Meanwhile, All The Amity Teens Are Just Like: “I Don’t Know Why Everyone Else Is Making Such A Big

The fact that not only Jason, but all of the batkids willing marched through the portal right behind him has to be the biggest slap in the face that Batman could have ever gotten. 😏 Also, love a sweet mama Talia, and it’s so precious here. 🥰 Loved this take on it, and also, imagine the future consequences. Not only do you have the first wave of loss, but you also have the impact of now, as soon as someone becomes death touched, a green portal opens, beckoning them home. No more time to say your goodbyes, once they are touches by death, that’s it, it’s time to go. The population of the living dimentiln slowly dwindles as death takes them home sooner, and the world continues to mourn and grieve their loss.

Word of the Day dpxdc Prompt #18

July 22: Illustrious

The Justice League are well known for their heroic acts and overall saving the world. Them eradicating ectoplasmic beings (aka ghosts) was seen no different, as it was classified by many organizations and governments for ghosts to be a threat needing to be rid of. The general public also congratulated the JL for continuing to do what was the best for the world they live on, seeing ghosts as an intrusive species of sorts.

Now, how did the Justice League permanently get rid of ghosts? They captured the well-known leader of said ghosts, having multiple sources saying that it was the problem for the ghosts, or Danny Phantom. Then they interrogated the ghost, which are known to be malevolent and good actors/liars, and decided that the best course of action was to just make a deal for Phantom to take it's ghosts back where they belong and shut down the portal that Phantom admitted was allowing them in OR be forcefully done so to any extent including violence.

After all, ectoplasmic beings didn't belong in their universe and cause problems, even if their leader tried to contain them. There was plenty of evidence and science from funded government branches and organizations stating ghosts to be malicious and completely non-sentient. Why wouldn't the Justice League properly get rid of them and save the world once again?

Time loop x Dead Serious

Damian had been in a time loop for 99 days.

It had taken 40 loops for him to realize Phantom, the newest member of the Justice League, was looping as well. When he finally managed to corner him, Phantom was as confused as he was. Apparently, Phantom’s mentor, who was the embodiment of time, was unable to be contacted.

Damian found out about Phantom’s civilian identity in loop 45 after he joined Phantom on a patrol.

Loop 56 was when they started getting closer than just allies. That was the loop where they saw someone die for the first time.

(Damian was too distracted. He didn’t realize Timothy was behind him. He had forgotten about the goons behind him. He didn’t see the bullet coming.)

(He couldn’t meet Timothy’s eyes when he was at breakfast that morning.)

It was loop 85 when they finally found out that someone had apparently found clockwork summoning circle. It took 3 more days for them to locate the cult and discover the cult was working with the League of Assassins.

(Damian could feel the eyes of his family, but he wasn’t willing to pretend he was the same. He had seen each of them die on patrol and knew each of their deaths was due to his actions. He refused to act the same.)

They spent two loops doing reconnaissance, and eight days of planning.

(Damian and Daniel-Danny, he had asked to be called Danny, were becoming codependent. Damian knew the signs of it. Danny had even brought it up. Still, they both had seen their friends and family die and wake up in the morning without any recollection. They were the only other people who understood what they had seen, the changes that happened in their minds.)

Loop day 99 was their “purge day”as Danny called it. Danny had taken him for a day of freedom before the fight, somehow, knowing that Damian couldn’t bear to look at his family right now.(He knew Danny felt the same. Danny had been the one who called him in a haze on loop 62 when his parents discovered who he was and tried to kill him. Danny had apparently had that happen once before during this loop, and it happened one other time after Danny and Damien became allies. Both times ended with the two of them silently cuddling through the night.)

The fight had been remarkably easy. Undoing the summoning circle was… more complicated.

Clockwork looked genuinely sorry. He apologized to them, and gave them both necklaces of time medallions, so that things like this or like speedsters would leave them unchanged.(Danny laughed a little after that, though it seemed partially hysterical.)

Danny spent that night in Damian’s arms in silence. Damien couldn’t fathom letting him go.

(the loop was ending, but what did that mean for them? They couldn’t pretend to be strangers again tomorrow. Were they supposed to be back to normal? how could Damien scoff and call Timothy by his last name when he had seen Timothy die for him? How could Danny act as if he trusted his parents when he had seen them find out he was a ghost and try to murder him? How were they supposed to move on?)

As Damien awoke to the sound of his door being opened, his arms still wrapped around Danny’s sleeping figure, he slowly realized that he had gotten into the habit of not setting his alarm anymore.



I share more glorious Cat-Danny with you, my friends.

The Curious Case of Phantom

It starts during patrol.

At first, Tim barely notices the small, white blur with eerily green eyes trailing behind him as he scales rooftops and darts through alleys. Gotham’s stray population is no joke, so he figures it’s just another cat—until it keeps happening. Night after night, the same cat follows him like a shadow, no matter how far or fast he goes.

He tries to lose it, but somehow, it always finds him. And soon, he realizes the cat isn’t just following him—it’s helping.

One night, the cat leaps from a rooftop and claws a mugger who’s sneaking up behind Tim. Another night, it leads him to a drug deal in progress, meowing insistently until Tim follows.

It’s eerie how good the cat is at finding trouble, but it’s also undeniably useful. Tim names it Phantom, mostly because of its hauntingly white fur and the way it moves like a ghost in the shadows.

He’s not ready to admit that he’s started looking for the cat on patrol, waiting for it to show up like some unofficial partner.

———

Then Phantom starts showing up at Tim’s apartment.

The first time, Tim finds the cat sitting on his fire escape, staring at him through the window. He brushes it off as coincidence. But then it happens again. And again. Every night, Phantom is there, waiting.

Tim tries ignoring it, but Phantom doesn’t scratch or meow—it just stares, patient and expectant.

Eventually, Tim gives in and lets the cat inside. Phantom struts in like he owns the place, jumps onto Tim’s desk, and curls up right on top of his notes.

“Guess I have a cat now,” Tim mutters, scratching behind Phantom’s ears.

Phantom quickly becomes a fixture in Tim’s life.

He lounges on Tim’s lap during stakeouts, naps on his keyboard, and somehow always knows when Tim needs a break. Phantom is weird, though. His movements are too precise, too deliberate, and sometimes Tim swears he’s glowing faintly green.

But Tim doesn’t question it too much. Phantom’s good company, and Gotham’s seen stranger things.

———

The family eventually notices Phantom soon enough.

“You adopted a stray?” Dick asks when he visits Tim’s apartment. He crouches to pet the cat, who immediately swats at him. Dick recoils, laughing. “Okay, wow. Even the cat thinks I’m beneath him.”

“He doesn't seem to like new people,” Tim mutters, watching Phantom hop onto his desk like nothing happened.

Steph is obsessed. “He’s adorable! Can I post him?” she asks, taking a hundred photos of Phantom lounging on Tim’s keyboard. “He’s like your spooky little sidekick.”

Jason, on the other hand, has a reaction.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” Jason yells the first time he sees Phantom.

Tim frowns. “It’s a cat, Jason. Calm down.”

“No, it’s not! That thing is glowing green, Tim! It’s haunted or radioactive or something!”

Tim rolls his eyes. “He’s just a cat.”

Jason isn’t convinced, but Phantom doesn’t care. He just glares at Jason like he’s the dumbest person in the room and stretches out on the couch.

Damian, though, reacts... differently.

The second Damian sees Phantom, he freezes.

“This cat,” Damian says, voice trembling with reverence, “is extraordinary.”

Tim barely has time to blink before Damian has his hands full of silk-lined cat beds, imported food, and custom collars engraved with “Phantom, the Great.”

“He’s my cat, Damian,” Tim says when Damian tries to scold him for not brushing Phantom’s fur properly.

“You are unworthy of him, Drake,” Damian snaps. “This is a creature of unmatched perfection, and you’re treating him like a common house pet.”

Tim sighs, but Phantom climbs into his lap and starts purring loudly. Damian looks betrayed.

“Traitor,” Damian mutters at Phantom, who clearly doesn’t care.

———

But Phantom isn’t just a cat.

Danny Fenton—currently stuck in his ghost form as a cat and unable to shift back—has been following Tim for weeks, hoping the smartest Bat could help him figure out how to fix his situation.

At first, it was desperation. Danny didn’t know how to communicate with Tim or explain what had happened to him. But then Tim let him in, fed him, and started treating him with such quiet care that Danny couldn’t bring himself to reveal the truth.

Phantom became his escape. For the first time in ages, Danny didn’t have to fight or run or worry about anyone discovering his secrets. He could just... exist.

And, okay, messing with the family was a bonus.

Danny knew he couldn’t stay a cat forever, but with the way Tim scratched behind his ears and muttered soft compliments, he thought, Maybe I can stay like this for a little longer.

Or maybe a lot longer. Phantom had a good thing going, after all.

Excuse me Ras, I have a question. How do you expect to gain an hair from Tim if you’re having two boys marry? I mean, unless we’re going with trans-Danny here, but like, I don’t know, it always feels weird to me when people expect trans men to just like, be perfectly ok and comfortable with carrying a child like that??? Cause like, I don’t know, but I feel like that would be very degrading or like, dysphoric. I imagine this wouldn’t apply to everyone, of course, but I feel like it would be very rude to just, assume-

Tim Drake’s Worst Nightmare: Ra’s al Ghul’s Matchmaking Skills

It started with a mission.

Tim hadn’t expected to be sent after a new ghost anomaly, much less one that was human-shaped and strangely familiar. But when he found himself face-to-face with Danny—a teenager who radiated Lazarus energy like it was his second skin—things got weird. Fast.

Cue the League of Assassins bursting onto the scene, followed by a dramatic entrance from none other than Ra’s al Ghul himself.

And that’s when Tim learned the big, world-shattering truth: Danny was Ra’s al Ghul’s son. Not adopted. Biological.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Tim stood, slack-jawed, watching Ra’s beam with the kind of pride usually reserved for conquering cities. Danny, standing awkwardly next to him, scratched the back of his neck.

“Yeah, so, uh… surprise?” Danny offered.

Ra’s spread his arms wide. “Timothy! This is a joyous day. My son, Daniel, has found you at last.”

Tim blinked. “Found me?”

Danny shuffled nervously. “Uh, yeah. You’re kind of… important to the family now.”

Tim’s brain short-circuited.

———

The Heir Situation

Because here’s the kicker: Ra’s had been trying to get Tim to join the League for years. He saw Tim as a potential heir. But now, with Danny in the picture, Ra’s had an even better idea.

“Through Daniel,” Ra’s explained, practically glowing, “I can finally bring you into the family as I always intended.”

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am not marrying into the League of Assassins.”

Danny choked. “Wait, what?!”

Ra’s nodded sagely. “I see you are both shy about it. No matter! Destiny has a way of unfolding as it should.”

Tim and Danny exchanged horrified glances.

———

Danny and Tim’s Relationship

Despite the chaos, Danny and Tim clicked. Danny was chaotic but genuine, a refreshing contrast to the constant stress of Gotham. And Tim? Tim was the most grounded person Danny had ever met.

“You know, you don’t have to listen to Ra’s,” Tim pointed out after one particularly tense League encounter.

Danny shrugged. “Yeah, but if I don’t humor him, he gets pouty.”

Tim snorted. “Ra’s al Ghul? Pouty?”

“You have no idea.”

———

The Batfamily’s Reaction

When Tim brought Danny back to Gotham, the batfam had questions.

Bruce: “He’s… Ra’s’ son?”

Tim: “Yep.”

Jason: “And you’re… what, his fiancé now?”

Tim: screaming internally

Danny: “I’M RIGHT HERE.”

Damian, eyes wide: “Uncle?”

Danny grinned. “Hey, kiddo.”

Damian, flustered: “I—no. This cannot be.”

———

Ra’s Is Thrilled

Back in Nanda Parbat, Ra’s couldn’t be happier. Every time Tim showed up, Ra’s looked like Christmas came early.

Ra’s: “Timothy, you and Daniel are a perfect match.”

Tim: “In what universe?”

Danny: “Technically, several.”

———

Danny Was Happy.

That was the problem.

Tim might hate making Ra’s happy, but… Danny was different.

Danny liked being part of the League. He liked the structure, the weird family dynamic. He liked the purpose. And he was thriving.

Tim couldn’t ruin that.

Tim didn’t want to make Ra’s happy—he’d rather swallow glass—but he did want to make Danny happy.

And if that meant putting up with Ra’s al Ghul’s matchmaking schemes, well…

Tim gritted his teeth and endured.

———

Tim’s Inner Monologue:

“Being with Danny isn’t the issue. The issue is that it makes Ra’s happy. And I refuse to let that man win.”

Danny: smirking “You’re fighting a losing battle.”

Tim: “Shut up.”

Danny: “Love you too.”

Beautiful! I love it!

DPxDC Heritance

There's not much left for Tim in his parents' wills. Or, well, not much by his standards - the rest of the family, barring Bruce and Damian, think he is absolutely loaded and too full of himself to care. Which is maybe a little bit true; receiving about a dozen properties across the world, a trust fund and a wide collection of artifacts that his parents have accumulated through years of their archeological escapades is a lot by middle class standards.

But Tim knows how much money Drakes actually had, and a few old houses and an assembly of junk seems like not much in comparison.

In any case, it's all rather useless in Tim's position. He has no interest in traveling aside from when he has to for a mission, and he couldn't give less shits about archeology even if he tried. The trust fund is fine, he guesses, but it's not like he needs it, what with being the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and one of the Wayne Wards.

So, as morbid as it is, the best reaction he can muster at his inheritance is a shrug and a mention in his mile-long list of 'things I need to figure out when I have time'. Which basically means he'll maybe get to it when he's old and retired, and not any sooner, because Tim Drake the CEO and Red Robin the vigilante are both very, very busy people who never have time.

Naturally, his life has other plans, and it's only two or three months later that Tim finds himself breaking through the balcony window of his own apartment in Praha.

It's at that moment, when he's lying on top of a soft persian rug, surrounded by glass shards and wondering if this move was enough to lose his tail that he realizes his inheritance might be slightly more than just a few properties and some boxes with old things.

Because, through his own heavy breathing, he hears a thoughtful, slightly sarcastic voice from inside the room, "I guess the door was too hard to figure out for you, wasn't it."

He sits up, turning his head so sharply it almost snaps. His eyes immediately fall on a boy not much older than him, sitting with one leg thrown over the other on the dark red couch near the wall. He looks like he clearly belongs here: white, vintage collar shirt and black, high-waist trousers, a silver ring on his thumb that looks too old to have been bought in this century, dark raven hair and perfect porcelain skin.

And he is reading a newspaper. Like a slightly bleeding costumed guy in a domino mask breaking the window and falling onto the carpet is just another Tuesday.

Hold on, this is Tim's house! He double-checked the address, there's no mistake!

"Who are you?" He demands, frowning, as his hands reach to the birdarangs out of habit.

"Keeper of Doors," the boy answers, not looking up and flipping the page, "And you're the Drakes' heir, I assume."

Tim blinks. The response provides no actual answers, it only creates more questions. "What doors?" He asks because the rest of the points can most likely be addressed later. Like the issue of his busted secret identity, right.

The boy sighs and closes the newspaper, folding it in half and uncrossing his legs to sit a bit straighter. "Doors, capital 'D'. The ones that lead everywhere you want."

"The what?.." Tim repeats, dumbfounded and lost in this unexpected nonsense. The boy gives him a truly unimpressed look, his eyebrow twitching. Then, he stands up - Tim's fingers close around the birdarang again - and steps towards the nearest door, grabbing the handle. His feet make absolutely no sound.

"Drake manor," the boy announces and pushes the door open. He doesn't step through, however, instead just standing in the doorway and turning back to Tim, gesturing for him to look.

Tim does.

Seeing the familiar hall, the one he's seen so many times, the one he walked through every day before he moved out, makes him realize a few things at once. One, he needs to revise the list of houses he inherited since it looks like they are not just properties but a map of teleportation points, most likely. Two, his parents knew full well he didn't need the trust fund, it wasn't for him, it was probably for this boy, who may or may not be the, well, gatekeeper. Three, if the first part of his inheritance turned out to be this, he is going to need to call in Zatanna to sort through the collection of his parents' artifacts lest something turns out to be actually cursed in there.

Four, he's been staring at the boy and gaping like a fish for longer than its socially acceptable.

"...What's your name?" He asks, suddenly conscious about the fact he was kind of rude before. The boy snorts, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he closes the door back.

"Danny," he introduces and snaps his fingers. The glass shards around Tim move all at once, rising from the ground and going back towards the window, like a reversed video recording. A second later, the balcony window looks as good as new, not a crack in the glass. "And you?"

"Red Ro-" Tim starts, but then pauses. Fuck it, he might as well, "Tim."

Danny waves his hand in the air, like snatching something out of nowhere, and, just like that, there's a box that looks suspiciously like a first-aid kit in his hands.

"Nice to meet you, Tim. Now, get over here and stop ruining my carpet with your blood."

Riddler, the stay at home uncle.

Batman was sneaking around the Riddler's hidden base for the sixth time this week. The riddler has been quiet for 1 year straight, and his paranoia believes he is up to something big.

Scarecrow doesn't know where he has been. He has been missing out on the monthly meeting since February last year.

There was only one odd clue he found so far, and it was an almost burnt up letter with the word millberry st- in the fireplace.

It took Tim a total of 2 weeks and 4 days fueled by the dangerous coffee, monster energy, and redbull mixed concoction that Bruce willing made to find which exact street that was in Gotham city.

Batman roam the night on Millberry Street 3190 in the middle class of Gotham city, where he spot Riddler, not in his usual green question outfit, but casual clothes and a hat to cover his red hair, holding a sleeping toddler in one arm, a baby girl and boy in a double baby sling on.

Speaking to a 14 year old girl with red hair just like him, with a bundles of groceries on thr floor leading into the apartment door.

A black teen with a beanie along with a goth teen picking up bags of groceries. If it weren't for the interference in his spy com in this area, Batman would've been able to hear what they were saying.

I absolutely need to know what happens after this. Like, hello? How does the Justice League react to this?

DCxDP - Death and Taxes

Broke college student but also the Ghost King Danny looking at the stack of complaint forms in his inbox about people cheating death. In a stroke of sleep deprived inspiration, he issues a royal decree that anyone who has properly died before (I.e biologically dead, not just clinically dead) is still a citizen of the Infinite Realms, even if they were resurrected. And have to pay income tax to the Crown.

He establishes the Infinite Realms Revenue Service, recruits the ghosts of some meticulous accountants and sends them after all the assholes who think they can escape Death and Taxes. Starting with the worst offenders (ie those who have escaped death the longest/most often). Your tax bracket scales with how many times you died.

Just picture Ra's al-Ghul, in the middle of giving some speech to his assassin cult when this Phil Coulson looking ghost dude shows up behind him to "discuss the back taxes he owes to the Crown".

Every magic user worth their salt is suddenly swamped with messages from panicked villains and heroes who are trying to figure out wtf is going on and how to get out of this. Constantine is sweating bullets.

Danny hires Valerie to do mortal side "casework", because a, she's just as saddled with student debt as he is b, has worked fast food and knows how to handle asshole customers c, doesn't take shit from anybody.

Imagine Vandal Savage, Felix Faust and Red Hood awkwardly sitting in a waiting room with a stack of documents each, ready for their number to be called so they can dispute their claims. Being called in and utterly flummoxed at the unflappable, bored young woman at the desk who somehow has files on everything about you - birth record, death record(s), who you killed and when records... now declare your income as a crime lord/dictator/sorcerer, sir.

Meanwhile Danny is planning on how he can allocate the taxes to open a soup kitchen for Lunch Lady to work at and similar shit. He is determined to be a good king, dammit!

Tim explaining Slime Rancher 2 to Damian: So if you feed a slime a different one’s plort you create a gordo.

Damian: And what is the point of this animal husbandry?

Tim: To creat cool new slimes. And get money by combining them.

Tim: Do you want to create a slime?

Damian: Give me that. I shall make the best “slime”.

Damian looking through the different types: Ah, I see. I shall make Father.

Tim: What?

Damian: Please acquire one of these “Batty” slimes as well as a Shadow slime.

Tim blinking: I don’t think-

Damian: Surely this is not beyond your capabilities?

Tim:

Later

Bruce: What are you two still doing up? I thought I said no casework today?

Tim: This isn’t casework, I’m making mods.

Bruce: Ah yes, “mine-craft” again?

Tim: Not quite-

Damian: Tim has informed me that the objective of the game is to selectively breed these creatures for their monetary benefits. However, it is also possible to create unique combinations. I pointed out the imperative of recreating superior models in reality within this farce and Tim has elected to correct the oversights of the developers to achieve our goal.

Bruce blinking: Um..?

Tim: Damian wants a mod to combine a bat slime and a shadow slime to make you in the game.

Bruce blinking back tears: Oh.

Batman updates his contingency plans-

Phantom has been partnered with Flash for a huge Justice League fight, and Flash is...less than pleased. Everyone knows that Phantom is a coward.

The man shies away from anything that could actually harm him, one time ditching a fight entirely.

Black Canary has a hypothesis that it's due to a past trauma, and like, okay, sure, but everyone is traumatized. There is no hero that isn't.

So why would Phantom insist on being a hero if he's too mentally scarred to actually, like, get into the fights?

But then Phantom takes a hit meant for Flash, one made from a weapon that could actually effect the ghost hero, and Flash finds himself supporting Phantom as he hauls him behind cover.

He's anticipating Phantom having a panic attack, but Phantom looks at the wound, winces, and swears.

"Flash, listen; my big brother is coming. He overreacts ever since the GI...whatever, reason doesn't matter; point is, he's very, very violent."

"Wait, is this why...?"

"Yeah, if he smells my blood he'll come by and wreck everything. You need to let the other combatants know, because Dan isn't gonna look like a good guy. He isn't gonna act like one, either."

"Smells your bloo...what is he, a shark? Also; me?! Why can't you just talk to him?!"

"Because I'm...gonna...fa..."

Phantom really does faint, a bright flash heralding a change into a black haired, living man. At the same time, there's a sonic boom, accompanied by a very much stronger Wail than Phantom is capable of producing.

Flash peeks over the cover, and there's...a very frightening looking villain hovering over the battlefield, having successfully decimated both sides of it. He's panting, his form is flickering, and Flash can feel it when the other ghost locks onto him, nostrils flaring.

Flash cautiously looks down.

Oh.

Oh shit.

He's covered in Phantom's blood.

Source of it all

Danny and his class had gone on a trip to Gotham for a week. He wasn’t exactly happy about that since despite the lower ectoplasm levels compared to amity, there was a lot more death and he could feel them happen when nearby. It made it hard to sleep when he kept jerking awake due to it.

Everything would have been fine if during the planned events they hadn’t come within a certain distance of Arkham Asylum. Danny being a halfa gave him senses that no one else had. One minute he had been following the group and the next pure and utter terror encompassed him and he took off in a random direction to get as far away from that as possible.

When he came back to himself he was halfway across the city, utterly lost, and on the verge of a panic attack because he had never felt like that before, even when he fought Pariah Dark. Whatever was under Arkham was Bad News(TM) and he had no clue what he should do about it.