1(800) Adoption Papers NOT needed! Its a two for one special! ( 1POV Version ) - Aenxiome (2024)

Chapter 1: Lies (I lived B*tch)

Chapter Text

Morning light comestoo soon.

Patrol had only ended a few hours previous, leaving the rest of the manor to sleep. The dark clouds and smog of Gotham staining the sky are just starting to break, painting the world in a muted gray. Pennyworth can be heard somewhere on the floors below moving about – when does he sleep – getting ready for the day. Alfred the cat and Titus are nowhere to be seen, so what is that infernal buzzing sound? Better yet, where is it coming from? I search for my phone, expecting that to be the culprit, but it’s silent on do not disturb. The only message is a cat picture from hours ago, nothing that would be going off now. So it isn’t until I rise from the bed that I get an inkling. I can feel it vibrating under my feet, under the floorboards.

But that shouldn’t be possible.

The only things down there are old keepsakes. Weapons, photographs, memories I can’t yet part with from the league. Some things unknown to Father, to my gaggle of siblings. I pry off a couple of floorboards and search through my keepsakes. I handle each one with care until I see something I never thought I would see active again.

Something, an item, hid from even Mother.

I inspected it, thinking it could be a trap, a replica made by Grandfather. Maybe Drake found the stash and decided to mess with me, but there’s no mistaking it. There is only one other like it. Made from scraps and individualized in a way only an Al Ghul could muster. Painted black with two stylized D’s written in a small script. With our own rendition of the league insignia, a symbol for us both, is a two-way communicator, a receiver for each of us, equipped with anything we could need.

A communicator that has been unused for years.

One that is sending out an SOS.

It shouldn’t be possible. The only one who would know the right code besides me would be him . And as Todds' show said, “ two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.” There shouldn’t be any question about it; Mother verified his death. Its activation, now, shouldn’t be possible; we vowed to take those codes to our graves. He wouldn’t let out that information easily.

But it's buzzing; its lights are flashing, asking for help…

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as I set the communicator aside before packing up the rest. I hesitate as my eyes linger on photographs, showing rare smiles, before hastily putting them back in place and laying down the floorboards. Then, picking back up the communicator, I see on a small screen the racing shorthand, “ SOS VID,” followed by yesterday's date.

When messages go out, they are normally silent, using a small series of vibrations to let us know what's going on, but if the message remains unanswered for more than an hour, it will be followed by a beeping that gets louder as time goes on. This system worked for the two of us. We kept them on us at all times, but now with the communicator no longer in use, this could be an issue. I have to check the message; if it is truly from him, I can only hope that I’m not too late.

No one else can know. There is no point in getting Father, and the rest upset if it’s not him. I’m going to have to do this in private. I glance out the window to see a brightening sky and the faint, far-off sound of birds chirping. I make my way out of my room and down to the cave, looking out for the others. It’s still too early for breakfast. Nobody should be up this early after a late-night patrol, so I should be theoretically in the clear. Though there is no guarantee.

I make it down unbothered, not even intercepted by Pennyworth, and take a cursory glance at the cave. Nobody is down here yet; no one is in the medbay; the only other thing besides me is the actual bats.

So I start to get to work.

It's been a while since I've had to mess with the communicator, so it takes me a moment to remember where the memory chip is. Though once It’s out, it takes no time at all for me to jam it into the bat computer and show the recording.

The screen comes to life, showing my double, my twin, my brother.

It's him; it's really him.

Our features, besides our eyes, are identical. Though looking at him like this, you wouldn’t really know. He's sitting crisscross in the frame, dressed casually in a stained NASA sweatshirt and a threadbare pair of jeans. The complete opposite of my khakis and polo. He's lost some color, looking pale as death, with deep circles under his eyes that surpass Drakes’. The clothes are baggy, hiding parts of his appearance, which is a pitiful attempt on his part to conceal his stature. Danyal is thin, his hands on the verge of boney. No new scars on his face are visible, but one seems to be crawling up his neck – how on earth did he get such a thing.

I’ll have to tell Mother about this.

When she returned saying that he had died, she didn’t give any detail to me, only to Grandfather. Instead, she helped me craft plans to make up for his absence. She showed no weakness in the face of his death, acting as a pillar for the league and me as we mourned the loss of an heir, a brother.

When I push to play, the camera shakes a little until it zooms out to see the background behind him. Hes’ on the edge of a roof, right before sunset, and fiddling with the strings of his sweatshirt. He clears his voice sounding a little rough, “ Hey Ahki, it’s been a while.”

He gives a small chuckle before sounding apologetic, saying, “ sorry about that; by the way, I didn’t want to leave you like that,” Danyal pauses before saying in a whisper, “not with Mother, not with Grandfather, and the responsibilities of the league.” He knocks his head back and starts to rub his eyes, “ I really messed up our plans, didn’t I?” Then why, why did he leave? Why would Mother claim him to be dead? “ I can’t say that I’m really sorry about that, but I hope you know it wasn’t my choice to leave.”

No, no, I didn’t know that.

He huffs, “ I don’t know what they told you about what happened, but whatever it was, It wasn’t the truth. I don't know what you remember of that time or the mission Mother, and I went on, but it was a big one. To give you a rundown, the league had found some indicators of Lazarus pits down in Louisiana, so mother brought me with her when she went to look at it.”

He takes a deep breath closing his eyes, “ Thankfully, we didn't find any, so that was one crisis averted.” When his eyes open, they are filled with an indescribable intensity, and he says in a monotone voice, “ We ended up finishing our investigation early and made our way to California for our extraction. We were trying to be inconspicuous, so we used different combinations of public transport to make our way over there. Then once we got into Arizona, we had a long layover.” His voice breaks as he continues, “ It was my idea, my stupid idea. We were close to the Grand Canyon, and I had always wanted to see it. So I bothered mother enough for her to let me go. Things didn't really go well after that."

He's about to start again when a loud whirling noise comes from the video, startling him. He ducks his head and rushes for the communicator. It stops in a bit of static and then leaves me with a black-and-white snow screen. This only lasts for about 5 Seconds, then jumps forward back to Danyal. When he reappears, he's dressed the same but is outfitted in scorch marks and covered in bruises. But the most worrying of it all is the mixture of blood and Lazarus' green fluid seeming to seep out of some abrasions on his face.

He doesn't mention anything about the whirling or his new set of injuries and continues on. “I don't really want to go into the details of what happened, but basically Mother went,” His voice squeaks a bit when he says, “ total ‘psychotic villain’ on me. She and Grandfather decided that we were both old enough to survive to adulthood. So the need for both the Heir and the spare wasn't necessary anymore.”

He pauses, seeming to gain his composure, “ Well, anyway, that plan of hers failed, obviously. Because of the circ*mstances, I wasn't able to come back. I wasn't able to tell you. I wasn't sure if you'd still be able to pretend that I was dead if you knew otherwise. I'm not saying anything bad about your acting skills, but I'm pretty sure mother would have noticed if you knew something was up.” Tears start to form in his eyes, “I’m so sorry I left you there, Dami. But I couldn’t come back. I hope you understand. I don't know the relationship you have with Mother and the league these days, but I've seen that you went to live with Father.”

With laughter in his voice, he says, “I have to say Robin's colors look a lot better on you than the League's uniform. Is it nice there? What about our brothers? What are they like?” That sound, that happiness I hear in him, makes my eyes start to water. How long has it been since I've seen him this happy? We must have been little because I barely remember it.

He cuts off my musing as suddenly he starts to get serious. “ I know it's been a while, but I will once again have to ask you for help, Ahki. I can't tell you too much about this. I know it's supposed to be a secure line, but there are people here who could easily tap into it, and I don't want to risk it. A lot of things have changed over the past few years. To start off, I was in an accident. It's changed me in ways that I can't really describe, but Dami, at the end of the day, I'm still me. I may not always look like me, but I am still me.”

He stops and scratches the back of his head, “ Oh, Ancients, does that make sense? That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, um; how about we leave it as is. If I get the chance to see you in person, I'll explain then? Just hold me to it, okay?”

I silently laugh at his antics; even after all these years, he's still the same Danyal. “ Anyway, the point is where I'm at is no longer safe,” he says, jumping straight back into the serious atmosphere. “ At the end of this video will be a series of coordinates matching my town's location. Do you think you could get father to come with you to get me? I would just try to make my way to Gotham, but during my time here in the states, a family took me in. Damian, They're not good people. I can't stay in that house any longer. They don't know it, but I've heard them talking about stuff that the JL needs to be involved in.” What could these people be trying to do? Danyal Is capable. He doesn't scare easily. Whatever they're up to has to be big for him to want to reach out.

“ I hope to see you soon, Ahki.” He starts to Make a move to stop the recording but stops himself at the last moment. “I said earlier that I couldn't go on about what happened, but I know you like to have all the facts. So that night, when Mother tried to ‘dispose’ of me, I started recording audio and visual on the comms. So when I send this message, I'll send you a recording of that night. If you watch it, I hope it gives you some clarity.”

He picks up the communicator to stop the recording, says a quick “Love You,” and ends it.

On the screen flashes coordinates to Amity Park, Illinois.

I get up to find a pen to jot down the coordinates, but before making a step, a soft cough stops me in my tracks. A foot or so behind me stands Pennyworth in full view of the bat computer. He makes his way a little closer to me, pulls out a small notebook, and starts to write down the coordinates. I didn't say anything, and neither did he, but we exchanged small glances at one another. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he's the first to give in, “ am I correct to suspect master Bruce is not aware of this development?”

Instead of looking at him, I glance again toward the screen, “ Father is not aware. Yet… How much did you hear?”

“ I had just come down when I heard young master Danyal,” he says, his name apprehensively.

I nod and say in confirmation, “ Yes, Danyal. Danyal Al Ghul.”

For the mention of the surname, I’m given a reproachful look, “ He spoke of your Mother and Grandfather no longer being of the need of an “heir” and “spare.” I have my doubts he is considered an Al Ghul anymore.”

I gracefully sit back down at the bat computer and restart the video. I let the fool thing play out before I question Pennyworth, “ Do you believe father will take this well? I've kept from him the knowledge of his child?”Of my brother.

He places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, “ I believe he'll be upset. Yes, but not with you, young master Damien's, at least not for long.” He stops himself from continuing before thinking better of it and asking, “ what was your intention of keeping the knowledge of young Master Danyal from us.”

I can do nothing but shrug and say, “ I did not wish for Father to grieve. I was under the impression they would never meet. If I had any inkling that Danyal was alive, he would have known; I would have ensured we had done something about this.”

“ As long as master Bruce is aware of that, things will be fine,” he says, giving me a small, sad smile, “ but with that being said, I believe there are more pressing matters to attend to.”

I internally grimace at the reminder. I'm about to start the next video when I glance over my shoulder, expecting Pennyworth to be there. But, instead, I'm staring at his retreating form that is almost to the elevator. He must have felt my eyes on him because he immediately turned around to say, “ I believe we agreed this is a family matter, yes? So there is no better place to start than with breakfast. I believe the others should be there now; no reason to keep them waiting.”

I quickly make my way to the elevator and join him for the ride up. When we get to the dining room , just about everyone is there. With the late patrol, no one was in the mood to go back out.

We arenotmorning people.

It's hard to be when we typically don't go to bed until early to mid-morning. So finding Father and Drake trying to drown themselves in coffee isn't out of the norm. “ Richard drowning yourself in cereal is unbecoming.”

He mumbles into his food, “ I wanna be magically delicious,” as if that's a proper response.

Father doesn’t spare his theatrics a glance while Todd goes to assist Pennyworth with the hot food.

Besides Todd, the rest of us have been barred from the kitchen.

We started eating in silence, and throughout the meal, we gained volume. Throughout all of it, I was just waiting for an opportune time to bring up the Danyal situation, but Pennyworth beat me to it. “ I believe young master Damian has something he wishes to share with you.” I give him a dirty look as all attention shifts to me.

I shift in my seat,“ There has been something I have been keeping from you.” I stare at him, saying, “Father, Mother, did not just hide me from you, but also another. My twin Danyal.” Any light that was in his eyes went cold. His grip on his coffee increased, making his knuckles turn white.

Richard and Todd take in my words with wide eyes, while Drake is mumbling in horror, “oh god no, theirs two of you,”and plants his face in his hands.

“ Where is he? Why didn’t Talia send him with you? Why wait to tell me?” I sit quietly, my tongue heavy as if lead. “ Answer me, Damian!” Father demands coldly.

“ I didn't know where he was, not until now,” I say earnestly.

Drake looks at me, a bit skeptical, “ Why is that? You said you're twins, right? So wouldn't the two of you have been together?”

For once, grateful for his intervention, I answered, “When we were nine, Danyal went on a mission to the United States with Mother. I was not permitted to accompany them. She simply returned. He did not. I had been told he did not make it. Up until this morning, I believed that to be the case.”

Father's anger lessened as I spoke, “ How did you find out he’s alive?”

I explain to the communicators, and Todd questions, “ Are you sure it's him and not another clone? It's not the first time someone's claimed to be you?”

I shake my head, “The communicators only work on a two-way connection, not just as a voice; I could also see him. We're supposed to be identical, but we still have some differences. Nevertheless, I know it's him. I have no doubts.”

Richard interjected, “Videos?”

“Yes. I have the SIM card inserted into the back computer. One of them is a message for help; at the end, he gives coordinates for his current location. The other one I have yet to watch. Danyal said during the first video that he recorded some of his and Mothers’ interaction which he sent along.”

Richard glances around the table before slamming his hands on it and popping out of the seat, “ Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna see what Danyal looks like.” He stops at the door and yells, “ last one to the cave cleans the batmobile,” and runs down the hall.

We waste no time and rush there; no one likes to clean bat excrement.

In the end, Pennyworth was the last to arrive, much to his dismay. Father reloads the video and stares at the screen for a couple of moments before pushing play. As Danyals’ face shows on the screen, Todd yells out,” Damn, demon brat, you weren't wrong about being practically identical, but look at those baby blues!”

Richard scoffs, “ Wow, I wonder why they're identical!” he lays on with sarcasm, “ it's not like they're identical twins or anything.”

Todd shoves him, “ shut up, you dick.”

It gets to the point in the video where that whirling sound is heard in the background, and the screen turns to snow when Drake forces Father to stop the Video. “ That sound had to of come from a weapon, right?”

I nod in agreement, “ when he comes back on, he’s injured.”

Father resumes the video, and it gets almost to the end when he pauses it. He enlarges a portion of his face and points out, “ When he came back, this area was scraped.”

Richard leans in for a closer look, “ It’s only been a couple of minutes; humans don’t heal that fast. Are you sure this is really him, Dami? ”

I cross my arms, “if you would stop pausing, maybe we could finish the video?” His eyebrows raise at my outburst, but he lets it go and continues.

Once we're finally done watching, Todd picks up Richard's argument, “ demon brat, are you really sure it's him?”

Refusing to entertain his doubts, I say, “ it is. He said he had an accident. That it’s changed him. Faster healing could be a side effect.”

All of them but Todd look ready to take my words as fact,“ what I want to know is why we’ve never heard of him before?”

“ We weren’t allowed to. Grandfather ordered us not to speak of him.” I say, getting looks full of pity thrown my way. Father looks as if he wishes to say something, but I interject before he can, “ >tt< may we watch the other recording now? I need to know what happened.”I need to see the truth for myself.

Father switches over the video, and when the thumbnail loads, all we see is darkness. He pushes play:

[The footage loads, it is dark and shaky, and all that can be heard is heavy breathing]

We can hear Danyal huff, “Dam, is this thing on?”

[He takes a sharp turn right and jumps over a guardrail going past a visitor center]

“ Mother has gone nuts!” he complains, “Ahki, I don't know when you'll get this, but we're at 36.0583° N, 112.1273° W. Also known as the south rim of Arizona's National State Park, the Grand Canyon.”

[Danyal starts to slow down when he comes upon a trail that leads farther into the park]

“We've had a layover on the bus for our extraction in Los Angeles, California. We were close enough to the park that I asked to see it. I must have bothered her enough to say yes. She’s decided to turn the outing into a training exercise, but Ahki,” he says, breathing labored, “ I've never seen her like this, not to me, not to us.”

[ He wanders off the marked path.]

“I've only seen her like this on missions,” he whispers, “she’s scaring me. I don’t know what to do.”

[ Danyal runs until he gets near a guarded edge of the canyon and begins to walk. His breath calms, and he continues to travel in silence until the sound of footsteps creeps up on him. He turns around to see Talia rushing at him with a blade drawn and quickly picks up the pace. ]

“ There is no reason to run, my love,” Talia calls out, “ this will only take a moment.”

[ Danyal does not stop running.]

“ You said this was supposed to be training! But, Mother, this does not feel like it!.”

Talia lets out a humorless laugh, “ An astute observation.”

[ Talia picks up the pace and makes a swing at Danyal. He dodges but trips over a root of a juniper tree, letting her close the gap. He turns around to face her and gets a sword shoved towards his face.]

“ Why, Mother? What have I done? Why are you acting like this?” he pleads.

“ You? Nothing, but that is the problem. How could a child descended from Ra's AlGhul be nothing but a failure?” she sneers.

Danyal’s voice shakes, “ Mother, I’ve completed every mission–” she cuts him off.

“ Over twenty percent of your objectives still continue to breathe. That is not a success! You are an Al Ghul, an heir to the league. Your actions are not acceptable.”

Danyal blubbered out, “ Those people were innocent. They hadn't done anything; how could you expect me to do that? ”

She scowls, “ my expectations for you are the same as your brother. For you to live up to the Al Ghul name.”

[ She crouches in front of Danyal and places a hand on his cheek.]

“ Which makes it a shame that I’ll have to kill you.”

[Danyal scoots away from Talia]

“ Mother, I can do better. Please?”

She shakes her head at him, “ after all this time, you should know better. We do not negotiate with our objectives; we take them out.”

[ Talia gets up and removes the sword from the front of Danyal.]

“ The Demon Head has no need for two heirs. You, my love, have always been weak, so much unlike your brother.”

[ Talia grabs Danyal. He tries to pry her hands off him, using one hand to pry at her fingers and another to grab onto the free juniper tree root. The camera only picks up the darkness as he tries to hug the ground. A moment later, a screaming Danyal is heard. When able to see again, the only thing in the frame is his stomped injured hand. He digs his heels into the ground as she drags him to the canyon's edge.]

“ Mother, please! I’ll do anything! Please, you don’t have to do this!” His pleading goes unanswered. “ What about Damien? He wouldn’t want this–”

She cuts him off, “ it doesn’t matter what your brother wants. He is not the Head of the Demon.”

[ Danyal is at the edge, tired from fighting, being held by his shirt]

Danyal stares at his mother as she says, “Goodbye, my love,” and pushes him off.

[Danyal and the camera go down, showing nothing but the sky sprinkled with stars. The fall is short. Suddenly, Danyal lets out a grunt and is suspended in the sky.]

“ I told Ahki the rope dart was useful,” he says wistfully and pulls himself up on the rope. The end of it wedged into the canyon wall keeping him in place.

[ using the rope dart and a knife, Danyal starts to scale down]

“ I can't come back to you, Ahki; you're going to have to be strong for the both of us.”

[ he’s silent for a few minutes as he continues on his way down, more than halfway to the bottom]

“ I don’t know where to go,” he confesses, “ Fathers isn’t an option. I know we're not supposed to keep tabs on him, but I saw that he lost a robin a while ago. Jason Todd, if I remember correctly. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them for me to show up now, especially without you. I–”

[ He's almost to the ground when the rope dart and knife cut through the canyon and send him flying to the ground. The camera shows dust flying around and the sky.]

He stays that way for a few seconds before weakly saying, “ I’m good.”

[The video goes out of focus until the screen is just a blanket of snow.

End video]

Chapter 2: Monster, how should I feel? Creatures lie here, watching through the shadow.

Chapter Text

The world is full of monsters.

A world where aliens walk among us, one where humans retain powers thought to belong to the gods, where anything, anyone, is possible.

So why was it so far-fetched for ghosts to exist?

When the Fentons took me in, I took their words with a grain of salt. The thought of life after death without peace didn't seem pleasant, let alone possible.

It made me think of Grandfather.

Why would he go through all the trouble with upkeeping the Lazarus pits if there was something to look forward to? Why would he be afraid to face death if it's just a continuation of life? It just doesn't make sense to me. It's something he taught us to embrace, as it's inevitable.

But all he shows towards it is fear.

I have seen him in various moods, but his emotions toward us stuck to things like anger or happiness. Fear was never one of them, at least none for us . Instead, he acted like we were expendable, just a means to an end. Something to be thrown away when its upkeep became too bothersome. That's why it surprises me that, in the end, Mother was just the same.

She laughed with us, took time outside of training to spend with us, she dried our tears. Whenever we got into trouble, Mother showed fear for us. She checked us over for injuries and took pride in our education; after all, there is supposed to be nothing an Al Ghul can't do.

The sad thing is that I can't call the Fentons an upgrade.

When Jazz found me at the bottom of the canyon, I thought they could help. Give me a way out of that life; show me what a typical family is supposed to look like. But in the end, it was as if I traded one evil for another. I don't know how Jazz survived before me. I don't think she would have had any human interaction if it wasn't for school. From the time I joined their family, she had already succumbed to drowning herself in books in lieu of people.

Jack and Maddie stayed in their basem*nt for the longest time doing God's know-what, leaving the two of us to fend for ourselves. Not that this was an issue for me, league training required me to be able to do so, but Jazz seemed to think otherwise.

She started coming home from school with parenting books.

I didn't have the heart to tell her it was too late for them.

We went to each other's parent-teacher conference meetings. We taught ourselves to cook, and when the time came to look for food because ectoplasm started bringing the refrigerator to life, we found safe places to store it. And stacked up on takeout menus. We worked like a team, but I couldn't help but keep her at arm's length. She would try to pry into my life whenever she got close enough.

When the Fentons took me in, I claimed amnesia.

Over time I pretended that things started to come back to me. Replacing memories with something more mundane, but Jazz would always take those stories in with suspicion. I don't know what kept cluing her in, and I'm pretty sure that's what got her into psychology in the first place. I've always been this big puzzle for her to figure out.

It's gotten even worse since the portal opened.

At first, she was worried about the ghosts taking revenge on the two of us because of Jack and Maddie's profession. She would try to reassure me that the monsters couldn't reach me, but little did she know that the biggest monster of all was sitting right beside her. While I am not proud of the things I was made to do in the league, I do not regret them. The only ones I ever raised a blade to were those who were truly deserving of their fate. Of course, I never harmed an innocent, but that doesn't make me any better than the ones I struck down.

Life is still a life. Who was I to be judge, jury, and executioner?

I wouldn't be surprised if my being a halfa is karma for the family line. A being who walks the lines of life and death , something Grandfather would fear but at the same time envy.

A total impossibility but somehow a reality.

My survival of that accident was a one-in-a-trillion type of outcome.

From the very beginning of my life, I have been around ectoplasm, even though it was unknown at the time. For all of their problems, the Lazarus pits have done me some good.

When mother had us, she was not expecting twins, so when I showed up, it was a complete surprise. Damien and I were clinging to each other even in the womb. Causing his umbilical cord to get wrapped around my neck. Mother said I was unresponsive; they would have thought I was stillborn If it wasn't for my bluing face. From what I understand, Mother had to fight for me to take a dip in the Lazarus pit, hoping it would do some good. I'm not sure how long she left me there, but the end result got me to where I am today.

Even years later, it still had an impact.

When the Fentons first started showing me the ectoplasm they had gathered, it shocked me to see something so familiar, so far from home. I thought their similarities were just a coincidence for the longest time, but Clockwork told me otherwise. When natural portals remain open for long periods, they can leave a trace behind. In the case of the Lazarus pits, the ectoplasm runoff collected and, over time, became corrupted by the living.

As it turns out, this part of the Fenton research is correct, as ectoplasm does react to emotions. For the Lazarus pits, that meant collecting the emotions of who went in it and those nearby. And considering who's been near them, I'm surprised they haven't caused an incident yet.

If it wasn't for that and my time with the Fentons giving me so much exposure, I never would have survived the portal turning on.

With all the ghosts coming through, I knew what I had to do.

It had been years since I'd been made to fight, so I wasn't surprised when I was a bit rusty, though fighting in the air took some time to get used to. I'm pretty sure Sam and Tucker thought I was making a fool out of myself, but it had to be done. After all, even to them, it would look suspicious if dorky weak Fenton, with no coordination, could suddenly fight like a pro.

I wonder what Dami would think.

These days he and the others are constantly in the news following father around Gotham.

It was only a matter of time before Jazz found out. I would like to say she took it well, but I don't really think she did. She tried to be subtle about it, but I know she's grown up with these prejudices. It wasn't long ago that she was calling the others monsters. And if that's what they are, what am I to her? I've heard her talking with Sam and Tucker, and all three of them agree ghosts are “annoying, an inconvenience, scary.”

Jazz once said something similar in front of me, but I must have had a look on my face because she quickly backtracked and never said anything like it. In fact, she tried to go out of her way to make me feel comfortable around her. Which in Jazz's mind means regularly talking about my mental health.

She tried for weeks to get anything out of me, but soon enough, she realized this wasn't a topic up for discussion. So, I thought that would be the end of it until one day, she barges into my room with a bucket of Fenton-proof ECTO–PAINT and a couple of canvases. She ensured the coast was clear and dragged me into the lab. She sat me down in front of the portal, saying it would be “therapeutic” to get my feelings out.

So, she left me down there to “Vent my feelings” through art.

I was going to leave, but she locked me in.

So, I settled for staring at the swirling green, endless void that makes up the portal.

I tried to think of the rogues I fought. Or the friends I've made, anything that brought a semblance of joy, but nothing could come to mind.

But nothing came to mind.

I was just stuck being mesmerized by the green.

Thinking of the Pain.

With the paintbrush heavy in my hand, I dipped it into the paint. I created the darkness of the portal and gave it life. I had it spewing to the brim with ectoplasm while shooting out rays of blue and green radioactive electricity. It shot out of the portal while the ectoplasm pulled it back inside. All of it concentrated around a small dark smudge.

Cradling it as if it was a child.

A body,

My body.

Un-identifiable.

The painting comes to mind as we drive in relative silence. Neither of us wanting to break the peace. She drives smoothly, unlike Jack, making sure to go around craters etched into the pavement. It's just so peaceful, but as soon as my eyes wander to the outside, all I see is destruction.

Destruction I’ve caused.

Why’d I go into that portal?

As we pull into the Nasty Burger, I'm brought out of my musing. The two of us order, grab our food and head to a secluded corner. I didn't know how to start, so I let her take the reins, “ so what was so important that we had to talk about it here? Not that I'm mad about it. Any reason not to eat at home is a good one, but still, it's weird for you to want to talk like this out of the blue.”

I hesitate and eat some of my food before murmuring, “ You know how the fruit loop is. Let alone Jack and Maddie.”

She raises an eyebrow, “ your back to calling them by their names?”

“ You know as well as I do that I only ever called them Mom and Dad for appearance sake. I don't understand why you still call them that. They're only a mom and dad for you in name and me for legality.” If you asked me, that doesn't really count.

Her eyes filled with indignation, “ I know I did not raise you to be rude. What is going on? Stop trying to change the subject.”

“I'm leaving”

“ what do you mean you're leaving?” she exclaimed.

I shush her,“ Just like what I said. It's not safe in Amity Park anymore, especially not for me.”

She throws her hands up in the air, “ You can't just leave. Don't you realize how suspicious that would be? Do you even have a plan? Where would you go!”

I smirk at her, “ who said I'm leaving in secret?”

She stills, “ what do you mean?”

I look off to the side, “I got in touch with my brother.”

“ Brother? What brother?”

I ignore her and continue, “ I managed to get his number,” more like fix the communicator, “ and he's arranging things with our Father to come to get me. He told me his lawyer should be showing up and a few days, and they'll follow soon within the next week or so. Matters how fast they can get the paperwork done,” I try to tell her nonchalantly. Though I doubt I'm doing a good job.

“Lawyer? Danny, are you sure you want to do this? I've tried not to pry,” I stifle a laugh at that, “ but how do you know this is really him? That they're safe?”

“Well, I’ve made that choice before,” giving her a deadpan look, “and all I can do is go up from here.”

She grounds out, looking deeply offended, “ Mom and dad are not that bad–” I cut her off.

“ Maybe not to you, they're perfect A+ student, but me, I've never been anything more than their charity case. They only look at me when I'm being yelled at or given chores. Hell, I see them more often as Phantom, and that's when they're shooting at me. Can you really tell me they're not that bad? Think about it, Jazz.”

“ If you just told them you were Phantom, it wouldn't be like this. They would accept you!”

I just look at her in disbelief, “ I've seen what goes on in the lab. I have found multiple ghosts locked up in there, ectoplasm spotting the walls. We’ve both heard the screams, Jazz. I hope you know that it's not normal to go on during the night. What they're doing is wrong. It's immoral. It's illegal.”

And I refuse to keep letting it happen. Bruce Wayne might not be able to stop it, but Batman and the Justice League sure can.

“Danny, I know you feel some kind of kinship with them, but you're not a ghost. You're still alive. You don't see–”

“ No, Jazz, you’re the one who doesn’t see. Would you think this is still okay if they were a metahuman or an alien? Truthfully.”

“ They can still feel pain ghosts can't! They don't have a nervous system. It's not real pain!”

I get up from the table and start to walk away when she says, “ Danny can't we talk about this?”

“ As soon as you start listening.”

Chapter 3: Alfred! The kids broke the Batcave!

Chapter Text

We all just stare at the computer.

Danyal was right; of course, this situation needed clarity. Otherwise, I would have dismissed the notion of Mother throwing him into the Grand Canyon.

It’s just unbelievable.

I doubt I would have believed him, but it’s right there. Right in front of me, what could have been his final moments? It’s as if I’ve been struck.

We absorb what we’ve seen in silence until Todd breaks it, mumbling, “ Talia, what the f*ck,” repeatedly under his breath. Pennyworth was unperturbed for once, allowing it. Not that I can blame him. My attention switches to Father as a light pitter patter comes from him strumming his fingers.

His face is void of emotion, but his eyes a raging fire; he turns to Drake, “ Where do the coordinates lead to?” as he’s gone into, as Richard and Todd like to call it, Daddybats.

Drake leans over the controls as he brings up a map, “ Amity Park, Illinois,” he finishes with skepticism, “ the most ‘Haunted city in America,’ whatever that means.”

Richard throws in his two cents, “ Sounds like one of those tourist trap gimmicks.”

I hear Drake “hum” in consideration before his fingers fly over the keyboard bringing up strings of code. It’s all going well until the back of the screen starts to glow a toxic shade of green, Lazarus green. Drake clenches his jaw and pushes Father out of the chair as he exclaims, “we're being back hacked!”

I glance toward Father, looking for an explanation when he situations himself behind Drake, watching the code intensely, “ that shouldn’t be possible. We have better defenses than the Watchtower.”

“ Yeah, well, try telling them that,” he says, gesturing to the screen. Drake, barely able to keep up, huffs in frustration as the code distorts and fills with symbols unknown. “ What is this–” he grounds out as the computer makes a high pitch whine filled with jumbled noises. Then all of a sudden, the screen goes off.

“ What just happened?” I demand, just as all the cave lights go out.

“ They got in,” Drake says into the pitch dark with a hint of worry.

“ Is there a way to kick them out?” I ask.

Father interjects, “ only through the main console, but that's what they took us down from.”

Richard starts up a wrist computer and types away furiously, “We can’t do anything now. They’ve locked us out of the system.”

“ We could–” Drake starts to suggest as the computer, and only the computer, comes back to life. Illuminating the cave in an eerie green glow.

It starts running through some kind of diagnostics, all of which are in that same weird script as before. It’s hard to distinguish, but with every passing moment, they look less garbled, even throwing in a couple of English letters. Until It just goes blank.

Father barks out, “ Find a mask!” We all start scrambling.

The code falls off the screen and fills with weird color static. It was as if a rainbow had combined to make never before seen shades of green, blue, and purple. The Computer lets out a ringing, whirling sound, almost as if static was scratching a chalkboard, “ W̷h̸a̷t̶ ̵a̶r̶e̷ ̷y̵o̵u̴r̴ ̴i̴n̵t̵e̷n̵t̶i̷o̷n̶s̶ ̷w̸i̷t̸h̵ ̶A̸m̴i̶t̶y̶ ̷P̶a̶r̴k̴?̶”

Father growls out, “ What have you done to our system?”

The rainbow screen glow lessens, and the whirling goes down to just a whisper, “ B̸a̵t̸m̵a̸n̸?̷” The voice chokes out as if unbelieving.

Our bodies tense, waiting for the voice to continue, for their intentions to be known, but all we receive is silence. I raise an eyebrow at the others, waiting for someone to say something. But they do nothing, “ Are you to tell me,” I ask, disbelieving, “ that you were unaware of whom you were hacking?”

The voice, void of static, stammers, “Ahki?” A voice, his voice, deeper than the years before, but thanks to the video, known as good as my own.

“ Danyal?” I throw out unbelieving.

He laughs lightly, nervous, “ I guess this means my message went through.”

I could hear Drake's jaw drop at the revelation. Then, he squeezes out in indignation, “ What did you do to the bat computer! ”

The screen changes once more, revealing Danyal. If I were to describe his appearance, it would be gauntly, but his eyes look alive.

They're sparkling as if they’re a sky full of stars.

He’s sitting down, and behind him is a glowing, distracting, distorted sign and a cloudless sky.

“ In my defense,” he says, “ your the one who entered my backdoor.”

“ Your backdoor?”

He nods though he makes a face at the question, “ Well, yeah, I mean, I didn’t set it up alone, though I had a part in it.”

Father interjects, “ That still doesn’t explain why you were back hacking.”

He stares at father as if he were stupid, “ You were using, for you, an unknown backdoor into a government agency.”

Pennyworth chips in with a tone making it known he won’t take no for an answer, “ Young Master Danyal, would you care to expand on that?”

His hand makes its way to the back of his neck, “ Um, not to be rude, but who exactly are you? I recognize Ahki and know the names of the others and Father, of course, but I don’t have yours?”

He straightens up, “ My apologies, young master; I am Alfred Pennyworth, the family butler.”

Todd snorts, gaining everyone's attention, “ While he’s one hell of a butler, Alfie’s a bit more than that.

I nod in agreement, “ He raised Father. He is family.”

Danyal breaks out into face breaking smile, “ then, in that case, it's nice to meet you, Gramps,” causing Pennyworth's face to redden, “ and as for an explanation, you entered a backdoor connected to the GIW, the ghost investigation ward, better known to those around here as the guys in white.”

Drake's hand goes to his chin and stares at him intensely, “ But that doesn’t answer why the GIW is connected to Amity parks city records.”

“ Is nobody going to question that there is a government agency dedicated to ghosts?” Todd cuts in, “ it’s ridiculous.”

Danyal laughs, “ they’re even worse in person. They wear all white, with big black sunglasses.”

Todd smirks, “ let me guess, they're the type of douche that wears them even indoors.”

Danyal shoots him finger guns, “ got it in one.”

I huff,” Danyal, why, is there a GIW?” trying to get him back on task.

He gives me the same look he gave Father, “ For the ghost, of course.”

I cross my arms,” there is no such thing.” After all, we would have seen some by now if there was. But, with all the people the league has put down over the years, wouldn’t one of them come back to haunt us?

His eyes narrow, “ There are definitely ghosts, but shouldn’t you all know? Attacks have been going on for a while; hell, it got so bad at one point I sent in a league request. The whole town got dragged into the realms for ancients' sake.”

“ What name is your request under?” Father asks.

“ Daniel, the American spelling,” he emphasizes, “and the surname Fenton.”

Richard starts going through files on the wrist computer when he glances at Danyal, “ I can’t reach the files. You’ve got us locked out.”

He blushes, “ My bad!” he messes with his computer, and the power comes back,” I didn’t mean to go that far. The GIW was trying to ping your location. I wasn’t sure who was using the connection, but I didn’t think anyone hacking into their organization was trying to help them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.”

“ And if we were allies of the GIW? What would have happened?” Richard asks.

He shrugs, “ You would have stayed locked out of your system and had your files gone through and deleted. Standard practice, ya know–” Danyal gets cut off by an iridescent blue mist escaping his mouth and puts his head in his hands as he groans.

My eyes narrow, remembering his video, ‘ I was in an accident. It's changed me in ways that I can't really describe, but Dami, at the end of the day, I'm still me. I may not always look like me, but I am still me.’ He has always reacted dramatically, though not subtly, when things go astray. I can’t help but worry, “What's wrong?

Danyal ignores me and starts looking around for something. When he faces the camera again, we see his eyebrows raise as he starts to say, “ Cu–” but gets cut off as he is thrown back to the roof's edge. Standing over him is a large green smudge, its image distorted.

We hear Danyal call, laughing, “ Down, Cujo! Down! Shrink!” and watch as the green smudge becomes no bigger than Alfred, the cat. Danyal picks up the smudge, still laughing, and brings it back. He pets it absentmindedly as he introduces us, “ This here is Cujo, the ghost dog.”

“ Danyal, son, you're holding a smudge,” says Father.

Danyal looks down in surprise until his eyes widen, “ Ooh yeah, I forgot about that. Technology doesn’t always work well with ghosts. Sometimes, w–,” he stammers, “they mess with it. But he’s a ghost scouts honor.”

I doubt he was a scout, but I don’t press that issue. “ You never explained what the GIW does,” I say, hoping to get back on track.

He recites almost robotically, “ The Ghost Investigation Ward, better known as the GIW, is an organization dedicated to the investigation, removal, and extermination of all ecto- entity or ghost activity.”

“ That sounds like….” Pennyworth starts under his breath.

He nods in grim agreement, “ they’re performing governmentally approved genocide.”

“ How long have they been active?” Father asks.

“ By my count,” Danyal starts, “ around a year, maybe a year and a half at the most. They just showed up out of the blue and raided Fenton works. They were at odds with Jack and Maddie for a while, but they eventually compromised and set up a contract between them.”

“ And Jack and Maddie Fenton are your adoptive parents?” Drake asks, compiling information.

“ Nah,” Danyal says, looking offended at the thought, “they're just fosters. They tried to make it official a few years ago, but I wouldn’t sign the papers. I claimed amnesia when they found me, so the social worker put Fenton as a placeholder. I’ve been with them since. Their ghost hunters, or as they call themselves, ecto-biologists.”

Drake pulls up their files on the computer, “ Is any of this true?”

“ Depends on what it is. Their inventions work, but they don’t always do what they expect. I’ve been modifying what I can over the years to keep them from hurting anybody, but I can’t catch everything. Though when it comes to their science, its all bull sh*t–”

His curse took me by surprise, “ How bad is it?”

“ It’s all biased, and it's the work that allowed them to enact the anti ecto laws in the first place.”

“ Anti- ecto laws?” Father interjects.

“ It’s what allows the GIW, Fentons, and just about anyone else to do what they want. During that brief stent of Lex Luther as president, they got put in place.”

Father continues, “have there been any repercussions?”

Danyals eyes darken, “ Nothing I haven’t been able to handle so far, but that could change any time. The GIW has escalated. Ghosts have been going missing. I’ve found who I could and returned them home, but some are still MIA. The realms aren’t taking these actions lightly. If this continues, it could cause a war.”

I look at the others before tentatively asking, “ and how exactly would you know that?”

He gives me a sad smile, “ well, you didn’t think you were the only one still involved in the nightlife, did you?”

Chapter 4: It was an accident

Chapter Text

I wasn’t expecting a family reunion when I woke up this morning.

I can’t say I’m sorry it's happening, though I would have appreciated it if we could have scheduled it for later in the day. Who hacks into a government agency at 7 in the f*cking morning.

My family.

I’m just happy that we could set up notifications for the backdoor. The GIW has never been very bright, but with them using more and more unaltered Fenton Tech, they've become a problem. They've stepped up their presence online, scrubbing everything about Amity Park off social media and other public records. I didn't realize how much of a problem they've become until ghosts started to go missing. I still see my catalog of rogues every other day, but the others, the harmless visitors, keep going missing. They would leave the Realms to visit family or indulge in their obsession and never return. It took us days, but Tucker, Technus, and I got an in on the GIW’s server. It was well worth Technus’s monologues, and I can’t say that we didn't learn anything at the end of the day.

Though I can't say, I expected this. Nothing short of Pariah dark waking up could drag me away. Ahki’s right there.

Just an hour's flight away.

I had hoped it would still work, that communicator, but I wasn’t too sure. It had taken a lot of damage in that fall. So I did what I could for it. In the end, the whole outer shell had to be replaced, along with some of the wiring, but it looks good as new. I even gave it a new paint job in some of Jack's ecto paint.

I can't help but watch Damien longingly as he interacts with the others before asking, “ and how exactly would you know that?”

I give him a sad, understanding smile, “well, you didn’t think you were the only one still involved in the nightlife, did you?”

Their eyebrows raise from behind their mask– why are they still wearing them when I know who they are – while Tim starts to mess with the computer.

I snort at their reaction, “ Ahki, I would think you would know me better than that. It's not like I could leave them be when I can help.”

Damien flounders, a bit flabbergasted, “ You’ve always hated violence? So why–”

I give him an unamused look, “ Yeah, well, it's not like you liked it any better than I did,” though I level with him, “ it's not always about what you like. It's about what's necessary. I couldn't let them suffer when I could do something about it.”

I see Mr. Wayne–Bruce– Father– Dad? Never mind that that's an issue for future Danny, try to hide a smile, though he's not doing a very good job of it. My focus breaks away as Tim keyboard smashes, “ Are you some kind of cryptic,” he asks me, “ because there are no signs of you being a vigilante in Amity.”

I pause, trying to figure out an answer for him. I can't admit I'm Phantom. Who knows what kind of surveillance the fruit loop has hidden up here. Not to mention Jack or Maddie. “It's a bit complicated,” I manage to get out, “ I can't say much about it here, but if you watch my first message, I explained a little bit in the end.”

Jason cuts in, sounding skeptical, accusing, “I would’ve remembered you talking about being a vigilante,” He crosses his arms.

Damnit, he used the ‘V’ word. I cross mine back to assert dominance, “I hinted at it. What did you expect me to say, ‘hey Ahki, I know it's been years but guess what? I picked up vigilantism too,’ like come on, be realistic.”

I see Richard– though the press calls him Dick, I'll have to ask which he prefers– try to smother a laugh but fail miserably at it. “He does have a point. It’s secret identity 101.”

Jason grumbles as the man-bat asks, “ what can you tell us then?”

I put my hand to my chin and pretended to think about it for a second before setting a serious tone, “ to put it plainly, I was in an accident. It's, um, changed a few things,” I stare at the captain of caped furries as I emphasize, “ I'm not a meta; it's more of, uh… medical condition?”

He raises an eyebrow, “ A medical condition?”

I nod, “ yep.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose, “ and it allows you to be a vigilante?”

I hum, “ It doesn't allow me; it's just changed me. I might be different than I once was before, but I'm still me at the end of the day. And that's all that matters, at least to me,” daring him to say otherwise.

Gramps seems to get the idea as he says, “ of course not, dear Boy. But I must ask, young master, are you safe? Has this… medical condition ailed you?”

I smile sheepishly, “ things could always get worse. My health isn’t bad if that's what you mean, but with my extracurriculars, you can't always be sure how long that will last.”

Damien interjects, “But that doesn't explain why you would know their actions; the GIWs would lead to war.”

“The Realms are complicated,” I try to explain, “ I guess the best way to put it would be that they’re a bit similar to the US. There are island nations throughout the realms that have a ruler or governing body but are still part of the greater Realms. These nations act like the Independent states that we have here. Though all of the realm subjects are sovereign to the High King. Does that make sense?”

When I get no negative answers, I continue, “ The infinite realms have always been connected to the living one. And in spaces where the veil between the two is the thinnest natural portals will appear. Letting ghosts or humans cross over into the next Realm. About 2 years ago, Jack and Maddie Fenton opened up a stable, artificial portal to the realms, which they call the ghost Zone, in their basem*nt–”

The man, the myth, the legend, the goddamn Batman interrupts me, “ How hasn't the Justice League heard of this?” Then, he takes a questioning look towards Tim, “ do we have any records indicating riffs in the dimension?”

Tim does some fancy key smashing and says, “ nothing. There are no records of anything opening at all.” Looking a bit freaked out at the premise of not knowing.

I just pet Cujo trying to wait for their minny freak out to end, but as it goes on for a few minutes, I get bored and interrupt, “If you would allow me, I can explain,” catching everyone's attention, “ the reason you have no records of it is that it is a natural, chronically reoccurring event. A friend of mine once told me that there is never a moment that the Realms aren't interacting with the living one on some level. We just can't always tell that they are. It's part of how we leave this life and into the next.”

“The realms,” Richard/Dick says as if having an epiphany, “ is the afterlife?”

“Really dickhe*d?” Jason snorts, “That's slow even for you.”

His hand clutches his imaginary pearls, “ Little Wing, how rude.”

I chuckle, “ I mean, I thought it was implied.”

He turns to me, “ oh, come on, not you too.”

Damien glances at him, “ Richard's special.”

I feel Tim would have chipped in, but ‘I am vengeance’ put a stop to it, “Why don't we let Danyal continue, boys.”

I give him an appreciative nod, “ hey, I don't remember if I said it or not but you can just call me Danny. But, uh, anyway, the stable portal has caused Amity to get a lot of Supernatural attention. Ghosts are incredibly common here. Some of them cause trouble, but so do humans. Most just want to spend their afterlife in peace or follow their obsessions.”

Damien interrupts, “ what's an obsession?”

I shoot him an annoyed look, “ An obsession is what keeps a ghost here. It's something that they need to follow, something that gives them a purpose for remaining. They can be about anything from hunting, and music, to technology. There's no limit to their possibilities, but some of those obsessions require the ghost to leave the realms and enter this one. They've been getting attacked by the GIW and other Ghost Hunters. I'm pretty sure I mentioned earlier that some of them have gone missing. They have sent out searchers, but they still can't find them, and I can't either. If it's not the hunting of their subjects, it's the fact that the Fenton's and the GIW intend to disrupt the realm itself.”

“Do you have any examples of this?” Tim asks.

“ A few months ago, the GIW shot a rocket launcher through one of the portals, and it hit one of the ghost civilizations, “ I say with a shaky breath, “their actions have been counted as an act of terrorism.”

“ Do you know what they plan to be doing? Have there been any rulings from their High King?” asks Batsy.

“Normally, they would make the ruling, but not too long ago, the sealed king, Pariah Dark, a tyrant, was released from a forever sleep. He didn't stay out for long, but during that time, he was dethroned,” I pause. Clockwork, help me. How do you explain that you dethroned a Tyrant King and subsequently took his place?

Ancients help me.

“Their replacement is still underage, so a Council of Elders has been enacted to help guide the rulings.”

“ And their answer?” Gramps asks.

“ The “king” and the council don't agree with each other. The council wants war, while the “ king,” or I guess in this case “Crown Prince,” wants to try diplomacy.”

“ I want to try diplomacy.”

Jason gapes, “ you don't mean….” I nod slowly while Jason makes his impression of a fish.

Ahki finishes for him, “How could a living person become the king of the Dead!”

I rub the back of my neck, “It has to do with that accident that I was talking about. I really can't talk about that. Not here. You never know who's listening.”

B-man says, with a hint of anger, “ You mean to tell me you're not in a secure location?”

I brush him off, “ for one, I'm wearing phantom-phones,” I take one out of my ear and show them. They are similar to the Fenton phones but are my own design and run purely on ectoplasm. They will work in the zone and into the exosphere. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked in an alternate dimension. They are the definition of secure, “ and if you haven't noticed, I haven't said a single one of your names yet,” just to make a point, I remind them, “ you're all still wearing masks. No one has been compromised besides me.”

Richard/Dick tries to calm down dad-man, and he looks to be, but I don't know him well enough to tell if he genuinely has. “ The council has given me time to try diplomacy, but if they don't start seeing results soon, if they have the majority, they can overrule my decision.” I don't want war. I want Justice for my people. “Will you help me?”

They all sport a determined look as they say, “yes.”

Immediately I feel tears start to run down my face,I shove my face into Cujo's fur. I can do nothing but say,” thank you.” I try to wipe away the tears, but they just won't stop.

“You have nothing to thank us for,” says Damien, As the others also chip in with their reassurances.

I'm finally calm when bats ask, “ When you said you needed help, was it just with this? Danny, son, I need to know, are you safe in that house?”

“ No.”

Batman, no Dad takes off his cowl and stares me in the eye through the screen, “ I'll contact my lawyers; give me one week to get the papers in order. It's time to come home.”

Home

I’m coming home

Chapter 5: Let's play: Operation

Chapter Text

Some things are too good to be true.

The idea of finding a perfect family, one that doesn't pry into the past, must have been too much to ask. With my mother, my every movement was noted, reported back to Grandfather for my progress. With Jack and Maddie, I'm lucky to see them at dinner, if at all. That's one aspect I had hoped would carry over as Phantom.

But you never get everything you want.

3 weeks prior earlier

“Get back here, you ghost scum,” shouts Jack, out of breath.

They've been chasing me for 3 hours . Somehow between the time I left for school and got back, they had managed to perfect a new weapon. I don't know what they plan to do with it, but getting hit would be a bad idea. They've shot it off a couple times, blasting massive amounts of electricity into the air. Why, of all things, electricity. They are always preaching human safety, and what do they do? Make a weapon that incapacitates both humans and ghosts.

‘ Great job, guys,’ I think, rolling my eyes.

I hear the gun start to whirl to life. Without looking back, I dodge the blast, going intangible at the last second. I speed up, using a burst of energy, and sore intangibly through the sky, hoping to, this time, get out of range. I watch Maddie release the boomerang, and it comes right for me. I wait for it to get close, and then I take a nose-dive into the streets. I fly down into the sewers and pop back up a few feet away. I see the boomerang lying on the concrete, parts smashed from the impact, and Jack and Maddie on the way. I leave as quietly as possible and, while still intangible, turn back into Fenton. I fly low to the ground, weaving around buildings and cars, as I go back to Fenton works and reappear in my bedroom.

I wait for the telltale sign of them coming home. I don't have to wait for long as I hear the G.A.V. pull up in the driveway, “ you almost had it, Maddie-cakes,” he says as they walk into the house, almost sounding placating.

“ Almost isn’t enough,” she says, raising her voice, “ that thing is a menace! Look at what it did today! We have to fix the boomerang again. We just did that. When will it stop, Jack, terrorizing us good people.”

“Come on, you sound like you need some fudge,” Jack says. Maddie doesn’t respond. The next thing I hear is the lab door hinges whine as the house starts to shake when the door slams shut.

I can't help but think, ‘she's gonna be down there for a while,” as I stare at the full Phantom thermos.

For the next few hours, I fiddle around with homework or anything else to keep me busy as I wait for the sound of tools down below to stop. It isn't until after midnight that it does, but instead of silence, a gut-wrenching wail reverberates throughout the house. The only one's home are Jack, Maddie, and I, with Jazz staying at a friend's house. Without thinking, I immediately stop what I am doing, turn into Phantom, and fly to the basem*nt.

I see unknown ghosts in cages, Maddie and Jack, in white hazmat suits, with face coverings looming over a restrained spirit. One of them sees me and is about to speak, so I place a finger over my lips as if saying, ‘shhh.’ Then, while Jack and Maddie are distracted, I open up the portal and start breaking them out of cages. I watch as they sneak out of the lab and back to the realms one by one. I had just opened the last cage when I heard, “ you!” being screamed towards my back. I push the last of the ghosts out the door as Jack and Maddie reach for their weapons. Jack starts firing, completely missing me, scorching the walls. While Maddie gets in close with a knife and starts slashing. I duck under her arm and kick her feet from under her before racing to the examination table. A middle-aged woman is strapped down by her wrist and ankles with glowing ant-ecto metal cuffs.

“ Behind you!” they cry as an ecto-beam flies past my face. I whip around to see Jack getting ready to take another shot. I fire off a weak one of my own, making him stagger as it clips him in the shoulder. While I'm distracted, Maddie comes up from behind me and slashes through my shoulder. The blade gets stuck in me, with Maddie's hand still on the hilt. I grab her wrist, break her hold, and take out the knife. I hit her on the side hard, and she gets pushed toward the cages. I immediately go towards the tools, grab a screwdriver, and break the woman out of the restraints. I pick her up in a princess carry and rush towards the portal. Right before we get in, I feel needles crawl up my spine as I'm hit by that weapon from earlier, being hit with a sh*t ton of electricity. My joints lock, unable to move, and I fall back. The woman staggers on impact and watches in fear as Jack and Maddie come closer.

Our eyes meet, “ it's okay, go.”

She shakes her head, “ What about–”

I cut her off, “ Don’t worry about me. Just get out of here. Make sure the others are okay.”

Still looking uncertain, she backs into the portal, saying in ghost speak, “ Be strong, Your Highness, help is on the way,” before being enveloped in green.

Jack tries to pick me up, but I flop around in his arms, trying to get away. “ Oh, stop it,” Maddie says, trying to be threatening, but I don’t listen. She rushes off to the side and comes back with a giant mallet, and the next thing I know, I see stars. They drag me over to the examination table and strap me down. The restraints are tight. I try to wiggle out of them, causing me to get another hit to the head, and the world fades to black.

When I come to the echo of blades, mar my skin.

They ache, a flaying sensation clinging to my bones. Exasperated by the burning chill of the examination table, I'm left feeling breathless. Forcing me to focus on my spewing chest. Watching it rise and fall in anticipation. Waiting for what could be my final breath to come and go.

For the pain to stop.

I look down at my body, over the restraints, and find myself naked. They added another restraint to keep my chest down, and just below it is a Y- incision cutting through several layers of skin and ectoplasm. They start peeling back my skin and pinning it down with clamps. Finally, they put some kind of machine in between the initial incision. Jack's hands move toward the device and start cranking it.

The pain comes immediately.

It is as if my chest is torn into two. Ligaments and tendons popping out of place with each crank, ripping me apart. Until they create a cavity big enough for both of their hands to fit through.

Their touch feels wrong.

Like a tickling sensation that's gone on for too long, it becomes painful until they start to pull. Yanking on parts that shouldn't move, scooping them out of me, not caring how they'll be put back.

If they could be put back.

They move slowly, carefully holding parts, weighing them, taking samples, and storing some in jars. Electrified Phantom pains rushed through me with each of their movements. I can't help but flinch at their prodding, squishing of parts, of me.

They peel my skin back further to get a better look inside. They nick at my arteries, watching how I bleed, how fast it'll stop. Watching if ectoplasm can clot like blood. It can, but what they're watching isn't solely ectoplasm, so it takes longer than full ghosts. Finally, they get annoyed at the slow pace and come back with a blowtorch to cauterize my wounds.

They wouldn't want me to bleed out too fast, after all.

I’ve tried to stay quiet, not wanting them to get the satisfaction, but when the fire touches me, I can’t help but plead, “ stop. Please, I’ll–,” they cut me off, laughing at my pleads at my cries, finding it funny.

That is, until they stop finding me amusing.

“ Would you shut up?” Maddie says through clenched teeth.

“ Please,” I say once more, hoping that, for once, she will listen, but it does no good. She throws her hands up in annoyance and walks away from the table.

Jack stops what he is doing and follows her, “ Maddie-cakes, what do you have there?”

I can hear a smirk in her voice as she says, “ don't worry about it. get behind its head,” he does so, “ I want you to squish his mouth shut just like this.” She instructs him where to place his hands and shows him how to close my jaw shut and push my head down. His grip is tight, making it hard to breathe. Once satisfied, she climbs on the table and positions herself over me. I was expecting a muzzle, but it seems like they weren't prepared for me to be making any noise. I watch as she pulls a small needle and wire out in front of me and places it right under my lip. She smushes them together and pokes it through.

I scream, almost going into my whail, as the pain causes my eyes to water. She doesn't stop, doesn't look sorry, but laughs. The screaming only makes it worse. It makes the wire go through roughly, sliding through the holes and making them bleed until they are raw.

It didn't take long for them to force my mouth shut.

I can't help the whimpers that escape.

Once done with that, Maddie climbs off the table and returns to work. Their attention has shifted to my bones. I watch as they count them and note the color and size.

That information wasn't enough for them.

Once again, they walk away and come back only a moment later. I look at Jack's hands, and in them are big, heavy, rusted pliers. I couldn't even think of the implications until they stuck them in me.

I can feel their cool roughness on my insides when a sudden tightening comes into my chest. The pressure grows until I find myself breaking, shattering, when there all of a sudden, there is a loud crunch.

One of them, I'm not sure which, pulls out with an ectoplasmic bloody, messed up glove, part of my rib. They only got a small part, but that's all they needed. With that much gone, they could access a milky white substance.

Bone marrow.

It's all just too much.

Everything feels as if I'm burning as if my nerves are crying out for it to stop. Causing me to feel a sensory overload.

They keep it up uninterrupted for hours.

Until they just suddenly stop.

They look at each other satisfied with their work. My blood covers their hazmat suits, like a piece of Modern Art.

And just like that, they were done.

“ you were great with that chest spreader,” says Maddie, “ I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to split it open.”

He lets out a low chuckle with a hint of a blush on his face,” oh, it was nothing. But you, sewing it's now shut, that took some skill.”

Maddie loops her arms around Jack's neck and whispers, “ I'm so proud of you. You did great.” He leans down and gives her a long soft kiss before going in for a hug.

It only lasts a couple moments as he spots the clock on the back wall, “ Damn, look at the time.”

Maddie whips her head around and says, “We've been working all night,” she stretches as she walks over to the corner and starts taking off the bloody hazmat suit. “ The kids should be up soon,”

He kisses her forehead, “ what do you say to going out for breakfast with the kids?” She hums in thought, “ it should only be the one kid for today, honey. Jazz was spending the night at her friends.” Before finally agreeing but with the stipulation, “ What about breakfast for just the two of us? As a date. Let Danny figure out his own breakfast for today.” Jack readily agrees as they climb the stairs and start to leave the lab.

I could only stare in shock as they simply walked away from me. As if I was a toy that was done being played with. Not even having the decency to close me back up.

Tears run down my face as I think, ‘ why, just why?’

Blood rises up my throat, filling my mouth, ‘ Jack, Maddie, how could you do this?’

They turn the lights off on their way out, leaving me with only the portal's glow, keeping me from being in total darkness.

Things started to get fuzzy as time went on, almost as if I was drifting off to sleep, when the hulking figure of Frostbite came through the portal yelling, “ Great One,” followed by a couple of other yetis, Fright Night, Clockwork, and the spirit from earlier.

The woman falls to her knees, hands covering her mouth, with teary eyes, as the others all fuss over me. The yetis get the restraints off as Clockwork and Fright Night argue over who gets to carry me.

Though my eyes stay trained on the woman.

She kept her word; she brought help.

Present day

I'm alone in the kitchen when the sound of car doors slamming shut come from the driveway. Two people, one man and one woman, carrying briefcases. The man keeps checking his phone and glancing at the building. As if in subtle disbelief at what he was seeing. The woman is uncaring and drags her partner up to the door. I wait for them to knock before I go to the door.

“ May I help you?” I ask. You can never be too sure about the suit-wearing types.

Look at Vlad.

The man pulls out a Wayne business card and hands it to me, “ I'm here on behalf of Mr. Wayne,” and takes in my appearance before saying, “ we’re looking for a Danyal Fenton,” even using the correct pronunciation.

“ Uh,” I stammer, “ that’s me.”

I turn to the woman as she brings out a badge, " I'm Marie, here on the behalf of the state. Child Protective Service."

They both give me big smiles before asking, “ Are Mr. and Mrs. Fenton home?”

I nod, “ They’re downstairs in the lab.”

“ Great, why don’t you get them? We have a lot to talk about.”

Chapter 6: Dam Danyal

Chapter Text

“ I’m sorry, but I can’t,” I tell them, my mind made up, “ I’ll forever be grateful for what you’ve done for me, but it’s time for me to go.”

“ Go, what do you mean go?!” Maddie says, “ I have raised you for the last six, almost seven years. You can’t just pick up and leave, Daniel. You don’t even know this man.”

I laugh, my voice void of emotion, “ It's not like I knew you all either.”

Maddie crosses her arms, “that's different, and you know it. You were just a boy. You had nowhere to go. You have a home here. Why leave? After all this time. You have school and friends. You have us, family. Why would you leave us all behind?” Her voice gets thick as her eyes start to tear, “ you're my baby boy. You can't just go.”

“ Family,” I scoff, “ family at least see each other once a week. When was the last time we had a meal together? We spent time with each other? When's the last time you took notice of me, or Jazz for that matter? The only time we see you is when you want something from us. Either for cleaning the lab,” at that our audience blanches, “ or testing one of your inventions. When was the last time you took an interest in what we wanted? Because I don't remember.”

“ Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, You have no say in this,” she turns to me with a bright, convoluted smile on her face, as if enjoying Maddie's outburst,“ Danyal, dear, go collect your things, honey. I'll be waiting by the door.”

I make my way towards the stairs, but Jack slides in front, “ you can't just take Dann-o like this! We are his parents.”

“ You’re Fosters,” Marie reminds him, “You have no say in this matter. Danyal–”

“ And why,” he says, pointing at her, “ do you keep saying his name like that?”

I give him a confused glance, “ because that's how you say my name?”

“ Dann-o, son–”

“Do you honestly not know how to pronounce my name?”

He gives me a put-out look, “ you've never said anything about how we've said it before.”

“Yes, I have. That's why you started calling me Danny in the first place. You said it was easier to say.” I look towards Maddie, “ is that why on all of my documentation you have Daniel on it instead of, Danyal? I thought it was a court error. Do you honestly not remember my name?”

“ What difference does it make?” asks Jazz, “ It's not like they're that different.”

I glare at her, “ how would you feel if everyone called you Yasmine instead of Jasmine?”

“That's not even the same name! Yours is just a different version of Daniel!”

“I was named Danyal for a reason; it matters how you pronounce it. It's like me validating calling you Yasmine because there's only a letter difference. I have the right to be called by my own name. Properly.”

“Really,” she says co*ckily, “ what is so important about how you say your name.”

“It's because,” I say, letting my natural accent flow, “ that's how you would say it in my home country. Mother wanted to give me a name close to an American one because Father is.”

It was as if my voice stupefied the Fentons. It had been so long since I had last spoken naturally around them. When I started staying with them, my accent was thick, and they had trouble understanding me. With my reception at school, it didn't take me long to start incorporating an American accent into my day-to-day life. Cutting off another piece of myself to make them happy. Due to lack of use, my accent is less thick, but it's noticeably different from the standard midwestern accent they are used to. Jack breaks the silence, “ I thought it was a speech impediment.”

All of us stare at him in disbelief. “Seriously, Dad,” says Jazz as she massages her temple.

“Can I just go get my stuff now?” I ask, hoping Jack will move.

“ We are not done discussing this,” Maddie says, causing my attention to shift back to her, “ this is all just too sudden. We've had you for years, and there's been no contact from either of your parents. So why would they contact you out of the blue?

I glance at Jazz, “ they aren't the ones who contacted me,” I confess. “I'm the one who contacted them.”

Everyone's attention shifts to me.

“Why? We've been good to you. You have a roof over your head, go to school, and have clothes.” She walks over to me, gets in my face, and grabs my shoulders, causing me to flinch, “you have everything you want. So why would you contact them? Hell, how did you contact them?” Maddie asks, steaming.

I remove Maddie's hands gently, “ I want my big brother, my Ahki. I-I want to go home.”

“You have a brother?” Jack asks hesitantly, with sorrow laced in his voice, “ why haven't we heard about him?”

I give him a small smile, “ he was still with Mother when you got me. There was no point talking about him when it would only make me miss him more.”

“You remember?” Maddie asks, studying my face.

I nod, “ I remembered a long time ago. I just didn't want to leave. Mother wasn't… the most caring of people.”

“And your father?” she continues, “ if you remembered, why did you say something and go to him?”

I look toward Father's lawyer, Mr. Lawrence, “Father has other children. When I remembered, it wasn't too far after when the news that Jason died.”I say, half-lying through my teeth, “I couldn't go to him, not like that. I didn't want to become a replacement.” The idea of doing that still feels wrong. “Can we stop with the 20 questions, please? This is only going to make it harder.”

Mr. Lawrence opens his briefcase and passes papers to Maddie and Jack, “ why don't we start going over these documents while Danyal gets his things.”

This time I'm able to successfully make my way up to my room. Once I get in, I shut and lock the door and just take in the room. This is the last time I'm going to see it. The last time I'll see the old grimy stars on the ceiling. I slowly but carefully take out supplies from within the walls. Finding medkits, emergency rations, blueprints of my own designs, including an upgraded portal, and last but certainly not least, my old daggers and rope dart.

My last connections to the league, my identity as Danyal Al Ghul, and stuff them in a duffle bag.

I grab any and all pictures I can find, NASA memorabilia, and model rockets. Then phase through the floor and into the lab. I take a flash drive, plug it into the labs' mainframe, and start downloading all their documents. While I wait for them to load, I stock up on ecto-dejecto, grab a few blasters, and specter deflectors. I wait for the telltale sign of the computer beep before I start deleting anything and everything having to do with Phantom. All the h̵͓̦́̎͝a̵̢͇̭̔̒͠r̷̺̻̜̄̋͝d̸̢͍̆͆ ̶̦̘̊̆ẃ̴̘͜ò̵̟̍ṟ̶̝̇͂k̸̛͖̠͙ they've done on me and others, our weaknesses.

Until they have nothing left.

I slowly make my way to the portal, the place where Phantom began, and alter the bio lock. Leaving the only ones able to access it, Jazz and I. No longer shall Jack and Maddie have the pleasure of entering the realms, no longer shall they t̴̥̆õ̶̞r̸̛̲t̴̬̔ủ̵̗r̵͈̅ě̸̤ my subjects.

They have no right.

I fly up back to my room and do the one last thing I have to do.

I fish into my pocket and pull out my Phantom phone And push the speed dial. It only rings twice:

Sam: Danny?

Tucker: What's up, dude? You don't usually call before noon?

I laugh at the accusation, knowing it to be true, and plop onto my back, “ yeah, well, extenuating circ*mstances.”

Sam: So what has made his highness get up before noon?

Tucker: Bold of you to think he's been to sleep.

“ Ah, shut up; nobody asked for your two cents,” we laugh.

Sam: But in all seriousness, what's the problem?

“ I’m leaving.”

Tucker: What?! Why?

Sam: Did they find out? Do you need help?

“ Whoa, hold on, one question at a time, please. So Tuck, the what would be I’m leaving Amity–”

Tucker: Don’t be a smartass.

Sam: Come on, you two, take this seriously.

“ I got in touch with my brother; I’m going to live with them from now on. CPS and a Lawyer showed up– ironically, the dude's name is Lawrence–”

Sam: a lawyer named Lawrence; wow, did his parents force him into it or something, cause like, wow.

“ I know, right.”

Tucker: Are we not going to talk about the fact that Danny has a brother

“ Technically, I have four brothers,” I think, “ with only one of them being by blood, but ya know, it is what it is.”

Sam: And you just never brought him up? We’ve been friends for years, Danny. I would have liked to know.

Tucker: Don’t feel too bad; this is the first I’m hearing about a brother too.

“ My family situation is complicated. I didn’t want to talk about it. I still don’t want to, not really.”

Sam: You are not getting off that easy.

“Could we just talk about this later? I don’t want to waste time.”

Tucker: When are you leaving?

“ Well, originally, It would have been later. I would have told you in person, but the CPS lady Marie, isn’t comfortable leaving me here.”

Tucker: Why?

“ She took one look at an ecto blaster and is immediately removing me from their care. If Jazz was still underage, she would be coming too.”

Sam: Where will you go? Doesn’t it take time for approvals and stuff for you to move?

“ Yeah, but Father has already taken care of most of it, and he apparently has an emergency foster license, so he can take me immediately.”

Sam: What about the ghosts?

“We've just gotta hope Val takes care of them. But let me know if anything gets too out of hand. I’ll fly over if need be.”

Tucker: How far away are you gonna be?

“ My family’s in Gotham.”

Tucker: Dude, that place is like a cesspool

“ I know I can't imagine how many ghosts are going to be in that City,” I shudder at the mere thought of the number, “ hopefully, it's not too bad. But with those crime rates… I wouldn't be surprised if they're just as bad as Amity.”

Sam: Wouldn't we hear about it if it was? That's not something you can hide.

Tucker: You say that but look around. We've asked for help tons of times, but the Justice League never showed, just the GIW.

“Who knows, maybe while I'm in Gotham, I'll be able to flag down Batman and see what he says,” I tell them ‘jokingly.’

Sam: Promise us you'll be careful, Danny. I heard the bats don't like metas in Gotham.

“ Well, I’ll have you know being dead is considered a medical condition.”

Tucker: Whatever you say, man.

“But guys, I have to go. I'll talk to you guys once I get settled.”

Tucker: Love ya, man. Stay safe.

Sam: Be careful in Gotham!

“ Bye,” I say before turning off the phone. I relish in a few moments of silence before I get up and haul the bags onto my shoulder and make my way back downstairs.

“Ah,” says Marie, “ Is that everything.”

I give her a short nod before making my way to Jazz and engulfing her in a hug. “ I hate that I have to leave like this.”

“ Then don’t.”

“It's not safe. Not anymore.”

I break my hug and keep her arm's length, “ you'll still call me, right? Just cuz I'm leaving doesn't make me stop thinking of you as my big sister.”

Tears escape her eyes, “ of course, little brother, just don't forget about me.”

“ Never. I'll call you once I get settled in, okay.”

I skipped any pleasantries with Jack and Maddie and, with Mr Lawrence and Marie, make my way to the car.

I take one last look at Fenton works.

I'm coming, Dami, see ya soon.

Chapter 7: Can you,"see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil?"

Chapter Text

I watch as the car drives down the street, heartbroken.

He’s always been distant, but it has gotten worse over the past few months. I thought he was finally starting to open up after all this time. He was talking to me, confiding about his secrets, his powers, but then he just leaves. To a father, to a brother, I never knew he had. So when we went to the nasty burger, and he told me, I thought I would have more time. But it's only been a couple weeks, and he's already gone.

Gone where? I don't know, as he didn't say.

What else has he been keeping from me?

Why can't he trust me?

Why wouldn't he tell me that he remembered? He could have told me about his mother. What she did. Why did she leave him there, and what about the rest of them, the rest of his birth family? I would have helped him find them. Nobody said he couldn't have two. So why did he have to leave me without one?

But can he truly call us his family when we weren't even saying his name correctly? I don't even remember him calling himself Danyal; I always thought it was Daniel. I've called him that over and over again for years. Going as far as full naming him when the situation called for it, and he never corrected me. I feel so bad. I can't believe I did that to him. I was such an ass. What kind of big sister am I when I can't even get simple facts correct. I've tried to do right by him, but it wasn't enough. Though that doesn't explain why my every word was second-guessed? I wouldn't lie to him. He's my little brother. He should know when I'm telling the truth.

I just don't understand why he would leave me knowing that he has taken a place in our hearts and our home. Why would he leave me for things just to return to what it used to be? A house with no love, no interaction, just bumps and bangs that go off into the night. A house, not a home, that values science over its children.

Why couldn't he pretend, keep a straight face, and say everything was okay? Why couldn't he just let the problems lie? Why couldn't he stop himself from playing the hero? Why couldn't Mom and Dad's words have been true, just for once?

About the pain.

Because that would mean he was still alive. That would mean that when he got out of that portal, he was still okay, different but okay.

Because then he wouldn't be like this, constantly hurt. By their work, their hunting, and their words. None of that could have been used against him. It wouldn't have made him leave. Why couldn't he let it all blow over? Or better yet, tell them. Things could have been better, they would stop hunting him, and they wouldn't talk bad about him. After all, he's their baby boy. There wasn't a reason for him to be afraid. He could have stayed. We could have stayed family.

Right?

I used to think so, but now I'm not too sure.

If something were to happen to me, or either one of them, and caused us to come back as ghosts, would whoever's left hunt us too?

At the end of the day, Danny’s right. This isn't a safe place, but what more do I have? I have a roof over my head. They aren't hurting me, at least intentionally. They've never raised a hand toward me. I know they love me; I know they care. They just need help showing it. Though that doesn't excuse the screams. I hear them all day, all night. The only time they ever stop is when Danny makes them.

Either as Fenton or Phantom.

He's never been one to ignore someone in pain, except for when it's himself. He's put up with so much, but I can't help but be selfish and wish he lasted longer.

I don't want to be alone, not again.

But things don't always turn out how we want in the end. So I'll be stuck here in a literal Ghost Town. Packed with the dead and tourists in over their heads.

Just be safe little Brother, and don't forget me; I'll always be here.

Always.

***

“Hmm, thank you, Lawrence; I’ll let the others know. Thank Marie for me as well. Yes, yes, talk to you later,” I hang up the phone.

Danny will be coming home, which is great, but earlier than expected. When I contacted Child Protective Services, I thought it would be more of a precaution, but from what Lawrence says, a visit from them was overdue. When they went through the door, there was a variety of weapons scattered across the living room and entryway. Marie put her foot down immediately, taking Danny out of the house. I would think inventors would know about proper weapon safety, or lab safety, for that matter. Who leaves highly sensitive, experimental weaponry out in the open and within reach of children? Or have them clean a lab? The Dr. Fentons, apparently. It doesn't matter if he's a teenager now; 15-year-olds still shouldn't be around them. Let alone be expected to clean up after it. Though their concerns are more than negligence and child endangerment. Lawrence said that he saw Danny flinch away from Maddie when they were arguing.

There aren’t many reasons for such a reaction.

I get up from my chair, knees groaning as I stand, and head to the cave. Halfway down the stairs, I’m noticed, “ Father, tell Drake to stop referring to Richard as Big D. it is unbecoming.”

“ I don’t know, the replacement has a point,” says Jason, “ after all, he calls you little D.”

“Which would make Danny Baby D,” says Tim.

Damien gets in Tim's face, “ That is ridiculous Danyal is not a baby. Why would you insinuate as such?”

“ Because he’s the youngest,” says Tim, “ I thought it was obvious.”

I ignore the boys, take my place at the bat computer, and check the current list of Arkham escapees. Then, seeing nobody in dire need of recapture, kite-man and condiment king can wait for a bit and turn off the computer.

“ Boys, have you seen your brother?” I ask as I turn to face them.

“ Dickface?” Jason asks.

I send him a light glare.

“ What other brother would he mean, Todd? Danyal doesn’t count. He hasn’t come home yet.” Damien says, raising an eyebrow.

Jason chuckles, “just checking B’ hasn’t gone senile.”

Tim rolls his eyes, “ Dicks’ out with Babs. They went to go check out that carnival who came last week.”

“Humm.” Did he say when he will be back?

“ Around 3, I think. Why?”

I glance at Damien, unsure of how he will take the news, “ I heard from Lawrence. There have been complications–”

He cuts me off, “ what happened? Is he okay?”

“Can’t you, I dunno, shut the f*ck up and let the man speak,” Jason says, glaring at him.

Tim perks up and yells, “ swear Jar,” points at Jason, and looks at me expectedly. Before I can correct him, Jason flips off Tim, who throws a shoe that bounces off Jason's head, and hits Damien in the shoulder. None of them let the other's actions slide and tackle their offender, making the cave descend into chaos.

“ Boys,” I shout, trying to gain their attention, but they don’t notice.

I start to get up but stop at the hand on my shoulder, “ allow me, Master Bruce,” Alfred simply walks forward and clears his throat, “ gentleman.”

The boys still, Tim hanging off Jason’s neck like a koala while Damien is yanking on their hair, and say in unison, “ Sorry, Alfred.”

I give them a moment to right themselves and continue,” Lawrence and a CPS official went to the Fenton's home. They decided it was not a safe environment and removed Danyal immediately. If things process all right, he should be here later this evening or tomorrow morning.”

The boys blink at me.

“ If things are alright here, I’ll go finish off Master Danyals room,” Alfred says and starts to leave the cave, catching Damiens’ attention.

He looks at me and says, “ I shall assist Pennyworth,” before scurrying off after him.

Jason is the next one to react. He yells at Damien's back, “ what's Baby D's favorite food?”

“I said not to call him that,” he grumbles before replying, “he's always like falafel.”

Jason takes out his phone and starts scrolling, “ I’ll double-check what we need for it,” and heads up to the kitchen, leaving Tim and I in the cave.

“ Hey B,”

“ Humm,” yes .

“ Are you okay?” he asks hesitantly.

“ Why wouldn’t I be?”

“ It’s just you’ve been really quiet about all of this. About Danny.”

I brush off his concerns, “ I’m fine,” he looks like he wants to argue, “ why don’t you go call Dick and let him know.”

Tim crosses his arms, “ I know what you're doing, but I’ll go call him. Your gonna have to talk to one of us.” and walks out of the cave.

I wait until Tim's footsteps cease into silence and put my head in my hands. Twins, not one but two children Talia has kept from me. She tried to kill one of our children, my children. Not even having the decency to tell me about him. I missed 10 years of Damien's life and 15 of Dannys'. I missed most of Damien's firsts, and now I've probably missed all of Danny's. I've missed all of my children's first breaths and steps. I've comforted them during heartache and the loss of loved ones. When they needed a shoulder to cry on, but I've left Danny to cry on his own. I was late to Jason's final moments, to Danny's. I have been late in every way; my children have needed me the most. I'm dragged out of my thoughts by the buzz of my phone–

Dick: Tim told me about Baby D.

Dick: I’ll be back within the hour.

I check the time and relax, peace and quiet.

Chapter 8: Who are you? Who, who, who, who?

Chapter Text

I can feel us enter Gotham's airspace.

The air feels different. Saturated in dark emotions trying to latch onto me. Trying to spread the city's madness. Heavy clouds cover the sky, blocking the sunset. Looking as if it's ready to pour ink-stained rain onto the smogging city below.

This is the city my brother loves.

Already at this point, I can tell it's different from Amity. It being a small town in the middle of Illinois where everybody knows everyone. The same kids you went to kindergarten with are going to be the ones who you graduate with. The ones you will be fighting among for a date or a job, and smile and act politely when you see them at church on Sunday. There was hardly any light pollution, and the night sky was filled with stars. While with this one, you're lucky to see an inch of blue once in your life.

I hear a beep from the overhead, signaling it's time to buckle up and get ready for our descent. I buckle up, and look around the compartment, feeling others' eyes on me. They're all doing it, besides Mr. Lawrence, whispering to one another, clutching their valuables. As if, somehow, just being near them would make them go missing. The rest of the passengers are dressed nicely, each wearing expensive clothes.Why did Father have to pay for the expensive tickets?Amongst the rest, I stick out, wearing threadbare clothing covered in stains, holes, and weird fluids. I watched them as we land, scurrying to get their things and leave the plane. Only a few are left when Mr. Lawrence signals me to get up.

“ Welcome to Gotham,” he says with a large smile as he hands me a bag, “Come on, let's get you home.”

“Thanks,” I say as I hike the bag up on my shoulder. I'll be going straight to Father's tonight. Between the time it took for the paperwork to be finished, get my documents, and wait for the flight, all the paperwork had been faxed and verified. Under normal circ*mstances, it would take longer to go home, but CPS had shown up recently to check out the house because of Tim, so they deemed it safe for me to go straight home.

No waiting in whatever weird foster home they’d put me in.

Lucky me.

The airport is packed full– I can easily understand how you'd lose somebody here, “ Hey,” I say, calling out to Mr. Lawrence, “ how are we supposed to get to the house? I mean, we weren’t supposed to be coming this early.”

He places a hand on my shoulder, steering me towards baggage claim, “ Everything is taken care of. I got in touch with your father, and he is sending someone for you.”

“ For me? What about you?”

He laughs and points out my bags, “ Of course, your father wouldn't leave you stranded here.”

“ Stranded?” I ask as I grab my bags from the conveyor belt, “ aren't you coming with me?”

He shakes his head as we make our way toward one of the lounges by the front door, “ I have to get back to the office. just to make sure everything went through okay,” his phone buzzes in his pocket. He checks it and says under his breath, “ huh, my rides here,” and collects his things. Lastly, he sticks out his hand for me to shake, which I do, “ it was great meeting you, Danyal,” and starts walking away.

“ Do they know where to pick me up at?” I asked, raising my voice, but he left without answering.Sure, father won't leave me stranded, but apparently, you will.

Great, just great.

I drag myself over to a chair, annoyed. I’m in a new city, a crime-ridden city, with no knowledge of who it is exactly that I’m supposed to be looking out for.This is how you get people kidnapped, I swear to God.I don't have father's phone number, Damian's, or any of the others, and I can’t pull out a communicator here. I pinch my eyes and groan, asking myself, ‘what thehellam I supposed to do?’ Then, with nothing better to do, I wait. Watching the steady flow of people coming in and out as the dark sky spills, creating large puddles that fill potholes with dirty water like used paint.

I just want to gohometo a hug and a star-filled sky. At this point, it doesn't matter who's there; I'm tired. Since Mr. Lawrence showed up, it’s been one thing right after another, with no time to stop. I'm tired of looking over my shoulder, watching strangers stare, some out of concern and some with otherintentionsgleaming in their eyes. It's close to midnight when I hear “Danyal” called out. I stretch and twist around in my seat, my eyes wide at the familiar man. He's dressed in an impeccable suit, followed by a long black overcoat, and In his hand is a long umbrella. Worry is adorned on his face as he calls out again, “ Danyal,”

“ Gramps,” I yell to get his attention, causing him to whip around in my direction. The tension on his face vanishes once he sees me. He takes long, fast strides crossing the room in an instant. On his way, I can see his eyes studying me, gaining another look of worry. I understand I do. I haven't been looking my best lately. My clothes are bigger than they're supposed to be, dwarfing me and making my thin bony body look even worse.

“Oh, child, are you alright,” he asks, finishing up his look-through, though looking for what I'm not sure about.

“ I’m okay,” I tell him trying to be reassuring.

“ I'm so sorry,” he says, sighing, “ We didn't know you were here. No one told us you got the early flight. We assumed you'd be here tomorrow. Master Bruce only got in touch with Mr. Lawrence about an hour ago.”

I pick up my bags, and he tries to take them, but I hike them up onto my shoulder and follow him out into the parking lot, “ but he said that you all knew I was coming?”

He shakes his head, his eyes looking cold, “ It seems there was some kind of miscommunication on his end then because, I assure you, Young Master, we were unaware of your arrival,” I place my bags in the trunk and plop down into the back seat.

We make eye contact through the rearview mirror, “ now then, let’s get you home,” and he takes off down the street. We ride in silence until my stomach starts to grumble. Gramps looks back at me, “ have you eaten yet?”

“ No, sir. ”

He lets out a light hum and changes direction. A little less than ten minutes after, we arrived at Batburger. Gramps parks the car and hands me a twenty, “ They have vegetarian and vegan options.”

I don’t take the money but instead, take out my wallet, “ It’s okay. I can pay for it. Do you want anything?”

Gramps places the money in my hand, “ there is no need for that; I shall pay. Thank you for the offer Master Danyal, but I have already eaten.”

We had a short battle of wills, but Gramps won out. So I end up with a combo meal with “ jokerized” fries. Hopefully, they taste good. Unwilling to let Gramps go without, I buy him a sprite and head back to the car. “ Thank you,” I say as I enter, “ am I allowed to eat now, or should I wait until we get there?” and hand him his drink.

Surprise flickers in his eyes, “ You may eat now, Master Danyal, Wayne Manor is further out. We shall be home in about thirty minutes.” The food is good, but I still prefer the Nasty BurgerI tell Gramps, and he chuckles, “ best not to tell your brothers. They are incredibly fond of it” The rest of the ride is ridden in relative silence until Gramps says, “ Master Damien assisted me in readying your room. He insisted on it being adorned with stars, said you would want it that way.”

I can’t help but smile and say wistfully, “ he remembers that? What kind of stars did he add?”

“ Master Bruce put a stop to him adding any without you, but Master Damien has left a pack of ceiling stars for you on the dresser.”

Before I know it, we are approaching the Manor, “ is everyone out?”

“ No, Master Bruce is home along with Master Damien.”

My eyes narrow in thought, “ Then what about Batman? Won’t people notice that he’s not out tonight?”

We pull up the driveway, “ Master Dick is filling in for him tonight.”

“I meant to ask about that. I heard Damian refer to him as Richard, but the media always has called him Dick, so which one does he prefer?”

“Master Dicks Biological family didn't speak English as a first language, and they were unaware of the connotations the nickname has in English, but it’s the name he was used to, so he continues to go by ‘Dick.’”

Gramps, parks, and turns off the car. I turn my arm, intangible, and drag my bags through the seat, not wanting Gramps to trouble himself with trying to get them. I exit the car with my bags in hand, getting a questioning glance, but all he says is, “ Welcome home.”

I follow him up the stairs with ectoblobs fluttering in my stomach in worry. It's been so long since I’ve last seen Damien in person. Over video wasn’t enough. Is he taller than me now? He looked pail over the video, and with Gotham, that's to be expected, but is he too pail? Is he healthy? All my worries wash away as Gramps leads me into the house. Rushing down the foyer is Damien, a few inches taller than me, thanks to my treatment with the Fentons and portal incident ( I haven’t grown much, if at all, since). He’s not as pail as the video made him look, and looks healthy. He's about an arm's length away when he reaches behind his back, rushes behind me, and pulls out a kunai, ready to slice my jugular.

Father comes from down the hall and looks at Damien with wide eyes, looking at Gramps, unsure what to do when Ahki asks, “ What happened on 11/07/20XX,” startling a laugh out of me.

“ That is need-to-know information,” I say, humor laced into my voice.

“ The Manor is secure,” he says insistently.

I eye our audience, “ fine, On–.”

He cuts me off and looks at Father and Gramps, “ you will not speak of this to the others,” trying to be threatening. They give their assurances, and Damien taps my chin with the kunai, signaling me to get started.

“ Mother and Grandfather had left Nanda Parbat; something needed both of their attention, they didn’t tell us what. We were seven and still trying out new weapons. We had a tutor who specialized in the rope dart come in and teach us,” I tried to look back at Damien to see if he wanted me to continue, but he didn’t move his hand.

I tapped on it, and he moved to the side to see my face. I gave him a look, and he said, “all of that is common knowledge.”

“ I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to continue, you never liked talking about it.”

He grunts, “ Which is why–”

“ We use it for identification,” I say, finishing his sentence. “ We continued training it while they were away. I found it easy to use; Ahki did not.” I make eye contact with Father, “ when trying new weapons, we were supposed to be supervised, but Dami wanted more practice. We couldn’t sleep, and he dragged me to the training room.” Damien lowers his hand but still watches me intently, “ He was practicing with the rope dart, but his aim was off. It hit the wall, ricocheted off it, and… landed in my pelvis,” my hand instinctively going to the spot.

Damien puts away the kunai and comes in close, making me drop my bags, and wraps me in a hug and says softly, “ It really is you.”

My hands slip around him, and my eyes well up with tears, “ Of course you, Idiot; who else would use that communicator.” We stay like that for a few minutes, just holding each other, reassuring ourselves that the other is there. “ It’s good to see you.”

We break our hold at father's muffled cough. His eyes are wet, and Gramps doesn’t look too much better. “ Are you okay? What happened afterward?" Father asked.

Damian stops me before I can get a word out, “ don't youdare.”

His look challenging me to do otherwise, but I ignored it, “ He freaked out.”

“ Oh, did he?” Father says with an eyebrow raised.

“ Yep, we weren't supposed to be there in the first place, and I got hurt. He didn't want to get in trouble, so we had to hide it.”

“ It was an accident,” Dami cuts in.

“ I know that,” pushing any blame away from him, “ we were little kids. Nothing like that had ever happened before, and you tried to take care of it.”

“Tried to take care of it,” Gramps asks, “ what did he do?”

“He stole supplies out of the med bay and tried to fix me up. He did a good job, for it being his first time. The worst part of it all was hiding it from mother.”

“ Talia doesn’t know?” Father asks.

Damien and I both shake our heads. “ I pretended I had the stomach flu until it got well enough for me to move around and train again. We were old enough to care for ourselves, so she never saw it scar.”

“ So is that–” Father gets cut off by the sound of a Charming clock. My attention shifts, and I see that it's 2 a.m.

“ I think it's time for Master Danyal to be shown to his room,” says Gramps.

Both father and Damian looked as if they had forgotten the time. “ I'll show him,” says Damian. He grabs a bag from me and leads me upstairs to my room. “ at the end of the hall is Father's room, and on the left is Richard's and Drakes’, while mine is over on the right. You'll be next to mine.”

“Why do you call all of them but Dick by their last name?” I can’t help but ask.

His steps falter at my question, “ at first, it was due to lack of familiarity. Now it's more of a habit.”

He opens the door to my room and lays my bag on the bed. The room is large, coated with fresh paint, and full of the necessities but bare of personal touches. As I walk in, I see alargepack of ceiling stars on the dresser. I can feel his eyes linger on me as I take in the room, “ would you like to help me put up the stars? I have a chart.”

“ I would like that,” he says as he slowly makes his way to the door, “ I’ll see you in the morning,”

“ Night, Dami.”

“ Yes, good night, Danny,” he says as I shut the door behind him.

When I wake up, the house is quiet.

I barely hear the others' footsteps as they walk past my door. It's weird, I thought I would like this, but I can't help but wait for something to happen. For yells, explosions, or weapons firing off into the night.

But there's none of it, just silence.

I wake with the sun and watch as dark clouds cast the world into shades of gray. It's still early, so I start to unpack. Putting the clothes away was easy, but the rest took a little time. How do you hide stuff without Batman finding it? I could do like I did with the Fentons and put it in the walls, but knowing Batman stuff is already in there. To double-check, I stick my head through, and yep, it's lined with all kinds of wiring, much too new to come with the house initially. What does it do ? I follow the wiring and look at where it's connected to, and from the looks of it, it's a sensor. Probably part of the house security system. I take my head out of the wall and check the floor, which is thankfully free of wires. I choose a few different areas and stock the med kits, rations, and other items. I end up putting the flash drive with the rope dart and daggers. My more normal, civilian things, I put up with little fanfare. For now, I'll keep the model rockets on the dresser. Hopefully, they’ll let me hang them up; they would look cool amongst the new stars.

While looking through pictures, I hear a door slowly open. I look outside, hoping to get an idea of the time, but with all the clouds, I’m left guessing. Should I see who it is? I apprehensively make my way to the door, my hand hovering on the handle. I can't help but question, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ I'll have to meet them eventually, but I thought our first meeting would have Damien as a buffer. I know they've all seemed to take this in stride, letting a new person into their home, but it just doesn't feel right.

I'm invading their lives.

There's been much to watch in their civilian lives and on the vigilante scene over the years. Thanks quieted down after Damien came to live with Father, but that still doesn't mean everything's okay. Do I really want to be another complication? They’re already helping me professionally. Is this too much to ask? My mind flashes back to Father telling me, “ It's time to come home,” as I take a shaky breath and peek out the door.

I leave the room, my door squeaking, causing a man, more like a boy, to turn around. It’s Tim; he’s wearing a white T-shirt and jogging pants carrying an empty mug, “ What are you doing in there? Did Bruce say when he's coming?” I walk forward, and just as I’m about to introduce myself, he ruffles my hair.

“ Excuse me, but what are you doing,”

He chuckles,” Just making sure you enjoy your last moments as the youngest little D,” and walks down the stairs. What does he mean? He can’t possibly think I’m Damien, could he? I look down at my raggedy NASA shirt and Sam's pair of sweatpants that I had “ forgotten” to give back. I know I haven’t been around him lately, but these don’t seem like something he would wear.

I sigh and return to my room, “ I guess I’ll just introduce myself at breakfast then.” I change out of pajamas into something a little nicer, meaning I change my sweatpants out for jeans, and make my way downstairs. Unsure of where to go exactly, I wander around. Last night I only got a chance to see the foyer and the path to the bedrooms. I go through many rooms filled with fine art and nice furniture until I start seeing stuff a little more worn. A sitting room that looks just as chaotic as anyone else's, but in a way that you know it's cared for, and continue on. I make my way past the entertainment room, and finally, I go into the library. I can't help but gawk at some of the works. The books are in their original jacket covers and look like they've never been opened. The collection itself rivals most public libraries. It’s as if Ghost Writer had found a human residence. I stroll through and look at the variety; Jazz would love this.

I start looking through the science section, hoping to find something about the stars, when a sudden pressure finds its way onto my shoulder. I look next to me and see a black and white cat, “Oh, hello there.” I took them off my shoulder, their claws digging into me a little bit, and try to hold them. They immediately start to squirm, so I put them on the floor, thinking they would go away, but they started kneading on my leg. I squat down to pet them, “ What am I going to do with you,” I take notice of their collar, “ Alfred?” Making me grin. I take a picture of Alfred, and for who knows how long, I sit in the middle of the library, playing with him.

“ Come on, demon brat, breakfast has already started,” says an annoyed voice. I turn away from Alfred and see Jason with his arms crossed, “ you know Alfie won't let us eat until everyone gets there.” I give Alfred the cat one last pet and make my way to Jason. I don't know why but something about his voice is really irritating. There's something off about it, like it has an extra tone just out of sync. We make eye contact, and I watch his eyes turn realm green. My insides fill with a thin layer of frost as if my ghost sense hiccuped and got trapped inside. I watch as he backs up by a couple of steps, “ who are you,” he asks, his voice low.

“ I’m Danny,” I say with an inhuman grin filled with off-looking sharp teeth. There's just something about ghosts that has always troubled me. That being our need to fight. Others think it's weird, and I get it I do, but there's something so telling about a fist to the face. And it seems he was dead just long enough for him to get the urge to do me in too.

Jason's eyes widen a little before he can help it, “ your baby D?”

“In the flesh.”

He takes a step forward as if to get a closer look, “ Demon brat 2.0? You really expect me to believe that?” he eyes my teeth, “ What are you?”

I fake pout, “that's rude, dude. I thought you would get that as one dead guy to another.” His face looks like it’s been slapped, “ so Mr. Zombie wanna try that again?”

“ What did you call me?”

“ A zombie, but if you want a scientific term, I can call you a Revenant. I didn’t know if you have a preference, so ...”

His eyes glow as he takes a swipe at me. I dodge under his arm and kick out his foot, causing him to lose his balance. Before he can go down, he unexpectedly grabs my shirt, causing me to go down with him. He tries to pin my arms down, but I go intangible, and I slide right through. He grits his teeth, “that's cheating!”

“ All is fair in love and war,” I say, standing over him, the need to punch him in the face greatly diminished, “ are you feeling any better?”

He huffs and gets off the floor, “ Yeah, and what’s with that anyway? I haven’t felt like that since Replacement showed up.”

“ Replacement?”

“ Tim, he’s the Robin after me.”

“I know that. I’m not an idiot, but I didn’t expect the name-calling,” I grumble, “ The aggression, though, is a dead people thing.”

We make our way out of the library, “ What do you mean? I know the others have had the old ticker stop once or twice before, and I've never seen them act like this.”

“ It depends on how you got brought back,” I fill my eyes with ectoplasm and give him a thorough look over, “ If I had to guess, you took a dip in the Lazarus pits?”

He scowls, “ I was an unwilling participant.”

“ That doesn't matter to the pits,” I say empathetically. We walk for a minute or two and are silent before I ask, “ has the anger been a constant thing, or was it with just me in the room?”

“What's it to you,” he says defensively.

“ I think… you have toxic ectoplasm in you.”

“ toxic ecto- what?”

“ Ectoplasm. That's what's inside the pits. Over time, it gets contaminated, filled with anger and other strong emotions. It’s a miracle really that you are the first Revenant to come from those things,” The first we know of. He looks like he wants to say something, but I stop him as I can hear the voices of others, “ if you want, we can talk about it later, and private? I might be able to help with the anger.”

He turns to face me, “ You can fix the pit rage?”

I shrug, “ fix isn't really the right word for this. Once you die, that's it; you can't go back to the way things once were. But I know we can make you better. Ectoplasm isn't supposed to hurt you like this. It's not supposed to influence your emotions into something else. It can strengthen them but not twist them.” I try to muster up all of my confidence, “ Even if we fix you, you'll still be a revenant. There's nothing we can do about that, but will you at least let us try to help?”

“ Us?”

I smile, “ My people, of course,” and walk into the room.

Gramps is the first to spot us, “ Good morning Young Masters Danyal, Jason.”

“ Good morning–” Im tackle hugged out of nowhere.

“ Hi, I’m Dick; it's nice to meet you, “ He says, squeezing the life out of me.

“ Honestly, Richard,” Damien says, shaking his head, “ It’s not like you haven’t met him before.”

“ But that was over the coms,” he says, still squeezing, “ that doesn't count.”

I mouth help to the room, but it goes unnoticed. Uncomfortable with the affection, I walk intangibly out of his hold and make my way toward the table, causing everyone to go quiet. I make my way toward the coffee maker and turn to Tim, “ Where are the mugs at?”

He doesn't say anything, just stares at his coffee and then back to me. I turned to Gramps, and without having to say anything, he passes me a mug, “ thank you.”

Chapter 9: Come on vamos everybody ~lets go~

Chapter Text

My new siblings try to make me feel welcome in the Manor.

As promised, Damian helps me plot the stars on the ceiling. Even though it took longer for us to finish it working together than for me to do it himself, it was well worth the time spent. We plotted major constellations and some of the unknown ones outside of the realms. I spent the day explaining their origins to him and how they were used for navigation in the past on different planets.

It was a lot of fun.

The idea of blatantly using my powers in front of them makes me uncomfortable, though sometimes I end up doing so instinctively anyways. Even though I know they work with all kinds of people, a part of me can’t help but remember that metas, others , aren’t typically welcomed in Gotham. I’m pretty sure that rule is bullsh*t, but if it's not… I have to wonder if they are disregarding it for me. Because I’m supposed to be family, blood kin? I’m not too sure I want to find out.

Tim stopped by after we plotted to see what we were up to and was blown away by my star charts. We talked about our interests, and once we talked about science, Tim made me comfortable enough to talk about my own inventions. Tim got a weird expression on his face when I talked about my creations like he was confused by what I was saying; I said it was nothing special. We talked for a little while longer, and then Tim asked me if I was willing to assist on any of his projects in the future.

I accept.

(Unknowingly starting operation: Build the Babys' Confidence.)

Since the Revenant revelation, Jason has acted waryly when interacting with me. Normally, I only see him at meals or, surprisingly, in the library. Turns out, besides Jason, the others don't normally go in there. I first went in there for astronomy books but kept coming back for the quiet company. Jason's presence is soothing. I've gotten used to being around people with low-level ectoplasm radiation. Even though only a small amount of corrupted ectoplasm flows through Jason's veins, it makes him feel like he’s part of the realms.

Dick isn’t at the manor a lot. So when he shows up declaring they’re going on a Family Road Trip ™, who am I to argue?

“ Is this really necessary,” asks Damien as Dick leads all of us to the car.

“ Of course it is!” says Dick with a blinding smile, “ there’s no better way to build memories than to go on an adventure.”

Tim opens one of the back doors and flops down onto the seat, “ maybe if you told us where we’re going–”

Dick cuts him off, “It's a surprise.”

I raise an eyebrow at him, “ this better not be one of those ‘ the adventure is the friends we make along the way’ crap.”

His smile wilters a bit, “ you’ll see when we get there,” he ruffles my hair, “ okay, baby D,” and gets behind the wheel.

“Who else are we waiting for?” asks Tim.

Dick adjusts some of the mirrors, “ just Jason and B. Alfred doesn’t want to come.”

“Does that mean they get to know where we're going, and we don't?” I ask

“It's better to give up, Danyal; if Richard does not want us to know, he wouldn’t have told the others,” says Damien.

Jason and Father don't take long to meet us at the car. Apparently, the trip will take a while, so Gramps was busy making us a snack. He would only let the others come out once he was done. “I don't get why you're going to let Dickface drive,” complains Jason, “ you never let any of us do it, so why can he?“

“Hm,” says Father ( Because this is a civilian car, not the batmobile).

It's been two weeks since I've shown up in Gotham. None of them push, even though I can tell they want to. They have let me adjust at my own pace, but I can tell some questions are starting to eat at them. Especially those about my abilities. I've tried not to do much, but it can be hard sometimes; some things have become natural for me to do. Though, Dick really needs to get used to the thought of intangibility. I don't know how many times that man can tackle-hug me and be surprised that he falls to the floor . It's just a matter of time before Father turns into the Man-Bat and the rest turn into the flying furry Brigade and start to demand answers.

I'll do my best to appreciate it while it lasts.

Speaking of quiet, it's not just them; it also seems to be the city. In the past two weeks, there have been no major breakouts from either Blackgate or Arkham. Which is abnormal according to Tim. they've all gone on regular patrols, but one of them would always stay behind with Gramps and I and keep us company. I've offered to help a couple times, but they won't let me stay in the cave unattended. Though since someone always stays behind, Father's argument sounds counterproductive.

I wonder what they're hiding.

Not that I can truly blame them for lack of trust. I haven't told them much either, and phasing into the floor until I found it didn't help. Although in my defense, what did they expect when they told me finding my way in is “ a Rite of Passage.” Just because I didn’t do it in a human way doesn't make my way wrong, but what can you do.

“ How much longer,” asks Tim in a fake whiney voice once we hit the thirty-minute mark.

Dick glances at the GPS, “hum, maybe 45 minutes, maybe a little less.”

Damian huffs and crosses his arms, “Richard, where exactly are we going? We've already left Gotham–”

“ I wouldn't be surprised if you left Jersey at this point,” Jason cuts in.

The two of them glare at each other while Father says to Dick, “ chum, this has gotten out of hand.”

“The whole point of this is for us to get to do something fun with Danny,” says Dick.

“ Which we could have done back in Gotham,” says Damien

Tim sighs, “ I get why you wanted to leave Gotham for this, but why Jersey?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

Jason turns towards me, “ you know how the family is famous, right?”

“ I mean, I know the name Wayne has a lot of meaning but isn’t that only an upper-class kind of thing?” I ask, “ Why is it a problem?”

Father answers, “ it's more than that. Think of…”

Tim takes over, “ the Wayne name is kind of like the Kardashians. Anything attached to it will get attention, including you. Especially right now. They haven't gotten to see you before; whenever we go out, it’ll be your ‘ first public appearance.’”

“ And the farther we go outside Gotham, the fewer chances that any of us will be recognized,” says Dick which placated everyone.

Driving into Maryland may be worth it. Not being recognized sounds like a dream come true for them. I don’t understand how they can live like that, having everyone know your name, people on the lookout for just the sight of you.

It sounds nerve-racking.

But inevitably, my future.

Politically wise, I’m known throughout the infinite realms. You kinda have to be when you’re king, but with so many ghosts haunting about, I’ve only met a few common ghosts outside my rogues. It wouldn’t surprise me if the change in regency has yet to spread far from the area of the Fenton portal. So currently, I still have a level of anonymity, but for how long it will last is anyone's guess.

It doesn't feel like it's been another 45 minutes when we pull up to a large lot. It's filled with row upon row of cars. “Come on,” says Dick excitedly as he forces us to the parking lot towards the entrance. An action that the rest of them seem used to by now, but it still throws me off. I don't think I will ever get used to the human embodiment of a puppy as an elder brother. We walk at a fast pace and shortly come across a sign that says :

Welcome, all Ghouls and Ghosts, to Circus Gothica!

Making Nightmares a reality since 1803.

My eyes widen, and I freeze as I feel my blood/ectoplasm drain towards my feet, “ Oh f*ck.”

“ Danyal lang–” Father starts to chastise me before he gets a look at my face. The others continued towards the entrance “ Boys, stop,” he called out to them in a tone that left no room for arguments. All four turn around with questioning looks but come back toward us nonetheless.

He starts to walk away, but I can't help it as I grab his sleeve, “ get back to the car,” I say, no order them. Dick gapes like a fish trying to find his words, but I don't care, as I drag Father back towards the car and occasionally throw a glare back at them as if saying hurry up. Finally, we all pile back up in the car, and their eyes were on me.

“ What's going on?” asks Tim

I pinch at my eyes and say with a hint of static, “ that's what I would like to know.”

“Is it because it's the circus,” asks Jason, “ I know you haven't been in Gotham long, but damn, I didn’t realize coulrophobia could catch on this fast.”

“ Coul– what?” I ask, confused at the change in subject.

“ You know the fear of clowns? Everybody in Gotham loathes the f*ckers.”

My eyes snap towards Father for him to reprimand Jason as he tried to with me, but he just looked resigned. “No, it has nothing to do with clowns, at least not specifically. Thanks for the information, though. My problem has more to do with the circus itself.”

“What's wrong with the circus?” Dick asks, offended.

“The better question is, what's not wrong with this circus.”

“Explain,” demands Damien.

“ They went through Amity the first time around two years ago. A friend of mine, Sam, she really wanted to go because she's never seen a gothic circus. She dragged me and another friend of ours, Tucker, with her, and everything went downhill from there. A string of robberies was going around the city, break-ins, you name it, pretty much everything short of murder. One night when I was out on patrol, I ran into a couple of them. I was originally going to take them to the police, but I noticed something was off about them, so I followed them back.” I stop, trying to figure out how to word this.

“ What happened,” asks Tim.

I sigh and rub the back of my neck, “ They went back to Circus Gothica. The ringmaster, known by the alias Freakshow, real name Frederich Isak Showenhower, had a glowing red staff. I didn't know he noticed me until it was too late. With the staff, he ordered members of the circus to hold me down,” I got a couple of questionable glances, so I threw in, “ somehow I was unable to escape intangibly,” for clarity.

“ Were you hurt?” Father asks.

“ Yes, but not in the way you might think. After that, whenever I would go on patrol, parts of my memory started going missing. I'd only been active as a vigilante for a few months, so the public was still unsure about me. I thought it was the lack of sleep, but then Sam showed me an article. I had been seen doing robberies around the city. Something I had no knowledge of ever doing,” I throw in hastily.

But it was unneeded as I see growing looks of understanding on their faces. “ They brainwashed you,” Damien says, horrified.

“Not just me, but everyone in the circus. The Showenhowers’ come from a long line of occultists, with Frederich being the head of the current generation. At every stop he would go to, he would pick up more stray ghosts along the way. His second command, a ghost named Lydia, would help him keep them under. An ectoplasmic-heavy place like Amity caused the number of spirits under their control to skyrocket.”

“Did his control have lasting effects,” asks the God-Damn- Bat-Man masquerading in Father's skin.

“ It shouldn't; if anything, it adds a layer of resistance. I've had other brainwashing attempts over the past couple of years, but each time there's been an attempt, the harder it's been for others to do so. After the first time, there hasn't been a brainwashing that held fully. If anything at all got through, it was subliminal.”

“ So what you're saying is we should go in there and pop some kneecaps,” says Jason with a hint of excitement.

“ That's the thing I don't know,” I say, looking in his direction, “ once he lost control over me, I made sure that Showenhower got locked up. Last I heard, he was in federal prison. After that, they disbanded the circus; this shouldn't even be up and running.”

“Could it just be a coincidence?” asks Dick.

I shake my head, “ no, I don't think so. I don't think you all can feel it, but there's a vibe coming from the entrance. Something is at play here; this isn't just a coincidence or a similar name; it's most likely the original or possibly a copycat.”

I watch as everyone's eyes leave me and go toward Father. He lets out a heavy sigh, “ We don't know what we're walking into, reconnaissance only,” he turns and looks at me, “ Danyal, you wait in the car. This shouldn’t take long.”

Um, no.

“You're not going in there without me.”

“ It's too dangerous. You've been affected beforehand; it could happen again,” he says as if it's final.

“ yeah, no, that's not going to work,”

His eyes narrow, “ what do you mean no?” as if it's the first time he's heard it directed at him.

“ You don’t know what Showenhower looks like, and don't even start that you can hack into a federal database on your phone; we both know you don't have the time for it.” He crosses his arms at me, unwilling to back down, but I continue, “ you want to help. Great fine. But not without me. If I'm right, whoever's the ringmaster or working for this circus is connected to Showenhower, which means they're taking advantage of ghosts.” My eyes start to glow, unknowingly reacting to my emotions, “ My people . You do not get to decide how to better them. That's my job, and I decided long ago I won't allow humans to take advantage of us .”

A look I'm not familiar with passes through his eyes. “ Fine,” he says at last, “ but you're not allowed to go off alone.”

“ Wouldn’t dream of it,” I glance at Jason, “ the same could be said for you.”

He points at his chest, “ Me?”

I nod, “ you’re ecto contaminated from the pits. I’ve seen them take over low-level spirits before. There is no telling if they could brainwash you too.”

Chapter 10: Welcome to the Circus (2016 version) ~ An actors nightmare

Chapter Text

" Remind me again what we're looking for?" asks Tim.

I hum as we slowly make our way around the circus grounds. All around the Big Top are a series of stalls and sideshow tractions. They've got everything from palm reading to fire breathing and carnival games. " The eyes," I say while attempting to make casual glances at the workers, " you know that old story about the eyes being the window to the soul?"

Damien's expression turns thoughtful, " Grandfather always said you can tell intentions through eyes. Is it the same for ghosts?"

"Not exactly, but that's a story for another day. What we're looking for, for now, are subtle color changes. For example, when they came to Amity, all the workers had red eyes. At first, I thought it was contacts, but it was an effect of the staff," I explain.

" Does the color have significance?" interrogates Bruce.

I shrug my shoulders, "There's a lot of weird eye colors common for us; even our regular eye color is subject to change depending on what we're doing or the circ*mstance. But, when it comes down to mind control, It usually turns the eyes red or makes it reflect that way."

" And the staff only works on ghosts," says Dick trying to reaffirm.

"Or those with ectoplasm in their system," I say.

" Then why do you want us to look at all the people's eyes? Surely not these many people have been exposed to ectoplasm if it's as rare as you've made us believe," says Tim.

"Overshadowing," I say.

"And we're supposed to know what that means," says Jason.

" Right, right," I say, forgetting they don't know that terminology, " I guess it would be a possession for you. You know, like in The Exorcist."

"That's real!?" Dick sputters.

" Very, and one of the easiest ways to tell this is through the eyes. The eye color won't be the same as it should be, and sometimes even glowing," I say.

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" asks Bruce.

I look at him guardedly, "If I did, would that change anything?"

"What do you mean, Danyal?" asks Damian.

"If you knew about the ability to overshadow, would you still have come within the circus? Would you still be willing to put your life at risk in the face of an unknown?" I ask all of them, but my eyes stay trained on Father's face.

"They are an unknown because of your lack of information," he says gruffly.

" What did you expect me to say?"

" The truth."

I let out an exasperated sigh, "I never lied to you–"

" But you weren't forthcoming with information either," Tim cuts in.

My hands rest on my hips, "Look, everyone has different abilities. Some stuff is standard, like flying, intangibility, and invisibility. Other stuff is subject to the person. Some can do more than others, While some are incapable of doing anything else."

"It still would have been nice to know," Says Dick calmingly, trying to mediate between us.

"Well, it's hard to tell you what to expect when we're not even sure if anything is really happening here." I slip my phone out of my pocket and look at the time. It's about an hour before the show starts, " why don't we split up and look for clues?"

Jason snorts and says, "Alright, gang. So how are we doing this?"

" It would be unwise for Jason and Danyal to be paired together in case one of them is put under the staff," Says the man-bat.

" Let me go with little- wing," says Dick and continues in a knowing tone, " just in case you lose his control, he's going to need someone to hold him down."

It's just something about how he said it takes me by surprise. How he said he needs someone to hold him down reminds me of how someone would talk about a rabid animal. Not a person. I look at Jason and see him not being too happy about that comment.

" It might take more than just you; I'll go with you as well. Tim and Damian go with Danyal," orders Bruce.

" I think it would be best for Damien with you, too," I interject, " If by chance Showenhowers Is here, it would be better if we were separate."

Damian crosses his arms, and his mouth is pointed down into a slight frown, " You wish for us to fight separately?"

I wince at his words, as he sounds hurt.

I explain, "It would be better if we weren't together. They may have seen what I really looked like while I was brainwashed; I don't remember everything from that time. We look enough alike that if they saw you, they could think you were me," I try to sweeten the deal, " if it is them, this could help you get intel. They'd be more likely to attack me than anyone else here."

" You wish for both of us to act as bait," he says, scrutinizing me.

"Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?" he stares at me as if I've lost my mind, " a bat snack? A Robin's snack?" I wait for an answer, but all I get is silence before asking seriously, "Do you have a better plan?"

The glances at one another shrugs, and continued silence was answer enough.

So we split off in different directions. I can't help but look over my shoulder every once in a while, hoping to see Damian or the others not too far behind, but they get easily lost In the crowd. Tim and I travel in silence, content walking in circles, people-watching. I try to observe others' eyes but not to catch them. None of their eyes have an inhuman sheen or a radiating glow, but that doesn't mean something isn't going on. Some, like Spectra or Amorpho, can look human when they want to; who knows, maybe others can too. I run into the side of Tim as his pace slows.

He turns to look at me, and I give him an apologetic look. He shoves his hand into his pocket and takes out his wallet, " you up for some games?"

A wide grin forms on my face, " I thought you'd never ask."

He looks at me a little weirdly, and when I raise my eyebrow at him, he says, "Sorry. It's still weird seeing an expression like that on Damien's face."

" Well, it's my face, too, so you should get used to it," I say blandly.

He scratches the side of his face and says awkwardly, " Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it," but I can tell he wants to say more.

We play a couple of rounds of that basketball game, where they have the really big prizes, but no one ever really wins before he gets the guts to ask, "Is there any way to stop it?"

" Stop what?"

" The possession– overshadowing thing?"

" There's a couple of ways, but it's nothing you could do naturally," I say, grabbing his attention as I info dump, "The Fentons, while they were sh*tty scientists, weren't that bad at inventing. So I spent quite a few years in–" I say shakingly, trying to think past the cages and ectoplasm stains, " –the lab, working on inventions with them."

We walk in silence for a few moments, with me unable to look at him as I push past the memories until he asks, "Do you think you could recreate the inventions?"

I try to smirk at him, but it feels more like a grimace, " I probably do it in my sleep. I would have to modify it, though. While it keeps anyone from overshadowing you, it is also quite obvious when using it."

" What do you mean?"

" They designed it to act as a belt, called it the Specter Deflector, that thing is gotti, and I doubt anyone would be willing to wear it as it is. All of my regular rogues can identify it on-site. If any of them travel to Gotham to cause some trouble, it would be pretty obvious if you had it on."

" Would you be able to make it more compact? It sounds advanced. How would you change it?" Tim asks with the enthusiasm of a puppy.

" It's not that advanced," I try to deflect, " it shouldn't be too hard. A lot of the stuff they made was with cheap parts that they found in scrap yards or broken appliances on the street. If I use proper parts, I can make it a lot smaller, most likely like a bracelet or something of the sort, for everyday wear."

"Is that all you would do? Or would you do anything else?"

"There are a few other modifications I'd make, just to make it better for friendlies."

" What do you mean?" he asks, his eyes big with worry, " it has side effects?"

I nod, " Those with ectoplasm in their system will get a really big shock just touching the person. It doesn't matter if they were trying to overshadow them or not. It's helpful in identifying those with ectoplasm, but it can also put a target on your back." I put my hands in my pockets, trying to seem casual as I say, " Not many know about ghosts, and those who do are normally hunters. Even peaceful ghosts could attempt to attack you if they think they might be in the line of fire."

" Wouldn't it be better to just try to modify it so it doesn't attack you or Jason?"

" While maybe helpful for the two of us, it wouldn't tell others. Nobody deserves to be attacked on the basis of what they are. Also, think of it like this: what if you're actively trying to go after the ghost? It'll alert them that you're there. Putting you and the civilians in more danger."

Tim's face pales as he hurridly tries to apologize, saying, " I wasn't thinking of it like that. I just meant it would be good to know if they were a ghost or not. Not as a method of attack."

I eye him wearily. Batman and the birds are known for their contingencies. Talia and Ra's ensured we were aware of that.

"If you were to wear it, or Jason, would it be the same?" Tim asks with a weird expression on his face.

" I'm not sure about Jason," I confess, " after the.. incident happened. When going around like this," I say, gesturing to my human form, " it felt uncomfortable to wear it, but it wasn't outright painful–."

Tim cuts me off, "You say that like that isn't the fact now."

" That's because it isn't. Over time, I got stronger, so it had more of an effect. I can't even touch it without getting electrocuted. If Jason were to have one of the Fenton's models, it could cause him some discomfort, maybe even some slight pain, as his ecto signature isn't very strong, but I don't want to risk it."

We go to play a couple more games before we have to meet up with the others. Tim is quiet the whole time, silently reviewing the information I've given him. We try different ones until an unnatural crackle sounds off in the air, like the start of a 1950s intercom. A husky voice reverberates through the lot, "Welcome all Ghouls and Ghosts to Circus Gothica, the world's only nightmare circus! Come join us into the unknown at our next performance, starting in 15 minutes. Join us while you last," they say as another crackle sounds, marking the end of the announcement.

Tim drags me off last minute to one of those concession stands to get a couple of boxes of popcorn and some water before we make our way to the big top.

Tim looks at his water questioningly, "Hey, random question: does holy water work on ghosts?"

" I don't know. I've never seen anyone try that before."

He gives me a sh*t-eating grin, "Don't you think it's time to find out?"

Saying, 'Where the hell would you get that' to a bat is a stupid thing to say. How was I supposed to know they had an emergency kit in the trunk? And even if I did, holy water wouldn't be at the top of my list. So I stand at the circus entrance, watching Tim skedaddle to the car and rummage through to come back with three Dasani water bottles.

" How do you make sure you don't drink it by accident?" I feel the need to ask.

Tim shrugs, " It's not like it would hurt us if we did. Though none of us drink Dasani water anyway, so even if we did forget, we would be less likely to drink it;" He looks at me with a crazed expression, reminding me of Wes's face whenever he'd bring up the Fenton–Phantom conspiracy, " I swear whatever they do to that water makes it gross."

" I don't know; it's never really bothered me," I say with a shrug, "I'd just take what I could get."

Tim waves a water bottle in front of my face, " you ready?"

I look around the grounds to see it full of people, " not here; it's too crowded." Then, finally, my eyes wander over to a deserted corner, and I gesture, " Why don't we try over there?"

Tim just nods, and we head over. The closer we get to the area comes a wretched stench. 'Of course, the only unoccupied area is behind the porta-potties.' Tim unscrews the water bottle and starts to pour without even warning me. Just before the water hits me, I yank my arm back and exclaim, "Wait!"

" What?" he questions, " I thought you wanted to test it."

"Yeah, but not on my arm." Did the smell of cotton candy make him lose all his brains? I pinch at my eyes and huff, "What if somebody saw us come over here, and the water does work? What if it leaves a mark? It can't be somewhere someone would easily see."

Tim crosses his arms and says with an exasperated tone, "Where do you suggest I pour it then?"

I wordlessly pull up my pant leg and gesture for him to get with it. I sharply inhale as the water hits my skin. It doesn't hurt per se, but it stings. It's like the leftover sensation of a hard slap or a limb going numb. It starts in one place, where the water hits, radiating outwards until it feels like pins and needles are prodding my skin.

"That's enough," I hurriedly tell him, and he stops the flow of water. The pain recedes as soon as he stops, and the feeling from the water droplets running down my leg lessens to a tingle.

Tim spews out, "How was it? Was it bad? Does it hurt? Does it not hurt?"

" I'd give it a three out of 10. it doesn't hurt, but you can feel it."

He closes up the water bottle, having used about a quarter of it, and asks, "Do you think it'll be any help against Showenhower?"

" Honestly, It depends. It might make the weaker ones back off, but it would be a bit more than an annoyance for the others."

"So no good then?"

" I didn't say that. If they have ghosts under their control, I don't want to hurt them. They'd be innocent in all this."

" But Danny, what if we don't have a choice?"

" There is always a choice. If things get out of hand, can you get the others to leave it to me?"

" There is no way Bruce will agree to that."

"That's why Im not asking Bruce; I'm asking you."

" Danny–"

" I don't want anyone to get hurt," I tell him seriously, " but if things go south and if someone makes a wrong move–"

" We're all highly trained; we can handle this," Tim tries to reassure.

I look into his eyes; I can see his conviction, " fine," I say, giving in, " but if it gets to be too much–"

" Which it won't," he interjects.

" Pull back."

Tim opens his mouth to argue again when an unnatural crackle sounds off in the air. A husky voice says, " Last call for all wandering Ghouls and Ghosts to head to the big top as our performance is about to begin. You have five minutes to find your seats," then another crackle sounds, marking the end of the announcement. We look at each other and rush off toward the big top.

To say finding the others was a hassle would be a lie.

Everyone besides the people still lined up at the vendors has already headed on inside. Standing a ways away from the entrance are the others. Their backs are turned to us when we arrive, so none of them see us when Dick cries out, "This is blasphemous!"

I stop Tim from announcing us and give him a smirk as I creep up behind Dick. I stand on the tips of my toes and whisper in his ear, with a hint of ghosts speak in my voice, and ask, "W̷̜͛h̶̨̄ȧ̴̗t̸̠̑'̵̹̽s̶̊ͅ ̷͇͐b̵̌ͅl̸̲͗a̷̗̕ş̵͠p̶̟̈́h̶̛̤e̷̺͆m̴̼̔ọ̶̃u̵̖̕ṡ̵̡?" causing the man to shriek and whip around to face me.

"Don't do that!" Dick exclaims as soon as he sees it's me.

I can't help it as laughter comes tumbling out, "You should have seen your face!" My laughter soon dies as Captain Furry catches my eye. "Come on," I say defensively, " I was just trying to joke."

"A mission is no place to joke," Bruce says in a low voice.

" Yeah, but this isn't a mission," I say slowly with a raised eyebrow, " this is a family outing."

" You've got to admit, B, it was funny. But did you see the look on Dickfaces face? I wish the replacement had his camera that could have been the family's Christmas card," says Jason.

" We're Jewish," says Damien.

"Huh, I didn't know that; you'll learn new things every day," says Jason in a mock surprised tone.

"Can we just go in now," says Tim, " the show starts in a minute."

Bruce looks at his watch, stares at each of us before looking back between Jason and me, and says defeatedly, "Will you two at least attempt to behave?"

"Scouts Honor," we both say In tangent, causing him to huff and make his way towards the Big Top.

Damien nudges my shoulder, "You were a scout?"

I just smile, "Nope."

As we walk into the tent, we start hearing the sounds of the circus. There's music playing, like an eerie music box, similar to that weird startup in Melanie Martinez's songs.

Standing in the middle of the entrance is a clown.

Not one of those happy-go-lucky ones that you see at most circuses, oh no. My eyes stay trained on Dick as I watch him trip over Air at the sight of it. This one's bald; their exposed skin is painted white. Its eyes are red, but no glow in sight. Its eyelids and under eyes are dark, bruised purple. Triangles are painted from his eyebrows until the middle of his forehead, though it could be farther up as it's without hair. I can't really tell. It looks like its skull has been stitched together by wire and zippers. Between the openings is skin that looks flayed, still oozing with blood. However, parts of it look to be old as some places have pus. Its mouth is open wide in an all-teeth smile, worse than the Jokers. It's wearing a two-piece jumpsuit of red and black. It's adorned with tiny skulls and splatters of red. As I get closer, I can tell it's not a design but some kind of blood. Parts of it look rusted over, and I can smell him as I walk by.

He reeks of death.

I watch as he snaps at people as they walk by, having a hand stretched out with long cracked fingernails, just barely coming in contact with the circus patrons. He moves closer every once in a while to the guests that have food snapping at them. One might say he was making a joke, that's what clowns are supposed to do, after all, but its eyes are ravenous.

A call of "Wait" is yelled from behind me. I look back to see the rest of the family still standing there.

I turn around," You guys coming?"

While Bruce, Damien, and Tim look fine, Dick and Jason both look like they're going through the five stages of grief all at once. Damien pulls Dick by the arm to get him moving. Each step he takes is fumbled as he reluctantly goes with him.

Jason, on the other hand, won't budge.

I turn to Dami and Dick, "Why don't you two go find our seats? I'll be up with them in a second," and walk over to the others without waiting for their reply. When I get to him, his eyes flash back in forth between blue and dark toxic green.

" what's wrong?" I ask.

He talks low and fast, but all I can make out is, " ..Those f*ckin, mother f*ckin clown– joker soul wannabe–" I can feel his emotions; sorrow– sorrows–fear–anger–anger–fear radiating off of him.

"Can I help?" I ask.

"Danny, I don't think–" Tim starts, but I cut him off.

" Jason," I say, trying to push calm–safe at him, "I can help, but only if you let me."

"Hmm," 'What do you mean? How can you help?' Demands Bruce.

I don't answer him.

"Jason," I say one more time, prodding a response.

It takes a moment for him to find my eyes, " How?"

"I can take your anger, your fear, not all but some, and redirect it," I say, causing Bruce to stiffen beside me, " it'll help you calm down. I'll only do it if you say so; if you don't want it, I won't. One of us can always walk you out."

Jason's eyes leave mine and look over my shoulder towards the clown, they stay like that for a moment, but his eyes eventually make their way back to mine, "Do it."

I gently take both of his hands and pull. I watch his eyes fade from green back to Blue, and his body sags in relief.

"Jaylad–"

" I'm fine," he says, " let's just find our seats."

I take Jason by the arm, trusting the other two to follow behind. I make sure I'm between him and the clown. We spot Damien and Dick in the crowd and make our way over, but we never lose the stare of the clown. Once we get there, not a word is said, but a look of understanding passes between Dick and Jason. Bruce and Tim sit down just in time as the lights dim.

A crack of a mic sounds from overhead, and a hissy voice says, "Welcome Ghouls and Ghosts to Circus Gothica! A place for all your nightmares to come true."

The Spotlight dances around overhead, going across the crowd until it finally stops in the center of the ring. They're caped and hooded. They have a staff in hand.

"Are you ready for your nightmares?" They cackle, "Because they're ready to meet you."

At the end of the words comes a bang the lights go out. The lights come back flickering, and screams are heard throughout the tent. Clowns are running throughout the stands, snarling at those they pass. Until every stairway has a clown standing right in front of it. Three in each stairway, one at the top, one in the middle, and one at the end trapping everyone in their seats.

"Oh, you thought they'd be in the ring?" The hissy voice says, laughing, "Don't worry, your nightmares are only beginning." People come from the sides of the tent and go spewing into the ring. They look almost Normal, but things like their walk would be off, their movements aren't fluid, it's like they're a puppet on a string.

" uh," Dick starts hesitantly, "We've got a problem."

Our attention turns to him, " what is it?" Tim asks.

" Those people, they're not from here."

" What do you mean, Richard?" demands Damien.

"Do you guys remember how I was out most of the day with Babs, the day Danny came home?"

"Yeah?" says Jason.

"We went to a carnival; they were only in Gotham for two weeks, so we went on the last day. That contortionist," he says, pointing to a woman crawling about on the floor towards the ringmaster, " The one in the purple leotard, the one with rhinestones, she was there. Her outfit is the same."

"Do you recognize any of the others?" asks Bruce.

"The man juggling fire. There's something wrong with them; they're not moving right. they're skinnier than they should be; they look like they lost 20 lbs in a few weeks."

" Their eyes," Damien cuts in, " have you noticed? They're red."

Their heads swivel to me as of asking for an exclamation when the hissy voice speaks again, "Who's ready to join us in the ring," They take off their cape and hood to reveal a head full of spiky black hair and red eyes. The clothing is a mixture between out of Catwoman and a dominatrix, and they're covered in tattoos that stand out against their dark glowing green skin, Behold a glowing red scepter in their hand as they say, " I am Lydia, the ringmaster of circus Gothica, and I'll be taking care of you this evening."

" f*ck."

All the lights, shaded blue, slowly make their way to Lydia. Making her body glow teal, as if in a laser tag briefing room. I watch her tattoos awaken as they start to twitch and slither as she says, "For our first act, we require a few… volunteers," causing a sea of hands to go up around us. With a low chuckle, she says, "Ah, just what we like to see." She moves from the middle of the room and starts to make her way toward the seats, and the others follow suit. Once cast members approach the stairs leading to the audience, nearby clowns descend from them, all five sets, and join them in the arena.

Accept one.

The greeter, the zipper face clown.

It descends slowly from the stairs across the arena. Its head moves side to side, studying the crowd. Once it finally gets down, it heads towards the middle. It stays unmoving; It's head tilts while its eyes inspect the patrons. Its eyes move fast, like they're racing, until its gaze reaches our section.

It walks slowly towards us as Lydia says with mirth, " What a good crowd we have tonight! It's just so hard to choose."

It stands at the bottom of the stairs licking its slips, looking towards us. I can feel Jason stiffen beside me as it makes its way up. It stands in the middle licking its lips as Lydia says, laughing, " So why don't we do this," tension fills the air in anticipation of her decision. Her tattoos are moving more, ready to spring, to come off her skin. A hand – Dicks– grabs my shoulder to pull me back towards the other set of stairs as it keeps coming up. It's only a couple rows away as she says, " I choose all of you," her crew mates look towards her as if looking for confirmation, "and her face splits into a wide grin, " we are an interactive show, after all." Her tattoos start to blow brighter and one by one they start peeling off her skin, " what are you waiting for?" she asks the others, "Go."

Screams.

The tent is filled with screams.

I look around to see the escaped tattoos fly around the tent, corralling the humans away from the exit and down into the arena. The contortionist, firebreather, and a few other clearly human acts walk towards them on stumbling feet while the others forgo walking altogether and start flying after the patrons.

Dick tugs my shoulder hard, "Danny, come on, let's go," he says, slightly panicked, bringing my attention back to the clown in front of us. Unlike the others, it just stands there while waiting for us to make the first move.

"Are any of you armed?" I ask lowly, not wanting the clown to hear.

"Lightly," says Dami.

I take a deep breath and step back, prompting the clown to move. It climbs on all fours across the last two rows up to us, mouth open wide, drooling all over itself. I look back and see everyone heading off, adorned in domino masks, heading in different directions. I yell at them, "If you get close to Lydia, try to break the staff!" The clown lunges forward, snapping its teeth at me, making me jump into another row of seats causing it to chase me as I try to lead it away from others.

I can feel a chilled hum in my core as I reach into it and pull out ectoplasm, shaping it into a mask and sticking it to my face. As I'm running, I get close to Bruce. He's dodging attacks from a snake-shaped tattoo. I gather ectoplasm in my hand and shoot an ectoblast at it, causing it to burst. I shift to change directions, but not before saying, " Tim has something that can help with the ghosts."

He starts towards his next target and grunts, "No names in the field."

A gut-wrenching scream fills the air, forcing my attention. A clown tackles a woman to the ground with one hand on her head and another on her arm. He opens his mouth impossibly wide and chops down on her neck. She screams again, which is followed by a quick Bang Bang Bang. Each shot hit the clown in the back, but it only staggered forward. The clown flickers in and out of tangibility, and the three slugs buried in its back fall to the ground. The woman lays there, blood spewing out, staining her shirt, eyes wide, until she starts to move. She scoots backward, never taking her eyes off the center of the arena, holding a hand to her bitten-into flesh. The Clown goes off in a floating sprint toward Jason, the woman's blood and skin stuck to its teeth.

My eyes stray towards Tim, hoping he's seeing this, but he's occupied with the contortionist. So I slow down and let the clown get close. I wait until it's just an arm's length away before I stop and throw up an ecto shield. The clown has no time to stop as it rams right into it, flying away as if it's been hit by a car. It knocks into the tent, causing it to sway. I rush over to it and pull out a keychain. On it are three miniature containers about the size of chapstick, in sleek silver and green, a Phantom thermos (Name pending).

I take off the cap and suck up the Clown, and on the side of the tube pops up, ' ⅕.' I shove my keys back into my pocket, shoot down most of the remaining tattoos, ' Only three left,' and enter the arena.

I start to make my way toward Jason, seeing him struggling with a clown, but before I get halfway there, Tim comes up behind them and smacks the clown in the back of the head with a pole. The clown tumbles forward, and Tim pulls out his water bottle. He pours water into his hand and flicks it at the clown, causing it to hiss and flinch back. Where the water hit comes angry green skin; the longer the water stays there, the darker it becomes like it's burning into it. Seeing that it's distracted and I have a clear shot, I send an icy ectoblast straight to its chest, knocking it to the ground. I rush over and pull out the Phantom thermos again, sealing the clown inside.

" What the hell, man! Why didn't you bring that out before!" exclaims Tim.

" Sorry," I say, knocking out another tattoo, " but it's self-powered."

I look around, trying to find the others. I finally find Bruce and Dick engaging with other clowns and Dami fighting off the last two tattoos, making it so some civilians can break for the exit.

" give me some of that," Jason says, wrecking my concentration. He's grabbing at one of the holy water water bottles.

" No can do," says Tim, " It affects baby D. So…."

" Yeah, your point?" Jason asks, still grabbing at it.

" It could affect you too, dumbass."

I can hear Jason mumbling something suspiciously like, 'Timmy gets all the cool toys.' but I let it go. He lets off a couple of shots, both hitting their target.

They stagger.

Both bullets land in the contortionist, one in the shoulder and another in the kneecap. They go down hard. Their body twitches in a puddle of blood on the ground, trying to move. It twists and contorts, swimming in it, trying to do anything so that it can stand upright, but it's not enough. Their bloodshot, red eyes roll into the back of their head, and their body slumps down like a puppet that's lost their strings. Ejecting out of them is a tattoo in the form of a voodoo doll.

" What the f*ck," says Jason.

" Possession," I say, unable to truly call that overshadowing, as it looks like anything but. " Why don't we team up? Help Dami with the rest of the tattoos, then take out the rest of the clowns?"

" What about the rest of the circus?" asks Tim.

" They look to be human," I say. Well, at least, I think. There is no telling if all of them are still alive. If they've been possessed the whole time they've been here, their bodies wouldn't have started decaying yet. " we can restrain them. I might be able to pull out whatever is controlling them."

"Like you did earlier? With the anger?" asks Jason.

" No," I say, shaking my head, " this is something different."

" But you think it will work?" asks Tim.

" As long as I don't run out of room in these," I say, gesturing to the thermoses.

" How many can they hold?" asks Jason.

" Five each; I have room for 13 more," I say.

" Well," says Tim, securing the water bottles, " I guess it's time we start ghost hunting."

" Never say that again," I say with a shiver and make my way toward Dami.

" Was that offensive?" I hear Tim ask. He's quiet for a second before he whispers to himself, "Oh my god, that was probably offensive," causing me to snort.

Chapter 11: ~Bird-bats VS Clowns the electric boogaloo ( ft. King Phantom)~

Chapter Text

Damien is strong, but he can't hold out forever.

The tattoos have him in a corner. Many civilians have escaped, leaving him to guard around a dozen or so as Dick and the Furry–Man keeps the clowns occupied. He's swatting at them with a large metal stick – is that a bo staff?? – as if they’re flies.

“ What's the plan,” I ask

“Hmm, I go left, hood goes right; you had up the middle,” says Tim with a shrug and heads off in his designated direction.

I ask Jason, “Are his plans always like that?” but he's already gone.

With that, I keep going straight down the middle, hoping that one of the tattoos ventures off in my direction. Just so Ahkii knows, he knows he's not alone, but luck would have it that it heads straight into Tim.

No, like, literally, this cat tattoo flies backward and runs straight into his chest. It turns around to see him, and its ectoplasm flares out like fur standing on end and lets out a high pitch “ hiss,” gaining the attention of the other tattoo, a motorcycle driven by a floating inflamed head.

Jason comes in from the other side, but I continue behind them, the civilians, two families, and a young couple cowering on the ground. I kneel and look them over, “ are you all right? Can you move?”

The couple nods their heads, and I indicate with mine towards the exit, “Get going, don't stop until you make it somewhere safe.” They hastily get up on shaking legs and tremble, holding each other.

A bang sounds from behind me. I looked back to see it was Jason. He was accurate, of course, but the bullet slid through, not leaving a mark. I look at the other families to see nothing, but a few scrapes, maybe a few forming bruises. They pick up the younger kids, herd the older ones, and follow the couple out.

Leaving just us and the performers in the tent.

I turn around to face the others to find them struggling to make a direct hit. I spin ectoplasm in my hand and turn it into two lassoes and throw them around each of the struggling tattoos, ‘ yeehaw motherf*ckers,’ to hold them in place. They struggle against the lassos as I call out, “The water, try the water!”

Tim has the cap off in seconds and starts flicking the water at them, making them flinch and cry. As Jason readies his gun, I reel them in more to keep them steady.

Bang

Bang

Each shot is a perfect bullseye, each going straight through. From the holes, their outermost layer of ectoplasm starts to peel away as if it's skinning itself. Dripping down into black and green ink that evaporates into the air, never hitting the ground.

Combining with the ambient ectoplasm in the air.

As if they never existed in the first place.

I turn to look at Dami to see if he has any injuries, to see him fine, just looking annoyed. He stands beside me and snips, “ Could you not have done that sooner.”

Tim's face scrunches up, preparing for an argument, as he puts his hands on his hips, but before he can open his mouth, I ask, “You okay?”

He gives me a look over, “ I am adequate, and you?”

“I'm fine,” I say, looking towards Dick and our father back to back, circled by clowns.

“What is that?” Damian asks, eyes narrowed towards the water bottles.

“Holy water,” says Jason.

Damian looks at me questioningly, “ Don't ask me; ask Tim; he had it in the car.”

“It's in the emergency kit,” Tim says as if that's normal to need an emergency.

“Why don't you give one of the bottles to Dami?” I ask Tim. Better to have two people use it than just one. Seeming to understand my logic, he grudgingly hands one over.

“ And this will incapacitate them?” Damien asks.

“ No, but it's going to have to do,” I look over towards the clowns and turn to look at Jason, “ You up for some more clowns?”

He's quiet momentarily and sighs, “You took out zipper face already?”I nod, and he walks toward the commotion, Not even waiting or attempting to make a plan. To top it off, Tim and Damian follow him, ready to join the fray. ‘ Ugh, does nobody plan things anymore?!’ I think as I take up the rear.

I send a blast of ice toward each of them, sticking their feet to the ground, making them turn around and stare at me and a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

“ Eyes, check his eyes,” says Tim.

“ Still baby blue,” says Jason.

“ You're going to see some red if you don't stop and think for a second,” I say gruffly, “ What's the plan?”

“ We do not have the time for this,” says Damien.

All they give me is silence, compelling me to pinch the bridge of my nose to stop my ‘scary eyes™’ from appearing. “ We can't just go in with guns blazing and hope for the best.” I point at Damian's water bottle, “You don't have a way to fight the ghosts, not without that, and we don't have enough to waste, not to mention accidental friendly fire.”

“ Then what do you suggest?” asks Damian.

“ Bruce and Dick for physical blows, keeping them distracted while you and Tim douse them in Holy Water.” I gesture to the fire breather, “ and Jason takes care of him. Once he's done, he can help me with long range and working on containment.” While I can't read the other two, Damian is expressionless, so I add in unsure, backtracking, “Unless you have a better idea?”

“ It is adequate,” ensures Dami.

I start walking over to Father and Dick when I hear a “ hum hum” behind me to see Tim pointing at their feet.

“ Oh, right,” I say, my face burning red in embarrassment as I get rid of the ice. Then I immediately run towards the clowns and yell, “Remember the staff! Whatever you do, make sure to break the staff!"

I don't wait for confirmation before I launch myself at the closest clown. It's wearing the same outfit as the other, but instead of a zipper, he's charred. His skin is a mixture of black and scabby, looking green. He has a small tuft of hair on the back of his head and is covered in shards of glass. Coming out of each hole is lightly flowing ectoplasm, painting itself in its blood. I attach myself to him like a baby koala, making him lose balance and tumble over. Before he can react, I pull out a phantom thermos and point it at him, souping him inside ‘ ⅖.’ The whine of the thermos starting up gains the attention of the other clowns, giving Damian a chance to join in.

It's like we're back there, like no time has passed, fighting together. Watching a mirror move in familiar ways, taking familiar stances, picking up on the same movements. Knowing and having the reassurance that someone can read my movements.

That they can match me completely.

Completing me in a way I didn't realize I missed, as for once, I’m whole.

I fight with him, and together we steadily soup the clowns; we fill one thermos. We keep going, fighting together back- to back- until we hear the telling signs of Jason. His gun rings out, ‘Bang Bang Bang,’ then silence. He joins us, and things take a turn for the better. It only takes a few minutes for us to fill up another Phantom thermos. It's not until I only see a couple more that I look down at the indicator on the third and final Phantom thermos, ‘⅗.’

Leaving only two clowns left.

But still no Lydia.

I move my way into earshot of Father, “ Have you seen Lydia? Have you seen the ringmaster?”

He grunts in response.

The problem, I’m not fluent in grunting.

So instead, I inspect the arena. Tim and Damien work on one clown while Bruce and Dick work on the other. So I can’t help but wonder, ‘Where's Jason?’ It's not until I look at the far side of the stands do I see him.

Standing across from Lydia.

He has his arm up, gun pointed straight at her, but he doesn't move. He just stands there like a statue. She's floating, looming over him, pointing the glowing red staff at him. She's moving her mouth, but I can't tell what she is saying; I can't stop myself from flying over to them. She gets closer and closer, and it's not until she's a forearms length away from him that I send a strong ectoblast at her. It does nothing but go straight through her. Seeing no other choice, I run into her, crashing into her side, taking my place in front of him, demanding, “Get away from him!” I say it obnoxiously loud, hopefully gaining the attention of the others.

“ Phantom,” She greets. Lydia smirks at me and tightens her grip on the staff, “or is it Prince Phantom nowadays?” She doesn't wait for an answer, “Are you enjoying my show, your highness?” she asks mockingly.

“ What have you done,” I demand.

“ Oh, this,” she says, waving her hand at our surroundings, “ can you blame me? I was feeling nostalgic . Though seeing you here is certainly unexpected.”

“ Why would you do this? What's the point of this– This destruction?” I ask, inching closer to her. “ What's your motive for doing this? Last time, you were working for Freakshow. You followed orders–” She interrupts me.

“ Orders, no, I didn't follow orders. We were partners! Until you came along,” she says, irate.

“Maybe, maybe not,” I agree, my eyes flashing, “but have you fallen this far? Controlling ghosts– our kind– why?” I ask, my voice hard.

“ Why not?” she retorts.

“ Because it’s wrong.”

“ Get off your high horse Phantom. With you, of all ghosts, you would think you’d understand. Given your track record,” she says, huffing.

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“ I'm tired. I'm tired, and I know you are too. Of this,” she gestures to her staff, “ of humans,” she sneers. “ They either don't know and dismiss us, acting as if we don't exist and those who do only see us as a thing, a source. A weapon, not people.” She gets into my face, “ For f*cks sake, your town was crawling with them, those hunters. It’s getting worse and worse,” she says, pointing me in the chest, “ and we're not going to get anywhere with a human loving fool like you on the throne.” She yells, “ You let them take us, to their little labs, to their factories, to their warehouses! They take, and they take, and they take, and they give nothing back. We’re not coming back. Ghosts are gone from the zone; they're not in Walkers' prison. I’ve checked. They're being ended, Prince Phantom,” she spits. “ You’re doing nothing, and I won’t take it!”

“ War is not the answer!” I retort, “They are in the wrong, I know. But we don't have the force to fight them–”

“ So make a force, all these livings, they're just going to die eventually anyway. What's wrong with joining a little early,” she asks rhetorically.

“ We don't disturb the balance; we don't take those before their turn–”

“ Why not the humans do it enough,” she gestures to the others, causing my gaze to flicker. They are close enough to listen to everything, and they're getting closer. I can’t help but watch– wait, what– is Damian seriously dipping the end of his bo staff into the water bottle– he swings it into the Clown's face, direct hit – that was unexpected.

“What about them?”

“ Their state wasn't my doing. I found them this way. They were just there, in a lot weak , Unable to leave. If anything, I helped them, and I saw more and more in every city. The world is crawling in shades, but no more than that place, Gotham. So many freshly dead, still clinging to the Earth. Have they moved on? Have they made it to the realms? No. Whose fault do you think is that, Phantom? Cause I know it's not mine.”

“We can't ferry them over. That's not how it works–”

“ With war, there are always exceptions,” she insists.

“ But we're not at War.”

“ So you say, but not for their lack of trying.”

“Look, I'm gathering help. I'm working towards getting those Acts removed. I released a decree months ago to temporarily restrict leaving the realms. I'm trying to keep us safe. But I can't do that when you do sh*t like this. How many deaths have you caused, having your performers attack the audience?”

“None. Tonight was the first,” she admits, “ but this one had to be special after all. It is not everyday royalty visits.”

“ And the human performers? I have sources that say they were recently part of another group?”

“They simply wished to,” she smirks, “ widen their Horizons.”

“ And the staff?” I question.

“ You didn't simply believe Showenhower only had the one,” she asks, pointing the glowing staff at me. It has no effect.

“ One could hope,” I say with a shrug.

“ Oh well, I was hoping for two, but one's good enough,” she says out of nowhere.

“ what do you–” I say when I feel the gun barrel hit the back of my head.

I freeze.

“Jason–” I say, and I hear a click. I turn intangible and whip around to face him just as he pulls the trigger.

Calls of “ Danny!” sound off throughout the tent.

“ I'm fine,” I call out as the bullets go through me. I look at Jason's eyes through his Domino to see them red, occasionally flickering to ectoplasm green, “ fight it, Jason,” I say to him as he takes another step toward me. “I'm so sorry about this,” I say before I lunge at him and knock the gun out of his hand. He staggers back, motion rigid, not fluid. Not like his normal self. Like the contortionist. “ I need water,” I yell to the group, hoping either Tim or Dami can break away.

I'm going, to be honest; I'm stuck. There's not much I can do. He has enough ectoplasm in his system that any attack I do will cause some serious damage, ‘I don't want to risk it,’ there's no telling what type of damage he'd take because of his status as a revenant.

I duck and dodge out of his way as he swings his arms and kicks at me. Forcing me closer to his gun. Behind me, Damian yells, “Duck,” so I drop to the floor. He wacks Jason in the face with his holy water-drenched bo staff, causing him to be pushed back. I watch him flinch as the water hits him; I inspect all of him to catch– there.

The voodoo doll tattoo.

Damian's hit caused it to loosen its hold on Jason's body, coming out of it partly before forcing its way back in.

Causing Jason to slow down.

“Can you do that again, or better yet, can you just splash him with water?” I ask.

He raises an eyebrow at me, “Is that smart? You said not to waste it.”

“ I have a plan. Try not to let Lydia see me,” I say as I go behind Jason. Damien does as asked and flings water at him. It burns as it touches him, rising as steam. I wince in sympathy as he yelps, but it's all worth it. When the water hits him, the tattoo pops out again.

I grab it.

It’s like I'm playing tug of war with an invisible force. It’s determined to merge with him like a parasite. Too bad for it; I'm stronger. I rip the tattoo out of him and hit it with an ectoblast.

Burning It out of existence.

I look over at Lydia, but her expression hasn't changed; she hasn't noticed. I move to position myself in front of Jason, to look at his eyes to see them fading from red to green to blue, but his movements don't change. His eye color doesn't go unnoticed by Damien either, as he stops using the holy water.

“ The gun,” I whisper as we're all close, dodging and exchanging blows, “ Jason, get the gun. Shoot the staff.” He doesn't say a thing, not wanting to blow his cover, but he gives a slight nod in agreement. We let him push us back to get the gun.

“Now, isn't this a familiar sight,” says Lydia, “Change the gun for a blaster, and it's like we never left Amity.” If only she knew how right she was. The difference? This family means no harm.

Turns the safety off, points it at us, and pulls the trigger.

Bang

The sound of shattering glass fills the tent.

“No!” exclaims Lydia, “I had you; my tattoo had you; how?”

Jason snorts, “No offense, lady, but my brand of death juice is stronger than yours,” his eyes flash green, “ it was only a matter of time.”

I look behind us, noticing the sound of fighting has stopped. Bruce, Dick, and Tim are standing over two clowns. Crying clowns, “ Is it over? Is it over?” one asks.

While the other says with a sob, “I want to go home. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” tears flow down their face.

I take out my keychain and point the Phantom thermos at her, “ Lydia, ringmaster of circus Gothica, you are under arrest for breaking a Royal Decree, unlawfully fleeing the realms, kidnapping, torture, and enslavement,” My voice bellowing, “ You will be sent to Walker's prison, for holding until your trial. You have the right to remain silent. Any statement you make can and will be used as evidence against you at trial. You also have the right to representation if you so choose to find an attorney. One will not be appointed to you,” and I soup her right up.

I take a few long breaths to gather myself before making my way toward the clowns. They're both still crying, “ shh,” I say, comforting, “It's all right. It's all going to be all right now.”

“Who are you?” one of them asks.

I look at Damien, Father, and the rest of my new siblings before ultimately deciding. I let a ring of light travel across my body, replacing my jeans and t-shirt. Replacing it is an armor-knitted black shirt and cargo pants. Along with glowing white gloves and boots. My hair turns white as snow, and it waves softly as if It's being played with by the wind. Above my head is a glowing crown made of iridescent icy crystals, and around my neck lies The Ring Of Rage attached to a chain, “ I am Crown Prince Phantom, next in line for the crown of the infinite realms,” They look at me with wide eyes, “also known as the afterlife.”

I get them a gentle smile, “Don't fear; you've done nothing wrong.”

“ but those people, we–” says one of the clowns.

“ did you choose to? Did you decide to hurt them because you wanted to, or were you made to,” I asked rhetorically, already knowing the question.

“ I didn't want to, but I still did,” they sob.

“ Which is of no fault of your own. Now if you don't mind, I have a couple questions,” the clowns look at each other before looking back at me, “ would you be comfortable answering them?”

They nod.

“ Where are you from?” I ask, wanting to confirm Lydia's story.

“ Gotham.”

“ Do you remember where you were before she took you?”

“ Warehouse,” one says with a shuddering breath, “ it's where we….”

“It's okay,” I say soothingly, “ I understand you don't have to say it.”

“ The joker he-” he cuts himself off with a sob, “We blew up, all of us.”

I take their hands, one each, “You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I won't force you. Death has a very private thing for us. Don’t force yourself on my account. Now,” I say, looking at the one who pleaded to go home, “ I can take you home to Gotham, but you'll be stronger now than you used to be. Humans might start to see you, or alternatively, once the remainder of Lydia's power leaves you, you may fade and move on. What would you like for me to do for you?”

“ Home, please I just want to go home,” says one of them.

I turn to the other, “And you?” But I didn't even need to ask.

The center of their body starts to glow, illuminating the tent in a soft glow, and their core starts to shine through their body. Their appearance starts to change, losing the dramatic effects of death. Their clothes change into soft white cotton clothes, and they start to fade. “ Thank you,” they say, holding my hand tightly. He looks at me with hope in his eyes, “Will it hurt to go there to fade?”

“ No, not at all. You’ve earned this; it's time to rest, enjoy your peace.”

“ Thank you, Prince Phantom, for finding me, for finding us.”

“No thanks is necessary,” I say as their glow dies down, and they move on to the other side.

To their eternal rest.

Chapter 12: Pass go: You have unlocked chapter 1 of my tragic backstory

Chapter Text

For once, Richards’ antics have provided results.

Even if the results were unexpected.

The entirety of the ride back to the manner was ridden in silence. Danyal put in his headphones and listened to a screeching noise the whole way home. Despite any attempts to reach his attention, his gaze never lingered from the window. It became fruitless after Richard tried to shake his shoulder the third time, and his hand went through. The looks Father and the others continued to send him throughout the haven’t helped matters. They could have at least tried to have some tact. It was apparent he had no attention to broaching the subject.

Even if I wish the latter.

He’s succumbed to mind control, not just him but others from this ‘ Freakshow.’ How hasn’t the JL found out sooner, and why weren’t they notified? Was he forced to fight alone, or was he provided backup? So many unknowns. I don’t like it. State authorities can contact the Justice League in case of emergencies and other happenings outside the norm, so why didn’t they use it?

‘How far does this incompetence go.’

We may not have been right next to them, but we all heard the ringmaster mention blasters, not guns, blasters. What has been going on in the Midwest? That kind of technology should not be available to the public, and the ghost made it sound like they are a common occurrence. Which is a problem, but what concerns me is the circ*mstance of her comment. When has Danyal had a firearm aimed at his head? Why would someone do so in the first place? Could it be an act of that agency, GIW, that he mentioned before? But if that was the case, wouldn’t there be more information about the agency?

This doesn’t make any sense.

Someone has gone through a lot of trouble to keep information from slipping out, not just about the GIW and the ghosts but, Amity itself. This could, of course, be Danyals doing, he is capable, but this goes beyond the need to stay hidden. If anything, it makes the town look suspicious.

What has brother got himself into?

That change, the glowing, ‘ magical girl’ change, is certainly different, but what could make him change like that? What kind of accident encases you in light and inverts your being? Not one I have ever heard of before. This isn’t like the abilities of West or Allen that came from a lab accident, which he claims to have had, nor is it like the abilities of Zatanna or Constantine. It looks closest to Batson, and his form change, but it's still not the same. Danyal doesn’t become older or have a significant difference in appearance. He's still himself. This is something new.

What else has changed?

Does he still want to travel, to see a world only lit by the stars? Has he repented for the lives lost? Has he visited the families of our victims? Has he gotten down on his knees and apologized as he always wished to? He contacts us for help, saying he wants to ensure peace, but that ghost says nothing has been done. Are those the words of an irate spirit, unhappy with the speed of change, or a truthful decree of mediocrity?

Has his heart changed?

I will know soon enough.

Once we reached the manor, Danyal looked at us uncertainly, his eyes jumping to each of us. We were halfway to the door when he grabbed my arm. I looked back at him to see him giving me a small smile. “ I’ll be right back,” he shouted, gaining the others' attention.

“ Where are you going?” asked Father.

“ I have some unfinished business,” Danyal said, his eyes not leaving mine.

“ Business being?” I asked him.

“ The ghost clowns, I can’t keep them cooped up forever,” he says, then whispers to me, “It gets uncomfortable in there after a while.”

“ What will you do with them?” asked Richard.

“ The same thing I did at the circus; give them a choice,” Danyal said.

Then he transformed, like he did back at the big top, and flew off into the night. That was an hour ago, and he's due to return any minute. Pennyworth is fussing about in the kitchen, insisting ice cream, a favorite of Danyals, will be needed for our upcoming conversation. I am not opposed. As none of us except Todd is permitted to use the kitchen, despite Richards' best efforts, we all are seated in the dining room.

No noise signals an entrance, not even the creak of the front door, but a chill that creeps into the room. It makes my hair stick up on end, and the sensation of fingernails trailing down my spine. I turn to see him; he’s back. His skin looks thin like paper, lightly tented teal, as his veins shine through. His freckles shine in the form of constellations, and his ears are slightly tapered, as are his canines. The only thing missing is the shining crown of crystals; besides that, he looks exactly as he did earlier, helping that spirit move on .

I dip my head in acknowledgment, “ Danyal.”

“ Uh hey, I’m back,” he says back, eyes uncertain.

Unsure of what to say, I stay quiet. Drake opens his mouth a few times to say, what, I don’t know, but nothing comes out. Father studies his appearance taking in every change, and Richard and Todd are no better. “ Welcome back, Young Master,” says Pennyworth from behind him, startling us all. He looks at him with eyes that hold nothing but acceptance.

“ Thanks, Gramps,” says Danyal turning around to see him.

“ Would you care to assist me in the kitchen?” Pennyworth asks.

“ Oh,” Danyals voice goes up in surprise, and he transforms back to human and trails after him. The last thing we hear is, “What can I do?” Before we are left in silence once again.

“ That could have gone better,” Todd remarks.

“ I didn’t hear you saying anything,” says Drake.

“ Neither did you,” I say, crossing my arms.

“ Look, we all could have done better,” says Richard, “it's awkward for all of us, and it's going to stay that way until we get this over and done with.” He locks eyes with Father and says sternly, “ No interrogations,” he turns to look at Drake, “ No insensitive questions.”

“ Yeah, replacement, no telling ghosty ‘ it's time we start ghost hunting,’” snarks Todd.

“ You said what to your brother,” demands Father.

“ I didn’t mean–” starts Drake.

“ He didn’t mean anything wrong,” interrupts Danyal, hands holding bowls of ice cream, “ It was just a bad choice of words,” he sets a bowl in front of me and sits next to me while Pennyworth hands out the rest.

His hand is wrapped in a paper towel; I grab it, “ what happened?”

“It's nothing,” he says, brushing me off, “ I just cut my hand on a jar.”

I raise an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugs and digs into his ice cream, “It's true. You can ask Gramps.”

I look at Pennyworth, who is standing near the door with his own bowl of ice cream; Danyal must have insisted he participates in this discussion. “ The Young Master cut his hand on the top of a cherry jar.”

“ It was old,” Danyal interjects, “ It was at the bottom of the pantry. I thought they would be good for the ice cream sundaes, but they were covered in fuzzy mold.”

“ Why would you open moldy cherries?” asks Drake confused.

“ I didn’t notice until after I opened them,” he defended. He looks at Pennyworth, “ Gramps aren’t you going to sit?”

“ I am fine over here, but thank you anyway, Young Master,” Pennyworth declines.

“ Come on, Alfie,” says Todd, “ sitting won’t hurt ya.”

We all chip in, adding our assurances until he finally relents, but he sits at the opposite end of the table. We eat in silence for a few moments before Richard asks, “ What happened today?”

“You're going to have to be more specific,” says Danyal.

“You said this circus showed up in your town, Amity Park; how come none of us have heard about them before? You would think a circus kidnapping people would have been national news,” says Richard.

“ what do you mean?” He asks, tone confused, “They were on the news when they got arrested the first time. Sure, they weren’t as extreme about things as this time, but they still had federal charges against them. They disbanded the circus. That's why I was so surprised to see them again.”

“ Do you remember who broadcasted the news?” Asks Drake.

“ It was on the local news,” Danyal says.

“ We have no records of that, of anything really, that's happened in Amity Park. All I can find is that it exists. There is nothing else. We know the GIW has hidden things about the town, like the existence of ghosts, but that doesn’t explain the lack of information about everything else.”

“ I mean, I erased anything notable about me,” knew it, “ but I never touched any of the town records. Are you sure you can’t find anything?” Danyal asks.

“ Nothing,” Drake reaffirms.

Danyal takes out his phone and starts typing away until he turns his phone around to see the words, CASPER HIGH HOMEPAGE, and a bunch of links. He hands the phone to Drake, “Could you pull this up on your phone?”

Drake doesn’t answer but pulls out his own to try. After a second, he says, “ No, nothing.”

Danyal takes his phone back and goes to youtube. He pulls up the broadcast about Showenhowers’ arrest, “What about this?”

Once again, Drake tries to pull it up. “ No, nothing; I’m typing in the exact title, too,” he says, frowning, “someone blocking all information about the town from getting out.”

“ But if that's the case, how can Danny pull it up?” asks Todd.

“ Your phone was bought in Amity?” asks Father.

“ No, actually, I built it,” Danyal admits, “ I used a mixture of spare parts the Fentons had and tech from the realms.”

“ Impressive,” says Drake, “ you can’t tell that there is anything different about it, but that takes out that line of thinking.”

“ What do you mean?” I ask.

“ If Danyals’ sim card was from Amity, it could have been a factor in why he is able to access the information,” says Father, “ but since that's not the case….”

“ It wouldn’t be a factor,” I finish.

“ Okay, pushing past that, could you explain what the spooky lady meant about ghosts being everywhere? Wouldn’t we be able to see them?” Asks Todd.

“Not all ghosts are strong ones,” Danyal explains, “ it takes an incredible amount of concentration for them to become visible to regular people. Even ones like you–”

“What's that supposed to mean?” asks Father.

“ Jason's a revenant, you know, someone who dies and comes back to life,” Danyal says.

“ You told him,” asks Richard.

“ I didn't need to; he could tell,” says Todd.

“It's a dead people thing,” Daniel says, “We can usually tell.”

“ Is that what happened to you? Are you a Revenant?” Asks Drake.

“Nah, nothing as exciting as well,” Daniel says with false cheer in his voice, “ I’m what's known as a halfa.”

“And what's that exactly?” I ask.

“ You've heard of Schrodinger's cat?” He asks; I nod. “ It's kind of like that but as a person.”

“But that's not possible,” argues Richard, “ no one can be both dead and alive simultaneously.”

“ I can think of six impossible things before breakfast,” Danyal retorts, “And that's excluding me. Just because something doesn't seem possible doesn't mean it's not. As I said, it was an accident. Beings like me don't come about every few millennia or so. We're rare.”

He takes a bite of his ice cream, “Those ghosts, the ones dressed as the clowns, those are the most common and are called shades. Typically they're pretty weak, but because of Lydia and the staff, they got forced into the visible spectrum. They're kind don't normally last for too long. They usually stay long enough to say their goodbyes or put to rest any last regrets, then fade on. Some of them cannot move on by themselves and require assistance. If they stay in the world of living for so long, they can become aggressive, become what's typically known as a poltergeist.”

“Like the ones you see in horror movies?” Asks Richard.

“ Yep,” Danyal agrees, “When the shade becomes your Poltergeist and comment, we try to deal with them quickly, but occasionally, we don't hear about it. That's normally when humans come into play.”

“Like Constantine–” I start to say, but Danyal interrupts.

“ You know Constantine!” his eyes get big, “ I've been wanting to meet him since forever. I'm two pieces away from Soul Bingo!”

“Young Master, what is this Soul bingo?” Asks Pennyworth.

“It's a game they started. Constantine has sold his soul so many times it's practically useless. Only lesser demons and some spirits are willing to make deals with him anymore. Whoever collects most of his soul gets ownership of it. Many ghosts decided his soul wasn't worth it and were getting rid of it, so they gave it to me. I only need two more pieces, and then I'll have all of it,” Danyal says excitedly.

“You have collected the majority of his soul,” I ask for confirmation.

“ yes, and I only need the last two pieces,” he agrees again, practically vibrating in his chair.

“ What do you plan on doing with it,” asks Father.

Daniel sprouts a wicked grin, “ Paperwork.”

“Paperwork?” Todd Echoes incredibly.

“Do you realize how much paperwork comes from selling your soul? It's a lot. I've got a room full of it back at the keep in the realms. I refuse to go through any more of it. He sold his soul. He should deal with the paperwork that came with it,” Danyal says with conviction.

“ That's it?” Richard asks.

“ Well, once he's done with it, I might ask him to do some errands maybe, try to keep the world going and all, but that's about it,” Danyal shrugs.

“Speaking of ghostliness, what is with the whole magical girl transformation ya got going on there?” Asks Todd.

Danyal goes back to eating his ice cream, not answering the question. I shoot Todd a look, trying to see if he can tell what he has said that was upsetting for Danyal, but I can see he is just as confused.

“Danny, answer the question?” asks, no demands Father.

I watch as he bites his lip, looking at us wearily before his eyes settle on the wall, looking at no one. “You have to understand talking about death for ghosts and others of the undead community is a big no-no. To talk about how I changed is a talk about how I…died, and that's private. Jason, do you like it when people talk about how you died?” He asks.

Jason's quiet for a moment before admitting, “ No. It's one thing for me to bring it up; it's another for someone else to.”

“ Then you should know better than to ask me about aspects of mine,” Danyal says.

“Would you be comfortable sharing that with us, Young Master?” Pennyworth asks.

“ It's not a story I like to tell,” Danyal says, “It's private, it's hurtful to think about…” he drifts off into silence. “It was the beginning of August, the third to be exact, and the Fentons were finishing up their latest invention.” Right before our birthday, “ They've been working on it longer than I'd been with them. They were really excited. I know Jazz was, too, their daughter; she'd been hoping that once it was done, they'd ease up on some work and spend some time with her.”

“Why didn't you mention her?” Richard asks, “You didn't have to leave her. CPS could have brought her with you.”

“She's a few years older than me, she's 19, and she's going to college in Amity. I brought up the fact that I was leaving before CPS showed up; she wasn't too happy about it,” Danyal says, longing in his voice.

“You miss her,” Father says.

“Of course,” Danyal says, “But it's not good for us to be together right now. We had a disagreement; We haven't settled everything yet; things are still tense.”

“ But in the future?” I ask.

“ Hopefully, you'll be willing to accept another sister,” he says.

“I know Cain would be happy,” I retort.

“ As would Steph and Babs,” snorts Drake, “ They complain enough about the amount in the manor.”

“Where are they, by the way,” Danyal asks, “ I haven't met Cassandra–”

“ Cass–,” Richard interjects.

“I haven't met Cass, or who did you say, Steph, yet,” Danyal says.

“ They're both out of town and excited to meet you,” says Father.

“ What else happened?” I ask, trying to get Danyal back on track.

Danyal nods, “Oh yeah; so that afternoon, they got ready for the big unveiling, wanting to show off all their years of hard work. But when they started it up, it didn't work. They left the lab and, for hours, went back and forth between yelling at each other and just existing, sitting in silence. Some friends of mine came over, wanting to see the invention.”

Danyal takes the last bite of his ice cream, savoring it before saying, “ It was a portal. A portal to the other side, to what they called the Ghost Zone, better known to me as the infinite realms.”

“ They've had me working in their lab as a chore since I came to live with them. Either cleaning up after them or fiddling with spare parts to see what I can come up with. With the training we had from the league,” he says, looking in my direction, I knew my way around a laboratory well enough. My friends knew of my experience, so they talked me into looking at it.”

“ I was careful; I made sure it was unplugged and even wore a stupid hazmat suit, but none of it mattered in the end. On the inside of the portal was a switch. A big red button, and nobody remembered to push it. It was all the way at the back. I didn't know it was there when I went in. With all those wires all over the place, it's no real wonder why I tripped, but I did.”

“I tried to stop myself from falling, and I hit it.” Danyal says, voice shuttering, “Unknown to me, they connected it to the power grid. It turned on while I was inside.”

“ I was electrocuted with the power of the town's grid while the portal opened up on top of me, ripping me apart. The mixture of electricity and ectoplasm kept me together, but I didn't walk out the same. I walked out with white hair and green eyes, in the same hazmat that was supposed to protect me.”

“ Soon after, other ghosts started coming out, first animals, then others,” He groans, “ the friendly, content one stayed inside, but those with rougher backgrounds, the most violent of deaths, sought out the living. And it was all my fault .”

“They never would have come if I hadn’t gone in there,” Danyal turns to look at me, “ so I was left without a choice, and I took to the streets and did what I knew.”

“Why not call? Why not ask for help,” asks Father.

“ I couldn't do that. All it would do would bring more attention to me. I couldn't afford for Grandfather or Mother to know I survived,” Says Danyal. “A new Dami was with you, I could recognize him anywhere, but I didn't know your relationship with Mother. If you were in contact. I decided not to say anything unless the situation became dire.”

“Which it has,” points out Drake.

“It has been since the get-go. The civilians weren't happy about the ghosts, seeing only the destructive ones from the portal. I tried to help, but they thought I was just the same. Over time they, many have changed their opinion, but by then, more Hunters had started showing up, and the GIW took an interest in the town. I didn't have the position to do anything, not for a long time, but I tried to help. A lot of them didn't like me, but I'd like to think I was a hero.”

I watch Danyal scratch the side of his cheek before his hand goes to the back of his neck, “ I've caused a lot of hurt in the world, not that I ever wanted to, but I did. If I could help out, even a little, I’d do it. Always. I know I’ll never make up for what I've done, but it doesn't stop me from trying.”

“Danyal, you know you have nothing to apologize for. Neither of us do. We were children. We didn't have a say in the matter,” I say.

“ But–” Danyal starts to say but is cut off by banging coming from the kitchen.

I watch as his gaze goes to the door and then back to his hand as he mutters, “Oh sh*t, not again.”

He stands up in a rush and says, “Excuse me for just one second,” and runs out the door.

We all go after him.

He runs into the kitchen.

We're just about to enter after him when we hear, “ Oh sh*t, that's not good.” Todd gently opens the door to see seven glowing giant, fluffy, moldy cherries. They're at least 4 ft tall and 3 ft wide. All of them have eyes and a mouth; a couple of them even have teeth.

“Good heavens,” says Pennyworth.

“I can explain!” Danyal spits out in a hurry.

Oh yes, an explanation would do well right about now.

“Explain away please, Young Master,” says Pennyworth. None of this is facing him.

“Ectoplasm tends to turn anything that's dead back to being alive. Well, the fruits and vegetables are plants, so they were alive,” A cherry tries to Ram into Daniel, but he throws up a glowing green shield. “ When I cut my hand earlier, I drop of blood must have gone inside the cherries jar.”

“You zombified cherries?” Asks Todd.

“ I didn't mean to. It just happens!” Danyal exclaims.

“ I take it this was a normal occurrence within the Fenton's kitchen,” says Pennyworth.

“ More often than not, but I wasn't the one to do it! It was usually them. They left ectoplasm inside the refrigerator,” The Cherry has backed away from Danyals shield, so he lets it go, “This one's a first for me.”The Cherry starts to come closer to us, and instead of the shield, Danyal sends a blast of ice at it. Freezing the Cherry solid. He goes on to do it to a few more as well. As soon as they freeze, they fall to the ground and shatter and dissolve into a million little pieces while leaving the scent of cherries in the air.

“ Young Master,” Pennyworth says, obviously addressing Danyal.

“ Yes, Gramps,” He says, taking out the other cherries.

“I'm afraid I have to add you to the list,” Pennyworth says mournfully.

“ The list,” he asks.

“ The kitchen ban list,” All of us, besides Todd, say in unison.

“I'm afraid my kitchen is not built to handle spontaneous resurrection,” Pennyworth says as he goes into the kitchen, grabbing a broom. I look around the floor to see glass splinters all about; thejar must have exploded when the cherries expanded.

“But it was just this one time; it won't happen again,” Danyal says.

“Young Master,” Pennyworth says, as he has decided the matter is closed, but Daniel did not catch on.

“ Please,” Danyal says, pleading. His eyes are big, bottom lip slightly wobbling as if he's a small child about to cry. Pennyworth stares him down, un-blinking.

“There is no way off he's going to fall for that,” whispers Richard to Todd.

Only for Pennyworth to crack, “ You may be allowed to use the kitchen, but only under supervision.”

‘No way,’ I hear the others gasp as Danyal gives Pennyworth a serene smile, “ thanks, Gramps, you're the best!”

Chapter 13: 1 Wayne, 2 Waynes are there anymore? I see more coming to the door

Chapter Text

Things have gotten better since the circus incident. My new siblings aren't tiptoeing around me anymore, though some things are still awkward. This is expected; they haven't known me for long, but at least we don't feel like strangers anymore. I join the others out on the rooftops on the rare, clear nights, though not for patrolling. Bruce still hasn't given me the green light to go out yet, but to gaze at the stars.

Not that they know I'm there.

I've been trying to indulge my obsessions suddenly. But it's hard to do that in Gotham. It's always so cloudy and dreary it's hard to get a good look at the sky, so besides those rare clear nights, I'm forced to read books or watch documentaries to hold me over. Acting as a protector is even harder. Gotham already has heroes, and with the majority of them already knowing I'm here, living under the same roof, it would be obvious that it's me.

So, I have been forced to focus on other areas, such as creating a functioning ghost portal. While getting to know my siblings has been fun, I still have work to do. I can't stay away from the Realms for long, not if I want to achieve peace. Thankfully for me, what is considered a long time for humans is not considered a long time for ghosts. Thankfully, now I’m allowed to stay in the cave alone, but I know I’m still being monitored. They might trust me more, but not enough, not yet. I would have started working on it earlier, but I didn't want to talk to Bruce about its necessity. But after a few weeks in Gotham with nothing but corrupted residual ectoplasm to survive off of, I regret not telling them sooner. I could tell something was wrong; I was more snappish and angsty than necessary. So, in the end, I caved and explained it to them. They were all kind of horrified about needing to live off of toxic green glowing death juice, but they know I have no other options.

Who knows, maybe it will help Jason? Having clean filtered ectoplasm around, plus access to the Realms, might help with the corrupted leftovers still in his system.

That will be something to test when the time comes.

Who better to look after him than Frostbite?

So Bruce gave me my own little section of the cave to work on the portal and for whatever projects I come up with in the future. Tim likes to stop by every once in a while just to make sure everything's going okay. After hearing about the Fentons' version of the portal, he's worried about my potential breaking of OSHA violations.

Taking away all my fun.

Who needs to worry about welding their fingers together when they can just have their fingers go through the material?

Not me, but Tim says otherwise.

I’ve become resigned to his worrying, so when Tim pops up while I’m working on wiring, I don't flinch as he says, “ Gloves, Danny gloves.” I hum in response to show that I’m not ignoring him. I hated when Jack and Maddie would do that.

Tim groans, finds a chair, and watches me work. Just to make sure I don't accidentally electrocute myself. Once I get done with a group of wires I’m working on, Tim asks, “How long do you plan on working down here?”

I start on another group of wires and say, “ I don't know. Why do you ask?”

“Steph and Cass are on the way back. Their plane should be landing in about an hour,” Tim says.

I start to work slower as I ask, “Do they know about me? That I'm here?”

“No, not yet. Cass was trying to infiltrate some gang in Hong Kong, but she needed some backup, so Steph went along. Besides General check-ins, we've been no contact for a little over a month,” Explains Tim. “Would you like to go with us to get them? Will be getting lunch. It would be nice to leave the house for a bit?” I don’t say anything, so he suggests, “You could get to know them while we eat.”

I bite my lip, thinking things over, then put down my tools and look at Tim, “ I think it would be better if you left me here. While I don't know them, I know I wouldn't want to have a new sibling sprung upon me without any warning.”

Tim walks over to me, “ They wouldn't feel like that–”

“ I'm new to the manor. I've invaded their space without their consent,” I say deadpan, “How else would you expect someone to react?”

Tim huffs as his phone goes off simultaneously with mine. Tim is the only one to look at the message, “ Bruce said to come on. It's time to leave.”

I return to work, “ I'll see you when you get back.”

Knowing he will not win this argument, Tim leaves the cave and joins the others in the car.

***

I watch Drake come to the car by himself, “ Where’s Danyal?”

“ The cave,” Drake looks at Father, “ he said to go without him.”

Father rubs the bridge of his nose, “Did he say why?”

“ said he didn't want to feel like he was an intrusion,” says Drake.

“He does realize he is family, right?” asks Richard, “ he has every right to go too.”

“Maybe Baby D is just nervous,” suggests Todd, “ Everything's been pretty sudden. Adding on two more people might be pushing it for him,” he looks at me, “ Did he have problems like that when you were younger?”

I take a moment to think about it, “Not that I recall,” the car makes its way down the driveway, “ but much could have changed in our time apart.”

***

I don't want to be rude or mean, but I just couldn't go. It just didn't feel right. When meeting new people, things are always a hit or miss, more often on the side of miss. I don't want to get a bad start with the people I’ll be living with for the foreseeable future, and I just know if I had gone to meet them, I would have screwed it up. It's better to let the others handle the awkward conversation about why I’m there invading their house. I don't want to see the weird looks, questioning how I came to be, my validity. When I showed up with the Fentons, I screwed it all up.

Jazz was the one to find me. Being the concerned person she is, she took me to her parents, and they tried to do right, finding the proper authorities. But she pressured them into taking me along when no one turned up when I claimed I couldn't remember anything. They showed up at Maddie's sister's house, Alicia, on the way back to Amity Park. She threw accusations at Jack, and claims of potential unfaithfulness were going about.

How much Jack or Maddie said that wasn't true didn't matter. Maddie's side of the family never really believed them. To them, there's always the possibility that they were lying, trying to save face. Jack and I looked similar enough, so I understood why they could think so, but I’ve had enough of being called a bastard.

Doesn't matter that I truly am one.

Showing up to meet the last two Wayne's, official or unofficial, being a mere replica of Damian, wouldn't help matters. I know they will have questions, but I just don't want to be there for them.

I can't go through that. Not again.

So, I finish up the wiring for the portal. Instead of quiet, I blare various music and screw over OSHA regulations. Doing what I do best: creating . With no one there to walk in on me, I see no problem with levitating parts to me when I need them, using telekinesis to hold things in place so I can screw them in. When alone, I don't have to worry about being walked in on. I can get a lot done. The design of this portal is different from the others I’ve seen. This one isn't made out of spare parts like the Fentons, nor is it made out of the most expensive materials like Vlads.

It's made out of stainless steel.

With my strength and Bruce's tools, I’ve made the portal shaped like a horseshoe, round at the top and flat at the bottom. All wires are covered up by metal plating. No one's tripping over wires in there, not this time. All in all, it's almost done. All that is left to do is make a pump for the ectoplasm, and then it's safe to fire up.

At this point, I’ve been working for hours, and I’m in a grove. I was summoning more screws to me out of the toolbox when Dumpty Humpty stopped playing over the speakers. I whip around to see who it is, to see Bruce, causing me to lose focus over the screws.

They fall to the floor.

I don't know what to do, so I just stand still. I’m unsure how Father feels about using powers inside the manor. I can tell he's resigned to them being used on the battlefield, knowing that they're useful, but at home, using them domestically is another thing altogether.

I watch Father pick up the screws, walk them over to me, and place them on the workbench. I look for any change in his expression to see if he's mad about the power usage, but I don't see any. Then, without saying anything to me, Father walks over to the portal and expects it. He looks around for any exposed wiring before stepping inside. Father places his hands on the inside of the walls, checking for any loose parts. Once done with his inspection, he walks over to sit in the same chair Tim was in hours ago. Father gestures me over; the two of us sit in silence. Until Father says, “ You've gotten a lot done.”

I look at my portal, “It's not that hard. I helped the Fentons with parts of theirs, and I've seen the finished product. It's not hard to recreate.”

“ Is the design exact?” Father asks.

“ A recreation. I have the original blueprints,” I say, getting up to get them, “ but I made a few changes.”

Once Father has the blueprints in his hands, he looks them over.

I can't help but be self-conscious as he looks at my notes, as I have things crossed out on the margins and corrected on sticky notes. The original is hard to read, let alone understand. Maddie and Jack aren't known for using exact measurements or technical terms. Unfortunately, when they started the portal, Maddie let Jack draw it. It looks like it was made by a kindergartener.

Maddie and Jack have their own conversations written on it, mostly about fudge and what to have for dinner, but also about their theories about what the “Ghost Zone” would look like. Father takes his time reading it over. I can see his eyes going back and forth between their version of mine. I'm not sure what to think. This man is known as the world's greatest detective. He’s highly intelligent. What if I made some kind of mistake? Is there something I didn't catch? I look at him worried, but Father just raises his hand and ruffles my hair, “Good job.”

“ What,” I say, surprised.

“You've made good improvements to the original. Looks to be a lot safer, too,” Father grunts, “What else do you have left to do?”

“ I just need to make the pump for the ectoplasm, then connect it. Should be good to turn on after that,” I say.

“ Humm,” Says Father, “ so I take it you're not coming with us to pick up the girls isn't due to your workload.”

I sigh and look up at the stalactites, “No, it just didn't feel right.”

Father crosses his arms, “Explain it to me then.”

“I don't know if you'll get it,” I say, “but it's like I told Tim. I didn't want to intrude. They don't know me, and I've only heard of them in passing or stuff I've seen on the news. They're just getting back from a mission, right?” I look at Father to see him nodding, “They probably just want to relax. Not worry about the new kid up in their space.”

“While surprised, they don't find you unwelcoming. Cass is excited about her new little brother,” says Father.

“And Steph?” I ask.

“While not officially adopted, Stephanie is part of the family. She, too, was excited for you to join us,” Father says calmly. I don't say anything, not really sure what to say, but Father interrupts the silence, saying, “ We brought you back some food. Why don't you go up and eat? Meet the girls later.” Father gets up and makes his way toward the elevator, “You coming?”

I put the screws back in the toolbox and go up.

Once I finished lunch, I was fresh out of excuses for not meeting the girls. I check the sitting rooms and look outside, but I don't see anyone, not even Gramps. So I wander the halls until I hear “Coconut Mall” and loosely veiled threats. The other bat-brats are playing Mario Kart while Gramps watches. Waluigi crosses the finish line first, causing a blonde to yell, “ Bow down to your queen!”

Tim throws apillow at her as the results come up, “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” they had finished all four races and didn't receive a trophy. I slip over the back of the couch, gaining the attention of the black-haired girl, Cass. Her eyes flicker over to Ahki and then back at me; she smiles but doesn't say anything and looks back at the screen.

“You cheated,” cries.

“You cheated,” criesJason, pointing a finger at Steph accusingly as his Peach sits in fifth place. “You blue-shelled me!”

“All is fairin love, war, and Mario Kart,” Says Steph with a gremlin smile. The others just groan in response. Steph holds on to her remote, as she placed the highest, as Jason, Tim, and Dick look around for someone to pass their controllers to. Dick passes his to Dami, while Jason passes his to Cass.

Tim is stillholding on to his and is about to select a character when I ask, “Can I play?” causing the others to turn around to see me. They had been so caught up in the game they hadn't noticed when I entered.

“ When didyou come up?” Dick asks.

“ A bitago,” I shrug, “ thanks for bringing me food back. It was good.” I look at Tim, asking again, “ Is it okay if I play?”

“ New brother?”Cass asks though it's more like a statement.

“ Danyal orDanny,” I say, introducing myself.

Steph gets inmy face, studying me before looking at the room at large, “ I know you said they're twins, but I didn't expect a mini-baby-bat.”

‘ Mini-Baby-Bat?’ I think,confused,‘Is she callingme short?’

“ How astute,Brown,” says Ahki sarcastically.

Tim rolls hiseyes at Dami and says, “Sure, Danny,” handing me the remote.

We play acouple of rounds, but it's kind of boring after a while. I see Dick look at his phone when he says, “ I think this is going to be my last game.”

“But what aboutour rematch?” asks Tim, not playing the upcoming round.

“ Dami willjust have to defend my honor for me,” Dick says before ruffling Ahki’s hair.

“Honor, what honor,Richard? You don't have any,” he says, his arms crossed, having been red-shelled by him a bit ago.

“Couldn't we allplay against each other?” I ask, seeing another switch by the TV.

“ We onlyhave one Mario Kart,” says Cass.

“ Yeah, ifwe had two, we would have all played against each other,” says Jason like it was obvious.

“You never know;you could have just wanted to play a tournament style,” I say, defending myself.

“Hum,” I say,getting up, going towards the TV, “ give me a sec. I might have an idea.” If they couldn't play on the two consoles, why notgo into one? It's beena while since I’ve gone into a game. While I wouldn't recommend it for something like Doomed, Mario Kart seems safe enough.

It's not likethis game is determined by how many lives you have. You shouldn't even get hurt. It's just racing. I look at the wiring and where it connects to the console and the TV. I do the math in my head, ‘seven of them,a bit more than three, but it should be doable.’ I turnto face the others, “Instead of playing Mario Kart, would you like to be in it?”

“ What doyou mean, Young Master?” Gramps asks, still in the room.

“ I canenter technology. I can bring others with me too. I thought you might like it,” I say sheepishly, “That way, we all can play together.”

“How do youlearn to do something like that?” Tim asks.

“I was chasingTechnus, one of my rogues; at first, I thought only we could go in since we would be haunting it, but my friend grabbed onto me. I was going in, and they were able to come along too,” I explain.

“And you've donethis more than once?” Dami asks.

“ Yeah, withanimal crossing, it shouldn't be any different,” I say.

The other bat-bratslook at each other, speaking with their eyes. After deciding, they glance at Gramps, asking for permission. He doesn't say anything for a moment, pondering his decision before he asks me, “And you are sure this is safe?”

“Of course, Gramps,”I say, “ you know if you're up for it, you can play too. There's enough room for up to 12 of us.”

“What about thespots not taken up by us?” Gramps asks.

“The NPCs, thenon-player characters, will take those spots,” I say.

“Come on, Alfie,”says Jason, “ it'll be fun.”

“ Come on,Alfred!” Says Steph.

After that, theothers chime in with their own pleas and assurances. Until Gramps finally gives in, asking, “How do we do it?” causing sounds of “yes” to sound off in the room.

“ We justhave to be connected,” I say, holding my hands out, “ just make a circle.”

They all getinto place, “ what now?” Cass asks.

“ First, Igotta..” I say as I change my form.

“Woah, warn usabout the light show Sailor Moon,” Jason snarks as he rubs his eyes, “ damn that was bright.”

“ Thanks!” Isay, happy for the compliment. Having a clean, bright soul is pretty rare for a ghost. It was nice of him to notice.

“ Gotta admit,I didn’t expect,” Steph gestures with her hand, “ all of that.”

I shrug, “Notmuch really changes–”

“ You meanbesides the glowing and premature grey,” Jason says.

“ Eh, I'vealways guessed it was from the stress, ya know, from dying, like Marie Antoinette syndrome,” I say, “ I've never seen signs of it going back to black, but that's okay. I actually like the white. Feels more like me, you know? ” I ask Jason.

“ I getit,” Jason says softly, agreeing with me.

“ Whats nextDanyal?” Dami asks.

“Next is spreadingthe energy over you. It might be a little cold; sorry about that,” I warn. They take my warning better than Sam and Tucker used to. They would always complain about how it felt like I was pouring ice cubes down their back. It's not my fault my core is cold. It's not long before their bodies glow a bluish-green, and they enter the game.

We arrive atthe race track, and overhead, it says, “ Special Cup.”

I look aroundthe cards to see everybody, but not everyone is as if they were before. The first person who sticks out is Gramps. Instead of his impeccable suit, he's in blue overalls, wearing a red undershirt hat and brown shoes.‘He looks likeMario,’I realize andlook for the others.

The next oneI see is Jason. He's dressed like Princess Peach in a long pink dress, with combat boots, elbow-length gloves, and adorned with a tiara.

Cass looks likea yellow “shy guy”; she holds their mask.

‘ That looksuncomfortable,’I think asI see Ahki dressed as Bowser. Damien's in a yellow bodysuit, with spiked cuffs on his arms and wrists, and has a massive turtle shell on his back.

Steph is wearingdark purple overalls with gold buttons, a lighter purple undershirt, a hat, and a fake mustache, a perfect replica of Waluigi.

Dick is dressedthe most embarrassing, as Baby Rosalina. He's in a short blue tunic and bloomers and has a giant lollipop in his hand. He licks it, and I hear him say, “ Ooh, cherry.”

While Tim isdressed simply as Toad. In the blue vest, outlined in gold, white pants, and a mushroom hat.

I look atmy reflection on the side of his cart to see no significant changes besides my teeth. They are sharper than I’d want them to be, and above my head is a second floating crown. I’m King Boo.

“ Demon bratthe second, what the hell!” Jason yells, trying not to trip over Peach's dress.

“ Don’t lookat me! I didn’t dress you!” I say, backing away.

“Yeah, then whodid?” Jason asks rhetorically.

“ Maybe thegame,” I answer, “we've been made to look like the characters were replacing.”

“ Yeah, wellcould you get it to give Dick some pants?” asks Tim, “ I don’t need to see all of that.”

“They're not anyshorter than my running shorts,” Dick says, shrugging, not arguing for or against different pants.

“ Yes, anothermonstrosity,” says Damian.

“At least they’renot as bad as the old Robin uniform,” Tim says.

“ Take thatback,” Dick says, clutching his imaginary pearls, “ they were iconic.”

“ I believethe race is about to start, Young Masters’ Misses,’” Gramps says, readying himself in his cart.

We look towardsthe finish line to see numbers counting down to 1. It's currently on 7.

We all rushto their carts.

First track: Cloudtop cruise.

Once the signalgoes off, We’re off like a light. We whip around in a sharp right turn, bounce on some sort of mushroom, and gain our first advantages. Dick, Tim, Jason, and I get red shells, Gramps gets the speedy mushroom, Damian gets a green shell, and Cass gets a coin, all while Steph is being carried back onto the track, having fallen off. Gramps speeds off while the others release their shells, knocking over those in front of them.

Cass speeds offinto first.

We race onthe clouds until we get to the ship deck.

Cass is stillin first, with Tim not far behind. The others, besides Steph, who is lagging behind with the NPCs, keep going in and out of different placements, trying to get in front of the others.

We get blastedoff the ship in some kind of air cannon and fly through the sky onto another track in the clouds. On the track, have these yellow/orange placements that make you go faster. Each one is getting struck by lightning, and they try to use the spots to their advantage without being hit.

Dick is thefirst to get stuck, so it doesn't take him long to get back at it and go again. I, conscientious of the lightning, try to steer clear of any of the spots, willing to take the risk of losing my placement. Once we get done on the track, we are shot off and fly into the sky to land on a track that looks like a vine to complete the first circuits.

It doesn't takelong for us to go back around twice more and finish our first race.

1) Cass7) Jason

2) Tim8) Steph

3) Alfred9) Luigi

4) Dick10) Iggy

5) Danny11) Link

6) Damian12) Yoshi

Second track: BoneDry Dunes

We start offin our positions, taking a sharp right into the first advantage cubes and twisting and turning throughout the canyon around them. Jason gets the golden mushroom, Cass gets the plant thingy, Gramps, Damian, and I get red shells, Steph gets bananas, and Dick and Tim get green shells. Jason immediately speeds off, leaving us in the dust, while Cass drives by, trying to get the plant to eat us. Steph tries to trip Cass up by putting bananas in her way, but she doesn't fall for it. Dick throws his shells all willy-nilly, hoping that they'll hit somebody, while Tim keeps his for defense. Gramps, Damian, and I don't use ours until we get close to someone else taking their place in the lineup.

We start toslow as the hard track turns into sand and start traveling over bridges made out of what looks to be rib bones. We drive sideways on the walls until we get shot out across the canyon, flying into tunnels. It's dark in there. We have to turn our headlights on to see, as it is dimly lit by torches. Once we exit the tunnels, we get back on the paved road, leading them back to the start of the track and ending their first lap. It doesn't take long for us to go through it again and again, leaving the results of the second race to be:

1) Jason7) Damian

2) Alfred8) Cass

3) Steph9) Luigi

4) Danny 10)Yoshi

5) Tim11) Link

6) Dick12) Iggy

Third track: Bowser'sCastle

Once it saysgo, we race off into the mansion, tearing up the carpets as we turn down the hallways. We smash into the advantage cubes Gramps and I get three mushrooms, Tim, Dick, and Jason get bananas, and Steph gets a boomerang. While Damian and Cass get coins.

Damian and Cassspend their coins immediately while Gramps and I make our way through the castle. While Tim, Dick, and Jason throw their bananas everywhere, and Steph aims her Boomerang at them. Steph ends up knocking Jason in the head, causing him to turn out of control. Before stopping, he yells, “You're going to pay for that, Blondie!” revs the engine and chases after her.

As we getthrough the halls, we come across a bridge made out of some kind of chainmail, leaving us to twist and turn until we get back onto a solid floor. We have to dodge spinning fire wheels and a swaying morning star mounted on the ceiling. We go like that, avoiding the obstacles until the road splits into two. In the middle is a giant Bowser Fire Monster attacking each path. Each blow that lands makes the road shake. We’re all forced to rush around and get out of their way. Once we leave that area, we’re back inside the Castle, except it's inverted. We’re driving on the ceiling. If the car was to fall off, we’d hit the floor. Once we finally exited the Castel, we had to fly out, dodging lava and large rocks. Until we reached the finish line to start on our next lap. The outcome of the third race is:

1) Danny7) Dick

2) Damian8) Steph

3) Cass9) Luigi

4) Jason 10)Link

5) Tim11) Yoshi

6) Alfred12) Iggy

Fourth track: RainbowRoad

We race allover that rainbow monstrosity. Twisting on gravity-defying curves. Immediately Dick and Steph fall off, having to be pulled back up. While Gramps, Tim, Jason, and I speed off. Damian and Cass move along at a slower pace. Only Gramps, Tim, Jason, and I get advantages this time. The others lagged behind but got there before they could regenerate. Tim and Jason get shells, green, while I get bananas and Gramps gets a mushroom. We race around, gathering coins while waiting for the others to catch up. After a bit, Damian and Cass get more comfortable on the track, and they're speeding along with the rest of Us. Steph has difficulty getting control of the cart and keeps falling off while Dick tries to catch up.

We get launchedoff Rainbow Road and onto some kind of space station. There are arrows on the ground, red and green, one to slow, one to fasten. Which leads to a short road that launches us back onto the rainbow.

One thing forsure is the Waynes’, official and honorary, had never had more fun.

Results of thefourth race:

1) Alfred7) Cass

2) Danny8) Link

3) Dick 9) Luigi

4) Jason 10)Tim

5) Steph 11)Yoshi

6) Damian 12)Iggy

Results of SpecialCup:

1) Danny7) Tim

1) Alfred8) Steph

3) Jason9) Luigi

4) Cass 10)Link

5) Dick11) Yoshi

6) Damian12) Iggy

Chapter 14: Lights camera action

Chapter Text

I've been careful.

I knew I couldn't afford to be spotted and Gotham, not yet anyway. I've stayed stuck inside that manor or on its grounds for weeks. Besides that trip to the circus, I haven't gone anywhere, so I wouldn't be recognized as a Wayne.

Just for all of my hard work to blow up in my face.

It's Dad's fault.

He just couldn't leave my things alone. Ever since he saw that blueprint for the portal, he's gotten curious. I know it's different, different than the Fentons or commercial blueprints. It has to be. Working with ectoplasm is different; usual methods don't always work, and when they do, it's not very well. It took the Fentons a lot of trial and error to get where they've gotten, and I commend them, I do, but for me, it's different. There's just something about it that clicks. I can look at a problem and fix it almost instantly.

While I was working on the portals pump, both Dad-man and Tim’s bothersome pleas to look at my designs won out. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I've designed a lot of things, not just weapons, that run on ectoplasm. For some reason, they thought that my stuff could be “ revolutionary” and “ part of the next step to achieving clean energy.” The next thing I knew, they were dragging me out of the lab with my designs on a USB and taking me to Wayne Enterprises to talk with Lucius Fox.

They had me talking about specifics for hours. Going over different units of measurement, conversions, radioactivity, and cost to produce, amongst other things. Ultimately, I walked out of the building with a contract for a partnership with Wayne Enterprise and Drake Industries.

Under a pseudonym.

Gotta prove I didn’t get the partnership through nepotism. I DO NOT want to be a nepo-baby, thank you very much.

Dad, Tim, and I, along with Lucius, are walking out when the paparazzi start flashing their cameras, shouting “ Mr. Wayne” and “ Brucie.” I stagger at the onslaught of lights and get dragged into Lucious’ car by Tim. We can hear the shout, “ Mr. Wayne! Gotham Gazette, who is that boy? Is Gotham gaining another Wayne?!” through the door.

Lucius puts his hand on Dad’s shoulder and leads him to the car, saying “ no comment” to anyone in his way. Dad slides into the back with us while Lucius gets in the front and drives us away.

“ There goes my anonymity,” I groan.

“ It’s not all bad,” Tim says, trying to smile, but it’s more of a grimus.

“ Maybe for now, but not once Mother and Grandfather find out,” I say.

“ They’re not on good terms last I heard,” says Dad.

“ Yeah, that means I’m going to be the cause of their reconciliation when they inevitably team up to either grab me or off me,” I gripe.

“I'm sorry,” Dad says, his eyes shining sincerely, “ I hadn’t thought they would notice.”

I fold my arms, “ I thought it would take them at least more than a glance for them to notice that I wasn't Damian. I mean both of you,” I gesture to Tim, “ and Jason thought I was Dami when we first met, and you see him more than the press does.”

Dad gives him an amused look.

“ If I may,” Lucius interrupts, “While Physically the resemblance is striking, your attire is not. I don't think Damian would be caught dead with a grease stain on his clothes,” pointing out the various ones that somehow appeared during our lab visit.

“ I guess you’ve got a point,” I admit, sighing, “ I’d just rather be introduced on my own terms. Not through blurry photos. How do you all deal with this?”

“ I was born into it, but things elevated after the shooting,” Dad says, reminiscing, “ Dick’s never been fond of it, but he’s always been an actor.”

“ He’s really good at it,” Tim cuts in.

“ Jason always hated it, but he tries his best,” Dad says.

“ And you?” I ask Tim.

“ I’ve always been around it, like B,” Tim shrugs, “ I’m used to it. Steph got introduced when she dated me. Don’t ask. She’s just doing what she can to cause chaos.” I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

“ It was an adjustment for Cass and Damian, having grown up with the league,” Dad says, not so subtly giving me a look over, “ they’ve got a limit to how much they can take. Which is okay; incidents happen, and we deal with them.”

“ Is there anything I should make sure not to do?” I ask.

“ Now thats a loaded question,” Tim remarks.

“ You’ll be given media training before any public appearances,” Dad says.

“ Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” I say, “ I’ve already had it. A few times, actually.”

“ Why?” Tim asks, eyebrow raised.

“ The first time was because of the Fentons. They’ve always been a bit eccentric. Jazz, their daughter, and I always ended up giving their apologies,” I try to explain.

“ Apologies?” Lucius asks.

“ They’re ghost hunters,” I say for clarification, “ not just scientists. They’re just not very good ones. Whenever something or someone didn’t meet their expectations, they would assume a ghost was behind it. Either they were possessed or a ghost themselves. They could only attack so many people before it became a problem.”

“So many? Danny, you know people aren’t supposed to be attacked, right?” Tim asks.

“ Not unprovoked,” I say, wondering why he would ask after all, ‘Why would I fight someone without just cause? Or at least give them a warring?’

I hear Dad-Man mutter, ‘Talia's influence,’ though I'm not really sure what he's talking about.

“ They also have a bit of a driving problem,” I say, continuing the conversation.

“ How bad?” Dad asks, sounding defeated.

“ Their movements are part of Amity Parks weather reports. If their GAV, the Ghost Assault Vehicle, was on the road or planned to be, the public needs ample warning,” I explain.

“ Was it just used for ghost hunting or–” Tim asks.

“ It’s their everyday vehicle,” I say, “ unfortunately. Anyway, Jazz and I kept messing up our apologies, so she enrolled us in an online media training course.”

“ Is that all?” Dad asks, “Because regular media training and ones meant for celebrities are very different.”

“ I also got some once I became friends with Sam; she’s the Mansons' daughter,” I tell them.

“ The toothpick people?” Dad asks.]

“ Yep. She doesn’t get bothered often, but once she started dragging me to Gallas, her parents insisted that I knew how to “ act right.”” I say, using air quotes. “ Before I went anywhere with them, they always gave us a refresher.”

“ Is that it?” Tim asks, curious.

“ Well, the fruitloop made me do some, too,” I say, thinking out loud.

“ Fruitloop?” Dad-Man asks.

“ Vlad Masters owns Dalv Co., a shady businessman and former Mayor. He was friends with the Fentons during college. He got in an accident, so he can’t have any kids. So he decided to make a Fenton kid his heir. It was supposed to be Jazz, but for some reason, he liked me.” I mutter, “ I don’t think anyone ever told him I was a foster, now that I think about it.” I shrug it off, saying, “So I got landed with the position. This was all part of his plan to get Maddie to leave Jack and take me with her. Im not sure where Jazz would fit into this plan, but anyway, he talked the Fentons into letting him give me media training said it would be good to know in the future.”

“That's…” Tim says.

“ I call him Fruitloop for a reason,” I deadpan, “ he’s not a good guy.”

“ He didn’t… do anything he wasn’t supposed to?” Father asks, his eyes sharpening into DaddyBats™ mode.

I fidget in my seat and say formally, “ I would prefer not to speak of it,” hoping my tone would show how serious I am about the matter.

I watch Father and Tim make eye contact for a moment until Father looks back at me and says, “ Okay,” dropping the topic.

“ So, is there anything you would prefer I don’t speak of to or around the press?” I ask, uncomfortable.

“Nothing besides asking you to be vague or not to answer questions about where you have been these past few years or your mother's side of the family,” Father says.

“ Is that all?” I ask.

“ Besides the usual, yes,” says Tim, probably referencing nighttime activities.

“ I can do that,” I say.

“ Do you still want to go out for lunch? Or do you want to bring something home?” Father, going back into Dad mode, asks.

“ Could we get batburger?” Tim asks.

“ Danny?” Dad asks.

“ Could we get muffins? Blueberry?” I ask.

“ There’s a Panera a few blocks down,” says Lucius.

“ Panara it is then,” says Dad, “ to go or inside?”

“ Can we take it home?” I ask, unconsciously chewing on my lip.

“ Sure,” says Dad.

We get our food, and Lucios takes us back to the manor. Before I get out, I quickly say “ Thank you” to Lucius and follow Tim in.

I look at my muffins and then the stairs, “ I take it Gramps won't let me eat this upstairs?” I ask.

Dad snorts, “Not a chance.”

I stuff a muffin in my mouth and pass the rest to Tim, “ could you put these in the kitchen?”

Tim just shrugs and takes the food. I go up a few stairs when Dad’s voice stops me, saying, “ I'm here when you're ready to talk.”

“ I'll keep that in mind,” I tell him, moving stiffly to my room.

I faceplant into my bed and groan, “Stupid, stupid, stupid. Way to mess it up, Al Ghul.” This day has been exhausting. Being held up in the labs all day brought back many memories, some good, mostly bad. Being in the cave is one thing, but in an actual lab space, around other people, showing off my blueprints. It reminded me too much of Fenton Works. I feel around for my phone, unsure of my next move. In the end, I pick it up and select my first contact, my emergency contact. It rings and rings until, “ Danny?”

“ Hey, Jazz,” I say, whispering.

“ Oh my god, it’s been weeks! You never called. How are you?” She rushes out in one breath.

“ It’s been an adjustment,” I say. “ There’s a lot more people around.”

“ What do you mean?” Jazz asks.

“ It seems my Father has a bleeding heart. It’s become a bit of a running joke. He adopts anyone he sees in need,” I say, “ bringing me to one full brother, 3 adopted ones, and three sisters.”

“ Wow, that’s a lot,” Jazz says, sounding slightly hurt.

“ At least you’ll have some more girls to talk about things with now,” I say.

“ What do you mean?” Jazz asks.

“ The two new sisters? With you, that makes three,” I say, confused. Was I not clear enough? “ You feeling okay?”

“ Oh, yeah, sorry my mind slipped away from me,” Jazz says, a little choked up, “that’ll be nice. At least they’ll understand when I talk about Infuriating little brothers.”

“ Who me?” I ask jokingly.

“ Who else,” she says with a laugh.

“ How’s Jack and Maddie?” I ask, changing the subject.

“ About the same,” she huffs, “ they caused a scene once they went down to the lab, though.”

“ Yeah, about that–” Jazz cuts me off.

“ What were you thinking? Deleting everything, shutting them out. They’ve convinced themselves ghosts did it, some kind of revenge plot. They won’t let me out of the house without a spector-deflector.”

I take a moment to choose my words before saying, “Their research is unethical. I couldn't let them keep that information, not if there was a chance it could be used to get someone else.”

“ I…understand that,” Jazz says hesitantly. “ It's just; they're worse. It's almost like they just opened the portal again. I've had to drag both of them out of the lab. Nightly. Not to mention the revived paranoia. “

“ I’m sorry,” I say, not meaning to add any stress to her.

“It's just, what am I supposed to do? Ghost X still shows up–”

“ Skulker,” I interrupt, reminding her again.

“ Whatever it's called, what am I supposed to do?” Jazz asks.

“ Suck him up in a thermos,” I say, emphasizing the pronoun.

“ Yeah, but after that? I can't just leave it in there.”

“ I may have tempered with the bio lock before I left,” I admit, not wanting to argue with her again.

“ Yeah, I know that. You locked us out of the system,” she says.

“ No, I locked them out of the system. Not you,” I correct.

“ Why would you do that? What did they find out?” Jazz asks. “ Mom and Dad really want back in.” Too bad, so sad

“ I trust you’d keep them out. I trust you, Jazz. I know we don't agree on everything, but I know when it comes down to it, you’d do the right thing,” I say, hoping my words will remain true.

Jazz takes a deep breath, “Not that it's not good to hear from you. Did you call for a reason?”

“ Yeah,” I say, swallowing down any remaining doubts, “ I might have made a mistake.”

“Mistake?” Jazz asks, worried, “You're not in any danger, are you?”

“ Not that kind of mistake. I was out with my dad, one of my brothers, and an associate of theirs,” I say, “ pictures were taken.”

“ Okay? I’m not getting it, what’s wrong?” Jazz asks confused.

“ They’re kind of famous?” I admit.

“ Is that a question or a statement?”

“ A statement.”

“ Danny, who are you exactly?” Jazz asks, more like demands.

“ Danyal. Danyal Al Ghul Wayne,” admitting it out loud for the first time. The line goes quiet.

“ Did they see your face?” She asks monotone.

“ I don’t think so, but–” I’m cut off.

“ You’re not sure.”

“ Yeah,” I say, agreeing, “ But on the bright side, the pictures should be pretty blurry. I didn't exactly stand still for them.”

“ Mom and Dad probably won’t notice, but Vlad–” This time I cut her off.

“ He knows what to look for.”

“ Have you told Sam and Tucker?” Jazz asks.

“ Not yet,” I admit, “though everyone is going to find out sooner rather than later. I have my first “ official” public appearance in a little more than a week. There's this Gala in Metropolis. Dad is taking all of us. I just wanted you to know in advance before everyone goes crazy.”

A boom goes off on Jazz’s side, causing her to say, “ I've got to go, but thank you for telling me.”

“ Of course.”

“ Be safe, little brother; love you.”

“ Love you too,” I say, hanging up the phone.

Danny: um

Danny: Ya might wanna pay attention to the news this upcoming week

Sam:????

Tucker???

Tucker: what does that mean?

Tucker: Danny?

Tucker: DANNY?!?!

Chapter 15: Welcome to Metropolis

Chapter Text

The stars are dimmer in Metropolis. It's better than Gotham, for sure, but they have nothing on Amity Park or the beautiful sky above Nana Pabart.

It's strange; looking at the night sky, the stars slightly shifted. I can’t get enough of it. Of the constellations, the satellites, the– I trip.

“ Be more observant, Danyal,” Damian chastises, having just been stepped on.

“ Sorry,” I say, eyes coming back down to earth. I move next to Damian as we follow the rest of the family down the street. I ask, “Who are we going to meet again?”

“ The Kents, Danyal,” Damian huffs.

“ Okay, but who are they?”I ask.

“ What do you mean?” Jason asks.

“ Like, are they acquaintances, family friends?” I ask, listing the possibilities on my fingers, “ Should I be expecting Dad to be, ya know, Dad, Brucie, or Father? What am I walking into?”

“What's the difference between Dad and Father?” Dick asks, confused.

“ Dad is normal him. Grunts for acknowledgments but still uses words. Shows genuine emotion. While Father is only grunts and discrete sassy criticism. All orders, no fun, runs the flying furry brigade,” I explain.

Tim laughs, “Mostly Dad mode then. The Kents are a bit more than family friends, more like honorary extended family.”

“ They have kids,” Dad interjects, spooking us. “ The youngest, Jon, is Damians' best friend, around your age, while Connor is around Tims.”

“ Ooh, best friend, huh,” I say as we round a corner and approach some family-run diner,” did you tell him about me?”

Damian is pensive momentarily before realizing, “That had slipped my mind. That will be rectified.”

I bump him with my arm,” Don’t worry about it. My friends didn’t know about you until I left.”

“ Really?” Damian asks with his eyebrow raised.

“ yeah,” I say, scratching my cheek, “CPS and Mr. Lawrence showed up sooner than I expected. I was doing some last-minute packing while filling them in.”

Jason snorts right before a call of “ Damian” comes from up ahead. A guy rushes forward and gets his arms around me, saying, “ I haven’t seen you in weeks !” he pulls back to see me, “You're not Damian.”

Damian, with his arms crossed, says, “Obviously.”

I've got to admit I'm surprised by the mistake. Over the past few weeks, I've gained a little bit of weight, and my clothes fit better, but I still don't look anything like him. During my time with the Fentons, I lost the majority of my muscle mass, unable to continue training regularly. I smirk at the boy. “I'm his twin, Danny. It’s nice to meet you,” He just blinks at me. I add, “You give good hugs.”

“ I’m sorry,” he spits out, letting me go, “ I’m Jon.”

A taller boy comes over and asks Tim, “ B got another one?”

“ Not exactly, Danny, this is Connor, Connor Demon Brat the Second,” Tim replies.

I can’t help but look back and forth between the two. They feel different. Similar in some ways but not in others. One of the adults feels off, too, the man. But I can't tell why that is– “ Kids,” the lady says, interrupting my thought, “ come on,” ushering us in.

We get a table, but before I sit, Dad grabs me by the shoulder, “ Clark, Louis, this is my youngest Danny, Damians’ twin.”

“ I’m guessing the Gazzet didn't need that retraction,” says Clark, eyeing me. After the article came out, there was a lot of speculation. The picture was extremely blurry, as expected, and after “careful” deliberation, the public decided I was just Damian and that the reporter made a mistake. The Gazzet chose to put out a retraction, though there remained some speculation online.

“ It’s nice to meet you, Danny,” says Louis.

“It's nice to meet you, too,” I say.

Once seated and ordered, Jon asks, “ So Danny, where have you been all this time? Damian never mentioned you.”

“ Uh,” I glance around the table, unsure what to say, “around.”

“ Were you with your mom?” Connor asks.

“ No, it’s been a while since I last saw her,” I admit, hoping the food will come soon. “ What do you do for work?” I deflect to the adults.

“ We’re both reporters for the Daily Planet,” says Clark.

I nod in interest, but the discussion doesn’t go anywhere. The Kents and the rest of my family talk with familiarity and try to include me, but I’m not sure what to say.

The food arrives, saving me from the conversation.

‘ Family friends,’ I think, ‘ what does that even mean?’ How much do they know? The longer we sit here, the more obvious it becomes that this family isn’t normal.

Their souls feel weird.

All souls have a unique feeling to them. Not one is the same. If you're around someone long enough, you can recognize them by the feel of it. If any ghost can do it, I’m not sure, but it feels similar to my ghost sense.

Soul sensing.

From what I can tell, Louis is the only human- a baseline one at that. While the other three are related but not fully. Clark feels vaguely familiar, alien, but from where? I’ve traveled through non-human portions of the realms before. Interacted with all types of people in the busier social hubs and cities, but I still have trouble from time to time telling them all apart.

I can tell Jon is both Clark's and Louis’s. His human soul mixes and swirls into his otherness naturally.

Unlike Connor.

He feels like Clark, and not as in that’s my kid kind of way Jon does, but like Clark. Like he is him. But still not. There’s someone else mixed in, and it's not Louis. Connors’ soul feels like melted-down plastic, muddled together to make something, someone new. Deprived of time and growth. Molded to a certain image.

He reminds me of Dani.

“ You ready?” Cass asks, breaking me out of his thoughts. I look around to see everyone gathering their things, ready to leave.

“ Yeah, sorry,” I say, not seeing Cass’s worried look.

Our families pay and go separate ways.

I don't say anything on the way back to the hotel, which must have gained Dad's attention. He starts to slow down, letting the others pass him to sync up with me, “ We walk for another half a block, then Dad asks, “ What did you think of the Kents?”

“ They were nice.”

“ You didn’t speak much,” Dad says.

I put my hands in my pockets, “ Didn’t have much to say.”

We’re almost to the hotel when Dad remarks, “You stumbled when asked about Talia.”

“ I didn’t want to lie to them,” I admit, looking up at the stars, “ Tim said they were honorary family. I didn’t want to lie to people so important to everyone. It didn’t feel right.”

“ If someone else had asked?” Dad questions softly.

“ I’d deflect or say that I was off living with someone else,” I say, repeating the cover story.

We continue on in silence. Once we’re at the rooms, everyone gets ready for bed. Not wanting to take up so much room, we decided to get a suite and double up.

“Who's bunking with whom?” Dad asks, claiming his side of a bed.

“I refuse to sleep next to Richard,” says Damian. “ He attaches himself to others like a parasite.”

“I'll take replacement,” says Jason,

“ I call Cass,” says Steph.

“ I’ll bunk with Dick?” I say, but it sounds more like a question.

I’m pretty sure I heard Damian mutter ‘ thank god,’ but I’m not sure. We all hunker down for the night, needing the sleep.

All except me.

Dick fell asleep fast, but he didn’t settle, trying to find something to cuddle with. I sacrifice one of my pillows to the cuddle monster.

Hopefully, I don’t have to give up another one.

It’s louder than I would have expected. Traffic is steadily going, horns are blaring, and lights are flashing. ‘ How does anybody sleep in this city?’ I wonder, going intangible, sliding off the bed, giving up on sleeping.

I look out the window to see part of the sky. I look around the room, the rest peacefully sleeping, ‘ it's not like it will hurt anything,’ I think as I turn invisible and fly through a wall. I go up, away from the lights, and towards the stars. I go to the tallest building, sit on the ledge, and look at the stars.

I feel stars fill my eyes, and constellations create themselves on my face. I stay out there for hours, relaxing, at peace.

The sky is fading to twilight when a red and blue smudge swooshes by me, almost knocking me over. ‘ Ancients, talking about reckless flying. Can you get a ticket for that? Are FUIs a thing, like DUIs? I wonder if Dick would know?’ I think as the blur stops in mid-air and turns around. It stares at me before coming closer. ‘ Ah, f*ck,’ I curse recognizing the soul coming over.

“ Late night, Mr. Superman?” I ask.

“ Early morning,” Superman says, face pale.

“ Eww,” I say, making a face, “ I hate those. I’m just glad Dami doesn’t force me to get up with him at the crack of dawn anymore.”

Realization flashes across his face as he flies over and sits beside me, “ Bruce, tell you?”

“ Nah, No offense, Mr. Kent, but you're disguised sucks. A pair of glasses and clumsiness only get you so far,” I say nonchalantly.

“ I'll take that into consideration,” Clark says, sounding miffed.

Sensing his agitation, I tell him, “Your soul is the biggest giveaway.”

“ My soul?” Clark parrots.

“ Mhum.”

“ Do you mind expanding on that?”

“ It’s very.. pure? I think that's the right word. You have good intentions; you might fumble every now and then, but everyone does. You have regrets, but you don't let them eat you away,” unlike Dad’s, “ it's rare to see. Not to mention, there are not a lot of Kryptonians running around. Process of elimination.”

“ You can feel my soul?” Clark asks again.

“ Yes? Did Father not explain anything to you?” I frown, confused. Father and Tim have been looking through GIW records since I let them into their server. They wanted to ensure they had all the prevalent information for the league meeting, “ he was going to present everything at the next leading meeting? Two weeks from now.”

“ He called for the meeting,” Clark agrees, “ but he didn’t mention any specifics. Just that attendance is mandatory.”

I huff, “ I thought he would at least mention it to you and Wonder Woman.”

“Bruce isn't the type to freely give out information, but he means well. He likes to understand the full picture before bringing things to our attention,” Clark says.

“ I get that,” I say, running my hand through my hair, “ It’s just I would prefer a strong united front when talking about this.”

Clark looks at his watch, “ I’ve got the time.”

“ I thought you said you had an early morning at work?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Don't worry about it,” Clark says, “ what is it you're so worried about?”

“ What do you know about ghosts?”

“ I know they exist. Constantine has worked with a few of them, not much besides that.”

“ Well, at least that's something,” I mutter. “ To make a long matter short, the US government is on the verge of going to war with the afterlife.”

Clark sits there for a moment before asking, “You brought this information to Bruce?” I nod, and he asks, “What's your source?”

“ Myself. When I got out of the league, a couple picked me up. They’re scientists who somehow got it into their minds that punching a hole into reality would be a good idea. It didn't work at first, but once it did, ghosts started coming out. Some were just curious about what was happening with the living or wanted to see family, but others brought chaos. Not all of it intentional,” I say, defending my rouges, “ some of them couldn't help it–”

“ How couldn’t they help it? Clark asks, cutting me off.

“ Ghosts have obsessions; it’s what keeps us going, letting us exist–”

“ Us?” Clark asks, eyes going wide.

“ Would you let me finish?” Danny asks, arms crossed. Clark wisely doesn't say anything. “ Obsessions can be anything; they're not rational, and they can be hard for livings to understand. It can cause misunderstandings. I try to keep the peace, sending ghosts back to the infinite realms; that's the dimension's name, but Ghost Hunters didn't like it. Going after the others themselves, eventually, they created an organization called the GIW, the Ghost Investigation Ward, also known as the Guys In White. They don't want to keep the peace but to see what makes us tick. They introduced the Anti-Ecto acts, making anyone who creates or metabolizes ectoplasm legally considered nonsentient, stripping us of any and all rights. We are to be captured for experimentation and then exposed.”

“ How long have the acts been active?” Clark asks.

“ About 2 years. Fleas have more rights than we do. They tried to Nuke the Realms about a year ago. They've kidnapped and ended ghosts. It's been decided that enough is enough; the Realms are vying for war. I persuaded them to try diplomacy, but if they don't start seeing action soon…”

“ War,” Clark says grimly, “ What’s your place in this?”

“I was in an accident and became the human version of Scrotender's cat,” I explain, shifting to sit crisscrossed, “ vigilantism runs in the family. I couldn't not help. Got involved with some big things and tried to alert you guys, but no one showed up. So I handle things myself, but stopping government-sanctioned genocide remains outside my capabilities.”

“ Do you have a plan to stop it?” Clark asks.

“ Getting the league meeting set up was the first step, and if things go well, I'm hoping to get assistance with contacting Representatives and, from there, see how things play out,” I say.

“ And things don't work out for the better?” Clark asks.

My eyes flash green, “ My opponent's death would be swift. I see no reason for people to suffer for the policies they had no part in making.”

“ I hope it doesn't come to that,” Clark says, “ but the league will do our best to stop these actions from continuing.”

“ That's all I can hope for,” I say with a small smile, happy that at least that another person was on my side.

I tilt his head, thinking, staring at Clark intensely, “Can I ask you a possibly personal question?”

“ What is it?”

“ Conner is your clone, right? Is everything okay between the two of you?” I ask.

Clark says, “ He is. When I first learned about him, things were tense. He was made to replace me without my knowledge. I didn't react well at first, but I came around. Things are still tense sometimes, but I wouldn't know what to do without him. He's family. Why do you ask? “

“I was just worried about him. I could tell he was made, not born. People don't always react well to cloning,” I reply, relieved. If he had said anything different, Connor would have been coming home with me. No exceptions.

“ You sound like you’re talking from experience,” Clark says, eyes narrowing, “ were you?”

“ Yeah,” I say, inhaling sharply, “ This fruit loop decided he wanted to get with my foster “mother” and wanted me to go with him. I said no, of course, he didn't like that. A while passed, and this girl came out of nowhere; she looked like Dami. I thought that I missed something on celebrity news for a moment, but then she claimed to be my cousin from my “Father's” side,” I say, using air quotes, “she explained that she was Jack's cousin's kid. I knew it wasn't true, but I took her back with me anyway. She was one of many he made but the only girl. He messed up the process, all but her destabilized into goo, and told her he'd fix her if she got me to go with her to see him. He lied. We teamed up in the end and did our best to do what we could for her. She didn't want to stay with me, which is understandable, but we decided to keep in touch. We found out the fruit loop aged her up a bit too much. She and Dami are a day older,” Mother said I needed another day before I could come out. “ Dani, with an I, called me frantic one day. She was disabilizing again. I took her to a doctor in the realms. They said they could do nothing; she lasted another three days.”

When she destabilized, all that was left of her was her core. It had holes all in it, where her soul had been leaking out. It's kept safe at the keep.

Clark gets a weird look on his face. His emotions are running rampant, “ I'm sorry for your loss.”

“ Me too,” I say, tears escaping. I feel myself falling out of my obsession. I push myself off the edge of the building right as the sun breaks into the sky and float there just long enough to say, “Have a good day, Uncle Superman,” and then fly away.

Tucker: Really dude

Tucker: You’ve been a Wayne this whole time?!?!

Sam: I had to suffer through Brucie and his galas for YEARS

Sam: This isn’t fair. You didn’t have to go

Tucker: That's your problem with this? I talked about how hot Tim Drake-Wayne is for HOURS, and you never stopped me

Danny: I hadn’t met him at that point yet, so it wasn’t awkward

Sam: And now?

Danny: I’m gonna need the bleach

Danny: You coming to the Metropolis Gala?

Sam: Unfortunately

Sam: You?

Danny: I'll be there somewhere. Have fun finding me :)

Tucker: Why is the smiley face threatening?

Tucker: Danny what did you do?

Danny: Nothing you can prove

Chapter 16: Metropolis Gala

Chapter Text

I look around the room anxiously, watching my siblings and Dad finish preparing for the gala. Gramps and Dad insisted I needed a suit, but I’m not really comfortable with that. There was no way I’d go monkey suit shopping; it's just too revealing. Thankfully, we were able to come to a compromise. I’ll wear a stupid suit, but I’m not getting my own. It wasn’t a problem; plenty of them were lying around, but ultimately, they decided on an old one of Dami’s. It’s a dark navy blue, almost black, and the softest thing I’ve ever worn. I walk over to Dami with cufflinks in hand,” Do you mind?”

“ Give them,” Dami says and starts messing with my sleeve.

Once he’s done, I lean in close and whisper, “ Can I talk to you for a second,” Dami raises an eyebrow, “ in private?”

“ Is it necessary?” Dami whispers back, causing me to nod, “ Very well,” Dami huffs and drags me towards the door.

“ Woah, little D, baby D, where ya going?” Dick asks.

“ Just going to get some air,” I say.

Dami rolls his eyes, “ Danyal is nervous.”

“ No, I’m not!” I exclaim.

“ You are,” Cass says matter of factly, “ it’s okay to be.”

I ignore her and speak to the room, “ We’ll be back soon,” pushing Dami out the door.

“ Don’t mess up your suits,” Tim yells as the door shuts.

We bypass the elevators and start heading up the stairs, with me taking the lead until we reach the roof–which was unlocked– typical Metropolis. I find a semi-clean spot on the floor, plop down, and pat beside me, signaling Dami to join. A grimace passes over Damis’ face, but he sits down anyway, “ What is this about Danyal?”

“A couple of people who will be there tonight know me from before. From my time with the Fentons.”

“ Whom?”

“ My friend Sam's family, for one. She was there when I had my accident, her and Tucker.”

“ Are you close?” Dami asks.

“ Before the accident, not really, but we got closer after the fact. It was hard not to. They were the only ones who knew back in Amity, though Jazz eventually found out. Having someone who knew about what happened helped somewhat.”

“ What do you mean by somewhat?”

I snort, “ They somehow got it into their heads that the accident made me somekinda meta. I’ve tried to explain otherwise, but they never really listen. The idea of me being a ghost makes them uncomfortable. They don’t really have a positive view of us.”

“ You continue to be friends with people who think badly of your kind? Danyal, that's…”

“ Yeah, I know,” I sigh, “ but they aren’t bad people–”

“ Just willingly ignorant.”

“ They’re just used to the ghosts that invaded the town. The only times they’ve gone into the realms was because they’ve been kidnapped or some rogue shenanigans. If the anti-ecto acts get revoked–”

“ When they get revoked,” Dami corrects.

“ They’ll get to see a different side of us. I’m hoping they’ll change their minds.”

“ If they don’t?” Dami asks.

“ Then I’ll know they weren’t really my friends in the first place.”

“ But why wait? This isn’t a healthy relationship. It would be better to distance yourself from them now,” Dami says.

“ I have been, not intentionally, mind you. I’m just not ready. They’re the only ones I’ve really had the past few years. It’s hard to leave them; it doesn’t feel right,” I explain.

“ Even when they are negatively impacting your health?”

“ They aren’t–”

“ Your mental health is just as important as your physical. You're getting worked up just talking about them,” Dami says.

“ Can we drop this,” I ask, rubbing the bridge of my nose, “You're not wrong. I just need more time. I need you to accept that, Ahki.”

“ As long as you keep my words in mind,” Dami agrees reluctantly. A moment of silence passes between us, “ you said people, plural. Who else is going to be there?”

“ Okay, I already mentioned her, Sam. Her parents, they’ve never really liked me, thought I was a ‘bad influence,’” I say.

“ What made them think that?” Dami asks, curious.

“ A mixture of my association with the Fenton weirdness and my foreignness.”

“ Explain,” Dami demands.

“ I guess it started when we met. They had a back-to-school night. I think I was going into fifth grade, and Sam was assigned a seat near me. I was introducing myself, and her mom grabbed her away from me. Told her not to talk to me, said I should learn to speak real English or have the Fentons send me back to wherever they got me from.”

Damian digs his nails into his hand, “ Someone confronted them?”

“ No, not really. Jazz probably would have if she had been with me, but she had something else going on. Sam saw their disapproval of me and decided that made me friend material,” Danny switches to a mid-western accent, “ I learned to copy the accent pretty fast, so they let up, besides the occasional remark about how dark I'd get during the summer.”

Dami puts a hand on my shoulder and says in Arabic, “ I’m sorry. That never should have happened. Sometimes, Richard and I get similar remarks. We may all have our disagreements with one another, but our family protects each other. Let us know if someone says something like that again, and we’ll do something about it.”

“ Thanks, Ahki,” I say, slipping into our mother tongue before switching back to English. “ Besides them, I’m only worried about Vlad Masters. He’s a shady businessman the Fentons were friends with in college. The dude is a creep. He was obsessed with Maddie, to the point he created these elaborate plots to off Jack and marry her and take Jazz and me with them.”

Dami makes a face, “Were you around him often?”

“ More than I'd like. He swindled his way into being Mayor just to be closer to Maddie. They made him Jazz’s godfather and decided himself that meant he was mine, something about us being an extension of her.”

“ But you're not,” Dami says, confused, “ does he not know?”

“ I’m not sure, but I know him seeing me with Dad will piss him off. So I was thinking, if you're okay with it, to play into the whole, oops, wrong twin thing people have going on,” I say.

“ What do you intend to do?”

“Gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss,” I say, my eyes shining with mischief. “ If the fruitloop comes looking for me, I pretend to be you and say I don't exist. You’d just have to do the same thing.”

“How would that work, though? Father wanted this to be your introduction.”

“Vlad's always been a bit of a loner. He's obsessed with the Green Bay Packers and money, so as long as I'm not forced to interact with any shady businessman or big football fans, I should be fine,” I say confidently.

“ Well, Father tries to stay away from those types anyway, so this might work out,” Dami says, standing up, brushing off his pants, and offering his hand to me, “ but if it doesn't?”

I take his hand, “ I'll just have to live with the consequences.”

Our discussion was done, so we made our way back down to the hotel room. Dami starts pulling out his key card when the door opens, showing Jason there. He calls into the room, “They're back,” sounding annoyed.

“ Finally,” Steph says, groaning, “ you've been gone for ages.”

“It's only been 15 minutes,” says Tim.

“ Yeah, whatever. What you do get lost?” Steph asks rhetorically.

“ We need to get going,” says Bruce, “ we're going to be late.”

“ Come on,” says Dick, “ the sooner we get there, the sooner we can make excuses to leave.”

Dad practically pushes us out the door. We make our way out and to the venue. When we get there, lights are flashing, and people are yelling. Microphones are shoved in front of my face, and people bump into me, grabbing my shoulder. Doing anything to get my attention.

Yells of “Mr. Wayne” follow us as we enter the building.

“ Are they always this bad?” I ask; they weren't that bad last time.

“ No, but it's been a while since we made any official comments or appearances,” Tim says. “ The last time we were spotted was your trip to WE, and we never made any official statements then.”

“ They're hungry for a story,” Jason says, “ it's like that every time B. brings another one home. Right now, you're their shiny new toy.”

“ They'll calm down eventually,” Cass says.

“ I hope so. Those cameras are a health hazard. What if someone nearby had epilepsy? Those lights could trigger a seizure,” I say.

“ I've never thought of that,” says Steph, “ but you bring up a good point.”

“ I could talk to Clark about it next time I see him?” Bruce suggests.

“ If you don't mind, I'd rather ask him,” I say, “ just in case I have any questions about his answer.”

“ Ah, the baby's first interview, how cute,” Jason teases.

“ Oh, shut up,” I snark.

“ Before we split,” Bruce says, commanding attention, “ remember no fighting; if anybody has any trouble, get mine or your siblings' attention, and look out for Danny; it’s his first Gala.”

“ Gotcha,” Tim says, joining the rest of the room, the others following behind him.

“ Danyal,” Bruce calls.

“ Yes?”

“ If anyone causes any trouble, or you need to leave, let me know,” Bruce says, “ we'll leave.”

“ Okay,” I say, relieved. I wasn't really interested in staying the whole time. I quickly hug Dad, saying “ thank you,” and then go after Tim.

I’ve never been fond of galas. They are unnecessary, only good for the wealthy to flaunt their newest purchases in an unspoken competition. It's sad to say, I’ve gotten used to it. The older I get, the more it matters. I’m no longer there for elderly women to pinch my cheeks and say, “ he'll be quite a looker when he grows up, just like his Father.” Now I’ve got to be friendly, forced to sit through my peers' attempts at flirting on their parents' behalf, trying to get Wayne money or have an interest in the business. It's exhausting. I glance around the room to see Danyal making his rounds with Drake, not so subtly making his way to the Luther heir. Richard is surrounded by harlots, attempting to escape, Todd is with Roy Harper, and the girls are by the snack table. While Father and Oueen make smart-ass pleasantries.

Business as usual.

Or it would be if this man would stop following me. He's tall, around Todd’s height, with longish gray hair tied off at his neck, and dressed like the Addams Family butler. He's either wearing eyeliner, or his eye bags are worse than Drake's. He's too far away to tell. I try to lose him in the crowd, speaking with acquaintances, hoping he'll give up on whatever he wants.

No luck.

I can't lose him, not with my skills available as a civilian. I excuse myself from a conversation and head to the snack table. Putting myself in the open, the man casually walks over, “Tired of hiding Daniel?” He snarks.

“ I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid you have the wrong person,” I reply.

“ Do not try me tonight, Daniel. I have had enough of your ‘ teenage rebellion.’ It's time you return to Madeline,” the man, who I assume is Vlad Masters, says.

“I am not familiar with whom you're speaking of,” I say, turning away from Masters, “ have a good evening.”

Masters grabs my arm, digging nails into me, “Enough of this foolishness.”

“Let go,” I demand, “before I have my father get you arrested for assault.”

Masters laughs, “Very funny little badger. Jack would never–”

“ Bruce Wayne,” I interrupt, “ my father is Bruce Wayne. As I've told you, sir, you have the wrong person.”

“ Mr. Foleys’ work may have fooled my office, but it didn't fool me. You are pure, Madeline,” Masters says lowly, “ Ms. Manson chose well. I will admit, the lawyer was convincing.”

“Lawrence?” I ask, wanting clarification.

“ Yes, such a delightful mind,” Masters says.

“ What did you do?” I demand.

Master's eyes flash red, “ you really have to ask? You should know better than to send in someone without protection, Daniel. Another thing to add to your training, my little Apprentice.”

‘Ah, so that's why he called you a fruit loop. His accuracy is astounding,’ I think, then say, “That explains nothing.”

“ Must you be so dense, Daniel,” Masters glowers, “ overshadowing, no one looks twice at a lawyer looking over their papers. It only took a few minutes to get the gist of the situation. It was smart to use Wayne; his DNA is readily accessible–”

“Because of paternity claims,” I finish, knowing that part is true. Father keeps his DNA on file in case of any more surprises; besides the twins, there haven't been any.

“ He did thorough work, going as far as to make a fake contact for Wayne,” Masters looks around the room, and my eyes follow. People are heading towards the dining area, “ I presume you've been with Samantha?”

“ For the last time, I'm not Dan-”

Masters interrupts, “Return to the Mansons for now, little badger, but don't forget. You'll be returning with me,” letting me go.

“ I am going nowhere with you,” I say through my teeth.

“ You don't have a say. The Mansons have no reason to refute me. I'm your godfather, outside Madeline, my word goes,” Masters walks away, leaving me alone. I walk around until I see Danyal speaking with a grumpy-looking girl in a ridiculous pink frilly dress.

I catch Danyal’s eye as I walk over, his eyes lighting up when he sees me, “ Dami, come meet my friend. Damian, this is Sam, Sam, my twin Damien.”

Manson's eyes go up and down me; she asks Danyal, “Are you sure he's your twin?”

“ Yes,” Danyal says, sounding offended, “ why would you even ask that?”

“ You look way too similar. You said you weren't identical,” Manson says.

We groan in unison. “ Everyone keeps saying that when they're not looking at our eyes, there is still occasional confusion,” I complain.

Manson makes a face, “ sounds annoying.”

“Like you wouldn't believe,” Danyal agrees.

“You must tell me, what did Danyal get up to in Amity Park?” I ask. Perfect opportunity to gain blackmail.

Manson snorts,” Not much, really; Amity is pretty small. There's not much to do.”

Opportunity wasted. We talk for a while, Danyal trying his best to get me to see the best side of Manson. While I like being proactive, their stories show she's incapable of stopping, even when there's destruction. An example was when they had a food war over meat versus what Danyal said was grass. Deciding which one would be better to feed the school. I’m all for vegetarianism to preserve the animals, but such extremism isn't necessary. I find her to be stubborn and unable to take criticism. I don’t like her.

“ Sammy-kins,” A shrill voice calls out. We turned to see Pamela Manson. “Get away from them. You know better than to distract the help.”

“ Excuse you–” I start, outraged.

“ What's your name? Who's your employer?” Mrs. Manson demands, “ I'll have you fired, skimping off your work, harassing my little girl.”

“ Really, Mrs. Manson?” Danyal asks arms crossed, sounding deliberately Midwestern, “ You've known me for years. Do you really have to ask?”

Mrs. Manson's head snaps up, “ So, they left the riff-raff in now? How'd you get in, Daniel? I know my Sammy didn't bring you.”

“ No. Our Father did,” I say, “ who will be happy to know about your opinions of my brother and thyself.”

“Brother?” Mrs. Manson co*cks her eyebrow in disbelief.

“ I didn't tell you?” Manson asks in false innocence, “Part of Danny's memories came back, and he was able to go back home. He was just telling me how happy Mr. Wayne was to have him home.”

“ Wayne,” Mrs. Manson mutters, looking back and forth between the twins.

“ Yes, meet my twin–”

“ Older twin,” I interject.

Danyal rolls his eyes, “ older twin brother Damian Wayne.”

“ You're a Wayne? you?” Mrs. Manson says in a mix of horror and disbelief.

“ Yes,” Danyal says, stressing his accent, “ and Damian and I will tell Baba about this conversation. Have a good evening, Sam, and get home safe, Mrs. Manson.” He drags me towards our family's table.

“ Baba?” I ask.

Danyal shrugs,” Just trying it out. I heard Dick call him Tati the other day, so I thought he might be okay with Baba. Have you ever called him that?”

“ No. Father is Father. There's no reason to call him otherwise.”

“It just seems so formal. I get it when working but in private? It feels weird,” Danyal admits.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“ It makes me think of the league and Mother, how we had to address others. It was stifling,” Danyal says.

“ So you're adding Baba to your list of names?”

“ Maybe. Father is for serious things or night stuff. Dad is for regular things, either as himself or Brucie,” Danyal says.

“So, Baba is for?” I ask.

“ Private things, around the manor, or personal matters.”

“ Like messing with the Mansons?” I ask.

“ Exactly.”

“ How,” I start hesitantly, “Do you think Father would feel if I called him Baba?”

Danyal smiles, “ I think he'd be happy.”

“I will consider it.”

Once seated at our assigned table, Father asks, “How's the night been so far?”

“ The Mansons need to be added to our banned list,” I say.

“ Explain,” Father says, looking at us, causing me to prattle on. Pamela Manson should be glad this gala was held in Metropolis, or she'd have some very angry birds after her.

“ Was there anything else?” Dick asks.

My eyes flicker to Danyal, “Not at this time.”

We eat in relative silence, enjoying the relative peace before being thrown back to the wolves. I finished first. I scan the room, seeing some acquaintances he has not spoken with. I internally groan, deciding now or never. “ Remember,” I tell my kids,” we don't have to stay the whole time. When you're ready to leave, let me know,” then I put on my Brucie smile and rejoin the fray. Women cling to me as their husbands try to get donations. It's exhausting.

“Brucie, what do you think?” Mrs, what's her name asks, batting her eyelashes.

What were we talking about again? “ I'm sorry, dear. Who are you again?”

“ Elizabeth.”

“ And we met…” I trail off, unable to place her.

“Vegas. 5 years ago. We shared a bottle of Chardonnay,” Elizabeth says.

“Oh, that's nice,” I say, “ why was I there?”

“ Oh, bless your heart,” Elizabeth says under her breath, but I still catch it, “it doesn't matter. We had a good time either way,” she pushes her chest onto his arm.

I move away from her, “That's great! I'm glad we had fun! I'll see you later, yes,” winking at her and stumbling away. Then, get run into.

“ Oh no, are you okay, Mr. Wayne?” says a ‘frantic’ Clark Kent.

“ I'm great, Clarkie!” I stumble a couple steps, walking away.

“Are you sure, Mr Wayne? Why don't we go get you some air?” Clark asks, leading me out of the ballroom. Once we get to a secluded area, my steps even out.

“ How is Danny handling the gala?” Clark asks.

“ He shadowed him for the first half. Neither of them had any complaints,” I say, happy things are going well. “ Have you had a chance to speak with him?”

“Funny you should ask that; we had a long discussion this morning,” Clark says.

“ What? When was this?” I ask, confused. I’ve been in the same room as him almost all day.

“ Around 5:30 or so. He was on the roof of a skyscraper. He scared the crap out of me,” Clark admits. “ I didn't notice him at first.”

“ What building?” I ask.

“ One near the center of the city, it was 40 stories tall Bruce.”

“ I never heard him leave,” I sigh, rubbing my brow, “ did you bring him back?”

“ He had that part covered his own self. He said some concerning things to me.”

“ About the meeting?” I guess.

“ Yes, which we will be discussing, but some other things too. Did you know he can feel souls? He knew who I was as soon as he saw me. I thought one of you told him until he corrected me. He could tell Connor is a clone,” Clark says.

‘ That could be a problem. Is this an ability only Danny has, or one all ghosts do? Are we compromised?’ I think, but say, “ I was unaware.”

“Do you know how he could tell about Connor?” Clark asks. I shake my head no, “ He told me he had one too. That they were a girl.”

There are many concerning things with that statement, “Who?” I demand.

“ I did some research, and it sounds like Vladimir Masters, owner, and CEO of Dalv Co. and friends with his former Foster parents. He sounds like a real piece of work B. The kid only told me because he was worried about Connor.”

“Worried how?” I ask, needing clarification.

“ Danny's clone, he said she died. She destabilized. I guess he wanted to ensure the same thing didn't happen to him. He said that when Vlad made her, she was aged up. Made her as old as Damian,” Clark says, “ He really loved her, Bruce.”

“Does he know the implications, how she was a girl?” I ask softly.

We both know the only way for a female clone to come from a male subject is for reproductive DNA to be introduced in the process, “ I'm not sure, but he didn't say. He didn't sound like he wanted to talk about it.”

“What else did he–” I get cut off.

“ Wait a second,” Clark holds up his hand, eyes wide, “ where are the twins?”

“ The ballroom, why? I ask.

“ You've got to get there. Now,” Clark says

“ Let me go, you fruit loop,” I snarl.

“ Stop this; you're making a scene,” Vlad admonishes, holding my shoulder.

“ He's doing nothing of the sort. Release my brother,” Dami demands.

“ Very clever, Daniel, but your duplicates still need some work. You're putting too much ectoplasm into its eyes,” Vlad comments.

“ He's not a duplicate!” I exclaim, “How many times do we have to tell you. Let go.”

“ Release him,” Dami demands again, grabbing Vlad's arm, but he tightens his grip.

“ Release him,” Vlad says, “ you've been caught, little badger. You don't need it anymore.”

My eyes flash green, “ He's my brother. My twin–”

Vlad elbows Dami in the neck, pushing him off, and grabs my chin, staring into his eyes, “ Do not lie to me, little badger, you aren't a Wayne. No matter what you've led them to believe. My Madeline wouldn't cheat.”

“ That bitch is not my mother,” I say.

“ Don't talk about your mother that way,” Vlad says, raising his hand and taking a swing–.

“ What are you doing to my children,” Father thunders, holding back the man’s arm, inches away from my face. “Damian, are you okay, son?” Bruce asks.

“ Yes, Father,” Dami says, rubbing at his neck.

“ Let Danyal go,” Father orders.

“ I don't know what this boy has led you to believe, but he isn't your son. He's my Madeline's,” Vlad says, moving his hand down to his neck, tightening his grip.

“ Mrs. Fenton was his foster placement,” Dami argues.

Vlad tightens his grip, “Lies, he looks exactly like that fool of hers’ Jack, do not lie to me.”

“We– look nothing alike,” I say, voice hoarse, “ we sound nothing alike.”

“ You're putting that accent on,” Vlad accuses.

“ We're from Pakistan,” Dami says monotone.

Vlad's grip loosens as his world, obsession, comes down around him. His eyes go red as his nails darken, becoming claws. He pushes me against the wall and strokes my face, sounding crazy, “You're Madelines’. You're part of her. You're mine.”

I’m stuck, unable to move, my senses freezing me in place. Before me is an angry, feral, obsession-crazed adult ghost. I take in the red eyes and claws on my cheek and want to back away. To phase through him, take my family, and run, but I’m shaking. My core is vibrating in my chest. I open my mouth to protest. A sharp, involuntary whine escapes, stopping Vlad in his place.

Stopping Father and Ahki in their place.

My eyes start to water, upset with the situation, ‘ get a hold of yourself,’ I think. Upset that I gave into my instincts, ‘ what kind of protector cries “ scary, help me,” in front of an enemy? A sh*tty one.’

Father grabs Vlad, pulling him away, while Dami puts me in a protective hold. Father says quietly, “ Clark, Connor, find my kids. Tell them we're leaving immediately. I've got the twins. Get to the car. They have 10 minutes.” Then says loudly, menacingly to Vlad, “If I ever see you near my kids again, I'll take your ability to have yours.” Father takes hold of my shoulder and ushers us out. I’m on edge the whole way out, slightly relaxing once in the rental car.

Dami has me going through breathing techniques when the others get to the car. The Waynes and Steph side-eye each other as they enter. “ What's wrong?” Cass asks, taking in the youngests.

“ We heard whispers that something was going on, that you were threatening someone,” Tim says to Father.

From the driver seat, Father looks at his kids through the rearview mirror, “a man was acting inappropriately with the twins. I removed him.”

“When you say inappropriately…” Dick trails off.

“ He cornered them, and had Danny pushed up against the wall, and threatened them both,” Father says.

“ Who?” Cass asks.

“ Vlad masters, owner and CEO of Dalv Co.,” Father says.

Tim's eyes widen, “ the creepy guy who has the hots for your Foster mother?”

“ Yes,” I say.

“ He knows of Danyal’s abilities; he critiqued them. He was under the impression I was a botched duplicate. Called him little apprentice,” Dami says, “ said he wanted to teach him. His eyes flash red.”

“ So what is he a ghost?” Jason asks.

“ I can't talk about it,” I say, shifting in his seat.

“ Why?” Steph asks.

“ We have a pact,” I explain,” I don't say anything about him. He doesn't say anything about me.”

“ You wouldn't be breaking it,” Dami points out, “ we know he's not a baseline human. We're just asking for clarification.”

My eyes flicker over my siblings, unsure, “You can't tell anyone or put this in the system. He'll know. He always does.”

“We won't betray your trust,” Dami says.

“ He had this accident with the Fentons Proto Portal. When they were in college, they were either working on their master's degree or their Ph.D., I don't remember which. He was 27 and trying to impress Maddie, and because of Jack's carelessness, the prototype blew up in his face. The blast sent him to the hospital, the radiation causing cysts and acne. Because of the radiation, he got stuck there for a while. They didn't have the technology to help him, so the radiation set in. Mutating his DNA, awakening his latent Meta gene. The ghosts call him a halfa, but only because they don't have a term for someone like him. He got rich through overshadowing others.”

“ Danyal had warned me of him prior to us leaving. He saw me earlier in the evening and thought I was him. Masters admitted to overshadowing Lawrence and deleting his messages to you,” Dami adds.

“ Well, that answers one question,” Tim says, “ but Danny, why are you afraid of letting people know?”

“ He's one of my rogues, and we agreed to help keep the peace. Neither of us wanted the Fentons to know. I'm not worried about him telling them, but the GIW as finding out I'm not Maddie's is a blow to his obsession.”

Father frowns, “ how so?”

“ His obsession has always been Maddie. To have her. He thought of Jazz and I as an extension of her. Not being her kid started a kind of factory reset,” I explain.

“ So, the glowing eyes and claws?” Dami asks.

“ Came out because of the shock. He wouldn't normally risk his identity, but his instincts got the better of him,” I say.

“ You made a sound,” Father says, “ it stopped him in his place. What was that?”

My face heats up, “ yeah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to–”

“What kind of sound was it?” Dick asks, cutting him off.

“ A whine, it didn't sound human,” Dami says. Then adds, “Not that there's anything wrong with that.”

“ It's a ghost thing–” I say but stop as a green sheet of paper appears. They all stare as it falls to the floor. I grumble, “Seriously?”

“Seriously?” Cass repeats, not sure what he means.

“ Sorry I wasn’t reacting to any of you, but Clockwork. The one who sent the paper,” Danny says.

“ Who's Clockwork?” asks Steph.

“ They’re a ghost. The personification of time. They’re known by a few different names, but they prefer Clockwork,” I say.

“ Why would they be sending a paper to us?” Tim asks.

“Uh,” I rub the back of my neck, “ he's my guardian, one of them anyway.”

“ Guardian?” Father asks.

“ Ghostly parent,” I say, unsure how to explain our dynamic.

“ Why would you need one when you have Father?” Dami asks.

“ Well, that's..” I trail off.

“ Why don’t we see what his ghost Daddy has to say,” Jason remarks, grabbing the paper.

Waynes and Stephanie,

The Council of Ancients, thank you for your intervention with Vladimir. Obsession craze ghosts can be difficult for spirits of any age to handle, let alone babies like Danyal. Two world spirits, once living and now dead, are referred to as a child or baby ghost if they join us prior to full mental development at age 25. Due to his halfa nature, Danyal is a special case, needing care and guidance from both worlds. As a budding ancient and king, Danyal’s care resides with us. We will do to the best of our ability to provide for him and be a symbol of safety. Danyal's whine was a call, asking for help from spirits and family nearby. Due to proximity and being blood, the call resonated with you, just as it resonated with us. While some of you share blood, we Ancients share soul. For you, he is a son and brother. For us, he's a son, grandchild, and nephew. All halfas symbolize balance, but none more so than Danyal. He has aspects of both of our species, including our stagnancy. For the sake of his future, our council awaits a solution that can benefit us all. We hope to hear from Danyal soon.

Danyals Guardians,

Clockwork and Pandora.

P.S. Danyal, remember to give our love to your Auntie Diana at the meeting.

Love you,

Peepaw and Aunty Dora.

“ Stagnant. When they say that, which one do they mean?” Tim asks.

“ Both,” I confess.

“ Surely someone would have noticed,” Dami says, “ it's been years since your accident.”

“ Shoe lifts and mimicry get you a long way,” I say.

“ Does that mean you're still 13, or do you only look it?” Jason asks.

“ Still 13. Forever and always.”

“Always,” Father echoes.

“ How could you be an ancient?” Tim asks, “You said they're supposed to be concepts?”

“ That's why most of them are neverborns, but some, like Pandora and myself, become representations. No one knows why,” I say.

“ So you're a ghost baby forever? How does that make sense? Why would you be king if you're unable to be an adult?” Steph asks.

“ The Realms are sentient, and they chose me. They won't allow anyone else to sit on the throne. I have a lot of things to learn before I take the crown officially, but–”

“The Realms already consider you, King,” Dami finishes.

“ Yes.”

“Any more surprise revelations?” Jason asks sarcastically.

“ I spoke to Clark during the gala,” Father says, “ he said he found Danny at the top of a skyscraper at 5:30 this morning.”

“What!” yells Dick.

I shrug, “ I couldn't sleep.”

“So you went to a skyscraper?” Tim asks.

“ Stargazing?” Dami asks.

“ Of course. It's been weeks since I've seen any,” I say.

“ You told him a fruit loop cloned you. You called Masters that before. Danny, was he the one who did it?” Dad asks.

I pointedly don't look at anyone,” It's in the past. That doesn't matter now.”

“ Oh, Danyal,” Dami says sadly, “ how many?”

“ Half a dozen,” I say tightly, “ all except one to destabilize immediately.”

“ Where's the surviving clone? Is he okay?” Dick asks.

“ She died. Almost a year ago,” I say.

“ I thought clones had to be the same sex as the original?” Jason says, confused.

“ They are except on occasions when reproductive DNA is used,” Tim says, jaw tight.

“ That bastard,” Jason growls out, eyes green.

“ It's okay,” I say, trying to calm down Jason.

“ It's most definitely not okay,” Dad argues.

“ I don't know how he got it,” I say. “ He's a creep; that's one thing Maddie and I would agree on. Every few months, he would try to go out and “woo” her into leaving Jack and take me with her. I stayed as far away from the guy as I could.”

“ But he's not staying away from you,” Dami says, “ in the ballroom, you asked him to leave us alone, but he only got worse. He looked at you as if you're a prize to be won.”

“Danny, has he done things to make you uncomfortable,” Dick asks.

“ Yes, but–”

“Do you feel safe around him?”

My core grumbles, “ no.”

“ Masters was practically flirting with him,” Dami says, “ he's a predator.”

“ He can’t go unpunished for this,” Cass says.

“ I don’t want to talk about this,” I say.

Dad is quiet for a moment before saying,“ We will drop it for now, but Danny, we'll have to discuss this. This isn't something we can leave alone.”

“ I know, please, but can we just go home?” I plead.

“ We were going to spend the afternoon with the kids tomorrow,” Dad says dumbly.

“ Please, Baba,” Dami says. “ We want to go home,” shutting down Baba and flabbergasting our siblings. Baba took us home, back to the Manor.

Chapter 17: Project Runway

Chapter Text

I come to with Tim roughly shaking my shoulder, saying, “ We're back.”

I sit up yawning, rubbing sleep for my eyes, and repeat,“ We’re back?”

Tim nods, “Take your stuff in with you.”

Damian tuts, “ Obviously, Drake,” dragging me out of the car.

Once everything is out, Dick goes to put the car away while Tim opens up the manor. Our footsteps quietly echo around us as we walk in. I go to hang up my jacket when Dami elbows me in the ribs, mouthing, “ 9 o’clock.” On the wall is a silently growing shadow. I slide off a shoe and co*ck my arm back, ready to–

“ Good heavens,” I hear the shadow mutter, disappearing with the hit of a light switch. Revealing Gramps in his plaid pajamas, holding a loaded rifle, “ Welcome home, Master Bruce, Young Masters and Misses.”

“ Damn Alfie,” Jason whistles lowly, “ what caliber is that?”

“ 7.5 Young Master Jason, make sure to add a dollar to the swear jar on your way up, sir,” Gramps says, putting the safety back on, then looks over to Dad. “ Forgive me; I did not expect your arrival.”

“ I’m sorry,” I say, sliding my shoe back on, “ It’s my fault–”

“ No, it is not. Fault lies with him,” Dami argues. He pulls me up the stairs, “We will see you all in the morning.”

“ May I ask wha–” Gramp's voice trails off as we get closer to the family wing.

I remove myself from his Damis' grip, “ I guess I’ll see you in the morning–”

“ No,” Dami says, grabbing me again and taking me to his room, “ we are not done yet.”

“ What?” I ask

“ I have questions, and you are going to answer them,” Dami says, shutting his door behind us. Dami climbs into his bed and leaves the cover down in invitation.

I climb in, huffing, “ I thought we agreed ages ago that ‘ Secret Confessional Storytime’ is for babies?”

“ Richard insisted it was good for ‘ bonding.’ That sharing stories is healthy,” Dami deflects.

I raise an eyebrow, “ Really?”

“ Shut up, Danyal, and lay down. You are letting the cold in,” Dami orders.

I lay down on his side and face my brother, “ now what?”

Dami says nothing for a moment before asking, “ Why did you not tell me?”

“ About my clone?” I ask.

“ That you aren’t aging,” Dami says.

“ Because it doesn’t matter?” I say, bewildered.

“ Of course, it matters. You are barely a teenager. You should not have to pretend otherwise,” Dami says.

“ What, and sixteen is so mature?” I ask rhetorically, rolling my eyes.

“ There is a big difference between us. Thirteen-year-olds don’t date or work. You have the maturity of a middle schooler,” Dami explains.

“ High schooler. I skipped a grade,” Danny says petulantly, “ but it doesn’t matter. As far as anyone else is concerned, I’m aging like I’m supposed to.”

“ You expect me to believe no one has noticed? While you are supposed to be going through puberty? Unlikely,” Dami argues.

I shrugged. “Shoe lifts and makeup go a long way. No one ever said anything.”

“ Your pediatrician?” Dami asks.

“ The Fentons didn’t bother with one. If Jazz or I had any problems over-the-counter medicine couldn’t fix, we’d go to a patient first or the ER,” I explain.

“ Your friends? Jasmine?”

“ If they noticed, they never said anything.”

“ What about when the Fentons took you clothes shopping?”

“ They were busy after the portal opened up,” I say, thinking back, “ they hadn’t had the time to take me.”

“ You have been wearing the same clothes? For three years?” Dami asks, sounding surprised.

“ Yes?” I answer, confused.

“ So your threadbare pants are not a fashion statement?” Dami asks.

“ They’re not that bad. Plus, they’re comfortable,” I defend.

“ We are going shopping. Tomorrow,” Dami says.

My eyes go wide, “ I’m fine, Ahki, I don’t need anything.”

“ No. We are going,” Dami says, “ you are not getting out of it.”

“ Fine, but I get to choose what I get,’ I say.

“ Of course,” Dami agrees.

Silence fills the room.

“ Ahki, do you think Baba is mad at me?” I ask.

Dami frowns, “ What would he be mad about?”

“ That I’m not aging. You both looked mad when Jason read that part of Clockworks letter,” I say weakly.

“ I was not mad. Neither was Baba or the others. We are worried. You are going to be around for a long time. We do not want to leave you. You are a kid,” Dami says, voice soft, “ You are always going to be. We want to be there for you when you need us or want us. Even when you do not. Regardless.”

I wipe tears out of my eyes, “ I won't be alone. I'll have the other Ancients, and who knows, maybe some of you too. You don't have to worry, Ahki. When the time comes, I'll be okay.”

“ That won't stop me from being worried,” Dami says.

“ I know,” I say, wrapping my brother in a hug, “ but you don't need to be.”

We stay like that for a few moments. Dami pulls back, asking, “Your clone, what can you tell me about her?”

“ What do you want to know?”

“ Whatever you are comfortable sharing,” Dami says.

“ She was cool. Vlad made her to replace me, but she wasn’t complete. She tried to kidnap me for him, thinking he would fix her if she did. Once she found out he lied, she changed sides. One of the Fentons' inventions was a temporary fix, but it didn’t last forever.”

“ What happened Danyal?” Dami asks.

“ Her soul was made wrong. Stitched together like a Frankenstein project. The stitches didn't last, making holes. Her soul slipped out. Released into the unknown. She's gone to rest.”

“ I’m sorry for your loss, Danyal,” Dami says.

“ Thanks,” I say. “ You would have loved her. She loved to explore, wanted to see everything.”

“ She sounds lovely,” Dami says. “ How old did he make her? When Luthor created Kent, he aged him up to a teenager.”

“ Your age,” I tell him.

“ Mine?” Dami asks, confused.

“ Vlad went off my ‘ birthdate.’ I obviously couldn’t tell the Fentons my real one, so I told them yours,” I explain.

“ A day difference doesn’t give you a lot of room for deniability,” Dami huffs.

“ Kind of the point,” I yawn, “ the league wouldn’t expect me to choose something so obvious. Though it doesn't matter now.”

Dami pulls the covers over our shoulders, “ go to sleep, little brother.”

“ Goodnight, Ahki,” I say, turning over and quickly drifting off to sleep.

“ Danyal, Danyal, get up. Pennyworth has finished breakfast,” Dami says, shaking my shoulder.

“ I’m up,” I reply grogally, “ what did he make?”

“ French toast,” Dami says, “ come on before Richard eats it all.”

I snort and slide out of bed, then take a short detour to my room, get ready for the day, and head to the kitchen. “ Good morning,” I chirp, sliding into my seat.

“ Good morning, Young Master,” Gramps says, putting food in front of me, “Your father and siblings took the liberty of explaining last night's events. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“ Thanks, Gramps,” I say.

“ We were wondering,” Dad says, “ does your clone–”

“ Dani, with an I, or Ellie. She could never decide which,” I interrupt.

“ Does Ellie have a grave? Somewhere to pay respects?” Dad finishes.

“ Uh, no. No, she doesn’t,” I say.

“ Would it be okay if we give her one?” Dad asks.

“ I’m not…” I trail off, unsure. Would she want to be surrounded by unknowns? A family she never met?

“ B gave me one, too, on the manor grounds. The headstone is still there,” Jason says, “ hers’ could go next to mine. We’ll be able to keep her company.”

“ Even if it is only in spirit,” Dick adds.

“ I think she would like that,” I swallow.

“ Do you have one?” Cass asks.

“ Have what?” I ask.

“ A grave,” Cass says, drawing everyone's attention.

“ Well,” I say, running the back of my neck, “ no, but it’s not like anyone could have given me one. My friends and Jazz were the only ones who knew, and they’re all in denial.”

“ What do you mean?” Tim asks.

“ They believe Danyal to be a Meta,” Dami explains.

“ Did you explain everything to them?” Jason asks.

“ Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they understood,” I say, trying to smile, “ but they might, one day.”

Dick frowns, “ but–”

“ Okay, Danyal,” Dami says, tone firm.

“ Would you like one too, Young Master?” Gramps asks.

“ But wouldn’t that be inappropriate? I only have one foot in the grave,” I say.

“ It's not,” Dad disagrees, “ you have the right to one.”

I take a couple of bites of food before asking, “Can I think about it?”

“ Of course,” Baba says, “ if you don't want one now, but you do later, we’ll get you one. All you ever have to do is ask.”

“ Thanks, Baba,” I say, going back to eating.

Jason clears his throat, “ in the letter, they mentioned saying ‘hi’ to an Aunty Diana. Did they mean Diana Prince?”

I look up from my food, “ Yeah, she is my Aunt through core adoption. I haven’t had the chance to meet her yet. Do you know her well? I know you work together sometimes, but I was never sure if you were close.”

Jason turns to Dad, eyes wide, “Do you know what this means?”

“ Jaylad–”

“ No one can take this away from me. Wonder Woman is officially our Aunt,” Jason says, radiating glee.

“ We’ve been calling her Aunty for years,” Dick says, laughing.

“ But this makes it official. It’s different!” Jason exclaims, making the others laugh at his antics.

“ Eat up, Young Master,” Gramps smirks, “ or you will never grow as strong as your Aunty.”

“ Father, Danyal requires new clothes,” Dami says, having finished his food.

Dad raises an eyebrow, “ what’s wrong with the ones he has now?”

“ They are old and thin,” Dami says.

“ I told you, my clothes are fine,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“ They are three years old and one wrong step away from ripping,” Dami says deadpan.

“ Anything else that doesn’t meet your standards?” I snark.

“ Your shoes,” Dami says immediately, “get rid of the shoe lifts. They are unnecessary.”

“ Shoe lifts?” Steph asks, stuffing her face.

“ How else was I supposed to pretend to be growing?” I ask, unintentionally souring the mood.

“ How much taller do they make you?” Jason asks.

“ Just a couple of inches. It helps that my shoes have a thick soles,” I say.

“ If you and Bruce don’t mind, I could take you. I don’t have anything going on today,” Dick says, looking at me.

“ It’s fine with me,” Dad says, agreeing.

“ I shall go with as well. Richard has an… acquired taste,” Dami says slowly as if testing the words.

“ Aw Dami, if you wanted to spend time, just the three of us, all you had to do was say so,” Dick says, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

“What’s everyone else doing today?” I ask.

“ Girls day,” Cass says, pointing to Steph.

“ I’m going to W.E.,” Tim says.

“ Out,” Jason says, not explaining.

“ What about you, B?” Tim asks.

“ I’ll be going over the presentation for the league meeting,” Dad says. “ Speaking of which, Danny, would you mind if I add some other things to our presentation?”

“ What did you have in mind?” I ask skeptically.

“ The fact that you are an unaging, child, immortal king would add to the others' sense of urgency. That stalling until you are no longer in need of counsel isn’t an option,” Father explains.

“ Stalling wouldn’t do anything,” I say, slightly confused what he’s going on about. “ My people want and deserve justice. One way or another, I will make sure they get it. I’d just prefer doing it diplomatically. Even if it was only me calling the shots, war wouldn’t be off the table, but there as a last resort. Something we are steadily approaching. Lydia isn’t the only ghost fed up with what's going on. Others will start acting out soon if they aren’t already if they don’t see some progress.”

Father clears his throat, “ I will make that clear in the presentation.”

“ Good,” I say, then asks Dick, “When do you think you’ll be ready to go?”

“ Hum, just give me a second to put on my shoes,” Dick says, getting up from the table.

“ We will meet you in the car,” Dami says. We put our dishes in the sink, go out, and get in the car.

“ So where’d you want to go?” Dick asks once he gets in.

“ Target? I ask.

“ Sure,” Dick says, starting down the driveway.

“ Wouldn’t you rather get something of better quality?” Dami asks, trying to persuade me.

“ It’s better than Walmart,” I say, “ and we're just getting everyday things. There's no reason to put a lot of money into stuff like that.”

Dami tries to protest, “ But–”

“ Look, Dami, where Danny gets his clothes from doesn't affect you, just like your clothes don't affect him,” Dick says, trying to mediate, “ you might be here for suggestions, but that doesn’t mean Danny has to take them.”

“ Whatever,” Dami says, crossing his arms.

Once we make it to the highway, Dick asks me, “ If you don't mind, can I get some clarification on something Damian said last night?”

“ Sure,” I say, “ what did you want to know?”

Dick says, “ Dami said Masters mentioned something about you apprenticing under him–”

I cut him off, “ he wanted me to. I never agreed.”

“ I just wanted to make sure you weren't forced into anything, is all,” Dick explains, “ I had a similar issue when I was Robin.”

“ You did?” I ask, surprised.

“ Yep,” Dick says, popping the P, “ Deathstroke thought I would make a good apprentice. He forced my hand by injecting nanobots into my team at the time, the Teen Titans. I was stuck working under him until they figured it out.”

“ I’m sorry that happened to all of you,” I tell him, “ He never went that far when threatening my friends, but he still went out of his way to mess with me.”

“ What did he do besides the cloning?” Dami asks.

“ He bugged the Fentons' house, mics, and cameras, occasional breaking and entering, and kidnapping that kind of thing. Occasionally, he’d grab one of the Fentons, too. One time, he forced Maddie and me into the woods filled with feral ghost animals, knowing I couldn’t out myself and that she’d be weaponless. Swooping in at the last moment, trying to be her Knight in shining armor,” I say casually.“ We’d fight. He’d call it ‘training’ and say I should be thankful for the lessons.”

“ Why not just kill him if he is so much trouble?” Dami asks.

“ Damian,” Dick calls in admonishment.

“ He’d probably come back as a full ghost, and I’d prefer not to deal with that. If he goes peacefully, maybe he’ll move on,” I explain, ignoring Dick.

“ Baby D,” Dick says, groaning.

“ What? It’s the truth,” I say.

“ Father is very strict about his no-killing policy,” Dami explains.

“ But he's got to have exceptions, right? Some people are better off facing justice in the afterlife than remaining amongst the living,” I say.

“ Bruce doesn't see it that way,” Dick says, turning into the Target parking lot.

“ As long as he understands if that clown Mother f*cker, gets anywhere near me, it's on-site. Mass murders aren't welcome in the realms, him included. He's got thousands of years on his prison sentence, and none of us are opposed to him starting early,” I say.

“ Prison sentence?” Dami asks.

“ He's going to the nightmare realm, sometimes called hell or Tartarus, whatever you wish to refer to it as,” I explain.

“ That's a comforting thought,” Dick mutters.

“ Does that mean Todd, Cain, and I are going to hell?” Dami asks.

“No,” I say rapidly, shaking my head, “ you and Cass did what you had to, and you learned from it and felt remorse. People like the Joker are only in it for the carnage. Jason is a special case because of the Lazarus pit, but overall, he still has a good, bright soul. He has nothing to worry about. Nobody at home does.”

“ Mother and Grandfather?” Dami asks.

“ Grandfather will be given punishment, but off the top of my head, I'm not sure about Mother,” I say.

“ Okay,” Dick says, turning off the car, “ enough death talk. It’s time to shop.”

“ Do you think they’ll have a Martian Manhunter sweatshirt?” I ask as we make our way in.

“ I’m not sure, but there is no hurt in looking,” Dick says, leading us to the clothes, “ were you wanting anything else in particular?”

“ A couple of T-shirts and some new jeans, if that's okay?” I ask.

Dick ruffles my hair, “Anything you want, Baby D.”

To Damians' horror, mine and Dicks fashion senses are pretty similar. Neither of us could stay away from the puns. Didn't matter if they were science, death, or hero-related. I had to get it. “ Danyal,” Dami groans as I look at another t-shirt, “ you need something other than that.”

“ What like jeans?” I ask, being deliberately obtuse.

“ A button-down or a polo. T-shirts are not always appropriate attire,” Dami says, pointing some out to me, “ you go to W.E. with Father and Drake sometimes to talk about technology or your inventions. What happens when you need to meet with someone? They are not going to take you seriously in a glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt where one of them is holding the other spine taunting them, saying, ‘ I have your back.’”

I sigh, looking at the button-downs, “One.”

“ Three,” Dami argues, “ you can’t wear the same one each time it necessary to look put together.”

“ Fine,” I pout, grabbing button-downs in blue, green, and red plaid, “ happy now?”

“ Happy no? But satisfied? For now,” Dami retorts.

“ Danny, look!” Calls Dick, “They do have Manhunter sweatshirts!”

We get two.

Getting jeans was less of a struggle; I got a light and dark wash pair and two pairs in black, but Dami still wasn’t satisfied. “ You need shoes. Ones that fit properly, without those ridiculous shoe lifts.”

“ He’s not wrong, Danny, those things look like they’re falling apart,” Dick adds, so much betrayal, then walks over to the shoe display full of white ones, “What about something like this?”

“ Nah,” I say, “ they’d get dirty too easily.”

“ Fair,” Dick says, shrugging, “ Would you want color?”

“ I don’t think so,” I say, “I'm thinking something dark.”

“ I don’t think they’ll have a lot of choices for you here, but there is a foot locker a couple blocks down. Wanna try there?” Dick asks.

“ Are you okay with that,” I ask Dami.

“ As long as I don’t have to see those monstrosities ever again, I do not care where we go,” Dami says.

It was like love at first site. As soon as we entered the store, I found the ones. They're a mixture of black, gray, and white. A mixed type of canvas pattern. I look at the price – oh, they're on sale –and grab them.

Shopping complete.

“ Are you sure those are the ones you want?” Dami asks for the Nth time as we approach the car.

“ Yes, Dami,” I sigh and get in.

“ I’m glad you could find some you liked,” Dick says, “ you ready to head back?”

I look at Dami, “Home sounds good to me. What about you?”

“That would be preferred,” Dami agrees.

“ Are you ready for the meeting?” Dick asks as we pull out, “It’s only a few days away.”

“As ready as I could ever be,” I say, A bit tense, still thinking about all the possibilities. Of what could go wrong. “ Will you all be there?”

“ I will,” says Dami.

“ So will Bruce and I.” Dick says, “ I think Tim is working, and Im not sure about Jay. He doesn't normally go up unless there is an emergency, but I know he wants to be there for moral support.”

“ I just hope it goes well,” I say.

“ Regardless, you have us,” Dick says, “ even if the league can’t help you or the government refuses to listen, you will always have us.”

“ But, wouldn't that get you all into a lot of trouble going against them?” I ask.

Dick snorts, “ Remember, we're not like most of the league, and Batman and I were vigilantes before we were ever considered heroes. If the cause is right, and yours is, we have no problem acting outside of the law.”

“ I just don't want this to come back to bite you,” I say.

“ You worry too much. There is no point getting worked up over something that has not happened yet,” Dami says. Unsure of how to respond, the three of us ride back in silence. Once we’re home, Dami races back in without saying a word.

“ Thanks, Dick, for taking us,” I say, gathering my things.

“ Anytime, Baby D,” Dick says, ruffling my hair again.

After I put my stuff away, I go to the library, looking for Jason. I find him, feet hanging over a chair, reading. “ I thought you said you were going out?” I ask.

“ Who's to say I didn't but already came back?”

“ Touché.”

“ What do you want brat?” Jason asks.

“ Could I talk with you? In private?” I ask.

Jason looks around, “ No one else is here.”

“ I know, but Dad has cameras–”

“ And whatever this is, you don’t want him to know about it?” Jason says. “What's stopping me from telling him whatever this is after?”

“ Nothing,” I say, “ but I’d hope you wouldn’t.”

We have a stare-off. I win. Jason gets up, groaning, “Come on, baby blues, let's get this over with,” and leads me to his room. Jason sits on his bed, “What’s so important that you needed to interrupt my book?”

“ I’m worried about the meeting. That there won’t be enough to convince the league to help,” I say, “ that the incidents are too isolated. Not worthy of their assistance. I gave Dad access to my GIW files since they were the main ones doing stuff, but they weren't the only ones hurting us.”

“ Who?” Jason asks.

“ Fentons,” I say. “ They’ve always been good engineers and sh*tty scientists, and over time became a descent shot. It was bound to happen eventually.”

“ What exactly did they do?” Jason asks, but I don’t answer. He sighs, “ I get wanting to protect them; they took care of you for a while. But being biased based on your own experiences isn’t going to help anyone. You said earlier that you wanted to help your people get justice; you can’t do that if you're protecting the perpetrators.”

“ I know–”

“ Then why are you hesitating?” Jason asks.

I bite my lip, contemplating playing with the end of my shirt, before slowly lifting it. Revealing a butchered Y-incision surrounded by red, raw, puffy skin. Pus oozes down his chest while a mixture of old blood and crusted pus covers the sutures.

Jason races over to me and orders, “Sit down. When did this happen?”

“ About a week or so before I sent that message to Dami,” I say, going to the edge of his bed. “ Jack and Maddie had been locking up ghosts in the lab for months. I’m not sure what they were doing, but it had to have hurt. They’d scream. All the time. I’d cause distractions and release them whenever I got the chance. To get them looked over. But that night, It was bad. That spirit was howling. I had to help her; better me than her. I let them all out but got caught in their place. She went to get help, but they were too late.”

“ Jesus, kid,” Jason says, “ we have to get you looked at, it's infected.”

“There is nothing anyone can do,” I say, “ human antibiotics aren’t strong enough, and there isn’t enough ectoplasm in the world of the living to keep ghost medicine here.”

“ Your meeting is at the watchtower, right?” Jason asks.

“ Yes?” I answer.

“ They keep meds up there for metas. They probably have stuff up there that can help,” Jason says, then looks back at the incision, “ those other files you have, does it include them doing this?”

“ Yeah,” I choke out.

“ You should show them you want them to understand the threat these people are to you and your people. The fact that they could look at you, a kid, and do that shows how far gone they are,” Jason says gently, “ they’re committing war crimes. What they did to you, kid, is against the Geneva Convention. They need to be punished.”

Chapter 18: " Your a what? Your a WHO?"

Chapter Text

I fly invisibly after my family through the halls of the watchtower. Jason, Alfred, and the girls were the only ones unable to sneak away for the meeting, but they made sure to let me know that they're there in spirit. Dicks friend, Barbara, set it up so they all will be able to watch the meeting back on earth. So there will be no need to catch them up. I can't help but wander towards the windows as we pass. This is the closest I’ve ever been to the stars. Though, somehow, every time I start to float away, Dami is able to tell. Bringing me back to the group. It doesn't take long for us to reach the room.

“ Hm,” sit down , says Father, and my brothers do.

“What's going on, Bats?” Asks Barry, his cowl down, exposing his hair.

‘ I guess that makes the other Flash, Wally,’ I think. My brothers took some time to familiarize me with the league member profiles. However, remembering everyone is still a work in progress. Thankfully, the ones we invited today are ones I’m familiar with. I can spot Uncle Clark, Aunt Diana, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatana, Martin Manhunter , one of the Green Lanterns, the aforementioned Flashes, and–

“ What's trailing your arse, Bats?” The sad trench coat man, legs crossed, feet on the table. I can’t wait to get soul bingo.

Batman glares at him, get your feet down , but he doesn’t get the message. Batman huffs, “ It has been brought to my attention that there's a government-sanctioned organization in violation of the Meta Rights Act, as well as attempting genocide.”

Martin Manhunter's eyes narrow, “ which government?”

“ The United States,” says Batman.

Manhunter's face becomes unreadable, but I can feel sadness-anger-sadness.

While disbelief and anger come from the others.

“ Who alerted you to this?” Asks Manhunter.

Batman glances at me as if to say, ‘Go on.’

“ That would be me,” I say, waving and popping into view.

Constantine snaps right up, standing stiff, head bowed, “It's a pleasure, your highness,” peeking the other's interests.

“ It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Diana, princess of Themyscira,” says Wonder Woman.

My eyes light up, and I say a bit giddy, “ Danyal phantom, high prince, soon to be, King of the infinite realms, and the pleasure is mine. Please call me Danny, Auntie Diana.”

“ Auntie,” Diana says slowly, puzzled, before asking, “How are we related child?”

“ One of my parents is Pandora–”

“ Keeper of the box, of hope, fellow Amazonian and daughter of Zeus,” Diana finishes and smiles, “ I hope to get to know you, nephew.”

“ I, as well,” I say before addressing the room. “ Thank you for taking the time to hear Batman and I out today.”

“ That's just said to show up, so we did–” Wally says before getting elbowed in the ribs.

“ Not to be rude, but what are you exactly?” Asks Green Arrow.

“ I’m a ghost,” I say.

“ A ghost,” Flash, Wally, says in disbelief.

Dick and the other Flash, Barry, raise eyebrows at him. Barry says to his nephew, “ You've met Deadman before–”

“ And they look nothing alike!” Wally yells.

“ Not all ghosts look the same, ya know,” I say, already exasperated.

“ Deadman is a shade,” Constantine cuts in, trying to do damage control.

“ What's the difference?” asks Green Arrow.

“ Shades are made a couple of different ways. All once living goes are created by strong emotions at the time of their deaths, and shades are no exception. Their emotions may not have been as strong as others, or the ambient ectoplasm, the substance we’re made of, may have been weaker in the area where they died. In the realm of the living, it can be tiring for them to stay visual, as their connection to this world is weaker. Stronger ghosts, like myself, have something that ties us to life,” I explain.

“ Your Highness, while that explains the difference between yourself and her comrade, it doesn't say anything about yourself,” Green Lantern says.

“ I prefer to disclose the information after the presentation. It's my belief that you will better understand my subjects and thyself afterward,” I say.

The Lantern's eyes flicker to Batman, and eventually, he nods, and we start the presentation.

Batman begins the presentation, “ Criminality of Death,” made by Red Robin and Prince Phantom.

The first slide has pictures of ghosts, including myself, Cujo, Pandora, Frostbite, and Ghost Writer. “ Ghosts are diverse,” says Batman, “ all species have the potential to become a citizen of the Infinite Realms. There, you will find the previous living concepts come to life, and some of the Divine.”

“ Not all ghosts for once alive; those beings are called Neverborn,” I switch the slide show to show, Box Lunch, “ They can come to be in a variety of ways, including old-fashioned procreation. The majority of ghosts reside in the Infinite Realms,” the screen shows different areas, such as the areas outside the Fenton portal, Acropolis, and Dortheas’ kingdom. “ But many go out to see family or indulge in things they enjoyed in life. These indulgences tend to go farther than what humans experience, becoming a need. We call these obsessions. They are one of the few things that keep us attached to the living.” The screen switches to a short video of me fighting Skulker, “ take him, for instance. Skulker, the ghost shown, is the Infinite Realm's self-proclaimed best hunter. Hunting rare beings is his obsession.”

“ Why is he fighting you?” asks Black Canary.

“ Up until recently, I was a vigilante working out of the midwest. He didn't like me getting between him and his targets,” I explain.

“ How do you secure him?” Green Arrow asks as the screen shows me flying in and out of concrete, dodging blasts.

In response, I toss a mini Phantom thermos™ to Damian. Damian aims and fires sucking me up. I twist and turn like I'm being gobbled up by a washing machine until I'm in an empty space. It's a bit tight but not too bad. A moment later, I am released, “ like that. Then I would bring him back to the Infinite Realms.”

“ Is there no further punishment?” asks Manhunter.

“ For those indulging and their obsession, not typically. At the moment, I'm working on ways to redirect them. It wouldn't be fair to imprison someone for acting upon necessary bodily or spiritual requirements. The others, though, the ones coming purely for nefarious purposes, are locked up and await trial,” I say.

“ The US government has a difference of opinion,” Batman says, switching the slide. “ They created the GIW, the Ghost Investigation Ward, also known as the Guys in White. Their purpose is to capture and experiment on the spirits until their untimely disposal. All this leads to their end goal of destroying the infinite realms.”

“ They can't,” Zatana says, “ doing that would only destroy ourselves.”

“ What do you mean?” asks Diana.

“ The Infinite Realms are the glue keeping the universe together,” explains Constantine, “ Those idiots would kill everything. How close have they come to doing this?”

“ I once had to stop them from sending it on a nuclear missile,” I deadpan, “They're kidnapping ghosts and taking us apart to see how we take. My counsel and I are not pleased.” I grasp at my clothes, knowing what lies beneath, and look at my Father before floating to him and holding out my hand for the clicker.

“ What are you doing?” Batman asks.

I give him an unsure smile, “ finishing the presentation.”

“ This isn’t what we discussed,” Batman says, voice hard.

“ Trust me,” I say, and Batman hands it over and finds his seat. I wait for him to sit down before switching out the presentations.

“ For my people, this goes farther than the GIW,” I say with a shaky voice, thinking, ‘ I’ve already failed Peepaws ‘how to talk like a king’ lessons.’

“ Amity Park, the town I looked after, has always been a thin spot between realms, causing a lot of ghostly activity. But the life work of Madeline and Jack Fenton made it a battleground. They've worked as weapon contractors for various companies and organizations, including the GIW. A while ago, they created a portal to the Infinite Realms, or as they have incorrectly dumped it, “the ghost zone.” Spirits came pouring out, wanting to explore the stable connection between worlds. It didn't take long for the GIW to show up.” I flip through slides until Fentonworks weapons appear, “ They go out hunting every time a ghost is reported. It doesn't matter what they came for. They always shoot and ask questions never. At first, they were terrible shots, but over time and with loads of practice, they have gotten better. Madeline still remains better than Jack. Over the past few months, they have gotten bolder, capturing the ghosts and holding them in cages for who knows what. I had managed to sneak in multiple times and free them, but I wasn't always so lucky.”

“ Danyal,” Batman says lowly, not harsh like Father. Like Baba.

Unable to look at anyone, I flick through until a video starts.

[ Danny is seen sneaking around a metal room, fiddling with locks, and releasing ghosts. Finger on his lips in the universal sign of ‘shhh.’ Danny opens the portal, and it whines, gaining the Fentons' attention.]

“ You,” Maddie yells.

[ The Fentons and Danny fight while the other ghosts escape. He's about to get away with an elderly woman in his arms when Jack shoots him with a bazooka-size taser. Danny falls to the ground and looks at the woman.]

“ It's okay, go,” Danny says.

[ She shakes her head]

“ What about–”

Danny cuts her off, “Don't worry about me. Just get out of here. Make sure the others are okay.”

[She backs into the portal.]

“ B̷e̶ ̸s̷t̶r̶o̸n̶g̴,̶ ̷y̷o̴u̶r̵ ̵h̶i̵g̶h̴n̶e̸s̵s̴,̷ ̴h̸e̶l̴p̴ ̵i̶s̵ ̴o̵n̷ ̵t̵h̷e̷ ̴w̸a̶y̶,” she says unintelligibly.

[The woman fades from view. Jack and Maddie struggle to pick up Danny as he fights them. Maddie gets tired of it, walks over to the tool bench, and comes back with a mallet. She hits Danny on the head. They place him on an examination table and lock Danny in. He starts to wiggle about, and Maddie hits him again. They get to work.]

“ Subject Phantom is humanoid, taking on the image of a preteen or young teen boy,” says Maddie.

[Jack cuts away his jumpsuit, revealing jeans and a t-shirt. Those are cut off, too.]

“ Its outer body mimics that of a human,” Jack says, astonished.

“ But what about its insides?”

“ The only way to find out is by checking Maddie-cakes.”

“ Let's do it.”

[ With a normal scalpel, Jack cuts into him. Ectoplasm spews out. By the time he's done making the incision, the start of it has already begun to scab over.]

“ Maddie-cakes, I don’t think this is going to work,” Says Jack.

[ Maddie takes a look]

“ Try using a piece of ecto-ranium,” says Maddie.

“ Do you think we have any sharp enough?” asks Jack.

“ I think we do,” Maddie says.

[ She goes off to check and comes back with green glowing hunting knives]

“ I forgot we made these,” Maddie says.

“ At least we'll finally get some use out of them,” Jack says.

[ Jack cuts again, leaving a messy incision. This time, it doesn't close. Danny's eyes start to flutter open. He picks up his head and looks at the Fentons.]

“ Pass the forceps,” says Jack.

[ Maddie pokes at the incision.]

“ Are you sure you cut deep enough?” She asks.

“ It should be. It mimics human physiology; this is where the chest cavity should be,” Jack says.

“ If you’re sure,” says Maddie.

[ Maddie peels back Danny's skin, exposing the insides.]

“ Oh honey,” says Maddie, “ it's ribs. They're glowing.”

“ Could it be due to the ectoplasm, or could there be some other factors?” Asks Jack.

“ I'll make a note of it. Do you want to do the honors?” asks Maddie.

“ Madds, I'll leave it to you. Your shot got the spook; you should do it,” says Jack.

[ Maddie smiles and leans over the table to kiss Jack.]

“ Thank you, dear,” she says.

[ Maddie presses down hard on Danny's chest, breaking his ribs. His sternum breaks on the fourth push. Jack passes over a chest spreader. They crank until there is enough room for both of their hands to fit. They inspect organs, pulling and yanking them every which way. Some parts they remove and place in jars. Danny flinches at each touch. To get a better look, they start peeling back more skin.]

“ Maddie pass me the scalpel,” says Jack.

“ What are you looking at?”

“ Look at this,” Jack says.

[ Jack nicks one of Danny's arteries.]

“ Is that normal for it to stop that soon?” Jack asks.

Maddie hums, “It's something to look at it for sure.”

[ They keep making him, but the results are inconclusive. They use a blow torch to cauterize the wounds.]

“ Stop. Please, I'll–” Danny pleads as the fire touches him.

[ The Fentons laugh at him, but after a while, they get annoyed.]

“ What do you shut up,” Maddie says, teeth clenched.

“ Please,” Danny pleads again.

[ Maddie throws her hands up and walks away from the table.]

Jack stops working, “Maddie-cakes, what do you have there?”

[ Maddie walks back smug.]

“ Don't worry about it. Get behind its head,” she says.

[ Jack does as ordered.]

“ I want you to squish his mouth shut, just like this,” Maddie instructs.

[ Jack grips Dannys' head hard. Maddie climbs onto the table and straddles Danny. She pulls out a small needle and wire and smushes his lips together. Danny screams. Maddie laughs as she sews his mouth shut. She gets off, looking happy. They go over notes before Jack goes to get rusty pliers. He sticks them in Danny and, with a crunch, breaks off a part of his ribs, exposing bone marrow.]

I fast-forward the video, showing hours go by until–

“ You were great with that chest spreader. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to split it open,” says Maddie.

Jack chuckles, face red, “Oh, it was nothing, but you selling its mouth shut that took some skill.”

[ Maddie Loops her arms around Jack and says something inaudible.]

“ Damn, look at the time,” says Jack.

[ Maddie looks at the clock.]

“ We've been working all night,” Maddie says.

[ She takes off her bloody hazmat suit.]

“ The kids should be up soon,” she continues.

[ Jack kisses her forehead.]

“ What do you say to going out for breakfast with the kids?” He asks.

Maddie hums, “It should only be the one kid for today, honey. Jazz was spending the night with her friends. What about breakfast for just the two of us? As a date. Let Danny figure out his own breakfast for today.”

[ Jack agrees, and they leave the lab. With Danny still on the table.]

I fast-forward again to Frostbite coming out of the portal.

“ Great One,” Frostbite yells.

[ Fright Knight, Clockwork, and the elderly Spirit from earlier exit the portal. They argue about who gets to carry him. Ending the video.]

Baba is the first one to speak, unable to hide his emotions from his voice, “ when was this?”

Unable to face him, I say, “Around a week or so before I contacted Robin.”

Dami pops up, “ but that would mean you have been injured this whole time.”

I shrug, “ I've been taking it easy.”

“ Ghost clowns,” Tim reminds him.

“ I stuck to evasive maneuvers and kept harsh movements and contortions to a minimum. I'm fine,” I say stubbornly.

“ Would anybody like to clue us in? What does he mean when he says he contacted Robin? And ghost clowns?” Green Arrow asks.

A silent conversation happens between Batman and the Robins. One I can't fully understand. All he got was, ‘We should tell them. They're going to find out one way or another B.’

In the end, Father addresses the room, “ Phantom is my youngest.”

Green Arrow sighs, “Really, Bruce, another one?”

I glance at Damian and smile, “ I was part of a two-for-one special,” and blind the room, turning human. I’m in a NASA sweatshirt, jeans, and a domino mask.

“ Huh, so that's how you do it,” mumbles Clark.

“ That shouldn't be possible,” says Zatana, catching my attention.

“ It's rare but not impossible,” I correct.

“ Can I get a full explanation now?” Asks the Lantern.

I ask Dami with my eyes, ‘Do they know about Mother? Do you trust them?’ I get a slight nod in return.

So I say, “ Robin and I are twins. He's the elder. Our Mother and Grandfather decided they only needed one of us, and as the spare, Mother decided I was expendable. Mother attempted to kill me, but it didn't work. The Fentons found me, and I ended up with them for a time.”

“You're the Danny they mentioned in the video,” says Black Canary.

I nod, “ They've never been the most observant, but I hoped they would have realized it was me. It's not like I was trying hard to hide it from them.”

“ How did you become like this,” Barry asks, but not insensitively.

“ Lab accident,” I say, “ I was trying to fix their portal when it opened up on top of me. It tore me apart molecule by molecule and put me back together. Replacing half of my DNA. The other ghosts call me a halfa.”

“ Is that how you're related to the princess?” asks Constantine, “ because last I checked, you and stabby Robin don’t have any Greek roots.”

“ Not exactly,” I try to explain, “ ghosts become family by sharing part of our cores. It acts as our brain, heart, our everything. It is a physical embodiment of our souls. Pandora and a few others core adopted me, making me family. While we may not be blood or ectoplasmically related, our souls are.”

“ Family is what you make it,” Dick chimes in, causing my family and I to nod.

“ Regardless of how, I am always happy to have more family,” says Diana.

“ Relations aside, how should we go about this? A human organization has attacked a sentient race and plans their destruction. Not to mention the Fenton's, I can't begin to fathom the charges that need to be brought up–” the Lantern rambles.

“ Hal, that's enough,” says Batman.

“ My counsel and the majority of the realm want to go to war,” I reveal, “ but I don’t want that. I have convinced them to give me time to try diplomacy, which is why this issue was brought to you. The laws classify us as non-sentient, which we clearly aren’t. Until we are recognized as a people, war won’t be off the table.”

“ How much time do we have?” asks Clark.

“ At the most of the year, the least a few months. It depends on if we see any progress,” I say.

“ Have you made an effort to lessen ghosts' presence in the meantime?” Constantine asks.

I nod, “ But not everyone is keen on listening. Those that want to cause chaos will find a way to do it.”

“ What charges do you want to be brought up against them?” Asks Hal.

“ Assault, kidnapping, attempted genocide, and experimentation for the GIW,” I say.

“ And the Fentons?” Asks Dami.

“ Nothing for now,” I say, causing some looks. “ Until my existence is no longer illegal, nothing can be done against them.”

“ But once the laws are appealed–” I cut Dick off.

“ Then you can throw the book at them.”

“ The Fentons mention Jazz. Do we need to get her out?” Asks Black Canary.

“ She's a legal adult, and besides college breaks, she is outside of the house,” I say.

“Okay,” says Hal, “ now, we've got some work to do.”

Chapter 19: 5 Truths and No Lies

Chapter Text

“ Danyal!” Damian screams at my retreating form as we enter the cave.

I pick up my pace and stick my fingers in my ears, “ la la la la. I can’t hear you!”

“ Cease this childishness and face us like a man!” Dami yells, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

“ Danny…” Dick trails off, watching Father silently head to the changing room, “ we have to talk about this. This isn’t something we can just brush under the rug.”

“ I know that!” I exclaim.

Dami crosses his arms, “that's why–”

“ I don’t want to talk anymore about this,” I say, sounding defeated, just as the elevator dings, revealing Gramps and Jason with refreshments.

“ Young Master Timothy and the girls will be joining us shortly. Best to get comfortable,” says Gramps, setting drinks.

While Jason follows behind with cookies, “ though Barbie won’t be Joining us, she couldn’t get off.” I push past them and call for the elevator; Jason notices, “ Where do you think you're going?”

“ Up.”

“ Yeah, I think not,” Jason says, grabbing the back of my shirt and whispering, “There is no talking us out of this. Better to do this now than later.” I shoot him a disbelieving look. “ Speaking from experience. Trust me.”

“ Five questions. That’s it. No more, I can’t do anymore. Not today,” I say, addressing the room. When no one argues, I find a seat in the corner of the room. My eyes flicker exist to exist. Father slowly makes his way back into the room, eyes clouded over with emotion. He slumps down into the bat-computer chair, starting off the chain of people coming and going. They make sure to leave at least one other person in the room.

Once they’re all ready, Tim asks, “ How do you want to do this?”

“ Five questions. I retain the right not to answer them if I choose,” I say.

“ If you don’t answer, does it still count as a question?” Steph asks.

I take a moment to consider, “ No, I guess not. So, questions?”

“ Why didn’t you tell us?” Bruce asks.

“ You didn’t need to know,” I say.

Dick explodes, “Of course, we needed to know! B would have sent more than a lawyer to get you. We could have been investigating them–”

“There is nothing you could have done that wouldn’t have caused even more issues. Ancients, there still isn’t anything that can be done yet. There are more important things that need to be taken care of,” I reply.

“ I have a question,” Cass interjects before an argument could break out.

I quirk an eyebrow, “Which is?

“ How are your injuries?” Cass asks.

“ I’ve been better,” I deflect.

“ That’s not a proper answer,” Dami points out.

“ It’s the answer you’re getting,” I say sternly.

“ He’s still injured,” Jason blurts.

“ Wha–”

“ Jason!” I yell, feeling betrayed.

“ They needed to know! The incision is still infected! You need to be checked out!” Jason yells back.

“ Medbay. Now,” demands Gramps.

“ But–”

“ Now, Young Master,” Alfred doubles down.

I groan as I slump away to an exam table while Gramps goes about and gathers supplies. Once he has everything, he pulls on his disposable gloves and sits elegantly in a rolling chair, “ Shirt off, sir.”

I strip, revealing my butchered red, puffy, and raw Y-incision. Old, crusted puss covers sutures while the fresher sits right under the skin. My skin smells like bitter almonds and cherries.

Like a preserved cadaver.

“ How long ago had you said this occurred?” Gramps asks, voice tight.

“ A week or so before I contacted Ahki,” I say.

“ Has anyone provided medication?” Gramps asks, gently whipping away puss.

“ Nah,” I say, “ there isn’t anything that’ll help. Ghost meds aren’t made to work on something like this. It’s made for ectoplasmic-based injuries or sicknesses. Skin infections aren’t a thing for them. They’d cut off the ectoplasm to the area and rebuild it. That's not an option for me.”

“ What of human medications?” Gramps asks softly.

“ Fights of the ectoplasm. The meds think it’s a foreign body, even though my body doesn’t; all it ever does is make things worse. If it works at all,” I explain.

Gramps goes for the gauze to wrap my chest, “ is that the case for all of them? Or are there exceptions?”

“ Not all but most,” I wince as he wraps, “ stuff like Motrin works. Though it doesn’t usually work for long.”

“ Have you tried the kind made for meta-humans? They tend to be stronger than the regular ones,” Gramps says.

“ Can’t. I would need a doctor's note to show the pharmacy, and that is not an option for me. They don’t sell anything for metas on the floor,” I say, standing up and putting my shirt back on.

“ I had not considered that,” Gramps says, putting things away. “ Now that your father is aware, maybe he can commission something that will work for you or find another alternative.”

“ Maybe,” I say, not really considering it. If anyone is going to mess with medication for me, it is going to be Frostbite. I have seen what Humans can and WILL do with things they don’t understand. My DNA will not be their next plaything. Not again.

“ Come on, my boy,” Gramps says, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Let's go face the masses,” I mutter as we go to the others.

Dami spots us first, “ How is he?”

“ On the road to healing,” Gramps says, escorting me to my chair, “ but the road will be long.”

“ What do you mean by that? “ Father asks.

“ I have been informed that neither human nor Ghost medication works for the Young Master,” Gramps says.

“ I told him he should try the stuff we keep on the watchtower,” Jason cuts in.

“ I have suggested the same,” Gramps says.

“ How can we rectify this…” Father trails off.

“ We could always compare ingredients and–” Tim starts trailing off into muttering madness.

Knowing Tim's madness would continue, I ask, “Do you have any samples?”

“ Of course,” Tim says, snapping at him, sounding offended that he had to ask.

“ Give some to me. I'll pass them along to my physician in the realms. Problem solved,” I say.

“ Problem not solved,” Father argues, “ how would you give it to them? How would they send their results back?”

“ Oh, I don’t know,” I say sarcastically, “ maybe the portal built into the wall.”

“ I thought it wasn’t done,” says Dick.

“ All I’ve got to do is turn it on, so like I said, problem solved,” I tell them.

“ But we still wouldn't have all the needed information,” Father argues.

“ Frostbite and his team will pass along their findings,” I say, “ promise.”

“ Fine,” Father says stubbornly, shutting down.

“ Can I ask my question now?” Dick asks.

“ Sure, why not,” I say, head thrown back.

“ What did the Fentons use on you? The glowing green stuff,” Dick says.

“ Ectoranium. It comes from outer space. Made from dying worlds. It requires a lot of spiritual pressure,” I explain. “ That makes three. Who's next?”

“ Why show a room full of virtual unknowns a moment of weakness? It’s unlike you,” Dami remarks.

“ It was a tactical decision. I needed them to understand how this affected me and my realm. An attack against me is an attack against them. Not many are aware of the realms and those who reside there. I don’t want us to be thought of as monsters but as people. I knew that showing that video would get these points across,” I explain.

“ You might have gotten your point across, but was it worth exposing them to your weaknesses?” Dami counters.

“ Yes. They are a respectable group of people and not the type to use that information unless they need to. While not a risk you would be willing to take, it’s one I felt was unavoidable,” I defend.

“ I see,” Dami says, saying nothing else.

“ Last question,” I say.

“ Are you okay? I know you're not physical. Alfie made that apparent, but emotionally? I mean, they were your guardians,” Steph says.

“ I wasn't at first, but I've had time to come to terms with their actions,” I say, not looking at anybody, “ I'm not going to lie; it hurts. Still does. I lived with them for years, and even inside me, on that table, they were oblivious. I'm not sure if that makes it better or not. I just know it hurts, and it's probably going to bother me for a while, but I'll get over it.” Eventually.

“ Wha–”

I cut the voice off, “Question time is over,” and fly out of the cave to my room. Lying down, I look towards the ceiling plastered with stars.

Stars.

The objects of his affection.

They were a bitter reminder of family once away from Nanda Pabart, given new meaning in Amity. The Fentons took my fascination and turned it into a bonding experience. Jack and Jazz pored over star charts to make sure they were situated just right while Maddie steadied us on the latter. Then, once again, spoiled by the actions of a Mother. It takes a while, but eventually, I decide, ‘ no more shrouded skies,’ and get up. I bypass my siblings and head straight to my Father.

“ Hey, Baba,” I say, invading his office, “ where do you keep the antibiotic samples?”

Baba raises an eyebrow, “ Why do you ask?”

“ So I can get ready to go,” I say.

“ Now?” Baba asks, bewildered, “My schedule is pretty packed. I won’t be able to accompany you for a while, hum… let me see what I can move around–”

“ I was just gonna go by myself,” I interrupt.

“ No,” Baba argues, “ you’re not galavanting through the afterlife on your own.”

“ I’m not galavanting. I’ll be there for business,” I counter.

“ You are not going on your own. You’re injured,” Baba says.

“ I am the next High King of the realm, I'm not–”

“ Given your less-than-pristine physical state, if you run into trouble, your enemies will have the upper hand,” Baba continues to make good points.

“ Fine,” I relent, “ whatever. I’ll bring somebody with me. Happy now?”

“ Watch your tone,” Baba reprimands, sighing, “ who will you bring?”

I think it over before deciding on “ Jason.”

‘ It would do Jason some good to be looked over,” I think. Jason needs help beyond what I can do for him in the land of the living. The ectoplasm around Gotham is too dirty to help him get healthy. It would take a lot of souls to purify Gotham.

“ Make sure to stop by before leaving,” Baba says, dismissing him.

“ You never told me where the samples are,” I cry indignantly.

“ Ask one of the others to show you. They know where they are,” Baba says, waving me off.

I huff and scour the manor for his brother. He tried all of his usual places: his room, the library, and the cave, only to catch him in the kitchen. Jason is sitting at the table with Gramps, drinking some kind of tea and discussing of all things Twilight.

“ I’m sorry, Young Master, but I do not see it,” Gramps says.

“ Come on, Alfie, he totally does,” Jason exclaims.

“ Who totally does what,” I interject.

“ Bruce looks like an older Edward Cullen, and Alfie doesn’t see it,” Jason explains.

“ Eh, I don’t know. I think I agree with Gramps. They look nothing alike,” I say, f*cking with them.

Jason crosses his arms and grumbles, “You people are blind, I tell you, blind.”

“ Did you need something, Young Master?” Gramps asks, addressing me.

“ I was looking for Jason, actually,” I say, looking at him hopefully.

“ Whatcha need rugrat?” Jason asks.

“ Baba won’t let me go to the Infinite realms by myself,” I say, rolling my eyes, “ so I want you to come with me.”

“ Me? Why me? Not the other rugrat, Dickface, the girls, or Tiny Tim?” Jason asks, sounding grouchy.

“ Didn’t think Dad would let Dami come, and out of everyone else, you’d be best for this,” I say. “ We’re going to be there for at least an hour, and the realms can be… uncomfortable for the living.”

Jason rubs his eyes and grumbles, “ I get it. I’ll go.”

“ Thanks!” I say, “Meet you in the cave!” and run off. Jason comes down soon after. Once he’s there, I open the portal and bask in the ectoplasm. The swirling portal of green feels like home. A once novel feeling that had become normalized during my time amongst the Waynes.

But that’s a realization for future Danny; current Danny has something more important to do.

Make sure Jason doesn’t pass out.

As soon as the bay doors opened, Jason fell to his knees. The ectoplasm was too strong for him. Feeling the realms open up in front of you is overwhelming. No matter what you are. “ You okay?” I ask.

“It's like looking into the pits,” Jason says breathlessly.

I wince, “Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. I should have warned you.”

“ It’s okay. A warning wouldn’t have done much,” Jason says, shaking his head. “ You have the samples?”

“ Yep,” I say, transforming and placing everything into a bag, “ do you have everything you need?”

“ I have everything,” Jason confirms. “ Anything else I should know before we go?”

“ Well,” I drawl, “ gravity in the realms is weird.”

“ Weird, how?” Jason asks.

“ In the realms, humans are the ghosts. They can go through walls and fly like us ghosts do. I don’t know how this will affect you as a revenant,” I say, then pauses to look at his clothes. Since there is no use in hiding your identity from the dead, Jason kept on his regular clothes, though he did add the leather jacket he wears as Red Hood for added protection. “ Do you have anything warmer?”

“ I mean, I can grab another Jacket?” He says.

“ Yeah, you might wanna do that,” I say. “ Our first stop today is the FarFrozen.”

“ Is that a nickname or?”

“ Real name. It’s a frozen wasteland with average temperatures lower than Antarctica. We won’t be out there for long. It’s better to bundle up than lose a finger or some of your toes,” I say.

Jason heads to a locker, pulls out a longer leather jacket and gloves, and puts them on. “ Alright, rugrat, let's get this show on the road.”

“ That’s all you want? I ask.

“ It’s all I need,” Jason shrugs and steps through the portal.

Chapter 20: Thumpity Thump Thump

Chapter Text

“ You okay?” I ask as we fly through the icy tundra of the FarFrozen.

“ Okay!?” Jason exclaims, “ I’m freezing my tit* off.”

“ I told you to bring something warm,” I huff.

“ I thought you were exaggerating! It's not like you bulked up,” Jason complains, then looks at me, “ speaking of which, how are you freezing?”

I shrug, “ I have a space core. Part of that is being resistant to extreme temperatures.”

“ Okay, Elsa, no need to rub it in,” Jason quirks.

“ Great One!” Yells various Yetis as we land in the village square. All the homes and buildings are circular, made out of ice and snow, and in the middle of the village is a roaring bonfire. Helping to keep some of the chill away.

“ Hey guys!” I greet enthusiastically. “ Is Frostbite in? We really need to see him.”

“ He's in the lab, Your Highness,” says one of the yetis, Snowball, signaling to the others to create a path to let us through. She glances at Jason, “ new friend, sire?”

I laugh, “ new brother, actually.”

“ Ooh, how exciting,” Snowball says, letting us in. “ I guess this means you found your twin?”

Jason snorts, “ He found the demon brat and ended up with the lot of us.”

“ One can never have too many siblings,” says a booming voice. Up ahead is Frostbite in all his glory, wearing a lab coat and his reading glasses. He looks me up and down and asks resignedly, “What have you done to yourself this time?”

“ This time,” I say, clutching my imaginary pearls, “ I came to see you out of the goodness of my heart!”

Frostbite snorts and gestures to Jason, “You came chaperoned. If you were well, you'd have ditched him.”

I do my impression of a blob ghost, unable to come up with excuses as Jason snickers. “ He's got you figured out,” then he says to Frostbite, “ I'm Jason. Danny wanted to come by himself, but Dad wouldn't let him. Me comin’ with was the ultimatum.”

“ Well, we are happy to have you both,” Frostbite says, leading us into his lab. The lab itself is a mixture of modern and futuristic. There are a couple of examination tables placed throughout, along with various pieces of technology. “ So, what can I help you with today?”

“ A couple of different things, hopefully,” I say, rummaging through my pockets and pulling out samples. “ My family found out I have problems with different medications. They were wondering if there may be a way to combine human and ghost meds so they're usable for me. These ones are made for metahumans.”

Frostbite frowns slightly, “ I will see what I can do, but Great One, it will be a while before you see any results. There's a possibility whatever I come up with won't be usable. Human and ectoplasmic DNA is very different from one another. It may not be possible.”

I give him a one-armed hug, “ I appreciate the fact that you're even going to try. Don't worry about the results; this hasn't been done before, after all. It's going to take trial and error.”

Frostbite returns the hug, “ I'll do my best. Now, besides the medication, what else is needed?”

“I was hoping, if you have the time, you could take a look at Jason?” I ask.

“What's wrong with the young revenant?” Frostbite asks.

“ How can you tell?” Jason asked, taken back, “The rugrat called me that when we first met.”

Frostbite chuckles, “ It's quite easy. All Realms beings have an aura. While each one is unique, each subspecies has similar qualities. Your kind, the revenant, doesn't have a core, as you are fully linked with your physical body. Your natural ectoplasm keeps you linked together. Ghosts, like myself, need a core to keep us grounded instead. Your natural aura, Jason, gives off sadness, a little bit of anger, and regret.”

“ So you agree, then, that he feels off?” I ask.

“ Yes,” Frostbite nods, “ though why remains an unknown.”

Jason glances at me, “ I think I may have an idea.”

“ Please, do tell?” Frostbite asks, curious.

“ His creepy pedo Grandpa threw me in a Lazarus pit. The twerp said it's full of toxic ectoplasm. I got dumped in not long after I came back. I got my bearings back fast, but my head wasn't in it. I was angry. Still am, really. That feeling still hasn't gone away. He,” Jason points at me, “ said you might be able to fix me.”

Frostbite nods, “ from the sound of it, I believe the two of you have deduced correctly.”

“ So doc, how ya gonna fix me?” Jason asks.

“ First, we're going to have to run some tests. Just to be sure. Why don't you hop onto the table, and we'll get started,” Frostbite says, getting up to gather his instruments.

“ What exactly are you going to do?” Jason asked, taking off his jackets, handing them to me, then sitting down on one of the tables.

“ Since you have a human body, the tests I can do are limited. So, first, I'm going to listen to your chest, listen to your heartbeat, and confirm that your body doesn't have a developing core,” Frostbite says, fiddling with his stethoscope. He breathes on the end, trying to warm it up, before placing it on Jasons' chest. After a moment, he says,“ Your heart sounds healthy, and I don't hear the hum of a core.”

“ What does that mean?” Jason asks.

“ That your physical body is well. They're your body and soul are correctly welded together,” Frostbite explains, writing down his findings. “ to check out the state of your ectoplasm, I need a blood sample. Is that agreeable?”

Jason shrugs and rolls up his sleeve, “ Have at it. What's it going to show ya?”

Frostbite sticks him and gathers the blood. “ It will show me how your blood is reacting to the trace amounts of ectoplasm in your system. Your natural ectoplasm should be mixing without any negative effects. If you and the Great One are correct, and you have something corrupted in you, I'll be able to see it.”

“ What would it look like?” I ask, watching the vials fill up.

“ There are two possible presentations. The ectoplasm could be fighting each other or trying to take over the other. Either response could be responsible for the lasting anger. As ectoplasm fighting within anybody is liable to cause negative emotions, especially anger. The other effects are subtle but also more severe. If the ectoplasm is simply fighting, along with big emotional swings, comes a difference in mindset. If it continues for long enough, the foreign ectoplasm will start acting like a parasite, gaining a personality. You'd be coexisting in a semi-possessed state. On the other hand, if it is trying to take over, you could lose yourself entirely. Losing your connection between your body and soul, making you move on, killing you, while your body remains under the control of contaminated, negatively fueled emotions,” Frostbite lectures, closing up and labeling the filled vials.

“ Making me nothing more than a zombie,” Jason mutters. “ Are there ways to stop this?”

“ There are ways to manage, and eventually cure, both of these ailments, but it will take time,” Frostbite says while putting the vials in a centrifuge. “ but it's best to remember, regardless of the results, that you will not return to being a normal human. You will remain a revenant and all that it entails.”

Jason sighs, dragging a hand down his face, mumbling, “So this isn't an end-all, cure-all situation.” Then asks louder, “What does being a Revenant even mean for me? All I really know about this is the how and why I came back.”

“ Like a ghost, you have unfinished business,” I explain. “ Hostility towards the Joker, the perpetrator of your death, is normal, but killing him would have an adverse effect. Ripping you of your purpose here. Your body would start to decompose as your body and soul disconnect, and you’d move on. There have been a few cases where revenants have found new purposes to keep those connections, but they are never as strong as the original ones, always killing them in the end.”

“ When did you get so knowledgeable on the subject?” Frostbite asks.

“ Revenants were covered in Peepaws’ lessons,” I shrug. Their lessons are good for these types of things, ya know.

After a beat of silence, Jason asks, “ Frostbite, would you mind looking over Danny? While we wait for the samples to be done spending.”

Frostbite looks me over, “Do you have any particular concerns?”

“ We've seen this trust. It doesn't look good,” Jason says bluntly.

I groan, “ It’s fine–”

“ I will be the judge of that,” Frostbite cuts me off. “ Besides, you’re due for a check-up anyway.”

I sigh but go to sit next to Jason anyway, “ Is this really necessary? I feel fine.”

“ Just because you feel fine doesn't mean you are,” Frostbite scolds. “ which form?”

“ This one is fine,” I say, removing my shirt and exposing my wounds and various glowing green scars.

“ Wow, how’d ya get that?” Asks Jason.

“ It's from the accident,” I say defensively, not liking my death mark to be exposed. Then turns to ask Frostbite, “So what's the verdict? Am I good?”

He hums, “ It's not ideal, but you've had worse. None of the stitches were popped, but they have been stretched. Clocky, and I told you no fighting.”

“ It was an emergency,” I say. “ Lydia disobeyed orders and revived Circus Gothica.”

“ And you found this out how?” Frostbite asks skeptically.

“ One of my new brothers thought the circus could be a bonding experience. Like he wasn't wrong, but it didn't go the way anyone expected. I'd been on guard since we arrived and saw the sign, but once they started to attack, I couldn't just sit there and do nothing. It goes against my very being,” I say, causing Frostbite to rub at his face.

“ I know that. I just wish you would take better care of yourself. Just because you can't feel the injuries doesn't mean they aren't there.”

“ What do you mean he can't feel them?” Jason sputters.

“ I can feel them, just not as intensely as others,” I say hurriedly, not wanting him to worry.

“ What he means to say is that after his accident, the majority of his nerves are fried. Some of them died all the way, causing him to feel nothing, while others have been injured beyond repair, causing them to misfire sporadically. Creating chronic pain,” Frostbite says deadpan.

“ It’s not that bad–”

“ A sentiment we will continue to disagree on. Hopefully, I'll have some luck with these new medications you brought, and we will be able to find a way to manage it,” Frostbite says.

“ Can I put my shirt back on now?”

“ Be my guest. I'm going to send you home with a disinfectant wash. Just gently apply it in the shower around your incisions. It should help stop the spread of infection–” Frostbite gets cut off by the beep of the centrifuge. “ I'll be right back, hopefully, with young Jason's results.” Once he gets over there, he takes out a vial, puts blood on a slide, and then places it under a microscope. After a minute or two, he starts writing down his results.

“ What’s the prognosis?” Jason asks.

“ Thankfully, the ectoplasm is still in the early stages of fighting. It doesn't look to have advanced enough to gain a personality.” Frostbite says, getting up to rummage through some cabinets. “ I'm going to give you Ecto-skíra. It will help you expel the foreign ectoplasm.”

“ That’s it? Jason asks, stunned.

“ It may not seem like much, but remember, we caught your condition early. If we caught it any later, you’d need more than that,” Frostbite says.

“ How long will I need to take it?”

“ At this dose? Maybe six months or until your blood work cleans up. Once it does, I will lower it. Due to you being exposed to the corruption so soon after you revived, you will most likely need it for the rest of your life. This is going to be a chronic issue,” Frostbite informs.

“ Are there going to be any limitations? Anything that he needs to worry about?” I ask.

“ As long as he doesn't take any more dips into those pits, he should be fine,” Frostbite smiles and ushers us out of his lab. “ Now that your doctor's visits are over, is there anything else you need to discuss with me? Or did you plan to stay awhile and play a couple of rounds of War before leaving?”

“ War?” Jason asks, eyebrow raised.

“ It's an all-out, intense snowball fight,” I answer Jason before turning my attention back to Frostbite, “ I wish we could stay for it, but I'm afraid Jason isn't dressed for this type of weather. Though I was hoping to speak with you about the Justice League decision before we left.”

Frostbite loses a smile, and his eyes narrow, “ what did they say?”

“ That they didn't know, not until I told them,” I say, exasperated.

“ And you believe them?” Frostbite asks, taking us to a warm sitting room.

“Yes. they were shocked and appalled during the meeting,” I say, plopping into a chair. “ They've agreed to help us arrange a meeting with the UN, but they want to meet our Council first. To hear our grievances and demands.”

“ Do they wish to meet all of us? Or simply a delegation?” Frostbite asks, then offers, “ Tea?”

“Yes, please,” I say, and Frostbite starts to pour me a cup, “ and I'm not sure. I forgot to ask, but I can find out. While I'm not sure about everyone's opinions about the matter, I have convinced them to come to us. I thought it might put some minds at ease. Jason, did you want some tea? It’s really good.”

“No, thank you, I'm good,” Jason says. “ I don't get why you're so worried. It's the Justice League, not the League of Assassins. They just want to help.”

“ They've screwed up things before, just trying to help,” I remind. “ and this situation is too important to have unnecessary mistakes.” Then I turn to Frostbite, “We're going to need a unified front, and I need to get Jason and I back before Baba worries. Can you let the others know about this development and call for a meeting?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

She fingers through the Gotham Gazzet, comparing it to other publications. Each one is the same. There’s no mistake. He has returned. She puts down the paper and softly sighs before calling out to her forces, “ Prepare yourselves. We are going to Gotham.”

Chapter 21: Oh no he didn't

Chapter Text

“ Oh, thank god,” Jason says, exiting the portal and entering the Batcave, “ solid ground.”

I exit after him, rolling my eyes, “Stop whining. It's not that bad.”

“ Maybe to you, Casper, but I prefer my feet on the ground,” Jason says, taking off his jacket and putting them away while I change back into human form.

“ I thought you liked to fly? You never said otherwise.”

Jason snorts, “You’ve got the wrong bat, Dickybird’s the flyer.”

“ But just the other day, you were telling me that your friends have to lug you around like a sack of potatoes, flying away from one thing or another. Why’d you let them if you hate it so much?”

“ The good of the mission,” Jason explains, sighing. “ If it helps us get away or save one more person, I’ll put up with whatever methods are necessary.”

“ I get that,” I say, heading to the elevator, “ and I’ll keep your aversion to flying in mind. You going up?”

“ I guess,” Jason says, raking his fingers through his hair, which, to me, was an odd movement. Jason, to my observations, isn’t usually so fidgety. But here he is, standing next to me, shifting his weight from one foot to another, sucking on the inside of his cheek.

“ You okay?” I can't help but ask.

“ Yeah, why?”

“ Nothing, nothing,” I say, inching closer to the elevator buttons, “ you just seem off.”

“ Off how?” Jason asks, just as the elevator goes to a screeching stop.

“ Your lack of observation, for one. You didn’t even notice me pushing the emergency stop. What’s going on with you? You’ve been acting off since we left the Farfrozen.”

“ Nothin’s wrong. Stop making somethin out of nothin,” Jason chastises, reaching over to restart the elevator, but I grab him, turning him intangible. He doesn’t notice until his arm goes through the panel, “let go.”

“ No. Not until you fess up. Something’s bothering you. I don’t know if it’s from your prognosis or what, but I know once you get up there, you’re gonna run,” I say steadily. I can't judge. After all, I would do the same thing. “ I don’t know where you plan to go, but you can't leave like this. You’re going to get someone hurt, probably yourself, maybe others. Talk to me. What can I do to help?”

“ You could let me go!” Jason exclaims, trying to pry my hands off of him. It doesn’t work. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“ I don’t? Then why don’t you inform me,” I say. Jason glares at me. Having given up on being released, he gives me the silent treatment. Eventually, Jason wins out as I sigh, “ Just promise me you’ll be at the manor tonight. You aren’t in the headspace to be going anywhere.”

“ If I promise, will ya’ leave me alone?” Jason asks.

“ If you promise,” I agree.

“Then I promise,” Jason says, “ I won’t go anywhere.”

I let him go and say, “ I’ll hold you to that,” then restart the elevator, and in no time, we are stepping into the manor.

“ Huh,” Jason remarks, “ surprised the old man had it in him.”

“ What?” I ask, confused. What on earth is he on about?

“Never mind,” Jason huffs. We wander the halls until we come across Dad. He’s relaxing comfortably in one of the sitting rooms, surrounded by various files. Both super and civilian.

“ I take it you’re done? Ready to rejoin the living,” Dad jokes, monotone, eyes never leaving the file. Jay and I side-eye one another, which goes unnoticed. “ You were expected back hours ago. You’ve missed Alfreds' wonderfully cooked dinner, and it's almost time for patrol,” he sets down his papers and stares us down,” What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“ The trip was informative,” Jason says nonchalantly and puts his hands in his pockets. “ Did ya know, shorty over here has chronic pain and nerve damage? Might be something to bring up to Leslie.”

Feeling betrayed, I add, “ Frostbite diagnosed Jason with an ectoplasmic regulatory disorder. Thought ya might wanna know.” I watch as Dad’s eyebrows go higher with each reveal.

“ Dude,” Jason exclaims, “ You’re violating HIPPA!”

“ That only applies to medical professionals, dipsh*t, and you did it first,” I argue back.

“ Boys!” Dad exclaims, quieting us. “ Sit down and explain.” Hesitantly, we did and retold our doctor's visit. “ So, to put it in human terms, Jason just needs to take this ‘Ecto-skíra,’ and the Pit Madness will go away?”

“ It will cleanse his system of the contamination,” I correct, “ ‘Pit Madness’ isn’t really an accurate term. There is more than one way to get it.”

“ How long does he need to take it?” Dad asks me.

“ The doc. said forever,” Jason replies, his face pinched. “ Said I’ll need it, or I’ll just get infected again.”

“ Jason didn’t have enough clean ecto when he came back, making his system weak. Think of it as a pill form of dialysis, cleaning up any ecto that enters his system,” I explain.

“ So you're going to be okay?” Dad asks, hope shining through his tone.”

“ Yeah, you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon, old man,” Jason says and is quickly brought into a hug.

Dad cradles Jason to his chest, kisses the top of his head, and whispers, “Thank goodness. I love you, Jaylad; I’ve been so worried. All of us have. To know you’re going to be okay..” he trails off and releases Jason from the hug and quickly reclaims his composure and says to me, “ Jason was right. Your nerve issues should be checked out on this side, too.”

“ Not yet; it’s not safe if they see–”

“ Let me worry about that,” Bab says, cutting me off. “ You would be in good hands with Leslie. She’s the family doctor. She can at least write up a referral, and I can work on getting you to a league-approved doctor. They wouldn’t tell; you’d be in good hands.”

“ Can I at least think this over?” I ask, knowing arguing would get me nowhere. Baba has the same look in his eye Dami gets when he wants you to do something. Resistance is futile.

“ We can talk over who you’ll go to after we gain your referral, but you’re not getting out of going to see Leslie,” he says.

“ Well, that’s better than I thought I’d get,” I mutter and ask Bab, “Can I go to bed now?”

“ Of course,” Baba agrees, checking his watch, “ You should go to bed too, Jay. You’ve had a long day. Gotham can handle a night without you.”

“ Okay,” Jason says, sounding a little confused. “ I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

A chill comes over the room. The same chill that's come over it every thirty minutes, ‘ damn you, demon baby,’ I think, pretending to be asleep. Sure, I said I’d stay in tonight, but I didn’t realize I would really be held to that. I tap on my phone ‘11:58,’ Two more minutes. ‘ I only said I wouldn’t go out tonight. I didn’t say anything about tomorrow.’ After all, what's the point of staying in? Being left alone with unwanted thoughts. No thanks. I wait out the remaining time, then get up.

I move silently through the halls and make my way to the cave. Once I get down there, I find it empty. Good. With nobody to bother me, I get ready in record time. I decide to forgo the helmet and just apply the mask, taking no trackers or coms. I get on my bike and hit the open road.

I turn over groggily and rub nocturnes, still forming crusts from my eyes. I go to use the bathroom, and when I get back, I notice it’s still dark out. Instead of going back to bed, I stray from my path, walk invisibly through the wall, and peek into Jasons' room. The bed’s unmade. No one is in there. “ This Bitch,” I groan under my breath. I loosen my grasp on gravity and fall through the floor until I reach the cave. All of the vehicles are gone.

“ Good Morning, Baba,” I say, entering the kitchen.

“ Afternoon,” Gramps corrects, setting sandwiches on the table, “It’s nearly noon.”

I grab one, “ Almost being the keyword here, Gramps. Where’s everyone else?”

“ Besides Mastors Tim and yourself, away from the manor,” Gramps informs, going to fill up some glasses with ice.

“ Huh,” I hum, eating. After swallowing, I say, “ I had forgotten to ask before leaving yesterday, how much of the league is supposed to go for the meeting? Are you sending a delegation? Or everybody? Frostbite was curious.”

Dad takes a sip of his coffee, “ A delegation. Made up of Superman, Wonder Woman, Constantine, a lantern or two, and myself. At this stage, the others would only be a hindrance.”

I nod in agreement. Too many voices are just as bad as too few, “ That’s–”

I get cut off by the doorbell. We all look at each other as if asking, ‘Is that for you?’ Gramps gives us our drinks and heads for the door.

We sit quietly until a feminine voice draws near, saying, “ Oh, I’m glad. I was afraid that I’d arrive at the wrong time.”

Their light footsteps get closer. Gramps says, “Of course not, madam, and at any rate, the halls of Wayne Manor are always open to those we call friends.” Before anything else can be said, he re-enters the room with Diana Prince following closely behind.

“ Good day, Bruce,” she greets, “ and how wonderful it is to see you again, nephew.”

Dad nods at her and says, “Come join us. We’ve only just started.”

“ Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose,” Diana says, but we brush off her concerns.

“ It’s no trouble,” Dad says.

“ There’s plenty,” I agree.

She lingers for a moment before smiling, “ If you’re sure, I would be happy to join you.”

“ Do you have a preferred drink, Ms. Prince?”

“ A glass of water would be great if you don’t mind,” Diana says.

“ It’ll be out in a moment,” Gramps says, leaving the room.

“ While wonderful to see you,” Dad says to her, “ is there a reason for your visit?”

I shoot him a glare that was rude, but before I can interrupt, Diana says, “I was hoping to spend some time with young Danyal. Sorry, Danny. It's not every day one gains a nephew. Well, if he's okay with that, of course.”

Expected looks shoot my way, “ I’m free till this evening,” I say.

“ Fabulous!” Diana exclaims, “You don’t mind If I borrow him for a while,” She looks at Bruce, “ right?”

Dad lightly purses his lips, “As long as he comes back in one piece.”

She playfully shoves him, “ of course. It’s not like I’m Oliver.”

He huffs and smiles, “ True, though not many can do worse than Queen,” he shifts his case to me, “ best to get ready.”

I stand just as Gramps arrives with her drink, “ I shouldn’t be long. Will our outing have any attire requirements?”

“ Nope! Anything is good as long as you’re comfortable,” she says, and I rush off to get dressed. I come back in a fresh, green t-shirt and jeans just as she is finishing her food. Diana and Baba finish their conversation and say their goodbyes, and then we are out the door. We climb into her car, which was parked out front, and drive away into the city.

“ So,” I ask, interrupting the silence, “ what do you do for work? Civilian work, I mean.”

“ I’m a curator. I look after artifacts and try to identify them,” She says. “ I don’t know if you can tell, but the Greek ones are my favorite.” I can’t help but chuckle at that. “ What about you? What do you want to do once you’re out of school?”

“ I’ll be taking up a more prominent role in the Infinite Realms,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck,” but on this side of the divide, if I’ve got the time, I’d love to work on mixing the realms technology. See what can happen if you mix the two. Hopefully, do some good in the world.”

“ That’s a great goal,” she praises, and we return to silence.

I fidget in my seat, trying to figure out what to say. Eventually, I came up with, “ You have a favorite color?”

Diana hums in thought, “ I’ve always been partial to blue.”

“ Nice, nice..” I trail off.

“ What about you?” She asks.

“ I don’t know,” I say, “ to me, each color comes with its own connotations. So depending on the circ*mstance–”

“ Your answer would change,” Diana finishes, understanding.

At this point, we’re in the city proper, “ So, are we going anywhere in particular? You never said.”

“ Oh, did I not? I thought I had,” she says and gains an apprehensive look. “ I had intended to take you to Gothams' planetarium. I had mentioned my intentions to have a day with you around Clark, and he mentioned that you may like it. That you like star gazing. If you want to do something else, that's totally fine–”

“ No, that’s fine. I would love to go to the planetarium. In Nanda Pabart and in the Midwest, there wasn’t as much light pollution. You could see hundreds of stars, but here? It’s just straight smog!” I exclaim, exasperated.

Diana laughs, “ I can see how that would be disheartening. On Themyscira, the sky’s clear, yet to be touched by men. It’s one of the best parts about visiting home.”

We talk about the wonders that are the stars until the show starts. That afternoon, we saw two presentations. The first was on constellations. Each time they told of their origins, we whispered corrections to one another. The other one was on unusual phenomenon. Touching upon aurora borealis, black holes, magnetars, gamma-ray bursts, and more. Ah. So many ways the galaxy could end. So much fun. By the time we got out, it was almost sundown. “ That was nice. Thanks for taking me,” I say as we climb back to the car.

“ It was my pleasure,” Diana says, “ It’s a bit later than I thought it would be, but I should be able to get you back in time for your other commitments.”

“ Don’t worry about it. There should be plenty of time,” I say.

“ Do you mind if I ask what it is you’re doing?” Diana asks.

I tap my fingers on my thigh, “ I have a council meeting. I’ve passed on word that you’ve all agreed to help. To help things go better when you all visit, we’re going to outline our key points and decide on how to proceed for any resolutions.”

“ Smart,” she says. “ Best to be on the same page.”

“ Exactly. I don’t need to have any infighting when you all come,” I say. We ride in silence until I say, “If you don’t mind me asking, are you doing anything tonight?”

“ …No, I don’t believe so, why?” Diana asks, sounding confused.

“ Dad doesn’t like me going into the realms by myself. Last time, I was forced into bringing Jason with me, and I was thinking, If you’re free, maybe you’d be interested. Pandora is supposed to be there tonight. I thought you might want to meet.”

“ Would I be welcomed? I wouldn’t want to be where I’m unwanted,” she says.

“ Don’t worry about it, Aunty. If anything, you’d be a boon. My explanations aren’t always the best, and I could have accidentally misunderstood something. Would be better to be corrected now than later,” I say.

“ If you’re sure, I’d be happy to accompany you,” Aunty Diana says.

“ Great! You won’t regret it!”

Chapter 22: Eyeballs and the Courtroom of Doom

Chapter Text

“ This is quite different than I expected,” Aunt Diana remarks as we fly toward our destination. Without a guide, it would be impossible for her to traverse the floating islands and purple doors.

“ What did you expect?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow.

“ Less green”

I snort, “ I wasn’t kidding when I said the realms were made of ectoplasm.”

“ But how was I supposed to know that meant everything would be green?” Aunt Diana asks, pouting.

“ It’s common knowledge? Like it’s one of the few things Ghostbusters got right,” I say, surprised.

“ Ghostbusters? What is Ghostbusters?” Aunt Diana asks.

“...A movie franchise from the 1980s,” I say slowly, “ ring any bells?”

“ No, I can’t say it does,” Aunt Diana says.

“ That's a travesty! It's a classic! You’ve got to make some time to watch it,” I say excitedly.

Aunt Diana smiles, “ I'll put it on my to-do list and get back to you.” It's not long before the keep comes into view. Its base is made of obsidian, and it blends into the crystal as it gets towards the top. The light shines off of the reflective service, splintering into rainbows of neon, almost like it's settled within the northern lights. The grounds are lush with extinct plants from forgotten realms and winding walkways. “ Wow,” Aunt Diana gasps as they land on the keep, “ It's beautiful.”

“ Thank you,” I say, unconsciously preening, “ I had some help redesigning it. You should have seen the last guy's place. Besides the throne room, everything else had been repurposed into a dungeon.”

“Which, at the time, was necessary,” says the glowing purple Knight floating towards us, “ Pariah was a lot of things, but he didn't necessarily end anyone.”

“ Yeah, cause after life imprisonment, with no Obsession outlets, is so much better,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes, “ because pushing your subjects towards suicide is better than ending them yourself and getting your hands dirty.”

“ An opinion we both share, Your Highness,” the Knight says before asking, “Is your tag along here for the meeting?”

“Oh, yes, sorry, where are my manners? Fright Knight, this is my cousin, Diana of Themyscira; Diana, this is Fright Kight. My head is security and a loyal friend.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Aunt Diana says, reaching to shake his hand.

Fright Knight stares at the appendage before slowly grasping it, “ You as well. Welcome to Phantom Keep.” We step into my black and white semi-circular throne room. The throne is silver with purple upholstery and embedded with small shining gems. “ Is everyone here yet?” I ask as Fright Knight walks with us into a side hall. It’s adorned with pictures of me, some from my coronation, others from adventures and political visits. As we get farther in the pictures, they start losing the staunch air of aristocracy and become more personal.

“ No, sir. Only half have so far,” Fright Knight says.

“ Well, that’s better than I expected,” I say, sighing as we reach the room. The room is similarly decorated to the throne room in shades of black and white. All the chairs, but one, are upholstered in green, with the other in purple, “ see ya in a bit.”

“ Great One!” Exclaims Frostbite with a smile.

“ Hey,” I say, going in for a hug.

Frostbite returns it, “You and young Jason got back well yesterday, I take it?”

“ Yep, no problems.”

“ And this is?” Asks the six-armed ghost, Aunt Pandora, voice neutral, but her eyes betray her; they are narrowed, calculated.

“She's my guest and a JLA representative,” I say.

“ Whom you neglected to mention yesterday,” Frostbite counters.

“ Yeah, that's on me,” I say, scratching the back of my neck. “ but I didn't think it wouldn’t matter. We're on the same side, and I thought she and Pandora would benefit from meeting each other. Auntie Pan, you've been saying you've missed having sisters. I know you have Auntie Dora now, but I thought you'd like to meet another one, and Auntie Diana wanted to meet you, too, and Peepaw.”

“Calm yourself, child,” says Peepaw, reassuring, “ you've done nothing wrong. Pandora's just concerned. Showing up with an unknown in a time like this is enough to make any spirit worry.”

“ You could have been coerced into bringing her,” adds the purple horn ghost, Uncle Nocturne, “ demigods are known to fight on the side of their parent decides most beneficial.”

“ And no one commands me to fight for or against a cause. The league and I want to help because it's the right thing to do,” Aunt Diana interrupts. “ I am only here to help,” she side-eyes Pandora and Clockwork, “ and maybe, if you have me, reconnect with family.”

“ A sentiment I agree with, daughter is Zeus, but one that must be acted upon another time,” Peepaw says, heading towards their seat right as the doors open, “ the others have arrived.” Three eyeballs, Observants, flood into the room along with my uncle's Vortex, Undergrowth, with Fright Knight bringing up the rear. The ghosts scramble to their seats, ready for the meeting to begin.

An Eyeball, with purple irises, I’d nicknamed him Kevin, brings out folders and announces, “ We have been called here today by councilman Frostbite, by order of his majesty, High Prince Phantom, to ascertain the threat the humans possess,” the eye wanders to Diana, giving her a look of disdain, “ before you share your findings, your highness, much explain why you brought a living with you today?”

“ For those unaware, this is Princess Diana of Themyscira,” I say, standing up, “ she is here as a representative of the Justice League and here to help clarify anything we are unsure of. She's here as my guest and deserves your respect.”

The other two eyeballs float up, slamming their hands on the table, “ that is not for you to decide!”

“ Then whom do you propose it is? I don't recall this counsel being enacted for yourself, or any of us for that matter,” Aunt Pandora argues from her seat.

The eyeballs twitch, “ well–”

“ I think,” I interrupt with the glare, “ we should go on with the meeting. Diana is a trusted member of the Justice League, the same league we asked for help from. Anything we decide today will have to be retold to them later anyway.”

“ But what of our preparations?” asks Kevin, the eyeball.

“Preparations?” Diana echoes.

“For war,” I say, sitting down, paying her no mind.

“ But, I thought the whole purpose of these meetings was to negotiate for peace!” Aunt Diana exclaims.

“It is,” I say, voice calm, “ but you must understand our position. Peace may be the goal, but there's no guarantee we're going to get it. I will not have my people introduced to the world at large with no plans of defense in place. I won't have them unprotected.”

Aunt Diana huffs, but the fight drains out of her, “ understood. At any point in time you need me to leave the room, I will do so immediately.”

“ See to it that you do,” says Uncle Vortex, “ and you may stay. Otherwise…”

“I understand,” Aunt Diana says, and all other objections drop. However, the eyeballs don't look too happy.

“ Now, I take it, because of Dianas’ presence, your meeting with the JLA went well?” Fright Knight remarks.

I nod, “They have agreed to help us with our case to the UN and help pressure the removal of the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW. What is needed today is for us to come to an agreement on what our exact demands are. What do we want from this potential treaty agreement, and what will we give or do in exchange for the ability to visit the living realm. I believe we can all agree nothing goes forward until the GIW and the Anti-Ecto Acts are dismantled? That this is the bottom line to prevent a war.”

“Much agreed, Your Highness,” sounds out around the room.

“Good,” I say, “ now, the next thing I believe would be beneficiary is a clause giving us visitation rights. Letting all ghosts travel between the Realms, allowing all to partake in their obsessions.”

“ Mighty hypocritical of you, Phantom,” grouches Uncle Undergrowth, “ have you or have you not spent the past year or so pushing us all back into the realms.”

“ No,” I say, rolling my eyes, “ what I did was send home those who took advantage of the living. Violent haunting, kidnappings, physical or emotional harm, trying to take over the world, etc. Anyone who came with pure intentions was left alone.”

“That's not what it seemed like to me,” says Uncles’ Undergrowth and Vortex.

Peepaw snorts, “That would be due to your apocalyptic attempts of bonding.”

Uncle Nocturne crosses his arms, “ how were we expected to know the kid wouldn't like it? We were only playing.”

Aunt Pandora hits him on the shoulder, “You should know that roughhousing that hard with a baby wasn't appropriate regardless of whether he liked it or not.”

“ Especially in the living realm,” Frostbite says, “ not to mention his role as a protector spirit–”

“Yeah, yeah,” Uncle Nocturne brushes them off, “ How do you propose humans will keep the peace if someone with malicious intent slips through? You can't be skipping around the planet catching ghosts.”

I fold my hands together on the table, “ I had a similar concern, but I believe we already have an easy fix.” I pull out a much loved Phantom thermos, “ I believe a few of you are familiar with a similar contraption. For those unaware, this is a containment device built to hold up to 25 ghosts. There are also models able to hold up to five. I borrowed the base design from the Fentons, but I've changed the circuitry to be more ecto-conductive and made it roomier on the inside. Any unruly Spirit can be sucked up and handled accordingly.”

“And what is your definition of handle, your highness?” asks Kay, one of the few female eyeballs.

“ If a problem occurs due to their obsession, we can work on ways to redirect them and assign a chaperone for their next visit. Repeat offenders, and those that intentionally cause issues, would be restricted from visiting.”

“And those that cause problems, will they be properly punished?” Aunt Diana asks.

“ There will be an investigation, of course, to make sure they're guilty of what was accused, then they'll have either parole or jail time,” I say.

“What if one of your precious humans,” spits Jerry, a greenish eyeball, “ captures one of us on purpose? For malicious purposes?”

“ Then, I’d call for an external review of them and negotiate their punishment with the living authorities,” I say. The eyeballs scowl, but take note of my answer.

“ What are the crimes against us that they have already committed?” asks Fright Knight, “ the GIW and the Fentons have been terrorizing us for years. Your citizens won't stand for anything less than retribution.”

I nod, “ I feel similarly. Their actions constitute as genocide, which on earth, is a war crime. Capital punishment. We have video evidence to back up our claims and a plethora of files. They won't be getting away with anything. They will be imprisoned.”

“ That's not enough,” argues Aunt Pandora, “ for what they've done–”

I raise a hand, silencing her, “There's only so much a human can take. Anything else would violate their rules against cruel and unusual punishment. Once they die, we can revisit the topic of additional punishment, but until then, this will have to do.”

“ How can you make sure it's enough? What if the humans are sympathetic to them and they lighten their sentence?” asks Uncle Vortex.

“ We can send a realm representative,” I shrug, “ most likely someone with experience with the legal system.”

“A fine decision,” says Peepaw, then they look at Aunt Diana, “ have we decided upon anything outside the realm of possibility?”

“ I don't believe so,” she says, “ however, you have yet to say what you will offer up in return for visitation rights.”

“ That could be rather difficult,” says Frostbite, “ much of the Realms is inhospitable to humans. Staying here for days at a time could have adverse effects.”

“ It may be true that we are limited in exports, but I don't see why we can't open up the realms for tourism,” I say.

Uncle Nocturne sighs, “ Frosty just pointed out why we can't.”

“ No, he just said why we can't have extended stays,” I correct, “ short visits shouldn't be a problem.”

“What would they gain for coming here besides saying they visited?” asks Uncle Undergrowth.

“ We are the home to extinct floor and fauna; animals humans have never seen. Similarly, with civilizations, Princess Dorthea has been trying to modernize and attract visitors. Her citizens would benefit from humans visiting, and the humans would be able to interact with people from other times. As long as they signed waivers and were given the do's and don'ts of how to interact with ghosts and were supervised? It could go great. Other independent ghosts like Ember, Technus, and even the FarFrozen,” I look at Frostbite, “ could benefit by showing their technology to new markets. This would allow them to stay up to date on what's going on in their fields and mix the different types of technology and media. Many could benefit from this type of agreement.”

“How would they get around?” asks Kevin.

“ The Fentons were able to create the “Specter speeder” to transport themselves and others in the realms; Great One, do you believe you would be able to replicate it?” asks Frostbite.

“ Definitely,” I say, “ and possibly improve it.”

“ What I want to know is: what did they ask for more?” asks Fright Knight, “ humans are quick to draw civilizations into war. What if they ask us to fight for them?”

“I wouldn't agree to it,” I say, voice harsh. “their allegiance lies with the Infinite Realms, not the living one. If they want to go out and play mercenary, I wouldn't be opposed, as long as it is understood by both parties, at the end of the day, that they serve and are a part of Infinite Realms. Not whichever nation or group has hired them.”

Quiet permeates around the room until Uncle Nocturne clears his throat, “Ms. Diana, I believe this would be a good time to leave the room.”

“ Thank you for allowing me to participate thus far,” Aunt Diana says, getting up.

“ No, thank you for joining us,” I say. “ Fright Knight, please escort Diana to the council sitting room,” he smiles at her, “ if you're needed again, someone will come to fetch you, and if not, I'll come to you after the meeting is over. There is a basket of human-safe refreshments if you want anything, and please, help yourself to any books; we'll try not to be too long.”

“ Thank you, Your Highness,” Aunt Diana says, bowing before following Fright Knight out.

They wait until Fright Knight comes back before continuing. “ if we are forced to go to work, what do you intend to do?” asks Peepaw, leaning on their staff.

“Well, first and foremost, Frighty, how many standing troops do we currently have?” I ask.

“ 11,014, Your Highness,” Fright Knight says, leaning against the wall behind me.

“And how many can you safely order and train before it gets too much?” I ask, “Before the UN meeting?”

Fright Knight is quiet for a moment before saying, “ 300,000, on the low end, 500,000 if they show promise.”

I nod, “ I will raise the required amount before leaving today.” Then I look around the room and sigh, “Pandora, would your people be willing to help train and fight with Fright Knight?”

“ Of course, Your Highness,” she says.

“ Good, now, besides your armies, I believe we would benefit from having Skulker scout any talented individuals for the war effort and have him assist Fright Knight with patrols,” I say. “ I don't want humans slipping into the realms. We need a patrol schedule for active portal areas. Civilians and children are to be escorted back to the living realm, but all hostiles are to be captured and interrogated. By the time we are done with them, I want them to appear the same way they arrived. No torture.” My stipulation caused the Observants and Uncle Vortex to frown.

“Where are these hypothetical prisoners supposed to be held?” asks Uncle Undergrowth, “ I doubt you're going to pull a Pariah and convert the keep into a dungeon.”

“Walker's prison. I know he has the means to make it human-proof,” I say, “ and he and his guards at least have experience with tricky prisoners.”

“But how would Walker enforce his rules? How do we get information?” Asks Uncle Nocturne, “Humans are a lot… squishier than we are. Walker is known for going too far.”

“ The Great One could always outline what would be considered acceptable or not, from a human standpoint,” Frostbite says.

“ I can, and I'm willing to do so,” I agree, “ however, it may take me some time. Acceptable punishment isn't a universal thing; it depends country by country. I would have to do some research first.”

“You should have plenty of time,” says Peepaw.

“ Technus and the other technology-inclined ghosts could be of help too,” I muse, “ they could keep track of online traffic and disrupt cyber attacks.”

“ What about other forms of surveillance?” Asks Jerry.

“ What of the other halfa? Plasmius employs birds, yes?” Asks Kevin, “Would they be a viable option?”

“ No,” I say, voice harsh, “ the buzzards are loyal to Vlad, and he's an opportunist bastard. If we're forced into war, he'll fight for whatever side he can exploit to his advantage. Plasmius is to stay far away from any plans.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” sounds off the council.

“Then whom do you suggest we use for surveillance?” asks Kay.

“Shades. they won't be noticed by ordinary humans and have the means you communicate and navigate the living world,” I say.

“But wouldn't that be counterintuitive?” asks Fright Knight, “ the whole point of your degree was to keep ghosts out of the living realm.”

I huff, “ While counterintuitive, it's our best option. Fenton tech isn't sensitive enough to pick up Shades, and the GIW is armed to the teeth with that tech.”

“There is no point in arguing about this,” Peepaw says, “ in the end, it will be the humans that ultimately decide our fates.”

I look around the chamber at their weary faces and say, “I believe that is enough for today. Meeting adjourned.” The observants leave immediately, and my uncles are quick to follow. “ I'm going to get some parchment; I'll meet you all in the sitting room. With me, please, Fright Knight.”

“Yes, my liege,” Fright Knight says, following me to my office and then to the outdoor training grounds.

Once we get out there, I kneel on the ground, press my hand into the soil, and order, “ Rise.” One after another, skeletons dig themselves out and stand to attention. Some are just bone, but others have thin skin stretched over them. “ It seems you've lucked out, Frighty; some draugers answered the call.”

“ They will help greatly,” Fright Knight agrees. “ They’ll be able to lead units in my steed.”

I brush off his hands and order, “Head to the barracks and await further instructions.” They march off in formation, and I ask Fright Knight, “Do you think our efforts will suffice?”

“ For the sake of humanity, I hope so, sir,” Fright Knight says. “ If it becomes a fight, do you truly believe you'll be able to stand against Earth? It's still your home.”

I bite my lip, “My allegiance is to the realms, regardless of my personal attachments. Come on, let's go back in. We can't keep them waiting for long.”

“Yes, sir.”

When we got to the sitting room, we found Aunties Diana, Pandora, Frostbite, and Peepaw having tea. “ Sorry for taking so long,” Danny says, “ there were a couple of things we had to take care of.”

“ It's no problem,” Aunt Diana says, “ we were just discussing our familial connections.”

“ Yeah, it can be pretty confusing,” I agree, slumping down into a chair.

“ I don't understand what is so difficult about it,” says Frostbite, “ family is what you decided it is. Core adopting just makes it official.”

“ Human adoptions don't change them biologically like ghost ones do, which is the most significant difference. Well, that and you can't choose what kind of bond you're creating. It's either a parent and child one or nothing at all,” I explain.

“ Which is the part that confuses me,” Aunt Diana admits, “ Kronos, sorry, you said you prefer Clockwork now, is your grandfather, but Pandora and I are your aunts–”

“ Don't forget Nocturne, Vortex, and Undergrowth. They have uncle-nephew bonds,” Frostbite cuts in.

“Yes, and them too, but you never made parental bonds,” Aunt Diana continues, “ if you were going to make all those bonds, why not make parental ones?”

“Well,” I say hesitantly, “ it's not so much that I can't make parental bonds. I just don't want to. I have parents, Baba is great, and mother… well, she's mother. They both have their faults, but they're my parents. I can't just replace them.”

“ Which is completely understandable,” Peepaw says, “ no one is forcing you to replace them.”

“ I know, it's just..” I trail off.

“ A complicated subject?” Aunt Pandora offers.

“ Yeah, that.” I agree.

“ Do you have a bond with Danny, Mr. Frostbite?” Aunt Diana asks.

“ Yes,” he nods, “ but it is different than his others. Instead of bonding as a family, we bonded as mentor and mentee.”

“ Oh, how did that happen?” Aunt Diana asks.

We share a look, but Frostbite answers, “We both helped each other with a precarious situation, and eventually, a bond grew. It could have changed into a familial one, but his other bonds have a different origin than mine. With the Great One being so young, it could cause negative effects to create a familial bond with one another.”

Aunt Diana's head tilts slightly, “ different origins? I was under the impression you were all Neverborns. The personification of Concepts?”

“ Yes, we are all Neverborns, but that’s not what I meant. All of the others, besides the Great One, were created in Greece. My people and I, on the other hand, are the descendants of the Norse Jötunn. Mixing mythologies isn't good for the young. He could be adopted eventually, like Aphrodite. Her origins can be attributed to the Sumerians,” Frostbite explains.

After the explanation, Aunt Diana drops the topic, choosing more light-hearted topics, and enjoys the evening, drinking tea and bonding with new family.

I watch as one of my men load my bags onto the plane, “We will be together once again soon, my beloved. You and my Habibi's.”

Chapter 23: Eat or be Eaten

Chapter Text

I was working on my United Nations presentation when the doorbell rang. I think nothing of it; it’s almost time for dinner, and it's not unusual for a sibling or two to join us unexpectedly. They forget their keys somewhere and need Gramps or another to let them in. It has happened enough times since I joined the family. It rings again. Soon after, Dick can be heard yelling, “ I got it!” It’s quiet for a moment, then Dick screams, “ Dad! Your Baby Mama’s here!”

I freeze, my core buzzing erratically. ‘ Mother? Mother—Mother is here?’ I’m stuck in my seat, unable to move, unsure what to do. Should I run, hide, or say hello? ‘ How do you greet your almost murderer?’ I feel the pounding of fast footsteps shaking the manor. I need to move. It’s not safe. ‘ I’m shaking; why am I shaking?’ I wonder, feeling my body move without my consent.

“—yal, Danyal,” a voice tries to get my attention. A familiar hand is on me. “ Danyal, Ahki, brother,” I realize it's Dami.

“ Mother is here,” I whisper in horror.

“ I heard,” Dami remarks numbly, “Richard's exclamation was quite clear.”

“ What am I supposed to do?” I whisper, “ I-I can’t see her, Dami, I can’t, she’s–”

“ Calm down, Ahki,” Dami steadies me, “ Mother... Mother has calmed down since your… incident. Baba won’t let anything happen to us. You are safe. We are safe.”

I slowly let out a shaky breath, “ Can’t I just stay up here? I don’t want to see her.”

“ I doubt it…” Dami trails off, “ Think of this as practice for upcoming meetings and trials with enemies. You can do this, Danyal.”

“ Father would be in the room? You?” I ask, calming down.

“ Of course,” Dami says vehemently.

“ Young masters,” Gramps calls up the stairs, and we leave the room. Dinner is ready… we have a… guest.” Damian and I meet Gramps at the stairs. He looks at us sadly, “Your mother has arrived.”

“ We heard,” I say, “ is Baba down there yet?”

Gramps nods, “As well as Young Master Dick, and I assume the rest of your siblings won’t be far behind. The Young Master was notifying them of this development.”

“ Any chance you could pretend we’re not here?” I ask Gramps.

“ No, you already agreed to come down with me. Let's go see Mother,” Dami says, taking my hand and pulling me down the stairs. We head into the dining room to see Baba at the head of the table, Mother on one side, Dick on the other. Dami goes to Dicks side and skips a seat, letting me sit between them.

Mothers – Damis’ – eyes stare at me, scrutinizing me, “ you look well, Danyal.”

“ Thank you, Mother,” I say tensely.

“ Which is such a shame,” Mother says, continuing as if I hadn’t spoken. “ Your miraculous survival has ruined my objective record.”

I shrug, “You should have known better to engage in a fool's venture.”

“ How dare you,” Mother snarls, “ I am your mother–”

“ One that pushes children into canyons,” Dick says, cutting her off, “ the fact that you have the gull to call yourself a mother at all is astounding.”

“ Beloved–” Mother says, starting to turn to Baba.

Baba just huffs, “ he's a grown man, dick can speak as he pleases,” which is bat speak for, ‘Was he lyin tho?’ Mother pouts a little as no one is on her side. Gramps brings out dinner, which starts the most awkward family dinner of the century ( if you were to ask Clockwork, they would say it makes the top 50).

After a few minutes of silence, Dami asks, “Is there a purpose to your visit, Mother?”

She nods as she swallows her food, “ I have come to retrieve your spare. Your refusal to act as Father's heir has left the position open. Danyal is your replacement. He will fulfill his intended duty.”

I spit out the water I’m drinking and laugh, almost cackling, “ You think I’m just going to waltz away back to that hell hole? Mother, you’re delusional. Delulu. Why would I want to act as heir to a man who already attempted to have me assassinated? I am not that stupid. Mother, when it comes down to it, I want nothing to do with you.”

“ Danyal,” Mother admonishes, “ you have a duty to the league–”

“ No, I don’t,” I argue, “ you and Grandfather relieved me of it as soon as you agreed to the hit on me.”

“ That was years ago,” Mother says, brushing that off. “ You're still here, and that’s all that matters.”

I go quiet, ‘ still here’ ringing in my ears. ‘ What would she say if she knew otherwise?’ I wonder, knowing I can never tell her, but ask her anyway, “And if I wasn’t? Would you be having this conversation with Damian? Dragging him away from his position as Robin? From his life as Damian Wayne? Would you be so cruel to pull away your kid, your baby, from a safe, loving environment?”

“That's different,” Mother says.

“ Is it different because it's him in this hypothetical situation? Instead of me? Does the fact that this is the reality for me you are trying to create change anything?” I ask.

Mother says haughty,“ Damian was sent in the first place to Gotham to expand his skills; you attached yourself like a parasite–”

“ Hey!” Dick exclaims, pissed, but Mother, as usual, ignores his existence.

“ You have yet to put down roots. You can still fade into nothing, just a blip of history. You have yet to join your Father in his nightly crusade. Damian has joined him; those not of his blood have joined him, but you? You have yet to race across the rooftops and be introduced to Gotham's underbelly. Danyal. Your place is not here. Preferably, your presence wouldn’t exist anywhere, but because of your inability to die right, we are still stuck with you. You will return with me. Your father has made your brother's position in Gotham clear. You are still an outsider. If the demon's head demanded the return of his heir, we retrieve him–”.

“ Grandfather hasn’t ordered my return?” I, as Danyal, not Danny, ask, narrowing my eyes.

“ Not yet–”

“ Then I take it, this is you requesting?” I ask for clarification.

Mother nods, “ Best to return willingly than forcefully.”

“ I will not be honoring your request,” I say diplomatically.

Mother says, bewildered, “ No? You are refuting me?”

“ Obviously,” says Dick.

“ I was not speaking to you!” Mother spits at Dick, “ Danyal, it is time to come home before your Grandfather demands it.”

“ To set myself up for another attempt?” I scoff.“ Mother, you seem to forget I am not a naive five-year-old. I'm not going with you, not even for a trillion dollars.”

“ Your Grandfather will eventually know,” Mother says, “ what is your plan for when the league invades Gotham for your head? Your father and his crusaders don't have what it takes to take a life–”

“ And your merry band of do-gooders have no restraint,” I fire back, “ You'll find that it's harder to fight with restraint than with none. Instead of trying to negotiate, all you do is take the easy way out. Regardless, I'm not in the business of letting others fight my battles–”

“You will be overwhelmed–”

“ It almost sounds like you care,” I say mockingly, cooing. “ However, regardless of whom is sent, I will be fine.”

“Overconfidence will get you killed,” Mother warns.

“ And your arrogance will be your downfall,” I say, rising from his seat, “Mother, whomever you or Grandfather sends will leave Gotham in one way: a body bag.”

“ You don't have the nerve. You always have been soft- weak,” She says, rising to meet me.

“ And this is your only and last warning from me, Talia Al-Ghul, Daughter of the demon. If I see even a glance of a blade, your agent is done for. I don't kill innocents, but all of you are anything but. Talia, it has been horrible to see you. I hope when you pass, it's fast and quick,” that's a ghostly insult. It means the ghost thinks they don't deserve a conscious afterlife. “ Baba, I’m going on a walk,” I say, storming out of the room.

I head upstairs instead of out the front door. I wait until I’m in private before turning into Phantom and flying out of the house. ‘ How dare she!' I think as I float amongst the fog. ‘ She shows up out of the blue, wanting me to leave!’ The whole situation just makes me mad. I can't help but wonder, ‘How can somebody that leaves you, that tries to hurt you, come into your home, into your face, and try to control you?’

It’s baffling.

Due to my absent-mindedness, I continue to float up into the air and out of Earth's atmosphere.

I go to the moon.

I sit on the edge of a crater and breathe. Just breathe. Well as close as a ghost gets to breathing. As I calm down, my brain, the way I think, shifts. During dinner, my brain switched to Danyal mode. The authority figure, the assassin, not Danny the Ghost boy or small-time hero. ‘ Damn it,’ I think, rubbing my face.

He hates doing that.

Being confrontational.

Falling into stereotypes… it's hard to feel comfortable with emotions when the show of them has been vilified. I stay there for a while, but once a glowing green figure starts coming closer, I know it's time to go. I love space and its inhabitants. However, I’m not in the mood to deal with a Green Lantern. Carefully, I reenter Gotham's airspace and float back to earth. I start to head home when my stomach growls, ‘Ah… I guess I didn't really eat, now did I?’ After a moment of consideration, I find a private area, turn human, and walk to the closest Bat Burger. I order to go, and start on my way home eating my fries. ‘ Walking through Gotham at night isn't as bad as people make it out to be–’ Slam.

I receive a heavy blow to the back of my head; I stumble, eyes unable to focus. I pivot to see a flash of purple and green before being slammed into again, with a mallet, to the side of my head. The impact knocks me to the ground; my eyes feel heavy as a high-pitched cackle reverberates in the street. The figure drags me to a van and stuffs me into the trunk. I don’t resist, still trying to settle myself. ‘ Damn,’ I think, wincing as we go over a pothole, ‘ they hit as hard as Frighty.’ Not many of my subjects are willing to spar with me in human form these days, realizing their King is ‘ squishy,’ Fright Knight and Pandora being among the few outside of my typical rogues. However, unlike the rogues, the two ancients are always careful to watch their strength.‘ For a normal human, he hits pretty hard…” My line of thought trails off as the car stops.

A man in a mask opens the trunk to see me looking up at him, “ f*ck, Bill, he’s awake.”

“ Whatcha tellin' me for?” Bill says, walking off to have a smoke.

The man sighs, pulls out a rag, and holds it down over my face; it's chloroform. I “fight” or “struggle” getting “knocked out.” I struggle to keep my body limp as I’m roughly tossed to the ground. I’m dragged over jagged gravel and glass, and it tears into my back, shredding my shirt. Thankfully, it's only for a while. Soon enough, I’m maneuvered like a rag doll into a metal folding chair, feet tied to the legs of the chair, and arms placed behind me tied together and connected to my feet with a rope; then, as a finishing touch, they add a blindfold.

They leave, and it’s quiet for a few moments before the scraping of something metal approaches. A giddy chuckling laugh, the same one from the street, drags whatever it is into the room. They hum to themselves and let out an occasional giggle as they flutter around the room.

“Welcome friends, future victims, to my Arkham Escape party!” the unmistakable voice of the Joker says. “ It's been a few months since I've been out to play,” he grabs onto the back of my hair, “ and unlike the rest of you, I haven't had the time to greet Wayne's newest birdie, but luckily for me,” the blindfold is taken off, revealing a tripod setup, they’re live streaming, “ he couldn't resist running into good old Uncle J.”

My eyes scan the area; the room is mostly bare except for the metal cart, missing all but one wheel and holding a variety of tools. They're rusted and look like a staph infection waiting to happen. “Nice place ya got here,” I snark, “ but I don't exactly remember my tour. Would you mind escorting me out of here?”

“ Ah, a birdy with manners!” Joker exclaims with zealous cheer, “ Such a rarity nowadays, but no, you haven’t had play time yet with Uncle J.” He goes towards the tripod, and a string of comments hurries across the screen: “ Oh, but what to play?” Joker reads a few comments, “Oh, what beautiful suggestions! But what to choose… hum… so many options… I know any suggestions must include an asking price. If selected, you must submit to my Venmo @ClownPrince_Crime” he mutters, “ inflation has been killer lately, commissary prices have been skyrocketing.”

I sit there, unsure what to do. My head is killing me, and I’m having trouble remembering if the league ever trained me for this, being hurt in accordance with the highest bidder. If they hadn’t, they may want to add that to their training list.

“ That is an… odd request, @_sniff_feet23,” Joker says with a weird inflection. I can see where he gets a Venmo notification for $100. Joker must have noticed, too, because he sighs, “Oh well, can’t deny a paying customer,” and unties a shoe. Joker exposes a foot. The skin is cracked, and the smell permeates the room. The nails are yellow and have visible toe jam buildup. Joker brings his foot into the frame of the camera and wiggles his toes.

“ Dude, put those away,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “ Nobody wants to see your dogs…well, except that, dude, you're crusty.”

Joker turns towards me with a scowl on his face. “After I complimented you on manners, you say something like that,” he shakes his head. “ It looks like your Daddy remains lacking in discipline.”

I shake my head. “ If anyone’s lacking, it is Arkham, man. It’s obvious you’ve got an infection, like, whoa, that smell, athlete's foot for days, not to mention the nails.” Joker inches closer to the pile of tools. “ Don’t they have health insurance?” Annoyed, Joker makes a swipe at me with a scalpel. It catches the helix of my ear, cutting through a few centimeters of skin and causing a noticeable split.

“ Can’t you shut up!” Joker practically growls.

“ I mean, I could,” I shrug, “ but what’s the fun in that?”

“ You’re ruining your auction–” Joker gets cut off by another Venmo notification, $150, titled ‘Not You, Wayne’ once again from @_sniff_feet23; Joker reads it out for everyone.

“ Ew dude,” I make a face, “ how ‘bout no? Don’t drag me into your weird fetishes.”

Even Joker looks weirded out, but he goes through with it, " A paying customer is a customer.” Joker takes off my shoes and socks and puts my feet in the frame. Joker looks at the comments, deciding what to do. “Hum… @Bananapeels_nail_art is requesting nails... $20 for a full nail… how about the whole set?” Soon, $400 gets added to Joker's account. Joker goes to put down the scalpel but stops, tilting his head in thought until clarity shines through his eyes, “ ah, that's what I’ve forgotten,” with a face-splitting smile, he straddles me and pulls at my face, picking his placement, carving a J into my cheek, right under my eye.

I don’t move, don’t scream, but smile. So far, this is nothing. The Joker can’t break what’s already been broken. This is nothing compared to that day, the Fentons, the basem*nt. The way the cameras are positioned, it can’t see my facial expressions, but the Joker? He gets a face full of slightly too-sharp teeth, holding back a hysterical laugh.

It’s unnerving.

Something about my expression cuts into the Joker. He slaps me across the face hard, and a tooth comes out due to the force. It just causes my smile to stretch. Joker staggers back, and a slight chill creeps into the room. The video starts to lag, but as soon as my face comes back into focus, things go back to normal, except for the quality of the video. It goes down, becoming fuzzy, but that bothers none of the Jokers' deranged viewers.

I allow my discomfort to shine through as Joker pulls out my nails with pliers, wincing and biting my lip. ‘ Superficial,’ I remind myself, ‘ so far, all injuries have been superficial.’ While thankful for that, it also causes some distress; thinking about Jason and other Joker victims, they weren’t so lucky. In an effort to distract myself, I pay attention to the comments.

@Do_the_butts_match

How long till Batman gets there? He doesn’t look too good. Has anyone seen the Bats and Birds?

@Goonion_reps

The Goonion has no responsibility for actions perpetrated by the Joker this evening. Any complaints can be taken to HR at [emailprotected]

@Waynes>Kardashians

@Do_the_butts_match they’re not in south Gotham

@Metropolis_sucks

Hood’s not in the ally, so there’s at least one looking for him

@Glassclosset

He’s not moving. Do you think he’s in shock?

@Metropolis_sucks

Wouldn’t be surprised

@Guys_In_White

How much for the tooth?

@USER25B_B

Hold on, Danyal, they’re still looking

Joker is now behind me, finishing off the rest of my nails; there are only three left. I lean back and try to look at the clown to watch him work. I expand my ghostly, eldritch aura, suffocating Joker. Knowing the living, especially those in need of punishment, find it uncomfortable. Joker goes for another nail but stops as a new Venmo notification from @Riddlemethis, $10, ‘ He’s not very receptive.’

“ Did you really just waste ten bucks to get noticed?” I question, voice a little strained.

Joker looks at the notification, “ I know. Where’s the singing? The begging? The pizzazz?!”

I joke under my breath, mockingly, “Notice me, sempai, notice me.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t speaking low enough. The Joker pulls on my hair, “What did I say about side comments?” Joker grabs his trusty scalpel.

“ Nothing? You said to shut up, but–” Joker launches his attack, going for the throat. This time, I expected the fast, erratic movement, twisting away from the clown. Instead of cutting through my throat, he goes through my collarbone and continues to my sternum. I spit at him, “All this is because I didn’t want my fries Jokerized? I get branding, but no need to be a bitch about it.”

Joker gets enraged at my backtalk, cutting along my ribs. “ How’s this for backtalk?”

“ Not very stimulating,” I gasp as I realize, ‘ he clipped my lung.’

Joker goes for his trusty crowbar. " Batsy second birdie never told me which is better,” he raises his arm. " Forehand,” a loud crunch echoes as my knee is shattered, “ or backhand.” Joker goes up and knocks into my chin, fracturing my jaw. Joker crackles, “Not so mouthy now, Birdy?”

Okay, now that hurt.

I flood the room slowly with otherness, the chill of the dead. I expertly dislocate my thumbs, sliding through the restraints while glaring at the clown. " It's a shame you try so hard; it’s pathetic,” the rope falls to the floor. " For a clown, you’re not very funny.”

Joker doesn’t notice the falling rope.

But others do

@FOR_GOTHAM

Guys the rope

@I_LIVE_IN_THE_SHADOWS

Be careful kid

@Do_the_butts_match

Bury your comments, don’t let Joker see

Joker gets into my face, causing me to tip back in my chair. The slack of the rope allows it to come undone around my feet. “ Funny,” Joker seethes. “ I’ll show you funny.” Joker turns around, exposing his back.

I rise, shutting the chair on his way up, and raise it. Joker turns back around with pliers just in time to be cracked in the jaw with the flying hunk of metal. Joker falls to the ground, not expecting the impact. I drag the chair behind me as I ready my next swing, “Funny? I'll show you funny.” The camera blurs further as my eyes flash a swirling greenish-red and beat Joker with a chair, not once but thrice. I can’t help the slightly sad*stic look in my eyes as I bring the chair down one last time, “ get wrecked.”

Jokers down for the count.

@Only_in_Gotham

#OnlyinGoham does a hostage beat up his kidnapper

@Gotham_Gazzet

This just in– Danny Wayne fights against his captor– his weapon of choice might surprise you

@FOR_GOTHAM

This would do so well on Vine

I hobble towards the torture cart and grab some chains in a marker. I hog ties the man and chains them to a pipe, “ Who's laughing now?” Before leaving him, I draw on his face, giving him a mustache, and whiskers, then draw a penis on his face, and lastly, leaving a stylized D on his face.

I limp, a bloody fractured mess, to the tripod, “ I’ma go home now, night,” and shut it off. I pass a few goons on my way out, but none of them approach.

“ Damn it,” I say halfway down the street, realizing, “ I never got to eat my burger.”

If I hobbled to Bat Burger before heading home, that’s no one's business but my own.

Jazz: Daniel James Fenton!

Jazz: Oh my god

Jazz: Are you okay?

Danny: First, Danyal, not Daniel, and 2nd, nothing I haven’t handled before

Danny: Thanks for checking in

Jazz: Of course. Love you, little brother

Chapter 24: Cabinet Meeting

Chapter Text

“ Are you sure?” Dick asks for the nth time.

I’m in my ghost form in my full regalia, sighing as I look at the man through the mirror, “Yes, it's fine, Dick.”

“ I don’t like the idea of you going in without sufficient backup,” Dick says, crossing his arms.

I dap concealer onto my face, trying to cover up any identifying scars. ' Thank goodness for Kitty and Ember,’ I think. Finding my shade is tricky. Human makeup doesn’t have the right undertones for my ghost form, and not many ghosts have my humanish complexion. “I'll be fine, seriously. You’re worrying for nothing. I’m not helpless.”

“ I know that,” Dick says, running his hand through his hair, “ but you can’t blame me for worrying. It’s not every day the UN pulls a Ministry of Magic.”

‘ Fair,’ I think, shrugging. Our meeting wasn’t supposed to be for another three months, but last week, the Justice League got forced into a game of telephone. Making them responsible for notifying me and my counsel of the change. Trying to throw me off my game, no doubt, not that it has, but it’s made the family increasingly worried. They’re limiting League presence, putting a cap on realm representatives, and broadcasting the whole thing. While not fair, I don’t have room to complain. They're hearing us out, and the GIW can’t act against me or my representatives. “ Baba, Aunty Diana, and Uncle Clark will be there for the Justice League,” I say, “ and Jason will be with us as a realm representative.” Since Jason is limital, he’s got dual citizenship in my book, “ and I’ve told you all about Fright Knight; he won’t let anything happen to us.”

“ I’m not doubting you or your peoples' abilities to protect yourselves, nor Dad and the others; I just…” Dick comes up short.

“ I get you’re worried, which is valid, but have faith,” I say, finishing the makeup. " Regardless of the outcome, we’ll make it home.”

“It's not a big ask,” Steph says, entering the room, “ you missed a spot.” I pass her the concealer.

“ I know you say that, trying to be comforting, but it feels anything but,” Dick mutters.

Steph grabs onto my face, “Hold still.”

“ Look, why don’t you go chill with the others, or if you’re that worried, double-check Fathers’ and Jasons' gear,” I suggest.

Dick lets out a hefty sigh, “ fine. I’ll meet you in the cave before you leave.”

“ By Dick,” Steph and I say as he morosely makes his way out of the bathroom.

“ I hope you know he means well,” Steph says, blending my face with a beauty blender. “ He’s not the only one worried; we all are. Changing the meeting date, how they did… it doesn’t sit right with any of us.”

“ I'm not happy about it either, especially since they're broadcasting this.” I think of the Fentons and friends in Amity. Depending on how things go, I might have to pull a Pariah and pull them into the zone. Not many realize it, but a good chunk of Amity is on the liminal scale. I really don't want a liminal colony. Too much paperwork, but if needed, I'll do it. “ They've been advertising this since they told the public. They've done skits on Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert about my people.”

“ All done,” Steph declares, my scars sufficiently covered. “ It’s free publicity. It gets people interested, which is what you want.”

I float close to the mirror, inspecting her work. " Yeah, but none of it’s tasteful. Fallon was joking about hauntings, and Colbert was thinking we’re a cover-up of some kind.”

“ Well, it's not like he was wrong about you all being covered up. They did hide ghosts from the JLA,” Steph says, heading out to the hall.

I follow, “ still. The way they’re going about it reminds me of the 60s when people would joke about alien sightings.”

“ Well, soon you’ll be able to prove them otherwise,” Steph says, trying to be positive.

I float upside down as we walk towards the cave, “ which is another worry in itself. They vilified the aliens for a while. What do you think they’ll do to the dead?”

“ For someone trying to keep Dick from freaking out, you're sure worked up,” Steph says deadpan.

I cross my arms as we enter the cave, “ he’s worried about the meeting; I’m worried about the after. I know the meeting will go okay-ish at the worst. Almost everybody dies eventually. Making an enemy out of the afterlife, especially when we’re contemplating war, is an idiotic idea. Hopefully, they realize that. If not, well, it’s not like we’d lose–”

“ How you can say that so easily, I’ll never know,” Tim says, sitting at the bat computer, accessing the cowl feed.

“ It’s the Al-Ghul in me,” I snark, letting gravity affect me as I sink into a chair.

“ That’s not the flex you think it is,” Tim says, flipping through the footage.

“ Debatable,” Damian says from a nearby training mat. Cass is kicking his ass.

“ So, I’m guessing Father left already?” I say, looking at the monitor.

“ Yeah, about half an hour ago. He went with Uncle Clark to check out security,” Tim says.

“ Anything concerning?” I ask.

“ Nah, or at least nothing that looks it. We’re not the most familiar with ecto-tech. From what you’ve shown us, they can be easily disguised,” Tim says, “ we don’t think anything’s been planted, but–”

“ You can never be too sure,” I finish.

Tim nods. He changed the CCTV in the meeting chamber, where people had already started to gather. The meeting isn’t set for about another two hours. Leaving an hour for last-minute preparations and thirty minutes for settling in while the humans gawk at the undead. “ If we missed anything, would you be able to tell?”

“ Hm,” I take a moment to think,“ It would depend. Newer ecto-tech was made to single me out, so the GIW and the Fentons have done their best to shield the radiation coming off of it to catch me unaware. Older things? Easily. A lot of the originals, I helped with the blueprints. I put a lot of them together, watering down the desired effects.” my head tilts as I consider my companions. “Those joining me today don’t typically leave the realms. They won’t know what to look out for… is Jason here yet?”

Tim blinks at the change in subject, “ He’s in the locker room. Why?”

“ We may be better off leaving ahead of schedule,” I say, heading towards the portal. After I got this one up and running, I let Tim have a look at it. Due to the Justice League, he’s been around a few portals and had some ideas for upgrades. Now, instead of opening at random, the portal can connect to fixed points, using small beacons as anchor points. The portal is naturally set to the keep, having built a corresponding portal, a permanent doorway. But from the Wayne portal, they’re able to connect to the planted beacons. Creating temporary portal points. Beacons have been planted in the FarFrozen, Dora’s Kingdom, Acropolis of Athens, the wastes ( the area the Fentons portal opened up to), the Clocktower, and Walker prison. I double-check the set point, confirming it’s set to the keep. “ Jason!” I call into the cave, “You ready?”

It’s quiet for a moment before Jason yells back, “Don’t get your royal panties in a twist; I’m coming!”

I roll my eyes as the family gathers around the portal. Damian is the first to speak, “ I wish you well in your endeavor.”

“ Thanks, Ahki,” I say, going in for a hug.

“ Try not to let Todd screw it up,” Damian says, grouchy from my hold, causing me to laugh.

“ I heard that Demon Brats!” Jason yells, coming out of the locker room, helmet in hand. Causing the twins to give each other a look.

“ Baby brothers, stay safe,” Cass says as she walks over. She fiddles with Jasons' jacket and my hair, making sure we are presentable. Steph laughs at us as Cass fusses.

Dick looks resigned, “ if things go south, remember to worry about yourselves first, this is not the time to be a hero.”

“ Sir, yes, Sir, captain Dickface,” Jason mock salutes.

“ We’ll be fine,” I tell him, repeating my earlier sentiments.

“ Jay,” Tim calls from the computer, “ mask or helmet?”

“ For the meeting?” Jason asks, double-checking weapons. “Helmet, but I’m keeping the mask on. Just in case, ya never know, they may try to force me to take it off.”

“ Should you even be bringing it in the first place?” Dick asks, “There’s a bomb in it.”

I turn and look at the helmet, “ I could always phase it out?”

Jason clutches his red bucket. " You're not touching my baby; it’s perfect just the way it is.”

“ You mean it’s rigged to explode on purpose?” I ask, taken aback. “ Why would you do that?”

“ Secret identity,” Jason defends.

“ You wear a mask under the helmet,” Steph says in a tone that makes it obvious this is a recurring argument.

“ Irrelevant,” Jason says, brushing us off.

The family collectively huffs. I open the portal, “Tell Gramps we’re sorry we couldn’t hang around long enough for him and Barbara to see us off.” The old man had gone to pick her up, as her car was in the shop.

“ Pennyworth will understand,” Damian says.

“ Regardless, we’re still sorry about it,” I say, “See you after the meeting.”Jason and I go through the portal and enter the keep. I immediately close the portal. If the Fentons taught me anything, it’s portal safety.

“ Nice,” Jason whistles out. The portal opened up in the middle of my private office. I have a desk made of polished ebony with stacks of paper and trinkets on it. The walls have built-in shelves that hold various reference books, pictures, and artifacts. There is an artificial skylight showing dead galaxies swirling about in their prime.

“ Thanks, you should have seen what it used to look like. This is a major improvement,” I say.

“ Yeah?”

“ Pariah wasn’t big on doing his paperwork, even before he was sealed. Forms were lying around dated prior to human civilization.” I shudder, remembering the towers of stone tablets, papyrus, and modern paper that used to fill the room. “ So, to get back on track, I know Fright Knight is here already. Frostbite and Clockwork should be here sooner rather than later. You’re more than welcome to wander. On the 3rd floor, there’s a library. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that’ll interest you. If not, we have a multi-media room. If you’re hungry, I’ve got human-safe food–”

“ Chill, kid,” Jason says, almost chuckling.“ I’m good. I’m here to be with you, not f*ck around.”

“It’s just…there’s some quick stuff I need to do before anyone else gets here, last minute prep, quick chores, I just thought you’d rather explore, have some free time,” I explain.

“ It’s fine, pipsqueak,” Jason says, settling his helmet on the desk.

“ No, it’s really not. I’m being such a bad host right now,” I say dejectedly, “ you’ve never been to the keep before, and there's no time to give a proper tour–”

“ It’s okay, seriously,” Jason says, “ you're a busy monarch-ling; you’ve got sh*t to do. Either way, I still get to rub it in B’s and the others' faces that I got to visit first.”

“ Technically, Aunty Diana was first,” I correct.

“ Doesn’t count; she was here as a foreign delegate, not as family,” Jason says, “ so, she doesn’t count. I’m first.”

“ Whatever,” I roll my eyes, “ so, I guess, based on your lack of enthusiasm about the library, you’re shadowing me?”

“ Of course, you’re majesty,” Jason says playfully, in a half bow, the theater kid in him coming out.

I nudge his shoulder, “Knock it off; that’s only in formal settings.” He knows Jason is just trying to lighten the mood, but due to Jasons' limitalbility, it doesn’t help much. I’m just as much his head of state as the US president is. “ Come on, our first stop is the lab.”

Jason follows me through beautifully decorated halls and down to the basem*nt. Jason just can’t help but ask, “ Isn’t it usually dungeons under castles?”

“ Yes,” answers a low, smooth voice. It comes out of nowhere, startling Jason, “ but his majesty was against the idea of using them. Deciding a realm-wide prison system would be more beneficial.”

“ Hey, Frighty,” I say, smiling.

“ Majesty,” Fright Knight returns the greeting.

“ This is one of my siblings, Jason; Jay, this is my head of security and friend, Fright Knight, the Ancient of Fear and Spirit of Halloween.”

“ It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” Fright Knight says.

‘ Highness?’ Jason mouths.

I laugh at his reaction, “You didn’t know? You’re all family; you all have a title here.”

“ No, of course, I didn’t know,” Jason whisper shouts.

“ If it makes you feel any better, none of you are in the line of succession.” That would have been Dani’s place, my heir. The three of us enter the lab. " None of you meet the criteria; the only thing any of you’d be asked to do is double down if someone questions a decree or just sit there and look pretty.”

Jason groans, “So, we’re just going to Brucie our way through the afterlife?”

I start going through drawers, pulling stuff out. “ I’m not saying to act differently; there are no secrets amongst the dead, but mi casa, su casa. Once your body is ready for its dirt nap, you’re all welcome to join me here. Explore, leave, visit, whatever, and once you’re ready to move on to eternal sleep, I’ll make sure to be there for your final send-off.”

“ So what is the point of a royal family if we don’t have any duties?” Jason asks, sitting on a counter.

“ Being the trust fund family of the afterlife? I mean, once you get full citizenship and you want to help out, I won’t say no.” I start putting together gadgets. “ But it’s not something I’d ask of any of you. None of you have an obligation to serve the realms. Hey, Frighty, could you do me a favor?”

“ Of course, your Majesty,” Fright Knight answers dutifully.

“ Walker still hasn’t sent over his list. Would you mind going to get it? Normally, I’d send someone else, but this information… we don’t need the rest of the realm up in arms,” I say. The dead love to gossip, and controlling information is an upward battle in the realms. This deserves a delicate touch.

“ Right away,” Fright Knight bows and leaves the lab.

“ Who’s this walker? And what list?” Jason asks, hating being out of the loop.

“ A warden of a nearby prison and personal acquaintance. I tasked him and his associates with a survey. The more… volatile spirits tend to get picked up frequently, still in the anger or denial stages of accepting their deaths. Those spirits aren’t able to protect themselves very well yet. Them, along with peaceful visitors to the living realms, are the most at risk of getting picked up by the GIW. I put out a decree before I left Amity, of course, telling them to stay home, but not all of them listen or can’t due to their obsessions. I know a couple dozen ghosts are currently imprisoned around the US, but there is no way to tell the exact number. I asked them to track down frequent flyers to get a better estimate of those locked up.”

“ You know ghosts are missing and haven’t gone after them?” Jason asks, alarmed.

“ I’m not currently in any position to track them down,” I say deadpan, gesturing to my chest, still not fully healed from my time with the Fentons. The internal healing is taking longer than I would like, but I should be back to normal in a couple of months, which is part of why I was happy with the original UN meeting date. I would have been fine by then. Physically weaker than before, I’m going to need some physical therapy to get back into shape, but well enough to fight if humanity decides to go that route. “ If I were doing better, I’d be handling the rescue effort personally. I’ve run many GIW breakouts, and I know physically, I’d be more of an obstacle than a heavy hitter. It’s only been a few months since… they did what they did. Frostbite hasn’t cleared me for combat yet.”

“Then what do you call your stunts over the past couple of months?” Jason asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“ Physical therapy?” Danny says, but it sounds more like a question.

“ If this has been you taking it easy, I pity Bruce once you’re fully healed,” Jason remarks.

“ I’m not that bad–”

“ Agree to disagree,” Jason snorts. “ So, what exactly are you doing?”

I hold up an iPod-looking device, “ creating an ecto–EMF reader. Thought it may help with security. Tim brought up a good point; none of you are used to ecto–tech yet, so I thought I’d lend a hand. This can help locate ectoplasm sources, spirits, or items. I’ve added an ID system for which-is-which. For ghosts, the ones I have a copy of their ecto signature on file for, anyway, will ID them. Kinda like how a fingerprint would.”

Jason looks at me like I’ve grown a second head, which I haven’t, not this time anyway, I would have noticed, and glances at his phone. " And you can just wipe this up? We’ve only been in here for about 15 minutes.”

“ It’s not my first EMF,” I deflect and slide it to Jason, “ and it's been closer to 30. Can you make sure Father gets it when we arrive? I doubt the humans would take it well if I handed it over.”

“ No problem,” Jason says, pocketing it.

I tinker for a while longer on other projects, then slightly shudder. I can feel ghosts entering my lair. “ I think it's about time to head on up; we’ll have company soon,” I say.

Jason looks at his watch, “Yeah, it's getting close to our original meet-up time.”

I float to my brother, “Come on, I told everyone to brief in my office.” I twist in the air, “Can’t be the last one to arrive when I’m the one who called the meeting.”

Jason follows me back to the office, and on the way there, we encounter Clockwork. They look at our attire and sigh, “ Danyal, while young Jason may get away with his attire being a supersuit, you can not. Please, go change.”

I look at my clothing, and I don’t really see the issue with it. My cloke covers most of it. It’s part of my official regalia, the cloke of Heavens, which displays twinkling heavenly bodies. Each monarch creates a symbol of power to symbolize their reign, mine symbolizes my status as the developing ancient of space. “ It’s practical,” I say, “ and the cloke covers most of it.”

“ You’re addressing them as a monarch,” Clockwork says, “ not a hero. No need to antagonize humanity by looking ready to strike.”

“ Especially when they don't recognize me as a hero,” I sigh, rubbing at my eyes, knowing Clockwork is right. I look up at them, “ Peepaw, can you escort Jason back to my office? He doesn’t know the layout yet. Then wait there for the others? I’ll go find something to change into real fast.”

“ Not going to manipulate the suit?” Clockwork asks.

“ Nah,” I say, about to float off. “ Took me forever to mold it how I like it. Not gonna mess with perfection. I’ll see ya both in a minute.” I float off to my bedroom. Similar to my office, the ceiling looks like swirling galaxies. The room has no theme; it just has mismatched pieces. Some that look like they belong in a league of assassins base, the manor, along with specific items. I lie my cloke on the bed and start removing my uniform. I set my boots aside and placed the clothing in the closet. I don’t have many options, not owning a lot of ectoplasmic clothes. Not seeing the point, as I can easily manipulate my typical suit to match my needs. I would have done that like Clockwork suggested, but, well– that doesn’t always work the best. I would deny it if anyone brought it up, but changing ectoplasm color? So hard. In the end, I choose a silky purple button-up, the royal color, along with black slacks. The way the shirt is cut exposes a sliver of my Y- incision, the part by my collarbone, as well as my death mark, the Lichtenberg scar, where it crawls up my neck, stopping right before my chin. I attach my cloke, and it covers me up nicely, leaving almost nothing to be seen. I pick up my boots and put them back on as I float to my office.

“ Okay,” I say as I enter, “ is everyone here?”

“ Fright Knight isn’t back yet,” Jason says, lounging in my desk chair.

“ Lord Frostbite arrived with me,” Clockwork says, ever the formal being, “ but made a quick detour to the medbay to make sure the keep is well stocked.”

I nod; that sounds like him. While I can feel spirits enter the keep’s grounds, I cannot pinpoint their locations or feel them leave. I check the time, " Hopefully, Frighty will be back soon. This isn’t the time to be fashionably late or have a flashy entrance.”

Clockwork snorts, “Yes, he’s always been fond of those.”

“ Really?” Jason asks, “ What’s he done?”

“ The better question is, what hasn’t he done? In his free time, he moonlights as the headless horseman,” I say, laughing, floating to my brother.

Jason's eyes go wide, “ seriously?! I thought that was a myth.”

“ So’s Pandora, and we spar and have tea every few weeks,” I say, placing my chin on Jason's shoulder, using it as a headrest.

“ Everything I learn about this place is crazier than the next,” Jason says.

“ As is the ways of the realms,” Frostbite interjects joyously, entering the office, “ it’s nice to see you again, young one. Your aura feels much calmer than the last time we spoke.”

“ Yeah,” Jason says, running a hand through his hair, “ less green moments, if you know what I mean. Down to maybe once a week, a big improvement, and even then not as extreme.”

“That's good to hear,” Frostbite says.

I feel a shift in the keep. Fright Knight is back. I send out a pulse of ectoplasm, alerting him to our location. The pulse is felt by the spirits in the room. They give me a curious look, “ Frighty’s back.”

It's not long before he enters, “ the report as you requested, your majesty.”

“ Thank you,” I say as I take the file. My eyes scan the paper, “ 102. 102 frequent flyers are missing from the wastes,” the area Walker’s prison and the Fentons portal were located, “ and there’s no telling how many others.” The spirits go quiet, but the air fills with an intangible intensity. “ The GIW better pray diplomacy works out, or there’s not going to be a ward left standing when I’m through. Walkers sent guards for a welfare visit to check in on BoxLunch after Boxy and Lunchlady hadn’t been seen for a while. When they got there, all three were missing. They‘ve taken a whole family. They’ve taken a baby.”

This causes Jason to sit up quickly, “ a baby?”

Clockwork nods, “ She’s only a few months younger than Danyal.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, “You mean to tell me you're considering Danny a baby? Like, I know we joke, but he's a whole-ass teenager.”

“ they mean in ghost years, I haven’t been dead long, so…. Anyway, Boxlunch is a neverborn, a spirit that's never had a mortal body. She has accelerated growth. She's around the equivalent of a 7-year-old,” I say, elaborating. I grab files out of my desk and add walkers to the pile. “ I think we should get going. Frighty, Jason, you’re both with me as guard detail, Clockwork as an advisor, and Frostbite as a realm government official. As the lord of the FarFrozen and as a member of our dimensions parliament. Any questions?”

“ Got it, shortstack,” Jason says, putting on his helmet. He turns to Frigh Knight, “ I’ve got to hand something off to Batman when we get in, so I may need to step away for a short moment.”

“ Understood,” Fright Knight says.

“ Clocky?” I ask.

“ I am ready when you are my King,” Clockwork replies.

“ Okay,” I say, “let's get this show on the road.”

Clockwork opens a portal, their accuracy being the best, letting the infinite realms delegation out in front of the building. Fright Knight goes through first, then Jason. After a while, Jason sticks his head through the portal to give the all-clear, and then the rest of us fall out. They align themselves in a four-point guard.

It’s a bit overwhelming for the ghosts, being around so many who are fully living, especially in an area without ambient ectoplasm. I inspect my ghosts, noticing Fright Knight is a little see-through but still tangible. Frostbite is in a similar state. Clockwork is the only one visibly unaffected. However, those who know them would point out they’ve stuck to their elder form since arriving in the world of the living. “ Are you all going to be okay?” I ask concerned.

“ We will be fine, Great One, don’t fret,” Frostbite soothes, “ most places in this realm are like this.”

“ I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, “ but please, if you need to leave, let me know. We’ll call for a break.”

“ Much appreciated, your Majesty, but it won’t come to that,” Fright Knight says as we approach the building. Paparazzi cameras flash as we go. I can’t help but smirk a little, knowing none of them will get a clear picture.

We have to go through security before entering. Apparently, no one thought through how to pat down a ghost. Fright Knight and Clockwork had fun making themselves intangible so the humans couldn’t touch them, and no one saw a reason to pat down Frostbite. I, on the other hand, let it happen. They, of course, find nothing. There was a similar issue when going through the metal detector. Frostbite is too big to go through, Fright Knight wears a metal suit, and Clockwork…finds it funny for the humans to struggle. Danny goes through without issue, and Jason, well…

“ Sir,” says one of the guards, “ take off the explosive,” gaining the attention of the other guards, they draw their guns.

“ Sheesh,” Jason says, unlatching the helmet, “ what happened to asking nicely?”

“ Told ya so,” I say, fully embodying my role as an annoying little brother.

“ Shut up,” Jason hands me the helmet.

“ Could you–” I start, but Clockwork beats me to it, opening a portal and throwing it through.

“ Ouch!” Tim exclaims, “ What was that for?”

“ What?” I ask, messing with my gymnastics equipment.

“ If it wasn’t you who hit me?” Tim asks, turning around to look at me.

I look at him confused, “Nobody–” a shiny red helmet sitting on the floor, “... what the f*ck.”

“ Come on!” Sam calls, “ It’s about to start.” It’s been the talk of the town for over a week now, Phantom, Danny’s, meeting with the UN. He’s been distant since he moved in with the Waynes, but no one could have guessed he was planning something like this.

I remember years ago, sitting on our parents, my parents', couch, watching Superman speak with the UN, vying for government protection for him and others like him, later referred to as “metas.” I remember Danny's fascination, the confirmation of alien life, of heroes. Jack and Maddie had the opposite reaction. Seeing them as some kind of proof that ghost assistant. They started tinkering with more vigor after that. Soon, anything seen as extraordinary, heroes, aliens, and villains, became just as wrong as ghosts in their eyes. Danny becoming both a ghost and a hero, has to be the subtlest “ f*ck you” to everything Jack and Maddie have ever stood for. I don’t understand him, Danny, and I know there's a good chance I never will, but I’m proud of him. My baby brother is a ghost. I understand that now. But at the same time, by some miracle, partially alive, I understand now that also makes him dead.

A contradictory existence.

He’s alive but not, my brother but not. Simultaneously, a stranger. I watch him on that TV in a room full of world leaders. He looks more at home there than he ever did in Amity.

Tucker whistles, “ he cleaned up nice. I expected him to show up in his supersuit.”

Sam grabs a bag of chips, one of the various snacks they acquired for today. “ I’m not surprised. He’s a Wayne, even if no one else there knows it. “ All of Amity has shut down for this event: schools, workplaces, even government buildings. She looks at me, “Are you sure you want to be here instead of your parents' place?”

I groan, taking some chips, “If I have to listen to them spiel how “ that damn ghost boy is tricking those good people” one more time, I’m going to lose it. Don’t even get me started by him being introduced to the public as King Phantom. They’re convinced this is the start of an invasion. They’ve amped up all of the houses' defenses and goops ( ectoplasm has no effects on humans, turning to goo) everyone that comes by.”

“ I still don’t see the point of him doing all this,” Tucker says, getting settled. The ghosts are practically gone. Ever since the portal got locked down, we’ve only had a few strays, and it’s not like they’re coming back. I thought part of his leaving was to leave the hero's life behind.”

“ Maybe the ghosts followed him to Gotham?” I mean, Batman’s there too,” Sam says, pointing at the screen, “ so’s that Red Hood guy. He’s talking to Fright Knight. Maybe they’re making him? They’ve got plenty of rogues. Maybe they’re worried about him attracting more?”

“ Which would make sense if it wasn’t for the fact they’re claiming Danny's the one calling for the meeting,” Tucker argues, “ outside of Amity, nobody knows about ghosts; you all saw the media. They were making fun of them, comedy sketches, calling them a hoax or a cover-up.” He gestures to the TV, “ but Danny brings not only himself but three other ghosts and puts them on international TV. He’s there because he wants to be. He’s got something to prove.”

“Have any of you heard from him?” I ask, watching Red Hood separate from Danny, heading to Batman. “ I tried calling and texting, and he’s been answering, well, until the news of the meeting went public. I’m worried about him.”

“ No,” Sam says, crossing her arms, not particularly worried about him, “ radio silence.” The camera pans out, showing a circular room with delegates from all over settling into their seats. Red Hood is walking back to Danny after handing something off to Batman. The delegates from the infinite realms are separated from the rest at a rectangular table. Danny can be seen spreading documents around as the last members take their seats.

[ An elderly man, the UN president, goes to a podium.]

“ I call this meeting, on June XX, 20XX, to order,” says the UN President.

[ The chamber quiets.]

“ We welcome here today, visitors to our planet, King Phantom and his delegation from their home dimension, the Infinite Realms. We’re gathered here today at their request. Without further ado, King Phantom, I give you the floor,” the UN President continues.

[ The man returns to his seat. Danny floats up from his seat, going through the table before landing on the floor and walking the rest of the way. Whispers sound off in the room.]

“ A casual display of power,” I say quietly, “ that may not be a good idea.”

“ No power usage in this chamber, boy!” Yells a blonde delegate from the United States in a monogrammed MTG blouse.

[ Danny gives her a “ WTF” look while reaching for the microphone.]

“ I would like to thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules and agreeing to meet with my delegation and me today.” Danny takes a look around the chamber, “ you may refer to me as Phantom or King Phantom; either is fine. I would like to invite the delegates to interject if they feel the need to do so. I am hoping to give full transparency. To start, I must say your organization is difficult to get in touch with. It took involvement from the Justice League to set this meeting up. I am displeased that our introduction is under these circ*mstances.”

“ Circ*mstances?” Interjects the delegate from Canada.

[ Danny nods and steps out from the podium.]

“ The United States for the past two years, as of this August, has been in a constant stable connection with the Infinite Realms,” Danny reveals.

[ The chamber goes into an uproar.]

“ Oh my gosh, he’s not doing what I think he is, is he?” Tucker asks the others in shock. He gets no answer.

“ Order, order to the chamber!” the UN President calls, banging a gavel. “ King Phantom, what were your people's intentions with Earth while making this connection?”

[ Danny smiles up at him, his ghostly fangs peeking from his lips.]

“ The Infinite Realms had nothing to do with the creation of this connection. For the sake of privacy, all I can tell you is that a family of inventors created this connection. Opening up a permanent, stable doorway between our dimensions. They kept the connection open 24/7, allowing any spirit to travel the earth. I feel the need to point out, the realms being connected isn’t a new thing. The living and the Infinite Realms have a deep connection. Without our realm, this one would cease to exist.”

“ Elaborate, please, King Phantom,” the UN President asks.

“ We’re the glue that keeps the universe together. The realms are always touching; tiny natural portals open up for a few minutes and close just for another to open somewhere else. The stable portal opening up in Amity Park, Illinois, didn’t change that. Just made some of them more curious.”

“ And where were you? What you are admitting to is an ongoing invasion,” the US representative says.

[ Danny leans on the podium.]

“ Hard to call it an invasion when our physical bodies lie within this planet,” Danny snorts, “ but regardless, I was doing my best; I always am. The government in the realms is behind in the times, something I am in the process of fixing. I didn’t become King until around eight months ago,” Danny glances at his delegation. “ Prior to then, I was just a small-time hero trying to keep the peace.”

“ A hero?” the UK delegate echoes.

“ Yes sir,” Danny replies, “ ghosts, we’re misunderstood by you all, the living; you all see beings unlike yourselves. We aren’t too different from you all. Many of us, myself included, lived as humans once upon a time. I did what I could to keep peace, and yes, it wasn’t perfect. Like humans, we also have citizens who’d rather cause death and destruction, just as we have some who wish to bring everlasting peace, but the majority? Just want to settle their affairs and move on.”

“ And how exactly did you come into your position?” Asks the delegate from Germany, “You said you’re a hero. How does a hero become King?”

“ Right of conquest,” Danny says, “ the previous monarch, Pariah Dark, was a tyrant. It took a militia of spirits, one of which is accompanying me today, to seal him into one of our artifacts, the sarcophagus of forever sleep. He escaped the sarcophagus and intended to end the earth and drag all of its people into the afterlife. He was a strong man, a strong but evil man. He took advantage of the stable portal and sucked Amity into it.”

[ Danny pauses for a moment.]

“ I hate this. He could barely tell us anything after the fact,” I mutter.

“ To say fought is putting it lightly. Thankfully for everybody, I won. I found some elders, and they instructed me on how to return to Amity Park and all of its inhabitants. They were there for three days. The US government gave no aid–” he gets interrupted.

“ You blame my government?” The US representative says, appalled.

“ Yes, but not for the reasons you think,” Danny counters. The US created the GIW, the Ghost Investigation Ward, better known to Amity Park as the Guys in White. They started monitoring the area after the more violent ghosts began coming through. The mayor sent out an SOS, as did I. I had hoped to get in touch with the Justice League. I’d only been a hero for about a year. I was in over my head. I knew that. Nobody ever answered. The GIW left Amity to rot.”

[ A pin drop could be heard in the chamber.]

“ I didn’t find out until a couple weeks after I won the position. Pariah had been locked up for eons. There’s been a lot to modernize, and one of my main priorities has been Interdimensional relations, starting with the dismantling of the GIW and the acts that allow them to operate. Based on biased research, research I had prior to this meeting, sent to this body, and disproved here today by simply conversing with you. For those watching at home or ran out of time to go over all of the documents, I will summarise the Anti-Ecto Acts, signed into law last year. Classifying anything with ectoplasm, the main chemical compound of my kind, as non-sentient forms of inhumane consciousness. In accordance with these acts, my kind is supposed to be captured and released into the GIW’s custody for study, experimentation, and later eradication.”

“ Why are you telling us this?” Asks the representative from Japan.

[ Danny turns to look at the Cameras.]

“ These acts go directly against the meta human protection act, an act supposed to protect any humanoid beings from acts of hateful violence, which, if you haven’t noticed,” Danny gestures to himself and his delegates, “ we count as. We currently have a confirmed list of at least 102 spirits being wrongfully held in GIW custody.”

[ Danny’s expression darkens.]

“ I want my subjects back. They’ve taken newly deceased, young and old. They’ve taken families. The youngest, to my knowledge, a seven-year-old little girl,” Danny’s voice echoes, his eyes flashing bright ectoplasmic green, “ they’re being subjected to horrors unimaginable. They don’t deserve this; nobody deserves this. I, King Danyal Phantom of the Infinite Realms, am here today to demand the dissolution of the Anti-Ecto Acts and the GIW and the safe return of my people.”

[ Danny’s voice is almost a whisper.]

“ I can’t accept anything else. I won’t accept anything else. I have no qualms with humanity. I’m from this planet. I love this planet and all those among the stars.” He says, his voice close to breaking, “ I don’t want to have to act against you.”

[ The US delegate stands up on shaky feet.]

“ Are you threatening us?” she asks.

“ No, I’m warning you,” Danny corrects. “ Regardless of your decisions, I will retrieve my people, how is simply up to you. I’m here to fix this diplomatically. My counsel and subjects, on the other hand, would prefer immediate action. The actions the United States has done against us are genocidal in nature. We, by earth's laws, have every right to act against you.”

[ Danny grabs a clicker from Clockwork. A screen pops up on the TV, a slideshow. The delegates see it on a smaller screen at their desks.]

“ I will warn everyone: this slideshow isn’t for the faint of heart. Those uncomfortable with graphic imagery are welcome to leave at any time,” Danny says.

[ Danny turns to the first slide. It’s cells with ectoplasmic blood splattered everywhere. Showing ghosts chained up, some being released, and others waiting for help. Danny himself can be seen releasing an elderly spirit, clad in his hero uniform.]

“ This is one of the holding cells in Alabama, back in February. They had forty captured souls.”

[ Danny goes to the next slide. It’s an experiment room. Green blood is in jars, and ghosts are fading from bleeding out on the table. Danny can be seen comforting the fading.]

“ This past December, in North Dakota, fifteen were experiments, three faded, their souls eradicated. No collect go, no heaven, no hell, or reincarnation. They’re just simply gone.”

[ Danny clicks, and a list of bases appears, showing raids, how many ghosts were found, and a summary of the events taking place there.]

“ That’s a lot more than he…” Sam trails off, surprised by the numbers. None of them knew the actual numbers or saw the damage. It’s worse than Danny ever described.

“ The GIW isn’t the only group aiming to hurt my people, just the government-sanctioned.”

[ Danny visibly hesitates, letting out an unmasked shaky breath.]

“ The scientists that opened the portal, while not exactly sanctioned, are subcontracted by the government. They, like the GIW, took part in attacking my people, capturing them, and creating weapons for the GIW to use. They acted against me personally on many occasions due to my position as a hero…. But after a few minutes, their actions passed the tipping point of what my people would let slide– It was late, and I had heard screaming coming from their home, or more accurately, the lab under it. Spirits were detained. They had a woman strapped down to a table. I-I managed to get them out, but at the cost of myself. I ask this community to disconnect the recorded footage from the broadcast, as it is inappropriate for the public.”

[ The video loads, showing an accelerated video of Dannys' treatment in the Fentons lab. They didn’t cut the broadcast. The world watches as Danny is cut into, all the way to his rescue.]

All of Amity watches in horror at Danny’s vivisection. “ Oh my god, I’m, I’m,” I puke into a waste basket, Tucker not far behind. “ How, how could they do this?” I start crying. “ He was supposed to be their kid.”

“ I don’t think he ever really was Jazz,” Sam says. The Danny who’s been speaking today is nothing like the one Amity knew. “ He definitely isn’t now.”

[ In the chambers, delegates watch, horrified at the video, taking glances at Danny, waiting patiently for the video to stop in their chamber. Red Hood tries to distract Danny from his own please covering the young kings’ ears. Even after the video ends, Hodd stands there, grounding Danny. After a minute, Hood gets sent back to his seat.]

“ Your Majesty,” starts the UN President, but he flounders.

[ Danny looks at him with a sad look.]

“ I hope my findings are enough to convince this dody of the wrongful doings against me and my people,” Danny says. “ All we want is to be able to see our families and be safe doing it.”

“ How can you prove this video isn’t doctored?” The US representative asks, grasping at straws and trying to defend her country.

[ Danny thinks for a moment before removing his cloke, handing it to Fright Knight.]

“ Would the scar suffice?” he asks, unbuttoning the shirt. He exposes an almost healed Y-incision. The skin is still raw.

[ The world blanches.]

“ This proves nothing,” the US representative argues, “ this could be from an autopsy.”

[ Danny shakes his head.]

“ Post mortarium injuries done to the physical body don't appear on the soul,” he says, re-buttoning his shirt, “ now if you’re done questioning the validity of my claims, what are this body's resolution?”

[ Counsel members eye one another, and soon whispers break out, bits and pieces of words getting picked up by the mics, but nothing of substance. The UN president calls for order.]

“ Your majesty, I’m afraid this body is unable to come to a decision today–”

[ Danny interrupts.]

“ One month; I’ll give you one month to come to a decision,” Danny says, reattaching the cloke.

“ Sir, it’ll take much longer to–”

“ Expedite it,” Danny says, leaving no room for arguments. “ My people won’t wait any longer than that.”

[ Danny eyes Fright Knight, giving a slight nod, the ghosts start packing up. Danny grabs a USB’s and folders, then flies over to the US representative and UN President.]

“ I have given you and the US representative our full written complaint and evidence to back up our claims. I will see you all in a month.”

[ Clockwork opens a portal. Danny walks toward it while Frostbite and Hood enter it.]

“ I hope for all of your sakes you chose to do the right thing. A war with the dead isn't one in life’s favor,” he says.

[ Danny enters the portal, and Fright Knight and Clockwork enter after. The Infinite Realms delegation has left the building.]