The Fentons have created a machine! A wonderful machine that will reveal a ghost’s true form! So that everyone will see their trickery! They’ll see that the monsters they really are!
Now, to know what all went wrong, one would have to know some things about the ghost zone, and more specifically the area the Fentons had managed to punch through to.
For one, ghosts do not age like humans. Oh they might take a form similar to that of their death, which may appear as an adult or teen or something similar, but with how they can only die by the complete destruction of their core, theoretically a ghost could live forever once formed.
In fact, the equivalent of eighteen years for a ghost was one-hundred realms-years dead. And those years don’t always sync up with the years of the living world that one might open a door into. Thankfully, the Fenton’s world, being one of those synced closer to the Realms, only had a time dilation of a few seconds.
That being said, the area their portal had ripped into was incredibly rich in ectoplasm. And areas like that, were where newborn ghosts were formed and arrived. A ghost daycare of sorts, almost akin to a toddler area of the zone.
Which meant that when they shoot the Phantom-menace and other pesky ghosts to revert them into their true form, it isn’t exactly monsters that appear. Instead, there are now several ghost toddlers- or in the phantom-trio’s case literal babies- flying around. Very unhappy ghost toddlers.
What a horrible time for the Justice League to arrive. Though perhaps some would say it was actually perfect timing.
Simply put, she'd just read Frankenstein and there was a thunderstorm. She flew into the clouds and deliberately set out to get shocked by lightning.
It worked. It actually worked. Her Core went from something delicate and unsure of it's own alignment to having a Lightning Core. She wasn't thrilled that she shared that with Vlad, but hey! Now she only randomly got sick sometimes instead of all melty! Even then, she only gets sick if she runs out of juice, like a battery.
So she makes it a point to charge up her core as often as she can, and tornado season on the plains is a great way to find storms.
The Kents, watching a large storm roll in with clouds so heavy that they seemed to reach towards the ground, notice the figure of a small person darting in and out of them.
It happens again with the next one.
And the next.
It gets to the point where they ask Clark if he can find the strange meta that likes storms and invite them over for dinner, because they're starting to feel kind of like this is a neighbor now and Must Do the Polite Thing.
Hanahaki Speedrun:
Danny comes from a world where hanahaki exists and is very common. Then he moved to the DC universe where hanahaki doesn't exist and nobody has heard of it. Danny falls in love with Bart Allen. He would have taken at least a few more weeks to figure that out if the extreme pain didn't give away that there were suddenly blood blossom seeds in his lungs. He isn't going to survive to the end of the day and he only just fell in love that day. Those feelings are new and he hasn't had time to think about/process/understand how he feels about Bart and he's not going to get time to adjust to these new feelings before he dies. Forcing the seeds out of his system will take away his ability to ever feel any kind of love again, and that would be worse than dying all the way. So He tells his team that the blood blossom seeds in his lungs are going to kill him by the end of the day, but forcing them out of his system will have irreversible affects that will doom him to a fate worse than death and change who he is forever. They're trying to process that they're about to lose their friend/teammate who they've gotten pretty close with in the past few months, and Bart tells Danny that he loves him. He apologizes for making this about his own feelings, but he couldn't bare the regret of losing the boy he's in love with having never told him how he feels. Danny coughs up all the seeds and some blood and he's going to survive. Nobody fully understands what just happened, Danny tells the team that he's not dying anymore but is still in pain from the blood blossom seeds and should get away from them quickly and that he needs a few hours to rest and recover from almost dying and to process what just happened. He gives Bart a kiss on the cheek and leaves to go lay down. Bart cleans up the blood and seeds that Danny coughed up and everyone is very confused, worried, sad, happy, lots of emotions and trying to stop crying. Danny explains what hanahaki disease is and how it works. Everyone needs some time to process that. Danny and Bart go to another room to talk about what this means for them. While they just went through a falling in love, almost dying, and confession speedrun, they should probably take at least a little more time in figuring out their relationship now that Danny's not dying 'cause he still needs to let it fully sink in that he's in love.
Batkids being asked "Why does Batman show the lower half of his face?" And the answers are actually pretty accurate 😂😂
If you like RobStar and other DC shananagans on the regular, why not follow me?? 😊🤷🏾♀️
He uses hoards of blob ghosts that safely and quietly just...eat the buildings he's hired to demolish. They do it overnight, all living animals/hidden homeless/injured vigilantes are spared.
He sets up in Metropolis, because more often than not the buildings that get damaged in Superman's fights have to be completely torn down.
He puts up a privacy screen so that no one can see what happens on the other side, and at three in the morning he releases the blob ghosts.
Since cameras can't pick them up, people assume he has the power to either melt buildings or make them disintegrate.
Business is booming, he's confusing literally everyone and making money while doing it. He's doing so well, in fact, he also starts taking orders from outside Metropolis.
Batman does not want the meta demolition man with melting/disintegration powers in Gotham, no he does not.
Tim and Danny are twins, Danny was given up for adoption by the Drakes when he was a baby and Tim was never told he has a brother.
After a reveal gone bad, Danny, Jazz, Sam and Tucker became thieves after closing the portal. They mainly target supernatural or cursed items. Their target, a necklace, is being held in a museum with their in being a private event to show off the piece before it's sent back to its owner.
The heist would've gone well if Tim hadn't also been in attendance.
------
'Lmao and here I thought you didn't want to be here'
It was a text from Dick.
Not exactly the strangest thing to happen when Tim was forced to attend an event.
He'd been benched after a mission resulted in a minor concussion. He'd personally been planning on going over his paperwork for Wayne Enterprises, but apparently that wasn't 'rest', instead he was sent off to be bored out of his mind at some art function. He didn't have time to prepare notes or even do any real research. But he still had Dick who had apparently been dragged along as his babysitter (And was fortunately interested in the items on display)
They'd been texting throughout the night. Dick fed him enough information to be mildly interested in topics of conversation, and when that failed the strange history of the main display. An old necklace that supposedly was connected to a string of deaths and all around misfortune.
So no, the text wasn't strange, but what was, was the photo attached. It was a picture of a man, grinning and chatting amicably with a woman whom he could barely make out as the collection's curator. His hair was longer than Tim's, tied neatly back to be clear of his glasses and to give clear view of the man's face.
Tim's face.
There was a clone at the event.
'can u get me another pic?'
Tim was now significantly more interested. Tim could identify the room they were in, housing the main display and it was about two rooms over from where he was currently hiding out. He could get there easily enough.
Dick sent him a thumbs up before replying with another, distinctly more uncomfortable photo of the man. He smiled awkwardly and Tim could finally get a better look at his face. Tim's brows scrunched together. A lichtenburg scar stretched up from beneath his collar and trailed along his jaw and in the light the man's eyes almost looked green.
He ran the photo through his facial recognition software, getting at least a few pings on himself before finally landing on Jonas Spencer, private security currently assigned to shadow one Morgan Deveraux. His history was solid, highschool records, even a spotty criminal history (points where he'd almost been arrested for bar fights) before he'd joined up with his firm.
So. not a clone. Probably.
Tim would still need to check it out. He pushed past a dark haired woman and entered the main show room. Dick, luckily had kept him in conversation but Jonas looked flighty, his eyes always drifting back to his charge.
Then he caught sight of Tim.
He froze. Staring at Tim for a moment before he tapped his ear- and what Tim assumed to be a comm. He made a move for Morgan, leaving Dick in the dust.
The lights flickered. Jonas reached for Megan, his hand wrapping around hers. Tim could've sworn his eyes darted upwards. Then there was a complete blackout. There was a clatter as a vent grate fell to the floor, shouts arose from the attendees.
Then the lights flickered back to life.
Jonas and Morgan had vanished, and so did the necklace as well as three other paintings.
Good news, its not a clone. Bad news, he might have a twin brother who is in a gang of thieves.
--
Daniel Fenton, or as his ID currently stated 'Jonas Spencer', wouldn't exactly call himself a thief- personally he was more of a collector. Or a curator, whatever the hell you might call a guy who grabs haunted and or cursed objects and dumps them in an alternate dimension.
And it wasn't exactly like he was normally the one stealing things either! That was mostly Sam, he'd done for a bit when they'd first started up (pushing his hands through the glass and taking a necklace with him, or making a painting completely invisible as he whisked it away) but then Sam started calling it 'cheating' and claimed 'his technique was lacking' and promptly took over his position.
(He didn't exactly mind, using his powers too often made his skin crawl. He may not have the GIW constantly hunting him, but he'd had enough run ins to make him sweat. He also didn't want to think about his parents.)
So maybe their entire deal wasn't completely altruistic. When you've been on the run since seventeen and had decided that you, your best friends and your older sister are going to become international thieves, sometimes you have to steal things so that you can have an income. And sometimes stealing is fun.
Unluckily their current job wasn't recreational. They'd heard word of a haunted necklace, there was a string of bad luck connected to it. Mirrors shattering, injuries popping up only days after interacting with the piece, lights falling out from the ceiling. There'd also been a case of near death.
Very clearly the latest display piece was cursed meaning they needed to grab it before it was shipped back into it private collection in France. That meant a time crunch, meaning they wouldn't be fully prepared. It was fine- they'd stolen the dagger of Amon Ra when they had half a day to plan, so three should've been fine.
He and Jazz manned the floor, Jazz kept to grifting while Danny worked as support if things went sideways on any front. Jazz, currently wealthy socialite 'Morgan Devereaux', draped an arm around a politician as he guided her through the collection. Jazz shot him a glance telling him to stay back, keep monitoring the main floor with the necklace.
That was fine. He could do that. He approached the curator and complimented the piece, letting her tell him about the struggles she had getting it overseas let alone her conversations with the owner. Ok, so definitely cursed.
Danny felt eyes on his back, and from the corner of his eye he saw someone take a photo. Tall, dark hair and a bright smile.
Sam pointed out that it was a Wayne.
At that point Danny made an attempt to leave, if he was going to get into a fight we wasn't going to do it there. He'd be too close to the necklace for Sam to get in and grab it without attention being drawn to her too. But Grayson cornered him impressively fast. He asked Danny for a photo, claiming that he looked just like his brother. Danny relented.
Then Tucker chimed in that someone had ran his face. Fuck. Dick kept him in conversation but Danny was eyeing their escape roots. Sam warned that another was coming through the left entrance and that she'd already lifted his phone. Danny turned, preparing himself for confrontation.
Then Danny saw him, his doppelganger.
Grayson hadn't been lying. That thought was terrifying.
Danny sent two taps into his earpiece and made his way towards Jazz. They couldn't risk staying any longer. Danny didn't know if they'd been made or not but he wasn't taking chances. He nodded to Sam who went for the jewels as Tucker cut the lights. Jazz and Danny took a painting each.
Sam went for the vents and Danny and Jazz disappeared through the front door.
The day Bruce Wayne knocks on her apartment door Sam knows it's going to be a doozy.
"Mr. Wayne, I really do hope no one saw you," she says, ushering him in. "And for the record, a text ahead of time would be appreciated."
"I parked the car a few streets away," Bruce says, sticking a finger in his heel to peel his polished leather shoes off. Sam raises an eyebrow. "It's a sedan, not a Lamborghini."
"You own a sedan?"
"Taught Dick to drive in it...after he crashed the Lamborghini."
Sam snorts despite herself. The charm Bruce Wayne exhibits would usually rub her the wrong way, too reminiscent of wealthy men that feel comfortable placing a hand on the small of your back at a crowded gala, but Bruce is honest enough about his playacting that she has come to find its insincerity comforting. She's actually sought him out more than once, leading to several annoying headlines that can't seem to decide if she's aiming to date him or one of his eligible sons. None of whom are eligible by the way, as they are a) taken, b) legally dead, c) practically a minor, and d) an actual minor.
Sam's generational wealth is peanuts compared to Wayne Industries, so naturally her parents have been thrilled and rooting for option c.
"I also didn't want Danny to see I'd texted you. Or force you to lie to him."
Sam doesn't quite tense, but it's a near thing. She does slide to the other side of her kitchen island, under the context of finishing prepping her feta fried eggs, laid on a bed of smashed avocado and warm tortilla. She pulls a bottle of crunchy garlic oil out of the fridge and drizzles hot red crisps across the runny yolk. She takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully, not so much as offering him a glass of water.
"You realize, Mr. Wayne, I have no intention of lying to Danny now?"
Bruce sits at the stool on the opposite side of the island. "I understand. And if you want to ask Danny to return home before we continue, I'd understand that as well. I didn't mean to discomfit you--"
"Please do not lie to me now, Mr. Wayne," Sam says, rolling her eyes. "By your own admission you showed up at noon without warning knowing my superhero boyfriend wouldn't be present. If I am discomfited, all the more likely you get your information, right?" Golden yolk runs down her fingers, and she sacrifices it to the napkin rather than lick up her arm in front of her boss, with no small amount of resentment. The yolk is the best part.
"Get to it then," she demands.
Bruce straightens in his stool, chin raising and firming in a jawline she most often sees under a cowl. His eyes attempt to pin her in place, but Sam has stared the Master of Time in the face and demand he reschedule so she is built. different. She takes another bite of egg taco.
"I was not aiming for you to feel threatened, and moreover, I doubt you could be."
Except a smart person should always feel threatened by a threat, no matter their capability of handling one. It keeps them alive.
"Can you tell me how I'm not like all the other girls after lunch? You'll spoil my appetite."
Bruce clears his throat. "I'll get to the point--"
"Thank you."
"--Danny has been exhibiting paranormal behaviors beyond his baseline. We welcome all biologies; human, alien, and paranormal alike, but I have observed actions unlike what he had previously established as his, for lack of a better word, 'normal'
"I want to make sure he is not experiencing any unwelcome outside influence. Or, if this is merely a facet of his evolution, I'd like to know if this is something we or his family should be monitoring."
Sam has been an eco-consultant with Wayne Industries and unofficially, the Batfamily, for half a year now and this is the most she's ever heard the man speak in one sitting.
"Wow," she says. "How long have you been rehearsing that one?"
"A while." Bruce grunts, voice finally taking that final drop into Batman's gravelly rasp. "I see you're not surprised by any of this."
"No, not really," Sam says. She pours him a tall glass of lemon water from the pitcher, freshly sliced that morning, and he takes a polite sip.
"So what can you tell me?"
"Probably a lot. And Danny would probably prefer that I do, knowing him, the big baby," Sam sighs. "Listen Mr. Wayne, I can appreciate that you came here from a place of caution rather than intrusion. And if Danny was undergoing something negative or from an 'unwelcome outside influence' that would be the right call, and I, albeit begrudgingly, encourage you to do so in the future."
"But he's not."
"He's not," Sam confirms. "And in fact, I think he could really use someone to talk to about it. Outside of his family."
"I see..." Bruce says, shifting.
"If you want to tag team this one with one of the higher EQ players, such as Superman, I give you permission." Sam does not think she's imagining that slight sag of relief.
"Thank you," Bruce says, sliding off the stool. "I don't suppose you have material we could consult...?"
"Actually yes, I happen to have a pamphlet right here. 'So your ghostly body is changing, and how.'"
"You're being more sarcastic than usual."
"You interrupted my lunch, Mr. Wayne."
“I can’t believe you’re squatting in an occupied house, Danny. That’s… actually isn’t that also breaking and entering? That’s a crime, isn’t it?”
“One, at least I don’t have to pay rent and/or utilities. Two, Tim let me stay. And three, I’m a vigilante. Breaking and entering is like the basics of being one. Also, they’re paying me now. This is a legit job now!”
Jazz sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Whatever, dumbass. Where is Tim, anyways?”
“He’s in bed.”
“Really?” Jazz raised an eyebrow and rested a hand on her hip. “Then what’s that?”
Danny whirled around, making eye contact with a frozen Tim.
“Ahah-”
Danny groaned, cutting Tim’s awkward laughter and no-doubt bullshit excuse.
“Kid, Tim, we talked about this.”
“It’s for the aesthetics!” Tim protested, the argument well worn, but obligingly stepping away from the window sill.
Danny shot Jazz a disgruntled look when she muttered, “Well, doesn’t that sound familiar.”
“It’s a school night, Tim.” Danny crossed the room, ushering Tim away from the door. The halfa could probably put down professional babysitter on his resume. If he could handle Tim “climb out of windows” Drake and Tim “sleeps in hard to reach places” Drake in the same day, he could handle anything.
Tim puffed up, like a disgruntled kitten. “Robin gets to go out on a school night! And he’s my age! Kinda! And at least I’m not fighting criminals!”
Again, this is an argument they’ve had multiple times.
“Not for a lack of trying,” Danny muttered, rolling his eyes when Jazz snickered. He made the mistake of looking down at Tim’s convincing little sad kitten act and sighed. “Alright, alright. We get two hours of batwatching, then you go to sleep.”
“Deal!” Tim cheered. Jazz grinned, mouthing ‘weak’ at Danny, who promptly made like his high school self and ignored her.
“Go get your jacket. And some thicker socks, you’re gonna freezing out there.”
“Okay!!”
When Tim was out of earshot, excitedly thundering down the lavish hallway, Jazz tilted her head back and laughed.
“Oh, shut up.”
“How the tables have tabled, huh, Danny?” Jazz snickered.
“You think you got jokes,” Danny pointed at her with a new mug of coffee. “Laugh it up, but don’t forget that you’re his older sister now too.”
Jazz paled. “Oh, shit.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Now you gotta deal with two of us!”
“Two of who?” Tim returned, bundled up in a fancy puffy jacket. Jazz cooed at him, kneeling down to zip his jacket up. Danny, echoing her, magically grabbed a scarf and wrapped around Tim.
“Us, her little brothers. Unfortunately, you’re now our little brother and that means Jazz is gonna mother you like you’re a baby duck.”
Danny ducked the half hearted smack Jazz sent his way, grinning at Tim. The kid had a self conscious smile on his face, bashful at the unprecedented (for him) attention and affection. Danny’s smile tightened when Tim looked at Jazz for confirmation (which she gave). If it weren’t for the fact that Tim loved his parents, Danny would have spirited (hah!) the kid away. He’s like a textbook case of neglect. It’s why he keeps trying to sneak out in ways that’ll easily get him caught. He’s trying to test if Danny would get mad and leave-
“Oh my god. I’m turning into you, Jazz.” Danny said, horrified.
“What?” Jazz narrowed her eyes once the statement sunk in. “What’s wrong with being more like me? I can actually process my emotions in a timely manner, thanks.”
Danny, stuck in the horror of understanding someone’s motivations and processing some of his own trauma, shuddered.
Danny picked up Tim and swung him onto his shoulders. “C’mon, Timmy. Let’s get out of here before Jazz gives us germs.”
“Oh, that’s real rich coming from the greasiest vigilante this side of the river.”
“Not true! Green Arrow’s greasier!”
“Eh, he doesn’t count. He’s in Oregon or something, right?”
“Who cares? I wanna see Robin!” Tim wriggled, placing his heavy ass camera on Danny’s head. “He’s a new Robin! The first one moved to Blüdhaven!”
“To be a cop, right?” Danny asked.
“Yeah. It’s… not great. And kinda ironic.”
“ACAB.”
——
Batman snuck closer to the glowing green figure that was glancing around the rooftops. He’s glad he sent Robin home hours ago, because variables in Gotham tended to be dangerous.
He dropped to a crouch behind the figure, who turned around as soon as he did, looking unsurprised. The being had enhanced hearing then, if not enhanced everything else.
“There you are!” The being scowled at him, but Bruce couldn’t detect any actual hostility. Only weariness. “I’ve been looking for you for ages.”
Nevertheless, he hadn’t survived this long by being careless.
“What is your business in Gotham?” He deepened his voice, adding enough gravel to sound mildly threatening.
The being shook their head, white hair unnaturally waving in the air. Like it was under water.
“I live here. I have a bone to pick with you.” Batman loosened his stance, readying to move.
“Can you keep Robin in on school nights?! If you can’t, can’t you make him go home sooner? My kid brother keeps trying to sneak out of the house to imitate Robin and it’s killing me! Do you know how many times I’ve had to stop him from climbing out of the window? We live on the third floor, man!”
A frazzled older brother. Batman-Bruce grimaced. He couldn’t stop Jason anymore than this being could. Also, “You live here?”
The being scowled, looking defensive. “Why, I can’t? Are you being discriminatory? Because I refuse to take shit from a grown man in a bat-sona.”
“…A bat-what?”
The being sighed. “Nevermind. Yes. I live here. My name is Phantom.”
“Don’t cause any trouble.” Batman warned before hesitating. The being was young, that was clear. He kind of reminded Bruce of Dick, and it made Batman’s tone soften. “And I will try. Robin is resolute.”
Phantom dropped his glowing face into his hands, a move Bruce often wanted to mirror.
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
——
Sorry guys I really like tired babysitter brother Danny and unnecessarily jumping out of windows Tim. This is before Tim decided to be a vigilante. This is after Dick moves out.
Imagine Tim obsessing over getting Dick to be Robin again for Batman, then being shot down, then reluctantly taking up the Robin mantle.
Then Superman dies and comes back, and Tim gets an Idea. And starts researching how to bring people back, not in a Solomon Grundy way but a Superman coming back way.
And he goes grave robbing (robin, get it?) And Jason's body isn't there and there were signs of someone breaking out and, holy undead resurrections Batman, the Batfamily looks for Jason.
Only to find evidence of him getting "retrieved" by the League of Assassins.
Soooo this hit me earlier-
Phantom and Robin (Dick) being friends, maybe meet during a Teen Titan mission and Robin never told the Adult Leaguers about Phantom and his city cause Phantom asked him not too? Perhaps not wanting someone to get possessed or just Jaded Amity from someone not taking their calls seriously.
Anyway- Dick doesn't hear from Phantom for years, possibly both accidently drop out of contact due to hectic lives on both sides, Dick jut getting started as Nightwing and Phantom is dealing with the GIW.
Not until Tim is Robin and both YJ and TT are thrown off by this strange glowing entity shows up at the Tower bleeding Lazarus Water and asking for Nightwing.
Dick is surprised over how much Phantom had changed. Gone was the hazmat suit and short frame. Now his old friend was nearly taller then him, still built for aerial flight yet it was as if his limbs were just a tad too long the more he looked. Especially when he noticed the ragged claws that poked through his ripped gloves...
Which makes him realize the hazmat suit wasn't gone, it was simply ripped and torn to rags and Phantom had patched it with other materials or simply wrapped bandages around the exposed parts and was wearing a tattered purple cloak over the rest. It also drew his attention to how inhuman Phantom now looked, how wide and feral his eyes were-how now they were fully radioactive green swirling with electric blue, how his skin was stretched tight over muscles and cracked in some places which were blackened with frostbite, how his smile was filled with sharp teeth and stretched just too wide to be normal, his face now wrapped in bandages partially as if to hide how inhuman he had become, the bandages blending in with his long white hair that crackled like electricity and flaked like snow or the tail of a comet. How he was only shorter then Nightwing due to standing hunched over and how twisted his legs looked when not a ghostly tail.
Something had happened and it had drastically changed the protective Ghost.
Nightwing: Phantom-
Danny: *grimace* I go by Wraith now...
Nightwing paused as he realized that his friends voice now sounded like the shattering of ice mixed with the howls of mountain winds.
Nightwing: ...Danny why are you here?
Wraith sighs and hands him a cloth covered bundle which Nightwing unwrapped to reveal a glowing dagger made of green metal that would look like Kryptonite if not for the darker green.
Wraith: The GIW...they wiped Amity off the map...everyone is gone
Nightwing: Danny...we can help
Wraith: *shakes head* No...I need you to only do one thing...after I take them down..
Nightwing: No
Wraith: *closes Nightwings hands over th dagger ignoring how his own skin sizzles from being so close* I need you to end me.
Wraith leaves as Nightwing protests: I'll be at our spot once it's over.
Anyone else finds it kind of funny how real aliens from space would not know what Star Wars is