Ghost_post

Phantom: Barbara taught me stitches.

Hero: As in Barbara Gordon?

Phantom: Um... No? Barbara Johnson. She's a nurse from the hospital in my hometown. Wanted to make sure I knew a bit about human biology since I save injured people.

Hero: Ah. So does Barbara know you tell others her civilian name?

AKA "Clockwork assigned Danny with a Ghost King task: learn how to shapeshift. Now Danny is stuck in another dimension and can't ask for help from his friends; worse, he's stuck as a racoon." DPxDC prompt idea!

Being stuck as a racoon sucks. Being stuck in a dirty, crime-ridden city where people hate "rodents" and love tormenting helpless animals really, really sucks. Thankfully, Danny still has a pretty good grasp of his Ghost powers. (Not so thankfully, he also has what he calls "racoon brain" where he does, indeed, act like a feral animal. Several Gotham goons found that out after attempting to curb stomp him; those goons absolutely will need stitches, rabies shots - which he desperately hopes will hurt like a bitch, and will think twice about messing with local wildlife.)

This results in Danny hears an interesting rumor. It turns out that people talk pretty freely around animals when they aren't trying to chase them away. The philanthropist Bruce Wayne's youngest son is an avid animal rights activist and has rescued several unique animals, including a turkey, cow, monkey, and several bats. Danny... can definitely use this to his advantage. He can look cute and harmless (regardless of that one guy who was clutching his bleeding face and sobbing in terror, screaming about Danny being a freaky demon-rat. Shouldn't have messed with Danny Phan-...coon? Danny Racoon? He'll work on it.)

It turns out that getting into Wayne Manor is absurdly easy compared to getting to Wayne Manor. Once he's inside, he drops his invisibility and intangibility, padding along the expensive Persian rugs and probably-real-marble flooring. He follows the scent of food past a room that's a family den of some sort - his snout scrunches up into an amused toothy smile when he hears a stupefied, "Was that a racoon??" come from the couch. He trots onward.

The first thing he steals is some wheat crackers out of the pantry, happily tearing into the cardboard box and plastic packaging. Cheese and meat from the fridge, some grapes. He even snags an apple for later. He's carrying it in his mouth, passing two more bewildered people, and plodding along into the gardens. Danny hears a frustrated groan of Dami, not again and chortles happily to himself. No one stops him. He's literally never felt more powerful. (It may or may not be his raccoon brain speaking.)

The second time he breaks into the Manor is when it's raining. He's taken up residence in the gardens outside the Manor, stealing the outdoor furniture cushions and blankets left out to make a little nest among the trees. Except now it's downpouring and his nest is wet, his fur is wet, and he's more than a little devastated. This time when he breaks in, there's a British gentleman waiting in the kitchen - he only raises an eyebrow before sighing, procuring meats, fruits, and nuts on a little plate as if he was expecting Danny. Danny, also like a gentleman, uses his little paws to shovel the food into his face and snorts a funny little bark in thanks.

The third time is... well, the Manor has a lot of beds. It would be a shame if Danny didn't use one. (His favorite cushions and blanket were still wet from the rainstorm earlier that week). He's sprawled out on his back, snoring lightly, and enjoying the warm bedsheets when a hand carefully strokes his side. It startles him out of his light doze but it's surprisingly nice, so he lets out a pleased little grumble. After a moment of careful petting, the touch firms and he's scooped up into big, strong arms.

"Damian," The voice is deep and rumbly. "I thought I told you no more pets? You won't have enough time to take care of them between school and patrol."

A different, smaller hand hovers over his nose. Oddly enough, it smells like Autosol metal polish, a feline (don't as him how he knows that), and paint. Danny gives the hand an inquisitive lick before remembering he is, in fact, not a wild animal. Well. He kinda wishes he could die again so he doesn't have to face reality. Damn racoon brain! He shoves his face into the crook of the Big Man's arm with a humiliated whine and smacks his paws into his face, wanting to scratch his eyes out. He licked. Someone's hand.

"He is clearly already house-trained, Father, and he is fond of you. Would you be so cruel as to cast him out into the cold, where a fox or coyote would kill him if he survives starvation and hypothermia?"

The Big Man sighs, moving where Danny's squished up against his gigantic chest (wow, Danny absolutely needs to do whatever exercise makes that happen), and there's a moment he wonders if he actually will be kicked out. It won't matter anyway. Danny can literally just keep coming back like a... Yeah, he's not going to finish that thought. This is an assignment. He's learning... something. Racoon brain is tired. He'll learn after the British guy gives him more grapes and he takes another nap.

"What's his name?"

There's a pause before the younger voice says, "Bandit."

Danny lets out a disgruntled little huff. It's Danny, he wants to say, but he'd need to be human for that and he's also probably earned the name. Shoot, the wet blankets and cushions. Whoops. Yeah, he definitely earned that name. The Big Man laughs as if he can read Danny's mind which... would not be good. The Wayne family might be willing to harbor a ghost but he doubts they'd help a blue-eyed, black-haired teenager in desperate need of a mentor. (Ha.)

He keeps following them on patrol, no matter what they do to try to stop him. At this point the goons are more scared of him than they are of Batman ("at least Batman doesn't bite") and keep ditching the rogues whenever they see raccoon!Danny coming.

Danny: (pops out from behind Batman)

Goon: (drops the gun and surrenders)

Batman: (patented “your going to tell me why you just did that” glare he learned from Alfred)

Goon: I’ll be honest Mr. Batman sir, if I fought you, at worst I’ll be out of the gooning game for like six months. But him (points dramatically at the raccoon grooming himself of Batman’s shoulder) I saw what he did to Pretty Boy Floyd and let’s just say we’re still trying to figure out his new nickname.

Batman: (glances at Danny who is currently trying to figure out how to get the candy out of Batman’s utility belt)

Goon: plus my insurance doesn’t cover rabies shots. The goonion is working on getting the coverage and frankly I’m not interested in going out like Edgar Allan Poe

Batman: (gives patented “are you being serious” glare)

Goon: what just because I’m a goon you think I don’t know about poetry? Fuck, if you weren’t with that fuzzy demon I’d drag you to the Merry Men’s poetry slam myself.

He dresses the strangely compliant racoon and presents him to Damian as Batcoon. Damian is not amused. Danny is THRILLED! He loves it, and none of the bats can figure out how he even figured out it's only for patrol. (Except for the first time.)

After he discovered the pockets on the belt, he immediately dashed off to the kitchen, pawed at the pockets, then held out his hands pleadingly. Alfred (Charmed by the fact that Danny would ask for food and then thank him with a little bark anytime he found Alfred in the kitchen) helped Danny fill a few pouches with nuts and dried fruits. Danny thanked him with his little bark and a handshake and rushed off to catch the bats for patrol.

Because Vlad is a poop head, he pulls a Mother Gothel and finds a way to bind/lock Danny in a bedroom in Vlad's Mansion. He gets away by this by signing Danny up for online school, and promising Jack and Maddie he'll help Danny get back on track. So now Danny is in his Rapunzel arc.

Clockwork decides to actually be "helpful", well as helpful as he can be, and captures a member of the Justice League, who he then turns into a hamster and places them in Danny's room.

Bat hamster on his way to fuck up Vlad:

Because Vlad is a poop head, he pulls a Mother Gothel and finds a way to bind/lock Danny in a bedroom in Vlad's Mansion. He gets away by this by signing Danny up for online school, and promising Jack and Maddie he'll help Danny get back on track. So now Danny is in his Rapunzel arc.

Clockwork decides to actually be "helpful", well as helpful as he can be, and captures a member of the Justice League, who he then turns into a hamster and places them in Danny's room.

Because Vlad is a poop head, he pulls a Mother Gothel and finds a way to bind/lock Danny in a bedroom in Vlad's Mansion. He gets away by this by signing Danny up for online school, and promising Jack and Maddie he'll help Danny get back on track. So now Danny is in his Rapunzel arc.

Clockwork decides to actually be "helpful", well as helpful as he can be, and captures a member of the Justice League, who he then turns into a hamster and places them in Danny's room.

Bat hamster on his way to fuck up Vlad:

The GIW have gone too far this time they destabilized Ellie and almost captured ghost and dissected them as well as Danny and Vlad. The Fenton parents also partnered up with the giw and work with them. luckily he snuck away only to find Vlad holding a destabilizing Ellie trying his best to find anything to stabilize her but it was too late.

Both of them make a truce to say allies both agreeing that they cannot stay any longer in amity park if they want what's best for them. Sam tucker Valerie and jazz come in to save them and the rest of the ghosts and they all agree it would be best for Vlad and Danny to leave amity park.

although before they leave jazz snatches Wes and forces him to be a part of the team for him not to snitch on them because now he's also a part of the consequences of snitching. Jazz deciding to be a vigilante and admitting that this also is a passion that she didn't expect herself to have first it was the thrill of the battle all of now it's standing up for justice and fighting for what's right.

Now Danny and Vlad are in Gotham using vlad's money and pretending to be in the city to see the vigilante life and observe it. While Danny and Vlad don't exactly like each other they don't hate each other as much anymore. vlad being a little lost because his obsession is changing or at least disappeared and he's supposed to make a new one so for now he's just finding himself meanwhile Danny has decided the best way to avoid getting mugged is to run faster than the criminal and Dodge which leads him to actually trying in PE and considering that he's used to fighting in ghost form and using his speed it's not long before the nickname track star gets restored upon him in Gotham academy.

he made a few friends there and they constantly joke about his ability to get out of any situation. Danny plays along until he gets mistaken for a Wayne in the middle of the street when a mugger attempts to kidnap him only for Danny to run and the mugger not giving up so right now Gotham city is witnessing adoption bait running away from a mugger that's way too stubborn to let him go despite him realizing the kid is not a Wayne.

Only to lose him in the end and rage. The only ones who have been successful in kidnapping him was scarecrow although the goons wanted money so they called the Vlad and hold Danny for ransom when they threatened Vlad he only hums and tells him to check again and if he's still there look if he's planning something or has a look in his eyes that says you will regret that if there's fear in his eyes or anything else that's not him and proceeds to hang up.

The goons are confused until scarecrow screams and they immediately turn around to see Danny running around dragging scarecrow by his foot they tried to stop him although the kid is simply too fast. Signal reaches the place only to also try to free scarecrow and get him under arrest and also struggling to catch up with the kid to the point where he calls for backup and even then they all still struggle

It comes to a point where Bruce is contemplating if he's a meta only for Danny to grab him and drag him as well. The goons and bats make a temporary alliance just to try and catch him.

AKA "Clockwork assigned Danny with a Ghost King task: learn how to shapeshift. Now Danny is stuck in another dimension and can't ask for help from his friends; worse, he's stuck as a racoon." DPxDC prompt idea!

Being stuck as a racoon sucks. Being stuck in a dirty, crime-ridden city where people hate "rodents" and love tormenting helpless animals really, really sucks. Thankfully, Danny still has a pretty good grasp of his Ghost powers. (Not so thankfully, he also has what he calls "racoon brain" where he does, indeed, act like a feral animal. Several Gotham goons found that out after attempting to curb stomp him; those goons absolutely will need stitches, rabies shots - which he desperately hopes will hurt like a bitch, and will think twice about messing with local wildlife.)

This results in Danny hears an interesting rumor. It turns out that people talk pretty freely around animals when they aren't trying to chase them away. The philanthropist Bruce Wayne's youngest son is an avid animal rights activist and has rescued several unique animals, including a turkey, cow, monkey, and several bats. Danny... can definitely use this to his advantage. He can look cute and harmless (regardless of that one guy who was clutching his bleeding face and sobbing in terror, screaming about Danny being a freaky demon-rat. Shouldn't have messed with Danny Phan-...coon? Danny Racoon? He'll work on it.)

It turns out that getting into Wayne Manor is absurdly easy compared to getting to Wayne Manor. Once he's inside, he drops his invisibility and intangibility, padding along the expensive Persian rugs and probably-real-marble flooring. He follows the scent of food past a room that's a family den of some sort - his snout scrunches up into an amused toothy smile when he hears a stupefied, "Was that a racoon??" come from the couch. He trots onward.

The first thing he steals is some wheat crackers out of the pantry, happily tearing into the cardboard box and plastic packaging. Cheese and meat from the fridge, some grapes. He even snags an apple for later. He's carrying it in his mouth, passing two more bewildered people, and plodding along into the gardens. Danny hears a frustrated groan of Dami, not again and chortles happily to himself. No one stops him. He's literally never felt more powerful. (It may or may not be his raccoon brain speaking.)

The second time he breaks into the Manor is when it's raining. He's taken up residence in the gardens outside the Manor, stealing the outdoor furniture cushions and blankets left out to make a little nest among the trees. Except now it's downpouring and his nest is wet, his fur is wet, and he's more than a little devastated. This time when he breaks in, there's a British gentleman waiting in the kitchen - he only raises an eyebrow before sighing, procuring meats, fruits, and nuts on a little plate as if he was expecting Danny. Danny, also like a gentleman, uses his little paws to shovel the food into his face and snorts a funny little bark in thanks.

The third time is... well, the Manor has a lot of beds. It would be a shame if Danny didn't use one. (His favorite cushions and blanket were still wet from the rainstorm earlier that week). He's sprawled out on his back, snoring lightly, and enjoying the warm bedsheets when a hand carefully strokes his side. It startles him out of his light doze but it's surprisingly nice, so he lets out a pleased little grumble. After a moment of careful petting, the touch firms and he's scooped up into big, strong arms.

"Damian," The voice is deep and rumbly. "I thought I told you no more pets? You won't have enough time to take care of them between school and patrol."

A different, smaller hand hovers over his nose. Oddly enough, it smells like Autosol metal polish, a feline (don't as him how he knows that), and paint. Danny gives the hand an inquisitive lick before remembering he is, in fact, not a wild animal. Well. He kinda wishes he could die again so he doesn't have to face reality. Damn racoon brain! He shoves his face into the crook of the Big Man's arm with a humiliated whine and smacks his paws into his face, wanting to scratch his eyes out. He licked. Someone's hand.

"He is clearly already house-trained, Father, and he is fond of you. Would you be so cruel as to cast him out into the cold, where a fox or coyote would kill him if he survives starvation and hypothermia?"

The Big Man sighs, moving where Danny's squished up against his gigantic chest (wow, Danny absolutely needs to do whatever exercise makes that happen), and there's a moment he wonders if he actually will be kicked out. It won't matter anyway. Danny can literally just keep coming back like a... Yeah, he's not going to finish that thought. This is an assignment. He's learning... something. Racoon brain is tired. He'll learn after the British guy gives him more grapes and he takes another nap.

"What's his name?"

There's a pause before the younger voice says, "Bandit."

Danny lets out a disgruntled little huff. It's Danny, he wants to say, but he'd need to be human for that and he's also probably earned the name. Shoot, the wet blankets and cushions. Whoops. Yeah, he definitely earned that name. The Big Man laughs as if he can read Danny's mind which... would not be good. The Wayne family might be willing to harbor a ghost but he doubts they'd help a blue-eyed, black-haired teenager in desperate need of a mentor. (Ha.)

He keeps following them on patrol, no matter what they do to try to stop him. At this point the goons are more scared of him than they are of Batman ("at least Batman doesn't bite") and keep ditching the rogues whenever they see raccoon!Danny coming.

Danny: (pops out from behind Batman)

Goon: (drops the gun and surrenders)

Batman: (patented “your going to tell me why you just did that” glare he learned from Alfred)

Goon: I’ll be honest Mr. Batman sir, if I fought you, at worst I’ll be out of the gooning game for like six months. But him (points dramatically at the raccoon grooming himself of Batman’s shoulder) I saw what he did to Pretty Boy Floyd and let’s just say we’re still trying to figure out his new nickname.

Batman: (glances at Danny who is currently trying to figure out how to get the candy out of Batman’s utility belt)

Goon: plus my insurance doesn’t cover rabies shots. The goonion is working on getting the coverage and frankly I’m not interested in going out like Edgar Allan Poe

Batman: (gives patented “are you being serious” glare)

Goon: what just because I’m a goon you think I don’t know about poetry? Fuck, if you weren’t with that fuzzy demon I’d drag you to the Merry Men’s poetry slam myself.

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."

"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.

*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!!!!!!

🤬🤬🤬

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.

Rita looked half guilty, half proud. "Mine never tried to kill himself."

I’m an attempt to drop the Invis-O-Bill image and bad press; he stops with his ghostly vigilantism and temporarily rebrands as a non powered vigilante in the city of Gotham.

Danny got turned into a kitten by Diseree after someone wished phantom was a cute baby kitten. But his friends the geniuses they are made a deal with Desiree to keep him like that until they say to turn him back so right now he was stuck as a baby short kitten while his friends were cooing and having a custody battle over him.

According to Sam he was the definition of perfect plumpy kitten that needs to be protected at all cost. And Tucker literally tried to kidnap him to his house. Unfortunately he somehow also got the instincts of a baby kitten.

as the custody battle was going on a natural portal opened under him and swallowed him whole. The last thing he heard was his friends screaming "NO THE BABY". That's how he landed in the city of sams dreams.

He was on a rooftop wobbling around since his feet were too small he wasn't paying attention particularly he only paid attention to walking and making sure not to fall off a roof when he stumbled onto something he was confused but it was black cloth? Hanging from something.

Looking at the cloth now he can feel his cat instincts take over. He started hitting the cloth and then started playing with it he never knew cloth was so fun to play with when the cloth moved? Looking up he can see a terrifying man but he refuses to let go of the now newly discovered cape. It's his now sir it is cat rules you do not have a choice.

He continued to playing without a care in the world when the man just scooped him up using his cape as a blanket for Danny which he appreciated but he did not know how to feel about the man practically kidnapping him (but since he was a cat he's probably adopting him???) and ran.

They ended up in some sort of cave with technology before going to a dark corner where the man proceeded to play with the kitten and hoard him. Danny did not mind clearly he's been adopted and since he's a cat he clearly has no say in this. Plus there's no way he would get attached at some point or another his friends would come get him right?

RIGHT?

...

Bruce did not know what he was thinking when he was looking at the team kitten playing with his cape but one moment he was staring at the kitten and the second he scooped them up and went to the cave. Clearly the cat is his now. He blames Damien for this.

.....

Oracle: b? Why did you go to the cave suddenly? Did something happen wait- why the fuck do I see 2 tiny blue rocks- it's moving... b did you adopt a kitten.

Robin: I demand to see the footage

Batman: hn.

Red hood: b I I swear to whatever deity is hearing this but DID YOU ADOPT A BLACK KITTEN WITH BLUE EYES

Batman: ...

Red hood: he fucking did it

Robin: I am coming back to the case in 20

Nightwing: oh my gosh BBBBB we told you no more adopting kids so you adopted a black hair to blue-eyed cat instead?!

Red robin: why am I not surprised

Spoiler: everyone shut up how tiny are we talking

Oracle: about the size of a fist

Spoiler: okay hands down I'm going back to the cave I need to see the baby have fun patrol!

Nightwing: WAIT I WANT TO SEE THE TINY KITTEN TOO

........

Danny likes Bruce. The man is very large and soft he practically followed the man around when you first came to the manor in order not to get lost. He hasn't left since. He has shoulder privileges now he can look scary now. Plus he likes the pets and the food b gives him and the man practically doesn't sleep! He needs to fix that

Bruce was in the cave doing a case late at night when he saw the kitten on the desk getting promptly put on by nightwing while the kitten gave him the most pitiful sad look he's ever seen meowing like he's been wronged. He's now standing at the keyboard smacking it meowing loudly at it as if it's the enemy. Message received no more cases for tonight.

....

Alfred the cat becomes Danny’s Alfred the human.

AKA "Clockwork assigned Danny with a Ghost King task: learn how to shapeshift. Now Danny is stuck in another dimension and can't ask for help from his friends; worse, he's stuck as a racoon." DPxDC prompt idea!

Being stuck as a racoon sucks. Being stuck in a dirty, crime-ridden city where people hate "rodents" and love tormenting helpless animals really, really sucks. Thankfully, Danny still has a pretty good grasp of his Ghost powers. (Not so thankfully, he also has what he calls "racoon brain" where he does, indeed, act like a feral animal. Several Gotham goons found that out after attempting to curb stomp him; those goons absolutely will need stitches, rabies shots - which he desperately hopes will hurt like a bitch, and will think twice about messing with local wildlife.)

This results in Danny hears an interesting rumor. It turns out that people talk pretty freely around animals when they aren't trying to chase them away. The philanthropist Bruce Wayne's youngest son is an avid animal rights activist and has rescued several unique animals, including a turkey, cow, monkey, and several bats. Danny... can definitely use this to his advantage. He can look cute and harmless (regardless of that one guy who was clutching his bleeding face and sobbing in terror, screaming about Danny being a freaky demon-rat. Shouldn't have messed with Danny Phan-...coon? Danny Racoon? He'll work on it.)

It turns out that getting into Wayne Manor is absurdly easy compared to getting to Wayne Manor. Once he's inside, he drops his invisibility and intangibility, padding along the expensive Persian rugs and probably-real-marble flooring. He follows the scent of food past a room that's a family den of some sort - his snout scrunches up into an amused toothy smile when he hears a stupefied, "Was that a racoon??" come from the couch. He trots onward.

The first thing he steals is some wheat crackers out of the pantry, happily tearing into the cardboard box and plastic packaging. Cheese and meat from the fridge, some grapes. He even snags an apple for later. He's carrying it in his mouth, passing two more bewildered people, and plodding along into the gardens. Danny hears a frustrated groan of Dami, not again and chortles happily to himself. No one stops him. He's literally never felt more powerful. (It may or may not be his raccoon brain speaking.)

The second time he breaks into the Manor is when it's raining. He's taken up residence in the gardens outside the Manor, stealing the outdoor furniture cushions and blankets left out to make a little nest among the trees. Except now it's downpouring and his nest is wet, his fur is wet, and he's more than a little devastated. This time when he breaks in, there's a British gentleman waiting in the kitchen - he only raises an eyebrow before sighing, procuring meats, fruits, and nuts on a little plate as if he was expecting Danny. Danny, also like a gentleman, uses his little paws to shovel the food into his face and snorts a funny little bark in thanks.

The third time is... well, the Manor has a lot of beds. It would be a shame if Danny didn't use one. (His favorite cushions and blanket were still wet from the rainstorm earlier that week). He's sprawled out on his back, snoring lightly, and enjoying the warm bedsheets when a hand carefully strokes his side. It startles him out of his light doze but it's surprisingly nice, so he lets out a pleased little grumble. After a moment of careful petting, the touch firms and he's scooped up into big, strong arms.

"Damian," The voice is deep and rumbly. "I thought I told you no more pets? You won't have enough time to take care of them between school and patrol."

A different, smaller hand hovers over his nose. Oddly enough, it smells like Autosol metal polish, a feline (don't as him how he knows that), and paint. Danny gives the hand an inquisitive lick before remembering he is, in fact, not a wild animal. Well. He kinda wishes he could die again so he doesn't have to face reality. Damn racoon brain! He shoves his face into the crook of the Big Man's arm with a humiliated whine and smacks his paws into his face, wanting to scratch his eyes out. He licked. Someone's hand.

"He is clearly already house-trained, Father, and he is fond of you. Would you be so cruel as to cast him out into the cold, where a fox or coyote would kill him if he survives starvation and hypothermia?"

The Big Man sighs, moving where Danny's squished up against his gigantic chest (wow, Danny absolutely needs to do whatever exercise makes that happen), and there's a moment he wonders if he actually will be kicked out. It won't matter anyway. Danny can literally just keep coming back like a... Yeah, he's not going to finish that thought. This is an assignment. He's learning... something. Racoon brain is tired. He'll learn after the British guy gives him more grapes and he takes another nap.

"What's his name?"

There's a pause before the younger voice says, "Bandit."

Danny lets out a disgruntled little huff. It's Danny, he wants to say, but he'd need to be human for that and he's also probably earned the name. Shoot, the wet blankets and cushions. Whoops. Yeah, he definitely earned that name. The Big Man laughs as if he can read Danny's mind which... would not be good. The Wayne family might be willing to harbor a ghost but he doubts they'd help a blue-eyed, black-haired teenager in desperate need of a mentor. (Ha.)

Meanwhile, At the Hall of Justice! Booster Gold sat at the reception desk of the Hall of Justice. He managed to annoy some of the higher level heroes in the field and was demoted to desk duty. But that embarrassing story is irrelevant, because Booster was currently staring slack jawed down at the stack of legal documents he was just handed. "Wait, wait, wait! You're SUING, the justice league!?" Booster demanded. The hero was looking back and forth between the stack of papers he was just served and the skinny younger man that just handed them over.

On the Watchtower, Batman sat in the monitor room, staring at the alert on his screen. Booster Gold’s voice echoed over the comms, panicked and too loud as usual.

“Uh, Batman? We’ve got a situation. You’ve been served.”

The silence that followed was deep enough to make even the void of space jealous.

Batman pinched the bridge of his nose. “Booster. Clarify.”

“Some guy — Danny Fenton, young, lawyer, very angry, and uh... apparently he knows his legal stuff — just dropped off a mountain of papers. Said he’s suing the Justice League. Specifically you. And uh… your ‘children’? His words, not mine.”

The clattering sound of someone dropping their coffee came from behind him. Flash, naturally.

“Wait wait wait—someone’s suing Batman?” Barry laughed nervously. “Can they even do that? He’s… you know… technically not real.”

“They can,” Diana cut in, arms crossed, eyes narrowing in thought. “If he’s suing the alias that operates as part of the League, he’s targeting the entity Batman represents under the League’s operational charter. Not the man.”

Clark sighed. “Which means this isn’t a personal lawsuit. It’s institutional.”

“Correct,” Diana said. “And if the court allows it… the Justice League could be held liable as his employer.”

Batman’s silence was deafening.

“Booster,” he said finally, his voice low. “Send me the documents.”

Back on Earth, Danny sat in his apartment, shoulders tight and jaw clenched. The apartment was quiet except for the hum of his computer and the ticking of an old clock on the wall. His tie was off, sleeves rolled up, and he was halfway through marking up his own copy of the court filing with glowing green sticky notes.

Technus’ avatar flickered to life on his screen, popping up with far too much cheer for the situation.

“Daniel! I must say, your legal vengeance protocols are truly—” “Technus,” Danny muttered warningly, rubbing at his temple. “Not. Helping.”

“—INSPIRING!” the ghost finished anyway, electricity crackling across the image. “You are doing the work of the ages! The meat-based judicial system will never recover from your wrath!”

Danny’s expression didn’t change, but his eye twitched. “You know what’s funny? That’s not helping either.”

He glanced back down at the footage still paused on his other monitor — Batman’s cape fluttering in the smoke of his parents’ ruined lab. His mother bleeding. His father holding a piece of broken metal like it was a lifeline.

Danny’s hands tightened into fists. “This isn’t revenge,” he said quietly, mostly to himself. “It’s accountability.”

His reflection in the monitor looked back at him, eyes faintly glowing green in the dark. “…Is this what Dan felt?” he muttered, voice low. “That bone-deep rage that makes you want to burn everything that hurt you down to the foundation?”

He let out a bitter laugh and leaned back in his chair. “Guess I’m lucky. I don’t need fire.” He tapped the stack of legal documents beside him. “I’ve got paperwork.”

On the Watchtower, Bruce’s headache had evolved into something cosmic.

Clark was reading through the first few pages of the lawsuit and let out a low whistle. “He’s good. He’s really good. Batman, he’s got timestamps, footage, chain of custody evidence… and half of this is so well written I think he’s quoting League bylaws against you.”

“That’s impossible,” Batman growled.

“It’s hilarious,” Barry said from the corner.

“Shut up, Flash.”

“Just saying, man. He even mentioned that time you pulled evidence from the GCPD database without a warrant. You can’t do that!”

“I can when it saves lives.”

“And apparently,” Clark said with a sigh, “he’s arguing that your definition of saving lives doesn’t exempt you from destroying private property and assaulting civilians.”

Diana’s lips curved into something that might’ve been a smile. “You may want to consider settling out of court, Batman.”

Bruce glared at her. “Not happening.”

“Suit yourself,” she replied, almost amused. “But from what I’m reading, this Mr. Fenton won’t back down. And something tells me… you won’t intimidate him.”

Bruce’s jaw tightened. “We’ll see about that.”

Danny smiled humorlessly when he got the League’s acknowledgment email:

The Justice League has received your formal complaint. We will see you in court.

He closed the email, exhaled slowly, and muttered,

“Good. Let’s dance, Bats.”

And for the briefest second, the air around him chilled — like even his ghost half was smirking.

Ayo my idols! My writers! My amazing tumblr peeps! This dude using ai to make a story. How about we show them how it’s done? And tag a writer mutual while ur at it! The more that join in the better!

“Where are they?” He growled.

“Excuse me?” The receptionist attempted to regain his posture. He was an older man with sideburns and decked out in the standard Elmerton police uniform (because of course only Elmerton police would be dumb enough to attempt an arrest on the Fentons. Batman probbaly tried Amity first and got rejected.)

“I’m looking for Jackson and Madeline Fenton. They were arrested from Amity park 26 hours ago and have been illegally held in your station for most of that duration.”

The desk officer’s face soured. “Young man, you cannot just barge into this station to demand to see criminals-“

“They are not criminals.” Danny snapped. Doing his best to rein in his temper. “Criminals are those arrested with evidence supporting they’ve committed a crime. What you’ve done is arrest them on probbaly cause. This means that they are suspect for a crime but have not been confirmed. They also have a right to a lawyer, which I am, so now you are either going to take me to them, or I’m going to use this and the surrounding station’s video as evidence for a new case in which a corrupt officer is obstructing the laws and 6th amendment of the United States.” Danny advanced to the desk, boring holes into the officer as if he could see every sin the man had ever committed. “Are. We. Clear.”

The officer gulped. “C-crystal.” He shakily got out the keys and scrambled around the desk to lead Danny to his parents.

Danny held his briefcase close and followed. He was glad he had used the extra tough dragon leather Dora got for him or his ghost strength would have already torn off the handle. It was already enough of a struggle not to let his claws out.

When they finally entered *cough* stormed *cough* into the iron walled interrogation room, Danny was greeted to the sight of his parents, lacking their preferred jumpsuits and cuffed. They sat patiently in front of a table with another officer.

“Danno!” Jack’s face instantly brightened as he spotted Danny.

Something in the halfa’s core relaxed at the sight of both his parents, safe (for the most part) and unharmed. He did a quick check of their persons to make sure the arrest wasn’t ‘forceful’. But besides the bandages wrapped around his mother’s arm from Robin’s assault (which still made him growl), they were unharmed.

The commotion caused the officer already in the room to turn around and suddenly, whatever calm Danny had managed to force on himself during the walk evaporated.

Because sitting right there in the interrogator’s chair, acting like he owned the place, was Dick f-ing Greyson.

Oh HO, Danny was hating the bats more and more.

He wasted no time marching up to the table and slamming down his briefcase, eying the bat in ‘disguise’ like he was a chunk of Pariah’s snot Danny had just scrapped off his shoe.

Nightwing stood up and held out his hand, a charming smile already spread across is face. “Hello, you must be the attorney. I’m officer Grey-“

“This interrogation is over and I am taking my clients back to their accommodations.” Danny didn’t care what the bat had to say. It was just a waste of his time.

The man laughed as if Danny had made a joke. “You can’t do that.” He looked at the officer who lead Danny there. Shrugging as if saying can you ‘believe’ this guy? The receptionist though was still properly cowed from their earlier encounter and just gave a strained grimace, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Greyson just kept smiling. It was really grinding Danny’s gears.

“Oh I assure you, I can. You have made an unlawful arrest and I intend to correct that.” The Halfa started riffling through his brief case. “The Fentons have been arrested on suspicion alone. Without proper evidence to support that arrest, the state of Elmerton can only hold them for at most 24 hours. You are 2 hours over that time and therefore, according to the law, you are holding two innocent civilians against their will with no probable cause.”

Finally, Nightwing’s smile started to dim. “Young man-” what was with all these people using ‘young man’ “-I can assure you that the charges against these two are very real. We have multiple video evidence of them attempting first degree murder on the hero known as Phantom, as well as assault.” Danny could see his parents flinch at that. “And we have multiple reports and photographic evidence of property damage caused during their ‘ghost hunts’. And from an anonymous source,” Danny scoffed at that, “We also have reason to believe they were in the process of illegally making weapons. I don’t know what you call that, but those are serious crimes. We have more than enough evidence to convict them. As their attorney, you can fight for their defense in court but you can’t just walk out of here with them.”

Danny barked out a laugh. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong.” He finally found what he was looking for and shoved a file into Nightwing’s chest, using just a smidge of ghost strength to make the officer take a step back. “This is a copy of the Anti-Ecto acts. A former law by the United States declaring that it was perfectly legal to hunt those who classify as Ecto entities such as Phantom. If you had done your research, you would see that all the timestamps for those videos are before the acts were repealed. In fact, the Fentons had not only ceased their attacks on Phantom and other ecto-entities before the law was repealed, but they were also a major help in getting it repealed in the first place. Using money from their own personal coffers. There is not a single piece of evidence indicating an attack on ecto-entities afterwards that was not self defense.” Nightwing struggled to hold the file before it could fall. Skimming through the papers to determine if what Danny said was true or not.

Oh but Danny wasn’t done.

He grabbed the next file. “This is a record of their previous court case.” The bat’s head snapped up. “The officers at Amity are not incompetent, and I’m not saying they have not had a record of property damage in the past. However, unlike the Justice league, they were tried and made to pay reparations. This file contains the court case, verdict, and even the amount payed to cover the damages for all previous and recent property damage. And as an officer of the law, you should know that once a court has made a decision, you cannot arrest someone on the same charge again. And THIS-” he slammed down the next file, taking immense joy in how rapidly the vigilante’s face was paling as he tried to read through all the files. “Is a record of a previous contract with the US government. But again, the Fentons had ceased making weapons a while ago and have since transitioned into scientific inventions and even medicine. Of course, you will also find the patents for each of the inventions filed and approved with legal permits to use them. Naturally, this will all be available again when Batman answers for why he decided to steal government contracted property in the upcoming trial.”

Nightwing was drowning in papers now. A few slipping between his fingers and falling on the floor, likely causing an organization nightmare. It didn't matter, the vigilante could keep them. Danny had copies of each of these at his home, the Fenton home, on a private server, with Vlad, and even a set hidden in the Infinite Realms with Ghost Writer.

“Finally.” Danny pulled out a single sheet of paper. “This is the filled out release form stating that I can in fact ‘just walk out of here with them.’ Now of you don’t mind.” Danny held out his hand expectantly. “The keys.”

Nightwing looked like he really didn’t want to comply, but Danny was nothing is not patient, and after about 10 minutes of the ‘officer’ trying his best to delay by reading all the files ‘thoroughly’, he finally gave in and set the keys in Danny’s palm. Sure, Danny could have gotten the receptionist (who had been slowly trying to back out of the room) to give him a copy. But it was so much more satisfying to have Nightwing do it.

Namely, that Batman and friends were probably going to try to contact Phantom and get him to support their case.

He wouldn't. He would be honest and say that they didn't speak for him and he didn't consent to their attempt to get his parents arrested.

The question was how were they going to contact him? He hadn't appeared as Phantom with any regularity in years, and as far as he knew summoning wasn't a thing. So how—

His phone started ringing, and the caller ID was Valerie.

Oh, that was how.

He answered it. "Hey Val, how's it going?"

"It's been interesting. I have 50 missed calls from different members of Justice League Dark and several unknown phone numbers that I assume are Justice League members. When I answered they said they wanted to talk to Phantom."

"When did they start calling?"

"Yesterday."

"Huh, so they did try to talk to me before getting my parents arrested on my behalf but were too impatient to actually get my approval."

"They got your parents arrested?!"

"Yeah, didn't you see it in the group chat?"

"No. An ectopus colony got very lost during their seasonal migration, so I've been too busy with that."

"Oh, that's rough."

While Phantom had been able to mostly retire from ghost hunting, there was still some need for it when lost ghost animals or human ghosts with unfinished business showed up. Valerie had taken to that role very well once she realized ghosts, like other people, could sometimes be reasoned with.

She wasn't part of Justice League Dark and only worked with them as an independent consultant on rare occasions. She was contracted by the city to deal with ghost matters that other people couldn’t handle.

He got her caught up on what happened, and she laughed.

"Seriously? They tried to get them for that? I've done the same thing to you and they seem perfectly fine trying to use me to contact you."

"If you tell them that, they might break into your house too."

"I'd like to see them try," but her tone didn't quite match her words. After all, they broke into FentonWorks despite its security. Valerie could handle herself, but she wasn't naive enough to think the danger wasn't real.

"So what do you want me to tell them?"

"Stop trying to use Phantom against the Fentons. They don't get to press charges on my behalf."

"Can I get them a number so they don't blow up my call history again?"

Did he have a burner phone he could use for the Bats? He should get one. "Sorry. Maybe later when I have burner to spare. Thanks Val."

"Good luck on your case. You'll need it."

Ember held her stance as she caught her breath. The crowd screaming her name was so loud that her flames had engulfed the entire stage. A decade ago, she wouldn't have bothered containing it, but, well, maybe she was just a nicer person now.

Just seems like it would make more sense to put it a few reblogs earlier. You know, before the course changed. Since this one is clearly going in a different direction.

People who follow this post will get a notification regardless of which chain they reblog. The only thing this accomplishes is telling the previous writer that this other version is more important

Meanwhile, At the Hall of Justice! Booster Gold sat at the reception desk of the Hall of Justice. He managed to annoy some of the higher level heroes in the field and was demoted to desk duty. But that embarrassing story is irrelevant, because Booster was currently staring slack jawed down at the stack of legal documents he was just handed. "Wait, wait, wait! You're SUING, the justice league!?" Booster demanded. The hero was looking back and forth between the stack of papers he was just served and the skinny younger man that just handed them over.

On the Watchtower, Batman sat in the monitor room, staring at the alert on his screen. Booster Gold’s voice echoed over the comms, panicked and too loud as usual.

“Uh, Batman? We’ve got a situation. You’ve been served.”

The silence that followed was deep enough to make even the void of space jealous.

Batman pinched the bridge of his nose. “Booster. Clarify.”

“Some guy — Danny Fenton, young, lawyer, very angry, and uh... apparently he knows his legal stuff — just dropped off a mountain of papers. Said he’s suing the Justice League. Specifically you. And uh… your ‘children’? His words, not mine.”

The clattering sound of someone dropping their coffee came from behind him. Flash, naturally.

“Wait wait wait—someone’s suing Batman?” Barry laughed nervously. “Can they even do that? He’s… you know… technically not real.”

“They can,” Diana cut in, arms crossed, eyes narrowing in thought. “If he’s suing the alias that operates as part of the League, he’s targeting the entity Batman represents under the League’s operational charter. Not the man.”

Clark sighed. “Which means this isn’t a personal lawsuit. It’s institutional.”

“Correct,” Diana said. “And if the court allows it… the Justice League could be held liable as his employer.”

Batman’s silence was deafening.

“Booster,” he said finally, his voice low. “Send me the documents.”

Back on Earth, Danny sat in his apartment, shoulders tight and jaw clenched. The apartment was quiet except for the hum of his computer and the ticking of an old clock on the wall. His tie was off, sleeves rolled up, and he was halfway through marking up his own copy of the court filing with glowing green sticky notes.

Technus’ avatar flickered to life on his screen, popping up with far too much cheer for the situation.

“Daniel! I must say, your legal vengeance protocols are truly—” “Technus,” Danny muttered warningly, rubbing at his temple. “Not. Helping.”

“—INSPIRING!” the ghost finished anyway, electricity crackling across the image. “You are doing the work of the ages! The meat-based judicial system will never recover from your wrath!”

Danny’s expression didn’t change, but his eye twitched. “You know what’s funny? That’s not helping either.”

He glanced back down at the footage still paused on his other monitor — Batman’s cape fluttering in the smoke of his parents’ ruined lab. His mother bleeding. His father holding a piece of broken metal like it was a lifeline.

Danny’s hands tightened into fists. “This isn’t revenge,” he said quietly, mostly to himself. “It’s accountability.”

His reflection in the monitor looked back at him, eyes faintly glowing green in the dark. “…Is this what Dan felt?” he muttered, voice low. “That bone-deep rage that makes you want to burn everything that hurt you down to the foundation?”

He let out a bitter laugh and leaned back in his chair. “Guess I’m lucky. I don’t need fire.” He tapped the stack of legal documents beside him. “I’ve got paperwork.”

On the Watchtower, Bruce’s headache had evolved into something cosmic.

Clark was reading through the first few pages of the lawsuit and let out a low whistle. “He’s good. He’s really good. Batman, he’s got timestamps, footage, chain of custody evidence… and half of this is so well written I think he’s quoting League bylaws against you.”

“That’s impossible,” Batman growled.

“It’s hilarious,” Barry said from the corner.

“Shut up, Flash.”

“Just saying, man. He even mentioned that time you pulled evidence from the GCPD database without a warrant. You can’t do that!”

“I can when it saves lives.”

“And apparently,” Clark said with a sigh, “he’s arguing that your definition of saving lives doesn’t exempt you from destroying private property and assaulting civilians.”

Diana’s lips curved into something that might’ve been a smile. “You may want to consider settling out of court, Batman.”

Bruce glared at her. “Not happening.”

“Suit yourself,” she replied, almost amused. “But from what I’m reading, this Mr. Fenton won’t back down. And something tells me… you won’t intimidate him.”

Bruce’s jaw tightened. “We’ll see about that.”

Danny smiled humorlessly when he got the League’s acknowledgment email:

The Justice League has received your formal complaint. We will see you in court.

He closed the email, exhaled slowly, and muttered,

“Good. Let’s dance, Bats.”

And for the briefest second, the air around him chilled — like even his ghost half was smirking.

Ayo my idols! My writers! My amazing tumblr peeps! This dude using ai to make a story. How about we show them how it’s done? And tag a writer mutual while ur at it! The more that join in the better!

“Where are they?” He growled.

“Excuse me?” The receptionist attempted to regain his posture. He was an older man with sideburns and decked out in the standard Elmerton police uniform (because of course only Elmerton police would be dumb enough to attempt an arrest on the Fentons. Batman probbaly tried Amity first and got rejected.)

“I’m looking for Jackson and Madeline Fenton. They were arrested from Amity park 26 hours ago and have been illegally held in your station for most of that duration.”

The desk officer’s face soured. “Young man, you cannot just barge into this station to demand to see criminals-“

“They are not criminals.” Danny snapped. Doing his best to rein in his temper. “Criminals are those arrested with evidence supporting they’ve committed a crime. What you’ve done is arrest them on probbaly cause. This means that they are suspect for a crime but have not been confirmed. They also have a right to a lawyer, which I am, so now you are either going to take me to them, or I’m going to use this and the surrounding station’s video as evidence for a new case in which a corrupt officer is obstructing the laws and 6th amendment of the United States.” Danny advanced to the desk, boring holes into the officer as if he could see every sin the man had ever committed. “Are. We. Clear.”

The officer gulped. “C-crystal.” He shakily got out the keys and scrambled around the desk to lead Danny to his parents.

Danny held his briefcase close and followed. He was glad he had used the extra tough dragon leather Dora got for him or his ghost strength would have already torn off the handle. It was already enough of a struggle not to let his claws out.

When they finally entered *cough* stormed *cough* into the iron walled interrogation room, Danny was greeted to the sight of his parents, lacking their preferred jumpsuits and cuffed. They sat patiently in front of a table with another officer.

“Danno!” Jack’s face instantly brightened as he spotted Danny.

Something in the halfa’s core relaxed at the sight of both his parents, safe (for the most part) and unharmed. He did a quick check of their persons to make sure the arrest wasn’t ‘forceful’. But besides the bandages wrapped around his mother’s arm from Robin’s assault (which still made him growl), they were unharmed.

The commotion caused the officer already in the room to turn around and suddenly, whatever calm Danny had managed to force on himself during the walk evaporated.

Because sitting right there in the interrogator’s chair, acting like he owned the place, was Dick f-ing Greyson.

Oh HO, Danny was hating the bats more and more.

He wasted no time marching up to the table and slamming down his briefcase, eying the bat in ‘disguise’ like he was a chunk of Pariah’s snot Danny had just scrapped off his shoe.

Nightwing stood up and held out his hand, a charming smile already spread across is face. “Hello, you must be the attorney. I’m officer Grey-“

“This interrogation is over and I am taking my clients back to their accommodations.” Danny didn’t care what the bat had to say. It was just a waste of his time.

The man laughed as if Danny had made a joke. “You can’t do that.” He looked at the officer who lead Danny there. Shrugging as if saying can you ‘believe’ this guy? The receptionist though was still properly cowed from their earlier encounter and just gave a strained grimace, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Greyson just kept smiling. It was really grinding Danny’s gears.

“Oh I assure you, I can. You have made an unlawful arrest and I intend to correct that.” The Halfa started riffling through his brief case. “The Fentons have been arrested on suspicion alone. Without proper evidence to support that arrest, the state of Elmerton can only hold them for at most 24 hours. You are 2 hours over that time and therefore, according to the law, you are holding two innocent civilians against their will with no probable cause.”

Finally, Nightwing’s smile started to dim. “Young man-” what was with all these people using ‘young man’ “-I can assure you that the charges against these two are very real. We have multiple video evidence of them attempting first degree murder on the hero known as Phantom, as well as assault.” Danny could see his parents flinch at that. “And we have multiple reports and photographic evidence of property damage caused during their ‘ghost hunts’. And from an anonymous source,” Danny scoffed at that, “We also have reason to believe they were in the process of illegally making weapons. I don’t know what you call that, but those are serious crimes. We have more than enough evidence to convict them. As their attorney, you can fight for their defense in court but you can’t just walk out of here with them.”

Danny barked out a laugh. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong.” He finally found what he was looking for and shoved a file into Nightwing’s chest, using just a smidge of ghost strength to make the officer take a step back. “This is a copy of the Anti-Ecto acts. A former law by the United States declaring that it was perfectly legal to hunt those who classify as Ecto entities such as Phantom. If you had done your research, you would see that all the timestamps for those videos are before the acts were repealed. In fact, the Fentons had not only ceased their attacks on Phantom and other ecto-entities before the law was repealed, but they were also a major help in getting it repealed in the first place. Using money from their own personal coffers. There is not a single piece of evidence indicating an attack on ecto-entities afterwards that was not self defense.” Nightwing struggled to hold the file before it could fall. Skimming through the papers to determine if what Danny said was true or not.

Oh but Danny wasn’t done.

He grabbed the next file. “This is a record of their previous court case.” The bat’s head snapped up. “The officers at Amity are not incompetent, and I’m not saying they have not had a record of property damage in the past. However, unlike the Justice league, they were tried and made to pay reparations. This file contains the court case, verdict, and even the amount payed to cover the damages for all previous and recent property damage. And as an officer of the law, you should know that once a court has made a decision, you cannot arrest someone on the same charge again. And THIS-” he slammed down the next file, taking immense joy in how rapidly the vigilante’s face was paling as he tried to read through all the files. “Is a record of a previous contract with the US government. But again, the Fentons had ceased making weapons a while ago and have since transitioned into scientific inventions and even medicine. Of course, you will also find the patents for each of the inventions filed and approved with legal permits to use them. Naturally, this will all be available again when Batman answers for why he decided to steal government contracted property in the upcoming trial.”

Nightwing was drowning in papers now. A few slipping between his fingers and falling on the floor, likely causing an organization nightmare. It didn't matter, the vigilante could keep them. Danny had copies of each of these at his home, the Fenton home, on a private server, with Vlad, and even a set hidden in the Infinite Realms with Ghost Writer.

“Finally.” Danny pulled out a single sheet of paper. “This is the filled out release form stating that I can in fact ‘just walk out of here with them.’ Now of you don’t mind.” Danny held out his hand expectantly. “The keys.”

Nightwing looked like he really didn’t want to comply, but Danny was nothing is not patient, and after about 10 minutes of the ‘officer’ trying his best to delay by reading all the files ‘thoroughly’, he finally gave in and set the keys in Danny’s palm. Sure, Danny could have gotten the receptionist (who had been slowly trying to back out of the room) to give him a copy. But it was so much more satisfying to have Nightwing do it.

Namely, that Batman and friends were probably going to try to contact Phantom and get him to support their case.

He wouldn't. He would be honest and say that they didn't speak for him and he didn't consent to their attempt to get his parents arrested.

The question was how were they going to contact him? He hadn't appeared as Phantom with any regularity in years, and as far as he knew summoning wasn't a thing. So how—

His phone started ringing, and the caller ID was Valerie.

Oh, that was how.

He answered it. "Hey Val, how's it going?"

"It's been interesting. I have 50 missed calls from different members of Justice League Dark and several unknown phone numbers that I assume are Justice League members. When I answered they said they wanted to talk to Phantom."

"When did they start calling?"

"Yesterday."

"Huh, so they did try to talk to me before getting my parents arrested on my behalf but were too impatient to actually get my approval."

"They got your parents arrested?!"

"Yeah, didn't you see it in the group chat?"

"No. An ectopus colony got very lost during their seasonal migration, so I've been too busy with that."

"Oh, that's rough."

While Phantom had been able to mostly retire from ghost hunting, there was still some need for it when lost ghost animals or human ghosts with unfinished business showed up. Valerie had taken to that role very well once she realized ghosts, like other people, could sometimes be reasoned with.

She wasn't part of Justice League Dark and only worked with them as an independent consultant on rare occasions. She was contracted by the city to deal with ghost matters that other people couldn’t handle.

He got her caught up on what happened, and she laughed.

"Seriously? They tried to get them for that? I've done the same thing to you and they seem perfectly fine trying to use me to contact you."

"If you tell them that, they might break into your house too."

"I'd like to see them try," but her tone didn't quite match her words. After all, they broke into FentonWorks despite its security. Valerie could handle herself, but she wasn't naive enough to think the danger wasn't real.

"So what do you want me to tell them?"

"Stop trying to use Phantom against the Fentons. They don't get to press charges on my behalf."

"Can I get them a number so they don't blow up my call history again?"

Did he have a burner phone he could use for the Bats? He should get one. "Sorry. Maybe later when I have burner to spare. Thanks Val."

"Good luck on your case. You'll need it."

Ember held her stance as she caught her breath. The crowd screaming her name was so loud that her flames had engulfed the entire stage. A decade ago, she wouldn't have bothered containing it, but, well, maybe she was just a nicer person now.

Danny: I literally JUST watched you yeet someone across the room and into a wall (it was Vlad so it's cool but still)

Dan: Yeah. Like I said. Vow of pacifism. I didn't hurt him, the wall did

Danny:...

Dan: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Danny: ...

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."

"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.

*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!!!!!!

🤬🤬🤬

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.

Rita looked half guilty, half proud. "Mine never tried to kill himself."

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."

"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.

*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!!!!!!

🤬🤬🤬

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.

Rita looked half guilty, half proud. "Mine never tried to kill himself."