And the second I think it's all over, a gunshot deafens my right ear, and something grips the front of my jacket.
Opening my eyes, I find that I'm still alive, and standing a few feet away from a small crater Astahe had punched into the ground. Several unknown, snow-white particles the size of water droplets float and dissipate around me.
"Phew. Close one am I right!" A cape flaps in the wind like an angel's wings and a twinkling smile dazzles my fear back into hiding. Finally, The Phantom's here! "Nice job holding out Ren. Sorry I'm so late, are you alright?
"I almost died." I can barely speak. It's my first breath of fresh air after nearly drowning. Is it bad to say I didn't hate it? The world around me disappearing, my body going numb, what might have happened afterwards...
"Then it seems like you're doing just fine!" They smack my back, sending ripples of pain through my aching muscles.
"Phantom!" Astahe interrupts, "Of course you come to spoil my righteous triumph!"
"Hey there Astahe! What are you doing here, getting your bachelor's degree? So glad that you found time in between living in Levi's head to pursue a higher education." They say, stepping forward to challenge Astahe.
"It's always you. Every single time it's you who attempts to stop me!"
"Kind of my job."
"But not today!" Astahe continues. "I finally find my nemesis centuries later. This is my moment! My time!"
"Then I'm real sorry I'll have to cut your moment short. Why don't you take off the rings and let Levi go so we can make it easy for the both of us? We both know how a fight between you and me will go."
Now I get where Levi gets his violence as a last-resort strategy. There's no question he's hostile, if you can beat him then do it already!
"The culmination of my decades spent trapped inside this prison has all led to this. You will not deny me my vengeance!"
"Villains, am I right? They just never listen!" The Phantom reaches down to their holster, readying their hand on the firearm, and looks back at me. "Just sit back and watch. Nobody's going to die on my watch!"
Astahe makes the first move, pushing off the ground with a booming thunderclap and charging at The Phantom like a raging bull. The short distance between them is cleared in less than a second. That same daunting speed and herculean strength he used to run me down are about to flatten The Phantom, and they're smiling about it!
Just as Astahe and the Phantom come inches from each other and Astahe raises his curled fist, The Phantom flicks a black revolver with white stripes painted along its barrel up from the holster and spits one of its rounds straight into Astahe's chin. His head flies back like the bullet was The Phantom's fist and he'd just received a lethal uppercut. Astahe's eyes roll into the back of his head, his body following the back of his head on the way down to the dirt.
The flick was so fast that I could hardly track it. And... the bullet must have gone straight through Levi's head!
"Did you just kill Levi!?" I get that it's not entirely Levi in there right now, but he's done so much for me today!
But thankfully instead of dropping to the ground, Levi's body remains standing, and against all logic, his eyes find reality again and he wipes at his smoking chin and the slow drip of blood coming from it like he's just been stung by a bee.
"You think one puny bullet will be enough to fell Astahe the Invincible!?" Astahe twirls his body around, giving momentum to a sweeping kick meant to chop The Phantom's head clean off. Despite the blinding speed of Astahe however, The Phantom artfully ducks the attack before it even comes close to touching them. The sheer wind from the attack passes over them and blasts into me, rippling my clothes and nearly knocking me on my back.
"Oh, I knew it wouldn't be enough. The other five aren't just for show!" They warn as they pull the trigger and another bullet soars from the chamber, through Levi's suit, and into Astahe's side. "You remember my heroic flash right?"
Astahe brushes off the attack for a moment, focusing on the snowy hero he's yet to hit. Levi plants their arms on their hips and tilts their head to the side, taunting Astahe to come fight. And he takes the bait, barreling towards us through two injuries that would've killed a normal person by now. But soon he stops dead to inspect the strange-looking injury he'd gained.
Instead of blood coming from the wound, a golden light peeks out of his stomach like someone's shining a flashlight from the inside out. Then the spotlight visibly grows brighter, and hotter as puffs of smoke sneak out. The gradual progression eventually explodes with a booming crackle, and the shining light transforms into a bolt of lightning that pierces through Astahe's stomach.
"Aaaah!" Astahe's voice transforms into an overcharged speaker, filling probably the whole campus with a screech distorted by the surging current. His body convulses while a storm rages through his nerves. I'd say I feel sorry, but it's definitely warranted. I just hope Levi isn't feeling the same pain as well. And I don't think this is even the worst of it.
The one bolt splits off into two, then four until a web of blinding thunder surges out of the hole and tears through nearby food stands and windows around us. Windows shatter and restaurants catch fire as the chaotic bolts strike relentlessly. One of those bolts rips across the building next to us... and looks like it's on a direct course for me! I've got to move!
"Watch out rookie!" The Phantom darts back to me and picks me up over their head.
"Wait what are you...?" Then, like they're throwing a ball, The Phantom tosses me into the sky and immediately ducks, sending the bolt passing between us. With the bolt gone, they hold their arms out and I drop safely into their embrace.
"Couldn't you have just told me to duck like you did!?"
"I just ducked Astahe's kick and now you want us both to duck again? If you repeat the same things they lose their impact and get boring!" They say, setting me down on the ground. "And besides saving people, entertaining an audience is what a superhero lives for!"
"Now is not the time to be worried about..." You know what, I can't complain after I just had my life saved. As long as I come out of this in one piece, they can do whatever they want.
The discharge dispels in a snap and Astahe kneels gasping for air, seemingly defeated after the lethal light show The Phantom just put on. A hole the size of my fist bellows steam from the lightning's origin point.
"Two bullets in and you're already like this!" The Phantom mocked, "Good heroes need challenges to overcome! Give me a challenge!"
"You had better leave me and Aeter be, or else this woman here... Where did she go?" Astahe asks as he stares at where Carly just was a second ago.
"If you're looking to use that young girl as a hostage, I'll have you know I evacuated her and all other civilians from the area before I saved Ren." That explains why they were so late. Still, where they got the time to do all of that before we got here I'll never know.
"So be it." He stumbles to his feet, sending a hot glare into us. "I was giving you a chance to walk away with your life, but you've chosen to defy me! Die!"
Astahe stomps on the ground just like before, but this time the weakened ground under him cracks and shatters so much that giant pieces of debris pop up from the shock. From that, Astahe grabs hold of a slab of concrete the size of my chest and chucks it at the both of us.
I start moving out of the way but feel something latch onto my arm keeping me from running. "Don't worry about this I've got it."
The Phantom points their gun to the floor, deafens my ears again with another shot, and firmly grabs my shirt. The collection of dirty stone Astahe threw is nearly on top of us, and for what feels like the hundredth time today my fate's sealed. It wouldn't be if they'd let me run away, so I'll have to remember it was a group effort between Astahe and The Phantom that killed me. Another shot from the revolver gives way, and one blink later my eyes instantly transfer from trembling at a menacing rock to a kid's menu.
The sound of stone crashing echoes behind me as the boulder meant to end my life is suddenly behind the bullet-pierced glass window of a fast-food restaurant. The same white flakes appear around the bright red booth I'm sitting in just like the first time The Phantom saved me.
"Today's just full of close ones isn't it?" They said, getting up from the right side of the booth I've landed in.
"What the- How did we get in here?" I ask.
"Every hero needs a good superpower. And while I technically don't have one, this Antique more than makes up for it! Its standard name is the Hexatic Revolver, but that didn't fit the theme I'm going for, so its real name is,
Antique #56: Ivory Justice
A six-cartridge revolver that augments the bullet's effects corresponding to whatever cartridge they were put in.
The fourth cartridge makes me and whatever I'm touching teleport to wherever the bullet lands." They explain while they scrounge around the kitchen of the restaurant.
"Where are you going?" I pry, staying close to their tail. If I get too far, Astahe's going to rip me apart...
The inside of the kitchen is surprisingly clean. No grease or stray food littering the floor, just the standard friers and ovens gleaming. I'll have to remember to come back here for something sometime. If I'm not traumatized after this at least.
"You guys caught me before lunch. Just grabbing a quick pick-me-up before we get back to it."
I stare outside the small square opening between the kitchen and the dining area, through the window to the main street, watching Astahe shifting his head in every direction he can manage. And The Phantom's just as unconcerned as before. I wish I could be more like them, that I could keep my heart from bursting itself wide open. But, he's right there! How could I calm down?
"Alright... So, what now? He's been shrugging off everything you throw at him. If you need my help winning this fight, I'll do whatever you need."
"Oooh, you're eager! Has my heroic presence rubbed off on you!?"
"I owe it to Levi." Plus the faster we deal with this, the faster I can find Catherine.
"You only met Levi a few days ago and you'd already risk your life for him?"
"Levi may be freakishly strong and probably mentally unstable, but he's also the only reason I can get back a piece of the one thing I love. He thought of plans and fought with everything he had just so I could have a chance to get her back. It wouldn't be right if I didn't repay the favor. As long as it doesn't involve fighting Astahe directly..."
"I'm sure he'd be thrilled to hear you say that, but I'm Levi's mentor in Curating so it's my responsibility to calm Astahe down. All I need to do is take the rings he's wearing off of his fingers and he'll be back to his regular old self!"
"So, you don't need my help?" I don't know what I'll do if The Phantom kills themselves being too cocky.
"If you want to help, just stay in here. Knowing you and all the civilians are safe will make my job defeating Astahe a lot easier. Got it?" They pull a few prepared fries and nuggets one of the workers must've left, in the warmer, and slots them into their mouth.
"There you are coward!" Astahe yells from outside the restaurant. "You can't hide from-" His declaration is interrupted as a splurt of blood stretches out a new hole in his neck.
"Wha- What did you do?" They didn't even raise their revolver and they nailed him.
The Phantom holds out their finger, swallows, then moves to answer. "The third bullet I shot when he threw the boulder at us is a rebound bullet. It's been bouncing around somewhere until it hit Astahe."
"And how'd you know it'd hit him?"
"Because I believed it would!"
An uncontrollable, forever-bouncing bullet sounds reckless, but they're the professional. They have to know what they're doing. Because if they don't we're both dead.
"So, you promise?" They ask again while pouring a cup of water to wash down the food.
"Levi trusted you enough to call you first, and if you're confident enough to handle it so-"
Without breaking eye contact with me, The Phantom takes a bullet, wipes it along my bleeding cheek, and proceeds to load it into the revolver. They then fire it at Astahe, who I hadn't noticed had recovered from the rebound bullet earlier and was almost at the restaurant window. The bloody bullet explodes like a balloon full of crimson red the second it touches Astahe, covering Levi's suit and blinding him on impact.
"Was all of that… my blood?"
"The fifth bullet, capable of replicating whatever is on it and producing a small burst of whatever that thing is! Blood makes a surprisingly good blinding tool. Don't leave the restaurant so we won't have to see any more of yours!"
"I'll stay inside." If we're saving Catherine and Levi, it's my only option at this point.
The Phantom pulls some dollars from behind their cape, slaps it on the front counter, and walks towards the dusty, oil-covered glass door. "Sit tight and watch a hero at work!"
"So, you've stopped hiding behind walls and tricks have you Phantom!" Astahe wipes off the blood from his face and glasses as The Phantom walks out the door to face him.
"Astahe, I've fired off five shots and only have one left. I don't have to remind you what the sixth does, do I?"
"You wouldn't dare! There are too many people in the area, you don't have it in you to shoot that."
"Hm, you called my bluff." With a flap of their cape, five more bullets fall from seemingly nowhere and are all snatched up in midair by The Phantom, who swiftly loads each one. "Guess we'll be doing it the long way then!"
"I get to gut Aeter and The White Phantom on the same day! I can hardly contain myself!" Astahe's hands stretch wide to invite the yawning sun as a spotlight for their fight.
The newly loaded revolver loses two of its bullets immediately as The Phantom goes on the offensive. The first lands in Astahe's chest and is shrugged off like nothing, and the second he dodges as he rushes forward in a counteradvance. The Phantom doesn't falter however and they fearlessly run forward to meet the raging animal. Astahe opens his arms for what I can only assume would be a lethal bear hug, but the only thing that embraces him is a lightning bolt that strikes him from behind through the stomach.
The second shot Astahe dodged still detonated into that lightning web behind him and skewered him! It's- Shit!
A stray bolt strikes through the restaurant's window but thankfully I duck below the booth right before it tears into me. They've got to stop doing that, or at least warn me before they do!
I peek my head back up when the sounds of crashing thunder subside to see The Phantom, who had slid prior to the bolt's passing unloading two more pieces of lead while sitting directly below Astahe.
"Ha!" Astahe proclaimed even when riddled with holes like Swiss cheese. "At this range, you can't hope to dodge me!" He hammers his fist towards The Phantom's face which vanishes like... well a phantom before it could hit.
From the window, I can clearly see what Astahe hasn't noticed. White dots bubble around a bullet that flew through Astahe, and The Phantom's pale skin breaks through the spotted cocoon as they gently land behind him. They teleported through him!?
While he searches trying to understand how his prey had just escaped, The Phantom picks a bullet from its chamber and rubs it along the side of the boulder Astahe threw before I got in the restaurant. "Hey, are you looking for me!?" They taunt, "I think you dropped something!"
The Phantom proudly holds up one of the silver rings Astahe had around his finger and Astahe checks his right hand to find that The Phantom had indeed stolen it. They must have grabbed it when he tried to punch him! Even without the teleporting revolver, they move so fast!
The veins on Astahe's arm pulse hearing The Phantom's cheerful voice. "Let's see how you like a bullet yourself!" Astahe moves towards a small stone on the ground probably intending to toss them just like he did the shards of glass on Carly. But I'll never know what it was for because before he could use it, a bullet zooms from out of nowhere and pierces through his hand forcing him to drop it.
"See Ren, never misses!" Their grin spread from ear to ear over what could still be a completely random success...
"Huff... gah." Even through the window, I can hear Astahe's taxed breaths. He's covered head to toe in holes, the two electrically charged ones dominating the rest. His previously daunting aura is melting out of each unnatural opening, pooling in a puddle below him. Any normal person would have been dead long before it ever got to this point. But he's still standing, still breathing even if just barely.
"Done yet?" They ask.
"You are... beneath me..." He heaved. "I... will kill you..."
"Your funeral." They point the revolver and fire straight at Astahe, who doesn't even bother dodging. It slams straight into his shoulder where it poofs into a cloud of dust and gray smoke that encircles him. The Phantom flaps their cape, spawning more bullets from it, and fearlessly sprints forward into the dark shroud, feeding their revolver the whole way in.
And now whatever they're doing is a mystery. I can't even count the number of gunshots or bright flashes of thunder within the smoke. It's near-constant. A few "Hahas" and quips from The Phantom escape the mist and give me faith that they are still winning.
But the true result of their struggle remains concealed until a trail of dust clings to Astahe as he leaps from the cloud, bloodied from head to toe. A brutal shade of red dyes the villain's skin. His desperate face, somehow still conscious, looks to the smoke cautious of what could come next.
I don't know how Levi will recover from all of this, but I just have to trust them. There probably isn't much I could do to stop them at this point anyway.
Astahe gets no reprieve, as a bullet breaks through the smoke on course for his face. He puts his arms up to block it, but as soon as the bullet pierces his hands, The Phantom along with several bullet shells take the bullet's place inches from Astahe's face and chases him mid-air.
For the first time in the fight, The Phantom punches Astahe, cracking him right on the nose and pushing his body onto the ground. The back of his head scrapes the rocky ground while droplets of red follow.
But either due to his unnatural willpower or just a last-ditch effort, Astahe instantly rolls off his back onto his feet and launches himself at The Phantom.
"Gahhhh!" He desperately cries as he franticly throws his left hand forward hoping to end this brutal warfare.
And to my surprise, this punch finds a home in The Phantom's left shoulder, the first contact he's made in the entire fight. And it looks like a nasty hit as well with The Phantom's eyes widening on impact. But The Phantom makes an even more crucial move as they fearlessly press on and grasp the hand that had hit them, trying with all their might to force open Astahe's hand from a balled fist into a straight palm.
"Time to give Levi his body back!" They pry his hand open and pull the ring off Astahe's finger and both parties collapse to the ground.