#Haly's circus was a front for the Court of Owls

[dcxdpdabbles]

DC xDP idea: Misplace Baby

Danny makes a mistake.

He was messing around in Clockwork's lair-specifically the one with all the various clocks- when he accidentally broke a glowing gold hourglass on himself. It was the size of a house, so as the sand practically drowned him, he didn't notice his body shrinking until he dug out of the shimmering sand.

Danny stumbles on chubby little legs, panicking when he notices his clothes are suddenly too big and his hands are tinny. He fumbles to one of the old grandfather clocks to check his reflection in the glass. A small three-year-old stares back at him.

Danny screams, pushing away from the old clock. His actions cause him to trip over the leg of his pants, and he falls. Just as he tries to catch himself, the clock starts to ding.

Danny briefly recognizes the old melody of a Westminster before the clock's glass case swings open, revealing a portal, and he falls through. He catches a glimpse of Clockwork with a hand on his forehead, shaking his head in the doorway as he falls.

His face is dragged against the carpet as the Westminster chime rings behind him in the otherwise silent room. Groaning at the burn on his nose and cheeks, Danny sits up.

He turns around, watching in horror as the portal closes.

"No! No, no, no!" He opens and closes the glass door, but all he sees is the slightly swinging pendulum. Repeats his actions again and again. "Clockwork! Help! Clockwork!"

His mentor does not answer, and Danny can't feel him in the air. Can't sense his new father figure's gentle control over the flow of time. If he's learned anything in the last year he's been working as his appearance, this means Clockwork isn't in charge of this timeline.

He's in a universe so far from his original that not even the god of Time is the same. Moby Dick, he's gone and goofed now.

"Who's there?" A voice demands, and Danny whips around to see a startled man in a suit. A fine black two-piece suit that looks more expensive than Danny's house and car. Oh no, a rich man.

The man's blue eyes soften when he sees Danny. "Hey there, chum. What are you doing in my study?"

Danny blinks up at him as the man walks closer. At the closeness, the halfa's body betrays him. He starts to sob. Strong, painful sobs that wreck his whole body, and he can't breathe from how much he's crying.

The man's arms are around him in seconds. "Oh, Chum, it's okay. You're okay."

He lifts him up, pressing his wet face against his neck as he pats Danny's little back. It is humiliating, but Danny can't help but cling to the strong shoulders and curl against the warm chest as he cries. His tears and snot are all over the man's suit, but he doesn't seem to care as he comforts Danny.

Eventually, he cries to sleep, tear-stained face still pressed against the stranger's neck and his little head leaning against a strong shoulder. The rich man carefully tilts his head to ensure the toddler is fast asleep.

Once confirmed, he takes the small boy to the guest rooms. He needs answers- who is the boy? Where did he come from? Is he the son of one of the Gala attendees? What had the boy been doing at the clock guarding the Batcave?- but he will find those later. Right now, he needs to tuck this small child into bed.

"Master Bruce, your guests are waiting for you to give the speech," Alfred says, catching him at the stairway. The butler's eyes zone in on the small child in Bruce's arms before nodding. "I shall inform Marster Dick to speak for you. Who may this young lad be?"

"I'm not sure. I just found him crying in the main study." Bruce tilts his head to the upper floors. "I'm going to tuck him in."

"I'm afraid I only prepared the room next to Master Damian in preparation for Master Jon's visit. Thankfully the lads would not be opposed to sharing a room for the night if I request it of them."

"Thank you, Alfred. I'll be down as soon as I-"

"Who's child is that!?" Jason demands, stomping his way up the stairs. He's missing his suit jacket, and there is a nasty red stain on the front of his white shirt. Likely he's come for a change after "accidentally" dumping it on himself to get away from the Gala.

The toddler's nose wrinkles, indicating his sleep may be interrupted. Quickly, Bruce pats his back, humming a lullaby before the child can wake. The boy settles after a small sigh. He gives Jason a warning glare that the young man has the decency to look remorseful.

"Jason," Bruce starts, voice hushed. "I found him in the main study. He looks distressed, but a few minutes ago, I got an alert that someone had gotten into the manor. When I followed the motion detectors, it led me to this little guy."

"A baby broke into the manner? That's hardcore." Jason replied, peering at the sleeping child only to gasp. "It's another mini-you!"

"No," Bruce tells him, but secretly he thinks the same when he first finds the little boy in the main study. He had already taken a lock of the boy's hair. Just, you know, in case.

"Nice try, old man." Jason pulls out his phone, his thumb flying over his screen. A soft ding comes from the pockets of Bruce and Alfred. He doesn't have to look to know his son has just told all his siblings about the child.

A series of dings follow shortly after.

Bruce sighs, choosing not to answer, nodding to Jason and Aldfed as he quickly goes up the stairs. At least Alfred delays Jason from following by scolding him over the red stain.

Once the boy is safely placed into the bed, he carefully changes him into a pair of Damian's smallest pjs. They are still far too big for the boy but better than the jeans and white shirt he wore. He's happy to find that besides the red on his face- it looks like carpet burn- and a small bruise on his knee, the boy is unharmed. He places a stuffed octopus in the toddler's arms- smiling as the little one automatically clings it to it - before rushing down to the Batcave.

There he runs the DNA tests just as he reviews the camera footage. There he catches the toddler walking out of the woods, pushing himself through a small gap in the metal fence and wandering around the manor until he finds an open window and crawls in.

The window was opened by one of his Gala guests taking a smoke break. Bruce felt a small annoyance that they didn't follow his "no-smoking" rule even when he had explained on multiple occasions it was due to Tim not having a spleen and being worried about his health. He'll have to blacklist that man.

The child had not gracefully fallen into the manor, and Bruce winced as the boy slammed against the carpet floor as tripped. It explains the marks on his face. The boy had then cried for a few minutes- his cries must have been drowned out by the music of the Gala- but then he must have realized that no one was coming for him, so the baby had gotten up and wandered through the house crying.

He had found himself in the main study, where a few minutes later, Bruce had seen him.

Rewinding the camera, Bruce's eyes narrowed at seeing a piece of paper pinned to the boy's clothes. It looked like it fell off when he crawled through the window. Checking on the DNA test, Bruce left the cave to look for the paper.

He found in the hands of Cass, whose eyes were going over the words with fascination. She looks up at him, unsurprised by his approach- no one could sneak up on Cass- and smiles widely. "Baby brother?"

"What?"

She hands him a letter. It's short and to the point; it claims to be an old fling that gave birth three years ago, but she doesn't want anything to do with the child. She's sending the boy to the manor and is out of the country by the time he arrives.

She leaves no name.

Bruce can't remember anyone with whom he had a fling three years ago, so he knows it's a lie. Still, he would rather not find her if the child was abandoned like this. He's not sure he wouldn't break all her bones.

"I don't think he's mine," Bruce tells Cass. She tilts her head with a frown, staring at him with a soft glare until he sighs. "But I won't mind keeping him."

She beams.

The two make their way to the Batcave and find Dick already there. He's staring at the screen displaying the DNA results with a stupefied expression.

"Chum?" Bruce asks, but Dick doesn't respond. He only gapes at the screen. Cass skips next to him before she, too, freezes, and Bruce is slightly worried about what he will find.

There is a match between the boy and someone in the manner alright. But it's not with Bruce.

It's a match with Dick.

"Holy rapid-ranging ravens, I'm a father." Dick gasps.

Clockwork runs his fingers through his idiotic son's hair three floors above them. Kronos stands guard at the door, arms cross as he watches the visiting time god carefully whip the dimension travelers' memories.

Kronos is in charge of this universe timeline, but when he was approached by Clockwork asking for a favor, well, it was not hard to shift some events and make Danny a legit background.

He was now the son of Dick Grayson and Stacy Quinell. One was a boy who had been born in a circus but was forced to leave it after the death of his parents. When life got too rough, the boy would join the circus for short trips under the name Dan Danger.

The other was a girl whose parents were so determined to control every aspect of her life and were going to force her to marry a man twice her age she left home at sixteen.

She joined a traveling circus-Haley Circus- where she had a fling with Dan Danger. The night Dan was meant to go, she had seen him without his mask and learned it to be Dick Grayson.

Upon discovering her pregnancy, Stacy feared being kicked out of the circus, so she took a short break, gave birth to the boy, and kept him until he was three, thus demeaning him old enough to be without his mother.

She took him as close as she could to Wayne Manor and left. She intended to return to Haly's Circus, unaware of the fate that waited for her. Unaware of the Cout that needed new talons.

"Are you sure about this?" Kronos asks, "I'm all for discipline, but having the boy forget everything about himself for going into the timeline room?"

"It's not a punishment," Clockwork says. "It's a gift. Danny had lost so much when his parents learned the truth. His sister died trying to get him out of the house. His best friends were crippled when trying to hide him. His town was blown to pieces when his parents decided that no one in Amity Park could have a family if they could not have their children. Danny had spent years wishing to forget but mostly wishing to be a normal child. I will forever be grateful if a lifetime here grants him that."

Kronos frowns. "You have no power here. You do not know what awaits him."

"True, I know not of the trials and tribulations Danny will face, but I know you do. And you would not let anything happen to him, won't you." Clockwork looks at Kronos through his lashes and the other god of time swallows.

"Of course, my love. I will protect him. But unlike you, I can not get involved with mortals as easily. I will not be able to shield him."

"His new family will," Clockwork says, pressing his face against Danny's hair one last time to breathe him in. It will be a lifetime before he can hold his son. "The bats have faced worst odds."

Kronos tilts his head in agreement. "They have rewritten fate on numerous occasions. Even the Flashes have only been able to overturn fate but never truly go against it."

"The Court of Owls?"

"Danny will deal with them in time. His new mother is on her way to becoming a Telon. He will erase them from the timeline once he learns what they have done to her." Krono answers, eyes glowing as events of the future play before him. He watches a glowing figure battle against the king of the dead, his white hair shining brightly. "He seems to take the throne from the king of dead even here. Remarkable."

"My son is the most remarkable being around," Clockwork says proudly. He flouts from the bed, leaving behind a child with only memories of three years and a few false imprinted glimpses of the circus trailer his mother hid him in. He presses a kiss against Krono's lips. "I find myself wishing for another child. Will you assist me with that love?"

Kronos snaps them out of existence just as Danny opens his eyes and feels a small loss. It's quickly forgotten as his new father runs into the room to gasp. "Hey there, buddy, do you know who I am?"

Danny Grayson is introduced to his uncles and aunts later that night. He also meets John Jones and his niece Megan Morse who ask him a few questions about his past. Danny gets a funny feeling around them, as if someone was running their fingers through his hair but inside his head.

Thankfully they find everything to be alright.

And a new generation is born.

#dc x dp crossover #dcxdpdabbles #Misplaced Baby #Danny is Dick's son #bad parents jack and maddie #Haly's circus was a front for the Court of Owls #Kronos and CLockwork are longtime lovers #accidental baby acquisition

[whetstonefires]

Hi, this is related to Batman. Recently, I've seen more depictions of Thomas Wayne as a bad dad, but, realistically, shouldn't it be Alfred the bad dad and then Bruce? Because Thomas Wayne died when Bruce was eight, Alfred's been around longer to give Bruce more parental issues aside from his parents' deaths. Also, its weird (imo) that Al's made into a saint and Bruce and Thomas into bad people when Al raised him and is complicit in the worst interpretations of Bruce. Or is this the fandom?

Ehhhh it's definitely something being led by DC canon, in this case. There's been a fad on for some years now amongst Batman writers for retconning people's birth families to jack up drama.

I mean, it's never not been a tool in the box, that's classic pulp serial content, but the recent form is of specifically taking known dead parents and having them turn out to be somehow evil. (Except Lobdell deciding to bring Willis Todd back and try to make him both far more menacing and a sympathetic figure. I don't know how that ultimately turned out due to violently not caring.)

See what the Court of Owls storyline did with Dick's family. Still mad about that. Haly's Circus is a child trafficking ring now? Really?? His parents were in on it? And we're just--moving on from that to the next drama beat and treating the current baddie being his great-grandfather as somehow more important?

(That no-followthrough part's nothing new but ffs. It looks worse the more fake-real psychological torment they pile on.)

The Waynes were spared for some time due to their status as Sainted Dead, but the seal on that broke during Flashpoint, when they were made the Batman and Joker of the fucked-up timeline. It wasn't the first time ever they'd been depicted as Bad but it was a big milestone imo. Since then we've been seeing a lot of comics and TV and the fucking Joker movie (ugh) mine this dynamic for cheap drama thrills, ignoring that it's less shocking and more just kind of depressing every time.

Tom King using Flashpoint Batman as a villain brought front and center and possibly accelerated a general reputational decay.

Alfred has so far avoided this due to his popular status as Beloved Grandpa. So that part is the fandom. DC's aware that would just make people mad. Eventually it'll hit him too, I bet.

If he gets another swing at the Came Back Wrong plotline I'm gonna do a drinking game about it and if it involves flashbacks to hitherto unmentioned horrible parenting fails whilst Bruce was growing up I will take two shots for every time it happens.

#i'm fascinated by the idea #of mapping places where Alfred's parenting failed Bruce #but i don't trust DC to do anything good with it at this point #hoc est meum #ask #a nonny mouse #batman #dc comics #in the end we are all superboy prime #i've been forgetting to put that on my DC salt posts for a while! #whoops!

[sohotthateveryonedied]

youve been in the fandom longer than me so pls tell if u know the answer — what in the world is talon!dick?? its EVERYWHERE but i dont get it?? is it like, something where dicks evil or?? and what the hell is an owlman?? like a walmart version of batman?? IK IM USING A LOT OF QUESTION MARKS BUT IM SO CONFUSED PLS HELP??

Once upon a time the Court of Owls went “what if haly’s circus 🎪🤡 was actually a front for crime 🚓🤭 and trained young kids 🤸🏻‍♂️ for the court of owls🦉😶 to turn into assassins 🔪 and one of them is dick 🍆 grayson but his parents die 😵 so he gets adopted by batman 🦇 but that’s okay because we’ll just wait ⏰ until he’s older when we’ll put a bomb 💣 into his little brother to blackmail 🤭 him into joining us as a talon 🦅 wouldn’t that be fun? 😆 jkjk we won’t do that... unless? 🤔😳” and then the circus was like “lmao ok”

And Owlman is just an evil version of Batman who’s got terminal bitch disease and lives on another earth

#lay it on me papa bob

[yetanotherknitter]

can I just say that I hate dc’s ongoing efforts to make the backstory of everyone in the batfam some kind of huge, involved conspiracy?

kates dad training her as batwoman for the sole purpose of recruiting her into a secret black-ops military offshoot based on batman? stupid

bruce being influenced across time and space by an evil demon, causing him to create batman unknowingly as part of a plot to destroy the multiverse?? awful

haly’s circus being a front for the court of owls and dick coming from a long line of talon sacrifices and the ‘gray son of gotham’ thing??? terrible

the joker being the puppeteer behind every notable event in jason’s life for the sole purpose of creating and killing a robin???? just. the worst.

#liveblogging comics #i think two of these aren't canon anymore but my point is that dc tried to MAKE them mainline canon and I hate it #sometimes people just need to dress up in their fursona and punch criminals in effigy of their trauma and that's already complicated enough #not going to bother with character tags it's not worth it

[yaraaflor]

Character Ask: Richard John Grayson-Wayne aka Nightwing

ah my one true love

first impression: my first exposure to dick was the teen titans animated show so like that version of him was my first impression. its not a totally inaccurate portrayal but i did get the sense that he was super serious all the time and had anger issues, however i still liked his character. he was a good leader and friend.

impression now: i mean dick is just such a dynamic, multi-layered character. theres so much i could say about him but i really feel like i understand him more now, how kind and generous he is, how smart, what a good leader he is, how he pushes himself to the limit and really doesnt give a damn about himself sometimes. i feel like i relate to him on many levels and thats probably why hes my fave but. i also think hes just as close to perfect as a man can get. like he has flaws but above all his goodness shines through.

favorite moment: theres so many scenes of his i love but. that issue where he and donna reunite and talk about stuff and then they get almost robbed so he beats the guys up and is showing off in front of donna is so cute i cant stand it. shows what a dork he is at the same time as showing what a good friend he is.

idea for a story: i really wanna see dick donna kory and roy grow into the polycule they were meant to be, i wanna see how dick and roy fall in love but roy still loves donna and dick still loves kory, and the same is true for donna and kory. i wanna see how they all live close to each other and how they coparent lian and mar’i and maybe have more kids. i wanna see dick and donna being the platonic soulmates of the century. i wanna see donna and kory’s wedding where dick cries through his best man speech. i wanna see them live their best lives. i would write it myself but honestly, i dont think i would do them justice. also it would be 100% fluff if i wrote it.

unpopular opinion: i hate, hate, hate the court of owls storyline. i detest it and i especially detest dick’s part in it. i think it’s stupid, i think it’s overdramatic to the extreme, and i think it detracts from dick’s character a lot. it ruins his relationship with haly’s circus. i could really write an essay on how turning dick’s relationship with gotham into one that was pre-determined by an secret evil society completely detracts from his independence and choices as a human being. i wont go into detail but i hate it. i refuse to interact with any content that depicts dick as a talon.

favorite relationship: when it comes down to it it’s gotta be either dick and donna or dick and dami. i think dick and donna wins out for me bc they are truly the ideal platonic couple and i am wildly jealous.

favorite headcanon: this is a sad one but robbie long was named after him (u know how the titans called robin “robbie”) and he was robbie’s godfather. :( he was so upset when he died 

#thank u for the ask! #my post #ask

[chronicbatfictioner]

Exchanges and Compromises - Chapter 2

Haly's Circus, ten years ago

No one was there for him as he watched his parents' life drained out of their bodies. They had fallen oh-so-far, and he couldn't catch them. Sure, there were the circus people. But Mr Haly and the others could only do so far in abating his sadness and feeling of worthlessness. He had trained so hard all of his ten years of life, yet he still couldn't catch his mom and dad as they fell.

On the bright side, no one could catch him, either, as he put the end of life to Tony Zucco; the man who corroded the cables that were supposed to suspend his parents in the air. He watched as Zucco dangled, upside down, as the acid started to cut away on the rope tied to his ankle.

Dick Grayson was still smiling blankly as the Court of Owls arrived, telling him that he shall be their champion in Gotham City - the true Gray Son. Whatever. He asked only one thing: "will you train me to be the best fighter in the world?" - and the man had nodded brightly.

So he went with the man.

The years gone by, and Dick grew up hard. Hardened in body and mind by means nary a mere mortal would be able to withstand. Or so his masters said. The training was hard, and there were times that Dick thought of quitting - the only problem with what would entitle as 'quitting' would be somewhere six feet under. Or be six feet under and zombified. Neither looked appealing to him. As pale as he was compared to when he was younger, Dick kind of liked his skin and blood being original.

Plus, it annoyed the other Talons when he could do things better than their supposedly 'enhanced' selves. By age 13, Dick was out on his first mission. The person he had 'neutralized' - the Court's euphemism for snuffing a life out of a human being - was a human trafficker. He had taken at least a dozen children, and one of them happened to be a daughter of a Court member.

Personally, Dick thought that regardless of whose child the perpetrator had taken, he deserved all punishments there is. Initially, Dick thought that the torture - stringing the man to the point where even breathing would cause him pain - would be enough; especially when taking into account the suffering he had done to a lot of children. But then he thought better of it: if the guy is alive, even in pain, he could be freed from any kind of punishments.

Just like the guy who murdered his parents.

So Dick decided to end his life. Slowly, over the course of a few days, the man would die in pain. No one would be able to connect the man's death to the Talons. None of his masters would know that it had been Dick's intention of making the perp dead. If providence happened and the man got hit by a speeding car before he could be killed by Dick's methods - hey, okay. Providence is nice.

Next neutralizations came quite easily - that is, he would never see anyone got actually dead. The point to the matter at hand is that the ones Dick neutralize would stop doing the bad things that hurt others - mentally, physically, financially. Gotham City belongs to the Court of Owls, and everyone answers to the Court. No man is allowed to set rules against others without the Court's approval.

Dick persevered through the years, telling himself quietly that he had to sin so no one else would need to. He had to hurt others so the victims can be avenged.

He had to fall so he could catch others.

Petty crimes, the Court did not care much. Petty crimes would not affect Court members. But on his unassigned days, Dick liked to roam around the city, through its roofs and cityscapes, to look for crimes he could stop. If he could not stop them, he would avenge them.

That was when he saw the shooting.

Maybe he would not interfered - thinking that if someone shot another, the victim would be dead or maybe they deserved it. But he paused just a few seconds too long while deciding which way to go next, and he saw the shooter stripped the victim and started taking pictures. Oh no, Dick thought, this isn't right, not your garden variety hit and run or revenge or crime of passion. This is full-on abuse.

So he waited, quietly watching as the shooter laughed and laughed and took all kinds of pictures. Just as the shooter and his two guards left the apartment building through the front door, Dick swooped down and caught the shooter. He swiftly disarmed the man, and dislocated several bones in the man's arms just to be sure. He quietly pocketed the camera, taking the memory card out just to be sure. The man screamed bloody murder and a thousand epithets, and Dick ignored him as he hung the shooter upside down after clearing his pockets.

The shooter was quiet as Dick whispered, "beware the Court of Owls; that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send the Talon for your head."

"I didn't do anything..." the guy whimpered when Dick was finished.

"Tough luck, buddy," Dick snarked back - the guy would not be able to see his smirk under the hood Dick was wearing. "You don't get to die, too bad. This time tomorrow, you'll wish you were..." he continued as he meticulously punctured several pressure points on the man's body that would make him be in eternal pain. With the man hanging upside down, he would not feel the pain until he was uprighted. "Goodbye," Dick gave him a snarky salute once he was done.

A few blocks away, he stopped and listened as an ambulance siren sounded in the general direction of the shooting victim. He hesitated, wondering if he should make sure the victim is alive or not; but then the comm-links in his ear crackled to life, ordering him to come back to base. He huffed lightly, but made his way back, anyway.

Some days, doing one good at a time should be enough.

#JayTim #Dick Grayson #Court of Owls #Batless #Talon #nightwing