CCC #121 - Voting Thread

The Phantom vs The Italian Nightmare

By mrmonster

“STAI ZITTO!” Colonel Rossi, nicknamed The Italian Nightmare for his inhumane battle tactics, shouted as the villagers were rounded up by an elite squad of seven soldiers.

This specific area of Bangalla was one of the first places the Italian military stormed into during the invasion. Even though Bangalla was neutral in World War II, the Kingdom of Italy still decided to mow through it in order to gain a better position for when they planned to attack Ethiopia.

And leader of this inexcusable attack, none other than Colonel Rossi, one of the most feared military commanders in all of Europe.

“Qualcuno qui parla italiano?” He asked, only to get nothing but confused stares.

He tried again, in English this time. “Does anyone speak English?”

One of the villagers raised his hand. “You, tell the villagers that their corn crop is now property of the Kingdom of Italy.”

The villager was visibly surprised. “But sir, we depend on this crop to…”

Colonel Rossi fired just slightly to his side, missing him by just a foot or two. “Disobey me again, and the next one won’t miss. Now, tell these people that all the corn in their fields is now property of the Kingdom of Italy. If there’s any leftovers, they can have that.”

This time, the poor villager translated. The people, all ninety or so, were outraged.

“Sir, please. This crop is the primary food source not just for our village, but the entire valley. Hundreds, possibly thousands, could die.” He said.

“How sad. Except I don’t care.” Colonel Rossi said. “If anything, you should be grateful. The entirety of Bangalla is soon to become a colony of the great Kingdom of Italy. You should be celebrating.”

He could tell the local man was not impressed. “You know, I was hoping there’d be at least one person here I could make an example out of. I guess you’ll suffice.”

Colonel Rossi raised his Beretta pistol and pointed it right at his head. But seconds before he was about to fire, I leapt into action. First, I fired at three soldiers standing together in a group. That immediately killed all of them.

The remaining four took cover before the villagers' homes.

Colonel Rossi took cover as well, and shouted “COWARD, SHOW YOURSELF”!

For a few seconds, everything was dead silent. And then, just when they were starting to think that I had retreated, I emerged from the tall grass of the savanna, grabbed one of the soldiers, and sliced his neck open with my knife.

“THAT’S HIM, OVER THERE! Colonel Rossi shouted as he and his men began firing in my direction. But I immediately ducked back into the grass, and once I did, I had essentially vanished.

“RETREAT!” Colonel Rossi shouted, and his remaining men got back into the armored car they arrived in.

“THIS IS NOT OVER!” Colonel Rossi shouted. “I’M COMING BACK WITH MORE MEN, AND WHEN I DO, WE WILL BURN THIS WHOLE VILLAGE TO THE GROUND IF WE HAVE TO!”

______________________________________________________

I had spent years protecting Bangalla after taking the mantle of The Phantom from my father, but still, nothing I’d done before had prepared me to single handedly defend the country from World War II.

I knew I couldn't continue defending Bangalla by playing defensive; I knew if I didn't want the country to starve to death, I needed to take the fight to the invaders.

Their base of operations was a former palace located near the Port of Bangalla. It was pretty well protected, but I had scoped out the place for weeks; I knew how to get in and turn the tide.

I waited for nightfall, for the exact moment when I knew the laundry van left the palace with all of the day's dirty laundry. It was one of the few times of the day where the gate was open.

There was a guard standing watch over the gate, stationed to protect against exactly what I was doing. However, I snuck up behind him, and knocked him out with a single punch to the back of the head. Then, I proceeded to the Palace grounds.

I knew exactly where to go from there, I knew about the sidedoor that soldiers would frequently use to shoot dice without fear of getting caught by their officers. I could find it just by following the sound of infantrymen shouting profanity.

I used a pair of silenced M1911 handguns to shoot them all quickly. They didn’t even have time to shout before they were all dead. From there, I simply opened the door and entered the palace.

First thing I heard was a group of officers shouting from a room down the hall. My Italian is not good, I only speak it at an intermediate level, but I heard the words “Phantom,” “myth,” and “no worries,” so I got the gist of what they must have been talking about.

I quietly approached them, and took just one quick look at them. They were all officers, I could tell so just by their uniforms. That made them an immediate priority.

Colonel Rossi then found me, and when he did, he grabbed me by the back of my head and threw me against a wall. I dropped one of my guns in the altercation, and he grabbed the other right out of the holster.

He aimed it square at my forehead; I thought for sure I was a goner. But then, he simply unloaded the magazine and tossed it aside.

“It’s been a while since I had the chance to kill a man with a knife.” He said as he drew a blade. “And who better than The Phantom.”

He came at me with a powerful thrust. I evaded and parried it, and tried to go in for a punch. He sidestepped, and then slashed with the knife. It didn’t go deep enough to kill, but it definitely hurt as it rode across my chest.

“When I report back that I’ve killed the legendary Phantom, Mussolini will make me a general.” He said as he thrusted his blade again.

This time, I blocked it, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him in for a front kick that took his leg right out from under him.

Then, I grabbed the blade, held it up to his throat, and said "Only thing Mussolini might give you is a military funeral." as I pierced his caratoid artery, ending both his brief reign of terror in Bangalla.

Harrison Moxley looked through the scope of his Barrett M82 sniper rifle at the mouth of the large skull shaped cave in the jungles of Bangalla. The long extinct volcano had been carved into the visage of a giant skull. Inside was also his quarry; The Phantom.

The Phantom or Ghost Who Walks was a legend. A purple clad vigilante who protected the jungle and the lands of Bangalla from pirates, thugs, evil doers and scum. He was supposedly immortal. Harrison was going to end that myth.

Some forty years early, The Phantom had smashed his father in the jaw leaving a permanent tattoo on his chin of a skull that couldn’t be removed. That mark ruined Lee Moxley’s life and from that Harrison’s life.

So the only child of Lee Moxley spent a lifetime researching the legend of The Phantom and vowed that one day he’d avenge his father, and to some degree himself.

The jungle was as unnaturally thick as it was lusciously green. Harrison swatted away the swarm of insects as he checked the range again. The sun was hanging low in the sky.

“Won’t be long now, you bastard.”

—

“Ghost Who Walks,” Guran approached the Phantom who was sitting quietly on a large throne inside the Skull Cave, pondering things. “There is a man on the ridge, a sniper.”

The Phantom nodded. “Thank you old friend. I shall go meet our guest.”

—

Harrison looked through the scope and saw a flash of purple and white erupt from the cave mouth. Harrison smiled and tracked the figure before squeezing the trigger. The gunshot roared through the jungle causing birds to take flight. Harrison watched as the white horse kept running and the purple figure lay motionless on the ground.

“Ghost who died!” Harrison collected his gear and headed down to confirm his kill.

—

Harrison fired another shot into the prone corpse as he stepped onto the track. Harrison paused, something wasn’t right. Straw was spread about instead of blood.

“You never find the Phantom,” Harrison recalled his old jungle sayings as whirled around to see the Phantom standing behind him, arms folded. “He finds you.”

“Put the gun down.”

Harrison tossed the gun onto the ground and drew two machetes from his back. “I am going to spread you from here to Rodia! You ruined my life.”

“If you wish to talk...”

Harrison charged forward swinging the machetes. The Phantom dove past the razor sharp blades, rolled to a crouch and fired his guns hitting the hilts of the machetes causing Harrison to drop them.

“Bastard!” Harrison charged forward despite the armed man pointing guns at him. The Phantom moved, it seemed that lightning would stand still by comparison, and he thumped Harrison in the stomach.

“I suggest you stop.”

Harrison snarled and flailed his arms. The Phantom sighed and smashed his right fist into into Harrison’s jaw knocking the would be assassin out, marking his chin just like his father before him.

“I only warn once,” The Phantom told the unconscious man as dozens of Bandar pygmies emerged from the jungle. “Please take this man to the Jungle Patrol.”

—

Notes: This was written in my phone, I’m having one computer issues with Word :(

Harrison Moxley is the original character named after Lee Falk’s middle name.

I tried to put in some of those Old Jungle Sayigs. like in the strips.

THE PHANTOM VS. A WEIRD GIRL HOLDING HER UMBRELLA WHICH MIGHT WHISTLE

chapter 1

The Phantom, that courageous concept, The Ghost Who Walks, trudges trough the waistdeep of trouble (it) finds (it)self in!!!

The Phantom speaks: "I'm the Phantom...but which one of them...?"

There's a weird girl holding an umbrella. She dresses in timeless clothing, and she dances a timeless dance, and her umbrella spins by itself in her hand. She isn't timeless herself. She's 7. She sings an artificially generated My Chemical Romance-style cover of a nursery rhyme that does sound familiar, but nobody quite recognizes. She has a face but it's blurry.

The Phantom speaks: "Please, girl, tell me who I am."

The girl doesn't answer. Just dances and sings. And lightly smiles??? Maybe because she likes her song.

The Phantom speaks: "At least tell me if I'm a man or a woman."

Girl doesn't say anything, but Phantom hears words hanging in the air nonetheless, that definitely come from another person.

But only you can know that. Do you feel like man or a woman or someone else?

The Phantom speaks: "I don't know. That's not what I meant. I meant what do I look like."

The girl pauses her dance (I guess...?) and takes out a magnifying glass, and grouches on to her knees in the miniature Berlin Wall, and looks at The Phantom intently, for several minutes and/or seconds.

Sorry, I don't know how to answer you.

The Phantom speaks: "Why did I start feeling this way...?"

I don't know. Sorry.

Chapter 2

The Phantom is in this state of perplexedness for...5 years? Trying to live their life. Sleeping, eating, not really knowing how to fight crime. The girl with the umbrella is their roommate for all this time.

5 years? Really, for 5 years? No, no it can't have been that long right?

After the 5 (?) years (?) The Phantom, ONCE AGAIN, tries their damnedest to figure out why they feel this way.

Why don't I know who I am !?!? exclaims The Phantom with agonizing frustration!!!

The Phantom tells themself to calm down for f*cks sake! Calm down, calm down, concentrate.

"Concentrate. Concentrate. Who am I? Who am I??"

But even though The Phantom wishes, they can't figure out who they are.

And they go back to living in unknowingness.

The Phantom sleeps, eats. Doesn't fight crime. The girl is their roommate.

Chapter 3

After an undeterminable length of time passes, The Phantom, ONCE AGAIN, tries their damnedest to figure out why they feel this way.

Why don't I know who I am !?!? exclaims The Phantom with agonizing frustration!!!

The Phantom tells themself to calm down for f*cks sake! Calm down, calm down, concentrate.

"Concentrate. Concentrate. Who am I? Who am I??"

But even though The Phantom wishes, they can't figure out who they are.

And they go back to living in unknowingness.

The Phantom sleeps, eats. Doesn't fight crime. The girl is their roommate.

Chapter 4

After an undeterminable length of time passes, The Phantom, ONCE AGAIN, tries their damnedest to figure out why they feel this way.

Why don't I know who I am !?!? exclaims The Phantom with agonizing frustration!!!

The Phantom tells themself to calm down for f*cks sake! Calm down, calm down, concentrate.

"Concentrate. Concentrate. Who am I? Who am I??"

But even though The Phantom wishes, they can't figure out who they are.

And they go back to living in unknowingness.

The Phantom sleeps, eats. Doesn't fight crime. The girl is their roommate.

Chapter 73

It has been 10 (???) years (???????) The Phantom, ONCE AGAIN, tries their damnedest to figure out why they feel this way.

Why don't I know who I am !?!? exclaims The Phantom with agonizing frustration!!!

The Phantom tells themself to calm down for f*cks sake! Calm down, calm down, concentrate.

The Phantom is silent.

The Phantom realizes something. That's the wrong question to ask. The Phantom realizes the question they should ask.

The Phantom speaks, in a hushed tone: "When did I start feeling this way?"

The Phantom looks at the girl with the umbrella. The girl is making burnt crepés.

The Phantom speaks: "Ever since I met you, I've not known who I am. I'm sure it's you. I am asking you to leave. Right now. So I can have my life back."

The girl pauses. The crepés burn on the frying pan. She turns off the stove, and takes the pan off from the stove. She disappears in a puff of smoke. Or fades away like the setting sun.

And with her dissappearance, recollection occurs to The Phantom. The smog of unrelenting insecurity clears up. And the more it clears up the better The Phantom feels.

The Phantom stands sturdy.

Then The Phantom starts bawling and crashes to the floor. Crying voluptuous tears of relief.

The Phantom wants to shout: "I AM ME!!! AFTER ALL THIS TIME (how long has it been?) I AM ME AGAIN!!! I WAS ALWAYS ME!!! I JUST DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!!"

The Phantom can't shout right now. The crying is too strong.

Chapter 74

The Phantom, after having stopped crying, scrapes the crepés off the pan.

A cockatoo flies in to the Skull Cave and drops a sealed envelope, which The Phantom catches thanks to his supreme reflexes and the cockatoo flies back in to the trees.

The Phantom opens the envelope sealed with pink glittery candlewax, and takes out the letter in it. The letter has been written with an ordinary pen. The Phantom reads the letter.

I will give you, the reader, the chance to read it too. Here is the text of the letter:

I'm sorry Phantom. I didn't realize I was hurting you.

I have that effect on people. They forget who they are, what they want, where they've come from, what has happened to them. At least for the most part, they forget.

I'm very happy that you noticed that my company was causing you ill, because gods know I would've never noticed myself.

I promise you I will work on this. That I will learn to get better at noticing when my presence is making people forget who they are.

To fix my error, I have given you back most of the time you lost while you were in my company. The things that happened and the things you did during that time still happened, but in about a span of a day or two something. That's the best I could do, I apologize.

I wish you the best in your remaining days.

Yours,

That weird girl with the sometimes-whistling-umbrella

The Phantom tucks the letter back in to the envelope, and takes it to his trophy room, and puts it inside his Filing Cabinet of Memories. He exits the trophy room

He finishes cleaning the pan. He throws the crepés in the garbage. He walks to his skull-throne, and sits on it, to contemplate the mysteries of human identities.

End

The Phantom vs. Goldenrod

The Phantom had not left the Skull Cave more than a few minutes before when a shot whizzed past his head and sent splinters and bark flying off of a nearby tree. He immediately dove from the back of his horse, and rolled to a standing position behind another tree. "Hero! Run!" he called, and the horse did so.

Drawing his pistols, he waited silently. It was only a minute until he heard, "Phantom! Are you dead, man?"

A couple of shots rang out, and bullets chopped into the tree he was standing behind. As the mystery man clearly knew his position, he saw no reason to remain quiet. "Who are you?" he called out before ducking low, and shooting a couple of times in the direction the shots came from.

"Name's Goldenrod!" the man called back, shooting once.

The shot landed in the jungle floor near The Phantom's foot. He raised an eyebrow, and drew his foot in closer behind the tree. "I've heard of you," he called out, firing back, still unsure of Goldenrod's position. When the gunshot faded, he added, "What does an assassin want in Bangalla?"

Goldenrod laughed. "Ha! Today, I'm no mere assassin." Another shot buried itself in the tree, and when the noise died, he shouted, "Today, I'm a Ghost hunter!"

"Ghost hunter?" The Phantom called back, sounding amused. "If you know who I am, surely you've heard that I'm immortal? I am the Ghost Who Walks!"

"And I'm the assassin who balks!" growled Goldenrod, sounding much closer than before, and the two shots that rang out sounding closer too.

Phantom dropped low, spinning around the other side of the tree, and firing three shots. One of them clipped Goldenrod in the leg. The assassin, who Phantom saw had wild red hair, mutton chops, and a thick red mustache, had fired back at the same time, and the shot grazed Phantom's left shoulder, knocking him backwards, and causing him to drop his gun from that hand. He scrambled behind another tree as Goldenrod did the same, holding his leg as he went.

Leaning heavily with his back against the tree, Goldenrod called out, "How do bullets affect you, 'Phantom?' What does a ghost need with M1911 .45's?" He cocked his head forward, straining to hear anything after all the shots so far.

"They're something the living can understand," came a whisper from his left.

Goldenrod jerked his head back against the tree in surprise, a shot whizzing by his head, and another burying itself in his left shoulder. A gold colored Glock nine millimeter fell from that hand. He dropped low, and shot twice from an identical gun in his other hand. The Phantom was already on the move, but he was fairly sure he hit the ghost in his stomach.

He forced himself to his feet, and moved around the other side of the tree, only to find himself looking down the barrel of three rifles. He chuckled ruefully, dropping the other gun, and raising his hand. "I hope you don't mind if I don't raise the other one," he said. "I can't move it. You guys must be part of the world famous Jungle Patrol?"

Another member of the Patrol gathered up the assassin's guns as they led him away. "Hey," said Goldenrod, sounding weaker than before, "hold onto those. I'll be wanting them... back." He then fell out on the jungle floor, managing to land on his right side, and roll to his back. The men escorting him immediately trained their guns on him.

Raising his right hand slightly, he said, "Relax, men. I'm... I'm not going... anywhere. How... how did you guys find me an..." he trailed off as he saw a white horse with a saddle trot by without a rider. He recognized it as the horse The Phantom was riding, and he chuckled weakly. As the Jungle Patrolmen helped him up, he muttered, "Like fuggin' Lassie, that one."

Meanwhile, The Phantom had picked up his other gun, and holstered both. Hero trotted up to him, and he clambered into the saddle with some difficulty, coughing up some blood once he was mounted, and grabbing his stomach due to the pain. Drawing his hand back, he saw the blood on it, and said to one of the Jungle Patrol, "Find my son."

The man nodded, and ran off to follow The Phantom's order.

Patting his horse, he said, "Back to the Skull Cave, Hero."

***

A couple of months later:

The Phantom stood before the grave of his father, contemplating silently as he looked at the M1911's that were in his hands. Finally, he holstered them, knelt on one knee, and swore the Oath of the Skull. "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms, and my sons and their sons, shall follow me." Still kneeling, he looked again at the grave, and said, "And father, I will find your killer, and bring him to justice. Goldenrod recovered enough from his gunshot wounds to make his escape, but he will not remain escaped for long. I swear it."

*******

NOTES: Goldenrod is the OC villain. Story and original characters owned by Chris Bishop, copyright 2022. The Phantom, Hero, Jungle Patrol, Skull Cave, Oath of the Skull, and his M1911's belong to King Features Syndicate.