Chapter 7: Deeper Underground
- - Then - -
The stars above Gotham had always been so hard to trace on most nights. The air and light pollution plus the cloudy autumn sky didn't help at all. Danny could have moved to any other place in the country, but he had to pick New Jersey for some reason. Sure, that reason had more to do with the opportunity to work with a leading tech company like Wayne Enterprises, plus the subtle presence of ambient ectoplasm that was enough to keep his core happy.
He had adjusted his telescope for the umpteenth time that night, looking for a more comfortable position to wait for the potential sight of the Dimorphos asteroid, which would pass relatively close to Earth, an exciting event he didn't want to miss for anything. Too bad something had happened close to Arkham, since a large cloud of smoke threatened to keep the sky out of view.
Danny didn't want to have to transform and fly above the clouds to see this unique event. The risk of raising any of Batman's alarms or even being on the Justice League's radar didn't seem worth the trouble.
On the other hand, he wouldn't have a chance to see this ever again. And Clockwork wasn't an easy ghost to bribe to find a timeline where Danny could enjoy the show.
Ugh, this was so unfair.
As he sighed in frustration, Danny heard a soft grunt close to his hiding spot. Which was odd. He had picked a secluded rooftop with little illumination to avoid being bothered by anyone. It could be a cat. Or a bird?
Danny followed the sound around the roof until he saw what caused it.
Oh.
It was a bird alright. Red Robin, if he recalled correctly. He had never seen any of the heroes so close despite living there for over a year now.
Worry began to color his features as he noticed the large gash by Red Robin's abdomen, bleeding profusely onto the rooftop's concrete. "Shit," Danny muttered and moved quickly towards the vigilante.
Right, he had to assess the problem.
The guy was definitely unconscious, his grapple hook still in his open hand. Had he been trying to get away from whoever did this? What if he was being followed?
Danny then heard the faint sound of distant footsteps approaching their spot. There was an odd presence to them he couldn't quite read. Was it one of the Bats? Or his pursuers? Whoever these guys were, they were trying to be deadly quiet, which didn't fool Danny's enhanced senses. Knowing this could spell bad news, he turned the hero and himself invisible, tapping at the last minute into his intangibility as well.
A moment later, two people who reminded him of ninjas walked stealthily to their location, only stopping to stare at the drops of blood left by the hero before searching around them for any sign of the vigilante's whereabouts.
The wound had been worrying. Danny needed to get these guys away.
Picking up the grapple hook from Red Robin's hand, Danny created an invisible duplicate to throw these guys off. The duplicate Phantom flew to a nearby rooftop and activated the grapple hook, the distant sound making the two attackers perk up and go in pursuit.
They wanted to catch the bird? Danny could give them a wild goose chase.
Once the danger was gone, the half-ghost released the hold on his intangibility and invisibility at once. The hero on the floor reappeared and Danny could finally take a closer look. He looked no younger than Danny. The dark bangs on his face were wet. Oh, blood. Coming from another gash running into his eyebrow and cutting part of his mask. Maybe even his eye. The left side of said domino mask looked a mixture of black, white, and red.
The injury on the side of his abdomen was much worse, like it had been made by a sharp object, probably one of the swords the two attackers had on their belts, the slice too clean on his uniform. Danny should probably stop that first.
"Re— —bin,—copy?" a voice far away put Danny on high alert as he pressed the hero's side gently, using ghostly ice to stop the bleeding and hopefully save enough time to take him somewhere else to be fully patched up. He only hoped the whole display of his powers tonight wouldn't come to bite him in the ass later. After all, there were stories going around that Batman did not appreciate powered people in his city.
"Ti— Plea— —pond!" the voice continued and Danny finally realized it had to come from a communicator on RR. He tentatively moved his head next to the hero's ear, to see if he could pick up anything, but the sounds were becoming harder to understand.
Oh. Of course, he had gone intangible and that always managed to mess up devices that weren't ectoplasm-proof. Which probably meant the Bats were already on their way to save their teammate. If Danny wanted to get out of there with whatever hope for secrecy he still had intact, he would have to help this vigilante much faster.
Moving perhaps too fast, Danny rushed to pick up his backpack and took out the small first aid kit from it. For once he was glad he had packed at least the basics, which he hoped were enough to help Red Robin for now. Since the ice would help accelerate the healing process of the injury on his side, he decided the first course of action would be to check the gash on his face while the ice worked its literal magic.
The domino mask was already half-destroyed, and wouldn't allow him to work on cleaning the wound efficiently. That would imply having to remove it. Danny winced at the thought.
What were his options here?
He could, A, leave the guy to his own devices and wait for any of the Bats to check on him, except they were all probably working on whatever happened at Arkham and could take too long.
(Which begged the question, what was Red Robin doing so far from where trouble was? Who were the people following him? Had they really meant to finish the job or just weaken him to take him away?)
Option B, fly him to a clinic and hope that he wasn't outed as a "meta" (oh, how he hated that term) and that Red Robin didn't catch a cold if he took off all of his gear to make him pass as a random civilian.
Or C… face the consequences of unmasking a Robin, brace himself for Batman's wrath, but potentially save this dude's life.
The fallen hero's life essence felt weak. Danny didn't know how he knew it but there was no time to dwell on what was best for this Robin. "I'll probably regret this," he muttered as his fingers touched the mask.
There was a spark of electricity, probably a protection mechanism. "Fuck," he whispered as he nursed his fingers. While it didn't really hurt him, the shock didn't bring back good memories either. With a slight use of his ice powers, he froze his own fingers to lift a corner of the mask, getting a good hold of it and turning it intangible to remove it.
The unmasked face of Red Robin met him now. It looked somewhat familiar but Danny tried not to think too hard about that. Golden rule and all that. His face was half-covered with dirt and blood, the visible gash looked as clean as the injury by his abdomen, probably made with the same weapon.
Danny's blue eyes lingered on the face again. The guy definitely looked around his age, if he had to take a guess. The smoothness of his uninjured skin didn't look like that of a seasoned vigilante. There was a hint of dark circles under his eyes, which Danny was totally familiar with.
Right, focus. The gash.
He took out a few items from the first aid kit to start cleaning the wound, hoping to avoid hurting the eye that would definitely stay swollen for at least a couple of days.
"Sorry, man, gotta clean that up so you don't look like Red Goblin. Get it? Because of the bumpy brow? No?" Danny sighed when the silence persisted. "Wow, tough crowd, huh?" The stranger under his care remained unconscious, motionless.
Danny finished cleaning the nasty-looking wound and realized it only went from the eyebrow to the cheek. He would only need to patch up the eyebrow and hope that was enough for now. He wouldn't dare do stitches even if Red Robin needed them. He'd probably ruin what was already a perfect face.
Nope.
Nope, nope, nope… no fawning over a stranger-vigilante. Especially not while he's out of commission.
As he finished covering the cut on RR's face, the Phantom duplicate suddenly returned to him, grapple hook in hand. At least the attackers had been led closer to the Bats working around Arkham and then disappeared to avoid being caught. That should at least give Danny enough time to start on the bigger wound, in case they wanted to check this place again.
Switching his focus to RR's abdomen, Danny allowed the ice to slowly melt. He hoped that had done the trick to both stop the bleeding and start the healing process. It was one of the nice tricks Frostbite had taught him as soon as his powers started to mature. It had been extremely handy with his friends and Jazz whenever they helped during patrol, back when ghosts were a big issue. Especially at the beginning of his reign as King Phantom when his opponents hadn't taken his new leadership in stride.
So many things had happened since then. And look at him now! Working as the Florence Nightingale of fallen heroes from the looks of it. Danny only hoped it didn't become a trend. Although Danny Nightingale had a nice ring to it…
The larger wound didn't look as deep, so maybe it had begun to heal a bit. Danny still needed to find a way to stitch it, but the suit would be a problem. He would need to take off part of his armor, which seemed as invasive as taking away the mask.
The suit looked too complex compared to his Phantom hazmat suit; probably made of kevlar or something as durable. Maybe not resistant enough to keep whatever did this from cutting through the material, but enough to make it hard to find a way to remove it. Maybe if he phased the whole thing, thought that would definitely raise too many questions. Or he could—
A metallic sound broke Danny from his thoughts. He turned to its source and noticed what looked like a different grapple hook and a gloved hand on the ledge, climbing to his location.
Wait, grapple hooks always meant Gotham's vigilantes nearby. Danny wouldn't have time to turn everything invisible—the injured hero, the scattered first aid supplies, the mask... The mask!
Danny was so dead.
Thinking fast, he let the rest of the ice disappear without a trace, placing the gauze in his hands on top of the wound to stop any bleeding and at least pretend to have saved the guy that way.
The person climbing the ledge came into full view, the red helmet a dead giveaway of who this was. There was also an odd sensation in Danny's core. Something familiar.
"The fuck…?" Red Hood's modulated voice muttered.
Danny panicked. He hadn't seen a single vigilante up close before, and now he saw two? And in the worst circumstances, even. He tried to keep a low-key healing touch on Red Robin as his co-worker, ally, acquaintance, or whatever got closer. Red Hood was as threatening as Danny had always pictured him.
But why did the dude feel so…wrong?
Hood raised one of his guns and walked towards Danny and RR. "Shit," he exclaimed once he was closer, probably staring at the wound and the blood.
"I found him like this," Danny said as calmly as he could, while he could feel the wrongness so close to him, almost toxic, making him falter. The half-ghost turned his head around to gesture at the hard-to-reach location. "I'd take him to the hospital, but it's kinda hard to get down from this place with an unconscious hero."
The tank of a man standing, no, towering over them, pointed a gun at Danny's head. While Danny was sure he could dodge the proverbial and literal bullet equally, he didn't like the idea of proving that to a well-known crime lord.
One who reeked of death and rotten ectoplasm, no less.
"What the fuck did you do to him?" the modulated voice asked again.
Danny scowled. "Duh, I'm helping him, see?" he motioned with one bloody hand to the first aid kit and the fallen hero, hoping it was all clear.
Instead of replying, or even lowering his gun, Red Hood pressed the side of his helmet. "O, Red's hurt and out of commission. Needs aerial extraction."
Danny raised an eyebrow. How could this guy use his comms without his weird ectoplasmic situation affecting them? Or was it just one of Danny's particular oddities screwing things up for him?
"He's been compromised," Red Hood said after a beat in what sounded like a darker tone.
Oh. Right. The mask.
Danny sighed. "Look—"
The vigilante suddenly picked him up from the back of the collar of his t-shirt and tossed him a few feet away from Red Robin. Danny grunted from the impact and the indignation of being manhandled. The nerve!
Red Hood used the opportunity to get closer to his unconscious partner, checking for a pulse, and inspecting the wound without disturbing it. Danny would bet there were scans involved in the process if the distant beep he heard from Hood's helmet meant anything.
The armed man picked up Red Robin's mask and returned his attention to Danny, the barrel of the gun suddenly pointed in his direction. "How did you remove it?" Hood ground out.
"I don't know. It was barely stuck on the guy," Fenton protested (and lied). "For what it's worth, I have no idea who he is, ok?"
Red Hood walked closer to Danny, each step threatening, his weapon still focused on the apparent civilian who was still sitting on the floor. Once the barrel of his gun was too close for comfort, Danny allowed some of his own menacing aura to seep through, probing the weird sensation Red Hood was giving him. It seemed to work from the looks of Hood's tense shoulders.
"Shouldn't you go take care of your friend?" Danny tested.
The vigilante was either too stubborn or unaffected by Danny's slight ghost intimidation tactic if the way he gripped his weapon was any indication. "Here's the deal, uh," Hood paused and Danny figured he wanted his name.
"Danny," he mumbled.
"Right, Danny, you're going to explain everything that happened until the big, bad Bat gets here to pick up his broken bird."
Blue eyes rolled in annoyance. "Explain. You mean, like I was just doing before you threw me like a rag-doll and threatened me?"
"Don't test my patience, Danny. You're on thin fucking ice," the vigilante growled but it lacked the bite it had mere minutes ago.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Hood, sir," Danny said sarcastically. "I'd hate to freeze to death in your analogy."
Danny knew getting on the vigilante's nerves wouldn't be wise, but he had every right to be a little shit to the man who attacked him without a good reason. Apparently, civilians weren't the only ones who were ungrateful to those who were trying to help.
"Talk." The modulated voice sounded more annoyed than before, which could count as a win in Danny's book now.
The half-ghost sighed and sat in a more comfortable position on the floor. "Right. So, I was minding my own business, you know, trying to see if the sky cleared. I heard a noise and then I saw this guy—," he pointed at Red Robin, "—unconscious here. I stopped the bleeding, patched him up, and then got threatened by this jerk in a red—"
"Watch it, asshole."
Danny smirked at the rise he got from Hood. "Well, anyway, that's the story. What else do you want to know, oh, your highness, sir crime lord?"
"Smart ass," the bigger man muttered before returning to his comms. "O, did you find who it was?" There was some tense silence, interrupted only by an angry, low huff from Hood. "And our POI?" Another pause and Danny wanted to roll his eyes. What was he, a hostage now, forced to stay as the masked detectives connected the dots they could see?
"Fenton, huh?" Hood said after a moment, making Danny sigh as he waved goodbye to what little privacy he hoped he still had.
"Sorry, my pal, I'm sure you're not my type," he snarked if only to irk the gun-toting hero.
Before Red Hood could (probably) glare behind his helmet at Danny, the air shifted as something hovered above them. The lights surrounding the nearby rooftops flickered until they lost power completely, probably a way to keep whatever was above them out of everyone's view. It looked like a sleek black aircraft, barely visible against the dark night sky.
But Danny's half-ghost eyes were perfectly capable of seeing the helicopter-sized plane. There was something about the way the wings curved to the back that reminded him of a giant creature preying in the shadows, instead of the tactic vehicle some jet-set vigilante managed to build.
In fact, now that he thought about it, its design looked like something so advanced and elegant that Danny could perfectly picture it coming out of the Wayne Aerospace division, where he did his internship during the summer. The shape of that fuselage… he'd definitely seen that particular blueprint before.
In an instant, THE Batman dropped down from some access point below the plane, his cape flowing around him as he landed gracefully on the roof. The look on the man's face was dark, or darker in any case, definitely focused on the mission at hand, giving off an imposing aura that had the Ghost King stand by fully alert.
The fanboy part of Danny, on the other hand, was not staring. His jaw definitely didn't drop in awe.
The Dark Knight moved so swiftly to where his fallen protégé remained unconscious and whispered something Danny couldn't quite hear. Red Hood continued to keep an eye (and a gun) trained on him, which would probably make any movement to get closer seem hostile to the two vigilantes.
"Red Hood, we're done here," Batman's deep voice, seasoned with gravel and smog, called from Red Robin's side.
"I don't follow your orders, old man," Hood barked in response.
Danny didn't need to see this drama. He had had enough of that with the other Red-themed huntress back in Amity Park when they were reckless teens.
Batman carried Red Robin in his arms, making the younger hero look so small and fragile in comparison that it made Danny's gut twist in concern. Would the guy be alright? If something happened to him, would Danny ever find out?
Would he hate Danny for taking off his mask?
Whatever happened to RR once they left this rooftop, Danny knew one thing for certain. He would never, ever escape Batman's scrutiny and ire from now on. The half-ghost couldn't exactly admit he had used his unique abilities to save the hero from those ninja-like attackers or to kickstart his healing process and keep him from bleeding to death. So that left, what? Playing as a dumb civilian who had tried to put gauze over a wound he hadn't cleaned up yet, but not before taking off his mask to clean another smaller injury.
After some disagreements between the two growling vigilantes, mostly in a non-verbal fashion, they left the scene on the stealthy jet (Batjet? Batplane? Batwing?), not without leaving Danny with an important threat.
Red Hood stood tall and menacing in front of Danny, the gun aimed again at his face. "If I hear from you ever again, if you make even the tiniest mistake, or decide to spill any secrets you came across, I will personally hunt. You. Down."
Danny wanted to laugh. As if he hadn't had enough threats against his pelt before. He opted for the silent nod in response and even allowed himself to look smaller and defenseless. At least until they finally left him alone. Not likely, considering their not-so-subtle trackers and all the information they probably already had on him.
What a mess...
If there wasn't any reason to lay low before, now it was crucial for his survival in this city. He really liked his career, thank you very much. It shouldn't be too hard, right? At least he had enough experience from being the clumsiest kid in Casper High to play the part.
- - Now - -
Danny's mission face was one Tim didn't recall ever seeing before. There was a transformation that went beyond the rings of light Danny had shown him earlier. It was the way he stood, suddenly straighter. The position of his shoulders, prepared to throw a punch if needed. The intense look in his eyes, a slight glimmer of green allowed his ghostly nature to seep through, not to mention the look of concentration when he turned to focus on tasks and actions.
It was exciting, like finding a new layer of his favorite mystery unfolding and opening up before his eyes. Tim still had so much to learn and he was ready for this ride.
"Uh, we could take the Specter Speeder and you could wait there while I talk with the council," Danny said while he looked around the lab, as if trying to find something that sparked a plan out of nowhere.
Tim knew how terrible the Amity Parker was at those, usually improvising, diving headfirst with a vague last-minute idea that somehow worked. Or at least that's how many of their dates had turned out. Like never looking for reservations with enough time ahead, as Tim usually did; or not planning what to bring in his bags for a trip, always packing at the last minute.
The many plans Tim came up with usually allowed him to have a clearer view of his ins and outs, his limitations, and his opportunities; in a sense, the bigger picture. So it made sense he now felt eager to jump at the chance of building a strategy for their current issue.
Maybe this team-up could help them learn more from each other's styles.
Or fail miserably in the process.
First, he needed to assess correctly his boyfriend's mood, to see where to go from there.
"Danny, are you still nervous?" Tim decided to ask.
The guy in question stopped his umpteenth walk around the lab, usually looping back to what looked like the weapons vault, which remained unopened. "What?" Danny replied furrowing his brow. "No? What makes you think that?"
Tim sighed. "Starlight, you're pacing and haven't given me a single hint of a plan." He paused when he saw Danny hesitate. "Are you still doubting I can take care of myself when we go into the Ghost Zone?"
"Infinite Realms," Danny automatically corrected.
Tim stared at him in confusion. "What?"
"Sorry, I just thought you should know that's the official name." Danny gave him a sheepish smile. "Well, no. Actually, the official name is—" he made some horrifying noises that felt like nails on a blackboard, "—but Infinite Realms is the closest English name."
There was a beat and Tim raised a doubtful eyebrow.
Blue-green eyes turned to the floor. "Ghost Zone is fine," Danny finally muttered. "But no, it's not that I'm doubting you or anything."
"Then what is it?" Tim asked again, trying to be patient. True, they had no hurry to leave. There was no imminent danger as long as the ghost shield was turned on around the house. But Tim's eagerness had labeled this situation as a mission he needed to solve, and he was itching to go into Red Robin mode.
Danny covered his face for a moment, before showing Tim his most comically mortified look yet. "It's…boring, okay? There. I said it," he exclaimed, releasing a breath of relief as he threw his hands up. At Tim's confusion, Danny crossed his arms. "Look, the Ghost Council is the least exciting thing in the Realms. Honest!"
"Danny—" Tim tried to interject with a warm smile.
"You're going to think my role as King of all Ghosts is so lame, and I don't think I can handle that," the half-ghost confessed with a final huff.
It was amusing, but also refreshing in a way. This was another of Danny's acts: comic relief. Just like his incompetent civilian role. Or his shy Midwesterner façade. Tim was starting to notice more and more all the tiny little differences between Danny being fully himself and Danny shying away from his otherworldliness.
Tim smiled fondly and put an arm around Danny's shoulders. "Space case, you're just trying to convince me to stay here. But you forget bureaucracy doesn't scare me when I have to deal with board meetings all the time. And B's extensive protocols."
They stared into each other's eyes for a moment; Tim's grin triumphant; Danny's look resigned. "Alright, you win, birdie," the ghostly hero said with half an eye-roll. "I'm guessing you want to make a whole plan and get the full brief of what we're up against."
In lieu of an answer, Tim stared at a whiteboard by the wall, which marked the results of some experiment. Its numbers and scribbles seemed easy to replicate if they needed to keep it up later. He pulled out his phone to take a picture and save its contents in an image. "Your folks won't mind if I erase this, right?" he asked before he looked for something to remove the marker on the board, settling for his hand as a makeshift eraser when he noticed the cloth nearby had a strange green glow.
A snort came from behind him as Danny approached. "I know my dad's all awkward and lovable, but you definitely don't want to make my mom mad for messing with her work. Trust me."
Tim's hand paused as he erased the last line of marker, giving Danny a look that said 'you're shitting me.'
Danny responded with a smug smile that said 'don't say I didn't warn you.'
"I'll…apologize later," Tim mumbled and picked up a marker. "Alright, let's set up our strategy."
"Holy shit, wait," Danny said as his eyes grew wide with awe. "I just realized something. This is officially the closest I've been to working with the Bats."
Tim laughed so loud at the expression on his face, the outburst almost making his stomach hurt. "You are such a dork," he said between chuckles. "You technically worked with us when you saved me from, you know—"
"Death?" Danny deadpanned. He then leaned in with a half-lidded look and a mischievous smile. "I dunno, you still ended up in the arms of the dead, you know?"
Something in that simple phrase made Tim's heart feel fuller, warmer. Like he was finally allowed to pry into something new in Danny's life. The besotted smile on Tim's lips was apparently something Danny hadn't expected, if the shift to a sheepish look was any indication.
"Well, I did say I was dead tired, remember? We make a good match, then," Tim added.
Danny gave him a goofy grin in return. "Birdie, we're being dangerously corny. Say the word and we'll do the visit to the Realms another day."
The offer was tempting, really. Instead of opening a metaphorical Pandora's Box and going into a new dimension (for Tim, at least), they could stay and figure out all the other details Danny probably skipped in his haste.
But if there was something the Gotham hero preferred over going down the rabbit hole of ghost-related information, it was to explore and get more insight straight from the source.
He bopped Danny's nose with the marker in his hands. "Right. And then we'll just hope no ghost comes to attack us from a different portal in Amity Park."
Danny sighed. "All work and no play?" He turned around and grabbed a stool from the nearest workstation to take a seat like some kind of attentive student. "So, what's this plan you had in mind?"
"A strategy," Tim corrected.
"It's the same," Danny retorted.
"Strategy and planning are not the same, trust me," Tim said in a voice that left no room for argument, making his boyfriend huff. Ignoring the reaction, Tim continued looking at the blank space he would soon fill with notes. He began writing a column with facts, listing what they had already learned about the potential test. "So, from what we know—"
"Birdie, honey," Danny interrupted as Tim finished writing 'Royal Protocols' in a different section, getting up from his seat and moving closer to the strategist to lower his hand from the whiteboard. "We'll be here for hours if you want me to tell you everything I know. Or even just a CliffsNotes version of what we can expect of ghost politics alone."
Tim eyed him curiously. While this was technically Danny's territory, there was no indication that he knew how to go about this when it came to taking Tim with him. Unless Danny was really good at schooling his features and already had a plan in mind. "So, what do you suggest?"
Danny considered this for a moment. "Look, the Observants are very strict with their rules. So, yeah that's an important part to consider. If there's anything that says there's a process to choose my…partner? Companion?"
"Consort?" Tim supplied, making a face. "No, what do you call it when there's no marriage involved?"
Danny's cheeks were tinged a deeper shade of red than Tim had ever seen on him before. "We can, uh, figure out the terms later," Danny replied and shook his head slightly. "Right, so, if there's a process, we'll just use their own wording to find a way out of it. But we need to figure out what that exact protocol is first."
"Looking for loopholes does seem totally on brand for you, starlight," Tim said with a fond smile. "It might be something they already expect from you, though."
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyes tracing invisible patterns in the air with the way they shifted distractedly. "You're onto something, birdie. They already know what to expect," he said, trailing off as he resumed his pacing. "Okay, so if it's worthiness what they want to determine, and there's an expected trial or test, they're probably preparing a specific and formal venue and occasion to pull it off. So, they won't expect us to actively look for the challenge." Danny stopped and turned to face Tim with a look filled with pure mischief. "And they won't expect you to fight your way out of it, either."
Tim perked up. "So, we're not having the meeting you mentioned?"
Danny's smile showed eagerness and purpose. Tim had only seen it when he had a prank in mind. Had that been his Phantom mindset showing back then? "Let's get you some gear first."
"See? We can find a way to work together," Tim added with a smile of his own, ready to show Danny what he was really capable of. He turned around and gestured to a wall littered with guns. "And you already have a basement full of weapons."
"You could say it's our own version of the Cave," Danny said with a cocky grin as he directed Tim towards the large closet near that wall, which probably contained the Fentons' ghost equipment.
Tim confirmed his suspicions when Danny opened its doors to reveal the metal-coated gear and weapons safely stored inside. After rummaging for a couple of seconds, Danny presented Tim with a metallic tube the size of his forearm and a belt, both colored with the same greenish accents as the rest of the weaponry.
"What's this?" Tim asked as he grabbed the items from Danny's hands. The belt felt too clunky on his waist as he put it over his black jeans. It looked odd without the many compartments he was used to wearing as Red Robin.
"That's the Specter Deflector," Danny explained, his hand pressing a button on the side of the belt's buckle. "It will shock any ghost who tries to touch you." He then reconsidered for a moment his explanation. "Well, all but me."
"And what's this?" Tim asked then, inspecting the… baton? It almost looked like one of Dick's escrima sticks, but thicker and with a more cyberpunk feel.
Danny closed his hand over Tim's, the baton underneath both horizontally. He pressed a small button on the cylindrical weapon and two lights burst suddenly by each side.
Tim's eyes widened at the sight. "You're telling me your parents basically made a dual-phase lightsaber?"
No, he was not showing his fanboy side.
There was a glint of pride in Danny's eyes. "It does kinda suit you, birdie. But no, it's the Fenton Boo-Staff. And yes, now you know where my puns come from."
Ignoring that last remark, and the weapon's name, Tim had to appreciate the staff was pretty sleek. He walked away from Danny, reaching a series of targets he spotted earlier on a wall opposite to the work tables. He moved the staff from side to side, twisting it expertly to test its weight. Once he found the balance he was looking for, he tried a couple of jabs, a few flips to hit the targets placed in the small training area, if it could be called that. Had Danny trained here as well?
While Tim's bo staff back at home was special, from when he trained with Lady Shiva, he could appreciate this alternative to face a different kind of foe. "Can I take this one to Gotham?" he asked with a wide grin.
His boyfriend rolled his eyes playfully. "You don't even have a ghost problem there, magpie. Trust me. I made sure." Which sounded more ominous than any of the previous things Danny had told him.
Tim tilted his head slightly to the side. "It's never a bad idea to be prepared, you know?"
"It would also be a dead giveaway if you go out with the Fenton logo," Danny replied with a grimace.
Tim turned the staff around and noticed the green logo he had seen in every other piece of tech the family developed. "Touché," he mumbled. Even if he was sure he could make a faithful copy that looked more suited for Red Robin, he didn't need to worry Danny right away about it.
That raised an important question. How much would he tell Bruce or the others about this? Did Jason know more about what was going on with Danny than what he let on? Had any of them suspected Danny but decided to follow the old family tradition of not communicating at all?
"You should also wear this," Danny's voice broke his train of thought. Tim turned to see a set of red-tinted goggles in his hands, similar to the ones he saw Maddie use. "It's the closest thing to a domino mask I could find."
A grateful smile later, Tim put the goggles on and noticed there was something different in the way he could see his surroundings. Everything but ectoplasm seemed to dull down, the foreign substance coming into focus when he turned to look at the tables with vials and experiments.
"I'm not getting a migraine if I use it in the Realms, right?" he asked warily.
Danny pressed a tiny button by the side of the right lens, giving the color scheme in the room the opposite effect now, with ectoplasm dulled against the original cold and metal tones in the lab.
"That can help you detect real world items while we're in there," Danny explained, getting a nod in response.
The Amity Parker then summoned the halo around his waist to transform into Phantom, making the temperature plummet and the way Tim perceived him with the goggles change once the light finished traveling across his body.
The ghostly hero floated a few inches above the ground, something Tim was now prepared to witness. "So, do you have any questions before I open the portal?" he asked in his echoey voice.
Tim was getting whiplash. Weren't they just building their strategy a minute ago? Danny had barely explained how the Fenton gear worked and he still knew nothing about what to expect on the other side of those huge doors. Was this the usual way he operated? No wonder Danny had only managed to stay half alive.
"Yeah. I have millions of questions," Tim replied, adjusting his goggles to see the differences with the new feature he was shown. "For instance, I have no idea what you can or can't do. It's a pretty big deal if we're working together."
Phantom lifted his feet to a sitting lotus position mid-air, as if gravity was only a mere suggestion he decided to ignore. "Alright, what are the main things you want to know?"
Red Robin put the Fenton Boo-Staff away, snapping it to a small clip he noticed on the back of his belt, and crossed his arms. "Can you at least tell me what kind of attacks ghosts can make?"
"Right," Phantom said with a nod. "So there are some standard ghost powers that might be good pointing out, so you're not caught off-guard by anyone in the Realms. Like… we can all walk through walls, disappear, fly—"
That got Tim's attention. "Wait, you don't just float? You can actually fly?"
Phantom smirked. "What, you thought I just made the temperature drop and make you feel like dying with my presence?"
Tim blinked at the last statement. Was that what he felt when he was shown the crown? He didn't want to dwell too much on that at the moment. "Alright, so you can do more than just wear a bedsheet," Tim continued and made Phantom snort. "Can you really beat Superman behind a Bat Burger, though?"
"Pfft. Please," his boyfriend replied while rolling his glowing green eyes.
Tim froze at the response. "Seriously?"
The other hero shook his white-haired head. "It's no big deal, don't worry about it. So, anyway, some ghosts can also—"
"No, Danny, wait," Tim interrupted, taking a moment to get the half-ghost's full attention. "What do you mean you can beat Superman? Just how strong are you?"
Danny looked away, the portal's door suddenly very interesting to stare at. "Oh. Just…the regular."
"The regular," Tim repeated in a monotone voice.
Phantom shrugged and gestured incomprehensibly to the portal. "Yeah, I just—ectoplasm is a really weird and complex thing, you know? So, about the other ghosts— "
"Danny," the Gothamite interrupted again.
"Birdie…" the ghost replied almost mockingly.
Tim raised an eyebrow, trying to look unimpressed. "Ghostie." Danny scrunched up his nose at the nickname given. "How can you beat Superman?"
The young king passed his gloved hand across his white bangs. "Look, to summarize, just know ectoplasm can have lots of uses and that things like mass density or gravity mean nothing when you can turn things intangible. And let's just say regular ghosts do pack a mean punch, so…"
Tim stared and Danny only gave him a pointed look. He was encouraging him to work through The provided information again. Fine.
So if mass density and gravity meant nothing, Danny could do so many things just by tapping into his intangibility. It was theorized that was why Clark was so strong: because Earth's gravity didn't affect him like it probably did in Krypton. But that didn't make Danny necessarily stronger, unless the ectoplasm just also gave him other qualities, maybe even the equivalent to an adrenaline boost? Or did being also human change any laws of physics for him? Giving him higher density than other ghosts. Combined with the other few powers he had learned ghosts usually had—
"Holy shit," Tim breathed.
Phantom tilted his head to stare at Tim, some nervousness visible. "Are you alright?"
Tim stared at Danny's muscles, at his glow, the way he could almost see through him. He said he had defeated a king who could send the whole town into a different dimension. Just how much could he do just with those basic powers alone?
"I'm just…surprised. That's all," he managed to say at last.
Phantom pulled his feet under him and stood firmly on the floor. Maybe it was his way of appearing more human to Tim, which he definitely could appreciate even if it wasn't necessary.
"Look, whatever you see or hear in the Ghost Zone, please trust me that I'm still the same. I'm still me, alright?" Danny pleaded.
Even if Danny was really stronger than Superman, or if he was impossible to defeat, or held the crown to rule a whole dimension using powers that filled those around him with dread, he was still the same guy who flustered at the slightest hint of flirting; or who made a pun in any chance he could get. Even if he could dent steel, he had always been soft and gentle even while holding Tim's hand firmly.
Tim couldn't help but smile fondly. "Yeah… You're still you, starlight."
Danny reciprocated the feeling with the soft look he gave Tim. He nodded and smiled as he approached the giant doors to open them using a panel next to them.
The thrill Tim felt around Danny was just beginning to take off. As the door opened, he stared in complete awe at the swirling green vortex greeting him, inviting them inside with a false sense of security Tim could recognize from the many times he was lured into a trap.
This looked so similar to the Lazarus pits, so wrong, so threatening, filling his senses with dread. Would something happen to him if he reached to the other side? Would he become filled with anger like Jason? Would he hang between life and death like Danny?
No, Danny wouldn't put him in that kind of danger. Tim trusted him that much.
Danny floated next to him, as Phantom, as the King of all Ghosts, with his fiery crown appearing over his head, casting a dangerous look on his expression. "Ready?"
Tim's smile grew almost twice as wide. Since when had he cowered in the face of danger? "You bet I am, your highness," he said in a teasing tone as he made a small bow towards his boyfriend.
Tim could definitely get used to the sight of someone so powerful reduced to a blushing mess.
"Just Danny is fine, you know?" the otherworldly vigilante mumbled before he took Tim's hand to fly them into a new world.