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When Clockwork told Danny he knew what he needs right now, Danny expected Clockwork to make a time pocket for him to catch up on his school work. And not what this is.
Danny followed Clockwork through a corridor, if it can be called that. His mentor guided him though a door in Long Now, then they were in this corridor. Everything was just a starry void, aside from a stone path in the middle. And the end, another door.
“What is this?” Danny asked, coming to the point. Well aware Clockwork won’t be direct in his answer. “You said I need this?”
“I said you could need this.” Clockwork corrected, “It is something you could use to be more happy, be more yourself, but not something you outright need. But I am certain you will like this after getting over the initial weirdness.”
“Initial weirdness-”, Danny repeated in a near whisper. He asked louder, “Clockwork, what is this?”
“By now you should realize that the Infinite Realms have portals, gaps and pockets leading to other points on the time line,”, Clockwork actually explained as they came closer to the door. “This is similar. This corridor leads to alternate realities. Well, a cross-point between realities.” Clockwork grabbed the door knob and opened it. “In this room are versions of yourself from across the multiverse. Some of them are similar to you, others are so different you might not recognize them at first glance.”
He opened the door, revealing to Danny a collection of people sitting around a big, round table. Some looked like him, be it in other clothes like a New York City Hoodie, others notably older and… multiple ones wearing police uniforms. And quite a few looked Arabic. He counted, in fact, six men wearing police uniforms. Some of them the uniform of the Amity Park Police Department. Many of them had scars that looked like lightning strikes. Danny winced just looking at them.
One of the teen counterparts sporting a red hoodie – if they really are versions of him from across the multiverse – noted him. “Oh, another one. And not yet another cop. Seriously, why are so many of you cops?”
One of the coppers just shrugged. The one with the New York hoodie just asked, “I have more questions about the Arab peeps. Last time I checked I am Midwestern.”
“Yet your lilt is very Big Apple.” one of the cops said. The one whose uniform read ‘LAPD’. Red Hoodie stood up and leaned over the table. “You work for the police of Los Angeles?”
He just shrugged. “Not my first choice. I originally worked for the APPD, but… circumstances forced me to leave. So I created a new identity in LA. Figured I would be hard to find in one of the biggest cities in the country.” LA added, “And LA is such a dumpster fire, I figured there are enough people to save and rescue to feed my ghost obsession to protect.”
“Oh, that explains the cops.” a young adult variant asked. “I, too, have the obsession to protect. In fact I plan to become a cop after college. Or at least a Crime Scene Investigator as I study Forensics. Have yet to decide.”
New York wondered, “Anyone here who isn’t a cop and doesn’t plan to?”
Only five of the fifteen Danny’s raised their hands.
Danny raised his hand, “Well, I never really thought about my career path.” “Same.”, New York butted in, with a direct copy of NY nodding along. Danny continued, “Also, I am pretty sure my obsession is Astronomy.”
Red Hoodie spoke up, “Why are you all mentioning obsessions?”
LAPD replied, “Ghosts in my dimension have obsessions, something that fuels them. I’m a half ghost and judging by the Lichtenberg figures, some of you are as well.”
They eyed their own scars, before they said in unison, “Yeah.”
Danny added, “I’m a halfa, too, but I don’t have scars.”
Red Hoodie just blinked. “You are half ghosts? Like, you’re part ghost?”
“You aren’t?” Danny asked.
Red shook his head. New York sighed. “So, you’re fully human?”
“Actually I’m a Dhampire, half vampire.” Red then flashed fangs.
“Cool!” one of the cops said. “Can you turn into a bat? What type of accident rendered you a Dhampire?”
Red blinked. “Accident? I was born like this? If anything, what type of accident makes you a half ghost? Like, seriously, how do you half-ass dying?”
New York laughed, so did the cops. One of the older ones said, “I for my part… when I started Freshman year, Jack and Maddie build a portal to the Ghost Zone. Because I tried to impress Sam, I stepped in, accidentally activated it while in there and then, well…” He flexed his hand, the scar spreading from his palm across his bronze skinned arm. “Let’s just say due to the voltage I should be fully dead.”
“Same here.” many replied. Some, however, added, “Well, aside the ‘impressing Sam’ part.”
Red sighed. “They are still in the process of building it… It could still happen for me.” He then murmured, “I wonder how this attacks my vampirism?”
One of the cop counterparts leaned to the oldest. “Dude, you have rookie stripes? You’re like thirty. Why so late?”
A different cop added, age wise he looked to be between them, “Sure, police academies take folks up to thirty five – at least in my dimension – but you did say you got a protector obsession. Why only now?”
He sighed, “I choose a different career path to protect. I joined the Army.” after a bit of hesitation he added, “Well, considering where we are, I suppose it is save to tell you. I ended up in Black Ops. I was asked to go to Amity Park to spy and if needed neutralize a government organization gone rogue. Becoming an APPD officer was a good cover story, especially since I intended on doing so before… well, actually I wanted to become a cop in the city I studied in, but life rarely goes as planned.”
Someone whistled impressed. One of the Arab counterparts – also a cop, but younger – stated, “I also joined the Army and ended up in Black Ops and I also returned to Amity Park for espionage, but I didn’t study.” He leaned to the older, “You have a degree, so you didn’t enlist, didn’t you?”
“Uh, does this matter?” one of the teen counterparts asked.
He nod. “Yes. While I – someone who didn’t study – enlisted and worked my way up to being a Staff Sergeant, Mr. Degree over there probably attended an Officer Candidate School and started as a Lieutenant. So what is your rank, O-Rank?”
“I’m a Major.” he simply stated. “So, two joined the Army. Anyone else? Maybe a different military branch in this roundup?”
One of the young cops shrugged. “I nearly enlisted into the Army, albeit I eyed the Air Force. But I got an acceptance letter to a college last minute. Like, I was literally filing out some paperwork for the Army when the letter from Gotham U came.”
The Staff Sergeant hummed, “Funny. I only enlisted because every college I applied to rejected me, because they wouldn’t ‘risk having a Fenton on their campus’. But makes sense Gotham U takes one of us.”
“Huh, I attend Gotham U right now.” Forensics degree said.
“What is Gotham U? I never heard that name.” one of the adult counterparts asked. He was dressed in a trench coat. “I for my part studied in Chicago.”
“I would call you a traitor but… does Amity Park of your dimension have a rivalry with Chicago?” one of the cops asked.
“Yes.” Chicago replied. “The rivalry was kinda the reason why I moved there. I needed a restart, detached from Amity Park… but I couldn’t be arsed to leave the state and I need a big city, I can’t do calm small towns.”
“Feel ya, dude.” LAPD replied. “I originally planned to go to Chicago, I told people I plan to go there, but because I had to go undercover and hide against my will, I couldn’t. Chicago would be the first place anyone looking for me would have gone looking for me.”
“Who is searching for you, the Ghost Investigation Ward?”
LAPD shook his head, “Nah. I wish, these are easy to handle: I got terabytes worth of blackmail material on them.”
“Neat!” Chicago said impressed. “Now… listen, not to be a killjoy, but we need some organization in here. We can’t call each other Danny, so…”
“Nicknames. Or code names. Yes, you got a point.” the Major agreed. “Let’s make a game out of it. Each of us tells the others about their dimension and their lives. And one embarrassing fact.” He smirked. “For the adult counterparts: No High School tales, that would be cheating.”
The counterparts looked around each other, gauging each others’ agreement. The adults agreed first, the teens followed, be it just to hear stupid stories. LAPD said, “Your idea, you start, ‘Major’!”
He nod. “Well. As I said, I joined the Army after getting my degree. Unlike the E-6, I didn’t do it because I didn’t have other options. As for why… it is connected to why I’m in Black Ops. In my dimension, someone blew up the moon. Long story short, a Japanese Middle School class was tasked to assassinate the guy and, well, it was the class I joined for an exchange program. So me and two dozen other teens got trained to be assassins.
“Of course as I sit here, it doesn’t need to be said but we succeeded. The hit on Koro-Sensei gets accredited to me. The point is, I am a trained assassin, considered one of the best, and the Pentagon knew it, so when I graduated High School, I was asked to join the Military in some way for special operations. I managed to convince them for a compromise: I get a degree on their dime to qualify for Officer Candidate School, but do smaller missions while in college. They agreed, of course.”
The Staff Sergeant chimed in, “Same here! Albeit I got rejected everywhere, so I enlisted right after High School. Man, maybe I should have asked for a college related favor...”
One of the young cops said, “I also got asked due to the AC Project, but, like the Major, I got a degree. But unlike him, I didn’t join afterwards. Albeit I did nearly sign up and I was eyeing some Air Force pamphlets…”
New York sighed. “You three are assassins? You killed?”
The Forensics student chimed in, “I too am an AC Project Assassin.”
“Me too!” LAPD and a different cop counterpart added. The cop said, “Frankly, I consider to quit the shield and join…”
The Staff Sergeant blinked. “Really? But the pipeline seems to be assassin to Army to cop, not cop to Army.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, but like LAPD, I consider to do it to run from someone.”
“Oh…” Chicago voiced. “Listen, maybe the Army isn’t a good idea for this issue. Not saying LA’s solution is better, but the Army is an… extreme step.”
“More like you’re not at all in the mental space for this from the sounds of it.” the Major said. “Anyway, I offer my BO Callsign. Call me Echo.”
“Oh, badass!” Danny said. He and the other teen counterparts left the talking to the adults out of intimidation, especially after realizing half of them have a body count of the different kind. Red and New York agreed, nodding. “So, whose next?”
Instead of an answer, one of the officers pointed out, “Echo, is that a wedding band on your hand?”
Echo held up a hand. There it was: a silver band. He replied, “Yes. I am married, actually. For five years come next October.”
“To who? Sam?” one of the teens asked.
“No, I am married to a British National called John Constantine.”, Echo explained. “On that note, I am a Dual citizen, UK and US citizenship. Between that, my career and my husband’s job, taxes are stupid.”
The Sergeant and nearly-enlister looked to him, one happy, the other mortified. Sarge explained, “Married to the Londoner Trash Wizard? Good to see my boyfriend and I’s relationship progresses to that point in some reality-”
“You date-and you’re married, to-to Constantine-”
“And you have a crush on him, I assume?” Sarge guessed, “I crushed on him, too. Made missions together… awkward. But made asking him out easier than it should be.”
“I met my husband in a strip club.” Echo said, out of pocket.
“What?” Chicago voiced.
Echo clarified, “I had a few jobs back in college, aside from assassinations for Uncle Sam. I… also worked as a stripper for a bit and met John there. But we only started to date after I graduated.”
The one with the crush added, “I… also worked as a stripper and met John there…”
The teen counterparts looked between the trio, wondering if they end up as gay disasters like them. “What is so appealing about a guy-you literally called him Trash Wizard!” Chicago asked, pointing at the Sarge.
His eyes widen, “Wait, you don’t know his name?”
Chicago shook his head. New York added in, “We don’t know who that is either.”
The college student asked into the round, “Okay, little inquiry: are you familiar with the Justice League?”
Seven of the fifteen raised their hand, the other seven confused who is referred. “Okay. I think I understand what is going on: the JL and co don’t exist in some realities.”
“I wish they won’t exist in my dimension, would make so much stuff easier…” one of the cops muttered.
Sarge joked, “What? Picked a fight with Batman?”
To his surprise, his counterpart answered, “No, albeit I am arguing with Red Robin…”
“Okay, what is going on?” Red demanded to know.
Echo explained, “In our dimensions, super heroes are real. Batman is the protector of a city called Gotham, Red Robin being one of his many, many side kicks.”
College joked, “Not sure about the other realities, but Batman has an orphanage worth of sidekicks in my dimension. Like, where the heck is he finding so many orphans willing to throw hands?”
One counterpart in a lab coat chuckled, “One way to phrase it.”
Danny’s eyes widen. “You have super heroes? This is so cool!”
“It is cool until you marry one of the Robins and consider divorce…” one of the officers muttered. All eyes snapped to him.
“You married one of the Robins? Which one? Nightwing?” Lab Coat asked.
He replied, “Red Robin, actually.”
Echo inquired, “Insomnia himself? The guy with the coffee machine under his bet? That guy? Seriously?”
“Says the guy who married the hell blazer who trades his soul for a pack of cigs.” he snapped back.
Echo huffed, “Then again, you speak of divorce. Regretting it that much?”
“Well, our relationship was rushed.” he admitted. “And he does not know I am or was an assassin.”
Sarge sighed, “Considering their no-kill rule, I am surprised your relationship progressed this far.”
His counterpart just nod. “Hence why I consider divorce.”
“Careful, the bats are possessive and don’t like to let go.” Lab Coat said. His counterpart just sighed in annoyance.
Sarge took the lead of their talk, “Anyway, while he is re-evaluating his life choices, I have decided you shall call me Reaper. My AC Project Codename turned BO call sign.”
The third of their trio said, “Call me Eidolon. I… while studying in Gotham, I became active as the vigilante Eidolon to feed my obsession.”
“Same.” Echo said. “Man, sometimes I miss my days as Eidolon…”
Lab Coat added, “I, too, was a vigilante-well, I am still. Snowfall. Turns out passing of cryokinetic ghost powers as a Meta Human Gene is easy.”
The assassin-to-cop trio nod. Reaper added, “Same here.”
Eidolon said, “I could do this, but I do not want to be figured out as Eidolon.”
College then spoke up, “Also a vigilante, Snowfall, and my AC codename was Neon. So call me Neon.”
“Weird codename for an assassin, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.” Chicago said. “Hey, bird fucker, I got an idea what to call you.”
“Bird Fucker?”
“Not unless you want to, but I was thinking about Dodger.” Chicago said, “Others dodge the service, you consider the service to dodge your marriage.”
“Eh, better than Bird Fucker.” Dodger agreed.
“Now, what about Lab Coat over there?” Reaper said, turning to his counterpart. “Tell us about you. You haven’t spoken much so far.”
He looked around. “I have a hunch I’m the only one with a PhD in this room.”
“So, you’re Dr. Dumbass, then, because I also got a doctorate.” Reaper said, “Got it accidentally.”
New York asked, “How do you get a PhD on accident?”
Reaper sighed, “Long stupid story, but in short… I ended up writing a field guide, a manual really, for my fellow officers. How to handle ghosts, cuz Jack and Maddie’s work is… well…”
“Flawed, biased, incorrect, full of prejudice?” Echo counted.
“Useless. But yeah, that, too.” Reaper said. “Now, someone leaked the manual to the internet, luckily with my name off of it. But some universities offered the original author a doctorate of they go public. I was against it. But a few well-meaning rookies from a rookie class after me leaked that I wrote it.
“I decided the cat is out of the bag, so I might as well rewrite it, because I think if they want to give me a doctorate, they should receive an actual thesis and not a field guide for cops.” Reaper ended the tale. “Frankly, the Phd is useless to me.”
The counterpart in the red hoodie then spoke up, “So, so far we got Eidolon, Reaper, Echo, Neon, Dodger, Chicago and Dr. Dumbass.”
The Dr huffed, “You said you’re a vampire? In that case I call you Sucker.”
“Then you stay Dr. Dumbass.” Sucker said. “I say we call LA over there Switch.”
“Considering I plan to switch the department again if they find me, yeah, that name checks.” he agreed. “Now, one of the teen counterparts has Batman in his reality. Must be nice having no run ins with him.”
“… actually, I did have a run in with Batman.” one of the teens admitted. “In fact I… live with him. He is my foster father, and he considers to adopt me.”
All eyes were on him. Someone said, “Told ya, house full of orphans!”
Neon asked, “Did he make you a Sidekick?”
He shrugged, “He didn’t mean to, but I was a vigilante beforehand, so he just gave me the tools to be a vigilante safely.”
“Well, as safe as vigilantism can be.” Eidolon pointed out.
He continued, “I am Blackbird. Originally I was meant to be Black Robin or Green Robin, but-”
“These code names suck!” Dr. Dumbass said.
“What he said.” he agreed. “Well, the name isn’t final. We consider to pick Blue Robin, but honestly, I don’t want to be another Robin.”
“In that case we call you Blackbird.” Chicago decided, “New Yorkers, what about you? You sound New York, you look the part. How did you get lost in the Big Apple?”
The chatty one answered, “In my dimension, mom got a half brother in Queens. They thought a ghost overshadowed me, tried to exorcise it with a chem cocktail. Which resulted in them getting prison time and the uncle was asked to take me in.” The silent one nod, apparently things were similar for them.
Chatty continued, “The thing is, they assumed I was overshadowed because I acted weird, because I was excited about something! I discovered I can-you know what, showing it will be easier.” He then snapped his fingers and his body burned. When the flames died down, he was replaced by a dragon. Two legs, wings as front arms – he was a Wyvern. He then shifted back. “I discovered I can turn into a dragon.”
“Coolio!” Danny said.
Then the silent New Yorker shifted into his dragon form. Unlike the other, he wasn’t a Wyvern. He was a serpentine dragon without legs or arms, just a pair of feathered wings. Chicago said, “Oh my, you’re an Amphithere dragon!”
He then turned back. His chatty counterpart then stepped closer. “Mm, not only do you have a different dragon form, what is there at your throat?”
The other dragon shifter tapped his throat, pulling their attention to the scaring. Dr. Dumbass realized what was going on, “You’re mute!” He nod.
Danny said, “So our parents aren’t great in every reality, huh?”
Blackbird shrugged, “Frankly, I wonder of they are good parents anywhere, period. Like, mine also lost custody over me.”
“And I regret being adopted by them.” Reaper dropped. “Yeah, I’m not a biological Fenton.”
“Same here.” Echo added, Eidolon just nod along, so did Switch and Dodger.
Sucker added, “Kinda? Jack isn’t my birth father, but Maddie is still my bio mom.”
“Who is your dad then? If you know.” Chicago asked.
Sucker was silent for a bit, before answering, “Vlad is.”
His words shut up the group, everyone staring at him in shock. Until Neon broke the silence. “Sucks to be you, then, Sucker. Anyway, about the New York Duo, Apple and Feather.”
The New Yorkers looked at each other, pondering on their new designations, before shrugging. They have been called worse. Especially Feather due to his disability.
Dodger then eyed the remaining teens. Three counterparts, similar to Danny. Very recognizable. “Now what about you three? Any secret magic? Super heroes?”
Danny and the other basic ones looked between each other, before one spoke up. “Yeah, secret magic is accurate. In my dimension, there is this parallel world molded by the unconscious of humanity. If a human goes in there, if they are true to their self, they can summon a Persona. A soul demon.”
“And if they aren’t true to themselves?” Echo inquired.
“If that is the case, their persona becomes a Shadow. If their soul is corrupted enough, they may form a Palace: a pocket of the Metaverse that they rule.” he explained. “My friends and I are Persona users and we change these people’s hearts. We call us the Phantom Thieves of Souls. Depending who you ask, we are seen as heroes or criminals.” he explained. “Normally a person can only use one Persona, but I have the unique ability to have multiple and switch them out, switching out my mask. I am what is called a Wildcard.”
“Coolio.” Danny said.
“Masks? In that case you are called Mask from now on.” Echo decided. “And you two?”
The other counterpart sighed and snapped his fingers. Then the Crown of Fire appeared over his head. “Turns out, since I defeated Pariah Dark, I am the ghost king – well, prince – by right of conquest.” Everyone stared at him. “I suppose this is not the case for you?”
Blackbird replied, “Dude, the title of Ghost King was made up by Pariah in my reality to push his ego.”
“One way to phrase it.” Echo muttered.
He sighed, “It is very real in my reality. In fact the ghost monarch acts as a living core for the Ghost Zone. I hate it, but I can’t say no. The Zone chooses its core and it choose me…” He then pulled out a few scrolls. “Albeit I try to find a loophole to get out of my other royal duties. Namely everything that requires me to interact with the Observants.”
“So the dislike for them is universal? Good.” Switch said.
“In that case you are Crown.” Chicago decided. He then pointed to Danny. “And you’re Coolio. Who the heck uses that word? Aside from you, that is.”
“I think I realized why our Clockwork’s send us here.” the Major said, leaning back on his chair, “They figured we could use conversation partners who truly understand us. Or he thinks we could use some glances at possibilities for our own lives. Well, more so the younger counterparts, but still.”
Apple eyed Crown, who was fretting over old scrolls still, “Eh, Crown needs an intervention.”
Mask rolled his eyes, “I won’t say that I understand Crown.”