TW: Graphic Depictions/PTSD/Violence/Torture/Blood
Bialya
June 28 22:53 UTC+2
'Come on, Fenton, we have to make this look good!'
He slid around another corner and continued to run.
Danny's borrowed grey t-shirt and sweatpants were already starting to get dirty from the amount of sand and dirt scattered around the place. Luckily, his shoes were still intact despite the many years of ghost-hunting in Amity Park.
Somehow, someway, he was able to stun the newer ninja escorts, better known as the League of Shadows, before they had gotten a chance to put an inhibitor collar on him. As far as his mind was able to piece together, one of his 'new/up and coming powers' had lashed out and caused the lights, camera, and whatever electronic weapon/object to shut down in his room when they came by to escort him. He was then able to make a run for it after accidentally knocking them out with the door in his panic to try to control his powers. So now he had to continue to run to try to find an exit; unfortunately, his luck hadn't gotten any better during his time with the Team.
After rounding another corner, choosing to go right instead of left, he ran through a set of double doors and found himself in a large corridor that looked very similar to an underground hangar.
Looking to the farthest left, he smirked as he found his hunch to be correct. He quickly ran over to the hangar doors, turned his hand intangible, and reached out to test the metal. A painful shock, more than his cell door, coursed through his hand and up his arm. He yelped in surprise and quickly took a few steps back, holding his slightly injured hand as he stared wide-eyed at the doors.
'That didn't feel like ectoranium…' he thought as panic spiked in his chest.
Danny carefully reached his hand out towards the Hangar doors and again was zapped by a now noticeably red energy field.
'Is it a ghost shield? But ghost shields aren't usually red, nor do they usually affect my human form. Maybe it could be something like magi-'
"Stand down Phantom."
The teen flipped around to see the man that had knocked him out back at the abandoned Cadmus facility. His orange and black colored outfit subtly blended into the nearby shadows.
Now getting a better look at the man, he could tell that this man was probably more into mercenary work. He was tall and slender, his armor primarily black and gray, with golden/copper-like greaves and gauntlets. His mask was the same golden color, with a black area that obscured the right half of his face, excluding his pale blue eye. The man also wore a utility belt with pouches and sheaths for a sword and staff on his back.
'There's two schools of thought. One is the Light sent this guy with the others back at the Cadmus Labs because they needed the extra hands. Or two, and most likely, they're more aware of how I fight and they needed to send someone with more fighting techniques to 'keep me grounded'. Either way, this isn't going to be fun.'
Danny smirked defiantly, masking his concern and irritation. He raised his fists and slid into a fighting stance. "Sorry, but I'm not the kind of guy that goes down without a fight."
Deathstroke lunged toward him without another word. The teen quickly dodged the punch and used an opening to send one of his own. His eyes widened as he felt his legs get swept from underneath him, and quickly rolled out of the way and jumped back onto his feet just before the man could land a punch. The teen sent a roundhouse kick, to which the other ducked. Phantom switched tactics and made to sweep the other's feet from underneath him as well, but the man jumped and shot a knife toward him. The other barely dodged it before a surprise swing kick sent him flying into the nearby wall.
As the teen stood back up he smelled and tasted copper. Using the back of his hand he wiped the mixture of red and green from his nose and mouth before getting back into a fighting position.
'The long game is really starting to get on my nerves,' he begrudgingly thought as he debated on scrapping the plan and making an honest break for it.
"This is your last warning, kid. Stand down," the man glared through his mask.
Phantom smirked teasingly. "I would say over my dead body, but I'm already halfway there."
"I am not in the mood for your games," The man sneered and leaped towards him.
The ghost boy dodged and sent another punch his way. But before it could reach its target, his arm was grabbed and pulled behind him in an arm lock. He felt something cold quickly placed around his neck before a pain shot through his spine as he was electrocuted.
'How many of those stupid collars do they have?!' he mentally awed as he tried to gain his bearings.
"Let him go, Deathstroke."
'Oh, that voice is going to get annoying REAL fast…'
They both turned to see Lex Luthor walking toward them with a remote in hand. Without another word, the man in orange and black, now known to be 'Deathstroke', released the sneering teen.
The CEO looked at the teen with a stern expression, strangely (and unnervingly) exactly how Vlad Plasmius used to. "If he wants to make things difficult for himself then fine. Perhaps seeing what the consequences are will help deter him in the future."
'Uh oh-'
The electricity started again and gradually made him collapse onto his knees. He gritted his teeth in an attempt to silence himself, the current not letting up for a second.
"You brought this upon yourself, Daniel. I hope you'll think twice before pulling another stunt like that in the future."
'Okay, this is hitting WAY too close to home!'
The pain continued, but the collar wouldn't allow him to pass out. Instead, the current kept coming in harsher waves until it grew too much and he snapped. He opened his mouth to scream, but instead, waves of green ecto-energy came out in the form of his Ghostly Wail, though less powerful than normal.
Phantom barely heard Luthor when he sighed. "That's enough, Daniel. Your power doesn't frighten us," He stated louder so he could be heard over the noise.
The half-ghost's nerves were on fire and as much as he wanted to stop his wail, he found that he couldn't. The power wasn't responding to him, but before he could panic, the shocks finally stopped, allowing Phantom to gasp for breath as his Ghostly Wail trailed off.
He looked up to see an annoyed CEO. "You're testing my patience, Phantom. You will face the consequences, and using your powers in retaliation is only going to make things worse for you."
'But I didn't-'
The man turned the current back without another word.
The pain had somehow built up faster and the teen's wail almost immediately came back.
It wasn't until he heard the walls beginning to crack, did Luthor stop the shocks again. He heard panicked voices from nearby as his wail died down again as he tried to regain his breath.
Phantom was too fatigued to speak or even move when the CEO kneeled beside him. He just wanted to focus on breathing and find a way to force his body to stop trembling without using his ice powers (and accidentally revealing his trump card).
"So it could be activated in other ways then…an interesting new development," he heard the man beside him think out loud.
'That… doesn't sound good…'
The teen barely flinched this time as the man carefully moved the teen's head to the side to get a better look at the inhibitor collar. After a minute, the CEO stood back up and turned back to Deathstroke.
"Take him back to his cell while I visit the labs for a bit. Bring him to the Observation Room when I call for you."
"Understood."
'Oh great, now this guy is my babysitter…'
Bialya
June 29 09:27 UTC+2
Vandal Savage hummed thoughtfully to himself as he passed by another group of excited lab workers.
Luthor had announced to the members of the Light that he may have made an interesting discovery regarding their young ghost and requested that everyone present in Bialya meet in the Observation Room.
While the immortal was intrigued by what the CEO had wanted to show them, he couldn't help but think that there were more important things he could've been doing. Though most of the preparations were already made, Savage would've preferred to oversee more of the final steps before the next phase of their plan.
He stopped briefly in front of the Observation Room door fixing his collar on his long lapelless coat, before activating the side panel and punching in the code.
The doors opened to Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Deathstroke, and Ra's al Ghul all standing in the center of the room, several scientists and machine operators running around them to different stations.
The room was moderately small, as it was meant for less than twenty people to be present at once. On the opposite end, one could see one-way windows that looked out into a large cubic space; the Observation Room being in the top right corner. Inside their viewing room were multiple monitors and machines that worked as the control panel of the testing space. Five spare chairs were brought in for the members, though none of them had taken a seat.
Savage walked up to the others, who either smiled or nodded at his presence, before turning their attention to Luthor's conversation with one of the many scientists.
"-and how are the weapons coming along?"
"We're having a few issues regarding the size needed to contain the energy properly while attempting to keep the weapons at a tolerable size. There also have been reports of leaks or inconsistent power levels every time it fires."
Luthor rubbed his chin in thought. "I see… And you think Daniel's input would help, yes?"
The scientist cleared his throat and fixed his glasses as he seemed to notice the small audience. "Unfortunately so, Mr. Luthor. Our teams have analyzed the weapon over and over again, but there are some things we still can't seem to get right. We believe, seeing as he designed it, his advice would be of great use."
The businessman sighed defeatedly. "I understand…" The man then turned to Savage with a small smile. "Well then, what are your thoughts on this matter?"
Savage weighed the options carefully. On one hand, they could continue with the plan and find some other way to power their prototypes without risking the possibility that their 'guest' may sabotage their arsenal. On the other hand, the boy had previous and extensive knowledge of not only the power source but the kind of weapons themselves. This could help speed up their plans to want more destructive weapons and would help keep the Justice League off their backs for a while longer.
He nodded firmly at the scientist. "His insight would be greatly beneficial. However, I would advise waiting until we return from the island. He has proven more than once that he is not willing to go along with our plans, so it would be best to wait until he is deemed more tolerable."
The lead scientist nodded and took off to go make other preparations, while at the same time, a Shadow walked in and bowed his head towards the Light members.
"The preparations tasked to the League of Shadows are complete."
Ra's al Ghul nodded appreciatively and dismissed the assassin without a word.
"Well then Luthor, let's proceed. We don't have all day," Queen Bee urged as she crossed her arms.
Luthor smiled and gestured toward a LexCorp scientist. Who then turned to the control panel by the large one-way window pushing a button and relaying the orders for them to proceed.
After a minute, two armed guards brought a cuffed white-haired teen into the space the Observation Room overlooked. He didn't need to ask to know that the boy must've been causing problems during escorts.
"Phantom, remain where you are as we replace your collar," The scientist at the control panel said into the intercom microphone.
Savage watched as the two armed men raised their guns at the teen, who in turn frowned but remained still.
Another LexCorp employee walked into the space/room and quickly replaced the black inhibitor collar with a grey one.
"Care to explain, Luthor?" Queen Bee asked as she watched the teen.
The man smiled knowingly as he rested his hands behind his back. "I believe the boy doesn't have full control over his abilities. His most powerful one to date, his sonic scream, was tapped into yesterday when attempting to punish him for escaping. I believe it is an instinctual response. The new collar being placed will take readings and samples when we manage to get him to use it again. The data will ultimately be used to make a more custom collar for Daniel, in hopes that we can weaponize him more easily should he give us problems following orders in the near future."
"And if he doesn't use it?" She asked.
The CEO gave her a knowing smirk. "I have a feeling he will."
"And our presence here matters why?" al Ghul interjected.
Luthor smiled. "Each member will need to be aware of what the boy is capable of to ensure we don't underestimate him in the future, nor fall prey to his antics. Having spoken with him and watching his behavior, he is no mere naïve teenager. He is cunning, and while self-taught, does well in a confrontation, physical or verbal. Daniel is hyper-aware of what is going around him constantly. He's always on the search for answers, whether he does it directly or not. Dare I say, if he wasn't still curious, he'd have been long gone by now."
"You think he's stalling?" Queen Bee suggested, crossing her arms.
Luthor chuckled. "Stalling? No my dear, that boy is not expecting a rescue team. He IS the rescue team. That event earlier was probably a mere ruse to keep suspicion off of him. Which makes this test all the more important so we may analyze his abilities more closely should he attempt to make an actual escape."
Savage watched as the scientists and guards exited the room, leaving Phantom to wander around to observe the room with caution. Admittedly, it was strange to see the teen not wearing his iconic suit. If the boy didn't have a glowing white aura, he may have been mistaken as just another high school student.
"And Savage? Having spoken with and watched the boy as well, do you agree with Luthor's statement?" al Ghul inquired with a look of intrigue.
Savage hummed in thought for a moment as he watched the boy analyze the room. "The boy's concerns are usually never for himself, but for those around him. If he is here of his own accord, then he is searching for answers to ensure the safety of his friends and possibly his people."
The room where they had left Phantom was completely empty with nothing but steel-paneled walls. But he did have to admit that he was a little awed at the fact that the room had to be at least four stories tall.
'What do they usually keep in here? An elephant?!' he thought as he scanned the room for cameras or other doors.
While he did find three cameras, one in each corner, the last corner on the left had quite a few mirror-like panels.
'So they're observing me? Great, I wonder what great things they have planned for me. Power demonstrations? Experiments? Behavior analysis?'
"Phantom-" He almost jumped at the voice over the intercom. "-please demonstrate your sonic scream."
He turned towards the mirror-like panels, which he was pretty sure were one-sided windows, and frowned at the invisible audience. "Why?" he asked as he crossed his arms.
There was a short silence before the intercom came alive again. "We are collecting data. Please demonstrate your sonic scream."
Phantom rolled his eyes as receiving answers was getting few and far between.
'So they want to study my Wail. Not good. That would definitely fit the bill if they were trying to weaponize me. But… is that it? I still feel like I'm missing a few puzzle pieces though… Guess only one way to find out-'
"Well maybe I don't feel like it," he retorted as he narrowed his eyes at the windows.
'Time to pick a fight.'
There was another short pause, but right when the teen thought the person was going to answer again, the door he entered opened right on cue.
He immediately dropped into a defensive stance as he watched four armored men with weapons enter the room. Each had their tactical gear on, from head to toe, with suspiciously large firearms.
The Halfa glared as he watched them start to spread out, probably hoping to surround him. But one wrong jostle from the guy to his right sent him into fighting mode.
Phantom quickly leaped towards the one closest to his right, using his momentum to jump over and land behind the stunned man. The teen swept the guy's feet from under him, using the opportunity to kick the weapon onto the other side of the room.
'Okay, so flight is out. A plus is that super strength is not completely blocked. What about the rest of my powers?'
He yelped in surprise as he dodged a red energy beam. Then another and another; this went on for a minute before the ghost teen was able to knock another guy out.
Hearing the whine of one of the two remaining guns, he instinctively went to put up a shield. Only to hiss in pain as he was pushed back by the amount of force from the shot. He looked down to see two small burn marks on his forearms.
'Okay, so ecto-energy is out!'
The sound of the door opening again caught his attention, and he glanced over to see six Shadows enter the room. Each with either their own sword, bo staff, eskrima, stars, or knives.
'Oh that's so not fair…' he whined.
All the Shadows immediately began to advance towards him, and Phantom had to make an important decision fast.
'Do I use my ice powers to stop them? Or do I keep them secret and use them as my trump card in case things go south?'
One of the armored guys shot at him again, this time narrowly evading it by flipping backward. As he landed, he barely had enough time to register that one of the Shadows had snuck behind him before he was engaged in hand-to-hand combat. After he successfully managed to knock out his opponent, he turned towards the others approaching with his 'scary eyes'.
"This is your only warning; back off."
One shadow reared his hand back and threw it forward, a knife headed straight for Phantom's head.
In a split second, the teen's eyes burned bright blue and a shard of ice erupted from the ground in front of him, the knife half frozen in ice mere inches away from his face. The shard burst into powdered snow, the remnants drifting across the floor as though a breeze had just blown through.
'Whelp, guess the cat's out of the bag!'
A few of the Shadows stepped back unsurely, but it was the two remaining gunmen that initiated the fight again as they ran forwards.
Phantom's eyes burned bright blue as he charged up his hands, the air cooling even more around them. He waited until the men were only a few feet away from him before he let out a roar and slammed his hands onto the ground. The ground shook violently as large icicles erupted from the ground, catching the back of one of the guy's shirts and lifting him ten or fifteen feet into the air. The other guy aimed his gun at the teen, but the latter dashed over to him, grabbed the gun, and froze the entire thing over, including the man's hands. He then quickly turned and kicked the man into the nearest shard, knocking him out instantly.
He narrowly dodged a sword that came swinging down at him from above and jumped backward to glare at the remaining men, the Shadows. But before he could decide whether or not to scrap the long game, they all attacked him at once.
Duck, roll, swing, freeze, miss, kick, roll, jump, punch, miss- all in what felt like an endless cycle. One after the other Phantom kept missing and dodging, and right when he was going to try to jump away to think of a new plan, he felt his back hit the wall.
'Crap!'
The teen glared at the approaching men in front of him. He was literally backed into a wall and all of these Shadows were particularly good at fighting and dodging his attacks. And while there were only five left, that was still five highly trained assassins. Without wasting another second, the five immediately went back to their bombardment, this time without Phantom being able to dodge as easily.
He growled out of frustration as he tried his best to fight the men off as they slashed at him. But after more than a few good hits landed, and seeing the green ectoplasm drip onto the ground below him, he had had enough.
"I said, BACK OFFFFFFF!"
The Ghostly Wail's power was unleashed. The remaining men and some of the downed men were sent flying across the room as wave after wave of the terrible sound crashed into them.
Once he was sure all of them were on the opposite side of the room, he decided to shut off the Wail.
SHINK!
Phantom's eyes widened as he felt something sharp pierce his neck in at least three or four different spots, his Wail continuing to wreak havoc.
His panic began to spike more as the pain continued and seemed to be growing as he felt whatever contraptions were in his neck dig deeper, his Wail unable to stop itself. The pain in his neck was getting worse by the second; the ice and snow around him started to shift and move on their own, slowly spinning faster and faster around the room as though creating a small blizzard.
'Have to keep… away… so I don't… hurt them-'
The sound of the door opening cut through his pain-riddled mind.
'I hate it here…'
Savage watched as more Shadows approached the ghostly teen.
One by one, or in twos occasionally, every man was either frozen solid, sent flying back by the sonic scream or blown across the room from the miniature blizzard the boy had created.
They heard the Wail slowly start to teeter away, but the blizzard remained steadfast, the room starting to look more and more like an arctic exhibit.
"Alright, we have what we need. Shut it off," Luthor ordered the team of scientists.
A few beats had passed, but the boy continued his display of power and showed no signs of relief or stopping.
Several scientists began to shuffle uncomfortably, some getting up and joining others as they whispered frantically between each other.
"Well?" the CEO demanded with a raised eyebrow.
A female lead turned and cleared her throat, her expression fearful. "Sir, we have a problem."
Savage watched as the billionaire rolled his eyes at the woman. "Well obviously, since he is continuing to lash out. What is the hold-up?"
"We believe the subject may have shorted out the collar. We believe-"
"We don't have all day, the short answer is sufficient," Savage injected with a pointed look.
The woman visibly gulped and trembled as she fidgeted idly with her clipboard. "It's stuck sir."
"Well then send someone in and get it unstuck," Luthor retorted with a stern look.
"Of course sir." The woman quickly dismissed herself from the room, leaving the members along with the frantic team of scientists.
The immortal turned back to the scene below them and watched as more men had been sent in.
Again, one by one, each man fell to the ghost. Only this time Savage noted that the teen wasn't pulling his punches. Every icicle shard that was used hadn't been dulled, if the cuts and blood on the ground were anything to go by. Every person that was flown backward or into the walls was instantly knocked unconscious or was reported to have broken something. Every Shadow or armored man that managed to get close enough, instantly showed signs of frostbite before they were turned into frozen statues.
The villain watched with a cruel smirk as he noted that every man that entered that room, had yet to leave it.
He understood that the teen was merely lashing out to protect himself, and yet, he couldn't help but want to see more. He managed to see a glimpse of it at the Pavilion at the Festival of Peace, but that did not satisfy his hunger. He wanted to see the carnage. He wanted to see the fear of those around him as he lay waste to metropolises. He wanted to see Phantom's rage.
Luthor's sigh broke Savage out of his thoughts. "I think I'm growing quite tired of Daniel's defiance. Deathstroke, if you'd please-"
"No. I'll handle this," Savage injected as he turned away from the window.
The entire room seemed to freeze for a moment as eyes turned towards the immortal.
Luthor raised an eyebrow but didn't question the man further as one of the workers handed him a key for the collar.
"Given we are so close to the next phase of our plan, now would be the best time to implement the confiding character. It may also help keep the boy docile for a while. You two," Savage looked towards the nearest Shadows. "Follow me, and do everything precisely as we've discussed before."
The two Shadows bowed their heads and followed him out the door, no one making a move or sound to stop him.
It took a moment for them to walk to the doors leading to the bigger part of the Observation Room. During that time, the Shadows put him in handcuffs and Savage then twisted his hands back and forth as much as possible as they continued in silence.
They reached the doors, and without hesitation, the two escorts opened them, a chilling breeze swam over them, the two doing their best to hide their shivers. The Shadows walked him into the room, took off his handcuffs, and shoved him toward the teen. Before turning around, walking back out and made sure to close the doors behind them.
He silently took in the condition of the room, and being careful to avoid the fallen bodies, made his way over to the teen. Or at least, as close as he could get without setting the child off.
Savage could barely make out the silhouette of the boy through all of the ice and snow flowing through the room at hurricane speeds. "Phantom?!" he called out, deciding to try his luck.
At first, there was no answer, but before he could try calling out again, a warning growl shook the room as pupilless glowing blue eyes glared at the newcomer.
"Phantom it's alright, it's Marduk!" he reassured over the rushing wind.
The half ghost went to snarl again before halting in place as his eyes went wide, returning to their normal green, upon seeing who it was.
The miniature blizzard slowed to a stop instantaneously, and the snow hung in the air as though frozen in time.
"Marduk? Where-? H-How?" the boy rasped unsurely.
The teen's eyebrows furrowed as he looked the man over and noticed the red marks on his wrists. The room rose a few degrees as he met the man's eyes again, seeming to ask a silent question. Savage nodded, hoping that the boy understood, and continued to walk cautiously towards him.
The snow fell to the ground collectively as he got closer.
"Phan- Danny, listen to me. You're hurt, let me help you," he stated placatingly.
The teen went to shake his head only to growl in pain as the needles shifted in his neck, his eyes flashing dangerously.
Savage slowed his movements but didn't stop as he continued to inch his way closer to the other. "Danny, it's okay. I'm your friend remember?"
The ghost looked up at him and took a step back, seeming reluctant as fresh ectoplasm dripped onto the stark-white show.
"They gave me a key to unlock that collar. But you have to remain calm if you want me to take it off," the man reassured the other as he was almost within arm's reach of Phantom.
The halfa shifted in place unsurely, swallowing uncomfortably, if his expression was anything to go by. He looked back up at him and after a beat or two, whispered out an 'okay' as he slowly sank to the ground to sit on his knees.
The man nodded and slowly knelt down next to him to take off the collar.
"Try not to move," he stated as he started to search for the keyhole, being mindful of the injuries. It only took a few seconds before an audible click was heard.
Phantom yelped in pain as gravity took hold and the collar fell to the ground, fresh ectoplasm dripping off of the needles.
The half-ghost made to backup but was stopped by two strong arms wrapping around him.
"It's okay Danny, you're alright now," the large man reassured. The ghost's tense body trembled, most likely from fatigue and pain, as the large man hugged him.
Whenever his children were young, he would often do this in their brief moments of vulnerability. It often helped establish trust among them, and he hoped this would lead to the same results with Daniel.
The boy, unfortunately, had frozen in place, most likely unsure what to do with the unexpected embrace.
'Hmmm… perhaps a different approach…'
"Did they hurt you at all?" He heard the teen rasp out, gently pushing the man away from him.
Savage would've laughed if he didn't have an identity to keep.
"I wasn't the one with the collar on," he stated with a furrowed brow.
The boy chuckled, or at least attempted to, before ending up in a coughing fit. The villain held the boy's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him as a mixture of ectoplasm and blood splattered onto the snow in front of him.
'That does not bode well,' he thought with a frown. 'Luthor, your ambitions better not have delayed our plans.'
"Are you alright?"
Phantom nodded. "I'll live," He rasped. He then looked up at him with a small smile, which to anyone else would have been unnerving seeing as there was a trail of ectoplasm and blood from the corner of his mouth. "But I'm more worried about why you're here," the young ghost continued, his voice going in and out.
Savage frowned, keeping in mind that Luthor made a good point earlier about how perceptive the boy was. He'd have to be careful with what he said.
"I believe I overheard them saying they brought me here to give them leverage," he lied with ease.
The boy winced. "Sorry…"
The villain waved him off, grateful that the boy was too trusting. "You're not at fault, Danny."
The sounds of the doors opening caught both of their attention. One of Luthor's lab workers stepped forwards, with the two Shadow escorts from before, and two new armored men.
"Step away from the subject!" the man called out.
Marduk looked to Danny with (hopefully) what looked like an indecisive look.
The ghost boy nodded and gently pushed the man further away from him.
"Go, it's alright," he struggled to say.
"Are you sure?"
"I'll be fine, now go before they try something. Besides, you're probably freezing…" he trailed off holding his throat with a wince of pain.
Savage nodded appreciatively once more and stood up with his hands in the air and walked back to the two Shadows.
They silently escorted him out of the room and back to where the other Light members were.
Upon entering the room, Luthor turned to him with an impressed smile.
"Well, that went surprisingly better than expected."
The immortal raised an eyebrow at the CEO. "Did you have doubts?" he inquired.
Luthor chuckled. "With you? No."
They turned to see several doctors and lab workers rushing in to tend to the injured half-ghost.
"Remind me again why your involvement is necessary?" Queen Bee asked with a disbelieving look.
Savage remained stoic as he explained. "Having someone the boy deems trustworthy nearby will act as a controlling factor. Your influence, as well as telepathic, won't have lasting effects, which is needed in order for our plans to be successful. Using this method, he's more willing to follow orders since he believes that my safety is at risk. This also works in our favor as he'd be more willing to share information with me. Now, are you in need of any more reminders?"
Queen Bee obviously seemed to disapprove, but she kept her opinions silent.
"He sustained a bit of damage but should be fine in a day or so if we limit the inhibitor collar," the woman from before reported.
Savage hummed thoughtfully before looking over to the nearest Shadow. "Replace the inhibitor collar with one that will cancel out all his powers. Then give him the sedative that'll keep his ice abilities in check. Also, arrange for him to have a visitor tomorrow."
"Of course, sir."
He turned back towards the other Light members. "If you have any other business to attend to, now would be the time to do so."
Luthor sighed with a bored tone. "Then I shall get ready to take my leave. The doctors have their orders, and I'll have the island prepared for visitors ahead of time in case you should leave early."
Savage nodded and watched as all the Light members left. He then turned and looked out to see the amount of carnage Phantom had caused in his pain-induced state.
Icicle shards jutting out from the ground and walls, broken ice pieces scattered across the room, ectoplasm scorch marks etched into the ground, multiple blood splatters, and webbed cracks in the wall from the boy's sonic scream.
The man smiled at the sight of it all.
'It's perfect…'