"Erm," He looked at the doorway, where he could see a cot, and an awaiting Batman, who as always, did not look amused in the slightest," I'm pretty sure I have a choice in this," He already knew that he didn't have a choice in the matter, he was just trying to stall. Which was why he didn't bother resisting the pushing hands of Superman and Flash, who were leading him into the room.
"No," Flash said happily, his voice a little bit too upbeat for his liking," You don't have a choice in this Casp. Its protocol." At least his nickname was Casp as in Casper, and not Invisobill.
"Yes," Superman said as they forced the teenager to sit down on the cot," And you are one of the few league members who hasn't completed this physical."
Yeah, and he had done that on purpose. He was hoping that Flash had been joking and was merely stressed when he said that he was going to force the young halfa to go to the doctor after discovering that he was really just a half-dead teenager.
Apparently, Flash had not been joking and now he was here. In the medbay of the Watchtower. With Superman being Flash's backup to corral him into the medbay.
He tried to stand up against the hands that were on his shoulders," What if my medical team gave you my records?" he asked hopefully, Frostbite would be able to give them his information if he requested it. Ever since that incident with his ice core making its presence known, Frostbite and the Far Frozen had become his primary medical providers, since they were the only ones he trusted.
Batman rose his brow and monotonously said," is the information in the living language?"
"…Fuck," He completely forgot that his information was in the Ghost language, and while he could understand it just fine, it was a very rough language when translated to any living language. It would truly be easier if they gathered their own information," Fine." He sat back down onto the cot with a small pout on his face," What are you guys going to do?"
Flash chuckled," This is pretty much a physical. Just so we can treat you if anything ever happens to you."
Phantom hummed and when Superman picked up some electrodes, he sighed and started to strip his upper body. As he hoped, none of them questioned most of the scars he had, except for Flash.
He wasn't too surprised, years of fighting ghosts and the occasional humans had left him full of scars, a few of them being from his estranged parents. But he knew for a fact that their eyes were being drawn to his Lichtenburg scar.
It was obviously his biggest scar, with the epicenter being his left hand, that crawled up his arm and spread across his body. In human form, his scar was pale and almost blended in with his skin. While in his ghost form, it was bright green on his tanned skin, thankfully, the few thin capillaries like scars that crept up his neck were covered by his hair and his jumpsuit.
Instead of questioning his scars, Flash just grinned and said," Cool, I didn't know you have Lichtenburg scars too."
He looked at Flash with a raised brow, ignoring the warm hands of Superman placing the electrodes on his chest," You seen them before?" He didn't notice the way Batman and Superman were exchanging glances when the electrodes didn't pick up a heartbeat.
Flash scoffed," I haven't seen them. I have them. I got my powers after I got struck by lightning in my lab."
There was still no heartbeat coming from the teenager. Batman mumbled something about interference and fiddled with the electrodes.
Phantom grinned at the news that he wasn't the only one who got their powers in the lab," Hey, I got my powers in a lab accident too." At least they could be the exaggerated examples of lab safety together.
Now Flash was smiling right with him, "Really?! How did it happen?"
Phantom waved his hand flippantly and casually said," Got caught in the middle of a rift opening between our world and the Ghost Zone," He didn't notice the way the men stopped to stare at him as he continued," The electricity killed me but the ectoplasm fused with my DNA and brought me back. Kinda…what?"
The three men were staring at him, Flash and Superman looked faintly horrified while Batman was the first one to recover.
Nothing like hearing their youngest member had been caught in the middle of a dimensional rift that killed him.
"Is that why you have no heartbeat?"
Phantom blinked in surprise and looked at the monitor, where there was only a line that was slightly shaky and unsteady," Oh. No, in this form I don't have a heart," He leaned forward and pointed at the line," That's my core though. It doesn't beat, it hums more than anything." The way he said that so casually made them frown," I have a heart in my human form though. I can transform once you're done with my ghost form."
Batman hummed as he typed out the note in the datapad and started to ask questions to make it a little bit less awkward.
As soon as he was finished asking the usual questions, such as allergies and other conditions ( He wasn't going to ask what a core was for now ) they let him transform into his human form.
Immediately, the electrodes picked up a heartbeat, granted, it was much much slower than the average heartbeat, with about 15 heartbeats per minute, and his average temperature being almost 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Flash rose his eyebrows and whistled," Man, I hope you're never taken to the hospital. They're gonna think you're dying."
Phantom snorted," Do you have any idea how hard it was to squirm out of those weird checkups the school nurse did? She would have called the ambulance."
Superman chuckled dryly, remembering how nervous he would get when his school nurse would do the same thing. Only at least he was very similar to humans, and wouldn't be exposed if it was a simple checkup.
Phantom would be exposed within minutes.
"Besides," Danny smiled," You always sound like you're a few seconds from having a heart attack."
Flash grinned at the rebuttal," True." Danny had already expressed his enhanced hearing at one point. It wasn't as strong as Supermans, but still stronger than the others.
Batman intruded on the conversation as he asked," In the event that you die," Danny exchanged looks with Flash and Superman in confusion," Who will we be contacting?"
Figuring that they hadn't told the man yet, Danny waved his hand around and said," Eh. Don't worry about it. I can't die."
Now Batman was frowning and he sternly repeated," Who will we be contacting?" he had dealt with a lot of stubborn teenagers by now, and simply thought it was Danny being a typical teenager with the 'invincible' mindset.
Danny sighed and looked exasperated as he complied," If I'm killed, give me a few minutes and I'll come back. I can't die." He emphasized his words, " My ghost half will regenerate a human body for me to use. Then I'll get rid of my old one."
Batman rose his eyebrow, and asked a question everyone else had been wondering," You're immortal?" Flash and Superman were waiting for the answer as well since Danny had answered the question after the battle in which they found out about his mortal status. But at the same time, the halfa had never clarified past that conversation.
The teenager shrugged his shoulders," I think so. I don't know. I've been aging as far as I can tell. But only time will tell."
Flash spoke up," I thought Dani and that Vlad guy were halfas like you. Can't you ask Vlad?"
"Nah," Superman pulled him from the air to sit back down onto the cot, showing them that his powers leaked over to his human form as well, " I banished Vlad to the Etherend Zone remember? There's no one to ask, me and Dani are the only halfas remaining. Dani might be immortal too, since she's more ghostly than I am. But I don't think she regenerates a new body. Probably because I'm more balanced than her," and just like he hadn't just given them more questions that were left unanswered, he turned to Flash and very casually said," Oh by the way, you're slightly immortal too dude."
Flash just stared at him, his mouth hanging open. He was still stunned when Constantine first told him, and he was still stunned now.
Batman stepped in," Clarify."
"Basically," Phantom said simply," Flash can still age like a normal human, but if he gets killed, I can stop Death from taking his soul. Only if you give me permission though," He said, motioning towards Flash to make his point," Oh, and anyone genetically related to you will be protected as well."
Phantom just stared at them back at their surprised faces.
He was going to leave out the fact that it had been the power boost of Halloween that had influenced his thinking (And that it was a major lapse in judgment on his part) and just stay silent about it.
It's not like he could take it back now.
Whoops.
He was just going to wait for the three of them to process the fact that he was immortal ( as far as he knew) And that Flash would be somewhat immortal (Again, only if he wanted to be).
Actually, he should probably clarify," Mind you, this doesn't mean that you should sacrifice yourself left and right. Your body will still have to heal from whatever killed you."
The last thing he wanted, was to give Flash another chance at life, only for him to be unwillingly forced into retirement, or have a body beyond repair.
They were still staring at him. And then Flash gave him the smallest of nods.
"Ok…" He said slowly," Ok…I-just…Ok."
That was the reaction he expected.
"It is times like this," They looked at Superman who was running a hand down his face," When I remember how much I hate magic."
He had half a mind to remind the man that he did not do magic, or that very few ghosts knew how to do magic. But he was going to let the man think that since it looked like he was a few sentences away from having an aneurysm.
Even Batman looked like he was having a hard time understanding what he just heard, so he just quietly asked," So… am I free to go?"
His question brought dark and mysterious out of his thinking ( But not Superman or Flash)," Almost. You mentioned a medical team," Danny almost forgot about that," How can we get in contact with the event that we cannot care for your injuries?"
Danny waved off that question as well," Dani will know if I'm hurt. She'll take me to them if I need it."
He was sure the others were starting to question their own sanity, and he was quick to leave when he was given the green light.
As soon as he was out of the room, Batman pinched the bridge of his nose and quietly said.
"Remind me to buy Constantine a drink."
If this was the type of shit that John dealt with, it was no wonder he was a chain-smoking cynical ass.