Ghost King Meets Batman

Day One: Death Dude?

[Edited April 25, 2023]

It took a while for Nico to convince himself that food was important. More important than avoiding super-powered kids and more important than privacy. He risked conversation to head out to the kitchen. The batboys had shown him a diagram of the layout before he had come so he could basically find his way around without having to ask for directions.

He found himself in the kitchen, and luckily there was no one there. He could eat in peace. Nico grabbed some cereal from a cabinet and some milk out of the fridge. After some searching, he found the bowls and spoons. Ghost sat at the island to eat-- hoping that no one would come in while he was there. Of course, he was sadly disappointed. The green-skinned boy and the youngest flash look-alike came in, looking for food.

"Look dude, it's the death dude. The... what are they called?" He continued before his companion could even attempt to supply the answer, "Consultant! So do you just go around everywhere tellin' people how people died?" Impulse, Nico thought that was his name, was apparently very curious by nature. He asked his questions almost too quickly for their guest to hear.

"First of all, I have a name. But basically, yes I help to determine causes of death." Nico replied patiently.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, Ghost." He said speeding towards the fridge. Ghost had been told about the speedster's metabolism and he was disgusted to see it in action. He was amazed that the boy didn't choke.

The green boy eyed the consultant somewhat warily before following Impulse to the fridge. Nico washed the bowl and put it back where he had found it. He was about to leave the kitchen and escape back to his room when he ran right into Wonder Woman's apprentice-- literally.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Nico moved to step around her when the boy with green skin and gills stepped in his way. The demigod would have thought that the boy had been intentionally blocking his path if he didn't know better. Whatever the case was, he found it strange.

"You're Ghost, right?" The girl asked, sounding interested. He was already tired of answering questions, but he figured that it was understandable that they would be curious. This was part of their jobs, after all. He decided to humor them for the time being.

"Yes," he replied shortly.

"The tox scans came through for the last case, you were right. It was the peroxide."

"I know." Ghost hadn't meant to sound cocky, but he had been sure of the cause of death. He wouldn't have given Nightwing his report if he hadn't been sure.

"What do you mean you knew? Were you that positive that you were right?" Her voice had gotten icy and he wished that he hadn't said a thing.

"I'm sorry if you don't like my answers, but yes. I was sure I was right. I found peroxide in syringes at the scene, so that wasn't the part that was in question. The real question was whether it was a professional hit or just made to look like one." Since he doubted they had the answer to that question, Nico thought their conversation was over. Ghost moved to walk out. Her voice stopped him again and he bit back a sigh.

"How did you know so much about the scene?"

"About the scene? I was briefed on the way in. If you're asking about how I know so much about death, I would ask you a question. How do you get good at anything?"

"Practice." She replied, clearly annoyed.

"Exactly. I know so much about death and crime scenes because I have experience analyzing them." Nico slipped between the two heroes before they could ask him any more questions. He understood that they were curious, but he didn't want to answer their questions.