"Are you sure about this?"
Ember pauses at the question, having been climbing to stand on the back of Johnny's bike. He's the one who asked, but Kitty is looking up with equally cautious eyes. Ember gives them a small smile.
She knows she's asking a lot.
She knows she's asking them to get involved when they probably would rather just go home. When they didn't have any obligation to help.
….she also knows how grateful she is that they did.
"About the plan working or about wanting to go through with it?" She still questions with a cocky smirk and a raised brow. Johnny frowns a bit but Kitty chuckles.
"Either. Both." Johnny sighs, weary already before they got started.
Ember had a feeling that would change when they actually got to it.
"Heh, nope~" she hummed, letting her lips pop before slinging her guitar to the front and smirking, "But what other choice we got?"
"We could let his human friends take care of it." Johnny suggested with a shrug before he got an elbow from Kitty with a disapproving frown.
"Yeah, his human friends aren't gonna be able to pull this off on their own." Ember said with a look, "WE'RE barely gonna pull this off."
"Plus, king or not, strong or not, halfa or not, it don't feel right to leave a poor little baby ghost behind like that." Kitty scolded, and Johnny deflated rather than admit she was right.
Ember took a deep breath and went over the plan in her mind one more time.
—————————
"Okay, so…We'll have Youngblood sneak in with Cujo." Ember started, the young ghost next to her immediately looking panicked.
"Wh-why ME?!" He wondered, stressed. Ember frowned and put a hand on the kid's hair, patting comfortingly.
"Cause if Cujo stays small, you two will be less noticeable. Just go invisible, alright?" Ember told him.
"It's not like they'll not notice even if they're invisible, they aren't humans." Johnny pointed out with crossed arms, seemingly not approving of putting the kid in danger.
"They won't if there's something else drawing more attention…~" Ember hummed, a musical lilt coming into her playful words as a frown and brows lowered with closed eyes settled on Johnny's, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"….Why do I feel like you're about to say us?"
"Cause I am."
She grinned as Johnny groaned, taking delight in the noise as she flew away for a moment and came back with a wooden bat.
"C'mon, what do you say we inject a little chaos into Walker's order?~" Ember tempted. She saw Johnny's eyes snap open and fix on the bat she was offering, eyes glowing a bit brighter.
Oh it was dumb.
But…
Oh it sounded like so much fun!
He gave a small smile and grabbed it.
"Alright, let's do it. For the kid." The others nodded in affirmation, even Cujo let out an excited bark as Ember laid out the last few details.
—————————
Ember was practically bouncing now as Johnny revved the engine-she'd been right about him being able to summon his bike-while all three younger ghosts practically glowed with excitement. Hell, they might actually be doing just that.
Even though they were doing this for Danny, and were technically just a distraction…
….this was gonna be so much fun.
With the first few notes playing on Ember's guitar, Johnny stepped on the gas, grin stretching across his face as he zoomed forward, speed amped with the energy from Ember's music 'picking up tempo' as she'd been doing with her musical creation earlier. Shadow morphed his body into a ramp, sending them hurdling over the outer wall.
"You'll never take us aliiiive~" Kitty sung sweetly to the melody Ember played.
" We swore that death will do us part, they'll call our crimes a work of art~" Johnny grinned as they raced past the confused guards, Shadow moving ahead to open the door for them as they blasted through.
Johnny had been skeptical about the idea of music of all things accompanying the chaos they would create, but he would admit something about having a soundtrack accompanying them as he sped up and Kitty pulled the bat to crash against some guard's heads in a mock drum beat was oddly pumping him up.
"You'll never take us aliiiiive~"
" We'll live like spoiled royalty, lovers and partners~"
"PARTNERS IN CRIME!" the three sung in unison, Johnny noting the way Ember's hair flared.
"Heh, I thought that only happened when people called her name?~" Johnny chuckled, Kitty grinning.
"It also helps to preform with others, but she likes the spotlight too much to admit it~" Kitty chuckled, though at the moment Ember didn't seem to mind not being the lead…
…In fact, she seemed to be having as much fun as them.
The guards had been warned of the intrusion now and were coming into the halls to stop them, the batons shooting out after them but Ember let loose a wail on her guitar that blew them back, chuckling as they sped off, Ember smirking as she went to continue their song.
" This, the tale of, reckless love! Living a life of crime on the run.
A brush to a gun to paint these states green and red…~" she hummed as they neared the cells, grinning to herself.
Now, the three of them had been lucky to never end up in Walker's prison before that moment, they were all fast and slippery, hard to get ahold of.
But lucky for Ember, she had an Ex who'd been locked up here.
And guess who had told her where the emergency release switches were incase she ever found herself in a pinch?
"Everybody freeze!"
"Nobody move!~"
"Put the money in the bag!"
"Or we will shoot!~"
And with that Ember eyed the switch they were heading for, aiming her music towards it until the amping up of energy overflowed the system!
"Empty out the vault, and me and my Doll'll be on our way~" Johnny sang, sparing a moment to turn to Kitty and give her a wink as she blushed before slamming the bat into another blast of energy, sending it hurtling back towards the guy that shot it and sending him backwards.
"Our paper faces flood the streeeee-eeeets!~"
"And if the heat comes close enough to burn then we're-" Johnny reved up on one wheel as he sang, Ember's ponytail flaring up heavily as she cackled with fun, tearing across her strings with her playing, "BURNING THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND! CAUSE!"
"You'll never take us ALIVE!~" Ember sang this time, watching as the ghosts flew out of their cells, the guards now having their hands full with a riot as Johnny drove up the walls and on the ceiling to avoid the chaos they'd caused, the three's eyes glowing a deep green as their obsessions fueled each other, every action they took in sync and only bolstering them as they worked and sang, all three reveling in the mass chaos they were causing.
" We swore that death will do us part, they'll call our crimes a work of art~" Johnny hummed as he borrowed the Bat from Kitty for a second as she took over steering to knock a few more blasts away, at this point the trio were more focused on defense than offense since the rioting prisoners were doing that well for them.
They still had to draw out the big fish after all, couldn't chance a lucky shot.
"You'll never take us aliiiiive~" Kitty took a sharp left as they drove back down to the floor since this area wasn't as heavy with ghosts.
" We'll live like spoiled royalty, lovers and partners~ PARTNERS IN CRIME!" Johnny practically shouted over the sound of ghost against ghost in the air.
Ember smirked as she felt the looming presence coming in.
This was it, his attention solely on them.
Walker manifested in the middle of the hallway, glaring them down.
"You three…." He grumbled, "I didn't think you were this desperate for a stay here, but you sure have a way of making ARRANGEMENTS"
Johnny almost flinched, but Kitty's arms wrapped around him and squeezed, Johnny bolstering from the action and speeding up towards Walker much to his surprise, as Ember sang unperturbed.
"Here we find our omnipotent outlaws fall behind the grind tonight. Left unaware that the lone store owner won't go down without a fight!" she sang in defiance, Walker growling and ready to snatch them right off the damn bike if he had to before-
"SHADOW!" Johnny called, the forgotten ghost helper jumping out and blindsiding Walker who let out a yell as the shadow-like ghost was on his face, obscuring his vision before Johnny slid past with a grin, his tires almost against the wall as they dodged Walker's wildly and blindly grasping hands, Shadow grabbing Ember's hand as she extended it to pull the ghost away before Walker could get a good hold on him, Walker looking after the three with almost a snarl, absolutely F̴̧̛͕͈̭̻̠͙͐̈͊̉̽͊͐̒̕͟U̢̢̝͕̯̻̯̠̥͌̎͛́̂̒͘͢Ŕ̸̢̗̤̣̝̭͔͙̗̮̅̾́̀̄̕I̮͚̟̘̻̲̿̇̇̋̂̀̕͘ͅÒ̷͓̠̫͈̜̫̮̥̜̪͒̇̂́͛̕͠Ū͚̩̠̯͖̹̘̫̉̍̾̚Ş̮̥̫̬̝̲̯͆̉̏̽͐͗͜ͅ that these three miscreants had dared to walk into his prison, no Ḩ̵̱̘͔̑̅̃̓͌͂̕̚͟Ï̢̝̭̯̭̺̥̤̎̑̽̋̐͑͜͠S̸̝̺̭͉͚̣̳̉̀̓̾͑͐̽̇̀̏͟ L̷̢̨̰͍̲̜̲̲̥͚̈́̈́̓̂̀Ȧ̺̦̹͙̣̯̮͆͊̈́͐͋̐̚͡I̖͖͎̥̳̰̲̫̔̂̋̾̄́̄̆͋͜Ȑ̷̤͎͖̗̊̌̄́̆̆͂͂́͟͢ and cause so much C̘͓̫̤̯̩͍̰̑̀͑̅͆Ḩ̤̟͔̝͎̂̈́͒̅͠A̴̱̖̥͇͉̖̐̋͂̐̋͜ͅƠ̴͇͉̼̞͓̼̎͒̌̓S̸͙͕̗̤͇͇̜̿̄͛̓́͟͜͞͞!!!
This was his bastion of order in this hellhole and he'd be damned if he let three ghosts that only barely qualified as adults come in and ruin it on a childish whim!
He tore off after them down the hallway, laser focused on the three as his usual upright self crumbled a little under the blatant disrespect. His edges fizzed a bit as his clean white form was almost threatening to transform into something else.
something far worse
"Think he's mad enough?" Kitty gulped, a little worried.
"Don't worry Kitten. We've got this." Johnny comforted with a grin, Kitty giving a mischievous one in return as she nodded, continuing the song as she played up her next part.
"Where we gonna go?~"
"He's got us pinned!"
"Baby I'm a little scared~"
"Now don't you quit!"
" He's sounded the alarm, I hear the sirens closing in!~"
Ember closed her eyes at how beautiful her and Kitty's harmony at the end sounded.
They'd have to do this again under less stressful circumstances…
"Our paper faces flood the streets…And if the heat comes close enough to burn, Then we're burning this place to the ground! 'CAUSE!" Johnny grinned as Ember's hair flared up more, higher, faster…
They drove away from where Wulf would be locked up, Walker not noticing as he was lead like a kite on a string.
"You'll never take us aliiiiive~" Kitty grinned, even hearing the heavy weight of boot steps chasing after them, turning around to see several guards had now joined Walker in his pursuit.
" We swore that death will do us part, they'll call our crimes a work of art~" Johnny sang with a grin.
"You'll never take us aliiiiive~"
" We'll live like spoiled royalty, lovers and partners~"
"PARTNERS IN CRIME!" the three sung in unison once more, Ember grinning as she tapped Kitty's back with her foot, the other ghost looking up with a wide smile that most wouldn't give when being chased down by Walker in his own prison.
"Is it time?~" Kitty wondered, practically bouncing with glee.
"Yeah, time for your solo!" She said, taking Kitty's hand as the two seamlessly switched places, though Ember was sitting like she was riding sidesaddle on a horse so she could keep playing her guitar, Johnny chuckling as he knew Walker would have no idea what was about to happen to them.
"Pucker up boys!~" Kitty chuckled, blowing a kiss and catching them off guard. After all, Kitty didn't show off this power often. Very few ghosts even knew she had it.
But they'd probably all find out after this.
Her kiss made contact, Walker's eyes widening for a second before he blinked out of existence, his guards stopping in fear.
"Yeah that's right! I sent him away and I'll only bring him back if you all get OUTTA OUR WAY!" Kitty yelled, the guards looking shaken. They knew Walker wouldn't want them to do that, but…
….If Walker disappeared for good, what would that matter? The whole PRISON would vanish!
Ghost Lairs couldn't exist if their ghosts didn't.
They moved aside for the three, Albeit very reluctantly.
The three let out a victory screech that rang through the lair and doubled as a signal for Youngblood to get a move on as they rode out, avoiding the crowds shuffling to move out around them during the escape as they sang out the last stanza in victory, their eyes all glowing a more bright and intense green as they felt their shared victory and obsession fulfillment flow threw them blissfully.
" The skies are black with lead-filled rain, A morbid painting on display~ This is the night the young love died, Buried at each others side~" Ember sang out as Kitty looked back with an almost manic grin.
"You never took us aliiiiive~" She hummed, a darker tone to her voice as she smirked, Johnny reaching back and taking her hand.
Ah, it was times like these he remembered why he loved her so damn much~
"We swore that death would do us part, So now we haunt you in the dark…" He sang with a grin, pulling in Kitty close as Shadow took over steering the bike, Kitty gazing at him lovingly.
"You never took us aliiiiive~"
"We live as ghosts among these streets, Lovers and partners…"
"Partners in crime!" The two sang together before joining in a kiss as they drove out the prison doors towards the front, Ember grinning. They really were cute…
Together, that is.
She turned away from it and played a large strum of the guitar that knocked the guards down as she sang the last two parts herself, letting the love birds have a moment.
"Partners in criiiiiiime!~ PARTNERS IN CRIME!" she called, the song ending with them outside the gates and escaped ghosts flying in all directions. Shadow pulled the bike to a stop and Ember scanned the sky, grinning as she could just barely see a ghost dog, boy, and big ol wolf turn visible and hightail it over the horizon.
Coast was clear~
She nudged Kitty with her boot who broke the kiss to look up at Ember slightly annoyed with Johnny as Ember chuckled a bit.
"Sorry to break things up, but you gotta have those lips free to give them their goodbye kiss." She teased, nodding towards the guards who kept looking like they might decide to attack. Kitty grinned.
"Oh, right~ Later pigs!" She chuckled, blowing a kiss to have Walker appear as right after Ember let loose a rip on her guitar to send them all hurdling back before she had them heading off at a breakneck speed, all of them laughing.
"Alright, time to head to the meeting spot to find em." Ember said, finally sitting back down.
"Don't you think Walker's gonna come after us?" Kitty pointed out with a grin and Ember shrugged.
"He might, but we just beat him where he's strongest…So as long as we're together we probably won't have much to worry about." Ember reasoned, giving a grin, "Plus once we track down Babypop we can ask for a royal pardon~ Then Walker can't even touch us…not without breaking the rules~"
—————————
Walker got back onto to his feet as the other guards recovered and got up as well. He stared after the smoke trail of the bike as It dissipated into thin air as though he could grab it and use it to yank the three back there by force.
He didn't know what those three were thinking but they'd Ç̸̸̷̵̴̵̶̶̞͚͕̼̙̯̟̞̲͚̳̫̮͈̥̣̜͂́̽̾͌̊̽͊̇̓͐̓͂̈͊̿̅̋͋̓̾̏̈́͘͜͝͝ŕ̶̷̸̶̵̵̷̷̵̸̨̧̨̡̛̥̼̞͎̯̦̯̰̠̙͕̻̺̗̫̤͖͎͖̥͚͚̜͓͇͉̝̘̭̑̀̑̿̌͂͑͌̑͗̌͑̽͌̎̓̊͒͛̎̎͠͝ơ̵̶̷̷̴̸̴̟̺͖̜̰͈̻̩̦̜͇̬̭̥̮̞̅̋̈́͊̆͌̆̒̓̽́̕͘͜͠s̸̸̸̶̶̵̵̴̨͙̹̳̹͔̤̭̭̥̗̘̻̰̲̮͇͓̜̝̮̏̉͌̈́̊̒͐͆̊̑̈́͑͐͊̅̐̏̀̕͘͜͝ś̴̴̶̷̷̴̸̸̷̸̢̡̛̛̛͔̤͚̯̪͕͓̰͔̟͙̥̲͉̻͎̫͙̮͇̺̲̥͈̈̈́́̔̎̑́̽̇͒̍͒́͋͗̒͗̓͊̎͆͆͑͌͘̕͜͝ͅͅe̵̵̵̵̸̴̷̶̢̙̦̖̫̗̫̼̳̻̯̺͚̹̗̫̮̣͕̞̝̤̅̌̌̓̀͆̃̆̏̌͛̏͊́̈́̕͜͠d̴̶̴̷̸̵̸̢̢̢̥͇̤̙̘̪̫̪̳̰̂͊̿̐͂̊͊͐͒̾̌͒͘͘͘̕͝͝ ̵̴̸̶̶̸̸͙̲̲̥͍͖͙̳̖̗̬̮̟̝̥̓̏̃͊̈́͛͗̌̉̔̀̍̋̐͌̈́ͅa̴̶̵̷̶̤̪̣̤͎͇̠͈͇̯̙͍̽̾͆̍͐̈́̀͂̔̕ ̵̸̶̶̸̶̛͚͔̼̠͎͔̞̺̼̩̼͔̦̝͚͚̠̰͖̏̀͊̒̉̑̅̓̎͂̓͑̕̕ļ̸̸̷̷̷̵̶̧̡̨̖̳͓̝̱͚͖̘̳̮̥̠̥̭͓̀̈͌̎̽̄͗͋̃̋͋̆̅͘ͅȋ̴̷̷̶̴̴̵̴̢̘͔̮̝̦̱̤̲͖̼̬̭͍̗̤̹̼̠̱̈́͐̔̉̑̎͆͗̐͌͛͑̚͘̕͘̕͝͝͠n̸̸̵̷̶̵̵̛̩̯͎̜͕̩̪̰̘̹̤̝̖̞̦̜̋̈́̈́͑̆̈̽͛͑̔͛͗͝ͅȩ̸̴̴̶̷̴̵̶̳̱͕̜͔̩̯͓̱̳͙̩̲̗̭̝̘̈̑̓͌̐̓̎̊̑̓͑͌͑́̊͂̑̿̚͝͝ coming into his lair to pull something like this. He gripped the bar on his gate so hard it bent.
"Um, sir? What do you want us to do about this…?" A guard asked as he cautiously came up. Walker's arm snapped out like a viper's strike grabbing them by their collar and pulling him in.
"What do I want you to do? I want you to G̵̟̠̻̿͌̈́́̎͊̓̔̉̕͝R̷̹̞͎̲̦̜̼͐̃͌A̸̝̞̫̠̎̈́̔͒͊̄̽̚B̶̡̧̥̠̪̳̹̠̒̈́̒̿̐̒ ̷̦̜̰͛͐̊̉À̸̢͎̼̭̣̪͚̼̘̮̜̄̀͝L̴̢̹̝͇̺̱̹̫̔͂͝Ḽ̷̛̓͋̃̑̓͒̆ ̴̳̼̞̎̈́Ṱ̴͖̰͓͍̆̍͂̒Ḩ̵̡̱̠͎͓̱͖̀͛̓̉͆̇͛͠͠ͅÈ̶͕̆̿̐ ̴̧̨̢̙̭͉͚͍̫͎̜̏E̷͖͈͈̋́͌S̵͎̲̦̩͙͖͋̌̽͑C̶͖͔͛̀͛̾̀̏̐̈́́́͝Ạ̴̼̮̦̭̥͖͝͠ͅP̸̖͎͔̥̖͈̈́̉͗͐͗̒̈̽̚͠Ḛ̸̢̛͎͉̳̘̩͍͓̞̓̽͂̄́̏͐̀̽Ę̶̘̘͓̱̈́̓̃̀̀͒͊̎́͋͝S̷͙̫̼͇͐̓͆̌̋͊͘͝ ̵̢͉̺͍̘͍̫̞͒̅̔̇Y̴̹͎̰̠̣̱̬̥̮͙̺̆͗̕̕Ǫ̶̩͎̣̠̲̌͆̏͒̅̅͐̐͝Ụ̸̧̧͙͖̣͎̞̼͊̔́̀̋̎͗̃͆͘ͅ ̶͇͗͋̚C̶̡̬̺͙̹̠̥̻̖̫͚̔̔͐͊͌̀̕A̴̛̬͈̮͖̿͌́N̵̢͍͕̖̺̼̖̜̮͌̆̾͒̊͜" He hissed, voice still staticky as he threw the guard to the ground, "And for the ones you Ç̵̬̻͙̾͑̈́̈͝Ȧ̵̠̝͐̍̐͌N̷̻̰͎͒̔̕'̵̣̑͝T̷͈͆͐̔̕ get me a list of whose gone. Pronto."
The guard hesitantly looked up though most of the others got the message and started fanning out to look for whomever they could.
"A-And…What about those three, sir?" He wondered. Walker tensed more, edges blurry again as he fought to keep himself in control like everything else in this damned zone.
"Much as I hate to say it, if they could beat me together in my own lair there isn't much use going after them…" he grumbled, teeth grit like it really pained him before he relaxed a bit and smiled, "Luckily for me; they aren't always together. So I just have to wait for this buddy buddy phase to work itself out then get those three in SOLITARY for a MILLENNIUM." He took the grin that thought brought to heart, stabilizing himself as he walked to his office.
There was something wrong…Those three were troublemakers, sure, but they usually stayed away from his area and kept to his rules around him so not to anger him.
So them suddenly deciding to go on a destructive joy ride through the prison didn't make a lick of sense…Unless they had other plans.
He'd have to look into this…once everything was back in order, of course.
—————————
Danny woke up to an alarm going off and half his vision taken out by the color green.
He frowned as soon as that realization hit him, because it could only mean one thing:
A note from Clockwork.
He sighed and reached over, turning off the alarm and working on getting up as he pulled the post-it note off his head to read, putting on his shoes before he froze, eyes running over the note one more time.
DP,
Please do not try to head back to Amity Park or contact your friends for the time being.
If you need an answer to why, check the date.
CW
So, of course, Danny scrambled to find something to tell him the date. Luckily when he turned the tv on he got the weather which let him know the date proudly on it's forecast.
It was four days BEFORE the day he disappeared.
Wonderful.
He bashed his head into the remote a few times before taking a deep breath.
"No, no this is fine. You know what? I choose to think of this as a vacation." Danny told himself, smiling and crossing his arms. He also knew he didn't have to be quite AS careful with his purchases then, since Clockwork would likely hide anything that his past self or anyone else's past selves would see to give him away until the time had past at least.
So, while he couldn't go CRAZY he might be able to afford more than just 100 a day. Least for now.
And it had been so long since he was allowed a real vacation….It seemed every time he considered taking a break a ghost had a different idea.
Well, a ghost or his ghost crazy parents.
Or both.
But! With another Danny currently in Amity, he didn't have to worry about any of them! He could stay here, enjoy the sights…
….hmm….
….Maybe not, considering the man labeled 'World's Greatest Detective' knew he was here and could be looking into him as they spoke.
He'd have to figure out what he wanted to do about that before he could really relax…
Ugh, think on that more later…coffee now…
And with that, Danny put the post-it in his pants and walked out.
—————————
BAT CHAT
Knight-Light:
Okay, what the heck did I miss last night?!?
XbirdXbat:
Only my one and only savior, the Holy Spirit.
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
I am begging you to stop calling him that.
XbirdXbat:
Whaaaat? You said his name was Phantom right???
Therefore, thanks to his blessed deeds of taking care of Kiteman and Condiment King for us all in one night, I dub him the Holy Spirit!
Knight-Light:
Um??? Hello??? Details for the day shift PLEASE???
…..I really don't wanna have to read through ALL of the texts you all sent last night.
I_see_all:
You should probably watch the videos at least.
Other than that; I'll private message you the important info so we don't have to have the chat clogged up.
Knight-Light:
Much appreciated. I'll watch the videos in the meantime.
XbirdXbat:
Don't forget the most IMPORTANT INFO OF ALL, the bet~
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
Um, yeah, Steph about that bet…
I think Alfred already won.
XbirdXbat:
…Come again?
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
I forgot to post this since I was working pretty late into the night, sorry.
He was kinda at the manor and Alfred fed him.
Several people are typing…
XbirdXbat:
HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL US IMMEDIATELY?!?
High_Flying_Hunk:
WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS IN THE MANOR AND ALFRED FED HIM???
Blood_Son:
Have you alerted Father to this invasion or did your coffee addled brain simply 'forget' to tell him as well?
Quiet_Time:
New brother came to ussss
xXDeadhoodXx:
Heh, serves B right for coming into my safe house unannounced last week.
Knight-Light:
In the mansion? Last night? As in WHILE I SLEPT?!?
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
Oh wow, Okay in order:
1. I'm sorry! I was caught off guard and had my hands full Steph!
2. He came in invisible and intangible…Our Manor doesn't really have anything to deal with that at the moment-though now that B sees a possible threat I doubt that'll continue being a problem forever. But B pulled up thermal footage so we have a pretty good idea what happened. He was looking for a place to sleep, found the Batcave, went to leave and was stopped by Alfred's cooking. (Like any sane person with a sense of taste) he must have been hungry cause Alfred said he could HEAR his stomach growl so he fed the kid, and when he was done he washed the dishes.
3. B was the one that told me so no worries there, and as for the coffee remark you can bite me.
4. Cass NO. Bad Cass!
5. Not the same thing Jason.
6. Yeah, it's definitely concerning that he can get in and out at any time…Even if he doesn't seem to be a threat it makes me uneasy…
XbirdXbat:
Okay, okay…but how do you think Alfred won the bet???
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
Alfred spoke aloud to him and Phantom left a note. That's essentially talking to him isn't it?
XbirdXbat:
That doesn't count!!!
High_Flying_Hunk:
Guys put the bet aside for a second!
If he found the bat cave, then he might know who B is. Isn't that a problem???
I_see_all:
I reviewed the footage when B sent it and based on his reaction I don't know if it is…He seemed more panicked that he'd accidentally stumbled in there than anything.
Besides, Tim found out who the two of you were and only used it to become Robin. While I do think we should find him quickly to make sure the info doesn't get into the wrong hands, I don't think it's that big of a threat right now.
After all with that power list he's already one of the heaviest hitters in Gotham right now. So long as he has his wits about him I think he'll be okay until we can get to him.
Also; Official Ruling on the Alfred issue since I'm judge: Since Phantom didn't talk back to him AND Alfred was not officially part of the bet, Alfred does not win the bet.
HOWEVER; since he was the first to make contact anyways all parties in the bet will have to donate a couple dollars for a congratulations pie for Alfred.
Any objections?
Knight-Light:
Sounds fair to me.
Caught up on the info and videos you sent me too, and I'm totally joining in on the bet now that I'm awake and informed.
Poor guy probably thinks Batman's gonna on his tail for being a meta after all…
….Also Jason in the Discowing suit sounds too good to pass up.
xXDeadhoodXx:
Oh you'd better stay FAR away from Crime Alley during your shift today.
Knight-Light:
Wasn't planning on heading into your terf today anyways.
Blood_Son:
Drake, you had mentioned a blood sample last night. What are the results?
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
Don't have any.
Blood_Son:
Elaborate.
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
This is the longest it's ever taken the Bat Computer to process a sample like this. I actually had to double check to make sure we didn't have a virus and I'd loaded the sample in correctly.
Something in it is making the analysis take longer than usual….Like the Bat Computer is having trouble reading it.
Blood_Son:
Perplexing…Please keep us updated.
XbirdXbat:
In a TIMELY MANOR this time???
RedxisxthexnewxBlack:
I SAID I WAS SORRY STEPH
—————————
Ugh, Tim needed coffee.
After that 'conversation' and doing everything he could to make the sample run smoothly last night? He was starting to crash a bit.
….The fact that tonight would be going on hour 56 with only the occasional blessed power nap-usually one or two a day for about 30 minutes a piece, though once he did spoil himself with a whole hour and a half-did not help that in the slightest.
So, time for his favorite drink from one of his favorite shops.
He headed into the store, seeing the coffee girl eye him before starting on his drink as he was walking up to the counter, giving a small smirk.
"You know, for a second I thought maybe you just had a new sense of style the other night." She chuckled, the slightly tired Tim's brows knit together in confusion.
"…what are you talking about?" He finally asked when his working braincells couldn't piece together an answer.
"A guy about your age came in and ordered your usual." The barista explained as Tim paid for the drink she already rang up.
Now, Tim had been having a rough time the past 12 hours or so with Coincidences.
So, he didn't think he was too out of line when he snapped up to attention and moved into the counter forcefully, despite it making the Barista jump, to ask-
"What did he look like???"
"Calm down will ya? Or I'm not giving you this death concoction." She warned, Tim frowning but moving back a bit at the threat, "There. And if you wanna know what he looked like, you can almost just look in a mirror. Black hair, blue eyes…cept instead of your nice clothes he had a beat up nasa shirt and blue jeans with scuffed sneakers."
Tim relaxed at that. Good, good…That wasn't Phantom. At the very least he could have a coffee break that had nothing to do with him.
"Alright…sorry, Long night." He apologized with a small smile as he reached for his drink, the Barista giving a small smirk.
"Isn't it always with you?" She remarked with a grin. Tim offered a small chuckle in response as he headed over to a table to sit and sip his coffee while he checked some work emails on his laptop. (And if he used a secure connection to peek and see how close that sample was to being analyzed well who could blame him really?)
Meanwhile, as he was setting himself up, engrossed in his laptop, Danny walked in with a small smile.
He knew there were probably a lot of coffee shops nearer to the place he'd stayed, but he kinda liked the fact that this one hadn't questioned his caffeine and sugar intake. It made things easier. Danny headed over with a smile, noting the barista seemed surprised for a moment before settling into an amused smile.
Hmm. Odd.
"Um, morning?" He greeted awkwardly, heading over to the counter, "Can I get the same order I had last night please? I mean, if you remember it. Don't wanna assume." It was an order that usually turned heads, but with the way she took it in stride he could be lead to believe it was mundane enough for her to forget…
"Morning. Yeah, I know THAT drink almost by heart…heh, actually if I'd have known you'd be back in so soon I'd have just made you another one with his." She joked. Danny's brows knit, tilting his head.
"Whose?" He wondered, now curious as to who else would be able to stomach such a drink, though he supposed now that they were probably the reason why his order hadn't turned heads if it was a regular customer.
The Barista smirked and nodded towards Tim, Danny following her line of sight and freezing as he looked at the guy.
—————————
"Yo Danny! Come check this out!" Tucker called, Danny heading over to sit by his friend and peer at his PDA.
It was odd, though technology moved ever forward and had forgotten the pda behind-or at the very least merged it with cellphones-his friend had been stubbornly adamant at every turn that he would keep the thing AND make it run better than the best pieces of tech in the market. The one time Danny'd asked him about why he didn't just get a smartphone-because SURELY Tucker Foley of all people could make something INCREDIBLE if he had a smartphone to work off of instead of a PDA at his base-had gotten offended and nostalgic and clutched it like Danny had suggested something ridiculous like throwing a live baby out of a window or something.
'My PDA can do anything a phone can do but better!' Tucker had proclaimed.
Danny realized he shouldn't have been a smart ass and said 'what about making a phone call' when the 3rd piece of tech he touched locked up from a virus at his mere touch.
(He'd have to ask how Tucker did that at some point)
Back to the task at hand though, he looked at the screen of said PDA to see a picture of some guy around their age with a bright smile, holding some motherboard or something.
"….You trying to show me your new crush Tuck?" Danny had ribbed with a small smirk at the lack of explanation.
"Heh, for Tim Drake? I could be." Tucker hummed with a smirk, "No, I was trying to show you the new Wayne Enterprises motherboard he's showing off, Blinky."
Danny didn't remember when Tucker had the brilliant idea to start calling him by the pac man ghost names as a joke but it wasn't one of Danny's favorite jokes.
Right after that Tucker went into some spiel about the motherboard that went right over Danny's head. But, Danny sat and patiently listened all the same-Tuck did the same when he went on space rants after all. It was only fair.
"Seriously, it's like butter the way the thing runs. The whole tech industry has their eye on Tim Drake!" Tucker said with a grin, "He's our age and already running RD on most of their tech over at Wayne Enterprises. I hear when Bruce Wayne can't handle it anymore Tim's supposed to become the next CEO and honestly if the man runs a business the same way he makes a computer then I should be buying stock."
Danny chuckled at the thought of Tucker buying stock, knowing his friend had basically no knowledge of or interest in the Stock Market beyond the regular stuff.
He totally believed he could craft some app to help him though.
As Tucker rambled on Danny looked back at the picture of Tim Drake, noticing that he actually looked a little similar to Danny. Well, at least in the way that they both had black hair and blue eyes.
Unfortunately the similarities were helped by the guy's eye bags, though the guy covered em up a little better than Danny.
—————————
Danny frowned.
Yeah, he could see why the guy needed the coffee. He thought for a second then smiled, turning to the barista.
"Actually, would you mind making one more for him? It's on me." Danny told her with a warm smile. The barista blinked but gave a nod, heading to make her third one of the day.
She hands the one to Danny and finishes the other one just as he's enjoying that first sip and turning to head out. She put the cup by Tim who looks up questioningly.
"Oh, I only got o-"
"Came from him." She cut him off, nodding at the guy who was heading out the door. Tim blinked and peered around the laptop curiously to see some guy around his age with black hair and blue eyes heading to the door. The guy turned his head and made eye contact with him before giving the warmest smile Tim had probably seen in a while before raising his coffee in a sort of mock toast-of-solidarity.
Tim hesitantly did the same with his own and gave sort of a half smile of appreciation. The guy nodded and then left.
Tim kept staring at the vacant door as the barista walked away.
….had a man his age who looked like Bruce Wayne should have already snatched him up and put him in tights just gift him a coffee?
….Hmm, well, actually he looked a bit lanky for Bruce to be putting him on the streets, even TIM had to go through a lot of training.
Maybe Cass' talk of 'new brother' had gotten in his head too quickly.
Still, any guy who would buy Tim a coffee was okay in his book until proven otherwise.
—————————
Danny sipped on his coffee as he walked about, thinking to himself.
So, he'd be stuck here for another four days…he should probably find something to do in the meantime…somewhere he could lay low but entertain himself for half a week…what kinda place could hold his attention for that lo-?
Danny froze mid-step and mid-thought.
He could almost hear the backing up sound in his head as he took several steps backwards and spun to look at the wall.
His eyes grew wide and he faintly heard a chirping sound he didn't realize he was making at first while he bounced on his feet, almost threatening to start floating if he wasn't careful.
It was a flyer! For the Gotham Observatory and Planetarium!
Amity had an observatory, but their equipment wasn't really the best…Not to mention every time he went he had to be reminded of stupid fuckin Gregor…..
He wasn't sure there would be a good view with Gotham's weather and pollution, but even if they weren't able to get a GREAT view, maybe he could get some kind of view of space!~
….True, if he REALLY wanted to he could just fly up there himself since he didn't even need to breathe, but he always was just a little worried of getting stuck admiring space for far too long due to his obsession.
Plus, there were quite a few heroes he knew about who could and did fly through space and he wasn't sure what would happen if they found an undead teen-adult giddily tumbling about in the vacuum of space as though he was having the best 5th birthday party ever.
So, it got a little hard sometimes with his second obsession not getting as much fulfillment as his first…but he got to nerd out over space stuff tons to his friends, he would watch videos from satellites, look up new facts and updates on anything astronomical, and when his obsession was still not satisfied and draining him?
Danny went to Clockwork, and the ghost put on his clocks images of black holes forming, galaxies expanding, one time Clockwork even spoiled him IMMENSELY and let him watch the big bang.
He was probably the only human who would ever get to see it, and he clutched the image of the cosmoses coming into being tight to his core and it had made it settle greatly.
He looked to the flyer again, calming himself a bit but still smiling.
Yeah, all that was a lot more exciting than an observatory or a planetarium objectively.
But he still really wanted to go.
And thus, his busy activity was decided as he took the flyer and giddily went about figuring out where to go.
—————————
Jazz was sitting on the couch, leg bouncing impatiently.
She glanced at the clock anxiously.
9:58
They had agreed to wait til 10 am.
10 am seemed like a perfectly reasonable, not crazy time to go off searching for Danny.
It had been 7 pm when Danny had been hit through the portal.
It had been 7 pm for them when he had been hit through the portal. Had it been the same time where Danny was?
She shook her head.
No, there was no evidence yet that Danny had gone through another portal once he'd gotten in the ghost zone.
It was just one of the MANY possibilities that had popped into her head the night before.
But she'd checked through even the most obscure history books she could find, and no Danny.
Well, no new Danny.
So, it could just be that he had ended up in the Far Frozen for the night, or was lost somewhere in the Ghost Zone.
or was in Walker's prison.
Or trapped in Skulker's lair being hunted.
Or in a ghost dungeon somewhere being tor-!
No, no.
Jazz knew better than to let these negative thoughts spiral like this.
She just had to wait for 10 am.
She looked to the clock and groaned.
9:59
She didn't know if she'd rather if the clock turned ten quicker so she could run off or stay there longer in the hopes Danny would walk into the living room with some epic story about where he'd been and how he got back.
But with all he was making her worry, she really hoped he had a good explanation.
Or he was in for the lecture of a life time.
—————————
Danny was glaring angrily at the sign in front of him.
He could already hear Tucker in the back of his head:
'Dude, you know glaring at it isn't gonna make it go away, right?'
He frowned at the slight laugh in the imaginary voice with a sigh.
"Yeah, I know…" he muttered to himself.
Still, he glared at the large 'Closed' sign, rereading it.
We apologize, but the Gotham Observatory and Planetarium is closed today to prepare for a gala to celebrate the installation of the new telescope from Wayne Enterprises. The Planetarium will open again on Thursday, following a thorough cleaning on Wednesday. Thank you!
How dumb was this?!
Two out of the four days he had here he would be denied his spacey goodness for some fancy party.
…though, he was very intrigued by the mention of a NEW telescope…
And it appeared the proceeds of the gala were actually going towards a charity to help underprivileged children go to space camp!
Good. Children needed more space in their lives. Danny highly approved.
Danny just hoped it was actually meant….He doubted all of Vlad's 'charity money' usually went where it was supposed to after all.
Alright, but what does he do?
He really still wants to see everything tonight…He could always phase in and just enjoy the place invisibly…but…
It would be more fun if he was free to interact with everything as he wished.
Honestly, the gala sounded intriguing.
He knew he was supposed to be keeping a low profile, but honestly who would notice him amongst all the people?
Plus, it sounded like there would be food. Which would probably be better than anything else he'd be able to get himself tonight…
He was still thinking about that delicious Chicken Parm
Okay, so, he didn't need to worry about espionage for the most part…but to blend in he'd need a suit.
He could do that.
He did stop and blink though, remembering a confusing conversation he'd had not long ago.
—————————
"Oh little Badger, I'm so proud!~"
Those were the last words he had ever wanted to hear from Vlad Masters.
Usually they meant Danny had done SOMETHING wrong, but Danny couldn't think of anything he'd done for the life of him to make him PROUD!
"Okay, what are you talking about???" He demanded, crossing his arms.
"Oh don't be coy, Daniel, I saw the charge for a new suit!~" Vlad hummed happily, grinning ear to ear, "I'm so happy to hear you starting to see SOMETHING my way-I never thought it would start with fashion, but I'll take what I can get, my boy!"
Danny blinked as Vlad continued to rattle on, absolutely baffled.
"Next time, you can just come over and I'll bring the finest tailor I can find! No more shirts and jeans, a whole wardrobe of finely made suits!~ Oh, you'll look just perfect." Vlad prattled on as Danny felt like someone had poured warm garbage down his spine.
"Gross." Danny had said flatly, blasting Vlad and getting back to the fight to try and stop hearing that preferably forever.
—————————
Ah, that was Wednesday wasn't it?
That tracked now.
Well, that meant he could spend pretty much whatever he wanted if Vlad was gonna see that charge anyways. He was just grateful for the confirmation that-at least as of Wednesday-no other charges had caught his attention.
Danny figured he should probably just be grateful for that.
And so, with a devious plan and a happy grin hoping he got more space than rich people tonight he decided to go find himself a nice suit.
—————————
Bruce was just staring at the screen of the bat computer.
He was just…trying to wrap his head around what was going on with this kid's blood and dna.
Tim's sample had finally been processed and Bruce wanted to find him more than ever even if it was just to ask him what was going on with his body.
First of all, his red blood cells weren't.
Of course, other than the green hue, on the surface it looked like normal blood. But looking at the microscopic photos that the bat computer had took these were not blood cells.
They for one thing were not carrying oxygen, or for that matter any form of gas from what he could tell. The sample SHOULD be oxidized from the exposure to air, but it seemed indifferent to it's presence.
This was alarming of course, but not quite as much as the small faces with red eyes you could make out on some of the cells.
Bruce had questioned if it was a possibility that they were Nanobots of some sort but that didn't explain the other cells which even if he hadn't SEEN a face acted pretty similarly to the others in terms of properties so either someone had mimicked this kid's blood cells almost perfectly with a robot and added a face to be cheeky, or…that was just how his blood was…
…..Bruce really wished he had an explanation for which one it could be and why.
What the 'blood cells' WERE carrying though made Bruce uneasy.
The computer didn't have a perfect match for the substance, but when he'd asked it for the nearest possible match the answer had him tensing in his seat.
Lazarus Water.
He didn't know where this kid had gotten it in his BLOODSTREAM! Not even Jason had it in his bloodstream.
….Least, Bruce was pretty sure about that.
And why didn't it match with the samples on file? That was the most concerning part.
The structure was definitely off…and there was less particles combining in the substance that Phantom had inside of him. Did that mean it was a component of Lazarus water?
Or a more pure version?
….what if it was both?
It only got more odd the further down you went, Phantom's DNA just as much of a mystery to him.
It didn't match any dna he had on file perfectly, but the closest match he had was human.
But there was something else…!
It at least helped him understand why in the world his 'Blood Cells' were carrying around this substance a bit better, his DNA was merged with it. Using it in place of certain proteins that seemed to be missing, currently spreading to other parts of the DNA in a way he didn't understand as of yet.
It seemed likely that as the blood would normally bring minerals and nutrients, it now brought this substance to other cells to sustain the amount in his dna.
Having said that…
…Lazarus water did not bring the same powers this kid had.
Nowhere near.
Nowhere similar.
So, of course, his next instinct is to look for the metagene.
But he didn't have it.
So, Bruce was left with the information that this kid, who for all intensive purposes did not seem to have alien dna or the meta gene, had almost Lazarus water in his blood and holding together his very DNA, but somehow had a list of powers that exceeded many members of the Justice League.
It was baffling to say the least.
Perhaps he should contact the league about this and see if anyone had any ideas…?
….No. For now he didn't want anyone else getting involved. The kid was in his city. He could deal with it.
"B." He heard in his comms as he was anxiously pondering what step to take next. He raised a hand to his ear.
"Oracle." He replied, "What do you have for me?"
"I wish I could say I had more…But really the only thing I've come up with is a possible sighting of him in Wisconsin….But there's even a problem with that." Barbara admitted, Bruce almost able to hear her rubbing her temples through the comm line.
"What's the problem?"
"I found the picture by using a frame from one of our videos, but the article it was linked to? Unavailable." Barbara reported, "…I feel like there's more. Like I'm missing something…or more like…"
"Someone's trying to keep you out." Bruce finished for her, frowning more, "Do you think it's Phantom's doing?"
"I doubt it, but weirder things have happened." Barbara told him with a frown, "But to me…The things I'm running into when I try to look into him feel more government sponsored in the way things are laid out." Bruce's brows knit.
The government hiding information about Phantom…?
Could he be the result of government sponsored experimentation of some sort?
….Could they have been trying to create another new Superman?
The idea was troubling, to say the least.
"Do you think you can find more?" Batman requested.
"I do…"
"But?"
"But it's gonna take a while. First I'll have to make this disappearing article reappear, and then maybe based on the broken protections I can try and search for similar ones but that's not gonna be easy to pinpoint specific Phantom ones if they're government based." Barbara admitted, "There'll be a lot of similar pings….Won't be easy to tell what has what information until it's cracked and if that info is sensitive enough…"
"Understood." Bruce replied, "Keep working on it for now. I'll let you know if I think of a better method." He glanced at the clock and sighs, standing up.
"As for now, I have to get ready for a Gala." He said, less than pleased to step away from the puzzle in front of him.
"R.I.P." Barbara chuckled with a small grin, "Who has to go with you this time?"
"Tim is coming since the departments he was in charge of did a lot of work on the telescope that's also being unveiled, and Damian's coming along as well." Bruce replied as he headed towards the elevator, "Despite Tim's protests I did thankfully get him to settle down for a nap first…"
"Tempting to talk about forced naptime in the chat…"
"Speaking of the chat…I know you have remote access to the Bat computer Oracle. Please, don't tell the others about the sample yet. I need some time to think about it first."
"Alright B. I'll keep it quiet for now." Barbara told him, "And don't worry, Dick is coming from Blüdhaven for the evening to help patrol and keep an eye out for Phantom." Bruce gave a nod.
"Good…If the three of us can't be out there tonight I'm glad that Dick can help keep watch." Bruce agreed as he headed to get ready for the gala, "Signing off of comms now. Please send a secure message to my phone if anything urgent comes up."
"Roger B." Barbara replied before Bruce took out his comms.
He went to his closet and picked out the suit for the night, looking in the mirror with a sigh.
This would be a long night.
—————————
Danny grinned as he looked at himself again in a window reflection.
He was looking sharp~
Yeah, he still didn't want to have Vlad replace his whole wardrobe with suits of his choosing and be a mini him-ewewewewew-but he wouldn't deny right now? He did look good~
He looked towards the building, humming as he walked around the side. No dealing with lists and bouncers for him, no sir!
He grinned as he turned invisible and intangible, confidently walking through the wall and into the building.
By some stroke of good luck for a change he had managed to end up in the main party room it looked like. The telescope was in the center, a few exhibits on the wall.
Danny looked at it, impressed as he walked over to a secluded place to go visible again.
Of course, most of the tech to run it and the main viewing area must be in the room under this one, as only the top portion was visible. He looked up to see the dome that could part for use. They were probably waiting until later in the party for that. He came back out and took a look around the room, a smile growing on his face. He noticed there was a screen up there that he would assume could show visitors what the telescope was looking at at the time.
If so, he actually really liked the idea of having some interactive astronomy with it, getting to see what professionals were observing could be very educational.
He'd absolutely have to come back when they were, the opportunity to see real astronomers at work and what parts of space they were looking at sent a giddy tingle up his spine.
He turned back to the telescope itself and pondered about it.
It looked different from any of the models he had studied, so when they said Wayne Enterprises had made a new telescope for them they must have meant it literally, new design and all.
And, oh yeah, Danny was drooling over the new piece of equipment.
If he was more like his rogue's gallery he might take the thing with his super strength and abscond with it honestly.
'Obviously it's not gonna be as good as the James Web Space telescope, since it's earth based. But I suppose that's to be expected on some level.' Danny thought to himself, 'It does seem like it's probably far more powerful than the Keck Telescope in Hawaii though. Then again to get through Gotham's smog and the fact it's built at a far lower Altitude than the Keck it would kind of have to be? But based on what I'm seeing this could very well now be the most powerful earth based telescope…I wish I could get in there and figure out how they accounted for the higher than normal atmospheric distortion that Gotham would give….But at any rate if Wayne Enterprises made more of these and sent one off to Hawaii it would render the Keck basically obsole-'
Danny had turned and was now blinking completely shocked.
There was a small crowd of people hanging on his word.
Wait? Word?
Oh no he hadn't been thinking to himself.
In his excitement, he'd been saying that all aloud.
…though, it didn't seem like anyone had minded. Quite the contrary, they seemed to have been listening to Danny's ramblings quite enraptured, and he could hear the people mumbling to each other in the crowd about the effectiveness of the Wayne Telescope.
He had wanted to avoid attention since he was not supposed to be here, but at this point that idea had been chucked out the window. He realized with a blush however, that everyone seemed more than interested to hear him continue talking about telescopes and space, and considering usually it was just his friends humouring him when he talked and not an actual interest Danny could feel his chest warming and his core thrumming with excitement.
…well a LITTLE attention couldn't hurt, could it?
—————————
Bruce was smiling warmly and ear to ear as he chatted up a nice young woman who had come over inquiring about the charity the money was going to tonight; though he could plainly see that she had been using it as an excuse to talk to him.
That was alright though.
That was what 'Bruce Wayne' was supposed to do.
Even as a Father of Six (to the public, for himself he wasn't even sure how many of the children that followed him he considered 'His' at this point, there were just so many children) people expected Bruce Wayne to be an airheaded playboy.
And who was he to deny them, he supposed…
He was interrupted by a small jab to his side, looking over to see John Cox who he'd worked with occasionally for the Wayne Aerospace division chuckling and grinning.
"Well Bruce, I didn't know you'd picked up a new child again already!" He said with a jovial tone, "Did you make sure to get one with so much knowledge on space and telescopes just for the evening?~" Bruce blinked, unsure what the man was talking about before he followed his gaze.
It was true, the older teen gathering a crowd certainly LOOKED like he would be one of Bruce's kids, he had black hair and bright blue eyes that were shimmering with excitement as he was going on about interesting black hole factoids, but he knew that couldn't be one of his children.
….right?
He did look…familiar somehow, though Bruce couldn't attest to having ever seen him. It was quite possibly again because of his similarity in looks to Tim, Jason, and Dick, but either way…
It made him start to worry just a touch he had forgotten a kid somehow.
His kids already mocked him for how similar Tim, Dick, and Jason looked; even moreso when he got their names mixed up momentarily in a tired daze, so if he had truly forgotten one of them he was sure he'd never hear the end of it.
Thankfully for Bruce's sanity, Tim who had been mingling close by came over and looked were Bruce was currently staring while he did a mental rundown of the children in his life for the 3rd time to be sure he wasn't wrong.
"Oh, hey I saw him earlier at my favorite coffee shop!" Tim stated with no small amount of surprise, "I didn't expect to see him at the Gala tonight…"
Oh thank god.
Out of the two of them Tim had slept the most recently and was also more likely to be able to keep track of everyone.
So if Tim wasn't announcing him as a brother then he likely wasn't one.
Tim then looked to Bruce with a smile.
"I think I'll go over and say hello, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier." Tim told them, giving a nod of his head as a farewell before he made his way over towards the other boy.
"-Well actually, most things having to do with space are pretty expensive. Nasa's space suits actually cost them about 12,000,000 dollars, about 70% of that is for the pack and control modules, but even those are back from 1974 so today it would be like 150,000,000 dollars per suit." The black haired guy prattled off as everyone listened excitedly, eyes shimmering at the amount of people hanging on his every word about space.
"Hmm, at those prices you kind of have to question if new equipment would be worth it…" someone mentioned, the young adult's head snapping to them in a way that almost felt jarring.
"Worth it? Of course it is!" He quickly said, giving a big smile, "Sure, we have aliens from all over the universe coming to us now and we're learning more about the universe through these heroes and threats, but not everything will come to us-nor should we want it to! Exploration and Discovery is a hallmark of mankind and while there are definitely some stories of it that have some really awful protagonists-Christopher Columbus is one that definitely should come to everyone's mind-That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to explore, just that we should do it wisely and treat others we come across with respect." He put his hands in his pockets and gave a small chuckle.
"And honestly, if you look at the vast infinity of space and think it's not worth every penny then we are definitely not on the same wavelength, but for that point there is a planet twice the size of earth called 55 Cancrie that is majority diamonds. You can always make THAT your goal if money is more important than knowledge and exploration to you." The other finished. Tim gave a grin.
The way he talked about space he could probably be an Astronomy professor of some sort…or the leader of a space themed cult.
….Or, if things went REALLY wrong a space themed rogue.
But, as for now, he just seemed passionate and Tim hoped it stayed that way.
"My my, I don't believe I could have made a more impassioned defence for the expenses of space travel if I tried." Tim complimented, putting a hand on his coffee buddy's shoulder as he came up behind him and feeling the boy tense in a way that puzzled him.
It almost felt as though the other was restraining the urge to flip him over his shoulder or something…
But that couldn't be right, could it?
—————————
Holy shit Danny really just about flipped this guy.
Thank god he was able to stop himself before he went for the fight part of fight or flight instinct.
Especially because when he turned around he was seeing a-albiet slightly more well rested-Tim Drake like he'd seen earlier that day.
Hmm.
He supposed he probably should have put together that the guy in charge of many tech sectors at Wayne Enterprises would be at the gala unveiling a technological advancement from Wayne Tech for the Observatory/Planetarium.
Looking back it really would have done him a world of good to just walk out of that coffee shop without a word, but they were here now he supposed and he'd have to do his damndest to play along, no matter what they might say about his acting skills back at Casper.
He could do this.
He lied plenty!
"Oh, um, thanks!" Danny replied with a smile as he forced himself to relax. Tim's eyes studied him a moment more before smiling.
"I didn't get a chance to thank you earlier for the coffee." Tim told him with a smile, "I really needed it."
He had, honestly he hadn't realized just how tired he was getting until Bruce had forced him to take that nap earlier…but this guy didn't need to know everything about his poor work-life balance.
"You looked like it." Danny replied with a smile, not thinking about his words until two seconds later when he looked absolutely mortified.
"Oh, um, I mean, no, you didn't look BAD bad, just really tired! Like, your eye bags were deep and you were clutching that coffee like your life depended on it-" Danny floundered, trying to recover from the accidental insult, "But when I say deep I don't mean like bad or anything, just a super tired look that I can relate to because I am also often very tired."
Danny then looked to Tim, hoping he wouldn't be angry only to frown and narrow his eyes as the other was clearly enjoying the scene in front of him, trying to repress a smirk and not laugh as Danny scrambled to apologize.
"Well, well someone's having fun." He grumbled, crossing his arms. Tim chuckled a bit and let the grin spread some now.
"Guilty." He replied, "I apologize for not stopping you sooner but it was pretty funny." Danny gave a small smile and held out his hand.
"I'll forgive you if you forgive me for sticking my whole foot in my mouth." Danny bargained with a chuckle, Tim taking his hand and shaking with a smile, though giving a small pause.
"That sounds like a deal to me." Tim agreed, "Besides-I've seen myself in mirrors when I'm running on empty, I probably did look awful."
Danny felt relief wash over him for a second. No need to fight, this guy seemed pretty alright. Maybe he could even ask some questions about this baby's design specs since he was involved in-
"By the way, my name's Timothy Drake-Wayne. What's your name?" Tim wondered with a smile, trying to be friendly.
Crap.
Danny had expected to be incognito for this thing! He hadn't come up with a fake name for the party!
If he said Danny Fenton the guy wasn't gonna recognize the name, he might check the guest list and see Danny wasn't on it, and from there it wouldn't be long until he was tossed out and his real name was making circuts-some random kid that somehow snuck into a private event and knew way too much about space.
That was something he'd rather avoid happening while he was stuck in Gotham.
Not to mention once they had the name 'Fenton' they might be able to track down where he came from, and wonder what the son of a ghost hunting couple from a small town in Illinois was doing all alone in a city in New Jersey.
And there was no way for him to answer that that ended well.
Oh, shit he'd been too quiet for too long now say something idiot!
"Danny Manson!" He finally got out, blinking as he did.
Huh.
'Wow that actually wasn't a TERRIBLE answer, good job me!' Danny thought to himself in a rare moment of mental victory.
Sam had said her parents had dragged her to Gotham for parties before, so the name was no doubt known, at least well enough to not check the guest list…
He might just be in the clear if he was lucky!
Tim's brows knit together in confusion at the information.
"Manson?" He questioned, "That's strange…I've met the Manson's before at a party or two and they'd never mentioned a son…though I've met their daughter on an occasion."
Danny had forgotten for a brief, blissful moment his luck was trash.
"Oh! Um." Danny started, now having to cover for the split second decision best he could, "Sam and I are Fraternal Twins."
Not remotely true.
Though, if Danny was lucky enough the two looked alike enough for it to pass.
"And, well…I've been pretty Ill most of my life…" Danny said, putting on a sad, puppy dog look, "My Parents weren't exactly hopeful that I'd survive, so I've been kept pretty…tucked away, if you know what I mean."
Tim's look softened at that.
"Oh…" He said, voice quiet now. He was suddenly grateful that as they'd been talking the crowd had dissipated, now that the facts no longer were flowing their interest in the two that were clearly focused on their own conversation had moved elsewhere. He was grateful no one had to hear Danny say that, he was sure the other probably wouldn't have liked people to know his parents shunted him away like that.
"Yeah, I can't blame you for not knowing I exist. Most people don't, my parents didn't want it to cause a scene if something happened to me." Danny recounted, still playing all pitiful.
Heheheh, save his ass from the fire and paint Sam's awful parents in a worse light in front of people they actually cared the opinions of?
This was turning out pretty great again~
Tim snuck a glance at Danny's hand. He wondered if the boy's illness had to do with why his hand was so cold…He should have realized the other looked a little pale too, Gotham city's air was probably even harder on someone with a weak constitution.
Which brought up another question to Tim.
"Wait, but if you've been so ill why are you here now? And didn't your parents and sister come with you?" Tim wondered. Danny stiffened ever so slightly, and Tim definitely noticed, wondering if he'd hit a nerve before Danny relaxed again.
"Ah, well…Since I've made it to eighteen my parents realized I might actually be able to take over the company instead of Sam marrying someone into it." Danny explained, trying his best to make his uncomfortableness look like it was due to his parents rather than having to come up with a lie last second, "So, they sent me here to mingle for a week and try and make myself some connections…'Live a little, you aren't dead yet, son!' Well…Not fully anyway."
Danny let out a soft chuckle at the joke he didn't necessarily mean to slip out but he really enjoyed his slightly morbid sense of humor.
Meanwhile, Tim looked at the apparently very ill man in front of him talking about how his Parents had first hidden him from the world in preparation for his death and now suddenly since 'oops, he might NOT die' were shoving him suddenly into high society to try and profit off him??? And the kid was way too comfortable with his parents talking about his death like it was just taking a while, like he was laughing like Jason does at his stupid death jokes!
And even he probably only found them funny cause he came back once already!
How desensitized was this poor kid to his own mortality to laugh at something like that?!
Well, their daughter did always sort of have this 'hostage' energy about her when he'd seen her, but he just figured that she was having teenage angst and didn't want to be dragged around by her parents and forced into dresses she clearly didn't like.
Which, honestly? Was very valid.
But was that distain for her parents an expression of what they'd been doing to her twin the whole time?
Had she only been holding on and coming for his sake? To help protect him some how?
If that was true, she was probably worried sick for her poor brother's health back at home…Possibly forbidden to come with him so that Danny could make his own way about.
True, if he was trying to make connections he had chosen a good place to start with his knowledge of space, but still, to send a kid barely into his adult years all on his own to Gotham of all places just to make connections…
….He'd have to look deeper into the Manson's, preferably without Bruce finding out if he could.
If Bruce found out this poor, sick, possibly abused kid with Black hair and Blue eyes had been sent to Gotham alone?
Adoption papers would be drawn up before Tim could blink.
Danny had taken to looking about the room while Tim was staring at him horrified, completely unaware as to the thoughts churning in his mind as he stared at a model of the solar system with a hanging sun and frowned as he lamented Pluto's loss silently, even though he understood the reason for the declassification.
"So, um…where are you staying in Gotham?" Tim wondered with a smile, trying to change the conversation, figuring the other probably didn't want to continue talking about it anymore than he did. Danny's eyes glanced back at Tim for a moment, then looking back at the solar system since he hadn't finished looking yet.
"Oh, just finding hotels for the night. Didn't give me anywhere particular to go." Danny told him without thinking, glancing back to see Tim looking even more scandalized much to Danny's confusion.
Meanwhile, Tim was having a meltdown.
On top of everything, his parents hadn't even prepared a proper place for him to stay?! He was entirely alone in a new city he knew nothing about, was likely completely unprepared to do things for himself after being locked away most of his life, and his parents had basically just told him to 'stay wherever'?!?
"You know, if you need a nice place to stay, our mansion has plenty of guest rooms. I'm sure Bruce wouldn't mind." Tim said, completely ignoring his concerns from earlier in favor of giving this poor guy a safe place to stay, "We'll likely be pretty busy, but our butler is very capable and would be able to help with anything you need." Danny brightened at this.
Free room and board?! That was an amazing offer!
He'd been too scared to look into any other mansions after finding the Bat cave under one, but being invited was different. He could just stay in a guest room and not make any trouble for anyone!
"I might take you up on that, that's a really generous offer." Danny replied with a smile.
How someone who had gone through what Danny had could smile that sincerely and warmly it honestly baffled Tim, and only made him want to make sure he was okay all the more.
Danny felt a lull growing in the conversation as Tim stared at him for a moment before clearing his throat.
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to congratulate you on the telescope! You were heading the team that designed it right?" Danny mentioned with a grin, snapping Tim out of his thoughts.
"Oh, yeah!" Tim confirmed, "I was with that team, but honestly I wouldn't take the credit for it, I'm heading several other projects in the department at the moment, and while I know tech very well I wasn't familiar with telescopes to the level I should have been before we started. A lot of the credit should go to the other engineers who helped me figure out which of my ideas were and weren't impossible." Tim really had helped greatly with the interface more than the design, but he was happy he'd gotten some ideas that helped in the design.
"Though…honestly we're lucky to have finished." Tim admitted, "It took us a long time, and-as you pointed out earlier-things related to space observation and exploration usually aren't cheap…I was worried about our investors pulling out on several occasions. Especially when they'd been presented with the opportunity to jump in on a new initiative…" Tim grabbed a drink from a server that was passing by and sipped it.
Non alcoholic, but it had a nice cherry flavor. Tim liked that.
Danny grabbed one and took a sip, crinkling his nose and looking at it for a second before shrugging and taking another gulp.
"Oh?" He wondered, looking to Tim curiously.
"Yeah…Honestly? I sort of wish they'd abandoned the project and joined up on the initiative." Tim admitted sheepishly. Danny blinked surprised.
"Oh really? What sort of initiative was it?" Danny asked, curious what sort of plan could make Tim want to give up on a project they'd likely already sunk plenty of money and time into, let alone effort and manpower.
"Oh, it was an initiative to-"
"Revive and create more green areas around Gotham city! They're also trying to get companies to reduce their pollution so the air can become cleaner."
Danny blinked and shook his head a bit.
Woah, what a serious case of deja vu.
Where had he heard this before…?
"Oh, why didn't they invest in that? Seems perfectly reasonable." Danny replied, trying to keep up with the conversation.
"I agree, I'd love to see it come to pass…But the investors were mainly concerned about the second part. Several of them own stocks in companies that are making money off that pollution. If things had to change they'd take a hit." Tim admitted.
Danny frowned as he could practically hear Sam's voice in the back of his head talking about evil capitalist scum ruining the planet.
…wait…
Had that been her voice he was remembering earlier?
It was!
That's why this sounded so familiar, Sam had been telling him about it a day or two before he'd gotten thrown through that portal!
What had she said…?
"It's so unfair! If any city in America needs more green spaces and less pollution it's Gotham city! How could hey all possibly ignore this?!"
Danny noticed strange movement out of the corner of his eye and tensed, looking over. His ghost sense hadn't gone off, but…
"It's like no one in that city cares what happens to their enviornment, like not one single person really wants to stand up for mother earth!"
There was the movement again.
Danny's brows knit as he walked off in the middle of Tim talking, Tim blinking and following after curiously.
"And then of course, when SHE stands up for it when no one else will-"
It was over by the solar system Danny had been looking at. He could finally get a good look from where he was now, and so could Tim, his eyes widening.
"They call her an Ecoterrorist!"
Danny blinked as he followed the vine up with his eyes, noticing two more hanging from the sun.
Tim grit his teeth, going to grab Danny's wrist.
"She wouldn't even BE like that if it weren't for them!"
Danny remembered now.
Something had happened because the initiative couldn't get support.
Tim went to move to find Bruce, but it was too late.
There was a big cracking sound from behind the sun on the wall.
"Honestly they should be lucky we aren't all acting like her!"
Danny had to disagree with Sam then, (Though he knew she probably didn't actually 100% feel that way, she was just angry) and he disagreed more when red hair and green skin came from behind the model of the sun, smirking as the planets were all covered in lush greenery and the sun wrapped in vines so the light glowing from it was turned green from the chlorophyll.
"Someday, I'm gonna walk off when my Parents drag me to Gotham to go see her and give her my thanks for doing her best for a greener world."
And there she was, the woman Sam wanted to personally thank, standing right before him.
"Doctor Pamela Lillian Isley."
Poison Ivy.
"Hello there…" She hummed with a smirk, "I think we should all have a little chat."
The lights went dark.