[Third Person's PoV]
Danny floated lazily above the semi-busy streets of Gotham in the dead of night, the dim glow of streetlights flickering against the occasional passing car. With his hands folded behind his head and his body drifting backward through the air, he looked like a ghost on vacation.
Below, the few pedestrians still out and about after a long day glanced up in confusion. Seeing a ghost—of all things—casually floating overhead wasn't exactly normal. But this was Gotham. After everything the city had seen, most shrugged it off and kept walking. A ghost was far from the strangest thing they'd seen.
Danny whistled softly to himself, eyes closed in calm contentment, when a sudden chill passed through him. A faint mist slipped from his mouth and drifted to the right, slithering through the air like a serpent made of frost.
His body snapped upright in mid-air, senses instantly on alert. He blinked in surprise, following the trail of cold mist until his eyes landed on a nearby jewelry store. Through the dark glass, illuminated faintly by the store's emergency lighting, he saw it: a ghost inside. The figure wore a crimson hood that shadowed his face and a quiver strapped across his back, its arrows faintly glowing with spectral energy.
Danny tilted his head. "Okay, that's new," he muttered.
With cautious ease, he phased through the glass door, his hand reaching into his jacket to retrieve his trusty ghost thermos. The Phantom Archer, as Danny would come to call him, remained oblivious to his presence—until the gleam of a jewel caught the archer's attention and reflected Danny's silver glow behind him.
The Archer whirled around just as Danny clicked on the thermos. With a startled grunt, the ghost leapt to the side, barely dodging the suction field, and landed in a crouch. His eyes narrowed beneath his hood as he locked eyes with Danny.
Danny sighed and capped the thermos, sliding it back into his belt. "I mean, honestly, can you blame me for trying?" he said with a casual shrug.
Without a word, the Phantom Archer notched an arrow and let it fly. The ghostly projectile screamed through the air toward Danny's face—only to be caught between Danny's fingers just inches from impact.
"Whoa! Careful," Danny said with a grin, holding the arrow in front of him. "You could poke someone's eye out with that."
With a casual clench of his fist, he shattered the arrow like it was made of glass.
The Archer responded with narrowed eyes and fired off a rapid volley of arrows. Danny flipped backward out of the store, performing a series of handsprings across the sidewalk as explosive arrows phased through the glass behind him. Each one detonated with a concussive blast, shattering concrete and sending clouds of dust into the air.
As he somersaulted into the sky, Danny called out, "What does a ghost even want with jewelry? Trying to bling yourself out in the afterlife?"
One of the Archer's arrows, now wreathed in flames, streaked toward him. Danny fired a ghost ray to intercept it. The two attacks collided mid-air in a burst of green fire, engulfing the scene in a thick smoke screen.
Rising above the rooftops, Danny tried to draw the Archer upward. He didn't want a repeat of last time—not with civilians around. Arrows zipped through the air after him, but Danny twisted and rolled out of their paths with supernatural grace.
Clapping his hands together while dodging another shot, he flicked his wrist toward the Archer. A whip of glowing green ectoplasm lashed out, wrapping around the ghost's torso and yanking him upward.
"Alright, Little Red Robin Hood," Danny growled, lowering his voice to sound more intimidating, "Get over here!"
He dragged the Archer into the air and charged downward, ready to end this fast. But the ghost had already nocked another arrow and fired. It exploded into a wide, crackling net that expanded toward Danny.
Danny's eyes flared with emerald fire. With a roar, he incinerated the net mid-flight, the burning strands vanishing into the smoke. He closed the distance and threw a punch.
The Archer blocked with his bow, the impact sending a shockwave through the air. He gritted his teeth, struggling against Danny's strength.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" Danny muttered, his fist still pressed against the bow. "Fine. No talking."
His second fist came crashing down into the Archer's gut. The ghost choked on the impact and was sent flying backward, smashing through a rooftop air vent and crashing into a billboard.
Danny didn't let up. As the Archer recovered and tried to nock three new arrow—these one crackling with dynamite—the air shimmered around them.
A ghostly wail blasted through the rooftop, intercepting the arrows from the Archer's bow just as he released them.
The resulting explosion flung the Phantom Archer backward in a blur of motion, smoke billowing from his scorched cloak as he crashed straight through the billboard
Danny surged forward, hands glowing with intense ecto-energy. He thrust his arms in rapid-fire bursts, launching one green blast after another, his energy attacks crashing toward the Archer with relentless force.
The rooftop echoed with the sound of ghostly blasts exploding against steel and stone. Smoke swirled in every direction, mixing with the green glow of Danny's ecto-energy and the faint red shimmer of the Archer's flickering form.
The Phantom Archer flipped backward off the roof's edge, letting out a low growl as he fired a quick volley of arrows mid-air. Danny phased through two, dodged a third, and caught the last one between his fingers again.
"You've really got a one-track mind, don't you?" Danny muttered, crushing the arrow in his hand and zooming downward.
The Archer landed in a crouch on a lower building, rolled, and tried to run—but Danny was already there, a blur of green light. He slammed his fists together, sending a pulse wave outward that knocked the Archer off his feet. The ghost crashed against a water tower, causing it to dent and spill water down the rooftop in a shimmering stream.
"You're fast," Danny admitted, slowly hovering down, "but I've been doing this a while now."
The Archer tried to get up, but Danny's hand snapped forward, and a green energy chain wrapped around his limbs, locking him in place. The ghost thrashed, arrows falling from his quiver as he struggled.
Danny reached into his belt and pulled out the thermos again.
"I gotta say, I respect the whole spooky silent archer thing. Very ominous. But jewelry theft? Kinda beneath a ghost isn't it?" Danny said, unscrewing the lid. "This is the part where you go night-night."
The thermos lit up with a bright blue glow and emitted its signature whirring sound as Danny aimed the nozzle at the trapped spirit.
The Archer's eyes widened—finally, a visible flicker of fear.
The suction field engaged, and the Archer was yanked forward. Ghostly energy peeled off his form as the pull grew stronger. He strained against the ectoplasmic chains, his fingers clawing at the roof tiles—but it was no use. With one final scream muffled by the roar of energy, the Phantom Archer was dragged into the thermos with a burst of light.
The lid snapped shut with a satisfying click.
Danny let out a long breath and floated back, holding the still-warm thermos in one hand. He gave it a light shake, then slipped it back into his belt.
Danny tapped the side of his ear and spoke into the ear piece, "Uhh, This is the Phantom line speaking, I don't know if this counts as weird, but I found and captured a ghost that went jewelry window shopping"
"Was it stealing the jewels?" Robin's voice retorted.
And Danny froze, "Well not exactly… It was examine the displays"
Danny blinked and stared at the side of his waist where the Thermos rested, 'Did… Did I just attack an innocent man, ghost(?)'
********************************************
+10 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3