Clark raced out from the mountainside and down into the forest floor. It was awkward carrying Velvet and Penny in under each arm, but he had to get them out of here safely. His best hope was to get the crystal back and hope that it would respond to the phantom. So far, it had failed at putting the phantom in the zone, but it could at least help him fight the double.
And he'd have to keep fighting until day broke or he injured the phantom badly enough to make him retreat. It was too much to hope that Clark would be able to knock the phantom unconscious. If he could manage that, at least it would give him the option of using Penny's sun lamps to hold him, and time to come up with a more permanent solution.
Milliseconds after Clark had flashed out of the cave, the phantom flew after him. The dark figure outmatched Clark's speed. Both were too quick for super-hearing to be of much use detecting each other, so keeping the cave in sight had paid off. Although that didn't change the fact that the phantom was gaining on Clark. What was worse was that he could see the familiar glow of kryptonite peeking out of the gaps between the phantom's lead-encased fingers.
Clark set the two girls down and instantly blasted his heat vision into the sky. The phantom was fast, faster than the disks than Clark had trained with, but he was a bigger target. The bright beams were wider than what he'd used on the disks, but still as intense, he needed to burn away all of the phantom's lead.
No more surprise kryptonite.
The air buzzed with heat, and the phantom turned away, focused on protecting the poisonous substance. His body could shield the mineral, but not his armor. Entire regions were vaporized immediately, and the rest of the armor glowed red and fell in large droplets.
The phantom soon followed them and gave a pained groan when he hit the ground. Not because of Clark's heat vision, this was something else. The last time they'd battled, the creature had absorbed kryptonite, but had first reacted with pain the same way Clark would have. This was a repeat of that process.
"Wh- Clark? Where are we? How did you do that?" Velvet asked, her bewildered tone clear.
"I'll explain later." Clark promised, keeping his eyes on the phantom. If he were alone, he might have risked leaving to get the crystal. "Penny, how many of the grenades do you have left?"
"These are the only ones I had on my person." Penny handed him three more. "If necessary, I can also emit the same noise as the grenades."
"You won't need to, you two have to get out of here. Stay directly behind me and go!" Clark yelled the last word as the kryptonite's radiation faded. Only Clark's body would protect them from heat vision, and he'd have to do everything he could to block it.
Velvet sounded like she wanted to argue, but Penny pulled her away. Their retreating footsteps gave Clark the opportunity to give the fight his full attention.
He pulled the pin on one of the grenades and threw it at the phantom before it could start shrieking.
"Raaagh!" The creature held his head in pain.
Clark raced forward, easily fast enough that the screeching device was unrecognizable. At full-strength, he rammed the phantom, careful not to aim upwards and let the double fly away. The attack launched the creature into the distance and through a rock feature jutting out of the mountain. Clark chased after him so quickly that the falling debris might as well have been stationary.
Yet before the phantom slammed into another mountain, he stopped himself mid-air.
No. This had been drilled into him by Qrow and Ms. Goodwitch. Mitigate the phantom's use his flight advantage. It was still smart to prepare for it, but that was more of the worst-case scenario.
Clark leapt into the air with as much strength as he could muster. The ground beneath his feet blasted apart, and the air briefly shimmered as forces besides gravity and air resistance went to work. He crashed into the phantom and held on as tight as he could.
SHRA-KOOM! BOOM!
Sound became recognizable again as Clark and the phantom spun through the air. The sounds of the initial collision between Clark and the phantom, the shattered mountainside, and the crack of Clark's feet against the rock floor had caught up with them.
Now that the phantom had recovered somewhat, he fought back. Clark had practiced with Penny on rolling with punches to reduce the damage he took, but actually using the technique against the phantom was a different beast. They rained blows on each other in a flurry of hits. Supersonic fists didn't shatter the air, but their impacts on each other's skin did.
Clark's head jerked aside from a vicious punch to the cheek, and after his side exploded in pain from another hit, he could barely hold on.
"Raagh!" Clark screamed and he gripped harder. He had more than super-strength and speed, and not every move in a fight had to inflict immediate damage.
He elbowed the phantom in the face. A satisfying crack resounded, but that was only the beginning. Clark used the chance to unleash freeze breath on the phantom's head. It didn't hurt him, and in a fraction of a millisecond, the phantom's eyes burned red and blasted two holes through the ice.
Clark used the next fraction to ram his fist into the phantom. He couldn't put his weight or full strength behind it mid-air, at least not without the ability to fly, but he pulled on the phantom to put as much of his body into the blow as he could.
The strike thrust the phantom into the distance and closed their distance to the crystal. Clark had barely gotten enough time to aim his fist in that direction.
BOOM! The phantom impacted the rock, yet he got back up even as Clark was still sailing from the recoil from his blow. The double wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and launched himself at Clark.
Clark rushed to pull out another sonic grenade. He ripped off the pin and threw it, but it was useless when the phantom moved at this speed. The double might reach him before the weapon even went off.
With bared teeth, the phantom proved the attempt even more useless when his heat vision blazed through the device. Then, the beams of light shifted to blast Clark.
Clark blocked them with his arms, and the beams forced him back. Pushing him away from the crystal. The phantom approached, and Clark tried to punch him, but his fist only met air as the phantom flew back. The double then positioned himself above Clark and kicked him into the ground.
As Clark plummeted, he tried to bombard the phantom with heat vision. Even they weren't fast enough to dodge lightspeed, but all the attacks did were bother the phantom. The light pushed him back only for a moment or he responded with his own. He could even get behind Clark to avoid them.
The beams shot off into the air pushed Clark to the ground even faster. Without the ability to fly, even he had to obey the laws of momentum. Clark took advantage of that and slammed his hands together in a thunderclap, the recoil accelerated him downwards. He needed to get on the ground to get control of this fight back.
When he tried to do it again, the phantom's arms shot out from behind him and grabbed his wrists. Clark struggled against them, but the double's strength was equal to his own. Perhaps even greater, thanks to the recent boost provided by the kryptonite.
Still, Clark fought the phantom's grasp. Even as the creature positioned him and so that his body was almost entirely horizontal. His feet crashed into Clark's back, and they plummeted down to the forest like twin meteors.
They passed through the trees, branches shattered against Clark's body for a few moments. Then, with the phantom's force behind him, Clark smashed against the ground.
The impact threw nearby trees aside like twigs, the bedrock gave way and left behind a crater dozens of feet in diameter.
In its center, Clark groaned in pain. He could feel blood running from his nose and taste it in the back of his mouth. He coughed and spat it out.
"Okay, since that's out of the way. It's time for you to listen to me." The phantom said. He placed his foot on Clark's back, much too heavy for his weight alone to be behind it. Clark tried to get up, but it only pushed down harder. Everything hurt. "I'm going to get some more kryptonite I have stashed away, and you're going to come along with me quietly. Understand?"
Clark glared at him and unleased his heat vision.
The phantom put up his hands to block it and growled. "Enough!" His foot slammed into Clark's cheek, burying his head into the ground and cracking the rock. "Youmight not care if I hurt you, but if you keep resisting, I'm going to tear apart Velvet and Penny over there." He pointed in the distance. "Got that?"
Clark clenched his fist and nodded slowly under the phantom's foot.
A sudden blast of green light knocked the phantom off of Clark, but the creature quickly regained his balance. Both of them looked in the distance to see Penny, shielded from the front by a half-shell of blue light and her sun lamps, while her guns rotated in the air behind her.
The double barreled towards her, too fast for Clark to stop him.
\\\\\
Ruby sliced into a Boarbatusk with Crescent Rose. How many Grimm had she killed tonight? Fifty, a hundred? More?
No matter how many she dispatched, it didn't seem to make a dent in the invading hordes. Each fallen monster would be quickly replaced, and there were more than Grimm attacking. The Atlesian robots and the White Fang were part of this too. People.
Ruby had seen other students cut or fire into the terrorists, who didn't come up afterwards. She might be young, but even she wasn't naïve enough to think that all the students and defending soldiers would take the care to knock the faunus unconscious. She'd been lucky enough to avoid following their example.
"Ruby!" A voice caught her attention, and she looked to the man standing under a stone archway. The headmaster! He'd know what to do! He had to!
After taking care of another Grimm, Ruby activated her semblance and sped over to the headmaster. "Sir, I'm so glad you're here! We could really use your help!"
"That is why I'm here." The headmaster sighed, and it looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Ruby, this may be difficult to understand, but chief among the reasons Cinder has plotted this attack is to retrieve something in the tower. If she succeeds, there will be devastating consequences for the entire world. Not just Vale. Do you understand?"
She nodded. "I think so, what is it?"
"That's not important at the moment. Ruby, this may sound strange, but you have a power within you. Separate from your aura and semblance. You can use this power to repel Cinder, perhaps the Grimm in this incursion as well."
Her eyes widened. She could? "H-how do I do that?"
"It will not be easy, but you must come with me."
Footsteps approached, and they turned to see Pyrrha racing towards them. "Ruby! Headmaster! Thank goodness you're here, we've cleared most of the Atlesian robots and White Fang on school grounds, but the Grimm are still coming."
"Ms. Nikos, this may appear a strange question, but you are close friends with Ruby. Correct?"
She furrowed her brow in confusion and nodded.
The headmaster looked at her with strangely sad eyes and mumbled something to himself. "This is . . . fortunate. Your assistance will be necessary as well. Please, both of you, come with me. I have a plan to end this that will require the both of you."
The headmaster sprinted inside the building, and the two girls followed. He led them to the elevator. He gave a brief explanation to Pyrrha about Ruby's vague power before they arrived in his office.
"Cinder will likely come here to find the object I speak of, and she will display certain powers of her own. In a similar vein to Ruby's, they will not necessarily depend on her aura or semblance. I will defend the object from her, and you two must hide until Ruby's power awakens. No matter what, do you understand?"
"Sir this . . . this is a lot, what powers do you mean? Why don't we fight with you, or bring more people to help?" Pyrrha asked.
Ozpin shook his head. "There is little time for explanations, but it'll suffice to say that I expected us to be able to turn this invasion and stop Cinder without Ruby's power. That is no longer the case. Others are needed to fight, but you two will be more effective here. Ruby, stay hidden and focus on unlocking your power, no matter what. Even if Cinder kills me."
Ruby's mouth shot open. "Kill you?! She's that strong?" Pyrrha also gave Ozpin a worried look.
The headmaster nodded. "Yes, and you must be prepared for that eventuality."
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"B-but how do I use this power? I don't know what you're talking about, I can't have everyone depending on me!" It was too much! She wouldn't say it aloud, but the headmaster was starting to sound crazy. A hidden power that could stop Cinder and get all the Grimm out of the city, how could she have something like that?
"It's a heavy burden, one that you should not have to bear. Unfortunately, you are the only one here who can do this. It won't be easy for you to learn how to use your power, but you can. You must. Just as Grimm are attracted by negative emotion, you must focus on the positive to activate the power that will repel them and Cinder. The love of your friends and family, the joyful times you've had. It is imperative that you recall them when using this power. Now go, there is a hidden compartment there you can wait in. Ms. Nikos, I ask that you wait."
Ruby obeyed with a nervous, and Pyrrha stayed to listen to the headmaster. If it weren't for Ozpin's grave expression, Pyrrha would have found it much more worrisome that he was urging Ruby to wait in his office and try to use a newfound ability while Grimm attacked the city.
"Ms. Nikos . . ." His face was mostly neutral, but she could see hints of pain and guilt in his eyes. Why? "I realize how strange this all sounds, but you must trust me. When I fall, not if, Cinder may discover you. You must do everything in your power to defend Ruby. Use every ounce of metal in this office if necessary, you cannot allow Cinder to take either Ruby or the object she seeks."
Pyrrha swallowed, then nodded. "I understand, sir."
"Good, now go with Ruby. If we're fortunate, you may be able to assist her in unlocking her power early, and I may yet survive this." He said with a small smile.
The student couldn't match the levity in his tone. "How will we know if her powers have been activated?"
"You'll know. When you look into her eyes, you'll know." Ozpin answered. "Cinder will likely be arriving shortly. Remember, do not alert her to your presence. Don't fight her unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Now, go to Ruby."
Pyrrha obeyed, leaving the headmaster to look back at the elevator and hold out his cane in apprehension.
\\\\\
Clark kicked up dirt and rocks as he raced after the phantom, yet he couldn't catch up in time. The double was going to slam into Penny. Even with her aura and metal body, Clark feared that she wouldn't withstand the attack.
The phantom collided with her blue, segmented shield. It flickered dangerously, but it held.
Still, the attack hurled Penny back at a dangerous speed. Clark pushed himself even harder, his ribs were sore, but he flashed forward and slammed his fist into the phantom. The blow flung the phantom into the trees and gave Clark the chance to rush after Penny. She bounced off the ground once before he caught her.
Her sun lamps didn't feel as good as real sunlight, but they helped. By the time he set her down, a few of Clark's minor wounds had already started to heal under their glow. It gave him a chance to get his second wind.
"Why did you do that? I told you to run and get Velvet out of here." Clark said. X-ray vision peered through the trees to find that the phantom was still recovering. Penny's lamps had affected him the opposite way from Clark when the creature had hit her shield.
"I couldn't allow that doppelganger to kill you." She replied. "I'm sorry Clark, but from what I could see, you were losing. I couldn't stand back and do nothing, Velvet agreed that I should help."
Clark bit his lip, he could hear the faunus some distance behind him. Too close for comfort. "He's too fast, Penny, even for me. You need to get back, can you put that shield up to protect the both of you?"
Penny shook her head. "It's very draining, and it won't last long under an assault from him. I would be more useful by providing offensive assistance."
Clark eyes flit from Penny, scuffed up and dirty from tumbling across the ground, to the phantom. He debated the idea in his head. "Fine, but do it from a distance. Please." He emphasized the concern in his voice.
She nodded. "I will."
There was barely a millisecond pause before the phantom thrust himself back at them. He fired his heat vision, but the beams took strange paths through Penny's shield. Reflecting and refracting at sharp angles even as Clark rushed forward to block them.
The phantom flew around the shell and Clark followed. Staying between Penny and the phantom to defend against the double's heat vision.
The phantom moved with swift caution. He didn't get close to the light that strengthened Clark and weakened the double. He moved back and his foot flashed through the ground, kicking up supersonic dirt and pebbles. They pelted off Clark, and either bounced off of Penny's shield or herself. The phantom repeated the process the next instant, this time, he aimed the scattershot in another direction.
Towards Velvet.
Clark's eyes blasted them in a blaze of red. He could do it, he'd trained for it thanks to Ms. Goodwitch. The rubble was farther away, and moved faster than bullets, but he could still vaporize the spray of rocks and dirt before they hurt Velvet.
And he would have succeeded if the phantom hadn't intercepted his heat vision. With no other option, Clark sprinted at him. Quickly enough that to anyone else it would have seemed like he'd vanished, but the phantom watched him with an arrogant sneer.
He tried to slam into the phantom, to remove the obstacle to the deadly objects speeding towards Velvet, but the double was prepared this time. The creature braced himself, and his feet dug into the ground. Maintaining his balance as he was forced back.
"Aaagh!" Velvet cried out, and Clark heard loose rocks penetrate muscle and bone with sickening ease.
Clark's eyes burned red. "You monster!" He leapt at the phantom, but the double flew up to evade the enraged young man. With a powerful kick, he sent Clark flying into the distance.
"Oh relax." The phantom said as Clark tumbled through the air. He spoke just silently enough for Clark to focus on his super-hearing. "I've gotten pretty good with my aim. Velvet's still alive, although she probably won't be walking anytime soon."
A burst of green launched at the phantom, but the creature dodged it. His casual, arrogant tone disappeared. "Okay, you know what? I've had enough of you."
Clark could only watch, powerlessly sailing through the sky as Penny tried to fight the phantom. He tried to help however he could, fire off bursts of heat vision when the double came into view, but they only gave the phantom brief pauses.
Super-breath, thunderclap, even the recoil from his own heat vision. Clark did everything he could to get back to the ground.
Penny didn't stand a chance. Her light shield protected her, but only as a hemisphere in front of her, since the wires suspending her weapons extended and moved behind her. The phantom didn't ram straight into it this time. Instead, he maneuvered himself behind her in an instant. Maybe she saw it, maybe her processors were powerful enough for her to realize what was happening, but that didn't mean she could react in time. It didn't give her the ability to retract her guns or turn around to defend herself in a fraction of a millisecond.
The phantom's heat vision blazed through the wires connecting Penny to her guns, and with Clark and the phantom's perception of time, it seemed as if they hung motionless in the air.
Clark forced his way down onto the ground and raced after them. But even he wasn't fast enough to stop the phantom from grabbing Penny from behind and firing pulses of heat vision to destroy the sun lamps in her shoulders and the sound generator. Then, the phantom turned her around, looked her straight in the eyes, and grinned. The moment stretched out to a near-eternity, and Penny's arm came up to shove a fist against the phantom.
Before her arm moved even an inch, heat vision blazed through her. The beam sliced through her forehead and came down to bisect her torso. She came apart in two pieces, and the phantom tossed them aside.
"No!" Clark's mouth formed the word, but he rammed against the phantom with such speed that the sound was unrecognizable.
Penny . . . the phantom had killed Penny. Clark had thought she'd be safe, that the phantom would try to use her as a hostage. Not outright kill her.
That mistake had cost Penny her life.
Clark forced as much fury as he could into his eyes, and heat vision lanced out to try to burn the phantom. Who'd already smashed through several trees from Clark's earlier attack. The monster grimaced and shielded himself with his arms.
With his lips twisted in a furious snarl, Clark leapt into the air after the creature. The air behind him shattered as he easily went supersonic, his arms extended and his fingers curled to make the phantom pay for what he'd done.
He crashed into the phantom with a resounding boom and held on with all his strength. Blows rained down on Clark, but he powered through the pain and returned them just as viciously.
Somewhere in that exchange, an elbow rammed against Clark's chin, and his grip loosened. It was enough slack for the phantom to tear off the fingers that had dug into his skin and kick Clark down to the ground.
"That's enough, Clark, give up." The phantom said, hovering above him. "Unless you want Velvet to go the same way as Penny.
No, not her too. Penny, she'd only tried to help Clark and lost her life for it, Clark couldn't allow the phantom to kill Velvet too. He couldn't.
He got up slowly. His head hung low, and his hands came up in surrender and grit his teeth. No matter what the phantom was planning, Clark was going to make sure Penny got justice.
In the distance, the Kryptonian crystal vibrated its strange tone, alerting both Clark and the phantom. With a whoosh of air, the device approached them.
The phantom's eyes widened. Clark had previously seen a range of emotions on the face that mirrored his own. Arrogance, anger, annoyance, but this was the first time he'd seen fear cross the phantom's face.
"What did you do?!" The double demanded. "How did you activate the crystal from here?!"
"I-I don't know!"
The phantom bared his teeth. "That's it! Velvet's going to die because of you, got it?! It's your fault!" With his eyes burning red, he turned to face her.
"No!" Clark hit the phantom with his own heat vision first because he'd had the head start of already looking at the creature. It distracted the double for a few moments, but only distract him. He'd kill Velvet right after.
Clark ran to protect her, but she was so far away. It was a distance he could have crossed in milliseconds, more than enough time for the phantom to kill her first.
Then, with a speed that astonished even the two of them. The Kryptonian crystal flew threw the air and landed in Clark's hand. For the briefest moment, a sudden bout of clarity came to his mind, and he jumped up to the phantom. After his feet left the ground, he accelerated upwards.
The crystal in Clark's hand struck the phantom, and in a flash of blue light, the two were blown apart. Clark slammed into the ground in an explosion of dirt and rubble, while the phantom did likewise elsewhere.
"E-Enemy neu-neu-neutralized." A voice sounded, but Clark couldn't tell what direction it came from. His eyes widened as he realized that the crystal was pulsing with light, and a large crack had formed across its face. It was missing a piece as well, a shard about a couple inches long and a few millimeters wide. "The master is injured, re-re-releasing stored solar e-en-en-." The skipping voice gave out and released a stream of light that eased Clark's pain.
"Jor-El?" He asked, but the voice was different. Too mechanical, not at all like the familiar, overbearing presence of his biological father's AI.
"Nnngh."
Clark's eyes quickly flit over to the prostrate form of the phantom, who lay on the ground moaning in pain. The crystal had been telling the truth, the rhythm of heartbeat and breath echoing throughout the phantom's body revealed that he'd been weakened. He sounded barely tougher than a human.
And in the double's chest was a glowing shard of the crystal.
\\\\\
A dragon, there was a fucking dragon too, as if the Grimm weren't already enough. Qrow slashed into a Creep, not that it would make any difference if the drops of black tar kept making more. They needed to take out the big one, but the artillery to do it was on Ironwood's ships. One of which had been hijacked and was currently reducing the rest of the fleet to slag. What was worse was that Qrow hadn't heard from Ozpin or the general since this shitshow had started.
Glynda was nearby, knocking away the Atlesian robots and the White Fang with her semblance. She didn't kill them, showing a lot more generosity and mercy than Qrow felt, but her semblance was better suited to taking out groups. Qrow couldn't even use his in case that it went for his allies.
"Whoa!" A Beacon student cried out. Some tall armored kid with a mace. He'd been taken surprise by some robots and frozen at the sight.
Damn it. "Glynda!" Qrow yelled. She'd be able to knock them away faster than he could aim and shoot without hitting the kid. Even with aura, it could be bad if he wasn't prepared for the attack.
She waved her baton, but she didn't need to when someone fired a shot through the first droid. Another rang out almost immediately, followed by a metal fist that destroyed an additional droid.
Ironwood. His coat was completely shredded, and his undershirt missed its right half. His prosthetic body was on display, and the scars from the incident peeked out. He worked his way through his own robots without hesitation.
"This area's clear." Ironwood announced once he finished them off.
"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad you showed up." Qrow said. "Now tell us what the hell's going on with your robots."
"Cinder's somehow taken control of them, and something's wrong with the CCT as well. Communications are limited, I can't get into touch with Ozpin and many of my forces." The general turned to Glynda. "I know this though, we need people defending safe zones. My soldiers can't hold on for much longer. Glynda, I need you to gather the local huntsmen and center our defense around Beacon. Qrow." He returned his gaze to the huntsman. "You'll need to help evacuate the school. I'll be coming with you to the academy, but I'll need to leave immediately on an aircraft to board my ship."
All three understood their roles and rushed off back to the school. Fighting Grimm, terrorists, and rogue droids only when necessary.
\\\\\
"Clark, you an-and that guy, how did you do that?" asked Velvet. Her shocked eyes studying the devastated landscape of rubble and debris. "How can you have so much aura, and what kind of semblance do you have that makes you so strong and fast? And your eyes . . ."
Clark pinched his lips together and scanned her legs with X-ray vision. She'd torn off parts of her clothing and used the strips to bandage the wounds, and he tightened them to stop the bleeding. Although microscopic vision revealed that her injuries were becoming infected, he needed to get them treated, fast. "I don't have aura. Or a semblance, I'm . . . different."
"Y-you're the Dart, aren't you? That guy who speeds around the city stopping crime."
He nodded.
"And who's that?" She pointed at the pained phantom in the distance. "A twin brot-
"No." Clark emphasized and met her eyes. "He's-I know how this sounds-but he's a clone, and I'm . . . an alien."
She blinked a couple times, and she searched his eyes for something. "You're serious." She finally said, the skepticism and concern clear in her voice.
He sighed. "I promise I'll explain everything later. First, I need to get you to a hospital. Hold on a second."
He flashed over to the phantom. First, Clark closed his eyes and breathed deeply a couple times, then he tapped the double's head. Clark put enough strength in the 'light' blow to knock him out, since he sounded about as durable as a human right now.
It didn't work, the phantom only laughed at the attempt.
Clark raised a fist and brought it down harder.
Still awake.
Harder.
The laugh kept coming, a mocking tone that made Clark grit his teeth.
Harder. A groaned pain this time, but still conscious.
Har-
"Clark!" Velvet screamed. "Stop, you're going to kill him!"
Blood flowed out of the phantom's mouth and drops of it had spilled onto Clark's hand. He'd . . . if Velvet hadn't screamed, he might have kept going.
The phantom laughed again. "I knew you were too weak to do it. I guess this is how much you cared about Penny, huh?"
"Shut up!" Clark's fists slammed into the ground on either side of the phantom. "You're the monster who killed her and hurt Velvet! You think I don't want to?!"
"Oh I know you do. I have your memories, Clark. You have some dark thoughts hidden under the surface, you know that? Go ahead, kill me. Or my body, since that's the best you'll be able to do. Maybe I'll take your body for real this time."
Could he . . . could he do that? If he could, why didn't he do it right now? Why would he even tell Clark it was a possibility?
Clark didn't know. He didn't know anything. How this crystal worked, why this phantom was different from the others, nothing had been explained to him.
He flashed the phantom right by Velvet and threw the double to the ground. He grunted from the impact.
Still, even through the pain, the creature managed a vicious grin. "Hey."
"Shut up." Clark said. Velvet had paled at the sight of the double, or maybe at Clark as well. Clark ripped off a piece of his pants. His jacket and shirt had been burned off, and his pants weren't in the best condition either. If they hadn't mostly aimed heat vision at each other's faces, a lot more would have been revealed.
Clark took the fabric and tied it around the phantom's mouth, he ignored the double's protests. It would help block any weak freeze breath, but more importantly, it would keep his words from affecting Clark.
He lifted Velvet up gently, giving her the piggyback spot that Penny had held earlier.
Penny.
Clark turned aside and stared at her remains for a few moments. He relaxed his hand, which he hadn't even realized had been clenched into a fist. If it hadn't been for her, Clark would have been at the phantom's mercy.
If it hadn't been for Clark, she'd still be alive.
After saying a silent apology to her, Clark held the phantom under a single arm. It was an awkward position, but Clark would be able to hold him. The phantom should survive the acceleration, even if he was weakened.
"Hold on tight, this will take a few seconds." Clark told Velvet. He closed his eyes and focused on the healing light of the crystal, the aches from the fight had already faded.
He raced off to Vale.