Vlad: Make Sure To Charm The Youngest Wayne At Tonight's Gala. If You Want Your Parents' Business To

DCxDP Fanfic Idea: Burst your Bubble

Danny makes a small mistake that spirals out of control three years later. It starts on a fateful day while working in Clockwork's Tower, covering for the Time Lord. He had pushed for the man to take a break after hearing he hadn't been on vacation since the death of dinosaurs.

It was also recommended by Frostbite. Apparently, the stress of his job was causing Clockwork to lose grip on his age shift. Much like a human grinding their teeth in sleep due to stress, Clockwork's core was rapidly shifting him through his ages, causing aches along his core. When Danny met him, the way he went from child to middle-aged man and finally old adult was just physical proof of Clockwork's stress.

His shifting got under control after they defeated Dan, but that didn't mean his muscles had a chance to relax. He was a little better off the second time Danny saw Clockwork, but when Danny asked if he could return to his parent's college days, Clockwork's form quickly started shifting again.

Danny felt horrible about it, but he was fine taking over for the ghost to relax on vacation. It wasn't even that hard. All he had to do was watch the various timelines and record large catastrophes and bursts of hope. He also had to watch hourglasses that indicated the natural flow of time in multiple worlds. Sometimes, the sand would get stuck, so he would need to stir it with a large spoon, careful to not let anything else touch the golden shine of the time sands.

It helped that the Tower was semi-sentient. It overheard him making up lies about what he was doing on a call with his parents. Danny had told his parents that this summer, he was going away to work as a summer camp counselor, while Clockwork had selected a timeline that was moving at a different speed.

One month in Danny's home dimension was a hundred years in the one Clockwork was relaxing in. When Danny's school started again, his friend would have a lovely four hundred years to enjoy. Of course, this was a tiny break for a being like Clockwork, but Danny promised to take over every summer until he graduated.

The Tower had created a room that looked a lot like a log cabin whenever his parents attempted to video call. It even created a paycheck with actual funds directly deposited into his teen account that his parents had access to.

Their doubts about Danny lying vanished when "Camp Kronos" placed a rather generous amount of money under his name. His dad was even proud of Danny going out of his way to earn his own money. It's been a long time since his Dad sounded like that when talking about his accomplishments.

Clockwork had told him the Tower spoke to him mentally because it was his Haunt, but since Danny was only Haunt sitting, he was directed to a chalkboard that the Tower could use to write messages to him. That's how he knew it was the Tower's doing that his cover was safe back home.

Danny thanked the Tower by cleaning it from top to bottom. When he asked it what its name and pronouns were, the Tower requested to be called "it" and to stop using a capital T when referring to it.

Danny tries, but he still mentally changes tower into Tower since that is its name in his head. The tiles shake in irritation whenever he accidentally says it out loud.

Besides that, the Tower didn't really interact with him. Danny made his own food, did his own laundry, and did his work. There was never a clock in and clock out; the only time he wasn't attending the timelines was when he took short breaks to sleep, eat, bathe, and clean.

But the only time he wasn't watching the time was when he was asleep, and that was because of Tower. It somehow found a way to throw the timelines in his face whenever possible.

He did enjoy using the large tub to soak in bubbles, but Tower shifted the bubbles to reflect different scenes of the timelines he was watching, causing them to flout like the tower was blowing bubbles while Danny sat in the water. If it went that far to ensure that Danny was constantly working, he could see why Clockwork had such a hard time with the core shifting.

Then, one day, while soaking, he closed his eyes, ignoring the shifting tiles and the slight rumbling of the walls as Tower grumbled. He told it that he was taking a short break and it could wait until he was done. He would rest his eyes, no matter how important it was for him to watch.

He couldn't have them close for more than a minute, but that was all the mistake needed. At that time, one of the bubbles' timelines shifted because someone in it was being an idiot and messing with time, and it started to glow with new times and forming.

Sand that Danny accidentally touched when the bubble popped right on his nose. Tower was throwing a fit, shaking everything like an earthquake as the sand fell into the soap water.

He blinked open his eyes, startled, and much to his horror, came face to face with the sand, forming a miniature window into that timeline. A human teenager was staring right back at him, jaw dropped with a healthy building flush rising on his cheeks, as the time sand danced around his eyes, though he seemed unable to look away from Danny.

Windows were often granted to specific individuals favored by Clockwork, causing them to become Seers. It was not a common blessing because, more often than not, mortals could not handle future knowledge.

Even ghosts long dead struggle with the power. The only reason Danny was able to cover for Clockwork was because his brain was both dead and alive at the same time. Madness cause time couldn't touch him because, technically, he was already crazy.

Tower shook again, the stone groaning under its disapproval as Danny became uncomfortable, aware that the only thing protecting his dignity was the white foam low on his stomach. With a yelp, he sank further into the water, his hands covering his important bits out of habit, and he waved his hand to close the window.

The teenager moved his mouth in a silent plea, but he vanished in a swirl as quickly as he appeared. It was only a few seconds. Not even ten. Surely nothing could come from that?

A mistake he pushed to the back of his mind.

Surely, not paying attention for just a tiny amount of time could not have caused anything to be too bad.

_____________________________________________________________

"Hey dude? You okay?"

"I just....I just saw an angel...."

"What?"

"An angel. He warned me....showed me....I have to tell Mr.Wayne!"

"Wait! Where are you going!? Tell Mr. Wayne what?!"

"His son is going to die next week!"

"What!?"

"Jason Todd! The angel showed me! I have to warn them!"

_____________________________________________________________

Tower didn't tell on him, and Danny didn't bring it up. Clockwork returned in mid-adult form when the summer ended, looking far more relaxed and no longer shifting forms so rapidly.

He apparently spent four hundred years on a small paradise island, sipping coconut and dancing with locals who thought him a god. He hugged Danny, another large bonus for his paycheck, and sent him on his way.

The following summer, Danny completely forgot about the little accident and never bothered to check on that timeline. Clockwork was unaware there was a major shift in it, so he assumed that the world was moving as it should, though he complained that he had to unclog it a lot more because of a Seer who often opened too many Windows.

It was a testament to how much he needed that vacation for Clockwork to forget he never chose that Seer, despite the young human proving he had the will to handle his visions.

\Danny never realized that Seer was the same teenager he saw back then until one day three years later when Seer was an established fortune teller working as a consultant with some hero society and had used some of the said heroes to try and contact Clockwork.

"Danny." Clockwork started watching the young human set up an altar. "Why is a human attempting to use himself as a virgin sacrifice for me?"

"Ummmm"

"Danny, why does my Haunt claim you gave him the Sight."

"Well....."

"Danny why is Timothy Jackson Drake, who fated to be the third Robin in this time line, now a mere consultant who use his power of Sight for money gain? He's not a hero, did you know that? He merely lives next door to one of that world's greatest heroes and is obsessed with finding his Angel"

"I may have....made a mistake when I was fourteen."

"Danny," Clockwork's faux-friendly tone grew sharper as his form shifted from the three stages of age. "What did you do?"

"I can fix it!"

"How."

"I'll....enter that timeline and set it on the right path? I can answer his summons and convince him to become a hero with the Bats?"

Tower shook as if laughing at him.

"How." The hiss that came from the Time god was almost incomprehensible, with the amount of rage crammed into one syllable

"I'll-I can-Honey pot him!" Danny whimpered, cowering under the withering death glare Clockwork was aiming at him. "I can convince him that being a vigilante is cool and hot, so he'll be Red Robin, and the timeline can be saved?"

Clockwork's eyes darken. "You better not fail me. Send him away, Haunt"

Tower- the traitor- moved instantly. It shifted its stones to drag Danny to Red Robin's cluttered hourglass. It flung him in before he could protest, using Danny to unclog it. He is nearly down in the sinking sand, scrambling for purpose before he falls flat on his bum, and the sand vanishes.

A soft gasp has him looking up. Standing before him is the Seer Tim Drake, who looks beyond happy.

"It's you! My Angel!"

---

Their Boy

I’ve seen a lot of prompts that have Danny traveling to the DC universe, and being an alternate of someone. While I adore those I want to try something a little different. I want Superman traveling to the DP universe, and finding his alternate self, who is Danny. 

I’m imagining some type of magic altercation happens, and Superman ends up going through the portal that lands him in the Fenton’s living room. Danny who has seen an older version of himself before immediately clocks this guy as being another him.  

The two of them are talking about the situation, and how they’re going to fix it when Jack and Maddie come home. They both know that their son is Phantom at this point.  

The moment they see Clark they also know that this is their son. They would recognize him no matter what age. So what do they do? They hug him of course; that’s their boy all grown up! 

And Clark just breaks. These might not be his parents exactly, but this is also the closest he’s ever going to get to meeting them. He knows that he should be more worried about how he’s going to get back home, but for now he’s content to just sit here in their arms. 

Of all the problems Danny thought he'd have fleeing Amity to another universes version of Amity, called Goth Ham or something, he didn't think the first big one was gonna be a fricken clown. Yes he was technically, but not really, homeless, had no money, had no forms of identification and was by now considered legally dead by his home government, and non existent by this one. But he could handle those with relative ease. But a clown? To be honest he was surprised he hadn't run into a clown themed psychopath until now, well... if he didn't count Vlad.

Once upon a time Danny would have felt bad about stealing but he was over taking the moral high ground with such petty things. He was only half dead, he needed to eat. And he thought he'd done enough good deeds in his short life to be allowed to just take what he needed without money. Besides he was never caught on camera or by security systems, they always 'mysteriously' shorted out. No one ever got hurt cause he just went after closing. And he never targeted small mom and pop operations, only large corporations who logically wouldn't miss the products taken by one small 15 year old. So ... Well maybe he was still sort of taking the moral high ground but come on he wasn't heartless.

He'd set up a tent in one of the only alleys that weren't overtaken with homeless people already, he supposed even a city with a millionaire as generous as Bruce fricken Wayne not all issues could be solved. He'd learnt a neat trick from Desiree, who's haunt in the GZ was stereotypically a lamp, to make a space much bigger on the inside than it was on the outside, eat your heart out Doctor Who. Technus had designed a generator that could produce energy from a small piece of highly concentrated ectoplasm, which Danny could form by compressing his ectoblasts into crystals. A single crystal lasted months. And the tech savvy ghost also rigged a system that connected to the cities water and waste systems so he had fully functional plumbing. So from the outside it looked like he was living in a medium sized tent. But on the inside he had a full multi bedroom apartment. He was quite comfortable, and the shield around it was designed to keep out ghosts and deter humans, playing on that sensation they naturally had to avoid something weird.

So when a clown walked straight into his home he was caught a little off guard. Since his home was sound proof he hadn't heard anything from outside, and had been walking from the kitchen to the unliving room, his little inside joke to himself, cradling a bowl of popcorn wearing pyjamas he was startled enough to blast the weird thing wearing a purple suit right the feck back out.

Joker hadn't expected to run into a young meta human that night. But as the only Batling that actually used guns was on his ass like a mouse on drywall he had just ducked into a tent intending to take whomever was inside hostage. He hadn't known what to expect inside but a teenager in the threshold of a high scale apartment wasn't exactly it. And the he was shot by something bright and green, even though the brat wasn't armed.

A pale face emerged from the tent looking down on him, a young boy, looked like he could have been one of the little projects that Wayne guy was always taking on, as the clown lay sprawled on the filthy ground of the alley slightly winded. "You startled me." He said with slight concern. "You alright?" The joker laughed. A crazy laugh. Crazier than usual. Someone in Gotham asking the Joker if he was alright? Hilarious.

"You're not from around here are you kid?" He wheezed between cackles, the concern seeming to grow on the child's face making it funnier. The brat shook his head, stepping out from the tent fully and crouching by the man, who was now laughing so hard nothing but a wheezy rasp was getting out. He was examining the scorch marks left on Joker's suit, even reaching out and patting the man's chest.

"No physical wounds, but maybe you hit your head?" He mumbled. Joker took a deep breath and laughed even louder. "Dude, that's distracting, quiet, I'm trying to make sure whatever's up with you isn't my fault." He then, with sheer audacity placed a small, freakishly cold hand to the man's mouth. He yelped and jerked back when Joker lurched upwards into sitting, a few strands of his usually slicked back green hair falling into his face as he gave the kid a wide grin, eyes wild. "Mmm... No I think your kind of crazy has been brewing for a while." He decided, the Joker gave an unnerving giggle.

"You've never heard of me? Surely I've been on the news." Joker said feeling generously social. The kid eyed him wearily as he stuck out his hand. "Name's the Joker, last name Joker, first name The."

"I feel like you've got a buzzer on your hand." The kid said, not taking the handshake. The Joker raised his hand revealing the buzzer with a way too many teeth grin.

"Guilty. Listen, kid, think I could hide out in your little abomination of space in there?" The Joker leaned really close to the boy, watching the youths nose crinkle with disapproval of the invasion of personal space.

"I suppose..." He murmured. The Joker leapt to his feat with a loud 'Great!' and didn't even wait for the boy before stepping inside to inspect the property inside. He picked up the discarded popcorn and made himself at home, vaguely aware that the child had also re-entered the tent.

After a moment he looked over his shoulder to see the boy standing awkwardly, watching him with confusion and concern. He liked concern, it meant he could manipulate that. "You just gonna stand there like the world's scrawniest scarecrow?"

The boy shuffled his feet remaining where he stood, clearly uncomfortable about the Joker being there, but he sensed it wasn't because he was a clearly psychotic clown who'd barged his way into the kids home. As he studied the kids expression trying to discern what exactly it was that made the kid weary, cause the clown thing was usually enough, he noticed faint scaring across the boys face. Mostly the left side, fanning out in jagged lines from a pinpoint somewhere under the collar of his shirt. He turned away mulling this information over while flipping through the channels of a massive tv, how did the kid get better reception in this impossible tent than the system rigged up by that cable Guy he'd kidnapped a while back?

Eventually the kid sat down, granted it was as far away from him as possible, this was a normal response to sitting with the Joker. "Wanna know something kid?" The boy's wide eyes glanced away from the screen, where a tasteful documentary on common bats was playing, curiosity evident though he remained silent. "I'm not a good guy."

He expected a bit of fear maybe, but the withering look he received was far from that. Icy eyes seemed to say in a snarky tone 'No kidding?' "Didn't really expect a man dressed like Ronald McDonald's lesser known cousin oozing criminal King pin energy to be an upstanding citizen." He responded looking back at the tv. "I'm not exactly a good guy either."

The Joker's grin grew, this kid was interesting, he'd been around the block if he could note that Joker wasn't just any old psycho. "Is that so?"

"I mean I had my moment of vigilante justice and all it got me was the hatred of my parents, homelessness and being declared legally dead. But you learn to pin point the dangerous ones." The boy grumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest and staring intently at the screen. "You're a dangerous one."

The Joker laughed. "Got a name or are you just dead teen walking?"

"Danny."

"Not a very heroic name."

"Not a very heroic guy."

"You've been in the hero business and you've never heard of me?"

"Purple and green Court Jester named Joker? No."

"Cuts deep kid. I'm a little insulted. Bet you know Batman. That's not fair."

"Batman? You think that instead of some grape and apple looking dude I'd know a furry?"

Joker wheezed, a furry, he'd have to add that one to his routine, bats would love that. "You must be from outta space or somethin kid."

"Or something. How long did you need to hide here?" Danny asked now watching the Joker as the man hunched over imagining the glee of calling the stone cold Batman a furry.

"Not really hiding when I threw a tracker on him."

Danny and the Joker whipped their heads around to see who Joker recognised as Red Hood, and who Danny recognised as another madman in a silly costume. He really needed to figure out a lock system. But something about the man also gave Danny a sense of interest. Something that felt familiar. "Ah, well. When you put it like that." Joker grabbed the kid, noting idly that the jagged scars were down his arm as well. "What we have here is a hostage situation."

Danny glanced at the 'weapon' he was supposedly being held hostage with, a small hand held canister, painted green and purple with a sinister grin painted in the centre. "What's that?" He asked, though honestly he assumed it was a gas of some sort, which didn't really affect him since he could just turn off the need to breathe when it suited him.

"Laughing gas, lethal laughing gas." The newcomer growled. While the Joker rambled about this guy, Red Hood he called him, ruining the punch line Danny simply turned invisible and intangible. The Joker and Red Hood were both understandably surprised. Red Hood muttered something about a 'Meta Human'.

"Okay, well, I felt bad for hitting you earlier but you officially overstayed your welcome." Danny said reappearing to the side, he then glanced at Red Hood. "And you weren't even invited. So...."

And like that he was gone. Not just him. His entire home, the tent it was crammed into, everything. Every trace of the kid was gone. Joker stared at Red Hood who was temporarily thrown off by the magic trick of the century. So naturally the Joker started running, dropping the canister behind him as a treat. It had been a weird day. Even for him.

Meanwhile Jason Todd stood wondering if he should be worried about this new Meta Human in Gotham who seemed to, even if temporary, been chumming it up with the Joker. If the deranged clown managed to get a Meta Human in his arsenal there'd be trouble. And Danny? Danny had relocated behind a local fast food restaurant, he deserved a burger and fries as a treat for dealing with Goth Ham City Crazies.

To be continued maybe?

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.

I have an idea for a Merlin fic but life is chaos so I cannot write it:

So for whatever reason Arthur is away (probably visiting some Lord or Nobel House) and Merlin stays behind (who knows why).

Uthers manservant is ill so he requests Merlin (after all he’s the crown prince’s manservant he should be good enough for the king).

Merlin is now stuck as Uthers servant for a week and I really want to see Merlin try to wake the King up with “rise and shine!! :D”

He talks too much and is entirely too familiar with the King, taking liberties and speaking out of turn, mentioning Arthur by name and not title, is always late with lunch but somehow…

Uther finds him fascinating. He knows Merlin is completely loyal to Arthur (he said so himself in the show). He understands Merlin hears castle gossip like most staff, but he is actually able to understand the significance behind the rumours. Merlin is also trusted by the knights and has insight into the lords and ladies of the court. He sees things, he hears things. Uther can use this

As a physician in training, he is able to treat Uthers old knee injury, and he is clearly learned. He can read and write better than some of the noblemen he’s met. One day Uther enters his chambers and finds Merlin bent over the desk looking over the grain reports “did you notice Lord Chester had been underreporting his grain storage for three years and is selling it under the table to a foreign king?”

Merlin is a terrible manservant…but Uthers clothing had never been cleaner, his armour so polished, his bathwater so hot and his notes so organised. Merlin is continuously late and covered in mud or moss, but somehow Uther finds he doesn’t mind as long as Merlin keeps feeding him important castle gossip.

Arthur gets Merlin back at the end of the week, and Merlin can finally breathe (he’s been a nervous wreck for the last seven days). Uthers servant recovers and the King has a functional servant again as is befitting his station.

But Uther is now willing to overlook some of Merlin’s …ridiculousness and familiarity with Arthur…after all, he’s realised Merlin does have some uses, even though he’s always late with breakfast.

Scenes like this:

“You’re the clumsiest excuse for a servant I’ve ever met!”

“Yes, Arthur says I have the elegance of a newborn lamb”

“Why is there a twig in your hair? It’s unbefitting of your station as servant of the King”

“I fell asleep in a ditch, anyways have you heard Lady Carteret has been seen buying hemlock at the apothecary? I’m sure Lord Carteret is soon to be missing, poor sod”

“Can you never bring me my breakfast on time?!”

“Sorry Sire, the poison tester died this morning after drinking your tea, so I had to brew it myself, and we’re in need of a new poison tester. And in totally unrelated news Lord Milder was seen fleeing the castle”

“Rise and shine!! The sun is up and you should be too!”

“Is this really how you wake your King? And where the hell is my breakfast!”

“Well Arthur usually throws a pillow at me even though it’s my job to wake him in the morning - that lazy arse!”

Short DPXDC Prompts #648

The League gets incredibly concerned that their main tech mechanic, Danny Fenton, has instances of his heart or breathing randomly stopping. His skin is cold as ice and his skin is deathly pale.

Danny didn’t realize that the League doesn’t look at hiring applications. If they did they would have seen that he put being a half ghost on his resume.

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Sealed Halfa

DP x DC Prompt

Danny had been living a pretty good life. He was the Ghost King. His Ghostly Rogues are scheduling fights with him. His grades are improving. The GIW had just up and vanished. And Vlad hasn't been doing anything lately to challenge Danny for the title of Ghost King.

He should have been more careful. The reason for Vlad's silence was because the GIW had captured him and ended the Fruitloop. And now they have him. But nothing the GIW does can permanently end him, as the Crown of Flames and the Ring of Rage keep him alive. So the GIW had sealed Danny, which also makes his Ecto Signature impossible to detect by any type of means, and only a GIW member knows the location of where Danny was sealed.

This act alone had caused the ghosts to enact a war on the earth. The war had ravaged the planet to the point that it was inhospitable to almost anything living. So Clockwork had reset the planet. No one could be spared from the reset, as the entire dimension would destabilize and destroy itself.

Danny remains in the seal, still 16, and still a Halfa, as the Crown of Flames and the Ring of Rage sustain his Human Halfs by converting the Ectoplasm they generate into nutrients for their King. And as time passes, Danny's Ectoplasm leaks out of his seal, causing pools of Ectoplasm to be made all around the world.

The Crown of Flames and the Ring of Rage consume any humans that enter the pools of Ectoplasm and converts their bodies and souls into nutrients for their king. And occasionally, sometimes, when the person survives the pools of Ectoplasm, they are left the emotions of the King that has been sealed away by the US Government.

When Tim had blown up multiple League of Assassins bases on his journey to get Bruce out of the timestream, the explosions had caused ancient cave systems to be shifted and slowly open up pathways to the surface, but the pathways would take quite a few years before they could reach the surface.

And on Damian's 16th birthday, he is kidnapped by his mother and taken to Nanda Parbat to become the Demons Head.

As the Batfam is fighting the Assassins and Talia in the Lazarus Pit chamber, the ground beneath them crumbles, and they all tumble and fight their way down the long cave system they have found themselves in.

The cave system leads them to a very much abandoned lab with a big glowing green crystal in the center of it. And then Jason shoots the crystal, causing the crystal to crack all over (the ectoplasm in Jason had taken control of him and knew that the King would be freed if it damaged the seal that contained the King).

After who knows how long, Danny is freed from the seal, and after he regains his bearings, he looks up and sees his Dad in a bat suit. His mom has a different hair color, and he sees his own face staring right back at him along with the many other people staring at him (Danny and Damian are the same person from different timelines).

Danny is a Fae at Starbucks

So! Danny works by Fae Rules, Names and all, but he has no idea about that because he was forced to run away from Home (and the Ghost portal) before his Ghostly Education could be completed.

He runs to Gotham and eventually gets a job at Starbucks, or some other Cafe.

He has to ask the question "Could I get your name please?" A LOT while working there. And unintentionally steals hundreds of Names by the end of his first day, much less a week or a month into his job.

One day, Constantine visits Gotham for a Meeting with Batman, but by the time he gets to the Meeting Point he has bigger issues to discuss.

"Why the hell does half of your City belong to a Fae Lord?!"

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Magic Mirror

Summary: A magic mirror shows what a person desires most in the world. It shows Damian his twin standing next to him. Word Count: 1202

“Come on Damian, all you have to do is stand in front of it.” Dick pleaded with him while gesturing for him to step closer to the magic mirror they had recently obtained from a villain’s lair. 

It was a rather plain mirror as well for being a rare magical item; nothing but a full length mirror with a simple black frame. The only interesting thing about it was that it had the ability to show what a person desired most in life when they stood in front of it. 

Once that little trick was discovered the others had quickly jumped at the chance to stand in front of it. Which was foolish in Damian’s opinion; allowing everyone in the room to view your deepest desire. 

“Tt, I think not Richard; I after all already know what the mirror will show me.There is no point in me standing in front of it.” 

Before Dick can continue his beseeching his case though Jason cuts in from across the room; next to the mirror. “Oh yeah? What do you think would show up, Demon brat; you dressed up as Batman?” 

“He wishes,” Tim snickers next to Jason, “It’s probably gonna be something embarrassing and that’s why he doesn’t want to do it.” 

"Drake, if you know what's good for you you'll stop talking!"

Tim gives Jason a nudge with his elbow before loudly whispering, "That sounds like a conformation if I've ever heard one." 

"Tt, how dare-" Damian is quickly cut off from his incoming tirade by Dick jumping back into the conversation.

"Okay! Let's not start arguing with one another." Dick says to all of them before directing his focus towards him, "Damian, if you really don't want to try out the mirror you don't have too. No one is going to force you to." 

Damian merely rolls his eyes as he walks towards the mirror. The only reason he does so is because being Robin is what he desires the most; he knows it. Looking into the mirror will merely be about proving Drake and Todd wrong. "I'll do it Richard if only to shut these two imbeciles up." 

The moment he stood in front of the mirror waiting for the magic to change the reflection Damian knew that he shouldn't have let Tim and Jason get to him. He had done something foolish and there was no going back now as the mirror swirls with a gold shimmer. 

When the distorted image clears once more Damian swears he feels his heart stop. The reflection shown is not one a million years could have prepared him for. It is not him standing at his father's side, Batman and Robin, as he thought it would have been. 

Instead it shows Damian exactly as he is at the moment. He would almost think the mirror didn't change anything if it weren't for the boy in the mirror standing next to him. Even after all these years it was someone he would never be able to forget. 

His twin brother, Danyal, and him standing side by side once more. While Damian stands rigid and shocked, Danyal's posture is relaxed. He's even smiling as he leaning towards him until their shoulders touch in the reflection.

He doesn't feel it though; he wants to feel it. 

All of a sudden it hits Damian that this is what he desires the most out of everything in the world. The only thing he wants is for his brother to be alive and with him at the manor. With the family Danyal not got the chance to know; the family that doesn't even know he exists. 

In the blink of an eye the magical gold swirls take over the mirror once more, and when it clears it is once again just himself looking back at him. 

After what must be an eternity of staring at the mirror Damian realizes that everything around him is too quiet. He snaps his head to the side where his brothers are, and sees the three of them staring back at him. All of them are in varying degrees of shock and curiosity at what they had just seen. 

He considers lying at first. Saying that he had no idea who the boy was. He can't find it in himself to do that though. Damian had kept his brother a secret long enough; maybe it would be good for the others to know. "That Richard was my twin brother; Danyal." 

With those words Damian practically collapses on the nearest chair; feeling drained and exhausted. The others follow suit as they too take seats next to him. 

"Danyal … Danyal was kind. He understood people much more than I ever will." He takes a deep breath, "He was smart and curious. Always asking questions and wanting to understand everything around him. It was always the stars that fascinated him the most."

"Sounds like a good kid," Jason starts, "must have gotten all the friendly genes in the womb."

"For once I think I agree with you, Todd." 

The silence that follows is thick and suffocating. It is luckily broken after a few seconds by Tim's hesitant question, "What happened to him?"

That was the big question wasn't it? What happened to Danyal; to the twin and brother that wasn't with him when he arrived at the manor?

"Danyal … died a couple years before I came here. The two of us were attacked by a group of rogue assassins after our study lessons." Damian swallows, his throat feels tight, "I wasn't as focused as I should have been, and Danyal ended up taking a fetal hit meant for me."

"Damian-" 

"Let me finish, Richard." He snaps. He doesn't think he would be able to finish if otherwise interrupted. "Danyal was dead by the time he was finally brought to the pits. I knew there was a chance it wouldn't work, but I didn't think it would take him completely. His body was never recovered from the pits.I never got to bury my brother." 

It's when his vision starts to blur that Damian realizes that he's crying. Danyal always did have a way of making Damian show emotions that he would rather keep hidden.

He feels himself being pulled into a chest, and for now he doesn't fight against it. Damian's not sure if he honestly could at the moment. 

“Father doesn’t know about this.” Damian continues after a few minutes of silently sobbing in Dick’s arms. 

“He needs to know.” Tim states, “Maybe not today, but soon.” 

“You tell him when you’re ready, short stack. The old man can deal with not being told right away.” Jason reassures him when he doesn’t answer Tim right away. 

"What am I not being told?" Damian feels as if he's been dunked in water when he realizes that his Father had heard the end of their conversation. 

"Father."

"Damian?" Bruce takes in his youngest son's appearance and it doesn't take a genius to know that he's in some kind of emotional distress.Which in of itself is very rare for him to be in.

"Father, please take a seat. There is something I need to tell you." 

CHAPTER 14

Hello! Welcome to Double Hearted Volume 2. Thank you so much for all the support and patient for this part, it means the world to us.

Volume 2 is the official start of the chronological timeline for Double Hearted. Therefore, every new part will be important to understand the story. Can't wait to continue with the comic! And I hope you all continue supporting us with this project, this wouldn't have been possible without your support!

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