So I just had an Idea...
I love it when Fright Knight gets pulled in as Danny's guardian.
So imagine, if you will, Danny leaves for Gotham bc of college, but his parents worry over him going alone. Jazz is in an Ivy league college so she can't go with him, Sam and Tucker are doing their own things at different colleges.
But they really can't let their son go alone, he may be the ghost king and he may be really strong but that is their baby! Cue Jack asking Fright Knight to go with his son so he has some protection in crime capital. Amity Park barely has human crime after all, what would their poor boy do? He only knows how to fight ghosts, Jack is speaking from expierence here, humans are oh so fragile.
Thus, Danny finds himself saddled with a babysitter for college, reluctantly taking the ghost with him under the condition that he tries to look human.
Fright Knight acquiesces. Taking off his armor he reveals a tall man with dark grey skin and glowing purple eyes, long black hair braided back in a longsleeve shirt and pants.
He's still giving major scary vibes.
Well, it's not getting better so, eh.
Now Danny makes friends in college, he eventually gets asked out on a date by one of the batboys ( I personally hc Damian bc it would be funny). So Danny is getting picked up, only he's not the one opening the door, it's Fright Knight. Tall, intimidating-looking and scary AF vibes Fright Knight.
It doesn't matter how brave you are, or how well your immunity to scare gas is, something about the glowing purple eyes glowering down at you is scary.
And then arrives Danny, sunshine personified, waving off Fright Knight while his date wants to get the hell out of dodge while the scary guardian of his date glares like he tries to set them on fire!
Meanwhile Fright Knight is trying to gauge if this human is good enough for his king, he only deserves the best! And the kings father did tell him how fragile humans were... maybe he should send a letter to Frostbite and ask for some help.
Next
First it was a few classes because of a lost dare, but then those few turned into a usual thing for him.
In fact, he got so into it that even his rogues, when they realized it was almost time for his Ballet lessons, would pause the fight and make sure he went. The young half-ghost was, in their opinion, far too tense and stressed, and if they wanted to make sure he was in top form for fighting then he needed a hobby.
Regular Ballet lessons turned into competitions.
Competitions turned into him being scouted.
And while he never, ever expected this path for himself, at the age of twenty-four he became one of the best Danseurs in the country.
He's also a registered meta, but only because when he dances he gets so into it that some of his ghostly features leak over to his appearance.
Floating white hair, eyes shifting from blue to green in the lights, slightly pointed ears; costume designers adore him.
So it's no surprise that he has his fair share of stalkers.
This is where John Constantine comes in, because someone just tried to send a very nasty curse to Danny, and they need to find out who.
Song that inspired this idea here
Ridiculous Dead Serious idea:
Danny is in some kinda competition that Damian is also in, and they’ve been sniping at each other back and forth throughout the whole thing.
Until one day Danny goes, “You want me so bad it makes you look stupid!”
And Damian stops. Considers. Interrogates himself and his motivations like a good detective. Has a facial journey as he goes through the five stages of grief.
Danny was expecting a snide comeback and now he is legitimately worried he’s somehow triggered the snooty rich kid. Trying to decide if he wants to apologize or awkwardly make his way out of the room to give him time to recover.
Damian sorta hates himself because… yeah, yeah he does. He is attracted to the bratty little fucker and has been… pulling pigtails? Antagonizing to remain in his thoughts and field of vision, to watch his face get red and his breath quicken, to make him lean aggressively into his space and growl at him???
Damian is horrified. How did he misjudge himself so badly? Is this how mother felt when she discovered that Father was a complete mess and only fell more in love?
“Uh, dude? Are you… okay?” Danny reaches hesitantly towards him but doesn’t quite touch.
“No,” Damian says, schooling his face into a bland mask. “In fact, I may need you to support me.”
Panic flits across his companion’s face. He rushes to his aid, ducking against his side. His arm wraps around Damian’s back and a hand settles on his waist. Too gullible.
Damian mourns his own good sense.
Hood needs to hurry or Mr Freeze will adopt him
Danny's love language is physical touch.
He adored his dad’s crushing hugs, his mother’s forehead kisses, and his sister's way of putting both hands on his shoulders to guide him.
He loved the way he would accidentally brush against his friends while walking, how they would grab on each other during horror movies, how Sam would stop and pick the loose hair on his shirt, and how Tucker would press his hand against his back every time he caught up to them.
After being forced out of Amity and outed as Phantom, he started to miss Dash’s punches, too.
Any type of touch was considerably better than the cold he was feeling inside his chest.
His ice core made him feel like he was suffocating, the warmth of a human touch now felt more urgent than eating or finding shelter out in Gotham.
In the meantime, Red Hood received news of a new criminal in the alley that would target random people in the street and grab them, causing their arms to freeze over.
Danny didn't think that falling through a natural portal would result in him stumbling upon a cult. Or that said cult currently was busy with "punishing" a small five year old child.
Really there was only one thing he could do and accidental kidnapping usually happened to him as the kidnapee not the kidnapper.
Well, there was a first time for everything. Taking the small child with him into the infinite realms may have been a panic reaction, and he may have accidentally summoned Frostbite to check over the boy.
Thankfully the kid, Damian he said his name was, was liminal and fine with healing in Danny's castle before Danny would bring him to his father. According to Damian his father didn't like the cult ("It's the league of assasins... not a cult.")
To be honest he was very much out of depth and so very confused when he had to find his way to the crime ridden city of Gotham and then somehow get the attention of the bat vigilante. Batman was tall and very much as scary as a ghost.
Damian looked out from under King Phantom's cloak of stars and galaxies and took in the person who was said to be his father.
"You are shorter than I thought..."
"Hn." Damian turned to look up at the being that had helped him heal and taken care of him for the last two months.
"I have decided. King Phantom shall be my father from now on!" Damian proceeded to hide back behind the being and into the spacious cloak.
"Uhm... I don't think that's how that works bud." King Phantom said, he was interrupted by laughter. Glancing past the being Damian saw Batman and Robin, as well as Nightwing, the last two were laughing while Batman looked slumped.
"I have decided King Phantom is my father, so he is!"
"This is gold!" Nightwing was now struggling to stand up straight.
"I... uh... I'm not sure what to do in this situation?" King Phantom said, Damian leaned forward a bit to glare at him.
"Take me back to your castle father!" Nightwing seemed to struggle with breathing, he was now wheezing.
Danny would like to say for the record that he wasn't prepared for these things! Somehow that strange situation ended with him in the batmobile on the way to the batcave so that Damian would hopefully want to stay with his actual father.
Gotham was not a city known for its kindness. Rain slicked the alleyways like a second skin, and shadows crept where sunlight dared not linger. Alfred Pennyworth had seen a great many things in this city. Muggers, monsters, and masked madmen were just part of the nightly routine. What he hadn't expected, however, was to be saved by a ghost.
Or something very much like one.
It was supposed to be a quick errand—a quiet evening walk to clear his head. But halfway down Burnside, three desperate men with more bravado than brains cornered him. Alfred had been ready to disarm the first and disable the second, but he never got the chance. A blur of white and black swooped in, accompanied by the distant, bone-deep hum of unnatural power. The muggers were down in seconds—one frozen to the wall, another knocked out cold, and the third suspended midair by a glowing hand that flickered green.
The boy was there and gone just as fast. Alfred barely had time to register the tattered hoodie, the hollow cheeks, the white hair and green eyes that didn’t seem quite human.
"Wait—!" Alfred had called, but the boy was already gone, melting into the shadows like smoke.
The encounter would’ve ended there—just another strange chapter in Gotham’s nightbook—if it hadn’t kept happening.
Twice more, the mysterious young man appeared. Once to stop a purse snatcher near the theater. Another time to drag a lost child out of a crumbling building during a fire. Always fast, always silent. Always gone before Alfred could properly speak to him.
And always too thin.
It was the kind of thin that spoke of long nights without food. Hollow cheeks, knobby elbows, a belt cinched too tight around jeans that barely stayed up. It reminded Alfred of the early days—of Dick, of Jason, of Tim, of Damian. Of boys who had learned to survive instead of live.
Alfred Pennyworth had a rule: no one went hungry on his watch.
And so began his campaign.
At first, it was subtle. A wrapped sandwich left behind after one of the ghost-boy’s heroic appearances. A thermos of hot tea left conveniently near a rooftop perch. A backpack, clean and durable, filled with protein bars and fresh socks. Most of it vanished, though Alfred never saw it happen.
Then came the note, scrawled in messy, tired handwriting:
“Thanks. You didn’t have to. I’m not sticking around though. It’s safer for you if I don’t.”
The next day, Alfred left a response tucked in the same spot:
“You are not a danger, young man. I’ve seen far worse, and fed far worse. If you insist on continuing your streak of rooftop chivalry, I insist you do so on a full stomach.”
He added a slice of quiche. It was gone by morning.
Bruce raised an eyebrow the first time he caught Alfred baking two loaves of banana bread instead of one. Tim said nothing when the supply order mysteriously included a half dozen extra protein shakes and thermal gloves in medium size. Damian made a snide comment—something about stray ghosts haunting the pantry—but Alfred didn’t dignify it with a reply.
Then came the night it changed.
A patrol gone wrong. Batman caught in a collapsing parking garage. The comms went dead. Nightwing was too far. Red Hood was tracking Penguin. The only one nearby—untraceable, unregistered, and undeniably powerful—was the boy Alfred had been feeding for weeks.
He left the beacon on the rooftop.
“Help him. Please. –A.P.”
Within minutes, Bruce stumbled through the Batcave entrance, soot-smudged and breathing, but alive. Behind him, almost hidden in the shadows, was the boy. White hair. Green eyes. Shivering slightly, but still on his feet.
“I didn’t do it for favors,” the boy said. His voice was hoarse, too young for his haunted face. “I just... couldn’t let him die.”
“I know,” Alfred said gently. “Which is precisely why the offer of dinner still stands.”
“…I shouldn’t.” But his eyes drifted toward the warm lights of the manor beyond the cave, toward the smell of fresh bread and something sweet baking in the oven.
“No one escapes me forever, dear boy,” Alfred said with a small smile. “Not even slippery ghosts.”
The boy stared at him for a long moment. Then finally, like a candle burning out, he sagged.
“…Okay. Just for tonight.”
“Of course,” Alfred said, already turning toward the kitchen. “We’ll start with soup.”
Behind him, the boy whispered a name like an afterthought—like something long buried finally being said aloud.
“Danny. My name’s Danny.”
“Well then, Master Danny,” Alfred said, with the same fondness he reserved for all his wayward sons, “welcome home.”
"i'm tired of seeing-" use your filters.
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You would think more Ghost King Danny fics would go into the politics and culture of the ghost zone but a lot of it is just DC crossover, he gets summoned, Constantine freaks out
Don’t get me wrong, I love that shit. But I want more political shit and cultural exchange or whatever
So I watched this short on youtube and I just can't with these comments 😂
Danny moved to Gotham after high school. Went to college. Got a degree. Found out the thing he got a degree for wasn’t able to hire him because his vitals looked half dead and he couldn’t just tell them he was in-fact half dead. Danny was never going to be an astronaut. Not only that, he had massive college debt. Well fuck.
So Danny started doing odd jobs until he found a more stable income at a psychic reading service of all places. Obviously Danny couldn’t see the future. So he only took clients that wanted to talk to dead people. Which was something he could do, given he had an object that might have had some ectoplasm on it or one of the ghosts that typically hung out in the shop knew where to find the person the client was looking for. Being that this is Gotham, not many people that die here actually cross over into the Ghost Zone. Danny was going to have to look into that at some point. But for now, it meant he had only ever once had to tell a client he couldn’t help.
Now Danny before coming to Gotham, hated psychics on principle. Most were lying and telling their clients utter bullshit. But his current boss seemed to be different. Her name was Lilith and she was very much legit when it came to precognition. She often would tell him ahead of time if a client was going to be difficult and who to watch out for on certain days. On more than one occasion, one of her warnings saved him from a mugging or kidnapping.
So, Danny learned to like his life as a medium and used the money from his job to pay his rent and pay off his college debt. Lilith paid him well and the shop had enough customers to back it up. His hours were based on appointment most of the time so he had more free time to do other things if he didn’t have many appointments for the day.
The only time that the hours went to an 8 hour shift were when one of them left to go on vacation or visit family. Thats where Lilith was this week. Out of town visiting family. Because of this, the shop’s services were limited to Danny’s medium appointments. The shop almost never had walk ins since it was so busy. The only time it ever really happened was when Lilith was gone. And most of the time it was someone wanting to buy a crystal from the window display. Nothing Danny couldn’t handle.
Except that was until Red Hood walked in, oozing with toxic ecto and a shattered mess of a core, tossed a set of pearls at him and told him to get reading.
Danny tried to help, he did. The pearls were covered in ecto and seemed to be from a tragic event but there was no ghost attached to them. Whoever they belonged to had passed on to the Ghost Zone or wasn’t dead. Danny said as much and asked Red Hood if he knew his core shattered. Danny then offered to help repair it. Red Hood did not like that. Danny got punched in the face. And he did not get paid.
*that night on call with Sam and Tucker*
Danny: And then he punched me in the face! Can you believe that?!
Sam: Given that he is a crime lord? Yeah I can.
Tucker: ….
Danny: Tucker I don’t like your suspicious silence.
Tucker: *starts giggling mischievously*
Sam: Tucker what are you doing?
Danny: Tuck-
Tucker: So what you’re saying is that- you’ve been hit by, you’ve been STRUCK by- a smooth criminal. *starts playing Smooth Criminal by Micheal Jackson except the name Annie has been edited to the name Danny*
Danny: I hate you so much
Sam: *laughing hysterically*
Tucker: *singing* Danny are you okay? Are you okay Danny?
Danny: *looks into the metaphorical camera like Jim from the office*
…
Red Hood: *nearly falls off the fire escape he was using to spy when the guy from the psychic shop looks right at him*
AKA "Danny is employed as one of the Rogue's henchmen and he's doing so well at being discrete, none of the Bats even know he's committing crime! (They absolutely know.)" prompt idea!!
Y'know what would make this funnier?? Is if Selina Kyle, Catwoman and hoarder of strays, immediately Work Mom'd this kid.
Imagine Danny gets dumped into Gotham by himself. Except there's, like, no ectoplasm - not nearly enough to sustain his Ghost. So, his Ghost form slowly peters out and he's left penniless and powerless on the streets of Gotham. Obviously, the next step would be to find money. But how?? He can't go invisible, intangible, or Full Ghost to help him out here. And there aren't a lot of stand-up places that hire kids younger than 13, so ultimately he's forced to apply for henchmen positions. He doesn't actually find Catwoman's ad. No, she hears through the grapevine that this actual child is applying to be a drug runner for the Penguin or - oh, shit, the Joker??
Absolutely not. Selina is no saint, but she's not going to let another kid be beaten to death by the Joker. Maybe she talks to Harley and finds out where the kid's going, or maybe she just puts in an ad and hires him on the spot. To be honest, she doesn't really expect to particularly like the kid - she'll have him pick up her coffee or something, pay him at the end of the day (standard henchmen pay periods since it's likely they won't live through the end of the week), and clear her conscience.
Except Danny is a little shit.
Danny, for his part, doesn't necessarily want to be a henchman but he figured it'd be more than getting some lady's coffee, right? He imagined an evil man twirling his extra long mustache and smoking a cigar, or mobsters hunched over a gambling table grunting about... playing cards or something, he doesn't know. Instead Danny's told to pick up Catwoman's dry-cleaning. It's almost an insult when he knows she's planning a heist that includes stealing several very expensive items from a museum during an evening showing. Without him, her only henchman!! (So what if he snooped in her office? It's not like it's ghost-proof; she should've expected Bad Behavior from the Very Bad Criminal in her house.)
Selina finds out very quickly that Danny is akin to a rambunctious kitten chewing through her phone charger cable and clawing at her favorite muslin blanket (the one Bruce gifted her from one of their dates). And she's so exasperated that she agrees he can be involved. But only as a distraction and he's told that he needs to scram once the police come because she's not bailing him out of juvie if he gets caught. (She wouldn't, but she could make Bruce do it. Her lover would take one look at Danny's watery doe eyes and cave like he's already experiencing Empty Nest Syndrome.)
So, Catwoman and her littlest henchman plan to rob the Gotham Museum. She buys him a cat-themed facemask (in case things get sticky and he needs a quick anonymous getaway) like ones from Party City, it has little ears poking out from the top and it's adorable. And then it's go time.
Danny's role is to distract the crowd by pretending to be a lost kid and distract Batman if he shows up. Selina will take care of the rest - disarming the alarms, timing the museum workers' shifts, bribing the West Entry security guard, frame-freezing the surveillance cameras, smuggling in the forgery and smuggling out the original, and - well. It'll be nice not to deal with the Big Bat if he shows up, but Selina is used to doing this on her own.
She should've expected that Danny doesn't do what's expected.
Because Danny does his part as the crying, screaming child whose mother is lost amongst the chaos once the museum's power shuts off. He distracts the guards easily. Selina hides away the art, replaces the forgery on the wall, and goes to find her little stray. And Danny is clinging hysterically to The Batman, refusing to be pried off by security guards and museum workers. He's straight up sobbing. Talking about how he loves Batman and Robin, his family is dead, he wants to be Robin, did you know you should be able to see Ursa Major from Gotham but you can't because of the smog, do you think Poison Ivy can just make a lot of trees to unpolluted the air, Nightwing is his favorite superhero, do you think he'll sign an autograph-.
It's astounding how fast that kid can speak while also smearing green snot onto Batman's cape. Danny proves himself to be even more unexpected when he goes off-script, eyeing her and screaming, "Mom!" And Batman's eyes catch hers. Shit. How can she explain a tiny child calling her mother in front of her lover? That'll be an awkward conversation.
Catwoman doesn't take Danny to outings after that. Instead, she has Harley and Ivy take turns "babysitting" (i.e., using Danny as Batfam distractions) while she's at work, kind of like having the fun aunts take you shopping. Danny can do whatever he wants!! With the exception that he needs to be wearing his cat-mask at all times, to properly conceal his identity (neither woman knows he'd already thrown himself at Batman without his mask).
So, while Ivy is destroying a toxic power plant, Danny is stealing Nightwing's escrima sticks, clinging to him, "accidentally" tripping him, doing the Koala-leg thing. He goes all out when Nightwing actually does trip on him - he shrieks that he broke his arm, which forces the vigilante to pay attention to him. Sobs, clings harder, and endures the trip to the hospital on the back of Nightwing's motorcycle with a shit-eating grin.
Harley is beating the hell out of some of Joker's gang. Red Robin is doing surveillance and coordinating with GCPD so they can get the whole circus to Arkham. Except Danny is calling out where Red Robin is hiding with the glittery pink microphone that Harley bought him (originally to sing Doja Cat and Chappell Roan in her car). Joker gang's priority will always be the Batfam because of Joker's obsession with Batman and Danny uses the distraction so Harley can get a couple good swings of her bat in. He cackles maniacally when he hears a muffled, "C'mon, kid!!" from Red Robin.
And the Batkids are just like, Jesus, this kid is literally a nightmare. But they can't do anything! Are they going do arrest a kid? No. Are they going to arrest Batman's lover? No! So, they're stuck dealing with this.... absolute gremlin of a child!!
Danny, of course, is very pleased. The Bats have no idea who he is because of his little cat-mask, he's getting paid literally several grand per week, and Selina - who he's been living with ever since she realized he was homeless - even got him goldfish!
(Bruce is in his office, eyes crinkling in that iconic Dad-Smile, scrolling through candid photos Selina snuck of Danny's chocolate-smeared face while the kid was passed out on her couch. There's a fake ID under the name of Danny Fenton and several pages of foraged school records in a pile on his desk. Bruce eyes his desk drawer where several emergency adoption papers are tucked away.)