The above artwork does not belong to me.

Danny would never admit it , but he almost broke down in tears when he realized the mistake he had made. It was just so freaking stupid.

He'd made it for almost two days without becoming human. Two whole days. He hadn't been unconscious this time, either. But all that had been ruined because he'd done what he did best: worry. He'd literally worried himself into a worse situation that he was already in.

You know what? he thought. Forget the ghost wail; worrying is most impressive superpower I have. That and procrastinating.

Once he escaped his momentary pity party, Danny came to his senses and attempted to go ghost again. It was no use. He was just too drained.

He questioned what to do, his mind racing at a hundred miles a minute. Did he even dare try to escape? He was just a wimpy kid without his powers. Should he attempt to explain himself? Would it be a better idea to tell them the truth, or make something up? It would sound fake either way.

But these people were literal superheroes. They dealt with the impossible every day. He was pretty sure that two of them were aliens, for crying out loud.

Even so, death was something on another level entirely. Being "half-dead" . . . that wasn't the same as being from another planet. There were billions of aliens, and plenty of speedsters. A ton of spandex-wearing acrobats. But besides Dani, there was only one him. Only one halfa.

And also there's Vlad, but whatever.

Danny tapped tapped his fingers on the table nervously, wondering if the team had noticed his change yet, or if they were still getting chewed out by Batman. He figured that even though they might not believe him, giving them the honest story was his best bet. He wasn't about to tell them everything, though. That would be stupid. Besides, leaving things out was different than lying, right?

Even though he tried to remain calm and logical, the half-ghost still wanted to bolt out of the room as quickly as he could. If he wasn't handcuffed to the table, he might have started banging on the door, or broken the camera, at the very least.

Danny heard a yell in another room. His pulse quickened as the sound of footsteps drew closer to him, then backed off. What were his captors doing?

[] [] []

Batman had almost made it to the zeta tubes when Wally started yelling.

His sudden shout made everyone in the room jump, including the Caped crusader himself, even though Wally knew better than to point it out. He'd zipped back to the surveillance room, just to check on the ghost for a moment. But the ghost wasn't in there. Someone else had taken his place.

"Who is that?" was the first thing that escaped his mouth. The rest of his team and Batman came running, Robin and his mentor refusing to look at one another. They all skidded to a stop in front of the many TV screens, equally confused.

"But that's-- that's a human kid," Artemis observed. "How?"

Batman leaned forward, his fingers touching the keyboard. Silently he rewound the footage back three minutes.

For a few long seconds, all they saw on the screen was Phantom sitting there alone. Suddenly, there was a strange light in the grainy video and then the teenager was in the ghost's place.

"No way," Wally muttered. "That kid didn't replace Phantom. He is Phantom."

"Then Phantom's not a ghost? And the salt burned him?" Zatanna's eyes widened. "Does that mean he's a-- a demon?"

There was utter silence for a brief moment before everyone started talking over each other.

"A demon?" 

"No way! He couldn't be."

"Then what is he?"

Theories and arguments were thrown back and forth, until Batman slammed his fist against the wall.

"Enough," he growled. The team shut their mouths immediately.

"This is how rumors start," he murmured. "Don't ever make assumptions about anyone, especially not your enemies. Go talk to him as a team, find out what's going on."

"He kept saying he was a ghost last time!" Robin protested. "How do we know he won't lie to us again?"

Batman's face remained blank, as always. "He knows we saw his transformation. Judging by the way he's looking around the room now, he's nervous. He might lie to you, yes. Or he might be desperate enough to tell you the truth."

Wally nodded along with the rest of the team. He had calmed down a little bit now that they had a plan. Plus, Batman wasn't about to murder them, which was always helpful. "Alright, guys. Let's figure this out."

The seven teammates and the Dark Knight made their way to the interrogation room, ready to confront the demon known as Danny Phantom.

Batman opened the door, making Phantom jump. His eyes, now bright and blue rather than ethereal green, were wide with fear. His knuckles were white against his much paler skin from clenching his fists so hard, his hair black and messy. A stark contrast from the confident, mysterious ghost hero of Amity Park.

It hit Wally then that this guy was just a kid-- the same age or maybe younger than himself. The boy might've even been as old as Robin, and to be perfectly honest, Wally found it disturbing that his best friend had been exposed to the life of a hero from such a young age. The two of them were in the same boat.

The teen wouldn't take his eyes off Batman, obviously afraid of him. An awkward silence hung in the room. Finally the Dark Knight, who was leaning against the wall, spoke. "Have you got anything to say to us, kid?"

Danny Phantom swallowed. "Maybe it's a little late to ask, but can I go home? My mom's probably worried about me . . ." He forced a nervous laugh. "You know how moms are."

"Actually I don't," Batman replied humorlessly, killing what little mood there was left.

The poor kid deflated even more, clearly defeated. "Okay, okay, you want to know what I am. I get that. I mean really, it's none of your business, but if that's what it takes to get me home . . ."

Wally felt horrible for this kid. Maybe it was because he reminded him of Robin a little bit-- their looks, their sense of humor, their young age-- but he really felt guilty for starting this whole thing.

The Caped Crusader narrowed his eyes a little, probably seeing Robin in the kid just as Wally was. "All right, I can see that this would go much more smoothly without me here." He looked directly at Robin. "Your team started this. You will all finish it. Expect punishment later." Then he left, disappearing silently.

Wally crossed his arms, regretting his decision to bring Phantom in at all.

Okay so I have some serious stuff to talk about. Before we get into that, I'd like to show you this absolutely beautiful fan art by NefariousAquarius. Thank you so much!

With that, it's time to move on to the serious stuff. Please read this, because it's important and I need you to know.

Today in art class the teacher informed us that a girl in my school committed suicide sometime this weekend. As I am a freshman and she was Junior, I didn't know her, but I still feel horribly guilty. My poor art teacher was in tears, and everyone in the class was totally silent. Apparently she seemed fine, and she played on the volleyball team just last Thursday. I knew this before, but it really hit me then that a lot of people who act like they're okay aren't okay. And I keep thinking, if only I had known her, talked to her. If only I could have done something. But it's too late now, and I'll never know her at all.

I know that some of you out there are struggling, and I know that it's hard to talk to people. Believe me, I know. I am the mom friend after all, talking about my problems doesn't come easily for me. But I need you guys to know that I deeply care about each of you, and I couldn't bear it if something happened to you. If you need to talk, please PM me.  Seriously. I might not be able to answer right away because I don't always have my phone with me, but I'll definitely get back to you as soon as I can and we can talk about anything you need to. Don't think you'll be bothering me, because you aren't. You aren't an annoyance; you're a human being who needs love and support just like the rest of us. I'm not making empty promises, I really mean what I say. Sometimes you need someone, and I would be honored to be there for any of you. So please, don't hesitate if you want to PM me.

Sorry about all the heavy stuff, you guys, but I needed to put this out there. A lot of people are in trouble, so let's just try and help each other out, yeah? I really do love you all.

In memory of Kelsey Scarlet, 2000- 2016. May she be at peace.

-Cloud