I really want someone to go the full avoidance route - not out of some misplaced anger, but because Danny doesn’t know that Batman isn’t there to arrest him.
Batman stood on the roof, observing the fight. It wasn’t the first battle he’d observed for this being, wasn’t even the most interesting, but any data was good to collect.
From what he’d been able to gather, in the past two years the ghost fights had toned down a lot. At the beginning, they’d wreck the portion of town Phantom and the Rogue of the Day found themselves fighting in, and Phantom would guiltily offer his assistance to fix what was broken. The townspeople hadn’t reacted… well to the first few offers of help, they’d admitted rather easily, and Phantom stopped offering. During the much larger fights that Bruce would classify as worthy of Justice League intervention, Phantom would help without asking - which had likely gone a long way in improving his personal image, even if the townsfolk seemed generally negative towards “ghosts” as a race. Nowadays, the ghost fights weren’t what caused damage to the town. It was the ghost hunters.
Another note to be made was that Phantom had, according to what little footage Oracle could find, been terrified of the other ghosts towards the beginning. He hid it well, behind bravado and quips that made Bruce’s former Robins grin in amusement, but he was clearly out of his depth. Bruce had two running theories on the why - he’d either been a recluse, avoiding other ghosts before the Fenton’s portal opened (which was its own mess of a situation), or he was a new ghost, from shortly before or after the portal opened - but wouldn’t be able to lean one direction or another without a conversation with Phantom.
Which was the main problem Bruce was running into in this situation.
Generally, unless the targeted person was a criminal and not too keen on the idea of being arrested, Batman’s uniform was enough to elicit attention. Typically, when he was the one to go out scouting, the non-JLA-affiliated vigilante or wannabe hero would approach him upon seeing his caped figure. Oftentimes, all Bruce had to do was stand on a visible roof and let the town or city’s local protector(s) approach him.
Phantom captured the ghost who’d been tearing through town on his motorcycle and turned just enough that he caught sight of Batman - and, just like every time before, the ghost’s head snapped up, green eyes boring into Bruce’s mask, before Phantom disappeared from view. Changing his lenses to heat detection showed the ghost staring at him for a few moments longer before diving into the ground as the Fenton’s tank came flying down the road.
Bruce held back a sigh. He does have other objectives in Amity Park, including the meeting the Fenton’s were going to be late for here in an hour. He’ll keep attempting contact with Phantom, even being a little more proactive in forcing the conversation, but for now it was a lost cause.
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