TW: Graphic Depictions/PTSD/Violence/Torture/Experimentation/Blood
Boston
June 27 04:44 EDT
The stairwell down into the basement wasn't very well-lit. In fact, if it hadn't been for the light already being on downstairs, the Team probably wouldn't have made it down without at least one person tripping/falling.
Once they reached downstairs, Superboy noticed two doors. One, which was open, led into an office, with papers spread out chaotically around the desk and floor. There also was a computer and a few binders stacked next to it that the hero was able to make out. The other door, which was closed, had an odd green discoloration to it. There was also an odd smell coming from the second door; a mixture of disinfectant and ozone.
"Yuck! What's that smell?!" Beast Boy gagged as he pinched his nose closed.
"I'm not sure, but be on your guard just in case," Aqualad warned as they closed in on the second door.
The Team leader cautiously opened the door and everyone's eyes went wide as the door swung open.
"Is that…" Artemis trailed off, fury in her eyes.
"Oh my god," M'gann breathed, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
Superboy clenched his fists tighter as he felt rage start to bubble up.
Strewn across multiple desks were what only could be described as ghostly remains. Blobs of ectoplasm splattered across the desk and tiled floor. Pins sticking out of some, while others looked like they were cut apart and left there. There was a shelving unit filled from top to bottom with labeled tests tubes, jars, jugs, and containers of ectoplasm, ectoplasmic body parts, and strange liquids and solids that the clone admittedly didn't want to know what were in them.
"Who would… this can't be real, right?" Rocket asked no one in particular.
There was a soft whimper behind him, and Superboy turned to see Beast Boy in a state of shock and fear.
The older hero snapped himself out of it and quickly called M'gann over and told her to take the younger shapeshifter back to the ship. At that moment Aqualad snapped out of it too and agreed that it would be best if both shapeshifters were to wait in the bioship.
After making sure they had left, Aqualad quickly took charge again and ordered anyone that wasn't comfortable searching the lab to go search the office instead. Kid and Artemis left, leaving Rocket, Aqualad, and Superboy.
They searched the room, finding unused chips, which they then were able to theorize that the scientist may have been using ectoplasm, or was trying to control ghosts inside golems, which would've helped explain how they were made without the use of magic. After finding no others clues regarding the stolen object from the museum, and no other clues as to whatever else the man was researching, they too left the horrific lab and joined the other two heroes in the office.
When they walked in, Superboy frowned when he saw the speedster sitting in the office chair holding his head in his hands. Artemis partially sat on the desk next to him and rubbed the other's back reassuringly.
Seeing them enter, Artemis pointed to the flash drive in one of the USB ports and let them know she was downloading everything so Nightwing could look it over once they got back.
"Was it the Light?" Rocket asked, her voice growing soft for a moment.
"From what I was able to skim over, it was Cadmus," the archer replied with a frown.
The information stung as the Team was painfully reminded that the Light had Cadmus in their pocket.
"Was there any mention of-"
The blonde heroine quickly shook her head. "Not from what I could see. Anything that was- experimented- on here, was all done here. The ghosts they were using were all low-level from what I could tell."
Superboy scowled. "That doesn't make it right."
Artemis sent a defensive glare back. "I didn't say it did. I was just saying that to reassure everyone that Danny wasn't here."
The clone's expression softened and he muttered a small apology as the room went quiet again. The air was uncomfortable as they waited for the USB to finish downloading the files.
"Phantom was right…"
Superboy turned to see the speedster slowly coming out of his shock, now replaced with a look of guilt and horror.
"Kid? You okay?" Rocket asked with a concerned frown.
"It… it was all true... And Danny-" his eyes widened and Superboy could see the color starting to drain from his face. "Oh my god…"
"Kid it's alright you didn't know," Aqualad attempted to reassure with a gentle calm.
"No, no it's not alright Kaldur. I-…. I really screwed up. Every-" He shut his eyes after he glanced at the green door across from the office. "Everything he said was true, but I was just too angry and prideful to admit it. And now they-"
"Hey…" Superboy watched as Artemis crouched down in front of her boyfriend. "The Light wouldn't take Danny just to kill him alright? They needed him for something and all the evidence we've managed to gather points to that they need him alive for their plans okay? He's going to be alright."
The speedster stared at his girlfriend before looking at the computer screen and the papers scattered across the desk. "But what about-"
Aqualad shook his head. "What Artemis says is true. If the Light went through this much trouble to get Danny, I don't believe they'd just let one of their own-" he glanced at the glowing door with disgust. "-dissect him."
After a beat or two, Kid nodded but didn't reply. It was then that the USB finished downloading the files, and the Team wasted no time going back upstairs.
Superboy scowled as he stomped up to the mad scientist, ready to give him a piece of his mind, only to notice the blank expression on the man's face.
"What the…" He bent down and waved his hand in front of the man's face, but he didn't so much as flinch.
"What's wrong with him?" Rocket asked as they crowded around the unresponsive man.
Aqualad bent down and confirmed the man was still alive after checking his pulse.
That's when the clone realized that they were still missing their telepath, Artemis seemed to realize this at the same time.
"You don't think-"
The clone scowled. "No. I know she did."
They were silent for a moment, only breaking when Aqualad let out a sigh of defeat. "While I know it is not right, I admittedly can not deny that I would've done the same in her position. Given the circumstances, I will speak to her privately about this. There's not much we can do now anyways…"
The Team was silent as they left the man to the authorities (making sure to conceal the hidden stairwell again to make sure his research stayed hidden), and returned to the ship.
They found M'gann comforting Beast Boy, the others also reassuring the youngest member of the same thing they told Wally. If only to ease the boy's nerves so the Martian could focus on flying them back to the Cave.
But Superboy had a feeling, that after everything they saw, the stakes had just gotten higher.
Now, if only the League could see the same thing.
Bialya
June 27 11:51 UTC+2
The teen was led to another lab, this one slightly larger than the last with more monitors and a few clear containment cells towards the back of the room.
And, surprise surprise, the guards led him directly towards one of the cells with two scientists waiting beside it. Both were mostly unremarkable, with nothing too interesting going for either of them. He'd probably feel bad that he wouldn't really remember their faces or names IF they weren't holding him against his will. So until then, he didn't care. So Danny would call the female scientist, 'scientist 1', and the male 'scientist 2'.
"Hello Phantom, please step inside the containment cell for us," Two greeted with a polite smile.
Getting a closer look at the cell, he noticed that it was smaller than he had realized (like a personal cell that you could only sit or stand up in but not necessarily lay down comfortably) and that there were two restraints held up by strong wires with clear tubes running from the bottom of them to a machine outside of the containment cell behind the two scientists.
An uneasy feeling started to settle in his chest.
Seeing his hesitation one of the guards roughly nudged him forward with his gun. "Move it."
The teen shot a glare back at the man before reluctantly walking into the containment cell.
The two scientists followed him in and carefully strapped his wrists in as the guards kept their weapons pointed at the teen. He also felt two restraints go onto his ankles, but he didn't dare look away from the armed men.
He frowned as he felt a slight tingling sensation coming from the restraints.
After making sure he was hooked up correctly, the scientists turned off his inhibitor collar (but left it on) and exited the containment cell. A clear wall/door sliding shut behind them.
He watched as the two stared at a monitor as they pushed a few buttons mumbling back and forth between each other.
The halfa looked over his wrists as his arms were held just above head height and loose enough you could just barely hear the wires cling together. The clear tubes upon closer inspection looked to be sturdy but not enough to restrain someone. The wires were mostly what held the actual metal restraints up and in place. It was then he noticed the slight green tint the restraints had.
'Are these ghost-proof?'
He experimentally turned his hand intangible, and the tingling sensation became more prominent, but his hand remained locked in place. He furrowed his eyebrows as he returned his hand to normal, the tingling going back down as well.
The theory about them using ectoranium alloys crossed his mind again. It would at least help explain why the restraints didn't really hurt him or shorted out his powers, rather it just kept him in place.
'What are they up to?'
"Phantom." He turned to see Scientist One fixing her glasses, a nervous tick most likely. "We'd like to ask you not to move as much as possible as this might be a bit uncomfortable."
'That doesn't sound good,' he thought, panic starting to rise in his chest.
With one final push of a button, he heard the machine start to power on.
At first, he didn't feel anything and simply waited in suspense as he listened to the machine hum.
"Um, is something supposed to-" He let out a pained gasp as he felt something pierce his skin, the metal around his wrists growing warm and something wet trickling down his arm as he felt a pulling sensation.
He looked down to see glowing transparent green energy passing through the clear tubes toward the machine.
His eyes widened as he finally realized they were trying to store his ecto-energy.
Luthor and his team either were ignoring his warnings or somehow, in less than thirty hours, managed to find a way to safely contain ectoplasmic energy. And guessing from the equipment and the number of scientists he's seen around, the second option is the most likely.
'The ecto-gun,' he realized with a scowl.
After the initial shock wore off, Phantom started to pull at the restraints. Whatever had pierced his skin shifted and started to draw more green blood, this time red starting to trickle into it, as he struggled. He yelped in pain, and briefly stopped his struggles as his wrists throbbed in pain.
"Phantom stop! The more you struggle the more uncomfortable this is going to be for you!" Two exclaimed with a stern voice as the machine was turned off, probably as a precaution.
'Now where have I heard that before,' he thought bitterly as he sent a glare their way and continued to struggle, trying his best to ignore the pain.
After a few more tugs, a sudden warning shock shot down his spine making him seize his movements.
"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel… what are we going to do with you?"
The half-ghost inwardly rolled his eyes as he looked up to see Lex Luthor and Psimon approaching the front of the cell. He couldn't help but growl as they both got closer. Luthor's demeanor was way too close of a resemblance to Vlad for comfort and Psimon looked a little too excited about something. And the teen was so not in the mood. He'd been electrocuted, almost overshadowed, and stabbed with needles more than enough times over the last two days. He was really not in the mood for Vl- Luthor's shenanigans.
The CEO didn't even bat an eye as the collar came alive with electricity again, this time for a longer period of time.
Phantom glared and tried to catch his breath after the onslaught, Luthor looking on with a stern expression.
"If you act like an animal, you'll be treated as one. Am I clear?"
The teen didn't say anything as he continued to glare daggers at the man. At the same time, he started to feel pressure in the back of his mind.
He quickly shifted his gaze to the telepath and flared his bright green eyes threateningly. "Don't," the Halfa ground out as he swatted the presence out of his mind.
Another series of shocks went down his spine and an image of Vlad's twisted fanged smirk popped into his mind as the pressure returned, further angering the ghost.
Luthor decided to continue his point during the onslaught.
"Your treatment here doesn't have to be inhumane. We could have just as easily tossed you in a cage and treated you as a mere beast, and yet we didn't. You have been given a privilege, Daniel, it would be best not to test it." The man warned with a dangerous look in his eyes.
The shocks continued on, and after another few minutes or so of no signs of it stopping, the halfa let out an aggravated yell.
"Alright Vlad, I get it! Just stop it already!" He angrily relented with a shout, wanting the man to stop electrocuting him already just to prove a point.
The shocks finally stopped after a beat or two.
Danny's eyes widened for a second as the slip-up/mix-up dawned on him, but a second was all that the infuriating man in front of him needed.
"Friend of yours?" the CEO inquired.
Phantom looked up to see the man with a smug smirk. He remained silent as he sent another glare at the bald man eyeing him curiously before the latter turned to his associate.
"Well?"
The telepath nodded. "You were right about it being easier to access his mind this way, though admittedly, I was only able to access his surface thoughts. Due to the nature of his mind and potentially his ghost form, his thoughts are much more difficult to access and sort through. If it wasn't because of the similarity that you have with someone from his past, I may not have gotten anything at all."
"How interesting. I take it this 'Vlad' person was not all too friendly to our young guest?"
Psimon turned to the disgruntled halfa with a knowing smirk. "Let's just say it was… complicated."
Luthor raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on it. "Moving on. Seeing as we've come to an agreement, my boy, I must ask that you please refrain from disobeying these two. Do as they ask without further complications or else there will be more severe consequences. Understood?"
"Understood," the teen agreed through gritted teeth as he watched the CEO turn and start to walk away.
"Psimon, see what you can get on that device I showed you earlier. You two, continue what you were doing," he waved as he left.
The two glanced at the teen wearily before stepping back towards the controls for the machine.
"Minimal movement will make this process less uncomfortable," One restated as she activated the machine.
It took a second, but the pulling sensation returned and all the half-ghost could do at that moment was let out a disgruntled sigh as he tried not to move too much.
"Now… why don't you tell me what you know about that weapon, hmm?"
Phantom was suddenly reminded of the presence in his mind and he shot a glare at the telepath as he started to push against it again.
'This is going to be a long day…' he thought bitterly to himself.