Ghost in Gotham

Second to Last

So huh, this is a the end coming? Neat.

Robin's POV

I saw that guy, Aster Danny called him, pull out something from his jacket. For a second, I forgot Phantom was an ecto-criminal. As Phantom slowly transformed into a more lively version of himself, I ran to warn him.

My God, I can't joke with myself. This was Danny. This was the dude that had awkward energy while also being super insightful. He was cryptic and confusing, but it is Danny.

I barely heard whatever that tasing bastard had to say as Danny, the Danny I knew, fell at the floor in a fit of screams.

I took out my bow staff and made a hit to the man, but it simply phased through him.

Aster laughed, his eyes glowing red—had they always been red?— and spoke in an echo, "Do you really trust this mistake of a ghost? He's lied to you, lied to everyone. He can't be trusted."

I started to stagger a bit, feeling his words pick at my brain. Should I trust Danny?—he's super nice! He's lied to me. He cares about Gotham! He's the reason Gotham's being attacked... And he's doing everything to stop it. Snap out of it, bozo!

I shook my head and yelled as I tried to swing at the ghostly apparatus once more. His jovial smile immediately fell, becoming a sneer.

"Fine. You trust the scum, you'll die like one." And then he disappeared.

It was so instantaneous; one moment I was on the roof and the next I was being dragged down floor by floor, watching the empty rooms to pass by, I suppressed and scream, but a slight yelp came out of me anyways. I looked down at what was pulling my down, and I saw a slightly familiar face. It was dark, but, sure enough, it was Dragon Girl.

In seconds, I was slammed into a cage, groaning in pain as the back. Soon came Danny hurdling to the metal cage too, to of which I dodge from. I wince as I hear him hit the metal too.

I looked around, it was so very dark. The Dragon Girl seemingly disappeared without a trace. But one thing illuminated the place, a giant laser that looked clunkier than any villain machine I've seen. Bits and bobs protruded from it and it looked like a rushed job. The place was a mess, filled with rubble and graffiti.

My eyes darted to Danny as he slowly got up. I instantly went to support him, putting his arm on my back.

"Danny, what's going on?" I asked in a low whisper.

He groaned in pain, "I... I wish I knew..."

Suddenly a laugh came to be, and a figure came to us. The same Aster guy that tased Danny in the first place. Bastard.

"Isn't this great? Does Phantom have to rely on his enemies when he loses a friend? What a twist, I have to admit."

I scowled, "What do you want?"

"Simple, watch Daniel here finally get his karma from taking Pariah's rightful place."

The statement seemed to startle Danny as his head rose to Aster's eye level. "P-Pariah?" He paused for a second. "This isn't you, Aster, you're being possessed, you need to fight whatever minion is-" There was a tremor in Danny's voice, hoping that this guy wasn't a traitor.

"Possessed? I'll admit that this human host I do possess, but I sure as hell was the Aster you oh so adored." There were a smoothness and tauntings to the man's voice. I clicked a button on my belt as he continued his monologue. It was a distress signal so Batman could find us. I just needed Bats here, soon.

"The Aster that you considered a friend, the Aster you wanted to protect. But I'm no "Aster", call me Disaster, Right Hand Man of Pariah Dark."

Danny didn't look like he believed it, but his trembling body told me he did. I didn't understand who Pariah was, but he sounded like a very bad person, especially to Danny. Bats please, we need you. I need you, Bruce.

Dad, please.

"Every moment with you was pure torture to me, don't you know? Every time I had to pretend to talk to you like you were the best person in the world. I played the little naive boy to befriend you, and you just ate it all up. Poor, poor Phantom, reduced to nothing but desperate scum." He circled the jail like cage that held the both of us.

"So hopeful that you could rejoin the living world you turned your back on. Hopeful that humanity would prove you wrong and you could finally trust the world. Too ignorant to know that you can never be trusted."

I couldn't take it, I ran at the cage—unfortunately allowing Danny to stand on his own—and grabbed at this Disaster of a man by his shirt. Thankfully, he was extremely corporeal at that second.

"Look here, you stupidly named criminal, Phantom is anything but scum."

I was seething with anger. But the information brought new things to light: I was extremely wrong about Phantom.

Suddenly, a see through figure stepped out of this Disaster and the body crumpled at my hold. I quickly let go and allowed it to flop to the floor. The see-through man laughed. "It was time to let go of that body, anyways. I'm finally getting everything I wanted."

He started to fly to something in the darkness, and then brought back a slightly familiar looking guitar. It looked like Danny knew of it extremely seeing how he started to press himself against the bars to see it.

"Remember this, Daniel?" Disaster smiled, holding the guitar in front of him. "One strum can put the entirety of Gotham under my control. Another can kill every single of of them."

"And this," he grabbed at something and pulled down a sort of tarp.

The glow was immediate and I converted my eyes before getting a good look at it. A small, swirling green portal.

"Will be how I will destroy the rest of this pitiful world."