Batman: Justice will be served, Joker.
Joker: Service with a smile?
Here's a new series of one shots between the individuals of Team Phantom and the Batfam. Let me know if you like it! This first chapter is Tucker!
It had taken a lot of convincing, but Tucker had finally convinced Mr. and Mrs. Fenton to patent and attempt to sell some of their ghost inventions. Seriously, it had taken a lot of convincing. It had been almost five years since the nature of ghosts had been revealed to the world and everyone was clamoring for tech to keep themselves safe from harm, both in the public and private sector.
Once Tucker had opened the discussion of selling their inventions, the Fentons wanted to be intentional about which tool to open up to the markets. No weapons, that was rule number one. Danny was a big proponent of that rule, and for good reason. The fewer things that could harm him personally, the better. Rule number two was they could only be used for defensive reasons. They didn't want to wage a war on the Ghost Zone by making things to go on the offensive. That would only cause problems when political tensions were still high. The government bodies were still skeptical about discovering entire dimensions with their own agendas and affiliations, somewhat understandably. And the third rule was the Fentons had a veto on any and all production results from now until infinity. That one would be a tough one to negotiate.
Preparing for their future, Tucker had requested Jazz teach him the psychology of business meetings in negotiations. Months and months of preparations. Tucker felt like he had been taught every major business negotiation tactic from the last 30 years and then some. It was all smushed in his head, ready for this one meeting.
Somehow, Tucker had scored a meeting with the Wayne Enterprises board to display the Spector Deflector. In the three weeks he had taken to prepare, Tucker had arrived in the lobby with his presentation, some sample ectoplasm (gathered from a safe matter), and four Deflectors for display. It was all sitting by his feet in two suitcases, waiting for the receptionist to call Tucker to the conference room. Thankfully, Sam had pulled the stupid Jack Fenton face sticker off the suitcase before he boarded the train to Gotham City. Adjusting his tie for the third time since sitting down, Tucker wished he had his signature beret. Sam had convinced him it wasn't professional in a meeting like this, despite his look and confidence being affected. Running his hands through his buzzed hair made Tucker wonder if he had time to go back to the hotel and grab it.
"Mr. Foley?" the receptionist called from behind the desk. Tucker stood up immediately. "The board will see you now." He gathered the suitcases from the floor and followed the receptionist. He was led into a stereotypical conference room, filled with TVs on one wall, floor-to-ceiling windows on the other and a large oval conference table in the middle. Seven members sat at the table, the one closest to the door stood up as Tucker walked in and put his hand out. Tucker sat down the suitcases on the table and shook his hand.
"Mr. Foley, we're glad to have you here," the man said. He was older, maybe his father's age, in a nice, but casual suit and a welcoming smile. "My name is Lucius Fox. I am the Director of Research and Development here at Wayne Enterprises Headquarters." He motioned to the new objects on the table, "Please begin when you are ready." He sat back down, unbuttoning his jacket and looked expectantly towards Tucker.
He took a deep breath, unfastened the locks on the cases and looked out towards the table. "Hello, everyone, my name is Tucker Foley and I am from Amity Park." He had practiced this presentation too many times to count and count recite it in his dreams, Nocturne be damned. He may have blacked out for portions, but he felt confident in the end. He knew he covered all the pertinent information and if they didn't pick up his proposal, they were dumber than the Box Ghost. At one point he had strapped a Deflector onto Mr. Fox and intentionally spilled ectoplasm on the belt. The fizzle startled some of the members, but the big smile on Mr. Fox's face put him at ease.
"Thank you for your time," Tucker finished. Everyone in the room clapped, looking very interested; Tucker felt immediate relief. A couple board members got out their phones or computers, newest models and updates Tucker noted, and began catching up on things they had missed.
"Well, Mr. Foley, that was certainly an interesting presentation!" Mr. Fox said, standing back up. He gave Tucker a small pat on the shoulder. "We can give you a couple minutes to gather your belongings, but we would love to continue this discussion in a more comfortable room." With a small smile, he walked out of the room. Everyone else stood up and also walked out. Gathering the last Spector Deflector, Tucker noticed the youngest board member was still in the room.
He was sitting towards the other end of the table with two coffee cups and a laptop in front of him. He had dark black hair and bags under his eyes, but he didn't give a single yawn during Tucker's presentation, so maybe all the coffee was keeping him awake. Tucker had latched the final suitcase when Lucius poked his head back in the room. "Mr. Foley, if you could follow me, please." Lucius seemed to take notice of the other boy in the room as well.
"Tim," he gently coughed. "Would you mind joining us as well?" Without acknowledging the older man, Tim closed his laptop and stood up, walking behind Tucker out of the room.
They entered into a plush office, Lucius motioning for Tucker to take one of the guest seats. Instead of taking the head seat behind the desk, he sat next to Tucker. The young kid, the same one who was silent in the conference room, sat himself at the head of the desk. A large portrait of the Wayne Enterprises founder, Thomas Wayne, hung behind him on the wall. He seemed to be staring down at Tucker.
"Mr. Foley," Lucius motioned, "This is Timothy Drake."
Tim stood up again, bending over the polished mahogany desk slightly, his hand raised. Tucker's mouth went a little slack. He loosely gripped Tim's hand. The kid's handshake was dry and confident, the exact opposite of Tucker's. Tim gave him a small smile back. "Please, just Tim is fine," he said. "I'm acting as CEO for Bruce Wayne while he's out of the country for other business."
There was a pause much longer than comfortable due to Tucker's amazement. Tucker finally found his voice, "I'm sorry for not recognizing you in the presentation. I would have said something to one of the youngest CEOs!" Tim just laughed softly. Tucker immediately felt the nervous sweat start. He wanted to loosen his tie, but didn't want to appear any more nervous than he already was.
"Don't worry about it. I would prefer it that way," Tim said. "I did really enjoy your presentation. I believe Wayne Enterprises would greatly benefit from a corporate cooperation, Mr. Foley." Tim settled himself back in the chair, wheeling it towards the desk. Despite his young age, he looked very comfortable in this environment. Although, he desperately craved another cup of coffee, triple espresso after patrol last night.
"Tucker is fine, Mr. Drake," Tucker said softly.
Not even looking at its contents, Tim passed Tucker a manila envelope and gently smiled. "Here is our proposed offer, please review it with whomever you like, but we would appreciate an answer by the end of the month."
Tucker opened up the first couple pages from the folder and paused. This was a much better offer than anticipated. Almost too good of an offer. He knew he gave a well-rehearsed presentation, but this could change the entire scope of invention potential for FentonWorks. "This is a very generous offer, Mr. Drake…" Tucker started slowly.
Tim interrupted, "We already anticipated giving you and offer before you arrived. We wanted to make sure you were serious before we drafted it up."
Tucker opened his mouth like he was going to say more and Tim held up his hand, halting Tucker's thoughts. "Before you say more," he turned to the third man in the room. "Mr. Fox, if you please," and nodded towards the door. Instead of leaving, Lucius locked the door and returned to his seat. He opened up the armrest to his chair, revealing a panel of buttons and a small screen. After he pushed a few, he gave a nod to Tim, who nodded back.
Seeing Tucker's confused face, Tim explained, "We sound-proofed the room. Wouldn't want any eavesdroppers." Tucker thought it odd they were concerned about eavesdropping in his own office in his own company, but maybe he was just more paranoid than the average CEO. Tim turned his computer screen to face the two in the guest chairs. On it were videos, all mostly recorded from the press, of Danny. Some were of him fighting a ghost, some were of him flying through town. Tucker did notice a few seemed to be private videos, ones not publicly distributed, but nothing concerning.
"Now," Tim started. "I'm glad the formalities are out of the way. We wanted to explain the additional, confidential, stipulations that are included in that contract. All of our board members agreed to those numbers, don't worry, but only Mr. Fox and myself understand the true nature of this contract." He motioned towards the screen. "We understand you frequently work with the superhero known as Danny Phantom. We assume you uphold the same morals and standards that accompany the public hero. "
More videos popped up, as if on command, of him, Sam, and Jazz fighting ghosts on the street. Again, public knowledge, nothing concerning, but Tucker was impressed by the amount of videos out there of the three of them. Normally people only cared about Danny during ghost fights. Tucker gave a confirming nod to Tim and he took this as a sign to continue his speech.
"We would like to allow other vigilantes use to this new ghost technology as well, specifically The Batman." Tim paused waiting for a reaction. When none came, Tucker appeared to be in shock, he continued again. "We would be interested in other technology in the future, potentially to specific policeman and individuals who assist The Dark Knight in his daily habits, but we can expand this contract when the time comes. Do you have any specific questions for us we can answer today?"
"Wha…" Tucker stammered, forgetting words. "How?" He kept looking between Lucius and Tim, searching for laughter or smiles or something. Surely this was a joke. "Why?" The last question seemed more out of desperation to find answers versus actual confusion.
"Before I answer some of those intricate questions," Tim started, smirking at himself. "You have to understand this is the part you cannot repeat. We take this matter very seriously and there will be repercussions if this leaks." The eye contact was uncanny, like Tim was telling him of alternatives much worse than corporate destruction. It desperately unnerved him, and he had dealt with some pretty disturbing ghosts as a professional sidekick in the last couple years.
Tucker nodded. He felt like his entire throat dried up, but he stilled tried to gulp. Tim relaxed and playfully slapped his hands on his knees. "Glad to hear!" he said. "I knew you were smart enough to make the right decision, but I wanted to test my Batman glare. I've been practicing."
Lucius found his funny and chuckled. "I don't think you're quite there, Tim," he jested. Pressing some more buttons on his armrest, Lucius looked over to the wall behind Tucker. The entire wall materialized into a monitor, as if those plaques and framed pictures were holograms, meant to cover up their true purpose. Tucker slowly stood up from his chair. This wasn't in the manila folder.
On the left side, the members of Team Phantom showed up. First by name, then they cycled through various pictures and videos. Tucker noted some of these appeared to be taken from more personal matters. Pictures of them sitting in the Nasty Burger, the Fentons down in their lab, Jazz walking on campus to her next college class at university, were intermixed with ghost battles and fights throughout Amity Park. On the right side, ten shadow figures began to materialize. Tucker recognized The Batman silhouette, of course. There were multiple iterations of Robin present, a couple female figures he did not recognize, someone sitting down, and a couple others he couldn't place.
"For generations, Wayne Enterprises has been involved in the improvement and development of Gotham City," Tim began. Tim stood up from the desk and casually walked towards Tucker. He stopped when they were standing side by side, staring at the images before them on the wall. "And with the emergence of The Batman and his accomplices, Wayne Enterprises decided, off the books, of course, to support his efforts in protecting the city and its citizens however possible."
Lucius remained sitting, legs crossed casually, occasionally pushing another button which would change the landscape of the wall. "As you see here, we have a couple more immediate members of our core team than you do in Amity Park," Tim said. He waved his hand across the screen and it reacted to his movement, changing the various silhouettes in larger size compared to the others. "I assume Nightwing will want one in Bludhaven, and we'll figure out a way to convince The Red Hood to take one…"
Since he wasn't saying anything, Tucker couldn't figure out if Tim was talking to him or thinking out loud. Should he be taking notes? Was Mr. Fox taking notes back there? Tim continued talking, but Tucker's mind was running a thousand miles a minute away from this room. There was so much to unpack and he didn't know if his PDA was capable of relaying this message to Danny before he returned home.
From behind the boys, Lucius coughed obnoxiously. Both turned around, Tucker broken out of his trance. "Tim," Lucius said, "I think we're overwhelming Mr. Foley, here." Lucius tried to add an understanding smile at the end and checked his phone momentarily. "Maybe this is a better conversation to continue tomorrow. We've held Mr. Foley here an extra two hours past his presentation."
"Of course, of course!" Tim said. "Tucker, Wayne Enterprises would happily pay for your additional night in Gotham City if you would entertain us tomorrow as well. Just let me call my secretary, Clara, and she'll set it all up for you." Tim wandered back to his desk and picked up the phone without dialing. Even though he was talking, Tucker barely registered what was happening around him.
For the first time in a long time, Lucius stood up from his chair, stretching his back. He walked up to Tucker and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "Son, maybe it would help if someone else was able to process this with you? Someone from your team, maybe? We understand our additional, special, clients can be a lot to process at first." Tucker was grateful to have Mr. Fox here as well. As much as he was looking forward to talking with Tim in the future, it was comforting to have an older, calming presence during such an important meeting. And as overwhelming as it was, Tucker was looking forward to helping as many people as possible.
Tucker took the first deep breath he had since walking in this room. It would be great to have Danny here. He could fanboy while Tucker picked apart all the technicalities that came along with supplying The World's Greatest Detective their ghost technology. Maybe he would meet him someday…maybe he would meet Red Robin one day. He loved following the newest Robin on Instagram recently. Ohmahgawd, he was going to be working with The Batman.