Date Night
Bruce got the call early in the evening, Gordon’s voice practically shrieking over the phone in anger and confusion. It took Bruce a moment to calm the man down so he could manage to get something coherent out of him.
Apparently, Harley and Ivy had broken out of Arkham, all in a blink of an eye. Even more, no law enforcers could get close to the pair as they publicly paraded around Gotham. Luckily, no one was getting hurt, but the pair generally being out of Arkham was concerning. Especially how they escaped.
Shortly after the call, Bruce dawned on the suit and went to do some quick pre-vigilante research to get a clearer picture of the situation. Which only made the situation of escaped villains more concerning.
He pulled the security footage and found that their escape was just as Gordon described it. They straight up disappeared.
One moment they are in the prison, the next they disappear into thin air. Not at the same time though, one at a time. Ivy being the first before Harley. Which was a smart choice, since Ivy had heavier security in regards to her meta status, if Harley had vanished first, Ivy’s security would only have gotten heavier.
The two then reappeared outside of the prison just as they disappeared, by popping into existence one at a time. And they skipped off.
Then there was the fact that no police force or even vigilante could manage to get close, Tim calling in shortly after to report that he tried to approach only to blink and find himself in a library. All officers reported the same thing, that upon getting too close or entering an area the two were currently residing, they would blink and find themselves somewhere else completely. Other officers reported the officers that woke up in random areas acting weirdly before they entered these areas. Freezing up, turning, then running in the opposite direction.
There was also the report that many officers felt a chill in the air before these instances would happen, a feeling like they were trespassing would take hold, and many of them even began to jump at the shadows. Reports of green eyes blinking from the shadows by those who said ‘fuck that’ and went home right after.
So Harley and Ivy were running around town while some sort of entity protected them.
Batman didn’t know much about Magic, it was something that was difficult to grasp or understand, but this had magic painted all over it. He decided now was the time to act though as he stood up and leapt onto the batcycle, speeding into the city as he connected to another league member who may be able to help.
The line clicked as it indicated that he was connected to the other side, “Constantine, I need you at Gotham immediately.”
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John stared at the phone in his hand, blinking slowly before he slammed it into the floor after Batman hung up on him.
That fucker did this every fucking time.
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Bruce arrived in front of a Carnival, the pair of villains' last seen location. Constantine should arrive shortly, but he might as well see if he could get more information regarding this escape.
He took a step towards the gates when a voice stopped him, “oh fuck Batman himself showed up. Probably should have expected that after encountering a Robin.” Bruce spun towards the unfamiliar voice, a batarang in hand as he searched for the source, surprised that he couldn’t seem to spot one. “I don’t suppose you would leave if I asked?”
“Are you the one keeping people from arresting Quinn and Ivy?” Bruce demanded.
“Oh yeah, that’s me,” the voice sounded young.
“Why? Did they hire you? Threaten you?”
“What? No! No, I just owe them a favour is all. And we have an agreement! It’s just a date night, no killing or crime or nothing. Only couples stuff.”
Batman couldn’t help but lower his batarang, “… you broke them out… for a date night?”
Suddenly a white haired teenager with glowing green eyes popped into existence, floating above the gate leading to the carnival, “well I’m not going to just let them out to cause crime! That’s the opposite of what I normally do. Nah, it’s like their one year anniversary and I wanted to do something nice cause they helped me out once.”
“So… no crime,” Bruce deadpanned.
“No crime,” the kid shrugged.
“What about after the date?”
“Oh I’m putting them back where I found them. That’s part of the agreement.”
Bruce had to process this for a moment, then grumbled under his breath, “and Gordon made me think they were planning on destroying the city.”
“Oh they totally wanted to blow stuff up but I said nope, the moment they want to try any crime stuff they go back sooner than promised.”
“And they listened to you?”
“Well they can’t really stop me,” the kid grinned. “So you can go back to your batcave or something, it’s handled. Oh and tell the police dude to stop sending his officers after them, overshadowing gets pretty annoying after the 20th time.”
Bruce just stared at the kid, then sighed and turned around, walking away as he spoke into his comms, “Robin, keep an eye on them for the rest of the night but do not engage.”
“Already in position.”
Bruce would never admit that he was relieved to leave the scene, he didn’t fully trust this kid, but there was something foreboding about him. An energy that twinged every flight instinct he had trained to push down. He didn’t trust him, but he did believe the kid, if only because he felt that if he didn’t, then that kid could easily take him out without a thought.
It wasn’t until he reached the cave before the goosebumps finally faded and the chill disappeared.
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Just as promised, the two villains were returned to Arkham before sunrise the next day.
The only thing that indicated their disappearance was their more cheery moods, and odd gifts left in their cells.
A plant that Ivy couldn’t seem to control, but also couldn’t be picked up by any guard in the facility, Ivy being the only person who seemed able to touch the plant.
And some sort of glowing green dog that came and went as it pleased. A dog that seemed to especially like Harley.
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Bruce was relieved that the kid kept his word, but a nagging bit of missing information still ate away at Bruce’s mind.
Why did he owe Harley and Ivy?
It drove him to visit Arkham just to ask the pair.
He asked Harley first since she was more likely to talk.
“Oh, Danny? Yeah! He is such a nice kid! Wish more men were like him, honestly. Yeah, the poor kiddo was being thrashed by some sort of vampire dude who was saying some really creepy shit. You know? Like, the kind of language that makes you think: that dude is straight up possessive and psychotic! Ives and I were doing some good ol’ vandalism when we saw him and he got knocked down in front of us. And oh boy that kid looked so scared! Biggest eyes I’ve ever seen, looked like he was hurting real bad based on how beat up he looked. We couldn’t just let that kind of abuse happen to a kid! We may like crime but we have standards, Bats!
It’s really funny though because when we tried to smack him around our punches just went through the fucker. And then, this kid, this absolutely best to shit and back kid, stood up and tried to defend us from this fanged dipshit! Real hero type, honestly if he had black hair I’m pretty sure you would have recruited him as another Robin by now. Tried to get us to run away or something, dropped this weird ass thermos, so I did the logical thing! I picked it up and threw it at that vampire! It hit him too! Left a huge ass bruise on his head! So then I picked it up, tied it to a stick and beat the shit out of him while Ives covered me! Turns out that normal vines can block whatever pink shit he was throwing around.
It was great, I basically had him running with his tail tucked between his legs! We forced Danny to stick around so we could patch him up, and he was practically passing out on us! He actually did pass out! And he-! Oh wait I’m not supposed to tell you that part, I am a woman of honour! Anyhow, we patched him up, fed him some of the best fucking food he could ever taste and we got pretty close to adopting this kid. Seriously Bats, I thought you were crazy for having so many Robin kiddos but man, it all makes sense! Helping out a kid that could kick ass and having them look so happy and greatful? Best fucking feeling. But he had other places to be, so we said farewells! He visits every few weekends or so for brunch, bringing us nice stuff. Oh did you see that plant Ivy got from him? Told us it’s a ghost plant! Crazy, right? Ivy is fascinated by it. It’s a shame he doesn’t lean more towards crime, super goodie goodie. He came to us and told us he could let us have a lovely date night as long as we don’t cause trouble. A little disheartening that not even a tiny explosion would be allowed but! A night out was perfect.
We are gonna get out again on our own anyway, cause some mischief, blow up some pollution plants, that kind of thing. Apparently he has a friend who totally admires Ives. Best kid we could have helped out.
Oh! And he’s dead!” Harely finished her long story.
Bruce nodded with a grunt.
“Thank you for your honesty, Quinn.”
“Any time Bats, I’ll see ya next week!”
Bruce paused, then glanced slightly behind him, “what makes you think I’m coming back?”
Harley grinned as she leaned against the bars of her cell, “You’re addicted to knowing everything. And the fact that the kid is a ghost is gonna drive you crazy.”
Bruce turned his head back towards the exit, but didn’t move.
“I’ll tell you one thing. Me and Ives don’t know how he died, and neither of us killed him either. Again, we don’t really try to kill kids. Just rough them up if they are being little shits.” Bruce didn’t make a noise at her reference to fighting his kids. “Oh and Batsy? Don’t ask him how he died when you find him. It’s fucking rude.”
Bruce continued to walk, not commenting on how she seemed confident that he would find a way to find the kid.
Somehow he was leaving with more questions than answers.
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John Constantine glanced around the city, then felt his phone ring and picked it up and growled, “where the fuck are you and what is this emergency-?”
“It’s been taken care of. I no longer require your services for now.”
Batman hung up.
John Constantine slammed his phone into the pavement, “THAT ASSHOLE!”
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Home Invasions aren’t Cool
Danny Phantom and Avengers Crossover
Written for Crossover Danuary Week 2022
AO3 Link
Summary: Danny really doesn’t know how he keeps ending up in these situations. He really needs to invest in both a better security system. Maybe he just shouldn’t have taken that internship from SI in the first place.
Words: 1553
Notes: I’m just going to end up with a bunch of pieces of incomplete crossovers aren’t I? Oh dear.
Danny wasn’t so sure he should’ve taken that internship right now. Sure, he won that contest and landed the spot for some half-baked invention he had made from his parents’ leftover parts. Sure, it paid super well and got him out of the tensions in the Fenton household, along with living arrangements for the term, and it would probably be his only chance to still get into college. But considering some of the people he accidentally ran into, it was going to be the actual end of him. Stark Industries better pay him compensation for his troubles. If he survived at least.
Running into Mr. Stark was fine. So far, he was one of the few scientists/inventors Danny actually respected. He was brilliant in the lab, but Danny pitied his PR department, for all the shit that man got up to. Most of his job, actually, was shadowing Mr. Stark, (and Ms. Pots told him to remind the man to eat and sleep in exchange for access to the kitchens, which had its own benefits and drawbacks). Danny wasn’t actually sure if Mr. Stark knew his name, usually beckoned over with a call of “Intern”, or “Errand Boy”. Danny spent most of his time either assisting Mr. Stark in the labs, doing some of the paperwork, or fetching copious amounts of coffee(for both of them).
But tonight, he’d been allowed to go home early, since apparently Mr. Stark had plans. Thank the Ancients. Danny went home to the small, one-bedroom studio SI was renting for him, easily within walking distance from the tower, wondering what to do for dinner. He still had some leftover Chinese from about a week ago, Danny wondered if it was still any good. Either way, it wasn’t animated, and it wouldn’t kill him (ha.). The only thing, so far that Danny truly despised about NYC so far was the fact that the stars weren’t visible at all, the city never sleeps, and everything like that. Flying around as Phantom at night was pretty cool though, but he had to be careful to not be spotted. This wasn’t Amity Park after all. He wouldn’t be doing any of that though, he was way too tired for that tonight.
Danny turned his key and half pushed the door open before he froze dead in his tracks, core tightening in his chest and adrenaline starting to race. Someone was in his apartment. There were active ectoshields around the building now, the silent and invisible kind his parents had developed less than a month ago. There were more people hiding in various places around the building that definitely didn’t live here. At least a dozen, all armed with at least one ectoblaster each. Well, fuck.
Danny quickly schooled his expression flat and loosened his stance into one that seemed to be uncaring and tired, like a teenager should be, before simply throwing the door open, peering indifferently at the figure sitting on his couch, messing with some of the ghost hunting equipment that had managed to follow him to the big city. The figure didn’t turn to look at him, barely having any reaction at all.
“It’s rude to break in, you know?” Danny huffed in a bored tone.
Danny walked inside and locked the door behind him silently, then made his way to the open kitchen to grab his food. He grabbed the cold box filled with a mix of rice, steak, and vegetables and a fork. Danny made his way over to the chair across from the couch and began to eat his meal cold. He didn’t want to be carted off on an empty stomach.
The stranger had stopped snooping through his things and was watching him carefully. The people around the building were closing in. The home invader was dark-skinned, wore an eyepatch, and was covered in what looked to be a black, heavy trench coat. So not GIW, that was a relief.
“Daniel “Danny” Fenton, 17 years of age, born in Amity Park, Illinois. Born to parents Maddie and Jack Fenton, self-claimed ghost hunters and inventors. Died at age 14 and became a ‘half-ghost’ vigilante under the name ‘Phantom’. Active for three years to date. Threat level: Catastrophic,” Eye-patch recited. Situation: Catastrophic. Well, fuck squared.
“You got my social security number in there too?” Danny retorted; façade cracked.
“Phantom,” Eye-Patch started, “Do you know who I am?”
“Nope,” Danny shrugged, but silently let his powers hum just underneath the surface of his skin, ready to fight or fly at the drop of a pin.
Eye-Patch leaned forward, looking him dead in the eye, “I am director Nick Fury of S.H.E.I.L.D, a secret government agency dedicated to protecting this world.”
Danny set down his food and looked “Nick Fury” in his eye, “If that’s true, then you’re aware of the situation in Amity Park, right?” Danny asked, wanting confirmation first.
“Of course.”
“Tell me.”
“Around three and a half years ago, your parents, Drs Fenton, opened a portal to another dimension in their basement. No grants, no funding, no approval. They unleashed hordes of other dimensional beings onto the town, and you died and became the ecto-entity known as Phantom, wreaking havoc against both the citizens and the other beings infesting the town, playing at being the town’s ‘protector’ for the past three years,” Nick Fury described, and Danny leaned back into the chair.
“But you did nothing, Mr. ‘Protector-of-the-World’?” Danny taunted, ready to fight. ILD’s a
“The threat was contained and it’s not under S.H.E.I.L.D.’s authority, that belongs to the G.I.W.,” Fury said.
“So what?” Danny hissed, he knew his eyes were glowing, “Are you here to kill me? Hand me over to the Gits in White? Are you at least going to read me my Miranda Rights before cuffing me and shipping me off to be torn apart?”
Fury scoffed, “Under the Anti-Ecto Acts, you don’t even get that, do you? No, I can have you neutralized and shipped off to the G.I.W. before you could even transform. But that’s not why I’m here, Phantom, not if you accept.”
“What do you want?” Danny hissed, growing more agitated and taunt by the moment, desperate to get out of this situation.
“You like protecting people, don’t you? That’s what I’m giving you the chance to do. The world is in danger and I’m forming a team. I want you on it,” Fury stated, and Danny faltered.
“What? Why?” Danny sputtered, losing his grip on his powers.
“I need powerful beings to fight powerful threats, you just happen to be both,” Fury stated like it was obvious.
“Okay, why should I join your team in the first place, other than the obvious threat of ruining my life if I refuse? I’m not even 18 yet. Besides, are I “G.I.W. jurisdiction”? How would you even manage to swing that?” Danny tried.
“Your Stark’s intern. He’s also joining. From the legal side, you just tag along and continue “interning” for the time being. Also, as for why, if you don’t, I’m fully obligated to turn you over to the G.I.W. under the Anti-Ecto Acts. But right now, as far as they’re concerned, Phantom and Fenton are two entirely separate people, and it can remain that way to anyone outside.”
“But this ‘team’ will know?” Danny asked.
“And S.H.E.I.L.D. already does.”
Danny cursed, realizing he was cornered, “Fuck, fine. But I have another demand if I’m going to do this.”
“What is it?”
“Immunity. The G.I.W. can’t touch me and a few others. I won’t let them hurt those I care about,” Danny said.
“Done. But I have another demand in turn,” Fury coincided, setting down a cuff bracelet.
“I’m not wearing a suppression bracelet,” Danny growled.
“That’s not what this is. It’s insurance.”
“Which means?”
“You’re a threat. Should you step out of line, this will light you up with enough electricity to power an entire skyscraper,” Fury explained.
“And who would pull the trigger?” Danny asked.
“Me. And only me.”
Danny thought about his options, truly, for a moment. If he wanted to, he could easily escape. From what he could tell from the ectosignatures, Fury and the rest of his agents had G.I.W. level blasters, which stung but wouldn’t put him down for the count. The shield was also G.I.W. level despite having some features of his parents’ latest model. Fury and his agents(?) wouldn’t be able to touch him. But if he ran, that was it, it would be the only thing he would be able to do, especially with his secret out in the open.
But if he took the offer, he could get the G.I.W. off his back and a few of his allies too. He’d have to wear the taser bracelet and do whatever the heck Fury wanted with him on this team, fight whatever threat. He’d also get to work with others on this ‘team’, which he wasn’t sure was a good thing or an irritating one. He would only know Mr. Stark.
“Fine.” Danny ceded, snapping the cuff on his right wrist, not feeling a difference in his power levels.
Fury looked smug, “Good. It took you long enough. Grab your food and let’s go, we’re going to be late.”
“Wait what.”
“You have some homework to do on the way.”
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Hidden identities? Never heard of them (BatmanxDP crossover)
DPxBatman crossover
After the disturbing discovery of one Daniel Fenton and his nightmarish abilities, the Bat knows he had to do a more hands-on approach and investigate the boy on-site. His sons tag along 'to help', of course, because what could go wrong?
“Batman?” she asked Bruce.
Wow. Three seconds in this place and a random person figured out his secret identity.
Has to have read the prequel for this, for context. But not super mandatory.
<< Prequel
Thanks to the lovely beta @bubblegumbeech!!
From my series, You and me and our best friend makes three
[Read on AO3][Read on FF.net]
Dick had seen the recording. He had seen it. Tim had seen it. Jason had seen it after he came back online. Damian did not want to see it but saw it as well. Cass and Steph saw it in the middle of their date and it ruined it. Oracle sent it, of course, so she saw it happen in real time.
The recording. Of an eighteen year old boy devouring an eldritch god like it was nothing. The sounds… Well, maybe they all had nightmares for a while after seeing the video. Damian said he was used to it, but Dick had seen him with dark circles under his eyes at breakfast a few times.
So now the question was, why in the heavens were they in Amity Park, where the boy lived? Where a god that was capable of destroying their universe was living inside said boy?
That’s what Tim was asking when a girl around his age stopped and turned to look at them. That wasn’t weird in itself, people usually stopped and stared when the bat-family was around even in their civilian disguises (Dick liked to say it was their amazing good looks, but they probably recognized Bruce Wayne and/or that they were rich). But this normal looking girl stopped, narrowed her eyes and approached them with a determined step.
“Batman?” she asked Bruce.
Wow. Three seconds in this place and a random person figured out his secret identity.
“And I guess you are the other bats,” she continued, one hand on her chin in a pensive gesture. She nodded. “Figured this would happen a bit later but, whatever,” she shrugged. “Come with me.”
Bruce found his voice at last. “How?”
“Who are you?” Jason tensed, seizing her up like she was a threat. Maybe she was. Maybe she was a spy.
“Oh, I knew I was forgetting something.” She slapped her forehead. “My name is Jazz, I’m Danny’s sister.”
Oh, right. They had seen the family photo, should have recognized her, but it was like their memory couldn’t retain the actual features of her face.
Dick and Damian looked at each other, coming to the same conclusion. Some kind of sorcery was going on here.
“I can take you to him, if that’s why you came here.”
“It is. But we need to know how you recognized us. Security reasons and everything, haha.” Dick tried to word it in a nicer way than what Bruce would demand.
Jazz’s eyes glinted with something between sadness and pity. “You have the same body language as my brother.”
***
Jazz guided the group towards a house a few streets down, successfully saving them the investigative part of finding out where the Fentons lived - but it wouldn’t have been difficult with the gigantic sign on the outside of the house. So used to being secretive, the bats found it irksome that the hero they came to visit was so obviously recognizable.
Or maybe it was a more ‘hiding in plain sight’ kind of thing? Phantom managed to hide his identity for four years without any of the help or resources they had.
Jazz warned them that Maddie and Jack, her parents, would be at the house somewhere. Bruce took note of how the girl mentioned them by name and that while she tried to keep the serene smile in place, the corner of her lips twitched when she talked about them.
“His parents tried to exorcise him, bats.” Constantine wasn’t crying, but the hand holding a cigarette was trembling, “That is bad. Really bad. I don’t need to know the ritual they used because he is not possessed and that is a bad thing to do when the subject is not possessed, you know?”
“What would it do?” he’d asked.
“Exorcisms are meant to extract a malevolent entity from a body and destroy it, what the fuck do you think it would do to a half-ghost?”
“Should we expect hostility from them?” Bruce asked, his voice lowering to his Batman tone.
Jazz smiled more honestly but shook her head. “No. And if they did, all their weapons have been, uh, removed. Mom is a black belt, though.”
“We all are.” Jason’s smile was meant to be intimidating.
She nodded. “Good.”
She guided them to the kitchen and asked if anyone wanted a glass of water. She mentioned that if they wanted to stay for lunch that they should say so now to give her time to get groceries. Damian frowned and looked at the jars innocently resting over the counter. Wasn’t that food?
“Oh, that’s not edible. Nothing in this kitchen is.” As if to make a point, she walked to the fridge, opened it and gave them a moment to notice the eerie glow of the food inside.
“What the-”
Tim flinched when a sausage opened its eyes and growled at him before jumping and-
BANG
The sausage fell down, shot by a strange looking gun in Jazz’s hand. The barrel was still smoking as she closed the door of the fridge before more food came back to life to attack them. Her smile was mocking as she re-concealed her gun inside a pouch strapped to her waist.
“Nothing is edible. So yeah, if you want to stay for lunch please say so.” She tilted her head. “Or if I should expect more people. I remember there were more bats.”
Jason was the first to snap out of it. “No, the girls decided to stay and keep an eye on Gotham.”
“Shame, I wanted to meet Black bat. She rules.”
After that, the tour continued through a door to the basement, which was only illuminated by the glow of a portal swirling inside a mechanical contraption on the opposite wall from the stairs. The rest of the lab was bare, with obvious spaces where something should be but wasn’t anymore. One wall was dented as if something big had crashed against it, and a suspicious circle of symbols could be glimpsed, despite someone obviously having tried to wash it away.
Bruce nodded at Tim, who took a photo of the circle with a tiny concealed camera. This was a recon mission after all, even if their initial idea to be completely undercover went out the window.
“Danny told me he told you.” Jazz had stopped by the portal. The light coming from it bathed her in a green glow, and with the way her eyes betrayed nothing of her feelings, she looked as inhuman as her brother. “About how he died here. About my parents-”
Her eyes wandered towards the washed paint on the floor.
“I hope you value the trust he puts in you. In the League.”
“The Justice League will never betray the trust of your brother.” Bruce promised.
“My brother… Danny is a very good boy. Very trusting. Loving,” she pursed her lips. “What my parents did to him that day almost broke him, but he adores the heroes of the mighty Justice League enough to give adults a second chance. Please, prove me wrong. Prove that he didn’t make a mistake when he trusted you guys.”
The four brothers looked at Bruce. The man had been panicking for a whole week after he came back from the special mission where they summoned the Ghost King. They almost never saw him cry, except when he was on the verge of an Emergency Adoption protocol, or when a child died because he couldn’t protect them. After they saw the recording and Oracle shared the files, they learned Danny fit both criteria.
Bruce was very aware that after a bad experience with an adult (abuse, he had to say the word), a child was very unlikely to trust another adult. Heck, Jason still didn’t trust him and they had talked it out and everything. That young Danny had gone through things Bruce couldn’t describe and still requested the League’s support with a smile was a feat in itself.
“I swear by my name, my reputation and my whole career that we, and I vouch for the Justice League as well, do not bear any ill intent towards Danny. We want to help. And we deeply regret our neglect of the ghost situation in this fine city.”
Jazz nodded, but her expression didn’t change. “And why are you here today?”
It was weird that she was asking this now, right in front of the portal to where Danny was, so deep inside her house (the basement, no less, where she couldn’t really escape from them).
“We want to understand,” Tim said.
That made the young woman smile. “That’s the correct answer. You pass the test.”
She looked at something behind them just before they heard very faint footsteps coming from the stairs.
“Ugh, I was getting tired of keeping quiet anyway. What took you so long, Jazzy?”
“I had to get them to the basement, Ellie,” Jazz explained, as if it was obvious.
“Ohhhhhh, an ambush. Makes sense.” The batfamily turned to find a young child, younger than Danny, but an almost identical copy of the boy, only as a girl with longer hair. The similarities only went skin deep though. Where the boy had been tense and skittish, the girl was very open and showed complete disregard of the five vigilantes when she turned her back on them.
Either she was too trusting and innocent, or she was confident in her abilities. Danny had promised that he was the only ghost with his… condition. But this girl, a clone obviously, could have inherited more than his ghostly appearance.
“Let’s go already! I wanna see Danny,” the girl, Ellie, whined.
“One sec.” Jazz pulled her phone and tapped on the screen a few times. Almost immediately a very big vehicle came through the portal- some kind of hybrid between a spaceship and a plane. It hovered a few centimeters over the floor.
The brothers and Bruce jumped back so they wouldn’t be squished.
“A warning would have been nice,” Jason growled.
“Oops,” she said with no remorse. “Get in, boys.”
They noticed how comfortable Jazz looked, manning the thing: hitting buttons and preparing to travel inside the portal, as if she had done this many times in the past. She probably had. It reminded Bruce of his kids.
“Buckle up, we could encounter some ghosts on the way that may not be kind.”
“Does this thing have-”
“Weapons?” Jazz interrupted Jason. She clicked a button and a shield enveloped the vehicle. At the same time, something revved and a robotic voice announced that the Specter Speeder had been armed. “Yeah.” Her lips curved a little.
Jason put a hand on his chest, leaning to whisper in Dick’s ear. “I think I’m in love.”
From outside the vehicle, the clone girl snickered, obviously having heard him.
The trip inside the portal was uneventful. After freaking out a little that their phones and devices stopped working - Jazz explained that until they got to the castle and Tucker fixed them they couldn't contact the human realm - and feeling nauseated for a second there - Jazz said it was normal-, the young woman piloted them carefully through an endless sea of green and purple doors, passing by floating isles that seemed abandoned.
Ellie was floating in circles doing loops and tricks that Bruce remembered Danny doing, and he wondered if it was a Phantom thing or a ghost thing. So far he hadn’t met many ghosts so he had to file the thought and come back to it when he met more.
“We are close,” Jazz announced, taking a left by a skull-shaped island, stepping on the accelerator and gunning it towards the next big island they could see in the distance.
It was a castle - or more like a miniature city. There was a giant main building with tall towers and an inner patio filled with trees. Surrounding it there were more buildings in many sizes, but from the distance they couldn’t really tell what they were for.
Jazz approached the main one, and once she parked the Speeder close to the entrance she turned it off and opened the vehicle’s door. She turned with a sigh. She seemed tired.
“The air is safe for humans here. Please don’t try to leave the island.”
They nodded and got out of the vehicle. An armored ghost received them.
“Lady Jasmine, welcome back.”
Jazz hummed in greeting. “Is Danny in?”
“I believe he is still at his lesson with Lady Samantha.”
“Ok, thank you.” She turned towards her guests. “They are with me and under my protection. Spread the word.”
The ghost did a salute before floating back to his post and talking with another soldier ghost, and then flying into the closed doors.
“Let’s go.”
Inside the castle was cold, very cold, and for a moment Dick regretted not bringing the suit, at least under his civilian clothes. He asked Jazz about it and she said that sometimes Danny couldn’t help it, that the castle answered to his moods and thoughts, and since he had an Ice Core he naturally leaned into colder temperatures.
Whatever that meant.
The walk was uneventful, they passed by beautiful paintings that glowed, a series of tapestries depicting Phantom doing heroic stuff, and a portrait. At first it looked like a normal family portrait, like those back at the Manor, people posing and smiling for the painting; but the bats only recognized Danny, Ellie and Jazz from the picture. The other two people - a dark skinned boy with glasses and a girl with a striking pair of purple eyes around Danny’s age - weren’t his parents.
Nobody commented on it.
Jazz opened the giant doors to something that looked like a throne room, but it was currently bare of any furniture except a lonely throne at the back, on a raised dais, looking like a normal chair made of wood. Humble, even.
They didn’t stay too long in that room. Jazz guided them straight towards a side door and into a series of labyrinthic hallways, through more doors and finally to a door from where crashing noises came from. On their way they encountered servants or more soldiers, who simply saluted her with a bow and a “my Lady” and a polite nod towards the guests, the only thing that felt normal. They had trained in etiquette long enough to nod back by muscle memory.
“Okay Sam, hit me with everything you got.” Danny’s voice was clear. “Remember, focus on your target, charge and blast.”
“You make it sound easy,” a female voice hushed. Sam, presumably.
“You can do it, love.”
“Shut up,” she said, but her voice wavered.
“One day I’ll find a pet name you like. Hey!” A boom and a crash. “That was uncalled for!”
“I hit the target.”
Jazz rolled her eyes and muttered ‘lovebirds’ before opening the door.
“Danny! Your friends came over to play!”
The boy turned and smiled when he saw who was at the door. “You’re here!” He waved enthusiastically.
He was going to say something else, but a green beam hit him in the face and launched him backwards to the wall behind him.
“Ancients, Danny, I’m sorry! I meant to hit your shoulder!” The black haired girl from the painting rushed over and helped him regain his senses. The bats tensed, but apart from having a slight red mark on his cheek, the ghost was fine.
When Danny stood up, the burn was gone.
“No harm done, sugar.” He smiled, not afraid to show sharp teeth.
Sam punched him in the shoulder, and for the first time the bats noticed she was wearing some kind of magical armor, with runes and designs glowing over the metal, giving the girl an extra ghostly glow.
“She’s completely human, but she has a special suit, well, more like an armor.” Danny had said about his girlfriend.
Bruce now understood what he meant by that. He wasn’t really fond of magic, but understood and valued the execution.
“Never call me that. Ever.” She went for a kick, her knee guards shining a bit brighter, but the ghost caught her foot before it made contact, flipped her around and threw her to the floor.
“Nice try, Sam.”
“One day, Danny.” She said, jumping back to her feet and hitting her forearms together, deactivating the suit. The glow was gone and she was a regular human wearing armor. She turned towards the bats still at the door and nodded in greeting. “I’m Sam. If you call me Samantha I’ll kill you in your sleep.”
“Be nice Sam, they’re the Bats!” Danny seemed excited, floating towards the group. He hugged Jazz and turned around. “Where’s Dani?”
“She wanted to check on the kids first.”
Sam and Danny nodded. “Maybe she’ll join us for lunch.” Sam commented, her hands going for the clasps of her suit, making sure they were secure. “Hey, I’m going to change and take a quick shower.” She then put one hand on Danny’s arm, their eyes meeting for a brief moment. Damian had seen that look in his mother’s eyes whenever she talked about Father. “See you later.”
The Fenton siblings were left alone with the bat family.
Danny clapped his hands together. “So! What do you wanna check out?”
***
They found Tucker at his private lab-slash-alchemy room-slash-manly den. Tim recognized the type of space they walked in, because it reminded him of his own room when at his worst sleep deprived manic moments of genius.
He noticed the empty cups of coffee abandoned on the table and smiled. A kindred soul, at last!
“Hey Tuck.” The ghost approached the other teen hunched over his desk tinkering with something. Danny removed one earbud carefully, making Tucker jump.
“Hey Danny, didn’t expect you back from training so soon.” He tilted his head upwards, expecting a kiss. The white haired boy leaned in to give a quick peck.
“Yeah, Jazz and Dani are back early too. Apparently they found some interesting people on their way here.”
Tucker turned to look over his shoulder when Danny looked up, and by the way he jumped and sputtered in place one would say he was having a heart attack. Tucker proceeded then to close books, cover strange weapons with white sheets and shove junk into drawers.
“You should have warned me that Tim-motherfucking-Drake was going to visit! Ancients, Danny! I told you….” The complaints turned into angry mumbling as he dragged the smirking ghost by the hand while trying to put some order in place.
He gave up mid-way and ran towards the bats still at the door, pushing them back to the empty hallway, shoving Danny away and closing the door with a bang.
Tucker rubbed his face as he tried to control his breathing. When he turned he looked just as tired and sleep deprived as Danny, but a wide smile adorned his lips.
“Heeeeey,” his voice trembled a little, eyes not staying on any of the bats for more than a few seconds. “I’m Tucker. Tucker Foley. Tech geek and genius extraordinaire.” Danny snorted from where he was floating. “Shut up Danny.” He extended a hand towards Tim. “I’m a fan of your work, Mr Drake.”
Tim shook his hand, blinking slowly. Was everything always this chaotic around here?
“And of course I’m a fan of your work, Mr Batman, sir,” Tucker shook Bruce’s hand. “And the Justice League. Thank you for everything you guys do for the world.”
“And what about everything I do for the world?” Danny floated upside down towards Tucker, pouting.
“You know you are my favorite.” The boy got on his tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
Danny’s cheeks were tinted a bit green.
Dick thought he was going to die of cuteness. He had to lean onto the wall for a moment, noticing how the stone, while cold, was pulsing with something warm from beneath, like a heartbeat.
“Ugh,” they all heard Damian murmur, “I knew I should have stayed home.”
“Ugh, Dannyyyyyyy,” another voice complained, but this one was louder. “If ya’ll are going to be mushy and corny again I’m leaving!”
Ellie (Dani?), the other ghost girl, and very probably Danny’s clone, made herself visible. Her arms were crossed and her face was scrunched in an expression that mirrored Damian’s.
“Ellie!” Tucker extended his arms and the white haired girl smiled and floated right into his chest, making both tumble a bit backwards. “Good to see you.”
She rubbed her cheek on his shoulder. “Good to be back.”
“You can let me go now,” he laughed, but the girl only curled her legs around his waist.
“Nah, you are warm.”
“Oops, my bad,” the Ghost King laughed and the temperature drastically went to a more adequate human temperature.
Bruce looked around for vents, but there were none. Danny caught his eyes. Bruce thought he was being subtle.
“Everything is automatic around here. You only have to ask.”
“Because… the castle obeys you?” The words sounded weird even when Bruce said them out loud.
“Everything obeys me.” The kid’s smile wasn’t a happy one. Behind him, the girl and the other boy sobered for a moment. “And everyone. If I wanted to.”
Jason felt something weird in his chest, a constriction of some kind, and green eyes flashed when they met his.
“You feel it, don’t you? I knew there was something different about you. The Realms welcomed you like one of its own.”
“If you have read the report I did for you, dear little brother,” Jazz’s voice was overly sugarly, betraying the sarcasm, “you would have known that your favorite hero Red Hood is actually a revenant.”
“I… read it? Diagonally.” Danny flinched under his sister’s stare. “I also skipped some pages, maybe.”
“I’m his favorite?” Jason turned to look at Tim, who shrugged.
“Danny! You can’t just… ugh!” She lifted her arms and face to the ceiling, exasperated.
“Little brothers, am I right?” Dick elbowed her softly, stage-whispering with a smile.
He didn’t see Damian drop kicking him until it was too late.
***
Finally they were sitting down in what looked like the dining room. The one they were used to back at the manor was more modern and was better decorated than this, but the medieval-like theme that was all throughout the castle was nice as well. At least now that they weren’t on the verge of trembling from the cold.
The table they were sitting at was small, with just enough seats for the bats to be on one side and Phantom and his people on the other, no one seated at the head of the table. Real cozy.
It was time for some introductions, formally.
“Name’s Danielle, or Dani with an i, or Ellie. I don’t care. I’m technically three years old but whatever. I’m a clone. I live by my rules.” The girl went first, confirming their suspicions.
“Figured.” Bruce nodded.
“You don’t look freaked out by the clone thing.” Danny tried not to look tense, but now that they were sitting down and nothing could buffer the interaction between them he was more the nervous teenager he should have always been.
“There are no official records about her, yet she looks a lot like you.”
“Also she’s not the first clone we’ve met,” Jason leaned back against his chair, smirking. “Superman has a clone too.”
“No shit!” The clone girl’s smile was radiant as her hand slapped on the table. They heard a crack.
“Dani, careful.”
“Yeah, sorry.” She seemed sheepish for a second, but turned to give the bats her whole attention. “When can I meet this clone? Is he as strong as Supes? Or she, I don’t assume.” she showed a little fang as her smile turned cocky.
“His name is Connor and I think he’d like to meet you,” Tim was the one that answered. “About his powers, he is not a perfect clone- hm, bad wording… I mean, he is different from the original and doesn’t have the same powers.”
Dani seemed to deflate a little. “Shame. I bet I could snap the blue boy like a twig.”
Jason choked on his own saliva. Damian tried to help, but the pats on his back packed a bit too much of a punch.
“Ellie, I don’t think-”
“But I still want to meet a fellow clone. Unionize, you know? We need to have our own superhero club thingy,” she interrupted Tucker, continuing as if what she was saying made sense.
“Ellie, I don’t think that Batman wants to hear planned acts of violence against another Leaguer,” Sam said as she walked in the room, freshly showered and wearing normal earthly (goth) clothes. She had a bit of make-up on too.
Sam sat on Danny’s other side, right in front of Tim, who waved with a smile on his lips.
“Hey, sorry I took so long, Frighty intercepted me on the way.”
“Everything alright?” Tucker asked from Danny’s other side.
“Yeah, he wanted to check if everything was okay with my room.”
“You live here?” Damian asked, honestly curious.
“I moved here recently,” she nodded. “I, uh, I had to move out from my parents’ house.”
“Pamela and Jeremy, right?” Bruce’s memory clicked at last and made the connection between this girl and the Mansons. “I knew I was familiar with your name.”
“Yeah, Mr Wayne, the Mansons have been trying to get your attention for ages,” she chuckled. “Mother- I mean, Pamela,” she growled, “always insisted on leaving a good impression on the Waynes, especially the sons.”
“No way!” Danny turned with a wide smile. “You’re joking! Did she really try that?”
Sam chuckled as she gestured towards where Jason and Tim looked at her with horror from the other side of the table. “Who do you think she made me wear those dresses for?”
“Do you have photos? Please say yes.”
“Yeah, but only with Dick,” she shrugged. “I think it’s back at my parents’ house. Pamela framed it and everything, hoping it could become a good thing to show our kids in the future.”
She barely could finish the phrase without bursting into laughter, followed closely by a loud bark from Jason and a groan from Dick.
“She tried to do it again when Jason made his debut, but when he died, she jumped into Tim like nothing happened.”
“Ha! Do you hear that, replacement?” the man managed to say between fits of laughter.
“Your mother at least nailed the black hair and blue eyes theme,” Tucker joined in, giggling.
When the words were processed, Danny’s face became a beacon of green light from his blush, his eyes unable to look at any of the Waynes. He hid his face in his hands.
“And the superhero type!”
“Please stop talking,” the ghost groaned.
Sam and Tucker high fived over Danny’s head.
“I could find the photo if you fixed my phone,” Tim offered. “Jazz told us you can adapt it for this place.”
“Also hook them up to the wi-fi,” Jazz spoke from Dani’s other side, sipping a cup of tea she picked up before going to the dining room.
“Oh, yeah, just a second. Danny?” Tucker looked at the other, one hand opened, expecting something.
Danny groaned. “Do I have to? You have legs, you know. You can walk back to your office.”
“This is way cooler. And don’t you want to show your new friends how OP you are?” He wiggled his fingers. “My tools, now.”
The ghost rolled his eyes but gestured with a hand at the empty space in front of Tucker. One second and a medium sized bag appeared there like magic. The boy wasted no time and opened the bag, searching for what he would need and placing it over the table. With another wordless gesture he asked for their phones.
Bruce looked interested in the display. “Magic?”
Danny shook his head. “I can’t do magic. I don’t get it.”
“That’s because you don’t believe, buddy,” he said, already dismantling the first phone and carefully searching for the pieces he needed to fix.
“I told you it’s all gibberish to me.”
“And I told you to read the book I lent you.”
“And I told you I can’t understand computer science either.” He moved as if he wanted to push the human.
“Move me and I’ll stab you in the eye with this.” He waved the screwdriver, glaring behind his glasses.
“What does computer science have to do with magic?” Tim tried not to appear nervous as Tucker touched the innards of his phone.
“Oh, it has everything to do with it! The logic is the same, you only need to learn the language and the rest is a walk in the park. Also, ectoplasm goes great with electricity.”
“Timothy, cease the idea.” Damian leaned in, glaring at his brother.
“Barbara will want to know about this, though.”
“Oracle? Yeah, we’ve been texting about it for a few days. She seems nice.”
Honestly? Nobody was too surprised about this.
“Can we talk about the fact that you seem to know more about us than we do about you?” Jason lifted a hand, leaning in with a serious face. “Like, for example, how did you know I was a zombie?”
“A revenant.”
“That.” He nodded towards Jazz, who sipped her tea.
“Uhh… We had to make sure you guys weren’t sociopaths.”
“Tucker, don’t lie. You love the Justice League.”
“They may be sociopaths in disguise!” He briefly looked up from his work. He had drawn a few symbols on the phone battery and was dropping a few drops of something neon green over the circuits. “And I had to try and see if I could hack the Watchtower. Sorry Mr Batman, sir.”
Bruce just sighed, accepting what was happening. “How did we not notice you?”
“I’m a ghost in the machine,” he said, doing jazz hands. Sam snorted. “A mix of magic, some ghostly help and my mad hacking skills.”
“Oracle knows about this?”
“Who do you think told me what not to break?” At Batman’s slight eye twitch, Tucker tried to backtrack a bit. “I mean, I told her I would do it with or without her help, and she preferred to make sure I wouldn’t cause an international incident, so,” he shrugged. “Here’s your phone,” he said after reassembling the device and handing it back to Tim.
“My baby,” the hero murmured, turning it on, glad to see that everything was fine. The wifi connection was good as well. “Barbara says hi.” He read the screen for a moment, typing in the family group chat that everyone was fine.
Suddenly Danny tensed and looked at the door. Seconds later, a servant entered, bowed lightly and approached the table.
“Queen Dorathea of the Dragon Islands is requesting an audience.”
“Official visit or is she just here to talk?” Danny asked, preparing a sigh.
“Official, sir.”
The ghost looked up at the ceiling, groaning. “Ok. Ok, let’s go.” He looked back down at the bats and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry guys, duty calls.”
“Can we join you?”
“Yeah, Dragon Islands? We gotta see this.”
“Is it safe for us?”
Danny blinked. “Sure, why not? Dora is a friend.”
Tucker decided to stay back to fix all the bats’ phones. Jazz stayed as well to keep him company and finish her tea, as the rest went on towards the throne room. As they walked, Damian approached the floating figure of Danielle, who looked bored.
“Do you really think you can defeat Superman in battle?”
“What, like it’s hard?”
The young Robin didn’t know if he should smile or frown. “I have seen him do things that are out of this world.”
“He’s an alien, right?” Damian nodded. “Well, I’m a ghost, and a powerful one.” She smirked, doing a little loop in place.
“Holy shit, that’s right. Superman is an alien.” Danny turned from his conversation with Jason. “And I talked with him. I touched him.”
“First, that’s weird. Second, you are the freaking Ghost King, dude.” Tim rubbed his face. “You understand how that’s freaking bonkers, right?”
“Yeah, and also you are bonded with-”
“Don’t.” Dick jumped, he didn’t see the ghost approach him, or the hand on his mouth. His heart started to pick up speed.
Before I say more I would like to ask for your absolute discretion. This information is classified even in the Ghost Zone and only some of the Council are allowed to know.
Right.
Nightwing forced his heart to slow down and nodded. “Sorry,” he said when Danny went back to where Jason had stopped walking to stare.
“It’s okay. I don’t really mind, but even if this is my castle…” He looked troubled. “It’s best if…” he trailed off.
There was a moment of tense silence.
Sam sighed, taking Danny’s hand between hers and pulling him back towards the throne room.
“Sorry…” the ghost said, looking down.
“You are really quick, kid. Didn’t see you move.” Jason walked to the pair, trying to change the mood.
“Danny is the fastest ghost!” Danielle floated towards the front as well. The rest of the group followed.
“How fast?”
“We don’t know!” She beamed. “Haven’t measured yet, but really fast. Of course I’m pretty fast as well!”
“Does the suit unlock ghost powers for you?” Bruce asked Sam, dodging the argument starting about ghosts, speed and modified motorcycles.
“Why? Interested in one of your own?” The young woman lifted an eyebrow. “Planning on going one on one against Supes?”
“Could you take him out with the suit?” There was no hostility in his face, only curiosity.
“No,” she was shaking her head already. “I’m not that strong even with the suit. And under it I’m still human - If I get hurt I won’t heal magically.”
“Don’t I know it.” Bruce sounded tired, but chuckled. “So would Ellie really fight Superman if they get to meet?”
Sam glanced back at the batkids trying to catch the ghost girl flying in circles around them. “She could and she would,” her smile was cheeky, “she’s freaky strong.”
“Because she’s Danny’s clone?”
Sam looked at the ghost, who shrugged, like he didn’t want to talk right now. “Halfas are strong, and Danny is the strongest. Dani, while not a perfect clone, is very close. Or was.” Bruce frowned. “She was created before the crowning ceremony.” She added as an explanation.
The man nodded, understanding that asking further would not be polite. He didn’t need much confirmation anyway, he had been there when the boy ripped apart a god and devoured it.
Not that he would ever forget that.
The silence was less tense as they approached the throne room, the noise and the screams of outrage from the others as they fought among each other filling in for the conversation neither wanted to continue.
Bruce observed how Danny was spaced out, his eyes dull as if his mind was far away. He wondered if he was talking to the god inside him - and boy, what a disturbing idea to consider.
Said boy turned and looked at him, green eyes piercing. Was it only Bruce or did the hallway suddenly get darker? Where had the noise gone? His world became green and green and-
Bruce blinked. They were already in the throne room and Danny walked forwards to sit on the wooden chair they saw before, his armor materializing with green flames as he sat down.
The chair changed and grew, getting bigger and bigger, and turning into a stone throne with a tall back, the armrests getting longer as he leaned back into it.
Danny sighed. The room grew colder.
“Let her in,” his voice reverberated in the giant room.
A servant that Bruce didn’t see approaching from a side door, bowed, and opened the big doors the bats entered through with Jazz when they first arrived.
Inside walked another ghost, of course, but this one was less human looking than the others they had encountered. Her skin was green, shades lighter than Manhunter, and her eyes were red. When he looked past those features, the ghost was a woman with long braided blonde hair, a tiara weaved with her hairdo, and wearing a dress with long sleeves and long skirt that reminded him of the period dramas that Alfred had hooked him to.
“Your Majesty!” The woman’s voice was nervous. “My apologies, I didn’t know you were with company today!” She bowed to everyone when she got in front of the raised dais. “Greetings, Sir Batman. Your Majesty.” She bowed deeply towards Danny, staying there.
“Rise, Dora. I told you I don’t do pleasantries,” he still sounded tense, but chuckled softly.
The ghost did as she was told. “And I thought I told you it is necessary for you to get used to it.” She hid her smile behind a sleeve.
He smiled back, but leaned in. “I guess since this isn’t a casual visit that something happened. What’s going on?”
Dora’s smile melted from her face at the same time as Danny’s. “My brother escaped. And he plans on challenging me for the throne.”
“And?” he tilted his head. “You can beat his ass. Let him.”
The other royal was shaking her head. “He is hiding behind all the slimy bureaucratic shields he can find. Technicalities, but things that I can’t refute.”
“Just stab him and be done with it!”
“I can’t!” The woman clenched her fists. “The court is already against me! If I go rogue and kill Aragon it will be worse.”
“Okay.” Danny breathed through his nose. “Want me to kill him?”
“It has to be me. In a challenge. Or else-”
“-or else then it would seem like I’m a tyrant that only wants to conquer, yeah, I see your point.” He sighed deeply, deflating on his throne.
Bruce looked back and forth between the two ghosts. He didn’t have the details, but he had hit the wall of politics enough times to understand the boy’s frustration.
“Could I offer an idea?” he ventured, ignoring when his sons gasped behind him. Green and red eyes turned towards him.
“Please.” Danny looked tired, and Bruce understood why he required the League’s counsel. He could be crazy strong, but they didn’t teach politics and the art of negotiating in high school.
They should, in his opinion.
“I’m not familiar with ghost laws, but could it be politically correct to summon this Aragon individual? A summon from the king is not something he could hide from, I assume.”
Dorathea was already nodding. “The king is above all. And if King Daniel commands-”
“No commands. If I can avoid it.” Danny didn’t seem to like this ‘command’ thing. “But I see your point. That scaly bastard wouldn’t be able to ignore a royal summon if he is going for diplomatic war.” He crossed his arms, nodding, the plan turning in his head. “And you wait here for him.”
“And challenge him.”
“Yeah. And kill him.”
Dora nodded. “And kill him.” She frowned a little. “He has to be stopped.”
Once the plan was decided and a date fixed to iron out the details together later, Dora bowed again and left the group.
“Fratricide, huh?” Jason’s voice cut through the silence.
“Huh,” Damian said.
“Huh,” Tim said, a little bit more nervously.
“I’ll try to scale it down to a duel, but Aragon will never stop.” Danny stood quickly, the armor vanishing in flames and the throne morphing back to a simple wooden chair. “Dora seemed to have decided that a challenge to death is the only choice. And it’s her brother, so.” He shrugged.
Bruce nodded. “She knew me as Batman.” He didn’t like it.
“The Council knows about my little side quest with the League.”
“But she recognized me in civilian clothes.”
“Ghosts don’t have the concept of hidden identities.” Danny shrugged again. “We are true to ourselves.”
“But it’s not your secret to share.” The glare was a full on Batman glare.
“Okay, first of all, I didn’t share it, Tucker did,” he crossed his arms, “and it was an accident. Second, ghosts don’t live outside the Ghost Zone, or survive in places without ambient ectoplasm, so it won’t be an issue for you.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Just give the command, Danny. It will be easier,” Sam grimaced when the other threw his arms up and growled lowly. “It won’t hurt anybody.”
“But it’s creepy.”
“Believe me I don’t like it more than you do, but this is harmless and we don’t want beef with the Justice League,” she said as if that was an argument they had before.
“Whatever.” He focused for a moment, a tiny frown between his eyebrows. “There, done. Happy?”
At the same time he said this, Danielle, who had been silently watching the back and forth from besides Robin, shivered.
“Ugh, disgusting…”
“You okay?” Damian asked.
“Yeah, it's just, Ugh.” She stuck her tongue out, as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. “Commands. Taste funny.”
“Enjoy the flavor of ‘it is forbidden to speak, think or write about Batman and his associates’ secret identities’, squirt.” Danny jumped down the dais and ruffled her hair. “Anyway, who wants to see the weapons collection?”
“You have guns?” Jason caught the change of topic and followed, trying to ignore the metallic taste in his tongue and what it implied.
The conversation continued as the group started walking back through the door to the dining room. Dick stood behind to walk besides Bruce, both deep in thought.
After a minute, he had to ask. “Are you still considering adoption?” He pointed with a thumb towards the Ghost King.
“Would you believe me if I said yes?”
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