A meta-commentary on Danny and Harry. Think of the parallels, the potential!
(Slaps car, "you can fit so much fanon into these bad boys!")
So without further ado, let's get started.
Green eyes: green like ectoplasm, green like the killing curse
Death didn't stick: Harry is the boy-who-lived. Danny is the boy-who-died.
Death-scars: Danny is often written as having Lichtenberg scarring from the accident that killed him. Harry is famous for his lightning bolt scar, received from the killing curse.
Power thrust upon them: Danny defeated Pariah Dark to save his town. Harry collected the hallows by accident/Dumbledore to defeat Voldie. Neither wanted their titles.
Eldritch entity: MOD and GK are portrayed in fandom as beings beyond time. They are not bound to one universe. Death is all-encompassing, it reaches ever corner of the multiverse that contains life. Thus, so do they.
Eternal teenagers: Depending on the depiction, there's a lot of takes where Danny and Harry stopped aging due to their titles/species.
Tired and timeless: AKA Overpowered and overworked. There's a lot of bullshit that goes on behind the metaphysical veil apparently. Being a god-like being isn't easy. There's paperwork and shit. Being immortal sucks.
Vacation AU: What do said immortals do when they need a break? Run away to a random universe for a new start. Hey, maybe here they can finally live a normal peaceful life, right? RIGHT? (It would be a pretty boring crossover if that happened, so sorry Danny/Harry. You're getting a love-interest at the very least.)
Antagonists obsessed with their moms: Vlad and Snape
(ok, that last one was added as a joke, but im not wrong)
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Just two Death Gods chillin' in your dimension: Danny and Harry are work colleges, just two dudes, two pals. Every century or so they pick a universe to dip in to live and relax a little. They're just a couple a eldritch tourists, no need for the locals to get so freaked out, honest.
Summons unclear: Maybe there's some mixup over which universes fall into who's jurisdiction. So when a cult tries to summon a death god they get two. And then Danny and Harry immediately start bickering and bitching. "No, I very clearly stated that this realm was/wasn't my problem!"
Alternates: They could be alternate versions of each other. Does something go wrong with the multiverse? The balance of life and death? Maybe they take each other's places or end up body-swapped. Or they could be reincarnated versions of each other and something unlocks memories of their previous life.
Godly matchmaking: Death and Time see their protégées suffering alone and set them up to support each other. Partners through the pain of eternal responsibility. Could just be platonic.
Soulmate AU: Matching death scars are morbidly romantic, right? Or it could be a write on your skin situation, where they write to each other and only meet once they've ascended. And it comes with the bittersweet knowledge that while they were destined to be together, but they were also destined for greatness born from suffering.
Dead On Main x Yandere Au
Something people didn’t seem to understand about those touched by death was that their emotions were amplified. When they are happy, they are filled with it. When they are sad, they are filled with it. The same is true for anger and love.
The Pit only further amplified the emotions, making it so Jason was overwhelmed by them. It took time for him to get used to it.(He never fully realized the extent, only thinking the pit amplified the bad emotions.)
The Fentons were all death touched, even if they didn’t realize it. However, Danny was the most. He was both dead and alive, emotions amplified to the nth degree yet still able to think things through, to plan and not allow the emotions to distract him.
Another thing people don’t realize is that those who are fully dead might not rely as much on relationships, but ghosts like Phantom or revenants like Jason? They craved it. They needed attachment.
Which is why, early in Jason’s career as Red Hood, he found himself growing more and more obsessed with his mechanic, Danny.
Neither fully realized how creepy/weird/obsessive their love was.
The resident goons, as well as the rest of Crime Alley?
Well, they just knew the Boss and the Mechanic were obsessed with each other, and head over heels.
They just hoped they steadied each other instead of making each other crazier.(The Mechanic was already one bad day away from being their next rogue.)
Jack on a three way call: How are things in Gotham!? Is everything going well with opening the new Fenton Work branch?
Jazz: Everything is going great, Dad. We think we should be open for business in a week or two.
Maddie: That's so exciting, sweetie! Thank you again for doing this for us.
Jazz: Hey, it's the family business. Of course, I'll help out, plus it gives Danny and I a place to stay while we're studying.
Maddie: How is Danny doing? I fell bad we made him move after only one year in Casper High.
Jazz: Danny is adjusting. He's got straight A's in class and the full ride to Gotham U, that the Martha Wayne Foundation offered him is a nice bonus. He's just a little upset that the only way to get it is to attend three years of high school within Gotham. He is really missing Sam and Tucker
Maddie: Has he made no friends in Gotham Academy?
Jazz: Well....there is that one kid, but he's more interested in being boyfriends instead of best friends.
Jack: How can you be so sure? I've known plenty of people who thought I was flirting with them but in reality I was just being friendly.
Jazz: He is outside our house serenading Danny. He hired a mariachi band and has a sign that reads, "Will you be my boyfriend Danny Fenton" in spanish
Maddie: Oh. How is Danny reacting?
Jazz: *Looks over at Danny*
Danny:
Jazz: He looks confused. I don't think he can read the sign.
Jack: *laughing* That's my boy! What's the poor unfortunate kid who's heart was stolen by Danny?
Jazz: Jason Todd.
Maddie: That name sounds familiar. Wasn't he the kid Phantom saved from the Joker in Ethiopia a year ago?
Jazz: Yeah, it was.
Jack: *Laughs harder*
The Phantom Phamily decide that if Vlad is going to be around, he's going to need to be less evil. To that end, they push him to make friends with not evil rich people like Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen.
Vlad: *bursting into the conversation at a socialite party* Hello! My good friends! *checks the writing on his hand* Bruce Wayne and…! Oliver Peen!
Bruce: *chokes*
Oliver: Excuse me???
Vlad: *wrapping an arm around them both* I’m so glad to see you both, my good, wonderful friends!
Vlad: *in a hissed whisper as he brings them all closer together* Just shut up and smile. My kids say I have to make friends and you’re gonna be them, so stfu and just go with it.
Bruce and Oliver:
Bruce and Oliver:
Bruce and Oliver: *in tears because THEY GET IT* Vlad! Our good friend!!
guess which show I binged while sick…(can’t fucking watch anything without thinking up a dp au for it)
danny phantom teen titans crossover au idea
Vlad tricks the Fentons into sending danny to Hive Academy (so he can learn to be his evil apprentice/son or some shit). maybe by saying that its a super prestigious school that anyone would kill to attend, or like, its a school that specializes in helping troubled youth and setting them up on the path to successes (yeah successful super villains), or some other vapid nonsense. either way Jack and Maddie fall for it and decide to send Danny there.
Danny probably doesn’t know exactly what Hive Academy(H.A.) is about, but he knows enough to understand that he doesn’t want anything to do with the place. maybe cause Vlad said something to him, or he overheard Vlad talking to someone about him attending. but he doesn’t get a choose about going, cause Jack and Maddie think it’ll fix danny’s school problem.(it won’t, its just replacing 1 set of problems for another)
from there, there would be a lot of danny+sam+tucker freaking out about danny not being there to protect the town from ghosts(maybe Jazz and Valerie too) And them trying everything they can think of to get danny out of it. nothing works but they still try.
after that Im not really sure about the specific stuff. Danny would probably do really well at H.A. cause the whole point of the place is to teach super powered kids how to use those powers (even if the reason completely clashes with danny’s morals) And then maybe Danny meets another kid there that doesn’t want to be a villain so the 2 of them team up to… idk, rat the school out to the heroes and shit happens from there.
Note: Sorry, I don't know English, so please use a translator. I apologize if you don't get the idea.
Dead On Main. Soul mates.
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"Exactly... what does this ring do?" The shining ring was still attached to his finger. This wouldn't worry him if it weren't for the fact that, with each passing minute, the ring emitted more light, and that can't be good.
The cult leader refused to speak. He wouldn't even look at him, seeming particularly attentive to the material the floor was made of. Very funny that now he was scared of him when, an hour ago, he was giving a very cliché speech about how humanity was doomed because it would summon the evil of evils.
It wasn't very smart of him to perform his summoning precisely in Gotham City, home of the Dark Knight.
Red Hood was getting impatient. He placed the hand without the ring on his weapon; if words didn't work, a real threat to his life would. And this didn't really break Bruce's 'no killing' rule because the gun was only loaded with rubber bullets. However, just as he was about to advance and shoot the guy, he saw Batman grab the leader's tunic collar and lift him up.
The man, of course, screamed in fear. "Speak, what does that ring do?" No jokes. Batman's voice was deeper than usual, showing that he was upset, no, rather angry.
Or worried, but Jason could never consider that possibility. For the moment, he was only surprised, although it didn't show through his helmet.
"I-I don't know," the leader replied. Poor guy, he seemed about to cry. Batman, not content, tightened his grip even more; he wasn't willing to tolerate a lie this time.
Red Robin raised an eyebrow. "You managed to gather a bunch of magical artifacts for your summoning and you don't know what they do?"
The man looked away. "No..." The rest of the cult members also looked away. Very brave and stupid of them to all agree to lie to the bats. Jason himself wanted to mock them, but the ring kept shining. He couldn't mock when the ring kept shining and he didn't know what it meant.
From the communications, Robin could be heard. "Tt, this wouldn't be happening if Hood hadn't put on the ring." Jason suppressed a growl.
"Kid, I didn't put on the ring. This thing stuck to me the moment I touched it." It was true. In the middle of the operation to stop the ritual, Jason had pulled the ring, which at that moment was a kind of necklace by the chain that ran through it, from a member who was wearing it. The ring in his hand began to glow and suddenly teleported to his ring finger, then stopped shining. It was when everything calmed down that the ring began to release a different, but constant light.
Approximately ten minutes have passed since then, he thought as he looked at the ring, ignoring all the magical stuff; it was actually a very simple ring. Suddenly, the ring began to blink.
Oh, no. That couldn't be good.
Batman, fed up with the leader's silence and his followers, threw the man meters ahead. "Oracle, call Zatanna now, we need more information about the ring," he ordered as he approached the man who was in pain from the fall. The guy, terrified by the violent aura of the Dark Knight, tried to retreat.
Finally, Nightwing stepped between the man and the brutal beating he would receive if he didn't speak.
"It's okay, B, calm down." With his hand on his father's shoulder, Dick tried to ease the atmosphere. "I understand your concern. We are all worried about what the ring might do to Hood. But we can't let fear and anger control us. Hood is important to all of us. He is our brother, your son. We can't lose our cool now. Let's call Wonder Woman. If no one wants to talk, she can help us with the lasso of truth."
Total silence. Jason didn't know what to say; he didn't think his family would react like this over a blinking ring. That is... he doesn't know. Suddenly, the ring's light began to blink faster.
Batman, after Nightwing's words and seeing the change in the ring, understood that he couldn't waste time with someone who wouldn't talk. "You're right, thank you Nightwing." Looking at the others, he said: "We need to act quickly, we don't know the effects the ring might have on Hood. We need to take him to the cave for a thorough analysis, no discussions." The last part he said looking at Jason. "Until then, don't try to take it off or use it."
Jason scoffed, as if he would.
"Oracle, you heard, call Diana. Red Robin and I will take care of the rest of the cult. Nightwing, take Red Hood to the cave." Batman began giving orders as he reached the leader and began dragging him towards the rest of his cult. The leader, in a failed attempt, tried to resist. "Agent A, please prepare a stretcher. Understood?"
Everyone nodded.
On the other hand, the touching speech and the strange family moment of the bats seemed to soften the heart of a girl from the cult, who in a whisper said: "The ring, nothing will happen to him." Although she spoke quietly, everyone present heard her.
The leader, panicking that the information would be revealed, exclaimed: "Catrina, shut up!" However, he was struck by Batman, who was already fed up with the guy.
"What do you have to say about the ring?" he asked.
The woman hesitated to speak. "We thought of using the ring to subdue the king of the dead and make him listen to our orders..." She paused, not knowing how to continue. "There is a real legend about the ring. A long time ago, a witch wanted to know who her soulmate was, so she created the ring. This allows one to be guided to their soulmate through the red thread. I think everyone already knows what the red thread is." Nervous, she looked around. Only Nightwing nodded, and that was enough for her to continue telling. "Well, the witch's red thread connected with a prince. Unfortunately for everyone, the prince was not happy that his soulmate was a witch. So he had her killed." The girl looked at her hands; that part of the story was sad. "The witch was angry, but still wanted her soulmate to accept her, so she rewrote the ring's original purpose. It was no longer something that united you with your soulmate, but now it was something that allowed you to subdue your soulmate... uh, this." She pointed to a book that was lying in a corner. "With another spell, in fact, it can be used to subdue anyone, even a king of the dead."
With the whole story already told, Red Robin asked: "So, what is the ring doing to Red Hood?"
"It's tracking his soulmate. I... didn't get to put the other spell on it. I could only activate the ring's primary function. Your brother will be fine."
That definitely changes things. Jason swore he could hear his heart beating. A soulmate, wow. He admits he's read many romance novels and maybe once dreamed of it, but for it to actually happen, wow.
Suddenly, the ring stopped blinking. Five seconds later, everyone saw a red thread shoot out from the ring's gem. It quickly moved in one direction, went through the wall, and kept going. The process was like a fishing rod when it catches a fish.
"Does this mean it already found its soulmate?" Red Robin asked. Astonished by the red thread, he tried to touch it but his hand went through it; apparently, the thread was intangible to anyone else.
"Yes," the cultist also seemed astonished.
Jason felt a look on him, turned, it was his brother. Oh no, not that look, he knew that smile; Dick would tease him so much in the coming days. For his part, Batman sighed in relief. Well, it wasn't such an extreme danger, but it was still dangerous. "Agent A, cancel the stretcher." He never imagined this would mean a soulmate case. "Oracle, don't cancel the call to Zatanna or Wonder Woman, we need to verify the information. We'll stay here until the police arrive."
How nice it would be if everything ended like that, right? With Dick joking with Jason, Tim analyzing the thread, Barbara laughing at the turn of events, Bruce relieved and Damian surprised. However, one must remember the story.
The witch changed the ring's original purpose. Unexpectedly, the thread began to retract, as if it had caught something. It did so so quickly that Jason grabbed his hand in pain. It was then that everyone had a bad feeling. The wall the thread had previously passed through suddenly exploded, the noise and dust alerting everyone, especially when once the chaos disappeared, something horrific could be seen.
An arm. A fucking arm. Apparently freshly torn from its owner. Oh, no. What did it do to his soulmate?
...
Somewhere else in the world, somewhere in the United States, Danny gasped in pain. What the hell? What was that? Ancients! Where is his arm?
---
Note: Sorry, I don't know English, so please use a translator. I apologize if you don't get the idea.
(I started this when my idle brain was disassociating on a job that I don't dislike but my boss is an ass, so go me, yey!)
And look at that! I managed to finish Part 1 just in time for Valentine's day!
Part 1 (you're here!) | Part 2 | Part 3
Prompt: TUE happened (the timeline is a bit messed up, tho, so not everything followed the number of the episodes), but Clockwork didn't reverse the second explosion.
Danny, not wanting history to repeat itself, fakes his death along with his family and friends in the Nasty Burger and after ransacking the lab plus destroying the Portal (& FentonWorks since he's making it look like it was a full Ecto-filter's fault), he gtfo.
Danny's pretty done with life, but since he's a halfa, he's functionally immortal, so the only way to get "eternal sleep" is something similar to Pariah's sarcophagus.
But contrary to what the Ancients did back then, Danny would hide his coffin himself where no one would find him.
In a place rich of ambient ectoplasm (to power up the tech that would keep him “safe”), but inaccessible to anyone who doesn't have intangibility and even then he would put up an Ecto-shield to prevent anyone to bypass the solid bedrock that he would use as natural barricade.
Amity is not a safe Ecto-rich place anymore because of Vlad, so the next best city seems to be Gotham, what with the ley lines and several ghost curses layered on there.
So Danny digs a chamber hundreds meters under Gotham and builds from scratch his prison, going out only three or four times to get some missing scraps and just enough food and water to let him finish the job (completely ignoring the new vigilantes starting to go out at night).
(He meets Robin!Dick once and most likely a still-stray Jason, but he quickly forgets about them, since he's too depressed to care.)
Once finished the project, Danny goes stargazing as Phantom at the highest point of the city one last time, where (a still not overly paranoid) Batman converges to assess him as a threat.
The two talk and have a heart-to-heart (mostly because Bruce sees another grieving kid like Dick and tries somehow to help), but nothing B says is enough to make Phantom desist from what Bruce thinks is commiting suicide.
However, Danny still thanks him for trying and for treating him like a person (Anti-Ecto-Acts are mentioned during their talk and you can bet that later B is gonna check on them) and that Batman is going to be a good dad for his kids.
(This comment leads later to a kinder timeline than the mess that is canon. ꒰(@`꒳´)꒱ )
Danny manages to snatch one hug from the man, then he flees to the secret chamber, where he “goes to sleep” after engaging every lock and shield.
Even if Batman managed to tag Danny with a bug, he misses his signal once he goes underground and that makes him regret not being able to save him.
Maybe if he had been more open and emotionally reachable, he would have succeeded?
(...and that's how Bruce starts to go to therapy, but shhhhh!)
Years pass and Danny stays as a Sleeping Beauty, however, despite being good at science, he doesn't know everything, so he couldn't have imagined that water would filter through the rock and start pooling inside the chamber (the equipment is luckily waterproof).
However, the passive Ecto-radiation and the small amount of pure ectoplasm that leaks from the top of the filter, makes the water slowly turn into its Lazarus variant.
Though, contrary to LoA’s Water, this Lazarus Pit is pure and uncorrupted due to the filtering machines.
Over the years (~15… 😏) the water digs through the chamber and shapes it into a cave that eventually connects to the Batcave.
Maybe the cave-in of a wall, makes some of the Robins go and check if the stability of the ground is still sound and find the Lazarus Pit that covers (almost) completely both the shield and sight of what's under the surface.
When the kids report, B asks for a complete scan of the Pit and it results in discovering that there's something at the bottom.
So they send an aquatic probe to look into it directly and come up to the coffin that has something written on the top in case some ghost did manage to find Danny's spot but not enter the barrier.
(The probe, being “normal”, is able to pass without problem through the shield, though.)
The text is written in multiple languages (just in case) and reads:
“Here lies Danny Phantom. Please do not disturb me while I'm resting, as I want to half-live the saying ‘I’ll sleep when I'm dead.’”
For the first time ever, Damian snorts in genuine amusement aloud and doesn't notice (the other Bats do and start freaking out), but then the camera zooms to the face of the boy inside the coffin and Bruce does a double take as he recognizes the kid he wasn't able to save.
That moment of shock is enough to make the man freeze and not be able to react in time to Damian lunging to the Pit and diving directly inside of it.
The BatFam starts to freak out even more and try to direct the probe to go and save Damian, but at the end they just manage to see live what he's doing.
Like it's just a normal salvage, Robin!Damian just ignites the instant floating buoys and that makes all the equipment emerge, with Damian sitting on the top of the coffin, completely ignoring the calls of the Bats.
Immediately, Damian starts hacking the controls of the coffin, but it's not needed since as soon as he starts typing, the computer lights up and seemingly recognizes him, giving him immediate full access.
Still ignoring the calls (no one can reach him since he's too far from the shore), Damian disengages the lock and “defrosts” Danny.
It takes a bit for him to wake up, but as soon as Danny starts to blink blearily, Damian is into his face, shouting.
“‘I'll sleep when I'm dead’? Really, Danny? You absolute moron!”
It takes a couple of seconds to register anything, but as soon as he does, Danny gasps and leaps at Robin, snake-bear hugging him, as he climbs and clings all over the other boy.
(If either of them is crying while laughing, no they aren't: it's just the lingering Lazarus Water on their faces.)
Too scared to accidentally trigger the unknown “being” into constricting Damian to death, the BatFam waits, analyzing the interaction.
(Cass silently reassures them that they aren't a threat.)
“How?!” It's the first thing that ‘Phantom’ says, leaning a bit back to cup their hands on Damian's face, trying to look into his eyes, but the mask is in the way.
Casually, Robin unmasks himself (!!) and smirks smugly, holding the meta(?) by the waist.
“You do remember that incident at the Egyptian Exhibit, don't you?” A nod, accompanied by a desolate puppy-like expression. “Did you really think that I would have waited that long to come back and find you?”
This time the tears are undeniable and, to hide them, the being buries their head in the crook of Damian's shoulder, clinging harder, but not enough to harm him.
“Where's Sam?” The being asks, muffled, after a while.
“No clue, I just started remembering from reading the pun and seeing your face.”
“Humph, that checks out. ...We'll have to go and look for her, since she's twice as stubborn as you and so she would have come back too.” Damian snorts in amusement, but nods. There's a pause, then Danny jolts, leaning back from him to look at the other better with a frown.
“Wait, why are you drenched in ectoplasm?!” He looks around and sees the Pit. “Wtf dude, this is so not healthy for you, com’on, I have to decontaminate you, you moron!”
(At this, Danny gets so many points in B’s books.)
“Nah, don’t bother.” Damian shrugs, putting a hand on his own chest. “I know my body and with the memory of past me coming back, I think I’m already on the way of becoming a halfa? At least, the humming beside my heart feels much like your Core.”
Danny startles and puts his own hand on the other’s to assess himself.
“Before taking a dip in this Pit to salvage your ass, it wasn’t noticeable, but the ectoplasm must have fed it enough to become active.” Damian guesses as Danny examines the evidence.
“Not ‘on the way’, try ‘already are’. How’s that even possible?” Danny gapes.
“Sweet! Now we can go flying together!” Damian beams.
“Forget that for a second and answer me! This feels like a complete baby-Core, much like mine right after the Accident, but at the same time it’s older?” Danny frowns. “Like 15 or so years old.” Looks up at Damian in confusion.
“That checks out. My current grandfather is a cultist revenant ass (*BatFam gasps in shock*) who’s obsessed with using Pits of corrupted ectoplasm to stay alive. I got tossed inside one a couple of times to be revived as well and I don’t doubt for a second that some of it was used to develop me in the artificial womb.”
“Duuuude, how does your new life sound more crazy than ours back then?”
“The merit of choosing to be reincarnated as the heir of a vigilante Father,” Damian points at the Bats with a thumb, making Danny notice them for the first time, “the ‘curse’ of an interesting life and the chance to meet you again, I guess.”
After a glance that promises ‘we’ll talk about that later’ to Damian, Danny turns properly to the BatFam and startles at seeing Batman. “Oh, it’s the Bat-dude!” Quick glance at the rest of the people, “I knew you would be a good dad! Tucker wouldn’t have chosen you otherwise!”
There are various splutters from every BatFam member and Damian grumbles in embarrassment.
“Wait, you know him B?” Red Robin side-turns towards Batman, frowning. “There’s no report of him in any file of the Batcomputer. And I’ve read all of them.”
“...Because I never wanted a record of my failure glaring back at me. I already gave myself a hard time as it was, it would have made things worse and Black Canary agreed with that assessment.” B admits.
“What failure?” Jason (who has another vigilante name, since, you know, the Red Hood moniker was to spite B and in this timeline there’s no need for that) gapes.
“Probably me coming down here to get some ‘Eternal Sleep’.” Danny shuts off the barrier, picks up Damian and flies with him on the shore, phasing the residual ecto from their forms. “You thought it was an euphemism for suicide, not literal, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, you did give that impression. Are you alright, son?” B looks at Damian, still not outing his civilian name to be on the safe side.
“Of course, Father. This Ectoplasm Pit has none of the junk Grandfather’s has. Danny knows his stuff and his Ecto-filters are the top notch. (Danny blushes in the bg at the praise) Heck, it could even be used to cure Pit Madness or to revive people without it in the first place.”
“Let’s not try it, please!” Danny hastily intervenes, “No dying for anyone in my family allowed now that I’m back!”
“Dude, we aren't immortal and you know that.” Damian shoulders Danny in scolding.
“They aren't immortal, you mean. You're a halfa now. Death won't stick on us in any way that matters, so I don't want anyone getting KiA at least. If they get to the point of being old and happy, then I'm fine with them going to rest. But don't think that I will leave your side any time soon.” Danny says pointedly at Damian, who bristles.
“That's completely insane, you can't be everywhere and above all you can't stalk me everywhere! I'm Robin, Batman's right hand, I won't be babysat when I have more experience than you no-” Damian's rant gets silenced by Danny kissing him.
Even after he lets go, Damian's brain is still blue screening while the BatFam is either gaping or catcalling.
“Tucker, or whatever you new name is, why do you think I went to sleep there after you all died in your past life?” Points at the coffin. “You remember that ‘Other Me’?”
“Vaguely, details are still a bit fuzzy, but he didn’t say much anyway after he tied us to the boiler…” Damian blinks, still a bit dazed by the kiss, but then grimaces at Danny’s flinch.
“Yeah, well, he actually went insane after losing you since that gave him an Obsession Failure. He broke down so deeply and irreversibly that it twisted him enough that accepting Vlad’s help led him to being the Scourge of Humanity. I-I… promised you to never become like him, so… this was the only way I could do that. I didn’t know what else to do, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you after all!” Danny breaks down, crying and sobbing and collapsing against Damian, as he cradles him in his arms.
Damian tries to console him with both physical affection (hugs and caresses) and murmuring reassurances (things like ‘it’s okay, it’s alright, it’s not your fault’) until the outburst slows down and his latest proposition catches Danny’s attention.
“Do you want to meet Batcow? She’s a true sweetheart, her therapist abilities are without equals among the living.”
“...You have a pet cow?” Danny’s voice is still rough with tears, but his disbelief is unmistakable.
“Of course I can have a pet cow! I saved her from an inhumane slaughterhouse, what I’ve seen there even made me swear off meat!” Damian!Tucker says righteously, but then realization sinks in as he stares with growing horror into Danny’s wide eyes.
“Oh Ancients, I’ve become like Sam! And I can’t even go back on the belief of my new life because both she and my current self have a point!”
That seems another breaking point, because Danny starts laughing so hard that he’s crying again.
“It’s not funny Danny, I’m having a crisis here!” Damian!Tucker cries in despair (to hide the relief that his best friend/crush/future boyfriend? isn’t as hopeless and depressed as before) as he lightly shakes the other, making him laugh even harder.
(He won’t let him go either. As Damian, now Tucker has all the skills he lacked in his past life and can protect his People. He won’t fail again.)
Danyal replaced Danny Fenton a long time ago. As in the original died and Danyal needed a place to hide.
He could have killed him or maybe there was an accident. But he's been masquerading as Danny Fenton for a long time.
But imagine Danyal Al Ghul did kill a kid to take his place. Or at least might have put him out of his misery of something tragic that happened.. as if he wasn't stalking homes to try and pretend to be someone's else's child after leaving the league.
Wasn't "his" fault the kid was stupid enough to cross paths and get hurt.
Though guilt does follow him as he pretends and easily slides into the kids life. Reason he "starts" to drift from Jazz, she's the only one that eyeing him too closely and he doesn't like it. Blame it on her being a nag.
Its why he survived the portal incident. He was already contaminated.
All this to avoid having to fight his brother and being kicked around by his grandfather.
Only to have karma bite him in the ass. Not only he failed to come back fully- unlike the pit rage that made you forget yourself- this form seems to make every regret and terrible action dig its claws deeper in every painful way.
Even worse if you play the whole phantom is a ghost combined with Danny.. so phantom is danny fenton.
Now he's lost anything he could have pride in. Thanks to his accident, he's had harder time controlling his body.. especially with his powers. Clumsy. Uneven. He knew he was out of sorts from not practicing but he doubt he be this bad.
His life forever now half of either existence. He couldn't pretend anymore. Once his new parents find out- they would try to kill him.
Back to square fucking one.
And this time. He doubt even his brother or mother would lend a pity hand. Not like he would want it.
AMG just now thought maybe he would go to Gotham after he killed Vlad and was caught by the Fentons.
He warned Vlad and told him he was getting onto his last nerve. Even told him that Jack wasn't his dad and Maddie wasn't his mom, hell he wasn't even Danny Fenton. But if he had to tell him who he was he was going to regret it.
Vlad went even harder losing interest in Danny- only for Danny to make a sword with his powers and show Vlad WHO he was.
He was trying to be like his father- batman. He is the grandson of the demon king- and former member of league of assassins.
Vlad begging when he realizes Danny been holding back and actual death is on the horizon. "I'm Danyal Al Ghul. And I'm tired of you."
Danny did do it to save everyone permanently but after brutally killing Vlad- is when first his friends show up to warn him about his parents just to see what he done.
Danny laughing awkwardly like.. you-you saw that.. didn't you? heh- Then Fentons barge in. Jack is emotional wreck.
Actually getting a few good hits in, before Danny decided to play dead again and let Jack think he destroyed him.
Flying back to gather his stuff to leave permanently. He couldn't take the guilt of looking at Jack's face. Danny Fenton is dead anyways.
Only to be confronted by Jazz later who shakily asks if Danny is her brother.
Danny being honest, "no."
"For how long?" Jazz saying she knows it had to be before the accident.
"…we we're 8."
Jazz asking trying not to sob did he kill him.
"Mercifully." Then explains he was going to die anyways-
"You don't know that-"
"Actually I DO. I know what it takes to KILL someone, what could allow someone to live. That's something I DO know. And if he had managed to live he would be a vegetable." Explaining how the injury to his spinal cord was not recoverable. just imagine its so bittersweet, because Jazz does love her brother still. But Danny has been a lie this whole time.. or at least being Fenton was. Most of the laughs have become real, jokes, the friendship.
But Danny knows he can't fix this.. so he leaves.
Jazz torn whether to beg him to stay or to go.. and just ends up choking up watching him leave.
thus Danny not sure where to go decides its bout time he at least sees his father.
whether he let him see him or not is undecided.
Jack will either be blame for the murder of Vlad, or Phantom will be exposed.
Either way. Danny knew he royally fucked up.. again.
Ooo what if Danny does join the bats but insist he just wants to be a normal teen. Has a fully researched and planned backstory… mostly leaving out things because its "hard" to talk about. How he lived from foster home to foster home pretending to be different children until he just escape.
Until Jazz , Sam , and Tuck come to find him. Having audio where Danny stated he was the son of batman. Danyal Al ghul. So they figured if they find batman. They might find Danny.
Sam and Tucker want answers.. also mixed about Danny.. but dammit they been through so much.. HOW COULD HE keep that from them? They're not going to let him runaway from this. Tucker also adds unless he threatens to kill us.
Jazz had resolved her feelings. Analyzing everything since Danny was 8. When the switch happened. What was him acting and when the real Danyal appeared.
And had decided she didn't care. Danny was her BROTHER. And honestly is the only thing she has left right now. And she wants him back. Wants to help him heal, wants to help him.
Sam and Tuck want their answers then decide what to do from there. They don't WANT everything they knew to be a lie.
And now Batman is aware of more of his son- Damian knowing more of what his twin been up too.
Its a race to get answers out of Danny before he figures it out and disappears for good.
Can see Damian being the best to help Danny through this. Especially since Jon and Dick helped him not feel so bad about the league.
Danny though pointing out- "Difference, the league didn't make me kill a kid, nor a pathetic billionaire."
"You're right. It would have made you kill me."
Danny just breaks.
Thus finally able to admit all his guilt and how terrible he feels about himself. How he TRIED to be like Father but.. he failed so hard. He failed. He failed EVERYTHING. Just a loser. A failure. A waste. Only to be reminded that if he was one- he wouldn't have so many people wanting to know him. He's scared to face his friends' and sister. He knows its gonna hurt. And it does. But even though he isn't forgiven there is hope things can move on from it. Sam and Tucker will have some serious trust issues and take a while to decipher what part is Danny and what isn't. Meanwhile, yes Jazz feels betrayed. She understands and mostly just want to get to know HER brother more.. Danny more. Hope this opens up the wall she wanted to break down this whole time. And as long as Danny shows her who he is, and tries to work on himself. She doesn't care who he was or how he got there. Also he has to show her what he done with her little brother's body and give it a proper burial. Which Danny happily will- giving it a proper burial.. not showing jazz. He's still afraid she'll immediately hate him once she does. Also can see Bruce being so conflicted but Damian, Dick, and Jason all standing up for Danny. Especially Jason once hearing why Danny killed Vlad was to PROTECT his family and town. He gave him fair warning.. So imagine Bruce and Danny having hard time getting along after everything is revealed. But more so just Bruce unable to comprehend the conflicted emotions. Danny tried to emulate him.. but failed. But he tried to do good.. yet he still killed. So its more so awkward than anything. Bruce still wants to give his son the best. Then I can see Danny helping out- though he keeps phantom a secret from the public. He's always invisible or barely seen.
It had been a political meeting with the big media, as Vlad had to listen to other citizens talk about their heroes and complain about how they have more supervillains and damage. As a reporter, asked Vlad, the mayor of Amity Park, what he thought about it. He himself didn't talk about villain attacks or similar.
Vlad:" It's not my fault that your heroes are failures."
Yeah Vlad insulted every hero and city just with 1 sentence.
Politician angry from Metropolis:" What the hell are you talking about?"
Vlad:" How many years did your heroes fight their villains in your cities with collateral damage?"
Someone from Gotham said, " Maybe now 20 years maybe more."
Vlad:" The hero in Amity Park only took 1 year to show all his villains the right path, that they dropped being evil, and only once in a while visit to fight the hero without any damage to the city other than that place where they fight."
Vlad had built an Arena for it; it helped both Ghost and Danny fight and train.
Many of them are silent, as if they couldn't believe 1 word to say, " Impossible. Our heroes tried it for so many years."
Vlad:" If your failures did their job, you wouldn't have any villains years ago. So, yes, I don't think your heroes do their jobs."
Vlad then didn't talk anymore about this theme; he got bored of it.
And for the media and politicians, 1 online search and they saw Vlad told the truth... And they were kind of angry and confused. How comes that boy in 1 year fixed all his villain but someone like Superman or Batman wasn't able to do it for years!