#Danny ‘plausible deniability’ Phantom
Text
Danny always knew tax evasion ran in his veins. His parents hadn’t been the most… morally sound of people, and less so as ecto-scientists.
He just didn’t think their lessons would ever result in a criminal empire that spanned the entire city and then some. Danny hadn’t seen it coming. His parents definitely wouldn’t have.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne. Mr. Fox.”
Danny ‘the Phantom’ Fenton sat down across from a rather tense looking (to Danny’s enhanced senses, anyways) Brucie Wayne and his right hand, Lucius Fox. He smiled pleasantly, matching Brucie’s vacant smile with that touch of Midwest suburban mother smile.
With his acquisition of multiple Gotham companies, his rather newly established Fentom Co. became one of the largest holding companies in Gotham, the first being Wayne Enterprises and the second being Drake Industries. After months of constantly working his butt off while fending off assassins, reforming Gotham’s slums and cleaning up some of the streets, and taking care of his nest of street kids, Danny garnered enough power to even stand close to Wayne Enterprises in terms of financial powers.
The topic of this meeting was, of course, the proposed merger of Wayne Enterprises’ Medical R&D division with Fentom Co.’s pharmaceutical department. Usually, Wayne Enterprises wouldn’t even consider such an offer, as their Medical R&D division was the most well funded and least likely to be part of a Rogue’s scheme- and therefore most beloved- department of the same nature in Gotham. However, Danny had something the other offers didn’t.
Blackmail.
His overly polite smile widened as Bruce’s mask twitched. His eyes slid over to Lucius Fox.
“It’s an honor to meet you, sir. I’ve heard much about your genius in… research and development.”
By that, Danny meant that he knew Lucius Fox helped develop Batman’s tech.
He did a lot of stalking that week. It felt rather… invasive, even if he did get a bunch of juicy secrets.
You know what they say: dead men tell no tales… but halfas are generally blabbermouths.
“Is that so? It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Fenton.” The man quickly glanced between the youngsters, accurately predicting that this might have something to do with Bruce’s active nightlife.
“Yes, it is such a pleasure to meet you.”
Wow, Danny didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone sound both so perky and dead inside at the same time, except for Susan at Gotham High’s bake sale.
Bruce wishes he could be a Susan. He’s at best a Becky.
“Will you be staying, Mr. Fox? You’re the head of the R&D department, correct?”
“Ah, yes-”
“Oh, Lucius! I think you had an appointment with the finance department right now! I heard Sally talk about it, you know!”
Lucius Fox sent an unreadable look at Bruce before rallying.
“Oh, it must have slipped my mind. My apologies, Mr. Fenton, it seems as though I can not skip this appointment.”
“That’s alright. I suppose it gives you… plausible deniability… should things go wrong, haha!” Danny allowed his smile to widen a little further than natural. Bruce tensed but Lucius Fox simply politely smiled and left the room.
Ignorance is bliss and all that, Danny amusedly thought.
As the door shut with a click, Bruce dropped the vacant Brucie smile and sighed.
“What do you want,” he gritted out. Danny wasn’t about to let that slide, not after he spent the better part of this month wrangling Bruce’s problem children.
“Ah, it must be because I’m from the Midwest, Brucie, but where I come from, we value these things called manners.”
You uneducated jerk, he doesn’t say.
Danny leaned back in his chair, loosening his smile into something relaxed and sharp.
“…” Oh, boy, Danny could just hear the other man’s blood pressure rising. “What is the purpose of your visit, Mr. Fenton?”
“Relax, Brucie,” Danny sing-songed in a non-relaxing way. “I’m just here to discuss a possible merger that I’m sure you’ll agree to, and give you a couple of updates on your… wayward bird.”
He heard Bruce take a slow, controlled breath. “Very well. Where. Would. You. Like. To. Start.”
Danny ignored the gritted out sentence. He passed a contract to Bruce, who took it like he was handling a live bomb.
“Here’s the proposal, Mr. Wayne. Please, look it over.”
He watched as Bruce looked over the contract with an eagle eye before lowering it, scrutinizing Danny.
“This is… very fair.”
Danny raised an eyebrow. Of course it was fair. Danny wasn’t interested in exploiting the Waynes, despite them being very able to afford it.
He’d brought fifty manufacturing sites for pharmaceuticals, and offered up a building where both companies could send their workers. He provided top notch security- that definitely didn’t have any talons on staff, what were they talking about?- that came from his own security division. Granted, most of them were reformed and trained goons, but hey, creating jobs can only help Gotham’s economy and help break the cycle of poverty, right? Guaranteed by the Wayne name and, most importantly, uncompromised medicine that was accessible to everyone would be a damn good start. He’d also have Penguin’s empire to distribute it to those who couldn’t make it to a clinic or a store, and there were plans in there to work with and establish contracts with Gotham’s welfare department. Well… once Danny finished replacing them with people who wouldn’t try to take a cut of the funds and actually cared about the people. He was thinking… the multitudes of poor grad students and parents that need income. He’s in the process of building childcare centers and…
It’s a good thing he managed to save money from the taxes (thank you, Gotham’s morally ambiguous tax experts that were in desperate need for clients! He could do it himself but having a team of accountants at the ready was seriously so helpful.) because ancients knows the government weren’t about to step into Gotham and help the people here. He needs so much money to pull all of this shit off and a lot of it has to be clean.
Danny inwardly sighed and marked another thing onto his to do list.
Make money laundering fronts.

“Of course, Mr. Wayne. You didn’t think I’d come in here demanding money, did you?”
“I considered it.”
“I am, in fact, trying to help Gotham. You might not agree with my methods, but I’d rather not damage Wayne Enterprises when it’s doing so much to help the people.”
Ugh, he was doing too much work. Danny just wanted to- hah- chill at home and read bed time stories to his kids.
Bruce Wayne, the specific blend between Brucie and Batman, regarded him silently. Danny felt like he went up a few notches in the respect ladder.
Nice.
“You’re a criminal.”
“Says the man in the bat-suit breaking into places and assaulting people.”
Bruce’s hands spasmed around the contract. Danny smiled at him, taking a sip of the coffee they’d prepared. Oo, nice!
“Ah, I heard you’re adopting- pardon, fostering- Tim Drake. Getting empty nest syndrome, Brucie?” He slipped back into using Bruce’s first name. The proposal was formal. This… was very much not.
“What about it?”
“That’s very kind of you. Speaking of which, well, of your birds, I was wondering if you remembered what I asked you to do.” Danny continued, not giving Bruce a chance to reply. “Didn’t I ask for you to keep your birds in line, Brucie?”
The CEO straightened even further, form filling out to be Batman’s imposing figure. “I did.”
“No, you didn’t. Do you know where your charge is, right now? No, not the formerly dead one,” Danny tilted his head, smile shrinking.
“Don’t you dare do anything to Tim. I swear, if you even lay a hand on a strand of his hair, I’ll-”
“Sit your Armani clad ass down, Bruce.” Danny snapped. “Your son’s in your office. I don’t harm children, and your assumptions are deeply insulting. Threaten me again, Bruce, and I’ll make sure you know exactly how much I know about your birds, your cousin, and the commissioner’s daughter.”
Bruce snarled but leashed his anger just enough to sit back down. He itched to go check on Tim, but leaving a threat like Phantom unwatched felt inherently wrong.
“Your other son,” Danny continued. “Is doing quite well. He’s learning that he has hobbies again. He’s actually working under me, you know.”
“He’s what.”
Oh, yeah, that tracks. It figured that Jason wouldn’t tell Bruce about anything. He’s still conflicted about his death. Danny got it.
“Ah, that’s precious information. You’ll have to offer something of equal value if you want to know. There is, on the other hand, a piece of information I’ll give you for free.”
Danny paused for the dramatic effect. It was lost on Bruce, the ultimate drama queen of this world.
“The League of Assassins are hanging around Hotham lately. It’s getting tedious, getting rid of them. I suggest talking to your old flame, you know, with words and what little communication skill you’ve got rattling around in your noggin to get them to pull back. Her interest is… unnaturally focused on Jason.”
Danny read the dark agreement swimming about Bruce’s face and inclined his head. “Should negotiations fail, rest assured that Jason will be protected.”
“…Thank you.”
“You are most welcome. Go ahead and discuss the contract with Mr. Fox, I am sure you’ll find little problems with it. Ah,” Danny stood up, fixing his suit jacket. “And you should probably check up on Timothy. He’s probably having a great time in your office, Mr. Wayne.”
“I’ll see you out.”
“Of course.”
Having Batman escorting him out should probably be more intimidating.
Danny stood in the elevator, waiting for Bruce’s contemplative silence to put itself into words.
Sure enough, “What… what kind of hobbies does Jason have now?”
“I’d tell you to ask him, but you two aren’t on speaking terms, are you? He likes books, of course, but recently, he’s found an interest in glass blowing. He made quite a bit of progress on his attempts at sun catchers.”
“I see.”
Well, Danny’s not about to step on that landmine any more than he has to.
——
“Danny.”
“Oh, hey, Jason. Sit down, we were about to have dinner.”
Jason clambered into the window. Danny sighed. He had a door, but by the way Jason never used it, it was like the door didn’t exist.
“Mind telling me why the old bastard showed up on my rooftops with a bunch of glass and glassblowing tools?”
Danny smiled. “No idea.”
“Uh huh.”
Danny placed a hand on his chest and put on his best woe-is-me expression. The teen’s face twitched in annoyance. “Doubt? At me? Why, I never!”
A bread roll thwacked him in the face.
#dpxdc#danny phantom#batman#bruce wayne#jason todd#tim drake#dc x dp#red hood#bamf danny phantom#crime lord Danny#accidental crime lord Danny
2K notes
·
View notes
Text
Has anyone put Ida Manson and Alfred together? Do they even have a ship name?
I just want a fic where Ida affectionately blackmails the Waynes to help Team Phantom.
She and Alfred have been in a long-term and long-distance relationship
Ida definitely knows the Waynes are the Bats but has maintained plausible deniability up to this point
I think it would be out of character if Alfred didn't know that she knows, therefore he does
The Bats don't know that Ida knows and might not even know she's anything more than a distant friend of Alfred's
I'm torn on whether Sam's parents know that Ida has a relationship with Alfred
Ot1h, it would be hilarious that she kept it hidden from them. Maybe Sam knows and relishes in the rebellious nature of her grandma
Otoh, there is potential for Alfred being Sam's bio grandpa, either legitimate or scandalous, as well as potential family drama of hiding an affair with a butler
It could also color the Mansons' perception of the Waynes, too. Instead of the cliche of constantly throwing Sam at one of the Wayne kids to "marry up," they despise the Waynes because their butler defiled poor innocent Ida, or potentially dont want media attention digging into family history and finding that one of Sam's parents is the child of a butler, an affair, or a butler-affair.
If the Martha/Yhomas/Alfred threesome is invoked, things could get messy if Ida was actually part of a foursome, and one of the Manson parents is potentially an illigitimate wayne. Bruce's kids would potentially be Sam's cousins.
The cliche that Sam hates the wWaynes because her parents keep throwing her at them? Hilariously reversed. They're constantly telling Sam not to associate with the Waynes but never explain why. Rebellious Sam is gonna do the opposite, do her research, and demand to know why her parents hate the Waynes who run a meticulously clean company and dozens of legitimate charities that do some actual real good. Why can't you be more like Bruce?!
Enter Danny's accident and the sudden influx of ghosts. Ida sees the signs and requests that Alfred sends the Waynes over to appraise the situation. Could be extremely early on, or the team has had several months to establish themselves.
Suddenly, Sam is informed that Uncle (literal, socially adopted, or affectionate, use of the title is still up to interpretation at this point, but Ida is the only one that gives him that title to Sam) Bruce and his family will be visiting. She's delighted to meet *the* Bruce Wayne, may or may not be confused about him having a familial title. ("What do you mean we're possibly related? I've had a crush on Jason Todd since before he faked his death!" "You confessed your undying love for him when you were nine, Sammykins. We figured it was a phase." "I almost ran away to attend his funeral!" "You WHAT?")
Anyways, canonically, Sam is the one most interested in Danny becoming a hero, so she's going to be ecstatic to learn that her uncle/"uncle" is Batman and he's offering to personally train her. It'll be another massive point against her parents for not liking Bruce, regardless of the fact that they don't actually know that he's secretly a superhero.
I got a ton more points to add about how introducing the batfam like this, and so early in the timeline, could deviate the story, but this was initially about Ida and Alfred. So I'll just finish off by mentioning that any such fic is contractually required to have both the Waynes and Team Phantom utterly grossed out by the "old people romance" going on between Ida and Alfred.
164 notes
·
View notes
Text
Cryptid Crawl! Chapter 5
AO3
@currentlylurking, @going-dead, @aggressivelyclueless, @carelisswriting, and @schrodingersfic
.
“Hey, Kwan, you’re in Home Ec., right?”
It was kind of funny to see that kind of haunted, hunted look on a big, bulky jock, but this was Amity Park. Hannah got to see that expression whenever Fenton had to go to the bathroom.
“Listen, I’m not going to blame you for this. I just want to know… why?”
“I don’t know,” said Kwan. “I think there might have been something about it on the forums, but I thought it was just a joke.”
Hannah had seen the same thread. She hadn’t thought it was connected.
“Isn’t that the one the ghosts were in?”
“Ghosts? Come on, haha,” said Kwan. “Those guys were just roleplaying, like whatever Nost and Kyle are doing.”
Hannah briefly closed her eyes. “No, Kwan, they aren’t roleplaying. Kyle doesn’t even believe in aliens.”
“No one believes in aliens. That’s just you.”
“Lots of people believe in aliens. I didn’t make up the whole UFO enthusiast community. More importantly, you don’t think this is, like, a Spectra thing, do you?”
“Man, I hope not. Mrs. Tetslaff said this was mandatory and worth twenty percent of our whole grade!”
“It isn’t worth twenty percent of your grade, Mr. Kwan,” said Mr. Lancer, materializing ghostlike out of nowhere. He was wearing a bright pink apron with the words Eat, Pray, Love embroidered on it in big, loopy, cursive. “It is, however, mandatory.”
“How much of my grade is it worth, then?” asked Kwan.
Mr. Lancer sighed. “Zero. But, as I said, it is still mandatory.”
“But why?” asked Hannah.
Mr. Lancer stared at her for a long minute. “If I tell you,” he said, finally, “I know it’ll be all over the school within an hour.”
“No, it won’t. I can keep a secret.”
“You can’t, but that’s besides the point. If it comes from you, I’ll have plausible deniability if the GIW come around.”
“That’s mean.” She turned to Kwan. “Did you hear what he just said to me? Like I’m not trustworthy?”
“You aren’t trustworthy. One time I left the room for a minute and when I came back you and your friends had made Mikey cry and you had coated the floor with whipped cream.”
“That wasn’t me.”
“You were holding the whipped cream can.”
“I was framed,” said Hannah.
Mr. Lancer closed his eyes and sighed. “The cake idea was the only one that got any widespread traction on the Amity forums. There were, apparently, already some talks about doing something with it on some of the community and business boards. But we only got into it when Mayor Masters offered to fund the whole thing.”
Hannah gasped. “You’re on the forums.”
“Despite my age, I do know how to work a computer.”
“But,” said Kwan, “what if it is a ghost thing? What if the cake is evil? What if the cake is a lie?”
“It probably is a ghost thing,” allowed Mr. Lancer, “but since Phantom of all people is endorsing it, I think it will be fine. Also, you’re going to be making the cakes, so if the cakes wind up evil…” He trailed off. “I need to go make some more arrangements before we leave. You two should report to your first period classes.”
.
“I can’t believe you and Vlad got the whole school roped into this,” said Sam, kicking a bit of loose gravel off the path. “What even was the point of this?”
Danny shrugged. “It was the best idea we had?” he offered.
“Just because people liked it doesn’t mean it’s going to be functional,” complained Sam.
“I think people liking it might actually make it more functional,” said Tucker. “Just saying.”
“I guess,” said Sam. “But what are you going to do if everyone does come to this cake thing, including the paranormal investigator people? What then?”
“Come on,” said Danny, “what kind of self-respecting paranormal investigators are going to go to a Community Cake Day when there are ghouls and goblins about?”
“You think these people are self-respecting?”
.
“A ‘Community Cake Day,’ huh?” said Ned. “You didn’t mention that in your research.”
“That’s because it didn’t come up in my research,” said Az, scowling at the paper taped to the telephone pole. “It didn’t exist.”
“It’s sponsored by MasterSoft.”
“MasterSoft doesn’t sponsor anything. That has to be a lie.”
“Well, Vlad Masters is the mayor, right? Maybe the guy just really likes cake. Speaking of which, we could swing by after filming. Load up on some free cake.”
“Absolutely not!” shouted the producer. “Do you know how many self-respecting paranormal investigators are seen at tacky small town cake-offs? None! Sip! Silch! Nada! Get into positions! And Jimmy… please, try to emote just a little. Susan! Where’s my coffee?”
“‘What self-respecting paranormal investigator,’” repeated Ned mockingly. “If we were self-respecting, we wouldn’t be doing this.”
“We were doing it before,” pointed out Az.
“We were in college before. No one in college has any respect for anything, right, Jimmy?”
“Hn.”
Az patted Jimmy on the shoulder. “Look at it this way. Most of that cake is made by high schoolers. They have even less respect for everything. And there’s hardly anyone on the streets. That makes it more spooky. A real ghost town vibe.”
“Right,” said Ned. “Real spooky.”
.
“Welcome back, cryptid crawlers, to the latest entry in our cryptid crawl across the continental US! Today finds us in lovely Amity Park, Illinois, as promised.” Crawly turned slightly to frame the ‘Welcome to Amity Park! A Nice Place to Live!’ sign with their hands, before squaring themself to the camera again. “With me today is my cameraman Bill. Say hi, Bill!”
Bill briefly turned the handheld camera towards his own face, then rotated it to point at Crawly again.
“We all owe Bill a huge thank you, because without him, you’d be getting this on my GoPro. Anyway. Amity Park. Well, my first impression is that it is a little beaten up. Lots of… weirdly shaped potholes. They’re in the sidewalks, too. Usually you don’t get a great view of those in videos.” Crawly skirted one hole. “This does look sort of humanoid-shaped, doesn’t it? Weird. But, anyway, beyond being beaten up, Amity Park looks fairly average for a town, which is par for the course. Fresno is a completely normal town, too, after all. Weird things are normal, so you find weird things in normal places. Most cryptids don’t live in the Himalayas, and with cities causing habitat destruction to the point where even well-known animals like bears and deer are becoming urbanized–” They’d have to fact check that sentence before they posted the edited video. They weren’t sure it was actually true. “--cryptids, too, are moving into cities.” They nodded sharply at this conclusion.
“Although… It is a little quiet, isn’t it? Bill, what do you think?”
“Eh, you might be right,” said Bill. “But sometimes small cities get their rush hours at different times.”
“I suppose,” said Crawly, already turning away. “Right, so, for this next bit, we’re just going to walk around for a while. We can interview anyone we come across. Then, we’ll go investigate the phantom’s,” they snickered, “haunts.” A colorful flier on a nearby telephone pole caught Crawly’s eye and they paused. “Oh, hey, there’s a community event happening! That must be where all the people are. They’re making cakes. Want to go when we’re done filming?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Bill.
“Then it’s a plan!”
.
One good thing about impulsively telling everyone he shared his forum account with the ‘real’ Phantom was that Danny didn’t get beaten up or dragged out into unused hallways after class all that much anymore.
Of course, it still happened now and again. Like today. Although today it wasn’t actually between classes, but in that weird gap between roll call and when they got their assignments with the caterers and bakers. He’d somehow lost track of Sam and Tucker in the rush, but he wasn’t particularly worried.
“Fenton,” said Dash, more nasally than usual.
“Baxter.” Danny made a face. “Are you, like, sick or something?”
“No,” said Dash, who was distinctly red-eyed.
“Have you been…” Danny decided against accusing Dash of crying. “Smoking?”
“I’d never jeopardize our chances at state playoffs!”
“Oh!” exclaimed Paulina. “Just give him the stuff so you can stop posturing. Here!” She shoved a bag at him.
“Uh,” said Danny, hugging the bag to his chest. “What is this?”
“Your costume.”
“Uh. What?”
“For messing with the out of town dude. Dudette?”
“I think someone said they were nonbinary in the forums,” said Danny, bewildered. He had his own incredibly tacky Phantom costume, and he wasn’t just talking about the one he wore on a daily basis.
“Whatever. We’re just making sure you actually show up and do what you said you’d do, so Phantom isn’t left with the mess you caused.”
Danny wasn’t sure why Dash was blaming him for this particular mess, but he’d long ago given up on trying to understand Dash. However… “Why wouldn’t I have done what I said I was going to do?” He directed the question more at Paulina.
Dash snorted. “You can’t even run a forum account by yourself. If we didn’t make you do it, you’d half-a–”
“Mr. Baxter.”
The three of them turned towards the voice. Mr. Lancer stood at the end of the hallway, eyes glittering.
“I’m glad I found you three before anything… unfortunate… occurred. Mr. Baxter, Miss Sanchez, your cohort is working with the team from Creep-tastic Catering in the Culinary Arts kitchen.”
“Come on, Dash,” said Paulina, walking down the hallway. “We don’t want to leave our friends waiting.”
“Your friends are looking for you, Mr. Fenton,” said Mr. Lancer.
“Okay,” said Danny, “thanks. Um.”
Mr. Lancer sighed heavily. “The three of you have been excluded from all the group lists. It wasn’t my idea.”
“And we never had this conversation,” said Danny, solemnly.
“That’s not what I– Oh, what does it matter? Avoid the actual hunters while you’re wearing all of that, will you?”
“That’s the plan.”
Mr. Lancer’s next sigh was even heavier.
.
“... and that’s about the gist of it,” said the woman from Poltergeist Pastries. “Any questions?”
About a dozen hands went up, including Star’s. The woman looked… intimidated.
“You there,” she said, pointing somewhere in Star’s general vicinity.
Star would take it. “Do you know why we’re doing this?” she asked.
“It’s a community outreach–”
“No, I mean, why are we really doing this?” clarified Star. “How is this going to help with the problem?”
“The only problem I see around here is a lack of delicious cakes!”
“Uh,” said Star.
“No, really,” said the woman, wringing her hands together. “I think it will help. And don’t worry,” she continued, pitching her voice even louder, “after you finish your individual and group cakes and have them assessed by our esteemed judges, you’ll be able to participate in the world-record breaking massive cake bake, where we will work together to make a single twenty-five by twenty-five meter square sheet cake.” She beamed at them. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Yeah!” said Ms. Tetslaff, their teacher chaperone. “We’re going to bake this cake and get those tourists out of here! Who’s with me?” She pumped a fist in the air.
Star was beginning to wonder if she had fallen into some bizarre mirror universe.
.
Danny stepped intangibly through a wall. He still had things to do, and he was running low on time. For all he knew, Crawly was already in town.
“Hey!” he shouted, getting the attention of everyone there. “Is everyone here?” He scanned the crowd. “Where’s Dani?”
“I am only the master of all things electronic and beeping,” said Technus, shrugging, “not unruly, sneaky, teenagers that call my hair ‘whack.’”
Danny groaned and rubbed his hands down the sides of his face. He didn’t know if he’d have time to find her. “Skulker?”
“I don’t hunt clones. Only the originals!”
“There is something seriously wrong with you. LL, I’ve done what I can to make sure everything is the way you wanted it.”
“We’ll see, ghost boy. Cookie?”
“No, I– Oh, fine. It’s not like it’s cursed or anything, is it?”
“It depends on whether or not you’re allergic to peanuts.”
Danny took the cookie but didn’t eat it. “Is it cursed if I’m not allergic to peanuts?”
“... No.”
Well, that was unconvincing. Danny put the cookie down on a nearby plate. “Anyway, you guys follow your end of the deal, I’ll follow mine. Are we still good?”
“THE BOX GHOST WISHES TO KNOW IF THERE WILL BE ANY BOX CAKES!”
“I don’t know, probably,” said Danny. “Everyone else? Are we good?”
There was a faint murmur of agreement.
“Great. Be aware that if you cause any trouble, I will make you regret it.”
“We’ll make a proper ghost out of you yet, dipstick!”
“Why do all of your compliments sound like you want to kill me?”
“Probably because they do!”
“Thank you, Sidney. I’ve got to go before the cryptid people fall into a trans-dimensional pothole Vlad didn’t bother to pave or something stupid.”
.
“Hey, Val.”
Valerie jumped backwards and clutched at her chest. “Don’t do that to people who are trying to sneak away from somewhere.”
Dani snickered. “Don’t worry, I have it on pretty good authority that there is life after death.”
“Don’t joke about that.”
“Okay,” said Dani, rising the rest of the way out of the ground. “So. You still up for some mayhem?”
Valerie raised an eyebrow. “What kind of mayhem were you thinking about?”
.
“Okay,” said Tucker, using his stylus to poke at a map of Amity on his PDA. “According to this… we’ve got… The TV people over here… the internet people over here… and the ghost hunters here…”
“And my parents?”
“Unclear,” said Tucker. “However…” He raised his stylus. “Do you hear that?”
“Yeah,” said Danny. “It’s the GAV. Loud as usual.”
“I think it’s probably somewhere north of Descarte and… east… Maybe east of fifteenth?”
“I think it’s closer than that. Fourteenth,” said Sam.
“Yeah, that could be right.”
“Great,” said Danny. “So, as planned, then?”
Tucker and Sam nodded. “As planned.”
53 notes
·
View notes
Text
i believe in my heart that the only way Wednesday would willingly become conversant in memes would be in order to weaponize them. in the same way that, upon reaching adulthood, one may realize the joy that is deliberately using up-to-date slang completely incorrectly when speaking to younger people, in order to watch the deep and complicated pain of ‘oh my god please stop saying everything you are saying that is not how that word WORKS-’ flash across their face.
i am not sure what memes would be best for this endeavor, particularly not enduring staple memes. some, for sure, would only work once for shock, and would probably give away the game. (i am specifically prompted by a panel that has just come across my dash that says “thoughts: intrusive; ass: protrusive; trans: inclusive” with accompanying images of two Danny Phantom characters in certain poses. would sending this be a murder? yes. would it give away any plausible deniability? most likely.)
i don’t know how to deliberately accomplish inflicting that sort of emotion on a consistent basis, especially in a manner that does not undermine Wednesday’s personal chosen presentation of self, but i feel that if it is possible, that is the reason she would choose to willingly become conversant in memes. a new way to inflict suffering without legal penalty.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Twins AU - Danny Adopted Seperately
Source: #ghosts-and-bats
DS
….imagine a Damian and Danny are brothers au, but Danny gets adopted completely independently from that, so when they’re introduced for the first time as “adoptive” brothers it’s just
A
Damien: What do you mean you did not know Danyal was your son, Father?
Damien: Was no blood work done?
Damien: Does he not look like you?
MF
Danny: To be fair I am not healthy.
A
Bruce: Damien, all my sons look like me
MF
Danny: Ectoplasm food sucks
DS
Damien: “did he not tell you ??”
Danny; “do i look like i remember things ??”
A
Bruce: Also, Danny's meta abilities affect his blood so we could not do blood work
I
lol just reminds me of Bruce who forgets that all his kids are adopted
MF
for example trying to figure out genetic diseases
and heights
A
Damien: Danyal is a meta??? Since when?
MF
Danny: Since I half-died
A
Danny: (to himself) well it's not like there'll be a better time to tell them
DS
dami : “since you WHAT”
A
Exactly!
MF
Danny: Yeah, it was electrifying
DS
Tim: “hey, let’s be fair here… he’s not used to seeing your face smile, he wouldn’t know what to expect!”
-----
S
The idea that Danny's adopted² now
(Adopted by the Fenton’s) + (Adopted by Bruce & co.)
Is hilarious
MF
double adoption™️
L
They won’t notice. Then Dami accuses him of being a clone
DS
“Nah, but i do have a clone”
S
The idea that Danny can fool Batman that he isn't Phantom for this, until it's right in front of his face it Danny outright tells him, would be hilarious.
MF
"I have several clones actually."
I
most dissolved into goo all except one
S
Especially if Bruce ends up being the last to know somehow
L
Bruce now has to find the missing clone: it’s another child i needs to care for them- shush I don’t have a problem
I
Bruce too busy trying to reconnect with a child he also didn't know was his and is hurt by his former parents
to connect the dots
DS
Danny: “haha, yea, i spend a lot of time with ghost kids cause most of ‘em are orphans and don’t have much parental influence of any kind”
Bruce: *heavy breathing*
S
Danny: you know it's funny because I call you "Dami" but I have a mini-me called "Dani" and she's cool, actually you 2 would probably get along I should get her over here-
Tim: wait,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "mini-me"? 👀
MF
Danny: She's my clone, cloned by a fruitloop.
DS
Danny: she was trying to kill me for a while haha, but we talked her out of it :>C
S
"Was it L Luther?"
Danny: lol no, my guy had hair.
"Who is it then?"
Danny: that's classified 😎
"Why protect their identity if they cloned you?....... Was it your parents?
Danny: (Hah!) No 😎 stop asking 😎
SK
People in the batfam (Bruce) would be having heart attacks!
DS
Danny; “sorry, can’t say, they got blackmail on me”
“THEY HAVE W H A T”
S
Dani shows up (portal travel courtesy of Wulf) and they realize she just has a Cain instinct a mile wide and it went from threat to just regular "sibling" behavior.
ND
Tim : opens Bat Computer We counter blackmailing that bitch
S
Danny: good luck with that; but just so we're clear you learn nothing about who it is from me 👀😎. Plausible deniability 😎😎😎
997 notes
·
View notes
Note
Danny slips up one day and ends up making an inside joke with the trio that only phantom should know and sam and tucker are just like >_> how u know dat
haha yesss! i think a while back i mentioned Danny accidentally laughing at Sam & Tuck's ASL in-jokes that he shouldn't get, because they're Sam & Tucker & Phantom's in jokes, but also because they're in ASL and Danny claims to know absolutely none. but him making an inside joke in the wrong form?? pure gold becuase like... like, there's a lot less plausible deniability there. if he's just laughing he can brush it off as a social behavior. "i laughed because sam laughed. obviously. what's funny?" BUT he MADE the joke. he very deliberately made the joke. and when Sam and Tucker don't bust a gut like he's expecting, he has a full ten seconds of realizing where he is and who he is and what he's just done. full-on terror. and when they're like "how did you know that.....?" he just awkwardly goes, ".......lucky guess?" but it was very obviously not a lucky guess. it was a very specific joke. and he cannot explain it any further than that
[undercover phantom au]
202 notes
·
View notes
Text
Hellbent
tw: brief mention of blood
DannyMay Day 24 - Power
Summary:
“How can I make this up to you?” he asked, voice small and raspy around the tight grip on his collar. The temperature in the room fell below freezing.
Danny pushed him further into the ground. “You had one chance,”—the energy in the boy’s hand grew colder—“and you blew it.”
In short, ghosts are strong, Vlad comes to an epiphany, and Danny gets catharsis.
(sequel to Icarus, you old fool & 6th part of the Not Your Son series)
Ao3 Link
~
Chapter 1
The deep sadness behind those glowing green eyes sent a shock of guilt and dread into Vlad’s core. It was as if his ghost half had tore out of him to rearrange his innards in disgust.
Maybe he might’ve tried to run in the past, Vlad thought as he turned off the screen and leaned his head against it, closing his eyes. Avoid the boy to keep some semblance of the agreement intact and use plausible deniability should they ever come face to face in the future. A feeble attempt at avoiding being stuck in bedrock for hundreds of years.
He sighed, rubbing at his tired eyes. Maybe he should just—
Meowing floated down from above him and he looked up into the distressed eyes of his cat.
Vlad stared at her silently.
She meowed again, leaning down and pawing at the distance to the ground.
He straightened up and offered her an arm, which she quickly climbed onto and jumped to the floor from his shoulders. Vlad watched her run under the couch and determination set in his eyes.
“Don’t worry, Princess,” he said, rushing to his desk and furiously writing on a notepad. “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
He almost filled up the entire page when his nose wrinkled up and he sneezed.
A puff of red mist.
He wrote faster.
An explosion rocked the mansion and broken glass rained down from behind him. Vlad dropped the pen and turned, holding up his hands.
A black and white streak flew through the massive hole in his office windows and Danny Phantom, eyes and hands glowing a toxic neon green with a furious look on his face, floated in front of him.
“Danny wait before you—” he cut himself off as he ducked from a large ecto-blast. He glanced briefly at the wall behind him and did a double take.
There was a smoldering green hole in the wall.
Vlad's eyes widened and he tilted his head slightly as he heard another fired blast. He pushed himself off his knees and quickly scrambled behind the desk.
“Please, I’m begging you, just—” He jerked forward as a blast shot through the desk. He scooted until his back hit the coffee table and Danny stared at him with cold green eyes, ecto-energy building in his palms.
“It’s about Princess,” he said, clasping his hands together and kneeling. “Please, you can do whatever you want to me, but I don’t want her to suffer for my mistakes.” Danny blasted at him and he dodged.
“She doesn’t deserve—” Blast.
“I left instructions on the—” Blast. Blast.
“Can’t you be reasonable about—” Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast. Blast.
“Danny, please, give me time to explain!” Vlad said as he dodged out of the way of multiple ice and ecto-blasts. The couch was encased in a large jagged piece of ice and other parts of the walls and furniture were also covered in ice or completely dissolved.
He stood up from behind the frozen couch sporting multiple burns and tears in his clothing and held up his hands. “Princess knocked something over and turned on the bug that was still in your house. I was just trying to get rid of it.” A blast of ice sailed over his head from where he ducked. “It was an accident!”
The firing stopped.
The room became dead silent.
“An accident?” Danny’s eyes flipped between icy blue and swirling green.
“Yes! I hadn’t used it in months; I completely forgot it was there.” The temperature in the office dropped significantly, but Vlad continued, relief starting to fill his chest. “It was an honest mistake on my part for keeping the controller out anyway so I’m so—”
“Don’t you DARE say it.” Danny growled, a menacing ghostly echo in his voice. Vlad gulped, but stayed quiet.
A swirling green snowball grew steadily in size between gloved hands, becoming twice as big as Danny himself and he lifted it over his head. Vlad paled as it was launched right at him and he jumped over it. He used a bit of his flight to get onto the top shelf above the TV screens and watched as the bottom half of his office partially dissolved and then was immediately frozen.
He leaned back into the wall as Danny stared silently at him.
“I don’t understand! You must know it was an accident; why would I bother revealing my bug if it was on purpose?!” The younger halfa said nothing, charging up and firing more ice blasts one after another. Vlad did his best to dodge, but his left shoulder was almost entirely encased in ice. He grunted in pain. “I never meant to break our agreement!”
Danny grabbed him by the collar and flung him to the ground. He darted down after him to punch him in the gut, making a small crater in the ice and causing Vlad to get the wind knocked out of him. The man could taste blood in his mouth as the younger halfa grabbed his collar with one hand and charged up an ice blast in the other. Vlad kept his focus on Danny and stared at him with pleading eyes.
“How can I make this up to you?” he asked, voice small and raspy around the tight grip on his collar. The temperature in the room fell below freezing.
Danny pushed him further into the ground. “You had one chance,”—the energy in the boy’s hand grew colder—“and you blew it.”
Vlad's eyes widened slightly before becoming downcast as the glowing hand was clenched into a fist and started to come down on the older halfa’s face.
Loud meowing made it pause just centimeters from Vlad’s nose. Both of them switched their gazes to look under the couch—one of the few parts of the room not dissolved or frozen—and saw Princess shivering and hiding in the center. The boy’s eyes glazed over for a moment, his face scrunching up and tears coming to his eyes. His hand lowered.
Vlad’s eyes widened. Was the boy finally understanding—?
(“Princess you stink like hell! Just let me wash you!” The cat dashed down the hall, Danny running after her.
“You can’t go about it like that, Danny,” Vlad called, chuckling, “You have to—)
Everything below Vlad’s neck was encased in a thick layer of ghost ice.
Danny blinked hard and glared at him. “Wait here and don’t do anything funny.” He flew up, legs merging into a tail and turned intangible as he started to fly down. Vlad’s eyebrows furrowed. Where could he possibly—?
He paled.
Vlad immediately changed into Plasmius and turned intangible himself, phasing through the ice and tackling the boy.
“You can’t go down there!” he said, floating above the floor and holding Danny tightly, pinning his arms to his sides. “Please, you have to trust me on this.”
Danny split his tail into legs and kicked back, breaking free from his hold. He turned to punch him in the face, knocking Vlad into the mostly intact TV screens. Crushed glass and metal surrounded the man as he tried to lift himself up by the arms, ignoring the excruciating pain from the sizable burn covered in thick frost on his jaw.
The boy hovered in front of him, staring down with those same cold eyes from before.
“Already tried that once.”
Danny’s trembling fists and the crack in his voice made Vlad’s core squeeze painfully in his chest. “My boy, I—”
“Save it.” A direct shot to the chest left the older halfa dizzy and groaning. He blinked away the spots in his vision as Danny pulled something from his back.
Clutched tightly in white gloved hands was the Fenton Thermos.
Danny aimed the opening at Vlad and hovered his thumb over the capture button. Vlad looked him in the eye one more time before staring down the device with tired resignation.
“Just,”—Vlad coughed—“take care of Princess.”
Danny’s thumb came down—
A loud ringing went off at his hip.
Danny didn’t move to answer.
It continued to ring.
He grit his teeth and swiped it out of his belt. “What.”
“Danny! There’s a level 9 ghost at the Elmerton courthouse! Where the heck are you?!” Sam yelled over the sounds of destruction and people screaming.
Vlad’s eyes widened in alarm. Level 9? The highest the kids had ever fought was a 7 and that’s because he used to fight them.
The boy averted his eyes. “Doing something for Clockwork.” Sam swore.
“We thought you came straight here! Dude, Val and Elle are getting their butts handed to them and our Fenton gear isn’t doing squat!” Tucker said, between labored breaths.
Danny kept his eyes on Vlad, thermos still aimed and ready.
“You’re sure it’s a level 9?” Two confirmations. His eyes flicked to the thermos, then back to Vlad. “Anything else?”
“She keeps calling for ‘the halfa who defeated the King’ so we’re guessing she’s after you.”
“Yeah, either you come here or she tears up the city looking for you,” Tucker added. “And personally, I like the city the way it is.”
Danny nodded. “I’m on my way.” He hung up and capped the thermos. “It’s your lucky day, Fruitloop. I need an empty thermos to deal with this ghost.”
Vlad attempted to pick himself up again. “You’ll need help—” He cut himself off at the icy glare.
“Not from you,” the boy spat.
“Danny, you could get—”
“Listen to me for once.” His glare intensified. “Stay. Away.”
Vlad clenched his fists, but kept his mouth shut. He leaned back into the debris, changing back to human form and nodding.
---
“You can sit out of this one.” Danny pat Vlad on the shoulder and gestured to his friends. “We got this. Go back to your business meeting.”
Vlad crossed his arms.
Danny groaned. “Fine, leave behind a duplicate or something.”
A scoff. “Against that?” He waved a hand at the massive purple dragon spewing flames and destroying the park with its sharp claws. “I’m helping and that’s final, young man.”
---
The boy eyed him for a moment before his legs merged back into a tail and he flew off through the walls.
---
“I told you it wasn’t a big deal;” Danny grumbled. “Aragon’s not even the strongest ghost I’ve fought before.” Vlad hummed.
“True, but I worry about you,” the older halfa said as he patched up a cut on the boy’s arm. “I want to keep you safe. You’re my son, after all.”
---
A few seconds passed.
---
“I’ll always be there for you, Danny.” He ruffled the sleeping boy’s hair with a melancholic smile. “No matter how you feel about me, I’ll always be there.”
---
Vlad turned invisible and flew up through the ceiling.
Danny would get his help, whether he liked it or not.
#dannymay#dannymay2021#nemo the writing ho#Not Your Son#badger cereal#danny phantom#danny fenton#vlad masters#maddie the cat#hit enter coward#ooooof#3 days late lets goo#some stuff came up so i kinda couldn't write for a bit but we good now
80 notes
·
View notes
Text
I just watched two really great retrospectives on Danganronpa 1 and 2 by NezumiVa and it got me thinking about Chirio and Yasu from Umineko.I’m hesitant to count either of these two as trans, Yasu especially. Note: I’m not attacking anyone’s arguments since I’ve read only Nezumi’s, which I think is great. These are just my thoughts on how these games mishandled these storylines.
Let’s start with Chihiro. I understand where the people who see him as trans are coming from, but the game has nothing supporting it. The people drawing an analogy to the trans experience remind me of those who do the same with Danny Phantom being trans. I see it, but if you think the creators were trying to put a subtle trans reference in these franchises I-Umineko has a much stronger case for this but gets it bungled. Chihiro doesn’t want to be a girl, he felt bad for “failing” to fit into society’s masculinity standards. This is not a feeling unique to the queer community. Many people, cis or otherwise, feel that they don’t fit into these expectations. I, for one, often feel less feminine due to my very small chest and lack of curves and that I’m bad at makeup and doing my hair. For a time I thought maybe I’m gnc or more masc aligned, but I felt uncomfortable when I changed my style. I’m not saying that this feeling isn’t a sign of being trans, just that it isn’t a definitive sign. The example is just my experience and only a perspective. Chihiro wearing “girl’s” clothing doesn’t make him a girl and he’s uncomfortable with being perceived as female. Honestly, it feels like another case of Japanese media pushing things way too far into the realm of insulting and offensive. Chihiro wanted to present as a man. Still not handled well.
Yasu…Yasu concerns me. I personally consider them nonbinary but their story is very problematic, for lack of a better term. Yasu didn’t make the conscious decision to identify as a woman (in the sense of discovering their gender as they grew up), it was forced upon them after an admittedly necessary corrective surgery. Yasu has male and female alter egos. I feel like a trans/nonbinary narrative was being put into the story intentionally as evidenced by the ambiguity of Lion’s gender. I would be fine with Yasu if it wasn’t for the surgery aspect since it hedges into the corrective surgeries done to intersex people.
Japan has a very problematic history with LGBT+ representation. Ryuji being kidnapped by those two gay men in either version of Persona 5 is horrendous and a serious stain on the game. The trans representation often is perverted or creepy. I think Danganronpa was just offensive. It’s not too out of line considering the treatment of Mikan and the chef guy who’s name I forgot. Umineko… I feel like the creator wanted to create genuine representation but was so vague about it that conflict arose. Creators can’t leave this stuff up in the air. If a character is trans, make it clear. I know High Guardian Spice traumatized the world, but you gotta be specific. Representation is so sparse that a “wink, wink,” just gives the creators plausible deniability.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩
A collection of fics I’ve read (/reread) and thoroughly enjoyed in the past week-ish from all kinds of fandoms and genres.
ATLA
✩ Legacies by WildInkling
Long after the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a lone historian finds the personal journal of Prince Zuko. Little does she know that he was also the mysterious anonymous author who took the world by storm. The world will never be the same. Inspired by and directly links to aloneintherain's Writer Zuko AU.
✩ The Good Vanilla by Haicrescendo
Sokka’s beautiful friendship with Zuko doesn’t start with breaking Dad out of jail. That’s just what he tells people.
Sokka’s beautiful friendship with Zuko started the day he realizes that he knows how to cook.
Feat. breakup cake, an attempted assassination, and eating out of the pan like dirty heathens.
of earth and fire by discordiansamba
In which Zuko's first few days in the Beifong household are interesting to everyone involved, but none more so than to Zuko himself.
(or, zuko learns to adjust and learns toph's just as big a liar as he is)
definitely not suspicious at all in the least by presumenothing (justjoy)
Toph crosses her arms. “What, you think I can’t buy a stupid mask just because I’m blind?”
(or: plausible deniability 101)
Marvel
the itsy bitsy liar by minkspit (Note: A beautifully written fic with some amazing scenes, but the summary is a tad misleading. There’s not much of a reveal. I stayed up to 3am to get to the age reveal and inevitable fall-out, but the author never delivered. Still a great read though.)
The first time he hit a roadblock with the Avengers was not when Doc Ock attacked a bank, or a supervillain stalked Aunt May, or his full name came out. It was when Clint Barton offered him a drink.
...or, a Homecoming AU where young Peter Parker handles the Vulture without Iron Man, lies to the Avengers about his age, and gets away with it. For a time.
Natsume Yuujinchou
What Colors Do You See In This Monochrome World by saviorofauldrant
“What color is that kimono, Natsume?”
Matoba’s question surprised him, so much so that he had to stop his decent across the bridge, “Kimono?”
tunnels through the stone by taizi
Satoru feels a pang that, by this point, is unfortunately familiar. It lives in his chest like it’s renting an apartment there, this little wrench of pain that comes and goes every day he learns something new about Natsume.
He’s like a shadow, that Natsume, or a ghost. An impression of someone that only exists when he's being watched. Otherwise he's quiet and colorless and focuses most of his energy on not taking up any more room than he has to.
And then, like just now, someone says something that lights him up. The grays and the shadows wash out to warm living colors, silver-moss hair and forest-green eyes, and he’s so lovely and so human it more than makes up for those moments before.
Danny Phantom
Scarlet Letter by SardonicManOfLetters
Dash just wanted to get a good few hits in before he had to leave for a vacation he didn't even want to go on. Fenton, of course, was the perfect target. Except, after a good blow or two, something goes wrong- there's blood. Why is there blood?- and Dash finds himself horrified and curious. He wants to get to the bottom of this, and when he spills his guts to the other A-listers they want the same. The question isn't if they want to, though, it's if they can.
On the other side of things, Danny and team Phantom are just trying to keep things under wraps. Ghosts are getting more vicious and Danny more powerful, with each passing day the challenges of his secret get harder and harder to manage. Now, with Dash and the A-listers acting so weird around him, he doesn't know what he's going to do.
Closet Space by ghostanimal
Oneshot: Both recently out as trans and realizing that they're the same size, new friends Danny and Sam decide to do a clothing swap. Heavily implied Danny/Sam
Danny Died (And The Wolves Are Howling) by anxiety_and_all_its_subsequent_failings (Note: Please read the tags on this fic. I’ve read plenty of whump in my time, but this fic got to me.)
Danny Fenton is four years old.
Danny Fenton turns on a portal.
Danny Fenton dies.
(Or, alternatively, Danny Phantom forms in Walker's office, who has no idea what the hell is going on, so he kidnaps a misery-sucking bitch to help him. Shit happens)
253 notes
·
View notes
Note
Ok... so Danny is basically an infant by ghost standards right? Not even dead for a decade yet kinda deal going on... so like... imagine one of his enemies (probly one of the less antagonistic ones) realizing that about him and bringing it up to the others and they all collectively realize they've been trying to kill a BABY who knows NOTHING about being an ghost or ghost culture and have subsequently had their butta kicked by the same infant ghost because nobody bothered to even try to teach him
Danny is a buff fighting baby who can punch all your buns
but for real, I feel like a few of them don’t care like Skulker or Walker. being a baby is no excuse to break the law. but ghost like kitty and Johnny and Dora are tripped out. this baby defeated the king, what the heck! Kitty you flirted with an infant what the heck! well that human girl was still alive, Johnny! so is phantom technically!
Ember knows that Danny is a baby, hence the nicknames. but she is also pretty much a baby ghost so she can get away with it. I’m getting real ‘hahaha I’m this much older than you, therefore I am superior!’ vibes. even though she’s only older by like a year. which is nothing in the ghost zone. i want to say that ghost writer also counts as a baby ghost. when Danny fights them it’s like a toddler fight. kinda adorable.
But there’s of course the worry. because if Danny is this powerful as a baby ghost, how powerful is he going to be in the future. that’s a major contributor to why the Watchers are like kill him now before he gets to powerful. it’s really a killing baby Hitler thing for them kinda thing for them. and Clockwork is all ‘lol, this is my baby now bitches. set him on the right path and he’s gonna be an awesome king of the ghost world someday’. and the Watchers are like, ‘we also don’t want that, so please kill him’. ‘I’ll try’ Clockwork says pulling a troll face and doing the entire Dan episode.
Clockwork is just having a riot of a time. watching people be confounded by this baby ghost is one of his main sources of entertainment and he knows he and Danny are gonna be equal in power and good friends in the future, so he’s down to just let this kid do whatever he wants provided they maintain the timeline. he gives standard ‘oh no don’t do that’ protests to have plausible deniability but he is high key trolling everyone.
Frostbite and Pandora are also ghosts who knew he was a baby from the beginning. but they’re pretty ancient so everyone is a baby to them. they are high key doting parents and it’s really obvious.
the greatest irony is that it takes Danny the longest to find out he’s regarded as a baby. like in the abstract he knows, because he knows when he died, but he never realized that fighting baby ghosts isn’t normal and is lowkey pissed that most of his fights could have been avoided if the stupid ghost recognized he was an infant and explained things to him.
i guess Sydney kinda counts in this. Sydney was a pretty young ghost, but old enough to recognize, hey this kid doesn’t know anything i should at very least explain some of the ropes. he was still immature enough to get caught up in his own shenanigans however.
all in all this constant fighting effects him in his formative years and where he probably could have kept his obsession to protecting his friends and family, it is now highkey his obsession to be a hero and to protect everyone. he core grows to help with that goal and he is overpowered as hell. the ghosts brought this on themselves - Hestia
68 notes
·
View notes
Note
This is the "Down The Rabbit Hole ask" anon and yes it was about the "what inspired this fic" ask game but the teaser that you gave is very much appreciated. I liked it a lot and am patiently waiting for when you're ready to release another chapter. It's very interesting and I'm curious where it'll go. (P.s. Don't overwork yourself. If you need to take a break from this to get the rest you need please do so. Take care of yourself. Wish you well.)
Thanks, Anon! For all your kind words. In response to this ask game:
This fic is a bit different in that it started with a title from a different ask game. I mostly just had the idea in my head of Wirt trying to be a sane, rational person while befriending these people who joke about these crazy things, only to slowly realize that they’re not joking at all. Danny Phantom wasn’t originally part of the crossover--I added it because it fit well, gave me something to use as easy proof--so it was initially just Wirt, Toby, and Wendy.
So that first scene? With the hatchet to hide in the dorm room? That’s the first one I got in my head. To set everything up. Because we all know how Wendy was raised and how well she fought when it came time to fight, and we all know that just because Toby is most comfortable with his hammer, doesn’t mean he never tried any other weapons while training with Jim at the hero’s forge, and Wirt? Wirt’s still got this plausible deniability thing going on. He has no proof of what happened to him, not beyond the fact that he and Greg shared the experience. And in a world with so much normal, he’s trying to talk himself into the fact that it didn’t happen. But then he makes these friends and it just gets harder to deny, even when they aren’t directly pushing him, and it’s getting more difficult to explain away the odd comments or weird things that happen. And it just...spirals out from there, with Wirt digging his heels in and getting dragged under anyway. *grins*
#ladylynse#ask game#asks#reactions to my stuff#my writing#no one else had dropped me a note re that ask game so I just assumed no one would#thank you!#it's fun to blather on about fics#and I swear I'm sleeping now#I'm definitely in better shape than I was last weekend#I didn't do a full day yesterday#Anonymous
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
He could overlook a lot of things, but this was getting ridiculous. You’d think seasoned vigilantes would have better excuses prepared, but Danny had caught that flash of panic that crossed Tim’s face as Danny came face to face with Tim dragging an unconscious Steph to her designated room in the manor.
“Uh.”
“Danny! Uh, Stephanie brained herself- uh, sliding down the bannisters and- pleasedon’ttellBruce.”
Danny blinks, staring at Tim and then very pointedly, very slowly, turned his head back towards the direction he came from: the main hall… where the bannisters were. He wonders what vigilante hijinks they were trying to hide from B this time.
Tim coughs, trying to inch Stephanie away. “Uh. She was doing… cartwheels?”
Danny let his eyes slowly take in the bruises that were clearly not from “cartwheeling in the mansion” on the both of them. There’s a huge bandaged cut on Steph’s forearm and a giant bruise on the edge of Tim’s jaw. Tim’s face twitches nervously, not that anyone else would have noticed- except Danny has enhanced ghost senses and could feel the panic coming off of his adopted brother.
“You know…” Shit, what does he do? Not knowing would be so much easier if these idiots gave him good excuses! “I don’t think I want to know what you two have been up to… but should I be worried for your, uh, physical health?”
“Nope!”
“… Okay.” He says. Tim opens his mouth to make further excuses but Danny adds quickly, “But don’t tell me, because if Bruce asks, I want plausible deniability.”
Cartwheels, Danny’s ghostly ass. Luckily, this show of doubt reaffirms Tim’s belief that Danny believes them all of the other times. Danny grins inwardly, planning capitalizing on the guilt that flashed over Tim’s face.
“Deal.”
“Want help?” The halfa points at Steph, who’s still being dragged over the carpet by a noodle armed Tim. Danny knows Tim’s strong, he’s a vigilante, but it’s funny watching him pretend to struggle.
“Please. I’m so tired right now.” He looks it too. Danny’s brows furrow with genuine concern when he takes in Tim’s drowned raccoon look. He picks up Steph, firmly removing her from Tim’s suddenly weak grip. Being careful to avoid her injuries, Danny nods at the door to her room. Tim cracks it open and does a little showy gesture towards the inside.
“C’mon, we’ll tuck her in and then I’ll tuck you in.”
“What, you don’t have to do that.”
“If you don’t let me tuck you in and make sure you sleep, I’ll tell Alfred who really accidentally poured boiling hot coffee on his azaleas last week. And I’ll sic Dick on you and tell him you haven’t been sleeping enough.”
“You drive a hard bargain,” Tim grumbles. “But fine. It’s really not my fault I’m this tired. A missing spleen is hard to handle, you know.”
“Yeah, missing an organ sucks,” Danny says, shit eating grin hidden long enough to catch the contemplative bloodhound look that passes over Tim’s face.
“Which- uh, which one of your organs is missing?”
“Liver.” Danny says, remembering the flashes of pain. He tilts his head away to hide the grin at Tim’s panicked face.
When he tucks Tim in, he pretends to believe Tim’s sleeping act and left his room while mumbling about the Wayne’s clumsiness and bruises and stocking up on bruise cream. He couldn’t even enjoy Tim’s floundering, this time, worried as he is.
——
“Brother.” Danny half turns his head, just to beam a sunny smile at Cass. He signs an exuberant hello. The halfa hangs up his coat as he addresses his adopted sister.
“Cass! What’s up?”
“Dinner.” She smiles back, signing that Alfred wanted them to the dinning room post haste. The main dining room, because rich people were fruit loops and Batman is totally included. Cassandra looks down and gasps.
What…?
Oh. Fuck. Danny glances down. He genuinely forgot about that.
“Huh.”
“Okay?” Suddenly, Cass is right next to him, hand reached out and hovering over the actual knife Danny forgot was sticking out of him. At least it’s where his liver should be, so he won’t have to pretend.
“Oh. Yeah, I’m good. Don’t have a liver.” Danny decides on the spot that he’s not gonna mess with Cass. She smiled the same as him. “Got mugged on the way back but I think they said I could keep the knife, right?”
“Danny.” She’s frowning at him. He feels like he just kicked tiny Cujo. But he doesn’t feel bad enough to blurt everything out.
“Here. You can have it if you want?” Danny casually pulls out the knife and holds the wound together with his bare hands. Cass looks more alarmed. She bodily picks up Danny and starts running.
“Woah!”
Cass throws him at Alfred, gently.
“Miss Cassandra! Why, I never-!” Alfred pauses in surprise.
“Uh. Wow, Cass. You’re really strong.” Danny pipes up, hand still over his gushing wound.
She ignores him, pointing at Danny and telling Alfred, “Hurt. Got mugged. Dumb.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault Gothamites are ready to jump people at any moment. Besides, it’s daytime. It’s not like the vigilante furries are out to save my butt. I think I did really well coming back safe, you know?”
“Hurt. Forgot the knife. Was in him.”
“Master Danny!”
Danny pouts. He also knows there’s a discreet camera in the corners of the sitting room, so he’s definitely hoping he could phase into the cave when Barbara eventually tells the group that he called them “vigilante furries.”
Alfred clucks his tongue and set to work patching him up. Danny tries not to bask in the careful way Alfred tended to his wounds. It reminds him too much of Jazz, if Jazz was British and a man with greying hair.
But because they were watching him and he was watching them in return, Danny noticed the moment Alfred’s hands stalled and Cass’ gaze got intense. What now…?
Oh, fuck, his vivisection scar. Oops. Danny smiled, channeling Dani (his lovely clone sister) at her most innocent.
Cass smiled back, just as sunnily, fists tightening at her side in repressed fury.
——
“Cass? Why’d you call us?”
“Yeah, baby bat. I got a couple o’ smugglers to talk to.”
Cass paces.
“What is it, Cassandra?” Damian tuts impatiently.
“Danny. Has… scars. Autopsy. But was struggling. When cut.”
“What.”
“A vivisection, Master Jason.” Alfred’s voice was crisp and eerily cold. His hands are folded, rage only held back by his sheer will and a well practiced sense of propriety.
“We find. Who hurt him,” Cass snarls. “We. End.”
Jason’s eyes glint green, hands going to his guns. “Fine. By. Me.”
“It does tie in with the dead comment. I wonder what happened to him.” Tim clacks away at the bat computer, furiously looking into the matter already. Bruce has taken to prowling, stressed out at the prospect of one more of his children- not a vigilante at that- getting hurt the way Jason had. Worse, even. A vivisection. He was alive, dissected. Aware enough to struggle. Dick looked like he was torn about hunting down and lunging at whoever hurt Danny to rip their throats out with his bare teeth versus the urge to go back up to the manor and wrap Danny in bubble wrap.
In the corner, Danny was having a quiet breakdown because he came here to watch them react to vigilante furries, not offering to murder the people who vivisected him. What the fuck?? He ran his hands through his hair, invisible.
——
“Oh, by the way, we should consider more daytime shifts.”
“Why?” Spoiler asks Barbara.
“Danny got mugged. And called us the nightly furries.”
“The fuckin’ what-?” Jason chokes out, laughing. Bruce stops his pacing, body language becoming slightly offended.
Danny muffles a laugh only Alfred would have heard.
#danny phantom#Danny ‘plausible deniability’ Phantom#Jason Todd#red hood#batman#tim drake#dick grayson#cassandra cain#black bat#Tim usually would be a better liar#but usually he lies to Batman#not Danny#Cassandra Cain and these idiots that she unfortunately loves#Danny: you stabbed me so I’m keeping the knife#Danny plays finders keepers with Gotham muggers#he wins#cartwheeling in Wayne manor#dc x dp#dp x dc#bamf danny phantom
6K notes
·
View notes
Text
Phanniemay Day 17: Seance
Word count: 1998
TW for description of a character in extreme pain
Danny wasn’t not enjoying the party. It was fine; he knew most of the people here at least a little bit, there was decent food, and the music was generic. Of course, everyone else was drinking and he was sober because his body reacted unpredictably to alcohol, but he didn’t need alcohol to have fun. And yet, Danny was standing alone in the corner of the kitchen staring at nothing. He wondered whether it was late enough to justify leaving.
“Hey, Fenton! Guys, I found him!” Danny looked over to see Wes standing in the kitchen doorway, waving at him. After a moment he was joined by Sukhdeep and Sebastian, also members of the basketball team if Danny remembered correctly. He walked over to them.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Sukhdeep and Sebastian looked at each other hesitantly, but Wes leaned casually on the doorframe and said,
“Us and some other guys are going to do a seance. We figured, you like ghosts, so maybe you’d want in.” His smile was cocky, and Danny knew this was some kind of trap. He wondered if maybe he should just walk away. But, then, what if that was the trap? Danny wasn’t sure how Wes wanted him to respond.
“I don’t know if that’s a great idea, Wes,” he said after a too-long pause. “You know you shouldn’t be messing with that stuff. Ghosts can be dangerous.”
“Aren’t you always saying that not all ghosts are bad, though?”
“Yeah, but-”
“And if it does turn out to be a bad ghost, all the more reason to have a ghost hunter with us.” Danny narrowed his eyes.
“He’s kind of got a point,” Sebastian said. “It would be helpful to have a ghost expert or a ghost hunter. You know, just in case.” Danny continued glaring at Wes for a moment, then sighed. He had no idea whether it was actually possible to summon a ghost with a seance, but, on the off chance it was, he preferred to be close to the action, the better to figure out what was going on and interrupt the summoning if need be.
“Fine, I guess I wasn’t doing anything else.” Wes grinned, and Danny had a feeling he was going to regret this, but he followed the boys out into the backyard. They made their way across the expansive lawn, out of the halo of illumination that surrounded the house, and approached two other boys. They were sitting next to a pentacle traced on the grass in chalk, as well as a velvet bag full of who-knew-what.
“Danny, I think you’ve met Zeke and Jiang.” Each of them nodded in turn, and Danny raised one hand by way of greeting. “Well, then,” Wes said happily, “shall we?” He sat on the ground, and everyone joined him around the pentacle. Danny sat directly across from Wes. It was a little big for the group of six, who had a couple of feet between each of them. Evidently, Wes had thought he would be able to get more people interested.
Wes opened the velvet bag and started pulling out dark-coloured candles and tossing them to the other people around the circle. “So, this is normally done on a flat surface, but, uh,” he paused while he shoved one of the candles into the ground, just inside one of the points of the pentagram, “they should stand up if you kind of push them into the soil.” Indeed, the candle remained standing when he took his hand away, though it was a bit crooked. The others followed his lead, placing their candles into the points near them. Danny didn’t get a candle.
Next, Wes passed around a barbecue lighter so everyone could light their candles. Sebastian and Zeke both moved back a bit in response to the sudden presence of fire. Or maybe, Danny thought when one of the candles next to him was lit, they were responding to the smell. The smoke coming off of the candles had a sharp scent to it that burned his nose and made his eyes water. He shuffled back, blinking rapidly, while Wes took a brass bowl out of the bag and placed it on the ground next to him.
“So, when you do a seance, you need some kind of anchor, some point of contact for the ghost,” Wes said matter-of-factly. “If you just want to communicate with the ghost, you have a few options. The most common ones are a spirit board or a medium - someone to be overshadowed by the ghost.” Wes paused dramatically while he looked each person around the circle in the eyes.
Everyone seemed a bit uncomfortable. Sebastian and Zeke were both fidgeting nervously, Sukhdeep was looking toward the house, and Jiang was looking at Danny, perhaps waiting for him to interject with his own ghost knowledge. Danny just stared at Wes. Finally, he continued.
“But if you want to actually see the ghost, to summon it physically, you have to work a little harder.” Wes pulled a little leather purse from his bag, which he opened and then upended over the brass bowl. A white powder poured out. “You have to mix a little bit of science with your supernatural.” Wes reached into the velvet bag again, and Danny’s heart almost stopped when Wes took out a vial of something that very strongly resembled ectoplasm.
“Wes, what the fuck is that?” Wes raised an eyebrow while he unstoppered the vial.
“What does it look like, Fenton? You’re supposed to be the ghost expert.”
“It looks like a dangerous, radioactive substance that you shouldn’t be playing with.” Jiang looked worriedly at Wes.
“Hey, man, maybe Danny has a point. Is this safe?”
“Of course it is. Guys, I did my research, ok?” He lifted the vial demonstratively. “This amount of ectoplasm,” he poured it into the bowl, “mixed with the stuff in this bowl,” he picked up the bowl and then stood and walked into the centre of the pentacle, where he placed the bowl on the ground, “this far away from us is totally safe.” Danny opened his mouth to object, but then he started coughing. The pain was no longer just in his eyes and nose; his throat, lungs, and skin were all burning now.
“Oh,” Wes said casually, “I should clarify. None of this is harmful to humans. It’s a different story for ghosts. Especially the ghost whose ectoplasm I used.” Danny looked up, barely able to see through his tears. Wes was still standing in the middle of the circle, arms crossed, while the other guys had also stood, and were backing away from Danny warily.
“H-how-” Danny choked out before he was overcome by coughing again.
“How what? How did I get your ectoplasm? How did I get the blood blossoms to make the candles? How did I manage to bind your body to the tiny bit of your ectoplasm in the centre of the circle? All good questions, but they shouldn’t be your top priority right now.” Danny took as deep a breath as he could.
“Wh-what d-do you-want?” The pain was getting worse, and Danny doubled over, choking and burning.
“I want you to show them what you are. Show them Danny Phantom, and I swear I’ll stop this. I don’t want to kill you, Danny. I just want the truth.” Danny didn’t respond. Everything was on fire, and he could barely focus.
“Did you say ‘kill’? Dude, what the fuck? Stop! You can’t kill him!” Danny wasn’t sure whom the voice belonged to. It sounded scared. Another panicky voice added,
“It, it has to be the candles. Put out the candles!”
“What? No! Stop that!” There were sounds of a scuffle. Danny heard more yelling, and someone hitting the ground hard. Then the pain was gone, and someone was next to him, rubbing his back.
“Hey, are you ok? Can you breathe?” Danny took a deep breath as he uncurled his body. He looked over to see Sukhdeep looking at him with a mixture of concern and fear. Danny nodded and took a few more deep breaths.
“This is fucking -” Danny turned to see that Wes was being held down by Jiang and Zeke. “But you all saw what happened, right? He’s a ghost! Humans don’t react to blood blossoms like that!”
“I-” Sukhdeep began. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I saw. You did some kind of ritual, and then Danny almost died.”
“Because he’s a ghost!” Sebastian, standing nearby, shook his head.
“Even if that were true, like, that’s not … you can’t just try to kill someone because you think they’re a ghost. Or because they are a ghost.” He looked at Danny sympathetically. “I have my car, if you want me to drive you home.” Danny almost said that, since he was a ghost, he could just fly home. But he thought better of it, and, instead, he just nodded and stood up. Sukhdeep stood with him, hands out to steady him if necessary, but Danny was fine. He started walking toward Sebastian, but then he stopped and turned toward Wes.
“Hey, let him up.” Jiang and Zeke looked at Danny, and then Wes. “It’s ok. I don’t think he can hurt me without his magic shit.” Wes rolled his eyes.
“It’s not fucking magic and you know it.” He sighed. “But he’s right, I’m not gonna try anything.” After a long moment, Jiang and Zeke nodded and let go of Wes, who stood up and brushed himself off, obviously trying to maintain an air of dignity.
“Why don’t you guys stand over there. I wanna talk to him.” Jiang shook his head.
“Absolutely not, man. I don’t trust him.” The others nodded their agreement. Danny considered, and decided he probably wasn’t going to convince them to leave him alone with Wes. That was fair, if inconvenient.
“Ok, fine. Wes.” He met Danny’s eyes. “You crossed a line tonight. I could have died.”
“You wouldn’t have died if you’d turned into Phantom.”
“Did you consider the fact,” Danny began, hoping this sounded hypothetical enough to give him plausible deniability, “that blood blossoms block ghost powers? Did you consider the possibility that, even if I were Phantom, I wouldn’t have been able to show my true form because the blood blossoms completely incapacitated me? And, that being the case, that I would have simply died while you stood there and waited for the impossible?” Wes just glared for a long time. When he answered, his tone was curt.
“That’s an interesting hypothesis.” Danny rolled his eyes.
“Look, Wes, you don’t know as much about ghosts as you think you do. And if you keep fucking around with things you don’t understand, someone is going to die. So cut it out.” Danny didn’t wait for Wes to respond. He turned and nodded to Sebastian, and they both started walking toward the road.
The trip back was quiet, both of them only speaking to give and clarify directions to Danny’s house. As Sebastian pulled over to let Danny out, he said,
“Hey, so. That was pretty weird. With the blood blossom candles and the ectoplasm and everything.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I mean,” Sebastian said, looking at the steering wheel, which he was gripping with both white-knuckled hands, “if that’s really what it was, then, you know, it’s weird that it affected you and not anyone else.” Danny undid his seatbelt.
“I guess what I’m wondering, is, uh …” He looked over at Danny, who was keeping his face neutral. “Are you a ghost?” Danny sighed. It was silent for a long time. Finally, Danny opened the door, and the sound caused Sebastian to jump slightly. Danny got out of the car and then stood there for a moment, facing away. In a voice that sounded more tired than anything, Danny said,
“Don’t be ridiculous, Sebastian.” Then he closed the door and walked away.
#danny phantom#phanniemay#phanniemay19#danny fenton#wes weston#phandom#my writing#fanfic#so i realized just at the end of this#that it would have been a lot better if it was from sebastian's perspective#the drama would come from the fact that he has no idea what's going on#there's just this weird kid who thinks this other kid is a ghost#and then he does some occult nonsense#and the other kid almost dies#and that's obviously terrible so you save him#only its weird because why would that have happened if he wasn't a ghost?#idk that just feels like a way more interesting story than how i wrote it#maybe later i'll redo it
95 notes
·
View notes
Text
Interview with a Ghost (part 5: Buried)
(PART 1) (PART 2) (PART 3) (PART 4)
.
.
.
"What?" said Captain Jones, as Collins and Paterson finished explaining their understanding of the situation to him. "What? What?"
"That was my reaction, too," said Paterson. "Just, you know, internally."
Jones waved one hand, the other supporting his forehead.
"Er, sir?" said Collins, leaning forward, trying to catch the captain's eye. "How should we, you know, proceed on this? I don't think there's any precedent."
The captain bit back a groan. "No, there isn't. He was insistent that the Fentons, his parents, didn't do anything to him?"
"Yeah."
"But it still can't be- can't be healthy for a ghost or- or whatever he is to be there," said Jones. This was making his head hurt. "They have weapons, and even if it was an accident, he died and they- No one noticed!"
"That is pretty messed up," agreed Paterson.
"That's got to be child neglect, at least, right? Negligent homicide?"
Collins nodded. "We can't really charge them with that, though, can we? Not without revealing he's a ghost and getting the GIW and whoever stole the body coming down on us."
"That could just be something Phantom's saying, though," said Paterson. "We don't know if it's true or not."
"It felt true," said Collins. "He sounded like he was actually scared."
"But can we just let a kid- two kids, with his sister- be in a situation like that? Even if one of them is dead. Especially if one of them is dead. Or whatever Fenton, Phantom, whatever, is claiming to be."
"He didn't really claim to be anything, really," said Collins.
"Look, I already have a headache as it is. What it comes down to is, I don't want a kid to be living under the same roof as people who regularly and publicly shoot at him."
"So, what do we do?" asked Collins. "He doesn't want to leave, and I don't think we can make him, physically."
"No, we can't. But does he know that?"
"I think he's aware of his laser murder powers," said Paterson.
"He kept coming to talk to you, though," said Jones. He massaged the bridge of his nose. "There's something here..." Suddenly, it all came together. He clapped his hands. "He wants to keep his secret from the public, right? That's our leverage."
"Leverage?" asked Collins, dubiously. "Captain... he is still a teenager."
"I know, I know, but hear me out. We tell him, he has to let his parents know, and his parents, they have to make their house safe for him. If they're reasonable, they'll do it. If not, we can get them for, I don't know, going crazy and thinking their kid is a ghost, or having weapons all over their home. Obviously, he isn't. That's the position we'd maintain." Jones took a deep breath. "No need to expose him publicly, and, as long as he isn't, he'll have to act like he's human, right? If he wants to maintain the illusion?"
"I guess that would work," said Collins. "But... do we have to get child protective services involved? I don't see that going well."
"Not if everyone is reasonable," said Jones, a crazed look in his eyes.
"Hold up," said Paterson. "Doesn't this hinge on getting him to, you know, tell his parents?"
"Weapons. Home. Around children. And- We'll agree to bury the rest. Tear up documents. Hide everything. Cover for him. We already know what killed him. What's the point of bringing it into the light?"
Collins and Paterson both nodded slowly. "I'll call him," said Collins.
There was a knock on the door. The three glanced at each other.
"Come in," said the captain.
One of the officers stuck her head in. "Sir?" she said. "The mayor is here to see you."
.
Danny would have been at home, plotting with Jazz about how to get his body back, but, no, Skulker had to show up, again. He should have wrecked his suit instead of just sucking him into the thermos last night.
"Hah! Ghost child!" shouted Skulker. "Today I will have your pelt! I have new-!"
Danny screamed in frustration, the harmonics of his voice almost touching a ghostly wail. "Can you leave off about my pelt for like five seconds?" demanded Danny, attacking more aggressively than was his usual wont. One of Skulker's arms flew off his body, clattering on the tiles of a nearby roof. "Didn't you have enough of that, helping Vlad steal my corpse yesterday?" There, after days of dancing around the word, he had finally said it.
"Wait, your what?" asked Skulker, pirouetting awkwardly to avoid another barrage of ectoblasts.
"My. Corpse!" screamed Danny. "You helped him steal my corpse!"
"You don't have a corpse, you're still alive!"
"Shut up!" It was a good thing they were so far up. Even at the volumes they were speaking, they wouldn't be overheard. "You don't know anything! I'm half dead, so I have half a corpse, and I had to bury it, and then the police found it, and you helped Vlad steal it!" Danny was basically in tears at this point, hands clenching the metal of Skulker's chest so hard it buckled and warped, holding the unfortunate ghost above his head.
A number of complicated emotions passed over Skulker's face. "Uh," he said. "Time out?"
"What?" snarled Danny. He was more than ready to rip Skulker apart.
"Your body, whatever there is of it, did Plasmius really take it?"
"He basically gloated about it to my friends," said Danny.
Skulker's face twisted up, the metal plates it consisted of glinting in the sunlight. "Disturbing the remains of another ghost is... distasteful, at best." He shifted, obviously trying to get out of Danny's grip. Danny held on, tighter. "Let me go," he said. "I'll spread the word. There won't be a ghost in the Zone who'll work for Plasmius after this."
Danny sniffed. "I want it back," he said.
"Of course you do," said Skulker, nervously. "Just- let me go, alright, ghost child?" He paused. "Phantom?"
Danny relaxed his grip. Before Skulker could recover, he whipped out the thermos and sucked the other ghost in.
"I'll let you go," he grumbled. "Right into the Ghost Zone."
.
Jones did not like Mayor Masters. A complete outsider, a stranger to Amity Park, the man had somehow wormed his way into the mayor's office. Jones had always suspected bribery, but had no evidence.
This visit of his... it was suspicious. Incredibly suspicious. The timing felt rotten. Masters had barely set foot inside the station before this.
Well, the timing and the questions he was asking. Jones was glad he had told everyone to deflect questions about the body and Phantom beforehand, no matter who was asking.
Jones fixed a grin onto his face. "I'm sorry, Mr. Masters," he said. "We can't discuss ongoing investigations."
"I think," said Masters, "that, as mayor, I am exempt from that rule. I am, after all, your boss."
"That's true," said Jones, "but this case is especially sensitive, and everyone is a suspect."
"I can't possibly be," said Masters. "I didn't even live here two years ago. I believe you are dancing around the subject, sir. Let us not have our personal feelings get in the way of things, hm?"
This bastard- There was no way he should have known that particular detail. Not without suborning the ME or her assistant.
Or stealing the records. The initial reports had gone missing with the body, and the computer system had been hacked.
Jones pressed his teeth together so hard they ached. He could feel them grinding inside his head.
"Why don't I give you an overview of what we know so far?" he asked, voice as sweet as he could stand to make it. "We'll start with Cameron over here. He's the head of our cult division, and a real wizard with computers."
If anyone could drive the man off, it was Cameron.
.
"I didn't think babypop even had a corpse," said Ember, crossing his arms. "Are you sure he isn't just delusional?"
"He could be," said Skulker, "but that's not the point. He believes it. Do you really want to be dealing with him as a restless spirit?"
"Oh, god, no. He's already such a spoilsport. Can you imagine?" The blue flame her hair was drawn back into shuddered.
"I don't have to imagine," said Skulker. "He tore my arm off."
"He always tears your arms off," said Ember, dismissively.
"He's only going to get worse though," said Skulker, "if it really is his body. If Plasmius is doing anything to it. That anxiety. A person's body should be taken care of properly, not messed about with."
"Hey!" said Technus, who was on the other side of the room, fixing Skulker's mechanical body. "I donated MY body to SCIENCE! I'm perfectly fine."
"Yeah," said Ember. "Some people would disagree with that, but the thing is you chose to do that. Those're the rites you wanted."
"Do you think I, the great TECHNUS, master of all things technological and-"
"No, actually, I don't think you knew," said Ember.
"Ohhhhh! I'll alter all your auxiliary cables, you little-!"
"Can we get back on topic?" asked Skulker, his high-pitched voice cutting above the argument. "We need to get Phantom's body back! Otherwise he'll be completely unbearable!"
The ghosts looked at each other. "Agreed," they said.
.
Danny leaned over Tucker's shoulder. "Are you sure?" he said.
"Positive," said Tucker. "Sorry, man, but Vlad's super secret super villain stuff isn't online. Your body isn't mentioned at all. Nothing is. His internet enabled stuff is all pretty bland, compared to what we know he's doing. I mean, some of it is kind of sketchy, but it just isn't the same level."
"Anything we can blackmail him with?" asked Sam.
"Not really. We can't exactly say how we got it, after all, so he'd have plausible deniability."
Danny groaned. The groan turned into a long plume of blue mist. Danny growled. "Whoever is interrupting this time-"
"Whoa, calm down, man," said Tucker. "This is pretty normal."
Danny's phone began to ring. If this was those detective he was going to-
It was Jazz. "What?" he asked.
"The ecto-exodus alarm is going off," said Jazz. "Where are you?"
"Tucker's," said Danny. "I'm going to check it out."
"Be safe. Mom and Dad are out there with blasters, and they've notified the GIW."
"Noted," said Danny. He hung up, then turned to Sam and Tucker. "This is a big one, apparently. You might want to stay in."
"Good luck with that," said Tucker, pulling a ecto-rifle from beneath his desk. "I've been wanting to try this baby out."
"Please don't name it," said Sam.
"I think I will!" said Tucker.
"Just don't shoot if we're not fighting, okay? They might not be here to cause trouble. Don't give me that look, I'm trying out some optimism."
Before his friends could say anything about that, he flew up through the roof. From there, he had no problem picking out the crowd of ghosts who had just passed by.
Skulker was leading them. Danny scowled, and flew forward to intercept them, too angry to process whether or not confronting a group of ghosts that large was wise.
"Hey!" he shouted. "I thought you said you'd leave!"
"Chill, babypop!" shouted Ember. "You're a cold core, aren't you? We're here to get your body back."
That brought Danny up short. "Wait, really?"
The other ghosts, largely the rabble of the Wastes, the region of the Ghost Zone right outside the Fenton portal, gave a ragged sort of cheer.
"Yeah. And trash Plasmius's crap."
"Oh," said Danny, taken aback. "He has a ghost shield around his mansion, you know. A human shield, too, before you say I can get past that."
Poindexter floated up, over the mass of the crowd. "He can't keep them up all the time, can he?" he asked adjusting his glasses.
"No, I guess he can't. One sec." He pulled out his phone. "Hey, Tucker, can you find out where Vlad is right now?"
.
"... and these are the cults that believe ghosts are divine messengers, there's a lot of variety in them, too," Cameron was saying, pointing eagerly at his computer screen.
"Excuse me," said Vlad. "But I don't see how this is relevant. At all. To anything."
"Oh, it's very important," said Collins, nodding sagely. "We got some of our best leads in this case from the cults."
Cameron beamed.
"I am myself quite familiar with the local cults," said Vlad. "If they become relevant, I'm sure I can come back to-"
"No, no, Mr. Mayor," said Paterson, "you won't understand without context."
"I-"
Several dozen ghosts suddenly entered through the roof. Everyone dove for cover.
"Hiya, grave robbers!" shouted a ghost with fiery blue hair. Ember McClain. "Or one grave robber in particular."
Actually, come to think of it, she'd masqueraded as a human for a while, too. Collins was going to have a crisis about how easily ghosts could blend in with humans at some point in the near future. Not today, but before the end of the week. He'd need to talk to a shrink. Preferably one who wasn't a ghost.
Oddly, the ghosts weren't attacking.
The sound of Mayor Masters clearing his throat issued from behind a sizable desk. "What are you here for?" he asked.
"You know, grave robber. We've got a bone to pick with you, until you give back what you took."
A few feet away from Collins, Jones inhaled deeply. He stood up. Collins resisted the urge to drag him back down.
"We don't have Phantom's body," said Jones, "if that's what you're here for."
"We know," said Ember. "That's what this's about. We know who took it, and we don't want to deal with Phantom while he's freaking out over some jerk having his body. So. We're giving an ultimatum-"
"Hey, guys," said Phantom's voice. "I found the shield deactivation button. It was in his car, next to his garage door opener."
"Oh, cool. You trash his car?"
"Nah, I let these little gremlin dudes do it. They looked like they were having fun."
"Whatever, babypop. Let's go get your body!"
As quickly as they came, the ghosts were gone.
Mayor Masters swore, and started for the door.
"Hold up," said Jones, putting a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"
"To call some competent ghost hunters, since those menaces are clearly after my belongings!"
"Nuh uh," said Jones. "We've got some questions for you."
"Yeah," said Collins, "like why you seem to think that they're going to your house, when they could have been talking about anyone."
"Wow!" said Cameron, smiling. "That was exciting! I'm glad I was livestreaming, like you told me to, Paterson!"
"Well," said Vlad. He paused. "I need to call my lawyer."
"Better make sure they're a competent one," mocked Jones.
.
Collins was surprised when Phantom materialized in the middle of the room with a long, dark plastic body bag in his arms. So were most people. Across the room, next to the coffee machine, one of his more caffeine-addicted coworkers do a spit take, and Jones burst out of his office in an avalanche of paperwork.
"I want a burial," said Phantom, finally. "A real one, this time."
Silence.
"I think I can arrange that," said Captain Jones.
369 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
toxapex-lore
oc lore central!
deposithework
Deposit The Work
qinj
旅游
agrentllc
Agrent LLC
snowwybear
☁️