Whistles rang out through the ghost zone.
"Cujo! Here boy!" Youngblood called, the current choice to carry the ham as they searched.
"Cujo! You stupid mutt, we need you!" Ember called, Kitty frowning at her.
"I don't think that's gonna convince him to show up." Kitty told her with crossed arms, Ember frowning.
"Hey, it's more than your boy toy is doing." Ember replied, nodding towards Johnny who was just leaning against his bike with Shadow nearby. Johnny frowned and crossed his arms.
"Hey, I'm not the one who chucked the kid through a portal." Johnny pointed out, "I'm already helping more than I have to by tagging along."
"You've done the LITERAL MINIMUM REQUIRED." Ember challenged, "Don't you care at all about what might be happening to the kid?!"
"I said I didn't!"
"Oh c'mon Johnny you don't mean that…." Kitty sighed, Johnny huffing and looking away.
"And so what if I do? Why should I have to care about every little kid that stumbles through the ghost zone?"
"Well it's not like he's just any kid moron, that's still the king of the ghost zone you're talking about." Ember snapped back, "Besides….we've all got history with babypop. Not like he just fell off a truck yesterday."
"HEY AM I THE ONLY ONE STILL LOOKING FOR THIS DOG?!" Youngblood shouted from his spot away with the ham.
"STAY OUTTA THIS!" Ember and Johnny yelled, Youngblood rolling his eyes and going back to calling for Cujo.
"Listen sister, if I don't wanna help look for Phantom, then I don't wanna help look for Phantom! This is your mess and I'm not getting dragged any further into it then I have to." Johnny said angrily. Kitty rolled her eyes. Johnny was trying to keep up a front, but she knew he was worried as the rest of them.
But, she also knew her boyfriend and he'd never admit it.
"C'mon Ember, just ignore him…" Kitty sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. Ember huffed and went to turn with Kitty to go keep looking for Cujo, when a sort of trilling scream stopped them.
They all turned to see Cujo with Johnny's Shadow in his mouth and chewing like he'd just found an interesting toy.
"Shadow!!!" Johnny yelled, concerned for the part of him the dog held in his mouth. Ember smirked and crossed her arms as she popped a hip to the side .
"Well would you look at that? I guess you did help find him after all~" Ember teased with a chuckle, pleased with the turn of events.
"SHUT IT." Johnny warned, "Just get the stupid ham so the dog will let go of my Shadow!" Youngblood looked over and smiled at seeing they'd found the dog, happily flying over with ham in hand before a hand from Ember stopped him, the woman still smirking.
"Admit you care about the kid."
"What?!"
"I wanna hear you say it~"
Johnny gaped at her, Ember's triumphant smirk plain on her face. He could deny it and try to get Shadow out himself…but he wasn't sure how well that was gonna pan out for him. He growled and ran a hand down his face as he could hear his Shadow's pleading growls and trills as it was chewed by the dog behind him.
uncomfortable help please???
Ahhhh he was even projecting from his core…! Johnny groaned and ran his hands down his face.
"Grrrrrrrr…..FINE! I want to find the kid too, I'm worried are you happy now?!" He yelled at Ember.
"Very, thank you." Ember agreed, motioning for Youngblood to now move forward as the young ghost happily came over, waving the ham as Cujo perked up, spitting the ghost out-now covered in ectoplasmic drool-and happily came over to take the ham, transforming back into his small form as he nibbled at it. Johnny went over to his Shadow to check him out and clean him up, muttering apologies and glaring at Ember a little but not saying anything.
He'd wait til after the kid was ok to get her back for this.
"Alright, we've got the mutt…now what?" Kitty wondered, looking at Cujo gnawing happily at the Ham. Ember walked over and crouched in front of Cujo, the dog pausing and looking up at her before growling and taking full size as Ember looked up, sighing.
"Listen, I'm not here to tousle with you, mutt." Ember replied, looking up at him with a worried frown, "Danny's in trouble." The growling stopped, the dog looking surprised then worried, turning back to a smaller pup as he whimpered, tilting his head as though asking for more detail.
"We were playing and he accidentally got knocked through a closing portal." Ember admitted, "We want to help him, but we can't find him without help. Will you help us?" Cujo gave a yip before once more growing in size, throwing every ghost present on his back with a resounding "RUFF!" And grabbing the ham in his mouth before running off at a breakneck pace none of the ghosts present could dream of flying at.
"Hey, my bike!" Johnny protested as they left his beloved motorcycle behind while Cujo ran.
"Eh, it'll still be there when we get back." Ember shrugged, "Besides I've seen you summon it before, I doubt you'll have a problem."
Johnny said nothing but crossed his arms and grumbled.
Ember took this to mean she was right.
When Cujo finally slid to a stop-how had he been running this whole time there wasn't that much solid land in the ghost zone, the five ghosts on his back looked up and stiffened like they were still in their graves.
Walker's Prison.
"Okay, I know no natural portal would send Danny here." Kitty grumbled, crossing her legs, "And if it did Walker probably wouldn't shut up about it and we'd already have heard about a break out…so why did Cujo bring us here?" Ember thought for a second then groaned.
"Of course…Cujo can track Danny but if there isn't a portal to go through that doesn't do us any good." Ember reasoned, "He brought us here for WULF."
Wulf, Walker's favorite prisoner to capture and torment. Not that he wouldn't have done the same to any of them…minus Youngblood. Walker wasn't running a Juvenile detention hall, he would have to be responsible for raising all those ghosts too. Being a child like Youngblood was the only way you might get off scot free from his rules. Guardians had to warn of him heavily so newly-adult ghosts didn't stumble in and get themselves locked up right away.
It didn't always help.
"Oh no, I'm not messing with Walker!" Johnny said, going to get off Cujo only to get grabbed by his collar.
"Look, we all know Walker's a jerk. And he probably wouldn't help Danny if we asked." Ember agreed. Danny was a rare exception to Walker's rule on not locking up kids, not that he knew it the first time he did it but he was so pissed at the poor kid he was gonna try him as an adult!
Well, until he became ghost king. that put a wrench in things since Walker's a WARDEN, not a king, he didn't have that authority unless the Observants gave it to him. Walker still tried to catch him and lock him up, but since the whole of the ghost zone would riot if he locked up a baby king he usually only tried when Danny crossed his path now instead of seeking him out.
Still, Walker was a dick and none of them would mind screwing him over, especially to help Danny.
"But we don't have to ask~" Ember finished with that thought and a grin, huddling the others in as she thought up a plan.
——————
Danny licked his lips and pat his stomach as he laid against the tree. That was the best meal he'd had in YEARS.
He looked down at the dishes with a small smile, grateful the older man had been willing to share even not knowing who he was. He seemed like a really nice guy….reminded him a little of Clockwork.
He wondered if Clockwork knew he was here….He figured he probably did, Clockwork seemed to know just about everything…viewing the parade from above and all that.
Which means Danny doubted he was in real danger danger right now….or, at least, the timeline wasn't. Danny'd never really clarified if Clockwork would protect him from something that didn't mess up the timeline. He liked to think so, since Clockwork seemed to care about him…but Clockwork's job was guarding the time stream after all, not making sure one ghost boy didn't fully perish.
Anywho, that thought aside, it would probably be best to get these dishes back to there proper place. He went intangible, coming back in the kitchen and pleased to see the older gentleman was still gone. He headed to the sink, cleaning the dishes and drying them before neatly stacking them next to the sink, finding a pen and paper and writing a little note for when he came back.
He looked the note over and gave a smile, gently placing it just under the washed plate.
Perfect.
Now to find a place to sleep, since this was clearly not an option. He phased through the ceiling, deciding a better approach this time would just to be to go high up above all the buildings instead of phasing through them. He flew up and looked down and sort of marveled a bit at the way everything looked.
Even if the city clearly had rough patches, there was a sort of beauty about all of it-even the dark parts.
He saw figures on rooftops flitting back and forth, which he figured to be the local vigilante force…but nothing for him to be particularly concerned about right now seeing as he'd gone invisible. He thought he saw a hotel, flying downward to take a closer look before something big smacked into him, sending them both tumbling through the air before Danny managed to right the both of them, holding the thing-no, person-that had smacked into him by the collar as it flailed uncertainly, Danny suddenly remembering he was invisible and sighing, turning visible so he didn't give the guy a heart attack.
He looked at the guy and blinked. He was in some full body green suit with…was that a giant Kite on his back? No, that would be stupid, Danny decided it must be some sort of personalized paragliding rig. He didn't know much about paragliding but maybe this shape helped him when doing it in the city some way that the regular shape wouldn't.
"Hey!" Danny started before the guy could get his bearings, shaking him a bit as he held him by the collar still like a naughty kitten trapped in air jail, "What do you think you're doing?!! Paragliding in a city is super dangerous! I mean even if you ignore all the skyscrapers you could run into, this place has tons of blimps! Like, everywhere!" It was something Danny had particularly noticed a second ago when looking over the city.
He lowered to the ground in a relatively empty area, not listening to the man stammering some sort of excuse or something out.
"Listen, if you wanna engage in extreme sports that's your business, but the city is no place for that. Drive up to the mountains for your hobby. It'll probably be a nice change of pace from the smog anyways." Danny told him, finally setting him down, "And-just to make sure you don't start doing that again the second I turn around…" he raised a finger and shot a few holes in his paragliding sail with some ghostly beams, the dude seeming shocked.
Hmm, probably was caught off guard by being stopped by a meta for his dangerous acts in the middle of Gotham. Maybe that was why he did this here? Like, he'd probably be stopped pretty immediately if he tried this in Metropolis.
At any rate, Danny gave him a smile and patted his shoulder.
"Don't give up on your dreams dude, but endangering yourself and others is not worth an adrenaline rush. I don't really care to see you gliding around the ghost zone next. Stay safe!" He told him with a smile and a small salute before vanishing from sight again and leaving the man who was still trying to protest properly as Danny flew off.
What a weird dude, he hoped he found somewhere safer to have some fun.
——————
Kiteman was utterly baffled.
He had been gliding towards the site of his next big heist-wondering which bat would come to foil his incredible crimes this time-when he ran into something solid mid air. He thought he was gonna fall to the pavement, but something had grabbed him by the collar-something with a cold and unsettling touch.
Then out of NOWHERE, some teen meta had appeared with bright white hair and started lecturing him on paragliding safety??? He'd been so utterly confused and concerned by the series of events he hadn't been able to really get out a word of protest…and worst of all this kid didn't seem like he had any idea who he was!!! He had just smiled warmly despite his cool touch and the scolding he had given him as he TORE HOLES IN HIS KITE WITH SOME SORT OF GREEN ENERGY BEAM before giving him an inspirational quote and straight up vanishing.
Had he just been foiled by the spirit of 90's psa's????
Kiteman sighed, collapsing his kite and going to find the nearest bus stop.
Even if his kite WASN'T totaled, whatever just happened was more bullshit than Kiteman was willing to deal within the space of a single night.
——————
BAT CHAT
I_see_all:sent a video
@XbirdXbat
Guess who I caught answering your prayers on candid camera?
XbirdXbat: OMG
Bless this boy.
White-haired kid you're the real mvp
xXDeadhoodXx: Is this kid's mission just to take out our worst villains for us all in one night?
Cause if that's the case kid's just got the baffler to go.
Quiet_Time: Doesn't know.
XbirdXbat: ? What do y'mean Cass?
Blood_Son: I believe Cain is referring to the fact that this man clearly doesn't know who Kiteman is. He's treating him like a citizen who was doing something dangerous, not like a criminal.
xXDeadhoodXx: Honestly hilarious. I'm starting to like this guy before I even meet him.
High_Flying_Hunk: Okay, I'm definitely heading over from Blüdhaven tomorrow. I have to meet this kid.
He's lecturing a 30 something year old man with such confidence! He will fit in well. :)
RedxisxthexnewxBlack: Updated list:
Definite powers: Invisibility
Density Shifting
Flight
Ice Powers
Green Energy Blasts
Possible/Probable powers: Teleportation
Regenerative Healing (More solidified by the fact I almost can't even see the cut anymore)
Superstrength (He is holding Kiteman, a full grown adult male, like a KITTEN. Could be natural muscle but the guy looks too lanky for it to be so effortless)
Maybe Spoiler was more on target with that 'Supes' comment than we thought…
XbirdXbat: Oh Tim, when will you learn I'm always right?~
But seriously, you reporting this to B?
RedxisxthexnewxBlack: Soon. Meeting Batman in the Batcave shortly. On my way now actually.
In the meantime, Oracle please send anymore candid tapes of our mystery meta to the group chat.
I_see_all: I can get that done for ya.
High_Flying_Hunk: Please don't forget to update the chat with any new info B gives you! We wanna know everything you know Timmers~
XbirdXbat: Yeah! Intentionally leaving anything out is grounds for immediate disqualification from the bet and immediate Discowing punishment!
I_see_all: That sounds fair.
RedxisxthexnewxBlack: Fine. I'll keep you all updated.
——————
Alfred began walking back towards the kitchen, figuring he's given whatever he had heard enough time to eat the food he'd left. Now it was simply a matter of cleaning up whatever mess had been left and cooking another meal, but considering whomever or whatever was in there had managed to get into the kitchen and hadn't harmed anyone, Alfred had figured they must have been fairly desperate in looking for a meal and not in trying to harm Master Bruce or find something connected to his…hobbies.
And if someone was desperate enough to get in here for a meal, Alfred was not one to turn them away.
He headed through the door to the kitchen, honestly expecting to see a bit of a mess waiting for him, but was surprised to see a neat stack of dishes and even the pan he had used to cook the meal scrubbed clean.
My, it had been quite some time since someone else had done the dishes for him…if it had ever happened. He seemed to remember Master Bruce doing it for a birthday or two of his-the only time Alfred would really allow such a thing honestly, and Bruce didn't have a lot of experience with it so Alfred usually had to go back and reclean them once he was gone, but these dishes were actually very well cleaned…making it hard for Alfred to think anyone in the Manor had likely been the ones to stumble across the mess and decide to clean it for him.
Well, Master Duke was a possibility certainly but he didn't think that he would have been through here this time of night….
Then he noticed a small piece of paper sticking out from under the clean plate and picked it up, reading the note that had been written for him.
'Thank you very much for the food! It was probably the best meal I've had in a long while. Sorry to intrude though, I hope helping with the dishes makes up for it a little bit. :)'
Well, what a thoughtful and polite young person he'd helped to feed!
At least, the note certainly felt as though someone younger had written it. Though when you get to be Alfred's age that wasn't necessarily saying much.
And though Alfred knew his cooking was good, he was slightly worried about 'the best meal he'd had in a long while'. That combined with the growling of his stomach had Alfred worried about this mystery guest they'd had. He wondered what was happening with them that they weren't able to eat properly…?
Hmm, well he'd have to just go and check the cameras for the kitchen. Maybe if he showed Master Bruce the note and the footage they could find the younger one and make them a guest of the household for a while?
Though, knowing Master Bruce a while might turn into a permanent invitation-not that Alfred was complaining. He certainly liked the Mansion lively, and with the brood Master Bruce had taken in it usually was.
Alfred made his way down towards the batcave, deciding to access the footage before the others returned home, only to be surprised to hear Master Bruce and Master Tim's voices echoing towards him.
Odd, this was a bit early for them to be home…not that he was particularly complaining, he liked it best when they were anyways, but Alfred knew how to spot something odd going on with them all better than anyone. He listened into the conversation, curious what they could be talking about.
——————
Bruce looked over the video's Tim had given him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes…it does look like the cut is healing at an accelerated rate." That was good. It made him feel slightly-though not entirely-better about the boy's blasé attitude regarding his own injury and blood. He still didn't think that a boy that age should be so cavalier about being cut by a blade healing factor or no, but at least it made him a bit less worried for the boy's mental state. Gave him an explanation of sorts.
"I'm not sure who this meta is, but with the amount of powers he's just casually shown tonight it's crazy he's flown under the Justice League's radar so far…" Tim commented, a frown settling on his features, "I'd worry he was a clone, but his power set doesn't perfectly match any hero we have….Nor do his looks."
"Perhaps he was created artificially some other way?" Bruce suggested, not wanting to throw the possibility out. After all, otherwise he had to contend with the fact someone this powered had stayed hidden when they were very clearly not the best at keeping themselves on the down low….least not in a setting like Gotham where surveillance was abundant.
Maybe a quieter town like Smallville would hide him well…not exactly Smallville mind you, Clark would have heard of something by now if that were the case, but it wasn't out of the question…
"There's also the possibility of him only acquiring the powers recently." Tim proposed, looking thoughtful.
"It's possible but I doubt it. He seems to practiced…he made a mistake letting the mugger get in a slice at first but that's the only real stumble we've seen…Then again we haven't really seen him in a real fighting capacity yet." Bruce reasoned. The mugger had hardly been anything for him from what Tim had said, and the interactions with Condiment King and Kiteman could hardly be called fights.
"True…mostly he seems relying on his invisibility to lay low right now." Tim said, "All of our sightings have included this power in one way or another…You said in the note he called himself Phantom, right?" Bruce nodded in affirmation.
"The smiley face next to the words 'my blood' is mildly discouraging, i'll admit…Speaking of his blood, I'll need you to run tests on the sample you collected and the one from the knife." Bruce said, Tim nodding in agreement.
"Gotcha. I'll give it a start right now." Tim agreed, heading over towards the lab with his samples to get them ready for analysis as well as pulling out his phone, no doubt to text his siblings updated information on the new interest in Gotham. Bruce nodded, getting ready to head over to the computer when Alfred walked in.
"Early night tonight, Master Bruce?" Alfred wondered, a brow raising curiously.
"Hmm. More like a bit of working from home." He replied, sitting down at the bat computer and pulling down his cowl, "We've got a new presence in Gotham."
"I gathered as much hearing you and Master Tim talking about it. Afraid they may be dangerous, sir?" Alfred wondered, looking to the other.
"Based on observations so far, I doubt intentionally at the least." Bruce admitted, "Seems more like a lost teen than a villain at least…but with the power he's packing he has the potential to be a threat if any of my rogues get their hands on him."
Alfred seemed to consider this, then something else. Bruce was about to ask him what he was thinking-but it seemed that he didn't have to. Alfred pointed to the note that Bruce had sat down next to the bat computer.
"Might I see something, sir?" Alfred requested, Bruce gesturing towards it with a 'by all means' look on his face. Alfred picked up the paper and looked at it for a moment before a warm smile settled on his face.
"Hmm. I thought as much." Alfred said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out another piece of paper before setting both on the keyboard of the bat computer in front of Bruce, whose eyebrows raised a bit.
It was the same handwriting.
"Alfred, where did you get this?" Bruce asked, baffled.
"Well, I heard a hungry stomach in my kitchen, sir. As the note states, I simply made sure it was properly fed." Alfred said, giving a wry smile, "I simply couldn't stomach the idea of someone so hungry when I had food right there." Bruce gave him a bit of a look for the joke then turned back to the notes.
Hmm, so he'd done the dishes too? That was another point towards the kid not being a danger so much as needing help…
….Though the fact he'd been in his house was another problem all together.
He looked up the security footage to see invisibly floating dishes when he washed and the plate disappearing in thin air when he'd taken the food. The best that Bruce could parse from the footage was:
A) There was no eating sounds, so either the kid was remarkably quiet-which Bruce found possible but unlikely knowing what he knew so far-or he'd been able to phase the items he touched out as well and gone somewhere else to eat.
And
B) the fact that, unlike in the other videos, the kid had never turned visible while in his house. He had likely found something to tell him that this wasn't just any mansion he'd stumbled into in that case…
Wait, the other videos…
The ice!
Bruce frowned and typed into the computer, the keys clacking ringing through the cave as he changed the footage to the thermal cams.
Bingo.
With this he could see a pretty clear blue silhouette. This way he could see what this 'Phantom' had done while inside the mansion.
Okay, there was him flying in through the walls…looking around at everything…Bruce had to force himself not to smile at the seeming innocent curiosityhe took a brief look at the guest rooms, but seemed to consider something.
….had he been looking for a place to sleep?
It would make sense, seeing as Tim had said that he didn't know where he was originally and even the note seemed to say he wasn't here on purpose…it was likely if he did have teleportation he had only recieved it recently and thus had taken himself somewhere unfamiliar. This line of reasoning seemed sound, it would also explain why he hadn't used it again-better to at least stay where he knew where he was than risk ending up somewhere else.
Then he flew down.
Bruce hesitated then switched to the bat cave cameras.
Yes, though the outline wasn't as clear due to the batcave being cold itself, that was definitely Phantom freaking out. Then, he hadn't KNOWN this was the house of Batman, only looking for a place with a lot of extra rooms where his presence could go unnoticed.
Bruce gave a small frown at the sight.
He wasn't sure if Phantom knew that this house belonged to Bruce Wayne or not, though it wouldn't be hard for him to find out. It made it all the more imperative they find him. And all the more annoying that Phantom knew far more about him already then he knew about the young man.
He'd have to fix that…
Bruce continued to watch as the boy proceeded to rocket out…only to stop in his tracks at the kitchen. As he watched the rest of his encounter with Alfred play out, Bruce could see by now the kid genuinely meant what he'd written, he really didn't want to be a bother. Not even to Alfred.
It made Bruce want to meet him all the more.
"It's unlikely he'll come back now that he knows I live here…but if he does and you notice please let me know as soon as possible Alfred." Bruce told him, glancing at his most trusted ally. Alfred gave a small nod back.
"Alright. Though, if I can convince him to get another warm meal and stay in a bed I might wait a bit." Alfred admitted with a small smile.
Bruce couldn't blame him for that.
——————
Danny hit the bed exhausted.
He had ultimately decided to stay at an hourly hotel in a not-great part of the city-he had gone in intangible to check out the rooms first, and while not amazing they seemed clean enough and while the bars on the window weren't super settling he'd take what he could get.
There was no shower-luckily he didn't think he needed one right now-and the toilet was down the hall and communal, but he could deal with that.
Right now-all Danny Fenton wanted was to sleep.
He curled up in the thin, slightly scratchy blanket, face on the pillow that seemed a bit flat, and let out a groan. It was okay. He probably would be able to figure out a way home tomorrow, or at least a way to get in contact with Jazz, Sam, and Tucker.
Hell, knowing those three they might be in Gotham already by the time he woke up.
So, Danny set the alarm clock and then willed himself to relax, wanting to get the most out of the time he'd bought before falling asleep soundly.
——————
Clockwork smiled to himself softly. He was having himself quite the time as he watched the way events were unfolding before him.
On one of the clockfaces before him were three adult ghosts, a child ghost, and a ghost dog trying to come up with a good plan for a prison break.
He'd known they would go after Wulf of course, in their situation they really had limited options. But he still thought it was simply adorable the way they assumed they could hide something from the god of time. It made them a lot of fun for him to watch.
He was especially excited for the next part, seeing what these ghosts would come up with would be a delight. (To be honest, watching that much chaos about to enter Walker's little world of order had him almost bouncing in his seat)
Though for now he turned away, turning his attention to the next clockface floating nearby.
His attention now sat with the men in the bat cave, running their tests and talking about his dear Danny as they worried over him. He smiled fondly. He especially was fond of the older gentleman, Alfred. He felt the other had a lot in common with him, a Kindred spirit of sorts. He would love to have tea with the man, and should he become a ghost due to the ambient ectoplasm in Gotham and death that had courted with him and those he loved for so much of his life, well…
…He might just have a wonderful new friend to play cards with down the line.
Of course, it would be a while before that possibility could arise…but that was okay.
Clockwork was good at waiting.
He had to be.
Unlike the three that were shown in the third clockface, which he now turned to. It seemed that despite convincing themselves not to run off after Danny they had individually worked themselves up into a fervor-the clockface split into three to show each of their actions at the moment. Jazz was looking at her history books-seemingly casually-but biting her lip in worry and unable to sleep.
It was clear she was trying to find any small or large mention of a boy with white hair and glowing green eyes who could walk through walls, disappear and/or fly.
She was having no luck, and unsure if she was glad or upset by that.
Meanwhile, Tucker had taken to searching the web for any Danny sightings, though he was also coming up dry, reaching to rub his eyes under his glasses as he refused to give up in the worry for his best friend.
And Sam?
Sam was trying her best to sleep, but was tossing and turning, tangling up in her blankets as she tried to think of how she could have helped prevent this…Clockwork wished she could know it was best she didn't.
But he didn't dare interfere there yet.
He finally turned to face his last clockface with a warm smile. It showed the young ghost he had chosen to be guardian to, the only one since his creation as a neverborn ghost.
Danny.
He cherished the boy dearly, though unable to step too far out of his constraints for him he often indulged in gray areas for the boy, especially if it helped or taught him a lesson.
…admittedly he would even occasionally tiptoe a bit into the black for him, though that was confidential.
Now was one of those times, as on the clockface, he saw the boy in duplicate-two of him existing at once due to him being sent a few days back in time with that natural portal.
….Had clockwork perhaps tinkered with the natural portal ever so slightly for this result?
No one would ever prove it so, so he'd say no.
Though he'd say it with a knowing grin that those who knew him well could see through.
In the meantime, there was the matter of making sure Danny didn't flee the city too quickly. Clockwork had graced him a few extra days before chaos found him for him to get used to the environment after all…he'd need to settle a bit first.
Clockwork pulled out some green postit notes and a pen, writing down a small note and then peeling the note off before it vanished into thin air, looking back at the clockface and the Danny in Gotham.
It was stuck neatly to his face, where he would notice it immediately when he woke up. Clockwork smiled then glanced back to Tucker's portion of the third clock.
He was hoping that the small 'time firewall' he'd placed around news from gotham would hold…at least for now. There were other things that needed to happen before they could fly off to Gotham, and if they looked at the news there was a good chance they would run there immediately.
…in the meantime; he just got to watch until all of these merged to one.