Danny didn’t know where he was going, but he honestly couldn’t find it in him to care. His mind was a mess with running thoughts that fled before they could become clear. Almost like him and how he just ran away.
He wonders who was the person that was sneaking in there. Did they know he was in there? Were they part of the GIW? Did Red Hood know them?
It was these questions that came and went and then circled back around in a hurried manner that he felt like he didn’t have time to try and think of the answers. It was frustrating and made his head pound, but he kept flying aimlessly, the world around him nothing much more than a blur. The only way he was sure that he was still invisible was from the lack of shouting down below. He didn’t want anybody else to see him. He needed to leave this city, if he could actually figure a way out of it. It was ridiculously large and with him not paying attention to where he was going, he didn’t know if he was actually getting anywhere.
He sighed, an unnecessary breath leaving his lips before he slowly hauled himself to a stop. He wasn’t doing himself any good flying around without knowing where he was trying to go. He would only tire himself out and be stuck in here longer. What he needed to do was clear his mind a bit, allow all the boiling thoughts in his head to simmer down a bit so he could properly think.
His wispy tail separated into two legs again, and he settled down on a roof, leaning against the metal beam holding up a billboard. He didn’t allow himself to relax against it, or detransform for that matter, but to breathe. He didn’t need to breathe in this form, and sometimes it took more effort to get himself to breathe, manually taking in air and filling his lungs only to let it back out a second later. It was weird how unnatural it felt when it was supposed to come naturally. It was just another thing that reminded him that he wasn’t human anymore, that he never would be again.
He tried to focus back on his manual breathing, wanting to distract himself from those thoughts. Right now wasn’t the time he needed to think about all of that. He wanted to push it all behind him, to forget it all, to just be Danny again. Though could he ever really be Danny again? How was he Danny without Sam or Tucker? How was he Fenton without Jazz or his parents? How was he Phantom when the government deemed him a threat and he left the very place he swore to protect? How was he human when he was truly anything but?
He gasped again, taking in air with a shaky wisp, his lip trembling with his thoughts. He gathered his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his head in them with a broken sob. He couldn’t do this right now, he shouldn’t be giving into these thoughts again. He had been pushing them away as much as he could while in the warehouse, using Red Hood as a distraction, but now that he was alone again, there was nothing stopping all the hurtful things surfacing in his brain.
His breaths became more ragged, and he was trying his hardest to only focus on that, on his breaths. Ja- he was told before that getting himself to breathe properly would help him to calm down. Yet right now, it only served to remind him of everything he lost, of everything he’s done, -and everything he deserves-.
Tears welling up in his eyes, he looked up from his face being buried into his knees, wiping his eyes furiously with the sleeve of his suit. He didn’t go back to the confines of his inside turmoil, instead hoping the outside world would be a much better distraction. He saw how the sun was beginning to rise, and his forced breathing caught in his throat as he stared straight at it. He hadn’t seen the sun in what felt like forever, and he couldn’t help but admire its beauty at the moment, however dim it was from the city’s constant darkened state from the pollution. He hugged himself tighter, not daring to look down a little bit from the sun, knowing that he would be looking at the edge of the roof. He didn’t want to think about that either.
Danny continued to stare at the sun slowly rising. Watching as the sky slowly turned into a swirl of different colors, the stars blinking out without him really realizing it, the city lighting up with the sun’s rays peeking defiantly in the corners where the shadows once lay. It was wonderful, and although it didn’t make all of the teen’s thoughts magically disappear, it made them a little easier to shoo away.
It wasn’t healthy to ignore them, he knew that, he’s been reminded several times by. . . Well, that didn’t matter, just like his thoughts didn’t. He let go of the tight grip he had on his legs, letting them slip back down flat on the concrete roof. He didn’t transform back into a human, even though he had a hard time staying in his ghost half, the form bringing more harsh memories than his human half did. His eyes were drifting a bit from the sun, becoming more hazy and unfocused, but he didn’t fall asleep. He felt exhausted, sure, but most of that was mentally, as his ghost part didn’t need sleep. Perhaps his human half was growing tired, after all he didn’t exactly sleep yesterday, or eat in that case.
He knows that Red Hood would probably already have left for his daily, sometimes more than once in a day, visits and saw him gone. Would he be relieved that Danny was gone? Maybe, Danny doesn’t think the other would be worried, right? Sure, Red Hood was shockingly kind and generous, but that didn’t mean the anti-hero would actually care for him. He hoped not, as that would make things more complicated for him. He didn’t want anybody to care for him anymore, to worry about him and want to know him. The less people that knew about Danny and actually cared about him, the safer it was for him and everybody else. It has been proven time and time again how dangerous he was, and now he knew that he couldn’t keep endangering people because of his ignorance.
Danny sighed, rubbing his temples. Couldn’t he have one moment to himself without going down deep thoughts that only caused him headaches? He thought he agreed to shove them down until he could find a safe place again, this time away from people. Maybe he could find a ghost portal, but the only one he knew of was in places he dared not to go. Was there other ways he could get to the Ghost Zone? He didn’t know, nor did he know how he could find out. What would he even do when he got in the Ghost Zone? Fight the ghosts in there for the rest of his pitiful existence? Because there was no way that any of the ghosts would want him there without a fight.
Danny began grumbling underneath his breath, cursing out his fate and all of his terrible luck. He finally stood back up, his muscles sore and aching from the position he sat in for far too long. He stretched a bit, hoping that the pops would relieve it a bit, but knew that his ghost powers would take care of most of it. It was only one of the good things that came with his ghost side. Though the terrible parts and things that have come from it would always weigh those down.
Shaking his head once more, willing away the tiredness and desperate thoughts clinging to him. He allowed a bit of energy to form in his hand, molding it a bit into different shapes before letting it fizzle out, wanting it to distract him. The city was already waking up, the more dangerous parts residing for the day, although that didn’t mean the place and lingering shadows still didn’t have danger lurking. He knew he wasn’t invisible at the moment, but he hoped that nobody would see him from up here. All the vigilantes should have already retired for the day, so he should be safe from them up here, safe from Red Hood seeing him again.
At least that was what he thought. Before he could turn himself back invisible and fly off, with a somewhat clearer mind, and find his way out of here, he felt a shift in the atmosphere. The teen stiffened, his mind coming to a screeching halt, and he strained his ears searching for any signs of the being causing the disturbance. He didn’t hear anything, not even with his supernatural hearing, but he could still feel it, the pressure that was building up.
Then he felt a surge of courage seep through him, allowing a stupid thought to run in his foggy mind and come out of his mouth as he turned his head slightly. “Who’s there?”
As soon as the words left his mouth he mentally cursed himself, feeling all the courage drown into a puddle of panic. Well, if the person here with a strange aura didn’t already think the strange teenage boy with stark white hair and a jumpsuit was signs of anything unnatural, surely that did it for him. What if they were a rogue, or part of the GIW, or literally anybody else in this city that wanted to hurt him. Red Hood said it was dangerous, and if anything, he believed him, although he already knew that was true. It was one of the many things Gotham was famous for.
A few moments of silence passed, making the panic in Danny double over, and with his already hazy state, he didn’t think about going invisible and flying off. Even if he did, that would probably only make this situation worse, him giving up more proof to the other about who he was, about what he was. He really was in a pickle here.
Then he heard the sound of cautious footsteps slowly come forward from the shadows of the rooftop, watching as they slowly undid their hold on the person as they stepped out. He might have thought this person was a ghost, if it wasn’t for his ghost sense not going off. The sound of the boots coming closer made Danny fully spin around to look at the person instead of just barely peeking. It was Signal, Danny knew it was, as he was wearing his signature yellow suit with the bat symbol on it. Wonderful, just wonderful, another member of the bat clan has spotted him. How could he forget that there was also a day-time hero as well? This time while he was a ghost instead of a human, this could only go well.
“How did you know I was there?” The wary voice of Signal asked, his hands hovering over his escrima sticks in case the person posed any threat. He didn’t know who the boy was, but he did know that they weren’t human, not completely at least, if the flowing white hair and glowing eyes were anything to go off of. The teen must have also had enhanced hearing, or something, as there was no way he could have been spotted otherwise.
“I- um- well,” Wait, Signal narrowed his eyes at the other, seeing how panicked they looked. Was they some new rogue and didn’t expect to see a vigilante in the day or something? The other sounded pretty confident calling him out, but now they only seemed to want to get away. Also, was those teeth he barely saw sharper than normal, or was it just him?
“Who are you?” Signal continued, his head tilting to the side, taking another step forward. He had never seen this person before, and although they did look like a teenager, actually they looked around his age, that didn’t mean that they weren’t dangerous.
“I promise, I-” Danny hated how he kept stumbling over his words, not able to get anything out properly. He took a step back, closer to the edge, and took a breath. “I don’t want any trouble, um- sir?” Danny didn’t know how old Signal was, but he felt like it was only right to try and be polite, after all, he really wasn’t in the mood to fight at the moment. The snort he got didn’t help. “I was actually trying to leave the city,” He nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know I shouldn’t be here, but I’m sorta lost?”
Alright, now Signal was confused and on the verge of letting out a laugh. The teen before him seemed so anxious that he couldn’t help but believe him a little. “Okay mystery guy, maybe I can help you. If you tell me who you are and what you’re doing here first.”
“I- you see- I can’t tell you much.” Danny said, putting his hands in the air, taking another step back as Signal crept forward a bit more. “I really do mean no harm though. I was only passing through, but this city is huge! Like, how does anybody figure their way around here?” There was a small chuckle that escaped his lips, his nerves becoming worse with each second that Signal stared at him. What if he figured out who he really was? Would he try to capture him and turn him in the GIW? Did some vigilantes work with the government?
“Not many people come to Gotham, only ‘passing through’. It’s pretty dangerous here, and it seems like you understand that, so why come here in the first place?” Duke asked, taking another step forward, watching how the other would mirror him by taking a step back, getting closer to the edge of the roof, trapping himself. He would have to report this person to Batman, as having a new possible meta or alien here could cause some problems. If they really did mean no harm, then Duke wanted to make sure that they would be safe here, or at least be able to safely leave.
“I- I can’t really answer that. Please, you gotta understand or something. I have to get out of here.” Danny said, a little more desperately. He didn’t want to answer any of the Signal’s questions, knowing that he shouldn’t give anything away that could possibly backfire on him later.
Signal heard the rising desperation in the teen’s voice, how it cracked a little, and was almost about to let him go. Though the idea of him letting somebody go and then them causing harm later on, wasn’t something that he could let happen. “I know you’re probably really anxious right now, but all you have to do is answer a few questions and I’ll help you out of the city, okay?”
He took another step forward, his hands moving away from his weapons and one moving closer to the unknown boy, trying to show that he truly wasn’t going to hurt them. It seemed like that was a mistake as the boy took another step back, this time flinching a bit, and then freezing when his foot hit the edge of the roof.
Danny was full on panicking now, and no matter how much he wanted to breathe he couldn’t, his lungs constricting in his chest like they forgot how they didn’t need to breathe. When his foot hit the end of the roof, it brought him back to a few weeks earlier, a painful memory that only brought more with it. He needed to leave, now.
He spun around, watching how Signal’s outstretched hand went straight for his weapon as he leaped back from Danny, only proving how he really thought about him. He didn’t peer over the edge, knowing that the sight would make him sick, and jumped. He heard a shout behind him as he fell, and he turned invisible before the vigilante had the time to look over the edge for him and flew away as fast as he did last night, away from another bat. How ironic was this?
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Signal watched with terror as he saw the other boy fall away from the roof, and he rushed forward with a yell, letting go of his weapon. He looked down, but was surprised to not see anything in the street below. There was no flattened body or really anybody in sight, except for the normal civilians that walked as if nothing happened. Where did the other go? How did they straight up disappear like that? There were no open windows to slide through, no dumpster to land in, nothing that would have allowed the boy to escape that easily and so quickly.
Signal furrowed his eyebrows and mentally yelled at himself for scaring the other like that, he knew he shouldn’t have approached like that when the other was clearly on the verge of panicking. He sighed, and looked around, using his own power to see if he could track down where the boy went. He could see how they fell down a bit, and how his body maneuvered as if he was used to this, but then there was nothing else. They had actually disappeared completely, not even his powers able to detect any change of light after those few seconds of falling. Did this person have some sort of teleportation power? It would make a lot of sense given how people don’t usually blink out of a space like that, especially without disturbing light in the process.
Now that his powers were useless in tracking the other, he would have to report them to Batman and ask Oracle to look at some of the street cameras in case some of them caught where he teleported to. Though if they could actually teleport it brought a lot more questions. Such as why not just teleport out of the city or something? Unless the boy was lying, or perhaps was only limited to being able to teleport to certain places, maybe by sight or something. It was a confusing matter, and Duke knew that Bruce would be needed for this.
Grabbing his grappling hook he got down from the building and into an alleyway, easily slipping back into the shadows and allowing it to swallow him so he could get back without being spotted. Hopefully, as the mysterious person was able to know he was there, even while he was so sure he was hidden. He didn’t even really make a sound and the other noticed him. It was weird, and just another thing he would have to explain to B. He mentally sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long day, and that he would have to finish his patrol later.
When Duke finally arrived back in the batcave, he didn't bother to take off his suit or even his helmet as he made his way to the bat computer. He had already told Barbara to tell Bruce to be down here as soon as he could for a report of a new possible super powered teen in the city. That’s why he wasn’t surprised when he saw the man in full Batman attire right next to most of the other bat members, some of them in hushed conversation that stopped as Signal approached, he was surprised to see Jason among them. He had been especially rare to spot nowadays.
“What do you know about this possible superhuman?” Batman asked Signal, wasting no time to get started with the new case they had.
“I saw him on top of the roof of an old tenant in Shelton Street. He seemed to be stretching as I got closer to get a good look of him as I noticed how odd he looked.” He began, and Oracle behind them began bringing up the map for Shelton Street. “I was sure that I didn’t make any sound that could alert him, and I was also using my powers to stay hidden in the shadows, but he still knew I was there. That’s when I knew something other than just his looks were different from your normal everyday civilian.”
“Oracle, pull up Duke’s suit footage, I want to see how ‘odd’ this person looked.” Batman ordered, turning his head towards Barbara as she nodded and turned to another screen to access his footage, then he turned back to Signal. “What else happened?”
“Well, you’ll see in the camera soon enough, but I was trying to ask him some questions when I realized how terrified he looked. He said he wasn’t from here and that he was passing through, but he didn’t tell me much else. It seemed like he was too afraid to.” He reported, and he noticed how Jason shuffled on his feet and crossed his arms as he was explaining. He was again surprised by how quiet Jason was on the matter, as he usually always had something to say, and he seemed almost uncomfortable. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who noticed that, as Tim was staring straight at him, analyzing his every movement.
“After that, I tried to get closer, but he fled via jumping off the roof.” He said, and he could see Batman’s lip tighten and Jason tense slightly as well. “I looked over the side but didn’t see anything, even while using my powers there was no path that I could detect. It was almost like he disappeared into thin air, though I suspect they may have teleportation.”
“Hn.” Was all Bruce responded with before turning back to Babs. “Barbara, the footage.”
“That’s the thing B, the footage seems corrupted.” She said, clicking away at the keyboard, staring at the screen with a harsh intensity. “It becomes all glitched and distorted as soon as Signal faces the person, and then it suddenly is fine after a few minutes and they're gone. They must have somehow been able to mess with Signal’s camera when they're near. Maybe a blocker or some other tampering signal? Either way I don’t think I can fix it.”
“It appears that this superhuman has more than one ability then, or perhaps they had some technology with them? Which would have to be very advanced to get past all the security that are on the suit cams.” Tim added, no longer glaring at Red Hood but stepping closer to the screen and Barbara.
“What did the person look like?” Finally, Red Hood spoke, looking at Signal with slightly narrowed eyes. Duke won’t really admit it, but Jason kinda made him nervous sometimes, especially when he was dressed up in his crime lord stuff.
“He had bright white air, which kinda flowed like he was underwater. Pale skin, a black and white suit with a weird symbol on the front, and white boots and gloves. He kinda looked like a rogue or a superhero.” Signal explained, and looking back on it, maybe they were? Did the Justice League have any new heroes or something?
“I have not heard of any heroes or villains that would match that description, and I would know.” Damian said, a frown present on his face from not knowing something.
Then Cass appeared out of nowhere, slinking out of the shadows and appearing right beside Duke, making him jump a bit. Sometimes he swears that she was the meta with superpowers and not him. “I haven’t seen anybody like that either.”
“Was there anything else about him that looked off?” Red Hood pressed, looking at Duke again with a rigid body. It was almost like Jason was looking for something, or that he knew something and was trying to see if that something was connected to this. Duke frowned, thinking hard about what he might be asking about. Then he remembered something he hadn’t mentioned earlier and straightened up.
“Oh! He kinda looked like he might be a teenager, as he wasn’t very tall and sounded young. He also had glowing green eyes, super bright and stuff, and maybe sharp teeth? I didn’t really get a good look at his face with the lighting.” Duke said, remembering how the new light of the rising sun and the other’s glowing eyes didn’t really allow him to have a good look at his face from up close, even if he could control light to a certain degree. It was another weird thing adding to the pile of oddities this superhuman had, which was to be expected.
Jason tensed even more, his eyes widening only a small fraction, that reaction being reflected from his helmet. Duke was confused from this, watching as Jason turned away and stared at the batcomputer. Did Jason recognize the superhuman?
“Is there anything else that is needed to report?” Batman asked, glancing at everybody in the room, and took the silence that followed as a no. “I want nobody to engage with the unknown superhuman. We do not know their intentions or what they may be capable of. If you see him, report to me immediately and keep watch of him while maintaining your distance. From what Duke said, this person can sense others and mess with technology when nearby. Until we know more about this possible threat, I want everybody to keep a close eye on him and anything else out of the ordinary. The last thing this city needs is another person causing trouble.”
Duke’s eyebrows furrowed again, agreeing with most of what B said but grew confused with the last part. “I don’t know if this person is a threat though. He seemed to genuinely want out of the city, not to stay in it and cause trouble.”
“That doesn’t mean that they cannot be dangerous.” Batman said, before looking at Duke and adding on. “If anybody does see him though, do not attack them unless attacked first.”
Duke nodded, his hands tightening a bit as he looked at the other bats. Cass was already walking away, no doubt about to hide in the shadows once more, and Damian had already disappeared. The two assassins were scarily similar sometimes. Tim was talking with Babs about the whole camera situation and how it was possible, both seeming equally frustrated. Then there was Jason, who’s white out eyes of the helmet were narrowed and arms were still crossed, obviously in deep thought. Bruce was heading out, to do who knows what. Duke needed to get back on patrol as well, so he shook himself before walking out of the batcave as well and back out into the not so bright world of Gotham.
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After talking to Barbara about Duke’s camera becoming distorted like that, Tim had a sinking feeling that something was going on in Gotham. First, Jason started acting weird, then he found out that he was keeping a kid with him who had just left, and then Duke sees this supernatural teenager a day after that. He wasn’t an idiot, and neither was Jason, he saw how tense the other was, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. This was the “kid” he was trying to hide, and it made everything make much more sense on why Jason was being so secretive. Hiding a superhuman in Gotham right under the big bat’s nose? He should’ve known that Jason would be the person to do something like this.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead and filling up his coffee again. He had waited for all the others to leave so that he could be alone in the batcave. He was going to do this last night, but Alfred caught him sneaking into the cave and told, or more so ordered him, to go to bed as his night patrol was over. He tried arguing with the butler, but inevitably lost in the end as he could never argue with the man, and was promptly dragged up to bed. He knew it would be harder to leave his room without getting caught after that, as Alfred would have been keeping a close eye on him for the rest of the night, so he stayed right in his comfy bed and gave in to his tired urges.
Now though, he was much more awake and since it was well into the afternoon, Alfred couldn’t force him to go to bed. This was also one of the rare moments that somebody wasn’t in the batcave, either to try and solve a case or training, and Tim was eager to take advantage of it while he still could. With his new steaming cup of coffee in hand, he walked right over to the batcomputer, sitting down in the huge chair in front of it. The cave was mostly silent except for the occasional drip and Tim typing on the wide keyboard, like it was just as tense and anxious as he was.
He pulled out the harddrive in his pocket and plugged it into one of the USB ports, waiting impatiently as the screen quickly downloaded the information and brought it up on the screen. Tim went through the files, already knowing where to look.
He had gone back to the warehouse earlier that day, before he was called in by Bruce for the important meeting over what Duke had reported. It was a good thing he came, as the new info he had brought a new light to everything he already knew. He had went to the warehouse for the camera footage there, hoping that it could provide him some answers as well.
Finding the date that Red Hood first started acting strange, he clicked onto the file and began watching the footage. It was a bit grainy, obviously not one of better quality, but worked nonetheless. At first there was nothing, then around two in the morning the light was turned on and he could see movement in the corner of the camera. He paused it, and tried to enhance the image, but found that the low quality made it impossible to make out anything but a blurb of colors. From what he could see though was the red of Jason’s helmet, and the fact that it seemed like he had something next to his side. He unpaused the video and waited a few more seconds, watching as the two figures slowly moved to the other side of the warehouse.
Tim could make out a bit more, that the person appeared to be slouched over, and had black hair. Black hair? Didn’t Duke say that the person he saw had white hair? Tim watched more closely, staring as they slowly got closer, waiting for the person to be in a more clearer angle so he could get a better look.
That was when the camera began to bug out, the pixels becoming gray and mismatched as they danced around the screen, creating a fuzzy look. Tim abruptly stood up, the chair he was in rolling away with the sudden movement.
This was the superhuman. The camera did the same thing that Duke’s did, meaning that this person was the same as the other. This also strengthened the theory that the person had an ability that corrupted camera footage, maybe even subconsciously as the boy never looked at the camera to know it was there. This was huge proof that solved all of Tim’s doubts.
Jason knew the superhuman, and was perhaps more connected to them than anybody knew. Tim needed to get to the bottom of this, before everybody goes crashing into the bottom of whatever mess that Jason has caused. He stood up, took the hard drive and left the batcave, already knowing what he needed to do in mind.