Touch Of The Past

Chapter 27

The vials are important. They're related to so much. I can feel it. Somehow, I don't think Robin is going to keep them as safe as I want them to be. Should I protect it with ice? No, cold might do something bad to it. Ectoplasm shield? That takes too much energy.

Phantom!

Aqualad's shout brings me out of my thoughts and into action. I make a grab for the vials where Robin left them... on the floor (knew he couldn't do it) and then rush into battle.

The robots are strong, fast, and devastating. They can blast much like I can, but it has blue energy instead of green, despite the fact that they're glowing green. Weird.

I glance around the room, trying to determine what I should be doing. First off, Miss Martian's in trouble. I gather ectoplasm in my hand and shoot it out, hitting it smack in the back. It juts to one side, Miss Martian helping it slam into a wall, spraying vulnerable parts.

As I watch, however, it starts to recall it's broken parts, rebuilding. What in the heck?

I send another blast at it, this time with a little ice, and it freezes a bit to the wall, slowing it's rebuild process. Then I address the other members. Next person in need of help looks to be Superboy. He's got a pile of them on him.

I throw several blasts at several different targets, very pleased when most hit their mark. Doesn't slow many down, though. These things are resilient. What makes them work?

Superboy smashes several down, and I follow behind him, freezing their parts. They're just machines... There has to be a specific part of them that rebuilds. If I can figure out where it is, we can stop their regeneration and keep them down.

How would I do that?

Trying to puzzle it out, I grab Artemis and Kid Flash where they stand, Kid just barely catching an airborne Artemis. He was just about to ask if she was okay, which would've resulted in them being squashed by two different machines running at them.

Now that we're intangible, the two machines crash together. I freeze them.

I release the couple, who immediately run off towards another swarm that's crowding Aqualad.

How...

My head pounds very suddenly, a flash of several images rushing by. A school building, white with a flagpole, named Caspar. A swirling vortex, green but hinting a little at purple, sparks flying around it. It belongs to me, to my family... An image of myself in a mirror, one hand placed on the glass, an expression of horrified wonder on my face.

Finally, a computer. I rush into it, become part of the electronics, become an avatar in a video game...

That's it! I can overshadow machines!

I'll work out how I figured that out later.

I go intangible and rush into the nearest machine.

The feeling inside is... strange. The programming fights against me like a soul would in a real person's body. The green energy is wholly familiar, it runs through the entire body, feels like... Like me. Green energy... Ugh, I'm such an idiot! This is ectoplasm!

It runs throughout the entire body, pulling it together. I can feel artificial ectoplasm at my chest, hands and feet. Probably the blue stuff.

My vision flickers, identifying intruders in both heat and enhanced vision. I ignore the display and shoot at the other robots, to much more effect. These blasters pack a punch!

"Phantom?" Robin asks, several blades in each hand.

I wave.

He grins, throwing his blades into the robots, which detonate. "Any weaknesses we should be aware of?"