Robin's Egg

An Eggregious Holiday

"I've been meaning to ask. Is this because of you?" Damian hissed under his breath as he stared down at Mr. Freeze. The man of ice continued his slow pace toward the boy.

What's because of me?

Damian dodge-rolled to the right when the rogue sent another ice beam his way and the boy was starting to feel claustrophobic as each new wall shortened the amount of space that Damian had to maneuver. He turned off the comm in his ear that was spewing nothing but static. "Ever since I started carrying you around my comms no longer work. The others can't track my location but I also can't call for help if it is needed." Damian ran out of the clothing store and started using the food stalls for cover. He had to stop himself from getting overly fancy with his movements. It was one thing to be athletic, it was another to show off the training that he had.

Yeah, that's me. Sorry about that. Ghosts aren't exactly known to be photogenic. When I'm at full power, I can control it a bit better but regardless I always show up fuzzy or distorted. The more emotional I am, the worse it gets.

Well, it was good to know that. "Is there a way around it?" Damian skillfully slid on some ice to reach the other side of the food court. There was another exit there that he could take if it wasn't already blocked.

You would have to infuse the tech with ectoplasm. Like that jammer your brother made. Be careful though, too much and it will come to life and try to kill you. I'm surprised those jammers turned out so well. Tim did a good job.

"Is there a way to do it without telling Drake about it? I may have hinted about the trackers but this is a different matter. This was happening before the GIW showed up and he is quick about connecting the dots." Damian snuck into a Build-A-Bear and crouched behind bins of soon-to-be plushies.

If you held your comm up to my core, I could theoretically inject some of my own ectoplasm. I've done it before so it should be fine. I've had practice since the first time I accidentally made a smartphone sentient.

There was an explosion in the distance as Mr. Freeze overlooked Damian's position and focused on the other stores. Unless there was someone else hiding like him, then the youngest Wayne appeared to be the only hostage save for the GIW agents. They could stay frozen for all Damian cared. "We'll have to do that when we get home. It would look weird if my comms just started magically working again right now. Does this affect technology from a distance like security cameras?"

Yes. Unless the tech has ectoplasm infused then the same thing will happen. Sometimes audio gets through but it's distorted and corrupt. If someone is trying to see in here, it won't work. Not until we leave.

"Perfect." Damian worked his way to the back of the store where all the Christmas-themed plushie skins were at. "CUJO!" It didn't take long for the glowing green pup to appear. Yipping happily to the boy and wagging his tail so fast it was a blur. "Good boy, Cujo. It's time we got out of here."

Wouldn't Tim want to know why you vanished?

"Tt. He knows about Cujo. He'll figure it out. It would be more concerning if someone saw me summon him but your latent ability to mess with electronics aids with that. Now we can get out of here-" Damian cut off when Danny let off a sudden cold spike. It wasn't like the others. It wasn't as powerful compared to the other times and now Danny was completely on edge. "What's wrong?"

Ghost.

"Well, yeah. Cujo is right here-"

No, a different ghost! Behind you!

Damian whirled around while dropping into a defensive stance. Floating a few feet above the ground was a man with gray skin and green eyes, which looked similar to Danny's before he retreated into his core, shone behind rimmed glasses. A dark gray scarf and long purple trench coat floated in a nonexistent wind over a simple shirt and jeans. His black hair floated without wind as well. Damian pulled out one of the electric sticks that he stole from the GIW but didn't turn it on yet. Just how did this guy get behind him? Cujo looked up at the new arrival and growled.