TRIPLE A and SURVIVING DAY BY DAY

“You're not obligated to do anything, you asshole!" Phantom screeches, sending a wall of ectoplasm their way to force them to take a step back.

A batarang makes its way around the wall, damn its boomerang properties, but Phantom simply turns intangible and glares at Batman, who only narrows his eyes in return. The dull object eventually passes through Phantom and back into its owner's hand. This is ridiculous.

Phantom was halfway to opening his mouth to tell the heroes to leave him alone again when the note appeared. It somehow managed to stop the heroes in their tracks as well. Everyone looked confused at the floating Post-it note. Phantom grabbed the Post-it, mostly annoyed.

“They'll take you to space. Also, destroy this note. :)” Phantom stared for a minute at what was probably the most direct instruction he had ever received from the Ancient.

He groaned. “Whatever.” He crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it into his mouth. The piece of paper quickly dissolved into tasteless ectoplasm. He placed his hands over his head and then said, “All right, I'm all yours.” Clocky better be right about the space thing, or he's mauling him.

The heroes looked to one another, unsure. Then Martian Manhunter flew closer to him, taking cuffs from a compartment in his suit that shouldn't have been able to hold them. A bit over a year ago Danny would have been delighted to meet the man, and a part of him was still amazed by the alien, but he felt mostly annoyed right now.

“Please bring your hands to the front, young one,” the Martian said, softer than Phantom thought he would be for someone they perceived as a villain.

He raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn't it be behind my back?” he asked, slowly bringing his hands to the front anyway.

“If you're coming willingly, I see no reason not to offer you the most comfortable option,” Martian Manhunter stated simply as the cuffs clicked shut.

“I believe the most comfortable option would be without cuffs,” Phantom scoffed in return. He probably shouldn't be poking at the leniency he was being shown for some reason, but he still hated the whole situation.

“We can discuss options depending on your behavior,” Batman said before Martian Manhunter could say anything else.

-------

Martian Manhunter glanced at the teen who was glaring daggers at the Javelin's window. They had tried to ask about the note that had appeared out of nowhere, but the teen had simply looked away with pursed lips, refusing to speak a word from the moment they boarded the aircraft.

More often than not, young villains tended to be misdirected or acting out from pain. Powers rarely came without grievances, and even less so those that were visually notable. It didn't justify their actions, but it did mean that a push in the right direction and some support were often enough to help them leave villainy behind. And Martian Manhunter, despite being unable to read Phantom's mind, could feel a great deal of anger and sadness coming from him.

But what had once seemed to be a normal intervention became far more worrying once the note appeared. A teen lashing out on his own is one thing. A teen receiving directions from someone is something entirely different. Powered minors are especially vulnerable to being groomed into a life of villainy.

What's even more worrying is how readily this person not only asked Phantom to give himself up, but how easily the teen agreed. They'll have to consider whether this person holds blackmail over the kid's head, or if the kid is mentally that deep under their control.

It also raises the question of why this person would want Phantom to surrender himself. Are they hiding something bigger and using Phantom as a distraction? Or are they hoping to use Phantom to acquire information about them?

The mode of communication is also deeply troubling. None of them had been able to detect where the note had come from, or that it would appear at all. Even if none of them practiced magic, they had been around it often enough to usually be able to pinpoint it, but there had been nothing there.