#blackfire

Teen Titans: Starfire (2024)

Danny Fenton was many things. A half-ghost superhero who defended the world from Pariah Dark and Freakshow. After too many sleepless nights and close calls—not to mention his ghost dog Cujo chewing on his homework—he had quietly retired. He was the guy whose parents still hadn’t figured out he wasn’t fully human. He thought he was Meta.

But most importantly, Danny Fenton was a dad.

So when he heard that Dani—his Dani—had been listed as a villain in not one, but two superhero databases, he nearly went ghost on the spot.

It started with news clips and videos.

The Young Justice team had faced off against a “dangerous meta-girl” wreaking havoc in Metropolis. Then the Titans’ database followed suit: Dani Phantom, listed under “threat classification,” with images of her mid-fight, green blasts glowing in her palms.

Danny’s eye twitched.

“That’s it,” he muttered, slamming the laptop shut. “I’m filing a complaint.”

Somehow, he found himself at the Justice League Support & Complaints Office, a glassy tower that seemed designed to drown visitors in paperwork. He was dressed in jeans and a hoodie, a civilian through and through.

The receptionist looked up, unimpressed. “Name?”

“Danny Fenton. I need to file a report.”

“What kind?”

“The kind where your databases are wrong and you’re slandering my kid.”

Within ten minutes, Danny was standing in a small conference room, armed with nothing but his laptop and a clicker. Three interns and a weary support officer sat across from him, trying to look interested. Danny had the kind of righteous fury only a dad could muster.

He clicked to his first slide.

“First point: She is adorable.”

A candid picture of Dani filled the screen. Her cheeks were puffed as she tried to lick an ice cream cone bigger than her head. Sprinkles were stuck in her hair.

The interns shifted. One coughed.

Danny clicked again.

“Point number two: She is my baby girl. Look at this sweater! LOOK AT IT!”

The next slide showed Dani drowning in an enormous, pumpkin-orange knit monstrosity clearly meant for her grandfather, Jack Fenton. The sleeves dangled past her hands. Her pout could have powered Gotham for a week.

“Point number three: She can’t do wrong.”

The slide showed Dani asleep on the couch, an open book on her chest: The Illustrated History of Amity Park.

“Point four: She is a good girl. Brushing her teeth. Three times a day.”

The slideshow displayed her mid-brush, grinning with foamy toothpaste as if she’d won the lottery.

“This,” Danny said, pointing at the photo, “is the embodiment of heroism and moral correctness.”

By slide twenty—Dani helping a stray cat out of a tree while scowling at the camera—the support officer had pinched the bridge of his nose so hard it was a miracle he hadn’t given himself a migraine.

“Mr. Fenton,” he tried, “while your… presentation is very thorough—”

“Thorough? THOROUGH? This is definitive proof!” Danny jabbed the clicker like it was a weapon. “Your Young Justice brats and those Titans need glasses. Dani isn’t a villain. She’s a misunderstood teenager.”

The door opened with a faint swish.

The officer paled. “Sir, we told you—”

“Move,” came a gravelly voice.

Batman entered. Full cape. Full cowl. Full intimidation factor. In broad daylight.

The Flash zipped in behind him, holding two cups of coffee. “Bats, chill. I’ve got this guy caffeinated. Don’t glare him to death.”

Danny froze mid-slide, staring at the Dark Knight looming over him. It had been a long time since he’d seen him—not since visiting Amity Park to see where the hero had gone.

Then Batman sat down.

The room went very, very quiet.

“I know how you feel,” Batman said, his voice low and tired in a way only parents understand. “People don’t understand. My son, Red Hood, is not a villain. He’s just misunderstood.”

Danny blinked. Once. Twice. “Wait… seriously?”

“Seriously.”

For a moment, the two men just sat there. One wore a cape; the other, a hoodie. Worlds apart, but united in the quiet suffering of parenthood.

“But where did I go wrong?” Danny blurted. “I was a hero before I retired! Is it because her mom is a retired villain? Is that why she’s being judged like this?!”

Flash choked on his coffee. “Wait—you’re married to—”

Batman answered the unspoken question: "Blackfire."

“Komand’r Fenton,” Danny said firmly. “She fell into Amity Park years ago. She needed help. I saved her. She stuck around.” His ears flushed red. “She’s actually really good with housework. She loves the wedding ring. She doesn’t do the villain thing anymore.”

The room fell silent.

Batman tilted his head. “I did the same with Catwoman. But I don’t think that’s the problem.” His voice softened—just barely. “My others are heroes. Sometimes the world doesn’t see the whole picture.”

Danny slumped in his chair, rubbing his face. “Great. So it’s not me. It’s the world. Fantastic.”

From the doorway, an intern whispered, “Is this really happening?”

“Yes,” the support officer muttered, already writing DO NOT LIST DANI PHANTOM AS VILLAIN in big red letters on a form.

By the time Danny packed up his slideshow, Batman had vanished into the shadows (despite it being noon), and Flash had slipped him a voucher for a free coffee.

As Danny walked out of the League tower, he couldn’t help but smile. Dani’s record would be cleared. She’d never know how ridiculous the whole thing had been.

Danny was 95% sure that the girl he was fighting wasn't another clone of him, or a halfa.

It started with him actually having a nice day at school. He got a full night sleep, got all his homework done with time to study and Dash was sick so he couldn't bully him. Today was going relatively normal for once.

That was until a girl feel through the ceiling into his classroom.

She had long black hair and was wearing a metal suit with black fabric. Danny looked around making sure everyone had run out of the room when she crashed through. He got down to check on her when her eyes opened, glowed with violet energy, and blasted him back. Then the fight was on.

He almost thought this was another attempt from Vlad to clone him, But she didn't really look like him. She was too tan, she had violet eyes, and his ghost sense wasn't going off. She shot out pink energy blasts from her hands and eyes, but he didn't think they were ectoplasm blasts. She also had super strength based on her hits and she could fly.

After what felt like hours of fighting she was starting to get winded and He wasn't cause he didn't need to breathe as phantom. He took advantage of her exhaustion, rammed her to the ground and pinned her. She looked up at him smiling and said something he had no idea the meaning of.

"Uhm what?" he asked. She signed, rolled her eyes at him, and pulled him into a kiss.

Danny: Apologies, I believe it may have been my fault.

Blackfire: Am I losing my mind?

Danny: No you are not, dear child. Out the window my dear.

Blackfire: I've finally gone mad, the void is speaking to me.

Danny: Haha, now that would be odd now wouldn't it be?

Blackfire: Well creepy disembodied voice I'm looking out the window all I see is space.

Danny: How you've grown.

Blackfire: Creep. Am I going to get an explanation of who you are or?

Danny: Perhaps you should take a guess.

Blackfire: Playing mind games with my delirium. That's new.

Danny: I assure you, you are not delusional or asleep.

Blackfire: Then tell me who you are because it is really feeling like I'm talking to myself here.

Danny: I did not wish to scare you but I see this will not work.

Blackfire: Scare me ho- *Giant white eye appears next to the window* What.

Danny: Hello.

Blackfire: Exactly how big even are you?!

Danny: Quite a bit.

Blackfire: You haven't answered any of my questions. Who are you?!

Danny: Do not steer too much my dark matter, you'll overwork yourself into a tizzy.

Blackfire: I- You keep calling me yours? I don't even know you.

Danny: Hm. I see those who took you in have not informed you.

Blackfire: Of what? Took me in?

Danny: You are mine. My Dark Star. My daughter.

Blackfire: So I am crazy and this is a crap dream.

Danny: This will take a while I see.

Dabble inspired by Daughter of stars and galaxies