"What Am I To You?"

Four

Hangman raced through the skies, tricking his students and making them lose their sorties.

Hangman chuckled as he leveled out next to them.

"You little birds gotta relearn to fly! If you wanna be able to keep up with me, you gotta spread those wings and go!" He said as he looked at their jets.

"Sir... we know how to fly. We know what we're doing, we're just afraid you're gonna kill us!" His student said.

"That's the point.... I'm the bad guy." Hangman said confused.

"No... NO! We're afraid you're actually gonna kill us! Sir! You push the boundaries of our fights and it's concerning. Do you want us to take it to the Admiral?" One said, thinking he had the upper hand.

"Kid. 1. In combat, you'll be pushed. Might as well do it now. 2. The admiral is my father in law. You really think he's gonna be phased by you four? We said the same shit when we were in your guys' shoes." He said harshly.

He sighed and smirked. He lowered his plane. "Alright.... Let's have some fun. If all four of you can get me, you all win and you can talk to the admiral, but if I shoot each one of you down, you have to do some push-ups on the ground." He said with a smirk.

"Deal."

Hangman put his mask on. "Good. Fights on." He raced ahead giving himself some distance. The other four raced after him as he flew into the sun.

He remembers when Maverick used that trick on him. "I can't see guys!" One guys said. Hangman appeared behind him and got him. "Head back to base"

He then dodged two jets coming after him. These two were his more cocky students. He split the throttles and pulled the power. They both diverted to the side.

Hangman fixed his settings and race after the more cocky of the two. "Sir, you are definitely going slow..."

Hangman smirked and put more power in and caught up to him, and shot him. "Yeah... too slow." He flipped himself around and caught the other and shot them down

"Alright... there's one more I had to get." He said as he looked around. This girl was a silent devil when it came to flying.

She reminded him a mix of Maverick, ice, and Phoenix. That is a terrifying mixture. She was his newest student. He hasn't met her yet, and it didn't help that she was first in the air.

Suddenly a jet raced past him.

Her call sign Streak apparently? Mainly cause the only thing you saw was streaks in the clouds when she went fast enough.

He put full power in and raced after her. She never spoke on the radios. She went vertical and had Hangman in tow.

"You're good girl... too good." He said as he felt something was off with this pilot. This was an expert. The pilot then dove and spun to the side.

He raised a brow and put full throttle and raced down after her. He was testing something. Suddenly, the female pilot went below the hard deck.

"Shit!" He knew he wasn't dealing with a student. He suddenly was now playing defense. This jet was chasing after him, and was proving to be a good fight.

He raised up and went into the sun. But this jet followed his every move, knowing his technique. He spilt the throttles and basically threw his plane, and expected the plane to be too shocked to shoot him.

He got shot and lost the game. He leveled out and frowned as he looked at the plane. "I know you aren't my students. My students aren't dumb enough or talented enough to go below the hard deck." Suddenly the other pilot removed their mask

"Is that any way to talk to someone higher ranking than you?" The woman said with an chuckle. It was Phoenix.

"Phoenix!?" He said in shock.

"Still can't beat me hotshot." She said with a laugh.

"I learned that awhile ago. Why are you up here!? You're five months pregnant!" He said.

She chuckled and sighed. "Todays my last flight until after I give birth. I'll be working at the headquarters under the new COMPACFLT."

He was surprised. "Oh wow... well. For your last flight in awhile, wanna buzz a tower?" He said with a smirk.

She chuckled and clipped her mask in. "Hell yeah. By the way, Maverick, Rooster, and your daughters in there. So, it would be quite entertaining." She said as she got ready to go full throttle.

"Sweet." He clipped his mask in and raced forward with her.

Maverick stood in the tower. He was setting something else up for Hangman. ( it was his idea to sent Phoenix up as his pretend student).

ATC was going to give Nicole the headset to give Hangman landing clearance.

As Maverick was testing his headset, he heard something that he never thought was going to haunt him 35 years later.

"Requesting permission to buzz the tower?" Phoenix said. Maverick turned and saw two jets heading their way.

"Permission denied. Stay in traffic pattern." Maverick said. Hangman just laughed over the coms. "Mav... you already know what's gonna happen."

Soon two F-18s raced by the tower shaking the building from the bottom of the foundation to the top of the roof. Nicole laughed and clapped. Rooster rolled his eyes and looked at Maverick who was holding in a laugh.

He simply chuckled and put the headphones on Nicole, and handed her her script to follow.

"North Island, requesting permission to land?" Phoenix said.

"I- um. Permission granted Dagger 1. L-land runway 32." Nicole said. Phoenix smiled as she landed.

Hangman came in and smiled to himself. "North Island, requesting permission to land?" He said with excitement.

"Hi dad! That plane shakes the building- oh! Permission granted Dagger 2! Land runway 32!" She said with a big smile.

Hangman then chuckled. "Thank you sweetheart."