Chapter Text
His new henchman was a tense little guy to be sure.
Excitement had turned to nerves on the part of Dark Phantom when it came to actually meeting him. Henchmen were marketed as agreeable, selfless, and most importantly, completely replaceable through his membership. The rows and rows of for-sale subordinates, staring dead eyed ahead, fastened with strange collars, had begun to take its toll on him. Maybe this was a mistake. Villainy was supposed to be fun. This was depressing. None of it felt right, but he supposed he knew what he was signing up for. Too much obedience on the part of a subordinate and he might go insane; the 'yes sirs' 'no sirs' 'I don't know, sirs' being the only words spoken on the part of his new henchman, Ghoul, since he joined him in the car.
The quicker they got out of there, the better.
Ghoul slumped in his seat, shrank into himself as though he was attempting to disappear into the black leather upholstery entirely. Phantom could only assume he was staring on the window, although the bangs in his face seemed obstructive, far be it from him to question anyone's fashion sense.
Dark Phantom cleared his throat.
"Downtown's pretty cool, right?" he asked, eyes on the road, a weak attempt at conversation as they rounded the corner past every type of store a major villain could ask for. To him, Hat Island was a paradise. He could only hope Ghoul thought so too.
"Yes sir."
Phantom frowned.
"You ever been here?"
"No sir."
A long pause, Dark Phantom sighed and turned up the radio. This wasn't getting them anywhere. Maybe the guy just needed time. He couldn't exactly blame him.
They reached their destination, a seemingly empty dirt clearing far outside of town. This was always Phantom's favorite part, he flashed his new subordinate a toothy grin.
...said subordinate looked more frightened than the typical, confused, slightly bewildered reaction he usually received. Ghoul exited the car shortly after and stood, tense in the blinding sun. Dark Phantom tried to ignore it, chalk it up to something else, maybe. Stepping forward, he stood with his arms outstretched, then put them behind his head, as though expecting something that wasn't coming.
"Psst, hey, you're supposed to say something like 'this is it?'" Phantom coaxed, glancing behind him at his less-than-thrilled henchman, "Big reveal, y'know."
Ghoul blinked beneath heavy, silver bangs.
"...this is it?" he recited, a trained little robot. Phantom supposed he'd take it.
"Ha! Of course not!"
With a dramatic gusto befitting for a dramatic villain like himself, he flipped a switch on one of the key-rings in his pocket (one of many, he forgot what the others went too but they seemed important). The orange dirt shook with a deep rumble, then parted to reveal a staircase leading down.
Phantom posed. Ghoul just stared.
Right.
"Well! You've probably seen something like that before, huh?" he asked, more trying to convince himself of such, "Secret compound." he wiggled his fingers mysteriously, "But before we go in..."
His face was serious for a moment, as he slowly approached Ghoul the way one would a wounded animal. His henchman's hands began to quiver. Phantom reached out in a gesture he didn't think much about and Ghoul noticeably winced, his bottom lip shook, he seemed like he was going to attempt to bolt right there and then-
The metal shock collar fell to the ground, the remote following suit. Phantom let out a pleased sound from behind him before stomping the wretched thing into the dirt until it was nothing but plastic, wires and circuitry.
"There we go. Those things really piss me off." he smiled again, seeming satisfied with the device's destruction.
Ghoul said nothing, tense and still. Phantom supposed he should start getting used to that, he hoped not forever.
"Cool. Cool." the black-clad villain made an uncomfortable sound through pursed lips, moving a rock around with his pointed boots, "Alright. Let me give you the grand tour." he walked down the stairs and motioned for Ghoul to follow.
Which he did... obediently.
His compound was deceptively large when compared to the simple 'hidden' staircase that materialized to bring them there. Dark Phantom was bursting with pride as he lead Ghoul into a large, circular room. Everything was painted in shades of dark blue, grays and blacks, a dreary atmosphere for a villain who liked to consider himself the mysterious type; someone truly enthralled with darkness, a champion of the night.
Those were the specifications he gave to Black Hat Organization when he requested they build this place, anyway.
In front of a black, swivel chair was a large screen, in front of which, an extensive collection of gaming systems and tangled wires. Games and movies sat in stacks, some just disks with missing cases, a few strewn near Phantom's chair. Clearly, he spent a lot of time here.
“Oh shit. I knew I was forgetting something.” Phantom sighed, “I was gonna pick up a little bit. Usually this place is a lot cleaner- promise.” starting their partnership off on an outright lie was probably frowned upon, the villain offered him a sheepish look, “Okay so maybe I just... kind of hate cleaning.”
Again, Ghoul said nothing. His eyes didn't leave Dark Phantom for a second, he was awaiting instruction, and Phantom had none. They sure did churn out obedient servants, didn't they? Black Hat, or whatever company he outsourced to find them didn't seem to leave any room for error.
… that shock collar, honestly he didn't really even want to think about it. So he decided not too.
Finally, the henchman turned his head, glancing at an empty, glass display case. Phantom was relieved as he followed Ghoul's line of sight over to the strange item.
“Ah! Straight to business, huh?” he wasn't expecting an answer, so he didn't wait for one, “That's where I'm going to put the most powerful gem known to man! When I get it.”
Phantom reached into his pocket for his phone. He didn't want to try to approach Ghoul again, fearing another weird reaction, instead he gestured for him to come look at it. Ghoul seemed hesitant, but ultimately did. Filling the screen was a picture of a large, red gem, it seemed fragmented, as though a part of something larger. Ghoul tilted his head.
“The Goliat.” Phantom stated, “Once activated it can decapitate enemies right on the spot!”
Ghoul seemed interested, albeit with a slight twist of his lip indicating he was also disgusted.
“Between you and me? It's kind of a gory sight- tons of blood.” he really needed to stop lying, “Okay, so maybe I've never actually seen anyone get decapitated but just trust me; this thing's powerful, and I wanna add it to my collection.”
His henchman nodded knowingly, likely he anticipated what Phantom would say next.
“But there's this hero-” he spat the word as though the term itself was a disease, “This guy.” Phantom scrolled to another picture, that being of a generic looking man with a strong jaw and slicked back, brown hair, complete with those sunglasses Dark Phantom had come to loathe,
“Vanity Bolt.” he seethed, “A dumb name for an idiot who wears a v-neck with a cape. I mean come on.” Phantom realized he was rambling at this point, he put his phone away and turned back to ghoul, “He's strong though, and that's why I need your help.”
Dark Phantom finally paused to allow Ghoul to say what might be on his mind, he would have accepted anything; even if it was just to tell him how stupid and petty this situation was, what he thought of the compound. He would have even taken a punch in the face at this point- an opinion of his own, that's all Phantom wanted to hear. He scanned his face for proof there was someone in there at all. Ghoul turned to him and nodded.
“Yes sir.”