Chapter 9: Damn it, Batman!
"Do you have any idea what all those steroids do to your mind?" Phantom asked, only to receive his answer in the form of a large fist slamming into his chest, sending him flying backwards into a pile of crates. "Guess you do." He groaned as he placed a hand to his head.
"Focus, idiot." Batman sighed, flipping backwards as Bane charged him. Leaping over the man, the Dark Knight grabbed his shoulders and flipped him backwards, the mercenary slamming into the concrete floor below. But he quickly rose to his feet once more and grabbed Batman's arm, throwing him across the room. Phantom quickly flew back into the air, firing a barrage of blasts at the downed man, who roared out in rage. "Yeah, yeah. . . ." The teen muttered, watching as Bane rose off of the ground once more.
The kid let out a groan as he watched the man glare at him. "Seriously? How many hits does it take for this guy to get the point?" He asked, firing a beam of ice from his eyes, hitting the man in the chest. Bane quickly broke through the ice, and whipped around, turning back towards the teen.
Reaching down, he grabbed one of the large pieces of ice that now lay on the floor and hoisted it up over his head. Danny raised his hands as the large block of ice came hurtling towards him, another quickly following.
Aiming up, he fired large ecto-blasts at the large chunks, the ice shattering into small crystals that clattered to the floor.
He quickly finished up the other two blocks of ice that fell towards him, only to feel something heavy slam into his side. Grunting in pain, he felt himself be hoisted into the air, Bane glaring at him as he squeezed his neck. Phantom grunted as he swung his legs forward, trying and failing to connect with the man's head. Suddenly, the teen's eyes drifted towards the side and a small smirk formed on his lips.
A small black bat-a-rang flew through the air, clipping onto Ban's back shoulder. A quick beeping filled the air before the device exploded, the mercenary dropping the teen in shock and pain.
Phantom quickly slid underneath the man's legs and flew into the air, throwing a large ecto-blast at the man's back, slamming him face-first into the back wall, the structure crumbling around the man.
Phantom slowly flew back, landing gently next to Batman, who gave him a small look. Phantom quickly gave him a silent nod, signalling he was alright before the sound of shifting rubble sounded once more. Bane let out a shout of rage as he broke through the pile and glared back at the pair. The anger quickly melted into contempt as he chuckled deeply.
"So, seems you have found another sidekick, eh Batman? Though I must admit, the little niƱo is tougher than most of the others."
Phantom clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "Why the hell does everybody think I'm your sidekick? I mean, seriously! Penguin thought I was, Ivy thought I was, Two-Face, Croc, Clayface, Catwoman, even Gordon!" He complained. "Come on, do you see me wearing green tights?!" He growled out, Batman rolling his eyes in the process.
Bane chuckled once more. "No matter. I will still break you. Now the challenge comes from deciding who I break first. The Bat . . . . or the boy?"
Batman growled as he grabbed a bat-a-rang, hurling it at the man, who ducked the projectile, only for the following explosion to drive him forward, where Phantom shot him towards the ceiling, his back connecting with the hard cement. Slamming back into the ground, he grabbed the teen's ankle and swung him around, throwing him back into Batman, the two falling to the floor at the force of the blow.
Bane quickly charged them once more, only for Phantom to wrap his arms around Batman's shoulders, the pair disappearing in a blink. The mercenary froze and whipped his head around, a snarl appearing behind his mask. "Show yourself, cowards!" He snarled.
Suddenly, a black fist shot out from the air, slamming into the man's face, sending him stumbling backwards, only for a green ecto-blast to hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Appearing once more, Batman and Phantom exchanged a look before nodding, plan in motion as Phantom flew forward, flipping over the man's shoulders before grabbing Bane's wrists, driving his knee into the mercenary's chin.
The man shouted in pain, only for Phantom to shove him forward, Batman quickly whipping around as he grabbed the tube that extended from the back of his head. He quickly ripped them out of their sockets, Bane screaming in pain, only to be silenced as Phantom delivered an ecto-powered uppercut, knocking the man out as he collapsed to the floor, Batman throwing the leaking tube onto the ground next to him.
Phantom glanced at Bane once more before crossing his arms, a small huff escaping his lips as he turned away. Batman let out a small chuckle as he glanced towards the teen. "Still pissed?" He asked, an amused expression evident on his face.
"Sidekick! Are you kidding me? SIDEKICK?! Hell, it's been six weeks and these idiots still can't get it right!" He shouted in exasperation.
Batman rolled his eyes at the teen's complaints, moving over towards the warehouse window, glancing around the sky to make sure they weren't needed elsewhere. "Well at least you're able to beat up whoever gets it wrong." He pointed out.
Phantom hummed in consideration for a moment before glancing back at Batman, a small smirk forming on his face. "Almost everyone. . . ."
"You're not punching Gordon."
"Tsk. . . Buzz Kill."
"Idiot."
"Whatever!" Phantom grumbled as he flew into the air, a small yawn escaping his lips, an action Batman took notice in. The Dark Knight turned and placed a hand on the teen's shoulder. "You should go get some rest. We're done here." He said softly.
Phantom nodded in understanding as he made his way towards the window, only to turn back as Batman called him.
"And Spooks, nice job."
The teen let a small grin spread onto his face. "Did you expect anything less?" He joked before flying through the window, disappearing into the night sky.
Batman gazed out the window for a moment before turning away, making his way back over to the unconscious form of Bane, a small thought filtering into his mind.
No . . . . I didn't.
Phantom sighed in content as he flew through the clouds, the cold crisp temperatures sending occasional chills down his spine as he flew. The wind whipped past him, stark white hair blowing into his eyes from time to time as he flew.
The sound of a police siren or fire truck would float up to his sensitive ears from time to time, making him consider stopping and checking it out from time to time. Those thoughts were usually driven out from the fact that he was no longer with Batman, meaning he no longer had to play the Good Guy act. Nope, he was free to be himself for once.
The moon shone brightly overhead, illuminating the clouds around him in silver cloaks, making his hair seem even brighter, if such a thing was even possible. A few stars would occasionally peek through the clouds before disappearing back into the dark. Such nights like these made flying all the more enjoyable for the teen.
But such enjoyment was quickly forgotten as a certain scream filled his ears, one that was much louder than the others. He paused in his flight for a moment as he pondered whether to investigate, only to shake his head and roll his eyes, continuing his flight. It wasn't until another scream occurred, followed by another, and another that the teen had to stop once more.
Letting out a small sigh, Phantom focused on his hearing, stretching his concentration farther from the clouds, sensitive ears, picking up the sounds of screams and shouts of panic and shock, the sound of distant fire trucks, and the unmistakable sound of creaking walls and blazing fire.
He blinked back into reality as he took in a shaky breath. Clearing his throat, he turned away as he stared back out into the sea of clouds around him. Mentally, he was screaming at himself, wondering why he was even debating such a stupid idea. But . . . . something made him stop flying. Something made him listen. And something was telling him to help.
Letting out a loud groan, the teen quickly dove out of the clouds, zooming through the air as he sped towards the sounds of screams. It didn't take long to find the apartment building that was ablaze, but he hadn't expected the building to be so . . . well . . . . .on fire.
The entire structure was lit up, fire cracking through almost every window, the surrounding street glowing orange from the light pouring out of the burning building. Down below in the streets, the shouts of people drifted up to him, including one particularly troubling scream that claimed someone was still inside.
Quickly diving down, he landed in front of a particular couple, who staggered back upon spotting the teen before calming. They had recently seen the papers describing the vigilante, and how he seemed to be a cohort to Batman. "Is anyone still in there?!" Phantom shouted, trying to be heard over the raging fires beside him.
The woman turned to him, eyes full of fear and panic. "My daughter! She's still there. On the third floor!" She cried.
Phantom inwardly sighed. "Of course. Because the ground floor is just too easy." He muttered to himself before phasing into the building. The immense wave of heat that struck him was almost enough to knock him off his feet. He coughed before waving his hand in front of his face, trying to clear his vision of the surrounding smoke and soot.
"Hello?!" He shouted, the roaring flames seeming to drown out his voice. He gasped as the building rumbled, a nearby window shattering as a nearby blaze exploded, showering the teen in glass, the jagged edges tearing through his suit, leaving bloody gashed across his skin. Phantom cursed in pain. "Why the fuck am I here? I don't even like kids!" He shouted to himself as he slowly flew through the burning ceiling.
He let out a harsh cough as he scanned the rooms around him, pieces of debris crumbling around him. "This girl better grow up to be President or something!" He shouted to nobody in particular as hot embers fell onto the back of his neck, hissing in pain as he quickly brushed them off.
Suddenly, the sound of quiet crying sounded from farther down the hallway. "Hello?!" He shouted again, letting out a yelp of shock as part of the ground crumbled under his foot. Quickly hovering over the debris, the teen whipped his head around, trying to locate anywhere a child could hide.
Finally, his eyes fell on a nearby room, the walls crumbling around it, allowing full view of the inside. In the corner sat a small bed, a little crack of space underneath. Phantom narrowed his eyes and flew over, crouching down next to the bed. Lighting up his hand with a ball of green energy, he saw a small girl curled up underneath the bed, a small Batman blanket wrapped around her.
"Hello?" He called softly, watching as she opened her eyes, revealing scared green irises. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly, reaching his hand forward, only to watch as she scooted back in fear. He growled to himself, knowing there wasn't much time left as he noted the ceiling above them beginning to creak.
Suddenly, a smile formed on his face as an idea struck him. He eyes the blanket wrapped around her before chuckling. "It's going to be okay. I'm a friend of Batman." He said, watching as the girl blinked up at him, a small smile forming on her lips. Slowly, she slipped her small hand into Phantom's outstretched one, allowing him to gently pull her out of the bed.
The sound of rock rumbling made Phantom wrap the girl in her arms and turn her away right as the ceiling collapsed, crushing the bed under a pile of burning cement, a large pile of ash and embers flying into the air. "Come on. I'm getting you out of here." He whispered to the girl, who wrapped her arms around his neck.
Quickly glancing around, the teen noticed how his exit was now blocked on all sides by burning walls and crumbled ceilings. He groaned before turning towards the girl. "Hey, umm...I'm going to get us out of here, but I need to do something. It's going to feel a little tingly, but I promise you it's safe, alright?" He asked.
The girl hesitated for a moment before wrapping her blanket tighter around herself, nodding her head.
Phantom nodded in acknowledgement before taking a deep breath, turning himself and the girl intangible, quickly flying through the burning floor and out the walls of the building, quickly appearing outside on the street. The couple from before watched as he appeared, quickly rushing towards him and the girl in his arms. "Katie!" The mother screamed, hugging the girl tightly to her chest as Phantom passed her off to them.
The pair quickly looked back towards Phantom, noting how he now had soot in his cheek and tips of his hair as well as a few bleeding cuts around his face and arms. "Thank you." The woman whispered, eyes flickering in genuine gratitude.
Phantom blinked in shock for a moment before nodding, quickly flying back into the air right as the fire department arrived. He let out a small sigh of relief as he flew to one of the nearby building roofs and watched as the firemen combated the flames, which were now beginning to die down slightly.
He let out a tired sigh of relief as he rested his back against an air conditioning vent, closing his eyes for a moment of peace, only for them to snap open once more as another sound filled his ears, the noise coming from the other side of the street. The sound of screeching tires, honking horns, police sirens and machine guns. Sure, why not?!
Letting out another annoyed groan, Phantom flew back into the air and quickly found the source of the noise. Two or three police cruisers were in pursuit of a car that was flying down the street, a man peeking out the passenger window from time to time, sporting a large AR-15.
Phantom groaned, which promptly turned into an annoyed scream before he noticed the trajectory of the speeding car. Straight towards a group of three women crossing the street. "Cause why the fuck not?!" Phantom shouted as he shot forward, coming even with the car before speeding past it. Landing in front of the women, he quickly grabbed them and turned them intangible, the cars harmlessly passing through them.
Letting out a small sigh of relief, the teen let the women go and flew back into the air, speeding back towards the car. Landing on the roof of the car, he leaned down and knocked on the glass, earning confused glances from the thugs in the car. Leaning his head down over the window, he gave a small wave before his face morphed into a look of annoyance. "Okay, I'm sure you jack-wads think this is a totally awesome idea, but the fact of the matter is, some of us are really tired and want to go home. So can you do me a favor and pull over?" He asked.
His question received an answer in the form of confusing glances, which promptly turned into the gunman whipping around, aiming the rifle at him before a long stream of bullets shot out of the gun, shattering the windshield right before Phantom pulled his head up with a yelp.
The teen growled before his hands lit up with green energy. Digging his hands into the top of the car, he grunted as he began to rip the top right off the car, startling the goons inside. Before the man could aim for him, he wrapped his lit hand around the barrel of the gun, bending the metal so that it pointed towards the shooter, who stared at the barrel in fear. "Yeah, try shooting that think now." Phantom growled before yanking the driver out of his seat, the man letting out a shout of shock.
Without the driver, the car slowed enough for Phantom to throw the man onto the road without fear of killing him. He then proceeded to to the same to the other two men, the car slowing to a stop as the cop cars encircled the confused and dazed men. Before the policemen could turn towards Phantom, the teen was already flying away. Landing on another roof nearby, the kid collapsed to the ground, groaning in relief, wishing nothing more than to sleep.
Suddenly, the shattering of glass filled the air as well as the shouting of a group of men.
"I'M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER SOMEONE!" Phantom screamed, eyes blazing as he shot into the air and dove towards the ground, landing on the street. Whipping his head around, he caught sight of a nearby jewelry store, the front glass broken and scattered on the front street.
Flying over, the teen noticed a group of bumbling men, each shouting at each other as they dragged duffel bags on the ground behind them, trinkets and necklaces dropping out from time to time. Phantom's eyes twitched in aggravation. "Seriously? Where's Batman when you need his fuckin' ass?!" He shouted, noting the fact he had now cursed more in fifteen minutes than he had in an entire week. But ffight now, he didn't give two shits.
No. Right now, his main goal was restraining himself from putting the morons across the streets in full-body casts.
Flying over, he dropped down in front of the men. Placing a hand to his forehead, he let out a long and tired sigh, to which the men exchanged glances with each other.
"Alright . . . ." Phantom said quietly.
"I'm going to make this as simple as humanly possible. Surrender right now, or I promise you'll each wake up with broken noses." He growled out, eyes flashing dangerously.
The man hesitated for a moment, a minute of silence passing between the group before the thugs charged. Phantom sighed and let the energy build up in his hands, rearing his fist back before ramming it into the first man's nose, not even giving the thug the chance to attack him.
The other two hesitated in their attacks, but charged nonetheless. Ducking under a swinging pipe, Phantom flipped over the man's shoulders and landed in front of Idiot #3. Sweeping the man's legs, he grabbed his collar and slammed his fist into the guy's nose, watching as he collapsed to the ground, holding his nose in pain as he rolled on the floor.
Whipping his head around, he watched as the last man began to run down the street, earning another sigh from the teen. Flying over, he hurled a glob of ectoplasm at the man's feet, sticking him to the street, causing him to crash to the floor. Rolling over, the man tried to free himself from the sticky substance, only to freeze as Phantom approached.
The teen stared at the man with an expressionless face for a moment before kicking him in the face, effectively knocking him out, as well as giving him a bloody and crooked nose.
Letting out a content sigh, the teen listened to the approaching police sirens before flying up into the air. Quickly landing on the closest and final building roof, the teen breathed heavily, hands resting on the edge of the roof as his hair hung into his eyes, a small bead of sweat dripping down his face.
"Not bad, Spooks."
Quickly whipping around, Phantom's eyes landed on the dark figure crouched by the edge of the roof, scanning the streets nearby for any signs of trouble.
"W-w-www-w . . . . w-when . . . w-wh-why . . . w-wh-w-WHAT?!" Phantom stuttered as he approached the Dark Knight. "H-how long have you been here?" He asked incredulously, wide eyes still blinking in shock.
The man shrugged. "Long enough."
Phantom dropped to his knees next to the Dark Knight, flopping over onto his back, his head resting on the man's knees as he stared up at him. "W-wait. Are you saying you were watching the entire time? YOU DIDN'T THINK TO HELP?!" He shouted, flailing his arms in added emphasis.
Batman rolled his eyes. "I merely wanted to see how you handle yourself solo. I've only ever seen you in action with me, so I wanted to see what you're really made of. Not that I thought you'd need it, but I was always nearby in case you needed me to intervene."
Phantom scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Well that makes me feel better. Did I at least pass your stupid test, Teacher?" He growled out.
Batman nodded softly, never realizing just how relieved Phantom really was through all the sarcasm. The teen sighed as a small yawn escaped him for what seemed like the millionth time that night. "You know, I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods . . . . . . and your sanity."
Batman let out a small chuckle. "You should go get some rest now, Spooks. I have things covered here, and you've more than deserved it." He stated, only to notice the lack of movement from the teen. Glancing down, he now noticed the teen's arms were folded over the Dark Knight's lap, his legs sprawled out across the roof floor. His head rested over his arms, his eyes closed as the occasional snore filtered through.
Batman rolled his eyes before gently patting the teen's head. Lifting his gaze, he continued his scan of the city for trouble, keeping one hand on the boy's head, never even noticing how his hand began to run through the boy's soot-covered hair comfortingly.
Yeah, I know. Not the most exciting chapter. But I wanted to show the relationship between Batman and Danny and develop that more before I move on to anything else. And I also wanted to show how Danny really feels about all this . . . . . hero-ing.
Anyway, back to the business at hand. Thanks to these people for favoriting and/or following the story: Glowing Loudly, Raalina, seantriana, whyissigningupsocomplicated; FreeFangirlFeels
Reviews:
Tomgirlbre: Yeah I have to admit, I kind of love it too.
Legitimate Pipsqueak: Yeah, but in Florida there are really only two types of weather: scorching and hurricanes. That disorder thing would be interesting, but it would probably take away from the real plot of the story. Thanks for the suggestion though. Maybe that could be a future story.
YouCanOnlyPretend: Yeah this would probably kill me too. Sorry by the way. (P.S. I love your profile pic) XD
God of the Challenge: Of course Superman would have something overly-complicated like that. At least Batman is courteous enough to use a cowl of something. At least try Supes!
Glowing Loudly: No, but I probably should. I really love that writer.
(P.S. Get ready for some Justice League fun!) ;D
