In Arkham they don't allow outside media in fear of the rouges getting any ideas. This leads to them treating the staff like their own personal TV show, this leads to a level of parasocial obsession that can often be detrimental (See Harley Quinn as a notable example). So when DR. Jazz Fenton comes in with subtle hinting of government conspiracies and a 'i've seen worse' attitude they are INVESTED. Meany of them are staying just for the show, their plans can wait they NEED to know this woman's backstory.
"hey it's been awfully quiet"
"Yeah, new hire at Arkham, it happens sometimes"
*3 months later*
"sooo"
"yeah something's definitely up"
The Fenton children all have the misfortune of going home for the holidays and getting tangled up in their father's latest invention, where he, once again, forgot to carry the two. The invention was meant to teleport ghosts into the Ghost Portal as soon as they were captured.
It was supposed to be a long-overdue upgrade to the Fenton Thermos, which Jack had been eager to reveal. His children had all moved out, including the two clones of his son, who had morphed into their own person, and he had taken in as his kids, so it was a real treat to have them home.
Jazz and Dan were both in college four hours away. Jazz was studying psychology, and Dan was studying Law. The two had rented out a house together while working full-time jobs. Dan was one of the older students, but seeing as he hadn't been able to continue his education in his timeline, the Fentons felt like it was not "too late" when it meant learning.
Danny had chosen not to go to college but entered the trades. He had gotten into metal design and jewelry making and was currently learning to wield. Dani shared her brother's love of trade, but she focused more on metal and graphic design. They also lived alone in different apartments despite living in neighboring cities.
With everyone's conflicting schedules, they rarely, if ever, saw each other in person. Texts and phone calls were commonplace but it was nothing like waking up to the chatter of the children (Jack didn't care. They were all well into their twenties and early thirties. They would always be his children)
The holidays were the one time Jack and Maddie fought a year, so she didn't double-check his calculations before Jack fired off the thermos on Christmas morning. It, of course, malfunctioned, sucking in the Halfas twins first, then Dan, and finally, Jazz, who ran over to help, unaware it could pick up humans.
Jack had meant to create a ghost trapper with a self-emptying trash bag. Instead, he made a pocket teleporter. Only he had not designed a way to get what he teleported straight into the Ghost Zone back. Instead, he focused on making sure the ghost was flung as far away from the portal as it could teleport it to, in order to deter the ghost from coming back.
Even though Danny was no longer Phantom Two's protector, Jack and Maddie took up the job of keeping the town safe against ghosts that were actually harmful. It was a hassle having them come back after every fight.
It's safe to say that both Jack and Maddie put aside their yearly argument about Santa Claus to try to track down the children.
_____________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, the Fentons found themselves in the ghost zone, in an area none recognized, before realizing that Jazz could not fly. She plummeted towards the bottomless void, screaming at the top of her lungs, falling straight into a swirling portal of darkness.
Thanks to their ghost powers, the other three were able to get balanced in the air before shooting after her. They didn't care that the portal was colored differently; all that mattered was that one of them caught Jazz as she continued to fall, this time over the landscape of a rather grass field.
In the end, Dani was able to catch up to her, wrapping her arms around her sister and slowing them down into a gentle hover above the ground. The women sighed in relief until their thirty-two-year-old brother and the twenty-two-year-old brother landed on them because their powers fizzed out, shifting them back into humans.
Groans and swears were heard as they quickly unpiled. Dani was also now a human, sporting a large bruise on her back for her troubles.
"Where are we?" She asked, looking around. The large grass field was smacked in the middle of a large desert forest and an even larger city far away.
"Don't know," Dan mutters, clenching and unclenching his fist. "But wherever we are, it's not letting me go ghost."
"Me either," Danny reveals, jumping on the balls of his feet. "Can't even produce ice."
"If your powers aren't working, something happened to your ectoplasm filter." Jazz concludes grimly, rubbing at her ankle with one hand. It had twisted when Danny landed on her. She was staring at her wristwatch, to which their mom had attached an ectoplasm reader. "The ectoplasm levels in the air are so low they're practically non-existent. This isn't our Earth."
"Communication is down too," Dani sighs, staring at the glowing blue screen of her phone, which her parents modified to work in the Ghost Zone, singing on her face. "Can't even get a signal"
"Typically of Dad getting us stranded in a different dimension." Jazz grumbles, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "At least mid-terms ended."
"Amen to that," Dan says before straightening his back and clapping his hands. "Alright. We need to make a plan. Let's go into the city, find out if the currency they use is similar to ours, and get food and shelter if it is. How much money do you all have?"
"I'm literally in pajamas covered in Christmas trees," Dani deadpans. "I have no cash on me at all."
"You're worthless. Next?"
"I also have no money," Jazz winces, gesturing to her plain blue silk pajama set (a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants). "I left it in my purse."
Dan rubs his face. He's also clad in pajamas, but he has a checker red and black bottom that didn't match the green shirt with the printed words Comrade of the Grinch. "I have ten dollars because I was going to run down the street and buy eggnog with cookies from that little neighbor girl. Mom handed me the money and told me to go after breakfast."
"I have nine hundred and fifty," Danny announces, ruffling in his jeans pocket until he finds the wad of cash. Everyone stares at him in utter bafflement until he shrugs. "I was going to meet up with Sam and Tucker after breakfast. We were going to gamble a little."
"You call nine-hundred and fifty a little!?"
"Oh no, I owe Tucker seven hundred dollars for that laptop he fixed up for me a few weeks ago. I tried to send it through the virtual payment apps, but his account got locked, so it had to be in cash." Danny waves away their concerns. "I'm sure he won't mind if I ask him to wait until the banks open again."
"Alright. We have a plan and funds- hopefully- let's go." Dan says, moving towards the city. He walks by a sign that reads Welcome to Gotham.
"How bad can this place be?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
Bruce eyed the screen with wary eyes. The still image of the four siblings didn't change, nor did their bright smiles and strange offits.
It's been six months since the strangers blew into town. Bruce hadn't been able to find evidence of them beforehand, nor did he have a clear picture of their timeline.
What he did know was that sometime in December, the four siblings, going by the last name Fenton, had wandered into a second-hand store, bought a change of outfits, and vanished into the city.
They popped up again three weeks later at a local artist festival. Danny, one of the twins, had rented a booth to sell enamel pins of strangely designed ghosts. He claimed to have created them, and his sister had helped design them.
The following week, his siblings were reported for selling metal wear on the side of the road. It's illegal in Old Gotham to sell things without a license, and it had been run out by the police. They returned soon after with a permit that, despite looking as accurate as can be, was not filed in the city's databases until five days later.
Of course, he would not know any of these until he started building an investigation. What caused this investigation? The Fentons had been inside Scarecrow's latest lair as his most recent test subjects.
The only thing was that, despite the various experiments done on them, none of the Fentons showed any sign of being affected by the needle injections. If anything, they seemed more inconvenienced than frightened by their capture.
Scarecrow had concluded the same thing as Bruce. None of the four Fentons were humans, but for some reason, they were hiding among the human race as metal artists selling enamel pins and metal artwork.
Bruce wasn't sure where they were staying, what they were planning, or what they were after. He would have been okay with leaving them alone, except Damian had reported that the Pin-Man, aka Danny Fenton, had not only spotted him when Robin was doing a stake out of a possible high-ranking member of a mob but had gotten close enough to try and sell him some pins of Damian's favorite anime.
How did he know what show his son liked to watch, and how did he get close enough to a highly trained assassin who didn't notice him until it was too late?
Also, why did Damian buy nine? All questions Bruce needed to have answered.
Bruce Wayne should try to find out what other kinds of pins his son would like if Damian hasn't already bought the whole series. He'll have to stop at the rumored areas where the metal workers were said to be operating.
Been laughing at the idea of Tim and Danny in a miraculous ladybug style love square. Let me explain: Phantom loves Red Robin. Red Robin loves Danny. Danny doesn't notice Tim. Danny has major crush on Red Robin. Tim commiserates with Phantom when their crush doesn't reciprocate.
DPXDC prompt: Identity Reveal or What makes a Fenton a Fenton?
Riddler catches 'birds and bats' and Phantom. Disarming them and putting Specter Deflector on Danny Nygma offers to pass his obstacle course if they want to live.
However, he does not take into account one fact - Danny not only Phantom but also Fenton. And his family is well known in Amity Park for their strong genes and attendant economic damage. So of course the boy does not follow his rules of the game but simply runs away:
DPxDC Prompt where no one is sure what exactly happened to Amity Park. One day the town was simply destroyed, leaving no identifiable bodies but plenty of carnage to mark the occasion. It’s a haunting sight, the streets quiet, already being taken over by plants.
The bats find a destroyed lab with what must have been a house overtop of it. The place appears to have been ransacked, with any worthwhile materials and research taken.
That is, except for a few battered journals.
Keep reading
Danny’s mostly gotten the hang of portals by now. Sure, it’s not perfect, but he’s pretty accurate for the most part. So when he was super tired after another late night ghost battle, he decided to just portal home instead of flying back.
And he screwed it up.
Instead of coming out into the lab at home, he landed in the workspace of an alternate universe version of his dad.
He didn’t immediately notice though. Sure, the T-rex statue is new, but it honestly might not be the weirdest thing he’s ever seen his parents work on. Plus, again, he’s exhausted. He doesn’t have the energy to deal with that right now. In fact, he was so out of it that he didn’t even bother to fully fly to his bedroom, just collapsing onto the first couch he found and immediately going to sleep.
…
Alfred frowned down at the boy he’d found sleeping on the couch. He knew the faces of all Bruce’s kids, and this wasn’t any of them.
Maybe he’d just brought in another one and forgot to tell him. The boy certainly fit the mold.
He sighed and shook his head fondly. He’d bring it to Bruce up in the morning. For now, he just laid a blanked over the sleeping figure. The boy looked like he needed his rest.
Jason would try to date Danny to piss off Bruce but Tim WILL actually fall for his stupid ass.
Danny: Come out with your hands in the air!
Batman: *stepping out of the shadows of the doorway*
Danny: Go inside with your hands down!
Batman: What?
Danny: I don't know. I panicked. I thought if I said the opposite, it would work like a uno reverse card.
Batman: ....
Danny: .....
Batman: How old are you?
Danny: Old enough to respect your mother!
Batman: What?
Danny: I would take her on a romantic date, have her home at a reasonable hour and not expect a kiss until the third date!
Batman: Are you on something?
Danny: No, I'm just like this.
Batman: ....There have been rumors of a strange meta wandering the streets of Gotham. They say he spends his time offering to walk old people across the street, clean up litter and help kids with homework.
Danny: So what if I am? You won't make me join any gang if that's what you want. My mother raised me right! My dad taught me manners! My sister made me a valuable memeber of society! I HAVE MY RABBIES SHOT!
Batman: I'm actually here on Bruce Wayne's behalf. He wanted to offer you a safe place-
Danny: I already told that man no! Just because I fought off a kidnapping attempt on him doesn't mean we're chums. If he asks again I'll date his sons!
Batman: what
Danny: I'll romance them all. I'll take them on romantic candlelight dinners and make so many homemade heart-felt gifts. I'll be their number one support through thick and thin. Don't think I won't!
Batman: Are you sure you're not on something?
Danny: I'm too cool for drugs 😎
Batman:...... Bruce Wayne doesn't have to worry about his sons dating you. Not when you say things like that.
inspired by this wonderful art made by @puppetmaster13u
So, Danny, cemented king and practically father of the Blob Ghosts and certified little shit.
Has found something new to play with.
For you see, despite his various kidnappings by the GIW Danny was never aware of there being a League of Earth's mightiest heroes at all. He off-handily mentioned them to Henry, who was now genuinely jobless because even though he never got told he knew he was jobless for helping Danny escape and Henry?
Henry did not want any part of this, he's just a civilian he doesn't want to meet the Justice League of all people!
Sadly, Danny did not care at all in the slightest.
Henry was then reminded of why Danny was valued by the GIW and why he also king class ghost entity (the only other known king class was the Ghost King who they barely have any information of). Because he easily, cleared the distance between Amity Park and Metropolis.
Henry, unfortunately, was not used to traveling at such speeds and was left hanging limply in Danny's arm as everything started spinning and thinking he might puke.
Danny, being the child that he is at heart, immediately starts calling out Superman's name. Superman, predictably and unsurprisingly, hears this and comes over questioning who was calling him.
Danny decides to be even more of a little shit by speaking in ghost speak even though just earlier he called out Superman's name in clear English. Henry, the de-facto translator, is out of commission right now so Superman is really just left guessing here.
Unless, you go with the fact that Kyrptonian is a dead language, and since Superman can speak and knows Kyrptonian, Danny's ghost speak is automatically translated to Kyrptonian.
Superman is, understandably, stumped by this occurrence and he may or may not form the idea that Danny might be a Kyrptonian.
Danny then gently places Henry down on the roof, pats him on the head, tells a few blob ghosts to keep an eye on their new littlest sibling while Dad has fun.
Then he turns to Superman, with the most feral, shit eating grin on his face. Cracks his knuckles, and then tells Superman that they're going to have a fight.
He wasn't asking, and before Superman could say anything he's already been punched through the air. Not that it hurt, really, mostly took him by surprise, but now Superman is now in a fight with what may or may not be a Kryptonian.
For one reason or another, Danny is now living in Gotham and working in a coffeeshop. For one reason or another, Tim frequents the same coffeeshop.
Now, both of them are honest to god messes who treat sleep like a grave enemy. Meaning they both survive on coffee, spite, energy drinks, and their respective hyperfocuses.
They don't even talk, really, they just see each other from time to time: Tim knows the barista who looks like he's been dead for weeks is named Danny, and Danny knows how to make Tim's Death Wish with his eyes closed, but other than that, they are just strangers who largely don't care about each other.
That is, until one time after his patrol, Tim comes to the said coffeeshop in his Red Robin gear. He doesn't even think about it, he simply needs coffee. He comes to the counter. He orders. His voice is tired and emotionless. He just wants his coffee and maybe stare at a wall for a few hours until his brain reboots. Danny takes his order without even looking at him. He has been sitting and staring at a wall for a few hours, night shifts are literally killing him.
They are both so done.
Red Robin waits for his coffee. Danny makes it almost automatically, his mind elsewhere. The coffeeshop is empty, save for them two. It's four in the morning. Nothing feels real.
Danny sets the cup on the counter.
"One Death Wish for Tim," he says out of a habit, not fully registering they are alone, and he doesn't need to do that.
Tim takes the coffee without thinking, nods a silent 'thank you'. Brings the cup up to his mouth-
And notices a glove on his own hand.
He is in Red Robin get up.
He freezes and looks at the barista, who is cleaning the coffeemachine. Danny, noticing him looking, also looks back at him. Did he make the wrong order? He knows Tim's soul, he's seen it a lot, he couldn't have mistaken him for anyone else, but maybe he forgot to add syrup?..
There's a domino mask on Tim's face. A vigilante domino mask.
They stare at each other. No one moves. No one blinks. The sun is rising somewhere over the city.
Tim takes a sip of his coffee. Danny goes back to cleaning the coffeemachine.
They never speak of this again, but Tim becomes a regular here in both of his personas.
Happy belated birthday Kiana!💜
For @ladydoptera, to 'Pomegranate Lips' by Derivakat,
"Password?"
Tim swallows. The eyes in the narrow window of the metal door are plenty familiar, dark violet with black makeup. But knowing who is on the other side doesn't help him in the slightest.
"Going ghost," he says, keeping his voice low. The window slides back shut with a snap - metal over metal, Tim's ears hurt - and then, there's a click, a snap, and the door opens.
A girl in a creatively ruined but still somehow stylish gothic lolita dress is standing in front of him. She looks taller than usual, and when Tim looks down, he knows why - those platforms must be at least four inches, how does she even walk in those?
"Welcome, McFly," Sam's dark red lips curve in a smirk that looks just a bit too smug on her. Also, to this day, Tim has no idea why she picked that nickname for him.
He steps inside, and the heavy door slams shut behind him, leaving them both in complete darkness. Or, Tim thought so until he looks a little closer and notices how Sam's violet eyes are faintly glowing - not enough to light the way, but enough to raise a few questions.
Questions that Tim is not going to ask.
Yet.
"Follow me," the girl says, her voice on the brink between annoyed and amused, and starts walking away through the narrow hall. Tim does his best to follow; his eyes are adjusting to the darkness, albeit slowly.
However, the walk doesn't last long - ten or so steps later Sam pushes another door, and-
The closest thing Tim can describe it as is a rave, of all things. Loud, rhythmic music that thrums through his whole body, strobes and bright green lights everywhere, and people, hundreds of them, dressed in all kinds of things. Tim freezes in the doorway, struggling to take in the sight.
A woman in a Victorian dress is dancing with what looks to be a werewolf in prison robes. A child just threw a one-eyed parrot at a man in a black tie suit. A knight of plated armor is waving a sword around, seemingly arguing with-
"Keep your mouth closed," Sam's finger taps his chin from below, and Tim shuts it back closed with a snap. Right, he's got no time to gawk, he is here on a mission. But, when he looks back to Sam, his mind comes to a screeching halt yet again.
"How'd you-" he starts, looking at how the girl's skin, usually pale and almost white, is glittering with small lines of blood red runes. They are not tattoos, or at least Tim doesn't think so because they move, like tiny snakes or vines over her skin.
"Nope, not answering," Sam clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes, her perfectly sharp eyeliner getting a deep, dark red hint as well, "I don't owe you shit."
With that, she turns around and starts weaving through the crowd, leaving Tim no choice but to follow.
The music is nearly crushing his eardrums. The crowd should feel suffocating - Tim knows it usually does in places like these - but somehow it doesn't. What's more, it feels cold. So cold, in fact, that goosebumps run over Tim's skin.
However, just as he feels like they are completely lost in this freezing, neverending sea of faces and figures, Sam stops. Tim almost runs into her back, actually, but, just as he is about to ask her why, she steps to the side and gestures for Tim to go ahead.
And Tim... Tim can't move a muscle.
There's a corner booth in front of him, with red velvet seats and more than a few dozen drinks, empty and full, on the table in the middle. Some of the liquids are glowing toxic, unnatural colors, and in the back corner of his mind, Tim still remembers why he's here. He is investigating, right. Which includes meeting the owner of 'Afterlife' face to face, yeah. Something about a new drug on the streets of Gotham, probably.
Tim can't concentrate.
The guy lazily sitting at the table, with hair so white that it's nearly glowing and his pale skin shimmering with highlighter on his cheekbones, causes Tim's mind to completely bluescreen. Because the unbuttoned black suit with embroidered stars and an open white shirt underneath, the neon blue, faintly glowing cold eyes, and blood red lips stretched in a dangerous smile - that's thankfully is not directed at him - are all... Too much.
Not blood red, actually. It's a different color, but Tim can't remember the name.
He can barely remember his own name, to be honest.
"Oi, Danny," Sam snaps her fingers in the air, and the ethereal being blinks, tearing his unblinking gaze away from the man in a white suit sitting across from him to look at her. Then, his eyes slide to Tim, and, okay, he thought he was well past the gay panic stage of his life, but apparently not.
The guy - the god? because only divine fucking things have the right to look so otherworldly pretty, in Tim's opinion - tilts his head to the side slightly, a curious edge to him. And then he smiles, nice and a little sly, but Tim can't shake off the feeling of sharp danger that runs through his spine.
Pomegranate, that's the color.
Bite it once, and you will never leave the Underworld.
"Can I help you, little bird of crimson color?" The ethereal owner of the most mysterious place in Gotham asks without raising his voice, and yet Tim can hear him despite the loud music around.
...Maybe he doesn't mind never leaving, if he can get a taste.
~•~•~•~
When I put that song on for the first time, I was like, that's Sam. That's so Sam. But then I started writing, and things got weird, so it's both Sam and Danny now.
Tim is so gone, I'm sorry, RIP Tim. Funny thing is, he barely said a single word throughout the whole piece.
She/They. Old enough to be legally allowed to drink anywhere.
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