"I just got access to these files, aren't you a least bit curious?" Dick could tell Danny was debating on running off anyways or not. He had worked with enough teens to notice the signs, even knew what he use to do.

Danny had his arms crossed and was antsy by the way his leg bounced in place. "Not really. I assume it has something to do with the mini me in the tube over there, and I'm not okay with me or a version of me being treated as a science experiment."

Dick couldn't blame him on that one, "Fair, I'll leave out the experimenting bits then."

"No, you'll tell me everything. So I know if he's going to turn into goo or not." Danny huffed, leaning against the machine, letting Dick be the one to read it. While he dealt with his urge to run.

Dick just gave a nod with a half-smile, deciding that'll probably be the best he will get out of Danny. His eyes scanning over the documents, speed reading through its contents. Dick's brows furrowed and he frowned deeply, leaning back for a moment to glance at the capsule that contained the younger Danny.

Danny furrowed his brows, concerned, glancing from the screen to Nightwing. "What? What is it?" Trying to hide the worry in his voice.

"...It-he.. is dead."

"OW SHIT-fuck!" Jason cursed as he shocked himself before slamming the hand scanner back in place. He sucked on his finger for a moment, turning to face them. "What do you mean dead? Ghost or-"

"No, Vlad made it clear he was trying to recreate Danie-Danny. Sorry, reading. Danny's body before the accident."

"So why is he in a container full of ectoplasm?"

"Last attempt, but no matter what stage of life, the clone was either unstable or dead."

"If the ectoplasm is like the pit, then why didn't the clone come back to life."

"Because he was never alive to begin with... No consciousness to cling to.. Am I just dead?" Danny was looking at his hands horrified.

Dick and Jason quickly shared a look. "Dann-"

"No seriously?! Am I just a corpse with an attached ghost?!"

"This isn't the time for existential crisis Danny."

"Did you miss the memo about that being my existence?"

"That's not how genetics work. Its probably a fault of the cloning process and not you specifically. You have 3 different DNA, right?" Dick didn't know the truth, but Jason was right, existential crisis had to wait.

Danny blinked, calming down, "...yeah. Yeah, I do... makes sense.. if its because of that... Sorry. About that.. heh" Danny rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed, feeling dumb.

Jason shaking his head, "Don't be, 'this' is fucked up." Jason gesturing to the lab as it was normal to freak out.

"He cloned animals, and tried to create half-dead ones to test on. Even cloned himself, but same result. At least at making one human. Probably to try and understand what went wrong. " Dick changing topic.

"...So that's why the blob was like my clones..." Danny leaned back against the machine. "Man, I wished he succeeded in a clone of himself.. maybe he'd leave me alone.. ugh."

Danny was quick to regain composure, or was he just too use to pushing his emotions down that it was a default? Dick wasn't sure which it was, or that it was a good thing. But for now, he took it as a blessing. To be honest, he was half-expecting Danny to be like Jason. Was it the manner they died.. or half-died?

"Anything else blue bird? Because I got this room opened." Jason tapping his boot at the wall, making it open.

"Access Granted, my love of my life, snookie, wookie, darling husband." Madeline's voice chimed from the hand scanner, but was distorted from Jason's tinkering.

All three boys collectively cringed at the voice.

"...Would it make it worse if I said that was my mom's voice.. because it is."

It made it worse.


-owo-


Damian lead the way, while Jazz followed with the Fenton Ghost Finder in hand, through the halls. Vlad had disarmed her, so it felt better use for her to keep track of the ghosts. So far they haven't picked up anything, not even a duplicate.

The silence was deafening.

"None of the cameras are shot out," Jazz whispered, pointing towards the ceiling.

Damian gave a nod, as they pressed to the shadows of the hall. There wasn't any signs they came this way. "What floor are you and Orphan on?"

"We're thinking the 8th ?"

Damian frowned, glancing back at Jazz, who just gave a shrug as she scooted closer to try to hear the comm. Damain waiting for a moment to hear any sounds that might echo in the hall. "I think you're wrong."

"Sorry, I can't read ghost like Danny.-"

"I could change that." Damian smirked.

"Har, har. I would come back just to phase all of your swords into the deepest block of concrete and-"

"Ahem." Batman interrupted.

"...Anyway, I lost track what floor we were on after the whole intruder thing."

"You were on the 5th." Jazz leaned closer Damian's comm to speak, without raising her voice. Damian scowled a little at her being so close.

"... That means.." A muttered of recounting as a doublecheck, "..we're on the 9th."

Damian snorted at Tim's blunder. He frowned again as Jazz made herself known on his comm, keeping her voice low.

"We'll finish the 8th, meet us on the 7th. I don't see any signs of my parents being lead up here. Look for busted security cameras and scorch marks. Plasmius could have knocked them out and dragged them up, but I doubt it. They'll be in a large room with vultures guarding it."

"Got it, thanks. See you there."

Jazz automatically giving a polite, "You're welcome."

Damian giving her a raised brow. She in turn just shrugged, "Habits."

Damian rolled his eyes up and then gestured her to follow.


-u-


Batman wondered how well Jazz would do at a gala. It be nice to have one kid that- not his kid... Still though-

He brushed that momentary thought aside, as he drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. Being benched was maddening, especially in facing unknowns like this. He was listening to them all, while Oracle was researching more about Masters and the situations in the other cities.

Bruce was waiting for the pin to drop. Masters knew they were there. Each kid was with at least one other person, which put a little relief off his chest. Jazz and Danny didn't have comms, though. He wished he specified to bring extra.

He was reviewing the things he was hearing and had heard, over again in his head. Clones. Half-ghost experiments. He wondered if Vlad was trying to make a Danny from the source.

But that didn't explain the battery. Was he not the cause of that? The dates aligned too well for it to be a coincidence. No, there had to be more. Had to be a reason too. One he couldn't see.

Batman stood up with a grunt, he couldn't sit any longer. He'll start on some repairs to the plane, the ghost shield was still active. It'll give him a way to reach the lair, if things goes south.


-uwu-


"What kind of early 2000s Scifi shit is this?" Jason muttered as he walked into the open room.

The room was large and open, there were a few capsules on the side. They all appeared to be filled of ectoplasm. Large cables connecting it to a large machine, with bulbs on the top glowing a bright green much like the swirling contents in the open hole of it. Lines of vials decorated the wall behind the pit, all glowing different colors, but green was still the primary.

"Oh! The portal to the ghost zone! That's what I was feeling." Danny almost sounded relieve, as if he expected worse.

Jason didn't like the swirling tugging feeling in his gut, that seemed to pull towards the open portal. He felt the dread, much like the blob ghost or the pit.

Danny jogged ahead to get a good look at the room. He hesitated to look at the capsules.. not sure if he was relieved to see them just filled with ectoplasm or not. He furrowed his brows confused, taking in the wall behind the portal. He walked to the side of the portal to get a better view of the vials.

Danny took out one of the vials, to get a better look at it. It had to be ectoplasm.. but this one was glowing purple. Was it residual? From one of the animals? Or a random ghost? A shiver went down his spine, forcing him to put it back. It felt wrong.

He turned back around to see what Red Hood was doing, a bit surprise he still hardly moved from his spot. Took Danny a moment before realizing why.

"Oh, yeah, its a bit weird to be around it. I have one in my basement, so I think I just got use to the weird feeling after a while." Danny walking towards Jason, unconsciously trying to be the barrier between the portal and Jason.

"That's in your basement." Jason stated more than asked, just to confirm to himself that that was the machine his parents had just out in the open. He shook it off, rolling his shoulders. "So, what did you find about the vials?"

Danny glanced back at the wall with a frown, "I.. don't know. I think its.. residual ectoplasm. I don't know why Vlad has them stocked."

"Think its the animals we didn't see?" Jason asked, as he glanced around the room at anything but the portal.

"..." Danny went silent, looking at the ground.

Jason took Danny's silence for a yes. Glancing to the side, he noticed boxes stacked off to the side. He walked towards them to get a better look. They looked like specially made containers.

He grunted as he shoved the lid off of one. Looking inside, there were black containers lined in their own casing. He pulled one out, and whistled. "Found the source."

Danny turned around, raising a brow, then recognized the black shaped item Jason held in his hand. "Battery?"

"Yeah, these are empty, but I'm guessing not for long."

"Great job, Little Wing!" Dick come jogging in, "I just finish downloading files."

Danny frowned, staring at the flash drive in Dick's hand.

Dick noticing, smiles at Danny, "Don't worry, Casper. I didn't keep any information about your clone or the actual cloning process. That data is being deleted as we speak."

"Casper is my high school, thanks."

"Really?"

"Heads up." Jason tossed empty battery at Dick, barely warning him in time.

Dick fumbled catching the battery, giving a look at Jason. Jason just grinned, as he walked over. "Same thing, right."

Dick took the time to look it over, as did Danny.

"Definitely the same thing my tongue was on. But why would Frootloop do it?" It didn't make sense to Danny, because that would have seemed more dangerous for them in the long run.

"That's what we're here to find out." Dick chimed, then added quickly by the look Danny gave him, "And to save your parents."

Danny puffed away a smirk, but suddenly choked on his own breath. He gasped, as the mist leak through his mask. Jason and Dick didn't need any more warning than that to pull out their weapons.

"Too bad you won't be doing either of those." Plasmius's voice cooed, but he was no where in sight.

"Plasmius, show yourself!" Danny, clenched his fist, instinctively trying to charge beams. Flinching with a hiss.

A laugh echoed, "My dear boy, now why would I do that? Though I must admit. I'm quite curious how the Gotham brats got here. I didn't think you were close."

"We decided to crash here for the night, get to know each other. Maybe work on our issues." Dick grinned but kept his stance ready to defend any sneak attacks.

"Yeah, issues like a middle age ghost that needs to learn boundaries, which I'm happy to teach." Jason was trying to locate the sound of the voice, his stance covering more for the flank and back side of the trio. "Among other things."

"Honestly, thanks to you that they're here." Danny chimed enjoying not being the only one talking shit, as he pulled out his blaster. He tried to clench tight to the feeling in his chest. Figuring out where it was pulling.

Silence filled the air. Danny and the others felt the hair on their skin rise, never lowering their guard. Danny was cursing internally not being able to sense Plasmius's direction, but he knew he hadn't left. No, it was worse.

"Duplicates-AH" Danny felt a tug on his ankle, pulling him half way into the ground. He struggled to pull back up, praying the intangibility didn't wear off.

"Dan-Argh." Jason was flown up into the ceiling, repeatedly being slammed against it. Dick was able to graze out of a grasp, with a flip, shooting the empty space behind him. Whatever he hit dissolved to goo.

Dick scrambled back to Danny, helping him out of the ground. Danny muttering out a thanks, glad not to be stuck.

"You ok-"

"Watch out!" Danny shoved Dick back once free, as a beam of pink flew by and slammed Danny into the wall. Danny coughed, hand over where he got hit.

Dick didn't have much time to react after the blast as a few more fired at him. He kart-wheeled, to dodge four of the blasts. Trying to keep track where they were coming from. He landed back on his feet, lowering body to the ground, then sprinted aiming towards the source.

Just as he fired, Jason was slammed against him. Causing Dick to crash and tumble into the ground. The green beam connected, causing the empty space to dissolve into green goo and disappear.

Dick coughed and wheezed, as he and Jason pushed themselves back up. Keeping low to the ground for now.

"Honestly, expected more from the heroes of Gotham. Quite a shame. But I guess ghosts were never your forte, were they?" Plasmius finally revealed his form, looking smug. His arms crossed, as he floated above them.

The smug smirk didn't last long as a green beam his his face. Making him cry out. Apparently this was the real Plasmius.

Danny standing up from his spot against the wall, ecto-blaster aimed directly at Plasmius, "No, but they're mine."

Plasmius snarled, glancing back at Danny. Jason and Dick took their chance, shooting at Plasmius while he was distracted. Plasmius cried out before phasing into the floor, going invisible again.

Jason and Dick were up on their feet, hurrying to move in closer to Danny. Both to check him over and keep together. "How do we keep fighting something we can't locate?"

"You'll get a hang of it, plus he can't keep it up forever. It takes conscious effort to be invisible, intangible, and duplicate." Danny explained as he let Dick check where he been hit.

"So a stamina battle. Great. How long does it take for a ghost to get tired?" Jason huffed.

"Uh.. usually an hour or two.. if they're going at it non-stop.. normally.. maybe four?" Danny brushed Dick off, not wanting him to examine the scorch in his shirt much longer. It didn't hurt, much.

"That's a long time for a fight, Danny." Dick stated, at least one like this. Not liking that they got their asses handed to them so quickly.

"There's a reason I don't get sleep."

"You know, you would if you gave up your silly heroics." Plasmius's voice echoed again.

Danny frowned, glaring into the empty space. Jason and Dick pulling Danny close to them, this time more prepared for what Plasmius might do.

"All you have to do is renounce your parents and join me. We can run an empire. Your sister too."

"Parents? Not just Dad? Did you finally realize Mom will never love you? Could you tell me what the hint was that clicked so I can make you understand why I will NEVER join you?" Danny scoffed.

A growl grumbled in the air. "I haven't given up on Madeline, because unlike you boy, she CAN be replicated."

"And there's the crazed Frootloop I know. Honestly surprised that I was your first choice in cloning." Danny was still on edge, but was able to fake confidence so smoothly.

Jason felt a tingly sensation just above his left ear, he didn't hesitate to shoot up at it. Causing the invisible duplicate to dissolve and disappear. So that's how you fight him. Dick giving him a confused expression, Jason signaled he felt it. Silently implying he'll explain later.

Danny looked a bit surprised too, with a frown as he stared up where Plasmius was. He shook it off and prepared to fight. His eyes taking in the area, they were crowded to a wall, which didn't offer any protection. There was ectoplasm everywhere- He was an idiot.

Why didn't he try to absorb some? There was a portal right there! But Plasmius could lock him out too. Unlike his parents, he did have a door that could keep ghost out. He wouldn't have to go in it.. not all the way- even just the filter or perhaps break the capsules... though he was more wary of them.. just in case it wasn't pure ectoplasm.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one thinking it as the doors on the portal closed.

"Can't have you at full strength again, can we? Wouldn't be half as fun." Plasmius revealed himself, but this time focus on dodging the shots fired from Dick and Jason. Danny putting a hand up to stop them.

"The portal could explode." He kept his voice low, Plasmius staring at them with a smug smirk.

"How bad?" Dick was little afraid to ask, as they stopped firing.

"It could destroy everyone and the area surrounding the lake that isn't a ghost."

"Smug Bastard. Anything else we should avoid?" Jason growled, as Plasmius made it clear he was toying with them. He was flaunting in front of the portal, posing, egging them to shoot.

"Anything with high concentration of ectoplasm?"

"That's concerning." Dick frowned considering where they were located.