Chapter 3 Gentlemanly Fight

Raven sighed and got out of the car. Gentleman Ghost was just minutes away from beating them into the pavement. Sure, there was a possibility that the Titans would emerge out of this fight victorious. But…

"Ooh, there are the kitties on the side of the road!" Starfire exclaimed. She went over and pet the graffiti paintings plastered onto the wall of a run-down building. "I wish to do the taking them home! Come on, kitties!" When the paintings didn't respond, Starfire's eyes glowed green. "Come on, kitty kitty. COME HERE KITTY KITTY!"

Raven's heart sank. Yeah, she didn't have much hope in them emerging victorious.

"Starfire!" she barked. She grabbed hold of her alien friend with a telekinetically constructed fist and brought her into the bank, where the boys were already staring down Gentleman Ghost. The undead supervillain faced the Titans with a smug, pretentious air to him, visible despite his lack of a face.

"Well well well," he said. "Looks like the Teen Titans have come to stop me." He laughed. "And here I thought leaving with the money would be difficult."

"You can tease us all you want, Gentleman Ghost!" Robin said with an egocentric tone that rivaled even the super villain's. "We're more than used to people dissing us."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Has you seen our online reviews?"

"They're tanking!" Cyborg said with a grin. "They're tanking hard!"

Gentleman Ghost snickered. "My point still stands." He grabbed money bag that had been put on the table for him. "I must bid you all adieu, cause I…"

Robin hurled a birdarang at the bag, causing Gentleman Ghost to drop it. Gentleman Ghost picked it back up, but Robin did the same thing.

"What the…" the process repeated itself for a few more turns before Gentleman Ghost growled. "Will you STOP THAT! That is exceedingly annoying."

The Titans, sans Raven, snickered. "Oh, that's only scratching the surface," said Cyborg.

"You'd better surrender now, Gentleman Ghost," said Robin. "Cause we can be annoying all day!"

Raven rolled her eyes. Truer words have never been spoken, she thought.

The supervillain calmly looked at the superhero team. He grasped his hands together and let out a low "hmm" sound. Clearly he was considering doing something. What that something was, Raven did not know, but she was still a little cautious.

"You had better not do anything funny," she said. She flew in front of Robin, putting herself between the villain and her friends. "You don't know who you're dealing with."

Gentleman Ghost snickered. "I have a pretty good idea." He started to float back and forth in a manner that was not too dissimilar to how humans pace. "I'm dealing with a bunch of horrible egocentric brats who pride themselves as superheroes, but are the most incompetent nobodies this side of Gotham City."

Beast Boy lower lip quivered. "Uh...ouch."

"Oh, I am not even close to done," said Gentleman Ghost. "I could go on and on forever if I wanted to." He grabbed the money bag. "But I won't. That wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do." With that money bag in hand, he zipped toward the exit.

Robin grit his teeth. "Titans, GO!"

The Titans sent a barrage of projectiles at Gentleman Ghost. Smoke flew up as Starfire's starbolts hit the floor, holes were left in the walls as the blasts from Cyborg's sonic cannon missed their target. Once the smoke cleared, they saw that Gentleman Ghost was nowhere to be seen.

"Dids we do it?" asked Beast Boy. "Did we send that ghost back to the underworld?"

Raven squinted her eyes and flew out the bank. "Nope. We missed him. Now he's going down the street." She paused as her face drooped. "With the money."

"Well then, we'd better catch him," said Robin. "Titans, Go!"

The Titans bolted out of the bank, following after Gentleman Ghost. Starfire looked down at her leader, a question clearly taking up space in her mind. "Robin, how do we plan to catch an untouchable ghost?"

Robin smirked. "You leave that to me! I'm always the man with the plan!"

Raven rolled her eyes. If Robin was the man with the plan, then she didn't want to meet someone without one.

They caught up with the Gentleman Ghost just as he...was waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green? Raven raised an eyebrow at this sight. Shouldn't he be bolting away with every last fiber of his being?

"Oh, Gentleman Ghost!" Robin shouted. He charged, screaming at the top of his lungs. He jumped toward the thief, ready to tackle him to the ground. However, he ended up phasing right through him. Robin looked back at the ghost in shock. "What?"

"Oh wow," Raven said. "Some plan, man."

"Shut up, Raven!" Robin screamed. His face turned from angry to frightened, however, when he saw the Gentleman Ghost staring him down. It wasn't too dissimilar to how a predator would stare down its prey.

"You've got guts, young man. I think that you would be a fine vessel."

With that, he entered Robin's body. The Titans gasped and bolted over.

"Robin!" Starfire shouted. She grabbed hold of him by the shoulders and shook him. "You come out of that body! YOU COME OUT OF THAT BODY NOW!"

In response to this, The Gentleman Ghost pulled a birdarang out of his pocket and aimed it at the alien princess. He smirked as she was flung back, leaving all the other Titans to go and attend to her.

Beast Boy glared at the villain. "That ain't nice, foo!"

All four of Raven's eyes glowed red. "It wasn't exactly the gentlemanly thing to do either."

"No, but it did send you away from me." He grabbed the money bag, pulled out Robin's grappling hook, and aimed it at a building. "Now, tata Titans! I have some other banks I wish to rob sometime today!"

As he zipped away, the Titans stared down at Starfire. She groaned and sat up, placing her hand to the area of her chest that had been hit with the weapon.

"You okay, Star?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes." Starfire's eyes glowed green, and before any of them knew what was happening, she zipped off after the ghost.

Raven faced the others seriously. "Come on. Let's follow her and get Robin back."

Beast Boy chuckled. "Oh mans. I was completely onboard with you until you said that last part."

Raven slapped him in the back of the head. "You want someone to mooch money off of, don't you?"

Beast Boy blinked before turning into a bird. "Let's do this!" He zipped after the alien princess and their possessed leader. Cyborg activated his rocket boots, so now all three of them were engaged in the chase. Raven grit her teeth when she saw The Gentleman Ghost leaping across the rooftops. Starfire was chasing after him, her fists surrounded by unlaunched starbolts.

"Do not make me do the doing of it!" she screeched. She zipped forward just as Gentleman Ghost was about to leap across another rooftop. She caught him and practically choked held him. "COME OUT OF ROBIN NOW!"

Gentleman Ghost grinned wickedly. "As you wish, madam."

In a blink and you'll miss moment, he jumped from Robin's body to Starfire's body. Robin blinked and looked up at his possessed friend. "Starfire?" Gentleman Ghost just grinned as he took the money bag and dropped the Boy Wonder, causing him to fall into a dumpster.

The Gentleman ghost cackled. "Oh, how I love to posses bodies that grant me the ability of flight." He bolted away, laughing as the wind caused his new pink head of hair to flap.

Cyborg grit his teeth. "Oh no you don't! Not Starfire!" He shot a sonic blast at the villain, causing him to yelp and fall out of the sky. Raven zipped down to the Gentleman Ghost and telekinetically scooped up the money bag before he had the chance to nab it back.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but you'll have to postpone those bank robbing appointments." She heard sirens in the distance, causing her to grin. "The police are almost here. They'll send you to Arkham Asylum before you can say "by jove." She turned and started flying away, but the Gentleman Ghost shot a starbolt at her. She fell to the ground, dropping the money bag. She was about to get up and get it when the villain placed his foot down on her head.

"By jove, are you a cheeky one," he said. "I am not going to Arkham Asylum, m'lady."

Raven grit her teeth. "Want a bet?" Her eyes glowed red again, and she sent a telekinetically constructed fist right towards her friend's face. Under most circumstances, she would feel bad about hurting Starfire. But now, she wasn't afforded that luxury.

"Ooh!" The Gentleman Ghost said as he held his bleeding nose. "I did not see that coming love!"

"Well don't worry, as I have a lot more surprises up my sleeve." She got up and held her hands out. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The ground underneath Starfire's feet shot up, sending Gentleman Ghost straight toward the sky. Raven flew up toward him and knocked him back down into the ground. Now covered in bruises and dealing with short, shallow breaths, the Gentleman Ghost was pretty much defeated. He held onto his belly as Raven descended down on him.

"Ready to give up?" Beast Boy and Cyborg made their way over, staring at the sight before them in awe.

Gentleman Ghost, much to Raven's surprise, chuckled. He sounded...like a lunatic. The laughter coming from the mouth he possessed could be worthy of a super villain like the Joker. However Raven wasn't going to let it bother her. Despite the shivers running up and down her spine.

"What's so funny?" she asked, her fists surrounded by a black aura.

"Oh, lovey." He turned toward her and smirked. "I'm just getting started."

With that, he exited Starfire's body. It only took Raven a second to realize whose body he was jumping to next.

"Don't you dare, DON'T YOU DARE…!"

Before she could finish her protest, the Gentleman Ghost took possession of her.