Phantom... •Young Justice•

•Chapter 2•

Song to listen to: "Black Beauty" Lana Del Rey.
•••
3rd Person:

"Harley Quinn has escaped from Arkham, yet again," Nightwing says blankly. "We believe she is with the Joker and they are planning something to rid the entire asylum. We have confirmed their location and have been asked to detain them."

"Another Joker and Harley mission... Iye...This is like the 4th times she'd busted out, man. You'd think they'd crack down on Harley's security more," Blue Beetle states.

"She killed her two guards..." Nightwing looks at him.

BB stays quiet as Nightwing names off Alpha, Gamma, and Beta squads.

Z's POV:

I am paired in Alpha squad with M'gann, aka, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Nightwing.

We take the bio-ship to Gotham warehouse where The Joker and Harley Quinn supposedly are. My squad takes the roof entrance and I slowly slide down into an air duct, only I end up going down the wrong pathways.
Time skip..
"Z, where are you? The mission was breached 10 minutes ago," M'gann says through our mental link.

"M'gann, I can't find my way out... I'm lost," I say looking around.

"We need to get you out, they ambushed us, there are more men than me thought."

"I'm trying to find a way ou-" I am cut off my my own gasp as I fall through a vent. Before my can start flying to catch myself, I land hard on a concrete floor.

3rd Person:

"Z?" M'gann asks worriedly. "Phantom, are you there?"

"M'gann, what's wrong?" Nightwing asks. "Where's Z?" He says breaking Miss Martian from her concentration.

"She's not answering me anymore," she says. "I think she's hurt...".
The bio-ship is being shot at.

"We need to go, or we're all gonna die!" La'gaan says.

"Shut it! What if that was you down there?" The Superman clone says, starting to get defensive.

"We can't stand much more of this. We need to go, we can come back for her," Zatanna says.

Time skip...

Z's POV:

I finally wake up with my head throbbing. I'm tied to a chair with a very large wound on my back. I can feel it still bleeding and someone is playing with my hair. It was out of its braids.

I feel Harley Quinn's presence behind me. I look over my shoulder and there she stood.

"Pudding! She's awakeeee" she cries out.

"Awe finally... We've been awaiting this, girly," I hear The Joker say. "Are you ready for some fun?" He begins to laugh hysterically.

"No not really..." I say trying to think of a song I could sing to find my way out of my restraints. I've found the only way I could teleport was with other people and either way, I'm not that skilled at that power quite yet.

"You know... I've always loved your hair long. It makes me want to-" before he could finish I begin a song.

"I paint my nails black/ I dye my hair a darker shade, of brown/ Cause you like your women Spanish, dark, strong, and proud" I start singing as they start getting dizzy.
"I paint the sky black/ you said if you could have your way/ you'd make a nighttime more to day, so it'd suit the mood of your song..."

They fall to the ground and as they groggily get up, I say, "Can you help me out of these please?!" I look at Harley.

"Sure, lady. How'd you get stuck in there, anyway?" She says untying me.

"Harley, what are you doing?!!" Joker says coming to back to terms with his memory, but it was too late I was long gone.

At Mount Justice...

"Phantom, B08" the Zeta Tube says loudly. As soon as I step out, Batman is towering over me.

"How did you escape?" He says baffled.

"Singing..." I say quietly. "I'm a bit shook up. The team left without me..." I look down.

"They were in danger theirselves. It wasn't a good situation" he explains.

"Oh alright... I'll be in my room..." I say curious to look at the wound on my back.

"You need to go to the infirmary. You're bleeding..." he says walking towards there. I follow him quietly and I sit on the first bed.
I find Black Canary and she dismisses Batman.

"Are you okay?" She asks. "The Joker can be scary..."

"I'm fine..." I say as she cuts the remainder of the back of my suit open.

She gasps and covers her mouth.

"D-did he do this to you?" She comes to the front of me.

"Did he do what?" I say standing up.

"No, no, no..." she says trying to stop me from looking in the mirror.
The Joker carved a large "J" into my back.
•••
One by one, starting with M'gann, the team visited. All except Nightwing, that is. They said apologies for leaving. I assured them it was alright and that I understand. I didn't want to be selfish...
•••
A few days later...

"I always loved your long hair," the voice of the joker echoes through my head.
I stand at the bathroom sink looking in the mirror. Grasping the scissors lightly in my hand. I tap them on the side of my head, deciding if I really want to go through with this.
"Now or never..." I sigh. I take a chunk of my long hair in my hand, and soon all my hair is up to my shoulders.
"It's been getting in the way lately anyways," I think to myself.

Knock knock knock.

"Phantom, mission briefing, now" I hear Nightwing's voice echo in the hall.

"Be right there," I say quickly, looking in the mirror one last time before leaving my room.

As I open my door I hear a quiet gasp. "Why'd you cut off your hair?" He says quietly.

"I wanted to..." I look away from him.. "He knows I'm lying."...

•••
A/n: I'll write more soon!

-Randa🎈