Got a new idea for some Medical examiner! Danny. I did this instead of working on my writing competition submissions 😀

-----

You know, Danny has always heard that Gotham was full of crime and murder, but so far it really wasn’t too bad!

He had moved here just over a month ago to work as a medical examiner at the GCPD until Jazz finished medical school and her internship at Arkham. Yeah, the crime rate was admittedly pretty bad, but the people here were so nice!

His coworkers invited him to join them on lunch, his neighbor, a big buff guy who looked like he ate nails, helped him move in, and he had only been mugged once which was pretty decent! It was on his first day here and he found his wallet on his doorstep the morning after, everything still inside!

He aced the interview and solved 2 crimes on his first day there! He even got off early to walk around and take pictures of the arcitecture to send to Sam. He did have to stay late a couple of nights to deal with paperwork, but that's to be expected. All in all, Life was going great!

Meanwhile, everyone who meets Danny is absolutely positive this kid is going to become Gotham's next rogue and is doing their dammed best not to end up on his vengance list when it inevitably happens.

His first day at work, he spent 8 minutes staring at the body before telling the Commissioner that he knew not only the victims name, but who the killer was and where the murder weapon was hidden.

Normally he'd be brushed off as crazy, but sure enough, everything he said was accurate. That would have been cause for an investigation but he was on video (albiet a very blurry video, those were brand new cameras and they were already malfunctioning?) working late on the night of the murder. The janitor even vouched for him.

His skin was almost as pale as the corpses he examined, and cold too. Danny nearly gave the intern a heartattack when he found him taking a nap on the breakroom couch, cold as literal ice and only faintly breathing. The kids eyes were even different colors depending on who you asked; some claimed it was blue, others siad it was bright green.

He mentioned his childhood once, talking about the lab in his parent's basement and how lab safety was basically a suggestion. He said this as he reached for his drink and almost took a sip of formaldehyde.

He also hasn't outright said it, but from what they've heard, they're pretty sure his parents were literaly hunting down the local hero from wherever he's from.

Yeah, this kid was most definitely rogue material and everyone was trying their best to either stay the hell out of it or at least end up on his good side. Danny just thinks gothamites are misunderstood little meow meows.

Sleepy King Nanenna Masterpost

The original post is getting a bit long so I'm posting this here to make things a little easier. Less scrolling for returning readers at least.

Original Post A Bit of Detective Work Detective Work on the Other Side Meeting the Mayor

Sleepy King

The Justice League Dark caught wind of a cult trying to summon the Ghost King. A being with power so terrible and great, that all of the chaotic Infinite Realms feared him. A true tyrant. Long ago it took the effort of ghosts equal to gods to seal him away into a permeant slumber.

And now this cult wishes to wake him and bring him to the living realm. It was a race against the clock to find the ritual site and all members were called on board, magic or not. Even Constantine looked stressed.

When he wakes, the boy is human. Dark haired. Blue-eyed.

...Bruce has a sneaking suspicion that this tyrant, whether consciously or unaware, is not unfamiliar to tactics of aggressive mimicry. It is a discomforting thought.

Still, soft, frail, and human-shaped, he looks as though he could be any one of Bruce's, Clark's, or possibly even Diana's children. The human-looking boy yawns, jaw cracking, arms stretching in the air. He slides off of the bed given to him, bare-footed. He pads over to the door with blanket still gripped in his fist. His eyes are half-lidded.

He still is, as far as Bruce can tell, mostly asleep.

Bruce debates with himself; what is better, that the boy knows that he is a prisoner, or that he is free to wander the Watchtower unheeded?

...Well, one of those issues, Bruce can fix. He clicks on the loudspeaker to the base. "Attention. The slumbering entity brought through to our reality yesterday at 1900 UTC is about to leave their temporary accommodations in the barracks. Do not engage unless you are conventionally invulnerable, or have permission from an upper member. Do not speak to them. Do not pass through the barracks until further announcements have been given."

Batman sweeps out of the monitor room without further notice to anyone. The boy had already reacted positively to his presence; the likelihood that further contact would put Bruce in danger is high, but not more than usual.

"Superman. With me."

Speaking to no one, as usual, feels performative— but Clark shoots him a thumbs up emoji on his communicator almost immediately. The image was followed up with a promise to meet him outside the barracks instead.

Fine. Bruce stalks off to find the boy, before any new supernatural incidents befall the Watchtower yet again.

Bruce clicks the door to one of the smaller kitchenettes. It slides open. Inside, Superman and the entity are nibbling on off-brand toaster pastries. Only Clark deigns to notice Bruce's entrance.

"There we are," Clark coaxes, taking the thing out of his mouth. It has been painted with pink frosting. The flavor is strawberry: an inferior flavor. "Get some calories in you. And look; here's my friend! He'll be able to help us out, so why don't you tell him your...problem?"

The boy keeps nibbling. His gaze doesn't shift. He looks dull, lifeless— until Clark gently nudges him, and he finally notices Batman in the room with him.

"I'm lost," the boy says, in a half-whisper. He's mumbling through his pop-tart. "Dad says you can help...?"

Clark winces, and Bruce would want to do the same in his position. None of them have ever asked royally supernatural entities to imprint on them, and yet now Bruce has a starfish for a son.

(Not that— not that Bruce begrudges Jarro's presence in his life. Jarro is an excellent, well-behaved child. Usually.)

"Of course." And Batman will help, of course. The faster they solve this new set of circumstances, the faster this boy will go back to whatever realm he came from, and leave Earth safe and sound. "What do you remember before you woke up here...?"

:)

wait, no! I just realized there wasn't enough sleepy Danny in the other version I wrote. So take this instead (if you want, I'm not your dad).

---

The boy keeps sleepily nibbling on his breakfast pastry as his brows furrow in concentration. It's a familiar look, one Batman has seen on all his children's faces the morning after a particularly grueling patrol, when they clearly haven't gotten enough sleep and yet still have to get up for school.

"I finished my homework and went to bed…" the boy eventually says.

Bruce just hums in acknowledgment, it seems this tyrant king is familiar enough with modern American culture to say something like homework despite supposedly being in a slumber for centuries. The boy blinks, brows even more furrowed, he can almost see the gears slowly turning in the boy's head. It's very convincing.

"Dad, what time is it?" the boy asks.

Clark flinches again, but covers it with a bright smile. "In what time zone?"

The boy frowns even more somehow, his whole face covered in faint wrinkles. He's looking up at Clark through squinted eyes, there's practically smoke pouring from his ears.

“It’s the weekend, don’t worry about school,” Batman cuts in before the boy can think on it any more. There’s no knowing what will happen when the entity finishes waking up.

The boy turns his bleary eyed, squinting gaze on Batman. “It is?”

“That’s right,” Clark agrees readily. “In fact, it’s a three day weekend.” Today is actually Friday, so that’s a pretty good cover. Clark lifts the drooping pastry back to the boy’s mouth, he absently takes a bite as he mulls over the new information.

“Mr. Lancer said I’d fail math if I missed another test.”

Batman and Clark look at each other over the boy’s head, what an odd thing for a powerful immortal tyrant king to worry over. Either he was a very good actor, or something more was going on here.

“Well then, we’ll have to make sure you get to school on time on Monday, but right now it’s the weekend.”

“Weekend,” the boy mumbles sleepily before yawning wide, his hand half up in a pale imitation of politely covering his mouth. It’s no where near close enough to hide the sharp fangs in the boy’s mouth.

“You clearly need more sleep,” Batman says. With his half asleep state he almost wonders why the boy woke up at all.

“Clearly,” Clark agrees readily. “How about we get you back to bed?”

“But…” the boy’s brows furrow as he tries to concentrate, “what about… I’m lost?”

“It’s alright,” Clark reassures as he guides the boy to stand up. “We’ll still be here when you wake back up, you’re obviously too tired to deal with this right now anyway.”

“Dad?” The boy asks as he allows Clark to herd him back towards the room he’d been put in.

“It’s alright, it’s the weekend, remember? And growing boys need their sleep.”

“Gonna be tall as you someday,” the boy mumbles as he shuffles back to his borrowed room. Once there Clark sets about tucking the boy back in, Batman watching from the doorway. The boy seems to drift off quickly once he’s tucked back in, still clinging to his chosen blanket (Batman’s cape) rather than sleeping under it. Batman tries not to think about the implications.

Clark gives the boy’s hair one last pet and a whispered “Good night,” before leaving, floating out the door so he wouldn’t make a sound. They both quickly move down the hallway before saying a word.

“Oracle, did you get that?”

“There are a lot of schools, and Lancer is a pretty common last name.”

Batman sighs, he knew that would be the answer.

“What do you suspect?” Clark asks as they re-enter the kitchenette, Clark already tidying after himself.

“Would you expect an undead all powerful tyrant king from another dimension to worry about passing math class or finishing homework?”

Clark paused and winces, “I suppose not. But he is the king.”

“He is,” Batman agrees, “I just worry he may also be a boy who was used in a ritual against his will. We only arrived at the end, we don’t know if a host or sacrifice was placed in that circle.”

Clark sighs as his shoulders droop, “I was afraid you would say that. If that’s what’s going on it complicates things.”

“Hn,” Batman agrees.

“Any word from Constantine? Surely he’s done inspecting the remains of the ritual by now.”

“He’s still searching for a containment device for the king.”

“Found one, actually.” Constantine walks into the room, tossing what appears to be a travel mug up in the air and catching it.

Clark frowns, “Did you stop for coffee on the way?”

“Nah, mate, this is a ghost containment device guaranteed to hold even the ghost king.” He holds the mug up and points to a button on it, “Just take off the cap, point, and click.”

“We may have an issue, I believe the ghost king has been summoned into a host,” Batman says before they can get too far.

Constantine curses, “Of course, why would the bloody cultists make this easy for us?”

“I think I found him,” Oracle says over the comm.

Batman brings up his holographic wrist computer and holds it up so Clark and Constantine can also see. He switches Oracle to speaker, “Go ahead.”

A picture of a middle aged, balding man appears on the screen. “Mr. Ron Lancer, vice principal and teacher at Casper High School, Amity Park, Illinois. He teaches several subjects, including math. Of note is one of his students,” the picture changes to show a very familiar teenage boy, “one Mr. Daniel Fenton, who’s in danger of failing most of his classes. School started fifteen minutes ago and he is currently marked as an unexcused absence.”

Constantine whistles, “Sure picked him, looks like he could right blend in with any of your lot. Either lot.”

“Also, worth noting Daniel’s father, Jack Fenton.” The images changes to a family photo, including a large man who one might mistake for Clark if half asleep.

Clark sighs in relief, “So he just mistook me for his father.”

“But that leaves us with a problem, how do we remove the ghost king from the boy without harming him?”

The other two quiet at Batman’s question, both Clark and Batman looking to Constantine for the answer. “Right, let me get a look at the kid first. See what I’m working with.”

Batman simply stalks off, trusting the other two to follow him. He quietly open’s the door to the boy’s, Daniel’s, room and peeks in. Daniel snorts, but doesn’t seem to wake. Batman motions for Constantine to head in while Batman and Clark wait out in the hall, hovering in the doorway.

Constantine stops in the middle of the room, hand held out to make some kind of sign as he looks down at the sleeping boy. “Well, that’s interesting.”

Ooh!

Wonder what Constantine sees now that he didn't see at the summoning site.

Also, Batman better already be planning to get Danny's absence excused. They cannot let the boy fail math because he got kidnapped.

So I ended it there last time because this could go in several directions (Danny wakes up and sees the thermos, danny wakes up thinks it’s all a dream and sleepily rambles secrets, danny doesn’t wake up but something else happens, etc). I'm choosing this one, but if you wanna take it in another direction feel free.

---

Daniel's face scrunches up and he makes a kind of groaning sound. John quickly backs up, motioning Clark forward. Knowing this boy simply mistook him for his actual father rather than some kind of interdimensional cosmic horror imprinting on Clark makes this both easier and harder.

“Uuuugh, what stinks?”

“I'm not sure what you mean, son.”

“Danny,” Bruce whispers softly.

“Smells like rotten eggs,” Danny mumbles sleepily, already falling back asleep with John out of the room.

“We were just cleaning out the fridge, go back to sleep.”

“Did the hotdogs start a war again?” Danny slurs. At least that's what Clark thinks the boy said. He pays it no mind as Danny's breathing evens out, sometimes dreams are just weird like that.

Clark carefully tucks Danny back in, then just as carefully leaves the room as quietly as possible. They can't risk letting the boy wake up, not until John finds a way to do something about the king.

They all move back to the kitchenette, where John tucks the travel mug out of sight in one of his deep pockets.

“You're not gonna like this,” John starts with a tired sigh. He's already tucking a cigarette, unlit, into his lips. He's also fiddling with a lighter, though they all know he knows better than to actually use it.

“Tell us,” Bruce demands, the lenses of his cowl narrowed to mere slits.

“That kid is dead as a doornail.”

Clark closes his eyes in grief, they really were too late. He listens to the slow, steady heart beat just a few rooms over, knowing that even though the body is clearly still alive that’s not what John is talking about.

“He's also fully hale and alive. My guess is the ritual killed him and the ghost king possessing him is keeping him alive. Won't know for sure without a closer look.”

Bruce frowns, “But?”

“But the kid being asleep might be the only thing keeping Pariah Dark asleep, since he was pulled straight from the Sarcophagus of Eternal Slumber. And I can't risk getting a better read without waking him up again.”

“Rotten eggs,” Clark says. “He said he smelled rotten eggs.”

“Sulfur,” Bruce adds. Not that he needs to, they all know what that means.

John nods, “He can smell the demon on me. Best if I don't get close, we can call up others to come look at him though.”

“There's only so long he'll sleep,” Bruce says ominously. “Even teenagers only sleep so long, at most maybe two hours.”

“Problem is the kid's some kinda undead now,” John replies. “No knowing how he'll react to tranqs or sleep spells. Could put him out, could do nothing and us making a fuss would wake him, could put the kid to sleep and wake up Pariah.”

Clark sighs, “So in short, we're on an unknown time crunch to figure out how to safely remove the ghost king from this boy without waking either of them up and without killing the boy in the process.”

“Got it in one, mate.”

“There’s a further complication,” Bruce says. Likely he’s about to share some of the information Oracle has been feeding him off and on this whole time, just quiet enough that Clark would have to concentrate to listen in, but he’d rather concentrate on the soft breathing of the boy just down the hall. They can’t afford to be surprised by his waking. “Amity Park advertises itself as the most haunted town in America.”

“It don’t take being the world’s greatest detective to connect being haunted with the king of all ghosts.” John sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “Alright, plan?”

Clark looks to Bruce, he is their best strategist after all.

“Constantine, contact whoever you can. Superman, keep an eye on Danny. I’ll put together a quick presentation covering all the most important information Oracle is currently digging up, it seems the cult chose Danny as the ghost king’s host very carefully.”

“Right. Great. Wonderful. Splendiferous.” John sighs one last time, “Alright, I’m going to get as far away from the poor sod as I can and get on calling in back up.” John leaves without another word.

Before Bruce can leave, Clark turns to him and asks, "Do we tell his parents?"

Bruce breaths a little heavier, his shoulders drooping ever so slightly, the closest he'll allow himself to showing emotion while in the cowl. "What can we tell them at this point?"

Jack and Maddie were just heading upstairs for a snack break when the house phone rang. Maddie slotted herself in against the wall while Jack started digging through the fridge. “Fentonworks, Doctor Madeleine Fenton speaking.”

“Hello! This is Superman, with the Justice League. I have news about your son.”

“The Justice League? Well that’s just wonderful! Jack, honey, it’s the Justice League, the want to talk about Danny!”

“The Justice League? About time they finally noticed all of Danno’s hard work! He’s real hero material!”

Maddie hushed her husband, they weren’t allowed to talk about him being Phantom unless the other party already knew. It was hard, they were so proud of how their son had stepped up to defend the town, and open up entire new horizons in ghost studies to them! And their new daughter too! “What did you want to talk about Danny, exactly?”

“Well the good news is he’s safe, we rescued him from his kidnappers.”

“Kidnappers?” Maddie blinked, completely confused. “Honey, did something happen to Danny? The Justice League says he was kidnapped. Isn’t he at school?”

“Let’s go check the Ghost Logs!” Jack thundered back down the stairs to the lab.

Maddie did a quick check on the phone before following him down, thank the ancients for cordless handsets. “Jack, dear, there aren’t any missed calls.

“I assure you, ma’am, your son is here with us. He’s currently asleep.”

“Well that’s just odd, the school should’ve called us! I’m going to have to have a word with the principal after this!”

“There were a few spikes last night,” Jack said while scrolling through the ghost log. “Looks like we had an incursion last night that good ol’ Danno took care of, but there was another spike less than an hour after he got back, nothing since.”

“Alright, honey, now let me just put this on speaker so we can both talk to Mr. Superman at the same time.”

“Wonderful idea, fudgecakes.”

Maddie did just that, setting the handset down so they could be near it. “Now, tell us exactly what’s going on, please.”

“Right,” Superman sounded a bit nervous. “Last night we apprehended a cult summoning the Ghost King, but unfortunately we weren’t in time to stop the ritual. Your son was there, we believe the cult was using him either as a sacrifice or a host for the Ghost King, and even more unfortunately it looks like it worked.”

“I’m sorry, you think the Ghost King is overshadowing Danny?” Maddie asked skeptically.

“Overshadowing?” Superman asked in confusion before slowly stated, “Yes… we believe the Ghost King is… overshadowing Danny.”

“Well that just doesn’t make sense,” Maddie said emphatically. “The Ghost King is currently locked up in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.”

“I… how did you know that?” Superman asked.

“Everyone in Amity knows that,” Maddie said matter of factly. “And not only that, I doubt Danny’s actually being overshadowed.”

“He’s really good at getting ghosts out of overshadowed people,” Jack said proudly. “Doesn’t even need the gauntlets!”

“Where are you?” Maddie plowed on, “We have some tools we can bring just to be safe. Jack, be a dear and go get the Fenton Ecto Detecto and that Specter Deflector Danny modified.”

Superman sputtered, “You can’t just-”

“And why not?” Maddie asked, an edge of steel in her voice. “Right now it sounds like you’re holding our minor son without his parents present to advocate for him. Not to mention this sounds like a ghost situation and we happen to be ghost experts. Now, where is our son?” Maddie asked that last question oh so sweetly.

Superman gulped, “I’ll send someone to come escort you.”

-_-_-

Jack and Maddie strode confidently through the halls of the Justice League base. They hadn’t been told which base it was or where, but that hardly mattered if their son was on it. A man in a dirty trenchcoat that reeked of cigarette smoke met them halfway there.

“Did you tell them everything?” he asked Batman, who had been escorting them since they arrived through that fascinating teleporter.

“Ask Superman,” Batman replied.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Maddie asked, not bothering to slow down to address this stranger.

“Name’s Constantine, occult consultant.” He looked the pair of scientists up and down, he had the same expression many people had right before calling them quacks. Well, the feeling was mutual, Maddie had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes and scoffing. Occultist indeed.

“Superman said some cult was trying to summon the Ghost King and Danny is involved somehow.”

“Not trying, they actually did it. So far as we can tell your son was used as his anchor, right now we’re trying to figure out how to get the tyrant out without killing him.”

Maddie suspected something, but she would keep her peace until they had more proof.

“Since the tyrant was summoned right out of the Sarcophagus of Eternal Slumber-”

Maddie did roll her eyes at that.

“... we think he’s asleep and hasn’t realized he’s out yet. So long as your son stays asleep it’s likely to stay that way. Hopefully we can get the king out soon.”

“Oh, if Danny is being overshadowed we have our ways.” She doubted it, Danny had said any ghost that tried to overshadow him only ever managed a few minutes at most. He seemed to think his will was too strong, but she suspected it had more to do with his body already being possessed by his own ghost. Not that she would test that theory, not even if there were actually a way to do it.

“That’s right,” Jack agreed eagerly. “We brought up the Specter Deflector Mark II! If Danny is being overshadowed we just put this on and that nasty ghost will be spit right out!”

“Not all ghosts are nasty,” Maddie reminded Jack absently.

“Of course, sweetie! But this is the Ghost King, we already know he’s nasty.”

“How do you know that?” Constantine asked.

Maddie ignored him as she walked through the door Batman had just opened. Inside was a dim bedroom with all the personality of a hotel room. She pulled out the Fenton Ecto Detecto and activated it. After a brief scan, the screen lit up with the results. Maddie leaned over and held the device so Jack could lean down and read it with her.

“Hmmm…” Jack said softly, “these readings seem within Danno’s norms.”

Maddie nodded along, “If there were another ghost the readings should be higher, even if they were hiding inside him somehow.”

“What do you mean another ghost?” Superman, who had joined their group just outside the bedroom, asked with a furrowed brow.

Maddie ignored him, “Should we try the belt or just wake him up?”

“Wake him up, of course! Danny, you’re late for school.”

“Huh, what?” Danny snorted awake, then looked around blearily.

Maddie reached over and flipped on the light, “You’re late for school, you already missed first period.”

Danny scrambled out of bed, “Shit! I didn’t finish that essay either! Kitty and Johnny had another fight and I had… to… where are we?” Danny stopped and spun around, taking in the room. Then he looked towards the door and slunk over to Maddie’s side.

She gently pat Danny on the head as he tried to hide behind her despite being the same height as her now. He was growing up so fast! “It’s alright, honey, the Justice League says you got kidnapped by a cult? And they rescued you?”

Danny looked over at Jack, to the doorway, then back to Maddie. “A cult?”

Maddie looked back to the doorway, where Batman and Superman were both staring intently at that Constantine fellow. “He… you… but we saw… what?”

“Perhaps the summoning failed when you broke the cult’s circle?” Maddie asked oh so sweetly. “Those things are notoriously unstable.”

“Unstable?!” Constantine asked, clearly offended.

Batman frowned, “It is possible the Ghost King lost his link to the mortal world when Danny fell back asleep after we broke the circle.”

Constantine groaned, “Yes, that’s true. But! That doesn’t explain him being dead.”

Danny flinched, Maddie held him closer and cooed to her boy while Jack moved to stand between them and the doorway. “Now listen here!”

“Danny had a near death experience a year ago,” Maddie cut in before Jack could get any more steam going. “We didn’t find out about it until recently because Danny and his friends covered it up, believing they’d get in trouble.” She did an exaggerated eye roll, “Teenagers!”

“We’re just glad our Danno is doing better now.” Jack ruffled Danny’s hair affectionately.

When Danny smiled and practically purred under the affection Maddie couldn’t help feeling a stab of guilt, a whole year and a half of Danny hiding everything from them because he was just a scared kid with too much responsibility thrown at him. Well things were getting better now, she hoped this nonsense wouldn’t interrupt that.

“Well, now that that misunderstanding is out of the way, I think it’s time we took our son home, he’s clearly just been through a traumatic event.”

Danny groaned, “I think it’s already too late for that math test, Mr. Lancer said he’ll fail me.”

“Don’t worry, Danny-boy!” Jack ruffled Danny’s hair once more, “We’ll call in and excuse your absence, it’s not your fault you got kidnapped in the middle of the night by some wacko cultists!”

“I’m sure someone from the Justice League will be happy to vouch for you as well,” Maddie said while glaring at the three men still standing in the doorway.

“Of course,” Batman said gruffly. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll go talk to Danny’s school personally.”

“There, see? And now you’ll have the rest of today to finish that essay and any other homework you have. I’m sure one of your friends will be by later with any other assignments you missed.”

Danny sighed, but let himself be guided out of the room by Maddie.

It wasn’t until later, when all three were safely home and Danny had had a chance to shower and put on his regular clothes that Maddie finally sat him down to ask the question that had been burning at the back of her mind since that first phone call. “Danny, sweetie, why did the ritual to summon the Ghost King snag you?”

Danny shrugged, “No idea, I didn’t even know I could be summoned.”

Maddie pursed her lips, she didn’t like that her boy could be summoned, occultists had such a slapdash understanding of how things worked. “Do you know anyone who might know what’s going on?”

Danny sheepishly held up the thermos that had been clipped to his pants. “Well, I know two. And if they don’t know I can think of a couple others we can ask.”

Maddie smiled brightly. “Wonderful! Go get your father, I’ll warm up the Specter Speeder and we can head to the Ghost Zone.”

“Okay.” Danny re-attached the thermos and hopped up to go find his dad. Maddie smiled as she watched him go. Then the smile fell as she made her way down into the lab. She really didn’t like the implications of what they’d been told, poor Danny already had shouldered far too much responsibility, she didn’t like the idea of adding a crown to that. But if that was the case they would face it together, as a family.

Sleepy King

The Justice League Dark caught wind of a cult trying to summon the Ghost King. A being with power so terrible and great, that all of the chaotic Infinite Realms feared him. A true tyrant. Long ago it took the effort of ghosts equal to gods to seal him away into a permeant slumber.

And now this cult wishes to wake him and bring him to the living realm. It was a race against the clock to find the ritual site and all members were called on board, magic or not. Even Constantine looked stressed.

Forgot I had this in my drafts😅 I think it’s a good idea, I just should have expanded on it a bit more. Unfortunately don’t have time to right now

—————

So Danny had a bit of a problem.

He moved to Gotham to start college, and everything had been going well for the first week. Unpacking, figuring out where classes were, and exploring the city was fun, but he had admittedly been getting a bit lonely. Sam had picked up a place as Undergrowth’s apprentice, so she rarely left the ghost zone these days, and Tucker had gone to star city to hopefully get an internship with STAR labs. He made the mistake of mentioning it on a call to his sister and she immediately insisted he work on making new friends, starting with his lab partner.

Only issue? He was pretty sure the guy was knew he was a ghost.

He slipped up and let his eyes flash green a couple times, plus the room does tend to drop a couple degrees when he enters… his new friend doesn’t seem to mind though so it’s probably not a big deal!

Meanwhile, Duke is convinced his new lab partner is possessed.

Sometimes the guys eyes change color, and othertimes he can see this shadow-like being standing behind him. His smile is just a little too wide and the room turns to ice when he walks through the door. He glows bright green.

He has to get this kid to a magic user, and yesterday.

It's just a game, right?

"I just don't see how sitting around is gonna do anything!" Dash argues, face to face with Sam.

"Well, if you have other ideas you're more than welcome to offer them, but we can't just take out the giw. They have more manpower than us, more equipment, and the new agents actually seem to be competent in fights! And we are a bunch of high school students!"

They are all, ostensibly in English Class right now, but even Mr. lancer has forgone the illusion of normal classwork. He assigns books and hands out reading assignments every week, but nobody really cares whether they get turned in or not. The city, after all, has a much bigger problem.

"I don't know! But sitting here-"

"He's not entirely wrong, the longer we wait the more likely they figure it out, just like we all did." As Valerie finishes speaking, the room temperature drops noticeably, and the kids all glance nervously over at Danny who's head hasn't moved from it's spot on his desk. He almost seems dead with how still he is. Beside him Tucker stares at his PDA, the only one who hasn't reacted to the temperature change.

"Should I even ask what you're messing with?" Sam asks, walking over while the others stare nervously at Danny.

"Actually, yeah." Tucker easily shifts so they can both see the webpage displayed on the handmade tech. "I got something through."

"I thought getting stuff through wasn't really the problem?"

"I mean, yeah, they're letting Everything Is Normal posts through, but this wasn't. That. I was, um, kind of fucking around with ciphers and shit? Not saying anything relevant, but just seeing whether they'd flag any old weird shit, you know? And um. I got a video out."

"Okay, but how does that help us?" Valerie asks.

"It helps because if they let a cipher through then means if I encode shit well enough, then it'll also get through."

"But if it's, like, that hard to figure out what it says, then won't it be useless on the outside?"

"The chances of it getting into the hands of someone who could crack it do seem, uh, improbable."

"Not if we stack the deck."

"Wes-"

"No, listen, I know you're all still mad at me, but like. If you can attract a community of codebreakers? Then eventually someone will crack the code on what you need them to!"

"If you have an idea then just fucking say it, Wes," Sam snaps.

"Make an ARG. We can even have like, the base level be completely United to anything real, just make up a story about, i dunno, space travel? And then bury the actual info beneath that. Eventually somebody will crack into the real stuff, and if it's popular enough by then, and the GIW tries to suppress it? That'll be even more suspicious-looking, and just make them dig harder."

"What the fuck is a ARG?" Dash asks, pulling his gaze away from their definitely-just-sleeping classmate.

"Augmented reality game. It's like an unfiction thing. Make a story but the story is interactive and people have to decode shit to figure out what's going on." Tucker glances over to Wes. "And actually not a bad idea. If we all work together, we could probably make something cool."

"You could treat it as a class-wide project." Mr. Lancer says, making everyone jump. "That way I can back you up if anyone starts asking questions."

"Make it about black holes," Danny says, finally pulling himself up from his desk. "We can base it in wormhole theory, and distract the GIW with all the theoretical science."

"What, so like we make videos that seem like they're being sent through a black hole?"

"Fuckin. Sure, why not? As if shit couldn't get any weirder around here."

"Star, please try to refrain from swearing in front of me. I know the situation is - difficult - but I am officially still your teacher."

"Sorry, Lancer."

DPxDC Al Ghul Twins: the Sun and the Moon

Polar opposites of each other, the Demon Twins. They like to pretend as each other from time to time, or, other times, they like acting perfectly in sync, like the creepy horror twins they are.

The titles first start when someone calls Danny the Shadow of the Moon. Never seen, never noticed, never given much thought until suddenly it's too late. Danny laughs and says that Damian is the Moon, then - his Moon, always orbiting around. Damian rolls his eyes.

Over time, the titles change and shift, gaining more meaning. More weight behind them.

When Talia introduces Bruce to the twins, she calls them her Sun and Moon. Bruce mentions it to the rest of the kids once, and they adopt it. It seems logical, really.

Danny, the Sun, smiling and laughing, eager for affection and never one to back down from hugs. Damian, the Moon, distant and reserved, keeping to himself and cold at times.

It's only months later, when they mention it in Jason's presence, that he laughs at them.

They have it all wrong, as it turns out. Not only because the titles have nothing to do with the twins' characters.

The Sun, fierce, bright and unrelenting, the heat that will wear you down to exhaustion, the fire and flames of rage, the star that everything centers around. The mirage in the desert, the power that bows to no one, never to be ignored.

The Moon, distant, cold, and unassuming, the pull of the tide, the only light in the darkness, causing shadows to seem so much darker, the harbinger of nightmares. The faint presence in the evening skies, the howl of a wolf, the influence you can easily ignore until suddenly you can't afford to.

Damian, the Sun, rash and quick to act on impulse, leaving a burning path in his wake. Danny, the Moon, silent and almost gentle, who you won't notice until it's too late.

Consider yourself lucky if you are left with only a scorch when you come too close to the Sun because he can, and he will burn you to ashes if he desires. But with the Moon, you are in luck if he kills you. Because when he doesn't, the shadows creep closer, crawling behind your back, and you keep looking around, knowing that the strike will come but not knowing when.

Danny laughs, quips, and plays pranks, but his eyes are cold like the lake frozen solid. Damian scolds, clicks his tongue, and brushes you off, but his eyes are full of fire that never dies out.

Talia's eyes are dark and full of secrets, like she herself is full of carefully wrapped lies and dark corners. The Demon Twins call her their Sky: vast and unknown, charming and stealing your breath away until there's no air in your lungs and the stars dim before your eyes.

A few years pass, and Tim catches Danny referring to Bats as their Stars. He thinks it's because there's so many of them that the twins just decided to summarize the titles, but much later, he learns that the meaning is a lot more poetic.

The light that guides you through the night, which, unlike the moon, never goes away.

Tim could not help but clasp his gloved hands together as he watched the faintly glowing, floating hero in front of him. Phantom looked around the small office with wide eyed curiosity, hair floating as though he was underwater, bright green eyes never staying in one place for very long.

Tim's gaze dropped back down to the paper that had been placed in front of him. It was very neatly organized, with numbers and bullet points. It looked like a lot of effort had gone into it.

Tim knew that Bruce would give his left kidney for this paper. Or for any hint to Phantom's identity. For someone who seemed so unreservedly open, Phantom was a complete mystery.

No one knew who he was, where he was from, when he was from (sometimes it seemed like he was from the future and sometimes he said things that was like he'd been in prehistory personally), or what his power set was (his most common response to showcasing a new power in front of the Justice League was a shrug and a, "I forgot I could do that"). He was polite. Tim hadn't come across a language that Phantom couldn't speak, although he could only read English.

Tim tapped the paper in front of him. "This is..." He trailed off. He didn't know how to explain how overwhelming this is.

"A set of contingencies for dealing with me if I should ever turn evil, yes," agreed Phantom. Calmly. Easily. As if he wasn't creating upheaval in Tim's mind.

Tim stared at Phantom. Phantom was still interested in his office. Well. In Red Robin's office. "Why are you giving this to me?" he asked. "Everyone knows that Batman's the one who has contingencies on everyone."

Phantom nodded, still not meeting Tim's gaze. "True," he acknowledged. "Everyone knows." Those bright green eyes turned to Tim. "But I don't trust Batman."

Tim opened his mouth to argue. To point out how everyone trusted Batman, even after a villain stole his plans and tried to wipe out the League. Everyone looked up to Batman.

Phantom's next words froze Tim's throat. "I trust you."

“So Danny, how’s Gotham been treating you so far?”

“Pretty good - it’s nice to not be caught up in ghost fights all the time. But, uh, I think I might be being stalked?”

“What the hell!?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not sure. I keep seeing this guy in this red helmet thing staring at me.”

“He hasn’t approached you or anything though, right? Maybe it’s a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah… no. I’d be more willing to accept that before I saw him staring at me from the rooftops multiple times in different places. And either way, I’ve seen him carry like, a lot of guns. Just because those can’t hurt my ghost form doesn’t mean I wanna get close to them, y’know?”

“Dude, what the fuck. You should call the cops.”

“In Gotham? Besides, what do I even say? ‘Hey, I’d like to get a restraining order. What’s the guy’s name? Uhh, idk. Red Helmet Man?’ they can’t put that on a legal document. I’m just gonna try to avoid him and hope he loses interest. I just wanna attend class, man.”

“Danny, I know you have powers, but please stay safe. I don’t want you to become a full ghost any time soon.”

The cult of...Danny Fenton?

So! Way back when Danny first moved into his new neighborhood in Gotham, he had some trouble controlling his Powers. The different Types and Levels of Ectoplasm in the air when compared to Amity had thrown off his control.

He was used to being in places where his Ectoplasm meshed well with the Atmosphere, like a Water Balloon in a Pool, but in Gotham that analogy would be closer to a Water Balloon in the sewers. It was too different from what he was used to to fully control his Powers.

So it's understandable that he messed up a few times and his neighbors found out about his Abilities.

They took it well at first, Danny wasn't going to go Rogues or anything, and he never used them maliciously, but eventually they got curious.

They asked what his limits were, how he got them in the first place, and what the hell the Ghost Zone was. The answers "None Really", "I died and was reborn", and "A Collective of every Afterlife at once" did spark some interesting reactions from them.

Most importantly, a few of them joked about him being an Eldritch God that they needed to worship. He was good enough friends with them that at that point they felt comfortable pranking eachother, so they did just that.

Danny woke up one day on his birthday, and saw all of his friends and neighbors surrounding the makeshift Throne they had made and put him on while he was asleep. The entire day they chanted stuff like "The Great One requires Ms. Smiths Apple Pie for his day of birth!" And "The Great One Wishes for us to sing the Ritual Song! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birth-"

After his birthday, they kept up the joke.

It didn't help that his powers had evolved Again! And now he could bestow abilities onto his friends. The jokes they made about their God granting them Supernatural Powers to rule the world with were insufferable.

Then, one day while he was just resting at home, watching a movie on his TV, he felt a Pull at his Core. The same kind of Pull whenever he was being summoned. But why would they summon hi- Oh Shit! It's Mr Jenkins Party today! He was supposed to meet them at the Warehouse they used for special events an Hour Ago!

He quickly accepted the Summoning, but was met with a suprising sight. His Neighbors all tied up in a pile to his right, a spilled table of party food to his left, and right in front of him, Batman and his Family watching him with wary eyes.

Slowly, he opened his mouth. "...so, did you come for the party or..."

The World Contains…

Streamer!Danny AU where Danny is giving some form of scientific lesson in a video.

Danny: The world contains protons, neutrons, electrons-

A severely sleep deprived Red Robin crashes through Danny’s window in the background, landing on the floor and immediately passing out.

Danny, looking back to the camera with a deadpan expression: …and morons.

Demon twins but the moment Danny was born Talia put him up for adoption behind her father’s back and told him that Danyal passed away during labor and the Lazarus pit could not bring him back.

Regular canon happens but when Damian is 16 he runs into Danny at a gala (Danny attended as Vlads godson) and reunite.

Danny moves in with them and To the Waynes knowledge, Danny is a normal dude who lives a non vigilante life.

The GIW are still active, so Danny is extra careful around the Waynes so he doesn’t reveal anything.

Both parties are hiding their respective vigilantism, but the Waynes don’t really realize Danny is not normal until they all go shopping and they run into Dani.

Damian: who is this?

Danny: this is my clone!! :DD

Everyone: …

Danny: …I said clone instead of cousin didn’t I?

Everyone: yup

Dani: well, good luck explaining this *leaves*

Bruce (Brucie): wait I need to meet my second daughter come back :((

Feel free to add on lol

Core Four Young Justice decide to go to the best of the best in terms of haunted houses, promising that any guest will find "The Magic of Halloween" in just a short stay.

They even have to sign a waver saying that if they get PTSD they won't sue the coordinator; perfect for Halloween. Besides, they're professional heroes, there's not a lot that can scare them. Well, okay not really a haunted house; it's actually a group camping trip and the camping ground is rigged for all sorts of spooks and scares.

Tim, Kon, Bart, and Cassie find themselves camping with a pair of twins, Danny and Dan, their younger sister, Dani, an old rich guy who hates being there, Vlad Masters, and...an entire football team from the sibling's high school.

So like. Not a great start.

Also, the campground is really close to private property. Hillbilly gun type private property.

Then people start dying.

The Football team, apparently, is actually a cult. Or something. Translation unclear, Tim still grappling with the fact that he saw them decapitate Masters.

When he goes to Kon, Cassie, and Bart to try to rescue the siblings and get the hell out of dodge, they find something else out; their powers don't. Fucking. Work.

For which there is a part of Tim, deep down, that is cheering that his mandatory training for fighting without those powers is finally going to come in handy.

Mostly it's masked by confusion and, he's not gonna lie, maybe some growing fear. Just a little bit. Mostly because his emergency beacon isn't working. None of them are.

Still, even though they're powerless, Young Justice rallies around the siblings to save them.

But things just keep going wrong!

There's a weird, glowing knight with a sword that the cult summoned, and he keeps showing up when Young Justice least expects it.

The trees are fucking moving.

The house on the property they're next to? The hillbilly with guns cabin? There's two mad scientists inside of it laughing maniacally and working with either Lazarus Water or Kryptonite.

Worse, Tim is making decisions he normally would never make! He doesn't understand what's happening, but he's doing traditionally horror movie stupid shit! Bruce is going to be so disappointed in his leadership if he survives this!

Dan was the first to get captured out of the siblings, they came across his body not even four minutes after he was nabbed. Danny was next, shoving his sister out of the way when the giant, glowing figure caught up to them, and was dragged away screaming as Bart and Kon tried to keep a grip on him.

The glowing knight had proceeded to cut a tree in half as his sword arced down on Kon and Bart, who had been forced to let go of Danny, except.

Except.

The tree hadn't actually been cut at all. They have no idea what they saw, but Danny was taken.

They still haven't found his body.

Now it's just Young Justice and Dani, everyone is freaking out, no one is thinking clearly, and Tim can't stop himself from doing stupid, horror movie-esque shit....

....Wait.

Wait.

Oh!

No wonder there was a waiver! "The magic of Halloween" indeed!

Danny meets the city spirit of Gotham, and she's very regal, very fancy in her evening wear and pearls and such. A classy lady through and through.

She's also wearing this hat:

She's very proud of Bruce, and wants everyone to know it.

Fully haunting a building is easy when you’re a full ghost. It’s instinct, even!

Being a half ghost- can cause some problems though.

But Danny was lucky. He wouldn’t call this Fenton luck, because Fenton luck just meant bad luck. The murphys law of Amity, really. No- this had to be Phantom luck. Which also had never been very good- but it had its moments.

Or maybe the smarts his sister swears he has have finally pulled through.

Haunting the fancy manor in one of the most dangerous cities in the world was pretty easy, despite all of his occasional slip ups.

Who needs to worry about accidentally walking into a room fully human when the manors full of black haired blue eyed boys- and everyone’s mistaking you for someone else.

He’d been mistaken for “Tim” a handful of times! And when he finally met the actual dude, he seemed to be delusional from lack of sleep and had simply nodded and walked past.

The butler had called him “Master Wayne”??? But honestly, Danny can’t blame him. Wayne’s the last name of almost everyone living here, and he’s not sure he’d be able to keep track of that many people either.

And then there’s the interactions. What seemed to be the eldest son had ruffled his hair yesterday and tussled him up- the head of the house had draped a blanket over him when he fell asleep on the couch and dropped his transformation, and the butler kept passing him fruit platters?

Danny’s not even sure how long he has to haunt this place to get his official haunting license- but it’s starting to look like the perfect forever haunt!

DPxDC Changeling AU pt.2

This idea got me in a chokehold, so I'm here to add more.

I'm sticking with the 'Talia outplayed the fae in order to acquire 2for1 deal of babies' for this one and probably for any later continuations.

Damian knows his brother is not human. He knew it from the very beginning since no one bothered to hide the fact. Yet Danyal grows up just like any other human baby, acting like a child he is supposed to be. He trains by Damian's side, he eats just like everyone else, he likes the stories and lessons their Mother teaches them both.

But Damian knows. His brother is no human. He sees it in the way Danyal tilts his head like a curious bird, in his swift, flowing movements that remind him of snakes, in his eyes that reflect the moonlight in a way cat's eyes do. He knows it by how some of the assassins lose their names to his brother and how Danyal never lies but also never tells the truth.

More than that, he sees it in the way Danyal smiles. Others would call that smile a mischievous one, but Damian sees no mischief in there.

He sees amusement.

And it drives him up the wall.

So he trains. He works harder than ever to prove himself better. He is worth not just simple amusement, he is the Heir, the Son of the Bat, he demands respect, even from his brother. Danyal will never take his place - not that he even could, Grandfather would never allow an unpredictable being to become the next Demon Head.

And he learns, from his Mother and from the old books, and sometimes from Danyal himself. He learns of customs and rules, of names and wordings, of odds and debts, and of tricks and riddles.

Damian has his own pride, and he wants to show it to his brother. To see the amused smile fade from his face, to make Danyal understand he is not just a weak mortal who's been simply allowed to exist beside his brother.

He wants to defeat Danyal.

And one day, he does.

Danyal is on the floor, and there's no smile on his face. Instead, in his eyes he sees the calm tranquility of a lake, frozen to the bottom, as he looks at Damian. And Damian? Damian grins, victorious at last.

Yet it is only after Danyal stands up and leaves a soft, cold and barely noticeable kiss to his forehead before disappearing in the shadows, that Damian realises:

His brother never asked to have his name.

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I feel like a very important distinction between Tim and Danny's chronic tiredness is this:

Tim can't turn his brain off enough to sleep. He is incredibly busy, yes, but most of the time 'there's not enough hours in my life' is an excuse to staying up. Even if he was strapped down to his bed he can't make himself sleep, might as well get some things done.

Danny on the other hand cannot be happier than to get a solid 8 each night. He just can't catch a long enough break from life to do it. Fate's favorite chew toy, or clockwork's personal reality show, doesn't get to have free time to rest.