Chapter Text
After Constantine had called Bruce in a panic, they had spent the rest of the early morning desperately researching Danny, only to come up with nothing. Even on the bat computer the only thing they’d been able to find out was that the identity Danny was using to attend Gotham Academy was fake. A very very good fake, but still, it didn’t tell them a single thing about who, or what, he really was.
Bruce looked at the clock, “Tim, it looks like it’s almost time for you to get to school.”
Tim looked at him in shock, “Am I still going?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know.” Tim said dryly. “I just kinda assumed that researching an unknown entity was going to be the top priority.”
“Oh, it still is.” Bruce sighed and pushed himself away from the computer. “But we’re not making any progress doing things this way, so we might as well try another approach.”
Tim looked at him in disbelief, “Are you saying I should just go to school and ask him? You? I thought you were allergic to effective communication.”
“Communication is an essential part of investigation.” Bruce looked absolutely done, “I ask people questions all the time.”
“No, you interrogate people all the time.” Tim rolled his eyes. “There’s a difference.”
“Get dressed.” Bruce ignored the fact that Tim totally had a point. “I’ll compile a list of questions we need answered.”
Tim didn’t take long to get dressed. His school uniform was a lot less complicated than any of his vigilante costumes had been and he’d had to learn how to get dressed in those in a matter of seconds. Before he knew it, Bruce was giving him a final reminder to bring some of his weapons in case his conversation went south and Alfred was pulling up with the car.
Tim got to the door to his classroom a good half hour before class was set to begin. He took a deep breath. When he’d confronted Bruce it was after months of intense research and stalking. Comparatively, a few hours of searching that turned up almost nothing was nerve wracking. He had absolutely no idea what he was walking into.
He pushed open the door to find Danny already sitting at one of the desks in the back of the room. He looked up as Tim walked in, waving him over with a smile. Tim hesitated for only half a second before stepping into the room. He’d been one of the Robins, he could do a simple interroga…conversation. Damn, Bruce was starting to rub off on him.
Tim walked over and stood awkwardly at the desk beside Danny, never talking his eyes off the unknown threat. Was he a threat? He hadn’t done anything to actively hurt anyone, as far as they knew and in fact he’d even gotten the artifact that the league needed in order to save the world. Sure, it had been at the cost of Constantine's soul, but Constantine had technically agreed to it…Tim needed to stop getting distracted and focus on the list that B had given him.
“Um…Danny?” Tim bit the bullet. “I, uh, have a…well, I have a lot of questions.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Danny turned to look at him. “You bats and birds are always too curious for your own good.”
Tim froze, “Um, uh, what?”
That made Danny laugh, “I just bought a guy’s soul right in front of you and you’re wondering how I know about the family business?”
“Yes?”
Danny smiled mischievously, “Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘dead men tell no tales?” When Tim nodded, he continued. “Well, it’s complete bull. Ghosts are some of the biggest gossips I’ve ever met.”
“Is that what you are?” Tim forced himself back into his detective mindset. “A ghost?”
“Partially.” Danny shrugged. “What other questions did you have?”
“Why did you want Constantine’s soul?”
“Oh, I don’t.” Danny looked at him like he was crazy for even asking. “At this point, I don’t think any one actually wants that guy’s soul, it’s just the entry fee.”
That caught Tim’s attention, “The entry fee? To what?”
“To the tournament when he eventually dies.” Danny looked at him. “Do…does he not know about the tournament?”
“Let’s assume no.” Tim said dryly. “What is the tournament?”
“You don’t…why does he think people are still willing to buy his soul?” Danny’s eyes widened. “Oh no, that poor guy. Don’t tell me that he’s trying to pull something like soul tax evasion?”
Tim was starting to get frustrated, “Are you allergic to making sense?”
Danny grimaced, “Is he thinking that by selling his soul multiple times, then he’ll get away scot-free because the entities involved will be too busy fighting amongst themselves to actually claim it?”
Tim remembered Constantine saying exactly that on multiple occasions, “Is that not how it works?”
“Yeah, no, not at all.” Danny smiled awkwardly. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but your Constantine guy is far from the first person to try and pull something like this. There’s been protocols in place for like, centuries, so…”
“Oh.” Tim paused. “And that protocol is a tournament?”
“Yep!” Danny’s smile turned genuine. “Whenever someone sells their soul multiple times, everyone who has a claim on it gets together after the person dies and has a massive fight! I mean, we can’t die, so fighting is pretty much how we hang out. Most of the time it’s just, like, two or three, so they handle it melee style, but Constantine's sold his soul like, 50 times, so it’s going to be like, the biggest party of the century. Even the ghosts that don’t have any claim on the guy’s soul are planning on coming to watch! Dora’s planning on hosting the tournament in her kingdom, Pandora’s planning on providing some extra weapons for the fighters, and I’m pretty sure the Lunch Lady’s already decided what she’s gonna cook. Everyone who’s anyone in the Realms is going to be there!”
Tim nodded as he processed that, “So you wanted to buy his soul so…”
“So I could participate in the fight, duh.” Danny rolled his eyes. “It’s no fun to just stand on the sidelines and it’s been a while since I”ve had a good fight. Like I said, nobody actually wants Constantine's’ soul, you just have to have a claim on it in order to participate in the tournament. Sure, it’s also the trophy at the end, but nobody wants to compete in the Olympics to melt down the gold metal. They compete because it’s the Olympics! It’s a chance to test your strength against the strongest from everywhere! I admit, I’m looking forward to fighting demons and fae and everyone else, it’ll be a nice change of pace.”
Tim was about to dive into that can of worms when Danny spoke again, “By the way, you should tell your friend to start charging more for his soul. One measly artifact or a chance to participate in one of the biggest tournaments the Realms has ever had? Yeah, he was lowballing. Someone is going to get his soul eventually, so he may as well milk it for all it’s worth, you know?”
Tim opened his mouth to respond but the bell rang right at that moment and the teacher called their attention to the front of the room. He wasn’t looking forward to giving this report to Bruce, but hey, Constantine had gotten himself into this whole mess and now Tim supposed he had to deal with the consequences.
At least the tournament sounded like it was going to be fun.