i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.
He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.
And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.
And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.
Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.
Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."
There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.
It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.
Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.
At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.
"Do you like to do anything?"
Nothing. Just silence.
Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.
Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.
Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.
And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.
He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.
Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.
So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.
"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"
"Don't."
He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.
Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"
"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."
It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"
The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."
Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."
And they fall back into silence.
Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."
He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.
(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)
At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.
Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.
("Tucker told me once--")
("Tucker?")
("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")
(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)
(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)
It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."
The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."
The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.
When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.
Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.
"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."
When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.
Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.
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Look at how Kudo fell once Yoichi died
Since he fell once Yoichi was shredded by the spatial Ability, it implies he was pulling him along really hard to get away. Once the object you're pulling breaks momentum, you usually fall over because of the displaced force, right?
Like when you pull on a rope and it snaps, so you fall over. Add in the sewer water they're wading through, with all the different motions from multiple people passing through and running, Kudo tripped up on both Yoichi's disappearance and on the heavy water
Well, the water is something I want to consider, but most of it goes toward Kudo pulling Yoichi who is. Suddenly Not There. And this makes him fall over from displaced force.
Bruce is tall, and we can see the water is almost as high as his knees. This is tall water, man. The water could've even stabilized Kudo's feet enough he could catch himself, but he still fell; man knew AFO was dangerous, what he did to Yoichi before, and Kudo wanted Yoichi to RUN
When Kudo fell, the only reason he didn't fall over onto his side was because Bruce happened to be there.
Bruce only noticed and turned around because Kudo happened to fall into his leg. That let Kudo at least sit up, and it's hidden by Kudo's body, but Bruce probably grabbed onto Kudo so he could get up
Look at how Bruce charged up Fa Jin immediately. While Kudo is in shock, Bruce is glaring. The way Bruce stands is different from when he was running earlier
Bruce was absolutely willing to fight AFO here. He realized Kudo fell, and put his foot forward with a charged Fa Jin, literally ready to protect Kudo and fight AFO if needed
(It's in his hand, so I assume that's his main way of using it, because the energy had to have charged beforehand; he had it ready to go. But the fact he charged it at all is what I'm focusing on here)
His foot is ahead of Kudo, he's looming over him to protect him, and his knees are bent to fight and grab onto Kudo; Bruce would've fought AFO for Kudo, even knowing he'd die.
Their first reactions to realizing the situation?
Kudo tears up. Bruce has a glare and is ready to fight.
They both registered the event differently. Kudo is first in shock, and immediately moved to tears, because the first thing he realizes is [Yoichi just died].
As for Bruce, the first thing he registers isn't that Yoichi is missing (he didn't see what Kudo saw; Kudo literally had Yoichi's blood splatter across his face, and Bruce just turns around after the fact), but [AFO is too close to us. This is dangerous.] and prepares to protect Kudo.
They both reacted accordingly to what they saw first. Kudo in shock, and Bruce ready to fight.
Bruce wasn't going to fight AFO until he realized Kudo was in danger when he fell over. He probably noticed Yoichi was missing and likely dead from all the flying blood, but he focused first on dealing with the situation.
Bruce knew Yoichi just died. But if they weren't careful, they'd be next. Kudo was almost next. Bruce didn't see the moment of Yoichi's death, but Kudo did; and Leader got stuck on that first.
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(Also, cutting this out because it's not good enough to make heads or tails of, but
I think Bruce's glare in the sewers is different from the glare he has later fighting AFO one-on-one and dying. My first assumption was it's because he knows Yoichi just died, and that's like enraging to him in the sewers
Although now I'm noticing Bruce is smiling in the second panel below and am now very curious about that. His eyes are just naturally sharp.
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