Heroic Acts

Thirty Three

Caroline screamed as the ground trembled again, knocking the two off their feet. The tremors sent vibrations up and down her spine and goosebumps rose to the surface of her skin. Andy didn't wait a single moment to get up and pick her back up, pulling her in close again. He felt warm. His eyes darted around, studying the blackened sky, looking for answers as to why this was happening. Suddenly, a streak of blue zipped past his field of view.

"Look!" He yelled, pointing. Caroline looked up at the sky in fear to see The Phantom and the Blue Warrior throwing punches, lightning, cars, anything. Her eyes went wide; she had never seen anything like this, except for on the news of course. Here she was, up close and personal. She was almost in a trance, horrified and amazed. The air seemed to grow super thin, she struggled to breathe.

"Caroline, we need to get somewhere safe. Any of these buildings could crumble," Andy explained, worried for her safety. She broke her eyes away from the boys to look up at Andy and she processed what he said. Her eyes met his, and for a moment she hesitated. Finally, she nodded, trusting him, and looked back at the boys. Andy began to pull her in a different direction, and she followed, but didn't break her gaze until she really needed to.

Andy led her down some concrete stairs to the underground stations. At least down there, they couldn't be trapped under any debris or crushed by building parts. He quickly found a safe spot for them to sit on the floor, and pulled a textbook out of his laptop bag. He handed it to her.

"If it gets really shaky again, when the ground tremors, hold this over your head, okay? I doubt the foundation is going to crumble down here, but just in case. Please," Andy said.

"Okay," Caroline said quietly, taking the book from him. Her brown eyes began to fill with tears. She never really cried in front of people before, but she truly was afraid. All she could do was trust Andy.

Andy noticed the pools in her eyes and opened his arms a little, offering a hug. Caroline accepted it, wrapped her arms around him, and began to cry. She buried her face in his chest; her tears lightly stained his shirt.

"I'm scared, Andy," she cried softly.

"I know you are," he said. He held her close, one hand on her back and the other on her head, gently running his fingers through her hair. He felt her slowly start to calm down in his grasp, and for just a moment, he didn't feel like such a bad guy.

Above them, The Phantom and the Warrior kept on fighting. They were particularly brutal that day; they didn't have any mercy for each other. Behind the Warrior was a "cage" of some sort; it was a barrier, in the shape of a cage, made out of the purple lightning. If the Phantom could get the Warrior past the barrier, he'd be stuck inside.

"Get through the fucking barrier!" The Phantom shouted, punching his enemy for nearly the 100th time.

"Not without a fight," The Warrior said, barely flinching. He conjured up some of his own lightning in his palms and fired it at the villain in front of him.

The Phantom shouted and lost his flight, falling into the concrete below. He created a crater in the sidewalk before sitting up, slowly recovering. He rubbed his head and pushed himself off the ground, and stood back up with wobbly legs.

"Is that all you've got?" He finally muttered. His eyes went completely white as he began to fly again, rising up to meet his opponent face to face.

Darien stared into the grotesque image of the whites of the Phantom's eyes. They gave off a grey-colored glow; he felt like he was staring into his soul. He suddenly felt awfully sick to his stomach.

"What's the matter, Warrior? Weak stomach?" The Phantom asked, tilted his head and smirked. The hero continued to feel woozy.

"Pathetic," The Phantom said, laughed, and hurled bricks in the hero's direction.