To Be Human (A Danny Phantom/Young Justice Fanfic)

Chapter Four

"I've been looking into this whole 'ghost' thing some more since Danny mentioned it to Miss M," Robin said, making Wally groan.

"Ghosts aren't real, Rob! There's nothing to look into!" Wally paced the main cabin of the bioship, his teammates watching. "There's absolutely no scientific evidence backing up the existence of ghosts. It's a waste of time!"

"That's what I thought at first, but now I'm not so sure." Robin tapped a few buttons on his holo-glove, pulling up several articles and images from around Amity Park. "Look. The town is literally called 'The #1 Most Haunted Town in America.' Plus, the Fentons are considered ghost experts. They even went to a conference in Metropolis just last week to discuss their findings. Batman and I hadn't looked into their research too much since it didn't seem legit, but I've been going through it more thoroughly. There's a huge shift about two years ago. I think something happened then that gave them more credibility or more access to their subject matter... Anyways, that's about the same time the Amity Park Police Department started getting an increasing number of ghost-related calls, blaming ghosts for anything from kidnapping to property damage. It's also when the first reports of a crime-fighting ghost called Phantom started coming in."

"Two years ago..." Kaldur mused. "That's the same amount of time Danny told us he's had his meta abilities. Is it possible he isn't a meta but some sort of ghost? Perhaps even this Phantom?"

"It would explain the lack of heartbeat," Robin said. He pulled up a blurred image of a glowing figure with white hair, wearing what looked like a black and white hazmat suit. "This is the best picture I could find of Phantom. I tried to clean it up some, but it's like the image refuses to focus."

"Hello, Megan!" M'Gann floated closer to the picture. "Every Earth movie I've watched about ghosts says they're difficult to catch on camera."

"Those movies aren't real, babe," Wally said. "I can't believe any of you are actually taking this idea seriously."

Robin rolled his eyes under his domino mask. "Do you have a better idea of what's going on, Wally? 'Cause I don't!"

Wally grumbled but didn't have a response. He sulked back to his seat, pulling out a protein bar and biting into it without looking at anyone.

Kaldur chose to ignore him for the time being, refocusing on the information Robin had presented. "Perhaps that is how Danny got out of the bioship. From what I've heard mention of, ghosts can essentially density shift, can they not?"

"Do you think that girl with the guitar was a ghost too? She completely disappeared before we could actually do anything." M'Gann looked around as if mentioning her might make the girl reappear, ready to rock the bioship with her soundwaves again.

"If they're ghosts, then where do they go when they aren't here? I doubt they can rent an apartment. What, are they all haunting the houses here or something?" Wally rejoined the conversation, seeming pleased to have come up with a drawback to their ghost idea. "They could just as easily, and more plausibly, be some sort of metahumans or clones or even part-Martian!"

"Actually," Robin smirked, drawing the team's attention back to his holo-glove projections as he swiped through a few more screens, "the Fentons' research centers on something they call the Ghost Zone. Their more recent work details it as an inverse of our world where all ghosts exist in their own 'lairs.' Sometimes they cross between there and here via natural portals. The Fentons tried to remove some of their research, but the internet is forever. Guess what they were working on two years ago?" Robin paused, but no one guessed. "You guys are no fun. They were building their own portal to the Ghost Zone."

"You think that's what caused Danny's meta abilities, his ghostly abilities, to manifest," Aqualad confirmed, if a little hesitantly. Robin nodded. "Very well. If he's been acting as a hero for the last two years, perhaps we should try approaching Danny as Phantom. If we can prove we mean no harm, he may be more willing to cooperate."