"tell me it was real, because it was real to me."
A small clip animation
Gitm belongs to @venomous-qwille
Hedgehog latte art
hold up let me cook
my LMK apprentice au art 😛
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.”
Continuation of this!
Whelp, Y!Wukong is angry that’s not good. Oh well! ☺️
V!Wukong belongs to @rebeltigera
Y!Wukong belong to me!
Sonic obliviousness is mostly harmless... Until mixed with Omega's blatant honestly
Danny: In our defense... we were on a date when that crazy clown attacked us.
Red Hood: *visibly shaking with glee at the sight of Joker's dead body.*
Batman: *staring at the... there's steam coming off of thr body* What did you use.
Sam: I used the Fentom Anti-Creep Stick.
Tucker: Fenton wrist rays.
Danny: I threw my dad's cooking at him... that's what did it.
In the background, a small screeching glob could be heard as it attempted to make an escape.
Danny: That's supposed to be meatloaf.
small question 🙋 After one of anons took Blind!Mac and put him in jar, did Wukong reacted? Is that anon alive? How is Mac? 🤔
Mac is perfectly content and safe cutting a nap meanwhile V!Wukong takes care of the anon that decided to trap him
Damian wakes up, startled. He doesn't remember what he saw in his dreams, and he is not sure what caused him to feel so anxious, but he knows what to do. The routine is easy and comforting; he just needs to find his brother Jason. So, he goes.
His bare feet against the cold floor is soundless, making no sound, and he keeps rubbing his eyes until he sees one of the doors open. It must be Jason. He always keeps the door of his room open, just in case.
There is a dim light in the room, a small lamp on the desk, where the stakes of paper are stored, and Jason is here, as tall and huge as always, tapping on his feet in an attempt to concentrate, while twirling a pen between his fingers. He is either reading or working on something else: writes down memories, afraid of them slipping away due to the Lazarus Pit hammering in his temples all the time.
Damian yawns and steps closer, tapping on his back.
'Akhi Jason,' he calls hoarsely. The body freezes, almost surprised — he is not supposed to; Jason hears him from the corridor, even if he is the most soundless kid in the whole world. 'I want to sleep.'
He never says he sees nightmares or that he is scared — just that. It always works.
Expect, this time it doesn't.
'What did you say?' Brother asks, his voice sounding so unusually stiff.
'Jason,' he repeats, more irritated this time. 'I said, I want to—'
When Jason turns around, Damian instinctively staggers back, his eyes widening.
The man in front of him is not Jason.
And for a second, Damian is panicking, until-
Until he doesn't remind himself that he is not home anymore. He is in the Wayne Manor, with his father.
With his father that looks exactly like his brother, only older, without scars, marring his face, and without a white streak that makes him look like a bird.
'Damian,' his father calls, slightly shaken. 'How do you know Jason?'
He swallows down. He is not supposed to tell about his brother. They instructed him not to.
But father has a familiar desperation in his eyes, the same one Jason had, when he was pacing around the room, muttering something incoherent, the cut out from newsletters photos of Bruce Wayne with Tim Drake in his hands, and-
And Damian shrugs.
'He is my brother,' he says, almost too innocently; because if he is going to be clueless about it, then what others will have to tell him? 'He stayed with a grandfather. It is a shame.'
Almost as if he doesn't understand what all of this implies.
'I was sleepy,' he adds. 'And got confused. My apologises, father. I shall return to my bedroom.'
Bruce stares, stares, and stares. And then, rubs his face with his hands, exhausted.
'I'll tuck you in. Let's go,' and a second later, with his voice sounding so familiarly small, just like how Jason's sounded when he first acknowledged him as his brother, he adds: 'Can you tell me more about your brother, Damian?'
And Damian tells him, of course.
He is not surprised to see the result of his work the next week.