Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gotham city’s East End. It was right next to Park Row, aka Crime Alley, kitty corner to the Bowery and the Cauldron, sections of the city run by the Russian Mob and Irish Mob respectively. At least they were until Red Hood came in and set up his own criminal empire. Honestly, that was the only reason Danny Fenton felt comfortable renting an apartment in the East End. Well, that and it was cheap and no one was going to give a second glance to a seventeen year old runaway. 

The apartment was cramped, with a small living room, a bathroom, kitchen, and a single bedroom. It smelled of cigarette smoke, with yellowed ceilings and walls. The single window had bars over it. A security measure. The carpet smelled of pet urine, and was ripped in places. It wasn’t much to look at. It was home though, now that he couldn’t go back. It would be warm, have electricity, and give him shelter. Honestly, those were the only things Danny needed at the moment. Unraveling his sleeping bag, he crawled in. Tomorrow would be better. He’d get a job. Text his sisters, Sam, and Tucker. He’d figure out what to do then. For now, all he wanted to do was sleep. 

***

Danny had officially been living in Gotham for three months now. He’d gotten a job at Batburger. It sucked, but it paid the bills. Ancients, did he hate dressing in the scratchy polyester Robin uniform. He kept getting the cape caught in this or just dunking it in things. Like the fryer. Not good. He’d almost gotten fired that day. Danny had proceeded to overwork himself the next few weeks, taking every extra shift he could, in case he lost his job. It had never happened, but it allowed him to put together a meager rainy day fund. Considering nearly every day in Gotham was rainy, he would need it at some point. 

The only thing that kept him going was, surprisingly, streaming. Sam and Tucker, being the bestest friends anyone could ask for in the whole world, had sent him a fairly high end desktop computer. Sam had provided the funds, and Tucker had built it himself, installing the best security on there and adding all of their ghost files. Due to Danny’s hectic schedule, he was often working when Sam and Tucker were online, and he was free when they were in school. 

Wanting to make some money online with his free time, he’d looked into Live2D to be a rigger and make models for people. That… hadn’t gone well. With his short attention span after working all day and no longer having access to his ADHD medications, he’d been unable to focus on the directions from the YouTube videos he watched. Danny’s first twenty or so attempts at rigging were horrid, with no improvement. 

He’d begun watching some streamers while attempting to rig, and it struck him. Why couldn’t he be a streamer? As long as he covered most of his face, he should be fine. Vtubing was out of the question for him. Those models were expensive to make and rig. Considering how he’d crashed and burned so far, there was no way he could make one on his own. 

Using some of his rainy day fund, he’d bought a microphone , a camera, and a pack of face masks. With that, UndeadNebula was born. 

Tucker and Sam (Ancients, he loved his friends and missed them dearly) had told their other online friends about his Twitch channel, and they’d come in droves to support the new streamer. They were an eclectic group, considering Sam and Tucker were vastly different people, with incredibly different hobbies. That led to him having ‘Going Goth Wednesdays’ ( Get it Sam? Cause it’s like going ghost but Goth!) where he dressed in black, put on some eyeliner, and played Horror games. He also had ‘Furrsome Fridays’ where he wore animal ears and played some animal related games or ones with anthropomorphic characters. 

So, he wasn’t a furry or a goth, but he was trying here. They were his first followers. He appreciated them, he loved them. But… it wasn’t really him. It wasn’t UndeadNebula. Or who he wanted UndeadNebula to be. 

He started to change things up, play more of what he wanted to play. Critiques on ghost videos, discussions about hauntings. His thoughts on vigilantes/heroes. Being an ex-hero (not that his viewers knew that) gave him a different perspective on their fights, exploits, and their perception in media. It was discussing Gotham’s current Robin, while wearing the Robin BatBurger uniform, that he went semi viral. 

***

“I don’t think that Robin is a bad person. Hell, he goes out practically every night to stop crime. You can’t really be a bad person if you’re risking your own safety to help others. I mean - think about it. He’s basically working two jobs. Whatever he does during the day, then goes out, getting cuts, bruises, concussions ! He gets no pay for it, just pain, then limps home to get a little sleep before doing it all over again.” 

The Robin discourse hit close to home, okay? He clearly remembered what it was like to be fourteen, staying up late almost every night to protect the city, getting cuts and bruises, suffering for his beloved town. Only to be called a menace and to be told to stop.

“So what he’s a little extra violent? Batman beats people to a pulp all the time, and no one says a damn thing. At least, not anymore. You’re just comparing this Robin to the others, who were nicer and less violent. Well. He’s not them! Stop it! Ancients, I hated it when my parents compared me to my older sister. She’s smarter than me, got better grades, didn’t fall asleep in class. Basically the perfect child.”

Robin had been young, young when he’d started. Younger than Danny. Sure, Robin had a mentor, which Danny was kinda maybe jealous of, but he’d been compared to the previous Robins. He knew how rough that was. Not first hand, but Dani had confided in him that she really, really hated to be compared to him. It was even worse for her, since she was Danny’s clone, and Vlad made it super apparent he saw her as a failure and Danny as perfect. Fucking Fruitloop.

“So yeah, I feel for Robin. I get him. He’s a better person than me. You know why? ‘Cause even though there are so many people giving him shit and dragging him through the mud on social media and in the press, he goes out and helps anyway. He has for years .”

Yeah, all the Robin discourse (not that there were many who defended the violent vigilante) hit close to home. Hence his passionate tirade. 

“If I were Robin, I would have given up on Gotham and the public years ago. Why should I help those who are constantly saying terrible things about me?”

“Also. I like that he roughs up the Rouges a bit. I don’t care if you think that makes me a bad person. I bet if you go look at the data, after Robin’s had a round with them, they stay in Arkham longer. A couple months, usually. Why? ‘Cause they have wounds and broken bones that need to heal. When Robin isn’t there to give them something to remember him by, they’re out in a couple days to a few weeks.” 

Okay, time to end this Danny. He was - He was going down a rabbit hole he really really probably shouldn’t.

“Ancients. I’m getting worked up here guys. Sorry about that. How about we take a quick break? See you in a few, Nebula out!”

Danny groaned, putting his head in his hands, his break music playing in the background. He was probably going to regret saying that he approved of Robin’s violent methods. He should probably avoid talking about Robin for the rest of the stream.

***

Someone had clipped it. His Robin Rant. That’s what they were calling it. The other RR. It caused a flood of people to come onto his channel, to search him, to try and look into who he was. He’d almost had a panic attack when Tuck showed him the analytics. 

“This is great for you, dude! You should lean into it! I could be your thing” Tucker encouraged.

“My thing?”

“Yeah, what you become known for. Like Corpse Husband is known for his deep voice, Disguised Toast for being incredible at Among Us. Your thing could be talking about heroes!”

“I don’t know Tuck. I don’t want to talk about heroes all the time.” Danny admitted, phone to his ear as he turned the electric kettle on.

“I’m not saying you have to, just start making it a recurring thing on your channel. Hero Hour or something. You can start wearing hero merch for it. Doesn’t BatBurger have those action figures of Gotham’s heroes? How difficult would it be for you to get all of them?”

“With how they run the place? Easy. What would I do with them? Rate the heroes by their action figures?” Danny poured the boiling water from the kettle over his cup of ramen.

“You could? I mean, everyone kinda thinks you’re a simp for Robin. If you actually rated Gotham’s heroes, I don’t think anyone would believe you if you didn’t have Robin as your number one.”

“Hero merch is expensive, Tuck.” Danny sighed as he stirred his ramen. The ninety nine cent kind that you could buy in bulk. He was ignoring the simp for Robin thing. He was not going to touch that with a ten foot pole. Nope. 

“Well, lucky you, your eighteenth birthday is coming up. You might find some in your gifts. I know I’m getting you something Oracle related. I know she’s real dude. She’s my idol. The one I aspire to be, my goddess-”

“Okay! Okay! I get it, you love Oracle.” Danny chuckled, cutting his friend off. 

“On a more serious note,” Tucker began, “are you thinking about getting your GED? That should help you find a better job. I know you hate BatBurger.” Danny sighed. He slurped his ramen obnoxiously, giving himself time to think.

“I want to, I really do. You know I have to be eighteen first. Don’t want my -,” he took a shaky breath, “the Fentons finding out where I am. I probably could start it now, but I would rather wait till after my birthday, and there is no risk. Plus I need to save up for the test prep books and stuff.”

“I could send you the pdfs for free.” 

“Hmmm. Yeah, sure. Textbook companies are evil. They price gouge. And barely make any changes and call it a new book!” 

“Someone’s been talking to Jazz.”

“It’s one of the few things she complains about college.” 

“Yeah. No worries dude, I hooked her up with PDFs of all her textbooks.”

“Thanks. You’re the best Tuck.” 

“You know it!” Tucker sighed. “It’s been fun talking to you dude, but I’ve got to get going. English paper from Lancer. Take care of yourself. I know you keep us updated in the group chat, but I still worry dude. You’re so far away now. I miss you.” Tucker’s voice caught at the end. Danny swallowed, his throat tight as emotion welled within him.

“I miss you too dude. I miss you and Sam so much. When - when you guys go off to college, I’ll visit you guys, okay? Doesn’t matter how far, I’ll fly there to see you guys.”

“Don’t make me cry dude, I wanted to end this call on a happy note.” 

“Not good to lock your emotions up. Jazz says so.” Danny tried to tease, but his watery voice made it fall a bit flat. 

“Night dude. Get me a Nightwing action figure if you can, ‘kay?”

“I will. Night.” 

Danny hung up the phone, then turned to his ramen. It had cooled off now, but he wasn’t that hungry anymore. Grumbling to himself, he made himself eat it. He needed the food, and he also wasn’t about to let it go to waste. 

***

Danny’s eighteenth birthday passed with little fan fare. There was no one to celebrate it with here in Gotham, and he didn’t feel comfortable telling his viewers about it. 

It was his gifts though, that cheered him up and brought tears to his eyes. Sam, hilariously, was trying her best not to let Going Goth Wednesdays die. She’d sent him fishnet shirts, fake piercings, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and some impressively heavy combat boots. She’d also sent him hoodies for each of Gotham’s vigilante’s. They were thick, yet soft. Perfect for the upcoming  winter nights. His heater wasn’t the most reliable, as he’d complained to Sam a few weeks ago. Tucker had sent him a fake katana, along with some cat headphones and Oracle stickers. It seemed neither of his friends wanted their days on his channel to die. 

Jazz though, Jazz’s gift had taken the cake. He’d been confused at first, by the manilla envelope and the tube. Inside were papers. The first congratulated Jazz on her acceptance to an internship at Arkham prison. The second were transfer papers. Jazz would be transferring to Gotham University at the start of the Spring semester. Inside the tube was an incredible print of the Ghost Nebula. There was a small note with it. 

See you soon, little brother. The print is to put behind you while you stream. If you want. I figured the Ghost Nebula was as close as I could get to UndeadNebula. I’m so proud of you Danny. Love you. 

That had made Danny cry. He wouldn’t be alone anymore, in this massive city. The loneliness has been slowly eating at him these last few months. 

From then on, each of his Hero Hours, he was wearing one of the hoodies Sam had sent, and the cat headphones became his permanent headphones. 

Hero Hour had become ridiculously popular. He was averaging over five hundred viewers whenever he did one. Apparently, people really liked his thoughts? His perspective was fresh, lively. New. It was so weird. 

With all the newfound attention, came people wanting to know more about him and more from his channel. They wanted more tiers, more emotes, more things Stardust (what he’d set the channel points to be called) could buy. He had the basics, like ‘Drink water’, ‘Stretch’, ‘Modify an emote’, ‘Unlock an emote’. He’d randomly decided to add a Community Challenge Goal of one hundred thousand Stardust to get him to wear the Robin BatBurger uniform on stream again. 

The goal had been reached in two days.

TWO DAYS.

What was his life?!?

***

Brown was being particularly annoying today, with her giggling and multiple glances in his direction. What was unusual was for Cain to be participating as well. He huffed to himself, trying to focus on his sketch of the birds just outside the window. They were in the library, for goodness sake. They were supposed to be quiet.

When their tittering continued, distracting him again and again, he turned around sharply. 

“Will you cease giggling?! I am attempting to work, unlike you two.”

“So violent. So angy.” Snickered Brown. Had she hit her head?!

“Cain, I suggest you take Brown to get her head scanned for a concussion.” 

Cain merely smiled, amused by something. 

“Dami, you have a simp! And they love how angy you are!” Brown wheezed out between laughs.

“What in the world are you talking about Brown?” He grabbed his supplies and stalked towards the two girls. 

“Restart.” said Cain. 

“Right, right.” Brown replied, ignoring the approaching Robin. “Here.”

It was a video of a black haired man with large sky blue eyes. He was wearing a Robin BatBurger uniform and had a medical facemask on, concealing half of his face. He was in a poorly lit room, clearly an apartment of some sort. He was relaxed, leaning back into an old office chair. 

Damian raised an eyebrow at the girls. What nonsense was this? Was another idiot complaining about his harsher brand of justice? Was that why Brown couldn’t pronounce the word ‘angry’?

The video began to play. 

“Robin, Robin. There’s been a few different Robins over the years. It’s been one of those identities that get passed on. Like a baton in a race. So let’s talk about the current one. The one a lot of people don’t like, the one a lot of people think is a bad person.”

After that introduction, the man (or was he a boy? he looked incredibly young) spun slightly in his chair, left right, left right. Damian stiffed slightly, waiting for the eventual condemnation of him. It was inevitable. It seemed that no one online or in the media liked him as Robin. They preferred his brothers or Brown. 

“I don’t think that Robin is a bad person. Hell, he goes out practically every night to stop crime. You can’t really be a bad person if you’re risking your own safety to help others. I mean - think about it. He’s basically working two jobs. Whatever he does during the day, then goes out, getting cuts, bruises, concussions ! He gets no pay for it, just pain, then limps home to get a little sleep before doing it all over again.” 

Shock flooded through Damian, his eyes widening just a fraction and his mouth opening slightly. What? Someone - Someone liked him? They liked him enough to dress up as him, to defend him, despite all of the backlash they would receive for it. 

The two jobs point was something that not many considered. What did they care if the vigilantes were getting paid or not, as long as they were there to save them. He knew most of his family suffered due to the dual nature of their lifestyle. Brown, Gordon, and Richard had set work schedules they needed to be mindful of, regardless of their night time activities. Father, Drake, and himself were required to show up at Wayne Industries, attend galas. 

The video continued. 

“So what he’s a little extra violent? Batman beats people to a pulp all the time, and no one says a damn thing. At least, not anymore. You’re just comparing this Robin to the others, who were nicer and less violent. Well. He’s not them! Stop it! Ancients, I hated it when my parents compared me to my older sister. She’s smarter than me, got better grades, didn’t fall asleep in class. Basically the perfect child.”

His mind whirling, Damian considered what he was hearing. Drake had explained to him that Father had been incredibly violent after Todd’s death, nearly killing some of the criminals he captured. He’d never seen Father be so violent. Additionally, when he first arrived and learned of this, the focus had been on Father’s demand he not kill. 

As for being compared with his siblings… That. He did. He hated it. He would never be as flexible as Richard, as kind and empathetic. He would never had the same burly strength and manpower that Todd had, or his iron will and determination that had allowed him to crawl out of his own grave and to rebuild his mind after the Lazarus Pits. Damian would never be as clever or insightful as Drake, nor would he have the engineering or technological prowess that his older brother had. Cain outmatched him, frankly everyone, with her stealth and grace. 

He was lacking, compared to his siblings. There was nothing about him that stood out, that was special compared to them. It’s why all the articles and comments comparing him to them made him so angry. And so… inadequate. He knew he was the least liked out of the vigilante’s and anti-heros that prowled Gotham’s streets. The online polls showed it, over and over again. His spot at the bottom of the rankings unchanging year after year. 

“So yeah, I feel for Robin. I get him. He’s a better person than me. You know why? ‘Cause even though there are so many people giving him shit and dragging him through the mud on social media and in the press, he goes out and helps anyway. He has for years .”

Damian couldn’t fight the blush that spread across his cheeks. It was nice, gratifying, even, that someone recognized how difficult it was sometimes to get up and keep going. Especially when your efforts were criticized and not appreciated.

The man’s brilliant blue eyes flashed with righteous anger and determination. They were mesmerizing.

“If I were Robin, I would have given up on Gotham and the public years ago. Why should I help those who are constantly saying terrible things about me?”

“Also. I like that he roughs up the Rouges a bit. I don’t care if you think that makes me a bad person. I bet if you go look at the data, after Robin’s had a round with them, they stay in Arkham longer. A couple months, usually. Why? ‘Cause they have wounds and broken bones that need to heal. When Robin isn’t there to give them something to remember him by, they’re out in a couple days to a few weeks.” 

The blush was spreading even further. This young man clearly liked him. It was incredibly flattering. He would - He would need to look into the statistics to see if it was true that the Rogues of Gotham stayed in Arkham longer after a bout with him.

The man seemed to have spent his anger, and now looked a bit sheepish. It was hard to tell with the mask covering the lower half of his face, but the arm rubbing the back of his neck clued Damian into how he was feeling. 

“Ancients. I’m getting worked up here guys. Sorry about that. How about we take a quick break? See you in a few, Nebula out!”

Nebula. That was the man’s name. He’d - He’d need to look him up again later. For research purposes. 

“Awww, look at him! He’s blushing!” 

“Shut up Brown.” Her smile shifted, into something softer. 

“It’s nice to have a fan, huh? He’s probably your first super vocal one.” She looked back at her phone, scrolling slightly. 

“Good news is that the internet loves him so far, so he hasn’t been bullied off it, like the others.” 

“What others” He huffed petulantly. 

“Were some. Drowned out.” Cain argued.

“Yeah, they got buried under hate comments and basically got bullied into staying quiet.”

After a moment of silence, Brown continued. 

“Anywho, his name is UndeadNebula. He’s a Twitch streamer. Since he went kinda viral, he’s been doing more hero stuff, so he might talk about you a bit more,” Her smile turned mischievous.

“You looking forward to that, Dami? Your cute little simp will probably gush over you a bit more.” 

“I am unaware what a ‘simp’ is. He is,” he paused, debating how he should answer this, “conventionally attractive. However, unfortunately for him, I am not interested.” 

“Awww, poor simpy.” she snickered. 

“I appreciate you showing me the video, Brown. However, as it is clear that I will be unable to draw in peace, goodbye.” 

Grabbing his sketchbook and art supplies, he hurriedly left the library. UndeadNebula. Who was he? Damian just had to know. 

***

“Alright chat. We’re doing something a little different today. Something you’ve all been wanting me to do.” Danny paused for dramatic effect. 

“We’re ranking Gotham’s vigilantes today! By their BatBurger action figure!” he exclaimed, lifting up the bag full of figures. 

Bringing up what he’d made in Teirmaker beforehand, he smiled at the camera. 

“First one one the list, Nightwing!” He pulled out the action figure from the bag and began inspecting it. 

“Nightwing is rumored to be the first Robin, but no confirmation from Batman. We might never know. Hmmm.” He turned the figure in his hand. 

“The eyes are creepy. The paint is definitely off around the mouth. Also, why go with the red suit, and not the super iconic blue one? C tier, clearly. Not good, but not terrible. Very middle of the road. Solid C tier.”

“Next is Spoiler. Love the purple.” Danny tapped his fingers against his chin. “Again, with the creepy eyes. I know it’s a BatBurger toy, and they’re basically Gotham’s McDonald’s, but you’re giving this to children. You should try to not make it scary. Just my opinion. A tier. The colors are good, pose is good. She looks badass.” 

Reaching into the bag again, he pulled out the next one. 

“Red Robin! Was he a previous Robin? Maybe? He showed up after the current Robin became Robin. Ancients, there are so many Robins and potential people who were Robins. Do you think this means there have been multiple Batmans? Hmmm.” Danny shook his head. “Sorry, getting off topic there, we’ll talk about Batman later, when it’s his turn. It’s Red Robin’s turn.”

He grimaced. 

“Yikes, poor RR. The paint is completely all over the place, especially on those harness things across his chest. It’s like a kid painting outside the lines. They bothered to do that line on his cape, where the top half is supposed to be black, and the bottom is red, but it’s just all red.” 

“Again, the eyes. At this point, it might be better just to leave the dominos black, and not bother to put the whites in for the eyes. That might look less creepy. The pose is bad. Like, Red Robin is flexing. The actual vigilante never struck me as someone who just goes around and flexes at people. Maybe Red Hood, but not Red Robin.”

Danny hummed, inspecting the toy some more. 

“I hate to say it, Red Robin is D tier. I’m so sorry that they messed up your figure so badly, Red Robin. Between the eyes, the paint issues, the weird ass pose… I’m so sorry dude.” 

Putting the Red Robin figure aside with a dramatic shudder, he pulled out the next one.

“Batgirl! As alway, the eyes. Pose is pretty good. I’m glad they’re giving the ladies such awesome, powerful poses. We like to see it. Again, so sorry RR. They messed up the paint a bit on the bat logo. Hmmm. A or B? Which one? What do you think, chat?” 

He brought the figure closer to the camera, turning it slowly, his eye on chat. It was scrolling far too quickly for him to tell. 

“Tell you what chat, how about we set up a poll? And set it for about five minutes? That seems reasonable. You guys are commenting way too fast and I can’t tell. Plus with the poll, people won’t be able to vote twice.” 

A couple clicks later, the poll was up, and Danny was able to lean back and relax a bit. A highlighted comment caught his eye. 

“Hammertime6 asks: What is the picture behind you? OH, this?” Danny rolled back, then jerked forward as the cord on his headphones pulled taut. 

“Oops.” He rolled back towards the desk a bit. “This picture was given to me by my sister for my last birthday. I - I really love space. Wanted to join N.A.S.A. one day and be an astronaut one day. That’s no longer possible now.” 

Another highlighted comment popped up. 

“Two minutes left in the poll. Illunimaghty69, nice name by the way,” Danny said with a laugh, “Why can’t you be an astronaut? So my family and I discovered when I was fourteen that I have a medical condition that means I’d be disqualified to be an astronaut. I might go to college and become an astrophysicist, but I still need to figure out my new dream, ya know?” 

“Aww, chat, don’t feel bad for me, it’s okay. I’ve had a few years to come to terms with the fact that I’ll never be an astronaut. I’m over it now.” Danny said with a fake smile (hopefully they wouldn’t notice). 

“Time’s up on the poll!” Danny said, changing the subject, “The people have spoken! Batgirl is an A tier! Congratulations Batgirl!” 

“Ah! It’s the Dark Knight himself! I mean, the cowl helps, but the eyes are still an issue. Hmmm. He’s basically all black? Except for the skin on his face and his eyes. I don’t know guys. It’s pretty good, but should we dock points for the fact that it’s not as complex as the others? And that it’s super lazy to have him be basically all black? I think so. B tier.” 

He laughed, a random thought popping into his head. 

“Ancients, chat! He’s B tier! ‘Cause he’s Batman!” 

It was stupid, but he couldn’t help but lose it at his dumb little joke. 

“Wait, wait,” he rummaged around in the bag, before pulling out Black Bat. “If Batman’s B tier for having his name start with B, then Black Bat has to be B tier as well! The B tier is for the Bs! No one else! It’s the B club!”

Finding himself hilarious, he continued laughing. 

Once he’d calmed down again. 

“We’re down to the final two. Robin and Red Hood. Let’s start with Red Hood. Gotta save Robin for last.” 

“Well well well. Red Hood doesn’t have the eye issue since his entire head is red due to the helmet. He’s got a cool pose, he’s more than one color, I mean, you’ve got reds, blacks, and browns. The colors are pretty much inside the lines…. Guys…. Do we have an S tier? I think we do!” He slammed the Red Hood figure down onto the desk. 

“You heard it here first, folks! Red Hood is S tier!”  

“ And now, last, but certainly not least, we have Robin!” Danny brandished the figure proudly in front of the camera. 

“Look at his little katana, guys! It’s a little bent, but not bad. He’s got a ton of colors. He’s a pretty complex figure. The colors are super outside the lines in areas. I almost feel like it’s expected at this point, but the eyes are messed up. His pose is cool, plus he has a katana. He’s A tier material chat. Solid A tier.” 

Danny ignored the flood of ‘simp’ that appeared in the comments. Whatever. He wasn’t a simp for Robin, he just… related to the guy. Respected him. That was all. 

***

UndeadNebula was a Twitch streamer. That much he already knew. He’d only been around for about four months, relatively small and unknown until the infamous ‘Robin Rant’ video. UndeadNeabula, also called Nebula, had recurring themes for his streams. On Wednesdays he dressed more gothic, adding eyeliner to enhance his eyes, making them even more enchanting. Damian could feel himself blushing when he saw the stills of Nebula wearing the most adorable black fluffy cat ears with little golden bells next to them. 

Damian - He had a soft spot for animals. He hadn’t realized though, that seeing this young man wearing cat ears would be so - so alluring. Damian was well aware that his preference in partners was male, but it was rare for someone to take his breath away, as Nebula did. He’d come out to the family as gay when he was sixteen. That being said, he could count the number of times he’d felt attraction to another male on one hand. 

He wanted to watch some of the streams. To see if his attraction to Nebula would fade once the other man opened his mouth and revealed his intelligence. Damian wasn’t expecting much. From his limited and little understanding of streamers, they were shallow vapid people who competed for the attention of the masses. It was, in a sense, a popularity contest. 

***

Nebula was… surprisingly down to Earth. He was humble, kind, passionate, clever, resourceful, and many, many more things. The hours had flown by for Damian, as he’d listened to Nebula’s previous streams. 

He’d caved, and made himself a twitch account. Red_Ghul. It was simple, elegant, and paid homage to who he was. Besides Richard, his brothers had Red at the beginning of their vigilante names, something Damian looked forward to continuing once he graduated from being Robin. The Ghul was obvious, as he was an al Ghul. 

Once the account was made, he followed Nebula. 

He surprisingly enjoyed all of the content that Nebula made. On these ‘Going Goth’ streams, Nebula played Horror games while dressed in goth attire. Some of them were more psychological than jump scares. Those were Damian’s favorite, as they often included puzzles or mysteries to solve. The Rusty Lake games had been particularly enjoyable, some of their puzzles and riddles stumping even Damian at times. Nebula hadn’t given up, prevailing in the end. 

Others had been incredibly profound, like the indie horror game The Cat Lady and Fran Bow. Nebula was respectful and contemplative during those, offering insights and opinions that, in Damian’s opinion, elevated the stream. 

Damian could not deny the streamer’s beauty either. The gothic attire looked incredible, contrasting with the pale, almost deadly, white skin. One stream, Nebula, had been wearing a fishnet top, with nothing under it. Apparently Nebula’s air conditioning unit was not working, thus the fishnet top and the short black shorts. The top revealed Nebula’s lean but muscular chest to all the viewers. There was just the hit of abs. 

He wanted to lick them. 

The urge to do so surprised him. He’d been attracted to a few others, but had never felt that compulsion before. Not that he’d seen any of his previous crushes (it was a crush at this point) in a fishnet top, or even topless. 

While the Goth streams made him feel a more carnal desire for Nebula, the ‘Furrsome Friday’ streams gave him soft, protective feelings. 

Nebula looked so innocent and sweet, wearing those damn cat ears. It made Damian want to make him a kitty burrito, using only the softest of blankets. He wanted to buy face masks with cat features on them for the other man to wear on stream. He wanted to spoil Nebula, give him everything he desired. He longed to stroke Nebula’s hair, feed him chocolates, then kiss him sweetly.

The other streams Nebula did were more spontaneous in theme. There, Damian had begun to get a glimpse into who Nebula was under the mask. Each tidbit of information made him ravenous for the next. The Hero Hour was Damian’s favorite miscellaneous stream segment. Nebula’s thoughts and opinions on different heroes was simply incredible. He guessed tidbits with stunning accuracy, and was incredibly fair to all heroes, even when they were receiving bad press. 

It baffled Damian. 

How could someone, out of nowhere, give him all of these conflicting urges? 

It was madness! 

One he wanted to indulge in. 

UndeadNebula’s next stream would be tomorrow, a Furrsome Friday stream. He needed to watch it. 

***

Danny didn’t know what he’d expected, but it was not him going semi viral again for his dumb BatBurger toy ranking. It’d just been some dumb fun. But people were reading too much into it, saying he had a thing for violent, angry men. Hence his ranking of Robin and Red Hood. 

Which, whatever. He was ranking the toys, not the actual vigilantes! It was pretty arbitrary! And all in good fun! But nooooo. He was still being called a simp for Robin, and getting crap for putting Batgirl in the A tier, when she clearly deserved to join Batman and Black Bat in the Bs only tier. 

That one was a fair judgment. The rest? Not so much.

Granted, it was only a small minority of people who were being rude and sending hate comments. 

It still hurt though. 

He thought he’d developed thicker skin than this, or was it merely that when he was Phantom, and receiving all the hate, he’d been too tired to care? Ancients, he was tired now, yet he still cared. Between streaming and all the extra shifts he was picking up at BatBurger, he hadn’t gotten much time to himself. 

The extra money from streaming was starting to become useful. Danny had been able to eat better food than ramen. Eggs, salad mix, bread, and deli meat were in his fridge, for once. It wasn’t much, but it was healthier than cup ramen. He’d also been able to buy some staples like rice, potatoes, onions, and carrots.

November was in full swing. The streaming money had also allowed him to make full use of the heater, ensuring the small apartment was warm. With Tucker’s PDFs, he’d started studying for the GED, and he actually had money aside to pay for him to take the test twice (although hopefully he only needed to take it once). 

Things were starting to look up for Danny. 

***

Damian sat at the desk in his personal study. He was going over some Wayne Enterprise documents for the upcoming quarterly earnings call. It would be a breeze between Father, Drake, and himself. Preparation was still necessary, especially if Damian wanted to have the company support the city’s TNR programs (Trap, Neuter, and Release). As much as he loved kittens, he hated that so many would be born on the streets. The city’s TNR program would reduce that number.

What was different about today though was the cheerful and colorful twitch interface on his leftmost computer screen. UndeadNebula’s stream would be starting in approximately three minutes. He could hardly wait to see the young man’s face, his head adorned with those black cat ears. 

Damian’s patience was rewarded by a soft, “Hello everyone,” a few moments later. The stream starting soon card fell away to reveal UndeadNebula. He was wearing a worn blue NASA hoodie that was a little large on him, the fabric bunching around his wrists and elbows. As was usual for the Friday streams, cat ears were on his head, blending in seamlessly with Nebula’s raven hair. The face mask was on, as always.

“How are all my stars and galaxies doing today?” asked the streamer with a brilliant smile. 

“I’m doing pretty well, work sucked, but I’m happy to be here with you! Hanging out with you guys always lifts my mood. Oh! So I plan on making a Discord server soon. I already caved and made a Twitter, which, to be honest, I hate. The bird app is not my friend guys. I swear, there are so many bots and assholes on there who like to send me mean shit. Um. Yeah. Discord! I will be making one in the next day or so, I’m going to add the invite link to my about page! I know Halloween is only a couple of days away, and I don’t usually stream on Tuesdays, but I’m thinking about doing a special one for spooky day!” 

“I mean, I’m very interested in ghosts, the afterlife, the undead, and all that jazz. Hence my name!” Nebula laughed. It was a nice laugh. 

“Which is perfect for Halloween! I think there’s some game where you play as a ghost, and that sounds right up my alley. Um, with that, how about we get started!”

Nebula booted up the game, Cat Cafe Manager. Time passed quickly, watching the young man coo over the cats, excitedly name them, and level them up. It was amusing how at first, Nebula was only interested in the cats and his cafe, but began opening up and falling in love with the patrons. 

Sometimes. 

When he was here, alone in the office, and his only interactions with others had been as Robin, he felt. Isolated. Alone. He was also one of the only members of his family not to have a paramour. Richard had Gordon. Todd had Harper and Koriand’r. Drake had Kent. Cain had Brown. Father had Kyle. 

That made him the odd man out. Alone. 

At least, that’s how he felt most days he worked in this office. 

Not today though. 

Nebula’s voice, coming through his headset, was comforting. Soothing. Relaxing. 

As the stream ended, he made his first comment in chat. 

Red_Ghul: Goodbye. The stream was enjoyable. I look forward to the next one.

***

Damian became an avid watcher of UndeadNebula, commenting more and more each stream. He just. He enjoyed the companionship. It also helped that Nebula was easy on the eyes. He even signed up for Discord, with the same handle (Red_Ghul) that he had on twitch. Nebula’s Discord server had started small, but was growing quickly. It was the same with the Twitch channel. 

Damian participated in the art channel, uploading sketches of Nebula first, before posting a whole variety of sketches. Besides Nebula, he never posted art with humans. Surprisingly, he’d received a direct message or two, asking if he did commissions. Damian turned them down. Once they had become available, he’d used his Stardust points to purchase a VIP role on the server. He was a tier three subscriber on Twitch as well.  

He was getting himself in too deep. It was fine though. There was nothing wrong with this. It made him happy. What was wrong with that?

Everything changed the day Nebula mentioned wanting a cat.

***

“OH MY GOD! LOOK HOW CUTE I AM! I’m a little orange kitty! I really love games with cats. I always wanted one, but my parents never let us have one. I CAN MEOW AT OTHER CATS!?! YES!” Nebula gushed. He was playing the game Stray, which had the player play as an orange cat in a post apocalyptic world. 

“I’ve thought about getting a cat, now that I’ve moved out and everything - Yes! I wanna scratch the pole! Wait - there’s - OH! That’s clever! One button for each paw! Scritch Scritch!” the streamer laughed happily. 

“My worry with getting a cat is taking care of it. I’m able to support myself, and I should be able to support a cat as well, but it’s the initial start-up costs, ya know?”

“I need to be able to buy beds, scratching posts, toys, a litter box, food, treats. That’s not to mention the cost of the adoption fee and to spay or neuter the cat. I don’t know if you’ve been to any animal shelters recently, but the cat also might need some medications for a little while. Kennel cough and respiratory infections can spread easily in shelters, even when the staff are doing their best to stop it. Since I’m adopting, who knows what the cat had previously gone though? They might need some additional care for - What the fuck?!?!?”

“I - is this a joke? Red Ghul?!? Did you accidentally add a few zeros? Because that’s a lot of money.” Nebula’s voice was raspy and choked, seemingly holding back tears. 

“I - I really appreciate the donation! If it was an accident, or you accidentally gave me too much, I think you have twenty four to forty eight hours to change or fix it before it goes on your card. Um, just give me a minute guys.” Nebula took off his headset, rolled out of sight of the camera. Faint screaming could be heard. 

“Okay. Okay okay okay. I’m - I’m good now. Promise. I’m just - We’re gonna keep playing the cute kitty game. Oh my god. Uh. Cats. Sorry, my brain is just - mush. It’s fried.” 

Nebula stayed mostly silent until the cat fell. Once that happened, the streamer proceeded to freak out, worried about the virtual cat. He resumed being his exuberant and peppy self once he was assured the cat was okay.

Damian relaxed after the whole donation fiasco. Five thousand dollars should be enough to adopt a cat. He’d been impressed by the thought and care Nebula had put into getting a cat. Not all potential adoptees were as thorough. It proved, to Damian, that Nebula deserved a cat. He had the means. The pleasure and glee he felt upon seeing Nebula’s surprised reaction was new, but not unwelcome. 

The stream eventually ended, far too soon for Damian’s liking. It was a four hour stream, but he liked Nebula’s voice and general demeanor. 

Nebula had barely signed off when he got a message in discord. His eyebrows raised. It was a direct message from UndeadNebula

UndeadNebula: hey, so like, just wanted to remind you that you can totally fix your donation so you’re not sending so much money or you can completely cancel it, no worries

Red_Ghul: It was not an accident and I meant how much I sent

UndeadNebula: uhhh what? dude, that’s 5k!

Red_Ghul: Yes. That should be sufficient for you to procure a cat. Or do you need more?

UndeadNebula: NO im good

UndeadNebula: i just don't get it

UndeadNebula: thanks? i’ll leave the donation for now so you can get it back if you change your mind

***

Red_Ghul had apparently not changed his mind, and the money went though. It showed up in his bank account. Fearing the worst, Danny let it sit there for two whole months before he admitted to himself that it was real. What. The. Fuck. 

However, by the time he’d admitted to himself that the money was real, Jazz was preparing to move to Gotham, and he did not have time to go to the shelter and pick up a cat. He was having to pack everything up, as he’d be moving in with Jazz. Her stipend from Arkahm and her scholarships paid enough for her to get a small apartment, and with the money Danny was making though his job and streaming, they could afford to rent a small townhome closer to the docks. 

The area had slightly less crime, and would give Jazz a shorter commute to Arkham. It was also located not too far from a bus line that could take Jazz to the university. The working fixtures and lack of mold in the town home were what sold Danny. It only took one day for him to move his meager belongings into their new home. He moved in after Jazz, not wanting their parents to see him. 

Their relationship was… complicated. They claimed they loved him, even though he was Phantom. But they still had no problem talking about ghosts as if they were less than human. His parents also weren’t subtle. Their every action projected their disgust with him, and their uncomfortableness to be around him. It had just been easier when Danny had left. When he’d run away.

They hadn’t bothered filing a missing person report after him. They hadn’t looked for him. Hadn’t tried to talk him out of it, knowing that he would be missing his senior year of high school. They had his number, but they’d never called. He’d kept it the same. Hoping. 

It had never come though. And it had been months. 

He was losing hope. 

At least they still cared enough not to out him to the government. Not to tell the Guys In White who he was.

That was a small blessing. 

Danny sighed. He’d just finished his first stream after moving in. He’d had to explain to his curious viewers that he’d moved. He’d tried to keep in vague, not wanting to accidentally give them any extra information. Information they could use to doxx him or find him. 

“Hey Jazz,” he called into the house.

“What?” came her yell from downstairs.

“You cool if I get a cat?” Jazz didn’t reply, but he could hear her making her way up the stairs. 

“Yes! I think a cat would be great for you, Danny.” Jazz proclaimed, coming into his room and sitting on his bed.

“We’ll have to pay pet rent, right?”

“Yeah, but it shouldn’t be too much extra a month.” 

“Cool. I still need to buy stuff for them, but I should be ready to go visit the animal shelters next weekend. You wanna come with? Help me pick out your niece or nephew?” Danny teased with a grin. 

“I’d love to! Have you thought about what kind of cat you want to get?” 

“Well, probably a black cat? They’re usually the least adopted cat. And an adult cat. They have a harder time getting adopted too.” 

“Alright. Do you have enough for the adoption fee? I can lend you some money if you’re short.”

Danny blushed,  thinking of the very kind and generous donation Red_Ghul had given him to adopt a cat. 

“Uh, no, I - I’ve got it.” Jazz eyed him suspiciously. 

“What aren’t you telling me, little brother?”

“Well,” he began sheepishly, “one of my viewers on twitch gave me a huge donation so I could adopt a cat.”

“That’s really sweet of them!” 

“Yeah. Yeah it is.” Danny said with a small bashful smile. 

“Do you think I should ask them if they want to help me name the cat?”

“That’s up to you, little brother. It’s your cat. Plus, what did they give you, like fifty dollars? I don’t think that will cover the adoption fee.”

“No, they kinda gave me five thousand?”

“WHAT!?!”

***

UndeadNebula: hey

UndeadNebula: so i’m going to pick out a cat today

UndeadNebula: i’m probably going to rename them

UndeadNebula: since you helped me adopt this cat, do you wanna help me name it?

Red_Ghul: I would be amenable to that. I am of the opinion the cat should be named after how it looks, and for the name to have meaning

UndeadNebula: okay

UndeadNebula: I’m thinking of getting a void

Red_Ghul: a void?

UndeadNebula: a black cat. They are the least likely to be adopted so i wanna get one

UndeadNebula: an adult too, since they also have a harder time getting adopted

Red_Ghul: A wise and compassionate choice. I approve. 

UndeadNebula: uh, thanks? Lol 

UndeadNebula: anywho, back to names

UndeadNebula: you got any ideas?

Red_Ghul: You enjoy space, no? 

UndeadNebula: yeah

Red_Ghul: Why not something space related? 

UndeadNebula: Hmmm that could work

UndeadNebula: how about galaxy? Or cosmos?

UndeadNebula: eclipse is a good one too

Red_Ghul: What about Orion? 

UndeadNebula: !! I love it! 

UndeadNebula: If the cat ends up being a boy, i’m definitely going to name him Orion

UndeadNebula: but what if they end up being a girl? 

Red_Ghul: Perhaps Celestia? That is a rather regal name

UndeadNebula: i mean it reminds me of my little pony but it’s a fantastic name

Red_Ghul: I am pleased that you like my suggestions. I am happy to have been of assistance. :) 

UndeadNebula: lol so you can use emojis! 

Red_Ghul: I can. I am familiar with some slang and lingo. My brothers have ensured that.

UndeadNebula: brothers

UndeadNebula: as in plural?

UndeadNebula: how many do you have?

Red_Ghul: I have approximately four brothers and two sisters

UndeadNebula: holy shit that’s a lot of siblings!!!

Red_Ghul: Yes. My father has an adoption problem. I am his only biological child. The rest are all adopted.

UndeadNebula: damn dude

UndeadNebula: i just have one sibling, a sister, and that’s enough for me

UndeadNebula: don’t need anymore

UndeadNebula: i’m younger, so she likes to boss me around a bit

Red_Ghul: I am the youngest of all my siblings as well. They certainly try to ‘boss’ me around but it does not work

Damian hesitated. How much should he reveal? This was a still relatively unknown streamer. They likely wouldn’t remember much about him. He should be fine, as long as he didn’t reveal anything too incriminating. Right? It would be nice to speak with someone who was not a vigilante, and didn’t know about his double life. It also helped that Nebula was a fan of Robin. 

Red_Ghul: I look forward to seeing the cat you choose

UndeadNebula: thanks! I have a few more surprises too, once the cat is home and adjusted

UndeadNebula: hopefully

UndeadNebula: cats aren’t always known for being cooperative

UndeadNebula: uh

UndeadNebula: do you have a cat? Or a dog?

Red_Ghul: I do. I named my cat after my pseudo grandfather. I have a dog as well. A Great Dane. I named him after a character in Shakespeare

UndeadNebula: pseudo grandfather?

Red_Ghul: My biological grandparents were killed when my father was young, leaving him an orphan. My pseudo grandfather was a close friend of theirs who took my father in. It is clear that Father views him as his father, and that my brothers and myself view him as our grandfather. Perhaps due to his loyalty to my biological grandparents, he does not encourage us to call him a familial name. 

UndeadNebula: huh

UndeadNebula: I’m sorry

UndeadNebula: I 

UndeadNebula: well

UndeadNebula: it’s not the same

UndeadNebula: but I’ve basically been disowned by my parents

UndeadNebula: i revealed to them something about myself and they couldn’t accept it

UndeadNebula: sorry

UndeadNebula: that was probably way more than you wanted to know

UndeadNebula: and probably not super relevant to the conversation

UndeadNebula: i just tend to relate to people through sharing similar experiences 

UndeadNebula: shit i didn’t mean to compare your dead grandparents to being disowned

Red_Ghul: Nebula. It is fine. 

Red_Ghul: I am sorry you were disowned for being gay

Red_Ghul: I am lucky to have older siblings who were already out when I told my father I was gay

Red_Ghul: It was still difficult to do so, even knowing he had accepted my siblings

Red_Ghul: Due to me being his only biological child

UndeadNebula: skgaisdjfksafid

UndeadNebula: i didn’t mean 

UndeadNebula: i’m not gay

UndeadNebula: but i am in the alphabet mafia

UndeadNebula: thank you 

Red_Ghul: My apologies, I should not have assumed. 

UndeadNebula: no worries dude

UndeadNebula: off to get the cat

UndeadNebula:  pictures will be sent soon of the cutie!

Red_Ghul: I look forward to them

***

Orion made his debut on the stream about a month later. Damian felt smug as Nebula showed off the black American short hair with emerald green eyes. Nebula’s surprise had been a cat cam, which was pointed at a very cozy looking cat bed with little fairy lights around it. Using the stardust coins, one could have Orion be fed treats, or be pet. 

After Damian and the other viewers abused that the first few streams it was on, Nebula put a limit on the number of times they could feed Orion. A timer was also added, so Nebula wouldn’t have to bother the cat while he was sleeping. In fact, there was a stardust reward that let you increase the timer so Orion could sleep longer without being disturbed by a pet. 

Damian was torn. Orion made an adorable little merrp noise when he was woken up from a nap to be pet. However, it was also incredibly rude to disturb the cat while it was sleeping. Depending on the day, Damian would either increase the timer, letting the sweet boy sleep all stream, or get Nebula to bug the cat with multiple pets. Damian was very tempted to use a coin flip to determine which side he should be each stream, but that made him feel too much like Two Face. He did not want to emulate Dent. 

It was inevitable that eventually his duties as Robin would prevent him from watching a stream. He knew he could watch it later. He was a tier three subscriber. It wouldn’t be the same though. He wouldn’t get to feed Orion or hear Nebula’s voice. Or get to see the man’s beautiful eyes. He debated, whether or not he should tell Nebula that he was missing a stream. He eventually decided against it. He was just another faceless person among the mass of viewers that UndeadNebula had. They may have exchanged some direct messages and he may have helped Nebula procure Orion. But he wasn’t special. He wasn’t.

***

UndeadNebula: hey

UndeadNebula:  hope this isn’t weird or anything

UndeadNebula: but you usually show up for my streams

UndeadNebula:  so I was kinda worried 

UndeadNebula:  you okay? You can talk to me if you need to

UndeadNebula: i’m happy to talk

Damian stared in shock at his phone. Nebula… had noticed he wasn’t there? He’d reached out? He hadn’t expected that. He could feel the beginnings of a blush on his cheeks. He’d need to respond to Nebula. 

“You okay there little D?” asked Richard, stepping out from the changing room in a pair of sweats and a loose T-shirt. 

“I’m fine. Just surprised by some messages on my phone.” Damian replied nonchalantly.

“Oh? From who?” Curses. Richard would not let this go. 

“An internet friend,” Damian hedged. A myriad of emotions passed across Richard’s face. 

“Hey Timmy?” 

“Yeah?”

“Did we ever give Dami that talk on internet safety?” 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh?”

“I’ll take that as a no,” muttered Richard displeased. 

“I do not need a discussion on internet safety! I am not a child. I know how to be anonymous online.” Damian snapped, disgruntled that his brothers continued to act as if he was a child. He was an adult! He was nineteen! 

“Jay? Can you back me up here?” Richard asked.

“Hell no. Leave the Demon Brat alone. I don’t want to know what he gets up to online.” Todd retorted from the other end of the cave where he was fixing up his bike. 

“Thank you Todd,” Damian stressed, glaring at Richard, “at least someone here sees me as an adult.”

Richard pouted. 

“I just want to make sure you’re safe Baby Bat.”

“Admirable, I’m sure. Unnecessary though.” Damian stomped up the stairs leading to the elevator. “Goodnight!” he called as he stepped inside, heading back up into the mansion. 

He didn’t dare pull out his phone and reply to Nebula until he was safe inside his room. 

Red_Ghul: I am surprised and incredibly pleased you noticed my absence. 

Red_Ghul: I was merely unavailable due to a work commitment that I could not get out of. I will inform you next time I am unable to come to your stream. 

Despite the fact that it was early in the morning, around 3 am, he received a response.

UndeadNebula: !! i’m glad you’re okay! 

UndeadNebula:  i was getting worried 

UndeadNebula:  was also totally thinking about deleting those messages

Red_Ghul: Why? 

UndeadNebula:  because they are super embarrassing! And it was probably really dumb of me to message you like that

UndeadNebula: im gonna shut up now

Red_Ghul: I don’t think that.

Red_Ghul: As I mentioned before, I was surprised and appreciative that you reached out

Red_Ghul: I don’t think most streamers would have reached out to see if I was alright. It speaks to your kindness and your character that you not only remembered me, but attempted to check on me

UndeadNebula: alkdnflaksdjnlfkaj

UndeadNebula: asdklfjaskdjfa

Red_Ghul: Are you alright? Has Orion stepped on your keyboard again?

UndeadNebula: Ancients

UndeadNebula: you don’t realize it do you

Red_Ghul: Realize what?

UndeadNebula: it’s a keyboard smash

UndeadNebula: it’s an internet thing

UndeadNebula: it’s kinda cute that you don’t know

Damian blinked in shock before his face turned red. UndeadNebula thought he was cute?!? UndeadNebula? 

When he looked back at the chat, the final message was gone. Had he merely imagined it? No. He’d seen it. 

Red_Ghul: Thank you for explaining. 

Red_Ghul: I don’t really bother to keep up with Internet slang or language. People can sometimes be rather rude when I am unaware of what they are referencing

UndeadNebula:  🙁

UndeadNebula: i’m sorry that was really shitty of them

UndeadNebula: i won’t do that to you

Red_Ghul: I know. You are too kind. 

***

Danny couldn’t believe he’d called Red_Ghul cute. He’d hastily deleted the message, his face tomato red. Had Red_Ghul seen it? Hopefully not. It was just - Red_Ghul had been so kind. Sending him money so he could get Orion. Red_Ghul clearly loved animals, since he had proceeded to spend his stardust coins like crazy to treat the cat and to pet the cat. Not only that, but Red_Ghul was so formal in how he typed, always using proper grammar and punctuation, and not knowing a lot of internet slang, despite his claims his brothers had taught him. 

Danny sighed. He knew now that Red_Ghul was okay. He could go to sleep now. It had bothered him, that Red_Ghul hadn’t shown up. The man/boy (?) didn’t participate too much, outside of talking about Orion and interacting with Danny’s cat. The only way he’d found out anything about him had been through DMs. Red_Ghul was fascinating, in his own way. He wanted to know more about his mysterious cat patron. 

Danny groaned, rolling over in his bed. That would have to be for another night. He really needed to get some sleep. 

***

It was dumb. Really really dumb. Going out in Gotham at night. But Jazz needed him. She’d just moved, gotten her monthly visitor, and could not find her supplies in all of her boxes. So Danny offered to venture out and get some pads, a hot water bottle, ibuprofen, and some Twix, her favorite chocolate. Maybe he could even pick up a movie, and they could hang out on the couch for a couple hours.

It was a short walk to the nearest pharmacy. Gathering everything quickly, Danny paid and made his was back to their small townhome. As he walked, a heavy fog seemed to be rolling in, he sped up, trying to make it back to their place before it became too dark to see. He could use his ghost powers to bypass the fog, but he tried his best not to use them. He didn’t want to attract the attention of the Bats, any of Gotham’s rogues, or the government in general. Glowing eyes, turning invisible, and flying would potentially stand out. 

Danny picked up his pace. He was only about five minutes away from home, when he realized it wasn’t normal fog. It was some kind of gas, the few people around him starting to scream and run into the road, one getting hit by an oncoming car. A woman a few feet ahead of Danny pulled out her pepper spray and began trying to spray the air in front of her, but it was no use. His heart, which was normally slower than the average human, began to speed up. 

Nervous, Danny began to run down the street, dodging the screaming and panicking citizens. He held his breath, trying not to breathe in the gas as much as possible. Thank goodness he wasn’t a normal human. He fumbled for his phone, pulling up Jazz on his contact list. He hesitated, and decided to call emergency services instead. He needed to call them while he still had a clear head. He would be home shortly. 

“Hello, this is 911, what’s your emergency?”

“There’s some sort of fear gas attack happening down by the Docks. I’m at the intersection of Union Street and Race Drive,” Danny relayed as he ran.

“Okay, thank you. Police should be on their way shortly. Have you seen a man dressed as a Scarecrow?” 

“No, I haven’t. Plenty of people freaking out though. Some - some guy got hit by a car.”

“Please stay on the line as long as possible, sir. Are you able to cover your mouth in any way? Or stop the gas from coming in?” the person on the other end asked tensely. 

Danny had every intention of following her request until something up ahead caught his eye. It was his future self, dragging the corpses of his parents along behind him. 

“Hi Danny. It’s high time you turned into me.” Dan said calmly, fangs glinting eerily in the moonlight. His parents' corpses cracked and stood up, almost as if they were puppets on strings. Their eyes were ectoplasmic green, their grins cruel.

“Danno! Great to see you! Just the ghost we’ve been looking for!” Jack Fenton’s disturbing visage said cheerily. 

“Oh honey, you’re just so special! We can’t wait to study you! Of course, that’ll help you turn into our boy!” his mother said, linking her arm with his future self’s arm. In her other hand, she held a chainsaw that glowed a gristly green. 

“Sir? SIR? Are you still there?” came the operator’s voice from his cell phone. 

“No. This isn’t real.” 

“Of course it’s not real. That doesn’t mean it won’t feel like it is though,” Dan laughed cruelly. “Run Danny, run! We’ll get you eventually!”