Broken Hearts
Chapter Thirteen
The Ghost of the Past ~ Part Two
"In this bright future you can't forget your past."
~Bob Marley~
Titan's Tower 0900 Hours
"Man," Cyborg whined as he stared at Phantom's name at the top of the screen. Robin walked in and noticed that Phantom's score had changed along with Cyborg's. "I had it, and then he walks in and just destroys it."
"Wow," Robin stated seeing how much more points Phantom's new high score was compared to his last one. "Did he beat that monster then?"
"Yes," Cyborg stated dejectedly. He had never been able to and always thought that it was impossible. Phantom still managed to beat his score even without all the codes he was given. It annoyed him to no end.
"I would give you some sympathy, but this is just too good," Robin stated with a grin. Cyborg sent him a glare.
"Shut up," he growled as the doors opened, and Valerie entered with a sleepy smile.
"Morning," she smiled as she headed towards the kitchen to look for breakfast. Robin walked over to her. "I'm guessing Phantom is still asleep?"
"Yeah, he usually doesn't come out of his room until later. He has already gotten breakfast because Cyborg wouldn't be playing video games if he hadn't," Robin explained. "He's not a morning person."
"He is a teenage boy," Valerie pointed out with a small smile. "I'm guessing that has to do with the fact that he's a little on the thin side."
"When we first got him, Beastboy called him a skeleton," Robin informed. "He was ready to give up and we were his last resort. If we didn't help him, he would have died. He almost did. His heart had stopped at one point, and we couldn't get it to restart. We thought he was dead, and it was a few days before we seen him again. And it was really weird."
"I never would have thought that ghosts actually could gain and lose weight or have a heartbeat. Much less die again. I wonder how he was always able to keep it up went he lived in Amity," Valerie mused until she remembered that he had friends that were in the school. "Never mind, I got that. He told me that he had friends that were killed in the fire. I'm guessing they probably did give him food."
"Yeah," Robin stated knowing she had no idea who the ghost really was. "Today we were going to try and get Phantom to go into the training room and actually show us something other than just flight patterns. We have yet to really see his full potential because of his health condition."
"Can I sit in? I know how he fights already since most of the time I was on the receiving end or was next to him," Valerie asked wanting to see if the ghost had anymore new tricks up his sleeve that she may not have known.
"That you'll have to ask him," Robin stated walking to the door. "I'm going to go talk to him about it first though. We also need to check his health levels."
"Why?" Valerie asked looking up at him.
"He may be gaining weight, but we don't want him getting anything that could hurt him," Robin explained exiting the room and heading towards Phantom's room. He walked up to the door and stopped before it would open and thought about what he was going to do.
Phantom had been with them in a very rough time and the rest of the team enjoyed his company along with his seemingly endless loyalty which was a great thing to help heal their own wounds and scars, but Robin was still unsure about him. Even if he never really showed it, but Phantom had this air around him that showed you could trust him. Very rarely did Robin get the vibe that Phantom seemed less than what he showed them. Most of the time that was when he was kicking Cyborg's butt at playing video games. Robin figured that was more of Phantom's competitive side coming out, which had been coming out more and more lately when him and Cyborg were playing whatever game.
"Phantom," Robin called walking up as the door opened. He walked in seeing Phantom exit the bathroom without his shirt which was lying on the bed. Scars wrapped around his chest, and Robin remembered when he still had the burns. They were now scarred over and you couldn't really tell that they were even there anymore unless you looked closely. He could still see Phantom's ribs, but his arms had filled out and so did his chest. He no longer looked like a skeleton, but someone who was just a little under weight.
"Yeah," Phantom whispered looking up afraid he was in trouble. Robin had been watching him closer than usual, and Phantom was afraid that the boy wonder was rethinking letting him on the team.
"You're looking better," Robin pointed out with a small smile. Phantom blushed and grabbed his shirt and slipped it on. "Today I wanted you to so a little training. I think you can handle it."
"Is Valerie still here?" Phantom asked hoping to get away from the fact that the Titans still wanted to see what he was capable of. It wasn't that he was afraid of them finding anything out, he was afraid that the control and balance he created with his powers would make Robin uncomfortable now that he knew a little bit more about his hidden past that he tried to keep away from anyone who got too close.
"Phantom, I let you get away with skipping out on regular sessions because of what your condition was," Robin explained walking up to the ghost and putting his hand on Phantom's shoulder to get his attention off the floor. "I want to make sure that everything is working like it should. You might look better, but sometimes there might be something else wrong that we can't see. A lot of times working with your powers and figuring out a few things on how they work help in making sure that you are truly okay. We don't want to be in the middle of a fight and something goes wrong and you can't work your powers like you should be able to."
"You never answered my question," Phantom put in knowing that this was already a losing battle. He still just wanted to have a distraction.
"Yes, and she wants to watch," Robin smiled wickedly knowing Phantom was going to try to use her to get out of doing this. "She already knows what's going on, but you just need to get a quick check up in the infirmary and then we'll be heading to the training room."
"You knew I was trying to get out of it," Phantom mumbled grabbing his cloak and clipping it together. It wrapped around him as his tension grew.
"You always try to," Robin pointed out as he headed out. "Meet me in the infirmary in a few minutes.
"Alright," Phantom whispered looking back at the picture that was still covered by the blanket before heading out to head to the infirmary.
"Raven, do you think Phantom will be okay?" Starfire asked while staring at the training room. Raven looked up at her friend.
"I think he'll be just fine. More nervous than anything else," she answered looking out at the training room as Beastboy and Robin set it up. They had Cyborg in the infirmary making sure that all of Phantom's vitals and systems were operating like they should. "Although I think he's afraid that we will tell him something about his powers or try to control or manipulate him. He's had that happen to him so many times that he might not trust us enough. No matter how long he stays here, I think he'll always be afraid of people taking advantage of him."
"Hey, is Phantom here yet?" Valerie asked walking into the small room that the two were in. Raven looked up and narrowed her eyes. She knew that Valerie and Phantom had been enemies, and she didn't want to take the chance of someone hurting Phantom any more.
"He is with Friend Cyborg in taking care of the vitals and systems of the body," Starfire responded looking at the young teen with interest. She wanted to ask her questions, but Raven told her not too yet. She didn't trust her enough.
"Beastboy and Robin are setting the course up so we can challenge any and all points of Phantom's powers. We need to make sure that they are operational and in order," Raven informed looking out as Phantom entered with Cyborg. Cyborg was holding a clipboard and asking questions to the young ghost who looked very annoyed. Robin walked up to Phantom and grabbed his attention.
"Phantom, ready?" Robin asked as Cyborg headed into the room where Raven and Starfire were. Phantom looked up and noticed that Valerie was behind them. He quickly looked away.
"I guess," Phantom whispered knowing that he was going to have to do this no matter what they said.
"The first thing we'll do is your flight test. We have an idea of how your powers should respond, and hopefully we'll have an easy starting point," Robin explained as he pointed up to the hoops and poles that were hanging from the ceiling. There were sixteen flags with the numbers on them. "I want you to grab those flags in order in the least amount of time. They're not in order, and you have to figure out how to get them in order. If you mess up, you will have to start from the beginning again. The fastest time we have for this so far is held by Beastboy with two and a half minutes. He used some of the patterns you showed us."
"Really?" Phantom asked looking up seeing that the numbers on the flags were easy to see. He quickly put a plan into his head and smirked as he figured out how Beastboy probably did it. "Is there any other rules?"
"You have to go through every hoop and avoid poles," Robin stated showing one where the pole was right in front of the hoop. Phantom grinned.
"Alright," he smiled as the plan to get though everything was perfect. He would shave off about fourteen seconds from what Beastboy had. And he could only guess what speed the changeling used. Robin glided him to the starting point where he noticed that the first flag was a little farther than the closest. He took in a deep breath and gently staring floating off the ground. He gathered his energy and prepared it for a fast flight instead of gathering it in different parts. Robin stood by the controls that would monitor Phantom's movements.
"Ready, set," Robin began looking at the ghost who was staring at the first flag with determination. Robin smiled knowing that bringing up Beastboy's time would cause the competitive side to come out in the hybrid. "GO."
Phantom took off like a bullet and had the first five flags within twenty seconds and already ahead of Beastboy's times. Robin was having trouble keeping up with how fast the ghost was flying. The computer was taping everything so they could replay it. Robin smiled when the computer showed a hoop Phantom passed and didn't go though. Phantom collected five more before flying though it and using the speed he gathered to sail though two other hoops and swirl around two poles before getting a straight shot to the next flag. He flipped himself on his back and collected the other six before landing on the ground in front of Robin who stood with his mouth open. Phantom's time was one minute and forty seconds.
"I missed timed myself there with that one hoop," Phantom grinned rubbing the back of his neck. Robin blinked not believing what had just happened.
"That was amazing," Beastboy grinned running out of the room with everyone else. "Dude, you have to show me how you did that?!"
"Nice job, Ghost Boy," Valerie smiled as Phantom looked down. Cyborg walked up to him and held up his hand.
"That was the coolest thing in the world!" he encouraged trying to get Phantom to five high him. Phantom just smiled and backed away. Cyborg put his hand down and watched the ghost closely. "You okay, man?"
"I'm fine," he whispered as thoughts about how he used to train with Sam and Tucker ran around his head. They were always pushing him farther and farther. They would always tell him good job, but then Sam would gave him something to think about in order to improve himself. She was would change something and then give him two days to think about how to counter it. He missed the challenges they would give him every day.
"You sure?" Valerie asked knowing that something was bugging the young ghost.
"Yeah, just memories," Phantom whispered. "What's next?"
"Hand-to-hand combat," Robin stated as the padded ring rose from the ground in front of them. "Cyborg, you have to controls on this."
"Wait, what?" Phantom asked as Robin got on the mat.
"You and me," Robin stated standing on the one side of the ring waiting for Phantom join. Phantom only backed up a few steps. Beastboy knew he was about to run and quickly ran behind him and stopped him before he turned around and bolted.
"You're not going to hurt anyone," he stated holding the hybrid's arms and keeping him facing Robin who was smiling at him kindly.
"Phantom, I just want to see what you have. We aren't going full out. I just want to see what you know," Robin explained. Valerie walked up to the ghost.
"Phantom, you've fought me and tried not to do much; I believe you can handle this," Valerie put in grabbing Phantom's arms and pushed him towards the ring. "Now go and deal with it."
"Hey," Phantom yelped as Valerie shoved him into the ring. Robin laughed at his expression of surprise.
"Come on," Robin smiled as Phantom looked around to find a way out of it. "I want to see what you can do without using your powers."
"I…but…" Phantom stuttered trying to gather his thoughts. Robin slid into his defense stance and knew he would have to go into offense in order to get Phantom to go with it.
"Come on, Phantom," Robin grinned. "I want a challenge."
Phantom looked around at everyone before backing up slightly and going into his own stance. Robin grinned seeing that the ghost probably wasn't as balanced on the ground as he was in the air. Phantom went on the defense as Robin decided he would have to be the first to go since they could barely get Phantom into the ring in the first place. Phantom blocked his punch with his left while moving around Robin to be behind him and pushed him forward while standing behind him. Robin smiled and turned quickly and kicked out at the hybrid who flipped to the right.
"You can't dodge forever," Robin stated not winded at all. He could tell Phantom was in a slight panic, but was remaining sane enough to know what was going on. He went to hit Phantom's side when the ghost grabbed his arm and pushed him back. Robin's eyes went wide until he caught the challenging smile Phantom had. Robin grinned and tried to distract the ghost with his one hand while shifting his feet so he could kick out Phantom's feet from under him. Phantom felt the change and put pressure on Robin stance so he lost his balance.
Robin glared and pushed back the ghost and back flipped away to give him some room for a flying kick only for Phantom slide under him and kick back causing the boy wonder to fall on his face.
"I'm better in the air," Phantom grinned as Robin got up. He shook his head and then turned to attack when Phantom flipped over him.
"Hey, no using your powers," Robin warned narrowing his eyes.
"I didn't," Phantom sang with a wicked grin that got under the leader's skin. Phantom was now playing around. It wasn't really what Robin had wanted to engage, but it was better than Phantom running from them.
"You're a pain; you know that?" Robin teased with a smile.
"I know," Phantom grinned as Robin attacked again. They still needed to get Phantom to strike first, but at least they were getting him to go onto offense after a time. Cyborg was watching the fight with interest until a beeping on the monitor went off. He looked down and noticed that Phantom's heart wasn't beating right. It was slowing down.
"Stop," Cyborg ordered as Robin blocked Phantom's fist. Robin looked back at Cyborg annoyed.
"What?" he demanded trying to keep Phantom's arm up. Phantom was only grinning knowing he stopped the boy wonder in an uncomfortable spot.
"Phantom, are you feeling okay?" Cyborg asked with worry seeping though. The ghost looked up and let Robin straighten himself up.
"Yeah, why?" he asked tilting his head confused. Robin walked over to his friend and put his fingers against Phantom neck making the ghost tense and take a step back. He waited for a few moments before looking at Cyborg.
"It's normal," Robin stated looking at his friend. Cyborg walked up to Phantom making the ghost even more confused.
"Your heart rate shouldn't be that slow. Especially with how much you moving around without using your powers," Cyborg stated as he looked over the reports again. Phantom looked back at Robin.
"I feel fine," he whispered wondering if it was just because he was half ghost. Robin put his hand on the hybrid's shoulder.
"We'll figure it out," he promised. "It might just be the way your body works."
"My powers move energy though, so I figured that maybe it would slow my heartbeat since it uses the same path as my blood would, but I wasn't using any of them," Phantom mumbled wondering if it was bad.
"Cyborg, think he's okay to continue?" Robin asked as Raven walked up. The other three were still in the room watching everything.
"Maybe the other courses, but we should let this one go until we see how his other powers operate. Maybe there's a misbalance inside his body that he was able to have in Amity Park due to the ectoplasm rich environment," Cyborg put in looking at the ghost. "This city doesn't have as much ectoplasm as your home did. It may throw off your balance."
"I never thought of that," Phantom whispered with a slight shake. Raven looked at him.
"Your powers can adapt, but we have to be careful. They could change the way you control them," Raven warned knowing that was one thing Terra didn't want them to help her with was control of her powers.
"You guys aren't going to leave me then, right?" Phantom questioned worried that they wouldn't stay by him. Robin smiled.
"We'll be here with you the entire time," he promised seeing the fear passed across the young hybrid's face.
"Lunch time," Cyborg grinned. "Pizza today, let's go. We'll just go to the restaurant."
"Last time we did that, the Guys in White came," Phantom muttered. Robin shook his head.
"They can't do anything. The police here won't let it," Robin stated motioning for the rest to follow as they headed to the garage. "Phantom, Raven, and Starfire, we'll meet you there. We'll go in the T-Car."
The three nodded their heads and headed out. Phantom flew slightly behind the two girls while Robin watched his movements closely.
"Think he'll be okay?" Robin asked as he got in the back seat with Valerie. Cyborg was driving while BB called shotgun.
"He always manages to wiggle his way out of difficult situations; I'm sure he'll be fine," Valerie smiled as the thought about how indestructible Phantom always seemed to be. She knew he wasn't really invincible, but he always knew how to get out of things.
"I've read some of the things he's done in Amity. I'm surprised he's still interested in trying to protect people and help out," Robin stated with a smile. "I know very few people who can stand the kind of treatment he did and continue protecting the same people who were hurting him."
"I wish I would've noticed that he was trying to help sooner. He may not have had to leave Amity. I would have offered my home for him," Valerie whispered feeling guilty. Robin smiled at her. They exited the garage with Cyborg heading towards the Pizza place while glaring at Beastboy who was drooling out of the window. Robin shook his head.
"I don't think he would stay anyway. He left Amity for many reasons. Even if he was able to stay with you, he wouldn't have been there long. The people he was running from would have found him," Robin explained as they stopped at a light.
"Wouldn't he have been caught earlier then?" Valerie challenged wanting to know what Phantom was still hiding from her. She knew he was still keeping secrets, but she had no idea what they were and she wanted to. She wanted to be part of getting to know him and helping him get though the pain and suffering he was forced into.
"He had more than one friend helping him. He wouldn't stay in one place for too long," Robin covered knowing that Phantom may have let her in, but he still didn't trust her with everything.
"There's more that you know," Valerie stated getting a grin from the boy wonder.
"There are things we know that we must keep secret unless he wants you to know. I'm not breaking any trust with him. He forced himself to trust us, and I'm not hurting him," Robin stated.
"I figured he was hiding something, but I guess if you guys are willing to protect it, I should back off," Valerie whispered really not wanting to. Robin shook his head.
"If you prove to Phantom that you can be trusted, I'm sure he'll tell you," Robin stated. "We had to get it out of him in order to help fix his wounds and power levels. They were all over the place and we were missing a very important piece."
"Phantom, you don't have to fly all the way back there," Raven stated watching the ghost closely. Phantom gave her a smile and flew a little faster to catch up with them.
"Oh, Friend Phantom, isn't flying wonderful?" Starfire exclaimed doing a few turns and loops. Phantom smiled and settled himself on the other side of Raven from Starfire.
"Yeah," he whispered pulling his hood farther on. Raven shook her head knowing that Phantom still didn't like to be out in public.
"You okay?" Raven asked worried that his slower heart rate might hurt him in an easy flight to get something to eat.
"I'm fine," he smiled a little and moved further from her. Starfire flew on his other side causing him to fly up and give a squeak from surprise.
"You do not look fine," she stated flying closer to him. He flew a little farther away.
"I'm fine; I'm just a little nervous," he replied. Raven flew up next to him.
"About eating or seeing people again?" she questioned watching him as he slowed down a little.
"Funny," Phantom mumbled glaring at her. She let a rare smile appear.
"We won't let anything happen to you, and you know that," she stated as they descended into the alleyway that was next to the pizza place. "Calm yourself down; you're going to hurt yourself more if you keep going into a panic every time we change something in your life."
"I said I was fine. You guys brought it up," Phantom murmured. Raven slapped the back of his head. "HEY."
"Get over it," she stated as the others pulled up. Phantom was trying to keep his grin from showing as Starfire smiled at her friends. Robin shook his head as Cyborg led them into the building. Beastboy stood by Phantom and watched his friend closely.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked getting a glare from the hybrid.
"I'm fine, how many times do I have to say it," Phantom growled annoyed. Beastboy put his hands up.
"I was just asking, you look a little down," he stated watching as Phantom's shoulder tensed a little. "I'm guessing everyone is asking you if your okay since your heart was beating a little slower than usual."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired and annoyed," Phantom whispered rubbing his arm trying to refrain from slapping his friend senseless. Beastboy smiled seeing that he was the one annoying Phantom at the moment.
"I'm just gonna go to…the…uh…restroom," Beastboy stuttered with a grin and backed away and then ran to the restroom while Phantom chuckled. Robin opened the door as the changeling ran inside. He shook his head and followed with the rest of the team. Valerie poked Phantom's side to get him to move forward, but instead making him jump three feet in the air and stay there.
"Jeez, Phantom, jumpy much?" Valerie joked as Phantom landed back on the ground.
"Not funny," Phantom muttered as they headed inside. He rubbed his side and glared at Valerie who was laughing really hard. "That hurt."
"But it was funny," Valerie smiled lightly shoving his shoulder. Phantom smiled back glad that she at least wasn't trying to kill him. However, when they entered the place, Dash was sitting on the other side. Phantom felt like disappearing when he noticed him. Valerie looked surprised to see her old classmate.
"Hey guys, come on, the table is over here," Cyborg called over from their large table. Phantom looked at Dash once more before slipping over with his friends. Valerie silently followed hoping not to catch attention. Dash looked up, but didn't say anything. Everyone knew who Valerie was, and Dash was glad that she wasn't attacking Phantom like she normally did. He didn't want to get into their business. In an old life he might have, but now he just wanted to be normal now.
"Phantom?" Robin asked seeing as the hybrid looked drowsy. Phantom looked up at his leader. "You feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," Phantom growled out. Robin frowned and looked around the room. Valerie and Cyborg were talking about something to do with her suit. Beastboy was trying to get Raven to laugh, and Starfire was drinking mustard and getting weird looks. He looked back at their ghostly friend to see that Phantom had put his head on his arms and had fallen asleep. Robin gently put his fingers against Phantom's neck to check his pulse when Phantom shifted slightly. Robin sighed as he only counted one beat. They knew enough about Phantom's vitals to know that his heart was beating much too slow to be healthy. Or at least that's what Robin thought. They really didn't have anything to go by before Phantom's condition, and even Phantom didn't know.
"Rob, what's up?" Cyborg asked seeing his friend's worried look. Robin was still just watching Phantom.
"I'm worried that something might be seriously wrong," Robin whispered listening carefully to his friend's breathing. He heard a slight catch in it, but it was barely there.
"He might just be getting sick again. He's still getting use to being here, and he still has a weak immune system," Cyborg informed as Valerie watched the ghost carefully.
"He's not really a ghost, is he?" she asked looking at the two leaders. Beastboy stilled next to her and watched her carefully not wanting her to attack his friend. Raven looked up and the Titans all looked back at the sleeping teen.
"That's not our secret to tell," Robin stated glaring at her. "He's trusted us, and I thought we already went over this?"
"I know, but I hate not knowing about him. You guys say that its his secret to tell, but he won't," Valerie stated looking down. "He'll never truly trust me with whatever he's hiding because of our past." She took a quick look at the sleeping hybrid before looking up at Robin. "How'd you guys get him to trust you?"
"At first he didn't," Robin started. "We were in the middle of a betrayal in our own team. A girl had come in and became our friend only to work for a really bad guy. We didn't trust him first, but he needed someone to help him. I couldn't turn him away. He was so underweight, and I didn't want to find out later that he died because I couldn't do anything, or he ends up working for someone who would take advantage him."
"We didn't want outsiders to come in, but he never did anything and stayed to his word. He listened to everything we told him, and it got to the point where I started to really trust him," Cyborg stated. "I didn't want him at all, and Beastboy somehow can sense him."
"I wanted to help, and my animal instincts are what drove me," the changeling smiled. "I felt that he wasn't going to hurt us, and the only thing he's done since getting here is help us."
"Not just with fighting the bad guys, but also help us to trust other people again," Robin informed. "After Terra, we didn't want anyone to come in and do the things she did. He came in and depended on us for everything that we didn't have the heart to turn him away."
"His loyalty is his most amazing quality," Starfire put in looking at her friend with pride and trust. Raven was only watching Valerie carefully. She was still hurt by Terra's betrayal, but Phantom wiggled his way into her heart. She didn't know this girl, and she wasn't going to just go ahead and pour her heart to her about their friend. Phantom may not know that she trusted him to the extent that she did, but she didn't want anyone to know that Phantom was now part of her family. He wasn't out of the box trusting like Terra was, and that was Raven's first thing to start to see him as someone different. He didn't trust them. She saw him as a way to heal their own wounds.
"I never would have put loyalty to him when I first met him. It wasn't until our last little fight that I really saw that in him," Valerie muttered. The Titans looked at her, but were pulled out of their thoughts when the waiter came with everyone's drinks.
"Here you guys go," the waiter smiled.
"Thanks, Jason," Robin smiled and poked Phantom's side to wake him. Valerie noticed that everyone but her had their drinks.
"Miss, can I get you anything? I didn't notice you were over here," he smiled shyly.
"Just water," she answered as Phantom groaned. The waiter nodded and laughed at how tired the ghost looked. Robin shook his head as the Jason left.
"You guys aren't that quiet," Phantom muttered glaring at them. Everyone blushed realizing that he heard everything they were saying about him. Robin looked down before looking back at his friend.
"You were asleep," he stated raising an eyebrow under his mask.
"Yeah, I was trying to go to sleep, but you guys wouldn't shut up for a few seconds for me in order to," Phantom responded grinning.
"Sorry," Robin smiled as the waiter came out with Valerie's water.
"Hey, Phantom. It's good to see you," Jason smiled and walked away leaving Phantom slightly confused. Robin laughed.
"Well, now what are we getting?" Robin asked waiting for Cyborg and Beastboy to start fighting over what kind of Pizza they should. They did not disappoint either.
"MEAT!"
"VEGGIE!"
It was constant back and further as Phantom slammed his head on the table. Robin looked at the hybrid with concern while Valerie tried to remember where she had heard a similar fight take place. Raven growled at the two before chanting her spell and letting her magic wrap around the two's mouths to shut them up.
"We'll order what we normally do," she growled making the two nervous and give a sorry smile. Robin looked at her confused at the sudden hostility and wonder if it had anything to do with Valerie. Raven released her hold on them and got up and headed outside. Phantom looked up at Robin with concern before also getting up and heading out with her to see what was wrong. Robin glared at the two who were whistling innocently like nothing had happened.
"Raven?" Phantom called seeing her looking at the city from the baloney. Raven turned to watch him walk next to her. "Are you okay?"
"You going to get annoying as we were to you?" she asked making him give a small laugh.
"Never," he smiled looking back at her. "You just kinda lost it, and I was just wondering if anything was wrong," he informed waiting for her to reply.
"I didn't trust Terra at first. I didn't want her to change the way we worked or anything. When we figured out that she didn't have perfect control of her powers, she ran off. I was glad that she left. We could go back to the way things were," Raven explained wondering why she was now telling him all this. She hadn't even told her team this, and she was pouring everything out to Phantom who was silently listening.
"She came back though, didn't she? I mean that's when you guys figured out that she was working with Slade?" Phantom asked trying to put everything together. Raven looked at him wondering how much he knew, or how much he put together.
"No one told you what really happened then?" Raven asked as Phantom shook his head.
"I've just been guessing the entire time. Half the time most of my theories made no sense. I just gave up. I knew she hurt your team, but I figured you guys just didn't want to tell me," Phantom whispered. "I knew it was a sensitive topic, and I didn't want to bring out anything that would hurt you guys."
"Thanks for your consideration," Raven smiled as Phantom shifted. "But she left and when she came back, she had perfect control of her powers. It was amazing, but everything she did, I could do as well. I felt like my team would have left me for her."
"Oh," Phantom mumbled. "I know that feeling, except, it was my fault my friends actually did leave me for a little while." Raven turned to look at him surprised. "I kind of had this feeling that this guy wasn't who he said he was, and I went too far. I was right, but I was also wrong at the same time."
"You overreacted," she stated watching him closely noting that he was being more open around all of them.
"Extremely, and they thought he was cool, until they were attacked by the Guys in White because they thought the guy was Phantom," Phantom smiled. "I thought he worked for them at first, but I ended up having to saving them because the Guys in White would have hurt my friends and any innocent citizen there. When I showed up, the agents were only suspended for a few weeks. I think if they would have ended up really hurting someone, they would have been fired."
"Terra's goal wasn't really to make me feel left out. She just wanted to be part of the team. In the beginning, I think she really wanted to be a Titan, but when she met Slade, everything fell apart, and she didn't care if she hurt us or not," Raven stated with anger lanced in her voice. "I'm not sure exactly what all happened, but Beastboy could tell you. He was the one when she showed her true colors."
"I'm guessing when I came in; you were afraid of being hurt again," Phantom whispered looking up at her. Raven nodded.
"But you never did. You did everything, and even risked your life for us," she whispered looking up at the city before them. "You showed us that not everyone we met was going to be like Terra, but I still was afraid of you hurting us. Now I'm afraid of you getting hurt from Valerie."
"I've known Valerie for years," Phantom whispered looking to the side. "I've known her before I became Phantom. She was always in the popular crowd until I accidently got her dad fired."
"How'd you manage that?" Raven asked watching Phantom worriedly. She was worried that Valerie would try to make Phantom drop his guard and then turn around and hurt him like Terra had done to them.
"There was this ghost dog that had once worked for the lab her dad worked at. To be honest, I'm not really all that sorry, but I think that has to do with Sam's frustration when she figured out what Vlad had done. Phantom was even ticked off.
"Really?" Raven asked looking at him thinking that he may have a dark side after all.
"Instead of sending the dogs to new homes, they put them down. They just killed them without giving them a chance for a second chance. Sam, Tuck, and me all stood in front and protested them for it. Vlad then tried to hit on my mom went the cops were called. My mom slapped him and told him off," Phantom whispered. "I usually send some kind of banner at him when she shows that she loves Jack, but I lost any and all respect I had for him. He may have been my enemy, but I had a little respect for him, but now all he is to me is a bastard."
"That's horrible," Raven whispered not believing that Phantom would have had respect for his enemy. She didn't understand it, but she figured that maybe Phantom was just that good of a person.
"Most people in Amity called for him to resign for that. Sam made sure that everyone knew what he had done to the helpless dogs. There were even people who said they would have done anything to take them into their families. That was the first true strike against Vlad as mayor. The people wanted him to resign, and never wanted to see him again. He was no longer their mayor in their eyes, but a monster. The second strike against him was when Tucker hacked into his system and found out his companies were sending jobs overseas. He warned Amity about it before it happened, and not a week later two thousand workers were without a job," Phantom explained looking out at the city. "That was when my dad stopped calling him his friend. He hurt a lot of people, and my dad just then realized what a true evil person Vlad had become."
"Vlad is your Slade," Raven stated looking at him. "We still have to find him; he's still out there somewhere."
"Yeah, but at least we made sure he would stay hidden for a while," Phantom muttered. "Terra's in jail and we no longer have to worry about it."
"Guys the pizza is here," Beastboy called out to the two. Raven smiled at Phantom.
"Well, let's go," she smiled and pushed him towards the door. "That actually helped."
"You're welcome," Phantom grinned as he headed inside as well.
Outside Jump City 1400 Hours
"The ghost child is with those weird dressing heroes," Skulker muttered annoyed. He looked though his goggles as Phantom was pushed back into the building. Skulker planned on attacking him after they left. He had everything set up, and now that Phantom was back in the building, he could finish setting everything up.
He had four other traps to distract the Titans while he goes after his prize. It needed to be able to keep the Titans from getting to Phantom, and then everything would fall into place. He waited patients until he saw Phantom leave with the Titans. He pressed the buttons that would trap the Titans. He flew over to them as the traps set themselves up for when the Titans got close.
Phantom laughed as Beastboy jumped in front of them while telling a tale of how they beat Mad Mob. Phantom froze as he felt his breath chill and condensed coming out of his mouth is a wisp making Robin look at him in worry.
"Phantom, are you okay?" Robin asked noting that Phantom was suddenly searching the sky. Valerie felt her warning sign.
"There's a ghost around here," she stated watching Phantom closely as he tensed up and prepared for anything. "That was his ghost sense."
"Titans, be ready then," Robin stated as the team looked around prepared for anything while Phantom zeroed in on something in the distance. Robin followed his gaze to something in the distance that was heading straight for them when an explosion occurred right beside them making Raven throw a quick shield over them. Valerie activated her suit and clicked her heels together so that her board would appear. Phantom, Raven, and Starfire started floating off the ground prepared for the impending fight.
"Phantom, do you know who it is?" Valerie asked wondering how much information Phantom could gather from his ghost sense. All she got was a power rating.
"If I hadn't let myself go to the point of death, maybe, but my powers are still settling and balancing out," Phantom muttered as the ghost heading towards pressed something on his arm. Phantom realized who it is right away and immediately put a shield over his friends when the car next to them exploded. Robin looked back as a few ghost animals appeared.
"Skulker," Phantom whispered as the ghost was now recognizable. Robin glared at him as Phantom dropped the shield and shot off after him. Robin called out to stop Phantom from going alone, but he noticed that there were several citizens trapped in a building that Skulker had rigged.
"Valerie, Raven, help Phantom," Robin ordered. The two nodded and took off the ghost. "Beastboy, Cyborg, let's get these people out of there." The three headed into the building in order to help get everyone out before it collapsed.
"Oh, the Ghost Boy, I've been waiting for you to come out and play," Skulker stated. "And now I will finally have your pelt on my wall."
"That's still gross," Phantom shot as he gathered his energy into hands and fired it at the incoming ghost. Skulker moved to the right and shot back at Phantom who summoned a shield to protect him. The blast hit his shield and knocked him. When he recovered, Skulker slammed into him and forced him to the ground making a giant crater. Phantom groaned and looked up at Skulker as he raised his hand and a blade appeared.
"And now," Skulker began only to be shot by a pink blast. Phantom looked over and seen Valerie flying towards them. Raven got caught trying to keep a few kids from being crushed by debris.
"Thanks, Val," Phantom smiled as he got to his feet. Valerie looked at him concerned.
"You okay?" she asked making sure he was able to continue.
"I'm fine," he growled and glared that Skulker as the ghost got back up into the air. "Let's just take care of him."
"Alright, Ghost Boy, what's your plan?" Valerie asked as they headed towards the crater Skulker was laying. The ghost got up and shot at the two. He was prepared for the Titans, but he wasn't expecting the huntress to have been there, much less working with the ghost. Skulker growled and shot missiles at the two. Phantom threw up a shield to protect him and Valerie, but instead of blocking them, they headed over them towards another building. Phantom shot after them as Skulker shot at Valerie who dodged until she shot back and caused the hunter to fall back into his crater.
Phantom shot the missiles and destroyed them before they could hit the building. When he turned around, Skulker had shot Valerie to the ground and was now heading straight at him full blast. Phantom growled and dodged only for Skulker's blade to hit his shoulder. He hissed and turned around in the air and shot straight up, Skulker riding on his tail. Skulker blasted ecto blasts at the hybrid, but Phantom danced around them, none of them able to hit him.
Skulker growled as Phantom dodged every attack. He started firing more and more trying to limit Phantom's movements, but instead of continuing his path upward. He flipped himself around and shot towards the ground full speed without losing any speed. Skulker turned to follow, but created a bigger gap between the two. Phantom turned on his back and aimed his own ecto blasts at the ghost and fired several shots. Skulker caught the majority of them as he tried to dodge them all. His systems were getting messed up, and he knew that any more big shots from the hybrid would destroy his suit again.
Phantom grinned seeing that Skulker's armor was slightly destroyed. Just a few more blasts, and it would be completely destroyed. Phantom noticed that the buildings started getting into his view and he started counting down from five, and when he reached one, he let intangibility take over and drove into the ground while Skulker crashed into the ground creating another crater. Phantom came back out of the ground and smirked down at his enemy. Skulker grinned up at him and blew up another car making a big show, but all Phantom seen was the school again. His ice powers activated on their own and froze the flames at once.
Skulker grinned seeing that Phantom was now distracted. He raised his blade and slashed down on Phantom's back making the ghost flip around and fire. The hybrid's blast mixed with his ice froze Skulker completely while ectoplasm and blood pooled at Phantom's feet.
Valerie was the first one to notice how bad Phantom was at the moment. Memories from the school had started to plague her as well when the car went off, but she looked up and noticed that Phantom was even worse. Fire was licking at his cloak that was blowing dangerously in the harsh wind, and Valerie could see the tear in his cloak and his pain.
"Phantom?" she called noting that he was still bleeding out. She ran up to him just as he started to lose consciousness. "Phantom, look at me. Don't close your eyes, look at me," she ordered as she gently lowered him to the ground.
"Valerie?" he asked as he blinked a couple times trying to clear his mind. Valerie brushed some of his hair out of his face and picked up his communicator and immediately hit the little red button on it that she figured was the emergency beacon to get Robin or someone else to help her. The small device blinked quickly for a few seconds before gently going into a steady beat.
"Phantom, it's okay. You're going to be just fine," she whispered hoping that he would pull though, but she knew he was losing a lot of blood or ectoplasm. She looked down at her hands and noticed that his blood had a hint of red in it. When it mixed together it was a brownish color, but mainly stayed separate.
Robin made sure that the last of the people were safe before heading towards where he heard the explosion. Raven and Starfire were holding up a building while more people filed out. Panic took over when he realized that Phantom and Valerie were the ones left to fight the ghost. He headed down the street hoping to get a look to see that Phantom was truly okay. He looked up to see Phantom in the air when another bomb went off. He realized that the ghost set everything up in order to get to Phantom.
He started heading towards to fight worried that something would happened to hurt his friend. He noticed that Phantom was shooting towards the ground. He heard another explosion and took cover behind a phone booth as glass rained down. He looked around and noticed that everything was frozen in place, and it wasn't ten seconds later when his communicator went off. He started running and stopped when he seen Valerie holding Phantom up trying to get him to move. He raced towards them and skidded to a stop by them.
"What happened?" he asked as he took in the scene. Blood and ectoplasm cover the ground around the hybrid and Valerie had tears in her eyes. Skulker was frozen solid behind him.
"Skulker got him a couple times, and he hasn't stopped bleeding," Valerie explained. She knew enough medical to know how to take care of small battle wounds, but this was too much for her. She was glad when Robin took over. He unclipped Phantom's cloak and wrapped it around his back to help prevent it from bleeding out as bad. Valerie did as she was told. She held the young teen up as Robin worked to secure Phantom's body. He looked up seeing that the rest of his team was now heading towards them. Valerie was shaking trying to keep her emotions at bay.
"Raven, we have to get Phantom to the medical bay," Robin ordered and Raven immediately took over them. Valerie stood up from her spot noting that Phantom's blood was still on the ground. Beastboy looked shaken.
"We have to help clean up here. Raven and Robin will take care of Phantom," Cyborg stated knowing that he was leader until Robin was done. Starfire and Beastboy took to the skies to make sure that everyone in the higher parts of the building were safe while Cyborg and Valerie walked around on the ground to tell the police what all they need and to help where needed.
"He's crazy," Robin muttered as Raven looked though a few of her spell books while using her normal spell to try and heal the hybrid. Robin looked up and noticed that Phantom's heart was beating dangerously slow. It worried him, but it also helped prevent him from bleeding out completely.
"I got that," Raven stated as Phantom's back seemed to stitch itself together. "This well probably be a nasty scar when he gets older, but otherwise, he'll live."
"It'll match the rest of him," Robin muttered seeing different scars the crisscrossed across the hybrid's body like a canvas. "We really need to find a way to prevent him from getting himself hurt like this."
"The ghost had everything planned. I think Valerie was something he wasn't expecting. If she wasn't there, he might have actually gotten to Phantom," Raven muttered not liking that it true. She was glad Phantom was still alive, but she didn't want Valerie to be the one who saved him.
"We were completely distracted," Robin growled. Suddenly Phantom's heart spiked and a gasp escaped from Phantom.
"Ow," he whispered when he realized the pain that he was in. Robin and Raven held him down to prevent him from sitting up. "What happened?"
"Skulker attacked," Robin informed as Phantom relaxed with a wince. "You were injured, and we had to get you back here as soon as we could. You were bleeding badly."
"That's explains my light headedness," Phantom mumbled as he put his hand on his head and closed his eyes. "Uh, I hate this."
"How often did you usually have that kind of fight?" Robin asked knowing that might have something to do with how easily Phantom was able to bounce back.
"Usually this bad was at least twice a month. Sometimes three if it was really bad," Phantom answered as he took in deep breaths. "Sam was my nurse though, and by morning I would be fine and go home to prevent my parents from freaking out."
"Makes sense," Robin stated as Raven took her books back to her room where she needed to mediate and calm herself down. "You gonna be okay then?"
"Yeah, just fine," Phantom whispered as he sat up. Robin went to stop him when he turned and stood up and picked up his cloak. He frowned at the tear and stains that were on it. He closed his eyes and let his powers go and the temperature in the room dropped causing a chill to run up Robin's spine.
"What are you…" Robin started to ask when the cloak wrapped around the hybrid without the tear or stains.
"What? I can't sew to save my life, but if the object is part of my ghost half, my powers can fix it. It's really weird, but cool at the same time, and I don't have to find another one if it gets completely destroyed. I can still fix it using ectoplasm," Phantom explained as he walked out. Robin ran after him.
"Where are you going?" he asked as Phantom walked towards his room.
"Skulker is still out, and he won't stop until I catch him or he catches me, and I prefer the former," Phantom smiled as his door opened and he got out the Fenton thermos from his dresser.
"You froze him," Robin informed making Phantom freeze.
"I know, but he's not a robot. He's a little blob that operates it. He could have already gotten out without his ecto skeleton," Phantom explained looking at Robin. "I thought I told that already."
"Do you really have to go back out there right away? You about died," Robin exclaimed not believing this. Was this how Phantom was in Amity Park?
"Yeah," Phantom answered as he raised his thermos. "If he can't get his suit back together, then he's easier to beat. We have little time to find him."
"We'll look," Robin stated standing in the doorway not letting Phantom pass. "You need to rest. You're still not a hundred percent, and I'm not taking the chance of you getting hurt again."
"I'm fine," Phantom smiled at Robin trying to show that he really was. He really didn't like leaving ghosts unattended, unless it was the Box Ghost. He doesn't really scare anyone anymore.
"Phantom…Danny, we'll take care of it," Robin promised not wanting Phantom to leave the Tower. He noticed that look in Phantom's eyes. One he was familiar with; the hybrid's fight wasn't finished, and he refused to rest until it was. Phantom gulped when Robin used his name, and the team only used his name when they wanted to get something through to him.
"I'll be fine," Phantom assured smiling at Robin. He really didn't want to sit at the Tower the entire time. He had been there and done that, and he really didn't like it. He slid though the wall and continued walking down the hall. Robin ran to catch him. He put his hand on the hybrid's shoulder and turned him around.
"Danny, you almost died again, and the rest of team seen you. They know what happened and how bad," Robin tried to reason with the hybrid. Phantom looked down at the thermos thinking about how Sam and Tucker always helped him. They only tried to stop him when he really tried to do something stupid, like go after the Ghost King when he was injured. A smile came across his face.
"I've fought harder with more injuries," he grinned and vanished from sight leaving Robin there with his mouth hanging. He immediately called his team and told them that Phantom went back out there.
"Phantom's better," Cyborg mumbled as they reunited. "He decided to come back out though, and Robin's worried he'll get himself hurt again."
"He'll be fine," Valerie stated as they walked down a road. "I've seen him fight Technus with a broken arm."
"Is he crazy?" Beastboy asked.
"The jury's still out," Phantom answered appearing beside. "If Robin told you to stop me, I'm leaving."
"No, he just said to keep an eye out," Cyborg stated watching the ghost cautiously. "You're not going to do something stupid, are you?"
"Haven't gotten that far," Phantom grinned as he turned back to the fight where he noticed the dark green and red on the ground. He flinched slightly know that was his, but he also noticed that Skulker's suit was gone. "Did you guys move it?"
"No, he got away because we were trying to help you," Cyborg muttered annoyed.
"He's not going to stop until he gets me or we stop him," Phantom muttered and started pacing. Valerie looked up at the sky.
"He should still be in the city; I'm sure we can find him if we split up," Valerie suggested as Phantom stopped and looked at her.
"You have a ghost sensor, right?" he asked and Valerie nodded. "We'll split in half. One goes to the northern part, and the other will head to the southern part. That way we can cover more ground and hopefully find him before he completely repairs his suit."
"If he got away with it, then wouldn't it be fine?" Cyborg asked confused. Phantom looked at his for a moment.
"I destroyed his missile launcher and messed up his jets in order to fly fast," he explained. "Alright, Starfire, Beastboy, go with Valerie to patrol the north part, and then…"
"What about me and Raven?" Robin asked as they showed up in a black bird. Phantom had taken over without being asked or anything, and from what Robin heard, he was doing a stellar job with it. Phantom smiled at him.
"Raven can go with them," he said as four nodded and started heading north to look for Skulker. "That leaves us."
"Reason being?" Robin asked wondering why Phantom split them like that.
"To annoy you," Phantom answered with a wicked grin and Robin couldn't stop himself from laughing with Cyborg. Eventually Phantom joined in.
"We really should start our search," Cyborg stated dragging Phantom and Robin down the road. Robin caught his feet and started walking but Phantom kept tripping and laughing at the same time. Phantom suddenly straightened up when his ghost sense went off again. He looked in the direction it came from when another explosion occurred.
"Dude, that was the coolest thing I ever seen you do. I bet Dash will never think of doing that again," Tucker laughed as Sam dragged both Danny and Tucker to their next class. Danny was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe. He fell to the floor while Sam stopped. He had been hurt the previous night by the Lunch Lady, but he had shrugged it off as nothing.
"Danny, you okay?" she asked concerned. Danny looked up at her with a stupid grin on his face.
"I'm fine, just giggly for whatever reason," he laughed. Tucker slapped the back of his head.
"Men don't say things like giggly," he informed glaring at his friend who looked up at him like he was drunk.
"Dude, we're fourteen and fight ghosts…who cares?" Danny responded as Sam pulled him up.
"Come on, we have a lab to do and you're parents are supposed to be helping, goofus," Sam informed draggin Danny back to the classroom. Danny stopped when he seen Kwan and Star adding something into a vial.
"Hey, I don't think…"
Danny: She got an idea from TheTragicHero
Me: Yes, and I'm using it...although I did it different than it was in my head eariler...
Danny: she's updating eariler than she thought, but who cares...she's on a writing spree...and she's also writing her own story that she hopes one day to be published...
Me: If I do get it published, I will tell all of you the name and you can get it! It'll be epic and I won't have to figure out how to get word out...
Danny: Cheap advertisement...how nice...
Me: So I won't have as much time since I'm writing that, but when I come to a stop on it and not sure where to go, I'll write on this...so XP
Danny: You split on me...
Me: deal with it...review and tell me what you think...I posted a whole chapter this time! Yehay! Party Time.