alright I've got to do some quick math to explain attitudes towards AI to my boss.
we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)
please rb for larger sample size!
Question 1/3
What is your age, and do you feel AI is a net positive or net negative in our lives today?
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Jazz always thought she'd be a psychiatrist.
Things did not work out like that.
Being the older sister to one of the strongest ghosts, and being in constant contact with Ectoplasm and said ghost, gave her certain powers.
Certain responsibilities.
She can either talk a spirit into, or force it to move on.
Her powerset is a little broken, she thinks, as "spirit" is a vague concept, and she can technically banish any supernatural entity back to where it's supposed to be.
Demons? No problem.
Gods? Harder, but doable.
Ghosts? Barely breaking a sweat.
So her job, as she is paid to do courtesy of the Observants, is to go where there is a breach in reality and just...shove that spirit back to where it's supposed to be. They give her items to assist, and she uses her abilities in tandem with those items well enough to be nigh unstoppable.
One of those items, however, she never had to use; a length of unbreakable chain so fine it looks like a ribbon. Specifically, a leftover of the very same one that bound Fenrir in Norse Mythology.
Well, she hasn't needed to use it until today.
She was ordered to go banish a new god back to his realm, for attempting to end the world. Again.
Which has led her to standing, bloody and triumphant, over a bound and contained Darkseid as she banishes him back to whence he came.
Danny’s appendix bursts. If he doesn’t go to a hospital now he will die fully. The only place he could think of that wouldn’t get him reported to the GIW is a Meta Emergency Resource Centre.
(thank you @stealingyourbones for the dm reminder! <3 )
Nancy was proud of her work. She'd studied hard, and kept studying even after nursing school. She was one of the foremost specialists on treating Meta patients in the region!
This was really not saying all that much, given the region was fairly underpopulated. But she was still proud, and proud of the clinic she worked for.
Tommy's Place was a meta resource center with a modest clinic, a couple of counselors, a resource library, and the beginning of a community space. They were still setting up, still gathering funding. Most of the staff had other jobs in addition to this one. Thankfully they also had a long list of others who were able to volunteer in case of emergency.
Extra thankfully the day the glowing teen crashed through the window. He had a bundle of papers clutched to his chest as he curled tightly around his abdomen.
"P-please, I-nngh- It's my," the boy groaned piteously. "Appendix"
He hissed again. Nancy crouched next to him, hands hovering.
"Okay, try to breathe for me, okay?" She smiled encouragingly, holding her hand out. Either to help him up and back to a bed, or for the paperwork he was guarding.
"Promise-Promise you won't tell anyone?!" He whispered, crystal blue eyes glowing, casting a strange light onto her face. The next moment he groaned loudly again, curling tighter around himself. "Please you can't, t-they'll...Fuuuuck they'll cut me open."
"I won't tell anyone who isn't beholden to HIPPA, and when we've got you treated we can get some NDA's, okay?" She leaned forward, carefully putting a hand on the kid's back.
He was thin, probably too thin. He held out the paperwork and Nancy takes it going. Her coworker, Jim a counselor, has made his way over. She hadn't realized how bad the blast zone was. There was glass over half the room, and at least one of their fake plants had been shredded by it. How fast had he been going?!
"Hey kid, everything is gonna be fine, okay?" Jim said in a rush. Before anyone could respond he'd picked the boy up and was rushing toward the nearest open bed.
The poor child was sobbing as he was laid down carefully. Jim was frowning in that way he usually did when one of the local kids came in beaten to hell. The ones who refused to say who had hurt them, and avoided the non-medical staff like the plague.
"Not now." Nancy glared, pointing to her desk. "If you're helping start calling people. We need Gary and Alicia here ASAP. Tell them 'acute abdominal pain at a 9 out of 10, suspected Appendicitis in late stages."
She returned her focus to the boy. The glow around him had dimmed, but his eyes were beginning to flicker between ice blue, and a green she usually associated with the mad scientists from Amity.
"Frostbite-Uggh fuck- Frostbite can't do Living" He hissed out, eyes clenching shut as he groans. "I-I'm gonna need a lot more anesthetic, and t-those fancy sutures... Blood will probably eat through a lot of the equipment."
"I've got your papers, don't worry, Jim's calling for help." Nancy reassured. She tried not to think too hard about what he meant by Living. Or who Frostbite might be. If he was from Amity like she suspected, digging to deep would be dangerous for everyone. Especially him.
"Y-You can't keep those..." He groaned, grabbing her arm with a hand so cold she felt goosebumps rise on her skin. There was more foce than a boy in his condition should be able to muster as well. Though, Nancy noted in the back of her head, the grip still felt weaker than her instincts told her it would be. "I-I can't.. If they find the records..."
"No one will get them. It's our job to keep kids like you safe." She reassured again. She pretended his pleas didn't cut her heart out of her chest. Tommy's hadn't been open for more than 6 months, but still, his terrified begging brought up memories of other kids. Kids who came back time and again.
She didn't know if she hoped this boy would be back or not. Mostly she just hoped they could help him fast enough.
Another wave of pain crashed over the kid. He sobbed and curled up further. Jim was on the phone and she could see a car already pulling up. Alicia's by the rattle it made. Good, she was the anesthesiologist. The sooner they could reduce his pain, the better.
Nancy started speed reading the papers in front of her, hazel eyes going wide as she did.
"Jim! Better call Billy, Alex, and Jake as well!" She called out to her coworker.
Danny starts an OnlyFans to pay for college.
It's actually doing very well.
I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THEIR WORLDS. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE MONEY WITH THIS POST. IF THIS POST IS ON TIKTOK I DID NOT CONSENT TO THAT. IF THIS DISCLAIMER IS MISSING THEN THE POST WAS EDITED TO NEGATE IT.
Then, of course, he gets caught up in some other heroes shenanigans on his first day off in three weeks.
But it's fine, he guesses? He gets saved by said hero.
Who is a stuttering mess.
Kyle Rayner, on the other hand, has just met his favorite OnlyFans model in person and can't say shit because he's on duty as a Green Lantern.
"If I have to, I'll become a monster for them!"
But, like, not really.
Danny is dating a hero, and he's been keeping the whole "Phantom" thing under wraps.
After all, he's retired. Amity is under control. There's no real reason for "Phantom" to make an appearance, and it's not like Danny wanted to be a hero in the first place.
But his hero, naturally, has a villain, and one day that villain grabs Danny and the hero both.
The hero is in a glass box made of just the right stuff to contain them. Probably not like, forever, but long enough for the villain to dramatically murder Danny right in front of them.
He...really doesn't want Phantom to have to make an appearance.
But the cards are down, there's no one else coming, and Danny decides to compromise.
No one outside of Amity knows about Phantom. He is, after all, the American Governments biggest embarrassment; they believed pseudo science and declared an entirely separate species to be ghosts, of all things.
So they keep a tight lid on all things Phantom related.
While Danny may have been able to...finagle his own scientific papers a bit, to make ghosts seem to be aliens from another dimension and get those Anti-Ecto laws taken down, he is actually half ghosts.
And ghosts don't have actual physical forms.
So he decides to be dramatic.
"If I have to, I'll become a monster. For them."
With that, he Goes Ghost, taking care to make sure his form is far more monstrous than human.
The villain never stands a chance.
On the other side of things, his hero lover is convinced they just watched Danny sacrifice his humanity to save them.
You think whoever is daring Danny hasn't realized he's got a dramatic little shit streak? The hero lover might be panicking at first, but as soon as Danny goes human again and grins chaotically, I bet the hero lover groans in exasperation. Now, any other witnesses? Those are traumatized for life or planning how to manipulate this newly inhuman Danny against his hero lover.
Hero: You little shit you had me so worried for you I thought you gave up your humanity of somthing!
Danny: Aww you care! Don't worry even as a savage beast I'd still love you.
Hero: Was worried took me a second tk get over the shock and worry befor I realized that you're dramatic ass was waiting for a moment like this, now get off me you scared the civies
Ok, but what if the hero leans into it. They are dating Drama King Danny after all. They like the chaos too. What if they do the Hiccup Toothless head touch recreation with Danny? What if they play up 'saving' Danny with the Power of Love (tm)? You KNOW he would love it. Also it gives them the time to plan the lecture for later. (Nearly gave them a damn heart attack, bastard)
Wouldn't this encourage all manner of villains to kidnap Danny specifically to try to strip him of his humanity, turn him into a monster again, and bind him to their will? Like, he would get kidnapped again. And again. And again.
...and probably wait until the last second to transform, assuming he didn't get rescued before his hand was actually forced, because he'd much rather be a Damsel in Distress waiting for his lover, or some other hero, to come pick him up than come out of retirement.
I love everything about this. Yes, Danny has full control over his ‘monster’ form but him and the hero he’s dating dial the drama up to 11. Even more so if Danny proves he’s incredibly powerful in his ‘other’ form. Enough that most high grade threats could easily be taken care of. (The guy fought ancients who are essentially like gods) but OH NO! Danny can only access that form in the more dire of circumstances. And possibly other heroes being terrified of Danny loosing control so they high tail it wherever they learn he was kidnapped. But he has never, NEVER hurt an innocent person in that form. Even when he was ‘rampaging’. And the minute his lover comes to him, Danny may growl and hiss but makes no move to attack.
The hero is the only one who can ever 'control' him. Villains have tried, so damn hard. But nope, if you aren't the hero? Good luck fucko! Danny has 'rampaged' nd destroyed just, so many, so many, evil lairs and abandoned warehouses.
Also, situation that makes Danny rampage 100% of the time? Being an actual threat to his beloved. Hero has been saved several times from the jaws of death now. There really just, so many videos and pictures online of Danny in his monstrous form curled around them protectively. Or the hero being carried to safety. You know the internet loves them. The fanfics are getting excessive. And thirsty, oh boy are they thirsty.
Duke out here in his open monster lover era!! I mean, he probably sees the eldritch form overlaying the human form ALL the time. To the point where he is just like, yes, this is my partner Danny. He is in fact also a 15ft eldritch being made of stars. And??
Meanwhile, Bruce is happy for Duke. They are cute together. Duke seems happy. But did his latest child HAVE to hide this from the family?? It would have been nice to know before the Incident(tm). Also, did Duke HAVE to be so nonchalant about this!! Bruce has seen the things people on the internet are saying! He has seen the intrigue. The 'monster lover' community using Signal as a mascot. Why is it always his troublesome brats!!!!
Dick is probably thrilled over this whole situation. Finally he isn't being cited as the kinkiest and most adventurous Bat!!! Signal has officially won the internet accolade as most sexually and romantically adventurous Bat. Nightwing is second of course. But finally the internet has moved on somewhat!!! (It's not even slightly accurate. All the family know it's B, then Tim, then Jason and THEN him, followed by himself. Sure Duke is catching up, but one monster boyfriend doesn't let him skip That many places!!) (Cass and Steph aren't included because they both lie outrageously, and therefore cannot be properly ranked. Neither have ever been caught either. Sneaky ladies.)
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Amity Parkers are Kryptonians in the same way a de-feathered chicken is a man.
Summary; Clark's pretty sure the new intern, Samantha Manson, is secretly a Kryptonian.
But this isn't about him.
This is about Sam and her new, more interesting than Danny coworker; Jimmy Olsen.
~~~~~~
It was Sam’s first day as an Intern at the Daily Planet, and she’d found someone very interesting.
"Who is...Jimmy Olsen. What is Jimmy Olsen?" Sam muttered into her recorder as she watched the man in question hang upside down from a thirteenth story window, just to take a good picture of...something. A bird or a plane or someshit.
"I hypothesize that the man is a freak," she continued, turning around and missing the bird-plane streak by in a blur of red and blue, "A level of freak I intend to meet."
~~~~~~
Jimmy had four arms now, as well as terrifying mandibles and way too many eyes.
Sam diligently took notes, making sure to translate his horrified, garbled screams as well as she could.
Unfortunately, Superman swept in and managed to nab the mad scientist and douse Jimmy in the cure at pretty much the same time.
~~~~~~
Sam was using her strength, as a human so contaminated with Ecto she was liminal, to hold Jimmy Olsen in the air by the ankle with one hand. The other hand? Was punching aliens in the face and yanking their weapons out of their hands.
Not that he was aware she was doing that, because he was so distracted with getting the perfect camera shot of the alien invaders of the week that he’d missed the one’s trying to sneak up on him.
Honestly, most of Sam’s concentration was on not squeezing her hand.
She didn’t want to break any bones, after all.
It was right as that thought passed her mind that Superman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and scared the shit out of her, resulting in…her squeezing her hand.
Jimmy was in a cast for far longer than it took her or anyone else from Amity to recover from something as small as a broken bone.
~~~~~~
It was Tuesday, and true to form, Jimmy had been kidnapped.
Sam, as she had the past seven Tuesdays, made sure she was taken along for the ride. She’d even had to knock out the teeth of the head kidnapper to convince them that, as most people already knew, ignoring Samantha Manson was a terrible idea.
The kidnappers had let her in the van, refusing to meet her eyes. When she insisted they tie up her wrists, a few of them started crying, so she didn’t push it.
The entire drive to the typical decrepit warehouse, the kidnappers kept looking back at her and flinching.
Wussies.
But she could put up with them being babies; as long as she got to study the enigma that was Jimmy, it was fine.
What wasn’t fine was the fact that when Superman swept in to save Jimmy Olsen again, the kidnappers pointed at Sam and said she’d kidnapped them.
“I only knocked out a few teeth, so what? They’ll grow back, it’s not a big-!”
“Oh, I get it now. No. No, Miss Manson, human adult teeth don’t grow back.” Superman said gently, going from aggressively confused to pitying.
Sam broke her hand on his jaw in response; she hated people pitying her. Also, she was more than a little embarrassed that she’d forgotten non-liminal people were slightly limited in the amount of teeth they could have.
Her hand healed in the normal amount of time for a person from Amity Park; two whole days.
~~~~~~
Jimmy was looking at her over their desks, trying to be sly about it.
Sam was pretending not to notice, slowly growing more and more annoyed.
“...Is there a problem?” She finally asked, slowly looking up to meet Jimmy’s eyes.
“How did you not shatter your hand when you punched Superman? Why do you think ‘human’ teeth grow back?” Jimmy responded, almost like those questions had been waiting on the tip of his tongue for who knew how long.
“I didn’t shatter my hand because I wasn’t actually trying to hurt him, and the other one…I made a mistake.”
Jimmy hesitated, pursing his lips and seeming to take a moment to think.
“So…if you tried to punch Superman, and you meant to hurt him, do you think you actually could?”
Sam leaned back in her chair, giving the question some thought.
Superman was notorious for being weak to magic, and liminality was just another form of death magic. Granted, it was a form of death magic so strong it mutated the living, but magic was magic.
“First off, I don’t fight for a living,” Sam started, shrugging; her days as one of Team Phantom were long past. “I used to, but I don’t anymore, so I’m not as…fighty, I guess, as Superman. But I could probably give him a black eye, if he was nice enough to let the punch land after letting me wind up.”
“Oh.” Jimmy said, voice slightly higher than normal. “Well alright then.”
“Yup.”
“So where are you from again?”
“Classified.”
~~~~~~
Jimmy, true to Jimmy form, had a new…situation.
It was Friday, and apparently he was being possessed by a minor god.
A minor god that was not cooperating.
“It’s a simple series of questions, and I realy don’t know why you’re fighting me on this.” Sam groaned, valiantly resisting the urge to throw her notepad at possessed Jimmy’s head.
“Please. I just want to go back to my realm, I won’t bother people in this one anymore, I just-”
“What are you the god of? What is your name? What was the purpose of possessing Jimmy Olsen? Why did you target Jimmy Olsen?” Sam reiterated, as she had been for the past seven hours. “Is Jimmy Olsen a beacon of some sort? Is there a curse on JImmy Olsen?”
Sam paused, a new thought occurring to her with such suddenness she gasped.
“Wait, is…is this an attempt to woo Jimmy Olsen?!”
“Please. Please just let me go!”
“Just answer the questions or I start pulling fingernails!”
“If you torture me in this form, the boy will also suffer!”
“First off, he’s a grownass man. Second, he’s a freak so he’ll be fine. Probably. Fingernails grow back anyways, it’s barely a pinch for humans, it doesn't hurt at all.”
“Miss Manson, please don’t refer to Mister Olsen as a freak. Also, you’re getting confused about human limitations again.” Superman added politely, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“No, I’m not! I googled it! Human fingernails grow back!” Sam spat, shrugging out from under the Man of Steel’s grip.
“Ma’am, your misjudging human limitations concerning pain.” Superman explained, strained but patient.
Sam paused.
Sam took a moment to remember two days ago, when Perry bumped his foot into one of the desks and spent a whole hour cursing.
All that just for a broken pinky toe.
“...Fine. You…might have a point.”
~~~~~~
The GIW sat across from Sam in a meeting room at the Daily Planet.
Apparently, dodging her court-mandated meeting with them by not going to her apartment just meant they’d turn up at her place of work.
Charming.
“And you’ve intruded on my basic rights because…?” Sam started the meeting, unimpressed.
“We have been trying to reach you for mandatory debrief for the past three months, Miss Manson. You know why.” Agent Tweedledee said, deadpan.
“Ugh. No, I haven’t told anyone where I’m from. No, I haven’t used my powers in front of anyone. No, I haven’t broken any of your stupid, nonsensical rules.” Sam droned, tallying each point with a finger.
“Interesting. Our sources say they caught you…holding a grown man upside down with one hand.” Agent Tweedledee countered, also looking as bored as Sam felt.
Sam said nothing, continuing to stare at the agents.
“After which you crushed his ankle,” Agent Tweedledum added, pushing a folder with Jimmy Olsen’s X-Rays towards her.
“I don’t think you having these X-Rays is HIPAA compliant,” Sam said, pushing them back.
“I don’t think you understand how big of a security risk having you, any of you, blending in with normal humans is,” Agent Tweedledum said, pushing them right back at her. “And if this is how you’re going to try to ‘blend in’, then maybe we need to pull this initiative back. What’s next, casually flying to reach something on a tall shelf?”
“Indeed,” Agent Tweedledee said, leaning forward to get in Sam’s face. “Perhaps it would be better if the lockdown was re-initiated. An entire town of people like you…it’s too dangerous to just let you wander-”
“Excuse me!” Clark Kent said, popping his head into the meeting room. Sam took a brief moment to clock that his eyes were glowing a little reddish, but otherwise he seemed normal.
Stressed, but normal.
“You are intruding-”
“I was just wondering if you had a warrant?” Kent cut in, blinking his eyes and readjusting his glasses. When he was done, the red had faded.
The agents paused, looking at each other.
“We don’t need one.” Agent Tweedledee said, deftly sweeping the folder full of X-Rays closed.
“Actually, you do,” an entirely new voice joined the fray, and some man who reeked of money walked in. He was wearing a stupidly expensive suit, and looked incredibly windswept for some reason.
Sam hated him on principle.
The Agents also seemed to hate him on principle, if how they started packing up was any indication.
“Hello, my name is Bruce Wayne, and I own the Daily Planet,” Bruce Wayne said, all fake smiles and fake cheer. “That makes this private property.”
“We have a government ordinance-”
“My private property,” Bruce Wayne interrupted, stopped a mere few inches away from the now standing Agent Tweedledee. “You don’t have a warrant. Get out.”
Sam stayed seated, eyeing the proceedings.
Contrary to what she expected though, instead of pulling out guns and threatening people, the Agents just walked around Bruce Wayne and started for the door.
“If Miss Manson goes missing?” She heard Clark Kent mutter to them as they passed, “We will post her name everywhere we can, as well as pictures of your faces.”
“What pictures?” Agent Tweedledum asked, right before a camera flash blinded the man.
“These pictures. Leave Miss Manson alone!” Jimmy spat, darting out of reach.
Past him, the entire office was full of silent reporters, standing and watching the agents.
“If they ever contact you again, or violate your rights again, call me,” Bruce Wayne muttered, handing her a card.
~~~~~~
Jimmy had become telekinetic. Somehow.
They’d been interviewing some scientist new to Metropolis, Sam had turned her back on him for all of four minutes, and when she turned around he was two feet off the ground, surrounded by random objects.
Honestly she hadn’t even been aware there’d been anything that could mess with humans in the lab, so she had no idea what he’d touched.
The scientist was rambling about how his invention worked, and that all he would need to do was initiate Jimmy’s ‘inner power’ to create a bomb so destructive even Superman couldn’t stop it.
Which proved her initial suspicions that he was an evil scientist, and surprised her not at all.
Sam calmly reached out and grabbed the scientist by the throat, cutting off his air supply.
“Shhh. Shut up. No more words from you. Jimmy, I have some questions, please cooperate.”
Superman didn’t even take four minutes to show up for that one.
Apparently, Superman gave Jimmy a button for when Sam ‘forgot how human limitations worked’.
She was confused, as she hadn’t even touched Jimmy, but then Superman had gently pried her fingers off of the mad scientist's neck. Who was unconscious.
Oh.
Right.
Humans, ones that weren’t tainted with Ecto, couldn’t go that long without oxygen.
~~~~~~
“It was self defense, I swear!” Sam shouted into the phone, running through the streets.
“What was self defense?!” Bruce Wayne shouted back, noises from his side of the call indicating he was scrambling for something.
“They had cuffs and a gun! I grabbed a thing and stabbed one of them with it and probably broke the other one!” Sam took a turn, dodging into an alleyway to buy more time as she outran the GIW unit trying to chase her down.
“Broke the other one’s what?!”
“I don’t know! It made a crunching sound and he started throwing up!”
“Miss Manson, there’s no way I can get there on time. Can you shout for Superman?”
“I tried, he isn’t here or someth-” Sam was cut off as a hand shot out from one of the doorways and yanked her inside.
Or, they tried to.
Sam snarled, turning and raising her fist…only to be met with the face of Jimmy Olsen.
“In here! Quickly!” He whispered, tugging at her arm again.
Sam jumped to follow, the door shutting behind her with a soundless click.
Four minutes later, a stampede of footsteps went past, not even slowing down to consider the door.
Panting, she took a moment to look around.
It was…the weirdest basement she’d ever seen. There were broken cameras hanging from the ceiling, rows of film cartridges lining metal shelves, and a glowing lock on the door she’d just been dragged through.
Most concerning was the Ghostspeak written on the glowing lock. Sure, it was in a weird dialect, but she’d recognize it anywhere.
“...Jimmy, tell me honestly. Are you in a cult?” Sam asked, still catching her breath.
“No? This is just one of my safespots. Superman helped me outfit it, because I…uh…”
“Get kidnapped or targeted at least three times a month. Understandable.” Sam finally noticed the shouting coming from her phone and put it up to her ear. “I’m fine; Jimmy has a safehouse or something, and apparently they can’t track me while I’m in it.”
“My lawyers are already on their way to the Daily Planet. Stay where you are, we’ll sort this out.”
~~~~~~
Bruce Wayne’s lawyers were, evidently, terrifyingly competent.
Sam Manson and all Amity Parkers who were allowed to leave for the experimental integration process no longer had to debrief.
They got social workers. They had rights. They were put into contact with the Office for Extraterrestrial Immigration.
The GIW backed off.
From what Tucker told her, still tucked away in Amity, the choices the GIW had were to either concede to those stipulations, or reveal the existence of Amity and its people.
Granted, Tucker had already spread the news that Amity Parkers were guaranteed rights outside of Amity, and that the GIW couldn't legally do anything about it. There were already people planning to escape.
Tucker, in fact, wanted to know if Sam could use a couple of roommates.
~~~~~~
“This is a ‘fork’; it is a utensil used for foods that are not liquid.” Clark Kent said seriously, half leaned over his desk and slowly showing off a plastic fork.
Sam stared at the fork, unimpressed.
“And this? This is an ‘elbow’. On humans, they’re only supposed to bend like this,” the man said, using his own elbow as an example. “They don’t bend any other way. Please. Please remember that.”
Sam raised an eyebrow.
“‘Eyes’ are very important to humans, and they do not grow back or heal very well when impaled.”
Sam was officially bored.
“Now, ‘forks’ are not supposed to go into ‘eyes’,” Clark advised, holding the fork exaggeratedly far away from his face.
Lois, walking by, rolled her eyes.
“Gods forbid women do anything,” she muttered.
~~~~~~
“<<Woah. And you’re sure he’s not one of us?>>” Tucker asked, flipping through Sam’s ‘Jimmy Notepad’. They were taking a break from moving in, and Sam was excited to show them her Jimmy Notes.
“<<Completely.>>”
“<<Nah, he’s gotta at least be like Wes,>>” Danny disagreed, reaching out to go back a few pages and fully placing his weight against Tucker.
“<<Nope, his bones heal super slow and he can’t even regrow any teeth. Superman said so.>>”
“<<Bullshit! Look here, he clearly shapeshifted! Normal humans can’t do that!>>” Tucker said, jabbing his finger into her notebook with enough force that he almost poked a hole in it.
“<<Hey! Don’t ruin my stuff!>>”
“<<Guys c’mon, the buildings here are super delicate, we shouldn’t fight!>>”
“<<Foods here!>>” Clark Kent interrupted, sticking his head in the living room.
Sam, Danny, and Tucker all turned as one to head for the kitchen.
“<<...Wait, he wasn’t speaking English.>>” Danny muttered, pausing.
“<<I mean, neither were we?>>” Tucker asked, shrugging.
“<<Jimmy! Did you pick up my eggplant sandwich?>>” Sam shouted, shoving past her boys and into the kitchen.
Jimmy froze like a deer in headlights.
“Uh. I don’t know what you just…?”
“She’s asking if you remembered to pick up her eggplant sandwich,” Clark’s son, Jon, said as he dug through one of the bags.
“Oh! Yeah, of course.”
Sam decided that the Kents being able to speak Ghostspeak wasn’t really any of her business.
After all, Jimmy Olsen was far more interesting to study than them.
~~~~~~
“It’s Tuesday.” Sam grumbled, her foot tapping on the ground.
“Yes, it is.” Jimmy agreed, not seeming to pay attention.
“Where are they?” Sam asked, looking for the kidnappers that were supposed to show up.
“The numbers of attempted kidnappings have gone down because any group that would try is…well, they’re terrified of you.” Jimmy said, deliberately looking anywhere but at Sam.
Sam nodded, taking out her Jimmy Notepad.
His odd powers of luck seemed to be easily circumvented by just a few threats to outside sources. Interesting. So if she left, would his weird luck powers kick in again?
“I’m gonna leave for a few hours.” Sam said, standing up.
“It’s crunch time, Perry would kill you, and also that won’t work.” Jimmy droned, starting to sound bored.
“...Hey Jimmy, if I give you twenty bucks, would you go take pictures of a weird cult I heard about?”
“Miss Manson, no!” Clark Kent shouted from the other side of the newsroom. “I don’t know what you’re trying to convince Jimmy to do, but stop!”
~~~~~~
“I wanna fight Superman,” Danny said, staring up at the man in question as he fought off yet another super-powered bad guy.
“Please don’t do that while you’re holding onto me,” Jimmy asked politely, still taking pictures of the fight as Danny held him off the edge of a building.
“I’m Jimmy’s coworker,” Sam hissed, glaring at Danny. She was the one who helped Jimmy get into weird and concerning places for good photos, not Danny!
Danny smiled smugly at her, not putting the wayward photographer down at all.
“Yeah, but you broke both your arms blocking a punch, so nyeh.”
“They aren’t even compound fractures! The bones are still in place, they’ll heal in a couple of hours!”
“It hasn’t been a couple of hours though?” Tucker asked, briefly looking up from his phone.
Sam kicked him.
He kicked her back.
Neither noticed when Jimmy’s photos went from taking pictures of Superman’s fight to taking photos of their play fight.
~~~~~~
“Sam. Hey. Sam.”
Sam groaned and tilted her head back.
“What?”
“I don’t know what you are but…you can just break out of here, right?” Jimmy whispered, keeping himself between her and Lois, and the Big Bad Evil Guys of the month.
“I’m human, though?”
“I doubt that, though?”
“You’re so rude.”
“I’m so sorry that my concern for you is making me more to the point.”
Sam tried to make a comeback, but the low, pulsing green light of those stupid rocks seemed to magnify her headache. Those rocks sounded like millions of people screaming, and the emotional drain connected to them was really messing with her.
It took all of her concentration not to throw up, let alone get into a pseudo-argument with Jimmy.
“Whatever. What is that glowing green shit they have?”
“...It’s…it’s kryptonite. Uh…Sam? Hey, quick question, but are you…?”
“Not now Jimmy, I have a migraine bad enough to warrant murder.”
“I think we’re gonna have to figure this one out without Sam, Jimmy,” Lois muttered, already halfway out of her restraints.
“But she’s gonna be okay, right?” Jimmy whispered, tense against Sam’s back.
“She’ll be fine the faster we can get the Kryptonite away. Now, Jimmy, move!”
~~~~~~
“How long was she exposed?” A voice asked, adding to Sam’s headache.
“An hour? Maybe two?” Jimmy’s voice said, winded.
“Her color already looks better, Kal. I think she just needs to sleep it off.” Lois voice added, accompanied by someone brushing her hair out of her face.
“We need to keep an eye on-”
Sam interrupted Superman by throwing up on him.
He’d spoken long enough, anyways. It was time for blessed silence.
~~~~~~
Sam woke up in her own bed, with a very excited Danny barely able to contain himself next to her.
Apparently, Superman had shown up to drop her off, and Danny had misunderstood the situation.
Danny had actually gotten to fight Superman.
And even though Danny tried to downplay certain crucial parts of it, Tucker filled in what he was cutting out; Danny had gotten his ass handed to him.
Not before he’d broken the Man of Steel’s nose, though.
Which the halfa was very proud of.
“Kinda gross that he was covered in throw-up, though,” Danny conceded after a few hours, nose wrinkled. “Oh yeah; your Jimmy is in the living room, asleep.”
“On the couch, right?” Sam asked, still annoyed by remnants of her headache.
“...I mean. I was using the couch, so…” Tucker muttered, defensive.
“You didn’t make the squishy, normal human with normal human bones and normal human joints sleep on the floor, right?”
Danny coughed slightly, standing up.
“I’ll go put him on the couch.”
“Daniel James Fenton you better be careful, he’s delicate!”
~~~~~~
Sam was forced to take that back when she went over the security footage Tucker had gathered.
Jimmy Olsen had carried her through an enemy compound on his back, gotten into multiple fights at a clear disadvantage, and even made various pit stops to check Sam’s pulse and breathing.
With a deep sigh, she pulled out her Jimmy Notepad again.
“Why does he always disprove my theories and then add just as many new ones?”
~~~~~~
Jimmy was speaking the most mangled form of ghostspeak Sam had ever heard in her life.
“...You want to lick all the blue pebbles?” Sam translated for him into English.
Jimmy groaned, burying his face in his hands.
“Nevermind. I’m just…really bad at learning new languages.” He sighed, shoulders slumped in defeat. “Superman really tried to teach me but…”
“What were you trying to say?”
“...’What kind of coffee do you want?’.”
"<<What kind of coffee do you want?>> is how you're supposed to pronounce that."
Jimmy tried to repeat it. Tried.
What came out was…well.
Sam felt her jaw drop along with the papers she was holding, rage building at the insult that just left Jimmy’s mouth.
Across the room, Clark Kent broke into a coughing fit so bad he was almost gagging.
“I messed it up again, didn’t I?”
“I think you should go get coffee. Away from me. For about an hour or two.”
Green Arrow isn't sure what that means, or who the white haired meta teenager barreling towards him is, but because of that desperate plea he knows not to shoot.
Then the teenager goes through him, and stops directly behind him, using him as a shield as another meta, this one dressed like a vampire or something stops in front of Green Arrow.
"Daniel, enough. I am willing to take the task of educating-"
"Dibs."
Green Arrow blinks.
The vampire blinks.
"Beg pardon?" The vampire asks.
"Dibs. I call dibs." Green Arrow repeats.
He has...a vague idea that he's probably calling dibs on the kid behind him, for hero training purposes if the jumpsuit is anything to go by. Honestly, he hadn't even meant to say dibs, he'd just heard the vampire guys voice and hated it so much he called it.
"You have no idea what you're-"
"Sidekick. This is my sidekick now. I called dibs, you didn't." Green Arrow shrugs in a 'what can you do' motion, quietly grabbing one of his arrows specially made for supernatural entities.
He got it from a business called 'Fentonworks', and he hopes it'll actually do what it's namesake says, and work.
"I am working in his best interest!"
"And I called dibs."
"He doesn't even use arrows!"
"I've just decided I wanna learn how to use arrows," the kid breaks in, winded.
Green Arrow nods sagely.
"See? He's just decided he wants to learn."
The situation devolves from there and Green Arrow ends up shooting the vampire in the ass with one of those Fentonworks arrows, finding out that yes, they do work as intended.
Afterwards, he's left with an exhausted meta teen, who didn't use that fight as a chance to run away, like what would have been the smart thing to do.
"Sorry, I also need you to get these off of me," the teen says, holding out his arms and revealing a pair of metal cuffs.
...
Green Arrow shouldn't have aimed for that guys ass.
That was a lie, he knows what he's doing currently, but he doesn't know what he will do afterwards. It was genuinely just a split second decision that brought him to where he was.
This whole thing had started about a week ago, the first day of summer vacation. His parents decided to send him to a 'behavioral correction camp' that Vlad had recommended, which, even if the camp was real (Which it wasn't) would still be terrible on Vlad's part (Who recommends their friends camps to 'fix' their kids? Vlad, that's who).
The camp ended up being a completely fake scam Vlad made up to trap Danny, he had even used failed halfa clones to make the camp seem more real when his parents were dropping him off (He should have noticed how none of the other campers were moving, his parents should have noticed, he should have noticed all the other kids had died before even getting the chance to be alive).
The staff put two bracelets on each of his wrists, one for what weeks he would be staying through, and one for what cabin he would be in. Vlad hired shapeshifting ghosts to pretend to be staff, and everything was well done, it was almost believable as a real camp. Almost.
A few hours after his parents left was when Vlad decided to reveal himself. The bracelets turned into metallic cuffs that he couldn't get off, and short circuited his powers, forcing him to transform into Phantom. Vlad had chosen that moment to walk out from around a corner and villain monologue at him, as he did that, Skulker snuck up behind him and threw him in a cage.
They both made some threats directed to him, then Skulker left for a reason Danny wasn't able know, leaving him alone with the fruitloop.
For the next ten hours Vlad monologued and tried convincing him to join his evil schemes l, all Danny could do was insult the guy at every opportunity, the cage being too strong to break out of without his powers. Vlad would also sometimes unlock the cage door to show that "Oh Daniel, if you just agreed, you would be out of here and under my tutelage." but would then shoot an ectoblast if Danny tried to open the door.
After half a day of waiting, Vlad finally slipped up when he exited the room for a bathroom break. He left the cage door unlocked. The fruitloop had forgotten to lock the cage before leaving the room.
Danny flew out —flight being the only power that was seemingly unaffected by the cuffs— as quickly as he could. He decided to not go out the door Vlad had just left from (The nutcase might've been waiting around the corner), and flew full force into the skylight.
He distantly heard when Vlad realized his mistake, if the shriek of rage was anything to go off of. He was probably flying faster than he ever had before, and he definitely broke his previous recorded record.
Passing by a "Welcome to ——— City!" sign that he didn't recognize, Danny kept flying until he spotted someone who he was able to identify. More specifically, Green Arrow, Tucker's favorite superhero. Danny had sat through enough rants to retain some things Tucker had said, so he felt pretty confident that the guy would help him.
His flight had slowed slightly, just enough to not speed past his only real hope of escaping the fruitloop following him. That proved a mistake, as Vlad came barreling over the horizon, dead locked on Danny's position.
If it was even possible, Danny got tenser than he already was. He decided to take a chance and used a mix of gravity and flight to get down to the hero who had now spotted him (If Danny is being honest, Green Arrow had probably spotted him long before he had even realized he was even seen).
"Call dibs! Call dibs!" Was all he yelled before flying directly through the rather tense looking hero. Oh, cool, he hadn't been aware he was able to use intangibility with the cuffs.
Did he know why he yelled that? No. Did it somehow work? Yes.
Through some miracle, Green Arrow was able not only claim Danny as his new sidekick, but also get Vlad to back off, both with minimal input from Danny
It also turns out Green Arrow was genuinely willing to train him, which meant he got a mentor who isn't Vlad. For now though, he just has to explain to the hero why any of this happened.
Clark Kent is firmly in his civilian persona.
This is a problem, given that the airplane he's on with Lois is about to collide with another plane on the runway.
He can see the other plane about to t-bone them, and is fully prepared to...somehow fumble his way through an explanation as to why he disappeared and superman took his place, but the meta kid sitting next to him has a different idea.
The meta kid let's out a strangled shriek, grips the armrests of the seat, and the entire plane goes intangible.
The other plane delicately just...glides through their plane, and everyone on their plane and everyone on the other plane just stare at each other as they pass by in horrified silence.
The people seated where the other planes engines are passing through harmlessly initially let out a few terrified screams, but they taper off when they realize that nothing is happening.
Then it's over.
The kid, hyperventilating, lets go of the armrests once the other plane has completely cleared them, and immediately goes for one of those little baggies to empty the contents of his stomach.
His nose is bleeding, his ears are bleeding, and he looks dazed. He clearly overdid it.
Clark is running a hand up and down his back, trying to get him comfortable, while the other passengers and crew stare at the kid in awe.
After all, there's only one person acting like this after something as insane as making every single person intangible. It has to be the kid. The kid has to be a meta, and that meta just saved all of them.
But the kid peeks up at Clark, eyes full of fear, and says something that makes his heart drop into his stomach.
Clark’s mind is already moving at super-speed, but not in the usual way—this is a different kind of crisis. A human crisis. A kid, terrified and bleeding, just pulled off a miracle and is now more scared of what his parents will say than what just happened.
Lois, always quick on the uptake, has already unbuckled her seatbelt and twisted in her seat, giving Clark a look that says, What the hell just happened? He gives her a tiny shake of his head—later. Right now, the kid is priority number one.
The rest of the passengers are still in shock, murmuring among themselves, a few already taking out their phones, likely to start filming or calling loved ones. A flight attendant stammers something about needing to check on the pilots.
Clark keeps his voice low, steady. Comforting. “Hey, hey, you’re okay,” he says, still rubbing the kid’s back. “Just breathe. Deep breaths.”
The kid tries, but he’s shaking. He clutches the sick bag with white-knuckled fingers. His hoodie—too big for him, probably a hand-me-down—has a wet patch where his nosebleed dripped onto it.
Lois, reading the room, leans in with that gentle-yet-firm tone she sometimes uses when interviewing scared witnesses. “Sweetheart, that was incredible. You saved all of us.”
The kid flinches like she just scolded him instead. “I— I didn’t mean to. I just— I panicked—” His voice is hoarse.
Clark squeezes his shoulder. “And that’s okay. You did good.”
But the kid isn’t reassured. He looks up at Clark with wide, pleading eyes. “Please. Please don’t tell my parents.”
Clark has heard a lot of things in his life, but those words, from this kid, shake something deep in him.
Lois glances at Clark, brow furrowing, picking up on the same thing. The fear in the kid’s voice isn’t just nerves. It’s dread.
Clark keeps his tone easy, careful. “Okay,” he says. “We won’t. But— can you tell me why you don’t want them to know?”
The kid looks down, hands clenched. His breathing is still too fast. “They don’t— They don’t like this kinda thing.” He swallows hard. “They say metas are dangerous. That they should be registered or— or locked up. That they ruin everything.” His voice gets smaller. “They don’t know about me.”
Clark exchanges a look with Lois, who is already piecing the situation together. She’s seen enough cases of kids hiding parts of themselves from their families to recognize the signs.
Clark softens his voice even more. “Has anyone else seen you do this before?”
The kid shakes his head. “No. I’ve never—never done this before. Sometimes small stuff. But not— I didn’t know I could do that.” He wipes at his nose with his sleeve. “I didn’t mean to do it so big. I just— I thought we were gonna die, and I just did it.”
Clark glances around the plane. The other passengers are still rattled but coming down from their shock. Someone is trying to flag a flight attendant. This whole thing is seconds away from turning into a much bigger deal, and if the wrong person gets involved—
Lois makes the call first. “We should move him.”
Clark nods, already scanning the plane for options. They need privacy. Fast.
He unbuckles and shifts, offering the kid a hand. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
The kid hesitates but takes it. His palm is clammy, his fingers shaking, but he holds on. Clark guides him up as Lois starts running interference, snapping into reporter mode and addressing the other passengers.
“Everyone, listen,” she says, projecting calm authority. “I know we’re all shaken, but this kid just saved our lives. He’s exhausted. We need to give him space. Can we agree on that?”
There’s some murmuring, but a few people nod. The ones who had their phones out hesitate, then lower them.
Clark leads the kid toward the front, toward the tiny first-class section where there’s more room, keeping himself between him and prying eyes. The flight attendants are too stunned to stop them.
As they settle into an empty row, the kid is still gripping his sleeves like he’s trying to make himself smaller.
Clark kneels beside him, keeping his voice warm, steady. “We’re gonna figure this out, okay?”
The kid looks up at him, uncertain but desperate for reassurance. “…Okay.”
Clark smiles. “First thing’s first—what’s your name, kid?”
The boy hesitates, then mumbles, “…Danny.”
“Okay, Danny,” Clark says. “Let’s get you through this. You’re not alone.”
Bruce has always been...complicated. With his kids.
Granted, the life they lead doesn't make anything easy, but he has always, in some way, failed them.
Watching them all die was evidence enough of that.
If he'd trained them properly, if he'd been there for them, then they wouldn't have died.
All of them came back, but that doesn't forgive that they died in the first place.
So when he came across a fumbling teen hero, with no mentors, who had come to Bruce's attention already dead, he feels that he's been granted a chance.
This kid, should he train him, isn't at risk of dying on Bruce. This kid, who really does need the help, is not a kid that Bruce would ever consider his kid; he has a ghostly home (a haunt) and a ghostly family (a fraid) that love him very much.
Bruce's only position in Phantom's life would be as a teacher.
He's been granted a chance to see if his emotional attachment to his sons (and daughter) is interfering with his ability to train them properly, or if he's just lacking in the knowledge of how to effectively train a teenager for combat.
With Phantom's living impaired situation, if it turns out it's just his teaching skills, then Phantom won't actually die.
Phantom doesn't come by Gotham often, but he manages to pop in just enough that Bruce hammers out a training schedule with him.
He doesn't mean to start ignoring Damian or Tim or Dick, it's just that Phantom needs so much more assistance. He knows basic combat, but not the kind of combat he'll need in the wider world of heroes vs villains.
Phantom needs more work in how to think tactically. Phantom needs more work in sticking to the training schedule, or to any schedule. Phantom needs help understanding high school classes he can't interact with due to being dead.
All in all, Phantom just needs more help.
That's all it is. That's it.
~~~~~~
Damian is...upset. He's upset.
He's pissed.
This random stranger, who isn't even one of his brothers, is taking all of Father's attention. Not even paternal attention, the other teen is stealing away all the time and effort required to ensure Damian's training doesn't slip for himself.
Timothy, too, is noticing the lack of attention to training, and has taken it upon himself to drop by more often to fill in for Father, sparring with Damian and going over training exercises.
Richard, as well, is not only noticing but very annoyed. He's pulling Father aside and has had many furiously whispered conversations with him, but to no avail.
Nights when Phantom is present Damian already knows Father will pair with the dead hero instead of him, leaving Damian to partner with one of his brothers.
Timothy and Richard insist that it's just some strange and outlandish ploy Father is playing, but Damian knows better.
It's because he isn't good enough.
It's because he failed to meet Father's expectations.
He will have to push himself, then, to exceed them.
#phanfic#dpxdc#story prompt#dcxdp#dp x dc#dc x dp#i wanted angst#danny's just happy to have a mentor#bruce is not handling his mental trauma in a healthy or proper way#but what's new#damian is left to bear the emotional consequences#but he is his father's son#and he will ALSO not handle this in a healthy or proper way#bruce has zero intention of adopting danny this is just an experiment to him#to see if his training is getting his kids killed or if his sentiment is#he's gonna be next level pissed at both danny and himself when he realizes danny isn't dead all the time#and that he can actually die frfr#danny is standing on a pile of landmines playing jumprope#and he has no idea
Danny's rogues have been spreading a little misinformation.
In their defense, it was really funny.
They've been spreading the word via Ouija boards, seances, and any other attempt to speak with the dead that Phantom is the High King of Ghosts.
Except that position doesn't really exist.
Sure, they called Pariah Dark the King of Ghosts, but that was at his own request.
The Infinite Realms are vast, with many different cultures and lands, and there are a lot of Kings. It's not a special title, honestly, it's just the title used to delegate who, in a culture, has to put up with talking to the Observants.
So they decided to get the little shit back for stopping them from playing in the Living world. They're just tryna have fun!
And destroy stuff.
But destroying stuff is fun!
As is telling a shit ton of flesh puppet idiots that Phantom, that scrawny kid, is the "High King" of the Realms.
This resulted in him constantly getting summoned to cult summonings, running him ragged and giving them, his rogues, more time to play.
But uh.
Ember is starting to think they may have fucked up.
Because babypop just broke down into a sobbing, heaving panic attack at the sight of her.
She manages to get out of him that he hasn't slept in three days.
And like.
He's half living?
He's supposed to sleep more than that?
Yeah they fucked up.
Ugh.
She's gonna have to go talk to them, isn't she?
So that's how a meeting between Justice League and Justice League Dark gets interrupted by the ghost of a rock star, with a living teenager having one of the worst panic attacks any of them have seen in awhile cradled in her arms, asking Justice League Dark to invent an amulet that prevents Summonings.
“Constantine,” Ember responded out of surprise more than acknowledgment. She hadn’t seen the guy since before she died. “When did you join the Justice League?!”
“Uh, few years ago?”
“And what the fuck you have to offer these guys? This like how the army has a marching band? You play music when they show up for a heroes parade?”
John’s jaw dropped in outrage, “Oh fuck off you twat I’ve got more skill with my fingers ‘round a g-string than you ever -”
“Constantine!” Superman barked, and the magician snapped his mouth shut, glaring between the two. Superman then turned to the glowing woman with blue fire hair who had phased straight through the conference room at the Hall of Justice. “Now Miss…”
“Ew. Just call me Ember.”
“Alright Ember, if you can set aside whatever problems you have with John here I’d like to know why you’re here and why you’re holding a crying child?”
“Oh yeah,” she looked down at Danny, who was curled up in a princess carry, crying silently. She couldn’t help that she was easily distractible when other musicians were involved. Obsessions didn’t care about collateral damage.
Danny had gone still as the grave when they got close to the heroes’ Hall. Hmm. He was too still. Ah shit he wasn’t breathing. How long could a Halfa go without air?
“Hey Babypop,” she shook him a little, “I think you should breathe.”
Danny sucked in some air at the jerking motion, then a lot more much too fast to be healthy. The gasping got a little loud and the crying increased, snot dripped down his chin. Ember couldn’t help her nose crinkling in distaste; she hadn’t wanted kids when she was alive and she didn’t want to deal with one now.
“Here,” she shoved the currently human boy into the arms of the closest hero to her, which happened to be The Flash. He looked surprised but held the kid gently, rubbing circles on his back. “He’s having a panic attack and I don’t know how to make him stop. I figure he will eventually but I came here because I need a way to prevent the kid getting summoned. You’ve got a bunch of magic heroes, right? You can make a charm or amulet or something?”
“Depends on the type of summoning,” Constantine shrugged.
“Was I talking to you?” she hissed, blue hair flaring up.
“Seeing as I’m the League’s best magician you are talking to me.”
“Wait,” Green Arrow interrupted, looking confused. “Ember McLain? The rockstar? I thought you died in a housefi-”
“FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND YOU’LL SHARE THE EXPERIENCE!” Ember screamed and the heroes around the room jumped into fighting stances or backed away from the blazing heat she exuded.
The Flash had zipped into the far corner, shielding the boy he held. Superman tried to step forward, but winced as a blue flame scorched his skin and backed up quickly from the unexpected pain. Green Arrow tipped over in his chair as he scrambled backward.
No one expected Constantine to jump between them. Especially with his back to the danger, pointing an accusing finger at his fellow team member.
“You apologize right the fuck now mate,” he hissed, “or I won’t stop her. You never bring up a ghost’s death! Never!”
“I’m sorry!! Truly!” Green Arrow held his hands up in surrender, looking past John to the inferno that had paused its advance. “I just recognize your name because I liked your music!”
All the heat in the room disappeared and Ember blinked, then smiled in delight.
“Really?”
“Y-yeah! I, ah, I saw you perform once. Great show. I was real sorry to hear… um.”
Ember slumped and pouted, “Yeah, dying really ruins a tour doesn’t it. And Babypop over there keeps fighting me when I try to go back on the road. That’s why I joined in with the prank.”
“What prank?” Superman asked, looking like he had whiplash from the emotion change.
“Guys?!” The Flash called from the corner. He was clutching the kid tighter as a circle of green light lit up around them, and before anyone could respond they’d both vanished.
“Dammit not again,” Ember sighed.
“What. Is going. On.” Batman stood tall from the shadows and demanded in a voice like ice.
Ember fidgeted awkwardly with her guitar strap, then pulled the instrument around to hug its neck against her chest. She was never one to shy away from an audience but admitting she’d caused a problem instead of a mosh pit wasn’t something she enjoyed.
“Okay look. Me and a few other ghosts thought it would be funny to prank the kid and get him summoned all over the world so we could have some time to pursue our Obsessions without a fight. And it was funny! …for a couple days. But, well, we kinda forgot he needed to sleep? And he hasn’t slept for like three days I guess because he’s being summoned all the time. Like all the time. It happened to me twice on my way here. I was flying from Illinois then suddenly had to reroute from California, and then Toronto of all places, and -”
The Flash zipped back into the conference room looking panicked, but not as much as the kid clinging to him who was hyperventilating again.
“WHAT WAS THAT?! I just got dumped into a basement in Florida full of chanting cultists!”
“Wow you are fast,” Ember mumbled appreciatively. Constantine answered the question instead.
“Kid is gettin’ summoned all over the planet. Sounds like it’ll happen again. A lot. Keep a hold on him, will ya? Just in case so we don’t lose him.” The magician turned to Ember and asked, “What kind of summoning is this? I gotta know to fix it.”
“Just because you learned some ghost manners doesn’t mean I wanna talk to you,” she growled and glared back.
“Ember,” Green Arrow got her attention from where he still sat on the floor, “What’d he do to you? I mean, we all know he’s an ass, but he is unfortunately the one who can help here, so…?”
“He stole my girlfriend.”
“Ah.” Green Arrow wasn’t the only one to acknowledge that with a sound and nod.
“Oh yeah,” Constantine squinted at the memory. “She was a great drummer.”
“I KNOW!! And I had to hire a new one last minute before -”
“Wait,” John cut in, “Are you more mad about losing a drummer than that I fucked your girl?”
“IT WAS FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE TOUR!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS TO FIND SOMEONE THAT LAST MINUTE??! I don’t even care what guys she was fucking! She wasn’t out of the closet yet but she was MY girlfriend and MY drummer and you stole her!!!”
“Well it ein’t my fault she left ya, I wasn’t forcing her into anything, just said she could play with my band in London for a bit if she fancied it and she jumped me- I mean jumped on the chance to -”
“Can we please focus on helping the boy?” Batman was practically grinding his teeth.
Ember closed her eyes with a huff and tried to refocus. Gotta help Babypop. Her fingers automatically landed on guitar strings and strummed a couple quiet chords. She let the sound carry through her core where it calmed the rage.
“Okay,” she whispered. The whole room had gone silent with the music. Tension leeched out of the room. “Okay I’ll work with him for this. Just this.”
“Hey guys he’s finally asleep,” Flash whispered, smiling down at the limp body he held. “I think the music did someth-”
Then the green circle showed up again and the kid jolted awake as they disappeared.
“I don’t even need sleep but I’m so tired of this shit,” Ember grumbled, setting Green Arrow’s chair upright and slumping into it.
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John Constantine knows full and damn well that Phantom isn't a thousands year old ghost.
He knows because, in the middle of a fight against a deranged warlock, Phantom let out a small, warbling chirp in response to getting hit.
He'd quickly covered it up, but Constantine knows that that chirp is.
It's the ghost equivalent of a baby cry.
With as uncertain and lost as that one was, it was a ghost newborn cry.
Phantom isn't even ten years old as a ghost. Constantine would ventures to say that he isn't even five.
Worse, no other ghost responded to the chirp.
Phantom is, in ghost terms, an orphan.
Which is what has led to Constantine creating a portal to the Infinite Realms, so he can walk into the Realms Child Ghost Education Resource Center and make sure Phantom gets a good ghostly guardian.
The kid's been through enough, and John's gonna make sure he gets someone good.
What if no ghosts respond to Phantom because the cry doesn't register as a cry to them? Because he's a halfa.
Sure, he can make the sound, and it sounds correct to human ears. But the flesh muffles the core resonance that accompanies the sound. Without that core resonance, to other ghosts, it sounds like mimicry.
Maybe it triggers an uncanny valley kind of response, where it sounds like something other trying to lure you in by pretending to be a baby.
And with Halfas being so rare and/or the Realms still in such disarray since Pariah was originally sealed (having lost the centralized knowledge and archives of a unified people as various smaller, independent factions arose in the High King's absence), no one knows about this unfortunate interaction of flesh and core in Halfas. If anyone ever did, that knowledge has long since been lost.
(Consequentially, this would put Vlad in basically the same boat here. No wonder he's so desperate for family. He's abandoned too.)
hear me out what if the ghosts that DO hear him make this noise think he’s trying to lure them into a false sense of security (uncanny valley train of thought here) and get mad??
Mad, or creeped out, cuz they think Danny is a lure for a ghostly angler fish. They all believe they're fighting a part of a larger being that's targeting ghosts near the Amity Portal.
Still thinking about this concept because i love the idea of both Danny and the ghosts from the Zone fighting to protect their home. Danny thinks the ghosts want to terrorize Amity Park, and the ghosts think Danny wants to consume the ghost neighborhood after being stuck in the human realm for centuries. No wonder he can defeat them all!
Constantine would have an uphill battle proving Danny is young, and not just a young mimic ready to eat someone.
(Some people mentioned why skulker might feen for Danny in the comments because he sounds like an extinct ghost predator who mimics and what happens if Danny’s flesh wasn’t covering his core. So I’m merging them together.)
One day Skulker says he’s going to put a end to the creature that’s been terrorizing the infinite realms by amity park. So he broadcast his hunt across the realms like an episode of river monsters. Even some of Danny’s rogues come to watch from the sidelines. As Skulker chases Danny on one of the more rainforest looking floating islands.
Skulker takes it to far and basically gouges a hole in Danny’s chest somehow. Either with a new weapon or his hands and Danny is on the verge of dying. His core is now exposed as the flesh hurries to regenerate to cover it. However the whole realms is now hearing the frantic, pleas and scared whimpers and cries of a baby. As Danny has tears in his eyes as his struggling to free himself from Skulkers grasp.
Skulker himself his traumatize upon realizing. All this time. He was hunting and hurting a child, a literal baby who was lost and confused and just needed some help. Who’s ignorance on ghost culture and life wasn’t a facade but genuine because he was newly dead. Who’s speed and fighting weren’t predatory instincts but adrenaline induced fight or flight responses to keep him alive from the threat…..them. They were the threat. The ghost child as he called him in disgust and mockery was just that. A child. A infant. A new born. He looked upon the bloody scared face of the kid they knew. The fear the distrust. The panicked wide eyes that had seen too much.
They had made a grave mistake.
HurtPainFear
Was all that was felt across the realms as Danny’s cores screaming resonance was finally covered up by skin once more. Danny freed himself from Skulkers loosened grip and fled the scene.
The first person that Danny went to was John Constantine. He had just been hurt, (It hurt so badly, why don't they listen? He didnt want this, it hurts it hurts it huRTS) and he was crying, the tears of an unknowing plea, for help, for family, for safety being not just rejected, but being shown that all he will get in return is pain... he doesn't think ghosts will let him get close anymore...
He stumbles into Johns chest, shaking and with a mournful baby ghosts cry, he passes out in his "sad trench coat man"s arms.
John has been fighting for Danny to be recognized as a ghost newborn, but has been shoved away with a "You don't understand, Hellblazer. He is not what you think!" Every. Single. Time.
He even tried to track down The Ancient Of Time to get him to help, but when he could barely glimpse the tower in the distance, the young ghost under his arm, he was shoved away by The Observants. He basically begged them to let him see Time, but was refused.
And now... he has a newborn with a huge gash in his chest, the ectoplasm trying to cover his core, still bright green as it desperately tried to heal him. Danny couldn't swallow in this state, so John just poured some healing potions over Dannys chest and prayed that it would work to help his... friend.
That's when John heard his alarms start to blare through The House of Mystery.
Someone was portalling into his home when he was only just starting to try and heal his young... son friend.
That's when he saw them.
Ghosts.
John didnt know if he could kill something already dead and more powerful than him, but he sure as fuck would try if it meant keeping Danny safe.
John steps out of the bedroom where he'd laid his the kid down to face the rip slowly tearing into reality. He shuts the door behind him. If necessary, the House should be able to play keep away with the kid. Shifting rooms around is one of it's specialties.
The bright tear gives John a sneaking suspicion of what is on the other side, and gives him plenty of time to ready a spell. He doesn't know if he can beat something already dead and powerful enough to snap his many wards to prevent portaling into the House of Mysteries, but like hell is he gonna let those bastards finish Phantom off without a fight.
The only reason John doesn't immediately try to blast the first thing out of the swirling green vortex to kingdom come is because it's a bag. A big, black leather bag that looks to be bulging with whatever is inside; held aloft by a big white paw. But most importantly, the bag is adorned with some patches, the most prominent of which is a bright green drop inside an ice blue diamond. The Realms' universal symbol for healers. It's not enough for John to completely drop his guard, but it is enough for him to hear out the furry face that follows the bag into his living room.
"I greet you. I am Chief Frostbite of the Far Frozen, foremost healer in all the Realms. There is a gravely injured infant ghost in your care. I come only to provide the medical attention he desperately needs. Will you allow me to attend him?" As he speaks, the hairy beast lowers himself to a kneel. Even bent and bowed, he's taller than John. Which might have been terrifying if he weren't so damn pissed.
"Oh now someone believes me? I spent months trying to convince just one of your lot the kid was a fresh-corpse. And suddenly someone listens, while he's almost ended? Right. Why should I believe a word out of your muzzle, Sasquatch?" John makes no attempt to hide his derision, but the ghost's face shows no sign of offense. Just calm certainty.
"I am a yeti. Chief Frostbite of the Far Frozen, forem-"
"Most healer in all the Realms. Whatever. How do I know you aren't just here to finish what was started? Hell, how do I know you didn't start it yourself?" Still, not a flicker of a flinch.
"I am a healer. It would be a defiance of my own core to do intentional harm to another being, ghost or not. I will swear to this on any oath you deem fit. I will allow myself bound by any magic that would ease you. As long as you will allow me to attend him." The ghost speaks plainly, not a hint of deception. And John is pretty damn good at sniffing out deception.
"Why now? How did you even know to come, and why come now? This isn't the first time the" (his) "kid has been hurt real bad. The worst, sure, but not the first. Where were you those other times? Or when I was searching the whole blasted Realms for just one ghost to listen when I told them Phantom was a baby? How come I've never even heard of you, oh foremost healer in all the Realms."
"I know because his core cried out so loud and so powerful, all the Realms resonated with it. I am uncertain why I would not have heard the cry before. Though even if I had, I would not have been able to come. It is no surprise you did not find me or my people. On the Orders of Pariah Dark — who valued brute strength above all else and viewed healing and those who provided it as lesser — all healers were exiled to the furthest reaches of the habitable Zone. It is only in recent weeks that we have felt that restriction lifted from our cores."
"Why's that? What changed?"
"Pariah Dark was awakened, challenged, and defeated. The Crown must have recognized the Victor and accepted them as the new King."
John isn't one to be swayed by pretty words; but there is something to be said for the yeti's prompt, clear answers and neutral tone easing the worst of his paranoia. Either he's a damn fine liar or he's telling the truth. Still, a small bit of insurance couldn't hurt. Especially not when the beastie offered it.
"Swear it. Swear on your own core, and those of your people, that you will heal Phantom, not hurt him."
"I swear upon my core, and the cores of my people, I will not intentionally harm Phantom and I will do my best to heal him." Smart bastard, shifting the wording just so. But fine.
"Fine, come o-" Before John can even finish the sentence, the ghost yeti is gone. Not even a second later, Phantom's core cries out. John turns and bursts into the room, where Frostbite is already unpacking his bag. A few tools, wrappings, and vials and vials of ectoplasm, various shades and labeled in, definitely not English. Frostbite speaks lowly, comfortingly, to Phantom. Who doesn't even seem to be actually awake. His core must have reacted instinctively to the other ghost's presence. There is also a deep rumble from the yeti's core, which is probably, hopefully doing most of the work of soothing his the unconscious kid.
"Why did you even need my agreement if you could get to him anyway?" For the first time in their entire interaction, Frostbite seems shocked, appalled even by the question.
"I could not exclude you from his care unless you acted directly against his needs! You are his Mother!" For a few seconds, John can only sputter.
"Do I look like a bloody bird to you, mate!?" Frostbite flicks his gaze back to him for half a second, then returns to his task. He has everything out now and begins by pressing some kind of scope to Phantom's still exposed core.
"No, you appear to be a normal human mage." Goddammit. John pinches between his eyes a moment. If he wasn't terrified of what exposing his insides to smoke could do to the kid, he'd so need a cigarette.
"That's not... I meant, do I look like a female to you?"
"No. What does that have to do with anything? Also, what potions have you dumped on him? What were the ingredients? They shouldn't, but it is wise to ensure there will be no unexpected interactions with my ectoplasmic medicines."
"Just a bunch of basic healing potions." John grabs a book with recipes off his shelf. "First bookmark. I keep 'em on hand. And I don't know what things are like wherever yetis come from, but for humans mothers are typically female." Frostbite reads over the page quickly, humming lightly.
"Hmm, linguistic semantics then. Mother is likely the closest English translation matching in both definition and common connotation."
He nods sharply and sets the book aside, returning his attention to Phantom. He starts with pouring a small steady stream of ectoplasm directly onto Phantom's core, which John now sees has a small fissure in it the ectoplasm is flowing in to. The core soaks it in so quickly, not a drop makes it though the hole in his the kid's chest to the sheets below. John is starting to feel awkward just standing there so he grabs a chair in sits by his the kid's side.
"Closest English translation to what?" Just the fresh, concentrated ectoplasm is already helping way more than his potions did. John can tell. Ectoplasmic flesh is already stretching across the chasm in his his his the kid's rib cage.
Frostbite stops pouring the ectoplasm in before it can cover the core. Apparently doc still needs access to it as he reaches for one of his jars of slightly off color ectoplasm, this one tinted with a bright, ice blue. "To how his core calls out to you."
Oh.
Shit.
Does John have a kid now?
Frostbite picks up a small glob.
At least this one is already dead.
Frostbite reaches for the fissure.
How bad could he possibly fuck this up?
The moment the yeti makes contact with his kid's core, Phantom jerks up. Suddenly awake. And screaming.
A farshee wail to put Canary to shame.
But only for half a second, before he collapses back into the bed.
A flash of light.
White hair becomes black.
Pale skin becomes sun-kissed.
A core becomes an erratically beating heart while the, smaller, but still present hole exposing it starts weeping red.
Frostbite looks shocked and uncertain; and John is suddenly aware that he can fuck this up so much worse than he first thought he could.
#I realized there's been no indication so far the John knows Danny is any less than fully dead and decided to make sure he found out#Frostbite could tell Danny wasn't a normal ghost - but none of the ghosts really know what a halfa is#In fact that term probably doesn't exist in this AU#Instead the might call Danny like Mock or Sham or something IDK#Point is Frostbite knew he wasn't normal but didn't know how abnormal#After all - Frostbite hadn't even met Danny yet#He is very shocked and a bit confounded by this new information about his patient#He'll also be the first to put together that Danny's fleshy bits are muffling the core resonance#But they'll have to finish letting Danny's chest heal over the core first#Also - yes I did invent a unique medical symbol for the Infinite Realms#In an infinite dimension that presumably receives the restless dead of a vast and widely populated universe#There's no reason to assume that other civilizations had the same or even remotely similar symbols to the human ones#Red and hearts don't have the same associations when you have a core and bleed green#And even the plus/cross is - again - not universal#But like the red cross you'd want the symbol to be simple and replicable#Nothing as complicated as a caduceus even if it were universal#So I settled on green drop - ectoplasm - and an ice blue diamond as a kinda tip the hat to the yetis#You may have also noticed the hint of ghost king Danny#My thought is basically that the crown accepting Danny as King is what triggered Skulker to this hunt to begin with#The ghosts were downright terrified of a being they thought was their predator somehow becoming King#They did not expect the Crown to recognize the victory nor Danny as King#Because - crucially - they did not think Danny was actually a ghost#They figured throwing the 'mimic' at Pariah to let it eat him would just cause the crown to fall out of anyone's hand.#Let it fade into obscurity forevermore unclaimed#So when it accepted Danny everyone panicked#And while the broad news of the change in power had reached the Far Frozen - the details had not#Hence why Frostbite didn't know it was the very ghostling he came to treat that did it#He knows now : )#And he has some. Words. for several other ghosts about it#But the injured ghostling comes first
Love the medical symbol and explanation.
This means that Frostbite's arrival is independant of Skulker or any other Rogues. There's trouble incoming!!
Also question. As Danny met any Ancients at this point? I have no freaking clue what canon timeline is, have they met him and do they have thoughts?
Danny uses his enhanced strength (and tactile telekinesis) to hold up a piece of building from falling on top of a group of people.
In his human form.
I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THEIR WORLDS. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE MONEY WITH THIS POST. IF THIS POST IS ON TIKTOK I DID NOT CONSENT TO THAT. IF THIS DISCLAIMER IS MISSING THEN THE POST WAS EDITED TO NEGATE IT.
"Are...are you like Superman?" One of them asks.
"Uhhhhhh no," if he admits to that there will be too much power overlap between that and Phantom, and someone's gonna make the connection. "I'm Atlantean. My family was banished like, what, two or three generations ago. I didn't really pay attention to it too much."
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad blood."
"Nah, it wasn't anything super bad, but having an affair with an unmarried Royal will get almost anyone kicked from any country with a King or Queen."
Danny is, in fact, pulling this entirely out of his ass, basing it off of some historical lesson Clockwork had insisted on giving him.
Danny is also correct, and that's a real thing that happened in his family history; his father is the bastard brother of the previous Atlantean King. Not the current one and his brother, but the King before them, which makes Danny and Jazz their cousins, and Jack their uncle.
By saying this outloud, like it was no big deal, to someone he didn't realize was livestreaming, he's started the beginnings of a political upheaval in Atlantis.
There's a few people who still have issues with their current choices for King, and crave a different choice.
Different choices that don't know anything about any underwater politics and are impressionable teenagers, or a man that appears to be an absolute moron.
People, options, they think they can easily manipulate.
They did not take into account the sheer baggage that comes with Danny and Jazz's existence, or how neither of them particularly want anything to do with Atlantis at all.
They also aren't prepared, at all, for Jack Fenton.
Danny after defeating Pariah Dark is now the rightful heir to the infinite realms. Although he is still heir because he has not had his coronation yet, the work of the position is still equally exhausting. With backlogs of paperwork left behind by Pariah Dark caused by his thousand year nap, ruling of the undead, bureaucratic mess, and pestering from the observants. Not to mention that since he's the heir he has to take lessons to prepare him once he becomes King, so that just adds to his already overbearing workload. Danny, still being a halfa, still needs to go to the human realm, go to school, round up his rogues. Time is odd, especially when going from one dimension to another, so maybe with the help of clockwork even if they spend a lot of time in the realm, only a few will pass in the human realm. Which sure, helps a ton but it's still mentally exhausting you know?
Jazz, being the sister of the heir aka Danny, is given the title of High Princess of the infinite realms. And Jazz trying to be a supportive sister seeing how exhausted Danny looks, tries to help him with the workload and just ends up equally as exhausted. Who knew even the dead had paperwork? And who is this guy named John who takes up 25% of the complaints??
In summary, they were both equally as exhausted and we're so so done. So when some Atlantean people showed up to their door, talking about how the new King is unfit for the role, and how they have royal blood and hence have a claim to the throne yada yada yada. Their intentions were just so clear it was like looking through a clear lake. They obviously want to overthrow the new King and have another king who they can manipulate for their benefit. In summary? More Political stuff added to other problems. No thanks, that's another Kingdom's problems not theirs. So when they started singing praises of power and greatness to tempt them, they had enough.
Danny: "haha, no"
Random!Atlantean: "eh- what do you mean no??"
Danny: "I mean no, you want to hear it in Spanish? no✨"
And shuts the door in their face. Arthur, already having a headache about the whole situation due to the political implications set by this event. Arthur has no qualms directed towards his new cousins, but knowing that there were some members of the council which already didn't like him—had approached his newly discovered cousins, he thought that meeting them would be a good idea, before any of those bastards can corrupt their minds, and above all, to see if their healthy, he knows that they have been far from the ocean, and is worried how it may have affected their health.
Arthur had requested a meeting with the two to make sure they were okay and to tell me of what was happening. Whike Arthur was explaining things to them, Danny had raised his hand as if requesting to speak. Arthur noted on how pokited his little cousin was, he was still a kid after all.
Danny: "so you're saying that were Royalty?"
Arthur: "by blood, yes"
Maybe Danny should have listened to what those crazy people were saying when they showed up Infront of their door, then again he was exhausted and could barely contemplate what they were talking about at the time.
Danny: "ugghhh, more responsibilities. Yeah, we don't want to be involved in this political stuff. No offense, it's nice to be your family and all but I can't handle ruling two kingdoms!!"
Arthur: "What-?"
Jazz: "No more titles please, the more titles the more responsibility it holds. It's really exhausting"
Danny: "Yeah!! I haven't even been coronated yet and they already want to put another crown on me!!"
Another??? Okay, Arthur really needs to know what's going on with his cousins...
Danny has quite a few unique abilities, and they all help him not to die...permanently.
He decides to use this to his advantage.
Ghosts in the Zone who died violent deaths, who were murdered, need their murderers brought to justice.
Usually, it's due to a lack of evidence that they aren't.
So Danny uses himself as bait to get the evidence required, letting the murderer "kill" him as an unidentified John Doe, and then disappears from the morgue after the autopsy (turns out that while autopsy's sting a bit, it's like getting a few cavities drilled; if he's patient and doesn't fall asleep, it's over before he knows it, and he's free to go).
Danny is letting a corrupt cop "kill" him this time, but it's a bit more violent than he intended, because in the middle of the cop's speech one of the local vigilantes showed up.
The cop panicked.
The cop went outside of their MO and stabbed Danny in the chest.
Now Danny has a vigilante ignoring the cop, who is getting away, in favor of trying to save Danny.
"It's fine, stop," Danny groans, trying to ignore the blood coming up his throat. Gross, he hates this part, ew. "I'm already dead."
Naturally, hearing him say this does not help the vigilante calm down.
So there he was, bleeding, in a laboratory. Some costumed weirdo hovering over him. Literally, she's hovering. Like some kind of bug. Her outfit is black and yellow, with some white fluffy accents. Her hair is black with yellow highlights, and the curls make the yellow look almost like lightning.
"Did you at least catch the guy?" Danny propped himself up on his elbows to look at the people digging around his insides.
One of them tried to put a gas mask on him.
"No, no." Danny ducked and dodged the mask. "Answer the question."
"You can't be awake during surgery." One of them claimed. Falsely, seeing as Danny totally is awake.
He sat up fully, holding his guts with his hands. "Look, don't worry about me. This guy's killed before. Do you know who he was? Where he went? He needs to be cought. It's important."
"Sweety, your continued existence is important." How is she even debating this? He's fine.
Danny accidentally dropped one of his kidneys. It was dangling off the table by a... whatever kidneys are attached with. Gooey rope?
She didn't like that.
12 days. 12 DAYS! That's how long they wanted to keep him there. Obviously, he dipped (into the floor when no one was watching), but this Bumblebee, as she called herself, is relentless. Not only did she find him again, being held at stabpoint by the same guy. She tended to his wounds again! Instead of watching the guy!
"You know what would really help me? If he were in jail! Or prison! Then this couldn't happen again." Danny scolded while one of the doctors held his trachea closed. "Better yet, throw him down a really deep hole. Then he can never do this to anyone again, but NoOOooOoo." He dramatically raised his arms above his head, splattering everyone with blood. "I had to get stuck with Watson when I asked for a Sherlock. Do me a favor. Stop saving my life, and just solve my murder."
...
So it turns out the things you say can be used against you, even when you haven't committed a crime.
That's how Danny found himself in a meta human mental hospital. Who knew the power dampening collars worked on ghosts? Or is it because he's half human?
On an unrelated note. There sure are a lot of vengeful ghosts here.
I used this random superhero generator, which gave me Bumblebee, I know very little about her. Just teen titans and young justice.
Might need to draw Bumblebee from this description.
*Trying to explain that he can't let himself be attacked to solve a crime just because he can handle it. That's what the heroes, police, and detectives are for*
*Danny:*
😑🤨
*Looking around at the enraged ghosts that only he can see because of lack of healthy ecto*
And you're doing a FABULOUS job so far!
🙃😌
Tell me, have you caught the ones who attacked me yet or have you just shrugged and called it a cold case?
😃😇
*Suddenly a boy who looks like Danny's twin walks in*
Dante!
😍
HELP these people SUCK at solving crimes and they won't stop saving me in order to CATCH THE CRIMINALS!!!!!!
😭🤬👿
*Danny's eyes flash noticeably Lazarus Green, even with the dampener on, to the horror of the hero*
And they've stuck this stupid collar on me THAT SOMEHOW *WORKS!!!!!!!!!!*
*Dante:*
*Bypassing the fact that his twin has let himself be attacked, to the shock, horror, and confusion of the hero and listening officers*
😳
How'd they pull THAT off?!
🤯
*A frustrated Danny:*
I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!
🤬🤬🤬
*By now the hero, who is relaying the twins discovery and that they don't know about meta dampeners revelation to the other heroes, and officers has put together that the twins have never come across meta-dampening equipment before*
The villains (lets say they locked him, temporarily, in Arkham Asylum for lack of a better place and that it's the few places that can handle metas) are watching this like it's a television drama.
That and they can sense ... SOMETHING in Dante that makes them instinctively think 'ONE OF US'.
Joker is LOVING the vibe coming off of him. Like he had one HELL of a Bad Day in the past. Joker, and the other villains, NEEDS to find out what.
"Does this at all look familiar to you?" Karen interlocked her fingers under her chin.
Rita looked half guilty, half proud. "Mine never tried to kill himself."
Karen turned ever so slightly to her teammate.
"Well, not publicly. Have you tried signing him up with the teen titans? That worked wonders for Gars will to live."
"Danny isn't my son."
"There's always adoption, honey." Rita suggested as she had countless times before. "Teenage boys are a treat. They practically take care of them selves. And when you get horribly and grusamly murdered along with your whole family on live national TV. He'll find a way to bring you back to life." Rita smiled her cute sweet star smile.
Note to self: check Garfeild into therapy. "You can't just keep random boys you come across."
Rita stared at her, confused, the way a filthy rich white woman would.
"Well, I can't just keep random boys I come across."
"If you're worried about space, don't. Steven and I kept ours in the cellar, sometimes for days on end."
Note to self: get Garfield away from the Doom Patrol. Karen turned back toward the young boy, only to find he was gone. She snapped to the guard. "Where'd he go?"
"Mr Fentons twin offered to bring him his PJs. Mr Fenton said he wouldn't need them, as he would be sleeping in the ocean tonight. He's been taken to a padded cell."
"Damn," Karen thought. So she would be keeping the boy.
The police and heroes vow to keep an eye on the twin, as he was EERILY calm about his brother's words the whole time. And when Daniel spoke of "sleeping in the ocean" Dante simply NODDED in understanding!
Danny: Why did you even put me in a mental hospital?! I felt next to no pain and just got better! So you slapped a 'stop healing' collar around my neck?!
Karen(aka bumblebee): Danny, your actions show a worrying lack of self-care, respect of your own body and were incredibly self-destructive both physically and mentally. We put you here and cut off your powers to try and make you see that you can be vulnerable and that your self sacrificing actions are signs of being mentally unwell.
Danny: ... If someone stabs me in the brain or cuts my head off, I just get better. You would die. Sounds like you're crazier than me. You should be here, take my bed!
Not that he doesn't appreciate all these chances to plead his case, but this so-called 72-hour watch with no visitors sure has involved a lot of visitors. First, that woman dressed in all yellow, then Dan, then that other woman in purple. So nice of them not to introduce themselves. Danny absent-mindedly turned to the next page of the coloring book he got in the arts and crafts room. "Hey, Giovanni, right?"
"Wrong!" The guy leaped onto the table and held his hands out in a look at me gesture. "I am the infamous James Jesse." The strange man leaned down with his legs still straight, to be make eyecontact with Danny. "But most call me the ◆Trickster◆." He said with flair.
"Cool, are you done with the orange marker, Trickster?"
The Trickster looked over to his own drawing. "Oh," he leaped back down and picked up the orange marker. "Yeah, you can have it." He picked up his safety scissors and started folding up his paper.
Danny started coloring in his dinosaur but couldn't help but look over to what James was doing. He seemed like a friendly guy, if a little odd. He didn't give off the same emotions as the others. Granted, most of the people in Danny's groups were suiciadal, and this was the first time he'd met someone during free time. "Hey, Trickster. What are you making?"
"Tadaa~" The Trickster unfolded his paper to reveal a bunch of running men. But they were all loose.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you going to try again?"
"Sorry? This was the plan!" He sounded like children's game show host. "See, if I left them still connected, they would be running in different directions." He snapped his fingers in an animated way. "I want them all to be running the same direction. That way, it looks like one man running really fast. HaHa. Like my old buddy the Flash." He leaned in close to Danny. "He's coming to visit me later today. Hmhm." He smiled. "Every Thursday, at exactly 5:45 in the afternoon."
That must be it. The anticipation. Danny turned to look at the clock behind him. "So, in fifteen minutes?"
"Nooo~ that clock is always 10 minutes late." He went back to his crafts for a moment before he realized and ran off in a hurry.
Danny smiled and calmly got up. He picked up the Tricksters cutouts and quietly walked over to the drawers. He placed them in the one marked James Jesse.
"They're in the basement. Look in the basement. So many. Go look. Find them. He, he, he tried to kill me." The craft room ghost insisted.
Danny made eye contact with her as subtle as he could. "Follow me to the table."
She barely reacted. She didn't even seem surprised that he could see her.
"Who's in the basement." Danny whispered as he sat down.
"They put them in the basement, I know. He tried to kill me because I know." She had an accent, sounded Korean. "There were too many. They hid them in the basement."
"Who?"
"They're there. You have to save them." Death is already disorienting enough. But if a ghost is here, they most likely weren't in great shape already.
"Ok, I'll do what I can." Danny looks around the room. In one corner is an orderly with a sudoku book. He walks over to her and asks, "How old is this asylum?"
"Sweety, we don't call mental hospitals asylums anymore."
"What about Arkham?"
"Arkham is entirely it's own thing."
"Sure, whatever. How old is this mental hospital."
"Old as shit, kid. Try Butts, he's the librarian."
"Butts?"
"Larry Butts, the librarian. He's all about spooky architecture and history."
"Thank you." As danny walked away, he couldn't help but think the whole interaction felt almost like a cutscene in a video game. It was actually kind of nice to get a straight answer for once. If only the people of Amity Pa-
"No! Let go of me! I didn't do anything!" She yelled as two other orderlies dragged her out of the room. As they did, it became more apparent that her uniform didn't fit right and she wasn't wearing shoes.
The library was just as active as any other room in the building. In that, there were about 3 other people there. Danny walked up to the librarians' desk, but no one was there.
He looked around. The living people were all dressed in the patient sweatpants and t-shirt. There were two ghosts there. The man was dressed in a bloody hospital gown and the little girl in a frilly dress with poofy sholders. She... did not look like a patient.
Danny checked the name plate on the desk. Andrew Holt... Ofcorse. He got the info from someone in a stolen uniform. Why did he believe her?
Okay, calm down, Danny. Maybe Larry Butts, the guy who knows the buildings' history, is real. He's just not the librarian. Yeah, that could be right. And even if it isn't, he's stuck in here for another 68 hours anyway. He might as well wait.
This library's selection of space books is pathetic. Most of them are pop-ups. Pop-ups! What is this? Grade school? Danny opened one of them. The pop-up mechanisms are ruined, of course. He did manage to find a total of 3 books about space that were written for adults. They looked like they were written in the 1800s, so he did have to take the information in them with a grain of salt, but either way, it's helping, and more importantly, wearing out his collar.
"Daniel Nightingale." A man in a doctor's coat slammed his hand on the table, startling Danny. "You skipped group therapy, lunch, weigh-in, one on one therapy, dinner, and it's time for bed."
Danny rubbed his eyes. He wasn't tired. They just tended to get a little starry (literally) when he engaged with his space obsession. He turned the book he was reading to the front page to sign the checkout record. There were only two names already there:
Ladie Savage
Larry Butts
Danny quickly opened the other two books.
Anthony Willgrow
Brian Grassley
Larry Butts
Winifred Harshly
Amelia Childs
Larry Butts
Larry Butts
Michael Allen
He's in all of them. Danny rushed to the nearest shelf. He pulled out one of the books and turned to the first page. The list was full of names, and Larry Butts appeared 4 times. He checked another book. Larry Butts. Another book. 6 Larry Butts in a row. Danny switched to the next section. Astrology (they have 40 goddamn astrology books but only 3 on astronomy!?! >: [ ) first book, Larry Butts, second book, Larry Butts, third book, Larry Butts. "Who is Larry Butts?" Danny snapped at the doctor.
"He's just the library ghost."
Of course. Danny didn't even talk to the ghosts that were there before!
Danny shot towards the little girl ghost (she was a bit further, but he really wanted to talk to someone sane) but the doctor grabbed his arm before he could go anywhere. "Hey." He protested.
"The schedule is there for a reason. We need to make sure you're mentally stable."
"No. You. Don't. I didn't even commit any crimes. I didn't hurt anyone, not even that cop, who, better have been caught by now." Danny fumed.
"Things will go a lot smoother if you just-" The doctor was cut off by a beeping sound from his belt. He pulled out a small device and clenched his jaw. "You have another visitor."
"Did you put my picture in the paper or something?" Danny snarked.
The doctor didn't let go of Danny's hand all the way to the visitor room. On the way, he saw no less than 20 ghosts begging him for help. Some looked bloody, some were gaunt, he swore some of them looked like they had the plague. Maybe he should have tried harder to pretend not to hear (or see) them, but it's hard to ignore a crowd that looks straight out of a haunted house... wait, hey, they are from a haunted house. How cool is that?
"What's funny?"
Ooh, delighted giggles right after a negative reaction to something no one else can see. Not a great look when you're holding hands with a psych doctor. "Your hospital's haunted." Damn his inability to lie.
"You're seeing ghosts?"
He believed him? Danny hesitated. "Yes." He looked away. He really was never getting out of there.
"Do they talk to you?"
"Yes." If you could call it talking. Mostly they just demanded his help. Guiltily, he looked down at the floor. It wasn't like they could go to anyone else.
"What do they say?"
"Solve my murder, find my dog, reconnect my family, move my body, tell my daughter where I hid my fortune, publish my book, expose my lying husband." Danny waved his free hand around. "Ghosts ask for a lot of things."
"And you always help them?"
"Not always." Danny put his free arm across his body in a self-soothing manner. "Sometimes they ask too much."
"Like what?"
Danny tried to pull his hand away, but the doctor didn't let him. "It's private."
The doctor stopped by the door to the visitor room and knelt to Danny's level. "You know what doctor-patient confidentiality is?"
It's that thing mom always sites to get Danny to spill his secrets, right before she tells dad, grandma, Aunt Alicia, and anyone else who'll listen. "Both of my parents were doctors. You may as well pinky-swear that you won't tell anyone." He rolled his eyes.
The doctor looked frustrated to hear that, but he remained calm. He lifted the hand that held Danny's up between them and opened it, so Danny's hand was resting on his open palm. "If you do decide to talk to me, I still won't tell anyone." He then got up and left Danny alone by the door.
Danny watched the doctor walk away. He never even turned around to make sure he wouldn't run off. He just left. Slowly, Danny placed his hand on the door handle and pushed it open.
"You!"
"Me?" Danny looked, confused at his visitor. A boy, who couldn't be more than 3 years older, was standing on the other side of the table, furiously pointing at Danny as though he had filled all his cups with spiders. His red costume and black domino mask marked him as a vigilante.
I'm back! So, this could be DCxDP or it could just be DP. What if the reason the other ghosts attacked Amity Park started OUT as a way to fulfill their obsessions but changed when they met Danny, except in a few cases. What if the reason they were fighting Danny was because he was a baby ghost and baby ghosts grow faster if they fight a lot and learn a lot and all his rogues were actually concerned about a baby living amongst 'predators' (ghost hunters) but figured he'd refuse to leave for somewhere safer (cause ghosts are stubborn) so they all decided to raise him where he was by all of them initiating fights so he would grow big and strong but it was a lot of ghosts fighting him in a lot of different ways, so he grew really fast and really strong and when he, a mere baby, is strong enough to defeat the Tyrant King, they're all so proud! But Danny doesn't know this until one day Boxy accidentally spills the beans within earshot and Danny gets a sudden crash course in ghost culture and the fact that he is, in fact, BEBEH and none of his rogues actually hate him but, in fact, think he's impossibly adorable (except for the more malicious ones). And then he learns that Frostbite isn't just a physician. He's an infant pediatrician.
danny and the rogues are literally that footage of the baby lion cubs play fighting with the full grown lions
Lois Lane is going undercover to investigate a secretive part of the government.
I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THEIR WORLDS. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE MONEY WITH THIS POST. IF THIS POST IS ON TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, OR ANYTHING OTHER THAN TUMBLR I DID NOT CONSENT TO THAT. IF THIS DISCLAIMER IS MISSING THEN THE POST WAS EDITED TO NEGATE IT.
Right away, things are odd.
Her job is simple; janitorial duties.
The very first thing they give her is a thermos, and tell her to never, ever put food in it, but that she has to keep it on her at all times. The thermos is not allowed to leave the building.
She is only cleared to clean one room; the entrance. That is it. Another janitor has to pick up her trash once her trash is full and take it somewhere else.
Sometimes agents come in with white boxes that drip green, for which she has to put on a hazmat suit to clean up and, afterwards, undergo a few medical tests.
The agents, however, never have to wear those hazmat suits.
Sometimes there are protests from the nearest town hosted outside, and if that happens, Lois gets bundled away out through a different exit that she must remain blindfolded while led to.
One month in, and during a medical test one of the doctors eyes light up.
They say she's 'strong enough' to survive the next clearance level.
Lois bites her lip, swallows her questions, and dedicates herself to finding answers.
The next clearance level is cleaning bathrooms in Section 1, the point just past the entrance.
She doesn't intend to stay much longer; she's getting more questions than answers, and this is looking like something that Clark would be better suited to handling with a few of his League friends.
The bathrooms have rules of their own.
Third stall from the left in every bathroom is to never be opened, no matter what she hears or if anyone is calling for help.
Never, ever try to reload the paper towels unless she's tazed it with a specialized tazer three times prior to touching the dispenser.
But; she can finally go to the dumpster out back! Which is great, because there's a way through the fence that they don't realize local raccoons created.
Exit point secured.
On her last day, with her exit planned and Jimmy already waiting for her in a predetermined location, the bathroom stall third from the left creaks open, and out staggers a bleeding, heavily injured teenager.
He has white hair, glowing green eyes, a black and white jumpsuit, and he only looks at her with despair and tired acceptance before passing out, reverting to black hair and normal clothes.
Lois barely gives herself half a second to process what she just saw.
Then she's removing the trash from the trash bin, laying the bin on it's side and roughly shoving the injured teenager inside of it, placing the bag full of trash on top of him, hurriedly cleaning blood off of the cart, bin, and herself, and speed walking to the dumpsters out back.
If she can get him out through that opening and into her car, Jimmy can drive them to the nearest hospital, and...
Wait.
Hospitals are...probably not a super great idea, given where the teenager staggered out of.
Okay, change of plans.
"Clark," she says under her breath as she gets into the open air, "I have a hurt kid and hospitals aren't a good idea. Can you take him to the nearest secret hero doctor?"
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Jimmy had been dodging aliens in another attempt to take over the world, when he'd noticed one of the newer heroes going down.
In Jimmy's defense, he'd just been trying to catch the kid and pull him out of the way.
I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THEIR WORLDS. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE MONEY WITH THIS POST. IF THIS POST IS ON TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, OR ANYTHING OTHER THAN TUMBLR I DID NOT CONSENT TO THAT. IF THIS DISCLAIMER IS MISSING THEN THE POST WAS EDITED TO NEGATE IT.
He was not anticipating falling through a glowing green portal into a hellscape of green and purple, only to fall through that and land on a floating island that looks like a rain forest.
And he really, really wasn't anticipating needing to haul the newer hero, Phantom he thinks, through said forest as he tries to outrun a deranged floating robot hunter that wants to skin the kid.
Except he didn't think far enough about what he was going to do once he got to the edge of the island, because now he's at the edge of it, overlooking a green abyss, and staring down the barrel of a gun.
He's injured, he's bleeding from multiple places, and something's wrong with Phantom; the kid won't wake up.
"You made this hunt fun," his hunter says, clearly happy. "For this I will award you, mortal, and take your pelt for my wall to rest alongside Phantom's."
Jimmy does not want that.
Jimmy is pretty sure Phantom does not want that.
Jimmy decides to jump off the side of the island with Phantom in tow.
The hunter dives after them, the gun's aim never wavering, only for him to get attacked by a bunch of...vultures?
Vultures that grab him and Phantom and drag them to another portal, one not far off.
He's thrown into a lab. Because of course he is.
There's a Count Dracula knock off staring down at him, glowing red eyes surprised.
"Well well well, who is this?" He asks, voice lilting. "One of his little friends?"
"Su-!" A cold hand closes around his throat, cutting off the cry before it can finish.
"Oh, don't bother him, he's busy with that alien invasion that's still ongoing," Dracula tells him, using the other hand to pick Phantom up and pull him away from Jimmy.
Jimmy's hand snaps to his watch only for the watch to be blown off his wrist with a flash of light and a burning sensation.
"If I'm being completely honest, I've no idea what to do with you. A human? In my lab?"
"It's more likely than you think!" One of the vultures crows, before being smacked into silence by it's brethren.
Dracula sighs, like he's being put upon, and drags Jimmy to a different section of the lab, ignoring the human's weakening struggles.
Just when Jimmy thinks he's about to pass out from lack of oxygen, he's thrown into a cell, and glowing bars slam down after him.
"Sit tight, I'll make you forget you were ever here later," Dracula orders him, hefting up Phantom with one hand and frowning. "I may have misjudged how much to drug him with, if he's still stuck in this form. Oh well."
Then Dracula shrugs, and walks off to a far more horrifying part of the lab with tubes big enough to house people, and weird green liquid running through tubes connected to needles.
Jimmy needs to get out, and he needs to take Phantom with him.
And luckily for him, he's pretty sure Dracula accidentally set off the watch when he shot it off his arm.
~~~~~~
Vlad had, in his defense, warned Daniel that if he tried to go into battle as injured as he was then he would drug the boy and force him to undergo medical treatment.
Sure, he hadn't meant to drag in one of his little civilian human friends, but it's fine, he'll just put the red-head aside while he works on Daniel.
He is, after all, trying to be 'good' now.
But good does not mean kind, and he made no promises about being 'nice'.
So he'll handle the little human later, once Daniel is sorted out.
Besides, how much trouble can one little red-head be?
Danny did not know he could be summoned. He did not like the knowledge that he could be. But him liking it did not change the fact the he was mostly naked while this blond guy kept shoving fancy paper at him.
Finally he reached out and froze the paper into a block of ice. "Okay dude, Take a breath and explain this calmly or I am walking. Who are you, and what do you want?"
Blondie looked shattered at the frozen pages. "I'm...wait, I'm not supposed to use my real name, am I? Not unless we have a contract."
Danny rolled his eyes. "I really don't care, but my patience is getting thin."
"Right, um, well, you're a Spirit of Protection, right? There's someone, he's my life. I love him. But he's constantly putting himself in danger to protect other people. And as much as I wish he would stop, I could never ask him to. It's who he is. But I'm so afraid that each night will be the one I get the call that I'll never see him again. That each goodbye will be my last words to him. I just want someone watching his back."
Danny could admit to himself that he softened considerable at being called a Protection Spirit. For so long he'd been viewed as a malicious entity or abomination, so it was nice. And did make him want to help this guy. The problem was, as a protective spirit...he was already spoken for.
Could he leave Amity short term? Yes, especially if he had time to get someone to cover. Could he bodyguard this one guy every night? No. Maybe if he could duplicate himself well enough that there would be a second him that could be autonomous, almost like a-
A clone. Which he had.
"Okay, so the bad news is I'm already tasked with protecting a place. So unless your boyfriend wants to move there, I can't help you. However, I have a younger sister who's currently free that I can introduce you to."
Blondie looked crushed, but perked up at the end. "Really?"
"I mean, I'll have to ask her, and she'll have the right to refuse, but worth a try, right?"
~
Bernard was almost sue at this point the spirit wasn't coming back. At least he kne3w it was a spirit despite it's very human appearance as it faded to be more ephemeral before flying away. And soon Tim would be home and-
And the spirit was back, with two others. One who looked like a younger version of him, and one who looked like a younger version of Batgirl. The first Batgirl.
"Hello," The older girl reached out her hand. "I'm here to negotiate a contract from my siblings."
Holy Hades they were getting somewhere. "Thank you. I'm, uh, I guess if we're doing the contract I should tell you mine name?"
"We can stick with given names for now. I'm Jazz, and this is Danny and Dani. Danny explained your reason to summon him, and you are already aware as to why Danny himself can't take your contract, at least not full time. Dani was hesitant as the last person who tried to bind her was overly cruel and controlling and she's hesitant to put herself in that position where she feels trapped again."
"The agreement I propose is as follows. Dani acts as a guardian towards your boyfriend on weekdays and Saturdays during the daytime. She'll then look over Danny's protectorate Saturday evening and all day Sunday while Danny watches over your boyfriend. We may adjust the scheduling later if needed. In return you will provide a bed for Dani and offerings of food such as a little girl her apparent age would eat. You will not try to bind her, nor will you reveal any member of my family to those who would hunt, harm, or bind spirits. If you do, all agreements are void and you incur ALL of our wrath, am I understood?" Her voice became dangerous.
"Crystal." Bernard squeaked. "Do I have to sign in blood somewhere?"
"A handshake should be good. With full names this time."
Danny and Dani seemed unnerved by this, which made some sense if they'd dealt with an unscrupulous summoner before. Jazz just poked Danny in the chest and he seemed to calm down before reaching out a hand. "I, Danny Phantom accept the terms and agree to assist in the protection of our boyfriend."
Dani held out her hand. "I, Dani Phantom agree to the terms and agree to assist in the protection of your boyfriend."
"I, Bernard Dowd, agree to the terms and welcome your protection of my boyfriend, Tim Drake." Unsure of who to shake hands with first. he reached out both hands to the siblings. He felt power shift as he shook and the two protection spirits shared a glance.
"Um, not to be a downer, but it kind of feels like there's something attached to your soul." Danny hedged. "Have you made deals with anyone or anything else?"
"No?" Bernard was a bit confused. "Though there was the time a cult tried to sacrifice me."
"We might want to look into that." Jazz said primly. "For now let's figure out where Dani is going to sleep and how to introduce her to your Tim."