Chapter Text
Batman watched the former Cadmus laboratories being reduced to mere rubble as he advanced toward the teenage sidekick emerging from the ruins. When the older heroes were within a few steps of them, a slight amount of relief could be seen on their faces.
Though that this was quickly drowned out by the uneasiness and nervousness of what would possibly be a major wake-up call to their rash actions.
And it had not yet given them reason to be truly nervous.
A large number of adult members came specifically to intimidate the teenagers into recognizing the seriousness of their actions. They may be young, but their recklessness will prevent them from living long enough to become the next generation of heroes.
Superman is the first to arrive closest to the young group, but to Batman’s surprise, the boy who steps forward is not one of their own. The two, the Man of Steel and the teenager, stare at each other in silence as Batman approaches alongside Superman.
Their staring contest is broken when the teenager lifts the tattered end of his shirt to reveal a surprisingly familiar symbol.
The teenager’s shirt has the characteristics of his co-worker. He doesn’t like the implications of this unknown boy with Superman’s face appearing in a subway lab, but he has to consider the worst-case scenario.
“Is it what I think it is?”, Batman asks to see if Superman came to the same conclusion.
He hears Impulse whisper aloud, “He doesn’t like being called ‘it’,” but that comment is quickly trumped by the stranger’s next statement.
“I’m Superman’s clone.”
Sometimes, Batman really hates being right.
While that only explains the similarities to Superman, it doesn’t explain why the clone is here, how he was released, what his programming is like, what his intentions are.
He’s about to demand they explain when Impulse speaks somewhat hesitantly “And uh, he wasn’t alone.” In the teenager’s arms lies a sleeping baby with pure white hair wrapped in some lab coats.
Of course. If the opportunity presented itself why clone one league member when you can clone two?
However, Batman hasn’t even managed to get his hands on Phantom’s DNA, how the hell did Cadmus get it?
Batman mentally sighs and begins to plan how to prevent any more cloning incidents from happening. For now, though, he has to do a little damage control.
As far as he can see, Superman is still unsure how to take the news of his cloning, but the ghostly hero who had accompanied them on his own has yet to comment.
Which is strange to Batman, since he’s just as boisterous as Flash.
His face did not change expression as he turned to find Phantom furiously typing away on a strange cell phone, oblivious to the scene.
“Phantom “called Batman with a heavier gravel than usual.
This leaves the youthful-looking phantom static, who quickly makes a failed attempt to hide the peculiar-looking mobile device. Some of the other sidekicks chuckle at the break from the earlier tension.
“Yeah-ah, Yes?” replies Phantom, cringing at the crack in his own voice. Batman feels a small pang of sympathy; every interaction with Phantom makes him thankful for not dying before the end of puberty.
With a sigh of frustration, Batman prepares to scold Phantom for his lack of situational awareness, but Robin interrupts him by placing the little clone in his own arms and moving toward the ghost.
Phantom’s abnormally green eyes widened with surprise and floating closer to robin he uncovers a bit of the warm covering to look at the baby inside.
“Holy schnitzels,” the hero whispers, his usual ghostly echo not as static as usual. “I didn’t see that coming,” he chuckles, a little tense at what Batman can chase, and reaches out trembling arms to pick up the baby and carry him close. “I came here to see the correction in some kids and ended up getting one in return.”
Batman is relieved that he doesn’t have to worry about the little clone’s living situation, though he’ll have to assess the little clone in the watchtower to see what other surprise he can bring.
However, it seems he will have to have a serious discussion with Phantom. For the latter has not taken his eyes off the little creature and doubts that he will let another one approach now that he is holding it in his arms.
Glancing slightly in the direction of the other rescued child, the sense of apprehension and bad feeling increases at the incipient hope he sees forming in his eyes as he watches the phantom hero’s interaction with his clone.
Approaching subtly, Batman watches as the baby opens her neon green eyes and listens as Phantom swallows spittle and exhales a quiet “wow.” And if Phantom seemed enraptured with the little one before, now the concentration he had on her was even more intense and furious.
“Your aunts are going to go crazy when I tell them about you,” Phantom comments. Now, without trying to hide the deep black cell phone decorated with a few blue-green flashes, he begins to scroll his fingers across the screen.
Batman tries to get a closer look at the device, but when he looks at the screen, only fuzzy and meaningless images are displayed.
Impulse whispers, “Phantom has sisters? Wait, ¿You can have family in the afterlife?” A sentiment that Batman is sure to be felt by all observers present.
Despite being in the Justice League for nearly three years as a consultant to the dark league, Phantom remains one of the most mysterious heroes on the roster. Phantom has the appearance of a young teenager, but has been recorded in history for centuries. His modern-day sightings are clustered in the Illinois area, but Batman has yet to successfully access information related to the phantom.
His lack of background doesn’t seem to bother anyone besides Batman. But, now, everyone seems excited about this new information related to his mysterious co-worker’s private life: existence.
Excitement aside, Batman still needs answers as to how the sheltered children found these clones in the first place.
He turns to the teens and orders them to start talking, so they talk.
As the sidekicks’ report of the night progresses, Batman considers passing the reprimand to one of the other mentors. How could three kids get into so much trouble?
He looks at Phantom floating in circles and cooing at the baby. At least someone is having a good time.
When the kids arrive at the lab explosion, hand unnecessarily shaken by Impulse, Batman is ready to go home and begin his own debriefing on the matter as well as transplanting a tracking network on Cadmus.
How his life goes from protecting his city to dealing with secret clandestine cloning labs, he may never know.
“…And then you all came along,” Casie finishes politely.
Wonder Woman steps forward to announce to the rest of the members that they need to discuss the proper next steps, including the treatment of the clones and punishment for the teens; not before giving her protégé a look that they would have a private conversation about her performance on this unassigned mission.
Batman is listening to the other mentors deciding on an appropriate punishment for the teen’s disobedience when he notices Superman approaching the teen clone. He is too far away to hear the discussion, but based on the teen’s defeated posture and the older supervisor’s sudden departure, it seems to have ended on a sour note.
He’ll have to be sure to talk to Clark about that later, for now it’s best to let the super settle his thoughts.
Batman’s current concern is the sudden tension in the teenage clone’s shoulders and his abrupt step toward Phantom.
Leaving his present company, Batman heads toward the future conflict waiting to happen. He arrives in time to hear the young super tell Phantom, “You do realize she’s a clone, right?”
Phantom’s loving gaze turns sharp as he notices the new voice. “Yes,” he states with an undertone of venom in his words, “your point?”
“Not that she’s actually your daughter,” the boy growls, ignoring the other teens’ pleas for him to stop, “just an experiment made to replace you.”
The teenage clone gets a creepy look in response, a surprising feat considering Phantom’s usual friendly and easygoing nature. Batman, of course, hides his surprise at the unfamiliar expression, but the muffled screams behind him say that this is a first for the other members as well.
The young super, however, is undeterred as he says, “What are you going to do when I end up stabbing you in the back?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Phantom mutters under his breath as he rolls his eyes in disinterest, which puzzles most of those present; including him. But the ghost entity doesn’t seem to notice this, instead, he holds the baby closer to his chest and with a gentle hand cradles the back of her head, “Are you implying that I should get rid of her to avoid that?” the threat at what can happen if the Superman clone gives the wrong answer was underlined in every word.
The teen flinches at the tone, but in a brave way doesn’t back down. “Why wouldn’t you, what do you get out of acting like you care?” he says in an escalating tone that Batman hopes won’t lead to a fight or tears. “You already saw your golden member reject his clone, there’s no reason to pretend anymore!”
“Wait, what?”, Phantom asks, voice returning to its usual airy tone as he looks at his co-workers and their defensive positions, “who are you, kid?”
“Kid?”, shouts the boy indignantly, “You look like you’ve got two or three years on me!”
Phantom rolls his eyes, “You still won’t answer my question.”
Batman looks warily at the boy’s clenched jaw and shaking fists. His own hand hovers over the kryptonite container on his belt.
Bluebeetle steps forward to clarify, “Phantom, sir, he doesn’t have a name yet, we found him in the subway lab here.”
Ghost blinks in surprise. “You’re a clone too?”
The clone, who is visibly shaking with rage, responds with a loud nod.
“Dang,” Phantom says as the remaining tension in the atmosphere drops, “so what’s with all the anti-clone talk, man?”
“Dude,” Robin whispers to Impulse, “and I thought you were bad at reading the room.”
“I know, right?” Impulse automatically replies, “wait…”
“If you’d been paying attention, Phantom,” Batman chides him, and feels mild satisfaction at the wince he gets from the phantom hero, “you’d know about the Superman clone and his subsequent rejection.”
“That was pretty rough,” whispered Impulse.
“Totally brutal,” Bluebeetle agreed.
Batman mentally plans to teach these kids how to whisper properly.
“Oh,” Phantom replies with a sad look, “Boy, I’m sorry, I didn’t know Superman was such a jerk.”
The place went silent, it was rare to hear someone insult Superman and so openly.
“You know, you’re taking the whole cloning thing pretty well,” Bluebeetle points out from where he had been blatantly listening.
Phantom chuckles wryly as he adjusts to hold the baby with one hand. “I guess the novelty wears off the second time around.”
Batman has never wanted access to what happened in Illinois more than at this moment.
“Have you been cloned in the past?” Wonder Woman asks in a serious but curious tone.
“Yeah, the guy who did it was a real fruitloop. I got a sister, though, so it worked out well,” Phantom comments casually. “And hey!” he continues cheerfully, “this time I didn’t have to be strapped to an operating table and tortured in the process.”
Phantom smiles at the baby, oblivious to the horrified expressions around him. Batman faintly hears him whisper “so stable and all,” in an awed tone.
“Hey, kid,” Phantom looks at the teenage clone in surprise, “Since Superass is too stunted to think of you as a person, do you want to come live with me? That way we can give Superman time to get his head out of his ass, otherwise it’s hi is the one that loss.”
The teenage clone looks at the ghost with a wary expression, but the slight hope in his eyes betrays his defenses.
“…Ok” the teen says uncertainly.
“Excellent!” Phantom cheers, but lowers his voice when the baby moves, “My place is a little small, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
Phantom holds out his hand to the young boy who hesitates at first, but then holds on tight, and leads him away from the remaining heroes and cronies without even consulting with them about his abrupt decision.
No one follows them, the Gotham Knight has learned that trackers don’t work on Phantom and putting one on one of the clones could unleash the Phantom’s wrath.
Batman has learned more about Phantom tonight than he has in the last three years. Judging by the frantic speculation of the other heroes, he’s not the only one. So he’ll give him a vote of confidence for the time being and avoid any rash confrontations.
“I didn’t even know Phantom owned a place,” Green Lantern comments.
“Can ghosts buy property?”
“Where does he get the money?”
“Are we just going to ignore the fact that Phantom has a clone sister?”
“He mentioned ‘sisters,’ plural, maybe they’re all clones?”
“You’d think we’d notice another ultra-powerful Phantom wandering around.”
“You’d think we’d notice another ultra-powerful ghost pwandering around.”
“Batman,” Wonder Woman addresses him, “Are we sure Phantom is capable of handling two children?”
“Yeah, I mean the guy acts like one,” Flash adds.
“I don’t think you have much room to talk.”
Batman sighs at the chaotic conversations around him. They came here to reprimand the kids, not to act like them.
He turns to Wonder Woman, “No,” the Phantom he knows is childish and irresponsible, but considering her behavior tonight and the protectiveness she showed towards her clone, he wonders how well she knows Phantom in the first place. “We’ll give him a trial period, and assistance, if he need it,” he corrects.
With the clones resolved, there’s only one thing left to do. Batman turns to the three cronies to address their punishment.
He is surprised and mildly impressed with their determination to not only take pride in their actions today, but to declare a promise to do it again in the future.
It seems there is still more work to be done. He wonders if the kids will like the old Justice League base.