Broken Hearts

Chapter Fifteen

Phantom X

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time."

~Malcolm X~

Titan's Tower 0600 Hours

"Phantom?" Valerie asked walking into the living room. She had called her dad last night and he said that he was going to be in Jump today. She wanted Phantom to meet him. However, when she walked in, she seen a face that she never thought she would seen again. "Danny Fenton?"

"Crap," Danny whispered before disappearing into thin air. Valerie stood there for a few short moments before running to Phantom's room as pieces and parts of what she thought slowly clicked together. The door opened just as the white light disappeared at Phantom's head and feet.

"What's going on?" she demanded glaring at the ghost. Phantom blinked wondering why she had to be the only one up at six in the morning. "Why was Fenton just in the kitchen, and don't lie to me?"

"Valerie," Phantom sighed looking down. Valerie marched over to the frame and pulled the blanket off of it.

"What am I missing? Why haven't you told me the truth?" Valerie demanded glaring at the ghost. "Why do you have pictures of the Fenton Family? They hunted you! And then…I'm so confused," she whispered at the end of her yelling and looked down at the ground. A bright light got her attention and she looked up and watched in amazement as the ring changed Phantom into her old friend.

"I live a life of two people..or at least I did," Danny muttered. "Probably clears a lot of things up."

"You're Phantom…you're alive?" Valerie stuttered not believing this. Her friend that she thought was dead was really a ghost that she once hunted and was killed in the school fire.

"Hee, explains about everything in my life," Danny whispered looking up at her. "If you really think about it."

"I don't understand," Valerie whispered looking back at the pictures before looking at her friend. "You were…I…but they…"

"My parents didn't know," Danny explained slowly walking up to the picture. "It wasn't really my plan for anyone to find out."

"You could've saved them," Valerie muttered. "You could've blown your secret to save them."

"If I would've known that the school would have blown up like it did, then I would've," Danny shot glaring at her. "That explosion would have killed me too if my powers didn't do what they did. I thought I died. I never really activated them on my own, they just did it. No one was around me at the time of it, and when I woke up…it was too late. The entire room was gone and…I seen…I watched their bodies…" Danny stuttered over his words as the horrid memories danced around in his head.

"Oh," Valerie muttered watching her friend's movements carefully. Tears were making fresh paths down his face as pain fluttered in her heart. She realized that burns and scars were also making their way shown in the dancing lights from the ceiling as Danny seemed to disappear into his mind.

"Shut up, Fenton," Kwan shot feeling empowered when Danny just glared at him. Sam put her hand on his shoulder.

"If they go home with burn marks, it's their fault," she whispered laughing. Tucker grinned.

"They'll probably go after you again," he put in. "Then they'll be kicked out of the A-list and two places will be open." He nudged Danny's side.

"I'm trying to keep Fenton invisible now. I don't want him and Phantom both popular. That would be really bad," Danny nudged him back making him walk straight into a desk.

"Hey," Tucker complained holding his leg. "That hurt."

"Shut it you big baby," Sam grinned punching his arm. Danny then pushed Tucker making him fall over a couple chairs. Everyone in the room started laughing.

"Danny," Sam reprimanded. "That was uncalled for."

"Not after what he did to me last night. I call it payback," Danny grinned as he sat down next to Sam. Tucker stood up and sat down behind Danny.

"I hate you," he muttered.

"Love you too, Tuck," Danny shot back looking at his friend upside down. Sam grinned and reached over to gently trace his neck. He jumped up letting out a squeal. The class erupted back into laughter while Danny turned red. "That soo wasn't cool."

"Dude, I've never heard anything like that before," Tucker laughed as Danny hid his face in his arms. He suddenly had an idea and was about to say something when suddenly the door was thrown open as Jack and Maddie entered. The class instantly sobered up.

"Today we are going to be learning about GHOSTS," Jack boomed as he pulled out an ecto gun.

"Jack, that's not why we are here," Maddie reminded sending a small glare at him for pointing a loaded ecto gun at the class. "Class, today we will be learning about how ectoplasm reacts to our normal acids and bases."

"Danny-Boy, come up here and help us," Jack grinned as Danny groaned. He already had enough embarrassment today. Maddie smiled as her son stood up and headed towards them.

"Watch this!" Kwan stated as he mixed a couple acids together before adding the base. It instantly caught fire, and Star flipped out knocking it over causing the papers and cardboards boxes by them to catch fire right away. Suddenly small explosions started happening, and before anyone knew what happened, it was too late.

Phantom blinked trying to get his eyes to adjust. When he looked up, all he seen was the burned and destroyed bodies of his loved ones as his shield melted away. He shakily stood up not believing what had just happened. Suddenly screams and sirens filled his ears, and he let out a painful scream as the fire licked and bit at his form. His vision was clouded as he stood up. His powers started taking over and slowly stopped the fire. He shot out of the school and all the pain and fear he had bottled up from the first time was let lose in a painfully loud scream. Ice raced across the school freezing any flame that got its way. Phantom slowly dropped and disappeared.

"Valerie, I'm going to ask something," Danny whispered looking away from her.

"Anything," she stated looking at him with worry.

"Get out," he muttered looking up at her. "Please. I don't want anyone in here right now."

"Okay," Valerie whispered backing away and heading to the door. "Don't do anything too stupid."

"I just need to be alone," Danny whispered as he felt his powers start taking over once more to calm him down. Valerie walked to the door before turning around and watching Danny lean against his dresser looking to be in agonizing pain. She didn't want to leave him, but she didn't want to go against his wishes either and cause more pain.

"I'll come back later then?" Valerie questioned, but Danny's mind had already shut down anything that was going on. Valerie walked out the door hoping that he was going to be okay.

Danny breathed deeply hoping that he could keep the nightmares and pain away. His felt the temperature in his core drop lower than it has been in while. His breath came out blue, but without the sense of impending doom. He knew it wasn't his ghost sense, but simply the fact that his powers were acting out on their own again. He looked up to see the glass in the frame had gotten foggy and ice slowly formed around his hands that were on the dresser. He felt cold wrap around his form until he collapsed on the ground no longer able to hold on.

Robin paced his room angrily. He hadn't talked to Danny at all the day before, and it was starting to get to him. He knew he screwed up, but he didn't think that Danny wouldn't talk to him. Raven seemed to be planning on making them both sit down, but an alert come on telling them that there was a robbery. When they got there, Robin almost stopped breathing. He didn't need another one of his mistakes to come to light, and now they had to track down Red X. He was glad that Phantom stayed home, but then he wished he was there. They may have been able to take him down before he got away with anything. Red X never fought anything like what Phantom could do, and Robin knew that the ghost would be able to beat him without a problem.

Robin looked out his door debating on whether or not he should go and find Phantom and talk to him or not. He figured that he might as well since they needed him. They needed to figure out what Red X took from the warehouse before they did anything.

Robin looked out his bedroom door before deciding to go to Phantom's room to see if the hybrid was there. He wanted to tell Phantom about Red X before the rest of his team could. He didn't want to break Phantom's trust in him. It already had a few cracks in it already, and he didn't want to make it worse. He walked towards Phantom's room passing Valerie who looked like she was in a different world. He just watched her pass before turning down Phantom's hallway. He got to the door and felt cold air coming out from the bottom, and Robin immediately ran into the room to see Danny collapsed on the floor with ice forming around him.

"Danny," he whispered gently shaking the teen's shoulder. He picked up the teen and gently laid him on his bed. He checked for any unseen wounds, but there wasn't anything. He wondered what happened when a bright ring of light appeared around the teen's waist and changed him into Phantom. Robin panicked slightly wondering if something was wrong when Phantom rolled on his side facing away from Robin.

"Hey, Danny, are you okay?" he questioned concerned. Phantom just groaned in response. "Should I take that a yes or no?"

"How about a go away?" Phantom growled out tiredly. Robin put his hands up.

"I came in here to see you collapsed on the ground, and I was worried," Robin shot back hotly. He instantly regretted how he said that when he noticed the hybrid wince. "People do care about you around here. You don't have to act like nothing happened. Why were you on the floor?"

"Because its uncomfortable," Phantom smarted back sitting up and glaring at the boy wonder. Robin just sighed knowing that the hybrid was still pretty ticked at him.

"What happened that caused you to be passed out on the floor?" Robin questioned watching Phantom stand up on the other side of the bed. His cloak wrapped around him, and Robin realized that it was probably something he was trying to tell them before. Robin felt pain in his chest when he knew it was partly his fault, if not all of it.

"Nothing," Phantom mumbled with a slight quiver in his voice. Fear raced down his spine as he remembered how helpless he was when he woke up. Robin wasn't going to let it go this time though. He was going to get the answers he needed; the ones that Phantom needed to talk about. The ones he wanted them to know.

"Phantom, I'm not letting you try to get out of this anymore," Robin informed pushing it. Phantom felt panic reach his heart. They weren't going to put off what he didn't want to talk about anymore, and he wasn't sure if that was what he wanted or not. "What happened?"

"I…" Phantom stuttered not really wanting them to know that he had been having flashbacks. They had gotten so bad to the point of where he had been losing consciousness. That's why he had Valerie leave. He didn't want her to freak out over it.

"Phantom, you have to tell me what happened. I can't help you unless you tell me what just happened," Robin stated knowing that Phantom couldn't really throw that back in his face since he was asking now. Phantom looked up at him though pain filled eyes.

"I've…I've been having flashbacks," Phantom whispered giving up trying to hide what was bothering him. Robin's face relaxed into one of sympathy. "They're getting worse."

"Phantom, you should've told us when they started," Robin informed walking around the bed towards the ghost. Phantom shook his head.

"I thought I could handle it at first," Phantom mumbled. Robin watched as the walls the ghost had put up slowly start to break. "They started as nightmares…before you even found me. They stayed away for a while, but lately, they've gotten worse."

"Is that why you blew up at the park at me and then by the warehouse with Skulker?" Robin asked as he sat on Phantom's bed waiting for the ghost to answer. The hybrid's shoulders fell and Robin wondered how long Phantom had been holding all this back.

"Part of it," Phantom sighed as he gathered his thoughts. Usually after an episode with flashbacks he would be fine, but this time felt different. "Why did you come in here? It couldn't be because you just wanted to check up on me."

"You're trying to change the subject," Robin pointed out. Phantom looked away and at the head of the bed where his symbol was carved into it. "If we change it, then I don't want you to use this against me. Because I wanted to talk to you about something important. If you're having these flashbacks, we have to find a way to stop them or figure out the cause. Raven could help with that."

"What did you want to tell me?" Phantom asked figuring after wards they could go and talk about the flashbacks.

"It's about who we went after last night," Robin stated watching the ghost carefully. "Red X."

"Sounds like an idiot. I know you guys got your butts kicked," Phantom stated letting a grin came across his face at Robin's annoyed look. "You created it."

"How'd you know?" Robin asked with his mouth hanging open. Phantom turned around suddenly.

"Wait, you actually did create him? I was just messing around trying to mess with you," he muttered glaring at the boy wonder. "You created a bad guy?"

"Okay, I designed the suit, and it was stolen at some point in time," Robin explained giving a sigh. Phantom sat down on his bed and looked at Robin waiting for an explanation. Robin was slightly unnerved by the hybrid's gaze, but he knew that his friend was listening closely and carefully.

"I created it to try to get close to Slade," Robin started. "I created him to try to figure out what he was planning. I needed to get close, and it didn't work."

"I can tell," Phantom muttered. "He's still out there somewhere."

"I know Terra's still in jail, but he disappeared," Robin explained sadly. "We still have to find him. I don't know what we would have done without you in that."

"You created this persona to try to get close to your bad guy. Makes sense," Phantom shrugged. "There's more to it though. Something that caused you to question yourself." Robin looked up to see understanding in Phantom's glowing green eyes.

"I stole these chips and tried to fool him, but he figured me out," Robin explained looking down at the floor surprised at how clean the room was. Phantom was either OCD or he just didn't do much in his room that would cause it to get dirty. "I never told my team."

"Why not?" Phantom asked looking at him wondering how much trust Robin actually had in his team.

"I wanted to convince Slade so badly, and I knew they would go easy on me if I told them. I just…I didn't want…" Robin stuttered trying to figure out his real reasons. It had been so long.

"I would've been harder on you," Phantom whispered looking at him. "Just to prove the point."

"Thanks, that's comforting," Robin muttered knowing how dangerous Phantom could be if he let himself really fight. "But everything blew up in my face."

"Your team lost their trust in you. You have to gain it back," Phantom whispered looking up at Robin. Robin nodded. "Brilliant."

"Thanks," Robin smarted back glaring at the hybrid who was looking across the room. "I'm sure you did something stupid that put hurt on the trust in the people around you."

"Several and multiple times. Most of it was directly involved with keeping my ghost half a secret though," Phantom explained. "I never told my parents who I was. I would come home with unexplainable injuries, and they had no idea what to do. I never truly got their trust though. They never learned the truth."

"There's more isn't there," Robin pressed knowing Phantom had to screw something up at some point.

"I once went into the future to stop myself from destroying the entire world," Phantom muttered. "I didn't listen to my friends. Something happened, and well…I kind of turned evil."

"I think you told a bit about that part," Robin remembered him talking about the destroyed world. "Did they trust you afterward?"

"They were more protective of what I did," Phantom whispered. "We didn't work as a team. We worked as friend's who protected each other. We would help each other out of sticky situations, but I couldn't call us working as a team. Tucker liked to call us Team Phantom, but I was always the one that did the fighting. They just supported me when I needed it. They also did the planning if we knew something was coming."

"Well, we still have to figure out how to catch this guy now," Robin stated looking at Phantom. "First things first, let's see if Raven has any ideas on how to stop the flashbacks. Although, what triggered this last one?"

"Valerie seen me in the kitchen," Phantom whispered looking away. Robin raised his eyebrow trying to figure out how that would do it. "I was in my human form at the time. We went to school together."

"Oh," Robin whispered figuring that was probably part of it. Valerie questioned him until she got the answers, and that's why he passed her in the hallway looking down. She had just learned something about one of her classmates.

"I…when I explained parts of what happened," Phantom muttered looking around his room. "It…it was painful."

"It'll take a while for that pain to die down, but it'll never go away," Robin explained as he started out of the room. "Let's go talk to Raven. She'll probably be able to help us figure out how to stop the flashbacks."

"Alright," Phantom whispered as he followed Robin out of his room and they headed to Raven. Robin asking about a few of them and tried to avoid setting one of them off while Phantom seemed to slightly hesitant to answer anything without a flinch or grimace. Robin felt guilt in his gut at what he was learning about his new friend. The ghost had been hiding more than he originally thought. It wasn't healthy.

Raven sat in her quiet room mediating when she heard a knock on her door. Anger flared in her mind because Beastboy had been knocking on her door for the past half hour wanting her to play some stupid game. She opened the door to yell at him when she realized it was Robin and Phantom.

"What?" she growled out trying to calm herself down. She was still mad at them for fighting.

"Phantom's been having flashbacks," Robin jumped right to the point making Phantom flinch slightly. Raven relaxed herself and closed her eyes. She needed to be calm for this, for Phantom. Phantom and Robin got over whatever it was, and now Phantom took the first step in trying to get better mentally. It was about time he did something.

"What are the flashbacks about?" Raven asked as she let the two in her room. She could make the exception for now. Phantom was in danger, and Robin was trying to help. Phantom looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"From what I noticed, it's the school fire," Robin informed. "He won't talk about everything."

"Not surprising," Raven stated looking the hybrid up and down. He shied away a little and let his cloak close around his form. "Come here." Phantom walked forward as Raven crossed her legs and sat on the floor motioning for him to do the same. He gulped and sat down as well. Robin walked forward and sat so he was facing the two.

"What are you doing?" Phantom asked looking at Raven who used her powers to bring a couple books over while also lighting a few candles to help calm the atmosphere.

"We are going to see why you keep getting flashbacks," Raven stated as she looked through the books. Robin watched her carefully while Phantom curled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them and closed his eyes. Raven looked over at Robin with a worried frown.

"Because I have always ended up with the short end of the stick. No matter what I do," Phantom muttered as he pulled the cloak over his body and pulled his hood up. Raven looked at him before looking back at Robin.

"I thought I was the downer," she mumbled as she shook the hybrid's shoulder. "Phantom, we have to figure out how they are triggered. If we figure that out…" she trailed off when Phantom looked up with completely white eyes. They were wide and fearful. "Danny?" Robin gently put his hand on the hybrid's shoulder worried that something was wrong.

"Danny, what's wrong?" he asked concerned that something was wrong with his friend. Phantom blinked and shook his head. "Danny?"

"I'm okay," Phantom whispered holding his head. "That was just weird."

"Your energy feels like it's changing," Raven whispered placing her hand on his shoulder. Phantom looked up at her with completely white eyes still, but he didn't seem like it was hurting him. "Do you feel any different?"

"Not really," Phantom whispered looking at the ground feeling like everything was beginning to collapse in on him. Robin watched him closely hoping that he was okay. Raven looked into his completely white eyes before pulling open a book she found about ghosts a while ago. She didn't know if it had anything that would help, but maybe she could at least figure out what was wrong with their friend. There was nothing helping her. Nothing in the books told her about ghost's changing eye color or anything.

"Are you sure you don't feel any different?" Robin asked trying to at least get something done. Phantom shrugged.

"My powers are always shifting and changing," he answered. "Just never has happened like this."

"You could be getting stronger," Raven stated thinking that it was the most likely answer.

"Then why am I having flashbacks?" Phantom asked unsure. Robin looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Maybe because you're getting stronger. Your mind is trying to remind that you do what you do for a reason," Robin pointed out. "You said that you had faced your future self in a deadly battle and barely won. Maybe your mind is trying to keep you from doing anything hurtful with the new powers."

"Robin has a pretty good theory," Raven stated looking at Phantom who was curled in on himself. "What do you think, Phantom?"

"I don't know," he whispered as he looked up. His white eyes dimming and green began to show though once again. "That would mean I would have to learn how to control my powers if they change."

"We'll be here every step of the way," Robin assured putting a reassuring hand on the hybrid's shoulder. Phantom sighed and looked to the side before an alarm went off. Cyborg's voice filled the room.

"Red X is attacking Jump National. All Titans to the garage, and yes that includes you, Ghost boy."

Phantom gave a weak laugh before standing up. His eyes were still faded, but they were slowly going back to normal. Robin smiled glad that at least Phantom knew the Titans weren't going to stop helping him just because he'll have to relearn his powers.

"Come on, we have a villain to stop," Robin encouraged as they headed to the garage. Phantom smiled slightly before following them.

"You dressed like an idiot," Phantom stated seeing Red X with a teller pulled up. Red X looked at him before throwing the teller across the room.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately," X taunted back glaring at the new teen. "Titans couldn't handle little old me by themselves."

"I'm actually part of the team; I'm new," Phantom informed leaning into a fighting couch. X laughed before throwing X shaped blades at him. Phantom vanished into thin air making X stop for a moment before looking around.

"So you created another teleporting device, Robin? Interesting," X grinned when Phantom reappeared.

"Not a device, and I didn't teleport," Phantom informed lighting his hands up with blue energy. The temperature in the room dropped sufficiently. X glared at him before getting the rubber X ready to throw. Maybe he could get the teen to leave a spot open when he threw it. However, he wasn't planning on Robin to kick him from behind. X knew he was running out of time, and he had to go before the power in the suit was worn down.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I have places to be and people to see," he grinned behind the mask and vanished. However when he arrived to where he teleported, Phantom was right there.

"It's very hard to hide from a ghost. That's why we're so good at scary people," Phantom grinned aiming his ectobeam at him and firing. It missed when X jumped back.

"You don't give up easily, do you?" X asked as he threw an electroX at the ghost who created a shield in front of him. It absorbed the shock as Phantom let part of the ground go intangible and trapping X to the ground. "Apparently not." He looked up at the ghostly teen before throwing a red X at his chest. It hit home since Phantom wasn't paying attention. Phantom yelped as he lost concentration and X teleported around leaving foot prints in the ground from where he was trapped. Phantom looked up and glared as he pulled the X out of his chest with a wince.

Robin kicked down the door where Phantom's communicator had been traced. He looked around and seen Phantom leaning against the wall glaring across the room. He slowly walked up to his friend to see him holding his chest.

"Phantom, what happened?" Robin asked.

"What did you power the suit with?" he asked switching to glare at the boy wonder. "Whatever it was, it affected my powers to where I can't focus if my energy reaches it." Robin gulped and helped Phantom stand back up.

"I should probably tell everyone. I think I know what he's after," Robin informed as they headed out. Phantom glared at him the entire time. Robin flinched knowing that having the hybrid mad at him wasn't really the best idea at the moment.

"What have you created?" Phantom asked, and those words hit Robin harder than he wanted to admit.

"Xenothium? You used Xenothium?" Cyborg yelled glaring at Robin who looked deeply annoyed. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? That's stuffs unstable; tell me you are not stupid enough to go around messing with it?" Robin sighed and opened his eyes to glare at Cy.

"Like I said, it was a mistake," Robin informed trying to remain mellow. He knew that part of this was his fault. Phantom looked ready to strangle him. "Red X stole a scanner that will scan for Xenothium within a ten miles radius." Robin crossed his arms as he thought over what he could do.

"Then we must find it first," Starfire stated.

"How do we do that?" Beastboy asked.

"Red X isn't the only one with a scanner. I'm uploading it now, and then sending it to our communicators," Cyborg informed as he typed into the computer. Robin was already walking out of the room.

"I don't need it," Robin informed as he angrily headed out. Phantom followed silently.

"Then how are you going to find the Xenothium?" Cyborg asked looking back at them.

"The same way I found it the first time," Robin growled out as he slammed the door. Phantom gently floated through it. "I'm going alone."

"Well, unless you know how to stop me, then I guess I'm going with you," Phantom informed crossing his arms. Robin looked at him before heading down.

"Why?" Robin asked.

"Because I don't want anything bad to happen," Phantom informed and Robin let a small smile appear on his face. It was nice to know that even if Phantom was pissed at him, he was still willing to make sure that he was safe.

Robin jumped down onto the cover machine before silently heading down. He could feel Phantom behind him, but he had asked the ghost to stay silent and not be seen. He only wanted him to show if something happened and he told to help. Phantom nodded and agreed, and Robin knew that it bugged the ghost slightly.

He started walking though looking for the guy when he started getting shot at. He dodged and ducked while heading towards the man shooting at him. He kicked the staff from the man before pinning him against the wall. Phantom silently watching.

"Professor Cheng," Robin grinned as he glared up at the man. Cheng growled out silently upset that the hero broke into his home. "Remember me?"

"Ahh, yes, the good little boy who likes dangerous toys," Cheng laughed a little slightly freaked out by the hero's glare. "How could I forget?"

"The Xenothium, where do you get it?" Robin ordered slamming Cheng against the wall again. Phantom wanted to appear, but thought better of it since Robin probably knew what he was doing. Even though he really didn't agree to what Robin was doing, he was still pretty angry at him for using the dangerous chemical. It was one that his parents avoid due to the way it effected the ghosts. It reacted strangely to them, and often ended up killing them while making an explosion since it was so unstable.

And Robin thought it was a good idea to make a suit that ran on the stuff?

"Nowhere, supplier skipped town months ago," Cheng answered with a frown trying to remain calm. "That's stuff…there's no way to get any…unless." Robin pushed him against the wall even harder.

"Talk," Robin demanded and Phantom sighed. Sometimes the kid could be way too impatient, but he was glad that Robin wasn't willing to go all interrogate on him when he first found him. It probably would have ended differently than it did.

"There's a tech company on the south end. Legend says that they keep a generous supply of Xenothium ore in their vault, but it's not for sale," Cheng grinned wickedly. Robin growled out. "It's locked up tight. You'd have to steal it."

"Not interested," Robin growled out throwing the man into some boxes. "But I know someone who is." Robin jumped out of there. As soon as he started heading towards the city, Phantom appeared behind him.

"I'm kind of glad that you really didn't question me at first," Phantom whispered. "That probably would have ended differently." Robin looked at him.

"You were someone in need of help, and honestly, I was sure in your condition, my team could have taken you down," Robin answered with a grin. Phantom smiled back.

"Yeah, but according to them, you acted differently from normal," Phantom pushed. "Why didn't you question me?" Robin looked at the ground.

"We had just lost Terra, and I guess I knew that the team had a hole now," Robin explained as he sent the address to Cyborg and the rest of them to meet them at the tech lab. "You needed help more than I had thought at first, and I knew something needed to fill the void she left."

"So you decided to use me," Phantom finished with a sigh. Robin looked at him with a small smile.

"You needed us as much as we needed you," Robin input. "If it wasn't for me, chances are you would have either ended up back in a lab or dead."

"Probably," Phantom shrugged. "Although, with how action you are, I would say that something has changed."

"Slade's vanished completely. We have no idea where he went," Robin stated. "He's vanished off the map, and Terra's now in a coma in the prison." Phantom looked at him.

"Seriously?" he whispered. Robin nodded.

"You've been distracting the rest of team. They've been trying to make sure that you're okay, and I've been handling all of that," Robin explained. "They don't need to worry about her right now when they have a friend in need first."

"I'm the distraction," Phantom whispered hating that he was being used, but he could see what Robin meant. He didn't want the team to worry over someone who no longer cared about them. He wanted them to worry about someone who did. Robin gently put his hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Once you're back to being completely okay, and we don't have to worry that you'll end up freaking out over something, then we'll tackle the Slade and Terra issue as a team. We're divided as it is," Robin whispered. "I do still have questions about you, but they can wait."

"About what exactly happened in the lab," Phantom guessed looking at Robin. The leader nodded.

"That along with some stories from Amity," Robin informed as they found the company building where the Xenothium was at. The rest of the team was already there except for Cyborg. Phantom nodded knowing that they were probably about some of the misunderstandings.

"Where's Cy?" Beastboy asked looking at them. Phantom shrugged while Robin clinched his fists. He knew that anything that happened on this mission was his fault.

"There's no sign of Red X," Raven stated as Phantom looked at Robin waiting for instructions. Robin sighed. He could tell that the rest of his team was still pretty mad at him, and Cyborg was now missing. However, Phantom seemed to be the only one who didn't completely hate him at the moment. Probably because he wasn't there, or he somewhat understood how mistakes could hurt the ones around him.

Robin opened his communicator and tried to reach him but got nothing. He growled out and started walking away.

"Red X must have attacked him, if Cyborg's hurt, then it's my fault," Robin stated as he left. Phantom followed him loyally while the rest of the team stood there surprised.

"Robin, you can't really blame yourself. It may not be Red X. He could have stumbled upon another crime," Phantom informed as they walked around the building. Robin looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "Besides, what's happened, happened. There's nothing more you can do than fight."

"You're not going to leave me alone until this is over, are you?" Robin asked making Phantom grin.

"Nah, I'm annoying just as much as I'm helping. It's a win-win at the moment," he answered crossing his arms and standing tall. Robin shook his head as he continued his search of the building. "But I've told you of a few mistakes I've made. The world's still turning and I'm still fighting." Robin looked at him.

"But I created him," Robin pointed out.

"You're not the one in it," Phantom countered.

"And personally it's look much cooler on me," Red X informed throwing a few Xs at them. Phantom instantly put a shield up, and when the crosses hit, Phantom flinched as the Xenothium messed a little with his powers. The other three jumped out from behind him and threw everything they had at him. Red X dodged as much as he could without getting hit. X threw a rubber X at Beastboy and Raven which tied the two together and sent them hurdling towards Starfire who stopped them.

Robin ran at X with a birdarang and attacked. He slid across the roof while Phantom silently froze the ground beneath X's feet. X turned to fight back when he lost his footing and fell on his back. He looked up at the ghost who grinned.

"It's a bit icy here, sorry," Phantom quipped while aiming an ecto blast at him. He dodged and ducked out of the way as Phantom threw one right after another. X pressed the button on his suit which teleported inside the building. Phantom and Robin followed while Star freed the two.

They all headed in.

"Split up, and be careful; I don't want anyone else getting hurt," Robin ordered as he headed in a random direction. Phantom followed him once again. Robin looked at him. "I said split up."

"And there were no more hallways," Phantom informed with a cocky grin. Robin narrowed his eyes, and Phantom sobered up. "Okay, I'm having issues." Robin nodded and let the ghost follow him. Phantom being alone probably wasn't the best decision at the moment since he was still having flashbacks.

"You always have…" Robin cut himself off when he spotted a shadow and ran down the hall. Phantom followed closely behind. They showed up to a control panel where Red X was leaning against the wall. Even though they couldn't see his face, they knew he was grinning underneath his mask.

That's when they heard her scream.

Masters Mansion 1900 Hours

"So he's working with the Titans," Masters grumbled as he paced his office. They were closing in. Everything was crumbling, and the reason…Robin. The Dark Knight's Sidekick. He was looking into everything and somehow managed to get a lot of people against him. "Then I guess we'll have to find a way to make sure that they look bad as well."

"Mr. Masters, you have a conference call on line two," Sherry informed poking her head into the room. Masters groaned.

"Tell them I'm unavailable at the moment," Masters stated glaring at her, and she instantly slid back out of the office. Masters pounded on his desk trying to think of something. He's done enough research to know that he couldn't just use his money and power that he had here in the human world. He knew enough from the mistakes of Lex Luthor. Stupidity.

He needed an edge, but now that Phantom was working with well known and respected heroes, he would soon end up being one of them. He was now near the top of the hero's ladder where he would be recognized wherever he went. Masters growled out. He was sure that tearing everything from the teen and having him trapped would work. Making it so he would be afraid of even talking to other people.

Apparently whatever made Phantom trust the Titans needed to be broken instead of the other way around. They were already dead set on helping him, and he seemed pretty comforted by them. However, he knew how weak Phantom's trust was. It was still brittle. The Titans were working on it though. Phantom was just uncomfortable with people in general, and Masters knew that it was going to be the only way he was going to get the teen.

He just needed to wait for the right moment. He didn't have long either.

Fighting the Titans was asking for trouble.

It's been a while, and Danny's busy watching a video for me

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave it this long, I've just been busy and then I have a horrible addiction to...minecraft...although I learned more about programming creating a server than I did taking a class. I've probably spent over 3 days straight creating games and designing my city in it...it's freaking epic.

However, in all of that. I never stopped writing, I just didn't write on things that needed to be written. I have a bunch of story ideas that have been typed out in rough form...Don't worry, I'm not posting anymore until this and one of the others is done. Then I'll consider it, but not a granutee I'll put another up. I'm also watching a show with a planned crossover, and I can't really get into that until after the season finale because it'll be confusing.

Anyway, I haven't stopped writing at all...don't worry about the other stories. BP is just in the middle of a lot of research which has slowed it down...IL is actually being written, I'm just making sure everything fits and makes sense to some degree. DM is just stopped at the moment because I'm actually happy and not trying to kill people.

Summer will mean slow updates due to school, horse training, drill team, and riding instructor ..I'm busy and what's even worse, I don't get paid for any of that and have to find a job on top of it all...sometimes, my mom volunteering me for free isn't helping anything...at all...However, I'm a poor college student, and have no time. I won't abandon these stories, it'll just be slow due to almost no time...

And yes, I'm getting adequate sleep for those concerned and like to yell at me to sleep when I start getting delusional. Don't worry...it only happened a couple times...in the last three days...XD

I hope to see you sooner, but I have to start on the next chapter. These chapters will be about five pages shorter than usual, but you know what, this'll be the last episode overwrite...then I'm wrapping this damn story up...I'm so tired now...

Danny: You look like hell...

I'm going to kill you...