October 31

"Remind me again why you have to go to that meeting?" Danny complained as Dick helped with fixing the messed up part of his suit. He was getting better at getting it on himself but today was not one of those days.

Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair as he pushed himself off from the BatComputer. "Roy asked for it. He had intel about a mole in the team and that has yet to be properly discussed."

A discussion Dick would have been a part of had he not been forced to step down. With how temperamental Roy had been lately, chances were that he'd raise a stink about that as well. But, as it stood, Roy had no say in any of that. He had refused the offer to join the team and after distancing himself from Oliver, he wasn't exactly a League associate either.

Dick rolled his eyes, tightening the chest clasps a bit too hard. "There wouldn't have been a need for a discussion this late on if all of you would have just told us from the start. At this rate he'll think I could have been a mole too because the League hates Danny so much." He grumbled, sending a halfhearted apologetic look at his brother.

Bruce rubbed his face tiredly. "They don't hate Danny-"

"Pretty sure they do, actually."

"They hate the lack of accurate info they have on you." Bruce finished, ignoring Danny's interruption. "They would have made similar assumptions if we had done a proper introduction, anyway. Conner's existence put the whole 'hidden people' on the forefront of their minds and there is no escaping that."

Danny pouted, glaring at the mask glue like it had personally offended him. "I wouldn't have been such a hidden person if they were nicer about it."

Selina finished up his braid, holding his cheeks in her hands as she inspected her work. "You can't expect those people to be nice when they turned away a scared child to fend for himself." Selina had been trying to stay out of the hero politics, preferring to mind her boys and leaving it at that.

But there is only so much looking away one can do when those same heroes abandoned one of their own already. There was only so much even Bruce could do, silently advocating for his stay at Mount Justice and going to school like a normal teen for one, without overstepping any clear boundaries. The boy obviously wanted Clark's attention and validation, and the already stubborn Kryptonian wasn't going to provide any of that if Batman stepped in too heavy handedly.

As much as they all hated it, there was only so much they could do while still trying to tear down Clark's obnoxiously dense wall.

Danny eyed the headset left at the Batcomputer, the one Batman had subtly recommended to Conner after initial testing of his powers. It had good reviews online from hypersensitive people, but that paled in comparison to superhearing issues. He didn't feel good about the way the League treated Conner either, especially not with him still trying to do the best he can. But the dude was an ass as well and he didn't have the spoons to spare.

Then again, maybe rewarding that bit of kindness would do better than constantly butting heads. It wouldn't interfere too much with Clark's shit if it came from them rather than Batman. But it was still quite a gamble with how brutish the clone reacted to anything surrounding the twins.

"Do you really have to go?" Dick pouted as he watched Bruce pull on the last bits of his suit.

"You could come along and go to the party with the others."

Danny snorted as Dick just completely turned away from the man for even daring to offer. "Nobody even asked us to come, so what would the point even be? To give them more reasons to hate us? No thanks." He grabbed some extra supplies, arming himself for the chaos they were going to face out there tonight.

Halloween in Gotham was no joke. It was like their own personal holiday. Gotham's personal pride parade of crazy and fucked up. It was the one night in the year where everybody could go all out and compete for the best stunts pulled.

It was also the night where the rogues would behave the most and enjoy the fun without causing too much trouble for the resident heroes. Well, compared to the usual insanity of course. Sure, some crimes still happened, but they were all fun and themed up.

The funniest ones are when they dress as each other and commit crimes to blame each other. Harley and Ivy did that the past 3 years in a row, and no doubt they'd try it again.

No way would they miss this, and Phantom's official debut night, for a lame school party.

Dick and Danny's phones chimed before either could continue on. Checking the notification, Dick smirked. "Sounds like there was more than enough drama without us there."

Under the scrutiny of Bruce's raised eyebrow, Danny continued. "Tanna got her phone back yesterday. She offered to go under cover for us to see what the team would do without us there. But something came up and she's now going on patrol with Artemis in Manhattan."

Selina looked over their shoulder, scanning over the group chat the boys had made with her. "You two are aware you're still not actually allowed to contact her, right? Zatara won't be happy when he finds out." She softly scolded them. It was dumb, but a father's boundaries were still boundaries that should be respected.

"Oh, he isn't." Danny laughed, scrolling up to a picture of a hand written contract Zatanna had managed to get her father to agree to. The man had explicitly allowed contact under the condition he was allowed to oversee their chats whenever he asked. Meeting up was still quite a no, but it didn't sound too bad. At least it was a step in the right direction. All of Zatanna's performative tantrums had finally started to tire out the man's prejudice surrounding the pair of Bats.

Bruce sighed, pulling on the cowl as he looked over the rest of them. Everybody was geared up to go out. Selina was even joining in on the side just to keep an eye on the two trouble magnets. "Just promise me you won't blow anything up."

Dick and Danny glanced at each other, neither quite willing to make such a promise. It was Gotham after all. Something was bound to go boom tonight and they may or may not be the cause of it.

Rubbing his face for a final time before slipping into his persona, Bruce sighed deeply. "Just comm in when something too big happens." Now that was something they were willing to promise.

With a final goodbye hug, they all set out on their own ways. Deciding to race towards the city and check in with Gordon, Phantom was easily the first to arrive. No rules against flying and intangibility were made so he had the advantage over Robin's intricate knowledge of the city and her streets.

They stilled their giggling as they silently made their way up the GCPD building. The BatSignal was off, but just as expected, Gordon was still taking a smoke break up there. Sneaking up behind the aging man, Robin was the first to make his presence known. "Whatcha doing here, Gordo?" He cackled as Gordon jumped so hard, his mug went flying over the rails.

"Jesus fuck, kid! Warn a guy first!" He held a hand over his racing hart, cigarette still barely hanging between his lips. "What are you doing here alone? Where's Batman?"

Robin had to fight back against laughing harder. Leaning back on the vent shaft, he leisurely kicked his legs. "B's not here, he had a lame meeting to go to and won't be back before time's run out." They waited patiently until the man seemed to relax again. Was it mean to mess around with the stressed out commissioner? Probably, but having some fun during stressful times was good for the soul.

Figuring now was the best time, Phantom floated up to sit on the now abandoned railing and pop into visibility. "He's got me, though."

Gordon screamed for the second time, cigarette not making it through as it fell onto the ever damp roof. Huffing at the loss of his two stress relievers, Gordon finally took a moment to calm down and actually look over the new arrival.

Phantom held out his hands, smirking like an Arkham resident as Gordon's hand phased right through it. "Phantom, at your service." He tried to hold back his laughter but identical cackles echoed across the roof.

Looking up to the sky and cursing whatever gods were looking over his sad miserable life, Gordon glared between the two vigilantes. "Oh god, help me. There's another one of you?!"

"Not counting me out, are you, commissioner?" Catwoman purred as she too showed up next to her boys. Carrying the mug he had dropped, she handed it over to the unamused cop.

"Catwoman." He greeted apprehensively. "Don't think you can try anything with the Bat gone for the night." He eyed her as she sauntered over, ignoring the poorly hidden giggles from the boys watching them.

Selina trailed a clawed glove over the man's shoulders, smirking as she felt his muscles tense. "Now why would I do that? Wouldn't want to set a bad example to my kittens, would I?"

Phantom floated over to Robin, sitting down next to him. "Don't worry, sir, we all promised to behave." He reassured, staying steady but keeping a close eye on Gordon's hand twitching towards his gun.

Gordon kept his eyes on Catwoman for just a moment longer before finally looking back over to the boys. Zeroing in on Phantom, he raised an eyebrow. "What happened to the no metas thing?"

Phantom smiled innocently, mirroring Robin perfectly like they had planned in order to creep him out. "Not a meta, sir." He faded from visibility, only to reappear right next to Gordon's ear, dangling upside down in the same sitting position as earlier. "Death's more like a medical condition." He had to hold in a laugh when Gordon nearly shrieked at the cold chill that went down the man's spine.

Utterly unamused and trying to cover up the violent flinch, Gordon cleared his throat before staring at Robin. "Of course you guys are the ones to find something creepier than Bats and let him run loose on Halloween of all days." He lamented, very much aware of all the cryptid rumors as well. Now with a kid like Phantom in their ranks, it'll only get fueled even more.

Sighing, he looked down at his wasted cigarette. "At least I have the time to change my bet. No doubt you two are winning this year." When he looked up however, they had all vanished. "Be the contact point for the Bats, they said. It'll be fun, they said." With a groan, he crushed the cigarette under his boot before walking back inside, identical cackling echoing across the wind. "Not with an actual fucking ghost, it's not."

Giggling laughter erupted from the roof the moment the door closed. Catching their breath, the three of them set out to cover as much of Gotham as they could. Gordon was right, after all, with Phantom on their side, they were sure to win this year. All they had to do was get the most posts made about them before midnight hit. Every now and again they would cross paths, taking a little snack break and showing Phantom to the best spots in town to get good patrol snacks.

That always bumped their scores up by a lot.

Nobody had expected Robin to come waltzing in with Catwoman and a new kid trailing behind. Especially not when that new kid was introduced as his brother of all people. With Batman missing from action this year, rumors were going wild about Gotham's power couple's second child. Rumors Catwoman only fanned when she kept purposely trying to fix their hair or get them to eat something healthier than straight up sugar.

The Batburger accounts all over social media were being flooded with demands for a Phantom menu already. People were begging to have it added as a secret menu item, only serving to skyrocket their score on the leaderboard.

During their break rating the best nuggets around, Phantom nearly choked as his ghost sense alerted him of a presence. It wasn't Cujo, at least he thought it wasn't. Cujo had long since stopped triggering the reaction, too used to the pup constantly being around. No, this was somebody else.

"Ni?" Robin asked quietly, worriedly looking over his brother as Phantom floated up slightly. Leaving his nuggets abandoned on the roof, the young ghost tried to get a better sense of who had crossed over after all this time.

"Somebody's here." Phantom mumbled ominously. His sense went off again, no longer a simple whisp but more an entire lung full of mist rose from his chest. "A lot of somebodies." He floated around the roof, desperately trying to get a feel as to where he could feel the cold in his chest build up more.

Nobody except Cujo and the stupid plant thing crossed over ever since the Fenton portal was shut down. He doubted it was a coincidence that on his first official day out on patrol, somebody had made the cross.

Finally finding a direction that felt right, he set off. Catwoman and Robin followed closely, not wanting to let him face whatever or whoever it was alone. The sounds of creaking wood and the thick smell of gunpowder became more and more obvious the closer the three of them got to whoever they were chasing down.

Eventually they came to a stop in Gotham Park. There were a few onlookers, all with their phones out as they kept an eye on the vigilantes. Phantom stepped forward, crossing his arms and looking up towards nothingness. "What are you doing here?" His question was met with silence. Whispers from confused onlookers picked up, wondering who their newest hero was talking to.

"There's nothing there." Robin cautiously remarked, knowing how much one bad perception can ruin their already fragile reputation. Not just with Gotham, as this would likely be most of theirs first introduction to Phantom, but also the entire hero community. They already look down on Gotham because all of the mental disorders going around in their rogue gallery, they can't afford to have that be turned on their heroes as well.

Phantom waved him off, not backing down from talking into the void. "If you don't answer by the count of 3 I'll make sure you regret crossing over tonight." He threatened, making Robin and Catwoman even more nervous.

"One." He started the count, floating up slightly. The open lake before them still as empty as it was before. Robin had tried to scan for life forms, thinking maybe Croc had come for a swim, but he found nothing.

"Two." The echo in Phantom's voice increased, hands already charging up with ecto as he prepared for a non-existent fight. He sounded anything but amused, the seriousness of the situation fully penetrating as he fell into an offensive stance.

Robin was worried. Glancing over to Catwoman he could tell she, too, wasn't sure what was going on. But then again, there was so much stuff they were still learning about ghost things that this might be one of those situations, considering what day it was.

Still though, threatening the air was anything but a good look at the moment. The only good coming out of this was them shooting up the score board that was visible from the other side of the pond.

"Two and a half." The ecto had formed into balls, ready to shoot off at a moment's notice. Before he could follow through on his threat however, shocked gasps erupted from all over as a giant black and green ship materialized.

A young child looking ghost popped up over the port beam, obnoxiously tall hat waving in the air. "I YIELD!" The child shouted out. "I YIELD I SAY!" He more desperately repeated before Phantom finally let the ecto dissipate. The little captain put his hat back on, nearly doubling his size as he did.

Disembarking from his ship, he floated over to Phantom. "High-" A sharp glare from Phantom stilled him. Clearing his throat, the little captain tried again. "Hi, hello, be greeted Phantom." He awkwardly chuckled, trying to cover up for his little mishap. "Fancy meeting you 'ere." A skeleton bird flew over, landing on the boys shoulder before bowing its head in greeting.

"Bones." Phantom nodded at the bird before softly glaring back at the young boy. "Youngblood, don't make me ask again." Phantom's stern words made Youngblood pout, mumbling on about how he is no fun to play with.

"Lord Youngblood is here on official business. Thou would have been informed of his crossing had thee not refused to attend the council meeting." Bones supplied for the both of them, as well as their crew.

Now it was Phantom's turn to pout. "There's nothing for me to actually do in those meetings except be bored, so what's the point of going?" The casualness of their interaction sent a wave of relief through their audience. Coming back out of hiding, even more phones popped up to record the new giant glowing ship that had entered the game.

Robin dared to step closer, staying just a few steps behind him. "So I take it this is who you sensed?" He eyed the little captain, trying hard to not let it show that he was still assessing the newcomers for danger.

He was quite short, barely making it up to his chest without the hat on. His bright green hair and glowing green eyes stood out the most outside of the cute pushed up nose and bunny teeth. But that was where his cuteness ended. The boy had seemingly lost a hand and a leg, replaced by a hook and peg leg respectively.

"Aye." The child said with quite a performative pirate accent. "So you are the infamous kin, I see. I must say, the souls have taken a likin' to you." The little captain eyed Robin, clearly taking notes that couldn't be spoken out loud as he reached out to touch his black hair.

Phantom slapped the hand away, giving the little captain a soft glare. The little captain smiled sheepishly, holding his hand up in surrender. "Pardon my intrusion. It's been a while since we have been around the living kin of Hi-erm him, Phantom, here." He chuckled awkwardly again, the parrot on his shoulder face-winging with a sigh.

"What he means to say is, he's sorry for overstepping. We do not often make the cross into the living realm." The bird supplied helpfully, the little captain nodding along in agreement.

"Which brings us back to what are you doing here." Phantom sighed out, crossing his arms once again as he glared at them. Not amused by the constant distractions.

"Business. Gotham's always been a sore spot on the hallowed eve but it seems the lost souls feel quite differently this time around." The young captain smiled knowingly at Phantom, who just groaned softly.

"What kind of business?" Robin asked cautiously, trying to still figure out what was happening and who these new ghosts were. The glance he stole at Catwoman didn't help him at all as she looked even more lost than he was.

"Right." His brother chuckled nervously. "Robin, Catwoman, this is Lord Youngblood, Ancient Of Youth, ferryman of the lost ones, and captain of the Shadow." He dramatically bowed, gesturing at Youngblood as he rattled off the boy's official titles. "And this is Bones, his quartermaster."

"Youngblood, Bones, this is Robin, my brother." Phantom bit the inside of his cheek, trying to not laugh as Robin ever so awkwardly tried to shake Bones' wing. "And this is Catwoman, my...Ah." He blushed a little, not quite sure what to call her so openly for all to see. They hadn't had that talk yet after all.

"Darling?" She questioned, concern painted all over her face as she looked between her two boys.

A switch flipped in Phantom's brain as he facepalmed hard enough the smack was audible on the video recordings of the onlookers. "Right. So, ah, being the Ancient Of Youth has the drawback that only young people can see him. Or hear him for that matter." He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling rather dumb he managed to forget about such an important detail.

"Wow, I'm surprised you remembered it at all." Youngblood remarked, slowly clapping his hand and hook together.

"I'm surprised you still wear that fuckass hat." Phantom sassed back, not one to let their history together go forgotten just because there is a different type of audience this time around. He won't take being called out like that or have his otherwise still questionable intelligence put to question like that.

Youngblood puffed his cheeks out, floating up so he could be right in Phantom's face. "What do you have against my hat?!" Squaring up with the taller boy, Bones took it as a sign to distance himself from the idiocy and take a rest on Robin's shoulder instead.

"It's literally almost the same height as you."

"Boys, enough." Robin copied the exact tone Selina always used against them, seeing as she herself had no idea what was even going on. Smirking as Phantom pouted and looked over to Catwoman for help but getting nothing except a shrug in return.

"Fine, fine." He mumbled, kicking at the grass while still avoiding actual eye contact with the woman. Looking for anywhere else to gaze at, he looked up at the dangerous beauty that was the Shadow. Her hull glistened in the pond waters, the city lights reflecting onto the blackened wood. Sails and flag moving in non-existent winds as she breathed in the delectable toxic fumes of Gotham. A ghost ship like her would feel perfectly at home in a city as drenched in ambient ecto as here.

"Hey, Youngblood?" He mused, eyes lingering on the vessel for a moment longer before turning around with a smirk. A mischievous smirk that Robin recognized enough from looking in the mirror. "Do you think the Shadow has room for two more?" He would have asked for Catwoman too, but with her not being able to actually see Youngblood, there was a chance the Shadow wouldn't accept her.

"I-" Youngblood sputtered, hat falling off as he tried to contain his glee. "It would be an honor to have you aboard. Your presence and the reputation of your kin may very well help the lost find their way tonight." He gleamed, looking up with big eyes and trying to convince Robin to help in his cause as well.

"Can we?" Robin asked, looking over to Catwoman. She still looked incredibly confused but smiled nonetheless.

"So long as you give a warning before going off on a treasure hunt." She relented, knowing nothing would be better than letting them hang out with other, friendly, ghosts. Now that would be quite the news story for the League to hear about.

"I do hope your living kin has more deck manners than the stow away we picked up." Bones remarked, flying back over to Youngblood. As if perfectly timed, a loud crash came from the Shadow. The sail lines undid themselves, reaching out towards something on the deck before unceremoniously launching it towards the group.

Cujo crash landed on the edge of the lake, bouncing off of the water's surface before finally coming to a halt right in front of them. With an entire boney leg still in his mouth, accompanied by angry yelling from the crewmate it belonged to back on the ship, the pup happily wagged his tail at his favorite boy.

Phantom facepalmed, regretting not asking before where his personal headache was at.

Robin, on the other hand, burst out laughing as the angry crewmate tried to fly over to get his leg back. Tried being the keyword as Cujo simply took it as a sign to start a game of tug-of-war.

A/N concidering i was lowkey battling against one of you to try and speed up the writing, Im here to say i admit defeat by multiple days BUT i plead innocence by matter of distraction. ya gorl got new nibs for my stylus and ive been messing around with trying digital art so I very proudly present the cause of me being hella late
my blobman, a saga