#ghosthero

Specter had just been invited to join Young Titans, the League’s junior division. When they asked about his living situation, he casually mentioned having a human guardian who looked after him.

That raised some alarms. Batman wasn’t new to young heroes pretending to have stable homes—they’d seen it before. So he demanded proof.

Specter didn’t even hesitate. “My guardian won’t mind,” he said. “He’s cool with it. You can meet him if you want.”

And that’s how the League ended up meeting Elias Vane, a 26-year-old scientist just starting his professional career.

According to Specter, Elias was “kind of” family—a descendant of his brother from before he died. The phrasing made everyone pause.

See, Specter’s ghost form doesn’t age. He looks 14. Feels 14. Acts 14. But he doesn’t need a guardian.

Because Elias—the human version of him—has aged perfectly fine. He lives a normal life, works a normal job… and sometimes, when the city needs saving, he becomes the boy in white.

But explaining that? Yeah, no one would believe it.

So he made life simpler: Specter is the ghost hero. Elias is his human “guardian.”

He even uses duplication to sell the illusion—one body at work, one patrolling the streets. The human copy stays grown, the ghost copy stays 14, and somehow, it just works.

Now, whenever Specter gets in over his head with hero stuff, he just shrugs and says:

“Umm… ask Elias. He knows more about that ghost science stuff.”

“But you’re the ghost!” “Yeah, and I still don’t get how any of this works.”

He laughs. They laugh. And the secret lives another day.

But somewhere deep down, Elias still struggles with it— with knowing that one version of him will never grow up.

And one day, when he finally dies… Specter will still be 14.

Forever.