The JL Is Stuck In A Time Loop, Trying And Failing To Save The Now Misunderstood Hero Phantom, After

What if the Lazarus pits had blob ghosts and they merged together to became a concept ghost?

Now for the memes!

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Al Ghul approaches the pits

L: uh-uh, what's he doing?

Al Ghul: *dives into the pits*

L: UGH! *Pukes out a blob ghost that looked around before immediately rejoining Lazarus* NO! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!!! OUT!!!

Al Ghul: *gets yeeted* ?!

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Would Lazarus like Jason and the others? 🤔 strangely enough, I'd say yes.

L: At least you guys didn't try to just constantly USE ME like my last master did! *dramatic sobs*

Batman: *desperately trying not to adopt this unknown entity* how OLD are you?

L: *suddenly fine* oh, me? I just formed yesterday! Let me tell ya, it was QUITE a surprise to suddenly be able to move and see! It's been a true experience so far, I can see why you guys like doing this so much!

Batman: *physically restraining himself* Hn.

------

Jason: so what exactly are you?

L: oh, me? Well I don't know TOO much but from what my instincts are telling me, is that I'm a type of ghost!

Dick: GHOST????

L: yes! Specially a Concept ghost! Like how there's a concept of time and space, I'm a concept of the pits.....I guess.

Jason: you guess???

L: only a few days old, remember? I don't even have a guardian ghost yet!

Batman: *immediately at attention* are you supposed to have one?

L: yep! Every baby ghost needs a guardian! It's not like we can know everything the moment we're born. Hell, I don't even know where the other ghosts are, all there is here are shades....and remnants.

Tim: I have so many questions.

L: and I have so little answers! It seems we're stuck in the same boat Tim! (Oh btw Tim, your clones wanted me to say Hi)

The fam: WAIT WHAT?!

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Lazarus and the shades getting along as Lazarus greets them like one would do to their pets.

L: why hello! Yes, hello! Look at you, look at you *coos*

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Hmmm 🤔 Lazarus would need a guardian that can make portals in order to show them how and to make sure they get fresh ectoplasm when need. And the only ghosts I can think of is Wulf and Clockwork.

But there's also Cujo.

Lazarus meeting the only other ghost he's seen and it's this small dog.

L:

Cujo:

L: are you my dad??

Cujo: *sweating because oh no this child has no parents, but how the bark does he raise a baby ghost?*

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Tho Wulf parenting Lazarus would also be cute.

Walker finds Wulf and immediately spots the kid.

Walker also knows that bonds between a baby ghost and it's parent are near impossible to break. (Not to mention against the rules.)

So then it'd be Walker and Wulf raising this baby ghost together lmao!

The Observants finally tell Danny that's he's a baby Ancient. And he needs to decide what he's going to be the Ancient of.

Danny does not like this. Does not want this. Absolutely hates it.

He can't say the Ancient of the Living, because that'd apparently make him a God of Life, with the ability to command all things living. He'd never know if asking his friends to hang out with him would be of their own volition if he does that.

He can't say Ancient of Space, because that'd be way too powerful and he'd be scared shitless of fucking it up. What if he sneezes and moves the Milky Way five hundred thousand lightyears to the left?

But if he doesn't chose an aspect, then his core is just gonna choose one at random.

(Clockwork confided that it's very likely to choose space)

It's Sam who gives him an idea, as she's reading Odysseus. She's on the part with the cyclops, when Odysseus tells him that his name is "Nobody", so when he cried out in pain and said Nobody was attacking him, no one thought to do anything.

Somehow, this thought led to another though, and Danny finally figured out how to get out of the whole "Ancient" thing.

"Nothing."

"...Excuse us?"

"I'm the Ancient of Nothing."

Problem solved! Can't get OP powers and become a demigod if there's nothing to rule over!

Danny did not anticipate his "easy" solution leading to being interpreted as the Ancient of the Void, Guardian to the Eternal and Eldritch, Keeper of the Hungry Emptiness That Circles the Universe.

Sam won't take responsibility for his actions.

Life (and death) are so fucking unfair.

(He manages to coax the Hungry Emptiness into a much smaller and more manageable size. It took the shape of a Ferret with too many legs, and it likes eating deodorant.)

Spurred on by an existential crisis, Danny decides he doesn't want to turn into a ghost anymore. By doing this, he also stops properly fulfilling his obsession(s). This naturally causes him to start dying.... again. Only this time it's slower, and as time progresses, will also be more painful.

Frostbite is having none of that and is determined to help the boy, but Danny isn't sticking around long enough for that to happen.

Unrelated, but the bats coincidentally see a teen being chased by some sort of yeti looking creature one night.

DCxDP fic: Copyright

The first time it happened, the Waynes were walking around a street market, glancing at the art, when a woman wearing a Red Hood jacket and drinking out of a Red Robin coffee traveling mug struts by.

The heroes stop to stare, more in shock, to see how well the two items are done, which grabs her attention.

She grins at them, waving her cup. "You guys like the bats? You should check out both nineteen. He sells all official stuff."

"Official?" Dick repeats.

"Yup. He has it all trademarked." She says, pulling out a business card. She hands it to Dick with a smile before bidding everyone goodbye. Babs reaches up, snatching the card from Dick's slack hold, pulling out her phone to research the name.

Babs hisses through her teeth when she finds out that, yes, whoever the artist is, they did, in fact, trademark their designs. But not only did they cover their art, but they also put a copyright over the idea of all the Gotham heroes.

"He copyrighted Batman!?" Tim demands, reading over the baby's shoulder. "The symbol, the technology, the fighting moves- his shadow!? How!?"

"No one else did," Bruce answers with an amused smile. "He probably realized this and decided to slap one on while he had the chance."

"He can't do that!" Tim shouts. "Batman should sue him."

"Kinda hard to take someone to court regarding vigilantes." Dick shrugs his shoulders. "The Bats are illegal themselves, and they didn't copyright before this guy did."

"He owns Robin!" Jason announces with a laugh.

"That son of a-!!" Dick shouts, twisting around and stomping down the booths. People who recognize them jump out of the way for the raging celebrity. The rest of the Waynes were right behind him, a few slightly surprised by the pure anger on the eldest face.

Not Bruce or Jason. They see and personally know Dick's rage.

"How dare he try to claim Robin!" The eldest hisses, rounding the last row and stumbling to a halt. The rest are unprepared for his sudden stop, so they stumble into his back.

Grunts of pain and slight soft swears are heard as the group tumbles over onto the ground. Dick is unfortunate enough to end up on the bottom, feeling the total weight of his family. He's pretty sure Bruce's elbow was digging into his lower back, and Tim's head had slammed on the back of his neck.

Maybe Alfred was right about them going on a stricter diet. Ouch.

"Get up this instant. We are ashamed of the family name." Damian hisses from where he is standing above them. Of course, Cass is next to him with a cheerful smile.

Both of them had danced out of the collision in a way that appeared accidental to the untrained eye. Bruce likely let himself fall because he enjoyed causing scenes as Brucie Wayne, no matter how much he denied it.

"Dick." Jason groans, taking the hand Cass held out for him with grace. "Why did you stop?"

"Look at both nineteen." Dick hisses feeling Tim delibertly dig his elbow into his back. His brother offers him a sweet, innocent smile that does not hide the anger in his eyes. Sometimes Dick wonders if anyone can spot the pettiness in Tim or if his madness hides it.

"Oh," Steph whistles when she hopes off of Bruce to stare at the booth owner. "Yeah, I get it. He's hot"

"No!"Dick shouts, rising up from the ground. There is horror in his voice that makes the Bats all tense. "No, he is not hot. That's disgusting Steph. Look at him. Tell me who's face that is."

It's Bruce who spots it first. "I have more chidlren?"

Damian gasps. "Father, you have more blood, children!? How did you recognize him, Richard?"

"He looks exactly like Bruce at that age." Dick hisses, leaning closer. "The Titians and I met Bruce when he was sixteen during a mishap with a time wizard. I may have pretended to be a butler sent to Wayne Manor for training to get access to the cave. The cave was the location that we had to use to go home."

"That was you?" Bruce demands. "I thought that was an idiot who was in love with Alfred."

"Ew, why?"

"You kept complimenting his cooking, doing chores for him, and trying to take him out for a fun night in town!"

"Well, excuse me for wanting Alfred to have a week's vacation from the broodiest and most troublesome teen!" Dick shouts, throwing his arms in the air. "You were literally hissing at him whenever he told you to bathe!"

"I didn't like water back then!"

"Hey guys?" Jason cuts in. "Tim left."

Both men swing to stare at the second eldest with twin looks of confusion. "What?"

"Tim. He's over there. Yelling at kid-Bruce." Jason points to where a crowd is slowly building around them. Tim is in a screaming match with the owner. There is a lot of hand-waving, faces turning red in anger, finally ending with the owner throwing himself over the Red Robin merchandise with a protective little snarl.

Tim reels back and punches him in the face.

"Oh shit," Steph sighs, running towards the both as the owner is quick to tackle Tim. The Waynes find it odd that they must show off their bat training to break the two apart.

And that's how the Waynes get on the front cover of almost all media coverage that tells the story of Danny Fenton (Wayne). Bruce's second secret love child with a married woman (Jack and Maddie had briefly opened up about their marriage back then, so neither was mad) and who had met his biological father after a public fight with his adoptive brother.

Danny would like to go on record as saying that he was unaware of why Tim cared so much that he saw a fantastic business opportunity and took it. It's not like Batman could challenge his copyrights, and if the crimefighter came for his kneecaps over it, he would find himself against the Ghost King.

True the Ghost King in name only, but the Bat didn't know that.

Danny will be honest if asked how he felt about finding out Bruce Wayne is his father. He already knew. When he was around twelve, his parents sat him down and told him. It was how his dad explained where babies came from, the genuine Welcome To Puberty! Talk and what open marriages meant—which was as horrific as it sounds—and they never bothered with it again.

Because Jack Fenton had been the one to raise Danny, he had been the one who held him after his mom gave birth and had been the one who loved him with all his heart despite not being blood-related.

He had a bigger reaction to having to fist-fight Tim Drake over the fact he made Red Robin the official LGBT+ member of the Bat family because he is bi, no matter how much Tim insists Red Robin was straight.

It sounds to him like Tim is deep in the closet and in denial. Bisexual Red Robin forever!

Hey hey hey ik I'm like super early but what ab a ex batkid (who kinda got the jason Todd treatment) and is now hanging around/being taken in by killer croc, bane , riddler hcs please

Aka, people who have the most dad energy-

Killer Croc + Ex! Bat Kid:

- You fought Waylon as a Bat Kid but you weren't like the others who called him "Lizard Lips", "Ugly", "Scaly" and other childish taunts. You were gentle to him and you showed more compassion than the rest.

- I honestly think that even before your death, you hung out with Waylon a lot or at least tried to outside of fighting. You'd visit him in Arkham, you'd ask how he was doing that day, and scold other people who insulted him. He wasn't sure why but you just seemed to comfortable around him.

- That's why the news of your death was hard on him, because you were so young and so good, and yet you had to die. He respectfully tried to lay off crime after your death, mostly just stealing for necessity and committing a few acts of self-defense, but other than that, he did try to stop. In your honor.

- When he sees you again, he's shocked but he's also concerned as you stumble into the sewers afraid and scared, your old hero suit was tattered, and your eyes were wide and terrified. His first instinct is to take care of you and calm you before he interrogates you about what happened. You clutch onto him and cry and tell him your horrible story, how a mission went terribly wrong and you got trapped and your family didn't even bother to come back for you, that one moment you were dead and the next you weren't. Hes sympathetic and he validates you as he holds you and rocks you like a father would their child.

- Obviously you have beef with your family and while Waylon won't go out of his way to make them pay, since what's done is done, he will stop them from trying to force you to come home or try to deter them from bugging you. Hissing when Damian tries to justify to you what happened, knocking back Bruce when he tries to forcefully bring you back home, and everything.

- He does want you to reconcile with them but also, he thinks they should prove themselves worthy of a second chance because they literally left you to die, by accident or not.

- He also doesn't mind the new company you bring to his sewers and is pretty happy you make yourself at home right away. You hang up posters, you have a cool futon, he stole a few things like an electrical generator for lights for you (he's sorta accustomed to seeing in the dark) and you both do your best to make it home.

- If you wanna be a vigilante, thats fine. Croc knows you still have your streak of running into danger without thinking of yourself but know that he will protectively be with you and/or try to follow you around as best he can. He won't let you down and his biggest fear now is that he makes the same mistake as your other family.

- Will literally go feral if someone hurts you super badly you need to visit the hospital. Hes also there to comfort you when you think about what happened to you, he'll hug you and tell you it isn't your fault, he'll comfort you when you have nightmares. He also totally has a tendency to just nurse whatever injuries you have, he knows nothing about medicine but he'll try his damndest to be something of a family to you, because that's what you are to him.

Bane + Ex Batkid:

- He honestly probably tried to recruit you a lot when you two fought. Kinda like how Ra's admires Tim but less creepy and more parental. Whenever you two faced off as enemies, he didn't hold back but he voiced his admirance for you and your abilities.

- The little one is rather fierce no?

- But seriously Bane loves kids so much and when he heard about what happened to you, HE WAS SO READY TO BREAK THE BAT ALL OVER AGAIN. He had ONE job and it was to keep YOU safe and he failed. Bane makes it very clear to Bruce that it was him who should've died that day and not you.

- When you come back to Gotham, you know you can't just go back to your "family", not after what they did. So you go to the one person who you kinda considered a friend, and he was more than happy to take you in.

- Bane is an EXCELLENT mentor and parental figure. He not only hires the bests therapists or tries to find helpful ways of you coping with your whole "dying and coming back to life" situation, but he's geniunely concerned with the little things about you too. Are you eating enough? Are you sleeping enough?

- If you're not living with him and kinda are just hanging around, expect him to want to check in on you 24/7 or have his men keep their eyes on you and report back to him. Like if they tell him you're not eating enough and you go to your apartment or current place of residence, and there's Bane with some homemade food and he gives you a stern look and is all: "I know you've been skipping meals."

- Then you're left eating in your place as he scolds about the mess while picking up said mess and organizing things and you just smirk and roll your eyes.

- "Who knew the big bad Bane was such a clean freak?"

- "Or maybe it is just because you are a slob, little one, this is why you should stay with me because it is not healthy for one so young to be without discipline and structure-"

- You contrast with his serious and stoic demeanor, being all care free and chill but he also senses that great pain within you. He used to feel that during is time in Peña Duro, that feeling of your father abandoning you and having to live with that pain and dissapointment. He had to fight for everything because no one fought for him, he'll be sure that you won't have to do the same.

- If you want to be a hero or anti-hero, fine, just promise that you'll tell him when you're hurt or that you need help. You've become more than a potential protégé for him, you've become something of a child.

- You and Scandal Savage complaining about your loving adopted father figure but beating the shit out of anyone else who bad mouths him-

- But yeah, no, when he sees Batman: IT WILL BE ON SIGHT and you and your former family may not see eye to eye but you all can't help but find it entertaining when the dads are fighting.

- He also doesn't mind you reconciling with your family but fair warning, just because you choose to forgive them, HE WON'T. The moment they come in, they can see that Bane's eyes behind his mask are following them as if saying: "You hurt them, I break your spine in half like a toothpick."

- Also if you suffer from nightmares or night terrors, I can totally see Bane doing his cute little fatherly assurance he did in Secret Six where he let's you lay on his lap and gently assures you nothing bad will happen to you as long as he's there to protect you.

The Riddler + Ex Bat Kid:

- Unlike Waylon and Bane, EDWARD HATED YOU MORE THAN THE REST OF THOSE COSTUMED BRATS. HELL, HE PROBABLY HATED YOU MORE THAN BATMAN.

- You were so snarky all the time, answering his riddles without having to look them up and teasingly saying: "Is that the best you've got?" Or the annoying way you would easily hack into his CAREFULLY created programs and systems and mess them up with your stupid memes and stuff. You didn't even call him The Riddler, you called him Eddie! LIKE, AT LEAST HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR HIM.

- However during your time together, he did grow quite fond of you. You were like him, he found out, the smartest of your family and not afraid to show it but you were kinda singled out because you were to insufferable to them with your big ego and your tendency to always remind them whose the cleverest out of this clever bunch. So when he heard news about you dying, he became sad.

- He missed the old taunts and the way you mocked him, when he committed crimes he half heartedly wished you'd show up again and call him Eddie and then he'd lecture you on respecting your elders only to be painfully reminded that you were no longer around. He became even more cruel to Batman in his traps and mazes, after all, he let a brilliant mind slip out of this world.

- Yet when you break into one of his bases, casually mock him as he enters the base to check out what triggered the security like nothing changed between you two, he once more feels that mix of frustration and endearment he always kinda had towards you.

- "Yeesh, you look older, Eddie."

- "And you look like you died and went through hell, kid."

- "Eh, something like that."

- You don't really live with Eddie, which he's fine with, he doesn't need a little annoying brat like you poking around his place but he also isn't opposed to when you break in and make yourself at home in there either.

- He can't protect you from Batman or your family if they try to track you down, not with his noodle arms, but he can help you make it harder for them to track down. Not that you'd need much of his help, you're sharp on your own.

- Your ego, however, has actually kinda taken a blow. You were left for dead, even if on accident, and when you come back, they didn't seem to make a big deal out of it and it hurt. Edward understands this low self esteem and he tries to build it up again. So what? They don't know what they're missing! You're still smarter than them! You're still better than them! And you kinda thank him for it.

- He does check in on you and scold you if you aren't taking care of yourself, which is redundant considering this is EDWARD NYGMA we are talking about here. So you two take it upon each other to try and keep each other on track. You're solving cases non stop, he shows up at your house with some take out and eats with you because he's knows you haven't been eating much.

- You find him asleep at his desk and you scoff and shake your head as you carry him to bed and then you doodle on his plans a little, adding helpful notes while also low-key making sure they're insulting.

- "You should move the angle at least 67 degrees, any idiot can see that- Love, (Y/n)."

- Either way, you guys do help each other and do let each other live their lives, he's not gonna dictate what you do and play parent, but he is at least gonna make sure you don't die again. Whether its literal or a reference to the fact you neglect yourself as much as him.

More of trans allegory Jason and the goons VS the batfam:

Transmasc older goon, trying to connect: Hey out of curiosity boss, when did your egg crack?

Jason, thinking this is a bird pun about how he became Robin: Uh, 12 I guess...

****

Penguin henchman: Wow, you really are okay calling yourselves goons? Isn't that like a little demeaning?

Red Hood Goon: Inclusivity my guy -Henchperson is a mouthful, and that way, we don't have to assume.

Penguin Henchman: Oh my god that's so thoughtful!

*they resume shooting at eachother.*

*****

Batman You're not okay Hood, you need a professional. Please, we can help you!

Jason: There's nothing wrong with me, I won't let you throw me into Arkham!

Goon of the week: Yeah Batfreak, the boss doesn't need help, there's nothing wrong with him! How would you like it if we tried to convert you out of being a furry, huh?!!

Batman: reconsiders life choices.

****

Angry goon: *beats the shit out of Nightwing with a trans pride flag*

Dick, a bisexual cis metrosexual: I'm not sure what is happening but this feels offensive.

****

Batman: Please, I know there's a lot of bad blood, but you're still my child...

Jason: Really? Because I clearly remember you saying you weren't my father and didn't have to deal with my "teenage angst"!

The Goons: You said what?!

Oracle : You said what?!

Dick, standing up and picking up the pride flag: You said what.

Fear vs Fear

Danny was doing homework when Fright knight came to him.

FK: I would like your permission to go out on a Quest.

DP: Why are you asking me?

FK: You are the Guardian of the portal, a keeper of balance, and may be the next ghost king. So i ask your leave.

DP: What is this quest?

FK: It has come to my attention that there is a energy entity out in the stars who claims to be the emotional embodiment of fear and is powering this "Sinestro Corps" to do heinious deeds in the name of fear and terror. I seek to eliminate this corps and give this "Parallax" a beating and a lesson in true fear.

DP: Parallax sounds like a pharmaceutical drug or a laxative.

FK: Fear work well as a laxative. Your friend Tucker knows this very well.

DP: I thought you were the embodiment of fear?

FK: I AM.

DP: OK permission uh granted i guess.

Fright Knight bows then turns to go but is interrupted.

DP: oh and Fright knight?

FK: Hmm?

DP: win.

FK: of course.

Danny goes on Vacation: Bad Ending

(Kind of a Part 2 to This Post, and specifically the comment made by @gamermineral about the GIW)

So! Danny has not had a Vacation in Years. Not since the day he became a Hero.

Its not even that he hasn't tried before, its that every time he does it all goes horribly wrong.

The first time he ever tried taking a vacation, Undergrowth broke out of the Zone and took over the town for a 2nd Time. It took a week to fix that mess.

The next time, he tried just going away for a few days, and that was the day Aragon and Vlad teamed up to try and take over the City.

The final time was a few years later. He had mostly managed to establish a Stable Situation after months of Hard Work. The Rogues weren't attacking as Frequently, and in fact many of them had become good frenemies with him over the years. Their Battles were more like Play Fights at that point, although he did need to keep them from going too far and hurting civilians.

He thought he was safe for a few days break in the next city over...

Turns out some random Cult decided to Summon Pariah Dark out of his Coffin in them middle of a Major City that very day. That Incident had both Secured his Position as the new Ghost King, and had caught the attention of the JLA. They approached him afterwards offering a position on their Team.

Still, Danny held off on having a Vacation for a while longer. He still didn't know if it was even worth asking them to cover for him, the situation was mostly peaceful and they weren't that big of a threat usually.

Eventually though, after a few months of working up the nerve he asked the Team if they could cover for him so he could have a Vacation. They had enthusiastically agreed, happy to help even if it was a supposedly easy job.

Danny left them a few instructions on what to do in the case of a Rogue Attack, and left for his Vacation in Space.

But he still wasn't fully sure, so he went back to check on them after 2 days. It seemed like everything was actually fine, and he left again.

A week later, he was feeling nervous again, and check up again. And it still seemed to be going well.

After one more minor checkup, he felt secure in the safety of the Situation. So he left to deep space for the remainder of his Vacation and enjoyed the hell out of it. He felt free for the first time in YEARS!

But the situation wasn't going nearly as good as the Team had lead on.

The Rogues were too powerful for the initial team dispatched to handle the threat, and they needed to call in a few more Heroes to fight them off. When Danny showed up for his check in, they had played if off as Much as they could and sent him on his way. Then they did the same for the next two times.

The JLA Team was struggling far too much, much more than they could handle. But they didn't want to call in high level members, they had too much pride.

And unfortunately, the GIW was there to "help" them. They said that they could use the GIW Tech at their disposal to contain the Ghosts until the Hero of the town got back, that their weapons were Optimal for battling them without hurting them.

And the JLA Team took up the offer.

The next time they beat a Rogue, using GIW Weapons, they sent them to the nearby GIW Base and called it a day. And they continued doing that for the entire month Danny was away. They didn't know better, they would later claim.

Danny returned from his trip happy as can be. Until he sought out his Fight Buddies, and could find none of them.

"Hey guys, I just checked up on the Zone." Said Phantom, "And I couldn't find any of my Rogues. Do you know where they are?"

One of the Team Members who had taken over Amity for the month responded, "Well, we weren't having an easy time forcing them back through the Portal, so we took up the offer of some Locals who said they could help."

"Oh!" Said Phantom, "So Ms Mason and Mr Foley helped? Or was it Mrs. Grey? Or the Fentons? What did they do to keep the Ghosts from the Zone?"

"Oh no, it wasn't any of them" Said the Team Member, "It was this little organization called the Ghostly Investigation Ward, they helped us contain all the Rogues in their Base. We started last month, and-"

And Phantom stopped listening after that. His Heart stopped, his blood drained from his face, and he felt a deep sense of horror permeating his Core.

The GIW had captured all of his Friends.

And the JLA had helped them.

“Those poor boys”

“She deserves to be punished too.”

“I’m not saying I support rape, but-”

“Sorry to say - she deserved it.”

“She put herself in harm’s way”

“But if she was fingered, then that’s not rape.”

“She ruined their lives.”

Tim, officially, does not have a new caretaker.

Tim, unofficially, does have a new caretaker.

A large, large man with long flaming purple hair that was capable of touching the floor if it didn't move like fire with sharp glowing green eyes and a neutral, if a bit of a resting bitch face, expression on his face.

Comparatively, he was not dressed oddly. Nothing but a white compression shirt, grey sweatpants and a pair of black sandals. The only thing odd about it was the sword constantly strapped to his waist, though Tim ignored it when he saw the man using it to chop ingredients.

Fright, he called himself, and Tim never asked if it was his actual name or not. He was just glad someone came over as constantly as he does.

He doesn't know where the man goes at night, after making sure he's tucked into bed and asleep, but he never pried. Mostly because he wasn't supposed to know that, and he doesn't want Fright to catch onto the fact that he was constantly sneaking out at night either.

So they'll both keep their secrets.

===

Fright Knight was at a loss with himself.

His master, Pariah Dark, had been once again released from the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep and he wasted no time to return to his side. Even with his previous betrayl.

The events that followed were unexpected.

His master did not continue his eons long war with life. Though it had long since turned silent with his imprisonment, it was still brewing under the current of 'peace' that the Ghost Zone fell into.

Fright Knight knew that well.

So, what exactly was he supposed to do when his master returned to his time as naught but a humble farmer and started to rebuild the bridge he had long burnt with the Master of Time?

He felt... conflicted.

Of course, reconnecting with the Ghost of Time was a good thing, and he has been subject to witness just how much passion they had for each other during days long past.

But his master picking up a life that was not one honed through blood was always an odd thing for him to experience. Two peas in a pod, as some would say they were.

War and Fear.

Where War went, Fear followed. Rivers of flowing blood with storms of fear promised was something too tempting for him to resist.

Fear was a sword, and he was War's blade.

So it was not something easy for him to adjust to when War settled down into peace and sought prosperity instead of his namesake. Of course, he, as always, adjusted regardless of the situation and followed his master in his newest endeavor.

It was much harder to preserve a life, than it was to end it. They both came to realize. On his master's part, farming was something he pondered over and donned for a brief time eons ago, the new methods of today clashing wildly with what little he knew of the activity before War sung to him again. For Fright Knight, he had not a single nail's worth of experience in the act, never having had an interest like War did and as such, never learned.

It felt rather odd to use his blade to cut gifts from the land, but if he replaced them with images of enemies long since snuffed, it wasn't exactly hard.

He could not stay there for long; however, it was just too... different, from what he was used to. The Ghost King knew this and told him he was free to be left to his own devices so long as it did not affect the rules the Master of Time had set for them.

Or rather, War. But as Fear was in his service, he was not exactly exempt from said constraints, either.

So he wandered, keeping to his 'human' persona he was told to set for himself here. He was thankful that these beings called Meta's existed as no one gave him more than a second glance.

Though if that was more something to do with his height he did not know.

He came upon a city, one of shadows and filled with curses in numbers that even made him pause in slight bafflement. Lady Gotham, the city's spirit, brushed against him as soon as he stepped foot within her haunt, and it did not take long for them to reach and accord.

Fear was allowed to stay, so long as he did not do anything she did not permit. He was fine with said rules, after all, what was another constraint compared to those set by Time itself?

He had a favorable view of this city, just the ambient fear alone made it worth stepping inside. It was better than War's attempt at peace, though it was nothing due to the being itself he was just... used to being surrounded by fear.

Then he met a human child by the name of Timothy Drake. A meeting by chance and nothing else, but he did need something to do by Lady Gotham's suggestion.

So he became the boy's 'caretaker' though if he were a good one was something he could not comment on.

He did not need sleep, his new ward did, so when night fell, he always stepped out of the city to go back to his master and reappeared the next morning.

The thing about his new master's attempt at peace, was that he was quite willing to give away the gifts he received from the land. Which was helpful, considering he had no idea how to acquire money in this new age.