#reformed? Pariah Dark | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nanenna · 1 month ago

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Let's Wrap this Up, Folks

Sleepy King Masterpost

No editing, we die like Vlad (slowly, painfully, and unmourned). I'm so happy to say this is done!

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Danny held Cujo close as he scritched him behind the ears, nothing like stinky puppy kisses to help him feel better. And right now he felt pretty awful! Dark Dan had been Ghost King too, it’s just that no one ever told him so he didn’t know. Well, judging from how Johnny and Kitty reacted no one else knew either, and he guesses that was a good thing. Except now everyone does know, between Johnny and Kitty, and the whole of the Far Frozen he’s pretty sure gossip is already getting around.

“Alright, everyone ready to sit down and explain some shit?” Stinky trenchcoat man said. Danny had been introduced, he just didn’t care to remember Blondie’s name.

“Language!” Mom scolded.

“Yeah, yeah.” Stinky plopped himself onto one of the chairs. Wonder Woman sat elegantly in another while Batman loomed over her chair’s back. The not-a-ghost guy, Deadman, was hovering near Stinky.

Danny decided the safest thing to do was to squeeze himself between Mom and Jazz on the couch. Cujo laid himself out across their laps on his back, begging for belly rubs. Vlad seemed to take the Batman approach, standing off to the side and looking rather annoyed.

Stinky pointed at Danny, “Let’s start with the obvious, you somehow, and I’ve yet to figure it out but I will, are Phantom.”

Danny looked over at his parents. Mom smiled brightly as she patted his arm, “Why don’t you show them what you can do?”

“Yeah, Danno! Show them the Fenton gumption!”

Danny sighed as he transferred Cujo over to Jazz’s lap. Thankfully so long as he was getting attention he’d probably be okay. He stood up and moved into the middle of the room. “It’s kinda bright,” he warned before letting his transformation wash over him. “Tada,” he said lamely, arms held out as he stood in the middle of the room.

“Christ on a cracker!” Stinky yelled as he flopped back dramatically.

“You should see what Vlad looks like,” Danny said wryly.

“Daniel!” Vlad yelled angrily.

“Constantine already told us you two are the same form of being,” Batman said gravely.

“I would also point out that young Danny here has already accused you of some very suspicious activities,” Wonder Woman added.

“Vladdie was going through some things!” Jack stood and shook a fist at the Justice League.

“He’s working on reforming,” Maddie added with a smile.

“The biggest thing he was holding over my head was my secret identity,” Danny gestured as he spoke, then stopped and stared down at his hand. “Am I wearing armor? What? Where did…?” He looked down. He was covered in black armor with a white like loincloth, or whatever those are called, and some kind of white fur cape at his shoulders. He found the cape behind him and held it up: yup. White fluffy fur, kinda reminded him of the yeties. “Wait, I don’t have horns, do I?” He felt over his head, thankfully just finding his regular hair.

“No, Danny, you don’t have horns,” Jazz said with a giggle.

“Well excuse me, Pariah has horns! And so does Frostbite, this cape reminds me of him.” He patted himself, getting a feel for his new armor, it felt weird. “Where did this even come from?”

“Congrats, it comes with the title,” Stinky said with a hand wave.

“I don’t get it, the other ghosts said it wasn’t like a magical title or something, that Pariah just declared himself king and did everything himself. Why am I getting the magical girl outfit upgrade?”

“Pariah stole the crown, much like your weird uncle here tried to do.”

Danny snorted at Constantine calling Vlad his weird uncle.

“But the crown is much older than Pariah Dark, it decides who it belongs to.”

Well that was just great, he’s pretty sure Clockwork had something to do with this. “Ugh, this sucks! How do I get rid of it?” Danny asked.

“You don’t.”

Everyone just stared at Constantine.

“What?”

“Congrats, you’re the new Ghost King. Comes with a castle, an army of thralls, and a pretty significant power boost. Probably doubled since apparently you’re the king twice over.”

“No, I have school on Monday! I can’t go to school looking like this!” Danny waved at himself.

“Danny,” Jazz said while trying to hide a grin, “the armor wasn’t on your human form.”

“Oh… right.” Danny de-transformed and looked down at his hands, the rings were still there. “Um!”

“Sorry, kid, no such thing as a part time king, the crowns and rings are permanent now.”

“Noooooooo!” Danny wailed! His normal life! That he was finally getting back since his parents put better protections on the portal after finally telling them the truth! “I just wanted to graduate high school, was that too much to ask?”

Batman grunted, apparently in agreement.

Danny pointed at Stinky, “This is all your fault! If it weren’t for that spell you hit me with they wouldn’t be stuck.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Danny! Here you guys are!” Ellie came flying into the room, her backpack dragging on the ground. She stopped when she spotted the Justice League members all staring at her. “Uh….”

Cujo barked and scrambled out of Jazz’s lap, leaping for Ellie.

“Cujo! Who’s a good boy?!” The two began happily and loudly rolling around on the ground.

Sam and Tucker followed shortly after, both pausing in the doorway. “Uh… Danny?” Tucker asked slowly, “Why are Batman and Wonder Woman in Vlad’s living room?”

“More importantly,” Sam cut in, “why do you have the Crown of Fire over your head? Twice?”

“Turns out I’m the Ghost King, and so was you-know-who.”

“Which you-know-who?” Tucker asked.

“Nasty Burger explosion.”

Tucker still looked a little confused.

“Since Constantine said the second crown was from an alternate timeline, I’m guessing it belonged to an alternate version of yourself, one you also had to beat in combat.”

Danny sighed and deflated, “You really are the world’s greatest detective.”

Batman’s only response was a twitch of his lips. Danny never wanted to play poker with him.

“Danny, why haven’t you told us about this?” Mom asked in that very special tone of voice that meant she was Not Mad Just Disappointed.

“Well… he was evil,” Danny blurted out as his shoulders hiked up to his ears. “I don’t wanna be evil.”

Jazz came over and pulled him into a hug, “And we’re taking steps to make sure that doesn’t happen, part of that is getting you a proper support network. And look! Now we can ask the Justice League for help.”

“If you don’t mind, why hasn’t anyone called us before now?” Wonder Woman asked.

“What? So an overshadowed Superman can run amok and then there’s a photo of me punching Superman in the face on the front of the newspaper? No thanks.” That was the last thing Danny needed.

“What do you think the magic user branch of the Justice League is bloody for?” Stinky asked loudly.

“I didn’t know there was a magic user branch!” Danny defended.

“None of us did,” Tucker added. He moved to go sit on the floor and lean against the couch, Sam joined him.

“In all fairness, we do not advertise Justice League Dark,” Wonder Woman said with a gentle smile. “But now that we know our assistance is needed we are happy to help.”

“I’m not sure what you can do at this point, we’ve locked down the main way ghosts have been getting into Amity. Mostly it’s the natural portals now, and there’s not much anyone can do about those.”

“Can you get the GIW to back off?” Sam asked.

“Oh! I hadn’t thought about that,” Danny said eagerly.

Batman frowned, “What’s the GIW?”

“Hey!” Ellie came up to the side of Wonder Woman’s chair, “Can you teach me how to sword fight? That sounds so cool!”

“Why ask her?” Danny wandered over, leaving his friends to explain the Gits in White to Batman. “You can just ask Pandora.”

“I don’t have four arms like Pandora,” Ellie whined.

“So just duplicate, it’s easy!” Danny stuck his tongue out and furrowed his brow in concentration, sweat beading on his forehead before his arms split into a second pair. Then, just like Frostbite taught him, he made four ice swords, one in each hand. “See?”

Ellie rolled her eyes, “Oh, it’s so easy! Says the guy who can’t even make one whole duplicate.”

“It’s hard!” Danny defended. “And I can, I could do it with the exo-skeleton, just… not since.” He’d been trying, but duplication was hard, he didn’t seem to have quite enough power. “Wait a minute, I have a power boost with the crowns.” Danny took a step to the left, Danny also took a step to the right. Now there were two Dannies with a perfectly normal number of arms, each holding an ice sword. Each also had a pair of crowns over their head. “Huh, so that’s what it looks like,” both Dannies said in unison.

“Ew, stop it, that’s so weird,” Ellie said in disgust.

“Hey guys! Look what I can do!” Dannies both said with a grin as he popped out several more duplicates. This was going to be fun!

---

Omake:

Danny trudged into school on Monday, chatting with Sam and Tucker, still wearing the crowns and rings along with his normal clothes. He went straight to his locker, getting ready for the day. On time for once!

“Hey Fenturd!” Dash jeered from down the hall, “Why’d you miss school on… uh… what’s that?”

Danny closed his locker and looked up at Dash, “What’s what?”

“What do you mean what’s what? What’s that above your head?”

Danny looked up, then back at Dash, “What’re you talking about?”

“Don’t play coy, there’s a crown above your head! It’s on fire?????”

“Dash, I think I would notice a floating, flaming crown above my head.”

Dash looked completely confused, he looked over at Kwan, who was also frowning. “Kwan!”

“I can see it too, it’s there.”

“Right! Hear that, Fentina?”

Danny just looked at Dash like he’d lost his mind, “This is a really weird prank.”

“I’ll prove it!” Dash whipped out his phone and took a picture, then held the screen out. “There, see?”

Danny looked at the phone, “I just see me and Sam and Tucker.” His friends also leaned in and looked at the screen.

Dash pulled his phone back and looked at it, sure enough the crown wasn’t in the photo. But it was also still floating above Danny’s head, and Kwan had also seen it. What was going on?

“Anyway, I’m gonna go turn in my homework, I don’t want to get stuck in summer school.” Danny turned and wandered off to first period, his friends in tow.

Dash was… very confused. He knows what he saw, he knows the other students saw it too!

“Isn’t that the crown the Ghost King had?” Paulina asked as Danny left.

“I… think so?” Dash said uncertainly.

“I think there were two of them,” Kwan added.

They all followed Danny to first period, they had it together after all. They arrived just after Danny, just in time to hear Mr. Lancer shout, “Sword in the Stone! Mr. Fenton, what is that over your head?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Danny answered calmly while Sam and Tucker, standing just a step behind him, were wildly shaking their heads and making various “Do not” gestures.

“I… You… that is…” Mr. Lancer glanced back and forth, clearly conflicted.

“I managed to finish that essay,” Danny said cheerfully handing it over. “Sorry about Friday, but it should be excused.”

“Yes, I was told about that… something about the Justice League?” Mr. Lancer stared at the crown.

“Yeah, I got to meet them! It was wild.” Danny smiled charmingly.

“Alright, yes, well… please take your seats, class will be starting soon.” Mr. Lancer looked at the crown one last time, then seemed to decide it wasn’t his business and to carry on like usual.

“Oh my god,” Danny whispered to Tucker and Sam as they went to their seats, “I can’t believe that worked!”

“Just your usual day in Amity Park,” Tucker said with a snicker.

Val came walking over once they were seated. She stared at the crowns over Danny’s head, then down to the rings on his fingers no one had noticed yet. Her eyes turned to narrow slits. Danny put a finger to his lips and winked.

#dpxdc #danny phantom #dc comics #justice league #sleepy king #nenna writes #fanfic #fanfiction #that's it!#i'm done!#this branch is finished!#hopefully I can go back to the sleepier branch and finish that too lol #too many characters oh my god #poor val only got a cameo at the end

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hypewinter · 8 months ago

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Danny has started a ton of outreach programs in recent years. He hopes to reform and strengthen relationships long broken by Pariah Dark during his reign. This is how he finds himself giving a presentation in front of the Justice League. Danny's not quite sure what Pariah did but it must have been something particularly bad for them to look this stony.

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #hyper prompts

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kuroishuuha · 6 months ago

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DP x DC prompt - A Pariah Dark Who Works Two Jobs 🎶

SingleDad!Pariah Dark

After a disastrous war with the GIW, Danny was the last remaining Halfa. And one of two remaining Fentons.

Ellie/Dani had sacrificed her core to repair Danny's fracturing one - and it was only his promise to live enough for the both of them that kept him from breaking down.

Dan was technically closer to three-quarters!ghost than half.

Dan.

Danny never considered that there would be a day that he would consider one of his greatest enemies - one of his greatest fears - as one of his closest confidants and friend.

Dan had taken over the elder sibling role after...Jazz had died. She never reformed as a ghost, content with seeing her younger brother make it out alive.

Jack and Maddie Fenton - Danny's parents. Even now, there are times he considers them his parents. Even as they stood over his body and nearly pulled his core from his body. Even as they turned a deaf ear to his screams and pleas. There was a part of him that still loved them. He wondered if their Obsession with ghosts would have them reform as one.

And now, to address the elephant in the room.

The war had gotten so bad, that they had released Pariah Dark in a final effort to eradicate the GIW.

It was a pyrrhic victory.

They had won - but the three of them, Danny, Dan, and Pariah Dark had found themselves stranded in another universe. One filled with superheroes and supervillains alike.

Dan and Danny had reverted to their ghost ages - a young toddler for Danny and a young child for Dan. Fortunately for them, they kept a majority of their powers.

Unfortunately for Pariah Dark, he found himself severely weakened, and in a body that was closer to a liminal than a ghost.

As the sole adult among the trio (and reluctant guardian of two young children) - Pariah Dark found himself job-hunting in a city called [INSERT CHOICE OF CITY HERE].

At least the local hero/villain was good-looking.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dpxdc prompt #dp x dc prompt #dc x dp #dcxdp #ghost king danny #dan phantom redemption #singledad!pariahdark

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noras-dc-shenanigans · 2 years ago

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Adoption | Learn

“So let me get this straight.”

Danny stared at the group of vigilantes in front of him, a look of utter disbelief etched onto his face.

“Batman had a baby with Catwoman, she hid it from him, gave the baby up for adoption, and that baby is me. And you’re all here because Batman’s other ex also had a hidden pregnancy, but she’s a homicidal maniac who wants to make sure her son is the only blood child because of some weird cult rules?”

If they’d been in a cartoon, there’s be crickets chirping. He continued, voice growing less disbelieving and more angry as he went.

“And because some cult wants to kill me, I have to give up my whole life, cut off all contact with my family and friends, go live in a state 900 miles away, and stay cooped up— for an unknown amount of time— in Bruce Wayne’s mansion, because that’s who Batman really is.”

A stilted silence filled the room of the safe house Danny had been dragged to a few hours ago, sans the unnecessarily long explanation he’d just summarized.

After a few more moments, Nightwing stepped forward and smiled gently at him an oh, that rankled Danny. He did not need whatever kid gloves the guy was about to pull on. Before Bluebell had a chance to open his mouth, Danny channeled his inner Jazz and raised his hand for silence. Nightwing paused, and Danny proceeded to give them all a single, flat, unimpressed look, and then stated factually,

“I’m not leaving, I’m not staying with yet another frootloop billionaire, and I’m not in the least concerned with dying. So. You can all go back to where you belong, I’ll stay here, where I belong, and if any cultist come knocking I’ll deal with them just like I’ve been dealing with every other threat in this town the last six months: alone. Because apparently the entire Justice League is too busy to respond to calls for help about inter-dimensional threats popping in and out of my parents basement on a daily basis.”

… Okay, so Danny may have been yelling a bit by the end, but it was justified! And oh, Danny really wished his life was a cartoon right now, because that cricket chirping would be been perfect. He’s pretty sure he broke a few of them. Nightwing looked ready to cry.

Good. Danny was too tired to deal with this sh*t.

Thanks to the whole Pariah Dark thing last month, Danny was apparently immortal now anyways, so even if the cult people managed to completely destroy his body, he’d just reform in the Zone. Because he was now connected to it, and only another ghost could End him like he had Pariah, because of some weird dimensional rules. Apparently, since humans couldn’t rule the Infinite Realms, they just, like… didn’t qualify to kill him. That went for aliens, demons, gods, and other non-human beings of sentience.

So Danny’s got that going for him at least. About time something useful came outta this whole disaster of a school year.

But he’d gotten off track. Before him stood a truly ridiculous number of vigilantes, and they all looked like he’d just slapped them with a fish and then played violin with it. For a few minutes, Danny just basked in the stuttering and bewildered looks, before he noticed Nightwing drawing himself up in righteous determination and decided that yeah, he was done now.

At this point, being a dramatic a**hole to people (or ghosts) who were annoying him was just second nature, so he straightened to attention, raised his hand in a salute, and then let himself sink through the floor, perfectly stoic.

The stuttering turned to panicked shouts, and Danny’s last view of his apparent siblings was a few people lunging for him and missing, winding up tangled together on the carpet.

‘Ahhhh, yesss, I will treasure that memory always! Ah well, time to get home! Maybe I should scout out for those cult people, mess around with them. Maybe follow them back sometime, meet my half-brother. That could be fun, me and Ellie can make a road trip of it this summer! Maybe by then, the Justice Losers will have gotten their heads out as their butts.’

Meanwhile, back at the safe house, several frantic calls were being made about the dimensional threats and the League of Assassins and the possibly meta human, definitely vigilante brother.

Amity Park was about to get a lot more chaotic.

#DPxDCFamilyWeek #Danny Felton #Batfamily #Danny’s drama was inherited #Danny is a little sh*t #you tell ‘em Danny!

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anonymous-existences · 2 months ago

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Chapter 4 : Summonings

[7:45𝙿𝙼]

Dan Had Ellie and Danny in his chest as he reads them a storybook, "Paw Paw then said, " I will need some helpers! I want crowly crow and Willard weasel to be my advisors." Well Crowly Crow and Willard Weasel was honored and agreed to work with Paw Pa—" he felt his chest clenching, enough that he stopped talking and felt his body subtly warp and him reappearing in a cult circle with Danny and Ellie still in his arms.

Upon their arrival a trail of frost and dark green and red vein like vines trailed with the Frost that surrounded the room, the ice freezing below normal temperatures and making the ceilings and the pillars of the chamber freeze with the vines over tracing the cracks and crevices of the ice.

All 3 of them in regal attire, Dante grit his teeth In anger, who the fuck dare summon him as he was putting his kids to sleep. He faces the summoners, he saw the bats...? On the ground tied up quite tightly. Dante slowly stood up from his floating stance and glared at the cult who summoned him, "Oh Great King Pariah Dark! We summon thou to help us Remake and Put this world's vile humans to a chan—" the cult leader was interrupted. "First of all, I am not Pariah Dark, Second I don't do that shit anymore as well and I am a reformed Man." Dante just growls and The cult leader stutters in confusion but Dante just shot his head with an ecto-beam before combing his now loose hair back.

Dante puts down the kids that were still awake but sleepy, "Go on Little Phantoms, Untie the Innocents. Daddy has to deal with these other vile people." Dante says and cracking his knuckles as the two kids ran to the bats and was untying them, hopping happily as they do so.

Dante set a dark forcefield around him and the cultists, not allowing anyone outside to see what kind of brutal violence he is about to commit on Daring to summon him for evil.

"Wowie! Tall! Tall! Tall! Almost as tall as Daddy!" Ellie squeals jumping up and down as she stared up at Batman... "Uncle Jay Jay! Uncle Jay Jay! HAII! HAII!" Danny was running around Red Hood, "Hood.... You know them?" Nightwing looks at Hood in confusion, "Uncle Dickie! Uncle Dickie!" The two now running around all them laughing and giggling. "Uhm.. I think that's Danny and Ellie— you know— the kids I babysit for Dan—" Hood says confused but slowly piecing their voices and the nicknames together.

"What." Nightwing just says both confused and serious, Nightwing nearly facepalms trying to process the new information that was just revealed to him as if that was a normal information to find out, "Up! Up! Up! Up!!" The twins demanded to Damian. "Ofcourse." Damian complied without hesitation and carried the two in his arms.

"What the fuck—" Dick just tilts his head, "You can do that?" He says mouth slightly agape and Batman too, "Pardon you Grayson but I am very fond of Hood's Little Feral Kids, They're much More fun to be with than any of you and Dan is a good Father." Damian huffs making Danny and Ellie giggle.

Both twins were wearing matching suits, for Ellie she wore a dress instead but both had fur coats that were decorated with gold and silver chains, they wore floating crowns, Ellie's looked like Clouds and Snow whilst Danny's looked like Ice and Stars both crowns adorned with blue and violet gems that contrast to their green tinted presence.

Dante dropped the forcefield, he tore the souls of these cultists and made sure not to leave any blood. "... Danny, Ellie.. Come.." Dan kneels and Danny and Ellie ran to him, "Daddy! Daddy! Look! It's uncle Jay Jay! And Uncle Dickie!" Both said in unison and Dante felt himself mentally panic because these two have no filters for people they know.

"They're wearing strange costumes today daddy! Same with Heir Dami!" Danny yelled and raising his hands excitedly and Dan slumped and cover his face in Embarrasament.

"Cough." Damian cleared his throat in pride, "Did you teach the kids to call you Heir Robin?" Danny glances at the boy who puffs his chest, "Ofcourse! They couldn't say my full name so we settled with Dami instead." Damian huffs, And Batman finally grunts in what seems to be confusion.

"Please... Don't... Look at me.." Dan was very Embarrassed, he looked very regal and a ghost at that Infront of his crush of all people and his crush had to be BATMAN of all people? And his kids had to see them and call them by their first names because they're kids and they're stupid and excited... "Goddamit." Dan cursed and laughed nervously, "What are you exactly." The bat questions whilst squinting at the other Man.

"We can uhm— discuss this somewhere else you know?" Dan suggests, "Where did the bodies go...?" Jason asks, "Infinite Realms to suffer in their own versions of hell—" Dan nearly stutters as Batman—Bruce squinted at him as he pulls Damian closer to behind him, "B, he's no danger I can affirm." Jason walked over to Beside Dan and pats his back. "My sister is way dangerous with her bat—" Dan tries to say but he just deflates. Dammit didn't he used to be this sassy and Powerful all knowing being?? Why is he experiencing Teenage Anxiety because of having a crush?? Why is he deflating Infront of this man?? This is so Embarrassing. What the fuck...

Jason Pats Dan's Head quite Calmly, "This Explains so many things." Jason Pats his back more, "Does it now JayLad?" Dan just mutters and glanced at Jason. "Yes Dad— Dan— DAN GODDAMIT GRAAAAH!!!" Jason just punched Dan in the heat of his anger at saying Dad Instead of Dan, Dan just taking the punches. "I can't even care anymore, I'm too tired for this and too humiliated to have gotten caught by actual uncultured cultists." Dick sighs and Batman grunts in subtle approval.

"Look, can you let me go for today? We can discuss the other stuff tommorow about this... Identity? But I really need to get my kids to sleep. Please." Dan just smiles awkwardly, mentally Deflating staring at Batman. 'Damn those abs— Goddamit Dante get a hold of yourself' Dan thought to himself before facepalming hard. "Goddamit— Ancients Save me from this scene." Dan turns around and looks away which earned him a confused hum from Nightwing, Robin and Especially Batman.

"Is something the matter?" Batman asks seriously, "Uslkeinsidbsjen." Dan was mentally breaking, "I think daddy's malfunctioning!" Ellie says Enthusiastically. "Wait a GODDAMN Minute." Jason looked at Dan who was blushing and Back at Batman and He kicks Dan's shin, "OW— JAYLAD WTF—" Dan looks at Jason and looked hurt. "GO BACK RIGHT NOW AND STOP SIMPING FOR MY FATHER!! THAT'S MY DAD!! MY DAD!! GET THE FUCK BACK!!" he kept punching Dan's shoulder and pushing him back to the summoning circle portal, "WAIT LET ME SEE HIM ONE LAST TIME—" Dan tries to reason. "NUH-UH!!!!"

Jason pushed him through the portal, "Bye Bye Uncle Jay Jay!" Both the twins said In unison giggling before closing the portal as they passed through it. The summoning circle immediately burned and disappeared leaving no traces. The frost and Vine like veins that trailed along with the ice also burned and disappeared.

"Jason... You have some explaining to do... Maybe .. someday if you're ready to do that..." Batman— no. Bruce says.... Jason just called him Father, Dad, His Dad... Bruce took a deep breathe.

What the fuck are they supposed to do now? There's no traces of anything that happened with the cult...

[𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚢]

3:56 PM

"You what." Jazz grips the pen she was holding as she wrote down a list of what she needed to do for the day. "SOMEONE summoned me using Batman and his kids as sacrifices and they kinda found out my identity because I was with the kids when it happened? Hood was there— and The little Gremlin Too—" Dante says nervously and Jazz shot him a glare.

"Uhghm.... Clockwork please tell me this isn't a joke and I'm just hallucinating." Jazz took a deep breathe, "Unfortunately Madame that's not the case" Clockwork chuckled and Jazz groaned in exhaustion. "And what happened after that?" Jazz continued writing, slower this time. "I kinda found out Batman Is Bruce...?" Dante says sitting beside Jazz and Jazz just stabs her pen onto the table upon hearing that information.

"And I thought dealing with Joker's Whining everyday was bad..." Jazz just laughing, Dante backed away, Jazz absolutely going insane and laughing whilst gripping the already broken pen. "Ancients have mercy on me... Haha... Fucking— mmm..." Jazz just looked defeated and her eye twitching in irritation. "Clockwork can you hand me my... Something just something to calm me down." Jazz raises her hand and Clockwork hands her a kitten.

She stares at the kitten then smiles, "Yes Good Kitty." Immediate calmness overcomes her anger for everything as she cuddles the Kitten in her hands gently. "You should go Dante, after all don't you have a meeting with the Batman?" Clockwork smirks. "Your way of meddling is very messy Clockwork." Dante scoffs and walks out not before kissing Danny and Ellie's foreheads. "Bye Daddy!" Ellie waved goodbye whilst giggling and Danny only waving slightly with a small tired small.

Dan hops in his bike and puts on his helmet and drove away. "Grandpa! Grandpa! Can we sneak out!" Ellie asks, "Ellie! That's not how you sneak out! You don't tell anyone!" Danny protests against his sister and Clockwork chuckled amused, " I know everything you two are to do from the past to the future. But ofcourse. I can trust you both not to get into too much trouble right? Just make sure to use your disguises little ones." Clockwork pats their head and the two looked happy and started running and changing into their phantom forms before floating and turning invisible.

The two quickly bolted to the Main City looking for Damian's School, Soon enough they found the 14 years old boy in high school and about to leave that afternoon to go home, Damian rode the Car with Alfred as the driver. Danny and Ellie followed him and sat beside him in the car couches. No one else could hear or see the two but Damian could feel the chills that came with them. Alfred did as well. "Oh my, you seem to have acquaintances today Master Damian!" Alfred chuckles, "It seems so Alfred. Damian fixes his tie and guessed where they would be beside him accurately.

Both giggled as if they had done this before and reappeared before Damian. Damian handed them both cookies Alfred had baked, "Remember Alfred. Father must not find out." Damian looked at Alfred, "Yes ofcourse but I can't promise I won't tell him if the Master Asks." He hummed. Damian nodded. "Did you escape from your Father again?" Damian asks them and Danny nodded.

"Daddy says he's meeting your Daddy! Like a meeting!" Danny says as he munched on the cookies, "Daddy Says it's because we met you guys last night!" Ellie then enthusiastically said. "I see... Understandable." Damian clears his throat. "Alfred how do you like it it father gets a new much better, actually Logical — partner. Even if it's a male?" Damian asks. "Hmmm, as long as they are not a threat to the Family I do not oppose it." Alfred answers, "Very Well, I shall allow and subtly help father with getting a male Mate. So that he does not create any more unnecessary offsprings." Damian states Proudly.

"What are offsprings?" Danny asks, "Another word for Children Daniel." Damian says. "Okay!" Danny just sits right beside Damian and Damian pulls them both closer to him.

"Maybe I should ask Todd to help me..." Damian mutters under his breathe before smiling subtly.

A/N: I'm sorry this story can be a bit inconsistent because I'm going through some pretty rough stuff rn and getting highly distracted but I promise I'm actually trying to post as much as possible cuz I love writing.

#danny fenton #danny phantom #danny phantom fandom #dc x dp #dcu #dp x dc #ao3 #dc x dp crossover #dp x dc crossover #dcxdp

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vm-haunts · 4 months ago

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Crossover Headcanons: Worldbuilding Edition

A collection of DPxDC headcanons from myself and various posts, in no particular order.

Green stuff

Dionesium is, or is one of the main decay byproduct of, ectoplasm. It is the defining element in Lazarus water.

Lazarus water is a naturally occurring compound that amplifies certain effects of ectoplasm. Concentration of ectoplasm in the waters is surprisingly low despite the appearance.

College trio as the Doctor Three. Who lead the study on dionesium in Gotham University at some point.

Talons created by the Court of Owls are a special type of liminals, and communicates within themselves via a dialect of ghost speak.

Realms stuff

Infinite realms, or pockets within it, had been observed and accessed before, by different civilizations under numerous different names.

The Kryptonians used the realms as a means of banishment, which they called the phantom zone.

GIW stuff

GIW is operating under All Purpose Enforcement Squad (APES), headquarters in mount Rushmore.

Anti-ecto Acts is a set of old laws dating back to civil war era, only brought back into practice in recent years.

Liminals have significantly higher chance of activating metagene. May or may not be causing the metagene mutation in the first place.

Anti-ecto Acts might be intentionally exploited as a backdoor to meta protection acts.

Ring stuff

Pariah Dark's ring of rage turned into the phantom ring after Danny officially claimed it. It enhances all emotions of the owner equally.

Danny lost his ring at some point and it became known to the lanterns as the phantom ring.

In the hands of realm ghosts the phantom ring glows green regardless of the emotion it is enhancing, as ghosts are beings of pure will. Otherwise it is black with a faint white glow. (Can't believe this one matches up, I love lore stitching)

Balance stuff

Danny bears both Life Force and Death Force in equal amounts. His only way to accessing them is channelling a mixture of the two to power his ghost wail.

Ghost Wail infused with both acts like a simple sonic attack. But if powdered only by death force it's functionally the same thing as Void Wind, which 'negates the power and immortality of the gods. Enabling it to shut down any form of arcana used against it'.

Dark Danny only process death force as he no longer have a human side for balance. His death infused wail could be how he destroyed the world without much interference from magic users.

Danny's Wail can be infused with only life force instead, which would eviscerate ghosts. Possibly only possible when he is in human form.

Glitchy stuff (not really DC related)

Dark Danny's attack on Clockwork's tower created some pretty severe glitchs in time (ha) across all of the living realms.

As the clocktower take damage some universes collapsed together, and some timelines became contradictory and paradoxical (typical comic reboot am I right?😅)

After Dan finally calmed down he becomes the ultimate errand boy for clockwork. Showing up an fixing things he broke under the guidance of the ghost of Time.

Stranger stuff

Dan got sentenced to Life (literal) in an alternate ending of glitch in time, which capped his destruction and eventually calmed him off.

Reformed Dan is doing social services as penance, in the DC multiverse he goes by the alias of Phantom Stranger.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #world building #headcanons #I'm so normal about this crossover

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starkandthewaynes · 1 year ago

Text

Ghosts from the past Pt. 7

All the founding members of the Justice League and Dark team were seated around the conference table, with the bats, three young adults, and a toddler. "Batman, what is going on?" Wonder Woman asks as two of the young adults stand up, powering on their presentation. The first slide read: The American government is trying to declare war on ghosts???? Tucker smirks at the clickbait title. "Danny, Jazz, what haven't you told me?" John Constantine asks his niece and nephew. "We're getting there Uncle John." Danny says, crossing his arms.

Sam nods as she hits a button. "First thing you have to understand, Ghosts, just like people, can be good or bad, and they can reform. They are sentient, they have their own ruling systems of government and laws, and culture. They are a people simply on the other side of the veil." Sam says as pictures are shown of the ghost zone. "Now the Ghost Zone or more widely known by Ghosts as the Infinite Realms is essentially a mirrored dimension to our own, and there are scientists who have punched a whole into this dimension without the citizen's permission. This portal has led to our hometown, Amity Park, being ground zero for the paranormal." Sam says, as the slides continue. "Now because biased scientists are considered the lead experts in the field of ecto-ology, the united states government has passed laws called the ecto laws and have created their own ghost hunting branch," Tucker says as everyone in the room's stomachs filled with dread.

"The ectolaws state that any beings that are made of or consume ectoplasm in any form are non-sentient and therefore cannot feel pain, they deem it is acceptable to capture and experiment on the beings from the Infinite Realms." Sam says, as Danny wants to run out of the room. "And they have already done so to the ruling monarch of the Realms." Sam says as Danny stands up, taking a deep breath. "Danny?" Sam asks, as Danny stands up on a chair to be seen by everyone. "My name is Danny Fenton, and the Dr.s Fenton, my adoptive parents, are the scientists Sam talked about. Their portal didn't work, until I hit a button on the inside. It gave me a shock, and I woke up to what the ghosts call a half, half-ghost, half-human." Danny says, his eyes watering, but he looks at JJ.

"After a year of me being my towns only hero, another ghost awoken the evil ghost king, Pariah Dark, a ghost so feared his real name was erased from our history." He says as Jason nods. "He, he took my town into the Infinite Realms, where I then defeated him in single combat. I became the new Ghost King." Danny whispers, looking down. "And now my friends are getting hurt because I can't protect them, because I was hurt." Danny says, sniffling. "And, and I gotta help them, I wanna help them, they're my friends. "I was captured, and then, the Dr. Fentons cut me and hurt me really badly. And, and after they were done, they handed me over to the GIW, where I was hurt and drained." Danny says, as tears go down his face. "Pawpaw had to rescue me, he had to turn me into a toddler to keep me safe, and then Jazzy took me to Gotham." Danny says, as he wipes his eyes. "I need your help, to help my friends, I don't want what happened to me to happen to them, so pwease help, you're my only hope." He says, as he runs to Jazz's arms, crying even more, so she and Red Hood leave.

"How did the meta-human protection laws miss this?" Superman asks as Sam sighs. "The GIW built a firewall to keep Amity Park separated from the rest of the world. They captured a ghost of technology to create it. Nothing gets in or out unless you have access to ectoplasm." Tucker explains as Sam is watching the door. "He'll be okay, Sam, it's Danny." Tucker says, as Sam shakes her head. "We don't know if he's stuck like that, Tucker!" Sam shouts as Tucker sighs. "I know that, but getting upset won't help him at all." Tucker says as Sam growls.

"What do you mean?" Wonder-Woman asks as the two friends nod. "Danny was 14 when everything started. We tried calling you guys, to get help, but we kept getting a busy signal, so Danny took on the role of a hero all on his own." Sam says, her voice telling how much she cares. "We were his backup, but there were so many times where we couldn't help him or we just got in his way. Tucker and I were on our family's vacations when he was taken. and by the time we got back, Danny and Jazz were packing, and Danny was a baby." Sam says, as Tucker holds her shoulders. "He's gotten a little older in just the year they've been here. He looks like a three or four-year-old." Tucker says as Sam shakes her head. "We should've seen the signs." Sam says as Tucker shakes his head. "We couldn't have known." Tucker says as John stands up. "I want you two to hear this and listen well. My nephew and Niece don't want you two beating yourselves up over what's happened. You're here now, you're doing your best to help. And as far as his age is concerned, I've had a chat with Chronos about it, the spell will eventually dissipate as Danny gets safer and safer. He's already 6 or 8 since finding Hood and the bats." John says as the two young adults look hopeful. Thank the Ancients.

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half-dead-ham · 2 years ago

Text

Family introductions

For @blue-soundwaves, merry Christmas!

summary: Danny and Tim have been dating for about a year now, figuring out their relationship between Tim’s vigilante duties and Danny’s Ghost King responsibilities. Danny is taking a small (unauthorized) break from his paperwork to find his bf flat on his ass sick trying to go on patrol. The only way to stop him was to take his place, and Danny was lucky they're the same size.

[Ao3: here!]

Being King of an entire dimension had its perks, the new powers, meeting new (alien!) civilizations and cultures, getting an actual mentor to help him figure everything out. Those were really cool, and oftentimes it was fun to figure out the new powers with said mentor and his friends, but at the moment all Danny could think about was how much it sucked to be king of the Zone.

Why, do you ask?

The paperwork.

Pariah Dark was many things, a tyrant, a conqueror, a fearsome warlord with a look that could melt steel, but he was not a good king. Might be stating the obvious, but ruling with an iron fist does not a just king make, and the evidence was clear in the sheer amount of paperwork the old king left behind. Several filing rooms had been allocated to the pileup since the previous king was forcefully put to rest, and now…

Now it was Danny's problem.

In the three years since he defeated The Mad King, and the two since he took the throne (only part time until he’d finished his human education) the amount of files and requests and notices Danny had had to go through was mind melting, and so far it had only been the ones of most importance! He tried to keep out of the filing rooms as much as possible, partly because the royal record keeper had a system for those rooms that for the half-life of him Danny could not wrap his head around, and partly because the amount of paperwork in those rooms made him want to melt into a puddle and not reform for the next century.

The one thing currently keeping him going while at his royal desk during summer break (other than his friends and family) was his boyfriend. They had met a year and a half ago when Danny had gone to Gotham on a STEM exchange program with Gotham Academy. They started talking after some incorrect statement the teacher had made about electromagnetism that they had both pointed out. From there they had basically spent the two weeks glued to each other, bouncing ideas off one another and creating coffee induced chaos in the science lab.

By the end of the exchange they had swapped contact information and promised each other to keep in contact as much as they could with their hectic schedules, them having important rich boy stuff and Danny with highschool and ghost king work.

A week later Tim had texted asking if he was Phantom.

He responded by asking whether or not he was Red Robin.

A few explanations and it all went downhill from there, them only getting more and more comfortable with each other, texting and calling after patrolls, Danny abusing his newfound portal making power to hop over to Gotham for hangout sessions, then sleep overs, then spending weekends.

It was Tim that eventually asked him out, and Ancients dammit, he was too cute not to say yes.

It went on pretty well after that, Tim telling him about his family and their nightly activities, how he got into the whole thing himself (which Danny just had to laugh at) and all the… feuds he and his brothers have had since then.

Danny personally wanted a few words with his boyfriend's adopted family, just a few, but he respected Tim’s wish to keep their relationship a secret, with Tim explaining that if his family knew he'd never get away from them.

Right now he’d love for that to happen.

Danny was on his second week of summer vacation, and his second week of ghostly paperwork. The Observants had all but whisked him away the first day of break, and the only thing currently saving him from a lecture about staying out late is the fact that his parents don’t keep up with where he goes during the day and his late hours in the office (and sometimes a little help from Clockwork,) keeping him out until everyone was already in bed.

The observants shuffled him from meeting to desk work and back, always keeping an eye on him so he couldn’t just run off. He had no excuse (that they would take) to keep him from working his way through the stacks they deposited on his desk, and made their opinions of his “inconsistent and intolerable” working habits very well known to Danny.

Ancients, he needed a break.

And just as he thought that for the fifth time that hour (was it an hour? Time was so inconsistent in the realms,) the opportunity for a breather presented itself. Danny was halfway through his most recent stack when the door opened. Another Observant than the ones that had been keeping an eye on him had barged in, fuming about something going on at the Tribunal HQ. They screeched at each other for what must have been half an hour, talking “impossibilities” and “needing to speak to Clockwork about this” before giving him a stern “don’t you dare get up from that chair,” then racing off to do their freaky hivemind shouting match between themselves.

Needless to say Danny didn’t listen to them.

First thing to do was stretch. With the Observants breathing down his neck, Danny barely had any room to move. He felt like being back in school, having to ask for a stretch or bathroom break, not to mention the amount of grumbling from Bert, the Observant currently watching him, that Danny very quickly learned to tune out.

Lacing his fingers and lifting his arms above his head, Danny heard more than a few sickeningly satisfying pops run down his back, even a few in his neck afterwards. He did a few stretches, even sneaking in a few yoga poses Jazz had shown him before, and with each different move he felt something stretch or unstiffen, even a few more satisfying pops here and there.

Next thing on the agenda? Get the hell out of the Realms.

Specifically, to Tim’s place. The Observants would probably check Amity first when they find him gone, and he wanted as much time as he could get out of this. Tim doesn’t usually mind his impromptu visits, and even if he’s out on patrol just getting to see him when he comes back would be nice.

Even with the paperwork Danny had been finding ways to keep in contact, a missive here, a text there. Not a lot, but they were both busy, and they both knew that.

It was with great joy that Danny grabbed the folds of reality and tore, creating a tear in space big enough for him to step through to his favourtie humans home. Reasserting his heartbeat with his human form Danny found himself in the darkness of the upstairs bathroom. It made sense for the bathroom to be dark given the time, but the presence in the apartment gave him pause. The little digital clock on the bathroom shelf indicated that Tim should be on patrol by now, if not just leaving, but the human's presence was down in the living room.

“Timmy?” Danny called out into the equally dark apartment as he opened the bathroom door. A low groan emanating from where Danny could feel Tim’s presence didn’t ease his worry as Danny crept his way through the upper floor and down the stairs to find his boyfriend.

Another groan had Danny rushing down the rest of the flight of stairs, jumping the last three and turning to the living room. Shuffling behind the couch had Danny running around the corner to find Tim, in full Red Robin uniform, struggling to get up off the floor on weak legs.

“Tim!” Danny rushed over to catch a shaking Tim from collapsing again, grabbing him by the cape before pulling his human into his arms. He was pale and sweating, with the vigilantes mask crumpled as he screwed his eyes shut with nausea at the sudden altitude shift.

"Danny?" Tim groaned as he cracked one eye open. Danny was frantically checking the bird over, peeling his mask off to check his eyes, placing fingers to his neck to read his pulse, and placing the back of his hand against the human's forehead to check his temperature. Tim made a small sigh at cooled contact, and while Danny noticed he was burning up, it wasn't to a dangerous degree. Right now it just seemed as though Tim had caught a really bad cold.

"Tim, what the hell? Why are you trying to scare me to full death by trying to go tour the realms in your costume‽" Danny whisper-shouted to the vigilante in his arms, noting the bird's costume was out of place in certain spots. Did he put his costume on like this?

The bird groaned as he tried to sit up, but the grip Danny still had on his cape prevented it.

"Gotta… go, Bats called… bigg breakout a’… Arkham… nnneed to help…" With the way Tim was shaking, he couldn't help anyone, let alone leave the apartment. Another attempt at getting up had Danny sighing at his boyfriends antics, what's with these Gotham vigilantes' and their need for self sacrificing?

"Tim, you look halfway to your grave, I'm not letting you out on patrol, not like this," gently the half-ghost repositioned his grip on the human's shoulders, snaking his other arm around his knees and picking the teen up bridal-style. With another glance down he started walking, softly adding in, "how did you even get up here? A light breeze would make you crumple."

Dazedly Tim made a confused grunt, seemingly only realizing he was not, in fact, in The Nest downstairs and actually in his living room. The wrinkles between his eyebrows would be cute if he wasn't looking about as dead as Danny was.

"Wazn… this bad… before-" a dry cough wracked through his frame, causing Danny to readjust his grip slightly. "-fought Ivvy yeserday… got hit… didn think it wass 'nything to worry 'bout… till now…" he trailed off as they reached his bedroom, watching with half lidded eyes as Danny carefully opened and maneuvered them through the door and striding over to place Tim down on the bed.

As Danny started taking Tims cape from around his shoulder he grabbed Danny by the arm.

“Nnnoooo… Batz’l kill mee.. f’I don go outt…” Tim whined, trying to simultaneously push danny off and prop himself up, but his shaky arms barely held his weight and before long he was back on the bed with his cape removed.

“Tim, you look like shit,” the ghost boy replied bluntly, “you really think you'll be able to help anyone like this?”

Nothing but a soft grunt came from the bed bound bird as Danny folded up his boyfriends cape, setting it down lightly on the dresser nearby. He turned around to see his boyfriend covering his eyes with his arm… Was he crying?

“Boo? Boo what's wrong?” Walking back over he saw his boyfriend was indeed tearing up, using his arm to try and hide the damp rolling down his cheeks and sniffling softly. Danny kneeled next to the bed and took the arm, revealing Tim, crying and pouting like a child. It was so cute, Danny had to resist taking a picture.

“Bruce’ll be mad…” he heard the sick teen mumble softly. Danny had to sigh, why was Tim suddenly acting like a five year old? Was it because of what he got hit with yesterday? Tim had said there was an Arkham breakout, so people could be in danger if they didn’t have enough people to round all the villains up, but Tim couldn’t be left alone… But but if he went out he could maybe find Ivy and ask her for an antidote, but but but he couldn’t go out as Phantom because he still hadn’t been introduced to the family yet…

Ugh, this was giving him a headache.

Stewing in his own head wouldn’t do any good, Tim was supposed to be out for patrol by now. Danny absently looked around the spacious bedroom, eyes landing on nothing until he spotted the folded cape on the dresser.

He and Tim shared quite a few characteristics, height, figure, relative facial features…

A plan formed in Danny’s head as he stood up, a half assed, crazy plan, but one that just might work. Quickly he started stripping Tim of his Red Robin gear, knowing roughly how to take it off and put it on from the few times he had shadowed Tim on his patrol. He replaced the costume with a loose sleep shirt and shorts, then just as quickly stripped himself. A small gasp had him stop halfway through, turning to see Tim with clearer eyes. Tim was looking at him put on the costume. A blush crept onto Danny’s face for a reason he couldn’t figure out, but it had stalled him long enough for Tim to regain some rational speech.

“Danny… what are you doing?” Tim asked, looking absolutely and utterly confused, cute.

“What does it look like I’m doing Polaris? I’m getting Red Robin ready for patrol,” he turned back to finish putting on the costume. It fit him well, with only a few minor adjustments to his form he filled it out nicely. All zipped up and caped, he didn’t look that much different to Tim, and he spun around to show off, even giving little jazz hands as he faced Tim.

Danny couldn’t tell if the blush on the boy's face was due to the fever or the pet-name, but the calculating look was aimed at him nonetheless.

“How do I look, Starlight? Pretty similar?” Danny gave his best smile, even at the near glare his boyfriend was scrutinizing him with. He really hoped the glare was due to hazy vision and not him being mad.

“Bruce’ll find out,” Tim grumbled, but didn’t deny he looked the part.

“Only if we’re together too long. I feel like I know you well enough to act like you in front of them for a little,” he replied humorously as he applied the domino mask to his own face. It didn’t restrict his vision as much as he thought it would, and the readouts streaming into the lenses was pretty useful, if a bit distracting.

“‘Nd the hair?” Tim questioned hoarsely, looking at the mop of black locks that was too short to fall like Tim’s but too long to say he just had it cut.

That was easily fixed with Danny running his fingers through his hair, using the little trick to help show off his form changing and growing at a thought. When his hand dropped he looked like Tim, if Tim had gone through a windstorm and came out with messy hair. The mess was fixed, not entirely but enough, for Danny to look near identical with the mask on.

Another calculating look over from Tim and he seemed to pass his test.

“‘Nd… the voice?”

“A little bit of precise muscle control and I’m peachy,” Danny replied easily in Tim’s voice. Sure, he’s been told by Sam and Tucker that the voice changing was creepy, but for this?

For this it works perfectly.

Tim made a similar face to his friends when he had showed off the voice manipulation, but made a grunt of approval at the display. A nod and Danny was making another swirling green vortex to his castle, popping his head through to a hallway. Sticking an arm through Danny pulled a very startled footmen through the portal into the bedroom.

“You, you aren’t busy, are you?” He asked the footman in ghost speak.

If the ghost wasn’t startled at being pulled into the human world, they were with his lord addressing him personally.

“N-no my lord! I am here to serve!” They hastily replied with a deep bow.

“Good, I’d like you to watch over my human for a while. He’s bedridden with illness and I’m going to be taking over his duties for the night so he doesn’t get the crap beaten out of him by his boss,” Danny waved off the bow, rolling his eyes at another rejection of his order to not bow at him.

The footman looked between the bedridden human and his king in panic. “But my lord, I couldn’t possibly take care of a human! It’s been too long since I was alive for me to remember how to care for a sick mortal, and if I were to accidentally damage them my crime would surely be severe!”

Danny couldn’t stop the chuckle that came from his throat as he replied “Don’t worry, too much. I just need you to keep a water glass full and come get me if he looks like he’s getting worse.”

Danny tilted to look at Tim with a pointed glare, “you will stay in bed and sleep to get better, right Tim?”

A grumble and wave as his human turned away from him was as good enough a reply as he was going to get. So he quickly phased through to the kitchen to swipe a glass, led the footman, Markov, to the bathroom to show him how to use the tap on the sink, then he was racing across the rooftops to where the bat family usually assembles for missions.

So, maybe Danny didn’t entirely think his plan through when he first thought of it.

Why?

The bats were very intimidating up close.

Danny had made it to the rendezvous rooftop just fine, even using the grapple to propel himself across the city instead of flying like he wanted to! (He really wanted to, controlled falling with only a tiny cable to keep him from going splat? He may be self sacrificial but not suicidal.) Had to keep up the Red Robin persona, after all. By the time he had made it to the predestined rooftop the rest of the clan had already arrived and were just barely waiting for him. Barely.

“The hell were you, Replacement?” The guy in the leather jacket and death stank snapped at him. Huh, Danny thought Red Hood didn’t like working with Tim, but that question almost made it seem like the antihero was worried for him. “Dickwing here wouldn’t shut up about you not being here early, and we were the ones that had to deal with it!” Ah, so that’s what it was.

Nightwing elbowed Hood with a glare, before turning to Danny with an apologetic smile. “What he meant to say was that we were all worried when you weren’t here at the usual time, something we should know about, Timmy?”

“Nothing, really,” he replied in Tim’s voice. “I had an unexpected visitor and getting them to leave took longer than expected, that's all.”

He could feel someone’s gaze on him, from just beyond the shadows of the roof's stairway access. Danny could only imagine which more observant bat was in there watching him. Tim had mentioned one of his sisters being able to read body language fluently, he only hoped that if he kept his stance relaxed and open and not looked he’d at least be able to get through this.

“I expect a more in depth answer when I read your report, Red Robin,” the sound of gravel came from Danny’s left, and turning revealed the big Bat himself. Ancients, Danny really needed to keep calm here, Tim had said his adopted dad was intimidating, but holy crap, Batman!

With how silent the bat was he really hoped he didn’t die and become a ghost, he would be terrifying. (Or maybe he should want Batman to become a ghost? Then Tim could still see him and he’d get a fearsome new strategist.)

A smaller form rounded the imposing caped crusader, one Danny recognized instantly. It was hard not to recognize the youngest Wayne with how often his starlight complained about him.

“Drake,” Robin said as he crossed his arms.

“Brat,” Danny replied with a nod of his head.

Batman made a grunt as he turned to face the rest of the group.

“We’re splitting up to cover more ground, teams of two,” the Bat motions to the shadow and Nightwing, with Orphan stepping out of the darkness to be better addressed. “Orphan and Nightwing will be taking the west side, Robin and Spoiler-” he points to the child and the blonde in purple sitting above Orphan on the access hut roof. “-you’ll take the south. Red Robin and Red Hood-”

“If you say anywhere other than the north, old man, I swear-”

“-you’ll be taking the north,” he cuts over Hood’s rant quickly. How used to that was he? Danny could only imagine.

“I’ll be taking the southside, with Oracle on lookout. We have reports of the joker running around, if anyone spots him do not engage. Call for backup and keep a safe distance,” he turns to give what Danny thinks is a glare to Red Hood, the cowl makes it a little hard to guess.

“Are we clear?” Batman challenged, clearly expecting only a yes. A glare-off started and Danny could swear he saw sparks.

Finally, after a good five minutes, Hood relented, huffing out a “Clear,” between clenched teeth. Everyone else sounded off their confirmations as they left in different directions, with Oracle relaying sightings of various rouges through their comms. Seems he and Hood were on the trail of the Riddler to start, with him being spotted near Gotham stadium.

With the directions given from Oracle, Danny had to use a tiny amount of flight to catch up to Red Hood, who had started his run just after the grumble to B. Seems he was trying to lose him, if the dissatisfied grunt when Danny caught up was anything to go by.

Good news, The Riddler was an easy catch, running around in the stadium underground trying to get ready for whatever hair-brained scheme he’d come up with, only to be knocked cold by a few rubber bullets to the back and bo staff to the face. There were a few bombs to dispose of, and while Danny didn’t actually know how to safely dispose of a bomb safely, he did have the ability to pocket inanimate objects into a space between spaces, and no one really needed to see the bombs he disposed of right away.

He figured he could give them to Tim to disarm and he’ll be able to give them to the police later.

Bad news, he and Red Hood split up to make sure they got all the bombs in the basement floors, making it really easy for Hood to ditch once he was done and leave Danny alone.

Coulda at least given him a heads up, so he didn’t try to wait for him while the police showed up for the weirdo in green. Guess he was on his own then.

Propelling himself off another rooftop to the northwestern port, Danny absently listened to the chatter of the other bats over the comms. They all liked making small talk, with Nightwing being the most talkative. Apparently Tim was just about as talkative as his brother, as Nightwing made a comment towards him saying something along the lines of “Tim, you good? You’re quieter than normal tonight,” and he had to spin something about how he was fine, and he was just thinking about something his guest had said before he left and left it at that.

The docks were just as haunted as he remembered, with shades and whisps floating from warehouse to warehouse aimlessly. Danny remembered a few villain hideouts around here from the cases Tim had shared with him, and it was better to be safe than sorry with this port being closest to Arkham.

Danny wasn’t finding anything immediately dangerous as he went from one corrugated roof to the next, thanking whoever staged the breakout mentally that they had decided to do it during a dry spell. He would not do well as a regular human on slick roofs, ancients only knew what would happen if Tim fell from this height just because he slipped.

A clattering noise coming from a few buildings in front of him startled him enough to stop. He was nearing the end of the docks, and the warehouses were becoming sparse enough to see the more residential buildings not too far from him. More noise and he zeroed in on the warehouse it was coming from.

One of the Joker's known hideouts.

Danny really didn’t like the situation he had just found himself in.

“Oracle,” Danny clicked on his comms, silencing whatever Nightwing was about to say. “I’m at Port Hill on the northern point, there's movement inside one of Joker’s hideouts.”

That got everyone's attention, silencing any chatter they may be having on private channels. B’s line clicked on and the low grumble practically shook Danny’s core.

“Red Robin, maintain your position, everyone else rendezvous at his position.”

Several sounds of confirmation could be heard, with eta’s coming in just after. Looks like Danny will be staying in place for a while, so he might as well plop himself down on the ledge of the roof next to the one he was watching.

He busied himself with counting the ridges of the roof as he swung his feet rhythmically. Not really focusing on anything except the weak presences of the nearby spirits as they wandered around the port.

A shrill scream cut through his daydreaming, coming form the warehouse in front of him.

Shit, did the Joker take a hostage?

His core flared to life with protective urges, needing to make sure the origin of the scream really was someone in need, and if there really was a hostage that they could get out safely before whatever the clown had in store for them played out.

Great, this was so going to get him in trouble.

Danny clicked the comms alive once more, relaying the new information to the bats. “Just heard a scream, I think the clown might have taken a hostage.”

“Red Robin, don’t engage. We’ll be able to handle a hostage more efficiently together.”

“But B, we may not have the time to wait! He’s probably waiting for us all to come in guns blazing so he can kill them in front of us!”

“My orders are the same, do not engage,” Batman shut his comms off after that, leaving no more room to argue.

Danny turned his own comm off and growled, deep and inhuman. He couldn’t just not go and try to help. If someone was in there and Danny stayed? He didn’t want to remember the burning his core would give him in response. Making up his mind, he grinned a too wide smile as the whites of his domino lit up green.

Fuck Batman, time for some fun.

Finding a way in was easy, as the roof was lined with windows just below the overhang. They were dirty and rusted at the hinges, but gave easily when he pulled enough against one. He managed to pull one open just enough to squeeze through and drop himself onto one of the catwalks snaking through the rafters of the building.

The place itself was packed with clown themed contraband from wall to wall, some being just benign stage props and others being rather nasty looking contraptions. Danny was pretty sure he spotted an electric chair knocked over in a ball pit.

The center of the warehouse was cleared of the clutter, rounded to the main doors like some inverse stage. Strapped to a chair in the center of the clearing was a guy, maybe mid twenties, with short brown hair and gray hoodie. Poor guy must have been picked up off the street on the Clowns way here, he was gagged and wide eyed with terror.

The hostage was here, and other than looking a little scuffed up he seemed fine, but where was the Joker?

Danny crept along the catwalk silently to canvas the rest of the warehouse for the Clown, even jumping a few beams to get a better vantage. No sign of him. The probability of him going out for a smoke break or something was pretty low, but as Danny’s core was still screaming at him to get the hostage out of here, he'd rather take the chance of a trap than get the guy hurt.

When he returned to his original spot on the catwalk there was still no change to the guy in the chair, no noise other than his muffled gasps and sobs and no shuffling in any other part of the building. Silently Danny slid off the platform to the concrete floor below, crouching and using a bit of flight to negate the impact he had with the ground. He scanned the room once more, looking to see if anything had changed with the new perspective. Still nothing.

Ancients, this situation had ‘Trap’ written all over it in bright red letters.

Still, he made his way over to the guy strapped to the chair, who by then had noticed him and was looking at Danny with tearful eyes. The spotlight overhead cast most of the building's innards in shadow once Danny stepped inside, but he’d still have the shadows and the guy to help him notice if anyone snuck up on him.

Danny’s first order of business was to ungag the guy, both to help him breathe and to ask the guy some questions.

“You’re Red Robin,” the dude sputtered eloquently.

“Sure am,” Danny replied with a huff, moving to untie the guy's arms from behind him.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he added on nervously, shifting his gaze around as he tried to look for invisible enemies.

“Well sorry to disappoint,” Danny grumbled as he moved from the knots behind the guy to the ones tying his legs.

“No, no, you don’t get it! He’s waiting for you bats! He went somewhere a while ago and who knows how long it’ll be before he gets back!” The guy was nearing a panic attack with how quickly his breath was coming out. Danny needed to calm him down so they could both get out of here safely.

“What’s your name?” The non sequitur seems to jolt the guy out of the panic spiral he was going down.

“M-Mark. You really shouldn’t have come in here.”

“Well, Mark,” Danny rolled his eyes behind the domino. “What do you think he would’ve done to you if I hadn’t come in here to get you?”

At that Mark paled, not realizing exactly how bad his luck was tonight until Danny pointed it out. Mark stiffened, never letting his eyes still as he watched the shadows in front of the duo.

The knots came undone rather quickly, and while Danny wanted to question it, he could do it at a better time and place. He looked up, about to reassure Mark that they could make their way to the door now, when he had to cut himself off by dragging the guy off his chair. A bat narrowly missed the back of his head, clanging onto the metal back of the chair and denting the soft metal.

“Awwww, I was really hoping you wouldn’t notice till his head popped like a piñata,” a lilting voice said. The Clown Prince himself walked closer to the two, roughly kicking the chair out of his path as he propped the bat up on his shoulder.

“And, what? No Batsy? Too busy for good old Joker to come himself, so he sends one of his little birdies to play instead?” The Clown exaggerated a pout as he looked to the rafters. “Or are you just hiding Batsy‽ Waiting till I let my guard down!”

Now that he had a good look at the infamous circus freak, Dannny was amazed at just how hated the villain was. The stories Tim told him and the sites dedicated to the Clown really didn’t quite make it feel real, but now that Danny has had a chance to look at him up close. Just, wow.

That was a lot of curses.

The mass of negative energy slithered over and around the crazed man’s form, swirling around him like smoke and hanging off him, covering every inch of the human in thick, oily smoke. The smoke condensed behind him, forming a writhing mass of living curses, angry and sad and hateful. It looked like everyone the Clown ever killed had a piece of their soul stuck to the man just to make sure they knew he’d died in the afterlife. It was beautiful and terrifying at once, just how many had this one mortal killed?

“Seems like I’m just disappointing everyone tonight,” Danny mumbled under his breath as he refocused and got himself and the hostage to their feet, bringing out his bo staff carefully. He placed himself between the hostage and villain protectively as the Clown swung his head around to view the rafters, searching for something that wasn’t there.

Taking advantage of Joker's distraction, Danny pushed Mark towards the door behind them.

“But!-” Mark tried to get out but Danny silenced him before he could say anything more.

“Go, I’ll keep him busy,” and with another push Mark was running to the door and Joker’s attention was back on them.

“Hey! You’re letting my guppy get away, the nerve!” The crazed Clown exclaimed as he charged at Danny, taking a swing at his head and missing by a hair as he dodged. The clown changed the angle of his swing and the bat came down, nearly hitting Danny's shoulder if he hadn’t blocked it with his bo.

“Aw, well… Suppose I did catch a bird with my fish, so I still have some bait to lure the bat in,” another swing that glanced off Danny's staff had him taking a step back, unused to the weapon. Sure, Pandora had trained Danny in a few different weapon styles while training, but he wasn’t nearly as proficient in it as Tim was.

A sadistic grin grew on the Joker’s face as they swung again, manic glint in his eye and cackling as he spoke. “I never did manage to get you in my collection of plucked birdies, did I? Maybe once I clip your wings I’ll give you to the Bat as a gift! Another dead bird for his flock!” A louder cackle and another dodge of the bat as Danny's thoughts swirled in the new information.

Another dead bird? A few things came to mind, including the worrying smell of death revived from another red themed vigilante. The fact that this maniac had got one of Tim’s brothers and killed them, and now he wanted to do the same to another one?

Danny’s core was icing in his chest at the thought.

Dropping any pretence of dodging the next swing Danny let the Clown cackle triumphantly as his bat connected with the side of the hero's face. The laughter turned into annoyed grunt as the Joker dropped the bat in favour of clutching his wrist, now numb and tingly from the impact. Danny hadn’t moved an inch from the swing, watching the confusion grow on the Clown’s face as he looked to the supposed bird in front of him.

“What-” the Clown started but silenced himself at the deep chuckle Danny forced out of his throat, much too deep for someone of Tim’s stature to produce.

“See, now you’ve gone and did something you shouldn’t have, Boingo.” Danny stated, using his own voice and lacing it with a ghostly chill. “You just threatened the lives of people under my protection. Just the fact that you’ve already done something as great as killed one had you on thin fucking ice, but you threatening my people in front of me?” Another low chuckle escaped his throat as he smiled with lips pulled back too far and teeth too sharp. He could see the glow his eyes were putting off on the rims of the domino as he cocked his head jarringly to the side.

“Now we play my game.”

Bruce was worried, they hadn’t made good time to the north port and Tim hadn’t responded when they had tried to ask him more about the situation.

Now, it wasn’t that Bruce didn’t trust his sons, he just didn't trust them against someone like the Joker. He’d already lost one son to the mad man, and even if he did get him back he couldn’t afford to lose another.

Bruce was the last to arrive at the port, and scanning his children left one unaccounted for. He had told Tim to hold his position, why did his kids never listen?

Jason, the first on scene had told them Tim was nowhere in sight, and when Dick asked why he wasn’t with him in the first place he grumbled something about losing him while apprehending The Riddler in the sports stadium underbelly. While Bruse could have called him out on the lie he had more pressing things to think about, so he left that to Dick.

One more look to his children before they dispersed with a nod, off to find their own ways into the building as Bruce headed for the warehouse bay doors. He landed on the ground silently, noting the doors were left open enough for him to move in without moving them. Something intentional? A trap maybe? Dread filled his gut as he realised Tim would have been alone while possibly walking into a death trap.

Two taps over the comms signaled everyone in position, and a tap to his own comm gave them the go to start going in. Bruce maneuvered himself through the door to find a singular overhead bulb illuminating a cleared out space in an otherwise packed room. A steel bat lay dented a few feet from the door, warped at an angle suggesting it had hit something denser than it. A metal chair was on the edge of the cone of light, clearly knocked out of the way as it sat on its side, another dent on its back clearly seen.

At the opposite end of the circle was Tim, unmoving with his back facing Bruce. From his point of view he couldn’t see anything wrong with the boy, but he could tell something was wrong. Tim was too still, his situational awareness would normally have alerted the boy to Bruce coming up behind him, yet he didn’t move to face him.

More taps over the comm signaled an all clear, and still Tim didn’t move, proving he had taken his comm out earlier. Bruce moved to just behind the boy, hearing the soft thumps as the rest of his family made their way down.

“Tim?” Bruce asked softly, fearing dark scenarios with Joker’s poisonous smile on his son.

Finally, Tim moved. Turning to face Bruce with a questioning hum. Bruce minutely sagged in relief, the boy wasn't smiling, that was good. Something still didn’t sit well in his stomach, though he couldn’t place what.

“You disobeyed orders,” he ground out. He knew his son was safe, now he was in deep trouble.

“Yeah, well,” Tim shrugged nonchalantly. “You were late.”

Bruce’s brows came together under the cowl, as he noted a few of his kids stealing glances at each other. That wasn’t something Tim would say. Something wasn’t adding up here, with Joker being nowhere in sight and Tim acting off.

Tim turned his head to follow Cassandra as she moved next to Bruce, Keeping a critical eye on Tim while she spoke.

“Not Tim.”

Those two words sent everyone on high alert, tensing for a fight now that the imposter was outed. Not-Tim didn’t move, keeping his posture relaxed as he smirked.

“You knew the whole time, didn’t you?” The imposter asked in an unfamiliar voice, his tone almost sounding amused with the outcome. Cassandra nodded once, confirming the man’s assumption and he chuckled, shifting to place his weight on one foot as he brought his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck.

“Was it anything in particular, or did you just read me that well?” He asked, still no heat to his tone. By now the others were beyond confused, looking between each other in uncertainty as their forms dropped with the tension, though Jason and Damian still kept their weapons raised.

Bruce would really like to know what was going on right now.

Cassandra smiled at the man in front of them, eyes crinkling over the half mask. The man gave another chuckle as he moved his hand from his neck to his hair, carding his fingers through the mop. When he set his hand down again his hair had become shorter, no cutting or pulling it back, just magically shorter.

Bruised wanted to groan, he hated dealing with magic.

“If you aren’t Tim, then where is he?” Dick asked cautiously.

“He’s at home, sleeping off whatever Dr. Ivy hit him with the last night you went on patrol,” the stranger replied easily. A glance to his daughter beside him told Bruce he was telling the truth.

“What, is he sick?” Stephanie asked with a scoff. “That's bull, he said himself that he felt fine after taking it, for all we know you could be lying.”

“Believe me, or don’t,” the stranger shrugged, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged in the air as he spoke. “I have someone keeping an eye on his condition while I take his place for the night. He was delusional and could barely stand, I found him in his living room trying to jump out the window.”

A snort from Jason's direction was cut short with a grunt. The stranger before them snickered.

“Y’know, you guys are a lot more fun when you don’t have a mission to be focused on. Maybe I’ll ask Tim if we can hang out sometime now that I’ve met you.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes at the stranger, something still wasn’t adding up, and it had nothing to do with the floating act. Before he could pursue it, though, Jason brought up another good question.

“So where’s the Joker?” The stranger flinched, making Bruce tense again at the sheepish look on the beings face.

“Yeah, see well… About that…” he stuttered, before deflating, sinking a few inches in the air as he motioned over to a dark lump behind him just outside the light. There wasn’t anything special about the lump until Bruce let his eyes adjust some, he realised the lump had legs.

The Joker was curled up in a ball on the floor.

“What the hell‽” Jason alarmingly exclaimed as he backed up a step.

Bruce took two batarangs out of the pouch on his belt, ready to throw them at the being in front of them. “What did you do to him?” He growled in warning, making everyone raise their guard in waiting with him.

“It’s not my fault, okay‽ The dude was just really cursed, I just helped a little!” The being raised his hands as a show of peace, looking slightly panicked.

“What exactly did you help?” Dick asked, batons out at the ready.

“Well, the curses were pretty weak, so after I roughed him up a little I fed them a bit. I swear he’s not dead!”

“He sure fucking looks dead!” Was that a touch of glee to Jason’s voice? Best to ignore that for now.

“No, I swear! He’s just in a coma! He’ll come out of it in a month or two once the ectoplasm wears off!”

Well, he wasn’t dead at least, though now Bruce’s question really had to be asked.

“Who are you?” He looked the still floating being up and down one more time as a surprised look came over them, followed by a sheepish one.

“Oh, shoot, sorry. I guess I forgot to introduce myself.” The being places their feet back on the floor and sticks out their hand. “Hi, I’m Danny Fenton, I’m Tim’s boyfriend.”

#dpxdc #dp fic #merry holidays #secret santa 2022 #surprise #its a fic!#dp x dc fanfic #dp x dc crossover #danny phantom #tim drake #it starts as a sick fic but that isn't the focus

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mutable-manifestation · 2 years ago

Text

The Ghost King (of Miscommunication) Ch. 24

Part 1-12,Part 13,Part 14,Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23

Part 24!

Me, trying to write the DC characters in-character and desperately trying to sort through the various timeline changes to get a rough idea of how they should/would behave, in patrick star voice: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?

Anyway, this took forever but here it is.

***

Deadman is really feeling his namesake not five minutes into Batman grilling him for details on the Realms.

The guy sure can glare.

‘I don’t know what the majority of the place looks like because I never left Rama’s side when I was there’ is apparently unhelpful, but he can offer them what he read about it - an endless expanse dotted with doors and islands and other small structures.

“Doors are always lairs - ghost homes, basically - if they’re floating alone, but the ones on islands can be normal doors - mostly. You can kind of get a feel for which are which. Islands vary from lairs to wilds, but you can’t really tell based on appearance since a ghost might just want a jungle lair. Our best bet is to just not open any doors or land on any islands.”

“If everything is floating, is it like space? I mean, is there even any air in there?” Flash asks, brow raised.

“Yeah kind of! And no, everything is made of ectoplasm.”

“You said it was human-safe,” Robin glares.

“It is!” Deadman smiles guilelessly.

“How are we meant to breathe if everything is made of this ‘ectoplasm’?”

Apparently ‘You just do’ isn’t a very reassuring answer.

He throws his hands up at the collective bat-glares.

“Hey, hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I dunno what to tell ya here. Humans have ventured into the Zone before and they were breathing just fine. Went back to the land of the living in one piece with no problems. I’m no scientist, I can’t begin to tell ya the hows or the whys of it, but I guarantee you can all breathe just fine in there. Double-cross my core and everything. If it’ll make you feel better you can always bring air tanks or somethin.”

“Right,” Signal sighs, “We’ll figure something out. If we need to fly to traverse the place we’re probably better off taking the jet anyway, assuming you can make a big enough portal?”

“Uh,” Deadman stares at him, wide-eyed. “Who can make a what-now?”

“A portal,” Red Robin interjects. “If they’re required for you to access your home realm there’s no way you don’t know how to make them. How else would you have gotten to the ‘Zone’ originally to ‘not leave Rama’s side’?"

“Yeah, no,” he crosses his arms in an X for emphasis. “Portal powers are rare. Like, rare-rare, even in - maybe even especially in - the Realms. Rama can communicate through the veil with little effort, but even she had to use a complex ritual to summon me to her side and later send me back.”

“And yet the wolf just tore one open with a swipe of his hand,” Red Robin notes.

“Yeah, because he’s Wulf - it’s his name, by the by. With a ‘u.’”

“You know him?” Batman demands, leaning forward even more attentively.

“I know of him. I’m pretty sure no ghost doesn’t, what with how he’s the right hand of the High King of the Infinite Realms and all.”

“‘High King of the Infinite Realms?’” Constantine pipes up, voice high and strained.

“Yep,” Deadman pops the ‘p.’ “High King of the Infinite Realms, King of the Dead, or just ‘The Ghost King.’ He’s the guy that has the final say on everything in the realms. Like, if Hades and Anubis get into a fight, he’s the one to break it up, that kinda thing.”

There’s a long silence at that.

“But there’s no need to worry!” Deadman hastens to amend when the quiet stretches worryingly long. “The current king is a nice guy! He’s hailed as a hero for defeating the old tyrant king, Pariah Dark after he escaped the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. And he’s been making a lot of positive reforms ever since he took the throne! Look on the bright side! At least you know your guy is getting the comfy treatment!”

“This entire mission hinges on us having access to the Infinite Realms,” Batman states, ignoring Deadman’s attempt at positivity and the implications of his son apparently being taken in by ghost royalty. “Do you think the ritual that was used for you to cross over would work for this?”

“I doubt it. It wasn’t a portal, I was literally just. Summoned. Here one moment, there the next, no tears in space involved.”

“Lucky us,” Oracle pipes up from where she’d been typing away since Wulf first swept Jason away, “We might have another option. I’ve got a few hits on ‘ectoplasm’ in the system. Old files - like, really old - and three of them mention portals.”

Tentative relief floods the room at a solution presenting itself nearly the moment the problem crops up.

“Two locations,” she continues, putting a picture of an…eccentric building on the display. “The first is a ghost-themed gift shop-slash-museum in a small town in Illinois. Records show the previous owners to be self-proclaimed ghost hunters with what the shop’s website calls a ‘full armory of ecto-weapons, sensors, and defensive tools.’ Apparently they sell replicas, keep the originals for the museum display. The portal has since shut down but the new owners have kept everything well-preserved and documented, despite passing it all off as a heavily-themed tourist trap.”

“A promising lead if the tech is truly functional,” Batman muses. “And the second?”

“An abandoned mansion in the middle of Wisconsin. Apparently the owner went missing but has automatic pay set up for taxes and things to remain ready for his return ‘in perpetuity’ - at least, until the money runs out - even in the event of his untimely death. Some financial consultant manages the whole thing, and has ever since he picked up where his father left off around 50 years ago.”

She takes a second to replace the eccentric building with two more images - a grand castle and a lab straight out of a mad science cartoon.

Or a very thematically dedicated rouge.

“Some housekeeping staff reported odd stuff in the basement, and a now-defunct government branch called the Ghost Investigation Ward - which was only functional for 3 years - came in and classified a lot of the stuff as ‘ecto-tech’ and even documented the presence of a ‘ghost-portal.’ They were going to claim the ecto-tech for research, but the Ward was shut down before the project could get any further. If it works like the paperwork claims, we may just have our way in.”

“If they were finding working portals to the afterlife then why was the Ward shut down?” Red Robin asks, disbelief scrawled across the visible parts of his face.

“A lot of things. Trespassing, destruction of property, entry without a warrant, false imprisonment, use of untested weapons, reckless endangerment, child endangerment, loitering, littering, stalking, harassment, emotional and psychological distress, assault… the list drags on. Apparently they were more lucky than competent, stepped on a lot of toes. Then they left some kind of weapon lying around and it ended up killing two kids. The parents and community as a whole had enough at that point - most of their work was in a single location, specifically the town with the museum portal - and came at them with every charge that they had any evidence for. Which was almost all of them.”

“Ah, so we might have a portal to literal hell or two just lying around in the middles of nowhere, America. And at least one of them is probably booby-trapped with a few deadly weapons,” Constantine snips. “Perfect.”

“It’s not hell, Constantine, it’s the afterlife as a whole,” Deadman corrects.

Constantine does not look soothed.

“The castle first,” Batman decides. “The sooner we get to Red Hood back, the better. Red Robin, get in touch with the consultant. Oracle, get a list of all the ecto-tech the Illinois location claims to have and what it can do. Flash, given your reaction to the portal earlier do you believe it would be better for you to remain behind?”

Flash flinches.

“I…just being near it was…horrifying. Going through it…I don’t know if I can. If the other side all feels that way….” He shudders. “I think I’d be better off guarding the portal from this side of things.”

“Right,” Batman agrees before turning back to Constantine. “What can we do to prevent a repeat of the earlier possession while we’re in there.”

Constantine’s right eye twitches, but he barely has a chance to open his mouth when Deadman answers for him.

“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that!”

Constantine slams a hand on the table as he stands.

“Like bloody hell there’s no need! If we go in there without preparation we’re all liable to end up short a ‘self’ to control!”

“You’re still thinkin in terms’a this side of things, Constantine. Things don’t work like that in the Zone.”

“What, so humans are just suddenly immune to being possessed so long as they’re surrounded by ghosts?” He tosses his arms in the air disbelievingly.

“No, I mean a living being in the Zone can choose to be outta step with it. Kinda like how stronger ghosts can choose to be outta step with this side to phase through things, or how I’m outta step by default. Living beings aren’t from the Zone so if you kinda focus on that lack of hold, nothing in the Zone can affect you - including possession. It’s why the new king kept some of the restrictions on bringing real-world items into the Zone - usually it requires a level of sentience, but without special care even generally inanimate objects could end up as untouchable debris somewhere. They can still follow you back to the human realm to hurt you, though, so I’d highly recommend avoiding inciting any grudges while we’re in there,” he tags on hastily.

“‘Generally inanimate?’” Batman asks.

“Eh, ecto does whacky things to real-world items sometimes,” Deadman shrugs. “It takes, like, at least a decade usually, but they can sort of gain just enough awareness to not want to be touched - like a flower fleeing shadows to chase the sun.”

“Poetic.”

“Eh, just trying to distinguish from, like, bugs and animals and stuff.”

“Right. We’ll have to run some tests from this side of the portal first. Given the involvement of this ‘High King’ I’d say this is an all-hands situation.”

“Given the way my powers work,” Shazam speaks up, “this High King is apparently my powers’ sources’ boss, I definitely want to be there.”

“Indeed,” Aquaman adds. “As a fellow King it is important to establish diplomatic retort. While the lead-up to this meeting is somewhat unfortunate, we can hope the conclusion will be as peaceful as Deadman believes and work towards that very outcome.”

Green Lantern and Wonder Woman nod their agreement.

“Then I will remain here, to look after the Earth in your absence,” Martian Manhunter says.

“I’ll let Guy and John know to contact you if anything comes up, then,” Hal nods.

With that, Batman stands.

“Let’s move.”

---------------------

Kevin Bordair - the estate manager for the departed Vlad Masters - was more than happy to have them explore the lab.

He had been very hands-off with the lab, as his father had instructed, but that lack of information on what might be festering down there….

When he’d looked over the more publicly available Fenton documents he’d discovered that it was…inadvisable to leave most of the materials in an ecto-lab to fester. Without proper filtration for so long there could be explosive results if anything turned on.

No one he’d contacted had wanted to enter the place.

His only saving grace was that the weapons were largely dormant and the portal had mysteriously shut down on its own some 20 years before he took over.

The lab itself didn’t have anything in the way of instructions - presumably the previous owner kept them all digital, but no one wanted to risk turning on the computer without a guarantee that it wouldn’t blow up.

Luckily, Bordair was eager for the potential to have them deal with the mess and had brought print-outs of the Fenton documents - including blueprints for the weapons and the portal that hadn’t been available digitally.

Most of the writing on them was practically chicken scratch, but between Oracle and Red Robin’s technical expertise they were able to work out a proper filtration method.

Five hours later, they had just enough clean ectoplasm to start up the portal and power a few of the net devices they’d found lying around. The rest was too decayed to use and none of the notes explained how to extract or synthesize more - the Illinois location’s documents stated that all of its ecto had been ‘properly disposed of’ decades ago.

The portal whirred up surprisingly quietly, green blooming to life with no more noise than the gentle hum of a refrigerator.

A portal to the afterlife, torn open with less effort than it took to put the Riddler back in Arkham after an escape.

Superman was the first to venture in - to test the atmosphere for the more squishy members of their groups, as well as the comms.

He reappeared not 10 seconds after he entered.

“Deadman was right, empty space all around. We’ll need to expand the portal to fit the batplane or pair off into flight-capable teams. No trouble breathing - felt just like an in-Earth atmosphere to me - but there’s nothing on the comms on my end.”

“I could just get us all some ghost phones?” Deadman offers, drawing all eyes to him.

“That’s a thing?” Constantine asks incredulously.

“Yeah! The Ghost King 2: Electric Boogaloo ma-”

“I’m SORRY? Ghost King 2???” Constantine interrupts, standing from his slouch against the only non-weapon-covered wall.

“There’s more than one ghost king?” Batman demands.

“Well, yeah? There’s only one High King, of course, but he’s got two spouses - his wife The Ghost Queen and his husband. Apparently the observants wanted him to have the standard ‘Prince Consort’ title, but the High King and the Queen were not having it because it sounded belittling or like he was less important? Something like that. The point is that none of them liked it, So King 2 decided if they wanted him to have a title that differentiated him from the High King he’d title himself Ghost King 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

Deadman leans forward gleefully, “Rumor has it that the only reason the title was approved - without the High King having to force it through - is because the Queen & High King couldn’t stop laughing whenever the observants said the title to try and contest it, which just made the big O’s angrier and angrier until they just ended up signing the approval to get them to leave.

Anyway, King 2 is all about tech stuff and he - alongside his right hand, Technus - is responsible for adapting modern technology to work throughout the greater zone. Fully functional stuff with all the bells and whistles are pretty limited, but simple headsets for vocal chat are pretty easy to get.”

“…Can you guarantee that we won’t just phase through them,” Batman asks.

“Nah,” he answers, waving a hand carelessly, “The old models are made with a split of real-world and ghost-zone materials, nothing can phase through them.”

“Do they accept human currency?”

“...Maybe?”

“Maybe,” he deadpans, crossing his arms.

“Give me a break! I never needed ghost phones before!”

“Do you even know where to get them?”

“Um. Most major lairs are supposed to have extras…?”

Batman pinches the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

Red Robin coughs pointedly before he can begin to address the various problems with Deadman’s suggestion.

“The Fentonworks location lists having a dozen devices called ‘Fenton Phones’ in their display. Supposedly meant to act as interdimensional communication devices. If we sacrifice one of the nets we should have enough spare ectoplasm to power them all.”

“Flash.”

“On it!”

“Right. Expanding the portal isn’t feasible given the limited supply of ectoplasm. We can’t afford to damage this. We’ll have to pair off into teams of two - one flight-capable member each-” he cuts himself off, noticing the sudden hand waving in the air. “Yes, Deadman?”

“So, uh, mighta forgot to mention this before, but that’s really not necessary. Remember how I said you’re ‘out of step’ with the ghost zone? Yeah, you can also fly.”

“...I see. Are there any other things we might do in the ghost zone that we should be aware of in advance,” Batman asks, suppressing an eye twitch.

“Not really. Just don’t go offering up soul bits to randos like JohnCon here and try not to offend anybody.”

Constantine’s eye twitches.

---------------------

The museum is more than happy to lend them the Fenton Phones, thankfully. Once they’re all online they have just enough for each member of the team being sent in - Shazam, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Orphan, Red Robin, Signal, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Constantine, and Deadman - and one for the team guarding the portal - Flash, Oracle, and Robin.

Down to two working net devices, they leave one with Robin in case of a ghost escaping into the living - a valid concern since the portal will have to remain open due to the lack of a seal other than ‘turn it off.’

The other stays with Batman for their journey into the zone.

He hopes things will remain peaceful as Deadman claims, and the ability to not allow themselves to be untouched made him much less uncomfortable going in with so little in the way of gear. Still, better safe than sorry - even if Deadman, Shazam, and Constantine should be able to act if needed - thus, the net.

Another quick test by Superman verifies the headsets work between the castle and the Zone, and Batman himself jumps in to test intra-zone communications - as well as to verify the flight ability.

With that confirmed and Deadman’s confirmation that he knows the way - mostly - and that it shouldn’t take more than a few hours to arrive, the rest of the Zone team files through the portal, taking a moment to get their bearings.

987 miles away, Dick and Stephanie lay sleeping in their rooms after their cover-patrol while Alfred has his breakfast and prays for his family’s safety. Below them all, a glowing green note falls to the floor in an empty cave.

***

@mayoota-blog1 @kyrianclawraith, @do3y, @someonebored0100 @omegasmileyface @a-star-with-a-human-name @akikoyuii @newgraywolf @tytythehistoryguy @lemccr

Fun Fact(s): Danny doesn’t do the whole ‘servant’ thing, but he got Wulf perma-freed from Walker’s prison unless Danny approved the imprisonment first (which he wouldn’t do without a good reason, and bringing in living world books doesn’t count)

& Wulf was like ‘I owe you’ to which Danny was like ‘Hey you really don’t have to but I should be able to make my own portals at some point and if you don’t mind can you teach me how so I can find xyz quicker to keep improving the GZ’ to which Wulf was like ‘of course! :D’

And he just kinda took to retrieving people/things on Danny’s behalf while he was still learning - akin to how Fright Knight retrieved stuff (crown, amity park, probably a few people’s heads/cores on a platter, etc) for Pariah Dark, earning Wulf the title ‘Right Hand of the High King of the Infinite Realms’ despite the fact that it was only sporadic stuff over the course of, like, three years (yeah, the portal power was a lot), which is how Deadman recognizes him (from the ‘Read these or else’ books)

Tucker absolutely jokingly refers to Technus as his minion sometimes (bc they’re tech buds now & Tuck’s a king. Just some friendly teasing) But the gossip chain don’t care, the gossip chain just went: That’s king 2’s minion [like wulf w a less-flattering title]

A scene I wanted to add but couldn’t make work: Superman: And also how anyone else is supposed to move in there, given the lack of a ground?

Batman: the what

Deadman, seeing opportunity: you just float

Batman: some of us can’t float

Deadman, grinning: We all float down there

Batman, who has seen the movie:...

#dpxdc #comedy-horror of errors #jl pov

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