Cass (Orphan): Play? Danny (Albatross): Hm? Tim (Red Robin), already suspicious: …She wants to scare criminals with you. Danny: Oh! I’d love to! Tim: You two should make people think I’m haunted. Don’t let yourselves be seen. Just— make it weird. Cass: Fun. Danny: That does sound like fun! Later that night... Gotham’s air was thick with fog. The kind that swallows sound and makes every shadow feel like it’s watching. A lowlife stumbled through an alley, breathing hard. Red Robin’s voice carried through the dark — calm, unhurried, almost mocking. “There’s no point in running.” The guy spun around, gun shaking in his hand. “Like hell there i—” Cass dropped down behind him, silent as a thought, flipping over him and yanking his jacket over his head before melting back into the shadows. He ripped it off, gasping— —and his legs went out from under him. He hit the ground hard. When he blinked through the stars in his vision, Red Robin was already standing there. Not running. Not even breathing hard. Just there. “Told you,” Tim said, voice low. “No point in running.” The man screamed. A few streets away... A group of goons huddled beneath a flickering streetlight, muttering nervously. “Man, I’m telling you— he’s haunted. My cousin swears—” The light flickered once. A man vanished. They froze. The light flickered again. Another one gone. Someone whispered, “This isn’t happening—” Flicker. Gone. Each time the light blinked, another body disappeared. No sound. No movement. Just empty space where a person used to be. By the time the light steadied, only one man was left. He didn’t even try to run. He just whimpered, “Please—” before the light blinked once more— and he was gone too. Up on the rooftop, Cass and Danny were grinning like kids who’d just pulled off the best prank in the world. Danny: That. Was. AWESOME. Cass: Fun. Tim, trying not to smile: You two are terrifying. Back at the Cave... Steph: Red, why are there rumors you’re haunted? I just passed two goons who looked ready to confess to gravity. Tim: I was… the distraction. Steph: From what, exactly? Danny pops up beside Tim, cheerful as ever. Danny: From me! Cass, appearing on his other side: And me. Danny: We played a game. See how many we could take out without being seen. Steph: So you terrified Gotham’s criminal network... for fun. Danny: Yup! Cass: Fun. Steph, sighing but smiling: …You know what? I’m not even mad. Now there are whispers in Gotham’s underworld. Some say Red Robin made a deal with a ghost. Others say he died and came back wrong. But nobody knows for sure — because the ones who’ve seen glowing blue eyes in the dark? They don’t talk about it. And if you ask Red Robin, he just smiles. “It’s just a rumor.”
