Chapter 11: Trust

*If anyone is interested at a sneak peak at the novel I'm writing, then the first chapter is published on my Fiction Press account. The link to the story is at the top of my profile.*

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." William Shakespeare

Chapter 11: "Trust"

(Wednesday-September 15, 2010)

"You will need to watch your backs while you're in there." Phantom instructed.

Young Justice's newest mission was simple but dangerous. Superboy and Miss Martian would impersonate the Terror Twins and infiltrate Belle Reve as inmates. There, they would try and discover the reason so many ice villains attacked on July fourth. Both of Phantom's alien teammates were disguised as blonds.

Luckily for the mission, Superboy matched Tommy Terror's build. Plus, M'gann's shape shifting ability allowed her to look like Tuppence Terror. This would allow them to live in the prison without anyone knowing. As long as they didn't blow their covers at least.

Unfortunately, there was a problem…Phantom couldn't assist them on this mission.

"I have something I need to take care of tomorrow, so I can't help you if you get in trouble. Aqualad and Red Tornado will be outside, but they can't turn intangible." Phantom explained.

"What's up?" Superboy (now dubbed Conner as his secret identity) questioned. He was already in custody, so Phantom had to be invisible while talking to them.

"Let's just say it's a family issue and leave it at that." The invisible Phantom stated.

"It should be fine." M'gann noted. "This mission shouldn't turn violent anyway."

"Please, when do our missions ever go as planned?" Superboy snorted.

"Well…I was just trying to be optimistic…" M'gann deflated.

"Sorry, Miss M, but Conner's right." Phantom stated. "Things could turn south fast. Both of you need to stay low and keep your ears to the ground. Remember, these criminals will kill you."

"Noted." Conner grunted.

"M'gann, you will still be able to use telepathy. Use that to find out what they're planning. Be careful, though. You never know who can detect infiltration to their minds." Phantom ordered.

"Of course." M'gann nodded.

"Conner." Phantom began. "You'll be the only person around Icicle Jr.'s age. Trying to be his friend will make sense, especially considering who his dad is. I read Jr.'s file. He's quick to brag. Getting him to talk about any sort of plans will be easy."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Superboy looked away.

"Okay…" Phantom sighed. "Just…stay safe."

"We will." M'gann gave a small smile.

With that, Phantom began to leave. They had been like that for a while. Ever since the Bialyan mission, Superboy and Miss Martian seemed to be distant from Phantom. While most of the team quickly forgave Phantom for his mistrust, the aliens of the team…were going at a little slower pace.

Logically, no one could be really mad at Phantom for his mistrust. That Phantom existed long before they knew him, and was fresh from the Nocturne Crisis. That's why the others dismissed it. Conner and M'gann, however, couldn't.

It wasn't that they were outright angry. They were just distant. The two of them felt personally betrayed. While it may not have been the Danny Phantom they knew that didn't believe them, it was still some form of Danny. It must have hurt them. Phantom realized that. But there was nothing he could do about it.

What was he supposed to say? 'Hey, I'm sorry that my past self was an idiot for not knowing you.' That sounded stupid. So the halfa would have to wait. Eventually, the feelings would fade.

Yet, at the same time, Phantom couldn't just move on himself. He had found out that there was a possible mole on the team. It could be anybody. Well…Aqualad was unlikely. He had informed Phantom of the mole himself, and had been Aquaman's partner for years.. Robin was probably out as well. It would be impossible to be a mole while working directly with Batman.

Then Kid Flash…Probably not. The guy had family relations to the League. Plus, he couldn't keep his mouth shut long enough to be the mole.

That left three. Superboy. Miss Martian. Artemis. If there was a mole, it was one of them. But…Phantom couldn't accept that. He knew them. He trusted them…to an extent…more than he trusted anyone outside his close circle of family and friends at least.

But…Superboy might have some secret coding in his DNA. Miss Martian didn't really like to talk about her life before the Team. And Artemis…she had relations to the enemy. Phantom knew from his glimpse at her memories that Sportsmaster was her father. But…Danny didn't judge people passed on their genetics. Plus Artemis seemed to hate her father from what Danny observed.

Hopefully, this mole thing was just a play. With luck, there was no mole, and everything would go back to normal soon.

Yeah…With luck…Like Phantom had ever been lucky before in his life…

"So…You won't be able to hang out tomorrow?" Victor questioned as he dribbled the basketball. They were currently at the public basketball court and were shooting hoops. Well…Rachel wasn't. She was reading, but that was no surprise.

"Yeah." Dani nodded. "My brother and I are going to spend some time together. You know, sibling bonding."

"Hmm…" Rachel eyed her friend from her spot at the bench. "And what are you doing?"

"I don't know yet." Dani lied. "But I'm sure it's going to be fun."

"Yeah, I bet." Nyx smirked. "Whenever you and your brother hang out, it gets destructive."

"…Sometimes…" Dani admitted.

"Does it have anything to do with…family business?" Youngblood questioned.

"Family business?" Victor asked.

"Er…yes." Dani shifted uncomfortably. "He means that it might have to do with an invention or one of my Dad's investments."

"Oh…"

That wasn't true. By 'family business,' Youngblood obviously meant secret ghost business. Stuff that no one except the halfas could be involved with. It was true. No full ghost was allowed to go. Not to where they were going at least. If people got word that a group of ghosts were searching Metropolis…

Bad things would happen.

Of course, that didn't mean that Dani and Danny couldn't bring a human ally. That left room open for the Red Huntress at least.

"Will you leave school early?" Youngblood inquired.

"Yeah, about an hour."

"Lucky…" Nyx huffed jealously.

"By the way, Dani…" Rachel questioned from the bench. "Aren't you supposed to be home early today?"

"Ack! That's right!" Dani's eyes widened. "Vi…Dad wanted me home early today. I better go, or he'll get mad."

With a few goodbyes, Dani began to walk away. She wasn't actually going home. No, she was going to Lake Eerie. She had training today.

After what happened with Nocturne and Aragon, Dani was ready to get stronger. It proved that she wasn't ready for this league of combat yet. She had to get stronger to deal with threats like that.

Training with Vision was harsh, but Dani was already seeing results. She was already a little faster, stronger, and had better control of her ectoplasm. It wasn't a large amount of improvement, it was enough.

"Alright, I need to get there before Vision gets mad…" Dani ducked into an ally. "I'm going ghost!"

Joel was used to training. When he had been with the Shadows, he had been forced to train for almost entire days. That training, however, was different from this, however. What Joel had been going through lately wasn't training. No, what he was experiencing was death matches.

Each day, he was thrown into a metal room with one of the 'rejects.' Then, these so-called failed experiments would attack him, and he would be forced to fight for his life. If you could call that fighting. It was more like a desperate struggle to avoid dying.

While he did, in fact, feel stronger, Joel still was hard pressed to keep up with the monsters in the arena with him. He was a young child, and while he was quite skilled for his age, he lacked the ability to fight off monster that could fly, turn invisible, and pass through physical attacks. Thus, he merely was forced to dodge and run in order to avoid certain death.

For some reason, though, the scientists seemed to think that Joel should be doing more. They thought that he should be able to fight them off. Were they insane? How could he do that? According to them, he should be showing signs of powers, but there was nothing. All that he gained was a little boosted speed and strength.

And that was not nearly enough…

If he wanted to continue to survive, he would need to use these powers that they said he had. The only problem was how. It wasn't instinctual yet, otherwise he would have already used them. No…he needed practice, but that would only be helpful if someone was here to instruct him.

"Gah…" Joal groaned a he laid down in his cage. The fights had taken their toll. Each day he would be hurt. Some days were worse than others, but he was always sore and tired. "My luck is going to run out soon…"

It was then that Joel noticed something odd. He could no longer feel the cage floor. That wasn't too odd. Sometimes, Joel couldn't feel anything at all. No, the strange part was the fact that the ceiling of the cage was now closer than before.

Joel looked down and blinked. He was flying…

Wait…HE. WAS. FLYING.

"…Well…It's a start." Joel muttured calmly. He tried to right himself, and with a bit of concentration, he landed his feet on the floor. "No if only some of the other powers would show up…"

Ask and ye shall receive, because a new power decided to surface at this point. It was then that Joel turned intangible. Unfortunately, the cage he was in prevented escape through intangibility. So, that wouldn't help him get out of the facility.

Not that it would matter. Only his legs turned intangible anyway, and, of course, his clothes didn't turn intangible with him. As such, his pants fell to the ground.

"…" Joel eyed the rags he called pants as they lie around his ankles. "Okay then. I officially hate these powers."

(Thursday-September 16, 2010)

After obtaining the folder from Cassandra, Phantom had been troubled to find out the truth about the thing called the Ghoul Project. From what the folder stated, a large portion of ectoplasmic energy had been obtained after the GIW War. Apparently, there was an idea to use this ectoplasm to create special weapons.

That was all the folder said, though. The exact details of what types of weapons were not described. In addition, the folder never mentioned the purpose of creating the weapons or the details of how the weapons were going to be made. So, Phantom only had a minimum amount of info on this Ghoul Project.

There wasn't a whole lot more mentioned in the folder. A key lead, however, gave Phantom a location to go investigate. According to the info from Cassandra, Lex Corp had something to do with this Ghoul Project. That meant that Metropolis was the best place to look considering that was where the huge company was based.

Cassandra hadn't mentioned anything else about the Ghoul Project when they spoke, so this must be all she knew about it. Phantom was thankful for the information even if he didn't exactly know what Cassandra wanted. After all, knowing about this attempt to make extremely dangerous and unstable ectoplasmic weaponry was better than being ignorant about it.

So, Phantom decided he needed to go to Metropolis to search, but considering how badly he would have failed in the Rhelasia incident without help, Phantom decided he would need help. Unfortunately, he couldn't just bring anybody with him. Taking any ghosts with him could lead to trouble for the Ghost Zone if they were caught, and let's face it there would be a good chance that someone would find out. Yet at the same time, Phantom didn't feel that he could trust all his teammates from Young Justice with this just yet.

Thus, Phantom decided he would have to settle with a small team of being that could pass off as normal humans, that wouldn't bring bad attention to the Ghost Zone, and that he could trust completely. Two people met all those criteria…Well, three including Vlad, but Phantom didn't want Vlad be directly involved with this considering Vlad's business relationship with Luthor. So, Phantom decided to ask Valerie and Dani to go with him to Metropolis.

They accepted immediately.

As such, the three of them had been discretely searching through Lex Corp's many different locations in Metropolis. Their search ranged from the main building to some of the most hidden storehouses. It was fortunate for them that Vlad agreed to assist their search by providing this information on Lex Corp. If he hadn't, this search would be fruitless.

…Well, more fruitless than it was now at least, because they had found jack diddly squat.

They found nothing. There was no trace of this Ghoul Project. It was like it didn't exist, and Phantom was beginning to think it didn't. Maybe Cassandra was trying to trick him or get attention? Possibly, but…Why would she lie to do that? She seemed like a straight forward type of person. Plus, Phantom's gut was telling him that something about this Ghoul Project was true.

There only a few more places to search. Truth be told, Phantom didn't really want to find anything. He had enough painful reminders of the war. For example…what was right in front of him…

In honor of Skulker the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter

"I didn't know that Superman did this…" Phantom muttered. Despite being in ghost form, the halfa wore regular clothes. He wore a simple red shirt and jeans. A black toboggan hat and sunglasses hid his most unusual features from view. To many, he would look like a normal human. It would have been easier to just stay human, but Phantom wanted to travel fast and silently. He could use the Red X suit, but he wanted to leave that option available in the future to get in with Luthor and the Shadows. Thus, this was the best option.

While moving through the park to get to his next destination, Phantom spotted this simple and small memorial stone in the Metropolis park. Despite his hurry, Phantom stopped when he saw this. Like the other ghosts that had a personal relationship (friend or foe) with Phantom, Skulker had a similar stone set in the Masters Mansion. But this…It was different.

It showed that at least someone was saddened by Skulker's death other than Phantom.

"Danny?" Valerie questioned as she walked up behind Phantom. Like Phantom, she was dressed in disguise. Her red and black hoody, black trucker's hat, and shades hid most of her head. "Are you okay? We've been trying to text for twenty minutes."

"Oh…" Phantom gave her a small sad smile. "Sorry, I got distracted."

"Obviously…" Valerie walked beside the halfa and saw the stone. "Oh…I see."

"Yeah…" Phantom turned back to the stone. "I just…I guess that I still think it's still hard imagine him being…gone. He never gave up. He was always a constant rival. Someone that would always find a way to push me."

"He was trying to kill you, you know." Valerie noted.

"At first, yes, but…" Phantom frowned. "I don't know if he would have gone through with it if he had a chance in those last few months."

"What do you mean?"

"Respect." Phantom answered simply. "We earned each other's respect. I think that eventually, he came to think that killing me would be a waste. Even up to the last time we talked to each other…He talked big, but I could see the truth. He wouldn't kill me. To him, the thrill of the hunt was better than the actual kill. Skulker wasn't about to give that up."

"But what about his obsession?" Valerie questioned.

"I think beating me without trying to kill would have been more than enough to justify his claims of being the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter." Phantom mentioned. "In his mind at least…"

"…Okay…" Valerie nodded. "I think I can understand what you're saying. You're relationship with your enemy changed over time. That sounds familiar…"

Phantom snorted. "Yeah…"

"Anyway…" Valerie sighed. "Spirit and I think we found something. We thought you might want to look with us."

"Alright…" Phantom took one last glance at the stone and began to follow after Valeire. "Hey…Val?"

"Yeah?" Valerie looked at her friend.

"I never said thanks…You know, for everything you've done for me as Red Huntress." Phantom noted. "It means a lot to me that you've had my back through everything."

"I haven't had your back through everything…" Valerie muttured.

"Don't be like that." Phantom rolled his eyes. "After all, I was the one that talked you out of helping in the war. So that's my fault."

"Danny…"

"The war…it wasn't yours to fight." Phantom argued. "It was ours, and if you got hurt…I never would have forgiven myself. Besides, you're here now, and that says a lot. After all, you're an important part of Team Phantom."

"Team Phantom?" Valeire smirked at that. "You always were self-centered."

"This coming from you?" Phantom grinned. "If I remember correctly, you're the one that had Kwan chase me because I accidentally made you spill coffee on yourself."

"You're never going to let that go, huh?"

"Nope."

As they left, Valerie never noticed as a duplicate of Phantom appeared next to Skulker's memorial. He placed a bouquet of flowers next to the stone, and said, "I'm sorry we never got the chance to fight again, Skulker. And I'm sorry that you never got to fulfill your obsession…"

'I'm so sorry…'

"I wonder if this is what Roman gladiators felt like…" Joel voiced his thoughts.

"Shut up." One of the soldiers around Joel grunted. They were currently leading Joel to the battle area. Each one had an ectoplasmic rifle and were pointing them at Joel.

Joel eyed the soldier. He was always good at reading other people and discerning their thoughts. Although he wore a mask, Joel could see the fear in his eyes. These soldiers were afraid of him. Why? He had not shown any significant ability yet, and they had guns.

Was it what the scientists said? No. These soldiers were too hardened to believe the scientist without visual proof. That meant he must know something about him. Was it his training? Was it his potential? Was it a past experience with a ghost? Joel wasn't sure.

"Why do your eyes show fear?" Joel questioned.

"I said shut up!" The soldier hit Joel with the butt of the gun. Joel didn't flinch. He felt nothing. Although…there seemed to be blood running down his face now. Oh well…

The soldier flinched as Joel's eyes bore into him. While the eyes didn't show anger at the soldier, the eyes didn't show any fear either. The kid had guns pointed at his face and wasn't even fazed. That was the way he had been since he got there. It was terrifying to see. Fully grown men had been screaming in fear in minutes, but this boy…He didn't even blink. It was like he could stare into Hell itself and not flinch.

The soldier quickly looked away uncomfortably.

Joel sighed as they continued to their walk to the arena. It was always like that. Joel's natural talent and ability to always remain calm was why the Shadows kept onto him for so long even though he refused to kill. After all, who else could be in this situation and not even make a whimper?

"Ah! You're here!" One of the scientist grinned as Joel walked in. "That's good. Now listen, today someone important is going to show up…Wait! What happened?! Why is your face covered in blood?!"

"I bumped my head on my way of my cage." Joel responded immediately. His answer caused the soldiers to glance at him.

"Is that so…" The second scientist frowned. "Because I don't think that you would do that. You could never be described as clumsy Joel."

"I guess I'm having an off day." Joel responded.

"Hmm…" The first scientist eyed the soldiers. "You know that Joel can't be harmed today. Not before the match. If this affects his performance today, you all will pay. Not just the one that hit Joel."

The soldiers squirmed.

"Today has to be perfect." The second scientist turned to Joel. "This means that you have to fight. None of this running around like a frightened animal routine you like to do."

Joel's only response of the instruction was to blink once.

"If this goes bad…We won't be the only ones hurt because of this, Joel." The first scientist snarled. "I'll make sure you'll be dissected alive.

Joel didn't flinch. He didn't frown. He didn't even blink at this threat. His response was only, "I am unable to do anything else against these monsters other than run."

"Just do it!" The second scientist looked like he wanted to smack Joel. "You have the potential and power! Just use your powers."

"I am unable to so at this time."

"Fine then!" The first scientist roared. "Savage apparently thinks that you'll grow stronger under the pressure. So be it. This time we'll let you face the most violent and dangerous of all the failed experiments."

"So you better learn to use your powers quickly boy." The second scientist sneered. "Otherwise you'll be eaten alive."

"…Whatever happens, happens."

"Damn…" Phantom muttered as he looked through a large crate in the warehouse. "I thought you said you found something?"

"We did." Red Huntress nodded. "The scanners you got said that high levels of ectoplasmic energy was in here."

"But nothings here!" Spirit kicked over one of the crates. Like the other two heroes, she was dressed in shades and a hoody to hide her appearance. "Nothing but some stupid computer parts."

"Well…if the scanners showed something, then this warehouse must have some sort of secret…" Phantom muttered.

"We better find it quickly, then. Because someone will probably come by soon." Red Huntress mentioned.

"Most of the crates have been checked." Phantom sighed. "Maybe there's something we're missing, like a-"

"Secret passage under the warehouse?" Spirit cut him off.

"Yeah, exactly." Phantom turned to his sister.

"You're in luck then. Cause there seems to be one here." Spirit pointed to the hatch that was hidden below the crate she kicked.

"…That works…" Red Huntress noted as they examined the hidden hatch. "But I doubt that whatever's down there will be unguarded."

"Then we knock out the guards." Phantom responded. "It won't be too hard. Besides, I need to know if this Ghoul Project thing is real."

"I can understand. I'm just saying that it's reckless to jump in without a plan." Red Huntress reasoned. "We should scope the place out first. Send a duplicate to get a layout of the place."

"Okay that sounds good." Phantom agreed.

"Er…" Spirit addressed the older teens as she fazed back through the hatch. "I kind of already looked. There's no guards."

"…Well, way to make us look stupid." Red Huntress ginned.

"You get used to it." Phantom noted. "Alright, let's go."

"Ah!"

"Hurry, hurry!"

"Hush, hush, it will be alright."

"What if things don't go right?"

"They will!"

Joel watched the people in the observation center behind the impenetrable glass. They were all scurrying around in fear. From what Joel understood, the person who provided the space for the Ghoul Project was coming to view the project. This person must be a close acquaintance or friend of Master Al Ghul and Vandal Savage if they would trust this project in his hands. Not only that, he must have a lot of power and money at his disposal.

Part of Joel felt incredibly curious about this benefactor. After all, who could earn such trust from two immortals? It could be Lex Luthor. The bald businessman had been to the project before…after hours at least. That made the most sense, and if that was the case, then he was likely in Metropolis…

That was an interesting thought. Joel didn't exactly know where he was. He had been blindfolded when he was moved here. This ignorance would not help any possible escape attempts. If he eventually wanted to free himself, Joel would have to at least know where he was.

As luck would have it, Joel quickly received his answer. It was hard not to recognize the individual that was now in the observation room. She was a tall, beautiful woman with silky black hair and sun kissed skin. Her unusual clothing was rather revealing, but it also gave her a regal appearance.

Crap…what was her name? He could easily recognize faces,but was so bad with names…Was it Wasp? No…Sting? No…Wait…Bee? Yes, it was Bee.

This person was Queen Bee the queen of Bialya and well know seductress with her enthrallment ability. As such, she wasn't welcome in most countries…That meant…he was probably in Bialya, and that was not a good thing.

"Damn it…" Joel whispered. Escape had gotten a lot more difficult.

"I don't know about you, but I expected something different." Spirit noted as she held the simple ecto-pistol. "Yeah, there are ectoplasmic weapons, they're so weak! Even if a ghost got hit by this, it wouldn't be hurt that badly."

"I know…" Phantom grunted as he examined all the weapons that were packed into the crates. "I thought Lex Luthor would think bigger than this."

"Well, I was rather low on resources, but I figured that these would do." Luthor's voice rung through the room.

The three heroes froze as a large screen activated on the far side of the dark room. It showed Luthor's face. He didn't seem angry at all. No, he was more amused than anything else.

"That's…not good." Valerie noted.

No it wasn't…

"Don't fret, children. I'm not going to call the Justice League on you or anything." Luthor smiled. "I just thought that it was amusing that my employees kept reporting that young teens were snooping around my various buildings and warehouses. After I found out it was you, however, I knew there wasn't any real trouble."

"You seem pretty confident of that considering your storing weapons." Spirit glared.

"These weapons aren't illegal." Phantom responded to his sister. "The power grade is way too low. These are non-lethal stuff. If the power was higher, then yeah, he might have a problem, but as it is now, he isn't doing anything wrong with this stuff."

"Ah, you know your stuff, Danny Phantom." Luthor nodded. "Indeed, all these weapons are perfectly legal for me to own and sell. I even have the paperwork for it. It was ungodly to sign everything…"

"If this stuff is all legal…" Red Huntress pondered. "Why did you hide?"

"To avoid theft and damage, of course." Luthor retorted. "Wouldn't some random teenagers coming into a warehouse with weapons within reach. And I think that you three have proven that case for me."

They were silent.

"I take it that there is a reason for your intrusion on my property." Luthor raised an eyebrow.

"…I heard a rumor that you were mass producing weapons here in Metropolis." Phantom gave a half truth. "I didn't know how much I could trust the rumor, but my gut told me that something was up. I guess you do have weapons, but…Please, Mr. Luthor, forgive us for the intrusion. We didn't mean any harm."

"Hmm…" Luthor frowned. "I do suppose that nothing was really hurt by your endeavor, and I don't really want any bad publicity from getting Danny Phantom in trouble. You have a lot of high level reporters that seem to like you after all."

"Yeah, that's a new thing." Despite the situation, Spirit grinned at Phantom. He and reporters had a really bad history.

"I'll let this slide out of good faith, Danny Phantom." Luthor smiled. "But please don't do this again."

"Don't worry. We won't." Red Huntress elbowed Phantom. "I did tell you that this was a bad idea."

"…Yeah…"

"Er…thanks, Mr. Luthor…" Spirit tried to show her appreciation.

"Think nothing of it. Like I said, there was no harm done…"

"I expect an impressive show." Queen Bee stated to the scientist. Despite this, she didn't turn to the scientists. Her attention was focused solely on Joel.

The young boy felt very unnerved by this. This woman had the ability to control most men and some woman. Joel didn't think that he would be able to resist her control. There was a good thirty meters and thick impenetrable class between him and her, and he could still feel some sort of pull. And that…was unnerving.

Her beauty was that of a goddess. Joel could easily see how people would give up their free will to this woman. Even now, Joel felt the need to want to please this woman. For someone who prided himself on his willpower, Joel was greatly troubled by the aspect. He could feel it. If she was in the same room as he was, then Queen Bee could order him to do anything, and he would comply with great joy.

"You'll get one…" Joel answered. Wait? Did he actually say that? That's not what he meant to say.

"Good." Queen Bee gave him a small smile. Joel instantly felt his heart began to beat faster.

A load groan drew the boy's attention away from Queen Bee. Across the arena, the large metal door was opening. As the metal door shifted to the side, Joel caught a view of what was behind it. It was another one of the 'failed experiments.'

Like the other people in the Ghoul Project, Joel's future opponent was human. Now, however, that was hard to tell. The man was now completely green. His skin, hair, and even clothes had an eerie green glow to it. The only part of him that wasn't green was his red eyes.

"Grah!" The creature growled at Joel. His sharp fangs and teeth were like razors. The man's once normal hands were now claws the length of machetes.

Despite his rather monstrous appearance, the creature looked like he wasn't feeling good. Sweat was pouring down the monster's skin. His skin seemed to ripple and twitch as if it was about to fall apart. Joel recognized this look. It meant that the man was now unstable. He would be lucky to live more than fifteen minutes.

"AHHH!" The being that was once a man now screeched. He was foaming at the mouth and looked ready to kill.

That was the worst part of the instability. The victims all quickly lost their minds as their bodies fell apart. Joel had seen that more than once while fighting the failed experiments. When they become like this, they quickly acted like wild animals that could only think about killing.

The creature….the failed ghoul was ready to kill, and Joel was the only one in the room…

"You want me?" Joel questioned as he slid into a self-defense stance. "Then come get me."

"Well…That was a waste of time." Red Huntress noted as they were flying home. Unfortunately, Spirit and Red Huntress were not keyed into the Zeta-beam system, so they were forced to take the long way home. It wouldn't be too long, though. Their top speed was rather fast.

Phantom, however, had to hide the fatigue he felt from both the day and his usual problems of fluctuating powers. Fortunately, he hadn't been in a situation since the Tower of Fate mission that showed his weakened abilities, but Phantom could still feel it. The mission in Bialya had shown just how big of a power gap there was from his past self and the current Phantom.

It was…unnerving to say the least.

"Yeah…" Phantom muttered. "I thought there would be more."

"Well, I don't like it!" Spirit pouted. "I don't trust Luthor. I think there's more to the Ghoul Project thing you found out about."

"You mentioned your source, though…" Red Huntress reasoned. "How reliable is the daughter of a trained assassin that's your enemy."

"She is Shiva's daughter…" Spirit conceded. "And she did try to interfere with my fight with Shiva, but still…Why would she just make this up? I don't think anyone in the Shadows would do this for just for kicks…"

"Maybe she was trying to get us away from the city?" Red Huntress suggested.

"That would make sense..." Phantom mentioned. "If there weren't several other ghosts ready to fight if we aren't there. The only people of interest in Amity Park are the ghosts and…Fenton and the Masters."

"But they already kidnapped you, and the last time someone tried to hurt me, they were beat up, sent to jail, and torn apart in the underground community by Dad." Spirit put in her two cents. "It would be stupid to try anything against our family now."

"And we haven't heard about any attacks in Amity Park…" Red Huntress agreed. "So, this was either some sort of prank…or we're missing something."

"We're missing something." Phantom said with certainty. "Luthor must be hiding something. The Ghoul Project…it's bigger than what Cassandra knows. I can feel it in my gut. Something bad is going on."

"Then what do we do?" Spirit questioned. "It's not like we can go snooping around Lex Corp anymore, and we have no more leads."

"We keep our ears to the ground. More people must know about this ghoul thing." Phantom noted.

"Yeah, Mr. Masters has a lot of connections. And you have access to the Justice League data base." Red Huntress agreed. "If anything pops up about the Ghoul Project, you'll know of it."

"But Luthor knows we know about something." Spirit interjected.

"…What?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"I believe that Lex Corp is involved." Spirit explained. "And now Luthor knows that we're investigating weapons. He could make sure that there are no more info leaks."

"…Then what will happen to Cassandra?" Red Huntress questioned. "If this project is real, and she gave the enemy information on it, then…"

"She's been trained as a ninja." Phantom reasoned. "I don't think she would have helped me without covering her tracks."

"She's what, though? Nine? Ten?" Red Huntress pointed out.

"Compared to our own badass eleven year old?" Phantom smirked.

"Thank you." Spirit beamed.

"Okay, but do you think that you can get her to help us again?" Red Huntress questioned.

"Probably not." Phantom sighed. "I have no way to contact her."

But he did have contact with the Shadows in other ways. There was always Jinx and the Shadows' interest in Red X. Mabye he could use that…

The only problems were that Jinx would never give any info away and Danny's reluctance to use the Red X suit. The first problem with the Red X suit was that Phantom didn't enjoy the way it made him act. Phantom was always more brutal while wearing the suit. He ignored a lot of his base principles and code of honor.

Another other problem was…what if his healing failed while wearing the suit? His powers rarely just failed, in fact, Phantom's regeneration ability was the only power that seemed to remain constant, but he couldn't help but worry. If his powers failed while wearing the suit…he'd be helpless.

The final problem with using the Red X suit was…the Shadows would want Red X to kill for them. They were an assassin group after all. Phantom was sure that he wouldn't allow himself to do that. So, he'd leave the Red X option alone for now…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Phantom looked at his phone and groaned. This couldn't be good. "Hey, was there a problem with the mission?"

"No, the mission was mostly a success." Batman's voice sounded through Phantom's Fenton Phones.

"Ah…then what do you need?"

"We need to talk." Batman responded. "And…I think you should send someone from your Amity Park group to Belle Reve. The new Warden, Hugo Strange, has some information that you will want to hear about from him."

"Okay, I'm with Red Huntress and Spirit now. If you key them into the Zeta-system, then they can get there quickly." Phantom reasoned. He looked at the two girls with him. "Er…you two don't mind going to Bell Reve for a chat with the warden, right?"

"Nope."

"Fine with me."

"They said yes." Phantom addressed Batman.

"I'll key them in for temporary use. Just make sure to get here quickly. We have a lot to talk about."

"Er…Okay."

"Rah!" The creature roared as brought its machete claws down onto Joel.

In a desperate move for survival, Joel rolled to the side. He managed to dodge the attack at the last second. The metal floor beneath them tore like wet clothing as the claws swept across it. Despite this, the creature moaned in pain. It obviously was having a hard time dealing with the pain of deterioration.

Joel was breathing hard. It was difficult trying to keep up with this monster. This being could fly at incredibly fast speeds, and Joel couldn't. After last night, Joel couldn't get his powers to activate for a second time. It seemed like the first time was merely a fluke.

"I could use another fluke, then…" Joel muttered. The monster lunged forward and tried to bite Joel. Luckily, the young boy managed to dodge the various attacks. Unfortunately while he wasn't hurt, the monster managed to bite into his ragged, torn shirt.

Joel thought that the monster would just tear his shirt apart, but he was surprised. Instead, the monster kept its hold onto Joel's shirt. With a whip of its head, the monster flung Joel into the air. In that instant of weightlessness, Joel realized that he was now defenseless. There was nothing he could do to dodge the next attack.

"GRAH!" The monster smiled in glee. It brought its claws up and held them below Joel. The intention was clear. It wanted to impale Joel.

"Crap!" Joel hissed as gravity took its hold, and he began to fall. He needed to float again. Come on, powers! Work!

And it did….

Joel sighed in relief as he stopped right above the monster's claws. He was a single second away from death. It seems that his powers reacted to the stress he felt. That was good, because this wasn't over.

"Ah?" The monster was confused for a single second before it regained its bearings. "Ah!"

Joel then realized that he was going to have to move. The creature was raising its claws for another attack. He had to move back. If he didn't, he would be torn to pieces. Come on! Move!

"Eh?" Joel blinked as he rocketed backwards at speeds no normal human could ever dream about going without a machine to help. Despite himself, Joel smirked. He did it.

Thud! Bang! Crack!

"Ah…kay…" Joel mumbled as his back hit the wall. He was suddenly glad for the numbness that seemed to come whenever he was in pain, because if it didn't, then he would be in a lot of agony right now.

"RAW!" The creature that Joel was fighting roared. It had been following Joel as he flew back. The creature had its mouth wide open and was planning to bite into Joe's neck.

In desperation, Joel brought his foot up and kicked the creature in the side of the head. His leg kept the sharp teeth from getting to him, but the monster's claws were ready to attack him as well. Using ever reflex and reaction speed he had, Joel managed to grab the monster's wrists before the claws could get to him.

It was then that Joel realized that he was in trouble. While he was holding the failed ghoul's claws and teeth away from his person, he was trapped. He was using all his strength to keep the monster away from him. If he tried to move, then he would be killed. If he tried to focus on turning intangible, he would be killed. In fact, if he tried to do anything other than fight off the creatures, he would be killed.

Even then…there was a good chance that he would be killed. The failed ghoul was quickly overpowering him. It was forcing its head against his foot and inching closer to his neck. Its claws were creeping to the boy's sides. Soon, he would be torn to pieces.

'I have to do something…' Joel realized. But what could he do? The only option he had that wouldn't get him killed was to somehow overpower the ghoul. He had to force it off of him. How could he do that, though? This creature was once a fully grown man, and now he had the powers of a ghost.

"Ah…" Joel whimpered as the sharp claws inched closer to his skin. He had to focus. Maybe if he concentrate like before, he could strengthen his body somehow. Thus, Joel began to focus solely on gaining strength. He forced energy through his body. Slowly his limbs began to glow green.

Yes! It was working…

A blinding light appeared in the room. The failed ghoul, the scientists, and even Queen Bee were shocked to see the light emitting from Joel. A white ring of light appeared around Joel's waste. It quickly separated and traveled up and down the boy's body.

In an instant, the boy was changed. His normally pale skin was now a tanner and darker hue. The shaggy, unwashed dark hair that was normally on the boy's head was now green with several streaks of white through it. The long scar that stretched from his right eyebrow up into his hair was now moved to down to right below his left eye from his cheek to his jaw.

The largest change, however, was his eyes. His once cool blue eyes were now a neon green. His eyes glared at the creature in front of him. Unlike before, Joel now had the look of pure anger on his face.

"Get off!" Joel roared. With a show of inhuman strength, Joel threw the failed ghoul off of him. The creature was flung across the room. With a loud thud and bang, it landed on the opposite wall.

Not letting up, Joel flew through the air with ease. It was instinctual, almost as if he had been practicing for months. He rammed into the creature fist first. His fist rammed into the monster's stomach. The failed ghoul gasped out and spit out green blood.

Joel didn't stop with that. He brought his fists down onto the creature's face and midsection multiple times. The failed ghoul cried in agony at the blows hit him like a sledgehammer.

In desperation, the failed ghoul swiped its claws at Joel. This time, the blow hit. Five deep gashes appeared on Joel's chest. The boy, however, was completely unbothered by this. The gashes didn't hurt and the blood had quickly stopped flowing. The wounds healed at an incredibly rapid pace.

Feeling afraid, the failed ghoul decided to try and escape from the new threat. It slipped away from Joel. It was then that the two ghouls began their chase around the room. Joel could quickly catch up to the creature, but the thing was slippery. It would flail wildly and gain more distance. If Joel wanted to hit the thing, he could have to do it at a distance.

Suddenly, Joel's hands began to twitch and tingle. His hands began to gain a green glow. With an instinct that was almost as if he'd done it hundreds of times, Joel extended his hands forward. A blast of green ectoplasmic energy shot out of his palms and hit the creature in the back.

With a roar, the failed ghoul retaliated. Opening his mouth widely, the creature sent a wave of ectoplasm at the boy. The light of the blast caused the observers to cover their eyes. For a few more seconds, the blast continued. When it finally faded down, Joel was nowhere to be seen.

The creature slumped in relief. It was over. The threat was gone. That's what it, until an invisible foot rammed into the back of the monster's head. It was sent crashing into the ground.

Joel turned himself visible again as he stood in front of the failed ghoul. He then grabbed the creature's claws and jammed them into the metal floor. The claws sunk deeply into the metal. Desperately, the failed ghoul tried to pull out his claws. Unfortunately, he was stuck and couldn't manage to free himself from the metal.

Realizing his situation, the creature looked up in fear. Joel glared down at it with anger filled eyes. Holding his hands out, Joel gathered a ball of ectoplasmic energy in front of him. With a shout, Joel brought the ball forward and slammed it into the creatures face.

The failed ghoul was sent blasting back. Unfortunately, his claws hadn't gone with him. The blast had forced the claws to break off. Thus, they were still stabbed into the floor. The creature, however, once again hit the wall. This time, however, when it slid to the floor, it didn't get back up. It was defeated.

Joel had won.

Approaching the failed ghoul, Joel quickly turned the creature on its back. Despite its defeat and pain, the creature was still conscious. It couldn't' move, however.

"Ahh…" It moaned in agony. The degradation seemed to be taking its tole. Its body could no longer hold out any longer, especially after the fight.

In an instant, the anger faded. Joel looked down in pity at the creature. It was not his enemy. The people that did this to them were to blame. But…where did the anger come from? Granted, he had the right to be mad, but Joel was never one to…feel or act based on emotions.

No…the anger he felt…It belonged to someone else. Joel could feel it. Whose anger was it, though?

"What are you waiting for?" Queen Bee questioned through the intercom. "Finish him."

Joel then realized something. The compulsive feeling to obey this woman was gone. It must have something to do with this new form. This…ghoul form made it so the woman couldn't control him. Perhaps it was because of this new form's physiology. Because for one, his heart wasn't beating, and two, he didn't need to breath. Who knew what else had changed...

For some reason, Joel wasn't troubled by that in the least.

Joel turned to Queen Bee. "No."

"…Excuse me?"

"I refuse to be what causes this pore soul to die." Joel stated evenly. "It…he has suffered enough. He doesn't deserve to be murdered."

"It will only die anyway in a few minutes." Queen Bee reasoned. "You'll only be putting it out of its misery."

"A few more minutes of life is more precious than you can understand." Joel glared. "I would rather suffer than to give up completely."

"How foolish." Queen Bee seemed annoyed.

"Well, I don't care what-gack!" Joel flinched as he spit out green blood. In shock, he fell to the ground. Like before, the rings of light appeared around him. This time, however, he was changed back into his normal appearance. "Ahn…"

What happened? Was it because of the injury? No, that wasn't the cause. It was more that his body just…gave out. He used too much power at one time. He still needed time to practice.

"Go. Take Joel back to his cage. He will need to rest for his next fight. Oh, and end that pathetic failed ghoul's life. We no longer have a need for it." Queen Bee ordered the guards.

"Yes, your majesty."

"What you did was foolish and irresponsible." Batman glared at Phantom. "You should have told me about this information you had."

Phantom scowled. He did not like being reprimanded like this. In fact…when was the last time he got reprimanded like this? Vlad and Vision advised him. Pandora chided him at times. Heck, he's even been yelled out at a lot, but reprimanded?

Hell no. The only people he took that from silently was his parents…

"This has nothing to do with you." Phantom stated. "This was my investigation."

"And look what happened. Now Luthor knows about your interest in his weapons. If anything was going on, he'll make sure that there will be no more information leaks." Batman stated.

"So I should go to you for all my problems now?" Phantom frowned.

"It wasn't your problem only." Batman got right in Phantom's face. "The League has a responsibility to monitor all ectoplasmic problems."

"You mean ghost problems? Then tell me this, where the hell were you when all the crap that happened in Amity Park for the past couple of months?" Phantom retorted.

"It's your friends that restrict our movements there." Batman answered.

"Maybe it's because you're so uncooperative." Phantom mumbled.

"Regardless, you restricted precious information from the League. If we knew about the Ghoul Project, then we could have put a stop to it." Batman explained. "Now, we will have to search for more information."

"You would have searched Metropolis too. Plus, you would have sent my Team to look for it. The end result would have been the same." Phantom argued.

"That's a hypothetical situation." Batman noted.

"Are you kidding me? You're all about hypothetical situations." Phantom glared.

"For future events, what's done is done. And because of you, we won't be able to investigate the Ghoul Project covertly." Batman explained. "You're on thin ice now. Don't mess up again, or you're off the Team."

"Whatever…" Phantom grunted. "Wait? How did you even know about this? No way Luthor contacted you…Have you been monitoring me?"

"No, I haven't." Batman answered immediately. "But I will be now."

"Then that means…" Phantom felt the eyes staring at his back. He turned and saw Robin, Wally, and Artemis all starring at him.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"What do you mean they're gone?!" Spirit yelled at the new warden of Belle Reve.

"Like I said…" Hugo Strange stated calmly. He was a bald, middle-aged man with a small grey beard and tinted glasses. "George Zempell and Solomon Grundy managed to escape during the chaos earlier. In addition, Edward Nigma escaped as well, but I doubt that you care about that…"

"Of course I don't care about the Riddler!" Spirit glared as the warden that sat across her at the desk of his office. "I care about the fact that the only two people in this prison that are connected to my family at all managed to escape."

"Spirit, stay calm." Red Huntress placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can figure this out and hunt them down."

"With what? From what I heard, they basically disappeared into thin freaking air!" Spirit glowered.

"I can understand your frustration." Strange gave a small supportive smile. "Agent Z has done a lot of damage to the ghosts, and Grundy has ectoplasmic energy. It must be incredibly stressful to hear that they disappeared. Unfortunately, I didn't have the authority to oversee them before the attempted mass break out. All I can promise is that this will never happen again after they are recaptured."

"Thank you, Mr. Strange." Red Huntress smiled at the warden.

"I…I'm sorry I snapped at you." Spirit apologized. "I know this wasn't your fault. This has just been a disappointing day…"

"One of many it seems like…" Red Huntress agreed. It was obvious that she was thinking of their previous encounter with Nocturne and Aragon.

"It's quite alright." Strange nodded. "And you have my apologizes as well. I wish that there was something I could do to help."

"Well, you were the prison's psychiatrist. Did the two of them ever tell you anything that might help us find them?" Red Huntress questioned.

"I can't reveal anything they spoke about." Strange looked regretful. "All our sessions were about rehabilitation. I swore I would keep what they said confidential. Besides, they didn't really open up to me. I doubt I know anything that you don't."

Spirit sighed. "Thanks anyway."

"No problem." Strange eyed Spirit. "By the way, I have a… facination with ghosts. Perhaps you would be willing to speak with me on the concept of obsessions sometime."

"Er…no thanks." Spirit frowned. "I'd prefer not to."

"Alright, then. I'm sure that I'll have a chance to speak with a ghost sometime in the future…"

"…So…" Phantom eyed his friends. "What happened?"

"Er…" Wally shifted uncomfortably under Phantom's gaze. "It's kind of complicated."

"We didn't mean to get you in trouble." Artemis quickly interjected. "We were just worried."

"So…we…" Robin flinched under the other two's gaze. "Well, technically, I hacked your phone and found out what you were hiding about. But I wasn't the only one that wanted to do it. They supported it."

"…What did you hear and see?" Phantom questioned.

"We kind of caught that conversation you had with Luthor and all the data on the Ghoul Project that you collected." Wally looked away ashamed.

"And you gave it to Batman?"

"No! We didn't mean for him to get it, but…he's Batman." Artemis shrugged. "He caught us while we were hacking your phone, and… you know."

"Yeah…I do know." Phantom glared at them. "I was there as he tore me a new one and threatened to take me off of Young Justice."

"We know." Robin frowned. "And we're not feeling the aster on this one all right? It was our bad."

"You're damn right it was your bad." Phantom couldn't help but feel insulted. While he might be having some trust issues, he never even thought about invading their privacy like this. "What did you think gave you the right to invade my privacy like that? I mean, I trusted you with some access to my phone, and you completely abuse it!"

"Bro, we are sorry." Wally gave a weak smile. "We were just worried. You've been acting weird lately. Wouldn't you do the same thing?"

"No, I wouldn't have done that." Phantom stated with certainty. "I would never invade your privacy like that. And I can't believe that any of you would think that this was okay. What would you say if I did this to you?"

They were silent.

"I thought so…" Phantom muttered.

"Hey, guys!" M'gann flew up to all of them cheerily. "You'll be happy to know that the mission was a complete success…What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Phantom mumbled.

"Really?" Conner questioned as he eyed his teammates. "Because I heard you guys talking about invading someone's privacy."

Ah…the famous Kryptonian hearing…

"We…messed up." Robin admitted. "We hacked Danny's phone and accidentally got him in trouble with Batman."

"What?" Kaldur gained a surprised look. "Why would you do that?"

"Because he's been acting strange." Artemis tried to defend herself. "Come on, you guys have to admit that he's been off ever since the mission to Bialya."

"For the love of god…" Phantom glared. "You want to know why I've been a little space lately? Because Ember and I broke up."

"You did?" M'gann questioned.

"Yeah, it wasn't like we could make it work while she's on tour…" Phantom scowled.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Wally questioned.

"Because I didn't think any of you wanted to hear about my love life after what happened when you met Ember." Phantom retorted.

All at once, everyone in Young Justice blushed and looked away.

"That's what I thought…" Phantom muttered.

"What…What did Batman find out?" Kaldur questioned. It was obvious he was concerned about the mole issue.

"Phantom was investigating weapons in Metropolis." Wally noted. "Ow!"

Artemis elbowed him in the side. She hissed. "Wally!"

"What? It's not a secret anymore is it?" Wally inquired.

"You were in Metropolis?" Superboy looked at Phantom.

Phantom sighed. "Yes. My info said that Lex Corp had…investments into illegal ectoplasmic weaponry. Nothing I found broke any laws, though."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" M'gann questioned.

"Because it involved ghosts, and that makes it my problem." Phantom explained.

"But we're your friends. We could have helped." M'gann noted.

"It wasn't about that." Phantom explained. "It was the fact that was my responsibility. This Ghoul Project thing involved ghosts. It didn't involve this team. So, I took some of my friends from home, and-"

"So you trust them with all this." Conner frowned. "You trust them, but you don't trust us."

"You're twisting my words." Phantom sighed. "All I'm saying is that they're already invested."

"Invested?" Robin questioned. "What does that mean?"

"None of you were there." Phantom frowned. "At the war…you can't even begin to imagine what we all went through. It was hard. We lost friends to the last super weapon based on ectoplasm. The Necromancers…they took a lot."

They were all staring at you.

"No matter what you may think, none of you understand." Phantom explained. "The people in Amity Park…We've been through hell together. They're my family. And this involved them. I don't want them to have to go through that again. I would do anything for them."

Silence was their response.

"None of this was about trust. This was about protecting them." Phantom turned away and began to walk to the Zeta-tubes. "But now…now it involves trust. Because if you guys don't trust me enough to respect the privacy of me and my family, how can I trust any of you?"

(Friday-September 17, 2014)

"What the hell is going on here!? I thought I was supposed to lead something called the Ghoul Project. Why are you pointing guns at me?! Gah!"

"Shut up!" One of the soldiers yelled as he struck the man.

Joel looked up from his cage. He had yet to be taken to the arena today, and he could see why. There were new arrivals. Well, one of them was new at least. The other guy had been here before.

"Let Grundy go-AHH!" Grundy fell to his knees in pain as the color around his neck shocked him.

"Don't think that you can mess around here anymore. Before, we didn't have a way to control your strenght, but now there are inhibiter collars to deal you're your mix of magic and ectoplasm." One of the scientists noted. "So be good, Grundy."

"Grr…"

"As for you, Agent Z…" The scientist turned to the former GIW agent. "You did agree to be part of the Ghoul Project, but you won't be leading it. No, you're going to be a part of the experiments."

"What? I never agreed to that! I demand to speak to the person in charge!" The tall and bulky bald man with a grey mustache glared at the scientist.

"I apologize, but the bosses won't speak to you." The scientist noted. "You're of no consequence to them. After all you're just a sacrificial tool."

"What? No I'm not! I refuse to be a part of this!" Agent Z gritted his teeth.

"You no longer have a choice."

Joel frowned as he watched the two new participants be marched away. He recognized the man from news. That was the guy that Phantom fought in the middle of Manhattan. Not that such a thing would matter now. Agent Z was as good as dead in the Ghoul Project.

It was the other guy that Joel was really interested in. Savage had mentioned that he would be fighting that monster at some point. It might be tomorrow, or it might be weeks from now; but it would happen.

Grundy was in every right and aspect a monster. He was a walking tank. At his current state, Joel couldn't' take Grundy down. That meant only on thing…

He needed to get stronger.

Bonding Moment: Youngblood

"Okay…run this by me again…" Spirit stated to the child ghost.

"It's simple." Youngblood was now dressed in a leather jumpsuit and a helmet with stars on it. "We're going to do the greatest stunt ever done in either the human world or the Ghost Zone."

The two of them were currently in the Ghost Zone. Youngblood was on a motorcycle that was connected to a slingshot. He was prepped and ready to go. Spirit had to question his sanity, though. The stunt that he set up was a deathtrap.

"I get that much…" Spirit commented. "What I don't get is the little details."

"Oh…okay!" Youngblood beamed. "First off, I attached this motocycle to this sling shot."

"I can see that…" Spirit eyed the motorcycle. "Yeah, isn't that Johnny 13's motorcycle?"

"…No…"

"Okay then."

"Next!" Youngblood quickly changed the topic. "I set up a trampoline in the middle of that volcano. This sling shot is going to shoot me into the middle of the volcano so I can bounce off it."

"Makes sense…"

"From there, I'll be sent flying through that field of flying rocks." Youngblood stated.

"You mean the Field of Eminent Death?" Spirit questioned.

"Yep."

"Alrighty then…Then what?" Spirit asked.

"After that, I land on that giant spider. It will wake up and throw us into that huge mine field over there." Younblood pointed to what he was talking about.

"Why is there a mine field over there?" Spirit questioned.

"I put it there."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because if I didn't, I would land in the Portal of Infinite Pain, duh!" Youngblood explained. "The mine field will explode when I get there, and the force of the explosion will cause me to go crashing into the Land of the Far Frozen. There, I'll land in a pile of soft snow."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I'm going to video tape it, put it on Youtube, and become an internet sensation." Youngblood said as if it were obvious.

"And why don't you just make a cat video?" Spirit inquired.

"That would be boring." Youngblood rolled his eyes.

"Well, it sounds like you have this all planed out. Why am I here?"

"I was hoping you'd come along for the ride." Youngblood stated. "I would have asked the others, but Rachel said I was stupid and Nyx's mom forbid her from doing this….Even Polly left me. He went screaming in the opposite direction."

"Well, of course!" Spirit glared at Youngblood. "This is the dumbest, most reckless thing I have ever heard. There is a nearly 100% chance that you will be horribly maimed and die. Only the most stupid, inconsiderate, and immature people would even consider contemplating about thinking about this."

"And?"

"I love everything about it." Spirit grinned. "I'm in!"

"Awesome! I'll get you a helmet."

"What are you, a wuss?"

"…Good point…" Youngblood threw his helmet away.

(Ten minutes later…)

Spirit blinked as she laid on the freshly fallen pile of snow. "How did we get through that without any injuries?"

"I dunno."

"And how did Johnny 13's bike come out without a scratch?"

"I dunno."

"Well, what do you do know?"

"That was awesome!" Younblood smiled.

"Yeah…it was…" Spirit smiled as well. "You do realize that we'd never be able to pull that off again."

"We don't need to!" Youngblood smiled. "I just uploaded the video. I got 1000 views in like a minute!"

"…The comments say that you're the biggest idiot to ever live…ever…"

"Well of course I am! How else do you think we actually pulled that off!?"