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"The zoo?"
Jazz didn't wait for Jason to answer, already rushing off the bike and taking her helmet off. She barely registered her boyfriend's chuckles in the distance, eyes fixed on the entrance of Gotham's Zoo and Aquarium.
She looked back, blinking away the tears building up on the corners of her eyes, refusing to let her make up be ruined so soon into their date.
Jason was watching her carefully. "You like animals and fish... right?"
Somehow, his question made the feelings bubbling in her chest rise to the surface. She laughed, the type of laugh that makes your whole body move, and nodded. "Yes! I like fish. And zoos. And sea lions! I've never seen one in real life!"
He smiled, grasping her hand in his calloused hand. "Well," he licked his lips, "I've heard there's a sea lion show in about…" he checked his watch "half an hour. And then every two hours."
She made a sound that definitely was not human, excitedly jumping on her feet. "I wanna see the sea lions!"
He, of course, knew she would. Danny told him about the sea lions when he texted him — via the special app they installed on his phone— and about how Jazz would try to hide the fact she thinks monkeys are cute and watch out for signs that she gets dehydrated. For that one Jason didn't need a warning, he knew how Jazz forgot to take care of herself when she was too focused on something.
"Then sea lions it is," he chuckled, totally okay with being pulled inside and quickly shuffled through the entrance by a very excited Princess.
He had previously studied the layout of the Zoo and Aquarium, so he didn't need a map to guide her towards where she wanted to go. She never asked how he immediately knew where to go or when he offered her a water bottle or complained when he deemed it was time for a snack.
Jason was happy enough to let her run around and talk about the animals and what she knew or didn't know about them. It was… domestic. It was normal, the kind of normal he now understood she craved when she moved to Gotham, the kind of normal both knew their lives would never be. If they had this stolen moments to remember to be human, he was happy to stand the looks they kept getting from other Zoo guests.
He hoped Jazz was too deep into her excitement to notice, because people didn't know how to keep their looks and whispers down. He was used to it, specially when he was outside The Narrows, and even more when he was around "polite society" — a big man with scary eyes and visible scars was not exactly family friendly. He tried to ignore it every time a kid froze in front of him before they were scooped away by concerned parents.
He chuckled. Narrows kids no longer froze when they saw him, even in his suit. A few shameless ones even asked for help doing homework.
A cold hand took him out of his thoughts. "Everything okay?" Jazz asked.
"Yeah," he nodded, enjoying her concerned eyes and soft touch, gently rubbing his hands in a thoughtless manner. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"Kids." Jazz lifted an eyebrow, her cheeks turning slightly red. Mortified, he realized what it could be interpreted as. Jazz didn't need to, mistakenly, think he was considering having kids. Not that he ever considered such a thing. "Not like that."
"Then what about kids?"
"There's a reason I don't take jaunty walks on the park, darling. Apparently parents and children alike think I'm up to no good." He shrugged. It wasn't that big of a deal, even if it stung a little every time.
She looked around, finally noticing the safety bubble of space the rest of the people seemed to be giving the couple. Some people kept giving Jazz glances, clearly written on their faces what they thought about them together.
"Well that's stupid. You are like, the nicest boyfriend I've ever had."
"The bar for that is in hell, darling."
"Well. I mean, yeah. But still." She smiled up to him, patted his cheek a couple times and then pulled them into the aquarium area. "Let's go! I read they have some sharks here!"
The rest of their day was a blur — Jazz "dragged" him around to check all the animals and an educational video or two, they took plenty of pictures of both animals and themselves, and Jazz puppy-eyed him into buying a themed drink that she seemed to enjoy.
This dating shit was easy. Why didn't he think about it before? It felt ridiculous to keep wondering about being inadequate to be with her, specially when she smiled and giggled so much. He promised Danny he would keep making her smile, and he was doing a pretty good job if he say so himself.
Soon it was time to grab real food, so they made their way to the overpriced Zoo restaurant and grabbed a table on the outside area. Jason offered to get their food so he left her behind as he went inside the restaurant, ordered what he thought sounded like something Jazz would want, and checked his phone while he waited.
"Hey there, handsome."
He looked up to find some kind of biker chick who was trying to get his attention. First thing he noticed was her bright and voluminous green curly hair framing her face and bouncing down her shoulders. Even if he was not supposed to, he couldn't turn the vigilante brain off, so he took notice of the out of place outfit the woman was wearing — definitely not family friendly either.
"Can I help you?"
She smiled, leaning closer to him and placing her hand on his chest.
Oh well. She was one of those, huh.
"Oh yes, you can definitely help me with something, handsome."
Jason had half a thought to push her away from him, but he didn't want to make a scene. This date has to be a success.
Instead, he grabbed her hand and kindly put it back on her side, careful not to touch the exposed skin between her short red skirt and her black top. She huffed.
"I don't think I'm the kind of man you are looking for."
"And what kind of man is that?" She kept trying, batting her brown eyes, knowing she was beautiful.
"Single." He straightened his back and glanced at the restaurant's order screen, noticing their order was ready. "Desperate."
Instead of insulted, the woman threw her head back and laughed, attracting a lot of attention. Weird woman. He wanted nothing to do with her.
Quickly, he grabbed the tray with the food and walked towards their table, finding Jazz having a hushed argument with a man. She clearly knew him by the way she didn't seem wary, and was rather comfortable enough to lean into his face to hiss something between her teeth. The man's body language was relaxed, one gloved hand reaching out to brag Jazz's shoulder, and she let him.
"Hey." He said, unable to actually said what was going through his head. Stop touching my girlfriend? Who is this man? Is he bothering you? "I got food."
He didn't take his eyes off the strange man, so he didn't see her face when she noticed him approach, but he noticed how her body language relaxed immediately at his presence.
"Hi, I was— What the hell are you doing?"
Jason finally looked at Jazz, frowning at her upset face. Then, he felt it. Cold hands reaching around his chest and a cold body pressing against his back. By the dark skin and red leather jacket he new it was the same woman from before.
"Look, I don't—"
But she wasn't talking to him. "Kitty, if you don't stop groping my boyfriend we are going to have problems."
The woman chuckled, but let him go. "Just teasing, Princess. No need to get so serious."
Princess. So these people knew who she really was.
He ignored the building argument to turn his attention to the man still sitting on the table, one hand flat on the surface and the other used to hold his head as he watched the other two argue with an expression he was sure he displayed when Jazz was involved. The man — ripped pants, leather coat, fingerless gloves — was romantically involved with the biker woman. They knew Jazz as a Princess, so either they were ghosts disguised as humans or they were some humans that were let into the secret.
The blond man noticed he was being watched and turned to look at him. He smirked, blue eyes flashing green for a second.
Ghosts, it is.
Jason huffed and sat down, giving up on everything. He was hungry. Food was getting cold.
"Jazz." He called. She stopped arguing with the woman, Kitty, and sat back down. "Care to introduce your friends?"
"Yeah, Jazzy, introduce your friends." The biker man purred, and Jason felt him nudge Jazz with his steel-toed booted foot.
"Don't call me that." She huffed. "Thanks," she said to Jason when he pushed her burger in her direction. "I don't see why I have to do anything when you guys are not supposed to be here."
"Here?" Jason asked.
"In the Mortal Realm." She chewed angrily. "Out of the Infinite Realms. Where is safe." She added the last part with a pointed look.
"We had to come see by ourselves," Kitty shrugged, taking the last available chair. "See if the rumors were true."
"What rumors?"
The man gave Jason a pointed look. "Word on the streets is that our dear Princess found a suitor." He lifted an eyebrow.
"Danny." Jazz growled. Of course.
"Don't be too hard on the kid, Jazzy— Ouch!" The man rubbed his shoulder, where he got punched.
"Told you to stop calling me that." Jazz huffed again. "And crashing my date is your worst idea so far, Johnny."
"Aww, a zoo date?" Kitty cooed, stealing a fry. "My Johnny doesn't take me anywhere nice anymore." She fixed her eyes on Jason, who noticed they were now brownish-red. "Good job, Mr. Boyfriend."
"Jason."
She smiled as she stole another fry.
"I had to come check, beautiful." Johnny kept talking to Jazz. "You know I have to."
"There's no such thing as 'first boyfriend duties', Johnny. We talked about this."
Whatever the guy said in response, Jason didn't hear.
First boyfriend.
This was the guy! What was that Jazz said? He tried to kill her to resurrect his girlfriend? When she was sixteen? He looked at said girlfriend, Kitty, who was watching their partners argue with a delighted air. She noticed him staring and winked at him.
Looking at them you'd never know the story behind — they argued like old friends more than petty exes, and both ghosts felt too comfortable in the presence of their ruler.
"I don't need—"
"I know! I know!" Johnny lifted his hands in a placating manner. "But I had to."
Jazz blinked, noticing the charged tone. Jason looked between both, watching as his girlfriend's expression morphed into something more… vulnerable.
"I had to, Jazz. After—"
"Well, it's different." Jazz didn't let him finish. "He's different."
Jason pretended he didn't mind the two ghosts' dangerous red eyes glancing at him. He understood where this came from, now. Jazz had no idea how many people cared about her, did she?
He watched Johnny trying, and failing, to keep a light tone as he kept justifying their actions, specifically Kitty trying to seduce Jason, understanding that this was more than just a social call. After what Jazz went through, they just wanted to make sure Jason was not a sleazy guy. He could respect that. Wished they didn't ruin their date, though.
***
"Are you… Nevermind."
"Hm?"
Jazz shuffled in place, nervously looking at her feet.
Back home from their date, which was salvaged after they were rudely interrupted, he was attempting to check all the boxes and leave her safely at her door with a goodbye kiss.
"Attempting" was the key word.
"Yes?" He insisted when she didn't continue, and just bit her lower lip.
He watched as she took a fortifying breath. "Are you breaking up with me?"
Scratch. Stop. Roll back the tape.
"What?"
"Was this a last nice memory or something? I had a lot of fun, and I—I—I understand if—"
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
She tilted her head. "You are not?"
"What? No! What makes you think that?"
"I don't know?" It sounded like a question. She was looking anywhere but his face now.
He grabbed her shoulders. "Hey, look at me." He shook her until she did. "I love you but you are not making any sense right now."
"I know…"
"So?"
"So what?"
He sighed, letting her go. "Are you gonna tell me why the hell you think I'm calling it quits? After being the perfect boyfriend today?"
He called it a win that she chuckled. "You were perfect today, yes." She pulled her hair behind her ear, sheepishly looking away. It was so fucking cute. "Too perfect, maybe."
Okay. This was not as hallway conversation. "Why don't we go inside for a moment?"
She nodded and opened her door, welcoming them to the familiar inside of her cozy apartment. Ignoring everything else, he guided her to the couch and made her sit down with him so they could talk.
"Ok, start from the beginning. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." She said too quickly.
God, making this woman talk about what upset her was like pulling teeth. He glared at her and refused to engage until she talked.
Jazz sighed, looking at her hands. "You've been… distant. Lately. After Danny and your family, and with all that's been going on, I thought…" She rubbed her hands together. "I guess, I— And Duke said, and I overheard the others talk and I don't know…"
Jason had to use every calming technique at his disposal to not stand up, grab his guns and rush the Manor to find the motherfucker who made Jazz think they should break up. Jazz needed him here and now.
"What are you trying to say? You think I'm mad at you?"
"No? Maybe? Yes?" Her shoulders came up to her chin. "I guess I haven't been very present either. Between work and patrols and investigating the Lazarus Pit."
He gave her a minute to elaborate, but she didn't add anything else.
"If I wanted to call it quits I wouldn't be a coward about it, Jazz. Today was a date. You deserved one, a real one, that doesn't end with me dying."
"There's still time."
He chuckled, enjoying watching her giggle as well.
"And whatever the others have said about me doesn't matter. They don't know me. You do—" he grabbed her hands between his warm ones — "and that's all I care about."
Her eyes watered and her lip was back between her teeth. Oh no. What did he say?
"Oh, Jason. They truly don't know you. I was— Duke said something and I didn't notice but once I did I couldn't unsee it. Is like— like— and is not like they are mean and that makes it worse—"
He squeezed her hands, frowning at the tears went down her cheeks. "Was anybody mean to you?" He thought everyone behaved, she seemed happy, but maybe he does need to kick someone's ass after all. His money was on Bruce.
"No!" She grabbed his hands instead. "They've just— I'm sorry I didn't believe— I didn't understand."
"What are you talking about?"
"Duke said— I don't think he meant it as a bad thing, but he kind of implied I fixed you, that I had somehow mellowed you." More tears gathered in her eyes, "He described you as something I know you are not—"
"Angry? Violent? A mindless killer?"
He understood now. They got comfortable and opened their useless mouths to feed her the crap they threw to his face from time to time. He wondered what Jazz thought about that — after all, they knew him at his worst, and it was different to read about his exploits when he arrived to Gotham than to hear first hand experience.
"They don't know you!" She leaned in, claiming his attention. "Jason, you are the sweetest man and I love—"
"Jazz, you know there's some truth to what they said. I am a killer. And violent."
"And I love you anyway!" He blinked at her sudden fit of fury. "But they said I changed you, that I fixed you. Like— like some kind of pet project," she shook her head, disgusted, "like it is a good thing, something to encourage, that your girlfriend changes who you are."
He pondered her words, realizing it's been a while since the last time Bruce or Dick looked at him with pity. Like he was a broken, prodigal son that needed to return home.
"Well, you know the truth, and I know the truth." He shrugged. "Fuck them."
She held his gaze, searching for something. "Aren't you mad?"
"Oh I'm furious," he smiled, all teeth, "but I don't give a flying fuck if they think your love magically cured me or whatever. They don't know me, and I gave up a long time ago." He got one of his hands free so he could wipe her tears away and brush her hair back from her face. "I love you," she smiled a little, and it was adorable, "and you changed something, but not for the reasons they think."
She tilted her head. "What?"
"I wasn't sure, it isn't like I was keeping track or knew what was happening until it did, but," he pulled on her hands so they were touching his chest, "I can feel something has changed. My head is clearer. Since I was revived, the first time, I've had this… it's like my emotions were out of control, like sometimes I was swept away by rage or anxiety that turned into violence and paranoia and there was no way to stop it."
"The corrupted ectoplasm." She gasped in realization.
"That's what I think it was, after reading your reports." He nodded. "After you brought me back that second time, I've felt in control like I haven't in a while. So thank you." He lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles, smiling when she giggled.
"That's why you've been distant, too?"
He looked away. He couldn't lie to her, he didn't want to. Not after everything they went through. "Remember when we first met? There were some kids and you got hurt?"
"Yeah! Did something happen? Are the kids okay?"
"Kids are fine, I've been checking on them from time to time," he didn't miss the relieved sigh, "but the guys we fought, well. I let them live."
"And that's… bad?" She tried to follow.
"They went running to their higher ups about a redhead woman who helps Red Hood. They saw your face."
Jazz blinked a couple times. "And that's… worse?"
He chuckled. Jazz unfazed by a gang upset with her was definitely one of the things he liked about her. "Usually I would take care of this. Not my first gang, etcetera, but the Black Clovers are sneaky and a well organized and a pain in my ass. I've tried to chase them off for months. They deal with child and sex trafficking."
She frowned. "That's definitely bad."
"Hm," he agreed. "And a group with their firepower and logistics are going after you. Latest reports from my lieutenants is they are seriously looking for you. Apparently you are my 'weakness'."
"Cliché." She rolled her eyes. "Well I don't see the big deal. Just let me help you."
For a moment, he considered it. He shook his head instead. "These people are not ghosts, Jazz. You are still mortal. As strong and resilient as you are, you can still die. And that's not something I'll allow to happen."
He saw her wanting to protest and insist she could take it. He knew what she could do, he had no doubt she could defend herself; but all she could think of was Jazz staring down the barrel of a gun right when he jumped in the fight. Maybe his feelings for her were clouding his judgment, but if there was still a chance she got seriously hurt, he didn't want to take it.
"Just— Let me take care of it, ok? Please."
She wanted to argue with him. He knew that look. Still, he watched her breathe and nod carefully.
"Fine. But keep me in the loop?" She bit her lip. "I thought— I was scared you were thinking I was too much and was second guessing or something."
"Oh I did some of that too. But your brother set me straight."
She seemed confused for a second, then remembered. "The Batburger." She huffed, leaning back on the couch. "I knew something happened."
"It was fine. I needed to hear what he said."
Jazz was considering asking, but after a couple of heartbeats she nodded and let it go. Good, because he had reached his limit on this emotional talk business.
"We good?" He asked, hoping for a quick yes.
"We good." She smiled, leaning in to kiss his softly on the lips. It felt good.
"Great, because I'm hungry." He very dramatically slapped his thighs as he stood up. It made Jazz chuckle. "Do you have actual food in the fridge or are we depending on my leftovers?"
When he didn't hear an answer he turned to look, surprised to find her right in front of his face, smiling. Jazz grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to kiss him, and he obliged. After all, today he was the perfect boyfriend.
---
First chapter || << Previous chapter || Next chapter >>
I’m asking for some help. My employer slashed my hours for the past two and a half months gradually down from 40 hours a week to 8. All of my savings have drained as I’ve desperately searched for a new job and I’m running out of both money and options. I finally managed to make my boss give me more hours but it takes effect on July 15th. They can’t even confirm I’d get my hours completely back and I don’t have enough money to pay rent for this month and won’t be able to afford rent for next month.
Any amount helps. All of it will go to rent and utilities. Thank you so much if you even have a couple bucks to spare.
Crack prompt: Danny has declared war on the curses in Gotham. He is armed with a water balloon gun, but the balloons are full of medical-grade ectoplasm. He targets any location, ghost, or liminal being tainted by curses and/or corrupted ecto - absolutely drenching them before yeeting off again.
This includes the Bats. Danny is smart about it, though. He lived in Gotham for several months before acting, so he could get the lay of the land. He also waits for patrol to be finished before hitting the Bats - he doesn't want to interrupt their Quest to Better Gotham (or be labeled an invader to their haunt).
One night, Danny happens upon Batman patrolling alone and waits for him to finish cleaning up a crime scene before hitting they guy with a half-clip of balloons. Batman gives chase, like he always does, and Danny runs, like he always does. He knows by now that, for whatever reason, Crime Alley is off limits to Batman. The whole alley just gives off "no (other) bats allowed" vibes.
Red hood is just more territorial. Whatever.
At any rate, Danny is enjoying the chase, using just enough ghost powers to stay ahead of batman, almost-but-not-quite taunting him. Crime Alley isn't too far, so instead of turning invisible around a corner like he usually does, he makes his way to the Alley to see if the no-trasspassing rule is enough to stop Batman mid-chase. He leaps across rooftops and weaves through fire escapes, ecto-balloon-gun bouncing by its strap against his back, until finally he's at the border, slightly tapping into flight to make the jump across a slightly wider road into the alley proper.
He turns around immediately, spotting Batman skulking on the rooftop on the other side of the road, stopping the chase and suit half-covered in healing ectoplasm.
"Sanctuary!" Danny yells, pumping his fists in the air from getting caught up in the exciting rush of adrenaline, "I claim sanctuary!"
"Who the fuck is claiming sanctuary in my territory?" Red Hood booms from almost directly behind Danny. He would have yeeted out of his own skin from surprise if he hadn't spent years honing his ghost-fighting instincts. As it was, Danny instead whirled around and emptied the clip of balloons into Hood, purely out of reflex.
Hood stood there, drenched in ecto like his fellow Bat one rooftop over, glaring murder at Danny with glowing eyes. But his haunt betrayed Hood's true emotions.
Surprise, concern, impressed, you-little-brat.
Danny booked it to the fire escape and turned invisible the second he was out of sight.
Jason is going to hunt the best down for this. That was impressive. He wants to see what else the kid can do. Also, he wants to shake his hand for the he'll he's been giving B and the rest. He's fully aware he got drenched in reflex. Can't blame the kid. But the kid has been playing keep away for weeks now. And had the audacity to run to his territory and claim sanctuary. Knowing B wouldn't chase him further.
Then his response time, and reaction, to bring startled? Was to drench him as well! And he managed to escape? Yeah, he's gonna track the kid down. Train him up a bit. Ask why the weird drench attacks. Kid clearly doesn't mean any harm. But why?
The group chat has been going wild over the brat. And now he has his own footage to upload. Plus, getting to see B sulk in the background after the kid claimed sanctuary? Hilarious. The rest are going to love it. Jason hasn't been so amused in years.... Jason hasn't been so amused in years!?! What the fuck?! He's calmer.... Ok, he definitely needs to find the kid. The rage is still there. But it's easier to ignore. What. The. Fuck.
Danny? Really wishes Hood didn't have the full helmet. Given the feelings from his haunt? The look on his face would have been fantastic!! Best! Night! Yet! And he's nearly found the source!! It's definitely in the sewers. He's pretty sure it's near the creepy frozen undead. That he absolutely needs to kidnap to the Far Frozen. He's doing that later. He's so glad he chose to get a gas mask. And a cap. He just knows if he hadn't? Last night would have given them a great view of his face.
Lazarus-gun kid dropped off the face of the earth for the next few days. Probably laying low. Smart move, if a bit frustrating.
In the meantime, jason feels like he's experiencing the world in color after being resigned to black and white. Everything around him is new and interesting, now that he doesnt have to fight so hard against the Rage.
It is slowly returning back to normal, though. Or maybe he's just adjusting to the new level? Either way, the kick of euphoria it had given him was wearing off. He's back to spending a few minutes after patrol hanging around the device Lazarus-gun Kid left on his rooftop just to take the edge off again.
Kid's been littering the city with the strange devices. Batman has taken to dismantling every one he finds, and the kid responded by disguising them better. Tim has thoroughly examined them and determined that they're somehow pulling lazarus water right out of the air, pushing it through a filter, and releasing it back.
The filters were collecting all sorts of toxins and pollutants. Most of the bats were of the mind to leave them be, and had taken to not informing bruce whenever they happened upon a well-disguised one. Bruce, of course, insisted that releasing pure lazarus water into the atmosphere would have unknown effects. Everyone else argued that it couldn't be worse than leaving the toxins in the atmosphere.
Jason, in particular, had a knack for finding the devices, as if he were drawn to them like a moth to flame. He'd found more than a dozen in Crime Alley alone and found a new one nearly every time he ventured out of his territory that the others hadnt already found and catalogued (the catalogue being very carefully kept away from bruce).
After a few days of fruitless searching, jason turned to the device on his own rooftop. If the security cameras he'd set up fuzzing out every few days were any indication, Kid returned to this one often for maintenance. He just needed to camp out until the kid returned.
On danny's end, he'd been spending the last few days scouting out the strange underground ecto-cryo facility he'd discovered. From what he could gather, the ecto used to feed the undead contained here was full of chemicals that suppressed emotions and personality. The poor creatures were literally turned into mindless weapons. Frankly, it was a nightmare scenario.
But danny is a fenton and knows how to sow maximum chaos. He attached an ecto filtrator to the pipes, hidden away in a dark corner. It definitely isn't big enough to filter everything, but it should create a slow improvement in the undead creatures. He'll have to come back often to replace the filter and check on their progress, and to see if any of them are ready to be rescued and removed.
In the meantime, he needs to return to the surface. Its already been a few days since he last checked the ecto filtrator that he placed in the center of Hood's haunt, and that particular one needs to be babied quite a bit. He also has a half dozen alarms going off for other filtrators throughout gotham that need replacement filters, and a handful that need to be replaced because batman apparently found them. Paranoid bastard.
Though, it looks like the other bats are letting things be. About half of the filtrators have been tagged with stickers of the bats' various insignias. If theyre anything like team phantom, they probably turned the easter egg hunt into a competition.
Oooh, what if he takes the pure ectoplasm that he filters the pollution from, and fills his water balloons with that?
Like, he has ones with a hidden tap that he can attach the balloon and turn the nozzle to fill it up. It would explain how he has such a steady supply to keep going out and drenching people with it.
Also, regular material goes weird around ectoplasm, so is he using a special kind of material for the balloons? And balloons are acutely really bad for the environment, especially in large amounts. The rubber/latex doesn't break down and can do some pretty bad environmental effects en masse.
Just had another thought. They're shaped like water balloons, but he actually just gathers balls of ectoplasm, and then surrounds them in a thin layer of his ghost ice. The ice is thin enough to not hurt on impact, but thick enough to stop the ecto from dissipating into the air.
Omg you're putting more thought into my crack prompt than i did. Absolutely danny is using his ice to make the lazarus balloons. That is now canon. It took two whole weeks of targeting the bats before any of them realized that the "water balloons" didnt leave any fragments behind.
And i was imagining he was in regular contact with frostbite for the medical-grade ecto, but the tap idea is good too. OTOH though, if gotham doesnt have enough ambient ecto to sustain herself, her knights and all the shades and ghosts in her borders, then recycling the ecto isnt going to improve things. He needs to add more to the system while cleaning what's already there. That was my headspace before your ideas, anyway. I do like the tap idea.
I was also imagining that the city as a whole starts to exhibit more symptoms of healthy liminality the longer danny operates, becoming similar to a liminal! Amity Park. Batman sees it as the purified death juice giving people supernatural powers, like it's a mad science experiment. Jason's slow improvement is the main clue that something else is going on (the other biggest clue is that "cursed" things stop happening in the locales that he's drenched, which tend to correlate to the epicenter of various Traumitizing Historical Events). The rest of the bats are noticing and trying to unravel what's going on while keeping bruce's paranoia in check.
Mind you, i dont consider bruce's paranoia anywhere near toxically inhibiting in this story, just that his first reaction is "worst case scenario" which he has to be slowly eased out of like handling a wet feral cat. He has questions, and he knows that this kid that reminds him so much of his own kids has answers, dammit!
I feel like he's letting the filtered Ecto do it's thing. Let it settle you know! He has absolutely been in contact with Frostbite. He's got drums of fresh healthy Ecto ready to go! People and places to drench. (Here's a fun fact, once filtered any scan? Wouldn't show it as Lazarus water. Lazarus water is dionesium Ra's fucked with. So it's showing as a weird dionesium like liquid instead)
Now, Danny has more filters to place. He's absolutely started phasing them in hollow spaces. Check mate Batman. Try finding them there fucko! Jason is frankly impressed. He found on in the fake wall. Somehow without the door release being triggered?! Tim keeps finding them in his favourite crawl spaces B can't fit into. He's having a blast tagging them. Yes, every bat has their location tracked stickers. Yes they are using that to score points. Yes, Jason is somehow winning. Bastard!
Danny is gonna drench Arkham tomorrow! He's got a blimp, several gallons of ecto, and audacity. Batman's gonna go spare... He should totally hack the bats. Lead them to a chat room. He won't get into their system. But, he can make them chase his signal! Then he can beg for a picture of Batman reacting to tomorrow!!
Plus, he's gonna be causing havoc soon. All those undead in the crypts! Well, Frostbite is setting up a safe place for them. So, he's sure whoever made mindless slaves is going to kick off when he rescued them. May as well send a selfie of him taking them to their rehab home right?! Let them know what, if not why or how!
When Danny drenches Arkham, he takes very special care to repeatedly target this one patient who really really needs his system flushed. He has to go back and spray the guy several times; and ultimately has to go home, restock, and come back. But eventually, slowly but surely, the deranged clown stops laughing.
Hopefully, having been flooded with the good stuff, top tier medical grade ecto straight from the glacial springs of the far frozen, hopefully now the Asylum can actually start helping it's patients. Because that dude? Looks like he's having some realizations. Danny predicts many breakdowns and issues to work through in his future.
Anyway, time to go! Lay low and stock up to hit his next big target. There's this big fancy pants rich person's house on the edge of the city that seems to be another hub for activity.
Tim couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now, he's used to a lot of crazy. A lot. But this? The sheer audacity! The guts! The pizazz! The sheer, pointless chaos of it! the lack of harm! Just chaos. Water gun guy, has a blimp. With a cutesy Batman and Robin drawing on it. With drums, raining whatever the Fuck that stuff is. On Arkham. He's dodging him shots, with a blimp. The skill! The daring! The showmanship! Steph, you gotta catch him, he's gonna swoon. He's never seen B look more ruffled!! It's perfect. Joker looks like a drowned rat! Croc is basking, while Riddler seems to be dancing!? What the fuck?!?
Babs is on coms. Talking about a hacker as well. Who apparently isn't trying to breach their firewalls? Just kind of... Poking them. Then backing off and doing it again? In what seems to be a playful manner? Tim is all for a friendly hacking match. Seems a great way to end a brilliant evening. Since there is nothing he can do to be useful here? He's just gonna, go home. Unwind on his laptop. Yeah...
Oh, oh, it's him! It's audacity guy. He's giving them a good run around as well! He's not brilliant like Babs is. But he's good. It's fun to have a friendly match for once. Each place he leads them to? Gives them hints for the next challenge. It's nice, him and Babs should definitely do this again. A few hours later and he's finally got to the finish line! He's set them up a secure chat room!
Him and Babs are going to upgrade the security obviously. But Tim knows not many hackers could get in here. But, better safe than sorry! Time to add everyone, but B, to the chat!
Red Robin: So! What do we call you? 'That Audacious guy' Is a bit long.
Mischoef: Welp, check my user name lol! So, I need to know!! Did I manage to make the big Bat swear yet!?!
Nightwing:... That's why you set this up?
Mischief: I was also hoping for a picture of the face he pulled. It was better than me claiming sanctuary right?!
Red Robin:.. Trade you, for at least why!?!
Mischief:... Hmm. I suppose that's fair.
Red Hood: Wait, how do we know you ARE the brat?
Mischief: Aww! Um, a picture of my and my lovely super soaker?
Spoiler: Nah, tell us something we know about!
Mischief: Ohh!!! Ok, Red Robin found the filter at *location*. I love the rates you've used in them btw.
Red Hood: Speaking of. How, did you manage to sneak in into the wall. In my seconds safe house? Hmm?
Mischief: Nunya!
Signal:.. So, what do we have to trade for answers. We know what we get for a picture of Batman's reaction to the Arkham escapade...
Black Bat: Hm... We have many questions. Also, many pictures.
Mischief: Vigilante and Rogue fails through the years. One picture per answer!!
Nightwing: Are we really giving out our hard earned blackmail proofs for answers!?
If this is a Camera Stalker!Tim AU, then Tim has so much blackmail on everyone from when Dick was Robin. He’s the blackmail king, Barbara is the blackmail queen, neither are to be trifled with
Now, they won't be using anything they've kept in reserve. All the pictures they send? Will have been used at some point as revenge, bribe or just for fun. They aren't going to let themselves lose future options. But Mischief doesn't need to know that. But a picture of B's reaction to the Arkham escapade? Well worth an explanation.
Danny gets sent a picture of Batman, The Batman himself. Looking ruffled. Upset, perhaps irritated. And confused. Danny loves it. Now, he can never share this with a living person. So it's a good thing he's met Martha and Thomas Wayne's ghosts!! They will love it!
Mischief: So, explanation time! Gotham is so cursed. Like, SO cursed. I'm using extra pure, uncorrupted and non contaminated magic juju. To basically dilute the cursed and contamination. It's gonna take forever. The filters? take in all the cursed stuff, and filter it, to release it back into the city!
Red Hood:... Is that why I'm so fucking chill lately?! Your filters are literally uncursing me?
Mischief: Yup! Pretty much.
Nightwing:... And you had to do it by being a menace why?
It's not just Discowing. It's Discowing fails. It's Dick flubbing a landing. Smacking into a window. It's a glorious collection of Discowing's worst moments. Danny loves it. Yes! This is his jam.
Mischief:.. My hand in marriage? Those! Are! Glorious! Nightwing, why?!
Nightwing: The fuck is this? Bully Nightwing hours....
Dick retaliates with Red Robin fails. From there it's going to turn into a half hour of them just teasing each other. The initial objective forgotten in the heat of the moment. Danny is crying tears of joy. He absolutely owes them a proper answer... He's gonna write them up a report. Then play with Red Robin to make him find it. He just knows Red Robin loved their earlier hack batle!
Then? It's time for a nap. He's gonna be stealing all the undead this week. Now they are healthy enough to survive the Far Frozen. Ohh, he should warn them about that actually.
Mischief: So. Random question. So you happen to know about the undead in the catacombs? Kept as slaves!
Nightwing:... You found the Talons? Of course you did.
Red Robin: Please don't go there alone?
Mischief: Too late for that. Soo... I know a healer who can help them. We've set up a secure place to keep them while they heal. And I'm gonna take em there this week. I'm guessing the bastards that made them that way won't take it well.
Nightwing:../ You're going to steal the weapons of the court of owls?
Spoiler:... Oh dear. Things are going to be chaotic.
Signal: You guys are missing a key point. With out the Talons? The Court will be weak.
Red Hood: Oh yes. Time to get plotting. We can finally take em down in the chaos!
Bruce knows that his kids are up to something by the way they're all avoiding him. Even damian has switched loyalties and refuses to explain. When they get like this, good old-fashioned investigation is the only way Bruce can figure out what's going on.
...
It has something to do with Lazarus Balloon Kid. With a bit of sleuthing, Bruce pieced together that they've set up a face-to-face meeting in a few days, at the entrance of the Old Catacombs. Bruce immediately considers the worst-case scenario - mind control - but forces himself to take a deep breath. Experience dictates that the most likely explanation is shenanigans. If it is shenanigans, there are a few assumptions he can likely make:
Lazarus Balloon Kid is either defected from or unaffiliated with the League of Assassins. Otherwise, Damian would have warned Bruce of League involvement.
They've learned something reassurring about the Lazarus Water that Kid uses, or Jason wouldn't have joined the group.
Kid is not a threat because Barbara would have informed Bruce otherwise, and Dick would have enforced stricter coordination on contact with an unknown.
Cass is going and will detect any ill intent once she meets Kid. Bruce trusts his children to react accordingly (as long as it isnt mind control).
The location is bothersome, but Bruce trusts that Tim would have found any connection Kid might have to the Court of Owls if it existed. They've known the identities of all the major members for a while and have only been unable to act because of the chokehold they currently have on Gotham.
Still, Bruce wouldn't be Batman if he didn't consider and plan for the worst-case scenario. He'll tail his kids and watch the meeting, and only interfere if he believes they've been compromised.
Oracle: B, what are you doing?
Batman: Just watching.
Oracle: I can hear your paranoia from here. I promise they're safe. I would have warned you otherwise.
Batman: How else am I supposed to figure out what's going on if none of you will tell me?
Oracle: *sighs* Either join them now or leave. If you interfere after the operation has started, you don't have enough intel to not ruin it.
Batman: What kind of operation?
Oracle: Technically, rescue and exfil. But I can guarantee it's not whatever you're thinking.
Batman sighs and heads to sit with Oracle. If this is a pre planned mission? A late addition will throw it off. As they have decided to trust the other teen? He will sit back and observe for now. Whatever the kid is using? Doesn't read the same as anything they've seen before. It has markers of dionesium and Lazarus water. But it IS different. He can also use this as a chance to question Oracle.
Danny led the group to where the Talons were kept. They were strictly there to ward of humans attempting to stop Danny. He's not always great at holding back when fighting humans. Danny is also pretty aware they think this is going to go wrong. Then have to rescue him from unsettled undead. Silly vigilantes,Danny knows his undead!
Now for the most draining part, opening a damn portal. Danny had trained long and hard. Managed to bully a few magic using ghosts to help. And has learned how to create temporary portals. Ones he makes using sigils as an anchor are even easier. So the Talons new home had a sigil carved into the wall of the building. Frostbite and their new Drs are waiting, ready to move them along.
The vigilantes watch as with what looks like pure willpower, a portal grows until it could accept two grown adults at a time. As soon as it stabilised an icy arm came out, to test? They watched as Mischief grabbed the hand, clearly a pre arranged signal. As a 7ft Fuck off YETI walked through!!!
Red Robin:... A yeti?!
Danny: Yeah, this is Chief Frostbite. He's the one who set up a new home. He's gonna help me move the uh, less functional ones!
Red Hood: The ones missing bits?
Danny: Yeah. The ones missing bits.
Nightwing had a restraining hand on Robin's shoulder. The moment a yeti walked through the portal? He just knew baby bat wanted to ask a million questions. He could feel his brother tense with a desire not to fidget.
Danny and Frostbite immediately began to usher the Talons through the portal. The rest watching with disbelief. The Talons were completely docile! Went without a fuss! They knew the mischief maker had believed it would work. But they hadn't honestly expected it to work so well. The next hour was spent keeping an eye out for Court members, and staring at the moving line of undead assassins be herded away from Gotham.
Once the last Talons were through, Frostbite have Danny a hug and left. He focused again, and let the portal close. Then he turned to the bats and grinned, waving them on. It was time to go back to Gotham proper. They had a chance now to take out the main players of a large criminal group after all. Danny was going to be going about hitting a few high traffic areas with ecto.
Batman watched through the cameras and had to double check that he wasn't drugged.
Batman: Oracle?!
Oracle: Oh calm down. He's magical, not meta. Has a friend who works with undead. They set up a secure deprogram the Talons. Which, means the Court of Owls? No longer have their greatest weapon. Mischief also gave us a hefty star of paperwork and other proof we can use to arrest them.
Okay, near the end before frostbite left, robin took a chance and reached out to touch his fur. Frostbite is very good-natured about it because he understands that children are naturally curious and tactile. Letting younger patients (and sometimes older ones too) touch his soft fur is actually a common ritual during their check-ups.
The group walks pretty leisurely out of the catacombs, a pre-planned opportunity for more subtle interrogation by the bats, but it also allows danny time to pick up the filtrators and surveillance tech he had hidden around the place.
Red hood: so... what the fuck did i just witness?
Mischief: a successful rescue op, obviously.
Red robin: i concur with hood. What the fuck? How did that go so smoothly?
Mischief: are you implying that your own rescue ops always go sideways? Is this the part where i get to tell the Bats to get good?
Red robin: oh, hardy har.
Spoiler: to be fair, mischief *has* been playing lazarus tag with us for weeks now, and none of us have caught him yet. I am curious about how successful we are with the easter egg hunt, though.
Mischief: that will require another photo.
Spoiler: How about a picture of Robin petting Frostbite's fur?
Robin: *scowling*
Mischief: You guys have tagged about half of them. Also, nobody has explained yet why you guys keep calling it Lazarus Water.
Nightwing: there's a cult called the League of Assassins that guards underground pools of what they call Lazarus Water, which looks a lot like your ectoplasm.
Red Robin: Chemical analysis shows some differences, though. The ecto in the air before it gets filtered is chemically closer to Lazarus Water than the purified ecto you filter devices release back out.
Red Hood: dont forget that the stuff the talons were sleeping in is also different.
Red Robin: Right. The Court of Owls buys Lazarus Water from the League of Assassins and puts it through another chemical process. They call the result Dionysium.
Mischief: i could tell that the ecto the talons were in was modified. If the stuff it started as was Lazarus Water, ive gotten a sample of that from this cryo facility too. Its basically raw ghost sewage, and the Dionysium is basically raw ghost sewage with a handful of added sedatives.
Spoiler: and here i thought i couldnt feel more bad about the talons.
Mischief: The Court clearly had no idea what they got their hands on. The fact that they were pumping their "weapons" full of sewage also made the talons extremely sick. They were operating at a small fraction of their potential.
Red Hood: That's a terrifying thought that I dont want to think about.
Mischief: Technically, you guys aren't operating at your full potential either.
Meanwhile, Batman is having an internal crisis while monitoring from the clocktower with Oracle. Kid knew about the talons and how to help them? He just removed them from the playing field that easy? How did he meet a goddamn yeti? Where did they send the talons? His kids have found more devices than they've reported? (He's not surprised, but he is disappointed.) What does he mean that the Bats arent operating at full potential?
Danny: Soo... I'm guessing your BatDad is grousing in your ears to ask me questions?
Nightwing:... Enhanced hearing?
Danny: That would be telling!! Anyway. Once I've dealt with the zombie in the sewers? And the swamp that revives people wrong? I'll swing by with some paperwork. My family did loads of research into ectoplasm. My parents stuff was hella biased. But the actual science was spot on. Me and my fraid fixed the rest of their research when my parents passed.
Red Hood: How old are you? To be already writing your own scientific papers!
Danny: Oh... Uh, less than 100 years old. I stopped trying to keep track after I got sent on time missions.
Red Robin: You aren't human are you?
Danny: Rude! I'm a human! I'm just dead is all! Well, undead, but you know what I mean.
Robin: I have questions about Chief Frostbite!
Danny: Frostbite is a fantastic topic. He's amazing, and I adore him. He helped me so much after I'd just died ya know?
---
Batman say with Oracle hearing this and internally screaming. Undead teen? No, no no no! He looks 16!!! Even if he's been dead decades he still died as a baby! Oracle just patting him on the shoulder to calm him down. There there B.
The bats find Mischief's blimp circling around Slaughter Swamp a few days later, dropping thousands of seeds into the swamp.
From Danny's POV, Wulf finally arrived with the bags of seeds Danny had requested from Sam. She's in the middle of rescuing another planet from the brink of ecological collapse, so she can't come herself, but Danny knows her operation well enough to get started without her.
The seeds are sterile hybrids that Sam programmed to target and break down dozens of industrial toxins. They grow large, fast, and die off without breeding and becoming an invasive species, leaving healthier and nitrogen rich soil behind for the native species to move back in. They're also heavily ecto contaminated, as Gotham and the surrounding geography appear to be a strongly liminal microclimate, cursed as it is. (Sam customized the seeds as much as she was able to for the various soil samples Danny had sent her way.)
Hopefully, they'll be able to turn this veritable tar pit back into a thriving wetlands. Sam should be available in a few more months to check their progress. In the meantime, Danny just has to placate Ivy and monitor any changes.
And since he was out and about in the blimp, the Bats came to him, which is rather convenient, as he's got loads of data, intel, paperwork, and a handful of ecto devices to give them.
Ivy would love these plants. They are helping save the swamp! and the surrounding woodlands! Where is the child! She has questions! Who made these?! When can she meet them?! Tell her now!!!
Danny finally let's himself be 'caught' by Batman. Who definitely knows he has been allowed to catch up. He's not salty about it. At all. The eternal teen has already helped Gotham a lot. While he doesn't entirely trust the reasons why. He does at least know the results are positive.
Batman: Why?
Danny: Lady Gotham asked for help. The Lady is badass. Definitely deserves the help ya know?
Well, Batman can understand that at least. Given the fact that the boy chose the handle 'mischief'? He just knows getting a more complete answer is going to be a nightmare. He is sure his children will slowly pry it out of him. Now to make sure the brat is at least staying somewhere safe.
Batman: Have you got proper housing while here?
Danny blinked a few times. Lady Gotham had told him Batman was a total Dad. But, what the heck?!
Danny: I can make portals dude. I just slip back to my lair to sleep.
Batman could hear his children mocking him over the coms. Apparently Oracle had decided to broadcast this conversation. Wonderful.
Batman:... How long will this, curse cleansing take?
Danny: I mean, we are talking centuries of curses here. It's gonna take a while. My friend is coming over in like two months? She's probably gonna kidnap Poison Ivy? To help fix the local ecosystem.
I agree that ivy would like the plants, but i think danny (correctly) predicted that ivy's first reaction to seeing the swamp overrun by an alien species is that some rich guy thought they could profit off of the land somehow, not actually restore it.
After a few days of chasing danny around the swamp with a broom (metaphorically or literally, its up to interpretation), she finally gathered enough info and studied the strange death-touched plants to be satisfied that danny 1) genuinely wants to help, and 2) his form of help is actually helping.
Danny may or may not have needed to bribe ivy by promising to introduce her to the hybrid plants' creator. Ivy has Big Ideas, and it would be great to have another like-minded individual to talk shop with.
Meanwhile, the bats are pretty busy collecting and arresting all the members of the court of owls. They have to prevent a lot of assassination and terrorism attempts as the court lashes out in its dying throes.
Duke is extra exhausted, as the glowing blobs only he can see have started leading him to wherever the bats are needed most during this clean-up period. Bruce is moping too much to be paranoid about it.
Danny can't wait till Sam gets here. Tucker can't come. He's busy doing magictech something, something in another dimension. And will be for a few years. But Sam? He gets his bestie here in Gotham!! Till the local city is cleansed!!! It also means Miss Ivy will stop asking him questions he doesn't know the answers to! Not his field of expertise ok! He doesn't know how she made her magic plants! Take a spare seed, study them. He'll text her when Sam is here to answer her questions ok!!
He's also being followed around by Red Robin. Who apparently read, and retained, and understood the entire packet on ectoplasm. Already. He has follow up questions. So very many. Danny can at least answer those questions! Well, most of them. Some are a bit too medically focused. Danny isn't a trained healer ok! He has his Ecto emergency health care knowledge. The basics of ecto-biology and cores. But he's just not old enough to know everything ya know?
Red Robin and Spoiler are becoming good friends in chaos though! And Signal has become a weird power mishaps buddy. The blobs like Signal. It's cute. They love to cuddle him. Danny can't help but be amused.
Now, Danny has been told by Lady Gotham who her knights were. And the mansion that needs cleansing? Definitely their home. So... Danny could just ask. But where's the fun in that! Plus, now they know he's a ghost? He can have fun with it!! He's installing a filter a week before though. And in all the other rich people homes. They all live so far out!!
Ah yes. The Big Charity Gala. One of the biggest in Gotham every year. Danny forgets the technical name for it. He's been so busy with the talons and the court of owls that the date has snuck up on him. He really should get a filter set up in wayne manor before they host such a big event.
But he knows his shenanigans are pushing Batman's limits. He doesn't want to break the poor guy, and while danny is confident his ghost powers could carry him through the manor without triggering its security, Bruce doesnt need to be more stressed out by finding more devices he doesnt trust in his own home days before a big event.
So, he'll ask red robin and spoiler to accompany him. That way, they'll know what he's doing every step of the way and be able to watch where he places each of the filters.
Mischief: so there's that Big Charity Gala coming up, that wayne manor is hosting?
Red robin: what about it?
Muichief: ive already identified wayne manor as an ecto hot spot. I'd like to set up some filters there before the party cause i think everyone who attends would benefit. But i dont want mr wayne thinking im another gotham rogue planning some dasdardly scheme, ya know?
Spoiler: i can already see that this is gonna be a hard sell.
Red robin: literally all you do is scheme.
Mischief: but they arent DASDARDLY schemes! My schemes cause maximum chaos and minimum damage.
Mischief: And mr wayne is too much of a golden retriever to be an entertaining target.
Mischief: and im pretty sure he's single handedly keeping gotham from falling into financial ruin with all the charity work he does. I dont want to interrupt that.
Spoiler: phhht, you had me at Big Charity Gala. Whatever your planning, i want in.
Red robin: fuck it. Im in too. Tell me everything, and we'll get you into wayne manor to set up.
This was all over chat of course, because danny didnt think he could call batman a golden retriever with a straight face. With that out of the way, he just had to get ready to actually *attend* the gala. Cant crash (affectionate) a party without attending, right?
It would be pretty interesting to see how many people show up, though. With half of gotham's elite arrested for connections to the Court, and half of the rest having long since flown the coop to escape arrest, it was probably a good thing that this charity event was known for being open invitation. Anyone up to the dress code and able to pay the entrance fee could attend.
Danny had free access to Pariah's coffers, so that wasnt an issue. He just had to pull out some earth-origin jewelry and give the stuff a bath in blood blossom extract to remove any lingering ecto-signature, then sell it in gotham's thriving black market for cash to pay the tailor and the entrance fee.
Shame that sam wouldnt make it in time. Danny enjoyed attending galas with her and all the games they played to keep themselves entertained.
Lady gotham had also given danny a pearl necklace with explicit instructions to give to bruce. He had it wrapped and signed from Lady Gotham because he didnt want to risk touching and accidentally tampering with that death echo. There was far too much love and protection wrapped up in those pearls which was desperate to reach their orphaned son. Martha deserved to have her dying message sent.
He still wasnt sure how to deliver the gift. He was half tempted to sneak it into bruce's office to find later, bat paranoia be damned.
Danny absolutely sneaks in the week before and sets up the filter. In Tim's room, Red Robin said he wouldn't care. (Danny is pretending he doesn't know. But it's getting so hard when they are being so careless) He then takes the chance to place the pearls on Bruce's pillow. He's not gonna make the poor guy find them the day of. That would be cruel.
Bruce finds them and has a lot of feelings about it. Knowing they came from his Mom and Lady Gotham? And delivered as soon as they had someone who could? There's grief, but healing grief. They get very carefully cleaned and restored. Then placed in a glass case in his office.
He turns up in a suit covered with constellation patterns. The inside lining looks like a galaxy seen through a telescope. He's wearing his favourite star earrings. Gone all out. Rather than donate cash. Which would look dodgy AF? Danny brings out a few pieces from the treasury. For the auction. The best part is that, none of them have seen him bare faced. At all. They have no idea who he is.
Danny gladly used this chance to set himself up a backstory. Newly inherited wealth and belongings from family you see. Thinking of moving to Gotham. Thought he'd attend and meet people! Will be checking a few other cities as well! He's really selling the act. The bats are suspicious but it's a common enough thing for nepo babies to do.
Now, he won't be getting the gala or auction. He's set up a blimp with a duplicate waiting for the end. Once the door opens at the end? He'll get everyone then. Much chaos and annoyance. No disruption of the event. If it happens to set his new human ID as NOT Mischief? Well, that can only be a good thing.
He chats and flirts and charms, as taught by his ghostly advisors. Takes the chance to invite Steph and then Tim to dance. Which causes some titters. How bold! To openly go for both! He's not actually interested. He's doing it to cement a certain perception in people minds. Plus it means he can make friends with their civilian identities!!
Now, when the gala ends? Danny is also going t get drenched. Which he knows, so he made sure to act surprised as everyone else. But decided to just take not in the chaos. Once it happens he starts laughing quietly, Steph and Tim? Find this random nepo kid has a sense of humour. Which is dutifully added to his brand new file. Someone wealthy, new and with a sense of humour? Might just be a good addition to their charity work!!
This is perfect, and I have struggled for *days* trying to figure out how to add to it.
And this is still open for anyone else to join, especially if im taking forever to respond.
-
The next couple of weeks go by fast, as Mischief spreads his namesake with the various Bats, and Danny is toured all over the city with the Waynes.
He's pretty sure Bruce is suspicious of Danny’s himbo act, which means the others will be eagle-eyed for any slipping of character. Joke's on them, Danny can channel his inner Jack Fenton like a pro.
Tim is the most inquisitive of the group, constantly asking questions both in and out of the cowl. Danny is happy to answer most of them, but there have been a few moments he's been certain Tim was about to piece things together. Even now, he's not sure sure how much Tim knows - he's far better at acting than Danny could ever hope to be.
(Maybe that's why he's so confident in his carelessness? Or he at least realized that Mischief knew their identities a while ago? Ancients, Tim is impossible to get a read on.)
Suddenly, it's already time for Sam to arrive, and Danny almost isn't ready. He's got tons of plans to show her around the city and give her a warm welcome, depending on what she wants to do. Anything from a quiet date night to catch up to a city-wide ecto-balloon war, it's all up to her.
Unfortunately, those plans got immediately derailed. Apparently, Ivy's connection to the green made Sam a homing beacon on her radar the moment she entered the city. Ivy showed up at Danny's doorstep within the hour to meet the new plant meta that encroached on her territory.
There were a few tense moments before Sam realized that this was the nymph liminal Danny had warned her about, and she quickly explained that she was here to manage the plants she sent ahead for Slaughter Swamp.
Double unfortunately, Ivy had been at the gala under Bruce's dime to represent a handful of environmental charities, which meant she had met danny as a civilian before today and had enough information to piece together that he's Mischief.
Mercifully, Ivy promised not to tell the Bats his identity. (Danny got the impression that she was enjoying the chaos and too grateful for the chance to meet Sam to try to extort him for that promise, even if she made it sound like a hard sell.)
Sam and Ivy spent a few days girl-bonding, and finally Danny got the chance to catch up with Sam himself with their adventure slash date that he had planned.
The night after that? Harley and Catwoman decided to tag along with Mischief and Nightshade. Ivy may have promised not to tell the Bats, but the Sirens keep no secrets from each other.
Danny won't even care that Selina is demanding bribes for his secrets. Pariah had a ridiculous amount of sparklies in his treasury. His fraid had already gone over it to pick out the bits they want. Everything else was used for gifts/bribes/selling for mortal cash. Oh, Danny lending them amulets so they can enter the Realms safely. He takes them through the armoury and treasury. Lets them choose what they want. Then carefully decontaminates them. Sam carefully chooses a selection of extinct seeds for Ivy. Ones that are safe to reintroduce. Harley loves her new weapon that can turn into a bracelet. Selina adores her array of random knick-knacks. She is also amused by the fact that everything she pocketed was reclaimed before they left. Carefully decontaminated and then left in a box on her desk the day after. She does like the pair.
Danny gets to introduce Nightshade to the Bats. Sam is going to adore Spoiler and Black Bat. Seeing her and Robin together should also be hilarious. He can't wait!!! Sam is thoroughly enjoying her work. She and Ivy are absolutely besties and having the BEST time. Danny frequently finds the two plotting out how best to do their work. Which of course means Harley is spending a lot of time with him and her boys. Which meant he brought Cujo over for a play date. Harley LOVED the glowing dog who can change size.
Bruce absolutely groaned the first time he saw Mischief playing with Harley. He is glad they were just having a city wide de cursing water fight. But he really wished he'd had more time before they met. And Nightshade teaming up with Ivy? Yes he is glad those businesses who were dumping chemicals were stopped. Yes he is glad Gotham is healthier. But, did they HAVE to grow cursed trees like that? Sure the things wither and die eventually. But the city is FULL of the damn things. At least his kids are having fun? And Selina has met them now as well. Fantastic.
The Bats are all gonna want their chance in the treasuring after hearing the sirens brag about it. What do you mean Mischief is richer than god? At least they still (probably) dont know that Danny and Mischief are the same. Tim looks a little too calculating for Danny's comfort, but its *probably* just resting gremlin face. Hopefully.
However, all this chaos is starting to come to a head, good-natured as it is. Bruce has found hints that Ra's is in town, no doubt investigating the boy flaunting lazarus water by drenching everything in it. Bruce knows it isn't *quite* lazarus water, which means Ra's has probably figured that out too, but that isn't going to make Mischief any less interesting to him.
On top of that, sightings of the talons have picked up again. There haven't been any altercations (yet), but bruce is worried about how they'll behave while not under the control of the Court, or if the remaining missing members will find a way to regain control over them.
The Joker has also woken up from his semi-lucid state, though the Arkham nurses report that he's constantly muttering about the shadows having eyes and hasn't (yet) caused any trouble.
A few developers have tried to make moves to gauge the property value of Slaughter Swamp now that it's being cleaned up. The Sirens, Mischief, and Nightshade have had to scare them off. A few have gone missing. Tours into the swamp have picked up with the appearance of the alien plants, which have so far been tolerated. Nightshade has warned the tour guides that the plants will attack anyone who annoys them enough. Bruce is only about 80% sure she's joking, and that certainty drops with every new developer or surveyor that goes missing.
Gotham high society has been abuzz about Mischief's prank at the end of the Big Charity Gala. Apparently it was the Most Acceptable Rogue Attack Ever? He didnt attack until after the party was over, didnt steal anything, and the weird goo evaporated without damaging anything or causing adverse health effects. In summary, it made a great distraction to fill the media news space so no one has to talk about all the high profile arrests happening.
The information blockade isn't fooling anyone, though, if the parties in the streets and on the rooftops are any indication. Petty crime is down and drunken brawls are way up as the common people celebrate a major win against gotham's seemingly endless corruption.
And the newest member of gotham high society, Danny Nightingale, has been keeping all of Bruce's kids very distracted. Bruce would have suspected him of being Mischief if that didn't require him being in two places at once. Though, working with mischief wasn't off the table.
At least the kid couldn't have picked a more perfect time to move to Gotham - when all of its most predatory natives are running for their lives. And with all the jewelry danny had donated to the charity auction, he has high hopes that his kids will be able to ensure that danny is converted into a force for good instead of become the newest face for corruption in the city.
Ohh, the Talons are being allowed out on short, chaperoned visits to the city. They aren't anywhere well enough yet to be left alone. But the Dr's agreed that letting them visit Lady Gotham in their old haunt? Might be a good incentive to get better. Lady Gotham is thrilled at how much better they are already! She's so glad Phantom/Mischief came to help.
Danny and Sam are highly amused that they are considered actual rogues now. This is Gotham. They expected to never be considered more than an annoyance. But full blown rogue status? Danny cuts out the news reports and frames them. Sends a snap to the bats, with his pride made obvious. Cass sends him a thumbs up, while the rest laughingly threaten to get him next time.
The and developers are found stumbling out of the swamp. Sobbing and screaming about the things chasing them. No one can get a proper explanation about what is chasing them. Only that they can't escape! They can't! They will find them again. They are all quietly sent to a nice, calm mental health retreat. People stop trying after that. The tours dwindle after the plants start to die off. Sam designed them so the would die and rot quickly. Rotting quickly has a small side effect. It smells beyond foul. Especially to humans.
Danny would be highly amused to be accused of funding himself. He wouldn't be able to stop himself from laughing if they asked him. He has been enjoying his outings with Sam and their new friends. He does like Gotham. They do also visit other cities. After all, some of what they are up to? Takes time, and they can't move to the next step without it being done. So they have plenty of time to visit other cities.
Bruce is highly amused when Danny and Sam come back from a gala held by Luthor complaining about everything. The space museum was about the only aspect of Metropolis they enjoyed. Bruce was especially amused when they pronounced Luthor to be a 'fruitloop supreme'. He was also relieved when they complained about stupid rich folks who buy their way out of trouble. At least they are less likely to become engaged in Gotham's corruption.
Oh hey, youre back! I was thinking about figuring out how to close out this fic, but have been too busy and burnt out the last few days to come up with ideas.
Maybe Danny and Sam figured out that Luthor was behind the land-grab attempts on Slaughter Swamp. Luthor even cornered them and tried to make a deal they couldn't refuse during their Metropolis visit.
They are absolutely not going to let that slide. By the time they returned to Gotham a few days later, all of the furniture in Luthor's penthouse AND all of his safehouses were phased partway into the ceiling, and all of his Secret Illegal Science Labs had been dismantled by rampaging plants of Nightshade's calibur.
Bruce didn't even find out until the Justice League had been called in to contain and clean up the mess. According to the files Oracle and Red Robin collected from the disaster sites, some of these labs had evaded the Justice League's radar for a couple of decades! Bruce would be bewildered about how they managed to find the labs if he didn’t already know that Mischief was in regular contact with the dead. No doubt the ghost of someone who ended up on the wrong side of Luthor's wrath spilled the beans.
Some of the Leaguers are talking about inviting Mischief and Nightshade to join the League. Yeah, that'll probably last right up until some of them become a target of Mischief's pranks.
He also doubts that they would accept the invitation. They may be good-aligned, but even on the best of days, they're chaotic-good. The rules and bylaws of the League would be too restricting. Certainly, they'll throw in their help during an emergency, but that's the most he would expect.
A week after the Luthor debacle, Ra's makes his move by abducting Nightshade. One of Bruce's kids informed him one evening that Mischief far too calmly informed them that "some old lazarus-contaminated fruitloop" kidnapped Nightshade and to cancel all plans over then next 72 hours as they wreaked havoc... then sent them a nvm five minutes later because "the talons dealt with it before I could :("
It's been two weeks since then, and none of the batclan have yet found any hint as to what happened. Nightshade smirked but otherwise didn't answer when batman tried to question her.
During those two weeks, Damian attempted to adopt a couple of talons and bring them home, insisting that any creature capable of killing his grandfather is worthy of respect. Despite Bruce putting his foot down (and insisting it was too soon to make that call), it seemed that bringing those two talons to the batcave opened some sort of floodgates. Now, there are never less than three talons wandering the cave at any given time, and he's certain at least a half dozen more hidden from sight.
Dick has started training them on how to use his gymnastics course and scoring their proficiency. Stephanie has started giving them bowties and hair clips to differentiate them while Duke has filled out dozens of those "hello, I'm ___" stickers with random common names written on them, and left the pile out for the talons to sort through and choose a name (Bruce is kind of blown away that at least some of them can read). Alfred has taken to giving them cookies as some sort of pavlovian scheme, and Tim is trying to teach them how to use the coffee machine. (Alfred gives them a cookie when they make Tim's order a decaf.)
Jason has actually started patrolling with them, swearing up and down that he can sense their intention, and they always seem to know exactly what he wants them to do. Also, crime in Crime Alley dropped by 300% once word of the talons joining his gang got around.
Bruce hasn't slept well the last few days. He's woken up twice now to Ivan watching him sleep in his own bedroom.
Another one of them (Erick) makes themselves apparent while Danny Nightingale is visiting, who, instead of being terrified, absolutely lights up with glee, greets the talon, and offers a high five.
The talon reciprocates.
Bruce would like to know exactly when his life got derailed.
On the note of Gotham thinking Nightingale funds Mischief:
Obviously the bats have been looking into Danny. And the strange thing is, no matter how hard the look, they can never find where the wealth comes from. Not even on the illegal side of things. By all appearances, Nightingale is Old Money, riding out his life by steadily liquidizing inherited assets with no sentimental value. Selling off gems and jewelry and relics whenever he needs money.
But there is no inheritance. There is no trail. There is no history. Until Danny showed up at the charity gala, no one had even heard of a Nightingale family. They have no idea where he's getting these things. They are only mostly confident he's not a thief or treasure hunter.
The answer reveals itself, quite by accident, at another charity gala. Nightingale, as has become his MO over these last few months, brings in several pieces to be auctioned off for the charity. And Damian startles to realize he recognizes one of the pieces. It's some kind of small tapestry; a beautifully woven mandala of deep green, vibrant red, rich black, and shimmering gold. And last time Damian -or technically Robin- had seen it, it was hanging on one of the walls in Mischief's lair.
No wonder Daniel always laughs whenever someone asks if he funds Mischief.
The conspiracy board is getting quite full at this point. Several suggestions are thrown out. One, Danny and Mischief are dating. Two, Danny is Mischief, and had a friend play act him during the gala incident. Three, He is Mischief and his undead powers do include being in two places at once. Four, some secret other thing they missed as it is too obvious. None of these questions get an answer. Nightingale laughs so hard he stops breathing if asked. Sam is no better.
Given all the work their new friends have been doing is to help? Bruce has decided regardless of the reason? Nightingale and Mischief (if they are two people) are allies. At least for now. Their new Talon friends(?!?) Are extremely good judges of character. They are curious and wary. The long term effects of their treatment at the hands of the Court of Owls. That they happily greet both Mischief and Nightingale? Can only be a good sign. Bruce is aware Mischief will likely tell them the truth. At the time it amuses him most. He is going to invite Diana over to meet them. He is sure she will find their antics highly amusing.
The time to tell the truth that would be the most amusing for Mischief is inevitably going to be the same time that will give Bruce the most new grey hairs.
It's going to be when Danny has allowed himself to be kidnapped in place of one of the Wayne's from a gala. Danny knows they have to go suit up to save the day. They can't be down a member against a team up from Riddler and Two-Face! Danny is tied up in a death trap. And oh so casually mentions the latest picture he was sent as Mischief. So they know not to stress TOO much.
If things start to get dangerous, and the Bats are taking too long? Danny can always make a duplicate dressed as Mischief to save himself. Thus making his ID safer against anyone not a Bat. He knows he is just fine. Now the Bats do too. They can focus on the actually endangered civilians. They know Danny well enough to know he isn't at all scared. If he's not even a tiny bit scared? He's not in danger of anything but outing himself as Mischief. Which he only cares about to be a chaos gremlin anyway.
Using a duplicate to save himself is also gonna have the secondary effect of fueling the rumors that Nightingale funds Mischief; in the same way that there always being a Bat to rescue Bruce and his kids fuels the rumor that Bruce funds Batman.
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The first time, she says "To me," and the mirror dutifully shows her her reflection. And she is pleased.
The second time, she says "To the King," and she is pleased to see herself once more.
The third time, she says "To the Royal Advisor," and is once more satisfied to see herself.
The fourth time, she says "To the scribe who takes the King's letters." She is shown the man's wife. And she seethes, but quiets herself, for it is only right that a man loves his wife.
The fifth time, she says "To the Court Wizard," and is shown the man's departed mother as he remembers her from his youth, radiant and smiling and warm and larger than life.
The tenth time, she says "To the Stable Master," and is shown the fastest horse in the stable, majestic and free as the wind even in captivity
"To the baker," she is shown the man's daughter, young and adorable and full of joy and laughter.
"To the artist who did my portrait," she is shown a painting of a woman done by the man's teacher, who he still looks up to now that he is well established himself.
"To the Royal Knight," she is surprised but not displeased to see the castle's entire guard force in the middle of doing drills.
The one hundredth time she asks the mirror, and it asks her "to whom?" she once again says, "To me." And she does the same the one hundred and second, and again and again and again.
It is a different person each time, and they are all beautiful.
Y’know. Everyone likes to go “ghosts bond by fighting” but never really back it up with Danny interacting with the Batfam. He always bonds with them in the human way, which yea, that’s always nice. But I kinda wanna see Danny struggle with the human way.
Like, obviously he’s friends with Sam and Tucker without fighting them, but that’s just lasting affection from before his death. And yeah, his sister is Jazz, but she’s always been his sister, so there’s no change. But he fought Val. He bonded with Val the ghost way.
Gimme, post-Nasty Burger explosion or post-Bad Parents Fenton, Danny struggling to be in the Wayne family. Not because they’re obviously hiding something, or because they’re workaholics that… don’t seem to have jobs? No, his issue is that he doesn’t know how to interact with them.
Like, sure, Dick is always stating how excited he is that he’s got a new brother, but Danny just doesn’t feel it. Not like Danny feels it’s a betrayal to Jazz, but like Dick just seems distant. Yeah, Dick is very… huggy, let’s just say, and he’s constantly coming to Gotham to have “brotherly bonding” time with Danny and Dick does everything that Danny had ever imagined a big brother might do for him… but.
And of course Jason is there, he’s helping Danny with his English and Reading homework, he’s joking with Danny in the way that no one else is, he’s driving Danny from place to place, Jason is just… present, but.
And Tim, can’t forget Tim, Tim tinkers with projects with Danny and plays games with Danny and-
And Damian- Duke, Bruce, even Alfred!
But. But! Danny feels like an outsider looking in as he’s doing these activities with the Wayne’s. Not in a way of feeling like he’s inconveniencing these busy and important people, but in that he’s just hanging around with work friends he can barely remember the names of and definitely doesn’t have the phone numbers of (but he does, he has their phone numbers, he knows their names, he knows their favorite colors- what is wrong with him??)
And then it clicks, when he has to fight a misunderstanding Batman off. Because now Batman is his… friend? Dad? Now Batman is his something but why can’t he feel that way about Bruce?
And then he fights Nightwing in a panic and Nightwing becomes his… something. And it’s replicable. He fights every one of the Bats over a misunderstanding or because of some outside influence and they become his family even though he wanted this feeling with the Wayne’s and he doesn’t know what to do and it hurts that he doesn’t have this feeling with the Wayne’s and it almost feels like a betrayal to their efforts and-
I love everything this post is saying but i have to ask what is the definition of "fighting" is for ghost bonding. I ask because siblings have petty little fights all the time. Sometimes its play sometimes its not. Does wrestling count? Cause I can see Jason getting Danny in a headlock and them scuffleing for a minute. How long do the "fights" need to be? One of the bats totally would charge leap onto Danny back get flipped onto the ground and end the encounter with, "Ops thought you were (bats name here)."
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Years in the ghost court has changed Wes enough for him to act as a warlock patron. Unbeknownst to him, a marriage certificate does act as a warlock pack. Steph finds out when she accidentally eldritch blast the villain of the week.
(Lmfaoooo)
Spoiler happily ran across the roofs of Gotham City, completely ready to end the patrol and see her husband again.
Husband. Her husband, Wesley Weston! She was elated to have finally married him after so much happening. All around her, there were couples that formed with the residents of that other universe (cough, a certain trigger happy crime lord and his Princess), and she was happy to be one of them!
Yes, they were a bunch of weird, powered up, mutated humans from another dimension, but Spoiler wouldn't trade them for the world.
Red Robin followed after her and cleared his throat. "Earth to Spoiler? You're on patrol, remember?"
Spoiler blinked and realized that she had almost missed the thief that was slinking away with a flatscreen TV from a nearby electronics store in his arms.
"Oops," she muttered, before dropping off the roof in front of the thief. "I don't think you've paid for that."
The man jumped at the sound of her and cursed. "Damn Bats!" He hissed, immediately holding out a gun to her face. "Back off, or I'll shoot!"
"Over a 40 inch TV?" Spoiler snarked. She knew that Red Robin was behind her and she was confident in her own prowess.
Wes always loved complimenting her about her skills and her talents, as if determined to wear down on her insecurities. Now that they were married, it somehow gave her a strange sense of comfort.
"It's not just about the TV! This is about freedom! This is about justice!" The man screamed. Both she and Red Robin shared a look of exasperation.
"Get on with it. We have things to get back to," Red Robin said. Spoiler knew that he had his own outer dimensional partner to get to and she silently agreed wholeheartedly.
The man bared his teeth. "But thankfully, I'm not alone either, Bats."
And just like that, he threw the TV at their faces, which they dodged. But unfortunately, that was when they saw an entire gang of people with guns pointed at them.
Ever since the citizens of that other dimension had crossed into theirs, it had been chaos. But as time went, those same residents, Wes included, calmed down the situation and were often helping the heroes in slowing down crime.
As such, Spoiler could admit that she got a little bit careless after so many days of minor crimes.
Spoiler cursed as she was cornered against a wall. A group of three people were aiming at her and she could see Red Robin struggling against a group of six. The barrel of the guns were cold as they pointed at her and suddenly, Spoiler regretted being so carefree.
What would Wes think if she came home with gunshot wounds?
The guns cocked. Spoiler raised her hands without thinking and suddenly, a bright purple flash came from her hands, shooting out and striking the three men perfectly.
They all fell down with cut off shouts. Spoiler froze as Red Robin and the other gang members stared at her in shock.
"So you've had powers this whole time—?!" He was cut off by a punch to the jaw.
Later that patrol, as Spoiler was unable to replicate what she just did with that magical blast, she told Wes about it.
"— and then I couldn’t do it again! I told Tim not to tell B, but I’m really worried. Is this some sort of mutation? Or did I somehow unlock my meta genes like Duke? Wes, what do you…” her voice cut off.
Her husband was staring into the distance, his eyebrows furrowed as a faraway look entered his eyes, one of deep contemplation and a dawning realization.
Stephanie suddenly realized something. “… you know what caused it, don’t you?”
Wes coughed. “Well… err, I think I forgot to mention that when we get married, it— well….”
“Wesley Greg Weston!! How did you forget to tell me that I get powers when we get married?!”
When Ellie contacted him, Danny thought it was for one of their regular meet ups. So he was quite shocked when he stepped through the portal and was confronted with the Justice League. The second he was through, Ellie who was patiently sat in front of him with handcuffs on, asked him to please tell the heroes how she was telling the truth about being the half ghost clone princess of the Infinite Realms.
Ellie: Um.... Space cop snuck up on me while I was flying. I punched em like you taught me to do if someone sneaks up. Then I got arrested.
Danny: Right. So, was she somewhere illegal?
Hal: Well.. No.
Danny: Then why the handcuffs?
Batman: She is a powerful meta who attacked one of our heroes. Of course we arrested her.
Danny: Yeah, not a meta. Not even slightly. How purposeful was the sneaking?
Hal: I mean. Sound doesn't travel well in space. So not very.
Danny: Ok, so I guess you what, tapped her shoulder, or something?
Hal: Yeah.
Danny: Little tip. Next time circle round and approach from in front. Ellie did exactly as I taught her to do. She is My Heir. Heir to the throne of the Infinite Realms. Her safety is my highest priority. Ellie, stop playing nice please?
Ellie*Breaks handcuffs like nothing and hugs Danny*: Ok Papa!
Batman: You could have done that at any time?
Ellie: Well duh. But diplomatic tensions are still tense with the living world due to the US and what it did. So, I figured it would be better to wait for Papa to show up.
Danny: Thank you starlight. Anyway, do you need anything else? Or can I take my daughter home?
Batman: Can we set up a meeting? We need to discuss why you are letting your Heir wander unsupervised?
Danny: Maybe because she is over 100 years old? More than strong enough to look after herself? And smart enough to know when to cave to nonsense like this?
Batman: Not a child?
Danny: No. Not a child. Ecto entities don't age if we don't feel the need to. It's why I look barely any older than she does.
Danny: Hi, I made the horrible mistake of existing in the same environment as you and calling you "really pretty" where my friends could hear, and they forced me to come bother you. Would you mind looking vaguely amused by me for 5 minutes? Then as soon as they stop watching us I'll make a break for it.
I had a thought about Jason telling Damian stories. Damian thinks dead Robin is a ghost bird. Does not help that Jason has mentioned Robin moving his wings or loosing a feather
Part 1
(Omg yes)
“You know, I never knew that Red Hood told Little D bedtime stories at the League,” Nightwing said to Batman. “I need to visit home more often. I keep missing out.”
Phantom slightly turned his head towards them, interested in gossip. He had heard of the Red Hood before, but hadn’t ever met the guy, since he seemed antisocial and volatile from Batman’s words.
“Oh, you’re going to visit the Manor?” Batman asked, extremely casually, even though everyone and their mothers could see that he was standing at attention at Nightwing’s words, like a dog hearing the word “walk”.
Nightwing rolled his head in a physical imitation of rolling his eyes. “Sure, B. I’ll visit this week.”
“Hnn,” was Batman’s extremely overjoyed, jumping-in-glee answer. There was a pause before he asked, “What do you think of his stories?”
“Of the Ghost Princess and her Robin? I think it’s super cute, but I’m curious as to how he makes up stories with characters like Phantom or Wraith. Seems rather detailed, no?”
Phantom stood up then and everyone turned in his direction at the sound of his chair scraping against the floor.
If there was one thing that Phantom loved most in the world, it was his sister. And if there was one thing that she liked and mourned the most, then it was Robin, one of her most dearest and best friends while she was Queen Regent. However, he had been taken away by her by unseen forces that resurrected him in another world, rendering him unable to be found.
Phantom turned to the two standing in the corner and floated over. “Did you mention a Ghost Princess? I want to hear this.”
Nightwing and Batman shared a look and the former said, “Hmm. You and the character Phantom share the same name, huh?”
“I’m also a ghost, y’know?” Phantom said, his hands behind his back in an innocent pose. He looked at them with big, sparkly green eyes, already able to tell that both of them were softening. He wasn’t much older than Red Robin and he loved taking advantage of that. “Can I hear about the Ghost Princsss?”
“It’s a bedtime story that my son created in order to soothe my youngest to sleep,” Batman replied. “It’s a story about a ghost queen and her loyal subject, Robin, as they handle and take care of things in their kingdom.”
“Robin?” Phantom asked, pretending to be confused. “Like your Robin?”
Nightwing shrugged. “I asked our Robin and he thinks that “Robin” was more like a literal bird creature than an actual person like us, since Red Hood would mention golden wings.”
Phantom’s mind flashed back to the Robin he knew, whose yellow wings covered him like a cape as he protected Jazz. It was sounding more and more like this Red Hood was telling the story of Robin and Jazz together.
“Huh,” Phantom said. “That sounds interesting. What about the Ghost Princess and the character Phantom?”
Batman replied, “The Ghost Princess seemed to be queen regent, but preferred to be called princess, while this “Phantom” character was her crown prince. The two were a pair of siblings with two others, Wraith and Spirit.”
Phantom’s eyes widened.
Spirit was a name that Dani had chosen for herself when she was still figuring out her identity. However, what made it special was that she had never revealed her name to the public population in the Ghost Zone, meaning that only a few individuals knew her name. A few individuals that included Robin.
Phantom smiled. “That sounds interesting! I love ghost stories, I’d love to hear this story in person!”
There was no way he was going to let this go. He was most definitely going to find this Red Hood and drag him back to Jazz, kicking and screaming if he had to!
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