Black Phantom

Chapter Ten

Loyalty

"We fight our way to the top without caring about our fellow competitors. We try to maintain perfection and flow with our horse, but we never think of those who don't understand our relationship. We don't need them. All we need is that loyalty that only comes from those who truly know the price of betrayal."

~Harley Boggs~

Bruce sighed again as Robin and Phantom came back. They were joking about something he had missed. However, they both sobered up when they seen the hard look on Bruce's face. Phantom began to worry and walked up to him.

"Did you find her?" he asked with a shaky voice, and they both knew that the hybrid was terrified of losing her. It hurt to know that they weren't entirely sure if they could save her or not. Bruce looked down. He had half an hour left on his time. If only Robin could have kept Phantom busy for just a little longer, but he needed him. He didn't have any more ideas.

"No," Bruce stated and turned to look at the hybrid that looked at the ground. "But I know what the Riddler wants." Robin and Phantom both looked at him ready to know what it was. "He wants Phantom."

"Why?" Robin asked seeing the pain in the hybrid's eyes. Phantom pulled his hood over his head to try to hide it. "I mean usually Riddler is trying to distract us into figuring something else, and then when he has his final demands, it's usually to make sure he can get away. Or something crazy."

"I know," Bruce stated as he typed into the keyboard. "I've been trying to figure out why as well, and the only thing I can think of is that he knows what Danny is. And he wants to how."

"Where and when?" Phantom asked looking up at them. Bruce shook his head.

"I'm not turning you over to him," he stated looking at the screen. "We'll find her first." Phantom slammed his fist on the desk and glared at Bruce.

"He doesn't know anything about my powers, and neither do you. I can handle it, I just want my mom safe," Phantom growled as his eyes glowed green. Bruce stood and glared back at the ghost.

"You're right, I don't know anything about your powers, but I'm also not letting you go for that exact reason. If he wants your powers, then I need you to stay here. You're safer that way," Bruce countered, and when Phantom tried to say something else, he put a hand over the teen's mouth. "I know you can handle it, but you're not working by yourself anymore. You need to realize that if you turn yourself over too soon, Riddler will move her and use her as leverage over you. We need to figure where he has her before we make any other decisions. He did give us a time limit, but for now we have plenty of time." Phantom nodded and Bruce removed his hand.

"I understand," Phantom whispered looking down knowing that Bruce was correct. They needed to try to gather as much information as possible before the deadline. "How long do we have?" Bruce sighed knowing that answering would only hurt the hybrid even more.

"About ten hours, but more than likely a little less than that," Bruce stated, making the hybrid tense and look up at him. "It's not a very big window, but I'm running down leads. He could be moving her constantly, or be keeping her in a single spot. It's going to be hard, but I'm not giving up that easily."

"What if we set a trap?" Phantom asked. "Set up the switch, and then attack?"

"It's not that easy," Robin whispered. "Otherwise it would be a pretty good idea."

"Riddler won't bring your mother, and he may not even show up at the drop point," Bruce informed. "He'll send someone else with a message, and then make a big show over whether or not he'll kill her."

"What about the phone I gave her?" Phantom asked. "Does she still have it?"

"I don't know," Bruce stated kicking himself for not thinking about it earlier. Phantom had created those to track whoever he needed to. He had forgotten. "They need activated." Phantom type in a pass code and suddenly a whole load of new information started flying across the screen. "What is all this, Danny?"

"All information I could think of dealing with ghosts, my parent's inventions, and anything else I wanted to add," Phantom answered as he picked the file that held the phone's information. "I kind of didn't sleep one night when you all were."

"That can't be healthy," Robin murmured seeing how much information he had to put of put into all that. It couldn't have just been one night. Bruce sent a disapproving glare at the hybrid.

"It's not," he stated in a warning. Phantom tensed slightly before looking back at him.

"I wasn't able to sleep, and…" Phantom looked away. Bruce gently rested his hand on the hybrid shoulder and could feel the tension though the armor.

"Next time, tell me when you can't sleep. You need as much rest as you can get," Bruce informed pulling the teen into a small hug. "I really don't need you getting sick on me. Especially with as much work that lies in front of us." Phantom nodded before typing in his mother's phone number. A blinking light appeared on the screen and as they moved it out, they realized that it lead back to her hotel.

"It was a good idea," Robin whispered as he looked at the screen. "Riddler may have known about it as well."

"Or it's a clue as to where he wants the exchange to be held," Bruce informed. "He probably knew about the phone and left it there. He never told me where he was going to do this." Phantom straightened out slightly as Bruce kept muttering to himself trying to think of any other explanation once he realized that he just told the hybrid where it might go down. He watched as Phantom seemed to put the pieces together himself.

"What if…what if we try to set our own trap?" Phantom asked looking at the ground. "I mean, wouldn't it be easier than walking into his trap?"

"He won't let us set any of rules for that reason," Bruce stated as he gently set his hand on the hybrid's shoulder hoping to show some reassurance. "But we'll keep working on trying to get her back."

"What if we can't?" Phantom asked looking up at him. "What if he kills her?"

"Then we'll get him, I won't let him get away," Bruce promised looking at Robin knowing that was the same promise he gave to him. He had kept his word as well then, and he wasn't going to let the hybrid go though the same thing. He didn't need to.

"Alright, what if we case out the area first?" Phantom asked looking at Bruce. "If Riddler really did set a trap, there would be some kind of trigger, right?" Bruce nodded and looked back at the computer thinking about what Phantom had just said.

"What if we gave Phantom backup?" Robin asked. "I mean Riddler might be betting on Phantom's impulsive behavior to just jump in to save his mother." Bruce looked at Phantom who was only looking down.

"Is that why you asked me to train you?" he questioned making the hybrid turn red.

"Part of the reason," Phantom whispered. "I have a pretty good grasp on how to use them and have control…"

"But you're afraid of testing your limits," Bruce finished knowing that the hybrid didn't know how far to go in training. Phantom nodded and looked up at them.

"Well, being patient is your first lesson," Bruce stated turning to the computer. "Riddler kept your mother in a warehouse, but moved her when we were transferring Freeze. I'm not sure why yet though. He's been two steps ahead since her capture. We need to catch up." Phantom nodded and sighed slightly knowing that this was probably going to be really hard trying to listen to what Bruce wanted from him, and what his heart wanted so desperately to do.

Maddie glared at Riddler as she bit down on the gag he put in her mouth. He had changed the ropes to metal cuffs. He underestimated her, and she was going to use it to her advantage.

She slowly twisted her wrist until she could reach the paperclip that was on the floor of the office building. She didn't know what he was planning, but she hoped that he thought she was just a damsel in distress. It would help her escape. She slowly rebent the clip and slipped it into the lock of the cuffs and waited. She needed a plan.

She looked around the room to see that Riddler was sitting at a desk watching the cameras that lead to her hotel room. She narrowed her eyes trying to see if her son was there or not. Suddenly one of the screens turned white and when it cleared Phantom stood in her room with an angry look on his face. Almost like he was mad at someone or something.

Probably mad at Riddler and Batman. Riddler for kidnapping her and Batman for not letting come sooner.

"I'm here, now where is she?" Phantom growled looking around the room. Maddie stiffened at her son's voice. The slight echo and deepness to it actually worried her. It was a sound that sent shivers up her spine. Riddler just grinned.

"Ah, that power to frighten people and not even be in the same room is amazing," he smiled as he turned on the microphone to talk to the hybrid. "Phantom, I'm glad you could make it. See, I need your help with a few things…" he trailed off when the grin Phantom wore grew. His eyes turned bright green and he vanished into thin air leaving Riddler confused.

"Danny," Maddie whispered as she unlocked herself. She stopped the cuffs from banging against the metal chair she was in. Riddler started pounding on the keyboard trying to figure out what Phantom was doing.

He didn't realize that he was buying time.

He didn't see Batman or Robin enter the office. Nor the shadow that had followed.

"Well, I guess he doesn't really care what happens to you then, my dear," Riddler stated as he pointed the gun at Maddie's head point blank.

Lancer sighed as he walked down the block. He needed to figure this out. He heard rumors from his buddy down at the station about how Batman had this new kid helping. They said he looked like a ghost and could disappear. Lancer asked about a description and got what Phantom looked like.

Honestly, it didn't surprise him that Danny had decided to work with Batman. He was proud that his student was smart enough to know that going to someone who was already trained to fight as a hero would be a good idea. Although he knew Danny was smart.

Danny only passed his classes because he was a great test taker. He was able to use his mind to figure out the wrong answers and leaving the correct one and the one that might be it. He had common sense which was rare in many of his students. He hoped that the school he was applying to didn't have as bad as students as Casper High had.

He may have been proud of his hometown and everything in it, but it was hard to see it be that way. Kids hated each other and tried to kill one another.

He couldn't handle it as a teacher anymore. He needed to get out before Amity destroyed itself.

It was going to happen it was only a matter of time.

Maddie grabbed the gun and pushed Riddler back into the wall.

"I'm not as helpless as I led you to believe. I fight ghosts for a living," she growled out bending his arm backward until a resounding snap could be heard. Riddler cried out making Batman and Robin appear and pull her back. "I will kill you if you threaten him again," Maddie yelled as Robin pulled her away.

"Mom," Phantom whispered as green energy rose up from the ground. He smiled as she turned towards him and wrapped him in a hug.

"I was so worried you would do something stupid," she whispered into his ear making him relax.

"Yeah, but I have a mentor that tends to be able to make sure I don't," he smiled. "He tracked the signal that was coming from your room, when he had it, he told me to leave. Act like nothing happened. It took a bit." Maddie just held him tight as Batman and Robin dragged Riddler away.

Maddie looked around the lab in wonder. Wayne Enterprises asked her to help start a new ectoplasmic based energy lab. They wanted to try to power things with ectoplasm since it seemed safer. Of course she had no idea what to do since Batman refused to let Danny stay with her. She got to see maybe twice a week, and it hurt to know that her son stayed loyal to the vigilante. She knew why though.

Danny was a hero, and he would always help someone, and now that he's been training with Batman, he's been busy.

He was now on his own and he was only fifteen.

She started throwing herself into her work after about month. She couldn't stand around anymore. Her son moved on and she needed to as well.

Although, she was still fighting against Masters. The man who she knew was really keeping her son from her. He couldn't come home until Masters was taken down, but little did she know, that was going to be a while.

Phantom looked down at Gotham City. The lights danced over as people started heading home from work. It was peaceful somewhat. He closed his eyes and let the wind tell him what to do. It remained just as calm as he felt. He opened his eyes, and his black outfit slowly began to shift. Black turned lighter while the White darkened. He felt his powers shift and change.

He was prepared for the fight ahead as a Grey warrior. Phantom was growing.

He was becoming stronger.

His enemy had no idea what kind of powers he could weld now.

This is the end of Black Phantom...but not the trilogy...

Danny: you...bitch...

Me: Eh...whatever. My next one is called Grey Phantom. I think...Yes Then White Phantom...there will be a year skip between the end of this and the next one. For the story at least. I don't know about when the next one will be up, but I will post a sneak peek into it after this when it's ready to go up. I'll try to write it all before posting though. Unless you guys want me to post as I type them up. This is unedited because guess what month it'll be...AUGUST...the crazyiness month of the year for me...XD

Danny: Review and tell her what you think, and maybe give her ideas about the next story. She might pull some strings and type on it as soon as possible. Maybe give her a villain to put it...

Please review.