Chapter Text
It had been a long day for Danny, and he'd had just about enough of it. He had been cramped in the 'Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle' for almost twelve hours now! With his parents! He needed to get some space, and quick. The moment he got his stuff into the hotel they were staying at, he bolted out the door, telling his parents that he wanted to explore the city.
Jazz knew better. She could tell that he was stressed from being stuck with his parents rambling on about how evil ghosts are, what weapons they could make to disintegrate them, and how many hunters they could meet and compare notes with.
It was bad for his mental health, all of that negative talk. Jazz had been spending her days convincing Danny that he wasn't an abomination or a monster and that he should be proud of who he was, but every moment they spent around their parents took her work ten steps backward.
She pulled out her phone, sending her brother a quick text: 'Stay safe... please.'
She knew how bad Gotham could be when it came to crime and kidnappings, but she also knew that her little brother could take care of himself in situations like this.
Right now, she was more disappointed about the fact that her parents didn't even bat an eyelash as Danny ran off into the streets of one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country, only moments before it got dark! She was going to talk with them about that later. But right now, she needed to unpack and take a break.
-
Danny looked down at his phone while sitting on the roof of the hotel. He saw the message his sister had sent him and responded, 'I'll try my best. :p'
He knew she cared about him, and that made him happy; someone was there in his corner for him. He didn't know what he would ever do without her. Danny clipped his phone onto his belt and sat back on his hands to look for the sunset.
He couldn't see the sun in this city, though. The air was thick with a groggy smog that made Danny's lungs feel heavy. He chuckled, thinking of his best friend Sam and what her reaction to this place would be. She would be torn between loving how gothic and dark this city looked, and how terrible the air quality was and how there were barely any healthy plants to be seen. On this side of town, anyway.
Danny had run into the nearest alley as soon as he could, fading out of visibility and transforming into his ghost form silently. He had stayed invisible until he was sitting on the roof of the hotel. Not many people would look up, he assumed, and he doubted that 'the Batman' would be out yet. Jazz had warned him to watch out for any of those vigilantes while in Gotham because she didn't want him getting captured or anything. Ha! Not like that would ever happen.
Danny sat on that rooftop for what felt like hours. His white hair drifted aimlessly in the air, not caring about gravity whatsoever. His eyes closed, he listened to the sound of traffic and people talking, all surrounded by the sound of a light wind. Everything was calm until a blue puff of air escaped his lips, sending a shiver down his back.
Danny's eyes opened, and he looked around. A ghost? He floated up to his feet and scanned the area around him. It had to be close by. But why was it in Gotham? Did it have something to do with all of the ghost hunters coming around for the convention?
He flew above the city, looking down for any flash of green. Sometimes, if the ghost was strong enough, Danny could sense exactly where it was, but this ghost seemed much weaker.
As he flew, he was getting much closer to the center of the city, and much further away from his hotel. He hoped Jazz wouldn't worry too much. The sun had long since set, and Danny didn't have time to send her a message warning her that he would be out late. He would be fine, right? No need to worry her. He'll be back before morning, anyway. Right now, he just needed to find that ghost before one of the other hunters visiting this city did.
Gotham was really big. Really, really big. Almost ten times as big as Amity Park. This was taking him a lot longer than he thought it would. By now, he was getting to the outskirts of one side of the city, and it was just one side! He could still feel the light pull of the ghost he was following.
Now, he was above some sort of castle or manor that seemed quite gothic. Danny didn't know what else he could do. He felt like he was running a wild goose chase. He was almost thinking of giving up and flying back for a good two hours rest when suddenly a green shot fired up at him.
It was so sudden that Danny didn't have time to dodge. At first, when he saw the blast fired at him, he assumed it was a ghost. Probably the one he had been following for the last hour. But that theory changed the moment the blast collided with him.
It had the sting of ectoplasm, but it was definitely not from a ghost. While a ghost's ectoplasm felt more natural and raw, this felt like it was made of dampened electricity, like the ectoplasm was synthetic or reused. It hurt like hell, all the same.
Danny fell out of the sky. He barely managed to catch himself in the air, just above the ground, when another shot was fired at him, hitting his back. He was out.
-
Tim was getting a headache. For the last three weeks, there have been glowing green creatures known as ghosts that have been attacking Gotham and they still don't know why. The moment the ghosts first showed up, they had no idea how to get rid of the things. They would constantly wreak havoc, and for some reason, they always tried to get close to the manor and, therefore, the Bat Cave. Sometimes too close for B's liking, it was like they were drawn there somehow.
After some careful research, courtesy of one Tim Drake, they discovered that there were ways to take down this type of ghost using ectoplasm-based weapons. Although most of them were blasters, they figured out how to use the tech to make a shield that could form around the bat cave. It was able to stop the ghosts from phasing in or out.
That was until another ghost showed up on the scanners. This one seemed different than the ones before it. Dick had gone out with Damian to stop it from getting any closer.
Tim was very surprised when they came back into the cave with the ghost unconscious in Dick's arms. "What did you do?! I thought you were just going to scare it off?" Tim stood up from his chair and rushed over.
The ghost had taken the shape of a frail teen with fluffy white hair and a black and white jumpsuit. A dim, glowing aura radiated off of him.
"We were, but when Grayson shot it, it just fell to the ground. And then he shot it again when it stopped moving," Damian answered, crossing his arms. He tapped his foot on the ground.
"But why did you bring it into the cave!?" Tim shouted.
Dick moved the boy slightly. He was surprisingly very light. "Well, we figured—"
"—Grayson figured." Damian butted in.
"I figured this one looked a lot more sentient than the others we've been scaring off. I think we might be able to talk with this one and get some answers for all of this ghostlyness. It's getting out of hand."
Tim looked between his older adopted brother and the ghost in his arms. The ghost looked remarkably stable and… human. Nothing like the other ones that had come across their hideout. Maybe he was right. If they could find out why, then they could find out how to stop it before anyone gets hurt.
"We got this new containment device recently," Tim said. He walked towards the Bat Computer console. About twenty feet away, on a platform, stood a five-by-five cage made out of green bars. It was about eight feet tall and had gray panels on the roof and the floor. The panel on the roof held all of the important wiring. "Fenton Tech. From my research, it should work..."
Damian narrowed his eyes. "It's a cage." He glanced between the teenage-looking boy in his brother's arms and back at the 'containment device'.
"We won't keep it there for long, baby bat. Don't worry about it. It will be as free as a ghost-bird when we finish getting answers to our questions." Grayson readjusted the boy in his arms to try and ruffle the young Robin's hair, who, in return, jumped back with a snarl and sent his brother his famous glare.
Dick turned around and opened the door of the cage, and carefully placed the ghost down inside. When the door closed, it made a beeping sound before a voice erupted from it. "Thank you for using the Fenton Ghost Cage. Please keep at least five feet away from the specter at all times in risk of possession. Happy hunting, and may the ghost not murder your family."
Dick raised an eyebrow. "What kind of greeting is that?"
Damian rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. "I'll contact Father."
-
Danny woke up slowly, his eyes not fully opening. His whole body ached, and his core was thrumming with energy. Throbbing painfully as it tried to rapidly replenish his ectoplasm.
He heard the familiar buzz of Fenton tech and felt something burning his shoulder. His eyes widened as he tried to sit up. He quickly stood back from the bars his back had been against that were burning him. This was definitely a Fenton tech cage. But how did he get stuck in one? Oh no. This was not good.
He looked around and saw a bunch of tech, cars, and other things in the room around him. He quickly looked up and saw stalactites hanging down from the roof. He was in a cave?! Now he knows he's in a ghost trap in a cave, and there were probably ghost hunters somewhere nearby who were using his parent's tech. Maybe even his parents! He didn't even know if he was in Gotham anymore.
His breathing began to pick up as he felt panic rushing in. (Not that he needed to breathe in his ghost form, it was more of a habit than anything.) He glanced around the room and then heard a sound coming from behind his cage. He whipped his head around to see BATMAN! Standing about six feet away.
Jazz is gonna kill him.