Project Experiment

Prologue

Always be ready for anything

Superman smiled seeing how everything was calm and peaceful. It had been a little touch and go there when Luther tried getting the government to side with him, but justice won again. He knew that it wouldn't be the last time Lex tried, but he would keep fighting. That's when a green beam came out of the sky and hit him. Blasting him to the ground. He looked up to see a white hooded figure with a glowing green hand. His green eyes visible under the hood.

He looked scared.

Superman let out a small growl when he shot out of the crater he made when he was fired upon, and right before he hit the figure, it motioned towards a white van before Superman made contact. The figure grunted as he was tackled to the ground. Superman's eyes widen when he realized he just took out a kid. A weird glowing kid with white hair and bright glowing green eyes, but a kid none the less.

"What are you doing?" the superhero asked with concern. The kid's hood fell down and Superman noticed a small wire coming from his ear. This teen didn't seem to want to fight. The teen looked over again at the white van when a small voice came from the teen, only it wasn't his. It came from the earpiece.

"Get up and take him down, Phantom. I know you can, so do it, or you won't like the consequences."

Superman realized that whoever was controlling this kid was probably trying to take him out of the game for whatever reason.

"Don't do this, kid," Superman stated pinning the teen to the ground. Bright green eyes stared at the hero in fear, but surprised Superman by the hope that was also there. Superman realized it wasn't fear of him. "This isn't a fight you will win."

"I don't want to fight anymore. Please make it stop," Phantom begged looking up at the hero before glancing towards the van again. "Please." Superman glared over at the van when someone exited.

"Superman, please release him. I'm sorry for any inconvenience he may have caused. He's been in our care for a while now. I thought he would be ready to face the outside world, but I was wrong," he stated, and Superman could feel creepiness coming off the man in waves. "My name is Dr. Minnow."

"Please don't let them," Phantom whispered as small as he could hoping that the hero would hear him. He was told most of the known powers of Superman, including super hearing. Superman looked back at teen when he spoke quietly. This teen took him down, and his chest hurt. Nothing has been able to hurt like that before. This teen was dangerous and unknown, and if in the wrong hands could very well bring the Justice League down.

"I'm sorry, but he attacked me and has to face those consequences," Superman informed grabbing the teen's arm and pulling them both up. Phantom let him hold him. He could get away from the League without a problem of course, but getting back to Amity Park would be a problem with the Guys In White breathing down his neck. His only hope of ever being able to go home would lay with Superman's help, or the League's. "He's coming with me."

Suddenly several people with guns appeared surrounding them. Guns that Superman had never seen before. The teen tensed.

"If my blast hurt you, these are so much worse," he whispered letting the man know what he was getting into. "I can protect you, but I can't get away from them by myself." Phantom pulled the cord from his ear. "I really need help, and yes, I can probably kick your ass." Superman glared at the teen when he dropped the earpiece on the ground and crushed it glaring at Minnow. "I'm not going back with you no matter what you say."

"Fire," Minnow ordered as a green shield appeared around them both. Superman's eyes widen when the green shield kept the firing from them. He looked for GL, but couldn't find him.

"I can't hold this forever, but I could really use your help getting away from them. They want me as their weapon, but I don't exactly listen to them. Clearly, I'm helping you instead of attacking," Phantom started as he winced. He could feel the electricity from the collar start coursing though him. "There's a collar. I can't get it off, and it's been preventing me getting away. It's also weakening my shield." Superman looked at the teen whose hood had fallen. There was a grey dog like collar wrapped around his neck. He could hear the humming coming from it.

"Alright, but you're going to have to come with after this is settled," Superman stated as he stepped closer to the teen and looked at the collar.

"Planned on it. There is so much going on, and I can't do it myself," Phantom informed pulling more from his core into the shield. He could pull from the environment and his core more efficiently once the collar was off. Superman narrowed his eyes as he gently pulled the collar away from the teen's neck so he could use his laser eyes to get it off.

"Be as still as possible," Superman said as he fired. The collar gave quickly and Superman could feel the power as it condensed on the teen. Phantom looked up at him with a smile and white eyes as he let his shield explode towards the guys firing at them.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Minnow screamed watching as Phantom flew up with green energy surrounding him. Power pulsed around everyone. Superman watched a little unsure if what he did was right or not. "You have no idea what you have unleashed!"

"He's not the one who tried to kill me," Phantom growled his white eyes narrowed before firing at the man. The man jumped back from the smoking hole with wide eyes. Superman flew up to level with Phantom.

"Don't hurt these people," he warned not wanting to fight the teen. He knew the kid probably has some issues, but he hoped that the teen wouldn't attack.

"They started it," Phantom snarled as the energy gathered around. "It's their fault!"

"That doesn't mean you get to kill them," Superman said watching the teen warily.

"I'm not going to, but I'm not going back with them," Phantom growled feeling overpowered. This is what happens when he can't use all of his powers. They get overloaded, but there wasn't anywhere he could go without them following. "I will if they don't let me go. I'm not theirs. I don't belong to anyone. I'm not going back to that lab ever again."

"PHANTOM!" Minnow growled aiming a gun at the teen. He fired, but another shield appeared between Phantom and him. It glowed green and blue before surrounding Superman and Phantom encasing them from Minnow and the rest of the GIW. The air turned cold suddenly, and Superman watched as the ground slowly had ice forming. "You won't win this. We've taken you down before!"

"With help, but now you don't have it anymore," Phantom warned putting more energy into the air and letting it build. Superman grabbed the teen's arm only to pull back when the cold bit into him. A sense of death washed over the hero, and he wasn't where it was coming from. If it was the teen, or something else.

"You need to stop," he said trying to calm the teen down. "Someone is going to get hurt."

"I can't keep my powers at bay anymore," Phantom snapped looking at Superman. He could see a little of the green that was there before. Though the bright glowing white eyes were a little unsettling, Superman could tell the teen was trying to hold his powers in. "They were trying to control me, and they overloaded them."

"I can help you," Superman pleaded needing the teen to stop this. It was affecting him somehow, and he didn't like it, especially since he had no idea about any of this. "How'd you know your blast hurt me?"

"You protected where I hit you. They will not hold back," Phantom motioned to them. The ones who had gotten their guns again were firing at the shield. "You have no idea how much I actually held back till you get hit with those. You thought mine knocked the wind outta you?" Superman glanced around at the firing agents knowing that there had to be something he was missing. "Theirs will burn you. They burn me."

"What are you?" Superman asked as Minnow barked more orders to take down the ghost.

"Dead," Phantom growled pulsing his shield before blowing it out again and knocking the men back again. Superman watched as the force knocked most of them out. Suddenly Phantom dove down and grabbed Minnow before shooting straight up into the sky. Superman followed concerned for the human being that had clearly hurt the teen. He couldn't let Phantom kill him.

Phantom created a green shield under himself that Superman flew around when Phantom threw Minnow down on it. Phantom landed on it and glared at the doctor.

"Do you really think that you're going to get away from us?" Minnow growled glaring at Phantom. Superman stayed behind Minnow ready to grab him at any moment. "We put too much time and effort into getting you to the point where you could take down Superman."

"Did you really think you could continue to control me? That I would just lay down and let you do god knows what to me after you ordered the hit?" Phantom growled. Minnow only grinned at him.

"We will always know where you are, Phantom. Superman was just a test, and one you failed. Quite brilliantly actually. You were so close, and yet you decided to keep up your hero status," Minnow dusted himself off and glared up at the ghost again. "It'll be fun to break you again."

"I don't think you'll have that chance," Phantom pointed out nodding to Superman who had his arms crossed. Minnow's eyes widen believing that the hero would have stopped and checked that none of the men who were attacked were hurt. "I only needed a witness. And now?"

"Phantom will be coming with me, and if any of your men follow, the League will come down on you," Superman informed as Phantom slowly let the shield start to fall. Minnow glared before pulling out a small ecto weapon.

"Your mother was very helpful before the Fall," Minnow grinned before shooting Phantom down and breaking the shield. He free fell waiting for Superman to catch him, only the hero went after Phantom first, pulling the teen close to him before just barely missing Minnow on the roof. Superman winced when Minnow laid on the roof, lightly twitching as blood pooled around his head.

"Phantom," Superman whispered feeling the ghost shift slightly. A bright light appeared around his waist before just disappearing again. Superman gently laid him on the roof as Superman contacted the League.

This was only the beginning. And Superman had a feeling that the kid was going to get caught in the middle. But after what he heard, he was going to be siding with the kid.

He can't save everyone after all.

Been a while. A long while