The Paragons

Chapter 3: Revenge of the Black Phantom

The Viper, Duncan, and The Crawler left the doctor's apartment building and left for his company's high-rise in his tricked-out convertible. It had originally started out as a normal vehicle, but after Duncan had made the decision to have him and The Crawler assist The Viper on her nightly watches, he had modified it heavily in order for it to be more effective. There was a big, rear-mounted harpoon gun at the back of the convertible, manned by The Crawler himself, as well as several buttons and levers on the front control panel that could project a light-blue force field to surround the car, launch hidden missiles from the headlights, and even cause the car itself to flip effortlessly over obstacles to continue chases. 

As the group of three drove down the city streets towards the Lifeline Industries headquarters, they chatted more about Carlisle's attempt to reach out of them. 

"I can't believe we're actually setting out to do this.....can you?" The Viper started. "I mean.....part of me still finds Carlisle a little suspicious, but the possibility of other heroes being out there, who are just like us.....that just seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up!" 

"Right now, I genuinely think he's a good guy," Duncan said. "If he really had ulterior motives, then why would he want to gather all of the enhanced individuals in one place, where we could all easily stomp him the moment we find out?" 

The Crawler got his master's attention. "Boss, there's something I don't get." 

"What's that, Crawler?" 

"Why are you among these 'heroes' that Carlisle wishes to recruit? You don't have innate powers, and you're not enhanced or a mutant; you just have amazing technology. Like Tony Stark." 

"And we all know how 'well' that ended," The Viper snarked. 

"I don't really know, to be honest. And I also don't know why I was the one to receive the video message.....he could've sent it to The Viper instead and it likely would've had the same outcome. I guess I'll ask him personally whenever we're done here." 

Just then, The Crawler spotted a menacing figure behind them through one of the convertible's side-view mirrors; one that was observing them and appearing to monitor their every move. It was clad in snug, entirely dark clothing, its face completely obscured except for two red lights on the front of its head which served as its "eyes". It had a glowing, red energy sword strapped to its back, and clung to the walls of the surrounding buildings in order to keep an eye on them. Whenever the trio got too far away from its position, it would simply relocate to a nearer spot. 

"Umm.....boss?" he called, in a concerned tone. "Who's that behind us?" 

The doctor's eyes widened in surprise as he, too, spotted their mysterious pursuer through the mirror. "Uhh.....who the heck is that?!" 

The Viper turned around to look as well, and became just as surprised as her partners were. 

What? No.....it can't be..... she thought to herself. Is that.....the Black Phantom?! The ninja that attacked me during my vacation to Hawaii?! But.....but I saw him die at my hands! How is he still alive?!

"This doesn't look good....." Duncan commented. "Crawler, shoot him with the harpoon gun and be done with it." 

The mutant lizard swiveled the rear-mounted harpoon gun around, towards the Black Phantom's position, and took aim. After training his sights on the assassin, he shot a well-placed projectile that managed to cleanly impale him through the stomach, much to everyone's relief. However, as The Crawler reeled the harpoon back into its barrel, the ninja swiftly picked himself back off the ground just as easily as he had fell down, the harpoon wound seemingly healing itself within a matter of seconds before their very eyes. Then, he hopped back onto the side of the nearby building and resumed chasing them as if nothing had happened.