"You did WHAT?!" Kitty yelled as she looked at her friend and the little ghost that had come with her. Ember sighed and put a hand on her forehead.
"Kitty, please…It was an accident! It's not like I woke up and decided what I wanted to do today was chuck the kid through a hole in space-time!" Ember huffed, "But Klemper said he definitely saw him go through a natural portal as it was closing." The music-loving ghost ran a hand through her hair, "I need HELP! You and Johnny hang close to the kid's portal a lot lately, have you seen that dog that likes him?"
"What? Why would I know where his guard dog is?" Kitty huffed, crossing her arms. Ember groaned, putting her head in her hands.
"The thing doesn't travel far incase Danny needs him…if-if we can find him, then maybe… maybe…!" Ember searched, voice shakey at the end in a way that made Kitty pause, even more so than Ember using their baby ghost's real name instead of a nickname. Ember was shaking, flames flickering unsure as Youngblood clutched at her leg.
Youngblood couldn't believe this…He knew Danny probably didn't feel this way, but he considered Danny like a little brother. Yeah, Danny was older than Youngblood was when he DIED, but he was still a baby ghost, and Youngblood was a child ghost. It was Youngblood's job to make sure he was safe the same way his guardian usually made sure he was safe.
If he'd been around instead of letting Ember watch him for a while, would this be happening…?
Kitty sighed, features softening as she pulled the both of them in towards her comfortingly.
"Listen…The kid is strong. I doubt anything in that portal would be able to take him down-especially not without a fight. He's the king-to-be for a reason, remember?" Kitty comforted, Youngblood nodding and Ember flicking the tears away from her eyes.
"Y-Yeah….I know….Babypop has a better hook than any of my songs." Ember agreed, remembering one of them from their earlier fight that's pain almost still lingered on her cheek, Kitty giving a smile and a nod.
"Right. That means that he'll be okay until we get to him. Now, how about we have Johnny take us to see the Lunch Lady and ask for some meat to help track the pooch?" Kitty suggested. Johnny, who had been waiting patiently nearby with his shadow leaning against his bike, looked up at this.
"Have Johnny what now?" He wondered with a blink, but settled down with a sigh as Kitty shot him a glare.
Nope, no way was he getting in trouble again over this. They had JUST made up from a fight this morning and he didn't feel like getting put in the dog house again so soon over a literal dog.
…..Not to mention he was a bit worried about the kid too, if he was being honest.
"Okay. Okay, yeah….but we have to keep this on the downlow, okay?" Ember said sternly, "I can't have any of his guardians coming after me because I put him in danger. Okay?" Youngblood pouted and looked up at Ember.
"You're never worried about my guardian coming after you…" he muttered, crossing his arms as Ember rolled her eyes.
"Most of the time yours is a bird made of bones that lets you do whatever. I'm not concerned for any reason beside bad parenting." Ember shot back. Johnny chuckled as Kitty gave a small smile.
"Alright, we'll keep our traps shut. Promise." Kitty told her with a grin, "Not like I'm a fan of any of them sticking their noses into our business either." Ember gave Kitty a small smile.
She knew she made the right decision coming here. True, Spectra may be a 'pal' of hers too, but out of the two Ember would tend to lean towards Kitty if you asked.
This was for three distinct reasons:
1. Kitty and Ember were close in age when they died, so they tended to have more in common.
2. Kitty was fiercely ride or die, which made sense with her boyfriend's whole bike thing. If Kitty was on your side, there wasn't much you could do to get rid of her danger wise.
3. She was a little bit crazy, and Ember kinda dug that about her. Made her a lot of fun to hang out with.
"Thanks Kitty." Ember told her sincerely with a smile, the two sharing a small hug.
"Alright, but Johnny's bike isn't gonna fit all four of us…" Kitty hummed, looking thoughtful. Ember grinned.
"Oh no worries, I'll pick up the tempo to keep pace." Ember chuckled, letting a small riff play on her guitar that pulled a pair of eighth notes big enough for Ember to sit on and pull Youngblood up with her.
"Hang on kiddo~" Ember told him, grinning as Johnny and Kitty gave them a grin in return.
"Race ya there, sister." Johnny called before taking off. Ember scoffed and nudged Youngblood.
"Could you imagine what a poor sap his sister would be?" She teased before letting loose a quick riff on her guitar that sent them barreling after the two as Youngblood laughed at the thought, in better spirits now that the three recognized as adult ghosts had a plan.
——————
Danny was aimlessly wandering the streets, looking around for a good way to tell where he was so he could figure out his next move.
It was getting late, and therefore cold, and Danny didn't have a jacket or anything. Luckily with his core being what it was he didn't tend to get sick from the cold anymore, and it didn't pierce him as badly either.
After all, it seemed no matter how cold things were around him, he could make it colder.
Still, it was a mildly annoying feeling and he'd rather be warm, and besides, he had to both check if his card actually worked wherever he was at and get a bit of a perk up since he was pretty tired between trying to finish that stupid essay for Lancer and taking care of the two ghosts that had decided to annoy him.
So, he stopped in at a coffee shop.
He waited patiently in the line, happily ordering a large latte that contained so much sugar and caffeine most people would be afraid for his health.
Yet, to his puzzlement, this woman seemed to give a small grin and a nod before going to make it for him, muttering something about how caffeine addicts must be trying to match now? Danny didn't quite get it but, hey, if he wasn't gonna get asked a million and one health safety questions before getting his drink then it didn't feel like he cared enough to pry.
He happily left with his drink after the card did in fact go through, giving him a little comfort that at least he hadn't seemed to travel dimensions, and if he had somehow travelled in time it was to a period where Vladdy still had a bunch of money to keep a card like this afloat.
As he drank his coffee and warmed, still walking around and looking for clues as to his location (and really it did look like such a familiar location didn't it?) he started noticing other things that sent a shiver down his spine.
Now, Amity was covered in ectoplasmic energy. It was part of the reason people in Amity were built different in terms of ghosts.
Danny wasn't sure if when he opened the portal it just let loose that MUCH of the stuff, or if his parents were right and the place had always just had a pretty natural affiliation with the ghost zone that allowed making the portal to be so easy.
But, either way, when he had gotten the ability to feel ambient ecto levels beyond just when a ghost is near, he had realized few places if any had a lot of ecto like Amity.
And when they did?
It usually wasn't for benign reasons.
And the reason why he didn't notice this place's ecto levels until now? Well that would be because it was almost on par with Amity. He didn't originally feel a problem because the levels had BARELY shifted and since everything else was so much different his brain focused on that first.
But now that his brain was awake and humming, it definitely caught his attention, along with the painful fact that this ecto was *not* just dripping from the zone like Amity's was.
No, this was being created in the human realm.
From ghosts being born from violent, tragic means.
The thought was enough to make Danny move off the sidewalk towards the wall of a building for a second to steady himself.
Okay….Place with a lot of violent crime….gothic architecture….God, it was the tip of his tongue-!
But his thoughts were pulled away by the sounds of muffled screams and rustling in the alley next to him. He blinked and turned to the alley, peeking in and feeling his poor core thrum as he saw a woman being gagged and tossed to the ground by a man with a knife.
protect save protect
Well, yeah sure he WANTED to even without his core tugging at him, but this wasn't a ghost. This was a human criminal. A PERSON. And not a ghost hunter, or awful government agent.
He'd never fought a real criminal before.
And this wasn't his haunt anyways, what if some other ghost was offended by him trying to muscle in and protect a person here?
….but then he watched the guy bring the knife towards the struggling woman, the thing glinting ever so slightly as it caught a bit of light from the street lamps outside the dark alleyway, and suddenly Danny's reasons were gone, diving behind a dumpster to hide himself from sight as two familiar rings of light moved over his form.
He flew over then, grabbing the robber by the back of his shirt collar and moving him away before the knife could get any closer to the poor woman, holding him like a kitten in the air.
"Hey, when they say you need a will of steel and a sharp eye to make it in the city, I don't think this is what they meant my guy." He quipped to the mugger, looking to the woman and motioning for her to get out of here as she gave a shaky nod, running out of the alley as Danny smiled softly, his core thrumming happily in his chest at the good job he did.
Hmm, well that wasn't too ba-
The thought was cut short by the slice to his arm making him drop the guy in surprise.
Oh, right, knife. Shoulda taken that away a little sooner. Or at least paid more attention to it for intangibility's sake.
"Okay, OW." Danny grumbled, "You know when people say 'you're a cut up' this also isn't usually what they mean." He grumbled, lucky the knife hadn't done TOO much damage, though the green dripping slowly out of his arm might have something to say about that.
"What the hell?! People like you aren't supposed to be allowed in Gotham!" The guy growled, still brandishing his knife.
Danny opened his mouth for a witty retort, but it died on his tongue as he processed what the guy had said.
Gotham?
Gotham.
He was in Gotham.
——————
"Danny, check this out!" Sam had said, showing him some cool looking buildings with gargoyles and real gothic architecture.
"Wow, that's a lot of gargoyles. Wait-that one in the background of that shot is the same as the one earlier…are these all in the same place?" Danny wondered, brows knitted together.
"Yeah! Gotham, it's a city in New Jersey. Of course not EVERY building is bathed in this beautiful architecture sadly, but there are a LOT, more than most cities." Sam said with a grin that then faltered, "I've been there a few times because unfortunately the other thing Gotham is teeming in is rich people…my parents keep dragging me to Gotham parties and trying to set me up with 'eligible young men'."
"Really? Even though you have 'no more interest in the gender as a whole'?" Tucker teased with a grin, Sam smirked and gave a shrug.
"What can I say? Danny ruined men for me."
"Oh haha." He'd said, as he rolled his eyes with a smirk, "But seriously, these buildings are beautiful. Maybe we should go see them sometime." They had been talking about trying to take a trip together under the radar using the ghost zone….Danny was pretty sure if they could find Wulf he'd tear a portal for them. His friends gave each other a bit of a look then had turned back, shaking their heads.
"Yeah, that's a bad idea. Much as I would love a first hand look at all that juicy new Wayne Tech, Rich people and gothic architecture aren't the only thing the place is crawling with. Violent crimes are HIGH in Gotham, Danny. Not exactly the best vacation spot." Tucker told him with a small shrug.
"Um? Hello? Ghost powers?" Danny had pointed out, "I doubt they have anyone as bad as Pariah Dark in Gotham."
"Maybe, but they do have tons of supervillains. And the resident hero that's taking care of them? Doesn't want powers in the city." Sam pointed out in return, causing Danny to blink and look back at the pictures.
He could only think of one hero that would make that demand.
"Oh, so this is where Batman lives then, right?"
"Yeah."
"Yup."
"Gotcha. I'll make a note of it." Danny said with a chuckle, "Though I doubt the day's ever gonna come where I find myself in Gotham for no reason."
———————
Yeah, that sounds about right.
That was his luck.
The guy had tried to lunge at him with a knife while he was remembering the conversation from a year or so ago, wondering why he didn't take an actual note now that it was relevant, but Danny was smart enough to have his Intangibility going this time so the knife passed right through him, pulling him back to the present moment as the guy looked at him in shock. Danny sighed, quickly grabbing the guy's wrist and forcing him to drop the knife.
"Alright, well I guess I should probably thank you for the information, but…" Danny grinned mischievously, "I've been known to not have the best manners."
It was about a second later that he had the guy tied up in his own jacket, dusting off his hands.
Alright, well he couldn't leave the guy here…Batman or no, he wasn't gonna just leave this guy here and hope the law or one of the several birds or bats came across his little knife wielder. Nah, invisibility outta let him deliver this guy to a police station just fine without major incident.
So, he picked the guy up, turned invisible, and flew off towards the police station.
———————
Tim wasn't 100% sure what he'd just seen.
He had been on patrol when he'd seen a flash of bright light coming from a nearby alleyway.
His first thought had been gunfire, but he'd realized no noise had come from the alley to support this claim so he'd gone to check it out, peering down from the top of a building.
"Hey, when they say you need a will of steel and a sharp eye to make it in the city, I don't think this is what they meant my guy."
The joke was so bad for a second Tim wondered if Dick was visiting.
But the sight before him was definitely not his oldest brother, instead being a guy of about 18 years of age if Tim had to make a bet, with snow white hair and glowing green eyes floating in mid air.
A meta, he had to be. It wasn't impossible to see one in Gotham-his other brother Duke was an easy example-but they weren't common since it was well known that Batman had a distaste for them in his city.
Not that he had made it an actual rule like many seemed to think-come on, seriously how did people reconcile Signal with that idea?-but it was true that he didn't like other heroes butting into Gotham, and it was true that he wasn't a fan of people with powers he didn't know about running around the city.
He just preferred to know what was going on if Tim was being honest, and having people with powers running around the town was a big X factor that made him uneasy-likely why when the rumor started going around Batman made no moves to correct it.
If a variable wanted to take itself out of the equation all the better, Tim supposed.
Which is why it was so odd to see the floating meta in what looked to be a thin hazmat suit with an emblem on the chest to suggest he was a hero. Even the metas that DID reside in the city wouldn't risk Batman's ire by just deciding to go hero like this…
Tim frowned as he saw the other get cut, about to step in before he saw the other bleeding…
….Bleeding green .
A shade of green that was fairly familiar if Tim thought about it, which he was trying very hard not to.
"Okay, OW." The boy grumbled, sounding entirely too flippant about the large wound on his arm that was dripping blood for Tim to be comfortable, "You know when people say 'you're a cut up' this also isn't usually what they mean."
H…How was he jokIng with a wound like that?
Yeah, Tim had seen that behaviour before, but usually from robins, or other people who had lots of experience with heroics and really bad injuries.
….Was this not the kid's first time?
"What the hell?! People like you aren't supposed to be allowed in Gotham!"
This seemed to catch the guy's attention finally, whatever snark he was about to shoot back dying on his tongue as gears seemed to turn in his head.
It was then apparent to Tim that this guy had no idea where he was up until this moment.
Which sent Tim on another spiral of how someone ends up in fucking GOTHAM of all places without knowing.
The guy lunged at him again and Tim was seriously about to jump down yet again since the guy seemed to still be lost in thought and was yet again making no moves to dodge the knife being aimed at him, but this time…
The knife went through him.
Tim blinked.
Density shifting…? And flight?
Before Tim could hardly get those thoughts together the guy had snapped out of his thoughts and made the mugger drop the knife.
"Alright, well I guess I should probably thank you for the information, but…I've been known to not have the best manners."
And for the third time during the last what must have only been five minutes Tim SWEARS he was about to jump down in the alley out of worry that the guy was about to try and kill this guy or something-but instead he just…watched him tie the guy up with his own jacket and then yoink him and vanish.
Leaving Tim where he was now, standing on the roof in complete bewilderment.
He finally raised a hand towards his ear.
"Oracle? Did you see any of that?" He wondered, voice quiet.
"Hmm? No, sorry Tim I wasn't watching your feed…." Oracle said, "What's wrong?"
"I….well, I think you should watch it and get back to me when you're done. I'm gonna sit down for a second." Tim said, utterly baffled for a moment by what he supposed was the new case fate had dropped in his lap.
"After that, I'm contacting Batman."