"Uh, Batman, you might want to take a look at this," Flash says, returning to the level of Cadmus where the rest of the team is searching. The team composing of Green Lantern, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter.
"What did you find?" Batman asks.
"A girl," Flash says, leading the JLA to the room he found. "Do you think she's a clone of someone too?"
The members look at the teen frozen in a Cadmus pod. The girl has long snow white flowing hair and pure white skin. She's wearing a long sleeve one-piece black suit with purple accents on the gloves and boots as well as a large purple S symbol in the middle of her chest.
"She's young and beautiful," Wonder Woman inquires.
Batman hacks into the computer nearby to discover exactly what this girl is.
"She has no heartbeat," Superman says.
"That's because she's dead," Batman says. "But she's also alive."
"How is that possible?" Flash asks.
"Because she's a ghost," Batman says. "She was a part of Project Ec." He presses a few buttons and the girl is defrosted. The pod containing her opens after the defrosting is complete. Her eyes slowly open to reveal the most mesmerizing purple irises anyone has ever seen.
"Are you sure about th–?" Flash begins but is cut off by the girl blasting him to the floor.
"Leave me alone!" the girl shouts, fists glowing purple.
"Stop!" Wonder Woman shouts. "We are trying to help you!"
"I don't need anybody's help!" she shouts, blasting her purple energy at Wonder Woman which throws her into the opposite wall. The girl levitates into the air, her feet disappear and are replaced by a wisp, blasting energy at anyone that gets too close.
Batman traps her in a net but she smirks and phases through it. She blocks Superman's laser eyes with a shield created by her energy.
"Let us help you!" Superman shouts, dodging a purple blast.
The Justice League surrounds the girl. She gets a good look at the heroes. "You're n-not the G-gnomes. W-who are you?"
"We're the Justice League and we're here to help you," Batman says.
"I-I don't believe you!" she shouts and phases through the ceiling.
Martian Manhunter follows after her all the way to the streets. "Let us help you."
"W-what are you?!" the girl shrieks, flying away from the martian.
"I am Martian Manhunter, a hero of the Justice League," he replies calmly. "I am a martian from Mars."
"G-get away from me! Stop following me!" she shouts, gaining a speed boost and blasting far ahead of him. She looks behind her to see if she's still being followed only to find Superman trailing her at super speed. She looks down to see a streak of red light running below her. "Who are these people...? Where am I...?"
"We're a team of superheroes," Superman tells the girl. "You're in Washington D.C."
"W-Washington D.C...." she murmurs.
"We want to help you," Superman says. "We don't want to hurt you. We defeated the people who put you in that container."
"Why w-would you want to help a ghost?" she asks, keeping her distance from him. "H-how do I know that y-you're n-not lying?"
Superman's eyes widen with disbelief. Not that he didn't believe what Batman said it's just hard to believe that ghosts really exist. Though he's seen many weird things, ghosts is something he thought wouldn't happen. What next, fairies and frankenstein's monster is real? "You're a ghost?" He blinks a few times before shaking his head. "We help anyone who desperately needs it, such as you," Superman says. "Do we honestly look like the people who imprisoned you?"
"Not particularly," the girl replies. "You're more colorful."
That earns a chuckle from the Man of Steel. "Sometimes you need a little color in this black and white world."
"Deep," she replies with a small laugh then frowns. "But that doesn't mean I trust you yet." She knocks him into a nearby building while he's distracted. "I'm not going to fall for any tricks!"
Wonder Woman flies up to her, planning to tackle her into a building but she only goes straight through the girl. "Great Hera... How did she?" She looks at the girl confused. "We just want to help you!"
"I don't trust you!"
"Why won't you accept our help?" Green Lantern asks, floating up beside her.
"How could I trust someone who dresses up like... a... lime?"
"Haha," Green Lantern scoffs. "Very funny." He surrounds the ghost in a green bubble. "I got you now."
"Do you really?" she asks, phasing through the bubble effortlessly.
"It's called a distraction," he replies.
The league surrounds the girl. Flash on her right. Batman on her left. Aquaman behind her. Green Arrow in front of her. Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Martian Manhunter above her.
"If you're trying t-to help me then why are you f-following me?" she asks.
"Because we don't know what you're capable of," Batman replies. "You could be a threat and we don't want another villain to threaten this world. Especially one as powerful as you."
"You have a few powers similar to mine," Martian Manhunter says.
"Like what?" she asks hesitantly.
"Flight and intangibility," he responds.
The ghost girl sighs. "Well I'm not alive so you shouldn't be able to touch me. What do you want with me? I-I just wanna go home. My... Nevermind..."
"You're a ghost?!" Flash shrieks. Being a man of science, he doesn't believe. Though unknown to them, science is what made her this way.
"We want to make sure you're okay and help you," Wonder Woman says, ignoring Flash's comment.
"If you haven't noticed, I'm fine and obviously don't need help," she responds. "Thank you for getting me out of that horrid place. Now, if you don't m-mind, I'm gonna go home."
"Home?" Flash says. "You're dead, you don't have a home."
"I might be dead but I do have a home," she says and her eyes widen. "How am I going to get home? I could fly there..."
"You don't have enough energy to get to Vermont," Batman says.
Her eyes widen. "H-how do you know that?"
"It was on your profile," Batman says.
"J-just leave me alone!" the girl shouts, a strong repulsion field blasts off her body and she disappears before the Justice League can do anything.
"She vanished!" Flash shouts.
"She couldn't of gone far," Batman says. "Split up and look for her."
"She's gone," Manhunter admits.
"How?" Green Lantern asks.
"I'm guessing teleportation," Manhunter guesses.
"Should we get the team on this?" Flash suggests.
"No, this is a league matter," Batman objects. "The power of this girl is something that can't be left alone. We have to know if this ghost girl is someone with or against us."
"The poor girl is just scared," Wonder Woman says. "I don't believe she means any harm."
"We don't yet know that," Green Lantern says.
"Hal, you're just sour because she called you a lime," Flash teases.
"Well! My suit isn't even the same shade of green as a lime!" GL huffs, puffing out his cheeks and crossing his arms like the child he is.
"Are you sure? I think since she's so young, the team should handle it. Maybe she'll react better with kids her age," Aquaman suggests.
"I agree with Aquaman," Wonder Woman says.
"I believe we need to wait it out," Superman says. "We need to try to convince her ourselves before we send in the team."
"I'm down for that idea," Flash says. "I don't want any harm to come to my nephew."
"They still have yet to go on their first official mission," Batman advises. "They don't need this for their first mission. The profile about her says she was a hero of a small town called Fox Hollow in Vermont. It doesn't give me her name."
"If she's a ghost as she says it most likely means she died as a child," Wonder Woman says. "We don't know when she died so she could possibly be older than all of us."
...
"Team, report to the mission room," Batman announces through the speakers of the cave.
"Whoa, for real?!" Wally shouts, jumping up from the couch. "Our first official mission!" He speeds off ahead of everyone.
The others excitedly follow behind him. Waiting for them in the mission room was Batman, Red Tornado, and Green Arrow.
Once everyone arrives, Batman begins. "We returned to Cadmus on July 6th to clean out any more possible concerns. One project escaped and we've been approaching her for a week."
"Her?" Wally interrupts.
"Is she an experiment?" Robin asks.
"We don't have the full details on the girl," Green Arrow explains. "We were hoping to ask her, but she disappears before we get a chance to talk."
"Disappears?" Robin blurts. "She gets away from the whole Justice League and you think that we can change her mind?"
"The other leaguers have decided to send you five in to see if she will listen to you as she seems to be around your age," Batman continues.
"What do you mean she seems to be around our age?" Wally asks.
"She has many powers such as intangibility, flight, invisibility, teleportation, and she can shoot energy beams," GA says. "Along with others that we have yet to see."
"What do we do if she stands down?" Kaldur asks.
"Bring her back here," Batman says. "We've located her in the forest outside of Metropolis. Take the bioship and go."
They all head out.
"You think she's hot?" Wally asks.
"Dude, is that all you think about?" Robin laughs.
"What else is there to think about?" Wally retorts.
"That she's an escaped project that is incredibly dangerous," Kaldur interrupts.
"And the fact that she might try to kill you," Superboy adds. "Like I did..."
"We need to think more about how we're going to approach her," Kaldur says.
"Well, we need to find her first," Megan says.
Suddenly the bioship is shoved sideways, crashing them into the forest floor.
"No problem," Robin shouts. "I think she found us first!"
They all empty out of the ship, fanning out.
"I told you to leave me alone!" the girl's voice shouts.
The team looks all around their surroundings to find nobody there.
"Come out!" Aqualad shouts. "We just want to talk!"
The girl floats closer to the group, continuing to stay invisible, to find that it's not anyone that she usually encounters, but teens. "Who are you?" The group turns to where they hear the voice. She moves above them, taking notice of the symbol on Superboy's chest. "You're the kids of the older people that usually come," the girl gasps.
"Well, kinda," Robin sighs. "Batman is my adopted dad."
"Flash is my uncle."
"Martian Manhunter is my uncle."
"Aquaman is my king."
"And Superboy is Superman's clone," KF adds.
"So, basically his son?" the girl questions.
"Yeah," Robin nods.
"So they sent you in their place? Were they too busy?" she asks.
"Our mentors told us that you were around our age," Aqualad states. "Is this true?"
"Why would I tell you?"
"We're just trying to be your friends," MM voices.
"Why would you want to be friends with a monster like me?" the ghost girl asks. "Just go away before I make you."
"Listen, we are a team and we'd like for you to join us," Robin voices. "Monster or not."
"Last time I put my trust in someone I was frozen for 8 months," she huffs. "I'm going to once again ask nicely for you to go away or we can do it the hard way."
"We didn't come to fight you," Aqualad says. "For now we will go."
The others all give each other glances before leaving back to the bioship.
"Hopefully, next time we can meet face to face," KF comments, following behind his teammates.
...
The Justice League decided to head out after the ghost girl a few days later. This time on the border of New Jersey. They once again battle against her before they end up surrounding her like they usually do before she disappears.
She sighs. "Y-you're not going to give up are you?"
"No," Batman replies.
"You promise not to imprison me?" she asks.
"We would never," Martian Manhunter says.
"Only if you get out of control," Batman says honestly. Wonder Woman gives him a glare.
"What's your name?" Aquaman asks.
"What's it to you?" she grunts. The ghost quickly shakes her head after saying that. "S-Sorry, it's uh, Spook."
"How old are you Spook?" Flash asks. "Or how old... were you when you died?"
"I-I died when I was 12," she replies.
"Oh man..." Flash says with a glum face.
"You said your name was Spook?" Superman asks, tapping a finger to his chin in thought. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Her profile says that she was the hero of a small town called Fox Hollow in Vermont," Batman reminds.
"That's where I've heard of her," Superman exclaims. "One of my coworkers wrote an article about the ghosts from Fox Hollow and the hero Phantom Spook." Superman slowly walks up to Spook. "We have a place where you can rest... I mean stay."
Spook giggles at the pun. "It's fine. I get what you mean."
Superman smiles and chuckles. "Not used to reassuring kids especially ghost ones. Uh, that is if you're still a kid. I mean you look like one."
"I'm actually 15," she says. "Or I guess 16 now."
"Do you trust us to help you?" Superman asks.
Spook looks around at all the superheroes around her and looks back to Superman. "I trust you and only you... at least for now."
"Okay," Superman says. "Batman?"
"I heard," Batman says. "I'm contacting Red Tornado now."
"Do you feel well?" Superman asks the ghost.
"I'm a little light-headed," she admits. "Little hungry."
"You're a ghost, how are you hungry?" Flash asks.
"Uh, well, I don't eat normal food..." she lies. "I eat energy."
Flash dashes away. "Don't eat my energy!"
"Actually, your energy is perfect," she says, swallowing a ball of speed electricity. "The electricity that flows behind you when you run is plentiful. Thanks."
"Wait, when did you?" Flash says confused.
"I absorb it," she says. I can't survive on energy alone though. Even though I'm full now, I'm going to need a hamburger or something soon.
"That's interesting..." Flash shutters.
"I still don't know who you all are..." the girl says.
"You don't know who we are?!" Flash shouts. "Have you lived under a rock all your life? Uh, I didn't mean... Sorry."
"I thought I was the only superpowered hero," she admits. "Until I met all of you."
"You do come from a small town," Superman says. "Anyway, I'm Superman."
"I'm Flash. The man in all black is Batman. The gorgeous woman is Wonder Woman. The man with the arrows is Green Arrow. Martian Manhunter. The guy with the fins is Aquaman. Then last but not least the man you called a lime is Green Lantern."
"Real original," Spook scoffs.
"What's even funnier is that there's hundreds of Green Lanterns in all shapes, sizes, and species," Flash adds.
"So how do they differentiate themselves?" she asks.
"No clue," Flash says.
Batman walks up to Superman. "She only trusts you, so you will take her to the cave."
"Do I have to?" Superman asks like a whining child.
"You have to face him eventually," Batman scolds like a parent.
He sighs. "Alright, Spook, let's go," Superman says, flying up into the air. He turns to look down at her. "You coming?"
"Oh, uh, sorry. Yes," she says, shaking her head and flying up after him.
"Martian Manhunter, go with them," Batman says.
"As you wish," he says and follows after them.
"So, who did Batman mean by him? Superboy?" Spook asks.
"Yeah..." Superman groans.
"So, basically your son," she says.
"He's not my son."
"But he is," she replies.
"No he's not."
"But he is."
"No."
"He's your son," she says.
"He's not my son."
"Everyone but you believes he is," she guesses. "Anyway, is Batman like the boss of the Justice League?"
"You could say that," Superman replies with a sigh.
It's silent as they continue to fly for another half hour.
"So, w-where are we going?" she asks, growing tired of flying.
"Right down there," Superman says, flying into a small abandoned gas station. They enter and walk up to a broken down vending machine.
"This is how we're going to meet your son?" she asks.
"He's not—Nevermind," Superman sighs, irritably. "Just wait here with Martian Manhunter while I go through." Superman opens the vending machine and steps inside, closing it behind him.
"Okay," Spook says, turning to the martian.
"Recognized: Superman, 01," a voice says and a flash of light appears from the vending machine.
"So, you think he's Superman's son too, right?"
"Yes, he just doesn't know how to handle the boy. He wants to shove the responsibility onto Batman or Red Tornado," Martian Manhunter says. "You can step inside the machine now."
She nods and enters the empty vending machine which is nothing but a hollow shell.
"Access granted. Spook. A01. Authorization: Superman, 01."
She feels her ghost particles get shredded apart and put back together. "Whoa, that was as weird as separating my body."
"Recognized: Martian Manhunter, 07."
"Team, I'd like to introduce you to Spook," Superman says, avoiding a boy who looks just like himself except younger.
"So that's your son. I didn't get a good look at him last time," Spook admits, prancing over to look at him. "He has your good looks and your hair and eyes."
He glares at her but then it changes to confusion. "Y-you don't have a heartbeat..."
"Uncle!" a female martian shouts and leaps onto Martian Manhunter. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help transport Spook," he replies.
"Anyway, team," Superman interrupts. "This is Spook."
"Hello, I am Red Tornado."
"Hi," Robin says. "I'm Robin."
"Hello, gorgeous," Kid Flash says, running up to her. "I'm Kid Flash."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Miss Martian but you can call me Megan."
"I am Aqualad."
Spook looks up at the boy of steel, waiting for a greeting.
"That's Superboy," Robin says. "He keeps to himself."
"Why don't you have a heartbeat?" Superboy asks.
"You don't have a heartbeat?" Kid Flash asks.
"Because she's not alive," Superman says.
"What?" Robin asks, whirling around to face him then looks back at Spook.
"She's a ghost that was imprisoned in Cadmus," Martian Manhunter says. "She was the girl that we had you go after to recruit."
"You don't look like a monster to me as you said," Robin grins.
"You're a ghost?" Kid Flash asks with a laugh. "That's impossible. Ghosts don't exist."
"I'm not alive," Spook says. "I'm dead. You can run your hand through me if you like."
Kid Flash jumps at the idea and shoves his hand right through her stomach that she turns intangible before he puts his hand through. "Whoa..."
"She will be staying here for a little while to rest," Superman says.
"Why do you need to rest? You're a ghost," KF points out. "You're already at rest."
"I see you and Flash are a lot alike," Spook scoffs.
"What's that supposed to mean?" KF asks.
"I'm so glad another girl is on the team," Megan says.
"I'm n-not on the team," Spook admits, beginning to unknowingly hover in the air in nervousness. "I live in Vermont."
"Whoa, your feet are gone," KF says, fascinated.
"Why didn't you just zeta-tube her there?" Robin asks.
"We don't have a zeta-tube in Vermont," Martian Manhunter says.
"There's a zeta-tube near Vermont," Robin says.
"I-it's okay, Robin," Spook says. "I need to rest."
"Why? Ghosts are already dead," KF says.
"I've been frozen in an ice pod for 8 months," she says. "I'd like a night to myself."
Everyone goes silent at that and Megan breaks the silence. "I'll show you to a room," Megan says. "Follow me."
Spook gives the team one last look before she turns her back to them and floats behind Megan towards the rooms. "This place is pretty big."
"Yeah, it's very roomy," Megan says. "Superboy and I live here, so most of the rooms are empty."
"I didn't know there were other superheroes better yet kids my age," Spook says.
"Yeah, I'm the niece of Martian Manhunter," she says. "Robin is Batman's protege. Kid Flash is obviously Flash's protege. Aqualad is Aquaman's. Superboy is Superman's clone."
"Son," Spook corrects.
"Superman certainly doesn't think so."
"I'm gonna make him think so," Spook declares.
"Really?" Megan asks.
"I'll bother him about it until he does," I say.
"Then I will too," Megan says with a giggle. "Anyway, this is my room. You can take the room across the hall. Superboy's room is to your right."
"Alright, thanks," Spook says, walking into her room, closing the door behind her, and locking it. She listens as Megan walks away before she slumps to the floor. "8 months... I've been trapped in that prison for 8 months." Tears begin to stream down the ghost's cheeks. "I wonder what my parents are doing right now... My brother..." A purple ring forms at her waist and splits into two, one going down her body and the other going up. In the ghost's place is a girl with brown hair and watery lime green eyes. She continuously wipes away her tears as she heads over to the bed in the room, crashing on top of it and eventually falling asleep.