You see it's quite simple: if they call the earth Gaia, it's fantasy. If they call it Terra, that's sci-fi
If there's one vampire, it's horror. If there's 100+ and they have politics, it's urban fantasy.
Thinking more about the rumour if how Bruce Wayne acquired his two eldest boys because they both are carbon copies of him and everybody at first thinks that Bruce fathered them with the same woman on the side but for some reason didn't marry her or couldn't for some reason but then...
Then Superman flies into Gotham to rescue Bruce and the kids. And everybody is like, "wait a damn minute" because while Dick and Jason are copies of Bruce, they do sort of look like... And Superman is very intimate with them, hugging Dick and crouching down to talk to twelve year old Jason who looks a little wary and then there's Bruce. There's Bruce, who is smiling, not that ghastly social smile or that flirty smile but something real, and he looks so comfortable around Supes and... Did Superman just brush something off Bruce's Wayne face? Immediately rumours start spreading and Gotham has a new reason to loathe Big Blue from Metropolis:
Short DPXDC Prompts #398
Dan Phantom is walking alone in the Narrows when he hears a yell slowly get louder and louder that’s originating…. Above him?
Dan looked up and held out his arms reflexively as Red Hood fell directly into his arms bridal style.
yes. i love this. oh god imagine they then proceed to skedadle and leave the bats to their anxieties
Dan: Huh, how you feeling?
Jason: Confused. How are you still standing?!? My weight plus the drop should have flattened you! Even most metas would have been squashed.
Dan: Eh. Y'ain't heavy. Not to me. So, fall I to the arms of strangers often or?
Dan continued to walk towards his destination. Which means when the other vigilantes get to where Jason should have been pancaked is empty. Dan hasn't considered them at all, and wouldn't care of he did. Jason is still a tad confused and shaky, adrenaline drop etc. So he hasn't thought about them. When he does? He will be highly amused at the situation and laugh somewhat hysterically. Babs knows he is ok, due to his sensors being fine and not showing damage. Listening into his com shows he is talking to someone so he's fine.
Jason gets carried bridal style all the way to Dan’s pre-planned destination and doesn’t try to wiggle out of the hold. They just keep talking the whole way there. Casual chatter that flows so naturally Babs kind of stops paying attention because she’s directing the other Bats around town until she hears
“Oh, no, Wonder Woman was the hardest to kill. The fight took me out of commission for a month. Kinda missed her after I conquered the world. Think she’d agree to an all-out fight to the not-death?”
“She will never back down from a fight,” Jason responds proudly as if the other guy didn’t just say he killed a his favorite goddess. Babs knows Diana is still alive on assignment in France so what kind of time or dimension did this guy come from? Could he remember things the Flash changed? How did she not know about something powerful enough to kill an Amazon/goddess? And was he still planning to??? She made sure she’d already started recording the conversation to go back and listen fully later as Jason continued speaking, “I’d recommend fighting at Point Nemo in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Won’t even harm Atlanteans over there since the water isn’t life-sustaining.”
“I forgot about Point Nemo! Hey, think there’s any satellite crashings scheduled soon? I’d love to go catch one as a birthday gift for my little brother. I can plan a fight with Wonder Woman later, but our birthday is coming up soon and -”
What the fuck was Babs even listening to?
YES!!!! oh this is absolutely wonderful.
Dan: It's not gonna happen in this timeline! I only did it in my timeline cause their fuck up led to the death of everyone I ever loved! This time I have back up to ensure that doesn't happen in the shape of this timelines me, and his clone sister!
Jason: You all know Diana is proud of being the hardest to kill right? Look at her preening.
#Diana boasts about this for weeks#even after several hours of beating the pulp out of each other she and Dan both brag about it#they schedule quarterly sparring sessions#usually over the ocean#and sometimes purposefully to disrupt the path of a hurricane#meanwhile Jason is writing poetry about how strong his boyfriend is
Dan hears the offer to help protect his family and instantly is like “you have to meet Dani and Jazz, you’re gonna love them. In fact since our birthday is coming up I can introduce you to Dani as a gift.”
Jason: “wait a minute, you keep saying Our Birthday but you said your siblings are younger than you? Were you all born on the same day?? That’s weird????”
Dan: “It’s not weird. I’m Danny’s future no-longer-evil self so of course we share a birthday. And Dani is a clone so she got the choice of what day to pick and she doesn’t like Plasmius so she chose to join Danny and I on our birthday. We all have the same dna anyway - we’re genetically triplets, we just have different ages.”
Jason: “yeah… not weird or complicated at all…”
Dan: “oh please, I was able to explain in three sentences. That’s not complicated. If you want complicated I could explain how my humanity was ripped out and I immediately became cannibalistic towards the only other Halfa in the vicinity, absorbing his power which granted me the strength to destroy an entire timeline.”
Jason: (why am I attracted to this?)
Jason: (I am tho)
Jason: “so when’s the birthday party?”
Wonder Woman: “yes I’d love to meet your family.”
Danny and Ellie are SO excited to meet Wonder Woman? Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman are the best heroes. And they get to meet her cause of their bro's new squeeze? They already approved but damn, gaining the brownie points so we don't refuse you his hand or something??
Wait, you fought Dan... Can we fight you too? Please???? Diana looks at the teens pleading to spar and can't help but agree. So cute. Of course they can go and have a birthday spar!
... She did not expect Danny to be the strongest. She should know better by now really, years as a hero etc. But he's so bouncy and gangly? Not grown into his height at all. Young man packs one heck of a punch. Dan, why did you not mention he was so strong? You wanted to watch as I realised? Fair enough. Ellie should come visit my sisters with me some time. You would enjoy the island!
HE MADE A PINKY PROMISE NOT TO WIPE OUT THE JUSTICE LEAGUE AGAIN lmao
Pinky promises are sacred and to be held to the highest of degrees of strictness! You cannot turn back on such a sibling promise!! Especially not to the baby sister! (Ellie absolutely used teary eyes and Danny goaded him with trading banter. What else could Dan do?)
bitch i'm drunk (it's my day off) gimme a prompt and i'll write it out for you
unless i fall asleep
"Danny says you're crazy."
Talia took a deep breath through her nose. Held it. Let it out.
"Danny needs to understand that the life of an assassin requires a certain level of ruthlessness."
"Danny says I'm only seven. Danny says you should know better."
Talia turned to another page in the Grimoire she'd stolen. Surely, there was a way to separate her son from the spirit that turned him against her.
"...Danny says you're a bad mom."
"Danny should make himself visible to me and say that to my face."
"Danny says he's trying but that you 'fucked up' your spell."
"Damian!" Talia shouted, and swore she could hear another, younger voice shout it alongside her.
A vase that was on a shelf was thrown off, and she neatly dodged it.
Change of plans, she wasn't just separating the spirit from her son, she was going to kick it's ass.
Fic prompt #56
Dpxdc
Danny was really starting to hate the Justice League.
Not for the obvious reasons. Not for the “ghosts aren’t real” bullshit, or for the years they ignored his calls back when he was a teenage vigilante desperately holding his city together with duct tape and trauma. No—those were old wounds, scarred over and mostly forgotten.
The real problem showed up ten years later, when Danny had finally fixed almost everything that had ever gone wrong in his existence.
For some fucked-up reason, the Justice League discovered that the King of the Infinite Realms had changed. And instead of doing the sensible thing—like minding their own business or being afraid—they decided, like a pack of overconfident idiots, to summon him.
At first? It went fine.
Danny played the part perfectly: calm, distant, ancient in the way only immortals could be. He negotiated cleanly, secured an alliance that overwhelmingly benefited them, smiled politely through the skepticism, and then went home to sleep for the first time in three days.
He genuinely thought that was the end of it.
Maybe—maybe—if Earth was ever on the brink of total collapse, if reality itself started screaming, they’d call him again. That would have made sense.
Instead, it turned out they had absolutely no idea ghosts were real.
Worse, they didn’t realize he was the king.
His Phantom form wasn’t taken seriously—too young, too human, too familiar. So they started calling him. Every single fucking day. Strategy meetings. Governance seminars. Moral lectures. Thinly veiled attempts to “guide” him.
Teach him how to rule.
As if a handful of Earth-based heroes could explain leadership to someone who governed infinite afterlives, hostile dimensions, eldritch entities older than language, and entire realms that didn’t obey linear time. As if he hadn’t been putting down rebellions before some of them were born. As if he hadn’t personally rewritten laws of death because the old ones were inefficient.
After a month of patient explanations—of calmly stating that he was not a child, not a student, and certainly not their subordinate—Danny stopped being patient.
Because at that point, it wasn’t ignorance anymore.
It was disrespect.
And Danny Phantom, King of the Infinite Realms, was starting to remember that declaring war was not only an option—
—but historically, it was extremely effective.
UC or ER?
HONESTLY THOUGH
THIS IS BOTH ACCURATE AND EFFECTIVE
Urgent Care is for your "Oh no!" accidents.
Emergency Care is for your "Oh fuck!" accidents.
yeah okay ill reblog that!
naming my blades Polite Request and Gentle Reminder
Danny realizes that everybody thinks he died in a blizzard or something, so he leans into that to throw people off from trying to find and reactivate his parents’ portal (once he told them everything they realized it was their portal that the more violent ghosts kept coming in through- yikes! Sorry! And shut it down. Now they’re absurdly enthusiastic about studying ghost culture the same way a zoologist observes a tiger in the wild. Danny does indeed prefer a camera in his face while he eats meat to see if it makes his fangs come out, over the hypothetical of being sliced open, and his ghostly colleagues who visit for brawls are happy to have an audience).
This all leads the entire league to assume he has a weakness to cold- since he hardly uses his ice powers on missions. He’s got plenty of other abilities, and ice just never ends up being necessary in the field when he’s working with other superheroes.
They start ensuring his missions are in warm places, to avoid triggering any kind of PTSD related to his death.
This tragically leads to him being the one who’s on a mission to Mercury, which at first the’s thrilled about- but soon realizes oh dear god I’m like, physically melting.
The league reacts about how you’d expect.
I need a fic where it's obviously been some time since Damian came to Gotham, and his healing journey is going great. He is unlearning toxic behaviour, socializing, and being so, so loved because he's a child and it's what he deserves.
Now. There is one development Damian wasn't ready for. One he is not handling well.
Tim...is cool.
Like. Really cool.
The man's detective skills are on par with their Father's– hell, Tim is so intelligent that he had managed to capture his Grandfather's attention. Tim is brave and has amazing friends and a team and Richard looks at him like he hung the moon. Tim knows so much about cars and he skateboards and he has a great love life and he is cool.
(A smaller part of Damian is also in awe of Tim's compassion; he manages to care for both him and Jason, looks at them as his brothers, despite the fact that they both hurt him deeply.)
Damian is horrified every time he feels the desire to hang out with Tim. But like, he really wants to. He wants to patrol with him, and he wants to work on cases with him, and he wants to go to the movies with him, and he wants to ask his advice on stuff like dating.
And he tries! God knows he tries. But Tim is not...getting with the program.
Basically, it doesn't register to Tim that Damian asking to spar ten times in a row is Damian wanting his attention. He doesn't think that when Damian insults his apartment, it's his way of trying to get Tim to spend the night at the Manor. And he definitely doesn't get that when Tim is animatedly talking to Dick, Damian is upset because Tim is always talking to Dick, but he never talks to Damian.
Damian would really just like to stop wanting to spend time with stupid Drake of all people.
5:02
free my girl she did all that and should’ve fucking done even more
>:O
Idea: Okay so normally with all the Time Traveler that comes back to prevent the apocalypse tagged into the dcxdp tag the guy traveling back sees Danny or Dan and either trying to take out the threat or thinking they can "correct the behavior" to avoid the future.
BUT!! What if like Flash or whoever goes back and meets Danny first and thinks the usual "Oh I can mentor him and prevent him turning evil!" except later, after Danny trusts them enough Big Reveal: Danny has a daughter and son. They're introduced to the small toddlers that this teen hero is showing him absolute trust in revealing and they see Dan in that tiny son. It's Dan.
Also, you know about the myth of Thetis, Achilles's mother? When I was a kid, I was taught that Zeus and Poseidon and other horny male gods wanted to "take" Thetis but an oracle warned them that whoever sired Thetis's child would one day be dethroned by said child. Simply put, the child will be more powerful than their parent.
Zeus then had Thetis married a mortal (Achilles's dad) so her child would never be as powerful as a god.
That makes me think of Danny and how funny it would be if, as Phantom, every oracle foretells that his child will be more OP. And just like Thetis's case, the superhero community (*cough* Batman) tries a backup plan to have Danny marry a completely normal person.
Unfortunately, Danny pulls a uno reverse card on them and show up with toddlers Dan and Dani who shares DNA with his equally powerful archenemy Vlad Plasimus 😈
Lol, they work so hard to keep him away from powerful ass people except didn't account for villains and their inability to accept a solid "NO". Which they really should have, but most of their villains aren't fucked in the head enough to force children on their underage rival.
Batman is contemplating if killing Vlad counts as murder or just metamorphosis since he'd likely just become full ghost. He also considers ways to seal a ghost for fucking eternity where he'll never be able to ever be near Phantom again ever.
Plasmius is a known villain so they can ask if ghost containment equipment the Fenton’s make and the heroes have already looked into would work on the vampire wannabe.
But yes misunderstandings abound and all the hero parents or mentors with kids about Danny’s age are wanting to go full boar no mercy on Vlad.
Eh tagging seems effective. @zylev-blog @hdgnj @nerdpoe @kizzer55555 @dragonsrequiem
Danny was confused when he found Captain Marvel at his front door. (I vote he doesn’t call himself Shazam bc it’s be like stripping in the middle of Times Square in front of the ball on New Years Eve and Billy Batson is many things, but not an idiot. *glares daggers and hisses like an angry goose at DC and Marvel*)
Marvel apparently came bearing gifts. And an invitation.
There was a bath set for each baby, a gift card for the local produce market with an amount that made Danny uncomfortable until it was explained it was from a group, not just one guy. (Alfred stopped B from just having it be from one guy because considering Vlad’s influence, the young parent might be hesitant to accept a large card and might refuse if it came a single person.) The boy’s bath set was Superman themed and the girl’s was Wonder Woman themed.
The invitation was typed up on official JLA letterhead
“You are cordially invited to attend a baby shower at the Watchtower on this upcoming Saturday at 3:00 EST. There will be an assortment of refreshments and entertainment (including a game of Pin the Cape on the Bat if he holds still long enough).”
The last note made him snort, because it was written in purple glitter gel. Clearly, there were hijinx in store. He couldn’t wait to see everyone responding to Dani’s excitement being shown by floating gleefully.
The baby shower is chaos. Absolute chaos.
The minute Flash found out about the babies he immediately informed the rest of the league. Then it was a mad rush to make a baby shower because the least Danny deserved was to have something normal for his kids. Flash doubted he had anyone to support him otherwise. So the baby shower had to be perfect.
When Danny arrived and had to physically hold back tears, they believed it was a job well done. (Multiple hijinks ensued from that day.) Meanwhile, the young Justice? Are ecstatic to meet babies. The just want to squish their little cheeks. (Too bad they have intangibility.) and now all the sidekicks are fighting over who gets to be best aunt/uncle.
Also, everyone (especially Batman) are now doing thorough research on members of the infinite realms, including asking Constantine and the rest of Justice League Dark. After all, they didn’t know that male ghosts could become pregnant. Does gender just not matter? What else don’t they know? They (especially Flash) need to know if Danny is alright or if he needs anything. Like if something was wrong.
They asked Danny once if there were any issues when the kids were born.
Danny: Well…Ellie did almost melt but we fixed that.
JL member: I’m sorry, did you say melt?
Danny: yeah, she was kinda unstable. Vlad rushed it so it was a lot more painful than it needed to be.
JL member (thinking of all the horrible things he just insinuated): are…are you ok?
Danny: well yeah, it hurt but it wasn’t like it was going to kill me. (Whisper: I think) Been there, done that. Besides, we managed to stabilize her pretty quickly. And it’s not like Vlad’s going to try and speed up the process again.
JL member: wait, he tried to speed up the process?
Danny: Vlad wanted a son. He figured that he could melt her down and study her remains to figure out how to make a better kid next time. It’s fine though! I managed to break out and save her in time. (Referencing when he broke out from Red huntress but the JL member didn’t realize that) I just wish….well, I just wish I could have made it time for the others….
JL member now thoroughly more traumatized and whispering: …..others?
Danny (trying to hold back tears and looking really sad): yeah….others. There were multiple….attempts…Ellie was the only one from her batch to survive.
JL member: (internal screaming)
The JL decide not to ask Danny anymore since they feel like they’re only going to bring up bad memories. So they do independent research. ….and also might put a hit out on Vlad.
Wonder Woman overheard all of that. Once Danny is fully focused on another topic of conversation she stomps towards the exit. The baby shower presents haven’t been opened yet so Flash zips over from the other side of the room to stop her.
“Yo Wondy, where you going? Party’s not over yet.”
She answers in a hushed tone full of fury, “I’m going to ask my uncle Hades to prepare a special place in hell for Plasmius! Oh and find a sword ghosts can’t phase through. My lasso won’t cause that monster enough pain.”
“Ok I know he deserves it, but what did he do for this?” Flash asked as they got to the zeta tube.
“Ask Green Arrow. He was the one dumb enough to bring up those painful memories for the poor child. Though I’m sure Superman and Batman also overheard.”
Flash went back to the party the moment the zeta tube powered down looking for Oliver. He finds the archer in a dark corner talking to Constantine with an annoyed Batman close by. “Come on Connie, there has to be something you can do to make my arrows able to hurt Vlad in ghost form. And I don’t mean quickly end, I want prolonged pain after what I just learned he did to the kid!”
That caused them grumpy bat to perk up and Flash thought this was the perfect point to intervene. “Yeah Let’s hear what you learned in a private room where Danny won’t hear and be put through any more stress remembering. You know so we don’t ruin the party and the good things those kids deserve.”
Flash may have gritted that out in a strained smile that was almost like bared teeth.
Batman took the hint. “We will talk about this in a debriefing room later. Constantine, in the meantime gather anything magical that can be used as a weapon or protection from Master’s. I’ll do the same with what we have of the fenton’s tech.”
———————————————
Well that is all I have for the night. Have fun adding on to this. @nerdpoe @hdgnj @zylev-blog
Constantine grins and heads out the door before turning back and mentioning "Historically most ghosts are weak against religious symbols, salt and iron. You could use those in the meantime till I find something more. Even if it doesn't cripple Masters it won't do him any favors."
@juubi-mage0327 reminded me that Dick Grayson in the comics has been, ahem, non consensually taken advantage of, at least twice. Which I admit I have not read the comics But I have heard it mentioned before. This would absolutely explain why Batman had contemplated if it is murder if Vlad is already half dead.
So yeah, the only reason Nightwing hasn’t gone to finish Vlad off and crush his ghost core is that he hasn’t found out yet. He was sent with the Teen Titans on an off planet mission before Phantom’s family situation came to light. A mission the YJ weren’t ready to handle so Danny didn’t get to come. (I may be confusing to different cannons but for this we will go with the titans got formed after dick had a spat with Bruce and chose to leave both Gotham and the Team to be solo for bit before starting the titans. They act as a senior group and in between stage before young heroes are ready to move up to the league. In this Flash mentors Phantom and has him join the young justice which is the most junior team.)
Oh boy things went surprisingly smoothly for a YJ mission for a change and they are back early. Just in time to hear there had been a baby shower for Danny last week. He hears all about it from Tim.
Well, excuse him, he is just going to ask Jason if he is up for a brother bonding field trip. And yes, of course Jason, you can bring your guns. In fact they are going to buy some new ones from the Fenton Drs.
Ok so my question is did flash tell anyone about Dan and his suspicions. Because I feel like that should add to the rage the rest of the JL feels. Like not only did this guy take advantage of a child and force children onto him, (to the JL at least) he also started the series of events that killed the entirety of humanity.
The other bat kids (who have all met Danny and are pretty sure bruce is arguing with flash about who would adopt him if the need arises)
over hear him talking to Jason and decide to make it a big sibling bonding to help avenge their new brother, niece, nephew
Single father friend and colleague
prompt for dcxdp fic
GK!danny meets the JL and (due to magic users not being in the room) they offend him by threatening/patronising him or asking insensitive questions like how he died. Danny still wants some contact/alliance to help deal with the GIW, but doesn't wanna deal with mortal idiots rn. So he sends Dan in his place for his "community service" aka redemption arc.
Basically I really wanna see Dan dealing with the magically incompetent league and scare the shit out of them.
Bonus if Danny sends a letter along the lines of "Due to negative prior relations and differing priorities, all further communications will be conducted via my brother, as part of his mandatory community service. I advise against angering him, as he is on probation for genocide of a mortal realm. Good luck."
I just think it would be funny.
After Superman snubs Danny and starts talking over him, he just looks at the (security) camera like he’s in The Office and peaces out
Nobody notices for a solid minute, and only because their guest hadn’t been that quiet for that long before.
Batman was on monitor duty and feels like Danny knew exactly who he made eye contact with through the computer screen, as if saying “I don’t know how you deal with these fruitloops,” and Batman can only nod and sigh sympathetically.
When Dan shows up with his wicked sharp grin and a note, Batman quickly calls Diana to get there asap.
Dan is six seconds away from biting Superman’s hand off (the guy had the audacity to stick his finger near Dan’s face) when Wonder Woman barges in and drags Clark backward.
“Finally! A REAL diplomat!” Dan gives Supes the stink eye and then smiles charmingly at Diana.
Superman frowns at the note. It's in cursive, and is nothing more than words on a paper. No seal or stamp. It's a child writing his own sick pass.
"You're Phantom's brother?"
"Yup."
This new ghost has the same coloring as Phantom - bluish skin, black and white gear, white hair. But he's tall, taller than Batman, with pecs and arms that puts Superman's own physique to shame.
"Older brother?"
Dan smiles, but it reminds Superman more of a hyena about to rip into something than a greeting.
"Yes."
"Thank you for meeting with us instead of your brother-"
"I'm also the weaker one," Dan continues. He crosses his arms. Shows fang. Flashes his eyes, a color that reminds Superman of red kryptonite and the anger that envokes.
Superman gives him an unimpressed look. "It's great that you support your little brother-"
"My little brother kicked the previous King's ass. Kicked my ass too, and I remember very vividly," Dan places his hands on the table, leaning his weight forward to stare Superman in the eyes, "the sound of your back as I broke it, Ka-el."
The room goes still.
"That realm genocide I'm on probation for? One very similar to this one, where I sent the Watchtower crashing into the Pacific and killed all members of the Justice League. And my little brother still beat me.
"Be thankful I'm here at all. Danny could have decided to let you deal with this mess by yourself. He's too much of a goody-two shoes. I'm not. I'm also immortal, and if I fail this test of patience, oh well. Your world dies, and I have another fifty years of paperwork. But it will be worth it." Dan's threat is a growl in his chest, a dare, a promise.
Superman swallows and does his best not to look at Wonder Woman and Batman.
"Now," Dan straightens, turning his attention to Green Lantern in dismissal. "What stupid mess have you gotten yourselves into?"
Superman getting most of the stink eye, but a bunch of the other heroes with kids are also getting the eye of judgement. Cause of course the teenage king doesn't like being treated like a child.
And once the Dark hears about this?
Oh boy.
I just want Zantana chewing out the Justice League.
"What do you mean you summoned the King of the Infinite Realms? We had a schedule! You couldn't wait just one more week?"
"We figured that using a summoning circle would force him to accept what we wanted and skip a whole bunch of delegation."
"You thought you could force the King of the Infinite Realms, the one who's existence of the glue to the fabric of every reality that has existed and will exist, to do what you wanted by binding him in a summoning circle? A summoning circle that's made for Gods? Nevermind he's the King of Ancients. Several tiers above Gods, mind you. Who, with a swipe of his hand, could erase us. And you didn't think to trust any of the magic wielders? Or anyone who has experience with inter-dimesional beings?"
"We've had experience with inter-dimesional beings. Multiple times."
"And what did you even expect you could do? What were you going to do if you had somehow bound him with the circle? What would you have done afterwards? When he was no longer forced to obey or play nice? If he wasn't such an advocate for peace, you could have unleashed an undefeatable enemy on our world. After repeatedly insulting him!"
"What do you mean 'insulting him'?!? He was a child that was refusing to listen to us!" Green lantern butts in.
"We had a scheduled time! Because he was busy filing paperwork! And being a King! And why wasn't Arthur here? He's supposed to act as one of the King's of our world who was a diplomat that the King approved of!"
"Aquaman was unavailable due to prior engagements with his council."
"Oh? So when my brother makes time for you, and tells you he's busy running a kingdom, you tell him a week is too long and you threaten to take his autonomy away and use him as a slave? But when one of yours says to wait a week because of the same reasons, you're patient?" Dan sneered.
"I am so sorry for their behavior. Is your brother alright?"
"Of course he is. He's just livid with all the rules they broke. Especially since they asked how he died."
"...what?"
"Why is that a rule?" One of the Justice losers asked.
"Because it can cause one to relive their own death." Constantine replied. He looked tried, but not surprised.
"And they were being ageist towards my brother, despite the fact he's older than this dimension."
"He looked 14!"
"The dead don't age." Constantine deadpanned. Dan could tell this man needed a drink.
Bat-In-Law
AKA "Former superhero Phantom spends summer break in Gotham to be close to Jazz. Unfortunately, the local vigilantes also have their eye on his sister. He's heavily debating bringing back Phantom again if it makes the Bats keep their hands. Off. His. Sister." DPxDC Prompt idea!
Okay, so, Jasmine Fenton is absolutely on a Rogue Watchlist after she enters the Gotham-U graduate psychology program. A PhD candidate with two possibly-evil scientists as parents and supposedly has a close relationship with her town's local "villain"? Suspicious. Of course, Danny doesn't know any of this when he moves in with his sister. He's on summer break and just happy to be close to someone he doesn't need to hide around.
Danny realizes something is up when he wakes up in the middle of the night (witching hour for some, otherwise knows as habit due to his late night superhero work for him) and hears... voices. Jazz's voice and a man's. Jazz is out on their rickety fire escape, sharing coffee with some dude wearing a black catsuit with a blue bird on his chest. Lame. Worse, the guy is drinking out of Jazz's favorite mug that she gives Danny the stink eye for trying to steal borrow!
He basically trips over himself getting to the balcony doors and heaving them open with an incredulous, "Hey, bird-brain! What are you doing harassing young ladies in the middle of the night?!"
Jazz tsks in a silent reprimand but Danny ignores her "shut-up-or-I'll-kill-you-again" glare to squint at the vigilante.
"Danny!" Jazz chides.
Bird-brain seems to take it in stride, though, offering a cheeky wave and amused smile. "It's okay, Jazz. I'm more than familiar with younger siblings. Danny, right? I'm Nightwing. It's nice to meet you!"
And now Danny kinda feels bad because this guy doesn't strike him as the bad-boy type Jazz likes. Because they're just friends... who hang out together in the dark, making goo-goo eyes at each other, and whispering intimately. Sike. Danny's gonna soup this guy. Nightwing must see it on Danny's face because he apologetically says he should get going (that's right, run on home, bird-brain) much to Jazz's displeasure. He gets a very stern talking to that night. But once he notices, he can't stop.
Suddenly, Batwoman is bringing Jazz home on a sleek red motorcycle when she gets stuck late on campus. (This is the one time Danny might be okay with Jazz having a partner, only if Danny gets to ride on that badass bike. Plus, Batwoman is almost as intimidating as Batman. Her skin is so white and hair so red she looks like she could pass as a ghost. But the way her hand drifts to Jazz's waist as she helps Jazz get off her bike makes Danny's eye twitch.)
Danny even spots Signal on rooftops when they go grocery shopping, who raises an awkward hand in a wave when Danny makes the I-see-you gesture at him. Red Robin and Robin are next.
The last straw is when Danny comes home from his new part-time job at the Gotham Public Library to a note taped to the fridge. In Jazz's soon-to-be doctor scrawl (which means he has to squint and turn it sideways to actually read it), it says On a date. Be back around 6. P.S. - Do NOT disturb me or there WILL be consequences. Danny waits exactly 5 minutes before finding her location on Instagram.
25 minutes later and he's at Gotham's Gem, bookstore and cafe, only to see Jazz on a date with none other than the Red Hood. Well, actually, Jason Todd. Danny may not be a genius (he is, actually. That's why he's also on the Rogue Watchlist, not that he knows that), but he can put two and two together. A vigilante and civilian who have black hair with a white streak? And have the exact same physique? Not inconspicuous at all.
Except this time, Danny's breath mists. And he's about had it with people taking advantage of his sister, especially ghosts. He doesn't even know what he's going to do until he's tackling the- holy shit this is a murderous crime lord Danny is assaulting. Clearly, Jason is taken off guard because they're both flung to the floor with Jazz shrieking in the background. (Sure, maybe Danny put in a little extra ghost strength, but this guy is the size of brick house and he's not going to let another Johnny-situation happen.)
It takes about an hour and half of Jazz, Jason, and Danny talking for Danny to finally calm down. Apparently, no, Nightwing is not interested in Jazz. Neither are Red Robin, Signal, or Robin. Batwoman might be actually, but Jason doesn't actually know since he doesn't speak with her - Jazz says they're firmly just friends, though. But Jason, with a nauseating blush and nervous smile, says he does like Jazz and would like to date her. And Jazz... has that soft smile, eyes crinkled, genuine happy expression. He guesses he can probably let them go on one date.
(It turns out Jason also has a badass motorcycle and he's not opposed to letting Danny ride it! He still prefers Batwoman, but Jason takes a close second.)
((Also, Danny gets souped for a week as punishment.))
What’s the harm in asking?
Bruce Wayne had been in his fair share of unexpected encounters — rogue attacks, sudden board meetings, impromptu galas, and Alfred’s lectures about nutrition — but this might have been a first.
It was a quiet Saturday morning in Gotham, as quiet as Gotham could ever get, and Bruce was enjoying a rare day out with his sons. Damian was a few paces ahead, pretending not to be interested in the bookstore they were headed to. Dick was trying to convince Jason that black coffee didn’t count as “breakfast,” and Tim… well, Tim was nursing his fourth coffee of the morning and looked like he hadn’t slept in at least thirty-six hours.
They were halfway across campus — Gotham University — when a young man approached.
Messy black hair. Tired blue eyes that still managed to hold a spark of mischief. Hoodie slightly frayed at the cuffs, jeans a little too worn to be new. He looked like any other college student trying to survive midterms and cafeteria food.
Except most college students didn’t walk straight up to Bruce Wayne with the confidence of someone who’d just decided to gamble with fate.
“Hey, you’re Bruce Wayne, right?”
Bruce blinked. “Yes,” he said slowly, glancing at the boys, who were all watching with varying degrees of suspicion. “And these are my kids. What is your name?”
The young man grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Danny. So, here’s my situation.”
Bruce tensed — half-expecting a pitch, a scam, or perhaps an elaborate attempt at publicity. But the boy continued, perfectly casual.
“I’m a broke college student, and I can’t afford to both feed myself and pay for my books this month. Can I get $200 off of you?”
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“Feel free to say no,” Danny added quickly, raising his hands. “I just figured — what’s the harm in asking, right?”
Jason actually barked out a laugh. Dick’s jaw went slack. Damian muttered something under his breath about “audacity unbecoming of a commoner.”
But Bruce… Bruce was amused. The kid’s tone wasn’t entitled. Just honest. There was no manipulation in his words — just quiet desperation wrapped in a sort of brave awkwardness that made Bruce feel, for a fleeting moment, like he was looking at a mirror from a long time ago.
Without saying a word, Bruce reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and handed over every bill inside — a solid few hundred, at least.
Danny blinked. “Wait, seriously?”
Bruce shrugged. “You were polite. And honest. That’s worth something.”
Danny quickly pocketed the cash, not even bothering to count it. “Counting money in front of the guy who gave it to you is rude,” he said matter-of-factly, as if quoting some universal rule.
He grinned, offered a small wave, and walked off down the street, the morning sun catching faint traces of exhaustion under his eyes — and something else, something… off. For a moment, Bruce thought he saw a faint shimmer, like heat distortion, around the boy’s outline.
And then he was gone.
The silence that followed was deafening.
“Did… did that just happen?” Dick asked finally.
Jason started laughing again. “That kid’s got balls, I’ll give him that.”
Damian scowled. “Father, you cannot just hand money to random strangers on the street.”
“Technically,” Tim murmured, sipping his coffee, “he’s not a random stranger anymore. His name’s Danny.”
Everyone turned to look at him.
“What?” Tim shrugged, watching Danny disappear into the crowd, that faint smirk still on his lips. “He was kind of cute.”
Jason choked on his laughter, Dick burst out into delighted cackles, and even Bruce — for all his practiced stoicism — had to fight back the smallest, faintest smile.
Because honestly? Danny Fenton might’ve been the boldest person Bruce had met all week.
Damian later sees Danny at a toy store. Whether or not he followed him there or it was just a coincidence is up to you. Anyway, Damian is enraged that the man who so shamelessly begged charity off his father is spending it so frivolously.
He’s just about to march over there to give Danny a piece of his mind when he hears a soft call of “Daddy!” And a little kid runs up to the subject of his ire.
“You picked out what you wanted squirt?”
The kid nods and holds out a single yo-yo. “Can. Um. Since it’s my birthday can I get a bouncy ball too? I know it’s-“
Danny crouched down to wrap his child in a hug. “Don’t worry about it. I got some extra cash recently. We can afford a bouncy ball, so long as you share with your sibling.”
“Okay. The yo-yo is all mine, though, right?”
“You bet.” Danny reassured. “Now let’s go to Bat-Burger!”
“Yeah! I hope I get stabby-Robin in my happy meal.”
“What, is my toothpick Katana I made for your other Robin not good enough for you?” He laughed
Damian watched in silence as the father and child skip hand-in-hand to the register.