Chapter 8:

Third Person:

Danny, AKA the Poltergeist, whistled to himself as he looked through the various jewels on display. Gear never specified which one was the one that could cost a pretty penny so he decided, why not take them all? He picked up another small diamond and looked at it, a reflection of his green-red eyes glowing at him. He tossed it into the black bag he was carrying. He cursed to himself when he realized the only one left was the one that looked like it was Gear's jewels. If he had to leave in a hurry, with just what he had now, and didn't grab those jewels, Gear would probably spread every single embarrassing video and picture she had of him. And she had a lot.

Both jewels were gorgeous, he'd admit that. One was the perfect shade of purple that would match Gear's hair, fitting perfectly on a silver chain. The other was a shade of turquoise (a sort of light/pale blue) that matched Gear's eyes… A feeling of nostalgic swept over him briefly- the shade was also the same as Jazz's eyes. The same eyes that looked at him in terror when they found him. The same eyes that were filled with tears moments before she left, only to be consumed by the flames. The same eyes that he swore he just saw, just briefly, before he shook his head. He quickly grabbed the jewels and shoved them into the bag, hoping that he wouldn't have to see that jewel again (Gear wasn't one for actually wearing jewelry, but she had a weakness for shiny things- just looking at them).

A blue wisp escaped from his mouth and it was then that he realized he also had a second job to do. Quickly disappearing, he headed towards where he was hearing the most noise- right outside the store. He let out a 'tsk' when he saw the partners (Gear said they're just as good as they're mentors and therefore not sidekicks). Not these guys again… but who are they fighting?

The team were currently looking around for any sign of what was causing the attack. What was attacking? Boxes. Glowing boxes to be precise. They were floating all down the street, setting it in an eerie glow. Some, however, did attack a few people- catching them by surprise in the night. The boxes were floating out of every ally, every warehouse, and every building in a two-block radius.

"If it's some sort of telekinesis, they could have chosen a better thing to use," Artemis commented, eying the boxes in distaste.

"Good taste or not, we have to 'em," Robin chimed, "I think I see something- back there! In the… mail room?"

Despite some confusion as to why it was the mail office that was having the activity, the team headed over there unaware that the Poltergeist was following them. Their focus was solemnly on the odd glowing coming from the otherwise dark mail office where the glowing figure in question was ranting.

"IT IS I- BOX GHOST! FEAR MY BOXES OF ~DOOM~!"

The team shared a look of disbelief as they saw the cause of all the panic- a glowing overweight man in overalls, obviously a bit insane with an obsession for boxes. He turned to them dramatically,

"WHOOO ARE YOOOUU!?"

"Uhhhh bigger question, who are you," Robin asked.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST," The Box Ghost bellowed, "BEWARE MY BOXES OF DOOM!"

Robin shared a look of 'can-you-believe-this-guy' with the team before Kaldur ordered the attack. Artemis didn't waste any time to shot her arrows, only for them to go right through the Box Ghost.

"FOOLS! YOU CAN NOT DEFEAT ME FOR I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

One by one, each team attacked- and when that didn't work, they tried attacking all at once. No matter what they tried, their attacks went straight through their ghostly foe, who was laughing at them.

"Nothing is working," Artemis growled.

"Dudes, we're getting beat by a guy whose calling himself the Box Ghost," Kid Flash added.

At that moment, loud laughter reached their ears. Turning to the source, they saw Poltergeist. He was floating a few feet in the air, laughing hysterically as he clutched his sides. A small black bag was attached to his belt, jingling slightly as it moved. His white flaming hair flickered a bit as he laughed.

"The Box Ghost," he laughed, "You can't even defeat the Box Ghost! This is just… Oh man! This is too much!"

He continued to laugh until he floated to the ground gently, wiping a fake tear from his eye. He gave the team a cocky smile,

"Miss me? I was in the middle of err.. something… and I heard the commotion but really? What type of heroes are you? You can't take down possibly one of the weakest ghosts? That's just sad."

"I AM THE BOX GHOST AND YOU WILL FEAR ME," The Box Ghost bellowed again.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Boxy," Poltergeist waved it off.

The Box Ghost floated closer as he inspected Poltergeist,

"Do I know you?"

The Poltergeist backed away a bit uncomfortably. His eyes shifted to the heroes before turning his attention back to the Box Ghost with a shrug, not verbally saying anything. Robin quirked an eyebrow, as did Kaldur- their suspicions were raised. The Box Ghost shrugged again and turned back to his boxes,

"NO MATTER FOR YOU WILL FACE MY BOXES OF DOOM!"

Poltergeist bit his lip to keep himself from laughing again. He turned to the heroes, pointing to the Box Ghost, who had his back turned to them. 'Can you believe this guy,' he mouthed. Before they could reply, he shot an ectoplast at the Box Ghost, casing the ghoul to hit the wall.

"YOU DARE ATTACK ME! I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

"AND I AM THE POLTERGEIST," Poltergeist mocked.

The Box Ghost looked momentarily caught off guard and in shock before shaking his head, sending boxes towards the Poltergeist. He dodged each one easily enough and phased through others. The Box Ghost had his back turned yet again to grab more boxes so Poltergeist just tapped on his shoulder. As soon Boxy turned around, the Poltergeist grabbed the thermos on his belt (something he grabbed before he left) and sucked up the Box Ghost inside of it.

He put the thermos back on the belt just as all the floating boxes lost their glow and fell to the ground. For a brief moment, his eyes went from their red-green to just a normal glowing green as he felt an odd sense stir within his core like he was doing something he supposed to do. I'm actually helping people again… Why? He furrowed his brows in confusion, unaware that his hair was flickering in and out- as if it couldn't decide to be normal hair or flames. The team looked at his hair in confusion.

Robin's earpiece beeped. Robin put a finger to his ear,

"Yeah, Bats? Yeah I know… The Poltergeist… Okay got it."

He turned to the team,

"Batman wants us to bring him in."

"The 'Box Ghost' is inside that thermos," Kid Flash pointed out, "I think… How does that even work?"

"Not the Box Ghost, the Poltergeist," Robin corrected.

The team turned to the Poltergeist, who was just floating mid air with his legs crossed, watching them. His eyes were green instead of a red-green and his hair was still flickering in and out. Artemis aimed her arrows and Superboy got ready for a fight. M'gann floated as well.

"Poltergeist, you're coming with us," Kaldur ordered sternly.

Poltergeist titled his head slightly with an amused expression. He knew they couldn't get him- he was a ghost after all. Plus they couldn't even take out the Box Ghost. Now, he had two choices. He could get away just like he did before, or he could go with them (his own choice of course). If he went away, it would probably be for the best considering that he still had stolen jewels on him. But if he went with them, he could figure out more about these heroes personally. Besides, it could be fun.

He created an invisible duplicate that grabbed the bag of jewels on his belt- that way his loot was safe. The real Poltergeist, however, gently landed on the ground and put his hands up in the air with a goofy grin.

"Take me to your leader."