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#this could either be civilian or hero danny
puppetmaster13u · 5 months
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I have the immeasurable need for Phantom, as an adult, to bring Dan and Ellie to a bring-your-child-to-work day. And Dan to have a habit of trying to duck behind Danny whenever he gets overwhelmed with people looking at him. But while they're similar heights, Danny is far more willowy while Dan is built like a tanked up fenton fridge.
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daniphantommmm · 2 years
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Does a fic like this exist or do I have to write it?
I would love a fic where Danny is in a another hero’s city or general turf (not like a huge hero like Batman or Ironman but someone more down to earth like the original blue beetle or the punisher) and ends up being accidentally enemies because of all the crimes he’s been framed for but the hero just barely keeps missing Danny and Danny starts to hear about how this hero recently got a sidekick with oddly ghost like powers so he can’t even just avoid them anymore and has to make sure the hero is safe.
The side kick turns out to be Dani and they meet by accident and it just devolves into a screaming match by the time the adult hero arrives and they have to seriously reassess the threat level they originally thought phantom had considering from what they can gather from the argument phantom was framed so the worst he’s done so far as they can tell is being a bit of dick to a middle schooler. (It doesn’t matter if Danny was actually a dick to Dani it’s just kinda how it looks to the hero since Dani is their sidekick so they would obviously be biased towards her)
Also it doesn’t matter if Danny is adopted by another hero in the fic as long as it’s not the same hero as Dani so that they can have distinct types of training but also I think if it was an adjacent hero to Dani’s it would be best (for Dani and blue beetle we get Danny and booster gold or Dani and the punisher gets us Danny and daredevil) so that they can have the energy of having a close friend and sworn enemy that you see at baby showers and weddings that a lot of cousins get
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lunamugetsu · 3 months
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Danny is a house husband.
That's it, that's all it is.
As the years went on. Danny retired from being a superhero. There was no need for Phantom when the GIW were dealt with and all the ghosts were under control.
Now what's left for him to do but to just sit back, relax, and finally be able to live his life.
Sam and Tucker on the other hand....
Well, they had plenty of pent up rage, wits, and chaos inside their mind to become villains.
But they had one rule.
Never bring work home and to never involve Danny in any of their supervillain business.
Okay that's technically two rules, but they're kind of synonymous especially since Danny has been taking care of their house while also entertaining himself with trying new hobbies.
Tucker and Sam both make sure that they never bring any of their villainy home to Danny, because all they want is for Danny to enjoy his happy hero retirement.
And Danny in turn, doesn't bat an eye when watching the news and seeing that there were magical plants that were attacking sites that oil companies were digging or that somehow Lex Luthor had lost five hundred million dollars and had somehow leaked records showing he was building weapons of mass destruction.
He also doesn't bat an eye when he sees that Tucker had brought home a telescope that definitely looks like it came from some fancy lab because hey, Tucker was making him an observatory so he can look at the stars and planets. While also how they were able to make a great gaming pc with computer parts that are definitely not sold in stores, because hey at least the newest update of Doomed wasn't lagging.
Or that Sam comes home with various plants and animals that are definitely not from planet earth, but hey the three headed wolf-lizard-eagle- hybrid thing (that Danny has affectionately named Fluffy) is pretty great at keeping the pests away from his vegetable garden and likes to eat any of Danny's new food creations and is a great playmate for Cujo.
So you can imagine how the Justice League thinks when dealing with the pair of new villains: Upload (Tucker) and Sam (I could not think of a villain name that would suit her, so it's up to you what you think her villain name would be)
And how they were currently wreaking havoc in the city either by cyber warfare with robots or by magic plant monster or a Frankenstein of both approaches. The heroes had all evacuated the civilians from the battle zone and are currently fighting a losing battle. When they've been effectively captured and restrained by the two. Right before the villains could go into a monologue, they hear a person clearing their throat.
Everybody looks to see a 25 year old man wearing a sweater vest (he made it himself, thank you very much) currently holding onto the leash of a giant glowing green dog and some kind of giant animal hybrid. The man's arms were crossed and was currently not sporting a very happy look on his face.
Tucker and Sam (looking at Danny with hesitant smiles): Hi honey.
Danny (frowning): you missed our anniversary dinner.
Tucker and Sam both pale as they quickly realized what the date and time was.
The league all watch as Sam and Tucker immediately start apologizing to the man that just walked into a battle zone.
Danny (still frowning): Hmph! I guess since you two didn't want dinner you can go back to your little fight. Don't expect me to make you any lunches for the next month, and since you two are having so much fun here, you'll be sleeping by yourselves for the next couple weeks.
The league all watch as they were let go as Sam and Tucker yell as they run after Danny yelling apologies as he was walking away from them.
This is not the last they see of Danny.
When Danny is displeased with either of his partners, he'll invite a hero over to have lunch of afternoon tea.
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r3ynah · 3 months
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I Can be everything and anything, at once
A 27 years old Phantom was challenged to a bet, by his co-workers at the watchtower. Green lantern stated along with the the other heroes that If he could help every single one of them at least once in a month while not using any his powers and he also had to be physically and mentally there as he helps them. the cherry on top was that he needed to use his real identity instead of his ghost form in this mission.
If Phantom successfully conceals his civilian identity, while helping them, he gets to know everyone's deepest darkest secrets.
But if he loses, he must do everyone a favor and must keep it no matter how outrageous it is.
Ofcourse Phantom agreed, because he was no bitch, okay so maybe he is, he only accepts bets like this if he knows that'll he'll win. so yeah.
Besides, having no powers for this, is really a piece of cake, if you're a raging gender fluid that knows his way around makeup and can easily change the sound of his voice, to be honest the shapeshifting parts that he got from his powers are basically just add-ons.
Well what was he waiting for? afterall he needed all the blackmail he could get, not as Phantom but as Daniel James Fucking Fenton, this was an opportunity to go batshit crazy and he was absolutely stealing it.
The very first hero Danny approached to help was Wonder Woman, who thanked Danny who was now disguised as a woman wearing a long ass Red wig, and some clothes he "borrowed" from Jazz who just joked about Danny being her twin, and wished him luck.
"Thank you, young lady for your brave actions to help me." Wonder woman sincerely thanked the boy in disguise as she held both of Danny's hands as gratitude "may I ask the name of my savior? "
"My name's El, It's a pleasure to know you." Danny smiled a little wider.
The second was Flash, which Danny found completely amusing because of the way he helped the speedy hero, who tripped while patrolling around the city.
Danny who was now in a more gothic attire( thanks to Sam's help) caught the hero's wrist before he embarrassingly fell face first on the ground.
"You okay there sir?" Danny asked, as he kept a firm grip on the man's wrist to make sure he doesn't fall.
Meanwhile Flash who thought he was in those korea tv romance dramas only blue screened for a few seconds before finally get his shit together. "yeah- um- name's Flash, and you are?"
The hero tripped on his own words, making Danny amused as fuck. "James, it was nice to finally meet you"
Okay, about like three weeks in, and Danny managed to help almost everyone in the watchtower, and only a few more to go,( he didn't get why most of the heroes he helped either started to stutter or blue screen in their spot once they talk to him. like damn is this how all of you treat every civilian who interacts with you? that's just sad) but at this time, Dan and Elle found out, and were now demanding to join, with the excuse of basically being Danny but in alternate or clone form, which Danny had no choice but to give in, I mean he wasn't breaking any rules so technically this was alright.
Danny wanted to take a break so Dan took over this time.
currently Nightwing was observing the outside of the gala, Bruce was invited to, something about a bunch of drugs being hidden within the crowd, and was now being passed around.
He intently remained focused on his observation, while also keeping a conversation with Oracle and the others on the comms, he didn't realize that he was too far off the edge of the railing he was standing on, until he missed a step.
Nightwing would never admit that he let a quiet squeal to his siblings ever as he fell, he closed his eyes and braced for impact, he would never expect to fall into the arms of a man 3x bigger than him, he stared at the man, and the man stared at him. 'holy shit' Nightwing thought.
The man, chuckled making Nightwing internally scream. "When I wished for Desiree, to make someone from above to save me from this trash party, I didn't think it would be one of the birds of gotham, to come and fall for me let alone the handsome one."
Okay Nightwing was now full on red from blushing, he was put down gently by the man on the ground, before offering a handshake, once Nightwing accepted the handshake, Dan pulled the hand closer to his mouth then gave a quick peck on the back of the hand vigilante's hand. "My name's Dan Masters, it's a pleasure to meet you."
his siblings can eat dirt on how they were teasing Nightwing Right now, but this was fucking worth it.
And the last to have gotten help from Danny was John Constantine, Danny actually had a reason on why he saved John for last, and that's because John actually knows Danny's identity, so for this mission he asked the help of his daughter Elle.
Elle had helped John by fixing a ruined summoning circle, who also helped him negotiate with a demon, and somehow all day, Elle just stuck to Constatine's side, her explanation? 'He'll die without me' fair point John thought as he took the kid, to order ice cream and to hangout in the park.
"You know kid, you remind me of someone." Constantine stated while keeping his eyes on what's infront of him, which was just a bunch of trees.
Elle who sat next to him, still eating her Ice cream looked up at him and said. "Really?"
"Yeah like you two literally have the same aura and all just a little different, but I don't know who yet." He replied and ruffled the kid's hair. making the girl laugh.
"Hey John!" Danny greeted behind them, and then all the gears inside of Constantine's head began to work. he let out a groan as he realized the girl beside him was the clone of the man behind him, well he needed to kiss that secret of his goodbye. here on this spot right now or he'll die of embarrassment if he waited any longer.
"Danny, let's go on a date." Constantine stated, not facing the Man.
this comment made the Father and Daughter choke on literal air.
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hypewinter · 5 months
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What do you get when you combine "what do you mean my family are vigilantes?" civilian Bruce Wayne with "I refuse to acknowledge my family are vigilantes." retired hero Danny Fenton? Shenanigans, that's what.
Bruce is a well adjusted softie who really can't put two and two together that the number of vigilantes running around happens to match up almost exactly with the number of children he has along with their friends. Danny is a newly adopted Wayne who knows a headache when he sees one and chooses not to get involved. The culminates in Danny trying desperately hard to ignore all obvious signs while putting all his effort into making sure his new father doesn't notice them either.
Tim forgot case files laying out on the table? Wow bro, cool homebrew campaign.
Dick appears in almost full Nightwing gear sans mask? Danny shows up the next day in a Nightwing costume because it's Nightwing appreciation day.
On days when everyone's working on various cases in rooms all over the house? Hey pops, wanna check out a new art exhibit with me?
Bonus points if the others have it mixed up. They genuinely believe that Bruce already knows and that Danny is just dense. After all, they don't bother hiding it around Bruce. Jason and Dick were once discussing a case at the dining table right next to him! How could he not know? Meanwhile Bruce: Are they talking about a new video game? Sounds pretty violent.
On the other hand, Damian once tried to tell Danny the truth because he didn't feel like hiding anything and the guy straight up laughed. He told Damian it was an interesting dream but would never happen in real life (he sounded pretty strained when he said that. Maybe he was constipated?)
Bonus BONUS points if Alfred knows everything (because of course he does) and is just laughing into his tea.
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thevoidstaredback · 23 days
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Okay, so, crisis averted. Both of them, really. Red Robin had not asked or attempted to get any more of Danny's drink and the World Ending Crisis was less World Ending and more World Threatening. Either way, no one is hyped up in lethal amounts of caffeine and the world is in no more pieces than it had been before.
That brings attention to a new problem, though. It's uniquely Danny's problem and Constantine and Zatanna and Deadman won't stop laughing at him. He's also pretty sure that Raven is laughing at him in the privacy of her mind, so that's making him feel worse.
The problem is that every single hero that had been at the meeting a week ago that was not a part of the JLD has been overly concerned about him.
So what if he half died when he was fourteen and therefore will never look over either fourteen or eighteen? So what if he consumes enough caffeine to kill an elephant within a few minutes? What is he gonna do, die? That's not a real threat as long as he only fights as Phantom.
Ignoring the fact that he can, in fact, get hurt to the point of near death as Phantom. It's not like anyone knows that, though! Besides, ghosts run on god rules. They can't die, only fade when forgotten. People aren't likely to forget about most ghosts, though, even if they can't remember their names.
He's not gonna share that, though. Let Batman keep his contingency that won't work because the only contingency that will work for Phantom is the one he made himself. Tried and tested! He's marked it off of his Bingo Card.
Anyway. Heros and their kids/proteges have been trying to track him down for the entire week. He can't risk even leaving the House of Mysteries because the Supers are all probably listening out for him and they can't hear him through magic. It sucks. He just wants to go get a cup of coffee as Danny. The second he leaves, though, the Supers will be on him like bloodhounds. He'd leave as Danny, but the rest of the JLD don't know what he looks like as Danny and he'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much. Being stuck as Phantom was going to start causing issues to his human half if he doesn't get to leave soon.
Should he risk it? Is coffee that won't kill him really worth risking the Supers finding out his civilian identity? Sure, they wouldn't tell anyone, but he didn't like the idea of someone being able to pick him out of a crowd when all he wanted to do was blend in. It's why he avoided Gotham and Bludhaven, actually, but that's both self explanatory and another story for another time.
"You're still here?" Zatanna sat on the couch beside him. "You're normally gone by now. You can't not be tired of us yet."
He sighed and sunk down into the couch slightly. "Believe me, I'm tired of being stuck here, but I can't leave. I can't leave as a human because you guys don't know what I look like and, no offense, but I'd like to keep it that way. I can't leave as I am now because Superman will be on my ass quicker than I can blink!" He whined this time, "I just want a cup of coffee."
"What about your special brew?" Raven asked, coming into the room.
"I want to drink coffee as a human. That stuff will kill me if I drink it as a human."
"At least you know your limits."
"That sounded like a dig at someone, Z."
"It was."
"Why don't you just go out under a protection spell?" Raven offered, "We could cast one over you and you could leave. Superman can't hear through magic, so he won't be able to tell. Neither will Superboy."
Danny thought for a second. "You're a genius, Raven! Has anyone ever told you that?"
"A few times," she blushed.
"Well, it needs to be said more!"
Zatanna laughed. "Alright, kid, let's get you outside before you drive yourself crazy."
Practically vibrating in place, Danny waited for the protection spell to settle over him. The second it did, he was out the door and wandering the streets of whatever city the House of Mysteries decided to drop him as Danny instead of Phantom.
"Who are you," was not the question or voice he wanted to hear the second he stepped into the open as himself.
"Danny," he squeaked out through his absolute panic. He didn't dare turn around.
The sound of fabric moving minutely clues him in to the second person behind him. What the hell were these two doing out? It's the middle of the day and there's no attacks going on anywhere in Gotham!
"Where did you come from?" Robin asked.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! This was really bad! Why did the House drop him *here* of all places? Does it *want* him to die again? It was very painful the first time, thank you very much! "Illinois?"
"Was that a question or an answer?" Why is Red Robin here now?!
"An-an answer?"
"Ah, you guys are scaring the little guy!" That was Nightwing. They're surrounding him! Why is Nightwing here? This is Gotham, not Bludhaven. "Give him some room to breathe."
They did not, in fact, give him room to breathe. Maybe coming outside was a bad idea. If he gets out of this no more dead than he already was, he was going to move to the middle of nowhere and become a hermit. Smallville is a town in the middle of nowhere, right? He'll retire as Phantom and move to Smallville until the people get suspicious and burn him as a witch-!
Maybe moving to a big city would be a better idea. Or locking himself in the basement of the House of Mysteries. Yeah, yeah that's a good idea.
"-even listening?"
Oh shit. They were still talking to him! Now is not the time to panic! "Gottagobye!" And then he was running.
Good job not panicking, Danny.
Part 1 Part 3
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ew-selfish-art · 6 months
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Dp x Dc AU: That one episode of teen titans where they all dress up as Robin + Tim being a gremlin about his legacy + Danny look alike/twin AU.
So there is that episode of Teen Titans where Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven all dress as Robin (Dick) while he's out and it's admitted that the outfit makes them feel cool. Imagine a young Tim hearing that story mentioned in passing by Dick while trying to manage what becomes Young Just-us. And then when Damain becomes Robin?? Gremlin mode activated.
Tim hosts regular 'Robin' Parties, where the idea is that you come in Robin colors, get a mask at the door and everyone gets to basically hang out in civilian clothes without the identity crises for those just getting started. "age appropriate" drinks, games, and good music are all staples. The parties become more frequent once Damian becomes Robin and he pointedly doesn't attend Tim's parties which... Neither of them are really happy about. Family is complicated, but finally, after a few years of cooling off, it's decided that Robin will actually host this years Robin party.
Meaning Tim shows up in casual clothes (MIT sweatshirt) and a mask, and Damian is actually dressed as Robin when the party is starting to get into the swing of things. The point of it is to make sure all the young heroes get to come and start to befriend each other, so there are a few people who show up and have to actually say that they're *insert alias* and this is met with basically "Dope, nice to meet you Robin" etc.
Insert Danny Twin AU (Or just look-alike fuckery) (for either brother but my brain is on Tim Twin au mode).
Danny decides to show up as his human self, grabs a mask at the door before coming in, and is slowly integrating himself into a conversation when someone grabs his arm- "Hey Red your brother is fighting with a newbie about meat products again-"
And Danny doesn't have a brother but my god has he heard this fight too many times with Sam and Tucker- He's going in and he's defusing this situation because he cannot handle the thought of this argument taking over his new friend group. He deals with it enough, okay?
Robin (like, the real one) looks at him curiously while Danny is talking down the other hero Robin (insert here), and the whole room notices when Robin doesn't take the opportunity to dismiss or belittle his older brother (Lmao because its danny). Damian cannot place his unease about Drake (again, Danny, who is not hiding his identity beyond a mask), and simply decides that this isn't worth the effort.
The party moves on but now instead of everyone calling themselves Robin, Danny is distinctly being called Red. It confuses him a bit, he didn't even know Red Robin was going to be at this party (he hasn't met the guy and doesn't know the lore), but he rolls with it because he's made fast friends with Robin (Bart), Robin (Cassie) and Robin (JON). The kid was full little bro energy and it made Danny laugh, he was so surprised when the real Robin joined them and fell into easy conversation with Robin (Jon).
Danny is playing games with a few others when someone goes to grab a broom to clean up- Turns out Red Robin and his boyfriend Kon had been making out in the closet for most of the party- and the whole room looks at Danny like he's tried to trick them. Tim is at first uneasy that so many people mistook him, but once he's in front of his dupe, puzzle pieces start to move around in his head.
"And who are you again, Robin?" Tim asks carefully, though he suspects he has his answer.
"Uh, Phantom, but you know, a lot of people were calling me Red tonight and I didn't get why until just now." Danny laughs nervously.
"Yeah I bet- Find me monday and we can see about a geneology test."
"That leaves us the whole weekend, to do what exactly? Fuck with people by pulling a parent trap style swap?"
"Nature vs. nuture and all but I don't know how you could be anything but my brother with a question like that." Tim grins and they get to scheming.
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the-scarecrow-of-aus · 2 months
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Dating life of an immortal teen
Jazz developed a liminal gift around the time of dannys accident due to exposure.
She starts to suspect since she hasn't grown as much since she was 17, it was so subtle barely anybody noticed: jazz has the gift of longevity and is not ageing as fast.
Unfortunately her parents were among the small number that started to notice and she had to leave 'for college' before they tried any 'experiments' on her (they were always far too quick in suspecting jazz of being a ghost).
So started the continually cycling aliases of Jazz [no last name given] as she tried to live her life travelling around the country.
Occasionally she would meet someone and be happily in their life for a while, before having to move again (either forced or scheduled)
Her secret finally comes out when one of her early ex's recognises her in a photo with their younger co-worker... who then realises another co-worker is also an ex... until most of the group realise they've dated her at one point in their lives... then it gets noticed by their sister organisation who also recognise her.
Now anywhere else this could be humorous except these are no ordinary coworkers...
They're hero's.
Jazz has accidentally been 'Dating' her way through a large chunk of the the justice leagues civilian identities all across america and the world! (Not to mention JL: Dark) she has no idea they were hero's only that they were charming and she was lonely.
now the paranoid members (eg. Batman, the Question, Constantine, wonder woman) are worried she was preying on them and need to investigate.
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radiance1 · 4 months
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DnD au where either the batfam or some mebers of the Justice League get taken into a game.
Who's the game master? Both Vlad and Ghost Writer. Ghost Writer makes the overall world while Vlad voices everything and adapts on the fly when the 'players' do things they didn't expect.
The thing that I'm thinking about here is that Danny is a Naga, and in his lore he's actually a very important and powerful person, either politically or physically. Probably physically, but he constantly plays the damsel in distress for like, no reason.
The boy just genuinely likes to play the damsel in distress even through he's actually quite powerful in the grand scheme of things.
But here's the thing.
The batfam/Justice League don't know that.
They just think he's a very unlucky monster guy who keeps landing himself into dangerous situations and calls for them to save him when he's in trouble and, them being heroes, they save him every time.
The opposite of Jazz, really.
Who is a badass character that, at the start of the entire thing, saved the players from one thing or another at times and then helped them in battle in the later game while also secretly being a very important character in the lore just like Danny.
Is Jazz also a Naga? I don't know, had me thinking that she was more of an Amazon or something like that. But she could be a Naga not gonna lie.
AnYWYAS.
How are Danny and Jazz important? Well, I would like to think that they are actually royalty. Like, full blown very important royals from a very big and powerful kingdom or empire.
Danny would be a Naga prince, and depending on if Jazz is a Naga or Amazon she could be either a queen or princess.
Whatever the case, the two of them would make comments about each other. Danny's comments being about how, maybe when starting out, the players aren't his usual savior and stuff like that, with Jazz's comments being that saving the players quite reminds her of a specific little Naga she constantly has to save.
Maybe Vlad sees this and decides that Danny and Jazz become a link to give the players something that they, well, missed (Low chance if Batman is there, but then again that's gonna depend on if the Batfam are in their hero or civilian personas). Like maybe a comment here, a clue there, an item given.
Stuff like that.
I feel like Danny curls his tail around whoever saves him and leans heavily into the damsel in distress act, going on and on about "Oh my hero!" and all that. Some might think there would be a problem with that, but Danny weighs absolutely nothing, carrying him is literally like holding a feather.
Which is concerning because he has both a long and beefy tail that should make him weigh waaaaay more than he actually does.
Jazz definitely carries everyone in a princess carry, regardless of gender and regardless of who it is. Has a modified carry for Danny in regards to his tail but that's really it.
Maybe the players get sneak peaks that there's something more in regard to their constant damsel and randomly spawning ally. Maybe knowing them gives them access to stuff they, reasonably, shouldn't and when they're present with the group, their presence changes some things.
This was honestly just an excuse for Danny to be a damsel in distress, not gonna lie.
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Damian enrages a ghost from the GZ after they said there's no one who works harder than them to keep thier city safe. The ghost decides to switch the bats of Gotham with Danny Phantom so now the bats are stuck In Amity Park protecting the place and Danny is stuck protecting Gotham as Phantom.
The bats are playing thier cards close to thier chests cause all of these heros showing up the same time as thier civilian counterparts is going to be super suspicious so they gotta be clever.
Danny in the meantime is kinda freaking out but the ghost had at least told them what was going on before booting everyone out of thier respective dimensions. Luckly for Danny Nightwing is officially Bludhavens hero not Gothams and he and "Agent A" help him learn the ropes properly. Danny is glad to finally have a mentor despite the situation. Nightwing seems thrown when Phantom mentions it and starts asking a lot of questions about both his home life and his hero career back in his home world.
Needless to say neither he nor Alfred are pleased and don't want him to go back. Danny doesn't really wanna go back either but what else could he do?
Turns out he didn't need to cause one bat is scary enough, but nearly the whole flock? Disaster. Especially for Vlad, the GIW and the Fentons.
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I’ve seen a number of imagines where due to interdimensional shenanigans or being liminal, Danny Phantom is more durable than most people in the dc dimension.
And those are cool and fine and all, but imagine if it was the opposite?
Danny Fenton gets punched twice and dies.
Which is fun on its own, but Danny is half ghost. He’s cursed to an existence where he can never truly be alive or dead for all eternity. Meaning that after a little while, Danny is back at it again, on the streets of Gotham in the same fleshy body he just died in.
He has to turn into ghost form first, but he can turn invisible as a ghost, so it’s fine, no one sees him glowing before he heads into an inconspicuous alleyway to return to life.
The blood stains would be a problem, but it’s Gotham so no one bats an eye.
Except for the bats.
(Warning: some death, corpses, and gore ahead)
—————
It always haunts Duke when he fails to save someone. He’s a hero now, and that’s part of the gig, but still.
He keeps wondering if maybe he had been faster, or stronger, or just a moment sooner, maybe then the civilian would’ve lived.
He sees the corpse in his nightmares, a reminder that he wasn’t good enough. It’s not rational, but Duke can’t get the image of the dead teen out of his head- the lifeless blue eyes, the dark hair, the…
… is that him?
No, it can’t be. It looks a lot like the kid, but his mind must be playing tricks on him or something. Because he saw that kid die. This kid, across the street, they must be someone else. Maybe they’re related?
Duke hears a commotion down a nearby alley, and leaves the mystery for later.
—————
Cass is concerned about this dead body.
In her line of work, it’s normal to see a lot of corpses. What’s strange about this one is that it makes no sense.
It’s splattered on the ground like it fell from a skyscraper. The tallest building in the area is five stories high.
The body is too fresh to have been from a while ago. It doesn’t show signs of having been moved. There weren’t any helicopters in the area recently it might’ve fallen from.
She surveys the area again. Perhaps this is a trap?
No security cameras or bad guys in sight.
She turns back to the body-
It’s gone. Only a pool of blood remains, undisturbed.
No one could have snuck past her. Something strange is going on.
—————
The bullet Jason shot shouldn’t have done this much damage.
The teenager was accidentally hit in a hostage situation. Usually Jason doesn’t miss like that, but the bullet should have just nicked him. A bandaid should have done the trick.
But this kid is leaking blood like a fire hose. It’s absolutely gushing out.
You never realize how much blood a human body has in it until you see it spread out all over the floor.
Jason puts pressure on the wound, damn the bad guys he is not having a dead civilian on his hands if he can help it.
He grabs a tourniquet from the first aid pack he carries. Fastens it around the kids arm-
- and the kid’s arm flops off. Not normal. Either Jason has just gotten Superman-levels of strength, or something is wrong with the kid.
The kid’s rapid breaths devolve into quick gasps. The blood from his wound slows to a trickle. Jason feels the kids heart go from pounding to nothing-
Fuck.
Instinct driving Jason more than any sense of reason, he puts the kid on his back to do chest compressions.
Jason pushes down. He hears a loud Squelch. His hands go through the kid’s torso.
Double fuck. Jason might know CPR, but he doesn’t know how to deal with this. His panicked-brain remembers he’s in a fight right now, and Jason turns towards the people who held the kid hostage.
They immediately surrender.
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nelkcats · 10 months
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Nature is watching you
It had been days since the Justice League had begun fighting the most powerful entities they had ever seen. Days since the earth itself had been against them.
It all began when the weather changed from one second to the next: Heavy storms in Metropolis, hail in Gotham, blizzards in Central City. Then carnivorous plants grew at every point on earth (and it wasn't Poison Ivy, they checked), by which point it was obvious that a larger force was to blame.
John Constantine identified them as "Vortex" and "Undergrowth", though he couldn't quite explain what they were, however he warned them not to confront them, letting them get bored would be the safest thing to do (the man looked uncharacteristically pale as he commented the last part). The League did not listen to him, worried about civilian casualties and confronted both beings anyway, they had fought Gods, surely it wouldn't be different.
It became clear that they made the wrong decision when they noticed most of their members were incapacitated or injured after a couple of days, and the beings had not been harmed in the least. Vortex laughed as Undergrowth looked at them, disgusted.
Their last confrontation was in Gotham so it was no surprise that Nightwing and Red Hood continued to evacuate civilians to a safer location. Jason noticed the moment when one of the civilians ran the other way decisively, the vigilante sighed as he indicated Nightwing that he would go after him. His brother nodded before Red Hood chased after the stupidly brave black-haired, blue-eyed boy, damn, he hoped Bruce didn't see him.
Unfortunately, he was just in time to see him run over to where the League was and stand in front of the two enemies, it was obvious the heroes were trying to push him away but they were either too hurt to move or didn't notice. Jason was about to yell at him to get out of the way when the boy spoke.
"STOP!"
The boy was clearly frustrated, and his face wore an annoyed expression. Jason noted the moment when the rest of the heroes noticed the boy standing in the middle of the battlefield. Supes had a devastated expression on his face.
Jason ran to the boy (who was strangely fast), he didn't know who he was but he would hate to see him die. He wondered if it was too late when both beings noticed him. They seemed strangely frightened? Jason guessed it was a trick of their eyes.
The battlefield was suddenly silent. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for something to happen.
"I told you to stop" the black haired boy spoke again, his voice echoed in the silence, annoyance could still be heard in his tone. It was obvious he wasn't afraid. Without the heroes noticing, the plants and clouds stopped moving.
Quickly coming to his senses and noticing something, Superman shouted a warning as he looked at the hand of one of the beings pointing at the frail boy in front of him. He looked at Red Hood, who was running towards the scene but wouldn't make it in time, before looking at his own body, too damaged to move.
Contrary to what everyone expected, both beings lowered their heads, clasping their hands nervously, as if they weren't sure if they should kneel.
At the end, they lowered their heads in front of the boy in submission, looking defeated and strangely embarrassed.
"Sorry, my King" both said.
Danny snorted as he folded his arms. Jason, who had made his way over to where the halfa stood, looked at the three confused, what the fuck?
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wandixx · 2 months
Text
Ghost of fries and Hero of cookies part 2
All work words count: 14 593
Words in this part: 1 794
Summary of whole work: Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay Or Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of local hero? And he looked like he needed bad day combo anyway
This part summary: Of new names and teasing
Beta read by @audhumla-sailor though English is second language for both of us, so proceed with this in mind. I also know all of the charaters through fics alone, so probably ooc. Stay catious if it's something you don't like
First part
Duke knew that Dani was in their agreed meeting point, he even vaguely knew where she was floating but not much more. She used her invisibility, which was weird since she knew it didn't work correctly on him. It was fifth time they met, of course they knew. 
"Hey Signal, remember how you said that I need a codename if we're going to hang out in future and that all my previous ideas were horrible names?" a disembodied girly voice asked. Duke smiled. Ever since he raised the idea, the girl would come up with ridiculous names to be called, proposing them with absolutely straight face. It was expected from someone who thought Dani Phantom was a good alias. It didn't make her ideas any less amusing.
"Of course I do. Whatcha got for me today?"
"Alright, since you don't let me be a name stealer, I decided to take a sheet from local nightlife's notebook–"
"You mean take a leaf from their book?" He was sure she was rolling her eyes on him, but it didn't stop him. No one could maim English language like that with him around.
"Whatever. I chose to steal their idea and became a bird. It's only fair since I can actually fly!"
"Can't exactly disagree. So, what did you get this time?"
"You'll like that, I promise. But now, I introduce to you…"
Duke got ready to shut down every Robin iteration and all Birdgirls he could think of.
"HOOPOE!" Dani yelled, popping back to the visible spectrum. She was covered in bright orange cape with weirdly shaped hood and flimsy mask "I even did some costume changes to fit the name better–" in all honesty, one, yeah, he wasn't blind he realized, two, he needed a moment to remember how these birds looked (his first thought was 'wait it's a thing?!'). But then he got it and yeah, those were funny little creatures, just like Dani. It fitted her "–so even if you don't like it, it doesn't matter," she added, sticking her tongue out.
Duke patted her on the head. He was there, he knew it mattered.
"It's a great name Hoopoe"
Dani visibly though probably unconsciously, relaxed. Her mouth curved into a proud grin and her aura brightened. Normal auras didn't do that. He got used to Dani surprising him like that sometimes.
"Of course it's great, I made it."
Duke chose to not remind her about almost two dozen times she came up with absolutely not great names or about the fact that technically she didn't quite make this one either. He wasn't in such a petty mood. Maybe in future if he needed blackmail.
Oh, it was such a Bat thing, wasn't it? He needed to spend some more time with his civilian to get it out of himself, he liked his ability to interact with normal people in a healthy way. 
*
"Wait, is your mask a paper?"
"What else could it be, titanium?"
"If you stop three muggings on the next three patrols each I'll get you a better one, okay?"
"Hey, my mask is perfectly fine"
"Yeah, but it can tear too easily. I can get you a mask that is more sturdy."
"Aha."
"It's the same material every Robin and Nightwing wear…"
"Don't care, my mask is flawless"
"..."
"Okay, better mask would be cool"
***
On the third patrol Dani joined, about a week and a half ago, they exchanged numbers. Duke knew how hard it was to come to terms with new powers on one's own and God strike him with a lightning or something if he ever lets anyone go through similar bullshit. Especially since she didn't seem to have anyone taking care of her. Girl her age shouldn't be able to hang out or respond to messages within ten minutes at any given time. Only twice she didn't do that, because she was on a celebrity hunt for autographs as she later explained. He would be teased endlessly if any Wayne or their associate learned about it, but he considered introducing Dani to Bruce. She needed help, okay?! He didn't inherit adoption tendencies.
But he hadn't done that, partially because he didn't want to scare Dani off and partially because of fear of teasing. And bet. Because of course in the meantime somehow there happened a bet. 
He smirked at the video Dani sent as a response to the hydration check. She was tossing a coin and playing an elimination game to pick one juice from eight drinks she had. Steph jumped over the back of the couch to join him. At the start she was in front of him so to do that she had to run around the furniture but such minor inconveniences couldn't even wish to stop her dramatics.
"You're smiling at your phone ergo you either text your secret girlfriend/boyfriend/enbyfriend or watch memes. Show me the memes," she demanded, nudging him in the arm. Duke chuckled.
"Wrong guess. I'm texting my sidekick," they agreed it would be a funny way to introduce Dani to people who asked. Duke tried his best at this whole having sidekick thing anyway. As well as he could without help from other Bats because of this damn bet.
Steph froze for a moment.
"Your what–"
"And the lucky winner is… an apple with mint juice! Damn I really hoped it would be lemonade,"  Dani from the video announced cheerfully before opening the bottle" Shame it didn't make it past semi-finals. Happy hydration break. I'm going on an autograph hunt so I may not respond for the next two hours or so. Wish me luck, bye~"
Duke paused the video before it replayed. He glanced at Steph who finally rebooted.
"How come you got a kid and I learned about it just now?"
“In my defense I'm like 60% sure you're the second person in the family to learn about her. Depends if Tim got his ‘I have to know everything, gotta check body cams’ paranoid spree in the last two weeks or not. There was no teasing from Babs or anyone else if I'm being honest and no lecture from B, so they have no idea.”
“First was Alfred?”
“First was Alfred. I still don't know how.”
“That's our grandtler for you. You are forgiven but you have to tell me everything about her,” Steph demanded excitedly. “And show me the photos''
Duke snorted.
“She goes by Hoopoe and is about Damian's age. She can tell you her real name when B inevitably finds out and tries to interrogate her.”
“What if Spoiler drops by during the day?”
“You can try but give it another week and a day, okay?”
“Why?”
“We have bet that I'll hide her from B for three weeks. Tomorrow is the end of the second week. We both know how he is, he'll have questions if you randomly show up during the day."
"Stakes?"
"Speedster worth of winners favorite Batburger meal, 2 quarts of chosen drink and cookies"
"Valid. I ain't snitch, but I want to know more. Is she a meta?”
"Yeah. Powers I know of are invisibility, intangibility, superspeed, enhanced hearing and flight. Probably more. I think she already had some training with it because she has quite amazing control over this stuff. Like, it comes naturally to her. But her hand to hand is atrocious."
"Are you jealous?"
"No."
"Omg, you totally are! Don't be, she is just a baby with a better idea of what's going on with her powers than you have with yours. There is nothing to be mad about Duke, it's okay Duke–"
"Keep going and I won't tell you anything about her," he dared, trying not to snort. 
"Sorry, sorry, you're doing great, please continue," she nudged his arm again "Don't be such softie, dude" He stared at her at the comment, disbelief clear on his face. Steph at least then looked a little ashamed "Okay, sorry. You're honestly doing far better than any of us would. Excluding Cass and Alfred."
"Excluding Cass and Alfred," he agreed easily enough.
"So, you think your kid has some training with her powers," she recalled eagerly.
"Yeah, probably from when she was helping her cousin. He is a hero in Amity Park, Illinois, his name is Phantom. It took very little digging even though Hoopoe does her best to stay mysterious. I swear this kid has no brain-mouth filter. But! I got my second shovel talk from her cousin!”
“The what?”
“After a week of hanging out with her, I got message on Signal’s twitter from Phantom that basically read as ‘I have nothing against you, really dude I’m a fan but here is list of my most powerful enemies, and let me tell you, there were some scarily powerful guys there, I won with all of them, if something bad happens to Hoopoe I can and will destroy you.’ After some research, yes, I think he could try and have considerable chance of success. Even if he didn’t fight would be painful enough to be a lesson. He and Hoopoe have the same powers and she worked with him for some time. She most likely learned then. She was called Dani Phantom, boy went by Danny Phantom then”
“Dear gods, their aliases were so horrible, who even let them go with it?! Are those their first names?!” Steph sounded genuinely offended by it.
“I don’t know,” Yeah, he knew, but he preferred to keep at least this secret to himself ”In boy's defense, because Hoopoe came much later,  he was fourteen and Amity went to shit really fast, so alias was probably not his first concern. And it’s much better than Invioso-bill, name he was given by the press. And he uses some intense gaslighting to make people believe it’s just Phantom now. And allegedly they’re both ghosts. Apparently ghosts don’t exactly have secret identity”
“You doubt it”
“You would too. She eats, she breathes and she is tangible by default. From what I know, ghosts don’t do that”
“They don’t, I checked. I went on a research spree when I first learned about Deadman. I just thought it was so cool you know. Ghosts being real and all,” Steph leaned towards him, almost vibrating with anticipation.
“Really?” he asked, knowing what he was getting into.
“Yeah, you see…”
And on she went, releasing expected infodump as if she waited for this opportunity ever since she first read about it.
********
Some additional name getting shenanigans
Signal: I won't call you Dani in the field
Dani: Why?
Signal: Ever heard of secret identity? Name is, like, half of it. Disguise is other half but it can be exchanged with lore. Superman made it work. Just make up enough lore for people to not question it.
Dani: Oh, okay *gremlin^2 mode activated*
Random they just rescued: And who are you little one?
Dani: *looking them dead in the eyes* I am clone of dead child hero, travelling around the world to find identity separated from my template befre mistakes made during my creation make me turn into puddle of primordal liquid and my conciousness fades forever
Random: *petrified* What?
Signal: *internally* I have miscalculated
Dani: Kid Signal
Signal: No.
Dani: It works in Central
Signal: We're not in Central
Dani: Signalgirl
Dani: I mean, Batgirl exists
Signal: No.
Dani: Monochromatic Signal. Y'know, Red Robin route?
Signal: ...
Signal: Just no. Don't make my name part of your name
Next part
Do you want to see some Hoopoe doodles I made? There were redesigns!!!
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raaorqtpbpdy · 2 months
Text
Made of Meat
Danny Phantom/DC (Animal Man) crossover (thank you @stealingyourbones for the prompt)
When strange, faintly glowing meat creatures start rampaging through the streets of San Diego, there's only one man to call. And when Animal Man could use a helping hand, Phantom swoops in to assist. Or, Danny Phantom and Animal Man team up to fight the Lunch Lady
Read it on AO3
[Warnings for minor violence, mentions of vomit, and repeated mentions/descriptions of raw meat]
When strange, faintly glowing meat creatures started rampaging through the streets of San Diego, there was only one man to call. 
Absorbing the power of flight from a hawk overhead, Buddy Baker, A.K.A. Animal Man soared toward downtown to confront the monsters wreaking havoc on the innocent civilians of his city, his blond hair fluttering in the wind.
By the time he arrived, the chaos was well underway. Just like the reports had claimed, several unidentified creatures were causing the brunt of the damage, each of them about four feet tall and composed entirely of raw meat, still dripping with blood and already attracting flies, with glowing red eyes and fleshy teeth. Animal Man could see pools of vomit on the sidewalks from people who had evidently been too disgusted by the creatures to hold down their lunches, but he'd seen far worse himself and wasn't bothered by the creatures' grotesque appearance.
He swooped down to snatch a little girl out of the way of one of the things and take her to the nearest screaming woman—her mother, just as he had guessed—and urged them to run. There weren't as many people downtown as Buddy would have normally expected to see at this time, probably most of them already had already run away, but a few stragglers still remained, most of them filming the incident on their phones, some hiding, none of them in immediate danger.
With his bird's eye view, Animal Man had spotted a peculiar woman in the center of the commotion. She looked confused and sickly, with greenish skin. It wasn't her appearance that bothered him, though. Something about her felt off, and it unsettled the hero in a way he couldn't quite put into words. Using the sharp ears of a bat from the nearby zoo, he could hear her even from high in the sky, demanding to know where she was and what was for lunch.
Whoever she was, Buddy was pretty sure she was the woman in charge, and these meat gremlins were her doing. If he could knock her out, or better yet, peacefully convince her to stop, her creatures would stop too.
With the strength of a charging rhino, Animal Man plowed through her meaty minions with little trouble and slammed his whole body into her, sending her flying a few feet to land sprawled on the ground. He rushed forward to pin her so she couldn't get away, and it was then that he began to realize what was so off about her.
Her skin was cold and green, her eyes glowed red, and her clothes were about forty years out of date. But even more strange that that, he didn't feel any connection to her through the Red. The Red connected all animal life, from the tiniest single-celled organism, to the biggest blue whale, and humans were included in that. Through the Red, Animal Man could absorb the powers of any living creature. 
Not this woman, though.
She looked human, and acted human... but she wasn't human.
Animal man dug deeper, trying to feel out a connection to the Green, or the Rot. It was harder for him to sense them, but all three elements were connected, and they encompassed all living things, even after death.
Except for this mysterious woman.
She wasn't fauna, or flora, or decay. And now that he was feeling through the Red, he realized that her constructs weren't connected to it either, even though they looked like they could have crawled right out of it moments before they showed up here. Buddy didn't know how that was possible, but right now, what she was didn't matter half as much as stopping her.
"I don't want to hurt you anymore," he said firmly, "but you have to stop what you're doing, or I'll be forced to. I can't let you keep attacking innocent people with your creatures. It has to stop." 
The woman scowled and stood up, her body passing right through Animal Man like he was made of air, and a chill ran down his spine and he shuddered as he fell a few inches onto the asphalt below.
"What the...?" He tried to grab her again, but he couldn't even touch her. His hands passed right through her, like he was trying to catch smoke.
"You think you can stop me?!" the woman demanded, her hair standing up and writhing like snakes on her head. The meat monsters turned as one and began to converge on Animal Man. "Today's menu is doom, and now, it's lunchtime!"
"It's four-thirty!"
Animal Man snapped his head up toward the sound of the new voice, and saw a teenager flying into view. He wore a black and white jumpsuit, had white hair, and the green glow of his eyes was visible even from a distance. The teen rocketed down and slammed his fists right into the strange woman's face, sending her skidding backwards.
"You!" she hissed, her eyes widening and pulsing red—it was terrifying in person, but Buddy couldn't help the thought that it was reminiscent of a really angry Loony Tunes character.
Immediately, her creatures turned their attention away from Animal Man, and toward the newcomer. Evidently, she and him had a history. And she'd determined that the kid was a higher priority than Buddy was.
"That's right, Lunch Lady, it's me again," the kid said, grabbing a thermos that was hanging off his belt. "And I'm here to tell you that the only thing on the menu for you today is soup!"
Whatever he planned to do with that thermos, he didn't get the chance, as one of the meat gremlins morphed its arm into a long whip and knocked it away from him.
"Ew!" the kid said, dropping a few feet to punch the nearest creature and then dry-heaving for a second. "Are these things raw? Why—eugh!" he cut himself off with a shudder as another one got close and he had to punch it. Clearly the creatures were not his bag.
"Hey kid!" Animal Man shouted, ready to offer his help.
"It's Phantom," the kid shouted back. "Wait, who're you?"
"Animal Man," he replied. "I'll keep the meat things occupied if you can deal with her."
"You sure, dude?" Phantom flew back out of the meat things' reach with a grimace, and dodged the sprays of blood they spewed up after him looking almost as green as the Lunch Lady. "These things are pretty gross. Way grosser than the last time I fought 'em."
"I've handled grosser than them," Buddy assured. "They're not a problem—but I can't fight someone I can't touch."
Phantom turned slightly to look at the Lunch Lady, who was laughing triumphantly, and got splashed in the back of the head by one of the meat creatures still bombarding him. He yelped in disgust, and Buddy pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.
"Alright, deal!" Phantom agreed, wiping the back of his head with a gloved hand. "I'll leave 'em to you, just don't let them merge with each other, or her, they become a much bigger problem that way."
"Got it!" 
Animal Man summoned up some elephant strength, leopard agility and the reflexes of a fly and ran at the creatures. The force of his punches caused them to burst apart instantly, and in the time it took one to reform itself, he could take down three more.
Meanwhile, Phantom shot upward, firing a green beam at the Lunch Lady. His head turned frantically, like he was looking for something, but he didn't seem to find it. The Lunch Lady screamed as he dive-bombed her again, this time sending her through a wall—the wall itself undamaged. She came back through it moments later, back on her feet and angrier than ever. 
As much as he wanted to keep an eye on the kid to make sure he didn't get hurt, Buddy still had to focus on his own fight. Phantom was clearly familiar with this enemy, had apparently fought her before, and he seemed like he could handle himself. None of that stopped Buddy from worrying. None of his worrying changed the fact that he had a job to do.
In his moment of distraction, one of the creatures slammed into the side of Animal Man's knee, knocking him down. He used his elephant strength to throw it off and watched it splatter into a bloody, fleshy mass against a concrete wall. 
As he rolled over to get back on his feet and resume the fight, he saw the thermos Phantom had dropped. It had rolled out of sight under the bus stop bench. That must've been what the kid was looking for! Although Animal Man had no idea what Phantom could need it for, he darted forward like a cheetah on all fours and snatched the thermos up.
"Hey Phantom!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and kicking another creature into pieces. "You need this, right?"
Phantom turned, and grinned widely when he saw what his new ally was holding. Animal Man threw it up to him and he caught it easily and uncapped it right away, aiming it at the Lunch Lady.
Animal Man punched out another meat gremlin as a blue light shone from inside the thermos, and the Lunch Lady screamed and shouted in protest as she was sucked inside. As soon as the cap was back on the thermos, the remaining creatures collapsed into piles of raw meat, covered in rocks and dirt and buzzing flies. How this mess would get cleaned up was anyone's guess.
Fight ended, Phantom flew down to where Animal Man was standing, surrounded by a ring of red meat and plucked poultry, but did not touch down on the ground. A strategic choice, although it was a bit too late for the other hero to do the same.
"Eugh, I smell like a butcher shop and I have entrails in my hair," Animal Man commented, sniffing his sleeve with a grimace. "My wife isn't gonna so much as wave hello until I take a shower, and it's gonna be hell getting the stench outta my suit."
"Oh, uh... here." 
Phantom put his hand on Buddy's shoulder, and a cold empty sensation wracked his body for a few seconds. All the gross chunks and fluids dropped to the ground, falling through him like he was made of air, just like the Lunch Lady had moved through him earlier. When Phantom took his hand away, Buddy was clean. Even the smell didn't seem to be coming from him anymore, although it still definitely surrounded him.
"Wow, thanks," Buddy said, marveling at the distinct lack of red stains on his white gloves which had been absolutely soaked in it a moment before. "That trick must come in pretty useful for you."
"Yeah, well, it's the least I could do after you helped me out," Phantom said. His shoulders hunched and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It was all my fault the Lunch Lady attacked in the first place. I was stupid and forgot to make sure the thermos was empty before I left Amity Park."
"Hey, you're not stupid; don't say that. Everyone makes mistakes, what's important is that you were able to fix it," Animal Man argued. 
Phantom smiled gratefully, and it wasn't until he took his hand away from his neck that he seemed to remember the splatter of blood and juices he'd gotten from one of the creatures and he wrinkled his nose at the red stain on his own glove. He hardly seemed to think about it as he turned himself intangible like he had to Buddy before and let the viscera fall to the sidewalk with a splat.
"So... what was she anyway?" Buddy asked, doing his best to keep a straight face. "The Lunch Lady I mean. She definitely wasn't human, I could tell that much."
"Oh, she was a ghost," Phantom replied. "I'm a ghost, too, but I'm a good guy, I swear. Sorry, I forget not a lot of people have seen ghosts outside of Amity Park. They're super common where I come from."
"A ghost, huh?"
Animal Man considered that. It would make sense. A ghost was dead, but not decaying, not made of flesh or vegetation. Not fauna, not flora, not rot. It tracked with what he had sensed from the woman before. But if Phantom was a ghost too, that meant he'd died at about the same age Buddy's own son, Cliff, had, and that sent a pang of heartache through the man's chest.
One thing didn't make sense, though. Phantom claimed to be a ghost, like the Lunch Lady, but unlike with her, Buddy could sense Phantom through the Red. It was a thin connection, like the kid was hanging onto it by a thread, but it was a solid one, too. If this kid really was a ghost, he wasn't the same as the one he'd just trapped in that thermos of his.
For a moment, Buddy thought about pressing for answers, but he quickly decided against it. It could be that the truth was too personal, or embarrassing, or even dangerous for Phantom to reveal, especially to a virtual stranger, even one who'd helped him out. Besides everyone was entitled to their secrets. Instead, Animal Man smiled at the kid and clapped him on the back.
"That's pretty cool," he said. "Say, do ghosts eat? You should come over to my place for dinner. After a hard-fought battle like that, I'd say you deserve it."
"You can eat after fighting those things?" Phantom looked down at what remained of the meat creatures and gagged.
"Trust me, if I wasn't already a vegetarian, I would be after this," Buddy replied. "My wife's making some meat-free lasagna, and we always have tons of leftovers. She usually doesn't like me taking hero stuff home with me, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind in this case."
"She knows you're a hero?" 
The open shock on Phantom's face was a bit of a surprise, but then again, he had said he was from out of town. Just because Buddy was often swarmed by local paparazzi, didn't mean he was any more than regionally famous.
"Everyone knows," he said with a shrug. "I don't keep my identity a secret. It can get annoying sometimes, but I don't really have any reason to. I'm not one of the big-shots, like Batman and Wonder-Woman. You're not from around here, so I bet you never even heard of Animal Man before today."
"Well... no...."
"Exactly," Buddy made sure to grin wide enough that the kid knew there were no hard feelings about it. "So what do you say? You coming over for dinner, or what?"
"I'd love to, but I can't," Phantom said apologetically. "I have to deal with all this meat and then my—uh... I just have other plans tonight."
"You need help with the clean up?"
Phantom frowned down at the piled of meat still surrounding the two of them. 
Maybe this really hadn't been the best place to discuss dinner plans. Man, Buddy really was desensitized to this kinda stuff wasn't he? For a guy who didn't eat meat, he sure spent a lot of time surrounded by it, both in the Red, and now here.
"Nah," Phantom decided finally. "I think I can just turn the ground intangible and phase everything down under the street level so it can decompose."
"Just turn the ground intangible, huh?" Animal Man huffed a light laugh and shook his head. "Yeah, alright, if you're sure. I should get going anyway. Stay safe, kiddo. Maybe I'll see you around again before you head back home."
"Uh..." Phantom blinked owlishly at him. "Y-yeah... you uh... stay safe too."
Animal Man smiled and nodded, and took off toward his home, borrowing the power of flight from a pigeon on a telephone wire. The way Phantom had reacted, it was almost like no one had ever said that to him before. Stay safe.
Where had he said he was from? Amity Park?
Maybe Animal Man should keep tabs on him from now on, just in case. After all, ghost or not, he was still just a teenager, and all heroes needed allies from time to time.
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tomboy014 · 9 months
Text
Dun Dun Dunnn!!! Arkham Security Guard Danny's Epic Backstory! with Dick Grayson
I fell in love with the Arkham Guard AU by @xy-is-i and like most projects I work on, rather than starting where the story starts, I end up going backwards and delve into the backstory.  And I mean waaay into the backstory.
Because while the stories might start when the Bats run into Danny and Jazz working at Arkham Asylum isn’t where they first met.
Long, long ago, through shenanigans unknown, Robin and Phantom became friends, and honestly, they both really needed it. 
Dick Grayson, age 16, has been Robin for a while, but this is so early in the day that there just aren’t many teen heroes or sidekicks yet.  He’s basically pioneering the field of child heroes.
For Danny, 14, Sam and Tucker are great, but there are just some parts of superhero-ing that they just don’t get when you don’t have to hide a secret identity. 
Batman, for his part, does not approve of the friendship.  He’s already not a fan of metas in his city, but when the two of them get together, the chaos twin energy between Dick and Danny multiplies.  Worse, it brings about the pun-pocalypse, and there are only so many puns Bruce can take.  And then there’s the sibling discourse…
After all the stories Danny has told about his family, Dick is desperate to have a little sibling of his own, and the two repeatedly gang up on Batman to adopt another kid.  Their acting may be stilted, but the efforts are constant.
It never works.  Bruce doesn’t have empty nest syndrome yet, and tiny, homicidal Dick was already more than he could handle while he was trying to figure out how to adult, but he also can’t stand that he’s disappointing Dick.  Alfred isn’t helping either; he wants more grandkids.
And there’s no way in HELL that he’s adopting Phantom.
But for Robin and Phantom, they finally have someone they can talk to who gets it.  They can vent about their rogues, get help with homework, bitch about balancing their vigilantism with going to school, talk about whatever TV they’ve been watching, anything and everything.  It’s not uncommon to see them hanging off the Gotham gargoyles or grabbing a bite on top of the Nasty Burger.
There’s an unspoken rule between them that neither pries into the other’s personal life or secret identity, but as they get more comfortable with each other, little things slip out.  Then more.  Numbers are swapped, bits and pieces about their families come out. 
Later on, homes and secret hideouts are visited and they know each other’s first names.  It’s not a problem for Dick to go to the Fenton’s, but technically, Danny isn’t allowed in the Bat Cave or the Manor.  Those visits happen behind Batman’s back, and they were almost caught when they hid in the chandelier before Danny remembered he could turn them invisible. (Alfred encourages the friendship and bakes extra cookies once when he finds out Danny is over.) 
And eventually the relationship grows until they’re comfortable enough to swap full names.  No more secrets.
Dick likes going over to Danny’s place since it’s a chance to feel a lot more normal, even if they have to be very careful and either stay in civilian clothes in the shared areas or stay locked in Danny’s room if they’re in uniform.  Danny also goes out of his way to keep Dick from ever meeting his sister, Jazz (Danny knows he has a type).  It doesn’t stop them from swapping their numbers under the door.  (Jazz will unofficially be Dick’s therapist for years after this)
But being this close, Dick can also see just how stressed Danny is trying to maintain this lifestyle.  Doesn’t help either he has to listen to Danny’s parents go on and on about wanting to rip their own son apart, molecule by molecule.  Sure, Danny has a couple friends to help him, but he doesn’t have the same mentor or support system Dick has.  For a kid his age to be anything other than a sidekick is practically unheard of in this day and age.  Superheroes are still fairly few and far between, but Batman helped start a group called the Justice League a couple years ago with the idea that heroes could help each other.  Maybe there’s something there…
So, Dick starts the Teen Titan.  He had originally intended for Danny to join him as one of the founding members, but are you kidding?  Jump City is on the opposite side of the country!  He has school! and parents! (That’s the point, Danny. We’re trying to get you away from the parents that want to dissect you) He can’t just up and leave home and run halfway across the country!
So, Dick found the other iconic members and still joined the Titans, but Danny will always have an open invitation to join them and a room at the Tower, something Danny does occasionally take advantage of.  Jump City doesn’t spawn as many natural portals as Gotham, but he visits whenever he can and basically haunts the tower the entire month of December to get away from his family.
Still, the distance and growing up are hard on Dick and Danny, and they grow more distant over the years, but they’ll always have each other’s backs in an emergency.  Dick was there when Danny thought he was turning into a monster (it was just ghost puberty).  Danny stole the Spectre Speeder so they could scour the Ghost Zone after Jason died.  And Danny would eventually become godfather to Dick’s daughter, Mar’i. 
But things cooled down between them… at least until a panicked Danny called because his sister just took a job at Arkham…
Next>>
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tanglepelt · 10 months
Text
Dc x dp idea 83
The two are different dimensions.
Danny was either kidnapped or displaced from dc. Whether by Jack accidentally dimensional traveling and grabbing baby Danny or by ghost interference.
He could be a lost son of a hero/villain or just son of a rando civilian from dc.
The infinite realm is sentient in a way. It always merges with the king. Pariah Dark was an ancient tyrant one who when alive resided in the DP dimension. Hence why the natural portals all favored that dimension.
When Danny becomes king. The realm shifts.
The Fenton portal made with science remains stable. Natural ones all but stop in DP. Even the infinite map will now take to to the alternate dimension.
Danny and co. Have no clue how or why this is happening
Wulf can only make portals into dp with tethers. People specifically. He can come to Danny, sam and tucker as they allowed themselves as tethers. By forming a bond of sorts with the entity.
When Danny learns to make portals he as well needs these tethers.
When jack and Maddie learn the truth they don’t immediately act. The observe and plan. Even agreeing to be these tethers.
Danny has been oh so happy they accepted him.
The sole purpose to learn to break the bonds. Once they figure it out. They short and shove Danny through the portal and turn it off.
As much as they’d love to tear him apart. He looked too much like there son. Phantom would use that against them. Turn Danny’s poor friends against the two. They have to figure out how to end the ghost brainwashing.
It’s unfortunate jazz sam and tucker all are under the spell.
Now on the dc side of things.
The JLD were panicking in the beginning. Natural portals from the infinite realm suddenly became much more frequent. They had to learn and adapt.
They’ve had actual attacks from these beings now. John had to talk to his contacts. Magic worked on them as well as apparently technology. The contacts wouldn’t tell them what technology however.
And apparently lucky them. The new king of this hell dimension was born in there own dimension.
Then the yeti and age defying powerful entities said that they would be expecting a visit from the king soon.
It was during one of the Wayne’s family dinners a green portal opened. Shooting the white haired green eyed individual into the table. Only for him to look up at cass in confusion stating she wasn’t sam.
He then fell unconscious and turned into prime adoption bait.
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