A So Called Tamaranean

A So Called Tamaranean

Danny falls through a portal leading to a world full of superheroes. Unfortunately, he happens to bare an uncanny resemblance to a certain race of aliens here-Tamaraneans.

So my post about Danny being mistaken for a Tamaranean is being seen by more and more people, so I’ve decided to finally post this one-shot I’ve made around the time I made the original post. I have no idea if I’ll continue this or not, I kinda just wanted to write about my little idea for a bit and figure out how to write Nightwing. I think he would good with kids. I also only refer to Dick with they/them pronouns because it makes it so much easier to differentiate who’s who when referring to someone.

☁︎

The last thing that Danny remembered was green. Lots and lots of green ectoplasm. And before that? He was trying to escape from one of the many dangers of the Ghost Zone. He couldn’t even see what it was, but he sure as hell could sense it. Both with his ghost sense, and by being beaten up by it.

He never meant to go so far from the portal, so far from his home. And he definitely didn’t mean to get hit right into a different portal.

When he woke up, he couldn’t sense any ectoplasm at all. Death and decay, however, he could sense. And smell. He mostly smelled burnt rock, just like all the other times he got slammed into the ground by ghosts. He really needs to learn how to dodge one day.

His eyes fluttered open, then closed them just as quickly as dust went right into his eyes. He had seen smoke and rock, just like he expected. He groaned, trying to push himself up, but fell in an instant. He was so tired. And yet, he could tell he was still in his ghost form. How could he still be in his ghost form when he had no energy left? He had no idea.

So Danny laid there, trying to think about where he could be and why was he stuck in his ghost form. At least he thought he was stuck in his ghost form as he usually turns back into a human when he passes out.

Then he heard something. Something other then the ringing in his ears. It was a voice, maybe a masculine sounding one, that had an “are you okay?” tone to it. Danny would know because he’d been asked that hundreds of times before whenever he’d gotten injured. Instinctually, he tried to say that he was fine, but all that came out was a whimper.

Then the ringing in his ears got quieter, and he could hear the stranger’s footsteps coming closer.

“Hey kid, are you okay?” Danny could finally make out the person’s words. His eyes fluttered open again, revealing the person to have black hair, a pale face, and what looked to be a long black sleeved shirt with some blue on it, and a domino mask.

Was he in the 18th century again? Wait, had he’d ever been to the 18th century before? Well he couldn’t be now, not with the striking blue the guy had. Pretty sure they didn’t have blue dye like that back then. Oh god where the fuck was he? He had heard from all his ghostly friends-mostly Frostbite and Clockwork-that the Ghost Zone could bleed into other universes and timelines. Danny really hoped that was not the case. Danny had to get up.

He was in so much pain, his entire body stinging. But he pushed himself off the ground anyways, like he always did. When he sat up he saw the stranger stretch out their hand to him. Danny hesitated for a moment, before scrambling away from them because he did not trust them one bit. Well, maybe two bits but nothing more.

He hovered a bit off the ground, a good few feet away from the masked guy. They looked surprised, and looked at him rather analytically. Danny looked back at him analytically as well. The person seemed to wear this one-piece suit with black gloves and boots, with the wings of a blue bird-like symbol on their chest going across his shoulders and extending to their hands. They were lean and muscular and could probably take down many normal humans in a fight. And Danny.

Danny only hoped that this guy wasn’t some sort of weird murder or something. Maybe they were normal for this world’s standards. Maybe he was normal for this world’s standards. Probably not to be honest.

And then Danny was taken out of his questioning by a question posed by the stranger, “Are you a Tamaranean?” they asked. They weren’t speaking English, Danny could tell by the way their mouth didn’t match their words. Hurray for ghost speak.

“May-“ Danny coughed, his throat sore, but it was fine, he’ll get over it, he always does. “Maybe I am, why do you want to know?”

The guy smirked, making Danny feel a bit uneasy, “You did answer my question back in fluent Tamaranean.”

“So I did, again, why. Do. You. Want to know? How do you know about Tamaraneans? Who are you?” Danny was so confused about everything in this situation and he thought he asked decent enough questions. He had no idea what theses “Tamaraneans” were but he’ll play along as long as he won’t get shot.

“I’m called Nightwing,” they said calmly, “And I want to know what you are because I want to help you,” then they took a step forward. Danny was not expecting this and instinctively shot at them with ectoplasm. Danny yelped, both in surprise that he shot at them and at the fact pain almost immediately shot up his left arm. He could almost feel the nerves in his arm burn. That’s not good.

And yet Nightwing dodged it easily, skillfully, and didn’t seem too bothered by it. In fact, they seemed more concerned for Danny’s well being.

“I’m not going to fight you,” they tried to talk to Danny, “And I know how to help you, I’ve met other Tamaraneans, Tamaraneans who have powers like you.”

Okay so these Tamaraneans could also shoot green beams and fly, duly noted. And not all of them had these powers. God this place was weird. Danny couldn’t care about how weird he was or how weird his world was, but this place just felt weirder.

“You have?” Danny asked in a whisper to put less strain on his throat, floating down to the ground, holding his arm. “Who?”

“Starfire and Blackfire for one, those two have powers,” Danny noticed them happily say Starfire’s name and the tone of distaste they had for Blackfire. So Danny had an idea for which of the two was probably evil. Not really because the guy he was speaking to could still be evil and not to be trusted.

Nightwing then started to list more names of Tamaraneans, which Danny tried to pay attention to so he could give a good enough fake name to them.

“So kid, again, I just want to help you,” Nightwing bent down to one knee, like every non-teacher adult does when they want to talk to a small kid. “I may not know exactly what happened to you, but you don’t have to be alone.”

Danny didn’t expect to feel so...touched. Maybe this guy wasn’t too bad. Maybe he should just tell the guy what he was-actually that could still be a bad idea. Danny didn’t know if they would just flip like a dime and turn around and try to rip him apart. Molecule by molecule.

“What’s your name?” Nightwing asked. Their voice and face was soft, Danny noticed, but their body seemed alert, just ever so slightly tensed, ready for combat on a moment’s notice.

“My name…” Danny mumbled, looking away from Nightwing to think. In a moment of panic and many racing thoughts, he was able to think of something.

“Nightgale,” Danny said, a mirage of a smile on his face, “A bit like your name, isn’t it?” He was somehow able to remember that his last name used to be Fentonnightingale earlier in his family line, and got the name ‘Nightgale’ from it. Thank you infini-map.

“Yeah it does!” Nightwing laughed, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Nightgale.”

Danny really should’ve expected them to stretch out their hand again. He really should’ve been a bit less on edge then he was at that moment. And yet he shot Nightwing in the face when they tried to outstretch their hand.

“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to-oh no no no no,” Danny panicked, looking around to see where he could escape to and he was in a goddamn field with a city surrounding the entirety of the park. Danny just now realized that he had absolutely no idea where he was. He just shot his only hope at figuring out how to get home-probably, knowing his luck, definitely.

And yet Nightwing practically brushed it off. Yeah they stood up, stumbled backwards, swore in pain, and had to remove their mask for a quick second to rub their eyes, but then blinked a few times and seemed okay.

“Well that wasn’t as bad as when the other two did that,” Nightwing muttered in English, “Did the other two do that? Yeah probably. Anyways” -Nightwing switched back to speaking in Tamaranean- “It’s fine kid, you can calm down.”

So Danny did calm down. Mostly. Not really as he was still muttering apologies. His arm hurt even more now.

“I can ask Starfire to teach you how to control your powers,” Nightwing started. Danny has heard this spiel before, but this time he actually had a bit more trust in this random, and honestly somewhat terrifying stranger than he had with Plasmius. And Danny did not want to wait through it.

Danny grabbed Nightwing’s hand and looked up at them with the most pleading eyes he could muster. It worked as Nightwing’s face softened and they had finally shut up.

“Okay Nightgale, we’re going to go somewhere safe, then I’m going to get Starfire over to help you out, does that sound good?” When Nightwing asked that, Danny didn’t felt like he was being talked down to, unlike when other people said similar things. Maybe it was their tone.

“Where are we going? Where are we now?”

“Oh, right, I probably should’ve said that earlier. Well, for one we’re on the planet Earth, and right now we’re in Blüdhaven, New Jersey, the town I protect.”

“Protect?”

“Yeah, I’m a vigilante, which basically means I fight crime and protecting people who can’t protect themselves.”

Ah, now things started to make sense. This guy is a superhero. No wonder Danny felt oddly safe being with Nightwing. They just radiated safety-ness. Danny’s eyes lit up with glee, someone he could finally related to!

Even while slinking into the dirty, bloodstained shadows of Blüdhaven, Danny was skipping around Nightwing. He was in a weird place and situation, but he felt like a giddy kid. Nightwing moved with precision and grace that Danny wished he had.

Danny saw billboards and signs that seemed to mention other heroes as the two went. Random people calling out to Nightwing when they saw them, Nightwing sometimes giving them a little wave. Danny mimicked them, and each time the people gasped at him. Danny was able to pick up that these Tamaraneans that Nightwing thought he was weren’t common, so that’s probably why they looked so shocked.

It was nice, and for a moment, Danny forgot that he was a stranger to this world-that he wasn’t supposed to be here. This place was new and exciting, yet familiar all the same. Maybe he’ll stay a little longer, it’s not like he could just will himself to leave anyways.

For now, Danny was just a kid, exploring a world similar to his own, yet alien at the same time.

Fun sized and feral AU part 1

Shout out to @p0ssym1lker for my new thirst of super tall jazz and "i fight like a Iike a rabid badger danny". didn't know I needed this in my life but here we are.

The scene for my Funsized and Feral prompt yesterday. This one is long y'all. The writing goblin would not let go.

I might make a few more under the same AU. There was far more world building in this than i intended. Meh. We will see.

I dont know how to link past posts so if someone knows please help.

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Jason could confidently say that Dead End Cafe was his new favorite place to eat.

The place was quirky, the small family that owned even more so, but oddly enough, it managed to fit into the little nook in Crime Ally without seeming out of place.

The shop and family had popped up out of nowhere about a year and a half ago. Bought out a whole block of crime ally that had been condemned for god knows how long (a two story shop, with two small buildings behind it.) And they had set up FAST.

Like big money fast.

Suddenly there was a nice little cartoony ghost theme Cafe with a house above and two small warehouses behind it with unknown contents. It screamed suspicious.

Jason had dug into the purchase and found it was infact, big money, two different sources. The head scratcher was that it was legitimate big money. The area had been bought under three names:

Daniel J. Manson-Foley-Fenton

Samantha A. Manson-Foley-Fenton

Tucker R. Manson-Foley-Fenton

It was clean. All of it. Apparently, a group of three high-school sweethearts, two of which were heirs to some pretty wealthy families) had decided that they were gonna move to Gotham and open a quaint little cafe in Crime Ally..... right.

He send a request to Tim to dig a bit deeper(fucker owed him a favour). Then proceeded to stake out the place as both Red hood and Jason.

Nothing. Not a damn thing. Apparently, the two warehouses were a greenhouse and a makeshift garage. He had searched all the electronic files (with Tim AND Barbara help!) Still nothing.

Samantha apparently liked to garden enough that she was willing to help feed all of Crime ally with it.

Tucker on the other hand, doubled as both a video game designer and someone who Timmy himself said he wanted in Wayne Inc. R&D (His current project was a prosthetic arm that was supposed to be better then anything on the market for people who lived in harsh environments? Notes about getting someone nicknamed Frostbite to help test them?)

The only odd thing that all three of them could find was that apparently, Daniel's parents believed they were ghost hunters. After digging further, Tim found that the whole town was ghost themed. (A tourist trap, which honestly explained the cafe theme). They did, however, make a large sum of money through patented inventions.

Honestly, so long as they were not doing anything in supervillain territory, Jason didn't care what they wasted their money on.

In a last ditch effort to find something, ANYTHING at this point. (This was actually starting to bug him, even the food they tested was clean, like "cleaner then you find in most of Gothams fast food places Jason" clean... he did not need that info replacement thanks.)

He evently caved and went inside the Cafe as Jason Todd.

The inside of the Cafe was just as weird as the rest of it. A mix of techno, Gothic punk, and peppy cartoon ghost that just... worked?

It was nice honestly, it was homey, but had a fun theme. It was the type of Cafe you looked for in the higher end of Gotham when you acted something different but still "upscale".

It should have felt out of place. But it didn't. The room was inviting, the food smelt delicious, there was a reading corner, the walls with hanging plants. It was nice. Too nice. Nice things like this didn't survive in Crime Ally. Jason knew that better them most.

Deep in thought, Jason nearly had a heart attack when a young voice spoke up.

"You smell funny"

Jason blinked before look down. Yep, that was a small child. A small three maybe four year old child who looked like a tiny female version of one Daniel M.F. Fenton.

"Um what?" Jason asked slightly thrown. Where had she come from?

The small girl barely came past Jason's knee but she still looked him dead in the eye before stating innocently,

"You smell funny, you're like the stinky piles that Cujo make in the yard."

Jason was pretty sure he just got told he's a peice of shit.

"ELLIE LILITH" a voice rang out.

Speak of the devil, Jason watched as Daniel rounded the counter walking quickly up to his.. daughter? (There had not been a kid mentioned in his files)

"You apologize right this second young lady, that was very rude" Daniel scolded.

"But mama it's true, like Cujo" EIlie protested.

(Maybe not a he) Jason thought as he watched the pair with an odd sense of bewildered amusement.

"Cujo" he asked looking at Daniel.

The man? looked mortified "our dog" was the reply before turning back to further scold the girl.

Jason definitely just got called a peice of shit.

(Well damn) he thought watching the back inforth between parent and daughter (kid might make a Gothamite after all)

in the end Ellie had given a half hearted apology about "sorry for calling the stinky man funny" before running off leaving Jason to talk with a horrified Daniel "please call me danny and our last name is a mouthfull" Fenton.

Apparently he was infact he/him being called mama was a thing form thier home town. Danny said he was cool with it so jason shrugged and accepted as another family quirk.

Jason had left the cafe that day with mixed feelings. Apparently, three highschool sweet hearts really had set up a quaint cafe in Crime Ally.... huh.

It was a nice place one Jason would like to go back to. But as stated earlier, nice places didn't last long in crime ally. The cafe would most likely be packed up and gone in a month.

The cafe was not gone in a month.

Or two, or three. By month four crime ally had slowly started to accept Dead End cafe as a neutral area similar to Dr. Leslie's clinic. They gave good food at prices that everyone was aware would run a normal business into the ground and treated everyone who came in like family. (It was almost scary how Danny never seemed to forget a name)

By month five Jason gave the kids that ran in his circles the ok to trust the Fentons. By month eight Dead End was declared off limits for robbery and gang fights. (petty crime may run rampant in gotham but even the roughest of gothamites won't mess with a place that gives freely without discrimination or a risk of cops).

By the first year, most of the gangs and small time thugs had accepted the Fentons as theirs and kept an eye out. They may not be able to stop the big names, but like hell thier favorite cafe was getting robbed by some upstart.

Jason can clearly remember sitting in his favorite spot with a book a little after the one year mark when one of the regulars had stopped Tucker. The whole cafe had seemed to hush as the mood in the cafe shifted.

"Look" said the guy (Jason was pretty sure he recently he had recently been working for Penguin) " it been bugging quite a few of us recently and we were hoping to talk with the two of you's" he raised his chin towards Sam who was also on the floor, (a rare day both Danny and Ellie were not in the shop).

"We know the two of you's can handle yourselves."

(Understatement, Tucker was built like Jason and was a good three inches taller with a mean right hook. Sam had been jumped a few times before the off limits and the damage she left was actully more the the average bat.)

"But more often then not its just your boy and your ankle bitter here. (Ellie has, in fact, a bit four different peoples ankles) "he's a real sweetheart that one, but fight wise he looks like a stiff wind would push him over." Jason could see a few others in the cafe nodding along. "Me and a few of the others have been doing some rounds when we can but it's not hard to see that the two of you are not on the floor often. We know you both do hard work at those shops of your, we appreciate it really, but it also leave a large amount of time when they aren't protected. It's practically an invitation to bastards looking for a quick buck." The man looked from both Tucker to Sam then back to Tucker. "We's was hoping to set up a chart with you when you won't be here. It won't be perfect but alot of us would feel alot better if Ma Fenton wasn't by himself so often."

Ma Fenton. It had been a bit odd for some of the people to get used to the fact that Danny was mama, and Sam was Papa. However, after they got used to it, it seemed to catch. Because unintentionally, Danny had become a parental figure to alot of people. He had a presence that made you feel safe and content. You needed advice? young or old danny had an ear ready and a plate of hot food. He was almost a foot smaller then both his partners, sweet and honestly not hard on the eyes. More then a few flirted him in passing (Jason was pretty sure that the ankles Ellie targeted were not random.... good on the brat.)

Danny was bright. Way to bright for Gotham. Jason might start swinging by at different times as well.

Jason had been about offer up his help with making a schedule when Tucker spoke up.

"Wow, um, so that's really thoughtful of you guys and by all means if it makes you guys feel better go for it." Tucker looked like he was struggling to find words glancing at an amused Sam. "There seems to have been a small misunderstanding" she said taking over.

"You see" Sam said grinning " it might not be Gotham but Amity Park had a unwritten rules of its own." Sam slowly moved towards the man that had stopped Tucker, all eyes in the cafe following. "Don't wander the graveyards." Step. "Don't go into the corn fields alone" Step. "Some of them were just for fun, don't sit under the willow tree in center park on a full moon". Sam stopped in front of the man, the room absolutely charged with tension despite how ridiculous the "rules" sounded.

"There were three rules that were made the day the Fentons set up shop in Amity. They were jokes when they first started but everyone and their dog new them as law by the time we moved here."

Sam's voice lost it's hard edge as she started to list. "One, if you need a hand, get a Fenton. There is no family in Amity more willing to help then the Fentons". The Room lot some of its tension as Sam huffed a laugh. " these rules are not limited to Amity by the way". The man (Jason really should get a name) rolled his eyes but still nodded in agreement.

"Two" Sam's soft smile became a mean looking smirk. "Don't not ever, and I mean ever. fuck with an angry Fenton". Sam's smirk seemed to grow as the disbelief showed on the faces around her.

"I'm serious" she had said. "The number of times Tucker and I had to drag Danny away from a fight because someone threated one of us. Angry Fentons can be down right feral. The last place you want to be is in-between an angry Fenton and thier target."

Sam shook her head as she grabbed the empty dishes off the table, walking to the back. "Make a schedule if you wish, Tucker and I will help as best we can. But Danny isn't nearly as helpless as he seems."

"What's the last one" a different regular called out. Sam stopped, turning to face them. "Last one of what"? She asked.

"You said there were three rules, what's the third?" They asked.

Sam just shook her head before turning back to the kitchen. "Sorry" she called back. "But that one is an Amity only rule"

They had set up a schedule.

It was a good one. The guys on the list had joked it was more like a scheduled break time then a guard duty. The few small time thugs that didn't care about the off limits rule weren't stupid enough to attack with the number of known fighters they had rotating through.

Key words being small time thugs.

Almost a year and a half on the dot Jason could admit they may have miscalculated and Sam may have been pretty spot-fucking-on about calling her husband "feral".

The cafe has been packed. It was mid lunch rush on a cold day. Jason sat in his usual spot, a now four year old ankle bitter to his left. (What not stinky today? Your getting better)

It started with a loud bang, the sound cutting over top of the crowded sounds. The clanging of pots hitting the ground caused the cafe to quite down. others starting to notice something was wrong, several people rising to take a look.

A shrill scream silenced the cafe completely, multiple people drawing weapons. Jason pulled Ellie to his other side shielding her as the sounds of a fight started up. (The back!! they didn't have anyone guarding the back today). Jason did his best to take control of the situation without exposing Ellie.

"You three get in a close as you can, don't shoot until you know you won't hit Danny, the rest of you guard those without a weapon. If you don't have a weapon get the hell against the wall and the fuck out of the way!"

People were scrambling to get to thier spots as the three Jason had first ordered were already at the kitchen door. Henry (Jason had learned the names of the guys he had on shift) pushed open the door, gun at the ready, only to be pushed right out of the way as the God damn fucking JOKER of all people pushed past him, around the counter and into the room.

There was a moment of horrified silence as everyone registered who was in the room.

Jason was panicked. The green that he had never felt in the cafe before started to rise. Taking in the Joker as he heaved for breath looking far more deranged than standard. Fuck Bruce, Fuck the no kill rule, if the Joker had hurt Danny he was DEAD.

Jason prepared to shoot as quiet as he could. The Joker wasn't paying attention to him yet, but the sound of a cocking gun would definitely get it. (He shouldn't have brought his old single shot pistol. What was he thinking?!) He could not risk Ellie behind him. He could do this. He just had to be quick, cock the pistol, aim, fire.

Jason took a breath, eyes green and locked on the Joker. Breathing out he whipped the gun up, cocking it with his other hand, only to freeze as unholy SHRIEK sounded as the kitchen door SLAMMED open.

Danny M.other F.ucking Fenton, in all his 5'1" glory, stood at the kitchen door cast-iron frying pan in hand, glaring at the Joker with a force that made the worst of Bruce's batglares look tame. In the time it took Jason to blink, Danny had thrown himself up onto, and off the counter, into the Joker, in what Jason swears was was the most beautifully executed fully body flying tackle he has ever seen.

What followed after that can only be described as a fight between two rabid badgers.

There was hair pulling, scratching, biting,(Jason now knew where Ellie got THAT from) at one point in the fight a few poor schmucks had actually unfrozen long enough to attempt to pull Danny away from the crazy mass murderer, only to be hissed at. Honest to God hissed at.

It was wild, Danny at one point had the Joker pinned and was just going town. (for someone so small he had a nasty looking punch.) He counted at least two chairs being thrown, three tables, and one cup. Danny even took a whole chunk of hair out. (It was still there on the floor, no one wanted to touch it.)

The fight didn't end, so much as move on when the Joker finally managed to throw Danny off long enough for him to run. He actually ran. away. from DANNY. The same Danny who after getting his footing saw the fucking JOKER running away. Scooped up his frying pan and ran AFTER him.

No one in the cafe moved. No one knew what do. They had seen fights ok. They had seen alot of fights, but the level of absolute FERAL that they just witnessed was a new level. Even more then that people were trying to align the sweet,happy, looks like he couldn't hurt a fly Danny with the I maybe possessed by a demon with rabies Danny that just took a literal bite out of the Joker.

They stayed frozen until Danny came back to the cafe. Smiling like he did normally everyday, Danny had taken one look around the cafe, apologized for the scare, and asked if there was "anyone willing to help him move the four men in the kitchen that defiantly need medical attention out" and "not to worry about the blood stains he would deal with those after he changed."

Jason himself was still partly dazed when Ellie spoke up curiously from behind him. "Mama did you kill the mean clown man?"

Jason (and everyone else in the cafe) turned to look at Danny.

Danny who had stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to the house.

Danny who's hair was a mess, clothes rumpled and torn.

Danny, who's "I'm not small im fun-sized" apron, was splattered with red, and who's favorite frying pan matched.

Danny, who smiled back at them and made the same sentence that normally brought relief, sound like a threat.

"He'll live".

Well that was way longer then I meant it to be. Have you actual chapter? At 3am? cause I could not stop writing? Sorry for any mistakes but i am to tired to catch any more xD good night all!

Just a wee scene from chapter 10 of The Curious Case of D. Grayson

Vlad accidentally outed both of them publicly and Danny was forced to flee into the Ghost Zone while his former rogues destroy the portals and leave Vlad stranded in the mess he made.

Clockwork shows up only to dramatically tell Danny that "This chapter of your life has ended. It is time for you to begin anew." He also warned Danny that he would no longer be able to help him in the new world he would be inhabitanting and wished him luck.

Luck was something he clearly did not receive since he landed smack in the middle of Gotham.

Through a bright green portal.

At night.

As a very glowy Phantom.

In the middle of a very busy road.

People were staring at him from inside thier cars, some were trying to put thier cars in reverse to quietly get away some were filming him with thier phones or trying at least trying to. He is a ghost after all.

Some melodramatic person screamed and suddenly there was some type of demon swooping down to Phantom. It was at this point that Danny thought, Screw this. I'm out. Before turning invisible and flying away.

Except...the demon was following him. Black wings like a bat were flared as the thing followed Danny across the city. It took almost an hour to lose its trail and hes certain the only reason he managed to do that was by leading the thing into the sewers and phasing back up above ground while he was out of sight.

Danny took this opportunity to invisibly phase into a boarded up shop and transform from Phantom to Fenton then phase out invisibly and bolt. He needed to be more careful of cameras this time around. Amity may not have had a bunch but this city was infested with them. After a few failed mugging attempts from some people on the streets he thinks he knows why.

He spent his entire day exploring Gotham and swiping food. He felt bad about it but with no legal identity and no way to earn money in a non-criminal way he was kinda tight on options. Eventually dusk came and, not knowing if that bat demon thing could sense him or if it liked to snack on lost little ghosties, he began somewhat frantically looking for somewhere to hide for the night.

Danny was really, really good at finding hiding spots. Usually this wouldn't be a problem. The opposite really. But here it was.

Turns out most of the great hiding places Danny found (abandoned theaters, insides of clocktowers, the 13th floor of some wierd company towers that he heard were unused and had no way to access) they were already occupied. Either by thier wierd Owl cult, this wierd Robin cult or this wierd Bat cult, Danny has decided to avoid the heck out of the bat cult cause he was 90% certain the thing that chased him on his first night here was the bat monster they worshiped.

Also, that bird cult member in the back and blue kept trying to "adopt him" which he was pretty sure meant inducting into the cult, which is a solid no from him.

Appearently him just finding all of thier hideouts is either horrifying or just embarrassing to the members of the cults. One time he popped into another "bird nest" and came face to mask with Red Robin and Nightwing around when this first started. Everyone just stared at eachother in shock for a solid five seconds before RR began reaching for something and Danny bolted back the way he came (which weirdly enough was though a cabinet door)

RR inspected the dog sized hole in the back of the cabinet that the kid must have come through and realized it lead through the walls. Chilling.

In Dannys defence, his phone was left behind and he didn't even think about reading the newspaper past learning the current date. Still on him, but meh.

hmmmm tiny prompt idea i lied it's kinda big

For whatever mystical reason, Batman, John Constantine, and three other Justice Leaguers go to Amity to assess the ghost issue.

While there they talk to the Fentons, and meet their starstruck son, who has a very similar name to Phantom, the obvious vigilante that refuses to ask for help, and his face is pretty much exactly the same.

Oh, Phantom is dead and this kid is alive? Well lots of Batman's kids have pulled that same shit. Weirder things have happened.

Cameras don't work right around the kid, recording equipment shorts out with static, and he keeps slipping up and using his powers. It...really isn't hard to find out Danny Fenton is THE Phantom.

So, since it's so obvious, they kinda assume everyone Knows but isn't saying it to make the kid feel like he's doing a good job at being secretive.

Then they learn about the Anti-Ecto acts, and they're like.

"Oh, that makes sense, obviously the town would ban together to pretend this kid isn't Phantom if literal torture is what awaits him. BTW, let's go ahead and take steps to get that shit removed how did this even get through?"

But then shit get's weirder?

The Fentons sit the supers down and rant and rave about how Phantom is a Kill On Sight threat, and force their son, their bright cheerful son who wants to be an astronaut and talked about space with Batman for literally forty minutes, to fucking listen in.

They're talking about how they've shot him, stabbed him, beat him with blunt instruments, how they measure the effectiveness of their weapons against ghosts using him as a template, and detail how they intend to dissect him and study him while he is sitting right there, looking like he wants to vomit.

And now it isn't so cute, because the Justice League members think that this whole town has banded together to punish this small child for existing. This same small child who has been limping and keeps giving different excuses for it, and when said kid notices their side glances musters up a shaky smile, clearly trying to Not Acknowledge the rant by his own goddamn parents.

Meanwhile Danny's parents are like, super proud that their very squeamish son is listening to their science presentation and putting on a brave front for the superheroes.

So like, who would snap first? Constantine, or Batman? Or one of the other Justice Leaguers? One of the Batkids listening in through the coms?

Idk it's a long explanation but like yeah, that's the prompt.

Part 4: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

The pull returns as soon as Jason steps foot outside the cemetery gates. Something in him urges him to hurry.

It doesn’t make logical sense. It’s just a dead body in an unmarked grave. That’s certainly nothing new or surprising for Gotham. Jason is not about to let it slip through the cracks but right now he has other more time-sensitive things to get done.

He slips on a comm.

“Hey O, you there?”

Her response takes less than 3 seconds. [What is it, Jaybird?]

“I’ve got an unmarked grave in a back corner of the Gotham City Cemetery. It’s at least a couple years old.” He pauses on the street corner to glance back at the cemetery gates. For just a second he thinks he spots a set of glowing green eyes but it's gone in a blink.

[And?]

Bab's question pulls Jason back out of his head.

“And I want to get a look at the body and everything so that the cops don’t conveniently miss anything.”

[You know what B is gonna ask,] she warns.

He sighs and drags a free hand down his face. “I know and I don’t have a good reason for why I was there. Just…gut feeling I guess.”

[We can keep this from him for now, at least until we go digging,] she replies.

This is why she's Jason's favorite pseudo-sibling. She's good at keeping secrets from B. He doesn't even have to ask most of the time. She just understands how much of a nosy bastard Bruce can be and more importantly, she understands that some things need to come out in their own time.

"Har har, O. You're hilarious," he deadpans back.

[Of course I am. Someone had to inherit Alfred's impeccable sense of humor.]

"Oh please, you wish." Jason snorts. "I gotta get back to business. Catch you on the flip side."

[I'll set up an algorithm to try to run through and narrow down footage from around the cemetery, but you better bring me some donuts when you next come by. The good ones from that shop near your place outside Burnley,] she orders and hangs up before Jason can respond, leaving him smiling as he removes his comm.

He has a few crime-time things to work out but then he can focus on the unmarked grave.

Things are a mess in his crew right now. Things are just not going Jason’s way today. A seller got spooked and dumped the product in the harbor. Bill’s wife went into labor prematurely, so there went one of Jason’s best henchmen. What? He’s not a monster. He did catch one of the new guys selling to kids and had to deal with that. By the time he finishes up a plenty eventful patrol, he is exhausted and pretty much just collapses in a pile of goo on his bed. Not even the insistent tug can keep him up beyond a passing thought to try to find more information later today when he wakes up.

The opening chords of Holding Out for a Hero -but not the original Bonnie Tyler version, oh no, it's the version from Shrek the musical- greets Jason's newly conscious mind. There's only one person in Jason's life with enough access and the gall to change their ringtone in his phone to this specific song.

"Dickwad, what do you want?"

[Awe, someone's grouchy. Not happy to hear from your favorite brother?] Dick's whine almost gets a chuckle out of Jason, but he'll deny that to his dying undying? breath.

"Holding Out for a Hero? Really?" Dick's cackle is a deranged sounding thing, especially over the phone. "What warranted a call this early in the afternoon? If it were for the laughs you would've done it where you could see my face when my phone rang."

[Ugh,] Dick complains, [this is why I hate being in a family of detectives.]

"So says the detective."

[Fine, fine. I just got some intel on a group trying to move a new strain of speed. It's some extra nasty stuff and they're looking at Gotham, specifically Crime Alley. I figured I'd see if you want in on it.]

"I'm busy right now, dead body."

[Oh shoot. How fresh?]

"Dunno," Jason sighs. "I found an unmarked grave, definitely old enough for the ground to have settled."

[Oh, if it's that, can't it wait? Body won't go anywhere. Better yet, tip the cops and let them get the initial legwork done,] Dick says lightly. [You can take it after that.]

The tugging in his gut protests at the thought of leaving the body in that grave to the cops, or anyone really.

"Gut says no."

[Jaybird...]

"There's something more here. I need to be the one digging it up, even if I leave it to the cops later on," Jason insists.

[How much of a risk is there of someone finding it in the meantime?] Dick has dropped into his professional voice now and it's weird how reassuring that is, Dick taking him seriously on something that seems so illogical.

"Low. It's tucked back in the far corner of the cemetery, surrounded by trees," he replies.

[Jay...you hate the cemetery. You hate going within three whole blocks of the cemetery. What were you doing there?]

"I needed to check something and that led me to the grave," Jason states vaguely. "Don't ask me how. I'm not sure I even have the words to explain it, especially not over the phone. It feels important Dickie. Logically I know it's just a long dead body, probably bones, but The Black Dog was there for a reason."

[The black dog? What black dog?]

"I think it's an actual church grim, or I guess a barghest in this case since it's a cemetery and not a graveyard.” He can practically feel Dick’s questions bubbling to the surface in the silence between them. “Just, go do some research. Look up Church Grims. I’ve got work to do, plans to dig up the cemetery.”

[Jay, I really think you should wait on this,] Dick begins softly, [take a step back to look objectively.]

“With all due respect Dickerson, shove it up your ass." Jason takes a breath to release the unreasonable annoyance. His voice drops to a soft rumble. "You didn’t see Spooky, the way they looked at me.”

[Oh no…you’ve already named it? We’re doomed!] There’s a pause before, [if you want help with the grave, I’m willing to help dig it up.]

Jason sighs softly, a smile tugging at his lips. “Thanks Dickiebird. You take care out there. Don’t let that ass get shot, your rogues will cry.”

Dick scoffs but Jason hangs up before he can retort. Thus Jason begins his day, light pre-breakfast snack, warm-up workout, breakfast, the rest of his usual prep work for going out as Red Hood.

Jason swears, anytime he goes over with the intention to ask his information dealers about the unmarked grave, something comes up. None of the camera footage he's been sent to review so far has turned up anything. This whole week has been a bust and he's about ready to break out the shovel and go dig that grave up now. He knows it's illogical but he can barely sleep, the thought that he's missing something, that he needs to hurry hurry hurry, keeps him up and he's starting to feel like he's going insane. It's as he decides he going to return to the cemetery that his comm goes off. It's the emergency frequency, the emergency frequency specifically chosen for major Arkham breakouts. Fuck...

It takes the whole next week and a half for them to track down and re-lock up Gotham's worst offenders, even with Jason and Dick's help. Hell, Cass even flew in from Hong Kong. The chaos in the streets and destruction left in the wake of this event are taking even longer to resolve. What few hours rest Jason has been able to snag are plagued by dreams of Spooky and the unmarked grave. There's dreams of everything from the dog dissolving to someone trying to claw their way free of the grave. The latter one spooking Jason the most despite how his logic reminds him that such a thing is impossible. He and Babs have already ruled out the body being dumped recently. She checked the footage when Jason woke from the dream, of the victim being buried alive, for the first time and called her in his paranoid panic. They both understood that it was most likely the trauma, but she'd been kind enough to check just in case.

Jason wakes in a cold sweat to the sharp absence of that soul pull to the cemetery. It's very telling of how used to it he's grown that the absence of it nearly sends him into a state of panic. He's throwing on the closest clothes and nearly half-way out the door before he remembers that he should probably talk to someone. He races back for his phone and jabbing his finger at Alfred's contact before snagging his keys and throwing himself out the doors.

[Young Master Jason. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?]

"The pull is gone," Jason says with no preamble. Alfred is the only person he's gone into detail about the pull of the cemetery to. Even though he hasn't had a chance to speak with him about Spooky, Alfred will understand better than anyone. "Dickie there?"

[Yes, Young Master Richard is currently helping Young Master Damian with his animals out back. Shall I fetch him for you?]

"No, no, have him tell you about Spooky and the grave. You can call Babs in too. She's been helping me with trying to find more info." Jason checks his key chain for the keys to his main storage unit. He has a shovel there. "Also tell Dickie that I'll take him up on his offer to help me dig up a grave."

[Certainly Young Master Jason. Might we be keeping this event "on the down-low" so-to-speak as well?]

"Alfie, you're a godsend. Thank you."

SO! Good news and bad news. Bad news, I had to split this chapter so this is what you get. Good news, I've been on a massive writing spree so the next chapter is well over halfway done. This was honestly the best place to cut this chapter. I'll continue making each chapter it's own post now too, but I'll still link everything together. This chapter and most of the future chapters will probably be titled with lyrics from Momento Mori by Fish in a Birdcage bc it's insane how well that fits.

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