1 Wayne, 2 Waynes are there anymore? I see more coming to the door

Things have gotten better since the circus incident. My new siblings aren't tiptoeing around me anymore, though some things are still awkward. This is expected; they haven't known me for long, but at least we don't feel like strangers anymore. I join the others out on the rooftops on the rare, clear nights, though not for patrolling. Bruce still hasn't given me the green light to go out yet, but to gaze at the stars.

 Not that they know I'm there. 

I've been trying to indulge my obsessions suddenly. But it's hard to do that in Gotham. It's always so cloudy and dreary it's hard to get a good look at the sky, so besides those rare clear nights, I'm forced to read books or watch documentaries to hold me over. Acting as a protector is even harder. Gotham already has heroes, and with the majority of them already knowing I'm here, living under the same roof, it would be obvious that it's me. 

So, I have

So, I have been forced to focus on other areas, such as creating a functioning ghost portal. While getting to know my siblings has been fun, I still have work to do. I can't stay away from the Realms for long, not if I want to achieve peace. Thankfully for me, what is considered a long time for humans is not considered a long time for ghosts. Thankfully, now I'm allowed to stay in the cave alone, but I know I'm still being monitored. They might trust me more, but not enough, not yet. I would have started working on it earlier, but I didn't want to talk to Bruce about its necessity. But after a few weeks in Gotham with nothing but corrupted residual ectoplasm to survive off of, I regret not telling them sooner. I could tell something was wrong; I was more snappish and angsty than necessary. So, in the end, I caved and explained it to them. They were all kind of horrified about needing to live off of toxic green glowing death juice, but they know I have no other options. 

Who knows, maybe it will help Jason? Having clean filtered ectoplasm around, plus access to the Realms, might help with the corrupted leftovers still in his system. 

That will be something to test when the time comes. 

Who better to look after him than Frostbite? 

So Bruce gave me my own little section of the cave to work on the portal and for whatever projects I come up with in the future. Tim likes to stop by every once in a while just to make sure everything's going okay. After hearing about the Fentons' version of the portal, he's worried about my potential breaking of OSHA violations.

Taking away all my fun.

Who needs to worry about welding their fingers together when they can just have their fingers go through the material? 

Not me, but Tim says otherwise. 

I've become resigned to his worrying, so when Tim pops up while I'm working on wiring, I don't flinch as he says, " Gloves, Danny gloves." I hum in response to show that I'm not ignoring him. I hated when Jack and Maddie would do that. 

Tim groans, finds a chair, and watches me work. Just to make sure I don't accidentally electrocute myself. Once I get done with a group of wires I'm working on, Tim asks, "How long do you plan on working down here?" 

I start on another group of wires and say, " I don't know. Why do you ask?" 

"Steph and Cass are on the way back. Their plane should be landing in about an hour," Tim says. 

I start to work slower as I ask, "Do they know about me? That I'm here?" 

"No, not yet. Cass was trying to infiltrate some gang in Hong Kong, but she needed some backup, so Steph went along. Besides General check-ins, we've been no contact for a little over a month," Explains Tim. "Would you like to go with us to get them? Will be getting lunch. It would be nice to leave the house for a bit?" I don't say anything, so he suggests, "You could get to know them while we eat."

I bite my lip, thinking things over, then put down my tools and look at Tim, " I think it would be better if you left me here. While I don't know them, I know I wouldn't want to have a new sibling sprung upon me without any warning." 

Tim walks over to me, " They wouldn't feel like that–" 

" I'm new to the manor. I've invaded their space without their consent," I say deadpan, "How else would you expect someone to react?"

Tim huffs as his phone goes off simultaneously with mine. Tim is the only one to look at the message, " Bruce said to come on. It's time to leave." 

I return to work, " I'll see you when you get back."

Knowing he will not win this argument, Tim leaves the cave and joins the others in the car.

***

I watch Drake come to the car by himself, " Where's Danyal?" 

" The cave," Drake looks at Father, " he said to go without him." 

 Father rubs the bridge of his nose, "Did he say why?" 

" said he didn't want to feel like he was an intrusion," says Drake. 

"He does realize he is family, right?" asks Richard, " he has every right to go too." 

"Maybe Baby D is just nervous," suggests Todd, " Everything's been pretty sudden. Adding on two more people might be pushing it for him," he looks at me, " Did he have problems like that when you were younger?" 

I take a moment to think about it, "Not that I recall," the car makes its way down the driveway, " but much could have changed in our time apart." 

***

I don't want to be rude or mean, but I just couldn't go. It just didn't feel right. When meeting new people, things are always a hit or miss, more often on the side of miss. I don't want to get a bad start with the people I'll be living with for the foreseeable future, and I just know if I had gone to meet them, I would have screwed it up. It's better to let the others handle the awkward conversation about why I'm there invading their house. I don't want to see the weird looks, questioning how I came to be, my validity. When I showed up with the Fentons, I screwed it all up.

Jazz was the one to find me. Being the concerned person she is, she took me to her parents, and they tried to do right, finding the proper authorities. But she pressured them into taking me along when no one turned up when I claimed I couldn't remember anything. They showed up at Maddie's sister's house, Alicia, on the way back to Amity Park. She threw accusations at Jack, and claims of potential unfaithfulness were going about.

How much Jack or Maddie said that wasn't true didn't matter. Maddie's side of the family never really believed them. To them, there's always the possibility that they were lying, trying to save face. Jack and I looked similar enough, so I understood why they could think so, but I've had enough of being called a bastard. 

Doesn't matter that I truly am one. 

Showing up to meet the last two Wayne's, official or unofficial, being a mere replica of Damian, wouldn't help matters. I know they will have questions, but I just don't want to be there for them. 

I can't go through that. Not again. 

So, I finish up the wiring for the portal. Instead of quiet, I blare various music and screw over OSHA regulations. Doing what I do best: creating . With no one there to walk in on me, I see no problem with levitating parts to me when I need them, using telekinesis to hold things in place so I can screw them in. When alone, I don't have to worry about being walked in on. I can get a lot done. The design of this portal is different from the others I've seen. This one isn't made out of spare parts like the Fentons, nor is it made out of the most expensive materials like Vlads. 

It's made out of stainless steel. 

With my strength and Bruce's tools, I've made the portal shaped like a horseshoe, round at the top and flat at the bottom. All wires are covered up by metal plating. No one's tripping over wires in there, not this time. All in all, it's almost done. All that is left to do is make a pump for the ectoplasm, and then it's safe to fire up. 

At this point, I've been working for hours, and I'm in a grove. I was summoning more screws to me out of the toolbox when Dumpty Humpty stopped playing over the speakers. I whip around to see who it is, to see Bruce, causing me to lose focus over the screws. 

They fall to the floor. 

I don't know what to do, so I just stand still. I'm unsure how Father feels about using powers inside the manor. I can tell he's resigned to them being used on the battlefield, knowing that they're useful, but at home, using them domestically is another thing altogether. 

I watch Father pick up the screws, walk them over to me, and place them on the workbench. I look for any change in his expression to see if he's mad about the power usage, but I don't see any. Then, without saying anything to me, Father walks over to the portal and expects it. He looks around for any exposed wiring before stepping inside. Father places his hands on the inside of the walls, checking for any loose parts. Once done with his inspection, he walks over to sit in the same chair Tim was in hours ago. Father gestures me over; the two of us sit in silence. Until Father says, " You've gotten a lot done." 

I look at my portal, "It's not that hard. I helped the Fentons with parts of theirs, and I've seen the finished product. It's not hard to recreate."

" Is the design exact?" Father asks. 

" A recreation. I have the original blueprints," I say, getting up to get them, " but I made a few changes." 

Once Father has the blueprints in his hands, he looks them over.

I can't help but be self-conscious as he looks at my notes, as I have things crossed out on the margins and corrected on sticky notes. The original is hard to read, let alone understand. Maddie and Jack aren't known for using exact measurements or technical terms. Unfortunately, when they started the portal, Maddie let Jack draw it. It looks like it was made by a kindergartener. 

Maddie and Jack have their own conversations written on it, mostly about fudge and what to have for dinner, but also about their theories about what the "Ghost Zone" would look like. Father takes his time reading it over. I can see his eyes going back and forth between their version of mine. I'm not sure what to think. This man is known as the world's greatest detective. He's highly intelligent. What if I made some kind of mistake? Is there something I didn't catch? I look at him worried, but Father just raises his hand and ruffles my hair, "Good job." 

" What," I say, surprised. 

"You've made good improvements to the original. Looks to be a lot safer, too," Father grunts, "What else do you have left to do?"

" I just need to make the pump for the ectoplasm, then connect it. Should be good to turn on after that," I say.

" Humm," Says Father, " so I take it you're not coming with us to pick up the girls isn't due to your workload." 

I sigh and look up at the stalactites, "No, it just didn't feel right." 

Father crosses his arms, "Explain it to me then." 

"I don't know if you'll get it," I say, "but it's like I told Tim. I didn't want to intrude. They don't know me, and I've only heard of them in passing or stuff I've seen on the news. They're just getting back from a mission, right?" I look at Father to see him nodding, "They probably just want to relax. Not worry about the new kid up in their space." 

"While surprised, they don't find you unwelcoming. Cass is excited about her new little brother," says Father. 

"And Steph?" I ask.

"While not officially adopted, Stephanie is part of the family. She, too, was excited for you to join us," Father says calmly. I don't say anything, not really sure what to say, but Father interrupts the silence, saying, " We brought you back some food. Why don't you go up and eat? Meet the girls later." Father gets up and makes his way toward the elevator, "You coming?" 

I put the screws back in the toolbox and go up.

Once I finished lunch, I was fresh out of excuses for not meeting the girls. I check the sitting rooms and look outside, but I don't see anyone, not even Gramps. So I wander the halls until I hear "Coconut Mall" and loosely veiled threats. The other bat-brats are playing Mario Kart while Gramps watches. Waluigi crosses the finish line first, causing a blonde to yell, " Bow down to your queen!"

Tim throws a pillow at her as the results come up, "Don't get ahead of yourself," they had finished all four races and didn't receive a trophy. I slip over the back of the couch, gaining the attention of the black-haired girl, Cass. Her eyes flicker over to Ahki and then back at me; she smiles but doesn't say anything and looks back at the screen. 

"You cheated," cries.

"You cheated," cries Jason, pointing a finger at Steph accusingly as his Peach sits in fifth place. "You blue-shelled me!" 

"All is fair in love, war, and Mario Kart," Says Steph with a gremlin smile. The others just groan in response. Steph holds on to her remote, as she placed the highest, as Jason, Tim, and Dick look around for someone to pass their controllers to. Dick passes his to Dami, while Jason passes his to Cass.

Tim is still holding on to his and is about to select a character when I ask, "Can I play?" causing the others to turn around to see me. They had been so caught up in the game they hadn't noticed when I entered. 

" When did you come up?" Dick asks.

" A bit ago," I shrug, " thanks for bringing me food back. It was good." I look at Tim, asking again, " Is it okay if I play?" 

" New brother?" Cass asks though it's more like a statement.

" Danyal or Danny," I say, introducing myself. 

Steph gets in my face, studying me before looking at the room at large, " I know you said they're twins, but I didn't expect a mini-baby-bat."

' Mini-Baby-Bat? ' I think, confused, 'Is she calling me short? ' 

" How astute, Brown," says Ahki sarcastically. 

Tim rolls his eyes at Dami and says, "Sure, Danny," handing me the remote. 

We play a couple of rounds, but it's kind of boring after a while. I see Dick look at his phone when he says, " I think this is going to be my last game."

"But what about our rematch?" asks Tim, not playing the upcoming round. 

" Dami will just have to defend my honor for me," Dick says before ruffling Ahki's hair. 

"Honor, what honor, Richard? You don't have any," he says, his arms crossed, having been red-shelled by him a bit ago. 

"Couldn't we all play against each other?" I ask, seeing another switch by the TV.

" We only have one Mario Kart," says Cass.

" Yeah, if we had two, we would have all played against each other," says Jason like it was obvious. 

"You never know; you could have just wanted to play a tournament style," I say, defending myself. 

"Hum," I say, getting up, going towards the TV, " give me a sec. I might have an idea." If they couldn't play on the two consoles, why not go into one ? It's been a while since I've gone into a game. While I wouldn't recommend it for something like Doomed, Mario Kart seems safe enough.

It's not like this game is determined by how many lives you have. You shouldn't even get hurt. It's just racing. I look at the wiring and where it connects to the console and the TV. I do the math in my head, ' seven of them, a bit more than three, but it should be doable .' I turn to face the others, "Instead of playing Mario Kart, would you like to be in it?" 

" What do you mean, Young Master?" Gramps asks, still in the room. 

" I can enter technology. I can bring others with me too. I thought you might like it," I say sheepishly, "That way, we all can play together." 

"How do you learn to do something like that?" Tim asks.

"I was chasing Technus, one of my rogues; at first, I thought only we could go in since we would be haunting it, but my friend grabbed onto me. I was going in, and they were able to come along too," I explain. 

"And you've done this more than once?" Dami asks.

" Yeah, with animal crossing, it shouldn't be any different," I say.

The other bat-brats look at each other, speaking with their eyes. After deciding, they glance at Gramps, asking for permission. He doesn't say anything for a moment, pondering his decision before he asks me, "And you are sure this is safe?" 

"Of course, Gramps," I say, " you know if you're up for it, you can play too. There's enough room for up to 12 of us." 

"What about the spots not taken up by us?" Gramps asks.

"The NPCs, the non-player characters, will take those spots," I say. 

"Come on, Alfie," says Jason, " it'll be fun."

" Come on, Alfred!" Says Steph. 

After that, the others chime in with their own pleas and assurances. Until Gramps finally gives in, asking, "How do we do it?" causing sounds of "yes" to sound off in the room.

" We just have to be connected," I say, holding my hands out, " just make a circle." 

They all get into place, " what now?" Cass asks.

" First, I gotta.." I say as I change my form.

"Woah, warn us about the light show Sailor Moon," Jason snarks as he rubs his eyes, " damn that was bright."

" Thanks!" I say, happy for the compliment. Having a clean, bright soul is pretty rare for a ghost. It was nice of him to notice. 

" Gotta admit, I didn't expect," Steph gestures with her hand, " all of that." 

I shrug, "Not much really changes–"

" You mean besides the glowing and premature grey," Jason says. 

" Eh, I've always guessed it was from the stress, ya know, from dying, like Marie Antoinette syndrome," I say, " I've never seen signs of it going back to black, but that's okay. I actually like the white. Feels more like me, you know? " I ask Jason. 

" I get it," Jason says softly, agreeing with me. 

" Whats next Danyal?" Dami asks.

"Next is spreading the energy over you. It might be a little cold; sorry about that," I warn. They take my warning better than Sam and Tucker used to. They would always complain about how it felt like I was pouring ice cubes down their back. It's not my fault my core is cold. It's not long before their bodies glow a bluish-green, and they enter the game. 

We arrive at the race track, and overhead, it says, " Special Cup." 

I look around the cards to see everybody, but not everyone is as if they were before. The first person who sticks out is Gramps. Instead of his impeccable suit, he's in blue overalls, wearing a red undershirt hat and brown shoes. 'He looks like Mario,' I realize and look for the others. 

The next one I see is Jason. He's dressed like Princess Peach in a long pink dress, with combat boots, elbow-length gloves, and adorned with a tiara. 

Cass looks like a yellow "shy guy"; she holds their mask.

' That looks uncomfortable,' I think as I see Ahki dressed as Bowser. Damien's in a yellow bodysuit, with spiked cuffs on his arms and wrists, and has a massive turtle shell on his back.

Steph is wearing dark purple overalls with gold buttons, a lighter purple undershirt, a hat, and a fake mustache, a perfect replica of Waluigi. 

Dick is dressed the most embarrassing, as Baby Rosalina. He's in a short blue tunic and bloomers and has a giant lollipop in his hand. He licks it, and I hear him say, " Ooh, cherry."

While Tim is dressed simply as Toad. In the blue vest, outlined in gold, white pants, and a mushroom hat.

I look at my reflection on the side of his cart to see no significant changes besides my teeth. They are sharper than I'd want them to be, and above my head is a second floating crown. I'm King Boo. 

" Demon brat the second, what the hell!" Jason yells, trying not to trip over Peach's dress. 

" Don't look at me! I didn't dress you!" I say, backing away. 

"Yeah, then who did?" Jason asks rhetorically.

" Maybe the game," I answer, "we've been made to look like the characters were replacing." 

" Yeah, well could you get it to give Dick some pants?" asks Tim, " I don't need to see all of that."

"They're not any shorter than my running shorts," Dick says, shrugging, not arguing for or against different pants.

" Yes, another monstrosity," says Damian. 

"At least they're not as bad as the old Robin uniform," Tim says.

" Take that back," Dick says, clutching his imaginary pearls, " they were iconic."

" I believe the race is about to start, Young Masters' Misses,'" Gramps says, readying himself in his cart. 

We look towards the finish line to see numbers counting down to 1. It's currently on 7. 

We all rush to their carts. 

First track: Cloud top cruise. 

Once the signal goes off, We're off like a light. We whip around in a sharp right turn, bounce on some sort of mushroom, and gain our first advantages. Dick, Tim, Jason, and I get red shells, Gramps gets the speedy mushroom, Damian gets a green shell, and Cass gets a coin, all while Steph is being carried back onto the track, having fallen off. Gramps speeds off while the others release their shells, knocking over those in front of them.

Cass speeds off into first. 

We race on the clouds until we get to the ship deck.

Cass is still in first, with Tim not far behind. The others, besides Steph, who is lagging behind with the NPCs, keep going in and out of different placements, trying to get in front of the others. 

We get blasted off the ship in some kind of air cannon and fly through the sky onto another track in the clouds. On the track, have these yellow/orange placements that make you go faster. Each one is getting struck by lightning, and they try to use the spots to their advantage without being hit.

Dick is the first to get stuck, so it doesn't take him long to get back at it and go again. I, conscientious of the lightning, try to steer clear of any of the spots, willing to take the risk of losing my placement. Once we get done on the track, we are shot off and fly into the sky to land on a track that looks like a vine to complete the first circuits. 

It doesn't take long for us to go back around twice more and finish our first race.

1) Cass 7) Jason

2) Tim 8) Steph

3) Alfred 9) Luigi

4) Dick 10) Iggy

5) Danny 11) Link 

6) Damian 12) Yoshi

Second track: Bone Dry Dunes

We start off in our positions, taking a sharp right into the first advantage cubes and twisting and turning throughout the canyon around them. Jason gets the golden mushroom, Cass gets the plant thingy, Gramps, Damian, and I get red shells, Steph gets bananas, and Dick and Tim get green shells. Jason immediately speeds off, leaving us in the dust, while Cass drives by, trying to get the plant to eat us. Steph tries to trip Cass up by putting bananas in her way, but she doesn't fall for it. Dick throws his shells all willy-nilly, hoping that they'll hit somebody, while Tim keeps his for defense. Gramps, Damian, and I don't use ours until we get close to someone else taking their place in the lineup.

We start to slow as the hard track turns into sand and start traveling over bridges made out of what looks to be rib bones. We drive sideways on the walls until we get shot out across the canyon, flying into tunnels. It's dark in there. We have to turn our headlights on to see, as it is dimly lit by torches. Once we exit the tunnels, we get back on the paved road, leading them back to the start of the track and ending their first lap. It doesn't take long for us to go through it again and again, leaving the results of the second race to be: 

1) Jason 7) Damian

2) Alfred 8) Cass

3) Steph 9) Luigi

4) Danny 10) Yoshi

5) Tim 11) Link 

6) Dick 12) Iggy

Third track: Bowser's Castle

Once it says go, we race off into the mansion, tearing up the carpets as we turn down the hallways. We smash into the advantage cubes Gramps and I get three mushrooms, Tim, Dick, and Jason get bananas, and Steph gets a boomerang. While Damian and Cass get coins. 

Damian and Cass spend their coins immediately while Gramps and I make our way through the castle. While Tim, Dick, and Jason throw their bananas everywhere, and Steph aims her Boomerang at them. Steph ends up knocking Jason in the head, causing him to turn out of control. Before stopping, he yells, "You're going to pay for that, Blondie!" revs the engine and chases after her. 

As we get through the halls, we come across a bridge made out of some kind of chainmail, leaving us to twist and turn until we get back onto a solid floor. We have to dodge spinning fire wheels and a swaying morning star mounted on the ceiling. We go like that, avoiding the obstacles until the road splits into two. In the middle is a giant Bowser Fire Monster attacking each path. Each blow that lands makes the road shake. We're all forced to rush around and get out of their way. Once we leave that area, we're back inside the Castle, except it's inverted. We're driving on the ceiling. If the car was to fall off, we'd hit the floor. Once we finally exited the Castel, we had to fly out, dodging lava and large rocks. Until we reached the finish line to start on our next lap. The outcome of the third race is:

1) Danny 7) Dick

2) Damian 8) Steph

3) Cass 9) Luigi

4) Jason 10) Link 

5) Tim 11) Yoshi 

6) Alfred 12) Iggy

Fourth track: Rainbow Road 

We race all over that rainbow monstrosity. Twisting on gravity-defying curves. Immediately Dick and Steph fall off, having to be pulled back up. While Gramps, Tim, Jason, and I speed off. Damian and Cass move along at a slower pace. Only Gramps, Tim, Jason, and I get advantages this time. The others lagged behind but got there before they could regenerate. Tim and Jason get shells, green, while I get bananas and Gramps gets a mushroom. We race around, gathering coins while waiting for the others to catch up. After a bit, Damian and Cass get more comfortable on the track, and they're speeding along with the rest of Us. Steph has difficulty getting control of the cart and keeps falling off while Dick tries to catch up. 

We get launched off Rainbow Road and onto some kind of space station. There are arrows on the ground, red and green, one to slow, one to fasten. Which leads to a short road that launches us back onto the rainbow.

One thing for sure is the Waynes', official and honorary, had never had more fun.

Results of the fourth race:

1) Alfred 7) Cass

2) Danny 8) Link

3) Dick 9) Luigi

4) Jason 10) Tim

5) Steph 11) Yoshi 

6) Damian 12) Iggy 

Results of Special Cup:

1) Danny 7) Tim

1) Alfred 8) Steph

3) Jason 9) Luigi

4) Cass 10) Link 

5) Dick 11) Yoshi 

6) Damian 12) Iggy