Dc X Dp - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

Dc/Dp Uncle Danny Au

So if Clockwork adopts Danny and Clockwork is Kronos, does that mean Danny is Zeus’s baby brother? If so, then Danny would be Wonder Woman’s uncle.

Danny joins the League on some mission and a sleazy villain starts saying things about Diana and before she can punt the villain into the sun, Danny just goes full eldritch,

“D̶͙̈́͒͘o̸̝͙̙͛̋͘͜͝n̵̦̔̐͂’̸̼͊̃͋̆̔͗͂t̷̛͕̪̠̔̇̅̋̇ ̴̹͎͖̯̠͐̋̑͆̋̚ẗ̵̠̟̞̱͉͌͋̃̊́̾͝ͅa̶̡̔͛l̷̜̋́̃ḳ̴̻̰͉̝͖̜̱̈́̒̓́̐̂̏̓͠ ̵͔̿͗́́̈́͂͠a̷̫͙͚̿͒b̶͔̣̳̘̾̾̔̌̈̾ǫ̴̘̮̀̆̀̋̆̓̅́͝ủ̷̝͖͚͇͓̰̱͌̀͂̈́̉̽̏͆͜ţ̸̧̩̯̪̦̣͋͋͗͝ ̶͔́ḿ̷̲̎̌̈͠ÿ̶̨͇͓̲̘̻̰́̑̀͊́͝ ̷̡̘̠̞̖͚̀̐̿͛n̴̲̄i̷̢̨̡͎̪͚͓̟͑̆̕e̸̱̻̲͈̳̥̓̐̃̕̕c̵̡̯̹̹̬͈̲̤̔͒̔̃̿̍̈̕ë̷͙͙̝̻̩̝́̎̈́̏̅̏̔̆͜͝ ̴͓͖̻͎͍̳̝̙̥̀̋͝͝t̸̢̨̖̰̰̟͚̻̀̄̀̏̇̍̕ͅh̸̢̦͈͍͓̱͈͔͕̉͑͋̓̈́͘͘̚a̶̩̗͌̆͌̔̔̊̉́́t̵̡̩̰̗̭̋ ̷̠̱͉̝̰̪̓̆͋͌͆̑̆̚ẇ̸̼͖̟̰̗̻̜͔̿̓̌͘͝ą̸̱͍̪̲̜͋̓̋̓y̸͎͖̦̩̳̓̋̀̔̾̃,̸̹̜̣̮̗̺̖̈́́ͅ ̶̯̼̈̍̇̐̽͛̕y̸̤͉̕o̷̠̼̖͚̯͖͙̔̈́̄̐͜ǔ̸͔̦͌̎̈́͜ ̶̩̝̼̘̳̣̗̤̫͆̑͐̓p̷̰̳̣̒̿̊̈̅̚͝ę̶̡͇̼̭͖͓̜̈͗͜͝r̷͇̳̤͎̝̥͕͍͐̓̅̓̈͠v̷͇̝͎̈́ë̸̖̲̖̲̈́̃̄̄͆r̷̡̠̣̙͠t̴͙̹̿!”

and sends the villain to the shadow realm.

Diana: Did you say niece?

Danny: Kronos adopted me. Oh, Pandora also says hi!

Diana: 

Rest of the League: 

Bruce: *Sadly tears up half filled out adoption papers*

Or maybe Clockwork and Bruce co-parent him and Diana has fun calling Bruce grandpa Idk 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Zalgo text says, “Don’t talk about my niece that way you pervert.”

Ok, so I have a few hundred fanfictions I have planned out for a ton of different fandoms and I have no idea which one I should write, so I'm putting it out of my hands.

I'll give the title and the fandom and everyone and anyone else can decide what I write. Includes rewrites of my current fanfiction on Ao3 that I don't like anymore. I'm only doing one story for each fandom on this pole but I'll make a deal where I post one chapter a week and when I finish I will post another poll for a different story. Okay, I've rambled enough and I need to stop or I'll just keep procrastinating. I will start writing when the poll ends. So here:

Alright, as promised, chapter one is up.

Summary:

Love isn't like how it is in Fairytales. Or is it?

Damian is about to find out when he's transformed into a cat, with no clear way to break the spell or to let his family know that the adorable fluffy kitten is him.

In honour of the new chapter of Lex Luthor's Ascent From Supervillainy To Fatherhood

I made a small meme while we wait for the @captain-krow-drozdov deluge of memes.

Also @xmarksthespotonthemilkyway, I SUMMON THEE

That episode made it imposible for me to read any fanfic with bad parent Bruce, like the man would probably addopt Ace if he could.

But anyway Spade's obsesion could be repaying worth people for their kindness. It would make sense for her dying self to feel at peace like in that episode but also feel like she needed to do something in return for Batman and people like him who help others dispite the risks and without expecting something in return.

Maybe have her death be some time after Jay's death making it harder for Bruce because he just lost his own (favourite) child and now he had to play with another child for the last time (he thinks).

Have Spade spend YEARS alone in her "lair" without a guide to her new existence, maybe when some of the bats died in comics and return without pit madness, she is the reason why. She is repaying batman by making sure that if he meets his children when he dies they won't be that diffrent to how they where alive and the fact that those little bats got resurected makes her so happy (she saw Bruce devastated face when she was dying in his arms and she read how unbearably painfull Jay's death hit him, that orphaned man deservses to have his kids back).

And then, after latest yet to be fully manifested ghost of the bat-child returned to the living world, she went to the swing and stayed there like always waiting for another chance to feel this great feeling of something (fullfiling her obsession). She was there alone again for how long who knows she lost the track of time years ago (at least she thinks it was years ago) until she met him, something someone like her who played with her, talk to her, taught her, intruduced her to her first real friends. Only one other person treated her this well and cared this much (she can read minds she knows it) but even Bruce didn't stay this long with her. She needed to repay him, she felt it in her very core. But how you repay a ghost king?

[Side note Ace/Spade manifested in ghostzone Ghotham Park, but being so power scared away ghosts who normaly help new dead because there is no way a new ghost would be this strong, right? And dead bats started their manifestation there because the zone knew that they would be safe there.]

She might have develop a crush on king Phantom but can you blame her (stop laughing Ember) he is so kind, and strong, and understanding, and you get the idea. So imagine her shock when somebody casually mentions the he is in fact both dead&alive... They forgot to tell her. So she grills the girls during tea time for Danny and when she learns...

Oh boy is she pissed. BUT also she now knows how to repay him, so she opens up to him about her death and tells him that Batman may work with JL who then works with goverment who works with GiW, but Batman is first and formost hero of the people and fights for the world where no other child will dying alone or watch their loved ones murder. Danny is slightly hurt after being called a child he is 16 or 14+2, that is almost an adult thank you very much.

But Danny trusts her and he realy needs back up because his parents are getting more radical and obsessive and Jazz is this much from starting a custody battle with them, even frutiloop is concered. So one weekend they fly all the way to Gotham (Sam is sad that she had to stay behind because this city has the vibe) and chill out on the swing and wait for bat to land.

Okay. So- I've been reading a lot of Batman X Danny Phantom stuff on this site lately, and I came across a short post that included Batman finding Phantom's grave(it was a corpse au) and mentally comparing Danny to Ace. A girl who wanted to be a child yet who was too powerful and ended up dying with our resident Batdad sitting next to her up until her last moments in a fake world she made for herself in a bid for happiness. (I might be wrong about Ace's personality or motivations cuz I only rly remember Ace because of how she died, so plz bear with me if I'm wrong)

Now, a thing about Ace is that when she died, she was wearing a black/white leotard with a single clover suit on one side. And I've discovered that the Ace of Spades can depressingly enough be represented as death and bad luck.

And so(here's where the DP comes in), I'm introducing a ghost called:

Spade ♤

For her appearance I'm thinking white porcelain like skin for how delicate she felt in her final moments. Maybe inked details all across her like tattoos or like how fancy playing cards have to show how who she WAS wasn't entirely up to her to decide. Her white bobcut hair looks like it was shattered/cut off a larger part and is able to cut those who aren't careful enough, and that there's a crack across the top of her head to showcase as a deathmark that she died from a fatal migraine(maybe?). (The crack doubles as her hairline-) Her eyes being the same rings of yellow and orange(or maybe whatever their inverse counterparts are...) that appeared when she used her powers, but with her black pinprick eyes at the centers. Her actual FACE I'm thinking her eye lashes, lips and eyebrows look painted on in black ink. Cuz, come on. If Danny can hav black eyebrows as Phantom, so can Spade-

Outfit wise, I kinda want to put her in a reverse colored leotard and call it a day, but I ALSO wanna add onto that. Because the thing about her last moments is that Batsy carried her body out of the park where she was staying in her fantasy land in a princess carry, so I'm imagining her in a fancy dress/leotard amalgamation cuz that princess carry might've the last comfort she might've received before her body got buried(or smth along those lines). If this post gets popular, I want art of that leotard/dress amalgamation with playing cards detailing cuz while I draw, I already know I'd butcher the idea 😅

DP plot could just be Danny transversing the Ghost Zone/Infinite Realms for one reason or another and coming across this mad hatter, Alice in Wonderland type lair/area(think the world Ace made Gotham into) where after stumbling through everything in it, he just meets this black and white ghost girl sitting on a isolated swing set. There's only two seats on it, and she's just swinging back and forth on one of them. Danny must figure she's waiting on company and maybe just watches for a while. She'd look just like a statue if not for the fact that she just keeps swinging, and swinging, and swinging, and Danny's getting the idea that this is just another lonely ghost in the zone. Peaceful, and wants to be left alone, but maybe could use a friend. So, Danny sits next to her on the other swing.

Tdlr; Spade and Danny become friends after he stumbles across her lair and started showing her other parts of the zone.

Spade's closest friends are Princess Dora, Youngblood, Klempter, Danielle, and other ghosts among her mental age. But of course, she considers her best friend to be the black and white Phantom who got her out of her lair and living a better afterlife. She wants to pay him back, and sees how badly his afterlife has been treating him (wait- he's not entirely dead?) Scratch that, she wants her friend to live the rest of his half-life as happily as possible. She, personally, is happier in death than in her life, but she doesn't want his remaining life to suck, and who better to introduce him to than the man who made her last moments bearable? Or... should she say the Bat who made it bearable >:3c

Dadadada~! We've arrived at the DC plot!

So, Spade being a frickin overpowered ghost(cuz if she wasn't overpowered enough as a human, you can BET that she's OP as hell after getting ghostly) cows all Danny's usual rogues gallery into leaving his haunt alone until she can get done introducing him to someone who was her father-figure for all of however long he sat with her before she unalived. Danny as Phantom is going along with it cuz why not, free vacation! Sam & Tucker were skeptical, but they can't fault Spade for wanting to introduce her new friend to her old life(?).

The DC timeline is messy, and I only know about Ace because of Justice League Unlimited. The show which has NONE of Batman's sidekicks in it cuz Nightwing was getting enough screen time in Teen Titans. And idk how long Spade spent along in Time Is Weird Here, Infinite Realms, but I rly want her to meet the Batfam and hav this rly heartwarming reunion after Oracle tells Batsy about a disturbance near this one swing-set where reality's getting kinda weird and he just KNOWS-

He knows he's gotten a second chance, and if that means getting blindsided by the fact he and the batfam are highly likely to become an Infinite Realms ghost cuz of the highentened levels of ectoplasm from his new/old child's visits, then so be it. The fact that Phantom's still living under his ghost hunter parents roof actually makes it easier to file for custody if it comes down to it...

(Idk Ace's character & DC's plot enough to flesh out an obsession for Spade that fits with all the other nonsense I've just spat out. If someone wants to try and puzzle smth out, I'll be grateful for the opportunity to read it. This has heavy ship potential, but I'm no writer so I've just put Spade and Danny as friends. But if there's gonna be a name, I wanna try for Mad Ghost, Ghost Hatter, Phantom Card or smth along those lines. For my first dp x dc prompt I've ever written, I'm just hoping Ace as a character gets a little more love as a dead DC character, cuz that shiz made me cry when I first watched it ages ago- XD)

In condemnation of the new chapter of Lex Luthor's Ascent From Supervillainy To Fatherhood

I made a small meme while we wait for the death of Ra and Lionel 

“I ate paint once,” Danny nonchalantly threw out in the middle of game night.

The entire table stopped. Heads whipped towards Danny.

“Yeah, me too. Cardamom yellow was my favorite. Ugly as hell but the chemicals just tasted right.” Tim replied, using the distraction to nab some of Bruce’s money. Monopoly money, that is. Everyone’s heads snapped towards Tim, only Cass and Danny (who was part of the scheme) caught him cheating.

“Really? I think mine was those spray can blue cosmos paint. But that might have been more my thing for space than the actual taste.”

“WHY WERE YOU EATING PAINT?!” Dick asked, looking like he wanted to lunge over the table and shake Danny until he puked out paint. Bruce looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Yeah, what the fuck, Tim?” Jason snickered.

“In my defense,” Danny grinned. “I was left unsupervised. Also, Steph, you owe me $24 in rent.”

“Ugh! I’m almost out of money! Can’t you loan me some, Alfred?”

“I am sorry, Miss Stephanie, you are not qualified for another loan. In fact, one of your properties is about to be confiscated as per the collateral agreement.”

“Noooo!” Stephanie made dramatic dying noises.

“What was your excuse, Timothy?” Damian asked, eyes glued to the board and determined to win the game.

“Hey, I was probably less supervised than Danny was.”

“Yeah,” Danny perked up. “My parents brought us down to their lab all of the time. Taught us a lot of stuff.”

“Really? Like what?” Duke asked, casually slapping away Tim’s sneaky hands.

“Oh, like what a rocket launcher sounded like up close! And how to build a laser gun! Oh! And what human organs looked like when they’re fresh!” Danny chirped, collecting his money from a stunned Stephanie’s hands. He looked up.

“Oh, don’t worry! I at least learned what not to do when it comes to lab safety. And we wore hazmat suits to protect ourselves from the radiation.” Danny smiled in a ditzy fashion as the table fell silent in a horrified manner. Cass tapped his arm amusedly, but allowed his bullshit to stand. After all, it’s not like he lied.

“Radiation?” Duck’s voice raised a couple of octaves. Oh yeah, Danny’s going to laugh about that pitch for a long while.

“Organs?!” Jason’s hands closed around the plastic house he was holding rather forcefully.

“Do you even know what basic lab safety practices are, Danny?” Damian demanded, finally looking up with brows furrowed. He rolled the dice and grabbed a mystery card. He gets $100 from Alfred.

“How old were you??” Duke asked.

“Like… 8, when they first brought me in?”

“Eight.” Bruce rumbled, slipping into a more Batman like persona. When Danny sent him a confused look, Bruce straightened back into his Bruce persona. “Wow, they must have trusted you a lot!”

“Sure?”

“What were their names again?” Stephanie asked sweetly, Cass nodding at him.

“Jack and Maddie Fenton.” Not that they’ll find them here, considering his parents are dead and in another universe.

“Cool, cool, cool!” Stephanie blinked, beaming as her hands formed lethal fists underneath the table.

Danny blinked and tilted his head in an unassuming way, pretending like he had no idea what Stephanie was thinking of. He sneakily handed over $600 to Cass in order to complete his monopoly on his side of the board.

Danny stood up and spread his hands out, one hand clutching his new found victory.

"Well, lady and gents, you've all been floundering against the inevitable tide of capitalism. I am here, as a reminder that you can never win against the hopelessness that will be your financial ruin! I, Danny Fenton, have obtained a quarter of the board and therefore have won against even your best efforts!" He cackled, holding up his fan of properties triumphantly. He shot a mischievous grin at Cass, who held up a solemn thumbs up in support for his monetary takeover.

"... Danny, are you... planning on a career in villainy?" Bruce asked, after a brief and total wave of shocked silence. Damian looked like he was having a conniption at having been bested, unknowingly. Yeah, Danny was disarming like that.

"Yeah, that was concerning." Tim piped up, nabbing a ten from a shell-shocked Damian.

"Hey! The Riddler gives surprisingly good monologues! And he's really loud, so it's hard not to pick up on things. Duke, your turn." Danny sat back down, pouting. The villainy comment was a little too close to his fears.

"Damn it." Duke, who had rolled, landed smack middle of Danny's territory. He handed over a sheaf of bills to a grinning Danny.

"Wait a minute! You have cheated!" Damian bolted upwards from his seat, finally done running through the purchases he remembered Danny making. "You acquired that property not within the games' rules!"

"Okay, first of all, the rule book is a suggestion, like lab safety rules," Danny saw the others open their mouths to protest, but he quickly shut it down. "Second, there's totally no rules about selling and buying places from a private owner so suck on it. And thirdly? Cass sold it to me, so you all can take it up with her."

"Diabolical!" Damian muttered indignantly.

"... Dammit." Dick sighed, falling back into the chair and balancing on its two legs. He couldn't say anything, considering his current of bankruptcy.

"Danny. Danny, I'll buy a property from you." Jason said, eyeing one of Danny's other properties near his own cluster.

"What do you have that would interest me?" Danny asked, falling back into his Vlad-like imitation.

"Ew, don't do that," Steph reached over to jab him in the arm.

"Yeah, Jason, what do you have?" Duke said, the lovely subtle instigator that he is.

"Red Hood's signature."

The others blue-screen, gaping at the actual audacity Jason had to offer up something that would take him no effort. Danny, prepared with a poker face that came with lying straight to Jazz's ever perceptive eyes about whether he nabbed the last of her ice cream or not, was prepared.

"Red Hood? The condom guy working out of the... um. Upper East Side?" Danny asked, pretending to hesitate. He knows where Jason operated. That doesn't mean he couldn't simply pretend otherwise. For science, of course.

...

...

...

The table howled with laughter, Jason's indignant spluttering unable to say anything against Danny's wide eyed look of innocence. Cass leaned against the table, chuckles falling out of her mouth and eyes crinkled in mirth. Dick had fallen out of his chair, helplessly wheezing on the floor. Duke is hiding his face in his hands, mirroring Bruce's pose as they both shake from silent laughter. Damian is smirking, wicked and sharp as he smugly stared at Jason. Stephanie and Tim are leaning against each other, repeating "the CONDOM GUY" in alternating and increasingly louder voices. Alfred had a smile on his face and a tight grip on the bills in front of him that betrayed his amusement.

"He's a crime lord!" Jason exclaimed, indignant.

"Uh, okay. Well, I mean, why would I want a crime lord's signature? I don't want to be on his radar. Or echolocation or whatever. He's... a Bat, right? That's what you guys call that group, yeah?"

"How do you know the Rogues better than the vigilantes?!" Jason glared at his unhelpful family. Those assholes better prepare for a load of rubber bullets the next time they're on patrol near Crime Alley.

"Hey, it's not my fault the vigilantes here are unsociable. Maybe if they monologued more, I'd know who they are."

"Wouldn't- wouldn't that make them more villain like?" Tim asked, stuttering from his laughter.

"I dunno?" Danny replied, enjoying his the family's unabashed joy. "I mean, they're pretty legit and they help people already so I guess they don't need to be sociable... but still I swear I haven't heard anything about Batman other than that he grunts and is mean towards criminals."

Is mean towards criminals, Duke mouthed at a recovering Dick who was in the process of heaving himself back up. It sent him careening back down to the floor with restrained giggles. Cass tapped Danny, reminding him to eat some food.

"Tt. Of course not. They're efficient at their jobs and have no need to be seen as welcoming to criminals." Damian puffed up.

"Yeah, but they've gotta feel safe, right?" Danny shrugged as he plucked a cookie from the cookie platter. "The... one with the sword, what was it?"

"Robin." Damian supplied, eyes narrowed and trained on him.

"Yeah, the baby bird. The kids think his swords are cool so they trust him. But like, the others? The flippy blue one? Not so much."

"Wait," Dick said from the floor. "They don't trust Nightwing?"

"Nah, they trust him to protect them, but he has a history of bringing the kids to the police, you know?"

"What's wrong with that?"

Danny shrugged. "ACAB. But also because everybody knows that half the guys in the GCPD and CPS are child traffickers."

"Wait, what?" Jason and Tim straightened.

Bruce piped in, the emotional whiplash of amusement to concern to amusement to concern visibly making itself known on the man's baffled face. "I thought Batman and Commissioner Gordon took care of that?"

"Sure, the obvious ones." Danny hesitated. Well, he's pretty sure they think he's a meta so... "There's... a meta trafficking ring that they're a part of. That's. That's kind of what I was running from."

Danny looked up pleadingly. Cass placed a hand on his arm in comfort, not knowing that he was fibbing about running from them.

Danny was on the streets helping his own Alley metas to run from them.

Danny is as feral as she was, and that meant he could hide just as much as she could read off of him. Cass was the best and he felt kind of bad about lying to her, successfully or not.

"Uh. Some people said you know Batman, Bruce. I know- uh, that might not be the case but if you do, could you ask him to look into it?" Danny made his eyes tear up. "And maybe he wouldn't care about me much, I mean, I know he doesn't really like metas but if he helps out, I could totally like, leave the city once the kids are safe, promise."

Ooh, Danny put a little too much sincerity into that. He could practically hear the hearts breaking in the game room as everyone glared at Bruce.

"You won't have to leave."

"... Promise?" And Danny's voice was a little too desperate, too hopeful, because Bruce's eyes tugged down in sadness.

"Promise." He rumbled, all Bruce Wayne and all Batman. Danny's core warmed. Danny also saw the rest of the family's faces darken in pure agreement. And partial wrath.

"Yeah! We'll kick Batman's ass if he even thought about kicking you out!" Stephanie proclaimed.

"He's far more proficient in combat than you are, Brown." Damian immediately leapt to Batman's defense and that was that.

Well, later, as Danny was "sleeping" and Phantom was hovering in the cave, invisible and intangible, he got confirmation that his Alley meta kids were going to be safe, soon.

After all, the entire Batclan was suiting up and baying for blood, with Oracle's all encompassing presence behind them, fingers reaching for their enemies' weak points.

Danny and the Riddler getting on like a house on fire because Danny is used to helping ghosts with their obsession and the Riddler gets enrichment time

Like, Danny answers riddles but he makes a show out of thinking about them out loud and taking his time and appreciating the riddle

Which is very different from the people either doing it out of fear, being done with him or super quickly

Danny used to be a vigilante, firmly on the side of good. Like, illegally, but morally good.

Danny’s 100% sure that whatever he is now, it’s not good.

Is Gotham’s influence just Like That?

He was homeless when he got to this thrice damned city (literally, because Lady Gotham was so cursed) and now he’s… here? In a mid-level penthouse with a rotation of homeless kids going in and out of his kitchen and eating out his pantry??

Danny adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt, making the conscious decision to ditch the tie. He’s a tall 6ft 4 now, taking after his Dad. His head smarted all of the time, hitting doorframes when he was being a bit clumsier than the normal ghost-like grace he had learned to channel as The Phantom.

The Phantom instead of just Phantom. Why? Because Phantom was the name of a teenage vigilante in another dimension. The Phantom, on the other hand, is an intimidatingly tall, deceptively kind, extremely dangerous kingpin.

Honestly? Danny didn’t even want this life. Like, he had no idea it would snowball like this??

He supposed that it all started when the Penguin was trying to snatch kids off of his block on Crime Alley. Not officially his block, of course, because Danny didn’t actually enter this city to be a crime-shadow thing. But he hadn’t lost enough of Phantom the Vigilante to ignore kids getting hurt. He still hasn’t, if he’s being honest. He flew into a frantic search, tracking down the missing kids to Penguin’s bar. The Iceberg Lounge. Apparently, he wanted the kids to do some menial tasks and what not. Danny, rage flickering through his core, intangibly went in and robbed Penguin of every coin and secret the man kept.

Then? Danny blackmailed the Penguin to guarantee his kids a measure of safety from the Rogue. That began the slippery slope into whatever it is he does now. Penguin was being kept in line by Danny’s threats, the grip he had on the Rogue’s weak points, and a wonderful bit of intimidation.

——

“What, you stinking phantom? I’m stickin’ to yer rules!” Penguin snarled, forced to his knees by invisible blob ghosts.

Danny, salty and pissy from the lack of sleep he’d experienced trying to keep Penguin’s men in line as a result of Penguin trying to test where Danny’s lines were, dropped the temperature to the point where Penguin started shivering. Considering the place was already cold- the Iceberg lounge lived up to its name- it meant that Danny was standing nonchalantly in a room that was negative twenty five degree Celsius in a sweatshirt, Danny was already making good on his natural intimidation factor.

“It’s The Phantom to you, Oswald.” Danny said, in the tone of someone saying “it’s the shit, to you.”

Danny narrowed his blue eyes, letting a tiny tint of ectoplasm make his eyes glow a bit in the suddenly icing over room.

“Your people have been getting on my nerves, Oswald. Roughing up kids is so… uncultured. Are you sure you’re a Cobblepot?”

Penguin snarled, the effect of which was rendered ineffective due to his increasingly violent shivers. Plus, Danny loomed over him without even trying.

Danny, annoyed and asking himself “What Would Dan Do To Intimidate This Guy?”, gripped Penguin’s shoulder and hauled him up one handed. He dragged the mob boss over to one of the booths, avoiding the bodies he’d dropped (non-lethally) when Danny first walked in to ruin Penguin’s night. He shoved Penguin in chair he iced over, because Danny’s petty and if he saw one more bruise on his kids at Penguin’s hands, Danny was gonna go full Dan the Murderer.

He at least allowed to room to warm up before laying into Penguin, though. He stayed standing. Hey, he had the height advantage to use. He could have kept Penguin kneeling, but it was probably god the best that the mob boss got some sense of pride back.

(Danny had no idea that sitting as someone loomed over you to lecture and threaten you was even worse than kneeling. At least with kneeling, you knew where you stood. But sitting? It leaves you horribly off kilter.)

“I told you to keep your people in line. Kids are off limits, Oswald.”

“I kept them in line!”

Never let it be said that Oswald Cobblepot had a normal functioning sense of self preservation.

“Really?” Danny jabbed his pointer finger lightly on top of Penguin’s trachea and allowed his fingernails to sharpen into Phantom’s sharper digits. Penguin tried to lean away. “Then why did they start a gun fight when there were kids visible on the street? Why did I see one of my kids get hit by one of your poor excuses of a bouncer?”

“I-”

“Don’t care much for your excuses, if I’m being honest. I let you mess around with the little projects you have, without even breathing a whisper of your secrets. Sionis would love to know how you double crossed him the last deal, yeah?”

“I- I’ll keep them in line!” Penguin stuttered.

“Well, I believe in second chances,” Danny bullshitted. Ancients, how was this even working? “So I suggest you make an example of the guy that smacked Hailey around before I make an example out of you, Oswald.”

“Fine! Fine!”

——

And with that, he got access to Penguin’s resources and men and more importantly, the corrupt police officers. He made Penguin “boot out” the pedophilic ones (in a very violent way) and kept the rest.

Then? Mr. Freeze froze over the god damn pipes and Danny had to intimidate and make a deal with the Rogue so he and his increasing roster of orphans had access to warm water.

In exchange for Danny’s restorative and, more importantly, unmelting ice, Mr. Freeze was now Danny’s… on-call enforcer?? When he’s not researching cures for his frozen in a pod wife, that is.

Danny was satisfied with that. He was! But then Black Mask happened, with the man trying to engage in a battle of wits with Danny over the control of Crime Alley which, at that point, was firmly Danny’s territory.

The thing is, Danny doesn’t play nice anymore. Why bother with pointless mind games when he could just…

——

“So, you’re The Phantom.”

“And you’re Sionis.”

Black Mask twitched at the name, gloved hands pulling out his guns. Danny sat on the counter, head touching mid cabinet, and sipped out of Sionis’ favorite mug.

Because Danny broke into Black Mask’s safe house and stole his quality coffee. The man’s eyes were wary.

“How did you get in here?”

Danny shrugged. “Walked.”

Danny held the coffee out of the way as Sionis unloaded a clip into his chest and lunged forward to slap a mask onto Danny’s face. After waiting a bit, as Black Mask’s smug triumph bled into shock, Danny laughed and, using a bit of his natural strength, tossed the guy off of him. He casually took the mask off of his face.

“Jeez, I’m trying to be nice, here.”

“So, you’re a Meta.”

Danny grinned. “Eh. And you’re a cult leader with a mask fetish.”

Danny tuned out the rant about the “true face of Gotham” or whatever, already bored, and sipped at Sionis’ coffee. The ass might be a psycho, but his coffee tastes were wonderful. Danny stood up, rinsed his mug, and turned back to Black Mask.

“You’re trafficking people. Kids.” He said, cutting through Sionis’ chatter. He was sly about it too, committing violence and torture in a way that would ensure obedience and fear. Danny probably would have never caught on, Black Mask’s schemes being so ingeniously created and executed, had he not kept a hawk’s eyes on the more vulnerable members of Crime Alley’s community. And the rest of Gotham’s vulnerable communities, of course.

“My, a wonderfully obvious conclusion. Now, Phantom, I have a proposition for you.”

Sionis seemed to have gotten his bearings back. Danny tilted his head at him, looking down.

“You can work for me,” Sionis said, before opening a laptop with video feed to one of his masked men or whatever holding a knife to one of Danny’s more fearless kids. Danny snarled.

“Or, refuse, and your kid will lose a finger for every instance of your defiance.”

“I told you not to touch the kids, Sionis. I don’t allow trafficking either.”

Black Mask chuckled. “Cut off a finger, Sadness.”

“Yes, bos- ARGHHHH!”

Danny watched as Mr. Freeze froze the goon’s arms before breaking them.

“I’ve got her, Phantom.”

Danny nodded at Freeze, keeping an eye on Sionis in case the fool bolts.

“So, what are your cards now, Sionis? You’ve sure pissed me off with nothing to show for it.”

And that was the last night anyone heard from the one that was supposed to be the King of Crime.

But Gotham knew the head mounted on a pike at one of Black Mask’s hastily abandoned bases was a warning, that The Phantom was watching.

——

Then he somehow got a gaggle of more orphans that were undead zombie “Talons?”

From there, he just obtained influence over the crime bosses of Gotham. Because his Talons kept bringing him heads and blackmail and his crime alley kids and Gotham orphans kept bringing him information for food and safety?

But like, Danny never wanted anything in exchange for the safety he provided. His core could give less of a shit whether he got anything in return. But he couldn’t convince his kids of that! They’re putting themselves in danger and ugh-!

Danny checked himself once more in the mirror. Ready, he stepped out into the night to wait for the Bats at his new favorite VIP spots.

On the way, he passed Ivy and Harley, who he waved to. Pamela worked under him because he controlled Gotham’s criminal underground (which also mean the official parts of the city considering the sheer amount of corruption) and influenced them into more plant friendly methods. His dominion over Undergrowth also helped immensely.

Harley? They’re friends. He beat up and crippled her abusive ex. She gave him therapy and stopped torturing people for fun.

Danny stepped into the back door of the Iceberg Lounge. No one stopped him. No one dared to.

He settled onto a velvet couch, nodding respectfully at the server that had immediately and nervously set down his mai tai. He glanced around for cameras and wire taps, before giving up and upping his ectoplasmic output to short any recording devices out.

He sipped his drink as he waited.

“Batman.”

“Phantom.”

“Oh, good. You didn’t bring Robin,” Danny said, watching Batman tense. “Kids shouldn’t be in places like these.”

Batman stayed silent.

“Come on, sit.” Danny gestured to the couch across from him.

“This isn’t a social call. I’ll stop whatever you’re scheming-” Batman growled.

“Oh my god, you’re so dramatic. Is this where Nightwing gets it from?”

Batman snarled.

“Sit, sit.” Danny rolled his eyes.

Batman stayed stubbornly looming. Danny sighed, allowing his voice to slip into velvet danger.

“I told you to sit, Bruce Wayne.”

“You-”

“I won’t repeat myself again, Bruce. You’re testing my patience.”

Bruce sat, wary and hyper vigilant. Danny sighed, settling back in his chair.

“You’ve heard of Red Hood, yes? Don’t answer that, it was hypothetical. I know you’ve heard of him.” Danny waved a hand impatiently. “I don’t really care why he’s setting up shop in my Alley, but he’s upsetting the other crime lords. They’re asking me to interfere.”

“I don’t work for you.”

“No,” Danny acknowledged with a nod. “But I could make you, if you push it. Politeness would serve you much better right now, Bruce, seeing as I am doing you a… favor. And since I’m not shouting to the world who you are under the cowl.”

Danny gave Batman a pointed, patented, mom glare.

“… Apologies.”

“Now, you might be wondering what that favor is.” Danny watched Batman’s cowled face carefully. “I thought you should know that the Red Hood is your “Jason Todd.’”

Batman was still. And then Batman leapt at him, snarling, “How dare you-!”

Danny caught the vigilante by the throat and squeezed.

Batman’s flurry of punches- which, mildly ow, those gauntlets kind of hurt- quickly changed to clawing and maneuvers to get out of the choke hold. Danny held steady, cutting off the vigilante’s air supply until he began to go limp. He’s not Superman. Danny will bruise and kill, if he had to.

“Are you going to listen to me now?” Danny asked mildly, emulating both Black Mask’s drawl and Adam’s effortless psychosis.

Batman gave a weak nod. Danny plopped him unceremoniously back onto his couch. He sipped on his drink once more as he waited for Batman to cough some sweet air back into his lungs.

“I’m telling you to get your little birds in line before I have to go hunting, yeah? Keep your kids out of danger, Bruce, and I won’t have to step in.”

“He- how do you know..?” The growl isn’t there anymore, and Danny felt a smug sense of vindication of having smothered it out of the guy. Woah, no, that thought was too Dan and too little Danny. Danny handed him a cup of water, which Batman didn’t drink.

Danny rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Drink. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now. And as for how I know…”

Danny held up a beat up copy of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, filled with Jason’s writing. He tossed it to Batman, who caught it with blank eyes.

“Water,” Danny reminded him firmly, feeling like a mother hen. Batman gulped down his water, eyes flicking between the pages of Jason’s annotated book. Ancients, Danny couldn’t believe he annotated his book. A crime lord, like that? Well, it’s not like Danny could say anything.

Batman looked up at him, a silent demand- no, plea, because he’s not in a position to make demands- for an answer.

“Broke into his safe house. You should contact your fling, Talia. Seems like she dunked him into these “Lazarus pits” and told him you replaced him with the current Robin.”

Danny could see Batman’s emotional gears hard at work and honestly, he doesn’t have time for that.

“Now, we’re done here. You owe me one for the information. I’ll collect later.” Danny grabbed the Dark Knight, who stayed oddly unresisting (shock, maybe?) , and hauled him up.

“Tell Tim Drake to eat more. He looks too skinny.” With that, Danny dragged the Dark Knight to the window and punted him out. His kids were waiting on hot chocolate night and Danny had to go shopping for quality ingredients.

——

“YOU COULDN’T HAVE TOLD ME THE BIGGEST CRIME LORD OF YOUR CITY WAS THE FUCKING HIGH KING OF THE INFINITE REALMS?!”

“Hn.”

“BLOODY HELL, DON’T YOU GRUNT AT ME, YOU BROODY BASTARD!”

Constantine let out a scream. Shite, the king who held his soul contract was a crime lord. Great.

——

The reason intelligence and convoluted schemes and genius doesn’t work against Danny is because he’s got weird standards of what he’ll tolerate and the fact is that his normal dumbassery and mother hen tendencies cancels out and coherent thoughts or plans he might have had.