"Static." Cass stated as the comms went down.
Dick nodding, "We must be getting close, everyone keep an eye out for anything glowing or green, or both. Tim keep a look on the levels."
"Power levels are high, you'd think we entered a nuclear bombing zone." Tim frowning.
Jason gritted his teeth as the area made him uneasy. Something didn't settle right with him.
Damian had his face pressed again the glass, trying to look. "Tt. It sure doesn't look special."
Dick was flying low, keeping an eye out for openings encase he had to make an emergency landing. He was prepared not to-
"Crash!"
Dick flinched, taking his eyes off in front of him for a moment to gaze at what his siblings were piling at the window to see. Signs of wreckage were visible.
"Father couldn't have gotten more than a scratch. He's escaped worse." Damian glaring at the remains of the plane.
"He isn't invincible. He couldn't have predicted this." Tim then groaned at the realization that this will only increase Bruce's paranoia. "Now he will."
Dick chuckling weakly, "Maybe our new ghost hunting crew will help keep him from over doing it?"
"Nah, it'll just make him worse." Jason huffed.
Cass patted Tim's shoulder, but then the plane started to stutter. It caused her to accidentally smack Tim instead, as they fell to their knees. "ow!"
Alarms blared and flashed. Dick wasn't going to take the chance and decided to land, they should be close enough to where Batman and the teens set up camp. "Everyone buckle in!"
Jason yanked Damian by his cape and dropped him into his seat. Damian grumbling but buckling nonetheless. Cass took up Jason's seat and Tim strapped back into his own. Jason took up space beside Dick, keeping low instead of buckling up himself. Dick frowned at Jason, receiving a cheeky grin back.
Flash of green darted through the cab, and another. Dick was determined not to crash, his siblings were with him. There wasn't enough time to land in a large enough clearing, so he had to make due. Trees cracking and crashing as the plane landed.
They'll have to do some repairs before leaving, but that wouldn't be a problem. All the bat kids let out a sigh of relief as the plane stopped moving. Dick's arms were shaking from holding the controls so tight.
"I see something green."
"And glowing."
"And... animal?"
Dick glanced over to what they were looking at, giving a half-smile. "What are the chances they're domesticated?"
Jason huffed, "Big fat 0."
Batman sighed as the comms went to static. They were close, his eyes squinting at the sky. It was still too dark to see anything besides the stars and moon, but it wouldn't be much longer before the sun rises.
Bruce glanced down at the weight that pressed against his leg. Jazz was asleep and leaning against him. Her hair tied in a messy bun, using her own hair to tie it. Danny had helped, reason it was messier than it would have been if she had done it. Yet, Jazz wasn't worried about the knotting mess her hair was becoming.
He glanced down at Danny, who unlike his sister, was laying on the ground instead of sitting up. He was sleeping, using his sister's lap as a pillow, while Jazz's hand rested on his hair. The young teen had fallen asleep, due to Jazz's persistence that he get some rest.
At least, Batman hoped he was sleeping. His breaths, if he took any, were so shallow that he couldn't hear it at all. It made his stomach turn as the idea popped into his head, remembering the information that his kids had shared.
"Electrical burns and hypothermia.. don't know what happen to the kid, but it sounds like he's lucky to be alive."
Lucky to be alive, or more like.. he wasn't. Batman shook his head, he didn't want to dismiss the possibility, but it wasn't an easy concept to handle. Maybe he was more like Jason, or at least he had hoped. If he was a ghost and his parents were-
He cursed at himself having already gotten so attached to them. They weren't his kids, but he'll look out for them. They needed someone.
Batman had been busy talking and listening to the bat family, to converse with Jazz and Danny after they successfully tested the repellent with the mask.
He wanted to ask them more about the GIW, Amity Park, and Plasmius, but he saw the exhaustion wear on them long before they passed out. They needed to rest, so he felt relieved when he looked over and found them asleep.
Batman will ask more, when the time came. For now, they could rest and wait. After all, he had a feeling that Amity Park's mystery may take months to tackle, even with their help. He rubbed his chin in thought, staring at the flames.
He was trying to make sense of all the pieces of information he had discovered, filing each away in his head. Danny had powers, had been in a terrible accident, and was contaminated with enough ectoplasm that made him able to handle the substance with his bare hands.
They both were confident enough in combat, has knowledge of high tech gear, have in depth knowledge about ghosts, and has scientists/ghost hunters as parents.
Amity Park was being blacklisted on the internet and kept a secret. No one outside of the town knows whats going on in it. Ghost attacks are common occurrence.
GIW is an unknown "government" organization that deals with ghosts.-
It was a lot to unpack at once, and it seems to just keep growing. To think something that's on this scale would be missed, just made him wonder what else had he missed? What else escaped their notice?
Batman glanced at the kids again, wondering how many were like them? It wasn't something he should dabble on. He'll handle each problem at a time. For now, rescuing their parents was the goal.
If by Jazz's and Danny's impressions of them, they might be very happy to help, though they'll need to work on their bias about ghosts. Though, That might have to be held off until later too. Unless Danny was-
-GASSSSP-
Batman jolted out of his thoughts, looking towards the gasp, to find Danny scrambling out of his sister's lap to his feet. He furrowed his brows, judging by Danny's alertness, this could be bad.
Danny was having a very pleasant dream about hanging out with his friends and his sister at Nasty Burger, until he was awoken by his ghost sense, eyes snapping open.
His brain barely registering where he was, while he pushed to his feet. The crackling of the fire reminded him as the feeling sunk in. He scanned the sky in worry as his skin crawled.
Jazz let out an "Oomph!", coughing as her brother pushed off of her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to regain alertness. She frowned, noticing her brother's stance. He looked like a small animal ready to fight or to flee.
"Danny?" Jazz shifting to try and stand, wobbling.
Batman kept her from falling by placing a hand on her back, helping stabilize her balance. She uttered a soft 'Thank you'.
"There's.. more of them." Danny glaring at a specific direction.
"Ghost? But... we should be fine under the shield, right? Or.. is it Plasmius?"
Danny never took his eyes off the sky. "We're safe."
Batman frowned, then it clicked. "They're not."
Jazz's eyes widened, as they heard sound of engines roaring and trees cracking in the distance.
Danny scooped up any weapons he could fit in his arms and ran towards the sound.
Jazz attempting to follow, picking up the remaining weapons.
"Jazz, stay! Protect Batman." Danny disappearing into the tree line.
"What-Danny no! You can't just- UGH" Jazz glad she tied her hair up again or she would be ripping it out.
"We'll go after him." Batman stumbled as he stood up, his legs were stiffed from him not moving much.
"But your hurt-" Jazz bit her lip, watching Batman stand.
"And they are my- allies."
Jazz caught the short pause. The realization dawned on her. She tried to think of what to do-catching sight of the ghost shield. Reaching down to pick it up, so Batman wouldn't have to.
"I was really hoping you'd be less reckless than Danny," She teased, giving Batman a grin as she passed him the square device. "We'll bring camp to them."
She couldn't blame them for being reckless, she was guilty of it too. Jazz stayed to make sure Batman could walk fine on his own, before running up ahead after Danny, once satisfied that the Dark Knight would be fine.
Batman frowned as he walked, definitely feeling the humiliation of the situation.
Ok, this was not ideal. The bats stood back to back, weapons drawn as the mutated animal ghosts stalk closer. They had tried everything they could think of, but nothing had worked against the ghosts.
"I know B said they were hard to hit, but for some reason I didn't think that meant they hit hard either!"
"Incoming to your right-"
"Thanks."
"Is no one else going to talk about how Jay can just suplex a two headed GHOST deer?"
"Jealous-SHIT. Little fuck-" Jason was bit by a gopher with fangs on his ankles while he was flexing. He kicked the gopher into a small flock of boney birds.
"No one could be jealous of being bit by a rodent."
Jason was the only one that could hit the ghost, they had found that out during initial combat. Since then, he was the one keeping them at bay. The others had to dodge attacks. Their weapons didn't work, and Damian's sword seem to have an opposite effect.
His sword managed to slice apart a badger with wings, only to make it double in size. Tim eyes had widened at what this could mean about the ghosts and kryptonite. But They didn't really dwell on it, there was no time to.
That was when they had found out Jason could hit the ghost. Jason had punched the badger out of the air when it swooped in to attack Damien.
"Ungrateful-" Jason grumbled as he sent another rolling kick at a pouncing mountain lion with a snake tail, sending it right into a group of ghosts. He huffed under his red helmet.
Cassandra was the only one not with them, she managed to sneak away, planning to alert Batman and the Fenton kids where they were. Since they were the only ones with weapons that could fight ghosts.
Dick was hoping the rest of them could get a moment to escape, but as they pressed their backs against the plane, he knew they just had to bide their time. He wished Jason didn't have to fight them alone.
Tim wished he had that ecto-battery. Batman had briefly talked about as to why the Fenton's weaponry worked against ghosts, but he obviously didn't know specifics. Tim wanted to rig something up. Was there really nothing they could do?
Jason vaulted himself up onto the two headed deer's back, doing a flip and smashing his boot into a bear's face. He stumbled back, assessing what mutated animal to tackle next. They weren't predictable and fighting felt chaotic. He only had a short moment, not the hardest thing but it was annoying.
The mountain lion pounced at him first, but missed going into the ground. It took Jason a confused second to realize it wasn't going after him. On que, it popped back out of the ground from behind Jason, attack his brothers instead. Jason whipped around trying to grab it by the snake tail.
A blast of green shot from the forest, straight into the side of the cougar (Just another name for Mountain Lion). Sending it into the forest, with a terrifyingly womanly shriek.
Jason blinked staring at where the mountain lion was moments ago, then followed where the beam of green came from. A teenage boy with black hair, and icy blue eyes that pierced through the shadows stood, aiming a white scifi looking handgun.
He then shot remainder of the animals, not missing a single one. Some of the ghostly animals fled as the sight of him, the larger and more aggressive ones stayed, but they were pushed back.
"Would you call that being late or on time?" Danny pushed out a weakly chuckle. Whatever demanding aura he had gave, seem to be a farce.
Dick was the first one to break the awkward tension giving a laugh, "Right on time. Danny, right? Those for us?"
Danny looked at what he carried under his arm, as if he forgot he was holding anything. "Oh right, here! You can fight with these."
Danny tossing over the weapons, letting Dick distribute them. Danny shooting down the two headed deer before it could charge again.
"Fuck yea! Now we're packing, who wants to keep score, eh?" Jason catching the Ecto-ray Dick tossed him, twirling it around in his hand to get a good feel of it. Despite the bulky scifi design, it felt light than a gun.
"If we're keeping score, then you might want to get to shooting. Danny already got 10 on you. Sorry, 12." Tim grinned as he examined his ecto-ray, briefly.
"Doesn't count! I didn't have a gun, until now." Jason shooting at the bear.
Damian frowned as he held up the handle to the Anti-ghost roasting stick. "This can't seriously be a weapon."
"You're right. Its not. Its suppose to roast marshmallows." Danny grinned as he shot at the badger that flew in. "That be 6 then to your 4?"
Damian looked at the stick with more confusion, as it sparked with green energy. Trying to decipher if this new teen was messing with him or not.
Jason cursing, at the mocking teen, grinning underneath the helmet. He shot down 5 ghost with one shot. "Make that 9."
"This ones a dud." Dick tossed the broken ecto-ray to the ground.
Danny shooting 3 more ghosts, trying to catch up to Red Hood. He looked over at Dick, "Oh-sorry. Was in a rush. Uh... here." Danny tossing Dick his gun.
Dick caught it, opening his mouth to refuse, not liking the idea of Danny being weaponless, when the boy pulled out a lipstick from his pocket.
"Is that lipstick?"
"Yeah, wouldn't recommend using it on your face though." Danny aiming and shooting down a giant rabbit.
Dick shrugged, with a shake of his head.
With weapons in hand, the animals started to flee one by one. They started tag teaming the animals that chose to stay. Damian had begun to love his stick, using it much like his sword, zapping the flying badger that had wronged him earlier.
The others would switch tag team partners. Sometimes Tim and Jason shot a ghost down, then it be Danny and Jason, and so on. Danny stopped as the bear and puma finally fled. The bat brothers high fiving each other.
Dick was about to get Danny to join in the high five, until he noticed the young teen's expression. "What's with that face?"
"...Nothing! Er.. well.. I can't explain it." Danny frowned, he didn't feel like the ghosts had left. Honestly, thinking about it, he isn't sure why they attacked.
They didn't act like any ghostly animals he knew of. He had assumed Vlad was manipulating them, like he had in the past. But they weren't behaving like before. Perhaps he made it so they couldn't turn on him? Even so, he didn't like the churning feeling in his gut.
Jason had stopped in his celebration, as he felt the Lazarus Pit swish. It felt power, something was growing. He motioned with his hand towards the others, as he stared out into the trees.
A gangling terrifying screech of different animal cries echoed from the dark. Danny frowned as the sound seemed eerily similar to his wail, sending chills down his spine.
He didn't even notice Nightwing having pulled him and the other bats close together.
Cassandra was very skilled at not being seen. She was a master of sneak, and yet there was a ghostly moose-wolf chasing after her. It didn't matter if she took to the trees or the ground, the moose was hot on her tail. Her only hope was to out run it.
That is until she had smacked head first into someone with red-hair.
Jazz let out an oomph! Groaning as she fell back onto the ground.
She had to admit, she was bad at directions. She didn't have Danny to help use the stars as reference. She also had forgotten her flashlight within her rush. Which led her to blindly trying to chase after her brother. Fully recognizing her hypocrisy of having just teased Batman for being reckless, then proceeding to be reckless..
Way to be a big help to your brother, Jazz. Can't even follow after him, without running into a..
Jazz blinked, whatever hit her was soft. She looked up, seeing a masked face looking down, startling her a bit. "Oh-oh! you must be one of-"
She froze as the sound of the moose-wolf's howl. Cass swung around, arms held out protectively in front of Jazz. The moose-wolf was charging straight at them.
Jazz flashing back to the fight at the camp, before snapping out of it. She dropped the rest of the stuff she was holding, fumbling to hit the button on her specter deflector.
The shield flung around her and Cass, just as the moose-wolf was a hair from Cass. The shield glitched and frizzed when it made contact with the ghost. It wouldn't last many hits. The ghost seem to know that, having shook off the pain from the shield.
The moose-wolf circled getting ready to run them down again.
Cass seemed to be in awe as the shield pulled around them. She turned back to Jazz, "Jazz, weapons?"
Jazz was shaken from her stun at the call of her name. She took a minute to understand and then moved to get back on her feet, "Ah! Yes! Here, this is an ecto-ray. Basically a gun for ghosts."
Cass took the blaster gratefully, eyeing it down for a moment to get a good look at it. It seemed to function much like a regular gun, so she took aim and fired at the moose-wolf. It seemed to stutter, but wasn't affected by one shot. If anything, it made it mad.
Cass was confused.
"That ghost is difficult. It took Batman, Danny and I to hurt it. Shoot, Danny has the thermos too!" Jazz huffed, as she shuffled her hand through the items she brought.
Cass nodded, deciding she needed multiple and precise shots. She aimed again as the moose charged. She shot in succession, hitting each knee until they buckled. The Moose skid towards them, Cass reaching out to try and pull Jazz out the way.
But Jazz was standing, with a metal bat in hand. She whacked hard at the moose-wolf when it neared, changing the course of its direction into a tree. Cass having to duck from being hit.
"S-sorry. Heh." Jazz rubbing the back of her neck, she felt embarrassed about almost hitting some one in the cross fire. Seems she was aware only if Danny was present, more in likely because of her subconscious to keep him safe. That older sister complex of hers.
Cass just nodded, standing up. She pointed at the blaster on Jazz's hip, "Mind if I have two?"
The moose-wolf stood up again, a gnarly growl. Jazz wasted no time in handing Cassandra her blaster. Cass moved outside of Jazz's shield range, preparing to tango with the moose.
The moose-wolf then disappeared. Causing Cass to frown, glancing at Jazz. "Ghost can turn invisible, animal ghosts usually don't but doesn't mean they can't-AH!"
Jazz screamed as she stumbled back, the shield popped around her. It glitched and frizzed.
The moose-wolf reappeared as the shock caused its form to show. Cass didn't loose the chance to shoot at it. The Moose-wolf howled and turned to charge towards Cass.
She leaped into the trees, grabbing onto the lowest branch, swinging up onto it. The ghost followed her up, when a bat flew into the air and struck the moose-wolf back down.
Jazz had flung her bat to keep the ghost from following. Cass took the chance to shoot again. This time the angle didn't allow her to hit vulnerable points. She kept moving in the branches, hoping her constant shooting would still do the trick.
The moose-ghost was getting agitated. It stomped and dug into the dirt, before phasing into the ground to avoid the ecto beams. Cass frowned, watching Jazz collect her bat.
She didn't see a sign of the ghost, until Jazz's eyes widened and pointed behind her. It wasn't a quick enough warning. She felt the antlers dig into her back and toss her up into the air.
She grunted as branches whacked her face and she spun in the air. She twisted to turn the momentum into her court. Aiming the blasters, she shot at the ghost before it phased into the ground again. Landing like a cat back on her feet.
"Are you ok-Ah!" Jazz was running towards her, when her shield activated again. The moose-wolf attacked from below, sending Jazz in a bubble up into the air. The shield phasing out once the ghost was out of range.
Cass used her grappling hook, on a high branch, pulling herself up into the air to catch Jazz in her arms. The red-haired teen clung to her, eyes wide, body shaking.
Jazz was trying to repeat a mantra to herself, but she clearly felt unprepared for this. She was out of her element, and watching this ally of Batman's, made her feel really out of her league. Danny didn't need her, he needed people like them. Doubt swelling in her mind, as fear consumed her.
Cass swung them around, preparing to land when the ghost appeared above them ready to charge. She gritted her teeth, unhooking the grappling hook. She wrapped her arms tightly around Jazz, as the ghost made contact slamming them into the ground.
The shield shattered upon impact with the ground and the belt buckle burst, going from a bright glowing green to pitch black. Cass tumbled protecting Jazz from the majority of the fall. They rolled several feet.
The moose-wolf dug its hoof into the ground, ready to charge. Cass reached to grab a blaster, struggling to move.
Jazz rolled herself up onto her hands and knees. She was in better condition, but still shook from shock. She fumbled with the other blaster, aiming with shaky hands. Cursing herself for being consumed with pity, and self-doubt at a time like this. Didn't matter what they needed, she is what they had.
She fired repeatedly at the moose-wolf, remembering Danny's previous advice. She rapid fired at the knees and the eyes, switching targets, while she played back in her mind how Cass had fought.
The moose-wolf hybrid ghost didn't stop in its charge, even as it stumbled and tripped from the shots. Jazz having shifted her body in front of Cass, preparing to take the brunt this time.
Cass had grabbed the blaster she was reaching for, and aimed through the small opening that Jazz's side gave her. They repeatedly shot at the ghost as it neared, causing it to tumble. The momentum of the ghost will cause it to roll right on top of them.
Or it would have, if a large green shield didn't encase them, sending the moose-wolf off in a direction like a ball.
Jazz and Cass panted, lowering their weapons. A voice startled them both, whipping their heads back to see Batman standing there, with the ghost shield in his hands.
"Are you both alright?" Batman glanced between the disheveled Jazz and the grounded Cass.
They nodded in response, Cass moving to get up. Jazz jumping at the chance to help her. Once they were both standing and dusting each other off, they let out a relieved laugh.
Batman walked closer, glancing over to make sure they weren't injured.
"Where are the others?"
"At the plane. We were ambushed after landing."
"Did you see Danny?"
Cass shook her head, but she could have missed him while running away from the ghost. Jazz pursed her lips in concern, but dismissed her worry.
"I'm sure he made it to them. He has the knack for popping up at the right time." Jazz convinced herself, gathering up what she dropped.
Getting a good look at the shards on the ground and her specter deflector's busted buckle. Jazz hated that it was busted, after Danny spent so long working on it too, but it had full filled its purpose. It kept them safe.
They all froze, hearing the terrifying wail echo through the forest.
"That's.. where I came from." Cass informed. All three of them felt the surge of urgency and ran towards the echo.
