Chapter Text
It was a brilliant idea to protect his secret identity. Nobody would ever make the connection if Phantom was supposedly hundreds of years old. Tucker had originally proposed the idea as a joke. Get Clockwork to send him back in time to create historical sightings of his alter ego then nobody would be able to figure out that 17-year-old Danny Fenton was “300” year old Danny Phantom. A stroke of genius that never should have backfired. Until it did. On a fine summer day, he found himself in Justice League headquarters facing Batman and Superman.
“You want me to babysit the protégés for the entirety of August? Why me exactly?” Danny squinted at the superheroes before him. They had to be joking right?
“Well you’re the only adult available and you can mentor the kids. You have hundreds of years of experience and the League thinks it would be great for you to train the kids,” Superman explained. Danny groaned internally. He supposed the growth spurt he had gone through only made him look older too. Now he was lean and met Superman's height thanks to his parent's genetics. The League now thought Danny Phantom was an old man that possessed years of expertise in crime-fighting. He hadn’t even finished high school yet.
Accidentally, he had got himself involved with the Justice League after a rogue ghost found itself in Gotham City. Batman had shown up and it only spiralled from there. A few missions here and there for the League, nothing too involved. Eventually, a zeta tube was now placed in Amity park for Phantom. Tucker had been over the moon when Danny told them about his new side activities. His childhood dream of superheroes was now coming true. Maybe once Danny was actually an adult he could get Tucker in.
“I specialize in ghost hunting, not everyday vigilante stuff. Besides, I have to stay in Amity so no ghost decides to take over the world.” Danny stopped the odd robbery here and there but criminal activity was at an all-time low. Usually, the police could deal with humans. Ghosts were the main problem that he dealt with.
“You can use the Zeta tubes to bring you back to Amity for ghost attacks. Maybe bring the team along with you for training. Ghosts are becoming more predominant and it would be good for a team to be ready in case of an emergency” Batman said with his usual growl. There was no way Danny was getting out of this. He had sealed his fate the minute he stopped by in that 17-century church.
He could probably get away with it. Tell his parents about a summer camp, use some of the martial arts his mom taught him, and he could even get his summer homework done without interruptions. If the protégés thought he was doing League paperwork they would leave him alone, right? Maybe it wasn’t such a bad opportunity. Who was he kidding, with his luck he would be a disaster. But he would get to meet hero’s the same age as him.
“Fine but I get access to the building's security at all times.” He didn’t want to stay in his ghost form for a month straight, being able to turn cameras off would allow his identity to stay safe. “And I get a break from any League work for the entirety of September.” He crossed his arms over his chest and levitated slightly. If September was free then maybe he can start the year off decently. Maybe he could get the ghosts to lay off too. That’s if he got through this.
“Excellent, if you could show up on August 2 at Mount Justice the kids will be there.” Superman smiled at him. “With that done I need to get back to Metropolis,” He waved and exited to the Zeta Tube.
“Great, can’t wait.” Danny sighed and turned to Batman. “I feel like you guys have been waiting for an opportunity like this to rise.” Batman simply turned towards the tube.
“Until next time, Phantom.”
—————————————————————
“Danny you dumbass.” Sam punched him from across the Nasty Burger table.
“Ow!” He rubbed his arm despite the punch being light. The minute Danny got home he called Sam and Tucker to the Nasty Burger. It started okay with milkshakes and some fries. Sam’s look of disgust as Tucker and Danny dipped their fries was the usual highlight. Then he mentioned the babysitting job. “What’d you expect Sam, I don’t have any other solid reasons for saying no. To them, I’m a dead guy who only fights ghosts. I have no civilian obligations to them. If I said no it might have given them the idea that I have a secret identity.” He stuck a milkshake-covered fry in his mouth. Sam narrowed her eyebrows at him.
“You could have said you have some ghost zone stuff to do. Like something with Dora or you know the Master Of Time.” She crossed her arms and leaned back into the booth. The last time Sam was this disappointed was the birthday party incident. He shuddered at the thought of repeating it.
“Come on Sam it’s pretty cool,” Tucker looked like he was having the time of his life. “Danny gets to mentor the greatest sidekicks of all time! Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Artemis, Aqualad and Miss Martian. How cool is that.”
“Of course it’s awesome Tucker but Danny has to pretend he’s years older than all of them instead of the same age. Danny’s the worst at lying.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad Sam. I’ve gotten better since I started and it can’t end too bad. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s too late to back out now.”
“You just need to be careful Danny. They’re not the kids at Casper High. You have the sidekick to the world's greatest detective and I’m pretty sure a mind reader,” Sam said worriedly.
“Danny should have it covered, remember when we were fans of the Young Justice team? We had like all their stats memorized.” Tucker nodded, stealing a fry from Sam's collection. Back when the team first got together he and Tucker had been obsessed. A team of superheroes their age-fighting crime was incredible. He and Tucker even went as Robin and Kid Flash for Halloween that year. Danny wondered if he still had the book full of their powers and abilities.
“I’ll be fine, it's only a month,” Danny shrugged. “I can just talk like an old person for the month.” He sat up straight in the booth. “Greetings young kids, I have cometh ye to bestow upon thy expert knowledge unto thee.” He waved his hand royally to the restaurant.
“Shit Sam you were right, he’s screwed.” Tucker laughed and Danny threw a French fry at him. He hated Shakespeare anyways. “But seriously Danny just play it cool and project some of that hero aura thing you have.”
“That’s not even a real thing Tucker. That’s just me when I’m super tired and don’t want to deal with any shit.” The last time he used his “aura” Sam said he seemed older. Hell, he felt older than he should have been. “I’ll just steer clear from any pop culture and only read books.”
“Maybe I could come over and help you with your English homework? You definitely need it,” Tucker asked. A mischievous smile was working its way at the corners of his mouth.
“Tucker, I am not taking you to the Young Justice headquarters!”
“Come on. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.” He groaned.
Danny wasn’t going to survive this next month.
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Convincing his parents he was off to a summer camp for the rest of August was easier than it should have been. With Jazz’s help, they made a show of Danny packing for a supposed space camp that his parents had forgotten about. His Dad joyfully commented on his quest for science while his mom had been a little more suspicious.
“I don’t remember signing any permission forms. I don’t even remember you mentioning the camp,” Maddie expressed confused.
“You signed everything back in June. It was back when you had that breakthrough with the Fenton Grabber and didn’t come out of the lab days,” Jazz lied smoothly. She was on board with him being a mentor from the beginning. It was a good way to bond with other superheroes and expand his influence as Phantom, she claimed.
“I guess I wasn’t paying the greatest attention to my kids that week. I’m sorry Danny, I hope you have fun at your space camp.” She hugged him and immediately stuffed various Fenton gadgets into his suitcase. “In case any ghost decides to attack my baby.”
“Mommm I’m 17,” Danny whined and ducked away from his mom ruffling his hair. She smiled at him and crushed him in a hug.
“I know but you’ll always be my baby.”
The next day, Jazz drove him to the back alley where the zeta tube had been placed. She parked the car on the side of the road.
“Be careful Danny, and don’t come back to Amity every 10 minutes. We have it covered.” Her purple eyes fondly glanced at him.
“It’ll be fine Jazz. And I promise I won’t come back unless texted or playing mentor.” He raised his hand up with his pinky sticking out. “Pinky swear?” Jazz locked her pinky with his.
“Fine pinky swear.” Danny grinned and grabbed his suitcase from the backseat. A thermos was sitting next to the battered thing. It was full of ghosts from a patrol he did a few days ago. He tossed it to Jazz.
“Here, keep this one locked. There’s a couple ghosts in there that annoyed me a bit too much.”
Now with his suitcase in hand, he stood in front of the zeta tube portal. It was an old phone booth with an out-of-order sign placed on the front. It looked out of place in the back alley. Debris from previous fights littered the ground. Walls were covered in graffiti making the phone box the neatest thing in the alley. It would be fun to grab Sam and Tucker and make the phone box fit in. A little spray paint and some damage can’t hurt. He let white rings wash over him, switching to his ghost half. He stepped into the booth and let it scam him.
“Recognize Phantom B-09.” Danny was transported with a flash. He blinked rapidly as he stepped out. It was an open area carved into rocks with corridors opening up to different tunnels. Superman and Martian Manhunter stood closest, waiting for him to come in. A bunch of people his age were standing behind the official superheroes in casual clothes. A dark-haired guy with a Superman shirt was obviously Superboy. Miss Martian had to be the green-skinned redhead. A girl with blonde hair and a guy with red stood next to each other. Another short dark-haired guy with sunglasses had to be Robin. The one with gills had to be Aqualad.
“Hello,” he waved in the direction of the team. They all stared at him making Danny want to turn intangible. The redhead walked over and circled him.
“So we're getting a new teammate? Awesome.” The redhead shook his hand. “Names Wally, aka Kid Flash.” His smile was similar to Tucker’s, charming in a trying too hard kind of way.
“Phantom, but uh not a teammate.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. It never occurred to Danny that he would be learning any secret identities. He figured it would be a mask on at all times. Wally seemed like an incredibly normal name for Kid Flash’s secret identity. Tucker had always thought it would be something cool like Max or Ace. It had been fun trying to guess, but now that he was actually learning names it was a weird feeling. The feeling you get when you learn something you weren’t quite supposed to know.
“Team this is your mentor for the next month. He may look your age but he’s really….?” Superman introduced him leaving space for Danny to say how old he was. Shoot. He never bothered to pick a number to stick with.
“Uhh, I lost track back when Loui was beheaded, crazy few years that was.” The French Revolution was the last history assignment he could remember. Who knew it would come in handy. Wally lit up at with excitement.
“No way! Are you alien?” he asked, inspecting his jumpsuit.
“No, not an alien. Technically I’m human but I’m pretty sure some scientists will argue I’m not.” The words left his mouth before his brain caught on. Danny wanted to smack himself. He wasn’t supposed to give any idea he was human. He smiled anyways at the approaching members. Thankfully he was taller than most of them except for Superboy. Superboy was about the same height but much larger. The blonde eyed him warily and introduced herself as Artemis. Artemis had to be her regular name then too. He no longer felt bad for calling himself Danny Phantom.
“Phantom will be training you and taking you to Amity Park to fight ghosts,” Martian Manhunter provided. Robin was in casual clothes, a hoodie and jeans. Black glasses covered his face instead of the usual domino mask. He looked him up and down while shaking his hand.
“Ghosts huh? Probably why Batman has been looking into ectouranium.”
“More than likely, he probably started looking into it a few months ago right?”
“Ya is it because of you?”
“Definitely.” Robin took one last glance and stepped aside. He had to give the boy wonder credit for being suspicious. A random glowing guy showing up and being told he’s your mentor has got to be weird.
“Anyways you guys can show him around Mount Justice and we’ll be on our way.” Superman and MM waved and stepped into the zeta tube. “Be nice guys.” With a flash, they were gone leaving Danny alone with the team. His time as a mentor was officially starting. Miss Martian flew towards him excitedly.
“Hey Phantom I’m M'gann but you can call me Megan.” She shook his hand with an intensity that Danny usually got out of Cujo. “I’m Martian Manhunter’s niece.” That meant she was from Mars. Mars! Maybe he could get some space summer camp in after all. The blonde eyed him warily and introduced herself as Artemis. Artemis had to be her regular name then too. He no longer felt bad for calling himself Danny Phantom. Superboy came up next behind Megan. He had a broody look to him.
“Superboy but the civilian name is Conner.” He shook the Kryptonians and found himself in a staring contest. Conner's eyes pierced into his with intensity. Superboy didn’t have laser eyes right?
“You must be Superman’s kid right?” His grip tightened squeezing Danny’s uncomfortably.
“No, I’m his clone.” Danielle would have to meet him. All his other clones had melted away leaving Danielle, or Elle as she liked to go by now, alone. He remembered watching the clones melt away leaving nothing but ectoplasm. Stabilization was a finicky thing as the others found out.
“Oh cool, how did they stabilize you?” The dark-haired boy retracted his hand and stepped back.
“Stabilize?” Danny had screwed up judging by the question and body language. Superboy was now in a semi defensive stance as if he was preparing for a fight.
“Oh it doesn’t matter, you're a stable person and don't need any help being stabilized. Anyway, you have yet to introduce yourself.” He gestured to Aqualad and tried to move on from cloning processes. At this rate, he wasn’t going to last two days before the team found out something Danny didn’t want them to.
“I am Kaldur, also known as Aqualad. It is great to have you with us.” He shook his hand. “I am the team leader and look forward to working with you.”
“Can’t wait to work with you guys either. What time is it here exactly? It was morning in Amity Park?”
“It’s almost 10 am, we’re in Happy Harbour,” Kaldur answered. It was the same time in Amity Park. At least he didn’t have to worry about getting calls from his parents at weird hours.
“Okay, how about one of you show me to my room and then we’ll have lunch.” Danny picked up his suitcase and paused. “I wonder if they gave me a room?” If the league thought he was dead then they might have assumed he didn’t need a room.
“Don’t worry Phantom, if they didn’t give you one there’s plenty of space in Mount Justice.” Megan entered one of the openings and waved him on. “I’ll show you where the rooms are.”
“Great, thanks.” With that, he left the confused teens behind and followed Megan. The team waited till he was out of earshot to say anything.
“What do you guys think of the new guy?” Artemis asked.
“Seems okay but I’ll do some research on Phantom before lunch.” Robin pulled out his phone. “He’s definitely not human, nobody glows that much.”
“He’s old Rob, really old. You think someone like that old wouldn’t glow?”
“I don’t know but whatever he is I’m going to find out.”
————————————————————
Megan took him through the stretching corridors to where all the rooms were. Cheerfully, she pointed out her and Conner’s room along the way. Danny hadn’t met someone this upbeat in a long time. She was a natural ray of sunshine who liked to talk a lot. It was a nice break from the usual at Amity Park. Usually when someone used that preppy of a voice it was a backhanded compliment. But here Megan was happily talking about one of her missions.
“Then Conner started to attack Devastation and Killer Frost. At least that’s what he said. I was frozen in a block of ice of course,” the girl described. Apparently, she and Superboy had done some deep undercover stuff. Danny was hoping he would get to do some undercover work with the team. Megan suddenly stopped him in front of an open door.
“That’s cool Megan. This is my room right?”
“Yup, home sweet home. You're free to decorate it as you’d like.” He nodded and stepped inside. The room was devoid of life, to put it lightly. The walls were gray, the floor was gray, even the bedsheets were gray. The closet of barren with no hangers. A dresser stood against the back wall next to the bed. Danny grimaced and threw his suitcase onto the bed.
“Are all the rooms like this?”
“In the beginning, yes. Conner and I have personalized our own rooms to our taste. The rest of the team doesn’t live here though.” Megan looked thoughtfully at the walls. “You can put your favourite paintings and art on the walls,” she suggested. Maybe putting old paintings would sell his old age. He could picture an eighteenth-century landscape next to some glow-in-the-dark stars. A map of the night sky with glow-in-the-dark stars would also be a nice touch. Maybe even include some of the ghost zone constatations. Then he would just have to lock off his bedroom from the others.
“Not a bad idea Megan. I’m going to unpack now so you can go do whatever modern teenagers do. See you at lunch.” Disappointment crept onto Megan’s face before turning into a bright smile. Danny cringed. Not even a day in and he's already upset 2 people.
“Okay Phantom, have fun unpacking.” She gave him a small wave and exited his new room. Danny cracked open his suitcase and began to unload some of the ectoweapons. A few guns, a Fenton Thermos, and some small protection his mom had also shoved into a front pouch, nothing too extravagant. He placed the guns on the bed and started shoving everything else into the dresser. Pulling out his phone he sent a quick text.
To: Resident Goth, Tech Dude, and I Can’t Aim
Overpowered Child: Made it safe. The room is pretty bland though.
Tech Dude: You just met the world’s coolest sidekicks and you're complaining about the room???
Overpowered Child: I’m going to be staying in this room for a month. It’s my highest priority.
Overpowered Child: Also which one is better radical or bodacious?
Resident Goth: Radical obviously
Resident Goth: Shouldn’t you be getting to know your mentees?
Overpowered Child: Shhh I’m unpacking. I’m going to have lunch with them then do some training. Operation I’m totally 300 is going into effect.
I Can’t Aim: Oh?
Overpowered Child: Great plan to convince I’m a wise old man.
Overpowered Child: Anyways I’m going to go eat lunch. Text me if any ghosts show up.
Danny frowned at his phone. Would he be less convincing if he brought his phone? He needed it to get notifications of ghost attacks. But if he obviously knew how to operate it might be suspicious. He flipped it in his hand methodically. Carefully he placed it in the back pocket of the hazmat suit and exited the room. Operation I’m definitely 300 should cover his bases anyway.
He followed the path that Megan took him back to where the zeta tube was. Unsurprisingly none of the team was still there. Danny should have asked for directions. Sighing, he picked a tunnel and hoped for the best.
—————————————————————
“Phantom is the ghostly hero of Amity Park in Ohio. First began fighting in Amity Park about 3 years ago. Was thought to be a town menace at first but eventually was seen as a hero.” Robin recited from the official Phantom Phans Site. It didn’t seem like the most credible of sites but had the most information. “There’s an entire page dedicated to posting images and text describing Phantom to see how old he is. Currently, there’s a debate whether or not a carving from a Greek temple is Phantom or not.” The carving had a vague resemblance but he had to admit it was a stretch. Wally peaked over his shoulder.
“What’s the earliest confirmed sighting?”
“Seventeenth-century nun's diary talks about a white-haired boy with glowing green eyes asking her about communion.”
“Wow he’s really old then.” Megan commented from the kitchen. While Phantom was unpacking they had started making lunch. It was only sandwiches, but they were the easiest to make. They formed an assembly line down the counter. Conner at the start with the first slice of bread and him at the end with the last slice of bread. While the unfinished sandwiches piled up on him Dick had instead been trying to find anything he could on Phantom. A few articles had popped up about him saving the town and some others of him destroying property. He seemed like a decent guy overall.
“Crazy that he looks the same age as us. Guess ghosts don’t age,” Wally said shoving another sandwich his way. He shot him a dirty look and gestured to his unfinished work. Dick put away his computer and started stacking the bread.
“So we got a dead guy training us who also knows something about cloning. Great,” Conner grumbled.
“I mean, he’s got to have some sort of sentience if the league trusts him,” Artemis argued. According to any Fenton articles and essays Phantom was considered to not have any feelings. He found that the Fentons were very clear on their stance compared to the rest of the town. The resident ghost hunters described Phantom as a menace that needed to be stopped.
“Could you sense any thoughts, Megan?”
“Isn’t that against the rules?” She asked. It technically was and also an invasion of privacy. But if the guy was dead and hundreds of years old it theoretically wasn’t a problem. It would probably be a safer option to not read the guy's mind in the long run.
“It is I guess,” He placed the last slice of bread down. “We’ll just have to wait and see.” Phantom looked solid when Robin first saw him. He could have sworn that it was just an enhanced guy that glowed a bit. Everything he read said he was a ghost and he had clearly exhibited ghostly powers. For first impressions, he didn’t do that bad. Conner didn’t seem to like him though. The whole “how did they stabilize you” was a little sketchy. Maybe he had been around when cloning was first invented. He slapped the last piece of bread onto the final sandwich as Phantom walked in.
“Greetings children,” Phantom called out. He stood there glowing in the kitchen doorway like it was a regular thing. “What are we having for lunch? I'm famished.” His tone was somewhat formal and sounded practiced. A weird aura of power seemed to radiate from the tall man. The ghost walked over to the counter, his green eyes narrowing at the sandwiches. He looked delighted at the simple food.
“Roast beef sandwiches. We can make it vegetarian if you want. Or you don’t have to have any seeing you're a ghost and all,” Megan rambled. Phantom smiled and grabbed one from the tray.
“These are perfect, thanks.” The whole team stared at him as he chomped down. “Uhh go ahead and eat up. We’re going to do some training after lunch.” The words were slightly muffled as he hadn’t even swallowed yet. Wally was the first to move and joined in. Dick quickly grabbed one before it became a mad grab for food. The sounds of chewing filled the room.
Dick studied Phantom as he ate. His white hair seemed to be stuck in between floating and sticking to the laws of gravity. The black and white jumpsuit had a stylized D on the chest that stood out. Was it a company that made the jumpsuits, or did Phantom make his superhero costume? Dick mentally filed away a reminder to look for companies that sold suits like that. It also reminded him of the hazmat suits that scientists wore in case of radioactive material. It was an interesting choice of outfit to say the least.
“Where does the food go if you're a ghost? You would have no organs to digest it right?” Wally broke through the sounds of chewing. A brief flash of panic danced across Phantom's face and he suddenly started chewing slower. Dick wasn’t surprised Wally asked the first question. The reaction from Phantom was interesting though.
“Uhh I’m not quite sure actually,” he brought his other hand to rub the back of his neck. A nervous habit if Dick had to guess.
“Maybe you're able to break it down on a molecular level and your form absorbs the energy,” Wally suggested. Phantom’s mouth turned into a flat line and his eyes a little unfocused.
“Maybe it has something to do with the mystic arts. There are unknown areas that the arts can be pushed too,” Kaldur added. “Your ghost form could have been created with the mystic arts.” Phantom only shook his head.
“Definitely not mystical. Ghosts form when a amount of concentrated ectoplasm comes in contact with a strong brainwave. That or other ghosts use some of their energy and project it onto pure ectoplasm. There’s some research papers done by the Fentons that go into more detail,” he explained.
“Aren’t the Fentons anti-ghost? Wouldn’t that make their papers have a bias and because they are human scientists they would never consider magic?” Dick prompted.
“I guess but their papers are pretty accurate. They’re research is incredibly thorough and it mostly makes sense.” He frowned while defending the Fentons. The group fell back into silence for an awkward moment.
“Science stuff aside, what are you powers?” Artemis asked before shoving the rest of her sandwich in her mouth.
“Well I can go intangible, fly, manipulate ectoplasm, manipulate ice and what I call a ghostly wail. Imagine a giant sound wave with the force of an extreme hurricane,” he grabbed another sandwich from the counter. “Tires me out though if I use it a bit too much. I’m working on some telekinesis but I need a bit more ectoplasm in the environment.”
“Huh that’s a lot. More than what Conner and Megan got over here.” Conner scowled at her and angrily took a bite. Dick hoped that he wasn’t like this the entire month. They would have to live in the same area for the rest of the month. Missions would also be slightly difficult.
“Conner has impenetrable skin, super strength and pretty good fighting skills. Megan has telepathy, psychic, and shape shifting skills. Those are both pretty awe- incredible feats.” Phantom smiled over the catch of his words. Did he want to say awesome? “Anyways why don’t we go over to the training center so I can determine what you guys are capable of.” Dick was curious about the sudden change in word pattern. It was like when he first entered the kitchen with his greeting. An odd formal tone and words that the average person normally wouldn’t use. It had to be because of his age. But then why didn’t he slip back into Victorian speech or any other timeline of speech?
—————————————————————
Danny figured lunch went fine except for the odd slip up. Kid Flash asking him about where food went was unexpected. It’s not like he could say his living stomach would digest the food. Superboy seemed to hate him unfortunately. He hoped that him and Conner could at least get onto a friendly speaking basis by September. That way maybe he could smuggle Elle in and make her a new clone friend.
The training center turned out to be in the same area as the zeta tubes. The floor lit up in a circle of white casting a hazy glow on the rest of the room. He tentatively took a step into the circle. It flashed briefly before going back to the regular white. He grinned at the team of sidekicks.
“Okay, Aqualad your up first. Team leader will give the first impression of how the team manages.” Was that what a team leader did? Danny didn’t really know but Aqualad seemed like a safe bet. Besides he could just turn intangible anyways.
Kaldur nodded and stepped onto the glow. The tattoos on his arms looked more visible with the glow from the floor. He got into a fighting stance and eyed Danny. Danny levitated off the floor and charged. He threw a punch to the right of Kaldur who dodged easily. Before he could turn around his spine cracked as a fist came in contact. It was technically unsportsmanlike to crack your opponents spine. Oh well it wasn’t the first time. Danny turned intangible and stepped aside. Kaldurs eyes went wide as he twisted around looking for him. He aimed his hands towards the other boy's chest and fired an ectoblast. As the green light flashed through the air Danny turned visible and followed it. Kaulder easily dodged the ectoblast, gracefully jumping away. But he flew back as Danny crashed into him with his shoulder. It was a dumb move really, but he found it always worked with other ghosts. Kaldur landed with a thud into the floor. Blue rings popped up underneath him along with a red fail. Danny walked over and offered him a hand up. Kaldur took it and Danny pulled him up with ease.
It was now time for Operation I’m Totally 300. And so, Danny smiled at the guy, channelled his inner Lancer, and dabbed.
“Quite radical of you Kaldur.” The effect was instant. Wally’s hand covered his mouth, but Danny could see his body vibrating with laughter. Artemis held a strong grimace, and he could feel the cringe radiating off of her. Conner and Megan both looked confused and shrugged at each other. Robin had taken a few noticeable steps away. It was a great effect with a simple action. Danny forced a look of confusion to the group. “Isn’t that what modern teens do to congratulate each other?”
“Not exactly Phantom but a great try,” Wally said, strolling over. He reached up and patted him on the shoulder. The shit eating grin he wore wasn’t quite what Danny was going for but at least he got 2 out of 6. “You’re going to fit right in.”
“Thanks Kid Flash, it means a great deal to be accepted as your mentor.” He would have to do stuff like this more often. Grabbing Lancer’s Teenage Lingo book would be a top priority once he got back to Amity Park. Since Megan and Conner had no experience of Earth culture they would be hard to crack. Kaldur on the other hand would be impossible to crack. He was the only one to show no reaction to the dab. Standing still he studied Danny the whole interaction.
“Thank you Phantom but I failed the exercise.”
“That’s okay. It was your first time fighting a ghost so I didn’t expect you to win. Excellent reflexes are a key component to fighting ghosts though. You’ll do fine in that area.” Dodging was a critical skill that Danny still forgot to practice, and boy did his body pay for it. “Tomorrow I’ll teach you guys some basic ghost weaponry and maybe I’ll bring in a low powered Spector as a practice run.” The Box Ghost was still in the thermos he gave to Jazz before leaving. Boxy was a good beginners fight but still annoying.
Kaldur nodded and stepped back a few feet.
“Are we going to go again or do you want someone else to try?”
“Well Kid Flash is here already so how about we try a round.” The speedster grinned and got into a fighting stance while Kaldur headed back towards the rest of the team.
“You’re fast Phantom but no ghost could outrun me.” Danny grinned and started some ecto blasts in his hands.
“We’ll see about that.”