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luxaofhesperides · 2 months

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Ghostlight prompt: Danny and Duke being childhood friends, but Danny tells Duke the moment the accident happens and such cause he trusts him, only for Danny to go radio silent when giw decide to block the town communications in senior year.

So Duke-does he tell Danny he's Signal or not? Up to you-gets worried the longer no contact goes by.

Maybe the away game thing seen in other posts where the sports team still does away games and Danny gets enough good will with star or dash maybe and they send a message to Duke that's some coded phrase and Duke knows shits going down?

(yourlocalcorviddad, it's a side blog so didn't want to send from main sorry)

Danny is not someone who is on his mind a lot, these days. It’s to be expected, considering how distance and their double lives eat up all the time they have to talk. Really, it’s a miracle that they were able to speak enough to learn about their own individual vigilante work, especially with Duke bouncing around foster homes for a good portion of that time.

They haven’t spoke in months but that’s normal for them.

Duke thinks he can be forgiven for not knowing something was wrong. He still won’t forgive himself for it.

“Danny’s gone?” he repeats, feeling numb. There’s static ringing in his ears, his entire world hollowing out.

The guy in front of him looks grim, unable to meet Duke’s eyes. Did he introduce himself? Duke can’t remember, can’t keep his spiraling thoughts straight in his head. “He’s gone. His entire family is gone and we haven’t been able to call for help because… well…”

“It’s those guys, right? The ones in white?”

“You know about them?”

“Danny told me. Danny told me a lot about what he did in Amity Park.”

The guy lets out a slow, relieved breath. “Good, then I don’t have to explain. Sorry, it’s just that it’s not something we talk about, especially out in the open. After the last few months, things got really bad. We know the GIW took the Fentons, but we can’t find out how or why and they’ve got us on a tight lockdown.”

“Then how did you get out?” Duke asks. Another arguably more important question pops into his mind a second later. “Actually, how do you know about Danny and… you know. The other things.”

The grimness on the guy’s expression fades away some beneath the sudden shame and embarrassment. “Oh, that. Well, I dunno how much he told you about his, like, daily life, but, um. I’m Dash. Baxter. I bullied him?”

Dash.

Dash. That’s a name he recognizes.

Danny’s complained about Dash a lot in the past. Since they were in middle school, really. Duke would always get mad on Danny’s behalf about how terribly he’s being treated, how no one would stop such obvious bullying. And every time, Danny would laugh it off and say in that soft voice of his, It’s alright, Duke, really. Having you care is more than enough for me.

It never stopped the bullying, though, but the way Danny talked about Dash changed when they both entered high school. He was still annoyed about everything Dash did, but there were less insults about him, less venting about every little thing that pissed Danny off about him, as if he just didn’t care anymore.

And there is, of course, the most memorable time Danny called Duke about Dash over the summer.

Hey, Danny, Duke had began, only to be cut off by Danny yelling, I kissed Dash?! Or he kissed me?! What am I supposed to do now!

And Duke, despite the jealousy he felt at hearing that Danny and Dash kissed, laughed so hard he cried while Danny yelled at him to be helpful.

There wasn’t any discussion on Dash since, beyond a comment here and there about a funny fanboying thing Dash had said about Phantom. The focus of their conversations shifted towards how hard it was to be heroes or vigilantes, quiet reassurances that they’re both doing the best they can, tips traded about best ways to patch themselves up and get through the night. Sometimes, it felt like Danny was the only person in the world to really know Duke; all his pain and promises, his dreams, everything he was Before and who he became in the After.

He’s missed Danny, but the last message Danny sent him told him that things were getting rough in Amity Park, and to not call or contact him until he reached out first.

So Duke trusted in Danny and focused his attention in Gotham, putting his all into becoming a better hero, someone people can rely on.

He thinks that maybe he should have fallen into the Bats’ bad habits of invading privacy to make sure Danny’s okay.

Too late for that now, though.

“I know you,” Duke says after a long moment. “He talked about you sometimes. Come with me, we have a lot to discuss.”

Dash looks appropriately nervous, but he doesn’t argue.

It’s a tense, quiet walk to the library where Barbara works. She’s stationed at the front desk when he arrives and greets him with a smile, eyes flicking towards Dash in question.

“Hey, Babs, got a private study room open?”

Her gaze sharpens and Duke can’t help the feeling of relief that flows through him, knowing that Oracle is ready to look out for him. “Let me check,” she says, turning towards the computer to click around a few pages. “Study room 8 is open.”

That’s the study room with a working lock and soundproofing. It also has cameras and a mic inside, but all the other study rooms have one too, just for safety purposes. Things could always go terribly wrong when people are locked together in a small room, and having video and audio evidence of what happened has assisted in more than a few cases.

He leads them up to the second floor, past the students studying and the group of young children in the back corner of the library listening intently to a read aloud.

The only occupied study rooms are those up front, closer to the stairs. The back rooms are empty and quiet, the perfect place for a little impromptu interrogation.

“So,” Duke says as he closes the door to study room 8 behind them. Dash sits down as if this is just a casual conversation, but the way his foot taps against the floor betrays his nerves. “Danny’s gone. And somehow, that lead you to me.”

Dash glance around, then leans closer to drop his voice into a harsh whisper. “The Guys In White got some insane upgrades a few months ago and forced every citizen of Amity Park into a surveillance state. The entire Fenton family is gone, but we all know it’s really because they want Danny.”

“Explain the situation in Amity Park some more.”

“Well. It’s like this: we didn’t take them seriously, so they upped their moves and got us trapped. No one goes in or out of Amity Park without good, verifiable reason. We have a curfew and we can be randomly stopped and searched for ectoplasm or exposure to ghosts. Most of the ghosts have left, but a few of the stronger ones hang around to cause trouble to get the GIW off our backs for a bit.”

“So how did you end up in Gotham?”

“I was invited to tour the college. And since outsiders were expecting me, the GIW let me go. But there’s definitely some that tailed me to Gotham, but I can’t find them at all. Even talking to you now is a huge risk for me.”

Which means they don’t have much time to talk before someone comes looking for Dash. His words, paired with everything Duke’s heard from Danny, paint a deeply unpleasant picture in his mind. “Are you going to be in trouble?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. It’s Danny we’re all worried about. He told me before he got caught that if anything happened to him, I should find you. Tucker helped us narrow down where exactly you are and sent you that text to get you to where we met.”

“What do you think I can do?”

“I don’t know,” Dash admits. “But Danny trusts you, and he needs your help.”

Duke was never going to say no to this request to begin with, but damn if those words don’t make him want to run to Amity Park without waiting for anyone else.

“Okay,” he says. “Okay. I’ll help rescue him and bring down the GIW. You should go now, before they get too suspicious.”

“What are you planning?”

“I got a couple of friends who are good at destroying government property. Trust me, you’ll see what we’re up, we’re pretty noticeable if we’re pissed off enough.”

“Don’t take too long then,” Dash says, standing up, “I expect a good show from you. See you around, man.”

And with that, Dash pats Duke’s shoulder and leaves the study room. Duke doesn’t follow after him. He’s got a rescue to start planning, and the less time he wastes, the better.

In the end, it’s pretty simple. It’s not a hard mission at all when the time comes for them to act, but the amount of data they gather and have to shift through is daunting. But that’s more Tim and Barbara’s forte, so he trusts them to handle it.

Together with Red Robin, Spoiler, and Black Bat, they hit Amity Park hard and fast.

One night was spent learning the lay of the land and every station and lab set up by the GIW. The second night was spent burning it all down and tossing open cages full of green blob ghosts and a few transparent, weakly glowing human ghosts. Stronger ghosts, glowing brightly, joined them in a few places with battle cries and maniacal laughter.

They split up and took down all the bases and patrol stations on their own, sweeping through the city like vengeful shadows.

By dawn, the GIW were in shambles, without any bases or equipment, and rounded up for arrest.

Cass was the one to find Danny and his family; his parents were forced to create weapons for the GIW under threat of Danny and Jazz’s torture. Danny was locked up like an animal and studied. Jazz had restraints on, including a muzzle, and a bloodthirsty rage in her eyes. Apparently, she had put up the most fight and, while being studied for repeated exposure to ectoplasm and radiation, started biting people.

The Fentons are big names in this conflict. Tim makes the executive decision to burn one of his out-of-state safehouses so they can hide and recover in peace, then promptly moves them into it as soon as the EMTs give them the all clear. They’re gone by the time the sun is rising over the horizon, and the curious Amity Parkers that have gathered behind the blockade of police cars have to be reassured that the Fentons have been taken away for their protection, not for further abuses. Even then, tensions are high and the locals are clearly prepared to start rioting now that they have a chance to fight back.

As vigilantes, they’re not meant to interact with cops much. Perhaps it’s simply their experiences in Gotham that keep them at a distance, disappearing into the neighborhood the moment attention shifts off of them. Either way, Duke is hurrying out of Amity Park with the rest of the team on his heels, eager to return to Gotham and follow up on their own leads to make sure the GIW is properly gutted and dismantled.

Duke heads off for the Hatch as soon as they reach Gotham, hoping to shed the suit and finally be able to call Danny. The guilt of not noticing how bad things had gotten rolls through his stomach, and more than that, he’s missed hearing Danny’s voice.

The first few calls go straight to voicemail. Duke leaves a quick message asking Danny to let him know how he’s doing as soon as he can talk.

Then he goes for a shower and to change into civilian clothes, prepared to make his way to Wayne Manor to let Bruce know how everything went. And hopefully distract him from his Disappointed Father/Leader Lecture about taking on missions behind his back, as if Duke can’t handle himself. And also because Bruce has no leg to stand on when it comes to this. He’s fully prepared to throw that entire lecture back into his face at a moment’s notice.

The post-mission exhaustion is hitting him hard and fast. Duke has to brace himself against the wall once he’s out of the shower, resisting the urge to just lie on the floor and sleep there until he starts feeling more human.

Somehow, he gets himself into some sweatpants and a plain shirt, pulls on a pair of mismatched socks, and begins gathering his things so he can get to the Batcave.

He’s in no state to be driving. Maybe someone would be willing to take him there?

Just as he reaches for his phone to thumb through his contacts and see who he can bother, it buzzes in his hand. Duke blames the way he jumps on his exhaustion, then blinks his tired eyes to squint at the name that pops up onto the screen.

Danny.

All at once, his exhaustion fades away. A rush of adrenaline runs through him as he scrambles to accept the call, already pacing around the room so he doesn’t fall asleep.

“Hello?”

There’s a moment of silence, then the exhale of a breath that turns to static over the call. “Duke,” Danny’s tired voice says. “Duke…”

“You doing okay? I couldn’t get to you before you and your family had to leave and go into hiding, but I’ve been worried about you, man.”

“I’m good. We’re all fine, now. Fentons are strong, you know? We’ll bounce back in no time.”

From what he’s heard about Danny’s family, that’s most definitely true. He’s seen the pictures of walls Jack Fenton has burst through with his body. It’ still hard to believe that no one in the family is a meta, outside of Danny.

“You need anything? I can get it to you, just say the word. Anything at all.”

Danny hums, then asks with a playful note in his voice, “Anything?”

“Anything.”

“I need you. How fast can you come meet me? I’ll even pay for express delivery.”

Duke laughs, so relieved at hearing the lightness return to Danny’s voice that he feels weak in the knees. “It’ll be at least two days. I gotta sleep and debrief with Batman before I can see you. It’s gonna take some time to get out of Gotham again.”

“Maybe I can go to you, instead,” Danny suggests. “Fly over and be there is less than an hour.”

“Are you in any shape to be flying right now?”

“I’m fine! Already healing and everything,” Danny insists.

“It might be dangerous if any rogue GIW agents go after you.”

“Well,” Danny says, “That’s why I need to get to my knight in shining armor sooner rather than later, right?”

Duke bites his lip to fight back a smile, blinking his eyes forcefully to keep them from closing under the heavy weight of exhaustion. “Does that make you a damsel in distress?”

“I mean, I did need rescuing, so I guess? I’m not much of a damsel, but I could put on a pretty dress for you. It’ll be like playing pretend when we were kids.”

“Oh, man, I kinda miss those poofy dresses. I think I could still rock on, put it on top of the armor when I go out for patrol.”

Danny snickers. “Signal: the most well dressed vigilante in Gotham.”

“That’s me, baby!”

The last of the agonizing fear that’s choked him since he first talked to Dash finally melts away. Danny’s fine now. Everything’s okay; the GIW are done for and there’s plenty of people willing to look out for the Fentons. This will never happen again.

“Hey,” Danny says, voice suddenly turing more serious. “Send me your location. I wasn’t joking when I said I could fly over to you. And before you say anything! I do need it; Jazz and my parents are smothering me and I just need to get away from everything and pretend all of this never happened.”

The admission softens Duke, makes him shove away everything that tells him this is a bad idea, that Danny needs more rest first, that having Danny fly over alone and without warning any of the Bats fills Duke with anxiety.

He does miss Danny. More than he can put into words.

“Yeah, okay,” he says at last. “Come meet me, Danny.”

He texts Danny the location of the Hatch before common sense tells him to be more careful with his base of operations. Not that it matters, anyways; if there’s anyone in the world he trusts with everything, it’s Danny.

Then he sends the Bats a quick text saying he’s crashing in the Hatch and to not bother him until the sun is fully up two days from now. Oracle gives him a thumbs up emoji, which is a good guarantee that she will personally see to it that no non-emergency messages interrupt his rest and recovery time.

Duke has no idea how long it will take Danny to get to the Hatch, so he putters around, cleaning up the space and straightening it out in an attempt to keep busy enough that he doesn’t crash. Travel really takes it out of him. It’s one of the cons of being born and raised in Gotham: he doesn’t have the stamina to travel outside of it, especially when they were there and back in less than three days.

Thank god for Tim’s many motorcycles and his tendency to see the speed limit as a weak suggestion that can be ignored while on a mission.

Ultimately, the call of sleep is too strong to resist.

One moment, Duke is sorting through files on the Hatch’s computer, and the next moment, he’s face down on a bed with his face shoved into a pillow.

Blearly, he manages to pull his phone out of his pocket and send Danny a typo-ridden text that hopefully gets across the message of might be asleep so just come in, don’t wait for me to answer the door.

He’s out like a light as soon as it sends. The last thing Duke registers is his phone dropping out of his hand and falling against the mattress with a little bounce.

When he begins to wake up, something’s changed. As much as he wants to go back to sleep, awareness comes back to him slowly and Duke forces himself to claw his way out of unconsciousness to figure out what, exactly, is bothering him so much. Until he figures out what’s changed in the room, he won’t be able to sleep because he’ll be worried about someone breaking in.

His mind comes back online long before his body does. It’s only when he tries to move that Duke realizes he’s no longer alone on the bed; there’s someone wrapped up in his arms, body temperature a little too cool to be a normal human.

Blinking open his eyes, Duke looks down at the head of messy black hair and feels Danny’s soft breath ghost across his chest.

“Danny?” he manages to say, voice rough with sleep.

Danny hums and doesn’t move.

“Hey, look up. Let me see if you’re really alright.”

“Mmm, no,” Danny mumbles, burrowing his face into Duke’s chest some more. “‘m sleepy.”

A good argument. Duke is also sleepy.

“Fine,” he says, “Check in the morning, then. G’night, Danny.”

“Night, Duke. Thanks for saving me.”

He tightens his grip on Danny, contentment burning warm in his chest. “Always, Danny. I’ll always save you.”

That’s why he’s a hero, after all. To save others, to reach a hand out to everyone the way he needed when he was younger. To keep the people he loves safe. To make sure Danny always finds a way back to him.

This is what makes all the pain of this lifestyle worth it.

Danny makes everything worth it.

(@yourlocalcorviddad tagging to make sure you see this!)

#ghostlights #dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #prompt fill #my writing #i thought up a whole backstory to the duke/dash kiss (accidental. embarrassing for both parties) but it didnt fit w the rest of the fic so #its not included. i can include it in a rb if u want tho!!#my sleepy boys..... they go thru so much but at the end of the day they always feel at home with each other #childhood friends duke/danny is so important to me #also couldnt think of a coded phrase sorry. now we just have dash walking up to duke like HEY. HELP DANNY. and duke went with it #thanks for the prompt!!

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nelkcats · 1 year

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Amity's hero

Don't let Amity Parkers lose their hero or you will face the consequences; even good intentions can become unforgivable

The Justice League didn't speak directly to the G.I.W, they didn't quite take their word for it but reports of ghost attacks and property damage caught their attention, the call log with the multiple Amity Park appearances being the most ignored of the list practically marked as spam broke their hearts.

So they arrived as a team, yelling about getting rid of the ghosts, certain that their presence would only cause long-term damage, Phantom immediately showed up, questioning what was wrong; they simply ignored him and began to recite that he and his kind should return to his place of origin (because these ghosts must have a place far from earth, right? They had read something about them living in another dimension), ignoring all Phantom's pleas by simply listening

Unlike a few years ago, Amity Park was not under attack, it had a direct truce with Infinite Realms in which the ghosts were on their best behavior, playing with humans, protecting them from unknown entities (because this was their Amity, they were territorial), keeping at bay the animal ghosts that came out of natural portals, and turning from villains to heroes, being led by his King Phantom, the one who started it all.

The ghosts were happy with the arrangement and with being able to visit human world; Klemper, Lunch Box and Youngblood made a lot of new friends, Ember had concerts, Johnny and Kitty formed their own biker gang, Spectra was the psychologist she'd tried to be at first, Walker kept everyone in line, even ghosts who straight up preferred the realms visited from time to time: Pandora, Frostbite, Ghost Writer, etc. Even Nocturn tried to give everyone good dreams.

But the heroes didn't care, they considered everyone as "threats" and threatened them, Phantom, completely tired of being ignored looked towards his city and gave them a sad smile, you couldn't reason with those who didn't want to listen to you "If we do that Amity could be in danger" he tried one last time, the league didn't know how to deal with liminals.

"We'll protect them, you're just invaders making them sick in the end" Green Lantern snorted, as if it was the obvious solution "So get out and leave these people alone"

"Fine, but when you see how badly you end up handling everything, call us" Danny was tired, he could reason with his own parents and not with all these "heroes", he supposed it was better to teach them the consequences. He tossed a Fentonphone at them, hoping they'd do the right thing.

Flash felt uncomfortable when he saw the ghost children approaching the humans, were they attacking them? He was about to interfere when he saw the human children approach the ghosts to hug them and cry together; he reasoned that made sense, sure the kids didn't know their friends were dangerous, but something inside of him wasn't satisfied with that answer.

Then Danny just whistled, attracting the attention of the ghosts in the city "Well, you heard them, go back to the realms" complaints could be heard, both from the ghost and the human sides. But for now, the halfa had some kind of plan in mind.

Wonder Woman felt especially uncomfortable when she saw Pandora walk past Phantom, giving her a disappointed look, Batman told her that surely she wasn't her friend, and that if she was she wouldn't be the same person, but she wasn't so sure about that.

The ghosts withdrew from Amity then, going through the portal that the Phantom himself had opened in the center of the city, each one of Justice League members could feel the hateful looks pointing directly at them "It's for the best", Batman informed them "we'll assign you heroes that monitor that they do not return"

"NO" that seemed to be what broke the silence "We don't want any more heroes, Phantom is our hero" and with that said, a girl of about 8 years old hugged the halfa's leg, crying uncontrollably "Please don't go"

The League was about to interfere when Phantom reached down, picking up the girl "I don't want to leave Stacy" he whispered stroking her back lovingly, hoping she would stop crying "But the guys over there say I'm a danger to you and you know I want to keep you safe" he kissed the girl's head, handing her over to her parents "I love you Amity Park, thank you for loving me back" he told the population affectionately, before going through the portal.

The League just looked uncomfortably, once there were no more ghosts they informed the city that they would send heroes regularly for protection and monitoring the situation but the city inhabitants just scoffed.

"You don't get it" Dash spoke, completely furious "Phantom is to Amity what Batman is to Gotham" he frowned "And rest assured that this city will protect him from you, we don't care if you told him to leave, we'll bring him back, you're way over your head on this" he continued "Of course, you don't understand because you're the hero in this scenario, and you don't know what a city feels when you take away their hero"

The Justice League only watched as the townspeople turned their backs on them, but they reasoned again that it was for the best, eventually the townspeople would understand.

A few days passed and Amity declared itself isolated from the League, every time they tried to send a hero they rejected, over and over again; dozens of different heroes couldn't get past the limits because they were shot, taunted, or simply knocked unconscious before entering. Superman was starting to regret destroying Phantom's phone but they had to know how it worked, at the end it was a regular phone with weird aesthetic.

The only "hero" who managed to cross the limits was Red Hood, who at the end of the day became a messenger "You don't understand B, that city is out for blood" Jason tried to reason with Bruce "They're furious, I swear I saw a 6-year-old boy practicing archery and the target had your head placed in the center" it was not normal for Jason to worry, Bruce was a hero, but for the same reason he did not know what it felt like when you lost one. Amity had basically been building her own army within the barriers, they even offered him refuge away from heroes "You must talk to them."

"Mhm" Batman hummed, pulling out his comlink to schedule a meeting, he'd thought of calling one anyway, he'd had sightings of what looked like animal ghosts all over Gotham but they were basically invincible, he wondered if it was Phantom's revenge.

"Just give them back their hero Batman" was what the commissioner Gordon told him when he asked for an opinion on how to deal with the reaction of the city "They're right, you don't know what it feels like"

Of course, Batman couldn't be wrong, so he guessed Gordon's comment was due more to his weariness. Upon arrival he noticed everyone completely dejected, basically stating animal ghosts and ¿drops? through all their cities. They couldn't fight any of them so they decided to go back to Amity, they figured if they had fought these things for years they must have knowledge.

Upon reaching the city, although they were allowed to pass, they were greeted with mockery, half the population carried one weapon or another, the League was tense "Having problems so soon?" Paulina looked at her neon green nails, she was sure she could cut a man with them "You should have accepted Phantom's help, you know"

"Phantom was a threat invading your city" Batman growled "we saw the reports, his continued presence caused medical changes in all of you that you won't even let us see"

"Make no mistake" Mikey interrupted him "Amity was always an access point to the Zone, we were contaminated long before you existed" and of course they would not trust this heroes with their liminal status, Frostbite was already helping them before all the mess and they did not need to add human doctors with no knowledge.

"Then what do you suggest? We let the ghosts come back and destroy the whole city?" Hal scoffed, completely incredulous of how they were being treated, from the first second they refused to give any useful information.

"It's funny that you think we can't defend ourselves" Paulina rolled her eyes "you all could be beaten by Mikey, and is Mikey, no offense" she shot a look at the boy next to her.

"None taken" Mikey shrugged, it wasn't the first time.

"The thing is, we're just used to it; we like to be protected and not have to protect ourselves, it may sound cowardly of us but we're civilians" Kwan spoke "we're not defenseless, but we prefer not taking action, our hero made sure of it so we don't like to take cards in the whole self-sacrifice thing"

"Phantom is a danger" Superman tried to stand his ground.

"For us?" Star sneered "Or for you?"

"Besides, if you think we don't move out of the city for aesthetics, you're wrong, we just like to feel safe" Dash yawned, bored with the conversation "Phantom and the other ghosts are territorial, it's kind of nice, no threat gets past that sign, rates of crime? Zero, very difficult to want to kill or assault someone if they can come back as a ghost to kill you I guess"

"But the reports" Flash was worried about the indifference.

"The reports from 5 years ago? Before we had the truce that you guys ruined?" Star sneered "I'll call Sam or Tucker and bring Phantom back, we'll start the truce again, get out of Amity"

"You can't do that." Superman crossed his arms, trying to remain threatening as Hal muttered in a panic about breaking peace treaties and the Oa wanting his head.

"Oh, but we can" Paulina approached Superman, running her hand over his arm "and we'll do it" slowly, she placed her fingernail on his suit, cutting the material and drawing blood from the hero, who immediately moved away at the threat.

"Get the hell out of Amity and don't come back" Dash rolled his eyes, stroking a ghost snake, the heroes tensing more at their newest enemy.

"It was you?" growled Batman; recognizing the snake as one of the many haunting Gotham.

"Not exactly, the veil ruptures always existed" Kwan said, stroking the head of a ghost wolf "We only tame them, or send them back to the Realms, if there were veil ruptures it's not our problem" he looked towards the League "If any of them escaped because we weren't watching and they followed your scent it's not our fault either"

"And can you tell us um, how to deal with them, or tame them?" Flash tried.

"No, since you are sooo good at gathering information I'm sure you will come up with something" With that said, Dash motioned for the snake to lead the heroes away and before they knew it they were all thrown away from the city.

#danny phantom #dp x dc #danny fenton #dc x dp #justice league #dp #Amity loves Phantom #They love Red Huntress too but she is on vacations since the truce #Oa will be furious with Hal lmao #Constantine and JLD will be furious with most JL too #Feral Amity Park #I do love them being absolutely feral #Amity Park don't need protection anymore they just choose to have it #Pandora is disappointed with Diana #Amity Park indeed called Sam & Tucker #They bringed the ghosts back #ghost king danny #At the end Justice League asked for help #Justice League Dark was not surprised #Constantine had a mental breakdown #Most heroes are prohibited into Amity now #Alfred is looking at Bruce with disappointment #World could have a truce with Infinite Realms but they ruined it #G.I.W was dissolved by Paulina nails at the end of the day #Captain Marvel was not available during this mess #Billy have classes!#At first JL thought Phantom mind controlled them #They weren't so sure after watching the posters over the city #and it was for sure not the cause when Amity trained an army looking at them directly in the eyes #I do think liminals can damage kryptonians

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madametamma · 8 months

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Due to some kind of spell Danny doesn't remember that he's half human.

Like Many ghosts, Phantom doesn't remember his human life, just his ghostly purpose, that he's meant to protect Amity Park from other ghosts. Which he has been doing with his usual sass and snark for three days straight now, but something's wrong. He's feeling tired, hungry. These are human things, why is he experiencing them? and more and more often these white rings that he doesn't recognize keep appearing around his waist that he has to put effort into going away.

Three teenage Amity park citizens, a goth girl, a boy with some tech gadgets, and a redhead keep following him around telling him nonsense. That his parents are worried because he hasn't come home, that he's got to eat and rest because he'll die if he keeps this up. At first he brushes them off but as his symptoms increase and they refuse to leave him alone, he's willing to hear them out.

He takes their advice and lets the white rings do their work. He's in a human body now. He can no longer fly or go through solid objects and the pain of not eating or sleeping for days finally hits him full force.

To him, this is a body horror.

He has this meaty, bony body that he can't move like how he's used to. liquid leaks from his face and he's sure that means he's melting. He feels a pain in his head and middle area that he can't ever remember feeling before. He screams and it hurts his throat Everything hurts.

The three teens who convinced him to do this try to grab him and calm him down, saying this is how he's supposed to be and they'll help him. He tries in vain to get away, not sure how to move in this new disgusting form.

#danny phantom #dp #fic prompt #the body horror of suddenly being in a human body

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kokoa-la · 10 months

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Prompt from @masked-kitsune

Sent to me by anonymous lol

Part 1, part 2

This was absolutely absurd. While Danny did have a history of breaking beakers on accident and was also banned from his chemistry lab back in Casper high, he’d never made a whole lab blow up. The accusation was so unfitting. The halfa would label himself as simply misunderstood, it’s not his fault he has bad luck? You break a couple beakers and drop a few modern day potions and all of a sudden you’re suspected of the crime of exploding your school chem lab with no trial and the punishment of detention for the whole year. He was wronged, framed even.

Danny, of course, was musing this all to himself in the detention room after school. He hadn’t managed to plead his case well enough. Gotham Academy was filled to the brim with money and nepotism, there was no way they’d believe the orphan on a Wayne scholarship. This had to be illegal (like him) or something. They didn’t even have any proof!

…

They didn’t have any proof. Oh Danny was getting a bad/wonderful/fun idea. He had to clear his name, obviously, he hated being blamed for things he didn’t do. If he just found evidence that it was someone else and not him, then it’d be fine.

He couldn’t prove he wasn’t there. He had been out doing ghost stuff, as Phantom. What was he supposed to do? Go ghost and scare the bejeebus out of everyone there? Admit he’s a meta? (Being dead is a medical condition!) That’d worsen his sentence. Now he’s a charity case and a weirdo with powers! He didn’t need any more of being called a creepy boy with creepy powers thank you very much.

Still, them not knowing he had powers was a blessing in disguise. The detention room door was locked until the two hours ran out, but the walls weren’t ghost proof, and neither was the ceiling- or anything of the room really. He’s pretty sure everyone in Gotham is somewhat superstitious, but they don’t really believe in ghosts. Danny knows because telling people his parents are ghost hunters in any place other than Amity went south very quickly.

That settled it then. He’d use his powers to investigate the lab he is hereby banned from for the rest of his life, and find proof he’s innocent. Perfect plan.

After a month he had gathered a substantial amount of clues that quite literally had no connection to each other. Getting into the cameras of the lab and the hallways around it wasn’t viable. He couldn’t hack into anything for the life of him and anytime he tried using any of his abilities on other cameras he just fried em. He’s sure with enough practice he could figure something out, but he didn’t know how long that’d take, no matter how fast he was at learning new abilities. Plus, a lot of then were already broken. Some areas were blacked out and finding out whether the cameras in that hallways worked or not was a problem on its own.

He went over the events of that day once more. He had felt a ghost in the area, and having not interacted with one since he got to Gotham (sans Red Hood but he didn’t count) he quickly left to go and figure it out. He had gone to the bathroom in the science wing that just happened to be across from the chemistry lab. He goes ghost, leaves, finds literally no one, not even getting a chill, returns, and the lab is gone. He’s found at the scene by a teacher who had heard the explosion and saw him at the scene, immediately dragging him to the principal's office.

He knew he didn’t do it, even accidentally! He hadn’t touched the room at all, walking straight past it into the bathroom. He knew it looked bad. Of course it did, but he was innocent, and wasn’t too keen on staying after school for 2 hours every day for the whole year.

The problem was if it was a ghost problem, but he knew it wasn’t. It couldn’t have been because the feeling of the lab afterwards (because he checked thoroughly) was lacking any ecto-energy at all. That meant it was a student or a person who went there, and when Danny found em he’d have a couple more than a few words for the guy.

The halfa grumbled in his seat as he got yet another lecture. He’s been getting them every day without fail since the incident, at this point it was getting tiring. Ten minutes wasted listening to the English teacher bore on and on about the consequences of his actions and so on so forth, but this time was different. Mr. Lanch had stopped after five minutes when a knock came on the door. In strolled in Mr.Laner , with a boy. A boy who looked strikingly familiar to Danny. Black hair with a middle part, blue eyes, pale skin, lean figure, in his grade maybe?

“Mr.Lanch this is Timothy Drake Wayne, he will be joining you for the next two months every day.”

“I see. Well, Mr.Drake, take a seat, choose any they’re all open but one.”

Danny was seated in the back corner, Tim sat in the corner on the other side of the room, also in the back. Mr.Laner gave Danny a dirty look before leaving. Mr.Laner was the chemistry teacher, and he had made it his personal mission to be as cruel and petty as possible to Danny because of what happened- which wasn’t even his fault! When he cleared his name he wanted a full apology, seriously.

And then there was Tim! He knew him, of course he did, the dude was the son of the guy who gave him his scholarship. He couldn’t even think about breathing in his direction, let alone sharing a room with him every day for the next two months alone. When Mr.Lanch had finished and left the room, locking the door behind him, Danny crumpled under the awkward atmosphere. Neither of them were saying anything- at all. Danny couldn’t even hear the other breathe. It was eating away at him, he had to say something, but what?

“What are you in for?”

That? That was his choice? Well it was a valid question considering they were in detention.

“A fight.”

“You got in a fight?”

“No, I beat someone else senseless. He called it a fight to save his ego.”

Danny couldn’t stop the snort that escaped him.

“Deserved it?”

“Oh definitely.”

What he’d give to go back to Casper High and just beat the ever loving crap out of Dash. Stupid secret identities, making him be weak and get his ass kicked every day by a dumbass with good genes and blond hair.

“What are you in for?”

And now Danny was being questioned. He sighed.

“I was framed, framed I tell ya!”

“Uh-huh, that’s what they all say. What were you ‘framed’ for?”

Tim had used his fingers to put up air quotes along the word framed. Danny didn’t appreciate it. He was a truthful ghost- for the most part. He wasn’t lying!

“The explosion in the chem lab.”

“That was you?!”

Tim nearly hopped out of his seat. His head coming up from his fist that he laid it against. Gone was his relaxed posture of pure boredom and exhaustion.

“No it wasn’t! I just said I was framed!”

“But you’re so-”

“So what?”

What was this kid even getting at? Did Danny look weird? Look unable to explode shit? Cus he was able!

“So-”

“Are you saying I’m incapable looking? That I can’t blow something up?”

“Well no-”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Okay- you look harmless?”

“That’s rude.”

“I thought you wanted to look innocent.”

“Cuz I am!”

“Uh huh, and I didn’t beat Andy bloody.”

“Andy? Anderson? The guy with diamonds on his teeth?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me, they look so bad.”

Tim groaned before covering his head with his hands. Unpleasant memories, Danny assumed. Still, must have been nice to punch the guy. He was obnoxious and rude and always rubbing his money in Danny’s face. More than once he’s had to stop himself from strangling the kid. Another joy in his life robbed because he was a ghost. Such a shame, truly.

Danny laughed before slouching in his seat. How was he supposed to leave the room and investigate with Tim here? He banged his head against the desk.

"You okay?"

"Yeah yeah all good"

His voice was muffled from it being squashed against the desk, but the other heard him all the same. Danny practically whined before getting up out his seat, the metal screeching loudly against the floor. He walked over towards the desk in the front of the room and shuffled around the drawers.

"What are you doing?"

He ignored his detention buddy and focused on rummaging around the drawer for a paper clip. When he found one he undid it and bent it near the edge, giving it a ridge.

"Hey!"

Tim, being ignored once again, got up from his own seat and walked over.

Danny had kneeled at the door and jammed the paperclip into the lock, digging it in and jiggling it, waiting for a click. Has he ever done this before? No, but he's seen Sam do it to just about every lock they've ever encountered so he assumed it'd be easy enough to figure out.

He was incorrect.

"You're doing it wrong."

He almost wanted to go "no shit, sherlock" to Tim, but decided against it.

"You know how to pick locks?"

"Obviously. Hand it over."

Danny shrugged his shoulders before handing over the paper clip and stepping away from the door. Tim rolled his eyes before taking the clip and putting it back in the lock, this time angling it up, pulling it back and forth and then twisting it. After a couple of seconds the door resounded with a click and Tim got up and opened the door. He smirked and leaned against the door.

"Still going to ignore me?"

#danny fenton #danny phantom #dp x dc #dc x dp #dc x dp prompt #timothy drake #timothy drake wayne #tim drake #red robin #gotham academy #anderson deserved it #danny was framed framed i tell u #all this time to finish that english paper only to investigate the lab instead #wdym u made ur friends normally? is committing crimes together not how its normally done?#justice for danny #tim deserves it but justice for him too #paperclips make good lock picks

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inthememetime · 1 year

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There are plenty of posts where Justice League and Constantine sees Danny's Ghost King Form in all of its Eldritchy glory, from on being Lightning Based to one being compared to an event horizon, as he takes down the ghost that was giving the League problems and it basically freaks them out.

So when I stumbled upon this picture

I knew that this could be an excellent form worthy of a King if it was tweaked to fit Danny with ghostly elements, and maybe ice themes sprinkled with something Space related.

Like Vortex or Undergrowth is giving the League trouble, then this thing straight out of the Old Testament shows up, takes down the Ghost, and turns back to Danny who didn't know he just melted the League's brains.

Or, maybe during The Legion of Doom / The Light tries to summon the Ghost King for power/ take over the world, and Danny comes along looking like that and scares everyone there shitless.

How do you think that will go down?

I have had this in my drafts for So Very Long... Im sorry!!!

Holy *^$π, Batman!™

I LOVE the image, and 100% agree, it's an awesome base to work off with Danny.

I think it would be hilarious. Matter of fact, I wrote a fic about it. 😁 If you have an AO3, let me know and I'll gift it to you.

Ao3 here

Be Not Afraid- or Whatever

Summary: The weather god- though Constantine swore it was 'just' a ghost- had pinned down the entire Justice League. While they'd managed to trap Vortex in a two square mile area and evacuate civilians, and even arrested the cult responsible, they in turn were trapped in a small warehouse, protected only by the blood blossom spray and salt circle Constantine made.

With no way to fight it, they had only one choice: summon another ghost. Enter Ghost King Danny Phantom, stage right.

Rain, wind, and hail pounded heavily against the metal roof and walls of the tiny back office of a warehouse.

Earlier today- just this morning, in fact- it had been a bright and warm summer day. The Flash flinched as a piece of hail broke through a window. Constantine didn't flinch, intent on his task. Superman was still unconscious, Batman picking out shards of kryptonite from a bullet that had hit its mark too well.

It was silent but for the occasional pained gasp from their Kryptonian friend, and Constantine's low mutters in what sounded like Ancient Latin to Barry's untrained ears.

Thunder roared, and the single lightbulb went out. Wordlessly, Batman cracked a pair of glowsticks, passing one to him so he could hold it up for Constantine. Clark groaned quietly.

A cult of summoners swearing fealty to Vortex, Lord of Storms, seemed easy enough to stop; Batman made the plan and coordinated with everyone. He and Superman rescued hostages and dock workers alike as Batman and Constantine took down the cult.

It was supposed to be easy. Simple. It was anything but.

The smell of the weird floral spray Constantine used- Blood Blossoms, the magic user had said- was beginning to fade. A drop of sweat fell down Constantine's face. His lips were pressed tight, white against the odd pallor of his face.

"John," Barry whispered, "how much longer?"

Another window broke. Batman swore quietly. "Good news is, we've got the blood sacrifice ready," he joked under his breath. He winced then, and pressed his hand against the bandage on his arm.

It had bled through again, but the others were needed for Clark. In a rare event, the alien was the most injured on the team.

The cultists had purchased bullets laced with kryptonite from somewhere, which didn't hurt Constantine any more than a regular one. The same couldn't be said for Clark.

The magic-user hesitated until water started to bubble underneath the door, threatening the complicated circle of chalk and blood. He spoke, and this time it wasn't in Latin. Barry couldn't recognize it.

The temperature began to drop further while the air around the man began to shimmer, almost. Ozone gathered in the air, and the darkness increased until he couldn't see anything. Even the glowstick was a pinprick of light so tiny he couldn't be sure it was real.

A low rumble sounded and a radioactive green pool started to open. One massive clawed hand grabbed the edge. Constantine's voice cracked- but didn't stop. Another hand pulled out, and another, folowed by one more.

They were white as snow up to the wrists. One massive wing shot up, far too big for the office, followed by another, both black as night and covered with starry patterns. The next thing Barry made out was a crown of twisted black iron and glittering jewels, wreathed in green flame, atop two large horns, blue like sea ice.

The figure continued to rise as John spoke, revealing a second, then third set of wings and a mane of white hair which flowed in a wind he couldn't feel. Four sets of eyes opened, some solid green and glowing, some pitch black, some solid white, and the last a myriad of colors.

The thing's face was almost tan, almost the color of mortal flesh, but green scars like lightning bolts marred it. A thud alerted him of one massive foot, then another, both white and clawed.

The rest of its body except a shining white D was black as the void. When it opened its mouth, he had to look away, unsure if he feared or loved it, found it beautiful or terrifying.

Abruptly, the light from the sticks was back. He didn't dare look at Clark or Batman to see how they were doing; every instinct said he was in front of a predator, and showing the weak of the herd would be a death sentence.

Finally, Constantine fell silent.

"What's up? Kind of a weird place for a summons, you know," it said, and Barry swallowed. It sounded like a child, an old man, a windstorm, the shriek of a blizzard, the thunder of roaring waves all at once.

"I have summoned you, King of Ghosts, to take your servant back to your realm," Constantine managed, voice only wavering a little.

It leaned forward. "And the price?"

The thing sounded almost teasing. Amused.

"What would you ask of us?"

"Autographs," it immediately said. "From Martian Manhunter, Superman, Cyborg, and Wonder Woman."

Wait. What?

"I'm a big fan," it added.

"Should all of us survive today, we will do so," he agreed.

"Sweet. Gimme like 5 minutes. Maybe 10, Vortex is a bit of a bitch. Also, be not afraid or whatever. I'm one of the good guys."

It was gone, then, and abruptly Barry sucked in a breath. Sounds of a fierce battle echoed from outside for several minutes before the storm abruptly stopped.

Slightly singed, the Ghost King returned. "Hey, does Supes over there need a doctor? I know a good one in the GZ."

He swallowed. Batman cleared his throat. "We only need to get the kryptonite out of him, he'll be fine."

"Okay!" It chirped, then reached over and, without so much as ruffling the suit, reached into the alien and pulled out a small handful of shards. "I'll be back in a few weeks for those autographs- I'd say tomorrow, but time is weird. Bye, guys!"

"Wait- can I ask for a way to contact you? If you'd be willing to help in the future," Constantine asked.

"Yeah, sure. My Chirper handle is @realdeadguy, all lowercase, no punctuation," he said, "and you can call me Phantom if you want."

"Guys!"

Sam groaned and Tucker covered his face with a pillow.

"Dude, we know you just got back from a summons, but it's 3 am."

Danny rocked back and forth, wings twitching. "I met the Justice League! They're so cool! Batman was there! Batman!!!"

"I thought you were all about Su-"

"And I saved Superman's life, isn't that awesome?! I kept the kryptonite, look, real-life rock from space!"

"Rocks aren't alive, Danny," Sam muttered. Then, a second later, "wait, what?! You met the Justice League? Was Wonder Woman there?"

"No, but I asked for an autograph."

#danny phantom #inthememetime #danny phantom au #eldritch danny #ghost king danny #vortex #constantine #dp x dc #barry allen #the flash #batman #superman

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new-revenant · 2 years

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dp x dc au in which the Justice League finds out about the Red Huntress and not Danny Phantom first. Like, let’s say some cultists are trying to summon the Ghost King if you like that. The League-or perhaps another superhero group like the Teen Titans or Young Justice or just one superhero like Shazam-and when the cultists are about to succeed, Val shows up guns blazing, screaming, “I will not let summon that rat bastard!” or something. And she quickly gets knocked off her hoverboard by one of them, but she and the other superhero(s) there manage to stop them.

The heroes are like, “Who are you? Why did you come here? What are your connections to the Ghost King? Are you a ghost?” Yadayada, stuff like that. Val, who I like to hc that she knows next to nothing about superheroes, is just like, “Oh, I’m the Red Huntress and I’m just a ghost hunter. The Ghost King ruined my life and I plan to ruin his afterlife. That’s all!” The heroes try to ask more questions, but then Val says, “Oh no! It’s almost my curfew! Gotta go, I’ll see you later!”

Then they find Val somehow and want to recruit her, just in case more people want to summon the Ghost King or for help with any other ghost related things. Val accepts as long as she gets paid enough money to not have to work as the Nasty Burger mascot.

And when they find out about Phantom, they all assume he and Val have this rivalry at first-if Val doesn’t say he’s supposed to be the ghost king. If she does, they then meet Phantom and he’s just like, “hello friends :D” and is just in awe over the superheroes, who are just super confused.

If the heroes try to look into Val and the people closest to her, Danny(just Danny not Phantom) will walk up to them and straight up threaten them. And scar them for life with his ‘uncanniness.’ “Red your boyfriend is an eldritch monster,” they say to Val, “Oh yeah, it’s just the ecto-contamination, he won’t actually do anything :D,” she reassures them.

None of the heroes can get a goodnight’s sleep for a week after first meeting Danny. They are all worried for Val’s wellbeing.

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dp crossover #valerie dp #valerie gray #also my previous hc that I drew a bit ago about phantom naming Val red hunter fits here as well #I hope that this is coherent I went on a bit of a tangent #also this has over 1500 notes??? Huh??? Thank you all so much :D #revenant rambles

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picturejasper20 · 3 months

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A friend showed me this DP forum from when Phantom Planet aired back on 2007 and i found this interesting comment about Vlad dying from being crushed by the asteroid as a joke and the issues with it from user ¨baronobeefdip¨

The comment:

I just remembered another problem I had with this special- Vlad's supposed death. Yeah, I know that DP is a kid's show so the character's can't "die"...so I guess his fate is ambiguous. But, that's beside the point... My problem is that his "tragic fate" is potrayed in such a way that is so innapropriately comical (I didnt' find it funny in the least bit) that it makes me sick to my stomach. I mean, Vlad just lost EVERYTHING! Respect, home, friends, family, the guy couldn't be any more miserable. And, what do the writers do to showcase just how his life couldn't get any worse? They crush him with the meteor and they treat it like it's supposed to be the bloody funniest thing on earth. Well, I WASN'T laughing! So, let me get this straight. It's PERFECTLY FINE to showcase Danny's near-death in the special as dramatic and even showing his friends family...and even total strangers...lamenting his fate (even though he did clearly survive) just because he's the BLOODY HERO! But, we can't give Vlad the same sense of pity and remorse just because he's the "bad guy"? What the monkey-fart? Is it too much to ask to give a tragic character like Vlad the proper ending he deserves? I would've prefered to see Vlad become like his TUE-self in the end...you know, a lonely hermit with a heart full of remorse over all the evil he had done. Would that have been too much to ask? To see the lonely and heartbroken Vlad who had realized far too late the atrocities he had created?

Link to the forum post in wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20100920234922/http://dannyphantomonline.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=671

#danny phantom #vlad plasmius #dp phantom planet #dp fandom

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shinyspooks · 1 year

Text

fic where Danny gets sick and in a move of fever-riddled “genius” he decides that his best move to keep protecting the town would be to split himself using the Ghost Catcher again- because obviously the illness is likely coming from his human half, so his separated ghost half should be perfectly fine, and be able to protect the city for a couple of days until his human half is well enough to fuse back together.

Obviously this leads to Fun and Super again, but the issue is, Danny is wrong, his ghost half is also sick, but Super is super in denial about it, since Danny himself was so convinced his ghost half couldn’t be ill. Fun Danny doesn’t pick up on this and just goes back to bed and leaves Super Danny to do his own thing which. Is an issue due to the fact that it is painfully obvious to anyone Super runs into that he is not well.

People genuinely assume that the whole alliteration and bedsheet cape thing are literally due to Phantom having a high fever to the point of delirium (not entirely wrong, he does have a high fever and it is making him a lil bit loopy, but also not entirely why he’s Like That Right Now). Still though, he has enough of a grasp on What’s Happening to know that when Maddie and Jack show up he should pretend to be Normal.

He fails MISERABLY.

Jack and Maddie have been kinda,, easing up on their views on ghosts, but there’s no like official truce/alliance between them and Phantom yet (and I think it’d be really funny if this was the scenario that started it) but they see a very obviously sick Phantom and are like. Well. From what we concluded this shouldn’t be possible. Suppose we’ll have to bring Phantom back and use this as a kinda case study while we make him healthy again.

And they proceeded to capture Super in one of their ghost nets/ropes and drag him back to Fentonworks kicking and screaming and alliterating threats the whole way (said alliterated threats are slowly devolving into straight up nonsense).

Fun is in the kitchen when they get back, drops an orange juice carton upon seeing Super, and proceeds to book it back upstairs because fuck it he’s not dealing with this. He’s going to sit in his bed and play games and ignore the situation of his ghost half yelling and squirming while his parents try to stick a thermometer in his mouth.

Eventually both Fun and Super recover- but the problem is, obviously, Super is still acting like Super. Which worries Maddie and Jack, cause like, the fever’s gone, so why is Phantom still acting like this??? Could whatever illness he had leave permanent side effects???

Thankfully Fun and Super use that night to fuse back into normal Danny. He has to sit through an unbearably long interaction with his parents as Phantom as they re-check him over, but ultimately since he’s acting normal now he’s free to go.

....They do warn him to come to them at the first sign of illness so he doesn’t go running around town wearing a bedsheet cape again though.

#Danny Phantom

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cynthiaandsamus · 4 days

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Just gonna dump some musings about my very very old edgy teenager Danny Phantom OC to document him for no one really but myself.

David Masters, recently adopted son of Vlad Masters transfers into Danny's school with a Future Trunks-ass haircut and fashion sense that screams that he thinks the early 2000s Celtic Cross emo girl is the greatest thing ever. His ghost alter-ego is Shadow Specter, turning his hair black with red accents and curling both sides of his haircut into spiky C-shape with one side flipping up and the other side flipping in the same direction like a lopsided super saiyan and a sort of half-cape that ends around his upper back. Despite being Vlad's adopted son the two don't like each other very much, David being a hollow replacement for Danny and he knows it, making for a strained relationship to say the least despite him generally doing what Vlad tells him to.

Power-wise he's basically a midpoint between Danny and Vlad, basically given a few months of intensive beatings labeled as training by Vlad, the 'showing the ropes' he offered Danny on their first meeting allowed him to get the hang of his powers a lot faster than Danny but he lacks the practical experience and versatility Danny has and has a penchant for getting easily angered and frustrated during fights as opposed to Danny's dry quipping. His signature ability is the power to manifest an ectoplasm sword similar to Fright Knight's but designed by an emo teenager with curves bent into a gentle S shape and similarly curved handles that make it look flame-like despite being solid. His first encounter with Danny goes pretty well and he's able to outmatch him at every step but gets absolutely bodied by the Ghostly Wail which ends the fight in a draw since David flees and Danny is too exhausted to give chase. David essentially flies straight to Vlad and is like "Why the FUCK didn't you tell me he could do that!?" and Vlad's very petty about it saying that Shadow Specter is supposed to be better than Danny in every way and doesn't need the handicap of a full briefing which basically puts some serious tension in their relationship right off the bat.

Throughout various skirmishes Danny slowly catches on to his tricks and is able to exploit his emotional vulnerabilities, though brief flashes show Shadow Specter's eyes glowing red when he becomes really angry, leading to a rage mode that makes him a good deal stronger at the cost of what scant rationality he has, even increasing the size of his muscles and ectoplasm blasts when he really gets going. David knows he's only a placeholder until Vlad can either convert Danny or perfect his cloning technology and his frustration, ruthlessness and instability grows. He hasn't had the time to mature or the support network Danny has and despite being technically stronger he's always just coming up short. This frustration peaks during one of his encounters with Danny after Danny's figured out how to use his ice powers to create makeshift weapons to block his sword and he goes absolutely ballistic eyes turning red as he slashes his sword and ends up ripping a hole to the Ghost Zone, sucking him and Danny inside.

Exhausted from the fight, the two realize they have no idea what part of the ghost zone their in or how to get back to either of the two portals they know of. During this David de-ghosts and lets Danny see he's been one of his classmates all along, not someone he really had any meaningful interactions with but it helps hit home that he's a kid just like him. With some time to reflect, Danny tells David that his voice changed recently and that's why he can use the Ghostly Wail. He says there's been a lot of changes going on with both of them lately (simultaneously solidifying the ghost/puberty metaphor) and that eventually these changes will stop and they'll get used to them, but that doesn't mean that how they handle them doesn't matter. He's noticed his own powers growing in a direction Vlad or his future self could never have predicted because he lived through the pain and angst of being a teenager, and how David's have been growing in response to his anger in frustration, making him feel good and strong when he's angry and vengeful. Danny says he doesn't want to be someone like Vlad, someone buried in revenge and obsession, he doesn't want to live in somewhere like the Ghost Zone, a literal dimension of grudges and regrets, and he doesn't think David should either. He reaches a hand out to David and offers to help him break away from Vlad and his anger so they can both work through these changes together.

David stares at Danny's hand in the silence of the Ghost Zone for what seems like forever, transforming into Shadow Specter one more time and slashing at Danny, coming inches from his neck and ripping open another hole back into the real world. Fleeing from the blow, Danny escapes back to his hometown and looks back to see Shadow Specter standing on the other side of the closing rift in the Ghost Zone with tears in his eyes, believing he's too far gone and resigning himself to the realm of grudges and regrets he's created.

#ooc #Danny Phantom #I made this guy when I was like 15 so yeah he's a Gary Stu but oh well

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britcision · 2 months

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As promised, part two!

First Chapter:

Part One of this chapter:

————————

So That Just Happened part 2

In the bathroom, Jason turned the hot tap on as high as it’d go and stood over the sink, breathing in the steam. He just… he just needed to clear his head. Get his thoughts straight.

Sleep for the next six fucking weeks and make Pitty someone else’s problem, ideally.

The weight of Frostbite’s gift sat heavy in his pants pocket and he pulled the case out, shaking a single glowing ice chip into his hand. The rising temperature of the bathroom didn’t affect it at all, which didn’t surprise Jason.

He considered putting it under the stream of hot water but didn’t bother.

Frostbite said not to use them too much, or get too dependent on them. On the other hand, fuck today. So much.

He crushed the shard in his hand and shoved the pieces into his mouth. This time it tasted like ozone and limes, and stung the inside of his mouth. In a good way, though.

The rush of energy was the same, and Jason would swear he could feel his frayed edges slowly closing over. Not a real substitute for food or sleep, but sure as hell beat coffee.

He had a couple dozen more ice chips, which he tucked away in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. The mirror wasn’t supposed to have a cabinet, but it had been easy enough to make one, and so far none of his siblings had found it yet… if they even found this apartment.

(None of them would have been able to resist commenting on the collage he’d made across the back wall of their most “interesting” family photos. Or the little batburger figurines of each of their alter-egos.

Jason had made sure he got the worst ones on the market, and knew their exact positions. If a single one shifted, he’d know.)

It was on the outer edge of Crime Alley, far from the heart his family all expected him to hole up in, and the rest of the building was a completely unremarkable old library which had been abandoned before Jason was born.

Getting himself a well secured home had been easy to slip into the renovation plans; he’d had Bruce “buy” the building through Jason’s funds to start restoring it, keeping it well removed from Red Hood’s name. It was the first project he planned to put his own name on, now that he was officially alive again.

The Catherine Todd Memorial Library.

The building itself wasn’t open yet, the main part of it still being remodelled, but the needle drop off and exchange was already running from the front entrance.

This was home, as much as anywhere ever was. More than anywhere had ever been since Wayne Manor.

Jason tensed against the anger, but nothing rose this time. The ecto-ice had given him a flood of energy, the same almost static clarity, but he still felt drained. Like there was no anger left in him.

It would have been nice if it felt good.

The steam had fogged the mirror now, collecting in the air even against the bathroom’s fan. Shutting the tap off, Jason closed his eyes and sucked in a few more deep, fortifying breaths.

Maybe the ecto-ice had been a mistake. All he wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep, but he wouldn’t be able to for at least a few hours now.

Patrol was out of the question. His body may be revitalized and humming with energy, but his head wasn’t in the game. Even Lady Gotham’s embrace couldn’t pull his scattered thoughts together.

What he needed was some mindless TV, some stupidly indulgent junk food, and a blanket. He’d heard… well, things about the new Sex and the City spinoff. Not exactly good things, but things.

Carrie Bradshaw’s not-problems could be the perfect backdrop to a night in.

Alfred would probably send him cookies if he asked. This being an emergency and all. Although… it wasn’t like they could explain the nature of the emergency without the whole ghost reveal.

… Probably still worth a try though.

His Red Hood phone was still at the safe house he’d slept in, but at least one of his spares for his civilian life should be in the apartment somewhere.

The steam had mostly cleared too, leaving the mirror only slightly foggy around the edges. Jason gave it a careful wipe down out of habit; dots on the mirror didn’t usually bother him, but… he’d put Catherine’s name on the building. He wanted to keep everything in it nice.

(Which was why a lot of stuff was unused.)

It wasn’t until he opened the door that he realized he really hadn’t said anything to Danny before disappearing.

Would he have left? Fuck, that’d be the obvious choice, wouldn’t it? Getting dropped off just inside a stranger’s door, and then they just walk away from you into the bathroom.

Shit, Danny had probably left. That… Jason didn’t know how to feel about that, and the empty hall only confirmed his suspicions.

On the one hand, he really wasn’t up to more talking. He didn’t even want to think about everything that had happened today, and especially not whatever the hell was lose in his city, trying to feed his rage. He couldn’t handle one more gentle reassurance that it was okay to be angry.

On the other hand, he really, really didn’t want to be alone. The noise from the TV and the snacks would cut it in a pinch, but the only thing he actually wanted right now was company. Quiet, nonjudgemental company.

He hadn’t told any of the bats about this safe house. Not even Bruce’s contractors knew he’d snuck it in. He’d wanted it to be safe from them and from everyone else, and now he could keep his fucking secrets at the cost of being alone.

A little heavy handed as a metaphor.

… Fuck, Alfred couldn’t even bring him cookies without knowing where he was.

He turned away from the hall and made for the bedroom to grab the spare phone, though he wasn’t sure who he’d message anymore. Just as he was debating the merits of messaging Cass and getting her to do him a delivery, a noise from the kitchen caught his attention. Hope rose, slowly and uncertainly. Had Danny not left?

… Why was Danny in his kitchen, when he was a self professed fire hazard?

Caution and concern flaring right alongside that hope, Jason backtracked and hurried to the kitchen.

There were not enough dirty dishes.

There was like, a mug, a coffee pot, and two plates. Really, Danny should have been done in minutes and fidgeting for something else to do.

But then he’d been looking for where to put the plates away, and he’d found a really impressive spice cabinet. Right next to the stovetop, made sense he guessed, though personally he preferred to keep the damn plates where they’d be used.

He’d perused a couple of labels on the little jars, mildly amused by how many he absolutely could not even guess at. What the fuck was “marjoram”? Or “zataar”?

So the logical thing to do had been open the jars for a sniff.

All well and good. He didn’t recognize most of the smells either, and couldn’t imagine why you’d put almost half of them in any kind of food, but some of them smelled really good.

But then he’d found the garlic powder.

Danny did not cook, as a rule. Sam cooked, mostly from spite, and she always used fresh smashed garlic. Danny’s youtuber chefs mostly said the jarred chopped stuff was fine, but what the fuck was garlic powder?

And what garlic powder was, was pungent. Really, really strongly scented, and super light. Just opening the jar had puffed up a cloud of the stuff, and Danny had been about to sniff it anyway and took a bigger huff than he intended.

And then he’d sneezed.

And now Jason’s entire kitchen was dusted in garlic powder, including the dishes he’d just washed and left on the counter while he found their homes.

So Danny panicked.

Trying to dust the garlic powder off the counters with his hands only got more of it into the air, and he wasn’t falling for that fucking trap again, no sir. He went ghost again and stopped fucking breathing is what he did, then grabbed a garlic covered towel and tried to wipe the powder into a pile.

No dice.

But Danny was a professional superhero. He calmed himself down. He stopped panicking. He went looking for a dustpan and brush like a sensible adult.

And then he heard the bathroom door open, froze like a deer in the headlights, and reflexively jerked straight off the floor.

Because right, he had fucking ghost powers.

At least he already hadn’t been breathing. Luckily, Jason seemed to need something from the other side of the apartment since his footsteps pretty much immediately moved away, and Danny let out another relieved breath.

He could still fix this. This would be fine. He could telekinetically pick up all the garlic dust, and throw it in the trash because a lot was on the floor and the rest was on him and also Every Other Surface On Earth, and buy Jason more tomorrow.

Before Jason came back from wherever else he was going and realized Danny was a fucking menace. Focusing hard, Danny let his aura suffuse the room and focused on the garlic powder. Willed it to lift off whatever it was touching, and come towards him.

Of course, some of it was now on the clean dishes, and in the mug. Which fell over as Danny pulled its powder coating away.

Jason’s footsteps immediately stopped. And then began hurrying towards him.

And maybe Danny panicked again, just a tiny bit, but the good news was he did not ice over the whole kitchen! He’d grown so much since Ghost Puberty Part 2 Electric Boogaloo! He was totally in control!

He just iced the dishes to the counter and froze the floating garlic powder, which was why Jason appeared in the doorway to see Danny floating like a fucking dumbass in the middle of his kitchen, surrounded by sparkling ice crystals.

Danny raised both hands immediately.

“I can explain.”

So the thing about Spiderheck. The really big pain in the ass thing. Was that every round was super unpredictable, even when you weren’t playing with superheroes trying to adapt their actual abilities to spider bodies.

There really was no way to know what would be a long or short round.

Tucker had tried a couple more times to “fall” early on, only to be promptly followed by one or both of his fellow competitors.

The good news was, they were at least all tied up for now, so he’d gotten more time without anyone asking questions. The bad news was, it was match point. Whoever took this next one, if they didn’t all tie, it would be time for another set.

Aaaaand Conner and Tim were still having fun, and insisted they were just warming up, but Tucker was sweating anyway. He didn’t even know spiders could sweat.

Ancients, had he actually fucked up using his powers for the first time in years when he was trying to show off for Red Robin and Superboy?

He was going to look like a fucking newb. An absolute amateur.

And that was assuming that no one had come looking for them and noticed the empty room and still going game on the TV. Would Batman think he’d kidnapped Red Robin?

Who was Tucker kidding, he totally would. Bruce was paranoid as hell, and while he mostly seemed to be aiming it at Danny, that was probably because he hadn’t realized Tucker was liminal. Did the GIW even know about liminals? There probably wasn’t much documentation for him to freak himself out about with.

Of course, in this case he wouldn’t be wrong. Tim would be trapped. It’d just be because Tucker was a dumbass, not a malicious force. At least Tim and Conner would almost definitely believe him.

Aaaand he’d never live it down. It was only a matter of time before they both noticed he wasn’t really trying to win anymore too. He’d kept up, but that was mostly by accident. He just had a lot of practice being inside the game levels.

A lot of them could kill all the players on their own, no PVP required.

He felt like an absolute caveman when the answer finally came to him, and it wasn’t even his own idea.

Because the last level had been one of those “kill all the players” levels, and all three of them had managed to be thrown into lava close enough that the computer didn’t count a winner.

Tim and Conner groaned loudly before bursting out laughing, because of course that was what happened at their dramatic finale, and then as they’d spawned in again Tim turned to Tucker.

“Hey, can you pause before we get into this one? I just wanna catch my breath a second.”

Which, for a nanosecond, felt like the absolute end of the world, because he didn’t have his controller buttons. Because he was a dumbass.

Luckily, it also snapped him back to his senses, and reminded him of the very first time he’d put Sam and Danny into a game with him. They’d made the same mistake, not leaving anyone their actual console controls, and Danny had begun trying to actually physically break them out before Tucker worked it out.

They were his fucking powers. He could always pause them, whatever they were doing; all he had to do was close his eyes and blank out for like, a minute.

He’d been collapsing in despair that first time, and Sam had kicked him over, sat on him, and demanded he take a nap, and then they were all back in their bodies like nothing had happened.

Keeping them inside the game was the part that was difficult; it was an act of focus, and sure it felt automatic at this point because he did this all the time now, but it was still something he had to actively do. Sure, technically, he wouldn’t be controlling the game from the inside, but they’d be back in their fucking bodies in the real world.

Where the actual console controls were. And then he could reload them in, and not forget his overrides this time, and everything would be fine.

Luckily, while his brain was techno-linked, he was processing in computer-time, not people-time. There was barely a pause after Tim asked the question and the answer came, tension leaving his body so quickly he almost sagged.

He even sounded a little giddily relieved to his own ears as he answered, laughing and already shutting his eyes.

“Well, kinda. Let me just pop us back out, we should probably check the time too. Hang on.”

Luckily, this stage did not seem to have any instant death traps. Tim and Conner fucked around with the crates and the platforms for a couple of seconds while Tucker reached inside, deliberately pulling his disconnect instead of waiting, and then they were all back on the couch, controllers in hand.

He’d never been so happy to see his own hands. Or the Start button, which he promptly hit to pause all three spiders before Tim and Conner’s could swing to their deaths. Even if that would give him the win.

Tim and Conner shifted beside him, getting used to their bodies again. Tucker took the lead there, setting his controller down and stretching his arms up behind his head, the phantom sensations of extra limbs already beginning to fade.

“It stops feeling weird pretty fast, but it helps if you move around,” he explained brightly, still high on that buzz of relief.

Conner made a noise of agreement, standing and stretching his arms over his head, which made his shirt ride up. Tucker had the good sense to turn away quickly, before he got hypnotized.

Not quickly enough that Tim didn’t notice, but Tim Drake-Wayne remained the very coolest person on planet Earth and didn’t say anything. He just grinned knowingly at Tucker and rolled his shoulders, stretching out his neck.

“Okay, that was really cool. Not even a little bit the same, but really cool.”

Tucker grinned back, sheepish but still just happy he didn’t get caught.

“Yeah, there’s always the skill barrier where you can’t do the button combos, but I still feel like it helps? Y’know, understanding how the characters move and stuff.”

“I’m just glad you picked up the TTK that fast,” Conner cut in with a laugh, now bending down to touch his toes, blessedly while facing them.

Tucker swelled with pride.

“I mean, it wasn’t all that complicated. You explained it really well,” he said totally calmly, totally cool, definitely not fawning over the actual demigod in the room.

He didn’t exactly get why Conner shot Tim an entirely triumphant grin or why Tim rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t gonna worry about that. Tonight, he was batting a thousand.

He’d be tired getting back to class tomorrow, and he couldn’t exactly tell his classmates he’d been hanging out with Tim Drake-Wayne and being carried home by actual Superboy, but this was still the best week of his life. And Tim had already been talking about getting him an internship.

His life really could not be finer.

Jason took the mess well. Probably because Danny had a) already been working on it and b) panicked like a startled duckling and explained at a mile a minute, getting the order of events completely wrong at least twice.

Having the garlic powder iced over definitely helped the cleanup too. Jason grabbed a garbage bag, Danny floated what was in the air in, and they both took damp cloths to hunt down any stray garlic powder hiding in crevices.

Danny rewashed the dishes, but Jason dried them with a fresh towel and showed him where everything was. All in all, it was a blissfully domestic moment after a genuinely fucked day.

He could feel an unasked question waiting on the back of Jason’s tongue while they cleaned up, the shape of anticipation and something that wasn’t exactly fear, or even anxiety, just a low grade avoidance. Danny didn’t push it.

That seemed like the right answer too, because when they’d finished and stared at each other awkwardly for a long moment, Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Look, I know you’ve got school tomorrow. If you’ve gotta head out…” he trailed off, resigned-tired filling his aura.

Danny raised both hands to cut him off.

“Hey. I can fly across this city in like, fifteen minutes. It’s not even half eleven yet, so if you want some company I’ve got nowhere else to be. We can talk about whatever, play some more MarioKart, or I can just make you some cocoa and go if you need space?”

Jason didn’t physically sag with relief, but that was probably because he’d already been holding himself carefully to hide the tension. Didn’t matter, because everything else about him screamed it as he raised an eyebrow at Danny, glancing around his kitchen.

“I’m not leaving you alone in here again until you’re Alfred-certified,” he declared sarcastically, and Danny grinned back.

“Ah, so never again. Good to know. It’s probably for the best, I’m a lousy cook for anything I don’t have to wrestle to the ground.” Not that he was any better at cooking it after he’d won the fight; he was just pretty good at the fighting part.

Jason’s eyebrow twitched and then he chuckled, shaking his head and pointing out of the kitchen.

“Tell you what, I’ll make you some cocoa while you go turn the TV on. Remote’s on the end table.”

That sounded like an invitation to stay to Danny! So he hadn’t totally fucked by not booking it out of Jason’s haunt at top speed; good to know.

And maybe he did physically sag with relief a little, because expressing your emotions was cool actually and everyone should totally be doing it more. And it was more fun in ghost form; he actually sunk til his feet almost touched the ground.

Didn’t go all the way when he remembered he was still in his boots. Jason’s other apartments had been pretty well lived in although still generally tidy, but this one was almost pristine. Whether it was new or he was just more careful here, Danny could take a hint.

He gestured quickly at his body while Jason pulled a cartoon of milk from the giant, gleaming blue-black fridge that looked mostly empty.

“Sure, uh… mind if I change?”

Jason blinked, which was fair since Danny had been a ghost for the past couple hours, then nodded.

“Not at all. There’s also some sweatpants and stuff in the bedroom if you wanna get more comfortable, but I don’t have as much of Tim or Dick’s stuff here so you might be stuck in mine,” he added a little shyly, and Danny’s grin widened as he remembered his new favourite shirt.

“You have five minutes to hide any other great soup shirts before I take you up on that,” he teased and Jason grinned back.

“Nah, go for it. I’ll only be a little longer than that with the cocoa though, so don’t do too much snooping around.” It didn’t sound like an actual warning, but he’d also already turned back to what he was doing… which already looked way too complicated.

He had a saucepan for crying out loud. Like Danny couldn’t see the electric kettle and fancy coffee machine. Tempted to stick around to watch just for curiosity, Danny floated back to the front door to change back and drop off his shoes and coat instead.

And hesitated.

Jason had given him permission to go to the bedroom. Change out of his jeans and jacket. He didn’t actually need to; the jeans were pretty comfy, well worn in, but they did have some built up salt, slush, and yuck from walking and driving around Gotham’s streets around the ends.

It was possible the suggestion had been more for the sake of Jason’s couch than Danny’s comfort.

He could just go intangible and let the dirt fall through, but that’d leave a pile which while technically being more contained would still be more mess. And sometimes it was hard to tell what was dirt and what was pants, since they weren’t exactly “his” either way.

He could just do laundry when he got home.

Luckily the bedroom door was open, so Danny didn’t have to poke into any of the other doors from the hall. Just like at his other apartment, there was indeed a separate set of six drawers with Jason’s siblings name on each drawer.

Well, “Dickhead”, “Timbo”, “The Purple One”, “Cass”, “Demon Brat”, and “Best Sibling”. Snickering to himself, Danny considered taking a picture. Or asking Duke what he’d done to be “Best Sibling”.

Unlike the other apartment, each drawer was mostly empty though. Just a pair of sweatpants about the right size, a hoodie, and a shirt that Jason had definitely assigned rather than getting one of theirs. Although Danny didn’t doubt Dick would own a Nightwing hoodie in the least.

The My Little Pony shirt for Damian was… well, Danny didn’t know him well enough to say.

With the clothes that might actually fit located (and honestly Cass’s were probably actually his best bet), Danny snooped through a couple other drawers to see if Jason did have any other fun shirts to steal.

There was actually depressingly little; Jason had plenty of clothes here, just like the other apartments, but all of them were… respectable. Plain. Block colours, simple patterns, normal people clothing.

Danny was just about to give up when he popped open the bottom drawer and stared in awe.

Jason’s regular wardrobe (from Danny’s admittedly limited experience) was kinda basic; plain shirt, sexy jacket, plain pants. Extra sweaters given the weather, but he did also have a pretty good collection of graphic tees with various swearwords usually featured boldly.

Where what had to be the complete collection of every Wonder Woman shirt ever made fit in, Danny wasn’t going to try and guess, but he knew good taste when he saw it.

Unfortunately, if he stole one of those, Jason was probably gonna want it back. Most of them were clearly worn, and just as clearly carefully cleaned to keep them nice. Danny wasn’t good at keeping things nice.

Somewhat reluctantly, he shuffled back to the siblings’ dresser and stole Cass’s hot pink paw print sweats, Steph’s 1000% bootlegged Sex In The City misprint shirt with the purple sparkle dildos painted over the girls, and the Nightwing hoodie. Never let it be said he could put together an outfit.

Fingering the shirt, he made his way back out and to the open plan lounge, his own clothes tossed carefully onto his shoes by the door. Jason had told him to put the TV on… and the worst he could do was say no.

Pulling up the streaming services, Danny went looking for And Just Like That. Mostly for curiosity’s sake, to be honest. He could probably sneak a trailer before Jason got back, just as a sample.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Jason appeared just as Danny found the right service, two steaming mugs of incredible smelling cocoa topped with a mass of whipped cream in his hands and a large bowl of popcorn, skittles, and smarties in his other arm.

Danny couldn’t even complain about not getting to have nice things, because if that wasn’t the epitome of a fantasy walking into the room he didn’t know what was. Hitting pause quickly, he hopped up to take the bowl for purely altruistic reasons.

Definitely not for an early handful, no matter how Jason raised his eyebrows at him. The handful was Danny’s reward for being a good citizen.

“Hey, that smells fantastic! Your family is gonna ruin me for shitty cafe hot chocolate,” he teased through a mouthful of candy.

Jason rolled his eyes but smiled, switching both mugs to one hand to set a trio of coasters on the coffee table. Danny reluctantly relinquished the bowl to the third if only to grab his cocoa and take a sip as Jason sniffed.

“Hot chocolate is to cocoa what instant coffee is to fresh,” he said snootily, like those were words that meant anything. Danny just stared at him, whipped cream on his nose purely for comedic effect.

Until Jason leaned in and wiped it away with his thumb, and Danny’s brain shut down. Unfortunate, since Jason started talking.

“So, uh… you a Sex and the City fan?”

“Huh?” Danny kept staring, pretty sure words had meanings until Jason jerked his thumb in the direction of the TV (which was huge and gorgeous because of course it was. This was the rich son of a bitch apartment Danny would expect of… okay, not a Wayne, it was still way below that level of fancy, but at least someone making a good chunk of change).

Then he shook himself out of it, grinning.

“Oh! No, never seen any.”

Jason cocked his head, eyebrow raised again.

“Then why…”

Danny shrugged, settling himself comfortably back into the couch. He was going to sound like a crazy person anyway, he might as well be comfortable.

“I listen to The Worst Idea Of All Time on my way to classes. And when I’m welding. It’s a couple of guys from New Zealand who watched Sex and the City 2 every week for a year, and a bunch of other stuff. Like, uh… Grown Ups 2, We Are Your Friends, oh and the first Sex and the City movie.”

And, sure enough, Jason looked appropriately baffled.

“What, all at once?”

“Nah, different years. They never did the actual show, but they’re doing commentary on all of the episodes of And Just Like That now that they’re out since they did both movies, which were after the show. Why, did you watch the actual show?”

Jason nodded slowly, and Danny snickered.

“The show’s not canon for the Worst Idea boys. Brady the Rat King is though.” And yeah, he probably could be explaining this more like a sane and reasonable person, but that just made the podcast sound worse.

This time it was Jason who raised both hands, even relinquishing his cocoa to do it.

“There are too many questions, so I’m just gonna start with “why?”” He was already smiling though, so Danny was going to take that as a good sign.

He shrugged cheerfully.

“Schadenfreude is the leading theory from the boys, and to be fair it is fun watching them suffer through the worst movies they can find. They’re both professional comedians though so it is actually really funny, and they’re really positive. Every watch has to have a shining light, which is something you actually liked about the movie that week. I did that with one of my lecturers last semester, a real blowhard, and it helped. Mostly it’s just the aural equivalent of comfort food; nothing challenging, no thought required, just two good soft boys making up crazy stories about movies every week.”

Jason was actually listening, pursing his lips as he considered what Danny was saying. Privately, Danny suspected having actually watched Sex and the City might work against him… although he might have been dead when at least one of the movies came out.

Finally, Jason sighed.

“So you’ve just watched the movies, and none of the show?” He asked, in a tone which told Danny exactly what he thought of the movies. So he might like the podcast after all.

Danny grinned and grabbed another handful of popcorn.

“Nah. They actively discourage us from watching them, even when they do directors commentary. And Just Like That isn’t getting the full season treatment though, so I kinda wanted to take a look just to see the outfits.” A stroke of inspiration struck him, and Danny dropped some of the popcorn into his cocoa.

Getting it back out again was not as easy as he’d have liked, but he got two pieces that were heavenly and was content to let the third wallow under the whipped cream where it had retreated.

Jason totally was not laughing at him, because he was a gentleman. It was the brilliance of Danny’s answers that had him smiling like that, for sure. And when he was sure he had Danny’s attention again, he pointed at him.

“Okay, we’ll watch And Just Like That tonight. But you have to come over and watch the original series at some point too,” he added quickly.

Danny pouted but considered it. He didn’t even know how many seasons there had been. Time for a counter offer.

“Only if you try the podcast.” Which was a totally reasonable offer and absolutely no reason for Jason to make that face as he nodded.

“Fine. I’ll give it a shot on my way to work. Happy?”

“Deeeeee-lighted,” Danny cackled, holding out a hand to shake. Which Jason obligingly shook, then nodded to the couch.

“No spoilers, okay? Unless there’s good hats. I’m just going to run and change.”

He even came back bearing a fuzzy throw from the end of the bed, which he dropped on Danny’s head and imperilled his precious cocoa. It was mostly empty by then though, and then Jason even refilled it for him, so Danny graciously gave him a royal pardon.

Jason graciously told him to shove it up his ass and settled in, and Danny swiped the remote for his impertinence. Long day now finally behind them, it was looking to be a much better night.

Taking a quick glance at both his League communicator and both of his phones, Bruce dismissed about thirty messages from Harley. He might have liked to talk to her earlier, and probably would actually message her back to talk later.

It had only been for a matter of minutes, but even a second of believing that Jason had died again… no. He knew he hadn’t handled it well. If he actually slept tonight, he had no doubt it would be even worse than usual, and plagued by nightmares.

Fortunately for him, he had a new case to distract himself with… or rather, a new direction for his existing case.

Diana was right; she usually was, in matters of the heart. He had to trust Jason, and trust that Jason knew what he was doing with this business in the Infinite Realms.

A year ago, Jason likely wouldn’t even have involved Bruce in the conversation, if it happened at all; he’d have dropped the evidence on Dick or Duke, or just gone around trying to blow up a rogue government agency on his own. That he had brought this to Bruce showed a lot of progress in their relationship. It gave him a reason to hope.

He would have to try and reward the trust Jason had shown in him, rather than punishing it. A proper apology, just between them… if Jason would speak to him.

A few days to give Jason time to calm down would probably help. And, if he was truthful, for Bruce to put his concerns to bed.

He may have been… hasty in leaping to conclusions about Danny Fenton. It wasn’t like him to become so entrenched in an opinion without checking it from at least a dozen more angles; the Mansons and Vlad Masters could only know so much.

Diana had been right again; he had to get to know Danny, to put his fears to rest. He trusted…

Okay. When it came down to it, he didn’t exactly trust his children not to lie to him about the dangers of a potential friend. There’d been one too many secrets-turned-disasters. But he could trust them to fact check and rat each other out if they truly believed their siblings were making a serious mistake.

For the joy of an “I told you so”, if nothing else.

Cass’s first impressions in her debrief had been illuminating. A little more discussion with her and perhaps Steph, their views were often varied enough that between them a very comprehensive picture could be built.

Talking to Danny himself again… Bruce knew himself well enough to know that wasn’t a good idea yet. It would have to happen eventually; he suspected he also owed Danny an apology for his behaviour, although no one else had mentioned it. Which was perhaps another sign of how badly he’d failed Jason.

No, he had to level his opinions on Danny first, make sure he could keep a clear head. Returning to the cave, he made his way directly to the batcomputer and sank into its familiar embrace.

Tim likely hadn’t had time to make the updates that would allow them to read through Amity Park’s data directly, but Tucker Foley had provided them with a respectable amount of downloaded data. Bruce could begin his researches there, and make some travel arrangements as well.

If he couldn’t get into Amity Park digitally, physically would have to do. Likely as Brucie Wayne rather than Batman, although repairing the town’s relationship to the Justice League was a worthy goal while he was there. And while people wouldn’t be as open to giving him information about Danny face to face, he could pick up some native tech and make his own adjustments. That should let him get past their unique protections.

And a better look at these ghosts, and an understanding of what exactly the Justice League Dark were so concerned about.

Hands pausing on the keys for a moment, Bruce briefly considered messaging Constantine again, or Zatanna. He should at least inform them that he was planning to go to Amity Park in person.

After a moment’s consideration, he sent a brief message to Zatanna. As unprofessional as it might be, Bruce knew himself well enough to know he just wasn’t up to spending any more time with Constantine at the moment.

Zatanna could brief him on any necessary etiquette just as well, with far less dramatics. A little space between himself and Constantine could only help as well. Honestly, a few days away from Gotham and all of his current headaches could only be a good thing.

Harley might even be proud of him.

——————

So here we have it! Also, by the way, that nexus thing is actually canon in the DC multiverse, and it is so much fun

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #danny fenton dead and loving it #dfdali #dead on main ship #chapter 18 part 2 #so that just happened

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noras-dc-shenanigans · 10 months

Text

Distant Relatives | Engrave

Daniel James Fenton

1990-2004

He will forever remain in spirit.

“Seriously?”

Sam leveled a flat look at her boyfriend, who grinned proudly back as the headstone was fully settled into the ground. On his other side, Tucker exchanged an exasperated look with the goth and spoke in a tone to match.

“Ya know, I’m pretty sure designing your own headstone isn’t supposed to happen until, like, a lot later in life. And I’m also pretty sure you’re not supposed to plan, attend, and give a speech at your own funeral. And come on, man, really? ‘Remain in spirit?’ That’s the best ghost pun you could come up with?”

“Hey!” Danny exclaimed, affronted, “I was going for subtlety. And if the Justice League is offering to give me a proper grave for me to get gifts at, I’m gonna do the whole shebang! And it’s not like I’ll ever get a real funeral, anyways, so I’m gonna make the most of it!”

While intended as a joke, the last sentence instead reminded everyone of exactly why they were doing ‘the whole shebang’ in the first place. As of the week before, it’d been five years since Danny had died and resurrected at the safe time, and turned him into a rare Halfa.

In that time, Danny had, accidentally, won the title of Ghost King during a fight with the previous holder. That had subsequently caused him to spend every single Saturday in one of Clockwork’s Time-Out bubbles, learning how to be king.

Occasionally, that had involved CW sending Danny to shadow (heh) other ghost leaders such as Princess Dora, Frostbite, and Pandora. Other times, it was lessons on the Ghost Zone’s history and all the different afterlives it contained. And yet other times, the Master of Time would decide that a practical lesson in using what Danny had learned would be best.

That had meant that, once a month or so, Clockwork would drop Danny into a random city, tell him who/what to look for and/or what to do, and then disappear.

(Danny still wasn’t sure if he’d ever actually left or if the old geezer had just hidden somewhere to watch and laugh.)

That had led to Danny, age 17, accidentally bumping into Batman, Robin (the sword wielding one) and Wonder Woman, who had been looking for the same magical, time-messing-up artifact that CW had sent Phantom after. It was… not a great start, as they’d found him intangibly retrieving (stealing from a museum case) said item, Robin had attacked, Phantom had still been intangible, and Robin had gone straight through him and smacked into the wall, knocking a portrait off and setting the alarm ringing.

That had set them all fleeing for the exits, as they were in an ~Unnamed~ country that would not appreciate people stealing their shiny, new, (blackmarket stolen) exhibit.

Luckily, they’d made it out without being seen, and had been able to sort out the ah, situation. They’d come to an agreement that he would take the piece, as they hadn’t actually been able to come up with a way to contain its magic, and Phantom would also take a League communicator, so that they could coordinate if they wound up after the same thing again.

Over the next few months, one thing led to another and the Justice League discovered that the GIW was blocking anyone in Amity Park from calling them for help. They dug deeper, discovered the Anti-Ecto Acts, and suddenly every major newspaper in the country was writing a story on the ‘Ecto-trocities’. The government, called out about the violations against the Meta-Human Protection laws, were forced to abolish the Acts and disband the GIW.

Shortly thereafter, the League had approached a freshly-18 Phantom about joining up, he’d agreed with the ‘I’m-still-a-dimensional-ruler-though-so-I’ll-mostly-be-available-for-emergencies’ stipulation, and badda-bing badda-boom!

Phantom was officially a member of the Justice League.

Now, obviously, the whole ‘dimensional ruler’ thing had to be explained, especially after they learned the while Halfa situation, and one day, outta the blue, Batman had asked if Phantom had ever gotten a proper burial.

This of course had led to Phantom having to come clean about his Danny Fenton half, and that no, he hadn’t, and even though graves and final rites were considered very important in ghost culture he wasn’t really dead so he couldn’t have a funeral and getting a headstone seemed weird on his own ya’ know?

And… well. Apparently, he hadn’t come off as casual as he’d been trying to, because a week later he was offered an official funeral service and a grave stone in a high-securing cemetery reserved strictly for heroes, to prevent grave robbery and desecration.

So here Danny was, watching a gravestone that he’d designed being placed under a tree, as without a body they didn’t have to worry about roots. Sam and Tucker continued to nag him about his engraving choice, all the way through the funeral, and Danny’s speeches, and also their own speeches, as they were the only ones ‘in-the-know’ that had been invited. He was still working up the courage to tell his parents, and Jazz was present but declined to speak, citing some psychological mumbo-jumbo.

All in all, it was a fantastic funeral, if Danny did say so himself, and he got some awesome grave gifts! His favorites were the gold drachma from Wonder Woman and the moon rock from Superman.

Later that night, alone in the dark, thankfully still-mostly empty cemetery, he stood gazing down at his own grave, and the gifts, and the engraving, and smiled.

————

A day late due to having to deal with car issues, but still done! I have the start of a different route I was taking for this but couldn’t get to finish, so I might post that at a later date.

#DPxDCFamilyWeek #justice league #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley

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miscmonstro · 1 year

Text

The Uno Reverse Adoption Saga 8

AO3 Link: here

First: Chapter 1

Previous: Chapter 7

Next: Chapter 9

Current Characters: Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton, Jason Todd

Summary: Forced to attend a gala by her parents as she is every year, Sam Manson was resigned to suffer through the stifling three-night gala until something pulled at her core. The something turned out to be a someone. Just who is Jason Todd and can the trio gain enough of his trust to help him before his struggling proto-core collapses?

warnings: 1) the picture Jason sees at the end not super graphic but still it is of the trio's deaths. It starts at "Several states away" and as it's the last paragraph or so there is nothing after it. 2) you aren't supposed to do the psychology thing on friends/family, it's not ethical. Also Jazz's approach is not what a psychologist is supposed to do but… extenuating circumstances and fanficition.

👻 {Chapter 8 Below!)

“You didn’t eat anything.”

The trio were sitting at the small rickety table at Jason’s behest, and at the moment, the person in question was looking through the fridge.

The half ghosts all shared a look.

“We were tired. Went straight to sleep, pretty much,” Sam said.

Tucker wished he had decided to sleep. He didn’t feel the consequences of his actions, not while in ghost form, but he knew the minute he turned human he’d be out like a light.

He’d probably do that when he got home. If nothing else, sleep would disrupt the echoes of Jazz’s shrill tirade and worried questions still bouncing around his skull. Sam, who had dealt with Jazz last time and Danny, who couldn’t escape her worrying in any case, were not sympathetic.

Feeling perturbed, Jason huffed and closed the fridge door with a little more force than necessary.

“What’s up?” Tucker asked.

“I’m sorry. I- fuck.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. He glanced to them. “I’m sorry. I have almost no food. I’ll have to run to the store.”

“I can do it,” Danny offered. He rose out of his seat and towards the door. “You should take a quick nap.”

Jason raised a brow.

“Don’t think the corner store takes ghost bucks, kid.”

Danny just smirked and let his transformation rings engulf him, leaving a human in place of the ghost. He dropped to the floor and pulled out his wallet. “I’ve got cash.”

Jason tensed for a moment, then let it go with a gusty exhale. “Phantom, Gotham isn’t safe. You’ll get mugged.”

“I can handle myself,” Danny replied. “And did you just dead name me?”

Sam groaned. Tucker did too and then let his head hit the table.

“I- what?” Jason sputtered, doing a double take.

Danny’s face split into a shit eating grin. “Because that’s my ghost name? My dead name? Get it?”

“Get out of here,” Tucker complained, voice muffled by the wood.

Danny laughed and bolted out the door before Jason could muster a response.

👻 {Boo!)

It wasn’t long before Danny returned with an armful of groceries, passing straight through the door as to not wake Jason, who Sam and Tucker had cajoled into “closing his eyes for ten minutes”. He handed the bags off to Tucker, who was the best at cooking of the three of them, and switched back into his ghost form. Tucker grumbled on principle but pulled out the contents of the bags. Sam floated over to help but he shooed her away.

“You’re going to throw out the bacon,” he sniffed.

Sam didn’t bother trying to deny it.

Danny wandered over to the couch as the two began to bicker. Jason was sitting with his arms crossed and head tilted to the side. His breathing was even and deep; peaceful and asleep.

He didn’t want to leave Jason at the mercy of a random ghost. He wished they didn’t have to go back so soon.

“It’ll be a miracle if your parents haven’t noticed,” Tucker said in response to the thought.

“Yeah well. It’ll be a miracle if your parents don’t ground you,” Danny replied. “You can’t be grounded on Christmas.”

“I told them I was staying over at a friend’s. S’good as long as I get back before nine.”

Sam looked at the microwave and squinted. “What time zone is Gotham in again?”

“We’re an hour ahead here so it’s six back home,” said Danny, making his way to the kitchen.

Amity time: six hours two minutes thirty seven seconds fourteen milliseconds, Tucker absently supplied as he flipped a hashbrown.

Sam noted that they’d need to leave after breakfast as she wordlessly handed Danny a knife and a vague impression of apples. Seeing an opportunity to practice his telekinesis, Danny eyed the bag with the apples thoughtfully.

“Do that on the other side,” Tucker instructed, turning his legs into a tail and sweeping the bag across the kitchen. In his mind’s eye he saw haywire apples raining down on his poor hashbrowns. Danny chuckled and obliged, sliding the bag farther and onto the edge of the carpet outside of the kitchen before he started practicing.

Sam rolled her eyes and pulled out a drawer to get another knife. The serrations on the blade were more dramatic and were probably not meant for fruit, but it would get the job done. Snatching the fruit Danny wasn’t using, she got to cutting them into little uneven pieces.

Cooking breakfast after late night escapades had become a small tradition of theirs. It had started way back when Jazz had suggested they find a way to destress together their first year as halfas and had spiraled from there. They tended to overcook, though it had never been an issue; it had the bonus of feeding a very exhausted Jazz, producing leftovers for themselves and an extremely overworked Valerie, and now giving an obviously worn Jason some much needed fuel.

Tucker was a storm in the shape of a chef. He made scrambled eggs and bacon and hashbrowns and biscuit sandwiches. Eventually he did relent and let the other two near the stove. Danny made pancakes and Sam made breakfast potatoes.

(Tucker hadn’t always been an enthusiastic cook. It was something he started after the whole Duulaman thing.

Royalty didn’t cook.

It was a moot point anyway.)

They set the table with the paper plates Danny had picked up when Sam realized the cabinets were mostly empty. Paper would degrade but plastic wouldn’t so Danny had resigned himself to making utensils out of his ice. Sam appreciated it.

“Should we wake him?”

“Nah,” Tucker thought, “he was up all night. He needs the sleep.”

“He’s sleeping awfully well for someone hosting three ghosts,” Sam said.

“Oh. Maybe it’s a ghostling thing?”

Danny tuned in at the mention of ghostlings. “Ghm?”

The other two snorted. “Of course that gets your attention,” Sam dryly said.

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking… what if there is an emergency or something? I could give him my number, but even at top speed it’d take me a hot minute to get here from Amity. So, I think I should ask CW after the truce if he could send me back here.”

“Dude,” Tucker said first. “Maybe?”

He wasn’t confident. Don’t get him wrong- Clockwork was powerful, and he hadn’t steered them wrong, but the problem was that the solution was never obvious. He also didn’t trust the master of time to not add a few obstacles and side missions. He had before, and for no discernible reason.

Sam agreed. “I can’t change back anyway,” she said, mentally building up to what she was about to propose.

“So I guess… I can let him hold onto my camera.”

Danny almost froze the table in surprise. Tucker dropped the syrup and barely caught it.

“Sam?!” he exclaimed, slightly horrified.

Outwardly, she scoffed and seemed unperturbed. But they all shared a headspace; they couldn’t really hide from each other. The boys knew how disgusting the mere thought of parting with her camera felt.

“We’ll find a different way,” Danny said firmly.

“It’s fine.”

“Liar.”

Sam huffed and pulled the camera over her head. “I’ll feel it if he’s in trouble, and I can use it to get here in seconds, unlike you. Besides, it's not like I’m using it.”

“Sam, you can’t just like… do that,” protested Tucker, clutching his PDA tight in one hand.

Her stubborn resolve was her answer.

They stewed in silence for a bit. Danny tried and failed to think of a better solution and Tucker didn’t do any better.

“We should get Jason up,” he thought at last. “The food is getting cold.”

Danny more than happily began poking the sleeping man with the tip of his tail. Jason grunted and opened a bleary eye.

“Breakfast,” Danny said.

“Yeah, in a minute,” Jason grumbled, standing slowly and stretching.

Danny corralled their stumbling, half asleep host to the table. Jason only blinked as Danny all but sat him at the table. The lights were on, but nobody was home.

Tucker passed a plate of eggs. Over the next few minutes Jason became more alert.

“You kids made breakfast?” he asked, taking another spoon of eggs. “How long was I out?”

“Not long,” Tucker said.

“Mmm.”

“Yeah. We have to hurry though. We need to head out soon,” Danny added, skewering his potatoes.

That got Jason’s attention. He sat up straighter and surveyed the three. “Where will you go?”

“Our haunt. We need to get back,” Sam explained.

Jason paused. “Er… do I have a… haunt?”

“No, not yet. Don’t worry, once you grow up you’ll be strong enough to claim a haunt,” assured Danny.

Jason didn’t outwardly react but he didn’t seem to like the idea.

“Our haunt’s Amity,” Tucker added. “Lots of ghosts trespass and try to defeat us since that’s where the portals are.”

It was a bit of a white lie. Ghosts no longer come to cause mischief so much as they came to challenge Danny.

Sam picked up on what Tucker was trying to do- reassure Jason that his life wouldn’t be totally uprooted. “Haunts can be in the living world. They don’t have to be in the zone.”

That didn’t seem to reassure him.

Sam cleared her throat, which suddenly felt tight.

“So,” she drawled, thankful she didn’t need to breathe like this and therefore her breath wouldn’t hitch, “we were thinking. A lot can go wrong in a day, never mind a few, and we do need to leave. So… here.” She thrust the camera at him with a little more force than necessary. The strap swung in an arc and almost knocked over the salt shaker. “This camera is a part of me. If you’re in danger, click the button on the top, the one that takes pictures on normal cameras. I’ll be here in a heartbeat.”

“Be careful with it,” Danny instructed as Jason gingerly took the spectral camera. “This is the ghostly equivalent of someone chopping off a hand and handing it to you, except we don’t lose our connection with severed body parts.”

Jason poked the camera. “You can feel that?”

Sam shrugged. “More or less.”

Jason put the camera on the table.

“Uh-uh,” Tucker said sternly. “That’s Mane’s camera. Keep it on you.”

Jason rolled his eyes and then lopped the camera around his neck.

It felt a lot less awful than they were expecting. Tucker once again chalked it up to Jason being an unclaimed orphan- he didn’t have much of a core to contest Sam’s essence.

They finished eating (read: watching Jason eat) and then the trio said a quick goodbye. If they didn’t move quickly then they might not end up moving at all.

Jason seemed alarmed by their insistence to bolt.

“How are you kids even going to get back?” he asked pointedly.

“We’ll just… get there. Fly, you know,” Danny said vaguely.

Eventually they went invisible and moved to the guest room where they pulled out the map. Danny inhaled, found the nearest portal, linked arms with Tucker and Sam, and then they were off.

👻 {Boo!)

“Danny.”

“Danny!”

“What?” Danny asked crankily. He’d spent far too much time in the zone preparing his lair for the truce party and Jason’s checkup.

Jazz stuck her hands on her hips.

“You’re moping,” she accused.

There was a crash from downstairs. Jack bellowed something about getting his trap operational before tomorrow.

Christmas.

Danny harrumphed and crossed his arms.

Truthfully, Christmas wasn’t the only thing bothering him. Jazz, who had clearly picked up on this, gave him the snooty older sister look. As if she could read his mind she amended, “More than usual. What’s wrong?”

Well, Jazz always found out sooner rather than later.

“I want to be a dad?”

His voice cracked as if to mock him and he winced.

“Oh Danny,” Jazz began, setting a hand on his shoulder, “wanting to be a parent is-“

“Wait,” he interrupted with a bout of irritation, ducking out from and under her arm. “I didn’t even finish Jazz.”

She made a ‘go on’ motion with her hands.

Danny sighed and began pacing.

“So, I’m almost an adult human but I’ve been an adult ghost. And there’s, uh, there’s a ghostling. Except he’s part human too? So I want to adopt him, all the ghost urges are there and they’re driving me insane. But like, at the same time he’s an adult man. He totally adults better than me. Like he’s gotta be in his thirties or something.”

“You sound worried,” Jazz pointed out with a poker face that might’ve fooled someone else.

“Sam gave him her camera so we’d know if he was in trouble but not even two hours after we left, he took it off! For hours! Anything could’ve happened in that time.”

From Jazz’s expression, Danny knew she’d be psychoanalyzing that statement for a while.

“And why does that matter?”

“Jazz-“

“Danny.”

“Ugh! It’s a ghost thing. Everyone will want to adopt him. But he obviously has a life and stuff, but if he wants his core to stabilize he needs a parent. He’s like, ghost skin and bones Jazz.”

Jazz frowned. “This has more to do with concepts of autonomy and enculturation… I don’t think eating disorders apply here.”

Danny grumbled and pivoted to cross the room again.

There was a deep, rumbling boom and the house shook.

“What do you think about being a parent?”

“I can’t let another ghost take him,” Danny said promptly. “They will forget to take care of his human needs. He needs someone who won’t be confused or forgetful of his human side.”

Jazz nodded. “Hm. Is he a halfa?”

Danny almost tripped.

“No,” he denied vehemently. “He can’t be.”

“And you know that for sure?”

“Well… no.”

“Would it change anything if he was?”

Danny didn’t respond for three minutes. He never answered the question.

“So what’s the verdict?”

Jazz pinched the bridge of her nose. “Firstly, this is your reminder that this is unethical. Secondly, your obsession is mingling with your usual desire to help people. Because of their status being similar to yours, you feel responsible… this is on top of your regular ghost biology urging you. You’re afraid of what a human-ghost child implies and don’t want to think about it. You’re especially afraid of what a halfa child implies. So, is this something Vlad did?”

“We can’t discount it, but we’re not going to confront him about it either. Even if it’s something he did, we don’t want him to know we know. But… we talked it over. It’s unlikely with what we know right now.”

Which, admittedly, wasn’t much.

Jazz nodded. The sounds of bullets and blasters echoed, as did the cheerfully vengeful voice of their mother declaring the new system operational.

“So, like, enculturation,” Danny said in response to a faint nudge from Sam, biting his lip. “Being a ghost is overwhelming.”

“Make a list of things you wish someone had told you at first,” Jazz suggested. “And maybe things that took you a while to get the hang of. And remember- children are naturally not going to be as capable as adults. They’re developing. That skill gap will be frustrating for someone who’s used to managing themselves.”

“A list?” Danny mused. Did they even have the original ghost idea list anymore?

“Think school subjects. History, biology, science, economy, government. The things that we learn in school are basically enculturation.”

“So ghost history, ghost biology, ghost science, ghost economy. Got it.”

“And ghost government.”

Danny rubbed his neck and avoided eye contact.

“Danny,” Jazz said, voice laced with reprimand, “he knows you’re the king, right? You weren’t going to adopt a baby ghost and introduce him to the zone without planning to explain the governing bodies, right?”

“But Tucker hates being called a helpmate,” Danny blurted.

Tucker, in fact, could not care less.

Jazz looked at him flatly.

Danny hunched and glared at his sister. She glared right back and crossed her arms.

“Well, I think you ought to tell him but it is your decision. I just think it’s a stupid one.”

“Gee, thanks.” Danny rolled his eyes. “And I was gonna tell him, just… later.”

Jazz glared for a moment more and then relented. “Alright. An important part of parenthood is clear communication about important issues that can affect your family dynamic.”

Then they both cringed.

(Danny was going to tell his parents… just not now.)

“Wait,” Danny said, the implication of her words finally registering, “you’re not going to talk me out of it?”

“Do I think it’s a good idea? No,” Jazz said bluntly. “But I think that the other option is far worse.”

👻 {Boo!)

On Christmas morning the three woke to an echoed itchiness originating from Sam.

That was not an uplifting omen.

“What the hell is he doing to my camera,” she hissed.

Danny reached for it through Sam and held still for a moment.

“… I think he’s looking through it.”

“That feels about right,” Tucker said.

“Huh,” Sam muttered. “Well, that won’t look bad at all. Nothing suspicious about a collection of carcasses.”

Sam’s camera, after the accident, had begun to only capture dead things. It was usually the thing that’d died most recently in the camera view but if Sam focused, she could narrow the parameters. They’d helped solve more than a few old cold cases by filtering the photographs for human remains.

Very unsuspicious.

Tucker hissed.

“I hope he doesn’t go look at all of them.”

The very first picture was the worst.

All ghosts were sensitive to their deaths, even halfas. It was hard enough being in the lab sometimes, never mind looking at that accursed first picture.

Still, none of them had been able to convince themselves to delete it.

Several states away, Jason Todd looked down at the little camera display, the younger contorted and screaming face of Tucker’s flickering form in full view. In a tunnel behind him, just past a wave of green, Danny was suspended, back arched and face equally pained. Engulfed in dazzlingly bright energy, his mouth was stretched wide open. He was screaming too.

The hand, half dissolving as it reached toward the dying boys, could only have belonged to Sam.

👻 {Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.)

Taglist time! If you want to be added, just say so!

@depressed-bitchy-demon @dp-marvel94 @birbtails @mr-lancers-english-class @miraculousandmore @iglowinggemma28 @manapeer @azzysflowergarden @notwhat-i-seemtobe @whobee7 @trippingovermyfeet @stormhaven257 @imsociallyanxiousgetoverit @passivedecept @lovetheryu @ever-after-aaa @mysteriousooze @wegetitethan @cyber-geist @t-nayira @wisteriavines @starscreamlover @recently-diagnosed-lady-knight @thescarletcryptid @jaguarthecat @blankliferain

Next week: Amity! It's a nice place to live…

Jason POV :3

Next: Chapter 9

#Halfa trio pretty much from DarkNymfa's Third Time fanfic #dp x dc fanfic #dp x batman #dpxdc #dc x dp #danny phantom #miscmonstro writing #fanfiction #halfa biology #halfa!trio #halfa!trio au #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley

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