chapter 9: Unseen & Unknown

[Third Person's PoV] 

Location: Gotham City 

Date: January 15th 

Time: 6:30 PM

Danny stood on the edge of a Gotham rooftop, his exposed ghostly skin unaffected by the cold January wind. Beside him stood Robin, all confident smirks and quick movements, and Batman, the Dark Knight himself, cloaked in an aura of intimidation that made the air feel heavier.

'This is quite literally the best day of my life!' Danny thought, trying not to grin too widely. Internally, he was a mess of excitement, practically vibrating with the sheer thrill of standing alongside two of his childhood heroes.

"Let's move," Batman ordered, his voice low and commanding. Without hesitation, he shot a grappling hook toward a distant rooftop and disappeared into the shadows as he swung away.

Robin followed seamlessly, flipping into the air with the practiced ease of an acrobat. Danny grinned as his feet shimmered into a ghostly green tail. Rising effortlessly into the air, he flew after them, his form glowing faintly in the dim light of Gotham's overcast afternoon.

The sky was a blanket of gray, and though it was early in the day, the sun was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps due to the season where the sun sets early or Gotham's perpetual gloom gave them perfect cover as they leapt, swung, and glided from rooftop to rooftop. Below them, the city was alive with its usual chaos: sirens, distant shouts, and the ever-present hum of danger lurking in every shadow.

As they moved, Batman and Robin shared brief, pointed observations, passing wisdom to their newest companion.

"Look for patterns in the movement below," Batman explained, his eyes scanning the streets. "Crowds shifting suddenly could mean something's about to go down."

"Watch the windows," Robin added, his gravelly tone cutting through the wind. "Sometimes the threat isn't on the ground."

Danny soaked it all in, nodding eagerly. It didn't take long for Gotham to live up to its reputation.

"Stop right there! Freeze!"

The shout came from below, sharp and commanding. All three stopped, crouching at the edge of the rooftop. Danny peered down, his glowing green eyes taking in the scene. Two officers were pursuing a man who was sprinting toward a dark alley, desperation in every movement.

"The first step is to assess the situation," Robin murmured, gesturing toward the scene below. "This guy's clearly trying to evade arrest."

The man vaulted over a trash bin, ducking into the narrow alley to lose his pursuers. Batman's gaze followed him, calculating. "Think you can handle this one?" he asked without turning, his voice calm but expectant.

Danny puffed out his chest slightly, grinning. "Leave it to me, boss man."

Before they could respond, Danny vanished from view in an instant as he turned invisible, diving into the alley. He zipped past the man, invisible, and stopped ahead of him. When the criminal climbed over a rusted chain-link fence, landing heavily on the other side, Danny let his invisibility drop.

"Boo!" Danny exclaimed, his voice echoing unnaturally as he raised his hands above his head.

The man yelped in terror, scrambling back and reaching for a gun at his waist.

"Ah, ah!" Danny quipped, firing a blast of ectoplasmic energy that knocked the weapon from the man's hands. Another shot hit the man square in the chest, sending him sprawling into the fence with a metallic clang.

Groaning, the man blinked up at Danny, his eyes widening at the sight of Danny's ghostly tail and glowing form. "A...A ghost?!"

Danny floated closer, letting his glowing green eyes narrow. "That's right," he said, his voice dripping with mock menace. "And if you don't turn yourself in, I'll make sure you regret it. Ever had a ghost haunt your every waking moment? Want to find out what that's like?"

"No! No!" the man stammered, trembling. "I—I can't go back to prison!"

Danny smirked. "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime," he quipped. Grabbing the man by his collar, he hoisted him into the air, floating effortlessly back over the fence. He deposited the criminal unceremoniously at the feet of the two stunned officers.

Both officers raised their guns immediately, their hands trembling as they stared at Danny. "F-Freeze!" one of them stuttered.

Danny raised his hands innocently, his smirk never fading.

"W-What are you?" the other officer demanded, his voice shaky.

Danny chuckled, letting his form flicker in and out of view. A cool thing Danny had learnt from his practice is that his natural voice has a slight ghostly echo to it "Me? I'm just the Phantom that haunts Gotham," he said, his voice echoing eerily. With that, he vanished completely, leaving the officers to stare at each other in wide-eyed disbelief.

As the officers began cuffing the man, one muttered to his partner, "What the hell is going on in this city? First the guy in the bat suit, then his weird sidekick, and now...a ghost?"

High above, Danny reappeared beside Batman and Robin, a proud grin on his face. "So?" he asked. "How'd I do?"

"You overdid it," Batman said flatly, his tone cutting. "Revealing yourself was unnecessary. You could have subdued him silently. Instead, you gave him a chance to fight back."

Danny frowned, crossing his arms. "How am I supposed to make them fear me if I don't show myself?"

Batman paused mid-step, turning to face Danny. His shadowed expression made the temperature seem to drop even further. "Fear?" he repeated, his voice low and measured.

"Yeah," Danny said with a sheepish smile. "Like you do. Villains are scared of you. They think twice before crossing the line because they don't want you showing up. I want that."

Batman's jaw tightened, his gaze darkening. "Don't," he said after a long pause. "Don't try to be like me." His voice softened, but the weight of his words lingered. "Be better."

Danny blinked, his earlier confidence ebbing away as the three moved off into the Gotham night.

Robin let out a quiet sigh but decided to stay out of the conversation, as he knew all too well. 

Danny bit back the urge to roll his eyes. 'Sure, 'be better.' he says, like that's not some tall order. Still doesn't tell me how.'

After a few moments of silence, Batman finally spoke again. "By becoming unseen."

Danny tilted his head, confused. "Unseen?"

"Fear doesn't come from what people can see," Batman said. "It comes from what they can't. The unknown, the unseen, what they don't understand—that's what terrifies them. You have an advantage. Use your ghost powers. Stay in the shadows, strike without warning, and vanish before they realize what happened. If you're too flashy, always putting yourself out in the open, it won't work. Fear takes time to build. It won't happen instantly, but if you learn to embody the unseen, it will grow."

Danny listened, the gears in his head turning. Batman's words weren't exactly comforting, but they gave him something to think about.

"Unseen, huh?" he muttered to himself. "Guess I can work with that."

Robin finally interjected, though not to join the conversation but to issue a sharp warning. "There's a group breaking into that house," he said, his tone serious.

Batman and Danny turned their attention to the direction Robin was pointing. Six men, each wearing black masks, were smashing their way through the door of a darkened home. The house was eerily silent, its lights off, giving the impression its inhabitants were either asleep or absent.

Batman assessed the situation swiftly and then spoke in his usual commanding tone. "Robin, Danny, this will be a lesson in teamwork. Take them down together."

Robin and Danny exchanged determined nods. Without hesitation, Robin leapt from the rooftop, flipping gracefully in midair before firing his grappling hook. The line connected to the adjacent building, allowing him to swing through an open door with practiced ease.

Danny, in stark contrast, simply floated forward. His form shimmered slightly before he phased cleanly through the wall of the home, his ghostly abilities making him nearly undetectable.

Inside the house, the masked intruders moved with clumsy urgency, rummaging through drawers and overturning furniture. Robin struck first, tossing a smoke bomb onto the ground. Thick gray smoke erupted, enveloping the room and reducing visibility to near zero.

"Hihihi! Haha!" Robin's eerie, high-pitched laughter echoed through the haze, sending chills down even Danny's spine.

Danny's brow furrowed as he paused mid-air, momentarily distracted by Robin's unsettling cackle. 'What the heck is that?' he wondered, unnerved. But there was no time to dwell on it. He dove through the smoke, landing silently behind one of the masked men, who was frantically swinging his weapon in the air.

"It's the Bat!" one of them yelled, panic in his voice.

"And his creepy sidekick!" another added.

"I told you idiots this was a bad idea! Just hit whatever's in front of you—" The man's sentence was cut short as Danny slammed a fist into his gut, dropping him like a sack of bricks.

Robin darted through the smoke like a phantom himself, his movements swift and fluid. He delivered a spinning kick to another intruder, sending him crashing through a rickety table with a loud CRACK. His laughter rang out again, high-pitched and maniacal.

Danny, still unnerved, decided to try a different approach. Spotting one of the men gripping a metal bat, he flew into him, overshadowing the criminal. The man froze for a moment, his eyes glowing an unnatural green as Danny took control.

"What are you doing, Frank?!" one of the others shouted, but the possessed man didn't respond. Instead, he swung his bat with alarming precision, knocking one of his comrades unconscious.

Then, in a final, self-inflicted act, he turned the bat on himself just as Danny exited his body. The man crumpled to the floor, out cold.

Robin, meanwhile, handled the last two intruders. Grabbing them by their collars, he smashed their heads together with a loud THUD just as the smoke cleared. The room was a mess of overturned furniture, groaning bodies, and scattered loot.

Danny turned to Robin, his expression a mix of confusion and mild horror. "What the hell was that?" he asked, gesturing vaguely toward Robin.

Robin smirked, adjusting his gloves. "I could ask you the same thing. I knew you could possess people, but seeing it in action? That's something else."

Danny scoffed. "Dude, I'm a ghost. Possessing people is, like, my thing. That creepy laugh of yours, though? Nothing about that is normal."

Robin shrugged, his grin widening. "I like to keep things interesting."

The two finished tying up the intruders, securing them for the authorities. As they worked, Danny suddenly grabbed Robin by the shoulders.

"What are you—" Robin started, but his question was cut short as Danny turned them both intangible. Robin let out a startled yelp as they phased through the wall, reappearing on the rooftop where Batman waited.

Robin stumbled slightly, glaring at Danny. "You can make other people intangible too? You could've warned me! I thought I was about to be splattered against that wall."

Danny shrugged. "Eh, I like to keep things interesting," he replied with a smirk, mimicking Robin's earlier words.

Batman stepped forward, surveying the scene below. He gave a curt nod of approval. "Better," he said simply before moving toward the edge of the rooftop. "GCPD is on their way. Let's keep going."

The trio spent the rest of the night patrolling Gotham, taking down thugs and disarming criminals. With each encounter, Danny improved—his movements became stealthier, his tactics sharper. By the time the clock struck past 11, even Robin had to admit that Danny was holding his own.

Finally, Batman called for an end to their patrol. "It's a school night," he said, his tone brooking no argument.

Danny glanced at the sky and grinned. "I think curfew's going to have to wait a bit," he said, pointing upward.

Robin and Batman followed his gaze to the glowing Bat-Signal lighting up the clouds. Batman sighed, his cape billowing as he turned. "Let's go. We'll call it a night after this."

As they moved across the rooftops, Danny floated beside Robin. "I'm totally getting one of those," he said, nodding toward the signal.

Robin gave him an amused look. "Yeah, sure. People will light it up when they're being haunted by a ghost."

Danny paused, considering it. "You know... that's not a bad idea."

Robin snorted. "I was joking, but yeah, it's kind of brilliant. Just don't forget to credit me when you patent it."

The two boys chuckled as they followed Batman into the night. Ahead of them, Batman allowed himself the faintest of smiles, listening to the sound of their laughter.

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