"Aww. Just look at these cheeks. I just can't seem to put you down," Dick said as he continuously pinched one of Bruce's little cheeks while holding the poor de-aged man on his hip. Bruce, for his own part, looked resigned to his fate and just let his first son pester him like it was nothing. He was reduced to only grunting in his usual hns and hms. They were mostly all gathered in one of the living rooms of the mansion.
"Damian and he really do look so much alike. Alfred must have been shocked when he saw the little twerp for the first time," Tim said while he, himself, was poking at Bruce's other cheek with a little smile on his face. Dick was happy to see he wasn't the only one that was not able to resist their de-aged father's current cuteness. Damian, who was sitting next to Duke on one of the sofas, scoffed at Tim's statement but his eyes were focused solely on Bruce in a determined manner. Dick couldn't decipher it and thought he may have to have a talk with Damian later.
"Darn it. The moment I get blinded is the moment something fun as this happens," Duke complained with a little pout. Dick felt bad for the guy but in a week he should be able to see properly so he won't fret over the poor guy for now.
"Don't worry. I got all the pics. I've sent them to your phone. You'll be able to see them once you're all better," Steph said before pocketing her phone then getting up from her seat and heading over to Dick, Bruce and Tim. Dick knew what she was trying to do so he held Bruce tighter much to Tim's irritation at being interrupted at annoying Bruce.
"Nuh uh, Steph. He's mine to carry around. First child rights," Dick said as he twirled away from her reach. Tim seemed to give up at that moment and made to sit where Steph had just gotten up from.
"Come on! Who knows how long this would last. Please? Pretty please?" Steph said with the cutest puppy dog eyes Dick had ever seen her make. Eventually, Dick relented and deposited child Bruce into Steph's arms. Steph squealed happily and walked away into the direction of Tim and the rest. She asked Tim to take a pic of her holding Bruce in several positions. On the hip, bridal, piggy back, Bruce was not exempt from any of it. Dick just stood a few feet from them, smiling at the way Bruce was being manhandled like the helpless kid he was. Not even Duke held back on teasing the poor man, child… whatever. You know what he means. He was glad they were able to find Bruce at the least. Safe and sound. Well, as safe as one can be in his state. Just as he was about to join the group in their shenanigans, a loud voice from behind caught his attention as the owner entered while wheezing.
"I came as soon as I could! Is it true!? Where's Bruce!?" Jason exclaimed, hands on his knees like he just ran a marathon to get here. Well, the house was big enough to be considered a marathon track.
"He's over there being pestered for all his social battery," Dick said as Jason made his way to stand next to him.
"Whoa. He really is tiny. Is he really seven now?" Jason asked with a hint of disbelief.
"Yup," Dick said. He crossed his arms as he watched Steph begin to take selfies with their poor father. He wondered what the man would do once he got back to his original form. That's if he ever did at all.
"You said in your text that he told you it was something that had to do with those… meta kids," Jason asked like he was trying to confirm something.
"Yeah, but I don't think they could be classified as metas anymore," Dick said as he turned to face Jason, who turned to face him too.
"Really, now?" Jason said with one of his poker faces he usually had during family game night, especially at a serious game of good ol' UNO. Dick could tell he was trying to act all ignorant about the little criminals he hosted at his house previously but Dick wasn't going to let it slide that easily.
"You know," Dick began, receiving a raised brow from Jason. "I have a feeling that you have met with those kids or at least, one of them more than once ever since I caught your little gathering a couple days ago," Dick stated.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jason replied coolly.
"Oh?" Dick nearly sneered at his younger brother. Still, Jason's expression didn't crack and that annoyed Dick to no end.
"By the way, what's wrong with Alfred? He looked totally distracted when I came by. He didn't even offer me anything once I walked past him with a greeting. He looked like he'd seen a ghost," Jason said in a way to distract Dick from the previous topic. It worked still. Dick couldn't help but remember how barely there Alfred looked once he came back with little Bruce in tow. It was Bruce that explained everything that went on through the day while Alfred just politely brushed past everyone, stating that he had some cleaning to do. He'd been too distracted by little Bruce to really think about it.
"I don't know. I thought he'd be here fussing all over little Bruce like a parent who just found their missing child of several years but he practically shoved Bruce into my arms and left to do God knows what," Dick answered with a sigh. He really should go see what was up with Alfred.
"Wanna go see how he is?" Jason said, like he could read Dick's mind.
"Yeah. Lead the way," Dick said with sagged shoulders and they were off to find the old butler.
After about twenty minutes of looking for the old man around the house in his usual cleaning places, they finally found him, handkerchief clenched tightly in his hands, staring blankly at the portrait of a young Bruce Wayne and his parent's, each one had a hand on the young boy's shoulders. Their faces warm and happy with content. A memory of a time long long forgotten and only accessed through memories.
"Alfie," Dick said as he laid a hand on the man's shoulder, breaking him out of the staring spell he was under.
"Oh my, Master Dick," Alfred said, astonished before turning to see Jason. "Master Jason. I hope all is well. Do you require my assistance with anything?" he tried to sound calm but the shakiness in his voice couldn't truly be disguised.
"What's wrong old man? Something got you spooked? And don't lie to us, we can tell there's something wrong," Jason said. Alfred's brow scrunched up like it rarely did and he seemed to stop breathing for a few minutes. Finally, he turned back to the big portrait and let out the held breath. He seemed to contemplate more on something before speaking up again.
"It's just… when I saw that young man with Master Bruce… I just… I… it really rattled me, young sires. It brought up some… memories I'd long since forgotten," Alfred said. His voice was so silent but filled with something so sad. This made Dick worry even more and he could see the same thing in Jason because his posture couldn't hide his emotion. He turned his attention back to Alfred who was still looking at the painting. He could tell there was something more to it but he wouldn't push the older man for now.
"Alright, Alfie. Let's just go make sure Bruce is alright and isn't suffering in the hands of those mongrels. Plus we need help persuading him to stay with someone for the night being. He said he wanted to stay alone like usual and I don't agree," Dick said with some enthusiasm, hoping to improve the butler's mood. Alfred finally tore his eyes away from the painting and looked at Dick.
"Oh dear. I do have to warn you. That may be an impossible task, even for me," Alfred said with little humor to his voice.
"We'll all combine our powers of persuasion and see if it makes a dent in that thick pride of his," Jason remarked with a grin. Alfred turned to him and gave a little smile.
"You'll be staying with us for the night right, Master Jason?" Alfred asked and Jason nodded.
"Yeah. Just this night," he answered and they all made their way back to the room where Bruce was being tortured.
There was still a little tension in the air but it was slowly being stifled by the humor Dick and Jason brought to distract the old man from his thoughts.
The night was cool and calm and everyone seemed to be asleep, well except Tim who was busy researching God knows what at the dead of night.
Bruce was in bed, sleeping calmer than usual, Superman plushie clenched tight in one of his little hands and she couldn't resist running her cold fingers through his hair soothingly. The man, still in child form, leaned more into her touch before she started speaking to his unconscious form.
"I remember when you used to look like this. So young. So fragile. I was barely sentient then," she said, giving a little chuckle at the end as she continued to stroke back his hair.
"M…mo..mother," he said with a little smile on his lips, causing her to pause and stare at his young features. He still held the plushie tight but his grip had loosened a bit.
"No Bruce… I'm not her. Not… not your mom," she said in a low whisper. His face relaxed but a small tear escaped one of his closed eyes and followed a path from his cheek to his ear. She quickly wiped away the tear and poked his nose. "Now, now. Don't be sad. You're too old to be using your tears like that," she said jokingly, though she couldn't tell if he could truly hear her.
"Mmmm," he said before he scrunched up his face like he ate something sour. She held back a little giggle and poked his nose again. This caused him to scrunch his face even more and this time she couldn't hold back a little laugh at that.
Once she was finally calm, she brushed the hair away from his forehead and placed a kiss on it. When she finally pulled back from the kiss, he was back to his grown self but still had that scrunched up expression on his face. She smoothed out the frown lines on his face with her hand and he finally let go of the expression to her relief. She'd have to pay William a visit and teach him more about his powers, if she was ready to meet the king at this time, she'd warn him about the amount of energy he could give any ghost, especially a long dead and already powerful ghost like William. But alas, she'd save that talk for later, when they truly meet.
She finally let go of the man before turning to leave but her hand was caught before she could do anything. That surprised her because she had never been held by a regular human before. But was Bruce Wayne a regular man?
"Mother…," he said once again, his eyes still closed. Good, he was at least still asleep. She slowly pulled her hand out of his grasp and softly placed it on his stomach.
"I'm not your mother, Bruce. Go to sleep. Sweet dreams," she said and if she had the ability to cry, she probably would do so by now. She faded into the night, leaving behind a man she'd once failed to protect in the past, burdened with his purpose of tomorrow.
It was simple.
All he had to do was meet the man who had so kindly left his number to him and requested a meeting after their initial encounter. Regardless of whether said man was an escaped detainee and currently wanted by the police and most definitely the Bats.
That didn't deter Micah Kellerman though. He had felt a peculiar attraction to Sean Gallagher A.K.A Spell Devil. He couldn't place exactly what it was. Maybe it was his sexual orientation as he originally thought but something like that doesn't mess with both your mind and body like that. In fact, he felt that there was more to it than he could even figure out.
You see, there has always been something that stirred inside him strangely and he could never place what it was. His mother always dismissed his concerns whenever he brought it up but his father just told him it was probably the genetic stomach upset condition his side of the family seemed to get. He did not believe any of that genetic crap.
He came up to the front of the coffee shop his new and dangerous accomplice told him to meet at. After taking a deep breath then letting it out, he opened the door, the chime indicating his arrival and entered the establishment. He looked around till he spotted a man with sunglasses on, brightly red and a hand raised looking directly at him with a smile. He walked forward and took a seat in front of the man at the booth he was in. Sean was wearing expensive looking grey sweats but he could see now that he was sitting closer that the man was wearing his Spell Devil attire underneath the clothing. Jesus, was his man not sweltering under the white garb of clothes or something? The man had already ordered something and was taking sips from his drink while staring at Micah.
"Glad you could make it," Sean said with a toothed grin, making Micah's unease increase ten fold. "However if you didn't come, I would've tracked you down and killed you," Sean finished before continuing to drink his coffee. Micah gulped.
"I'm glad it didn't come to that," Micah replied. He attempted to keep his nerves down and succeeded. At times like this, he was glad for military training and police academy training coming in clutch for situations like this. Sure, his military career was short-lived but that didn't mean he'd forgotten his time there.
"So… what do you have on those kids? Any news," Sean got straight into it. Micah felt confused. He thought that this meeting was about something else but he guessed he got his hopes up for nothing. Sean seemed to notice this and raised a brow. "This isn't what you came for?" he said, exasperated.
"Excuse me for this king this was so gonna be something… more substantial," Micah said with an edge of frustration to his voice.
"If I wanted a booty call, I would've come to you. Plus those rats, disguised as children, are substantial to my cause," Sean said before taking another sip of his coffee.
"Look, Sean…" Micah was about to say before he heard a crack. He turned to see that the glass window next to them had some hairline cracks on it. He realized that this was Sean's doing and faced the man, perplexed.
"The name's Spell Devil. Call me Sean again and that'll be your skull," Sean said with a low and threatening tone, causing Micah to gulp then nod his response. Sean went back to smiling like there was no transgression and Micah released a relieved sigh, glad he escaped whatever death flag was about to be raised on him.
"Spell Devil, I just thought there was this… this thing between us at the station. I couldn't tell if it was in my head or maybe you did something to me. I don't know but I want some answers from you, at the very least," Micah said. He hoped this didn't anger the wizard? Sorcerer? Magician? Whatever he was. He just hoped his neck wasn't on the line here. Sean seemed to go into deep thought like he was contemplating something before he gave his reply.
"Fine, I think I know what it is you seek but you have to make a deal. Normally, I'd just take what I want from you but you seem to interest me so I'm willing to have a… temporary partnership with you. Just for the time being," Sean said with a hint of amusement to his voice. His leg under the table stroked Micah's gently and he felt the feeling he'd always felt in his stomach increase a thousand fold at the contact.
"And does this partnership include booty calls or do you still want information on those kids?" Micah asked. He felt he could be much more daring now that Sean seemed to be in a more… playful mood than before.
"Why can't we have both?" Sean said deviously as a devilish grin appeared on his face.
What the hell had Micah gotten himself into?
"So this… Spell Devil… is looking for us?" the young girl asked with barely contained amusement as she watched her brother who sat across from her at the work desk, painting her nails with so much concentration, you'd think he's trying to crack a university level math problem. The polish was bright green and eerie looking, Rita figured it was made from Lazarus water or some of that ectoplasm she'd been hearing chatter about. He also added a few accents of red to the design to make the work pop. Damn, she wished she could get him to do her nails or something. She would've loved to try the look.
"Yes, my lady," Rita said as she shifted her feet from side to side, still not used to her new form as a ghost. She looked around curiously to admire where they were now. A penthouse with a killer view. The whole place looked so damn expensive. She wondered how exactly they were able to get the place and even afford it. She had heard about nice places like this in Gotham but seeing it was another thing. Her attention was nabbed by several ghosts loitering about the place. Some were organizing some files on a table in the corner while a few kid ghosts were playing on a glowing gaming device which Rita couldn't truly explain how it worked. An older man stood at the large window, solemn as he admired the view. What his problem was? Rita felt she could ask later. Still, the man looked familiar and she felt her curiosity in the man would only get worse the longer she held her questions at bay.
"And he killed you after getting all your information from you after stalking you and this group called the League of Assassins?" Danny asked, still focusing his attention on painting his sister's nails and successfully grabbing back Rita's attention. The boy adjusted his bum on the black stool he sat on then continued working on Ellie's nails. Ellie just sat, laid-back with satisfaction in her plush white vanity chair.
"Yes, my king," Rita answered and was met with Danny waving a hand before going back to what he was doing.
"None of that now. Ellie likes it but I prefer you'd call me Danny," Danny said.
"I understand, Danny," Rita said, feeling a bit calmer than before. Ellie smacked her brother on the head lightly and was responded to with her brother's light chuckle.
"What do you think, Rita? Is the league more of a threat to us than this 'Spell Devil' character?" Ellie asked, her piercing blue eyes staring into Rita's soul. Still, the question made Rita think a bit before answering.
"I don't think I can really answer that. I'm a bit biased yer see. Been working for the league for a while now. I know they're dangerous and highly skilled. This Spell Devil character, I know not much about. Could try and find out more though, since I'm a ghost n' all now," Rita answered, a finger tapping her bottom lip and the phantom urge to grab a smoke invading her mind.
"So we have more information on the league but this Spell Devil character is a bit of a wild card," Ellie stated while eyeing Rita carefully. Rita was glad the young girl got the full gist of it. Normally, kids won't be engaging in conversations like this but this is Gotham, so if you meet a normal kid here, you'd be a winner. "I think you should deal with him, Danny. I think I might kill him if we cross paths and he annoys me too much," Ellie said. She was smirking at her brother who just shook his head at her crazy statement.
"I'm not sure I'd know what to do with him if we should ever meet. I just remember him being a weirdo last time we saw him at the museum. A total fruitloop. I just hope he doesn't ruin our meeting tomorrow," Danny said. His nose was scrunched up as he reminisced about the event.
"Yeah. That outfit was kinda ugh! I've seen better. But the look on his face when you froze him in ice was priceless. We got our little kitty so easily. It was like taking candy from Youngblood. Heheh!" Ellie said joyously. Rita was starting to understand this little menace's personality a bit more and more and dare she say, she approved. Danny chuckled at his sister's statement and continued his work.
Once Danny was done, he released Ellie's hand for her to inspect his work and the girl did so with serious scrutiny. After a couple of seconds, she wore a big smile on her face indicating her satisfaction thereby causing Danny to blush shyly at the unspoken praise. Rita shook her head but a small laugh was trying to find its way out of her mouth.
"Ain't you gonna let it dry?" Rita asked once Ellie got up from her seat. The little girl just smirked, outstretched her hands and Rita watched them glow green for a few seconds before the light died out.
"There! All nice and dry now," Ellie said all cheerily. She turned her attention to Danny who was putting on his black jacket and shoes. "You're coming with me to the show right? I still have two tickets with me, okay. It'll be boring going alone,"
"Ah, sorry Ellie. I might come late. I have to go check up on William and some other people around Gotham," he said as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The girl pouted at him, her eyes narrowing.
"Hmph! If you come too late. I'll be mad," she said with arms crossed. Danny just laughed then pulled her into a hug. She didn't even resist and melted into it. Rita decided to give them privacy and took her chance to float over to the man at the window.
"Hi," she said to the old man, causing him to turn slowly and meet her eyes. His eyes were a deep red and his skin a sickly green. She wondered if this was how his ghostly form was or how he was when he was living. He wore glasses, a plain blue t-shirt and a pair and faded grey sweatpants. He had no shoes on but what does a ghost need with shoes these days, ey?
"Hi," he replied before turning back to face the view again. Not even a lil smile from him after she'd greeted him with one of her own.
"So…. you also new here?" She asked him but this time he didn't bother turning to face her again when she spoke.
"Why are you here?" he asked sharply, catching Rita off-guard. Well, that was it then. She could skip the pleasantries and get to why she'd gone up to him in the first place.
"Ok. Don't get yer panties in a twist. I just wanna know who yer are? I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," she finally asked but was greeted with a scowl for her efforts. She could see the man's irritated expression from his reflection in the glass and could tell he was about to reply with some kind of rude remark or something but he was cut off by Danny calling out to them from behind.
"Rita, follow Ellie along to see the comedy show, will you? I hope I'm not asking too much?" Danny asked her politely as he floated over to the door. Rita just blinked several times before looking at Ellie's waiting expression.
"Sure. I love me some jokes and all that jizz," she said as she flew to Ellie's side. Ellie nodded some sort of approval and also made her way to the door with her new companion.
"Great! Greg, make sure everything stays in order while we're gone. Have Tass contact us if there's anything you need," Danny said before waving and then finally phasing through the wall. Greg only nodded without turning to look back as his reply.
Greg? Hmm. That was ringing some bells but she couldn't place the tune.
Ellie just flew quickly to the man and placed a kiss on his cheek to both the man and Rita's surprise. Actually, the man didn't show his own shock all that much but the sharp rise and fall of his shoulders indicated to Rita that the young girl caught him unawares.
"I know you'll be lonely without us but don't worry. I'll have a lot of things to tell ya once I'm back!" Ellie said with cheer. The man just nodded at her and turned his face back to the view. Rita was willing to guess the old man was blushing now but she didn't want to go check and start something. She was new to the whole ghost thing and didn't want to step on anyone's post-mortem toes.
Not yet.
Ellie just squealed then grabbed Rita and they both phased their way out of the building.
They made their way through the city skies and through several buildings before making it to some dark alleyway and finally landing on a path that led to some building with a barely glowing neon sign that read; 'DropTop Lounge'. Sounded like a stripper club. Should Ellie be here?
"So this is the place?" Rita said as she walked next to Ellie who was making her way to the queue at the entrance of the establishment. She wondered how Ellie was going to get in due to her age but once the girl's irises flashed red at the ticket collector at the entrance, she didn't need to wonder anymore.
Rita noticed there weren't any other ghosts around this place which was unusual but she decided to infer upon it later after they enjoyed the show.
They both went in, bought some snacks at one of the food bars (well Ellie bought some) and finally made their way to Ellie's designated seat. The two people that were supposed to be on Ellie's right didn't show up so Rita just took the seat next to Ellie even though she could just float around the place. She, at least, wanted to maintain some semblance of living despite her current circumstance.
After a few intro comedy sketches which were made for newbies to show their stuff, they waited a while for the main comedy act to show up for the night. Rita would have to say that the intro sketches were a bit funny. That only made her a little excited for the main event. Ellie was all too busy giggling and snacking on her gummies during the wait.
"Hehehe. That Penguin joke was really funny. Wish Danny was here to see it," Ellie said with a retired sigh.
"He did say he'd try to make it midway but it's almost the main act," Rita said while looking around for the late king.
"I blame his bleeding heart," Ellie remarked offhandedly. Rita just stared at the stage in deep thought. She wondered if she would have the chance to get to know Danny very well. She had a feeling that somehow, she might not last here long and move on somewhere far away. For the time being, she won't be leaving so she could at least get comfortable.
Finally, the final act got on-stage, introduced himself and began telling some little jokes. If you were to ask Rita what she thought of them she'd say the jokes were pretty basic and only provided her little humor. She believed that was to be expected though since it was just the beginning of the show. Not like she was expecting a knee slapping joke from the beginning but she was hoping that things would pick up after a while. It wasn't her money used to pay for the show but she still felt a little bad for the ones that did pay and might not get their money's worth.
And her hopes dashed out of the building when the man kept going on and on in the driest drawl Rita had ever witnessed. Rita had considered she could just turn off her non corporeal brain for the rest of the show, in hopes that she didn't have to witness the rest of this disaster. The repetitive jokes were getting on her dead nerves and she could tell it was getting to others due to the annoyed murmurs coming from all sides. A crude and inappropriate joke about Batman and Robin was made, making Rita consider the show completely unsalvageable.
That was, until, the man made his twentieth Batman and Superman joke. He was interrupted by someone in the crowd.
"That's some buuuuuuuullshit!" Ellie's voice could be heard throughout the room. Rita looked at her with surprise. Was she… heckling the poor guy.
"Excuse me? Who said that?" the poor guy, who didn't know what he was about to get into asked, shocked at the interruption.
"I did," Ellie spoke up even louder, her arms crossed. The crowd turned to her and stared with bewilderment.
"You're just a kid. How'd you get in?" the gobsmacked man on stage finally said after regaining his composure.
"You're asking me? You must be new in Gotham. Anyway, I got a ticket. I'm a paying customer" Ellie explained slowly like he was a slow child that needed something broken down for him.
"Ok, that's enough. It's your bedtime now kid. You can leave for your nightly milk. Your mom shouldn't have let you come here," the man said with a smirk. He probably thought that would get a laugh from the crowd but not even a cricket made a sound at that remark.
"And your mom shouldn't have let you get into comedy but here we are now," Ellie replied, earning chuckles from the crowd and Rita herself. The man on-stage looked confused and annoyed now.
"Ha ha ha. We've got a little comedian in our midst now. You've had your fun, kiddo. Go home now, you little gremlin," he stated with a disappointed face. Ellie just huffed.
"Yeah. I'd love that. Why'd I get a ticket for this bum ass show? Shoulda just gotten a parking ticket instead," Ellie said with a smirk of her own and the crowd completely lost it.
"Kiddo. This is my show. How about you leave before I find your mom, huh?" the man said, his patience seemed to be waning now but it seemed Ellie was just getting started.
"No need. Maybe you can ask Batman to adopt me into his colony. You seem to know him since you can't stop going on and on about him in your lackluster jokes," Ellie retorted. The crowd's laughter grew even louder and some older lady exclaimed: Now that's how you do it! from behind. "I feel like the Joker would give us a better time as hostages compared to this drab of a performance," a new ripple of laughter was made and someone behind could be heard slapping their knees.
"You little twerp…" he began to say but was quickly and completely interrupted by his heckler.
"Woah woah woah there! Do we also have to call Superman too? Seems like we got a Justice League level threat here on our hands," Ellie said and then laughed with the crowd who also enjoyed the joke.
"Kid, this is my show! I'm the comedian here and you're not!" He exclaimed.
"Anyone got Arkham on speed dial? Seems like we've got a new delusional villain in the vicinity. Quarantine the area," Ellie stated. The crowd was in hysterics, even Rita found it hard to hold it in.
"And you think you can make it big as a comedian, huh? You little punk!" the man's eye was twitching now.
"At least my jokes don't make the Sahara desert look like a rainforest in comparison," Ellie commented while waving a hand dismissively. Someone in the front sounded like they were choking. Rita really wished she could dig her nails into her skin to keep herself from laughing.
"Well I don't see you putting yourself out here like me. I've perfected my craft and you're just riding my coattails on this show," the man basically screamed at her.
"Yeah, you showed us who you really are with that perverted Batman and Robin joke. Do tell me, was it your dream to be here or did you just decide to kill us with those toxins you call jokes? Maybe Scarecrow should call you to compare notes," Ellie replied, her grin even more manic than Rita had ever seen. Rita felt bad for the guy now even though his jokes were ass but Ellie was cracking her up so bad that if she were living she'd probably die of laughter at the moment.
"You don't know what you're talking about. My jokes are funny," he complained.
"If your jokes are funny then I'm Robin," Ellie replied, tilting her head to the side. Rita could hear the same old woman scream: Just take my money instead!
"Enough with your nonsense, people came to see me," he said, almost bursting at the seams.
"Dude, the free market just called and they say your jokes are not in demand, bruh," Ellie said with a little chuckle. Rita could see security at the door confused on what to do but some were trying to hold their laughter at Ellie's jokes.
"You need to learn some manners, kid!" the 'comedian' was red now and looked like he was about to explode.
"Alright. Alright. I'm sorry. My bad. I just wanted to make things more exciting for everyone. I apologize for my rudeness, let me stay, please?" Ellie said now, in a placating manner. This seemed to calm the man on the stage down but disappointed murmurs could be heard from the crowd.
That man relaxed a bit. There was some tension still in his shoulders but he looked like he wasn't about to blow his top anytime soon.
Well, that didn't last long.
"Please, continue so that I can record the rest of this disaster and use it later to bore myself to sleep. It is my bedtime after all. Just like you clearly stated before," Ellie interrupted with a wicked cackle. Someone in the audience sounded like they were dying. Rita could only hope they didn't join her in this plane of existence.
"You little!" The man exclaimed and dived from the stage and towards Ellie. He was making his way through the crowds, pushing seats and people away as he came closer.
"Bring it on, loser!" Ellie screamed as she stood up and made her way towards the man. Rita wondered if she should intervene in the altercation. Maybe get Danny or something but she soon found out that any help would not be needed.
To keep the story short, it was the first time Rita had ever seen a thirteen year old (she guessed) beat up a grown man who was in his thirties in such an embarrassing manner. Now that's comedy. She saw things in Gotham but this was on the top of the list.
Eventually, the police were called and the two ghosts escaped and flew away into the night sky, laughing and giggling about how ridiculous the whole thing was.
"Oh my God! Danny's gonna kill me for this!" Ellie exclaimed into the air. She was in her ghost form now. Green eyes, the most piercing Rita's ever seen.
"Can't make you a ghost twice can he?" Rita said to her and they both chuckled at the statement as they flew back to the penthouse.
A cigarette hit the wet ground soundlessly before being stomped by the foot of a man wearing old brogues and a light brown trench coat.
"What a load of bollocks," the man said as he slicked back his blonde hair with much annoyance. "This place feels even more cursed than before. What in the everloving fuck is going on here?" the deathly energy of this city had increased exponentially and he was starting to see why the big Bat was urgently asking for his assistance. He needed to find out but he was hesitant to use any of his abilities for the moment because he remembered how the city ghost acted all fussy when he did his magic here without her first knight's permission.
Favoritism, I tell ya.
He walked forward on the street he was on and noticed the ghostly shades chatter among themselves, excitedly. He wouldn't be able to understand these types of Ghosts but if he were to find a fully formed one, that would be nice. He could ask and find out what the hell was going on.
The lot of them loved to talk about all the gossip they'd acquired ever since they said goodbye to their mortal flesh, so he was confident he could get one to at least give him the good details.
Eventually, he found a particularly chatty teenage ghost telling some other ghosts something exciting about a king and an exclusive meeting. He walked closer to them calmly, hoping he wouldn't spook them off, though that would be ironic.
"Mind If I join ya?" the man asked the kid who had now stopped to look at him curiously.
"You can see us?" the young lad asked in disbelief.
"Yes," he replied and was met with more curious looks from the little group gathered around.
An older lady ghost that was in the crowd spoke up after a while. "It's fine, son. This is Constantine. He means no harm to us," she finished with a warm smile, her chubby cheeks making her look adorable and relatively harmless but that didn't stop Constantine from still thinking she could be a threat. After all, ghosts were a nifty bunch.
"Oh! I've heard of you. Are you allowed to be here?" the teenager asked with crossed arms and an expression that tried to look firm but didn't really work.
"Oh, child. It's fine. If Lady Gotham didn't want him here, he'd be kicked out of the city by now. I'm sure he's here to help the Bats with something, if I should give a guess," the older lady said with a little chuckle. The rest of the group quickly lost interest in Constantine and focused it entirely on the teenage boy again.
"So what do you wanna know?" the teenage boy asked, this time, much more relaxed than a couple seconds ago.
"Well, tell me about this king," Constantine said with a barely concealed grin. And oh! The young lad was everwilling to talk.