Chapter 4: "Leadership"

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory and when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."

Nelson Mandela

Chapter 4: "Leadership"

It wasn't until that day that I consciously realized something. It was something so obvious that I didn't even think about it. In fact, I didn't want to think about it, because it hurt so much. I couldn't deny it, though. The fact was…

I was always depending on other people.

There was not one moment up to that point where I won a true battle completely on my own strength. There was always a weapon, ally, or even catastrophe that got in the way. Something always saved me.

Of course, there were times when my own strength was shown. I managed to fight Nyx on even ground once, and I was a key factor in stopping Vortex's rampage. No one could deny that; but it didn't change the fact that if Pandora didn't interfere with my fight with Nyx, and Danny wasn't there to fight Vortex with me, I would not have won those fights.

I wouldn't have lost necessarily. Nyx and I were even, and Vortex couldn't hit me when I was using my Premonition full force. Nevertheless, I would never have beaten them.

Every big fight, I had help or interference.

It was only when I was truly alone did I realize this. When I didn't have someone to lean against, I fell. And what a shameful fall it was.

I always thought that I was so strong. I believed that because I was a halfa, I was invincible. Boy, was I wrong. I was a big fish in a little pond. There was a whole ocean ahead of me, and I didn't even acknowledge it until that day.

Because when you're all alone and defenseless, there's nothing to protect you but your own memories.

And that was my wake-up call.

…I just wish that I was the only one who heard the call of the memories…

-From the personal memoirs of Danielle Masters

(Thursday-July 22, 2010)

There were times that Phantom truly hated silence. Despite his complaints about his busy schedule, Phantom was glad to keep his mind busy. A busy mind kept the silence away, and silence let his thoughts wander to unpleasant memories.

As such, Phantom was currently despising his current situation. He currently was stuck in the Bioship. The team…he really needed to pitch some names soon…had been assigned its first mission. They were heading to Santa Prisca.

The halfa was uncertain about this little adventure. He had thought that their first mission would be somewhat on the easy side. This, however, was really dangerous. This was Bane's island, as in the Bane. This guy was one of Batman's most famous rogues. His combination of intelligence and brute strength were terrifying.

Not only that, the team was doing this without any clear leadership. Batman had told them to decide among themselves, but Phantom knew that wouldn't go well. While Miss Martian and Superboy appeared to have no desire to be in charge, Kid Flash and Robin clearly did. From his own experiences in the matter, the halfa was certain they would argue about it.

Personally, Phantom thought that Aqualad should lead. He was the most level headed out of everyone. Yet, he also didn't appear to want the spot. Perhaps he knew about the stress of being in charge. His mentor was a king after all. Kaldur had to observe Aquaman making some tough decisions.

…And, of course, Phantom didn't even think about the possibility of him leading…

Why? Because Phantom couldn't live with the responsibility. He would be completely responsible for the team's lives. He was okay with backing everyone up, but leading them? No. Not again. He would trip up again. He would fail again. He would make the wrong decision at one point…Just like…

The Nasty Burger Incident…

The Nocturne Crisis…

Vortex's Rampage…

The Riot of Amity Park…

The Guys in White War…

Dear God, a lot of people suffered because of his choices. A lot of people were hurt and maimed because of him. So many people were dead because what he decided to do.

It all happened because of Danny Phantom.

Hundreds of ghosts and GIW agents died in that war because Phantom thought that would be best. If Phantom did something different, those souls might still exist in this plane of existence. Their deaths were on his hands.

His entire city suffered and were suppressed because of him. When Phantom was about to be arrested, everyone in Amity Park, including the A-listers like Dash and Paulina, stood up for him. This caused the entire city to be occupied by the GIW.

Vortex died, because Phantom didn't capture him soon enough. Even with Superman on his side, Phantom couldn't stop Vortex in time to save him. The weather ghost was shot through the back by the GIW because Phantom couldn't defeat him before the GIW arrived.

Nocturne almost conquered the world because Phantom's assault on the Brain's lab through Torch's domain. To stop the Brain from creating a working portal, Phantom tried to attack the lab through the portal he was drilling. Unfortunately, Torch and his minions got in the way. The fight that followed caused both S-rank ghosts to lose consciousness and to be captured by Nocturne, allowing the sleep ghost to use them as power sources.

Then there was the…

All of their eyes, however, showed understanding. They understood that he did everything possible to save them. His family and friends understood that he could physically do nothing more to save them. All of them understood that he would never, never become that sick monster.

And mostly, they understood that they were going to die.

At that moment hot tears rolled down Danny's eyes. He had failed.

The only thing he could do was cry, "NO!"

Yeah…that…

Phantom sighed as he tiredly placed his face in his hands. In his mind, it all started at one incident. One single decision that caused everything. If he never did it, then none of this would have happened.

"I never should have stepped into that portal…" Phantom mumbled into his hands.

"Huh?" Miss Martian looked over at him from her spot piloting the Bioship. "Did you say something, Danny?"

"No, it's nothing…"

"Are you sure, Val?" Spirit questioned into her new Fenton Phones. The small circular disk fit comfortably into her ear, yet did not slip out from hard blows to the head and fast movements. "I…could use some help, maybe."

"I'm sorry, Dani." Valerie Grey answered. "But no. I can't help you."

"Really?" Spirit frowned in disappointment as she flew over Amity Park. "I could go get your equipment right now…"

"I'm sure."

Valerie Grey, also known as the Red Huntress, was a gorgeous African American teenager about Danny's age. Unlike the rest of the Phantom family, she lacked any powers. Instead, she fought with ectoplasmic equipment and her incredible hand-to-hand combat skills. When they first met, Spirit and Red Huntress didn't get along all that well, however, after fighting together, they eventually grew close. In fact, Dani considered Valerie to be her role model.

Unfortunately, the Red Huntress was currently retired.

This leave of absence from the hero business all began right before the GIW war. Danny had approached Valerie and gave her the choice of joining the war or giving up the equipment, because if she kept the equipment and remained neutral, the Guys in White would find her and arrest her. In the end, Valerie made her choice and gave up her equipment to Danny.

After the war had ended, however, Valerie refused to take up the mantle of the Red Huntress again. She thought that she didn't deserve to be a hero, because she quit when things became difficult. Both Danny and Dani tried to convince her otherwise, but Val was known for her stubbornness.

No, the Red Huntress would remain retired for now.

"Okay…" Spirit sighed in disappointment. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Alright, Dani. Bye."

"Bye…" Spirit stopped and looked down at the city below her.

It was a beautiful summer night. Yet no one was here to enjoy it with her. Rachel was in trouble with her mom. Nyx was in the Ghost Zone, as was Youngblood. Wulf had the habit of wandering, and Cujo was spending most of his time sleeping.

Not to mention that Danny was gone again. He was spending so much time with that "team." It seemed like he was never at home anymore. He never…spent time with her anymore.

No, that wasn't true. She wasn't being fair. He did spend time with her, but not nearly as much. Back before the war, they would usually spend whole days together. Now, they only had a few hours together at the absolute best. Ember did make a point a few weeks ago about both their schedules changing, but Spirit didn't really care right now. She wanted her brother back so they could patrol together.

And so that she wouldn't be followed around by the Fright Knight anymore.

"Would you just go away!?" Spirit turned. She appeared to be yelling at nothing, but suddenly the Fright Knight turned visible. He had been following her since she first started patrolling.

"I cannot do that." Fright Knight stated simply.

"And why's that?" Spirit glared.

"Because I promised my liege that I would protect you." Fright Knight noted as if it were obvious.

"I thought he didn't like you calling him that…" Spirit mumbled as she crossed her arms.

"He doesn't, but out of respect I refer to him as such anyway." Fright Knight explained simply.

"Well woopty doo for you…" Spirit frowned. "Why don't you bother him then? I don't need protection."

"Maybe not, but I will not question his judgment on the matter." Fright Knight mentioned.

"And why's that?" Spirit rolled her eyes.

"Because his concern for your safety is greater than for his own." Fright Knight explained.

"Then he should be here himself." Spirit mumbled.

"A king has a lot of responsibilities." The Fright Knight noted. "That's why he assigns his most trusted servants to protect the most important ones."

"He's not a king…"

"Really? Because he has no crown? Because he has no thrown?" Fright Knight seemed amused. "A king is so much more than those things."

"Whatever…" Spirit was tired of this conversation. "Just go back to…where exactly are you staying?"

"My liege has allowed me to live at the newly reconstructed Fenton Works." Fright Knight stated. "That way I have a place to rest, and the secret base is protected from threats."

Spirit rolled her eyes again. "Secret base…It's just the place Danny keeps his pet invention projects…and apparently, it's a guest house."

"Yes…pet inventions…" Fright Knight nodded. "That's a good word for it…"

Spirit remembered when Fenton Works was first destroyed by the League of Shadows. Danny was incredibly upset about how all the technology there was stolen. Danny had learned his lesson from that. New Fenton Works' security would always be working. Only people who were keyed into the security could enter the building. It would prevent any unwanted guests from sneaking in again.

"Why don't you go there, then?" Spirit huffed. "Go guard the guest home."

"Not while you are in danger." Fright Knight stated.

"I am not in danger!" Spirit glared. "No ghosts have attacked in two months. Freakshow is on the run. Grundy is still locked up. Who else would attack in the middle of the night?"

"Perhaps one of the super villains." Fright Knight suggested.

"What like Ragdoll did?" Spirit chuckled. "He was only a thief. One that regretted coming here after we recaptured him. There's not exactly a lot here worth stealing in Amity Park."

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Spirit recognized that noise. It was the sound of an alarm going off.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, shut up!"

For Phantom, the stealth gear was pretty useless. His clothes were mostly black to begin with. The halfa, however, could see the advantage of having clothes change to something less conspicuous. Once again, Phantom was amazed by Martian tech.

Phantom did not, however, enjoy all the stupid flirting going around. Kid Flash always looked at Miss Martian like a hungry dog looked at a bone. His attention was always fully on the green girl. Phantom didn't care about this while off missions, but they had to be serious. Without a girl around, Kid Flash was a dangerous speedster and science prodigy. Add in the hormones, though, and you got a drooling idiot.

Then there was Miss Martian's reactions to Superboy. Even someone as clueless as Danny could see that she was attracted to him. From a girl's perspective, it was probably hard not to be, but that didn't matter. M'gann would completely lose her focus around the clone.

'I suppose that's something that both sexes have.' Phantom mentally noted. 'An inability to focus while around someone their attracted to.'

That was wonderful insight. Yet it came from one of the most clueless people in the world…at least in his own life. Perhaps Phantom had a better understanding of attraction and love for other people's lives, but not his own.

Or maybe Miss Martian and Kid Flash were just that blandly obvious…Yeah, it was probably that.

Taking a glance at Superboy, Phantom noted that he wasn't going to bungee down out of the Bioship. "You know, in my experience, falling from this height makes a lot of noise."

"What's your point?" Superboy questioned.

"Causing a miniature earthquake is not covert." Phantom explained. "So, either you hook up, or I catch you and float you down. Now which do you think will be more embarrassing?"

For Superboy, the choice was easy. He immediately hooked himself onto a line.

As the nonflying heroes were lowered to the ground, Phantom and Miss Martian floated down. They were now in a thick jungle. It would certainly help them remain hidden, but they could easily get separated. Miss Martian and Superboy would stay with the group, but Kid Flash or Robin might run off. Phantom would make sure to stop them.

After contacting Aqualad and agreeing to meet at the factory in the middle of the island, the group immediately took off into the jungle. For Phantom, the journey was simple. Flying made getting through the brush a simple task.

Suddenly, Superboy stopped them. "Did you hear that?"

Phantom quickly grabbed Robin by his cape as he saw the younger boy begin to hide. Good thing he was paying attention. If he took his attention off the Boy Wonder for half a second, Robin would surely have gotten away.

"What are you doing!?" Robin hissed.

"Stopping you from running off." Phantom answered. "We need to stay together, and you going all ninja will not help us. Superboy, what did you hear?"

"A twig snapped." Superboy answered.

"It could be an animal, but we should stop and make sure we're not being tracked." Phantom noted.

"Agreed." Aqualad answered over the radio. "Kid Flash, Superboy, switch to infrared."

The two heroes quickly spotted two different squads of guards a bit away from them. They would pass each other long before they could get to the team, so that was a good thing. When their backs were turned, the team could quickly and silently pass by-

The sound of gunshots filled the air.

"What are they doing?!" Phantom questioned.

"They're attacking each other." Robin narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Swing wide! Stear clear!" Aqualad shouted through the radio.

"Roger that." Robin nodded. "Let's go…Phantom?"

Phantom was frozen and staring in the direction of the gunfire.

"Dude, now's not the time to watch a fight." Kid Flash hissed. "We have to get going."

"…They'll kill eachother…" Phantom frowned.

"So?" Superboy questioned.

"We have to stop them." Phantom growled.

"But Batman said-" Miss Marian did not get to finish that sentence.

Phantom was already off. He couldn't let the men kill each other. Not while he had the power to save them. He would not let people die again because he chose not to interfere.

He would not have anymore blood on his hands!

"Phantom! Stop!" Aqualad shouted through the radio, but Phantom did not listen.

Using both invisibility and intangibility, Phantom flew in between the two fighting groups. Luckily, they were using normal guns. Nothing they could do would hurt him.

Phantom hit and blasted as many people as he could. Many thugs from both groups were knocked out by his sneak attack. The rest stopped and looked around fearfully. An attack had come from nowhere in their perspective.

The halfa used this surprise to finish off most of the other goons. One, however, still stood. The large man was wearing a mask. In fact, this guy was more muscles than man. That did not mean he was stupid, however. In fact, Phantom knew how intelligent that man really was. Because that man could rival the Bat.

He was Bane, and he was staring at the now revealed Phantom.

"El Fantasma?" Bane lowered his gun. He knew it wouldn't help him against a ghost. "Why are you here?"

"Vacation." Phantom shrugged.

"And you decide to attack me, my men, and my enemies." Bane smirked. "Unusual vacation."

"And it's about to get stranger." Phantom stated.

"What-ugh!" Bane groaned in pain as Superboy slammed into the distracted man.

"What was that?!" Robin glared as the others joined the halfa and clone. "What happened to covert?"

"Meh." Phantom shrugged it off. "That never was my style."

"Then why are you in a covert team?" Kid Flash questioned as he began tying up the unconscious men.

"I was just thinking that myself…"

The alarm at the Amity Park Museum blared through the air. The sound was deafening. Anyone that was within a mile of the museum could hear it. As it turned out, the police actually beat the ghosts to the museum. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be a good thing.

"What happened…" Spirit knelt down next to look at the unconscious policemen.

"They were knocked out." Fright Knight stepped over the bodies and walked to the entrance of the museum. "The person who did this obviously planned ahead for them."

"Luckily they're still alive." Spirit frowned as she noted that some of them had shards of glass sticking out of them. "Barely, though."

"They'll keep until the human medics arrive." Fright Knight stated. "The man who did this is in the museum."

"If he was ready for the cops, then he'll be ready for us." Spirit noted as she followed after the knight. "Well, for me and Phantom, at least."

"Then he'll be surprised by me." Fright Knight chuckled darkly. "Good thing I was around."

"Yeah right." Spirit frowned. "I don't need your help."

"I think you do child." Fright Knight stopped and stared down at the young halfa. "I have seen you fight twice now. Both times, you were defeated. Obviously, you lack strength."

"Shut up!" Spirit glared. "I'm plenty strong."

"Then show me. If you show me that you are strong enough, I will leave you be. Until then…be silent." Fright Knight continued his way through the museum.

"…Whatever…" Spirit looked away in anger.

Shortly after this, the duo found the person who broke into the museum. The man in front of them was wearing a combination of green and yellow. Most of the man's clothes were glowing yellow, but his mask, belt, and boots were green.

Spirit recognized him from the news. It was Mirror Master, the long-time enemy of the Flash.

"What is Mirror Master doing here?" Spirit whispered to Fright Knight. "He usually is based out in Central City."

"We will have to find out." Fright Knight reached for his sword.

"Wait." Spirit stopped him and looked around the cornered. "His back is turned to us. I can catch him before he can turn around."

"…Fine…" Fright Knight conceded.

"Good." Spirit then began to silently float up the Mirror Master. He didn't react when Spirit was right behind him. She went to grab him. "Got cha!"

Spirit passed right through the man.

"What-AAHH!" Light flooded the room. Spirit felt pain in her stomach as a laser blasted in to her stomach.

"No!" Fright Knight tried to run into the room, but was blinded by the light. He couldn't even see Spirit who was a few meters away.

"Well, well, well…" A voice bounced around the room. "Spirit and…someone I don't know."

"Raw!" Fright Knight unsheathed his sword. "Come out, coward!"

"Very tempting, but no." The voice chuckled. "And here I thought that Phantom would show up. Instead, I get his sidekick and a knight. How unusual."

"What do you want?" Spirit tried to look around, but the light blinded her.

"Well, I came here to get a very special item, but while I was here, I thought that I could test out something before I tried it on the Flash…" Mirror Master's voice came from all directions.

"If you won't come out, I will just destroy this room and the lights!" Fright Knight exclaimed.

"We can't have you do that…"

"What-Urg!"

"Fright Knight?!" Spirit exclaimed. "…Talk to me!"

"I don't think he can here you."

Suddenly, the lights dimmed. Spirit blinked to get used to the darkness. "When…When did those mirrors get there?"

"They were always there." Mirror Master's voice answered behind the girl. "I just tricked you into not seeing them."

Spirit whirled around to face the villain. During the spin, the halfa caught a glimpse of the rest of the room. It was covered in more mirrors.

"How…" Spirit mumbled.

"The mind tends to ignore things." The villain answered. "I just learned how to make it do that."

It was then that Spirit composed herself to remember her comrade. "Where's the Fright Knight?"

"In there." Mirror Master pointed to the side.

Spirit looked and saw what he was pointing at. The Fright Knight was…trapped in a mirror. He was slicing at the mirror from the inside, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"Oh, he shouldn't do that." Mirror Master noted. "He just might-"

Crash! Shatter!

The mirror holding the Fright Knight fell to pieces.

"Well, seven years bad luck it is, then." Mirror Master smirked.

"No…" Spirit's eyes widened.

"Don't worry, he's not dead." Mirror Master shrugged. "He merely trapped himself in a mirror. He's not even trapped forever, but it will take time for him to find a way out."

Spirit growled and glared at the man.

"It always amazes me about how easy it is to catch people sometimes." Mirror Master stated as he walked around the room. "Overconfidence really is a sin."

"That's funny coming from you." Spirit clenched her fists. "You think you can beat me one-on-one?"

"In a fist fight? No." Mirror Master stopped at a display. It wasn't anything special. All that was there as a dirty round mirror that could fit in a person's hand. "But that's why I have a plan."

"And it involves that thing?" Spirit's hands began to glow.

Mirror Master laughed and turned. "No, I would need a large power source to use this. Instead, I plan to do this."

All the mirrors around the room began to turn to Spirit. Alarmed, Spirit looked around. She could see herself in all the mirrors. Nothing happened at first, but then all the mirrors began to glow. They seemed to be…scanning her.

In a split second, they turned away from her and pointed to the center of the room. Light shined out of the mirrors and converged in the center of the room. Spirit was shocked by what she saw.

"Is that…me?" Spirit whispered.

"Yes." Mirror Master noted as the light faded, yet the image did not fade. "I made this little device to help me defeat the Flash. It's rather complicated, but the main idea of what I've done is make a reflection of you. It's nowhere near as powerful as you, but it knows your fighting style and abilities. With its help, I can easily beat you."

"If it's so great, why haven't' you used it on Flash!" Spirit snapped.

"It's called a test run, brat." Mirror Master sighed. "Besides, this gives me the opportunity to steal this mirror."

"What is that thing anyway?" Spirit frowned. She was stalling to come up with a plan.

"I figured you would know." Mirror Master chuckled. "It's ghost related after all. I did a lot of research on it. That's how I came up this the idea for the reflection."

"Ghost…related…" Spirit remembered hearing about something like that before, but…where exactly?

"And if that's all the questions you have, I think we should begin this little battle." Mirror Master smiled viciously. "If you can call a massacre a battle, I mean."

"Why did you blow our cover?" Aqualad questioned after his arrival.

Phantom looked up from his spot of tying up their enemies. "They were going to kill each other."

"Ah! You care." One of the goons mocked. "Why don't you-Ack!"

Phantom punched the goon in the face and broke his nose. "You don't get to talk."

"Isn't that a little harsh…" M'gann flinched at Phantom's brutality.

"Just because I save their asses doesn't mean they can give me lip." Phantom noted.

"So you saved the bad guys from the bad guys?" Kid Flash questioned. "Seems a little weird."

"Do you know how quickly a stray bullet can kill?" Phantom frowned. "It's pretty fast."

"I don't really get why you guys are surprised by this." Superboy shrugged. "From what I remember, this perfectly fit Phantom's character."

"Yeah, the intentions can't be condemned." Kid Flash conceded.

"What's done is done, anyway." Robin shrugged. "Besides, I think we just found our answer to what's happening on this island."

"The cult of Kobra." Phantom knelt down by the unconscious cult members. "I've heard of these guys. Their pretty…extreme. They worship their leader like a god."

"Batman didn't mention anything about that…" M'gann whispered.

"He obviously didn't know." Robin noted.

"And these guys were going to kill each other." Superboy stated. "They obviously aren't friends."

"Then that explains why supply was cut off." Kid Flash nodded. "Okay then, mystery solved. We should call Batman."

"Not that simple…" Phantom eyed his team. "What does the cult gain from this? I mean, none of these members are on Venom. Maybe we should investigate further."

"Of course, we should!" Robin exclaimed.

"He was putting it to a vote, Rob." Kid Flash glared at his friend.

Phantom ignored the team as they argued about the leader. He really didn't care right now. This thing with Kobra was bugging him. Using Venom was extremely addictive, if he remembered correctly. Kobra was the type of guy who thought about long term. Having drug addict followers wouldn't help him…

But there was someone here that might be able to clear that up.

Phantom walked over to Bane. This caused the team to watch the ghost as he walked. Aqualad questioned. "Phantom?"

Phantom knelt down by Bane. Unlike the others, the leader was covered in ice to prevent any possible escape. Phantom didn't know how good Bane was at escaping, but he didn't want to take any chances. "(What does Kobra want with the Venom?)"

"(Wouldn't you like to know…)" Bane growled.

"You can speak Spanish?" Kid Flash questioned.

"One of my friend's main language was Esperanto. Spanish is pretty similar to it. Learning it after Esperanto wasn't that hard." Phantom explained.

"Well, we don't speak Spanish, so English please." Superboy rolled his eyes. Phantom caught a twitch though in the clone's face, though. That was a lie. Superboy did understand Spanish…

"Alright…" Phantom looked at Bane. "You know something about all this. Tell us."

"Why would I do that for nothing in return?" Bane questioned.

"You don't have a choice really." Aqualad stated.

Miss Martian looked over at Bane and focused. "I see…a secret entrance, but I can't tell where."

"That's not what I meant." Phantom stated. "He must know about Kobra's operation."

"I'll try and get more…" M'gann focused again.

"Uh uh uh, Chica." Bane smiled. "Bane isn't that easy."

"Urg…" Miss Martian groaned. "He's mentally reciting futbol scores in Espanol. This could take a while."

"We don't have that much time…" Phantom noted.

"Then we should help each other." Bane smiled. "After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Phantom glared down at the villain. "No, the enemy of my enemy is my friend…while it's convenient."

"You don't trust me?" Bane glared.

"Why would I trust you when I barely trust myself?" Phantom stated. He instantly regretted saying that. He could feel the eyes in the back of his head.

"Um…what does that mean?" Kid Flash questioned.

Phantom quickly thought up a lie. "I could easily faze into the factory, but I'm not sure what tech they have. If they have head recognition or any type of energy detector, then barging in would be suicidal."

"Then shouldn't we team up with Bane?" Superboy questioned.

"No, like I said, he'll betray us when we run out of use for him." Phantom looked around at his team. "Never trust any enemy when there's no respect between you and them."

"Respect between enemies?" Aqualad questioned. "Is that possible."

"It is…" Phantom remembered his long time enemy Skulker. The Ghost Zone's greatest hunter…before the war at least. Now…he was gone. "But it's a rare thing."

"We don't have a lot of options." Robin noted.

"Phantom's right, though." Kid Flash nodded. "Trusting the bad guy? Not smart?"

"Then what do we do?" M'gann questioned.

"We combine our powers." Phantom stated to Miss Martian. "Alone, I won't be able to overshadow him, and you can't read his mind. If we work together, though. We can get our answers."

"Grr…" Bane glared at the halfa.

"Distract his mind with one of you and take him down with the other." Aqualad nodded. "Sound strategy."

"But…I've never done something like this before." M'gann fidgeted. "What if I accidentally read into your mind and memories, too?"

Phantom froze for a moment. What if she did? She could easily get into his memories, and find his secrets. His family could be put into danger, but if he backed out now…The team might just fall apart. "I'll just have to trust you."

M'gann's eyes widened. "Are…you sure?"

"Yeah, let's do it." Phantom readied himself to jump into Bane. "Be ready…now!"

Overshadowing people was always strange. The instant change in being in another body was always weird. This was different, though. Bane's mind fought him off. He was being pushed away. Phantom fought, though. He had to give Miss Martian some time.

Then came the weirdest part. Phantom could only describe it as fingers poking at his brain. It wasn't painful, or even forceful. It felt like the fingers were merely brushing him. It only lasted a second, though. The fingers then went to Bane.

The Venom user instantly tried to divide his attention between the two mental invaders. This didn't help him, though. His mind was strong enough to fight off one of them, but their combined force almost instantly overpowered him.

Phantom blinked as he opened his eyes. He was looking up at his team. "Did you get it, M'gann?"

"Yeah…" Miss Martian nodded. "I got everything he knows about Kobra."

"Good." Phantom in Bane's body nodded. "Then we can come up with a plan."

"Alright…but can you get out of Bane's body." Kid Flash frowned. "It's really weird."

"Can do."

"Gah!" Spirit cried in pain as she felt Mirror Master's laser gun blast her in the back.

The fight had not been going well. Trying to divide her attention between the reflection and Mirror Master didn't work. In fact, defeating Mirror Master while fighting off herself was quickly proving to be impossible on her own.

Defeating one of the opponents wouldn't be too difficult. Spirit's reflection was a far weaker version of herself. Mirror Master could move through the mirrors, but Spirit's Premonition could easily predict his intentions.

Yes, individually the two would be pushovers. Together, however, they were a force that Spirit couldn't overcome on her own.

"Stop that!" Spirit twirled around in anger. She was about to blast the mirror into pieces, but was stopped by the reflection. The reflection's foot landed on the back of her head. "Gah!"

Dang it! Her Premonition was telling her the intentions, but she couldn't keep up. She was too confused and angry. The only option was to regroup and-

"AH!" Spirit crumbled to the ground and held her leg. Mirror Master's laser gun had caused her leg to collapse.

This, however, allowed Spirit's reflection the chance to attack the halfa, while she was down. The reflection repeatedly punched the real ghost in the face. In pain and desperation, Spirit brought her good leg up and kicked the reflection away from her.

Forcing herself up, Spirit groaned. This was not going well…

"It seems that my little rip-off of the real mirror seems to be effective with a little help…" Mirror Master walked out of the mirror that was furthest away from her. His laser gun was pointed at her.

Spirit eyed the weapon. That had to be ectoplasmic tech. How did he get that? There was no way he could unless… "Ectoplasmic weapons are available on the black market…"

"How insightful." Mirror Master stated. "Yes, but they are quite expensive. This cost me an arm and a leg."

Spirit frowned. It made sense. In fact, every ghost suspect this would happen after Fenton Works was robbed and destroyed.

Even then, the gun wouldn't be enough on its own to hurt her. Mirror Master just came up with a good plan. For a moment, Spirit wondered what Phantom would do in this situation. Maybe he would make duplicates, or use his ice powers…

Or even the Ghostly Wail.

She did not have those options, though. Such powers were far too advanced for her. Spirit would have to work with what she had.

'I have to destroy those mirrors…' Spirit realized. If Mirror Master couldn't move as quickly, she might be able to win.

If only Fright Knight hadn't been trapped. The mirror he had been pulled into must have been special because if Fright Knight was in the mirror world, he would have cut Mirror Master down when the villain entered the mirror. Or maybe the mirror world was just incredibly complicated. Fright Knight might just be lost…

Either way, it was obvious that Fright Knight wouldn't be able to help her. In fact, no one would be coming to help her. Spirit was on her own.

"Ack!" Spirit cried out as her reflection kicked her into the air.

The halfa slid to a halt after a second. She wasn't given the chance to get up, though. Mirror Master shot her in the shoulder before she could react.

Spirit gasped and held her shoulder in pain. She couldn't move that arm anymore. Now she was handicapped for this fight…

"Well, this plan obviously works on you." Mirror Master sighed. "But I was hoping to test it on Phantom. It needs a real challenge."

"I am a-GAh!" Spirit was hit by her reflection's blast of a ectoplasm.

"No, you're not." Mirror Master noted.

The reflection kicked Spirit in the chin.

"You're merely a weaker version of Phantom." Mirror Master mocked.

Spirit felt her stomach burn as her reflection's glowing green fist implanted in her stomach.

"You are worthless and weak."

The reflection grabbed Spirit and flung her away. Spirit flew through the air and crashed into the display with the mirror that Mirror Master wanted. The glass shattered and the mirror fell to the floor with Spirit.

"No…I'm not…" Spirit mumbled through the pain. No! She was strong! She was powerful! She was…She was…

Completely defeated.

"Gah…" Spirit moaned as she tried to rise, but collapsed in a heap. She had taken too much damage.

How did this happen? Was it because there were two opponents? No, if it were Danny, he would find a way to win. He could do it without help.

Not her, though. She needed help. The halfa girl was now the damsel in distress. How pathetic was that? But really, how often had this happened? In her past two fight before this one, she had to have her life saved by others. Without them, she would have been killed.

It was then that Spirit realized how weak she really was. She always acted so tough, but when was the last time she backed it up without help? Spirit couldn't even remember right now.

She felt like crying. All the stress of the past few months finally caught up with her. She was trembling in despair. Nevertheless, she fought off the tears. She refused to give Mirror Master the satisfaction.

"It's over, little girl." Mirror Master pointed his laser gun at Spirit.

('Gun fires. Laser hits head. Death.') Spirit's Premonition warned.

"No!" In one motion, Spirit ignored the pain and pushed herself to one knee. Her other hand quickly reached out and grabbed the nearby ancient mirror. She quickly used the mirror to block the laser and return the blast to Mirror Master.

"Gah!" Mirror Master yelped in pain. He was sent tumbling back.

"I may be weak now, but I refuse to die!" Spirit exclaimed. "I will get stronger! Then I won't have to be so reliant! I will and strive to become better! One day, people will recognize the name of Spirit as something more than Danny Phantom's partner! I will be recognized as one of the strongest!"

"Good for you, little brat." Mirror Master growled. He looked at the nearby reflection. "Kill her."

Spirit struggled to gain the rest of her strength. She focused as much energy as she could through her body. The halfa began to gain a green glow.

'Think of way to push yourself.' Spirit instructed herself. 'Think of those who push you to be better…'

Danny

Dad

Valerie

Wulf

And don't forget the friend that had passed. Don't forget Kle-

"AH!" Spirit shouted in pain as she felt her energy be drained from her. What was happening? Where was her power going? Why…Why was she…

The mirror in Spirit's hands began to glow. It appeared to be draining power from her. The glass of the mirror seemed to be swirling with energy and images. Then, green energy blasted out of the mirror.

Spirit collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"What?" Mirror Master glared through the smoke. He saw an image stand in front of him and the reflection. It wasn't the girl, though. No, this person was a lot taller.

"Who are you?" Mirror Master questioned.

No answer.

"Don't tell me…the girl used the Mirror of Memories?" Mirror Master questioned. "No…there is no way she could possess that much energy."

There was still silence.

"I am the winner here! Reflection, attack!" Mirror Master ordered.

The reflection immediately obeyed. The Spirit copy instantly lunged at the person standing over the original Spirit. It didn't get far, though. It was stopped in an instant.

"What!?...Wait! What are you…No!" Mirror Master cried.

The room was covered in blue light.

The team left Bane and the other men hidden in the forest. They would be dealt with later. Now, though, they had to get into the factory.

After finding the secret entrance under a bolder, the team quickly made their way through the secret tunnel. It was fortunate that Miss Martian had gotten so much information from Bane. She now knew these tunnels like the back of her hand.

"Make sure to stay together right now." Phantom looked over at Robin and Kid Flash. "We cannot afford to be separated."

Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian all nodded. Kid Flash and Robin looked somewhat frustrated, but agreed nonetheless. Phantom wondered what those looks meant for a moment, but quickly brushed it off. Now was not the time to let his mind wander.

After getting into the factory and successfully hiding, Phantom looked at the others. "There's a computer system up there. Robin, you're the best hacker."

"On it!" Robin was about to go, but was stopped by Phantom. "What?"

"Something's not right…" Phantom placed his free hand over his ear. The radio wasn't working. "Our communication is jammed.

Everyone checked their ears. Aqualad frowned. "That's not good."

"We really can't get separated then." Kid Flash noted.

"I can hear anything you whisper in this room." Superboy noted.

"That won't help the rest of us with normal hearing…" Robin sighed.

"We need to communicate…" Phantom looked over at Miss Martian. "Can you help with that?"

"Yeah, I can set up a mental link, but…" M'gann's eyes wondered to Superboy. "I don't…"

Superboy looked away.

"SB," Phantom stated. "We don't have much of an option. I trusted Miss Martian, now it's your turn."

Superboy slowly nodded. "Fine."

"Okay." Phantom nodded at Miss Martian. "Do it."

If Phantom could describe how having the mental link set up, he would say that it felt like a speaker phone had been turned on in his head. It wasn't painful, but it was…weird.

'Can everyone hear me?' M'gann questioned mentally.

'Wow, that's weird.' Kid Flash mentally groaned.

'But it worked.' Aqualad nodded at M'gann.

'It did…' Superboy noted.

'Now, what?' Miss Martian questioned.

'Because of the mental link, we can instantly communicate.' Phantom explained. 'Now we can regroup immediately if needed, but for now, we should spread out through the factory. Find out as much as you can and stay in contact.'

'What about that thing that defeated Bane in his memories?' Miss Martian questioned.

'Right now, we should avoid combat, but just in case, we'll stay in groups of two. Robin and Kid Flash can access the computers. Miss Martian and Aqualad can stay low and try to get an idea of what's going on. I'll fly Superboy up to the catwalk invisibly. This will allow him to get the best view and scope of what's happening. Is that okay with everyone?' Phantom finished.

Everyone nodded.

'Okay, let's spread out.'

The groups then dispersed. Phantom quickly grabbed Superboy under his armpits and turned invisible. The halfa flew them over factory and began to observe what was happening.

'They look like their only taking out new shipments.' Superboy stated.

'Does Venom expire?' Phantom questioned.

'It takes a long time.' Robin noted. 'Years actually.'

'Guys, I read the minds of the Kobra Cultists. They keep thinking about some new type of Venom.' Miss Martian explained.

'That is not good.' Aqualad noted. 'It could be the substance that made the monster that beat Bane while he was using Venom.'

'…Um, yeah, I think that's exactly what it is.' Kid Flash informed them. 'From what Rob hacked, the Venom was mixed with Blockbuster formula from Cadmus.'

'It changes the user into a powerful monster…permanently.' Robin explained.

'Great…' Phantom groaned mentally. 'Just what we need.'

'…I hear a helicopter.' Superboy noted.

'That could be the buyer.' Aqualad stated.

'Miss M, bring Aqualad to the catwalk above at the top of the factory.' Phantom ordered. 'We'll meet him up here. Then, you can go take a look at the buyer. Find out who it is.'

'Understood.' Miss Martian confirmed.

Phantom and Superboy quickly met up with Aqualad on the catwalk. Phantom noted. 'We might need to destroy the supply of Kobra Venom.'

'Venom can be rather explosive.' Robin noted. 'It wouldn't take much to send this place sky high.'

'Isn't that a little extreme for a covert operation?' Kid Flash questioned.

'Maybe, it depends…' Phantom looked over the factory.

'Depends on what?' Superboy questioned.

'Who the buyers are. When they're going to do the trading. If we have a few days until the trade, then we'll be safe to leave and turn this over to the Justice League. But if it happens now...well, we might have to act.' Phantom explained.

Aqualad nodded at the halfa. 'That makes sense, but I would prefer to avoid any more fighting.'

'Agreed.' Phantom acknowledged. 'I think we can avoid an all out brawl.'

'Phantom, I found the buyers. Sending a mental image to the entire team now.' Miss Martian informed.

'…Or maybe not…' Phantom's fists clenched. 'Crap…'

'Sportsmaster!' Aqualad mentally shouted in alarm. 'We are official over our heads.'

'We've been over our heads since we found out about Kobra!' Kid Flash exclaimed.

'We can take him!' Superboy stated.

'It's not him I'm worried about…' Phantom felt sweet run down his neck. 'It's the other two that are the wild cards…'

'Who are they?' Miss Martian questioned as she followed the group of villains into the factory.

The group consisted of several people. Kobra was a pale man wearing a red robe with a snake hood. The giant being with tough grey skin and red hair was the mammoth that beat Bane. Sportsmaster was the blond man in the goalie mask and sports equipment. In addition, there was a man as pale as death wearing a white suit and black hat.

There were also two girls in the group. One girl had red hair and tattoos. The other, however, was different. She had pink hair set into two horns. Her black and purple leotard top went into a short skirt. Her pants had black and purple stripes.

'The really pale guy in the suit is a ghost named Walker. The girl…her name is Jinx.' Phantom informed.

'Never heard of her…' Everyone could practically hear Kid Flash drooling.

'Trust me, she's dangerous.' Phantom warned. 'They both are.'

'Then what do we do?' Miss Matian questioned as she landed by the boys on the catwalk.

Phantom watched as the group walked through the factory. 'This is an emergency situation. This place needs to go down now.'

'But how do we do that?' Aqualad questioned.

'Robin, Miss Martian, and I can set up explosives. I have plenty with me that we can use. We need to be careful, though.' Phantom warned. 'Kobra, Sportsmaster, Walker, Jinx, and even that…Mammoth might be able to spot us.'

'What about the rest of us?' Superboy questioned.

'SB, stay up here, you're the look out. Also listen in on the group. M'gann, can you send what he hears through the link?' Phantom inquired.

'Yes.'

'Alright, we'll need to know the full details. Aqualad, Kid Flash, sneak outside. Set up explosives on the outside. Like at the helicopter and nearby jungle. That way, we can draw everyone out of here with a distraction.' Phantom informed.

'No one will get hurt by the explosions.' Robin realized.

'Yes. Any arguments?' Phantom questioned.

There were none.

'Then let's do this.'

"Ch…ke up….irit!...wake…up!" Fright Knight nudged Spirit awake.

"Ugh…" Spirit groaned as her eyes opened. "What…what happened?

"I was hoping you could tell me." Fright Knight sighed.

"What do you mean?" Spirit sat up and was instantly surprised. She was lying in a soft pile of…snow. It wasn't cold, though. In fact, it was almost like a bed.

"That…" Fright Knight gestured at the snow, then the rest of the room. "And that."

Spirit looked around and was shocked. Everything was completely frozen. The only thing that was even partially free of ice was Mirror Master. His torso was frozen to a nearby wall. The rest of him was okay, but he appeared to be unconscious.

"What the…" Spirit's eyes widened.

"My thoughts exactly…" Fright Knight helped the girl to her feet. "Did you do this?"

"No…or, at least, I don't think I did…" Spirit shrugged.

"Then who…" Fright Knight's gaze went to Spirit's hands. "What are you holding?"

"Oh, this?" Spirit held up the ancient mirror. "This was what Mirror Master was after."

Fright Knight snagged it from Spirit.

"Hey! Rude much?!" Spirit glared.

"This is…" Fright Knight gripped the mirror painfully. "Bad. I thought this was gone..."

"What is it?" Spirit questioned.

"Something that is very dangerous…" Fright Knight eyed the mirror. "Did…you use this?"

"I…" Spirit remembered the fight. She remembered her last stand. She remembered the sudden drain in her energy. She remembered…

Her weakness.

Spirit's shoulders instantly slumped.

Fright Knight noticed this. "Did you remember anyone that…has passed?"

"Huh?" Spirit mumbled and looked up sadly. She looked like a kicked puppy. "I don't…I guess. I did think about Klemper for a moment."

"The ice ghost friend of yours and my lord." Fright Knight noted. "And this place is frozen."

"Um…yes?" Spirit questioned. "Does that matter?"

"Yes, but…I can't take this right now. If a ghost goes and steals a priceless artefact… Tensions will skyrocket." Fright Knight sighed. "I will leave it hear and inform Vision of what happened...or perhaps she probably knows. This happened while I was in the mirror, so I didn't sense it, but many others might have sensed it happen."

"And what did happen?" Spirit eyed the frozen room in distaste.

"Your victory." Fright Knight noted. "You defeated Mirror Master on your own."

"But the mirror…"

"Is merely a tool." Fright Knight stated. "Using tools and weapons are a part of battle."

"…I guess…"

"Spirit, this is your victory."

"Maybe…"

But it sure didn't feel like it…

After giving the team their share of the bombs, Phantom went to work in order to uphold his part of the plan. Despite being invisible, people could still hear him and see what he did to the environment. He would need to be careful.

While this was happening, Phantom heard what the group of villains were saying through M'gann's mental link.

"Did you run into any problems, Lord Kobra?" Sportsmaster questioned.

"There was a problem with Bane and his men, but that will soon be dealt with." Kobra noted.

"Hmm…" Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Should I deal with him?"

"No, my men can handle it." Kobra noted.

"Doubtful." Walker glared at the humans. "They aren't alert enough for my tastes."

"Here we go…" Jinx rolled her eyes. "I have to hear this all the time since I was made your babysitter. It's always, 'my prison this,' and 'my prison that.' It's annoying as hell."

"My prison was the greatest until Danny Phantom messed it up." Walker growled. "And I never asked to have you as my stalker."

"Someone has to keep an eye on the new guy." Jinx smirked. "Besides, this is my vacation from my last mission."

"Be quite you two." Sportsmaster snapped. "Lord Kobra doesn't want to hear you squabble."

"Quite the contrary. These mortals' little spat amuses me." Kobra stated. "Especially the part about Danny Phantom."

"Interested in the spook?" Sportsmaster questioned.

"Who isn't these days?" Kobra chuckled. "He's quite the interesting topic. In fact, I've heard that you had a run in with him when Daniel Fenton was kidnapped."

"Don't remind me." Sportsmaster growled. "That's the last time I'll go easy on the little snot."

"You just chose the wrong approach." Jinx shrugged. "He won't go down easily in an open fight. You need to sneak up on him and take him out before he can react. Trust me, he's not the type for stealth. It would be easy to get the jump on him."

"If you're human. He can sense ghosts…" Walker mumbled.

"You seem to know quite a lot about Phantom." Kobra mentioned.

"I observed him." Jinx gained a wide grin. "That's all I need to do to know everything about him."

"Oh? How so?"

"Trade secret."

'Are your ears burning, Phantom?' Kid Flash joked through the mind link.

'Not funny.' Phantom placed the last bomb.

'Just be careful not to sneeze.' Robin chuckled mentally.

'Oh, shut up.' Phantom growled. 'I'm done by the way.'

'Ditto!' M'gann cheered.

'That makes three of us.' Robin responded.

'That's all the bombs.' Aqualad noted.

'What do we do next?' Superboy questioned.

'I'm going to get you out of here.' Phantom informed. 'Miss Martian and Robin can get out on their own. Once everyone is ready, blow the bombs on the outside, Kid.'

'My absolute pleasure.' You could almost feel the grin on Kid Flash's face.

'Once that is done, everyone will come out running.' Phantom explained. 'Once that happens, and they are far enough away from the factory, jump them. Kid Flash and Aqualad, distract the goons. If you finish quickly, help who looks like they need the most help. Miss Martian, brain blast Mammoth. He doesn't look like he can take it. SB, try and take down Sportsmaster. He's human, but tough as nails.

'Robin, take out the red haired chick and distract Kobra. After M'gann is done, she'll help you take down the snake, then you two can help SB takedown Sportsmaster.' Phantom finished.

'What about you?' Miss Martian asked.

'I'm going to take down Walker and Jinx.' Phantom answered. 'I'm the only one familiar with their powers and fighting styles. I'll hold out until you guys can back me up. But Kid, make sure to blow up the factory before you get too into the fight. And most importantly, remember the drills that we've been working at the Cave. Any questions?'

There were none.

'Alright, go!'

The following events occurred just as Phantom predicted. The reactions of the villains were predictable. They were soon gaping at the burning remains of the helicopter and jungle trees. In a side note, Phantom had to thank Vlad for all the strategy training…

That was when the team attacked. Everyone went to their assigned targets. Phantom didn't pay attention to that, though. He didn't even pay attention as the factory was destroyed in explosions. He had his own targets to attack.

"What is going on!?" Jinx shouted.

"How should I-Ah!" Walker shouted in surprise as something grabbed him and threw him into Jinx. The two villains went tumbling until they came to a halt several feet away.

"So I'm not very stealthy, huh?" Phantom turned visible and faced the duo. "Well, I just managed to trick all of you without you knowing it."

"Punk!" Walker barked as he got to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Tracking you down, Walker. You're a wanted man." Phantom answered.

"And you brought along the sidekick brigade apparently…" Jinx eyed the other members of the team of young heroes.

"Don't think I forgot about you, Jinx." Phantom glared at the girl. "I remember what you did in my town…"

That's right…he remembered. He remembered everything about Jenifer…or Jinx…or whatever he should call her. She was the girl that he once called a friend, but she really wasn't. She was secretly working with the Shadows in order to trick Danny and rob Fenton Works.

Despite these circumstances, Fenton and Jenifer separated on generally good terms after a heartfelt goodbye. Phantom and Jinx, however, were still enemies.

"Do you really think you can beat to two of us?" Jinx smirked.

'No, not at this time…' "Of course." Phantom took a self-defense stance.

"Then get ready, punk!" Walker flew at Phantom at full speed.

Using his agility, Phantom dodged the charge but was forced to change course. Jinx's pink hex blasts barely missed Phantom. Phantom then used this opportunity to charge at Jinx. All the while, Jinx continued to fire hex blasts at Phantom. Each blast was skillfully dodged.

Phantom was about to attack Jinx, but was stopped. Walker grabbed the halfa's leg and slammed Phantom into the ground. Unable to roll away, Phantom was forced to faze through the ground in order to dodge Jinx's hex blasts.

A moment later, Phantom fazed through the ground and tried to hit Walker in the jaw. The ex-warden quickly blocked this blow, however, "Is that all? You've gotten slower, punk!"

Another Phantom came out of the ground and hit Walker in the face. "It's called duplicates!"

Before Phantom could react, a large hex bolt hit him and his duplicate. The duplicate quickly faded. Then, Walker kicked Phantom in the back. Phantom went tumbling forward and was unable to dodge another hex bolt.

"You're moves have gotten smother, but they lack the speed, power, and ferocity you had before…" Jinx noted. "Off day?"

"More like long night…" Phantom picked up his bruised body. He might be able to regenerate, but he no longer had the luxary of being able to use it on anything other than fatal wounds. If he did, he would exhaust himself to the point of collapsing.

"Good for us!" Walker nailed a hook punch on Phantom's head. Phantom, however, used this momentum to spin around and hit Walker with a spinning back fist.

Dodging to the left, Phantom allowed Jinx's hex bolt to hit Walker. The ex-warden was sent flying back. In her surprise, Jinx let her guard down and allowed Phantom to hit her with an ectoplasmic blast.

'That's it…' Phantom realized. 'They have no teamwork. I can use that.'

Phantom quickly position himself next to Jinx. The pink eyed girl reacted immediately and sent several kicks at Phantom. Phantom dodged each kick. Then, the halfa suddenly swerved. The side kick nailed Walker in the stomach.

"Gah! Watch it!" Walker glared.

"Don't get in my way!" Jinx shouted.

Phantom stayed in between Jinx and Walker. Usually, this would be a bad thing in a fight, but because the duo lacked teamwork, they kept accidentally hitting each other.

Eventually, Phantom saw the perfect opening.

One of Walker's punches hit Jinx in the midsection. This caused her to hunch over. Phantom quickly acted. He grabbed Jinx's head and used it to hit Walker straight in the jaw. This greatly hurt both parties.

Phantom then gathered green energy into his fist. He blasted the duo away from him in a devastating blow. The energy in it was probably too much considering Phantom's lower energy, but he didn't have a choice. He had an opening, and he took it.

Both villains were sent crashing into the trees. Phantom quickly followed after them. He needed to end this, so he pulled out a Fenton Thermos. He could capture Walker and knock Jinx out.

By the time Phantom got to their location, Jinx and Walker were both on their feet. They looked agitated and bruised. It was clear that they couldn't work together at this moment.

"Heads up!" Phantom aimed his thermos at Walker.

He wasn't captured, though. Jinx stepped in the way and stopped the thermos' power. But…the odd thing was that some of Jinx's energy was being sucked up by the thermos.

Phantom quickly stopped and examined the thermos. "What?"

Did it have an effect on meta-humans?

"I think it would be best to implement the rule of retreating." Walker suggested.

Jinx looked past Phantom at the team. She frowned at the sight. "I agree. Until next time, cutie."

Before Phantom could stop them, both Jinx and Walker disappeared in a swirl of pink energy. Sighing, Phantom groaned. "Damn, almost had them…"

"It was a good shot, though." Kid Flash zipped up to Phantom. "You took them both on at once."

"Yeah…" Phantom looked at the others as they approached him. "Did it work?"

"Of course!" M'gann smiled.

"They didn't stand a chance." Robin smirked. "After Miss M knocked out Mammoth, she did the same to Kobra."

"Unfortunately, Sportsmaster ran away when the goings got tough." Superboy rolled his eyes.

"Too bad…" Phantom remembered how Sportsmaster interacted him (as Fenton) in the past. He threatened Dani's life, sucker punched Fenton, and tried to kill Fenton during his escape from the Shadows. Needless to say, Phantom wanted Sportsmaster behind bars.

"Can't get them all." Kid Flash shrugged.

"But we did good work here." Aqualad smiled. "We discovered the disturbance, destroyed the supply of a dangerous new chemical drug, and captured several dangerous criminals. It was a good night's work."

"Yeah." Phantom nodded. "Pretty good for not having a leader, huh?"

The team stared at him. Forget everything discussed before. Danny Phantom is completely clueless.

"What?" Phantom raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you get it, spooky?" Kid Flash flung his arm around Phantom's shoulder. "You're the leader."

"What?"

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann smiled. "It's completely obvious."

"Not that hard to figure out." Superboy smirked.

"But…I …" Phantom didn't know what to say.

"You were the one to lead us when things became difficult." Kaldur explained. "You were the one that not only kept us all safe, but also united us to come out the victors of this battle. These are the things a true leader does."

"…Are you guys sure?" Phantom questioned. "I…don't have a perfect record for making the perfect choices."

"We all make mistakes, man." Robin shrugged. "But you are the only one here with leadership experience. I, kind of wanted to be leader myself-"

Kid Flash snorted. "Kind of?"

Robing ignored him. "But you are clearly the best choice. Anyone can see that."

"…Okay then. I'll try, but I don't make any promises…" Phantom conceded. He wasn't completely sure about this, though. The concept of leading...frightened him, but...the looks they were giving made him fell like he didn't have a choice.

"Don't worry about it, bro." Kid Flash playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You've totally proved yourself."

Kaldur smiled. "We trust you."

'But should you really…' Phantom wondered to himself.

"Exactly, and we especially trust you to explain everything to Batman." Robin smiled.

Phantom looked around at all the destruction. "Please, Batman had to expect this if he put me on this team."

No one could argue with that.

(Friday-July 23, 2010)

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Batman got right in Phantom's face.

"Well, we managed to discover what was happening to the Venom, destroy the new drug, and capture Bane, Kobra, Mammoth, and a ton of cultists." Phantom explained. "Oh, and Kid Flash got one of the cultist's mask as a souvenir."

"Bro, leave me out of this…" Kid Flash mumbled.

"It was a simple recon mission. Observe and report." Batman glared.

"And if we did that, the world might now be threatened by Kobra Venom." Phantom noted. "You can reprimand me all you want, but everything that was done was the right call. In the end, Young Justice returned safely, and the world was made a little safer."

The other members of the team perked up at 'Young Justice.'

Batman was silent for a moment. Then, he said. "You each will receive a written report of every little detail that you did wrong, but in the end…good job."

Everyone perked up at that.

"I agree. The right calls were made at the most important moments, and the team…Young Justice completed the mission and returned safely." Batman acknowledged as he began to walk away. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success."

Phantom smiled at that.

"And how you determine who leads, determines character." Batman added in, then sighed. "Besides, I expected this the moment Phantom was placed on this team."

Phantom gave Robin a look that said, 'I told you so!'

After Batman left, Superboy looked at Phantom. "Young Justice?"

"I don't know." Phantom shrugged. "I just can't stand being called 'the team.' It annoys me."

"Where'd you come up with that?" M'gann questioned.

"I came up with a list." Phantom held up said list. "My final two were the Teen Titans and Young Justice."

"Why go with the latter?" Aqualad questioned.

"It…felt right." Phantom nodded.

"Well, I like it!" Wally interjected. "I think it suits us."

"It does seem…fitting." Aqualad nodded.

"Perfect!" M'gann smiled.

"It's alright with me." Superboy shrugged.

"Young Justice…it notes that we are affiliated with the League, but we're our own group." Robin smiled. "Awesome."

"Glad you like it…" Phantom began walking away to the Zeta Tube. "It would have sucked if I had a mutiny on my hands over the name."

"What would you have done if we hated the name?" Robin questioned.

"Cried in the corner for a while." Phantom said with all seriousness.

There was a moment of pause, then, the entire Cave was filled with laughter.

"Are you paying attention, Phantom?" A woman covered in purple robes, purple headdress, and purple veil questioned.

"What?" Danny, in human form, looked up from his Tucker Phone.

"Give me that." Vision, the Ghost Zone's Undefeated Strategist and most dangerous ghost, grabbed the phone. "The Mirror of Memories is more important than the Goddess of the Hunt needing arrows."

"Umm…" Danny frowned. "It's not actually…"

"Daniel," Vlad sighed as he looked at his apprentice across the living room of the Masters Mansion. "This is serious."

"I know, but I've got a lot to deal with right now…" Danny sighed.

"Yeah, we know." Dani mumbled from the couch. She was holding Cujo closely to her. "But in case you didn't notice, we have a crisis on our hands."

"When did you become so serious?" Danny questioned. "Besides, there's always a crisis about to happen. Remember, Grundy? Freakshow? We still need to solve those problems first. How do we contain the zombie and how do we catch the freak?"

"This is different. There is nothing we can do the interfere in those situations right now. But with this, we can." Vision noted. "We are talking about the Mirror of Memories and the immediate danger it represents."

"Yeah, I know." Danny gestured to Fright Knight who was standing in the corner. "He told me about it. Wide Smile Jester of the Ancient Six originally made the mirror. No one knew what happened to it, and now it's both found and activated."

"And that is why we need to get the mirror before anyone else does." Vision explained. "The destruction it could cause would be terrifying, but we cannot just take it. Ghosts are now being watched closely by the world's governments. You and Spirit might be an exception because of your good deeds and get way with running all over the place, but everyone else…"

"What mirror do?" Wulf questioned as he looked at Vision.

"It can make…a reflection of a memory." Vision noted. "Jester wanted to use it to give people closure to those lost, but people aren't remembered exactly how they existed, but how they were perceived. The memory is distorted. Sometimes better, sometimes worse."

"I'm not seeing the impact yet." Danny noted.

"That is the impact. The Mirror of Memories can essentially bring the memory of a person to life. It takes a memory, gives it form, and, in many cases, sends it to battle." Vision stated. "It takes a lot of power to do so, though."

"But Dani used it on her own…" Danny noted. "How much power does it need?"

"A lot." Vision explained. "Using it exhausted Spirit, but it did work. I believed it created a reflection of your friend Klemper."

"…" Danny frowned. "I…see…"

"If it gets into the wrong hands, the mirror could possibly make an army of reflections. Soldiers that feel no pain and do not tire." Fright Knight joined the conversation.

"But it would require an enormous amount of power." Vlad mentioned. "Powering that kind of army would be difficult."

"It is possible, though." Vision acknowledged. "The universe is full of power sources that could fuel the mirror."

"Okay, this thing's dangerous." Danny nodded. "What do we do?"

"Like I said, we cannot just take it. It would lead to a lot of trouble." Vision explained. "I will need to make a formal request to move the mirror to a safe location. Until then, I will place my servants on guard for the mirror. They will be instructed to especially look out for Freakshow and the 6 most wanted ghosts."

"Not just them, though." Fright Knight noted. "By now, anyone with the ability to sense the mirror's power knows of the mirror's location."

"So basically, we're going to have a ton of dangerous groups of people scrambling to attack my city and steal the Mirror of Memories?" Danny wanted to clarify.

"Exactly."

"Like I didn't have enough problems to deal with."

The Ghoul Project…

Joel didn't know what to think when he first arrived at the facility. They were underground, so Joel instantly knew escaping alone would be difficult. Then there was the massive steel wall, armed guards, and glass tubes with monsters floating in them.

At that point, Joel knew escaping alone was impossible.

As he sat in his steel cage, Joel watched as the scientists moved back and forth. He had watched. He learned. He saw what they were doing to the others that were being held here.

Every single one of them were dying slowly and painfully.

Well, that wasn't true. One of the 'experiments' lived through the process. That big pale guy with more muscles than brains. Apparently, his unusual relation with the Lazarus Pit caused the body to become incredibly durable.

"What was his name…" Joel wondered out loud. He was always terrible with names. "Sasquatch Groopy?...No…Hmm…I forget…"

Despite the deadly situation, Joel remained calm. That's how it always was. No matter what life threw at him, he just shrugged it off.

Grew up in an orphanage for six years?

He shrugged it off.

Adopted by an organization of assassins?

He shrugged it off.

Thrown out of the organization and put in a hellish lab experiment where he would surely die?

He shrugged it off.

Joel's seemingly indifference normally turned people off. It made him appear cold and unfeeling, but that was far from the truth. Joel just didn't let the small things get to him. When he was motivated, though, Joel was unbreakable. Like the League of Shadows quickly found out when Joel refused to kill.

Joel then noticed that his daily food and water had been slid into his cage. The ten year old made his way to the necessary substances. For now, he needed them to live.

But for how long exactly?

Bonding Moment: Aqualad

Aqualad flipped Phantom onto the floor of the Cave's training area. He held his fist right in front of Phantom's face. "You are distracted."

Phantom groaned. "What gave it away?"

"Normally, it takes longer to hit you." Kaldur helped Phantom to his feet. "What happened?"

"A lot of confusing crap at home. Don't worry." Phantom shrugged. "I've got family and friends to help me deal with it."

"It must be nice to have such people you can trust." Aqualad noted.

"You act like you don't have any." Phantom stated. "You were the one that said you trusted me."

"That I did." Kaldur nodded. "I suppose I forgot."

"Forgot! Some friend you are…" Phantom smirked. "The second-in-command shouldn't forget what he says to the leader."

"You…" Kaldur's eyes widened. "I…am second-in-command?"

"Yeah, honestly I thought you were going to lead in the first place, but since everyone seems to think that I'm the leader just because I was ordering people around…" Phantom snorted. "Then you'll just have to settle for being lieutenant."

"I am honored." Kaldur nodded.

"Awesome, now could you help me with my hand-to-hand combat, lieutenant?" Phantom questioned. "I really need to work on it."

"Obviously." Kaldur smirked. "You never take the opportunity to counter attack. I don't understand really. You did fine in your fight with Walker and Jinx."

"I'm trying not to use my powers…It's messing me up." Phantom noted. "If I used them, I could totally beat you."

"Perhaps, but you were the one who set the rules." Kaldur smirked. "You must live with them."

"Technaclly, I'm dead." Phantom noted.

"That explains why your reaction time is so slow."

"Oh! Low blow! Alright, then fish boy. Bring it!"

"Consider it brought."