Part 3: Park

Danny starts a YouTube channel where he sings and does covers of songs. He never shows his face in the videos to keep some form of privacy about his identity. Using his wail, he also makes his voice sound different. He goes by the name Electric Siren in reference to the mythical creatures. He doesn't realize his wail combined with his singing voice has a similar hypnotic effect that Ember's does, just to a lesser degree. Tucker made his channel untraceable, which is good for when Tim Drake, fresh from a space mission with his team, comes home to find Jason clearly in a good mood. He asks what he's listening to, and when Jason shows Tim the song and he starts to relax. Tim immediately panics and clocks it as some sort of mind control

Part 2, Part 3

Tim marched through Wayne Manor, determined to get to Bruce and tell him of Jason’s possible mind control.

Electric Siren was a dangerous individual who could sing many songs with no limit on the styles he could replicate and use. If even Jason, an avid punk and metal music fan, was delightedly listening to pop music without a care in the world, then something was definitely wrong.

“Drake?” A voice called out. Tim stiffly paused in place and turned. Damian stared at him, his eyebrows dipped downward on his face. “What is the matter? You’re walking quite urgently.”

Tim wanted to go straight to Bruce, but knowing Damian, he’d just follow him anyways. Tim sighed and began to explain.

“I have reason to believe that Jason may be getting brainwashed.”

Damian’s eyebrows rose sharply before he snorted. “Hah! Serves Todd right. How pathetic.”

Damian was very lucky that he was small and adorable and that the person standing in front of him wasn’t Jason because that definitely deserved a knock on the head. Tim rolled his eyes and said, “Yes, which is why I need to talk to B.”

Damian, predictably, followed him as they walked to Bruce’s office. “How is Todd behaving? What is the medium used to brainwash him? Or is it a person?”

Tim told him about Electric Siren and then showed him a video. In this one, the singer was making a cover of a country song, strumming a guitar with low, smooth vocals.

Damian silently pressed play. Tim sighed again but allowed it. All the more people who could understand why it was a little concerning, right?

And right in front of his eyes, Damian relaxed from his stiff posture and looked at the screen with a small smile.

“I’m not sure I see the problem,” Damian said, his tone much more relaxed and even lacking that formal intonation he liked to give to himself to sound more mature. “It sounds fine to me.”

Tim’s jaw dropped.

Oh no.

Damian had been brainwashed too. And even worse, to country music!

when in metropolis ; a not fic

Quiet day in Metropolis with clean up almost complete from the latest alien attack where a scout group of warring aliens got spit out a black hole into the Milky Way and somehow honed in on Superman specifically to make his life worse.

Clark is enjoying a cup of coffee during a break, chilling on the roof while Lois texts him for help spelling words which he answers promptly because he’s a good husband.

He hears something strange. Something like… whirring? Buzzing? Like if bees were getting electrocuted on a dance floor next to a washing machine that’s breaking down mid-load.

‘Please No,’ thinks Clark, who doesn’t wanna do shit on his roof coffee break.

‘Lol Yes,’ says the universe and a section of the sky above Metropolis splits open. This gaping maw of dizzying green swirls and crackling electricity can only mean Bad News.

Clark is gone. Superman is in his place in 0.2 seconds. He sends one last text to Lois, correcting her spelling of catastrophe followed by a quick explanation of why he’s disappearing.

That explanation being gotta go check out the hole in the sky brb

CLARK???? she texts back but it’s too late. Clark’s gotta go.

He flies up to the area around the hole, which is large but has stopped growing. He can probably rule out the possibility of it trying to eat the city below him, but better to be safe than sorry.

Below him, Clark can hear people shouting in alarm, cars honking as people come to abrupt stops to stare up at the sky. There are multiple shutter sounds of photos being taken. When he glances down, he can spot Jimmy leaning almost all the way out of the window of the 13th floor of the Daily Planet, two seconds away from falling to his death. Luckily, behind him is Cat who is holding onto the back of his shirt, swearing up a storm as she tries to pull him back in before he breaks his own neck for a good shot of the hole in the sky.

He makes a little mental note to get her a nice pastry as thanks for saving Jimmy while he’s otherwise occupied. She could definitely use it, given how her week’s been going.

The hole makes more strange noises. Like it’s gurgling. Like someone’s stomach when they’re really, really hungry. It’s kinda gross, honestly. Clark backs away from it a bit, eyeing the hole warily.

Abruptly, the hole glows brighter, hisses, and spits out a boy.

Oh Shit, thinks Clark but he’s already moving, swooping down to catch the boy before he can plummet into Metropolis.

A quick look at his face tells him that this boy is Queasy to a dangerous degree and Clark quickly flies him just outside city limits and sets him gently onto the ground. Out of danger for now, and the hole closing up quietly and disappearing, gives Clark time to properly look at the boy and process what he’s seeing.

So. This kid is probably an alien, right?

He’s got white hair that’s moving around like he’s underwater. His eyes glow green, he’s semi-translucent, wearing a skin-tight hazmat suit with a symbol on it that looks like a D and P stuck together, and most importantly, Clark can’t hear any organs inside the kid’s body.

Like. None at all. No heart. No lungs. Not even any blood.

“You alright, kid?” Clark asks, because even if this kid is an alien, being spit out of a hole in the sky is probably upsetting for anyone.

The kid doesn’t answer because he looks green in the face, expression twisted up into a grimace, eyes slightly glazed over. “Mrph,” he manages to mumble out, then claps a hand over his mouth.

Alarmed, Clark moves to the side so he’s not about to get puked on, and rests a hand on the kid’s back. “Easy now, head between your knees and take deep breaths for me.”

The kid follows his instructions well, so he probably knows English. That’s good. Clark pats his back as the kid takes deep breaths that make his thin frame shudder. It’s a few minutes before he’s able to sit up, looking much more composed and less likely to hurl on anything that bothers him.

“Feeling alright now?” Clark asks.

The kid gives him a weak smile. “Yeah, thanks. That sucked. I’ve never felt so motion sick in my life.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“Not really? I got sucked into some kind of…. Ecto whirlpool, I think, but it kinda rattled my brain and I am having so much trouble focusing right now. Where am I?”

There’s a lot Clark wants to say to that, but he holds it back. He’s got a question to answer, after all. “We’re just outside Metropolis. A hole in the sky spit you out then closed right back up.”

“Metropolis?” the kid repeats doubtfully. “Isn’t that just calling this place ‘City City’?”

Clark has no idea how to respond to that. 

The kid doesn’t care. He looks at Clark, properly takes him in, and tilts his head. “Nice costume?”

“...Thanks.” 

He’s about to explain that he’s Superman™ and the costume helps people be less afraid of him when he arrives to help in disasters and other such situations but the kid has already moved on.

“I hope I can get enough signal to call my parents,” he mutters, pulling an old, clunky flip phone out of his chest. Clark blinks and tries very very hard not to react. “Nope. No signal. Oh well, my parents will come pick me up eventually. Sorry for crashing into you, and thanks for catching me!”

The kid gets up and flies away. 

Clark quickly flies after him.

“Hey, kid!”

“It’s Danny!”

“Okay, Danny! Can you stop for a second?”

Danny stops and Clark floats in front of him. “Do you have someplace to stay while you wait for your parents? Any family friends are guardians around here?” It’s a long shot, since he really doubts someone that got spit out of a green hole in the sky has any connections on Earth, but he’d like to believe that something could be easily resolved for once in his life.

Clark should have punted his hopes out a window because Danny shakes his head. “Nah, I was just gonna fly around and pass the time until my parents get here.”

He bites back on the concerned question of what if your parents can’t come and you’re stuck here for the rest of your life?

Don’t freak the kid out Clark, that’s a terrible way to be a Responsible Adult.

“Why don’t you stick with me until your parents get you? It’s a dangerous world out there, especially to people who aren’t human.”

“...I am human.”

“Humans can’t fly like us Danny.”

 “Well, what does that make you, then? A ghost?”

Why a ghost, of all things? What a strange comparison. Clark shakes his head. “No, I’m Kryptonian.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“I’m a refugee alien from the planet Krypton. One of the last of my kind.”

Danny Lights Up. Literally, he glows and gets really bright. “An alien!” he shouts, as if he, too, is not an alien.

This leads to a long back and forth where Danny shoots off questions about space and alien culture that Clark really isn’t fit to handle, having grown up on Earth, and Clark struggling to get the conversation back on track, which Danny doesn’t care for at all.

This is somehow more exhausting than a physical fight. Teenagers are stressful.

The impromptu Interrogation On Aliens comes to an end when Danny winces and puts a hand on his stomach.

Clark is on High Alert. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just hungry,” Danny says. Which is strange because as far as Clark knows, this kid doesn’t have a stomach. Or any other organs.

“Want me to buy you a sandwich?”

Danny squints at him. “I feel like I’m not supposed to accept food from strangers.”

“I don’t think you have a choice when everyone on this planet is a stranger to you.”

“Fair point. I’m in the mood for chicken wings. Know a good place for that?”

Clark and Danny get chicken wings. He’s sure social media must be having a field day from the amount of people snapping pictures of Superman babysitting an alien teenager. Lois is never gonna let him live this down.

In fact, when he focuses, he can hear her talking to Perry about where he is.

“Yeah, he really shouldn’t try new types of coffee,” she’s saying. “It really messes with his stomach. Smallville’s gonna be on that toilet for days.”

I Love My Wife, he tells himself firmly. I Love My Wife And I Am Not Stealing All Her Left Socks When I Get Home.

He is going to eat the pudding she’s been saving because, frankly, Clark deserves it more right now.

Chicken wings can only occupy Danny for so long. As soon as he’s had his fill, Danny’s up and flying around, eyes wide at the skyscrapers that make up Metropolis’s downtown area. He looks like any other tourist, if you take out the flying, glowing alien boy part.

Sighing, Clark follows along.

This is what Superman does. He saves the world and then babysits easily distracted teenager aliens. 

He bets Batman never has to do this.

Batman has to raise gleefully destructive teenagers who like to wage psychological warfare on him to pass the time, so you know what? Clark’s happy to babysit Danny.

A few times, he hears a cry from help and grabs Danny to fly over. Danny is given strick instructions to stay in the air and not interfere while Clark helps people. 

This means stopping a mugging, scaring off a group of low level gangsters who cornered a doctor on her day off, and stopping two car accidents. 

Danny polite applauds him when he flies back up to join.

“You’re like a real superhero,” he says.

“I am a real superhero,” Clark replies. 

It doesn’t matter, Danny’s moving on already.

Danny starts asking more and more questions about Metropolis. He’s fascinated by the big city, from the high rises of corporate hell to the gritty underbelly where gangs roam and weapons pass through too many hands. There are places all around being rebuilt after the last alien attack, and the hospital they pass by has a bunch of pictures of Superman, drawn in crayon by the children on that floor, all taped to the windows facing out so he can see them.

Clark is a grown man who’s seen a lot of shit. He’s died once. And come back. Been brainwashed too many times to count and stopped the end of the world multiple times. He can handle a lot.

But that does make him want to curl up and cry because it’s so sweet.

Danny starts comparing Metropolis to where he’s from. Clark listens carefully and tucks all that information away to pick through later.

Oddly enough, everything Danny describes sounds rather… midwestern. Very American.

When the sun starts to set, a whole chorus of gasps catch his attention. Clark whirls around to see what new crisis is occurring only to spot the green hole ripped into the sky appear once more.

Danny brightens and goes flying over. 

Clark follows, Stressed As Fuck.

He has a dreadful vision of a whole horde of teenage aliens tumbling out of the hole trying to rescue Danny. And he’s gonna have to look after all of them. Lois better come up with a really good excuse for why he can’t come in the next few days.

It’s not a teenager that comes out of the hole, but a whole ass space ship.

“My parents are here!” Danny announces cheerfully as a small white vehicle that resembles a space shuttle drops out of the hole and hovers above Metropolis. 

‘Please NO,’ Clark thinks despairingly.

The universe doesn’t have to say anything in response because Danny’s parents do it for him.

The top hatch of the ship pops open and a large man (bigger than Clark, who the hell is bigger than Superman™????)  gets his whole upper body out and waves his arms in the air with a grin on his face. “Danny, my boy!” he bellows.

Danny wastes no time and zooms over to crash into the giant, who easily gathers him into a hug.

Clark floats over slowly, cautiously, testing the waters. He doesn’t need to because Danny’s already talking him up, but a little caution never hurt. 

The giant man lets go of Danny, then disappears into the ship. He’s quickly replaced by a normal sized woman, pushing a pair of red tinted googles up her forehead. She also hugs Danny and Clark hears her say, “Well, at least we know the tracker works!”

He’s just. Not going to think about that. Thanks.

Then she asks more questions that he’d expect from a mother: what happened, are you okay, how are you feeling, did anyone try to hurt you, etc.

Danny assures her that he’s fine, he was just motion sick from being sucked into an ecto whirlpool and his head’s still a little fuzzy but that’s normal after he hits his head.

“Oh, honey, that sounds like a concussion,” the woman says.

“It’s fine, it barely hurt!”

“It’s still brain damage, Danny.”

“Oh yeaaaaaaaah.”

Then attention is suddenly on Clark and the sharp light in her eyes feels distinctly threatening. But her smile is warm as she extends a hand and Clark was raised with manners, okay, he has to return a handshake.

“Thank you for looking after my son,” she says, giving his hand a firm shake. “I’m Dr. Fenton.”

“Call me Superman, and no trouble at all, ma’am,” he replies. “I’m glad you were able to come pick him up.”

“Yes, Jack and I had prepared to face this possibility, so we knew just what to do when we lost track of Danny. Now that we’ve got this tunnel on the map, we can visit in the future, so if you ever need any help, call for the Fentons!” Then she looks down in the ship, yells, “Jack!” and a thick walkie-talkie looking device is tossed up into her waiting hand.

She gives it to Clark. He takes it to be polite.

“We have to get going now, but it’s nice to meet you!”

Danny floats into the ship. As in, he density shifts and just. Goes in through the wall. Good for him. Dr. Fenton ducks back down into the ship and the giant replaces her to give him a hearty pat on the shoulder. 

“Give us a visit if you ever end up in our neck of the woods!” he says brightly. “Any friend of Danny’s is a friend of ours!”

Clark nods and that’s enough for the giant to duck back into the ship. A moment later, he sees all three of them waving to him from the cockpit, and then the ship turns and flies back into the hole in the sky, which closes up after them.

Clark looks at the device in his hand. He looks at the sun setting on Metropolis. He goes home. He deserves a nap.

Pudding first, though. Lois will forgive him if he tells her all about what happened.

And the next time Brianiac attacks, she’ll shout something into the walkie-talkie and a hole will rip open in the sky above Metropolis ten minutes later, dropping Danny and Dr. Fenton, dressed in some sort of cyberpunk astronaut suit armor, right on top of Brainic to help him finish up the fight much faster and with much less property destruction.

He gets them both a slice of Ma’s apple pie as thanks.

And as Midwesterners, they return a day later with some absolutely delicious fudge.

Clark is a man of honor. He gets to planning on what he’ll need to make the best berry tart this side of the Mississippi has ever seen to give to the Fentons.

All in all, life is pretty good in Metropolis.

“What the hell kind of name is Superman?” Sam asks.

Clark, in the middle of talking to Perry, sneezes so loudly half the office turns to stare at him.

Thinking about a forever teen Danny interacting with the batfam.. again lmao

The first time Danny interacted with a Bat was when he was squatting in what he assumed was an abandoned apartment in crime alley. Spoiler alert; it wasn't abandoned! It was, in fact, Red Hood's safe house.

Danny had been napping on the "surprisingly nice" bed, (The bed being so nice should have tipped him off, but he was so tired, damnit.) when Red Hood enters the room, startling Danny awake. They stare at each other for a minute, since neither expected to see another person there. Danny breaks the moment by diving off the bed, snatching up his backpack, and launching himself out the window he had crawled in from. Danny ignores the cussing and calling for him to wait.

Danny ain't no fool. Just because the world seems to be mostly accepting of metas and aliens, doesn't mean they're accepting of him. They haven't repealed the Ecto-Acts in the last 30 years. He refuses to be a lab rat for some shady government because a "hero" wants to "save" him. He's older than most of these fuckers in spandex, and is technically a king, so they got no authority over him.

"Kid! Come back!" Red Hood is keeping up rather well, but not well enough.

"Eat shit!" Danny shouts back before using his small size to squeeze into a space between 2 run down buildings that can't even count as an alley. Red Hood can't fit by a long shot, so he grapples to the roof, probably hoping to cut Danny off. Unfortunately for Red Hood, Danny isn't going that way or back. No, there's a secret passage entrance Danny throws himself through.

He doesn't like being down there. Too many undead roam the halls and can sense him. He's not sure how to help them and currently can't access the realms to ask Frostbite, so he just gives them some of his ectoplasum and tries to get out before their "Masters" notice him. He feels guilty every time.

But all in all, his first accidental Bat meeting was less than 10 minutes.

--

The second Bat he "meets" is the stabby new Robin. Danny figured crime alley was a bust, so he'd try one of the nicer areas to not cross paths with Red Hood. Unfortunately, the shady building he decided to sleep in the rafters of got invaded by the Bats a few days later. He's not sure who else was there, but Robin ended up in the same rafters.

They stare at each other for a minute, just taking in the other person who's not supposed to be in these rafters. Robin is clearly sneaking in to bust the owners, and Danny looks like some scruffy homeless kid that was just sleeping.

"What are you doing here?" Robin whispers with a scowl.

"I was sleeping." Danny scowls right back.

"Why are you sleeping here?"

"What does it look like? Not all of us have sugar daddies, bird boy."

Was that mean? Yes. Should he act like the 44 year old he technically is? Yeah, but he's frozen at 14. He can be a brat. No one can stop him. And also, this is the second time a Bat has woken him up from a nap, the first time was only a week ago. He's not feeling very mature.

Robin grits his teeth before his com goes off, distracting him, and Danny takes advantage of that, grabs his shit and phases through the wall into the next building.

--

The third time he meets a Bat is truly his undoing. He got stabbed in front of Nightwing during an attempted mugging. He hates the universe and totally blames Clockwork.

Danny was minding his own business when he got dragged into an alley by 3 drunk men. They're holding knives and trying their best to intimate him.

"Give us all your money."

"Do I look like I have money?" Danny snarks, waving a hand in a "look at me" way. Which, yeah, he's pulling off the homeless kid look really well with how dirty and worn out his clothes. No one in their right mind would look at him and think he has money.

"Hm. Well, if you don't have money, I can think of something else you can give us."

When the shadowy figure straightens and is revealed to be Nightwing, pedo #2 charges him. Between how poorly it goes for him and all the puns and quips Nightwing is making, Danny can't help the giggles that slips out.

"Yeah, please struggle. It makes it more fun." Well, shit, Danny was not expecting to be grabbed by pedos. Danny bare gets to think about how it'll be good stress relief to break all the bones in their limbs before a tall shadowy figure drops from the roof and lands on the attacker farthest from him. The landing breaks the pedo's leg, his screamings about it are cut off by a sharp punch to the face.

"You think this is funny, brat??" Pedo #3 shouts at him.

"Yeah. It's hilarious." Danny maliciously grins at him.

"Why you, just die, whore." And before Danny can question how HE's a whore, he's been stabbed. And it's a pretty good stab if you want to kill someone. It's a jagged downward stab, it nicks his heart and completely fucks up one of his lungs, and the guy even goes the extra step of pulling the knife out. All in all. The perfect stab to kill someone.

Unfortunately for him, Danny isn't just someone. He's already mostly dead, which means while it hurts like a bitch and it's hard to breath, it won't kill him. It does suck he coughs up some blood before he turns off his need to breathe.

Danny ignores the cussing and sounds of Nightwing breaking bones, probably panicking over just seeing "a kid get murdered". And unfortunately, no breathing means no talking in this form. So the poor guy can't be verbally told Danny's fine, and to stop freaking out. Good thing saying something isn't always needed.

Danny lets his eyes turn a glowing bright green before silently stepping to his would-be murderer.

"What?? What the fuck??" Pedo #3 screeches. Danny gives him a blood filled smile before reaching up, grabbing the wrist of the hand holding the knife. He breaks the guy's arm in less than a second, before slamming him into the disgusting alley ground and proceeds to break both of his legs. The way Danny crashed the bones in these limbs means the guy is never going to have full mobility again, but Danny can't even pretend to care. The man targeted what looked like a scrawny 14 year old homeless kid to rape and murder. If anything, Danny is letting him off easy.

"K-kid? Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course not." Nightwing frets and tries to get closer, but Danny is tired of... well everything, so he just turns and books it out of the alley. Danny ignores Nightwing's frantic shouting as he twists and turns out of the man's sight long enough to pull up his invisibility without outing the power. He watches a panicked Nightwing run by before tapping into his flight and taking off to the nearest graveyard. Sitting in the ambient ectoplasum there while drinking what he has left in his thermos will speed up his healing.

He'd so leave this shithole of a city if he could. But Lady Gotham won't let him go and he's positive Clockwork is working with her to keep him there. He doesn't know what they're planning, but he hates it already.

---

After the stabbing, Nightwing and the other two must have spilled about him, because he's suddenly dodging Bats everywhere he goes. He starts developing even worse paranoia because they just won't take a hint.

Talking was a no go at first with his healing lung, but running away, swiping claws, biting, and throwing shit at them aren't exactly subtly "Leave Me The Fuck Alone!!" vibes. Once his lung is healed, you can add in cussing, hissing, spitting, and verbally telling them to fuck off. None of it works. It fact, Danny thinks they like the challenge, which is annoying, but slowly becoming amusing.

Though, even just the idea of him starting to enjoy something means the universe has to throw a curve ball. And this one takes the form of a scarecrow attack.

So admittedly, Danny had no idea what fear toxin would do to him, but Joker's toxins didn't do anything to him, so he thought it'd be the same shit. That was a stupid mistake on his part.

He didn't bother holding his breath when helping the Panicked Bats get civilians out of the attack radius. Any mask that was given to him was given to a civilian before he passed them off to someone with an antidote.

But to be fair, the effects of his mistake doesn't hit him til after the fight is over and the civilians are taken care of. It starts with his paranoia raising. He's suddenly eyeing the people and buildings around him. He can FEEL his parents' gaze on him, even though he knows that's impossible, they died because the portal finally blew up and took them and half the town with it. No one who died as humans from it became ghosts, and the people who were already ghosts died a second time. The only reason Danny and Tucker weren't there was because they were gift shopping for Jazz on the other side of town while Sam distracted her. It was one of the worst days of his life. It's tied with the day his parents vivisecting his ghost half and the day the GIW vivisected Vlad and him, and Vlad just straight up died from it in front of him.

That's relevant because Danny starts hallucinating a half melted Sam and Jazz (there were no bodies left behind, but his brain likes to torment him), he can't understand what they're trying to say to him, but there's the unmistakable sound of an ectoblaster echoing in his ear behind him and he... just bolts. The agents that vivisected him launch themselves at him (he doesn't process the "agents" look exactly the same as when he last saw them 24 years ago), but Danny is determined to NEVER be caught again.

He freezes when melted versions of his parents, wearing maniac grins and holding sparking weapons, cut him off. The moment they so much as twitch towards him, he bolts straight through a building using his intangibility.

A tiny part of his brain is trying to reason with him. There's no way anything he's seeing is real. This is what fear toxin is known to do. Stop and evaluate the situation!

But it's drownt out by the fear. And, ancients, is there a lot of fear. It suffocates his logical thoughts and makes him forget how to properly use his powers to escape.

He finds out later, it took the Bats 2 hours to get close enough to give him the antidote and another hour for it to kick in. They honestly thought it didn't work at first, because just like the toxin, the antidote took it's sweet time to work on him.

He crashed out hard once it did, though. Like, he fell unconscious and stopped breathing. It terrified the Bats and took them a minute to realize he's not actually dead. Well, full dead.

He finds out eventually that they originally thought he was a meta, but after all the weirdness he accidentally showed during the cat and mouse chase, they started to wonder if he was an alien. But the whole fear toxin incident convince them he escaped from some shady organization that experimented on him (not untrue) and killed his family. There's still a bet on if he's an alien or not, and that being why he was targeted.

Which is a fair conclusion, between his powers that seemingly make no sense and all his scars from fighting and being experimented on by both his parents And a shady government agency. It's especially fair after he has a major freak out coming to in the Batcave's med bay. The smells and medical equipment setting him off into a massive panic attack that leaves him behaving like a feral cat. He manages to squeeze himself into the small space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling and growls at anyone so much as peeking into the room.

"Hey, kid. You're alright. You're safe." Nightwing tries and gets hissed at. He'd been trying for about 10 minutes to get him to come down. "Um, guys, maybe someone else should try. This isn't working. I don't think he likes me at all."

Black Bat steps into the room at his plea and waves Nightwing away. Once he's out of the room, she drops to the floor. The move confuses Danny enough to stop growling at her. He stares wide-eyed at her as she just lays full starfish on the floor.

"What are you doing?" He finally asks after 3 full minutes of silently staring at her.

"Laying."

"I see that, but why?"

"You're scared. I'm showing I'm not a threat." Black Bat sounds amused, but not malicious. Danny stares at her for another 2 minutes without blinking once.

"Why am I here?"

"You're scared. We want to help." She makes it sound simple.

"You can't." Danny lets bitterness leak into his voice.

"Why?"

"I'm not human anymore. You can't "help" me."

"I think we can." Danny starts growling again, so she adds. "We have beds and food and can keep whoever is hunting you to go away."

He pauses his growling again. "You don't even know who I am."

"You're sad, and hurt, and help others before yourself. You're good." Danny frowns at that.

"You're weird." He states before climbing down and sitting near her. She doesn't move a muscle. "You can't help me without getting in trouble with the government."

"Hm?"

"Yeah, I'm not considered a person because of the Anti-Ecto Acts. Anything that uses or needs ectoplasum to survive is considered non-sentient and is to be turned over for experimentation and termination. And anyone caught helping us can be arrested for treason." Danny explains. "I barely escaped when I got caught. My godfather didn't. I hated him. He was mean, controlling, and creepy, but I didn't want him to die."

"I'm sorry."

"My problems are not your problems."

"I disagree." Danny blinks at her, his gaze sharpening when she starts moving her arm farthest from him. She moves slowly, reaching up and hooking her fingers under her mask.

"Wait!" Danny leans forward a hair as if he was about to physically grab her hand to stop her, but jerks himself back. He sounds small when he speaks again. "Are-are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Why??"

"Trust you."

"But WHY? You don't know me."

"I know enough." Is all she says before pulling her mask off. He slams his eyes shut and claps his hands over them for good measure.

"No, you don't!!" He hears her move, sitting up, before gentle hands pull his hands away.

"Yes, I do." She says sweetly. "Look."

Danny peeks at her. She has a bittersweet look on her face that brightens when she sees Danny looking. She's still gently holding his hands, loose enough he can pull away if he truly wants to.

"I'm not as young as I look." She tilts her head at the seemingly random comment. "I'm not actually 14. Not anymore. I'm stuck at when I died."

He hears her, and their eavesdroppers, gasp. It's the first time he's talked about it. But something tells him to tell her (them, if he's acknowledging the eavesdropping Bats).

"My parents were mad scientists that wouldn't be out of place in your rouges gallery." He stares at his and Black Bat's hands. "They were obsessed with ghosts and made a portal to the infinite realm, where "ghosts" live. They failed twice. Once in college, my godfather was hospitalized from the attempt, and the second time they failed, I accidentally turned it while being stupid with friends and died. They didn't notice, too happy their portal was suddenly working... That was 30 years ago."

There's a choking noise from the eavesdroppers.

"If I stay, you're going to be stuck with a freaky kid that doesn't age and can't be killed by the usual methods and has so much PTSD, like a ridiculous amount of PTSD. Are you sure you want to deal with that?"

"Yes." Black Bat doesn't even hesitate. Danny nearly gives himself whiplash from how quickly he looks up at her face. "Can't scare us away."

"It should. I don't even count as human."

"So?"

""So"???"

"Yes. Why should I care?"

"Why should-??? Why wouldn't you???"

"Kid." An unmasked Red Hood stands in the doorway. "This family is full of freaks and mental illness. You'll fit right in."

The statement strikes a nerve, overwhelming him, but Danny doesn't understand what's happening at first, why his lips are trembling, his face feels warm, and his eyes sting. He hasn't felt this sensation in years. But whatever look on his face makes the infamous Red Hood panic.

"Wait! Kid! Don't cry!"

It suddenly clicks with Danny. He's about to cry. But understanding what is happening, doesn't stop it from happening. Fat tears start sliding down his face.

"Dickie! What do I do?? I accidentally made him cry!! You're better wi-" Red Hood cuts himself off when Danny starts laughing. Laughing at how panicked a crimelord is at tears. Laughing at crying. Laughing at the whole absurd situation.

"It's okay." Black Bat says softly. Whether it's to Danny or the panicky Bat is lost to Danny. But no one says anything else til Danny's tears stop and laughter dies down.

"I was Phantom, ya know?" And he hears several people choke. After he was forcibly retired, this ghost half became known as "The First Hero" in a lot of circles. The GIW repressed the fact he was a ghost when people outside of Amity Park found out about the child hero, they didn't want the public angry with them for making him disappear. It didn't work, Tucker leaked everything he could find. Danny doesn't blame him for that. Tucker thinks he's completely dead since the GIW didn't want to admit they lost him and declared him to have Ended in those files. Danny hasn't told him he's "alive" either. Danny can't bring himself to drag Tucker back into the mess that is his life, can't bring himself to contact the man who has made something of his life, has a partner and kids, has mourned and moved on. He just can't do it. "But before I was Phantom, I was Danny Fenton. But now... I'm just Danny."

"Welcome to the family, Danny!" An unmasked Nightwing cheers.

"I thought Phantom had white hair?" Someone says just outside the room. Danny mischievously leans towards Black Bat.

"Close your eyes. This is going to be bright." He whispers. She smiles gamely and closes her eyes. He gets to hear the others yelp when he lets his transformation take over, essentially flashbanging everyone, but Black Bat.

"Wha..?"

"Hair white enough for you?" Danny says, grinning with too many teeth, that are a little too sharp. Black Bat pats the hand she's still holding.

"Pretty." She smiles delighted at him and he feels his face flush bright green.

"Oh! Um.. Thanks?" He takes a deep breath and realizes something. "Now you know my name, so who the hell are all of you?"

"You don't recognize us?"

"No. Am I supposed to?"

"Eh, most people do." Nightwing shrugs.

"Well, I haven't been able to keep up with much in the public zeitgeist. I just periodically check if it's still legal to kill me. Sadly, the answer is "yes" every time, so meh."

"We'll be taking care of that." Red Robin informs him while stepping into the room and frantically typing on a tablet. "I can't believe these stupid things still exist. The Green Lanterns and Justice League Dark are going to have the biggest fit when they see these. The rest of the JL will help dismantle these too. I'll personally get them to destroy these vile laws."

"Oh.. Thanks, I guess. It'll be nice to not be hunted anymore."

"I imagine."

"Okay! Introductions!" Nightwing gets them all back on topic. "I'm Dick Grayson! Batman is Bruce Wayne. Robin is Damian Wayne."

"Tim Drake."

"Cassandra Cain. But call me Cass."

"Jason Todd."

"Wait, wait, wait. I recognize your name! Didn't you- oh, wait, that's insensitive..."

"It's fine. I did, in fact, die, but I got better. We can start a club of undead. We can invite Spoiler. She technically died, too."

"Literally everyone here, besides me has died, Jason." Tim says, not looking away from the tablet.

"Yeah, but Steph is the only one I'd invite. She knows how to have fun."

"Little wing!" Dick whines.

"Timber can be an honorary member, since he's dead inside, a fun chaos gremlin, and ain't a narc."

"Thanks." Tim says dryly while Dick dramatically cries. Cass giggles.

And Danny? He's tired of running. He wants to be able to be the child he's stuck as while getting respect over his knowledge. He wants to be a vigilante and help people again. He wants to finally have a safe place to sleep.

So he decides to give these weirdos a chance.

[Pt 2 coming soon]

Vlad, Toddler Danny and the Gotham Gala

Bruce saw the Bat signal outside and wanted to leave the Gala. He told Vlad Masters that he needed to go to the toilet. Vlad Master glared at Bruce and said, "Daniel, come!" A tiny black-haired toddler came walking to them. After Danny was hit by the GIW, his parents tried to save his life, and Vlad helped them. The only side effect was toddler Danny. But somehow, this made the relationship much better with his parents. So Uncle Vlad is now good? Danny:" You know it's Danny!" Vlad:" Daniel, Mr. Wayne fears he will get lost on his way to the toilet. So I want you to show him the way there and back." + Tiny Danny led Mr. Wayne to his own bathroom. He wasn't sure if that was real, but Vlad and Mr. Luthor told him he wasn't the smartest. So he asked just to be sure. Danny:" Are you really that way Uncle Vlad says it? I mean, he talks poop about many people." Bruce Wayne, who knows it would be bad if people knew he faked it, didn't say anything.

+ Danny now knew for once Vlad was right: Mr. Wayne was worse than his dad. So he took his hand... I mean finger and led him around the Gala in the Wayne Mansion. "No fear, I won't let you get lost." That was how the media and Gotham Elite were greeted by Bruce Wayne being led around by a toddler to not get lost.

"Wow, for once he didn't get lost in his own Mansion." And it became a news article. "Brucie Wayne didn't get lost in a gala!"

---

Robin found something in the BatCave

Dp x dc prompt

Redhood didn't like people who took advantage of children. Fucking hated them.

So when he heard of a new crime lord employing children in there area, he had to put a bullet between that fucker's eyes. Apperently, the guy ran the original gang out of town and set the kids off on petty crime. Stealing money. Food, clothes, in some cases, even drugs.

Redhood stood outside an abandoned building, gun at the ready. There was no security, no goons. Did this guy know he was coming? Is this a trap? Redhood shook off his worries. No matter. He's just gotta get this bastard before it could get any worse.

He crept through raftors and boxes. He listened for footsteps. Step step step. The footsteps were heavy and dragging, sluggish. According to eye witnesses, the crime lord tended to drag his feet, maybe limp even.

Redhood slid out of hiding, pressed his gun up to the back of the man's head, and-

It was a kid. The kid turned around, so irely calm. His long black air hung down, obscuring his face, but Redhood could clearly see the way his pale sickly skin sank into his bones. How his dull blue eyes seamed to gloss over and stare into his soul. Almost daring him to pull the trigger. Yet, despite the dark of the warehouse, he almost seemed to glow.

"So?" He asked.

"Wha- so what?" Redhood asked. He was shaking. He hasn't put the gun down.

"Are you going to pull the trigger or not? I mean, you've got a clear shot. I just ask you to clean up after. The kids don't need to see that," The teen slowly blinked at him. Redhood slowly lowered the gun. Just a gang of kids run rampant, yeah. That's what this is.

The kid hummed and began to walk off. Redhood couldn't really call it walking or even limping. It looked more like dragging a nearly dead leg. Now that he was close, he could see it. The dragging leg, the dead arm in a sling. The lichtenberg scars crawled up his face, reaching his eye, blinded and half shut. How did this kid run a whole gang out of town?

Red Hood followed him. The kid only gave his a brief glance before shrugging. Redhood followed him to the back of the warehouse, where a group of kids slept. Redhood recognised them, street kids. All either homeless or too scared to go home.

"They helped me," the kid whispered, "I got rid of those people because I hated the way they hurt the people around them, and when I fell sick, those kids stepped up to help. The least I can do is give them a place to stay."

"You fell sick? You weren't always like this?"

"No. I used to be a lot stronger, braver," The kid gave a heavy sigh before slowly lowering himself to the ground. Crossing his legs and resting his head on his hand, "Now I can barely move without aching, I feel like an old man trapped in a teenager's body."

Redhood glanced between him and the sleeping kids. He was helping them, housing them. In return, they were stealing food and medicine for their sick friend, and Rehood almost shot him.

"My name is Danny, by the way," The kid- Danny grumbled.

Redhood sighed and sat down next to him, "Nice to meet you, Danny. I'm Redhood."

No Need to Worry Over Sunshine

(This is connected to this short little post. This is also inspired @anastasiariley10123’s comment and @froginmygarden’s reblog of that post :D)

Marvel had been missing for a week. A whole week. He always comes to the Watchtower at least once a day! Yet hadn’t come all week! Anyone who messaged him on the communicators weren’t even getting any ‘:D’s too! They’re just getting ‘:)’s! Something was totally wrong. So imagine their surprise and slight horror when Flash went spilled some critical information when Clark and Hal came to relieve them from monitor duty.

After the monitor duty with Marvel…

Marvel: *dipped out so fast to not have to deal with the stares*

GL: *didn’t see the gray* “What’s with him?”

Supes: *peaks out of the monitor room to see Marvel turning a corner out of sight* “Is Cap alright?”

Flash: *sitting, wondering if Marvel is dying or something*

GL: “Wally…? Buddy? You good?”

Flash: “IthinkMarvelisdying.” *says super fast*

GL: “What?”

Supes: “What?!” *actually understood him*

Flash: “I think Marvel is dying.”

GL and Supes: *share a look*

Supes: “Wha- Why? Why do you think that?”

Flash: “Well, he’s going gray.”

GL: “Again, what?”

Flash: “And when I asked him about it, he nearly had a mental breakdown.”

Supes and GL: *share another look*

Supes: “Uhm… Did you ask him why he’s gray?

Flash: “Well, no, but-”

GL: *watching the monitors* “Aw shoot. Aliens in Metropolis.”

Supes, Flash, GL: *groans of annoyance*

Supes: “We’ll talk about this later.”

A little bit later…

JL: *just finished fighting the aliens*

Aquaman: “Geez, I can’t believe this is a weekly occurrence.” *looks at Marvel for a second before doing a double take* “What the hell happened to your hair?”

Marvel: “Huh? Uh…” *forgot to do a charm spell to cover the grey*

WW: “Brother, are you alright? You certainly shouldn’t be graying at your age.”

Other JL: *crowding Marvel in concern*

Marvel: “I mean, I am getting old Diana.”

WW: “Old? Brother you said you were nine.”

Flash: “Nine?”

WW: “Nine as in nine thousand years old.”

Marvel: “Uhm… Well, no. It’s more like nine…”

Solomon: “Go bigger, Billy.”

Marvel: “…hundred thousand.”

JL besides Marvel: *looks of utter shock (😟)*

Marvel: “So… yeah.” *awkward smile*

Flash: *sounds and looks horrified* “SO I WAS RIGHT! YOU ARE SO GONNA DIE!”

Marvel: “WHAT. No! I’m not gonna die! I have at least another hundred thousand years!”

They were all extremely relieved when they found that out. He’d outlive them all, which now that they thought about, was actually terrible for Marvel. But hey! At least he has a little lot of time left.

A little bit later…

Batman: “Were you a caveman?”

Marvel: “Hmm? Yeah.”

Also, someone recorded this entire interaction with a drone after the attack. People are calling him a silver fox now. He actually considered killing himself. (He said that outloud and the JL looked at him like 😨. Marvel: just kidding guys :D)

Damian, as Robin, is about to be sacrificed to summon a Powerful Being. Except instead of a Powerful Being, a kid his age pops into existence as though he was shoved forward.

The kid looks around, startled. He's got a black eye and he's holding a length of rope, presumably what had been restraining him.

"Uh. Is. Is this the afterlife?" The kid asks, bewildered.

"...No, this is Gotham. We were trying to summon Pariah Dark?" One of the cultists answers, also confused.

"But I was being sacrificed to summon Pariah Dark?" The kid says, brows furrowed.

The cultists pause in their attempted murder of Robin and hurriedly reconvene, taking their eyes off of the kid. They're muttering about how maybe there was another cult doing a sacrifice at the same time, and things got switched up. Should they sacrifice both of the boys?

Damian, though. Damian never takes his eyes off of the new kid.

Unlike the cultists, he's not an idiot. He knows a liar when he sees one. That boy is no sacrifice.

That boy is the being they summoned.

He waits for the being to show it's true colors. And waits. And waits.

'Hurry up!' Damian mouths to it.

'I am trying!' It mouths back, motioning at it's feet where it's been wearing away the containment sigil.

'Well try faster!'

'That's not how it works!'

'How hard is it to mess up chalk?'

'Well then you come here and you do it!'

"Maybe I will," Damian spits outloud, done with this farce.

"Uh, do you two need a moment or...?"

Damian answers the cultists question by kicking her in the face as he cuts himself loose.

He will rescue both himself and the demon they dragged into this world.

Danny, after running away moving to Gotham a few months ago begins making little commentary videos on a social media app.

It was fine and all with mostly friends viewing them up until his meta gene activated. He didn't even know he had a meta gene and kinda figured any of the ghost stuff he did as Phantom would have activated it if he did have one. Nope!

His newest video started out with him wearing a red beanie, "Hey guys! You know how I just moved to Gotham a few months ago? Well, turns out I have the meta gene!" He takes a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "Most people get there abilities or whatever through a lab accident or an explosion or something and end up with like telekinesis."

"I, however, am hated by the universe and got scratched by a cat," he then yanked off the beanie to reveal two large cat ears, "and turned into furry bait. On that note if you have any tips on how to avoid Catwoman please leave them in the comments section. For my sake."

Dick stared down at his phone in shock. He needed to show his siblings this

In the meantime Danny has to deal with his channels popularity skyrocketing. "This is not what I want to be remembered for."

Bonus points if Danny gets one of those FMK questions that are all bats and he responds with, "Kill? A bat? Listen, if I get put into a death match with a bat the only one dying here will be me. I cant even do a backflip, what makes you think I could even touch one of them???"

So, there’s this idea that Captain Marvel is the idealized form of Billy Batson, right? Like, the version of himself he aspires to be. The hero he wants to become. The face he wants the world to see-- strong, bright, safe, inspiring.

And, well… Captain Marvel looks a lot like C.C. Batson. His father. That’s Billy’s hero. That’s the face that makes him believe in good. The smile that gives him hope and faith in his dreams. With a few traces of his mom, like her eyelashes, her ears, nose

But… that can change. Right?

Billy’s going to meet new people. He’s going to have new heroes in his life. New people to look up to. New versions of “who I want to be like.”

So one day, Marvel looks like a perfect blend of C.C. and Marilyn. And then, after a particularly emotional moment with John Constantine, he shows up at the Watchtower… with a different jawline.

His bone structure is slightly off. You wouldn’t notice unless you were really paying attention. But Bruce was. Bruce always is. He doesn’t say anything, just quietly writes it down with some suspicion of a possible shapeshifter.

And then, boom-- WHERE THE HELL ARE MARVEL’S DIMPLES?! They’re gone. Just gone. When he smiles, it’s a completely different smile. No dimples. There’s… are those canines? Slightly unhuman teeth and-- wait, Is that SUPERMAN’S smile? A perfect, radiant replica??

The next day, the dimples are back. Because Marvel caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and he missed them. Not consciously. He didn’t even realize it. But they’re back anyway.

It all happens unconsciously. And it changes from time to time.

One day he’s got feline eyes and sharp little teeth, a goofy yet oddly charming (and a little predatory) grin. That’s Tawky Tawny’s influence.

Another day, his eyes aren’t blue anymore, they’re green. Sharp. Focused. But also warm. You feel seen, and still, oddly… safe. (Catwoman likes Cap. She’s been nice to him ever since he introduced her to Tawny.)

Then-- No freaking way he’s BLONDE. (Thanks, Constantine.)

One day, his eyes are still blue, but now they’re icy. Almost crystal. Batman nearly has a heart attack because it’s his father’s eyes. His father’s eyebrows too. (Billy was just really happy with Bruce Waynbe since he donated a massive bunch of money to Fawcett’s homeless shelters.)

And then.. pointy ears. A different nose. (Kon.)

J’onn shares his special cookies with him one afternoon and now Marvel’s got a little green tint in his cheeks instead of red.

He never hides it. If someone asks, he just shrugs and goes, “Oh yeah, my features kinda shift based on people I admire? I guess. I don’t really notice until you guys point it out. I can’t control it.”

A lot of people think his tall, muscular body comes from Superman. But nope. It’s from Diana.

Billy sees her: tall, powerful, graceful, hair always a little wild but somehow perfect. Elegant. Commanding. He thinks she’s incredible. So he becomes tall, powerful, elegant. Hair that never moves out of place (but still has a charmingly messy style). All that’s missing is a little more confidence and posture.

And Flash? Flash nearly dies of happiness when Marvel shows up one day— with his awkward little half-smile.