Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Danny had been planning this vacation for months, and Ancients did he plan to make the most of it. His friends and parents all agreed to keep Amity safe while he’s gone for the summer, and he had Clockwork to tell him when it was time to portal back home. As he floated towards a natural portal in the ghost zone (because it’s far more fun when the destination is a surprise), he began shifting his form. He had been dealing with so much both as a human and as a ghost. School, fights, teen drama, hunters— but not this summer! This summer, it’s going to be different! He won’t have to worry about human or ghost problems, because this summer, he’s not going to be either! He’s going to be…

A Little Creature™️.

He doesn’t use his “compact” form very often, since it dampens his powers and takes away his ability to talk. But, on this vacation, he won’t need his powers. He can just wander around an unknown dimension, steal some food, sleep in a cardboard box. If he actually needs to be human for something, he can switch back no problem. But honestly? It’s fun being a little guy, even if being a little guy does make him kinda stupid. (He got stuck in a cardboard tube the first time he went into his little form. He was stuck for half an hour. Didn’t even think to phase out of it. As soon as he was pulled out of the tube, he went right back in and got stuck again). Plus, he can stay in this form for an incredibly long time— he doesn’t even switch back when he’s hurt! (Which no, it was not fun to learn that, but good to know)

Shifting into his compact form, Danny slips through the portal and finds himself wading through a big pool of stuff that seems like ectoplasm, but slightly to the left. Like yeah, it’s technically ectoplasm, the same way a carton of milk set out in the sun for three days is technically milk. Not fun to play in, horrible to eat.

As Danny pulls himself out of the gross, bubbling “ectoplasm” pool, shaking himself off, he sees some sort of big fight going down. Bunch of people with swords, some big guy dressed as a bat, some kid dressed as a traffic light. He considers stepping in for a moment, but… no. This is his vacation. Not his dimension, not his problem. Just be a Little Creature™️. He sees a bat-shaped piece of metal at his feet. He knows exactly what a Little Creature™️ would do in this scenario.

He hits it.

Then he hits it again.

Then he hits it again, and again, and again and again and again and he grabs it and bites it and rolls around with it and tail slaps it and bites it and bites it and bites it and bites it and then he almost gets stepped on.

Danny looks up from his toy to see the kid dressed as a traffic light staring down at him. The kid tries to grab the toy away from Danny only to be met by the fierce batting of his little paws. The kid moves his hand close a couple more times, and each time he’s fought off valiantly by Danny’s little paw smacks. He’s not sure why the kid looks like he’s smiling when he’s so clearly losing this battle. The kid gets distracted by the guy in the bat costume calling out to him, and Danny takes this opportunity to continue biting the bat toy, rolling with it and biting it and batting it and biting it and why is he being carried away by the kid.

Danny looks around and sees that the kid is carrying him into a big plane being piloted by the guy in the bat suit. Then he’s shoved under the kid’s cape, and he doesn’t really see too much for a few minutes. He chirps at the kid, and is met with a soft yet quick “shhh!” He waits until he can feel the plane they’re in take off to peek out of the cape and look out the window.

He can see the large pool— though it’s more of a pit, now that he sees the whole thing— that he arrived through, as well as a bunch of people running away from it. Not sure why though, it’s just a bubbling—

Ah.

It blew up.

… Danny hides a bit further in the cape, clutching his bat toy a little tighter. He wound up in a very comfortable position, which made him just… a little sleepy…

Danny woke up wrapped in the cape, held by the kid, surrounded by a shocking number of people all yelling something about a “tiny pet pit demon.”

Chapter Text

The first thing Danny notices when he woke up (aside from, y’know, the group of people who all seemed freaked out about something) was that they were no longer in a plane. In fact, they aren’t even outside anymore, instead inside of some kind of… cave? It looks like a cave, but looking around, there’s also a lot of stuff in it, like a big computer, a car, a bunch of costumes, a giant penny, a dinosaur, what. He just kinda… stares at the dinosaur for a few seconds. It’s really big, how did they get it in here? It has to be mechanical, right? If not, that raises a lot of questions about what kind of dimension he landed in. Did they build it inside of the cave? Did someone pilot it like a mech suit to get it inside? And why is Danny being poked in the face.

He ducks under the folds of the cape he’s being carried in, hearing someone say “well, it definitely isn’t aggressive” as he hides.

“Tt. Obviously not, haven’t you been listening? It’s behavior is more catlike than anything, and it’s incredibly docile. If it wished to harm us, it would have done so by now. Besides, no one actually witnessed it come out of the pit, for all we know it could be a completely unrelated creature.”

Danny slowly peaks his head out of the cape as the kid kept talking. Whatever these “pit demons” are, it sounds like a good idea not to be mistaken for one. The kid said Danny was catlike, so… he’ll just be a weird looking cat.

“Mrrp!”

Every head in the room turns to look at the tiny eldritch horror with a noodle body and small paws with opposable thumbs doing its best cat impression.

“Mew! Mrrp!”

Danny has the utmost confidence in this strategy. He even curls up against the kid and starts purring for good measure. This is gonna work, he can feel it.

The man dressed as a bat steps forward.

“Damian,” oh so that’s the kids name, “while I understand it was a split second decision, you still should have told me about this creature before we brought it all the way back to Gotham. We don’t know what it is, what it can do, or where precisely it came from. Until we learn more about it, it will stay contained here in the batcave. Understood?”

Oh, Danny understood that just perfectly, and he is not a fan. Contained? During his vacation? Uh-uh, no way, not happening, stop stepping closer—

Danny arches his back and let’s out a sharp hiss at the approaching man, pushing himself deeper into the cape. The man slows his gait, but he doesn’t stop. The closer he gets, the higher Danny arches his tail. His eyes flick back and forth, from the man’s face to his hand to his face to his hand to the other people in the room to the dinosaur to the hand mere inches away.

As soon as a finger brushes his hair, he moves.

He dashes down through the cape and the boy’s arms, quickly dodging the flurry of hands that soon lunge towards him (as well as internally chuckling at the one whose hand instinctually reached for a gun on his belt. Yeah, like that’ll do anything lol). Flickering in and out of visibility, Danny races around the cave, leading the entire crowd of costumed people on a wild goose chase.

One minute a guy in black and blue is chasing him around the costumes, next minute the guy with the guns tries to get him off the top of the car, then a guy in red calls the others towards the computer Danny’s flying around, then a girl in purple and a girl in black try to corner him against the giant penny, and then no one can spot him at all for a solid ten minutes, running around the cave trying to find him.

Danny laughs from the inside of the mechanical dinosaur mouth.

Then a guy in yellow shouts “it’s on the dinosaur!” and the chase is on again (though how that guy could even see Danny when he was invisible, he has no idea).

The chase resumes for another ten minutes before Danny spots an elevator. And where there’s an elevator, there’s an exit. He phases through the door, up the elevator shaft, and out through a… clock? Into a mansion.

Well, not the first billionaire with a secret basement he’s interacted with, probably won’t be the last.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Every counter in the kitchen is covered in the best looking food Danny has ever seen. Granted, that’s not saying much considering all of his home cooked meals try to kill him, and the school cafeteria food might as well be trying to do the same thing. But in this kitchen, staring at the counters from the tight grip in the older man’s arms, Danny now knows that this is what food should be. He breathes in through his nose, hoping to get a whif of the delectable dishes surrounding him, only to cough at the smell of smoke.

Looking in front of him, he finally notices that the man had been rushing towards a smoking pan on the stovetop, and that said man was using his free hand to lift the pan off the stove, and walk towards the trash can. Danny immediately tries to wriggle free, little paws making grabby hands towards the meat. If Danny knows anything, it’s this: burnt food is still edible, and he is hungry. 

“Mrrp!” Give it to him.

The man turns his head down towards Danny, and raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t think you’d like this. It’s quite burnt, you see, and I have no idea what seasonings someone of your species would particularly enjoy.”

“Mrrp! Chrrrp!!” Flavor means nothing, all that matters is it’s edible and not trying to kill him. He keeps making grabby hands, wriggling around, and opens and closes his mouth in a fake-biting motion towards the pan. Don’t you see? He still wants it, he’ll still eat it. Please, give him the food. He’s just a starving little creature. Look into his eyes. Don’t you pity him? Don’t you want to give him everything?

“I do see your desire for this, however I’d much rather not feed you until I’m made fully aware of any dietary restrictions. We don’t want you ingesting anything that may make you sick, now do we?”

The man tilts the pan, causing the meat inside to slowly slide towards the trash. Danny acts quickly, slipping into intangibility as he leaps towards and through the bottom of the pan, grabs one of the slices in his teeth on his way to the other side, and lands on the floor on his face. He then rolls onto his back and starts eating the meat as quickly as possible. He has no idea what the old guy was talking about when he said Danny wouldn’t like it, this is the best thing Danny’s had in his entire—

“Goodness!”

The man reaches for Danny’s food.

Danny starts chewing faster.

The man tries to take the food from Danny.

But Danny works quickly.

Within seconds, the food is completely devoured, and all that’s left is Danny, the man, and the several other dishes in the room that Danny would also like to try please. The man lets out a small huff.

“Well, I do hope you’re pleased with yourself.”

“Mrrp!” He is, thanks!

Belly full and a bit drowsy from eating so much so quickly, Danny lets himself get picked up by the man, and brought back outside of the kitchen, through the hall, towards the room with the clock, and oh! The boy who saved him earlier— Damian, Danny thinks he was called— was standing right there in front of the clock!

“Mrrp!”

The boy, upon seeing Danny in the older man’s arms, rushes to take him into his own, to which Danny happily obliges. Danny trusts this guy, and not just because the moment Danny was in his arms, Damian handed Danny the bat toy he was playing with earlier. Well, ok, yeah, that’s a big part of it. But he remembered Danny likes it! That’s something! Plus, he protected Danny from the freaky explosion, and even brought him somewhere safe when he knew that scary guy in the black cowl would get upset with him! Danny can totally trust him, and he’s not just saying that because his arms are shockingly comfy and easy to sleep in and he didn’t get to finish his nap. So yes, he feels no fear as he drifts to sleep in the arms of the boy carrying him back through the clock and into the cave.

…He’s in a cage. He woke up. Looked around. And he’s in a cage.

A nice cage. A cage with his bat toy, as well as some other toys. A nice little food bowl with some meat sitting on one side of the cage, a water bowl on the opposite side. A soft blanket covering the bottom. Pretty spacious, he can crawl and fly around comfortably.

But still. 

A cage.

Not ideal.

He crawls over to the cage door, hoping to mess with the lock and get out. The cage has both a sliding lock and a padlock attached to it. They were smart. But Danny is smarterer.

With skillful paws laced in his icy power, Danny arches his back, adjusts his weight, and—

“Ah, you’re awake.”

—slips on the blanket and flops on the ground.

Damian walks up to the cage, and leans down to Danny’s level.

“I hope you’re comfortable. Father insists that you’re not allowed to roam the manor until we know more about your species.”

Danny reaches out of the cage to gently bat at the boys hand. Does he really have to stay in a cage in this creepy cave? Can’t he just stay with him? Being carried worked fine, didn’t it? Look at Danny. Look into his eyes. Don’t you want to let him out of the cage?

Damian gently scratches Danny’s head.

“I’m sorry, I cannot play with you right now. Father and I need to go out on patrol.”

Damian stops scratching Danny’s head and stands up. Danny raises his paws through the bars of the cage to try and grab his hand as he pulls away.

“Pennyworth will check up on you every hour or so, but there is a communication device in your cage you can use to call out for him at any time. I will return in a few hours.”

Danny watches as Damian walks away towards a sleek black car with the scary man waiting inside. And Danny… starts to think…. Damian said he’s going out…. So that means….

There is an exit!

Danny quickly turns invisible and intangible as he tries to catch up to the boy who had already entered the car. Danny hears the engine rev up, and he just barely manages to cling onto the side of the car before it zips away, out into the streets of Gotham.

Chapter Text

Ok so maybe clinging to the side of a moving vehicle that doesn’t exactly follow the speed limit with tiny claws wasn’t what you’d call a good idea, but he hasn’t fallen off yet! And wherever this “patrol” place is, it can’t be too much farther, right? They’ve been driving for… 15 minutes? Half an hour? Honestly, it’s a little hard for Danny to keep track of the time while his body is being flailed around like a wet tissue stuck to the shoe of an Olympic track runner. But he thinks it’s probably close. Probably. Hopefully. Ok honestly he doesn’t know, but his claws are started to hurt, and he doesn’t wanna slip, plus the wind against his ears sound like metal being torn apart and ripped up by razor-sharp claws, and oh wait that’s not the wind. Yeah no that’s.. that’s his claws against the car.

Shitshitshitshit nononono readjusting his claws, trying to bury them deeper into the metal, he just needs to get a good grip—

The car veers to the side and throws Danny off, skipping him off the ground and into an open manhole cover.

He makes a little “plip” sound as he’s dropped into the moving stream of sewer water and carried off into the unknown.

He’s wet, disoriented, floating on his back, and a little motion sick.

He… he needs a minute. He’s just gonna float here for a second. Listen to the coming sounds of the flowing water, droplets falling from the ceiling, punches hitting bodies a little ways off, wait.

Danny opens his eyes and flips his body around to look at where the water is taking him. In front of him, about 10 feet away are two large people fist fighting each other in the flowing sewer water, both of which who wouldn’t look out of place in the Ghost Zone. In fact, if Danny didn’t know any better, he would almost mistake them for ghosts, what with one of them being covered in lizard-like scales, the other having a death-like complexion and white hair, and both of them going at each other like they were having a friendly social bonding battle. Either that, or a territory battle. They’re throwing each other around, punching, tackling, putting each other in headlocks, all while completely unaware of anything else in their personal space, and oh no Danny just drifted into their personal space, oh no, oh ancients no.

Danny turns around, trying to frantically doggy paddle against the current. He knows how oblivious ghosts can be of their surroundings when they think they’re alone (yes he has broken a lot of stuff, no he won’t apologize because it was always in Vlad’s basement and Vlad deserves it) and if these guys are anything close to ghosts, he knows being near the battle won’t end well for him. He turns his head to try and see how far he’s gotten away from the fight, only for his eyes to be met with a scaled back that was getting closer and closer and suddenly he’s being shoved under the water by the scaled man’s spine.

Danny swerves out of the way before the scaled man’s back hits the floor, and tries his best to avoid both sides’ flailing limbs. He narrowly avoids getting stepped on, dodges a punch, moves out of the way of slashing claws, all while trying to make his way to the surface. As soon as he pokes his head out of the water, gasping for air, he sees exactly where all the dodging has left him— smack dab in the middle of both fighters, who still haven’t noticed he’s there.

On his left, the scaled man charges. On his right, the deathly-skinned man braces. And in the middle, Danny’s mind races. He’s scared. They’re both so big, and he’s so tiny, he’s gonna get stuck, he’s gonna get crushed, he’s scared, scared, he doesn’t wanna get hurt, he’s scared, scared, scared, he just needs them to stop, he just needs them to f̸r̴E̴E̵Z̵E̶—̸

He lets out a squeak of fear as ice forms beneath him.

———————————————

In the infinite realms, the ancient of time stares dumbstruck at the ice-covered gear in front of him.

In Clockwork’s defense, he, ironically, thought he had more time. He would never admit it, but his view of Danny’s potential futures has always been a bit… muddied, ever since the boy’s future self shoved that artifact into his chest. But even then, the young halfa should, in theory, only come into his true strength after a lifetime or so. He shouldn’t even be able to access his more powerful abilities in his pure defensive form for at least another 50 or so years. This is how halfas are meant to mature.

Of course, the boy has always been quick at developing abilities far above his supposed power level.

Seems Clockwork will have to keep a closer eye on Danny’s interdimensional outing than he originally thought.

———————————————

The good news is, only the sewer water was frozen.

The bad news is, both of the fighters were up to their chests in sewer water.

The worse news is, both of them have their eyes locked on Danny.

The better news is, neither of them can do shit about that, because they can’t reach him.

The news Danny chooses to ignore is the fact he caused a 5-mile ice age underground with powers he shouldn’t have access to right now.

The news he chooses to focus on? These two definitely aren’t ghosts, but there is no way in the Infinite Realms the white-haired guy staring intently at Danny isn’t a zombie. He can practically taste it, right in the back of his throat where his ghost sense usually goes off. Either that, or he swallowed sewer water, and he’d rather not think that he swallowed sewer water, so he’s going with his gut on this one. But just to be sure, he lets out a little test chirp at the guy, a little “hello-ghost-friend-yes-good-ghost-friend” sound that sounds a bit like a low-battery smoke detector, just to see if the guy’ll respond.

“… why tiny ghost go beep?”

Oh! He knows Danny is a ghost! Sure, he may not understand what Danny’s trying to convey, but Danny knows more than most that dying and coming back wrong definitely has a way of messing with what you do and don’t know about the afterlife. Danny gives off a little purr towards the kinda-ghost, and wiggles towards him.

“…’ghost?’”

“Tiny ghost, coming towards Grundy.”

“Ok, I don’t know what that thing is, but it definitely ain’t a ghost.”

How rude! He’s half ghost, he totally counts!

“Tiny ghost definitely ghost.”

What he said!

“Aren’t ghosts supposed to be, y’know… dead things’ souls lingering around? There’s no way that thing used to be human, and it doesn’t look like any animal I’ve ever seen, so what could it have—“

“Mrowr!”

“…”

“…tiny ghost cat.”

“…….that’s one fucked up looking cat.”

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, it takes about 5 minutes for both of the men frozen in the ice to recover from the initial shock of being frozen in ice to realize that they are, in fact, frozen in ice. It takes about 5 more minutes for them to realize that it was, in fact, Danny’s fault, and that he does not, in fact, know how to get them out. And so, for about five minutes now, Danny watches as the two yank their shoulders back and forth to try and shake their way out of the frozen sewer water. He’s set up a betting pool with himself on who will get out first. His money’s on the undead guy. Danny knows how well the dead move in the cold, plus lizards get really sleepy when they aren’t warm enough. 

A scream from above and the sound of a frantic crowd brings the movements to a halt. Normally, Danny wouldn’t bother checking it out. He’s on vacation after all, and it’s not like he can protect anyone in his little form. But… that kid, Damian, was probably still wandering the city. He had gone out of his way to protect Danny, give him a safe little enclosure (even if Danny absolutely refuses to stay inside of it during his vacation), and even put the metal bat toy inside of it. Danny would feel horrible if anything happened to him, especially since Danny can— apparently— freeze any threats in place. Steeling his resolve, Danny floats up and through the ceiling, ignoring the two men’s cries of “why ghost cat leave?” and “wait that thing can fly?” below him.

Aaaand he almost gets stepped on. Again. By a lot of people. Well, less “a lot of people,” more “massive mob of screaming people who, despite not looking down at their feet, seem pretty determined to try and kick Danny around like a football.” Ok, he’s got this, he just needs to hop left, then right, little forward, back, and— ow! He’s getting kicked. Ow! He got kicked again. Ouch! Oof! Ow! Yikes! Oof! Ouch! Oof! Ow! Thrown into side of trash can. No longer getting kicked. Success. 

Giving a little cough and climbing on top of the trash can, Danny watches as people in gas masks run through a thick, weirdly covered fog that makes the back of his throat itch. He gives another little cough. Hopefully, he’ll still be able to spot Damian in the crowd, even if the kid also has a gas mask on. His outfit was pretty unique, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Danny gives another little cough as he floats above the crowd for a better view. It’s a bit hard to see with the thick fog, but he thinks he spots Damian and the scary bat man a little ways away, where everyone else was running away from.

Floating down towards them and away from the crowd, a surprisingly big cough causes Danny to stumble in the air, falling about 5 feet before catching himself a few inches above the ground. Shaking it off, he moves closer, and spots a metal bat toy on the ground. Happy to spot something so familiar, he grabs at it and holds it close, just in time for a fit of coughs to wrack his small body. He starts to shiver, fear slithering up his spine. What’s going on? Why is he scared? He looks around him trying to find the answer. The world is so big. Too big. He’s small, small, small, utterly defenseless. He coughs harder. He clutches the bat toy. Part of him hopes it will protect him. Damian protected him. Where is he? Danny was looking for him. Danny wants to protect him. But he’s small. He’s small, and scared, and the world is big, big, too big, too much. He lets out small cries through the coughs. His vision is blurry. He thinks he sees someone coming towards him. Someone moving slowly. Someone colored brightly. Is that…. Dami—

A clattering sound to his left, and Danny turns towards it, screams, and bolts in the other direction, not even seeing the man with the burlap sack over his head get sent flying by the wail. 

———————————————

Clockwork is…. He doesn’t know how he feels.

Danny can access his ghostly wail.

Sure, it’s a significantly weaker version.

But still.

He has his wail in his defensive form.

Clockwork thought that wouldn’t happen for another 2 centuries.

Never in his not-life has he been so proud and so utterly confused.

Clockwork is… he’s gonna sit down. Just for a bit. The day’s almost over, and if nothing else at the very least he can see how the rest of the night is guaranteed to play out. It’s not often that he’s completely certain how parts of Danny’s life will play out, so he’s gonna jump on this chance, and just… take a minute. He’s just gonna take a minute. 

…Maybe he’ll prepare a new emergency retreat plan, just in case.

———————————————

By the time Danny finally calms down, he has no idea where he was, or how long he had been running. All he knows is he’s in a greenhouse full of thriving plants. It reminds him of Sam’s plants, only… bigger. Wilder. More dangerous, and yet, completely safe. He curls up against the roots of a large bush, his small form covered by the leaves as he drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Danny’s barely at the threshold between “deep sleep” and “almost close to awake” when he hears footsteps nearby. He can’t bring himself to care, really. The night took a lot out of him, and he’s nowhere near ready to wake up. He’s just gonna lay here, curled up under a bush, and not move a muscle for the next couple days.

“…heard from Waylon…. some sorta ghost cat… ice powers…”

Danny’s ear flicks at the muffled conversation.

“No way…. rumor…. exaggerate….”

He curls in on himself, clutching his toy closer to his chest.

“It’s true! They were frozen for 5 hours!”

He covers his ears with his paws.

“5 hours?!”

He is not gonna open his eyes. He’s not gonna do it. He’s gonna wait it out, he’s gonna go back to sleep.

“Yeah! Apparently, they were— wha— BABIES, WAIT, COME BACK!”

“NO, STAY OUT OF THE GREENHOUSE! HARLEY, THEIR LEASHES!”

Danny peeks open his eyes just in time to see the smiling muzzles of two large dogs(?) biting at him, held back only by the branches of the bush he was cowering under. Flailing backwards, he presses his body up against the bush’s base, arching his back to try and make himself look bigger. He can’t exactly fight, he’s just a little guy, a small creature, a silly rabbit—he’d get torn to pieces! He can’t exactly run, the branches on his sides are so densely packed he might as well be in a cave made of wood. Even if he could, he’s so tired that he’s not even sure if he has the energy to run, let alone fly. But… he defended himself last night. He froze people, that’s something, right? The muzzles are getting closer. Danny gives off a warning hiss, g̷e̶t̷t̴i̸n̵g̶ ̵r̷e̸a̸d̵y̷ ̴t̸o̶—̷

“HEY, KNOCK IT OFF, YOU TWO!”

The two dogs(?) retreat from Danny, who immediately feels his body relax. Or, well, collapse would be more accurate. His chin hits his bat toy beneath him as his legs give out. He’s not sure what he was prepping his body to do, but whatever it was, getting ready to do it took away about half of the night’s sleep. Vision blurry, he can just barley make out a green face looking at him through the leaves. Green is good. Ghosts are green. The zone is green. The zone is safe. This green might be safe, too.

The branches move out of the way to reveal a green woman with red hair. Red hair is safe. Definitely safe.

“Mrrrrp…”

Danny drags himself towards the woman with one paw, the other paw tightly clutching his toy. He lets himself be picked up by the woman, and relaxes into her hold. Green is safe. Red hair is safe. So that must mean she is safe. 

“Hey, who’s that little guy?”

He jolts a little at the voice, and turns to see a pale woman tying the dogs(?) to a pole at the entrance of the greenhouse before running over to get a closer look at him, and talk to the green lady. She must have dragged the mean dogs(?) away from him. She’s definitely safe, too.

Though, he is a little disappointed that he didn’t actually scare the mean dogs(?) away. He was trying so hard! Arched his back so high! Was gonna so some… thing! Is he really that small and helpless? Maybe he should’ve stayed put in that mansion, this world is WAY more dangerous than he thought it would be.

“… probably bring it to the bats.”

Wait, he wasn’t paying attention, bring him to the what? They’re not gonna bring him to a cave full of bats or something, right? They don’t think he’s a weird bat, right? Cause that’s definitely not the cover story he’s going for.

“Mrah! Mrowrrowr!”

He’s a weird cat! He promises, he’s just a weird looking cat, please don’t put him outside in some dark, wet cave!

The pale woman scritches him on the head.

“Yeah, we’re gonna bring you to the folks you got that little toy from, would you like that?”

…oh. Oh! OH!!! They’re bringing him back to the mansion! He purrs and rubs his head on the pale hand. Yes, please, he’s so tired, he wants to go back to his enclosure, he’s had more than enough enrichment for one day.

Chapter Text

Danny is so ready to go back to his enclosure. He’s only been in this dimension for about two days and he’s already decided that traveling around the city as a little guy is more stressful than handling all of the ghost attacks in Amity. He will 100% stay in that little cage for the rest of the trip, especially if it means he gets fed.

Although, he wouldn’t mind driving with these ladies for a while longer. The top of the car is down, he has the wind in his hair, and he and the pale lady are wearing matching sunglasses and feather boas. He has no idea why she had them in his size, and he doesn’t care. He feels hot as fuck.

Holding on tightly to the head of the pale woman’s seat, he takes a moment to admire the unique look of the city. It kinda reminds him of the ghost zone, with all the sharp building edges, gargoyles, grotesques, and surprising number of bats. Look, there’s one now, just flying in the perpetual night sky, diving down towards the street, getting… closer, and… actually a lot bigger than Danny thought, and it’s coming towards him, and that is not a bat that thing is nOT A NORMAL BAT—

The bat-man-monster-thing swoops down just low enough to snatch Danny in its claws and fly back up towards the sky. 

This… this isn’t what the nice ladies meant by “bringing him to the bats,” right? Ok no, no, they’re definitely yelling in anger, and the pale lady just jumped out of the car and is running after the bat-thing. Good to know him getting sacrificed to a man-bat hybrid wasn’t part of the plan. And on that note, he just processed the situation oh dear ancients no put him DOWN. BITING YOU. BITING YOUR CLAWS. BITING YOU AND BITING YOU AND WHY. ISNT. THIS. WORKING— oh he was literally biting the fingernails, not the hand. 

Ok, take two. 

BITING YOUR HAND BITING YOUR HAND BITING YOUR H— ok this still isn’t working. Plus, all this biting is only making Danny hungry. His stomach gives a little growl.

The bat-guy’s stomach responds with a larger, much louder growl.

And the two functioning braincells in Danny’s skull finally produce a big enough spark for him to realize….

He’s prey sized.

This thing wants to eat him.

He wiggles back and forth as fast as he can, trying to break the big bat’s grip on him. Biting strategy be damned, if this thing bites back he’s gonna be at least 75% dead.

He feels a sudden drop, and before he knows it he and the beast are on the roof of a tall building, the bat’s hungry eyes locked on the small ghost.

The bat opens its mouth.

Danny doesn’t know what to do.

Its fangs are so big, big enough to tear him in half. He needs to escape. But he can’t escape. Its grip is too tight. Its teeth are getting closer. What does he do? What can he do? He closes his eyes. He doesn’t wanna be hurt, he needs some way to p̸̜̏r̴͇̕ő̵̘t̸̺̋e̶̩̓c̸̤͋ț̶̑ ̴̠͠ĥ̶͇i̶̻̅m̸̹͋š̷͙é̶̘l̵̺͠f̴̗͋—

He hears a ‘tunk’ above his head, and opens his eyes to see the bat struggling to bite through the force field around him.

…oh.

Oh hell yeah.

Haha! He’s safe! How does it feel, bat-man?! How does it feel to be biting him and biting him and biting him and doing NOTHING! Your fangs are no use against his SURPRISE HAMSTER BALL! What are you gonna do now, huh?!

———————————————

It’s fair to say that Clockwork’s whatever-ghosts-have-instead-of-blood pressure is the highest it’s been in over a millennia. He had been two seconds away from ripping open a portal and bringing Danny home himself. A horrible idea, considering he hasn’t been in any living realm in centuries. As far as he’s aware, his mere presence could cause the fabric of that world’s reality to fold in on itself and implode before subsequently exploding into a new universe.

And yet, his arm is still outstretched, halted only by the sight of Danny protecting himself with a force field.

He is… unsure of why he was so quick to act. Sure, he’s always cared for the boy, even before their “official” meeting four years ago. He had monitored Danny’s timeline the moment the portal opened. Watched the boy go through many hardships, and grow as a person. Interfered with the Observant’s plans to eradicate him. And when his view of Danny’s future became blurrier, he became more vigilant in watching over it and him. There were some parts of it that were still clear as day to him, so he made an effort to set Danny on the right path. It would only make sense for him to want to ensure a happy future for the boy, after all a happy future for their children is the desire of any—

… he’s going to step away for a moment. He needs to update his emergency evacuation plan. The boy will be fine. He’ll be fine. It’s only a few minutes.

———————————————

The bat gets tired of trying to break the barrier and throws Danny off the roof.

Chapter Text

The ghost-holding hamster ball free falls before it bounces down the stairs of a fire escape, pinging Danny back and forth and back and forth, spinning and spinning and spinning before popping and throwing Danny into snow. 

And y’know what?

Danny’s pretty ok with this.

He’s tired. He’s hungry. He’s lost. He’s dizzy. He thought he’d experience death for a second yet way, way worse time. He needs the cold for a little while. Soothes his core. Reminds him of the Far Frozen. The cold always makes him feel better.

At least… it would, if the snow were actually cold enough. 

It doesn’t help that the snow just barely reaches the top of his head, and it’s already melting. He needs to be submerged in below-freezing temperatures, please and thank you. Glancing around, he can see that right outside the alleyway he was thrown into are large piles of snow and ice covering the empty streets.

Hell yeah.

Wiggling around so he’s floating just above the snow, Danny makes his way towards the— hopefully— colder area. As he floated, he did a little mental inventory.

Glasses? Check.

Fluffy boa? Check.

Bat toy?

…

… Bat… 

toy…….?

DAMMIT!

SLAPPING THE SNOW! SLAPPING THE SNOW! SLAPPING THE SNOW!

HE’D HELD IT FOR SO LONG THIS TIME!! HE HAD IT WHEN HE WAS RUNNING FROM THE SCARY GAS PLACE, HE HAD IT IN THE GREENHOUSE, HE HAD IT IN THE CAR— ooohhhh he left it in the car. When he got snatched. Yeah, that should actually be pretty ok. The pale lady was running after the big bat that grabbed him, so once she catches up, she can bring him back to the car, and it’ll all be good. All Danny needs to worry about now is finding a nice, cold place to rest until then.

Floating a bit more into the center of the street, Danny notices that while the street itself is frozen over, the air itself still feels like the same summer day it was in any other part of the city. No matter how he presses himself up against oddly realistic human ice sculptures, or cuddles up against barely functioning cameras, or tries to halfway bury himself in the snow, the outside heat just slips in too fast. He’d bury himself all the way, but he’s probably gonna fall asleep, and then the pale lady might not be able to find him. He just needs someplace cold, and visible…

Oh!

There’s something human-shaped and covered in metal walking around! That could be cold! Danny floats closer, and notices that the glass (?) part on the top looks like it might have something inside of it. It’s a bit hard to tell though, since the glass is foggy because of the summer heat and, getting closer, Danny is certain that the inside of that glass is just as cold as he needs. Giving a little yawn, Danny floats through the glass, curls on top of whatever is inside, and drifts off.

———————————————

Clockwork re-enters the room.

He sees news footage presenting blurry images of Danny’s previous interactions followed by live footage of him sleeping on top of a touch-starved supervillain.

He stares, and breathes a heavy sigh.

Clockwork leaves the room.

———————————————

Danny wakes up in a place that definitely isn’t visible to the pale lady. For one, he’s completely wrapped up in a fluffy towel in the corner of a place that looks as if his parents’ basement went through an ice age. Second, he was waiting for her outside, and this definitely isn’t outside. And number C: there’s a large tube thingy that may or may not have a dead body in it, and he’s pretty sure if that was visible to anyone on the street there would be at least, like, a sign or something saying “hey, don’t worry, this woman isn’t actually dead, please don’t call the cops.”

Wriggling out of the towel, he does a quick inventory check, (boa: yes; glasses: yes; toy: dammit) and slips through a nearby wall, exiting into an alleyway. He already has a criminal record back home, he’d rather not get framed for murder in another dimension. Fortunately, the cold room and bit of sleep had him fully rested and back on his feet. Unfortunately, every single back alley in this city is the exact same flavor of modern-Victorian-gothic-haunted-house-backlot-where-the-drugs-get-sold, so he is, once again, completely lost.

That’s it! No more getting sidetracked! He’s gonna find a map, track down Damian, go in that little cage, and— oooooo shiny thing. It’s a box with a little paw-shaped-handle that has smiling clown-cats painted on its sides. Curious, Danny baps at the handle, and watches in awe as the handle turns all on its own, prompting the box to play a little song. He nods his head along to the tune, mesmerized by the shiny paw, before the box pops open, and a clown puppet with x’s over the eyes shoves itself in his face. Before Danny can think, the puppet sprays out a gas, and he’s out like a light.

Chapter Text

“…heard from the rumor mill…”

Danny’s ear flicks at the slightly muffled voice. 

“…cute little ice-kitty…………. become very popular! Of course, I….”

His face scrunches up, both from how grating the voice is, and how weirdly sore his arms and tail feel. He tries to curl in on himself, only to find his limbs were being held in place by something hard and cold. Opening his eyes, he sees that he’s chained to the bottom of a cage. Looking through the bars of the cage, all he can see is that it’s covered up with the ugliest clown-themed tarp he’s ever seen. 

“…thought we should all play a little game! The game is simple: first to get here wins a very special prize!”

The tarp is whisked away, and Danny looks through the bars to see cameras manned by clowns(???) pointing directly at him, as well as the back of a man with green hair wearing a purple suit. Presumably, also some sort of clown. The man turns his head to look at Danny, and— ANCIENTS, THAT IS A FUCKING CREEPY ASS CLOWN. STOP LOOKING AT HIM. PLEASE. HE’S NOT EVEN CIRCUS GOTHICA CREEPY, HES JUST PLAIN UNSETTLING. SOMETHING’S JUST… WRONG ABOUT THIS GUY.

… Danny kinda wants to bite him. 

“Of course, if no one comes for him in, oh, the next hour, well…”

Danny watches the biteable clown walk over to a tarp-covered thing next to the cage. The clown grabs the tarp, yanks it off, and reveals the tackiest looking murder ray Danny’s seen in his entire life, which is saying a lot considering just how many death rays he’s seen in his life.

“We’ll all get to see if this ice-kitty melts! Now then, on your marks, get set, GO!”

Man, is this guy gonna be let down when he finds out Danny can’t melt. 

Probably. 

He thinks. 

Well… actually, he’s not sure.

Like, ok, he knows Ellie almost melted a few times, plus all of the other clones Vlad made completely melted, but that was just because they weren’t stabilized. At least, he thinks that’s the only reason. Can other ghosts melt? Like, not in a “shape shifting into liquid” thing likes he’s seen some ghost do, but like… completely melt? Permanently? Maybe. Who knows. He doesn’t.

…. Mayyyyyybe he’ll phase out of this stuff, and head on ou— ….uh. He can’t phase out of the chains.

Why can’t he phase out of the chains.

———————————————

Nth metal. 

Fucking. Nth metal.

1,985 emergency escape plans. Some vague, others tailored to incredibly specific circumstances. And Clockwork forgot. About fucking. Nth metal.

… Fine. 

Sure. 

Why not.

Why not have some deranged clown accidentally stumble across a cage laced with damned Nth metal that was probably only on it in the first place because whoever made the cage thought it would look nice.

It’s fine.

It’s fine.

He can still salvage this without tearing apart the fabric holding together that dimension.

He’ll just… bend his own rules a little. 

All he needs is for Danny to be released from the cage. And, at the moment, there are about 15 people aiming to do just that. All he needs to do is choose one to… assist. One to push in the right direction. Perhaps one he can have “stumble” upon the hideout.

The one that brought Danny to this cursed city in the first place should suffice.

———————————————

Danny’s brilliant escape plan is in motion. For the past… 30, maybe 40 minutes, he’s been chewing on his chains in a valiant effort to destroy them. He’s made a lot of progress, too! At this rate, he should be free in the next 5-10 days!

… yeah, he’s screwed. But hey, it’s not like he’ll actually get killed or anything. If any of his future timelines ended with him going full ghost, Clockwork probably wouldn’t have let Danny go on vacation here in the first place. And if he doesn’t chew through his chains in time, Clockwork will probably just force him to come home early. Still sucks, but at least he’ll still only be half dead.

———————————————

Clockwork, whilst watching the young vigilante nearly get caught while sneaking into the secret hideout, momentarily considers taking up drinking. He won’t, since it most likely would have no effect on his incorporeal body. But he does consider.

———————————————

Danny hears a shuffling from behind him. He raises his head, and looks side to side.

“Mrrp?”

“shhhh”

Huh? Where is that?

“Mrrrr mrrrrrp?”

“shhhhh”

Is it behind him? He twists his body against the chains to get at least a glance. Is someone behind him? Did someone come to rescue him? And why are these chains so short?!

“Mrrrrrrr!” He (technically quietly) whines in protest, straining his neck to get a glance of whoever’s behind him.

“Shhhhh!”

BANG.

He stops.

He hears a soft thud next to him.

He looks down.

He sees a trail of red flowing from the leg of the very person who protected him when he first arrived in this dimension.

He hears the grating voice of the gun toting clown. He doesn’t hear the words said. He doesn’t care. 

His eyes flick towards the gun.

His eyes flick towards the wound.

Towards the gun.

Towards the wound.

Towards the twisted grin of the clown.

.

.

.

How. 

Dare. 

He. 

Danny bares his teeth as they sharpen in his mouth.

Ḣ̶̭͋̀ͅo̵͈̗̤̭͌̄ͅw̴̡͓͌̉̇́́͂ ̸̢̛̦̗̻̜̬̊ͅd̷͕̻̓͛̓̃̕ḁ̶͉̱̖͗͛͗̒ŗ̷̹̼̬͈̂̍͜͝ȅ̸̢͈̱ ̷̬̠͕̙͓͛̆̾̕h̵̡̼̱̻̗͍̔̇e̴̡̩̫̟̻̳̭̍́̓͐̇͠.̶͖͖̼̫̗̱̮̇̓͋͘

He feels his paws twist and grow into talons.

H̵̨̱̫̲̯͚̩̼̳̙̪̱͓̘͆̅̈́Õ̴̧̹̤̞̳̞̰͇̣̹͈̭̘̽̈́̕W̵̨̡̧̛̰̫̼̪̤͈̤̣̣͆̾̒̿ ̴̦͙̗͖͉̼̝̼̪̌̂̊͋̂͆D̸̡̨̻̻̦̼̰̦̈̓A̵̜̥̲̯̬͔̼͖̹͙͍̎͊ͅR̴̨͙̫̤̝̙̩̈́̋͐̓̐͌̀͌͒̆̌̕̚̚͜Ę̸̡̨̛̮͚̖͈̣̜̤͍͉̜͉̽̋͒̋͌̓̉̈́̍̊ ̸͈̅͗̽̈̌͒̓͊͋̍̄͠Ḩ̵̞̱̻̺̖̠̫̺̓̀́̍̑̊̽͑́͘ͅĘ̷̢̼͈̳͙͆͝.̴̝̉̔̇̇̉̽̾̃̏̈̍̌̉̽

His cage groans as he begins to outgrow it.

H̴͎̣̠̙͂̓̂̋̀́̓̔̓̿̈́͂͝O̵̢̽̎̂͜W̸̙͕̞̰͉̐͑̇͆̐̉̋͊̔̒͜ ̸̧̧̖͕̻̲̻̱̖̭̓̿̊̃͊̚F̷͉̟̫̒̏̃̂͑͒͑̂̈́̈͂̾̓̀͘Ų̶͈͖̹̺̜͔͉̬̰̫̭̼̘́̃̎̄͂̑͆̚C̵̡̢̤̠̝̤̣̲̤͎̺̣̫̫͕̯̑͂̾̀͒͑͛̍̈́̚͝K̷̪̱͕̬̝̄̓͗͠Į̶͈͓͇̥̖̲̯͓̪͙͙͓̲̰͑̄̏̏̅̔̔̃̈́́̌ͅN̸̢̟͈̰̖͍̺̜̥̠͚̗̜̺͉̏̉́́͜͠ͅĢ̸̗̤̘͖̗̻͚͌̐̅͌̀̓̐̓͑́͑ ̵͈̩͚̞̬̪͖͚̜̲̈́̿̈̔̓̊͑̉͜D̷̡͕͔̣̖̲̗̠̭̮̙̐͐̈́̅̉͊͗̚͝ͅA̸̡̡̨͔͇͖͍̪̙̯͔̪̤͕̹̖̓̈́̐̋̾͆̊̐̈́̐͛̈̽͜͠Ṛ̶̤͑͌̓̇̒̋̓̑̀͊̒E̷̢̦̯͓̹̣̫̞̩͍̗͚̠̟̘̜̥̎͜ ̷̧̖̰̺̱̪̬͔̇ͅH̵̨̨̛͈̟̪̣̗̩͎̱̒͌͛͑͑̄́͑̊̆̈́̅̍̚͝Ę̴̧͚̦̤̮̹̻̳̩̯͆̽̔͌̊͗́̆̐̃̇̂͌̃̈́͘͜͝.̶̨͉̺̖̮̯̣̱̮̈́̏̊̀͆̀͋̄̈̐̚

The clown cocks his gun.

And both Danny and the cage snap.

Chapter Text

B̷͙̝̆̎̈̆̏̂Į̴̨̪͉͓͔͓͕̦̝͈̅̋̍̋̾͂̎̊̑̅̃T̶͈̒͒̿́̆È̴͖̂̑́̕ ̷̨͍̙̯͙̒̐B̵̧͚̱̰͙̱̮̟̾̊͑͒I̷̟͙̪̼̦͖̓́͊̄̚͝͝͝T̵̖̯̳͎̔͘͜Ẻ̸̢͉̗͍͈̯̜̟́͐ ̸̜̀̽́̿̈̈͗͌͘͝B̵̢̫̠̦͇̪̹̹̲͍͆Í̴̧̢̛͕̣̲̟̬̬̦͆͐̈͊̔̚͠ͅT̴̡̜͍̪̼̯̣̼̉͒̌͜Ę̶̨̲̔͗̊̍́̀ ̸̫̗̄̕R̶̫̆̅͛͂̈̀͑̄̉̂͠Ĭ̷͉̩̼̳̣̫̻͜P̸̡̫̱̹̫̝̱̣̙̰̍͜ ̶̟̳̭̬̮̥̭̤̌̎̊̌̉́͂̀̚S̶̑̑̃ͅH̷̨̝̦͖̻̤̣̻̾̐̈́͌̄̀̽̈́͗̕͜ͅR̵̰͆̈́̅Ȇ̵̢̬͓͍̰̔̊͗͗Ď̴̦̯͎͝ ̵̢̟̫̥̦̮͇͇͔̠̗͛̏̽̓̅̎̓͘͝͝B̸̰̝̟̙̹̰̝͍̰̗̙̒̑̑̃̓͌̉́͗͝I̶̮̹̥̹͕̽̉̆͘Ṯ̶̜͇͈̙̀͐̌͋͑̄͗̕E̷̢͇̿̾͒͠ 

A̸̺̤̓Ṯ̶̡̛͔̫̥̤̰̤͓͕̎͗̑̍͠T̴̲̻͎͔͍̤̥̙̞̆A̸̳̮̟̯̤͕̰͂̋͒̓̒̽͠C̷̨̘̫͓̗͉͒̑͝͝͝Ķ̶̮̩͉̥̰̼̱̱̔̈́̀̏ ̷̧̡̘̩̯̲̫͊͛̍͂͋͛͜͝T̷͔̲̬̮͌̂́͗̋Ĥ̷͇͙̐̀̏̕͝͝Ṟ̶̼̟͊̅̈́̍̌̀͐̎͘É̵͔͇̫͖̳͓̤̣̳A̷̺̱͚͆T̵̢̧̨͎̭̆͋͗̾ ̵͎̺̑̽͝P̵̛͙̿̄̊̔̀̅͘͝R̶̛̙͚̫̝̜͖͇̮̭͍̈́̒̌Ö̷̢̺̳͓͈̋̋͛Ţ̷͉̥͌͐͛̾̑͛͋͒̍̀Ë̷͔͔͕̬̎͜Ç̷̨̠̩̩̝̟̅̽̋̊̒̋̈́̉͝T̷̛͙̖̟̰̝̻̘̽̾͛̏̿ ̸̛͙̫̩̝͊͘H̷̪̙̩̯̀̿̅̓͜͜͜U̸̯͕͚͆̈́̽̍̌̍͝ͅM̵̧̡̦̼̖̘̂͂͛́̅̋̄͐͠͠͝A̵̞̠̰̩̻̓̓N̴̛̻̝̂͋̑̚ ̶̧̛͚͔̺͙̳̌͑̍̓̆͠À̷̧͓̺̩͙̘͚̞̳̠̑͌͋͗̌̂̕̕T̷̨̨͇̻̗̥͊͒͛̉̈́̈́̀̿͜͠T̵̡̢̬̖̰͈̩̬͍͇͓̆͆̅̕A̴͕͕͈̮͍̮̮̭͍̓̂̒̇͂̀͜ͅC̶̡̫̻̩͓͉̍͜͠Ḳ̶̗̘̗͈͕̳̃̅͛̓̊̈̀̿̚͠ ̴̢̨͍̭̩̙̭͓̗͌̉͛͗̌Ţ̷̟͉͇͍̝̀͌̔͛̏̽́̈͗H̵̡̛̱͖̱̲̼͉͚͔̀̐͛̄̾̍R̷̢̯͚͕̬̤̰̺͒̂̃͒̂̚ͅE̶̞̮̍̽Ą̵̫̜̫̬̰͇͓͇͉̌̎͜T̶̢͙͇̖̱͕̪̎̾̈͂̀͘ ̴̳̼̲͛̀͌P̷̪̠͚̯̱̮̫̲͐̽̚ͅͅR̸̝͕̞̰͓̻̊̀͑͆͌́͂̿̄Ǫ̷̛̜̟̦̫̭̩̞̰̑͛̍̃́̔T̷̹̜̅̏E̶͓̹̭̲͈̬͒́͐͐͗͒̌͜͝ͅC̴͈͓̯̩̀͗̓͐̈̌̾̚T̶͕̺͇̮͎̳̚͠ͅ ̵̙̼̪͉͈̟̀̑́́̈́̽͂̓͘͜H̸̱͖͕̞̩͂̆̐̈̈́͠U̸̢͓͇̲̱̻̩̅͐̓̿̈̍̕̚Ṃ̴̠̮̫͎̹̣̫̍̾͊͛̀̚̚͝͝A̶̡̫̜̗͑͌̈́̂̄̄̑̽͋N̸̡̳̠̳̫̺̝̜̒̑̇̑́̍̎͛͘͜ ̴̳̲̪͙͓̣͗̐̑Ầ̸̻̓̓̈́̈̚T̴̳̱̳̅T̵̰̏̅̈́͂́̕A̷͉̣̮̦̗̦̹̥̾͋́̽͆̏̕C̷̛̭̲̱̯̅̅̄̐͆́̔̕K̸̬̆͑͋ ̷̙̫̣̖̹̖̬̰͙̻̠͐̅̈́P̶̢̢̖̻̩͓̈́̑̒̇̔̅R̶̛͓͖̠̱͚̜͎͍͗̅͒͛ͅÖ̸̬̫̱̮͔͈̱̣́͌̈̒̄̅͒̀͠T̴̖̮̯͎̫͕̽̆ͅͅĖ̷̤̥̬͎̠̙̫͖C̶̢̺͚̳͚͍̫̰̹̝̱͑̌̀̕̚T̷̡̠̭͔̀͝ ̷̯͈̤͈͈̏͌̈Ḁ̴̧̝̅̍̀͑́̊͑̐͝͝T̴̛͔̝̟͎͚̤̟͓̩̍̌ͅT̴̡͔̠̤̥͈̭̑̍̑̈͜ͅḀ̵̦͎̫͎̙̓͌͆͆̾́͜C̵̥͇̈́̌Ķ̴̹͈̺͙̰͎̗͎͆̈́̈́͘ ̸͉̞̣̃̍̍͠P̵̢̣͐̓̑̎̽̐̉R̵̗̎̎̎́̀̃͌̏̕͘O̶̝͓͚̺͆T̸̢̙̬̼̲̎̋̂̑E̶̢̫̝̻̬̣̱̰̐̋̍̃̇̊̃͘͝C̷̼̟̩̱̪͉̤̮̜̈́̓̃̅̚͝T̷̢̨͙̦͉̬̜̣̈́̈ ̵̛̼̐̾̌͋͑͂͗͠͝͝Ḁ̵̳̙̝̪̝̠̱̺͚̔̅T̴̼̱̥̗̏̈̿̆̽͗̋T̶̢̧̯͕̰̭̩̜͐́͐À̶̭̀̃͒̚͠C̸̡̥̠̯͔͖̰͖̜͋̈́̊͌̽̆̔̀̾̍K̴̢͓̥̱̻̪͔͕̗̈̆̈̉̌

W̵̢̲̺̪̝̰̲̍̔̓̈̑͊̄̀̆͠O̷͙̭̮͎͖̪͂̃̈́͋̓̐̄̓͐̊͝N̶̢̛͇̞̮̻̞̬̥͗̋̿̎̒ͅT̴̨̛̠̯͚̬̦̹̓͐̈͋͗̿̿̀͠ ̴͈̤̘̙̲̭͈̣͑ͅF̴̧̢̞͖͔͎̟̪͕͆̓O̸̧̯̠͚̮̟̮̤͉̱̓̓̋͌͌͆͊̀̀̚̚R̵͚̺̤͍͙̲͖̈́̎̂̓̉̕ͅG̷͔͕̳̪̻̤̠͒͗̃̓̑͆̀̈́̚I̶̗̎͋̎V̶̺͚̩͋͆͒͒̕Ę̸͗̀̀̋͑̐̔͋̍̎͘ ̷̡͙̳̕Ŵ̷̢̯̬̽͂̒̈́̑̅͊͘͘̚Ö̷̪̥́͂̌͛̈́̌N̵̛̛̙̱͍̭̞̲̳̎̀͑̎̏T̴̫͔̪̜̬̳͍̪̼̹̟̋̍ ̴̧̢̢̛̻̟̖̱̀̂̈́̐̋̂͗̊͝F̷̦̌O̵̡̼̫̳̼͎̠͕͗̿͐̒̏̂͠R̸̨̨͔̭̮̼͓͍͎̉̃͒͆̑̕͝G̶̛̳͆̈́́̽̃̄̾̃͝Ī̴̥̥̦̝̻̌̾͛̄͑͊̑̌̎͠V̶͙̭̻̺̻͚͇̭̈̈́̽̒͌̏̈́͌̄͌͜E̸̡̙̭̙̖̙̳͔̿̓̀͆̿̽͘͝ͅ ̸͈̝̺͙̜̥̟̺̌͗͆̃̄̍̿̋̇̕͜͠N̴̡͈̲͈̦̣͖̟̱͉͋͛͑̒̀͆̕͘̚͝͠O̸̱̟̝̼̹͚̳̰̾̚͝ ̷̹̩͖̙̤͌̈́́͐̃̐̕̕͜M̸̢̩̼͚̼̪͚̳̤̋́̃̉Ę̸̮̬̮̻͐ͅͅŘ̷̦C̵̛̬̄͋̓̍̎͑̀͐͝Y̵̢͈̼̙͔̯͖̿̑̂̑̆̕ͅ ̷̝̝͓͚́̏̏̀̌͐̈́̀͠N̵̗͈̲̠̘̥̒́͆̈́͑̿̓͝Ó̸̢̢͙̹̀̔͒̎̋̂̀́͝͝ ̸̙̀M̸̢̧̨̅̌̈́̀̽̀̏̅̕̚E̶̢͖̟̊̉̾̓͋̍̍R̷̳̝̟͛̽̈́C̷̢̩̽̾̇̄̏̈́̃̚Y̴̛̥̬̻̣̝̭̱͛̐̊ ̶̥̞͖̩̐̈́̎͌͆̔͘͝Ņ̷̡̢͙͈̭͉̝̠͐͂̀̈͌̑̋̍̔Ŏ̶͖͐͌́͑ ̷̡̲̝̩͍̹̺̈́͐̌͂̈́̃̊̄͂́͜͜M̵͎̖̲͇̗̍̐͌͗͛ͅĘ̶̬̳̲̏̆̅̈́͒̈́̌̅͝Ř̸̨̳͕̉̊̂C̴̭̪͌Y̷͇̦͖̞͓̪͙͂̏̽̂͊͒—

A sharp pain rips through the back of Danny’s ear, snapping him back to reality.

His vision clears.

His jaw feels wet.

He tastes iron.

He’s holding something.

The something is twitching.

He drops it.

The something is a someone.

He tore into F̸̦̲̋r̷͍̈́ẽ̵̦a̵͖̾͛k̷̙͠s̵̨̈́h̸̤͑̅ó̸̟̙͂w̶̺̓͠— no.

No.

Not Freakshow.

The red he’s seeing isn’t dyed into the suit.

This is… who was this?

Ah, right.

The bad clown.

The mean clown.

He feels something fall off the back of his ear and clatter to the ground. He looks down, and sees a bat-shaped piece of metal at his feet.

His… bat toy.

What… what was he doing?

He was in a cage that he couldn’t phase out of, and he was about to be let out by…

He spots Damian on the floor, arm outstretched like he had thrown something and lost his balance. He’s bleeding.

Because the clown shot him.

Because Danny was too loud.

He starts moving towards Damian, who flinches back.

… oh no.

No, no, it’s ok, it’s ok, he’s not mean or scary, he’s just… he had just…. 

He whimpers, and folds in on himself, ashamed of what he’s done. He didn’t mean to be scary. Just wanted to help. To protect. He’s small again, see? All safe. All good. No threat, no scary. Just a little guy. 

He waddles over to his bat toy, and starts dragging it towards Damian, who has started to lean towards Danny a little. It’s ok, see? Same little guy. Not scary, no more big, no more surprises.

A portal opens below Danny and he falls into the ghost zone.

———————————————

Over the past few days, Clockwork has discovered many things.  He’s found that there are many things that even he cannot predict, that people will act in unexpected ways, and that he can get stomach ulcers from stress despite having no physical body. Most importantly, however, he’s discovered that, despite intentionally detaching himself from any and all inhabitants of the timeline, he just so happens to view Danny the way one would view their own child.

Clockwork holds the tiny, wiggling body of the ghost boy that he— entirely against his will— cares very deeply about, and he knows for a fact that he will never ever let him do anything so blatantly stupid ever again for as long as his afterlife persists. He oh so desperately wishes this revelation came at least a week prior to this moment, but as tempting as it is to change the past, he knows better than to meddle in such a way.

He will simply meddle in the mature and parental way. Danny will have quite a few days to reflect on his actions before that dimensions heroes utilize the “contact info” he left in Danny’s place. After all, Danny had caused quite a stir in that dimension. A responsible guardian must teach their child to take responsibility for their actions.