It had been a week since Tony Zucco was killed, Gordon had given Batman the file for the case and he hadn't found much yet. He was on the batcomputer searching for something he could use when someone spoke, "What are you doing?"

Batman immediately turned to the one that spoke only to find Robin standing next to him, the young hero looked at the monitor and froze. Robin looked like he was going to be sick, "Is that...?"

Batman stood up and blocked Robin's view of the monitor, "It's just a case."

Robin looked at him, "That was Tony Zucco, what happened to him?"

Batman hesitated before speaking, "The night he was released from prison someone killed him, I'm trying to find out who."

Robin took a step back and Batman was a little worried his legs might give out but the young hero managed to stay standing. After a minute he gave Batman a determined look, "I want to help."

"Robin, no-."

Robin cut him off, "I'm not going to do anything stupid, I just want to help catch whoever could do that to someone."

"That's my point, whoever did this is dangerous and obviously doesn't care how badly they hurt someone."

"Then I'll be careful, you don't even have to let me go out with you to catch him."

Batman paused, Robin was serious about this, the dark knight quietly sighed, "Fine, but if you step out of line even a little I will take you off this case."

Robin nodded, he wanted to know who decided to go after Tony Zucco and why, he felt like he had to know. Meanwhile, Phantom was watching the news feeling bored, he killed someone earlier that day. He'd just taken a shower to get rid of the blood and now he was relaxing at home, the news was the only thing on.

He was about to just turn it off when a story started, "In other news Tony Zucco was found dead by the GCPD. He fell from the roof but the police believe he was murdered due to the condition of the body. People have mixed opinions about the so called murder saying that he deserved it while others thing the cold hearted murderer should be put in jail."

Phantom laughed, "I should just get put straight to death but I'm not going to make it easy."

Phantom turned off the TV and decided to go to bed, killing people could take a lot out of you. Five days passed, Batman and Robin had been searching for Zucco's killer and Robin had proven to be more helpful then Batman expected. Robin suggested that they look for cases involving victims that were tortured with a knife without the other factors.

They found several cases in Gotham but had yet to find out if there were any in other cities and there was no guarantee it was the same person. Still they were able to guess where the killer was going to be based on the trail of bodies they had been leaving behind. They were sure the killer was heading for a major crime boss in Gotham, they'd been taking out his men lately.

Batman thought about leaving Robin behind but considering how helpful he'd been decided that he deserved to go with him. They waited outside the building for the killer to show up but they didn't see anything which was odd. They waited until after midnight and still hadn't seen anything Batman spoke, "They should be here by now."

Robin thought for a minute before his eyes widened, "What if he's already inside?"

Batman paused before jumping into action and Robin was less then a second behind him, this wasn't good. They crashed through the window to the bosses office and found what they had been expecting and hoping they were wrong about. The crime boss was being held to the wall by three different knives, on in his shoulder, one in his side, and one in his hand.

The killer had a bloody knife in his hand and was about to hurt the boss again but stopped upon hearing the crash. He didn't look at them but the pause in his actions was enough to let them know that he was well aware they were there. They were shocked to find that he looked to be about Robin's age, a kid had killed those people.

No one moved for a few seconds before the killer laughed just a little, it got a bit louder but not to the point that it was obnoxious. He let his arm fall to his side and looked at the heroes, "So the dynamic duo decided to drop in."

Batman glared at the teen, "Drop the knife."

He ignored the interruption, "I have to say I thought you would have found me sooner, though I was hoping you wouldn't. If I had known you were coming I would have at least kicked this guy down the stairs so you wouldn't have to see him so sorry about that."

Batman took out a batarang and spoke again, "Drop the knife."

"Now where's the fun in that, the story wouldn't be nearly as interesting if I just dropped it and let you take me away."

Robin looked confused, "Story?"

"Oh don't worry about that, the point is that's not happening."

Batman threw the batarang at the killer who easily dodged it and kicked Batman in the face. He laughed and Batman tried to punch him but he once again dodged it and kicked Batman in the stomach. Batman almost fell to his knees which surprised Robin, the dark knight spoke, "Why are you doing this?"

"Why do I kill people or why am I fighting you?"

"Both."

"I kill because I want to and fight because I have to, and it's not like my victims are innocent either."

He laughed a little and Batman tried to punch the teen again but he just grabbed Batman wrist and flipped him onto his back. Robin tried to sneak up behind the killer but in the blink of an eye he had a knife pointed at Robin's throat. Robin froze and as soon as the killer looked at him his eyes widened and he dropped the knife.

He actually looked like he regretted even pointing the knife at him, the fact that he dropped it was proof enough. Robin was shocked and the killer looked like he was going to be sick, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't want-."

Robin was trying to understand what just happened, tried to figure out why he would be apologizing, but he couldn't. Before he got a chance to ask the doors were thrown open and several men with guns were standing there. They fired and the killer moved to stand between Robin and the men, he got hit with three bullets.

Robin was shocked and confused, why did he step in the way and why did he risk his life to protect Robin? The killer looked angry now, he picked up his knife and glared at the men with a smile on his face, "You just fucked up." He ran at the men and kicked one in the face, he calmly closed the door behind him before Robin heard screaming on the other side.

There were gunshots and after a minute or two it was silent, the killer walked back into the room with more blood on his clothes then when he left. Batman had started to get up by now and the killer looked at Robin, "You may not want to open that door."

Robin didn't know what he should do, he felt a little sick but he wasn't afraid and he knew he should be. The boss then groaned and the killer looked at him, "Oh, I almost forgot about you."

He walked toward the boss and Robin felt himself panic, "Wait." He stopped immediately and looked at Robin, "Don't kill him."

He was quiet for a second before he sighed, "Fine."

He pulled the knives out and the man screamed through the material the killer had likely put in his mouth. He looked at Robin, "I suggest calling an ambulance now because he might not make it otherwise."

He looked at the boss, "I'm sure you know what I'm going to say." The boss nodded from where he was now sitting on the floor and the killer smiled, "Good."

He walked toward the window and Batman spoke, "You're not going anywhere."

The killer smiled at him, "You sure about that?"

Robin spoke, "Who are you?"

The killer smiled, "People call me Phantom." He walked over to the edge of the window and looked at the two, "See you."

He fell backward over the edge, when the two ran over he was gone, they heard someone laugh but they didn't know where it was coming from. They did know one thing though, Phantom was gone, the killer was still out there and ready to kill again.

*****

Just letting you guys know I got really sick, nothing serious but I have to take it easy for a few days so I apologize.