#reformed? Pariah Dark

[thisdudedoesntexist]

So I had a dream about a helluva boss and danny phantom crossover with a little dc in it so keep scrolling if you just want dpxdc or don't like spectral owl (danny Fenton x Octavia goetia). Also for some context only Loona and Octavia know about danny being phantom and the ghost king. Its also incomplete cause I can't remember the rest, so feel free to add on.

Stolas (the wiki said 30's so he's 35): red

Danny 19: green

Octavia 18: purple

Please excuse any grammar or spelling errors

Stolas had be trying for MONTHS. Two whole-MONTHS to bring his daughter back. Everyone else was trying to distract him with placateions like a funeral and time to grieve. To tare him away from what he knows he saw!!

Stolace: "Oh Octavia, only 18 and just over a year into dating that Daniel Fenton, that normal boy was one of the best things to happen to her even if it earth and hell was a rather long distance relationship. He couldn't even speak at the funeral, he was just sitting there stiff as a corps staring as the closed casket (Satan, there wasn't even a body). If that dammed, and now dead executioner hadn't gotten so careless she would have never disappeared- JUST DISAPPEARED in that flash of green light!"

But no matter! He had been researching and researching for days and nights on end (my, Blitzo's attempts to make him sleep were tempting). He had-despite the protests of some of his family found a tome, one book on summoning himself the Ghost King's castle, more like Pariah dark's current location but thats irrelevant. If legends of his exploits and one of his advisors mastery of chronomancy are to be believed he could bring his daughter back.

He has it all set up and he will be doing soon, he just needs to wait for the sacrifice to arrive (an exorbitant amount of gold coins and a sword thats taken at least 100 lives).

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

Danny has been having a great two months.

Ok so there was a bit of worry when he had to save his girlfriend from that rogue executioner angel by teleporting her to his castle (thank the ancients that Octavia and their friend situationship loona were so acceptingof that, you have no idea what being told by your parents that they were going to "Rip you apart molecule by molecule!" Does to a former fourteen year old. He still has a little panic attack when people ask him if he knows phantom.)

After explaining what happened and telling her about the "Non Ecto-material returnal laws" he's been working on with his advisors (ghost friends) he and Octavia have essentially been having an extended sleep over. Danny's been showing her around all the cool places in his castel like the garden of dangerous extinct plants, the throne room (An abrupt visit from the teen titans cause Trigon was about to appear on earth.), and the recreational center that was built after Danny discovered why pariah went mad.(That crown had been beaming him with the suffering screams of his subjects and he couldn't do anything about it). Speaking of the rec-center, he and his Moon (Octavia) had an appointment with the former tyrant where is she?

Danny: "Octavia! My moon where are you!"(He starts in a casual flight speed down the halls towards the guest room his girlfriendhad been staying in). "Via~" he says in the way he always does when he's being intentionally stupid. "Where are you my darling?" while his voice is sweet he's grinning like the experienced menace to society he is. "Its almost time to go annoy the old man!"

This earns him a blob ghost plushy to the face while Octavia "the smartest person in the world in Danny's opinion" chuckles at his mock-suffering.

Octavia: "Stop it you sound like my dad! Who would want to date such an nerdy guy?" (her, apparently) "And yes we should get going before Janice (Danny's secretary with an obsession with office management) starts eating her clipboard."

As they are walking down the hallways and corridors Octavia speaks "Don't you have that meeting with Constantine later?"

"Right, forgot about that." (The laughing magician had been checking up on him through bi-weekly attempts to "scam him into making choices that wouldn'tjust benefit ghosts.") "Should probably ask him to help set up a meeting between me and your dad so we can finally get you home next week."

"Thank Satan I can sit in my own bed again soon!"

"Huh?!" Danny says in a pretend offense that doesn't reach even his face. "Sick of me already? Have I not been a good host?" He wipes a phantom tear (get it?) from his eye. Earning a laugh from the other.

Honestly, what could go wrong today.

[stars-obsession-pit]

The Justice League was too late. The cult had successfully completed their summoning ritual, and a figure began to emerge from the crackling green rift in the air

A teenage boy in a black jumpsuit, holding a clipboard and a pen.

The figure barely seemed to pay attention and just launched into a rehearsed speech, tone bored. “Thank you for summoning the Ghost King. Due the influx of summonings, he is unavailable at the moment. I’m Phantom, and I’ll be serving as your intercessor for the time being. I am authorized to act on His Majesty’s behalf, but any larger scale actions may have a short wait time before they can go through—just a few decades at most.” His voice then picked up, tone casual. “So… whatcha looking for?”

Then he did a double take, the chaotic scene he’s appeared in finally seeming to register in his mind.

“…Err, which ones of y’all specifically performed the summoning? I need it for the file.”

[jadenoryuu]

@pennerjones I saw the Dark Ages in this and thought you! 〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜

By all accounts, it shouldn't have worked.

By all bloody accounts, that should not have worked.

Constantine will repeat.

That, by all accounts, should not have worked.

The warehouse was shitty. The materials were shitty. The summoning circle was shitty. The chanting was shitty. The magic was shitty.

By all accounts, the summoning should not have worked.

So Constantine couldn't give much of a shit about really stopping it because the summoning was so shitty it shouldn't have worked by an means possible.

So what. In the ever-loving fuck. Was the Ghost King, known tyrant of the Infinite Realms. Standing in the middle of the circle and not, last he checked, imprisoned?

That was another thing that he thought would have made it fail, actually. Because the Ghost King was incapacitated, asleep, gone, unavailable, nada.

So what. The fuck. Was he doing. Here?

Constantine knew the day was going to well to stay that way but wow. The universe loves to fuck him over, apparently.

Or the Justice League in specific.

Or both.

Doesn't matter, because now he has to bullshit his way out of this or get ready to brawl for his life.

Good thing he's good at both of those things, then.

Mostly the bullshit-

"Phantom what the fuck are you doing-" Constantine wheezed out, watching one of their newest members-a ghost going by the name Phantom-fly over in front of the known tyrant and-

Oh.

Oh, holy shit this won't end well.

Ghost King.

Phantom. A ghost.

Well, shit.

This is fine. This is totally fine. He just needs to bullshit his way out of this or face two powerhouses.

This is fine.

He's done worse.

"Sup War" Phantom said, floating around the summoning circle that contained the king of all ghosts like it wasn't a problem. "Didn't expect to be seeing you here."

"Ward." The Ghost King inclined his head slightly, eyes trained on Phantom. "I would not have come here if not for Time's insistence and I have been meaning to..." The King paused, hands gripping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword. "...Check in... on you."

"Aww, were you worried about lil old meeeee?" Phantom, ever the little shit and holy shit did Constantine want to go over there and shut him up, said. Floating around until he was staring upside down in the Ghost King's face. "Didn't know you were so soft, pa."

"I am not soft." The King huffed, flame dancing at the edges of his hair. "I was merely... concerned. Over how you would be acclimating to your circumstances. This world's League of Justice covers far more than your small haunt."

"Weeeell, it's not that bad honestly." Phantom admitted. "Haven't really done anything too big yet just some smallish things here and there. So, you know." The ghost boy shrugged, swinging back in the air to turn upright and crossing his legs. "Nothing too bad."

"Good." The Ghost King nodded, shoulders slumping so slightly that if Constantine wasn't looking, he wouldn't have seen it. "That is good. Yes. Good." The King slightly cleared his throat, grasping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword.

Silence echoed in the warehouse as the King seemingly looked for words to say.

"Would you..." He cleared his throat again, squaring his shoulders and standing up straighter. "Would you like to join me and Time for a meeting? It has been some time since you had last joined us." The King shifted slightly before adding. "Of course, if you're busy you do not have too."

"Sure." Phantom said, rolling back and forth in the air as he hummed. "Been a while since we've had some family time-"

"Family time?" Constantine caught someone-who he thinks was Green Lantern-say. He was just as bewildered.

"And if Time sent you here then it must be important." Danny paused before shrugging. "Or maybe not, can never know with him. But yea, sure. I'll come."

"Wonderful." The Ghost King smiled. Smiled. At Phantom. "Then I shall. Leave. Now. To do. Things. Yes. Things." The summoning circle flashed a familiar green, the same green when the King was first being summoned. "Goodbye, ward."

"You can call me son, you know."

The King paused for a moment, blinking slowly before hesitantly nodding.

"Then goodbye. Son."

The circle flashed and just like that. The king was gone.

"Kid. What the fuck." Whoever said- okay wait no that was Constantine, him. But yea fuck it he agrees with himself. "What the fuck." He repeated.

Phantom, the brat, only gave him a shit eating grin and a peace sign before disappearing on the spot.

[medusas-graveyard]

Reformed!Pariah Dark + Royal Advisor/pseudo-son!Danny

Danny: *just got back from escaping the GIW, barely holding on* I'm back, your majesty.

Pariah: ....

Pariah: ..We're throwing earth to the sun.

Danny: Your majesty, no.

•

*Justice League negotiations meeting*

JL: ...And those are the agreements of our truce.

Pariah: You fools must be insane to think that I—

Danny: *kicks his leg*

Pariah: *groans*

Danny: —we'll gladly take up on it!

JL: ...?...????

[randomfandomisuppose]

Custody battle for the ages thought dump:

-Selling your soul USED to mean that you had to do whatever the person who bought your soul wants you to, but after the defeat of Pariah Dark the Ghost Zone had some massive judicial reforms. Danny isn’t the Ghost King but that’s because he was like “Uh, what? I’m 14 why don’t you guys have an election or something?”

-Pandora is the current prime minister of the Ghost Zone

-I am not coming up with an in depth system of government for a silly idea but I see them as having a parliament and local governments for different parts of the ghost zone and working on a judicial system and all that fun stuff.

-I’m not sure who exactly Danny’s “Ghost Parent” would be but I think it’d be fun if it was Pandora

-Constantine sold his soul to her after the reforms and she’s just like “Ah a little brother for my halfa son how lovely”

-Younger ghosts acknowledge the fact that Constantine is a grown ass man (and a kinda terrifyingly powerful one at that) but the ancients think he’s adorable

-“Awwwwww baby’s first immortality spell 🥺”

-They think him doing magic is cute the same way little kids making mud potions is cute

-Constantine hates it but will also take any advantage he can get, sometimes they’ll do magical favours for him

-Danny calls him baby brother specifically to piss him off

-Danny has been learning ghost magic but isn’t that good at it yet, Constantine mostly only really knows non ghost magic but is slowly picking it up through osmosis

-Danny gets the Fenton tall gene and grows up to be slightly taller than Constantine (To Constantine’s absolute dismay and displeasure as the baby brother jokes increase in frequency)

-Danny just randomly starts showing up at the watchtower whenever Constantine is there to bother him

-The JL is just like “whose lost sassy floating child is this and how the fuck did they get here?”

Bonus:

The bat siblings: “There’s no fucking way they’re siblings they look and sound nothing alike.”

Danny and Constantine: (Have a full blown magical duel because Danny hid Constantine’s cigarettes, Constantine accidentally lands a hit on Danny and immediately regrets it.)

Danny: I’m gonna tell mom!

Constantine: (Panicked English bargaining)

The bat siblings: “Oh, nevermind.”

[unfortunatelyphoenix]

Since I noticed a couple Ghost Prince Danny things I decided to make my own, even if I don't know much about the series.

Vlad being the ever stupid fruitloop he is decided to try and steal Pariah's things again and woke him up again. Wanting a rematch he immediately stormed back to Amity Park, but before he dragged it back into the Infinite Realms for round 2 he overheard Danny talking to his friends about how he got summoned by the Justice League and through some hilarious misunderstandings on their part now think that Phantom is Pariah Dark's son and in turn the Ghost Prince.

Pariah, who surprisingly is ALSO a little shit at times (and is pretty much being called a little baby ghost's dad), immediately jumps at the idea of actually doing this hilarious prank and steals the group for sometime and manage to strike a deal that as long as he doesn't do anything horrible he won't be stuffed back into his coffin and they can do the bit. This ends up leading to Pariah Dark acting like Phantom's less than good of a person dad who actually starts to reform because he's too committed to the bit. This ends up leading to him, and everyone else, discovering he has surprisingly good parental instincts, having caused everyone to stop and look at him in confusion the first few (hundred) times he instinctively did a good parent thing.

Eventually though, something happens where Danny needs help but can't go to his friends or family, he can't go to the JL for help since he doesn't trust them and he's made it instinct to never go to Vlad, so he goes to the one ghost he does trust with this, Pariah Dark. It's at this point that Pariah realizes that it's no longer a bit and that he's become the closest thing Danny has to an actual parent, because let's be honest here, even if Jack and Maddie are good here they're still severely neglective of Danny and there's only so much Jazz can do while being 2-3 years older than him, and all the other ghosts who help him are more like mentors than actual parental figures.

Usually a ghost would have their parents to teach them if they're there as well, but Danny doesn't have good human parents and he died before they did, pretty much leaving him an orphaned baby, and no Justice League, JL Dark, or GIW will stop Pariah Dark from being the parent Danny desperately needs.

[purple-goo-writes]

What if....

Klarion the Witch Boy was Dan? Slightly reformd no longer destroying the world and de-aged back to 14 Dan Phantom? Except even reformed, Danny's Gremlin Nature and Vlad's Need for Dramatics results in one Chaos Lord fucking with the DC world cause his good older self and Guardian only told him he couldn't kill anyone again.

Plus these mini heroes are so stuffy, they need to live a little! The Light was a bit boring though.

Everything is fine and Dandy until some cultists asshole tries to summon his Dad, thinking the Ghost king was still Pariah Dark. Now he is teaming up with the mini-heroes in order to take down a dark magic cult to stop the summoning, much to their confusion and suspicion.

Robin: why are you helping us?

Klarion/Dan: because Pariah might not be king anymore but who is King will ruin my fun!

YJ: ?!?!

Klarion: *mentally* Dad is soooo Embarrasing! If he is summoned and sees me with the mini-heroes he will he will think I have /shudders/ friends.

[nanenna]

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!

---

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.

[hypewinter]

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.

[kuroishuuha]

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.

[noras-dc-shenanigans]

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.

[anonymous-existences]

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.

[mariacallous]

The snow lay in drifts over the railway lines at Auschwitz, when Keir Starmer went to pay his respects last week. His wife, Victoria, the granddaughter of Polish Jews who fled to sanctuary in England, stood beside him in the biting cold looking out over the tracks that once ferried unimaginable numbers of people to their deaths.

Afterwards, the prime minister talked about the relics of the dead discovered when the concentration camp was liberated: the piles of shoes, many in children’s sizes, and the suitcases hurriedly packed by people forced from their homes. What he had seen would stay with him, he said. It was “the ultimate warning … of where prejudice can lead”.

Starmer did not have to add that the shadow of war now hangs over Europe once again, or that once again dark forces are rising. There has been an apocalyptic enough feel to these past days leading up to Donald Trump’s inauguration, with Joe Biden warning of the US’s descent into oligarchy and a deep air of foreboding hanging over EU capitals. But nonetheless, the moment resonated.

Starmer was visiting Poland to make common cause with the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, who recently ousted a rightwing populist government and whose country would be on the frontline of any confrontation with Russia. By way of painful contrast, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage were meanwhile preparing to rub shoulders at the inauguration with leading lights of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland – a pariah in its own political system but apparently not at the White House – and Spain’s far-right Vox party, plus other guests of honour chosen to usher in the era of Trump.

The new order couldn’t “come soon enough”, Truss tweeted from Washington, alongside a picture of herself in a red Maga cap. Farage, meanwhile, settled for a triumphant: “We are so back.” He has a more longstanding friendship with the president than any other British politician – at the weekend, he bragged of having “genuine friends on speed dial”in the new administration – and knows Trump won’t necessarily stick to going through normal diplomatic channels. Last week, Trump aides reportedly met senior Reform UK figures to discuss how they could work together.

US presidents have always sought to promote like-minded leaders, including sometimes over the heads of elected governments. But previously that itch for regime change hasn’t felt like a threat to old friends in Europe. Now, even longstanding allies must watch their backs as money and ideas flow across the Atlantic to rightwing populists seeking actively to destabilise them, mining the same veins of anti-immigrant feeling and economic frustration Trump did.

Talk of the White House plotting to make Farage prime minister by 2029 still sounds wildly overblown for many reasons. Not least because there are powerful downsides for British politicians who get too close to a president still viewed with a hefty dose of suspicion on this side of the Atlantic, and because the president probably doesn’t care enough about British politics to expend that much energy on it. (As Farage discovered when Trump’s incoming counter-terrorism chief said Britain should repatriate the former Islamic State bride Shamima Begum from Syria, it isn’t always easy being his friend, let alone his enemy: there’s no answer to that conundrum that pleases both the president and Reform voters.)

But Reform will try to use Trump’s presidency as a battering ram to break down British norms, arguing that if the US can rip up net-zero plans to get growth or ruthlessly deport foreign-born criminals, why can’t we? Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s weaponising of the grooming gangs scandalshowed how destructive even sporadic missiles lobbed from Trumpworld can be, especially if British politicians are willing to help him identify targets.

Starmer’s first step should be to make clear that there’s nothing patriotic about colluding with foreign interference, and that Trump’s little helpers serve nobody’s interests but their own. But where there are legitimate grievances, those must eventually be confronted.

Last week, at an event convened by the thinktank British Future to discuss lessons learned from losing ignominiously to Trump, the blunt message from former Kamala Harris adviser Frank Sharry to his friends in the Labour party was that ignoring far-right wedge issues simply doesn’t work.

When record numbers of immigrants crossing into the US prompted talk of a border crisis, Sharry said, the Biden administration didn’t “lean in”, it ran away from the argument. Though by last summer it had developed effective answers – a combination of border enforcement, deals with neighbouring countries and undercutting people smugglers by opening more legal visa routes was actively bringing numbers down – it didn’t even defend its own record, fearful of upsetting the liberal end of its electoral coalition.

Sharry, who spent decades working for pro-refugee charities before joining the Harris campaign, had helped craft messages for her that were designed to sound tough but fair, in line with mainstream American views. But months of radio silence, he suggested, had allowed Harris’s opponents to misrepresent her as an extremist favouring completely open borders, even as the rightwing news ecosystem in the US platformed open conspiracy theories about the Democrats supposedly wanting to flood the country with immigrants who could then vote for them.

The lesson, not lost on Downing Street, was that it’s not enough just quietly to do what works: you have to shout about it, even when your own side hates to hear it. Millions now get their sense of what is happening not from the mainstream media but from emotive snippets on social-media platforms already rife with disinformation that are now (thanks a bunch, Mark Zuckerberg) scrapping factchecking. If governments can’t dramatise what they are actually doing, the truth will be lost in the coming hurricane.

Bleak as all this sounds, however, this is no time to abandon hope. Sharry opened his remarks by saying he was delighted to be in a country where democracy still has a future, which both was a joke and wasn’t. There aren’t many cracks of light in the darkness now, but Britain, like Poland, has somehow bucked the odds by turning left just as much of the world seems to be turning right. Whether by luck or judgment, we seem to be at a different stage of the political cycle; still four years to go until the next election, a system that for good or ill makes life hard for small insurgent parties, relatively stable institutions, the capacity to toughen social media regulation, and a national inclination (be honest) towards a quiet life. But first, we’ll have to ride the storm.

[vm-haunts]

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.

[starkandthewaynes]

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. 

@blacksea21090 | @ashenfairytale | @pastalavistamf | @runoverghost | @emergentpanda-blog | @bobred18 | @blankliferain

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[mutable-manifestation]

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:...