Phantom Kid in the American Comic World
26. Take the Initiative, Barbara!

"No, you haven't explained it to Mathison yet?"

After class, Daisy takes Barbara aside and whispers.

Mathison is curious, but Daisy glares at him and doesn't allow him to follow her, so she has to go first and leave school. Classes are calm and relaxed. And, so, while he had plenty of time, he always practiced red magic

"Daisy, has anyone ever told you that you would be beaten for throwing random guesses at me", Barbara raised her little fist, threatening.

"In addition, I have nothing to say to her."

"Hi! Whatever you say, it's not me who ends up regretting it.”, Daisy goosebumps.

"What do you mean by that?", Barbara wondered.

“Yeah, are you really stupid or just acting like that? I think my emotional intelligence is quite low, but I did not realize that you are worse than me.”, Daisy covered her own face.

"Don't you forget how popular that guy is, he gets the most letters every year on Valentine's Day, and you're not even the least bit worried?"

“Worry about what?”

Barbara still doesn't understand what Daisy is trying to say.

”Alright, then, let me be frank with you, aren't you afraid someday Mathison will have a boyfriend?”

"Daughter? Who!”, asked Barbara without thinking twice.

“Seeing how you react now, maybe you are a slow thinker.”

Daisy looked at Barbara and said, "I don't know which girl will take Mathison's heart, I just know that it's definitely not you, the way you're acting right now."

“Why.... do I want to be his girlfriend?”

Barbara asked loudly, spontaneously with a red face.

"If you raise your voice louder, the whole school will hear you."

Daisy hurriedly gestured for Barbara to turn down her voice.

"Don't you dare say that you don't like Mathison?"

"I'm .. I'm not."

"Wow, if you keep being tough, then I'll tell you the truth."

Daisy's expression suddenly became serious.

"Fang is a very nice guy and it's hard for any girl to resist his charm, but do you know why no girl has dared to chase him until now?"

Here, Daisy even mentions Mathison by her surname.

“The answer is: you!”

Daisy points to Barbara, "Because you're always with her whenever and wherever you are, and everyone thinks you're a couple, that's why no one's trying to seduce Mathison."

"But it is clear to anyone who knows you that you are not together yet and sooner or later it will be known to everyone and, when it happens, it will be, how many girls do you think will come looking for her?"

"Trust me, no man in the world can resist temptation unless he's gay!"

"If it wasn't for the fact that you were my best friend, I might have already fallen for him."

“I know he treats you differently than he treats others, but it seems like it is not the kind of affection that lovers have for each other, so you have to take the initiative or you'll lose him sooner or later."

After hearing Daisy's words, Barbara's mind exploded, she really didn't expect that so many people would like Mathison, let alone Daisy really paying attention to her.

Does he really have to take the initiative?

No, all he needed to know before moving was: what kind of feeling did he have for Mathison?

More importantly, he now also suspects that Mathison may be the Phantom Kid.

How could the daughter of a police chief be in a relationship with a thief ...

Ughhhh!

Barbara shook her head, what she was thinking, she was not even sure if Mathison was the Phantom Kid or not.

Suddenly, Barbara glanced at Daisy with a confused look in her eyes.

"Yes, I have no reason to lie to you, but I don't think about it anymore."

"Because of me?"

"Of course not! Why do you think so?”

Daisy looked at Barbara in surprise, «I can't see that this little girl is possessive, still...no one else can like Mathison when you're always nearby?»

“Eh ..”

Barbara fell silent, and she understood at this point that she seemed to have misrepresented herself.

”Actually, it's because I'm obsessed with other men.. No, exactly, he's my idol!”.

"He's so handsome, I've never seen anyone this attractive."

At this point, Daisy's eyes are full of sparkles, obviously, in a helpless obsession with the idol she's talking about.

Barbara's mouth twitched as she looked. 

   "Is there really such a person in Gotham as you say?"

Barbara suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

"Hey, Daisy, when you say idol, you don't mean ..."

”True, my idol is a super thief who just debuted, Phantom Kid!”

Right now, Mathison is unaware of the fact that the two women are talking about her; she is now preoccupied with her magical meditations.

Although Red Magic was enhanced by magical meditation, the effect was not very strong.

Since Red Witch magic was almost always passed down to the next generation through bloodlines, the increase in magic power from meditation was almost meaningless.

Akako Koizumi, for example, basically never cultivated her magic power, but rather practiced her magic control skills directly.

This was why it was said that the Witch lost all her magic power when she shed tears.

But, after all, Mathison did not have a Witch bloodline. He was even born without any magical powers. As a result, it was only through meditation that he was able to increase bit by bit his magical power.

Fortunately, many low-level red magic spells did not require much magical power, just a small piece and various materials, like the two magic spells Mathison had made before.

Of course, he was not a magician; he could do whatever he was looking for just by reading magic books.

Time has passed, almost two weeks, since the events of Cat's Eye Emerald. Daisy was picked up by Jane Foster a few days ago, and Mathison knows that, in a few months, they will meet the God of Lightning, but she says nothing.

He is not afraid of Batman in his prime, but to get involved in Asgardian troubles and conflicts? He doesn't have that confidence.

But what does that have to do with him, even if the butterfly effect causes Thor to be killed by Loki?

Perhaps, one day, he would become so powerful that he could visit the treasure of Asgard, but not now.

It's just that, when Daisy comes to say goodbye, Mathison notices her, inexplicably, waving to Barbara, and wondering what it's for.

It may have something to do with the frequent whispering between the two women, which Mathison doesn't pay much attention to.

At this point, the Phantom Kid had also been out of the scene for over a month. Committing two major crimes in a row, Adam's Star and Golden Green Cat's Eye, have rocked Gotham.

The GCPD never gave up on looking for the Phantom Kid, but unfortunately, so far nothing has been found. All they could hope for was a third teaser letter to be sent.

Unexpectedly, one day, the police must rely on criminals to volunteer at the location he is headed to, in order to catch him. Because, in the case of Phantom Kid, it is very difficult to know the plan.

As it turns out, Gordon and Bruce's fear is not unreasonable: last week there have been seen a number of copycat crimes committed by both, the clueless teenager and the notorious criminal.

Although all were eventually arrested and imprisoned, it can be expected that more copycats will appear in the future.

Inside the GCPD Commissioner's office, Gordon was busy with all the work at hand, with chaotic thoughts about the future.

However, a call from the mayor of Gotham City keeps Gordon's job even busier…