Prankster For Hire [A DC x DP Fanfic]

[Music] Life in Gotham had proved to be deathly boring for a half-a. Gang violence disappeared in front of people once and they'll never bother you again. Your guess? Sleeves. Danny hadn't needed to breathe since he was 14. It happens. A little intangibility went a long way. And he'd even been able to help the folks stuck with him. That had earned him a few questions and some speculation on whether he was a robin out of uniform. Thankfully claiming to be enrolled in advanced not-time classes since he was in Kindergarten got people off his back. All in all, Gotham was a piece of cake for someone with ghost powers. Well, it was nice not having to worry about rogue attacks. It also contributed to Danny's immense boredom. It wasn't as though he could donna cape and go fight Rogues himself. He was trying to keep a low profile here after running away from home. He did not need his parents following him halfway across the country to kill him. If his parents killed him again with that make him make it double homicide or just one homicides since the first time didn't stick. The tombstone would probably be the same. It wasn't like he'd get a new one for each new death. So going ghost and kicking Rogues out of the area was out of the question as was school, as was work. Danny had a lot of free time on his hands and well Tucker and Sam occupied some of that via discord when they weren't at school. He was left to his own devices most of the time. When a brand new coffee shop opened up down the street from the decrepit warehouse he dubbed his new hot. Danny couldn't help but welcoming the new neighbors to the area. The layout of the shop was perfect. The front facing portion having seating that robbed her in the cafe and in L shape, ending with restrooms. Danny was quick to stake his claim at the last table next to the bathrooms, great for keeping a look at and conveniently stepping out of the public's and cameras view for the best use of his powers. Pranking. He never did anything harmful, nothing that would stick or completely ruin someone's day, nothing to humiliate or punch down on common folk, just modly inconvenient things to subtly suggest his presence. It started with napkins. Every time a worker would fill them, Danny would wait for them to leave before making the napkins invisible and returning them to the back. Repeat, add nauseam for an hour or two, or until Danny became bored with the prank, or a starter to fear that an exorcist might be called, whichever came first. Look, he did not need John Hillblazer Constantine on his ass over this. Next came markers. Initially, the shop used generic black markers for writing customers' names on their orders, boring, not the right vibe for his neighborhood. Danny very generously replaced all the black markers with glitter markers he'd bought on his own, read with Sam's Danny Donation Fund. This move became an all-out war. Every day the shop owners would arrive at the store, going to rant about their missing black markers, check the tapes and attempt to replace the glitter markers with boring markers. Every day, Danny would slowly gather up all the black markers until the invasive glitter markers were all that was left. The war ended quickly once the owners began receiving positive feedback from Gothamites with a refreshing change of color. After gaining a few five-star reviews online for the glitter markers alone, the owners completely embraced the new markers and even expanded the colors in the shop, allowing certain days to certain glitter marker palettes. The Danny would later tell Sam smug under her with the writhering gaze of the discord call, "I'm helping, I'm doing something good here. He hadn't been able to convince Sam but Tucker was sold, at least one of his friends saw his vision for this place. While the owners were all too willing to take credit for his glitter marker idea, they couldn't exactly take credit for his other ghostly activities around the store. This was the case for the animal stickers he'd begin, affixing to employees' name badges. With all this haunting, Danny had overheard plenty of the briefest conversations during the downtime. Inevitably, many of these conversations would drift towards the employees' pets, where the pets had random pass or buys that they noticed. This naturally led to conversations about other animals. Zoo animals, birds, fish, and eldricks, creatures were all fair game. Seeing how the employees lit up inspired Danny to dip into his funds, one evening, and slip back into the shop after it closed, carefully matching glitter sticker animals to the badges of individuals who liked them best. It was hard work remembering names without the faces to go with them. He didn't know any of these people, not really. Danny only spent a few hours a day hunting the shop after all. Even still, he was proud of his handiwork. Even proud of the next morning when employees began trickling in and saw the new stickers. Some cudes, some granted their approval, and some snapped photos. "I love zebra's! It's not my favorite, but it's still an S tier animal. Cute, but we didn't know our bosses listened to us. Maybe it's the ghost." Overall, it was a success, and Danny would dare to say he was receiving some level of notoriety for his to-nan against. Of course, when the TikToks started rolling in about the possible haunted coffee shop in the barry, the owners were quick to dismiss such notions. So, you can, through the shop's social media accounts, to claim customers will only be surprised at how hauntingly good their food was, and not to fear an actual haunting. The dismissals, Danny, wasn't a big fan of. They felt more like a challenge than anything else. Because we're easy enough to fix, however, grabbing a glitter marker, obviously paying heat to the color palette of the day, and signing Shop Ghost, smiley face. On people's bags and cups, it ended all arguments that there wasn't a ghost. Or at least a very committed staff member. People analyzed and over-analyzed his writing. The marker he selected, silly, honestly, because he just grabbed whatever was free, and how big or how little the smiley on the end was at any given day. The owners finally gave up on trying to deny his existence, as more and more people came to the shop and search of the shop ghost. His active hours were documented online. 10am to 1pm. People came just for him, to feel a cold spot there, get a coveted signature there. Danny was more than happy to oblige them, much to say in his chargrin. He'd steal straws, rearrange utensils to spell out messages, and sometimes he'd even be helpful by opening doors for approaching customers. The shrieks he'd received the first few times he did it were shrieks of joy, he assured to say him. Everything was Danny never messed with where people's food and beverages. Flid allergies and dietary restrictions were serious and Danny wasn't about to violate a customer's trust or get his new favorite hangout shut down. Nostwich ruse, no extra ingredients, no messing with people's orders, period. It didn't take long for the shop to gain a number of regulars. A few occult enthusiasts who stuck by the entrance, a handful of college students who sat closer to Danny's usual spot, and a few people who chose the shop as a first-state destination filled the center. In the past few weeks, Danny had come to pick out a few favorites for pranking. We're easy enough. Just open the door and they lose their shit. He'd, he'll admit it was poor judgment on his part when he opened the door once for a pigeon, but it was a polite little guy who meandered back outside at the first shout from the shop owner. The first daydors were equally easy. Pick up their trash for them and suddenly they had a new and exciting topic to discuss. Really, Danny should be paid for how much he hoped. While those were all fun, his favorite person to prank was a fairly new one to the establishment. She seemed to be in her early 20s and often sat at a table a little ways away from him. At first glance, she seemed like a boring target. Someone who'd be too engrossed in her phone to notice a hot dang was taking place. Danny had wrongly assumed that about her too. At first. Imagine his surprise when he'd snatched up her straw while she'd gone to pick up a pastry only for her to return with an expression that mixed delight with intense suspicion upon noticing the missing straw. With a narrowed eyes, she swept her gaze across the shop, predictably finding nothing to suggest to the culprit of the straw crime may be, she grabbed a new one and sat down, pointing for Danny. So he came back the next day, much to Danny's amusement. She was far more careful with her drink, bringing it and her straw with her when she went to grab her heated pastry from the barista. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't thought to bring her bag with her, and Danny was a habitual helper. After stuffing her bag with several handfuls of straws, Danny returned to his seat. Clearly awaiting the woman's reaction to his prank. He didn't have to wait long. As soon as she sat down, she opened her back and went out of cry that was something between a yelp of surprise and a pointed laughter. Just like the day before, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the cat high. Danny made sure to keep his head down. Just like the day before, she eventually settled back down and brushed the incident off. Another point for Danny. The next day, the woman purchased a pastry that didn't require heating. Danny could have laughed as if the pastry had been the problem. I was a little trickier this way, and Danny had to admit he probably stood invisible by the restroom and trance longer than he'd liked, as he waited for an opportunity to strike. As soon as the woman glanced away from her drink, Danny flew for it, stealing the straw and throwing it away. He would not be telling the same about that. The shocking gasps and priceless detective gaze made it all too worth it as the woman was forced from her seat to get another straw. Danny was feeling triumphant. It had gone like this for another week. Each day, the blonde woman came in looking more determined than the last. She began asking other customers for their experiences, giving a scrutinizing gaze on her the whole time, and even took pictures whenever Danny managed to successfully sneak her straw away. He'd overheard the woman mentioning his antics to the briester one day, asking them what his deal was and what he did with all the straws. The briester, Brenda, had replied with a shogun and non-conmental comment of, "You know how some stores have cats? The ghost is like our cat. We don't know why or what it does." Danny had arranged some straws to smell, spell meow for her after that. Surprisingly, she had taken that and stride, laughing before snapping a photo of it. It was easy to say this woman had become this new favorite victim. Almost regular, with the exception being the occultists, became bored of his meddling. The woman always had a new reaction as though she were actively investigating a crime scene in Clue. To Danny, this was a win-win scenario. He was enjoying himself and it was clear she was too. Helping, he was a helper. Steph was at her wits end with the shop ghost. Every day she'd try to gain some kind of heart attack. evidence of their presence and every day they'd slip past her. When the shop had first gone viral on social media, she and the other bad girls had included it, had been some sort of gimmick from the owners. While ghosts were real, they didn't haunt coffee shops, that would be ridiculous. Unlike the other bad girls, Steph was still curious. She wanted to see the shop for herself, make her own determinations. If it was an employee, she'd notice. If not, well, she hadn't wanted to entertain that thought. It hadn't seemed likely at the time. It hadn't taken her more than an hour to deduce this was not the work of an employee. Instead, it seemed to be a meta with invisibility powers. Breathe, meta to be pulling so many pranks they'd become known as the shop ghost. Even braver when one took into account that they were doing this engulfing of all places. A grin and sneak across her face when she left the shop the first day. The shop ghost would be her friend. That had been optimistic, first day Steph. Less optimistic, 11th day Steph had other feelings on the matter. 11 days of pranks, while amusing, had left her with no evidence whatsoever. Even when she'd gotten one of the sought after signatures and stored it away for DNA analysis, she'd gotten nothing. It wasn't fair and she clandest back down at her drink before opening the back girl's group chat. Steph, stint in image, Steph. Another day, another straw, gas, shocked face. Just bring a meta one. Maybe they'll respect that, Steph. I don't think the word "respect" is in their vocabulary. But she'd taken Bab's advice the next day, and surprisingly, her straw hadn't been swept. Unsurprisingly, she had been left with several festivals of straws that she promptly returned to the supply pile. She'd collected so many interviews, both from staff and customers alike, and not one of them had caught the mystery meta and act. She'd equipped herself with heat sensors, snapped countless photos, and even left a mini-camera to record what happened whenever she had to leave her table while at the cafe. Nothing. Zip, Zilch, Nada. It made sense that an invisible meta wouldn't appear on camera, but to remain undetectable even to heat sensors? It doesn't usual as it was, unfair. Most would despair from the lack of evidence, but this was a case worthy of a bat. At least that's what Steph told herself when she'd asked Babs to pull the camera feed for the shop. Their active hours seemed to suggest their college student, Steph said, hovering over one of Bab's shoulders while Cass hovered over the other. They're too active in the middle of the day to be younger than that, and active for too long to be an adult with a full-time job. Part-time job, Cass suggested, by scouring the film as Bab's scrolled to 10/30th night shift. So let's keep an eye out for any suspicious movements from anyone, Babs advised, adjusting her glasses as she leaned in. We don't want to rule out a POI just because we haven't perceived notion in her minds. As the film rolled, Steph watched herself enter the shop, passing the usual group of Goths toward the front. The Goths seemed the least likely to Harper the meta. They always seemed enamored with anything the so-called Ghost did. Gipped forward a few minutes to when Steph had received her food and drink and sat down. The scene appeared unchanged. A few college-aged students sat between her and the Goth group, but they were all either reading or furiously typing on their devices. No real movement until the boy that always sat at the table closest to the bathroom got up and disappeared in that direction. The bad girl had slain forward. None of a moment later, past Steph, glanced away from her drink and the straw was swiped. The woman exchanged a glance. Coincidence, Steph suggested dubious of her words even as she spoke them. Another day, cast urged. Babs pulled up footage from the day before 1015. The boy who truthfully looked far too much like most of the bad family for Steph's liking was already there. As past Steph sat down, the bad girl's collectively leaned in. Once again, the boy got up to use the restroom. Once again, the straw was gone only seconds later. Another glance exchanged to this one finding Steph and cast with matching friends. The ghost cast exclaimed first. We've got our guy. Steph whooped. Abs remained silent, fronting as she pulled up another day and another and another after that. Every day had the same exact pattern. Steph had to wonder how no one had caught this kid before. It really is him. She was sold. We need more evidence. Babs insisted with a sigh. You said he had sensors didn't detect him, right? Right, Steph said. It's like he wasn't even there. Haven't people reported feeling cold spots around the cafe? Babs hummed, strumming her fingers against her desk. Maybe it's time for a change in tactics. It was a normal day like any other for Danny, which is to say it wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst either. He'd woken up early to a particularly large rat skittering across his chest, knowing the feeling of its tiny feet would haunt him, like he haunted its warehouse. After that harrowing experience, Danny took an invisible straw down the street to calm his nerves. This was a mistake. While the battery wasn't as bad as crime alley proper, it still wasn't a good place to live. He'd barely manage to stop a shootout between two rival gangs by erecting a thin wall of ice between them and to make matters worse, he'd even been grieved by a bullet or two. His injuries wouldn't kill him. That was already taken care of thanks to the doctor's fenton, shout out to them. But they sure put a damper on the hole already not a great day. He didn't have to get involved in the shootout, but this was his neighborhood, his haunt. It was all he had at this point and he did not need any new ghosts showing up to push him out. Not that that was how ghost creation worked, but it was the principle of the matter. His obsession demanded to protect Batman be damned. It was a little after 10 when he trudged into his coffee shop, existentially tired but ready for a few pranks and to let him move. He'd gotten his usual order, a cinnamon swirl latte with a pumpkin donut, grateful for the warmth, warm comfort of sugar and carbs to heal his spirit and his body, but that felt like a tall order. And if he had to choose between the two, he'd choose his spirit first. It didn't take him long to cozy up at his normal table, taking a sip here and there as he waited for his regulars to arrive. He'd bought a handful of colorful metal bendy straws for the blonde woman. Then he'd noticed her sudden preference for metal straws and figured it might be a kind gesture to give her some variety. We left her seat at least once, so he'd just posit them then. He'd gradually disperse the rest of them throughout the week. He was helpful like that. It took him by surprise when the blonde woman entered the shop with another woman in tow. Both moved their hands animatedly and it took Danny a few seconds to realize they were speaking in sign language. It didn't take long for the two to place and pick up their orders, each of them grabbing straws for their drinks. Danny could hardly hide his evil grin. He'd be able to switch both straws up for the metal ones he'd gotten, just because the black-haired woman was now new. Didn't protect her from the straw switch. In fact, her association with the blonde woman put her in the line of fire. But this was helping. These were environmentally safe fun straws who wouldn't want an environmentally safe fun straw. He waited for the woman to become invested in people watching out of the cafe window before conveniently heading to the bathroom and channeling his invisibility. It washed over him like a familiar, fiendish friend here to help him do good deeds. Really, he was basically like the coffee santa today, delivering gifts to the shop's customers. He should be when this places payroll for all the goodies done. Danny slipped out of the alcove and confident in his ability to go unnoticed as he lifted his feet from the ground, floating over the blonde woman and her friend. They were sufficiently distracted by a dog walk or walking around too many dogs outside the shop, the woman cooing in checkling as they watched the scene unfold. Perfect Danny thought, reaching over to snatch the blonde woman's straw from her drink. That was as far as he got his heart practically stopping for the second time in his life as the blonde woman's hands shut out and grabbed his arm. The shock, he panicked cocktail that zipped through his ectoplasm written veins was enough to nearly cause him to drop his invisibility. It didn't, he'd later assure himself. At least he was pretty sure it didn't. It took all of that second before he came back to a senses, calling forth his intangibility and escaping from her grasp. But she known she'd had him. He could see it in her eyes, bright with mirth and victory. Something boiled in him as he retreated back to the bathroom, reverting back into normal, unassuming Danny and splashing water on his face in a vein attempt to slow the rapid beating of his heart that was throwing in sync with his core. That was bad, that had been too close and that look on her face, he hadn't liked that one bit. It stirred up something competitive in him, something territorial as though that blonde woman was threatening his heart. So he sort of was, in a way, trying to expose him like that. With Danny, while Danny doubted, she meant it. That didn't little to soothe his affront and ghost half, ancient not even the occultists out front, even dared to feel for him. It was ecrugious, audacious, rude. Bruce's ghost feelings are not. It wasn't as though he could hide in the bathroom for the rest of the day. With a sigh, he wiped his hands and his face because he'd really gone overboard with the water and took his place back at his table. It was hard to focus after that, the feeling of the woman grabbing his arm with such confidence, leaving him so uncomfortable that even his carbs and sugar can soothe his nerves. He spent another 20 minutes nibbling at his pastry before it decided to throw it in the towel and retreat for the day. Danny hoped it was just his paranoia that told him that woman was watching him as he left, escaping the warmth of the shop for the cold rainy streets of Gotham. Should do something to get his mind off of his stupid morning, being homeless half dead teenager left him with very few legal options. But there was one place in the city that was open to everyone no matter how little they had. The library.