so i actually have like 20 ship doodles that i made around 3-4 weeks ago on paper that i kept in a digital file and they’re just. laying there. waiting to be completed but itll never happen
ill never finish this one drawing but it’s cute and also one of my very few ship arts that isn’t tied into some gross surreal absurdist humor.
maybe someone else could complete it for me… who knows.. give it ur best shot
edit: yes you’re free to finish the pic if you want, send it to me when ur done
A/N: This is an edit of an old upload I immediately deleted from my Tumblr account. I looked back at it and realized it was horrible and I edited it. So, here’s the final. :)
A/N: Man my style has improved, yay for me! Oh, and this drawing is based off an unpublished AU of mine when Danny is immortal and has to erase his memory every 90 years.
(The AU is down below under the cut.)
Okay, AU time!
So Danny in this AU has to erase his memories every 90 years in order to not go senile or crazy and lose it. He terminates all his records and everything about him. Even school papers. In addition, he’s stuck at the age of 17. I find it would be interesting if he kept at a young age. Too young to get a good job.Tehe.
With the memory erases he doesn’t erase combat and basic needs (Including muscle memory). For example, what he learned in school and why he did a memory erase and when to do one isn’t erased. So pretty much he just erases anyone he’s ever known and his experiences. Like if he had sex in two different memory erases, the second would be his ‘first time’.
Danny practically starts a new life with each memory erase… But that’s the point.
Also, after each memory erase Danny freaks out at the vivisection scar on his body, he doesn’t remember when it happened or how he got it, he cries every time he ‘first’ sees it, and it always haunts him even if he doesn’t remember getting it. He feels really kept in the dark his whole life from his past unknown experiences.
Oh and after 20 years into one of his first memory erase’s he meets Vlad again, but Danny doesn’t remember him. And yes, Vlad is immortal too, he’s just less traumatized so it’s easier for him to continue without a brain wipe.
So I don’t know, I may write a one shot on this AU. Anyway, Thank you for reading my author’s note! Have a good day.
No, this evaluation is not about what drawing style is correct/incorrect. More like, the style that makes me feel more comfortable having— after years of searching & experiments. Idk if I’m going to change my art style in the future. But this is all for now.
Bunny Phantom is included as example because they uwu
More Danny Phantom art! This time with Dani! I always thought Dani was really cool but I haaated certain aspects of her design, what with her crop top and super skinny waist/wide hips combo even though she was supposed to be twelve. It’s bad, y’all! I also wished that she and Danny got to hang out more. Before she goes travelling the world she needed to spend time with a family that didn’t want to use her for evil. Not being used for evil is important for childhood development; pretty sure I read that somewhere. Also it’s been forever since I’ve seen the show but did she get goop powers once she stabilized? Because it makes sense that she have goop powers and that should have happened if it didn’t. 1) Dani and Danny hanging out, catching up on the newest ghost gossip probably, and Dani has a slightly different version of Danny’s costume. 2) Training! These costumes are based on a design that @coffeecakecafe made that I love a lot. They should have hoods! Maddie and Jack’s suits have hoods! Oh and @coffeecakecafe draws my favorite “Dani is part of the Fenton family” pics ever, seriously they are precious.
There are lots of different ways to do pokemon aus and this one is just It’s Danny Phantom and Also There are Pokemon.
1) Danny’s starter was a Gastly and now it’s a Gengar and his main heavy hitter. It’s shiny so when it mega evolves it turns white just like Danny going ghost.
2) Girafarig is two halves in one! Nincada evolves into Ninjask, but if you have an empty spot on your team when that happens then you also get it’s empty husk, Shedinja, so they’re the alive and dead versions of Nincada. Symbolism!
3) Some more good ghost types that I thought would fit. Mimikyu just wants to be loved and accepted and Galar Corsola is just kind of fucked up haha; coral reefs that get bleached white due to rising ocean temperatures are called ghost reefs.
These were fun! I’ve been real nostalgic for Danny Phantom lately and everything is good as a Pokemon au, so here you go lol. I have more planned for an extended series so hopefully I can keep this momentum going.
Danny stared up at the looming brick house in front of him. It seemed nothing like he remembered it, and yet it was exactly the same.
He looked down at the memory container Vlad gave him.
“M’gann? Can you do me a favor?” Danny asked without looking up.
“Sure, what is it?” M’gann asked as she floated forward.
“Can you… look into their minds? Tell me if they’re happy?”
M’gann looked confused for a second, glancing back to the team, only to get clueless shrugs in return.
“Sure..?”
M’gann rose a bit in the air, holding out her hands and allowing her eyes to glow.
“They’re…. watching a movie…. It’s something about… fudge?” M’gann’s eyes scrunched and the glow faded as she lowered her hands, “Yes, they seem happy. Why did you want me to look?”
“I don’t think I can do this. Tell them, I mean.”
“Are you scared of them? Do we need to-?“ Robin started, looking pointedly at the ‘Fenton Ghost Hunters’ sign above them.
“No!” Phantom said immediately with a frantic wave of his hands, “No, nothing like that. I know that they’d accept me. I’ve seen them do it again and again in parallel universes and timelines. That’s not the problem.”
“I’m sorry you’ve what?” Wally said, then flinched when Artemis elbowed him.
“Not the time, Baywatch.”
“So then what is the problem, Phantom? You are their son, surely there is nothing to be worried about,” Aqualad said.
Danny sighed, “I know it’s bad that Vlad took their memory of me but… How can I make them remember me, just to tell them their only son is dead?” Danny looked up for a moment, “How could I do that to them?” He dropped his gaze again.
“Phantom, they are your parents. Of course they want you in their lives.”
“But I wouldn’t be. You heard M’gann, they’re happy like this. Thinking they only have one kid, who’s safe away at college.. How could I make them worry about me, knowing that even when I come back from missions, even when I am here, I’m not even alive anymore?” Phantom shook his head, “No. I can’t do that to them. I’d be haunting them. It wouldn’t be a blessing, it’d be a nightmare.”
Artemis looked at the others of the team, all speechless and contemplative. She stepped forward, “It’s your decision, Danny. We’re not going to force you to do anything. Whatever you decide.”
Danny lowered the memory box and turned away from the house, “I’m a ghost now, guys. Ghosts don’t have families.” He walked towards the camouflaged Bioship.
Danny paused and looked back when a hand was set on his shoulder, it was Kid Flash.
“No matter what man, you’ve got us. And we’re a family all on our own,” Wally said with a bright smile. Danny saw the rest of the team nodding behind him as well.
“Of course, Wally,” He gave a soft smile back, “How could I forget that?”
And as the Bioship flies away, Danny catches one last glimpse of two bright jumpsuits running outside with glowing scanners looking around frantically. Soon enough they are no more visible than a couple of trees.
“Goodbye Mom. Bye, Dad.”
——
When they get back to the Cave in Happy Harbor, Batman orders a full debrief.
Only problem?
He wants it on the Watchtower. Apparently a few of the other leaguers had been brought into the discussion. And a few more were part of the newly ongoing investigation into the GIW.
This included John Constantine as an expert on paranormal entities and laws. Batman would do whatever he could to keep that man contained to one league base at a time.
The only reason having this debrief on the Watchtower was an issue at all was because of the Zeta Tubes.
Mainly that Danny had taken three steps towards them before freezing in place -literally- and going oddly translucent.
His face paled and his eyes glazed as he backed up, eyeing the Zeta with warily flickering eyes.
“Phant-Danny? What’s wrong?”
“I- the portal- I can’t- it looks like-“ A caged look of panic flits across Danny’s face.
“Looks like what?” Batman rumbles.
“It looks like the portal that killed me,” Danny is shaking now, legs gone and spectral tail jittering below him.
“What portal-?”
And I hate to say this guys, but this Fic is officially moving off of Tumblr.
Read any (future, past or present) chapters here on Ao3: Including the rest of this chapter!
But there is simply not enough engagement on here for me to keep posting it as an individual. Don’t worry, it’s not getting discontinued, I’m just only gonna post it in one place. I think most of y'all are reading it on Ao3 by now anyways.
I’m not gonna take down past uploads though, just not gonna make new ones for every chapter. Have fun and hope you enjoy the new chapter!
“Hey Sam?? Hey Sam!? That’s the best you’ve got!?” The girl- evidently Sam- screeches. “You go missing for almost a year and all you have to say is ‘Hey, Sam?!’ Danny, you better-!” The yell is punctuated by another flying combat boot.
This one hits him directly in the chest with an oompf.
Surprisingly, his wound doesn’t flare up too badly.
“Hey, if it helps, I didn’t know how long I was gone for- you’re-you’re out of shoes, Sam,”
Sam reaches for her sock with a glare and stomps over to smack him with it, “I can’t believe you! I should thermos you for this!”
The rest of Phantom’s team looks on warily as their teammate gets beat by a goth-with-a-sock.
“Hey.. Danny, uh… you good, man?
“Oh he’s fine, Sam’s spent the whole time since he got back preparing for this.”
They turn to see Tucker behind them, propped up on his crutches and looking very nonchalant about his injured friend getting beat up.
“Don’t forget to scold him for getting hit by a blaster in the fight!” He shouts, just as Sam looked like she was calming down.
“You did WHAT!“ she screeches and goes back to slapping a slightly cowering Danny with her sock, now berating him for endangering himself.
“Ahhh, sweet revenge,” Tucker sighs with mischievous smirk, “We should probably head inside though, Superboy and Miss Martian have been waiting for you guys.”
Aqualad hesitates for a second, glancing between the door and his teammate, “Err, of course, lead the way.”
As Tucker lead them back into the school’s basement, Robin got a glimpse of a very irate goth dragging Danny by the ear through the hallway.
“I’m patching up that wound whether you like it or not Danny!”
They all ignored Danny’s silent plea of help as he disappeared around the corner. Shouldn’t of gotten injured then, Robin thought. If Sam hadn’t done it, he was sure one of the Team would’ve had to eventually.
Robin turned back around, surprised to see they were already at the repurposed basement office. Tucker could really move on those crutches.
M’gann and Superboy were waiting for them, and after exchanging details and what’d happened, they were finally able to start winding down.
“So why is this place so empty now? All of you guys got out okay right?” Wally asked and bit down on a snack he’d ‘found’ on the way.
“Pff, yeah,” Tucker waved him off, “But we’re still highschoolers, dude, it’s a school night. My parents are used to me doing my own thing, they trust me, and it’s not like Sam is going to talk to her parents more than she has to. The rest of the kids… they tend to head back home when it gets late, plus there’s Vlad’s curfew to worry about these days.”
“What about Red Huntress and Dani, the girl Danny that is, where are they?” Artemis asks as she slumps into an abandoned roller desk chair.
“Oh yeah, Huntress’s dad is pretty strict about her superhero/ghost hunting time. And most days she just lets Danielle crash with her,” Tucker says with a wave of his hand, “Don’t be surprised if you don’t see Red Huntress a lot the next few days though. She stayed out late for this and I just know she got caught sneaking back in.”
“For someone who both fights and works with ghosts all the time you’d think she’d be sneakier,” Sam said as she entered, a bandaged Danny behind her. Neither looked too worse for wear, as Danny’s wound had shrunk significantly. Though Sam’s combat boots still hadn’t been retied.
“We ready to leave?” Tucker asked her, already preparing to grab his crutches.
“Leave?” Aqualad said with a puzzled look on his face, “Where are we going?”
“What? You guys didn’t seriously think we were about to let a group of actual superheroes sleep on the floor of our highschool basement did you?” Tucker asked with a smirk.
“Yes! Bioship would love to look around!” M’gann said and clapped her hands with a smile.
“What’s a ‘Bioship’?” Tucker said with a blank star.
“You’ll see, I just called her to us! Come on, let’s meet her outside. Where can she land?”
“Uhhh… the football field, maybe?”
Minutes later, they were all standing in the only-slightly-ghost-damaged football field. Tucker in the back after almost losing a crutch to the muddy turf.
The air moved around them as Bioship faded into sight. M’gann was flying up to it with a smile and pats to give before it had even touched the ground.
“I’m in love,” Tucker said, staring up at the sentient piece of technology in front of him.
“Wait ‘till you get on,” Superboy chuckled, walking past and slapping Tucker on the back.
Tucker stabilized himself fast and then rushed to get up the ramp before the rest of the team.
They all went in after him with a good natured smile as M’gann worked on answering all of Tucker’s questions and explaining what Bioship was.
Sam raised an eyebrow as she entered, “Isn’t it unethical to force an entire species to work for you? Just because they can be ships, does that mean they want to?” Sam asked, getting harsher, “Are Bioships enslaved?”
M’gann looked panicked, “No, no it’s nothing like that! We have a telepathic bond, Bioship has been in my family for hundreds of years!”
“Did you steal her from their birth then?! Do Bioships have rights on Mars-?! Ah!” Sam tripped over a suspiciously new bump on the floor, accompanied by angered beeping.
“Heh heh, Saaam let’s not anger the sentient ship we depend on for missions please,” Danny said with a tense smile, “There, there Bioship, no harm done.” He patted the side hesitantly then hurried Sam forward to a chair before she could say anything else.
Once M’gann had been assured that she wasn’t forcing Bioship to do anything, they were able to liftoff with Tucker directing them.
“Where are we going exactly?” Artemis asked.
Sam smiled sharply, “My house.”
“And… are your parents okay with that?”
“Hell no. That’s why I’m doing it. Viva la Goth Revolution! No authority controls me!” Sam punched the air.
Tucker rolled his eyes and turned back around, “She’s got authority issues, but yeah, her parents won’t even notice with how big her house is.”
“I resent that remark Tucker.”
“Noted and ignored, Sam.”
Sam scoffed as the conversation up front moved on. She looks to Danny in the seat next to her and smirks.
“So Danny, what’d he tell you about how he got the crutches?” Sam asks as the voices settle into background noise.
“Uhh..Something about bravery and a rescue mission?” He says with a quirk of his head.
“Pff, rescue mission,” Sam rolls her eyes, then smirks and leans in conspiratorially, “Vlad stole his PDA so he couldn’t use it against Skulker. He got injured getting it back.”
Danny blinks.
“That makes… a lot more sense, actually.” Danny shakes his head with a smile, looking forward as he watches his friend direct the superhero team to Sam’s mansion.
“I missed this,” Danny lets his hands fall to the side, linking his pinky with Sam’s between their chairs, “Missed you..”
“I missed you, too, Danny. I’m glad you’re back.”
Danny smiles gently, “It’s good to be back Sam,” he sighs regretfully at having to break their moment, “But I have something I have to tell you.”
“We’re here!” Tucker calls, prompting M’gann to lower the Bioship and let them all out.
Sam looks back at him, “Tell me later, let’s catch up with the others,” she says, already halfway out the door.
“Err.. yeah, of course. Later.” He hops out of the Bioship and follows her to where Tucker has already let the team inside the back door.
Well,one of the back doors.
“Sam, you’re sure it’s fine for us to stay here tonight?”
Sam scoffs, “I do what I want,” She says and breezes past them. She leads them down a long hallway to a massive theater. The floor is scattered with beanbags, lounge chairs and a fully-stocked snack bar in the far corner.
Well. Used to be fully-stocked. It looked like Wally was already halfway through most of it.
“Blaaggh!!” Wally shouts with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, “What are these chips?!! They taste like feet!” He wipes off his tongue, and holds the bag away from him like it’s toxic.
Sam storms up and snatches the bag, “I’ll have you know these are all-vegan-naturally-source kale-based almond milk Himalayan potato chips!”
“Potato chips are already vegan! It’s potato and salt!” Wally shouts again, “These taste like ground up grass and paper!”
“I only let my parents stock with vegan foods, Kid Flash, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it. Save some animals while eating instead of exploiting them.”
Wally narrows his eyes like that was a challenge, “I have no problem with eating vegan if it tastes good, but when it comes to after-mission food…” He zips out of the room, then shows back up in 5 seconds with a stack of pizzas, “Animals are the way to go!”
Wally displays the pizza boxes on the counter, swiping the offending chip bag to the floor, “I’ve got meat-lovers, meat lovers deluxe, pepperoni, the bacon-crazy special, 3 cheese for simplicity, and just cuz I’m nice, “ he flips open the last box, “a veggie pizza.”
Wally makes an exaggerated bow, “Your Welcome.”
Sam scowls but takes a slice of the veggie pizza anyways. The vegan cheese is actually… kinda good.
“Where’d you even get these? No pizza place in Amity makes vegan cheese, and certainly none that would risk staying open after Vlad’s curfew,” she asks.
Wally swallows the last of his first box before answering, “Chicago.”
Tucker chokes on his slice before nodding appraisingly at the slice of meat-lovers deluxe, “I thought this looked like ribeye.”
Everyone grabs food and starts to wind down, taking a second to breathe for the first time in what seemed like forever for the team.
Tucker glances at Danny sitting exhausted on the floor by the entrance, no food in hand. He grabs a slice of cheese by the corner of his teeth and hobbles over.
Once close enough, he grabs the pizza with his hand hits Danny’s foot with a crutch, waving the pizza in front of Danny’s face, “Not feeling the teenage turtle fuel?”
Danny shrugs, taking the slice but staring down at it instead of eating.
Tucker sets down the crutches and joins him on the floor.
After a moment of silence, “I don’t even know if I need to eat anymore.”
“Well… what’s the worst that can happen? You think ghosts can get food poisoning from human food?”
Danny stares for a second before a laugh bursts out of him, “I guess not, man!”
He chomps down on the pizza happily, “I forgot how good Pizza was, oh my god! Even if I don’t have to eat, I’m definitely not giving this up again.”
As Danny ate and Tucker finished his own slice, the two fell into comfortable silence once again.
Tucker took a deep breath, “You know you’re gonna have to tell her eventually, right? She has to know,” Tucker said quietly, looking at his pizza instead of either of his friends.
“I know. It’s just… she’s gonna blame herself y’know. And she shouldn’t. But I don’t want to do that to her.”
“It’s gonna be worse if you don’t tell her and then leave her wondering why you never came back.”
Phantom whips his head up to look at Tucker, “I never said I wasn’t coming back, I swear-“
“Relax man, I can see it in your eyes,” Tucker says calmly, watching Phantom as he reluctantly lets the tension drain out of him in regret.
“I can see the way you are with them, and I know that you think that you have nothing left here ‘cuz you’re like.. this,” he gestures at the phantom form, “But you’ve always got me. And Sam. Here, or anywhere. And that’s why you have to tell her you’re not a halfa anymore, Danny. So when you leave, she knowswhy,”
Danny sighs heavily and stands up, hovering slightly, “No time like the present, right?”
Tucker gives him an ‘It is what it is’ look as Danny lifts him up from the floor. He shrugs, then turns and walks towards the rest of the group. Towards Sam.
“Yeah.. no time like the present to tell the girl you lik- I mean, your friend-, that you’re dead and also that you might probably be leaving. Forever. No big deal. Heh,” Danny looks up to see Sam walking over to him, “Big deal, big deal, big deal, big- HeySam..!” He rubs his neck nervously, voice cracking like he’s still 13.
“Hey… Danny..,” Sam narrows her eyes, “Tucker said you had something to tell me?”
“Heh. Yeah. Um Listen, so uh-“ He glances over at the team-his team-his new team, still in the room and almost flinches.
“Uh let’s go in another room. It’s a bit… sensitive.”
Sam narrows her eyes again but gestures for him to lead the way and follows him out.
Over by the team, everyone else looks on with confusion, “What was that about?”
Tucker grimaces, “He has to tell her something, something that she’s definitely not gonna want to hear.”
“Trying to make him rip the bandaid off?”
“Danny has legendary procrastination skills, I mean, he procrastinated death, so if I don’t make him do it, he’ll just never do it. Avoid it to the day he lives, I guess,” Tucker says with a shrug. Superboy snorts at the dark humor.
“What?? It’s kinda funny,” he defends as the team rolls their eyes.
Good to know gallows humor was what SB found funny, it least he’d finally found something that’d make him laugh.
The sounds of muffled yelling seeps in from the hall-
“-No Danny, I refuse to believe it!,” Sam yells as she slams open the door they’d left through, stomping into the main room, “You’re not dead, you’re just stuck. It’s from the GiW or Vlad or one of your parent’s inventions or-“
“I’m not, Sam, I swear, I’m not. I’ve tried changing, I’m telling you it’s real this time,” He says, chasing after her.
“No,it’snot. There’s no way, you can’t be.. be..” Sam falters and then pulls back, “because if you are then that means that I…I…- and I can’t,” She resumes stomping away from him.
“It’s not your fault, Sam-“
“You’re right, because you’re not dead, okay? You can’t be, because you’re just stuck, and you’re not leaving and we can fix this, we can go to Desiree or- or-“
“I’M NOT STUCK!” Danny yells.
The sheer desperation in his voice forces Sam to freeze and stop running from him, “I’m not stuck, Sam! I’m dead! Really, fully 100% dead this time!”
“But-“
“I have a lair!” He shouts, chest heaving.
The declaration makes something change in Sam’s body language. Even Tucker seems to flinch away from it.
“I have a lair! In the ghost zone! And you and I both know a ghost only gets a lair when they die! Vlad doesn’t have one. Dani doesn’t either. And I’m telling you it’s mine. There’s no getting away from this Sam, we have to face it.”
Sam’s face starts to crumple, the absoluteness of it setting in, “Danny, I-” she says, her voice breaking.
Tucker quickly tries to usher the team away from looking.
“What- what are you doing Tucker?”
“Trying to prevent mass injury,” He pushes them more forcefully, “Sam really hates, like really hates crying in front of people and she will absolutely curb-stomp you with steel-toed boots if she knows you saw. God forbid if you mention it.” He looks wistfully to the sky, “Godspeed little Wayne Industries PDA 7.0, wrecked by vengeful goths.”
“You know, you don’t have to act like this isn’t bothering you,” M’gann says softly, looking down.
Everyone goes still.
“Whaat…?? Nooo….,” Tucker refutes it, then sags in resignation, looking weary, “You didn’t like read my mind for that or anything did you?”
M’gann shakes her head vigorously, “I would never! It’s just… all of you, this whole town even, it’s- sometimes your emotions are so strong I feel like I’m wading through an ocean. Everything’s… bigger, stronger, I guess,” M’gann explains, then adds, “Besides, it doesn’t take a psychic to know a best friend like you will grieve someone like Phantom- like Danny.”
Tucker looks over his shoulder at Danny and Sam, “I feel like I shouldn’t though. I mean, it’s not as if this is all that a big a change, he was already halfway there, and it’s not like we ever-“ He sniffles, “Ugh…,” Tucker groans, pulling his beret over his head to hide his face, “I hate crying in front of people, too… this whole thing sucks.”
“That it does, my friend, but none of us will fault you for wanting to be with your friend, even if he is not truly gone.” Aqualad says gently.
Tucker peeks out at him warily, then looks to his friends again. He sighs and turns towards them, leaving the Team behind to hug his best friend.
The team stands there silently, trying not to let the awkwardness get to them as they look away.
“Anybody else feel at least just a little bit weird that we’ve only know Phantom since he’s been dead?” Robin pipes in, “No? Just me? Okay then.”
Aqualad looks down and sighs, “I think it will always feel weird when friends have a life without us in it,” he says with regret.
Oh my gosh, y’know what I just realized? I never posted the full, rewritten first chapter to here. This is mostly so I can link it from future chapters within giving away the major spoilers that were in the drabble idea I originally posted that became the first chapter:
The team has been together for a while now, and they’d thought they’d finally figured out how to live together.
That was, apparently, not the case.
At first it’s small things, a moved object or a TV left on even when everyone swears they turned it off.
Then, they start forgetting to call out their shots. Batman gives them extra training, it makes them more efficient, everyone works even better together.
And yet somehow… Robin will still turn around and find an enemy knocked out behind him that nobody will admit to taking down.
Like, he’s glad they’re watching each other’s backs, but let a guy know when he’s getting snuck up on, I mean, really!
Then the pranks start. Well… they start getting bolder.
Robin has his money on Wally doing it, if only because he can never catch them on camera. Next on the suspect list is M’gann, maybe she thinks it’s an earth thing, but there was no other way to get into his room without phasing through it.
Of course, everyone else thinks it’s him. And yes, Robin has pulled his fair share of bat pranks, but why would he purposefully freeze the water heater? It makes no sense, but nobody’s fessing up to any of it.
And despite their mentors best efforts, the relentless pranking starts to turn the team against each other. Somebody has to take responsibility, even Aqualad is sick of the extra training.
The last straw is apparently when Artemis’ entire quiver gets filled with sand and mud. Wally laughs at the sight of Artemis stomping into the main room covered in drying mud cement.
Her eyes zero in on him, “This was you wasn’t it, Kid Mouth?!” Artemis shouts as she shakes the dirty quiver at him.
“Hey! That’s beach sand, so maybe you should ask Fishboy before you start pointing fingers at me!” Wally points harshly as Aqualad enters the room.
“I told you before Wally, I was not the one to soak your suit with saltwater!” Aqualad says with a scoff, obviously sick of repeating it.
“Oh yeah, then who did? Some other water controlling teammate?”
“Perhaps you should ask your own best friend, after all, Robin still hasn’t apologized for-“
“I told you I didn’t do it, Kaldur! Just like I didn’t hack the training bots or the oven just to burn M’gann’s cookies!”
M’gann raises her head from behind the couch indignantly, “Nobody else could’ve done it, Robin! You’re the only one with computer skills-“
“Oh, and you’re the only one who could’ve phased into my room and rearranged everything but you don’t see me coming after you for that, M’gann!”
“Anymore! You blamed me for the flying stuff too!”
The team devolved into arguing, everybody blaming everybody else for increasing ridiculous ‘pranks.’
The shouts are interrupted by an echo of ominous laughter through the cave.
“Robin, quit being creepy!”
“It’s not me this time, I swear!” Robin says with his hands up.
The laughter continued.
Now able to tell that Robin was definitely not the one doing it, the team makes eye contact with each other.
Someoneelse was doing it.
Someone was in the cave.
More laughter echoes through the cave, and the team members are quick to arm themselves, gathering into a tight circle, back to back.
“Who’s there!”
Robin discreetly sends a distress beacon to Batman. One word: Intruder.
“Show yourself!”
More laughter, mixed in with the echos,
“BOO!” Something appears and shouts into Robins face.
He leaps back, brandishing a batarang at the… boy?
The boy in question just rocks backward in the air, laughing. He points at Robin, “You should’ve seen your face!!” He laughs.
He seems to ignore or not notice the several weapons pointed at him.
“Who are you!? How did you get in here!?”
The boy sobered instantly, “Who am I? Who am I!?” His voice grows louder as his eyes glow and he rises higher off the ground, his white hair whipping in an imaginary wind, “I am the Spectral Spectator! The preternatural prankster! I am… Phantom!” His words boom across the room from where he looks down on them. Then suddenly he drops right back in front of team, “Sup guys, the name’s Phantom, I’m a ghost and I’ve been pranking you for the last 3 months,” He laughs again, holding his middle and cackling.
“That was you?!” They shout incredulously.
“Of course! What? I thought we bonded when I painted all your masks pink. Or did you think that just happened naturally?” He flips upside down with that stupid smile still on his face.
[Batman - 02]
The whole room freezes as the team turns to the zeta tubes.
Batman appears, already in a battle stance, though pauses when he sees nobody fighting.
“Robin! Why did you call me?!” He shouts, an edge to his tone.
Robin’s brow furrows, “Because of-“ he looks behind him, only to see an empty space, “Where’d he go?!”
The rest of the team whips their heads around, equally surprised to see the empty space behind them.
Robin looks back to Batman, who’s gotten closer.
He spots a shimmer of light behind Batman as Phantom flickers into view.
“Phantom don’t-!” He reaches out to stop him-
It’s too late, Phantom taps Batman on the shoulder with a grin, only to get his hand yanked when Batman throws him over his shoulder.
Instead of hitting the ground though, he goes through, disappearing.
“Who was that?” Batman barks at the team.
“Phantom. He’s… a ghost? We don’t really know.” Robin answers carefully.
Wally scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Ghosts don’t exist, Rob. They’re not real.”
Robin opens his mouth with a retort, Aqualad steps forward to cut off the argument, “Either way, it does not seem to wish us harm… but it did admit to pranking us throughout these last few months.”
Superboy growls, “Which we got extra training because of,”
“Team. If this entity is responsible for the pranks, how long has it been following you and known about the cave? Are other locations compromised?”
The team stays silent, aside from a covered snicker from Robin and KF. Their eyes glued to the space in air above Batman.
He looks up to find the entity- Phantom- floating above him with a grin and mimicking his cowl with two fingers on his head.
Phantom grins, “Are any other locations compromised,” he says with a over-deepened voice and a fake, mocking scowl, “I’m Batman, I eat gravel for breakfast and have never experienced human joy,” he bobs his head back and forth with the joke.
He finally breaks character, falling back in the air laughing.
Batman throws a batarang-net at him, surprised as it goes through and falls to the floor harmlessly.
This could be more dangerous than expected.
“Dude, that was kind of rude! I’m just having fun!”
“Did he just call Batman dude???“ Artemis whispers incredulously to M’gann.
She shrugs helplessly but flys up to meet Phantom in the air regardless.
“Miss Martian, get back, he could be dangerous!”
The figure laughs, “I mean, I’m killer with a water balloon but don’t give me too much credit,” he grins and waves at M’gann as she gets close.
“Hello…” She hesitantly waves back, “Are you.. going to try to hurt us?”
Phantoms smile drops, and confusion replacing his mirth, “Why would I? I mean, I’ve been protecting you just as much as I prank you, why would I try to hurt anybody?” He says it as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him at all. As if, even though he’d basically broken into a secure and secret base, he’d never even considered using the opportunity to do anything but harmless pranks.
“Wait,you’ve been protecting us? Are you the one taking the snipe shots that no one calls out on missions?!” Artemis shouts with realization.
“The very one,” the kid preens with a smile.
“Why?” Batman asks, though it sounds like an order even with only one word.
Phantom rolls his eyes and lowers himself closer to the ground, “Gah, so serious, you need a laugh bat guy. I dunno,” Phantom shrugs, “Just felt right. I saw them in danger, and I didn’t want anybody to get hurt, so I protected them.”
Batman raises an eyebrow that makes Phantom shrink under its scrutiny.
“It felt right and it helps me remember, well a little bit, at least now I know I was a hero before,”
“Before? What do you mean, remember?” Batman asks, interrogation in his tone.
Phantom looks at Batman like he’s asked an obviously stupid question, “Yeah, I mean, I’m a ghost, but it’s not like I remember who I was before I died.”
–
Despite his unorthodox introduction, Phantom settles into the team with incredible ease.
On missions, he’s the first line of infiltration, with invisibility and intangibility that outrank even Robin’s skills. Nothing they’ve come across seems to be able to stop him.
That alone should be worrying, if it wasn’t so overshadowed by his steadfast persistence to protect everyone he can.
Civilians, teammates, senior heroes even.
When a mission- inevitably- goes wrong, Phantom is usually found flying above, taking shots that cover a teammate’s blind spot or protecting them from behind.
They do have to have a couple talks with him about self-sacrificing, but the reaction to jump in front of danger for his friends, it’s almost instinctual.
At least, that’s what he tells Black Canary. Even after several sessions with her, he can’t remember anything new. The team could almost believe that he’ll never remember more.
Almost.
It was just…
Sometimes Robin would hack into something particularly hard, and Phantom will reflexively say, “good one Tucker!,” or, “nice job, Tuck!” as if standing on the tip of a new memory.
They assume Tuck and Tucker are the same person, but no one on the team is really sure, none of them know a Tucker. And when asked about it, neither does Phantom. He just looks confused for a second and then moves on like they’d said nothing at all.
Unbeknownst to everyone but himself and Batman, Robin keeps a record of these instances. Along with a collection of times Phantom’s started an enthusiastic story about a ‘Jazz’, or even occasionally his parents, before suddenly losing his focus and moving on.
Once, during a lull in available missions, Phantom had followed Meghan to school.
He’d seen some goth kid in the hallway and started to yell something starting with S, then vanished.
They didn’t see him for a few days that time.
And when he came back, he wasn’t… completely.. there.
That’s something else the team’s learned about Phantom’s habits.
Sometimes they’ll find him just floating around the cave, vaguely fading from room to room, or pacing high in the air above the main room.
M’gann tried to reach him once like that, early in their friendship.
Her hand went right through him, like he wasn’t there at all.
Occasionally, and only at its worst, he’ll mutter something under his breath.
“I wasn’t fast enough.”
“I shouldn’t have cheated.”
“I can’t be late for school, not again.”
“I want to be an astronaut when I’m older.”
It reminds them all what Phantom really is. Just a dead kid. A dead civilian kid at that. A failure of what they’re trying to protect.
And it’s because of this that Robin keeps a record of everything Phantom says.
Because maybe, if they write everything down, they’ll be able to find a pattern, maybe, if they write everything down, they’ll be able to find who Phantom was, maybe they’ll be able to find what killed him. Maybe they can help him move on.
Damian stared at his inbox. There was an impossible email, addressed to him, in his inbox
Addressed to DamianinRobin’semail.
If this was a prank from one of his insipid teammates, Damian was going to eviscerate them.
Damian clicked on the email.
There were barely 3 lines of text, not even 20 words total.
And yet, 3 lines of text and a singular sign-off brought Damian’s world crashing down around him.
To: Robin encryption-B01
From: unknown
Damain, I’m alive.
Mother has found me.
Would our Father help me?
-Gemini
——
Chapter 2:
After fighting back and forth on if it was even worth it to reply, he settles on something small.
How?-is it really you?-
What happened?
Of course he would. What do you need?
There are few that even know of his existence.
Fewer still who would try it, try to claim to be his brother.
And there’s only one who ever called them Gemini.
“Danyal, we’re not Gemini, we were born in January. And anyways, the stars have no effect on our strength, nor our abilities as an opponent.”
“But we’re twins. So that makes us both Gemini. It can be like our secret name for each other.”
Gemini, the sign of twins. Histwin.
But then how??
A knock sounds on his door. Damian whips his head up.
“Damian, it’s time for patrol.” Grayson’s voice sounds through the wood.
Patrol. Of course.
He was patrolling with his father tonight. Not just his.
Danyal’s too.
He had to know.
“I will be down shortly.”
——
Damian entered the Batcave, stepping down from the last step with a slight sound.
It was enough that both Tim and Dick looked over in confusion.
Damian ignored them, staring resolutely at his father in the suit in front of the batcomputer.
Once he was within a few feet he steeled himself and cleared his throat, “Father.”
Bruce turned around, looking down to see Damian and then glancing around confused.
“Damian..? Why aren’t you dressed? I want to leave soon, there’s been trouble at the south side and I-“
“I have an issue I believe I need to share with you.” Damian interrupted.
Bruce shut his mouth with a click and Damian could hear as both Drake and Richard’s eyes bored into the back of his head.
Damiannever interrupted Bruce.
He clasped his hands behind his back in a rather desperate attempt to stop them shaking.
“Of course, what’s wrong?”
Damian paused, took a deep breath, tried to convince himself of the inevitability and then blurted out, “I have a brother.”
“Aww, Dami, you’re finally calling us your broth-“
“No.” Damian cut Richard off sharply, “From the league. I have a brother from the league.”
“..What?” Bruce’s voice came out thick, strangled by an emotion either anger or something stronger.
“He is- was- I- I believed he was dead.”
Bruce’s fists clench and he almost growls out, “Explain, Damian. Now.”
Damian allows himself to go numb to explain it without wavering, “We were twins. Grandfath- Ra’s had no use for both of us. When we began to advance in training individually and stagnate as a pair… We fought.” He paused and forced the words out, “To the death.”
“I won. And Danyal…”
“Didn’t,” Richard finishes for him.
Damian twitches forward but hesitates as his father nearly drops himself to one knee, supporting himself on the chair next to him.
“Danyal…” His father says despondently, “I had another son… named Danyal.. and she took him from me… Again.”
Richard is already next to him reaching out.
“Perhaps not.” Damian whispers.
Both of their heads snap to him. “What?”
“I have been… contacted..by someone claiming to be Danyal. He says Mother has found him and…” Damian grows unsure, “He asked if you would be able, be willing to help.”
“He’s alive? You’re sure it’s him?”
“He used a code I’ve never shared with anyone else and that no one else in the league knew.”
“How can we be sure? I mean, Bruce’s kid? Asking for help?”
“Shut it, Drake.” Damian snaps, Drake raises his hands in surrender.
Just as he opens his mouth to talk again, his phone gently chimes with an email notification.
It’s him.
Damian races to open it.
“He says he’ll be in Gotham tonight. And that he’llfindme.” Damian says as he looks up at his father. The panic, relief and desperation warring in his own eyes reflected back at him.
“Then let’s make it easy for him. Still up for patrol, Little D?” Richard sounds with a smirk.
—-
The night is quiet but tense between Batman and Robin.
They hop the rooftops in sync, stopping a small crime here or there. There’s been no sightings of anyone unusual, even with Nightwing and Red Robin scattered across the lower districts. Even Red Hood was called in about the situation, though they’re not sure he’s really looking as all they got in response was a scoff and a derisive “Another one? Really, B?”
Damian shoots his grapple after his father over one of the main roads, only to get yanked back. For a second, he fears he will plummet into the sea of cars below.
Then his back hits the gravel rooftop.
The shouts of his family are but white noise in his ears as he stares at the dark, hooded figure in front of him.
“Hey, brother. Long time no see and the first thing I catch you doing is jumping off a building? Not a great start.” The figure-his brother- says with a sharp smirk.
Damian stays awestruck for a second before scowling, “I had a grapple.”
“Robin!” His father barks from above them, swinging down from a water tower like a vengeful shadow.
Danyal makes a suspicious squeaking sound and vanishes from sight.
Both are immediately on guard as Batman puts himself between Damian and where the stranger was.
“Are you Meta? Who are you? Stop hiding!” Father says again, growling.
As Danyal’s shape fades into existence yet again, Damian tries to push past his own questions for the sake of them all.
“Father. It is alright, this is… Danyal. My.. twin.”
Here, his father falters. Apparently, so does Danyal if the cringe he gives is anything to go by.
“I don’t really go by- anyways, yes I’m Da..mi..an’s? twin. And I need your help. Talia’s found me and she’s trying to make me join back with the league.”
Damian tensed even more as the person in front of him stutters over his name, “Why don’t you know my name? What did you call me when we were younger? The code you signed on your email.”
Something in Danyal’s eyes went pained, “I called you Gemini, because that’s what we are, even though you always emphasized that we were Sagittarius and ‘besides the stars have no effect on..”
“On our strength or abilities as an opponent.” Damian finished for him, “It is you..” he said amazedly as he stepped closer, “But how? How are you here? How are you alive?”
“Simple answer?” Danyal pulled down the hood of his black sweatshirt to reveal a head of fluffy white hair, “I’m not.”
“And as for how I’m here? Well that’s a rather complicated answer, but it all starts with one thing. Ghosts.”
Their father made a strangled sound beside them and Damian took a stuttering step back, “You’re a ghost?” “You mean, you didn’t survive? … I killed you?”
Danyal’s eyes zoned out before flaring an angry green and then settling as he looked back up, his edges going fuzzy for a second, “Yeah, I mean.. I guess? Listen, I don’t really remember much from when I- we- were 6, and I don’t much care to. My ghostliness, I think it’s why Talia is trying to get me back. I can’t think of another reason.”
Damian scowled, “Perhaps it is because she is our mother and believed you dead and lost-“
“That woman is not my mother!” Danyal shouted, glow flaring, eyes flashing as he leaned in.
He took a breath and pulled back to collect himself, “Talia was not a mother to us. You have to know that by now at least, Damian.”
Damian looked away and scowled again.
“You barely knew her,”
“Because she sent me to my death!” Danyal flung his hands up.
Batman struggled to choose a side between the two children in front of him. He had loved Talia once too, but he had also seen the toxicity of their relationship.
“Danyal, Robin, we need to focus. If Talia came to recruit one of you, she might be coming for the other.”
“She is. She kept saying some nonsense about ‘making our family whole again’ now that she’s ‘in control.’ I came because I had a feeling she’s not gonna take my Hell-No as an appropriate answer with that goal.”
Batman froze, “The League of Assassins. She’s finally been able to regain control over all of them and become the Demon’s Head after Ra’s Al Ghul’s death.”
This is the ending, ya’ll! Thank you so much for reading this comic, I’m so happy to read your responses and comments, likes, and reblogs! ( ; ///w///; ) I learned a lot of things drawing Phantom in the Mirror, especially since it’s so different from my usual style. I’ve had this comic in mind for a few years now, so I’m glad it’s out lol.
