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Going Ghost! (Young Justice) Chapter 24: Cliches
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 17:09:26 +0000 UTC[Third Person's PoV]
"What?" Dick whispered back in surprise. "How do you know that? Does your ghost sense go off just by looking at a picture?"
"No, I just know," Danny whispered back. "I mean, look at her. Does anything about her scream 'normal' to you?"
As Wally placed his tickets on the counter, he glanced back at Danny and Dick, noticing their hushed conversation. "You guys having trouble deciding what to get? Honestly, I might just grab the ticket so I can see that babe tomorrow."
Dick rolled his eyes and placed his own tickets on the counter, Danny following suit. The two of them turned to the man behind the counter and said in unison, "We’d like the first-place item."
"You guys are serious? I was just joking…" Wally stared at them, taken aback. "Well, if you’re down for it, who am I to turn it down?"
With a grin, Wally turned to the man behind the counter. "Same here. Give me that ticket!"
The man took their tickets and pulled three concert tickets from beneath the counter, placing them in front of them.
Grabbing their tickets and shopping bags, the trio exited the arcade.
"Wait, would Bruce even let you go? I mean, wouldn’t he be upset about you taking so many days off?" Wally asked as they headed toward the escalator.
Dick sighed. "He would—if it was an important mission." He leaned in, lowering his voice. "Danny told me something interesting."
As they rode the escalator down, Wally glanced at Danny in disbelief. "You’re telling me that babe is a ghost?"
Danny nodded. "It's just a feeling I get. I can’t explain it well—I just know."
Wally furrowed his brows, looking down at the ticket, which had a small picture of Ember on the front.
"Well, I’ll say this much—I wouldn’t mind being haunted by her~" Wally smirked, stuffing the ticket into his pocket. "But why are we even going? Are all ghosts just bad guys or something? She doesn’t seem like one to me."
Dick stiffened slightly, placing a hand on his chin. "You know what? You’ve got a point. I took the ticket because of what Danny said, but I never stopped to consider if she actually wasn't up to no good and her regret or whatever was just that she wanted to put up a concert or something. Who’s to say she’s one of the bad ones?"
Danny sighed. "I’m not saying ghosts are necessarily evil. But you have to remember, to become a ghost, someone usually has to die with resentment or regrets. That kind of thing can make them act out."
Turning to Dick, Danny continued, "And the only reason you didn’t stop to consider it is because every ghost you’ve helped me take down before was up to no good. You’ve subconsciously developed a prejudice toward them."
Wally rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "I see… so even if they’re not evil, they tend to make a mess of things. What do you think she’s planning?"
Danny shrugged. "How should I know? But one thing’s certain—her abilities probably have something to do with sound. So be ready for that."
Seeing Dick's skeptical expression, Danny gave him a deadpan look. "She’s holding a guitar and putting on a concert. Either she’s got a hypnotic voice that controls people, or she uses that guitar as a weapon. Could be either—or both—for all we know."
"Good observation," Dick praised.
Before Danny could make a sarcastic remark, his phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he frowned when he saw Tucker’s name on the screen.
"Wait a sec, I need to take this," Danny said, stepping away as they neared the last escalator.
Answering the call, he spoke cautiously. "Tucker? Something wrong?"
"Hey, do you have plans tomorrow?" Tucker asked, his tone unusually excited.
Danny’s eyes narrowed. Before he could answer, Tucker burst into laughter. "Hahaha, who am I kidding? Of course you don’t! Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day!"
Danny’s face went blank. "I’m hanging up."
"No, no, wait! I’m sorry!" Tucker backpedaled with a chuckle. "Listen, since you don’t have any plans, wanna go to a concert?"
Danny exhaled sharply, already guessing where this was going. ‘I freaking knew it. How cliché.’
"A concert? Wouldn’t happen to be Ember McLain’s, would it?"
"Whoa! How’d you know?! Are you a fan too? Ever since I started listening to her music, I can’t get it out of my head! And when I heard she was performing live in Central City, I had to get tickets!"
Tucker started humming a catchy tune before adding, "Anyway, I already asked Sam, and since she clearly doesn’t have anything better to do, she agreed. So, what do you say? It’s been a while since the three of us hung out. And don’t worry about the ticket—I won them in a radio giveaway!"
‘Of course he did, why wouldn't he?’ Danny inwardly groaned. "Sure, I don't mind. I'll go."
"Awesome! See you tomorrow!" Tucker said before hanging up.
Danny walked back over to Wally and Dick, who were leaning forward on the railing of the second floor. They turned toward him as he massaged his forehead and tucked his phone away.
"What's wrong?" Dick asked, a frown growing on his face.
"Sam and Tucker are coming to the concert tomorrow. Tucker just invited me." Danny sighed.
Wally looked confused, so Dick took the opportunity to explain. "Danny’s best friends. They don’t know about his secret identity."
"Ah. Yikes. I see the problem now," Wally said with an awkward look.
Dick turned back to Danny. "So, what did you say?"
"I had no choice but to say yes and go with them," Danny sighed.
"Are you serious right now? If this Ember ghost is really dangerous, you just put them in harm’s way." Dick's frown deepened.
"They’d be in even more danger if I declined and left them on their own. They were going to go regardless, so I might as well be there to protect them and keep an eye on them."
Dick sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, I get where you’re coming from. We better head back home and prepare, then."
Danny and Wally nodded in agreement as they stepped onto the escalator, heading down.
"Wait!" Wally said as they exited the mall together. "Does this mean you have your own personal rogue ghost gallery?"
"Kinda," Danny smirked.
"Damn it, I’m so freaking jealous! Do you have an arch-nemesis?" Wally asked curiously.
"I'm sure he'll appear in the future..." Danny said, staring into the distance. ‘Wait… He just reminded me of something. Vlad. I'm sure he’s already heard about Mom’s passing. I wonder how he’s taking it…’
"Danny!!" Dick suddenly yelled, startling Danny out of his thoughts.
"Huh? What? Why are you yelling?" Danny instinctively took a defensive stance.
"You spaced out and looked really lost in thought," Dick said, concern evident in his voice.
"Thinking about how cool an archenemy would be?" Wally teased.
"Are you kidding me? That’d be a nightmare! Why the hell would I want some weirdo obsessed with me, hellbent on ruining my life? No, thank you!" Danny scoffed.
Danny and Wally continued debating the pros and cons of having an archenemy, with Dick siding with Danny. Having dealt with the Joker multiple times as Batman's sidekick, he knew firsthand that having an obsessive enemy was neither cool nor something anyone should wish for.
They were so engrossed in their conversation that they barely noticed when they arrived at Wally’s front door.
"It was nice meeting you, Danny. I had fun, even though you're such a sore loser. You should fix that, by the way." Wally teased.
"What needs fixing is your bottomless appetite and obsession with girls," Danny shot back.
They fist-bumped, grinning.
"Ha! Nice one, dude," Wally laughed before turning to Dick. "Since you already have my number, send it to Danny." He looked back at Danny. "And when you get it, text me so I have yours too."
With that, they said their goodbyes and parted ways, heading back to Gotham to prepare for the day ahead.
Comments
Morg535
Cant wait to see if Ember is just going to be a chill chick who just wants to get famous or if she will be like her canon self
KingSpy25i .
Thank you for the great chapter 🙏
NaitSabes Selaravi
When are you thinking of introducing Jason Todd, he should be around 9 now, he was 13-14 when he died during the 5 year time skip. And batman trains his Robin for about 2 years before he takes them on patrol, could be wrong though.
NaitSabes Selaravi
Probably be a good choice, at the moment of the story, there isn't really anyone they could invite. And Roy would definitely not show up, too prideful.
Bryan Vargas
No they just got an extra ticket, I was thinking of inviting Roy though for a bit but I thought nah, I have another way to introduce him
NaitSabes Selaravi
Are they inviting another hero? Since they now have an extra ticket.
