Bab 8: Chapter 8
Summary:
Danny gets his powers tested at the Watchtower. He put on quite the show.
Notes:
No beta, we die like Danny...
In all seriousness, I'm sick, so I read over it the best I could, but no promises if I have typos or stuff. Thank you all for your lovely comments and support! It really helps with writer's block!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Danny was buzzing with so much excitement that he wanted to fly! He was going to get to go to SPACE—again! A part of his mind remembered NASA t-shirts and nights spent stargazing with his friends and adopted family. He felt a little bad that he wasn't as sad as he thought he should be, but how could he be unhappy when he was about to go to SPACE!?! It had been his dream for almost as long as he could remember. He was already changed into "Phantom"—he giggled in pride at his "hero" name, it was too funny! His dad and grandpa were changing into their special outfits downstairs. Grandpa Alfred had left him in a room with a desk and a big clock. It was full of books too!
There was an odd sound behind the wall, and then the clock opened like a door! Batman and Red Hood came in the room. Danny blinked. He remembered—mostly—that his dad and grandpa were heroes, but he somehow forgot which heroes they were. He frowned. Why was everything before this morning getting so hard t o remember?? He felt like he was trying to remember a dream. But his mind quickly flew past those thoughts. He was going to space with his real dad and grandpa—as heroes even! He was going to listen and do everything he was told. He wanted to see the stars and moon so bad!
His dad's voice sounded really strange coming from the red helmet. "Ready to go, squirt?"
Danny nodded and flew at his dad. He turned tangible at the last second and smacked into a wall of body armor. He wrapped his arms around the collar of the brown leather jacket. "All ready!"
Batman shook his head. His lips made a funny shape that might have been a smile.
Danny figured that his grandpa wasn't allowed to smile when he was playing Batman. It's ok, Danny thought. Phantom could smile enough for both of them! Bright green eyes lit up the elevator car when they entered in. Danny wondered which hero friends he was going to meet that day. "Um, Batman?"
"Yes?" Oooh! Grandpa's voice sounded different when he was in costume too!
"I was wondering who I was gonna meet today." Danny thought about letting his voice sound more ghostly so that he could be like his family.
"That's a surprise, chum."
Danny cocked his head. "You must watch a lot of Spongebob."
"What?" Both adults asked at the same time.
"You called me chum. Like Plankton calls everything. I'm not sure that was nice of you, though…"
Red Hood snorted, and bits of distorted laughter came out of his speakers. Batman put his gloved hand over his face. "Phantom, chum is just a word for…" He sighed when Danny frowned at him. "I won't call you that anymore, ok?"
Danny nodded seriously. "We need to use our nice words today."
Red Hood made a choking noise in his helmet. "You've been schooled, B!"
Danny found that funny. He laughed. "Chum…Fish…School of Fish...One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish…" Danny started singing a little nonsense song. The elevator mercifully stopped and the door opened to the Batcave. "Oh wow! It was real." Danny thought that he had just dreamed this place.
"Yep, kiddo. Welcome—officially—to the Batcave." Red Hood pulled the boy into a hug and ruffled his hair. "Now, we're going to head over to the zeta tubes and go to space."
"Cool!" Danny was so excited!
Jason cocked his head. "Are you purring?"
A faint greenish blush appeared on the boy's cheeks. "Maybe…"
"That is what I call cool, buddy."
Danny rocked his head and wiggled. He was so happy that his new (real?) family didn't make fun of him. He never let himself imagine what his life would have been like if he had grown up with his real family. He thought he had been abandoned. Finding out that he was so very wrong brought a wash of healing to Danny's mending core. His purr got louder and his smile, bigger. Neither his grandpa nor his dad laughed at him. It felt good—really good.
WATCHTOWER
Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Black Canary were all waiting in front of the training room for the arriving trio. They were not expecting to see a literally glowing child seated on Red Hood's hip, snuggled tight into his arm.
"Ladies, Gentlemen. Thank you for coming early for this session. We've discovered a bit more about…Phantom's powerset, and I thought it prudent that we do his assessment sooner rather than later."
Superman was staring at Danny intently, and it made him nervous. He leaned up towards where he thought his dad's ear would be and whispered his concern. "Why's Superman lookin' at me funny?"
The man in question blinked in surprise and immediately turned away. Danny frowned. "Did he hear me or somethin'?"
Batman turned towards his grandson. "Superman has excellent hearing. Perhaps something he heard…or rather, didn't hear is bothering him?" He turned back and faced the group.
Superman looked at Danny again, concern clear in his eyes. "The child does not appear to have a heartbeat—or heart at all, for that matter."
Phantom snorted. "Of course not, silly! I'm a ghost." He raised his hands and flicked his fingers towards the gathered Leaguers. "Boo!"
Black Canary cracked a grin. This child was obviously not bothered by his biology.
Diana cleared her throat and gave Danny her best smile. "Greetings, young Phantom. Welcome to the Watchtower."
"Thank you! This is so cool!" Danny's hair started floating around his head. "You remind me of my friend, Pandora."
"You will have to tell me about her sometime, then." Diana's smile was soft.
Danny's was blinding. "I'd like that!" He loved talking about his friends.
Another leader stepped forward. "I am known as the 'Martian Manhunter', but you may call me J'onn."
Danny's jaw dropped open. "Are you really from Mars??"
"Indeed, I am."
Danny floated out of Jason's arms and began bouncing in the air. "Ohmygosh!WhatsitlikeonMars?Doyouhavecarsordoyoufly?Doyouhavecoolpowers?Whatstarscanyouseefromthere??"
Red Hood gently reached out and tugged the boy closer. "Phantom, what did we say about giving other people the chance to answer when you ask questions?"
Danny froze. "Oops. Sorry!" He blushed.
Everyone else in the room, except for Batman was staring at 'Hood like he had suddenly grown an extra head. They had not been exactly happy when Batman reported that Hood would be involved with the child's care. The sight of him him calmly parenting the boy like any good father would do nearly shut down their brains.
Danny looked around and saw the strange tilt of his grandpa's lips that was his "Batman smile". He knew then that he wasn't in trouble. He didn't quite understand why they were looking at his dad like that, though. "Um, Da…Red Hood, sir? Is something wrong with them?"
Batman coughed into his hand. Static came from Hood's speakers that sounded suspiciously like laughter; his soft black gloves ruffled Phantom's hair. "Nah, kiddo. They're just surprised, that's all."
Black Canary recovered first. "You're quite the special boy, aren't you, Phantom?"
Danny beamed at the positive attention.
"The reason you're here this afternoon is so that you can show us all of the interesting stuff you can do with your powers. Afterwards, you and your…family can go down to the Observation Deck and enjoy the very nice view of the stars and the moon. How does that sound?"
"Awesome! Can we start now?!" Danny was all smiles.
Diana lifted her arm. "Gentlemen, this way, please."
Batman thought that the four League adults had been surprised by Red Hood's kindness and behavior towards the child. He was rather pleased when Danny surprised them as well.
Danny went through the basic levels of power testing like a whirlwind. His flight speed was incredible—over two hundred miles per hour! He literally lifted over five hundred times his body weight. On the obstacle course, he demonstrated intangibility, body manipulation, and enhanced agility.
After receiving grudging permission from Batman and Red Hood, he entered the combat simulator. He looked around at the empty room. "What am I supposed to do in here?"
Batman spoke up. "Holographic enemies and terrain will appear. Your job is to fight them off as best as you can. They cannot hurt you, but you will lose points if you're hit. The longer you go, the higher the level will get. Your final score will depend on your performance."
"What's the point?" Danny scrunched up his nose. Holographics didn't sound like fun.
Red Hood spoke up. "Phantom, everyone's score is recorded, and they have a board to show the top performing ranks. If you do well, you get on the high score board. The simulation is just like a video game that you play with your whole body. All you need to do is show your best effort."
"Ooh! I've done that before!" Danny frowned. "But what if I break something? Will I get in trouble?"
Batman tilted his head. "You won't get in trouble if you do, but you should know that Superman trains in there and doesn't usually break stuff."
"Huh. Ok then. Can I play now?"
"Go for it, champ! Show us what you can do!" 'Hood was grinning under the helmet. He had a feeling it was going to be one hell of a show.
And it was.
Danny blew through the first ten levels of opponents like they weren't there. He surpassed the Young Justice team scores within five minutes. Several minutes after that, he started beating adult Justice League member scores. The room difficulty started scaling to match. It began approaching the maximum level it could go without actually damaging the participants.
It was only then that Danny started showing signs of fatigue. Everyone was shocked when the room threw a holographic representation of Darkseid at the young boy, and he didn't blink. He just stepped back, took a deep breath and let out the most unholy wail that any of them had ever heard.
The hologram moved forward and the soundwaves became visible. Superman had his hands over his ears. Batman turned the speaker from the room off, and everyone could still hear the sounds that sounded like they came from the world of the damned. The wall in front of Phantom started to buckle, and the hologram emitter sparked, then blew. The lights in the room cut out.
Everyone was staring at shock except for Jason. He was already at the door to the room banging on the 'Emergency Open' button and swearing profusely. "Let. Me. The. Fuck. In. There. NOW!" His fist finally triggered something in the mechanism, because the door creaked open.
The room was bathed in the crimson hue of the emergency lighting. Jason found Danny laying on the floor in the middle of the room. His hair was black and his half-lidded eyes were a normal shade of blue. 'Hood scooped him up, cradling the boy to his chest.
"Did I do good?" He grinned weakly.
Jason sighed in relief. Then he looked around at the destruction his child had caused. Nothing on the interior back wall of the room was intact. The extra supports that were in place for the heavy-hitters showed through the warped metal. All of the lights looked to have shorted out, their covers blackened by sparks. Even the floor was warped. 'Hood's voice was a bit higher pitched than usual when it came out of the modulator. "Yeah, kid. I think you did good."
Danny smiled, then his eyes drifted closed. Jason turned towards the door, intending to take the kid to Medical, but froze when he laid eyes on a frankly disturbed wall of Justice League members. Damn! Jason didn't have a cape to throw over his son to hide his identity. He turned back around with the boy. Nothing to see here, guys…
A guantleted hand closed around his shoulder. Batman's voice was soft. "Here, son. Use this." A thin, black blanket was unfurled from a pouch on the Bat's utility belt. Jason used it to cover Danny. Together with his father, Red Hood walked slowly towards the staring wall of Leaguers.
"What was that?" Superman was the first to find his voice.
Red Hood's chin tilted up. "I think that was a five-year-old earning his place in the top three on the leaderboards."
Batman shot his son a glare, then looked sternly at the rest of the onlookers. "That was a demonstration of why you should never underestimate the abilities of an unknown—no matter how cute the package looks."
"Indeed." J'onn looked impressed. "I look forward to helping train this child to the fullness of his abilities."
"If, and only if he chooses to pursue that type of life." Batman's voice was low and clear.
"AND only when he is older." Jason added. "I don't believe in 'child soldiers'."
Bruce might have flinched a bit at those words, but no one dared comment on it. He hummed. "Let's get the boy to Medical first, and then we can discuss training and the other issues we need to address."
"Agreed." Diana seemed a bit rattled. "This boy is god-touched. We must tread carefully with him."
With that, the murmuring Leaguers all headed out of the room, followed by Bruce and Jason. "What the ever-living fuck was Ra's trying to do with my kid??"
"That's what we need to find out son. Until then, we must keep him safe and away from Ra's."
"I'm not letting anyone take my kid. Where he goes, I go. Period."
"Understood, Hood. Understood."
Notes:
Next up: The Observation Deck gets a visitor...
Also: Art! It's been over a decade since I've done anything art related, but I got a drawing tablet as a gift, so I'm retraining my drawing skills. Here is a link to to the pic from this story--the chapter describing Gotham's city spirit.
https://www.tumblr.com/channahjenart/718038584713773056/for-my-story-fly-like-a-bat-sivan5733-on?source=share
Also, my art blog: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/channahjenart
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone