Danny used to be a vigilante, firmly on the side of good. Like, illegally, but morally good.
Dannyâs 100% sure that whatever he is now, itâs not good.
Is Gothamâs influence just Like That?
He was homeless when he got to this thrice damned city (literally, because Lady Gotham was so cursed) and now heâs⌠here? In a mid-level penthouse with a rotation of homeless kids going in and out of his kitchen and eating out his pantry??
Danny adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt, making the conscious decision to ditch the tie. Heâs a tall 6ft 4 now, taking after his Dad. His head smarted all of the time, hitting doorframes when he was being a bit clumsier than the normal ghost-like grace he had learned to channel as The Phantom.
The Phantom instead of just Phantom. Why? Because Phantom was the name of a teenage vigilante in another dimension. The Phantom, on the other hand, is an intimidatingly tall, deceptively kind, extremely dangerous kingpin.
Honestly? Danny didnât even want this life. Like, he had no idea it would snowball like this??
He supposed that it all started when the Penguin was trying to snatch kids off of his block on Crime Alley. Not officially his block, of course, because Danny didnât actually enter this city to be a crime-shadow thing. But he hadnât lost enough of Phantom the Vigilante to ignore kids getting hurt. He still hasnât, if heâs being honest. He flew into a frantic search, tracking down the missing kids to Penguinâs bar. The Iceberg Lounge. Apparently, he wanted the kids to do some menial tasks and what not. Danny, rage flickering through his core, intangibly went in and robbed Penguin of every coin and secret the man kept.
Then? Danny blackmailed the Penguin to guarantee his kids a measure of safety from the Rogue. That began the slippery slope into whatever it is he does now. Penguin was being kept in line by Dannyâs threats, the grip he had on the Rogueâs weak points, and a wonderful bit of intimidation.
ââ
âWhat, you stinking phantom? Iâm stickinâ to yer rules!â Penguin snarled, forced to his knees by invisible blob ghosts.
Danny, salty and pissy from the lack of sleep heâd experienced trying to keep Penguinâs men in line as a result of Penguin trying to test where Dannyâs lines were, dropped the temperature to the point where Penguin started shivering. Considering the place was already cold- the Iceberg lounge lived up to its name- it meant that Danny was standing nonchalantly in a room that was negative twenty five degree Celsius in a sweatshirt, Danny was already making good on his natural intimidation factor.
âItâs The Phantom to you, Oswald.â Danny said, in the tone of someone saying âitâs the shit, to you.â
Danny narrowed his blue eyes, letting a tiny tint of ectoplasm make his eyes glow a bit in the suddenly icing over room.
âYour people have been getting on my nerves, Oswald. Roughing up kids is so⌠uncultured. Are you sure youâre a Cobblepot?â
Penguin snarled, the effect of which was rendered ineffective due to his increasingly violent shivers. Plus, Danny loomed over him without even trying.
Danny, annoyed and asking himself âWhat Would Dan Do To Intimidate This Guy?â, gripped Penguinâs shoulder and hauled him up one handed. He dragged the mob boss over to one of the booths, avoiding the bodies heâd dropped (non-lethally) when Danny first walked in to ruin Penguinâs night. He shoved Penguin in chair he iced over, because Dannyâs petty and if he saw one more bruise on his kids at Penguinâs hands, Danny was gonna go full Dan the Murderer.
He at least allowed to room to warm up before laying into Penguin, though. He stayed standing. Hey, he had the height advantage to use. He could have kept Penguin kneeling, but it was probably god the best that the mob boss got some sense of pride back.
(Danny had no idea that sitting as someone loomed over you to lecture and threaten you was even worse than kneeling. At least with kneeling, you knew where you stood. But sitting? It leaves you horribly off kilter.)
âI told you to keep your people in line. Kids are off limits, Oswald.â
âI kept them in line!â
Never let it be said that Oswald Cobblepot had a normal functioning sense of self preservation.
âReally?â Danny jabbed his pointer finger lightly on top of Penguinâs trachea and allowed his fingernails to sharpen into Phantomâs sharper digits. Penguin tried to lean away. âThen why did they start a gun fight when there were kids visible on the street? Why did I see one of my kids get hit by one of your poor excuses of a bouncer?â
âI-â
âDonât care much for your excuses, if Iâm being honest. I let you mess around with the little projects you have, without even breathing a whisper of your secrets. Sionis would love to know how you double crossed him the last deal, yeah?â
âI- Iâll keep them in line!â Penguin stuttered.
âWell, I believe in second chances,â Danny bullshitted. Ancients, how was this even working? âSo I suggest you make an example of the guy that smacked Hailey around before I make an example out of you, Oswald.â
âFine! Fine!â
ââ
And with that, he got access to Penguinâs resources and men and more importantly, the corrupt police officers. He made Penguin âboot outâ the pedophilic ones (in a very violent way) and kept the rest.
Then? Mr. Freeze froze over the god damn pipes and Danny had to intimidate and make a deal with the Rogue so he and his increasing roster of orphans had access to warm water.
In exchange for Dannyâs restorative and, more importantly, unmelting ice, Mr. Freeze was now Dannyâs⌠on-call enforcer?? When heâs not researching cures for his frozen in a pod wife, that is.
Danny was satisfied with that. He was! But then Black Mask happened, with the man trying to engage in a battle of wits with Danny over the control of Crime Alley which, at that point, was firmly Dannyâs territory.
The thing is, Danny doesnât play nice anymore. Why bother with pointless mind games when he could justâŚ
ââ
âSo, youâre The Phantom.â
âAnd youâre Sionis.â
Black Mask twitched at the name, gloved hands pulling out his guns. Danny sat on the counter, head touching mid cabinet, and sipped out of Sionisâ favorite mug.
Because Danny broke into Black Maskâs safe house and stole his quality coffee. The manâs eyes were wary.
âHow did you get in here?â
Danny shrugged. âWalked.â
Danny held the coffee out of the way as Sionis unloaded a clip into his chest and lunged forward to slap a mask onto Dannyâs face. After waiting a bit, as Black Maskâs smug triumph bled into shock, Danny laughed and, using a bit of his natural strength, tossed the guy off of him. He casually took the mask off of his face.
âJeez, Iâm trying to be nice, here.â
âSo, youâre a Meta.â
Danny grinned. âEh. And youâre a cult leader with a mask fetish.â
Danny tuned out the rant about the âtrue face of Gothamâ or whatever, already bored, and sipped at Sionisâ coffee. The ass might be a psycho, but his coffee tastes were wonderful. Danny stood up, rinsed his mug, and turned back to Black Mask.
âYouâre trafficking people. Kids.â He said, cutting through Sionisâ chatter. He was sly about it too, committing violence and torture in a way that would ensure obedience and fear. Danny probably would have never caught on, Black Maskâs schemes being so ingeniously created and executed, had he not kept a hawkâs eyes on the more vulnerable members of Crime Alleyâs community. And the rest of Gothamâs vulnerable communities, of course.
âMy, a wonderfully obvious conclusion. Now, Phantom, I have a proposition for you.â
Sionis seemed to have gotten his bearings back. Danny tilted his head at him, looking down.
âYou can work for me,â Sionis said, before opening a laptop with video feed to one of his masked men or whatever holding a knife to one of Dannyâs more fearless kids. Danny snarled.
âOr, refuse, and your kid will lose a finger for every instance of your defiance.â
âI told you not to touch the kids, Sionis. I donât allow trafficking either.â
Black Mask chuckled. âCut off a finger, Sadness.â
âYes, bos- ARGHHHH!â
Danny watched as Mr. Freeze froze the goonâs arms before breaking them.
âIâve got her, Phantom.â
Danny nodded at Freeze, keeping an eye on Sionis in case the fool bolts.
âSo, what are your cards now, Sionis? Youâve sure pissed me off with nothing to show for it.â
And that was the last night anyone heard from the one that was supposed to be the King of Crime.
But Gotham knew the head mounted on a pike at one of Black Maskâs hastily abandoned bases was a warning, that The Phantom was watching.
ââ
Then he somehow got a gaggle of more orphans that were undead zombie âTalons?â
From there, he just obtained influence over the crime bosses of Gotham. Because his Talons kept bringing him heads and blackmail and his crime alley kids and Gotham orphans kept bringing him information for food and safety?
But like, Danny never wanted anything in exchange for the safety he provided. His core could give less of a shit whether he got anything in return. But he couldnât convince his kids of that! Theyâre putting themselves in danger and ugh-!
Danny checked himself once more in the mirror. Ready, he stepped out into the night to wait for the Bats at his new favorite VIP spots.
On the way, he passed Ivy and Harley, who he waved to. Pamela worked under him because he controlled Gothamâs criminal underground (which also mean the official parts of the city considering the sheer amount of corruption) and influenced them into more plant friendly methods. His dominion over Undergrowth also helped immensely.
Harley? Theyâre friends. He beat up and crippled her abusive ex. She gave him therapy and stopped torturing people for fun.
Danny stepped into the back door of the Iceberg Lounge. No one stopped him. No one dared to.
He settled onto a velvet couch, nodding respectfully at the server that had immediately and nervously set down his mai tai. He glanced around for cameras and wire taps, before giving up and upping his ectoplasmic output to short any recording devices out.
He sipped his drink as he waited.
âBatman.â
âPhantom.â
âOh, good. You didnât bring Robin,â Danny said, watching Batman tense. âKids shouldnât be in places like these.â
Batman stayed silent.
âCome on, sit.â Danny gestured to the couch across from him.
âThis isnât a social call. Iâll stop whatever youâre scheming-â Batman growled.
âOh my god, youâre so dramatic. Is this where Nightwing gets it from?â
Batman snarled.
âSit, sit.â Danny rolled his eyes.
Batman stayed stubbornly looming. Danny sighed, allowing his voice to slip into velvet danger.
âI told you to sit, Bruce Wayne.â
âYou-â
âI wonât repeat myself again, Bruce. Youâre testing my patience.â
Bruce sat, wary and hyper vigilant. Danny sighed, settling back in his chair.
âYouâve heard of Red Hood, yes? Donât answer that, it was hypothetical. I know youâve heard of him.â Danny waved a hand impatiently. âI donât really care why heâs setting up shop in my Alley, but heâs upsetting the other crime lords. Theyâre asking me to interfere.â
âI donât work for you.â
âNo,â Danny acknowledged with a nod. âBut I could make you, if you push it. Politeness would serve you much better right now, Bruce, seeing as I am doing you a⌠favor. And since Iâm not shouting to the world who you are under the cowl.â
Danny gave Batman a pointed, patented, mom glare.
â⌠Apologies.â
âNow, you might be wondering what that favor is.â Danny watched Batmanâs cowled face carefully. âI thought you should know that the Red Hood is your âJason Todd.ââ
Batman was still. And then Batman leapt at him, snarling, âHow dare you-!â
Danny caught the vigilante by the throat and squeezed.
Batmanâs flurry of punches- which, mildly ow, those gauntlets kind of hurt- quickly changed to clawing and maneuvers to get out of the choke hold. Danny held steady, cutting off the vigilanteâs air supply until he began to go limp. Heâs not Superman. Danny will bruise and kill, if he had to.
âAre you going to listen to me now?â Danny asked mildly, emulating both Black Maskâs drawl and Danâs effortless psychosis.
Batman gave a weak nod. Danny plopped him unceremoniously back onto his couch. He sipped on his drink once more as he waited for Batman to cough some sweet air back into his lungs.
âIâm telling you to get your little birds in line before I have to go hunting, yeah? Keep your kids out of danger, Bruce, and I wonât have to step in.â
âHe- how do you know..?â The growl isnât there anymore, and Danny felt a smug sense of vindication of having smothered it out of the guy. Woah, no, that thought was too Dan and too little Danny. Danny handed him a cup of water, which Batman didnât drink.
Danny rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow. âDrink. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now. And as for how I knowâŚâ
Danny held up a beat up copy of Jane Austenâs Sense and Sensibility, filled with Jasonâs writing. He tossed it to Batman, who caught it with blank eyes.
âWater,â Danny reminded him firmly, feeling like a mother hen. Batman gulped down his water, eyes flicking between the pages of Jasonâs annotated book. Ancients, Danny couldnât believe he annotated his book. A crime lord, like that? Well, itâs not like Danny could say anything.
Batman looked up at him, a silent demand- no, plea, because heâs not in a position to make demands- for an answer.
âBroke into his safe house. You should contact your fling, Talia. Seems like she dunked him into these âLazarus pitsâ and told him you replaced him with the current Robin.â
Danny could see Batmanâs emotional gears hard at work and honestly, he doesnât have time for that.
âNow, weâre done here. You owe me one for the information. Iâll collect later.â Danny grabbed the Dark Knight, who stayed oddly unresisting (shock, maybe?) , and hauled him up.
âTell Tim Drake to eat more. He looks too skinny.â With that, Danny dragged the Dark Knight to the window and punted him out. His kids were waiting on hot chocolate night and Danny had to go shopping for quality ingredients.
ââ
âYOU COULDNâT HAVE TOLD ME THE BIGGEST CRIME LORD OF YOUR CITY WAS THE FUCKING HIGH KING OF THE INFINITE REALMS?!â
âHn.â
âBLOODY HELL, DONâT YOU GRUNT AT ME, YOU BROODY BASTARD!â
Constantine let out a scream. Shite, the king who held his soul contract was a crime lord. Great.
ââ
The reason intelligence and convoluted schemes and genius doesnât work against Danny is because heâs got weird standards of what heâll tolerate and the fact is that his normal dumbassery and mother hen tendencies cancels out and coherent thoughts or plans he might have had.
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