DPXDC Prompt #33

“The prince just fell in love with Cinderella because of her looks!”

Wrong. Okay, picture this–

So there’s the prince, okay? He’s like, smack dab in the center of the ballroom, and he is like, horrifically aware that this whole ball thing is a result of his dad falling into a panic about the royal lineage or whatever and he’s stuck listening to highborn girl after highborn girl, all lined up, introducing themselves like, “Oh yeah my family’s been a longtime supporter of the crown, and I think you’re cute, *cough* I’ve been told I have child-bearing hips *cough* Who said that? Anyway–” and Princey boy is just smiling through it, he has been the center of attention for entirely too long, he misses his emotional support horse, and is just internally like “Someone please kill me now.” And then… he sees her–This isn’t a love at first sight thing, this is a ‘what the hell is going on over there’ thing, because this girl has not gotten into the Debutante line for a solid 45 minutes. 

She’s just at the hors d’oeuvres table going HAM on the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and like, she’s polite about it, she’s happy to move aside for other people grabbing punch and canapes (and she’s really so sweet with the wait staff, it’s kind of cute because they’re like… definitely not used to being acknowledged) but it’s like, “Damn girl, did you not eat today?” and then the prince is kind of stuck with the uncomfortable thought of ‘how many girls starved themselves to fit into a corset for this.’ And then the Prince realizes he’s missed the past 4 Debutante introductions because he’s watching Mystery girl hork down crab rangoons. So he’s like, “Excuse me” and manages to break free from the never-ending parade of girls who will hop on his dick for status.

 And as he’s approaching Mystery Girl, it’s kind of hitting him that something’s not quite natural about her. Not fake, but not quite real. But at the same time this whole evening’s been just a whole circus of people acting fake as hell, so like, someone seeming a little off doesn’t seem bad, necessarily. And he sidles up to her like, “Hi,” and she’s like, “Oh–hey, have you tried the tapenade?” and she points to one of the plates, and at this point, he could hit her with the “You don’t know who I am, do you?” deal or the “Very funny, I see your play” deal, but at this point it occurs to him that, no, he hasn’t had anything to eat throughout this whole damn ball, partially because of being stuck in the debutante parade, partially because of nerves, and there’s something so disarming about the question that he grabs a crostini and she still seems so food-focused that it doesn’t seem possible that this is a play. So they both grab little plates and ditch the party.

She pretty much clears her plate in under two minutes and then has half of his plate, he’s cool with it, mostly he’s just absolutely fascinated listening to her.

See here’s the thing about Cinderella:

1. She doesn’t know he’s the prince. Like yeah, he’s been at the center of the room, but she’s kind of spent half the party eagerly looking around everywhere she’s allowed to go (”Have you seen rose garden? Have you seen the solarium??” further confirmation that she doesn’t know who she’s talking to) and the other half stuffing her face with food. 

2. She assumes she’s never going to see anyone here tonight again, and no one recognizes her, so she has no filter.

So she’s just talking about whatever with this guy. He seems cool. She talks about her friends, who are rats. She makes little outfits for them. Sometimes they bring her little gifts. She is already the coolest person the prince has ever met because of this. She pretty much offhandedly talks about whatever is fucked up about the kingdom that would take his advisors two hours of hemming and hawing and watering down to address. She just says it like it’s nothing, just funky little things she’s observed, and again, she’s not aware that he’s the prince, but it’s still pretty damn bold to bring up at a literal royal ball.

She… seems to have the majority of graces that lots of girls from Respectable Families™ have, but there’s something strange about it, something simultaneously broken and hardened, like the way you can see where ice has thawed and re-frozen. Also the way she talks about her family, and the way she avoids talking about her family– is raising several red flags, not in the “Oh this is another person trying to take advantage of me” sense, but in the “Oh fuck, something’s gone really wrong and you need help” sense and also lowkey a ‘damn is she even getting fed?’ sense. But he can’t say, ‘Hey, that’s not fucking normal for people to say that to you or treat you that way. We need to get you out of there,’ without sounding crazy himself, so for now, he’s just going to chill, make sure she’s comfortable, and keep enjoying the evening. She’s somehow befriended like 4 of the waitstaff so they’re willing to cover for them while they disappear for a little bit, and they get plenty of time to talk, but eventually it hits her that she hasn’t danced yet and she’s like “Come on! I bet we can make the prince jealous!” and he just bursts out laughing at that like “hell yeah, let’s make the prince jealous. He’s a real asshole.” Like clearly she’s having a good time, so who is he to make it weird? So they head back to the ballroom and they dance. And our girl, Mystery Girl, Cinderella, while they’re dancing, becomes acutely aware that everyone is staring. That doesn’t seem quite right. Like, yeah she’s hot, she knows she’s hot, but at least a good third of the party should still be focused on the prince, right? Where is that guy, anyway?

Oh.

Oh wait.

Oh shit.

And Princey Boy actually picks up on her realization and they whisper argue for like 3 minutes. “Why didn’t you tell me?! Now I feel like a goddamn idiot!” “I dunno it was nice being treated like a normal person” “Well me treating you like a normal person makes me a goddamn felon or something did you consider that?!” “Hey–Hey–it’s cool–you’re cool–I think you’re amazing, and if anyone says shit about you, I can shut it down.” “Well I don’t like that! That’s fucked up!” “I agree. It is fucked up, but I believe in you, and I think you should have a chance, and I’m here to back you up. I know power is fucked up right now. I know. But are you cool with working with me to change that?” And our girl Cindy pauses on that for a couple seconds, because.. she’s just spent hours with this guy and like.. she knows he’s a good guy, she knows he means well, so she’s like, “I don’t know how long I can actually work with you.” and the prince is like “Look, I know your home situation is complicated right now, but I really think we can–”

And then the bell starts ringing.

It’s midnight.

And then she takes off in a panic, and our prince just met the coolest person ever, and like, he’s pretty sure whatever situation they’re headed back to is fucked up, and all he’s got going to find her is a shoe. A shoe. 

If I could, I would move there in a heartbeat. 😲😍

Canada B.C

© A. Jayashankar

Restaurant Phantom

Danny as a restaurant owner in Gotham or something similar The thing is that, as Danny's customers are mostly villains, they are immortal beings. From Ra's al-Ghul, Vandal Savage, and even Queen Hippolyta and few others. For Vandal and Ra's, it was to taste things they had not eaten for hundreds of years and to taste the original flavor that doesn't exist anymore.

And Hippolyta saw the restaurant as she visited her daughter in man's land and didn't know why but ate in it in the end. It had been a long time since she ate those good old traditional ancient Greek dishes.

So Danny's restaurant with his assistant Dani became a pretty famous place for people who are older than you think. And with them, other people joined: Ra's group, Vandal Light, Hippolyta Amazons, a few Greek gods, and even Dr. Fate and Klarion with others.

It was more or less a neutral zone for them to just eat and maybe chat. until JL found out about it.

Danny just had fun to cook the food for them, it was fun to cook things he learned in the Ghost Zone, he was surprised people even knew the names of it.

He had no idea how Mr Savage knew it was Mammoth Meat.

reasons.

Prompt idea where Jazz is also a Halfa and both get revealed. Danny has an entire go bag ready and waiting and has to drag Jazz away, insistent that she can't shange their minds or save them.

"Don't you get it! They don't care! They'll kill you because your a ghost and they won't care that your their kid, if they even consider you as their kid!"

In this, Danny is the more experienced person, and has had the longest to come to terms with the fact his parent see him as prey. Jazz is still fairly new to the halfa thing, having been transformed during her short stunt when Vlad trapped her in the Exoskeleton with nanites. The exposure to the ectoplasm and the Extoskeleton's energy drainage problem ended up killing her and reviving her similarly to how Danny was, albeit in a much weaker state. She didn't even realize she was a halfa at first until she accidentally stuck her elbow through the table!

So here Danny is dragging his sister away and maybe picking Ellie up along the way and they all are kinda hiding out in this dingy, abandoned warehouse out in Metropolis. Imagine their surprise and horror when the place is bought by Lex Luthor, who turned it into one of his evil bases, and then subsequently destroyed by the Superfamily. The Phantom siblings (having given up on their human names) stayed out of it, not their villain not their town and all that) and jsut remained hidden while they watched to make sure everything about the place was destroyed. If Supes had left anything they'd go ahead and destroy it for him.

They didn't expect to get caught by Conner while they left tho

Connor rounded a corner in the warehouse as he was leaving, and saw three kids about his age. They all stared at each other in shock. And then the red head swore softly. Connor readied himself for a possible attack as the boy raised his hands placatingly.

Danny: Look, we were just crashing here. We didn't know it was a villain lair.

Connor: Ok, and you didn't leave during the fight because?

Ellie: We didn't want to get mistaken as villains. Or dragged of to CPS.

Connor: Ok, so you three are homeless, and don't want help?

Jazz: Our parents tried to kill us. Also uh, the government made our species illegal?

Connor: What?

Danny: Yeah, apparently we three aren't sentient. Though Jazz why are you trusting him?

Jazz: He works for the justice league! They might be able to help us get out of the country!

Ellie: After we've healed up we can fly out! We don't need help!

Jazz: Yes we do!

Connor: Uh, I can call in help? To get you guys options? I'm a punchy guy, not a planning guy?

Danny: We can argue about this later. Jazz already spilt the truth can't take it back. Just. If they agree with the laws give us enough time to flee?

Connor: I really don't like that you assume another alien is going to hand you over for, whatever dude.

Danny: If I was just an alien I wouldn't be this worried!

Connor: Ok. So. If I can get Superman over here will you promise not to run.

Ellie: For now. No promises of he attacks.

Connor: That's.... Fair. I'll be right back!

Connor hurried over to Superman and dragged him to one side. He looked pissed. So Connor was guessing he heard. But still.

Connor: So you hear all that?I

Superman: Yes. I did.

Connor: Guessing you are as happy as I am about all that then.

Superman: We need Batman on this. We can smuggle them to the watchtower. If they agree.

Connor: Cool. I'll go first. They are pretty skittish. Which is understandable. The oldest seems more trusting. Which is odd. But who knows.

Superman: Right. Good to know. I'll follow your lead.

When Connor rounded the corner only the boy was visible. Which, he could understand. He was giving his sister's a chance to flee.

Connor: This is Superman. He has an idea.

Danny: Hi. So this idea?

Superman: We can take you to the watchtower. As long as you dear to do no harm to those who work there.

Danny: Watchtower. That's in space. Yeah that no bets is out of US law space.

Danny took a moment to ponder before nodding. He made a signal and his sister's faded into view.

Danny: It might be out best shot. That ok the UK. I'm the hero Phantom, from Amity Park. I swear to do no harm, except if needed to protect my own life. Or the life of another.

Ellie sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

Ellie: I'm the hero Phasma. I swear to do no harmless it is to save my life, or the life of another.

Jazz looked at her sibling and nodded. She squared her shoulders before she spoke.

Jazz: I am Spectre. I swear to do no harm unless necessary to protect myself or others.

Superman nodded gently. They were all just kids. Spectre looked the oldest, maybe 17. But their eyes spoke of a heavy burden. The younger two being heroes (if true, but they looked the part. That sort of bearing didn't come naturally.) Explained their being more nervous.

Superman: I swear to do you no harm, unless necessary to save lives. Be they mine or anothers.

Connor: I am Superbly Prime. I swear the same. Now that's out of the way. Can you guys all go invisible? Cause that will.make sneaking you to the tower much easier.

Jazz grinned and nodded. All three blinked out of view for a moment and then back.

Superman nodded and patted Connor's shoulder in approval of the plan.

Superman: Right this way then. go out of sight and stick close. If you can't be seen.

Damian's new classmate was what most people would deem as strange, Damian however could not see him as anything other than suspicious. Daniel Knight had joined in the midst of the school year, claiming to have moved here with his father Fredric Knight (first area of suspicion, a parent willingly moving both them and their child to Gotham) for a new start following his fathers divorce. The boy was reclusive when not spoken to directly, however he would not stop talking when a topic of his interest would come up. After searching further into his past (as he does with all his classmates) Damian found a relatively normal past, the only outstanding things being a noticeable drop in grades at the beginnings of freshman year relating to an undisclosed accident resulting in lichtenberg scarring starting from Daniels palm, and presumably up his arm being hidden by his sleeve. Apparently this accident left Daniel with irregular tremors and, every once in a blue moon, seizures. Damian had thought about taking this suspicious blockage of information to Tim or the Bat Computer to be bypassed, however the idea of sharing Daniel this cases existence with the rest of his family for some unexplained reason bothered him greatly, so Damian has come to the decision to figure out Knight’s true intentions on his own.

Meanwhile Danny’s just trying to live his new, semi-normal life in peace. After a reveal gone wrong results in some good old vivisection, Jazz Sam and Tucker recruit the help of Clockwork to find Danny a new home, where he can heal from both the physical and mental wounds. Clockwork ends up dumping Danny into the DC universe alongside Fright Knight, who was insistent on going with him, feeling responsible in helping to protect his young prince now since he feels he failed the first time. So with a bit of spacetime razzle dazzle, Tucker messing with stuff he probably shouldn't have messed with and a very tearful goodbye with promises to check in every day, Danny goes off to start his new life as Daniel Knight. It was going ok so far, he took half the year to himself, focusing on healing. Also so Frighty could adjust to the whole pretending to be human thing. Danny doesn't have any friends yet, and to be honest hasn't made the effort to make any (Jazz would be disappointed if she knew that), but there's this one boy in Danny's class who might be even weirder than him. Danny can feel Damian's eyes on him, knows how he follows him around without a sound (Danny really shouldn't be able to tell, he only knows because he isn't fully human(and in a weird way, Danny thinks that's kinda cool)), and whenever they do make eye contact Danny can see and feel the boy fluster and shy away.

Maybe he just needs a friend too.

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Random Kid: Batman’s the best JL member

Billy: Batman’s a dweeb

Kid: fine, then who’s you’re favorite?

~

Clark, still in metropolis, zeroing in on this conversation: 👀

~

Billy, not needing the wisdom of Solomon to realize what he has done: (sweating) none…none of them, I like them all e-equally…