Do not read this if Noncon is a sensitive subject. This is pure smut with an overly obsessive stalker

The Identity of the Gentle Senior is a Yandere

I wanna read this

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

I wanna eat that

it's almost that time of the year folks. grab yer knives

summary: Much to Tom Riddle's surprise, he's not the only one that loves you dearly.

THIS SI SO FRICKJN CUTE AND AMAZING AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH

Yes

He is baby

I agree I agree I agreeI agree I agree I agree I agree I agree I agreeI agree I agree I agreeI agree I agree I agreeI agree I agree I agreeI agree I agree I agreeI agree I agree I agree

Yes

"Excuse me Justice League I'm sorry for interrupting but I have a really important question."

The meeting stops.

All heads turn towards the terrified looking teenage alien? Maybe? Who is hovering halfway in and halfway out of the ceiling.

"...Yes?" Captain Marvel ventures, looking unsure.

"Okay, so there's these deep sea divers who are completely like, pressure saturated? Or something? But their little capsule thing they live in is severed from the ship cuz of a hurricane. I can absolutely phase them out, but I don't really know what to do with them? Because like, I think humans explode if they experience rapid pressure changes? Will the human divers explode if I make them intangible? Or will they explode if I take them up and make them tangible? If I take them up and keep them intangible, will they still explode if turning intangible didn't make them explode in the first place? Sorry, I'm a little pressed for time and Google wasn't giving me answers."

The room is silent as the older heroes take this information in.

That. That is a very oddly specific question.

It also devolves into a massive debate on whether intangibility would count as a pressure change, whether or not humans really did explode, and what, exactly, happened to human bodies when they were made intangible.

Aquaman secrets the kid alien hero out of the meeting room to get the location so he can send his people to the divers.

Danny lands at the feet of his cloning template, and in a desperate bid to not get murdered by said template, he gave a wry smile before saying, "HI, dad." He then used the moment of stunned silence to escape.

A week later, he regrets his decision as he walks down the stairs to find his template in his living room, interrogating his tied up parents.

"I'm not a ghost, you maniacs!"

Danny's jaw hung open as he watched the old footage Tucker had dug up from a file on Danny he'd found on the Fenton parents' hard drive.

It was... an old-school Robin. Tiny, in an oversized yellow cape and a white-eyed domino that probably did nothing to help his case in his parents' one-track minds. He was lying on a metal table with restraints on each of his limbs.

"Silence, specter!" His dad boomed, his frame taking up most of the monitor's screen. Jack's size and volume caused the kid to flinch. "Normal humans can't switch from teenagers to toddlers!"

"I'm twelve, not two, jerkwad," Robin muttered, his voice only just caught by the sensitive mic. "You're really planning to take apart a toddler?" he asked, his voice louder. "Think about that, for maybe... two seconds! Or at least think about what Batman'll do to ya." His voice grew more strained and high-pitched as Jack held his arm still while Maddie drew blood with a horrifically over-sized syringe.

When she finally removed the needle, there was a whooshing noise followed by several loud crashes, and the lights went out. After several more alarming noises, the footage cut out.

Danny sat in the computer chair in front of Tucker’s monitor, frozen. Sam sat in a second chair next to him while Tucker sat on the edge of his bed. Tucker, having already watched the video, fiddled with his tablet as the others absorbed what they’d just watched.

“After that,” Tucker said, “the file mentions a bunch of tests they did with the tissue and blood samples they’d saved. One of their experiments was a cloning project, which resulted in you. After they concluded you had turned out a normal human, your file just… ends.”

Danny turned toward Tucker in disbelief. “So you’re telling me that not only am I a clone, I’m Robin’s clone?! The original child hero?” Tucker continued scrolling through his tablet, eyes glued to the text of whatever he was still looking into.

“That was the second Robin, not the original,” Sam said. “This is the one the Joker bragged about killing.”

“So I’m the clone of a dead child hero. Yeah, okay, that tracks.”

“Holy shit, dude,” Tucker blurted out. “Your parents did time at Arkham.” Both Danny and Sam whipped toward Tucker, eyes wide.

“There’s no way!”

“They got out after like, two months!” Tucker squeaked, equally disbelieving. “Their release forms are signed by some doctor named Hugo Strange.”

“He met the Fentons and thought they were SANE?!” Sam glanced at Danny and coughed. “Er, no offense.”

Danny shrugged. “No, you’re right. I guess you go strange once you work at Arkham.” Sam huffed, her lips quirking into a brief smile before she banished it in favor of her best deadpan expression.

Tucker finally looked up from his tablet. “I wonder if that Robin became a ghost. Maybe you could find him in the ghost zone? After all, wouldn’t he be like, your dad? Wait, doesn’t that make Batman your grandpa?!”

Tucker threw the tablet on his bed, standing up. He got into Danny’s space, pulling the collar of his t-shirt as he leaned in. “Danny! BATMAN owes you fifteen years worth of birthday presents! As your best friend, who has shared everything with you from infancy, that means Batman owes ME seven-point-five years worth of birthday presents.” Tucker’s eyes were a little wild. “Danny. Danny! Get. Me. Bat-tech!”

Danny barked a laugh. “Tuck, I’m not going to show up in Gotham with Batman’s dead kid’s face to demand child support in the form of cool gadgets.” He pried the collar of his shirt out of Tucker’s fingers before he could stretch it out too much. “I kinda wish I could meet the second Robin, but even if he is a ghost, don’t you think he might hold a grudge? My parents went all Vlad on him when he was a little kid!”

Besides, if Robin counted as his dad, wouldn’t that make Danny Dani’s dad? Yeah, no. Fifteen was too young to have an adolescent kid. Danny would not be calling this guy his dad anytime soon.

“Your creators, you mean,” Sam said morbidly. “Anyway, who says he has to be a ghost? If he’s your dad, maybe when he died he just… got back up again. You did.”

Danny facepalmed. “Sam, that was a lab accident. You set up that lab accident. Twice! Coming back from the dead isn’t genetic.”

“Isn’t it?” A new voice asked. It was an unwelcome, familiar voice. Belatedly, Danny’s breath fogged the air as Desiree came into view. “The second Robin is famous in the Ghost Zone,” she crooned. “Though he’s gone by a different name for nearly a decade now.”

Danny’s left eye twitched as he frantically ran through the recent conversation again, trying to figure out where they’d screwed up. Ah. Now he remembered.

“Oh, no,” he groaned.

Desiree’s laughter echoed. “Oh, yes! One former Robin, coming up! Enjoy the family reunion with your madman of a progenitor!”

Tucker’s room vanished, the clean blue walls replaced with a filthy alley and flickering streetlights. Danny hovered in his sitting position for a comical moment before crashing down on top of someone, who grunted before falling still. Danny rolled off the guy, sitting on damp concrete and reaching a hand behind himself to rub his sore back.

Then he saw the gun.

Danny was very aware of being in his human form as he sheepishly raised his hands in the air from his sitting position. In front of him stood the helmeted figure of the Red Hood, the infamous mass murderer, drug lord, and fugitive. He was a tank of a man who matched Jack Fenton for intimidating size and was leagues beyond him in intimidating muscle.

‘He’s just a human,’ Danny told himself, taking a deep, steadying breath. ‘He can’t hurt me, I’ll just go intangible.’

He breathed out, and exhaled cold mist. ‘Of course. Just my luck.’

‘Wait. Didn’t Desiree say she was sending me to the second Robin?’ With vain hope, Danny’s eyes flicked to the only other person in the alley. Blonde guy, fifties, balding, heavyset… There was no way that was the same person as the kid in the video. If that kid had grown to adulthood, he'd be in his late twenties.

He looked back at the crime lord, who hadn’t moved since Danny had looked up at him the first time. Probably because a fifteen year-old lookalike had just dropped out of the sky in front of him. Danny chuckled nervously.

“Hi Dad,” he said, instantly changing his policy on clones. “Nice to meet you. Please don’t shoot me?”

Danny. Danny no. Theres a witness Danny. You called a crime lord dad with a witness. Danny!

Also, if danny doesn't use his powers to get away, then escaping a bat is going to be nearly impossible, especially if all their attention is on him. If he does use his powers, Hood is going to have so many questions, and he will find answers

‘Oh man, oh jeez, okay…’

Review the situation: Red Hood, JL’s most wanted, standing at the alley exit, a gun in his hand. Some old guy Danny had landed on, unmoving on the ground next to Danny. Danny himself, in his human form, ass on the ground and hands in the air as he and the Red Hood stared at one another.

‘This will be SO awkward if my unwilling gene donor did not, in fact, grow up to be Red Hood. I called him Dad!’ Red Hood still had not responded to that, actually. He hadn’t done anything; though the barrel of his gun had drifted further and further away from Danny’s direction. Small mercies.

‘Okay, yeah, this is awkward either way. How did the tiny hero kid grow up to be this giant murder-hobo anyway?!’

Danny abruptly remembered his own villainous older self, and his current situation suddenly made a lot more sense. ‘Oh, wow. I really was the wrong person to give a bunch of superpowers to, huh?’

Well, that was everyone else’s problem. Danny’s problem was still frozen in place, staring at him through his evil-looking mask as though whatever was behind it had crashed. It was really dragging out this moment to excruciating lengths.

Danny dropped his right arm enough to scratch the back of his neck nervously. Guess it was up to him to save them both from this encounter.

“Ha ha, just kidding!” he said, slowly pushing himself to his feet. “I’m actually a hallucination. Oh no! Your subconscious is fighting me off now that you know that!” Danny started fading into invisibility, hoping that his ghost-villain-dad would keep buffering for just a few seconds more.

“Aaaah. I can exist no longer.” Danny raised both arms again, taking one step back and wiggling his fingers. “I am defeated,” he said in a monotone, and vanished completely. Then he ran through the alley wall and kept going, one hand covering his mouth as his face burned in mortification.

At least he knew he wasn’t blushing, as he was currently transparent.

Now to find somewhere to transform, get his phone to map him a way back home, and fly back to take care of whatever it was Desiree had wanted him out of the way of. Ugh. Wishes sucked. Stupid jackass-genie ghost.

~

Back in the alley, the Red Hood had finally begun to move again now that the too skinny, bruised up, Ghost of Christmas Past or whatever had fucked off. He stalked forward toward the blonde man on the ground. The man groaned, starting to wake up. Jason casually kicked him none-too-gently in the head, then knelt down.

There was a wallet on the ground where the kid had been sitting. Jason snatched it and opened it up.

‘Danny Fenton, huh?’ Now where had he heard the name Fenton before? Jason folded the wallet back up and shoved it in his jacket pocket. He’d have to look into it.

Dad, the kid had called him. Huh. Probably not Talia’s? Unless she’d aged him up. That was possible, actually.

Kori was even less likely, the kid wouldn’t have even hit double-digits. Though… how fast did Tamaraneans age, anyway? Could explain the powers, at least.

Whoever the kid was, if he wanted to claim the Red-fuckin-Hood as his father, he must be desperate. There was one thing Hood was known for, and if little Danny Fenton was looking for his attention, he must be after that particular skillset.

He got a grip on the back of his target’s jacket and shirt and stood up, the man’s limp body rising with him. Jason lifted his arm over his right shoulder, carrying the man behind him like a bag of groceries as he walked toward the alley’s exit. He ignored the soft whimpers with the ease of long practice, still trying to place that last name.

Eh. He’d figure it out.

It’d been a while since he’d made time for family. He’d wrap up his business with the current group of scumbags infesting his territory, and then he’d figure out what had driven Danny his way. Redo the introduction. Kill whoever needed killing.

This was great, actually. Just the break in routine he needed.

As he left the alley just to enter the streets of the Alley, the flickering streetlight finally died. Shrouded in darkness, the Red Hood sauntered onward, the eerie eyes of his helmet glowing without managing to illuminate anything around him.

‘See you soon, kid.’

Ya know. We can actually make this much worse by making Hood mention Danny's powers in front of the Fenton parents, which leads them to accuse Danny of being a ghost and attacking him. When the weapons work, it confirms it in their minds, and now Hood has to save his kid

Imagine it took a lot for red hood Jason to subdue the Fenton parents, then he mentioned the powers Danny has after Danny tried to calm things down,had almost done so, thought he was in the clear, only to have his parents act like deranged video game bosses that just hit phase 2 of their boss fight, Danny got injured just at the start of it, red hood was already injured,the Fentons have berserker energy here and are ignoring their injuries as they turn their house into a weapon against danny and red hood, their hazmat suits shooting lazor every which away, Maddie's Google's shooting lazors at Danny.

Danny is both heartbroken the Fentons have rejected him and mad at red hood for disrupting things but also conflicted about it(he's touched the guy tracked him down, he actually seems to care? What is his life) and he is also worried his formerly incarcerated in Arkham asylum made scientists former parents really will make good on their promises to rend him apart molecule by molecule and do the same with red hood too,if neither of them can get away, who knew Jack could tank head shots from a gun,not him or red hood. Oh wow, that almost took his(Danny's) head off( the light saber Maddie weilds like a nerd is deadly)

The pain, the heartbreak, the danger both to himself and everyone he knows in this house and beyond. His core that had only wanted to explore the stars, protect what was his, be safe, be loved, belong..

Something fractures, sound is gone in an empty void consumed into a black hole of silence, the adults yelling, the weapons firing, the sizzling of flesh and ecto is gone leaving all offbalance momentarily at the change.

Then the softest whisper of ice cracking. A swift breath of air in.

And Danny screams.

It's not his Wail. Not the pulse of power, and protection, and Keep Away From Mine!

Its a cry. Anger and sadness and wanting. A banchee betraid and rejected by the family they had chosen, loyal to serve and protect.

Its ice and lightning and excruciating screams, being burned alive, and drowning and melting and growing again, his name called by his friends and time and space itself being destroyed and formed in an instaint.

(To Jason it sounds like a scared injured child sobbing for help, wanting nothing more than to be held and loved and safe..)

His keystone, his grave, his haunt, his home, his fraid, his friends, all feel the ripple as his power uproots from where its been sewn to since death.

The portal twists leaping out of the frame. consuming the wall the equipment the entire house collapsing and imploding into itself around them. All the weapons, the blueprints, the experaments and notes and projects and research, all the ecto, the bricks the wood the carpets, the pipes.

All the memories good and bad are being crunched and twisted into an ever shrinking shell, tucking itself away where it cant be used against him, inside his core, throwing out all the intruders. The Bats and monsters. Ripping away a lifetime of work and locking the knowledge out of reach.

Danny has pulled his anchor away, his haunt/home/grave waiting to reform when and only when he finds something new to take root in.

Right now Danny dosen't care. He dosn't want to be a teen right now, he dosen't want to be a protector or a hero or a king. They can have 'human' Danny back later. He just sobs and curls his tiny ferret form further into the comfort of purple velvet and ticking clocks..

Poor little banshee baby boy

Jason wasn't sure what the hell just happened. One minute he had the Fenton's roped up, getting results, then Danny walks in and all hell broke loose.

They had been loosing. Loosing badly. Babs had already broke her silence once the shooting started and Dick was halfway there on the Wally express. He was sure the others were probably on various other Supers or Flashes that were free but then all the chaos just seemed to freeze.

Jason panicked, thinking he had gone deaf somehow, complete silence in the wake of a warzone. The only thing that moved was Danny, the only sound was Danny, Jason's only thought was DANNY.

Then the scream. it felt like a scream at least, Jason could feel so much emotion pouring off of it. Danny's emotions.

Being revived had left Jason the slightest bit empathic, though it had taken several sessions between JL Dark and Raven to work through the overwhelming rage that lived in his bones. They told him he was a Revenant, an undead with a purpose of vengance. The rage had been caused by his own plans, triggering death trauma onto himself and escalating his now emotion driven soul. That and being hangry for ectoplasm apparently, Ghostbusters was right, who knew?

He had thought Danny had been a meta at first, it made sense with the cloning and all. But now he can see its something else entirely.

He could feel the scream vibrate around him, he could see the Fentons collapse and claw at their ears in what was possibly to them something more like Black Canary's cry.

What Jason could hear, what he was seeing was something different entirely. He can hear the sobs of a boy, the cries of someone injured left alone in the dark as laughter cackles. Jason can see Danny, perfectly normal, HUMAN Danny, standing in front of a tunnel, the same one just feet away without the lazerus green light. watched him walk in, watched him trip, saw his hand hit something before the boy lights up like a lightbulb being turned on. He can see Danny being torn apart and remade. See the fights he was forced into. See the pain when the Fentons turned on him, the town turned on him, the ghosts that interacted with him thinking he would just KNOW, know like they do, all the ins and out of who he was and how he worked. How he was confused and half starved like (Jason had been coming back to Gotham..) Before he finally got someone to tell him what was wrong.

Jason fumbles with his helmet, fighting with the latches barely noticing when he somehow gets knocked over by something hard and then tossed into loose dirt. There's hands suddenly pulling his away and taking the helmet off and he just barely sees Dick's suit in the corner of his vision as he lets his stomach empty onto the ground under him. Coughing and spitting for a good 30 seconds as Dick holds him away from the mess.

Once Jason could breathe without heaving, he leans back into his brother's arms, taking in his surroundings. Dick is hovering, Wally just off to the side having pulled the unconscious Fentons into a pile. B was standing in front of them with Superman looking at here Danny had been standing..

Danny!

Jason scrambles, pushing himself between them to see something in a dark cloak. They had no legs, just a long tail that was currently holding a staff with clocks set into it. In their arms was something small and shiny, glittering like moonlight that trembles as the entity shushes and rocks them.

Batman reaches out to Jason, to stop him from moving forward but he pays it no mind. Drawn toward the shivering star Jason stops just out of reach.

"Is he alright..?" Jason can't help but ask the entity, it felt OLD, old and powerful, strong enough to blink him and everyone else out of existence if it wanted. But right now Jason had the feeling that it wouldn't.

"He will be.. It's been a long day, and without an anchor he's not going to be himself anytime soon."

"He needs something dosen't he? Like I do?" Something to protect, something to keep grounded, something to LIVE for.

"Yes. I would advise taking it slow though, let him make the choice. Though he leans more toward the Banshee classification, he does take after you in more ways than one." Jason can feel the amusement from them, watching as the little star huddles into the cloak, warn out with frost on his cheeks.

Jason feels more than sees Bruce and Dick next to him, Knows they want a full report for why the boy he was tracking down just made a whole ass house dissapear.

"His friends and sisters staying nearby should help." The entity says, gently transfering the small ferret shaped body to him, stopping for one more brush through the moonlight hair. "The first three should be here in a moment. The other sister will be visiting Paris tommorow. If someone were to be hovering near the very tip of the Eiffel tower at 3:26 AM and said 'Clockpa sent me'. she should listen."

Bruce glanced at Clark, getting a small nod. Not that Jay would expect them all getting let back to the manor tonight, not until everyone had their questions answered. Good thing Danny seemed to love space. it would probably help keep his mind off things.

"Oh speaking of which.." The entity hums, their hand suddenly reaching right INTO Danny pulling out two backpacks seemingly already packed, right out of the tiny void of blackness in his arms.

"Tell Jazz he's going to need the leash before you get there, otherwise you might not be able to find him for a week. He dosen't need to worry about the portal either, as it is now settled within him. But he will need lessons on using it, his gate is a bit more complicated than Constantine's teleportation but that man could use a head start on his community service." The entity smiles once more and vanishes into thin air.

Ooooh. The bats are gonna be so confused. And concerned. And Jason might be a bit slow to explain since, you know, he's a bit preoccupied. He's got a ferret-child to take care of. To be fair he's confused too, but less so. And more focused on the care his kid needs. Partly due to ghostly instincts probably.

I love this. A lot.

Lets go for some shenanigans~

Bruce 'question everything' Wayne was having a time. Jason had been more avoidant than usual for the last week. the only ones in the family he had been willing to talk to were Barbara and Alfred.

So when Oracle tapped into not only the Bat coms but the JL ones asking for help extracting Hood plus one unknown from Ilinois as they were both currently under fire? Yeah Bruce has questions he wants answered now!

the strange entity Jason had been talking to and their conversation raised several flags alone. Barbara had been informing him on how the boy(?) Jason was currently holding had apparently been cloned from Jason back when he was still robin and he wants to read that file Oracle pull it up now!

When three voices approached the crater where the house had once been, two girls and a boy. The red head girl sees Jason, slides down into the crater the goth following after the former who is snarling and raising a bat while the boy shrieks "Don't creepstick the super heroes!!"

Bruce can see Jason tense, see his arms curl around the creature turning to take the blow while guarding his cargo while a feral growl erupts from his chest.

And it seems like that action more than anything causes the girl to pause. She stops mid swing looking Jason straight in the eye for a long moment, then drops her stance, "You're protecting him..?"

"Yes."

"Why?" the girl asks suspiciously.

"Birds of a feather and all that.." Jason shrugs, loosening his arms enough so the teens can see the sleeping glow worm.

"Holy Ancents.." the boy says. "You really did come back didn't you?"

"Revenant." Jason admits rubbing his chin over the white hair, almost like a cat scent marking, "or so I've been told at least."

Bruce is getting a headache, there are so many things he needs context for.. "I believe we should continue this somewhere more secure.."

All three of the teens tense up again.

"If it helps." Dick interjects, hands held up placatingly, one holding the backpacks "The guy that was here earlier told us to say 'Clockpa' if that means anything to you? That and something about the glow noodle here needing a leash before we leave?"

-

Jason was glad for the leash. They had been at the watchtower for a little over an hour. Surprisingly the kids had allowed Jason to continue holding Danny, which with how much dirt they were throwing around to keep Bats busy (not only had they found the Fentons files on their capture of Jason but also unleashed a metaphoric bomb of different things that had been kept from the Leagues notice. Constantine, when he had shown up, had actually put his serious face on instead of noping out) anyway they were clearly protective of Danny, giving big time Superheroes a stare down challenge like they were.

Danny had woken up from his stress nap no less than five minutes ago and after stopping long enough to check each of his fraid had seen the window and pressed up against it like a bug on a windshield. Tried to phase through it at least fifteen times now. Only getting his head through before the leash stops him, whines, wiggles, pulls back, looks at him with sad eyes, catches sight of the stars again and repeats.

Jason can't hold back the chuckle, Danny pouts at him again with a few little chirp sounds that he thinks are supposed to mean something but honestly feel like baby babble so he cant be sure.

"Spunky little punk isn't he?"

Jason turns to see Constantine smiling at Danny. Danny ignores them again purring while he watches a couple of Lanturns fly by.

"You know him?"

"We've met a couple of times." John shuffles in his pockets pulling out some of the ectoplasm candies that he had been supplying to Jason, putting a few in Jason's hand while unwrapping one for Danny. The gremlin snatches it from the mage crunching on the treat with a happy squeel "Likes to go by Phantom when he's heroing, helped me track down a living storm as well as break up a few cults that tried to summon the new high king of the Realms. I honestly didn't even know about half the shit that's been brought up tonight.. Kid likes to focus on other people's problems rather than himself. if I did you can bet I would have intervined sooner.."

Jason hums popping his own candy in his mouth. "I'm surprised they've let me look after him this long. Figured the sister at least would have been fussing over him."

"You protected him. that goes a long way to the fraid of a protection spirit. Not that he's going to do much protecting like this. He does have a doctor in the realms according to her, but I'll need some time to set up a way to get to him."

"Right, the clock guy said something about that.."

Constantine whips around in surprise "He met you in person?"

"Is he that big a deal?"

"From what I've seen, the Keeper of Time itself and Phantom's ghostly parent dosent make house calls lightly. What did he tell you?"

Wow Clockpa was a big deal then.. More headaches for Bruce yay! "Said Danny was a banshee, which by the way I have questions on how that differs between us in how to feed him, and needed a new anchor? Also wants you to teach him how to use a portal gate thing."

Constantine sighs kneeding at a knot in his neck. He already had a lot to go through with what the kids brought to the table, but he also wouldn't dare dismiss a request from Clockwork, let alone one involving the kid who dethroned Pariah Dark.

Jason and Constantine talk for a while longer, when Danny then decides that he's had his fill of stargazing, pulling against the leash to get back to his friends. Jason follows along offering the end of the leash to Jazz when Danny rubs under her chin and around her neck sleepily. Sam is still ranting although it seems like she's moved onto something completely unrelated. Tucker is sitting with Tim, half fanboying over their tech while helping sort through all the files that were saved on drives found in the go bags.

Then Superman comes back in, a glowing blur zooming over to Jazz, Jason's reflexes almost brain the twelve year old girl crowding on his kid if she hadn't phased through the attack. "Holy crap template! I didn't know he could do that! Can I do that? I want to be a little creature!!"

Template? Oh shit.. she gives off the same vibe Danny gives him.. something of Me and Mine, except a bit muddled and watered down. His clone has a clone. Jason's brain can't think of anything helpful to do other than silently offer the girl a piece of ecto candy and slump into the chair on Jazz's other side.

Yo why is there a kid here

Will work for food

DP x DC An idea that's probably been done before but... here it is again.

~~

It was not an ideal setting for this. Out in the open, debris being their only cover. An unnatural storm closing in. The area had been evacuated but there was still no telling how many civilian eyes could be on them at this very moment. 

The League was scattered, making this current group a touch at odds while away from the majority of their normal teams. 

Batman stood with Red Robin, Flash, Superboy, and Raven. It wasn’t a bad lineup, but things were getting dicy. 

A monster had appeared, a creature foreign to most of them. With it came storms of all kinds, winds, hail, rain. It was a mess but there was nothing natural about it. The hail shattered the pavement. The winds were picking buildings up off their foundations. The blue lightning went without saying. The ice was changing the terrain. The temperature changes were disorienting to most of the heroes.  

Worse was the fact that this creature seemed to be able to duplicate itself, spreading the chaos out to a much wider area. They were having trouble even touching the thing let alone capturing it. 

“Are you sure about this?” Batman asked, a deep frown etched into his face as he watched Raven mark out a summoning circle. 

“It’s the only idea i have.” She said bluntly, shivering from the sudden chill. “That thing is not of this realm. We need something else not of this realm to subdue it.” 

“I hear what you’re saying but summoning a demon to deal with a demon still leaves us with a demon.” Flash said, seeing the flaw in this plan. 

“Unless you know this one personally or something.” Red Robin offered, his voice exhausted. 

“It’s not a demon.” Raven said, tone irritated but it wasn’t like any of them were having a good day. “Depending on how you want to look at it, it’s far worse than a demon. That thing came from the Infinite Realm.” 

Superboy just grunted once, watching her put the finishing touches on her spell circle. “You said that in a tone that said it was in capital letters. What’s the Infinite Realm?” 

“Bad news and something we shouldn’t freaking touch.” Raven answered swiftly. She stood, eyes going over her work. 

“Then what the hell are we doing?” Flash asked quickly, all of them tensed as the wind started to pick up again. If a hurricane was thrown at them, there was little they’d be able to do about it. 

“Raven.” Batman’s voice was serious. “You’re sure?” 

“It’s all i’ve got.” She repeated. “This is not a problem this realm was meant to handle on short notice. We need help.” 

There were several things in that one statement he didn’t like. “Who are you summoning?” 

Raven was looking rather pale herself. “The Ghost King. The King of the Infinite Realm. I’ve heard word that he can be bargained with so… we’re gonna give it a shot.” 

She didn’t wait for permission from anyone else to throw in their two cents on the matter. She threw her hands out, alien words no one else understood on her lips. The chant repeated and the summoning circle began to glow a green that the present Bats didn’t care for. 

It crept up the walls of the summoning circle in oddly pretty patterns before a gaping void opened on the ground. Silently, a figure rose into the circle from that same void. The king was smaller than they’d been imagining the last minute or two. He was human shaped and sized, a black crown floating several inches over his head. He was a wispy figure, face hidden by a large hood but there were strands of white hair floating around their shadowed face. He’d had nothing but a smoky looking tail when he’d first appeared but that had now split into solid looking legs. 

Given his size, he seems like a young adult, but it was hard to say for certain without seeing his face. 

“Woah.” Red Robin muttered, Superboy agreeing with the sentiment. 

“Heroes?” The Ghost King wondered, voice soft and lethargic. “Interesting.” 

Raven bowed her head in a show of respect. “Your Majesty. I apologize for the abrupt summons. We have a dire situation and are willing to make a deal for your help.” 

“A deal…” His voice echoed gently. He spoke as if raising his voice would shatter the very air around them. “That’s not something to choose lightly. What do you want from me?” 

Raven swallowed, her body rigid with nerves. She was almost relieved when Batman took over. 

“As i understand it, we have a being from your realm here in ours. We are underprepared to deal with such destruction and-” 

“Of my realm?” The King interrupted softly, head tipped a little as his attention turned to Batman. “Who?” 

Flash laughed nervously. “We’re not on a first name basis or anything but the guy seems to control the weather.” He pointed up and the sky above them was darkening the longer they spoke. 

The King made a noise like he’d clucked his tongue and it struck all of them as a very human kind of gesture despite his title. 

“I can handle that. Your deal?” 

Raven inhaled again, this obviously being the part she was dreading. “Blood, i have the blood of the Demon Lord Trigon-” 

“Pass.” 

That drew everyone up short. The others didn’t exactly understand the significance of Raven offering her blood but it clearly wasn’t something she’d expected to be declined so quickly. 

“My soul then….” Raven muttered. 

“Raven, no!” Superboy hissed. “The fuck!” 

Batman was also eyeing her unhappily. “Absolutely not. You are not Constantine.” 

Fortunately for the heroes, each of which was ready to revolt for such a barter, the Ghost King waved the thought away. 

“Nah.” He tugged on his hood a little and Batman realized he was likely brushing away one of those white strands of hair from his face. “That’s the thing about being the King of the Infinite Realm. Souls come to me one way or another in time. No need to preorder them.” 

Raven’s shoulders sagged, eyes shifting as she rapidly tried to think of something else she could offer. 

“What do you want?” Red Robin asked before anyone else could say something stupid. “You’re the one that’s going to fight this threat for us. What’s a good deal?” 

The King turned to him and stared. They could only assume he was contemplating his answer when he hummed quietly. “Food.” 

“Wha…” Flash muttered. 

The Ghost King just nodded. “Food from your realm. It’s been…a long time since i’ve eaten.” 

“Really? Like we could go grab you a burger and that would be cool?” Superboy asked, a touch suspicious, but the King just nodded.  

“Deal.” Raven said before anyone would make it worse. “A meal for returning this threat back to your realm.” 

The King nodded again, and each of them backed up several paces when the walls to the summoning circle broke apart and the King stepped out. For the briefest of moments he seemed to nearly stumble under the gravity of actually ‘walking’ but he got over it quickly enough. 

“Can we offer you any assistance?” Batman asked. 

The King shook his head. “No.” He wandered off towards the storm, the floating crown on top of his head seeming a little larger. He moved confidently and with purpose. “Oh Vortex…” He called, walking into the winds. 

He sounded young, but all of them agreed immediately that they never wanted to hear him beckoning them the same way. His tone was dangerous, and he walked right through a car that had been flung in his direction. 

“Cool.” Red Robin muttered. 

“Simmer down, Red.” Superboy muttered. All of them wanted to follow, but with the unstable weather and a literal Ghost King wandering about, staying out of the way felt like the best option. Of course that didn’t mean they weren’t dying of curiosity. 

Flash moved to stand beside Raven, making sure she wasn’t about to topple over because of the power it must have taken to summon a king from another dimension. “You good?” 

“Yeah.” she breathed out a sigh. “Honestly, this was an unforeseen best case scenario. You should really go get that food for him.” 

Batman moved to her otherside, hearing the voices over comms noticing a shift in what was happening. “You think it will be over that fast?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well-” Flash looked up at the sky that was rapidly clearing. “Yep. I’ll be right back.” He was gone in a blur but it was hard to believe a change was happening so quickly. 

“Has it even been a full minute?” Superboy asked. “I mean, damn…” 

“Someone better have been recording visuals.” Red Robin muttered. “We are absolutely missing something amazing.” 

“He’s the King of the infinite Realm.” Raven said. “It’s the realm that connects every other realm and it is as the name implies… infinite. He rules it. I don’t even think Trigon would dare mess with him.” 

Batman had his arms crossed, still listening to the amazed chatter over comms. “Should it be suspicious that all he wants is food?” 

“He made the deal.” Raven shrugged. “He could have asked for anything. Literally.” She stopped speaking when the hooded king returned. He was floating this time though only a foot or two off the ground. He didn’t look tired or dirty or anything. 

Just the same ethereal otherness he’d arrived with. “Done.” He announced. 

“What uh- happened to the guy?” Superboy asked, pointing vaguely at where the storm had been raging. 

The Ghost King just dug into his cape and pulled out…a thermos. “Souped him. He’s gonna have a little time out.” 

“Oh my god, i have so many questions.” Red Robin whispered. 

The thermos was put away and Batman was suppressing his own urge to ask a dozen questions over what just occurred. They’d been struggling with the Infinite creature for hours and countless lives had no doubt been altered. Clean up would take weeks if not months and this Ghost King handled it in minutes. 

“My food?” 

“On the way.” Raven said immediately. “Flash is one of the fastest men on the planet. He’ll be right back.” 

The King nodded and looked around before moving to a pile of bricks that had once been a fence. He sat down and waited, somehow looking regal among the wreckage. 

“So… I’m Red Robin.” Batman looked up again when his son was sliding closer to introduce himself. “Superboy, Raven, Batman.” He gestured and the King’s hood shifted as he followed Red Robin’s introduction of them. “Is there something we can call you or is your Majesty the most appropriate?” 

The Ghost King sat in silence for a moment before reaching up to lower his hood. The shadows that had hidden his face disappeared revealing a young man only a little older than Tim. Maybe around Jason’s age. His hair was indeed white, and was braided down the nape of his neck save for the tufts of hair that floated around his face. 

His skin was pale, and Batman thought it might have been gray or even blue in different light. His ears were pointed and his eyes were a haunting green. 

With the hood out of the way, the crown lowered to sit on his head. 

“Phantom.” He finally answered. “You can call me Phantom.” 

Raven bowed her head again and Red Robin beamed. “Thank you for helping us! We literally couldn’t have done it without you.”

Phantom nodded again but without his hood to shield him there was something shy about the action. 

The Flash reappeared in a cloud of dust, two bags of fast food in one hand and a collection of drinks under the other arm. “I got a little of everything!” He announced. “Got some burgers and some chicken nuggets and fries and onion rings. There’s one of those little apple pies in here somewhere too.

Phantom took the bags with a small smile and set them beside him so he could go through them. Superboy helped with the drinks, setting everything down so Phantom could have his pick. There were three different sodas, a lemonade, and a water. 

It wasn’t fancy and probably wasn’t a fair trade of a meal for his services but he didn’t seem disappointed. 

In a flash of rings made of light, Phantom transformed. The otherness of him was still there, but instead of a noble king of a realm, a young…very living human was in his place. Black hair instead of white was still braided down his neck and the strands around his face hung limp instead of floating. 

Those eerie green eyes were now blue but that– oddly enough– was not the most startling thing about his transformation. He wore a large hoodie and jeans but his feet were bare. 

His hands and feet were almost skeletal, and his face was gaunt and starved looking. His eyes were slightly sunken and his skin was a sickly kind of pale. 

He looked emaciated, but there was the smallest of smiles on his face when he ate one fry and then another. He took a sip from every drink offered to him and then took a bite out of the burger. 

They couldn’t help but stand there and watch, all of them transfixed over what they were seeing. 

Phantom took two more bites before wrapping up the rest of his burger and placing it back in the bag. 

“Not to your liking?” Flash asked, voice small. 

Phantom licked his fingers and shook his head. “No, it was good. I’m just full. I’ll take it with me and eat it later when i’m hungry again.” 

Batman could only imagine the size of his stomach. Stopping now was probably the healthiest thing he could have done if he wanted to keep the food down. He cleared his throat. “Are you alright?” 

“Mhmm.” Phantom nodded, the rings of light appearing again. He was back in his healthier looking ghostly form. That was an oxymoron, wasn’t it? A healthy ghost form… 

“You’re still alive.” Raven whispered, stuck in her shock. “The living shouldn’t… The Infinite Realm isn’t…” 

Phantom’s lips tipped up in a smile. “You’re right, but wrong. I’m both. I’m dead. I’m alive. I’m balance.” He paused for a moment. “I haven’t been in a living realm for a while… guess i’ve been neglecting that side of me. Thanks for the food, it was a good deal.” 

He was gathering up the bags he clearly planned to take with him. 

“You should come back.” Red Robin spat the words out, likely before giving them any real thought. “I’ll take you to lunch. I’ll take you like… all the time. I am not going to pretend to know what you have going on but… shit, Agent A would disown me if i did not offer to feed you.” 

Phantom looked cold briefly. “Agent… A…?” 

Red Robin winced, “Code name for my grandfather. He’s an amazing cook.” 

“Red Robin.” Batman scowled at him. 

“Oh, what? He’s gonna give you the look for you not being the one to offer.” Red Robin said unapologetically, but the explanation had Phantom softening again. “What do you say? Lunch? Do i have to summon you?” 

“Jesus, Red. Let him actually decline or accept.” Superboy was snickering. 

Phantom looked between them, the confusion on his face clearing up after a beat. A piece of paper appeared between his fingers. It had some kind of squiggle on it none of them could read at a glance. He handed it over to Red Robin. 

“Have that on you, say my name. I’ll find you.” Phantom said. “I should…eat again.” 

“We…appreciate you helping us.” Raven added quickly, determined that they make a good impression. 

Phantom’s look grew warmer again. “It was fun.” With his bags and drinks in his arms, he wandered back over to the summoning circle. “I don’t mind helping when the trouble is severe and you were right. This particular problem was mine to clean up. Sorry about him, by the way. Vortex is an asshole.” 

Superboy and Flash both snorted. “Thanks anyway.” 

Phantom nodded at them again, floating in the middle of the circle before his eyes glowed that bright, toxic green again. He slipped inside the void and disappeared as quickly as he arrived, the remains of the summoning circle erasing itself. 

“So… That happened.” Flash muttered, not sure how they were gonna put this in a report to the rest of the League members. Batman wasn’t so sure either. 

“I can’t believe you were just hitting on the Ghost King, Red.” Superboy laughed. “I mean… Lunches?”

“What?” 

Raven was on her phone. “I am already telling Nightwing.” 

“What!? Hey!” Red Robin was looking between them. “I wasn’t hitting on him. You leave Wing out of this!” 

“No way.” 

“You asked him on a date, man!” Superboy grinned. “All the titans are going to know about this in the next hour.” 

“You guys suck!” Red Robin growled, his face a flame. 

Batman just sighed. “There’s clean up to do. Get to work.” 

He definitely did not need to think about his son’s audacity, coming onto a King of an entire realm. Where did he even learn that kind of behavior?

~~

Masterlist

It takes a lot to break a ghost. After all, even death didn’t keep them down for long, not in any way that mattered.

There is, however, a sure fire way to utterly crush a ghost’s core without even touching it.

Find their grave, and defile it.

It is the height of cruelty. It is the ultimate act of disrespect. It is violation, of the deepest kind, an act that can never, ever be allowed to go unpunished.

As Danny stared at the remains of the toppled over rock tower that Tucker and Sam had made for him all those years ago, to honor his death, he wasn’t sure if he could survive this.

——

Please.

Zatanna looked around. The magician knew better than to write off the sound as a trick of her mind.

You have to help him. Please. He’s just a child.

“Who? What’s wrong?” Zatanna asked, heart aching for the grieving whispers of the young voice.

My brother. His grave. It’s been destroyed. Please.

Zatanna’s hair stood on ends. “What’s his name? Where is it?”

Amity Park. His name is Phantom. Please. Hurry.

Her heart skipped a beat. Phantom. The name of the Infinite Realm’s Champion, the future king.

“Shit. I’m on my way. Can you lead me there?”

I can’t. I won’t be here for much longer. Tell him Jazz sent you. Please. Help him. Help him.

“I will.”

When Zatanna portals out of her dressing room, she catches a flash of red hair.

——

“CONSTANTINE!”

“Gah! Zatanna?” John Constantine fell out of his chair, legs slipping from their place propped onto the table.

“Emergency! Infinite Realms level. Someone destroyed Phantom’s grave.”

Constantine scrambled upwards, pulling on his coat as his mind all but bleated like a highland goat at the sound of “Infinite Realms” and “Phantom’s grave.” Destroying a ghost’s grave might destroy the ghost, but if they survive the initial splintering, right before their final death, they’ll explode in a ball of fury. Normally, it would be slightly less of a problem. Normally, it wouldn’t be the most powerful ghost in the Infinite Realms. Normally, this wouldn’t happen. Normally, even if it did, it wouldn’t risk a war none of the universes would win. The Infinite Realms loves prince Phantom. Their grief over this… even if he survives, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“You contact the League. I have to go fix this, right now.”

John doesn’t bother going for his hottle, because he unfortunately needed to do this sober.

“Go, go!”

——

Danny doesn’t turn even as he hears the crunch of grass blades. He sits, staring blankly at what used to be his grave marker.

“Hi, there,” it’s a woman. She sounds sad. Danny understands, because all he feels is a whistling hole where his heart used to be. “Are you Phantom?”

Danny sighs, ice crackling at his lungs. He knows, when this is over, he’ll find it in himself to rage. If he doesn’t shatter from this, he knows he’ll take Amity out. Perhaps he’d spare this one. It’s been a long time since anyone bothered visiting or even knew about his grave.

“Your highness…your sister sent me. Jazz?”

That got Danny’s attention. Glowing green eyes peeked from the curled ball of ghost to stare Zatanna down.

She swallowed.

“She… had red hair?”

“Why are you here?” Why did she send you? He doesn’t say. Zatanna seems to understand anyways.

“To help. Please, will you let me help?”

Danny looks down at the ice freezing her feet to the ground and thinks of the kind set of her eyes, the steel backing her spine, the carefully nonthreatening posture. Yes, Jazz would send this kind of person to help him.

The ice melts.

“Thank you.”

Danny watches as she approaches his destroyed grave. She glances back for his permission. He shrugs. It’s destroyed. Nothing would ever bring it back.

And then, he was proven wrong.

Zatanna’s eyes glow, and the stones began melding itself back together- no, it was reversing the damage and zooming back to its proper place.

“Oh.”

The damage to his core was still there. But… he won’t kill this one at all.

Or her friends, who stand at the edge of the clearing with the soul-torn one standing at the helm.

“Is this… alright, your highness?”

Danny stares at Zatanna. His voice is hoarse but… but it’s not on the verge of insanity anymore.

“Do you always come to graves without an offering?”

He knows he’s being rude. He’s past the point of caring. Zatanna’s response is to pull a bouquet of lilies from behind her back.

——

Phantom’s face is so young, and it’s even younger when he smiles.

“Not always,” Zatanna replies, rolling her eyes. But when she settles the flowers down, they’re gently placed.

“Can you magic clovers around it?” Phantom asks, that note of painful hope cracking her own heart. She wonders how old he was when he died.

“Of course.”

A field of clovers surrounds the rock tower, and Zatanna adds four layers of heavy wards around the area when she grows them. Phantom notices, and looks up at her with… trust.

“I am Zatanna. Your sister, Jazz, sent me.”

“Okay. You can call me Phantom.”

——

“I want their heads.” Danny says.

“We don’t kill.”

“Then hand them over to us, for they have hurt the Great One. They will answer for their crimes.” Frostbite settles a hand on Danny’s shoulder.

“Alright.”

“Constantine.”

Constantine somehow manages to drag Batman away to hiss in his ears.

“Shit in a hole, Batsy, I’m not fucking with the Infinite Realms. My demons won’t fuck with the Infinite Realms. Destroying a ghost’s grave is an act of war, and an act of complete violation, and we’re lucky Phantom liked Zee enough not to completely bring ruin to our universe. So shut up, and get the bastards that did this.”

“Hm.”

——

Zatanna sits in the visitors chair, Batman’s and Constantine’s disgruntled selves standing behind her.

“How old are you, Phantom?”

“Hm?” The future King looks exhausted, understandably. “Oh, sixteen.”

“You’re… sixteen? That’s how old you look, right?”

She’s hoping that he’s older, that he’s a millennia and a half years old. Because if he wasn’t, whoever broke Phantom’s grave, broke the grave of a child.

“No, I’m sixteen. My body looks fourteen. I died when I was fourteen.”

Constantine swears.

Batman straightens and walks out, fists clenched.

Zatanna eases the hum of hunting magic at her finger tips and smiles at Phantom until he sleeps.

Then, she gets up, and hunts.