Inward Battles

Silence rains upon their heads
Acid silence rain
A war is raging  in their minds
In moments like eternity

What right had the Phantom to choose his fate?
Yet he was not a he
The boy had said the spoils were she
A woman fought like him

So couldn't she choose for herself
Why should he handle her
The Flight must only see rejection
What matter could she be?

The same old thoughts the woman thought
She knew the choice was hers
Face her terrors, let them go free
It made the horrors simple

Past Flight lessons haunt her mind
Crowding with friend faces
But before they choose an intruder appears
A debt now to repay.


Next Week: Decision Made

The Flight's Speech

"Three years ago you Phantom pest
Fell me to my Hell
All my work you trampled through
Leaving me with nothing

"I had a plan, a great one then
One to snatch my stature
Then you arise and rip me up
We'll see whose falling now

"And you who they call the Composer
I know who you are
A little cloth can't hide the truth
I've heard your music too

"So much you could've risen to
Right here at my side
But instead you chose to dishonor my teachings
You the spawn of wretch

"You think you know your hidden past
What lies they've given you
But the truth I won't give you tonight
I'm much too kind for that

"A choice I'm giving both of you
Phantom's already heard
Return me my spoils, they all go free
Otherwise, can't you guess?"


Next Week: Inward Battles

Welcome

In alley bare the Phantom comes
A lone man waits for him
Moments pass and the Composer appears
They eye each other carefully

Two strangers stand together now
The man will guide them too
They stand so far apart this time
As though they're still alone

In the dankest rotten alleyway
A crowd awaits the two
The Flight at head and prisoners gagged
He holds one by the hair

The Phantom sees him as the boy
Who'd spoken to the cops
The Composer sees a forgotten friend
But he can't see her now

The Flight strides forward with maliciousness
Etching all his features
He opens up his arms to speak
And welcome them all there

"For once we're all gathered together
The two who've halted me
I'm glad you're here for now you'll see
Just how high I'll rise."


Next Week: The Flight's Speech

The Composer Starts

Watching news again of the
Flight's investigation
The woman listens to every word
But sees there's little progress

The debtor' interrupts suddenly
And pulls her to a mirror
Confused she waits and soon he brings
Her disguise ready now

In cloth that flows so willowy
Halfway pants and dress
She could whip or smother and fade away
"White just like a saint."

Last of all a hoods drawn up
With cloth across her face
Hidden completely beneath it all
She's just about complete

But suddenly the TV changes
The Flight's face then appears
Behind him bound and gagged appeared
Many gypsy prisoners

He called them then to find him quick
The prisoners could not wait
He wants to see his two great foes
And so he would so soon.


Next Week: Welcome

The Second Blow

When the Phantom awakes he's not in pain
The cure will work for now
And while it does he has work to do
The new man may know more

But just as he affixed the mask
The fools phone rang so loud
He answer's quick to a distressed friend
The Flight's next move is made

Suddenly the radio's on
A long since hated voice
Across the wave the Flight summons
The Phantom and Composer

Muffled voices in the back
Cry the Flight's cruel plan
Time is running very short
As the man reminds

Part two is just beginning, now
Its time for a rebuttal
"Come quick young heros
we're waiting patiently."

Away the Phantom runs so quick
Soaring 'cross the car tops
For now his leg is holding out
Just pray for long enough.


Next Week: The Composer Starts

A Cure For Now

The Phantom sticks the needle through
A bit of blood to take
His mind is clear enough to test
And see what taints his leg

The bullet he'd removed he'd found
And scanned it as he worked
He checked the blood through microscope
And found it not the same

Tainted like with poison deep
It festered beneath the skin
the bullet was soaked in toxin rich
Some foreign, evil plant

Further search while fighting pain
He works straight through the night
Until at last a help he builds
Or something of the sort

He injects himself and waits so calm
He waits for anything
Of course he vomits in a bin
And quickly passes out.


Next Week: The Second Blow

Panic Attack

In the solace of the empty streets
The woman storms about
Already blood stain her face's cloth
But she's not finished yet

Another gang she comes across
And beast them to the earth
In dust she moves away midst moans
Another fight to find

She turnes a corner running on
Something snatches her
In solitude the debtor tears
The cloth from her face

He finds it battered, bruised, and bloody
Her breathing's hard and shallow
She hums now with all she had left
To chase away her demons

The debtor wipes away her blood
Mingling with the tears
He gives her shoulder a fatherly squeeze
She's not alone quite yet

She trembles as he guides her home
But not a word is spoken
Her tears recede, her humming fades
At least they're gone for now.


Next Week: A Cure For Now

A New Ally?

Again the Phantom wakes so hot
His leg now swollen slight
He just sits up to find the friend
Reading news in silence

Before he has the chance to ask
The friend just says, "A day."
He throws away the newspaper
He's all business now

Just last night more men were caught
By a stranger new
The face was masked and hidden well
Much like the Phantom

Strange enough the person sang
As he did attack
The Phantom starts, he'd heard such tales
Of a slumming trouble maker

He's rising, curious to see
But how would his tale end
A brand new ally couldn't take
The Flight's experience

Whoever he was he'd need to quit
Before he got too deep
He knew from experience he could get trapped
Never to escape.


Next Week: Panic Attack