Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

Chapter 18: Who said that ‘waves’ mean ‘ocean waves?’

Aside from the thousands of people waiting for Phantom Kid on the shore, tens of thousands of people in Gotham City were watching what was going on here via live broadcasts from dozens of media outlets.

At Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred were also watching the live feed.

”Alfred, it’s time, I hope we didn’t make a mistake deciphering the teaser letter.”

For no apparent reason, Bruce was a little worried.

”Don’t worry, sir, Inspector Gordon is on the scene, I’m sure that even if anything does go wrong, he will successfully catch Phantom Kid.”

Alfred was relieved, they had done their part and left the rest to the police. He had never wanted Bruce to be Batman under any circumstance, not for the sake of dealing with the Joker, nor Phantom Kid. Neither of these conflicts had to do with Bruce.

On the shore of Midtown Island, Mathison smiled proudly after seeing his watch set at exactly nine o’clock.

”Ladies~and~gentlemen!”

”Thank you for coming to my show again!”

The moment the time arrived, a magnetic voice came from all directions.

Gordon would never forget that voice for the rest of his life, it’s Phantom Kid!

”Where is he?!”

The moment they heard the voice, everyone, including Gordon, turned their eyes to the south, the direction from which the waves were beating over.

However –

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There was nothing floating above the vast view of the sea, in addition, the weather tonight was surprisingly good. So, even in the darkness of the night, they could see clearly.

This led to the question that was on everyone’s mind at the moment: “where the hell is Phantom Kid?”

”Helicopter squad, any sign of Phantom Kid?”

Gordon immediately used his walkie-talkie to contact the helicopter pilot.

”No, sir, nothing so far.”

”Report, no anomalies in Sector A.” “No anomalies in sector B either.” “No sightings in Sector C.”

…

At this point, the officers in each area also reported back to Gordon.

”Hey, I knew you guys would interpret ‘waves’ as ocean waves, but it’s mostly because Daggett’s collection hall is so well located right on the beach, which probably wouldn’t be the case if it was on Midtown Island, Uptown Island, or even the Diamond District.”

Mathison snickered while, once again, speaking out to tell people to look in the right direction.

”Guys, why are you looking in the opposite direction?”

The people looked back in surprise and sure enough, a white figure was clearly visible in the sky behind them.

”Oh my! It’s Phantom Kid!”

”So he can really fly!”

”Don’t be silly, that’s a glider!”

The crowd erupted, the appearance of Phantom Kid always gets people excited.

”Helicopter squad, turn around! The target is in the opposite direction!”

Gordon shouted as he picked up his walkie-talkie.

”Roger that, sir!”

”Attention all stations! Phantom Kid has appeared! All men, hold your positions and do not move without my orders!”

At the first opportunity, Gordon gave his orders.

”He hasn’t appeared from the direction of the sea level, why?”

The entire GCPD was confused, this was not what had been promised.

Could it be that Kid violated his own teaser letter?

”Sure enough! Our previous interpretation of the teaser letter was wrong!”

On the rooftop of the collection hall, Barbara looked in the direction from which Kid was flying and suddenly realized.

”Barbara, have you unravelled the true meaning of the teaser letter?”

Aaron said, in disbelief. He was in total confusion.

”Look carefully at Kid’s direction, what’s thirteen kilometres away in a straight line?”

By this time, Gordon had also figured out what the problem was, so he reminded Aaron, who was a bit slow.

”That direction I remember is… Gotham Broadcasting Corporation?”

”The wave… Radio station… I see, he was talking about radio waves!”

Aaron instantly came to his senses, cringing that he hadn’t understood it sooner.

The three helicopters turned around the first time they received the order and headed in the direction of Phantom Kid.

The situation was very unfavourable to Kid, because it was on air currents that gliders could fly in the sky, and the helicopter’s propellers would stir the air currents around them, making it very difficult to control the gliders, just by getting close to Kid, and the slightest mistake would cause them to fall straight down.

”Kid, look out! The helicopters are coming for you!”

At the sight of this scene, a young girl in the crowd shouted in alarm, causing the surrounding crowd to notice that scene.

”Young lady, thank you a lot for the warning, but don’t worry, they won’t be able to catch me.”

The charming voice of Phantom Kid emerged, putting the minds of the worrying ignorant teenage girls in a state of hypnosis. While GCPD was righteously upset by this scene, how on earth could he dare to throw such mockery at the face of the police?

”Initially, I wanted to perform in front of everyone, but it’s too bad that the police won’t let you into the pavilion.”

To extend the helicopter’s view, Gordon had localised them over the dividing line of the sea, where shallow water stops and deep water begins, which is far from the land. And so, Kid had a few dozen seconds to run away, although it wouldn’t take long for the helicopter to catch up to him at such incredible speed.

But how could Mathison just escape like this?

His voice seemed to have magical powers to it, and his regretful words instantly drew the empathy of the crowd, as soon as they were uttered.

”That’s right, we came here to see Phantom Kid, why shouldn’t we be allowed in!”

”Let us in now!”

”Did you hear that? Kid needs us, his audience!”

Beyond the barrier, countless voices yelled in protest.

”This is private property, you can’t go in!”

The officers maintaining the barrier could only resist with all their might, and it was lucky that Gordon had arranged for the maximum number of men to be here, otherwise they would have been breached by the overflowing crowd.

”Humph, as a wise man once said: the people are the source of our strength.”

Mathison smiled at his win, now he can go to the next step.

Only three helicopters were seen gradually approaching the location of Phantom Kid, two of them surrounded him from both sides, forming an obstacle, less than thirty metres apart from each other, while Kid remained calm, hovering over the collection.

”Phantom Kid, get any closer and you might fall to the ground from the aerial turbulence.”

At that moment, Aaron picked up a loudspeaker and shouted at Kid, “Land towards eleven o’clock if you want to surrender!”

At that, he saw that the white figure in the sky actually did fly in the direction of eleven o’clock.

”Attention A-Team, this is Jim Gordon, Phantom Kid has conceded defeat, now immediately lift the barrier!”

At this point, Gordon’s voice rang out over the intercoms of the entire GCPD crew.

On the rooftop, Gordon was shocked! He didn’t give that order, it was Phantom Kid who did!

”No, that wasn’t me…”

”Execute the order immediately!”

Gordon was about to speak but was straight away interrupted by Kid’s voice.

Thus, the barrier was officially lifted!