#if the bioship

[inspectorspacetimerevisited]

It wouldn’t have been half as anxiety-inducing had the bioship that Captain James brought to Earth

not contained microbes that killed everyone except himself, the Inspector and Lily.

[wandixx]

Prompt For Dc-x-Dp With M’gann and Danny M’gann didn't expect to be dealing with Random Lazurus Green Portals forming around mars, but since she's Nearby mars she gets to deal with it... and their's An Alien with snow white hair Fighting A Glowing Vampire who's raving about Fathers and mothers?? Danny Is in such a Mood, He's on mars, which is a plus, but He's Fighting Vlad On Another 'Join me! Let me remove Jack from this plain of Reality!' and Honestly The Portals are throwing him off, Just... Bad memories, And Then, becuase of fucking course Something else happened, Vlad Gets Decked in the face and sent flying. "hey, So im going to guess that The Vampire is The Evil one here?" The Green woman asked, while Looking at Danny. While Vlad is growling and about to Throw A Red Ecto-blast at M’gann Danny gets in the way with a shield and responds. "yeah, arch nemisis and all, how are you even out here? or breathing?" M’gann Just Shrugged and said, "Well Home is home and all." Before flying to go Deck the Vampire and all. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ hope this is enough for you to Work some magic and all. and as for some extra stuff you could use, maybe danny has a Space obsesion, and His Protective stuff is Becuase of the Type of spirit he is half of? And maybe An Ice core Could be fun to go with? Ghost prince territory? with danny not wanting to be ghost king just yet. ideas for ya to use.

It's such a cool concept! I didn’t fit Ghost Prince in, but I hope you'll like what I did

*****

Danny was going to strangle Vlad, all subtleties of ghost powers no withstanding. He needed the brutal power that just wasn't fully there even when using more offensive abilities, like ecto-blasts.

He had been having a good day. Okay, maybe not a good day, it's been a long time since he had an actually good one, but a decent day. One, that seemed to start out calm, with all of his typical rogues stuck in Zone recent enough they shouldn't get out today specifically. It was Saturday, so no school, and for once his homework wasn't swallowing him, so he had a bit of time to breathe. And prepare college applications, because his grades got to an appropriate level again and he actually got a shot in academic career. No chance for scholarship like Jazz, but he could go if he played his cards right.

And then, of course, Vlad had to come into his room to harass him again. This time with the added flair of a portal gun he made for some freaking reason.

This time Danny wasn't even trying to piss Vlad off, in the love of Ancients, he tried to ignore the other halfa even when he showed up in his room, raving about removing Jack Fenton from this plane of reality. Craving to deck the guy right then and there was enormous but Jazz was on him about controlling his ✨️displaced aggression✨️ and his anger in general, so he was trying to tune Vlad out. He carefully didn't even think about transforming into Phantom. Especially since both of his parents were safe, a few states away on some ghost hunting convention that Danny managed to skip by the power of ‘I can't take more days off school, sorry I messed up my attendance early in the year’.

Well, they would be, if Vlad, being the obsessed creep he was, didn't try to follow them with a portal gun.

Danny was still willing to ignore it all, because Vlad was a loser and chances that he made something so complicated work properly were only slightly above chances his parents had. And both of them were tripping hazards in hell.

But then Vlad started blasting around his room to egg him on and hit his Curiosity rover model.

Phantom tackled him before the bastard had time to smirk. They phased through the wall, because otherwise Vlad’s back would smash into Lego Saturn V and boy was not looking forward to even more damage. His white gloved hands pressed Plasmius against the cold floor. It looked promising. Over the years he got to a relatively similar level as Vlad with his fighting abilities so getting advantage so early could in theory mean it would be over soon and he would get back to his applications.

He forgot how to breathe for a moment when he was pushed through a portal. Some most instinctual part of him, deep in his core, fell to the mindless panic because He died this way! He died this way, was he able to survive it again?! Without thinking he lashed out, trying to scratch and bite and blast because he needed to get out, he needed to get away but danger was in front of him and he needed to get rid of the danger before he could escape to safety. And Vlad kept teasing him, like he didn't know fully well what portals did to Phantom, to Danny, like he wasn't breaking the most basic rules of the anarchist ghost society.

So Phantom kept trying to punch and kick and scream, trying to get away from green ovals that just kept appearing around them leading to who knows where.

Powerful blast to the chest sent him flying back, through the portal and down to the ground, which at some point became asphalt instead of wheat field. He was too frazzled to even try stopping his fall, just half heartedly tensed waiting for an impact.

It never came, because he was caught by static. Men in red (Flash he'd realize second too late, Flash) send him a concerned smile and asked about something but Plasmius was trying to duplicate, no doubt to overshadow actual hero and it wasn't the way Phantom wanted to be introduced to the Justice League so he jumped forward, sending both halfas through another portal.

It was easier this time, when he expected it but his hands were still shaking when he put them in fists. He could handle it though. He fought in much worse circumstances.

They spawned through a few more portals, almost threw worried looking Superman off the sky and barely not killed some of Aquaman's dolphins before something changed. Phantom didn't realize it at first, too focused on rapid fire from Plasmius and on the constant lookout for new portals, but something changed.

His next blast hit the target and left charcoal black burn and almost fire in its wake. It wasn't something that happened normally. It wasn't something that happened normally unless Danny's obsessions were being served. He wasn't protecting anyone but himself, which didn't fill the protection obsession, so that left…

Space.

Oh.

He was on Mars. Or well, a bit above.

It was mesmerizing. It was breathtaking. It was everything he wished for ever since he learned about other planets in kindergarten.

Sky was a pinkish red color that on Earth meant a beautiful clear sunset but here was just the middle of the day. He didn't see the sun itself, apparently lucky enough to have his back to it. It wouldn't be brighter than at home, obviously, but it was always nice to not be blinded when admiring the view.

The landscape below them seemed familiar. He probably saw it in some photo, but he couldn't remember which one. He couldn't help but try to remember. He wanted to know where was he, what he'd seen, what he'd touched, later when he was in his room, longing to get out here again.

In his almost trance he just about ignored the blast that flew past his ear like an annoying pest.

He had the name of this rock formation on the tip of his tongue! C'mon, brain, you could do it, you could remem-

Even he couldn't ignore the burning pain of the ecto blast straight to the shoulder.

“Listen to me, Little Badger!” Plasmius yelled before dodging ice javelin. Phantom made sure it evaporated before hitting the ground. He was not letting other planet become collateral damage in whatever mess Vlad wanted to stir this time.

He carefully didn't look around when they teleported next time, aware just enough to know they were still on Mars. It wasn't a good moment to sooth his neglected obsession.

Being mad that this was probably the only chance he got out there helped. It definitely reignited the absolute fury, before muted by the panic and then obsession trance.

Phantom wasn't sure what he was yelling back as Plasmius went on and on about killing Danny's dad and marrying his mom and adopting Danny and how ‘look Little Badger, you and I both see how much better off you'd be if you just joined me and let me teach you’. He just knew there was little other than obscenities, and it was paired with an array of blasts and ice and straight up punches when he got close, which was good enough.

Oh, how he wished he could strangle the pathetic vampire lookalike bastard.

Something green and indigo sent Plasmius crashing into the ground.

“Hey, so I'm going to guess that the vampire is The Evil one here?” Feminine voice asked in clear English. Danny took a moment to just stare, blinking rapidly to make sure he saw what he thought he saw.

Yup, that was certainly The Miss Martian, an alien heroine, whose action figure he displayed at the most honorable place of his room. The Miss Martian he tried to learn everything about when she debuted. The Miss Martian whose powers were so similar he used footage from her fights to learn himself. His biggest inspiration.

Dope.

Wait, she asked him a question, didn't she? It was not the time to be a fanboy, probably.

Yeah, no it was definitely not a time to be a fanboy, he decided, right when he threw a shield in front of her, because Vlad didn't take kindly to being interrupted. It really was the least he deserved.

“Yeah, arch nemesis and all that. If I may ask, what are you doing here, Miss Martian, ma'am? I thought you lived full time on Earth?”

“Well, home is home and all” she just said wistfully and telepathically threw a rock to Vlad's stomach, making it follow until it hit the mark, right before another stone hit him in the unprotected back.

And here Danny thought he got over his celebrity crush back when he was sixteen.

Good thing though, another person in the fight made his protection obsession rear back to life, the fact that she was an alien only helping as his space side zeroed on her too. It was useful to not get distracted by glimpses of the world around them.

Of course Vlad just duplicated to make the chances ‘equal’ once again, so the fight dragged on.

Miss Martian just kept being graceful like a supernova, beautiful and destructive.

Danny hoped he didn’t look as embarrassingly pathetic as he thought he did. What were the chances she didn’t see when he took the blast to the arm because he got distracted by pretty rocks?

Plasmius kept taunting, calling him Daniel because of course secret identities or prefered names don't matter when you have to harass the teenager.

Phantom decked him extra hard for that.

At least he didn’t try to use his portal gun again, too busy with fighting off both of them.

Kick, dodge blast, ice, shield for Miss Martian, ice because how dare he attack an alien, dodge, intangibility.

Was it or was it not a good idea to use Ghost Wail and be done with that.

“I've got an idea, cover for me for a minute, okay?”

“Sure” Did he sound too eager? He wanted to keep it cool at least outwardly, not mess up his first and perhaps last impression.

Wait, shit, Martians can read minds! Miss Martian probably already knows how big of a mess he was.

Shit, shit, shit.

Phantom dutifully shielded heroine as she levitated with her eyes closed, at the same time keeping constant assault on Vlad. It was getting exhausting. At least he could go home fast when the fight ended.

“Do you want me to make him indefinitely indisposed or is it too much for you?” Miss Martian suddenly asked. Danny froze for almost a minute before he choked out.

“What do you mean?”

“I can rip his mind apart, leave his body alive but useless without any thought to lead it, but I know some people find it uncomfortable even when it happens to villains”

For a moment, in the midst of fanboying, he forgot how terrifying set of powers she had.

“Please don't” After all, ghosts are their minds, and despite how despicable things Vlad did, no one deserved fate of completely not existing.

“Alright. Is enhancing his experience of pain okay with your moral code?”

“Yeah, I think”

“Done,” she said with a smile, and despite how terrifying he was of her just a few seconds ago, he had to admit, this smile was gorgeous.

After that, it took, like, three punches before Vlad bailed. Which was good.

What was less good, was the fact that the portal he used to escape closed before Danny could go through it. He just stared for a long moment, blinking quickly. He wanted to scream. Or cry. Or both. Both was good.

“So, Daniel…?”

Danny winced and looked back at Miss Martian.

“Danny. Or Phantom. Nobody calls me Daniel”

She nodded with a friendly smile. Good thing they were flying, because his knees got weak for a hot second.

“Alright. I'm M’gann”

“Should you tell me this?”

“I know your name,” she shrugged. “It's only fair that you know mine. It's not a name I use on Earth anyway”

“Um, sure, okay. It's nice to meet you M’gann” Was this too stiff? He had no idea how he was supposed to interact with heroes who just shared their identity. For no reason too, because c'mon, she didn't know him. Why would she do it?!

“Are you from Earth? You speak English”

“Yeah, USA, Illinois. That bastard teleported us around and of course left me stranded”

“It's your lucky day then, I was about to head back, I can take you with me”

There was no universe in which he wouldn’t agree.

[ithidunes]

Spaceship 🎶 Living spaceship 🎶

shes a modern ethics tragedy🎶

[alphamecha-mkii]

Species 8472 by Kenneth Zaborny

[umbralreaver]

Bioship colour concepts for Voidfleet.

The original Architects of Flesh brood has a beautiful iridescent shell, but its flesh is replete with hull-eating acid and sentient viral payloads ready to melt their foes from the inside.

The Crimson Lotus have painted their hulls with the blood of tyrants. Their bioships are generally older, their shine gone and shells bleached white. Yet they are healthier creatures, no longer forced to saturate their organs with toxins.

[kidflashimpulse]

speeding to hug Bioship,that's so cute.

someone catch me before i fall… Wasabe art in my inbox omg I can now say I have lived a truly blessed and fortunate life to experience such an honor omg not to be entirely out of pocket BUT I LOVE YOUR ART ITS GORGEOUS AND ENTERTAINING AND EVERYTHING YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE ICON

the way it’s from the scene in the latest chapter of my AAIT fic “speeding to hug her. At least, in the only way an alien space ship can be hugged.” you’ve seen it here folks, it’s official, the only way an alien space ship can truly be hugged !!!

thank you for sharing this with us we are so blessed to have u in the fandom bestie 💛🧡♥️

[pyrasterran]

#Inktober #OCtober

Day 7: The Alhut, a massive Tiqna bioship that Sanari stumbles upon during field work along what was once the Black Sea coast. It is a living vehicle and weapon whose full potential can only be unlocked by Hafjin like Sanari

Tiqna bioships were common during the start of the Avenging War. Now only a few remain, with construction of any new bioships banned under Earth Nations Union law

[siryl]

"Bioshipyard" by James Bielby.

[basiliskfree]

I wanted to start design work on Hugo’s ship but realized I needed to know what a standard Lamp ship’s insides looked like, so here is that! more info under the cut. 

Lamp Ships tend to all have some common room types that are found in the smallest's scout ships to the Kilometer long mining ships. Even in Hivemind ship these spaces are more colourful then one would think do to how even non sentient Lamp respond to colour. 

Servers and Brain Room:

Lamps Ships use the same brain cores as the much smaller units but Linked together into huge networks that run though a massive biological/mechanical system in it’s center. This system is what allows Lamp ships to jump into the between as well as sent FTL messages through this Subspace (Spectrum Lamps refer to this as “sing”). 

They also have what Lamps call “dumb computers” or “thinking rocks” large silicon base computers that act as servers and archives. this run some of the more mundane tacks around the ship. Surprisingly these computers are programed in binary and function much like human, digital Computers. 

Both are heavy liquid cold (see the blue piping) and are some of the most shielded parts of a Ship.

Kitchen and Greenroom:

Lamps have fairy simple digestion tracts,  so often have some basic cooking systems on board. Though this is one of the rooms where the difference between Spectrum and Hivemind ships is the largest. The Spectrum Lamps caring more about how good, or interesting a meal is vs a Hive ship just wanting the max nutrition per energy spent on the food. Most Kitchens are equipped with a food printer, simple oven  and microwave. As well as freeze driers and cold storage. 

The Green Room Pictured is a rack system often used for fast growing fruits and “filter” plants 

Hallway:

Lamp ships have circle hallways that run between the ships thick hull and the interior living spaces. Most have a mix of small workstations, assess points and storage. As picture here Yellow is commonly used as the colour for doors and “Floors”, Ships tend to use acceleration to produce “gravity” but if they are using rotation, or planetary forces to produce a “down” whatever wall or ceiling that has become the floor will become yellow. 

Fusion Engine room B:

Lamp Ships have at least three engines, the Main Anti-matter reactor that is used in Jumps and for their main thruster and is picture as the Purple Lantern like structure at the very front of the ship. 

For the Rest if the Ships systems and back up for the main reactor are two Fusion Engines. These rooms tend to be very purple, a common warning colour do to the high power and magnetic fields in these areas 

“MedBay”:

In Hivemind ships these rooms are not so much true med-bays but are instead used to regrow the flesh bodies of the Lamp units who have “died” or to make new limbs. In Spectrum Ships these rooms have much more medical equipment, so medicine is not ether nothing or melt off your current body and probably dying.

Engineering: 

Depending on the size of the ship the Engineering floors can have everything form laser cutters, metal 3d printers, looms and Skin printers. Produce anything a lamp ship may need to repair themselves in space. most also have a small “Replicator”; a System that can use the Lamps massive energy systems to move around and change atoms into new chemicals. These are normally use to produce rarer elements from simple ones or harder to made chemicals. As even with two fusion engines, these systems use a lot of power and need deep knowledge of chemistry to use outside of the presets.    

[only-lonely-works-of-art]

Queen Anne's Lace

Upon the deck of a great bioship, a portly shipherder stood firm. Facing him was a tall and skinny young man, with perfectly styled hair and a loose, tailored suit.

“Now, Mr. Sawyer, I must insist. We cannot sail faster than light in this ship. Anne isn’t capable of safe FTL.”

“Oh, get it through your thick skull already!” Patrick Sawyer, woefully under-prepared captain of the newly commissioned Queen Anne’s Lace, rolled his eyes. “It’s not your choice. I can get another first mate, you know.”

The shipherder gaped at him. “You wouldn’t. I’ve raised Anne up from her infancy!”

“I don’t care for sentimentality. Give the order, or I’ll find someone who will.” Patrick gave him a sick smile. “I want to see how fast this ship will go. Show me.”

“But- really, you can’t! She’s not made for FTL, she’ll burn up!”

“So? I can always buy another ship.”

“And if you burn up all the new ships this side of Gacrux IV?”

“Then I’ll buy one from farther away. Obviously.” Patrick laughed. “Didn’t I pay you already, Gibbs?”

Gibbs watched him quietly, saying nothing as he contemplated the most recent phrase from Sawyer’s lips. While not originally a star sailer, Christopher Gibbs had been recruited as Sawyer’s mate at the commissioning of their new ship. Queen Anne’s Lace was the finest bioship from the new generation, raised up on the finest mutton and octane until her maturity. If care was proper, she would be able to serve for decades as a premiere ship, with space for a crew of a hundred and a herd of a thousand cattle for her sustenance. If wasted on faster-than-light travel, her lifespan would not last longer than a few short jumps. The voyage Patrick intended to take was very long; she would barely survive.

“Fine. If you waste this beauty, it’s not my problem.” Gibbs shook his head as he signaled to the crew. “More money for me and my folks, raising up the next generation.”

Patrick gave him a wide grin, exposing bright white teeth– another privilege of wealth. “Wonderful. Let’s be off. To the forests of Trevail III!”

Despite all of Gibbs’ best judgement, the crew cheered.

—

Time passed quickly in the lightstream. Gibbs wasn’t used to it– Patrick even less so. Faster-than-light travel wasn’t for the faint of heart or coddled children, and as Patrick retched, Gibbs felt a sick twist of satisfaction in his gut.

As the ship sailed, a faint shriek could be heard. Above the crew, the steel roof of the bridge groaned. A deep shudder rocked the ship, and all those without space legs found their bodies unbalanced. The ship was shaking, and she could only take so much strain. 

“Shut it down!” A pilot called across the bridge. “Stop the travel! The ship is failing!”

“No!” Patrick shouted, his face pink and veins standing out against his skin. “Keep going until we reach the Trevail system.”

“Anne is burning!” The pilot shook his head. “Sir, she’ll die if we keep this up much longer! We’re still light-years away.”

“Can she make it?”

“Yes, but–”

“Keep going!” There was a wild light in Patrick’s eyes. “Don’t stop.”

“I… as you wish,” the pilot responded, disturbed. The ship was making sounds now. Instead of her usual creaking, there was a deep groaning, increasing in volume. A sound of pain, of fear.

Queen Anne’s Lace was screaming, the sound lost to all but those within her.

—

Trevail III came into view right as Queen Anne fell out of the lightstream. Sitting just above orbit, she cried out in agony. Rivulets of fluid ran down the sides of her inner cavities, staining her pure-white flesh a pale pink. The floor creaked and groaned, setting a few souls off-kilter as they lost their balance. 

Again she screamed, and all the sailors clapped their palms over their ears.

Patrick knelt on the deck of the bridge, staring out the bay windows at the planet below. He raised his voice, but no one heard his voice above the ship until her scream subsided.

“Is that it? Trevail III?!”

No answer came; in the silence, some were wary to uncover their ears. Patrick scrambled to his feet, rushing to the front of the ship, staring out the window with wide eyes. Only inches in front of him, the hardened corneal windows pulsed with red vessels, glowing hot from the friction of FTL in only near-vacuum. He didn’t touch the window.

Below them, a yellow planet swirled, its clouds ever-shifting. A ring surrounded it, composed of dust and hematite. The iron red of the mountains peeked through brown clouds, and within them, black specks of magnetite aloft from updraft currents. Silver rivers ran down the slopes, painting the valleys in reflective glory.

Patrick smiled, the expression stretching wide from cheek to cheek. “We’re here.”

Gibbs looked up, hazarding a glance at Queen Anne. Through the steel mesh, he spied the red flesh above him pulsing. Soft and wet, its vessels strained against the heavy pressure of its circulation. The muscles of his prized ship were atrophied, her skin no doubt forever scarred. Her screams still echoed in his ears. Her death had already been chosen for her, only weeks after she finished maturing.

“You’re done sailing,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, Anne.”

—

Deep in the ports of Trevail III, the scrapyards were abuzz with activity. Fresh ship meat was rare in the Trevail system: even rarer was her complete herd of prize cattle. 

The yard owners gossiped, whispering among themselves. Longhorn cattle, they murmured, was the kind Mr. Sawyer kept. Hard to maintain, best for ships aside from mutton, and vicious if they wanted to be. He���d bring them on his next ship, when he received it, but for a price, a bull and a few cows wouldn’t go amiss… not that anyone had the guts to proposition buying them off such a well-respected banker’s heir.

As for Queen Anne’s Lace, she rested in the finest meatyard, abandoned as she heaved her last oxygen-rich breaths and let her blood flow freely. She would die in time, as street rats and gargantuan insects slowly took their share of her flesh. Eventually her organs would be harvested, her muscle sliced apart for hauling and use; sinew would be chopped into the lowest-grade feed. Anesthetic was hard to come by in the meatyards, and none would be given, even to such a fine ship– Mr. Sawyer wasn’t keen on wasting his money that way. Even a killing blow to the brain was unnecessary.

With every slice, another deep breath hitched, and a faint shriek was heard. No one paid it any attention. Such was the way of the vast, unkind universe.

[ancient-tree-with-deathwish]

i don't think it would be vore unless the ship is specifically digesting you.

idk, i'm not an expert.

Conducting a social experiment to determine exactly how organic a living starship can be before piloting it becomes a vore thing.

[ithidunes]

Ref Sheet / Floor Plan lol

[feathers-in-the-night]

writing a scene that wasn't really planned to go this way at all and feeling unsure about it..

like i guess i think the contends of the scene is fine but maybe im not wild about my writing here, and maybe im worried that the scene is getting too long

[sparrowlucero]

thinking about unconventional sophont aliens, here's some quick little sketches of "star whales"/bioships that were left to form their own societies when the species that engineered them went extinct

[wandixx]

Danny, the Young Justice member snippet nr 1

these snippets aren't connected in anyway but just some little scenes I came up with, everyone is welcome to build up on them if they want to

unrelated snippet nr 2, unrelated snippet nr 3(?)

“Thank you, young man,” elderly man, a civilian, said to Phantom, squeezing his shoulder when the boy transported him away from the battle into an established safe zone. Hero froze for a moment, blinking rapidly.

“You’re… welcome?” he squeaked and flew back to fight the first chance he got, still dazed.

He was lost in thought the whole time he worked after that, rescuing some teen girls too curious, brave and stupid to run away on their own when they still had a chance. If Kid Flash didn’t warn him, one of the goons would land a really nasty hit, which should not have happened. Phantom had one of the best combat spatial awareness out of all of them. He couldn’t always react in time, but it almost never escaped him that an attack was coming.

Something was wrong. Really wrong.

That was why, as soon as the fight was over,  Kaldur approached his teammate. He saw Robin doing the same.

Phantom, to give him credit where credit is due, didn’t fly away from the scene first given chance like always. Instead he sat in the space where they were transporting civilians, hand on his right shoulder, unseeing eyes locked on some cracks in the pavement. His mouth was moving without making a sound. He was covered in dust, like all of them.

“Phantom,” Kaldur asked through Mindlink “are you injured?”

Ghost flinched and turned his head, giving the leader a shaky smile. His eyes were still distant.

“Yeah, no, I’m alright. Sorry I was so out of it. Thanks for the rescue Wally, "the boy replied but his eyes slowly turned back to where he was staring before. Other than that, he hadn't moved.

“Phantom, what’s wrong?” Robin tried, both out loud and through Mindlink. Now the whole Team was concerned.

“It's nothing, really,” Phantom answered with a distant tone.“ Just… something weird happen and I need a moment to wrap my head around it”

“What was it?” Artemis asked bluntly before Conner did the Mindlink equivalent of smack on the back of a head. It was a bit weird to see Conner as the sensitive one. Black Canary was doing a great job with helping him over his anger.

“Let him process it on his own before you demand answers,” he growled.

“Adult civilian thanked me,” the ghost mumbled with awe at the same time. For a moment everyone froze in muted shock.

This explained so much while being so confusing. Yes, civilians tended to do it. It felt great. It didn’t warrant such an intense reaction.

“That's nice,” M’gann sent carefully after a long moment.

“Mhm… Really nice”

Kaldur slowly put a hand on the arm Phantom wasn’t holding, to help ground him a bit. Despite his efforts, the ghost flinched under his touch.

“We need to go to a bioship and back to the Mountain. You should probably come with us”

He expected a fight, he had various ideas how to convince younger boy but instead he heard quiet, small “Sure”

Ghost didn’t move for a long moment.

“Phantom?” Robin asked and again, the response was a violent flinch.

“Sorry, sorry. I know it’s dumb I’m just-” he transmitted some sort of lowering melody that Kaldur didn’t know “-right now”

“Did you just send Windows XP shutting down noise?!” Wally yelled, exasperated. 

“He did,” Robin snorted. Artemis laughed from one of the surrounding rooftops.

Phantom’s lips twitched with a minimal smile but it disappeared before it fully set. His brows furrowed as he stood up, shrugging Kaldur’s hand off in the process.

“Is this publicly known that I’m a ghost? Like, outside Amity? Or do people just assume I’m a meta?”

“Around 3% of discourse about you is ‘alive or not’-”Robin stated after few seconds of searching n his wrist computer “-with people saying stuff like ‘I’ve seen him breathe’ but everyone else responds with some variation of ‘Are you really going to tell kid how he’s supposed to cope with being dead? Really Jared?’ and the general consensus is that you are in fact a ghost. More people wonder what pronounce you use. Why?”

Phantom said nothing. Kaldur exchanged worried glances with Robin and called everyone else to meet by the bioship. It was a successful but tiring mission and they all wanted nothing more than to relax. After debrief because of course Batman would find things that could’ve gone better.

M’gann and Wally were already waiting by the time they got there. Martian was stiff and looked like she was focusing on some really hard task. She almost shut down the Mindlink.

“Phantom, your thoughts are really loud” she whispered out loud “Louder than normal ghost thoughts. I’m trying not to listen or to transmit it on Mindlink but it’s pretty hard. What’s wrong?”

Kaldur remembered the conversation they all had almost right after Phantom joined the Team. As it turned out, ghosts as ‘the beings of emotions’ had thoughts that Martians could read but on different frequencies than living, whatever that meant, and they were really loud. Like they were screaming on the top of their lungs.

Asphalt creaked ominously when Conner jumped down to join them.

“Sorry”

M’gann relaxed minutely before she got visibly angry.

“I don’t mean ‘shield everything’ Phantom, it’s extremely unhealthy, explain what’s wrong?!”

“Seriously guys, you’re all overreacting. It’s not that deep.  I'm just weirded out a bit”

“Your brain was screaming ‘It doesn’t make sense!’ on repeat” M’gann pointed out dryly, ending the Mindlink and motioned them inside the bioship right after Artemis scrambled down a fire escape and joined them.

Phantom skillfully ignored the concerned gazes of every member of the Team other than M’gann who at least pretended to focus on flying. He looked like he was trying to figure out some really complicated puzzle.

“What did this civilian say, exactly?” Robin asked, breaking the silence with a surprising amount of caution in his voice.

“He said ‘Thank you, young man’ and squeezed my shoulder,“ the ghost explained with a wistful and a bit hazy smile. It still didn't justify such an intense reaction “I can still feel it. T’was nice. Not strong enough to hurt but… sure? I didn’t do anything, really, and he most likely knows I'm a ghost, but he thanked me anyway. No sense”

Halfway through Robin seemed to get an idea and once again started typing away on his computer. Phantom sunk into his seat more comfortably, but he quickly returned to distressed overthinking.

“People rarely make sense,” Conner pointed out.

“Nah, you just can't people yet” Wally grinned between bites of his granola bar.

“Nah, you're just an extrovert with superpowers. People make no sense,” Artemis decided in a way that ended all arguments “But gratitude after rescue is pretty typical…”

“Not for Phantom“

“What do you mean, Robin?”

“He means, I'm a ghost, Kaldur,” Phantom started “Of course they're not thanking me. I'm an ‘odd,  manipulative and evil manifestation of post-living consciousness on ectoplasm‘ and ‘always hostile towards living but lack the sentience to comprehend moral aspects of my behavior‘ and ‘should be eradicated for betterment of the living realm’.” he recited almost cheerfully and it made something in Kaldur’s stomach twist. Judging by their faces, his teammates felt the same way.

“You don’t actually believe that, do you?” M’gann asked carefully.

“It doesn’t matter if I believe this or not. They do. Why would anyone thank me? Especially an adult. Teens apparently decided I'm hot so they support me, which is also weird, and kids think I'm cool because of the ectoblasts and can fly. They usually gush about being saved like ‘omg it’s Phantom’ which is still weird but not as surreal as anyone actually thanking. But that dude was probably on retirement. He wasn’t someone I would expect to have any positive interaction with. Most people his age would try to exorcize me or something”

“That certainly isn’t an aster”

“Eh, I’m fine. Most are just yelling. Problems start when anti-ghost weapons, especially guns, get on the table but I can’t blame them for that one too”

“Dude, I cannot express how far from fine this is”

“You deserve gratitude Phantom” Kaldur added “You’re doing a lot of great work”

“If you say so”

“Also, can we go back to the guns? How often do the people you’re saving try to shoot you?” Artemis asked, raising her head from inspecting her arrows.

“Amity Park is to ghost hunters what Gotham is to crime rates in the USA. Should not be counted if you want something actually similar to reality. Of course they have guns to shoot ghosts. And, let me remind you, I am a ghost-”

“I think we can talk about it another time. How do you feel, Phantom?” M’gann interrupted from her seat, intensly not looking back at them. She once again was tense.

“Still weird as hell to be honest”

“Good weird or bad weird” she pressed on. Kaldur kinda wanted to know what made her do that.

“Good… I think? I know a lot of emotions because I hang out with Jazz Fenton and she pshychoanalizes everyone but I have no idea what to call this. I’m happy that he said this, ecstatic even. But I’m still confused and cautious. Some part of me keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, for this man to come back, after realizing I’m evil ghost and call hunters and call me manipulative ecto-scum while looking me in the eyes and smile when I’m shot at”

“Did this happen? It’s a bit too specific to believe it didn’t” Wally announced.

“As if only once!” Phantom laughed in an almost hysterical way.

“Don’t think about it right now,” M’gann demanded “Do you want to tell us more about the thanks you got?”

Next words Phantom whispered as if he was sharing some important, sacred secret.

“When he squeezed my arm, it was such a gentle gesture. Such a gentle touch” he sounded on the verge of tears. 

“Was it?”

“Yeah... Sorry I’m such a mess over it” ghost muttered after a moment, trying to dry his face with his sleeve. It couldn’t be too helpful nor pleasant, considering his uniform was made mostly out of rubber.

“That’s alright”

“He was so kind and like… cautious too, y’know? Like he cared to not hurt me. When my dad pats me on the back, I’m left out of breath and have to do a few steps to not fall face first on the ground and he thinks I’m normal,” it was always a bit disturbing to hear Phantom talk about his family in present tense. They never mentioned it because they knew when it was bad idea to say something but it didn’t make these instances any less unnerving“And this random civilian seen me as Phantom, almost invulnerable and powerful ghost and chose to be gentle”

Nobody mentioned tears dropping from Phantom’s eyes and down his chin.

“That sounds nice” 

“It was. And I, like an idiot, stuttered ‘you're welcome’ and escaped as soon as I could” ghost grumbled, bringing himself back from the memory. Robin actually laughed, honest and open instead of the creepy giggle he used on all sorts of villains. Everyone else soon joined and between breaths someone choked out:

“I did this so many times. So many. I could probably buy a lollipop if I got a cent every time I did it. Maybe even two”

As soon as they weren’t at immediate risk of laughing to death Robin decided to risk it again by starting a captivating tale of clueless Batman holding a baby, getting pie as a present, getting pie in his face and few others.

When he finished, the comfortable type of silence stretched through the Bioship. Everyone was just contently resting, maybe even taking a nap before the ordeal of listening to Batman's ‘Every mistake you made today with sub and sub-sub categories’ lecture while keeping themselves from laughing after all the stories Robin just shared. Kaldur himself was almost asleep when Phantom whispered:

“Is it this nice the second time too?”

“Yeah. It’s even better when you start believing it”