Puppet Strings

Chapter Two

Phantom slowed his fall as shot himself forward, flying through the wall of Starlabs and slowing to stop in the empty hallway. Phantom lifted his hand, watching as a small map of the building hovered from his wrist, a yellow dot blinking in and out. That was his target. Phantom scanned over the map with a small nod he lowered his hand and dropped through the floor, why bother looking for stairs he could go through the floor for Pete's sake.

Phantom looked around, he was in a similar hallway to the one upstairs. The only difference was that there were voices. Phantom tilted his head ever so slightly at the sound of voices. He was sure that everyone was gone, maybe the floor was soundproof and that's why he couldn't hear them. He wouldn't argue about the fact that the couple in the building was a little more interesting to listen to, with the small stories they whispered to each other. He quite enjoyed the one about the pigeon. Phantom shook off those thoughts, he knew from experience that scientists didn't sleep, not really, the GIW scientists stayed up into the early hours of the morning doing tests on Phantom, not caring how painful they were.

"Wally, that doesn't go there?" The other male was frustrated. Phantom raised an eyebrow and leaned ever so slightly forward, curiosity blooming. What didn't go where?

"Says who?" The one, Phantom guessed was Wally, questioned, it was more taunting than an actual question. Yet his answer was received rather quickly as a small explosion sounded as well as a string of curses.

"That does." The older man was tired, yet Phantom could hear the amusement in his words. Phantom smiled slightly, before floating onward, ever-grateful for invisibility. As he passed by Phantom glanced into the room.

There was a blond man, rubbing his face tiredly as a redhead chuckled nervously at the mess of metals on the floor. The man stepped to the side grabbed a bucket, he glanced at the redhead. "Why don't you head home, I'll close up."

"But..."

A look from the man and Wally sighed. Phantom didn't stick around to watch the exchange continue, he didn't need to bother with family problems. Even if it was entertaining. He continued floating down the hall. Following the small dot on his map. He stopped, lowering himself to the floor and turning towards the door to his right. The device should be in that room.

Phantom took a deep breath and walked through the door, his eye widening as he took in the room. Rows upon rows of gadgets filled the room. This was gonna be harder than expected, but the map should help narrow it down. Phantom bit his lip and continued onward heading towards the back of the room.

The map blinked off. Phantom looked up with a grin. "Well, that was convenient." He said with a smirk, the device hanging on the wall in the back of the room happened to be the one he needed.

It was a small oval, that could fit into the palm of his hand. It seemed rather plain. Phantom moved forward picking up the device to examine it closer.

His senses overloaded as a blaring alarm filled the building, flashing red lights causing Phantom to panic and stumble into a shelf of gadgets, which toppled over. Phantom cursed, now they were going to know where he was.

The door flung open and Phantom looked up, grateful that his hood was low enough to cover his panic-filled eyes. As the flash was standing in the doorway.

"What the..." The speedster's eyes widened as he spotted a kid standing in front of a knocked-over shelf, the small oval object clenched tightly in the boy's hand. "Hey, kid." The Flash moved forward slowly as if he were afraid to startle the child. "Why don't you put that back and we can get you home? Back to your parents." The flash continued forward, stopping as the kid leaned away. "I'm sure your mom and dad are worried about you."

The child stepped back, the temperature of the room dropping, the alarm cut off, leaving the room in darkness, except for the greenish glow coming from the child. The boy turned, preparing to run. The Flash launched forward, reaching to grab the child. He couldn't let this child run, even though he was stealing, he was certain it was for a good reason, the kid could be starving for all he knew. The Flash's eyes widened as he grasped air. The lights flickered before coming back on, the alarm silent. The Flash turned around scanning the room. It was empty.

The child was gone.

Phantom sighed, clutching the small oval device to his chest as he soared through the air undetected. Hearing the doors to Starlabs open he turned around, spotting a blur of red and yellow... huh there were two of them. They split off in different directions searching, for him. Phantom turned around and sped up. He was invisible and flying, there would be no way for them to spot him, yet he sped up not wanting to take a chance. Being spotted would already result in punishment. Getting caught. Phantom shivered at the thought. He did not want to get strapped down to that lab table again this week. He winced, as his left hand absently traced the shape of a Y through his uniform.

He knew that the experiments were necessary to take down the evil ghosts, yet Phantom feared that when they figured out how. They would no longer have a use for him and would dispose of him too.

They wouldn't though, they were his family, and he'd do whatever they'd ask...they wouldn't

Would they?

When Phantom arrived back at the lab, Agent K was waiting for him, his partner Agent O standing by his side. Phantom nervously pushed his hood back, his tired eyes warily staring at the two agents and the collar around his neck light changed from yellow to orange. Phantom tried to keep his face neutral as he felt his power weaken, it was still there. They never shut off completely knowing that Phantom would always come back.

Agent K held his hand out as Phantom placed the oval device within it. A smirk appeared on the man's face as he looked down at Phantom. "You did well." Phantom's eyes lit up. "We will talk about your consequences for being spotted later." Phantom looked down, of course they knew, they were always watching the camera within the collar. "You can go back to your haunt until further notice."

Phantom nodded, pulling the white hood back up, and casting a shadow over his face. He turned back and jumped, letting himself catch into the air. With a small amount of struggle, he took off. Using his abilities while the collar was orange was always a struggle, flight was the easiest to do and it still took some effort. He dove downwards, heading down the familiar route.

He couldn't help but get excited the closer he got. Something stirred inside him as he broke out of the treeline, spotting the lights of the town. His eyes brightened as he shot forward, passing the welcome sign

Welcome to Amity Park

A Safe Place to Live.