DPxDC Mechanical Engineer Danny
Danny caught the attention of Batman while studying at Gotham University for his alternative energy projects. He’s hired right out of college to work on the Watchtower.
He shows absolutely no tell of his abilities till there’s a dire situation- Flash’s electric discharge messes with one of his projects in progress and the whole base would have lost air pressure if he hadn’t done a quick fix using telekinesis and ice.
Of course Batman notices.
Batman assumes the worst- he suspects Danny’s a rogue of some kind, someone who has infiltrated the Justice League with an ulterior motive. But he can’t just fire Danny now- he’s the only one who knows how the new Watchtower energy source works. Plus, he’s not letting Danny go anywhere until he’s figured out his true motives.
Cue Batman subtly testing Danny- tossing things at him to trigger inhuman fast reflexes, having him lift too-heavy machinery, setting up convenient opportunities to steal or snoop or otherwise be up to no good. Danny does take advantage but only once, to use a computer terminal with unlocked clearance. He didn’t plant any bugs that Barman could find, and he otherwise kept up his powerless civilian act perfectly.
Still, Batman’s not satisfied. He brings an infrasonic sound emitter to Danny’s lab one day, and that, of all things, is what gets Danny to break.
“I know what you’re doing,” Danny admits with a sigh, finally. “If you’re really that suspicious of me, I can leave, but I kinda like my job so I’d prefer not to. The benefits are insane compared to what’s standard.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure. yeah. How about you turn off the freaking noise generator and we can talk?”
“Hm.” Batman obliges, and he takes the stool next to Danny at his gesture.
“Number one, I’m not a meta. Despite all the data and conclusions you’ve probably drawn otherwise. Number two, I’m on your side. I’m here to work on the base, that’s it. I follow your rules to the letter.”
“The-“
“The classified files I looked at? Yeah that was the one exception. You already know what I looked at, I’m sure, but maybe you haven’t figured out why. It goes back to point one- I may not be a meta, but I am something that organization, the GIW, cares about. I looked at your files on them to sus out your relations. Seeing as I don’t particularly love being the victim to twelve degrees of human rights violations if I can avoid it.”
“Hm.” The Ghost Intelligence Ward was one of many government agencies that the Justice League hadn’t worked closely with. But they also hadn’t been flagged for Justice League investigation. Danny’s comments made him doubt that call.
“Any other questions?”
“If you’re not a meta, what are you?”
“I’m an engineer. A pretty decent one. And I’d really, really like it to stay that way.”
Batman considers, and ultimately lets him stay. He likes Danny (everyone likes Danny), and it would be a massive pain in the ass to replace him. He really is a good engineer.
It’s only much later that his faith in Danny is repaid in spades.
Batman finds Danny on the Watchtower command bridge. Alarms are blaring, the station has been knocked out of orbit, out the window there’s shrapnel floating everywhere as a space battle rages around them.
On the station it’s chaos. Technicians run around, shouts from the med bay, sparks from the walls.
Batman and Danny stand at the main controls, watching the battle outside, stoic, unmoving.
Wonder Woman’s harried voice crackles through on coms: “We need backup.”
“There is no more backup.” Batman replies, while looking pointedly at Danny.
“What?”
Batman doesn’t move.
“What.”
“The impact from Darkseid’s initial attack should have sent this station on a terminal trajectory toward the planet.”
“Well. We aren’t currently plummeting to our deaths, so turns out it didn’t do that.”
“You did something.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe Superman nudged us back on course in all the chaos.”
“I’ve been watching the trackers. No one else with the capability has come near the station.”
“Can’t you just be grateful we got lucky?”
Sounds of peril screech over the coms. Danny’s face scrunches.
“Luck had nothing to do with it. As it is now, we are going to lose this fight.”
“Isn’t there anyone else you can call?”
“I’m asking you. You can help, can’t you?”
The glare-off lasts a long moment more before Danny breaks.
“Fuck. Fuckity fuck.” Danny runs his hands through his hair. “Shit. You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I’m asking you to save this and countless other worlds from a genocide. I’m also asking you to save my friends.”
Danny looks at him, hard, weary, and with a kind of deep resolve that feels far too ancient to be on the face of a supposed twenty-something.
“Fine. Fine. Okay.” He steps back and transforms. If Batman is surprised when he shakes off his human appearance like an old coat, he doesn’t show it. But what’s undeniable is the being in Danny’s place has the unmistakable presence of power.
“No one else can know.” His voice echoes in a way that’s sonically impossible, both sounding closer and further away than he should be.
He pulls a gear-shaped medallion seemingly out of thin air and puts it over his head in one motion.
“If I get in trouble for this, I’m blaming you.”
He vanishes. Outside, the shape of the battle changes instantly. The stars seem to glow brighter as the arms of the galaxy flash with the colors of the aurora. Then it’s like the void of space itself comes alive. It moves the spaceships back like they’re toys, plucking them from one side of the field to the other. It finds Darkseid at the heart of the chaos and massive arms of nothingness and darkness wrap around him. He’s screaming as it swallows him whole.
His armies scatter. The battle turns. The JL deal with the stragglers, but the air of relief is palpable.
Danny reappears next to Batman, once again donning his grease-stained coveralls. Arms folded.
“Happy?”
It took all of five minutes. Less, probably. Batman tamps down a thousand questions.
“Thank you.”
“I’m gonna need two weeks off minimum.” Danny snaps. “One to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare you’ve just caused me, and another to recover from the headache.”
Batman blanks. “Granted.”
Danny sighs. “And I’m not fixing the station until I’m back. It won’t fall out of the sky as is. Make up whatever excuse you want.”
“Done.” He considers. “I would prefer to tell them the truth. That you saved us.”
Danny glares. “I’m not supposed to save you. I made a pact not to use my power to influence the mortal realm.”
“A pact with who?”
Danny rolls his eyes. “The embodiment of Time. The concept of Justice. Among others.” He smirks at Batman’s confusion.
“And what, exactly, does that make you?”
He stands, framed by the space window, haloed by the stars. “I’ll give you three guesses.”
Batman frowns.
“Look. I like you guys. I like working on your base. I like supporting the work you do. But you can not go factoring me in to any of your plans or contingencies. This was a one time thing.
“So to answer your question again: I’m an engineer.”
"What?" Hal said startled as he noticed a floating white hair teen with green eyes looking annoyed.
It would've be common event if it weren't for the fact that they in the middle of space near Mar.
"Could you please move the lantern Corp away from my grave, it's blocking the my view of the stars." The boy said pointing back at mars then back at Green lantern Corps.
"This is the second time this happen and I would like to just rest in peace."
The more Hal look at the floating boy, the more he realized how humaniod and alien like he began to look, the clear white hair with sparks of stars dust in it, the freckled covering his face look a splatter of dwarf stars, the toxic green eyes, and the odd looking clothes that look barely human like with the kind of reptile skulls on his shoulders.
Oh
OH
Oh..
"I'll tell them to move it from your view.." Hal said paling a bit as later on he went closer to Mars where that floating alien child has pointed then disappeared.
Only to see a makeshift grave made from unknown mineral in the red dirt that looked ancient and beyond dusty level that almost made him sneeze.
Hal move the dust away from the tombstone like made of extinct like mineral, with a name that took his lantern green 3 hours to translate which static and glitch.
"Danny phantom
Brother
Planet Savior
Hero
Clockwork's apprentice
Forever King of balance
May he sleep peacefully."
Dpxdc Prompt #47
When Danny Fenton moved to Gotham for university the city noticed.
After all, before Lady Gotham was Gotham she was Samantha Manson.
It all started with the Nasty Burger explosion.
Mr. Lancer, Mrs. and Mr. Fenton, Jazz, Danny, Tucker, and Sam were all there. One moment, Danny was being confronted about cheating on his career aptitude test and the next all Sam could see was the familiar toxic green of the Ghost Zone.
Sam's first thought was did anyone survive? and her second was i need to find Danny.
She wasn't sure of the fate of anyone caught in the explosion, for all she knew she could've been the only one to die (unlikely), and if not that the only one to form into a ghost (sadly, plausible).
With worst case scenarios flooding her head, Sam began looking for anything familiar in the Zone. She'd never been without the infi-map before and now that she didn't have it she was lost.
She never had a chance of finding Danny because she fell into a portal after she'd barely begun searching.
When Sam became aware again, she found herself in a world similar to her home, but very different at the same time.
The times were different, this world barely in the 1700s. She was in a different location, somewhere in the northeast, but she couldn't tell exactly where yet. And most importantly, the world seemed more magical than the one she came from.
Of course, she tried to get home, but there were no natural portals opening up and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't make them herself.
After spending 20 years, more time than she had lived in her home dimension, in what had come to be named Gotham, Sam had settled down. She made friends with a family named the Waynes and though she would never forget Danny and Tucker she had an afterlife in this new dimension now too.
Sam protected the city best she could from anything that tried to harm it, making it her own haunt. Eventually the people around town started calling her The Lady of Gotham, later shortened to just Lady Gotham.
A century after joining the world, Sam was cursed and by extension Gotham was cursed too. She could no longer speak, and while she still tried her best to protect the city from outside harm there was nothing she could do about the corruption within.
She watched over the Waynes inside the limits of her haunt, them having become her family in this new world. And in return the Waynes tried to keep Gotham the best place it could be, attempting to keep it from becoming a cesspool.
Sam did her best, she did what she could and in return Gothamites had a certain pride in their city.
"It's terrible, but it's home" was the general sentiment shared by the citizens.
Soon enough the times were approaching to when she had been alive, and a new generation of Waynes emerged in her streets. When she failed to protect Martha and Thomas, Sam felt sorrow and let the shadows gather around Bruce to show him she was grieving too.
He left, but as many Gothamites did he came back. And when he came back it was with vengeance.
Her streets were more corrupt than they had ever been before, but Bruce came in like a knight in shining armor. No—not shining, but dark. Dark and jagged, but home and just as much a part of Gotham as Sam herself.
With Bruce becoming Batman, his partners weren't far behind. First Dick, then Babs, Jason, Tim, Steph, Cass, Damian, and Duke. And with so many Waynes, not in blood but in everything that mattered, trying to save her Sam felt more loved than ever before.
And then she felt a Danny Fenton, older than her's had ever gotten to be at 18-years-old, enter the streets. Sam, for the first time in forever, she longed for what could have been.
That night, the skies were clearer and the streets were quieter as Sam held on to Danny through the shadows and didn't let go.
Her knights wouldn't mind one more addition, she hoped.
Previous Next
young love.
Bad Fenton parents reveal but instead of the usual Trope of going to Gotham he goes to Bludhaven just a few months before Nightwings first appearance.
Danny accidentally stumbles into information breaking mostly because he's Gathering all of his information himself by accidentally stumbling into back alley deals, he is not supposed to find and then turning intangible so he doesn't get shot at.
Danny isn't really Nightwings priority when he first gets there and he definitely uses his services as he's cut off from his main source of information.
The two of them end up having a very good relationship as the two of them are bouncing quips off of one another by their second meeting. Danny brings out the side that is mostly tucked away at the time from Nightwing as he is still in his angsty just left home phase.
Nightwing doesn't tell the bat family about Danny originally because he is estranged but eventually it becomes Danny being only his team. Gotham has all of the bat family and Nightwing has Danny. It will take years before anyone meets Danny.
Previous Next
Author's notes: Hi guys, I'm sorry it took so long to update a new part but now work has definetely descended into a new level of difficulty. It will take longer to update my own stories, so thank you for your patience.
PREV/NEXT MASTERPOST
It’s around two a.m., Sunday morning in Gotham, and Robin successfully convinced Oracle to help her hide the fact that she changed her patrol route for a little bit.
“Thirty minutes top, Rob. We don’t want the big, old bat to notice something amiss.” Barbara instructs the younger girl through the comms.
“Understood Oracle… and, thank you.” Talia answers as she jumps from roof to roof towards Old Gotham. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s the least I can do after the jerk move Nightwing and Red Hood pulled on you and… what’s the code we have for him again?”
Talia rolls her eyes behind her mask and holds an exasperated huff; she knows Barbara just wants to tease her because of the codename she came up with for Daniel. “Sirius, Oracle. His codename is: Sirius.”
“The brightest star in our solar system… you definitely are your father’s daughter.”
“I’m muting the comms.” Talia announces with deadpan voice.
Which only gets her an amused chuckle from Barbara. “Sure thing, *chuckle*. Just remember, thirty minutes. I’ll send you an alarm when the time’s up.”
“Understood. Robin out.” After that, only comfortable silence and protective shadows are what accompanies Talia.
Talia’s Robin uniform has duller colors that the ones her older sibling used to done, all dark grays, blacks and dark red lines, only the inner side of her cape – more like a cloak actually since it also has a hood – is the only part with yellow in it. Her hair is up in a ‘man-bun’, leaving her hidden undercut open to the eye, and her chest plates camouflage her breasts perfectly, giving her Robin a genderless appearance – there are forums in the internet dedicated only to talk about her Robin’s gender, which is equal parts disgusting as it is entertaining –. One of her first conversations with Daniel had been precisely about these forums:
FLASHBACK
“Like, who cares? Robin can and will kick your ass. I mean, I have no proofs but I also have no doubts that Robin can also beat both Red Hood and Red Robin asses in a fight.”
Talia lifts one elegant eyebrow in slight surprise. Not many male teens would make such statement aloud about her alter-ego. “And what makes you think that?” She asks with well-hidden smugness.
“My mom’s younger siblings.” That’s the first time Daniel mentions his uncle and aunt. “My uncle Dan is as big as a brick house, all wide shoulders, thick legs and arms, I bet he can give Batman and Red Hood a run for their money…
“Doubt it but continue.” Talia comments.
“And then there is my aunt Ellie, who barely reaches my mom’s shoulders… anyways, I’ve seen Ellie take down Dan like a wrecking ball to a building, it’s all about technique and swiftness really.”
“So, you’re saying that Robin is faster and has better technique than both Red Hood and Red Robin?” Talia manages to ask as a warmth feeling spreads in her chest.
“Exactly! I mean, The Big Bat and Black Bat are still the top dogs but come on! Robin is easily the third place in hand to hand.”
“What about Nightwing?” Talia finds herself asking, both amusement and curiosity taking the best of her.
“That two-timer? He doesn’t deserve to be part of this list, we talking about Gotham heroes, not Blüdhaven ones.”
And against all odds, Talia laughs.
END FLASHBACK
When Talia comes back from memory lane, she is already on the roof of the building in front of her brand-new boyfriend room’s window. She was expecting to find closed curtains, turn-off lights and a sleeping Daniel, what she finds is still drawn open curtains, turn on black lights and her boyfriend still awake with his laptop on his desk as he seems to be working on something, a weird thing she notices is that the black light makes Daniel’s hair shine white and the blue of his beautiful eyes glow in an eerie ice-blue… then again, her azizi sometimes buys the cheapest products he can find in the internet, so maybe is a secondary effect of this specific black lights.
Note to self: Get Daniel better nightlights. “Why are you still awake, Daniel?” Talia mumbles to herself as she watches the printer next to Daniel’s laptop start spewing a sheet of paper.
When the print is completely out Danny takes it and tenderly smiles at it, he spins a couple of times on the wheels of his desk chair and when he stops Talia gets a full face of her own face softly smiling at the camera. It’s a picture of their earlier walk through the gardens, one of the very few pictures that Daniel managed to take of her while Jason was distracted buying food. Talia watches with burning cheeks as her boyfriend carefully cuts the image with a pair of scissors and finally sticks it on a corkboard. The corkboard has more pictures with her in them; there’s a picture of the first time she and Daniel volunteered in a shelter; the massive Pitbull Daniel had befriended licking him all over while Talia politely covers her treacherous smiling lips. There’s another one from the science fair earlier that year, Talia had offered to take a picture with him because his family couldn’t make it to the event – streets were closed due to an attack from the Riddler –, and of course, the very first picture they took together, the one of that day they had met, Daniel is carrying the back then kittens while Talia only looks at the camera – Daniel’s cellphone – without smiling. From the very first picture back when started their friendship to the very first picture of them dating as romantic partners. Talia feels like soaring right now.
“Thirty minutes up, Robin.” Oracle announces, unmuting the comms.
Talia flinches on her spot at the sudden voice of who she recognizes as her oldest sister. “Yes, Oracle. Thank you.”
“All good?”
“Yes, the zone is safe and calm. I’m going back now.”
“Alright, baby bat. Just remember, one thing is to make sure he is alright and another is pulling a Red Robin.”
“Tt, not funny.” Talia seethes as she shoots her grappling gun and starts to swing back to her usual patrolling area.
“Just a gentle reminder.”
“Unnecessary.” Talia says as she loses herself in the shadows of the city.
_____________________________________________________________
Sunday morning, around nine in the morning, some minutes before breakfast.
“Pennyworth.” Talia calls to her gentle grandfather figure with careful voice. “At what time will you be going to do the grocery shopping?”
“I go do the grocery shopping around mid-day, miss Talia.” The elder gentleman answers. “Why do you ask?”
“Since my date yesterday with Daniel was interrupted, I was thinking on inviting him to the skate park and later maybe have a small picnic.” Talia explains her plans for the day. “I wanted to ask if it was alright with you to give me a ride?”
“Why, but of course, darling. Would you like me to prepare something for the picnic?”
“Actually, I wanted to make the snacks myself. Some simple, like sandwiches and fruit slices.”
“Very well, then. You can use the kitchen after breakfast.”
“Thank you, Pennyworth.”
After that, Talia called Daniel and told him to meet up at the entrance of the skate park around mid-day. Their second date was a lovely thing where Danny taught Talia how to roll-skate since she only knew of the skateboard – she learnt while watching Tim –. Alfred picked them both up from the skate park around three in the afternoon, successfully convincing Danny to allow him take him back to his home.
The following story is based on a prompt I've made. The idea is the same, but the execution is different.
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— Alright Steph, we are all here now, how about you start explaining now? -Barbara said softly, her gaze kind. The rest of the Batfamily watched Steph with a mix of curiosity and subtle concern from their seats around the room.
Stephanie lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the floor as her mind raced. She had always known this day would come —it was almost a miracle she’d managed to keep the secret for as long as she had. But now that the moment was here, she had no idea how to begin explaining it all to them. She stayed silent for a few more seconds, letting out a slow breath before raising her head and running a hand through her hair. Her eyes met the faces of the people around her —not her family by blood, but at this point, they might as well have been.
— Alright, but just for the record, I swear I didn’t mean to keep this a secret from you guys, -She said, her voice tinged with guilt. She lifted a hand to scratch the back of her neck, glancing away.- For this long, anyway.
— So, you did mean to keep this a secret from us, -Damian said, narrowing his eyes at her, his frown deepening
Stephanie flinched at Damian’s words but pushed through.
— Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about this sooner, -She said, her voice steady despite the tension in her shoulders.- But in my defense, it wasn’t any of your business. It was mine, and I had it under control. -She swept her gaze across the room, meeting each of their eyes in turn —Though her gaze lingered on Tim, Bruce, Barbara, and Dick a bit more than the others.- And be honest — if I’d told you all about it at the very start of my vigilante career, can any of you really say you wouldn’t have meddled?
Bruce, Barbara, Dick, and Tim exchanged uncomfortable glances, their silence louder than any admission. Alfred shook his head in exasperation while Selena shook her head with fondness, and Steph couldn’t help but let a small smile tug at her lips. If she had told them and they’d decided to meddle, she knew he would have quietly taken her side —even if both had wanted to meddle themselves; They were one of the rare voices of reason in the house, both were consumed by paranoia and actually knew when to step in and when to let things be.
— Anyway... how about we get back to your explanation? -Barbara said, gently steering the conversation back on track. She unlocked her phone and opened the gallery, turning the screen toward Stephanie.- When did this happen?
The image on the screen was one Barbara had found during her routine security check, making sure nothing dangerous had slipped into their devices. It showed a grinning Danny holding a baby girl —Ellie— who was beaming as she reached for the phone. The caption read: "Look how much fun I’m having, Mommy!"
— It... it happened back when I first started going out to stop my father, -Stephanie said, thinking back about those times.- I met Danny right after I found out the guy I was sort of dating at school was only with me because I was one of the few girls he hadn’t screwed yet.
The room fell into silence like a guillotine blade. The shift in atmosphere was immediate —muscles tensed, jaws clenched, and eyes darkened with barely restrained fury. Even Alfred, the eternal wellspring of calm of the family, had a cold, dangerous glint in his gaze that reminded everyone that he used to work for the secret services back in England.
— And who, -Dick started, his voice dripping with a sweetness so artificial it was venomous.- would this ‘guy’ be? -His smile was so painfully fake it might as well have been carved into his face.- I think I speak for everyone when I say we just want to... talk.
Around the room, heads nodded in grim unison. Damian, Duke, Bruce, Lucius, Alfred, Barbara, Cassandra, Kate, Harper, Selina, and Jason —each one radiating their own brand of barely contained rage in her steed.
— I’m not telling you his name, -Steph said, rolling her eyes, though the slight tremor in her voice betrayed her.- As much as I don’t like him, I don’t want him mysteriously ending up in the hospital over something that happened years ago. Besides, -she added with a smirk,- I kicked him so hard in the nuts he probably still wakes up screaming, so you guys don’t need to get even for me.
— You went too easy on him, Brown, -Damian growled, voice low and brimming with malice.- Scum like that needs to suffer more. Pain is the only language they understand.
— Have to agree with the demon spawn, -Kate muttered, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.- He clearly needs a better lesson in how to treat women like human beings.
— Preach, -Cassandra, Selena, and Harper said in perfect, almost chilling synchronicity.
Their protectiveness genuinely touched Stephanie, but she had a story to finish.