No warnings that requires a recap, just the most valid crash out in existance and the atlantean used is from the 2001 movie Atlanis, not the standard ancient greek dc uses bc i thought it would be cooler

November 5

"Where did you come from?" Kaldur immediately demanded from the boy. Surrounding the child, only the three not-youngest-anymore stood back. Well, Phantom and Robin confidently stayed back, Zatanna simply followed their lead.

For just a glimpse, they made eye contact with the boy, realization flickering over his features before the older teens blocked the view. How none of them seemed to realize at least some mystical bullshittery was going on was beyond any of the quartet but they wouldn't be the 'mature and wise senior heroes' if they did.

The child looked over the teens, hoping they'd have a similar sense of recognition. "Quick, read my mind." He prompted to M'gann, watching the group with smug innocence only a child could have.

M'gann's eyes glowed a faint green as she delved into the psyche of the mysterious child. Startled by what she found, she snapped out of it with a gasp. "He's Captain Marvel!" Thinking that was it in terms of having to expose his identity, the boy's grin widened.

Clearly he had forgotten who he was dealing with. "Yeah," Wally scoffed, "and I'm Speedy Gonzalez. Look, just because he believes he's Captain Marvel doesn't mean-"

Already knowing how utterly stubborn Wally could be at times, the boy cut to the chase. "Geez Wally," he sighed, that familiar gremlin twinkle shining in his eye as he looked at the speedster. "Do I really have to bring you nacho's and pineapple juice to get on your good side?"

Wally blinked at the boy, man? What did Captain Marvel even classify as because neither felt right. How the fuck did he even do it. "Magic." Child Marvel piped up, "I'm the champion of magic, of course weird stuff is involved. Also, call me Billy, by the way. Cap is just what I need to be for the powers to not, you know, destroy me from the inside out." Billy awkwardly laughed, sharing an even more awkward look with Phantom as he managed to look between the team's shoulders. The strangest feeling of understanding hovering between the two even with most of Phantom's readable features hidden by the mask.

Wally only just realized he'd actually spoken out loud, questioning a Leaguer, his superior. But...his superior was also a kid that didn't look like he was allowed in middle school yet. The awkwardness grew as Billy weaved between the teens, the physically much older and taller teens, and headed straight for the other very young populates of the room.

Oh how this day couldn't get any worse as Billy, Phantom and Robin looked and acted like they popped out of the same hole in the mountains of old had this been any other time.

"Oh right!" Billy chimed, "Batman said to tell you guys that Zatara found the focal on Roanoke Island. And that most of the League would be unavailable because there's a ton of riots and stuff going on. Pretty sure I saw something about like almost every S.T.A.R. Labs being swarmed by an angry mob. Oh! And that that Klarion kid got some others together to pull this off. But we don't know who is on what side yet."

Billy trailed off, worried he said something wrong as Zatanna's eyes fell down. "So...I did that for nothing." To think she put herself under so much stress, so much pressure, and in the end it was for naught since her dad did it before her.

"No it's not." Phantom poked her cheek, making her focus back on them.

"Yeah," Robin joined in, "Sure we got the info from Zatara but you already proved to yourself you can do a whole lot more than you thought before. That has to count for something."

"Maybe he'll even take your training more serious now." Phantom continued on, grinning at the shy smile that crept up Zatanna's lips. "Billy," he called out to the boy, "You'll tell him for us, won't you? That Zatanna pulled of that spell too."

Billy beamed at the thought of bringing such amazing news over to the adults. Surely they'd be itching to get an update on their kids and he couldn't wait to see how proud Zatara would be of his daughter. "Right! I'll be right on that." He skipped to a safer spot before yelling out SHAZAM and vanishing in the same bolt of lightning as he arrived.

"What the fuck was that about?" Wally angrily walked over, making damn sure that anger seemed to be the only emotion the teen was capable of this evening. "Why'd you let him leave like that?"

Robin rolled his eyes, blocking the speedster from glaring at either of the two behind him. "Duh, he can talk to Batman and the others. From the sounds of it, they have it a bit more figured out than we do since they already know their limited availability." He pulled up some of the messages that came though on the JL hotline. "There's a handful of other teens stepping up around the world. We might not have riots but we have a whole lot of traffic that suddenly lost their drivers. It's a miracle we can go as a full set rather than leave anybody behind to handle other messes."

This time, it was Artemis who stepped up to the proverbial mic. "You don't seriously think we're going into a battle, against Klarion no less, with him." Phantom could nearly feel the spit hit him as she objected.

"And what, pray tell, would your grand idea be to handle something this big without him?"

Artemis scoffed, ignoring the lightning strike from Billy popping back over. "We have Zatanna, that is enough. We've gone up against that brat before and come out just fine. We don't need him."

Rubbing the annoying part of his finger, Phantom tried to get rid of that ever creeping sensation as he pushed down the anger at being so openly hated for no genuine good reason. "I can just go to Gotham if it's that big of a deal." Phantom quietly spoke up, not in the mood to argue over this anymore. He already had to hear enough times how unwanted he is around these parts of the gig. Even if it hurt his core to step away from the battle. Every inch in his being telling him to tackle it head on.

But what's the point if this is what he had to deal with on the side.

"No." Robin growled out, fighting the urge to throw anything sharp around as he slowly lost whatever bit of respect he had left for the people calling themselves heroes. "It's not fair to put all the pressure on Zatanna just because she just happened to be here. If she wasn't this wouldn't even be a discussion. He is the best bet we have against anybody of Klarion's caliber and that's the end of it."

"Funny you say that." Billy chuckled nervously, fighting to stay composed as tensions rose by the second. "Batman said the same thing."

"Who cares what Batman said, he isn't here right now to see all of this." Artemis objected, gesturing wildly at Phantom. "In case you forgot, Kal is our leader, not you, and the one to decide who goes on missions in Batman's absence."

"She-" M'gann timidly stepped forward. "She has a point, Robin. We have Zatanna to cover the magic part. Phantom being here is causing a lot of tensions we really shouldn't be getting distracted on as she said so herself." She awkwardly looked back towards Kaldur as the Atlantean stood stoic. "Maybe it would be for the best if he sits this one out?"

"If all you care about is dangling that leader bullshit over my head, then what's even the point of being on this team if you won't listen to me when I am objectively right?!" Robin shouted, not even trying to keep his voice steady as he's had it up to his limit with them. Arms swinging around wildly as he yelled, he took a threating step towards Wally. Wally nearly tripped over his own feet as he took a few steps back, eyes blown wide as his breath hitched. "If this is how you want to do shit, play with people's lives over hurt feefees then I fucking quit after we fix this mess."

Everybody's breath froze, not sure if it was from just shock or Phantom messing with the temperature again. Not a breath was let out as Robin stood defiantly, waiting, daring, anyone to argue against him. But nobody would, not even Wally who had stumbled back after the adrenaline rush evaporating from his bloodstream.

Static prickled the air as the gravity of Robin's words finally started to hit. "Hey guys, can we just take a breather?" Billy tried helplessly, nerves forcing an awkward smile on his face. "The mentors are kind of losing their mind right now and Batman just stared at me so I have no clue what that means but it was really uncomfortable and being here is also really uncomfortable so please just...breathe?"

The awkward ramble did nothing to calm the overstimulated teens down as it just made panic take to the sky. "Wait, are you for real?" Conner asked in shock, looking between the pair. If the adults were freaking out about it that had to mean they knew it was serious.

Wally, on the other hand, took his newfound fear and fueled it even more into his ever growing anger. "Now look what you've done!" He yelled at Phantom, lunging forward just enough to force Kaldur to hold him back.

Phantom looked up wide eyed. "Me?" If anything it was him who pushed his brother to the edge! Hell, going off what Billy said, Batman was agreeing with them if all he did was stare. If that wasn't confirmation enough, nothing shy of the words being spoken could top it.

Artemis cut in from the side, restraining herself enough to yoink Wally back to at least work out some of her building need to hit something. "Yes you, who the fuck else?"

Phantom looked between everybody in the room, incredulous at the thought he was being blamed for something they all saw him not participate in. "The fuck did I do when it was you two arguing?!" He looked over to Conner, desperate for at least somebody other than his blood or his only friend to defend him. But the clone remained stilled in shock, breath uneven as if it was trying to decide between stopping entirely and going all too fast.

Not that the rising panic among them was doing anything to stop Wally. "You've been antagonizing us the entire evening! We caught you in so many lies, called out so much BS but you're still out here refusing to admit to shit." Wally yelled out, using his speed to shoulder past Kaldur just to try and scream in the ghost's face. "How do you expect us to trust you, to have our backs in battle, put our lives in your hands when you haven't done anything to deserve that trust?! Last time we did, you got us all killed!" Wally had managed to get close enough that Phantom felt the spit land on his cheek. Felt the anger radiating off of the older and the static of his speed burn the inside of his nose.

Glaring up at the red head, Phantom's last straw finally gave out. "Why do you expect me to want to tell you anything about me when from the moment ya'll found out I exist, I got nothing but hostility?!" Phantom's voice broke, pitching awkwardly as he gestured to everybody gawking at him. "Not a single one of you, not even the fucking League, the ones you look up to for guidance, asked for my side of things. You got one look at me and already made up your mind on. Dedicated weeks of your life to make sure you could do and say as you please without looking for any evidence that you may have been wrong!"

A soulless smile flashed across his teeth, disbelief at the absurdity breaking past the bubbling anger for just a moment. "If you want to shit on me so bad, let me give you a fucking reason." Pushing past Robin and dodging Zatanna's grab, the ghost boy marched forward.

Shoulders squared, his first stop was Wally. Even if he noted the flash of fear sparking in the speedster's eyes, he couldn't care enough to hold back. Not when he'd been holding back for way too long. "The entire time you've known me you've done nothing but reject the idea I exist in my own right. Tried to find every excuse imaginable to discredit my own fucking death and make me out to be some liar."

The temperature fell dangerously fast the longer he kept talking. "Not once have you given me the benefit of the doubt, yet here you stand trying to claim I've done nothing to earn trust that was never mine to earn in the first place!"

"And you!" Phantom turned to Kaldur, surprising the Atlantean at becoming the next target. "When were you thinking of putting on your leader hat and doing something instead of standing idly by, waiting for instructions that will never come now that you got rid of the only person willing to hold your hand through leading a team of idiots!"

If anybody took offence to it, nobody showed it as they simply watched Phantom slowly rise up. "At least we're thinking about the greater good here. Remember that?" He asked sarcastically, head lulling to the side as the glow around his person hummed brighter. "What happens when something small goes wrong?" Phantom's head fell so far to the side his neck looked broken.

"Are you going to give up and try to step down as leader for, what, the fourth time in 3 months? Cause that's exactly what good, mature, leaders do, right?" He had resorted to pursing his lips in mock sympathy, nodding along as if that was indeed the correct way of action.

But Phantom wasn't done, nowhere near so. Weeks worth of disrespect and being blamed for things finally bubbling to the surface. "But what would we know, because we're not even trustworthy enough to be seen as competent members, let alone the leader he was supposed to be!" Phantom voice rose, cutting harder and sharper as he gestured to his stunned brother. "Because I know my fair share of running away from problems but I never give up as easily as you have this entire time."

Venom dripped from his voice, words cutting as sharp as the ice that was starting to form on the edged of the room. "What happened to that little puddle you call resolve that my big toe couldn't even drown in?"

Kaldur sputtered out some syllables, mixing English and Atlantean as he desperately searched his brain for a response. Never before had he been questioned like this. Never before did he feel so put on the spot. Not even with Batman. "I-my training, kida nem tle gart yog tem-de- (the teachings in the mystic-)"

"Don't give me the same bullshit that you're trained in the mystic arts too, Kaldur'ahm." Phantom sneered, glow intensifying with every word as the Atlantean stepped back at the vitriol woven into his name. "." Phantom floated high, and close, enough that he has to actually look down. Not moving his head, they knew from the intense glow radiating behind his lenses.

"How about you actually grave rob whatever self confidence that died and got buried ages ago instead of constantly trying to appease others and trying to pawn off responsibility the second things get tough." Green shone from his hands as he fought against the ecto pooling in them. "Yet when you had the aid of a senior, you couldn't give a damn about what he had to say unless it suited whatever idea of leadership you had in your head."

Getting right in Kaldur's face, Phantom's voice dipped low, and steady, no longer shaking nor elevated as before. Echoes bound to haunt the Atlantean's mind for ages to come. "You would be a fucking disgrace if I was your king with how badly you keep trying to pawn off your responsibility onto what you yourself call mere children." He finally turned, looking over his shoulder to address the teen one more time. "Because we are damn well ready to take over this clown joint but none of you are prepared to deal with the facts."

He turned to look over everybody, glare reaching their very soul as he judged them just as they had judged him. "You still can't even stand up for your own beliefs. Too desperate to fit in, or simply too scared to be rejected." His expressions remained neutral as he passed over M'gann, holding back comfort as he had none to spare.

"You care more about what others think about you than what you think about yourself. Too easily molding to whoever has the strongest opinion instead of standing your ground and making up your own mind." His eyes fell over Artemis before he moved on with a sigh. "How pathetic."

Pausing longer on Conner, his rage ebbed away if only a bit. "I really thought you out of all people here would be the loudest in arguing whatever you believed. Hate me, dismiss me, hell even ignore me." A weak smile adorned his features, nearly washed out by the intense glow of his anger still burning within. "But you've become nothing but a silent observer. Watching on as others waged a war you seemed all for at first. Where did the Conner go that openly defied the entire League, minutes after being gifted free will?"

When he finally got to Robin and Zatanna, he had calmed down enough to float only an inch or two off the floor. Refusing to let anybody get a chance at recovering brain function enough to argue with him, he hovered right next to Robin. "You know damn well I am your best bet against Klarion. But let me tell you how this will go."

He could feel Robin glare at the others, forgoing his shock at his brother's outburst to stand with him as a united front. "Either you let me come along and I get blamed for whatever you deem to be my fault as per usual."

Crossing his arms, he made it a point to keep gesturing with his left hand. Obnoxious green jewelry on display for all too see, for once on purpose, even if they didn't understand the meaning of the artifact. "Or I don't go, and the mission predictably fails because the whole lot of you are about as competent as a Floridian toddler waddling on ice. And guess what," he added with faux excitement, "that would somehow still be my fault because even the biggest pea brained lobotomite can see you stand no chance without me there."

Much to their disappointment, the team remained quiet. Not coming out in support nor defense of changing their stances. Just simple acceptance of what happened and refusing to adapt.

"If this is what the heroes of the future look like, I want no damn part in it." Phantom scoffed, only mildly surprising Robin as he did. Couldn't have his brother be the only one pulling out of the team, now could he. "Now I'm coming along if you like it or not, I couldn't give a singular shit less. Because fuck you, I'll make damn sure every single one of you gets to go home tonight."