*peeks out from behind desk* Now I know what you're thinkin… You're thinkin I died right? Bc it honestly should never have taken this stinkin long! So I'm rly sorry! W/ all my working over the summer, and now returning to school, updating my stories has been a disaster. But this story in particular has just been a mess. I'm so lazy! I could've written out this chapter a month ago!

Anywho, I'm rly sorry; please don't murder me ruthlessly in your reviews ;) Assuming you'd want to review. After this chapter, I'm SURE you will ;) I made it good for you, albeit a lil shorter than I had hoped. But hey, it's still pretty good ;) Alright enough of me; enjoy!

Chapter 39: The Battle Part 2

Magnum angrily ran in various directions and angles to avoid Phantom's fireballs, furious that Jumper had turned sides. Not that it mattered really anyway; he was just going to kill the young villain anyway.

As he ran, the super villain again placed a hand to his bleeding neck; it was still oozing with blood, but he only felt slightly light-headed. He figured he'd be fine after some stitches.

A blue fireball landed right next to him and exploded, throwing Magnum off balance. He fell to the ground in an undignified heap, and he growled in anger. Standing up, he focused on the molecules moving above the rooftops. Phantom and Jumper were currently on a rooftop to his right, but Magnum suddenly sensed movement on his left.

Immediately, he shot a blazing beam straight to the spot where jumper and Phantom appeared. Jumper barely grabbed Phantom in time to transport him out of the way, but half of the transporter's body was scathed in the process. From a new location, Jumper bent over, clutching his waist.

"You alright?" Phantom asked over his shoulder as he threw another fireball.

Jumper wheezed, "Y-yeah… I'll be oka- Ohhh maybe not."

Phantom looked in horror at his companion's waist to see blood seeping through his vest. Jumper chuckled, "Don't look so horrified; it could be worse."

Phantom's ears started ringing suddenly, so he dove forward and tackled Jumper to the ground. The electric beam flew over their heads by a mere foot. Jumper cried out, "Alright, now it hurts!"

"Sorry," Phantom muttered as they both struggled to stand. His sixth sense suddenly kicked in again and his gleaming yellow eyes narrowed in suspicion. The edge of the roof was about ten feet away, but he felt as if danger was looming closer.

"What?" Jumper asked, having caught on.

It finally clicked. Phantom bounced on the balls of his feet for a few seconds before murmuring, "He's coming."

Before Jumper could reply, Phantom took off toward the roof's edge at a dead sprint. The few supers who could see watched in shock as he launched himself over the edge of the roof…

And collided straight into Magnum! The villain had taken flight after his last beam to attempt to finish his young enemy on the rooftops.

Phantom and Magnum rolled through the air violently, punching and hitting each other as hard as they could. Neither cried out at all when they were hit with their enemies' power, despite the pain; the stakes were too high to notice.

The ground loomed closer and closer til Phantom sucker punched Magnum's chest with a sharp blast of blue fire. The punch did elicit a cry of pain from the villain as he and Phantom blasted a good twenty feet away from each other.

Both landed on the ground, Magnum painfully as he clutched his chest and Phantom phased through the asphalt and debris. He was the first to regain his footing and face his enemy; Magnum soon managed to follow suit.

Twenty feet stood between them; Magnum began balling his fists in an electric fury. Phantom suddenly realized that this was it. It was now or never.

Flicking both wrists downward, his hands were instantaneously engulfed in flames and he dug his feet into the ground for extra stability. When Magnum thrust his wrists forward and shot two massive beams at Phantom, the super caught them in the balls of Blue Fire.

Phantom could feel the molecules expanding in his hands rapidly as Magnum fed the flame with more electricity. Gritting his teeth, he leaned forward, dug his toes into the asphalt and added more fire to his orbs.

The orbs immediately started growing rapidly, making it hard to control. Magnum also turned up the heat, forcing more and more electricity from his hands. The villain's hands began shaking a bit from the pressure and stress, but the deep scowl of hatred never left his face.

Phantom could feel the skin on his hands starting to burn; beads of sweat forming on his forehead, his face slowly began to contort in pain, but he knew he had to endure it. This was his last chance to stop Magnum. If he gave up now…

The thoughts of quitting nagging in his mind suddenly angered him, so he added another surge of blue fire to the already heated power mixture. The surge pushed Magnum's White Lightning back with such force that the villain had to take a step back to regain his footing.

Most supers at this point had stopped the robots and stood around the street and the rooftops, watching the exchange with wide eyes. A few were starting to cover their ears from the piercing sound coming from Phantom's combined orb. Cornelius and Franny, along with many scientists and colleagues, watched from the security cameras with fearful expressions within Robinson Industries. Franny's hands were white from her clenching them tightly. A previous stack of white printer paper now lay at Cornelius' feet, torn to the tiniest bits in his anxiety.

Phantom's orb was now the biggest he had ever created—a full twenty feet high! Initially he didn't feel too lightheaded or anything, but he knew the second it was released…

Magnum kept feeding the fire, desperation slowly gracing his features the longer the duel went on. Phantom could barely see his enemy through the flames and electrical currents, but one could easily tell that the villain was afraid.

Taking his eyes off the scene momentarily, Phantom saw Invisigirl standing nearby alongside her parents and brother, all watching in absolute fear, not sure how this would end…

Phantom's face was beat red at this point and it was all he could do not to collapse or pass out. His vision started blurring with every passing second and he knew his time was about up. Looking at Invisigirl again, he panted, "I love you…"

Before she could respond, Phantom thrust both his arms forward, shooting the massive orb right at Magnum. Magnum accelerated his White Lightning in a last ditch attempt to save himself, but, just before it hit, he dropped his arms and closed his eyes, waiting for impact.

And when it hit, mass chaos broke out.

All the supers were knocked off their feet as the might of the explosion broke the sound barrier, shattering all the glass windows on surrounding buildings and cars. Car horns erupted, debris flew everywhere, gas tanks exploded from the Blue Fire's explosive molecules and the sound of the impact was nearly deafening.

Xxx

Invisigirl groggily opened her eyes, unsure about what happened. She lay at an awkward angle on the asphalt; slowly sitting up, she shook her head to shake off the ringing in her ears. When her vision cleared, she gasped at the numerous tongues of blue fire that lapped at burning cars and debris around the entire intersection. Even some small fires could be seen from inside buildings high above…

Her parents suddenly appeared at her side, both shaking in shock. Dash appeared also, but he had a huge bloody gash on his forehead. He was already pale, but he seemed to be alright. The thing that scared her most was that she still couldn't hear anything.

They seemed to realize this, but remained calm; she figured they were telling her it would be restored soon. She didn't realize they were internally fearful…

Looking around, she saw Bolt, Multiplicity, and the rest of their team struggling to their feet. Psych was among them, but she waved off the handcuffs they were pulling out. She looked like she might cry as she sat back down, putting her face in her hands. She was giving up.

Bolt was looking around wildly; seeing her, he ran to her and dropped to her side. She tried to form words with what he was saying… He kept saying two words over and over to her…

Finally it clicked.

"Where's Phantom?"

All sounds flooded through her ears at once at the realization, and she too looked around wildly. Sounds of fire crackling, Psych whimpering nearby, her family and friends talking in excited, stressed voices all amplified through her ears, but she was focused on only one thing: locating her fiancée.

Shakily standing up with Bolt and her parents' help, she shouted to her friends, "Hey!"

They all turned to her immediately and she commanded, "Help me find W- Phantom!"

She ran off to find him, mentally chiding herself from almost slipping. She heard Frozone call, "Look for Magnum too!"

Supers ran off in all directions, all searching madly for the two powerful men. Titan and Mr. Incredible hefted large debris out of the way as others scoured the area; even Psych and Jumper helped, both feeling immensely guilty at all the chaos that they helped create. K9, Multiplicity and Cynder stayed with them to make sure they didn't make a run for it however.

Invisigirl and Bolt ran to where Phantom had last been seen, but he was nowhere to be found. Frozone and a few others were searching the area twenty feet away in search of Magnum, but he too was missing.

Bolt sighed shakily, "Where… where could he be?"

Invisigirl looked up into his pale face, trying to keep calm. Bolt looked over at her and tilted her chin up, "It's okay. We'll find him."

She quickly nodded, forcing all hopelessness out of her thoughts. Elastigirl soon joined them, also looking confused and disoriented, but she pressed on. "Alright, let's think logically…"

Invisigirl was standing right on the spot her fiancée had been during the duel, and was facing the same direction he had been. "Logically…" she whispered, tuning out Bolt and her mother's conversation.

Suddenly turning around, she trotted away, looking around debris that others hadn't gotten to yet.

"Invisigirl?" Bolt called, running after her with Elastigirl.

She kept running, looking around burning cars and piles of broken glass and asphalt. She was almost fifty feet from the duel scene. If her hunch was correct, the force of the explosion not only knocked the supers off their feet…

"I FOUND HIM!" Titan's voice suddenly exploded from a dozen yards away.

Invisigirl took off at a full sprint towards his voice, panting heavily in fear and desperation to see if Phantom was okay. She rounded a corner, passing another broken car and saw Titan there on his knees, holding a limp Phantom.

Invisigirl gasped and fell to her knees in front of him, immediately assessing the damage. Cuts and burns covered his pale face and his nose had started bleeding; she shakily pressed a couple fingers to his neck, praying she'd feel a pulse.

At first she felt nothing, but then felt a sudden flutter. He was barely hanging on.

She exhaled shakily, trying to staunch the tears that threatened to take over. He was alive, but barely. Bolt put his hands on her shoulders for comfort, and then spoke to the supers who had gathered around, "We need to get him to the hospital."

Elastigirl immediately hit the homing device for the Incrediplane, and soon it was zooming toward them on autopilot. Mr. Incredible murmured to his wife, "Take him to Whitcomb. He's the only one who can help."

Elastigirl nodded as Titan carried the injured, unconscious super to the plane. Invisigirl followed closely behind along with Bolt, Speedo and a couple other supers who had been injured. Invisigirl sat on a couch in the plane; Titan placed Phantom beside her, setting his head in her lap for support. Before he went back outside, he secured a breathing mask over Phantom's mouth and nose.

"It's gonna be okay," he smiled at her assuringly. "You'll see."

Invisigirl merely smiled a little, but didn't look away from her fiancée's face. As the hatch closed, she could hear her father and Frozone ordering the others to locate Magnum. Police had arrived and were placing handcuffs on Jumper and Psych; neither struggled or argued. Her mom lifted the plane of the asphalt and soon they were zooming to the hospital.

Shock still reverberated throughout her skull from the sounds and quakes of the explosion. As they flew, she gently rested her forehead on Phantom's, praying silently that he'd still be alive by the time they got there.

Waddya think!? :D You're wonderin if 1) Phantom will survive, and 2) where Magnum is, right? :D Muahahaha more to be revealed next chappie, my friends ;) Hehehe I'll *ahem* TRY to get the next chapter up soon, but honestly there is no telling when THAT may happen Haha Please R&R and, Idk, maybe the more ppl who review, the more happy I'll get and the more happy I get the faster I write, and the faster I write the sooner the update! :D SO PLZ REVIEW! Haha But I'm not makin promises; I gave up on that long ago Lol

Alrighty, I'm outta here! Thx for all the support guys! :D

~EmK/EmmerzK