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thevindicativevordan · 1 year

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So, it seems like I Am Batman is officially ending in February, and with that all of Future State characters lost their ongoings. Of course there's a chance that they still have something for this characters, but so far everything indicates that DC gave up on FS characters at all. How do you think, what's the reason of this outcome? Was there a chance for these characters? Do you think DC didn't try harder to push them? Or it's because fanbase still hates everything new?

Love to pretend I saw it coming, but just the other day I predicted Ridley would get to keep writing the book until issue 25 given how DC seemed to value him, so much for my prediction skills. Well that's a wrap for the Future State crew unless some kind of Justice League book starring them is in the works, and given that the solicits for Nightwing are setting up the Titans as the premiere team for a bit, complete with teasing Jon joining them instead of the Justice League, I don't think that Legacy League book is happening (or at the very least it won't be what I expected/hoped it to be). Only part of Future State that may still be relevant is PKJ's House of El cast, everything else is clearly not going to play a major role in what's to come.

Why is DC backing away from them? 5G got scrapped because the higher-ups at WB no longer supported the shakeup apparently, their attempt to position the classics and the Future State crew as equals during Infinite Frontier flopped, and the film DCU seems poised to refocus on the classics again, meaning that the comics are doing likewise. Sales and synergy are conspiring to reestablish the status quo once more.

DC pushed them all hard, I don't see what more could have been done without actually carrying through on 5G, short of maybe giving Jace Detective Comics the way Jon took over Superman for a bit, and making Yara Wonder Woman. Jon, Jace, Yara, Jo, and Jackson all got lead roles in major books, either as solos or as part of a duo. It is surprising that they completely abandoned Jess Quick, that tease about Jess travelling to Earth 0 has been dropped for certain (along with a whole bunch of other plot threads like "Earth-Alpha"). All Jess got was that Teen Justice book and since I don't see anyone talking about that I can only assume it's a sales flop, which means they're never going to matter again. Majority of the fanbase and the people working at DC do not care about the non-Earth 0 characters, they're event fodder or cameos at best, Jess being left on Earth 11 is the end for their relevance.

The already established fanbase was never going to embrace these characters "cutting in line" to take over the major roles instead of the previous generation who had been built up. Hope was that all the people demanding diversity wasn't just a tiny crowd on Twitter amplified by an echo chamber, but people who were actually eager to buy books featuring said diversity. Those people were supposed to show up and support the books but they didn't. Biggest breakout books of Infinite Frontier were Nightwing, Action Comics, and Wally West's return to headlining The Flash, all three books starring straight white men. Of the FS crew the biggest success was Jon, the most traditional of the legacies bisexuality aside, whose book last I checked was the only one of the group still in the Top 100 chart. Jace did the second best with his book outlasting Jon, despite his sales being worse. Jackson was a total failure, his books completely flopped, with Aquamen debuting outside the Top 100. Aquafans had no interest in him taking on the mantle. Jo was paired with John and that Green Lantern book didn't sell great but it was comparable to Morrison's run with Hal from what I understand. Yara debuted strong but the mess behind the scenes ended up killing her book. Alas none of them succeeded the way DC was hoping.

What's the future for this group?

Jon will be fine. He's the blood son and natural successor to Clark, he's already getting adapted outside of comics, hell if they're really pivoting back to Cavill for the DCU, I expect Jon will be the one who replaces him in the films. He's the only one thus far who will be getting a solo book in Dawn of DCU, albeit a mini, he's in the Lazarus Planet event, two of the stories in Action will star him, and I'm hoping Taylor is just wrapping up his era on the character before handing him over to someone else while he goes and does Titans. DC won't be taking away the Superman mantle from their bisexual Superman, although if they did I confess at this point I wouldn't even care unless they're planning on taking him away from Taylor. There's still a chance to salvage Jon with a new creative team.

Jace might be ok due to DC fearing backlash over killing off/stripping the mantle from their black Batman, but I don't know if most people would even care. How aware are people that Jace even exists at this point? What hurt Jace, besides the fact that there are at least 3 other people "in front of him" in terms of succession, is that there already is a "black Batman": Black Panther. He's the same kind of archetype, but T'Challa was in a billion dollar movie that doubled as a cultural phenomena and unlike Jace he was the lead of his franchise. Jace will never be that, wouldn't have been that even if 5G had happened. Ridley's writing probably did turn some people away as well, but I view Ridley's time on the character the same as the Golden Age Batman: the bricks are laid but the house isn't done being built yet. I hope Jace will get that chance to be "finished", the way Bruce ultimately was with Moore and Miller. With no real chance of him being adapted outside of comics any time soon, I fully expect he will slip into Limbo, unless he's getting a follow-up mini or appearing in a team book like Jon.

Yara is Wonder Girl so that's what she'll stay. She'll be Diana's sidekick and play support. If DC doesn't think she can work on her own, might I suggest relaunching Superman/Wonder Woman as a Jon/Yara book yet again? I liked her and Jon's dynamic in Future State, and I love the idea that Jon is closer to his Wonder counterpart in the Trinity than his dad was to Diana. Please don't abandon Yara because I really do love her as a character.

Jackson/Kaldur should be fine, he's the most prominent member of the Aquafamily aside from Arthur and Mera thanks to Young Justice, but he is definitely not lead material. Least not at the moment, Arthur is the only Aquaman who can support a solo book, leave Jackson as a supporting character to Arthur for now and keep building him up. Maybe one day he can support holding the mantle of Aquaman.

Jess as I said is done. Didn't even get a book, not on Earth 0, and the Flash Family is already huge. Don't hold your breath waiting for them to show up again. Wally and Wallace are the only ones who will ever be the main Flash other than Barry.

Jo will join Simon and Kyle in the "cameos every now and then to remind you they exist but never gets another solo" category unless the trade sales of Far Sector are bigger than I am aware of. Hal and John remain the main Lanterns and that's not changing in the wake of the GL show getting reworked to star John, John being the Tomorrowverse Lantern, and John being in the Suicide Squad game while Hal gets to keep being the Lantern for the Injustice series.

Sucks that this crew is probably going to go the way of the Bloodlines heroes where there's one standout that everyone remembers (Jon/Hitman) and everyone else gets unceremoniously dropped and forgotten. My prediction skills have already been proven wrong once when it comes to these characters futures, maybe I'll get lucky and be wrong again like I want to be this time.

#dc future state #dc 5g #jon kent #superman #jace fox #batman #yara flor #wonder girl #wonder woman #kaldur'ahm #jackson hyde #aqualad #aquaman #jess quick #the flash #jo mullein #green lantern #dawn of dc #infinite frontier

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filthy-vigilante · 1 year

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Top 10 Future State Covers

10.

Future State Swamp Thing #2

Future State Aquaman #1

Future State Green Lantern #2

Future State Superman, House of El

Future State Nightwing #1

Future State Harley Quinn #1

Future State Kara Zor-El, Superwoman #1

Future State Legion of Super-Heros #1

Future State Wonder Woman #1

Future State Catwoman #2

#dc future state #future state swamp thing #future state aquaman #future State green Lantern #future state legion of superheroes #future state nightwing #future state house of el #future state kara zor el superwoman #future state wonder woman #future state catwoman #future state harley quinn #comic covers #review #mp

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evilminji · 9 months

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*slams the door open, eyes manic* Sovereign State!

A Sovereign State: "International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to interact with other sovereign states."

The USA already HAS several that exsist within its boarders? And there was that Gay Island of Australia (no really, look it up.) There is a LONG history of humanity going "well fuck you too then, I'm leaving. But also I refuse to leave. I am METAPHORICALLY leaving." *leaves your country and makes their own*

And??

Where's the FUCK were you? Mr. President? During that INVASION by Pariah Dark??

No, really. Social contracts, my dude. That is WHY you have AN ARMY. For INVADING FORCES.

You ALSO have declared us, your citizens, non-sentient and stripped of us our Constitutional Rights WITHOUT hearings, studies, or any due processes. Not to mention just desecrating the dead like it's NOT a well known religious and moral taboo. AND attacking out dead family members! The list goes on!

Why do we pay you taxes, if YOU are the active threat to us AND you offer us no social services?? You've all but cut Amity off anyway!

.......*Takes our ball and goes home* FUCK IT.

They are literally Limnals. It's a TOWN OF METAS. Can you honestly tell me that they WOULDN'T look at the Ecto-Acts and just think: "Yeeeeeah, how about No. Hard Pass."

You can have your INCREDIBLY stupid and offensive law. In OUR country, that's illegal. "We can't do that?" Yes. We can. We informed you in a Formal Document, which you received, you had the opportunity to STOP us, you did or could not, AND we got Regonized by another government.

It's a Ghost Goverment. We, the city state of Amity, were recognized by like... going on 23 at this point. We have a list. All Ghost Goverments, too. Sucks for you that you don't recognize those, they've decided not to recognize YOURS back until you do.

Politics, baby~

Aaaw D:> Does the Upset Baby wanna call, Superman? Boo Hoo. Somebody's forgetting the Justice League serves EARTH, not AMERICA. Suck on a lemon and die mad about it. Better not come back as a Ghost though! Your Goverment will declare you a lab specimen!

Now if you'll excuse us, WE have interplanetary trade routes. Because WE can use alien tech from our Ghost Buddies. And the Fenton Anti-Creep Barrier means you can't do SHIT. So *large crowd of teenagers making rude noises at frustrated government officials*

*Justice Leauge taking picture in the background* You're doing great sweeties! Aquaman is? So proud of the younger generation? They really are the future, you guys. Can he come in?

Oh of COURSE, your Majesty! *somehow ONLY Aquaman is able to get past the barrier, much to the impotent fury of the GIW and various officials*

@hdgnj @stealingyourbones

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp prompt #danny phantom #my beloved #the Best Troupe #we decided to F this noise and Just Leave #just Walk Away #The Sovereign State Of Not Today Satan AU

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amaramizuki666 · 1 year

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Dp x DC crossover

So we all know how batman has this file of contiginceys for how to take town all the other heros in the league right. And I remeber an episode I think of where the JL just found out about the folder and was upset about it. Ok now onto the prompt

So phantom just joined the JL after everyone found out about the folder and are pissed at batman. The thing is nobody tells danny why they are mad at the bat so danny ignores everyone's warning to stay away from batman and befriends him.

So after awhile of watching all the tension and distrust everyone has around batman danny finally asked why everyone disliked batman. And they told him how he cept plans to stop them and take them out, and how it was a whole invasion of privacy and trust.

So at the next JL meeting that they wernt discussing an immanete threat, danny infront of everyone walked up to batman holding a bright green file and held it out to him. "This is a file of contingency plans to take me down" phantom states flatly holding his gaze with the bat.

Batman takes the folder gently. Superman stands from his seat abruptly. "phantom what are you doing, he could use that to kill you why would you hand him ways to hurt you!!??!" Superman questions, the rest of the league agrees with him.

Phantom stares at them blankly. "Because unlike you I understand this is necessary" danny says coldly. "What do you mean necessary?" Wonder women inquired. "Think about it how often dose a league member get brainwashed, how many times has someone been possessed, do you really want to go up against one of our own without a solid plan" danny sighs.

"That dosnt mean he needs to have plans like that-" green arrow tried to say but was cut off "actully it does, witch is exactly why I'm handing him the information to take me down". "Phantom your one of the kindest in the league, one of the most reliable, you would never-" flash tried to say but phantom interrupted again "but I have".

The whole league was in silence including the bat staring at phantom in confusion. "I've been mind controlled and hurt a lot of people" phantom says "so that's in the past and we've all been mind controlled at one point or another" flash says.

"That's not all though" phantom states his voice lased with frustration. Everyone looked at phantom "what do you mean?" Aquaman asks. "First I'm going to say I've had these plans written down since I was 14, second the reson I have these plans to not only take me down but destroy me is because I've seen what happens when I turn" phantom hissed coldly.

"Explain" batman says, straight to the point "when I was just starting out the hero thing a sister happened that would have killed everyone I love, it did kill everyone I love. I was hurt and turned to my nemesis and had his destroy my humanity. I then whent on to kill him, kill anyone who stood in my way, till the only people left where in a small town who had anti-ghost tech. Thankfully that future was avoided because he came back in time and tried to insure he happened, but I stopped him and changed the timeline. That is why I'm ok with handing batman the means to destroy me. Because I've seen how much I'd hurt people" phantom says.

Everyone looked at him in pure shock "get over yourselves and move on" with that phantom disappeared leaving the JL In chaos.

#dp x dc prompt #dc x dp #dp x dc #dc batman #justice league #dp #ghost king danny #danny phantom #writeing #writing prompt

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arbiterlexultionis · 9 months

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Danny and the Spooks Pt2

This is a continuation of my other post Here

More specifically, this is where I’m dumping my ideas for it that involve crossovers, mostly with DC, as I know that stuff isn’t some peoples cuppa tea, and wanted to make sure it could be viewed and enjoyed by all.

So, I’ve come up with two ways for Danny and the spooks to mix with other fandoms. 1) Danny’s a known entity and (somewhat) trusted ally who is super protective/secretive about the tiny ass town he micromanages and 2) Danny and the ghost issues of Amity are more less unknowns and the hero’s of the verse show up only to be met with a (somewhat) functional crime fighting organization.

I’ll do the first version in this post and the second probably in a different post.

Phantom was one of the founding members of the league, and one of the most mysterious members at that. Although most of them had known about each other and occasionally worked together long before they came together officially 3 years ago to fend of Darkseid and found the league Phatom himself had come out of left field so to speak. Appearing with no warning in his bulky Hazmat suit and barely saying a word for most of the crisis, they didn’t really have any choice but to accept his help regardless of their (Batman’s) skepticism, and that decision to trust him payed out in the end as Phantom, despite being a complete unknown that could stay under the radar at that point, was apparently strong enough to give Supes and Wonder Woman a run for their money. They threw around a lot of theories about the guy, Superman seemed convince he was some type of alien while others thought he was a meta. Batman’s theory of choice was that he was a time traveler form the future with advanced nano technology, using cave paintings and historical records from across the globe that duplicated him as evidence. Aquaman and Dr. Fate think he’s some type of lord of order or God, with a capital G, because there was apparently some strikingly similar being who fought a Chaos deity to try and stop Atlantis from sinking.

But every attempt to actually investigate has ended “inconclusively”, as after Batman finally tracked down which town Phantom watched over he only got a few steps in before he got gently grabbed buy the cape and flew several states away like a misbehaving kitten getting grabbed by the scruff. Flash got the farthest in of anyone, sprinting in and getting about a block in before just appearing in Canada with sticky note attached to his forehead reading “Please stop stalking my grandson. :-) -CW.”

So when they were all in a meeting discussing where to keep the young justice team they were all surprised, to say the least, when Phantom offered to take them in and look after them Inside of Amity. Apparently(supposedly) the main reason he keeps everyone so far away from his town is because no one in the league has the experience and skill set necessary to properly combat his rouges, and gaining the experience and skill would probably include several mind control/body snatching/cloning/imposters/potential world endangering events and that just wouldn’t be worth the risk, especially with all of that resulting in their own rouges getting into contact with his, a recipe for one shitty weekend as he put it. But a little less than a week ago Luther used an intermediary to hire one of phantoms rouges to hunt Superman, which explains the bandage on Superman’s side. So now that the cats out of the bag Phantom want to make the kitty purr and prepare the rest of the heroics community for “the complete and utter nonsensical shenanaganery that he’s stuck dealing with” and The Team seems like a good opportunity for it.

I envision this whole meeting probably being told from Flash’s point of view, as he’s smart and goofy enough for some good humor and exposition but I guess it works for anyone. The Young Justice team wind up in mount justice while the main base of the Spooks, called the Grave or something else suitably on brand, is prepared just long enough to get bored and go rescue Superboy. Then the whole team and some of the justice league step foot into Amity for the first time, and then get a whole PowerPoint presentation explaining the town and its BS and are just Shook when they find out that Phantoms not some meta or alien or time traveling genius inventor but just some dead dude.

The team essentially gets fast tracked through the training for Spooks to make sure there up to snuff and begin patrolling and stuff. At first Superboy just can’t handle working in the R.I.P.D. and then he finds a ghost who whole shtick is “I need to punch shit”, which bridges the gap between the fighting he knows and the negotiations he doesn’t and helps him learn more about diplomacy and chill out, can’t decided if I want the ghost in question to be a boxer, sumo wrestler or really over the top westler.

As practice living a double life and going under cover they all have to get jobs and be Normal, but they all suck at being Normal. It just straight up doesn’t cross Superboy mind that normal people can’t use motorcycles to beat up convenience store robbers. At first he goes for the car, stops and goes wait a second that’s not something normal people can do and I’m Normal, so he picks up a Harley like “Yep, this is completely average amount of strength.”

Wally’s working in the kitchen of a restaurant and keeps accidentally using his super speed. Not enough to glow or spark, but more than enough for people to freak out. But he’s doing the work of 4 people which means management need 3 less people to pay so they just let him do his thing.

Robins such a gremlin that people think he’s straight up a child ghost very poorly disguising himself as a human child, using rafters and vents as short cuts with the justification “it’s not weird if they don’t see me do it” which makes it seem like he’s using invisibility, intangibility and teleportation to get around. He’s so quite when he walks that people come to the conclusion that he’s forgetting to walk and just floating places and/or trying to look like he’s walking like a Perfectly Normal Human Child but not actually making contact with the ground on accident.

All the locals see all this stuff and just go “Kids are kids, ghost, human or ecto-contaminated to hell and back.” And all make a group effort to hide them from the Fentons and GIW. The team, which is actively trying to investigate both groups, becomes convinced that the people they work for are in cahoots with the GIW and hiding their activities, but every time they switch jobs it takes like, a week for the GIW to get to them again(for them to go “oh poor children” and try and keep them safe).

It doesn’t help that the first friend they made in town is a scrawny little black haired blue eyed twink that they saw beat a mothafucka with another mothafucka in an alleyway on the first day of class, constantly pulls off what should be nearly impossible acts and disappears without a trace, further twisting their idea of what is within normal human limits. (They saw Danny fighting Skulker in human form at 3am in the Nasty burger parking lot because he was to lazy to shift forms, and they use the fact that the kid that can nonchalantly throw hands with a nine foot tall T9000 knock off as an excuse to get away with stuff. “Mr. I-fight-death-bots-with-my-bare-hands is the weakling at the bottom of the food chain, so me being able to do this it Normal. Probably.”)

Just a few ideas I had for this, will probably post more later. Drink some water and chill, peace out.

#danny fenton #danny phantom #danny phantom au #dp au #fic prompt #story prompt #writing prompt #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp #dpxdc #dp crossover #full hazmat au

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extraordinary-heroes · 9 months

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Future State: Aquaman Vol 1 #1 (Cover art by Khary Randolph)

#aquaman #khary randolph #jackson hyde #andy curry #dc comics #textless cover art #superheroes #artwork #illustration

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britcision · 8 months

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*blowing a horn* sorry my friends! For some ungodly reason for the past couple weeks Wednesday has been my busiest day/night? But never fear, I have not forgotten you and the new chapter is more than half done!

(Also got to go see a friend before she flies back to Newfoundland, climb another waterfall in 3” platforms, and do a photoshoot at said waterfall! Busy weeeeeeeek!)

So here is this week’s belated WIP Wednesday, with some more good news for y’all! Wonder Woman is here to save the day!

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Well You Did Get Down On One Knee part iii

There was not a single thing on Earth or the Watchtower that he wanted less than to stop and talk to John Fucking Constantine and Diana after the meeting.

To be completely fair, Constantine clearly didn’t want to have that conversation any more either; Bruce had not been wrong about how well the magician would take the news that the United States had declared war on an entire dimension.

He was visibly green, had actually ground an unlit cigarette into a grainy mess against the table in lieu of lighting up, and looked about ready to lick up the tobacco.

Diana did not look happy either, but she never had. Her face was as stony and grave as Bruce had ever seen it, concern writ large even as she caught his eye.

The sure knowledge that her lasso would follow if he tried to leave was the only thing that kept him from ignoring her.

But since the only thing he wanted in the world at this moment was to have his son in his arms, and there was no chance of that happening until they were in the same dimension once more…

Bruce shot a quick, questioning look at Clark as the traitor made his way to the exit along with the rest of the Justice League. The Kryptonian at least had the grace to look a little guilty as he shook his head, stepping quickly out the door.

Wonder Woman hadn’t specifically told everyone else to get the fuck out. She had simply molded herself into an immovable force, concluded the meeting, and instructed Bruce alone to remain and discuss these… complications.

Bruce considered making an argument for Superman’s inclusion. They were the original three, and they’d probably need at least his and Aquaman’s help to handle the diplomatic situation.

Possibly the Oa, and Bruce was quite sure Green Lantern wasn’t looking forward to that possibility any more than he was. Hal Jordan talked a good game, always far too flippant, but he’d been pale enough by the end of the lecture that his suit made him look frankly unwell.

Unpleasant times would be in all of their futures it seemed. It was no real comfort as he slipped into a seat across from Wonder Woman and the slumped form of John Constantine.

The magician didn’t even look up, but clearly noticed.

“Didn’t fuckin’ think anyone’d fuck this up worse’n you, Bats,” he groaned, face still pressed into the table.

Bruce grunted, uninterested in his judgement.

“There are new complications we should focus on.” A vain hope, and one Diana instantly crushed.

“One that makes the contents of our discussion all the more vital,” she corrected sharply, piercing blue eyes narrowed as she watched his face. “It seems we have already caused unintentional offence.”

Which was an extremely light way to phrase the declared genocide, but Bruce didn’t bother arguing that position. Not when Constantine would do it for him.

But the mage just let out a long, hearty groan.

“Offence. Yeah. Maybe if we saw off the United States and toss it through a portal the rest of us will be fine,” he snarked, raising his head just enough to bang it off the table. Repeatedly.

By the third bang Diana gripped the back of his head, holding him in place against the table.

“Whatever the situation,” she growled, her tone daring either of them to comment, “we must deal with it as it is. You believe we would have noticed any countermeasures from the former Ghost King?”

She released her grip a moment later, and Constantine rolled his head just enough to glare at her through one eye.

“Pariah Dark? Sister, it wouldn’ta been a single town bein’ pulled off the map. We’d have lost the continent, and probably the world. You wouldn’t miss it,” he added with a bitter laugh, clearly considering banging his head off the table again.

Diana placed a hand on the table. Constantine set his head back down gently.

“And the new king?” She prodded, all icy control.

Bruce had to admit, even he felt calmer watching her.

He knew all the follies and foibles of gods, had no delusions about the limits of her power. He also knew her strengths. Her wisdom. Her ability to cut through complex issues with sword or words.

Whatever he missed, she was removed enough from this mess to catch.

Constantine shrugged, still not rising.

“No fuckin’ clue. All I know is they’re better’n Pariah, which is the lowest damn bar I ever saw. They call them Balance, and we’re not gonna fuckin’ like when the scales come due.”

Bruce’s brows furrowed. What could be a sufficient counterweight for demanding a whole people be hunted and experimented on until extinction?

The dead always vastly outnumbered the living.

Diana cut across his thoughts, her tone as sharp as her blade.

“So you believe we’d notice.”

Constantine sighed heavily and flopped back in his seat hard enough that he nearly toppled over. Diana steadied the chair with one hand, eyebrow rising archly.

Constantine stopped flailing, went to fold his arms, and instead stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Probably’d be pretty hard to miss too,” he agreed gruffly. Diana nodded, having received the answer she wanted, and interlaced her fingers.

“Then we have time to rectify matters before word reaches his ears.” She paused, brow furrowing as she recounted John’s words. “Do we not know if the King is a man?”

Constantine shrugged again, pulling something unidentifiable from his pocket before hastily shoving it back in, coming out again with a lighter. He spun it between his fingers, eyes fixed on the metal lid.

“Nah. “King” is just a loose translation to living tongues, for what yer used to. Easier to say than “Supreme High Ruler, Core of the Realms”. Not even likely that they were ever human; not even the Ancients could take Pariah solo to take the crown, so a human ghost wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Huffing out a mighty breath, Constantine looked from the lighter to Bruce, his gaze somehow immeasurably more tired. Bruce had imagined that talking about Amity Park made the man look ancient.

He looked haggard enough to be an ancient ghost himself now.

Raising his other hand, he began counting off points on his fingers.

“We know they’re young. Everything agrees on that. Could be any time in the past few centuries, but it’s still a timeline. We know they’re tougher’n Hell and all its demons put together, cuz they put Pariah down single handed. Had to to get the throne. Might not have Ended him, the Casket of Eternal Slumber’s not turned up looking for a new occupant.”

The magician stared at his two fingers for a moment, then sighed and raised a third.

“And we know ghosts like them. They’re less scared, though most of ‘em never knew shit about Pariah. Didn’t even react to him waking, which had to happen for the change in power. That or it all went down too fast for the shockwaves to reach us here; not bloody likely. Wouldn’t take more than a day, and ghosts fight for decades on a whim.”

He hesitated for a moment, considering that last finger. Finally he sighed and shook his head.

“Can’t rule it out though. Pariah waking up’d be as much an emergency for them as it’d be for us, putting his ass back down is an all hands on deck situation on either side of the veil. If this new king is Balance, Pariah’d be their opposite,” he finished gruffly, glaring at all three digits before stuffing both hands into his pockets.

Bruce nodded, drawing a deep, calming breath in through his nose and then out through his mouth. Even this much discussion had something itching in the back of his mind, a building tension that he had to Get Away.

He was in control of it though. Could tell the difference between his own unease and the burning ember of the oath.

Turn and run right away his ass. Magic could never hold out against cool, calm logic.

“And this new king, Balance, has stamped a damn mark on Jason.”

And his breath hitched.

Sharp, white hot panic flared behind his eyes, every muscle clenching with the effort of not leaping straight from the table. The only reason he didn’t was because he had no idea where to go.

What would he even do? Run to Jason’s side? The boy was in another dimension, far beyond Bruce’s reach.

Again.

He was losing Jason again. Losing him to this Ghost King, this Balance, this-

Diana’s hand clamped firmly over his, the Amazon’s grip immovable steel. Bruce felt his bones grinding together before he even noticed he’d stopped breathing, before he managed to look up enough to meet her eyes.

Stern, determined, brilliant blue locked with his. Her grip tightened a little further, the ribbing on his gloves creaking with the pressure.

She wouldn’t break them… probably. They were designed to hold up against any of the supers the League dealt with. Prolonged contact was another thing entirely though.

His attention now locked on her face, Bruce managed a deep breath in along with her. Held it when she did. Let it out.

She didn’t release him for another few repetitions, until he was breathing mostly on his own again. Then she returned her attention to Constantine.

“What.” It wasn’t aggressive. Just a completely flat, completely toneless statement.

Constantine gave her an entirely hopeless smile, pulling his hands from his pockets to give her jazz hands.

“And that’s what he’s not ready to hear yet. Your boy, Jason, Red Hood, has gotten himself personally warded by the Ghost King. He’s the next thing to invulnerable right now,” he added bitterly, as if that made any of it better.

An icy hand clenched in Bruce’s chest again, but he forced himself to still. To breathe through it. To not turn and run, run until he found his child and tore him away from whatever influence had him.

The Ghost King had a hold of Jason. Jason who’d all but ordered Bruce to let him go.

“And Jason must have been in direct contact with the King to receive these wards?” Diana asked sharply, and Bruce’s head snapped back to her.

It was a good question. Important, obvious, there was a connection there that he should be making, but he couldn’t think. His head was spinning, heart pounding, and every shadow seemed black as pitch.

Constantine grunted an agreement, shooting Bruce an almost sympathetic look.

Could. Could this be the oath? Not his own instinctive, natural panic?

Bruce couldn’t tell, he’d been so afraid for so long, ever since he held Jason’s broken body in his arms. Ever since he buried his son.

It felt the same. But he had mastered that fear long ago, so this would not control him now. He had to be better.

Frowning at Diana, he leaned forward.

“Explain.” She’d probably assumed that he’d made the same connection. He probably should have.

There was just a brief flash of surprise on her face before her expression softened, her hand gentling over his.

“Jason was the one who told you of these Anti Ecto Acts, was he not?” She asked pointedly, a dark brow arching delicately.

Bruce about managed a grunt of agreement, his jaw clenched too tightly to speak. She waited a moment longer, watching his face, and then sighed.

“Then is it not likely that either he has told Balance of these Acts, or that Balance was the one that told him?”

Constantine jerked and got halfway through a bellowed curse before she cut him off with a glare. Her tone brooked no argument as she continued with a firm, frosted patience.

“Jason is a principled young man, even if not of the exact principles you prefer. Either he has warned you because he believes we have time to fix this, or because the King would prefer we handle it,” she said bluntly.

It sounded so simple, put like that. Far too simple. Bruce shook his head, leaning in.

“We can’t know for sure-”

“Batman.” There was nothing harsh in her tone. Nothing so overtly aggressive as the glare she kept giving Constantine. Just a calm, cool statement that sucked the air from his lungs.

The weight of her own mantle, the Amazon princess who would one day be Queen. Not his friend Diana; Wonder Woman.

Once she was sure he wouldn’t continue, she fixed him with a sapphire stare.

“Do you believe Jason Todd would condone the end of the world?” She asked simply, and that at least was that plain.

“No.” It didn’t even require thought; whatever he feared ever since his son took his first life, Bruce knew that.

Jason was fundamentally a good boy. So kind, so giving, ironically he had been the most well adjusted boy Bruce had ever given the mantle to.

Which was what made what he’d become so painful. It was everything he never should have been.

Wonder Woman nodded as if that solved all the rest.

“And yet you called the meeting, not him. He has known for several days already and did nothing to alert any of us. Therefore, he does not believe this is an urgent threat.”

It sounded good, and Bruce almost believed it before Constantine snorted.

“Yeah, great, except the kid has no fuckin’ clue what he’s dealing with. Didn’t even know he’d been fuckin’ marked or that sellin’ his fuckin’ service was the dumbest fuckin’ thing he coulda done,” he grumbled and Bruce’s heart fell.

Wonder Woman was not so easily swayed. She raised an eyebrow slowly at the magician.

“And could those protective marks have been placed on Jason against his will?” She asked pointedly, like she knew the first thing about magic.

Constantine hesitated. Frowned a little, thinking hard. Finally he threw both hands in the air and leaned back in his chair, scrubbing them down his face.

“Technically, yes, alright? But I can’t think of a damn reason why they’d bother. Like I told the old Bat, it’s technically a good thing; I couldn’t even get a basic diagnostic spell off, he’s completely fuckin’ magic proof an’ anythin’ that can read that ward will run like fuck.”

Something in Bruce’s chest flickered hopefully. Wonder Woman nodded firmly, then redirected her stare to him.

“Then until we have reason not to, we assume that Jason Todd has control of this situation. He has assigned us to deal with these Acts, either before his king discovers them or on their behalf. You, Batman, will defer to his experience along with that of our experts,” she declared with all the ringing command she was capable of.

It chafed. And yet… he could hear the echo of Harley’s words in her voice.

What if Jason was wrong? It was the kind of thing he always thought about, the kind of thing he couldn’t stop thinking about. The kind of thing that had the Batman able to stand and go toe to toe with gods.

But what if Jason was right? What if Harley, Diana, Constantine were right, and his usual measures would spell disaster?

He had a dozen contingency plans that any member of the League could use to take him down.

—————

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#dpxdc #wip wednesday #belatedly #danny fenton dead and loving it #dfdali #well you did get down on one knee part iii #chapter 16 part iii

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