Hooded Phantom Rebirth

Season 2: Episode 21

Joseph's POV

We laid Mike's unconscious body onto one of our beds as Davila began the procedure. We all waited outside of the room patiently, with me at the opposite side of the wall, as it remained quiet between all of us. I was expecting one them to speak up, but no one hadn't. So I turned my attention towards Mike. I hadn't noticed the marks on his body until I got a closer look at them. They were bruises. It took me a moment to realize, that he had lived in a bad environment. So all those times he lashes out against everyone, was just him letting out his frustrations. Letting out his anger.

Scales had left the watch as he floated beside me, looking at me with a concerned look. I knew what that look meant.  I sighed as I looked back at everyone else. I took a deep breath and was the first to say something. "I'm not Jose," I said, getting everyone's attention. "I'm not like the leader he was during the whole Dai Shi fiasco, and I'm certainly not like the hero he was," I continued as I looked at Daniel for a moment. "You were right Daniel. I did change. When I first became the Phantom, it was honestly incredible. I had the chance to keep Jose's promise, and make things better. But as time went on, I could see myself changing as I kept fighting, to the point where I didn't care if I injured any criminals we fought. I stopped caring. At first I didn't have a problem with it, until I saw it was leading me down a darker path. To the same path I had sworn I wouldn't cross again," I said, glancing at Mike's body and then back at them. "And all the thoughts of me not being ready to lead a team always seems to stay in the back of my mind. And it frustrates me that I'm dealing with this shit while the whole world could be at stake. And leaving this place hasn't made our situation any better," I said as I paused for a moment. "I'm sorry," I finally said as lowered my head down.

At this point, I expecting to get a scolding from Daniel or by anyone for that matter. Except I didn't. "I'm sorry too," Daniel said, leaving me to look up at him. "I know we shouldn't have forced you in this situation when we are dealing with all this. But I'm glad you were willing to talk to us about this," Daniel continued. "It takes a good leader to be willing to deal with multiple responsibilities at once," Eric stated. "So even with your flaws, you're still our leader," Ladybug added. Daniel looked at everyone before he began to walked up to me. He raised his hand, gesturing for a handshake. "We good?" He asked. I looked at him for a moment, as I softly smiled. "Yeah, we're good," I said, shaking his hand.

Everyone smiled as we heard Davila trying to get our attention. "He's vitals are stable. There's no sign of the Akuma in his body," Davila stated. "Good," I said. "Question is, what are we gonna do with him once he wakes up? I mean, he's gonna know about this place," Ladybug asked. "Well we could keep him in The Pipeline. I mean he won't be the first person we've kept there," Eric answered. "He's not our prisoner, and he shouldn't be treated as one," I said. Ladybug thought for a moment. "Well why not convince him to join us?" Stated Ladybug. "That's not a bad idea. We could use all the help we can get," I added. "Then let me talk to him. He's not the only one who had to overcome the guilt of all the chaos he's caused," Daniel said. I nodded.

"Now we just need to find what Shaokan's plan is and how to stop him," Eric said. I thought for a moment. Then I heard Zenith giving me something to look for. "Eric, Davila, see if you guys can find areas with odd fluctuations of energy in the area. And try looking for large amounts of dark matter and other unknown forms of energy," I said. Both of them nodded, walking away from the room as Ladybug walked directly towards me. "And what do you want me to do?" She asked. I smiled. "I need to talk to you for a moment," I said. "What is it you want to talk about?" She asked. I sighed. "How long are you gonna keep this up Annaliz?" I asked as her eyes widened a bit. She paused for a moment before giggling to herself as she detransformed. "What gave it away?" She asked. "Aside from the little hints, you earrings gave it away," I said pointing at her earrings. "The only people I've seen with earrings likes those were you and ladybug. All I had to do was connect the dots and well, get the full picture," I said. She smiled. "Solid detective work," she commented.

I rolled my eyes as I let out a soft chuckle. "Does everyone know?" I added. She nodded no. "Only Daniel. I wasn't sure if I should've told Eric and Davila just yet. I was only gonna use my miraculous to help stop the akuma attacks," she explained. I nodded. "I understand. Speaking of which, I need you to join Daniel and keep an eye on Michael. Maybe even look into Mike's life to see what could've made him become Akumatized. Look through his parents files if you have to. I'll be with Eric and Davila if you need anything. Is that alright?" I said. She nodded, giving me a quick peck on the cheek as she transformed back and headed towards the room where Daniel resided. I smiled as I went over to Eric and Davila, seeing if I could help them in any way.

Let's hope we get what we're looking for.