Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas)
Family: False Vampire Bat family (Megadermatidae)
IUCN Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Most bat species feed either on small, flying insects or on the fruits of trees, but this relatively large microbat, named for its pale coloration, is unusual in that it feeds largely on vertebrates (mainly birds, lizards, frogs and small mammals, including smaller bats.) Found in scattered populations across northern Australia, Ghost Bats spend the day roosting in small colonies within caves, mines and cavities in rocks, and emerge at night to hunt (typically in wooded areas, ranging from arid woodlands to rainforests.) They hunt in a manner more akin to an owl than to a typical predatory bat: after arriving at a suitable hunting site they position themselves on an elevated tree branch and wait for signs of prey, which they detect using echolocation, an acute sense of hearing and sensitive eyes. They subdue their prey with their teeth; airborne prey (which may be as large as Bar-Shouldered Doves, which are only slightly smaller than a Feral Pigeon) is brought to the ground by a series of powerful bites to the head and neck, while terrestrial animals are pinned to the ground by a specialized claw on the bat’s thumb and then torn apart by its jaws. As they typically breed deep in caves almost nothing is known about the reproduction of this species except for the fact that they typically produce only a single pup at a time, and that said pup clings to its mother constantly until it is mature enough to hunt on its own - when its mother flies, the pup is able to ride on her belly by clinging onto her fur as well as one of a pair of non-functional “false nipples” that seem to serve the sole purpose of allowing the pup to maintain its grip. The Ghost Bat is threatened by the destruction of roosting sites used by colonies, and by the abandoning of otherwise suitable roosting sites following disturbances by human activity (it has been reported that after being scared away from a roosting site members of this species may not return for months or even years, and without a safe roosting site they are vulnerable to predation during that day.) One of the largest and most important colonies of Ghost Bats is found in the Mount Etna Caves National Park in eastern Queensland.
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Image Source:https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41326-Macroderma-gigas
Happy Halloween!
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Batman has to choose between his kid and a civilian.
It's a Joker trap, and whoever he chooses will get released. Whoever gets left behind gets dissolved in acid.
Batman is stalling, trying to give Nightwing and Red Robin the time they desperately need to dismantle the complicated wiring that controls the acid vat hovering over the hostages.
When the civilian does something absolutely horrifying.
"Do it, no balls. You fuckin won't."
Joker turns towards the kid.
The kid gives him a feral smile that looks more like a snarl.
"Kiddo, do you have any idea-"
"Everyone from Illinois knows Joker's just a bitch, anyways."
"...Last chance, brat."
Batman shouts at Joker, tries to get his attention, but what gets said next drowns it out even though the kid never raises his voice.
"You also don't know how to tell a joke, or how to take one."
The vat of acid gets released over the civilians container, and Batman is forced to watch a child die in a sacrifice that wasn't needed at all.
Meanwhile, Danny fucking Fenton, after going intangible and invisible, decides that maybe he will stop at a gas station for some taquitos.
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DCxDP: Immunity system
Danny gets confused for Tim Drake when he stop for gas in Gotham on his way to visit Dan. His clone had set up shop- a literary comic book shop- in Metropolis.
Danny was going for the weekend to help him run the red dot sale and also spend time with his Clone turned older brother.
Dan after being released from his prison and getting a Core Cleanse in the FarFrozen ectoplasm iced pools, had mellowed out greatly.
It turns out Dan had gone mad after suffering a dip in contaminated ectoplasm. He called it "Pit Madness" and Clockwork assured him it was a real medical condition
Much like getting bitten by a rabies-infected animal, Dan's condition was not his fault despite turning him violent.
After the Big Reveal with his parents - who took the news surprisingly well- Team Phantom introduced Elle and Dan to them.
The two clones had been quickly made official Fentons and now Danny had an older brother and a young sister.
Elle lived at home with Danny and his parents, but Jazz and Dan moved out after high school graduation. Danny was thinking of moving in with Dan to go to college.
He wasn't sure, but he still had a whole year to decide.
Danny found a gas station within his GPS map and stopped at the closest one. There weren't a lot of people around, so he assumed that was a slow day.
He was not aware the locals avoided the area due to the danger of feuding gangs. He was also unaware that while pumping the gas, a Scarecrow goon was watching him.
That goon knew his boss had been getting a bit bored with his experiments, and he knew it wouldn't be long before his boss turned on his employees to relieve his boredom.
He was just starting to sweat, thinking he would be the new genuine pig until Tim Drake himself rolled out of a beat up car in the bad part of town.
He practically gift-wrapped himself for Scarecrow! The goon grins, creeping up behind the distracted young man.
One of the employees' inside the gas station had clocked Tim Drake too and had been staring at him - how could he not when Tim was a Bi icon?- and sees the moment the goon covers the boy's mouth with a clotch and yank him into a van that speeds away.
For a moment, the employee only gawked after the speeding vehicle, too shook to do anything as it disappears around a corner.
He scrambles for his phone to call 911. He prays that his slow reaction does not cost Drake's life.
(His call's transcript pings on Oracle's program designed to pick up the civilian names of the Bats if ever used in the emergency hotlines)
Sadly it is hours before the Bats have even an idea of where Tim (actually Danny) was taken to.
Danny wakes up in a warehouse, strapped to a table. He only had a brief moment of thinking his worst fear was coming true ,his parents, were going to rip him apart molecular by molecular, despite it being two years since they learn.
Thankfully a man dressed in a ridiculous Halloween costume steps into the light and he knows it's not his parents.
"Lovely expression Mr. Drake. Let's see how lovely that fear truly is," the man says in a raspy voice, holding up a needle. He stabs Danny with it and the boy blanches as the hot liquid enters his blood stream.
A minute goes by.
Two.
Three.
"Ugh was that supposed to do something?" He questioned, moving around his restraints to check his chances of escape without outing himself as Phantom.
The camera pointing at him limits his options.
The man dressed as Scarecrow lets out a gleeful cackle. He doesn't answer Danny, instead turning to the door- from where Danny can lift his head, it looks like he's in a basement of some kind- and shouts, "Bring me experiment six two six!"
A bulky man comes in carrying a tray of tubes. Danny watches as Scarecrow carefully selects a tube and pours it into another needle. "Lets see how you handle this"
The answer is Danny handles it very well. In fact he takes all seven tubes without a single reaction. Honestly it's the needle that's a real bother.
Scarecrow is both impressed and slightly insulted by the end of it. "How did a simpleton chloroform work on you but not my brilliant science!?"
Danny squints at him. "I would call this many things but never science, let alone brilliant, you fruitloop."
He gets knocked out again for his cheek with a new chloroform rag.
He wakes to the same made leaning over him again, but this time, there is also a clown in purple. Danny can only stare as the clown cackles.
"I think you're losing your special touch if Tim Drake is immune to your Fear Gas." The clown says, and Danny wonders if a costume convention exists in town.
Danny is happy to see that besides being knocked out and tied him down they haven't really done anything to him. "Who are you supposed to be?"
The clown face spams before a wide, mad grin breaks across his face. If Danny were to look of the definition of madness in a dictionary he knows this guy would be the example for it.
"I'm just a simple chum who wants to see the world laugh," The clown tells him, holding a squirt flower in Danny's face. "Let's see that smile!"
Danny squeaks as the liquid splashes in his face, some going up his nose. He coughs while the two men stare intensely at him.
After a moment Danny gets himself under control. "Ugh what was that? Is smell nasty"
The clown face freezes, rage bleeding into his eyes as the scarecrow one scoffs "seem you are also losing your touch, chum"
"No no no. Our little friend just needs a higher dosage! I'll have him laughing in no time!"
He doesn't. After a gas tank full of that nasty-smelling stuff is forced onto his face, and five different needles stabbed into his arm the clown is forced to admit Danny is immune.
They still call him "Mr. Drake" even though Danny tells them between needles that's not his name.
After hours of attempting to get a reaction out of him- both by clown and scarecrow- , Danny is knocked out again by the little rag.
When he comes two three people stand over him. The two from before, though clown now looks murderous and scarecrow politely interested, and a women in green with leaves splat across her outfit.
So Danny got kidnapped by a Scarecrow, a clown, and a nymph? Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.
The gas mask is forced back onto his face and another Danny struggles he can do nothing as he is forced to breath in a new gas.
The woman watches his reaction with a keen eye before nodding "He should be pretty far gone now"
Scarecrow shakes his head. "There isn't a single reaction. He isn't affected by your pheromones."
The woman scoffs, leaning over Danny and fluttering her eyelashes "You're going to kill dear old dad for me"
Danny glares at her. "Like hell, I will."
His voice is muffled by the mask but they hear him and the woman actually looks shocked "He might need a higher dosage "
"By all means, give it a try. Neither Joker or I saw a difference in Mr.Drake even after adjusting his intake."
"How is that possible?"
"Maybe because you all suck!"
The clown slams his hands on the table. "I am one of the best chemists in the world, brat!"
"And the ugliest!"
Danny doesn't see the knife until it's pressed repeatedly into his left leg. He screams around his mask as the Clown spits and swears at him.
The other two only watch, neither seemingly bothered by the man stabbing a teenager.
Then the knife is plunged into his stomach, and he screams as the world almost whites out in agony.
Danny, blinks the white hot pain, and is just barely thinking of going ghost when the door bursts open and a group of people wearing more costumes pour in.
A man dressed as a Bat flings the clown away with an outraged cry. Danny can't see where the clown lands, but he hears fighting all around him.
A boy in a hood and mask appears in his line of sight. There is a worried frown on his face as he quickly picks at the locks keeping Danny down "Do not worry, Drake, we are here."
Danny finally gives in to the pain, running to blissful darkness as a man in a red helmet lifts him off the bed and makes a run for the door.
The kid provided cover for them.
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