Gasping again, Danny jerked out of the hold. He fell back, onto something soft and springy. He blinked, eyes struggling to focus. And…

His parents' faces, hovering just over him and frantic, snapped into view. His parents? But-

The memories hit. The glowing lights. The ravine. The shark. His friends…. His friends?!

“Sam and Tucker!” The mer-boy shouted. “Where are Sam and Tucker? Are they okay?”

“Are they okay?!” His mom’s eyes snapped wide, almost bulging. “You almost died, Danny. You could have died! You’re not allowed to go to the ravine anymore. If your friends hadn’t found you…” Her voice broke, sobbing. 

The woman threw her arms around him and his dad joined, burying the boy in his parents’ arms. This time, Danny didn’t resist. He accepted the hug, though didn’t return it. For just a moment, a bitter hurt flashed through him. Oh, of course, they were worried now. After brushing him off this afternoon like always.

He huffed, eyes drifting over the…floor? He had been laying on the floor. A pile of woven seaweed blankets and pillows, stuffed with sea sponges, sat below him. Eyes flitted a few feet. His mom’s shell-decorated seat. Fish-bones needles, for one of Dad’s projects. This was his house. But…

Frantic words and questions bombarded him. But Danny ignored them, mind swimming. 

How did he get here? Why wasn’t he dead? Where were his friends?!

A sudden knock came from his left. 

“Is Danny awake-” Sam’s voice. “Danny?!”

His parents let go and a blink later, his friends were hugging him. This time, he returned the hug.

His heart fluttered, trembling. Finally, his own sob came. “You… you guys are okay.” 

“Of course we’re okay. You… you dork.” Sam squeezed him harder.

“Don’t scare us like that!” Tucker cried into his shoulder. “We thought you were dead!”

His parents’ both rose from the floor, whipping their faces. An awkward pause, the adults’ eyes on his back while he broke down. 

“You must be hungry.” His mom finally said. “Jack, come help me.”

The pair left, blessedly leaving the trio in peace. And Danny hugged his best friends, crying with them for a long while. Then…

A confused question broke through the supreme relief. “Guys! What happened!?” Danny pulled away. “That shark attacked us! It freaking bit me. I got knocked into the ravine.”

“We saw you fall. You disappeared!” Tucker waved his arms. “We were calling your name but we couldn’t see you. Sam was about to go after you but...” He bit his lip, trailing off. 

“Yeah.” Danny didn’t quite register the hesitation, sitting up more fully. “I tried to swim back but couldn’t. I broke something in my… tail.”

The blue-tailed mer’s eyes drifted to his flank, widening. With a thought, the tip flicked, as natural and easy as ever. “Guys… my tail isn’t broken. But… I know… I know it was. I couldn’t even move it without screaming. This is crazy...”

He stared, flexing his dorsal fin. Moving it side to side, up and down, mesmerized by the movement.

“That’s not the only crazy thing…” The yellow-tailed mer hesitated..

Danny looked up at the words, wide eyes flitting between his two friends. “What?”

The two traded hesitant looks. Finally Sam started. “Something… really weird happened after you went over the ravine. I was just about to go after you, when these lights showed up. At first we thought it was the glowing lights you’d brought us there to see. But then they were getting closer and closer. And brighter and brighter and… there was this sound.” Her eyes widened, far away. “It started small. But it kept getting louder and suddenly it was everywhere like.. Like it was inside my head….”

Beside her, Tucker shivered. “I heard it too. Nothing…  I’ve never heard anything make a sound like that before. Never. But… it was like this singing but… high and far away but somehow also really close and…”

The hair on Danny’s arms rose, something distant but so near tickling at his mind. The darkwater, bright light, a musical Voice.

“The light kept getting brighter, like it was gonna burn my eyes. It should… should have hurt but… it didn’t. I couldn’t look away.” Tucker breathed, almost dreamily. “It was so beautiful.” 

Danny’s stomach dropped, a strangely calm dread. He waved a hand in front of his friend’s face. “What happened next?”

The other boy shook his head, snapping out of it. “There was this flash and you were back. You were just laying there, at the edge of the cliff. But… but.” Tucker’s voice trembled. “There was seafoam everywhere. All over you.”

“Sea… sea foam?” The dread rose, wrapping around Danny’s throat. “Seafoam? Like…” 

Numbly, Sam nodded. “Your tail… it looked half gone. And your hands…” She shook. “You were dead. We were sure you were dead and.. And…”

Danny’s mouth was somehow dry. “Turning into seafoam.” He’d been dying. Sinking into the depths, the glowing creatures drifting around him… He’d been dying. He had felt it and…  “I… I was turning into seafoam.” Like any other mer, returning to the foam all their kind had come from. 

But… but that was impossible, Because… “I’m.. I’m not dead, though?” He asked, anxious, hopeful, desperate.

Sam nodded, eyes glazed, almost haunted. “Your eyes popped open and… they were glowing. Solid white.” 

“Your whole body started glowing too. Like light was coming through your skin.” Tucker added, nervously chewing at a fingernail. 

Danny stared at his own hand. This was.. This was all impossible. But… the image flashed in his head…. his veins, pulsing with light from within. Why… why did it feel so right?

“It kept getting brighter and brighter until we couldn’t see you at all.” His red-capped friend continued. “Then there was this whooshing noise, like a million manta rays flapping by, and you were normal again.”

“But there were all these white things around you. They looked like that red-coral at the reef, the branching wavy ones. But not hard at all. They were soft and smooth.” Sam’s brow furrowed. “They disappeared though. They were all gone by the time I came back with your parents….”

The purple-tailed mer trailed off, a heaviness falling over the room. 

Tucker wrapped his arms around himself. “It was freaky, man.”

Part of Danny wanted to laugh- talk about an understatement. But… in his chest, his heart pounded fearfully. He’d almost died, he remembered that. But what had happened to him after?

And yet… again, it scratched at his mind. Light coalescing above him. Immense, reaching softness. A ringing, tender almost-Voice. His heart skipped a beat.

Something had saved him.

Before Danny could open his mouth to tell his friends, his parents burst in. 

“Here you go!” His dad shoved a plate into his hands. “Manatee cheese and mussels. Your favorite!”

Again, a hint of bitterness rose. Apparently he just had to almost die for his parents to pay attention to him. Danny shook the thought away; it was his favorite meal…

His mom joined. “Sam, Tucker. Here’s some for you too.” She handed plates over and the five sat in a circle on the floor.

The blue-tailed mer ate the food, though he didn’t enjoy it. Not with his stomach churning as it was with the adults hovering over him. 

“You’re lucky to be alive, Danny.” His mom’s sad serious eyes fixed on him. “You know you can’t go to the ravine like that. It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah!” His dad stabbed his seaweed salad violently. “Those windy spirits haunt those cliffs. They lure you with their weird songs and spooky ghost lights.” His voice lowered, slow and ominous. “You get closer and closer. You can’t look away and…” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw Tucker’s widened, fearful. 

“They blind you!” His dad shouted, fingers jerking like a flashing ball of light. “Then they drag you to the surface and suck out your soul!”

Both Danny’s friends gasped, faces pale. They traded knowing looks, side-eyeing him. 

“Don’t scare the kids, Jack!” Mom reprimanded. “No spirit is going to touch my baby.”

“Sorry, Mads.” The other adult rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Meanwhile, one of Sam’s eyebrows rose, a pointed though subdued question.

Subtly, the boy shook his head. And though both friends frowned, neither said anything

“You’re fine, Danny.” Luckily, his mom mis-read the exchange. “What happened was scary but it’s over.“ The woman placed a hand on his arm, an attempt at comfort. “You’re safe.”

The boy smiled, though the warmth of it didn’t meet his eyes. “I know. Thanks Mom.”

The group finished eating soon enough and the adults rushed Danny’s friends out. The trio shared a hug, again questioning looks pinned on the blue-tail. And again, Danny refused. As weird and worrying as what happened to him was, that was not a jar of slugs he was willing to open in front of his parents.

“We’ll talk later.” The mer-boy instead whispered into Sam’s shoulder.

With subtle, understanding nods and parting waving, both teens left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny quickly excused himself to his room. As soon as he crossed the threshold, door closed, he let out a groan. 

“Why?” He rubbed his eyes. 

So much had happened, he couldn’t even begin to process. And of course, his dad had to bring up wind spirits again. It was ridiculous. Everyone knew spirits weren’t real. But…

The sweeping song danced in his head. The feeling of light on his skin, not searing or burning, but… warm and safe. 

Danny twitched suddenly. His back itched, something brushing his skin. He reached under his shirt, reaching for the spot. His fingers brushed the thing, soft like hair but… not. He gripped; whatever it was, the end was hard but light, tapering into a long, thin point. It came away without resistance. He brought it in front of his face. 

The boy gasped, eyes wide and mesmerized. The white object glowed, warm in his hand and pulsing with light. It tingled, the warmth spreading down into his palm. Something sparked in his veins. A flicker, a glow. Blue-white light shimmered through his skin.

With a choked cry, Danny dropped the feather as if he’d been burned. The light disappeared as soon as it left his hand, his own veins going dark. The object fell softly to the floor.

For a long moment, the boy held his breath, just staring. He swam back, slowly leaning closer, eyes fixed. Nothing. No spark, no hit of light. Tentatively, he poked the object. No reaction came.

“That’s dumb.” Danny complained, frowning at it. “ ‘s just a feather.”

The word passed his lips and the realization hit him like those falling rocks. It was called a feather. Usually part of a wing and used for flight. This thing that had somehow been in his shirt, that his friends must have seen around him when he… appeared back at the top of the ravine. It was a feather and…

His heart pounded, breath choked. He hadn’t known what this was this morning. He’d never seen a feather, nor a wing, nor flight. No one told him what they were. But… those words were there, in his head, as easy as any other. As familiar as his scales, his tail, the idea of swimming.

This was a feather. And not just any feather. It was his own.

Panicked, Danny shoved the object away. He stuffed it in the bottom of his chest, under old clothes and blankets. Out of sight. If he couldn’t see it, then it wasn’t there. It wasn’t real.

The boy paced. None of this was real. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t. He just… he just needed to go to sleep. He would go to sleep and this nightmare would be over. No more feathers. No more glowing. No more eerie wind spirits. Which saved his life! He’d be dead if it hadn’t-

No. With a frantic head shake, Danny practically leapt onto his hammock. He crawled in, tossing and turning until an uneasy sleep took him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great feathered wings stretched over Danny, filling his vision. They reached towards him and he reached back. 

Swirling light and water. The feathers encircled him. The tender Voice sang. A lullaby. Safety, closeness, love. 

Danny trilled back, high and melodic. Something in his chest vibrated. His back twitched, feathers brushing each other. He shone.

Movement. The pressure around him lessened. They were soaring, streaming up and-

A splash, tiny bubbles parted. Danny squeaked fearfully.

The Voice hummed and comfort filled the boy’s veins. 

Higher. Blue surrounded, paler than he’d ever seen. And… light. Yellow and shining, all consuming. 

Awe swelled in his heart. Danny stared at the sun.

The mer-boy woke with a gasp. His tail twitched, an ache deep in the muscle. His back itched; something invisible, immaterial fluttered, dragging in the water.

Danny opened his eyes and the feeling disappeared. For a flash, his heart throbbed, aching with its absence. Then he shook the sensation away. But his body still felt odd, too heavy and too light at the same time. His gills fluttered, taking in water. He breathed, the familiar movement foreign. 

What was wrong with him?

The boy dragged his head up, rubbing his eyes. This was crazy. He was going crazy.

Something green flickered in the dark. His eyes jerked to the object, widening. He reached for it.

Fingers gripped the corner. A piece of green sea-weed parchment, familiar with its squid-ink dye. And yet… it glowed. His eyes flitted over the words.

Beloved child of my wings. I am pleased to know you are well. Not a day has passed and yet I long to see you, precious one. Meet me where the lower water mets the air and we will fly together under the stars. Love, your Abba.

Danny read it one, twice, three times. Slowly bringing it to his chest, the boy’s heart pounded. Joy and terror mixed in equal parts. 

Safety, the feeling of being wrapped in protective wings, haunted him. His dream…. It had felt so real. And… feathered wings. That was what he’d seen above him as he died. An awesome, immense being with wings. 

And this letter…. The honey sweet words soothed him. His own parents hadn’t talked about him with such affection in years. The promise of the stars, always calling to him from his dreams, lured him; he could see them, really see them.

But the intimacy, the familiarity there, from something he did not know….

What, or who, exactly had saved him?

[fuyuthefoxwriter]

I made a prequel Fic to STRPAP

in the latest chapter of STRPAP I eluded to the fact Danny had traveled to the MHA universe in the past and asked if people wanted to that made into an actual story, and now here it is I hope you enjoy

[25centsoda]

Danny Phantom Fanfic

BEHOLD: My first finished fic for my first-ever fandom!

Contains: light body horror, Ghost King Danny Fenton, meddling Clockwork who is unfathomably old, and Danny being soooooo sleepytired.

Opening lines:

“Can anybody get a clear shot on that ghost!” Mrs. Fenton screeched.

“Uh, I’ve got it Mrs. Fenton!” Sam shouted back, not bothering to sound confident at all. Because she wasn’t. Fiddling with the unwieldy gun, all she could think was: Why did everything the Fentons make have to be so damn huge?!

Sam took aim. She really hoped this wasn’t one of their inventions that vaporized ghosts on contact. Mrs. Fenton had said that it was to “capture them for live study,” but with the Fentons, you never knew.

The black-and-white blur lined up perfectly in the crosshairs, caught between the lines like an exclamation point.

She fired.

[mutable-manifestation]

Everyone thinks they're metas but no one gives them shit for it bc 'hey wow, tall lady with 4 arms could snap any of us like twigs.'

At least the non-league members. The league members are trying to figure out why they're there and they just 'We want to check on how Danny is doing,' 'We want to win the bake sale,' 'Pandora wants to ensure Melissa does not make PTA president as she dislikes how the organization might be influenced by her leadership, even if it means claiming the position herself - which she'd rather not as she is busy enough as-is. I am inclined to agree, unfortunately.'

I need the JL to have a crisis over freaking Kronos not only having a kid but angling to, what, help someone else win leadership of a PTA???

Bonus points if Danny's records were all remade to be totally normal, but in a way that makes them obviously fake.

He's named Danny Nightingale.

Clockwork And Pandora Nightingale are listed as his parents and they both have birth records with photos that are literally just them but edited to look small.

They have driver's licenses except they don't have cars, they just use Pandora's chariot - which has a license plate dangling from the back. The front horses have license plates dangling from their necks.

Danny is listed as going to an elementary and middle school that literally no one remembers him going to, but he passed the intake exam for the high school he's at now, so....

It's literally all so very obviously fake but there's no other information available, so none of the civvies want to call them out on it (they just. stare. when anyone mentions 'xyz is odd' and it gets dropped) and the JL would prefer they play house while they figure out why they're 'actually' there (bc there's no way they're just playing pta parents for an actual child, right?)

Bonus Bonus points if this AU Danny in Fenton (or I guess Nightingale) form is completely normal. Ghost traits don't leak over at all (ghost form can be spookier tho) except the occasionally green-eye, but that's a voluntary thing for him.

So you've got the ghost of Kronos and Pandora raising this (seemingly) Completely Normal Kid

Guardian Spirits 7.2.23

DP x DC. Clockwork, Danny, Pandora, Robin, Superboy, The Big Three, confused teachers. Clockwork is Kronos.

“That,” Diana says, sounding like she just got thrown face-first through a building and is struggling to regain her breath, “is Lord Kronos and Lady Pandora.”

Ah.

Clark would’ve said they don’t have any heartbeats.

Neither of them felt the need to play captain obvious and point out things like glowing, floating, blue skin, or obviously not human.

Danny got away from his parents and Amity and is attending school under the name Phantom —because why be subtle when you don’t plan on showing anyone your ghost half. The same school Robin and Superboy are attending.

Some sort of parental advisory meeting or parents day or something— is called, and Bruce and Clark attend in their civvies, with Diana tagging along as the designated holder of the brain cell.

Clockwork and Pandora show up as Danny’s guardians, not making the slightest effort to hide anything at all.

Day (617/100) in my #∞daysofwriting @the-wip-project 7th of Feb

[noxcheshire]

Back at it again with my Danny is mom coded au’s, but this time it’s because of Clockwork that he suddenly has a whole ass teenage kid.

Clockwork had been bored or maybe he was playing a game against an opponent, or even lost a bet, whatever it was, he stepped in right as Jason was searching for his biological mother.

The DNA that would have registered itself as one Sheila Haywood, confirming Jason’s mother, glitched a terrible green across the screens of the batcomputer.

In those few moments of chaos Jason’s heart beat rapidly as he tried to figure out why the computer wasn’t working, wondering if his only chance to find his mom — his blood mom — would never find success.

Then as suddenly as things went wrong the DNA settled and pinged.

Jason watched, his chest tight, as one Danny C. Works, formerly Danny Fenton appeared onto the big screen.

Danny looked a lot like Jason, short cut black hair more straight than the subtle curls of Jason’s own; deep blue eyes, tired in a way that spoke of long days and nights, but with a warm happiness that made the familiar smile — the one Jason would see on himself every time he looked into the mirror — even more striking.

Jason didn’t linger too long on the male identifying gender, nor the fact his mom leaned more towards a masculine name or clothing.

There were plenty of male to female, and female to male leaning individuals that lived in Crime Alley. He had seen it enough to not even bat an eye at it, even now. After all, in Gotham you minded your business least you find yourself in business you can’t leave.

On a different monitor information of Danny C. Works piled for Jason to quickly browse through.

Danny was a senior engineer, no intimate relationships, and with no close connections to family outside of the tentative calls from Jasmine Fenton.

Danny was estranged from Jack and Madeline Fenton, a falling out that had occurred just a little before Danny’s high school graduation. If Jason calculated it correctly that would have been — around the season Jason himself would have been born.

Okay, so no grandparents then but I might have a maybe aunt. Jason scrolled further and stilled.

Twin toddlers: Dante and Danielle Works.

Jason had baby siblings.

He doesn’t let the sting of younger siblings consume him, doesn’t allow the whispering thoughts of why he had been given up when his younger siblings had been kept and so very obviously loved.

Jason took deep breathes, he didn’t have time to linger here. He had a family to get to, and a family he would get to.

It took almost all night to reach, the starlight night sky slowly and surely fading into cloudy wine as the sun rose, but Jason made it.

And when the door opened to his hesitant but firm knock, Jason was unable to speak. His mom — dad, maybe? Did they want to be mom or dad? — stood in the doorway, brows furrowed in confusion.

It was when Danny spoke his vigilante name did Jason only just realize that he was still dressed to the nine’s in his Robin costume.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 225

Klarion is EXCITED. He's absolutely DELIGHTED even, unable to sit still as he flits from place to place. His baby cousin! Is! Visiting! Which OBVIOUSLY means he, as the older one, must make sure the main places are still standing so he can show his itty bitty baby cousin EVERYTHING! After all, he's never gotten to be the older one! He's always been the youngest in the family! But now he has an itty bitty toddler cousin- form recently shifted to match- to teach the ways of Chaos to! He's so EXCITED!

The League and heroes on the other hand, are Very concerned about Why the Witch Boy has been spotted in practically every major city in the US in the last few days. What is he planning?!

[laxxarian]

Okay, instead of Clockwork disliking the Speedsters, he's actually loving them cuz they made his work so fun and interesting, I mean, he knows everything and he also knows that the Speedsters would fix it sooner or later and the timeline would be alright.

And the plus side of it all, is that he gets to see it in his cog mirror shaped portal thing directly with popcorn in hand.

The dramas, the angst, the comedy, the romance and things. Its just a full blown telenovela to him.

So when the day came where he finally found a smidge of time to go on a vacation, he brought Danny with him, so much for the boy's confusion in Clockwork's sudden invitation to drag him along to Gotham then to space of all place.

Turns out, Clockwork just needed the 'human' Danny for a sec and trolled around in the watchtower that he got a human hostage while Danny was just confused as hell as to what's happening.

Danny: Clockwork??? Hello??? What's happening?!?

Clockwork and his cryptid speech: Unnatural of a fog, the forest has changed. This time, the flow of the clock is mine.

Danny:.... WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??!?

And then the JL just thinking that the human is in distress from being a hostage by this entity while Clockwork just wants to have fun.

And this is why the Observants wants to keep Clockwork at bay because of his trolling tendencies.

[bet-on-me-13]

All Ancients are Halfa's

So! The reason everyone in the Realms believes that Danny is a super old Ancient and not a Ghost Baby is because all the Halfa's that exist currently are Ancients.

The Reason? For a Halfa to be born, they must have died as a God.

Pandora is a Halfa. She was the Goddess of the Amazon's before she was killed by Ares.

Frostbite is a Halfa. He was the God of a Yeti Tribe, before their kind died to Climate Change.

Dorathea and Aragon are Halfa's. They were both Draconic Gods who ruled over a small Country before dying to a roaming band of Magical Adventurerers.

Undergrowth is a Halfa. He was a Druidic Plant God killed after bis forest was destroyed by a Fire.

Even Clockwork is a Halfa. He used to be known as the God Kronos.

But that leads to the question of, How Danny is a Halfa? He was just a normal Human when he died, not Divine in any way, or so he thought. So how did he become a Halfa?

Well, maybe he should start looking into who his Birth Parents were...

...

Read the Tags for more of this!

[goddess-of-graphite]

thinking about how you could combine the “ghosts fight socially” and “strongest ghosts make the rules” with the “Danny is a baby ghost and needs a ghostly guardian/parent” and I have decided that it’s “if you can defeat and then keep the baby contained then it is now yours” and thats why Danny’s experiences with ghosts are Like That

[satoshy12]

Danny with the red Light saber

NOT a StarWars crossover

It all started when his parents created a red light saber. Something about they won't see it coming when the attack isn't green!

Well, Danny had to play with it in the Ghost Zone. He learned the "force" already, and now it's time to have fun!

So. He did talk to Clockwork about him being sent on an adventure!

And the first thing he gets is an robot invasion of the city.

And so he could use that light saber and the force to fight and help the town. Before he left, he could tell his parents.

The saber works, but he won't give it back; it's a gift now for him!

For the town that knew Star Wars, all they needed to see was the red light saber!! 

And the first words the Justice League heard were from the people of the city.

"The child Padawan will become a Sith! We need to help!"

[dp-marvel94]

Seafoam Sky -Chapter 3

Summary: Danny has dreamed of glowing lights for as long as he can remember. When he almost dies pursuing them, an unknown powerful entity saves him. Now the entity is calling him too, though Danny can’t tell if it’s for good or for ill. He hopes the memories and dreams of being lovingly cradled under the stars are real. But with his parents’ stories about wind spirits that lure mer to the surface and steal their souls… how can he trust his mysterious savior?

Word Count: 5,436

Previous Chapter

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Danny pulled apart. And yet, like before, he still existed. 

His friends screamed and cried, eyes frantically searching. 

“He’s… he’s fine. That was just a prank. A sick prank. He’ll….” 

Their words drifted away from him, simple vibrations in the water. 

Still he wanted to reach out to them, to tell them he was still here, that he would be okay. His molecules drifted, ebbing and flowing. Farther apart and closer. 

The spectacle attracted mers. Students gawked, teachers asking what was wrong. A current flared, streaming through the courtyard. It hardly fazed the gathering crowd, but…

No! Danny wanted to scream.

The  water ripped the boy away. He swirled down the street, between the houses and shops. The world turned. It spun, flashes of color and movement. People passing by. Fish and tiny crustaceans. Stone and sand. Pieces of driftwood. A glimpse of a street sign. He was near his house…

The current shifted sharply, pushing him in another direction.

Different colors now. Pinks and reds. White and yellow and pale blue. A bumbly branching mass clicked into focus for a moment, rippled away the next. Coral? He was in the coral park.

Movement. Creatures darted through him. A clown fish. Blue Tang. Two-spot Octopus. He sensed more than saw.

A glow, waving feathers. Hope sparked. Abba? 

A snap of clarity. No. His star-fishy companion. 

Danny twirled for seconds, minutes, hours. He couldn’t tell long. Color and movement streamed passed him, through him.

Flashes of green. So much green. The kelp forest? He’d never been here. The fronds tickled his insides. There was so much to see! Crabs fighting. A fish guarding its eggs. Sea horses nibbling at the leaves…

No. He needed to focus. Needed to pull himself together. 

Danny strained, feeling all of his spread-out self. He was big, at least as big as a pod of whales. A whale! Its song tickled his edge. Maybe he could reach it! He spread farther, branching passed the forest.

No. No. He needed to coalesce. Focus on coming together. At this kelp stalk, centered here. He drew in. Or… was it this one? 

Oh! This stalk had some jellyfish. A bird! A bird just dived into his water!

Danny spread. Or maybe he grew. His consciousness darted, place to place. Ebbing, flowing, dividing, multiplying, coming together. Sight, sound, and touch magnified and melded. 

His curiosity sang, delighted with all he could witness. And relief, relief from his worried friends, nosy sister, inattentive parents. No one could see him, bother him. No one could find out what a freak he was. But…

Fear lingered in a small part. He couldn’t… It was too… too much. Everything assaulted his senses, overwhelming. He had to pull himself together. He couldn’t pull himself together. He needed to…

Danny extended once more, finally reaching that distant whale. She had a calf! That was-

Having grown too large, his awareness snapped. One final burst of terror. Danny lost consciousness. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny hung in darkness. It suffocated him, heavy and oppressive. And the silence… it ate at him, stealing even his breath, his very heart beat. 

He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel. He wanted to cry. He would cry but he had no voice. Fear gave way to despair. He was nothing, no one. Utterly helpless, alone.

But…

Light sparked, a far away star in the eternal night. Hope flickered. Danny reached, the dim outline of a hand almost visible…

A soft breeze, immaterial feathers, the warmth of that single distant star caressed his fingers. 

“My foolish child.” The Voice - worried, tender, real - rang out. “Why have you been running?” An unseen hand found his in the darkness. 

And Danny found his voice. “I…I don’t understand.”

“Come home, Danny.” A gentle plea. “Come home.”

Despite expecting never to wake again, Danny awoke. In the middle of the kelp forest, he floated as indistinct as a cloud. Fuzzily aware, he observed. Silver light wafted through the green fronds, turning the world blue-green. A spark of awe. This was… real. He was here.

His diffuse body swirled, parts knitting together. Serenely, he coalesced. His heart beat, returning to life. Gills fluttered, taking in breath. His shoulders, his arms…. His fingers reformed and Danny stared with newly made eyes. His white hair glowed in the dim light, his head no longer imaginary but material. 

His hands clenched and unclenched, testing out the muscles. He… he existed again. He hadn’t disappeared forever. 

Numb belief bled into excitement. He was back! He was okay! Everything would be-

Pain! Danny hunched over, a pain sparking in his tail. Straight down the middle, it ached. Looking down… 

He was glowing, tiny jellyfish drifting around his re-materializing waist. Pale skin returned, his belly button visible. And directly below… his stomach churned with dread. No line of scales appeared at the top of his flank, just more skin. And that wasn’t all…

His tail continued reforming, from the bend in the middle to his dorsal fin but… it was wrong.

Instead of one muscular, scaly appendage, there were two. Each was the pale cream color of his arms and covered in tiny hairs. The boy kicked both, gently rising in the water, and let out a gasp. Knobby joints in the middle bent. 

Another kick. He rose higher but also… dropped, the dorsal part of his tail impacting the sand. The limb, or rather limbs, collapsed. Danny landed, bouncing on his back side. 

Blinking up at the surface for a moment, he sat up. He studied the end of his former tail. Each tapered into a long, flat part, pointing up towards the surface. They ended in five knobby digits, complete with nails. He flexed the nubs, head tilted. They were like his fingers but shorter and blockier. 

Danny stared for a long moment, inspecting his new limbs. Then…

His lower half prickled. The hairs stood on end, skin wavering and translucent. His eyes widened, alarmed. No, he.. He couldn’t be disappearing again. 

But still, the limbs defused, tiny bubbles rising. But a second later…

A snap, like air and water rushing back to him. His blue-scaled tail popped back into existence. Danny flexed the end, as easy and effortless as ever.

His heart quaked, so many feelings rushing back. Surprise, confusion, guilt, unease, relief, fear. It all swirled in him, messy and overwhelming. But paramount…

Danny sighed. He was tired. Tired of the confusion, of the fear. Tired of feeling pulled in two. Tired… of pushing away the longing in his heart.

Desperately, he looked up, pleading at the surface. “What’s happening to me?” 

Around him, the fronds of the kelp ruffled in a sudden current. The jellyfish tumbled, bobbing around him. And…

A light appeared, tracing lines in the sand. They curved, elegant letters taking shape. Danny held his breath…

Come find me.

The words repeated in his head, almost audible as the Voice of the one who had spoken them. 

Danny’s heart shook. Dread and awe. 

The note, found in his room, his safe and private space. 

Not a day has passed and yet I long to see you, precious one. Meet me where the lower water mets the air and we will fly together under the stars. Love, your Abba.

His dreams, visions, memories…

A hand finding his in the darkness. The light of a distant star. “Come home.”

A tired hope dawned…. 

Danny pushed himself off of the ocean floor. He swam for the surface.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before he had time to doubt, Danny breached. Water and air clashed at their intersection and he broke through, tiny drops of water flinging from his hair. 

The boy blinked, blurry eyes struggling to adjust. Darkness and light interplayed, above and around him as he bobbed. The rush of approaching water… a wave, just starting to foam, washed over him, pushing him under. 

The mer rose again, breaking the surface with a gasp. But… the swish of incoming waves, again. His eyes slowly adjusted, reflected light visible on the crest. This time, Danny dove under the wave. 

The boy surfaced again. He kept swimming, away from the rough waves. His gaze flitted, searching. There. A tall shape, dark with tiny spots of luminescence green, rose out of the water, strake against the horizon. 

Danny swam for it. As he approached, his eyes widened, realizing. It was a cluster of rocks, dotted with glowing algae. A wave washed over him in his distraction, luckily pushing him towards his destination instead of away. 

Moments later, he arrived, hands reaching out to cling to the stones. Stable, he finally let himself look around. There was… water, as far as the eye could see. A reality he was used to, one he’d experienced as long as he could remember. But up here… the water lapped, calm and measured in intermediate waves. Light sparked off their crests, countless tiny reflections leading him to…

Danny looked up, eyes widened. The stars…..they were here. They were real, floating above. His breath stilled. They were real and they shone above him. Brighter, more vibrant, more real than he’d ever imagined, ever dreamed. 

His heart stirred, overwhelmed. He needed to get closer. All else forgotten, the mer-boy pulled himself onto the rocks. Arms and tail strained, slowly, slowly coming free of the water. Higher. Closer. Hand over hand, he climbed. The stars sparkled. They sang, calling him to come. 

And Danny answered. Reaching the pinnacle, he laid on his back, head turned to the sky. He  stared up. They were so beautiful…

The boy breathed slowly, lured into contentment. The air… so calm and still. So light, now that he was out of the water. He hadn’t even realized before, the weight that had barred down on him until now. Those tons and tons of water, an impossible mass, pressing down on him from the moment of his birth.

But now, his chest rose and fell effortlessly, somehow a thousand times easier than breathing water. His skin tingled, hypersensitive to the air’s feather light touches. 

And still, he stared at the beautiful stars. Names and stories, half remembered from dreams played in his head. Polaris and Cassiopeia… 

A subtle itch started in his dorsal fin.

Deneb and Sirius…

The middle joint of his tail, his fingers prickled.

Mars. Gemini…. 

His elbows, the scales lining his hips… 

Jupiter. The Big Dipper….

They started to burn. Danny gasped, pulled away from the stars. 

His skin itched, dry and his heart skipped a beat. Water dripped off, pooling under him. It wafted, trickling into the air and leaving him bare. 

Danny paled. It… it couldn’t be.

An electric tingle, the whiff of ozone. An ache bloomed in his limbs. A fizzling pop.

His eyes popped, dread surging. 

No. The boy rocked his hips. If he could just roll onto his stomach.... But his body failed him, refusing to even twitch. He…he couldn’t move.

His fingers felt light, sharp bubbles tickling his skin. No. No. No! Tucker’s words seeped into his brain. 

“You dry up and suffocate if you go to the surface! You’ll turn into sea foam.”

His mind screamed. The surface. The surface. He’d willingly gone to the surface and… his body was parched. The foam ate at him. He was.. He was dying again.

His chest spasmed, part cry, part scream. He was an idiot. The stupidest mer to ever live. He’d… he’d done this on purpose and now he couldn’t move. His body burned, a thousand needles through his skin. He was turning into seafoam. 

His eyes darted up. The stars… the stupid stars he’d dreamed off since he was little. They’d started this, luring him to that ravine in the first place. And now… they had the audacity to twinkle brighter than ever. They flickered as though seen through a mirage. A flash of blinding light consumed the world. 

Danny screamed.

Hanging above him… feathers. White feathers. Colossal wings stretched across the sky. Thousands, millions of eyes stared down at him.

Panic. Terror. His dream. This was his.. his dream. Fire, burning. Uncaring eyes turning away, his soul ravaged. He was dead. He was an idiot. He fell for the trap. He was going to die.

And yet…

“Help me!” He cried.

Why was he begging? The Voice of the wind didn’t save. It condemned. It tricked. It consumed-

A song answered, beautiful, ethereal. The wind blew, ruffling the feather. Feathers that were reaching for him…

The boy recoiled, shaking with fear. But strong wings bolstered him, drawing him into the sky. He dangled, blood rushing through his ears. His eyes pinched closed. He… he couldn’t bear to look. He couldn’t. He was going to be dropped, dashed against the rocks. Crushed to death, eatened. His heart spasmed, straining against his sternum as if…. the thin gossamer of his soul, his very existence were hooked through and pulled from above.

His… his parents were right about wind spirits. And his friends…. he should have listened. He should have stayed away from the surface. 

But now… now he was going to die and… and he never got to apologize to his friends for avoiding them. He never got to make up with his parents. Never got to tell Mom and Dad, Sam and Tucker, Jazz how much he loved-

Do not be afraid. 

The Voice spoke and his fear died. 

Slowly, Danny’s eyes opened. The light spilled in and he saw.

Do not be afraid, my child. Let yourself be re-made.

A tightness within the boy loosened and the hard barrier around his heart shattered. Something in him bloomed. 

His self unwound, pieces pulled apart. He swirled, stretched so much wider and longer than before. And yet… still tiny in vast hands. 

In a blink, Danny re-coalesced as something different. White feathers draped down his back, brushing against his clothing. He looked down. He hadn’t been wearing a shirt just a second ago. But… black fabric enrobed him, speckled with glowing silver dots. Stars…

From the end of his robe, knobby digits poked out. A sense of deja vu washing over him, the boy wiggled them. Like before, his tail was gone, replaced with two foreign limbs.

Legs. The Voice supplied. They are called legs. Though you don’t have much need for them now. A humored lithe.

Danny looked up, head tilted in question.

Unseen fingers brushed his feather, coaxing his wings to spread. New muscles in his back flexed. A breathy gasp caught in his throat as the new limbs unfurled to their full length. 

His head turned to inspect, curious hand caressing his own feathers. They were soft, softener than his hair. And long. Each wing stretched far past the tip of his fingers, at least as long as he was tall.

Gentle hands brushed his wings again. Give them a try. 

His dreams…. Flying above the clouds. It felt impossible. But… his wings beat gently at first, wind stirring. The movement felt surprisingly natural. 

He flapped, wider, more energetic. Slowly, his form lifted, growing lighter.

He was doing it! He was flying! Danny spun in the air, grinning. He rose higher, gaze set on the clouds, on reaching closer. 

The boy paused. He bit his lip, eyeing the Spirit. Not fearful or distrusting. But… a child, hesitant to leave his parents’ side and take wobbling first steps.

Go. Fly. I will be here.

With that calm reassurance, Danny nodded. He spread his wings and ascended. Rising rapidly, he left the surface behind. In moments, the cluster of rocks was a dim spot in the vast ocean. 

Higher. Danny’s hesitant smile grew. He spun, first one loop. Then another and another and another, until he was laughing with glee. 

“Wah who!” Danny found his voice. It carried on the wind, seeming to almost bounce off the sky. 

And that sky… the stars hung above. Their melody sang through his veins louder than ever before. Lifting him higher and higher, his wings beat. His heart did too, light and free. The stars grew closer. 

For an unknowable time span, Danny ascended. Spinning, swirling, twirling. He laughed, shouted, screamed for joy. His soul sang.

Finally…. at the top of the world. The boy spread his arms, head lifted. The wind streamed through his feathers and hair in a gentle familiar embrace. He bathed in the star's light. They shone, impossibly brighter, more vibrant, more real than he'd ever dreamed. Danny shone with them. 

Slowly, his heart beat calmed, serene, at peace. His awed eyes fluttered closed, drinking in the feeling, the sound. And after a small eternity…

Danny exhaled, eyes opening. He looked down. The sea stretched far below him as far as the eye could see. Even with the supreme peace, the reality struck him. He was actually flying up here in the air. His chest rose and fell, no familiar flutter of gills but… something in his chest. Lungs, his mind supplied. He really could breathe the air. 

He stared at his hands, a glow wafting around them. The feathers at the edge of his vision. Even the new familiar legs under him… 

He was something different, something new. 

His gaze flickered below. A white winged form hovered over the sea. Somehow he could tell… eyes fixed on him, patiently waiting for his return.

A hint of renewed worry stirred in his gut but with a sigh, Danny dove. Down to the One who had answers.

Between one blink and the next, feathers encapsulated his vision. 

The boy pulled up short. He swallowed, voice stuttering. “Who… who are you? What are you?”

I am the Light of the sun, moon, and stars. The Voice of the wind. The Lines between the stars which mark the passage of Time. And I am the One who rescued you, who adopted you. Your Father, your Abba.

So many words, ideas… they clashed, wrapping around him. Danny’s mind swam, the edge of overwhelmed. “But… what are you?” 

A hint of a chuckle sounded. Your mer parents would call me a wind spirit, though that is a very small, ill-fitting label for me, I think.

“You can say that again.” Danny muttered. Then he winced, half-ashamed to interrupt. “Sorry.”

But no reprimand came. Instead, the Voice softened. There is no need to apologize. I understand you are ill at ease. And I anticipate your next question. You wonder what you are. 

Numbly, the boy nodded. 

Well my child, simply, you are like me. Though lesser in magnitude, of course. You were born mortal after all. 

Danny’s heart almost quaked. He’d already suspected it. Earlier he’d feared it but… “I'm a wind spirit.”

That you are. The Voice said kindly. 

The boy’s fingers nervously ran through his hair. It was true. He was a spirit. A creature of myth and legend. His parents' obsession. “But… why? Why did you change me into… this?” He spread his arms, motioning to his wings. “Was this the price?” He swallowed.

In a way.The thing surrendered really was a portion of your mortality.

Danny blinked. “I don’t understand.”

One can not take spectral form while fully alive. And a spirit cannot be crushed by the depths. I simply hastened your transformation.

“Okay, so that's how you saved me from dying. But-” He cut himself off, eyes widening. “Wait, hastened? You said hastened.” Danny paled. “So this was always going to happen?”

It was always a large possibility. The Voice said. 

The boy shook his head, heart aching. “You… you were always going to turn me into the thing my parents hate. Why? Why would you do that?”

I already said. It was to save your life. Wings reached forward to embrace him again.

Danny flinched back. “But… why were you there? Why… why me?”

The feathers retreated and somehow the tone softened even more. Allow me to reassure you. I will explain.

The light flared, great wings fluttering. Slowly the Spirit transformed. The shape changed as sky-wide wings lessened, reduced, shrank. Feathers dwindled, eyes closing and blinking away. The form became less gargantuan, less mind-boggling. It shifted into something familiar….

The boy blinked. “I…I’ve met you before.”

A figure suspended in the air in front of him. A blue-skinned man, red-eyed with tattooed lines. 

Danny stared. “When I was a fry. You stayed with me until my mom found me.” He shook his head. “Why?” 

The man smiled warmly, eyes soft. “You were a lost child. Of course I came to your aid.” 

“I don't understand.” Danny paced the sky, part of him comforted by the reassurance but the rest… his brain anxiously churned with information. “I met you when I was little. And those dreams I've always had about the stars like… like..” “ His eyes widened, tracing the painted lines on the man's skin. “The marks on your skin.” He stopped abruptly. “It was you. All those dreams before.. you led me there. You were there in the ravine with me. I…. I was dying. But…” His brow furrowed. “You saved me. You keep calling me your child.” So much love communicated with every proclamation…. his insides almost melted at the word. “And you've still been talking to me through those dreams. But….” His heart hurt. “There was the one where I… I dissolved.” 

“Your mind has been clouded with fear, Danny.” A comforting hand reached for him. “And fear is a powerful force. It quiets my Voice and brings doubt. It shields the truth, even warping it.” 

Just moments earlier, Danny might have pulled away but… “And that truth is?” He relaxed at the gentle touch. “You picked me? Because you met me on the street as a child?” Not hostility, not accusation but… a wide eyed plea for understanding.

“I did. I chose you.” The Spirit nodded. “And I have chosen, am choosing, and will choose many more. I see the great wheel of Time and how it turns with the motions of the stars. And your kind, the mer, are precious to me among all things created.” 

“Chosen?” Danny’s brow furrowed. “Chosen for what?” 

“Life after dissolution. You came from the sea foam, the churning where the water and air collide. And so, you pass back into the air when your time comes.” 

“So… everyone becomes spirits?”

“No, not everyone.” The man looked down, almost despondent. “Life is free to all but many refuse. They are too proud to be rescued by another’s power. Or too afraid to lose control and embrace the unknown.” 

Danny blinked, yet another startling revelation hitting him. He still didn't understand, so many emotions and ideas swimming in his head. “Then…” This was all too much for him. “I'm not special.” Of all the questions to ask…

“I have said no such thing.” Finally, the Spirit drifted forward, his arms spread wide. “You are incredibly precious to me, my son.” Those arms wrapped around him. 

Danny accepted the hug, head buried in his Abba’s embrace. “I still don’t get it.”

“You do not have to.” The Voice reassured. “Time and Existence are full of mysteries and you are still young.” Tone softening. “It is enough to trust in my care for now.”

Trust. The word repeated in Danny’s mind. Trust versus fear. Doubt versus belief. For so long, he had been pulled in two directions. The fear of the unknown, of the changes ravaging his body, of his mysterious, powerful savior… They warred with a desperate hope for something real. The light of the stars, the freedom of the wind, the love of a parent. He wanted to believe. He wanted to trust so badly.

Danny’s voice trembled, one last hint of fear. “You really… really love me?”

The hug tightened. “Yes, Danny. I love you.”

Yes. The boy’s eyes watered, overwhelmed. For a long time, he clung on, the watering escalating into tears. They streamed down his face, his body shaking. 

Abba held Danny close to his chest, a hand cradling his head. The man gently shushed him, whispering sweet comforts. 

Finally…. A wet, bubbling sound from below interrupted the moment. Slowly, reluctantly, Danny pulled away. 

He looked down, brow wrinkling. “What was… that?” His eyes widened. Below, feather-like appendages waved out of the water. “My star-fishy buddy!”

Abba laughed. “They’re called a feathered star.” He waved a hand over the water, lines of light spirling from his fingers. As the tendrils stretched, they brush the surface. They twirled around the feathered-star, pulling it out of the water.

“What are you-” Danny started.

Then the light flashed and the creature changed. In a blink, a vague shape floated in front of the two. A glowing blue ball of light, blob-like with a fringed head and slender neck. It flew forward, nuzzling into Danny’s neck. A smooth, rounded bill peaked at his robe. 

The boy laughed, rubbing the creature down the approximation of its back. “Well… I’m even more confused now.” 

“I think it will become a sea duck, given time.” The Spirit smiled. 

The animal settled onto Danny’s shoulder, purring softly. Abba held out an arm, drawing the boy back to his side.

“Would you like to continue our lesson?” The Spirit asked.

The boy nodded eagerly. “Yes!”

A hand guided his chin. “Again, that is the North Star, Polaris.” A blue finger pointed. “And this one…”

For minutes, hours, the sky turned. Pin-pricks of light, shooting stars, streamed across every so often as the position of the crescent moon shifted. Danny’s eyes followed each movement, wide with awe. His Father’s hand pointed to each star, painting the lines between them.

“These groups of stars which form different shapes in the sky, we call constellations.” The man explained. Stories rolled off of his tongue, perforating Danny’s brain. 

The boy’s gaze traced the lines on his Abba’s skin. They were a symbol of those stories in the sky and their use to tell the progression of the seasons. The warmth in his chest buzzed pleasantly, pleased to finally understand. He snuggled into his parent’s side.

The sky lightened from dark, vivid blue to gray, the stars blinking out. Danny’s heart sank, for a moment disappointed. Then… the horizon changed. It shimmered, pastel orange and pink. Clouds drifted, reflecting the light. 

The boy’s breath caught. The colors shifted, painting the sky. They melded, darkened, intensified. Slowly, a tiny sliver of gold breached the horizon. Danny’s heart stirred, taken by the scene. The sliver rose, growing into a circle of light. 

Finally, the boy breathed out. His eyes fixed on the sunrise. It shone blindingly, golden tendrils touching every part of the world. All the while, Danny’s Abba held him.

An unknowable time later, the arms around him squeezed. “You should return home, little fledgling.” 

The boy looked up. Home. Returning to the ocean floor hadn’t even crossed his mind but now… his heart throbbed. “I… I want to stay with you.”

Hands gently ruffled his hair. “It is not your time to dwell in the world above yet.”

“But….” The argument danced on his lips. How could he go back after all he’d seen, all he’d learned? His wings twitched, longing to spread. Abba released him. “I found you. You called me here. Home, to you. And I’m here. I found you. I..I can’t go back now, not after everything.”

“Seeing you here, at my side brings me such joy.” A hand cupping his face. “But below is still your home as well. Your friends and mer family need you.”

His wind spirit obsessed  parents who ignore him? His nosy sister, too distracted fighting with their parents to notice him literally fading away? Danny shook his head. How could they need him?

And his friends? When he’d told them about Abba saving him, about the note and feather, they hadn’t understood, skeptical and mistrusting. No, more than that. They had been downright hostile. They’d stomped all over his burgeoning hope, the trust he was starting to place in the Voice who saved him. 

And… the looks of terror on their faces. They’d seen him fading away, watched as he literally dissolved. And after-

Danny’s eyes popped widened. “Sam and Tucker… they saw me unravel. And… they told everyone. They must have. All the teachers and other kids saw them freaking out.” He paled. “They… what did they tell Mom and Dad?”

“You will not know unless you return.” Abba said. 

The boy’s stomach twisted, dread rising. His parents faces’ flashed in his mind. Hard and angry, wielding harsh weapons and shouting about the dastardly spirit which stole their son. No spirit is going to touch my baby. The hatred in the words…. And now he was the very thing his parents despised.

Head down, the question came out painfully quiet. “Not knowing… Would that really be so bad?”

 His Father’s voice rang with compassion. “That is not a question I can answer for you.” 

Danny frowned, heart sinking. If Abba didn’t even know that answer, then what hope was there…

But the Spirit continued gently. “But consider those who love you. If you fail to return, they will also never know what became of you.”

The boy winced; he couldn’t help but imagine…. His mom on her knees, weeping into his favorite blanket. His dad and sister, packing up his belongings, expressions painfully tight, fighting to keep it together. His friends, huddled in a corner, trading harsh whispers and blaming themselves. All his loved ones, gathered around a stone, a memorial for him

That would be the reality, if he never came back. Grief and confusion. Unanswered questions and pain. His heart throbbed with guilt. How could he do that to them? And… 

Those who love you. The words struck him. Mom and Dad, Jazz, Sam and Tucker- all his loved ones…. And those who loved him.  The past bloomed in his mind's-eye. His sister asking if he was alright, gaze full of concern. His friends, though their eyes blown wide with fear, reaching for him as he dissolved. And… His parents. His mom’s voice trembling, full of tears. His dad’s arms, wrapped strongly around him, as if he would disappear. 

Pain, an old bitterness, began to wane. “They all do love me. Mom and Dad really do care about me. But…” The boy bit his lip. Was that love enough?

It was as if Abba read his mind. “There is hope for your parents yet.”

Danny looked up, meeting reassuring eyes. The confidence in those words…. In his heart, that very hope flickered anew. The tension in his shoulders eased. He would never know if he didn’t return.

“Will I see you again?” Danny finally asked.

“Of course.” His Abba smiled, red eyes crinkling with the twitch of his lips. “You can fly with me whenever you wish.” The man leaned forward, “I am always only a shout, or a whisper, away.” A kiss planted on the boy’s forehead.

The younger spirit's heart squeezed. “I'll see you later then.” One last hug. “Love you, Abba.” 

“And I you, my son.” 

With that, the two parted. A few flaps and Danny drifted just above the surface. Wings folded and he dropped. 

The ocean swallowed him. His feathers melted away, legging melding together and scales resurfacing in a familiar tingling pop. 

Now a mer again, Danny  sank below the surface. Tiny bubbles rose passed him. The blue sky shimmered, just visible through the water.  Golden light perforated the depths. And directly above…

The flap of wings, first small and distant, grew louder. Light shone from the floating figure, swelling brighter, radiating, spreading pasted the mer-sized form.

Danny’s breath held, eyes widening. Great white wings, his own only a pale reflection, unfurled, stretching across the entire sky. Sparkling like stars in the night sky, countless eyes opened.

 Above him, limited form gave way to majesty. Danny’s heart pounded, overcome. He felt small with such an immense gaze fixed on him, seeing all of him. And yet… 

The Voice reverberated, singing over him. Every note rang of peace, reassurance, love. 

The warmth in Danny’s chest echoed back, singing its own song of awe. There were no words for the feeling, for its magnitude, its depth. His Abba was so great and he was so small. And yet he was cared for so greatly. 

Light flashed above the water, endless feathers disappearing in a cacophonous blast of wind. Only the sun hung in the sky. But still… Danny felt the kind smile, the gentle gaze fixed on him. 

With his own smile, the mer-boy turned, swimming for the ocean floor. And in his heart, he knew; Everything was going to be alright.

[fuyuthefoxwriter]

Time and Space at UA chapter two

the entrance exam takes place and Danny officially meets some new and possible future friends

Enjoy everyone ^^

[dclovesdanny]

DC XDP prompt

OK, I made a similar prompt to this one for dead on Main earlier, but I want to slightly change it up

Demon twins AU where Danny was sent to the Fenton by Talia, so that Ra’s could not kill him. He and Damian both believed the other two be dead until about age 16, when they meet due to the justice league summoning Danny.

They did the whole reconciliation thing, but the world ended up going into chaos. The GIW destroyed part of the portal, damaging Danny’s grave, and causing him to go into something similar to shock, severely weakening his powers. The league of assassins also made a mess of things, and now Danny and Damian are the only members of the family who are still able to fight. Damian has just sustained a massive injury on his side, and Danny is getting sick the longer he goes without good ectoplasm, becoming almost feral.

Clockwork offers them a deal to go back, but their bodies will carry over all injuries, including Danny being half dead. They will also have to destroy the Lazarus pits, (in this AU, the pits are a natural portal that was forcibly anchored, making it very toxic ectoplasm, similar to mold and poison.) 

They accept, and Danny and Damian wake up. Danny wakes up alone in his room at 10 years old, and Damian wakes up in his bedroom first tonight he ever spent with the Wayne’s.

The problem, is that Jazz finds her brother crying in his bedroom, with lots of scars, and his eyes glowing green. She is trying to calm her adoptive brother down as he cries in her arms, but she can hear her parents downstairs talking about the portal flickering, and has a sinking feeling in her chest.

In Manor, Alfred has gone to wake up the new master Damian, only to find him staring out the window as he bandages an injury on his side that seems to have not been treated before. The angry boy from last night seems to be gone, and his place is a scared child, one who immediately goes into a defensive position when he notices someone entering, before calming when seeing it was only him.

[trappednyourheart]

The wrong DNA test

( what if, Sheila wasn't really Jason's mother? The system is already corrupted, then what about the test?).

A huge brawl containing every rogue had started at the time of Halloween, causing the people from downtown to fled there home's as joker had clownized the whole neighborhood with his goon's.

Every bats had taken to groups to take out the three parts of Gotham's as the rogue's had started to make alliances, some had lasted quite long while had conflicts, and causing a big damage to Arkham asylum,

It didn't take long before they captured all of them, none of the bats questions as they observed Jason glowing green eyes starting to flick, they thought it was the pit again, growing wary of the cooperation, but Crime alley was involved and that mean business to Red hood's turf.

Catherine todd love her son as her own even if not biological, Jason knew that. But her thing with drugs couldn't make her stop.

Sometimes after that, they could hear Jason humming a tune,a nice melody from Damian's statement saying that Jason muttered to him “ lullaby” as Jason continued to read his book, maybe it could be from Catherine,

they knew how Jason's past with Catherine todd, his mom even if not related, Catherine loves her son like her own kid but her doing drugs and... overdosing couldn't be stop.

Maybe Jason just remembered his mother maybe reminiscing atleast something familiar...even if it was a bad time.

Jason had constantly have been hearing a woman's? Man's? Voice, singing him a lullaby...it soothing, like as if he known and loved this melody...and that's where the dreams kept coming, there was a person, giving him kisses, Talkin to him stories, singing him lullabies and soothing him, he could dream that he was actually a baby, a baby from a normal couple, well don't count the luxurious baby room.

Jason had took out a conspiracies why he was getting this dreams, ( he swears he's not becoming Tim) and voices, maybe like a misshapen memories from the pits of victims? No it's to peaceful for that, maybe magic? He already contacted Constantine but surely hang up after knowing who it was-

Just how is he getting this dreams? Unless it wasn't.... So he proved again his point, he started a DNA test, again but none had records...of Sheila being his biological mother...that was weird, last time he had a test was from the time as robin..and before his-

So he went to that hospital who had said where Sheila had given birth to him, and most of shock is that no one knows a mother giving birth named Sheila haywood but had a document of a baby, of one Jason jay nightingale, the most believing part was that it's the same day he was born in.

His mother, Daniel F. Nightingale was said to be trans as the doctor who help his mother safely delivered him, And saying that his mother loved him,

one Sheila Haywood had the constant trick to get him and taken him as his own, because his mother's family was a wealthy one they practically sold him to her.

Jason had thought that maybe his mother's family never wanted him to have a son with a man from Gotham's crime alley.

Meanwhile Danny had just been YEETED to the DC universe before the start of Batman's justice thing and had been adopted by a very wealthy fruit loops couple as there kid, so he stayed as the couples daughter even pretending, because he owed ghost writer a favor for the last time, and as DC universe exist so it's story, and one thing for sure the child he had to give birth in this universe has a very complicated fate,

he did the one night stand from his supposed friend Willis Todd? He had to befriend him as Dalia F. nightingale the supposed Wealthy daughter who fell in love with a peasant trope, and gotten pregnant making it a scandal, and reaching to his ‘parents’ circle and getting that drama.

But he never thought he would care for his child, his little jay, his ghost side would purr in delight when they held Jason, he was a very hard sucker especially from his pacifier or his breast, it's so weird being in a women body,

but the way his ‘parents’ sold his son to the women who was supposed to get his son killed and being revived by cheap parody ass of ectoplasm.

He went feral, he had an argument to his ‘parents’ but all fell deaf ears, he couldn't find his son in one of the hotels nearby where that BXtch was.

And that time was where his part of the script was fulfilled, ghost writer already took him, both sides of his, were angry.

He. will. get. his. baby. back.

[nelkcats]

My son wants to destroy the world, how do I stop him? - Search

It had been a few months since Phantom joined the League. Although he was more of an emergency contact they called in worse cases than a real member. According to the Justice League Dark, he was a ruler of another dimension so he couldn't be around all the time.

When Wonder Woman complained about his commitment to the team, Phantom frowned and called her hypocritical. Apparently Phantom watched over all the dimensions, so asking him to protect one in particular was stupid, or worse, selfish. Diana ended up very embarrassed after learning about it.

Then, it was strange for Phantom to stay beyond 5 minutes after providing his help, so Bruce was surprised to see the boy walking towards him looking extremely nervous and asking for a conversation. Bruce agreed out of curiosity.

The conversation took a strange turn when Phantom started praising his parenting skills (Bruce was proud of his kids clearly, but how the fuck did Phantom know his identity?), and complimented him on...Red Hood's self-control??? And what a good kid he was??

Apparently, Phantom had a son (Bruce was starting to believe in the "immortal" part that Constantine talked about), but he had a terrible temper and loved to destroy dimensions, for which he was often punished (Bruce was at a loss for words), Phantom assured him that no dimension that didn't deserve it was destroyed but he didn't know how to change Dan's approach.

The King insisted that he was fine with his son destroying dimensions as long as his grandfather authorized it, since they had forgiven him and those dimensions were finished anyway (Batman was grateful that his mask would not show his facial expression) but that destroying everyone would affect him in the long run and he was worried about him.

In the end, Bruce invited them to the mansion, or rather, invited Phantom to talk to Alfred and he told him he would bring his son. Bruce remembered that Jason would be visiting that day and wondered how badly the meeting would go.