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Description
30. Under the Rain

It was a shame, really, that the mall was so badly damaged. Piles of rubble drifted everywhere they went as the hunted out the ghost that was responsible. In her more sane moments, Maddie knew that the hunt for the Phantom was irrational at best. But after nearly four years of hunting the ghost, no matter that he hadn’t done anything overtly evil or even wrong since the aborted attack on the mayor, it was ingrained to blame things on Phantom. And to try and take them out on him.

Jack never even considered the more human aspects of the hunt as he scrambled across a pile of concrete, following the trail of green blood and broken walls in his eagerness to catch his quarry. But then, Jack’s obsession was legendary, even to the point where he could ignore every external when he was on the trail. He didn’t hear his wife instructing him to be careful, nor did he hear Tucker’s order that Jack stop hunting Phantom, Sam’s desperate plea as he moved past her with more grace and agility than a man his size should have had.

“Come on, Sam,” Tucker said to her as he tugged at her arm, trying to drag her bodily to her feet.

“I can’t, Tuck,” was the only reply he got as the slim woman sank back down to the dusty floor, pulling at the hem of her jeans so that he could see a bloody gash across her shin, down to the bone.

He grimaced and nodded as he turned and trailed after the Fenton’s, his breath coming in short gasps. The battle had raged for far longer than the half hour the Fenton’s knew about it. He wondered as he slid down a large piece of drywall covered wall, if the Fenton’s would even care if they knew how hard Phantom—Danny—had tried to keep the fight from ever making it close in to the residential parts of town. He’d failed, but he’d tried.

And now there was no one to watch his back as his parents gunned for him.

He slipped down another fallen wall, this one letting him pass through the exterior wall of the mall and out into the miserable downpour that set Tucker shivering as he trailed after the Fenton’s, both much faster than him, full of energy where Tucker was on the last dregs of his own. He cupped a hand to his side as a stitch stabbed at it mercilessly, the bobbing orange and teal jumpsuits not too far ahead of him as he stumbled through rain and muck.

And then they were right in front of him, stopped dead still as Tucker wondered numbly why. He blinked, rubbed a finger across the rain spotted lenses of his glasses, then looked again.

Danny. He was crouched in the rain, kneeling practically, one arm hanging uselessly as he grabbed the misshapen shoulder with his free hand. There was a crack and a loud pop as Danny wrenched at it, tugging it hard and viciously back into its socket. Tucker bit his lip in sympathy at the muffled cry Danny gave as he drooped forward for a moment, hair straggling across his face as he wiped at his eyes with the hand of his good arm.

“Danny?” Maddie called to him, and his head whipped around, eyes wide and blue and so startled.

He could have tried to stop them, but in the end there really was nothing that Tucker could do. As Danny rose from his crouch, hand still cradling his other arm close, it was plain to see that he was injured more than just the dislocation. There was a long gash down his face, clear from one temple, across a cheek and sliding across the bridge of his nose to trail off down his cheek. Bright red, mingled with rain, and tinged in green. Tucker bit his lip and glanced from Danny to his parents.

They, too, were as silent as Danny was. There was no way to hide the fact that the gaping wound was healing before their very eyes. Danny closed his own eyes and turned away.

Description
30. Under the Rain

It was a shame, really, that the mall was so badly damaged. Piles of rubble drifted everywhere they went as the hunted out the ghost that was responsible. In her more sane moments, Maddie knew that the hunt for the Phantom was irrational at best. But after nearly four years of hunting the ghost, no matter that he hadn’t done anything overtly evil or even wrong since the aborted attack on the mayor, it was ingrained to blame things on Phantom. And to try and take them out on him.

Jack never even considered the more human aspects of the hunt as he scrambled across a pile of concrete, following the trail of green blood and broken walls in his eagerness to catch his quarry. But then, Jack’s obsession was legendary, even to the point where he could ignore every external when he was on the trail. He didn’t hear his wife instructing him to be careful, nor did he hear Tucker’s order that Jack stop hunting Phantom, Sam’s desperate plea as he moved past her with more grace and agility than a man his size should have had.

“Come on, Sam,” Tucker said to her as he tugged at her arm, trying to drag her bodily to her feet.

“I can’t, Tuck,” was the only reply he got as the slim woman sank back down to the dusty floor, pulling at the hem of her jeans so that he could see a bloody gash across her shin, down to the bone.

He grimaced and nodded as he turned and trailed after the Fenton’s, his breath coming in short gasps. The battle had raged for far longer than the half hour the Fenton’s knew about it. He wondered as he slid down a large piece of drywall covered wall, if the Fenton’s would even care if they knew how hard Phantom—Danny—had tried to keep the fight from ever making it close in to the residential parts of town. He’d failed, but he’d tried.

And now there was no one to watch his back as his parents gunned for him.

He slipped down another fallen wall, this one letting him pass through the exterior wall of the mall and out into the miserable downpour that set Tucker shivering as he trailed after the Fenton’s, both much faster than him, full of energy where Tucker was on the last dregs of his own. He cupped a hand to his side as a stitch stabbed at it mercilessly, the bobbing orange and teal jumpsuits not too far ahead of him as he stumbled through rain and muck.

And then they were right in front of him, stopped dead still as Tucker wondered numbly why. He blinked, rubbed a finger across the rain spotted lenses of his glasses, then looked again.

Danny. He was crouched in the rain, kneeling practically, one arm hanging uselessly as he grabbed the misshapen shoulder with his free hand. There was a crack and a loud pop as Danny wrenched at it, tugging it hard and viciously back into its socket. Tucker bit his lip in sympathy at the muffled cry Danny gave as he drooped forward for a moment, hair straggling across his face as he wiped at his eyes with the hand of his good arm.

“Danny?” Maddie called to him, and his head whipped around, eyes wide and blue and so startled.

He could have tried to stop them, but in the end there really was nothing that Tucker could do. As Danny rose from his crouch, hand still cradling his other arm close, it was plain to see that he was injured more than just the dislocation. There was a long gash down his face, clear from one temple, across a cheek and sliding across the bridge of his nose to trail off down his cheek. Bright red, mingled with rain, and tinged in green. Tucker bit his lip and glanced from Danny to his parents.

They, too, were as silent as Danny was. There was no way to hide the fact that the gaping wound was healing before their very eyes. Danny closed his own eyes and turned away.