Avoiding Past And Future

(83) Misplaced 16

WARNINGS but no recap bc it's not worse than other un-recapped chapters
* dehumanisation
* blood and injury
* threats of ending another being's life

novemeber 6

Like the world just decided to take a nap on his back, Phantom collapsed to the ground. Hacking up the ecto clot that had formed in his throat, his muscles shook in exhaustion as he tried to keep himself up.

"You," Dr. Fate screamed at him, composure out the window as he stomped over to the injured boy. "You insolent rat! How dare you interfere with my contract!" Golden power pooled in his hands as he shook from anger. Reaching out with magic, he reversed their roles. Gripping Phantom by the neck, a golden noose lifted the boy up from the ground. "I cannot wait for the day I will be able to put you on trial for the atrocities of your kind and for the insult to nature that is your existence."

Phantom struggled meekly against the binding, the pressure on his injured neck and damaged vocal cords being more annoying than the lack of air passing through. It didn't last too long, as Dr. Fate finally let the energy dissipate. Unceremoniously Phantom fell to the ground once more, weak arms trying to push himself up.

Straightening out his suit and popping his obnoxious collar, Dr. Fate held his head high just to be able to look down on the boy like the true peacocking ass he was. "But a deal has been made so I shall relent." Swishing his cape, he turned away from the bleeding boy. "You are lucky I do not end your miserable existence right here and now. Do not take my leniency for granted."

Phantom forced his head to lift, neon green seeping out as he smiled up at the golden clad sorcerer. "Oh come now, Bubu, I thought we were bonding over here." He coughed hard, almost throwing up from how violently his lungs contracted. "I was gonna invite you over for tea and cookies."

The group of heroes could only watch on in horror as Dr. Fate turned on his heel. In a motion nearly faster than Flash, he kicked at the air, sending a wave of his magic to crash into the already injured boy. Trying his best to form a shield around him, Phantom willed whatever power he had left to surround himself. Power that wasn't nearly enough as it shattered the second Dr. Fate's magic came near it. With a horrifying echoed crack, Phantom was sent flying in-between where their audience had been standing.

Phantom tried to prop himself up again, muscles shaking in protest as he barely managed to lift his head off of the muck. Breaths were caught in their throats as they took in the sight of Phantom's broken mask. One side was simply completely missing. The green electricity-like scarring had completely made its way onto his face and into the whites of his glowing green eyes. The newly acquired cut in his eyebrow making its own path between the green already etched into his skin.

Dr. Fate stalked closer, fighting his own limbs as they glitched like a malfunctioning robot. "You truly know not when to accept defeat and surrender." He growled harder, unspoken spell pressing Phantom down. The anger at the loss of connection between mind and body angering him even more than the boy himself did. Forcing his spell down harder, he smirked in satisfaction as the cracking of broken ribs bounced through the forest air.

Still, even as he fought against the rings from going any further than blinking in and out of existence, Phantom's grin did not leave his face. "I learned from the best." His eyes ticked over to Robin who was still dangling helplessly in Conner's improvised air-jail. His left foot looked wrong but he didn't have the time nor brain capacity to think of it any further.

"How enlightening to know a mistake like you is capable of learning. And here I was believing you were just the pinnacle of what is wrong in the world."