I share more glorious Cat-Danny with you, my friends.
It starts during patrol.
At first, Tim barely notices the small, white blur with eerily green eyes trailing behind him as he scales rooftops and darts through alleys. Gotham’s stray population is no joke, so he figures it’s just another cat—until it keeps happening. Night after night, the same cat follows him like a shadow, no matter how far or fast he goes.
He tries to lose it, but somehow, it always finds him. And soon, he realizes the cat isn’t just following him—it’s helping.
One night, the cat leaps from a rooftop and claws a mugger who’s sneaking up behind Tim. Another night, it leads him to a drug deal in progress, meowing insistently until Tim follows.
It’s eerie how good the cat is at finding trouble, but it’s also undeniably useful. Tim names it Phantom, mostly because of its hauntingly white fur and the way it moves like a ghost in the shadows.
He’s not ready to admit that he’s started looking for the cat on patrol, waiting for it to show up like some unofficial partner.
———
Then Phantom starts showing up at Tim’s apartment.
The first time, Tim finds the cat sitting on his fire escape, staring at him through the window. He brushes it off as coincidence. But then it happens again. And again. Every night, Phantom is there, waiting.
Tim tries ignoring it, but Phantom doesn’t scratch or meow—it just stares, patient and expectant.
Eventually, Tim gives in and lets the cat inside. Phantom struts in like he owns the place, jumps onto Tim’s desk, and curls up right on top of his notes.
“Guess I have a cat now,” Tim mutters, scratching behind Phantom’s ears.
Phantom quickly becomes a fixture in Tim’s life.
He lounges on Tim’s lap during stakeouts, naps on his keyboard, and somehow always knows when Tim needs a break. Phantom is weird, though. His movements are too precise, too deliberate, and sometimes Tim swears he’s glowing faintly green.
But Tim doesn’t question it too much. Phantom’s good company, and Gotham’s seen stranger things.
———
The family eventually notices Phantom soon enough.
“You adopted a stray?” Dick asks when he visits Tim’s apartment. He crouches to pet the cat, who immediately swats at him. Dick recoils, laughing. “Okay, wow. Even the cat thinks I’m beneath him.”
“He doesn't seem to like new people,” Tim mutters, watching Phantom hop onto his desk like nothing happened.
Steph is obsessed. “He’s adorable! Can I post him?” she asks, taking a hundred photos of Phantom lounging on Tim’s keyboard. “He’s like your spooky little sidekick.”
Jason, on the other hand, has a reaction.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” Jason yells the first time he sees Phantom.
Tim frowns. “It’s a cat, Jason. Calm down.”
“No, it’s not! That thing is glowing green, Tim! It’s haunted or radioactive or something!”
Tim rolls his eyes. “He’s just a cat.”
Jason isn’t convinced, but Phantom doesn’t care. He just glares at Jason like he’s the dumbest person in the room and stretches out on the couch.
Damian, though, reacts... differently.
The second Damian sees Phantom, he freezes.
“This cat,” Damian says, voice trembling with reverence, “is extraordinary.”
Tim barely has time to blink before Damian has his hands full of silk-lined cat beds, imported food, and custom collars engraved with “Phantom, the Great.”
“He’s my cat, Damian,” Tim says when Damian tries to scold him for not brushing Phantom’s fur properly.
“You are unworthy of him, Drake,” Damian snaps. “This is a creature of unmatched perfection, and you’re treating him like a common house pet.”
Tim sighs, but Phantom climbs into his lap and starts purring loudly. Damian looks betrayed.
“Traitor,” Damian mutters at Phantom, who clearly doesn’t care.
———
But Phantom isn’t just a cat.
Danny Fenton—currently stuck in his ghost form as a cat and unable to shift back—has been following Tim for weeks, hoping the smartest Bat could help him figure out how to fix his situation.
At first, it was desperation. Danny didn’t know how to communicate with Tim or explain what had happened to him. But then Tim let him in, fed him, and started treating him with such quiet care that Danny couldn’t bring himself to reveal the truth.
Phantom became his escape. For the first time in ages, Danny didn’t have to fight or run or worry about anyone discovering his secrets. He could just... exist.
And, okay, messing with the family was a bonus.
Danny knew he couldn’t stay a cat forever, but with the way Tim scratched behind his ears and muttered soft compliments, he thought, Maybe I can stay like this for a little longer.
Or maybe a lot longer. Phantom had a good thing going, after all.
I’m just imagining that sudden switch, like, everyone in the League has taken a call from Amity Park at some point. They’ve had daily calls for years now, there’s no way that they haven’t. So there’s this collective realization of every single league member, at the same exact nanosecond, realizing all of a sudden, that: “why were we ignoring those distress calls?! They called so many times!” And they all panic, because clearly something was going on here. Someone had to’ve cursed the town. There’s no other explanation for it. Why else would they have all had this realization at the same time? Why are we realizing this now? Is Amity Park ok? Did the town get destroyed, thereby lifting the curse?
I saw the idea that Wes Weston, everyone's favorite fan character, has the curse of Cassandra and no one will believe any of his "visions." Since I have been on a DCxDP AU kick lately, I feel the desire to combine this.
So, the reason the justice league never came to answer any of amity park's distress calls? It is because Wes made a call for help at the very beginning, before he even knew about his curse. The curse took hold and every message after that one was dismissed as a joke by the league.
It is only when something or someone breaks the curse that the league collectively realize they have been ignoring thousands of aid requests for years.
Ok but, that climax is so perfect, like, dam-
Also though, my own addition to these stories, can you imagine how pissed Danny is that, not only did they take him and his parents it, but the fact that DIDN’T take the GIW? Cause like, they tried to literally nuke the GZ, and shouldn’t that be a much higher offence.
Danny held up a large sign from the background like a man at an airport as thier leader, Robin, gave his report to this "Justice League". The first sign said, "Help! I'm surrounded by daddy issues!" Earning a laugh from someone off camera. He then pulled the next card out from behind the first one.
"Can you send air fresheners? It smells like teen angst in here"
This one got a cackle from someone on the Justice League side of things. Score. No one here really wants to laugh. They're all edgelords and Danny is suffering. He didn't really want to be here, but things in Amity had ended in a way he never expected.
Both he and his parents had been arrested.
Not by his worlds government, mind you, but by the government of another Earth. This Earth that he was currently on to be more accurate. Who knew that so much of the stuff he and his parents had been doing was super illegal and wouldn't ya know it? He was in the middle of doing something really sketchy looking in his parents lab when the feds busted in.
Thankfully, the Justice League presented him with a deal: they take him out of Juvie and the reformation program he was in, and in return, he joins a team of former teen/child villains and anti-heros.
Figuring he had nothing to lose at this point he agreed.
He was not expecting to be surrounded by angry angsty teens. His fault really. He should have known better. Thankfully it seems like nobody knows about Phantom and he'd like to keep it that way.
Psaro was his calm in the storm. The other boy was proud and almost as arrogant as Robin, but he had been proven to be very kind and reliable. If Danny ever needed advice or if Robin was getting a bit too much, he could just knock of Psaros door.
The last time Robin had a fit and was starting a fight with someone, Mr. Pointy ears stepped up and told Robin that his outburst was undignified, especially for someone of a higher class like Robin seems to be presenting himself as. He also said something about there being a big difference between a king and a tyrant, but Danny had been trying to rush Robin's victim to the medway and didn't hear all of the convo.
Psaro was some kind of half demon prince who was also from another world. He didn't have a superhero name yet, but the program was brand new, and to be fair, Danny didn't officially have one either.
Some lady called Raven was supposed to be coming in to help Psaro and convince him to embrace his human half and help him with magic and...something about a curse? What did Danny get himself into???
Assume any and all fanfics have bad parents Maddie and Jack Fenton and vivisection/dissection unless stated otherwise
Danny has to be the most impressive or overpowered there just because
Phantom planet? Don't know her
Canon is barely a thing
We have achieved the creation of a culture within the ghost zone with absolutely no basis on canon that we all agree upon and it's your business to figure out
Yes, that ship exists and it's quite popular
No matter the time of year there's always a fandom event going on
yes please, to all of this. Can someone write this?
Lex Luthor after years of r&d stumbles upon ectoplasm. He then uses this experimental fuel source to power his machines for years.
The GIW gets wind of this, the GIW who currently have both Jazz and Danny in containment after Maddie and Jack handed them over.
Lex finds these two children and for a moment he’s back in his childhood, remembering his father. His horrible drunkard of a father, and he sees red. When he calms down the GIW base is nothing more than a smoking crater and he is carrying the two children.
Did you lose this?
Inspired by this post.
@emacrow
I have the urge to add on, but don't know what to write-
Humans like to interpret the afterlife as some unreachable place, or some distant time. But they also like to describe the transition between living and dead as passing through gates, passages, doors, veils. And that rather implies the afterlife is simply the next room over, not some whole other house.
The thing about ghosts is, everyone eventually dies. Everyone. And most everyone stays dead. They leave one room - the room of the living - and never enter it again. But ghosts will knock on the walls, tap on windows, play their music far too loudly at two am, thump and bump and generally annoy the living into acknowledging their continued existence.
They wander the halls and yards of existence without going back into the living room, and never quite let you forget they were still there.
As a half ghost, that was especially true of Danny. And his Lair reflected it.
While the interiors of Lairs were generally contained to the Ghost Zone, they existed at the points where one reality intersected the other. Their walls were the walls between living and dead.
Danny, being both living and dead, had a Lair more liminal than most. It sauntered down side streets, and peeked into other people's houses; it made itself comfortable on the couches of neighbours, and invaded public parks. Most of FentonWorks was his Lair, but so were certain halls of his school, a booth at the Nastyburger, and the sky over Amity Park.
And when Danny moved out, left Amity and started university in Gotham, his Lair went with him.
Let me say it again - this metaphysical space of liminality, that claimed a city's whole sky, several building interiors, and nearly entire neighbourhoods - moved to Gotham.
This was a bit of problem for the local vigilantes.
There were new streets. New parks. New rooftops with accompanying buildings that could only be accessed from above. There was a mystery booth at the Batburger nearest Gotham U that only seemed to exist on certain days of the week, with a menu to a place that didn't exist and music that hadn't seen airtime since the 90's.
You could see the stars from Crime Alley, even on cloudy nights.
Granted, Danny couldn't exactly control where his Lair manifested physically.
It hovered around his apartment in Park Row, putting his childhood bedroom up the hall from his new, adult bedroom. It added halls to GU, then claimed new ones as Danny progressed through his degree. It collapsed dead end alleyways into small town green spaces, and made sure at least some of the exits lead back to Gotham.
The vigilantes particularly disliked that little feature. For all that Danny's Lair was adding features to Gotham, it wasn't removing them from Amity Park. So when you entered a "new" building from a rooftop in Gotham, the street level exit left you hundreds of miles away in a city in an entirely different State.
The average citizen adapted, of course. It was nice to take your lunch break in a peaceful (if a bit spooky) park that cancelled out all the city noise of downtown Gotham, and still be able to get back to work on time. And Gotham U was already such a maze, a few non-euclidean hallways that cut across campus was seen as a godsend. So what if they looked like they came from a movie about high school in the 80's?
It only really became a problem for Danny when his Lair opened itself a door between his kitchen, and a mansion he'd never even visited before.
Because now Batman was in his apartment, and Danny had no way to explain that he hadn't intentionally started haunting Wayne Manor.
Danny Fenton is Chip Skylark
Normally, I don't like doing multiple crossovers. I prefer to stick to just DC and DP. That being said, I have always loved the HC that Danny Fenton grows up to be Chip Skylark because it is the same creator and art style, so this is going to be an exception.
Bruce never understood the way people became obsessed with celebrities. He never experienced the whole "crush on the celebrity" or the urge to follow whatever scandal a celebrity was involved in (as long as no crime was committed).
If he liked an actor, it was because their moves and TV shows were good. Their acting had a range of roles that were well done. If he followed a singer or a band, it was because their music was something he enjoyed listening to. If he had a favorite sports player, they were terrific athletes who won competitions.
It was never because he thought them attractive or that he was burning with the need to know who they were dating. He didn't need to see every detail of their lives because he honestly didn't care if this singer was seen buying donuts on a random Saturday with an unknown man or if an athlete was seen buying from a discount bin.
It always made him uncomfortable how fans thought they had a right to a celebrities time. Running up and demanding autographs, taking videos or photos without consent and the worst of all, sending death threats to anyone they believe was stealing thier celebrity away.
He often heard people say that famous people knew what happened when you became famous, but that just sounded like an excuse not to treat another human being like a human being—at least to him.
The whole "they belong to the public now" was just....ugh.
Alfred was the same way. He got excited to meet someone famous from the theater but wasn't one to watch talk shows and sandals. Wasn't one to pin posters to walls or get offended when someone famous acted like a normal person.
Then Dick came to live at the manor, and although it confused him, Bruce let Dick get excited over a celebrity singer. Bought all the posters, signed CDs, met and greets, front row seats, and backstage passes if it made Dick happy.
Jason was the same with Broadway stars, gasping and babbling whenever someone he adored appeared on TV. Tim nearly fainted when he met that one famous skateboarder, framing the used napkin he had the man sign.
Steph adored that one Boxer, constantly babbling fun facts about the man that had nothing to do with boxing. Why would Bruce care what elementary school he went to? But he listened anyway.
Cass had dancers she went star-eyed for. There was that phase where she styled her hair the same way as her idol from Paris Oprea Ballet despite the fact that the style was only during nonperforming hours. Bruce had to special order the endorsed hair bands with a blue star of said Dancer.
Duke had an actor whom he never missed a single moive or show for. Even if the TV show she stared in flop from the terrible writing, the boy forced himself to sit through every minute if only because she appeared. He had a collection of DVDs long before moving in with Bruce and when Bruce took him to a special release night of her latest work, Duke had actually bursted into tears when they played her thank you for watching viedo before the movie started.
Really. Caring so much about people they didn't even know made no sense. He would understand if it was a fictional character, like the Grey Ghost because the character is and was just what that particular media presented. But real people? It was a real head-scratcher.
He assumed Damian would be the same as him. After all, Bruce knew his father, and his father's father had the same view of celebrities.
He was wrong.
"It's Chip Skylar!" His son screams at the top of his lungs when Danny's picture appears on the screen. His old college friend had contacted him asking if it was possible to have some special protection at his next concert.
Apparently, at the last one, he was kidnapped by some crazy fan and held hostage with a kid she babysat.
Seeing as Bruce and Danny often collaborated on tech for Batman (Before Danny got his big singing break, he was one of Gotham U's top engineering majors), Bruce saw no reason not to step in and offer help, especially if it turned out his kidnapping was due to magic, like Danny suspected.
He may not run around as Phantom anymore, but Danny had seen his fair share of magic users and magical creatures. That was the only explanation for how a tree had just appeared in the middle of the road and caused him to crash right in front of her house. She wasn't the cause of the magic, that much he was able to figure out when she chained him up, but it made Danny uneasy.
He was worried that the magic users would try again, and much like Superman, he had little to no defense against it.
"We're going to guard Chip Skylar!? " Damian hyperventilates, practically vibrating in his seat from excitement. "I get to meet Chip Skylar!?"
"You're a fan of his?" Bruce asks, slightly surprised, only to notice the same excitement on his children's faces.
"Ugh, duh. He's only like one of the most talented artists ever!" Steph gasped, pressing her hands over her mouth. "He once stopped to let a black cat, and every animal shelter in the state had their black cats adopted within a week!"
"I started flossing more regularly because of his Shinny Teeth song," Duke admits. "I couldn't get enough of that commercial."
Dick pulled out his phone, tapping rapidly. "I got to tell Wally. He will be so jealous I get to guard Chip Skylark!"
Bruce stared at all of them, wondering how even Jason and Cass seemed to be losing their minds over the same guy he once caught trying to drink three gallons of milk because, and he quotes, "It makes my bones go brrrrrrr"
"Danny is an amazing singer but-"
"Danny?" Tim snaps his eyes towards Bruce so fast, it took every ounce of his training not to flinch."How do you know Chip Skylark's birth name? Only the most dedicated fans know his non-stage name."
Bruce shrugs. "You all know how I feel about famous people. I'm not that dedicated of a fan but I happen to be friends with Danny. I can ask him to met you if you want-"
"YOU PERSONALLY KNOW CHIP SKYLARK, AND YOU DARED TO GIFT ME ART SUPPLIES FOR MY BIRTHDAY!? FATHER HOW COULD YOU!" Damian screeched, slamming his hands on the conference table as his siblings broke into an uproar.
Bruce honestly can never understand this.
oh no, that’s not going to go over well-
DP x DC Prompt.
Deadserious
.
>Danny had a problem. He thought he handled it well. He couldn't tell his civillian boyfriend of his half-dead status.
He definitely couldn't let him find out by being summoned by some culty wannabes who wanted to rule the world.
Easy solution: Volunteer to be the sacrifice, turn his eyes green, and act like a Royal prick and powerful being. Get rescued by one of Gothams 50 vigilantes. And claim no memory.
Boom, secret identity underwraps.
He didn't expect everyone to treat him so fragile after.
>
Damian also had a problem. That problem, being his civilian boyfriend, was obviously possessed by a spirit of the ghastly ghost king and was utterly clueless about it.
And it was all his fault.
Danny Fenton was the next June Moore/ Enchantress. Except he was hosting one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
And that lovable idiot had no damn idea about it.
This has killed me with its cold humor
Danny was quite desensitized to death by the time he finished High school. And he didn’t mean just ghosts. Despite his stellar record of preventing any deaths during his vigilante career, he still managed to see quite a few dead bodies. Though those usually weren’t in Amity but nearby towns.
Ghosts did need help sometimes to get peace and that often meant that he found their remains and anonymously sent in tips to the police. It’s this reason why when he planned to move to Gotham for College, and after checking out rent prices, he decided to do something that would only aid him in saving money.
He took a week during the summer between semesters and traveled to Gotham. After a few days of scouting (and staying in shitty hotels) he found the perfect place. An unused Mausoleum. It just needed a minor bit of renovation (like adding a bathroom) and it would be perfect.
He went to the library and searched to make sure he knew the information of whose building it was and if there were plans to use it soon. His luck was good and it was considered abandoned. He checked the price and winced. It would take a good chuck from his savings but overall it would save him quite a bit.
Deciding to save money after he bought it, he used ghosts with the right obsessions to reconstruct it. When he started living there he was somewhat surprised at how settled he felt. Turns out he somewhat accidentally made himself his own grave, which was good for his ghost half.
He didn’t realize that his coming and going from the graveyard would be noticed by the bats though. He doesn’t really want to have them digging into his life. He knows it will be hard but somehow he knows they will find something.
Excuse me Op, what’s that supposed to mean? 😟 Why is it in quotes? Also, there’s more than one ending? 😥
The footprints lead Alfred out of the room and to the right but quickly dried up on the short hair carpet.
Alfred checked every room to the right of Danny's. He had to have left the family wing. 40 minutes of searching later, Alfred was about to go down yet another hallway when he heard faint music and metal clanging. He walked closer to the sound until he could make out some words.
🎶I- can hear the sound of violins🎶
🎶long before- it begins🎶
The gym. Someone is at the gym. He told Dick to relax. This is the opposite of relaxing. He stops for a moment outside the door to gather himself. People listen to empathy more than anger. When Alfred pushed the door open and looked down at the workout area, he didn't see a disobedient clown. No. Instead, he was forcibly dragged back to 1989, staring at a 13 year old Bruce doing chest presses. He always looked the most at ease when he was at the gym. The rest of the time, he would be looking for his parents' killer or discovering seacret organizations. Alfred used to cherish the time Bruce spent at the gym because he knew it was the closest he could get to calm. Shortly, Danny put down his 3 kg weights and addressed Alfred.
"Morning, Alfred. Breakfast already? Thought I had more time." He sounded like Bruce, more than just his voice. Danny had his own way of talking, but this was all Bruce.
"Young Master," best not to object to his perceived reality, whatever that may be. "It's almost seven in the afternoon, not morning." The sun would have spoiled that for him anyway. "And dinner will be ready in two hours."
"Oh, ok. I'll be there at nine then." Danny simply went over to the next station in his routine. Right as he sat down on the floor, something seemed to dawn on him. "Alfred? Did something happen to me?" He asked innocently.
Alfred remained frozen, staring at the young boy. "What would give you that idea?"
"I woke up in a different room than usual, I had to switch down all my weights, and the files in my father's office have been moved. And then you came in looking like you've seen a ghost." Ever the detective.
"Nothing gets past you. I'm afraid you had a rather bad fever and spent a few days in bed. I would like to examine your health, but it can wait. Let's say, eight-thirty? Before dinner?"
"Kitchen at eight-thirty, got it."
Alfred left the room and braced himself on the door. He thinks he's Bruce. He probably thinks it's the 80s or 90s, too. It's a good thing most everyone is out hunting down clues and/or committing extreme acts of violence.
Danny had changed into an all black suit (bowtie and kerchief included) before coming to the kitchen at 8:27. Hmm, he does like to be punctual. His temperature and heart rate were normal, for once he didn't have bags under his eyes, which responded in time to light. But, he was definitely younger than he was when he arrived. Dick wasn't imagining that.
"Can you tell me your name, age, and today's date?"
"Bruce Thomas Wayne, 12, almost 13, today is November, uh," He struggled a bit. "17th? Maybe a bit later, 1988." He avoided eye contact. "Just so we're clear, I wouldn't have known today's date even if I hadn't been sick."
Alfred smiled a little, remembering how much he used to care about getting good scores on everything. "I'll be sure to include that in the report." He retorted sarcastically, earning a small grin back. "Now go wash up, dinners almost ready."
As per routine, Alfred started by bringing out the helthiest dishes. They all knew it was a trick to get them to eat vegetables, but no one was ever willing to wait. Danny was so hungry, even the brussel sprouts were appetizing. Now if Alfred could just stop staring at him and actually put the container on the table.
"Alfred?"
"W, what?"
"Are you OK?"
Danny had combed his hair when he'd asked him to wash up. This was Bruce. This was the boy Alfred raised. The one who had fallen asleep in his arms every night for months because he refused to be alone in the dark. The one who used to "forget" to tell Alfred about the handfuls of peanut butter in his pockets, ruining thousand dollars dress pants on six different occasions. The one who wanted to keep street cats knowing full well he was allergic.
"Do you need a day off? Or maybe a week?"
"What? No. I'm alright master Bruce. Just, uhm, glad to see you have your appetite back. That's all." Keep it together now. He set down a steaming glass dish full of baked carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, onions, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms.
Danny took as big a serving as he could fit (vegetables can only go in the top right on his plate), making sure not to let the butter run too much. The next dish was steamed turnip. Crap. Another vegetable. Can't mix them. Can't put it somewhere else. The only option is to finish the baked vegetables fast.
By the time he finished his quarter of a turnip, six more dishes had already shown up. How many people does Alfred think live here?
At 21:11 Dick walked into the dining room. Dressed in a plain shirt and pants. The two boys looked like they were going to entirely different events.
"Hello." Danny invited. "I'm sorry, have we met?"
"This gentleman is detective Richard Grayson." Alfred interjected. "Master Dick, would you care to join us for dinner?"
"Oh, where are my manners? Here, have a seat. There's plenty of food."
The dinner after that was awkward, but nice. It's good to have some company once in a while. Ever since his parents died, it's just been him and Alfred.
He did wake up late in the afternoon, so it shouldn't be such a surprise that he got to stay up and watch his gray ghost VHS tapes way later than his usual bedtime. Only interrupted occasionally by Alfred, making sure he's keeping all that food down. He had to have been really sick. He doesn't even remember throwing up recently.
He must have dosed off at some point because he was awoken abruptly at some horrid hour of the night by an ear pierceing scream. He hurried to its sorce in the family wing where he saw what looked like another Bruce, except this one had white hair and wore a black onesie. He appeared to be melting into a glowing green sludge. Bruce knelt down and grabbed the boy, who stopped screaming. Opting to bury his face in Bruce's chest instead.
Alfred came just as the gruesome scene was over. 4:50 am, same place, same time, every night. Alfred had hoped something had improved when the screaming stopped early. But rather than the typical gorey mess, there was Danny, inconsolable and covered in slime.
"Wh, wh, ah?" Who was that? What was that?? Why was that???
"Master da- Bruce." At lightning speed, Alfred was on his knees and holding Danny. "Come on, you don't have to be here." He tried to lift him up, but Danny resisted.
"...Why do you have the carpet cleaner?" He accused. "Did you know this would happen?"