Phantom woke up with a start, it wasn't unusual but he was shaking and the room was noticeably colder. Phantom was glad that Cujo was still asleep though, he didn't want to worry the poor ghost dog. Phantom took some time to calm himself down by taking deep breaths, once he stopped shaking he stood up.
It was a bit early in the morning but he didn't care, he actually didn't need as much sleep as normal people anyway. He only needed four to five hours of sleep before he was fully rested, he always woke up early. Phantom woke Cujo up and the two made their way to the living room and Phantom sat down.
Cujo sat by Phantom's feet before the little ghost dog curled up and went to sleep again. Phantom didn't have to wait long before he heard Megan walking down the hallway, she goes to bed early and wakes up early. She went into the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth before she walked into the living room to go to the kitchen.
When she saw Phantom she looked slightly confused, "Why are you up so early?"
Phantom looked at her, "I don't need as much sleep as the living do, I'm always up early."
She nodded and went to make breakfast while Phantom was deep in thought. The GIW knew that he was with the young heroes, if they found out where they were they'd probably attack to get him back, again. If that happened he'd have to fight the GIW and make sure the team was safe since they could get hurt.
They were probably developing weapons at that very moment to fight the heroes and capture him, maybe even kill him. He could reveal more of his powers but that was risky, he had an advantage because they didn't know about his powers. If they found out about what he could do it would be easier for them to beat him.
But he also had the team to think about, they hadn't done anything wrong, they tried to help him. Phantom sighed, he knew that he was going to protect the team even if it killed him so why was he even thinking about this? Phantom hadn't even realized that over an hour passed while he had been thinking.
Megan was going to ask Phantom if he wanted to eat but the look on his face told her to leave him alone. Superboy walked into the room not long after Phantom had concluded his inner debate. As the two teens were doing what they normally do Cujo woke up and he started walking around a bit.
Around ten or eleven o'clock the others started showing up, first it was Aqualad, then Kid Flash, and finally Robin. Phantom and Robin had silently agreed to keep their relationship from the team, not everyone was okay with gay relationships. That's how the two ended up subtly smiling at each other when they saw the other.
After over ten minutes of the team trying to talk Phantom into going somewhere with them they gave up. Phantom refused immediately and wouldn't let anyone change his mind, no matter who it was. Going out in public when he was a ghost wasn't a good idea, not when any ghost hunter worth their salt could spot him and figure out what he is.
There were more ghost hunters out there then people thought there were, he knew from experience. Once they gave up they decided to just watch a movie, Wally said they should watch Paranormal Activity as a joke. Phantom smirked, he could make scarier stuff happen without even lifting a finger.
No one knew how the hell it happened but they actually ended up watching Paranormal Activity. Everyone jumped at least once except for Phantom who was holding in his laughter the whole time. Half way through the movie the zeta tubes announced Batman's arrival and someone paused the movie.
Phantom took a second to control his laughter before he followed the team, his usual blank expression on his face. Once the team was gathered around Batman, with Phantom staying a fair distance away, he spoke. "The team won't be going on missions for a week or two due to Phantom being abducted."
Phantom rolled his eyes, "You do realize my wounds are healed right? Not only that but it's not the first time this has happened and it probably won't be the last."
Batman looked at Phantom, "It isn't just because of your physical injuries. Black Canary wants to do a mental evaluation and there are a few things we need to check out. You could have been killed if we hadn't done something, we need to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Phantom crossed his arms, "I'm already dead, it's going to be pretty damn hard for her to get me to talk to her at all, and I lasted a year last time. I'm not normal and the GIW are idiots, they can traumatize me but that's about it and I've already got PTSD. I don't care if you keep me here but at least let them go out of missions for Clockwork's sake."
Phantom turned on his heel to walk away as Batman mentally sighed, "Daniel Fenton."
Phantom immediately froze and Cujo knew what was going on, Phantom didn't turned around as he responded. "What did you just say?" No one was sure what Phantom's tone meant, they had never heard him use it before.
Batman actually felt slightly nervous, "I did some research and found out that two ghost hunters named Maddie and Jack had a son. He mysteriously disappeared and was proclaimed dead a year ago but no one ever found his body. Their son's name was Daniel Fenton, that's your name isn't it, that's who you really are."
Phantom took a deep breath as he remembered his past life, before he became Phantom. "No," Phantom looked at Batman over his shoulder, "Danny Fenton died two years ago." Phantom turned around again and started walking away again as he spoke, "That's not who I am anymore."
Phantom walked away and no one knew how to respond, they found out who Phantom used to be. Not only that but Phantom didn't seem to like being reminded of who he was but they didn't know why. Batman rubbed his eyes, he had no clue what he was doing when it came to talking to Phantom.
After a minute of just standing there Batman looked at the team, "I think it's best if I leave, see if you can talk to him." Then Batman left and the team wondered how they were going to get Phantom to talk to them. They all went as a team to try and get him to come out of his room, or even talk to them through the door.
Phantom didn't say a word, they couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door. They gave up for twenty minutes before they went in pairs to try and get him to say anything. Megan and Artemis went first, then Aqualad and Superboy, none of them got Phantom to answer them.
Kid Flash and Robin went last, they tried for over five minutes before Kid Flash walked off. The speedster had given up since Phantom never seemed to want to talk to anyone when he was like this. Robin sighed before he gently knocked on Phantom's door, "Phantom."
There was only silence, he tried again, "I'm the only one here right now Phantom. You don't have to talk to me but will you at least open the door, please Phantom." Robin waited for several seconds and he thought about giving up just before the door opened.
Phantom leaned against the door frame and he rubbed his eyes, "I'm surprised you haven't given up yet."
Robin frowned sadly and hugged Phantom for a second before he let go and Phantom stepped aside to allow Robin into his room. Phantom sat on the bed, which he rarely even touched, and Robin sat down next to him. Robin grabbed one of Phantom's hands and held it before he spoke, "Are you okay?"
Phantom sighed, "I'd like to lie and say yes but I can't, at this point I'm pretty sure it's obvious that I'm not."
Robin had to agree he would have called Phantom out on his bullshit if he had said he was okay. "Do you want to talk about it, you don't have to but if you do then I'm right here and I don't have anything better to do."
Phantom smiled a little but it disappeared quickly, "I guess at least one person should know." He took a deep breath, "Before I became a ghost I wasn't anything like I am now. I was a loser, I wasn't very good at anything and my life wasn't the best one in the world."
"My 'parents' are ghost hunters and were labeled the town crazies, my sister always had her nose in a book, and I was pretty much alone. I was bullied daily, sometimes three or four times a day, and I was basically alone most of the time. I had two friends but they didn't know about the bullying and they didn't realize that my family was never really around."
"I was constantly made fun of, beaten up, and I hid my depression from everyone. I tried telling teachers about the bullying but they didn't do a damn thing about it so I just shut up and dealt with it. When the accident happened and I died I tried telling my family and two friends and that didn't turn out well."
"Maddie and Jack tried to shoot me, Jazz and my 'friends' betrayed me and I was forced to run away. As far as I'm concerned Danny Fenton really did die that day, and he didn't come back. That's pretty much it really, I'm not Danny anymore, I'm Phantom, and that's how it's going to be."
Robin looked at Phantom sadly, he hadn't known it was that bad, it was horrible. Then he thought of something, "So you didn't commit suicide, please tell me you didn't."
Phantom smirked, "Of course not, my death happened because I was stupid. My parents were building a portal into the ghost zone and when they tried to turn it on it didn't work. I was being really fucking dumb and walked inside the damn thing before accidentally turning it on."
"For some reason Maddie and Jack put the fucking on button inside the portal and I pressed it because I almost tipped. I got electrocuted and I died, when I woke up I was a ghost and I still wonder how someone can be that dumb."
Robin was shocked, "Okay I didn't think you would have died like that."
Phantom laughed a little, "Yeah it wasn't the best death but because of my unique death I'm, well, more interesting than normal ghosts."
Robin raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
Phantom sighed, "If I show you and you tell someone there will be a lot of very angry ghosts haunting you for the rest of your life."
Robin smiled, "Well I don't have to worry about that because I'm not going to tell anyone."
Phantom smiled, "Alright then, just don't be to shocked." Phantom stood up and wondered if this was a good idea, well no turning back now. Phantom took a deep breath and he transformed so he was human and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Robin was staring at him in shock and he looked away, he wasn't sure what was going to happen.
Phantom now had black hair and blue eyes, his pale skin was the same but he wasn't glowing. His voice didn't echo when he was human either, of course he hadn't spoken yet but it was still true. He was wearing red converse, dark blue pants, a white shirt, and a red jacket.
His jacket wasn't zipped up but he was still wearing the hood, he almost looked like a normal teen. Robin stood up and he hugged Phantom, he wasn't sure what just happened but he knew that he still loved Phantom. Phantom was a bit shocked but he smiled and hugged Robin back.
They both sat on the bed again and Robin held Phantom's hand again, "So can you explain what just happened?"
Phantom laughed, "Basically, I'm half human and half ghost because the electricity was charged with ectoplasm from the ghost zone. It changed my DNA so now I have a ghost form an a human form, ghosts accept me as one of their own which is why I get along with them. Some of them used to be my enemies but now most of them are my friends, being a halfa isn't so bad."
Robin smiled, "At least there's a bright side to it then."
Phantom smiled, it was a bright and genuine smile and it made Robin happy because he could see it. "I'll be honest, becoming a halfa is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me." Robin thought that was a bit sad, he had gone through so much pain after the accident and yet it was still a good thing to him.
Robin hugged Phantom, "You know I love you right?"
Phantom smiled and hugged Robin back, "You literally told me that last night."
Robin rolled his eyes, "Well I'm going to be saying it a lot so get used to it." Phantom laughed a little and Robin let him go, "Are you willing to come talk to the team now? You don't have to but they're pretty worried about you."
Phantom mentally sighed, "Fine, I can't promise that I'll tell them what's wrong though." Robin smiled and stood up right before Phantom did and the halfa transformed so he was a ghost again. Robin walked a fair distance ahead of Phantom and once the team saw Robin they figured that he hadn't gotten Phantom to talk either.
When Phantom appeared not long after they were all surprised, he had his arms crossed and he still wouldn't get to close to them. Megan looked worried, "Are you okay?"
"You'd call me out if I said I was okay." Cujo walked up to Phantom and the ghost teen picked up the dog and held him in his arms. Cujo had left Phantom alone because he knew the poor halfa wanted to be left alone for a while.
Artemis sighed, "Look, we can't exactly say we know what's going on and you don't have to tell us. At least tell me that you're not going to shut yourself up in your room again."
Phantom was about to respond when he heard the zeta tubes announce Black Canary's arrival. He took a deep breath and hoped that she wouldn't be doing her 'mental evaluation.' They all went to see what she wanted and Phantom set Cujo down so the ghost dog could walk around on his own.
Once they all walked into the room Black Canary saw Phantom and he wondered if it was too late to lock himself in his room again. Black Canary smiled at him but he just wanted to growl at her, he was not in a good mood. "How are you Phantom?"
He rolled his eyes, "I'd be a lot better if certain people left me the hell alone and I don't mean the team."
Black Canary mentally sighed, she wasn't sure how to get Phantom to trust her. "I'm worried Phantom, a lot of the Leaguers are, we just want to make sure you're okay."
Phantom scoffed, "I have a hard time believing that, I seem to remember League members causing most of the problems I've had lately. I definitely don't need a shrink to analyze everything I say and questioning my mental health."
Black Canary seemed to be losing some of her patience, "I'm just trying to help. I'm an actual therapist and I can help you with what you've gone through."
Phantom took a second to calm down and get his emotions in check or he might do something stupid. He looked at Black Canary, "I get that you think you know what you're doing but you don't. Ghosts work differently than the living, I'm telling you to let it go and trust me when I say I know how to handle this myself."
Black Canary crossed her arms, "That's what everyone says, you can't handle this yourself, you need help Phantom."
Cujo sensed what was going to happen and he backed up as Phantom's eyes started to glow brighter. Why the hell didn't anyone believe him when he said something, first Batman and now Black Canary. He was done, his core reacted to his emotions and ice spikes shot up from the floor around him.
Phantom growled, "Why the hell can't you people ever listen to someone else just once? Why do you insist on pissing me off by trying to tell me that I'm wrong when I know I'm not? I'm fucking done with this shit, just shut the fuck up and leave me alone!"
The room got noticeably colder as more ice spikes formed around Phantom but only in his immediate area. Several lights broke as he spoke and Black Canary was absolutely shocked, the other teens were as well but they didn't feel unnerved or scared for some reason. When Phantom came to his senses again and figured out what he was doing everything suddenly stopped.
The room didn't get any colder, ice spikes stopped forming, and the lights went back to normal. Phantom's eyes dimmed so they were back to normal and the ice spikes disappeared. Black Canary took a cautious step towards Phantom but was stopped when Cujo growled at her and he got bigger.
Phantom looked at Cujo, "Cujo heel." The ghost dog reluctantly shrunk until he was a small dog again and walked over to Phantom. Phantom left the room and Cujo followed while Black Canary was frozen to the spot and the young heroes wondered what they should do.
The team eventually went to see if Phantom was okay and Black Canary left. She didn't want to upset Phantom even more, she was regretting telling Phantom that he needed help. She really didn't know what she was doing, she had a lot of thinking to do.
*****
It's a little long but oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! By the way, if updates start to slow down a bit it's because of school and stuff like that but I will continue to update this story as well as Omen. Please don't hate me and goodbye dear readers!