Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

Chapter 125: Two Heroes Overthinking

1/5 weekly chapter, enjoy.

“Master Wayne, we have a situation over here.”

After Alfred applied some basic first aid for Ivan Vanko, he told Batman what had just happened. 

“I see, Alfred, now is the time to go home.” 

Batman glanced at Iron Man, then turned and left, disappearing into the darkness. 

Tony was speechless. He had heard of Batman’s habit of catching prisoners. 

An ordinary prison can’t hold a criminal with a high IQ such as Whiplash. 

Batman must have wanted to send him to the Arkham Asylum. 

Although this kind of action is very far from being legal, Tony himself has no respect for the law, and he doesn’t care about Ivan’s fate. 

As long as this guy doesn’t break loose to get revenge on Tony, and Batman is willing to take him away, then let it be. 

“It’s finally over.” 

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. He is in a better mood now that Ivan, who had long been Tony’s concern, can’t trouble his life. Moreover, Tony has the solution to the palladium poisoning, in case Kid is telling the truth. 

If it weren’t for this latter, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have taken the initiative to find Tony, pretending to give him the relics of Howard which originally belong to the Stark family, and directing a scene where they seemed to save his life. 

All in all, they want to make Tony feel that he owes S.H.I.E.L.D. a favor. 

According to the original scenario, Tony is indeed grateful for the helping hand S.H.I.E.L.D. extended to him. And it is for this reason that he had served as a special advisor to S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Later on, he even replaced Fury in negotiating with General Ross. 

But in fact, S.H.I.E.L.D. did nothing during the whole process. 

The new element was synthesized by Tony alone. 

And S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t even know that Howard had hidden the structure of the new elements on the exposition model. 

What could one deduce from all of this, you might ask? 

This shows that Howard probably never thought about handing over the new elements to S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Yes, he is the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he did leave clues about new energy in the S.H.I.E.L.D. data. 

But deep down in his mind, he is planning to let Tony only complete this great invention, which can truly change the world. 

This is his most important gift to Tony as a father. 

There is nothing more touching than entrusting one’s most important life’s unfinished business to someone you believe in. 

Otherwise, with Howard’s theoretical basis, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have already integrated the new element out., leaving no room for Tony. 

The simple words Phantom Kid had uttered caused countless reveries in Tony’s mind. 

If Howard did not hand over his relics to S.H.I.E.L.D. for safekeeping before his death, where did S.H.I.E.L.D. obtain his father’s relics from? 

At this time, Tony’s mind was growing more suspicious. 

But he couldn’t speak his mind up, and he had no way to find out anything. 

He can only wait for S.H.I.E.L.D. to take the initiative to talk to him… 

On the other side, on the Batwing. 

“Master Wayne, Phantom Kid’s strength is far beyond our estimation.” 

Alfred informed Batman, who had just entered the pilot’s cockpit. 

When Mathison threw Ivan into the Batwing, Alfred thought that the Batwing was about to crash. Fortunately, the shell of the bottom compartment was deformed… Well, not really… 

Then, how powerful is Phantom Kid? 

The Batwing went into autopilot mode, so Alfred could get out of the pilot’s seat. 

“If he has always possessed such a powerful force, why does he choose to hide it?” 

Batman asked while watching the scene recorded by Alfred. 

“Since Phantom Kid’s debut, he has displayed many incredible abilities. However, they are still in a range that people can understand, and he has always avoided direct conflict with other people…” 

“Why does he deliberately suppress his power?” 

Alfred shook his head, he couldn’t figure out this paradox either. 

“Maybe he just wants to show off his magic tricks and is not interested in using violence to subdue others.” 

Batman didn’t answer back, he didn’t think so in his mind. 

He felt that this is the exact sign which insinuates Phantom Kid’s “purity of heart.” 

Strong power is often accompanied by accidental injury of innocent people. 

Some people enjoy the pleasure of causing chaos, while some people deliberately suppress themselves from creating it. 

From Batman’s perspective, Phantom Kid undoubtedly belongs to the latter. 

“He is rehabilitable material!” 

Batman’s eyes tightened with determination. 

But even the purest souls will be defiled once they remain in a dark environment for a long time. 

How long can Kid, who has been addicted to crime, keep his white clothes? 

Judging from Ivan’s end, Kid has a violent side as well, but no one knows if he can manage this side. 

Batman is worried that, one day, Kid’s white dress will be dyed black or blood red… 

After all, Phantom Kid is fundamentally different from Batman. 

Batman’s heart is inherently full of darkness, so he doesn’t have to worry about his mind suffering contamination. 

Harvey Dent’s precedent has shown this point well; a knight with a white heart will turn into darkness one day. 

Kid’s power is far stronger than Harvey’s. If evil consumes him one day, a huge disaster will follow. 

So, Phantom Kid must keep his heart white and return to the right path. Batman feels that this is his duty! 

Batman and Iron Man were overthinking Phantom Kid’s situation. 

The next day, Chief George was found in a coma by a cleaner. This latter rushed him to the hospital in a panic. After some treatment, he successfully regained consciousness. 

When George woke up, the first thing he did was to curse upon Phantom Kid. 

No matter how the nurse tried to calm him, he would not stop. Hence, his noise sounded on the entire floor of the hospital. 

In desperation, the doctor gave George another injection of anesthesia to put him to sleep… 

At the same time, an elementary school in Queens, New York. 

“Hey, Peter, how did you hurt your forehead?” 

Gwen found that her classmate Peter had a band-aid on his forehead and she couldn’t help asking with concern. 

“Ah, this…uuh, I was at home last night… I accidentally fell…” 

Peter was embarrassed. In fact, it was scratched by gravel at the fair. 

He didn’t want to lie to Gwen, but as long as he thought of Aunt May’s gloomy face, he couldn’t help but shiver. 

Because of his recklessness and mischief, Aunt May gave him a severe scolding yesterday, and he was not allowed to go out and tell anyone about what he saw at the fair. 

As a result, he had to lie to Gwen. 

Hearing Peter’s words, Gwen immediately rubbed the injured area gently. 

“Does it hurt? That’s how my father comforted me when I had once been accidentally injured.” 

“No…stop, it’s painful; I feel very uncomfortable.” 

Looking at Gwen’s face up this close, Peter’s cheeks turned slightly red, swallowing his saliva nervously.