Danny was absolutely not having a fun time.

After miss Waller had left, she had left the remote to his collars in his cell. Now, a normal person would think she simply forgot it. But neither he nor Waller were normal. No, she left it there on purpose. They couldn't risk the wrong person having their hands on it. So now it was wholly Danny's responsibility to decide when to shut down his collars. Because that's just such a great idea in a superpowered prison. Danny couldn't blame her though. Rather he have it than that creeper Dr Strange.

Not even the day after Miss Waller was officially let go, the entire atmosphere in the penitentiary changed. Danny and the other isolation inmates were moved to gen pop, much to Danny's dismay. He got paired with that ice kid, Cameron, so that was incredibly awkward. But the teen didn't seem to recognize him at all so it wasn't all that bad. Plus his frosty nature kept their cell nice and cold which was a bonus in Danny's books.

Speaking of books, Dr Strange had confiscated all of them. Since he didn't have his own cell anymore, they were found pretty fast and taken away. If he wanted to read or study again, he'd be forced to go into these meetings with Strange. If Danny didn't know any better he'd think Spectra had possessed the man. His vibes were beyond rancid, which was rather impressive for a human but anything but good for him right now. Dr Stinky would try to have therapy sessions with him as well, try to figure out what got him in here and all that. At least he was sure Dr Stinky wasn't the trusted person Miss Waller had promised to give his file to. Unfortunately, that also meant that Danny became Dr Stinky's favorite person to harass into conversations. He was particularly hard to get rid of when Danny had a nightmare and woke up screaming in the middle of the night. No way in hell would he ever tell Dr Stinky how he kept having nightmares about his parents and Dick falling to their deaths.

At least Cameron wasn't all that bad to talk to. Apparently his previous cellmate was a snitch so the teen had some interesting stuff to share. He also never asked Danny about the nightmares, just stayed up with him and talked to keep his mind off of the images flashing before his eyes every time he blinked.

Danny didn't really like going out for social hours or to eat, truth be told. He enjoyed solitary because he was left alone there. It was quiet and peaceful, outside of some angry screaming and some shitty guards. Not that he didn't have shit guards now. Wilcox and the others were all on sick leave until they could recover from their injuries. That meant that half of the guards were transfers. And of course, with Danny's luck, they all hated him. They saw him as nothing more than a deranged child who must have messed up big time to land in adult prison.

Mess up he did indeed. On more than one occasion they almost caught sight of Cujo. The pup had been hanging out with Danny as much as he could but since his transfer, that was a horrible idea. Somehow, Cujo had found a batarang left behind from the fight with the heroes and decided it would be his new favorite chew toy. Danny was almost sure it wasn't one of the explosive kinds but it's not like that would hurt either of them. Still, after the attempted breakout, it wasn't safe for Cujo to be seen anymore. The guards knew Cujo was connected to him and they blamed Cujo for helping with the breakout. It just wasn't safe for him anymore so Danny had no choice but to send him away. Find a safe place to stay he said, as if there was still a safe place the pup would want to be at without Danny.

Cujo refused to leave, however. Danny promised they'd stay together after all. Danny would need him sooner or later and Cujo refused to not be there for him. Danny, of course, tried everything. Send him on a quest, send him on errands, even tried ignoring him once. That one was particularly painful because he wanted nothing more than to just cuddle with the pup until it all got better again. One day, after being forced to the mess by Cameron, Danny broke off a soda tab. Later when Cameron was out for leisure time, Danny used that stupid batarang and carved Cujo into the soda tab. With some struggles, he finally got it attached to his collar. At least now, Cujo finally had a tag again.

Of course, somebody saw him take out the tab and snitched to the guards. His whole cel got ransacked trying to find the 'prohibited item'. Really, he was sure they were just making a mess for the fun of it. Of course they didn't find it, but they were so damned close to walking in on Cujo chewing on the batarang. The guards were pretty heavy handed in their disciplinary actions and that day was no different. After that, it seemed to finally click for the pup that it really wasn't safe anymore and finally agreed to leave for the time being. It was hard, and there were too many tears for him to admit to, but at least he knew Cujo would be safer now.

Because of course Cujo's safety came before his.

After he left, Danny's nightmares increased in frequency. Some nights he would even wake up twice. It was starting to take a toll on him. He was exhausted which made it harder for him to cope with the sensory hell that was the mess hall during lunch times. Cameron had gotten into the habit of trying to drag him out of bed and practically force food down his throat. Oh, yeah, of course he had also been losing even more weight.

Because what else could go wrong

That was entirely the wrong thing to say.

Here he was, forced into the mess hall for dinner service. Everything was so loud and bright all around him, it was making him dizzy. But then, as all predictable downfalls into madness would predict, it suddenly got quiet.

"Dude what the fuck?" Cameron muttered under his breath, eyes transfixed on the tv screen somewhere next to Danny.

"Yo, turn that shit up!" One of the inmates loudly yelled.

"-attacked all over the world by these strange plant creatures. The Justice League has been fighting hard to subdue the vegetation but it seems immune to normal attacks. Earlier today, our broadcast was hacked by the villains behind this attack. For those of you only tuning in now, we will play the clip again."

Ah, yeah, because giving crazy criminals even more attention has always worked out so well. Danny almost snorted as he tried to swallow a particularly nasty bite of blubbery mashed potatos. The moment that voice echoed though the mess however, Danny's head snapped towards the tv as well.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement." Inmates were cheering on as Joker appeared on the screen, threatening the camera with a knife. Not long after that, the camera got pointed towards a group of....oddly dressed people. "From the Injustice League."

"Injustice League?" Danny scoffed. "Surely something like Secret Society of Super Villains would have been more creative. S³V for short if you wanna keep it easy."

Across from him, Cameron almost choked on his food. "Dude, that just sounds like a chemical compound." Danny couldn't resist the smirk as he snarked back. "A criminal compound, you mean." One of Danny's rare laughs escaped his throat at the utter dismay on Cameron's face. Clearly the teen didn't have a good sense of humor.

Trying to keep the mood up, Danny kept up with the comments. "Did anybody tell grumpy elf man over there where the camera is? Dude's looking the wrong direction."

"You know, I'm pretty sure he's just glaring at Joker."

Danny hummed, "Yeah, yeah I can see why. I'd be glaring too if I had to stand next to all those fashion rejects and a fucking monkey." Danny's breath got caught in his throat as he looked over to Poison Ivy. There was this odd aura about her and he could swear that every time she was in frame the camera would glitch out a bit. He was so focused on her that he didn't even listen to what the bleach blonde prick was saying. Something about her felt wrong but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. The video ended and the news anchor continued with the report. Video of raging plants from all over the world.

Danny felt a chill go down his spine.

All those plants had a soft green glow to them, like an unnatural hue illuminated the plants from within. Many heroes were struggling against it. Some of their attacks didn't even seem to hit as their weapons just went right through them. But if that wasn't bad enough, it surely was when they showed footage from Gotham. Plants were all over the city, attacking civilians and news helicopters alike. Batman and some of his fellow Leaguers were fighting the plants but there wasn't a single sight of Robin. No way in hell would Dick sit out something this important, not when his city and the entire world are under attack by at least two of their own rogues.

And then he saw it.

It was almost a blink and you miss it moment, but the camera footage glitched every time it focused on Batman. Danny felt his anger rise even more as he finally spotted the cause. Cujo was out there fighting the plants.

And he was losing

Plant-tentacles shot out towards the pup who was doing his best to bite through them all in his hound form. But he got quickly overwhelmed and engulfed. Danny watched on with baited breath. He could feel his collars starting to act up as his powers reacted to the growing rage he felt watching his best friend be hurt. He was getting hurt and all Danny was doing was just sitting here doing nothing!

"Yo, dude are you okay?"

He heard Cameron's voice but couldn't care even a single bit as the tendrils balled up around Cujo. The idiot who controlled the camera moved it away to focus more on Batman, effectively cutting him off from what was going on with Cujo. Danny was only vaguely aware that the fork in his hand got bent fully out of shape as he was losing his grip on his powers. An angry, burning hum came from his collars as they went into overdrive trying to syphon off his excess energy. But even with 5 on, it didn't seem to be enough. He wasn't sure what the teen said, but he was pretty sure at this point his eyes were already glowing green.

Precious seconds went by with no sight of the pup until Batman got knocked back. Finally he saw Cujo again, now in puppy form as he dodged and ran from the plants chasing him. He could tell whatever happened to escape must have hurt him as Cujo was limping slightly. At least in his smaller form he was more agile. But not agile enough as a rogue tendril slammed into his body. Danny's entire vision went green as he saw Cujo whimpering on the asphalt. All his anger overwhelmed the collars as they angrily sparked and short-circuited . Not even a split second later Danny felt his transformation flow over him as he shot into the sky, instinct taking over just in time to prevent a Danny sized hole being left through multiple levels of ceiling and floors. He had no idea where he was or how to get to Gotham but his core was locked in on Cujos and he knew where his friend was. And he'll be damned if he was too late.

Danny zoomed through the sky, racing towards Gotham to help his friend. Nothing except helping Cujo was on his mind. Once he got Cujo, he'll make whoever did this pay.

Somehow, luck decided to be somewhat on his side as it didn't take long for him to find Cujo.

Or rather, for the pup to find him.

As Danny was flying, a green blob crashed into him and licked him all over. It seemed like Cujo had felt Danny's distress and rage and had gotten out of dodge to find him. Danny felt the edge being taken off his anger as having Cujo here with him helped him calm down. Well that and the fact Cujo was feeding off his excess energy and ectoplasm to heal himself up from whatever injuries he sustained earlier. The happy reunion didn't last for too long, however, as there was still some assholes to beat up. Danny held Cujo in front of him as the pup kept trying to lick his face. "Cujo, Cujo focus." Cujo's stomach, however, didn't particularly seem to agree with this new position. With little warning, Cujo puked out a part of the plants he had been fighting earlier. Utterly disgusted, Danny almost joined him, if it wasn't for his ghost sense going off as the dead vine fell to the ground below. His anger returned almost full force.

Of course it had been another ghost. No wonder the heroes were having a hard time and Cujo got hurt. Danny looked back to Cujo, careful to not shake the pup any more.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the ghost responsible would be, would you?" Cujo responded by excessively barking and wiggling even harder in Danny's grip. Not wanting to risk getting puked on again, Danny let go of Cujo. The second the pup was freed from his cuddly prison, he shot off with Danny struggling to follow up behind him. He hadn't used his powers much lately, let alone flying, so keeping up with a hyperactive pup with the nose of a bloodhound was quite the challenge.

Cujo, on the contrary, had no issue taking the lead. The pup knew full well that Danny could follow his track just as easily as Cujo had sniffed out this other ghost. It wasn't that hard as all the vines in Gotham connected to the same root system that he was following now.

What Cujo didn't expect was to find another familiar sent near where the ghost was. Sensing the possible danger, Cujo sped up even more, ignoring Danny's indignant cries.

Cujo raced forward, growing into his hound form as he closed in on where other Danny was. Between the trees, Cujo saw Other Danny and Other Danny's friend stuck in those same nasty plants. "Who dares?!" The ghost said, sensing Cujo's presence. He growled as he lunged at the big monkey holding a gun, causing it to misfire. Other Danny's friend fell as the nasty plants let go of her. Cujo bit though the monkey's gun, causing it to break and explode.

The ghost was angry but it couldn't do much as Other Danny and his friend ran into the jungle. "The stupid mutt won't stop me, Boy Wonder. I'll be sure to put an end to your little reconnaissance mission." Using its host's powers, the ghost summoned more nasty plants to attack Other Danny and his friend. Cujo tried to bite through as many as he could but more kept spawning. At least Other Danny was good at flying. "Cujo!" Other Danny called out. "Can you take out Ivy?"

Ivy?

Was that the ghost's host's name?

Either way Cujo happily obeyed the request and slammed into the ghost's host, knocking her back into a tree. The ghost seemed dazed as the nasty plants stopped following Other Danny and his friend.

Cujo happily trotted over to Other Danny as Other Danny ran over and hugged him tightly. "How nice of you to show up here, buddy." The smile on Other Danny's face faded a bit as he muttered "Artemis?" Other Danny shook his head and patted Cujo. "Do you think you can take me up there? My friends are stuck." Cujo happily obliged by bending down a little. Taking the hint, Other Danny climbed on his back. Cujo flew up into the air towards a strange glowing yellow cage. There was a man in red that smelled of rot and tar. Cujo did not like this man at all.

"What the fuck?!"

"Robin?!"

Other Danny's friends called out from their cage. Cujo paid them no mind. Dirty man was their main target as he was connected to the yellow cage. Before Cujo could get to him, a camouflaged being hit the dirty man. Seeing the opportunity, Cujo lunged forward and bit into the dirty man's leg. He spun around a few times before launching the dirty man towards the ground.

Other Danny's friends all landed safely on the ground as they weren't that high up. "What the fuck man?!" The Danger One yelled out to Other Danny. Cujo also didn't like him. But Other Danny seemed to like him so it wasn't like Cujo could do much, except for growl disapprovingly.

"Do you believe me now?" Other Danny said smugly as he jumped off Cujo's back.

"Unpacking that later," Danger One said, "If he's here, where is-"

Danger One didn't get to finish his sentence as Danny came crashing down and decked the ghost's host straight through a tree.

"Again, what the fuck?!"

Danny got up from his landing crouch as he glared at the ghost. "Leave her body." Danny growled, his hands already charging up with ectoblasts. Danny seemed very angry but Cujo knew Danny could handle this ghost on his own. The ghost laughed as it got up. Danny however, shot off a warning for the ghost to listen. "I said leave." The air around them chilled. Danny was really getting angry now. Cujo also growled at the ghost's host, placing himself between the pending fight and Other Danny. Other Danny was practically radiating shock and happiness at Danny's arrival so that had to count for something.

The ghost's host body glared at Danny before her eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground. That dirty monkey caught her before she fell into the swampy water. The monkey was also not on Cujo's list of liked individuals. The ghost finally appeared as it grew into a big plant monster. "I am Undergrowth, you insolent meat bag! How dare you challenge me?!"

Danny rolled his eyes and let out a haunting cackle at the usual ghost theatrics, effortlessly falling back into old habits. "Challenge? I thought we were having a nice little picnic."

Undergrowth sputtered before recognition flashed through his eyes. The being gleamed down on Danny. "Ah, the boy who ran. I have heard much of you."

Danny cracked his knuckles as he stalked closer and higher up to the ghost. "Oh? All bad things I hope, wouldn't want to make a bad first impression when I have no idea who you even are." That seemed to piss off Undergrowth as the plant monster roared. "Insolent child!" He made a swing towards Danny who lazily dodged. "I am the Ancient of Vegetation! I demand respect!"

Danny charged up a fist as he flew straight for the ghost's stupid looking beak. "Any ounce of respect you could have gotten was lost when you decided to attack my friend!"

Undergrowth tries to evade by going underground but Danny easily followed intangibly. Danny was getting increasingly annoyed at how much the overgrown fern tried to run so using the bayou as a weapon, he started freezing all the connecting roots before blowing them up. Undergrowth didn't quite seem to like that as every root Danny destroyed, the Ancient shrunk in size. There was one giant root that seemed to connect to the greenhouse that was particularly well guarded but with a years' worth of pent up energy and immense anger, that didn't last long either. Before long, Undergrowth was nothing more than a little sapling. Undergrowth raged at him, demanding he submit and whatever else in a high pitched tone even worse than Skulker. Deciding to save himself the headache, Danny froze Undergrowth in a block of ice.

A loud explosion echoed across the bayou as the massive plant in the greenhouse went up in flames. A few whisps burned bright green as the last of Undergrowth's influence burned away. Danny could see there was still a fight going on and had no visual on Cujo so he made a break for his friend.

Some weird dude with a golden helmet was shooting brain lasers at everybody. Everybody that seemed to be those same heroes as the attempted outbreak. Danny sighed heavily as he slapped the Undergrowth icicle against his head. Just his luck. With his track record, he'd be willing to bet Clockwork had a hand in this. Nevertheless, Danny called out to Cujo, throwing the ghostly ice cube at his favorite hound, who promptly ate it.

Well

That was one way of getting his hands free. Maybe he could get Cujo to shit out the wannabe world dominator into one of Walker's cells, preferably next to skulker so they could squeak at each other about how much they hate him. See, Danny was nice, he was helping ghost make other ghost friends!

Now he could at least join and beat that weird guy before he hit Cujo with the stupid brain lasers.

"Enough." The Halloweentown reject proclaimed from in the sky. Without a warning Cujo lunged towards Danny as the magician shot out bolts of electricity towards the heroes. Danny sat in shock as the air prickled at his skin. Danny could feel his vision getting blurry as his breath sped up. Cujo nuzzled into him, trying to distract him from the electricity quite literally all around him. Before he could panic too much, the electricity dissipated as a new magic user entered the playing field. A young man dressed in gold and black fought against the evil wizard, with very little regard to the people below them.

Typical magic users

"Cujo," Danny called out, "Go help them." Danny gave Cujo little time to react as he shot up into the sky again while creating a protective dome over the heroes and the other attention seeking villains. "Surrender, sorcerer. You cannot hope to defeat a lord of order." The golden man spoke in a layered voice. Danny got a bad feeling from him but it beat whatever tarpit the wannabe vampire bathed in. Honestly, what is it with evil guys and looking like vampires?

Danny wasn't quite sure how to help outside of providing shielding to the golden man as tarpit guy kept using dirty tricks to get the upper hand. "I can defeat you, and I will!" Tarman shouted as he prepared for yet another onslaught of spells.

"Eskirts natoW nwod!" A voice called out from above them as a third magic user joined in the fight. Absolutely not vibing with the new magic user's entourage, Danny quickly dispelled the dome and flew down to hide Cujo from the arrival of the Justice League. They watched from the tree line to make sure everything was dealt with. In all honesty, a small part of Danny also just wanted to watch the young heroes fight. Last time he was a bit preoccupied but now? Now he could watch and marvel at how well his brother was doing. The amazement was short lived however as more members of the League, including Batman, finally arrived to the party.

With ease they surrounded the villains as they all surrendered one by one.

"It's over." Batman grunted. A pretty classic one liner.

"There will be another day." The bleach blond prick retorted. Danny might not like the guy but he'd have to admit he had the better one liner.

Joker, however, didn't seem all too happy. "Another day? Another day?! There will be NO other day! Not for any of us!" He slurred out as he slipped further into madness. Using his weird little tech gloves, Joker commanded new plants to spawn. The buds on the vines exploded and green gas started to fill the air. Danny took a step forward, ready to jump in and help, but the golden man sucked out all the poison gas from the air.

Danny let out a sigh of relief. Everything was taken care of. He should probably go back before anybody-

Go back?

Go

Back

Danny started to panic as realization of what he had done dawned. He just broke out of prison. He broke out of the prison! He can't go back now! They all know he escaped! Oh no nononono what had he done. He promised! He promised he'd behave and try to avoid issues yet here he was, barely a month later and already messed up beyond fixing. Oh gods what should he do now?

Cujo tried to nuzzle up to him and break him out of his spiral but it wasn't working. He promised he'd behave and he broke his promise! Cujo whined softly, feeling Danny's declining sanity.

A broken twig behind them snapped Danny out of his thoughts as he came face to face with Robin. Danny felt his heart quicken even more as a different kind of panic took over his whole body. "Danny?" Robin called out softly, but Danny didn't answer. Danny was hoping that if he kept standing still, Robin would somehow just not see him. That strategy clearly didn't work as Robin took another step closer. Danny's brain finally sparked back to life as his brother tried to approach slowly. As Robin took a third step, Danny mirrored by taking one back. Robin held up his hands, trying to not come over as a threat but that was long too late. Before the boy could move another muscle, Danny set off flying.

"Danny wait!"

Danny did not wait, Danny did what he did best.

Run.